Heir of Earth (Forgotten Gods) (46 page)

“Faye. That’s a pretty name.” She turned back to the room, but didn’t even bother to look at me, studying her nails instead. “So tell me, Faye, why is it that my brother would risk his own eternity to share his secrets with a human? What’s so special about you?” She turned to me and brought her hands up to her chest in a little red-nailed steeple, rubbing her fingertips gently together as she appraised the plainness of my body with mild disinterest. Her gaze lingered on my hair and she glanced quickly down at her shoulder and back to me, satisfied my hair was not as pretty as hers.

“We understand each other. I know what it’s like to be an outsider, too.” Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why couldn’t I keep my mouth shut? Why wasn’t I running out the door and away from her?

“Hmmm…” Her interest was piqued. She walked over to me again, pulling me off the wall by my shoulders and settling me on my feet near the sofa. She circled me like a shark does its prey, picking up a few of my golden curls, studying them, and then dropping them back to my shoulder. “Pretty,” she said in a distracted, dismissive tone.

She continued to saunter around the room, taking it all in as she thought. “So, you don’t belong either?” Was that pity I heard in her voice? “And my brother was so taken with you that he revealed all his secrets.” She clucked her teeth mockingly and shook her head, the golden curls dancing down the length of her back with every toss of her head.

A little tornado of wind sent my hair flying, and, when I opened my eyes, she was beside me. “That must mean you have something very special in you.” Her words were menacing, hanging in the air between us as I watched her eyes flicker wildly over me trying to see what it was Dayne saw in me.

I cried out in my mind. Screamed for Dayne to come to me. Her arm closed around my back, and I squeezed my eyes shut, uncertain of what was coming next.

Her touch sizzled on my flesh, searing hot just as Dayne’s had when his power waned. He had explained to me then that it was a poison used to stun prey into submission. Just as I feared it might, her touched caused me to lose control of my body, and my muscles froze against their will. The strength drained out of me from my head to the tips of my toes, and I went limp in her arms. Her hand swept up to my chest, hovering over my heart. The feel of her skin on mine was repulsive and I wanted to hurl my body away from it, but that would’ve been impossible.

Once under her control, my body was incapable of escape. I writhed to get away from her, and to my amazement she let me go.

I fell onto the couch, unable to hold my weight on my feet, my muscles nothing but useless lumps of goo. She stood still, staring at her hand. The bewildered look on her face changed to fury and she spun with great force to face me, seeming to grow larger as she raced at me with pure hatred in her eyes.

“What are you?” She demanded. The flames of the fire jumped wildly from the hearth behind her, casting a dark shadow on her face.

“I don’t know.” It was the first lie I had been able to tell all night. I knew my life depended on it.

“I’m not so sure.” She calmed herself, smoothing her clothes back in place as she turned her head arrogantly to the side, staring at the door as if someone had knocked. “But it doesn’t really matter what you are. Our laws are simple—our secrets cannot be known outside our world. Anyone who reveals what we are will be put to death.”

She leaned over me on the couch. “He’s a fool if he thinks we don’t watch him. Mother knew he was coming back to us. It was only a matter of time.” I was sobbing like a baby. The tears rolled down my cheeks, but I didn’t even have the strength to wipe them away. I lay like a helpless fool on the couch below her.

“You didn’t actually think he loved you?” Her face was right beside mine as she bent over me. I closed my eyes, unable to look at her. “Oh, you did! You poor thing.” She was taunting me now, laughing at me like so many others had before her. The familiar alienation and derision that had been my constant companions for so long came out from hiding, spilling a crimson stain down my cheeks.

“Did he say he was bound to you? That he would do anything to protect you?" I nodded. She threw her head back and laughed so hard her body shook. I wanted to claw her eyes out. “Silly girl. Sidhe cannot bonds with humans. Humans are nothing but play things to us. Haven’t you read your fairytales?”

I drew a sharp breath in and my tears stopped. She didn’t know. She had felt my soul, but she had not seen what I really was.

She picked me up off the couch. “You poor thing,” she cooed softly like I was an injured dog. “I can’t wait to see the look on Dayne’s face when he sees he’s lost again.” She stroked my hair as I hung limply in her arms.

I noticed the bright red streaks that traced through her blond waves and tried to summon the strength to reach up and rip those curls out of her head. But my arms hung helplessly at my side.

“Don’t worry…I’ll make it quick.” She said with a sickening smile, enjoying every second of my suffering, a masochist to the core. Again her hand rested over my heart, which began to beat harder in my chest. Against my will, it raced at her touch. My breath came short and fast. I panted in pain.

Her vileness charged into me. The hollowness that lay beneath her beauty, a vast chasm of emptiness that could never be satiated, poured into my chest. The pain of wanting and longing for more swam deeply within her core. Her desire for what she didn’t have kept true happiness forever out of her reach. Yet, her eternal wanting for more had created a need so strong it burned in her soul like the pits of hell. This was what Dayne had meant when he spoke about the soul-addicts some Sidhe had become. I knew this was it. She wasn’t going to let me go until she had taken everything.

Nothing but the tiniest pin–prick of happiness sparked in her when she felt the powerful strength of my innocent soul flood into hers. Like the instant a match flares into flame, it was over before it really began. Her head began to approach mine like Dayne’s had before, but I knew she wasn’t giving me her strength…she was hell bent on taking mine.

My switch flipped. I wasn’t going to let this happen. I didn’t know what power I had in me, but I certainly wasn’t going to let this shallow pleasure seeker have any part of me without a fight.

I gathered my wits and took a quick inventory of the faculties I still possessed. Her eyes were closed, focused solely on her own pleasure. I called on everything I had, mounting my army within to wage a full assault on the creature that held me.

An electrical surge of energy pulsed through me. Dayne heard my cry. With the adrenaline of hope now racing through me, I pushed back against her, forcing her away, denying her access to the strength within me. The flare of determination spread over her face. I matched that and pushed with everything I had.

My arms came up between us. My fists and forearms pushed her away just as forcefully as my mind. Physical exertion caused my arms to shake and tremble, but my mind stayed steeled against the attack, forming a fortress within. She would not win.

I pushed even harder, crying out with the force that raged in me. She matched my strength with ease. I couldn’t hold her off much longer.

The door flew open, and she slammed against the wall. I lay crumpled on the floor where she had dropped me. Dayne’s arms were around me an instant later. Holding me to him, pushing the pain away and laying me on the couch.

His hand went to my chest and his lips found mine. I felt the familiar energy of him. It woke me, and revived my numb muscles enough to open my eyes and look at him. The empty horror in his face changed to blessed relief when he saw my eyes open.

He said nothing, quickly looking over every inch of my body to be sure there was no irreparable damage.

A chuckle rang out from the other side of the room. The tenderness drained from his face, instantly replaced by the ferocity of a raging bull.

He flew at his sister. “Ara, what have you done?”

“Take it easy. I wasn’t going to keep it all for myself. I would have left a little for you.” She put a hand up defensively in front of her and cowered before him with a smirk wrinkling the side of her pouty little mouth.

“What are you even doing here? You left this life a long time ago, remember?” Dayne’s hands clenched to fists at his side to keep from hitting his sister.

“That was before you betrayed our entire race by spilling our secrets to a mortal.” Ara’s arrogant head nodded in my direction and her hand went to her hips, leaving herself open, almost inviting her brother to take a swing.

“I have broken no law.” Dayne’s back remained rigid as he stared at his sister.

“Oh, yes, you have. I know how bound to this weak little human you are. I know exactly what you’ve been up to lately. I’ve had my eye on you, just waiting for you to mess up so that mother would finally see just how unfit you are.” Ara moved away from the wall, walking over to the fireplace, and Dayne moved with her, keeping his body between us, ready to pounce if she made a move.

“I have done nothing.” he repeated his words, but I knew how limited his defense was since he couldn’t lie to her. He stood statue still, standing up to his full height and towering over her tiny body.

“Nothing?” Her pout wrinkled into an incredulous accusation and her eyes flared wildly. She crossed an arm over her stomach, resting the opposite elbow on the little shelf it made, as she inspected her nails and began to pace back and forth before the fire, her heels clicking along. Her inherent arrogance was beyond nauseating. “You have shared our secrets with a mortal.” She clicked off one point on her fingers. “You have fallen in love with a mortal.” She held up a second finger and crinkled her nose in disgust. “You’ve allowed a mortal access to the entry.” A third finger came up, and she rolled her eyes. “You destroyed LeSheen to save a mortal.” After she ticked off her fourth finger, she threw her hands wildly into the air with a grand gesture. “Do I really need to go on? Do you really need to be reminded of the crimes you have committed against our people?” Her look was hard and angry, but she kept her distance, knowing that physically challenging Dayne right now was a big mistake.

Dayne said nothing to defend himself. I couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t just tell her the truth. I wasn’t mortal, so he hadn’t broken any rules. If she knew that, maybe she would leave us alone.

“He hasn’t broken any of your precious rules,” I said as I regained my composure enough to sit up and face her. I steadied myself with the arm of the couch and stood up, being sure I still had Dayne to cover my every move. Her attention switched to me, and I stared at her with every bit of hatred I was feeling at that moment. My eyes narrowed to slits so tiny she almost disappeared before me. “I’m not…”

“Faye…” The warning in Dayne’s voice as he said my name made me suck the last word back in my mouth, but it was too late. He closed his eyes and the anguish in his voice registered in my brain as the last betraying word fell from my lips.

“…mortal.” I whispered the word as I realized what I was really saying. As soon as it left my lips, I knew what I had done. I had just assured myself the one fate Dayne had tried so hard to keep me from.

“Not mortal?” Ara’s chin fell down to her chest. She looked from Dayne back to me as the light bulb went off in her brain. Her eyes squinted to slits as she walked closer. Holding her hand out to calm Dayne and let him know she wasn’t threatening me. She chewed at her lip ever so slightly, just like Dayne did when he was in thought and turned away from us.

“Well, that certainly does change things.” She said after a long pause. “You’ve been hiding her from us, Dayne. What do you think mother will have to say about that?” She was pleased with herself again and the smirk of her perceived victory over her brother was sickening.

“Ara, please don’t do this,” Dayne begged as he walked toward his sister with his arms outstretched. She turned away from him and cast a dismissive glare down her nose in his direction.

She laughed in his face as he begged for my life.

“Please Dayne, don’t beg…you sound even more pathetic than you already are. I’m doing this for your own good, really,” she said with the sarcastic annoyance of a sibling about to delight in tattling to mother.

She reached out to me with lightning speed and the world disappeared around me.

Dayne caught me when the ground appeared under my feet again. I slumped against him, confused by the familiar surroundings.