The Nightshade's Touch: A Paranormal Space Fantasy (Messenger Chronicles Book 3) Read online

  Chapter 9

  Sirius threw me aside. I skidded on a knee and twisted, about to spring back toward the blur, but Talen moved in, like a snap of lightning. Sirius’s ghostly outline shimmered. They clashed, two forces of Faerie slamming together. Blast of snarling magic erupted, coiling around the macabre dance.

  Talen dropped low, tackling Sirius. Both flickered, blurring in and out of my limited sight, Sirius’s foggy blur engulfing Talen. Light poured along the guardian’s sword, and flashes of silver lit up a storm of Autumnlands reds.

  Pain snapped through my thigh. Talen grunted, and then pain flared across my knuckles. Blood splatters dappled the floor.

  Sirius’s stealth fell apart, revealing the guardian on his knee, his sword thrust upward through Talen’s thigh. Blood—so much blood. Talen’s.

  Before I could lunge in, Sirius yanked the blade free and slammed the pommel into Talen’s jaw. An echo of his pain smacked across my chin. “Stop!”

  Talen grabbed Sirius’s extended arm and slammed it over his knee. Bone cracked. Sirius howled. And Talen’s violet eyes flared with victory. He was whip-fast and just as sharp. He cracked a fist across Sirius’s cheek. More bone shattered, and Sirius fell to his hand, spitting blood.

  Talen could do worse. Much worse. He wasn’t even using his considerable magic. He was… playing. But I knew the guardians. They never went down easily. If Talen didn’t end it—

  A knife flashed in Sirius’s left hand, hidden from Talen’s sight.

  “Talen!”

  The guardian thrust the blade upward, punching it deep into Talen’s chest. My silver fae jolted. Sirius ripped the dagger free, opening a sucking gash across Talen’s midsection. Dark blood poured from the wound.

  Talen’s fury stuttered. His eyes met mine. Fight! I screamed inside. He could do more than this. He had done more than this in the past. Why wasn’t he calling his magic? Why wasn’t he fighting like I knew he could? He could call the ship’s tendrils down and pull Sirius apart just like he had Sjora.

  The delay was all Sirius needed.

  The sword’s tip swept across Talen’s chest, from his left hip to his right shoulder, almost cleaving him in two.

  I bolted forward. Sirius swung the sword toward me. “Hold!” he yelled, forcing me back by the point of his blood-soaked blade.

  Talen dropped to his knees, his hands spread across his chest, trying to hold himself together.

  “Fight him!” I screamed.

  His eyes rolled. The bond pulled breathlessly tight. It snapped, yanking out his magic. I wobbled, my body shocked by the void of power. Talen fell forward, collapsing facedown in a pool of his own blood.

  No, no, no… This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not like this. Never him.

  The ship shuddered and groaned around us. All the chamber doors slammed shut.

  The guardian staggered to his feet, his sword still poised to open my throat. “What have you done?!”

  The guardian licked his lips and spat blood and bone to the side. His broken face was already popping and cracking back into place. He’d be fully healed in moments… but Talen. Talen wasn’t getting up.

  “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!”

  Sirius’s green-eyed glare shuttered in the face of my screams. “What I must. Your king needs you, Wraithmaker.”

  I blinked at him, hardly hearing the ludicrous words. Talen was bleeding out, his silver hair, fanned around him, soaking up all that blood. Too much blood.

  He would be okay, he would. I’d seen him almost bled dry and he had recovered. He had healed before, and he would heal again. And he would tear Sirius limb from limb, if I didn’t get to him first.

  “We must leave here,” Sirius said.

  The doors were closed and I couldn’t control the ship… The ship had locked us inside. I smiled at Sirius. We weren’t going anywhere.

  Sirius’s expression ticked. The guardian didn’t like the sight of my smirk.

  “He was connected to the ship.” I kept my breathing measured and tone level, kept the sight of Talen out of my mind. My comms were gone, so I couldn’t reach Kellee. Arran and Sota wouldn’t be checking in for at least six hours. I was on my own.

  “No, he was not,” Sirius denied.

  “The doors are closed because he’s dying.”

  “No.”

  “No?! You know nothing about us, Sirius!”

  He lowered his sword from my chin and wiped both sides of the blade across his thigh, cleaning Talen’s blood from the blade. “Pilots fuse with their ships. They do not walk freely. My reports were incorrect. He cannot be the pilot of this vessel.”

  Anger burned so brightly I had to swallow hard and stop myself from lunging at him. “Try the doors.”

  Sirius looked up, studying the silver infecting the ceiling.

  Maybe I could get the sword out of his grasp and turn it on him. But I’d barely lifted a boot before he flicked his sharp-eyed glare to me. “Try anything and I’ll drag you out of here unconscious. Oberon was vague on the condition in which I should return you to him.” He studied me, sizing me up from head to toe. I’d changed since he had last seen me at Mab’s court. I’d been a queen’s killer, a tek-whisperer, and a messenger. I’d found the mad prince, torn out his heart, and handed the heart and him over. I’d also killed thousands of fae at the Game of Lies. Sirius knew only one thing for certain. He could not trust me.

  “Our king sent me here for you,” he said, sheathing his sword inside its leather scabbard. “Have you forgotten your allegiance?”

  My fingers twitched. I had tek-flashers and nasty little razer-bots, but none of those things would free us from this chamber, and they’d do little more than distract Sirius. I had to think smarter.

  “I hadn’t, until you killed Talen.”

  Sirius backed up so he could keep me and Talen in his sights. “Your Talen is not dead, just severely weakened. If you care for him, you should have surrendered, preventing this unnecessary violence.” He brushed his fingers along his cheekbone, now healed. His precise words, his posture, everything about him declared courtly fae. I never believed I hated them and their world, not until this moment.

  “What were Oberon’s orders for him?” I asked, matching his tone.

  “Your companions are to be killed.”

  Oh, Oberon. My companions are worth so much more alive. “So why haven’t you?”

  He glided to one of the doors, his steps almost silent. The door stayed closed. “As you rightly pointed out, we are trapped. If he is connected to this ship by some inexplicable union, I need him to open those doors.”

  “You believe me?”

  Sirius cruised closer, his eyes on Talen. “Your male was more than I’d anticipated.”

  He had no idea just how dangerous we were. Apart, we might not appear to be much. But together? Together this guardian would not stand in our way. In my way.

  “Why did you not return to Faerie with Prince Eledan?” Sirius asked.

  I might have killed him for real had I spent any more time with him. “I was captured.” I moved to Talen’s side, listened for Sirius’s protest, and when he gave none, I knelt and swept Talen’s blood-matted hair back from his face. His eyes were mercifully closed. I touched his neck and felt the light flutter of his heart—too light, but he was alive.

  Sirius peered down at me. “You do not appear to be incarcerated now.”

  “I bargained my services for freedom.” I had helped Kellee save people, and in exchange, the marshal had given me some freedom. It had been true enough, in the beginning. Now, everything was much more complicated.

  “And the thousands dead at the arena?” the guardian asked. “Was that your doing? Are you the Messenger?”

  If Sirius survived this and returned to Oberon, he would tell the king my every word. I had killed other fae to keep my secrets close, including Devere and a nameless scout.

  My only weapons against the fae were lies. Was I the Messenger? If I answered yes, Oberon would kill m
e. No, and I might have one last hand to play against the Faerie King. That seemed like too important an opportunity to pass up for the sake of truth. “Marshal Kellee made it so I had no choice,” I lied. “I wanted to live. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

  “Marshal Kellee?”

  “The vakaru.”

  Sirius’s eyes narrowed. “Then you are Oberon’s?”

  I bowed my head, conceding. “I always was. I still am.”

  He strode back to the next door and tested its seals. I couldn’t see his face, but words held weight and he couldn’t deny them, even knowing how I had lied in the past. He loved the king. So did I. We had that in common, if nothing else. That love was another weapon I could wield.

  I watched the guardian check all the doors one by one while listening to Talen’s soft breathing. I would lie to keep them safe. I’d stack lie upon lie and cheat again and again if it meant Oberon left them alone.

  After checking all the doors, Sirius stopped beside me. He looked down at Talen, likely puzzling out why he mattered to me. “Your attachment to this one is strong?”

  “Yes,” I murmured.

  “Does he know you are Oberon’s?”

  “He does.”

  “Is he social or war-making? I don’t recognize him.”

  “Talen has been away from Faerie for a long time. I think he was… reluctant to return.” Was I revealing too much? I didn’t think so. But when I looked back and up at Sirius, his arched eyebrow and the curious glean in his eyes made me wish I’d kept that kernel of truth to myself.

  “Was he residing in Halow before Prince Eledan’s sacrifice?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then he is resistant to tek.” Sirius’s gaze sharpened. “A valuable skill in this new war.”

  What Talen was, and wasn’t, was a mystery I didn’t want to get into with Sirius, but the flicker in his gaze implied he was intrigued. I could use that.

  “Let him live.”

  Sirius slid his gaze to me, his brow tightening. “You have forgotten your place, saru.”

  I wasn’t kneeling, if that was what he expected. Not anymore. “No, I just made a new one.” Sirius balked and rolled his shoulders like a bird ruffling its feathers into place. He looked again at Talen’s face. “Oberon’s orders were specific.”

  Damn the king for his sweeping words that changed lives a hundred million light-years away from his glass palace. “He hasn’t met him. Talen can be useful.”

  Sirius’s left eyebrow twitched. “I saw.”

  “Sirius.” I straightened and faced the guardian. At my height, I was eye level with his chest, and while the position would normally have my insides knotting, he and I were in Oberon’s service. He knew me. “This fae is worth more alive. Oberon will be grateful you spared him.”

  “You do not speak for the king.”

  “But Oberon will be displeased to learn you killed a fae as unique as Talen.”

  “How is he so unique, calla?”

  Calla—it meant little one. I stalled at the term. To him, I was a little thing. Mortal, short-lived, fleeting, naïve, Oberon’s plaything. But in some cases, it was used as a term of endearment. That couldn’t be his intention here.

  I pointed up. “He did that.”

  Sirius admired the silver above us. “Beautiful, but I do not know what that is or why I should care. Is there anything else about him I should know?”

  Stardust and shadow. Convincing Sirius of Talen’s worth was the only way to save his life. It had to be worth a few secrets, didn’t it?

  “Do not say…” Talen rasped, stirring awake. “…another word.”

  Chapter 10

  The bond was back, flickering like a fragile wisp. Talen heaved himself up onto a hand. I’d have been angry with him for hardly fighting Sirius if he hadn’t looked as though the Hunt had marked him for death.

  Sirius stood over him, the Autumnlands fae aglow with golds, browns, and the russet reds of his long, tightly braided hair. His pale, slightly freckled face would have been handsome if not for his cold, stubborn detachment. He had all the confidence of Faerie’s prowess behind him and used it to look down on Talen.

  Talen struggled to keep his head up. His eyes flicked to me and away again. This weakness had to be an act. A stalling tactic, perhaps? But why? Couldn’t he use the ship to pluck Sirius off his feet like he had Sjora?

  “The Wraithmaker says you are valuable,” Sirius declared in his oh-so-courtly manner.

  “Did she?” Talen drawled, fatigue drawing out the words.

  Sirius watched Talen struggle. “She thought to convince me to spare you.”

  He winced, and something inside my chest twinged in sympathy. I rubbed at it to massage the ache away. Talen’s leathers glistened wet in places, the cuts across his chest and gut likely worse behind the torn leathers.

  “Would you like to continue the argument?” Sirius asked.

  “You mean, would I like to beg for my life?” He looked up, lashes fluttering, eyes heavy. “Oberon once cherished all life. Has he forsaken that now, as Faerie has forsaken him?”

  Talen knew Oberon? No, he couldn’t. He would have said before now… like he’d told me all the other truths he hid inside?

  Sirius’s green eyes widened with the same surprise. “The girl says you’ve been away from Faerie a long time. What would an outcast know of Oberon’s rule?”

  “I know Faerie will never accept him as Her king. He is weak, made weaker by the mistakes he makes.”

  I blinked at this revelation.

  Sirius backhanded Talen. The whack sounded like the retort from my whip and drove me into action. I reached inside my coat, clutched the razor-bots, and froze. The guardian’s steel was at my throat again. I hadn’t even seen him move. For all my tek, all my training, I wasn’t fae. Aeon had often reminded me to never fight them head-on. I wouldn’t win.

  With my head back and the blade biting into my neck, I eyed Sirius down my nose. He regarded me coolly in return, knowing it was only Oberon’s words from a million light years away that kept him from separating my head from my shoulders. My cheek tingled with the echo of Sirius’s blow, but Talen shielded me from the worst of the pain. I didn’t care who Sirius worked for or about all the lies I could tell. Nobody hurt the Messenger’s men. “Touch him again and I’ll shove that sword so far down your throat it’ll ring your Faerie balls like bells.”

  Sirius recoiled as though my words could deliver on the threat. His mouth fell open, thoughts racing to catch up with my threat, and then, impossibly, his rich, deep, masculine laughter poured over me like honey and silk, all things smooth and tempting. The laughter staggered him backward and disarmed the aggression building between us. Humor banished the mean scowl he’d worn since I’d seen him again, and animated his face into something charming.

  The shock of seeing him laugh vanished when I remembered Oberon had ordered this laughing guardian to kill Talen. I pulled a few buttons from my coat and launched them at Sirius. The little bubbles of tek sprang to life, popping out tiny razor feet, and as a swarm, they sank into his hair. His laughter cut off. He whirled, reaching into his hair to tear the bots free. They buzzed and hissed, burrowing deeper, searching for skin.

  The doors whooshed open—under Talen’s mental command. I scooped an arm around Talen and pulled him to his feet. We staggered from the pilot’s chamber, chased by a hail of furious roars.

  “You need to get out of here…” Talen said. He wasn’t light, and with every step, he leaned more heavily into me. “Find Kellee.”

  Struggling to hold him, I staggered on, but Sirius would be coming after us. “I’m not leaving you with him.”

  “You are Sirius’s priority,” he hissed. “Not me.” His balance wavered. I tried to keep him upright, but we fell against the wall. Blood bubbled through his hand pressed against his chest. I couldn’t move him. He needed time to rest, to heal.

  “I’ll be fine.” He tried a small smile. A smudge of blood marred the cor
ner of his mouth and cheek. “You know I will be. Go. I can keep him running circles inside the ship for hours, but I’m too weak to move.”

  I eased my arm from under his and gently supported him as he slid to the floor. “Just kill him. You can…”

  His lips twitched, part grimace, part smile. “I don’t want to.”

  “But he’ll kill you. He has orders.”

  “I don’t think he will.”

  Think didn’t fill me with confidence. I scrubbed at the smudge on Talen’s cheek. Seeing it there was wrong. I’d seen him hurt too many times, felt his pain too often. He didn’t deserve this. “He almost killed you—”

  Talen lifted his hand and rested soft fingers on my cheek. He was so ridiculously gentle, even now while trying to keep me safe. “The Hunt will claim me, but not today.”

  I pressed my hand over his, cupping it closer to my cheek.

  “Find Kellee and Arran. Take Sota—” Talen dropped his hand and touched my coat. His gift, enhanced, changed. Part of the myth. “This will hide you. Do as he did. Take the guardian’s warship. His ship… you will find it most… accommodating.” His smile sharpened. “I’ll keep him here.”

  “You can stop this.”

  “The guardian is following orders. Had I killed you, Kesh, for following Oberon’s orders, we would not be here today.”

  “That’s different.” He was looking at me as though I’d let him down, like he expected more, like I was supposed to be the Messenger, not the Wraithmaker. “Just maim him a little?” I suggested.

  Talen chuckled and dropped his head back against the wall. “Go. Be the Messenger and save the people. When you return, I’ll have the guardian on his knees.”

  “Give me your word you won’t die.” It was an impossible ask. He could not guarantee such a thing.

  His bright violet eyes locked on mine, suddenly intense. “You have it, Mylana.”

  I backed off, hating that I had to abandon him. But Talen would never go back on a promise. He would never lie.

  Behind me, a door whooshed open, and behind that, another and another, opening a clear path to the exit pods. Forcing myself to turn away, I stepped through, and left my silver fae alone.