Page 27

Chapter twenty-seven

Flyn

F ebruary is here. Finally. The longest winter ever is finally ending. Maybe I’ll start being able to breathe.

I place the freshly squeezed orange juice on the tray and pop two slices of bread into the toaster.

“La la la-la la!” shrieks Lello.

Everyone in the kitchen laughs. Even Blue.

“Not quite,” he chuckles. “Try again.”

Lello takes a deep breath and repeats his noises. The only difference I can hear is the volume. This time his braying is louder. It’s tempting to cover my ears.

As Lello finishes his attempt at singing a scale, he collapses into fits of giggles. It’s contagious. My lungs are shaking. Who knew a siren trying to teach a kelpie to sing would be so hilarious?

The toaster pops and I grab its offerings and quickly butter them. Level three toastiness. Jade’s favorite.

I quickly dash out of the kitchen before the toast can get cold. I hurry down the stairs to the dungeon and push the door open with my shoulder.

Darkness envelops me. Along with an oppressive silence. Even the air is too still.

There are a dozen lamps down here, but they do nothing against the dark. It’s an entirely different world from the one I just left. There is no joy or laughter down here. No pale winter sunlight .

Jade is a motionless lump of bedcovers in the bed. He has gone back to sleep even though I only left ten minutes ago.

I force a swallow past the lump in my throat. He is sleeping so much these days. Though I guess it is the only way he has of escaping, and it’s not as if he is missing anything exciting, here down in the dungeon.

But he is missing out on so very much.

He is missing out on the nonsense upstairs. Just like he missed Christmas and New Year, even though everyone crammed down here to spend a few hours with him.

He is missing the snowdrops that have sprung to life all over the gardens. All the photos I’ve shown him are just not the same. He is going to miss the daffodils too.

I put the tray down on the bedside table. Jade doesn’t stir, so I gently shake his shoulder.

His eyes open, and he stares at me with a blank expression. There are dark shadows under his eyes. He looks worse today. He has been fading for far too long, but something is different this morning. It’s almost as if his last flicker of hope has burned out.

“Breakfast!” I say with all the cheer I can muster.

He sighs and shuffles up to a sitting position. I place the tray on his lap. He picks up a piece of toast and starts eating it robotically. Like it is a chore that has to be endured.

“I have a headache,” he says in a monotone voice. “Can you bring down some painkillers?” His green eyes are dull. The emerald sparkle has been extinguished.

“What happened to the ones I brought down yesterday?” I ask.

He shrugs and looks away. “Can’t find them.” He takes another bite of toast.

I step away from the bed and start rummaging through all of the stuff that has accumulated down here.

“What are you doing?” Jade asks.

“Looking for the painkillers.”

“Don’t bother. I’ll have another look later.”

I turn back to look at him, but he won’t look at me. “I don’t mind. Can’t have you suffering through a headache.”

Jade doesn’t answer me. He just slowly chews his toast.

Something deep inside of me pulses in pain. It feels as if my insides are twisting up into knots. I turn away from Jade to hide my shaky inhale.

It’s not the fey, I know it’s not. Between all the magic around here, the most they do is make the lights flicker and sometimes give him freaky dreams.

It’s not the fey that are slowly killing Jade. It’s this place. This dungeon and the unending dark.

I run my hand through my hair and sneak in another fortifying breath. Find the painkillers. Focus on that. It’s something I can do right now that will help.

With that determined thought in mind, I get to work. I look everywhere. Then I search again. What the hell? I know I brought them down yesterday and I don’t think I’m the one who is losing their mind.

In exasperation, I stomp over to Reginald the stuffed frog and his place in the corner of the room.

“It’s okay! My headache has gone!” Jade says all in a rush.

But my body is already moving. My arms lift up the frog. Three unopened packets of painkillers glare up at me. My heart stops beating.

Slowly, heavily, I turn to face Jade. His eyes meet mine. Full of pain and shame. His cheeks flush. Then he looks down at his lap with his shoulders slumped.

I swallow, and the sound is deafening.

Far, far in the back of my mind, where I buried them and locked them away, memories are roaring at me. All but screaming. Memories of the awful way my brother Liam left me.

I rouse myself with a full body shake. “Come on. We are going for a walk.”

Jade stares at me, confusion swirling over his face .

“The whole estate is magic warded, isn’t it?” I say. “And you still have the amulet.”

Jade blinks slowly.

“Let’s go!” I announce.

I step forward, grab his hand, and yank him out of bed. Then I propel him to the door and up the stairs before he has time to process what is happening.

I’m so glad I shut the kitchen door behind me. Now no one can see the hallway down to the nearest door to the gardens. I hurriedly steer Jade down it, and then fling open the door.

It’s taken less than two minutes to get Jade outside. Two measly little minutes. I should have done it ages ago.

Jade stops walking. I look at him.

His face is tilted up to the sky, even though it is only an overcast winter day. His eyes are closed. He is basking in the weak February sunlight and there is a faint smile on his lips.

I tug on his hand. I really want to get further into the gardens before anyone looks out of a window and sees us.

Jade lowers his head. His eyes open. He looks at me and a dazzling smile spreads across his too-pale face. My heart thumps. It thuds against my ribcage like a thing possessed.

I tighten my grip on Jade’s hand and all but run deeper into the beautiful gardens. I babble about snowdrops and daffodils and everything and nothing.

Jade looks around in wonder. As if I’m showing him heaven instead of a garden in a country estate. He really has been locked up in the dark for far too long.

It would take a toil on anybody, and Jade is part fey. His heritage is tied to nature and the wild. Shutting him in a dungeon is like putting a sunflower in a basement and expecting it to survive.

The path we are on meanders up to a pretty sundial. It’s surrounded by a circle of white gravel, and three other paths lead away from it. It’s a centerpiece, and it really is quite charming .

Pink told me that lots of things around the house and grounds are imbued with ancient magic. It wouldn’t surprise me if this sundial was one of them.

Jade lets go of my hand and walks up to the weathered sundial with clear reverence. I watch him with a grin on my face and relief pounding through my veins. Jade hasn’t sunk so far that he cannot be found. He just needed some fresh air and a walk. A change of scenery to revitalize his spirits.

Once a day might be enough to keep him going. Just until my endless pestering of the Grand Master pays off. One day Silas will answer my calls or emails. I know it. Then the freaky necromancer will hurry up with finding a better way of keeping Jade safe.

Jade places his hands on the sundial and suddenly he jolts. His? head snaps back as if he is looking up at the sky again, and his entire body goes rigid.

“Jade?”

I step towards him.

His eyes are milky white.

I run towards him, but I hit something solid and crash to the ground. I can’t breathe. Whatever invisible thing I ran into has knocked the wind right out of me.

Jade starts to chant. Strange, melodic and alluring words that make my skin tingle and burn.

Oh crap. Oh double and triple crap. My heart is racing so fast now I think I’m going to die. Even if I wasn’t winded, adrenaline is shaking my muscles so hard, I don’t think I could move.

The sound of running footsteps reaches my ears. I twist my neck to look. Everyone, and I mean everyone, is running out of the house towards us.

Thank fuck.

They will know what to do. They know all about magic. They figured out how to stop Jade last time he tried to open a portal .

Everything is going to be fine. The boys will stop this. Then everyone will be furious at my stupid ass. But everyone will be okay and that is the only thing that matters.

I heave myself up into a sitting position. I watch in bewilderment as Monty and Mal do things I have no chance of comprehending. The only thing I’m grasping is that Jade is behind a magic bubble, and no one can get to him.

Ned steps forward. He is clutching a large black umbrella to keep him out of the sunlight. He tries talking to Jade. He tries to get his attention.

But Jade’s head stays back. His face fixed skyward and his eyes unseeing.

He is chanting away. I don’t think he is aware of us at all. He can’t see us. Or hear us. I can’t even tell if he is still Jade.

Suddenly, someone dressed all in black is striding up to the invisible magic wall. It’s Silas, the Grand Master. Please let him be powerful enough to stop this.

“I’m going to have to kill him,” says Silas.

“No!” I cry as I scramble to my feet. “Give me five minutes, please!”

Silas gives me a deeply impatient look. Gulping down my terror, I run up to the magic wall, getting as close to Jade as I can. I place the palm of my hands on the tingling nothingness. It is as solid as glass. No wonder running into it at full speed knocked me on my ass.

Jade is inches away from me, but he might as well be on the other side of the universe. He seems utterly oblivious of my presence.

“Jadey, Baby?” I shout hoarsely. “Please don’t do this.”

Shouting seems like a good idea. I have no idea if the magic is keeping sound out, but turning up my volume can’t hurt.

“You don’t want to do this. You are strong, Baby. So strong.”

Nothing. Nothing save for a slight flicker in his eyes. A ripple through his tense body .

I take a deep breath. I don’t dare to hope, but that was something . Some sign that he might have heard me.

“You can fight them, Baby. Do it for me.”

Jade blinks. The white drains from his eyes. He lifts his head. He looks right at me with dazzling emerald eyes. His eyes. My Jade.

My breath catches in my throat and my lungs stop working.

His hands pull away from the sundial like it is taking a huge amount of effort. As if the stone is molten and his burned flesh melded to it. I hold his gaze and will him on, lending him what strength I can.

He staggers back a step with a cry. Then he crumples. I leap forward and catch him in my arms before I remember about the magic shield. But I have him. The soft weight of him is in my arms, so the magic wall must be gone.

Everyone crowds us. Brodie snatches up Jade’s limp wrist and checks his pulse. The healer looks at me and nods. My lungs begin to work again, releasing a tight breath and sucking in some fresh oxygen.

Jade is going to be alright.

I open my mouth to say something, but a flash of purple in the sky snatches my words away. It’s like lightning, but far more vivid. It lights up the entire sky and then vanishes. Everyone flinches, their bodies physically recoiling from something I cannot feel.

“What’s happening!” I gasp.

“The portals have opened. The fey have stepped through.”

I have no idea who has answered me, but their words are searing into me. Burning into my soul with an icy horror.

I look down at Jade, who is still out cold in my arms. Was I too late?

Silas is swearing. A long list of impressive cuss words and shocking phrases. He is glaring up at the sky.

“Fucking fey!” he finishes with.

His attention snaps down to Jade, and reflexively I pull my unconscious boyfriend to my chest. As if I can protect him.

Silas growls. “Jade was a distraction all along.”