Page 93

“You’ve bloody fucking crossed a dangerous line, Daeanna,” he growled, bracing his foot behind him, drawing up a surge of power from the land, and driving it forward, through the rubble. Broken chunks of his home arced through the air, bringing the crushed grass and garden beneath into view. He scanned the area, searching for any signs of his cousins or the High Fae staying with them, finding naught that indicated they had perished. No blood, no bodies, no torn and tattered clothing.

Hope wisped through him as his magic faded and debris dropped to the ground.

“There’s naught beneath the rubble,” Rihanna said, her voice shaking as she fought back the tears that shimmered in her eyes.

Shaye circled around, taking in his surroundings. There was no sign of his family. No responses to the High Fae’s calls for their fellow Councilmen.

Naught.

“They must be somewhere.” He whipped around and started to climb the rubble. The High Fae who’d accompanied him to the village were already making their way toward the foundations of the castle, where jagged pillars poked up through the destruction.

“Shaye!”

Rihanna’s strained shout jerked him around.

“Killeny?” he whispered, blinking at the sight. His cousins, the children,everyonestumbling over uneven ground to his right. Dirt and dust smudged their faces, their clothing, but not a single person appeared to be harmed. No blood. No tears.

Shock.

Disbelief.

The same sensation that grew heavier and heavier in his chest as the reality of what he beheld finally began to take hold. There was fury, aye, but he’d focused on finding his family, the High Fae he’d offered safe shelter, and hadn’t let himself truly survey the magnitude of what Daeanna’s dark magic wrought upon his home.

What itmeant.

“Liam!” Shaye shouted, a new rush of adrenaline surging wild. He rushed toward the uninjured group, no obstacle able to slow him. He pulled Killeny and Aspen into a hard embrace, quickly gathering the children close. “Thank the Goddess you’re unharmed.”

He looked over the women’s heads, meeting the stunned gazes of Killeny’sanam cara, Lorren, and the High Fae as they stared at what was left of the castle. The storm continued to stir in the skies overhead, the thunderous warning and sparks of lightning moving within the serpentine darkness reminding him that they were far from safe.

He stepped back, releasing his family as Liam reached them. “Where were you? How did you escape?” He looked at the group once more as a sickening realization bit into his mind. “Where’s Thierry?”

“Oh, Shaye,” Killeny moaned. She shook her head, the trance-like calm in her expression fragmenting. Fear and confusion slid into place, along with the sparkle of tears. “You shan’t believe it. You shan’t. ’Twas most frightening, most incredible. We heard the lightning cut through the castle, felt the quake in the floors and the walls. We heard the first wing collapse and we tried to gather everyone, but ’twas impossible. Lorren got me and the kids to the entry when the face of the castle began to crumble. I couldn’t reach the exit in time.

“But then, seems I blinked and I was no longer in the castle at all, but a small cave with no way in and no way out. One by one, everyone here fell through the walls of the cave, where we became trapped. We listened to the fall of the castle. Felt the walls shake around us. The High Fae tried to use magic to free us, but no power could break through whatever kept us contained. ’Twasn’t until the rumbling ceased that one of the men noticed a waver in the wall. ’Twas an exit at last and we emerged there.”

Killeny motioned to a towering pile of rock.

One of the High Fae stepped forward, toward Liam. “The woman speaks truth. ’Twas old magic of the land that saved us. I’ve not felt such magic in centuries, but today, it lives.”

“Everyone’s accounted for?” Liam asked.

“Nay. Two took their leave shortly before the attacks began.” The Fae lowered his head briefly. “Grison and Cecir.”

Shaye watched a shadow fall over Liam’s face. His eyes darkened, those flecks of gold glowing like luminous flames in the sea.

“’Tis no surprise to me, Merion. They show their loyalty to our enemy, as I have suspected.”

Shaye scowled. “And I opened my home to them.”

Liam placed a hand on his shoulder, instantly calming his rising anger. “Worry not. Their foolish choices will come with no rewards.” He spread an arm out. “And her attack on this land, on your home, has woken the old magic. If she is smart, she’ll be cautious and heed the signs that you are being protected.”

“Aye, protected, but look around. Look at what she’s done to our home. Look”—Rihanna pointed to the sky—“at the darkness she holds overhead.”

His sister’s words came with the first drop of rain fromsaid darkness. Only when it splattered over the back of his hand, it didn’t slide off his skin as water would. A sting erupted, the sensation that of needles stabbing into his flesh. The Fae around him gasped, hissed, murmured as the drops began to fall faster. The rock beneath his feet steamed, the acidic rain burning the surfaces.

Shaye exchanged a quick glance with Liam. Together, they cast a translucent shield over everyone. Their efforts were joined by the other High Fae, reinforcing the magic.

“Does anyone know where Thierry is?” Shaye asked, keeping his focus on the waves of power flowing up through his legs and out through his upraised hand. Each plink and hiss of the falling acid sent a tiny fizzle through his magic. A tingle along his fingers.