Shatter - Sins of the Sidhe (43 page)

Ro just stared at Ava. She was having trouble understanding words. Still wrapped in Devlin’s arms, Ro tried to get up. Her body convulsed as tremors ran through her and tears flowed down her cheeks, the salty drops stinging her cuts. Fumbling, she couldn’t understand why nothing on her body was working right.

She wasn’t just out of sync, she was completely broken.

“We have to save them. Free the rest of them.” Rowan was busted and she was struggling, “I made… a promise …and I won’t be breaking it.” She was so damn stubborn. Rowan was determined to reach the mass of souls waiting for her out in the great hall.

Devlin tried to stop her from moving, but he knew her mind was made up. It was heartbreaking to hear her talk and struggle through the pain. “We got everyone out lass. They’ve been freed from their cages and chains. They are able to leave.” He didn’t want her to think they were still locked away frightened and alone.

“I have to see them. I have to see them …with my own eyes.” Rowan forced herself to keep going, keep breathing. She tried to sit up on her own, bullheaded and willful was she. Devlin swiftly picked her up and carried her out of the room. Blood trailed behind them from deep wounds in her body.

“Wait! I need that blade. Ava… get me… my blade.”

Rowan’s vision started fading in and out. Her legs and arms were going numb and she was so very tired. Her eyes were having trouble staying open. Ava ran over to get the
Beagalltach
from the floor that was stained with blood and buried under black glass. She placed the blade across Rowan’s chest while Devlin cradled her. It was a pitiful sight. Ava tried not to cry, she didn’t want her friend to see anything but happiness before her but her tears slid quietly down her cheeks anyway.

They stepped outside of the bedchamber and into the great hall. Souls were lined up everywhere. Thousands of them. Some clung to the ceiling and walls, but most were standing and waiting for Rowan. Devlin brought her closer to the boy called Seamus. His eyes gave away his fear when he saw her, but he didn’t let the look last long on his face. He bowed down low and swept his arm out, “My Lady, we owe you a great debt. You have saved us from a fate worse than death.”

Many of the spirits made approval sounds and murmurs. Some were still shadows, but most were apparitions. They hadn’t turned yet, and were most lucky for it.

“You owe me …nothing. It was an honor… to have met you …Seamus. You are a sweet boy. Please, all of you…” Ro’s voice trailed off along with her vision. Everything faded to black. “Devlin. Devlin where are you?” She couldn’t see anymore. She couldn’t feel anymore. She was scared and alone in the dark.

“I’m here lass. I’ve got ye. I’m holding ye in my arms.” Oh God. This isn’t happening. This can’t be the end for them. Devlin was starting to crumble under the pressure of his breaking heart. His wife was going to bleed to death in his arms. One more death that he could not stop. Rowan’s head lolled back and she tried to hold his face in her hands, blood dripping down and splattering on the floor.

“Tell them. Tell them…to go to the light. Tell them to go…” she didn’t finish. Her head fell back and she went still. Slowly, her hand wilted down from his face.

Staring in horror at his beautiful wife, Devlin let out a cry that shook the Heavens themselves. Falling to his knees, he rocked her slowly like a wee babe in his arms. He could do nothing but cling to her and whisper sweet words in her ear.

Ava fell to the ground in tears and prayers. Adam turned away, unable to bear the pain of what he was seeing.

Souls, one by one, came closer to the couple on the floor. Seamus looked around at all of them and nodded his head at their silent decision. Gathering his energy, Seamus flew through Rowan’s body. Then another flew through her, and then another. Swarms of spirits and shadows zoomed through Ro’s lifeless body, each giving her a piece of their energy.

Within moments, they became a blur flying harder and faster in and around her. Ro’s body floated up and out of Devlin’s arms and into the air from their force. Never stopping, the souls kept zooming in and around her. She was covered in them. Hair flying, electrified by their energies, her hands and legs stretched out.

Pulsing and beating in a potent rhythm, magic and energy thrived in the room. The hairs on the back of Devlin’s neck stood up and a shiver went through his body. Starting as droplets and then picking up force like a line storm, it started to rain bloodied shards of glass down on Devlin, Ava and Adam. They backed away from the storm but never broke their stare from what was happening. Devlin watched as each of the souls took a piece of their energy and healed a part of his beloved.

As the last piece of glass fell, her wounds closed, and blood no longer dripped to the ground, slowly they lowered Rowan back towards the stone floor. Devlin was there to catch her in her decent and he wiped the hair from her face.

“Rowan! Rowan, come back to me. Please come back to me.” Devlin pleaded silently, willing her to open her eyes and look at him. She fluttered in his arms, hummingbirds in flight, and opened her emerald eyes. Lost in the moors again, he stared at her with the love and compassion of a thousand angels. “Oh Gods, she’s alive! She’s alive!” he sobbed. Devlin let out a shuddering breath and held her even tighter. She was not lost to him. And he was not letting go.

As if she hadn’t missed a heartbeat, she looked at Devlin, “Did you tell them to go into the light?” Rowan was still focused on her duty. Bullheaded and stubborn was she.

“Aye, my lady, and we did.” The answer came from the woman in the blue dress Rowan had brought back from the darkness earlier. “You are the light,” the woman said while wringing her hands, nervous and excited.

Rowan was confused but as she watched the nodding heads and smiling faces surrounding her. She turned a questioning look to Devlin. “They saved ye lass. Each sacrificed a piece of their energy for ye to live.”

His words were slow to register. It was difficult to grasp such a thing, but the meaning slowly sunk in as Rowan thought of the glass in her body and the excruciating pain she’d been in just a few moments ago. It was all too much to comprehend.

Doing a silent inventory of her body, she realized the pain was gone, the haziness gone, fear gone. Rowan felt so much better than she had just minutes before. More than better, she felt whole. Solid. Alive. Grateful.

Rowan did the only thing she could think of, “Help me stand up.”

Devlin eased her feet onto the floor and helped her gain some balance. Determined to finish what was started, Rowan held her hands out and focused her energies and her magic. Just as she concentrated on her hate and anger to kill Lorcan, she now used her love and joy to help the watching spirits.

This time, the power in her felt like a tightly closed fist that slowly opened to reveal the magic that was hiding within. It bloomed like a flower in her body, and was warm and rich. On a rush of energy, light burst from her eyes and radiated in the dark cave until everything beamed and shined. One by one, the other shadows and remaining demons turned back to their former selves.

Taking a deep breath, Rowan focused on the dark doorway leading to their salvation. It opened in swirls of brightness and the souls burst through to the other side like bees from a hive. Shouts of thank yous and other forms of appreciation echoed as they slipped through the opening and out into the light.

“The veil is thin now, ‘tis Samhain. They will easily make their way to the other side this day.” Ava held Rowan’s hand and kissed her gently. “You were an angel, love. A fierce warrior and a true friend.” The last had Ava’s eyes swelling up with tears again.

“Why did you do it? Why did you pretend to be Brinley?” Rowan just couldn’t understand it.

“Free will, love.
I gave myself over as bait knowing he would come for her and knowing you would too. We all have a purpose, and mine was to protect what is precious to you, and guide you to your fate.”

Ava stopped her before she could ask any more questions, “Before we continue there is someone else in need of saving. There is one other still here.” Ava turned to look at the men, “I heard Lorcan speak of him to his demons. He is locked away, over there in those tunnels. His name is Ruark but I don’t know any more than that.”

They all exchanged looks, then Adam and Ava went to find the lost prisoner.

As they reached the entrance to the maze of tunnels, Ava stopped. “You need to feed, Adam. Your wounds are too great. Please,” she held out her small arm and offered him her vein. Bloody holes from her iron shackles still oozing blood gleamed and beckoned Adam to have a taste.

“No, I will not take your blood Ava. I will heal fine on my own.”

She clucked her tongue in aggravation and insisted once more, “I’m not asking you Adam, I’m telling you. You have lost too much power because of your stubbornness. Have you not learned from this battle? You have shied away from who you truly are Sidhe Warrior. Be yourself, Adam. Drink.” She held out her arm and watched as his eyes flared from the temptation.

She was right. His stubbornness had nearly cost him dearly this night. Adam gave in on a sigh and clamped down on her vein. Sweet, hot serenity flowed down his throat. The power in her veins was surreal and he didn’t need much to feel a thousand times stronger. The Warrior’s superficial wounds healed instantly, the larger, chunkier pieces of marred flesh took a little longer. Eyes like peacocks rolling back in ecstasy, Adam relished in the savory flavor of her blood and then released his mouth from her arm. It had been so long since he had blood from another Fae, he’d forgotten how intoxicating it was, and with Ava’s angel-side, its potency was doubled.

“Better?” Ava smiled with a
you-know-I’m-always- right
face.

“Aye, thank you my friend.” Adam kissed her head and stood taller and stronger. Moving forward, Adam didn’t want to waste any more time than was necessary in this forsaken place. Adam was looking this way and that. “Which way do we go, Ava?”

Ava’s bones started to thrum, like a singing bowl inside her. “This way,” she ran to the right. The darkness only got worse the further they went in. Adam’s sword was out, guarding Ava, as they ventured further into the black abyss. A shuffling sound came from ahead.

“Did you hear that?”

“Aye, it came from down there.”

They kept going until they hit a wall of bars. It was pitch black but their Sidhe eyes could still make out a body on the floor. Adam went over to the lump and rolled it over. “He’s breathing, but unconscious.” He picked up the body and they ran out of there as fast as they could.

Coming back into the great hall, they were anxious to get out of the rotten horrid hell pit. Devlin carried Rowan and Adam had the limp prisoner, while Ava brought up the rear. Ready to put this darkness behind them, they stepped into the black hole and out to the world of light. The woods smelled fresh and crisp in the morning autumn air. Ro’s breath blew out in chilly white wisps. Adam laid the body down on the ground as the rest gathered around him. Ava wiped the dirt and soot from the man’s face while he moaned something in Gaelic. Adam bent lower to hear him better as Devlin, having set Rowan down on a fallen tree, came around to his other side.

The man mumbled more words and then his eyes opened wide. Screaming at the brightness of day, the morning sun had blinded his eyes after being in the dark for so long. Ava quickly tried to shade his face and make it darker for him.

“Please! Please, listen to us. We are here to help you. You’re safe. Lorcan is dead.” There was no getting through to the man though. He just screamed and clawed at the air, desperately trying to fend off the sun and strangers. “Please, listen!” but Ava’s words fell on deaf ears.

She had to sooth him, make him quiet down. With this much screaming, other people within hearing distance may come running to help. There was no way to explain the state they were all in to a stranger. Ava steadied the terrified man with her little songbird trick she’d used before on Rowan. He eased his arms back to his sides, eyes barely slit open to look at her, and he finally quieted down.

“What is your name, love?” Ava grabbed his hand and started to stroke it soothingly.

“I am Ruark,” his voice was deep and gravelly, “Ruark MacCullum.”

All the color drained out of Devlin’s face; he looked like he was going to pass out. Adam looked down at the man on the ground, and now that it was lighter out, it was easier to see the prisoner’s features. Adam saw the resemblance even with the man as withered and broken as he was.