Chapter 14

14

U isnech's plan was one hundred percent blooming mad, of course. The problem with trapping a nightmare wraith was…trapping a damn nightmare wraith. He would not go quietly into the night. He would not vanish without a fight. He would twist our minds upon us and put our thoughts through pure hell.

We wouldn't even remember why we were fighting him. The only thing we'd want would be to curl up into a ball and die.

And that was just if we approached him. If we did manage to trap him—against all odds—we'd then somehow have to cart him back to the castle and stash him somewhere far enough away from the rest of the fae, somewhere he couldn't escape from—and nightmare wraiths were strong as hell. Otherwise, the Court would be full of endless screaming as he filled each and every fae's mind with horrors they had never even imagined.

Add the human element on top of that, and the whole thing was beyond impossible. It was impossible times a million .

Another understatement of the century.

So when I found myself standing in the middle of a bustling Old Town with my sword very visibly sheathed around my waist, I had to wonder if the little hobgoblin wasn't craftier than he seemed. Did he have some sort of mind-bending powers? Had he used them on me to convince me to go through with this whole thing? Because his plan was absolutely bonkers.

We'd all spread out through the streets, taking sections of the neighborhood to patrol alone, so that we could cover more ground in a single night (we needed to catch Lugh ASAP). Another checkmark in the Bad Idea column. Every horror film ever made was clear on one thing: never split up. And yet here I was, seeking out one of the most dangerous supernatural creatures in the world, all by myself. If Past Moira could only see me now, she'd give me a sharp kick up the arse.

A human woman bustled by, her eyes so wide that I swore they might pop out of her skull. When I shifted toward her, she jumped. "Sorry." I held up my hands. "I just wanted to ask if you're okay. You look a little…spooked."

She wet her lips, her eyes flicking to my sword. " You're one of those fae." Her voice wobbled. "You live up there in that castle. You have powers, right?"

She looked like she might vomit on my boots, but at least she wasn't running away.

"Yes, but…you—"

She lurched toward me and dug her fingernails into my arms, and then she hissed, "There's something back there. And I think it's going to kill us all."

I opened my mouth to ask some more questions, but she pushed away from me and raced down the street. Slowly, I twisted my head to peer in the direction from whence she'd come. It was a small close, and the lamp posts had been knocked out. Shards of glass littered the ground.

My heart thumped hard against my ribs.

Time to break another horror film rule. I was going to walk into that dark, creepy alley alone.

With a deep breath, I squared my shoulders. Just up ahead, someone screamed. My heart tripped, and I picked up my pace, fearing what I would find waiting for me in the shadows. I had wrapped my head around the fact that Lugh— my Lugh—had once been a creature that haunted my worst nightmares. But it was a very different thing to know it and to see it for myself.

My feet left the main thoroughfare behind, and I stepped into the alley. Immediately, darkness hugged me tight. Flicking on my enhanced sight, I glanced around. At first glance, there was nothing particularly remarkable about this close. It was nondescript, practically identical to the dozens of other closes that wound through the city like a maze.

It stretched before me, disappearing into deeper darkness. Buildings loomed high on either side, and a few bins were pushed up against the walls. Windows from flats looked out from above, but only a few glowed from within. It was quiet and still.

Too quiet.

Another scream shot out of the dark.

It was coming from just ahead, right where that patch of shadows obscured the end of the close from view.

My hand found the hilt of my sword, and I pulled the weapon from its sheath. Holding it up before me, I inched toward the darkness, enhanced eyesight still turned up to max. If Lugh was lurking just ahead, watching and waiting for me to come into range of his nightmares, I wanted to spot him before he hit me with his power.

As I passed a bin on my left, I paused, narrowing my eyes at the view before me. The shadows twisted and turned, reminding me of Quentin's powers. Then before I could brace myself, Lugh loomed out of the dark. He had grown taller in the hours since I had last seen him. Or maybe it was just the pulsing darkness that surrounded him that made him seem larger than he truly was. His eyes were pure black as if his pupils had erased his irises. His black horns curled sharper and higher than ever before, twin blades cutting out of the top of his head.

He was fucking terrifying.

A human woman with bushy hair screamed and ran past me, barely giving me a second glance. Her feet pounded hard on the cobblestones, her arms pumping by her sides. The expression on her face gave me a sudden chill. Fear streaked through her wide eyes; all the colour had drained from her skin.

Lugh was on the attack. Not that I should be particularly surprised. We knew he'd go after people. It was just…my heart flickered seeing him in action like this. The Lugh I knew would never harm a human, not unless he'd been forced to protect his Court.

He strode after her, his eyes unblinking, his hands curled into pulsing fists by his sides. With a deep breath, I stepped in front of him to block his path. My sword was still raised before me, and a strange, eerie sensation flickered through me as the words of the prophecy rang in my ears.

"Lugh, stop," I called up at him. "It's me. Moira. You know, your mate . You don't need to attack anyone, okay? Just…take a minute to think about what you're doing."

I had no idea if a nightmare wraith could be reasoned with. Hell, I knew next to nothing about how their magic worked, what they felt, or who they were deep down inside. Based on what I knew, and everything about Lugh's spear, it seemed they were soulless. So trying to reason with him as if he were Lugh was pretty much pointless.

That didn't stop me, though .

Even now, like this, I viewed the terrifying wraith who towered before me as the male I loved.

"Get out of my way," he said in a low growl.

Okay, so he could talk. That was a good sign.

"Do you know who I am?" I kept my gaze focused on his face, searching for any sign of recognition. Only a blank slate answered.

"You are Moira. You are the mate of the male who once called himself Lugh, the fae who once resided in this body. Now step aside."

My heart pulsed. His words hurt far more than I cared to admit. It wasn't as if I'd expected his eyes to clear or for him to tweak my chin with his thumb before pulling me close to his chest. But I'd wanted it. Desperately. With every single bone in my tired body.

"So you're saying that Lugh is no longer with you," I said, more to stall than anything else. While we'd been talking, I'd pressed a tiny GPS device in my pocket, alerting the others that I'd found Lugh. They'd be here within moments. Together, we could trap Lugh and take him to the vaults beneath the castle.

A win-win situation, as far as I was concerned. Down in the dark tunnels, he wouldn't have the reach to cast his nightmarish powers on anyone, and he could take care of all those Sluagh in his boredom.

And we'd have in him our grasp when we finally found the cauldron.

It was the only hope we had, and I was clinging to the plan like it was my only lifeline .

To my surprise, the Wraith Lugh tipped his head back and laughed. But the sound was nothing at all like the real Lugh's laugh. When he really let down his walls, it was a booming, soothing sort of sound that felt like cosy winter nights spent curled up beside a roaring fire.

This, however, was pure ice down my spine.

"I remember everything that has happened, Moira Talmhach. Who you are, what we have done together, and what the male fae Lugh thought, said, did. All of it." Wraith Lugh sneered. "He wanted you to kill me, did he not? Why are you standing there speaking to me instead of fighting me as you should? Do you not wish to fulfil your prophecy? Do you not wish to rid yourself and this world of me? Or have you forgotten what I shall do now that I am free? The nightmare wraiths are coming, and I will make certain they will come for you first."

Tears filled my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. His words felt like a sharp stab to the gut, and the look on his face—one of revulsion—was one I was certain I would never forget. Lugh—my Lugh—would never look at me that way. Not even when I'd pretended to be a solitary fae when really I'd been spying on his Court. There had always been a wicked glint in his eye, a sparkle, a flash of his real self beneath the mask.

This Lugh, though…he was pure darkness. It was as if the very core of him had been cut out, only to be replaced by the shadows themselves.

His grin stretched wide. "Perhaps Lugh's time in my body was a gift. I don't even need to use my powers on you. All I need to do is speak a few words, and the horror is flickering in your eyes. Your pain is written all over your face."

"You wish you had that kind of power over me." A tear fell from my eyes, betraying me. Not that it mattered. This Lugh, even though he did not possess a soul, seemed capable of peering right into mine. Where the hell was my backup? They should have been here by now.

"Shall we fight then?" He took a step toward me, shadows rippling across his skin. "They say you are one of the very best sword wielders and that no fae can stand against you. But can you hold your own against a nightmare wraith?"

I swallowed hard, staring up at him. The last thing I wanted to do was fight Lugh. The wraith had done his level best to convince me that the male I knew had been a parasite, lurking inside his body until he'd been kicked out. But I couldn't believe it. Those pit black eyes were soulless, yes, but they were still Lugh. I had to believe that he was still in there, somewhere.

"I'm not going to fight you," I finally whispered, though I still kept my sword raised before me. Footsteps pounded on the ground behind me. "I'm going to trap you."

Lugh glanced behind me, his expression growing hard. When he spotted Boudica, Warin, and Nero charging into the close, he tipped back his head and roared. The sound thundered against the building walls that surrounded us, and tremors shook the ground. I stumbled back, my eyes wide at the intensity of his power. I'd been attacked by nightmare wraiths as a child, but I'd never seen them quite like this.

He was a hell of a lot more powerful than I'd thought.

"Idiots." He laughed, that eerie sound that scratched at my ears. "You think you can trap me? I am a nightmare wraith. Do you truly know nothing about what I am?"

"I know that we can't let you roam the Edinburgh streets, attacking innocent mortals." Boudica strode up to my side, her own sword in her hands. I hoped she didn't truly plan on using it.

"Where will you put me then?" Wraith Lugh twisted his gaze toward me and smiled. "In the castle? You think that hideous place could truly contain me?"

I glanced at Boudica. "Why wouldn't it?"

He let out that booming, terrifying laugh and shot his hands out by his sides. Instantly, shadows engulfed him, pulsing around his tall, muscular body like a shield. It reminded me of something I'd seen before—Quentin's power, his ability to vanish from one place and appear in another.

"Shit!" I dropped my sword and rushed forward, diving deep into the very shadows themselves, no longer fearing for my own safety.

My arms made contact with absolutely nothing. Instead, I tumbled forward, knees slamming hard into the stone ground.

Wraith Lugh had been right. We'd gone up against him while having no knowledge of his abilities or what his powers were. And as it turned out, they were far greater than we'd thought. Just like Quentin, he could vanish into the night. Trapping him was no longer an option.