Midnight Enchantment (25 page)

“Thank you for understanding.”

His heart felt sick lying to her, for betraying his people, but he loved Elizabeth and there was no way he would be a part of her destruction. He would do anything to protect her, sacrifice anything.

And in that one moment of clarity, he finally understood Elizabeth’s motivation.

Behind them, one of the Shadow Guard lurched, panicked, into the room. “It’s done. They’re through! U.S. soldiers are streaming into Piefferburg right now.”

NIALL raced out of Piefferburg City at top speed just as the soldiers were streaming in. They didn’t come in with their guns blazing—that was a good sign. Instead they marched and drove in, took up spots around the city like silent sentinels, weapons at the ready.

They didn’t allow any Phaendir into the city. That was smart. It kept the fae from attacking…at least, mostly. Still, skirmishes were breaking out here and there. Likely it would only get worse. The fae weren’t going to suffer an occupation.

The clock was ticking away the seconds to war. The tension in the city, already palpable like heavy fog, had ratcheted up a degree. Niall knew he had to hurry.

He sped out of the city and down the narrow roads of the Boundary Lands, as fast as he could get to Thea’s house. Leaving the engine running and the door open, he raced up the walkway to the front door and didn’t even bother to knock. He burst into the kitchen…

The cottage was empty.

No fire burned in the hearth. Everything was cold and dark. He raced through the living room to find that the bedroom showed recent signs of packing.

Elizabeth had moved her. She hadn’t trusted Niall enough not to come here and reveal all. Smart woman. Too smart for her own good.

Niall sank down on the end of the bed and cradled his head in his hands.

He was out of options.

ELIZABETH walked up the path to her mother’s hidden house. She moved her to a small home deep in the woods, the home of one of the elderly people she’d cared for and who had died not long ago.

Before she made it to the door, her mother burst forth, arms waving. “They’re through! Elizabeth, they’re through!”

“Who’s through?” Although she had a sinking feeling she knew.

Her mother hugged her hard, then led her into the house. The TV was blaring in the small living room, channel set to
Faemous
. “The U.S. government has broken through the gates. They control it now, won’t let any fae out and won’t let any Phaendir in. The military has marched into Piefferburg to take control of the towers. There’s fighting breaking out everywhere.”

Elizabeth sank down onto the couch, hand to her mouth. “Sweet Lady.”

“I never thought I would see this day.” Her mother sat down beside her. “I never really thought it would happen.” Her expression and voice grew dark. “Curse whoever has those pieces.”

Elizabeth jerked as if hit, but she wasn’t really surprised to hear her mother voice such an opinion. “Do you really want the fae free? Mom, if the walls fall the sprae will leave Piefferburg and you’ll—”

“Die.” She looked down into her lap. “I’m aware.”

They fell into watching coverage of the blooming occupation of Piefferburg City, filmed from high atop a building in the
ceantar dubh
, it appeared, by a trembling Brian Bentley, one of the
Faemous
commentators. The fae were using their magick left and right, as the shaking camera showed. Shots were being fired back. Charmed iron and non-charmed iron weapons—the only physical weaponry the fae possessed—
really weren’t all that effective against bullets. Even so, the humans were definitely getting the worst end of the battle.

Because, after all, bullets weren’t all that effective against magick either.

Elizabeth closed her eyes and almost passed out. She’d known this would happen, but now that it actually was happening she couldn’t quite catch her breath.

“Elizabeth, what’s going on with you?”

She opened her eyes to find her mother staring at her. “What do you mean?” She motioned at the TV. “History is being made even as we speak. It’s making me woozy.”

“Bullshit. It’s not that.” She waved her hand dismissively at Brian Bentley, who was white-knuckling his mic. She muted the sound. “There’s something else going on, and we both know it. First that strange man comes to the house. I know you don’t know any men, Elizabeth, not ones you haven’t told me about. He was handsome and charming, sexier than any man I’ve ever met, actually—except your father. You would have told me about
that
man. Then there are your disappearances. Those have been very unlike you. Then you convinced me to move—”

“Mom.”

Thea continued, ignoring the interruption. “Why did you want me to move? Why farther into the Boundary Lands? You said it was because of the possibility of this.” She motioned at the muted TV set. “But, please, Elizabeth, tell me the truth. Don’t make me break out the cookies—”

“Mom!”

Thea’s mouth snapped shut.

Elizabeth drew a shaky breath, reached over, and flipped the TV off. Then she folded her hands in her lap and lifted her gaze to her mother’s face. “There is no way in the Netherworld I’m letting you die.”

Her mother looked confused for a moment, then realization dawned slowly over her face. She covered her mouth with one hand, her eyes widening. “No. It can’t be you. Please tell me you didn’t, Elizabeth.
Please.
”

She only held her gaze, saying with silence what she’d sworn never to tell her with words.

Her mother dropped her hands into her lap, then, after a
moment of stunned quiet, reached out and grabbed her by the wrist. “Give them back!”

“No.”

“You can’t do this, Elizabeth. You can’t!”

“I would do anything to protect you. I will not watch you suffer. I will not watch you die.”

Her mother rose, grabbed the remote, and flipped on the TV. She motioned at the screen. “There are people suffering and dying out there. I don’t want that on my hands. Not on my account, Elizabeth.
Not on my account!
”

Elizabeth stared impassively at the screen, doing her best to school her face and her emotions into a place of numbness. The fae were kicking some ass. At least there was that. “I knew you’d say that, but I won’t lose you like I lost Papa and William.”

Thea stared at her in complete dismay, then sighed and sank back down on the couch beside her. “That day is still fresh in my memory, too.” She hugged herself. “You, coming back to the house. I’ve never seen you look that way, so completely lost. Pale.” She paused. “Like something inside you had died along with them.”

“It did.” Her voice broke.

Her mother hadn’t been there to see them murdered. Only Elizabeth’s ability to travel as water had let her arrive in time. At least she’d been able to say good-bye, although the cost had been high.

She’d found out about the Shadow Guard on their way to intercept her father and brother only at the very last moment. By the time she’d arrived, it had been too late. Her father and brother had been in the forest chopping wood.

The guardsmen had used their own axes on them toward the end.

Elizabeth squeezed her eyes shut, pushing away the raw memories that her psyche hadn’t been able to explore at length since the day they’d been burned into her brain. They’d done it slow. The amount of blood had been enormous.…

Hiding behind a tree, she’d tried to look away, tried to leave, to save herself since there was no way she could’ve done anything to save them. But she hadn’t been able to do even so much as glance away from the carnage. It had been as
if she’d owed it to her brother and her father to experience every last ounce of pain right along with them. Illogically, she’d thought maybe she could somehow lessen their hurt. As if she could take on a percentage of their suffering by sharing it. They’d known she was there. She’d reached out to them from behind the tree.

And had stayed long after it had been over and the guardsmen had left.

She’d buried their bodies in that clearing, not wanting her mother to see the condition the Shadow Guard had left them in. Then she’d dissolved, made her way back home, and grieved for a million years.

Elizabeth wiped a tear off her cheek, not willing to look at her mother.

Her mother cupped her cheek. “Thank you for loving me so much you can’t let me go, my darling.”

She covered her mother’s hand with her own. “You’re all I have left.”

Her mom shook her head. “You’ll go out into the world. You’ll meet someone, have a family of your own.”

“Stop talking about yourself as if you’re dead.”

“Oh, Elizabeth.” She paused, her voice breaking. Then she leapt to her feet, hands fisted. “I know you don’t want to let me go, but you must, my dear.
You must.
”

She sat for several long moments, looking down at the floor between her feet. Finally she stood, walked to her mother, and enfolded her in her arms. “I can’t,” she whispered.

Then she turned and walked out of the house.

GIDEON stalked up the steep staircase of the narrow building in the commercial district of Piefferburg City, just on the edge of the
ceantar lair
, where his men were squatting. The stench of mold and mildew assaulted his nose, making him crankier than usual. Peeling paint from the walls of the constricted space brushed the sleeves of his coat, leaving bits of yellowed white stuck to him. The place had been built for some tiny breed of fae. It annoyed him.

Everything that had happened since he breached the walls of Piefferburg annoyed him.

He flung open the door to the apartment to find the brothers kneeling in various locations around the bare room, on their knees, hands folded in their laps, brown cowls drawn over their heads hiding their faces. Gideon knew their eyes were closed; they were buried deep inside themselves, all of them funneling their meager amount of magick into the hive portion of their collective consciousness that each of the Phaendir could access.

With so few Phaendir here to feed him, it was necessary they concentrate very hard at all times, rising only to eat, drink, and defecate. The nose-wrinkling unwashed smell of them rose up, mixing with the musty scent of dilapidated building. The low hum of their murmuring voices filled the air as they repeated the mantra they used to keep themselves deeply invested in their labor.

Pride swelled in his chest as he looked at them. These were Labrai’s chosen. His men, sworn to serve
him
, who was Labrai’s Right Hand. His race was truly superior to all others to have such dedicated brothers.

Stepping inside, careful not to disturb them, he made his way through the room to the balcony on the other side. Sliding open the cracked door, he stepped out onto the small deck and grasped the rusty railing. It was close to midnight in the city, but the place was alive with sight and sound. The U.S. military had broken through the gates. They’d come without the use of force, here to subdue and occupy only, but some of the fae had risen up anyway and small skirmishes had broken out here and there.

The red taillights of cars could be seen in a long snakelike tangle through the city as residents fled to the countryside, fearful of violence.

As if they had anywhere to go.

They were trapped in the prison that was Piefferburg. The military let them out of the city, knowing they couldn’t run far. They could flee to the ocean or the northern Boundary Lands, but they weren’t getting through the warding.

He wondered what the Phaendir were doing, those outside the walls, the ones not privy to his plans. Brother Cadwyr had likely taken over and was being every bit as recalcitrant with the government as Gideon had been.

Why didn’t the military just open fire? What sad, strange notions were going through their heads? Compassion? Pity? Why have any for these animals?

He would never understand the human mind, no matter how long he lived among them.

Maybe it was flat out fear. Maybe their orders were to avoid engagement at all costs, hoping the Phaendir would put an end to this uprising so they didn’t have to look like the bad guys. Gideon could only conjecture.

Gazing out at the city, he could practically feel the seething fear and anticipation. The whole place seemed balanced on the edge of a knife. They all wanted to know—
what would happen now
.

It was crazy to think they were all being foiled by an asrai, one, single, slender redhead with a will of steel.

He would spend the night here, and wait for his unlikely ally to make her appearance in the city two days from now. If he couldn’t get the book and the
bosca fadbh
by sneaking around, he’d do this the straightforward way. And maybe he wouldn’t even need the book and pieces to defeat the fae. The presence of the military changed the landscape quite a bit.

And he hated subterfuge, anyway.

As much as he loathed the Summer Queen he was curious to see what kind of magick she packed.

He had failed. In so many ways, he had brought this situation on himself. It was time to stop blaming others for his fuck ups and take responsibility. He owed it to his brothers, to his people. Most of all, he owed it to his god. It was time to change tactics.