Memory's Wake Omnibus: The Complete Illustrated YA Fantasy Series (70 page)

Memory laughed. “We’re not brave. We’re stupid. You’re probably the smartest of us all.”

Clara gave the smallest smile. “Just come back to me, and bring everyone home with you.”

Erec said, “I suppose I’ll have to go to keep you all safe then? I’ll organize some of my men to join the party.”

“And quick,” Memory said. “It’s time to get our raid on.”

The carriage sped through the empty streets of Caermaellan. Over the clatter of the wheels and hooves on cobblestones, Memory heard a nearby clock tower ring for two in the morning. She could also hear the dozen or so guards on horseback escorting them. More empty coaches, larger and slower than the sleek model Memory rode in, were driven behind, in the hopes there would be survivors to bring home.

It had felt like a lifetime since Memory had driven these streets, distant days of going to school or visiting her homeless shelter, or her night with Dylan where he compared her to the moon. Memory wondered where he was now and wondered when her life would slow down enough to go back to school again, to continue her magic classes with Bedevere, to continue with her life.

When the lives of those I love are also safe. That’s when.

“Everyone has iron?” Memory checked again.

Eloryn and Peirs across from her, and Will, beside her, all confirmed.

“Are we dumb to do this frontal assault style? Do we have any other more reasonable plan?” Memory asked everyone.

Eloryn looked out the window for a long moment. “The faster we’re in, the better. If it’s a trap, they are expecting us one way or another. But we’ve got iron, so we’re at an advantage. The property they’ve been using doesn’t belong to the fae, so it doesn’t count as their territory. That means the second they try and attack us, we’re in our rights to defend ourselves and Brand them. Whether the gaunts seduced their victims or not, they are in the wrong by law and it’s our right under the Pact to stop them.”

Memory glanced at Will then back to Eloryn and Peirs. “Well, you two can Brand. Will and I will stick to iron.”

Peirs frowned, but said nothing.

A knock came from the window through to the driver’s seat- Erec signaling they were about to arrive.

Memory looked to each of her friends in turn as she buttoned up her coat, the polished brass slippery under her fingers. “It’s important to find evidence of who is running this place, to find out who Providence is or any clue about what’s going on here, but remember, first and foremost this is a rescue mission. Roen, Maeve, the kids, we get them all out alive.”

They shared silent nods, and the carriage came to an abrupt stop.

Eloryn took a breath so deep her whole chest rose and fell. “I will use my behests to help make all of us faster and stronger when I am able, but my main focus will be on finding Roen, finding the captives.”

Erec opened the carriage door and Peirs stepped out first, followed by Memory, Eloryn, and Will. The team of guards dismounted around them, their horses nickering and restless from the fast ride.

As Erec gestured orders to his men, Peirs stepped up beside Memory. “I know you want to save the little ones as much as I do, but don’t let that lead you to do anything foolish. Stay close by me. Be careful.”

Memory bumped her shoulder into his and droned, “Yes, Dad.”

The house stood silent and grim before them, a shambling mess of grey timber webbed with dead ivy that hung like tattered shrouds. No sound, no movement, no light showed from within.

Memory led the march up the steps to the front door, Will close beside her.

She found herself nose to nose with Mina.

“You? What are you doing here?” Memory said.
Providence couldn’t be Mina, no way.

Mina flicked her chin away from Memory, ignoring her. “Will, come with me.”

Will’s jaw twitched, but he spoke calmly. “I’m staying with Memory.”

“No, you come with me, now,” Mina shrieked, and her fiery hair whipped to life. “You are not going in that place!”

Memory stared Mina down. “He said he’s coming with me. Just give him a break, would you?”

“You’re not going in there. You’re not, you’re not,” Mina said. She snatched Will by the wrists, shaking him. “Why are you being so awful? I don’t want you to go in there. It’s not safe. You can’t.”

Will pulled his hands free, stepping away from Mina and closer to Memory. “I’m going wherever she goes.”

Mina’s glow flared, anger shaking the fairy dust off her in tides as her breath caught in sobs. Memory had never seen her so flustered. There was something different, almost hectic about her.
Maybe she really does want to protect Will from something, something in that house. As much as I want to protect Will from her…

Mina swiped her arm to grab Will again and Memory held her hands up to calm her. “Will, look, just go with her. It will be okay. I’ll be okay.”

Will looked hurt. “Mem?”

Memory leaned closer to him and whispered. “I don’t want to see you hurt. It’s okay, go. Go and find out what firefly has buzzed up this girl’s butt. She clearly knows something we don’t.”

Will gave a single, slow nod, but his eyebrows were low and darkened his bright eyes.

Mina snatched his hand in hers, and the two of them vanished in a shower of fairy dust and swirl of Veil mist.

The confidence Memory had been feeling a moment before vanished with him.

More and more she wanted Will by her side. It felt right. It felt like home.

I’ll just have to get through this so I can see him again soon.

Memory waved a signal to Erec, who took half of his men at a sprint ahead of her and barged through the splintered front door. Her heart started pounding as the door broke through. No turning back now.

Memory, Eloryn, and Peirs went next, the rest of the guards taking position behind them.

A dull, earthy odor like old mushrooms hung in the air inside. The entrance hall was narrow, and doors to each side had been barricaded off, leaving only one direction to travel. All who could cast the light behest did, and the darkness gave way, showing wallpaper hanging from the walls like sloughing skin and a carpet littered in dead leaves and rodent carcasses. Portraits of the past human residents still hung on the walls, their faces slashed away by claw marks.

“Onwards,” Eloryn ordered, and the group moved forward down the long tunnel. The ceiling above them had collapsed, leaving a gaping hole to the second floor.

Memory looked behind them and found the front door almost out of sight. The hall continued on much farther than she thought it would, leading them deep into the cavernous house.

“We’re being forced along. Can we break through any of these doors? Search the rest of the house?” she asked the guards.

One of the guards lifted a small battering ram from his back, and held it between him and another man. The first strike at the door beside them seemed to shake the whole house.

“We’ve rang the doorbell now,” Memory muttered.

Peirs grunted, “Where are the blasted creatures?”

The guards struck the side door again, and the frame began to split, a crack of space showing into the next room.

“Up front!” Erec called.

With disjointed movements, a mass of gaunts stepped up into the light. Memory counted at least six before shadows hid any more that stood behind them. They hissed at Erec.

“And behind,” a guard at the rear replied.

Whipping around, Memory saw her fears confirmed. More gaunts. They’d been blocked off on both sides in the narrow passageway.

Eloryn held her wisp light high and walked to the front to face the gaunts. “Back away. Let us through or be Branded.”

A soft scraping sound echoed down the hall, like dry leaves blowing across dirt. As it built, Memory realized it was the gaunts, all of them, laughing at them.

The gaunt closest to Eloryn snatched for her. Erec pulled her back out of reach.

Eloryn gasped, and grabbed the iron arrow head she wore on a necklace. She tore the necklace free and held the iron out defensively.

Erec spoke in a tone cold and quiet. “Bronmarbh Aileadh.”

The gaunt howled breathily as the mark appeared on its forehead. Its companions joined the cry and surged forward in attack. Long, wiry limbs flailed, swiping at any human within reach.

The guards at the back of the group rushed at the gaunts behind them, and those in front followed Eloryn forward, striking at the other assailants. The cries of dark fae and men, and the putrid smell of iron burning fae flesh filled the space. The guards used their daggers, unable to draw their swords in the small space, and the gaunts struck back with sharp talons. The unseelie fae from behind had broken through the guards at the back and fought with them up and down the corridor.

Memory tried to move forward, but was pinned between the backs of men, fighting gaunts on either side. Peirs kept shifting backwards, keeping her behind him and against a wall. She could hear him grunting as he clashed with the slashing gray arms of the creatures.

Eloryn and Erec were pushing forward with the main group, making headway with the iron they wielded and Eloryn’s behests.

Memory saw a gap in the fighting, and ran to join them, but the body of a guard flew through the air straight at her.

Peirs stepped in front of her, taking the full force, but the momentum knocked him into Memory and they both hit the door beside them.

Already weakened by the attempts with the battering ram, it smashed inwards, and they fell into the side room and into darkness.

Memory fell hard on her back and her head cracked onto the ground. Her vision darkened and blurred and she widened her eyes and tensed, trying to fight off the black pull of unconsciousness.

The sounds from the corridor grew quieter as the fight sprawled further away into the house.

Memory strained to sit up, pushing away the sharp broken wood and crumbling wall that fell around her. She couldn’t get her bearings in the dark room. She almost called a light behest before stopping herself.

“Peirs, can you cast some light?”

He coughed, and spluttered a raspy, “Àlaich las.”

The wisp lightened the room, hovering beside Peirs’s hand which was limply draped on the ground. They were alone, everyone else had spread out into the rest of the house. The room they were in had been cleared, all its furniture stacked around the edges, blocking windows and other doors. On some walls, holes had been broken through, claw marks showing on the sides. Holes just large enough to squeeze a person, or fae, through.

Peirs groaned beside Memory, and the guard that hit them lay face down on her other side. She reached over to check on him, and felt no pulse at his neck. Memory took a deep breath to calm herself.

Peirs coughed again and Memory looked down at him where he still lay beside her.

His chest was bleeding and he held it clutched in one hand. He saw her looking. “How bad is it?” he asked.

“I could lie and say not bad at all. But you’re a big boy and holy hamballs it looks bad. Super bad.”

Memory scrambled across the floor, ducking out the door to see if anyone was still around. She needed Eloryn, needed anyone that could heal.

The hall was empty except for an equal mix of bodies of guards and gaunts, sprawled on the messy carpet. Too many bodies. Too many lost lives.

Back in the room, Memory tugged down the old lace curtain from the window and shook the dust from it.

She folded it into a wad and lifted Peirs’s hands away from the wound. She could clearly see the spread of four claw marks torn through his clothes, slicing into his flesh.