Shadowspell

Chapter Thirteen

After Keane left, I wished I’d kept my mouth shut and had my lesson, even if it meant getting my butt kicked and making embarrassingly stupid mistakes. While we’d been sparring, there hadn’t been enough time for me to brood about Ethan. Plus, even though it hurt, I had to admit that in my current state of mind it felt kinda good to hit things.

Once Keane was gone, I couldn’t get my brain to shut up. Wave after wave of guilt beat at me, especially because I still couldn’t get myself to pick up the phone and call Kimber. We were best friends, and she had to be hurting. Her father had made no secret of the fact that he loved Ethan more, because Ethan was the magical prodigy. I doubted she was getting a whole lot of paternal comfort right now. She needed me, but I was too much of a coward to face her.

In an attempt to keep my mind occupied with anything other than Ethan, I tried once more to learn how to use magic. My voice was weak and quavery, but I felt the magic come to me before I’d even finished the first scale. I tried to feel excited at the improvement, but it was too hard to be impressed when I couldn’t cast even the simplest spell.

Eventually, I gave up in disgust. Maybe my affinity with magic went no further than being able to sense it and call it. Maybe all the practice in the world was futile. I wished I’d decided to trust Ethan and asked him to teach me magic. Now I’d never get the chance …

I shook my head to try to erase that thought from my mind. Ethan was not going to be a permanent member of the Wild Hunt. His father was a powerful man. Maybe he’d be able to find a way to reason with the Erlking where my father had not. There had to be something someone could do.

Having grown up as the only responsible member of my household, one lesson I’d learned at an early age was that I couldn’t really count on anyone other than myself. If I wanted to make sure we had electricity, I had to pay the bill myself. If my mom hurt herself and had to go to the emergency room, I had to get her there myself.

I remember one time when I was maybe six or seven, and my mom got a horrible case of food poisoning. She was so sick, I thought she was going to die. I wanted to call 911, but Mom said she wasn’t that sick. Back then, I was still young enough to think I had to do as I was told.

I’d tried to get one of our relatively friendly neighbors to drive us to the hospital, but she wouldn’t. I don’t remember what the excuse was, but even then, I suspected the true reason she’d refused was because she didn’t want my mom puking in her car. I’d eventually had to call a cab, and then practically drag my mom down the stairs to get her in. She was too out of it—I think she was drunk as well as sick—to pay the driver, and when I’d dug through her purse for money, I’d found only a couple of dollars. I still remember the sound of that driver’s voice as he yelled at us, cursing and furious at being “cheated” of his fare.

When I’d come to Avalon, I’d been hoping that I would find in my father someone I could finally count on, someone who would take charge and fix problems for me. But I realized, in one of those peculiar moments of clarity I’d been having lately, that if anyone was going to save Ethan from the Wild Hunt, it would have to be me. I’d be pleasantly surprised if Ethan’s father managed to do it himself, but it was time for me to stop hoping someone else would step up to the plate.

It was time to start planning Operation Rescue Ethan.

That sounded real good. Now, if only I had some clue how to go about it … How was I, a sixteen-year-old girl, supposed to defeat the ancient leader of the Wild Hunt? A leader even the Queens of Faerie were afraid of? I fought not to let myself drown in the apparent hopelessness of the task.

I spent several hours mulling over the problem, not coming to any helpful conclusions. My mind kept insisting that the only way to convince the Erlking to release Ethan was to offer to take the Wild Hunt out into the mortal world. I can’t say there weren’t times I was tempted to give in, but I knew I could never live with myself if I did. The Erlking, with all his magic intact because of my presence, would make Jack the Ripper’s reign of terror seem small scale.

The phone rang late in the afternoon. I checked caller ID, but there was no name displayed and I didn’t recognize the number. I figured it had to be a wrong number, but I couldn’t help hoping it was Ethan, escaped from the Erlking’s clutches, maybe calling from a pay phone or a borrowed cell.

“Hello?” I said, knowing my hope was wishful thinking, but unable to suppress it. I held my breath as I waited for the caller to speak.

“Hello, Faeriewalker,” said the Erlking, and I gasped in shock.

“How did you get this number?” I demanded, although that was hardly important.

“My Huntsmen keep no secrets from me,” he answered, sounding amused.

My heart lurched in my chest. I didn’t know exactly what happened to people who were captured by the Hunt, what the Erlking did to them to keep them bound, but I should have guessed that anything Ethan knew about me, the Erlking would now know. Like my phone number.

Thank God Ethan didn’t know the location of my safe house!

I wished I could think of something clever to say, something that would cut him down to size and show him I wasn’t afraid of him. Instead, I just stood there like an idiot, holding the phone to my ear, my tongue glued to the roof of my mouth.

“He is quite the catch, your Ethan,” the Erlking said. “Not as exalted as your brother, but his bloodline is more than respectable, and his powers are formidable.”

My hand clenched around the phone. “Did you call just to gloat, or do you have something important to say?” My voice came out hoarse and raspy.

“A little of both,” he replied. “But then, I suspect you know exactly why I’ve called, don’t you, Faeriewalker?”

“My name is Dana!” I snapped, not sure why I cared what he called me.

“Dana. Of course. Do you know why I’ve called, Dana?”

There was only one reason I could think of. “Now that you’ve got Ethan as a hostage, you want to set up a trade.” A trade my conscience wouldn’t allow me to make, no matter how much I wanted to save Ethan.

“Very good. In the old days, before Avalon seceded from Faerie, I could have taken you by force. Of course, in the old days, I was free to hunt in Avalon to my heart’s content, so I wouldn’t have needed to. In these modern times, neither I nor my Huntsmen can hurt you even slightly, so I cannot use you to enter the mortal world without your consent. Give me that consent, and Ethan will be free to go. He would be the first person ever to be released from the Wild Hunt by anything but death.”

I took a deep breath to steady my nerves. If I had any sense, I’d end this call immediately. I don’t know if I ever would have been in any shape to negotiate with the Erlking, but I certainly wasn’t at that moment. The grief and shock of losing Ethan were still too raw.

“You know I can’t do that,” I forced myself to say.

“I know no such thing. Perhaps you would not be able to stomach granting me unlimited access, but I would be happy to negotiate. I am not an unreasonable man.”

No, because he wasn’t really a man at all.

“Make me an offer,” he said.

“Unless your plan is to go into the mortal world for sightseeing, I can’t do it. I saw you kill that man when you first rode into Avalon. There’s no way—” My voice choked off as I tried to block out the image of the Erlking bearing down on the fleeing Fae, sword raised and ready to strike.

“I am a hunter, Faerie— Dana,” the Erlking said, his voice gentling. “That is the essential core of my being. I’ve no interest in visiting the mortal world for sightseeing. If we strike a bargain to go there together, I will hunt, and I will kill. Let there be no illusions between us.”

A little sound, almost like a whimper, rose in my throat.

“I’m sorry that distresses you,” he continued. “I bear you no ill will. But I don’t think sugarcoating the truth will make it any more palatable. I am willing to consider making certain concessions in order to convince you to ride with me, but a hunt is not a hunt if the quarry does not die in the end.”

“Then we have nothing to talk about,” I said, though it was practically killing me. Bad enough that I already felt so guilty about what had happened to Ethan. Now the Erlking was rubbing my face in the fact that I could save him—if only I didn’t mind sacrificing who knew how many strangers for the privilege.

“Perhaps you need some time to think it over. I’m not demanding that you make a decision this instant. You have my phone number now. If you decide you might like to negotiate after all, don’t hesitate to call me.”

Once again, I found myself at a loss for words. I expected the Erlking to hang up, or maybe give an evil laugh or something. But I obviously hadn’t come close to figuring him out yet, because he did no such thing.

“Remember what I told you when we first met,” he said. “I am not your enemy, even if we do at times find ourselves at cross-purposes.”

I remembered him saying that, though he’d also pointed out that he wasn’t my friend, either.

Thinking about our first meeting, I remembered the Erlking warning Finn and me that we had an imposter in our midst. A “token of goodwill,” he’d called it.

“It’s been a pleasure speaking with you,” he said, and I realized he was about to hang up.

“Wait!” I said, surprising myself.

I thought I was too late, but a moment later the Erlking said, “Go on.”

“Why did you warn me about the imposter the other day?”

“I suspect you’re clever enough to figure it out on your own. But then I’ve put you into a stressful situation, and I suppose that isn’t conducive to clear thinking.” He managed to say that without sounding particularly condescending, though I don’t know how he managed it.

“I want something from you, Dana,” he continued. “I want it very badly. If your enemies should kill you, they will ruin my chances of getting it. I am highly motivated to keep you alive.” He laughed a little. “You may not feel it, but you are safer now than you have been from the moment you first set foot in Avalon. I will not let any harm come to you.”

What the hell was I supposed to say to that? Thank you? Uh, no.

It didn’t occur to me until after he hung up that the Erlking was suggesting my life had been in danger when I’d been out with Fake-Lachlan. But the imposter had been meaning to kidnap me and take me to Aunt Grace. Aunt Grace wanted me alive, so she could use my powers to usurp the Seelie throne.

Either the Erlking was lying to me, or Aunt Grace’s plans had changed.