Memory's Wake Omnibus: The Complete Illustrated YA Fantasy Series (86 page)

Memory looked at the blade in her hand, feeling dazed.

It was her own iron flick knife.

Memory pleaded, “I didn’t know…”

Her words were lost in the furor.

Finvarra began to thrash about, his face growing grayer and his body shriveling. Horror filled Memory. A black cloud rose from the fallen unseelie king, twisting and writhing.

The fae around the room closed in, jostling against each other as they crowded the dais.

Where they hung from their webbed bonds, her friends also watched. Roen struggled weakly to free himself, and Memory could see the glint of a small blade working. He spoke to Eloryn, but she only looked at Memory, heartbreak all over her pale face.

Memory looked to Nyneve for help, hoping she would come to her defense, or do something to save her dying father. Nyneve crouched over the body of the king that now lay still.

“He is dead!”

“Murderer!”

“She used iron on our king!”

The unseelie turned toward Memory, Will, and Shonae.

“I did not help her. I was forced,” Shonae bleated, being pulled away from Will and into the crowd. The fae battered at her body with their fists and claws, shoving her further into the enraged mass.

Memory jumped off the dais, wading into the fray, dodging as many blows as she could and warding fae away with her blade. Will fought his way through too and together they managed to drag Shonae out from under the bodies piling up on her. They bolted back to the throne, keeping their backs to the grand tree structure. Memory looked across to Eloryn again, separated from her by a sea of enraged black-eyed monsters.

The white faun’s hair had been torn and her lip bloodied. Her eyes were wide with terror and she hobbled, clutching at Will for support. A harsh, gasping sound rasped through her lips and Memory realized she was crying.

And with good reason. She had brought them there, brought the humans into her kind’s court, and now Finvarra was dead, by iron.

Memory’s eyes went back to her weapon in her hand. How was this even possible?

Nyneve…

Nyneve had handed her the knife, the knife she’d left on the table at the entrance to the castle. Nyneve held it, and hadn’t been burned. How? A slow comprehension began to dawn, tingling in Memory’s bones like frostbite.

All she had wanted to do was save her friends and she had done exactly what Nyneve had told her to do.

She had been tricked. Every step of the way.

Nyneve was looking at her with hatred on her beautiful face and she was smiling too, a hard and terrifying smile as she bent to her father and seized the crown from his head.

Her cry echoed throughout the room. “I am queen now! Be still, my people!”

Memory knew Nyneve wasn’t calming her people for the humans’ safety, that she wouldn’t help Memory in any way again. Her tone was too triumphant. That was the only word to describe her. Nyneve was triumphant, reveling in her father’s demise, in the way she had used Memory.

The creatures of the Unseelie Court quieted to a muffled level of hostility. They looked up at their new queen, waiting.

“The human queen has come into our lands-”

Lured here,
Memory thought.

“And used the forbidden iron-”

You gave to me.

“To murder my father, the king!”

Your plan all along. But why?

“They have committed an act of war against the unseelie fae!” Nyneve cried, her deep, regal voice echoing through the crystalline chamber. Clamors of assent rose and Will moved closer to Memory, his body trying to shield hers while Shonae ducked below her arm, hiding her face.

An act of war. Memory almost buckled over to be sick on the ground. The final pieces of the puzzle were fitting in, and what had just happened, what she had done, and what that meant nearly ruined her. Only the knowledge that her friends were still in grave danger kept her on her feet. There had to be a way to fix this, but how? She could not bring Finvarra back to life… It was too late.

“You must pay for what you have done. All humans must pay for what they have done. We are tired of being treated as monsters when it is humans who deserve that title. When humans rule our world—OUR world!—and dare to rise above their original stations! Humans were meant to be slaves and slaves is exactly what they shall be!”

Nyneve’s voice dropped to a quiet and deadly tone, and silence filled the room as all strained to hear her. “As monarch of the unseelie fae, as a response to the human’s act of war against us, I declare the Pact null.”

A pulse of magic burst through the room. The Pact was broken. They all felt it. There was a lurch and the world actually moved below their feet. The Pact, which separated Avall from the rest of the world it had been plucked from, the Pact that protected race against race, that allowed Branding, that put the Spark of Connection inside humans, had ended.

A faint cry came from Eloryn’s gagged mouth. It was weak, and quickly lost as the unseelie fae roared, cheering their queen. Still, not all cheered. Some looked up in fear, and a few even fled. Shonae wept silvery tears down her white cheeks.

Memory stood muted by shock.

Will’s fingers twisted on her arm as Nyneve advanced upon them.

Memory stuttered, “Why? Nyneve, without Avall, your people will die. All fae will die without an iron free sanctuary.”

Nyneve smiled. “I won’t die, and neither will those loyal to me. There is a way to save ourselves. You should know that by now.”

She held my iron knife without being burned…
Memory’s thoughts raced.

Nyneve spoke just for Memory’s ears. “If only you had followed my little clues and gone after Finvarra when I let you find my blood farm. Maybe then I wouldn’t have had to capture your friends to lure you here. But you always did make things difficult, and now you can watch them be the first to die.”

Memory spun to see her friends. Roen had managed to slip his bonds, and cut the webbing from Eloryn’s mouth. But Memory knew it was no good. The Pact had ended, and with it, so had ended any connection to magic within Eloryn. Within all humans. The ending of the Pact had also cleared the Brands from her friends. She could already see the life returning to them, but it barely mattered since Nyneve was screaming for the fae to kill all of them, and to make it painful.

Roen sliced desperately into Eloryn’s bonds with a tiny blade, but it was too slow. Erec was beginning to regain consciousness, but was still completely bound. Memory heard Roen cry out as the first of the fae to reach them, a ghastly bird-like woman, slashed down his shoulder with its talons.

There was only one way to save them. Memory did not need the Pact to connect to magic. It was within her—a vast and undiminishing store. All bets were off. The Pact was gone. It was time to break all the rules.

Memory reached deep down inside herself, feeling that furnace of magic within. She opened a Veil door, across the room, right beside her friends. Bellowing at the rush of magic flaming through her that she hadn’t felt for so long, she hurled that magic at the fae, clearing them away as she flung her friends, webbing and all, through the Veil door.

“Memory!” Eloryn screamed but Memory’s magic carried her along with it on a tide that couldn’t be fought.

Memory closed the portal behind them, then prepared to create an escape for herself, Will, and Shonae.

But another door opened, spilling Veil smoke into the room along with golden sparks and amber light. All stopped and stared as Aine appeared.

Her regal figure was surrounded by the guards and followers of her own court, all armed and in a defensive array around their queen.

“What is this?” Aine demanded. “The Pact is broken, we felt it!”

Nyneve met her fellow queen with a mocking bow. “The human queen committed an act of war against us, and as a result I have ended that damnable Pact as I had every right to.”

Aine’s fury made the wildflowers in her auburn hair burn to crisp ash as she faced Memory.

Memory shrank back, scrambling for the answers and courage to face the chaos before her. “I was set up. I never meant to kill him. I was handed iron, I did not go into the fight with it!”

Nyneve laughed. “Handed iron? By whom? No fae could touch it, so it could only be the fault of a human. Don’t believe this child. She is a liar, as all humans are.”

Aine turned a distasteful glance to Nyneve. “So pleased, aren’t you? You never did agree with the Pact, angered that your lover chose the humans over you.”

Nyneve bristled. “Myrddin allowed the humans to include Branding into our Pact, and what did he get for it? Branded and killed by the very humans he loved too much! It’s time to put all humans in their place, starting with her.” Nyneve crooked a finger, pointing at Memory. “She broke her oath, and she must be punished.”

Aine nodded, turning on Memory. She seemed almost sad, too tired for her usual arrogance. “You used magic when you swore an unbreakable oath not to. For this act alone, the penalty is death. For all else you’ve done, may the stars forgive you.”

Memory shook her head, the unfairness of it all making her feel like a helpless child. “I had to save my friends.”

Aine’s beautiful face pulled into a grimace. “You chose to use your magic to save your friends. There is a difference. Every action you’ve taken, you chose, for your own selfish means. You came into our lands, fighting and taking what you please, and look where it has brought us. It will be the end of us all.”

Aine drew a long, fine sword from the decorative scabbard at her waist. The sword, however, didn’t seem decorative. It looked deadly.

“Kneel and I will make this quick. Fight, and you fight against every fae creature both seelie and unseelie.”

It would have been easy then, to drop to her knees and have it end. There would be nowhere safe in Tearnan Ogh or Avall for her anymore. There would be nowhere safe for anyone soon.

But there was still one way out.

Staring into the seelie queen’s eyes, Memory said, “I will fix this.”

Then she punched a hole straight through the Veil.

Wind whipped, bringing the smell of exhaust and the sound of car horns and sirens. And iron; the wind reeked of its bloodlike scent. The fae screamed, many of them shielded their faces and ran to hide behind the throne.

Not Nyneve though. She stood there smiling that nasty smile and holding her father’s crown firmly in her crooked fingers.

Memory took a deep breath, grabbed Shonae by one hand and Will by the other and jumped back into the other world.

The last thing she saw was Nyneve’s gloating smile.

The tunnel through the Veil was dark, roiling with clouds. It was rougher than Memory recalled, tossing and tumbling her like a wild surf. Memory could see again the golden flow of magic, rushing out like a tide, drawn from Avall and Tearnan Ogh into the rest of the world.

The wind rose, slow but intense. Memory could feel herself being pulled along with it and the urge to fight it was strong, but she did not.

In a huff of air, she landed hard on asphalt. Will and Shonae thudded down beside her, and the Veil door closed.

“Where have you brought me?” Shonae coughed.

Memory looked around to be sure. They’d been dumped out into an alley. The same alleyway near the children’s home where she’d first been confronted by Thayl. Where she’d first fallen through into Avall.

Will stared around him, his jaw set. “We’re home.”

A rough whimper came from Shonae and she buckled over. She curled in a heap beside a torn trash bag, unable to move. Her entire body shook and Memory knew it was more than just the injuries she had received in the Unseelie Court. It was the world full of iron she had been dragged into.

Shonae looked up at Memory, her black eyes turning milky and gray and her white fur charring to ash. Blood dripped from her soft muzzle. “I don’t want to die in this place.”

Memory knelt beside her. “I know, I’m sorry.”

“You should have left me behind.”

“You would have been killed. I couldn’t leave you there to die. And you are not going to die now. Don’t worry. I have a plan. Well, an idea, at least. A theory. Shut up. Let’s just try it.” Memory still had her iron knife clutched tight in one hand, and pressed the blade against her palm of the other. It trembled there right on her flesh, the point pressing in but not cutting. It was harder than she thought it would be, cutting her own skin.

“This is seriously giving me the squeams. Ew, ew, ew!” Memory shrieked, then squinted her eyes and pierced the skin. Blood rushed up from the wound.

“Ugh. Done. Right, you. Drink,” Memory said, thrusting her bleeding palm at the faun’s mouth.

Shonae turned her head weakly, disgust twisting her furry features.

“Drink it, Shonae. It will keep you alive.”
Or at least I hope it will. Otherwise things will be pretty awkward.

Shonae let out a soft sigh that sounded so sad it made tears prickle in Memory’s eyes. Then the young dark fae put her tongue out and licked the blood away. Her eyes closed and she began to drink faster, her mouth pulling at the thin flesh there on Memory’s palm.

Pain lanced into Memory but she ignored it. She could see and feel Shonae growing stronger.

The faun broke away, gasping for air and staring up at Memory with glossy black eyes.

“I feel… better. Still weak, but I do not think now I will die,” Shonae said, her voice hushed and husky.

“How?” Will asked as he helped the unseelie fae to her feet. “How did you know that would work?”

“It was Nyneve that handed me my iron knife. And it was her that was behind the blood lair after all. Her that was behind everything after all. I thought that maybe the real reason she was drinking human blood was as an antidote against iron.”

“And now we know it’s true.” Will looked at Shonae, worry furrowing his brow. “Why did she need so many people, so much blood? Shonae got better so fast.”

“I think that’s because I have a lot magic inside me, so Shonae got better faster. I am not sure how many normal people Nyneve would have to drink to stay immune but it could be a lot. How she could stand to do that is beyond me.”

“She could do it,” Shonae said. “Nyneve has harbored her hatred for centuries. The only thing that kept her in check was Finvarra and the Pact, and now he’s dead and the Pact is broken.”

A low rumble shivered up Memory’s legs from the pavement.

“Was that you?” Will asked.

“No. I think that was Avall.” Memory groaned.

Shonae shook her head and her wooly hair jiggled around her goat ears. “With the Pact broken, the magic that held Avall within the Veil is ending. It will come back into this world.”

Will raised an eyebrow. “Reasonably large land mass, just showing back up in an ocean somewhere… that is going to be bad.”

The ground grumbled again in agreement.

Memory ran both hands through her purple hair, tugging at it in frustration. She slouched against the wall. “This is what Nyneve wanted. Think about it, with no haven free of iron, any fae who are against her will be dead soon. If she is immune—think how powerful she would be. Think how much damage she could do over here. Humans wouldn’t have a chance against her, her magic, and the other fae that would follow her. She would enslave everyone and use their blood as an antidote against the iron. She wasn’t lying when she said she thought humans should be slaves, but she didn’t mean just the ones in Avall, she meant
all
humans.”

There was a shout from the mouth of the alley and they turned to see a woman standing there.

“You kids! What are you doing down there?”

“Ham biscuits,” Memory whispered. “Shonae, time to glamour yourself up, girl.”

Shonae nodded, and her figure started fading and blurring. Memory and Will blocked the fae from view as she shifted form.

When they didn’t reply, the woman took a few steps closer to them.

Memory squinted. “Doesn’t she work at the group home?”

“Hope? Hope, is that you?”

“Time to go,” Memory said.

Shonae finished taking on a human form, and the three of them broke into a run, ducking down the rubbished lane and through a maze-like path of graffiti covered alleyways. They quickly left the woman behind, and came out onto a wider street. Memory looked around, getting her bearings. The area was so familiar to her, yet at the same time felt so foreign. They stood right beside the twenty-four hour convenience store she and Will regularly raided for cherry gum. Down the street was their favorite coffee shop and internet café. The group home was only three blocks south of here. It was hard to reconcile the fact it had only been a few months that she’d first been lost from this world. For Will it had been much longer. She looked up at him, but his expression was closed as he took in his surroundings.

Shonae stared openly, her jaw slack. Memory took in the fae’s appearance, checking she was passable to be in public. Her clothes, like Memory’s and Wills, were like something from a period drama, but she was so beautiful Memory doubted people would care much what she wore. Her body was proportioned like a supermodel, but petite in stature, and her wooly hair was now glossy blonde with streaks of pure white running through it right at the front, as though she weren’t able to fully glamour color into herself. Her black eyes were now a brilliant blue, one Memory suspected was inspired by Will’s and her mouth was as ripe and red as a berry. Memory had hoped for something a little less conspicuous, but despite her looking like a Hollywood starlet just off a historical romance shoot, most people weren’t paying attention to her. Or Memory and Will in their shredded, bloodstained clothes. The continuing earth tremors kept everyone busy and distracted. Everyone was on their cellphones, dashing this way or that, cowering each time the ground shook. A larger quake hit, lurching the ground, and a few people screamed. One woman grabbed a baby from a stroller and sprinted down the street.

This could be the end. Of everything. And it’s my fault.

Memory was too shell-shocked, nearly hysterical, to cry. She wondered whether Eloryn and Roen and the rest of her friends back at Caermaellan were safe— at least for now. She wondered how Eloryn must be feeling, her magic stripped away for good. The same as everyone else in Avall.
Helpless. They must feel so helpless.

The smell of noodles and fish hung over everything, wafting in from the small Chinatown down the road, and Memory’s stomach gave out a loud gurgle.

It’s not over yet. I’m still here. I still have my magic.

“The Net Nest is just down the road. We need to regroup, refuel, and re-plan.”

The sky above them darkened, the light of early morning shifting unnaturally into a blue twilight haze.

Memory shook off a shiver that tried to take control. “If I’m going to save the worlds, I’m going to do it on a full stomach.”