Shatter - Sins of the Sidhe (39 page)

Hopping in the car, Adam floored it and they headed towards Brinley’s house and damn the speed limit. Adam was worried that Brinley would be in some type of terrible pain in her sleep, like Rowan had been herself. Wild with the thoughts he had painted in his head from Rowan’s own experience, Adam was eager to get to Brinley. Not that much could be done, but maybe there was a small chance they could wake her up and save her sooner. His blood boiled and heart ached envisioning his sunshine in such a dark and scary place. It was all Adam’s fault. He should have known this was the course of action Lorcan would have taken.

Adam let Brinley go that day, let her escape in hopes to save her from this very thing. What a fool he was. He should have stopped her from leaving. Held her tighter to him and never let her go. Now she was paying for his foolish mistakes and Adam was going mad with regrets.

It took no time at all to reach Brinley’s tiny home. Night had fallen and the lights were off inside. They ran up the steps and through the door. It took a minute for it to register that the door was already unlocked –
an unlikely and irresponsible thing for Brinley to do
, Ro thought. She always kept her house bolted down; the neighborhood was no longer the Brady Bunch Street they’d grown up in. Doors and alarms were now set at night. They split off inside, searching for the sleeping beauty. Rowan went to the bedroom, Adam the living room, and Devlin searched the rest of the rooms.

Nothing. No Brinley anywhere. How can this be? Her car was in the driveway so she had to be here somewhere. Just as the thought rolled through her head, reality punched Rowan in the gut: Brinley wasn’t asleep and she wasn’t here. The bastard had managed to kidnap her for real. Devlin looked at her, reading her mind, and Adam shared the same realization.

Mother of Christ, how can this have happened?

Adam grabbed his head in frustration; the warrior was going to snap. Mayhap Lorcan summoned his demons to snatch and drag her there. Mayhap she was lured to the woods by some trick. Or maybe, just maybe, the worst has happened: Lorcan was again a full Sidhe of flesh and blood, no longer weak and preying on souls, but able to take on any and all that stood in his way with his own strength and power.

By Danu, let that not be the case
, he prayed.

Adam ran out of the house, Devlin and Rowan close behind him, and they peeled out of Brinley’s driveway with a screech. Rowan gave him quick, precise directions on how to get back to the woods she’d been in so many years ago. She could have been blindfolded and known her way there even though it had been years since she’d stepped foot in that place. New construction was being built on a site to the left of them as they pulled up. Large bulldozers and cranes resting from a long day’s work sat like large metal giants on dirt hills. Soon, these woods will be gone, demolished for something depressing and unnecessary, like a shopping center.

Getting out of the car, they followed Rowan through a patch of grass and up to the tree line. Tomorrow was Halloween and the air felt charged with anticipation. Or maybe that was just in Rowan’s head. She was a bundle of raw nerves now. Peering into the dark woods, she felt like Little Red Riding Hood with two angry Ax-men by her side. Well, that’s certainly better than just a basket of strawberries.

There was no time to waste. Adam barged past them and into dark trees; he couldn’t get to Brinley fast enough. Devlin went to follow him, but Rowan grabbed the Druid by the arm before he could take another step.

She was turning chicken shit. Her friend was in there, along with so many others that needed her help, but fight or flight was doing a tug-of-war on her confidence. “Wait. I’m scared Devlin. I don’t know if I can do this. What if we lose? What if I lose you?”

That was the real fear. She’d willingly go in there and die trying to free those souls and her best friend. She’d readily risk her life for them. But she didn’t want Devlin to risk his. She knew, without a doubt, that he would kill for her… and die for her. She didn’t want that sacrifice to ever be made. Life without Devlin would be worse than anything Lorcan could do to her. She couldn’t bear the thought of Devlin’s death being on her hands.

Reading her mind, Devlin grabbed her face and gently raised her chin up to him. His whiskey eyes bore into her emeralds and his voice was strong and confident. “Lass, I’ll not be going anywhere. We do this together. We will win this together. I’ll not be dying this day, and neither will you. I’ll not let ye go, Rowan. Not ever.”

His mouth crushed hers and they kissed their fears, hopes, and Oh-help-me-Gods out into the universe. Magic thrummed loud and hard like battle drums in their veins. They were ready. Come hell or high water, they were going to do this – together.

“Are ye ready lass? Keep your mind open to me and I’ll not let ye go.” One more kiss and a boost of love, Devlin and Rowan stepped inside the woods and towards the gateway to Lorcan’s Hell.

Adam paced back and forth up ahead. Eager and annoyed, he was acting like a raving lunatic while he waited for the others to catch up. Sensing their arrival, he yelled his impatience at them, sword already in hand eager to kill.

“It’s down this way, by the creek,” Rowan led them down the path to the right. It didn’t take long to reach their destination. The woods were quiet. Too quiet.
No animals or birds were around here tonight. “It’s so quiet,” she said.

“Aye, they ken danger is among them and they’ve fled to safety,” Devlin confirmed looking around.

They heard it then. The familiar sounds like cicadas hissing. The noise got louder and louder as the demons and shadows crawled out from the trees and fallen logs surrounding them at every angle. Some climbed down like gigantic lizards from the tall oaks, while others wisped through the air with a
whoosh
making keening noises.

The men fell in attack stance, swords out and teeth snarling. Rowan just watched them all, looking for a signal. If they had no allies here, then they would all soon be ash. But she wanted to give them a chance to show their intentions before the three of them slaughtered the lot.

One demon landed like a cat on the crunchy ground and then stood up on two legs and walked over to Adam. All black with snarly teeth, the thing lashed out at the Sidhe. Adam swung his blade and sliced the creature down the middle, leaving nothing but ashes. Three more came closer and circled around him and he wasted no time cutting through two of them with one swipe of his sword and grabbed the third by the neck. He ripped its head clean off and discarded the body on the ground while it still convulsed. Adam crushed the shrieking head in his hands like it was an egg, black ick splattering his armor.

Devlin took on two more that looked like large bats. They beat their wings at him and shot out needle-like spikes from their backs. But they did not last long with Devlin’s battle skill and anger. Slashed from his sword, they dropped to the forest floor and sizzled into the ground until they were just puddles of ink.

Back to back, the warriors circled around, aware of every move and every creature. It was like a dance, and they were skilled with their footwork as they kept their eyes fixed on their enemies.

Rowan stood a few feet away and studied one of the smaller shadows looming in the corner. She walked up to it slowly. Ro knew him by his frame and her heart broke at the sight before her now. Seamus was no longer a gray shadow, he’d turned black. She was too late.

“Seamus” she said, but he did not answer. “Please, Seamus, it’s Rowan. I’m here.”

He answered with a hiss but didn’t move. Rowan took another step closer to him and reached out to touch his face. She wanted to cry for him. They hadn’t even stepped into that hell pit and she felt like they already failed. No, not they… her. She promised she would save him and she was too late.

On instinct, Ro placed her hand on the shadow, sadness and love washing over her as she looked him in the eyes. For a second, they changed from pitch to something else. Ro’s breath caught, and when the shadow didn’t retreat or fight, she grabbed his face with both hands and sent out a wave of her magic towards him.

With all the emotions running through her, it felt like an inferno had roared to life in her body and light burst from her emerald eyes. She wanted to scream from the rush of it, but it was over in a flash. When she looked at what was between her hands now, Ro saw she no longer held a black shadow – she held a small boy.

He blinked slowly and looked down at his hands in disbelief. “She said you would come. She said you would save us. Thank you, my lady!” He grabbed her and gave her a hug. Well, as much as a ghost can give a hug. The other shadows didn’t move but stared in awe at what just happened. Rowan looked around at each of them and spoke with a steady strong voice.

“We are not your enemy. The enemy is inside. He is the one who made you black and dark. I do not wish to harm any of you. But if you fight us now, we will have no other choice but to give you your true end. That isn’t the way this should be, for any of you. Please, join us, and I
will
set you free.”

No move was made. No sound was heard. Rowan walked over to her two warriors that were staring at her with pride. “Stand with us. Help us. You do not belong to anyone. You are not slaves. You have no master here. Choose to help us fight. I am not here to join in Lorcan’s army, nor am I here to steal it for myself. I’m here for your freedom. I
will
save you. You were all once people. Good people. I know there is still goodness in you now.”

Rowan walked out towards a small group of demons that were fluttering what looked like gills in their necks and making sounds like rattle snakes. She reached out and grabbed one by the hands and it tried to fight and break free from her grasp. Letting her fire and light pour out of her once again, Ro watched as the shrieking demon quieted and morphed into a woman who was about Rowan’s age. Smiling, Ro bowed her head slightly towards the woman wearing a long blue gown that looked like something Anne Bolin would have worn.

“My lady,” Rowan greeted her.

The woman looked scared and lost. She stared at her hands and down at her legs, then touched her face. “By the Saints!” she exclaimed and fell to the ground weeping.

“Will you help us?” Ro asked again.

The buzzing had quieted but the energies increased. They were excited and the charge of powers swirled around her in pulses. Rowan sliced her hand with a small dagger from her hip and sent blood down to the earth between her and the watching shadows. “I give you a blood oath. I will free you. Help me now so that I have a fighting chance to free those inside as well.”

Devlin sliced his own arm and vowed the same.

Adam, on the other hand, didn’t budge. A smaller creature, eyes red and body like a large cat with six legs prowled up to him. “What ssssay you Ssssidhe? Will you fight for ussss or take ussss for your own sssservice?”

Adam glared at the creature and the two circled around each other in challenge. Adam’s blade gleamed in the moonlight. “I do not have slaves. Nor do I want any. I fight for what is mine, and what is mine is inside. Grant me entrance, help us, and I will fight till the death for you and the others. You have my word.”

While some hesitated, others came willingly. Rowan watched as over three dozen shadows and demons came down from their hiding places and eased out of their attack positions to line up at Rowan’s back. Their energies swirled around her, mixing with her own magic that radiated out of her body. Her hair was charged with energy, skin glowing in the moonlight, eyes bright and wild. She was the perfect storm.

Looking at her husband and then at Adam, Rowan raised her chin up. “Let’s go.”

Two shadows swirled in front of her and a black hole emerged from the darkness. With her warriors by her side and a small army at her back, Rowan stepped inside ready to kill.

All was black at first, but as Ro’s eyes adjusted, she saw that she was in the far corner of a great hall. A large throne made of bones and other material sat lonely on a dais. There was a foul smell in the air that she didn’t remember from last time she’d been here. Flames flanked the sides of the throne giving the space a warm glow.

Prepared to clear the path for Rowan, Devlin and Adam stepped ahead of her, should something get in her way. Shrieks and keening came from somewhere beyond, but the cavernous space echoed horribly making it hard to find out which way the noise was coming from. They moved slowly and with caution, looking like black shadows themselves.

The army of darkness evaded the trio and went up to a large doorway that led to another room. Adam followed first and stopped when he saw what was inside. It looked like a prison. A large, bloody, black and rotting prison. Souls were trapped like animals inside cages sealed by burning herbs and binding spells. Demons chained along a wall, hung limp like black beasts swinging from their necks. One apparition of a woman was crying over her own mangled body. She’d been beaten to death in this place and left to rot.

Lorcan has been busy.

Rowan looked around, but her brain could not comprehend the carnage she was seeing. It was just too much. She was shrinking back into her mind again, where she could look at this butchery and not pass out from fear of it.

“It didn’t look like this when I was here before. It wasn’t all torture and pain and blood like this.” She’d whispered it, but Adam and Devlin heard her just fine. The smell of decay and blood was thick in the air and it was hard to breathe.