26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

"Bloodshed was the true reason I forged the gate. War. We were at war. Humans killing fae. Fae killing humans. I wanted to end the bloodshed. I regret the cost of peace was six of my seven sons' lives." – Lord Rhett, First Lord of Sídhetír.

S omething dripped on me, then a cool dampness swiped over my forehead. A desperate voice whispered my name over and over again. Groaning, I opened my eyes. Cethin hovered over me with a piece of moss. Rain fell from the sky and the air was frigid. My hands ran over the ground and I sighed.

Sídhetír. I was in Sídhetír.

"Aidan," Cethin said, pressing the moss to my cheek. "Look at me, dearest."

"I'm here."

"You fell unconscious."

"I did?" We were in the woods with the gate right behind Cethin. The looming trees covered the ground in shadows, dimming my sight, but it didn't matter. I could sense everything. The dirt. The trees. The rain. Even the people wandering across the land.

Cethin patted my cheek, and my eyes opened. I hadn't even realized I'd closed them. "Stay with me."

I grabbed his hand and slid it over my heart. "I'm not going anywhere."

He continued to bathe me with the moss and rubbed dirt along my cheeks and in my hair. I had no idea if drenching me in Sídhetír actually helped, but it didn't hurt. To keep my eyes open took more energy than I truly had to spare. I was so tired, but any time my eyelids slid closed, he would pat my cheek and growl at me.

Sídhetír greeted me, magic flooding my body, but behind the coursing river, I sensed anger. Sídhetír didn't like me leaving for so long.

I'm sorry , I whispered to it. I will never leave like this again .

I couldn't tell if it was appeased, but I hoped so, because this time I would like to rest before I faced the fae representatives or Lord Byrne.

Other things came to my awareness. Fae. I could feel them. Light fae. Dark fae. They peppered the landscape of Sídhetír like gleaming stars and burning fires. My senses didn't end at the treeline as the Memoirs said. I felt the forest as easily as I did the land. More fae. So many fae.

Everything was blurry like I was looking through a frosted glass. I could perceive the land, but not clearly. Not yet.

Cethin lifted me to a seated position, and the world tilted. He kept an arm firmly around my back, supporting me. I could barely focus on him, though. Sídhetír was too overwhelming. There was too much. Fae. Humans. Plants. Animals. There was far too much. It was raining here over the forest, but it snowed at Byrne Manor. Fire. There was a fire burning near the manor too.

I sensed blood in the dirt. Human blood. Fae were attacking the manor.

I pushed out of Cethin's arms and stumbled to my feet.

"Aidan?"

"We have to go back to Byrne Manor."

"Why?"

"Blodwen is attacking them," I said, not knowing how I knew.

His eyes narrowed, but when I took another stumbling step forward, he drew me to his chest. "You need to rest."

"I have to protect them."

He didn't release me, and I squeezed his arm. His worry was reasonable, but there was no other option. I had to protect Sídhetír and its people.

"I will go with you."

"I expected nothing less."

Cethin pressed a kiss to my dirtied cheek before he swept me into his arms. I squeaked, which he ignored. Wings spread from his back as his horns appeared and his features sharpened. Unable to stop them, my fingers brushed the jagged black horns.

"Don't distract me, dearest," he whispered, lifting off the ground.

"Can you feel them?"

"Dimly, yes."

"You don't have to hide them or your true face."

His gaze flicked down at me as he wove through the trees. "You don't mind?"

"No," I said, gripping them. "I like it."

A grin tugged on his lips, and he repeated, "Don't distract me."

We flew through the grasping tree branches and into the sky. Rain pelted me. Shivers swept up my spine, but despite the cold, every drop made me feel better. The aches in my sides and the bruises on my face began to dim while my exhaustion started to wane. Sídhetír was healing me, and the void inside me slowly filled.

The closer we got to Byrne Manor, the more magic bombarded the area. Cethin's arms stiffened around me; he must have felt it as well. Snow fell from the sky and blanketed the land. It was much too early in the season for weather like this, but Sídhetír had been angry about my absence and continued the snowstorm I'd called forth.

Fire kissed the hedges around the manor, but didn't make it through the green barrier. Fae like of which I'd never seen surrounded the grounds. Tall. Short. Human-appearing. Animalistic. None of the light fae, though, attacked the village; all were focused on the manor.

Right outside the gate were a couple of mages mixed with soldiers fighting the light fae. Lord Abnus was among the soldiers throwing magic at the light fae while he sliced at them with his sword, his expression icy, and his movements impossibly quick. Abnus was doing more damage than either the soldiers or mages. His magic, black and scattered with blood-red petals, kept the light fae at bay, while icicles as sharp as knives plunged into the invaders.

Lord Byrne stood behind the gate. The land rose around him, shoving the fae back, and roots and vines entrapped them. He lifted a hand to the clouded sky, then jerked it toward the fae. Lightning crackled and stuck where he pointed. Fae screamed as they flew through the air, and fire sparked to life on the wet ground.

I'd never seen Lord Byrne wield the might of Sídhetír before, but I knew the magic was immense. Yet with the mantle shifting to me, he couldn't force the fae out of the human realm.

"Cethin, hurry."

His dragon wings flapped even harder as he raced over the gentle hills. "Where should I land?"

Landing behind the hedge would be best, but I didn't want anyone to mistake Cethin for the enemy and injure him. He was too important. But fighting through the horde would be difficult.

As I was about to order Cethin to fly over the hedge, a light fae with golden skin and curled horns spread their white feathery wings and launched at Lord Byrne. A glimmer of green shimmered around the manor grounds, and the fae slammed into an invisible barrier. Shrieking, the fae fell to the snow, flames licking their wings.

Flying over the hedge wasn't possible.

We would have to force our way through the light fae.

"Land behind the horde."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." There was no other option, unless I wanted to attempt to break the barrier, which was probably not a good idea—or something I could actually do.

"I will protect you."

"And yourself?"

"And myself because your life depends on it."

I rolled my eyes.

When we landed, I grabbed his cheeks and threw his own words back at him. "If you die, I will scold you most heartily in the afterlife."

"I would expect nothing less, dearest." He maneuvered me behind him. "Stay close." He stretched out a hand and a cloud of black magic encased him. Thorny vines and blue flowers with silver glimmers appeared. A sword grew within the magic until it solidified.

"When you get inside, sign the damn contract. I don't care who you choose. Sign it so you can cast them out." Cethin faced the manor, free hand extended. "How do we get in?"

"The same way I snuck out to see you." My hand went to my pocket. The iron key was still there—it had never left me.

Despite the tense situation, he glanced over his shoulder and smirked. "You had to sneak out for me?"

"Focus."

None of the light fae paid attention to us as we crept around the back of the horde to the side of the manor. I didn't know if Cethin was using magic to conceal us from their sights, or if because we weren't causing trouble, they couldn't care less about us.

I spotted the iron gate covered in vines, and I swore the plants moved in welcome. As I took a step forward, Cethin knocked me to the side right before lightning smashed into the ground where I once stood. Dirt rained all around us, clods hitting my face and Cethin's back.

My ribs were not happy about being slammed into the ground, but I would live, which was all that mattered. I pushed him off, then snagged him closer as yet another strike of white-hot lightning crashed not far from us. More clumps of dirt and rocks smacked into us.

"Lord Byrne is not holding back."

"I do not blame your father," Cethin said, hauling me to my feet. "The mantle and control is slipping to you, and he must protect his people while he can."

I bristled at Lord Byrne being called my father, but now was not the time to talk about it. I grabbed Cethin's free hand and headed to the secret gate. His sword glowed in the low light. With every flurry of snow hitting the blade, the light increased.

"I should thank you for the snow, dearest. It increases my power."

"Happy to assist." I crept to the side entry that no one besides myself knew of. The light fae were less numerous on this side, but not non-existent. As we neared the wall, a particularly massive light fae shifted in our direction, his bright eyes landing on me, and he grinned. His jagged teeth and leathery skin were all too familiar and brought images of a fire to my mind. This was the same type of fae as the ones at Hillridge Farm. Trolls, Blodwen had called them.

The troll growled and four more joined the leader, all massive. Their movements were liquid despite their sizes. All of them carried massive cudgels with iron spikes. Cethin had been downed by a single iron knife dipped in poison. I would guess the trolls used similar tactics.

Cethin slipped in front of me. "Keep going."

"I want to help."

He ordered, "Go, Aidan."

My fingers tightened around the iron key. I had no weapons. The magic of Sídhetír might be mine to command, but I had no knowledge of how to use it. I gripped the back of his tunic. "I will see you later."

I ran the moment Cethin launched at the trolls, sword extended. I heard growls and clangs, but I didn't turn around to look. Cethin could take care of himself. He didn't need me to worry over him, even though I really wanted to.

Before I even shoved the key into the lock, the gate sprang open and the vines curled toward me. I patted the leaves. "Thanks."

My feet knew the path through the hedge maze, but I'd never moved so fast in my life. It was like the land lifted to meet my feet and yanked me along. I whipped out of the maze. I needed Lord Byrne. Only he would know where the contract was kept.

I ran to the front of the manor, searching for the lord. I saw lightning strike with some frequency, but I did not catch a glimpse of Lord Byrne. I peered at the hedge; on the other side, somewhere, was Cethin. God, I hoped he was alright.

A solid wall of flesh appeared and arms surrounded me, making me start.

"Aidan," Whit said, squeezing me.

I patted my older brother on the back. Tears pricked the backs of my eyes. He was my brother. My actual older brother. I hugged him back, then shoved him away. "Where is Lord Byrne?"

"Why?"

"I need to sign the bloody contract, so I can force all of the fae out."

"All of them?" he asked with an eyebrow raised.

Not even the threat of death was enough to keep Whit or any of the others from teasing me. "Not my… mate, but everyone else."

Whit laughed, drawing my attention to a long scratch stretched on his forehead. I touched it. "Your wife is going to kill me."

"Yep. She likes my handsome face."

"Poor taste."

He shoved my arm. "Not all of us have fae blood to pretty us up."

"We will have a conversation about all the lies when we're not about to die."

He swallowed. "I know."

We dashed to where Lord Byrne stood on the front steps. His blonde and gray hair was mussed and his face was drenched in sweat. The magic creating the dome around the manor, plus the multiple lightning strikes, was costing him. If he wasn't careful, it would kill him.

His green eyes landed on me. They were the same shade as mine. I should have seen it sooner. "Son," he said, and I assumed he meant Whitaker. "Aidan."

A roar ripped through the air, and I jerked, glancing up at the dome. Fae bombarded the barrier, burning. Each time the fae hit the dome, it glimmered, growing dimmer by the second. It was weakening. Blodwen stood in the middle of the throng of fae with a feral smile on her face—simply waiting to break through.

"Where's the contract? I need to sign it. Now," I said.

"Can you?" Lord Byrne asked.

"We are about to find out."