Page 21 of Beltane

A familiar figure finally stepped out of the shadows, holding up a hand in peace and solidarity.

Siobhan.

Her dark brown hair hung around her face in thick waves, much longer than the last time I’d seen her, and bruises marred her cheekbones and jaw. Her commander and lover, Finn, appeared next to her, his once short platinum hair now down to his shoulders. His face looked beat to hell as well, but he certainly seemed healthier than when he’d been stabbed through the chest by one of theFiannaa few months ago. Now, he stood upright with a huge round metal shield in one hand and an enormous axe in the other. Finally, Donnelly appeared on the other side of Finn, tall and lithe and quiet. His obsidian hair had also grown to his shoulders, a scowl between his eyebrows. Icy eyes peered at the two of us as he put one hand on the arrows in his quiver and the other on his bow.

“Miri?” Siobhan said, taking another hesitant step forward. “Is that you?”

Miri nodded. “That’s right. It’s me.”

“Fucking hell.” Siobhan took a long, deep inhale and let it out on a sigh. “It’s about damn time. Do you know how long we’ve been waiting for you?”

“Her?” I cut in. “You’re two days late.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Siobhan walked past Miri and climbed the stairs, her warrior lovers following her. “But we got what we needed.”

“TheFianna?The battle maidens? You got them?” I looked between her, Finn, and Donnelly, trying to verify I understood what she meant. When they’d helped us plan to bring down the fairy king, they had taken the responsibility of getting reinforcements. TheFiannawere the king’s most loyal soldiers, his army of henchmen that had done whatever he’d asked for centuries. As commander of that army, Finn had their loyalty through a blood oath sworn to him before Alberich. Siobhan had also promised to find the queen’s battle maidens, the ones who had dedicated their lives to protecting Diana.

Finn nodded in answer to my question, the lines of sweat and mud on his face indicating how far they’d traveled and how exhausted they must have been. “We got them.”

I didn’t see anyone behind them.

“They’re waiting in Killwater,” he explained. “They’re ready when we are.”

“Killwater?” I blew out a breath. “How the hell is that supposed to help us here?”

Footsteps from inside the house drew my attention to Weeds, wrapping a robe around herself as she blinked and stepped outside. Lex followed behind her, his features rumpled and puffy with sleep.

“Jesus Christ,” Lex said, brushing his hair out of his face.

“I’m so happy you’re okay.” Ivy pulled Siobhan into a hug before going to Finn and Donnelly to do the same. “It’s good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you, too, Ivy.” Siobhan gave her a gentle smile. “You have no idea how much.”

“Come on,” Donnelly said, eyeing Miri suspiciously as he walked up the porch steps. “We’ve got a lot to catch up on.”

Act II

I’ll met by moonlight, proud Titania.

-Oberon, Act II, Scene I

7

Ivy

“It nearly killed us to retrieve them,” Finn explained, rubbing a dirty palm over his face. We sat around the living room while they explained what happened, me and my spouses on the longer couch, Siobhan and her companions on the shorter one.

“We had to find a way to get theFiannaout without the king knowing.” Siobhan leaned forward and put her elbows on her knees, the bags under her eyes indicating how war-torn she actually was. Whatever they’d done, it had taken them going somewhere dangerous to accomplish it. When we came up with the plan, Finn had chided that it wouldn’t be getting in that would be hard, it would be getting out. “It was brutal and bloody. We lost good soldiers.”

The three of them made identical hand gestures over their hearts, a swish of the thumb that must have indicated something important.

“We’re here now,” Donnelly added as his features slipped into that stoic hunter’s calm that always unnerved me. “And we kept up our end of the bargain. What about you?”

A dark eyebrow went up his forehead as his cold eyes glanced between us. Lex sat forward and told them the story, how the king had shown up at our wedding and everything that had happened since then. I swallowed down my shame and anger when he mentioned Poppy abducting our family members.

“She turned on us?” Siobhan’s eyes widened as she focused her gaze on Carter. “She turned on you?”

“She took Lizzie and Prince Edward.” Carter’s eyes reddened like he was remembering the memory in detail. I could only imagine how terrifying that must have been. “We don’t know where she is or what she’s done with them. She won’t answer our calls.”

---