Slamming (Through Time 3)

An hour of this went by and Jazz paused a moment to scan the streets ahead for any stragglers. She worried where Pestale and Hordly were and then realized that Trevor wasn’t around either.

Jazz pulled up short.

She knew. All at once she knew. She held Frankie’s shoulders “Frankie, I have to find Trevor. Will you stay with the Queens…and your da?” she pointed with her chin, “Up there…please, so I can have peace of mind while I look for him?”

“Aye, but don’t ye want me to come with ye?”

“Not this time, they might need you here,” Jazz said.

“Aye then,” said the child proudly. “Find him Jazz.”

Jazz went into her mind and once again her mate had blocked her out. That told her exactly where he was.

She shifted to Pestale’s castle.

She stood in the grand sparsely furnished hallway and did a quick search with her Fae senses. She stomped across the wide hall and pulled open the large oak door to the huge chamber Pestale had been using as his war room.

Hordly was wrapped in gold netting from head to toe and was lying flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling. He met her gaze and she laughed. She couldn’t help it.

He spat a string of both human and Gaelic curses at her.

Hordly was trapped. She didn’t have to worry about him.

Jazz grinned in spite of the fact that she was annoyed with Trev for going off on his own. He had evidently done very well.

Then she heard their voices in the small anteroom at the far corner of the war room.

“Did you really think you could outwit and destroy the combined power of the Seelie, Daoine and Milesians? What kind of an ego do you have?” Trevor said contemptuously.

“Get it over with. If you have come to kill us, then do so. I don’t want to have to listen to your dribble.”

Jazz saw that Trevor had trapped Pestale with the Tracker’s spell; a nearly invisible wall of white magic surrounded the Dark One.

Pestale was frozen in place.

She frowned and wondered if Trevor would allow his emotion to overrule his good sense. The Queen had expressly forbidden anyone from killing Pestale if it could be helped.

Jazz’s brow went up as she watched Trevor start to plunge his Death Sword into Pestale without hesitation.

Well, that answered that question. As she was about to try and stop him something else occurred and intervened.

The room was filled with a white light.

A scent of roses filled the air and a holograph of a woman appeared. She was lovely. Jazz knew just who it was. Crystal, the Dark King’s consort.

She stopped Trevor’s Death Sword inches away from Pestale’s body and clicked her tongue. “I have been watching and hoping it would not have to come to this. I dislike playing with the fates, but perhaps it is destiny. Perhaps I am meant to stop you, Trevor of Lugh, from this unwise act.”

Trevor bowed his head respectfully. Here was the reason his beloved Jazmine Decker was alive. Crystal had showed him what to do. Crystal had advised him regarding the Twalla. He answered, “Pestale must pay for the atrocities he has committed.”

“I agree. Ordinarily one should be punished when one commits evil. However, my lord, my King does not quite see it that way. If you kill the Dark King’s first son, the consequences would be horrendous. He has evolved, but many things about him are the same. His attachment to his creations--what he calls his sons, is in spite of his neglect unusually deep.” She paused and put up a hand. “I understand your concerns and shall address them. Pestale and Hordly will be taken to a dimension that has been renewed and adapted to hold them for eternity. It is a lovely world unlike the Dark Realm which helped to instill the evil that is in them. The Dark King recognizes his fault in their characters and wishes to make amends for them. This place will allow them to live peacefully and keep the World safe from their wicked intentions.”

“And Morrigu?” Jazz asked curiously.

“She too, with her human lover will be transported to this special dimension from which there is no escape.”

There was yet another, Crystal had not mentioned. She raised her brow and asked, “And Graely?”

“Ah, Graely is another matter, as you, my dear, already suspect.”