CHAPTER Twenty
I ran through the woods towards the keep with a renewed sense of purpose. Now that I finally had a proper plan, both adrenaline and warmth trickled through me. I ducked under a couple of branches and leaped over a bush, avoiding the usual path so that I could take a shortcut and get back quicker. It was my sense of impending achievement, however, that made me so blinkered, and so dumb.
Traces of the otherworld are evident everywhere, if you know where to look. I did know where to look but today I wasn’t seeing them. As I hopped over some roots without breaking my stride, I blundered straight into an invisible wall and was immediately thrown backwards. Slightly stunned, I staggered to my feet, daggers already pulled. But there was no physical enemy – I’d become trapped inside a sodding faerie ring.
“F*ck!” I slammed my shoulder against the edge of it, even though I knew it was a useless gesture.
Faerie rings are perfect circles of woodland mushrooms, left in random areas of countryside by the more irritating members of the Fae. Many older rings were now defunct; they didn’t tend to hold their power for long. However the ones with enough juice in them still to work were not only annoying, but also dangerous. Time, for the Fae, moves differently to what it does for almost everyone else. They survive for millennia in Earth terms; and once in the Fae demesne itself, you could spend one day and then return to find that decades in the ‘real’ world had passed. They’d set faerie rings to capture foolish humans, and would then force their hapless prisoners to dance themselves to death. It was said that just one beat of faerie bells was enough to set your toes tapping and your hands clapping, and that once you started you’d never be able to stop. Even worse is that with time lacking in any importance for the Fae, often years would go by before they’d check on their faerie traps. It would be impossible to force my way out of here on my own, and of course my mobile phone was back at the keep. After leaving that message on the answer machine that all was well, no-one, not Julia nor Corrigan, would be using their Voices to get in touch and see where I was. If I had some iron on me, then perhaps I’d manage to break through it, but even more stupidly I was pretty sure that my usual iron knife was currently sitting happily on my bedside cabinet waiting to be cleaned and sharpened after I’d used it to slit the throat of the terrametus.
I emptied out the contents of my bag, anyway, just to be sure. I’d put the empty Coke cans that I’d shared with Alex on the beach back inside but they were made of aluminium, which was next to useless against anything other than a recycling plant. There was the half empty canister or hydrogen peroxide that reminded me painfully of John for a second, but which offered no help in terms of usable iron. There was a small first aid kit, a couple of energy bars, a tatty book that I’d been reading when routing out the rabbits had become just too unspeakably dull for words, but absolutely nothing that would help me get out of the ring. Even my daggers were made of an alloy that wouldn’t contain enough iron to work. Sometimes modern technology was a curse. I tried anyway, stabbing randomly at the invisible wall. Of course nothing happened.
I flung the contents of my bag to the ground and moved around the entire circle, checking it for any vulnerable points. Nothing. I felt rage and frustration shivering all over me. It wasn’t fair! I knew that someone would find me long before I’d ever have to persuade any of the Fae to let me go, but I needed to get out now and get into the portal.
I thumped myself down, cross-legged, in the centre and slammed my palms against the mossy ground, stirring up a fine dust as I did so. I kicked out uselessly at the edges of the ring. It was no good; I’d just have to wait till someone came and rescued me.
Several hours later, dusk was beginning to settle. I was curled up, dozing, and waiting.
Where the f*ck are you?
Corrigan! I sat up with a snap. Finally. I didn’t think I’d ever be pleased to have his Voice inside my head. I was about to answer when Julia spoke to me, with a high note of panic.
Mackenzie! We need you!
Oh shit. What’s going on? What’s the matter? I had no idea whether both Julia and Corrigan could hear me at the same time, but it didn’t matter. Something thing was clearly very wrong.
It was Julia who answered, and her words made the bottom drop out of my world. The keep is under attack. We need you. Now.
I…Julia…I’m stuck. I’m in a faerie ring and I can’t get out.
There was silence on the other end. Julia? JULIA? CORRIGAN?
They’d gone. What did that mean? Who was attacking them? If it was Iabartu and I was stuck here, if the pack got hurt, or worse… I stood up and began flinging my clenched fists against the edge of the ring, over and over again, screaming at it to let me out. I pummelled the invisible wall with fury and felt my whole body on fire with an intense heat. I kicked and punched and threw myself at it with every iota of strength I had. Hot tears of frustration pricked at my eyes as images of the pack and the Brethren’s bodies lying broken inside the keep whilst faceless monsters prowled through the rooms attacked me.
I hit the wall harder, and cried out in pain as my knuckles slammed against it. But I didn’t stop. My fists were red raw from the repeated impact. I kicked again and punched again. What was I going to do? My vision was blurry with tears as I continued to attack the ring’s outer edges. Come on, come on! I kept a furious battery of assault with my fists whilst my bloodfire screamed at me to continue.
And then, all of a sudden, I was falling through the circle to the outside world and to the hard ground. The momentum carried me through till I banged into a tree and looked up, dazed. I’d actually punched my way through a faerie ring. Feeling a moment of utter befuddlement, I looked down at my hands. My knuckles were smeared with blood. I stared back at the ring in confusion then shook myself and got up, running in the direction of the keep. I was free, that was all that mattered. And now I had to go help my people.
I flew through the woods, feeling branches whip at my face and thorns catch my trousers. This time I made sure I looked at where I was going so I didn’t foolishly fall into any other traps. I ran and ran, heart pounding in my ears praying to whatever was out there that my friends were okay. I couldn’t handle more bloodshed and death, not now. Not when I could have prevented it by looking where I was going and avoiding getting trapped by a stupid faerie ring.
When I emerged from the woods and saw the keep, I was horrified. I couldn’t see anyone outside, friend or foe, but one of the great oak doors was hanging off its hinges. I stumbled for a second and then ran faster, clutching my daggers. No no no no no no no. Not my home and the rest of my family as well as John. I couldn’t let that happen.
My feet crunched into the gravel as I reached the driveway, and I started to slow. I still couldn’t see any signs of life. I felt very hot, and very sick. Gripping the hilt of both daggers I stepped into the keep. The lighting was dim, and there were signs of utter devastation everywhere. The corpse of some kind of hideous creature lay face down on the shabby red carpet. Lamps had been overturned and, as I walked further into the hall, I could feel shards of glass snapping under my feet.
I resisted the urge to call out, not knowing what might decide to answer. The door to the office was open, and I glanced in, seeing paper strewn all over the place as if a miniature hurricane had swept in, caused utter havoc, and then immediately faded away. I continued forward, holding my breath. Where the f*ck were they all?
I jogged to the gym and checked inside. Nothing. My chest felt tight and I was getting more and more panicked. Those f*cking faeries! If I’d been here then I could have helped. A sound came from deeper in the bowels of the keep. I froze. It had sounded as if it was coming from the kitchen. A quick clatter of something falling to the ground. I tightened my jaw and tiptoed in that direction.
Pressing my back against the wall, I pushed open the door with one hand then peered around. The table was on its side, but I couldn’t make out anything else. I was about to move into the doorway when something launched itself at me, biting and into my arm with sharp teeth and growling viciously. Despite the pain, I felt a wave of relief.
“Tom! It’s me!” The growling continued and his fangs sank deeper into my flesh. It was as if he’d not heard me. “Tom! It’s Mack. Look at me!”
The rumble in his throat died and a pair of pale yellow eyes gazed up at me balefully. He immediately released my arm. Blood was streaming down it, and I could see a smear of red on his teeth. His huge tongue lapped at his lips for a second and he looked briefly puzzled. Then, he turned back into the kitchen and I followed, grabbing a dish towel hanging on a hook and wrapping it around the wounds.
“Tom, what the f*ck is going on? Where is everyone?”
He whined, but didn’t turn back to look at me. Instead he padded out of the kitchen and through the small door that led into Julia’s herb garden. I had no choice but to follow. What met my eyes when we emerged back into the cool night air was a scene of controlled chaos. Limp bodies lay around the space, with shifters in various stages of transformation tending to them. Part of me noted the squashed herbs underfoot and thought of how angry Julia would be when she saw what had happened to her precious plants. But then I saw Julia.
She was lying in a corner, face turned away from me. Her arm was broken, and spread at an awkward angle. A man I’d never seen before was crouched down beside her. It looked like her right leg had been ripped off at the knee. Corrigan was stood, naked from the waist up but wearing jogging bottoms below, with his arms folded. He was staring down at her with a look of intense worry and concentration. Several members of the pack were doing the same. I spotted Lynda, with tears running down her face, clinging onto Anton for support. Betsy was there too, and Johannes, both covered in blood.
I was rooted to the spot with fear and felt my tongue cleave its way to the roof of my mouth. Was she…?
“She’s not dead,” a soft voice said beside me. It was Lucy. I ripped my eyes away from Julia, even the image of her broken body was still seared into my eyeballs, and looked at her blankly. She was pale and clearly still in a lot of pain after the ispolin’s attack. No doubt the Brethren doctor had helped her already impressive regenerative powers, but she still would need a considerable amount of time to heal. I wondered if she’d been involved in the fighting despite that fact and felt frustration that even a shockingly wounded shifter had been there to help when I hadn’t. She continued, “She’s not far off though. The Doc will do what he can for her, make her comfortable, but…” her voice trailed off.
I found my voice. “What happened?”
“We were attacked. I don’t know by what. The mage is trying to work out what they are. They came completely without warning, from the front and the back. A few got in through the doors,” she nodded towards the other side of the keep, “and others came here. Your alpha was in the garden. I don’t think she had time to even shift. We’ve lost three other shifters altogether.”
I wanted to ask if they were Brethren or pack but I didn’t dare. Lucy understood though and her gaze hardened slightly. “They were ours, not yours.”
She limped away inside, back ramrod straight. I couldn’t worry about her hurt feelings right now though so I turned back to Julia but caught Corrigan’s eyes blazing angry gold at me instead.
“I called you. Why weren’t you here?” he snarled.
The other shifters looked at me. I could the weight of their accusing glares and my whole body tensed. I’d failed them, and Julia. Again.
“I…was trapped. There was a faerie ring,” I stuttered.
He took a step closer, and his eyes seared into me. “Then how did you escape?”
“I don’t know. After I heard your Voice – and Julia’s – I hit the edge of the ring. A lot. And then it gave way. I don’t know why.” I was aware that my voice was high-pitched with stress, trying to justify to everyone listening that my reasons for not being present to protect the keep were genuine.
“That’s not possible. Did you have iron?”
I shook my head, mutely.
He towered over me. “Seems awfully convenient, that this is the time you chose to suddenly get yourself trapped by the Fae. And then miraculously escape.”
Now I felt angry. Was he insinuating that I’d deliberately excused myself so that the keep could be attacked? “If I’d had a choice, I would have been here, my lord.” I placed heavy sarcastic emphasis on the word. “I would not have abandoned my pack. And I think that between the terrametus and the ispolin, I’ve proven my loyalty. I was stupid and I didn’t look where I was going but if you’re trying to suggest that I’m some kind of traitor…”
“And yet, even with the ispolin, you still didn’t shift, when you could have.”
“And you know my reasons for that.” At least my pack knew my reasons for that, anyway.
He glowered at me with the threat of violence contained within the stance of his body. “I’d compel you to tell me everything, Miss Mackenzie, and yet I wonder if it would work after, as you say, what happened with the terrametus.”
Oh what a tangled web we weave. I opened my palms to him, in a marked display of submission. He seemed to be getting closer and closer to the truth. But once I got inside the portal, then it wouldn’t matter. Because either I’d kill Iabartu or she’d kill me. And in killing her, her portal would close and I wouldn’t be able to return. F*cking Corrigan and his clever eyes, and the f*cking Brethren with their all too obvious air of superiority, would never find out I was human. Despite Alex’s clever assertions to the contrary, I knew I felt human. I couldn’t for the life of me really contemplate being anything else. There was the bloodfire, sure, but I didn’t really have any special skills that I’d not gained through hard work and years of training. Wanting to be a shifter wouldn’t make me one. And, anyway, being human would not stop me from redeeming myself and getting revenge for John, Julia, and everyone else.
The shifter, probably the doctor, who’d been crouched down by Julia interrupted us. “My Lord Corrigan, we need to move her inside. I will try my best to heal her but she may be too far gone.”
I felt ill and briefly shut my eyes before forcing them open again. Corrigan nodded briskly and looked at me. “The keep’s perimeter needs to be repaired. You will make sure that it is. And then you had better get that taken care of.” He looked pointedly at the bite marks from Tom. Although blood still dripped from them, soaking into the dishtowel, I didn’t feel any pain. Not physical pain, anyway.
I motioned acquiescence and fixed my attention on Julia. “Anything she needs,” I said to the doctor, “anything at all, tell me.”
Corrigan growled at me, but the doctor nodded in sympathy. I hitched my backpack on my shoulder and went inside.