Faerie Magic (25 page)

When nothing appeared, I shot a blast of magic up at the ceiling, lighting the whole arena. The flash lasted a second, but enough for me to see the outline of the shapeshifter faerie creeping up on me. Gotcha.

I swung the sword around with magic-enhanced instincts. A pained scream sounded, and Chameleon appeared, my blade buried deep in his side.

The half-faerie slumped down. Applause sounded, and my head jerked up.

“Enjoy the entertainment?” I asked. To my relief, my voice didn’t shake, even though I knew who watched me. The sick bastard who’d set up his own version of the Trials.

Calder stood tall, carrying a sword in one hand and wearing the same black-and-silver armour. I turned to him, my own blade held at an angle to show the blood dripping down it.
I’ll bury my sword in your heart.

“That wasn’t much of a show,” he said, almost petulantly.

“I’ll give you a show, all right.” I approached him, blade humming in my hands. My whole body shook with the force of the magic rolling through my veins. Not dampened this time. I wouldn’t let it be.
Avakis’s power belongs to me. The magic is mine.

The magic burning around Calder seemed dim by comparison, not bright like last time. I moved in closer, readying myself to jump. Then I lunged forward.

He barely dodged my blade. The air turned cold, but not icy. Maybe because the hellhounds were outside. Calder swung his own sword to block my next attack. I had him on the defensive. His bright blue eyes were furious, but his magic had turned transparent, the way mine had when his fed on mine.

I didn’t know why, but I’d take every advantage I could. Blue smoke rose around me, encasing my body. My blade slashed and swiped, nearly making contact several times. He was definitely slower than last time. Like
his
power had been dampened rather than mine. Calder kept moving backwards, as though he was letting me drive him to the arena’s edge.

I stopped. Not fast enough. His magic grew bright, sharp, as threads of light poured into him from the body of the fallen shapeshifter. It was still alive, feebly stirring, and he’d drawn strength from its pain.

Calder lunged forward with speed equal to mine. Our blades clashed with a clang. He bared his teeth in a snarl. I glared back.

“Don’t get too close to the iron,” I hissed, pushing my blade down on his. It didn’t give. Must be the real deal—like Avakis’s sword, forged from the heart of a tree in Faerie.

My blade inched towards his exposed hand.
Come on.

Calder’s other hand moved, and sent a blast of icy energy at my chest. My shield shattered into a thousand fragments.

Irene flew from my hand. My body was flung into the air, the breath frozen in my lungs. He’d hit me with pure Death energy. My vision swam, and I swore I saw transparent figures in the corners of my vision.
No. I can’t be—

I hit the ground. Pain exploded in my skull, and the world faded out.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

I woke when a punch nearly dislocated my jaw. The pain sent me spinning to the side, my head colliding with a damp, solid surface. Brick.

“Wake up,” said a harsh voice.

I groaned. “Give me another hour.”

Another punch rattled my jaw. Apparently he didn’t find that funny. I spat out a mouthful of blood, and glared at Calder.

He moved in closer so I could see every inch of him leaning over me. He really was the spitting image of his father, albeit with silver hair rather than black—he didn’t even have the rounded ears of a human. He was so pale, his skin glowed in the dim light of the… cell. Figures.

“So you decided not to kill me this time.” I half sat up, my back brushing against the cold wall behind me. From the protesting aches all over my body, the floor wasn’t a fluffy mattress. Not that I saw much beyond the eerie blue glow surrounding Calder. He must have boosted his magic in the time he’d been unconscious, because he blazed all over. Didn’t do much for the nonexistent lighting in here. I saw the dim outline of another person slumped nearby. Dead or alive, I couldn’t tell.

“Ivy.” His eyes gleamed, blue as icy chips. “We didn’t have the chance to talk.”

“Yeah, because you stabbed me and left me bleeding to death.” I attempted to stretch my stiff neck. Since my hands were tied behind my back, this proved difficult. “Doesn’t really make for friendly conversation. And for the record, I’m not interested in talking to you.” I wiggled my hands. The movement stung, like he’d tied me with string embedded with spikes. Ow.

“Don’t bother,” said Calder. “You won’t break free.”

“Thought you wanted me dead.”

He shrugged. The movement looked odd on him. “You’re more useful to me alive right now. I don’t think you understand what a gift my father gave you.”

“I took it from him,” I said.

“I know. I’m glad you lived, Ivy.” His hard, flat tone echoed off the walls. “I knew you killed my father, but I didn’t know you took his magic yourself. You’re human.”

“I won his magic when I killed him. Just like I’m going to kill you. What the hell did you think killing the Chief of the half-faeries would achieve?”

“I deserve to be in his place. Besides, I didn’t kill him.” He indicated the other figure slumped against the wall. Now the light from Calder’s full-body glow illuminated the far corner, it became clear the cell’s other occupant wasn’t dead after all. The man appeared to be unconscious, but faint traces of magic hovered around him.

I turned back to Calder. “Going soft? Or do you prefer making other people do your dirty work, like your father did?”

“I’m not him,” said Calder, the trace of a snarl underneath his voice. “I have every intention of killing you myself, after I pry every secret from your tongue.”

“That’s a big statement.” I shifted forward, fighting a wince at the pain in my wrists. “So you didn’t like your father, then.”

His mouth twisted. “You don’t understand, do you? You were taken into Faerie. A changeling was left in your place. A half-Sidhe. Me. He abandoned me like I was some pathetic human.”

“So you
are
a changeling,” I said. “You’ve never been to the Grey Vale.”

“Thanks to you.” He spat out the words, kicking me viciously in the knee. I managed to turn my yelp of pain into a gasp. Damn, that’d leave a bruise. “You left us stranded.”

“I saved your ass, you ungrateful dick,” I said. “The Grey Vale is where exiles go. I’d gladly send you back there myself if it meant not having to listen to your
woe is me
speech. It might have escaped your attention that life’s a bitch whether you’re human or not.” I was babbling, fingers scraping for a way to undo the ties. Based on the stinging in my fingers and hands, he’d tied me up with barbed wire or thorns. Maybe I could use magic—

Calder’s eyes flashed blue, and a shock went through my limbs. I yelped, my body suddenly icy cold, and the magic slipped out of reach.

“Like I said, I’m more than you are. I’m the son of a Sidhe lord, not a pathetic human. The other Sidhe lords are fools if they think they can ignore us.”

“This is what it’s about? You want to draw the Sidhe lords here?” I sucked in air, which felt unusually thick. He’d used magic again, like a toned-down version of the fear spell. I assumed he must have boosted his power while I was unconscious. Probably by torturing someone. “So what’s the big deal with the drug, then? You won’t have much of an army if they keep killing one another.”

“I never said I wanted an army,” said Calder. “An energy surge is required to open the veil.”

“Where’d you learn that? Velkas? Are you mad because he ran off and left you here after you did so much to help him?” I was going out on a limb, but the dangerous expression that crossed Calder’s face told me I’d guessed right. He’d been the one running around doing Velkas’s dirty work, hoping he’d get to go into the Grey Vale himself. Instead, Velkas had ditched him once he had everything he needed, wanting Avakis’s power for himself.

Calder slapped me across the face. I tasted blood again, but stared at him defiantly. “There are less complicated ways to open the veil than starting a war amongst the half-bloods. Just saying.” Like using
my
magic, for instance. But he’d never wanted me alive. He’d never considered that my magic might be more than the living manifestation of the man who’d abandoned him.

He underestimated me. He’d never been to the Grey Vale. He didn’t know his father. I’d been so wrapped up in thinking there might be some elaborate plan, I’d never stopped to consider he might have the same lack of information as most half-faeries did. Velkas had probably only told him the bare minimum.

“Talk’s cheap,” I said. “Let me go and I’ll show you why opening the veil is a bad idea. Especially when you’ve clearly never read a necromancy handbook.”

“Velkas told me what to do.”

“He really did a number on you, didn’t he?” I shook my head. “Did he feed you the whole
faerie blood equals immortality
line, too? Because it’s total bollocks.”

“Enough.” The sharp word echoed off the walls. “Velkas was a powerful Sidhe lord. You shouldn’t have been able to kill him.”

I shrugged. “Avakis was more powerful, and I killed
him
without even using magic. If you get cocky, you lose. What were you doing with Velkas, then? Running around as his errand-boy?”

“He hired me to summon some changelings. He promised to take me with him to Faerie. He gave me my ash sword, like his own oak one.”

Summon some changelings?
“You did that?”

“He taught me a lot,” said Calder. “Velkas was right when he said half-bloods are easily fooled. Mortal blood makes us weak.”

Yeah. That includes you, dickhead.

“What’s your point? Capturing me won’t solve your problems. It’s all human blood here.” I wriggled my bleeding hands. “Not a drop of faerie blood in sight.”

“You should never have taken his magic.” He grabbed my arm roughly, yanking me to my feet. “I should have made sure you died.”

“Yeah, you should.” Anger seared my veins. “You’re
stupid,
aren’t you? You’re incapable of thinking for yourself. You think Velkas had all the answers? He was just as clueless, but at least he had class.”

Calder threw me against the wall. My back hit solid brick, and the thorns around my wrists dug in tighter.

“It’s true,” I said. “You might have fooled the other half-bloods, but you aren’t powerful enough to cross the veil by yourself.” My heart beat fast in my ears, and I was certain I’d overstepped the mark this time. I could hardly believe he genuinely didn’t know how to get into Faerie. He’d lived
here.
In the mortal world. A changeling.

Calder’s expression twisted. “You’re lying.”

“I’m not. By all means go ahead, but if you’re gonna turn every half-blood in town against one another, I’ll have to stop you.”

“You’re going nowhere,” said Calder. “Now I’ve got you here, I want to see how red your human blood really runs.”

Sick fear rose in my throat, but I didn’t break eye contact with him. “Try me.”

He reached for my arm and I lunged forward with both feet. He’d moved within range, allowing me to kick at him. My feet collided with his shins, knocking him off balance. His half-faerie reflexes stopped him from tripping over, but the distraction let me scramble to my feet. Even with my hands bound, I could do some damage.

“Don’t you dare—” He grabbed for my arm and missed, and I headbutted him in the face.

Ow. I saw stars. The move probably hurt me more than it hurt him, but he stumbled back again, giving me more advantage. My head rang with pain. I ignored it and rammed a shoulder into his chest. He didn’t have the full strength and agility of a pure-blooded Sidhe, and I’d taken him by surprise.

Finally,
finally,
my magic came back in a dizzying rush, pouring out of me. Calder snarled, his nose bleeding, and my attack ricocheted off an invisible shield. He whipped out his sword, pointing it at me with shaking hands. I’d spooked him somehow. Maybe he’d seen his long dead father in the magic I’d thrown at him.

“You aren’t worthy,” he gasped.

Jesus. He was scared of me. The creepy guy who’d confronted me in the alleyway and stabbed me to death had been an act. Now he wasn’t fully in control of the situation, he’d turned into a scared kid. A blink of an eye to the Sidhe. Avakis would probably have forgotten about him. He certainly hadn’t mentioned a son. Then again, our ‘conversations’ had mostly consisted of me begging him not to hurt me.

The fear Calder had incited in me had been from the hellhounds. Alone, he was just one lone lunatic. Albeit one who’d possibly caused a supernatural war.

I looked at him, threads of magic swirling around me. “It’s not too late to call them off,” I said. “I wasn’t kidding when I said you’re going to turn this town into a bloodbath. You can stay here and die or try to get to the Grey Vale and die anyway. The place is poison to people with human blood.”