Shadowspell (25 page)

“You can bet he wasn’t happy with me for trying to help you leave Avalon. It’s the first time I’ve ever openly defied him like that, and it felt good. But now…” He laughed, but it wasn’t a happy sound. “Now that I finally found the guts to stand up to my father, I end up with the Erlking’s claws sunk into me so deep I’ll never get free.”

I gritted my teeth, thinking what an idiot I had been. I knew that my bargain with the Erlking had to be worded very carefully, that he would abide by it only to the letter of the law. I’d thought that freeing Ethan from the Hunt would mean freeing him from the Erlking, but now looking back I saw it for the stupid assumption it had been.

“I’m so sorry, Ethan,” I said as guilt settled heavily on my shoulders.

He sat up straight, then leaned over and put his arm around my shoulders, drawing me close to his side. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I’d have been the Erlking’s slave for life if you hadn’t saved me.”

He put his other arm around me and pulled me into a hug. I went easily, resting my head against his chest and hearing the steady thump of his heart.

“I can’t help wondering how you managed to do that,” Ethan said as I cuddled against him. His arms tightened around me. “What did you have to give him, Dana?” His voice choked on the question.

I wanted to say something soothing, something to ease the guilt I heard in his voice. The truth certainly wasn’t going to do that, and if I’d been able to think of a really good lie, I’d have used it already to calm everyone down.

I guess I was quiet long enough that Ethan figured I wasn’t going to answer his question, because he let out a heavy sigh and asked another.

“Is it true, what you told Kimber? Did the Erlking put a geis on you?”

My first instinct was to lie. I’d lied about it so much already it was almost beginning to feel like the truth. But I just couldn’t do it, not when Ethan had just poured out his heart to me. I wasn’t ready to tell him the truth, but that didn’t mean I had to lie.

“There is no geis,” I confided. “Please don’t tell anyone. It’s not something I can talk about. I told everyone there was a geis so they would stop asking me.”

His chin settled on the top of my head, rubbing back and forth absently. I was still aware of the warmth of him, and of my attraction, but this contact felt more peaceful.

“Maybe what’s good for the gander is good for the goose?” he suggested gently.

I sighed. “Maybe it is, but I just can’t talk about it. Not now.” Maybe not ever, but I didn’t feel a need to share that.

“All right,” he said. “I won’t push. But if you ever want to talk, I’m here for you.”

My heart squeezed gratefully, and I knew that all my doubts and worries about Ethan were pointless. I was in too deep already, and as long as he wanted me, I would be his.

*   *   *

I stayed at Ethan’s for about an hour. We didn’t talk much, but we didn’t make out again, either. I’d have been disappointed, if snuggling up in his arms on the couch hadn’t felt so good all by itself. I could have stayed like that all night, but eventually I started yawning.

“We should get you home,” Ethan said, and I knew he was right. He stood, drawing me to my feet right along with him. “I still can’t believe you went traipsing around in the city all by yourself,” he said, voice tight with disapproval. “How did you get past Finn, anyway? I thought he was stationed between your suite and the door.”

Frowning, I looked up into Ethan’s face. As far as I could remember, I hadn’t ever described the setup of my safe house to him. I supposed he could be making an assumption, but it didn’t sound like it.

He read the confusion on my face and explained without me having to question him. “The Erlking knows where you live.”

Yes, I’d figured that out when I found his little charm on my bedside table. “And he told you?” I couldn’t imagine why, and I didn’t much like the idea of Ethan knowing. I might be halfway in love with him, but I
still
didn’t fully trust him. Not that I thought he’d hurt me or anything, but I couldn’t help fearing he’d tell someone he shouldn’t.

Ethan stared at his toes. “Yeah, he told me. Said it wasn’t inconceivable that he’d need to send me down there sometime. He’s determined to make sure you don’t get killed, at least not until you’ve given him what he wants.”

I shook my head. “I don’t suppose telling him I don’t want his protection will do any good.”

Ethan snorted. “No, I don’t suppose it would. And don’t think I’m letting you off that easy. How did you get past Finn?”

I opened my mouth to tell Ethan about the brooch, then thought better of it before any words came out. There were any number of reasons he might decide to take the brooch away from me, not least of which being the very fact that it came from the Erlking. He also might take it into his head to protect me from myself by making sure I couldn’t get out of my safe house unnoticed again. He was a lot bigger and stronger than me, and even with my self-defense training, I doubted I’d be able to stop him from taking the brooch if he really wanted to.

“I snuck out while he was in the bathroom,” I said, hoping Ethan didn’t notice my hesitation. “Everyone thinks I’m really sensible, so it’s not like they keep me locked up or anything. As far as Finn knows, I’m in my room fast asleep.”

Ethan didn’t look completely convinced, but he didn’t challenge the story, either. “I’m going to walk you home,” he informed me, and his tone said there would be no arguing with him.

I bit my lip. I’d actually be a lot safer if Ethan
didn’t
walk me home, because then I could use the brooch. But I knew I wouldn’t be able to talk him out of it without more explanation than I was willing to give. Yes, it would be a bit dangerous to walk around Avalon with only Ethan for protection, but I decided it was an acceptable risk.

*   *   *

I felt more certain of my decision when Ethan took me directly into the tunnel system through the hidden access point in the courtyard. Traveling through the streets of Avalon, even at this time of night, it was possible—if unlikely—that one of the bad guys might spot me. But as vast as the tunnel system was, there were only a few populated areas, which would be easy to avoid now that I had my “native guide” with me.

The entrance we used led directly into one of the completely unpopulated sections of the tunnel system, where there was no electricity. I had my flashlight, but Ethan was using an actual torch, which he lit by magic. It created a lot more light than my flashlight, but I couldn’t help finding its flickering flame—and the moving shadows that flame created—creepy.

Ethan led the way, holding the torch out to his side because the ceiling was too low for him to hold it up. Our footsteps echoed eerily against the stone walls, and the occasional snap and crackle of the flame set my nerves on edge. Then again, just being in these tunnels tended to have that effect on me. As far as I knew, I hadn’t been claustrophobic before I’d come to Avalon, but I was now.

Neither one of us talked much. The silence of the tunnels was too oppressive, the echoes of even our whispers too unnerving. I’d always found the tunnels kinda scary, but the effect was worse than ever tonight. The tightness of Ethan’s shoulders and the cautious way he proceeded told me he felt it, too. I told myself it was just our imaginations, that we couldn’t help being at least a little freaked out traveling these dark, deserted, confusing tunnels in the dead of night. That didn’t stop the little hairs on the back of my neck from standing at attention.

Ethan reached back and took my hand, fingers intertwining with mine. His palm was sweaty, and that didn’t do much to ease my fears. I swallowed hard, trying to convince myself I was being ridiculous, but it didn’t work, and a few moments later, Ethan came to a stop.

“Something just doesn’t feel right,” he muttered under his breath.

I couldn’t help agreeing with him. “What should we do?” I asked in the quietest whisper I could manage. But I couldn’t imagine what we
could
do, other than keep moving.

Ethan’s eyes were narrowed as he peered into the darkness ahead of us. The Fae have better eyesight than humans, but it seemed clear he didn’t see any cause for alarm. Looking grimly determined, he took another step forward, his hand squeezing mine a little more firmly. He was going to cut off circulation to my fingers if he didn’t ease up, but I was feeling anxious enough not to protest.

Something in the tunnel ahead of us made a coughing sound, and there was a little flash of light. Ethan cried out, and the torch fell from his hand.

I turned to him in alarm. “Ethan! What’s wrong?” It was hard to see in the erratic light of the fallen torch, but there was a patch of wetness staining his right shoulder, just above his collarbone.

He collapsed to his knees, his fingers going limp in my hand. “Run, Dana,” he said, and tried to give me a weak shove back the way we’d come. The stain on his shirt continued to spread, and he swayed. “Run!” he said again.

“Hell, no,” I replied, grabbing hold of his good arm and trying to drag him to his feet. I wasn’t entirely sure what was going on yet, but I did know I wasn’t going to just run away and leave Ethan. When pulling on him didn’t work, I draped his arm over my shoulder. “Come on!”

Footsteps echoed in the tunnel in front of us, and a ball of light slowly formed and expanded near the ceiling. I managed to get Ethan to his feet, but most of his weight was leaning on me, and he was barely conscious, too hurt even to use his healing magic. We weren’t going to get far like this, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to try.

I got us turned around and took a couple of steps, but I was bracing myself for the sound of another gunshot—because what else could that coughing sound have been?—and for the pain of a bullet slamming into my back. It didn’t happen, but something worse did. The light spell reached its full intensity, illuminating the tunnel for yards in both directions.

Standing in the middle of the tunnel, blocking my retreat and holding a gun big enough to qualify as a cannon, stood my aunt Grace.

chapter twenty-three

When I’d first met Aunt Grace, she’d reinforced every stereotype I’d ever had of the Fae. Way too beautiful to be human, reserved to the point of coldness, and arrogant as all hell. She was still all of those things, but with a heaping dose of crazy to top it off. Her smile was bright and triumphant as she pointed that damn cannon at my head. The scraggly, half-Fae guy who’d posed as Lachlan stood by her side. I guessed she’d bailed him out, or he’d still have been in jail. He, too, had a gun.

I glanced over my shoulder, even though I knew there was another armed enemy back there. Sure enough, an extremely large, nasty-looking human man was blocking the way. He was built like a football player—one of those fat but powerful lineman types—and made all the more intimidating by his buzz-cut hair and the jagged scar that slashed across his face. His gun was a lot smaller than Grace’s, but its barrel was extended by a silencer.

We were trapped.

Heart beating in my throat, I carefully lowered Ethan to the floor. His breathing was ragged, his face squinched with pain, but at least he was conscious. And the bleeding seemed to have slowed, so maybe if I could miraculously get us out of this, he wasn’t going to die. But he wasn’t going to be much help, either.

I stood up slowly, putting my back against the tunnel wall so I could keep an eye on Grace and her super-sized henchman.

“And so we meet again, my dear niece,” Grace said with a toothy, sharklike smile.

“Oh, joy,” I responded, though I knew I should keep my mouth shut. From the first time I’d laid eyes on her, Grace had inspired me to take whatever verbal digs I could get in, and it seemed she still had that effect on me.

Her smile thinned, and her eyes pierced me, sending a shiver down my spine. “Still haven’t learned to respect your betters, I see.”

I raised my chin and met her stare, trying to project confidence as my mind cast about for any possibility of escape. “That one’s just too easy,” I said. Maybe if I could make her completely lose her temper, she’d give me some kind of opening I could take advantage of. Yeah, that was a pathetically thin hope, but I wasn’t coming up with anything better.

“I’ll have you singing a very different tune by the time I’m through with you,” she said, her good humor restored by whatever she had in mind. “If I’d had any idea what you would do to my life, I’d have killed you when I first met you. It would have been so easy.” She shook her head at herself.

Arawn had told me that she didn’t want to use me against Titania anymore, that she was likely out to kill me. The fact that I was still alive now suggested either that Arawn was wrong, or that she had something worse than a quick death in mind. Dread pooled in my gut, because I didn’t think Arawn was wrong.

“Why?” I asked her, stalling for time. “I’ve never done anything to you. Why are you so hot to kill me? I’m just a kid. Your
brother’s
kid.” Not that Grace had shown any sign she was attached to my father, although I thought he’d been at least somewhat attached to her.

Grace laughed. “Before you came to Avalon, I was one of the leading candidates for Consul. I was wealthy, and respected, and powerful. Now I am exiled from my home, I have a price on my head throughout Faerie, and the Wild Hunt is on my trail. All. Because. Of. You.”

Yep. She was certifiable. And obviously determined to blame me for all the stupid crap she’d done. “No one forced you to kidnap me in the first place. If you’d just kept on living your life like normal, none of this would have happened.” Of course, I knew I wasn’t going to talk Grace out of her vendetta. In the battle between logic and crazy, crazy always wins. And however sweet Grace may have thought her life was before I came to Avalon, she hadn’t gone from perfectly well-adjusted useful member of society to psycho killer bitch overnight. Whatever was wrong with her, it had been festering a long time. My arrival was just the trigger that set her off.

Aunt Grace couldn’t refute my accusation, so she ignored it instead. “I’d have been shocked if you’d have lived out this year, even if I weren’t after you myself. Seamus was a fool to bring a stupid mortal child here when he knew what trouble you would bring with you.”