Summon (10 page)

“Breandan thought the same?”

“He was reluctant, but did what he was born to do
as Wyld Guardian, protect his Tribe.” I rested my elbows on my knees and
dropped my head into my hands. “One morning, he patrolled our borders and ran
into a frightened girl in the throes of losing her glamour. He touched my bride
to protect her. In an act of innocent kindness, he changed the course of all
our futures.”

“He should have distanced himself. He took
advantage of her confusion.”

Stifling laughter, I gripped the back of his neck
and shook him. “My brother is more like prey than predator. Yes, he should have
held her at arm’s length, but what happened between Breandan and Rae was beyond
us all.” I rolled my shoulders, accepting the truth behind the words myself.
“They fell in love.”

Conall stretched his legs. He looked mystified.
“You’re not angry.”

“I was never angry at him.” I paused. “Or her. My
frustration stemmed from our complicated situation. The people waited for the
Priestess I promised, and there she was. But she wasn’t mine.” I laced my
fingers together. “I owed them. They shunned tradition by leaving Devlin’s
court, and then I was to tell them their High Lord would rule, unmated, whilst
the woman that by rights was mine cavorted with my younger brother?”

Conall made a noise of frustration. “Rae should
have done what was right when she discovered the truth.”

Thinking back to how I acted when I first met Rae,
I snorted. I behaved unforgivably. She was stubborn, and though I’d never say
it aloud there were times I thanked the gods she wasn’t destined to be mine.

Our very natures clashed. It would’ve ended badly.

“She acted on instinct,” I said. “Can we fault her
for that? I do not blame her.”

“I do.”

“That is because you love her and want what is
best.”

“My family put themselves first in all things, and
it is not right. Selfish. They give into their own needs.” He spoke of more
than Rae – of his mother and youngest sibling.

I squeezed his shoulder. “You do not.”

“I am Eldest.” A rare bitterness soured his tone.
“Someone must be honourable.”

“You do a fine job.”

Pain streaked across his noble features “Lochlann,”
he dragged in a breath then said in a rush, “I wronged Cael. Treated him
unfairly and I am terrified to admit the monster we saw was created because of
me.” Conall darted a guilty look my way to gauge my reaction. “Did you feel his
pain?”

“I did.”

Buried under putrid layers of loathing and anger
Cael’s soul was a tormented web of pain.

“That was because of me. I ignored his suffering. I
let my hatred of our mother kill any sympathy for him. I withheld love from
someone I should have loved most in the world.”

“It is a difficult situation. I understand your
need to protect Rae, even from kin. She will not turn from you because you
chose to disown him.” I hesitated. “But she will judge if you continue to
ignore what he is to you both. That much is plain.”

“She will not talk to me.”

I wrinkled my nose. “Give her time.”

He shifted his shoulder under my grip as if my
touch made him uncomfortable. “My family is despised. My mother broke the
balance and turned my father into a murderer. The people think of Rae as wild
and disrespectful. My brother is a lunatic.” He chuckled without humour. “They
look at me as if I am infected. Waiting for the same weakness to emerge.”

“Pay no heed to fools. Think of the ways I acted in
the last year. The mistakes I made.”

Conall lifted an eyebrow, intrigued.

Despite our candid friendship, he saw me as
unassailable instead of a male prone to lapses of judgement. No different from
the rest of my gender. He wasn’t alone in this idolized opinion. My fall from
grace in the eyes of my people was harder to bear because of this widespread
misconception.

My nature was arrogant. The trait was difficult to
overcome and generally accepted by the Tribes as leadership. Devlin sank his
claws deep before his ability to uphold the values fairykind was created to
sustain were questioned. His egotism was mistaken for self-belief.

Confidence
and arrogance, the line between them is fine indeed.

“Family is family. You cannot change it. We shall
deal with Cael, and as for Rae…. The way I treated her in the beginning was
never going to endear her to me.” I rubbed my chest. “I didn’t make the
situation easier by voicing my annoyance so bluntly.”

My hand pressed harder over my heart, and I gritted
my teeth.

A distinct pang of irritation came from Daphne down
the blood tie.
What causes it? Why is she
upset…?
I froze and stopped rubbing.

Sliding a look at Conall, I dropped my hand. His
expression didn’t reveal a suspicion anything was amiss. Not that he’d let me
see if he did believe something was wrong.

I blocked the vampire from my mind.
This is a taste of what little brother
experiences.
It irritated me I wanted to seek her whereabouts and discover
what upset her.
Discover and annihilate
it.

Setting my discomfort aside, I picked up the thread
of conversation I’d dropped. “Instead of taking control I let things get out of
hand. Breandan forswore his oath because he was scared of my retaliation to his
claim on Rae. I’m ashamed to say he was right. I was desperate. I would
consider anything to secure my place as High Lord.”

As Conall pondered this, my ears twitched hearing a
rustling in the leaves. I opened my senses, stifled a cluck of exasperation,
and flicked a look at Conall. He was unaware Rae climbed high in the boughs of
the tree above. This concerned me. He desperately needed rest. Had he not been
exhausted he would’ve heard her too.

It was dangerous for my Warrior to be so disabled.

Glamouring my palm to reflect light like a mirror,
a trick from childhood, I angled it up.

Balanced by her knees either side of the branch,
Rae tucked her feet under, and leaned on her forearms to ease forward.

She flapped her hand at something below then backed
up the way she came. I adjusted my palm and spotted a shifter prowling around a
tree she’d most likely climbed. Rae put her finger to her lips to shush him
when his deep grumbles got louder.

So loud Conall’s head jerked.

Baako lifted onto his hunches and pawed at the
bark. Beady eyes fixed on Rae he cocked his head and growled. Eyeballing the
shifter, Rae pointed in the opposite direction to Conall’s dwelling. Baako
vigorously shook his head. Russet fur rippling, he lowered his bulk and lay
down.

Rae returned her attention to peering at Conall and
me.

This is
the Rae I know, impulsive with the subtly of a hurricane.

Dropping my arm, I borrowed a gesture from the
female awkwardly hiding in the trees and rolled my eyes.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Rae

Covertly
studying two of the fairies most important to me, I scaled the stout oak from
which Conall carved his dwelling.

After the discovery of my origins my talent at
climbing no longer struck me as odd. I secretly considered it something I
excelled at regardless of it being a common trait of fairykind.

Conall and Lochlann were deep in conversation. Dark
and light heads bent towards each other they spoke in low, intense tones. Their
rangy bodies relaxed and sprawled on the stoop of Conall’s staircase as you do
in the company of a trusted friend.

They made a formidable sight. I doubted anybody saw
them together this laid-back.

I found my brother’s formality sickening when it
came to Lochlann, my personal opinion because Lochlann annoyed me. Conall took
his duty as a Wyld Warrior with the utmost gravity. The thought of acting less
than respectful to Lochlann would likely send him into hysterics.

Not that I could envision my austere brother
overcome with any emotion.

Lochlann was a stickler for tradition and gentry
reserve too.

Maybe that’s why their friendship worked so well.
They supported each other regardless of the other’s failings.

Lochlann sighed and tipped his head back. He was
High Lord as he’d wanted, but I swear, something altered his perception of the
future. Demeanour despondent, the steadfast conviction I’d grudgingly admired
faded leaving uncertainty. His refined features were delicate in contrast to my
brother’s swarthy complexion. Conall’s features were harder. The strong plane
of his forehead sloped to meet his heavy brow and wide nose bridge.

The glance I shot my Elder lingered, and my arms
stilled above my head, and my legs tensed in a vertical stride.

Deep lines bracketed Conall’s mouth and crinkled
the outer corners of bloodshot eyes. Hair usually swept neatly into a low
ponytail was loose in knotted tangles. His shoulders were hunched, and the
vertebrae of his spine poked through his skin under the red marks left from
wearing his sword.
  

Disturbed by Conall’s grim appearance, I continued
my climb with less stealth and more impulse. I shifted awkwardly to get a
better foothold as I reached my chosen bough. The hurried movement caused my
lower body to scrape against the bark.

Lochlann’s head lifted.

I ducked, wings tight to my back. I held my breath
and froze; vexed further movement might expose my hiding place. My tail curled
around her ankle and held on.

Lochlann’s gaze raked the tree limbs above Conall’s
home, his brow furrowed.

Pressing my cheek to the branch I straddled, I
mouthed a curse. My ears twitched as I listened for an indication he climbed to
investigate. His instincts were honed for battle. I should’ve known he’d feel
my eyes on them.

I wasn’t ready to talk to him or my brother. Too
many thoughts crowded my head. Too much could go wrong if I spoke to him
– to anybody – before I was ready.

I’d seen the guilt threatening to crush Breandan
when he’d realised he’d ruined the balance I died for. Thinking of facing that
depth of remorse on the face of Lochlann and my Elder made me queasy.

“Do you think the witch can re-open the doorway to
send those monsters back?” Lochlann asked.

“Perhaps,” Conall replied.

It was difficult to see if Lochlann continued his
search. Increasingly impatient, I chanced a shifting of my torso. The movement
adjusted my positioning favourably so I could spy on them, but haste made me
clumsy, and my foot slipped across the damp bark. My heel knocked into a
neighbouring branch before I pulled it back.

A rainfall of autumn leaves twirled towards the
ground.

This time both fairies turned their attention to
the trees.

“A bird?” Lochlann hedged.

Not convinced, Conall lurched to his feet and
hopped onto the first wooden step. His hands fell to his hips as he cocked his
head. With his attention engaged, it was a matter of time before he found me.

Sometimes
I hate myself.

“Ana cannot open another gateway.” Breandan
meandered into view. He stopped a dozen steps from them and loosely crossed his
arms. His gaze travelled to where I hid, but unexpectedly flicked to his worn
boots. A smile teased his lips. The curve of his mouth would look mystifying in
contrast to his macabre words from Conall and Lochlann’s perspective.
“Resurrecting Rae nearly killed her.”

Pushing onto his feet to edge closer, Lochlann studied
him. “Surely with the added power of your bond this time will be easier.”

Breandan jerked a shoulder. “Rae will figure out
what to do.”

“Forgive me, but I’m not confident in her ability
to reason us out of this hellish mess alone”

“Give her time.”

“Time is short.”

Breandan wasn’t swayed. “When is it not?”

“I understand your need to protect her. You just
got her back, but–”

“Be patient.”

“Where is she?” Lochlann sounded amused.

“With Baako.”

“That relationship is as amusing as it is
disturbing.”

I agreed. I hadn’t figured out why the werebear
stalked me, and why Breandan tolerated his continued attention.

Satisfied nothing sinister hid in the tree boughs,
Conall abandoned his climb. “With the
shifter
? Does she understand what he wants of her?” His expression
darkened. “Where is she?”

Breandan motioned down the path. “Should we not
help restore order to the Wyld?”

Conall and Lochlann shared a guilty look.

“Are Lily and Kian not….” Lochlann trailed off
sighing. “After speaking to Rae I planned on disappearing to my dwelling.
Another Meet will convene at dusk. I need to reason clearly, and for that, I
need sleep. The last gathering got out of hand because I was too tired to steer
the discussion.”