Chapter 13

13

I stared at Lugh for a long, long time without saying a word. My heart frantically ran laps through my chest, and my ears filled with a strange, electrifying static-y sound. Nemain had pretty much been the devil incarnate. She had killed my sister-in-soul, had murdered her in cold blood. Elise was dead because of her. And she wasn't the only fae Nemain had killed.

The Morrigan—Clark, the queen—had stopped her from destroying anyone else. And I had helped her do it.

When Nemain had died, I'd let out an exhale of relief so long that it was as if my entire world had been altered forever.

And now members of this court wanted to bring her back.

"You know her name," Lugh observed. "And you look like you've been punched in the gut. "

I lifted my eyes toward his, my stomach churning. "Let me get this straight. Some fae want to bring Nemain back from the dead, and you want to stop them. That's why you're searching for the cauldron. Not to destroy Clark yourself. You don't want her crown?"

He levelled his gaze, steepling his fingers beneath his chin. "I may not want Clark Cavanaugh to be my queen, but I wish her no harm. As long as she doesn't bring an army to my gates, I will never make a move against her."

Oh. This conversation had certainly taken a turn . And I didn't know what to do with myself. I sprang out of the chair and started pacing through the room, but got frustrated when all the random books blocked my way.

I stopped suddenly, waving my arms around like windmills. "Why would someone want to bring back Nemain?"

He leaned back in his chair, an eerily-calm expression on his face. "I imagine because they would like to destroy the Morrigan and all the peace she stands for. Nemain promised a rule over every creature, where the fae were the dominant species. Humans would be nothing but bugs beneath our feet. The vampires and the shifters would be snuffed out completely. This world would be ours."

An angry rush of adrenaline pounded through me. I'd thought when we got rid of Nemain, we'd made it clear to every other tosser who thought that way that they were wrong.

"Who the hell is doing this?" I punched the air with my words. "I'll find them right now and put a stop to this. Is it Warin? I thought I saw him sneaking around the cliffs earlier, hunting for the hidden tunnel entrance. He's doing it. Isn't he?"

Lugh suddenly stood from his chair and loomed over me. "It isn't Warin. I asked him to check the cliffs and make sure he couldn't find it."

My mouth dropped open. "But...Saoirse said—"

Lugh shook his head. "It isn't him. She thought she had a reading that pointed to someone with red hair, but she said it was vague. Her prophecies are not always specific."

"Well, then we have to look at everyone else it could be. We have to—"

He rounded on me, suddenly standing only inches away. " We? "

At the strange intensity of his voice, I stopped my babble of incoherent thoughts. Taking a step back, I stared up at him. There was a hooded look in his eyes. A fierce electricity rippled across his skin. Not for the first time, magic sparked off his body, ricocheting against mine. I didn't know whether I wanted to run screaming from it, or if I wanted to step closer and let it consume me whole.

"How do you know so much about Nemain, Moira? Why are you so upset by this news? A solitary fae never would have had a confrontation with her. She was far too consumed by the Court."

His voice was steady and even, but it was dangerously soft.

Swallowing hard, I took a step back, but he closed the distance within an instant. I was quickly realising that I had misjudged him. Everything I'd thought was wrong. He wasn't working against Clark. He wasn't trying to steal the throne. And his cruel apathy was just a show, probably for the very same people he was working against.

We had somehow ended up on the same side...and I'd lied to him to get there.

I had to tell him the truth, even as hard as it would be. The second I spilled my secret, he'd toss me out of this castle. And he would likely never let me help him find the real enemy. But I couldn't keep going like this. He'd told me the truth. He'd opened up to me in a way I didn't deserve. And now I had to do the same.

I sucked in a deep breath and braced myself for his reaction. "I'm one of the fae who fought against her. I'm Moira Talmhach, a warrior fae in the Morrigan's Court. I'm not a solitary fae at all. I came here to...well, I came here to stop you from getting your hands on that cauldron and killing my queen."

The two words that whispered from his throat were the very last I expected to hear next. "I know. "

"What?" I hissed the word and stumbled back. "What do you mean you know? You can't know. You let me in your Court. You've..."

I trailed off, and his wicked smile was my only answer. He knew?! All this time I thought I'd been playing him, but really he'd been playing me.

Letting out a roar, I shoved at his chest. The ridges of his abs beneath my fingers were unsurprisingly firm. He stayed rooted to the spot, that wicked smile still playing across his lips.

"Explain yourself," I demanded. "How did you know? Why the hell did you let me inside?"

"For one, I recognised you from that night at the Pack headquarters. I didn't know you were one of Clark's, but Saoirse did. She had a vision that saw you coming." He leaned forward, tucked his finger beneath my chin, and tipped back my head. I swallowed hard, my anger battling a strange churning in my core. "And I let you in because I have no fight against the Morrigan. If she wants to spy on me, then so be it...." His grin widened. "Plus, I thought it would be fun."

"Argh!" I slapped his hand away from my chin and whirled toward the door. That was it. I'd heard enough. He had purposefully tricked me into thinking I was some sort of hostage in this place. For what? Some fun?!

When I reached the door, I stopped to give him one last glare. "What about the blood contract?"

"I have it somewhere safe." He shrugged. "I can rip it in half at any time and the spell is broken."

"So you did all this to mess with me," I deadpanned.

"And you came here to spy on me. I'd say we're even."

"Oh no." I narrowed my eyes. "Just you wait."

And with that, I stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind me.

D espite my fury, I didn't leave the castle. I returned to my freezing cold room and huddled beneath a blanket by the window. At some point, an apologetic Saoirse stopped by with my sword and cell phone and said I was free to return to London whenever I wanted. The blood contract had been destroyed.

A part of me wanted to get the hell out, but my feet didn't want to cooperate. They refused to carry me down the steps and toward the train station. Instead, I made a call to Clark.

She answered half a ring into the call. "Moira?"

"It's me," I said with a sigh, gripping the phone tight in my hand. It was good to hear her familiar voice.

"Oh, thank god," she said in a rush of words. "I've been going out of my mind with worry. I got your note. The raven said you were fine, but...I was two seconds away from shifting into a bird and flying up there to rescue you myself. What the hell is going on? What do those numbers mean?"

I took a deep breath, half-afraid to spill the words and half-relieved I finally had the chance to confide in her. At least she hadn't translated the code and sent a band of warriors up here to storm the castle. Lugh had given me my truth and my freedom. He trusted that I wouldn't send an army straight to his front gates.

"Everything is okay. Kind of. It's a long story." I nibbled on my bottom lip. "I'm going to tell you something, and you're not going to like it. But I need you to make me a promise."

"Okay, now you're scaring me again," she said with a tense laugh. "What's the promise?"

"I need you to promise that you'll talk to Lugh before you make any decision about his claim."

"Claim?" she asked suspiciously. "What claim?"

And with that, I told her everything. Lugh, the Court of Wraiths, the traitors amongst them, and the quest for the cauldron that could bring back Nemain.

"He was never the one who wanted to go up against you," I finished. "He's been trying to stop them."

"I see." Her voice was hard. And tired. Very, very tired. I knew how she felt. The threat of Nemain was back on the menu again only two short years after we'd ended it. Not to mention that Clark was expecting her first child now. She had far more to lose than she had before.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked her as I eyed my sword. The freedom was mine to take, if I wanted it.

"Do you trust him?" she asked.

I thought hard. Did I trust him? Yes and no. He'd made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with Clark's throne, but that didn't change the fact he'd made his own court out of fae who didn't want to be a part of hers. Some of whom were criminals. He could be cruel at times, but he could also be kind. And he was still hiding secrets. He may have opened up, but it hadn't been completely.

That said, I could hardly blame him for that. I'd been lying to him all this time myself.

I blew out a breath. "I believe he's sincere when he says he wants to stop the cauldron from getting into the wrong hands."

"Then I'd like you to stay there and help him, if you're up to it. I know how you must feel about the threat of Nemain...if it's too much for you, I can send someone else."

Elise's silver eyes flashed in my mind. My stomach turned. "No. It should be me. I'll stay."

A n old familiar nightmare haunted my dreams that night. Cloaked figures scuttled after me in the dark, arms outstretched to reveal thin, bony hands. They whispered words of terror, filling my soul with a darkness so profound that I swore I would never see light again.

They wrapped their hands around me and pulled me to the leafy ground. Dozens swarmed me, pinning my arms against the dirt. They launched on top of me and squatted on my chest.

Images swarmed into my mind. Blood, guts, gore.

They poured their nightmares into my mind until they drove out everything else. All that existed within me was terror. And they fed on my fear.

I screamed, but no sound came out.

I was trapped inside the nightmare. Forever.

" Y ou're still here," Saoirse observed at breakfast the next morning. I'd taken a long hot shower to rid my mind of my nightmares, scrubbing my skin until every trace of the darkness was gone. I'd dressed in my borrowed clothes and padded down to the Great Hall, hoping to find the only fae in this place who might understand me.

"You sound surprised." I plopped into the seat next to her. The room was pretty empty. Most fae preferred to grab something to go from the kitchen for breakfast instead of dining in the formal Great Hall. I liked the arching timber beams myself. So did Saoirse, it seemed. "You didn't see what I was going to do with your..." I made a circular motion around my head, indicating her prophecies, her visions.

"I'm only half druid." She buttered a slice of toast. "So I don't have unlimited access to visions of the future. I have to choose my questions wisely. And sometimes, my visions are hard to translate."

"And so you asked a question when I got here," I said, nodding. Made sense. I would have, too.

"Nope. I've known you were coming for weeks. I found out when I did a read when...well, when I did a read about Tyr's death." She cast a glance my way. "The fae who had the room before you."

"Oh." So that was what had happened to the previous tenant. "How did he die?"

She nibbled on her toast. "Good question. That's what I was trying to find out, but the problem with my power is, it really only shows the future. All we know is that it had something to do with...the other stuff going on here. My vision seemed to suggest that you'd help. That's partly why Lugh wanted to see what you're made of."

I cast a glance around me at the fae in the hall. "Can you tell me what makes you think it's related, or...? "

"Tyr was on the warrior team. He was the one who found out about the..." She dropped her toast, glanced around, and then held her hands in the shape of a bowl. I nodded. The cauldron then.

A picture was now forming inside my mind. Tyr, one of the warriors, had been looking into things for Lugh. He'd found out about the cauldron, most likely gaining too much interest from the culprits. In the end, they'd killed him, which probably meant he'd gotten close to finding out enough to expose them.

So Lugh had taken a trip down south to seek out the services of a werewolf skilled in finding magical objects, in hopes of stopping the killers before they got their hands on the cauldron first.

And then I'd come along, crashing the party.

"I want to stay and help," I told Saoirse.

She swivelled on her seat, turning to face me, her purple eyes searching my face. "Lugh said you were very angry with him. I'd told him he was taking the whole thing too far, but he is Lugh, and he really didn't know what kind of honour you would have, if any."

"He was worried about my honour?" A new flicker of irritation went through me. "And does he really think it's honourable to commit treason against the crown? He's made his own secret court."

She sighed. "He never meant for it to be treason. He meant for it to be a hidden place for those of us who don't fit in anywhere else, who kind of want to hide from the outside world. Some of us have run from abusive situations. Some of us are former criminals, wanted by human authorities." And then she pointed at herself. "Some of us have powers that others would love to exploit."

My heart ached for her, but it pained me even more how wrong she was. About everything. "Clark is a half-shifter. She was on the run for years. If anyone understands how you feel, it's the queen."

"I'm sure she does." Saoirse dropped her eyes to the floor. "But she's too far away to protect us. She has her own concerns down south. You don't know what things were like here before Lugh came along and saved us. You don't know what Athaira—"

Her words ended in a choke, and ice went through my veins. Leaning forward, I whispered fiercely. "What are you talking about? What did Athaira do?"

Her purple eyes peered deep into my soul. "I can't talk about it."

Saoirse pushed up from the table, leaving her half-eaten toast behind. I jumped up and followed her toward the exit. "Where are you going?"

"We have a team meeting with Lugh at half past." She paused and gave me a solemn look. "You coming?"

Ten minutes later, I stood inside The Royal Palace. We were in one of the many empty rooms, the lofted ceiling arching overhead, dark blue walls surrounding us .

There were only a handful of us here. Lugh, of course, stood tall in the center of our circle. Saoirse and me, along with Warin and Boudica, clustered together. And, much to my irritation, the damn hobgoblin was here.

"It has become quite apparent," Lugh began with his hands tucked behind his back, "that the plot now involves more than just the return of Nemain. The fae behind this now wish me dead, too."

A chill swept down my spine at the matter-of-fact tone of his voice, like he hadn't just been stabbed repeatedly in the streets a few days ago.

"Filthy murderers," the hobgoblin spat. "I will wring their necks!"

I glanced at the tiny little creature, surprised. Hobgoblins were not known for displaying such intense loyalty, particularly toward fae. They liked to keep to themselves. Saoirse had been right. Lugh had opened the gates for the outcasts of the supernatural world, and they loved him for it.

Well, some of them. The others wanted him dead.

I raised my hand, and every eye in the room turned my way. "Yeah, hi. I'm a little late coming into this whole thing. Do we know anything about who they are? Anything that would help identify them?"

"They have sorcerer connections," Lugh said. "That's how they were able to collect the Sapphire."

"They're also growing in number," Saoirse added. "There were ten in the close, but only a few several months ago. That means they're meeting somewhere inside the castle without eyes or ears noticing, getting new recruits."

A deep frown dragged down the corners of Lugh's lips. "I reckon they're using part of the castle that rarely gets foot traffic."

"The old residential buildings, the ones that got destroyed during the witch trials," Warin said in a gruff voice.

We all turned toward the warrior who rarely spoke.

"They're on the western side of the castle, away from everything else. And it's nowhere near the front gates, so we don't watch it during our patrols. No one would really notice if fae were coming and going from there, at least not in the middle of the night."

Lugh gave Warin a grave nod. "That settles it then. Tonight, we will patrol the western buildings. We'll find the fae behind this attack. And we will deal with them."

Despite his morbid words, Lugh seemed to be in pretty good spirits when night fell. Maybe because he finally had something of a lead on the culprits. I had to admit the location made sense. If the traitors were going to recruit more Wraiths to their cause, the best place to meet in secret would be these buildings .

Our crew took to the cobblestone streets. Night had fully fallen, and thick clouds obscured the inky sky, smudging a full moon that hung low behind the city buildings. An icy wind knifed through the castle, and frost crunched beneath our boots. Even though we only planned to monitor the current situation, we'd all come prepared just in case we had to act. I had my sword back—the one Clark had gifted me. And Lugh had an imposing spear strapped to his back, silver tip jutting up toward the shadowy sky.

The old residential buildings were two imposing structures that formed a square, backing up against the western defences and the garden I'd cleared with Imogen. At one point in time, they would have been an impressive sight, but the windows were blacked out and soot crept up the stone sides. In the center of the courtyard sat another statue—or it had once upon a time. Now it was nothing more than a blackened husk in the shape of a man.

Our group split up. Saoirse happily went with the hobgoblin, for reasons I couldn't fathom, while the twins went together. That left me with Lugh as my only option, and I wasn't entirely sure how I felt about teaming up with him for the night.

Things between us were strained, and that was partially my fault. I'd stormed out on him, shouting and waving my arms. That said, I would only take part of the blame. He'd been playing me the moment I'd stepped through those gates.

We all split up to check the various wings of the buildings, and I soon found myself alone with Lugh in the darkness. We didn't want to use any light, in case the traitors were nearby. They could come and go at any moment if they were using these buildings as their base of operation.

The halls still held the stench of smoke, even after all these years. As we cleared room after room, all I could think about were the fae who had once called this place home. How had they felt when their world burned down around them? Had they been captured by those in charge of the witch trials? Or had they retaliated?

Once we'd explored every room inside our designated wing, we found a room on the very top floor that gave a wide view of the courtyard below. The room was dark and empty, but it had barely been touched by the fire. We perched onto the floor beside the window and waited for the traitors to show.

Lugh was silent beside me, but I was all too aware of his presence. It was almost impossible to focus on anything else. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the outline of his profile. The sharp, chiseled jaw, the glinting horns, and the hair that curled perfectly across his forehead. My fingers itched to reach out and brush it out of his eyes, but I bit my tongue instead.

After what felt like hours of tense silence, Lugh shifted from one knee to the other. "I didn't think you would stay. "

"Yeah, well." I cleared my throat. "I had to help with the whole cauldron thing."

"Order from your queen?" he asked, doing little to hide the sneer in his voice.

I cut my eyes his way. "No, actually. Whatever you think about Clark probably isn't true. She gave me a choice. I decided to stay."

For a moment, he said nothing. Only silence hung between us, heavy and dark and suffocating.

"And it's just for the cauldron then," he finally continued, voice low. "Not for anything else?"

My heart skipped a beat. What was he even asking? Surely he couldn't wonder if I'd decided to stay because of him , right? Sure, there were rumours flying everywhere that we were in the middle of some kind of thing, and Saoirse couldn't stop looking at us with a knowing smirk on her face, but none of that meant anything.

We were practically enemies.

"Moira?" He twisted to face me, his brow furrowed. "You didn't answer my question."

"Oh." Heat flushed my cheeks. Luckily, we were in the shadows, and he couldn't see. "What other reason would I have for staying?"

"Right," he grunted and turned back toward the window.

With a frustrated sigh, I opened up my mouth to snap at him some more—it was becoming one of my favourite past-times—but a glowing blue orb rolled through the open door, distracting me from what I'd been about to say.

I frowned and pointed. "What's that?"

Lugh twisted to face it and cursed. "That's Sapphire. We need to leg it."

Without further ado, Lugh wrapped his arms around me and lifted me into the air. I let out a sharp cry, more alarmed by his bulging muscles than the blue smoke bomb about to obliterate our minds.

Clinging on tight, I peered down at the Sapphire as he hastened across the room. The glow brightened in a flash, and then a pffffft released the smoke. It surrounded us within an instant, dousing the entire room in a beautiful sapphire haze.

It only took about five seconds for the effects to hit me. One moment, I was annoyed, uneasy, and curious about the glowing orb. The next, I felt drowsy and kind of elated to be held in Lugh's arms.

They were such strong arms. I never wanted them to let go of me.

Lugh stopped rushing through the room, thank the Morrigan. All the motion was making me dizzy. I just wanted to stop and stare at the floating cloud. And his face.

He had a very nice face.

I wet my lips as he set me down, my feet finding the floor beneath us. Blinking up at him, I couldn't help but fixate my gaze on his chiseled jaw, those lips that pursed with irritation every time I went near him, and those eyes. They were as black as the darkest night.

Such nice eyes.

"Moira," he said in a low growl. "Stop looking at me like that. We've been hit by a heavy dose of Sapphire. Everything you're thinking, everything you're feeling, it isn't real."

A slight frown pulled down my lips. He was partly right. We had been hit by the Sapphire, and it was specifically meant to make someone pliable, enhancing their libido. It would explain why I wanted nothing more than to curl my body around his.

Nice face, nice eyes. And very nice body.

But he was also partly wrong. What I felt wasn't a lie, made up by some deep dark magic. I felt something for him, and it was very real.

A warning bell clanged in my head, and an ancient prophecy roared to life. One I couldn't forget. One that meant I could never, ever meet my mate.

I snorted and swayed on my feet. Silly little prophecy. Lugh wasn't my mate. He was the King of the Court of Wraiths. Whoever the unlucky bastard was who happened to be my mate, I hadn't met him yet. Hopefully, I wouldn't for years, if ever.

In the meantime, what was wrong with having a little fun with this sexy-as-sin male? Practically purring, I rubbed my hands against his rock hard chest and leaned into him.

He shuddered in response, and he wrapped his arms around me. Tipping back my head, I peered up at him. Desire and danger swirled in his dark eyes, lighting magic up along my skin. His power curled through me, beckoning me closer.

"Do you want this?" he asked thickly.

"Mm hmm," I murmured, closing my eyes.

His lips crashed into mine as he kissed me with a fierce intensity that took my breath away. Gasping, I pushed up onto my toes and wound my arms around his neck. His hands slid down my back and skittered beneath my shirt, and he splayed his warm fingers against the small of my back.

Reaching up, I slid my fingers into his curly strands and clung on tight, pulling his mouth harder against mine. He groaned against me. The sound of his pleasure drove me wild. I didn't know what it was about him, but suddenly I couldn't get enough.

The kiss was great and all, but I wanted more.

I slipped my hands down his side, curled my fingers around his black cotton shirt, and then yanked it over his head.

Pulling back, he grinned down at me. He swayed a little, too. Or was that me? "Well, then. Someone sure does know what she wants."

"I've never been more sure about anything in my life." I heard the words coming out of my mouth almost as though they were coming from someone else. It was as if a deep dark part of me had sprang to life, quashing down any and all caution. Logic had no place in my mind, not anymore. I wrapped my legs around Lugh's hips and pulled him down to the floor on top of me.

He growled and ran his hot mouth along my neck. Shivers raced through me, causing me to arch my back. My hands found his chest. I ran my fingers along the ridges of his washboard abs, his perfectly-sculpted pecs. His skin was smooth and hot and flickering with a magic that shot new waves of desire through my core.

I had not been lying when I'd said I was certain I wanted him. What was this Sapphire stuff? Some sort of truth potion? I knew it enhanced libido, but it was more than that. It was as if all my fears were suddenly gone. All that was left was the truth of what I really wanted deep down inside.

I slid my hands down his chest and fumbled with the button on his jeans. For a moment, Lugh froze, his breath puffing in front of me. And then slowly, almost excruciatingly, he reached down and wrapped his hands around my wrists. Wetting my lips, I flicked my gaze to watch his next movement. He pulled my arms over my head and pinned them to the ground.

Arching over me, he stared down into my eyes, his own flashing with the same need churning through me. His pupils were heavily dilated; his cheeks were flushed with a deep crimson. He looked high. Hell, I probably did, too.

"What are you doing?" I whispered. "Kiss me."

And so he did. His lips pressed against mine, softer this time. His mouth speared mine, his tongue diving against my own. Moaning, I melted against him, wanting nothing more than to feel his lips on my body for as long as I could.

A little voice whispered in the back of my head, but I blocked it out. There was something I was forgetting. Something we were supposed to be doing. But whatever. I didn't care about that. All I cared about was Lugh.

My core ached from desire, and I arched my back to grind against his hips.

With a gasping breath, he pulled back and shook his head. For a moment, his eyes cleared, as if he'd shaken the Sapphire right out of his mind. "We need to stop."

"No," I murmured, reaching out for him. I, on the other hand, couldn't shake the Sapphire, and I didn't care one bit. Not when Lugh's body was pressed so tightly against mine.

He leaned down, growled, and nipped my ear. "I don't want it to be like this, drugged out of our minds. When I finally have you as mine, I want to be one-hundred percent in charge of what I'm doing. And I want you to know I mean it when I say I've never wanted anyone more."

He stood and grabbed his shirt from the floor. That was when we heard the scream.