The Day Human Way (24 page)

Winters was on the ground now, and the sword he had was kicked out of his reach. Devin was sad to see the old man defeated. He didn’t want to believe the man was bad. He had never felt anything but kindness from him. Devin didn’t even think Winters had a bad bone in his body. Devin felt the crushing feeling of betrayal, and knew exactly what Nessa had been going through time and time again ever since she had returned.

Winters looked at Devin with the weight of Ronan on him.

Sorry
, he mouthed before lifting his hand to send a spell Devin’s way. Rolf noticed Devin’s position at the same time and realized that his son was with Devin. Rolf stamped down on the charm in Winter’s hand before turning to Ronan and Devin.

Cassie stepped in at the last moment and raised her own hand. The magic hit her and blew her backward into the wall of the barn, knocking Ronan out of Devin’s arms. Without hesitation, Devin called to the plants outside to take Ronan from the barn where they could then move him farther away to safety. One down and only Cassie left to get out of the barn. Devin called to his plants again, and they sneaked into the barn. They seemed to be unaffected by the spells that lined the ground.

“You thought you could stop me. I guess you were wrong,” Rolf spat at Winters. He picked up the crushed charm and grinned in an evil way at the old man. Devin had no clue what the charm was, but he didn’t want to stay around and get in the way when they started their fighting back up.

Old Man Winters continued to lie on the ground, defeated.

Cassie coughed a little as she stood back up from the blow that had shoved her into the barn walls. Maria was right in that she was still alive, but the wind had been knocked out of her.

Turning to Cassie, Rolf glared at her. “It’s you. Young witch, you’re just getting in the way.”

Devin was confused. Cassie had just saved Ronan. Devin turned to Cassie and found she was struggling to stand. She had hit her head hard on the wall of the barn. His protection seemed to fail the moment the witch magic touched her. Devin sprinted to her when Rolf raised his hand to attack. She successfully blocked the last spell, but Devin doubted she would be able to a second time with her head not completely on straight. Rolf let go of the spell, and Cassie teetered a bit. Devin sent up plants to block the path of the spell, but it went right through them. The spell aimed at her chest broke through the sidhe barrier protecting Cassie and hit her in the shoulder. She staggered back to the wall but remained conscious. Devin had been too slow, and his sidhe magic wasn’t effective against the witch magic. Devin turned to Rolf.

“What are you doing? She’s here to help us,” he yelled at the older man.

“Help us?” Rolf replied, stalking two steps closer to Devin and Cassie. “Help? She’s the reason I’m here now fighting with this old man. The sidhe would have gotten rid of you days ago, and no one would have known I set it up. I would have never run into him, and he never would have found out that I have been using his barn for over a decade to store my potions. This all would have been kept a secret. Now I have to kill both of you and find a way to blame it on the old man here.”

Devin was shocked. He didn’t think either of the two older men we untrustworthy, but to find Nessa’s uncle was trying to get rid of him was another blow.

“Don’t you care about Nessa at all? If you killed me, it would kill her, too.” Devin was stunned. He hadn’t expected her uncle to be the witch sidhe causing problems.

“That’s what everyone thinks of the bond. Well, I know the truth. If I kill you fast, the bond can’t activate to hurt Nessa. She’ll be fine. She will mourn you, but she’ll get over you. Soon enough, she will marry a true sidhe and everything can go back to normal around here.” Rolf was certain.

“And what if that isn’t how it works? What if you screw up and kill me just a tad bit too slow? Would you take that chance with Nessa’s life?”

Rolf looked at the field outside the doorway. Ronan was still asleep on the grass.

“It’s a risk I’m willing to take to clean up this place. If it does accidentally kill Nessa, my son will just have to step up and accept responsibility for being born a McKinny.” Rolf shrugged like he didn’t care which way it turned out.

Devin shut away the pain at hearing Rolf talk so harshly. It was his way to deal with emotions, and it was helpful now. He didn’t need to dwell on the older man breaking all trust Devin had in him. He needed to find the strength to stand up to him. Rolf was older than Devin by several decades. He was the previous king’s younger brother, trained in all the sidhe fighting tactics, and he was a witch. He might have been older, and probably a little less physically challenging than Devin, but his vast knowledge would make him an impressive enemy. Devin didn’t have time to worry. He needed to plan a way to defeat the sidhe. It wouldn’t be the first sidhe that Nessa loved that Devin had to defeat, but he hoped it would be the last.

Devin had been using the conversation to inch closer to Cassie. The burn on her shoulder wasn’t too bad. A little night human blood would clear it right up, but he couldn’t let Rolf attack again now that Devin knew his sidhe shield didn’t work against witch magic, and the plants couldn’t help, either.

“So everything about wanting to help bring a new era to the sidhe, it was all talk?” Devin asked.

He had to keep Rolf focused on something else so that he could get close enough to Cassie. The young witch didn’t deserve to have to fight this battle, and he couldn’t help but be protective of her. To him, Cassie would always be that oddball witch that no one wanted to be friends with but had the biggest eyes and ears of them all. The reason she was advanced was because she could see magic in everything. Cassie was special, and she didn’t need to be part of the sidhe battle going on.

‘
Nessa?’
Devin called to her in his mind. They needed help, and they needed it right now. Devin waited a moment and called again.
‘Nessa?’

Nothing. There was no connection. There was no reply. Silence.

Rolf smiled at Devin like he already knew what Devin was up to.

“Do you know anything about witch magic?” Rolf asked Devin, who inched closer to Cassie. “They use nature, just like the sidhe, but their power comes from within themselves. They don’t need to draw on the power of nature, like the sidhe, but they can still harness that energy. Witches and sidhe are very similar. The best part of witch magic is that you can set it up, leave it places, and make things such as charms.”

“Charms?” Devin asked, trying to keep Rolf talking and distracted as he moved ever closer to Cassie.

“Charms. Like this one.” Rolf pointed to a wad of leaves to the side of the barn. “Do you know what this charm does? I’ll even let you have a guess.” Devin waited for him to continue talking.

“No clue,” Devin replied, noticing that Rolf wanted an answer.

“This charm here cancels out some of the effects of the bond. Even more the reason I think this is the perfect time to get rid of you. You worry that maybe I won’t kill you quick enough to keep Nessa alive. I think these charms might make that even easier for me to do just that. Now you wouldn’t be so kind as to just lie down and let me kill you, would you?”

“Not really my style,” Devin replied, in position and now fully protecting Cassie from any attack.

“I thought you’d say that,” Rolf replied, flinging the same fireball of magic at Devin that Cassie had been hit by.

Devin was ready and ducked down to grab the short sword Winters had been using to fight with the magic. Sure enough, the witch magic zinged through it as he blocked the ball with the sword.

“Get out of here,” Devin told Cassie. She didn’t need to be told twice and quickly crawled to the doorway. Devin didn’t stay to watch her, but moved to distract Rolf.

The old man was twice his size and Devin expected him to be just as slow, but his first attack went wide and only left a scratch down Rolf’s arm where it should have cut right through him. Rolf was quicker than Devin imagined he would be. Devin didn’t wait for Rolf to attack as he continued his assaults, judging just how well trained the older man was. He had to give Cassie a chance to leave. Devin continued to attack but had to use his full concentration to keep up with the combination of witch magic and sidhe magic being thrown at him. It was easy to tell that Rolf had been using both for many years.

Rolf and Devin danced around the barn as they fought. While Devin wasn’t able to send blasts of witch magic back at Rolf, his sidhe magic worked just as powerfully. They moved together, and Devin tried his best to distract Rolf long enough for Cassie to get to safety. As another blow came his way, Devin turned in time to see that Cassie wasn’t out of the building as he thought. She stared with opened eyes at Rolf as she squished against an unseen barrier. Rolf had noticed before Devin and already sent a blast of combined sidhe and witch magic her way. There was no way Cassie would be able to stop it. Devin jumped in front of the blast. Had Devin known that Cassie couldn’t leave, and had seen the intent of Rolf, he would have been more prepared. As it was, there was nothing Devin could do but throw his body in front of the magic headed for the innocent girl.

Devin didn’t flinch as magic tore through his body, blowing his witch-magic-laced sword from him. Pain erupted from his shoulder all the way down to his waist. The fireball had been larger than the last one. Rolf wasn’t taking any chances; he was going for the kill. Devin was happy to find that unlike the plants, he was solid enough to keep it from hitting Cassie.

Rolf sneered at Devin. “You won’t just let me kill you quietly, but here you step in front of that? You would give your life for a witch. Can’t you see how that makes you not one of us? A sidhe would never do that.”

Devin sucked in his breath and truly hoped the connection was dulled between him and Nessa. He didn’t need her bleeding out wherever she was. Using one of his king’s sidhe swords, he pushed himself to a standing position through the excruciating pain. The blade was too heavy to lift, but it made a great crutch. Rolf was going to have to kill him before Devin would let any more harm come to Cassie. He had made a promise to Maria and would do everything in his power to keep it.

“Devin,” Cassie gasped when the blood seeped through his shirt.

“I’m fine. Keep trying to find a way out,” Devin told her. It wasn’t true, but Devin had to keep her motivated.

“A way out?” Rolf asked, a sneer still plastered on his face. “She can’t leave this place. She isn’t sidhe. The old man made his barn to trap those that didn’t belong here in case anyone got past the barriers into the town. It’s the perfect place to keep a young witch and end her life. I would thank you for delivering her up to me, but it won’t make a difference. It shouldn’t take more than one more blow to kill you. Are there any last words you’d like me to deliver to Nessa when I tell her how I was too late to save you from Winters?”

“Go to hell, Rolf,” the old man said from behind him. The ground instantly froze. The old man was standing while leaning on the sword Devin had lost from the blast. Rolf turned, but not in time to do anything about being encased in ice.

Devin wanted to help defeat Rolf, but he was too wounded to move anywhere. He stood vigilant in front of Cassie though he was in pain. He was waiting for the attack on him and Cassie, but Winters didn’t move to attack.

“Grab that horseshoe by the door and then you can leave,” Winters told Cassie. “It will break all the witch magic in the barn.”

Cassie reached for the horseshoe.

“Stop,” Devin said. He tried to sound forceful, but it was more of a gasp.

Winters stared at Devin, but Cassie froze in her tracks.

“You need to activate your bond back with Nessa. It will make you heal,” Winters said, now completely concerned for Devin and not his own wounds.

The old man wasn’t a threat—everything Devin had believed about Winters was true. He had spoken the truth before about trying to stop Rolf. They were safe alone with him in the barn.

“Unbind me from Nessa before you go for help,” Devin told Cassie. She stared back at him and then looked to the old man.

“Day human, you will surely die if you unbind,” Winters told him. Cassie didn’t move one way or the other. She was confused and worried at the same time. “And besides, she needs to go get help.”

“And if she walks out there and the bond returns, not only will I die, but so will Nessa. This isn’t a wound someone lives through, no matter if they are a sidhe or not. I’m not going to let my wounds kill Nessa,” Devin explained, slumping down to his knees now that Cassie wasn’t in danger. He didn’t even bother to wipe the blood dripping out of his mouth. He was resigned to his fate.

Cassie rushed to him and helped him lie down on the ground. She glanced from him to the old man again. She seemed to be weighing what they were saying.

“Cassie, unbind me,” Devin said. Lying down had given him enough energy that he could be firmer in his order.

“But he says you’ll die,” she replied, still unsure what to do.

“You really love Nessa that much?” The old man had hobbled closer.

“With everything inside of me.” Devin closed his eyes and took in a breath. It was getting harder to breathe, but he didn’t want to let on about the pain he was going through. Winters nodded.

“Unbind him, then,” the old man told Cassie.

She seemed startled at the old man’s order. Leaning in closer, she whispered into Devin’s ear, “What if he’s the witch sidhe?”

Devin looked back up at the old man, who shook his head.

“He may be a witch sidhe, but I don’t think he was the one that was trying to attack everyone. I have a feeling this barn and his magic was to help everyone, to help anyone that might stumble across the sidhe. He was protecting the innocent and protecting the sidhe,” Devin replied honestly, happy with his assessment of the old man. If Winters truly was trying to kill him, he could have at the same time he encased Rolf in ice. Devin knew that Winters wasn’t a threat.

“Devin is right. I have never used witch magic against another sidhe before tonight. I knew as a young man that witch magic was illegal, but I couldn’t help it. I fell in love. When the village found the witch in our town that I had fallen for, they killed her. I didn’t want that to ever happen again. I made this barn and placed all the spells. This is to keep others from having the same fate as my love.”