Rising Moon (The Rune Stone Trilogy) (36 page)

             
Aylin had iron cuffs around her wrists, and the chains that were attached were bolted into the rock. She was so still, and her skin felt cold and clammy. Blood matted her hair near her temple and stained the skin in the corner of her beautiful mouth, the deep color looked black against her white skin. His breath caught in his throat as the realization that they had come too late settled in his mind, but then there was a slight movement. She had taken a breath.

             
"
Aylin,
"
he gasped and tried to wake her up but she didn’t stir. He grabbed one of the cuffs where the chain connected and gave a good yank. The chain broke off with ease, and the cuff popped off her wrist. The skin underneath was bloody and very swollen. He broke the other cuff off and put his arms under her. As soon as he tried to lift her he felt his strength leave him and he collapsed on top of Aylin.

             
"
Terra!
"
El screamed behind him. He moved his head to look toward them. El had her palms up, but Terra had collapsed to her knees, her hands on the ground, gasping for air. At that moment he felt a slash on his shoulder, like a knife blade slicing his skin. He put his hand on his shoulder and felt a warm, sticky fluid soaking into his shirt. He looked back and the younger witch smiled wickedly at him.

             
El screamed again and the field around the witches that had been dimming exploded into a blinding light. Blake had to look away because it was like looking directly at the sun. The witches stopped chanting and started screaming. Blake felt his strength immediately return and scooped Aylin up. He jumped to his feet and ran toward Terra. Aylin lay lifeless in his arms and he had to hold her tight against him so her head didn’t bounce around. He looked at the screaming witches again and their skin began to smoke. Large angry red blisters were forming on their faces and hands, and the older one collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain.

             
"
Terra!
"
He shook his sister. She coughed and looked up at him. Her hair was wet with sweat and the skin under her eyes was dark.
"
Let’s go!
"
She stumbled to her feet.

             
"
El!
"
Terra staggered to El and grabbed her arm. El flinched and Terra saw her eyes which burned dark red.
"
EL!
"
She shook her. El blinked and her eyes returned too liquid green. The bubble disappeared around the witches and she put her hands down. The other witch collapsed to the ground, gasping for air.
"
Let’s go,
"
Terra said again and pulled El toward the corner of the cave.

             
"
Wait!
"
El stopped and turned back to the witches who were whimpering on the ground. The older one was struggling to get back up to her feet. The blisters on her face shrank slowly. El put two fingers into either side of her mouth and let out a loud whistle. It was loud and strong, and it echoed off the walls.

             
She waited, and after just a few seconds her patience was rewarded. The sound of hammers on rock echoed off the walls, coming from every direction. The noise increased in volume, and the younger witch covered her ears.
"
What the hell is that?
"
she screamed.
"
You fucking bitch!
"
She was now looking at El with hatred in her eyes.

             
The thousands of hammers stopped at once.
"
Oh, you shouldn’t have done that,
"
El scolded Julia.
"
You have to watch that mouth of yours.
"
Just as El said ‘yours’ a small stone came from the back of the cave, hitting Julia square in the back.

             
Julia screamed and whipped around to face whoever was back there, only to meet a shower of small stones, pelting her in the face and stomach.

             
El turned back toward Terra, who was staring wide-eyed.
"
Knockers.
"
El nodded and draped her arm around Terra’s shoulder.

             
Blake had carried Aylin outside and set her down on the ground.
"
Aylin?
"
He tried to rouse her again. His shoulder screamed in pain with every movement and he tried not to move it around too much. Aylin was unresponsive and he couldn’t wake her. Her skin was ghostly white and slicked with sweat. He brushed the hair off her brow and framed her face with one hand.
"
Aylin, honey, wake up. Come on,
"
he urged over and over.

             
At the sound of shoes scraping on the rock he looked up to see Terra and El coming out of the cave. They were leaning on each other heavily.
"
Moonlight,
"
El muttered and pointed to a spot in the grass a few feet from him. He put his hands under Aylin’s shoulders and pulled her limp body into the moonlight. He knelt down next to her and waited.

             
El and Terra leaned against the cliff, watching. Each one of them held their breath, waiting for some response from Aylin. They were all thinking the same thought, that they might have been too late. Terra sniffed, tears running down her face, and El squeezed Terra tight against her side. El refused to believe that they had been too late. She could still feel Aylin, she was still connected to her.

             
After a few moments Aylin’s pale lips twitched and parted. Then she took a deep breath and opened her eyes to slits.
"
Blake?
"
her voice was weak and shaky. She looked up at him.

             
He let out a sigh of relief and brought her hand to his lips.
"
Yes. I’m here.
"

             
"
El… Terra?
"

             
"
We’re here Aylin. But we need to leave. Now,
"
El said, her voice unsteady.

             
"
I can’t move,
"
Aylin said and her voice hitched.

             
"
Don’t worry. I’ll carry you, you’re safe now.
"
Blake picked her up gently, but held her firmly against his chest, and led Terra and El out of the woods. They found the truck easily near the road, hidden in the darkness of a large pine tree. He and El put Aylin in the back of the cab, her head in Terra’s lap. El and Blake jumped in the front and they sped away.
"
Is it safe to go to Terra’s?
"
Blake asked El.

             
"
Yes. There are protections around the house,
"
El said, leaning her head against the window.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

             
Dawn broke as Blake sat at Terra’s kitchen table nursing a steaming cup of black coffee. A thick fog had set in during the few hours he slept, and he could barely see the trees that lined her backyard. He rolled his shoulder, testing the bandage that Terra had skillfully secured. She didn’t have to stitch him up, but she had put on some butterfly bandages.

             
He had protested when she came at him with a salve made with thyme leaves, she claimed it would quicken the healing process, and somehow she had muscled around him and covered the slashes with the thick cream. Then she covered that with thick gauze and heavy medical tape that would rip hair and skin off when removed. He didn’t look forward to that, but at least it was on a part of him that didn’t have much hair. He didn’t want to fess up to her that since she had put the smelly salve on him he had been feeling a lot better.

             
Blake and Terra seemed to have come out the best from the previous night’s activities. She was weak and tired, but a hot shower had revived her. After sleeping a few hours herself she had made him coffee and oatmeal. He didn’t touch the oatmeal, but the coffee tasted good.

             
Terra checked on the other two. El had been so weak that she had passed out in the truck on the way back home. Her skin had turned pale and clammy, so Terra had Blake carry her into the bedroom that El had claimed. She covered El with thick blankets and had placed jars of candles on the windowsill. When he asked her about them she only waved him off, too exhausted to explain. Later she had explained to him that they had been made with oils from certain herbs for protection and healing.

             
Aylin had been the worst of them all. She had been in and out of consciousness during the ride back, and once in bed she hadn’t moved. Blake knew because he had slept on the chair in the corner of her room. Her wrists and ankles had looked painful with the deep gashes and red welts covering them. Terra did have enough energy to explain to him that the witches must have made cuts on her wrists and ankles, placing the iron directly on top of the wounds. This would have let the iron seep into her blood stream and if left long enough, it would have killed her. Terra did what she could for Aylin’s wounds, cleaning them and bandaging what she could. Blake tried to help her, but she made him sit in the chair, and soon he had fallen asleep.

             
Blake stood and refilled his mug and walked back to the room Aylin was in. She was covered in layers of quilts on the bed. Her midnight black hair splashed across the pillow, fanning away from her pale face. He returned to sitting in the chair in the corner. He couldn’t stop the images in his mind of her lying lifeless on the rock floor of the cave. Blood had matted in her hair at her temple. Her face looked peaceful and for an instant he had feared she had met her destiny. But it only lasted a second, because he saw the slight rise of her chest, she had barely been breathing. His relief had only lasted moments, until he had seen his sister collapsed.

             
Blake closed his eyes and forced the images away. He focused on the hot mug in his hand, the feel of the chair he sat in. The back of the chair had been too upright to be even remotely comfortable to sleep in, but he hadn’t dared moving any farther away from her. Terra had said that Aylin should pull through just fine, but she would heal faster when she slept. So he made no attempt to wake her.

             
"
Blake?
" s
he whispered, her throat dry. He jumped at the sound of her voice; he hadn’t noticed her eyes were open in slits.

             
"
Aylin.
"
He moved to the bed.

             
"
Coffee. Smells good.
"
The corner of her mouth twitched.

             
"
Do you want some?
"
He leaned over her. She nodded slightly and he quickly made for the door. He had a full mug for her in a flash, dripping the hot liquid on his hand and barely noticed the sting. He brought it back in and found Terra sitting on the end of the bed. Aylin weakly pushed herself up into a sitting position. Blake immediately adjusted the pillows behind her and she leaned back.

             
"
Thank you,
"
she said taking the mug. He noticed the cuts on her wrists were now red, angry looking scars.
"
How is El?
"

             
"
She’s fine,
"
El said smartly from the doorway. She had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and still looked pale, but she walked slowly and sat down on the other side of the bed.

             
"
Tell me what happened,
"
Aylin said quietly.

             
"
Maybe later.
"
Terra shook her head.
"
You need to rest and heal.
"

             
"
No, I would like to know now,
"
Aylin said. She looked at Blake.
"
You were there.
"

             
Blake nodded, but it was Terra that spoke. She relayed the events, and Aylin grimaced at some of the details. Toward the end of her detailed description of the previous night’s events she frowned,
"
That amount of iron should have killed you.
"

             
"
Oh, I had a few tricks up my sleeves.
"
Aylin faintly smiled. Ever since she was eighteen her mother started her on taking small doses of iron. It had made her sick at first, but she fought through it, and now she had a tolerance built up against the effects of it. She would never be fully immune to it, but was stronger than other faeries would be when in contact with it.

             
"
You’re mother was one smart cookie,
"
El said, leaning against the footboard.

             
"
She had to be. She knew what killed my father, and figured I would have the same fate. So she spent most of her time teaching me what she knew,
"
Aylin said sadly.
"
We have so much to talk about.
"
She looked down at her hands. Her fingers traced the red welts on her left wrist.

             
"
Yes, but we have time. We all need to heal, and stress won’t quicken the process.
"
Terra put a hand on Aylin’s leg.

             
Aylin managed a smirk.
"
Yes mother.
"

             
"
Before mother sends me back to bed,
"
El eyed Terra,
"
we’re going to have to give thanks to some new friends before too long.
"

             
"
Who?
"
Aylin frowned.

             
"
It seems the cave they had you in also was home to some Knockers.
"

             
"
Knockers?
"
Aylin’s jaw dropped.
"
Really?
"

             
"
Yes, and cranky as usual. But they had pretty good aim at the young witch.
"

             
"
How do we give thanks to them? I didn’t see them.
"
Terra frowned.

             
"
No, almost no one has. But they have a fascination with human artifacts. Even something like a shoelace is a treasure for them. Blake, would you mind?
"
Aylin looked to him.

             
"
I’ll take care of it.
"
He nodded.

             
"
What are we going to do about Mom?
"
Terra asked weakly. She felt selfish asking about her, but she didn’t want any harm coming to her.

             
"
We need to recover, and then we’ll get her out,
"
El said.

             
"
What do you mean?
"
Aylin sat up straighter.
"
Why would we go in for her?
"

             
"
They had her too, in the cave,
"
Blake said quietly.

             
"
She was? That doesn’t make sense,
"
Aylin said, her brow creasing.
"
None of you asked how they got to me. I was in Mary’s car, she said she wanted some company on her trip to Grand Marais, and she drugged me. She had brought tea with iron in it. She…
"
The memories brought tears to her eyes, the feeling of betrayal so fresh to her.
"
She gave me to them.
"

             
Blake crushed the ceramic mug he held in his hands. Coffee spilled onto his shoes and the floor, but he didn’t notice.
"
Why would she…How could she…
"
He couldn’t understand what Aylin told them.

             
"
But she’s not a witch. We would have known that,
"
El frowned.

             
Aylin shrugged.
"
I don’t know. But, I’m sorry Blake and Terra, but I don’t think she needs rescuing.
"

             
Terra had been silent up until this point. She bristled under the implication of Mary.
"
There has to be another explanation.
"

             
"
I hope there is, for your sake.
"
Aylin’s eyes drooped.

             
Blake stepped forward.
"
We have time to discuss all of this. For now we all need to recover, and Aylin needs to sleep.
"

             
Terra slid off the bed.
"
You’re right. Get some sleep Aylin.
"
She and El left the room, and Blake stepped closer to Aylin.

             
"
I’m so sorry Blake,
"
she said quietly and wouldn’t look at him.

             
He leaned over and brought her chin up until her eyes met his.
"
Do you think I’m mad at you? You have no reason to lie, and you didn’t tell us this with a light heart. When it’s time to deal with it, we will. For now, I want to be here with you. Let me do that, Aylin.
"

             
She smiled thankfully up to him and he lightly kissed her lips. She settled back down into the pillows and dozed off with the feeling of his lips still on hers.

             
At his own home, Blake moved about collecting personal items that would sustain him for a while at Terra’s. He stopped short when he noticed the Seanchai lying open on his coffee table. He knew he had left the book under his mattress. But there it was, open on the table. He frowned at it and went to his bedroom to investigate. Everything was in place, including the cloth that he had wrapped around the book. The cloth was still under the mattress, neatly folded in to a square that was the same size of the book. Blake ripped the cloth out from the bed and stalked back into the living room. No one had been in his house except Owen. Blake had a feeling that the way Owen now works, if he had been doing some investigating in Blake’s house, Blake would never know about it. Owen wouldn’t leave any indication of being in his home.