Page 5

BARON

The Echoing Spire

Eilish’s words echo in my mind and I can’t stomach the thought of her on her own again—without me there to protect her. She fared well the last time, but I can’t help but feel our luck is running thin. If luck is what it should be termed, that is. The important thing is, we’ve survived. But we’ll only continue surviving if we make smart decisions.

And I’m not sure Eilish’s most recent decision is a smart one.

I grab Dragan by the shoulder and steer him aside. The large gargoyle bares his teeth at me, and I swallow the urge to knock them down the back of his throat.

“What the fuck do you want?” he demands.

“To tell you you’d better not get her killed,” I snap.

Dragan eyes me warily, then jerks his head in the direction of one of the large statues that decorate the Echoing Spire’s main chamber. I follow closely behind. He sits in a stone chair and I take the one beside him.

Crossing his arms over his large chest, Dragan sneers at me. “You and I understand one another now more than ever.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I don’t like this plan any more than you do, but Eilish and Pyre are convinced it’s the right one.”

“I trust Pyre,” I say resolutely.

“But you don’t trust Eilish?”

I glare at him. “She doesn’t have the experience Pyre does.”

“Regardless,” Dragan says and acts as though he’s bored with the conversation. The prick. “I won’t get her killed.”

“Her life is in your hands.”

“Her life is in her own hands,” Dragan argues. “Or haven’t you noticed?”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

He sneers at me, like my question is a stupid one. “If you haven’t noticed, Eilish is steering her own ship.”

“I’ve noticed.” I nod as I consider this fact. “And?”

He cocks his head to the side and breathes deeply. “I have no choice but to have faith she knows what she’s doing.”

I glare at him because his response sounds imbecilic. “Even though she views Cambion and Theren as victims?”

Dragan shrugs. “You’ve been manipulated by Morrigan in the past, and so have I. We all have. If we don’t consider ourselves traitors to our own cause, then how can we point the finger at Cambion?”

“You’ve forgiven him then?” I demand.

He shakes his head. “No. I’m not willing to forgive Cambion yet, but the more I think about it, the more I’m starting to believe Eilish is right.”

“About what?”

“We owe Cambion a chance to give his side of the story. He owes us an explanation and we owe him the decency to listen.”

I don’t say anything right away. I simply chew on this information. I’m surprised to hear Dragan say as much because a few hours ago, he seemed to believe the exact opposite. “And Theren?”

His eyes narrow and he balls his hands into fists. “Theren... he’ll be lucky if I don’t sever his head on sight.”

I roll my eyes. Dragan is strong, but he can’t hope to beat Theren in combat if the Unseelie King is at full strength. But, that’s not a conversation I’m interested in having at the moment. “You’d better keep a close fucking eye on her, gargoyle,” I say. “If anything happens to her, I’ll kill you myself.”

“Those are big words,” he hisses through tightly clenched teeth.

I stand to walk away, but he grabs my arm. “If you’re looking for a fight, look elsewhere,” I tell him.

Dragan stands and then takes a few steps forward so we’re toe to toe. “I’m not looking for a fight,” he says but his body language says otherwise.

“Then what are you looking for?”

“I don’t need you telling me to keep Eilish safe,” he seethes. “I love her as much as you do, you fuck.”

I raise my eyebrows at him. “Wow, that’s a big admission.”

“I won’t let a fucking thing happen to her,” he continues. “Regardless of whatever the fuck you tell me.”

He releases me, and stomps away. I can’t help my smug smile as I do enjoy getting under the hothead’s skin. Even if it’s become too easy a game to win.

With a sigh, I go in search of my mentor, Pyre.

I find him leaning over a large boulder, his eyes shut and his brow pinched in concentration.

“Don’t linger unless you have a reason,” he grumbles as he turns to face me.

“I’m worried about Eilish and this plan,” I start.

He shakes his head. “Whatever worries you, Baron, isn’t your burden to bear.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re allowed to care for Eilish, but don’t let it cloud your judgment concerning what must be done.”

“Sometimes you make no fucking sense.”

“Making sense is all about timing.”

“Then fuck off until the timing is right,” I answer with a smile.

The bigger man chuckles at me. We’ve found a friendship which still surprises me. I hadn’t imagined myself capable of friendships or even interested in them. And yet, Pyre is certainly that and Eilish…

Eilish is something different altogether. Dragan says I love her… maybe I do? Maybe I don’t? My feelings for her are confusing and I’d rather not think about them.

Pyre snorts and claps me on the shoulder. “We need to discuss Silvanus.”

“So discuss.”

He points to a scroll that suddenly appears on the rock face, “Read it.”

I approach the scroll and quickly read the explanation detailing Silvanus’s role in ending the Singularity. My interest is piqued when I begin the section that outlines Silvanus’ connection to Eilish.

“Jesus,” I whisper in awe.

“Eilish was his student,” Pyre explains with no surprise. “Silvanus was also her protector.”

“Do you want me to listen or keep reading?” I ask.

“Listen,” Pyre answers with a smile.

“Her protector?”

“He attempted to keep her hidden in the glade with her mother,” Pyre answers. “And she became his student.” His smile grows. “But, she proved too tempting even for him.”

“Meaning?”

“Silvanus and Eilish were lovers.”

I nod but I don’t say anything. I’m not surprised.

“Are you jealous?” Pyre asks.

“Strangely, no,” I answer with a shrug. “And I feel no jealousy when she’s with Dragan either.”

“And me?”

“You haven’t fucked her.”

He chuckles. “True enough.”

“But if you had or were fucking her,” I start as I consider the possibility. “It still wouldn’t bother me.”

“You understand her needs, her duality.”

“Yes, I believe I do.”

Pyre nods and grows quiet for a few seconds. “I have tasted her enough to know I want more,” he says and his expression is a curious one.

“But your oath…”

He nods. “I’ve come to question that oath.”

“Desire is a difficult thing to avoid,” I say with a laugh.

“I’ve avoided desire for a very long time,” Pyre responds as he shakes his head. “That’s not it.”

“Then?”

He nods. “When I taste Eilish, when I touch her… there’s an energy between us I’ve never experienced before. I feel as if I’m able to… think more clearly.” He grows quiet and I’m fairly sure he’s trying to find the right words to explain. “Questions or problems that vexed me before… I find myself able to solve them more easily, more quickly.” He takes a deep breath and expels it. “I’m beginning to believe the Veil wants me to join with her.”

“Then what are you waiting for?” I ask.

He faces me then. “You.”

“Me?”

“I wanted to obtain not only your permission…”

“I have hardly a right to give my permission,” I interrupt, surprised he would even ask for it. “Eilish is her own person.”

“Yes, but you and I share a special bond of friendship and I respect that bond.”

“I appreciate that.”

He nods but I can tell by his expression there’s more on his mind.

“I want to experience Eilish fully,” he says and his white eyes bore into mine. “But I want to experience her with you at the same time.” I don’t say anything right away because I’m surprised. He continues. “I believe the power unleashed between the three of us would be… strong.”

I chuckle. “Strong? It seems you’re suffering a loss for words, my friend.”

“Perhaps I am,” he says with a chuckle. “I admit, I’m trespassing on new soil. This realization has only very recently dawned on me.”

“Then are you convinced by your… realization? Or still pondering it?”

“I’m convinced,” he answers firmly. “I want it to happen.”

“When?”

“Soon,” he answers immediately. “My… desire for her is all-consuming and now that I’ve made this decision, I want to experience her… as quickly as possible.” He clears his throat. “With or without you.”

I chuckle and shake my head as a thought occurs to me and steals the laugh from my lips. “Fucking shame you aren’t a creature of the light.”

“I’ve thought the same myself,” he answers on a dejected sigh. “She needs to take a lover of light magic soon.” He pauses as he looks up at me. “Very soon.”

I nod, because I know the truth in his statement. In order to maintain the balance between light and dark that lives precariously within her, Eilish must take Cambion or Variant as her lover. And Variant is out of the question. Obviously.

“I’m ready when you are,” I say in answer to Pyre’s unstated question.

“I appreciate your… generosity,” he replies with a smile. “But returning to our previous subject…”

“Which was?”

“Silvanus.”

“Ah.” We both grow quiet for a few seconds as I continue to process. “So, both Morrigan and Silvanus had affairs with their pupils?” I ask as I face him again. At the silent question on his face, I continue, “Flumph said Morrigan was very… intimate in her conversations with Variant.”

“Perhaps,” Pyre responds. “Though I doubt the affairs have much to do with anything.” He clears his throat. “Of course, if Morrigan was aware of the sexual nature of Eilish’s relationship with Silvanus, Morrigan might well be threatened by Eilish in ways we haven’t considered.”

“I doubt it. Silvanus has been missing for a long time.”

“Not missing,” Pyre corrects me. “Silvanus disappears without a trace for years at a time, only surfacing when he so chooses and appearing only to those he views as loyal to him.”

“Aima explained Silvanus’s connection to Morrigan, but this... this information changes things,” I say as my mind begins to run with the possibilities. “Not to mention the fact that Eilish is already tangled up with enough men to make my head spin.”

“Why does that matter?”

“Because we don’t know everyone’s intentions. We don’t know what Cambion, Variant, Silvanus, and Theren want… truly want. Of course we know what Morrigan wants and Eilish believes she could be controlling Variant and Theren, but…” My voice trails as my thoughts travel in another direction. I look up at Pyre. “What if Eilish’s actions are being swayed by her heart or her lust? What if Theren and Variant realize they can sway her into believing they’re innocent in all of this?”

“We need to have faith, Baron.”

“I can’t survive off faith alone, and neither will this resistance if Eilish fails to keep her emotions in check.”

“Could you not say the same of yourself?”

“I could say the same of any and every one,” I answer with a shrug. “But I’m not the last of my species. I’m not the one holding the balance of everything in the palm of my hand.”

“You’re wrong, you know,” Pyre says as he looks over at the group while they begin to prepare for the journey ahead.

“Wrong about what?”

“The role you play.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the fact that your role in this is more important than you know. Seeing the truth now may be impossible but, in time, you will come to understand.”

***

CAMBION

Oronrel

Sunlight streams into the room, breaking up the shadows as it warms my face. I feel soft linens beneath my cheek, where previously there’d been nothing more than the jagged concrete of the dungeon floor or the steel top of the tables on which the Unseelie tortured me. It takes a minute for my brain to register the softness of a featherdown mattress.

Why am I in a bedchamber? And where is Aima?

Panic runs through my veins like tendrils of ice as I shoot up from the bed. Scanning the room around me, I learn I’m not alone. An Unseelie servant stands with his hands folded politely in front of him. He lowers his head in a show of respect none of the other Unseelie have adopted in my presence.

I throw aside the covers and lurch to my feet, only to fall to the ground with a clatter. The pain in my body returns ten-fold and shivers overcome me. I’m still weak and unwell. Looking down at my battered figure, I tear open the bloodied scraps of my tunic. Festering wounds and sticky, dried blotches of crimson pepper my torso. My fingers tremble as I lower the waistband of my trousers to find even more scars and fresh gashes slicing my thighs and legs. The servant looks at me as if I’m a mild inconvenience, but he summons a group of masked Unseelie women to tend to my needs.

The male servant disappears while the women wash me and bandage my body until I almost feel like myself again. He returns when they finish.

“The king requests you accompany me to his private study,” he tells me. “Any dalliances will result in punishment by the royal guard.”

“Take me to him,” I answer and he all but carries me down the corridor, our footfalls tapping lightly against the black marble floors. Colors dance along the walls as sunlight streams through the stained-glass windows. I’d almost forgotten how beautiful Oronrel was before everything changed.

When we come to a stop, the servant knocks gently on the large door before us. Narrowing my eyes, I struggle to note just how many protective runes are carved into the wood. Too many to count.

I’m not surprised. Theren is petrified of Variant, thus these protection runes make sense—as overdone as they are.

Theren opens the door and instantly dismisses the servant. The Unseelie beside me hesitates, but only for a moment. I glare at my brother, unable to fathom how the same blood runs within our veins and yet, we’re as distant to each other as strangers.

Theren pulls me into the room, slamming the door so hard, the framed maps on the wall shake. He approaches a chair that sits in front of a man-sized mirror. It’s a mirror I know well—one that Theren has feared since we were children.

The image in the mirror is that of Theren—his reflection. As he’s facing the mirror, I meet his reflection in its glass. I catch his gaze and I can’t explain the expression in his eyes.

“Cambion,” his reflection says. As I approach him, I notice his physical body stands staring into the enchanted glass as though he’s bewitched. But the facial expression on his face is placid. He merely stares straight ahead as though he sees and registers nothing, like he’s in some sort of trance. Yet, the Theren reflected in the mirror is anything but placid.

“You’re trapped in the mirror,” I say, my own voice and words shocking me.

But the truth is obvious. The reflection in the mirror isn’t the reflection of Theren’s body at all—it is Theren!

“I’ve tried to reach out to you, brother,” the reflection says. “But I’ve been unsuccessful until… I faced the angel on the battlefield.”

“Eilish.”

He nods. “Something in her power cracked the spells in my mind.” The desperation and sincerity in Theren’s voice wars with the memory burned into my mind—a memory of Theren standing on the hilltop outside Pyre’s cottage. Standing there with a legion of Unseelie soldiers behind him.

“How do you expect me to trust this isn’t another one of your ploys?” I demand.

“I can only hope you know me, brother,” Theren replies with urgency in his tone and eyes. “It’s been so long since I’ve been myself , even I struggle to understand what’s real and what’s artifice.”

I lean against the chair before the mirror because I’m still exhausted and I can’t keep myself upright. “Your loyalty is still in question until I learn the truth for myself. I can’t be certain your tongue isn’t forked.” It suddenly feels like so much time has passed between us—memories of our shared boyhood don’t even feel real anymore. Instead, they seem like a distant dream.

My brother presses his hand against the glass. “I never betrayed you, Cambion.”

“What of the Great War?” I demand, my eyes narrowing as I glare at him. “Before you were ever imprisoned in this mirror, you made the decision to fight alongside Morrigan and Variant.”

“I’m not imprisoned in this mirror,” he responds. “It’s just the easiest way for me to appear to you. For now.” He takes a deep breath and expels it. “As to the Great War, yes, Morrigan came to me before the advent of the war, but I tried to resist her as soon as I learned her intentions.”

“And Variant?”

He sighs heavily. “Variant was already under her spell by then.”

“How convenient,” I respond although there’s a part of me that wants to believe Theren’s story. It’s the child within me who still wants to put faith in the bonds of blood.

“I never turned my back on you.” Theren stops talking abruptly, seeming to fight with himself. “I don’t have much time.”

“For what?”

“We must find Silvanus, Cambion. He holds the key to dissolving Morrigan’s plans.”

Theren’s reflection begins to fade and fairly soon, I see the placidity of expression belonging to the imposter Theren reflecting back at me.

“Wait!” I try to touch the mirror, to restore my true brother, but the false Theren turns around and suddenly grips me in a spell.

“Guard!” he calls out and the door to his chamber immediately opens. A manservant steps forward.

“Why is he in here?” Theren demands.

The servant appears confused and Theren orders him to remove me. All the while, he seems strangely unaware of the conversation with my true brother.

The servant drags me back to the bedchamber, where I stop him before he closes the door. “Where is Aima?”

“Aima is a traitor to the crown,” the guard responds.

“What does that mean?”

“It means she doesn’t hold the status of royalty, thus she’s been condemned to the dungeons. Consider yourself lucky, Prince Cambion,” the guard finishes as he motions to the luxury surrounding us.

“Lucky?”

He nods. “Be grateful you don’t face execution yet. Aima may not be so lucky.”

The door shuts and I hear the sound of a lock. I stand there for several heartbeats before I limp over to the large glass doors that lead to the veranda. Pushing them open, I look out at the glory of Oronrel. But all I see is a prison.

“Please don’t give up on me, Eilish,” I whisper to the wind.