BRIDGER (15 page)

I struggled to get away from whoever it was.
 
My body was tangled in the sheets.
 
Pushing as far away as possible, I connected with the wall.
 
My nose cracked in protest once more, my eyes instantly watering.

Rolling back over to see if Jamie was really going to finish the job this time, instead I stared into the eyes of a very startled Liam.
 
This brought on a new onslaught of tears. “You weren’t making the stories up. It’s real, isn’t it?”

In a flash he was by my side in the bed.
 
He cradled me against his chest.
 
It was calming to be there; it felt like home.
 
This frustrated me even more.
 
Why was I so content to be in someone’s arms who didn’t want me the way I wanted them?
 
Maybe I was a glutton for punishment.
 
Maybe I was masochistic.
 
Whatever it was, there would be retribution to pay for this little piece of enjoyment later when Liam left.

“You’re all right,” he said in a hushed, clipped voice.
 

“What...happened?”
 
Unable to form a more coherent sentence, hopefully that question would cover the entire ordeal that had just happened.
 

He didn’t answer.
 
Pulling away from him, I sat up.
 
A wave of nausea washed over me.
 
“Woah,” I managed before having to lie back down.

There was a woman’s voice.
 
It must be Tess. “Don’t move if you don’t have to.
 
You hit your head pretty hard.”

Tess stood in the doorway.
 
Closing my eyes, I knew I was safe with her nearby.
 
“Tess…”

Tess’s large frame pulled down the edge of the bed.
 
She began rubbing my back, comforting me as though she were my own mother.
 
“It’s okay sweetie, we got you. They aren’t going to hurt you.”

Asking the question for a second time, this time it was aimed toward Tess.
 
“What just happened?”

Jesse and the rest of the guys filled the room.
 
Laughing, Desmond plopped down at the foot of the bed.
 
“Nothing just happened.
 
You slept while we took care of the problem,” he said, chuckling as he fist bumped with Issac who looked just as smug.

Liam laughed, pulling my head back to his chest. “I wouldn’t exactly call screaming bloody murder and spewing on Mum sleeping.”

It was impossible to fight Liam’s embrace.
 
Even more frustrating was the fact that I didn’t want to.
 
There was no way Liam was doing anything other than whatever job Jesse had given him; he didn’t really care for me.
 
I wanted this to be real more than anything. I felt the bed shake from Tess’s laughter.

Tess pretended to shudder. “I don’t think I’ll be able to use that apron again.
 
It may be beyond repair.”

I was getting annoyed that they weren’t answering my one, simple question.
 
Preparing to sit up, a new voice stopped me in my tracks before even getting a syllable out.

“Ashlyn Marie McVean, didn't I tell you we’d be picking you up in a matchbox if you came to Ireland with Jamie?”

My eyes were probably as big as saucer plates. I shot up before even thinking about it.

I had to be dreaming.
 

Standing there was the young woman from my dream at Christmas.
 
Complete with bloody skirt and bow slung over her shoulder, she strode forward, hands on her hips, surveying the damage I had incurred.
 
“Well, Jamie didn’t take too much of a chunk out of you.
 
Maybe you have a little more fight in you than I’ve given you credit for.”

“Memaw?” I squeaked out, completely at a loss for anything more competent.

Tess laughed, “I’d say you age well if she already knows who you are, Emily.”

This was getting ridiculous.
 
Did I have any clue who anyone was?
 
There had to be one normal person in my life. Right? My world had effectively been turned inside out. There was no way Liam had made his story up. I was part of it now. Swaying from the blood returning to my head after sitting up so quickly, I saw black spots in my vision.

“Liam, get her before she goes out again,” Memaw said, but it was too late.
 

Once again my world went black.

ELEVEN

Hushed whispers brought me back to the land of the living.

“Emily, how much does she really need to know?
 
If we can keep her protected, get her out of the country before…”

“Tess, it’s like I told Sarah.
 
This was set in motion from the minute she met that wretched pixie at school.
 
I’d love to know how Ankou tracked her down in the first place, though.
 
We were under the impression we’d done a fairly good job at keeping her under the radar.”

Silence.
 
“Why is Ankou even involved?
 
It’s not normal for him to meddle in human affairs.”

Memaw sighed.
 
“This isn’t completely a human affair, now is it?
 
This has been going on for centuries.”

Centuries?
 
Jeeze, Memaw was old, but that was pushing it.
 
This Ankou character, however, had looked the bill from the brief but terrifying introduction we had…how long ago?
 
I couldn’t be sure, since Desmond made it seem like it had been old news.

Irritated, I rolled over to get closer to the conversation.
 
Hopefully it looked like a move that someone who had been practically run over by a truck, then sliced to pieces by their best friend would make.

Memaw and Tess stopped talking.
 
My eyes were shut tight.
 
They were probably looking for any sign of life from my part.
 
Staying still was crucial to hearing more of this story.

There was creaking and then a hand was over my chest, checking my breathing.
 
I continued to breathe slow and even breaths, knowing the least variation would give me away.
 
Seemingly satisfied with the charade, the footsteps faded away.

“I can’t leave her alone. She looks so fragile.
 
I’m already attached to her,” Tess said.
 
“How did you keep her in one piece all these years, Emily?”

“It wasn’t without effort.
 
It was a miracle she made it through the first three years.
 
She almost died nearing her fourth birthday. That’s when she finally took control.”

This was something I couldn’t afford to miss.
 
Memaw was giving Tess a rundown of things she had never told me.
 
Why was Tess privy to this knowledge when no one else had been allowed to know?
 
It was all I could do to not lean forward more.

“I knew Ankou was after Sarah’s child.
 
We had all thought she was having a boy.
 
Really, was there any other chance?
 
We hadn’t had a girl since my daughter, MaKenna, in the 1800’s.
 
You can imagine my shock when the nurse said it was a girl.
 
Ankou didn’t know what to do; he couldn’t steal her away like he’d been planning.
 
As you know, Changelings don’t want females generally.
 
The only female they’ve ever taken is my daughter, MaKenna. That’s how I knew Ankou had come for Peter.
 
I had seen it before.”

“You had a child stolen, too?” Tess said.
 
The shock in her voice made me feel like I wasn’t the only one getting new information.

Memaw shifted in her seat.
 
“Right after the war broke out.
 
I thought we were safe since I was supporting their attempts of reign.
 
Ankou and I were in charge of the rebellion.
 
However, MaKenna was too beautiful of a child for Ankou to ignore, even with our intentions in the same place at the time.

I wasn’t sure what was wrong at first.
 
MaKenna was no longer a happy child.
 
She screamed bloody murder every waking hour.
 
Nothing could calm her or make her smile.
 
She ate constantly, yet never gained weight.
 
Instead, she was withering away before my eyes.
 
I became suspicious.
 
Ankou had not been to any of our meetings for ages, yet no one knew where he was.
 
One evening I came home and heard beautiful music.
 
There was no question as to what would be waiting inside.

I opened the door and my worst fears were confirmed.
 
Instead of my beautiful MaKenna, a hideous Changeling sat in her crib, playing the pipes that sat by her crib at night.
 
I could see from the jet black eyes this Changeling was eons old.
 
No Changeling’s eyes were that black without years of experience.
 
I knew it was Ankou although I had never seen him in his true form.
 
So when Ankou came for Peter, there was no question of whom it was.
 
I threw him in the fire and called on Morgan le Fay.”

Tess sucked in a breath.
 
“You didn’t.”

Memaw laughed.
 
“Tess, I wasn’t always on the straightest of paths.
 
I battled alongside her sister, Morrigan, in the Celtic wars that inevitably sent the Changelings and the turned faeries to Neamar.
 
The only reason my life was spared was because I turned spy for the Glaistig before the war ended.
 
I was human at one time.
 
Morgan and I never saw eye to eye, but she does fight alongside the Glaistig from time to time now.
 
She came and cursed Ankou to live a life of death for eternity; he gathers the dead and near dying."

“The Grim Reaper,” Tess said, making the connection I hadn’t seen yet.
 
“You’re the one behind the stories.”

“Indeed I am, unfortunately. For the most part, Ankou leaves others well enough alone and does his job. He just holds the grudge of my causing him to live in his own personal hell, forever aging and never able to die, instead leading everyone else to the other side. There’s no reason for him to interfere in anyone else’s daily lives. The Changelings have given him reign in Neamar, but even they’re afraid of him. He’s vowed revenge for my cursing him and will not stop until he gets it. He knows his Changeling failed that he sent for Ashlyn. In his eyes, I believe he thinks that if he takes Ashlyn, he’ll make up for giving Peter back.”

Reeling, everything suddenly made perfect sense.
 
I couldn’t believe it, but pieces of my life that had never made sense were all coming together.
 
Memaw wasn’t human. That explained the mood swinging, body snatching tendencies I had encountered with her the past day and a half.
 
Well, week, if you included the dream I had.
 
Apparently I was more on top of things asleep than awake.
 
Realizing the other implications one by one, I finally realized what was wrong with me. My eyes. My constant eating.
 
My horrible infant years.
 
I
was a Changeling.
 
An aberration.
 
How had this happened?
 
Before I could scream, Tess broke through the ringing in my ears.

“Why did they want MaKenna in the first place?
 
Why did they want a female?”

Memaw let out a low hiss.
 
“I’ll never forget what Ankou said as he left me childless.
 
He said she would make a stronger Changeling than they could alone.”

Tess gasped.
 
“You don’t mean –”