Soul Mates: Magic (Soul Mates Series) (8 page)

Chapter Eleven

The next few days passed in a blur. I didn’t see or hear from Daire, nobody did. And nobody asked about him either. Probably because I glamoured the entire school so they wouldn’t notice he was missing. I kept hoping he would come back, but as the days passed without a word, I began to give up hope.

I went to practice every
day with Gideon, potions and magic practice with Tatiana, and never asked to know where Daire was or what he was doing. And it was killing me inside, but I turned my frustration and depression into aggression in the training field, and a higher intensity to my magic.

“Princess, you are going to get sick if you keep up this pace,” Cole said as I entered the practice ring.

“I’m fine, Cole.”

“No, you aren’t. Gideon, you have to stop her, she is wearing herself out.”

Gideon nodded in agreement, studying me. “You’re right, she has been pushing herself quite hard this week, but if she wishes to continue, it is her choice.”

“I’m continuing. Who’s first?” I asked challenging the warriors that were working nearby.

“I’ll have a go,” James growled. “Hand to hand, no swords, Princess.”

“Then no shifting,” I said with a nod.

“Tell ya what, Your Royal Spoiledness, if I shift, you can pull a sword. Deal?”

My eyes narrowed. James was always yanking my chain, calling me spoiled, teasing me for being a royal. “All right you crazy old dog, you’ve got a deal.”

“Old? It’s on now, chicky,” James grinned wolfishly.

“Bring it, wolfman,” I said with a grin. It was the best I’d felt since Daire left.

James and I moved to the center of the ring, circling each other. I knew he would be expecting me to aim high, so I surprised him by flashing behind him in a sitting spin kick, knocking his legs out from under him. Then I tackled him and pinned him to the ground.

Of course he was able to flip me off of him and I landed on my back, but I quickly flashed across the ring before he could do any damage. I flashed forward again, punching him in the solar plexus, grabbing his head and smashing his nose into my knee. Of course that only succeeded in pissing him off.

“Oh girly you’ve done it now!” James said as he shifted. I knew he would when we made the deal. Next thing I knew I had his teeth at my throat, if I hadn’t flashed away I would have had a lovely time trying to breath while my neck healed. I heal pretty fast being Fae, but not nearly as fast as he does.

I pulled Virtus from my side as I flashed forw
ard again, I felt its strength flow into me and I smiled. I felt the air shift around me and I knew he’d flashed behind me. I quickly spun and sliced him open across the belly.

“Dang girl! When did you get so good?” James panted, back in human form as he healed. “Or should I ask, when did you decide to stop being nice? You’ve never been this aggressive in the ring.”

“Things change, you suck it up and move on,” I said, softly. “You ready to go again?”

“Yeah, yeah, just give me a minute…”

“Don’t you think you’ve had enough for today, Princess?” Cole asked from the sidelines.

I glanced at Cole for a millisecond. I co
uldn’t allow him to distract me. James had flashed out of my line of sight and was preparing another attack. I felt the air shift around me, but I was too late, James had his claws in my stomach, before I could flash away.

“Payback is a bitch, isn’t it?” James grinned.

“Holy crap that hurts!” I shouted breathing hard as I waited for the massive damage to heal.

“Do you give in
, Ms. Spoiled Pants?”

I narrowed my eyes and decided a little magic was called for. I whispered softly and called the storm to me, my eyes flicked upward and the
lightning struck, exactly where James had been standing. Apparently I wasn’t as sneaky as I’d thought.             

“
Ahh ah ah, girly, you can’t get me with that,” James laughed flashing back into sight.

I’d have to try something else, I decided on a recently learned bit of magic. I hadn’t perfected it yet, but I sent a stranglehold spell out to clamp around James throat. I closed my fist tight, as tight as I could make it and brought James to his knees. He passed out a moment later.

I finished healing while he lay on the ground, healing his neck. I brought my sword to his throat and put my spiked heel dead center on his chest. “Give,” I asked when he came to a few moments later.

James nodded. “Dang girl, you got vicious when I wasn’t looking.”

“Oh you haven’t seen vicious, I’m saving that for a special occasion.”

James laughed. “I’ll look forward to it. For now, do you think you could let me up?”

He could have flashed out from under me, but he was done for the day and didn’t want me attacking him again. “I suppose.” I took my heel off of him cautiously, just in case he was pulling a trick. First rule, never, ever, ever turn your back on your opponent. I backed away slowly as James stood, nodded in my direction and moved out of the ring. I slid Virtus back into place at my hip and walked out of the ring.

“You realize he could have killed you if he’d cut you any deeper.”

“It was just a practice, Cole. James wouldn’t have killed me.”

Cole frowned. “Sometimes I wonder with him.”

“No, seriously, James likes me. He wouldn’t hurt me for real.”

“I suppose you are right, Princess.”

It was getting late and I still had homework to do, so I said good-bye to Auberon and Tatiana and Cole flashed me home. “Would you like to stay for dinner?”

“Not this time, Princess,” Cole flashed out in a hurry.

That was unusual, most days he stayed, at least for dinner. Mom’s cooking was that amazing. I shrugged and got busy on my homework. After dinner I decided to go to bed early. The afternoon practice really had worn me out.

I woke up a few hours later, screaming my head off.

“Abbey! Are you all right? Where are you hurt? Alan I thought you warded the house against an attack!” Mom asked rushing into my room.

“I did! Nothing has broken through, they would have been ripped to shred instantly if they had tried,” Dad replied only a step behind Mom.

Mom pulled me into her arms and held me. “What was it sweetie?”

I took some deep calming breaths, trying to gather my thoughts. I don’t know how I knew, but I did. Something had happened to Daire. I could feel it in every beat of m
y heart, in every breath I took. There was something…something on the air…I couldn’t process what I had seen, but I knew it was no dream.

“Abbey?”

“Something is wrong, something has happened,” I couldn’t say his name. “He’s gone, vanished on the air…”

“Who sweetheart? Auberon?”
             

I shook my head. “No,” I said in anguish.

Mom and Dad exchanged a look. “Tell me what you saw, sweetheart.”

I closed my eyes. “Daire. Daire was at the Faerie Mound in New York. He’s taken me there before. He walked right into a tr
ap… They wanted him…alive. The...the Queen was there, oh Mom! She has him!” I cried out and buried my face in her shoulder.

“What can we do?”

“I have to go to the Faerie Mound, and talk to Auberon. See if what I saw was for real.”

“Okay
, sweetheart. Alan go with her, see that she is safe.”

“Of course
, dear heart,” Dad replied.

I snapped myself into regular clothes, a pair of blue jeans and a heavy knit sweater. Within seconds we were outside the Mound door.

“Princess, go inside, quickly,” Thane said opening the door as he watched behind me and Dad.

“Is it true, Thane?”

Thane gave me a look of torment. “It’s…” Thane began, but stopped himself. “Princess. Just please, go inside.”

I nodded and went in. Thane closed the door swiftly behind me. As I made my way toward the throne room, I notic
ed the Mound was fairly silent. “Aurora?” I called seeing her turn to head a different direction than where Dad and I were headed.

“Yes, Princess?” she asked, an anxious look upon her face.

“Aurora, where is everyone?”

“They are all out in the forest, Princess.”

“Why?”

“I’m not at liberty to say.”

I looked at her, processing her words. “What has happened, Aurora? Why won’t anyone tell me what the heck is going on?”

“I’m not at liberty to say, Princess.”

I frowned. “Someone ordered you not to tell me?”

Aurora nodded with a frown.

“Auberon?”

“No Princess.”

“Then who?”

“I’m not at liberty to say.”

I sighed. “Fine, I’ll go to Auberon.”

I pushed open the Throne room doors to find Max, Cole and Auberon conferring at one of the tables. “Auberon? What is going on? Why won’t anyone tell me?”

“Dad, why would you bring her here? We aren’t going to be able to…”

“It’s not anything to worry about, sweetheart. We’ll get him back,” Auberon said gently.

My heart fell to my stomach. “It’s true then, what I saw? She’s taken him?” I asked softly, feeling weak, like I might faint at any second.

“We received a ransom note about an hour ago. The warriors are out scouring the forest now. What he was doing wandering around out in the forest in the first place I haven’t the foggiest idea. Sometimes that boy worries me.”

“It wasn’t from our forest, he was in New York. You need to search the park,” I said, feeling numb. “It won’t matter, you won’t find anything.”

“What was he doing in Central Park?” Dad asked.

“Alan,” Auberon smiled. “I’m glad you came. Daire was gathering intelligence for us. I don’t understand how this could have happened though
, he was supposed to be back hours ago. He is always so vigilant.”

I sank to my knees with a sob. My heart felt as if it had been ripped from my chest. “I
t was the Queen, she was there…he was ambushed.”

Auberon looked at me like I was hallucinating. “Where did you get that idea, Abbey? The Queen never does her own dirty work, she has minions for that.”

“I saw it, I saw it all,” I said closing my eyes remembering what I’d seen.

My w
orld shattered around me. Everything came rushing back, the violent scene I’d witnessed, Daire being taken, the Queen laughing in my face as I pleaded for his life. She’d been there and she was evil. I recalled her words, “You’ll be hearing from me little girl, I won’t hurt him…much,” she’d cackled. “Póg, take him.”

I watched as the evil maiden, Toxic Kiss, placed her lips against his cheek and my heart nearly broke. “I will get you back, I swear it,” I’d said to Daire as I watched the skin around her kiss turn green as the toxic poison spread through him.

“He doesn’t have long little Princess, I suggest you go to Auberon as soon as you wake.” As soon as she’d finished the vision disappeared and I’d woken in my room, screaming.

I explained what I saw to Auberon as calmly and rationally as I could. “It was a trap. The Queen was there, and Póg Tocsaineach. She kissed him…”

Auberon’s face paled. “She kissed him?”

“Oh
his cheek, he’s been poisoned…the Queen said he didn’t have long to live. What is it she wants?”

Auberon sighed.
“She wants an object we found in Central Park a few years ago. Max took it off of one of her Dark creatures. The Dark Stone, it allows them to enter the mortal realm wherever they please. When we took the stone from her creature, we closed off a great deal of the mortal world to them. They can still go about Central Park, and various other places around the world, but only where they have an entrance. It is why you don’t see more of those creatures here, they have to travel, find shelter during daylight. With the stone they have a connection to the Queen and are able to travel quickly, even during daylight.”

“Where is the stone now?” I asked

“We don’t know,” Max said in frustration. “It was brought here, to Faerie and it has disappeared. We believe Gaia has taken it back.”

“So it’s not available?”

Max looked at me, his eyes sad.

“No. I refuse to just let Daire suffer with that evil hag! I will get him back!” I said with resolve. “I swore to him I would get him back.”

“You don’t even know where they have taken him.”

Another memory flooded my mind. That of a dark castle like structure in the middle of Never Never. It was dangerous terrain to get there, for you had to pass through the Goblin King’s territory to get to it. “I do. And I will get him back.”

“I’m going with you,” Cole said leaving no room for argument.

“I shall go as well,” Thane agreed.

“I’ll go Abbey, you don’t have to do this,” Max said, taking my hands in his.

“No Max. Daire is mine. I’m doing this,” I begged him to understand.