Lux, p.19
Lux, page 19
Now, as twilight fell on the fourth day, Jess felt a sense of peace that thanks to her practicing, a few more souls had managed to move on into the Between. A prickle of anticipation stole through her as she observed the falling light. At Eventide, spirits were naturally drawn to the Between. She remembered all those months ago when she’d first been staying at Castle Nox, how she’d wondered at the sluagh being drawn to open portals. Now, she knew it was the Between calling to them. Their yearning souls longed to dissolve into it and travel into Oblivion.
Jess had gotten into the habit of opening a portal at Eventide, to focus on the dead in the Between. Over the last few days, she’d reached out so deeply into the Between that she’d felt the weave and weft of Earthen magic. On one side she’d had the sense of the feather-soft faded and on the other the whisper of branches.
The deeper she reached, the surer she felt about her task of moving on so many souls in the Below. But just as she was about to reach out to the pool before her, she felt the prickle of magic pouring from the waters.
Someone was portaling through.
Instantly, Jess yanked a veiling over herself with her death dust.
At the sight of dark braided hair and the tattooed temple, Jess’s quickening heart slowed.
“I needed a break from the Triodians,” Erika explained as she emerged from the portal.
Erika had kept to her agreement and was training Fern and a handful of the Triodian coven to magnify their power with the Thokkal iron. She’d allowed the Seelie metalsmiths to melt down the iron and forge rings for the witches and mages.
Jess’s thoughts stagnated on Fern. For all the Triodian order that Fern had supposedly upheld, the High Witch had cultivated an abundant following of lingering spirits, similar to Erika’s. Fern said that her ancestors from Mexico had always respected Dia de los Muertos—the Day of the Dead. She’d spoken of her practice of carrying sweet cakes and wine to coax the dead to her when she wanted to strengthen her Earthen magic. Jess hadn’t hidden her disdain that Fern would practice such magic in secret while preaching that only Earthen magic should be practiced in the Triodia at large.
Yeah, Jess didn’t envy Erika’s task of working alongside Fern. But they needed all the troops they could get. Through Sunny’s Unseelie contacts—those who he’d borrowed the tethered Storm-born from—he’d heard that it was rumored the Enodians would be joining Mara’s armies when they invaded Umbra. Anger seared through Jess. In a way, she wished she could be here on the battlefield and shred the souls from Theo’s. Yet, she smothered her frustration down. If she succeeded on her mission in the Fomor kingdom, Theo’s, and all the other Enodian and Unseelies’ divisive magic would be purged from Umbra and Earth.
Erika drew out a ribbon from her fur-lined pocket, tying it on the nearest hebena tree. Jess had a flash of an oak tree with ribbons fluttering in the breeze:
Fort Caylee.
Spending so much time around the Between and dead did have its drawbacks. Jess pushed away the melancholy sting of grief. “What are you doing?”
“A practice they have in Yin. The people dress the trees in the forests with ribbons, clothes, and food, asking the Suang for their heart’s desire.”
The Suang were the nature beings that Erika had spoken of—the disguise that Jess would be using when she went into the Fomors’ kingdom. She’d be posing as a Suang who had been captured, a gift being escorted by an Unseelie from Queen Mara.
Most of the discussion Jess had had with Erika about infiltrating the enemy’s kingdom had centered on logistics. Such as that Jess should stay in her wolf form as much as possible because the Suang commonly had darker complexions and hair than Jess in their human guise. The white dress that Jess now wore was part of her disguise, too. If she did need to transform into her human form in the Below, she’d at least be dressed in the style that the Suang commonly wore. It was day two of wearing one of the gods awful Seelie dresses, and it felt weird.
Jess watched in bemusement. “If I’m going to be in wolf form in the Below, how is understanding Suang rituals important?”
Erika didn’t answer but continued to tie the ribbons upon each branch. Jess wondered at the care with which she fastened the tokens. She found herself almost believing that a Suang would step out from between the trunks of hebena trees to bestow a wish upon the witch.
Then, a scent pervaded the air: spicy, a bit like cloves, and a sweetness like cinnamon, which was when Jess realized the materials Erika hung were infused with something.
A flutter of energy that marked dusk—Eventide—brushed Jess’s skin. That feather-soft whisper that rang from the Depths, from Umbra’s faded, made Jess’s whole being tingle. The sensation lapped against her, back and forth. Now that she could access her goddess’s power over the Between, Umbra’s magic didn’t feel so strange against her. Not now that she knew that through the faded she could harness her death energy.
“I remembered that I had a few spices from some of the worlds I’ve been to,” Erika turned around and explained. “I infused the ribbons with them. Hopefully, when you open the portal, the scent might bring some of the souls from those worlds.”
The sight of the fluttering ribbons filled her with anticipation. So far, she’d only been able to practice moving on stray human and Storm-born souls into the Between.
Her heart climbed into her throat. Its pulse was all she could feel for a moment as her blood pounded through her temples. With a deep breath, Jess opened the portal.
At first, the breeze alone fluttered through the ribbons, but then, something else disturbed them.
Souls. One …Two … Ten…
They tore through the branches, slashing at the ribbons. They weren’t human or Storm-born. But Jess wasn’t afraid; these were souls and felt similar to the iron-tinged or the sluagh tethered to Theo. They ached with sorrow, not malice. Barely looking at Erika nearby, Jess reached out to them.
She quashed the worry worming its way through her at the idea of contact with these shades. They continued to rip out of the Between. There were dozens and dozens of them twisting through the material hanging from the trees now. And they kept coming. A constant stream of these souls poured out of the portal. As they whipped around the ribbons, Jess got the sense that they were caught in the strips.
She had an overwhelming feeling that something about them had been horribly bound. As she reached out with her essence to one, she got a flash of pain and deafening silence. She felt the way the being wanted to wail. To shout. To roar. But couldn’t. Jess sensed the same blinding need that she had in the Sidhe. And in those souls tethered to Theo. To be free. To be unencumbered. For their surroundings to be boundless.
She reached out with her energy, and it was as if she roared into the Depths. She felt and witnessed the souls that had arrived with the evening sink back into the Between. And with her thunderous power, they dissolved, rushing on into Oblivion.
As Jess’s magic fell away, she stood firmly beside the be-ribboned hebena tree, the sight of the still scraps making her glad. Calmness and a wonderful sense of happiness flooded her.
Erika’s stunned gaze snagged hers. “I’m sorry. I didn’t expect those souls. I only infused the ribbons with spices from Yin, Gorta, and Kemdo.”
“Who were they?” Jess asked, curious about the souls she’d just set free. She was eager to deflect attention from herself, too, as a prickling sense of discomfort came over her at the witch’s amazement.
“Souls from Eor, I think,” Erika said, sounding a little breathless. “I’ve never been there, but the Eorosh use language to hold people to their oaths and promises. A twisted race, where nothing is frivolous about the tongue. Many have taken to living in silence. Some even cut their children’s tongues out to avoid the treatment they would suffer from those who abuse the power of words too freely given. There are too many who delight in tricking others into swearing oaths that enslave them.”
Jess felt the uncomfortable echo of their pain, the snarled feeling of their souls. Of being bound to another’s will. And the oppressive sense of silence in others. So much anger had swarmed through them with no outlet. They’d longed to roar. Then the thunderous manifestation of Jess’s power had given them the sound they’d craved.
Jess didn’t ask whether it was a world where the Fomors had sown that division, or if it was a division that was innate to the Eorosh’s own race. It didn’t matter. It was divisive magic like this that the suffering souls existing in the Fomors’ primordial pool oozed with; the long-suffering energy that Jess would likewise push on towards peace.
A dazed look still rested on the witch’s face. “I’ve had centuries to master my power over the Between and still I can’t do what you did.”
“You can with the Thokkal iron,” Jess said, thinking of what the witch had promised to do on the battlefield when Mara and the Fomors invaded: untether the iron-tinged and the Storm-born, alongside the Triodians she was helping train with the Thokkal iron.
The witch nodded. “True, but Thokkians say that iron came from their gods.” Her gaze brushed Jess with significance. “But then you are an iteration of a goddess. You have had whole lifetimes to accumulate this power.”
The witch’s marvelling threatened to dampen the natural calm that Jess had achieved.
Not wanting to examine things too closely, Jess thought she’d call it a day. “I should go portal to Astra, Sunny, and the Storm-born.”
Like Jess training in Unseelie land, Astra and Eilea were nearby, practicing their riding and flying within its borders. The idea being that if they did come across any Unseelie patrols, their disguise and manner of riding should allow them to pass without question. And if they managed to pass as an Unseelie and tethered Storm-born in Unseelie lands, then they should pass in the Fomor kingdom.
And Jess was able to sense Astra and Eilea. The more she’d focused on detecting the souls in the vicinity, the more aware she’d become of individual energy signatures. She prepped to portal to them.
But Erika interrupted, “Sunny and Beinn are with them?”
Sunny and the other tethered Storm-born, Beinn, had decided to join Astra and Eilea today. The borders were barely being patrolled, and Sunny had decided there was minimal risk of them being spotted. He’d helped give Astra advice on correct riding etiquette as he’d been around the Unseelie for centuries. Having far more experience than the one-year Astra had in Unseelie lands.
“Yeah,” Jess answered.
“The reckless fool,” Erika muttered. The witch fidgeted with the Thokkal ring on her finger. Was she worried about the group drawing unwanted Unseelie attention and risking their disguise? Or was this concern for Sunny?
Yesterday, Erika had seemed unperturbed when Sunny had been sent back to Earth by Rune: to meet the Unseelie that he’d borrowed the Storm-born from. Sunny had successfully captured both Eilea and Beinn’s Unseelie masters. The Unseelie were now prisoners in the Sun Keep. With Eilea being such an essential part of the plan to infiltrate the Fomors kingdom, they couldn’t risk the rogue Unseelie summoning Eilea back at an inopportune moment. Surely, Sunny had been at risk on Earth, too, dealing with the rogue Unseelie?
Then again, yesterday when Sunny had agreed to go back to Earth, there’d been lots of them present: Rune, Jess, and the Storm-born. With only Jess present now, Erika didn’t look half as composed as she ran her hand over the Thokkal iron on her finger. Was she trying to sense Sunny now—to check he was okay?
“Why did you leave Sunny behind when you world walked?” Jess blurted out.
She couldn’t help her curiosity. After all, she knew what it was like to fall for an Alban heir. To love someone dangerous to you. Before Rune had sworn the blood bond to Jess, part of him had wanted her dead. To sacrifice her to the Between. Similarly, when Sunny had met Erika, he’d endeavoured to bring about a relationship between her and the Enodian mage, Inis. In the hope that their union would produce the divided’s blood. Hardly a romantic beginning, but, somehow, Erika had fallen for Sunny.
The witch’s hand fell from the iron ring and her gaze met Jess’s. “When I discovered there were other places besides Earth and Umbra, I hoped to convince Sunny to come. I knew he’d never relinquish his search for Silva, but I thought he’d agree that other realms might have answers.
“I never saw him, or vamps in general, the way he and the Triodia did. As something cursed. Yes, they subsisted on blood, but as long as one managed to control that craving without killing, what they had was a world of opportunity. What Sunny had seen—five hundred years on Earth—was a blessing, not a curse. So, when I discovered other realms, I naturally wanted to seize the opportunity of unlimited time to explore other worlds. But when I broke the latter part to Sunny, he wouldn’t allow me to become a vamp. Eventually, he vowed that if I did the little love that was between us would die.” A wry smile curved her lips. “There had never been much love on his side anyway. You know how it is—Alba is incapable of love except for the perpetual hunt for the seed magic and Silva. So, I became a vamp, and world walked alone.”
“But didn’t the fact that Sunny saw a vision of you dying in the fetch after you disappeared help a little?”
“The fetch?” Erika asked confusedly.
Oh Sunny, you really never can tell the truth, can you?
Realizing she couldn’t backtrack now, Jess explained, “Sunny told me that after you vanished he went to Umbra to look for you. In the mists, he saw a vision of you being killed by your coven after they discovered that you’d become one of the scourge. Having recently learned that the fetch was Alba’s shadow self, he reckons that it was you and your blood in his system that caused him to see it. He reckons he might even have managed to restore Alba that day, to merge with his shadow self in the mist, if he hadn’t run from his deepest fear.”
Judging by the abstraction on Erika’s face, this was all news to her. Jess had the urge to shake Sunny the next time she saw him and demand what was the worst that could happen by telling the whole truth to Erika himself?
At the thought, Jess offered to portal a now thoroughly discombobulated witch along with her. Maybe she and Sunny could talk things out. But Erika shook her head, merely muttering something about seeing them back at the Sun Keep.
21
OPERATION SHADOW SILVA
“Where’s Matteo?” Giovanni asked as Jess snuck into his room. Well, Piera’s room. Their dad had taken occupation of it. Piera had moved into the one next door.
“Nice to see you too, Dad.”
He chuckled. “Sorry, love. I just wanted to pick his brain on my latest idea.”
Giovanni had paper and pencil in his lap. He was doing what he could from bed, thinking over battle formations and the like. Still mentally exhausted, Giovanni slept a lot, and unless Mara and the Fomors held off their invasion for weeks yet, it was unlikely he’d be fit for battle.
Dearbhla had been gracious and worked through plans with Giovanni for the shifters. Gratitude towards her second swam through Jess, for her unwavering loyalty, knowing that whatever latest plans were in front of him would have come from her second. Dearbhla had also managed to get the Rem to Triodia’s headquarters. Where Jess had managed to onboard the rest of the clan. Thanks to Jess’s second, they had the full force of shifters in Umbra now.
But Jess smiled knowingly at her dad as she slumped into the armchair beside his bed. Really his exclamation about where Matteo was, was likely him prying into how things were going between them. Last time she and Matteo had been back in the Sun Keep together, they’d visited Giovanni and told him the news that they were an item. Not that Jess and Matteo had been able to keep it under wraps. Even in her dad’s company, she’d been unable to stop hugging Matteo or keep the massive grin from her face.
Giovanni seemed a lot more in favor of her latest boyfriend than her last. Although, her dad had had to admit his error in tarnishing Rune with the same brush as all the other vamps. In fact, he’d had to take back his words about vamps not being able to be trusted when he’d learned that Rune was Lord Alba. Not to mention the fact that Lord Alba had frequently visited Giovanni to check on his recovery. Rune had tried his healing powers on him. But the tiredness of mind and soul that Theo had left him with, would only be cured by natural rest. And so, the Rom Alpha had reluctantly adhered to bed rest. He’d taken more readily to the snacks that always seemed to be present. The plate on the bedside table was piled with ham and salami.
The click of the door sounded and Piera joined them. “I thought I heard you,” she said, looking at Jess. “How was training today?” She flopped onto the bottom of their dad’s bed, her chestnut stare piercing.
“All good. Erika had a few things from other worlds, so I got to push on souls from different realms.”
“I’d love to have seen that,” Piera said, leaning forwards to pinch a piece of ham from Giovanni’s plate. Curiosity prickled over her delicate features and Jess knew from the past few days she was about to start quizzing her about the ins and outs of her new powers. Piera had been fascinated since she’d begun to explore her powers over the Between. But unlike Erika, who had referred to Jess’s godhood and made her feel self-conscious about it, Piera had a knack of asking questions, without making her feel uncomfortable. In fact, often her sister’s questions had led Jess to some helpful realizations. For instance, it was Piera’s curiosity about Jess’s sensing magic that had had her honing her skill to pinpoint individual energy signatures from a distance, such as Astra’s. Something that might well prove useful in the Below.
“I’ll see if Erika’s got any more tokens from different worlds and you can come watch tomorrow if you like,” Jess suggested, swiping a piece of ham from Giovanni’s plate, too.
