Opening my eyes and staring into his, they reflect absolute certainty that I’ll follow his orders and return with him. As his captive for the last few months, I had done my best to act like I was one of them, a Gancanagh, in order to survive. But now, I’m no longer his hostage. Now, I have a chance of staying with Reed. Moistening my lips that have become very dry, I say, “I can’t come with you, Brennus. I’m sorry.”
“Why na?” he asks me patiently, like he has all the time in the world to sort this out.
“Because my family needs me and I need them,” I reply, seeing his brows turn down as his mouth slants into a frown.
“We are yer family, mo chroí. Ye’re our queen,” he says calmly enough, but his pale face looks stern. “I am yer king.”
I shake my head at him, taking a step back from the edge of the water and from his outstretched hand. My heart is beating so fast now that it’s pounding in my ears. “I belong here, with them…with him,” I say quietly, watching Brennus’ frown turn into the darkest anger. A click sounds from Brennus as his retractable fangs shoot forward in his mouth and he bares their razor-sharp points menacingly.
“Ye would leave me alone wi’ whah I feel for ye? I would die for ye. Is dat na enough for ye ta see dat I love ye?” he asks, sounding wounded and hurt.
“I know that you love me, Brennus. I even know that you would protect me with your life if I’d let you, but I can’t let you. I can’t be with you,” I say, feeling tears coming to my eyes.
“Ye can and ye will,” he retorts, reaching out to take my arm. His fingers pass right through me, leaving a frigid gust of air where his hand had been. Amazed, I look at his face, seeing his frustration.
“You’re a clone…a spell,” I breathe, looking at him. “You’re not really here!”
“Ye’re surprised?” he asks, losing a little of his anger as he sees my astonished expression. “Ye live wi’ an extraordinary craitur, such as yerself, for long enough, ye learn a ting or two. ’Tis a spell, Genevieve. I liked whah ye can do wi’ yer clones… da images of yerself dat ye create. I tought I would try it meself. Do ye want ta see more?” he asks, but he doesn’t wait for me to answer as he casts his hands in waves about us.
A rippling echo of energy billows out around us. Murky forms of Gancanagh begin emerging from the depths of the sea and striking out in legions onto the beach. These undead Faeries swarm around us, looking very real beneath the light of the moon. Fear and anger sweep through me, seeing the army he would bring down upon me, but I try to hide it as I say, “They’re not here either.”
“Na yet,” he replies darkly. “Do na make me bring dem ta fetch ye back ta me. I tought we had gotten past dis. Chasing ye is beginning ta take a toll on me, mo chroí. I do na know how ta make ye understand dat ye are me heart. Wi’out ye I do na exist…and wi’out me, ye will na exist.”
“So you’re saying that if I don’t come back to you, you’ll kill me?” I ask him, feeling cold inside.
“I will bleed ye dry,” he threatens, showing me his gleaming, white fangs. His image leans closer to my neck, allowing icy air to radiate near me. Remembering the gut-wrenching pain of being bitten by him, I cringe.
“If you bite me, you’ll have nothing,” I retort, feeling betrayed by him. “I won’t drink your blood and become one of you.”
“I have nuting now! When I bite ye, ye’ll be Gancanagh,” he counters. “Me true queen. Ye’ll be unable to resist me blood.”
“No,” I reply, shaking my head. “I’ll refuse,” I say bravely, trying to mean every word.
Anger makes him sneer, “Ye may, and ye may na. I’m willing ta take dat chance.”
“Are you?” I ask, feeling like every word he ever spoke to me was a lie.
“I am,” he affirms, staring back at me with a predatory gaze.
“You’d give my soul to Sheol? To those monsters for eternity?” I ask him, feeling crushed. If I do drink his blood, then my soul will be surrendered to Sheol, to the fallen angels for eternity. I’ll die and be reborn an evil, undead creature…like him.
“If ye make me, I will,” he replies without a hint of doubt.
Russell’s voice interrupts us as he nears. “Brrrr, ya feel that, Red? Now that’s cold,” Russell says, swinging his five-iron to dispel the imaginary Gancanagh that Brennus has conjured on the beach.
As their sinister images ripple and fade away, Russell rests the golf club on his shoulder. When his tall frame towers over me, he doesn’t hesitate, but drops his club and engulfs me in his arms. Picking me up off my feet, he gives me a bone-crushing hug that takes my breath away.
“Russell,” his name escapes me like a prayer as I look into his chocolate-brown eyes. His tawny hair looks almost golden in the moonlight.
Russell grins broadly at me. “Ah, ya know I’ve been wantin’ to do that for so long, it hurts,” he admits, loosening his grip on me, but not putting me back on my feet. “Am I interruptin’ somethin’?” he asks, looking at Brennus’ livid face. “Ah, it’s the stalker again. I should’ve known, but yer stink is not so bad out here…maybe all y’all should move somewhere tropical,” he suggests in a smart-ass tone. Seeing Brennus’ eyebrows draw together, he adds, “I’m just sayin’.”
“Da other, I—” Brennus begins, using the name he has attached to Russell.
Russell holds up his hand. “Just one second, Brennus, ya total freak,” Russell says insultingly. “I just gotta get a little smackerel from my girl.”
Russell’s hand snakes up to weave in my hair at the base of my neck, while his lips press firmly to mine, kissing me with an intensity and longing that I’m not expecting. A low growl comes from Brennus, and an instant later, another growl answers his from Reed. Reed directed it at Brennus, I’m sure, but I push against Russell anyway, trying to make him stop kissing me. However, Russell is really freaking strong now, stronger than me, so I can’t budge him an inch.
When Russell ends the kiss, he looks into my eyes, like we’re alone and says, “I missed ya, Red.”
I touch my fingertips to my lips, feeling confused and overwhelmed. “I missed you, too,” I respond softly. We haven’t had much time alone together since I’d been rescued from Brennus’ estate in Ireland. Most of my time has been spent with Reed. There is still a lot left unsaid between my soul mate and me.
“Ya still here, Brennus?” Russell asks, not looking at him, but just at me. “Why don’t ya give up now? Go on and find someone else to haunt, ye creepy, dead bastard.”
“I will enjoy killing ye,” Brennus says intently.
“Well, that’s really easy to say, when yer not really here, isn’t it?” Russell replies, smiling into my eyes, like it’s a private joke between us. “Next time, ya should come in person…ya get more respect that way.”
“What are you doing,” I whisper to Russell, feeling fear wash over me at his provoking words.
“I’m pickin’ a fight I know I can win,” he replies with a cocky grin.
Looking at Brennus’ face and smiling unabashedly, Russell’s crimson, Seraphim wings stretch out menacingly from his body. They remind me of the fierce strength that Casimir showed with his.
Brennus turns his eyes to mine. “Do na hide from me, mo chroí, and do na make me come ta ye. I do na want ta make ye beg,” he says, ignoring both Reed and Russell as they growl at him.
My skin pales, feeling like my whole world is caving in on me. I feel as bad as I did in the cell in Houghton—when Brennus first tried to turn me into an undead monster like himself. No, I feel worse. I hated Brennus then. He was never my friend then. Now…it’s like Freddie all over again. I let him into my heart and he’s tearing it apart.
“Why are ya such a major tool, Brennus?” Russell asks, scowling as he puts me back on my feet.
“He can’t help himself, Russell,” Reed replies, holding his hand out for me to take. Taking it and holding it tight, I feel Russell reach out and take my other hand.
“Red,” Russell says, “just tell him that things weren’t working out, that he’s a really bad boyfriend. Tell him that it’s definitely not ya—it’s him,” Russell says, smirking at Brennus’ image.
The air around us is growing colder. I can feel it and see it as my breath makes smoky plumes.
“Open up yer eyes, mo shíorghrá,” Brennus warns me. “I’m coming closer and ye know whah I can do. When I find ye, ye had better be ready ta submit ta yer true family. Do ye need more tellin’?”
My hands are shaking, like he’s really here. Both Reed and Russell tighten their grip, feeling my fear.
“Come and die, Brennus,” Reed says, stepping between Brennus and me.
Brennus sizes up Reed, saying “I have one ting ta say ta ye. Cogadh.”
I pale at the word. It means “war.”
“Tuigim, Brennus,” Reed replies casually, saying “I understand.”
“Póg mo thóin,” Russell grins, telling Brennus to kiss his ass. “Now run along. I wanna talk to my girl.”
“Carnage. I like it,” Zephyr says from behind us, making me jump. “When will you get here? I grow tired of waiting.” Zephyr asks as the light-brown feathers of his angel wings ruffle in the ocean breeze.
“Soon,” Brennus replies coolly to Zephyr, not taking his light green eyes from mine.
“Don’t do this. Please,” I whisper to Brennus.
Brennus’ image nears me and it feels just like he’s here. “Ye’re such pretty pain, Genevieve. Beautiful poison.” he says as his eyes fill with the bitterest regret.
“Then let me go,” I beg him as a pain in my chest begins to ache.
“Why would I do dat when I enjoy pain…all types of pain?” he asks as his eyebrow rises in question. “Ye’ll be my lover and ye’ll learn all about pain, I promise ye.”
Russell growls. “Look at the dead guy trippin’, Zee,” Russell says with an undercurrent of menace in his tone “He must not know that we have more game than Mattel.”
“I was going to crash your party as soon as I found you, Brennus. Consider yourself invited to ours, if it’s more convenient,” Reed says lightly. “Just make it soon.”
“I will, aingeal,” Brennus replies to Reed, trying to keep his cool.
Gazing at me, the light from the moon causes Brennus’ black hair to shine with a silvery glow. “Ye were right…ye did end up doing me wrong. I gave ye everyting. Ye’ll spend eternity making dis up ta me,” Brennus whispers in my ear with the harshness of betrayal.
Turning, Brennus’ image begins walking away, back over the sea and into the frightening, black-cloud horizon. As he retreats across the frozen waves, one thing is clear to me: I believe him. Touching the onyx locket hanging from my neck with trembling fingers, I whisper, “He’s coming. We have to leave.”
Reed’s gentle voice interrupts my panicked thoughts as he says softly, “I will never let him have you again.”
The murky clouds roil back, receding and uncovering the night sky speckled with pinpoints of fire. Russell and Zephyr come nearer to us, lending me their support with their presence. Shivering in Reed’s arms, I drop Russell’s hand and huddle nearer to Reed, while the moon casts its light upon us.
“Still…we should go,” I reply with my hands shaking.
“We expected him to find us,” Reed remarks softly, stroking my wings. “You have his knife—”
“You knew he’d find me!” I frown, pulling back from him so that I can see his eyes.
“Yes,” Reed answers honestly. “The only thing I regret is that he didn’t really come here tonight. I would’ve felt him if he had, but since I’m not affected by his magic, I did not sense his shadowy presence. We put Russell on point to detect Brennus’ magic.
“I felt that cold freak all the way over on the other side of the island,” Russell says grimly.
“Why didn’t you tell me that his knife would lead him to me?” I ask Reed, feeling like I have just attended my own funeral.
Reed’s eyebrows draw together over his lovely green eyes. “I didn’t want to worry you, Evie,” Reed says with concern in his tone. “You have been through so much—”
“Yeah,” Russell chimes in. “We’ll take it from here.” He points his chin towards Reed and Zephyr.
“You don’t know Brennus, Russell,” I warn. “He’ll destroy himself to get me back.”
“Good!” Russell shoots back. “It’ll be his funeral—we’re ready for him and his army to come. I like the way ya stood up to him, though, tellin’ him ya weren’t goin’ with him. I thought maybe he still had ya wrapped ‘round his finger—”
“I’m not his slave,” I interject defensively.
“The last few weeks you were with him, ya acted like one of them,” Russell counters quietly. “I was afraid they might own ya now.”
“I had to act like one of them,” I reply, truly beginning to shake now. The breeze is becoming gentle with only the scent of salt and tropical flowers woven within the balmy heat. “But I always wanted to come home.”
“Shh,” Reed hushes me in a soothing tone. “Of course you did,” he agrees as he shoots Russell a look full of censure.
“You have a plan and you haven’t told me about it?” I ask, before piercing each one of them with my narrowing eyes.
Zephyr’s light-brown wings twitch as he replies, “We were waiting until you fully recovered from your captivity.”
“When did you think that was going to happen?” I counter, annoyed that they’re keeping things from me again.
Zephyr’s eyebrow arches over his ice blue eye as he smiles, “I believe that you just proved that you are ready,” he replies.
“Okay,” I breathe, trying hard to slow the pounding of my heart. “So, what’s the plan?” I ask, needing something to concentrate on other than Brennus’ inevitable arrival here.
Reed’s shoulders cave in around me protectively. “Zephyr, would you please go and wake Buns and Brownie? We will meet at the big house to discuss the plan with Evie.” I look towards the huge, plantation-style house on the ridge above the beach.
Zephyr nods to Reed before he steps forward, placing a gentle kiss on the top of my head. “I am glad you are back,” he says, treating me like a little sister.
“Me, too,” I reply. Zephyr nods towards Russell before he leaves in the direction of the big house. Russell looks reluctant to leave me, knowing that I’m still scared. “I’m fine, Russell,” I assure him.
“Naw, yer not,” he replies in a discerning way, “but you will be after we kill Brennus.” “Brennus is already dead, Russell,” I frown, thinking of Brennus’ beautiful, cold skin against mine. I shiver.
“Semantics, Red. He’s not dead if he’s walkin’ ‘round,” he replies.
“No, he’s undead with magical powers that can crush you and me,” I counter hollowly.
Reed smiles. “His magic can’t hurt me, therefore, I’ll take down Brennus and his fake empire,” Reed says quietly.
My heart beats harder in my chest at Reed’s words. I can’t lose him now, when I only just got him back. “Let’s run,” I whisper in Reed’s ear. “We can hide again,” I plead.
“You haven’t even heard our plan, Evie,” Reed says softly, hugging me tighter to him.
“If it involves you getting close to Brennus, then I’m against it.” I say as my stomach twists at the thought of Brennus using his thrall to control Reed.
“Shh, Evie,” Reed says, smoothing back my hair as he listens to the pounding of my heart. “Now that your life is no longer bound to Brennus’ life, I can kill him without any repercussions. The magical contract he made with you that tied you to him is the only reason he’s still alive. Without it, he would already cease to be. I have had so many opportunities to kill him, but I couldn’t do it without killing you, too. But, Brennus broke the contract, so he’s as good as dead when I see him.”
I pale. “Reed, he has an army,” I argue.
“You’ll never be his slave again. I promise you,” Reed breathes in my ear, and I want so badly to believe him. “Let me explain our plan to you. You’ll see.”
Gently, Reed leads me towards our bungalow on the beach. Hesitantly, I look over at Russell who’s watching me walking away with Reed. Pain is in his eyes, seeing me with Reed. I’ve always been Russell’s love in every one of our lifetimes together…except for this one. Now, he’s my best friend.
“Are you coming, Russ?” I ask him over my shoulder.
“Naw,” he says, softly swinging his golf club against the sand at his feet. “I already know the plan. We can talk on the beach tomorrow when we train together.”
“Okay,” I agree, not knowing what else to say. I know that my love for Reed is torturing Russell, but I don’t know how to fix it. If there’s a solution, I don’t know what it is. I watch as Russell walks away from me, back towards the other end of the island… as far away from Reed and me as possible.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1 JADE DRAGON MOUNTAIN
CHAPTER 2 MISSING PIECES
CHAPTER 3 THE ARMY
CHAPTER 4 TORTURE
CHAPTER 5 ECHOES
CHAPTER 6 UNDINES AND IFRITS
CHAPTER 7 WATER AND FIRE
CHAPTER 8 THE STONE FOREST
CHAPTER 9 THE UNHOLY CHURCH
CHAPTER 10 SURVIVAL
CHAPTER 11 THE BARGAIN
CHAPTER 12 THE FELLAS
CHAPTER 13 THE QUEEN
CHAPTER 14 ANGEL AND SOUL MATE
CHAPTER 15 FORGIVING MAGIC
CHAPTER 16 CASIMIR
CHAPTER 17 WAR OF HEARTS
CHAPTER 18 MY ANGEL
CHAPTER 19 NINETEEN
CHAPTER 20 THE GIFTS
CHAPTER 21 PLANS WITHIN PLANS
CHAPTER 22 THE COMPACT
CHAPTER 23 THE OCEAN
CHAPTER 24 THE ISLAND
CHAPTER 25 PERSEPHONE NO MORE
CHAPTER 26 NO SUNSHINE
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