Chapter 31

[CW: mention of rape, violent childbirth, death]

The fire cracked, and the light lowered. The sluagh paced back and forth, her horde of shadows spreading and consuming the ground. Their shapes danced, as if moving to a violent song I couldn't hear.

Think, I told myself. Whispers filled the silence, the sound of the birds fading away. The sluagh stopped walking to stand just beyond the flames. Her milky eyes caught in the firelight, her body almost an arm's length away from me now.

The fire's light had fallen to a small perimeter around the fire. If I looked up, the night sky was blotted out by shadow. I couldn't even see the trees anymore.

Beyond the fear, a burning rose inside me. Anger. I was helpless and it was nobody's fault but my own, allowing myself to be swept up in Ronan's shadow, doing nothing to learn how to fend for myself in Faerie. I had become complacent, thinking relying on someone else was enough.

I didn't have him now.

I breathed in deep, swallowing up the decaying scent of the sluagh. I nearly gagged, it was so strong.

"You will not get me, sluagh."

The demon tilted her head, eying me. "Oh, smart little human. You know what I am. A few little fairy tales won't save you, though. Neither will your knife." Her voice was monotonous, echoing through the air.

I looked down at the weapon gripped tight in my hand. If I broke the barrier of light, the shadows would be upon me in moments.

I thought of the fire, wishing for a way to feed it, make it brighter. If only I had a small sliver of the magic Ronan had. A little bit of faerie Craft. Something,

Almost as soon as I thought it, a breeze danced along my sweat-soaked skin. My gaze flickered down to my hand. Adrenaline continued to beat through my body. My muscles were poised to claw, fight, and cut through the mass of shadows.

The fire cracked, and the light drew closer. I stepped back, hunching to stay in its glow's safety. My boots hit a piece of burnt wood. My arms shot out and I stumbled, heat scorching up my back. I steadied myself, and grit my teeth. I had nearly fallen into the fire, I was so close.

The sluagh cackled.

"Your soul will soon be mine. But please, continue to entertain us."

I breathed in heavily, nearly choking on the ashy air. I gripped the knife in my hand hard, the hand slick under my hand.

An impulse had me moving before I could think of what I was doing. I lifted the knife and flung it. I aimed directly at the sluagh's head. A breeze caught it from where it went of course, driving it into the space directly between her eyebrows with a slick thunk.

All was silent. I flexed my now empty hand at my side. Had it worked? Would the suagh disappear into thin air? How had I...?

Slowly the sluagh's milky white eyes crossed, looking up at the knife. She rose a bony hand to pull it from her head, black blood trickling down her face. She smiled, showing me her brown teeth as she dropped the knife. It lay there, covered in a layer of her tar-like blood.

So much for that.

"Nice try, human." I watched as her skin knit back together over her head, leaving only the new trail of clumped blood down her face.

I lifted a shoulder, feigning nonchalance. "It was worth a try."

She looked at me, her gaze narrowed as she considered me. As if I had surprised her.

In all honesty, I had surprised myself.

"You aren't afraid?"

"No, but I know I should be."

She eyed me. "I was you once, a human bride of Faerie. I was taken for the Hunt. Young and scared, Faerie had been so horrifying back then."

Her words gave me pause, her tone strangely lucid. The flames behind me continued to shrink, and even while she spoke, she stepped forward, closer. I couldn't help but be drawn into her words as she spoke.

"Interesting then that you ended up an unrepentant sinner. Isn't that how the sluagh come to be?"

She looked me over, her eyes dancing in the shrinking light. I could see the red glow of the fire reflected in her milky gaze.

"Just because I was a bride, does not mean I was innocent. Before I was taken, I tried to sacrifice my sister to save myself. But she didn't pass their test and died in the process, and they took me anyway. I had made a deal, and they returned to collect. But I didn't know back then you shouldn't make a deal with a faerie."

I swallowed thickly, feeling the weight of my debts on my wrists. I didn't hear any remorse in her voice.

"I was taken by a lesser fae because none of the high fae wanted me. He raped me night after night. He was twisted and unkind. I did not live long. I bore him a monstrous child and died in the process as the creature's horned head ripped through my insides during childbirth. It lived, and I died... but not completely. Faerie has a way of claiming things for its own." She grinned her blackened smile.

She didn't even flinch as she told me her gruesome tale.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked. I felt the fire's heat behind me starting to diminish.

"Because, human, we can see the fight in you. Don't be fooled by that faerie. Here prettiness is just another illusion used to hide how noxious things truly are. The more beautiful something is, the less you can trust it. Me taking your soul now is nothing but a small mercy compared to the agony that awaits you in this world. You will see that soon enough. Faerie fancies are fickle even if they look sweet."

I might have believed her once, but now it was harder. My lips lifted from my teeth into a snarl that ripped through me before I even realized it. Like something feral and angry had awoken inside of me at her words.

Perhaps I had always known it was there.

It filled me, a quick wind whirling in through the shadows, breaking them up before they reformed. They hissed as it pushed them into the light, blistering black bubbles bursting against their scorched flesh.

The sluagh shifted, eying me as the smell of her burnt companions wafted through the air. The wind spun, surrounding me. It was angry and wild, a reflection of what I felt coursing through my veins.

I held out my hands, gentle currents surrounding them. Behind me, the fire flared, brought back to life by the small whipping breeze that was dancing around me. Calling to me. Urging me to use it.

Only I had no idea how. I didn't even believe it was possible.

"What are you?" the sluagh hissed, quickly backing away into the shadows as the fire's light stretched and expanded.

"I have no idea," I whispered, still in shock.

I straightened from my crouch, staring down at my hands. I remembered how Marlais had manipulated the wind.

Maybe I could do that too.

Right now was not the time to wonder how it was possible, all I knew was the minute I thought it, the wind roused again. Spinning. Swarming. Encompassing me in a protective shield.

Experimentally, I reached out, making a slicing motion with my hand, imagining the thin edge of a sharp blade lifting from my fingers. The result was greater than I had imagined. I sharp current of wind hardened, striking through the shadowy masses around me. I could hear their startled, ear-splitting screeches as it sliced through them into a tree, revealing a path through the darkness. They reformed, but it took several moments before they knitted back together.

The slaugh hissed, a low furious sound. She paced through the shadows, weaving in and out of them. Her face sharpened into a snarl.

"That won't kill us, human. We are infinite. You can't kill something that is already dead."

I ignored her, focusing on the wind. Trying to figure out how to sharpen it to my will. I struck out another hand, sending another slice of air. This time beyond it I saw a figure on the other side, a fire ignited on a long steel sword.

Ronan.

He was on the other side of the shadows, trying to fend them off. But even with his flame, there were too many. Over the break in the shadows, his eyes met mine. His widened a fraction, and then a shadow moved, blocking him from view. Pain spiked along my arms, and I hunched over. I put my hands on my thighs, breathing rapidly.

The fire sputtered and sparked, but its revival was quickly dimming. My wind had roused it, but there was still only a little life left in it. I had only made it eat through the wood faster.

The sluagh snickered with glee.

"Just give in, little human," she hissed, slithering closer. All I could see was her grotesque face on the other side of the light.

"Join us. It is where a disgusting little girl like you belongs."

I stared back at her, mirroring her expression.

"No."

I lifted both my hands, focusing all my energy on the wind. It gathered to me, swirling. I had to fight back a scream as pain sliced over me. Blood welled as small cuts gathered on my arms, the wind shredding through my skin.

I couldn't stop. Not now.

I widened my arms, then brought down both hands. A gap formed in the direction Ronan had been, parting the shadows wide enough so that a body could fit through. Ronan saw what I had done, and jolted towards me quickly. The fire flickered, and he was there.

"You have wind Craft," he stated.

I nodded my head, resisting the urge to fall to my knees. He lifted his sword, sending a pulse of flame from it and looked back at the sluagh, who suddenly didn't seem so sure of herself.

"Where were you?"

He clenched his jaw, not quite meeting my eyes. "They distracted me, making sure to separate us. I tried to get through but there are too many."

I placed my hands on my knees. Even with Ronan's flame, the shadows still were thick around us. Unless we could create a large enough fire to burn through them all at once, we were still stuck there by the sheer mass of them. The fire was nearly dead without any wood to feed it, and we were cut off from getting any more. The sluagh continued to pace around us, hissing and mocking, her eyes darting warily between Ronan and me.

"Can you do it again?" Ronan asked in a low whisper, watching the shadows, his gaze sharp and calculating. "I have an idea."

He held his sword prepared to strike, keeping us encased in a bubble of light.

"Do what?"

"What you did with the wind. Send a gust to my sword. I can do the rest."

I tried to steady my breath, then winced. Just parting the shadows had taken a lot out of me. I wasn't sure if I could do it again.

"I'll try."

He nodded. "Collect it like you did before, then aim it at my sword."

"He's tricking you, mortal. Don't listen to his pretty words. Once he gets you to his home, you will wish you had given yourself to me this night. Don't be a fool. Let us have your soul, and with that, you can be free," the sluagh interrupted, daring to prowl closer to the light of Ronan's sword.

I glared at her.

"Even if he is, I'll take my chances."

I closed my eyes. I could still feel the wind at my fingers. It bumped against me, eagerly, It glided and danced along my fingers, and I drew it, pulling it to myself. My hair whipped around my face. A ripple spread through the air, more hisses sounding from the shadows.

"Don't worry, fools," the sluagh hissed. "It's just a little residual magic. She is human. It is nothing for us to worry about. No human can have that much Craft. Everyone knows that those that pass over only have a shadow of old, tired fae blood."

But her words only made me push harder. I might have been human, and I might be something else. Either way, I was not weak.

Faerie was starting to show me that.

I gathered the wind into a strong gust, feeling it roll around my fingers into a tight ball. Opening my eyes, I imagined throwing it towards Ronan. I had no idea if it would work. It drifted towards him wavering, then finally gathered around his sword. Pain pierced through me, but I clenched my jaw and ignored it. Hot streams of blood trickled down my arms.

At first, his sword glowed brighter, sending out another pulse of hot, fiery light that burned through the shadows that still dared to linger close. I heard the sluagh's stifled hiss as she finally backed away.

Ronan locked his arms, holding his stance. His eyes narrowed, and his jaw clenched. His sword glowed, engulfing the entire thing in flame. The wind whipped, spreading, flying, and surrounding us until no more shadows dared to stalk closer. Ronan opened his eyes and looked down at me. The fire surrounded us in a swirling wall of flame and heat. It separated us from everything else, and for one brief moment, it was only Ronan and me within it.

An inferno.

His eyes met mine, and I felt a thrill course through me. The gusting wind inside my veins answering to his fire. It took root, deep down inside of me. Bright, delicious power sung between the two of us.

Ronan lifted his chin, a slow, deadly smile curving his lips. For a moment, he looked like he would let the entire world burn at his feet.

"A firestorm," he said softly, a fire raging in his eyes.

Beyond the flames, the sluagh and her horde's agonized screams echoed through the night.