Page 11 of Stone Sentinels (Shadow Guardians #6)

EILISH

The Veil

The large satyr swings his axe in an awe-inspiring arc and I nearly lose my head. Aima is next to jump out of the way of Kolvar’s brutal strength. He moves with a speed that belies his size. A smile breaks across my face as he appears perplexed by the show of dexterity with which I’m able to fight.

“Slippery little thing you are, eh? Like a serpent in the marsh.”

“Have you traveled all over the Realms, Kolvar?” I ask as I evade another blow that would leave me dead if not for my training. He nods and doubles his efforts, casting off the caution he’s used with me until this point. “Have you seen a glade within mountains to the east of Earlann?” I continue.

“Describe it.”

“A hovel beside a small pond and great trees that tower over everything. And... a field of lavender nearby.”

“You speak of the Delendren Glade.”

Delendren Glade . It sounds familiar. I just nod as he continues.

“There was once a healer named Maeline who lived in the Delendren Glade. Folks swore she were an angel, but I never saw no wings. Beautiful woman, though. Why do you ask?”

“She... Maeline was my mother. And she was an angel.”

Kolvar stops mid-swing and stares into my eyes with uncanny wisdom. “She were a lovely woman, your mum. Compassionate and charitable to all who sought her aid. By the way you speak of her, I assume she’s no longer with the living?”

“She and my sister were killed.”

“Young Solya is dead?” he gasps.

“Yes,” I answer.

“I… am very sorry to hear it.”

“Thank you.”

He nods and grows silent for a few seconds, dropping his gaze to the ground. He leaves himself open for attack but I don’t take the opportunity. When he looks back up at me, his eyes are sad.

“Your mother called you Ellie?”

“Yes,” I answer.

“Your father named you Eilish,” Kolvar continues.

I nod, unable to shield my amazement. He knew my mother and sister and by the sound of it, he knew me too! “She did call me Ellie... I didn’t know my father named me.”

He nods emphatically. “I’ve known you and your sister since you were no taller than my knee.” Kolvar moves forward and yanks me into a crushing hug. I want it to be comforting, but it only brings up more questions. Why wasn’t Kolvar there when they died? Did he know the man who killed them? I ask him as much but, sadly, he’s unable to offer me anything more. He was wandering with his clan when they were killed and doesn’t know the man who killed them. I look to Aima as if to draw courage from her, but she looks down at her feet with something akin to shame.

“I’m sorry they are gone, Eilish,” Kolvar says.

“I am too,” I say on a sigh as I pull away from him and try to control my emotions. He’s the first person I’ve met who knows my family. There’s just so much more I want to ask him, but then I wonder if I should. How much do I really want to know? How painful will the truth be?

Kolvar gives me a sympathetic pat on the shoulder and the sparring begins once more. I need to clear my mind, to escape from the constant coil of tension that lives in me. Aima and Kolvar seem to understand.

Aima kicks my dagger out of my hand, and I cast a shield of light to deflect Kolvar’s axe as Aima attacks me from the other side. She gets close to cleaving me in two with her sword, but I grab her arm and the veins beneath her skin begin to bulge, appearing red as they crawl across her flesh.

She jerks her arm back and stares at me in surprise. “How did you do that?”

“I didn’t mean to,” I hasten to say, afraid I’ve hurt her. “I only meant to stop you.”

“Eilish... that... what was going through your mind just then?” she asks, still in awe. She doesn’t appear to be hurt. More amazed.

“Protecting myself.”

She shakes her head. “You weren’t just protecting yourself. I couldn’t move my arm no matter how hard I tried,” she says. “It was like venom in my veins. I was paralyzed, but I... accepted it. I embraced the submission forced on me by your power.” She rubs the place on her arm where my hand had been. Something catches my attention. Kolvar’s attention, too, as he tilts his head and his ears twitch. I move to stand beside my companions. The roar of footsteps breaks through the forest as something or someone comes closer. We run for the cottage just as Pyre opens the door.

“There’s—” I start.

“I sensed their presence the second they stepped through the portal,” Pyre growls.

“Who is it?” I ask.

“The Unseelie army. At least one hundred soldiers march through The Veil Forest. And they have Cambion with them.”

My heart beats painfully within the confines of my chest as Baron hands the others their weapons. Dragan summons a blade of pure flame, and even Flumph and Noni gather their crossbows. When Pyre shuffles over to the window, I follow. We pull the curtain aside and watch the tree line for signs of movement. “What do you sense?” I ask.

“At least two hundred Unseelie now. Archers and swordsmen mostly, no spellcasters aside from Cambion and Variant, from what I can tell,” he answers.

“Cambion is with Variant?” I ask, my heart dropping at the thought.

“Appears so,” Pyre answers.

He gives me a look filled with so much weight. He’s worried. I suspect, for once, that the necromancer can’t foresee the outcome of this event.

“Whatever happens, we fight together. We need to make a stand,” he says. He takes a breath and continues. “Letting them take The Veil will be worse than anything they could do to the Realms.”

“We will stand and fight,” I say.

He nods. “We must make sure they don’t gain control.”

My hand rests on his shoulder and he holds my stare for a few more seconds. A small company moves through the trees and into the clearing. I hear the others curse as Cambion appears beside Theren, bound and gagged with enchanted cuffs and a muzzle. He looks like a wounded, feral dog trying to cling to life.

“They’ve taken Cambion as their prisoner,” I whisper, shocked but also pleased to know Cambion didn’t join them, as I’d worried earlier.

But, then my gaze shifts to Theren. On top of his head is short, midnight blue hair, cut in a way that shows off the severe arch of his brows and the fine points of his ears. His skin is tawny, not unlike Cambion’s bronze complexion, looking like the physical manifestation of sunlight. Theren’s eyes are the color of honey and wheat, just like his brother’s, and they glow faintly, as though his soul is reaching out through them. His face features full lips, long lashes, and high cheekbones. He’s nearly as captivating as Pyre, but there’s a cold brutality hidden behind his illuminating gaze.

***

CAMBION

The Veil

The pain in my body is eclipsed by the sense of regret I feel when Eilish stares at me from the window of the cottage. Her beautiful blue eyes bore through me with the intensity of a war-hardened fighter. I can’t tell if she’s angry, disappointed, saddened, or a combination of the three, but I don’t see the expression of betrayal in her gaze. I half expect to see hurt there, though I see none. Perhaps Eilish will be willing to hear what I have to say? Because what I have to say is an apology.

I was a fool to think Theren could change. I was a fool to have hoped such would be the case. And I was a fool to have bet on it.

“Is that your angel, Brother?” Theren asks in a strange tone.

Not mine, but an angel, I think in response. Yes.

I can’t speak, for my mouth is bound as well as my hands.

Regardless, my brother doesn’t need an answer. He knows who Eilish is.

“Then you wouldn’t mind if I had my fill of her?” Theren’s voice is teasing now. He licks his lips and watches Eilish through the tinted glass, eyes feasting on the succubus as if he’s never seen anything more delicious.

I understand. There isn’t anything more delicious. And this I know from experience.

There’s something answering in Eilish’s gaze as she takes in the sight of him. I can practically hear her pulse quicken as she watches him, tracing his body with her eyes. I’m almost grateful when Pyre pulls her away.

If she fucks Theren, my fucking brother … I will forever turn my back on her.

Not for the first time since I joined this mission, I wish I weren’t the one looking in from the outside. But I have no one else to blame but myself. I stole from Pyre and betrayed his trust, placed my own needs before those of the group. Even Dragan and Baron, two of the most selfish individuals I know, are changing for the better. And yet, here I am—just outside the line of trees that separates The Veil Forest from the clearing before the cottage.

I should have been here, training Eilish and helping the others plan our next attack; instead, I was in Oronrel trying to reason with my brother. Shame and bitter regret fill me up inside. Dragan moves to the window next, with Baron at his side. The vampire sneers through the glass and they look at me like they’ve already decided I’m guilty of betraying their trust, nevermind the fact that I’m returning with my hands and mouth bound. Nevermind that I’m returning as Theren’s prisoner.

I wish I could lie and say Dragan and Baron are wrong to look at me with so much disgust, but I can’t. I won’t.

“Eilish Inoa Fulthain, daughter of Gildlorthoine, the lost King of the succubae, and Maeline Fulthain, Healing Light of The Angels,” Theren calls out. The mention of her mother’s name causes me to flinch and lower my head. “Come forth, so that we may speak peacefully. My men will not harm you so long as Dragan and Baron stay where they are.”

Good. Theren doesn’t sense Pyre. The necromancer’s signature must be masked by the magic of The Veil.

I don’t want Eilish to walk into the clearing, because I’m suddenly not sure what Theren will do to her. Maybe kill her as soon as she makes it through the door?

He won’t kill her, I tell myself. Not before he fucks her.

And clearly he wants to fuck her. I can see it in his eyes.

Theren lifts his hand and gestures for his men to move into position. Archers take to the trees as swordsmen stand in formation to defend their king. With a snap of his fingers, Theren removes the gag from my mouth.

“They don’t wish to fight you, Theren,” I say for his ears only. “We know someone is controlling you. We can help you break free from that person’s command.” It’s my last chance to try to reason with him. To try to make him see the truth—that he’s merely someone’s puppet. I face him earnestly. “Join us, Brother, and rise with those who resist the crown. Variant may be lost to the darkness, but you don’t have to be.”

“You think I don’t wish to be one with the darkness?” Theren asks, shaking his head as his eyes bore into mine. “I’m Unseelie, Cambion! You can have your forests and your fucking light. I want none of it. What I desire is the throne of the gods. That’s where the true power lies.”

“True power comes from within—”

“Quiet!” he shouts. “Morrigan’s teachings are false. Or have you still not opened your eyes to the truth of her nature? How blind you must be.” Theren shakes his head in disbelief. “You are, aren’t you? I can’t understand how someone so wise and knowledgeable about the ways of the Realms, with a vast comprehension and natural talent for the arcane arts, can be so fucking stupid. Stop trying to think the best of everyone while you make a villain of yourself.”

“Is this where you gift me with your words of wisdom, Theren?” I demand, my voice angry and hurt. “Right before you kill me and… my friends?”

“I told you not to take the oath,” he says quietly. I see something flash in his gaze, something that looks like regret? Whatever it is, it gives me hope that he’s not completely lost, after all. “The words were there, beautiful and full of vision, but they weren’t spoken with truth. Listen to those who show doubt around you, Cambion. Ask yourself the important questions and do away with the rest.”

“And what are the important questions?” I demand. Theren shakes his head once again and falls silent. One of his men comes over to ask about battle strategies, and I try my best to listen in. In doing so, I learn there are soldiers all over the forest, surrounding the cottage. Theren regrets leaving behind the troll, which would have been terrible news for the others. Another small miracle for which I’m grateful.

When my brother finishes with his little strategizing meeting, he turns back to me with a devilish grin. “All of your friends and allies will die if the angel does not respond to my request and soon. I will not speak to anyone else in that cottage, I can smell their incompetence from here. Eilish or no one. Keep that in mind as we wait.”

“And what of Aima?”

“She won’t be around long. Aima has always run away from her troubles unless they can be solved with a blade or cunning,” he replies.

“That isn’t true. The Aima you know now is merely the person you forced her to become. The Aima I knew long ago would never have come close to a sword.”

“I turned her into a survivor.”