Page 57 of Evil Eyed
Indeed, the opaque barrier that had surrounded the white marble castle was gone. Endless gray skies arched overhead, meeting storm-gray angry seas. Waves thundered against the cliffs, adding bass to the steady roar of wind. The same dark, rocky spines rose like jagged teeth, An Eochair Mhor, the key. There was a raw, wild, natural elemental beauty to this place, untouched by any mortals. What Tory Island might have been like at the time of its creation.
Balor snapped his fingers and the winds and waves died, leaving behind an unnatural silence that throbbed in my ears. “This be the eye for which I am named.”
Confused, I looked at him first, though his appearance hadn’t changed. I turned in a slow circle, looking up at the sky, the rocks, down at the ground. Nothing resembled an eye, let alone a giant, destructive orb of legend and myth. “I don’t understand.”
“You thought my eye would be a huge red orb flaming atop the spire?” He laughed, shaking his head. “Only in movies, lady. Even your hag stone cannot reveal my eye unless I allow it.”
Not sure that I wanted to look, I wrapped my fingers around the hag stone. He mentioned it for a reason, so I distrusted what I would see. He’d already proven that he could lay glamor on top of glamor to hide the truth.
Truth.
Of course. I turned my gaze toward Ivarr. Eyes shining like burnished golden coins, he nodded and stepped closer, offering me his hand. His truth would always shine.
I lifted the hag stone to my eye. Thick, milky fog billowed around us, concealing the ground and the ocean below, softening the brutal rocky edges with puffy clouds. Wisps stretched up from the billowing layer, crawling up our legs like ghostly vines. Shivering, I resisted the urge to shake my foot free of the clinging mist. I couldn’t feel it touching me, so I wasn’t sure that it was real.
A rich, golden glow brightened beside me, a halo that burned brighter, surrounding both me and Ivarr. In that light, the fog still flowed and swirled around us.
It was real, then. Not just a glamor.
The brighter light seemed to call to the wisps. The fog deepened around my legs, rising above my knees. Tendrils snaked around my arms. Heart pounding, I checked each of the guys to see their reaction. Aidan was still as pale as the swirling fog, but he didn’t seem to notice it. He stood facing Boss Man, swords in hand, his lips curled back in a harsh grimace.
Doran braced behind me, down on one knee, talons unsheathed, wings cocked, ready to snag me up against him and leap into the air. Though now that we were actually in Faerie, I didn’t think we’d be able to escape so easily.
Keane stood at Aidan’s back, his flamethrower dripping molten flames into the fog. The fire didn’t dissipate the mists at all. In fact, they swirled faster around him as if eager for more.
Gleaming emeralds flashed around Warwick, though each spark of magic was quickly swallowed by the fog.
The mists flowed around my waist now. Definitely deeper, and my teeth chattered with the sense of ghostly chill spreading through my body.
:It’s feeding on us,:I whispered.:Our magic.:
Deeper now, the flowing billows swirled like a slow whirlpool or hurricane, sweeping in a circular pattern that became more defined as I watched.
A circle.
And I stood at its center.
Lowering the hag stone, I jerked my head up to meet Boss Man’s knowing gaze.
He nodded. “You’re a natural conduit. Treasure magic flows through you, magnifying their gifts exponentially. You’ve seen how it works. You snared Greenshanks into your whirlpool, sucking him deeper into the swirling magic around you. You draw them all closer, even the Slaughterer, a man broken by jealousy and betrayal. You found and freed Stoneheart when no others could. You even pulled the changeling into your proximity, much to your detriment. He tried to break you, did he not? He tried to use you. Unlock you. But he couldn’t.”
His words twisted in my stomach like a rusty blade. “Way to victim blame, asshole. I didn’t pull Jonathan to me. I didn’t ask him to hurt me.”
“You didn’t have to ask—it’s your nature. This ability to pull and transform magic through yourself is innate. Every treasurekeeper was born to pull the treasures together through the mists of time. No matter how many centuries passed, no matter how many times they died in a million awful ways, they still return to the treasurekeeper’s call. Not for you, dear lady. Not for this so-called love they profess. They return to you because you’re the conduit. The only way their magic flows is through you. Otherwise, they’re just tired, old stories that humanity forgot long ago.”
He paused, letting his words soak into me. I felt ill, my stomach queasy as if I’d accidentally eaten some of the wormy, rotten food. Chilled, I wrapped my arms around myself, briskly rubbing my arms. The fog wasn’t feeding on us, not exactly. It felt like something had snagged deep inside my intestines and was trying to drag me down. It didn’t hurt exactly. It just felt…heavy. Like I’d swallowed a bowling ball that was still falling.
“Lies,” Doran retorted, tucking me back against him. “Take the magic away, destroy our gifts, break my wings, steal Ivarr’s light, break the cauldron and the sword, and still we will return to her call. Not because she’s the conduit, but because she’s the light of our hearts.”
Cold seeped into me like a poison. Automatically, I pulled Ivarr’s golden warmth into me, trying to ease the chills. His arm looped around my waist. Warwick on the other side. Doran behind me. Keane and Aidan backed closer to me, still facing the threat but walling me in. Trying to keep me safe.
The wheel spun in my mind, making me dizzy. Spinning, like the whirlpool. The same direction. The same speed. Sucking us all under. Draining the magic away.
Into…what?Where?
Wrapped in their protection, I let my consciousness glide down into the foggy mist. My stomach dropped and I rocked back on my heels. The men wavered slightly, bumping against me. I opened my eyes and everything had changed. My mind staggered, confused and unable to make sense of what I saw.
Upside down. Streams of glittering, multi-colored light shotupinto the sky where a roiling black storm spun overhead. A massive hurricane spun in the sky, and we stood below the eye. Lightning flashed, thunder a distant boom. The rocky teeth of the key were gone. The sea had become the sky, rolling waves instead of clouds. Lightning flashed again, revealing huge, dark shadows swimming in the whirlpool like sharks.
