Here Be Monsters [2] (9 page)

"Siobhan, Thom put an arrow into Abyssinian's side. One of Cold Iron because he'd need to nullify my brother's magic. He knows Aby's a Winterbourne and he's trying to keep him in Underhill. My spies there have told me they've rescued Aby for now, away from any other harm, but Thom has sent out scouts to find Silira. I don't think he knows who she is, just that he's caught wind of a second Winterbourne."
 

Pissed off about Aby's situation didn't even begin to describe how she felt. Siobhan curled her hand into a ball. "This asshole would dare to stab a prince of Underhill?"
 

She was surprised when Oberon smiled. He did it so infrequently, so when it came, she was always dazzled. "You sound like Silira did. Thom went too far, I'm afraid. The Healers are faithful to the House of Geld. Harming Aby was the worst thing he could have done. Now he'll have to deal with Illeië."
 

"Who?"
 

"Nevermind. What's
 
important is that the Fallen has seen you. It's smelled Winterbourne on you. That means it'll come for you. Right now you have the advantage of daylight by drinking Aby's blood. But, if it knows you were in the daylight or smells it on you, it will come after you faster to find him. Or Silira."
 

Siobhan waved her hand. "That's all right and good, and I get it. I do. But what I don't get is—if you're not the one draining these elves, and the vamps aren't doing it? Then who is?"
 

"That's what I was trying to find out." Oberon said. "And I was getting close till well…" he laughed. "Your mirror set me up."
 

"Why did you come after me at my place then? Why did you make it look like you were guilty?"
 

Oberon shrugged. "I thought maybe you'd picked up on what I was doing. That maybe you knew who was killing my people. I didn't realize you suspected me till it was too late. And I didn't want you involved in this reality."
 

She didn't believe him. Not all of it. But she wanted to. She could believe he'd stop at nothing to save his people from something like Maeve. And she believed that if it came down to it, he'd kill Aby if he believed that was the only way.
 

The fact that Silira had received better treatment still goaded her. It was like big brother was still picking on little brother. Still trying to show him who was boss. "Aby's safe?"
 

"He is. But I'm pretty sure he'll be out of commission for a while, which is fine by me. I've given them instructions to keep him there where he's safe and he's not endangering anyone. Silira's heading back there as well. As long as they stay in Underhill, away from the Fallen, then there's no chance of it getting their blood and breaking the curse. The sunlight of Underhill would kill it within seconds unless it has a Winterbourne's blood."
 

She pursed her lips. "So what now?"
 

"Now? We find out whose killing the elves and stop them."
 

"How do we do that?"
 

He grinned at her. "By getting me out of here."
 

- 10 -

Abyssinian tried to open his eyes, but the light was too bright.
 

"No prince…not yet. Let the antidote finish working. You'll be fine in another half hour or so."
 

Antidote? Antidote for what? And why did he feel so…
bad
? His muscles were stiff and his head ached as if he'd downed a pint of dwarven wine.
 

Nasty stuff.
 

"I…" his throat was dry and he coughed. A straw was pressed against his lips and he drank something sweet and cold. He recognized the sweetness of Dandelion Wine and sighed. He was home.
 

Really home.

"That's good. Keep drinking. I'm afraid the drought you were given was a bit stronger than your body could handle. It stole your life faster than it should. Though I suppose," the voice in the darkness paused. "It's a good thing that Rhymer never really bothered to learn the truth about cold iron poison."
 

Cold iron poison? He finished the drink and took in a deep breath. But that only aggravated a dark pain in his side. He gave a low moan and felt cool hands on his shoulders.
 

"Really Aby…can't you follow simple instructions? The antidote can heal the draught, but the wound," there was a sigh. "That is real enough, and the iron remained inside of your body too long."
 

He finally needed to know whose voice this was. Though familiar, the memory was old and distant. He blinked several times and the light didn't hurt his eyes as much this time. A blurry head and shoulders filled his world, and behind it he saw the movement of sunlight through the trees. The warm, healing sun of home.
 

"Ah…I see you've come back to us now."
 

Her image sharpened. Thin faced, white hair and light blue eyes. "Illeië," he said in a voice still raw. "Where…"
 

"You're in my house this time," she smiled. She was the most ethereal of their people, and one of the oldest. "The Rhymer wouldn't dare to intrude here. And he believes you deep within a cold iron stupor."
 

"He does?" Abyssinian reached up with a shaking arm and put his hand to his forehead. His skin was clammy. Even his hair was damp. "Fever?"
 

"Normal. I'm afraid it's going to be several days before you're well enough to be back on your feet. And that is because of the cold iron," she turned away from him, disappearing from view.
 

"He…stabbed me…." He heard himself say.
 

"Yes," Illeië's answer was from the other side of the room. He crammed his neck to try and see where was was. "And though I do understand his somewhat limited reasoning, I do not condone his methods. In a much younger world, harming a prince was punishable by death."
 

And to Aby, it sounded as if Illeië were capable of carrying out such a task. And would enjoy it. "He…talked about Fallen and Winterbournes. Oberon told me about them—but I didn't believe him."

"So he did at least try to explain himself to you."
 

"Yes."
 

"Your blood breaks Merlin's spell. It is that simple. Yours, and Silira. You are the last of the Winterbourne."
 

"Silira?" This time he managed to push himself up on his elbows, albeit a bit unstable at it, and saw his savior across the room. Her back was to him as she faced an open wall of arches, each of them wound tightly vines of roses and honeysuckle. The scent of them was making him dizzy. "Why are there so few of us?"
 

"Because of the Exodus—didn't Thom tell you? When the Fallen were banished they tried to take as many Winterbourne as they could—to use you as blood machines. But…" she looked sad. "Your father said that Fallen couldn't easily be killed, so the Winterbourne were to be exterminated in order to prevent the Fallen from ever returning."

"No…"
 

"In retaliation for what your father did—"

"They took my mother," Aby finished. He was finally putting the pieces together. "And he want after them to find her, but they killed her."
 

"Yes. And when he lost her, he went crazy trying to find you. He killed so many Fallen as well as elves. When he found you—" she paused. "He was ambushed and killed. Cold Iron poison. It lead him to Momento Mori, and finally into death. The Black Guard resumed order and the Fallen disappeared. But when it was all finished, there were so few UnSeleighe and Winterbourne left, they fled Underhill and buried themselves into human lives."
 

Aby watched her though a haze of dull pain. "And when the killings started in the mortal realm—the drained elves—"
 

"Your brother put Thom in charge and set out with the Black Guard to discover what was happening."
 

"So you're saying my brother isn't the one killing elves in the Mortal realm?"
 

"No. He's been trying to find the same answers you have. According to Silira, someone else is looking for Winterbournes. At first he didn't believe it was the vampires. Because of his feelings for Siobhan. He's blinded by her, you know."
 

Yes. He knew. And Aby also knew he was just as blind. And in love. "Do we know who?"
 

The look on Illeië's face alarmed him. "We're not sure anymore, Abyssinian." She glided back to him. "There seems to be something we're not seeing, an element we didn't know was in play. Silira continued Oberon's work after he was arrested and has found something…"
 

When she didn't continue he struggled to sit up, but bent forward in reaction to the pain in his side. Illeië's healing touch was warm against his side and her hands were pushing him back down. "No…you can't do that just yet."
 

Aby was breathing hard when he rested on his back, and his vision blurred some as he blinked quickly. "How long…"
 

"Longer if you keep moving. Now," she sat on the edge of the bed with him. "You are protected here. Rhymer can't come into this area of my Sick House. He believes you are in the deep sleep of death. Let him keep thinking that."
 

"But I have to help Siobhan," he said but realized quickly there was no way he could stand.
I feel so useless…how could I have let this happen?
 

"You didn't let it happen," someone said to his right. "The Rhymer has deceived us all."
 

He opened his eyes and looked over to see a tall, slender elf with dark auburn hair walking toward them. He could only assume she'd come through the arched doorways. But had she heard his thoughts?
 

He recognized her as the elf that freed him from Oberon's basement. "You…"
 

"Greetings, Prince. It is nice to see you awake."
 

As she neared him, he saw her eyes. They were the same color as his own. Indigo.
 

"Silira," Illeië moved around Abyssinian's bed to embrace her cousin. "You have news?"
 

Silira nodded.
 

"Silira," Abyssinian tried again to push himself up and failed.
 

The auburn haired UnSeleighe hurried to him. She had her hands on him as well and he heard her voice in his mind.
You must not injure yourself any more, my prince. Please. I have news.

He had never spoken to a cousin in his mind before. He stared up at her with wide eyes. "How are you doing that?"
 

"Because we are of the same blood. I can't talk to Illeië this way,"
Silira said and then straightened. "To the both of you, Oberon sends his greetings. And to you," she looked at Aby. "He sends a warning to be careful. And to stay put."
 

"He always does that." And then his memory snapped in place. "That was you…in that dungeon. You were the one that gave me the draught."
 

Yes.
 

"And as for my brother—"
 

"He's very serious this time, Abyssinian," Silira said. "You are going to need to be strong to help him with The Rhymer."
 

"What about the Fallen?" Aby asked. "That seems to be the bigger problem here. It has to be destroyed."
 

"I agree. But
 
I have just heard from the loyalists in Thom's guard." And Silira looked at both of them. "Apparently we were right on both counts—our people and a group of vampires are in collusion and responsible for the dead elves. Thom is working with the vampire leader and her own force." She took a deep breath. "And now the Rhymer has ordered our people to destroy the cairns."
 

Xe-Faun
stared at the burning, hissing wreck of what had once been the main cairn between Underhill and the mortal realm. The adjoining point had been in San Francisco. It was the first on the list of cairns the Regent wanted destroyed in order to prevent the old enemy from entering Underhill.
 

He'd obeyed his orders and done his best.
 

But he felt…troubled. This was the oldest of the cairns, and the first established over a century ago. It felt…wrong…to destroy it. Xe-Faun understood the reason why.
But wouldn't it be much more beneficial to go after this monster and kill it? By destroying the cairns, it was the same as leaving it trapped in the mortal realm.
 

And leaving the mortals trapped with it.
 

It seemed almost…cowardly. To do this
. And he ached inside at what he'd done.
 

The next on his list was the one that took travelers to Oregon. And the next was in Chicago. There were others in the Rhymer's guard working on the lesser cairns, their power of magic not as strong as Xe-Faun's. This kind of work presented its own danger. If the cairn wasn't destroyed the right way, instead of closing it, the thing would open wider, and the magic that kept Underhill alive would dissipate faster as it was pulled into the larger mortal realm.
 

With a sigh, Xe-Faun turned and started the walk to the next cairn, his mind a jumble of troubled thoughts.
 

- 11 -

If there was one thing Keith Song never thought he'd see exiting the prison—besides seeing a vampire walking out into the sun—it was that day walking vampire accompanied by Oberon Geld as they walked out of the prison. The former Police Captain was still dressed in an orange jumper and white sneakers. Keith's jaw dropped even further as the two of them made a direct line for his car.
 

"Song!" Siobhan called out.
 

Just her saying his name was enough to make him react. He got out of the car and stood by the door. "What's going on? You knew I was here?"