Hawk met up with Tiernan outside the brown gates of the court with Keir at his side. Keir was Hawk’s bastard-born half-brother who held little love for Hawk.
A formidable warrior, Keir had a scar across one cheek, and fought like the hounds of Underworld. He had returned to Otherworld after Samhain to attend to the training of additional D’Danann warriors who were to join them in Copper’s world.
“I have enlisted more of our brethren. They will join us shortly,” Hawk said to Tiernan. His features still twisted with anger, his hand clenched around his sword hilt. “I shall kill Darkwolf with my bare hands when we meet. And if Silver or our babe is injured, I shall kill him again.”
Keir’s arms crossed his chest and he wore a thunderous expression. He might have no love for his half-brother, Hawk, but he obviously respected and cared for Silver.
Tiernan felt the same way about Silver. And Copper—he couldn’t find the words to express himself.
Hawk gave Tiernan a long measured look as they waited for the warriors. Tiernan could hear the men and women coming in the distance.
“You have been trifling with Copper’s heart,” Hawk said. “If you hurt her, D’Danann brother or no, I shall have to flay you.”
“I deserve that beating. I have already hurt her.” Tiernan gave a great sigh as Hawk’s eyes darkened. “However, I hope she will have me once I explain—and now that I have freed myself from my responsibilities of the court.”
He raked his hand through his hair and scrubbed his scalp in frustration. “I broke my vow to Airell. I gave all my wealth to Urien so that he may rise in stature within the courts to wed her. My parents have disowned me, but Copper is all that is important to me.”
Hawk raised one brow. “All your wealth? Your stature?”
“My responsibilities. My honor.” Tiernan lowered his hand and clenched it. “If Copper does not take me, then I will choose to live the warrior’s life with the rest of the D’Danann.”
Tiernan was just about to ask Hawk how many D’Danann would be joining them when Urien tore through the gates, a Faerie riding on his shoulder. “Tiernan! This Faerie has news for you.”
“Riona?” Tiernan’s belly churned when Urien reached him. For the Faerie queen to bring tidings herself, the news she carried would not be good. “What brings you this way?”
The Fae cousin to the D’Danann used her tiny hand to push her black hair from her face. She looked as if she were winded from a long flight. Lavender Faerie dust sprinkled Urien’s shoulder with every movement her wings made.
The Faerie sounded tired as she spoke. “Balor has blocked Elvin entries and exits from Copper’s world to Otherworld. Cassia, the other witches—no one was able to follow.”
“Follow who?” Dread weighed heavy in Tiernan’s chest.
“Copper has gone alone to face Darkwolf and the Drow to save Silver,” Riona said.
Shock arrowed through Tiernan’s chest.
“Speak, Faerie,” Hawk commanded, obviously impatient for news of his mate.
The queen gave him a haughty look and flew straight from Urien’s shoulder to buzz in front of Hawk’s nose. “I will answer your questions only because Copper is friend to the Faeries and we fear greatly for her safety.” Riona’s anger bled away. “Silver is in mortal peril. As is Copper now.”
Tiernan felt as if someone twisted the arrow. Hawk’s dark complexion paled.
The other warriors arrived and the situation was quickly explained to them. “How shall we get to this place? Is it a long journey?” Tiernan asked.
Riona nodded. “It is far, and it was only due to magical flight that I was able to arrive as quickly as I have.”
“Then how shall we reach her?” Tiernan ground his teeth as he waited for an answer.
The queen looked from Tiernan to Hawk. “You will need to go to the Elvin transference point and ask the aid of the Great Guardian.”
Immediately shouts of agreement and disagreement broke out among the D’Danann warriors. Tiernan watched for a moment as Hawk started forward with no hesitation.
Hawk’s first wife, who had passed to Summerland a few years ago, had been half-Elvin. Hawk had maintained his ties to the Elves despite the animosity between Fae and Elves.
“I will speak with the Great Guardian.” Hawk unfurled his wings and immediately began his journey through the forest.
“You can count on me to aid you, as well,” Urien said, his gaze resting on Tiernan. “I owe you much.”
Tiernan gave a quick nod. He and the other warriors took to the sky and followed Hawk as he made his way through the forest, away from the D’Danann village. Riona settled on Tiernan’s shoulder, looking queenly, though somewhat tired.
“Godsdamn.” Tiernan could not contain the emotion raging through him. “I promised Copper I would be there for her. She cannot face this alone.”
Riona crossed her legs at her knees and bounced her dainty foot. “You will be there for her. If you hurry now.”
Fear for Copper raged through Tiernan’s mind, like nothing he had ever felt before. His heart pounded against his ribs, his skin felt hot then cold. She had described her dreams to him vividly. What if they were true? Every last detail?
Tree branches scraped his face, and even through the smells of rich earth and fresh flowers, he felt the air closing in on him, as if the bubble trapped him again.
They reached the ancient Elvin transference point and each D’Danann landed and folded away their wings.
Elvin runes had long ago been carved around the circular platform made of a stone like gray marble, only far stronger, far more enduring. Beyond the platform sat a small bridge and a stream tinkled merrily beneath it.
“Veils can only be crossed by the Elves during special times throughout the year, such as the solstice or equinox,” Riona said. “However, Elves can also travel through doorways—over ancient bridges, or beneath great mounds of earth.”
She continued, “Since such a great number of you need to make your way, we will need the transference point along with the aid of the Great Guardian.”
Some of the D’Danann grumbled. Prejudices ran deep between Fae and Elves.
“Quiet!” Hawk bellowed, and complete silence from the warriors reigned instantly. “We will wait and see if the Great Guardian will bless us with her presence.”
The sounds of birds chirping, the low music of Dryads singing, the whisper of wind through leaves, and the tinkling stream could be heard as they waited.
For a long moment all warriors remained quiet, their eyes fixed on the bridge. The wind picked up and a sound like bells filled the air.
Every inch of Tiernan’s body ached from the need to aid Copper. He could tell Hawk felt the same about Silver just by the clenching of his jaw and his fists.
An Elvin woman of incredible grace and beauty appeared on the footbridge.
She was as tall as most of the D’Danann warriors. Her pointed ears peeked through strands of her blonde hair that hung straight and silkily, all the way to her feet. Her hair and her skin were perfect. She appeared young, but with such incredible wisdom in her eyes.
The sound of metal scraping against a scabbard was loud as Hawk removed his sword and laid it at the foot of the transference point. Tiernan followed suit, and they both knelt.
“Rise and sheathe your weapons.” The Great Guardian’s voice could be called nothing less than musical. “You must hurry if you are to save the ones you love.”
Tiernan and Hawk looked at one another and quickly obeyed the Guardian. They shrugged out of their coats and tossed them aside on the grass as one, both needing to be free of anything that might hinder them.
“I can allow two of you to cross at a time.” She gestured for Hawk and Tiernan to stand on the stone. “You must hurry through the Drow door and into the tunnels.” She focused on Tiernan. “Remember the encounter with the giant.”
How she had known about the fight with the giant, Tiernan had no idea. But he would not question such a wise being.
“Battle well,” she said as Hawk and Tiernan stepped upon the stone, and Riona fluttered onto his shoulder.
Tiernan braced himself for the transference. Again that feeling of suffocation, of his eyes bulging, of wanting to claw at his throat, nearly overcame him. But in mere moments they were free and stood within the meadow Tiernan knew only too well.
Copper was tumbling through a hole. Again. She screamed, but it was lost in the rush of air whooshing by her cheeks. She couldn’t think past her fear as she fell in absolute darkness.
Her feet slammed onto hard ground. Pain screamed through her as her right ankle wrenched. She heard a popping and grinding sound, and she fell to her hands and knees.
“Oh, goddess!” she shouted, unable to hold back another cry.
The pain in her ankle was so excruciating that tears leaked from her eyes and sweat broke out on her brow. She scrubbed her face on her arm, wiping away the moisture before gently lowering herself so that she was sitting.
No matter how carefully she moved, the pain in her ankle was so intense she could barely breathe. She held her knee up and her foot off the floor of wherever it was that she’d landed. She was afraid to put any pressure on her foot. The slightest touch would send her screaming, she was sure.
She gripped her damaged wand, but its light was out again, and it was pitch-black once more. “Dammit! Stupid thing.” It was irrational to blame the wand, considering she’d been the one to put it in her back pocket. But she wasn’t feeling rational in the least.
Instead of slamming the wand onto the ground like she wanted to, she raised it and focused her magic on the shattered tip. A soft golden glow fractured from it, giving her a bit of light to see by.
She moved it like a flashlight with dying batteries, shining it around the place she now rested, while trying to ignore the throbbing agony in her ankle.
Once again—surprise, surprise—she was in a passageway. Only this one was much smaller, tall enough for a Drow to walk without bending his head, and wide enough for two to walk side by side. No giant had made this tunnel.
Copper wondered if destiny had messed up, or if Balor had been screwing with her dream-visions again. Here she was, things happening like in her visions, only in them she hadn’t broken her wand and hadn’t broken her ankle, too.
“Crap, this is so not good.” Her voice sounded hoarse. “And, isn’t that the understatement of the year?”
Her head, back, and butt still ached from her first fall, her hands from the rope burns, but that was nothing compared to the all-consuming pain in her ankle. She’d never felt anything so intensely painful in her life. It was the same foot that the Fomorii had scratched when she’d arrived in San Francisco, and that wound flared up worse than before.
Maybe a little witchcraft would help—at least a bit. She’d helped her sister witches before, why couldn’t she help herself?
She pointed her broken wand at her swelling ankle, and said a small chant meant to help numb the pain. Sparks sputtered from the end of her wand, not the glittering glow she was accustomed to. She held her breath, hoping the charm would work and that her pain would ease.
No such luck.
If anything, it hurt worse.
Copper gripped her wand tighter. “Goddess bless.”
She wanted to hurl the wand through the tunnel. If she didn’t need what little light it offered, she would have ditched the thing already.
Bracing her hands on the floor first, then the walls, she eased herself to a standing position, putting her weight on her good foot. Another explosion of pain shot through her. Her vision swam and dark spots prickled before her eyes.
She moaned and couldn’t help a few more tears.
Yeah, this is just peachy.
The tunnel only went in one direction. It sloped downward, a slight decline. Gritting her teeth, Copper started hobbling, balancing herself by bracing one hand against the wall while she moved.
It didn’t matter how careful she was, the pain wouldn’t stop. She smelled fresh dirt, and the earth felt cool and rough beneath her palm as she steadied herself.
“Where’s Zeph?” She paused in mid-hobble and looked over her shoulder. “Zephyr!” she called, panic edging her voice. Her stomach clenched. Had the giant squashed him? “Zephyr!”
She waited a few heartbeats, but when he didn’t come to her, she saw no choice but to continue.
She didn’t seem to have a whole lot of choice in anything.
Copper made her way slowly down the tunnel and was relieved when the pain in her ankle slowed to a dull, throbbing ache as if going numb from the injury.
No doubt when she put pressure on it again, she would be in for some serious agony. She had a nagging headache from her first fall, and her back was killing her.
“How am I going to do this?” Her voice sounded small and lost in the tunnel. “I need you, Zeph!”
No comforting buzzing met her ears.
Why had this all happened? Hadn’t she and her sister been through enough?
No time for a freaking pity party, Copper. Get your ass in gear. There’s no choice but to go forward.
The tunnel went on forever and ever, at least that was how it felt. She was aching and filthy. She had a broken wand and a broken ankle.
And a broken heart.
While she moved down the tunnel she had time to think of lots of things. The constant void the passing of her mother had created and the pain of her death that would never go away.
Silver was now imprisoned with Darkwolf. Was she safe? What about the baby? How was Copper going to get her sister back?
Or did Darkwolf plan to use Silver for some obscene ritual that had to do with the door?
The thought made Copper shudder and she tried not to let her mind go there. She would get to her sister before anything happened to Silver. She would.
She forced her thoughts away from her fears and found herself thinking about Tiernan. How could she have fallen in love with him? She wasn’t sure the pain of loving him, since he probably had to marry another woman, would ever go away.
Time heals all wounds.
Now wasn’t that a load of bullshit.
Copper continued to limp-hop down the passageway until a red glow mingled with the dull light of her wand.
Her heart nearly stopped.
The red light crept around a corner of the tunnel and grew as the passageway turned. Copper’s heart rate picked up. This was it. This was where everything would come to a head.
Goddess, how she wished she had someone to help her. Her witch friends had been shut out, the Fae and Elves couldn’t help.
And the D’Danann were on the other side with the witches in her world. The warriors had to have someone with Elvin blood to take them across, so how could they get to her if no one else could?
Copper took a deep breath. She hobbled forward until she reached the corner and peered around it.
She didn’t need her wand light anymore. The horrible red creeping from a door across the cavern covered everything in a crimson glow. She stuck her wand in her back pocket and gripped the wall with both hands as she took a moment to take in her surroundings.
Like her dream-visions, she had entered an immense cavern filled with stalactites and stalagmites. Like blood-red rubies, crystals sparkled throughout the cavern.
The cavern had an eerie red glitter about it that made her feel sick to her stomach. Everything seemed bathed in blood.
It was hot, so very hot, like the heat of a furnace.
As far as she could tell, the chamber was empty. Where were the Drow? Darkwolf, the Fomorii, Silver?
Copper gripped a corner of the tunnel that led into the cavern. Unlike in her dreams, she didn’t smell that rotten fish stench, and she didn’t catch the scent of wolfsbane. The earthy, mossy scent of the Drow was there, although she didn’t see them.
She did smell something she couldn’t quite identify. It was a sickly-sweet odor that made her stomach churn. It smelled like—like burnt sugar.
Over and over in Copper’s mind, she ran through the spell she’d been thinking of all day when she’d jogged the length of the park and back, and while she’d sat and watched the ocean for a while.
With the spell, she would be prepared to keep the door closed, unlike in her dream. She rubbed her back pocket where she’d stuck her wand. The only difference was that in her preparation for this spell, she’d counted on her wand.
Now she’d have to count on hand magic instead. At that thought she bit her lip. She’d always relied on her wand. She should have practiced hand magic rather than having to rely on a tool.
Silver needed her.
I will not fail.
Shoring up her courage, Copper hobbled fully around the corner, and then beside the rocks that barricaded one side of the path leading down to the cavern.
When she reached the cavern floor, she was surprised to find a way along a fairly smooth and worn rock path, as if traveled upon by many feet over centuries.
No longer having a wall of any kind to brace herself with, Copper had to skip-hop from stalagmite to stalagmite, pausing to catch her breath and ease the pain of her ankle. More sweat broke out on her forehead and her body felt even hotter. The pain in her ankle constantly made her want to vomit.
The closer she came to the door, the harder her heart pounded. The crimson glow made it easy enough for her to see, but she couldn’t quite make out everything ahead of her.
She hop-skipped a little closer. Closer. Closer. Until she stood a good twenty feet from the door. She’d almost reached the last stalagmite and would have nothing else to hold on to once she took another step forward.
Copper came to an abrupt halt. The red glow from the door was bright enough that she had to blink to become accustomed to it. The smell of burnt sugar was much stronger now.
She scanned the cavern and saw no one—no sign of the Drow, the Fomorii, or warlocks.
She dropped her gaze. On the floor was the circle with the runes—
At the center of that circle was her unconscious sister, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.
The moment Copper saw her sister at the center of that circle of runes, she couldn’t help the scream that tore from her throat.
“Silver!” Her name echoed throughout the cavern, bouncing from wall to wall, stalagmite to stalactite.
Her heart raced as it had never raced before. Adrenaline surged through her, giving her the strength to push herself away from the last stalagmite and hobble to Silver as fast as she could. Copper didn’t care about anything but getting to her sister.
Silver lay on her back spread-eagle. Her head was turned, facing Copper, her eyes closed, a dried trickle of red coming from her bottom lip where she’d apparently bit it hard enough to draw blood—or where she’d been hit.
Through her fear and the haze of her pain, Copper had the presence of mind to look about the cavern again. Where were Darkwolf, Junga, and the Drow? Other Fomorii or warlocks?
When she reached Silver, Copper dropped to her knees, the pain in her swollen ankle bringing a surge of agony through her body that made her feel faint, yet she did her best to ignore it.
She reached for Silver’s wrist and found that it was bound tight to a metal stake in a witch’s knot. Copper felt her sister’s pulse. It wasn’t as strong as it should be.
Silver was still. So unnaturally still.
What was wrong with her? Was the baby all right?
Tears squeezed from Copper’s eyes and splashed onto Silver’s arm. Her hair lay loose around her head like a silver halo. She wore the same black clothing she had on the night Darkwolf kidnapped her.
Copper’s skin iced. Silver’s other bound wrist had been sliced open. Blood seeped from a small cut and into the connected runes engraved into the stone.
The blood wasn’t drying—it was creeping into the etchings and making its way through them, from one rune to the next.
“No!” Copper crawled on her hands and knees to the other side of Silver, her mind consumed with saving her sister. She had to perform a healing spell to stop the flow of blood. But she didn’t have her wand!
Gritting her teeth, she held her hands over the small cut through one of Silver’s veins. Someone had meant to bleed her slowly.
A faint golden glow began to seep from Copper’s fingers and she let out a low growl as she pushed her magic further.
Nothing. Blood still trickled into the rune below Silver’s wrist.
Copper’s whole body wound tight as she focused her magic onto that one small cut. The glow from her fingers grew brighter, like gold flames licking Silver’s wrist.
She pushed harder. Harder yet.
A sense of elation filled Copper as the wound began to cauterize. The stream of blood from Silver’s wrist stopped flowing. A scab formed where the cut had been, and then vanished.
The little bit of hand magic she’d performed had worked!
Copper gave a sigh of relief that at least Silver was no longer bleeding. But now she had to free her sister fast.
Something slammed Copper upside her face.
Stars exploded in her head.
She cried out as the force of the impact caused her to topple and land on one cheek. More flashes of light burst through her mind as her head struck stone. The wand dug into her backside and she heard another snap of crystal.
Before she could react, a large boot pressed against her cheek, pinning her head to the stone. Copper froze, looked up with one eye, and saw Darkwolf standing over her.
It was his boot on her face. The eye on the chain around his neck swung away from his chest and glowed a brilliant red—a red as bright as the light seeping from the door.
“Let me go, asshole.” Her words came out awkward with her face mashed.
“I was beginning to think you’d never show up.” He gave her a grin that was nothing short of evil. His gaze turned to Silver and surprisingly his features softened. “We can’t have your sister bleeding to death.” His eyes met Copper’s again. “You’re the one I’ve been waiting for. Balor promised to deliver you.”
Riona had been right. Balor had interfered with the veils and with their divination, sending Copper here alone—for this. Like in her dreams, she was to be a sacrifice to Balor. Right now that wasn’t important.
What’s important is that Silver lives.
Copper noticed Darkwolf glancing to her right, and with her side vision she saw the demon in human form, Junga. Of all things, the demon-woman wore a 49ers jersey, and Copper had the strange desire to giggle.
But then the emotion caught in her throat. Was that Sara beside Junga? Sara formerly of the D’Anu? By the amused look on Sara’s features and the evil glint in her eyes. Copper had no doubt Sara was in the clutches of the blackest, blackest sorcery.
“Cut Silver’s bonds,” Darkwolf commanded with a nod toward Junga.
The demon-woman scowled. “We should bleed them both. Together their blood will make the ritual more powerful.”
“As I have told you,” Darkwolf’s voice cut the air like a blade, “Silver is mine.”
Sara cast a disgusted look in Silver’s direction.
Junga gave a low growl. “This obsession you have for the witch will be your ruin.”
Darkwolf raised his hands and purple sparks dripped from his fingertips as his gaze fixed on Junga. She gave him a haughty expression, but at the same time her fingers extended into claws, just like they had when Copper and Tiernan had appeared in Darkwolf’s library.
Junga knelt and with a swipe of one clawed finger she sliced the bindings at one of Silver’s wrists.
Pain from the boot on Copper’s face matched the pain in her head from the stone floor. The agony in her ankle was enough to make her sweat double—from the heat emanating from the door and the intensity of her injury.
She thanked the goddess that Silver would live. Copper would gladly take her sister’s place.
Yet Copper wasn’t about to give up. Somehow she’d get them both out of this mess. She’d get Silver away from Darkwolf, keep herself from being sacrificed, and make sure the door stayed closed.
Yeah. No problem.
Darkwolf took his boot from her face, giving her head some relief. He bent and grabbed one of her hands and jerked her to her feet.
Copper screamed and her legs buckled as the momentum twisted her broken ankle. Tears of pain and fury coursed down her cheeks.
The warlock brought her to her feet again, held her beneath her armpits, and she was able to keep pressure off her ankle. His dark eyes had an unnatural red glow about them.
“Soon you will not feel any pain, Copper.” Darkwolf adjusted her so that she had her weight on her good foot and so that he could hold her with one hand. With his other he pushed from her face the sweaty hair that had escaped her braid.
He looked human—not like the evil warlock he was. His eyes no longer gleamed that awful red, and instead were dark, almost black. He pressed his lips to her forehead and drew back. “Know that your sister will be safe with me, and your blood will allow us to release the door to Underworld—already Silver’s blood has opened it a fraction.”
Darkwolf smiled, his eyes glowing red again, and he no longer looked human. It chilled her to her gut as he brought his hand to the eye lying against his chest.
Red light bled from between his fingers as he continued. “Balor’s body will be freed to join his essence bound in this eye. His wife, Ceithlenn, will be able to walk the shores of our world as she once did, and Balor will rule again.”
Copper swallowed. Even that slight movement hurt her aching body. She glanced down at the double circles and saw Silver had been freed and her body was being tossed none too gently to the side by Junga. Silver’s head lolled so that one cheek was on the smooth stone of the cavern floor, her body lifeless.
“Be careful with the witch.” Darkwolf’s eyes glowed redder yet. “If you injure Silver, there will be great consequences.”
Copper’s heart beat faster and fear rode her in waves as she looked back to the warlock. “What’s wrong with her? Why is she so still?”
He gave a slight shrug of one shoulder and the red in his eyes dulled a bit. “She’s drugged. Long enough to bleed you and open that door.”
Copper’s mind raced. With her wand she could throw up a shield around herself, but without it—
She focused on her hands, felt some warmth at her fingertips and imagined shielding herself with her magic.
Darkwolf laughed and her eyes locked with his. The pressure of his grip on her increased. “You have no power without your wand, Copper Ashcroft. I can read it in your mind, feel it in your thoughts.”
Copper reacted, too fast for thought.
With all her might she slammed her fist into his nose. She heard the crack of bone followed by a gush of blood.
Darkwolf gave a cry of rage and pain. Blood flowed over his mouth, down his chin, to his black shirt. He slapped her so hard he flung her body from his and she landed hard in the center of the circle.
Copper cried out as her body struck stone and her ankle wrenched yet again. Despite every bit of pain, she willed herself to sit up, willed her hand magic to work, but only the faintest golden glow came from her fingers and her body wouldn’t move.
Sara stood at Copper’s feet. The pretty witch looked normal for a moment, like the friend she had once been to Copper. But then her lips twisted into an evil smirk.
Copper’s eyes widened as the former witch raised her foot. With a satisfied smile, Sara slammed her shoe onto Copper’s broken ankle.
Copper shrieked.
She’d never felt such excruciating pain. It flooded every nerve ending in her body. It forced a flood of tears from her eyes and cries for mercy from her lips.
“Stop, Sara!” she begged. “Please stop. Please.”
Sara responded by grinding her foot onto Copper’s ankle.
The agony was so great she saw spots before her eyes. Black spots. Red spots. Black spots.
Then blessed nothingness as Copper slipped into the depths of darkness and she felt no more.