Christian‘s clothes were soaked, and after a scan of the snow-covered peaks around us, he concluded there was a high probability of a sharp evening drop to frigid temperatures, which meant we needed our clothes dry, fast. As there was no convenient dryer nearby, toasting them in the sun was our only option, so a short time later we were both stretched out, me mostly naked, him completely. He was unself-conscious nude. I had to admit, he had reason to be. After a quick glance, I‘d sought privacy on the other side of the tumble of rocks our clothes were drying on and savored the warmth on my skin. All that was missing was my iPod. And my parents. And my sister. And any feeling of normalcy or safety. In a nutshell, everything was missing.
I was terrified for Mom and Dad. Since the Silver I‘d entered didn‘t show the tunnel from the outside, what assurance did I have that the destination it did show wasn‘t also an illusion? What if the LM wasn‘t holding my parents captive in my own living room but someplace else and I‘d sent Barrons on a wild-goose chase with the photo I‘d texted?
A wave of frantic helplessness was building inside me, threatening to turn tidal. I didn‘t dare give in to panic. I had to stay calm and focused and work on moving forward however I could, even if it meant taking baby steps. Right now that meant getting my clothes dry and resting while I had the chance. Who knew what dangers the night—or even the next few hours—might hold?
Christian and I talked while we sunned, our voices carrying easily over the rocks between us. I told him about the effects of eating Unseelie. He questioned me extensively, wanting to know who else had eaten it, exactly what it had done to them, and how long it had lasted. He seemed especially interested in the increased ―skill in the dark arts.‖
―Speaking of dark arts,‖ I said, ―what did you guys do the night of the ritual? What happened?
What went wrong?‖
He groaned. ―I take it that means the walls came down anyway. I‘ve been trying to convince myself that my uncles managed a miracle. Tell me everything, Mac. What‘s happened in the world while I‘ve been stuck here?‖
I told him that the walls had crashed completely at midnight, that I‘d watched the Unseelie come through, and that the Lord Master and his princes had captured me at dawn. I omitted the rape, being turned Pri-ya, and my subsequent … er, recovery (no way I was talking to the lie detector about those events), and told him merely that I was rescued by Dani and the sidhe-seers. I brought him up to speed on Jayne‘s efforts, filled him in on what we‘d learned about iron, and told him that his family was okay and searching for him. I told him the Book was still loose but withheld the gruesome details of my recent encounter with it.
―How did you come to be in the Hall of All Days?‖
I told him about the Lord Master abducting my parents, luring me into the Silver, and insisting that I show him the stones.
―Bloody idiot! Even we know better than to do that, and he was once Fae. It‘s no wonder the queen appointed us Keltar keepers of the lore. We know more about their history than they do.‖
―Because they keep drinking from the cauldron and forgetting?‖
―Aye.‖
―Well, at least we have them. Even though the ride‘s rocky, they help in a pinch.‖
―Are you daft, Mac?‖ he said sharply.
―What do you mean?‖
―Don‘t you know what‘s happening every time you take them out of that pouch?‖
―Duh, that‘s what I was saying. It makes us shift worlds … or dimensions, or whatever they are.‖
―Because the realm we‘re in is trying to spit us out,‖ he said flatly. ―The stones are anathema to the Silvers. Once you remove them from your pouch, the realm detects them and, like an infected splinter, endeavors to expel them. The only reason you go with them is because you‘re holding on to them.‖
―Why are they anathema to the Silvers?‖
―Because of Cruce‘s curse.‖
―You know what Cruce‘s curse was?‖ Finally, someone who could tell me!
―I‘ve been wandering worlds in this place for what feels like bloody forever, and I‘ve learned a thing or two. Cruce hated the Unseelie King, for many reasons, and coveted his concubine. He cursed the Silvers to prevent the king from ever entering them again. He planned to take all the worlds inside the Silvers and the concubine for himself. Be king of all the realms. But a curse is an immensely powerful thing, and Cruce cast it into a vortex of unfathomable power. Like most things Fae, it took on a life of its own, transmuted. Some say you can still hear the words of it, sung softly on a dark wind, ever changing.‖
―Did he succeed in keeping the king from his concubine?‖
―Aye. And because those stones you carry were carved from the king‘s fortress and bear the taint of him, the Silvers reject them, as well. A short time after that, the king was betrayed, he and the queen battled, and he killed the Seelie Queen.‖
―Was that when the concubine killed herself?‖
―Aye.‖
―Well, if the Silvers are trying to spit us out, then won‘t they eventually send us back to our world?‖
He snorted. ―They aren‘t trying to spit us out back to where we came from, Mac. They‘re trying to restore the natural order of things and spit the stones back to where they came from.‖
I inhaled sharply. ―You mean every time we use them, whatever realm we‘re in is trying to send us to the Unseelie prison? What happens? Do they miss?‖
―I suspect none of the realms has enough power on its own, so we‘re being swept toward it, like a broom across a vast floor, through as many dimensions as possible.‖
―Each time we get pushed a little closer?‖
―Exactly.‖
―Well, maybe,‖ I tried hard to be optimistic, ―we‘re a million realms away.‖ Somehow, I didn‘t think so.
―And maybe,‖ he said darkly, ―we‘re one. And the next time you ?shift‘ us, we‘ll end up face-toface with the Unseelie King. Don‘t know about you, but I‘d rather not meet the million-year-old creator of the worst of the Fae. Some say merely gazing on him in his true form will destroy your mind.‖
Some time later, Christian announced our clothes were dry. I listened to his clothing rustle as he dressed. When he was done, I got up and moved toward my clothes, then stopped dead in my tracks, staring at him.
He gave me a bitter smile. ―I know. It started happening shortly after you fed it to me.‖
I‘d seen him nude. I knew he had crimson and black tattoos on his chest, part of his abdomen, and up the side of his neck, but the rest of his body had been unmarked. It was no longer. Now his arms were covered with black lines and symbols, moving just beneath his skin.
―It‘s spreading down my legs and moving up my chest,‖ he said.
I opened my mouth but didn‘t have the faintest idea what to say. I’m sorry I fed it to you to save your life? Do you wish I hadn’t? Isn’t it better to live to fight another day, no matter what?
―It‘s something to do with the dark-arts part of it. I feel it surging in me like a storm.‖ He sighed heavily. ―I suspect it‘s because of what Barrons and I tried to do on Hallow‘s Eve.‖
―And what was that?‖ I fished.
―Called on something ancient that we should have let slumber. Invited it. I keep hoping I‘ll find him, but once we were sucked into the vortex, we got separated.‖
I stared. ―Barrons got sucked into the Silvers with you on Halloween?‖
Christian nodded. ―We were both in the stone circle, then it vanished, and so did we. We flashed from one landscape to the next like someone was flipping channels, then suddenly I was in the Hall of All Days, and he wasn‘t. I may not care for the man, but he knows his dark magic. I‘ve been hoping we can find a way out, if we put both our minds to it.‖
―Uh, I hate to break it to you, but he already has.‖
Christian‘s eyes flared, then narrowed. ―Barrons is out? Since when?‖
―Since four days after Halloween. And he never said a word about it. He told me you were the only one who vanished that night.‖
―How the bloody hell did he make it out?‖
I gave him a look of helpless exasperation. ―How would I know? He never even admitted he‘d been here. He lied.‖
Christian‘s eyes narrowed further. ―When did you have sex with him?‖
Uh-oh. The lie detector was staring out at me from those tiger eyes. ―It wasn‘t like I was willing,‖ I prevaricated.
―Lie,‖ he said flatly.
―I wouldn‘t have done it under any other circumstances.‖ That was the truth, and he could choke on it!
―Lie.‖
Really? ―He made me do it!‖
―Major, huge lie,‖ he said dryly.
―You don‘t understand the situation I was in.‖
―Try me.‖
―I hardly think it‘s relevant to any of our problems.‖ I turned my back on him and began dressing.
―Do you have feelings for him, Mac?‖
I dressed in silence.
―Are you afraid to answer me?‖