The Day Human King (16 page)

Devin led the way into the palace, to where he was sure Nessa would be anxiously waiting. She had to have known by now who Devin invited, but she was silent across the bond.

“Is everything like this?” Turner asked as he stopped. Devin turned back around.

“Like what?” Devin asked in return. He didn’t know what Turner was talking about.

“This,” Turner said as he kicked the dirt ground. It was well-tread and patted down solidly, but it was still a dirt path inside of the palace.

Devin smiled and nodded. It had seemed strange to him also when he’d first arrived, but now he didn’t even notice. The natural world around him was just that now: the world around him.

“Yes, hence the reason I needed Mori’s help. Do you think they have any real scientific equipment around here?” Devin replied, and Turner nodded in agreement. Devin opened the door to Nessa’s room.

Devin walked in, surprised to find Nessa not in the main room. He looked to the side and the open doorway to discover the cause: Ronan was finally awake. Devin went straight to where Nessa was sitting on one side of Ronan, and Gemma on the other side of her brother. Turner stayed in the doorway.

“Hey, Devin,” Ronan called to him as Devin entered. “Thanks for the save.”

Devin shook his head. Ronan seemed completely healed from the poison and back to good spirits. He was talking like Devin just made a play in a game, not that his life was in the balance or anything.

“Sorry about the toes,” Devin replied. He was truly sorry he couldn’t get the poison completely out of him. Ronan was a good guy, and Devin felt like he had maimed the young man, even if it was just a few toes to save his life. “It was take the toes, or let the poison take you. I really didn’t want to have to do that, but your father assured me that the poison wouldn’t come out no matter what I tried.”

“Ahh, I was thinking just the other day that I could do without a few toes. I don’t need to count to twenty, anyway. Besides, it makes me more mysterious,” Ronan joked. Nessa hit his shoulder as he laughed.

“You are supposed to be resting,” she complained. Gemma nodded, her face laced with concern.

“I have been resting. What do you call sleeping all day?” Ronan replied, nudging Nessa to make her fall off the bed.

Nessa stood up and dusted herself off, finally looking at Devin in the process. Her stare quickly turned to Turner in the doorway. She hadn’t noticed who Devin had brought into the village after all. Devin was thankful that Ronan recovered and could be such a good distraction.

“I take it this is the help you called in?” Nessa asked.

Gemma and Ronan also looked past Devin now. Gemma blushed and glanced back at her brother. Devin was sure he was the first non-sidhe she had met, and now Turner was the second.

“Brought friends to play? I’m passed out for just a day and you have to replace me,” Ronan said, pretending to be hurt.

Devin shook his head, glad that Ronan was obviously going to be completely fine.

“This is Turner,” Devin introduced him for Gemma and Ronan. “He’s a lycan, and I figured would be my best help in finding the assassins.”

“Any help is appreciated,” Ronan replied, still in good spirits. “I only have eight toes left, so I can’t get hit too many more times. It probably would be better to get someone with more toes.” This time Gemma hit her brother. Ronan only laughed.

“Glad to see you’re fine,” Devin told Ronan before turning to leave with Turner.

Nessa follow Devin into the living room.

“Are you leaving again?” she asked.

Devin hated to worry her, but he needed to find out who the assassins were. He was sure they weren’t done, and when they came back, Nessa would probably be at the top of the hit list. He turned to her and took her hands in his own.

“I promise to be safe,” Devin replied. “And I’m sorry to say it again, but I just need you to stay here safe as well. No matter what Ronan says, keep him here, too. You three are the last left in your family. You could all be targets.”

Nessa nodded. She could tell, even without the bond, that he was filled with concern to the point that she couldn’t argue.

When Devin opened the door to the apartment, Turner stepped outside. However, Nessa didn’t let go of Devin’s other hand; she dragged him back to her.

“You stay safe, also,” she replied, pulling him down for a brief kiss.

As he moved back, Devin smiled, and thought that he could get used to the worried Nessa. Worried Nessa was actually a bit easier to deal with. She smiled as his thought crossed the bond even though he hadn’t meant for it to.

“Both of you be safe,” Nessa said, looking to Turner. “Welcome to my messed up home, by the way.”

“Messed up?” Turner asked. “They seem like a loving bunch, all willing to kill each other off. What’s family if there isn’t any drama?” Turner winked at Nessa, and she nodded in reply. Drama was what the sidhe were all about. “Don’t worry about your lover here.” Devin smacked Turner on the back as he talked to Nessa because things weren’t like that yet. “I’ll keep him safe.”

Nessa shut the door behind them, and Devin didn’t look back. He didn’t need to since he could feel everything that Nessa was feeling. She really was worried. He thought it was silly, and if she saw how the sidhe completely ignored him she would stop. No one cared what, or where, the day human went. It gave him a sense of incognito at times, especially within the palace walls. The elite were particularly good at ignoring him, or even, for that matter, avoiding him. He wasn’t worried about the assassin attacking him; he was petrified because the attack had been made on the last of the McKinny ruling family. Nessa was going to be queen soon, but Ronan was second to her, and Gemma was probably third. Someone was trying their best to change the ruling structure of the sidhe, and Devin only knew one person that desperate. Nessa, Ronan, and Gemma would be fine if they stayed in Nessa’s room, and Devin sure hoped they would. His barrier would keep Nessa in because they were connected, but he was unsure if it would keep the others in.

“How long have the assassinations being going on?” Turner asked, following Devin through the hallways.

“Before we arrived, but I took care of the first ones,” Devin replied.

“First ones?”

“Yeah. It started out with just attempts on Nessa. It seems not everyone wants her to be queen. Yesterday it moved on to attempts on everyone,” Devin added. “What better way to stop a coronation than to make everyone afraid to come?”

“Guests are backing out?” Turner asked.

“No, not yet. We haven’t told anyone outside of the palace.” Devin turned again, taking them further away from Nessa, and back out the way they came.

“You’re hoping you can catch this one before people arrive?” Turner asked, and Devin nodded. “When do people arrive?”

“Tomorrow, mid-day,” Devin answered. He knew that it didn’t give him much time, but he couldn’t help it. They needed to find the assassin, and there was nothing he could do about the time table.

Turner stopped in his tracks. “We have less than twenty-four hours to find one or more assassins with a deadly poison that requires you to chop off toes to save a person?”

“Just about, but I’d like it to be faster than twenty-four hours. You know, quick enough that the person doesn’t kill anyone else.”

“There are already some dead?” Turner asked as they stepped out into the courtyard and exited the palace through the same door they’d entered.

Devin began to lead Turner around the palace walls again. Soon they passed by the village and were on the complete opposite side of the palace. Turner’s line of thought was now fully on the mission.

“Yes,” Devin finally answered. “The sidhe don’t think too much of me, and a few are too proud to ask me to save their people when they are poisoned. At first it was easy to save them, but it’s been getting harder. Hence the removal of toes. But it worked, so I know I can if needed.”

“You can take poison out of people now? Cool new super power?” Turner deduced.

“Yes, cool new super power,” Devin replied. The pathway they turned on was lit by iridescent plants that glowed in the dark night, lighting the way into the trees.

Turner walked behind Devin as he led them both further down the trail. It ended at a large, open cave. Devin hadn’t been into the upper caves. His only foray into the sidhe crypt was down below only days ago, where he woke and met the former sidhe king. However, he had heard Nessa and Finn talking about the upper caves. He had traces of memories that went along with his new powers as well. Somehow, he knew exactly where to go. They walked further into the strangely lit cave, and Devin chose each turn. When they finally entered the last cavern, Devin saw the bodies of the recently dead sidhe laid out for everyone to view, and the most recent was closest to the entrance.

“This was the first one we lost,” Devin explained, passing the younger bodies and stopping at the old man he’d never really met. “He was poisoned the same time as Nessa, along with these two.”

Turner came closer. He bent down by the older man, but quickly backed up to sneeze. He tried again with the younger men and did the same. He looked closer at them without getting too close the third time and shook his head.

“Too much magic. It covers the scent. I can’t pick up anything from them,” Turner explained.

Devin nodded, as he had been afraid that would be the case. Sidhe magic covered up most everything, and therefore Devin didn’t doubt that it covered scent, too. It might be nice for the sidhe to have their dead to visit for a year after their initial entombment, but it wasn’t good for an investigation. No wonder the sidhe fought amongst themselves, and they continued to kill at the drop of a hat. They never knew the truth, and there was no way to find out. Another thing to change.

Nessa paced around
the room as she waited. It was great that Ronan woke and was actually in good spirits after losing his toes, but she wanted to know more of what was going on, and what Devin was finding as he investigated. The bond between Nessa and Devin was as strong as ever, but she still didn’t like to use it; Devin was the type of person that would share with her when he was ready. She trusted that if he found out more he would tell her, but she still worried. She had been poisoned, her cousins poisoned, and many more. Why wouldn’t the person target Devin, too? Why did Devin feel confident that he was fine?

They had the new assassinations to deal with, and more would die unless they found out who it was … and soon. Because of this, it was beginning to seem like delaying the coronation would be the best route. However, that would give Maureen exactly what she wanted: more time to convince everyone to give the crown to Fiona’s unborn child. The coronation had to go as planned, or else the sidhe would turn to fighting to decide what to do with Fiona and her child. Devin thought it was easily over, but it wasn’t. Maureen was never going to give up. Therefore, they needed to deal with the assassins and have the coronation immediately.

Nessa walked over to the only window in the room and gazed out. People went about their daily business, none of them afraid of the new assassins, but they should have been. Nessa continued to watch, and found that she didn’t recognize a single face of the people passing in the courtyard; they were all servants and commoners. Maybe that was why they weren’t afraid … not a single one was elite. She was sure all of the targets were elite for a reason. Nessa envied their freedom just a bit. They were allowed to marry for love, able to choose their life and jobs. They had all of the choices Nessa never given.

What Nessa needed was a plan in order to save the remaining elite and allow the coronation to go forward. She had survived the poison once already, and with Devin around, she didn’t fear it as much as he did. Yes, the poison had changed, and yes it hurt to be poisoned, but he had still saved Gemma and Ronan. She needed to do something, and if she was really the target, wouldn’t it be easy to set a trap? Nessa began to picture it in her mind. If Devin would just let his guard down for a few minutes, she might be able to sneak out to the courtyard. She knew the palace better than he did. She could stay away from him, hopefully for enough time for the assassin to find her and try to poison her again. If she could draw the assassin out, Devin would be able to find out who was doing it, and stop it before the other sidhe arrived.

Nessa paced again, thinking of how to exactly go about distracting Devin, and ended up in her bedroom. When the door to her apartment opened, she rushed back out just as Devin and Turner entered.

“You can use the room over there,” Devin said, directing Turner to the second, and empty, guest room.

“Did you find anything?” Nessa asked before Turner could leave.

“Yeah, when they depict fairies in movies and books with fairy dust, I know where they got that from. You guys dust everything with your sidhe magic, and it stinks,” Turner replied and added two sneezes to emphasize his reaction to the magic. “I couldn’t get a clean scent off of a single body. They were too covered in fairy dust.”

Nessa had very little time in the outside world to know what Turner was talking about, but Devin was grinning; therefore, he understood and probably agreed completely with him. She was unsure if it was an insult or compliment, but let Turner walk away without asking more, even though she didn’t understand.

“How is Ronan?” Devin asked as Turner shut the door to the room and headed off to the bathroom.

“Sleeping,” Nessa replied, still unsure if fairy dust was a bad or good description.

Devin looked into the first guest room and could see Ronan on the bed. He nodded, and Nessa couldn’t help but smile. Devin sincerely cared about her family. He could be a bit of an overprotective pain, but Nessa counted him as family. That much would never change.

“And you?” Devin asked, turning back to her.

“Me?” Nessa asked, confused.

“How are you doing with all of this?” Devin took her hand and pulled her toward their bedroom.

“What do you mean?” Nessa asked. She was confused by the worry that was dripping off him.