The Maebown Page 8

  Sara, Gavin, Dana, and Sinopa stayed with Ronnie, Candace and me at Cnoc Aine. The rest disappeared through the Seoladán to prevent world war three. Despite my desire to go along, there wasn’t any way I get to the South China Sea in time—that is where Bastien, Caorann, Zeus, and Tse-xo-be determined they needed to go. Instead they asked me to project and provide reconnaissance if needed, but first, they wanted me to check on Ozara’s whereabouts. Leaving such a small group in Ireland was a risk.

  Sara and I walked back to the cottage to meet Gavin and the others after the last Ohanzee disappeared in the Seoladán. Walking with her reminded me of our walks in the Weald, when she trained me in the days following my Earth trial. With one exception—she was very quiet. For several days, I’d noticed that she and I were never alone, but I assumed it was nothing. Walking away from Lough Gur, I felt something else.

  “Sara, what’s wrong?”

  She glanced up at me, a timid smile on her heart shaped lips, huge blue eyes gleaming in the late morning sun. “I’m sorry. I’m just thinking about our friends—what they go to face.”

  Remembering what Candace had taught me about Sara’s facial expressions, I noticed the tiny dimple that formed whenever she was hiding something.

  “There’s more to it than that—I can tell.”

  A slight divot appeared in the smooth skin of her brow. “I owe you an apology, Maggie.”

  Nervous energy tingled in my stomach. What’s she apologizing for? For the first time since I’d known her, she felt distant. “What’s wrong?”

  She studied my face and exhaled. Despite keeping her casual pace, she dropped her head so that golden blonde curls fell over her face. When she looked back at me, her lower lip was clenched between her teeth and her eyes were wet.

  “What? Please don’t tell me you’re the leak?” I said.

  Her eyebrows pinched together. “Leak? There’s a leak?” she asked diverting her eyes to the horizon.

  “Yes. Someone has been spilling information to the Alliance and the Rogues. We walked into a trap at Veluwezoom. Dersha and Ozara were waiting for us.”

  “Oh my…you’re worried that I…no, I did not.”

  The dimple returned and my anger began to flare. “Sara, you’re hiding something again. I know it. You were the only one who knew we were going to meet the Kabouter.”

  “No,” she said, “The Sidhe Council knew, Dana, Breya, Fand, and …”

  “And who?”

  “And Drust. Dana told Drust to keep an eye on the three of you until you left Ireland—she told him where you were going. If he…but that is impossible,” she said to herself.

  “Sara, what is impossible?”

  “Drust has Dana’s confidence, complete and unfettered.”

  “So he knows everything she knows. That means…”

  “Yes,” she said. “If he is the spy, then it’s only a matter of time before Ozara is aware that the Coalition has gone and left you unprotected.”

  “What do we do?”

  She froze in the field. “You need to inform Caorann, privately. If this is true, his treachery will wound Dana. But it has to be him, no one else on the Sidhe Council would dare.”

  “We need to get back to the cottage so that I can warn Caorann. Sara, I’m sorry I suspected you. I knew you wouldn’t do anything to betray me.”

  Sara’s eyes turned wet and she grabbed handfuls of golden hair. “But I have betrayed you, Maggie. I’m the worst of the lot.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You are here for one reason.”

  “In Ireland?”

  “No, in existence.”

  I had no idea what she was saying. It didn’t make sense at all and I couldn’t form a coherent thought. I just stood there shaking my head.

  “You know of course that your father’s family is descended from Aeden.”

  “Yeah, sure. So?’

  She winced. “And are you also aware that your mother’s family is—“

  “Wait,” I said, cutting her off. “You know about Surero?”

  She nodded and it sent my mind racing.

  “So Ozara knows, has known…” It hit me. “How long have you known,” I snapped.

  Sara turned her head and stared across the field.

  “Sara, answer me,” I demanded.

  “For over a century.”

  My knees felt numb, so I sat in the tall grass. The numbness in my extremities was nothing compared to the emptiness in my chest.

  “I’m not sure whether you know this Maggie, but I have a special gift of my own.”

  Dazed and numb, I looked up at her.

  “I have the ability to sense when humans have a connection to the elements. I’ve always had it. Ozara didn’t find Surero—I did. Just like I found Aeden.”

  Her simple revelation hit me even harder. The implications were too hard to believe. “So, my parents…” I couldn’t finish the sentence.

  “Yes. Planned.”

  “Planned?” I whispered, not ready to comprehend what it meant.

  “From your great grandfather’s exodus from Cuba, to your parents meeting and falling in love—all planned. Forced.”

  “And our move to the Weald three years ago?”

  She nodded. “Yes.”

  “But you told me—“

  “I wanted to tell you the truth, I promise you that. But Ozara ordered me to keep it quiet, and if I’d told you, there would be consequences.”

  “I get it—she can read your mind. So it was more important to save your skin than tell me the truth?”

  “It isn’t that simple, and you know it.”

  I frowned at her. Everything I thought about my parents’ relationship, their chance meeting when Dad moved to Florida—all the magic and warmth I felt when Mom told the story, it evaporated. I wasn’t the product of love. I was a product of selective breeding and Sara had been involved. Heat replaced the void I’d felt only moments before as anger filled my body.

  “So, I’m a Fae science project?”

  “No, it is not like that.”

  I snapped, screaming at her, “It is exactly like that. Everything I’ve known my entire life was engineered by you. Who on the Council knew?”

  “Only Ozara. I’m so sorry. You mean so much to me, Maggie. I did not know what her plans were, I swear it.” There was no dimple, so she was telling the truth. It was small consolation, under the circumstances.

  “I thought you left the Weald to protect me…”

  “I did.” She sat down across from me. “I only agreed to help Ozara because she thought your parents would produce offspring with powers that would ensure the survival of the human race. This conflict has been brewing for centuries, Maggie, and I was completely honest when I told you how much I love humankind. I never realized—“

  “Never realized that Ozara wanted control of my family, and if we proved to be problematic, she would eliminate the blood line.”

  Tears leaked down Sara’s porcelain face.

  “Well, I guess I really should thank you. After all, without your meddling, I probably wouldn’t even exist,” I snarled.

  She shook her head, the dimple returning.

  “Crap, what else?” The moment I asked the question, I knew the answer. “This is about Gavin, isn’t it?”

  She nodded.

  “Did you know we’d fall in love?”

  “This is the biggest betrayal of all, I’m afraid. When your family returned to the Weald, I knew you’d want to leave. I knew you would likely fall in love with him—everyone does. Once you met him, realized that he was to be your Treorai, I knew you wouldn’t leave. What I didn’t know is that he would love you back.”

  I couldn’t look at her. I loved and trusted Sara, so her confession affected me like an acid bath. I had always thought the Unseelie were the conniving ones. Turns out they could learn a thing or two from Sara. Even though her actions had put Gavin in grave danger, and I was furious about that, I couldn’t feel any
thing but gratitude for having Gavin in my life. That, and that alone, was the only reason I didn’t hurt her. Instead, I got up and marched away.

  “Maggie?” she called to me.

  I threw my hand up behind me and kept walking. She didn't follow. She knew better. By the time I got back to the cottage, I’d managed to bury the anger I felt. I had a job to do. I needed to be in complete control—I could scream and set things on fire later.

  NINE

  CROSSFIRE

  “Where’s Sara?” Candace asked when I walked into the tiny living room.

  “She’ll be along,” I said.

  Candace read my expression and nodded, turning a slightly darker shade of pink. Even Ronnie picked up on my tone—his eyes doubled in size. I smiled and nodded, a silent confirmation that things were all right. She nodded back, an eyebrow raised just slightly—her own personal confirmation that I’d be explaining myself very soon.

  “Seems like all I’ve done lately is project and bring back bad news.”

  “I’m counting on that not being the case this time around,” Gavin said.

  I’m sure he picked up on my private communication with Candace, but let it go since we weren’t alone. Dana and Sinopa stood just behind him.

  Back on the lumpy sofa, I closed my eyes and calmed my nerves. I had a lot to do in a few minutes. The instant I felt the floating sensation, I raced to Bastien, piercing Tse-xo-be’s Clóca veil. Nearly a thousand strong, they flashed across a body of water, toward the setting sun. The Olympians had joined them.

  “Bastien, Caorann, I’m here.”

  “Perfect. Can you locate Ahriman—give us a general direction? We’d like to find him before he has a chance to escape,” Caorann asked.

  I would help them, but before I checked on Ozara or found Ahriman, they needed to be warned about Drust. There was a problem, though. He was less than a hundred yards away and could hear everything I was projecting—it wasn’t possible to whisper in astral projection. I hoped she would understand a coded message.

  “Yes, but I do have news for Drust.”

  Caorann was silent for a second. “I understand, are you sure it can’t wait?”

  I assumed she was asking me how sure I was that he was the mole. “Sara seemed to think it was pretty urgent.”

  “What news,” Drust demanded.

  “You’re needed back at Cnoc Aine. Sara didn’t say why, only that Dana needs you. It’s urgent,” I said.

  “Are you positive?” He demanded. “If I leave now, I will give our position away.”

  “Drust, follow me. I will keep us cloaked all the way back to the Seoladán,” Caorann offered.

  “Should we proceed without you?” Tse-xo-be asked her.

  “Yes, I will catch up. I promise. This won’t take long.”

  The two split away from the group and disappeared back to the east. I assumed she would use Aether to find out the truth. A small part of me pitied him, especially if he turned out to be innocent. Ignoring the pangs of doubt and guilt, I focused on Ozara. The numbing whirls that always accompanied traveling great distances enveloped my senses. That was good news for the Coalition—Ozara was not close.

  I came to a stop in the third floor turret of Candace’s house on Spring Street in Eureka Springs. The sky was ink black beyond the windows, and a Tiffany lamp hanging from the center of the peaked ceiling lit the tiny room. Ozara sat on pile of colored pillows a few feet away from Chloe Fontaine, Candace’s mom. Chloe was in a trance. I didn’t know what was going on. I saw Chloe, but I didn’t feel her—or at least all of her. Her body was in the room, and she seemed to be completely relaxed. Her eyelids were closed over darting eyes, her breath even. Ozara sat motionless, her amber eyes fixed on Chloe.

  It didn’t make sense.

  I turned my attention to Chloe. What was happening to her? The tether tugged at me, trying to pull me away. At first I feared something was wrong at Cnoc Aine—maybe we were under attack. Then it donned on me that my mind was connecting to Chloe’s mind, wherever that was. Focusing harder, I shot away. I settled back in the cottage, several feet from my own body. Gavin held my hand, a gentle smile on his impossible features. Ronnie sat across the room with Candace by his side. The Fae were there, as well, and so was something else—Chloe Fontaine’s mind. Inches from Candace, she lingered by her daughter.

  Ozara was forcing her to project. She was using my trick on me. I hated Ozara even more. Why is Ozara spying on us? She is going to attack as soon as Chloe slips back and tells her that we’re virtually alone.

  I got an idea. I snapped back into my body, briefly. “Candace, if you could talk to your mom right now, what would you say?”

  “What? Are you okay?” She said, wrinkling her nose. Everyone in the room looked at me like I was crazy.

  “Candace,” I said with more emphasis. “I know how much you miss her. What would you say?”

  “I’d tell her that I love her—that I miss her,” she whispered.

  “What else? Pretend she’s here.”

  Candace’s eyes watered. She seemed to understand. She began talking and I closed my eyes again, hoping I’d bought us some time. Hopefully Candace could keep Chloe distracted. I concentrated on Ahriman. He was in the same large room I’d found him in earlier, deep below ground. He was still compelling the people in the room, but he was focused more on a screen with scrolling characters—they all were. Unlike before, the other people were talking, reporting to the little man in the big hat. From the tension I sensed in the room, something important was happening. I floated to the surface and then slowly let my mind pull me toward Bastien and Tse-xo-be. They were still quite a distance away, moving quickly under turbulent storm clouds. The white-capped sea raged violently. I felt Fae in the water below us. When I found the Coalition, Caorann had returned—without Drust. The force was still hidden behind Clóca.

  “Who are they? Nereids or Oceanids?” I asked.

  “Neither. They are Ancient Ones,” Bastien said. “The conflict has brought them to the sea.”

  “Are they going to help?”

  “They don’t know we’re here—they can’t know, either,” Tse-xo-be said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “If a force this size popped out of thin air, they’d see it as an invasion,” Bastien said.

  “Do you know why they’re here churning up the sea?”

  Volimar answered in a curt, matter-of-fact tone. “They intend to end the conflict before it begins—they intend to destroy the ships.”

  “The American ships?”

  “Yes,” he said. “They’ve apparently decided that the region will only be stable if the American Fleet is removed from the area.”

  “We can’t let them do that.”

  “It would end the tensions—at least for the time being. It would weaken the American military to the point they would withdraw from the region. It is a reasonable plan,” Volimar said.

  “No, it is not. It will only provoke more conflict. Bastien, I beg you. Do not permit this to happen.”

  “What do you propose I do?”

  “Is this their territory?”

  “No, it is not,” Tse-xo-be said.

  “Then stop them, talk to them, whatever you need to do. I know how Americans think. If the fleet is destroyed, we will strike back.” That was a complete fabrication—I had no idea how the military would respond, but my pleading found a receptive audience.

  “I agree with Maggie,” Tse-xo-be said. “As I have been saying, it will further destabilize the region. The Ancient Ones are wrong.”

  “Maggie,” Caorann said, “We can stop the Ancient Ones, but it may drive them to the Alliance. They are very protective of the region, even if it isn’t technically theirs. And like the humans here, they resent outside interference. Would you have us save a few thousand lives only to sacrifice millions?”

  I knew she was right, but that didn’t matter to me. Viscerally, emotionally, I couldn’t bear the thought of so many liv
es being lost, and not American lives. The tether yanked me away from them as I grew more and more upset. I forced myself back to them.

  “Maggie, are you upset?”

  “I’m furious and fighting for control. I was too far away to help when the Alliance killed millions of my people. I was helpless when they killed friends and family, but you can stop this. I’ll go crazy if you don’t. I don’t know if I will be able to do what I have to do—”

  “Maggie,” Caorann said, cutting off my projected ramble. “We’ll prevent it. You’re state of mind is more important than anything right now. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize how upset you’d be.”

  With a quick command, the Coalition dropped the Clóca barrier and raced toward the water’s surface. The response was immediate. Lightening arched across the sky with an intensity I’d never witnessed. The dark clouds and the sea were bright like they were being lighted by a perpetual flash bulb. Only the Ancient Ones attacked. Caorann blocked the barrage with a barrier of Aether.

  Two of the Ancient Ones shot across the turbulent sea toward an enormous vessel, an aircraft carrier, rising and falling in the massive waves. Caorann pursued them and I followed her. The two Fae began pulling the bow into the water and the entire ship shuddered as a wall of water a hundred feet tall crashed into its side, spinning the ship thirty degrees to the right. The violent wave washed across the enormous deck and slammed into the superstructure, causing the ship to list to one side. The wave didn't disperse, but seemed to grip the deck. The Fae intended to pull her under. They channeled enormous energy—they were very old. Fear yanked my tether, as I watched with horror while the deck twisted closer and closer to the surface, so low I could no longer seen the giant white 73 painted on the tower.

  Caorann wrestled control of the waves away from them. The watery clamp drained over the sides and the massive vessel righted itself. Half a world away, my heart pounded in my chest. All around me, Ancient Ones moved on smaller vessels, with Sidhe, Kobold, and Ohanzee pursuing them. Two miles away I felt a small ship slip beneath the waves, only to be pulled back to the surface a few seconds later when Tse-xo-be tossed the three weaker Ancient Ones into the distance. With a thundering voice, louder than the gale, he warned them to retreat. A second later, I heard Bastien.