She looked back and flashed me a very Raif-like smile. “I trust you.”
Fantastic.
I worked my jaw back and forth, thankful it had finally begun to heal. The swelling in my eye had gone down, and I traced the cut on my cheek, now scabbed over. It wasn’t my usual speedy recovery, though it was better than human. My chest still felt like I’d been gored with a red-hot poker, but the blood no longer flowed. A gentle twist of my shoulders sent a violent spasm of pain clear through to my spine. Bleeding or not, I was still pretty worked over.
“Darian, my father?” Through the strength, I could sense the sadness in her words. “Is he well?”
How was I supposed to answer that? “I don’t know,” I said as I walked behind Faolán. The last time I saw my mentor, his daughter’s ex was driving a knife into his gut. Honestly, I didn’t think it would help our situation if I told her Raif might very well be dead. “But he’d better be all right.” I lowered my voice for Faolán alone and fixed him with an accusatory glare.
I had to believe Raif had survived Faolán’s attack. He was one of the strongest people I knew. There was no way a stab to the stomach would kill him-even if it was with a Fae blade. My mentor was too damned tough for that.
I wondered if she knew about all that had happened since her disappearance. Her mother had died trying to find her, for Christ’s sake. How could I possibly break the news that her mother had been dead for centuries? And that her father might have died because I’d dragged him into this mess. “Brakae-” I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and started again. “You’ve been gone a long time.” Shit, this was hard. I didn’t often break bad news to people. “Your mother…”
“Moira told me,” she answered before I could continue. “She brings me news of my loved ones. You can’t imagine how frustrating it is to be here, unable to communicate.”
Moira. That devious bitch. “She’s known you were here-talks to you even-and she never told Raif you were alive?” Death was too good for her. When I got my hands on her, I’d make sure her torture was slow and painful.
“It’s not like that,” Brakae said. “You shouldn’t think ill of her. It is not her place to speak for me. She’s not a Guardian of this realm, and the natural order must be protected at all cost.”
Oh good. More cryptic explanations. Someone was going to give me a straight answer for once, damn it. “Oh yeah, well, what about-”
“Darian, silence.” Faolán’s voice cut through my mind, effectively stifling my voice and putting an end to any questions I might be tempted to ask.
As we continued to walk, I abandoned trying to speak through Faolán’s absolute control. O Anel became my sole focus, the Faerie Realm and all its wonders pressing in on me. In the human world, I sensed the energy of the supernatural like an assault on my body. Bones humming, skin crawling, breath stalling…I felt it all. But here, the energy of every being, every tree, every blade of grass mingled and became one. And the way it wove around me, permeated my senses, gave me peace instead of pause. Fear did not exist in this place-nor common sense, apparently. But despite my circumstances, the wounds that healed too slowly, and the thoughts of never seeing Tyler again, I was not afraid.
We walked for a good hour before Brakae stopped at the face of a large granite rock. At least fifteen feet tall and draped with moss and clinging vines, a gaping maw of an opening invited us to enter. An ethereal golden light emanated from its dark depths, warm and pulsing with magic. “Brakae,” I said, my voice finally coming through, thick and sleepy, “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
She answered with a soft glowing smile, though the gleam in her eyes screamed of steel-hard strength. This woman was one hundred percent Raif’s daughter, and I realized, as she stepped through the curtain of vines and moss, that I trusted her.
At Faolán’s urging, I stepped through the curtain behind Brakae, my breath catching at the sight of her. No longer the poised woman, Raif’s daughter stood before me, the child I’d first met in my dreams. Time had no rules here. And wondrous magic ran rampant. I was so out of my league.
“Come here, Darian.” Her tiny voice urged me forward. “I’ll show you what you’ve come so far to fetch.”
Her soft little hand twined around mine, leading me deeper into the cave, which defied the laws of physics with the scope of its size. Like Reaver’s basement, this place sprawled out before us, lush grass, a pool of water-and holy shit!-gigantic trees. Brakae padded in front of me, Faolán pressed close at my back. Both were fighting for control of me in one capacity or another. And I walked helpless between them, unable to act to the benefit of either while they played their tug-of-war.
“Stop,” Faolán said, winding his arm around my waist. His dagger pressed into the flesh at my neck. “Brakae, my dear, I think it best you stay with me and let Darian retrieve the glass for you.”
She shrugged, her tiny shoulders thrown back, posture straight as a little soldier. “If that’s what you want, Faolán.”
“Yes,” he said, beckoning her with a finger. “That is what I want.”
She came to me, squeezed my fingers in her hand, and smiled. “As a Guardian, you may retrieve the glass for me. You and no one else.”
“Do it.” Faolán shoved me forward, his command overtaking any hope of lucid thought.
Brakae’s half of the hourglass sat nestled in a tree trunk. The main body of the tree had broken off long ago, and graying spears of splintered wood jutted up around the hourglass, encasing it like sharp, pointed teeth. But for all its menacing appearance, I plucked the glass from its perch with ease, just as I had with Reaver’s half. The supernatural world had its mysteries, but it didn’t know shit about security. Go figure.
Golden sand swirled in a torrent, probably sensing its other half nearby. As if worried, time ceased its natural rhythm, abandoning order for chaos. I turned to find Brakae no longer the child, but the adolescent just blossoming into womanhood. Faolán stood before her, pain distorting his features as he looked upon her. A deep and scarring resentment flared bright in his silver eyes, and at once I shared that pain. It was the agony only a broken heart could cause.
“Bring it to me.” His voice, thick with emotion, choked on the words. My heart raced in my chest as I fought the compulsion to do as he asked. As if unaware of my mind, my body responded, hurrying to his side, despite the burning, throbbing pain radiating from my torso with every step. Brakae stood silent, her face emotionless, save her eyes, which spoke of a sorrow too deep to express.
I could stop this if I played my cards right. Though, to be honest, I had no fucking clue what Faolán planned to accomplish by bringing the two halves of the hourglass together. A few feet would close the gap between us. I stopped, despite the urge to go to his side. “I want to know what you’re going to do,” I said, digging my heels into the earth. “And then, I’ll give this to you.”
“I am going to end this perversion.” He ground the words through clenched teeth. “I am going to heal the flow of time. There will no longer be two realms between us, but a single place. And our kind will not be forced to hide our true natures from creatures too narrow-minded and filled with fear to accept that which is extraordinary.”
“And you will kill all of humanity in the process,” Brakae whispered. “Please, Faolán, if you love me, you won’t go through with this.”
Hang on just a damned minute. “Do you mean to tell me, if Faolán puts the hourglass together, every human in the world is going to die?” Brakae gave me a look as if to say, Isn’t that just what I said? “What exactly is going to happen if he puts that thing back together?”