35. Chapter Thirty-Five

Istood, horror filling me with every breath as she sat down.

"See, normally animals adore me, but you moon cursed are too human. You." She pointed at me. "Change. That's the only reason it took so long for me to gain control of you. I already have enough to deal with trying to tame an Alpha werewolf. I don't need your human side fighting me at every turn."

I fought it. I truly did. I didn't want to be owned and kept. I wanted to go home, to feel my own earth under my feet. I wanted Carey, Dirk, Oliver, and Landon to be in my life every day. I couldn't get myself trapped in the fae realms. I couldn't.

I stripped, dropping my clothes to the ground. I saw an ugly pleasure in the fae's eyes as I revealed myself. She stood and came to inspect me as I moved as slowly as I could to undress.

"Slightly scarred," she murmured, her fingers daring to touch my skin. Heath snarled, but she ignored him. "That's okay. It'll only help me use you to intimidate my enemies. The Wild Hunt is infamous for their werewolves. Now, I shall be infamous for my matching moon cursed set."

I whimpered as I finished undressing, and the Change began, breaking my bones one by one, moving them under my skin. I never fought the Change before, rushing through it, letting the explosive pain run over me and end quickly. Today, I fought, dragging it out, fighting the call of my other half. What normally took less than a minute, I was able to drag out to nearly five minutes and counting, still not even halfway through it.

I was buying time. I knew I couldn't fight forever, not without killing myself or worse, losing control completely. The pain was blinding and unbearable, but I knew pain was better than anything waiting for me on the other side.

"J…Jac…"

I heard Heath trying to connect his mind with mine, but I ignored it.

Then I heard a roar that shook my broken bones.

I couldn't see what happened, but something warm hit my skin. I could smell the blood, then a large body bumped into mine as something in my mind fell away.

I pushed through the Change and looked up, panting to see my father standing over me.

"Thank you," I said to him, grateful.

He snarled and began to Change back. It was stupid of me, but I joined him. Heath didn't try to Change back, already sniffing around us, probably looking for a trail we could follow. Hasan beat me to our human forms by a minute. The excruciating ordeal was slow for me this time because I had put myself through the punishment too soon.

"Jacqueline," he said darkly.

"Can't…can't talk right now," I said, panting as I groped for my clothing. "They have Fiona. They tricked her. They told her they had a way she could stop this. She left with them."

"Fucking idiotic humans," he snarled, grabbing me off the floor. He helped me find my clothing and even dressed me. "When this is over, you will explain to me what the hell you think you're doing here…and why Heath Everson is with you."

I didn't have time to be shocked by his acknowledgment of my werewolf.

"We need to live through this first, but the short version is that we were blackmailed. He wanted both of us, so he blackmailed us," I said. Once I was fit to be seen, I started running, letting Hasan live with that piece of information. Heath was already a dozen or more feet ahead of us, trotting as he followed the scent. I could pick Fiona out of scents of the fae. As a human, she was the easiest to identify.

We rushed into the Courtyard, finding the chaos and devastation had only grown since I had gotten Fiona out of it. Only one section of it was free of blood, which was where the Tribunal sat. Both of the witches were on their feet, their hands high. I saw their mouths moving in a chant or spell. Whatever they were doing was keeping the others of the Tribunal safe. Callahan and Corissa were still seated, watching everything unfold in mild shock and amusement. The vampires looked hungry, their eyes blood red, but they were still in their seats.

I couldn't find Fiona at all and had to keep searching, but first, I had to get rid of Hasan.

"Hasan, you have to go back to the Tribunal seating and stay there," I ordered, pointing at it. He grabbed the back of my neck and snarled.

"And let you fight the fae alone? Do you think I've lost my mind, daughter? Do you think I'm willing to watch you die when I can stop all of this right now by killing one of those two?" he pointed at Brion and Oisin. "Earlier today, I would have said Oisin, but maybe both of them can die. Brion knew better than to test thousands of years of friendship by involving one of my children in his schemes."

"This is why you can't get involved. You'll break the Tribunal. This is why I didn't say anything. If you break the Tribunal, it'll be war within the decade, and you know it! Do this for me. No, not just for me but for every werecat out there relying on you to keep the relationships between us and the werewolves stable. They'll be the ones lost if you get involved beyond helping me."

He released me, his expression dark.

"You sound like your sister," he snapped. "Everyone around us is dying, and Zuri wants to talk about the politics of their deaths."

"Then I learned from the best," I snapped. "Stand aside, Father. You have no other choice. You have to trust me. We need to find Fiona."

He stepped back, and I took that as a good sign and turned to Heath, only to see him running. I chased after him, trying to find his target. He leapt and hit a fae nearly ten feet away. The fae's head crashed into the stone, killing him instantly. Sorcha turned and smiled.

"Thanks for the save!" she said, but she was desperately pale, and blood covered her armor.

"Are you going to be okay?" I asked. There was a blue tint to her lips I had never seen, she was breathing too hard, and her hands were shaking.

She nodded quickly before turning to kick away someone and stabbed them without much effort, but she was slower than I was and lacked grace.

"I was hit with an arrow earlier. I pulled it out, but there's no time to find a healer to handle it. I'll be fine," she promised. "I just need to find my husband. He was dueling a redcap, and I haven't seen him. What are you two doing?"

"Looking for Fiona. She…"

"No…" Sorcha looked stunned for a second. "How did they get her away from you? You know what? Tell me when this is over. There's no time. They'll use her. I haven't seen her boys since the beginning of this either. Go. Go find her!" She waved us off and started running, probably hunting for Cassius.

"Heath, can you catch her scent?" I asked, looking down at him. We were standing in the middle of a war, fae turning against fae, but we had a moment to breathe. He sniffed the air and shook his head.

"Damn," I muttered. Whatever those fae were planning was probably going to happen.

Then a terrible scream cut over the sounds of fighting, and I turned.

Cassius stood over the body of a redcap, roaring in fury as he brought his sword down into the goblin's chest. Sorcha laid to the side, her hand over a new injury her chainmail hadn't been able to stop. She was bleeding out, far too quickly for anyone to do anything. I ran for her, grabbing a fae I didn't know and tossing her aside. Heath jumped on another, trying to attack Cassius as he fell to his wife's side.

"Sorcha," he moaned as I grew close.

"The arrow was poisoned," she whispered to him. "I was already…d-d-dying. I wasn't going to let them take you, too." She reached up and touched his cheek. "I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't…" Her hand dropped, and Cassius screamed, pulling her to him. Her body was limp in his arms, but her blood was still pouring onto the stone.

"I need a healer!" he roared. "Now!"

For a moment, a hush fell over the fighting as everyone turned to Cassius and his lost wife. I looked over the chaos to see both Brion and Oisin looking horrified.

Cassius clung to his wife as the ground started to shake, and cracks began to break through the stone.

No healer came through the crowd.

"A healer!" I screamed. "Find one!"

Heath howled, piercing the silence. A woman came running through the crowd and fell to her knees at Sorcha's side. Cassius glared at her for a moment, then let her touch Sorcha.

"I…I can't…heal this," she whispered as she surveyed the damage. "The body I can fix but…the poison. It's Titania's Bane. There's no cure. Prince…I'm so…I'm so sorry."

Cassius broke, weeping over the body.

"Brother…you know I would never…" Oisin reached out to Brion, who slapped his hand away. Fury passed over Oisin's face at Brion's immediate dismissal.

"I know you have tricks. One of your people has killed the greatest treasure our parents have ever given our people," Brion snarled in fury. "You will answer for it."

"Fine. Let's end this, then, shall we? Bring forth the prisoners!"

I felt my jaw drop as three fae popped into existence, one roughly holding Fiona, who looked terrified.

"You have a choice, Brion. You can have your wife, or you can have the throne. You do not get both."

"Love—"

Fiona didn't get a chance to plead her case or say anything except that one word. Brion didn't get the opportunity to even consider his options.

An arrow flew, right after the first word was said, and buried itself in Fiona's heart.

I had lost a charge, and now, a callous fae was dropping her dead body to the ground in surprise.

Brion roared, and power sent everyone except Oisin flying back. I hit a stone wall and groaned in pain. Blinking several times, I watched as Brion called upon the very plant life in the courtyard to hold his brother.

Brion was still screaming as he beheaded Oisin, and the king's head rolled.

I struggled to get to my feet, dizzy. I felt the heat of blood on the back of my head. I tried to focus my vision, knowing Brion was getting bigger as he came at me.

Hasan was suddenly in front of me, and I fell onto his back.

"This is what happens when you involve the inexperienced in your plots," my father said, meeting Brion's glare head on. "This is not her failure but your own."

Brion roared, but it was silenced as Cassius stood up.

"Stop," the prince whispered. "Stop this now. Father, look at her body."

I was able to look around Hasan to see Brion turn to see it wasn't Fiona lying on the ground but another fae. It had been a trick. The fae probably wasn't supposed to die. Those left in Oisin's entourage opened a path, and Fiona came running out, looking at the fae in surprise.

"I…she was supposed to convince you to stand down," Fiona whispered. "And they were keeping me safe until you surrendered…"

It was Heath who jumped into action, running for Fiona, shoving her to the ground as another arrow flew and slammed into him. I wasn't the only one staggering to walk and reach them, but Brion beat me there, grabbing his wife into a hug, leaving Heath on the ground.

I didn't think of anything but reaching him, pulling away when someone tried to stop me. Callahan and Corissa were moving now as well. I sobbed as I went to my knees and pulled his body to me.

Then a hand touched my shoulder.

"He's not dead, and the arrow might not be poisoned," Cassius whispered, kneeling next to me, looking rough, his voice betraying he was a broken man. Yet, somehow, he was still strong enough to come to my side. At that moment, I had more respect for him than I thought was possible. His strength broke through my fear. "Let the healer see him. Quickly."

It was still a struggle to release him, but the healer was there, and she took the arrow out of him.

"No poison on this one."

"Someone, find that damn archer!" Brion roared, finally jumping into action. "Now!"

Everyone was scrambling. More people died. If they were holding a bow, they were killed, but I didn't care or pay attention, watching the healer try to fix my werewolf.

"Daughter, let's go," Hasan ordered.

"No," I whispered, waiting to see if Heath would continue breathing, desperately hoping this wasn't the last adventure we would have.