Page 31 of Beltane

“Again,” Donnelly said, drawing my attention back to him. “The more unique and personal it is, the harder it will be for him to get in.”

He drilled us the entire way, to the point that Lex and Carter joined in as well. They’d never had the same problem as Ivy and me. The king didn’t seem to pay them much attention, choosing instead to focus his assaults on the two of us. I wondered what that could mean, but before I went down that mental pathway, the vehicle came to a stop.

“We’re here,” Finn said.

Well after midnight, I stepped out of the SUV to the same sense of foreboding I had at Samhain. The windows lining the cobblestone streets were dark, hinting how long ago its residents had gone to bed, and most of the shops were boarded over or painted with ‘for sale’ logos. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say the place had been abandoned. Or worse.

“Help us,”the trees hissed, sending a vibrant shock wave of desperation my way. It rattled through me, stirring my dinner and sending it up the back of my throat. I swallowed it and gasped, clenching my eyes shut as the trees sent another plume of magic toward me. “Help us. Help us. Help us.”

I curled in on myself, the next bout of trepidation hitting me right in the chest. It sounded like the trees, true. But it also sounded like Lizzie and Kit. It reminded me that Jon and Edward were also missing, that the king had our loved ones and we needed to find them just as badly.

Lex glanced around. “This place has gone to hell.”

“Miri?” Ivy said, wrapping an arm around me. “Are you okay?”

“It’s the trees,” I said, catching Siobhan’s and Finn’s attention. “They’re…” My heart pounded against my rib cage. This was so much different from the last time we’d come here. Then, they had warned me to turn around and go home, to take my beloveds and keep them safe. We would only find danger if we took that route. Now, they beckoned me toward them like I held the key to eternal life, like I could lay my hands on their roots and cure them of whatever sickness had taken hold of their magic with such a fierce grip. “They’re sick. They’re rotting from the inside out.”

Siobhan exchanged a worried glance with Finn and Donnelly, who both echoed her concern with furrowed brows and clenched jaws. “We need to hurry.”

“What does that mean?” Carter asked, wrapping his arms around me and rubbing his hands soothingly over my upper arms.

“It means we’re running out of time.” Siobhan shook her head and ran her hands over her face.

“This place is very deeply connected to the magic in the woods,” Finn explained. “The veil is thin between our world and yours. If the trees are rotting, then it’s only a matter of time before it spreads.”

When Diana and Poppy got out of the SUV, they both froze, as if immediately sensing the same thing I had. Whatever had infected this place ran deeper than the woods. It had taken the very essence of Killwater and warped it into a dark, vile monstrosity. I didn’t want to stay here. I wanted to get back in the vehicle and run to safety. But if we didn’t do what we’d come here to do, there would be no such place.

“I can sense him,” Ivy said, bringing the attention to her as she gripped at a temple. “Siobhan, you were right. He’s trying to break through my mental barriers. He’s close…he followed us here.”

At her words, I shivered and reinforced my stone tower, determined to keep him out.

“We need to find theFiannaand the battle maidens.” Donnelly made eye contact with me before glancing to Ivy. “Wait here. Keep reinforcing what you’ve built. The more mental energy you put into it, the stronger it will be, the more it will keep him out.”

“And try to heal the queen,” Siobhan said, nodding. “If putting your hands on her helped her before, then try again.”

Finn translated all of this to Diana, and she gave a hesitant nod of approval, her fearful eyes peering around at our dark surroundings with the same skepticism I felt brewing in my belly. This wasn’t a good place, and everything about it warned us to stay away.

“We shouldn’t be here,” Poppy said, rubbing her swollen, tear-stained eyes as she clung to Diana’s skirts. “It doesn’t want us here.”

“I hate to say I agree,” Carter added. “It gives me the fucking creeps.”

The atmosphere reminded me of an old horror movie where the protagonists leave town for a night, only to return and find it desolate and abandoned.

“Stay,” Siobhan said, nodding toward the path that led toward the woods. “And if the world burns down, use the ring to get in touch with me.”

Ivy glanced down at the metal decorating her right ring finger. “I can do that?”

Siobhan nodded and took off, her commander and lieutenant following on either side of her. I turned to my spouses, hugging myself as the foul, disgusting ache in my stomach writhed around my heart. We weren’t meant to be here, and the sooner we did our business and left, the better it would be for everyone.

This would be the last time I ever stepped foot in this place, and once we defeated the king, I would make it a point to never come back. Even as a twenty-two-year-old senior in college, the old town had contained a mystical quality that separated it from the rest of the world. This far north, it had been sheltered by a lot of the politics that shaped the country. The residents of Killwater still believed in the old ways, and the fact we found the place entirely derelict hinted at the terrible things that must have happened to it.

“If their magic is so connected to Killwater, what do you think happened to make it look like this?” Carter asked, walking up the steps to the pub that had once been owned by Siobhan. By Samhain, an older couple named Bill and Keely had turned the upstairs into a bed-and-breakfast. However, Carter yanked on the doors and revealed a darkened interior with leaves and dust decorating the ground. The windows had been left open, exposing it to the elements, so the place had become overrun with insects and plant life.

“The king and queen are gone.” Ivy glanced around, gesturing to a booth for Poppy and Diana to sit. Still unable to separate, they did, clinging to each other’s hands with identical looks of confusion in their eyes. “Remember what Siobhan told us? Faerie can’t survive them being absent for long, and our realm can’t tolerate them being here.”

“We’ve upset the balance.” Lex whistled and glanced around, pursing his lips as he wiped a finger down the bar top and examined the inch of dust left behind. “We must pay the sacrifice.” With an indignant snort, he rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Whatever the fuck that means.”

I didn’t like the sound of any of this, but I’d admit, it was difficult to focus over the warning hiss of the trees.

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