Chapter Twenty-Two

Shiri

T he next night we landed in Dunhull after the dragons located the hidden village by scent. The satyrs greeted us with warm welcomes and brought us to their village for a feast, which they had already prepared in our honor. Apparently, there'd been satyr envoys at Itarian, who'd ridden all night and day back to Dunhull after they heard we were traveling in their direction.

We were greeted by a satyr named Lars who reminded me too much of Abyssus's cook, Crispin, from his easygoing mannerisms to his neighing laughter. The satyrs especially loved Tari, for last time she'd been here she'd built them a fortress out of magic that concealed their location in addition to growing them a prodigious amount of food.

After we feasted on delicious fresh fish, pickled vegetables, and pastries, we sat around a campfire with Lars and his wife and a few of their cousins. Lars's son played tag with other satyr children, running around the campfire while dodging grumbling older satyrs. There were two younger twin girls that made me think of Ember and Aurora. My heart ached so much for them, yet I internalized my grief, letting my sorrow gnaw a hole through my chest while putting on a smile and pretending I wasn't dying inside.

I leaned back against Blaze's chest, and he wrapped his arms around me, the tops of his wings draped over my shoulders. Drae sat beside us, while Tari sat on our other side in Ash's lap. The big shifter wore a borrowed brown robe after splitting open the last of his clothes yesternight.

"Tell us what happened at Itarian," Lars asked from across the fire while he chewed on the end of the longest pipe I'd ever seen.

"The centaurs threatened to attack us if we didn't leave," Tari answered while slowly sipping her tea.

I had already reluctantly finished my tea at Drae's insistence, though I was thinking more and more about stopping it. I didn't like how sluggish it made me, and I certainly didn't like having to coax my siren to come out for several interminable seconds. Just one second could be the difference between life and death when went up against the demon mistress.

"Did you tell them you're white witches?" Lars asked.

Helian laughed, tossing his silvery hair behind his shoulder. "They didn't care."

"Their new chieftain, Cenric, is nothing like his father," Lars said as he blew out several rings of smoke. "Cenric is very prejudiced against all Fae, and he wants to isolate the centaurs from the rest of the world."

Drae shook his head. "That attitude won't work for long."

Lars grimaced. "Itarian used to be open to trade with all races. Now, they will only associate with satyrs and shifters, though I'm afraid we won't be welcomed after too long."

Drae cleared his throat. "They think they can face the threat of demons without help, but we watched an army of demon spiders suck a mage into the ground."

"Elements." Lars's wife, Lynette, gasped, splaying a hand across her heart. "Which mage was this?"

Helian leaned forward, his eyes darkening. "Thorin."

Lars's ears twisted and turned as his brows shot up. "The mind spinner?"

Helian gave Lars an accusatory look. "What do the satyrs know about him?"

Lars shared a sly look with his wife before stirring the fire. "Why do you ask?"

"Did you know all the harm he's done?" Helian's tone rose in pitch, his features hardening. "That he's spun the minds of Fae-kind?"

Lars visibly swallowed. "Yes."

I remembered Isa telling us Retinea tea had been a favorite drink of the satyrs. It suddenly struck me that if the satyrs had been drinking the tea all this time, their minds were probably impervious to the mind spinner's magic. If that was the case, why didn't they warn anyone? True, Thorin had mostly worked his magic in Delfi, but every Fae knew about the Crimson Tide. Could the satyrs have prevented it? And what about Crispin and Mrs. Euphemia? Did they know what had really happened in Delfi?

"Then why didn't you say anything?" Helian jumped to his feet, his hands clenched into fists.

A hush fell about the place as all eyes turned to Lars, and I was keenly aware of the tension radiating off the other satyrs. I looked over at my sister, who twisted the end of her belt around her finger, her nervous gaze flitting from Lars to Helian.

"Thorin attacked our village when I was just a boy. He and a group of his brainwashed soldiers struck us hard. He didn't alter all our memories, but enough of them that we can't trust our thoughts or the past." Lars's shoulders fell forward as he stared into the fire. "Besides, would the Sidhe Fae have believed us when they have long scorned our race for centuries?"

Blaze tensed behind me as I shot up, expelling a breath. My father had told me how the Terrae were scorned by their king and the other Sidhe Fae. Had the satyrs warned everyone about Thorin, he would've probably used his mind-spinning to retaliate against them. He could've tried to convince the rest of Faedom that the satyrs were demons.

Helian dragged a hand down his face with a groan. "Probably not."

"The satyrs came to a truce of sorts with him after that attack," Lars continued. "We say nothing of him, and he leaves us the hell alone."

"The satyrs sound very much like the centaurs," Helian grumbled.

Lars jerked back as if Helian had struck him. "Have we ever refused to help a neighbor in need or denied a tired traveler a room and a meal?" He gave Helian a pointed look. "Have we refused to help you ?"

Helian's features fell. "No."

"So the tea that the satyrs drink?" Tari asked.

Lars arched a brow. "Retinea?"

"Yes." Tari leaned forward while Ash placed a protective hand on her hip. "That has protected your memories from the mind spinner?"

Lars shrugged. "Somewhat. It keeps our minds sharp, even as we age, though our women drink it for morning sickness."

Tari's cheeks flushed as she placed a hand across her abdomen. "Esther said it might help. That explains why I stopped retching."

Lars flashed a wide grin. "Congratulations, Goddess."

Helian's face turned as red as lava when Lars gave him a questioning look. "Yes, it's mine," he hissed.

I resisted the urge to cluck my tongue at Helian. It was obvious he was still uneasy about sharing his mate.

"It slows my magic," I blurted. "Is there any way to counter that?"

Lars frowned, shaking his head. "No, sadly. Your siren voice won't matter if you have no idea who you are or what is happening."

I swore. Damn him for being right.

"Do you think the mind spinner is dead?" the satyr asked us.

"No, because the spell he cast on Radnor hasn't broken," Helian said on a sigh while sitting back down beside Tari, "but if those spiders take him to the mistress who rules all demons, we fear it won't be long before she kills him and takes his powers."

Lars made a startled neigh. "How do the satyrs protect ourselves from these spiders?"

Tari stood, dusting crumbs off her gown. "I can try a concealment spell similar to the one I used before, only this time I'll use it to protect the ground."

Lars rubbed his furry chin while blinking up at Tari. "Do you think it will work?"

"I don't know." Tari shrugged. "But it doesn't hurt to try."

Lars released a long breath. "Thank you, Goddess."

Then we followed Tari while she walked a perimeter around the camp, magic flowing slowly from her fingers at first, but by the time we were finished, her fingertips looked like falling comets as magic dripped off them in steady rivulets. After she'd finished, we all stared at her, waiting for something magical to happen.

Finally, a child stomped up and down on a patch of grass beneath him. "It doesn't feel different."

Tari worried her bottom lip. "Unfortunately, there's no way to test it other than inviting a real demon invasion."

Lars held out his palms in a defensive gesture. "No, thanks. We trust your magic worked, Goddess."

I didn't like the wary look Tari gave me, as if she had no faith in her magic, and I prayed we'd never need to find out if it worked.

Megaera

Demon sorceress

most revered and feared of the Lamashtu Clan

MEGAERA STIRRED THE pot of soup while leering at her prisoner who was tied to a chair at the other end of her butcher table. The old mage had succumbed easily enough to her sharp claws, crying out to no avail as she dug his eyes out of their sockets. She'd shown him a small act of kindness by tying a bandage around his head, only so that he didn't bleed out before she was finished, for she preferred her meals to be living as she slowly devoured them.

He quietly sobbed as she dumped his eyes in her cauldron. She sang her favorite melody as she stirred the bubbling broth. This time she added a second part, foretelling the downfall of her enemies.

"A mother's womb

A child's feet

So many good parts to eat

A farmer's hands

A maiden's eyes

Makes delicious human pies

A trollop's breasts

A sailor's cock

Tender meat to fill my pot

A shifter's rage

A dragon's fire

They shall burn by folly's pyre

A witch's tongue

A mage's eyes

Once again demons will rise"

She lifted the ladle and took a long sip of broth. "Ahh," she moaned in delight, "the soup is ready. Would you care for a sip?"

She walked up to Thorin, holding the ladle beneath his chin, laughing when he arched away.

"No?" she taunted. "Very well. More for me." She returned to her soup and took another sip.

Thorin's eyes had added the perfect flavor, not too greasy with a mild taste. They also contained great magic, for his eyes were the portals where he channeled his mind-spinning. She let the eyes boil a few minutes before scooping them into a bowl and topping them with more broth.

She sucked on the eyeballs, rolling them around in her mouth as they slowly melted on her tongue. When a blast hit her like a thunderbolt, she stumbled to a chair, slumping onto the table while powerful magic coursed through her like a rush of venom.

She convulsed for several minutes, magic flooding and expanding her veins. Then she released a slow breath and sat up. Thanks to Thorin's eyes, she had enough magic to open the portal. She also had access to everything Thorin had seen in his lifetime, as well as a clear vision of the Avias children. Her veins boiled with power, and she worried that if the old mage's magic was this strong, she wouldn't survive eating the white witches. Perhaps if she ate the children first, she would develop a tolerance to Avias magic.

After finishing the eyes, she left the cavern and made her way to her den of demonlings, knowing this surge of Thorin's magic wouldn't last long. Her spiders were feasting on the human remains she'd fed them earlier while waiting for their next instructions.

She took the hairbrush that Thorin had foolishly lost and set it on the floor. The demonlings crawled over it, claiming it as theirs as she hissed out her next order. "You will find the children whose hair is in that brush, and you will bring them to me." Then she turned on a clawed foot and hurried to her spell chamber, her minions following her like loyal dogs, eager for their next meal.

Long streams of dark mist fanned out along the floor like rivulets of ink beading on a marble table. She knelt beside her pool of mist, stirring it with a finger.

"Shadows of darkness

Specters of night

Shine your torch of unholy light

Open the portal

Show us the way

Close the bridge between foe and Fae

Illuminate the path

Obey my cries

Find the children in Thorin's eyes"

Then she closed her eyes and projected the vision of the children seen through Thorin's own eyes toward her pool of mists. A cry escaped her as piercing black magic shot from her fingertips and her own eyes, fanning out across the floor and turning the spiders to black pools of blood. Losing this tribe of demonlings was a small price to pay to secure her prizes. The blood rose up, falling into the pool and then shooting back out like a burst of cannon fire. The darkness pierced the ceiling, a spinning vortex of magic that stretched beyond time and space, traveling faster than dragon fire as it raced for the white witch's children.

Finn

"DADA FINN. DADA FINN ."

I woke up with a groan, still groggy after being startled from a dream. I stared up at my children, both sitting on my chest, their mouths turned down.

I struggled to sit up then grunted, pain shooting through my groin when they kneed me as they crawled into my lap.

Dragging a hand down my face, I released a shaky breath while trying to ignore the pain. "What is it?"

Ember wiped a tear from her eye. "Triss is crying again."

Ugh. I fell back against my pillow. Day after day these girls exhausted me with their endless energy and penchant for finding trouble. If it wasn't for Nikkos's help, I wouldn't have had enough strength to get through the day. Sleep was the one time when I could recover from my exhaustion.

Aurora shook my shoulder. "Dada Finn!"

"Okay. Okay." I sat up before they kneed me again. "Come on, sprites," I said as I threw off the blankets and stood beside the bed.

They jumped into my arms, nearly making me stumble back with the force. I didn't have to ask where to find Triss, as I dragged my feet through the hall. All I had to do was follow the wailing.

Nikkos met us at the exit to our cavern suite of rooms. "Hey, everything okay?"

"Triss is upset," I said right before another loud wail rent the air.

"Uncle Nikkos," Ember asked, sweetly batting her eyes, "will you come with us?"

Nikkos ruffled her hair with a lopsided grin before taking her from me. "Of course, sprite."

We found the hatchling in the center of the great hall surrounded by a group of satyrs who were trying to soothe her to no avail. She wailed louder when she saw us, and the girls quickly scrambled out of our arms, kneeling beside their dragon friend.

"It's okay, Triss," Aurora said while rubbing her belly. "We're here."

"We know you miss your mommy." Ember soaked up Triss's fat tears with the hem of her nightdress. "We miss ours, too."

Triss flopped on her back, swatting the air with her paws while crying even harder, smoke rings escaping from her snout.

I pulled one of the priestesses aside. "Do you have any soothing herbs for her?"

She shook her head. "We've already given her too many."

I felt helpless as I watched the girls try to calm the hatchling, wishing there was something I could do to soothe her. I sucked in a breath when Head Priestess Esther marched toward us, her expression grim. A handful of priestesses followed behind her as well as several armed soldiers.

I elbowed Nikkos, and he swore when he saw them.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

Her eyes hardened as she faced us. "The priestesses of the mists say a bad omen is coming."

Nikkos braced his feet and ruffled his wings. "What bad omen?"

Esther released a sharp breath. "They sense dark magic creeping toward the islands."

Dread iced over my veins. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know." Esther worried her bottom lip. "The priestesses can't see it, but they can feel it."

Nikkos gaped at me. "What do we do?"

"The wyverns have been alerted, and I have soldiers stationed outside the pyramid." She nodded toward the girls. "But be on your guard."

My heart thudded like thunder in my ears. If anything happened to the girls, I'd lose my mind.

"Dada Finn!" Ember cried.

My legs felt like they were deadweights as I stumbled toward her. "What is it?"

She clasped a hand to her heart. "My friends said she found us!"

My inner wolf roared to life. "Who?"

"The bad demon!"

"What? Where?" I spun around, unsheathing my claws while Nikkos summoned his fire, and the satyrs raised their swords, but we saw nothing out of the ordinary. I spun back toward the girls.

They trembled as they clung to Triss. The hatchling had stopped crying, her eyes bulging as she stared up at the slate ceiling.

Ember pointed to the ground beneath them. "She's opened the port—"

A flash of light, and the girls and Triss vanished.

My wolf broke through my skin, and I let out a howl as I pounced on the spot where my daughters had been just a second before. Venom shot through my veins and threatened to implode my heart. "Ember! Aurora!" I spun around like a mongrel chasing his tail then threw back my head with a howl. "Where did they go?"

Nikkos jumped into the air, shining flames on the top of the cavern, revealing nothing but endless black slate. "Did Aurora teleport them?" he called down.

My legs gave way, and I fell to my knees, a hopeless feeling washing over me. "I don't think so." I felt as if I was looking through someone else's eyes as I stared down at my clawed hands, my mind numb from fear.

Esther knelt in front of me, placing her palm against the floor with a frown. "What was Ember saying?"

Nikkos landed beside me. "Portal," he rasped. "The bad demon opened a portal."

Cannon fire split open my heart as I let out an agonized howl. "Goddess, no!"