Traitor (22 page)

“You know, you could watch where you’re going once in a while, human.”

It was Dalbach. He broke my fall, and I had him pinned to the ground. He squirmed to get free from under my legs. “Move, already! You’re still heavy, even in Changeling form.”

I wasn’t sure what to think about his presence. The tree was still glowing slightly, and a hum had begun to emit from the halfway state of the crack. Sparks flew in all directions as the magic sputtered under a lack of guidance. I glanced back at Dalbach, who had his hand up. He waved it once in the tree’s direction, and the crack closed. “I was trying to open the crack for you, so you could conserve energy. You’re still new at this, you know.”

I rolled my eyes. To think Dalbach cared at all after his last stunt was setting myself up for failure. “Thanks for throwing me to the wolves, then being considerate enough to show up and lead me back to hell. Should I give you your gift now, or later?”

He didn’t look abashed at all. Actually, his mouth snaked upward into a crooked grin and revealed his mottled teeth. I ran my tongue across my teeth subconsciously. Were they that disgusting right now? Probably so. I tried not to think about it, and vowed to use mouthwash the moment I shifted back to normal.

Dalbach put his hand on my shoulder and patted it like a patient father would. It bothered me more than I thought it would. “Ashlyn, I had to do that. I needed to make sure I didn’t look like a traitor to my people.”

“If you’re helping me, then you’re a traitor. There’s no way around it.”

He glared at me with sullen eyes. The yellow, feral look in them reminded me of a wolf looking at its prey. Was he sizing me up? Maybe wondering just what I was capable of doing? A shiver ran down my spine as I wondered what Dalbach could possibly be thinking. He clucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, but said nothing. He pushed past me and began to open the crack again.

The blue haze reappeared and took over the entire tree. The tree began to hum and shake from the onslaught of magic, and some of the Spanish moss drifted off the limbs and onto the forest floor under the commotion. There was a huge crash that sounded like lightning, which made me jump backward. Dalbach cackled gleefully and threw his arms up in the air as though he were on a roller coaster. The sprite loved any kind of destruction.

The tree flashed a blinding yellow before the crack opened. I’d never seen anything like it, which made me nervous. I glanced at Dalbach with apprehension. He did a little bow and ushered me toward the now humming crack, which had turned the usual crimson hue that I had grown accustomed to. “After you, milady.”

“What did you just do?”

“Opened a crack straight to your father. I figured that’s where you had planned to go?”

My mouth dropped, but I picked it up as fast as possible to cover myself. The action didn’t go unnoticed. Dalbach shrugged, unconcerned. “Humans are so emotional and predictable. You’re tied to things, even when they’re out of your reach. It’s you’re Achilles’ heel, if you will.”

Before I could say anything, He grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward the crack. His strength was surprising. “Now, after you, like I said!”

We both went headlong into the dizzying suction of crossing realms, and I wondered if Dalbach really had human feelings once upon a time. He seemed awful in tune with us for not understanding what it was like to be human.

***

I landed hard on the damp, slippery concrete of the underground tunnel. The scent of earthworms and decay infiltrated my nostrils, and I coughed back the bile that threatened to rise out of my throat. It was as though the depression in Neamar was a physical, corporeal thing. I shuddered from it all.

On the other hand, Dalbach sucked in a deep breath and smiled. “Home, sweet home.”

It was beyond me how he could think this place was homey, sweet, or any other nice word in the dictionary. Neamar was the essence of evil and malevolence. Nothing in this realm was spared pain, be it physical or emotional. The constant bereavement seemed to fuel this place, and Dad was assisting in that against his will. I didn’t voice my opinion, though. Instead, I made my way down the tunnel to the cell I remembered housed my dad.

I couldn’t help but run down the oppressively lit hall. My feet slipped and slid across the slimy ground as I tried to stop, and my hands flew to the bars of the cell to try to keep myself upright. I ended up flat on my rear end, looking at my dad through Changeling eyes.

He knew immediately who I was, despite my Changeling form. His entire face lit up, and so did mine in return. “Ash, you shouldn’t have come back.”

His eyes were blackened and puffy. His nose looked like someone had broken it in multiple places. There were gashes along his right cheek that should have been stitched up, but were left to heal without assistance. His usually well-kept hair was shaggy and matted to the side of head with blood. Basically, he looked a wreck. I knew it was because of the monster Changeling, and something inside of me twisted tight. How I’d ever thought Changelings could care was beyond me. I reached my arms through the bars and tried in vain to touch Dad. He didn’t extend his hands and his smile filled with sorrow. Tears fell freely from his swollen eyes. “I can’t touch you, Ash. I’m sorry.”

I panicked. “Why? I know I look different; I can change if you’d be more comfortable – “

“No, no.” He cut me off. “It’s not that. I literally can’t touch you. I’m spelled to sit here, just like this. I can’t move.”

It sickened me to think how horribly he was being treated. I didn’t even think about Dalbach being behind me. I pulled the necklace from underneath the shabby rags I wore and shoved it through the bars. “See this, Dad? Do you know what it is?”

Dad didn’t have time to respond, because Dalbach gasped. “Where did you get that, human?”

I ignored Dalbach and unclipped the necklace from around my neck and tossed it at my dad. It landed with a soft
clink
within his reach. I repeated my question, this time more insistent. “Do you know what this is?”

He picked the necklace up off the ground and examined it, taking in the intricate, Celtic knots and stones. He looked up, shocked. “Did your grandmother give this to you?”

Dalbach came to stand beside me and eyed me with curiosity. “Is that truly the necklace that Emily owned?”

His interest bothered me. I wondered how he knew what it was in the first place. For some reason, I assumed not every Changeling knew about the necklace. I watched my dad hold the necklace carefully, and followed his eyes to Dalbach. He seemed suspicious of the Changeling, even more than he normally would. “How do you know about the necklace, Changeling?”

Dalbach coughed and looked everywhere but at us. He seemed disinclined to answer my father. “Well, you did say it was her grandmother’s. I assumed it was the one and only Emily. I have heard of a magical necklace of hers, but I don’t know more than that.”

Dad didn’t look convinced, but he asked no more questions of Dalbach. He looked at me seriously. “I do know what this necklace is, and the answer is no. You can’t do what you’re suggesting.”

Tears of frustration bombarded me, and I was unable to keep them back. “Why not? It’s mine to do with as I please. I want you back.”

He sighed. “You don’t understand what could happen if you do this. You can’t give this up. It’s been guarded for a reason.”

It was obvious he didn’t want to discuss things openly with Dalbach there. I couldn’t blame him. The hungry look on Dalbach’s face told me he knew way more than he should, and him being close to the necklace was a bad idea. “Keep the necklace, Dad.”

Dad and Dalbach chorused together and made me jump from their unified fervor. “No!”

We looked at Dalbach, and his skin flushed in what was probably the closest thing to blushing that a Changeling could do. “It’s just not safe here. You father can’t escape. Giving him a magical necklace – with whatever it does – is a bad idea. Changelings can sense magic. How do you think I find you all the time? You ooze magic because you don’t know how to contain it yet. You’re lucky in Neamar that we’re all just as powerful. It goes unnoticed here.”

Dad glanced my way. He sighed. “It’s not that I don’t want to be with you, Ash. My time has come and gone. I’m content. If you reach the end of your time and you need to bargain for more time, you didn’t take advantage of the time afforded you and lived the life you should have. Live the life you want with the time you have, Ashlyn, because tomorrow isn’t promised. Never take for granted a minute in this your life. I’ve had a great life; I’m ready to go home.”

“But this isn’t home!” I argued. “This is the farthest thing from ’home’ you could get! How is this okay with you? You’d rather be stuck in a dingy cell getting beat up by crazy sprites than with your family?”

Dad looked down at the necklace once more and shook his head. “Ash, this isn’t something I expect you to understand. Your grandmother wouldn’t want you to do this. I know it. She probably doesn’t even know you’re here, does she?”

He always knew when I was doing something wrong or without anyone knowing. I should have known better than to think that anything had changed on that front. I gave him a look that I hoped looked ashamed, although I felt nothing of the sort. Saving him was all that mattered. He didn’t deserve this. “Reese will tell her. He probably already has, actually.”

“Ah, good old Reese,” Dad said with a sly smile that made his battered face look even more gruesome instead of happy. “Are you two together yet?”

“No, Dad, we’re not. I’m dating Liam.”

“Liam, eh? I don’t think I had the opportunity to interrogate this fellow before you started dating him. I feel cheated.” Dad’s face remained in the grimacing smile, and I almost wished he’d stop. It made me hurt to see him try so hard to make this place feel normal. “Do they both know what you are, then?”

I sighed. “Yeah, and Reese is my Protector. I’m assuming you know what all this stuff means, since Memaw is your mom and all?”

Dad chuckled. “I’ve known about this nonsense for a long, long time. We were hoping to keep you and your mother out of it. I guess you can’t run from the past forever, can you?”

For some reason, anger licked my insides. To know that Dad knew all along what I was – what Memaw was – and to never say anything to me, it seemed wrong. I hit the cold, metal bars with my fist. The sound reverberated down the hall much louder than I’d anticipated. “Why does it feel like everyone’s going behind my back? I’m going to get a complex soon.”

“Baby girl, we do it in your best interests,” Dad replied. I could hear the earnest plea laced in his words. “You don’t need to deal with this, shouldn’t have to deal with this, but you are. I suppose we’re just used to you needing protection. There comes a time when the protected no longer need the protection. I’m beginning to see that you’ve found your wings; there’s just part of me that hopes you know how to use them properly.”

There was no need to lie or put up a front with Dad. “I’m learning.”

Just then, a door opened and closed not far away. Dalbach grabbed my arm and shook it. “We need to leave. Now. You’re going to get caught if we’re not careful.”

I shot Dad a panicked look. “Come on, there’s no time left. Just come with me!”

He smiled sadly. “No, Ash, I’m where I need to be. We all have a part to play. You need to keep this for a more desperate time. Let me go. Promise you won’t get yourself into too much trouble. I think asking for none is unfair, considering the genes you’ve been given.” He laughed to himself. “Tell Chris to be a man, and give your mother my love.”

“Why are you acting like this is goodbye?” I hissed.

“Because it is, Ash. You can’t keep living in the past and expect the future to be any different. You need to live. You have a lot of responsibility on your shoulders now, and none of which should be taking care of me.”

He looked at Dalbach, who was beginning to panic from the look of it. He was bouncing on the balls of his feet and wringing his hands; his ever-watching eyes darted down the hallway and then back to us. Dad tossed the necklace in the air. It caught in the bars and wound itself around a lower rung. “Go,” Dad said. “Take the necklace and run. Find MaKenna, then get out of this place and never come back. I love you.”

Dalbach grabbed the necklace before I could get my hands on it. I panicked, and punched him square in the face before grabbing the necklace from his hand. He staggered backward, hands covering his face. Blood trickled from between his spindly fingers where he covered his nose. When he lowered them, the vicious look in his narrowed eyes told me I was in deep trouble.

Dad yelled this time, which probably alerted every Changeling around us for a mile. “Ashlyn, get out of here!”

Hand wrapped tightly around the necklace, I sprinted out of the tomb-like place. I hoped beyond everything that I remembered the way out, because it was probably a solid guess that Dalbach wasn’t going to be much help now.

I
SPRINTED UP
the stairs, slipping and sliding on the wet spots. My hands searched for any kind of support, but there was nothing to hold onto. Instead, they slid across the moldy, crumbling walls and made me recoil in disgust. How much more disgusting could this place get? There was just enough light up ahead to highlight the stairs in front of me, but it still wasn’t enough to truly know what was waiting at the end of this tunnel. I kept a hand on the wall out of necessity, but it was repulsive. No amount of Lysol would ever make me think my hand was clean again.

When the stairs leveled out, it wasn’t the sun that had given me just enough light to get out of the tunnel, but florescent lighting that loomed overhead in long tubular bulbs. Lush red carpet caressed my bare feet and sent me reeling. I hadn’t been expecting this. Extensive, detailed oil paintings hung along the walls in golden frames, each one with its personal light fixture atop the trim. In the spaces between the pictures sat busts carved out of marble, each one more intricate than the one before it. This place was a mansion. How in the world did I manage to get here?