Page 60 of Duncan

“I’ll be all right, sweetheart.” Valerie regarded her husband. “Derdrui intends to kill the MacMar and the Selseus, and arm herself with Merrick’s crown. She’ll first use it to amplify her powers so she can murder the rest of the Cait Sith, including those made into hybrids by Duxor. Dearg was the only one she promised to take back with her to Elphyne, because she is the only shifter that the enchantress has under her complete control. I can’t tell you when they’ll reach the island, but it will be soon.” The laird’s wife rose somewhat unsteadily, and looked into Nicole’s eyes. “If you know anything about what the enchantress has planned after she wipes out the MacMar, please tell us now.”

“Yeah, why does she want to go back to Faeworld?” the lifeguard asked. “She was like in jail there, right?”

Nicole silently apologized to her aunt for breaking the last of her promises before she said, “Merrivane said the reason my grandfather ordered her and my mother back to Elphyne was because of Derdrui’s threats against the Fae king and his supporters. She promised once she exterminated the MacMar Clan that she would come back for them. My aunt said there were too many Fae who would rally to protect the king, so it was an empty threat.”

“Unless she plans to use Merrick’s crown to meld the Fae king with Dearg,” Valerie said. “That would allow her to seize control of Elphyne through an imposter, and take her revenge against the Fae. Once she rules the Fae otherworld, she’ll have ultimate power over the mortal realm, and all the humans she could want to torture and kill.”

“You believe that’s been her plan all along?” When the laird’s wife nodded, Nicole sat down quickly on the exam table so she wouldn’t fall on her face. “We have to stop her.”

Lark hugged herself. “How can we fight the enchantress, the Cait Sith and the hybrids?”

“I hate to make things worse, but Jamaran sent word that Merrick disappeared,” Caroline put in. “Half of the Selseus are out searching for him. If they don’t find him soon we probably can’t rely on them to help defend the island.”

The seamstress made a soft sound. “What if that shifter already killed him so she could take his crown for Derdrui?”

“You have to let me go and face the enchantress.” Nicole regarded Valerie and then the laird. “I look just like Eilonwy. My aunt said I even sound like her. All of her attention would be on me.”

Connal frowned. “You’ve no boon you may use against her, lass.”

“No,” Nicole said, watching Duncan lock the cabinet where he’d stowed the orb, “but I can get close enough to use one of Duncan’s Fae weapons against her. There’s a jar of newborn imps we caught that obey me. I can order them to attack her.”

“Wait, we don’t even know if they’d have any effect on a pureblood Fae,” Caroline said.

“No, no, don’t you see? This is why we were all brought here. This last battle with that evil witch,” Julianne said suddenly. “I mean, V can read minds, so that’s how we know what Derdrui has planned. The rest of us have to be the weapons now.”

Nicole saw the doubt on the other women’s face, but something told her the lifeguard was right. “How can we do that, Julianne?”

“Lark, you can use your lift thing to smash the hull of the Cait Sith’s boat when they get here, just enough to start it sinking so they can’t sail away again. I can do my thing so we can get on the ship. Then maybe Caroline has to stop time. I’m not sure about all the details.” She thought for a moment before she brightened. “We don’t even have to kill Derdrui, you know. Nick just needs to make her tell the truth to the shifters.” As Valerie frowned at her she added, “They still don’t know who she is.”

“No, they don’t,” Valerie murmured. “Even Dearg didn’t know—but we need proof.”

“The clan is the proof. So am I.” Everything was coming together like pieces of an impossibly difficult puzzle, Nicole thought. “I can do this.”

“’Tis too dangerous,” Connal said. “The enchantress may command all the shifters. Even if she doesn’t, if she throws Mistress Fairburn in the water, they’ll attack you.”

“That evil bitch murdered my aunt Eilonwy, Laird,” she reminded him. “By escaping imprisonment in Elphyne, she forced the Woodland Fae king to order my mother to leave the mortal realm forever. I grew up with no mom and a heartbroken dad. This is why your enchanted ring brought me here, so I could expose Derdrui for what she is. I’m the only one who can. Please, let me do this.”

“We’ll have her back.” Julianne slung her arm around Nicole. “Also, don’t forget she’s half-Fae, and pretty hard to slay.”

“I agree.” The laird looked at his wife. “What say you, my love?”

“We should let her try. Just know that Derdrui is far more powerful and dangerous than any Fae in our world, Nicole.” Valerie turned to Connal. “We should summon all of the mortals on this side of the island to take refuge in the stronghold. They’ll be safer here than in their own homes, and our staff will want their families with them.” She winced and rubbed her temple.

“That’s a good idea.” Nicole took hold of the other woman’s hands, removing the last vestige of her headache. “Thank you, Val.”

Connal and the other women didn’t look at the healer as they filed out after Valerie, and when he kicked the door shut Nicole winced.

“Don’t be angry, okay? I volunteered.” As he started toward her she backed up until her shoulders hit his nulling cabinet, and all the objects inside started making noise. “We have to do this.”

Duncan put his hands on her waist and lifted her up to his eye level. “We? ’Twas no’ what I heard. ’Tis all thrust upon you.”

“I’m only half-mortal,” she reminded him. “That makes me a lot harder to kill.” She frowned as a dull pain started hammering at her temples. “Ouch. She must have had a migraine.”

He kissed her until the headache faded, and then kept kissing her as he carried her out of the infirmary and strode in the direction of his room. Every guard they passed probably gawked at them, but Nicole was too busy kissing Duncan back to notice.

DERDRUI SPIED a wall of mist in the distance, made silver-edged by the last rays of the setting sun. She breathed in and tasted old Fae magic, the same kind Prince Mar had once wielded during the Reparation in Elphyne, and it brought back all the old bitterness over his betrayal.

The fool had rebuilt all the territories he had destroyed during the war between the elementals, which she had considered a waste. He had then gifted them to all who had fought with him and the Fae king—all but the Therion. When she had confronted him about the slight to her and her people, and demanded to know when they would marry, he had all but laughed at her.