Anna’s eyes followed her movement, then raised up to her face. “I’ve decided against removing my magic,” she announced.
Gaining nothing from Anna’s deadpan expression, Finn looked between Kai and Iseult. Kai didn’t seem surprised, letting Finn know Anna had already discussed this with him. Iseult didn’t seem surprised either, but then again, he never did.
She turned her gaze back to Anna. “Do you care to explain?”
She replied with a sharp nod. “After speaking to Ealasaid and her new . . . group, I’ve determined that it is in my best interest to remain,” she hesitated, “cursed.”
Finn couldn’t believe what she was hearing. After how set Anna had been on removing her magic, there was no way she would change her mind. Just as she’d said, she viewed her gift as a curse.
Anna glanced at Kai, who gestured for her to continue. She sighed. “And, I had a dream last night.”
Kai gestured for her to elaborate, obviously growing impatient.
Iseult wandered off to check on the horses, disinterested in the entire scenario.
Anna glared at Kai, then stomped her foot in frustration. “Fine,” she growled. “I had a vision that if I rid myself of my magic, I would not sense coming danger at the most important time. It would cost certain lives-” she hesitated. “Lives that I’m not willing to risk. That is the end of it.” She turned on her heel and stomped back into the inn, leaving Finn and Kai alone.
Finn turned her confused gaze to Kai, who smiled and took a step closer to her.
“Do you care to explain?” she questioned, still confused.
He leaned in near her ear. “You were the one she dreamed about,” he whispered conspiratorially. “She doesn’t want you to die.”
Finn’s jaw gaped. Beyond her ability to remove Anna’s magic, Anna never seemed to care if she lived or died.
At her stunned expression, Kai continued. “Anna does not give her friendship lightly, but once you have it, she will kill for you. I know she seems selfish at times, and in many ways she is, but loyalty is important to her. You have gained her trust, and that’s something very few can say.”
Still shocked, she leaned her back against the wall.
Kai mirrored her.
“And what of this danger she referenced?” she asked finally.
He shrugged. “She does not know. Her vision was vague.”
They stood in silence as the sun slowly crept upward in the sky. Soon clanking and clomping could be heard within the inn, and patrons began to walk through the doors beside them, searching for a hot meal.
Ready for a meal herself, Finn began to push away from the wall, but Kai caught her eye before she finished the movement.
“Do you have something to say?” she questioned suspiciously.
He grinned. “I’m just wondering where we’re going next.”
She felt her mouth form an oh of surprise. “We?”
He rolled his eyes at her. “You didn’t think you’d get rid of me that easily, did you?”
She smiled, relieved. She knew she had been a burden on Kai, and had nearly gotten him killed many times, but she selfishly didn’t want to lose him. He seemed to understand her in certain ways others could not. “We’re going to go find àed,” she explained happily.
Having heard Bedelia’s tale, he groaned. “All the way back to that blasted island?”
Finn nodded, a mischievous grin on her face. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe from the big scary Sirens.”
He waggled his eyebrows at her. “If it means another kiss, I’ll call out to them myself.”
She laughed and punched his arm, then walked past him into the inn. She might be well on her way to fulfilling a dangerous prophecy, but her fear was far less than when she’d first set out. She was no longer a weak little tree girl. She was a queen. May the gods have mercy on any who dared to stand in her way.
“But I don’t understand,” Anders muttered, pacing around the expansive stone room. “What is she doing all of this for?”
He and Niklas both waited within the fortress while the angry red-haired woman ordered her troops. Anders had nearly run the other way when they’d gotten close enough to behold them. He’d had few encounters with Reivers, but he recognized their wild beards and black war paint. Even the painted women warriors among them were burly and fearsome.
Niklas smiled softly, drumming his fingers against the wooden bench on which he was seated. “Keiren Deasmhumhain longs to dissolve the barrier between the living and the dead,” he explained. “The shroud of the Faie Queen can be used for this purpose, but few are strong enough to survive the ritual. As powerful as Keiren is, she was born to human parents. She is not immortal. She needs immortal blood if she hopes to survive her plan.”
“And how would she obtain immortal blood?” Anders asked skeptically.
“Why, from an immortal being,” Niklas replied, like it was obvious. “If an immortal being willingly gives away a portion of his or her life force, a measure of that being’s blood can be shared. If someone were to share with Keiren in such a way, she could complete the ritual.”
Anders frowned, then plopped down on the bench beside Niklas. “And what does any of this have to do with me?”
Niklas smiled. “Everything, dear lad. Everything.”
óengus slumped forward in his saddle, weak, and barely able to keep his seat. He’d made it to Garenoch just in time to witness the strange battle that had taken place there, and had seen Kai ride off in this direction. He had kept to the tree shadows as he journeyed onward, paralleling the only obvious path Kai could have taken. His horse, just as road weary as him, made painfully slow progress.
Yet, he could not give up. He’d lost the dragon, and his men, but if there was still some chance he could help Keiren enact her plan, he had to take it. She’d promised to give him back what she’d taken from him so many years before. Killing her would be the only other way to meet his goal, and he was not foolish enough to believe himself capable of succeeding.
Not that he wouldn’t try if given the chance, but he knew he would likely be the one to die, and he couldn’t do that. Not yet.
He’d reached the small meadow too late. Whatever action had taken place, had already happened. Remaining hidden in the trees, he spotted Finn, Iseult, Kai, and Bedelia as they prepared to depart. He considered following them, but found himself too weak. He lifted his hand to check the wound on the back of his shoulder. He’d bandaged it the best he could, but it was in an awkward spot, and he’d lost too much blood.
This was the end for him.
He never thought he’d miss his shadow, but now he knew his true folly. It should not have been sent to the in between. It should be in reality with him. When he died, would he truly die, or would his shadow remain? Would he become little more than a specter?
Knowing he’d soon topple off his horse to the ground, he let the beast amble onward anyway. It didn’t matter. The creature could soon go where it pleased.
He gazed off into the distance, catching a hint of something white. His life was truly leaving him. He was beginning to hallucinate. His horse seemed to be guiding him toward the object. Perhaps the white form would lead him to the underworld. Because it was a form. As he neared, he realized it was a woman, curled up in the dead grass. She was dressed in white, with perfectly white skin and hair to match. Crimson blood stained her chest, and speckled her peaceful features.
Utterly entranced, he barely noticed as he fell from his horse. He groaned as he hit the ground, then managed to roll onto his side. Opening his eyes, he nearly screamed at the visage before him. The white woman remained on her side, but her eyes had opened to regard him.
“A Gray Lord,” she muttered. “How interesting. Yet, your shadow is stuck in the in between. You know, it’s only supposed to go there when you dream?”
He blinked at her. Just a moment before, he’d been sure she was dead. “How?” he gasped.