Beauty

Chapter Twenty

Shim looked around the village and wished Bron was with him. She would love Aoibhneas. It was beautiful and the inhabitants were all slightly insane.

But Bron was miles away and he couldn’t get to her.

And his brother was gone as well.

Shim took a deep breath and hoped the mayor had one sane bone in his body. “I promise not to make any deals with demons. Now can we sign this treaty and begin preparations.”

Mayor Mel leaned forward. “You passed the truth tests.”

The truth tests had involved drinking an enormous amount of some liquor the mayor made himself and then answering a bunch of questions because the mayor believed no one could lie when drunk. The mayor had asked him and Lach a multitude of questions about their feelings on demons and parallel planes. He seemed to think that somewhere out there was another him and this other version of the mayor had it all wrong and shouldn’t be worried about creatures from the skies, but rather about demons. Shim and Lach, for their parts, had mostly talked about how much they missed Bronwyn and her breasts. Getting drunk made Shim think about all of his wife’s soft parts, and he’d been sick with worry over her. Well, and with the liquor.

Finally this morning Roan had found the tear in the wall and gotten Lachlan through to bring the Seelies back.

Shim wished they would hurry. He’d been left to negotiate with what Dante had called a whack job.

The vampire had proven to be rather good at negotiations himself. He smiled at the mayor. “Excellent. I assure you the prince has no intentions of allowing demons to take over his kingdom.”

Shim shook his head. “Not at all. It’s written down somewhere.” And if it wasn’t, Shim would make it a law.

A woman with steel-gray hair stared the mayor down. “Sign the documents. You know we’re going in.”

“Fine, woman. You don’t have to harp on me.” He winked at his wife. “But you better tell the women because if I know their husbands, they’ll start trying to lock them up and keep them out of this.”

The mayor’s wife grinned. “I made sure they all had keys to the lockups and each had a sonic sword and one of those cannon things.” She looked over at the vampire. “One of our daughters bonded with a royal vampire by the name of Stefan. He makes sure we have all the weapons we need.”

Dante piped up. “And all the sex toys, too, I bet. Sorry, Talbot Industries makes billions off the toy market. And now I find out he’s an arms dealer, too. Kaj, when we get back to our plane, remind me to buy up Talbot stock. I like him. He’s smart.”

Kaja smiled at her husband indulgently and shook her head. Shim didn’t believe Kaja and her husband were ever going back to the Vampire plane. Not for more than a visit. She seemed very happy here in Aoibhneas.

The mayor signed his name with a flourish and stood. The town square was filled with villagers, all anxiously waiting. Shim could see the Harper clan standing near the boy named Charlie. Paige had her hand clasped firmly in his. They were young, far too young to wed, but it was plain to see the love in their eyes.

The whole village seemed to quiet as the mayor stepped up. “We go to war.”

A huge shout seemed to shake the ground. There were hugs and slaps on the back and celebratory cheers.

All for a war that might take his wife’s life.

“Your Highness? You seem sad.” Rachel Harper placed a hand on his arm.

“I’m frightened.” He probably shouldn’t admit it, but it was true.

She sighed. “So am I, but we’re more afraid of living like this than we are of dying.”

Shim’s eyes threatened to water again. Damn it. It was always there, that fine edge of grief at his brother’s passing. He kept expecting to look down and see Duffy at his side, making a wisecrack and hauling his axe with him.

Shim hadn’t been able to leave the axe behind. Perhaps he should have, but something deep inside wouldn’t let him as though he had to keep a piece of his brother with him.

He kind of wished he had something of Lach’s now. And Bron’s.

“I was so sorry to hear of your brother’s passing.” Rachel Harper looked up at him with kind eyes.

She was going to fight. Shim knew it. She would fight and her older children would, too. Her husbands would fight. She was probably terrified, but she would do it because it was the right thing. Rachel understood what Bron knew, what Shim was just starting to discover. “He would have been honored to fight at your side.”

A ghost of a smile curved up her lips. “I thought this wasn’t your fight, Your Highness.”

“It’s everyone’s fight. That’s why they call it the good fight, isn’t it?”

She curtseyed, the first formal gesture he’d seen from anyone on the plane. “You will do your kingdom proud, Your Highness.”

Shim stood in the middle of the square and breathed in as Bron brushed against him with her mind.

Come for me. My time is now.

She was so serene, so perfectly powerful. She was ready.

And Lach wasn’t here.

“Mrs. Harper, thank you, but I need to find Harry.” Roan had gone with Lach.

Dellacourt was suddenly at his side. “What’s wrong?”

“Bron’s ready. We have to go.” He took a long breath. She was ready and he was miles and miles away.

“Uhm, we’re two days march from the palace. She better stay ready for a while.” Dellacourt looked around. “Or we can hope Roan brings back an army of bikes. Do you understand how much easier warfare is on my plane? We all sit in our rooms and fire at each other remotely. Seriously, I have snacks and drinks during wars. I always get my face fucked up on Faery planes. It’s barbaric.”

Shim had begun to notice the vampire talked really fast when he was getting emotional. It had annoyed him greatly at first until he’d realized that for all Dellacourt’s complaints, he’d walked away from his whole world.

Dante Dellacourt fought the good fight.

“I shall try to preserve your beauty,” Shim replied.

Dellacourt flushed a bit. “Sorry. It’s just I’ve been waiting for this fight for what seems like most of my life and now that it’s here, I worry about the cost. I won’t back down, you understand. I will pay it, but I worry.”

He looked back at his wife. Kaja wouldn’t stand in the background. She wouldn’t allow herself to be locked away. She would fight beside her husband because that was what husbands and wives did.

But Shim needed to consider other things now. He had a war to stage and the most important piece was in place. “How do we get everyone to the palace and quickly?”

“We ride the winds.” Beckett Finn strode up the road, his voice ringing out.

Shim sighed because he could feel his brother again. Lach walked slightly behind the Kings of the Seelie Fae.

Beckett and Cian Finn strode into the square with their wife between them. Not a one wore a crown on their head, but everyone in the village dropped to one knee.

Shim was happy to see the kings, but happier to see his brother. He rushed to Lach. “Did you hear her?”

Lach nodded, his whole face beaming, looking more vibrant than he could ever remember his brother looking. “I did. And we were hurrying.” His smile grew vibrant. “Father worked while we were gone. He found a witch. She tore open a huge fucking hole in the door. Torin is going to know we’re here now. Take a look at what I brought, brother.”

Shim looked behind Lach and felt his mouth drop open. An army walked behind Lach. Shim couldn’t count them. They seemed endless. He saw Maon, his father’s chief advisor and the whole council dressed for war. And then he saw Gillian, flying, her feet working so hard they barely touched the ground. His sister ran and flung herself at their father.

“When I got home, they were all waiting. Vampires. Our people. Beck and Cian’s people. They wouldn’t be left behind. Our father most of all.”

“Dad?” Dellacourt shouted out and ran toward a big man in boots and a hat.

But Shim was concentrating on his father.

King Fergus of the Unseelie Fae kept his arm around his daughter as he walked to meet his sons. “Shim, I’m so proud of you, son.”

Shim felt his heart clench. How long had he waited to hear those words? Lach stood beside him, his big brother, lending him strength. “Thank you, father.”

His father looked him in the eye, as though trying to send his will into his son. “I mean it, Shim. You were steadfast. You knew the truth and you and Lach held it and despite everything I threw at you, you brought back your sister and you…you honored your brother.” Fergus stopped, emotion choking him. “When this is all done, we’re finding Duffy and bringing him home. He belongs in the family crypt with his mother and his ancestors. He did us all proud.”

Roan walked up behind their father. “Your Highnesses, we stand ready to fight. We are a small force compared to what we’re up against, but we’re strong. Julian Lodge and his business partner, Stefan Talbot, paid to have us outfitted with the finest in weaponry and they’ve come along.”

Cousin Julian gave him a broad smile. “You know I never miss the chance to shed a little blood.”

They were here. His whole family. His whole kingdom. The ones who’d thought he was defective now stood behind him. Something opened wide in Shim and was full for the first time in his life—pride.

That feeling was quickly replaced with panic. “It’s good to have an army, but we need to get them moving. Bron is ready.”

Beckett and Cian stood in the middle of the square, speaking to the villagers. Meg was hugging Kaja and Dante. Beckett looked to Shim. “I told you, we’ll ride the winds. This war will be won today, thanks to my sister. I hear she is well.”

Shim moved closer. “She was. She’s been shielding. I worry she’s hiding from us.”

“I know she’s hiding. I saw what the hag wanted from her.” Lach shuddered a little. “She won’t kill Bron for a day or two, but she’ll torture her. I can’t imagine what Bron’s been through. We’ve waited. She’s ready. I’m not willing to leave her there one moment more. I’ll sprint all the way if I have to.”

Cian put a hand on Lach’s shoulder. “You won’t have to sprint. We have a plan. Beck’s been practicing. But you have to listen. He’s been working on his speech.”

Beck slapped at his brother’s shoulder. “It’s not a speech.”

Cian smirked back at him. “It’s a speech.”

Beck hopped onto the fountain and looked over the crowd. A great cheer went up as Cian joined him and reached out to help his wife up. Queen Meg stood in between her husbands, her face beaming out at the crowd. She was ready just like Bron was ready.

Shim was ready. He’d only just realized it. He was ready to fight and to win because he wasn’t about to lose at this point.

Beck held a hand up and all talking ceased. His voice rang out over the courtyard and beyond. “I want to thank you all for being with us on this day. ’Tis a long time coming. You, my people, have suffered much since my uncle stole my father’s crown, but I am here to tell you, you are not alone. There are others waiting to join us. Today we march on the palace and we take back what belongs to me, to my brother and my wife, and most importantly we take back what belongs to you. Your kingdom, your rights, your lives, and if blood spills, then it will be righteous. We will be outnumbered and we will win.”

A long shout went up, threatening to shake the ground.

“That was a speech,” Lach said with a shake of his head as though he couldn’t think of anything worse for a king to do.

It appeared Shim would have the speechmaking duties in their future kingdom. But for that kingdom to work, they needed their queen. “We’re a day’s march from her. What if the hags kill her?”

Beck leapt down and walked to Shim. “We aren’t more than an hour from our sweet sister. I told you. We will ride the winds.”

An eddy wind would be the fastest way to travel, but first Beck would have to find one and catch it, and finding one big enough would be a huge challenge. This army was at least a thousand men and women. They would need more than one eddy cloud. “King Beckett, shouldn’t we begin the march and try to find eddy clouds along the way?”

Beck grinned broadly. “I don’t have to find an eddy cloud, my brother. I will simply make one. I am the master of storms and I can bring a cloud to carry us all.”

Beck opened his arms and the sky clouded over, the largest eddy cloud Shim had ever seen coalescing right above them.

“Show-off,” Queen Meg said. She grimaced. “I’ve only tried this once before and it was worse than anything Six Flags had to offer.”

Kaja was brimming with excitement. “I enjoy it. Except that my mate tends to get a bit ill.”

Dellacourt held up a small bag. “I have barf bags for everyone!”

Beck looked at his brother, a long moment passing between them. “Let us go and see our sister once more.”

Cian nodded, his hand on his heart.

Cian and Meg disappeared, pulled up by the eddy cloud, and all around him the warriors of their ragtag army were pulled up by the cloud and the will of the Storm Lord.

“Let’s go and claim our wife,” Shim said, reaching a hand to his brother.

Lach took it, their wills as one now.

The cloud scooped them up and they were ready for battle.

* * * *

Torin watched out over the balcony, a sinking feeling in his gut. His kingdom. When Seamus was king and their father before them, Tir na nÓg was a place of stunning beauty, a calm pastoral paradise.

He could see the fires from far-off villages and masses of peasants coming for his head.

One single day. ’Twas all it had taken. A day and a meeting on the road with vagrant monsters. That gang of trolls and goblins had taught him everything he needed to know about the world. It didn’t matter whether a man was a prince or a pauper, death and violence and brokenness came for everyone unless a man took power.

Why couldn’t his people see he was trying to save them? He was smarter than them all. It was why he was king. He hadn’t simply been born to the part. He was ruthless enough to fight and kill for the crown.

“And it’s mine. It will remain mine.” He said the words out loud even as his guard formed a phalanx around the palace.

“My sons will win this day.”

Damn him. The last thing he wanted was to see his brother. His sluagh brother. When this day was over and he remained king, he would force the hags to rid him of all sluagh, all monsters. He would slaughter them all, everyone. Their blood would make the Seelie fields fertile, and then he would dispose of the vampires and the Unseelie and he would rule over all the planes.

Seamus shook his non-corporeal head. “You always were ambitious. It’s too bad I didn’t see how far you would go.”

“You read minds now, brother?” Torin forced his attention to the battlefield. It was a waiting game now. He wasn’t sure if they would march in today or the day after, but he had word that his nephews were on the plane, and that meant they would attack.

“It’s almost a sure thing what you were thinking.” Seamus floated around the room, the act almost a mirror image of the pacing his brother used to do while thinking through a problem. “Why don’t you let Bronwyn go? Can’t you see the hags lied about her?”

The fact that Bronwyn Finn was here in his palace and still breathing made him sick to death. She was here, the one woman who could kill him. Her throat should have been slit the moment the hags found her, but his wife had pleaded their case. “The hags think they can pull power from the girl’s soul. Enough power to defeat the true triad.”

“Which one?” Seamus asked, his voice nonchalant as though he was politely asking about the weather.

Torin turned to his brother. “What do you mean? It’s only a rumor that those idiot boys of yours managed to find a bondmate and create a true triad. I think it’s just a story the villagers tell to give them hope.”

Seamus sighed. “Do you even hear yourself speak? The fact that your own people would even be forced to make up tales to bring themselves hope that one day your reign will end should tell you everything you need to know.”

“They are stupid. I’m protecting them.”

“You are a fool, Torin. You’re justifying your own immorality, but it doesn’t matter, because it isn’t a story. Beck and Cian have come into their powers, but they aren’t the only true triad. My Bron has formed one with the Unseelies. So I ask again, which true triad do they seek to kill, and why didn’t your own hags tell you of this news? I assure you, they knew.”

And yet they had only mentioned that the idiot Unseelie had some small magic. They had not mentioned the triad. Why had they not mentioned the triad?

“Who are you talking to?” Maris asked, walking into the room. If she was upset about the battle about to take place, she didn’t show it, but then his wife was a block of ice that nothing seemed to penetrate.

But he didn’t need anyone to know he saw his brother’s ghost. “I was just musing about why my hags might keep something from me.” He felt his eyes narrow on his lovely bride. So beautiful. So fucking vapid. Could she be in league with the hags? Was it possible?

She huffed a little and crossed to the mirror, smoothing back her already perfect hair. “Well, they are hags, darling. You have to think that at some point in time they will turn on you. I thought you had a plan to take them out when we no longer need those nasty bitches. If you like, you can start it now.”

He was mollified a bit. Seamus huddled in the corner, exactly where he should be, hidden and unseen. “I thought you wanted to keep the Finn girl alive because the hags needed her.”

She sighed, a long-suffering sound. “Well, Torin, there’s a reason you’re the king. I don’t know anything about this. I have no idea why I would say such a thing. Why would I sincerely wish to keep your niece alive? I hate that whole family.” She put a hand to her head. “I actually don’t remember very much about the last few days. Ever since that Finn girl was brought here, my mind has been a bit cloudy. Do you think it’s something I ate? I shall have a long talk with cook just before I have him strung up. So sad to have to find another cook. Good help is so hard to find these days, but there’s nothing for it. I should probably execute the entire kitchen staff.”

She really was an empty, dull vessel, her only contents being pure malice. And she was stupid. “It wasn’t the food. It was the hags.”

Maris’s face twisted a bit. “Why ever should the hags be preparing food? I thought they spent all their time with the Finn girl. One of my maids walked by the room they had her in. She thought she heard some ritual of pulling power.”

“Yes, they said they needed to pull the power in case my nephews have formed a true triad.” The power would be necessary to block whatever they had ascended into.

“See, this is why you’re smarter. I heard that and wondered if we really should allow it. After all when they’re more powerful than all of our armies, what is to stop them from taking the crown?” Maris smiled brightly. “But, of course, it’s surely the very helpful thing you were talking about. You’re never wrong, after all.”

Oh, he wanted to slap the bitch, but she was right. He hadn’t seen. He’d been too arrogant thinking he had power over them. Long ago they had made a deal, bonded and signed by a Planeswalker demon. They would help him ascend and he would hold them at his right hand. The deal was only struck down by death and neither party could kill the other, but if the hags simply allowed him to die, they could take over his kingdom. If the hags used his niece and her power, they could rule with no retribution.

He had to kill his niece and take the power back from the hags.

A loud crack took him out of his thoughts. The sky outside turned black as night, the sun sinking behind an enormous cloud.

“What is that?” Maris asked.

He had only to look at the smirk on his dead brother’s face to know the truth. “It’s an eddy cloud. The rebels are here.”

They began descending from the clouds, their numbers far more than he’d expected. Immediately there were the sounds of metal against metal and a sonic boom as the vampires proved to be terrible allies.

Still, he glanced down, his guard had more numbers and they weren’t without their own weapons.

And none of it would matter if the hags took him out.

Torin ran for the dungeon with only one thought on his mind. Bronwyn’s time had come.