Lux, p.6
Lux, page 6
“Is there anything we can get for you, Lady Silva?”
A fairer world. Equality. Some sign that there’s the potential for unity.
Jess bit down the temptation to throw her dry comments at the kitchen staff. Clearly, her temper was too close to the surface for comfort’s sake. Taking a deep breath, she forced a smile. “I’m just here to help my friend with dinner prep.”
Whether it was the term “friend” for an Unseelie or the fact that Jess sullied herself by picking up a peeler, silence flooded the room. But Jess focused on peeling the annum—a woody root, a bit like cassava. They’d had them in stews while they’d been journeying up the Silvan Mountains.
Jess had already updated Astra on what the Storm-born leaders had said, having gone to her bedroom straight afterward. She’d related everything to Astra and Skiron. As soon as they’d heard about Jess’s going to Earth at Eventide, they’d both declared they were coming, too. She’d also caught up with Dearbhla. Her second had wanted to join her on the rescue mission, but Dearbhla had agreed to stay behind to keep an eye on the Rem Clan. With a new shapeshifter race filling the keep and a celebratory atmosphere in full swing, her second had agreed to stick around to keep an eye on the clan.
Despite having already discussed their plans, Jess still found herself wanting to talk to Astra more. To have company in the lead up to portaling to Earth. As the minutes drew on, the strained silence of the kitchen, where none of the Seelie talked either, did nothing to ease Jess’s nerves. Deciding to use some of her divine rights, she said, “Can we have the kitchen to ourselves, please?”
The half-dozen Seelie soon bowed before departing.
“Someone’s prepping for returning to their Earthly kingdom,” Astra joked.
Jess chuckled. It was miraculous—what with Tinthir’s bombshell about Jess’s strong connection to the Between and the dead—that she could still laugh with her friend.
But such is the awesome power of Astra Rainbow.
Jess shrugged. “Gotta prepare to be Lady Night, right?” she quipped, thinking of how in some ways the distortion of what the Enodians worshipped was what Silva—she—had become. If the faded, Storm-born, and her gut were correct about the power over the dead and the Between that she had. She remembered what Theo had told her in the penitentiary. That she was open to the sluagh. Open to the dead.
The anticipation of how that power over the Between on Earth might manifest sent a jolt of anxiety through her. Would Theo be able to sense her? Would Lorenzo’s blood sluagh sniff her out? Would she have enough of this death energy to fight Theo? To destroy him and his followers? Tension of the unknown jostled through her.
Astra retorted, “If through being Lady Night, you can knock Theo on his ass, then embrace the dark side.”
Jess’s lips quirked.
“Ooo, do you think you’ll be able to do that tree thing that the warden did in the penitentiary? What if you can turn a whole forest on Theo and his followers—set giant tree creatures stomping on all those puny witches and mages? Pew pew, pew pew.” Astra’s feet mimed squishing Enodians.
“What do trees have to do with the dead and the Between?” Jess asked.
Astra shrugged. “Rune said he sensed great Earthen energy in you, too. Your magic is Earthen, as well as this Lady Night energy.”
Astra wasn’t wrong, and nervousness wound through Jess as she wondered how these two aspects of herself would come together.
“Just don’t discount Earthen magic, okay?” Astra said. “I totally want tree soldiers.”
“Noted,” Jess said with a smile. But her intuition told her that this link she still possessed to the dead and the Between would be the key to saving her father.
The Storm-borns’ explanation and their message from the faded felt more like confirmation of something that she’d been on the cusp of realizing. It had explained the reason for that haunting, lingering sense she’d had the last two weeks. It explained the feeling she’d had on the Aedis Peak when the maelstrom had recalled to her the voices of the faded. And, mostly, it explained, on catching the eyes of that first Storm-born, why their gaze had conjured thoughts of the faded.
Because the faded were part of the Storm-born. In the same way that the faded and the dead were part of Jess. Her shadow self had been trapped in the Between and the faded had become part of her. And then, through Jess’s blackouts—when her shadow self had emerged—the magic of the Between had become part of her too.
“Anyways, if I get to Theo first, that mage is mine,” the fae added, bringing Jess back from her reflection. Astra really did look like she’d love nothing more than to skin him alive as she carved the annum viciously. In fact, Astra had been as desirous to take Theo out as Matteo was.
Jess’s smile softened as she remembered how quickly and staunchly he’d declared he was coming with her. As soon as their plans had been decided, he’d agreed to fill Piera in. Jess had thought it better for Matteo to lay down the chain of command. She had the feeling that if she did it, Piera would be far more likely to defy her for the sake of it.
A grin spread over Astra’s face. “Dork, you’ve totally got that I heart Geometry look again.”
Jess blushed. Her heart galloped in a tell-tale way.
Do I?
She had been thinking about Matteo. Again.
Clearly, I’ve been spending waaaay too much time with Astra for her to read me so well.
Even with the worry about what she would soon face on Earth, the happiness she felt about having her friend back in her life still warmed her.
Sure, friend, because that’s what this warm fuzzy feeling’s about.
At the word “friend” memory sparked, her thoughts tumbling back to the gardens in Villa Silva. To Matteo’s low voice, “I hope you see me as your friend.” Yet his gaze had been filled with heat as he’d uttered those words. And the next moment, his lips had been on hers. Soft and forceful.
She flushed with self-consciousness as she admitted to herself now how much more she wanted from him than friendship, too.
Astra rightly interpreted Jess’s blush and racing heartbeat. “What’s stopping you then?” she pressed. “Is it the age gap?”
Jess frowned. “Matteo’s only like twenty-two. There’s four years between us.”
The fae laughed. “Yeah, yeah. Sure, your human body’s eighteen, but how many years has Silva been around for?”
She snorted but argued back, “That would be centuries between us then, but I can’t remember that time.”
Astra guffawed. “Sheesh, maybe it’s a good thing you and Matteo haven’t got it on yet—I mean, now you’re so old you’ve got memory problems.”
Jess buckled over, clutching her stomach as her friend’s humor got the better of her.
Oh, gods.
It felt so good to laugh about how cosmically fucked her love life had become.
Jess dried the tears of laughter from her eyes, finally able to resume her peeling.
But Astra wasn’t done. “Astra Rainbow, the hopeless romantic, here for one night only. Step up, step up, for all your Tassological needs,” she joked, then tossed a long unbroken peel of annum down in front of Jess.
Jess stared at the peel in front of her.
Astra waved her fingers over the annum as if she were casting some sort of spell. “Do it. Do it. Do it.”
Jess’s thoughts raced back to the prison. To that moment when Lea had knocked the potato peel out of her hand and onto the floor, telling her that the peel would spell out the first letter of her true love’s name. Her throat grew tight as she remembered the peel had spelled out “M”. At the time, the para world and its magic had all been so new to her. She had barely believed that shifters existed, let alone that there was a type of Earthen magic—Tassology—that could predict your true love’s name.
But now she knew better. And her gaze locked onto the annum peel as if it were a coiled snake. Because yes, she had feelings for Matteo. She had big feelings for him. And suddenly the idea of casting that peel on the floor and getting anything but an “M” made her chest feel like it would implode. And even all the mucking around and laughter with Astra couldn’t chase away the dread that churned in her gut. What if she’d waited too long to tell Matteo how she felt? What if he didn’t feel what he had for her? What if they weren’t destined to be together as they’d once been? And unable to face the fear swarming her, she turned away, barely hearing Astra calling her as she retreated from the kitchen.
A short time later, Jess stood on the riverbank of the Sun Plains. It was an hour until Eventide, the strip of water wending through the valley still bright in the daylight. They had settled that Jess would attempt to open a portal to Earth, yet if she failed to access the Between, Astra or Skiron would open it in an hour. The two fae stood hand in hand behind her. Matteo and Piera, their ebony coats sleek in the light, stood behind. And Sunny brought up the final number.
Jess’s gaze strayed back to her sister. She’d managed to get a stiff affirmative from Piera that she’d follow orders. That if Jess’s power didn’t work or wasn’t enough against Theo and his followers, then she’d follow the chain of command to retreat.
As the seconds ticked by, anticipation hung heavy. They’d agreed upon La Alba as the exit point as it belonged to Jess. Technically, it was still under her control. If you overlooked the whole only half the clan had chosen to follow her. Portaling outside of Eventide would give them the precious few minutes for Jess to explore her powers. Then she had no doubt Theo would show up … or at least be alerted to her presence when Lorenzo’s blood sluagh came sniffing.
Jess’s pale gaze wound to Astra. The lines of her friend’s face were sharp as if taking on the harshness of battle. The fae had come after Jess and apologized for joking about Matteo. She’d gently told her that if she wanted to talk about it, she was there for her, but left it at that.
Frustration needled through Jess. On the Temple Peak, she’d told Matteo she wanted him to come with her to hear what the Storm-born had to say. That he made her feel more like herself than she had in ages. But now, a pang of regret wound through her. She should have said more, shouldn’t she? She vowed that when they got back from Earth, she would talk to him honestly.
Her wolf prickled beneath her skin, wanting to break the surface, anticipating that she was about to portal. But this time, Jess curbed it. Because something else whispered to her to stay in her human form. Like a ghostly caress against her skin, she sensed the breath of the faded around her and knew that her human mind was needed to establish a bridge to them. Tinthir’s words echoed through her head, “Nothing is as boundless as the dead.”
Ordinarily, through a Depths portal, Jess experienced a feeling of vertigo. But opening the portal with the faded reminded her a lot more of what she’d experienced descending into the human Netherworld, following Theo’s sluagh. She sensed the faded around her like ripples on the water. Their presence gave texture to the portal; as Jess stepped down into the water, she remained dry, but the liquid stroked her cheek like the fronds of feathers. Jess thought of the sketch she’d done of the maze of wings and knew they’d been of this. The network of faded was leading her through the portal. And as Jess dipped beneath the surface, she was gliding. The next moment, she emerged out into the familiar lake of La Alba but … her surroundings enveloped her like never before.
The presence of nature flooded her every fiber. Where she hadn’t had that enlightenment that Rune had upon joining with his shadow self, now she felt her reconnection with her environment in all she was. Yes, her shadow self had moved on, but all those centuries that her seed magic had been on Earth seemed to blossom within her. Like the skyline of forests, it reached through her now.
But there was another one, too. It pulsed beneath, spreading through her, and rooting her to the ground. This song was a darker, more ancient one singing of life birthed from death like fungi blooming from decay. Its magic undertone was the song snaking down into the minutiae of roots, scurrying insects, and rotting vegetation.
Jess turned around, checking that all her friends had emerged from the portal. She breathed a sigh of relief as Sunny, the last to arrive, stepped onto solid ground.
My ground.
With the thought, Jess felt the power emanating from the trees, mixing with that darker magic underfoot that belonged to her. Not too far away across the lands of La Alba, she felt the echo of spilled blood belonging to the hundred and forty Rems who had lost their lives at Theo’s hand, buried in these grounds by Dearbhla and the Rem Clan. They hadn’t been slain by their kin so Theo and his followers hadn’t been able to tether their souls. But still, the sting of so much life being lost to the loathsome mage captured Jess’s thoughts for a moment.
The reminder sent a chill through her. A crawling sense of dread clung to her as she wondered how she was going to keep her friends safe. At the thought, the network of dark energy undulated towards her. Like spores on the breeze, this … death dust clung to her and to all her friends, shielding them in its cover. And not a moment too soon as Lorenzo’s amethyst blood sluagh flickered into existence on the lawn.
The violet wolf prowled along the lake’s edge, its ears pulled back, its eyes narrowed. Jess knew he’d detected her portal. But equally, she knew he didn’t sense her and her friends on the banks now. She’d camouflaged them with the death dust that ran through her and the Earth. After a few minutes, everyone who had stood as stiff as statues, poised to strike, began to relax, realizing that Lorenzo couldn’t see them.
The wolf padded towards the mansion.
Jess followed calmly, knowing that her boot wouldn’t make any indentation in mud or emit noise. She and her friends were made of the ephemeral.
Of the past. Of the dead.
As Jess moved, even less substantial than a sluagh, she motioned for the others to follow. She watched as her friends froze in shock. Then, cautiously followed.
The lake was disturbed as an archway of fire lit its surface, and Theo stepped out of the waters. He’d never looked as abhorrent to Jess as he did when he moved from the lake. Like Queen Mara, he was something that had taken on the divisive power of the Fomors. Instead of seeing that energy as something that polluted him, he saw it as empowering.
Dressed in a long, black cashmere coat, his tanned skin and sandy hair stood out in the wintery light. With a hurried gait, he exited the lake, his green eyes glittering with distrust.
“You stupid dog. There’s no one here!” Theo exclaimed.
Jess had no doubt that her camouflage … all of their camouflage would hold. But she saw the surprise stamped on the fae and Sunny’s faces and in the shifters’ pricked ears as Theo stalked right past the whole group.
Jess seethed the longer she looked at him. His lust for power and arrogance screamed from every aspect of him: his confident stride, his glimmering eyes snaking over his surroundings, and the cruel set of his lips.
A stab of despair cut through her. At first, she didn’t understand where it had come from, but as she watched the amethyst glow of Lorenzo’s blood sluagh flicker, she realized it came from her uncle’s spirit.
His deep despair felt familiar. She’d felt it once before—in the Sidhe’s painful need for peace. Lorenzo’s stolen energy pulsed with the same need to be elsewhere, but Theo yanked on the tether like a leash, and the purply wolf petered out. Jess had never thought she’d feel sympathy for her hateful uncle … but in this moment, she did.
With her new power and insight into the dead, looking at Theo now was like seeing him properly for the first time ever. And it wasn’t pretty. The different hues of his sluagh horde surrounded him. Some she recognized from the descent into the human Netherworld—the black, gray, and white mists of human souls that formed the basis of his horde. But there were so many others now. She could see the magnitude of magic, burning in the blue, purple, and heliotrope glow of all the para souls. And at the heart of that swarm of stolen energy was Theo. An abyss. Like a black hole gaping in Earth’s fabric. His soul contained the same festering magic as the Fomors because he’d embraced it wholeheartedly. He was a void stealing the light and warmth of all those around him.
In the swirling mass, Jess recognized that shifting soul, not quite of the human ones, but not belonging to the heliotrope of the paras either. She remembered seeing this energy during her descent to the Netherworld. Before Theo had tethered Lorenzo’s blood sluagh or any other para souls.
Jess examined the being’s energy. A human with magical abilities. Who had seen the future. The woman with the third eye, she’d been called by her community. Memories from the woman’s soul shuddered through Jess: of a vineyard with fruits, flowers, and Theo’s blood, tethering her soul to him forever.
The misery and yearning of this individual soul bled into Jess, choking her with anger. She wanted to free this soul from the detestable mage. To free all the souls bound to him. For a moment, the whisper of the murdered Rems, of their wandering souls seared through her, too, and the urge to tear into Theo as if she bore a hundred claws and fangs raged through her.
But Jess curbed the desire. Instead, she drank deeply of the Earth’s magic—the scent of dirt, of dampness, and decay. She used the blood and bones in the Earth to smear their very essences and mask themselves from Theo’s notice as he stepped back into the portal, her own hidden person following.
I need to get to my dad.
Urgently, she gestured for the others to follow. Sneaking into Castle Nox and breaking her father out without Theo or any of the Enodians noticing would be the best possible scenario. With this death dust, Jess would be able to keep her friends out of harm’s way and rescue her father.
And as they stepped through the Between this time, the whisper of trees seemed to sigh around them, carrying and camouflaging them.
8
