Traitor (38 page)

All around me stood people ready to fight, but none of them looked hopeful. Memaw passed the necklace I’d once seen around Ashlyn’s neck to Tess. “You know these must remain safe. No one knows you have a second part except for our family. Keep them close, and keep them safe.”

Tess nodded, then turned and left with Antony and Roslin. It occurred to me that Memaw ran the show here, no matter how much Rebecca thought she did. These people were ready to fight for her at a moment’s notice. For some reason, I thought there’d be hesitation if Rebecca called for war.

I smiled in spite of the gloom and doom, or maybe because of it. I clapped Memaw on the back and caused her to jump. “Well, we might as well get ready to kick some ass instead of standing here picking our noses, right?”

Memaw tried to fight the smile, I could tell. She just couldn’t. “You’re right. Let’s go get ready to kick some ass.”

Any grandma who said the word “ass” was awesome in my book.

J
AMIE LOOKED AROUND
and pointed to the stairs. “I’m off to do some things I’ve been longing to do since Ankou kidnapped my brother. Thanks for the encouragement, Ash.” Her face was bright with excitement, and I found myself genuinely sorry for giving her such a long leash. Hard to tell what she’d do to this place.

Dalbach straightened his ratty clothes, and stood a little straighter than I’d seen him stand before. “Ankou has given me my last orders. It’s time for revenge.”

They both disappeared down opposite ends of the dank hallway, and left me standing in the slime that my father had lived in for far too long.

I slipped and slid to his cell, too excited to wait. He was there, curled in the corner of the cell like a beaten animal, asleep. It broke my heart. I opened the cell door without hassle this time. I Shifted into my proper form and ran to him. “Dad! Dad, wake up! It’s time to go.”

He stirred and his eyes struggled to focus as he woke up. When realization hit him, the fog lifted and he sat straight up. “Ashlyn! I told you to never come back here!”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, but when have I ever listened to you?” I smiled, and he couldn’t help but reciprocate the gesture. He pulled me into an embrace, but I noticed it was cold. I pulled away from him, and his eyes seemed to note the concern that was on my face.

His features seemed to sag, his skin sallow and full of bruises; they were simply everywhere and permanent. Fresh blue and red bruises intermingled with yellow and brown semi-healed ones. He ran a hand across his five-o’clock shadow in deep thought and winced in pain. His eyes dropped from mine. “I’m not going to last much longer here, even if Ankou wants me to.”

“You’re right. I’m bringing you home.”

He became animated again, and there was even a small flush in his cheeks. “You can’t give up your piece of the Trimulus. I forbid it.”

I pulled my t-shirt down and showed him my bare neck. “Memaw has it. I did some homework and there’s a way to get you back without trading that.”

“Ashlyn, that’s dark magic. You don’t know how to manage that. I know Memaw wouldn’t teach you that —”

“I didn’t learn it from Memaw, and there’s no time for chatter,” I said as I heard the first indications of Jamie’s diversion. Whoops and clatters bled through the cement ceiling and indicated she’d started her coup d’état of some sort. A massive crash shook the grimy window in Dad’s cell, and we ducked out of reflex. Jamie was on the warpath.

Dad’s eyes shot toward the ceiling as he heard it, and I pulled him back to me. “It’s Jamie. We’re creating a diversion.”

He smiled. “I always knew Jamie was trouble.”

“Well, Jamie’s good trouble right now.”

We heard grunts and low groans from the other end of the hallway, and I squeezed Dad’s hand. “That would be Dalbach doing his job. There’s not much time. Can we go?”

Dad’s eyes were full of concern – full of fatherly compassion. “You’re not supposed to save me. That’s my job.”

“It’s opposite day. Embrace it.”

Without allowing him to speak again, I started to focus on taking him home. I pulled the small pocketknife that Liam had in his pocket before we left, and bit my lip. I hated blood. That’d be the last part of the incantation.

I put my hands out in front of me, palms down, and began to whisper to myself. “Please, just let this work. Please…”

My trademark purple magic began to trickle from my fingertips at first. I willed myself to push it harder. How many times had Memaw told me to try harder? I chastised myself for not taking the practice sessions more seriously.

I thought about what Dalbach and Aiden had said about channeling the Changeling side more. It terrified me, but right then, another almighty crash sounded from above us. There was no choice. At this trickling pace, we’d all be on a spit over a fire in thirty minutes for Ankou.

Changeling. Be more Changeling. Then, as though someone turned the faucet on high, the magic poured from my fingertips. It created a circle of fire on the floor, creating a screen that shielded Dad and I from the rest of the world. We could still see out, but I doubted there was any way someone could get to us.

Dad’s mouth was agape. “Ashlyn, how are you…?”

“No clue,” I grunted, then went back to focusing on the incantation. I sincerely hoped I could hold this together until Dalbach and Jamie returned.

Just then, Dalbach barreled down the hall. His wiry fingers clenched the bars of Dad’s cell and he flung himself through the purple fire. He smacked his clothes until the smoke subsided and then looked at me, breathless. “We have company.”

“I’m aware.”

“Where’s Miss Jamie?”

“Causing a stir from the sounds of it,” I said. The sounds from Dalbach’s end of the hallway were becoming much louder, and the snakes in my stomach returned. “How long do we have, Dalbach?”

“Maybe thirty seconds. Jamie needs to get here now.”

That’s when the ruckus we’d heard upstairs made its way downstairs. We all turned to see Jamie hightailing it toward us, her arms flailing in the air and emitting a screech that could break windows. “TIME TO GO!”

“What was your first inclination?” I shouted as she leapt through the fire as well.

I began to panic and looked at Dalbach. “Can anyone get through this fire?”

“Not at first,” he said hurriedly, “but they will get through. It’s only as strong as its conjuror, and from the way it’s beginning to flicker, I have a feeling you’re going to pass out soon.”

As though his comment made it true, I started to notice the red and black dots playing at the corners of my vision. I grabbed Dad tightly and once again against my will focused on the Changelings.

Dalbach must have felt it. “Good, Miss Ashlyn, good! Now take us home!”

“Don’t I need a tree?”

“Not for this kind of magic,” shouted Jamie. “Now get us the frick out of here because that Pooka just touched me!”

I turned to see more types of Fae than I knew existed. We were in big trouble. I clenched my eyes shut tight and bit my tongue. I tasted blood.

Home, home, home.

We needed to go home now!

Without another moment to spare, I sliced the palm of my hand with the pocketknife I brought. Pain seared my hand and tingled my fingers as I squeezed my hand into a tight fist and droplets of blood fell to the ground. They splashed as they hit the floor and began to sizzle and smoke as though they’d been thrown into a sauté pan.

Suddenly it was as if every neuron in my body caught on fire. The pain was unbelievable. I screamed in agony. It felt like every bone in my body was simply melting into nothing. Dad’s fingers were slipping from mine, but I couldn’t let him go. This was worse than any kind of travel I’d experienced before. It was like I was being burned to ash, dipped in acid, and then put back together just to have it happen again.

My feet hit the ground. My legs had to be broken. People were around me. Voices. Cries. Did I bring the Changelings with me?

I opened my eyes to see that no one had come with us. The cries were from Memaw, who had caught sight of Dad.

“Peter!” she shrieked. “Oh, Peter, are you okay?”

But Dad wasn’t okay.

I watched in horror as Dad began to gag as though he was choking on something. Water began to pour from his lips. He fell to the ground, unconscious. His lips were blue.

This was all too familiar.

“Dad!” I cried out.

There was a surge of people who came to our side. Chris was the first on the scene. He began to give Dad CPR and I felt sick from having to watch Chris do that for the second time. “Dad, don’t do this!” he cried out.

Reese ran forward and pulled Chris off of Dad. Reese’s eyes were wide as he called for help. “Reuben! Reuben! Somebody get him!” yelled Reese.

On cue, Reuben ran into the pile that surrounded Dad. Liam was holding me back, and I fought him hard. “Liam, get off! Get off me!”

“You don’t need to see this,” he argued between breaths. “You’ve seen it once. You don’t need this again.”

It was as though the past December was replaying right in front of me, but with new participants. Reuben’s green healing was hovering over Dad, but didn’t seem to be able to penetrate him. Reuben’s forehead shone with sweat. “I don’t know why it’s not working!”

“I do,” said Aiden from somewhere behind Liam and I.

We all turned except for Reuben who continued to try to force-feed my dad magic. It was horrifying to watch, so I urged myself to look in Aiden’s direction.

I wished I hadn’t the moment he was in view.

Aiden leaned leisurely against the porch wall, dangling two necklaces from his left hand.

Two pieces of the Trimulus.

He took one in each hand and examined them closer. As I watched, I saw what he saw: they connected.

Where one was concave in the middle, the other was convex. He pressed them together. Acrid smoke began to rise from them. The look of triumph on his face was sickening. His grin mangled into something evil, something hateful. “You managed to actually bring your father back, which is more than I gave you credit for, Ashlyn. Ankou seemed to think you were a higher caliber than I thought, though.”

“And I was right.”

The blistering cold rush of air that swooped down on us like a bird of prey was overpowering. I tried to take a breath, but found I couldn’t. My lungs burned, then froze. It hurt to breathe, because every breath was like inhaling frigid water. I coughed, and my eyes burned as I tried to find Ankou.

The mist that swirled around us was almost debilitating. It was the very essence of Ankou, and we all felt it. It began to centralize beside Aiden.

It was then that things fell into place.

“You…” was all I could manage before Liam lost it.

“You turncoat bastard!” he screamed as he launched himself away from me. In his force, he shoved me to the ground, and I heard a sickening crunch as I connected with the dirt.

My wrist was broken.

The pain was instantaneous, but it was the furthest thing from my mind. I watched in horror as Liam tackled Aiden, and the necklaces went soaring through the air.

It was like slow motion.

They twirled and sent their refractions of light dancing across the trees and ground. They were coming toward me.

I reached my hand out, victorious.

The necklaces stopped in midair, hanging there in a tantalizing suspension.

“Oh no you don’t, my dear,” Ankou whispered with as much compassion as an intimate lover.

I tore my gaze away from the necklaces and found myself breathless.

Ankou. Young Ankou.

He was as beautiful as Jamie’s bowl depicted him.

There he stood, shirtless, in khaki cargo pants that hung loosely around his muscular waist. He held his right hand out toward the necklaces, and he caressed the bubble he’d manifested to hold them in. His left hand was to his side, as though he was expecting someone to come clutch it.

They did.

Just as his smoke had materialized and hardened into his form, now did another person. The smoke was green – the same green as Memaw’s eyes – but Memaw was over by my dad. My worst fears were playing out before me like some horrific dream.

Makenna’s beautiful form materialized beside Ankou. She took his hand as though she knew he’d been waiting for her.

He was.

“Makenna,” he whispered to her as he lightly placed a wisp of her hair behind her ear.

Her eyes closed in ecstasy. “My love, you’ve retrieved the pieces of the Trimulus!”

“Two of them, it appears,” he said lazily, as though none of us were here. Behind him, Liam was pummeling Aiden. I was too scared to look to my left where Dad lay fighting for his life. Where had everyone else gone? Ankou turned his gaze from MaKenna to me. “This little one put all her eggs in one basket, and it was for my greater good. Mostly.”

His smile was pure saccharine, and his voice was beyond the smoothest silk I could imagine. He walked toward me and extended a hand. I smacked him away. He laughed. “Oh, I just wanted to express my gratitude, lovely little thing. Now get up.”

When he said the words, it was as if my muscles were on puppet strings. I had no control over myself. I was on my feet before I could even begin to fight it. Even though he had control of my movements, I still owned my words. “You still don’t have all of the Trimulus. You’re still stuck.”

I didn’t think it was possible, but his smile grew even wider. “I may be stuck, but I’m still more powerful than I was. For instance, watch this.”

He flung his arms out to either side of him and let out an ear-splitting yell that multiplied the longer he held it. The ground shook, and pure electricity sizzled around him. I watched in horror as my whole family fell to the ground, incapacitated. Dad was blue. Memaw was knocked out cold, along with everyone else. Aiden, Liam, Reese, Chris, Jamie…they were all crumpled on the ground.

Ankou let his arms fall to his sides, clearly enjoying the display he’d put on. “Well, that was refreshing,” he purred as he advanced on me once more. “I’m sure it hurts to have that happen, wouldn’t you think? Would you like to find out personally what your family just felt?”