Dark Isle (Celtic Legacy Book 2) (21 page)

“But they attacked you!” I said, feeling the panic of making a mistake beyond anything I could ever imagine fill me. I started to shake, seeing in my mind’s eye all the things Aednat had said, everything she’d known, and “helped” us with.

“Aednat did this to me.
When she stopped singing
I swam back to guard her, to help her stave off the others
and
give you a better chance at reaching Lir. But
there was no one there
.” He coughed, a bright
gob of
blood flying out of his mouth. I wiped his lips with the edge of my shirt. “She attacked me
;
I was caught off guard.
Fianna
took me in but they
c
ouldn’t heal me.”

“Bait, they were using him for bait.” Aednat’s voice rang across the clearing. “It’s what I would have done.”

No longer did her eyes seem in any way soft o
r
sweet. She smiled and her pointy teeth glinted out at me. “So easy to deceive you, Quinn. You want to believe in best of people, it makes you weak.”

The
Banshee
s around us were cowering
;
fear
was
heavy on the air
,
as if a storm was rising. I’d done this.
Fianna
, the “bad”
Queen
lay on the ground under Aednat’s one foot, panting. With great care, I eased Luke off my lap. There was a chance I could still make this right.

“No, she’s too strong
,
”
Luke groaned out, clutching his side.

I didn’t answer him. “You lied to me Aednat, about everything.
What about your vow?
”

Shrugging, she pulled another daisy from the ground and popped it’s head off. “Vows mean nothing to Aednat. She is above vows.”

Then s
he laughed, her voice echoing through the trees, the birds stilling. “
Aednat
need
ed
to make
an ally strong enough to help her, one that would fall for a sad story
. You are too stupid
;
you are no
C
hosen one.
You think
Aednat
let
s
those people go?
She
linked to them so
she
co
uld steal their power for herself
.”

My mouth dropped open. Of course
, w
hy
would she release a potential power source? I’d been so blind!

Aednat went on. “
Chaos will reward
Aednat
for ending your life, now that
Aednat
need
s
you no longer.
Aednat could not have fought off all those Banshees alone, could not have stolen the
power away from the
Queen without your help. Thank you for helping
her
take back
her
throne.
”
She gave me a mocking bow
.
I remember
ed
that last note that she’d trilled at the mob of humans, how it had crawled down my spine. Nausea rose, my gorge choking on the truth.

“You were the one who downed our helicopter
,
”
I said, clarity coming far too late.

She nodded. “Of course.”

I half turned to Fianna, “Why did you keep those people?”

She lifted her head a fraction. “Aednat had spelled them
;
as long as they were within my Barrier, she could not use their power.”

I felt like throwing u
p. How stupid could I have been?

Picking up
the arbutus staff
, Aednat
levelled it at me. “If you dare
,
”
s
he
taunted, laughing between words
.
“Chosen one.”

“Quinn, don’t
,
”
Luke rasped out.

He’s right
;
you aren’t strong enough
—
you don’t know enough to stop her. It’s not like the guards that you can tackle in the dirt and over power. Her
strength
has had centuries to develop
and
she has
hundreds of humans fuelling her
.

No
;
this was wrong and I’d let it happen, helped it happen.
I had to stop her.

I took a step an
d froze as the scene around me
flicker
ed
. Dark tunnels surrounded
us
;
water dripped
,
and the scent of death filled the air. The clash of metal on metal drew me. I blinked, my eyes watering. Aednat stood in front of me, super imposed on the dark tunnels. What was happening?

“Cora?” I asked, confusion making me falter.

“Are you afraid, Chosen one?” Aednat sneered, advancing on me.

Ignoring the vision of the dark tunnels, I focused on Aednat,
rush
ing
her. S
pinning at the last instant to one side
, I tried to land a solid blow
but she moved with me, blocking my attempt to slash her with my knife.

From the corner of my eye, Lir stumbled into view, his figure ghostly. A second man, one who looked too much like Lir to be anyone but Card, leapt out from the darkness. They clashed, keeping my attention from my own battle. It almost cost me my life.

A sharp
jab t
o my lower back dropped me to my knees; I rolled to the right, narrowly dodging
Aednat’s
follow up, the staff burying several inches into the ground. From my knees I stared at her as she came screaming towards me, the staff whirling above her head li
ke a helicopter blade.

Lashing out with my leg, I kicked
Aednat
in the left knee;
she
dropp
ed
to the
forest floor
in a startled heap. Putting everything I had into it, I slammed a Barrier around her,
holding her low to the ground. She snarled up at me, unable to move
,
the Barrier
was
so tight
against h
er skin.

“It won’t hold her
,
”
a
silvery voice whispered from my left. I turned to look into the eyes of
Fianna
, shame filling me for the grief I’d caused, the deaths I’d caused. Bile rose in my throat.

“It will hold her
,
”
I said. It had to.
Movement in the dark tunnels only I seemed to be able to see again drew my gaze.

I stared at the battle
,
my hands clenched at my side
s
. Lir was being backed up, slowly, step by step. Card’s face was twisted into a grimace as he pressed our father
with no hesitation
. T
he blades flashed
and
then a burst of light erupted from behind them both, throwing their bodies forward into a heap where they lay still.

Fist against my mouth, I struggled not to cry out. There had to be something I could do to help Lir.
“Cora, will this
image I’m seeing, will it
work like the mirror?” I asked.

Will what work
like the mirror
?

She wasn’t seeing what I was seeing.

Horror filled me. I was going to watch my father
be
killed in front of me if I didn’t do something. I had no doubt that Card would finish him off.

“
I’ll be right back
,”
I said, unsure
if what I was going to
try to do
would work. Before anyone could call out, I ran and dove towards the dark tunnels, feeling the world stretch around me.

“Quinn, no!” Lir shouted
. But
it was too late
;
I’d pushed my way through.

I hit the ground with a thud, rolling to take the edge of the fall. With a grunt I got to my feet. “Lir
!
” I ran to his side, helping him stand. Card was still unconscious
,
and lay in a crumpled heap at our feet.

Lir grabbed both my arms. “You can’t be here, it isn’t safe!” His eyes were wide, his skin flushed. “You have to go. I will deal with Card.”

I shook my head. “No, you weren’t
dealing with him. He was beating you;
you need my help!”

He pulled me into a fierce hug
then pushed me away
. “Daughter, you must go.”

“What about Chaos?”

He opened his mouth but Card shifted,
and
then was suddenly on his feet, as if he’d never been knocked out.

“So, this is my little sister is it? Hmm. Seems to me that you’ve placed your bets on the wrong kid, pops
,” he
said, lifting his blade up so that it caught the light.

Lir
shoved
me behind him
, the trembling in his arms telling me just how weak he was
. “Go, Quinn, you must go now.”

I glanced over my shoulder and indeed, the Banshees
’
bower was still visible, though it was fading.
T
here
had to be a way I could help Lir.

Luke had said one could draw on powers from another, if they were willing.

I didn’t question my course of action.
“
Lir, t
ake some of my power
.
I don’t need it, my fight is over.” Another glance confirmed that Aednat was still under the Barrier.

I reached out
,
and put my hand to Lir’s arm. A wave of fatigue hit me as he drew my power
into him
.

With a scream of rage, Card rushed us both. Lir flung him backwards with a single blow. Half stumbling
,
I ran as fast as I could back through to the bower, again feeling that strange sensation of the air stretching around me.

The Banshees gasped as I re-appeared. “I had . . .” Fianna lifted a hand, stopping me. “You do not have to explain, there are many battles
today.”

Fianna
tipped her head to one side, not unlike Aednat when she was thinking
. Close up, I could see the resemblance between the two sisters
. “Why do you help me now?”

A glance over my shoulder showed nothing but trees, no more dark tunnels. I could only hope that I’d done enough for Lir to stop Card
;
please
,
I thought,
let it be enough.

I stared down at Aednat who squirmed under the tight Barrier. “I made a mistake in trusting her. I need
ed
to make that right.”

“Then kill her
,
”
Fianna
said. “That will make it right and I will give you your man back.”

Aednat snarled up at me. “
Aednat
will break this
Barrier
, Quinn, and the first person
she
kill
s
will not be you, but your precious little sister.”

Mistake number one was surely mine
,
but mistake number two was Aednat’s. A gasp rippled through the gathered
Banshee
s as I removed the Barrier. Even Aednat blinked in surprise.

A bolt of power left my fingers before she had a chance to get out of the way, lifting her into the air and throwing her fifteen feet away. “No one threatens Ashling, bitch.”

Aednat lay on the ground for only a split second before
she pulled herself to her feet. “Then this will end now, with one of us dead.”

Regret, pain
and
guilt flashed through me, but they were overridden by my desire to protect Ashling, to help Luke
,
and
to end this mess that I’d created.

The staff flew towards me, straight as an arrow. I dropped to the ground but the wooden weapon followed me, curling around
my upper body, pinning my arms to my sides.

“You think you beat Aednat?” She stalked towards me, her eyes narrowed. “You are too young
, too weak. You do not have the power that Aednat has
.
So, n
ow,
Aednat
just kill
s
you.”