Cursed Rebel, page 14
With an animal snort, Pan crossed his short arms. “I wasn’t looking for permission. I’m coming. That girl is the best thing that’s ever happened to you, and I’d be a crappy brother to let you run off into the Winter Castle on your own. Plus, I like her. She’s feisty.” The satyr smirked.
“Pan…”
“No need to thank me. Just tell me you have a plan.”
Fin started to smile. “I have a plan. But you won’t like it.”
Pan rolled his eyes. “I never do.”
** Lucy **
I was slowly freezing to death in a cell in the lower floors of the Winter Castle. The bars were made of two-inch poles of ice. I’d tried to smash them by kicking them, but all I’d managed to do was chip the ice a little and almost break a few toes. I was sitting on the slick, cold floor, huddled into a corner. There were stains on my sleeves from coughing up blood. Whatever the Queen had done, it seemed as if it wasn’t going to heal itself quickly. My lungs burned, and I was finding it harder and harder to get a full breath. My fingers were purple, my joints aching. I was exhausted, but I couldn’t sleep for the violent shivers wracking my body.
Still, I zoned out, not really sleeping, but not really awake. Just…floating. I don’t know how long I floated in my consciousness, but it could have been minutes or days before I was startled out of my skin by a sudden shrieking.
An ear-splitting siren sounded, coming from every direction, as if it was being blasted through invisible speakers in every stone in the walls.
A harsh, gravelly voice accompanied the siren wailing. “Code Black. Code Black. Two intruders loose on the grounds. I repeat, there are two intruders loose in the Castle. Code Black, the voice boomed.
My heart raced, and I stumbled to my feet. Could it be…no, it couldn’t…I thought. But still, I hoped beyond hope that it was Fin coming to rescue me. That he was alive, and he was getting me out of that hellhole.
Suddenly, the sound of a fight broke out just beyond my cell. I pressed my face to the icy bars, but I couldn’t see what was happening. I strained to hear a voice—Fin’s voice. So I was surprised when something brushed my knee.
A voice low to the ground said, “Stand back, Lucy.”
I looked down, and there was Pan. I was so happy to see him, I fell to my knees and hugged him through the bars. “Pan! Oh my God!”
He squirmed. “Yeah, yeah, I missed you too. Now, if you don’t mind, please stand back. Fin can’t hold off the guards forever.”
I stood and backed up. “He’s alive?”
Pan nodded. “Alive and very angry. Now, you might want to cover your ears and close your eyes.”
I did as he commanded and covered my ears with my palms. I heard a very high-pitched scream, and then there was the sound of shattering ice. Flecks stung my closed eyes. I lowered my hands and opened my eyes. I found two of the bars had been destroyed, scattering bits of ice across the cell floor. The gap was just wide enough for me to squeeze through.
I gaped at Pan. “How did you do that?”
He held up his panpipes. “You just have to know the right frequency to hit, and you can smash almost anything with this.”
A hand came down on my shoulder, making me jump. I spun around. Bright green eyes met mine. “Fin!” I cried, throwing myself into his arms.
He squeezed me tight. “Snowdrop. Glad to see me, I take it?”
I laughed, or I tried to, but it turned into a coughing fit. I pulled away, covering my mouth with my hand. When it stopped, and I took my hand away, there was blood on my palm. Fin said something in Gaelic that sounded like a curse.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but we really need to get moving,” Pan pointed out.
Fin nodded. “He’s right. Can you run, Snowdrop?”
“I think so.”
“Then let’s get out of this place.”
We made out of the cellblock, ending up on the sixth or seventh floor. I was guessing by the height of the drop outside the frosted windows we passed. We were sneaking along a hallway lined with ice statues and closed doors when the siren started screaming again, and the booming voice announced that the prisoner—aka, me—has escaped.
At the other end of the hallway, doors began flying open. Behind them, there were the loud, echoing sounds of heavy footsteps running up the tower stairwell.
Pan hissed, "Ah, bugger. That'll be the trolls."
My eyes bugged. "Trolls!"
Fin grabbed my arm, and the handle of the nearest door simultaneously. He shoved the door open and hauled me inside, Pan following, then slammed the door and placed his hands against it as if he was bracing it against an impact. He closed his eyes and murmured something under his breath in that strange, sharp language he used sometimes. Suddenly, there was a sound like a tuning fork being rung, and a mess of criss-crossing green lines lit up over the door. The lines faded swiftly, leaving behind a matching pattern burned into the frosty wood of the door.
Fin moved away from it and heaved a sigh.
I looked at him warily. "What did you just do to the door?" I asked quietly.
He shook his hands as if he was trying to get something off them, and green sparks flew from his fingers. He grimaced. "It's a warding. Specifically, one against the Winter fae."
"So it keeps them out?" I reached out to trace the black lines seared into the wood.
Fin caught my wrist. "Don't touch it. The warding is designed to work against Winter fae, but that doesn't mean it won't hurt other fae, too…or a Mage. It's dangerous, which is why I don't usually use it."
He pulled me away from the door to the centre of the room. It was a small, square room, and it looked like some sort of ancient study. There was a couple of tall, wooden bookcases loaded with leather-bound books and parchments, a scratched-up desk with an inkwell and quill, and a single, shabby chair behind the desk.
I frowned. "What will the warding do to the Winter fae?"
Fin's smile was grim. "Let's just say they won't be rushing after us any time soon after touching that door. Actually, they probably won't be rushing anywhere ever again."
“Oh.”
Pan snorted. “Don’t start feeling sorry for them, Lucy. I’m sure the Queen has them all under orders to kill the intruders and return you to your cell. I’d rather not die today, and I’m sure you’d rather not go back to the cells.”
He had a point. “Fine. How do we get out of here then?”
“Actually,” Fin said slowly, “We’ll need your help with that part.”
I blinked. “Me? What can I do?”
“Remember how I said that everything you are is powerful here? And the flowers that grew where you bled? We need you to bleed again. Right here.”
“You what?”
Fin put his hands on my shoulders gently. “Your blood is powerful. My magic is weak here in the Winter Castle. The cold steals my power. But yours is unaffected. I can use it to make a portal out of here.”
There was a sudden, loud bang on the door, and then a vicious sizzle as the warding flared. I winced, knowing that whoever was on the other side wouldn’t be getting up again.
“Okay, okay. Give me a knife or something.”
Fin shook his head. “Don’t need it. There’s blood on your sleeve. That’ll do.” He grabbed my arm and ripped the cuff of my sleeve off. He crushed it in his fist and began muttering in Gaelic. His fist started to glow green, and he dropped the bloody rag onto the floor. The green light expanded from the stained cloth, spiralling outward and upward, forming the outline of an oval as tall as I was. The inside of the oval shimmered and wavered like a heat wave.
“Go quickly. I can’t hold it for long.”
“But you—”
“I’ll be right behind you.”
Pan took my hand and dragged me into the portal. A brief, warm, tingling feeling came over my skin, and then I was standing outside the Summer Palace, exactly where Fin and I had been when Ryder had attacked us and kidnapped me. Pan was beside me, wide-eyed. I turned around, expecting Fin to be right behind me…but he wasn’t.
The portal was shrinking, the outline fading, and Fin still hadn’t come through. My heart clenched. I started to reach for the portal, but Pan held me back, surprisingly strong for how short he was.
“Let me go! I need to make sure he’s okay!”
“Don’t, Lucy. I’m sure he’s fine. You won’t help anything by getting yourself stuck back there.”
I bit my lip hard, trembling with anxiety. “Please, Fin, please, come on, come on…” I whisper-chanted, waiting impatiently. The portal was still shrinking, far too quickly.
Finally, Fin rolled through the portal onto the grass in front of us, and the doorway snapped shut, leaving a puff of glitter and smoke in the air. Kneeling on the ground, he was breathing hard. There were rips in his shirt and bloody cuts across one shoulder and his chest.
I fell to my knees next to him. “Oh, my God, what happened?”
He ran his hand through his red hair. “Ryder. He teleported into the room and attacked me. I didn’t have time to grab my sword. I barely made it through the portal.”
“Jesus. Fin…. Are you okay? Let me see.”
He batted my hands away. “I’m fine, Snowdrop.”
I looked around for Pan, but he was gone. I sat back on my heels and stared at Fin. The tightness in my chest began to ease. “I thought you were dead,” I whispered. “I thought…the arrow…” My eyes burned.
He looked at me, his green eyes like emeralds. “I know. I should have died. You saved me. When you cried, your tears fell on me. They healed me.”
I touched my face. “My tears…”
He smiled. “I told you, Snowdrop, everything you are is powerful.”
It was so good to see that smile. Those eyes. Even though he was a mess and covered in cuts, he was still beautiful. The most beautiful creature I’d ever seen. The mix of fear, excitement, and relief made me suddenly dizzy. Before I could think about what I was doing, I wrapped my hands around the back of his neck and pulled his head down to mine, kissing him with a fever borne of adrenaline.
He didn't hesitate as he kissed me back, his hands coming up and sliding into my hair. He kissed me roughly, as hungry for it as I was, but it wasn't enough—not nearly enough. Not even when he slid his tongue over mine, making me gasp against his lips. Desperate heat flooded through me, making me tremble. I arched into him, and he leaned forward. His hands slid down my neck, down my sides, and found the hem of my t-shirt. His fingers brushed my skin as he slid the shirt up over my ribs, and sparks flew through my nerves.
He tore his mouth from mine to tug my shirt over my head, tossing it to the ground.
I tipped my head back and breathed, "This is crazy."
He leaned in, his smile curling against my neck as he murmured in a rough voice, "I don't care."
He left a trail of burning kisses up my throat, along my jaw, teasing the corner of my mouth until I got impatient and grabbed his hair, pulling his mouth to mine fiercely. He made a soft, surprised sound in his throat that turned into a groan, his hands gripping my hips.
I slid my fingers under the collar of his shirt and leather armour, tugging the fabric to indicate what I wanted without having to take my mouth away from his to speak. He got the message and broke away for barely a second, whipping the shirt over his head.
I reached out, sliding my palm over the hard muscles of his chest and the ridges of his abdomen, tracing the curve of his hipbone. I felt as if someone had lit a bonfire inside me, and it was raging out of control. I felt half-crazy and half-desperate with the breathless, pulsing need to touch him.
I knew we shouldn’t do this. I had to say no. I had to say stop. "We shouldn’t..." I murmured, but there was no will behind it.
Fin smiled, swift and dazzling as a firework exploding against a night sky, and whispered, "I don't care."
Then he was kissing me again, and his bare chest was hard against me, and he was sliding his hands under my thighs to lift me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist, my hips tight against his, my arm around his neck, clinging to him as fire swept through my body, searing every inch of me. I trailed my fingers down the hard plane of his stomach to the button of his trousers, and he huffed out a breath, his teeth grazing my lower lip. I pulled back to look at him, pale and beautiful. His flaming hair spilled over his forehead, his golden lashes rested against his cheekbones and his lips were darkened and tender looking. His eyes flicked open, startlingly green, and I saw the desire boiling there like electric storm clouds, lightning flashing around his wide pupils.
He stared at me, breathing hard. My fingers still rested on the button of his trousers as I waited for a signal, an answer to my silent question. I bit my lip, waiting, waiting…
Then he dropped me. Stunned, I watched as he grabbed his t-shirt, yanking it over his head with shaking hands, taking three attempts to get his arms through the right holes. Then he scooped up his leather armour and tied it on, fumbling with the knots. He snatched my shirt up and tossed it at me without looking at me.
"Put your shirt on," he said gruffly.
Embarrassed and going cold, I did as commanded and tugged my t-shirt over my head, my mind spinning. I didn't know what had just happened. I didn't understand. "Fin," I whispered, my voice shaky and uncertain.
He tensed.
"Wh…what…" I stuttered, groping for words. Finally, I sighed and just asked, "Why?"
He glanced at me, his face crumpled with frustration and longing. He looked away quickly and shook his head. "I…we shouldn't...it…" He seemed as lost for words as I was. He turned and leaned his head against his fist, putting his back to me. "We can't," he said, his voice thin with regret and yearning. "We can't."
“Because of the King, right? Because you still have to take me to him…and then he’ll kill me. That’s how to break his curse.”
He looked agonised. “Yes.”
I went to him and held his face between my palms. His eyes were haunted and pained. “You’re the one who’s cursed, Fin. You’re cursed to spend eternity delivering innocent souls to the King. And, if I live through meeting him, I will break your curse. I promise it.”
Chapter Twenty Three
** Lucy **
The inside of the Summer Palace was just as lush and beautiful as the outside. The floors were wooden, inlaid with emeralds and rubies. The walls were stone, smothered with ivy and wildflowers. Chandeliers of faeryfire lit the vast hallways. And, much unlike the Winter Castle, it was almost stiflingly warm. I was grateful for that.
Fin was on edge as he led me through the winding hallways, his body tense and his face expressionless. He seemed as if he were in physical pain. I wanted to comfort him, tell him that it wasn’t his fault, but I was afraid I might make it worse. Plus, I was hardly in a position to be comforting anyone else. I was walking to my probable death. But I wasn’t afraid. I was just…numb. Mostly, I regretted that I might not have the chance to complete my promise to Fin and break his curse.
Finally, we reached two massive, wooden doors with severe looking guards on either side. I held my breath as they pulled the doors open. Fin grabbed my hand and squeezed briefly. I wasn’t reassured.
Behind the doors, there was a giant ballroom, glorious and beautiful. The walls were the dark green of pine needles, the ceiling and floor were the colour of tarnished gold, and there was a dais at the far end of the room, upon which rested an ornate throne. The throne was large and appeared to be made of a golden wood like varnished pine, and the strangest thing of all was that it appeared to have grown right out of the ground.
All around the room, white candles floated in mid-air, some knee-high, some at head height and some swirling around the ceiling gently, casting unusual, pearly light down on the ballroom. It was a stunning, impossible sight, and I wasn't sure whether to be awed or terrified.
I settled on terrified, because the room wasn't empty. It was full of people—faeries—some coldly beautiful, some with abnormal deformities like goat legs, scales or green skin. Some were short and stocky and seemed to be shedding bark, some were tall and elegant with papery skin like that of silver oak. There were faeries with dark blue skin and green hair, and ones with various sea life sticking to their bodies, starfish and urchins and such, like brightly coloured jewellery. Others had red or orange eyes, devoid of whites or pupils, and flames writhed around their bodies, snakes of golden fire that nobody else got too close to. There seemed to be every kind of faery possible in this room—except the Winter fae. The odd thing was that, for all the variety of fae, none of them were quite like Fin—there were gorgeous fae, there were forest fae, but none had the same wild beauty and warmth.
There were so many different creatures, different kinds of faery, it was giving me a headache just looking at them all. It felt as if I'd walked right into some bizarre dress-up party, except that the people all looked too real to be wearing costumes. And they were all staring right at me, including the man sitting upon the throne.
I could have sworn he hadn’t been there a second before, but his presence seemed to fill the entire room. He was handsome in a rugged sort of way, with a short beard and shoulder-length hair the colour of wheat. His eyes, I could see, even from there, were a crystalline gold colour. Very strange, very beautiful.
He wore a long, brown leather coat over a green shirt with gold buttons, and startlingly blue trousers. A bronze crown set with emeralds sat upon his brow. Around his throne were beautiful human girls dressed in brightly coloured dresses, some as young as sixteen, some more like thirty, but all model-gorgeous in their own ways. The King was regal and intimidating, but I sensed no outright cruelty like the Queen had shown.
Still, I hadn’t forgotten that the man planned to kill me.
Fin took my arm and led me through the crowd of gawking fae to the foot of the dais.
The King looked down upon me and said, “I sense her magic, just as I sensed her grandmother’s. She is more beautiful than I’d pictured…a shame to destroy such beauty.”
