Mortal Kiss (28 page)

“She did,” he told them quietly. “That’s where the bargain comes into it. The Immortal knew what Annwn craved. What would provide them with so much emotion that they would no longer need Mercy’s offerings.”

“True love,” said Joe quietly, and Finn knew at once that his father understood.

Finn nodded. “She told the Prince that they could offer up their love in exchange for the lives and souls of their people. They could set them free if they sacrificed their love to Annwn.”

There were a few minutes of silence as everyone in the room tried to take this in.

“I don’t understand,” said Faye, sounding confused. Finn forced himself to look at her face, and his heart ached at the distress he saw there. “What does it mean, that they sacrificed their love? You can’t just give love away. You can’t just decide to stop loving someone. Can you?”

“No,” said Joe. “Which is why it was such a great sacrifice. Am I right, Finn?”

Finn nodded, scanning the scroll again. “The Immortal knew how to create a ritual that would cast their love into Annwn,” he explained. “It would drain every ounce of that emotion from them both, dragging it through a mirror that had been enchanted as a route to Annwn. That part of them would be gone forever, taken into the underworld to feed those spirits for a very long time. The Prince hated having to do it. But he knew it was the only way to free his people. The Immortal wrote the ritual into the marriage ceremony. The kiss that declared them husband and wife became the focus of her magic—a Mortal Kiss that sealed the ritual. And their fate.”

A sad silence settled on the room again, as they all thought of the two who had loved so much but were destined never to be together. To Finn, it seemed the cruelest fate of all.

“What was left?” Faye asked, her voice shaky and low. “When the ritual was complete?”

“Nothing of their love,” Finn told her quietly. “They were shells, empty of what had made them so happy. They didn’t know each other. They became strangers from that day on, destined never to know each other again or what they had given away.”

“That’s horrible,” Faye whispered, tears standing in her eyes.

“Yes,” Finn agreed, “it is. It really, really is. But it worked. Mercy and her kin abandoned the land. The people were safe.”

“Well,” said Joe, “I can see why Mercy was so keen to keep this scroll locked away.”

“What do you mean?” Lucas asked. “To be honest, I know this is a terrible story, but I don’t really understand why you all think it’s so important.”

Finn turned away from Faye, looking at his younger brother and wondering how they could be so alike and so different at the same time. “Because the scroll also includes the words and symbols needed to complete the ritual,” he explained. “And because that means it can be performed again.”

“But how?” Lucas asked. “I mean, it’s not going to work with just anyone, is it?”

“No,” Finn said, though the words stuck in his throat. “It’s not going to work with just anyone.”

“What are you talking about?” Faye asked faintly, but when he turned to look at her, Finn saw from the expression in her eyes that really, she already knew. “Me?” she asked, shakily, into the silence. “You think this is about
me
?”

“It explains so much, Faye. About why Mercy chose Winter Mill. You’re a danger to her. And you’re also a card to play against us, if need be. Mercy likes the
high stakes.” He looked at Aunt Pam. “I’m guessing that your family originally came from somewhere in Eastern Europe, right?”

“That’s right.” Aunt Pam nodded, standing up to pull another old leather-bound book from the shelves.

Faye spoke up. “Yes,” she whispered. “Dad used to tell me about our family tree. But that was centuries ago. And it still doesn’t make sense. How would Mercy know about me? How would she know about my family’s past, and that I was here?” Finn was about to answer when Faye—horrified—put a hand to her mouth. “Oh no. Oh
no.…
Liz found Dad’s letter opener in the woods. And Sergeant Wilson had my locket.… And Dad’s been out of contact for weeks! What if … what if …”

She looked so desolate that Finn reached out to her, gripping her arm. “We don’t know that anything’s happened to him, Faye. She could have met him somewhere, seen the locket and enchanted him for information, that’s all.”

“I think it’s pretty clear,” Joe’s strong voice said. “Faye, your family is descended from the line of that prince.” He looked at Finn. “So was Eve. It’s why the two of you look so alike, Faye, and it’s why …”

Faye shook her head, and before she shut her eyes, Finn saw them fill with tears. “I don’t want to hear this. I can’t hear this. You’re just making this up—it’s just a coincidence, that’s all!”

“I’m sorry, Faye, but it isn’t.” Aunt Pam looked up from the book she’d been searching through. “This is our family tree. Eve’s listed here. Joe and Finn are right.”

“So it’s me?” Faye sobbed. “This is about me, and I’m the one who has to stop Mercy?”

“Yes,” Joe told her quietly. “You, and—”

“Don’t.” Faye cut him off brokenly. “Don’t say it.”

“Are you actually serious?” Lucas asked in disbelief. “Have I been following this right? You’re telling Faye she has to perform this ritual?”

Joe nodded gravely. “Yes.”

“Who with?” Lucas asked.

“That’s up to Faye,” said Joe. “The blood of the Immortals is in both Lucas and Finn.”

Lucas glanced at Finn, then said, “Well, I’ll volunteer. Faye? I’ll do it.”

“Lucas, it doesn’t work like that,” Joe said. “Faye has to choose. And it has to be the person she loves—truly, truly loves. The ritual won’t work otherwise. The emotions released won’t be powerful enough.” He looked at Faye. “Faye? Do you understand?”

Faye shook her head. “I can’t do this!”

“You have to,” Joe said. “I’m sorry. If there was any other way, we’d take it, but we’re running out of time and this is how it must be. You have to choose.”

“But I don’t know!” Faye cried, looking from Finn to Lucas and back again. “I don’t even know myself!”

“You do,” Joe told her. “It’s there, Faye. Just look inside yourself and be honest. Choose.”

Faye pulled away from Finn and turned her back, covering her face with her hands. She just couldn’t deal with any of this—it was too much. As Joe said, deep down, she knew the name of the person she truly loved. But she couldn’t bring herself to say it, to condemn their love to an underworld that would so cruelly tear it apart.

She felt gentle hands on her shoulders, pushing her forward. It was Finn, guiding her toward the store’s little back room. He shut the door behind them, but she kept her hands over her face. Finn pulled them away, holding her wrists gently.

“Hey,” he said with a faint smile.

“Hey,” she whispered. She looked up at his face, trying to make sure the sight of it was so deep in her memory that nothing, not even magic, could erase it from her mind.

“Is it me?” Finn asked quietly.

Tears filled Faye’s eyes again. “Oh, Finn …”

“If it’s not,” he said, suddenly unsure, “that’s fine too. You have to be honest. What I said out there—I probably said too much. Maybe all of that—maybe that’s just me. So if it’s actually Lucas …”

Faye shook her head, once, the tears spilling down her cheeks. “It’s you, Finn. Of course it’s you.”

A flicker of delight sparked deep in his eyes, followed quickly by a burst of pain. Finn pulled her against his chest, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tightly, as if just being close to her could stop what was coming. Faye rested her head against his chest and cried for everything they would both be forced to lose.

“Shhhh,” Finn soothed, stroking her back. “It’s OK.”

“It’s not!” she told him. “It’s not OK! Everything you said—all of it was true, all of it. And we’ve just found each other, Finn. We’ve only just found each other, out of all the people in the world, through all the years that you’ve been alive. And now we have to let go? It’s not … it’s just not fair.”

“No,” Finn agreed. “It’s not.” He pulled back enough to cup her face in his hands, smiling gently. “But just listen to me, Faye. All I ever wanted to do was keep you safe. I just never realized that it was me putting you in danger—my Immortal self, combined with your heritage. This is the way I can keep you safe. For good, Faye. We wipe that slate clean, once and for all.” He traced a finger over her heart. “We sever that tie, and you’ll be free. You’ll be safe. Forever.”

Faye shook her head, her eyes filling with tears again. “But afterward … we won’t know each other, ever again. I’m not sure I can bear that.”

Finn smiled, leaning forward to kiss her forehead. “But we have known each other,” he said softly. “There are so many people in this world, Faye, who never know what it’s like to really love. We have that, even if it’s only right now.”

Faye shut her eyes again. “We could just run away. There must be a way out of town somehow.”

“Come on, Faye McCarron,” Finn said. “I know you better than that.”

She sighed, wiping away her tears. “Yeah. I guess you do.”

The door suddenly banged open, making them both jump. It was Liz and Jimmy, dressed in leathers and dusted with fresh snow.

“Whoa,” Liz said, stopping dead when she saw Faye and Finn standing so close together. “Sorry—are we interrupting? Where is everyone? The store’s empty. If they’re all upstairs eating Aunt Pam’s cookies, they’d better have saved some for me.”

Despite herself, Faye smiled to see her friend and rushed over to engulf Liz in a hug. “I’m so glad you’re here. Where have you been?”

Liz hugged her back before glancing up at a grave-faced Jimmy. “To Jimmy’s parents’ house. It’s not good news.”

“Oh no—not them, too? Jimmy, I’m sorry.”

Jimmy nodded. “We didn’t know where else to go. The biker patrol told us you were all here, looking at the scroll?”

Faye nodded. “Let me get the others. There’s a lot to tell you.”

#

The others had indeed gone up into Aunt Pam’s apartment. The four teens followed them, sitting around the kitchen table as Faye and Finn filled in Liz and Jimmy, all of them drinking strong coffee to keep themselves going.

Liz could hardly believe her ears as she listened to Faye’s explanation of the text and what it meant. She shook her head. “I never realized,” she said softly. “Why didn’t you tell me you felt so strongly about Finn? I never would have been so against him if you had!”

Liz watched Faye smile slightly. “I don’t think I even realized it myself, Liz. It was just there, as soon as we met. Like a part of me. Such a big part that it felt as if it had always been there.”

Liz smiled back but then frowned. “So, hold on,” she said. “You’re telling me that Finn’s your long-lost Immortal love, and now you’re just going to sacrifice that?”

Faye held Finn’s hand tighter as they sat side by side. “We don’t have a choice, Liz. We just need to figure out when to hold the ritual.”

“It needs to re-create the marriage ceremony that would have joined the ancient Immortal and her prince,” explained Aunt Pam. “I don’t know how we’re
going to arrange and stage that, and get enough of the enchanted townspeople to witness it at such short notice, especially when Winter Mill is snowed in.”

Liz frowned. “Would a party work?”

Joe shrugged. “Yes, anything like that, as long as there’s a mirror present that we can use to perform the ritual. The symbols in the text on the scroll have to be written on it to open the path to Annwn.”

“There’s a really big mirror in the school gym,” Liz pointed out.

“There is,” Lucas agreed, “but how does that help us? How would we set up a party and get everyone there?”

Liz smiled. “Have you guys totally forgotten what the date is?”

Jimmy laughed softly. “Liz, you’re a genius!”

“What?” asked Finn and Faye together.

“Oh my God,” said Aunt Pam, looking at the calendar on the wall. “It’s Halloween.”

“Yup,” said Liz, “and whatever else our zombie friends have been doing, they’ve been setting up for the biggest Winter Mill High Halloween Ball
ever
, remember? We came here that way, past the school—there were hundreds of students, all dressed up, heading for the ball.”

Aunt Pam looked at Joe. “Do you think that could work?”

“Yes,” he said, “if we could find a way of engineering a focused moment for the ritual to begin.”

“Wait a minute.” Faye spoke up. “Don’t they usually crown a king and queen of the ball?”

“Yes, they do!” Liz exclaimed. “We could rig it for you two to win. The crowning ceremony would be the perfect focus for the ritual, wouldn’t it?” She
watched as Faye nodded. Then she saw the color drain from her friend’s face.

“Faye? What’s wrong?”

Faye shook her head. “I’ve just … are we really going to do this? Right now? So soon?”

Finn put his arm round Faye’s shoulder, leaning in to kiss her hair. “The sooner the better,” he said quietly. “Mercy’s closing in on her goal, and we can’t let her win.”

Liz reached out, taking Faye’s free hand and squeezing it gently. “Forget what’s at the end of it,” she said. “Just think—this is your first date, with your true love. It doesn’t get much more romantic than that, right?”

Faye smiled, even managing to laugh a little. “Well, when you put it like that …”

Liz stood, pulling Faye up with her. “Exactly. Which also means that you need a really, really killer outfit.”

Faye stared blankly into her closet. She couldn’t help but think that with everything that was going on, trying to choose something to wear was just plain wrong somehow. Her mind kept going over and over her conversation with Finn—he had looked so happy when she’d told him he was the one. But that happiness wouldn’t last, couldn’t last. All because of her—her family, a past she’d had no idea about. She blinked, holding back tears. And her dad—what had happened to him? Everything was a mess, and yet she was expected to carry on as if the world weren’t falling down around her.

“I’ll just wear the dress I bought for last year,” she said eventually.

“No,” Liz said firmly. “Faye, you’ve got to wear something worthy of being crowned queen of the ball—even if we’re going to rig the ballot, it’s got to be believable.”