Rise of the Seven (14 page)

I dropped the pendant on the side table with
more than a little hostility and lay back to focus on something
that was actually productive. I found my hawk and scanned the
grounds, covering the mountain as best I could. No sentry out of
place, no strangers with light hair, no ice-wielding half breeds or
winged shimmering fey army. I checked for smaller inconsistencies,
anything that would indicate a problem. But I found nothing, and
after a long while, the search became more of an easy glide and I
felt my body back in the bed relaxing with the task.

Chore accomplished, I thought I might be able
to finally get some sleep. But just before I pulled from the hawk’s
mind, I spotted Steed in the yard. I drifted down, landing on the
parapet to watch him prepare for the trip to Camber. His humming
stopped the moment my talons touched stone. I smiled, though he
would never see it. Wings stretched, I glided past him, not missing
the way his shoulders tensed as the bird passed behind his back. He
latched the pack tight against his horse, resolutely not looking my
way. I swung around to settle on a post opposite him. Stone-faced,
he cinched Grey’s pack to the second horse.

I waited him out, certain he couldn’t keep
his gaze from finding mine for long. When he at last broke, I held
utterly still. And winked. His expression was priceless. With a
much-needed laugh, I returned to myself and kicked off my boots to
finally get some rest.

It was the last I’d have, because when I woke
by the light of dawn, there was someone in my room.

Instinct tore at me to move, but I was
trapped. Some unseen force had turned my limbs to lead and I could
do nothing but stare up into the face of a fey idol.

Veil held himself above me, bare torso inches
from mine, fisted hands on either side of my immobile shoulders. I
opened my mouth to curse, but my chest had the same heaviness as
the rest of me and my lungs seemed empty of air.

“
You should have heeded my
warning,” he whispered so quietly I had to strain to hear. “You
have disregarded the gift in your eagerness for
vengeance.”

I stared up at him, contemplating whether to
hear him out or risk using magic. My chest rose and fell unbearably
slow beneath him. He glanced down.

Suddenly, as if he realized too late what my
reaction to such a gesture would be, he was closer, peering into my
eyes as he whispered, “No. Do not tempt me by using your power.” He
was so near I could see his pulse hammering, but I didn’t know
whether it was fear or excitement. Sometimes with the fey they were
one and the same.

He shook his head. “Revenge tastes sweeter
with time, my Freya.” His gaze roamed my face, the dark strands of
hair across my pillow, the bare flesh of my neck.

I narrowed my eyes at him, and felt the
thickness in my throat giving. It wouldn’t be long before I was
free of the dust. A few more minutes and I would strangle him. Veil
could see the change in me and his mouth turned down in what I
would have called a grimace on a less attractive man. His wings
flicked once in frustration.

He knew he was out of time. I wondered who
stood guard behind my closed door, unable to hear his words, no
louder than a breath.

Veil’s warm eyes met mine, the color of
honeyed tea in the morning light. But no, darker this near... more
like maple sap over stone. I mentally shook myself, trying to work
through the drug. It wasn’t the same as Ruby’s blend, but it wasn’t
right, either. He waited for me to focus on him again, he wanted my
attention.

“
If you do this,” he warned,
“you will leave me no choice.”

As far as warnings went, this one was pretty
clear. I wondered briefly why he’d taken such an un-fey-like
action. And then I wondered how he could possibly smell so good.
And then I remembered I hated fairies and wondered if I could drive
the spiked pendant on the table through his side without risking my
magic. The last thought made me smile, which clued both of us in on
the fact that I’d regained muscle control.

We reacted at the same time, my head snapping
forward to slam into his chin just as he moved back and off the
bed. I flipped myself up to land beside the bed, but I wasn’t fully
recovered and my legs crumpled beneath me. From nowhere, Veil
grabbed my upper arm to steady me. My right fist swung across to
strike him in the side. The scuffle had lasted only a fraction of a
second, but it was enough. Rhys burst through the door and Veil was
gone.

“
Find Ruby!” I yelled, my
voice weak but anger propelling the command with sufficient force
Rhys didn’t stop to question it.

I stared down, panting, body struggling to
manage the effects of dust and adrenaline. It seemed like only
seconds later when Chevelle showed up, but it must have been
longer, because my breathing was steady and I could feel the tingle
of my legs and the cold of the stone floor where I sat.

He surveyed the room, searching for any
lingering threats, and I knew the instant his gaze found the
glitter on the bed.

My head fell into my hands, a very unlordly
gesture, and my shoulders shook with silent, frustrated
hysteria.

Chevelle was staring down at me. “What did he
want?”

“
To warn me.” I took a deep
breath before attempting to stand. “The fey don’t want us to take
out council.”

“
Since when do the fey care
about elvin politics?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know, but if they know
we’re coming, then council does.”

“
It doesn’t matter,”
Chevelle said. He stepped closer. “Tell me what he
said.”

I took another deep breath.

He waited.

“
If you do this,” I sighed,
“you leave me no choice.”

Chevelle’s fist slammed into the bed post,
splintering the wood to pieces.

“
It has to mean they have
always cared about our affairs,” I said. “But the power was shared
before, split between the north and the villages.”

He didn’t respond, staring blankly across the
room, through the empty space where the bedpost had been.

“
So if we remove the
remaining leaders of council,” I continued, “then I alone control
the realm.”

Chevelle turned his gaze to me.

“
And if I control the
realm,” I paused to swallow, throat still thick from dust, “then
they will call war. And Veil will take me. If I don’t find a way to
manage this power, then I can’t fight him.”

I could see the anger building through
Chevelle’s entire body, but I couldn’t prevent myself from
finishing.

“
I will avenge my mother. I
will right the wrong done to all of the north. The fey will not cow
me into submission. We will leave at dawn as planned.”

It felt a little like a speech and I should
have been ashamed for making it. Chevelle knew exactly what council
had done to the north. He knew every single person who’d been
slaughtered in the massacre and he knew how it had affected the
ones who lived. He didn’t need to be lectured on honor or
principle.

His shoulders raised very slowly in an effort
to remain steady with each breath. “Vengeance can wait.”

His words tasted far too much like Veil’s
warning and the fury of my attack, as I lay helpless in my own bed,
went through me. “No,” I hissed. “I will not be controlled.”

I had meant by the fey. I had meant as Asher
had commanded us by fear and pain. But it hadn’t come across as
such.

“
Damn you, Frey.” Chevelle’s
voice was pure rage and I almost stepped back from him. As if he
sensed it, he stepped forward, daring me.

We stood inches apart, both of us furious,
both struggling to retain control, when suddenly Ruby was beside
us, frantic.

“
Are you hurt? What
happened? What did he do to you?”

I shook myself, mind catching up with events.
I’d heard a light slapping sound when she’d come in and
unconsciously stared down at our bare feet on the stone floor.

“
Ruby,” I said levelly, “you
have webbed toes.”

She shoved me back into a chair with
unnecessary force. “She’s been dusted,” she announced with more
than a little irritation, and I laughed. It might have been dust or
madness, but it didn’t much matter.

At the exchange, Chevelle seemed to deflate a
bit. And then, realizing he had work to do, he walked from the
room, leaving me with Rhys and Ruby. That only left Rider to help
him search the grounds, so I leaned back in the chair as Ruby
fluttered about me making what I hoped was a remedy, and found my
hawk. I doubted we’d see anything. Veil had likely come alone, and
he had a talent for hiding.

It was no accident he’d come when the others
were gone. He’d taken his best chance, and he’d done it. He’d
beaten my guard, bested all of us by sneaking into my bed
chamber.

The hawk dove through the castle window and
rose above the yard, searching. I had an irrational thought that it
hated fairies too and wished the dust would let go already.

Ruby was mumbling as she worked, complaining
about the fey and their gifts, and I came back, opening my eyes to
stare at her. Her gaze was narrowed on the pendant atop the side
table. The gift.

“
That’s it,” I
said.

She jerked, curls bouncing, and then shrugged
my outburst off as an effect of the dust.

“
No,” I defended. “The gift.
She kept saying ‘gift,’ not offering. It isn’t about the pendant.
It’s about the boy. The silver boy.”

Ruby stared blankly at me while she decided
whether the dust was babbling or if she should be attempting to
decipher my words.

I pointed to the pendant. “Four strands. They
fey call them ‘gifts’, not talents or abilities. Silver and ice.
That leaves two more. Blood and bone. He’s got four children
remaining.” I shook my head. “No, three now. We killed the
boy.”

Understanding washed over her. Her mouth came
open, brows raised, then her face fell. She was speechless.

“
Ruby,” I snapped, “give me
that tea and go figure out what the devil blood and bone
means.”

She barked a laugh. “It isn’t tea.” She
shrugged at the question in my expression. “Veil doesn’t work that
way. It’s more of a... skin rinse.”

I opened my mouth to reply just as Ruby
closed one eye in a wince and turned her cheek to me. Warm, cloudy
liquid splashed into my face. Instantly, the effects of the drug
cleared, but were replaced with utter shock at her action. She
dropped the cup, putting both hands up in surrender as she backed
from the room.

“
It had to be done,” she
promised.

I was still staring at the open door when
Rhys finally laughed.

Chapter Seventeen

Breaking

Finn and Keaton had still not returned. Ruby
and I sat in the study with Rhys and Rider poring over fey scrolls
and books. I’d been able to find a few notes hidden in Asher’s
private study, but it didn’t look as if we were going to find
anything useful. Anvil was due back by evening, as were Steed and
Grey, so we held a sliver of hope they would be able to offer some
help. I hadn’t seen Chevelle all day.

Ruby slammed a book shut in frustration.
“Even if we find the answer, even if we know this kid’s ‘gift,’ it
still doesn’t solve the problem.”

We all stopped working to give her our full
attention, though I had a feeling we were just looking for a
break.

“
If we don’t know who’s
pushing them to attack Frey, then we don’t know how to find them.
If we find one, or even two, we still have to find the others. We
still have to discover who’s plotting against us.”

I had to fight a smile at her use of
“us.”

Rider held up a finger. “I believe it is a
mistake to consider them children. I understand Asher may have been
fostering this strategy before even Francine or Eliza were born.
Simply because the one who created silver was a boy does not mean
we should expect the same of the others.”

Rhys nodded. “If I were the influencer of
these ‘heirs,’ I would send the weakest first.”

Ruby’s eyes went wide. Apparently, she’d
underestimated the cunning of the Strong brothers.

“
You are right, though.”
Rider twirled a quill in his hand as he thought. “We do need to
find the source.”

“
I feel like we’re beating
our heads against the same rock,” I complained.

“
At least we know it isn’t
the fey,” Ruby said with mock cheer.

No, I thought, they wanted to either keep us
balanced or own us all. With a sigh, I returned to the passage I’d
been reading on rare fey talents.

The fey liked to keep records of other
people, but preferred no written history of themselves. I had
always assumed that was why so many fey tales were spoken. And
surely they considered it a bonus, the embellishments that came
along with stories passed by word of mouth. But I supposed it was
safer that way as well. How much had Ruby learned from her mother’s
diary...

As I scanned the pages, I recalled the fey
visits when I’d been bound in the village. They’d caused no ruckus
among the light elves, but they’d only been allowed to come as one,
occasionally a pair, to study the libraries. And, if I really
thought about it, I had no idea whether they’d caused trouble in
the village. For all I knew, they’d been the ones messing with the
council documents, not Fannie. Fannie, who had burned that village
to the ground.

I didn’t dream much of Fannie since regaining
myself. The nightmares I had now were those of my mother. But now
the flames were real, memory instead of vision, and they were so
much more disturbing with added details like the taste of smoke and
scent of blood. Every night, the screams of the slaughter tore
through me, the sound of my mother’s crazed laughter as they burned
her, the pain ripping my own chest as I stood helpless, as I was
dragged away. The icy water pulling me under, stealing my
breath.