BRIDGER (16 page)

“I do.
 
MaKenna is enslaved as a breeder.
 
Once she was kidnapped, I went to the Glaistig. You know they have the power to give Faerie nature to others.
 
I begged them to change me, telling them the entire story.
 
Once they heard of the treachery the Changelings were capable of, along with their plans, they granted my wish.
 
I became one of them, forever twenty to those in the know, but to humans I would age in time.
 
The perfect ability to be an assassin for the committee of Adaire, yet live inconspicuously to the Changelings.
 
They were under the impression I was still human.
 
That was the trade: an eternal commitment to fight the committee’s battles in order to find MaKenna.
 
It was perfect until Ankou realized I’d crossed over, but I would gladly do it again.
 
Ankou has been trying to create a more powerful half-breed Changeling.
 
He wants to create the bridging race, so that Changelings can survive with humans. Getting revenge on everyone who has ever crossed him is his goal, I believe.”

“Why Ashlyn?
 
Why now?
 
He already has MaKenna.
 
He has my son, Aiden.
 
He has what he needs.”
 
Tess whispered so low she was almost inaudible.
 
It seemed she was on the edge of her chair.
 
I agreed.
 
Why was I so important if I was already a Changeling?

“Can you not see it?
 
She’s the same as you, Tess.
 
You’re no longer alone.
 
She’s what Ankou wants to create.
 
She’s a Bridger.”

TWELVE

I couldn’t take it any longer.
 
Swinging my feet off the bed and sitting up, I looked directly at Memaw.
 
“You need to explain.
 
Now.”

Tess and Memaw were sitting at the small table in the corner of the bedroom.
 
Tess opened her mouth in protest by the look on her face, but Memaw held her hand up, stopping her before she began.
 
“You’re right, Ashlyn. How are you feeling, though?”

Not sure if she meant physically or emotionally, I answered for both.
 
I shrugged and fastened on a sarcastic smile, ticking off ailments one by one. “My chest hurts.
 
My face hurts.
 
My leg feels like it’s been skinned.
 
I’m confused.
 
Other than that, everything’s peachy.
 
Best winter break I’ve ever had.
 
How are you?”

She smiled at my acceptance of the life-altering news I had overheard.
 
She patted the armchair between her and Tess as she chuckled.
 
“Tess, go get my granddaughter over here in one piece.”

Tess came over and scooped me carefully in her arms, afraid to injure me any more. My ribs protested at the embrace and I winced.

As she sat me down in the chair, she apologized. “Sorry, Ash.
 
Maybe this should wait until you are more healed up.”

This wasn’t getting put off any longer. My attention was solely on Memaw. “What happened?”

Memaw took a sip of her coffee.
 
“That’s quite an open-ended question considering the circumstances.
 
What would you like to know first?”

“Well, I’d like to know why Jamie turned into some swamp thing gone wrong on me.
 
And Andy, Ankou, or whoever the heck he was – who he is and why does he want to kidnap me?”

“You finally met who Jamie really is.
 
She’s a water pixie, or what Faeries call a Merrow.
 
She was assigned to find you, which she did quite well.
 
She also accidentally took your father from us at Ankou’s bidding. She thought it was you on the ice with Chris, not Peter.”

I recoiled in my seat.
 
Jamie had killed my dad for Ankou. Everyone had a secret life, it seemed.
 
“She said she wanted to kill me.
 
She didn’t say why.”

“Yes.
 
Ankou has wanted to kill you since you were born.
 
Since you were a girl, technically he was not supposed to send a Changeling for you.
 
Changelings only want male children – they do manual labor for the faeries in Neamar and are taken advantage of as slaves for eternity.
 
You see, humans cannot die in Neamar.
 
They will reach adulthood, then age no more.
 
They spend eternity there, working for the Changelings and the faeries that have decided to be loyal to Ankou.
 
It’s what the religious would call hell.

When Ankou found out you were a girl, he was in the delivery room with your mother and me.
 
I could feel his presence from the cold air that was hovering around the floor.
 
He had a Changeling with him.
 
Infuriated that you were not the male child he could steal to be my undoing, he left to plan a different attack.
 
Instead, he decided to send a Changeling for you after all, his intent to make you a breeder like my MaKenna so many years before.”

Memaw’s voice cracked, pain coming through.
 
She closed her green eyes, steeling herself to continue the story.
 
When she opened them again, they were jet black, just like mine.

“Memaw, your eyes…they change.”

“Yours do as well, my child.
 
A very rare gift. Actually, you’re the only Bridger with that ability.”

Tess laughed, “Well, since there are only two of us, that isn’t too rare.
 
Fifty percent chance, right?”

Memaw looked at Tess, rolling her eyes.
 
“You know exactly how rare it is.
 
Only Glaistig can change their eye color to their will.
 
She has that because of the gifts I was given and passed on to my children.”
 
She handed over a mirror that was on the dresser behind her.
 
“Look.”

Pulling the mirror up to see my reflection, I gasped.
 
My eyes were a brilliant shade of green. “Memaw, what’s happening to me?”

“What was going to happen eventually when Ankou caught up with you.
 
You’re doing what your name means: you’re bridging the gap between faeries and humans.
 
You’re the very anomaly Ankou so desires to create. Close your eyes and concentrate.
 
You’ll be able to control it. Your eye color at first, then other things in time.”

Closing my eyes, I focused on the color purple. I opened my eyes once more and looked into the mirror.
 
Although still green, there was a purple ring beginning to overtake the green.
 
I couldn’t believe it.

Frowning, I looked back up at Memaw.
 
“So, what happened to me?
 
What am I?”

Glancing at Tess, Memaw opened her mouth to answer and then closed it.
 
“This is just a theory, but it’s an educated guess, as we’ve lived together your entire life.
 
Ankou did indeed send a Changeling for you.
 
For the Changeling to take a child’s place, they must assume the same body for a short period time as the Changeling takes all the characteristics of the child.
 
When the Changeling attempted to steal your mind and soul, somehow you fought back.
 
In doing so, you trapped the Changeling in your body. Instead of the Changeling taking you, you actually took control of the creature.
 
At this point, you own the creature inside of you and have won your freedom. You’re the second to ever do it. Tess is the only other.”

“But how’d I do that?” This was confusing, but I knew to trust Memaw implicitly, despite not completely understanding.

Tess was thoughtful; she was as engrossed in the conversation as I was.
 
Both of our worlds were changing. We were both learning as we went along. “How did I do it?
 
Why are we different?”

Memaw shrugged, looking outside where Jesse was leading the rest of his gang over the lawn.
 
The sun was rising, which was the indication that they were free to leave their jobs at the university.
 
“We’ll have to finish this conversation later.
 
The boys are back.”

“Why can’t they know? Are they all human?” I asked.

“Yes, they are,” Memaw said.
 
“But that isn’t why they shouldn’t hear our conversation.”

“Then why?”

Tess looked apologetic.
 
“They aren’t just security guards at the university, Ash.”

Well, that figured. Nothing was as it seemed; they were probably all running around, beating down crazy green pixies like it was a favorite pastime.
 
Desmond sure seemed to have gotten a kick out of it.

“Liam told me the folklore before you. He said he wanted to kill the Changeling that took Aiden. Is that what they’re trying to do?”

Something said I wasn’t far off.
 
Tess and Memaw exchanged a glance.
 
“Tess, head them off and feed them something.
 
I’ll explain this to Ashlyn.”

Tess nodded.
 
“Will do, Em.”

With that, Tess strode out of the room and shut the door behind her.

“Get back in bed, just in case,” Memaw said, hopping up to go to the bed with me.

Young Memaw was a very hard sight to get used to.
 
She moved with such grace that it seemed as though she was floating.
 
Her bow still slung over her shoulder, I noticed that the ivory was the same color as her cane.

“Memaw, have you always carried that bow? Like, even when you were old?”

She grinned. “Yes, actually.
 
I really hated when your mother forced that awful walker on me for a while.
 
I felt quite vulnerable without the bow. The cane is the bow, just concealed.”

This information was both comforting and disconcerting at the same time.
 
I was sure there were going to be a lot of things to learn about Memaw in the coming days.

Easing back into the bed, I propped myself up against the wall and the headboard.
 
Picking up where we left off, Memaw continued her explanations.
 
“The boys know who I am.
 
They know they must protect you and Tess because of me. Tess and I met about eighty years ago. That was before she had Aiden and Liam, of course. I realized she was different and we explored what exactly had happened together. The best we can assume is that her drive to live was so strong that it beat out the Changeling. Unable to expel the Changeling completely, she instead locked it away. From what I’ve seen, Changelings cannot control females as easily as males. She was forever altered in the process, though.
 
Tess will not age anymore. When she realized what she was, it triggered the faerie portion of her. I took her to meet the Glaistig, assuming that she would not be able to cross the divide that separates Adaire from the world here.
 
Instead, she was able to cross just fine.
 
From that moment on, we classified her as the Bridger of worlds, which is what you’ll be able to do as well.
 
You can go to either side.

You’re much more, though, even than Tess.
 
You’re directly descended from me. Although once human, I was a Glaistig when your father was conceived.
 
He was human, but through me he carried the gene to create a Glaistig, something no one ever dreamed possible.
 
You see, Glaistigs are made, not born.
 
You’re living proof that faeries can create the middle race the Changelings are after.
 
You’re everything Ankou set out to create, but he doesn’t know what you’re capable of.
 
He simply wants to take you away from us, assuming he’ll finally break my will and cause me to regret ever cursing him.
 
In the end he wants me to give up my immortality to save you.
 
Then he can ferry my soul to the other side…or hold it hostage forever.”