Saving Her Destiny (10 page)

Chapter Ten

Duncan swam away from the ring of the kingdom's buildings. Merrow headed for the only entrance—a huge line of Brothers on each side, and herded the women and children toward their escape.

He glanced at his meter.

Cara had maybe an hour before that scream came out of her. Probably less, because it had reached the orange-red zone.

He had to find her, now.

Keefe and Kealan stayed with him, and they held the breather and the bracelet out in front.

Duncan whispered words and waved his wand at Cara's things. The green magic burst, surrounded the two items, and was off. Stronger than it had been when he tried before, this spell glowed like a beacon.

And it took off faster than Duncan could keep up.

“Here.” Keefe grabbed his arm, and the merrow's powerful tail slammed against the water, rocketing them after the spell.

They shot back toward the palace and the surrounding buildings. The light zipped side to side, like Cara had traveled in a zigzag pattern through the water.

“That's avoiding patrols,” Keefe said. “Look!”

Sure enough, the pattern moved right around the Brothers, who remained on patrol around the main buildings. Up, down, left right, it went, but continued on.

They swam fast, with Kealan following Duncan and Keefe. Duncan kicked his legs to try and help speed them along, and with his wand out, and he knew he must look like a drunk mix of Superman and Harry Potter.

As they zoomed past merrow going the other way, Kealan froze and twisted to the side.

“Norton!” Kealan said.

Keefe froze. “Where?”

Kealan gestured to a slender merrow zipping into the lines.

“Go,”
Duncan said.
“I can get Cara.”
Almost to the palace, he could still see the beacon light as it dodged over the outer wall.

Thank you, Your Majesty,
Duncan thought. This time, the spell didn't slam into any walls—however, it headed eerily close to the path the last spell he'd tried to conjure.

Now he had to get to Cara. He dove toward the light as it dipped and dodged around the ante-buildings next to the palace proper.

The brothers took off after Norton, the cousin that wasn't supposed to be down here at all. A flicker of blue-green light flashed over his shoulder, and he glanced back, seeing another fairy appear in the middle of the waters between the entrance and the royal palace walls. From the quick glance, he recognized the uniform as FID, but he didn't take the time to figure out who had come.

Just glad that he had some backup. They could get Norton for questioning. Or whatever else needed to be done.

He gritted his teeth and swam as hard as he could. Duncan fought the currents as he worked his way toward the light. The shimmery green glow finally slowed and slammed into the side of a small building just outside the palace's main structure.

He twisted and turned, swimming around the semi-square stone structure, trying to find the entrance. But it seemed like it was solid, with no particular—

Wait, there.

A small red glow on a little perch of rock. It flashed in a soft blink, and he saw the little box underneath it.

Duncan reached for the box. As soon as he touched it, the little thing shocked him and a hard wall of water wrapped around the building.

He jerked his hand back.

It was a bomb. A crudely made fairy bomb, small, but enough to cause a decent amount of damage. He hadn't seen one in years—probably decades—because the Fairy Realm had outlawed their production.

And, of course, it was wired into the only entrance to the room.

Damn.

“Cara!”
He reached out with his telepathy, hoping she was still inside. That she was conscious.

“Duncan! Duncan I'm here! Help! Help me!”
Thumping sounded on the walls.

“I'm coming, Cara.”
He zapped the bomb on the door, and the water wall repelled his attack, ricocheting the blast onto an adjacent building.

“Hurry! I can't hold it much longer!”
Cara thought back.

The neighboring structure's door burst open. The Merrow King swam out, followed by his wife and a younger merrow—his daughter. “What is this?”

Duncan glanced at him. Then at the building.
“Move away! Bomb! Get away, Majesty!”

The king turned to his wife. “Away. Now!” The queen and his daughter headed back inside the structure.

“No, wait.”
Duncan stopped them from going back inside.
“Too close. Get away now!”

The queen stared at him, then glanced at her husband. If they communicated, Duncan didn't hear any of it. The king merely nodded, and off the queen and her daughter swam, toward the top of the wall, and then over and gone.

The king raised his small trident and aimed it at the bomb.

Duncan surged forward, slamming into the trident before the blast hit, sending him and the king into the other building.

“No, don't. It's shielded.”

“We have to collapse the bomb,” the king said as he shoved himself off Duncan.

The king fired another spell; this one illuminated the water wall's framework around it. The defenses were strong and encompassed the entire structure. The bomb itself might have been crudely constructed, but it certainly was wired intently to the building. The tech to create this water shield was a merrow creation—Duncan had seen a similar tech back in the palace.

“If it's water, then someone has to be able to turn it off or block it or something.”

The king's trident only illuminated the bomb and its connections, though he tried a second blast. This one bounced off and nearly took off Duncan's ear.

“Majesty, please,”
Duncan said.

“Guessing the missing banshee in there?” the king asked.

Duncan nodded.
“The shielding has blocked the entire structure.”

“There must be a way in.” The king got a little closer, and the king's
cohuleen druith's
red tentacles reached for the wall. He inched toward the stone. The tentacles brushed against the water shield, and then slipped through to the building, like Kealan's had when he'd entered the cave to get to the kingdom.

The bomb disengaged. The water shield dissipated.

The king pulled back and picked up the small device. “Coded to royal blood, I take it,” he muttered as he twisted the box left and right, revealing markings that indicated exactly what he'd said.

Duncan waved his wand over the bomb, teleporting the device back to the Fairy Realm for disposal.

The king pressed the now-revealed entry panel.

The door slid open.

There, tied up, was Cara in a SCUBA mask.

Duncan darted inside and grabbed her around the waist.

“Release your scream,”
he told her.

“I can't. It won't come out.”

The king had swam in behind him. “Enchanted seaweed,” he whispered and pointed his trident at Cara's arms and legs. Soft, aqua-colored magic burst from the three tips, converging on her binds and disintegrating them.

For a brief second, she rubbed her wrists, before doubling over in pain, the loose oxygen tank bumbling around her back. She winced and shook her head.

“Come on,”
Duncan said.
“Release it now…”

She tipped her head back, aiming toward the ceiling, and tossed the SCUBA mouthpiece aside. Her mouth opened but nothing came out. She grabbed Duncan's arms and arched away from him and the king, the mouthpiece dangling at her side, and she tried again.

She started to struggle, and Duncan shoved the mouthpiece back in so she could breathe.

Cara glanced at him, her eyes huge in the diving mask and she wrapped her arms around him, the SCUBA mask pushed into his chest as she shook.

“Who did this?” the king demanded.

“Now is not the—”

Duncan's answer was cut off by Cara.

“Norton Lynch… Wanted to…”
She couldn't articulate it and instead Duncan was telepathically inundated with the full description of everything Cara had been through, and what Norton had planned.

And after glancing at the king, evidently, he got the entire thing as well. Duncan might have added something to it, but Cara started shaking in his arms.

He stroked her brow.
“It's going to be okay, Cara. Stay with me
.
”
He turned to the king.
“Keefe and Kealan are apprehending Norton. Majesty, I have to get—”

“Go! Get her out of here!” The king spun around. “I will deal with the traitors here.”

Duncan held tight to Cara.
“We're going for a ride.”

She nodded, and he waved his wand.

In a burst of green light, they were gone.

Chapter Eleven

Cara jerked as Duncan pulled the SCUBA mask off her face. She inhaled a breath of real air. Real, arid air. Duncan lowered her feet to the—the sand?

“Where are we?”
She spun around, realizing they stood in the middle of the desert.

Seriously. In the middle of a desert. The sun beat down on them both, and already Cara's wetsuit was almost dry. But it was air. Dry air. With the sun warming her all the way to her toes. The wetsuit felt too restricting, and she just wanted to peel the fabric off and let the sunshine warm her. She reached for the zipper and tugged part of it down.

The sun caressed her neck, and she pulled her hair away, letting the sun's heat dry her neck.

There was nothing around for as far as she could see—just sand dunes spread out in all directions. Not even any little oasis or rock formations to break up the endless sea.

“Wow, it really does look like waves made of sand.”

“Rub al-Khali. The largest desert in the world,” Duncan said. The sunshine was slowly creeping down the sky, creating monster shadows along the golden sand and making some spots look almost copper. The sand stretched for miles all around them.

“This is one way to get me off the island,”
Cara mused as the torrential scream spun and grew with power by the second in her gut.

She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Still. Shouldn't that have been worked out if she wasn't there? If they'd found Norton and everything, wouldn't the scream be null? Her head pounded and she felt her whole body getting weak.

What she wouldn't give for some of that healing Fairy Tea right now. Or a jug of it. Or an IV.

Her feet squished in the sand, and it felt warm on her aching, cold toes.

“You brought me to a desert?”

“It seemed the safest place to bring you,” Duncan replied, gesturing out into the great expanse of sand. “No one around for miles…”

She put her hand on his arm for balance, because the exhaustion was starting to kick in. Granted, the scream still remained deep in her chest, but at least she wasn't under water.

Where she could hurt someone. She brought her hand to her throat.
“I still can't speak.”

He touched her face, raised her chin, and turned her head from side to side. “Nothing?”

She shook her head.

He materialized his wand and waved it around her face. Her cheeks started to tingle, and she rubbed her throat to brush the tickly feelings away.

“I can see the magic from the gag,” Duncan whispered. He wiped at her face like a mother would wipe dirt off her child's face—not soft, but not exactly gentle. “Try now.”

She opened her mouth.

Nothing came out.

She took a deep breath, relaxing her body as she pulled away from Duncan. Closing her eyes, she felt the scream in her chest, swirling around, and outstretched her arms. She arched forward, and opened her mouth and throat.

Nothing.

“What the hell?”

Duncan grimaced. “Not good.” He looked her over again, that critical eye seemed to see into her soul. After a moment, though, he let out a sigh. “I had hoped when I got you out of the water, your voice would come back.”

“So what now?”
Cara asked.

“I am waiting for—”

Two more fairies appeared. One looked like a healer, and the other had on a uniform like Duncan's.

“Nice spot,” the one in the same uniform said.

“Shove it, Reese,” Duncan said.

The guy with dusty blond hair—wet, blond hair—smirked and ran his fingers through the soaked locks. “At least get some shade.” He waved his wand and a little orange and white cabana appeared with striped tent flaps down on two sides. “Shall we?”

Duncan escorted Cara toward the shady cabana. The heat, mixed with her already weak state, made it hard for her to walk, so she clung to Duncan. He scooped her into his arms like she weighed nothing and carried her inside. A big bed of pillows lay on the covered floor, and Duncan eased her into them.

The other man, dressed in different robes, pushed past Reese and came to Cara's other side. “Let's see what's going on.” He gestured for Cara to lie back.

She stretched her legs and savored the warmth of the sand underneath the fabric floor. The scorching sun was blocked, the little cabana was dim, save for a couple of small lanterns in the corners. However the heat still wafted through the walls.

The other man ran his wand over her, like it was a medical scanner from a sci-fi television show. Cara wiped her brow, feeling a sheen of sweat starting already.

She tensed as the man examined her.

Duncan squeezed her fingers. “He's a healer.”

She wasn't sure if it was Duncan's calming presence, or just knowing this wasn't some nut job running his wand up and down her that made her feel a little better. But she began to relax.

“I see. Uh huh. Yes,” the other man said.

“So you can fix it, Tobin?” Duncan asked as he ran his thumb over her hand.

The healer shook his head. “This isn't magic. I've never seen anything like it. It's more than just a spell. It's like her voice has been taken out.”

“So put it back,” Duncan said.

“I can't if I don't have it,” Tobin replied. He leaned back and straightened his shoulders. “This isn't a matter of finding it and putting it back.”

“Then what is it?” Reese asked. He gestured to Duncan's arm, where a glowing orange thermometer thing hung near his wrist. “His meter is showing just under an hour before she erupts. We don't have time to screw around if we're going to save her.”

Tobin waved his wand in the air. “There was something, once. I swear I saw it…” A huge book appeared, and he started thumbing through it, muttering to himself.

“Here.” He held up the book, pointing to a page.

“What?” Duncan leaned in. Cara couldn't read it due to the angle, but from the strange expression on Duncan and Reese's faces, she wasn't sure she wanted to.

Tobin began to read. “‘A banshee, upon entering a life-threatening situation, can shut down her voice to protect her existence. While extremely rare, it can happen, if said banshee is truly in dire straits.'”

“Let me see that.” Reese pulled the book away from Tobin. His eyebrows went up as he read. “So
she
shut her voice down?”

“No, I didn't,”
Cara said
. “I have no idea how to do that. I've never even heard of that!”
And she hadn't. Not once had her mother ever mentioned that kind of power. Even in school, when she'd gotten a little bit of banshee history, she'd never heard of such a thing.

“Banshees release screams. That's what they do. They can't shut them down… That goes against their very nature!”

Tobin glanced at her. “It is very rare, but yes, it can happen.”

“You're sure,” Duncan whispered.

“It's in the book. Of course it can happen,” Tobin said.

“Just because it's in this damn mandate doesn't mean—” Reese snapped.

Duncan cut him off. “Can she get it back?”

“It doesn't say,” Tobin said. He glanced at Cara, and the dark look on his face seemed a bit too much like a doctor delivering a death sentence. “I'm sorry.”

“So I will no longer be able to speak?”
Cara asked, the idea strangling her thoughts.

Tobin closed the book. “It doesn't look like you will be able to again. Unless you find some way to release the hold on your voice.”

She'd never be able to speak again. Never be able to talk. To release a cry? A powerful grief flooded her, rivaling the pain of the scream that begged to get out of her.

“So she's just going to die? Explode?” Duncan asked, his face stony white. His fingers held hers, tense and hard. Or maybe that was
her
squeezing
his
fingers.

“I don't think there's any way to reverse this. Not that we can do, in any case,” Tobin said.

Reese glanced at her, then at Duncan. “Maybe she just needs to relax, and it'll come back.”

“How the bloody hell am I supposed to relax?”
Cara answered. The very thing they wanted her to do she had no control over, because she couldn't speak. She couldn't calm down…

The cry remained in her chest, rolling around, and she winced, the pain aching, and she started to see spots before her eyes.

“So this is it. This is what dying feels like,”
she thought.

Duncan's gaze snapped to hers.
“Do not think like that.”

“What else is there to think? I am going to die.”

He shook his head, and glanced at the other two fairies, his expression still stony. “Is the danger squared away?”

“The Brothers had apprehended the suspect after you left with her. Whether they figured out what was going on, I don't know,” Reese said. “We came with you to help for now.”

“There is no suspect,”
Cara fired off.
“My cousin Norton did this. He's crazy. Wanted to take over the human world, reveal mythical existence.”

Regardless of what Norton thought, revealing the existence of mythical creatures to the humans was not a good idea. Everyone knew this. Any other day, she'd probably shudder at the idea. Though today, that whole scream-begging-to-burst-out-thing prevented that.

But it was common knowledge—humans would not do well if they knew that mythicals walked among them. Any time humans had an inkling of the mythical world, it led to all sorts of issues. Salem witch hunts, anyone? Spanish Inquisition? All mythicals kept their differences as private as possible, and it was an unwritten, respected rule among anyone who wasn't human.

Well, except for her kooky cousin, who tried to use her as a bomb. But that put everything about him in perspective, now didn't it?

Duncan glanced at her. “I figured Norton was responsible, but I wasn't sure about his motivation.”

“He thought he could rule the humans. Rebuild an empire and all of that.”
Cara ran her hand through her hair and pulled it over her shoulder. She rooted around in the pillows to get a more comfortable position and hoped that sitting up would make the pain ebb.

Didn't they always say that fetal position was better for internal cramps and stuff? She pulled her knees to her chest.

Reese burst out laughing, jarring her from her internal debate.

Cara wondered what had made him laugh. Was there a starfish stuck to her butt or something?
“What?”

Reese's laughter was getting heavier, and even Tobin joined in. Reese had to take a breath before glanced at Cara.

Gah, was he on something?
Cara wondered.

“He wanted to rule the humans?” Reese snorted, his hand over his stomach. Evidently this was the funniest thing he'd ever heard. “That's hysterical. Because humans will be so cooperative. They hate each other. That's like a goldfish trying to rule a zoo.”

While Cara had considered Norton's plan absurd, she'd never actually thought it was funny. Especially since her explosive death was pinnacle to his success.

Nonetheless, Reese's analogy did amuse her a bit—she smiled.

Duncan, however, didn't find it funny. His gaze met hers, and it was dark. Angry dark. Like he could rip Norton's face off. Or maybe punch Reese for laughing. But his gaze remained pointedly on her. “You were the catalyst in his plan.”

Cara nodded and clenched her stomach as the scream rocked around inside her. It felt like it tried to rip through her internal organs to find its way out. Sweat broke out in earnest on her brow and she hugged her knees even tighter.

She must have winced, because Duncan stroked her hair again. Cara could see the frustration painted on his face. So upset, Duncan's thoughts were barely shielded—she could practically hear his anger at her pain, and the little he could do to stop it.

And it wasn't Duncan's usual controlled thoughts—this was something else, deeper, more primal.

A side she'd never seen—or felt, for that matter—from her dear friend.

Duncan leaned down and kissed her brow, and wiped away the sheen of sweat. The soft touch of the kiss bloomed under her skin, a sweet sensation contrasting against the scream inside her.

The pain in his eyes, along with the worry, marred Duncan's usually handsome expression.

And more than his soothing gesture, something stirred inside her that wasn't the cry begging to get out—though how she registered it, she wasn't sure. Only that whatever it was, it connected to Duncan.

A cleared throat broke the moment between Cara and Duncan, and she blushed when she realized that the other two fairies were staring at them as they stared at one another.

But as soon as she made eye contact with Reese and Tobin, they glanced away, then at each other.

“We better go back, see if The Brothers have everything under control,” Reese said.

“Right,” Duncan replied and stood.

Cara stretched back out, since the curled up position wasn't helping. The three men walked out, and she tried to center herself. She took a few calming breaths—and it didn't have anything to do with the way Duncan had been staring at her. Nope, not a bit.

Okay, maybe a little.

It was just so odd to see such a play of emotions on his face, directed at
her
. They'd been friends for years. He helped her practice her telepathy, he even taught her about the Fairy Realm—things that weren't in the classroom texts.

They were friends.

Even that one time when he'd kissed her. That was all friendship.

Nothing else.

And nope, she wouldn't admit she remembered every bit of the sensation of his lips on hers, even fantasizing about it after for weeks. Okay, months.