Summon (29 page)

The haunting cries of my Children thawed the
fragile ice around my heart leaving cold water in its wake.

Then Rae arrived.

Disturbing.

With excruciating ease, Marinette debased her
bravery and picked clean the bones of her shattered hopes. I’d expected hatred
from the gold eyes that looked to me for help. They’d held no accusations. Even
as her hopeless expression made known she considered me aligned with the Loa.

Constrained by the revelation Marinette would crush
me if I stepped out of line, I’d been unable to express my desire to the
contrary. Seething, silent, I watched Rae crumble under the verbal assault then
was put to sleep.

Fires kindled beneath my noiseless brooding.
Here marks the line I won’t cross.

The phantom hovered close. He touched Rae’s pulse
at her wrist, and whispered how furious her mate would be if she died. After
the first day, he became angry, and destroyed the flowering vines creeping over
her still form before disappearing for hours then returning to sit and talk
until his voice became hoarse.

Originally I too stood guard and watched Marinette
continue her irrational massacre. I’d hoped to teach myself a lesson and prove
a point to the loa. Marinette had had the last laugh. She plunged her thumbs
into the eye sockets of a Son I’d favoured and gouged until the bulbous masses
popped into her palms. Shaking with rage, I’d conceded defeat and fled the
scene. Falling to my knees I’d lost the contents of my stomach in the stagnant
brook that once bubbled as a clean spring. The bog was merely one of the
beautiful things I’d created and lost since the Loa arrived at my refuge.

“Please don’t leave us.”

Tears wet Naomi’s cheeks. She gripped my hand,
pulling me from my forbidding contemplation of what must be done.

The proud witch showed no weakness before our
Coven’s brutal culling. Now she blubbered and wailed at shadows and foreign
noises.

“It’s been days.” I pried her hands loose. “She
hasn’t moved or spoken. Not even that bothersome phantom coaxes a reaction.”

“Isn’t that what you wanted?” Naomi asked. “Rae
dead and gone? This is as good as that. I don’t understand.”

Explaining the radical flip in my perspective, and
what the girl sitting in the middle of my dying Wyld meant to me would boggle
my Daughter’s mind.

I settled for a placating, “Hush. I must go.”

“Where?” Her voice turned shrill. “Who will help
us? All demonkind fears and hates us. We toiled to make it so.”

My mouth burned as I spoke the truth. “My fairy kin
will help.”

She sulkily jerked into the cushions. “You’re
abandoning us.”

“Raj will stay with you.”

“Raj will stay?” The vampire-boy echoed.

“Such powerful protection,” Naomi muttered.

Pegging the snide remark as an outlet of fear, I
ignored it. “In return he will drink from you.”

“
More
?
He’s been tapping my vein for
days
.”

“He must remain well fed to perform at full
strength.” I eyed her. She was pale but well enough to donate. My other
Daughters suffered catatonia. “You forget why we starved them in the first
place. The hunger makes them vicious, but physically weaker. Raj must be strong
to at least help you run from danger.”

Her feverish eyes
turned
hot with
desperation.
“
Take us with you
.”

Before she latched on again, I stood. “I’ve purged
the iron from my blood and will skim
air
most of the distance. Are you strong enough to make the journey?”

“No.”

“Then you stay.” I ruffled Raj’s auburn mop. “I’m
trusting you.”

“Nothin’ will happen if we stay quiet.” He
eyeballed Naomi then directed a timid look at me. Shuffled on the spot. “You’ll
come back?”

“This is my city. I will return.”

“With help?”

“Correct.” My eyes narrowed. “One way or another.”

Raj scratched his head, squinting. “How long will
ya be gone?”

“Four days.”

His eyes widened. “So long?”

“I’ll reach the closest fairy Wyld in a day, but
it’s unlikely they’ll have the skill to follow with the same speed after I
convince them to come.”

“So sure they’ll listen to you,” Naomi mumbled.
“We’ll be lucky if Rae’s consort doesn’t rip out your guts.”

I shut down further grumblings with a cold look.
“Be safe. I return directly.”

With that, I left my Wyld. While I wouldn’t
vociferously declare leaving, there’d be no furtive sneaking.
I do not sneak.
I progressed through my
city without hindrance. Sensing the presence of a vampire tailing me, I
hesitated. The bloodsuckers feared me, but did they fear Marinette more? Would
this unknown sentry run to her and reveal I left?

No point
worrying. Marinette will question Raj and Naomi. If they’re killed, they are
killed.

Burying remorse at the thought of baby faced Raj
suffering, I drew on the Source, a multicoloured sun I found cool to touch,
addicting, forever teasing the edges of my vision.

Time and space distorted as I bent it to my will.
This was a skill my mother possessed and passed to me.
If she were alive what wonders she would have taught me.
Her
mastery of this ability was so strong she had stepped outside of time.

As I travelled, aware of the moonrise, its fall,
and the sun’s eventual breaking of the dawn, my mind drifted.
Rae and Conall must possess this talent too.
If latent I could teach them.
The
wayward thoughts stunned me so deeply I stammered, stumbled, and dropped my
hold on the Source.

And landed in the middle of nowhere.

Inhaling, I heaved, and threw up a little in my
mouth at the musky scent of shifter. I opened my eyes and critically eyed the
rolling plains of tall, rose gold grass.

It wasn’t alarming when the grass ahead then to my
left stirred.

The broad-headed arrow that punctured my side as I
stood contemplating the refreshingly flat landscape did startle me.

I hissed, sucking air at the sharp burst of pain.

Clasping the hardwood shaft, I scrutinised the delicate
construction then huffed. The arrow had buried well past the spine. I fingered
the feathered fletching with curiosity.
What
is a Tribal fairy doing at the shifter Pride?

Dark movement among the tall grass drew my
attention. I remained composed as a cloaked figure advanced towards me, a bow
gripped tightly in one hand.

Judging by the archer’s liquid movement, long hair
and armoured trousers, I guessed the fairy female was sent here as an
ambassador on behalf of the High Lord.

She smoothly notched another arrow and a gust of
wind blew back her cloak.

Genuine surprise lifted my brows. I distinguished
who
she was, her importance, and how her
fortuitous presence would serve me.

Snapping the arrow shaft in half, I gripped the
shortened wood and ripped it from my flesh. I studied the broken arrowhead. The
damn thing shattered on impact leaving pieces behind when I removed it.

The dull throbbing at my side increased to
lightning bolts of pain stabbing my innards. The little fool shot me with
iron
.
Hell.
“I need to find Conall.”

Her elegant stride did not falter though her
scarlet irises flickered in recognition. Her mouth bowed in displeasure.
“Leave.” The high tenor of her voice didn’t match the environment.

The prairie was ferociously hot during the summer and
bitingly cold throughout the winter season. Creatures that flourished here
would be as hostile and tough as the land.

The fairy’s green skin and red hair named her a
descendant of the old bloodlines. Rare. Delicate. Better suited to the
temperate tranquillity of the forests and crisp beauty of the woods.

Yet here she stood among the low shrubs and coarse
grasses defiantly aiming an arrow at my neck as the pungent scent of shifter
wafted up my nostrils and tickled the back of my throat making my gag reflex
work double time.

No doubt the female could draw, notch and release
arrow before the earlier projectile skewered her intended mark. I’d witnessed
decapitation by arrows fired from her bow.
Does
she know who I am?
The steely look of distain casting a heartless edge to
her soft features hinted she might.
An
archer of aptitude,
but
difficult to appreciate when you’re a
potential recipient of the masterful skill.

“No,” I drawled in belated response to her demand
and motioned lazily at the rippling plains around us beneath smoky blue skies.
“I choose to stay.”

She widened her stance and brought the loaded
weapon perpendicular to the ground, fluidly drawing back her string elbow. Her
body relaxed, languid in readiness. The anchor point was uniquely not her cheek,
but her sharply pointed ear.

Her slow exhale, and a slight squint of slanted
eyes gave her away.

Such admirable force expelled when she relaxed her
fingers. The upper and lower limbs of the bow wobbled as the string twanged,
loosing tension, and the arrow shaft curved to slither past its rest. The
fletching clipped her finger sending the arrow into a spin-in-flight.

The projectile was on target to lance my neck.

My breathing slowed as I adjusted my footing. My
focus narrowed to nothing but the deadly arrow whistling through the air.

I snatched it from its path and let it fall
harmlessly to the ground. I spun to dodge the second, my cloak whipping out
behind me. It missed tearing through my jugular by a hair. The sneaky third
grazed my carotid. I disintegrated the forth arrow whilst sending the hellion
airborne with a rashly conjured burst of offensive magics.

Keyed up, my destructive nature ever spoiling for a
challenge, I was quite energized, if a smidgen contrite I’d hit her so hard.

I stiffened.

Since when
do I care if I harm a fairy?

The werepanther tackled me with the intention of
ripping my throat out.

I’d been aware of its progress since I’d slowed my
skimming to take stock of my journey’s progress.

Using the ancient technique, I’d traversed two full
day’s worth of travel in one, and though tiring, I swiftly recovered.

Consequently, the shifter leaping at me managed to
wrap its maw around my forearm, but not the flesh it truly desired. Razor-sharp
teeth tore into my arm attempting to maul the limb into pulp. His paws clawed
at me in frenzy, scratching deep furrows into my thighs that welled with blood.

I lost my temper and wrestled him to the ground.
If I’m not mistaken, I restrain an
Alpha. How timely.

“Stop.” The fairy was on her knees, arrow notched,
and fearful expression creasing in pure terror. Not for herself, but the
creature abruptly pliant beneath my hand at the sound of her voice. “Do not
kill him.”

“You must realise if I’d come to slay you, you’d
already be dead?” At her panicked lip licking, I decided the shifter would show
better sense then the fairy. “I’m going to release you,” I murmured. “Attack
unprovoked and I will kill her then you. My generosity stretches only so far.
Do not push me. I am sure to break.”

With a final warning hiss, I let go.

The Alpha growled as he rolled away, gained his
paws, and lowered threateningly. His tail cracked side to side. The green of
his eyes blazed anger and eerily glowed.

I know
those eyes.

“
We’ve fought before.” At ease, I straightened,
confident I’d come closer to achieving my goal.
“
You know my sister.”

The shifter snarled.

Whiskers quivering, its face wrinkled as it bared
pink gums and teeth.

I chuckled at the animal equivalent of, “Go to
hell,” and brushed loose sward from my tunic. It needed replacing. The rich
fabric looked shabby. “I don’t have time for this. I remember you, and you no
doubt recall who I am. You want to hear what I have to say.” I gave him an easy
smile. “Trust me.”

Head cocking, the shifter’s ears twitched.

“Alec.” The censure in the fairy’s voice irked me.

“Rae’s in trouble,” I said, brusque, annoyed I had
to rush before they forced my hand into making good on my threat. “The Loa have
her.”

The shifter began to Change. I grimaced and averted
my eyes.

Sometimes
nature’s concept of beauty can be so twisted.

Retching, I painstakingly ignored the gruesome
popping and cracking sounds of the shifter transforming from animal to human,
but the fairy watched enraptured. She shivered when the intense heat from his
body warmed the surrounding air, and the smell of musk and magics thickened,
overwhelming the moist fragrance of the grasslands.