Chapter 556: Rescue
Shaylee wasn't the only one feeling a tad bit pissed off. I sat up in her bed, my hands shaking, my demon roaring so loudly I had to yell at her to make her stop so I could focus.
Syd. Shaylee's mental voice vibrated with a mix of anger and regret. Oh, Syd. I'm so sorry.
Last time you say that, I sent back, trying not to focus my rage on her. Right?
Yes. She hissed, essence crackling with earth magic. She dared to manipulate and coerce me. Her own daughter. Was she really that naive? Well, not anymore. I'd take angry Shaylee over sad and pining Shaylee any day.
Time to kick some Sidhe queen ass. But as I leaped from the bed, motion near the balcony caught my attention. I pulled my power around me, all of it, reveling at the feeling of being free again, my demon and vampire joining the family magic in pushing the limits just as three figures slid into my room.
I almost cried out at the sight of two of them. Wasn't that Liam? Standing next to me? But it wasn't a mirror, was it, and I was Shaylee here in the realm. But there they were, only a few feet away...
Wait, no. Not Liam. My heart almost leaped from my chest. Liam was Ameline. But before I could lash at him/her with magic, I felt his touch on my mind.
Not my hated enemy at all. The soft mind reaching for mine belonged to Liam's grandfather, Fergus.
And the mirror image of me? Gram. Right. I shivered at the sight of them together, a very private and very vain part of me wondering if Liam and I looked that fantastic as a couple.
Sheesh, Syd. Way to focus on the important things.
The third figure gripped the skirt of her deep green gown and locked gazes with me.
"Syd?" Gram took a step closer, a frown on our face, shifting my attention.
I tossed aside Shaylee's long hair with a grunt of temper. "Yeah," I said. "Present and accounted for."
Gram let out a sigh of relief while Fergus bowed to me with a grin so sweet my heart ached for Liam all over again. "Nice to see you again, Miss Hayle," he said in his grandson's voice.
"Hey, Fergus." It was hard not to run to him and hug him, just to remind me why I was here. Or part of the reason. I let my eyes settle on Bronagh again before I bobbed a nod to her. "You three here to rescue me or something?"
Gram's grin made her Fey influenced face look much more human. "Something like that," she said. "Leave it to you not to need us."
Shaylee's anger settled as she flinched. "We've straightened things out internally," I said. "But there are a few external matters I still have to deal with."
Gram nodded quickly while Fergus's smile fell to a sad frown.
"Please," he said. "Be cautious."
"Not that I've been asked," Bronagh said in a soft voice of velvet, "but I agree with Fergus. Perhaps if you let me speak to the Queen on your behalf? Shaylee can assure you I only have your best interests in mind."
I believed her. "You're part of the reason I woke up, aren't you?"
Her cheeks flushed. "I offered some encouragement," she said. "I adore my queen, but she isn't thinking clearly. There are times we must think for her."
Okay then. I was going to get along with Bronagh after all.
Fergus reached for my hand, his concern clear on his earnest face. "Now that you've broken free of the queen's coercion, she will stop at nothing to keep you here. Even if it means imprisoning you."
A spatter of colored sparks fell from my hands as my anger surged. "She can try." It took a moment to pull myself back under control. "I couldn't care less about what she wants," I said. "Or changing her mind for that matter." Bronagh nodded sadly. "More importantly, how much time have we lost?"
Fergus shrugged. "What you think of as time moves differently here," he said. "Perhaps a few hours have passed on the other side of the Gate."
That made me feel a little better. Until I tensed, remembering I hadn't come here alone. "Where's Charlotte?" Nice of me to think of the weregirl finally.
"I can lead you to her." Bronagh held out her hand. "But we have to move quickly. It won't be long before the queen realizes you've slipped her power."
Hurry was my middle name.
I followed the Fey adviser out onto the balcony and down the half-hidden staircase I'd missed earlier, Gram and Fergus close behind. Of course, Shaylee knew it was there. Hadn't thought it important enough to focus on.
I had a lot to teach her about watching her own back. And hopefully, we had the time for her to learn.
Night only came to the Sidhe realm when the queen thought it necessary, so we found ourselves trying to mingle with the few other Seelie we encountered. Most of them simply bowed to me and Bronagh and didn't ask questions, so we moved along quite quickly. I caught the smell of dogs and kennels moments before Bronagh led us from the white stone path and behind a copse of trees.
My gut twisted at the sight. A patch of bare earth housed a stake, a thick post of seasoned wood. A glittering silver spike pinned a length of shining chain to the stake, ending in a collar around the golden wolf's neck.
That wasn't the worst part, not by a long shot. They'd chained and collared my bodywere. She lay panting on her side, huge rents dug in the ground beneath her, slashing cuts marring her beautiful coat, blood running down her sides to pool in the earth. Charlotte still clawed at the ground, trying to pull herself forward while she choked on the tight collar, coughing as she fought.
Three Sidhe stood around her, all with sparkling golden whips, dripping blood, faces cold and blank.
Not for long.
If they saw me coming, they had barely a moment to register my presence as my power lashed out and drove the three face-first into the ground. A snap of air power wrapped the whips around their necks and pulled tight, choking them in turn, as I stomped my way across the dirt and to Charlotte's side.
Gram's growl of fury and surge of magic took over from me as I focused on the fallen weregirl. Knowing my grandmother would come up with a suitable punishment for the three attackers, I let my magic go, sliding it around Charlotte and into her damaged body.
So much pain. Broken ribs, shattered leg bones, a powdered vertebra. Tears welled in my eyes, not Shaylee's this time, as I threaded through Charlotte's body with spirit magic and began to reverse the damage. My Sidhe princess sobbed in my head, hugging herself while I worked. I let my demon and vampire comfort her, unable to bring myself to forgive Shaylee for allowing this to happen to Charlotte.
Not yet, anyway.
Charlotte's yellow wolf eyes never left mine, her body recovering quickly. I slicked the blood from her coat with a surge of fire magic, helping her rise, feeding her energy until she shook herself, a low growl of fury making her tremble.
I turned to find Gram and Fergus tying up the now-unconscious Sidhe with their own whips, Bronagh standing to one side, eyes averted as though unwilling to be part of the assault. I couldn't blame her when I thought about it. These were her people. And yet, they'd hurt Charlotte thanks to Bronagh's queen.
Messy, my mixed emotions. Very messy.
Gram came forward to hug Charlotte before meeting my gaze.
"They won't wake," she said. "And when they do, it will be to so much pain they'll wish they hadn't."
Worked for me. "Galleytrot?"
Fergus's nervousness told me the big hound was in as much trouble as Charlotte, if not more.
"He is heavily guarded," Bronagh said.
"So?" I let my power flood around me. I'd take them all on if I had to.
The advisor nodded without further argument. "This way."
Not far, it turned out. I could feel the black dog as soon as we rejoined the path and turned off into another clearing. But he felt strange, distant and as I approached the dozen or so Sidhe in the same shining metal armor Quaid wore-one more person to worry about- and I felt my fury build to murderous.
"Where is he?" It was hard to keep a calm face while I shook from rage, but I did a half-decent job. Partly because Shaylee finally stepped up and did her Sidhe thing.
"Your Highness." One of the guards bowed as his eyes flickered to Bronagh. "Advisor."
"Oengus," Shaylee said through me while Bronagh stayed silent. "My lord. Where is the hound?"
He pointed to a small hole in the ground, a black scar in the dirt. "Where your mother sent him, Your Highness," he said.
"Bring him to the surface." I allowed Shaylee her anger, let her deal with them. But only after she whispered, Please, I must make this right.
The one she'd named Oengus exchanged a look with another guard. He's nervous, she sent to me.
"Now, my lord," she said.
"I can't do that without Her Majesty's order." A spine? How original. Or maybe he was just more afraid of the queen, which made sense.
He was about to find out he was scared of the wrong Sidhe.
Shaylee's magic slammed into his chest without warning, the front plate of his armor crumpling as he went down in a heap. "I said," she leaned us forward and spoke with a light, gentle voice, "bring him up."
I had to hand it to the guards. They didn't give in willingly. But they were no match for a very furious Princess Shaylee, a pissed-off demon, a vampire with a temper, a snarling werewolf with revenge on her mind, two witches and a former Gatekeeper.
Syd's team, twelve. Sidhe, zero.
Hell yeah.
It irritated me Bronagh stood back and let us do all the work, but again, I guessed I understood why. Still. She'd come this far, helped us this much. The least she could do was go all in.
I left Gram and the others to mop up the quick, dirty fight, ignoring the crumpled, shining piles of unconscious guards as I stepped to the lip of the hole. It seemed bottomless, wider at the mouth than I first thought, though it had to be a cramped space for the giant dog.
My stomach fluttered as I looked down into all that emptiness, my fear of heights driving me back a step to take a deep breath. Images of falling from an elevator toward the Parade on Demonicon still haunted me.
But this was for Galleytrot. I had to rescue him.
My vampire gently touched my mind. We have means, she sent. Think of him, remember?
How had I forgotten? I reached for her, focused on where I wanted to be and went.
The teleportation lasted a moment, the soft flutter of shadow depositing me into darkness so deep I staggered, reaching for support. And came in contact with fur, damp and filthy. Something grunted, the sound of movement sending shivers down my spine as two pinpoints of red light cast a bloody wash over everything.
"Syd." Galleytrot groaned, tried to rise. I held him down, feeling him with my energy. They'd drained him, the bastards. Left him at the bottom of the hole almost powerless.
They'd pay.
She'd pay.
Shaylee had the answer, before I could figure out what to do. We're surrounded by earth, she sent. And though he can't reach it in his condition, it is an infinite source to help him recover.
I felt it then, when Shaylee allowed me to touch the still bubbling power. The subtle pull still going on, as the very ground around us sucked at Galleytrot's energy. With Shaylee to guide me, I shocked the contact and reversed it, sending a flood of magic back the way it had come.
For the second time since this began, Galleytrot howled his rage, surging to his feet as his magic returned to him. I leaned against him while he absorbed as much as he could, stronger than I'd ever felt him.
"We have to go." I patted his shoulder, now almost on level with mine.
"Syd," he said. "This is twice I've failed you." So much regret and guilt, I could barely stand it.
I hugged him around the neck and breathed in his scent of thunderstorms and spring rain. "You've never failed me," I said. "It's the other way around. I should have kept Liam safe. And I should never have let Aoilainn trick me like that."
"You're going to do something about it, I take it?" Good humor returned to his voice, if only a little.
"Planned on it," I said. "Feel like giving me a hand?"
"Thought you'd never ask." He growled softly, big tongue swiping over my cheek. "Thank you, Syd."
Can we teleport with him? I reached for my vampire only to have her pause.
Possibly, she sent. But we're a long way down. Perhaps the veil?
Right. She was full of brilliant ideas. I grasped the edge of the Sidhe veil, feeling my demon grunt even as Shaylee did most of the work. It parted before me, feeling different than what I was used to. That soap bubble touch slid over me as I pulled Galleytrot into the edge and let it carry me back to the surface.
As much as I loved riding the Demonicon veil, the Sidhe one gave me the willies and I was happy to find myself stepping out and onto the grass. Gram and Fergus spun from where they peered down into the hole, Charlotte trotting to my side to head-butt Galleytrot.
"One more," I said, turning to Bronagh who watched from the edge of the clearing. "Quaid."
She nodded while Fergus sighed and met my eyes with a guilty gaze. "He'll be the hardest to retrieve," the advisor said. "But since you plan on confronting the queen anyway, we'll at least have access to him."
She had him. Of course she did.
The bitch.
We'd just see about that.
***
