Authors: Shea Berkley
The Big Lie
“This place is ugly,” Lucinda informed Kera after she’d popped them into the human world. She fussed with her hair and checked to make sure her new choker was still positioned correctly. The large center diamond winked blue in the fading light. The desert stretched out brown and dry in all directions and the air pulled at their skin. “I much prefer Teag.”
So did Kera. She looked around, searching for Dylan and Leo. She’d tapped into her dark powers to find Dylan, so… “Where are they?”
Lucinda spun around, humming as though they had all the time in the world. “It appears your new gift is off.” She then pointed to a far point on the horizon. “Oh, look. There they are.” She started walking.
“Can we not just pop over there and take a quick peek around?”
“Oh let’s! I can call on a unicorn, and we can fly on the wind to a place not more than a few acres away. A bit indulgent when we both have legs, do you not think?”
Kera hated it when Lucinda made her feel stupid.
“Fine,” she muttered, though she wasn’t keen on the idea of spending quality time with the Lutine. It never ended well. As they walked, more than one question niggled at Kera’s brain. But getting anything useful out of Lucinda wouldn’t be easy. She loved dangling bits and pieces of information in front of people, and it was always a chore to determine which were important and which were not.
The Lutine slanted a quick glance at Kera. “What?”
The word was bit out and hardly encouraged Kera to speak. “Excuse me?”
“You’re staring.”
She was. That choker, although fitting Lucinda’s over-the-top personality, was a bit too extravagant a gift from one friend to another. Baun had bought Lucinda’s loyalty. The thought disturbed Kera.
Turning away, she cleared her throat. The setting sun pierced the air in a way that made the ground look as if it were moving. The illusion was a lie. The truth was beneath her feet. They trod upon hard, packed soil that left no visible footprints behind. “I have a question and was deciding on the best way to ask.”
“A direct approach. It is boring, but highly effective.”
Who was Kera to buck a trend? “All right, then. What exactly is the Salter’s magic?”
“Baun did not tell you?” A knowing smile touched her lips. “So that is why you were willing to come here.”
“What does that mean?”
“You’re risking much by allowing such an ancient, deep magic near you. The Salter’s magic has the ability to do more than create. It has the power to take away. It harbors more magic than you or I could ever dream of having. That is why Baun needs it. He is the only one who has ever used it to harvest dark magic and destroy the Dark Souls.”
It sounded exactly like what they needed, but something in the way she said it caught Kera’s attention. She came to a stop. “Harvest dark magic?” An image of a harvesting sickle lopping off her head so the magic within her could ooze out came to mind.
“Does that make the blackness harboring in you nervous?” Lucinda brushed a stray strand of dark hair over Kera’s shoulder in a manner that implied caring, but Kera knew better. The Lutine’s sultry voice dropped to a harsh whisper. “It should, my fragile flower. Dylan, your little hero, could easily use the Salter’s magic, thinking he was doing good, and destroy everything. You, him, and all of Teag in one blow. Magic that powerful is nothing to trifle with. Makes one think, doesn’t it? All your glorious power”—she snapped her fingers—“gone. But maybe he’s figured out how to separate the dark from the light? If he has, and grant you, he is clever like that, maybe he’ll risk dying by taking all that power in you and keeping it for himself.”
Kera shoved Lucinda’s hand away. “He would never do that.”
Lucinda didn’t seem to mind Kera’s outburst. She shrugged and returned to their trek across the barren basin. “Under normal circumstances, maybe not. But his world is being threatened and there is much a human will do if he believes he can save it.”
Kera strode alongside Lucinda and snapped, “What makes you so sure I won’t give him my powers if he asks for them?”
“Would you?” She pursed her lips, and then shook her head. “For what purpose—so he will turn into the man his father once was? Dark, desperate, and deadly insane?”
“Dylan is stronger than that.”
“If you believe that, who am I to object? But look at you. All that dark power swirling inside you… How good are you?” She ran her gaze from the top of Kera’s head to her feet and back up, a knowing look on her face. “You’ve been very naughty.”
Kera had witnessed Dylan’s struggle to contain the dark magic within him. Why would she willingly let him add to it? She would never allow him to feel the weight of what she carried. It would destroy him.
“Personally, I couldn’t care less if he lives or dies,” Lucinda added, “but Leo, being an emotional human, is attached to our fallen prince. His fate will rise or fall with him. I’m telling you all this for that reason and no other.” She stared at Kera, waiting for her to absorb what she was saying.
Kera’s stomach clenched tight and her head grew light. Lucinda touched Kera’s elbow, a look of concern on her face. “Forgive me, I did not mean to shock you.”
Liar. She was nearly glowing from the fun she was having.
“The Salter’s magic will kill Dylan if he uses it?”
“Or you, or me. It is that powerful.” Lucinda sighed dramatically. “I realize me telling you this is a pointless warning. Stopping him from using that magic would be like stopping time itself. Impossible. He is determined to rescue you from the darkness you harbor.” She shrugged. “Oh, well…”
Kera was dying on the inside, realizing if what Lucinda said was true, Dylan was in horrible danger, and there was nothing she could do about it.
Suddenly, Lucinda disappeared and reappeared several yards away. “Your feet are slow, little liar. Time is not our friend.”
She then transformed into a pure white cat and loped ahead.
How was that fair? A teleporting cat was the same as a flying unicorn in Kera’s mind. Several troubling minutes later, she followed the cat into a run-down building. Kera stopped short of passing through the arch, though Lucinda had no qualms about doing so. Peeking into the inner courtyard, it appeared deserted except for light coming from two rooms. Lucinda trotted over to a door and howled to be let in.
The door next to that room opened and a woman in an old T-shirt and ripped jeans stepped out. She saw the cat and stooped down to pick her up. That would be a mistake the woman may not live to tell about.
Kera moved into the light. “Don’t touch her.”
The woman shot straight up. “Where’d you come from?” Her eyes grew big and she stepped closer to Kera, causing her to step back. “Do you have a car?”
Something about the woman seemed familiar, but that didn’t help ease the tension. Kera shook her head no. Keeping an eye on the woman, she waved the cat to her. “Come away from there, Lucinda.”
The door Lucinda had been howling at suddenly opened and Leo stepped out. He saw Kera and then looked down at Lucinda. “Baby!” he called and opened his arms. Lucinda jumped into them and morphed back into human form, giggling and squirming and kissing and licking his face.
The woman squealed and took a huge step back. Her hand automatically went to her throat where her fingers searched for something. When she didn’t find it, she shot a glance at her room and went back inside, slamming the door closed.
Dylan pushed past the couple’s disgusting display of affection and went straight for Kera. He scooped her up and molded her to his body. She snuggled close and wrapped her arms and legs around him before pressing her lips to his. She’d missed him. Missed the warmth of his skin and the beat of his heart. Missed being in his arms. Him touching her in ways that made her insides feel all strange and wonderful.
After a long, warm kiss, he pulled away, though he didn’t let her go. “What are you doing here?”
“Finding you. We were all worried. You have been gone nearly three days.”
“We took a slight detour.”
The door to the other room flew open again and the woman strode out still clutching her neck and muttering under her breath about having had it just a minute ago.
They both watched the woman head toward the Jeep. “Who is that?” Kera asked.
“My mom.”
She instantly detached herself from Dylan. “Your mother?” Being wrapped around the woman’s son was not the best way to make a good impression. Her cheeks grew hot. “Why is she here?”
“Do you know why Leo and I are here?”
“You are searching for the Salter’s magic.”
“Yeah, and she’s the one who has it. Well, she did.” He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a necklace. Kera stared at the amber necklace, only blinking when he slipped it back in his pocket. “It’s exactly what we need, not just to save Teag, but to help you.”
“Help me?” She took a big step back, wanting a bit of space between her and the magic that could easily change her life. “In what way?”
“I’ve been thinking. We can’t give Baun his magic back, he’s too unstable still, but his magic is changing you, something neither of us want. So we use it to free you from the dark magic.”
She couldn’t stop a frown from settling on her face. He was suggesting exactly what Lucinda had warned her about only a few moments ago.
He smiled. “I know the necklace doesn’t look like much…but for a teenage girl, I guess it seemed like a better idea than a mood ring.” He stared at his mother, who was tossing things around in the backseat of the car. “Shit. She’s noticed.”
Kera twisted around to look at his mother. “Noticed what?”
“That it’s missing. I took the necklace off her when she was sleeping.”
“What are you going to—”
“Shh, she’s coming back.” He tugged Kera close and threw his arm around her shoulders. “Something wrong?” he asked his mother as she trotted past.
“I lost…I mean it was just there…I don’t understand where…”
“Uh-huh. Mom, this is Kera.”
She didn’t stop to say hello. Kera blinked back her surprise when the woman returned to her room and slammed the door with such force it made her jump. “Oh.”
“Don’t feel bad. She’s highly distractible. Always has been.”
A loud purring noise invaded the still air and they glanced toward Leo and Lucinda. She arched her back, a rapturous look on her face, as Leo scratched her along the spine. Dylan shook his head. “Dude. Really? Here?”
The Lutine glared at Dylan and wiggled out from Leo’s hands. She sauntered close. A smile that said she was up to something tugged at her lips. “I couldn’t help overhearing you found the Salter’s magic and have big plans for it.” She leveled a smug smile at Kera. “Interesting.”
Dylan’s body stiffened against Kera’s. “Since when do you care?”
“I don’t, but we have orders not to come back without it.”
He turned to Kera and frowned. “You were ordered here? So much for you being worried about me. Did my dad convince you I’m a screwup and wouldn’t find the magic?”
“That’s not what happened.” The look he gave her made her heart hurt. His idea of using the stone, just as Lucinda had predicted, made her cringe. “I won’t lie. Getting the magic is important. More important than you or me or anyone. But if you are asking me if I was worried about you, then I can honestly say yes. You are why I am here, otherwise Baun could have sent Lucinda here alone.”
“Sooo,” Leo dragged out, looking at Lucinda, “you’re not here because you missed me either?” He sounded hurt. “You lied about that.”
Kera smiled at the sudden surprise on Lucinda’s face. The tables had turned a bit too quickly on her.
“What makes you think I ever lie?” Which was the biggest misdirection Kera had ever heard.
In no time, Lucinda’s fingers were curled through Leo’s hair, and she was rubbing her nose against his. She kissed her way to his ear and silkily murmured what Kera could well imagine were more lies. After a while, Lucinda raised her gaze and stared challengingly at Kera. She knew the moment Leo took the Lutine’s lies as truth when his hand returned to Lucinda’s back. The low chuckle that escaped her irritated Kera to no end.
The door to the room next door was wrenched open and Dylan’s mother strode purposefully to her son. “I can’t find my necklace.”
“Maybe you should check Dylan’s pocket,” Lucinda offered.
“Cin!” Leo barked, and Dylan shot a heated glare their way.
Dylan’s mother jerked back and placed her hands on her hips. “Do you have it?” When he just stood there, she raised her voice. “Do you?”
“Calm down. It’s right here.” He pulled the necklace from his pocket and showed her. She made to grab it, but he jerked it away. “You can’t have it.”
“Why? It’s a crap piece of jewelry.”
Dylan slipped the necklace back into his pocket. “It’s not what you think it is.”
“The hell it’s not,” she yelled and made to take it from him.
He pushed her away as gently as he could and held her off with an outstretched hand, but his mother was too upset to see reason. Her chin jutted out and her lips thinned. “It’s mine. Give it back.”
Dylan calmly shook his head. “I can’t.”
A hard look entered her eyes. “Kidnapping wasn’t enough, now you’re adding theft to all this? And I thought I was a mess-up.”
“Apple. Tree,” Lucinda said and smiled when Dylan’s mom put her hand to her hips, her fingers digging into her bones. “Falls close, does it not?”
Leo grabbed her and fussed at her to stay out of it.
Dylan’s mom returned her attention to her son and held out her hand. “Give it to me, Dylan. I mean it.”
“I told you, I can’t.”
Kera was surprised to see tears gather in the woman’s eyes. “I’m not kidding. Hand it over. It’s important to me. It’s from my mother.” An honest, distressed look came over her. “It’s the only thing I have from her.”
“I’m telling you, it’s not what you think it is.”
“Then what is it?” she screamed at him.
“Magic, okay?” He pulled the amber necklace back out and waved it in the air. “You hid it in this junk piece of jewelry when you were a teenager and can’t remember doing it because Faldon wanted it to disappear. He just didn’t know you’d be the one to make it happen. But now we need it back. Teag is under attack, and although you don’t give a shit about that part of my life, I do and I’m taking it back there.”