“Hell. No!” Lorcan threw out his arms, pacing the length of the room and back. “No. Fuck that! There is no way, Kennedy. None.”
My mouth stayed closed, my gaze staring right into him.
“Stop.” His nose flared. “Stop looking at me. I said no.”
I slanted my head the other way, remaining silent.
“No! Did you hear me?”
No response from me.
“Uhhh!” He curled his fingers in his scalp. “Don’t do that.” He pointed at me. “It’s too dangerous, and I don’t trust them to not stab us in the back when given the chance.”
“Like you might do to us.” Fionna folded her arms, almost snarling at him.
Lorcan’s head continued wagging back and forth, but his arms slumped to his sides. At last, my unbending calm affected him and he stopped pacing. I realized then he did the same for me when I got upset. We were each other’s counterpart to return to serenity.
“Damn you, woman,” he grumbled under his breath and rubbed the back of his neck. He peered at me through narrowed lids and rubbed his neck harder. “Fuck. I’m never gonna win an argument ever again, am I?”
“Nope.” West sighed deeply, looking wistful. “Get used to it, man.”
“You might.” I curled my hand in a fist, punching it up in encouragement. “Don’t give up hope. It could happen again.”
He glared at me.
I grinned, reaching over and stroking his shoulder. “Just not this one.”
“I swear, li’l Druid,” he muttered to himself. “You really are going to be the death of me.”
“That’s the spirit.” I patted his arm, turning back to Fionna.
“We have a deal?” Fionna stepped closer to me. Her people stood behind her, while Lorcan and West hovered by me. I felt like I had stepped back into high school and was about to be pounded in dodgeball.
“We help you find Luuk. Bring him down.” Fionna paused. It wasn’t too hard to convince her to help us go against the same person she wanted dead as well. He was one who had faithfully, probably willingly, helped in Aneira’s crusade to slaughter all the Druids. Fionna had been after him for months, and her vengeance was bloodthirsty.
I had some guilt because I didn’t feel the same retribution for the parents we lost, but she had a life with them, memories. I had none. They were not real people to me, but stories told to me by others. My “real” parents were killed when the wall came down. My retaliation for my dead parents and little sister had no face or name.
“And we get to deal with him... and…”
“And? There was no ‘and,’” I countered.
Fionna glanced at West, another strange look passing between them.
“What?” I swung to West then back to my sister. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“West understands me. Don’t you?” she responded.
“You know I have no control over that, darlin’. I just work here. Unwillingly.”
“Control over what?” Lorcan faced West. “What the hell are you into?”
West ignored Lorcan, snapping at Fionna, his fists clenched. “You mess with the devil, you have to pay the price.”
“You mean the devil’s mistress.” Fionna quirked her mouth. “Being the Unseelie King’s bitch is an enormously tricky job, especially when you have to go after one of your brothers’ lovers.”
Lorcan swung around, his hand clamping down on West’s throat, ramming him back into the wall, forcing a yelp from my lips. West didn’t even put up a fight, taking Lorcan’s rage with an acceptance.
“Are you here for Kennedy?” Lorcan snarled, slamming him harder into the concrete. “Are you the one who betrayed us?”
“No. I would never hurt her. Especially now. She’s family,” West replied, locking gazes with Lorcan. “You know that, brother. I’m here for her now.” West flicked his head to Fionna but kept his attention locked on Lorcan. Whatever Lorcan saw in West’s eyes, he stepped back with a huff.
“I won’t allow you to get it. You know that, right?” Fionna’s boots clipped on the floor as she moved closer to West. “I will not let him have this one too. No matter what I have to do to keep it away from him. And I know you agree with me.”
West’s silence implied so much it twitched Fionna’s lips with smugness.
“Even though he pledged to help you get the thing you want most.” She tilted her neck to the side, like she was reading a menu.
“Get out of my head, Druid.” West growled.
“Get what? What are you talking ab—?” My question died in my throat. Blinding white light once again slammed into my head like a crowbar, yanking me away from the war room.
Flash.
I was standing outside, a sliver of moonlight shimmering off the river running next to me. The lapping of the lazy water slapped against the shore. The night to others might appear calm, but a chill crept up my spine, icing my skin. It wasn’t from the cold air. A pause held in the atmosphere, like the earth was holding its breath. Something was wrong. I turned toward the old brick factory.
I was outside the Druid Liberal Republic headquarters.
A banging sounded behind me, causing me to swing around. A man dressed in a long black duster coat stood there like he had stepped out of The Matrix. The darkness around him only sharpened the whiteness of his skin and hair. He stood on the hood of one of the cars, his pale eyes rolled past me, his arms open like he was on stage, drawing in the crowds. The field behind him was walled in silhouettes silently moving closer, metal from their weapons glinting.
Oh god. Luuk. Luuk was here. To kill us.
“Need to wake, Light,” a robotic voice squawked above my head. “Snow is here. And it kills.”
“Then help me wake up,” I pleaded to the raven. “Shove me back. Whatever you are able to do, so I can warn everyone.”
“Grimmel does everything.”
“Please, Grimmel.”
He tilted his head. “Light must use the darkness to see again.”
“Dammit, Grimmel! Help me.”
He shook his body, ruffling his feathers with a birdlike sigh.
Then Luuk yelled out into the frosty night. “Attack!” And his army roared to life, running straight for us.
In my bones all I felt was death.
Flash.
I blinked and the scene changed.
I stood in the same field. Bodies covered the earth. I could not see their faces, but I knew by their clothes they were Druids and humans. The DLR. Some of my friends. The people who stepped up to fight next to me watered the ground with their sacrifice.
I peered down at my hands, blood dripping off them. It wasn’t mine but from those at my feet.
More lives lost.
Flash.
Like someone stabbed my heart with adrenaline, I jumped up, gasping for air.
“I’m right here.” A man kneeled on the floor next to me, a hand rubbing my back. “This is real.”
“Shit. That was fuckin’ freaky.” Another huge man stood by my feet, peering down at me, his brown eyes crunched up with concern.
My gaze darted around the room, taking in the computers, screens, maps, and a group of people staring down at me. I turned back to the pair of green eyes next to me, my moor.
“You’re okay, li’l bird.” He brushed my hair back in soothing strokes, calming my racing heart.
Lorcan.
DLR.
War room.
Luuk.
My lips parted, the words not finding their way out.
“It’s okay. Breathe deeply.” Lorcan grabbed my face, forcing me to see just him. “You and me. Now tell me what you see.”
“You.” I relaxed in his hold. “I hear the buzzing of computers, and I smell watermelon gum.” The overly sweet stench of Wizard’s gum irritated my nose. Lorcan pinched my ear, then ran his fingers over my temples.
“Does she always get them this bad?” Fionna stepped to West and peered down at me with irritation. “Why hasn’t she learned to control them? She can’t let them cripple her or she’s a sitting duck. She has to learn how to handle them.”
“She’s still pretty new at this, Fionna.” Lorcan snarled at her. “Back off.”
“I was ten when I got my first one and discovered how to control them by twelve,” Fionna countered.
“Aren’t you lucky?” I glowered, finding my voice. Lorcan helped me to my feet. “You had the luxury of growing up knowing you were a Druid, being taught by our parents. I didn’t. I got my first vision last year. And I’ve had no other Druid to help me understand how to regulate them. I’ve been completely on my own.”
Fionna pursed her lips, guilt furrowing her brow. “We’ll have to change that,” she added stiffly and strolled back to the table.
What did that mean? Did she want a relationship with me? I couldn’t deny I’d like that. To get to know my sister. And I liked the idea of learning from someone who truly understood what I was going through as a Druid. Time would tell if Fionna and I had any chance at some kind of relationship, but right now, my vision took precedence.
“I saw Luuk.” The entire room turned to look at me. “He’s here. In Belfast. And he didn’t come alone.”
“What?” Dozens of voices shouted.
“Are you sure?” Franklin stepped from the mass. “There should be no way he can find us. We spelled this area.”
“I don’t know how, but I know what I saw. He’s here. Right now.”
Fionna walked up beside me, staring back at her DLR members.
“It doesn’t matter. We want this fight, and he brought it straight to us.” She tipped her chin at Franklin. “Get everyone ready. The war they’ve been training for is here.”
There were only about sixty people here. Even if eighty percent of those contained magic, it still was feeble against the numbers I saw Luuk surround himself with.
“Fionna…”
“We’re greatly outnumbered, right?” she whispered, rounding to me. “That’s what you were going to tell me.”
“Did you read my mind? Can you do that?”
“No.” She shook her head. “It’s written all over your face.”
“What do we do?” I surveyed the buzz of activity around me, people preparing to step into a fight they weren’t quite ready for.
“The one thing we can do: fight.” She met my gaze, steady and defiant. “Together.”
I stared at my sister, taking in her strength and determination. How would it have been growing up with her to look up to? I was sad over what we lost, but I didn’t regret how my life went. I loved my little sister and adoptive parents so much. With all our problems.
I hoped I’d come to love Fionna with all of hers and she mine.
I put my hand on hers. “Together.”