eldritch files 07 - elemental blood (22 page)

Kyle held out his hand as a small sun appeared in the center. Crwys had seen Sam do this spell a hundred times. His chest clenched thinking of her and wondering where she was.

"It's…" Kyle said as he leaned half his body inside, then he pulled back out, the light casting an eerie glow over his features. "Okay…I know that's the inside of the shop, but it looks completely different."

"I'm sure." Crwys reached up and clutched the ring at his throat. "You two follow behind me. Kyle, can you make that hover?"

"Of course." He tossed the ball into the air. It came back down and stopped a foot or so above their heads.

"You know that thing's like a blinking beacon…telling everyone where we are." Levi's tone was markedly worried.

Ashur?

I can sense many beings inside…and I don't like the way they feel.
Ever since learning the Demon inside of Levi was female, he'd noticed her voice becoming more and more feminine. Sam had guessed this was because she no longer felt the need to hide what she was.

Crwys could sense them as well. They felt like something soft and moist against his exposed skin. "I know. Just warn me if you sense the Risi. Especially Yolyn or Brahms."

Levi nodded his head.

Crwys climbed through the opening first and positioned himself just inside. Kyle came through next, then Levi.

Again, logic said they had just entered the shop through the back door beside where the docks had once been. But the reality in front of them was very different. The inside reminded him of some of the elaborate tree houses he'd seen over the years. A few co-workers early on had children who were into them. Rough, lichen-painted wooden floors spiraled up and down, connected by ladders made of ornately carved wood. The light inside was subdued, illuminated by fireflies and lanterns that burned in soft whites and yellows along the paths. They were at the base of a tree with a staircase in front of them. No handrails…just a series of planks set out in a spiral around the tree.

"Damn," Kyle whispered. "This is a lot bigger on the inside."

"Welcome to a Nisse thicket," Crwys said. "Up we go. Try to make as little noise as possible. Kyle, is your spell still working?"

"Yeah, but given the magic currents brushing against my skin, I'm not sure if it'll hold for long. And if I recast it…"

When he didn't finish, Levi put a hand on his shoulder. "What?"

"I think they'll know. The currents have a…I don't know…guardish feel to them. As if they're testing the air around them." He turned to the right and pointed. "What's that?"

Crwys looked and saw a pulsing blue light a few feet away. "I have no idea—Kyle!" he hissed.

But the Hedge Witch was already moving toward it. Crwys and Levi watched as Kyle reached out and touched the light. It moved to his palm and then settled there. When he came back, he held a rather large sapphire in his hand. "Is this real?"

"In here," Levi said, "I wouldn't trust anything. For all we know, when we leave the thicket, that could be a spider."

Kyle dropped the jewel.

Crwys bent down and retrieved it. He stuck it in his pocket.

Kyle held up a hand. "The Aces are in place."

Crwys wasn't surprised that Kyle had been brought into the pack link. He'd been accepted as Jack's mate. He nodded and turned as he continued following the path laid out by Tas.

They stepped off on the second platform, then moved to a different tree, each of them with a base as big around as a silo. Or a rocket. Two more spirals up, then a turn to the left and then the right, and another several spirals up to a platform.

"Whatever you do, don't look down," Levi quipped as he moved to the edge of the area and looked over the side.

"I'm gonna be sick," Kyle said and kept himself in the middle.

Crwys didn't have any issues with heights. Being a Dragon sort of precluded that. But looking over the side…yeah. "Just keep back, Kyle." He wasn't sure he could actually see the ground.

"I think we're in the highest most tree?" Levi had his hands on his hips, looking up. Above them was a canopy of thick foliage. If there was a sky, it wasn't visible.

"Yeah." Crwys looked up and then down again. "Only…" He looked at the tree the platform hung from. There was a door in its side. A heavy, thick door with iron chains. Real…iron. "I thought iron was poisonous to Faeries."

"Faeries and Goblins," Kyle said as he stood beside Crwys. "What's wrong? Is the King in there?"

"I don't know." Crwys moved to the edge again. "With the King in the basement, I assumed we'd go down. But we've only traveled up, and the map says we go through that door."

"Maybe it's a spatial thing?" Levi shrugged. "Because the area was in a basement, we all assumed it was under the ground…but maybe what she built doesn't actually have a fixed location except where you want it?"

"Maybe." Crwys didn't feel convinced. Something seemed just a bit…off. He didn't feel it was a trap, and they hadn't seen a single Nisse. Unless they were all in the Greater Kingdom. He went back to the door, and with a single yank of his strength, tore off the iron chains. They clattered to the wood but didn't cause an echo. They were too close to the ceiling, perhaps?

With a glance at the others, Crwys pushed the door in.

The darkness blinded them for a few seconds until Kyle's tiny sun moved past them and elevated inside in the center of a round room. It was the exact circumference of the tree itself, with a smooth, if not scarred floor and walls. A pattern of a sunburst, the King's crest, decorated the floor. There wasn't another entrance or exit from the room, save for a tiny window at the highest level of the room. Red sun filtered through that window and shown on the center of that crest where a young man had been chained between two posts. He had long white hair that obscured his face and no horns, and wore little more than the remains of a pair of brown trousers. His bare feet dangled several inches off the floor.

Crwys moved the hair aside and recognized the face a few seconds before Kyle hissed, "Who the hell is that?"

Kyle got to the Prince first and wrapped his arms around the young man’s hips. "Crwys…the chains."

But he was already working on them, melting them with his fire, a foot from where the manacles had rubbed the Prince's wrists raw. Crwys helped get the young man to the floor and checked his pulse. It was weak but there. His skin was cold and clammy. There was very little bare skin that didn't bear the mark of a severe beating.

"What in the hell…" Kyle was saying as Crwys stood. “Why did Tas lead us here to him?”

Crwys put his hands to the young man’s head and felt there, exposing pointed ears.

Levi joined him. "I thought we were rescuing King Satar."

"That's what I assumed." He looked at Levi. "The truth is, she never really said. I assumed it, but…why would she want us to this guy?"

They heard horns sound from below, and the two of them dashed out onto the dais to look down. Crwys spotted streaks of red far below. Torches maybe…

And then he heard the unmistakable growls of Wolves.

The Aces had come in through the hole…they were inside the thicket.

"I got him," Levi said as he hoisted the young man over his shoulder. "You two need to make cover if we need it. Think you can get us back out?"

"I'm counting on it." Crwys checked his gun for ammo, just in case, and then led them back down the path he'd come…only…the map was fading.

By the time they reached the last set of the steps, the map was entirely gone from his memory. Luckily, the opening was marked by the Wolves standing beside it. The Aces flanked them as they went back through and pulled the still unconscious young man into the Human Realm. Once out, Crwys threw him over his shoulder and started toward his car…only…

It wasn't there.

In its place was a thick, scrambled mass of vines, leaves, flowers, and roots.

"The thicket grew over your car!" Kyle said.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," he snapped and turned back to see a group of Risi, dressed in full leather armor, heading for them. The Aces were at their backs, but there was no way he would be able to get everyone to safety without someone getting hit.

He saw a flash of black and then heard the screech of tires on wet asphalt. A black van careened out of what had once been St. Philip Street and slid up next to the covered Mustang, making a god-awful screech as rubber roughed up the somewhat damp pavement. The passenger door opened, and one of Arden's coven members stepped out. She yanked the side sliding door open. "Get in!"

Crwys dove in head first with Riven, followed by Kyle and Levi. The sound of fighting Wolves surrounded the van as the coven member jumped back in and pulled the door closed just as a Wolf slammed its body against the metal. The coven member screamed just before a familiar feminine voice said, "This just won't do."

Crwys, Levi and Kyle turned to see Arden sitting in a wheelchair at the back of the van. She was paler than usual, and there were still bruises and scrapes on her face and neck. She wore a black shirt, sweater, and a very irritated expression. With a narrowed gaze, she put her hand on the van's wall.

Within seconds, they could hear the whine and cry of Wolves and Risi alike as water rose up from the ground outside. Crwys watched the water level rise past the windows and front windshield, yet none of the water ever leaked into the van. A beat later, it subsided and Arden was brushing her hands together. "There. A few drowned idiots will make the world a better place. Ceridwen, get us home. Ramming speed."

Crwys held on to Riven and the van's side as Ceridwen hauled ass out of that area. Within minutes, the scenery changed from a thick, mythical forest to the familiar city buildings of New Orleans.

"You three okay? And…who is that? I thought you were getting King Satar."

Crwys shook his head. "First off…how did you do that inside the thicket?"

"My van. My property. My contract." She grinned. "My power. Your turn."

"We're not sure who he is, but he was in the room Tas's map directed us too.”

Her expression darkened. "Then there is a reason. I doubt that woman does anything without one. This young Risi—no, he's not
all
Risi is he—has a very subtle, if not steady power. But he's not in good shape. We'll treat him when we get to Gypsy Gardens."

"Aunt Arden." Kyle moved to her, carefully stood, and gave her a hug as the van sped out on the highway toward Arden's place. "How did you know we were there? Didn’t you just get out of the hospital?"

"Yes. Ceridwen and Minerva here were picking me up. They told me what you were plotting, and I had them drive there right away." She reached down and thumped him on the back of the head. "How in the hell could you have handed over that land to a Risi? Because that’s the only way they could grow a thicket on this side of the veil."

"Ow…hey. I didn't do it. Sam did it."

"Why?"

Crwys said, "Because Brahms convinced her the only way to stop the Risi from porting in was to give him control of the land."

Everyone looked at the battered and still form of Riven as he lay beside Crwys. Ceridwen immediately got out of her seat and gently nudged Crwys aside as she knelt beside him and put her hands on his chest.

"How bad?" Arden said.

Ceridwen didn't answer immediately. Her eyes closed. "Broken ribs, hip, wrists…dislocated shoulder…concussion…there's internal bleeding." She opened her eyes and looked at Arden. "Should I administer aid?"

"Let me die,” the young Risi said weakly.

Arden snorted. "'Fraid not, little man. For some reason, Artemis believes you are important enough to risk other lives for. Go ahead Ceridwen. Kyle, you help her."

Kyle moved around Crwys and got on the other side. His hands glowed blue and yellow as he put them on Riven's hip.

"Miss Vervain," Levi said. "My blood…"

"Maybe." She held up her hand. "I want to wait till the last minute to see if it's needed. I don't know how Revenant blood affects Risi…and from his looks it's obvious he's not a full blood Risi. So what's the other half?”

Watching them work on the young man, an idea came to Crwys. "He's Feyn. This is Riven—the King's son."

Everyone stopped and looked at Crwys, then looked at the unconscious young man. "Seriously?" Dharma said as she moved even closer to the Feyn. "I thought they killed him."

"They came pretty damn close."

Arden’s brows arched high on her forehead. “A Feyn? Risi and Leanan Sidhe. Those are extremely rare… So, let’s wait and see what these two can do, shall we?”

Levi nodded.

"Arden—"

"I know, Crwys. And…I don't know. I can't find her either. If Sam's still alive, she's beyond our reach."

TWENTY TWO

After getting everyone home safe, seeing to the wounded Aces, and having a tense but much needed talk with Bastien, exhaustion weighed on Crwys. Staring at the clock, Lethe’s time limit was still a few hours away.

After a shower and a change of clothing, including jeans, sneakers, and a black
Club Hell
t-shirt, something Arden still had from when her people had cleaned out his warehouse, Crwys came down stairs and joined everyone in the dining room. It was the largest table in the house and Arden wanted everyone gathered. Levi, Kyle, Dharma, Ivan, and Arden. Arden’s staff served cold sandwiches, drinks and coffee.