Page 57 of Shaw

“Release me,” the enchantress hissed, and a blast of magic came from her and hit Julianne in the face and chest. It gathered there, just an inch from touching her body, and then seemed to run down an invisible wall and puddle in between them on the deck.

“More cool stuff, see?” She used her grip on the Fae’s arm to drag her over to the side of the boat. Speal and the rest of the Cait Sith stared but didn’t try to stop her. “Looks like my aunt Klee protected me against your kind and the magic you use.”

“Take your hand from me, or my shifters shall cut it off,” Derdrui shrieked.

The enchantress looked as if she were on the verge of a major brain melt, Julianne thought. She just had to prod her a little more.

“I don’t think they’re going to try. The Half-Fae really don’t like touching me. Not counting Shaw, of course. He and I are fated to be lovers in like every lifetime until maybe the end of time, or we decide not to come back, or something like that. So he’s like immune to my shock and awe thing.” She glanced over the side of the boat. “You know how to swim, right? Because sorry, but I’m so not saving your butt from drowning. Not a lifeguard in this time. Plus you’re immortal so you probably can’t drown, right? But you look like you’ll sink really fast.” She eyed Speal. “Are you like good swimmers?”

“I shall tear through that shield, and eat your heart while it yet beats,” Derdrui promised, her lips peeling back from her teeth. “No, I think first I shall permit you live forever. There is a spell, a regenerative magic, that will bring you back to life no matter what harm is done to you, and I shall–”

“Dude, just quit with the threats already, okay?” Julianne grabbed her by the front of her gown, and dug her fingers into the slippery silk. “You should stop trying to hunt down the MacMar, too. It’s not their fault their dad never liked you. But hey, you know you might work better for one of those slaver guys. You have all the cruel and heartless stuff in common. They went west in a little boat, by the way.”

As the enchantress’s expression twisted into ferocious, snarling hatred, Julianne spun around her, using an immobilizing hold to knock her off balance. The silk gown ripped as she flung Derdrui over the railing. Hoping she was right about the dark woman, she caught her hand at the last possible moment and held her dangling over the churning sea water.

Derdrui screamed and writhed, her fingers clawing and clutching.

“You go too far, changeling,” Speal said, lunging toward the railing to grab the enchantress’s arm.

“Kind of had to, sorry.” Julianne looked down at Derdrui. “Put the ring back on my finger. Do it right now, or I let go.”

“I shall drop it in the sea– No,” the enchantress shrieked as Speal pried the ring from her hand and shoved it onto Julianne’s finger.

“Thanks, and you should grab her now,” she told the big woman, who took hold of Derdrui’s hand. Julianne released it and regarded the enchantress. “You should really go vegan. So much healthier. Bye now.”

The ring glowed as Julianne used her power to jump from the enchantress’s boat into a huge, thick cloud, through which she dropped down until she hit the deck of the MacMar ferry. Across from her she saw the Viking longboat, now on fire, and Shaw with the slave kids huddled around him at one end.

“Crap, I’m late.” She turned to MacLeir. “I’ll get the kids and bring them over to you. Keep up the magic repairs with the barrier, okay?” When the ferryman nodded she jumped over to the longboat, appearing right beside the chieftain, who was tearing strips from his tunic and using them to cover the boys’ noses and mouths. “Sorry I took so long. Let’s get these little dudes over to the ferry.”

He looked up, his face streaked black with soot. “Julianne, you cannae. They’re too many.”

“It’s okay. I’ll make a couple trips.” She grabbed two of the kids and jumped back over to the ferry with them. When she returned to the burning longboat she staggered a little, her skin turning icy cold, but went to the next pair. “I can take three this time,” she told her lover before she used her power again.

MacLeir grabbed her as she fell to her knees, and shook his head, pointing to the now sinking longboat.

“Just four more,” she told him. “Shaw can’t drown.”

She pushed herself to her feet, took a deep breath, and went back a third time, landing on her face on the scorched deck, coughing uncontrollably. Flames burned her back, feet and arms as the upper deck began to collapse.

Her lover dragged her up, and pressed the four remaining boys around her as his eyes turned black. He gripped the front of her throat with his marked hand, and Julianne sensed the cool, dark weight of his ink spilling onto her skin.

“I love you, my golden merrow.” He picked up her and the boys with his arms, and tossed them into the air a moment before the flames engulfed him.

Julianne held onto the sobbing boys as she closed her eyes, everything moving as if they were under water. She had rescued so many kids back in the future, so if these four were the last she would be grateful she’d had the chance. Whatever happened to her after death, she knew Shaw would find her. With the last of her strength she jumped over to the ferry, where she and the boys collapsed at MacLeir’s feet.

As the ferryman helped her stand, Julianne leaned in to kiss his cheek. “Thanks, Bro.” She took in a deep breath, and jumped back to the longboat.

Chapter Sixteen

In the forest world, time didn’t pass as it did on the other side of the trees, so Julianne had no idea how long she had been there, or when she had arrived. The last thing she remembered was trying to go back to Shaw on the burning Viking boat. That she was stuck here instead didn’t bother her too much; very little did in this place. Maybe her life with the Scotts and then the MacMars had been dreams of the outside world. Klee never explained these things too well to her.

The immortal being who had saved her life came to join her, looking like the sweet old lady she pretended to be on the other side. “Why are you weeping again, my child?”

“Why did you show me what was going to happen to us? What does any of it matter now?” Julianne said, blinking away her tears as she turned away from the window in the tree. Watching herself rescue the last of the boys from the raider’s boat before she went back to die with her lover had made her wish she could escape this rotten fate of theirs. “Shaw and me, we’re dead. Again. This sucks.”

“Not yet, Jorunn. You are dreaming again, but I am the dream, and you are on the other side.” Klee waved her hand in the air, and an image of the longboat appeared. The chieftain stood on the railing, his body blackened, his hair burned off. As he held her limp body in his burned arms his ink spilled onto her as if it had turned liquid.

“Oh, Buster must be so upset.” She grimaced. “He’ll probably try to stop Shaw from burning up with me on that boat, right?”