Guardian of the Moon Pendant (25 page)

“
Oohh
,” I said demurely, “is that all you have, Vyx?”

Vyx stepped toward Lainahwyn his bloodshot eyes twitching. “My Love,” he said sweetly.

Funny, he never talked to me that way?

“How do we know this wench is telling us the truth?” Vyx argued.

“Let’s get something straight, Vyx,” I said directly into his face, cozying up next to him, poking my index finger into his thick brick wall of a chest. “You’re ugly and your breath,” I took a long drag on my cigarette and exhaled a plume of ashy smoke it into his face. “It smells like dog food.” I stepped away, circling the room as if I was the entertainment. Truly, I was, and if felt damn good. “Always playing second fiddle to a powerful woman,” I shook my head,
tsk-tsk
, and continued. “Aren’t you, Vyx?”

Vyx’s face was slowly distorting into a violent rapid dog, drooling, growling, and flaring his yellow teeth.

“I, of course, am the second woman, Lainahwyn. You will always be the first in Vyx’s eyes, or as he calls you,
My Love
,” I said respectively, swaying my hand softly toward the demon. “Am I telling the truth so far, Lainahwyn?”

The demon
steepled
her slender fingers, curling a maleficent smile across her porcelain face, “Proceed…”

“You see, Lainahwyn,” I said politely with an endearing smile and a twinkle in my eye. “May I call you, Lainahwyn?”

“You may,” she said amusedly, “if I can call you,
child
?”

“If it pleases you,” I shrugged, not giving a rat’s arse what the demon wanted to call me.

“It does,” the demon answered delightfully.

“You see the truth is,” I continued, “Vyx here, he knew what the Dragon Scroll was all about. Didn’t you, Vyx?” I said tilting my head, batting my lashes at him as he steamed. “I had absolutely no clue what it meant, what it did, until you just mentioned it, Lainahwyn. Why would I not tell you where it was?”

“Because you’re a lying conniving wench!” hissed Vyx, “that’s why!”

“Perhaps,” I said with a slightly mocking smile, “And maybe your
wanker’s
just a wee bit too small.” I scrutinized him, pinching my two fingers together, leaving only about an inch of space, and thumbing my finger back at the demon.
“And the new Mrs.
 
hasn’t
bothered to check?”

Vyx’s veins were popping out of his head now. “She’s lying! That’s not the damn Moon Pendant and she knows where the Dragon Scroll is!” he said seething.

“But, I,” I stated sweetly, splaying my fingers across my heart. “I always tell the truth. And the truth is…” I paused for a moment, scanning the room for my next long winded suggestion. And there it was, hanging on the wall, dangling his long lanky legs, his ears kited out like Dumbo. “I have a witness…”

Lainahwyn’s eyes were aroused suspiciously.

“Bill Gates,” I said, gesturing to Edgar’s pasty body. “On the leash over there can attest to me stealing the Moon Pendant from my lovely, yet naïve sister.”

Lainahwyn grinned brightly, rising from her throne, her long nail poking at Edgar’s temple.

“What are you doing?” I asked curiously.

Vyx sneered, “She’s tapping into his thoughts, wench. To see if you’re telling the truth.”

“Oh,” I replied, blowing out an exhausted breath, “good.”

Keep it cool, Isobel, keep it cool.

Lainahwyn’s nail pricked at the crown of Edgar’s head, a purple mist streamed into her fingernail, sliding through her body changing her eyes into a purple haze. She flashed an acid smile, withdrawing Edgar, and returning to her golden throne.

Vyx sneered at me, slamming his thick steroid shoulder against my body, muttering, “Kissing you was like licking an ashtray.”

“Proceed…” muttered Lainahwyn.

♦♦♦

Anabel

“It is time, Guardian,” muttered Leigheas, nudging me with her wrinkled hand.

I swung my legs off the couch, slipping my scuffed leather boots on, and buttoning up a long sheer shirt Blane had found for me in the castle. I knew this task entailed water and didn’t want anything weighing me down, in case I needed to swim.

Slu was hiding behind a high backed chair, a shadow cast against his face, poking his eye out to catch a glimpse of me as I fastened a thick leather belt around my waist. “I know you’re there,” I said, smirking at him, tying my hair back in a ponytail.

I caught a glimpse of his one eye, swelling with tears, his lower lip quivering.

I sat down on the edge of the couch, leaning forward. “Don’t worry,” I said tenderly. “I’m gonna be fine.”

He hopped toward me, halting just before my knees, his bristly hand brushing against my cheek. I felt his warmth.

“Rose…” he said whimpering.

“I know, Rose died from the Nuckelavee, but I won’t.”

“You’re the
spittin
’ image of Rose, Anabel,” Leigheas stated, her eyes sparkling in the setting sun.

“So, I’ve heard.”

“He thinks yer her, reincarnated,” Leigheas added.

I took Slu’s fuzzy hand in mine. “No, I’m not Rose,” I said assuredly. “Humans don’t reincarnate… at least I don’t think we do. We go to heaven when we die.”

“Faeries don’t,” Leigheas mentioned in a matter-of-fact tone, “we’re immortal. We are sent to either Eternity or to Häälaria. Once there, we can come back if we choose.”

“Oh?” I responded, curiously. There was so much to learn about the realm of the Fae, they all lived by different rules than man.

Leigheas hobbled over to me, her stoutly body plopping onto the couch next to me, placing her withered hand on top of mine, staring into my eyes. “You sure do look like her,” she said gruffly, pinching my chin.

I blushed. “Thank you,” I replied, “I heard she was very beautiful.”

Leigheas’s golden eyes met mine. “No one could help falling in love with Rose. She was the most beautiful of all the MacAlpin’s with her porcelain skin, wild red hair, and emerald green eyes. We were all mesmerized by her beauty inside and out.”

I gave Leigheas a half smile, but inside I cringed. Why did everyone think I was Rose? My mind shifted to Blane. Did he believe I was Rose? I inhaled deeply watching Blane enter the room, a handful of weapons attached to his back and hips.

“Time to leave, Guardian,” Blane informed me, holding out his brawny hand, and gracefully raising me to my feet. 

He used to be in love with Rose. What if it wasn’t me he was in love with, what if it was really Rose? I pushed that thought out of my mind as I followed Blane down a hallway, warm torchlight splashed against its stone walls. I turned back, seeing Slu tinkling his five fingers at me, pouting heavily, cradled next to Leigheas, her eyes casting to the floor once they met mine.

Blane and I left Dunvarghan C
astle behind, heading toward the unforgiving sea, heading toward the Nuckelavee.

We hiked along the rolling hills, arriving at the cusp of the seashore, strolling up and down the sand dunes, filled with squalling gulls, and seaweed covered rocks. Blane stopped on the edge of a white powdered beach and turned to me. 

“The Nuckelavee cannot cross moving water,” he said, sweeping back an untamed wisp of hair behind my ear as fading light bathed his face. “He cannot cross a stream, a river, or a lake, but he thrives in the sea. If yer near the sea, you must run or swim from him as fast as you can, lass.”

“What does he look like?” I asked inquisitively.

Blane’s lids fell heavy as he suddenly crushed his arms around me, squeezing me tightly, cradling my face into his chest.

“It is too terrible to describe, Rose,” he whispered into my ear.

Rose? My heart sank.

I pushed Blane away angrily, searching his eyes, trying to find an answer to the question that’s been burning inside me. “Blane, why do you love me?” blurted out of my mouth before I had time to think. I was hoping deep in my heart, he’d say something that was uniquely me and only me, nothing of Rose. 

Blane pressed his lips together, falling silent. I could tell he was back tracking in his mind.

“I haven’t really done anything special? You’ve rescued me a few times, and we’ve almost died together – but why?” I asked, backing away from him. “What is it about me that you love? Is it because I’m the Guardian?”

“No,” he replied, his eyes still not meeting mine.

“Is it because I’m beautiful?”

“You are, lass,” he smiled bashfully, quickly glancing up and then back down.

“Do I make you laugh?” I questioned, beginning the interrogation of a man that I couldn’t be with, but still needed to know the truth. “Do I remind you of someone?”

Blane shifted his weight from foot to foot, still averting his eyes from me. 

“I see, who?”

He cleared his throat, and mumbled. “Rose.”

The palm of my hand, slapped hard across his cheek. His jaw jerked to the side, leaving a bright red mark beneath his stubble.

I didn’t know what came over me. I felt so betrayed. I knew our relationship could never be. But, it didn’t mean I didn’t fall in love with him and that he didn’t truly mean something to me. And now, it was all a big fat lie. This whole time, he thought I was, Rose, my great-Aunt, who died years ago trying to charge the Moon Pendant.

His head was lowered in defeat. “I’m sorry, lass. I will wait for you here.”

I turned away from him, wiping away my streaming tears, heading down a rocky path, heading toward the Nuckelavee, heading toward my doom.

Chapter 23

♦♦♦

Izzy

It was most definitely not the time to choke. So, I didn’t, taking an invigorating breath
in
. I was finally on my splendid stage, a full audience listening to my every word, each one of them eating out of the palm of my hands. Sure, of course, I had the Moon Pendant strapped around my neck, the most powerful necklace in the world known to man. Would I lie to you (wink, wink)? Well, maybe not to you, but I would to them.

This was clearly not the time to get all
weirded out
.

I already had Vyx pawing dust up like a brazen bull, preparing to throttle his horns into me while I danced around the stage. Edgar was hanging from the wall on the verge of peeing in his pants with no possibility of escaping. Fergus and his dad were imprisoned in the labyrinth with no chance of survival, unless I came through for them. There was an army of Màrmann huddling on the edge of the room, preparing to attack me at a moment’s notice. And let’s not forget, the all-powerful demon that in a split second could slice my neck wide open, suck out all of my blood, and call it a late night’s snack.

This was definitely not the time to get all
weirded out
.

This was just another day of being, Izzy MacAlpin.

I continued my dance. First, I had them rolling in their seats, begging for more, telling all of them the story of how I whacked Anabel across the back of her head. A painful look of despair crawled across her porcelain face as her head whipped around. Right after I clobbered her with the telescope and the funny thud sound her body made when she collapsed to the ground.

Lainahwyn beamed in her seat, tapping her nails excitedly against the throne’s ornately carved arm.

Vyx stared at me maliciously with a tight muscle working in his jaw.

I spun around, whipping my wild hair through the air along with my three dread-locks, stopping abruptly before, Lainahwyn. “So, there’s this game show where I come from called, Let’s Make a Deal?” I said smiling brightly.

Lainahwyn nodded for me to continue.

My eyes narrowed in on the demon. “So, what do you say, Lainahwyn? Shall we make a deal?”

Vyx stomped forward, arguing furiously. “My Love doesn’t make deals with mortals.”

I arched my brow, catching Lainahwyn’s lunar eyes. “Last time I checked, Lainahwyn could speak for herself.”

Lainahwyn leaned back into her throne, raising a single lithe finger up at me. “Enough, MacAlpin,” she said, gracefully. “What is it you desire?”

I cleared my throat and began. “I get Fergus, his dad, and,” I said nonchalantly, thumbing over toward Edgar, “throw in the geek, and I’ll give you the Moon Pendant.
All yours.
No strings attached. Open the Portal, ransack the world, I don’t care.”

“Oh, but you must care,” Lainahwyn said with an impish smirk.

I have to say, Lainahwyn threw me for a loop. I didn’t know what she was getting at. My eyes darted around the room, while an icy chill tingled up my back, making me very aware that the show was about to kill off their main character.

I gulped.

Lainahwyn waved her hand in the air, and with that the Màrmann began to close
in
on me.

Yup, I was right, the show’s finale was about to begin. Will the heroine escape? Not if she doesn’t fight as hard as hell she won’t! I pulled out my knife, preparing for the melee.