The Aetherfae (2 page)

“Stop,” Tse-xo-be’s voice commanded in an even tone, “Maggie means no harm.” He paused a few seconds and then said, “Welcome to Eden Falls.”

Billy shifted back into human form, his mouth gaping, and stared intently at the charred ground beneath me. “Maggie? Are you saying Maggie is here? But how? Maggie, explain yourself,” he commanded.

“We cannot understand her—yet. She is with us by Teilgean,” Tse-xo-be said.

“Projection?” Billy muttered to himself. “Of course…but that means—”

Tse-xo-be took human form a few feet from Billy. “Yes, it means Ozara failed. Again.”

“That changes everything. If the Council finds out…”

Billy grew quiet and exchanged quick, nervous glances with Tse-xo-be, who nodded.

“Yes, Billy, but there is no need to guard your thoughts—Maggie understands the danger better than any of us.”

“Tse-xo-be, can you understand me?” I asked.

Billy and Wakinyan exchanged quizzical looks, while Drevek squinted his eyes and twisted his head to the side.

“Maggie,” Tse-xo-be started, “you are trying to communicate by talking. That will not work. Instead concentrate on a single thought, an entire thought, and project it. It will take practice, but you can learn. Do you understand?”

I focused on one thing: “
Yes
.”

Tse-xo-be nodded. “I understood that.”

“So did I,” Billy said, his eyes growing moist. “You’re still with us? All of you is with us?”

“
Yes,
” I answered.

Billy’s bow-shaped lips pulled back into a slight smile and the skin around his goatee creased.

There were a hundred questions I wanted to ask, a thousand answers I wanted to hear, but Tse-xo-be had other plans.

He caressed his broad chin between the thumb and forefinger of his left hand, his right arm wrapped in a half-embrace around his muscular midsection. He studied something in the streambed for a few seconds before his thick lips pulled back in a smile, flattening out the deep cleft under his nose. “Maggie, we need you to watch the Council. Events have been set in motion, altering the powerbase of the clans. A new power has emerged, killing Seelie and Unseelie alike. The Seelie Clan’s influence around the globe is eroding, and carefully planned attacks have left the Unseelie in shambles. Neither clan appears capable of maintaining order. The independent clans are restless, refusing to abide by the old edicts. They, too, have been attacked. The Sidhe have evicted both Seelie and Unseelie, declaring all areas of Ireland beyond the Seoladán at Glendalough and the City of Dublin off limits. Fearing their own safety, they have begun killing trespassers. So have the Ancient Ones, the Hulijing, the Duende, and the Jinn. More will certainly follow.”

His words frightened me. I had come to count on the power of the Seelie clan to protect humankind from the Unseelie, assuming for the last two years that the latter were the only enemy I had to worry about. I had never considered the possibility that another group, one even more dangerous, might pose a risk. But surely the Ohanzee had some idea who was behind it. I concentrated on a single word: “
Who
?”

Tse-xo-be nodded. “If I understand you correctly, I can only say we do not know. I have considered several possibilities, none of them very likely, all of them terrifying. The Second has patiently stalked its victims, keeping its identity hidden, inciting paranoia and distrust. Ozara has grown fearful and dangerous, threatening to execute members of the independent clans if she finds evidence of collusion between them and the Second. We need you to watch the Council to act as our eyes and ears. It is only a matter of time before the Seelie consolidate their powers. Can you watch them?”

“Yes
,” I responded.

“The independent clans await the Seelie response. If Ozara decides on an aggressive course, I fear the clans’ reactions will be devastating to the one thing the Seelie have long sought to protect.”

He didn’t have to say it. I knew he meant the human race. We were the reason the Seelie had forced the clans into obscurity. The familiar pull of my tether, powerful and unrelenting, matched the fear I felt. Prior Maebowns had the full support of Ozara, and they only had to face the Unseelie. Ozara had banished me, and now all the independent clans were being drawn into the fray. Would the Council members fight their former clans?
This is impossible.

THREE

HUNTER AND HUNTED

T
he storm attacked every exterior surface of our home, leaving me to wonder just how long the stucco and glass would hold. Justice spooned with me, unwilling to move, pressing his back against my chest with such pressure I found it hard to breathe. The sound of a shudder slamming violently against the exterior wall of my bedroom drove me downstairs.

Mom, Dad, Mitch, and my grandparents sat in the vaulted media room listening to the meteorologist explain that the storm was still well out in the Atlantic. Bianca, the name he was now using for the storm, appeared to be strengthening, but he recommended that families in Florida take shelter and avoid leaving their homes. The storm didn’t threaten to do much structural damage, but the roads were already dangerous. The time for evacuation, he warned, had already passed.

The enormous surf bashing the beach left a pit in my stomach. We’d all been through storms before, even a few hurricanes, but we’d never had a front row seat.

“Don’t you think we should go further inland?” I asked.

My parents, still under the compulsion of my guards, simply smiled and reminded me what the handsome weatherman had said. “We should probably stay put.”

Justice forced himself between Dad and Mitch on the couch. He had the right idea, I thought. I settled onto a big white loveseat, wrapped a blanket over my shoulders, and numbly watched TV. Hours passed with more frequent updates on Bianca. Its sustained winds grew to eighty miles an hour—officially a hurricane. I protested again, uncomfortable being so close to the ocean. I’d hoped that my guards, who I knew were watching, might ease up on my parents. It didn’t work. Instead, Mom and Grandma set off to gather what they thought we might need in case the power went out.

At midnight, with Bianca still a few hours from making landfall, Mom suggested that I try to sleep. That would be impossible, but I could drop back in on the Council, or better yet, visit Gavin.

Ignoring the tumultuous weather, I floated to the intricate plasterwork of the ceiling a few seconds after lying down. A moment later, Gavin’s chocolate brown eyes greeted me. I focused on projecting a thought, just one, like Tse-xo-be had taught me: “
I miss you
.”

Gavin’s thick lips parted and a slight sigh slipped out of his chest. “I miss you, too.”

The right side of his face tensed, just slightly, pulling his lips into a seductive half-smile anchored by a dimple.

“You are so beautiful
,” I thought next.

The left side of his face joined in, rewarding me with a full smile. “Wow, no more one-sided conversations?”

“Limited,”
I replied.

“That’s better than nothing. So, what shall we talk about tonight?”

Gavin stood with his back to a jagged rock surface. There were no clouds, just a gorgeous moonlit sky and a lot of vegetation. I concentrated: “
Where is this?”

“Ah, welcome to the Grenadine Islands. We’re in the Caribbean, but away from the weather. My kind rarely visits this place.”

He began asking questions about what happened the night Ozara tried to erase my mind—we’d been through these questions before, but my yes or no responses got us nowhere. I never explained to Gavin that I witnessed Ozara and Zarkus kill Meili and Katarina at Caer Bran. I knew better. Sure, I would have to tell him eventually—I would have to tell them all—but as long as I had nannies watching my every move in Florida, I knew it was best to keep the information to myself. However, when Gavin asked me about Cassandra, I came clean. One short thought followed another in piecemeal fashion as I told him as much as I could.

He frowned as I explained it all, finally asking, “Are you alright? I know that couldn’t have been easy for you.”

I responded: “
I am fine. Still see her face when I close my eyes.”

He dropped his chin to his chest and nodded. “You probably won’t forget that…ever. But you were justified. Human law recognizes self-defense, and quite frankly I don’t care what Fae law says. This is your world, not ours.”

Gavin never mentioned whether he had taken a life during the Fae wars, but his reaction left no doubt. I confessed that I had found the Ohanzee. Gavin exhaled and stared at the sky when I told him I was about to start watching the Council.

After an excruciating pause, he said, “Be careful.”

“
I love you, Gavin
,” was all I focused on.

He smiled. I melted. He placed his thick hand directly in front of himself, about waist high. I couldn’t really touch him, but I concentrated on the deep lines crossing his palm and compelled myself to make contact. I felt nothing, but he closed his eyes and drew a long slow breath, expanding his chest. Then, as though he were cradling my heart, he gently closed his fist and pressed it to his lips.

I focused on asking him which new exotic destination he intended to show me tomorrow. It was a silly question, but he smiled and said, “I’ll surprise you.”

* * *

I sensed Aether around the Council area. The eight members of the Council were present, along with Zarkus and Ahriman, from Caer Bran, and what appeared to be six new Unseelie Elders. I guessed adding a few more members to the Unseelie Elders made sense. The remaining Council members approached from the Seoladán, and as each drew close, Ozara created openings in the barrier. Equal numbers of Seelie and Unseelie Guards stood just outside the Aether barrier. They weren’t facing each other, which I found odd, but stood with their backs to the Council and the Elders as though they were guarding the proceedings.

Guanyin, the stunning Fae who originally came from the Ancient Ones in China, was the last Council member to arrive. I wanted to hear what they said, so I slid through the barrier opening with her. It was a risk to be inside the barrier with Ozara, but I felt I had no choice.

Inside, I immediately noticed the tense energy coming from members of the Council—some in particular. Guanyin, Asharyu, Kapo’pi’i, Sherman, and Victoria, were wary and nervous. Even Ostara, Avery, and Calis seemed unusually tense. Each channeled energy in small amounts—the behavior reminded me of a gunfighter who flexed his fingers just inches away from the revolver in his holster. Oddly, Ozara and the remaining Council members seemed calmer, as did the Unseelie Elders.

If anyone should be nervous, it’s the Unseelie, right? They
’
re surrounded by Aether and lifelong enemies.

“Yesterday there was another attack,” said the muscular, bronze-skinned Fae, Toci. She originally came from a Central American clan of Fae, and was considered a goddess by the Toltec and Aztec people. Her eyes, the color of bright copper, flashed as she continued. “The Second infiltrated our defenses at Seoladán de
Teotihuacán
. Under a veil of Clóca, it eliminated fifteen Ometeo Clan guards, two Seelie, and my old friend Kukulkan, one of the Ometeo Clan leaders.”

“Kukulkan is dead?” Ozara’s eyes squinted as though she was pained by the news before she dropped her focus to the ground. “The Ometeo Clan…do they bear ill-will toward us?” she asked without looking up.

Toci bent her head forward, raven black hair spilling over her shoulders. “The Ometeo have reached a decision. They have noted, as many of the independent clans have, that attacks on the original clans have only occurred in certain circumstances.”

Ozara lifted her amber eyes, focused and blazing now, and stared intently at Toci. “And, pray tell, what circumstances are those?”

I was stunned, completely fixated on Toci.

“The only original clans attacked so far are those with working ties to the Seelie and Unseelie,” she said.

“We have provided protection for all the original clans for five millennia, have we not?” Ozara barked. “Not once in five thousand years have the original clans fought with one another—not until the Second appeared. For all that time, no Fae has died over a boundary dispute. Each Fae, regardless of allegiance, has been permitted to travel anywhere in the world. Do the Ometeo really desire a return to the old ways? Border raids, power struggles, mayhem—that cannot be their desire. Expelling the Seelie will only invite violence with the southern clans.”

Toci’s face hardened and she met Ozara’s gaze with matched ferocity. “We were not able to prevent the deaths of elders—not among the Ometeo, or among the Sidhe, or the Jinn—they have all noticed. Ozara, surely you recognize that more Fae have perished in the last year than in any time except the Fae wars. The Ometeo have expelled the Seelie and consolidated their borders.” Toci projected an image of Mexico, Central America and the upper half of South America. She highlighted an area between a perfect line just south of Mexico City from coast to coast, and another across the bottom of Panama. The area darkened to red, including the entire Yucatan Peninsula. “This is now Ometeo territory. Trespassers will be destroyed on sight.”

Ozara shuddered, her elegant fingers tightened into fists. “I suppose Tiolac will begin human sacrifices again at the Pyramid of Tenochtitlan? That is what this is about, is it not?”

Shaking her head, Toci exhaled loudly and crossed her muscular arms. “The Ometeo leaders did not discuss that. I certainly hope the question is not as accusatory as it sounds. You know how distasteful I found the practice. Nothing has changed. I’m not wearing the mark—there is no black on my face—I am a loyal Seelie.”

Ozara’s expression softened. “I was not questioning your loyalty, Toci. I apologize.”

“Your apology is accepted. Before you decide what to do to my old clan, please note that the
Unseelie
have been banished as well,” she said in a seething tone. Disgust filled her face as she shot a fiery look at the Unseelie Elders. Zarkus showed no reaction. Clearly, Toci despised the Unseelie and her feelings seemed deeply rooted in her obvious hatred of seeing humans tortured. I had never considered that the original clans might have been involved in human sacrifice, nor had I heard of the border fights. Relationships among the original clans were more complex than I’d imagined.

Playing diplomat, Ozara softened her tone. “Shall we allow bygones to be bygones? We, the Seelie and Unseelie, need one another right now.”
What?

“The Second is causing old divisions to resurface. We have long had our differences, it is true, but even through the Fae wars the original clans knew their boundaries. Is the world not a better place for our kind?”

Zarkus laughed. “A better place for whom? For humans? Most certainly. What else should we allow them to destroy? How many species have met an untimely end at the hands of humans who foolishly spread in an attempt to quench their insatiable appetites for more? If not for your intervention last January, how much damage would their dubious addiction to fossil fuels have caused? Ozara, your edicts to abide the humans, to allow them free reign, have left our entire world in jeopardy. How is it you continue to ignore the obvious?”

Ozara stared at him. “It is not our world, Zarkus. Claiming it is for millennia does not change the obviousness of that fact.”

“They are but one species, Ozara. Tell me you do not long for the days before their pestilence. Do you not remember the beauty of Talemn Alainn before human hands transformed it? Were you not fond of, what do they call it, Manhattan, before its rape?”

Ozara sighed. “I am not willing to address these issues right now. We are here to discuss an alliance to protect our interests. Our clans are at risk from the Second.”

Toci interrupted. “You’re more at risk than you realize.”

Both Zarkus and Ozara stared at her. They seemed bewildered and frightened by her comment. Ozara nodded.

“I have news,” Toci began, “that I am sure you will find most disturbing. The Ometeo are sending an envoy—an envoy to seek out the Second.”

“Toward what end,” Zarkus said in a dry voice.

“Toward our end,” Ozara muttered angrily.
What? What does that mean?

“That would mean death for every Ometeo. They are certainly aware that they cannot stand against us,” Zarkus said.

“They labor under no delusions. They are sending an envoy to contact the Second, and the Alux—all the southern clans, in fact. They spoke of ending the hegemony of the two clans.”

“Hegemony?” Ozara scoffed.

“Yes,” Toci replied. “They live under our rules—rules they have followed for thousands of years. They believe now the time may be ripe to make new treaties with the Second. They see this as an opportunity to decide their own future. They fear Unseelie rule as much as they do Seelie. To them, we are both hegemonic powers bent on enforcing our will. The question is, what will we do in response? I fear all the clans will be watching.”

Sherman shook his head. “I have feared this. We all have. We knew one day our power would be challenged.”

Ozara turned to him. “And what would you have us do? We have protected the human race. You above all have sought the same protections.”

“Indeed, I have,” Sherman said. “That has always been my ultimate goal, but with any goal there are always different courses of action to take. Removing all Fae influence from the human race has proven unworkable. Had we directed them, I believe we would have done a better job of protecting them.”

Several Council members agreed with Sherman. I did. It was exactly what Aunt May told me the day she handed me the Earth stone and told me about the trials.