‘Oh my god.’
Horror choked Faye. She wanted to look away but couldn’t. Aisha’s skin stretched tight over her cheekbones, and her usually bright, intelligent eyes were dull. The skin around one eye was bruised, and her shiny black hair was matted and dirty.
‘Where is she? Why…I saw her, and she was at least still in the reel.’ Faye looked aghast at Lyr who kicked dirt onto the strange mirror and traced a different symbol in the dirt. As soon as it had appeared, it faded back into mud again. Faye fell to her knees and scratched at the ground, but Lyr put a warm hand on her shoulder.
‘It is gone, daughter. Earth magic, no more, no less.’
‘But… what I saw… That was real?’
‘Yes.’ Lyr tried to take her hand, but she shook it free. ‘I merely showed you the truth, Faye. It is not my doing.’
‘But she’s… Aisha, she’s… trapped there. Suffering.’
‘You knew she was in Murias. This cannot come as a surprise.’
‘I know, but…’ Faye felt shocked tears run down her cheeks. ‘I…I thought at least she…he…I thought he wanted her. And she went willingly.’
‘You of all people know that Finn Beatha’s lovers enjoy his favour at his whim.’ Lyr’s tone was neutral; he didn’t seem to judge the other faerie king, but recount it as fact. ‘You escapedthe extremes of Murias as you are half faerie. But you know that the human lovers of the fae of Murias are not so lucky.’
Faye had no response. She knew Lyr was right. She’d seen the faerie reel, seen the broken bodies under it. She’d known that would be Aisha’s fate, sooner or later.
‘I suppose I…I didn’t want to believe it.’ Faye’s heart felt like lead. It was all her fault; her fault from the day that she, Annie and Aisha did that love spell on the floor of her shop. It had worked – too well. In less than a year, reality had spun on its axis. Everything had changed. Annie had found love with Susie and Faye with Rav. But Aisha had walked willingly into faerie, and now she was dying there for a fascination she mistook for love.
‘How…how long will she survive there? If I…before I get to her?’ Faye stammered. She wanted to go back through that glassy surface, to grab Aisha and pull her through, but she knew she couldn’t.
‘In human time? It is hard to say. A few months, perhaps.’
Faye’s heart was a stone falling into a still, black sea.
‘My offer still stands.’ Lyr’s voice was low and soft, but Faye heard the steel under it. ‘Find me a human woman to bear my heir, and I will help you bring your friend home.’
‘I want to go home.’ Faye needed time to think.Though time is one thing that Aisha doesn’t have, she reminded herself.You think you have the luxury of time, but Aisha is dying. Because of you.
‘Then go.’ Lyr sighed and held something out in his hand. ‘Take this. A gift, from me to you.’ He handed her a black crystal wand, very like those she’d seen on the table making up the powerful grids.
‘What is it?’ She took it and turned it over in her hand; as soon as her skin made contact, the crystal vibrated, thrummingwith warmth. She let out a surprised cry. It was heavy and smooth as glass, but it felt alive.
‘It is made of obsidian – volcanic glass: a magic of fire and earth combined. A part of my realm, daughter. Something of your home, to be with you. Should you need me, or need the power of Falias, draw the sigil of the earth realm with it and it will transport you here. Just its presence will keep you safe.’
Faye held it to her heart and felt a strange reassurance emanating from it.
‘I will be here, daughter.’ Lyr waved his hand and the mists swirled around her again: gold and green and brown. She felt the same dissonance of being and not being all at once.
‘Remember your heritage, Faye. Remember who you are. You are the daughter of Lyr of Falias.’ His voice echoed in her mind as she closed her eyes. ‘And remember my offer, daughter. While you rail against what you know must be done, your friend grows weaker.’
22
‘You didn’t call or text. Nothing from you for over twenty-four hours! Where were you?’ Rav paced the lounge in his flat, furious. Faye stood in the corner of the room, watching his bare feet on the faded red and cream rug. Lyr had transported her back to the rose garden after her time in Falias where Gabriel had waited patiently for the hours that had passed until she returned.
‘I stayed at Annie’s. I forgot to text.’ It was a lie, but if she told him the truth, she didn’t know if he would understand.
‘Faye, I was worried sick!’ Rav yelled. She understood why he was annoyed, but bristled at his tone.
‘I do have a life of my own, you know.’ The trauma of her time with Lyr hit her suddenly, like a rough shove; perhaps it was also the exhaustion that came from visiting the faerie realms. Her head pounded, and she sat down heavily on the sofa. It was too much, too real all of a sudden.Did I really expect anything else from my faerie father? she thought angrily as she closed her eyes and massaged her temples with her fingers.He doesn’t want me. He wants what I can give him. He’s as heartless as the rest of them.
‘I know that. I was worried something had happened. Surely you can understand that given our recent history?’ Rav’s tone softened.
‘I know,’ she breathed, trying not to exacerbate her headache. She should tell him, even if it caused an argument, or worse. She sighed. ‘I…I was…’
