Demon Girl (27 page)

She had come for her life-mate.

Conall skidded to a stop in front of me with
a face of thunder. “Will you never listen,” he hissed and threw me
at Tomas. “I told you to take her.

“We have to help them,” I shouted.
“Breand–!”

Conall clamped a hand over my mouth. He
shoved me toward Tomas. “Make yourself useful and get her out–”

A knife to his throat had him stopping mid
flow. Wasp smiled and jerked her head.

“Come this way. Easy now,” she said sharply
when Conall reached for the sword pommel on his hip. “A little nick
with this blade and your legacy ends. It would be a shame Conall.”
Her eyes twitched to me. “So much fuss over Sorcha’s daughter and
you seem less than nothing to me. You remind me of her, the last
Priestess. She was less than nothing too.” Her eyes settled on
Tomas. “Though even she wouldn’t lower herself to the base level
you’re scraping. Come now, our lord waits.”

When I didn’t move she dug the blade deeper
into Conall’s neck and drew a thin line of blood. I glared at her
and started to walk, Tomas close behind me.

Lochlann stood beside Devlin. Breandan was
held at knife-point by two fairies that looked vaguely familiar. It
was the grey beard and copper Mohawk from the day before. The wind
whipped my hair into my face as my eyes locked with my
fairy-boys.

His body jolted and his hands flew to his
chest. Pain, sharp and hot at the back of my neck. I touched the
spot and felt something cold, thin and knobby. A twig? My eyes
drifted down. Breandan yanked a stubby twig out of his chest,
pointed and tipped with something that gleamed wetly in the low
light. He reached for me as he keeled over face first. My own legs
weakened and crumpled.

I could hear Tomas going mad nearby. I was
frightened for him. They would kill him, and I would never see him
again.

Lying on the cold floor I watched as
Breandan’s eyes flickered closed. I could feel the drug like
relaxation of whatever they had shot me with flowing through my
body. Willing my own open was not enough.

My lids slid closed and I slept.

*

The world rocked. Breandan was carrying me.
Uh, why was he carrying me? Memories rushed back in a panicked
jumble and my eyes flickered open. Devlin grinned down at me
impishly. I screamed. I tore at his face and back, but he kept
moving, steady and sure. I kicked my legs so hard he jerked to a
stop and set me down. I turned to sprint away, but he grabbed my
arm and rooted his feet.

“Let go,” I demanded and wriggled in his
grasp. “What have you done with him?”

“With who? Your brother, your life-mate or
your vampire?”

I was stumped. I honestly didn’t know which
one to say. “All three,” I said and continued to try and break his
hold on me.

“Breandan and the vampire are alive. They’re
being taken to Orchard as we speak. Your brother escaped a moment
after you became unconscious, the vampire made a pest of himself
and he slipped away in the commotion.” Hearing this I stopped
struggling, relieved everyone was alive. Devlin relaxed his hold on
me some. “It would be cruel to kill them before they got to see our
ceremony. The offering is the most beautiful human I have ever
seen.”

“Don’t you dare,” I shouted and pummeled him
on the chest. Tears of frustration sprang in my eyes. “Don’t you
hurt her, she’s innocent.”

“Of course she is, and that is why she will
make a good sacrifice.” He brushed strands of hair, wet with tears,
from my face and smiled. “I see you wish to save her and I have an
idea. Give me your amulet and I’ll–”

His head snapped round.

My voice was loud and tremulous. “I’ll never
give you–”

Devlin clamped a hand over my mouth and
commanded with his eyes that I shut up. He cocked his head,
listening. His eyes narrowed and he dropped into a low crouch,
taking me with him. The gods be dammed, what now?

Letting me go he pointed ahead and to the
left then held up six fingers. Then pointed at me and held up one
finger. I stared at him blankly and he scowled, repeated the
motions. I nodded, slowly. He was telling me up ahead there was one
fairy, a female since he pointed at me and not himself. And six
others. Uh, other what? I was not used to his sign language and it
was taking me a while. He meant six humans. This close to the Wall
the only humans that would wander outside were… Oh gods. My mouth
went dry, but I nodded again, firmer this time and followed as he
slinked forward.

There was no time to argue, or get fussy
about our allegiances. We were both in trouble if the Clerics saw
us. I broke into a cold sweat, remembering what I had seen the last
time I had crawled through the undergrowth in these woods.

Devlin stopped, caught my shoulder and
pointed again.

As he did Clerics pushed through a thicket of
branches and stomped into view. They moved in a tight and square
formation. All six had their hoods pulled up and covering their
faces to the nose. Hand clasped about their waists, their funneled
sleeves concealed their hands, and the white-eye sigils on their
breast pockets seemed to shimmer against the crimson colour of the
blazers.

The air left my lungs as I caught sight of
the demon stumbling behind the marching column, a fairy with a
black sack over her head, and iron chains about her neck, hands and
ankles. Slashes of blood stood out on her green skin, and her body
– glistening with sweat – was a navy colour along the knees and
torso, probably deep muscle bruises.

Devlin hissed, a low and primal sound. He
glanced at me and I saw murder in his eye. I knew then these
Clerics were dead, and no words I said would convince him to show
mercy. Devlin was a fairy purist. He would never let any of our
kind be treated this way.

I pointed at myself then at the fairy, a
simple communication. He scanned the trees and nodded; satisfied I
could get the job done without getting in his way. He slinked off
to the side and disappeared from my sight behind a tree. I waited
alone, tense, and terrified of the quickening of my heart from a
rising excitement. The column was directly opposite me now. I sunk
lower, scared even in the dark and they would see me.

There was a sharp crack, and the sound of a
snapping branch to the west. They all spun, guns and knives
appearing in their hands as they did. The column halted and was
still. Another noise, this time a tree shaking to the north and the
column spun again, another snap back to the west then another to
the south. Devlin was distracting them, but never did he draw their
gaze my way. There was a flash of white and a scream that choked
off mid flow. The column was now five. The Clerics swelled out into
a defensive formation, not knowing nothing could save them now.

Sensing my queue, I crawled around to the
back where the fairy was standing. Her knees were bent and she was
alert, knowing her time to escape had come.

The clerics were shouting now, fighting.
Though the fairy-lord would be able to handle himself, I spared a
look for Devlin to check he was doing okay. The vision of necks
snapping, a knife in the eye and sight of a Cleric going limp as
the bones of his body shattered when it connected with a tree
trunk, was not something I wanted to see or get a look at in more
detail.

I reached the fairy-girl, and put my hands on
the shackles at her ankles. The immediate burn was unexpected and I
yelped. Iron. At my yell, she shrieked and kicked, hitting me in
the side and toppling herself over. She thrashed around and I
scrambled over to clamp my hands on her arms.

“Stop fighting me, I’m not going to hurt
you.”

She became still under my hands.

“Rae?” Her voice was a whimper and I
remembered the light chime of it instantly. I dragged the hood off
her head and released a fiery cascade of hair. Her scarlet eyes
were wide and wet. “It’s you,” she sobbed and started to cry. “I’m
saved, you saved me.”

I hushed her; anxious the Clerics would hear
us. “Calm, Maeve, it’s okay now. I’m going to get these binds off
you.”

I looked over her chains. A familiar nausea
rose in my throat at the odor and look of the iron. Her skin was
blackened, blistering where it touched her.

“They were moving me somewhere else because
there were demons in the compound. One of us has killed one of
them, and the humans are furious. They were going to take me away
so you couldn’t save me. I think there’s another secret place they
hide the demons they catch.” She was babbling, and her eyes darted
around wildly. “They asked me questions. Who I was, how many
fairies I lived with and where I lived. I couldn’t get away from
them. They kept me dosed with iron, all the time. I’m weak.”

To placate her I nodded sympathetically and
made commiserating noises. I fumbled over the chains, but couldn’t
break them. I tried covering my hands with mud then using leaves as
make shift covers, but they tore the moment I exerted any strength
and the mud did nothing. There was a tap at my shoulder. Devlin
held out a blood soaked hand to me. I recoiled then realized there
was a small key between his slick fingertips. I snatched it from
him in my haste to get Maeve free. As the chains fell away, she
clambered on top of me and hugged me tightly.

Devlin started to bury the chains. Shame he
didn’t have the same inclination about the human bodies he’d
dismembered. I glared at him with disgust.

“You found me,” Maeve cried and buried her
small head in the crook of my shoulder.

I patted her awkwardly. She didn’t smell too
great. Something golden and hard knocked my hand as I stroked her
hair, and I lifted a few braids curiously. On the end of one
dangled a small coin sized disc. It had a single rune etched onto
its surface.

“It means protection,” she said her eyes
misted with guilt. “I took it because I was afraid to ask Breandan
for it. I’ve known where that silly burl he hides his secrets in
was, since I was old enough to crawl. I was so mad at him for
treating me like a child, but I was more afraid of facing a vampire
alone, so I stole it.” Her gaze bored into mine, pleading for
understanding. “Take it. It didn’t work for me because it was
always meant for you.”

Then her eyes crashed closed, and she
promptly fell into a deep sleep.

I sat there, her limbs entwined with mine,
unsure of what to do. I didn’t push her away. She needed me, and
since Breandan was not there, I needed to provide her with some
comfort. Holding her soothed away the guilt of seeing her hurt by
the people I had once looked up to.

Devlin brushed clumps of soil from his hands
and watched us, eyes clouded, distant. His white hair shimmered
brightly, and his green eyes made the vibrant colors of the forest
seem washed out. It was scary someone so beautiful could wreak such
carnage. He didn’t seem at all put out.

“You saved her,” I said, struggling to
understand him. “You saved your enemies sister.”

Devlin came back to himself and smirked at me
pityingly. “I saved a member of my Tribe. Don’t you see, Rae? The
rebels are still part of my Tribe and they will be until the day I
no longer rule, which I promise you will be many years to come.
They may not agree with me or encourage Lochlann’s tantrum and defy
me for a while, but so be it.” He shrugged like it really didn’t
bother him, but I knew otherwise. “In the end I will win because
leading the Tribe is my birth-right. As is mating with a female
fairy of my choice.”

I clutched Maeve tighter to my chest, a wary
look coming into me eye. Devlin laughed, waved his hand.

“A female fairy of mating age. Maeve is
pretty but too young. And I want my mate to be from one of the
older bloodlines.” His eyes rested on my wings and tail then
skipped over my face.

“That’s why you’re so set on having me?
Because you think it’s your right to?” I shook my head. “I don’t
understand you, Devlin. I don’t feel for you that way and I know
for a fact you don’t like me.”

“I am a practical being and so are you.” He
laughed heartily. “Our ancestor’s legacy flows strongly through
your veins, and you could help bring us back together. Mating with
you would be the right thing to do, but I won’t.” He smiled softly.
“There is one who holds my heart firmly in her vicious clasp.” He
looked down at his hands and seemed surprised to see the blood
there. The softness bled from his expression. “Breandan overstepped
his place. Even if you and I did not mate it would be Lochlann who
would court you next. He has turned his back on tradition thousands
of years old.”

“He saw me first,” I said, finally
understanding what that statement meant. If Breandan had managed to
ignore me we never would have met the way we did, and maybe we
never would have bonded. I saw now our connection was largely
attributed to the improbable success of our meeting and was
intrinsically linked to the awakening of the demon within me.

Concerned I would wake her, I gently lay
Maeve down on the mossy floor. I unhooked the amulet from her braid
and tucked it into my pocket. I felt a small thrill at knowing I
know had all three. I had the key that would bring Devlin and his
evil hoard down. All I had to do was escape him, and get the
grimoire. How I was to do that was beyond me. Conall would be close
by, but he would be focusing on freeing Lochlann. The little I knew
of my brother told me he was a stickler for tradition and the right
way of doing things. More importantly, Devlin had my boys and I
wanted them back. I was not done with them yet, we had unfinished
business.

I stood and looked Devlin in the eye, crossed
my hands over my chest.

“Help me, Rae. Breandan will understand.
He’ll be upset but eventually he will accept. If you join with me,
take your rightful place in my Tribe we can put an end to this
feud.”