Shadowspell (7 page)

I fought the tears fiercely, unwilling to let Ethan have that much power over me. I’d just about gotten my emotions under control—at least enough so I could pretend nothing was wrong—when I reached the bar and got my second helping of bad news.

I had speculated earlier that I would probably see Finn mad before this night was through. Turns out I was right, and it was a sight I could have done without.

He must have seen me coming before I caught sight of him, for he was staring at me with such intensity I could feel it almost like a physical force. His usually bland expression was filled with fury, and he seemed to tower over everyone around him, even Keane, who was about the same height.

Finn had one hand wrapped around Keane’s upper arm, and the wince on Keane’s face said the grip was tight enough to hurt. Keane hung his head like a penitent child, his gaze fixed on the floor. I’d never seen Keane cowed by anything before, but I supposed this was a night for unpleasant firsts. Beside them, Kimber had shrunk back against the bar, her eyes wide, her teeth worrying away at her lower lip.

I was tempted to turn away and plunge back into the crowd. That’s how terrifying the look on Finn’s face was. I’d really, really rather he show that face to the bad guys, not me. But I’d known there would be consequences to sneaking out, and it was time to face them. I swallowed hard and crossed the last few feet separating me from my furious bodyguard.

I expected him to yell at me, or at least give me a heated lecture. Instead, he just fixed me with one more glare, then grabbed my upper arm and started dragging both me and Keane toward the front door. He was scary-looking enough that somehow, the crowd magically made a path for him, everyone scrambling to stay out of his way.

I glanced back over my shoulder at Kimber, thinking I should say good-bye or something, but considering how fast Finn was walking, I’d be out the door before I got the words out. She gave me a worried smile, then held up the pendant and mouthed “thank you.” I still didn’t want to face whatever was going to happen next, but remembering how happy Kimber had been to see me, I couldn’t find it in myself to regret having come. Of course, that might change, depending on just what the consequences turned out to be.

None of us said a word as we made our way back to my safe house. It would have topped off a great evening if we’d run into the Wild Hunt, but despite my dad’s fear that the Erlking was out to get me, there was no sign of him.

Finn continued hauling Keane and me by our arms while we were in the more populated section of the tunnel system. I tried to ignore the curious looks of passersby. When we were away from other people, Finn gave Keane a shove forward, putting him in the lead. He then sandwiched me between them for the rest of the march. He
still
didn’t say anything, every moment of silence stretching my nerves more and more taut.

I expected the explosion to come as soon as we were safely shut in the guardroom, but Finn wasn’t meeting my expectations that night.

“You,” he said, pinning me with his cold green gaze, “sit down.” He pointed to a chair against the wall. He didn’t raise his voice, but his words had such sharp edges on them he might as well have.

Shoulders hunched, I slunk over to the chair and sat down on the very edge. I had no idea what would happen next, but I knew it wasn’t going to be fun.

Finn turned his gaze to Keane. “You think you’re sufficient defense for a girl the Queens of Faerie have marked for death?” Still he didn’t raise his voice, though the words held a hint of a snarl.

Something kindled in Keane’s eyes. His shoulders straightened, his lip curled, and he met his father’s gaze boldly. Here was the Keane I knew and mostly disliked.

“I may not be a Knight,” he said, “but I’m perfectly capable of defending Dana if I have to.”

My skin prickled with the distinctive sensation of magic being gathered.

“Titania has sent Knights after her before,” Finn told his son. “Put up your shields. Show me how well you can defend against a Knight of Faerie.”

Keane’s confidence visibly wavered.

Finn made a fist and flashed Keane a savage grin. “Put up your shields, or this is going to hurt like hell.”

Keane rolled his eyes like he thought this was all ridiculous, but I remembered how he’d looked when Finn first spoke. Arrogant as he was, he wasn’t at all sure he could take his father. I suspect that idea made him squirm as much as it did me. I’d told myself I was pretty safe with Keane, but I didn’t feel quite as sure of that now.

Keane moved over to the mats that still lay on the floor from our earlier sparring session, and Finn followed. From Finn’s words and Keane’s attitude, I knew Keane was likely to come out the loser of this fight, but I expected him to at least be able to hold his own for a while. I was wrong.

I thought Keane wiped the floor with me when we sparred, but I didn’t know what wiping the floor with someone really was until Finn showed me. Keane hit the mats so many times you’d have thought he was a rug Finn was trying to beat the dust out of. Each time he got up, he was a little slower than the time before. Magic prickled across my skin as the two of them flung spells at each other, but it was obvious Keane ran out of juice long before Finn did.

The longer the fight went on, the redder Keane’s face got, and I didn’t think it was just from exertion. Every once in a while, he’d glance over at me, and I realized how humiliating this little demonstration in front of me must be. Hell, we usually practiced in the living room because I didn’t want anyone watching while Keane repeatedly handed my butt to me, and I’m not a quarter as arrogant as he is. A couple of times, I opened my mouth to beg Finn to stop, but each time I quickly shut it again, knowing that I’d only make it worse.

Eventually, Keane went down hard and didn’t get up again. He just lay there on his back, panting heavily, sweat pouring off his face, eyes squinched shut in what had to be pain. His shield spells might stop him from getting injured while sparring, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. Not to mention that I think even his shield ran out of juice toward the end, because Finn visibly pulled his punches.

Finn came to stand over Keane, folding his arms over his chest and looking like he could go another thirty minutes without being winded. “This is how you fared against your father, who isn’t about to hurt you. Imagine if I’d been a hostile Knight out to kill you. And that’s not even considering the possibility of going up against the Erlking and the Wild Hunt. Then tell me again that you think you’re capable of protecting Dana as well as a professional.”

He looked back and forth between the two of us, just to make sure both of us got the message. We did.

Finn turned to me while Keane continued to lie on the mats sucking in air. “I’m not going to tell your father about tonight’s escapade, because I believe you have a good head on your shoulders and won’t pull a stupid stunt like that again. Am I right?”

I nodded meekly. Finn was doing me a ginormous favor by not telling on me. If my father found out what I’d done, I might not be allowed to leave my safe house for the rest of my life.

“Thank you,” I said tentatively. “And I’m sorry.”

Finn didn’t acknowledge the apology. Guess he was still mad. “You’re going to bed now,” was all he said.

Keane groaned and propped himself up on his elbows. I had a feeling Finn wasn’t through making him pay for my mistake. If I’d thought anything I said would help, I’d have stuck around and tried my best. Instead, feeling totally wretched, I left Keane alone with his father and fled to my room.

chapter six

I woke up on Saturday morning feeling just as bad as I had when I’d climbed into bed and pulled the covers over my head the night before. Keane had basically taken the whole rap for me last night, and that sucked. It wasn’t that I thought Finn had hurt him all that much, and considering Keane’s choice of profession, he had to have a pretty high tolerance for pain anyway. But I knew his pride had taken a beating, and I knew him well enough to realize how much that must have hurt him.

I can’t say I regretted going to the party, though, despite my guilty conscience. If I tried to convince myself to regret it, my mind conjured an image of Kimber’s face as she opened the present I’d given her, and I knew it had been worth it. (For me, at least. Keane might disagree.)

Usually, when I got up in the morning, I’d make some coffee for myself and some tea for Finn, who seemed to function just fine on what had to be about three or four hours of sleep a night and was always awake before me. He had his own kitchenette—even smaller than mine—in the guardroom, but he’d always seemed to appreciate the gesture.

A part of me really wanted to forego the ritual this morning. I didn’t much want to face Finn after last night. Would he still be mad at me? Would I feel guilty every time I looked at him?

In the end, I decided I’d probably feel worse if I sat around in my suite brooding about it, so I fixed the tea and coffee, then took a deep breath and ventured out into the guardroom.

To my intense relief, Finn acted as if nothing had happened. There was no hint of anger or reproach in his gaze as he looked at me, and he didn’t give me any paternal-sounding lectures. Not that he was ever what I would call talkative.

“I need some groceries,” I told him when he’d finished his tea and I was preparing to take the dishes back to my kitchen.

Finn nodded. “Give me a list of what you need, and I’ll ask your father to stop by the store on his way over for dinner tonight.”

I’d totally forgotten Dad was coming tonight, but I wasn’t about to let him be my grocery boy. I’d been responsible for buying groceries since I was about ten. Besides, a trip to the grocery store would get me out of the cave for a while. I could see the sun, and breathe some fresh air.

“I’d rather buy my own groceries,” I told Finn.

“It would be simpler to let your father do it,” he answered.

I grimaced, realizing that an official excursion from my safe house was a pain in the butt these days.

“My deal with my dad was that I could go out as long as I had an extra bodyguard.”

Finn looked like he might be about to argue, and I prepared to embarrass the both of us by claiming to need things that a man wouldn’t be comfortable shopping for, but he relented before I had to stoop to lying.

“All right,” he said. “I’ll give Lachlan a call and see if he’s available.”

*   *   *

Lachlan might be considered by some as an unusual choice of bodyguard. He had been my aunt Grace’s boyfriend, before Aunt Grace went completely around the bend. I knew he still loved her, and sometimes when I saw him he’d try to convince me that she wasn’t really that bad a person but was just misunderstood. He was never going to convince me of that, but when I saw the pain in his eyes, I couldn’t blame him for trying. I also knew that no matter how he felt about Grace, he wouldn’t allow anyone to hurt me, and since he was a troll beneath the glamour spell that made him appear human, he was an excellent protector.

My dad was as convinced of Lachlan’s reliability as I was. However, Dad had made the location of my safe house into such a deep, dark secret that other than me, only Finn, Keane, and my parents knew where it was. Personally, I thought Lachlan could be trusted with the secret if he was trusted enough to act as my bodyguard, but Dad had been adamant that only those who absolutely had to know the location would be told. Which meant that Finn and I had to meet Lachlan in one of the more populated sections of the tunnel complex.

Finn made me hang back before we turned the final corner, but then I heard him greet Lachlan and beckon to me. I hated that we had to go through all this crap just for me to make a stop at the grocery store. I tried to convince myself this was a temporary inconvenience, that eventually we would find a better way for me to live safely in Avalon. I wasn’t entirely successful.

When I joined Finn and Lachlan, the little hairs on my arms prickled with the distinctive sensation of magic in the air. I wondered if my so-far futile attempts to learn magic were actually having more effect than I’d realized. I knew that Finn always had a shield spell up when he went out in public, and Lachlan had his glamour, but I hadn’t actually sensed that magic in the past. I really wished I could ask them about it, but my ability to sense magic was another deep, dark secret. When I’d told Ethan about it, he’d told me that Faeriewalkers usually had no other magical abilities. He then warned me that my potential magic skills would paint an even bigger target on my back, and that I should keep it secret from everyone—even my father.

The streets were quieter than usual—a sure sign that the Wild Hunt was still in town. Finn wasn’t exactly relaxed, but Lachlan seemed even more tense and watchful. He was usually friendly and talkative, but today he was as talkative as Finn. Which is to say not at all.

They didn’t shadow me through the aisles of the tiny neighborhood grocery store where I bought my supplies, probably only because there were only about three people in the place. I took longer than I strictly needed to, but wandering the aisles without my bodyguards felt like such a decadent slice of normalcy that I couldn’t help savoring it.

That whole normalcy thing went right out the window as soon as I set foot outside the store, flanked by Finn and Lachlan. The distinctive roar of motorcycles split the air, and both Finn and Lachlan went on red alert. Magic thickened around me, the sensation like a thousand little electric shocks pinging against my skin.

The motorcycles came flying around the corner, and I knew as soon as I caught sight of them just who the bikers were.

The Erlking rode slightly ahead of his Huntsmen, who followed two-by-two behind him. As they had been when I’d first seen them, they were all dressed in black, and the huge motorcycles they rode were as black as their horses.

The Erlking came to a stop directly in front of me, despite Finn’s attempts to keep me behind him, and the rest of the Huntsmen quickly surrounded us. They circled us in perfect unison, the Huntsmen effortlessly jumping the curb when necessary. The bikes roared even though they weren’t going terribly fast.