Dark Isle (Celtic Legacy Book 2) (22 page)

The staff tightened around me, like a boa constrictor with its prey. The lower half of it pressed against one
of my
hand
s
and I took the opening. Calling up
my
Fire, I unleashed it on the staff, knowing that the flame wouldn’t touch me.

Aednat screamed as the fire whooshed along the weapon, the shells and quartz dropping as the flame ate the arbutus wood. Like paper in a
blaze
, the wood crinkled, blackened and turned to ash around me.

That shouldn’t have happened
,
Cora said, her voice disbelieving.
That is a weapon as old as Excalibur and as powerful.

“Not a good time for discussing the impossible
,
”
I said, dodging a wicked slash from Aednat
.
H
er
fingernails
ha
d
turned into razor sharp claws.

I had to find a way to end this, and fast
. Giving up my power to Lir was necessary, but then, I’d thought that Aednat was done
. The longer
this fight
stretched out, the better chance I had at getting killed
.
Backing off, I put some space between the two of us. “I wondered why Balor didn’t help you
keep your throne
, but I guess we all know why now.”

She cocked her head, her hands stilling. “You don’t know.”

I nodded
.
“It makes sense. Balor wants an ally who
is
strong enough, smart enough to work with him. When you lost your throne to
Fianna
, no doubt he saw the benefit to him
in potentially wooing a new ally, one who was strong enough to retain her throne
.” I shrugged. “Of course, it could be that he thought you were a stupid little girl
,
and just couldn’t be bothered to babysit you anymore. God knows, I am
so
tired of it.”

Her mouth dropped open
;
her hands lowered
.
I took my chance,
using up every last reserve I had. F
iring a bolt of power at her,
I hit
her square in the gut. The bolt slammed her against one of the massive trees, the trunk
shuddering
, the leaves dancing down around her. But I didn’t release the bolt, I held the Power
that
rush
ed
through me, breathed it in and out, shoved it at her as hard as I could.
I wouldn’t let her hurt anyone, not Ashling, not Luke and not me.
She screamed, her voice ripping into me as she begged for mercy. I didn’t stop.
Hot tears slid down my face. Though I did this to protect us all, I didn’t want to end her life. I didn’t want to be a killer.

Fianna
stepped up beside me
;
I could just see her out the corner of my eye.
“
She is dead
.
R
elease
your power now, Quinn.”
Indeed, Aednat was finally silent.

I
dropped my hand and with it my
strength left me. Knees shaking, lungs heaving for air
, I turned to see the
Banshee
s around us, bending their heads towards their
Queen
.

“No, they honour you for freeing them from her. Something that
,
even
,
I could not
completely
do. She was very powerful, very old
. Though I am the older sister, she always outmatched me. She had the instinct for it, like you
,
”
Fianna
said. She beck
oned me forward and I followed, my skin going cold with her words. I didn’t want to be like
Aednat
.

The queen took a deep breath. “She wanted to be the carrier of Chaos. Do you understand how incredibly powerful Chaos would have been if Aednat had gotten her wish?”

I thought to the way Aednat had spoken of Chaos, what seemed like forever ago
,
yet was only yesterday. How Chaos would look for a young, pretty girl, just like Aednat.

“I was so blind
,”
I whispered.

A hand brushed against my cheek and I looked up into Fianna’s eyes. “She was right only about one thing. You are young
;
you will learn who to trust
,
and who not to trust.”

Not wanting to be be-spelled, even by accident, I dropped my gaze.
“I have to go, I have to get Luke out of here, to get him help
,
”
I said.

The
Queen
was shaking her head. “I’m afraid I cannot let you do that.”

Ah crap, was this never going to end?

“Please, I know that I made a mistake
.
I believed Aednat, trusted her, but Luke doesn’t deserve to die because of my mistake.
You said you’d let him go!
” I pleaded with her, hoping she would show some mercy
;
there was no way I could fight all of them.

She lifted her hand to silence me. “He will die if you move him
,
and you have tasks yet ahead of you that no one else can do.
Tasks that you
must
do.
”

I ran to Luke’s side, crouched down beside him. “Luke, please, I can’t do this on my own. I don’t know enough, I don’t have enough training. Cora’s gone
—
”

I’m right here.

I ignored her. “I can’t lose you too.”

He blindly lifted a hand
,
and I took it, pressing his fingers against my cheek. He loved me, more than I deserved
,
and this is what h
is love had given him. A
death sentence.

“Leave me here. I won’t go anywhere, I promise
,
”
h
e
whispered, his fingers curling around the edge of my jaw.

I looked up, my eyes meeting
Fianna
’s. “Will you care for him, until I can get back?”

Quinn, the earthquakes have stopped. I’ve not felt one for far too long.

“We will care for him, until the end
,
”
Fianna
said. Her words were not exactly what I was hoping to hear, but they would have to do.

Standing, I looked around the clearing
;
the other
Banshee
s were gone, melted into the forest. Aednat’s body was gone too, nothing but a pile of ash
in which a single, glittering gem
stone
lay
.

“Take it
,
”
Fianna
said,
motioning
to the gem. “You earned it
.”

The stone was warm in my hand, one side the exact shade of Aednat’s blue eye, the other the shade of her green. Tears welled up
;
I had begun to think of her as a little sister, someone I would protect, not unlike Ashling. A cold wind seemed to tear through my heart. If I could kill Aednat, maybe the prophecy was right. What if something happened that forced my hand against Ashling?
Would
I do it?
Would we end up like Aednat and Fianna, enemies willing to kill one another?

My hand clenched around the stone so hard the edges bit into my skin
and then I dropped it to the ground. I didn’t want it, no matter what its value
. “I don’t know what to do, where to go
,
”
I said, slowly turning around.

The clearing was empty.

I was alone.

Without a direction in mind, I started to walk. Cora was right
;
the earthquakes had stopped. Either we were too late or Lir had made it in time and had stopped Card. But which was it?

It wasn’t long before I found myself at the edge of Cameron Lake, looking out over the clear surface. Like a giant mirror,
I could see
the mountain on the far side
in the water, a perfect reflection
.

The water began to ripple in the middle of the lake and I tensed, expecting
Morty
to emerge, enraged and hungry. For once, my lu
ck showed up
, instead of a monster
.

Lir swam towards me but I didn’t wait for him to reach the shore.
I ran into the shallows, not even registering the icy cold water. “Lir!” This was it, he was going to tell me he’d made it in time
;
he’d stopped Card. From behind him came a second ripple of water and a dark head emerged. I skidded to a stop, the rocks under my feet suddenly unsteady.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I snapped, emotions swirling through me. Bres lifted his head
, then ducked it low, unable to meet my eyes
.
M
y heart sunk to the bottom of the lake
with a dark premonition. Nothing good could come of this meeting
.

Lir reached me first, but neither answered m
y question
. “Tell me what’s goi
ng on. What happened?” I asked, panic beginning to ride up my spine.

My father caught my hands with his own, covering them up and holding them tight. “I didn’t make it in time to stop your brother
, even with your help
. He
’d already
reached the box
that contained Chaos
,” he took a deep breath, one that seemed laboured
,
and it was then that I saw the wound in his chest
, blood trickling out in a steady stream
.

“You’re hurt!” I yelped, attempting to pull my hands out of his. Lir only shook his head.

“I’ll be fine, the wound is healing already.”
P
ausing, he lifted his hands to my shoulders, squeezing them as if to hold me in place. “
T
here is more news, Quinn.” He half turned to Bres
,
who’d come up behind him, his eyes not lifting, his chin touching his chest. It was like before, when we were in the Labyrinth. I could feel his emotions, almost as if they were my own.

Grief.

Loss.

Shame.

“What happened?” I asked again, though now the words were loud enough that they echoed across the lake. “Why are you here
,
and not protecting Ashling?”

Bres started to shake and I realized that he was crying, as if his very soul was being wrenched from his body.

“My pa, he thought he was protecting her. That’s why he went after ta box.
And Chaos, she was the one who showed me Ashling’s death.
Though I didn’t know it was her at ta time.
” With an almost painful slowness, he lifted his eyes to mine. “
Chaos showed
my pa t
a end too. W
here you killed Ashling
.
H
e
did this to protect her. Ta evil, it knew his love for her and used it against him.
Chaos used it against us both.
”

I jerked out of Lir’s hands and sloshed my way to Bres, the water creeping up past my thighs. “WHAT HAPPENED?” I screamed
into his face
, panic
,
and fear
jostling for the front of my heart.

“I let her down
,
”
h
e
whispered. “I didn’t protect her.”

The water was suddenly to my neck
;
I didn’t remember sinking, only that both men were lifting me out of the lake. Ashling was dead, that’s what he was telling me.
I could see her, playing at my side as a little girl, pigtails bouncing
;
I
could almost feel her hand on mine as we ran in the yard with the old swing
set. Dead, gone, light extinguished. The wail that left my mouth would have made any
Banshee
proud
. T
hough Lir tried to hush me, holding me in his arms, rocking me gently, it was little comfort. Minutes stretched as the grief consumed my mind, made it almost impossible to think.

“How did she die?” I mumbled, my lips numb with shock. They’d set me on the edge of the lake, a park bench with a pla
c
ard to the dead etched into it. Fitting, how very fitting.