Shadowspell (17 page)

“Hey yourself,” she answered, sounding cool and distant. When I’d first met her, she’d acted like the stereotypical Fae ice princess—just like this.

Words finally formed in my mind, though they weren’t any less lame. “I’m sorry I didn’t call earlier. I…” My voice died. Anything I said to explain my silence would just be an excuse, and a sorry one at that.

Kimber sighed. “I could have picked up the phone, too,” she said, and she sounded slightly more like herself.

I shook my head, though she couldn’t see me. “It was up to me to make the first move, and I blew it.” Please don’t let me have ruined this friendship, I prayed silently.

“No,
I
blew it. You’ve been going through hell ever since you set foot in Avalon, and I’m supposed to be your friend. I just … I didn’t know if I could stand it if you blamed me for what happened.”

Blamed
her
? Surely she was joking. “I think we’ve got a bad connection,” I said. “I thought you just said you were worried
I’d
blame
you
for what happened. But that’s about the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, so I must have gotten it wrong.”

“You mean you don’t?” she asked, her voice so tentative it made my heart ache.

“Of course I don’t blame you! Why on earth would I blame you when it was all because of me that the Erlking took Ethan?”

“Because neither of you would have been there if it weren’t for me. The spa trip was all my idea, and so was visiting the tea shop. And then I left the two of you alone.” Her words were coming out in an almost frantic rush. “If I’d been there with you, I could have stopped Ethan from trying to play hero. You didn’t want me to leave you alone with Ethan, but I thought I knew better. I—”

A laugh burst out of me, completely unexpected. “All this time,” I started, then the laughter took me again. I was bordering on hysterical, and I knew it. That didn’t mean I could stop. “I’ve been afraid to call you.” Hiccups joined the laughter. “I was afraid you’d hate me because it was all my fault Ethan got taken.”

Kimber caught a bit of my hysteria, and she started to giggle. “No way,” she said. “It’s not your fault at all!”

The laughter died as fast as it had started, which was just as well since it was hard to laugh and talk coherently at the same time. “Of course it’s my fault. The Erlking wouldn’t have had any interest in Ethan if it weren’t for me.”

Kimber sobered at the same time. “That doesn’t make it your fault,” she told me quietly. “Are you going to blame your mom, too? Because if she hadn’t given birth to you, you wouldn’t be here, and the Erlking wouldn’t have been interested in Ethan, and Ethan wouldn’t have been captured. So that makes it all her fault, right?”

“When you put it that way…”

“Besides,” she continued, “if you think it’s your fault just because you exist, then it has to be at least partly my fault for being Ethan’s enabler. By ducking out on you, I put him in harm’s way.”

“It’s not like you meant to.”

“Exactly.”

“Oh.” Hearing her lay it all out like that made me feel just a little bit stupid for having wallowed as much as I had.

Kimber blew out a deep breath. “Ethan isn’t blameless, either,” she said. “He knew the Erlking couldn’t hurt anyone in Avalon unless that person attacked him first. Why did he have to give the Erlking the chance?”

“I’m sure he didn’t have time to really think about what he was doing.”

She snorted softly. “It wouldn’t have mattered. Ethan is so full of himself he’s biologically incapable of resisting an opportunity to save the day.”

Her words were scathing, but I heard the pain under them. Ethan drove her nuts, but he was still her brother, and she did love him.

“I’m not giving up on him,” I told her.

“Everyone else has,” she said bitterly.

“I know. But not me. And, I hope, not you. That’s actually why I was calling. I was wondering if you could help me brainstorm a bit, see if we can come up with a way to help Ethan.”

She hesitated a moment. “What can the two of us possibly hope to do against the Erlking? We’re a little outclassed.”

“Maybe,” I admitted. Paranoia said that discussing possible rescue plans over the phone wasn’t such a hot idea. “Can I come over so we can talk about it in person?”

“I don’t know,” she said with a laugh in her voice. “
Can
you?”

I managed a feeble laugh in response. She could never resist teasing me about my misuse of the word
can,
and it had now become something of an inside joke.

“Sorry,” I said. “I forgot I was talking to the Grammar Nazi.
May
I come over?”

“Of course.”

“You know I’ll have my bodyguards with me,” I warned.

“I’ll make tea. They can stand guard in the living room, and we can talk in my bedroom. They’ll give you that much space, won’t they?”

“Yeah,” I said, though I figured it might take some persuading. “It might be a little while before I get there. I have to get hold of Lachlan and let my dad know where I’m going first. I’ll call as soon as I know my ETA.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

*   *   *

Conveniently—if completely by accident—I arrived at Kimber’s apartment right at tea time. Playing the gracious hostess, she served Finn and Lachlan a selection of finger sandwiches with their tea. I could tell Finn wasn’t comfortable with being treated as a guest, but Kimber pretended to ignore that, practically shoving the tea into his face until he was forced to take it. She then led me back to her bedroom, where she’d laid out a very different tea spread for the two of us.

I couldn’t help smiling the moment I stepped into the room and sniffed the air.

“Hot posset?” I asked hopefully. I’d never even heard of a hot posset before coming to Avalon, but Kimber now had me addicted to the hot milk-and-honey drink.

“Of course,” she said. “If there ever was a situation that called for hot posset, this would be it.”

Kimber had described it as a cure-all, and it certainly was comforting to drink. Too bad it couldn’t cure what currently ailed us.

We both sat on Kimber’s bed and picked up a mug. Having learned from painful experience in the past, I took a small, cautious sip before diving in. I wasn’t completely surprised to find that sip burning all the way down my throat and into my stomach. I blinked and shook my head.

“How much whiskey is in this?” I asked her. When she made posset for me, she used only a touch of whiskey for flavor, but I knew she liked it strong enough to make an elephant drunk.

She grinned at me over her steaming mug. “You don’t want to know. Now drink up.”

I eyed my mug doubtfully. “I don’t want Finn and Lachlan to have to carry me home.” I hated to admit it, but because of my mom, I was just a little afraid of alcohol. I never, ever wanted to become the sloppy, stupid drunk I’d seen my mom become. No buzz in the world was worth that to me.

“Trust me, it’s not
that
much whiskey. I know better, remember?”

I relaxed and took another sip. Kimber did indeed know better. I wasn’t all that good at trusting people, and Kimber hadn’t always played things straight with me in the past, but I believed I could trust her now. I’d just try not to gulp the posset down too fast, and I’d be fine.

“The Erlking called me,” I told her, and she practically choked on her swallow of hot posset. “Sorry,” I said, wincing as she coughed and put the mug down.

“He
called
you?” she asked, appalled.

I nodded. Here came the hard part. I really hoped Kimber would agree with me that I couldn’t make a devil’s bargain with the Erlking, because otherwise, this could get real awkward, real fast. “He wants to set up a trade. I take him and his Huntsmen out on a killing spree in the mortal world, and he’ll free Ethan.”

Kimber was naturally pale, but she became even more so as what little color she had faded from her cheeks. “You aren’t thinking of actually
doing
it, are you?”

I stared into my mug, afraid to meet her gaze. “What if it’s the only way to free Ethan?”

“Then he’ll just have to live with being part of the Wild Hunt,” she said. There was a faint quaver in her voice, although she still managed to sound firm and decisive.

I risked a glance at her face, and there was no missing the determination in her expression. “Are you sure?” I asked.

She nodded. “I’m sure. Ethan wouldn’t want to be freed if it cost other people their lives. He can be a selfish, egotistical bastard, but he’s a good guy at heart. And if you ever tell him I said that, I’ll never speak to you again.”

“Your secret is safe with me,” I vowed, relieved that she and I were in agreement. “So, giving the Erlking what he asked for is out of the question. But there must be
something
else he wants, something that only a Faeriewalker can give him. I just can’t for the life of me think of what that might be.”

“And that’s where I come in, eh?”

I gave her an apologetic smile. “Well, you are the brains of this outfit, you know.”

chapter fifteen

Kimber and I talked for more than an hour, and by the time we were done, we’d hammered out something that vaguely resembled a plan. A crappy, stupid, probably futile plan, but it was better than what I’d come up with on my own—which was nothing.

I felt better than I had for days, and I wished I’d called Kimber sooner. I hadn’t realized how much I’d come to count on her, or how much I craved the human—well, Fae, really—contact.

The trip back to my safe house was uneventful, though I was tense the whole time, thinking the Erlking might want to rub my nose in Ethan’s captivity some more. My ears strained for the sound of motorcycles, but the Erlking had apparently made his point, and he left me alone.

The smart thing for me to do once I got home was to give myself at least one night to sleep on my plan. Anything Kimber and I had hashed out in an hour’s time couldn’t exactly be the most bulletproof idea in the world. The problem was, I was afraid if I slept on it, I’d chicken out, and then I’d hate myself forever.

That night after dinner, I once more retreated to my bedroom to make a phone call. Only it wasn’t Kimber I was calling.

Hands damp with sweat, I scrolled through the caller ID log until I found the Erlking’s number. My stomach felt all tight and twitchy, and my mouth was so dry it would be a miracle if I could talk.

He answered on the first ring, like he’d been sitting by the phone anticipating my call. Maybe he really had been. It wasn’t like I knew all that much about his powers, beyond the fact that if you cut off his head he could pick it up and put it back on.

“So, you’ve changed your mind about negotiating,” he said. There was a hint of triumph in his voice. He must have figured parading Ethan in front of me this afternoon had broken me and made me see things his way. There was no point in arguing that assumption.

I swallowed the lump of dread in my throat. “Yes.”

“I’m happy to hear that,” he said. “I’m sure Ethan will be, too. Becoming part of my Hunt can be quite the adjustment for anyone, much less for someone as accustomed to power as he.”

“If you hurt him…” I wanted to slap myself for the pathetic, empty threat. If the Erlking wanted to hurt Ethan, he would, and there was nothing I could do about it.

Luckily, the Erlking passed up the opportunity I’d given him to mock me mercilessly. However, what he said instead wasn’t much better.

“I am ready to meet and discuss terms at your convenience,” he said.

Meet?
Oh, hell, no! “I’m ready, too,” I said. “And we can talk just fine on the phone.”

“I prefer my negotiations to be face-to-face.”

“Well
I
prefer them on the phone.”

“If we reach an accord and I release Ethan from my Hunt, he will need your help. He will be weak. So weak he may not be able to walk, or even stand, without assistance.”

I closed my eyes and tried not to imagine what the Erlking had done to him to put him in that condition. Surely the Erlking or one of his Huntsmen could take Ethan home once he was freed. Or hell, just call him a cab. My gut instinct told me the Erlking wasn’t going to budge on this point, so I raised an objection I thought was more likely to succeed.

“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m under twenty-four-hour guard here. Somehow I don’t think my dad or my guards are going to be okay with me meeting up with you.”

He chuckled. “No, I imagine not. However, I must insist that we meet in person. I will send you a charm that will allow you to walk unnoticed past your guard. It will also lead you to my house.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. People are trying to kill me, you know.”

“Yes, yes, I know. It isn’t just your guard my charm will lead you past. No one will see you, neither friend nor foe.”

I couldn’t count high enough to list all the ways this idea sucked. “This is so not happening,” I said, trying to sound strong and firm instead of scared and out of my league.

“If you want to free Ethan, you must come to me,” he said, and he had sounding firm down pat. “I will not harm you, nor will I allow anyone else to harm you.”

“What is it you have against the phone?” There was a noticeable hint of desperation in my voice.

“I’m not doing this to be cruel,” he responded, his tone turning gentle. “The telephone is an inadequate medium for negotiations. It is too … impersonal. I promise that you will be safe with me, and that I will use no coercion, magical or otherwise, to bend you to my will.”

And what, exactly, was the Erlking’s promise worth? I had no clue. Lots of the old legends of Faerie claim that the Fae are incapable of lying, but I’d seen more than enough evidence that that wasn’t true.

“How can I believe you will offer me anything of worth if you are not willing to come face-to-face with me to talk?” he asked.

Damn it! I hated to admit it, but he was right. Any deal I made would require me to face him one way or another. Shivering in superstitious dread, I said, “All right. You win this round. I’ll come meet you.” Oh, God. How big a mistake was I making? “You said you would send me a charm. How exactly are you planning to do that? It’s not like the postal service delivers down here.” My mail theoretically went through my dad’s address, though it wasn’t like I had any mail to speak of. I rather doubted my dad was going to give me anything that came from the Erlking.