The Girl With Red Hair (The Last War Saga Book 1) (28 page)

She rubbed her eyes as if she’d just woken from a long nap. “Jaydan,” she said sleepily.

“Yeah, Addy?”

“What’s a pecker? And why did the man put it in the honey hole?”

Sachihiro coughed and sat back on his heels. Alexander glared at him, but let out a quiet sigh of relief. She was alive. That was good enough for now.

Jaydan clapped Sachihiro on the back. “I was wrong, Sach. Maybe you
could
charm Tannyl with that new lute you got.”

“Heh. Not even sure how I did it. Just felt… right.”

“I’m just glad it worked. Another squirrel wouldn’t have been much help.”

Alexander scowled at both of the men and turned back to Adelaide. She wiggled into a sitting position and yawned loudly. “Addy, do you remember what happened?”

She frowned at Alexander and then rolled her eyes. “Of course I remember. A giant flying turtle is hard to forget.”

“Anything else?”

“We danced,” she said with a smile, glancing at Sachihiro and then back to Alexander. “Why are you asking such silly questions? Are you losing your memories, Alexander? Miss Hastings said that can happen when folk get old and wrinkly. But you’re not wrinkly yet.”

Alexander looked at Sachihiro, who was grinning like a fool. “What did you do to her?” he whispered.

He shrugged. “Just a charm, like I said.”

“But she doesn’t remember.”

Sachihiro tugged at his beard. “Is that such a bad thing?”

Alexander turned and smiled at Adelaide. “Wait here just a bit, Addy, all right?”

She nodded and began adjusting her boots, tying and retying the laces. Alexander stood and dragged Sachihiro aside by his elbow. Jaydan followed without being asked.

“I’ve got to agree with Sach,” Jaydan said. “Whatever she just did… might be best if she can’t recall.”

Alexander massaged his temples. “Do you know what she did?”

“Uh, well, not exactly. Magic of some sort. If I could get a sample of her blood, perhaps I—”

“No,” Alexander said, with enough force to set his throat on fire again. “Clearly, she doesn’t know what’s happening to her. First, she protects us from those shadowy things, and can’t remember, and now this. She could have hurt someone. Or herself.”

“Well, I, for one, don’t blame her,” Sachihiro said.

Jaydan nodded. “What are we going to do about Tannyl?”

Alexander felt his pulse quicken. “I’d like to track him down and punish him like the spoiled child he is,” he said. “But Addy’s our main concern, and if he wants to leave, then the problem solves itself.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Sachihiro said.

“You don’t agree?”

Sachihiro looked at Jaydan. The smaller man rolled his eyes. “Look,” Jaydan said, turning to Alexander. “We understand she’s just a little girl, but there’s some weird shit going on with her. And I don’t just mean her magic ability that she keeps forgetting. It can’t be coincidence that Woodhaerst was destroyed just before she appeared like she did
in the middle of our forest. And it can’t be simple chance that those shadow creatures invaded Paladrix the night we arrived, attacking her first. And then in the roses—”

Alexander cut him off with a wave of his hand. His head was pounding. “I know. Don’t think I didn’t have that same thought. Are you saying we don’t help her? You going to suggest we just leave her like Tannyl wanted to from the beginning? Someone or some
thing
is trying to kill her.”

Jaydan shook his head. “Certainly not. I care about her just the same as you. Sach too.” Sachihiro nodded vigorously. “I’m just saying we need to be careful. There’s clearly some bad shit going down in both our world and the Fae’s, and Adelaide is right in the middle of it. And that means we are too.”

Alexander looked back at Adelaide. She had fixed her boots and seemed to be testing them out, leaping from one spot to another. Jaydan was right, he knew. But Adelaide wasn’t the only one who found herself with new abilities and no knowledge of how or why. He had replayed the battle in the roses over and over again in his mind, but had yet to come up with an explanation. He shouldn’t have been able to move so quickly. His glaive shouldn’t have shone like it did. He didn’t even know how to properly fight. He was a farmer, not a fighter. The glaive he carried wasn’t even his. It was his father’s. He’d never touched it until the day he had left home.

Something had happened when he fell. One didn’t survive such a fall, and memories didn’t just vanish like that. He couldn’t explain the new fighting ability any more than the connection he felt with Adelaide. It was more than a simple need to protect a child. He knew what that felt like. This was something more. He felt
bonded
to her. He knew if he failed her, truly failed her, then his own life would simply cease to exist. There was no choice. Not anymore.

“Whatever is going on,” he said, his mind made up, “is happening
to
her, not
because
of her.”

The others nodded slowly. “What do you suggest, then?” Jaydan asked.

“We find out,” he replied. “And we stop it.”

“Uh huh…” Sachihiro said.

He could read the doubt on his face. “She says she was told to go to Wolverhampton, to see Thiladir. She thinks he can help her. Maybe he has answers. We continue on that way.”

“And if Thiladir is the problem?” Sachihiro asked.

“Then it’s like I said, we
fix
it.”

The ride down the lift was a long one, but to Tannyl it felt like an eternity. He couldn’t get his senses to function or his body to move. His sense of time vanished as well. And his thoughts slowed to nothing. He doubted even death could cure the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. Betrayer, monster; he was both.

The lift shook when it reached the ground on the outskirts of Vylarra, shocking Tannyl to life again. He took an automatic step forward and collapsed. He landed on his knees, but managed to stay upright. He looked at his hand. It was shaking. It didn’t seem a part of him.
I should cut it from my body,
he thought. But it had been the only way. He couldn’t put them in danger. It wasn’t their penance to pay. That knowledge did nothing to still his hand.

He stood and looked back at Vylarra. Nothing but rough bark stretched in all directions. He knew they were thousands of feet above him, hidden by the canopy, but he could imagine how they felt. How he had
made
them feel. It set his teeth to grinding. He hated it just as much, if not more, than they. An earned hatred. And not one that could be erased.

“Stop thinking like that,” he whispered. “This is for Fae’Na, not them, and not yourself. Damn them.”

It took some time to accept it and even longer to coerce his feet into moving. But in the end, he had nowhere to go but forward.

Nearby, two elk were tied to a tree. Tannyl scanned the surrounding forest. It was as dark as it was quiet. He untied one of the elk, mounted, and steered it along the path he knew by heart. The moon did little to light the way in the thick Fae forest, but it didn’t matter—the elk responded to his emotions and desires. And there was only one thing on his mind.

Chapter Thirty-Two

SACHIHIRO LOOKED AT the others, scratching his head. Alexander urged him on with a stiff nod. Jaydan shook his head in that exasperated way.

He turned back to the figure and the giant green gemstone. The glowing stone towered over them, but as bright as it was, he didn’t have to squint. The figure had two hairy hands pressed to the stone, its back to them. Billowing robes covered its body, embroidered with vines and star-shaped leaves. No way was it human.

Sachihiro cleared his throat and stuck out his chest. “Sir,” he said, stage voice in full effect. “Or madam. We’re looking for Opis.”

The figure didn’t move. He heard Jaydan sigh from behind him. Farther away, Adelaide continued to skip about, singing softly to herself.

“They obviously can’t hear,” Jaydan said. “Or they would have reacted after the third time you said that exact thing.”

“Well, you try it then,” Sachihiro said in a huff. “I’m doing my best. Maybe we can find someone else to ask.”

Jaydan gestured around him. The upper level of Vylarra was immense, spanning thousands of feet in all directions, but there was no one else to be seen. In fact, as far as Sachihiro could tell, Vylarra was completely empty. He hadn’t heard or seen anyone else since arriving. He presumed there was much more of the city in the lower levels, but
someone
should have been nearby.

“Just give him a poke,” Jaydan suggested.

“Fine,” Sachihiro said, too tired and hungry to argue. The sooner they spoke with the All-Mother, the sooner they could leave the Fae Wyld. And as fantastical as the world was, it made Sachihiro uneasy. And homesick.

He walked up to the figure and tapped him aggressively on the shoulder. “Excuse me. We really need—”

The figure whirled about and sent Sachihiro sprawling onto his back. He rolled aside and leapt to his feet, hand going to his short sword. A fur-covered face looked back at him, beady eyes blinking fast.

“Oh my,” the figure exclaimed, quickly looking at Sachihiro and his companions. “How rude of me. I trust you were not waiting long.”

Sachihiro relaxed, but kept his hand on the hilt of his sword. Alexander stepped forward and bowed.

“Greetings,” he said. “Are you Opis?”

The furry creature wiggled his pointed ears and crossed his arms, tapping his shoulders with his paws. “The very Vartaw.”

“Uh, Vartaw?” Sachihiro asked. “Is that what you are?”

Opis nodded.

Sachihiro was about to say more, but was pushed aside by a tiny hand. He narrowly avoided falling as Adelaide raced by. She skidded to a halt in front of Opis, eyes wide.

“So fuzzy,” she said in awe, reaching a hand toward the Vartaw. “You look like a giant, fluffy, warm, snuggly kitty!” She began bouncing up and down.

Opis cocked his head to the side, studying the girl. Sachihiro had to admit Opis
did
look like a cat. Sort of.

Opis tapped his shoulders again. “I’ve never once met a cat that was not in terrible envy over the softness of my coat,” he said with a wink.

Adelaide hopped closer. Alexander stepped forward and pulled her arm back. She whirled on him, scowling. “I just want to pet the kitty, Alexander.”

“Addy, he’s not a kitty. He’s a… what was it?”

“Vartaw,” Sachihiro said.

“Right,” Alexander said.

Adelaide turned back to Opis, who was watching the whole exchange with vivid fascination. “Mr. Opis, may I
please
pet your belly? I’ll be ever so gentle. Promise.” She shot Alexander a side-eyed glare.

This is the girl who was going to kill Tannyl?
Sachihiro thought, shaking his head. He didn’t know what made him more uneasy, Adelaide’s unknown power or her ability to become a naïve child seemingly on whim.

“What a joyous little creature,” Opis said.

Before anyone could say more, Adelaide pounced. Opis’s robes were tied at his waist, but his chest was largely exposed. She seized the thick fur with both hands and laid her head against the barrel-chested Vartaw with a blissful smile.

“So soft,” she mused, massaging the dense brown fur.

Sachihiro glanced at Alexander, sensing the man’s unease. He looked ready to pounce himself, though with glaive and not bare hands. Sachihiro stepped beside him and put an arm around the lanky man and gave him a jostle.

“Relax,” Sachihiro said, and nodded at the pair before them. Opis was shaking with laughter, stomping a heavy foot. Adelaide was giggling as well, looking entirely at peace. “The big cat seems all right, and look how happy she is.”

“I know,” Alexander said. “I can’t help it.”

“Enough,” Opis sputtered. “I can’t breathe!”

Adelaide relented and stepped back, but she kept her hands raised, ready to pounce again. Her eyes gleamed and her hair was wild, frazzled by Opis’s thick fur. Alexander stepped up and rested a hand on Adelaide’s shoulder again. She didn’t resist and fell against his side.

“Please excuse Addy here,” he said. “Sometimes she gets carried away.”

“I do not,” Adelaide protested, but she remained pressed against Alexander, breathing heavily, a feral look in her eyes.

The bond between the two was undeniable. Sure, Alexander was overprotective, even suffocating at times, but it was clear how much the two cared for each other. Sachihiro was glad Alexander had happened upon their group, even if his appearance had been just as mysterious as Addy’s. He couldn’t deny that, but unlike Tannyl, the paranoia didn’t paralyze him. He could appreciate the care Alexander took with Adelaide. Sachihiro wasn’t so jaded as to think he and Jaydan could handle the impetuous girl by themselves. Not that he shirked responsibility, but he certainly wasn’t going to take on any he didn’t have to.