“You bound me?” I yell at him, memories of the last time that happened swelling up and taking over. I take a step towards him to beat him into the ground with my bare…err…hand.
CK pulls me back as Remiel says, “Not bound, no. She is still there, just dormant, as if She was never activated in the first place.”
“What!” I demand and put my right hand over my shoulder onto my back. “She’s gone?” All the blood drains out of my face and I go lightheaded. No wonder I am not healing up. As I stand here, I consist only of half human, half Faerie. It isn’t enough to heal me. It isn’t enough for me to do anything. My knees give way and CK catches me, mindful of my scorched, black hand. I look to where G.I. fell, and it has disappeared. All that is left is the shape of a sword melted into the rug.
“Give me back my daughter and I will give you back your Powers,” Remiel says to me.
“Give her back her Powers now, or I will see to it that you never take another breath again,” CK roars at him, squaring off.
“So noble,” Remiel says. “You shouldn’t defend her so deeply. She is only going to leave you when she comes back to me.”
“Pah!” I scoff despite my agony. “I will never come to you. Never!”
“You cannot deny that our bodies are made for one another, Aefre,” Remiel says. “I know how satisfied you were after we made love. I was too. I am willing to overlook this betrayal, because we belong together. You, me, and Delinda.”
I see CK start to coil his blood-red, smoky power in his hand and even Remiel’s eyes flick to his palm. Neither of us knows exactly what he can do with that power and I must wonder if CK does.
“I am so much stronger than you think,” he says. “Give Aefre back her Powers.” He is doing a damn good job of ignoring Remiel’s comments. Although, maybe it was those comments that fired up his power in the first place?
“I will give you twenty-four hours to bring Delinda back here,” Remiel says quickly, making me think CK might be able to hurt him badly enough after all. “Then I start picking your loved ones off one by one.” He vanishes from sight just as CK lobs his stream of smoke at him. It hits the bookcase and sets fire to a dozen books and I cringe as I think of the priceless pieces that are now nothing but ash.
“CK,” I say weakly and sink heavily into an armchair.
“Aefre,” he says and kneels at my feet. “There is no threat there. He cannot get to anyone in the Fae Kingdoms.”
I must fix this in whatever way possible, except by giving him my daughter. I need to tell Remiel that Delinda isn’t his. It is the only way. CK will be furious with me, knowing that I am putting our child at risk, but I will cross that bridge. I will come to him in twenty-four hours’ time and bargain with him.
Somehow.
“Let’s get the sword and get you back to safety,” CK says with a worried frown, which he wipes off his face quickly.
“Will you have a look?” I say, brushing my tears away with my good hand.
He nods, knowing that I mean at my back. If Remiel has taken away the Dragon–deactivated Her, as it were–She probably isn’t there anymore. He carefully undoes my laces and peels the fabric away from my skin.
“Gone,” he says softly.
“Jesus,” I breathe. “How the fuck did he do this? How does he have that kind of power?”
“I don’t know,” he replies, tying up my laces again. “But he was in the Spirit Realm picking up new powers for a really long time. I guess there isn’t much that he can’t do.”
That does not reassure me in the slightest, although it does reinforce my decision to go to him tomorrow and strike up a bargain regardless of what I must do to accomplish this. An idea starts to form in my head, and I get a sudden jolt of excitement as it takes shape. I bite my lip and hold on to the hope that my plan might work. I push it temporarily to the side as CK takes my hand and Teleports us to the kitchen, where he dampens a cloth and ties it around my burnt hand. It is still agonizing, but not quite as much as when it was actually on fire. Damn, that sword is brutal. I get now why everyone else gets antsy around it.
CK then Teleports us upstairs and into the master bedroom. I close my eyes and breathe in deeply, trying to forget, and I concentrate on CK, who is opening a secret door that is built into the wood paneling. I never knew it was there, but it doesn’t surprise me. These old dwellings always have secret passages and rooms. He holds his hand out to me and we both enter together. My eyes go wide as I take in the “collection” that CK spoke of. I knew he had things stashed away that are worth more than the ground that Ponte sits on top of, but this is spectacular. There are priceless pieces of art all over the room, but in the center, in a glass case, is the sword I assume we are here for.
“That it?” I ask, stepping forward.
“Yes,” he says, joining me to peer into the case. “Wait.”
He flicks his hand over the top of it, I see a shimmer, and then everything goes clear again.
“You are really good at wards,” I say with a smile.
“Adequate,” he says with a shrug and undoes the front of the case.
“Can anyone…?” I ask, indicating it with my good hand.
“I guess so. I can, so could the man I acquired it from,” he says, but lets me reach into the case to try it out. He has his hand within touching distance of mine in case something goes awry and without my Dragon Powers I cannot pick it up. I touch it hesitantly and I feel an immense load of power flash through it, but it doesn’t burn me. I grip the handle and lift it and then drop it almost straight away.