Page 3 of Whispers of Fate

“So, we could seal the prison again and prevent any more from getting out?”

I wiggled my fingers, urging the tea kettle to drift above the small teacups and fill both to their rim. Next, cubes of sugar dropped into the tea. Spoons lifted, gently stirring the fragrant liquid while I waited for Erie to proceed.

I grabbed the teacup, offering it to Erie before sitting back, resting against the thick, soft cushions to hear what she thought of sealing the prison. Of course, I didn’t think or assume it would be as easy as sealing the damn walls of the prison.

“They’re not actually in the prison, Synthia.”

“I thought you said there were multiple barriers around it?” I countered, rubbing my forehead to try to ease the pain of attempting to process this conversation.

“You’d think it was the prison, but it’s actually another realm layered into the fabric of this world.” She brought her teacup to her lips and took a sip before she continued. “The realms were all together and ended up having several layers of barriers that created rings around where the etherians were caged. That much is correct, but the seelie, unseelie, and other creatures were all layered around the original races cage. It was almost as if she was trying to create obstacles to keep them from ever escaping and coming back to Faery. Anyhow, these beings had huge wings and similar markings to what’s spreading over Alden’s flesh.”

“You think it’s similar?” I countered.

She grunted and slowly nodded. “There are actually a lot of similarities present. They were exceedingly carnal, wickedly sinful beings, but unlike the seelie and unseelie, they didn’t consume emotions. They fed from the essence of a being, consuming the unlucky individuals ether, or magic. Magical beings dry up and wither away without the magic that enhances their life and immortality.”

I considered her description and exhaled before agreeing mentally with the overall description. “There are a lot of similarities and that many wouldn’t make it a coincidence.”

She chuckled, and her lips curved into a smirk. “Zahruk was already beginning to become hard to resist, but add in the new enhancements? I’d say the women of Faery are about to get some yummy eye candy.”

“I’m pretty sure the entire population is eye candy. I agree though, he is becoming something sinfully delicious, and with his enhancements will come issues. I wonder how many more changes will occur.”

“Appearance wise? That is all that would really matter. It would be the power he inherits from his new lofty title, added by whatever is coming with the sludge infecting him.”

“I wish I’d never entered the prison, or made it unstable.”

“I don’t think it was entirely you who offset the balance. I’m certain it didn’t help it, but it was more than likely already unstable from Danu’s death.”

“Yeah, but why? Faery wasn’t affected by her dying. What would be different with the prison?”

“It’s a rather twisted answer.”

“Twisted like she wanted the realm to fall to ruin in the event of her untimely death? She’s a fucking drama queen, even in death.”

“That’s a solid theory, and where I was heading with it too. Add in that she murdered their families, and stole their land, and you have some very powerful, terrible people with serious rage escaping to seek revenge for what they’ve endured. That’s assuming any actually survived to escape. That realm they’re in? I wouldn’t enjoy visiting it, and I love insane, insurmountable odds of survival locations. It’s pretty much my thing, and I wouldn’t step one toe in there, Synthia.”

“No wonder they’re pissed off. I’d be a little vexed too if I had monstrous creatures unleashed on me, and then got transplanted into an infernal world,” I agreed, grimacing at the idea of what Danu had done to them.

Erie chuckled, blowing on the steam billowing from the cup. “You’re taking this much better than I expected you would.”

“Do you prefer I rant and smash the apartment?” I suggested, inhaling the soothing scent of spices and tea. “Danu ruined so many lives and never cared about anyone but herself. I don’t understand how anyone could be that selfish or cruel.”

Erie sat back, pursing her lips before pushing them toward her cheek. “It wasn’t the same rules back then. Don’t think I’m defending her, because I’m not. It was just different in that age, and every asshole who could was seeking an energy source to siphon from.”

“And now, because of me, we are about to be overrun by creatures who have been locked up for we-don’t-even-know-how-long and a whole race of beings who had their loved ones and homes stolen from them.”

“I don’t think this is from you altering the prison when you escaped. Yes, you fractured the barrier, which was why we suspected that was the catalyst for everything that’s been happening. Only, the magic flowing through this world is much older than even that dimension. The original people returning wouldn’t alter the land this greatly. Plus, it would have to be something huge to make the land turn against the fae since you’ve become one of its life-forces, and I think it would be more substantial than you breaking a barrier. So, what has changed that could cause the world to turn against you?”

“We planted a new Tree of Life, with a less substantial life-force than the previous one held. We’d assumed Faery was stable after Malachi intervened and stole my destiny. Kahleena vanished after that, and not long after, the weather turned chaotic and random kingdoms started to pop up. Maybe us initially uprooting the old Tree of Life made Faery think it needed a new power source, and it went looking?”

Her wide sky-blue eyes rounded, and her mouth opened. Erie placed her teacup on the table, leaned forward, and frowned in thought. “It actually makes sense. If the land reverted to the, let’s say, default setting, it would return to what it was before the invasion. You and Ryder house the power of the gods, but that isn’t what runs through the hearts of this land. If I was something that depended on the ether, I would seek that out, and if I couldn’t find it, I would search for something close to it. Something powerful enough to supplement what I wasn’t getting.”

“And if you found a source but it was locked away, you would free it. The barrier didn’t drop because of me at all. They dropped because Faery attacked them all, cracking through the different layers until it freed what it wanted so they could return home.”

“But why come here and take your daughter?” Erie opposed, plunking a cookie into her mouth and then chewing.

“If you don’t know what you’re up against, you’d seek a bargaining chip. You’d want something to offer or use for whatever you need. Plus, I’m the only reigning goddess still here,” I informed gently, caressing the babe who was using my ribs as a trampoline to bounce on. “If you were planning to lay siege against the rulers of the world you intend to overthrow, what would you accomplish first?”

“Execute them all and wear their skin?” she replied in a chipper tone, which led to my jaw dropping, allowing air to expel from it at her deduction.

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