Breath of Air (31 page)

Instead, all she could acknowledge was that there was a gun pressed against her head, and she was one trigger pull away from death.

She could feel the pressure on her chest from where Balgaire’s arm held her, and she could feel his breath on the back of her neck as he uttered words she couldn’t understand.

What would happen when he finally pulled the trigger? Would it hurt? Or would everything just go black like in the movies? Would he then point the gun at Rian and kill him too?

It was her fear that brought her back to reality, pushing past the numbness and the pale shock. It was downright terror over what was about to happen that enabled her to focus on what was being said between the two Furies, and process the weight behind the words.

“He trusted you. We all trusted you, Balgaire.” Rian was saying, his voice strained but steady.

“Roarke never trusted me.” Balgaire spat, resentment in his eyes. “He never thought I was as good a Fury as he was, and always treated me as though I were beneath him. But not anymore! It was much too convenient to use him for my own means, and then have the added bonus of having the Enforcers kill him. A bit ironic, don’t you think?”

“He was a good man, he thought of you like a brother.” Rian’s voice remained calm, but Capri could sense his anger sparking in the air. “Is this why you betrayed us? You were jealous of him?”

Capri could tell that Rian was trying to keep Balgaire talking, playing against his ego in the hopes of distracting him from killing her. She wondered where the others were, if they were still investigating the tornado, wondering where it had come from. She hoped they would think, as Rian must have, that Balgaire would try and make a run for it out the front gates.

Above them the storm raged on, the clouds swirling like madness. Lightning crackled again, illuminating the darkened courtyard. In the light, Capri saw several birds diving for the cover of a nearby tree, frightened by the deadly electricity in the air. It was then that the idea hit her.

“I was never jealous of him!” Balgaire shouted angrily, causing Capri to shudder at the sound. She could feel the revolver shaking in his hand as the rage pulsed through him, even as she slowly reached out her own hand just slightly, concentrating on the birds she knew were hiding in the tree. “I despised him, I always have. Ever since we were boys he and everyone else left me to rot in his shadow of superiority. And then I watched him do the same with my son and you. That, above all else, crossed the line, and made it all too enticing to destroy him the moment I had the opportunity.”

“So what about Brogan, Balgaire?” Rian asked. “You say you care so much about your son, that you worried he would end up in my shadow, always second best, just like you did. What do you think all of this is going to do to him? He looks up to you, and now you’re nothing but a murderer. What is he going to do when you’re gone?”

For a moment Balgaire didn’t say anything. Capri could feel him breathing heavily, and the hand that held the revolver to her head still shook. But she didn’t think it shook from fury any longer. Instead, she had a feeling it shook with fearful uncertainty. Rian had apparently hit the mark.

“My son will be fine.” Balgaire managed, his voice rough as his anger returned. “I can’t say the same for you.”

Capri felt the revolver leave the side of her head right as she beckoned the birds to dive towards her and Balgaire. The momentary confusion was enough to startle him as the birds zoomed through the air and began to attack his face.

Capri ducked out of his grasp as he fought against the attack, and she urged her legs to not give out as she stumbled towards Rian.

A shot rang out into the air, and Capri felt the demon bullet whiz by her shoulder, grazing her skin as it continued on its path, hitting the stone wall of the castle in an instantaneous explosion of fire.

She fell into Rian’s arms, and he immediately pulled her behind him, his gun still pointed at Balgaire. She pressed herself against the back of his shirt, her eyes shut tight as fear tore through her. She shivered as she heard Balgaire howling in pain.

Just then, she heard footsteps running towards them, and voices calling out in confusion and fright. She couldn’t bear to open her eyes, however, and instead remained clutched against Rian as he turned to see the others approach them.

“There they are!” Liam’s voice rang out over the howling wind and rumbling thunder. “Over here!”

“Capri.” She heard Rian say, one of his arms wrapping around her gently. “You need to call off the storm, baby.”

She opened her eyes slowly, still frightened at what was happening around them. But she nodded as her eyes met his, acknowledging his words. She closed her eyes again and imagined the entire storm dissipating, and as she did, she could feel the wind die down and the clouds disappear, revealing the glorious morning sun above.

When she once again opened her eyes, she saw her father running towards her, along with the other members of the Council. They immediately surrounded Balgaire, who was still swatting at the birds that continued to assault him. His pistol had fallen to the ground in front of him, useless against the onslaught of this particular enemy.

She saw Liam and Blythe tailing her father, anxiety clear on their faces. Behind them, Brogan ran towards the circle of people now surrounding his father, his eyes huge and his face drained of all color. She saw him stop several feet away and stand still as a statue, unable to do more than watch.

“Capri!” Clynn rushed up to her, grabbing her and holding her tightly. He pressed his face into her hair, his chest heaving and his entire body shaking. “Are you hurt?”

“No.” Her voice trembled as she spoke, but when she looked up at him, she managed a small smile. “I’m fine.”

Thea pushed her way through the crowd as she waved her arms, calling off the birds. Balgaire fell to the ground, gasping for air and clutching his head in pain. Hundreds of small cuts and scratches covered his face and neck where the birds had ruthlessly attacked him.

“HOW DARE YOU?” Thea roared, her voice echoing throughout the courtyard. She kicked his gun aside and stood in front of him, glaring down at him with fury in her eyes. Sebastian came up beside her, looking equally as furious. The gun came to a skidding halt in front of the Fates, who stared down at it curiously.

“I am so disgusted right now that I can’t even begin to decide what to do with you.” Thea’s eyes had darkened to near black and her entire body seemed to tremble with unspeakable power. When Balgaire looked up at her, there was fear in his eyes.

“It’s all lies.” He choked out, rubbing his hands over his face as if he could still feel the birds on him.

“Is that so?” Thea tilted her head and stared down her nose at him. “I find that very hard to believe.”

“I’m being framed!”

“By who? A fifteen year old?” Thea smirked, though she was hardly amused. “You must think I’m an idiot, Balgaire.”

“No, no…” He looked up at her, agony in his dark eyes.

“I already knew that Roarke was innocent, I didn’t need Tobias to tell me that. He was forced to confess for something he had nothing to do with by a demon who possessed him, a demon who vacated his body seconds before he was shot and killed.”

There was a collective gasp throughout the crowd at her words. Capri glanced over at Rian, who still had his pistol pointed at Balgaire, watching the other man’s every move, disgust in his eyes. She felt her father hold her closer as the pain of knowing his old friend had been framed coursed through him.

“And I also knew that the demon who possessed Roarke is the same demon who possessed Capri. The demon you let onto the grounds.” Thea heard murmured whispers amongst the others, and she reveled in knowing the secret was out. “You see, the only thing I didn’t know, Balgaire, was that it was you, all along. But even without Tobias confessing about helping you, my Enforcers would have uncovered the truth in time.”

Capri watched the fear fade away from Balgaire’s face, and the fury replace it. His hands clenched at his sides as he continued to crouch on the ground.

Feeling inspired, Capri eased away from her father, clearing her throat before she spoke. “There’s more, Thea.”

Thea whirled around, her eyes flashing to Capri. She looked rather frightening, but Capri could tell that she was trying to reign in her temper.

“Yes, Capri?”

“Balgaire was responsible for the raid, not Brock.”

Once again, everyone around them gasped, including her own father. Rian looked at her, understanding dawning in his eyes.

“How do you know?” Thea paled slightly, her temper evaporating.

Capri flushed, feeling everyone’s eyes on her. She could sense Balgaire watching her as well, and she tried to ignore his heated stare. “When I went to the Muses to relive my dream, I heard his voice, not Brock’s, order my mother and I to die. I just never realized it was him because he never spoke out loud in front of me, I assume because he suspected that I would realize it had been him. That was why he let in the demon in an attempt to get rid of me. And when Roarke was on to him, he framed him for everything and ultimately got him killed.”

“But now that you’ve heard his voice, you can say with assurance that it was indeed him, and not Brock?”

“Balgaire told me he had framed Brock. But even still I knew his voice the moment I heard it. It was never Brock; he had nothing to do with it. Just like Roarke had nothing to do with it. It was Balgaire all along.” She felt powerful uttering the words out loud, especially knowing that both Brock and Roarke would finally have their names cleared, even though only one of them was alive to see it.

Thea watched Capri for a moment, considering everything she had just heard. It certainly filled in the gaping hole in Tobias’s story about why Balgaire wanted Capri gone in the first place. He knew she would eventually uncover the truth if she stayed on Euphora.

The crowd was buzzing with murmured whispers, everyone astonished by the news.

When Thea turned around, she glared down at Balgaire once more. “Is this true?”

He licked his lips, obviously warring between his safety and his pride. He suddenly bared his teeth in a sneer, his eyes filled with hatred. “It is.”

With one fluid swipe, Thea slapped him hard across the face. His head whipped viciously to the side, but he remained kneeling. He swiped at the blood now dripping from his lip with the back of his hand, bitterness in his eyes.

Everyone was silent, too stunned to move or say anything. Capri noticed Rian now watching Brogan, a mix between pity and uncertainty on his face. When she looked at Brogan herself, she realized why Rian looked so uneasy. Brogan wasn’t moving; it hardly looked like he was even breathing. Instead he stood resolutely still, even his dark eyes unblinking. It was like he had been frozen from both shock and disbelief. She felt sorry for him, and hoped that once everything was over that she could find some way to comfort him, even if it was just a little.

Rohan stood beside Brogan, looking mortified, and he was clutching both his wife and his daughter protectively. His wife was sobbing quietly into his shoulder, and Rhiannon was shooting nervous glances at Brogan, as if she expected him to break down or explode at any moment.

“Why, Balgaire? Why did you frame Brock?” Thea was trembling still, mostly with remorse and regret for her Fire Dryad who had been an innocent man all along.

Balgaire glanced over at his wife, Nyxa, who was staring at him with wide eyes and slightly manic expression. He kept his eyes on her as he spoke.

“Because he was a scoundrel and a womanizer, and he didn’t deserve anything he got. He had you, Nyxa, while I could never seem to impress you, and he was never faithful. And so I made him go away. I let the demons onto the grounds, and made sure Brock was busy in the dungeon so he would have no alibi. When he came out, he saw the flames in the courtyard and naturally he tried to fight off the demons. But none of that mattered, because I had instructed one of the demons to surrender, and to name Brock as the man who had let them onto Euphora. It was all too easy, especially because Rohan was more than eager to believe Brock was guilty, and coupled with my own testimony, Brock didn’t stand a chance.”

“And so I banished him, completely trusting you, never thinking for one moment that you were capable of doing something this despicable.” Thea looked incensed, her eyes on fire. “And I suppose it’s safe for me to assume that you have been looking for a good way to get rid of Roarke for years, and this was just too perfect to pass up, am I right?”

Balgaire nodded slowly, looking eerily triumphant. “It was the perfect plan. Except for the one last loose end, the end that should have been destroyed fifteen years ago.”

“And how unfortunate for you that she was not destroyed.” Thea spat, her eyes dangerous. “One last thing, Balgaire, before I make up my mind on what I should do with you.”

She knelt down in front of him, meeting him eye to eye. Sebastian kept one hand on her shoulder protectively, though she knew it was more for a show of support than anything else. She, above all the people of Euphora, could take care of herself.

For a moment she didn’t say anything, she simply searched the face of the man she’d known his whole life. She’d been present at his birth, witnessed his first scraped knees and his eager first attempts at demon hunting. She’d seen him get married, have children of his own, and serve her as an excellent Fury. When and where had everything changed? Where had it all gone wrong?

“Tell me who the demon was, Balgaire.” She said finally, her voice deadly soft. “I’ve had a hunch for awhile now, but I want to hear you say it. Who is the demon you’ve been working with? Or should I say, Dryad?”

Capri felt her father bristle beside her, even as her own breath caught in her lungs. Did Thea know the identity of the demon who had possessed her and Roarke? The demon who, according to Alastor, had left behind a partial Dryad signature?

Balgaire grinned wickedly, his lip still bloody, cruelty in his dark eyes. When he spoke, his voice trembled with the excitement of a man sharing his most lucrative secret.