She gave a hiss at me and opened her mouth. When she showed her teeth, fangs protruded from her gums, and sharp claws like those of harpies elongated from her fingers. They truly did look like sirens. I was certain if I got too close, she’d tear me to shreds.
I was terrified that Odette was still in the water, and so close to therusalka.I was sure that thing could swim to her in moments.
I nearly told Odette to flee, before therusalkaspoke in a crooning voice. “You shouldn’t have summoned me, sister.”
“I needed to,” Odette pleaded. Her body shook as she struggled to bear the freezing temperatures of the river. “We don’t have any more options.”
“It is your fault, and the fault of the Worldweaver, that Droga runs free,” therusalkareplied. “How can we find you trustworthy?”
“Youwantto help us,” I demanded. I dared to take a few steps closer to therusalka.“One of your kind gave us arusalkascale, to give to the Spring Princess in exchange for the Seelie stone. You gave Odette the silver crown long before she knew of my quest. You can’t say that you’ve given up on us, because that would be a lie.”
Therusalka’slip rose in a dangerous sneer. “Why should we tell you where to find the silver crown, when you’ve failed time and time again?How can we believe it will be safe in your hands, and not fall into Droga’s?”
I took a deep breath. I didn’thaveany good reasons. It was hard to convince myself, let alone others, that I deserved another chance, after I’d fucked up my second, third, hell,thousandthshot at making things right.
What came out was what was inside my heart. “Because even though I’ve failed, I’ve never given up,” I’ve stated. “I’ve managed to persevere throughout this entire journey. No matter what happens, I’ll never let Droga win. I’ll try and try again, until he’s locked away and the world is safe from him, or I’m dead. I just don’t know when to quit. Other people would’ve thrown in the towel by now and walked away, but I can’t stop. I won’t. So either you’re going to help me, or I’m going to have to find another way.”
Therusalkablinked slowly. Then she said, “You should tell your men to back down. I can’t ignore my instincts for long. That is, unless you’d like them drowned.”
I waved Ethan and Theo off, telling them to get back. They reluctantly retreated from the shoreline, but didn’t go far. Odette stiffly waddled out of the river and back to my side. I grabbed her arm to pull her out, and found that she was soaked. I held on to her to keep her upright as therusalkaswam toward us.
“When the silver crown was forged, they gave it to our kind,” she began. “But the druids wanted a fail-safe, an additional protector of the silver crown just in the chance it fell into the wrong hands. The leader of the druids at that time volunteered.”
I thought of the druid leader in my vision. He must’ve been the one to make the sacrifice. “Go on.”
“He went through a dark ceremony with Unseelie magic, to turn him into an immortal monster,” therusalkareplied. “A wicked beast, one with no thought, memory or purpose, other than to protect and guard the silver crown, and kill anyone who tried to obtain it.The creature is called Ailen Dierdra, killer of fae.”
Stefan had said the questing beast that took the crown had been killed by another monster. My guts churned just thinking about what kind of animal could tear a huge creature like the questing beast to pieces. “Do you know where this monster is?” I asked.
“Ailen Dierdra resides in the Cave of Cruachan,” the rusalka replied. “It has been his home for hundreds of years. He only emerges when the silver crown is in danger.”
I knew of the place. Arthur, the history fanatic he was, had told me about it. It was an archaeological site in Ireland. It had to be important to the fae, for the monster to reside there. “Does he have the crown?”
“Indeed. He has taken the silver crown there to guard. But be warned. The monster will fight to the death to protect it. He will not surrender what you are looking for unless you kill him, and he won’t go down without taking one of your own with him. If you visit him, expect death,for some of you won’t make it out alive.”
“Thank you for telling us this,” I said. “Your help is sorely appreciated.”
“Don’t make me regret it,” therusalkasaid coldly. “You have let us down one too many times, Worldweaver. It is only for the sake of my sisters, and hope for their future, that I have trusted you with this information. Prove me wrong, and make things right again.”
Therusalkadove under the water. I watched her fin disappear with a splash as she vanished into the murkiness of the river.
Odette quaked against me as she whispered, “They’re gone. I can’t feel them anymore. They must’ve swam away.”
Odette was shivering like mad. Her hair was caked with ice. Theo came out of the woods and transformed. He put his arm around her and drew her to his body, to share his shifter warmth. “I need to get Odette inside as soon as possible.”
“You guys can go home. Just send us more help,” I stated. “We’ll be waiting at the Cave of Cruachan for backup before we face this big badass.”
Theo nodded. He cast a portal and guided Odette through it. As it closed behind them, Ethan turned to me.
“We should leave to fight this beast right away,” Ethan said. “We know where he is and that he has the silver crown. There’s no reason to wait.”
“I agree.” Though I wasn’t looking forward to facing Ailen Dierdra. From what therusalkahad said about him, he didn’t seem like he’d be easy to defeat. Worse, she’d warned us that if we did face him in battle, he’d take a life defending the silver crown.
I didn’t want to give anyone else up. Yet getting that crown was non-negotiable. We weren’t bringing Droga down without it, so threat of death or not, we had no choice but to face the infamous fae killer, and slay him in order to obtain the silver crown.
It looked like whatever path we took, someone would have to pay the price.
Chapter Nineteen
