Flame and Starlight by Dana Isaly
Chapter Twenty-Five
I paced the library with Emric sitting on a chair, legs over the arm, carving out pieces of an apple.
“You’ll wear a path in that rug.”
I sighed and plopped down heavily on a chair near the window. The sun was starting to set, letting the stars swirl and mingle in the darkened sky. I could feel his stare on me.
“He’s fuming. I can feel it from here.”
“Just as I’m sure he can feel your rotten mood wherever he is.” He popped another piece of apple into his mouth and smiled at my scowl. “Careful, your face might freeze like that.”
“I was just trying to come up with a solution to our problem without there having to be a war.”
“And why do you think there would be a war? You’ve got quite an inflated sense of self-worth there, Wheezy.” I flipped him off, and he laughed, sitting the core of the apple down on the stand. “Look, Ash didn’t make this decision on his own. He spoke to all of his advisors, he spoke to me and I took it to my men, and he spoke to every single Fae that works in this place. Everyone knows what happened to him as a boy. They know what happened to his mother. No one wished that on you. And, shocking as it may be, everyone respects him as a leader and therefore respects his decisions.”
“But if I left and went to the Autumn Court on my own, it would save a lot of stress. And maybe lives.” I laid my head back and closed my eyes. “I’m trying not to be a damsel in distress. I am trying to fix my own problems.”
“This isn’t your problem, Alys. You didn’t ask for that bastard to go off and sleep with someone to produce you. This problem is literally a product of someone else making bad decisions and being an overall bad person.”
“I wish Asher hadn’t brought himself into it. He would be much happier with someone that didn’t need constant protecting.”
“You speaking for him isn’t fair. You make him happy. End of story.” I looked at him as he stood and tied his hair back. “Don’t go running away. It would destroy him. And I’m not sure he could come back from it.” He walked over and kissed me on the top of my head. He laid a hand on my shoulder, and I squeezed it with my own. “None of us want to see you leave.”
“Okay” was all I could say. I still wasn’t convinced.
“Anyway, now that you’re back, we can start training again. Let’s get that power of yours under control, yeah?”
“See you tomorrow morning, Em.”
He gave my shoulder a final squeeze and then left me alone with my thoughts.
I stared out the window until the sun had completely set and it was just the stars lighting the sky. It was almost a full moon. I wondered if he looked forward to escorting the souls into Summerland or if I had put him into such a foul mood he wouldn’t even be able to enjoy that. I groaned and laid my head back. I had half expected him to come find me at some point and try to make up. My stubbornness wanted it to be him that made that first move.
I could feel him out in the castle somewhere, skulking and moody. I wasn’t sure when it had happened, me being able to feel his emotions without touching him, but they rolled through my body like thunder. His shadows, thinner now than they had been, lay flat against my skin, like even they were mad at me.
“If I leave,” I said aloud to them, “it would make everyone’s lives here much simpler. Your master would get over my loss eventually. He’s basically immortal. There are plenty more opportunities out there.” I ran my finger down my arm, watching the shadows part. I looked out the window one last time, taking in the snowy mountain view, before standing and stretching. “Don’t reach for a savior. Reach for a knife.”
I walked past the apple core Emric had left sitting on the stand and rolled my eyes as I picked it up to throw away. As I did, a small piece of paper fluttered from the stand to the floor. I picked it up and unfolded it.
2am. Training room.
I crumpled the note up and threw it in the fire. It had to have been left by Emric. Did he leave me a note because he was too worried someone would overhear him? Was he going to help me leave? Maybe he wasn’t so keen on my being here as he let on. My heart sank a bit at the revelation, but it just confirmed everything I had been thinking: I had worn out my welcome.
* * *
I sat on my bed, fully dressed, after Mavka left me for the night, staring into the fire. The nerves were restless in my body. I had tried to find Asher before I went to my room for the night, but I couldn’t track him down. That made the pit in my stomach even larger and darker. I was sure he would be able to feel how desperate I was to see him through the stupid GPS tracker, but maybe he was just too angry to care.
I bit my lip, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall again. I looked around my bedroom, taking in all the now familiar things about it. I would miss the comforts afforded to me here. Gods knew what I would be met with at the Autumn Court. I didn’t know if I would be thrown in a cell or given a room. Based on everything Asher had told me about this man that was supposedly my father, I would not be greeted with kindness. My expectations were low.
I checked the clock on the wall. It was almost five minutes to two. I stood, took one more look around my room, and, ignoring the dread seeping through my veins, left. I wondered if Asher would feel something was different, wrong. I wondered if he would be able to tell I was leaving. And I wondered when the last wispy shadows would finally leave me and run back to him. Would he notice? Or I guess the real question was when would he notice? And what would he do when he did?
In my fighting leathers and boots, dagger strapped to my thigh, I made my way down the halls as quietly as I could. This time of night, everyone would be asleep, but I didn’t want to take the chance of waking anyone. The long walk to the training room was dark and drafty. Muscle memory got me to the training room on time.
I opened the door slowly and peered in. Even with my Fae sight, it was difficult to see through the shadows.
“Em?” I whispered into the darkness. I walked in and closed the door, walking to the center of the room. I could sense someone lurking against the walls. “Hello?”
Before I could even think to move, a curved dagger wrapped itself around my throat. “Hi there, princess,” a woman’s voice murmured low into my ear. Her emotions flooded into me. So much hate in one person had my head swimming.
“Who are you?”
“She’s with me.” Aoife stepped out of the darkness, her hair a glowing halo of fire tied in knots atop her head. Her emerald eyes glowed in the darkness. She lifted her hand in front of her, and flames glowed at her fingertips, lighting the small space between the three of us.
“Interesting that you talk of peace and yet bring someone to hold me at knifepoint, sister.” I spat the last word at her feet. “Where’s Emric?”
“I didn’t trust your power to not throw me across the room again, so forgive me the precaution of bringing Theia. Emric set up this little get-together, but he prefers to not get his hands dirty.”
“Someone’s hands are going to get dirty?” I asked. “I thought you were coming to retrieve your sister, not a hostage.”
She closed the distance between us with a few long strides. Gods, I could’ve cried with how much I realized I missed her sweet face. Her eyes softened.
“I am still your sister. And I still want you with me. But I won’t apologize for how I have to go about getting you.” The hand that wasn’t on fire reached up and cradled my face. The sheer amount of love in her touch nearly knocked me flat on the ground. Too much bare skin was on my own. My mind couldn’t handle the assault. “I’ve missed you.”
I bit my lip until I tasted blood against the raw pain in my throat. I turned my face out of her grasp.
“I hate to ruin this little reunion,” Theia said. “But we should probably get this mark off of her and go.”
“Mark?” I asked thickly.
“That mark on your shoulder is going to lead him right to us. And even though he will have his suspicions about where you went, I would really rather you both not have a direct link to each other.” Aoife dropped her hand from my face.
“And how do you intend to get it off of me?”
Theia grabbed both of my arms with her free arm and pulled them tight behind me. My shoulders screamed against the stretch. I tried to pull them back, but she was a vise grip. I really wished newer Fae ended up being physically stronger than older ones so that I could Bella Swan her ass.
“I’m going to burn it off, Alys,” she said, a vertical line of worry forming between her eyebrows. “It’s going to hurt. Badly.”
My stomach fell through my butt and hit the floor. “You don’t have to do this, Aoife.” Theia pushed the curve of the dagger closer to my throat. I felt a pinch and a slow trickle of blood roll down my neck.
“Oh, but she does, little one. Your mate is vengeful and hateful, and he will come for you.”
I swallowed and shuffled my feet, trying to get further away from the flame getting closer. But it was no use—Theia was like backing up into a brick wall.
Damn, this woman is built like a brick shit house.
“I’m so sorry, Alys.” Her flame-free hand covered my mouth, and the other lay flat against Asher’s dust on my shoulder. I screamed against her hand at the lightning-like pain and smell of charred skin. My magic flared to life under her touch, begging to release and get the fire away. Tears streamed down my face. Her fire burned against my shoulder and then up my neck.
My stomach rolled, and sweat broke out across my whole body. I felt my eyes light up, and if it scared Aoife, she didn’t let it show. My fingertips burned, and I knew…I just knew her touch had awakened the Autumn magick I had buried deep.
“Almost done,” she whispered.
My vision, wet and out of focus, picked up who I assumed was Theia across from me now. She was tall, lean, and tanned. She had deep brown hair tangled in braids that reminded me of a Viking, and her bright blue eyes surveyed me like I was a piece of meat. If I hadn’t just been assaulted by her, that heated look might have had me squirming in a different way. She was breathtakingly beautiful.
I shifted my eyes away from her and looked up into Aoife’s. She had my head laid on her lap, and she was stroking the tangled mess away from my face. I tried to reach for my neck, but she grabbed my hand and put it back down at my side.
“Best not touch it until it’s healed.”
“It’ll be a wicked scar,” Theia chimed in from across the carriage, a snide smile painted across her pretty lips.
“You scarred me?” I met Aoife’s eyes defiantly, and she looked out the window, away from me.
“Those things are near impossible to break unless the maker does it willingly. And your body fought harder than I expected it would.” She sighed and continued to play with my hair. I wanted to cut off her hands in that moment. Knuckle by fucking knuckle. “His shadows finally let you go once that was broken, though. And it seems your fire magick kicked in. Now you look like a proper Autumn High Fae.”
I pulled one of my hands up in front of my face, seeing the blackened skin trail down my fingers and snake around my wrists. My stomach twisted in disgust at the blackened skin. I pushed off Aoife’s lap, and she disentangled herself from me reluctantly.
“What’s next?” I asked either of them.
“We get you home,” Aoife said as she reached out to take my hand. I jerked it away at the last minute and laid my hands on my lap. Looking down at them, I noticed they had relieved me of the dagger Asher had given me. My heart skipped a beat. I had lost a lot of Asher in one day.
“I was home, Aoife. You’re taking me away from home. But believe what you want. I’m here because I wouldn’t let Asher fight my battles.”
Theia snorted, and I whipped my head around to her. She met my hard stare with a flippant smile.
“Don’t look at me like that, princess. I may get the wrong idea.” She winked at me, and I looked away from her and to Aoife. Her eyes were shining with unshed tears.
“You have me. Theron has me. Leave Asher and his court alone.”
She gave a slight nod and looked to Theia as I decided to ignore them both for the rest of our travels.
I missed the shadows on my skin. My neck and shoulder felt lighter knowing I was missing that connection to Asher. I wondered what he would think when he realized I was gone, if he hadn’t already. Would he find out that Emric was the one that helped me? I prayed to the Gods he wouldn’t. If he knew Emric had been the one to help, he would kill him. Slowly.
I’m so sorry, I called out in my mind. But I knew he couldn’t hear me. The absence of him racked through my body like an earthquake, shaking the very core of me. He would hate me. But him hating me alive was much better than him loving me into an early grave. I took a deep breath to steady my nerves as the carriage rattled on.
Reach for a knife, Alys, not a savior.
