Page 150 of First Light
“I told you.” The whisper came again. “This will help you.”
The shadow moved, and Carys closed her eyes, willing whatever was going to happen to happen softly.
Please. At least give me that.
Let death be soft.
“Carys?”
She opened her eyes, and Aisling was in front of her. Carys’s vision cleared a little. Aisling’s face was still pale and her lips blood red, but the chaotic emotions she’d displayed earlier were gone, replaced by grim determination.
Carys forced her lips to move. “Where are we?”
“In the fae fort. Regan left to reinforce the wards so Cadell can’t find you.”
“I’m in the fae fort?”
Aisling walked back to feed the fire more wood, and the light grew brighter.
Carys looked around the room, and pieces of her shattered consciousness slowly put her surroundings and situation together.
She was being held in some kind of workroom or kitchen. There were cauldrons of various sizes hanging on a wall. There were shelvesholding dusty glass jars, so dirty that Carys couldn’t see what they contained. The fireplace was the only part of the room that seemed well maintained.
“Regan works here sometimes when she wants to hide.” Aisling knelt down and stirred something bubbling over the fire. “She won’t work magic within the castle walls, and the unicorns don’t watch this place. Only a few local fae even visit here, but they don’t come inside. They say it’scontaminatedby human magic. Can you believe that?” She glanced over her shoulder. “They teach us, but they hate us too. Even us.”
Aisling walked toward the table and snapped her fingers in the air. The old sconces on the wall began to glow with a cool white light. The wisps still swirled overhead, dancing on the earthen ceiling like fireflies. As the room grew brighter, Carys could see more.
The chamber had clearly been abandoned long ago. Mushrooms grew from cracks in the mortar, and moss was slowly overtaking the floor. Despite all that, there was a thick veil of magic that lay heavy in the air, making it hard to think.
“Cadell can’t feel me here, can he?”
“Cadell will be able to see the fort from the air” —Aisling’s voice was rote as she looked at the large grimoire open on the table— “but if he approaches, it will appear to move. You’re hidden from him now. Dragons are visual creatures, and they don’t use magic the way we do.”
“The way you and your aunt do, you mean.” Carys fought for her anger, shaking off the despair that threatened to creep up her throat and choke her.
“The spell Regan cast was only short-term.” Aisling turned back to the cauldron that was simmering over the fire. “The wards won’t hide you for long, so she went back to strengthen them. She’ll have to find a sacrifice, but she’s an excellent hunter.”
“What kind of sacrifice?”
Aisling’s eyes drifted upward to the glowing blue lights hanging above them. “The same kind the fae used to make this fort.”
“No.” Regan was going to sacrifice more souls to keep her. “Don’t let her, Aisling. Let me out before she kills?—”
“You think I’m in control of this now?” Aisling shot Carys a look over her shoulder. “I tried to protect you, just like I tried to protect Seren.”
“You killed Seren.” Carys forced the words out. “Didn’t you?”
“Regan trapped me too.” Aisling walked back to the table, ignoring Carys’s question. “I don’t know what you want me to do about it.”
Carys’s eyes landed on a small black book next to the grimoire.
Seren’s journal.
She kept her voice soft. “Why did you kill her, Aisling?”
The woman’s face was blank. It was as if the life had drained from her, though she was still moving. “The fever killed her. It wasn’t me.” Aisling glanced at Carys before her eyes returned to the book. “Seren came to me for a potion, and I gave her one. I was the only one she trusted. She wouldn’t even take potions from the unicorns.”
“She trusted you.” Carys swallowed with difficulty. She felt like there was a mass of stones in her mouth, blocking her tongue from making a sound. “And you killed her.”