9. Rhys

We were finally on Kelibon's doorstep. I'd been looking for an opportunity to get to him for as long as I could remember, and here we were. The longer we lingered outside his window, the more chance something had of disturbing our plans, so I made a move, pushed the window fully inward and climbed inside.

Kiera climbed in quickly after me with a slight frown. It was probably because I'd said we were going to enter the house at the same time. Still, it wasn't like we'd both fit in the same window at once.

I touched a finger my lips, urging her silence, and pulled the window back into its former position.

Kiera crossed the ballroom floor to the nearest door. The room was massive and had many doors, and a massive chandelier overhead. Peeking out into the hallway, I couldn't hear any noises in the house. Kiera's shake of her head confirmed no one was close by.

A blue carpet covered the floor of the corridor, while the walls had cream wallpaper with a line of black diamond shapes below the ceiling. It reminded me of a style seen in an old hotel, but everything I saw was in pristine condition.

I quietly led the way down the corridor, my pistol already in my hand. Not that I expected it to kill fae, but it would be a bold opening move. I stopped to check a door on the left, and saw that it led to a large study with luxury furnishings. Everything about the room was impressive from the immaculately polished wooden desk to the framed pictures on the walls. They all depicted environments with whimsical qualities and majestic landscapes. I realised they might be pictures of the faerie world.

"Rhys," Kiera quickly beckoned to me.

I followed her to the doorway, where I heard an elderly man's voice carrying from downstairs.

"The meeting's almost over. Prepare a drink for our lord and bring it to the study."

My gaze flicked to Kiera, and hers to mine. We were in his study, and presuming it was the right one, it meant they were coming here… and soon. In fact, one of his servants might find us here at any moment if they saw through Kiera's magic.

Kiera mouthed the word, ‘ballroom,' and I shook my head.

I gestured for her to go on, and she hesitated briefly, before doing as I'd asked. The spell hiding us should still protect us both, so long as we stayed within sixty feet of each other's presence.

A quick check of the desk drawers revealed a lot of personal documents for a range of people, but no weapons that I could see. A man like Kelibon probably wouldn't have need of them. He possessed magic and people to do his bidding, including the most proficient of assassins. Not that I was counting the assassin who'd directed us to Kelibon's home.

I reached a hand into my pocket to check my crystal arrowhead was still there. It was my fall-back plan, if I needed it, though I had no proof it would work on Kelibon.

Sinking down into a chair in the corner of the room, I waited, unmoving. My pulse quickened when one of the serving staff entered the room carrying a silver tray. It held a bottle of liquid and a pair of empty glasses. I hoped that didn't mean Kelibon would have company.

The serving man set the tray down on a table beside the desk, and then left the study. There were footsteps outside in the hallway, and then two men walked in – Zachary, Kiera's charge, and an older man I didn't recognise. I was sure he must be Kelibon. He had something of an evil look about him as well, though I might've been biased.

Even though I was right there, they didn't appear to notice me. I held my breath, as quietly as possible, as Zachary poured two drinks. When he sat down at his desk and gestured to a seat on the opposite side, it hit me that this was Zachary's desk… and his study. Zachary was Kelibon?

Did that mean Kiera had lied to me? Was she trying to save Kelibon the whole time? I couldn't believe that.

"Thank you, sir," the older man replied.

I didn't yet have a name to put to his face.

Zachary nodded. "I've spoken with our members in the winter kingdom and they agree that it's time to strengthen the wards around the city, in order to keep out entities with divine power."

"That will take some doing, but with their help it will be possible," the older man replied, as he took his drink and downed it in one. "What about the entities already here?"

Zachary took a sip from his drink as well, and set down the glass. "We'll need to begin a process of eradication, beginning with the fallen angel in this room."

My eyes widened at those words, and I threw up a hasty shield around my body. It might not have been as strong as Kiera's magic, but I knew how to defend myself. It wasn't a moment too soon, as a spell bounced off the shield moments later. Zachary must've been preparing it as he'd talked with his associate.

I moved so quickly from the chair, it would've appeared as a blur to human eyes. I brought my pistol up to Zachary's chest, firing two rounds into him, then stepped behind his companion, bringing my pistol to the back of his neck and holding it there.

Zachary cried out when he was shot, but it didn't knock him down. I stepped out of his path, turning the guy I held at gunpoint around, placing him between Zachary and I. In short, I used him as equal parts hostage and meat shield.

"Step back or I'll shoot your friend, Kelibon," I said, as I stared coldly into his eyes.

"He's not my friend. He's Kelibon, and I'm Kelibon. We're all Kelibon. Don't you get it? There are more of us than you can imagine, and we'll just keep coming."

I was startled at the possibility that there was more than one, but I was sure about one thing – Kelibon could be killed, even if it took more bodies hitting the ground than I'd expected to do it.

"It just means you've given me more work doing what I love – icing you guys."

I shot Zachary in the face, knowing Kiera would be mad at me over it. Two rounds had hardly hurt him, but the third did damage, and a fourth even more. I didn't think he was coming back from that.

The elderly man raised his hands. "If you let me walk out of here, you won't see me again and I won't cause you any trouble."

If only it was that easy. I ensured it was over with fast, and then turned back to Zachary, and put a few more bullets into him for good measure. It was almost certain the others in the house had overheard it.

I hurried from the room, quickly seeking out Kiera in the ballroom. When I walked in, a man was holding a knife to her throat. I couldn't explain it, but he looked exactly like Zachary.

Of course, glamour magic! The question was, which one had I killed? The real Zachary, Kelibon – if my previous theory was correct and he was just one person – or somebody else?

My response would be the same either way.

"Let her go or I'll kill you."

"No one has to die here today," Kiera said, as she stared at me with complete confidence.

Yeah, it was a bit late for that.

"Your human weapons won't kill us – not permanently," Zachary said. "We aren't human and the interior of this house isn't in the human world. Different laws apply here."

"You know that divine magic can overpower your own though, don't you? It's why you targeted Kiera, and it's why if I shoot you, and send you off wherever it is you go, Kiera can cut the tie between the fae world and the mortal world. I think I'd like to see that happen…"

If this was the real Zachary, it became immediately apparent that he'd chosen the side of evil and not good, when he threatened to cut Kiera's throat. Of course, any ordinary knife wasn't going to be sufficient to kill an angelic being.

I'd given him a warning and Kiera had given him a chance. That meant he was all out of both.

"Look away, Kiera," I told her, a moment before I put one careful round between his eyes.

He fell to the floor unmoving, and a few seconds later, his body disappeared.

"What just happened?" I asked her.

"I don't know. I wasn't looking," she replied with an impish grin. "I should be mad at you but… I don't think we have a lot of time before they'll be back with more effective weapons."

"Can you do it? Can you cut the tie between the interior of the house and the mortal world outside?" I asked her, hoping I was right.

"I can try. We won't want to be inside, if I succeed."

I heard footsteps running outside as I ushered her out the window. I quickly followed, slamming it closed as the familiar face of Zachary rushed into the room.

"Isn't the backyard also in the faerie world?" I asked her.

I remembered its appearance had changed when we walked through the gate by the side of the house.

Kiera was already focusing beside me. Her eyes were closed, and like me, she floated in the air. If she heard my question, she didn't answer it.

A hail of bullets smashed the window, but none of them hit us. I could see something had been done to them – they radiated a sickly, dark energy – but they stopped just short of us and hung there in the air as if held in place by a shimmering force.

A ripple of energy displaced the shimmering, and then it was gone. The bullets disappeared as well, and there was no sign of the men in the room where they'd been before.

Moments passed, and Kiera opened her eyes, glancing over at me.

"It's done. I think I've severed the bonds between the fae world and the mortal world. Everyone who was in the house is now in the fae world, but we missed anyone who wasn't there," she said. "The backyard is real. It's the front of the house that was disguised with glamour. I've replaced it with a spell of my own, approximating how it looked before. It was the best I could do at short notice."

"That's incredible," I told her, drawing her into a kiss as we floated together, our wings extended.

She kissed me back, and wrapped her arms around me.

I knew we shouldn't linger there – it was still dangerous ground, but I took the time to enjoy Kiera being with me, and the fact we'd both survived. It was a small victory against Kelibon – whether singular or plural! And if Kelibon truly was exiled from the fae world, I could only imagine he or they would be unpopular upon their return.

"We should check inside the house," Kiera said, breathlessly between kisses. "Make sure no one's still there."

"You're right," I said, and returned to the window. Curiously, it was locked, so I unlatched it with a gesture, and we made our way back inside.

It was an entirely different and far smaller house within compared to the one we'd been in before. There was no sign of anyone in its empty rooms, only a skinny white cat which Kiera promptly adopted.