Chapter Twenty-Two

I sent Sinlae and Lonne first, then created a harness for Samson, lowering him down until the rope relaxed and I heard the others call up that he was safe. Without seeing what it looked like down there, I wasn’t about to try taking the lines, plus, this close to Zerian was probably not a good place to throw myself into the magic that Fin controlled.

The light disappeared completely after only a few steps down the ladder, so I created fae light using my personal store of energy. At the same time, I replenished my voltage with the ambient energy found underground. Faerie was usually swimming in magic because everything in it was magical. You breathed it in, walked on it, ate it, and even slept on it. All you had to do was ask for what you wanted and if you had the power, it could happen, at least when the realm was healthy. Magic was desire made instantly real, but it was also the dreams that created what you desired to lodge in your heart. And in Faerie, the Demon and Unseelie Realms, it was the energy that kept your heart beating and your lungs working. Without magic, these incredible creatures would fade away.

I was born of another realm, the mortal plain, where science ruled and magic was the extra scoop of ice cream on top of the slice of apple pie. Like Liam, my being half fae didn’t affect the strength of my magic in or out of Faerie. Liam’s other half was mundane—human—so he wasn’t cursed with having to keep a part of his magic under wraps while he was in Faerie. Holding my demon magic in check was tough, especially since it always seemed to be drawn to cohabitate with the fae energy.

But it sure had come in handy when I’d had that discussion with the slaugh. I’d pulled my demon out and wrapped it around my body, otherwise he wouldn’t have acknowledged me and might have feasted instead of flown.

Here in the darkness of the tunnel, my demon side called to me, seeking to rush ahead impulsively, tie up Zerian no matter what she wanted and bring her back tossed over my shoulder. I’d have to kill to accomplish that feat, and even then might end up dead myself. Nope, demon boy could never be put in charge of planning a rescue. Unless—and Isaiah had shown me the truth of this several times—you’d tried absolutely everything else and the situation was dire and impossible to win. Sometimes surprise is all you’ve got. Sometimes it’s enough.

The Fae Race was populated with superior manipulators of magic, intelligent and civilized, but they didn’t often think waaay outside the box like Isaiah did. He’d be the first to tell you most demons were dummies compared to the fae, and since they reproduced at the same rate as humans, there were plenty of them. But Isaiah fell into the top percentile as far as brainpower was concerned, and no one could turn the tables on you faster than that tricky bastard, as my month of training in the UR proved.

I flexed the muscles in my arms and rolled my shoulders to loosen them up. I was fitter than I’d been in years, more focused too. I’d be able to handle myself without using magic, and that was a big plus in a realm where I was trying not to draw attention to myself.

I shook my head and found myself laughing at Isaiah’s crazy plots and ploys, imagining the wheels in his mind spinning turbo speed. Hey, how do ya get the kid to start training again? You kidnap him, scare him a little to show him the error of his ways, then maybe encourage him to experiment with his magic. Yeah, that should work.

Finvarra would have sent me a note delivered by a fae warrior stating I should begin training immediately.

Lonne stopped and turned toward me as if to speak, but he only managed to grunt, his body folding and crumpling to the ground. An arrow protruded from his back and he was bleeding badly. I took the lines forward as soon as I saw the creature that had injured my guide, a squat, toad-like being that stood on two legs with long, sharp looking teeth and a short sword that was tinged with a green glow. I appeared behind him, slicing into the muscles of his legs to take him to the ground.

Samson was at his throat, clamping on hard enough to cut off his air supply. The creature lost consciousness a few heartbeats later.

Sinlae was hovering over Lonne. “The arrow is poisoned. The blades too. We must be wary.”

“What can we do for him?”

“Take him back to his people. They have an antidote—curweed. It was growing in their garden. Tell them to make a tea with it and to also add peppermint.

“I can’t leave you.”

“You must. He will die.”

“I’ll be back as quickly as I can. Stay with Samson and take care of each other.” I lifted Lonne and was at his cluster within moments. They crowded around me as I explained, the females rushing off to harvest some curweed as Sinlae suggested. I was there for only a minute tops, but when I got back I was shaken to discover Sinlae fighting for her life with Samson by her side. This time there were two of the creatures, their swords slicing through the air with great power but very little accuracy, thank the gods. Sinlae’s size and quickness was an enormous advantage but she couldn’t do much damage with her tiny sword.

My dagger was vibrating, the hilt heating in my hand as soon as I pulled it from its sheath. I handled the rear toad with one quick slice across his wide neck, the flattened head lolling to the side as I turned to help my companions battle the next creature. I was in the zone, oblivious to the fact I’d just killed someone. All I could think about was saving my friends. Blinded by rage, I leaped across the first one’s body to slice the neck of the third, then went back to finish the first. They’d intended to poison my friends. Their mistake.

Panting and splattered with blood, Sinlae landed on my shoulder. Samson sniffed at the three bodies and wagged his tail, his eyes losing their red glow and returning to brown. He was definitely a dog designed for battle. My heartbeat was quick, my breaths coming faster as well, but I was far from spent.

“Are you all right, Charlie?” Sinlae placed a gentle hand on my neck, trying to calm me. A burning anger still coursed through my veins, beckoning me to search for more of the toad creatures and destroy them. Even my dagger throbbed in disappointment, desiring only to sink into flesh and destroy all my enemies.

“Please answer, sweet child.” I blinked. Sinlae hadn’t called me that in ten years. She was hovering directly in front of me. “Come back to us.”

Samson whimpered and bumped his shoulder against my knee. “I’m…I’m here.”

She smiled and kissed my cheek. “You are not injured?”

I sheathed my blade and patted my chest then glanced at my hands and arms. “I think I’m fine.” I took in a long deep breath. “Yeah. I’m good.”

We began to move forward again. As I stepped over two of the bodies I frowned. “I killed them.” I whispered.

“They would have killed us.” Sinlae flew quickly to my shoulder. “You saved us. Now let us go forward and find the princess.” I kept moving, but didn’t respond. Sinlae didn’t press me to speak. After another thirty minutes our tunnel divided into two.

“Did Lonne say anything about the tunnel splitting?” My voice sounded flat.

“No, he did not.”

“Samson should be able to scent the fresh air if we’re near the end, or the toads if one of the spurs leads to their home base.” At this point the adrenalin had left my system and I was beginning to drag my heels, more for mental reasons than physical. I patted Sam on the head and urged him forward. “C’mon, hotshot. Show us whatcha got.” He lifted his chin and snorted so hard he sprayed my legs with snot. Nice.

He sniffed around in the dirt in front of each entrance, taking so long I thought his next move would be to flop down and roll around in it. Jeez. Finally he trotted back and leaned to the right. “That’s the safe way?” He shook his head violently, his black and brown ears slapping at his head. Okay, guess that meant we should go the other way. I took a few steps in that direction and he growled low in his chest. “Well where then?”

He looked up. I looked up. Nothing but blackness. I sent the fae light floating toward the ceiling and there it was, a lid of some kind and another ladder beside it. Only the bottom rung of the ladder was twenty feet off the floor. Whoever built these tunnel hatches was either super tall or just stupid.

I sent Sinlae to investigate and she came down a few minutes later. “I cannot move it. It is constructed of iron.”

“I’ll open it then take a look around. It should still be dark out.” I took a running jump and gave myself a tiny magical push so I’d reach the bottom rung. Sinlae clapped as I scooted up the ladder and pushed on the lid. Nothing. Not a budge. I added a little more magic to give me some added strength and it slowly lifted to the point where I could begin to slide it to the side. Unfortunately it made a horrendous grating noise, but I couldn’t stop now.

Once the hole was large enough to climb through, I poked my head up and came eye to eye with a fae male of average height and weight, sprawled on a cot.

We stared at each other for a few moments. “I truly never expected visitors to appear from this direction. Did the queen send you to finish me off? If so, have at it.” He spread his arms and leaned back against the walls.

Another drama queen. Yay.

I pulled my body out of the hole and Sinlae flew out after me. We glanced around, ignoring the male. We were in a cell with roughly layered walls of grey stone and a matching floor. I touched the metal cell door to see if it was also made of iron, which it was. His eyebrows shot up in shock when I wasn’t injured by the contact, but he stayed silent, watching me with narrowed eyes. I glanced up. The only windows were high on the walls and quite small and the room was cold enough to steam my breath.

And magic was blocked, at least the fae kind.

His conditions were harsh. I wondered what this dude had done to deserve this kind of treatment. Liam had told me how fae suffered when they were in the vicinity of iron. Even if they weren’t touching it they could be negatively affected in subtle ways. Sinlae was turning blue, so I unbuttoned the top buttons of my tunic and tucked her inside. No reason for her to get sick.

When the other fae and I looked at each other again it was more of a sizing-the-other-one-up moment than a friendly one. The male was completely bald, his clothing well made and in good condition, his height and weight similar to Garrett’s. Other than his bald head, he looked like a fairly typical fae male. Was he here because he was an enemy of Fin’s? My hand traveled to the hilt of my dagger. “Why are you in prison?”

He shrugged, his gaze shifting to the hole in the ground. “I tried to kill Fionna. As you see I was not successful.”

I laughed. “If you’d tried to kill the queen you wouldn’t be sitting here, you’d be burnt at the stake or drawn and quartered or—”

“Dead.”

“Yeah.”

He looked around the room, his purple eyes dimming with despair. “I would have preferred death to this. Even a painful death.” His voice was so soft; a human wouldn’t have heard him. He sighed and straightened, meeting my gaze and nodding in the normal way. “I am Hunter.”

“Tash.” I nodded back. I introduced Sinlae, who poked her head out of my tunic.

“Lady Sinlae. I do remember you. I used to garden as a hobby. You were the pixie who would not fertilize the roses when your older sister ordered it.

“Hmph. My sister, Avilan, has the knowledge of a slaughslut when it comes to gardens. Roses should not be over fertilized.”

Based on Hunter’s expression, a slaughslut was a pretty rough term. I decided to change the subject. “Did you know the queen is…gone? Kennet too.”

He seemed to perk up. “Do we have a king? Is Lord Caelen back?”

“Not exactly. Finvarra returned and kicked her out. He’s taken over again, although Caelen’s spending a lot of time at the court as well.”

“The land and the people were suffering greatly. Our king’s rage must have toppled mountains when he saw what she’d done.”

“Um. Yeah, he was angry all right.” Although I couldn’t remember any earthquakes.

Samson whined. “What creature is down there?” Hunter asked.

“My cu sith.”

“How do you plan to bring him up?” He rubbed his scalp in thought. On closer inspection I saw several scars. Someone had not been gentle when they’d removed his hair.

“I was thinking maybe you could help me with that.” I suggested. It wasn’t wise to be working magic this close to Zerian’s palace, unless I had no other option.

“Perhaps in exchange for something I very much desire.” He was looking at the hole in the stone floor the way Samson looked at filet mignon.

I’m going down to put him in a harness, then we’ll bring him up. Very carefully, right?”

“And?”

“We’ll talk.” I said.

“Not good enough.” Hunter crossed his arms.

“Then we’ll leave and you’ll be in the same situation you were in before.” I said, moving toward the hole.

He jumped up. “I agree. I’ll help your beast up, and we’ll talk about my freedom.”

Sinlae peeked out again. “I do not recommend you travel through the tunnels, Lord Hunter. The geelings’ swords are dipped in a poison that only curweed can cure, and you will find none in the darkness of the caves.”

He glanced at my dagger. “How much for your weapon? I still have gold hidden. I would give you every scrap for a chance to escape.”

“You wouldn’t be able to wield this blade. It’s enchanted and bonded to my aura only.”

He stepped closer to the hole. “I’d rather die down there, weaponless, than languish here.”

I sighed. I’d have to bring him with us. “We’re breaking out through the door. Help me with Samson and leave with us.”

He laughed at me. “That door is not simply made of iron. It is splattered with the blood of my family—my mate, my child—spelled to remain shut for all time. It will never reopen and I am cursed to live my long life with only the memories of my treacheries and the ghosts of my family to keep me company. His knees seemed to give out and he sat hard on the small bed. “If you plan to leave me here, then kill me. I beg you.”

“But you don’t starve or thirst?’

“No. I require nothing, not even sleep. I have no relief.” He rubbed his scalp again.

“How long have you been here?”

He shrugged. “There is no way for me to know. At least five years would be my guess.”

“Help me with Samson, then we’ll figure out how to open that door.” After a few grunts and curses, we got the fatty up into the cell with us. “You should think about laying off the pizza, Sam.” He huffed and turned his back.

Taking a minute to regain my bearings, I passed out some of the food the elf cluster had given me, including two more giant turkey legs.

“I cannot eat.” Hunter said, handing it back. “But I thank you.”

“Try.” I said.

“I… I may not be able to stop.”

“Okay, but I’ll save one for you, in case you’re hungry when we finally get out of here.”

“Thank you.” When the picnic ended, I got to work on the door. It didn’t take me long, since my dagger was tuned to my will. I heated it with my core magic and melted through the lock, then did our best to open it quietly and sneak out.

Hunter held his palm inches away from the door, sadness and regret evident in his expression, but when Sam, Sinlae and I moved down the hallway, he followed.