Faerie Blood: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Changeling Chronicles Book 1) (26 page)

“You were there during the invasion,” he said. “According to records, you’d have been six years old when that happened. That’s the only recorded time faeries have broken into our realm.”

I nodded. Facts, I could deal with. “Yeah. It’s complicated, that’s for damn sure, but I think some faeries must be exceptions to the rules. That faerie with the ash blade… I don’t know how he got here. It’s the truth. But I
have
been through the veil before. To Faerie.”

My heart settled in my throat like a solid weight.

“Show me.”

I shook my head. “It’s not that simple. I’ll tell you this: there’s a part of Faerie that’s cut off from everywhere else. It’s where they send exiles, and the doors to that realm opened during the invasion when Summer and Winter came here. That’s where the faerie with the ash blade—this Velkas—he came from there. Somehow, he can come through, but I’m guessing the power’s not open to everyone. Except he wants to open a permanent way through again.”

“You said you know how to get there.”

“I might.” This was a long shot, but the spiral of memories triggered by what the veil showed me made me surer than ever. “They must need Death to do it. To open a way through. I guess because the realms all overlap at the Ley Line. I can’t say how exactly. I didn’t see how it happened before.”

I’d seen how Avakis had taken me. The memory played out behind my eyes, and cold sweat gathered on my back. I wasn’t strong enough to face him again.

He’s dead. He’s dead.

I stumbled forward, and Vance came to meet me. “You lied,” he said. “You don’t have faerie blood at all. Where did you get your magic?”

My voice cracked. “I stole it. I stole it from the Sidhe Lord Avakis, after I cut his throat and escaped his prison.”

For a long, long few seconds, I thought the blade would appear and finish me off. He watched me, not speaking. His eyes were like dark pits.

Then he lowered his hands, and the tension crept away from me like he’d removed a sword from pointing at my neck.

“You aren’t going to ask for my story?”

“No.”

I blinked. “Is that it?”

I’d expected an interrogation at the very least. Unless he wanted to save it until after this was over.

“You’ve told me what I needed to know.”

I’d worry what that meant later. I’d left out the key part… my magic was the crux. They needed it to open the way into Faerie. By going to them, I’d be giving them exactly what they wanted.

“Except…” He studied me. “You’re human. Why would they target you in the first place?”

“I don’t know.”

I told the truth. Faeries didn’t need a reason to screw with humans. Avakis had been drunk on power during the invasion. He’d taken dozens of us. Everyone assumed us amongst the dead. Nobody could confirm otherwise.

“Why
your
family?” I asked. “You said your parents were dead.”

“They are. My father’s brother survived. His daughter’s part shifter. They took her.” A faint current went through the air, simmering with anger.

“And you didn’t guess she’d be a target?”

“That side of the family never got along with my parents. I thought…”

She wouldn’t be targeted. Why? Because she was a mage. Because she lived in a fancy house surrounded by protection and servants?

I didn’t say any of this aloud. His dangerous expression alone told me he cared about his cousin, and if the faeries took her…

Goddammit, we needed to stop them.

“I’m taking a wild guess the faerie came into this realm through the veil, somehow,” I said. “I think the hellhounds came through that way, too. But… he’s immortal. If we do the same, we might die.”

“That’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

My breath stopped. I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out.

“If you’re wrong,” he said, moving closer, “there’s more than our lives on the line.”

“I know,” I whispered. “God, I know. You aren’t going to arrest me or—”

He gave me a grim smile, shaking his head. “No. I’m not. I’ll have to order every mage to meet near the place where the invasion started. I might be sending them to their deaths.”

I swallowed. “I know. Believe me. But it’s true—that has to be the place. And Isabel… she’s barely recovering from being poisoned. She can’t fight. I’ll have to get her out of there first.”

“I know.” He looked down at his phone, which had appeared in his hand without my noticing. “One team’s already on the way.”

“Guess we have our own transport.” My heart skittered as his hand brushed my arm, the skin stinging a little. He frowned at the scratch marks—where he’d grabbed me with his clawed hand, and torn through the sleeve. For a moment, we looked at one another. He didn’t need to say it aloud—the apology was written on his face. “Vance. What happened back there?”

He shook his head. “If I shift again, stay away from me. Please.”

I blinked. “Can’t—can’t you control it?” Shifter powers were volatile, I knew, but he seemed to have a handle on them pretty well. The way he controlled the shifting scales on his hand was far from the uncontrolled outbursts that frequently occurred over in shifter territory. I’d never really thought about the level of self-control it must take to do that.

“I can,” he said. “But only if I’m aware of my own actions. The magic of the veil—it blinded me. And I can’t guarantee it won’t happen again.”

Wow. The Mage Lord actually admitted he couldn’t do something. This must be a first. His sincerity warmed the icy sensation inside me a little. His hand moved up my arm, brushed against my neck.

I shivered. “You’re quarter-blooded. You can’t shift all the way, can you? What’s your form look like?”

“Quarter-blooded shifters usually don’t have the ability to shift,” he said. “What you saw is the furthest I’ve ever gone. I don’t have a full shifter form.”

“It’d be something scaly and horrible, right?” My filter had gone walkabout again. He stood close, and smelled so good, even with the dangerous aura still hovering around him. The hint of a storm, ready to sweep me away in its embrace. That’s what he smelled like, too—the air before a thunderstorm. An electrical charge. A warning. A promise.

“I don’t want to harm you.” His voice moved in tandem with his fingertips, sending a shiver through me that was as far from cold as possible.

“I can handle myself, in case you hadn’t noticed,” I breathed. Somehow he’d moved so his face was above mine, near enough the faint stubble on his chin brushed against my cheek. Enough that his scent overwhelmed my senses. The spark in his eyes ignited.

Then he closed the distance between us, his mouth coming down on mine, and his tongue swept into my mouth in a single possessive motion. All other thoughts left my mind—all thought of the battle ahead, the danger, even the faeries. Even the fact that he could have killed me a minute ago. My heart quickened, my pulse fluttering in my wrists as they twined around the back of his head. His hair was soft as his hands were rough with the hint of the scales he’d worn not long ago.

He stepped away, his forehead resting against mine. “No turning back now,” he murmured.

No kidding
, I thought, lightheadedness passing over me. I sucked in a breath, inhaling his scent. His grip on my arms tightened.

A gust of wind swept us up, knocking me back to my senses, and a second later, we reappeared in a field I didn’t recognise—at least, not at first. Vance released me and I took a couple of steps, looking around. The grass was mostly burned away, the blackened remains of tree trunks surrounding us. It was only when my eyes found the road running parallel, visible now there were no trees in the way, that the familiarity slammed into me.

I knew this place.

I’d lived here.

CHAPTER TWENTY

This park had once been within walking distance of my own house. The house itself, I knew, now lay in blackened ruins along with the entire neighbourhood. The newly re-grown trees masked the ruins, but I remembered everything.

I remembered running down the road to the park, away from the screaming. I remembered a tempest sweeping up the world. Icy blasts interspersed with explosions that rocked the ground underneath my feet. Strange, horrible creatures materialised in the streets. I pressed my hands to my eyes, trying to stem the flow of images. What with the horrors that had happened after leaving, I’d blocked out the memories of the day the faeries came.

The roads had buckled as giants pulled themselves out of the earth. Fire-throwing imps ran down the streets, hurling balls of flame at houses. Crawling, spindly faeries smashed windows, long fingers gouging at eyes and tearing at throats. Kelpies crawled from lakes and ponds and trampled people beneath hooves like iron.

Nobody could have been prepared. They’d flooded the streets in a devastating wave, chasing everyone away. My parents were out at work. I’d been at school when they came, and fled to the doors when the emergency alarms went off. The road outside had been torn to pieces, and the sight of a giant rampaging into nearby houses had flipped on the survival instinct buried deep inside me.

I ran, so fast my feet might have grown wings. I had no memory of running to the park, but I must have ended up there, because that’s where I’d collapsed, breathless, desperate tears flowing down my face.

And then…
he’d
appeared. A knight in shining armour. A hand in the dark, reaching to save me.

“Ivy.” Vance didn’t look too happy, either. His mouth pulled into a thin line, his eyes cold and sharp. Had he seen the invasion, too? He’d lost most of his family in it. I took a steadying breath.
I’m not alone. I’m not that girl anymore.

Then my eyes fell on the field. A glowing point marked the grass, like a post on a sports field, illuminated. Several other glowing lights shone at intervals.

Shit. This was a giant summoning circle.

And someone lay in the centre. A woman, unconscious, too far away to make out her features. But I knew her.

“Isabel!”

Goddammit.
To get to her, I’d need to walk into the circle itself. Exactly where they wanted me to. If this circle was meant to open a way to Faerie, and they needed my magic
.
I couldn’t risk it.

I turned to Vance. “Can you displace her?”

He hesitated. “There’s a lot of energy stirring up around here. If I use magic, I might trigger whatever this circle’s intended to do.”

Crap. He had a point. What if the trap was meant for both of us? It was the sort of underhanded shit I’d expect from the faeries.

“Give me a minute,” he said, stepping forward. “I’m going to try to break it.”

I opened my mouth to warn him off, and hands closed around my throat.

I shoved my elbows back, hitting something solid. Human or not, it didn’t matter. My sword swung around and would have decapitated the guy behind me, had he not turned into smoke.

What the hell?

The faerie smiled faintly. His ears were pointed, his hair black and glossy, though transparent. Not a pure faerie. Another half-blooded ghost.

Vance swore beside me as another spirit appeared. His sword flashed out, but the half-faerie’s body turned transparent.

A hand grabbed at my arm—a solid one. I stabbed the half-faerie with Irene, only for its body to turn transparent again.

Oh, shit.

“The walls are breaking down,” I said, circling the half-faerie. I’d have to wait for it to become solid again before I could strike it. “Must be. They’re ghosts, but they can take on solid form…”

Still, they couldn’t use magic. Sure, nothing could actually harm a spirit—that I knew of—but they sure as hell could harm
us,
if they turned solid. I slashed with my blade and met only air. Magic swirled around me in a blue cloud. Looked like spirit faeries could trigger my magic even when they couldn’t use it themselves.

Vance wore a murderous expression, his hands faintly darkening where I assumed his shifter blood reacted to his rage. He couldn’t land a hit on a creature without a solid body, no matter how he tried. He struck out with attacks that would have torn apart a solid opponent. Then he lowered the blade.

The air pulsed around him and the spirits reeled back, caught in a blast of wind. The hairs lifted from my head even as the wind sent the spirits the other way, driving them further back until they’d melted into grey smoke.

“Displaced the air,” he said. “Thought it was worth a try.”

“Good job.” I twisted to make sure nothing else was behind us, and the ground tilted under my feet.

“What—?”

“I’m trying to move the earth,” said Vance, moving to stand at my side.
Oh.
Clever idea. If he collapsed the ground underneath the glowing lights on the circle, it’d break the spell and I’d be able to get to Isabel.

Though cracks appeared in the once-green field, the circle remained intact. “Defensive spell?”