Secret Worlds (130 page)

Only the lure of food made Skye leave the warm haven. Annwynn brought her one of Kheelan’s t-shirts and she snuggled into his lingering male scent, comforted by the contact. Annwyn pointed out his bedroom and Skye entered the stark room that was scrupulously clean, but as bland and impersonal as a motel room. She grabbed a blanket off his bed, a pair of wool socks, and padded into the kitchen where a place had already been set for her at the table.

“What’s this?” she asked, picking up a spoon and stirring the bowl. It seemed forever since her last real meal. She was about to dig in when she remembered a warning from Kheelan.
Never eat or drink anything from the fairies, if you do, it could be a trap. You might never return home.

“It’s chili Kheelan made last night. Lots of cayenne powder, garlic and onions.” Annwynn shot her a sideways glance. “No fairy magic.”

Fairy voodoo or no, Skye ate. If this was a trick or some kind of test, she was doomed. Like Esau selling his birthright to Jacob for a pot of beef stew.

The spoon clattered to the floor and Skye jerked up.

“Ye kenna keep yer eyes open,” said Annwynn. “Ye need a rest. Come lay in Kheelan’s bed. I’ll rub ye with a little something to help yer wounds.”

Skye obediently followed Annwynn to Kheelan’s room and stretched out on his bed, enjoying the cocoon of comfort from his sheets and pillows. In no time, Annwynn had rubbed ointment on her wounds and left her alone.

Sleepily, she took in more details of Kheelan’s room. No photographs hung on the wall, no personal effects of any kind adorned his dresser. Only a small wooden box on the bed’s nightstand provided any decoration. Curious, Skye opened the box.

A goldstone sparkled against a lining of black velvet. The goldstone she had given him the first night they’d kissed.

Skye smiled as she palmed the crystal. So Kheelan had kept it by his bedside ever since that night. Had stored it in a fancy box as if it were as precious as a diamond. It meant something special to him.
She
meant something to him.

Skye lay back down on the bed, clutching the goldstone in one hand. Eyes closed, she pictured Kheelan’s face with its sharp angles and serious eyes. She wouldn’t think of the last time she saw him, in the clutches of the sluagh. Instead, Skye remembered the tender smile as he placed the iron medallion around her neck.

She snuggled deeper into his scent, where his body had so recently lain.

She was in heaven.

“Awaken, fair one. It is time.”

Skye shivered at the prodding of cold hands on her neck and shoulders. “Whaaat?” She rubbed her eyes, straining to see in the darkness. She couldn’t remember where she was, why she was lying in a strange bed in an unfamiliar room.

“We must be on our way.”

Annwynn flipped on a light and Skye blinked. “I’ve slept all day? Don’t tell me it’s night again.”

“The Seelie Court awaits ye.” Annwynn lifted a hanger from the foot of the bed. On it hung a shimmering sapphire-blue fairy gown.

“For me?” Skye ran delighted hands over its sparkly surface. It was full length, long-sleeved, and had a slit seam in the back for her wings. Annwynn help her into it and Skye rushed to the mirror.

She hardly recognized herself – she looked more fairy than human. Her purple and red hair cascaded in glowing ringlets and the new gown gave a pearl luster to her complexion. Even her wings had undergone a transformation. They were larger, and the blue and purple diamond pattern more pronounced and vivid. No signs of Claribel’s abuse remained.

“Where’s Kheelan? Wait ‘til he sees me in this get-up.”

“We’ll meet him along the way.”

Skye frowned. “He really is okay, isn’t he?”

“Fit as a fiddle. Merely resting and anxious to see ye.”

Not as anxious as me
. “I’m ready. Let’s go.” Being alone with Annwynn was slightly unnerving. The sooner this was over, the better. Kheelan shouldn’t have to wait a minute more to gain his independence and get on with his life. For the first time Skye wondered what he would do. Would he move? Try to meet his family? She had forgotten to tell him he had a sister, Katie, and to arrange a meeting between him and Kyle.

I might never see him again after tonight.
That scared her more than facing a fairy queen and her court. No, Kheelan wouldn’t just leave. He cared about her. “So how do we get to your Queen?” she asked. “Is it far from here?”

“Not far in fairy time.”

Annwynn was being deliberately vague. Oh, well. They loved their secrets. To be fair, they had to be secretive against human invasion.

Annwynn pulled out a white faux fur stole from the closet. “Human skin is more sensitive than ours so ye might need this. Follow me outside.”

They crossed the yard, by the orange full moon light, until they reached the border of a cotton field and a thick pine grove. Annwynn stopped by a small mound of earth, no larger than a baseball’s base plate and no taller than her ankles. If alone, Skye would have thought the mound of dirt one of the many widespread fire ant dwellings that plagued the South.

“Give me yer hands.”

Mystified, Skye clasped the fairy’s hand – ice and fire united at Samhain.

Annwynn sang in a crystal bell note voice:

The ground swallowed Skye, casting her into a tunneled maze of complete darkness. Up, down, right, then a sharp left. As if she were riding an underground rollercoaster – blindfolded.

Alice through the rabbit hole
. She clung to Annwynn’s hands, afraid if she let go she would free fall to the center of the earth, never returning to sunlight. Gradations of gray began emerging, the blackness fading. Skye moved so fast only impressions swept through her mind –

—bonfires scattered in fields and forests

—masked faces

—flying broomstick silhouettes

—the scent of burnt peat and roasted hazelnuts

—children howling in delighted fear

—wisps of smoke from chimneys

—bells ringing from a church

—a fast-moving river of blood.

“Almost there,” said Annwynn.

But Skye already knew. She smelled that licorice tang of star anise mixed with absinthe. Time slowed its pace as her mind caught up with sensation. Only Annwynn’s hold kept Skye from pitching forward when her feet hit solid ground again.

Steady now, she raised her eyes for the first glimpse of Faery.

An explosion of color and energy smashed into Skye. Her eyes drank in the large orb of celestial crystal a good foot taller than herself and wide and round as a giant sphere. It was like being plunked in front of a galaxy of dancing particles of pixilated sparkles.

Aqua lights ranging from the palest robin’s egg blue to teal radiated variegated prisms of light. Brilliant as the sun, but comforting to gaze at instead of painful. Skye stepped forward, lifting a hand, compelled to get closer and touch the light. Some soft sound, meant only for her ears, made her turn to Annwynn who gave the barest of nods. Skye looked into a sea of fairy eyes, glowing like multicolored gems, searching until she found a pair of serious brown, human eyes.

She moved toward Kheelan, those brown eyes more compelling than the crystal.

Two male fairies blocked her path. Skye stopped, confused. Icy hands touched her elbows on both sides, guiding her through the crowd and away from Kheelan. The Fae parted and she saw their Queen, seated on an enormous pearl throne.

“Welcome, Skye. We’ve been waiting for ye a long, long time.” Queen Corrigan arose and Skye stared in awe. At least seven feet tall, she towered over her court. Her hair was thigh-long and silver, the color of moonbeams on water.

Too late, she wished she had asked Annwynn for a crash course in proper fairy court etiquette. Should she curtsy? No, she would feel ridiculous. She settled for a respectful half-bow.

A high pitched tittering rippled, not unlike the basement’s buzzing noises. Skye raised her head, cheeks flaming. How rude.

“Excuse me.” Kheelan was suddenly by her side. “I would like a moment to speak with Skye. In private.”

Queen Corrigan’s nostrils delicately twitched, as if detecting a slight stench. “Out of the way mortal one, we have important business here tonight. The Dark Fae may arrive any second.” She motioned to the two male fairies that had earlier blocked Skye. Before the guards could remove Kheelan, Annwynn stood before the Queen.

“A moment, Yer Highness. Kheelan has been invaluable in finding The One. As yer loyal supporter, I request ye let him speak with Skye.”

Irritation flashed in the Queen’s eyes but she nodded. “Ye have two minutes, changeling.”

Kheelan led her behind the tree line of tangled, ancient oaks not far from the curious fairies. Once alone he grabbed both her arms, his eyes hot and burning. “Listen carefully, Skye,” he whispered urgently. “The Queen will ask ‘who brings you to touch the Fae’s sacred relic.’”

“And I will tell her you did,” Skye assured him.

“No! Tell her you brought yourself and demand a boon before you touch it.”

“Okay. Then I’ll tell her my boon is your freedom.”

“Skye, no. This is another trick. Annwynn warned me. They don’t intend to ever let you leave their Realm. You know too much to ever go back. If you want to stay with them, fine. Annwynn says you could live among them as their hero.”

Skye couldn’t stop the little burst of delight in her chest. She had never been anyone’s hero. She looked around at the indescribable beauty, imagined what it would be like to live among them. Flying, learning their secrets, meeting her father’s family.

“Maybe that’s true, maybe not.”

Kheelan’s words broke the reverie. Look at what they had done to Kheelan, how they mocked him for his humanness.

She was half human. The Fae might not totally accept her either, despite helping them in their battle. “I don’t want to stay with them. I can’t trust them either. Besides, I can’t imagine never seeing my family again, never seeing . . . you.”

“Then for your boon ask to return home. It’s your only chance to escape.”

“But what about you?” Skye’s eyes drifted to the tattoo on his hand.

He shook her, forced her to face him. “Save yourself.”

“No, Kheelan. I won’t –”

He dropped his hands and stepped back. “I’ll find another way to be free one day.”

Footsteps approached. “Yer time is up. Come at once,” said one of the Queen’s guards.

A shadow passed overhead and the guard looked up anxiously. “Hurry, the Dark Fae have found our sanctuary.”

Skye started forward to follow the guard, then turned. Kheelan was backing into the darkness of the fairy forest. “Stay with us, by the crystal,” she said. “If the sluagh capture you again there may be no second chance for anything.”

He nodded and she returned with the guard to the fairy circle. Queen Corrigan didn’t look quite so regal and haughty now. Like all her subjects, she cast uneasy glances skyward.

Tiny drops of ash floated downwards.

Skye watched, mystified, as it lightly coated the ground like grey snow.

“Hurry!” The Queen motioned Skye toward the celestial crystal. “We don’t have much time.”

Skye willingly – gladly—approached. Again, her hand automatically lifted, desperate to touch its brilliant surface. She was born for this. She knew it.

Wait.
There was something she was supposed to do first – oh, yes. The boon. Skye turned her gaze from the crystal and faced Queen Corrigan. “Aren’t you supposed to ask me something first?” she reminded her.

The ash fell ever quicker, ever thicker. The Queen’s silvery hair and gown were covered with it. “Who brings ye to our realm?” she said, impatient to be done with it.

“I brought myself and demand my boon.”

“Anything ye wish. Just do it—
now
!” The Queen’s voice had lost its musical charm. It was shrill and desperate as she looked upward.

Darkness gathered like a midday eclipse and a loud screeching infiltrated fairyland.

The sluagh had arrived.

The falling ashes heated, became tiny embers that singed all it touched.

“I must have your word my request be granted.” Skye spoke firmly, held her ground against the fiery, volcanic onslaught.

Annwynn came between the two. “Ye have the word of the Queen, with all of Faery as a witness. The hour of midnight approaches. It is time.”

Satisfied, Skye brought her attention back to the crystal. Its aqua and teal glow cast a brilliant light in the unnatural darkness. She raised both hands until she was within inches of the crystal that had fallen from the skies when Faery was first born.

A piece of heaven.

Skye gazed unblinking at its glow even as the falling embers singed the tiny hairs on her arms and face. The words burst forth, unrehearsed.

“By all universal powers that be

Human, fairy, fire and sea –
”

A foul odor descended and Skye fought a churning nausea.

“Ignite this crystal, unveil its power

For the Seelie Court’s holy hour.”

A strong breeze lifted her hair from the flapping of thousands of wings swooping down. She continued staring only into the light.

Skye plunged her hands onto the crystal’s surface. Her fingers transformed to an aqua blue as energy rippled up over her arms and spread. Power crackled through every cell in her body. The celestial crystal cracked like ice plunged in boiling water, leaving jagged fissures of white laced through the solid mass.

One last, loud roar of anger from the invading sluaghs and then they were gone.