Hope Everlastin' Book 4 (33 page)

"For the love of God,"
Taryn sobbed, "leave him alone!"

"He's trying to keep him
alert," explained Winston.

Guttural sounds of misery
escaped Roan's control, and he lowered his head in shame. His tears
dripped onto Lachlan's chest, despite how tightly he closed his
eyes to hold them back.

With life-ebbing
languidness, Lachlan's gaze shifted to him. It took two attempts
before he could summon the strength to speak.

"Tis all right...ta let
go...Ma Beth. Ma bairns. Ma...brither."

The words only magnified
Roan's sorrow. He repeatedly shook his head, gulping in air and
tasting the saltiness of his own tears.

"W-we could have gotten him
to the hospital by now!" Laura said angrily.

Before anyone could respond
Deliah appeared, seeming to have emerged from the twisted trunk of
the oak. Her features were gaunt and ravaged by confusion, sorrow,
and anger, each distinctively visible. She staggered toward her
brother, her wings drooping at her back as though she didn't
possess the energy to lift them.

"Blue will no' listen to
me," she sobbed, and sat on the ground next to her brother, draping
an arm about his shoulders. "I mistakenly told her ye had sent
me."

"Ye did yer best. But,
Deliah, ye dinna look weel."

"I be fine," she murmured,
although she was not.

Winston brightened.
"Deliah, can you guide me into their minds?"

She looked at him a bit
puzzled then slowly rose to her feet. "Twould no' be proper," she
said dazedly.

"Screw wha's
proper."

"Aye." She walked to him
and laid her hands on his chest. "Aye, screw wha' be proper. But
they'll no' take this invasion lightly."

"Good. Anger is better than
detachment. So wha' do we do?"

Deliah took him by the hand
and led him to the oak. Retaining her hold on him, she placed her
free hand to the trunk. "I be ready. Channel yer message through
me."

"Okay." Winston was having
second thoughts. It was one thing to get inside the minds of
criminals, another to trespass into the sanctuary of beings he'd
only learned existed a short time ago. But knowing he had no other
choice, he heaved a fortifying breath, then closed his eyes and
pushed out with his mind.

Beth sat on the ground near
Lachlan's head and brushed her fingers across his cold, perspiring
brow. His eyes rolled up, but he couldn't make out her features
through the haze of his vision. He knew it was she, though, and
despite his pain and increasing lassitude her touch warmed his
heart of hearts.

"I love you," she
whispered, the bleakness in her tone spearing him with regret.
"Don't leave me here. I can't live without a soul, and you know if
you die, you'll take it with you. So hang on for us,
Lachlan."

He couldn't reply. The
strength required to move his tongue was more than he could manage.
His world was narrowing to a space no larger than a penny, with
infinite darkness surrounding it. And it was also the measure of
what remained of his life.

Too soon it would blink
out, as it had in eighteen forty-three. Only this time he wasn't
alone, hidden behind a brick wall. He was beginning to believe that
was preferable to having his loved ones watch him die.

Hold on,
his Beth had said.

Wi' wha’?
he wondered.
Wha' is left
when the body canna resist the need to let go o' the
soul?

New sounds invaded the
layers of his thickening daze. The boys. Somewhere in the distance.
Crying as only children can cry, hard and from the depths of their
emotional wells.

He tried to say, "Dinna let
them see this," but no words passed his lips.

His pain grew more distant,
his mind more uncaring about his fate. He didn't fear death. Second
time around. He knew what was coming.

Energy sparked from the
trunk. Deliah and Winston shrank back then she shook the hand that
had been on the wood.

"Are you hurt?" he asked,
taking the hand into his own and massaging it.

"No. Surprised me mair'n
anythin’."

"Wha' happened?"

Deliah made a sickly,
rueful expression. "They reacted to ye callin’ them heartless
cowards."

"They are—"

A figure emerged from the
trunk, swept past them, and turned to indignantly confront the
couple. Ignoring the gasps and murmurs of the others she knew to be
present, she lifted her chin and stated, "How dare you side with
these mortals!" Her voice held barely a hint of a Scottish accent.
"Have you forgotten our ways, Deliah?"

"She has forgotten naught,"
Reith said, the anger in his tone mocking his display of deference
by going down on one knee to the newcomer's right. With his head
bent low, he went on, "It be beneath ye, Blue, to take ou' yer
anger for me on ma sister, or anyone else o' ma family."

"Get off your
knees!"

"As ye wish, Yer Majesty."
He stood and faced her, his stance as hostile as her own. "Behind
me lies a mon o' immeasurable worth," he clipped, staring into her
eyes with an arrogance he believed he'd long ago abandoned. "Wi’ou'
the help o' the Circle O' Magic he will die, and be the shame o'
tha' loss on
yer
conscience."

"Deliah!" Winston cried,
and reached out to stop her fall. Her dead weight dragged him down
into a sitting position, where he cradled her head and shoulders in
his arms. "Deliah, tell me you're just faint again.
Deliah!"

Her eyelids fluttered
open.

"Why would she be faint?"
asked Blue coldly. "She is not mortal."

"She's pregnant!" Laura bit
out.

The luminescent aqua-blue
of Blue's eyes riveted on Winston. "That's not
possible."

"Wha' isn't possible?"
Winston asked bitterly. "Tha' we could love each other enough to
create a
uirisg?"

Perched atop the multiple
rooftops, more than a dozen peafowl squawked, as if lending their
voices in support. The fluttering of their wings was inordinately
loud, preternatural, and Blue tore her gaze from them and stared at
Winston.

"We be dyin’ soon," Deliah
said weakly. "Forgive me, but I gave Lachlan a piece o' ma life, so
he could hold on."

"No, Deliah." Winston's
throat constricted. "No' you, too!" He glared at Blue, tears from
fear and outrage brimming his eyes. "Do you have the power to save
them, or no'!"

"Blue, I beg o' ye to help
ma sister and Master Baird," Reith said. "I know ye still have a
heart."

With a cry of vexation,
Blue held out her hands, palms upward. Thunder rolled across the
heavens. Lightning mauled the sky like massive claws seeking to
claim the occupants by the new oak. Winds rose and swirled with
deafening speed around the area, closing them all within its
wall.

"Blue!" Reith shouted in
fury, misunderstanding her intentions.

A ring of what at first
glance seemed to be fireflies appeared around Lachlan. The
blue-black, ground-length hair belonging to Faerie's queen rose and
snaked through the air, outlining her stance. A song crooned from
her throat, a hauntingly sweet melody that evoked a warbling
sensation in the hearts of the listeners.

Beth and Roan had scooted
back at the appearance of the mysterious ring. Now, they stared at
Lachlan in wonder and trepidation. He was levitating three feet
above the ground, fully cocooned in a mist of vibrant, rainbow
colors.

Tearing his gaze from the
phenomenon, Reith gratefully bowed his head to his wife.

C
hapter 12

Beth tore her gaze from
Lachlan and stared at Blue with burgeoning horror. She wanted to
cry out to the fairy queen to stop the theatrics, but she couldn't
force out a breath or take one into her aching lungs. The sound of
the winds circling them in the elemental prison had dimmed to a
tolerable volume, but she was no less aware that she and the others
were cut off from the rest of the world. Beth had no way of knowing
what the queen had planned for them. That she was outraged to have
been forced to leave her realm was obvious. That she was angry at
Reith was unmistakable. That she held the human race in contempt
was frightening.

Everything Beth held most
dear depended on this magnificent being's ability to show
compassion. Without Lachlan, her heart of hearts would shrivel into
a hard pit.

What kind of mother could
she possibly be?

How could she hope to offer
her children love when she knew if she lost Lachlan, the wellspring
of who she was would be as dried out and as barren as a
desert.

Without thought to her
actions, she somehow broke through her fear and approached the
queen, stopping within arm's reach.

Reith, standing to her
right several feet away, cast her a look of alarm, but she paid it
no heed. There was nothing the black-haired entity could do to her
that wouldn't pale compared to the desperation clawing at her
insides.

Vibrant aqua blue eyes
shifted to regard Beth with wariness and a measure of indignation.
That she considered Beth's boldness in coming so close a challenge
was painfully clear, and Beth nearly buckled under the being's
intimidating presence. Perhaps she would have if Reith hadn't
stepped to her side and entwined the fingers of one hand with hers,
in offering of support. He glared at his wife as though daring her
to ignore Beth's existence then lifted Beth's clasped hand and
pressed its back to his heart.

The gesture infused Beth
with a powerful sense of rightness. Her voice calm yet firm, she
said to the queen, "If you do have the ability to save Lachlan, it
would be a grave injustice to let him die."

"And what shall you offer
me in return?" Blue asked, her tone edged with sarcasm. "Your
firstborn?"

Beth stiffened and looked
defiantly into the mesmerizing eyes. "No. I can't sacrifice one
life for another. Not even my own, because Lachlan and I are one,
and the children are the product of our love." She hesitated,
unsure what to call the queen of the fairies, then continued, "Your
Majesty—" She gulped and mentally cursed the tears spilling from
her eyes. "Do you know what it's like to love someone so much it
hurts to even think of a day when you won't be
together?"

The aqua blue eyes flicked
but an instant to Reith then were again staring into Beth's with
such detachment, a sob caught in Beth's throat.

"She knows," said Reith,
his gaze on Blue both accusatory and challenging. "It be the shame
I brought upon ma wife, ma clan, and maself wha' has embittered
her."

Blue's shoulders drew
rigidly back as she met his gaze. Beth could almost feel the
animosity emanate from the queen, and it frightened her.

"My husband is dead," said
Blue, her voice devoid of emotion.

"Blue,"
said Reith, "he stands afore ye, as weel ye know." He frowned
scoldingly, one eyebrow arched and his head tilted to one side.
"But this isna abou' us, Blue. Aye, it pains me deeply to see these
good people made to suffer, and there be the reason o' yer
hesitation to follow the dictates o' yer conscience."

"You're incapable of caring
for anyone but yourself!"

Releasing Beth's hand, he
stepped up to Blue, too close, for her right hand shot up and
smacked against his chest, stopping further advance on his part.
With a sigh of impatience, he glanced down at the long-fingered
barricade and placed one of his own atop it. She attempted to
withdraw her hand and looked startled when he held it firmly in
place, his unwavering gaze locked with hers.

"I care, especially for this
mon, Lachlan," he said, his voice inordinately deep. "Aye, as laird
o' this outer world, his hirin’ me thwarted yer banishment o' me
from the land, too, and how tha' must gall ye. But I know ye will
no' permit an
innocent
to die."

She wrenched her hand free
and reared back, her wings fluttering in cadence with her
anger-induced pulse rate.

"To spite me," he
challenged, "would ye truly disgrace yerself, ma queen, ma wife, ma
love? For disgrace ye would bear were ye to let Lachlan die. He be
no' like ither men. No ither mortal. Why else would Deliah risk her
life to give him mair time?"

When she remained
belligerently silent, his temper flared. "Och, yer stubbornness be
unfounded in this matter!"

"It's not a fairy’s place
to interfere with a mortal's fate," Blue declared.

With a guttural sound of
frustration, Reith threw his hands up then slapped his thighs. "I
demand an audience wi' MoNae!"

"She is far away on a dire
mission concerning one of our cousin kingdoms," said Blue coldly.
"I did try to summon her. To no avail."

Reith's face darkened.
"Then hear me weel, Yer Majesty. Afore ye make an error o' which I
vow will haunt ye the whole o' yer existence, think wi' yer mind,
and no' yer heart!"