A further problem was that Tomas was a part of my being now. As much as I needed air to breath, I knew I would need him around. Just being next to him was dangerous. He was a starving vampire who was disconnected from his humanity, and unscrupulous in his belief he had to kill to survive. Yet I found him endearing and worth saving.
Conall would be pissed too, not that he had a right. I was going to have words with that brother of mine and none of them were going to be nice. He had failed me. I could understand why he could not save Alex; his main concern was recuing Lochlann and Breandan so they could fight.
Tears I thought I had already cried out ran down my face as I thought of my friend. She had been so brave, in the end. She had not looked at me with hate and disgust, but told me she loved me. Gods, as much as I hated it, I could accept it because she did. I had tried to save her, to reanimate her body using the voodoo practices of her bloodline, but it hadn't worked. I'd been stopped. There was nothing else to do but take her body back to Temple and back to Ro. He would hate me too, for he was smart and would figure it out. The easy thing would be to bury her out here so no one knew of her death, but I couldn't do that. Her life deserved to be celebrated. All I could do was try to explain and hope Ro could forgive me, as she did.
I felt a stirring of anger. Lochlann, he was a problem. I thought he was going to be the good guy. He would continue to try and justify his actions by saying Tomas had killed a fairy. I would not let him take his life. Tomas had to make amends for the life he had taken — I was not sure how I would get him to do it, but I would — and I did not give a damn what power Lochlann thought he had to condemn my vampire-boy to death.
Breandan's reluctance to go to the Grove made sense now, as did the fairies reaction to news that we were bonded. The fairy Priestess were usually the life-mates of the fairy-lords. Lochlann was trying to overthrow Devlin, who definitely needed overthrowing, and that would make him High Lord of all fairykind. The Priestess kept the spiritual balance and the High Lord kept physical order. Breandan had not wanted to see me, because he knew we would be stealing his brother's future mate. Yet, he could not help but seek me out, knowing that the white witch had seen we were to be together.
Anger became rage as Devlin, skewering Alex, flashed across my memory again. He would die, and I sent a fervent wish it would be by my hand. I was going to become so powerful just hearing my name would stop his heart. I would find him and destroy him, laughing as I did so.
Guilt I would never be able to shake, crept over me and memories of Alex bombarded my vision. I sobbed. Again, I tormented myself with the depth of my failure. It hadn't worked. I had tried to save her, and it had failed miserably.
I lay down beside my vampire-boy, the one I had been able to save, and cried for the one I had lost. Lying in the dark with death itself had me wallowing and sinking deeper into a place I did not need to be. I needed the sunlight. I needed Breandan.
Tomas was going nowhere, and this shroud was nice and tight. I called on the Source and asked the forest to bury him deeper. The ground rumbled and more roots emerged from the cool earthen floor to wrap around his lifeless body and cocoon him. Happy he would be safe from the sun; I dug a small opening for myself and crawled out. A hand gripped my forearm tightly and pulled. I emerged from the shroud and blinked rapidly at the bright sunshine.
I looked around tentatively, on guard for any attack, but the camp was empty. The fire was now a smoldering pile of ash, and the only evidence of the nightmare at dawn was the fresh trails in the undergrowth. My gaze settled on the stone slab, still awash with blood. I trembled.
"Where is she?"
Breandan rubbed my arms, soothing me. "Maeve is tending to her body. We are going to burn her, a queenly funeral."
"No. I want to take her back to Temple."
The soothing caress stopped. "You know how the humans will react." His voice was calm, as if he knew that was what I had wanted all along.
"It's the right thing to do. I won't burn her like a dirty secret."
"Alright."
We were quiet for a while. He seemed serene and I could sense no anger bubbling under the surface.
"You don't hate me?" I blurted, unable to contain myself.
"Never. Though, I wish you were simpler."
I snorted and rubbed some mud out of my hair. I flexed and extended my wings and sighed in relief.
"Where did everybody go?"
"Back to the Grove. Lochlann cannot stay here until he is High Lord. This wyld is for the ruling family."
"Where has Devlin is gone? Will we be able to track him and his followers?"
Yes. But he is still High Lord. There are rules, Rae. Devlin must be tried against the laws of our people and the lordship removed from him by popular vote. Only then can a new High Lord be chosen."
I sighed, hearing between the lines. "For Lochlann to rule, Devlin must live."
"Oh yes. That is the way it must be. At least, until the power has been transferred."
"I will kill him," I said bluntly.
"And I'm going to stop you."
Again, we were at opposite ends of the spectrum. The truth was, I didn't care what he wanted, or what Lochlann wanted. I wanted Alex to be avenged. Nothing was going to get in my way.
"He murdered Alex, and for what? She was an innocent."
"I know you are grieving." Breandan stroked my face temple to jaw. "I will help you to heal."
I went into his arms then and let him hold me. The hurt in me was an ocean I thought would never run dry. All I could do was protect what I had, and avenge what I had lost. There I stood, in the arms of my fairy-boy, standing over the resting place of my vampire-boy, and worried about what I was to do.
Conall stepped from the trees, cradling a girl shaped bundle wrapped head to toe in leaves and flowers.
The body twitched.
Letting Breandan go, I set my two feet apart and spread my wings until the golden tips were in my line of sight. They shone a brilliant gold, and felt glorious in the sunlight.
I readied myself for the day to come.
Author Bio
I, Penelope Fletcher, love to read and want to write something worth remembering. Simple as that.
Curious about A DEMON DAY, sequel to THE DEMON GIRL? Want to rave about Rae Wilder's antics, or have a chat about writing in general, come on over to www.fictionfierce.blogspot.com and say "hai". Or tweet at me www.twitter.com/Miss_Fletcher.
A DEMON DAY will be out SUMMER 2011.
Read on for a sample of the first chapter.
Chapter One
I ran. There was the forest, the gasp of my breath, and the pound of my mate's heartbeat as he raced beside me. Nothing more. The forest, teeming with life hushed reverently as we blazed past, in awe of us, in fear.
Devlin was less than a day ahead, and his trail was erratic. Appearing suddenly then becoming deceptively faint, or weaving in odd directions. It was clear he was trying to throw us of course, using magics and distractions to slow us down so he could escape. Each time I was sure he had changed course or had gone another way, Conall had disagreed and pointed out the way. At times we had to stop so he could read the trails, listen to the wind and press his ear to the earth.