41. Maeve

41

Maeve

F or a moment, Maeve thought she was beneath the lake once more. Then she felt chilled, gloved fingers curl around hers.

She had discarded her gloves when Rodan had sent her his plan, his hope she could take back part or all of her godhead by getting to the links in Ninack's chain. But the god of darkness had done something, and now she was here, crouched in the unbroken dark, with fingers wrapped in hers. "Who's there?" she whispered, certain that if she could see her breath would be fogging before her. It was freezing in here.

"Elias," the Fae whispered back. "Thank the gods it's you."

"What—" she frowned, trying to remember when she had seen him last. "When we confronted Ninack, were you?—"

"No," he interrupted. "I was taken by one of the reflections. I touched the glass wall too long, I think. It tried to kill me," he said, breath somewhat shaky. "But I got to it first. Then I tried to find my way out. I couldn't find the mirror. I couldn't see anything. I kept walking, and I've been here… a while."

Maeve tilted her head, confused. Why had she forgotten about it, that he was with them? He had been present all the way until the mountain and then it was like her mind utterly misplaced him. "I forgot."

"What?"

"About you. I forgot about you. You weren't even with us on the climb up the inside of the mountain, were you? You got taken before and oh, Elias, I'm so sorry. If we had realized you were gone we would have come for you."

"It must be some magic at work with the reflections," he mused, still gripping her hand. "They take you and wipe the short-term memories of the people you were with."

"Is that where we are? In the mirrors?"

"I don't know. I feel like I've been here for hours. What happened?"

Maeve opened up her end of the bond, reaching out for Rodan. Can you hear me?

There was nothing for a time, giving her a moment to fill Elias in on as much as possible, shivers starting to take over.

She was about to tell him about Titania's sudden appearance when she heard back. It seemed to come from a great distance, and there was an odd lag between the words, but he was there. Happy to hear your voice. Things are going badly.

They already had been, from her point of view. What she clung to was that her mother had appeared, that there was some shred of hope that they might be able to talk Ninack into a peaceful solution.

"Oberon is dead?" Elias asked, and there was a fine tremble she could feel in his grip on her.

"Yes, and Titania did something that severed their bond, I believe. She and my father?" Her voice lowered. "They clasped hands right after."

Elias pulled in a breath. "Did it work?"

"Yeah," she said, and heat rose to her cheeks as she thought of what had happened next. She did not tell her new friend about the kiss her parents had shared. She had caught a glimpse, then, of what they meant to one another.

For some reason, it made her chest expand, and a sense of clarity came over her. A realization that, despite everything, she was part of a family.

A highly dysfunctional one , she thought, her mind conjuring up the memory of all those gods in one room.

"They severed the bond," he said, awe in his voice. "I thought it impossible."

"So did we. I don't know how she did it."

There was a beat of silence, and then Elias asked, "Do you think she could do it again?"

Maeve nodded despite he could not see her. Her teeth chattered. "I think so. I think she figured it out in the first place to help Kabira with Icarus."

As she was thinking on this, things got worse by a magnitude she had not anticipated, though the pressing dark should have given her an indication, a warning.

Beings slithered in the dark.

At first it was the gentle, soft sound of a burbling brook, and then it was a wave of noise, rushing toward them. Sounds she recognized, and made the blood freeze in her veins.

Maeve stood, yanking Elias with her, frozen joints protesting the sudden movement. Wherever they were, they had head clearance, but all of Maeve's fire was gone now. She did not know how to summon the flames that Rodan did. "Can you bring forth light?" she hissed at the other Fae.

"Yes, but it's weak in this place," he said. "Like inside the mountain, but worse."

"The things that are coming for us now will be vanquished in the light. As much as you can. Hurry!"

Elias muttered something about how it might not do much good, and then his hand slipped from hers and he was clapping his palms together. However he did magic, it had a lot more to do with the manipulation of his hands and fingers.

While he worked on this, Maeve reached out to Rodan again. The Nyx are here.

His panic was like a bitter pill on the back of her tongue. She swallowed hard as light exploded outward from Elias's palms.

Illuminating the horde.

It was bigger, so much more so, than what they had faced under the lake. Not tens of thousands.

Millions.

"Oh, gods," Maeve said, trembling, adrenaline sending a flush of heat through her system. She sent an image toward Rodan before sliding the bond shut, keeping him on the other side with a gentle caress. She could not be distracted, and likely the same went for him.

These Nyx were primarily humanoid, though like every Nyx she had seen before they were changed. Gliding, more than running, they had multiple limbs and sprays of spikes along their bodies. Clusters of eyes gleamed with malice.

As they neared she grasped the back of Elias's armor. "Run!"

Her, they might spare, but him? He would be meat.

He made it a half-dozen steps before realizing she was not behind, the light following him, sheltering him. "What are you doing?"

She turned to him, to tell him to keep running, when something plucked her into the air.

Maeve shrieked, her cries echoed by Elias as he was similarly grasped and pulled skyward. Wind whipped by her, ripping the screams from her mouth. The thing that had hold of her was gripping her tight, crushing the plates of her armor against her body.

Bitterness and bile coated her tongue when she at last halted, her ears popping with the pressure change. Below she could hear the great mass of the Nyx horde, churning, the sound of them immense.

But nothing like the roaring that shook her very bones, the blast from that great mouth enough to blow her hair back. Her arms were trapped, so she could not cover her ears, and a high-pitched ringing started up as soon as the bellow completed.

You —a familiar voice hissed aloud and in her mind, echoing. You were meant to change.

Maeve remembered what Titania had said, what seemed like months before. You destroyed an appendage. The real Nyx threat is still out there, and it knows what you've done.

She spit out a mouthful of blood. "What do you want?"

Laughter from a million throats, and the one before them. You still have some of us in you. You will become us, it is inevitable. We will take this world, together.

It was difficult to breathe with the thing twining around her body, even though it did provide warmth that kept her from shivering uncontrollably. Her boots kicked freely, nothing but air beneath. She knew if she were released, not even her Fae strength and healing could stop the fall from being lethal.

Since the lake, she had been plagued with nightmares. Visions of being held immobile, pumped full of whatever it was they were pushing into her. How her arm had shredded, the flesh in ribbons, when she had pulled free. All those terrible memories of taking infants, of changing the children into visions of themselves.

Succumb. You will be us.

"This thing wants you?" Elias shouted.

"Sure does," Maeve called back. Her bonds tightened and she wheezed as loud as she could, "I'm sorry."

"Don't—argh!" Elias cut off with a cry.

"Don't hurt him," Maeve breathed, her heart increasing in tempo as the air became more difficult to pull in. "Please."

He is Other. He is nothing.

Maeve still had her psychic senses, and from them she could tell the trajectory of the Nyx thoughts, and how they turned deadly. "No!" she croaked. "I'll do it, just—don't hurt him."

Her bonds slackened enough that she could breathe freely and she coughed, body wracked with it.

Elias's voice came from her side. "You said Titania can break the bond." And then thoughts, projected so loud she could not help but hear. If she can do it, I have a plan.

Maeve's racing heart picked up another notch. "Don't!" she shouted, as she felt the Nyx intention gear toward the other Fae it held.

What are you doing? It hissed.

She could not see him, but she swore she could hear the glove come off. Could sense the moment Elias's fingers curled around the tendril which held him. They were appendages like any other, but for a moment she feared it would not work, that they were too different a species?—

The power overflow hit, the bonding like a shockwave through what held her and all the creatures who milled below.

The Nyx screamed, bellowed. No! No, no, no!

Elias was laughing, an edge of madness to the sound, and she felt a chill of true fear slide down her spine. What would the bonding do, between a hive mind and a Fae? She could not be sure, but by the screeching still splitting the air, she assumed it hurt the Nyx.

Light bloomed, flowed out of orbs from Elias' hands as they were both lowered to the ground, set in a clear circle surrounded by the horde. Even though they were in partial light, and even though some of them steamed gently, the Nyx did not move from where they watched the pair. High above, the Nyx master thrashed and continued to?—

It sounded like weeping.

Glancing at the Nyx surrounding her, Maeve put a hand on Elias's shoulder. He was slightly hunched, still giggling. "Are you alright?"

Elias looked at her, and his eyes were changed. Silver on the one, still, the pool like mercury. But the other, even the whites of the eyes were covered. Black, completely, like pure void.

He grinned at her. "I know where we are. I know how to get back."

The Nyx around them shuddered.

"But I won't be able to stay in control long. This is like bonding an entire species. There are millions of them." He shook his head like he was trying to shake off water, his gaze going distant for a moment. "Ninack sealed the pathways out of his chamber, but not into it. He could not. That's how Titania and Oberon got there, and that's how we'll get back."

"I can't believe you did that," she whispered. The fears she refused to voice were that Titania might not sever this bond, even if asked. There was something about her mother that spoke of an engrained cruelty. Elias was Trinity's only son, and there was history between the two women. Bad blood.

"I wasn't about to let you get absorbed into this," he said, his breathing shallow and fast. "Let's go," he held out his arm.

She looped her hand through it, stepping closer. "You've got this?"

He grinned again, his expression feral. "Oh, yes."

She felt something hook behind her stomach, and the next thing she knew they had seemingly stepped from the darkness into Ninack's throne room.

Chaos greeted them.