Arawn came to the conclusion that the only way to save the Island was to end the corruption and prevent more tears. Then, we could hunt down the demons without risk of their return. It sounded easy enough, but in action, was rather complicated. There were a lot of unhappy people on the Island, ripe for corruption. In order to prevent tears those people had to move away from toxic emotions demons could feed on. Again, easier said than done. They had a lot to be upset about. So we started small. Arawn, Maddox, and Torin worked on repairing the abhorrent living conditions most of the people suffered under and the Seznec family continued to close tears. It fell to Flynn, Leith, and me to gather food.
People were starving. The Island had been without imports for months. Sir Seznec revealed my father had declared it too dangerous to send aid as the demons became more prevalent. He really seemed to have something against the Island, which could only mean it was a necessary part of his plans. I knew he wouldn't want me to help save the Island. He'd probably expect me to sabotage the efforts. But when I saw the way Flynn's eyes, red and blotchy from tears, swept over the starving populace with guilt, I couldn't be bothered to care about my father.
Anyway, that's how Flynn, Leith, and I found ourselves on the docks as the sun dipped behind the horizon on our third day on the Island. Flynn used his affinity to dredge up fish and I used nets and buckets of ice to haul them aboard the dock and preserve them. Leith watched over us. Already he'd downed several encroaching demons with arrows cast in holy fire.
With a grunt, Flynn lifted a bubble of water into the air, just above the wooden planks of the dock. A school of fish swirled in the murk. I swung my net around the bubble and he let the water fall away. I struggled to keep my grip on the net full of squirming fish.
Flynn wiped his forehead, which dripped with sweat. "We should be out there, hunting down demons."
Leith glanced his way. "Starving people are desperate, and desperate people are easily corrupted. We have to stop the root of the problem if anything is to improve." Leith's tone was gentle, but the words were not what Flynn wanted to hear. There could be a demon in possession of his sister's soul out there. I could imagine how much he wanted to free her soul. I would be beyond desperate if Zimara had been turned into a demon.
"As soon as we leave there won't be any more food. The problem won't go away," Flynn argued. "We're better off exterminating demons and closing as many tears as possible."
"Wouldn't that be a temporary solution as well?" I asked, dumping fish into buckets.
"It'd be better than this." Flynn's hands curled into fists as he searched the water for another school.
Leith shook his head. "This isn't a temporary solution. If we can ensure the safety of the Island, the King's advisor will have no reason to refuse aid. The mainland has supplied the majority of the Island's resources for many years, it will return to normal." And if the island returned to normal, it would mean we succeeded in our mission. An invite to the castle would likely come our way. My ticket to talking with my father. I hadn't forgotten.
"This Island was never normal," Flynn said. The rickety dock boards creaked beneath his feet as he strode along the dock.
Instead of responding, Leith called, "Turn back." Another wondering citizen. The sight of Leith's arrows would turn them away. I didn't even bother to glance their way, so preoccupied I was with the fish. The stretch of Leith's bow as he drew it confirmed he had the situation well in hand.
I was freeing the last of the fish from the net when a voice called out. It was soft and gentle, like a child's, but tinged with an unnatural rasp. That wasn't enough to concern me. The name it called was.
"Fin?" A small child stood at the edge of the dock, her long hair brittle and pale, her skin pockmarked and bruised. She wore a poofy yellow dress, complete with a pink bow around her waist. Blood spray tinged the yellow.
Flynn took a step towards her as Leith glanced between them. His bow was drawn, the arrow ablaze with holy fire, but he didn't shoot, even when the child took one step onto the dock.
Strange, discolored tears began to slip down the child's face. They only highlighted her unnatural paleness. A moan gurgled from the back of her throat and she took a stumbling step towards the dock.
Flynn took off towards her. I trailed after him, Leith calling for us to stay back. It was too late for that, Flynn stopped five steps away from the child. Maybe his survival instincts finally made their appearance.
"Gwenn?" He repeated, voice broken and shaky. Gwenn? That couldn't be right. I stopped behind him. The child lurched forward.
I grabbed Flynn's arm. "This is wrong." But things were moving too fast and his love for Gwenn outweighed the warning bells that had to be going off in his head. They rung loud in mine.
The child took another step, but tumbled to the ground. She turned her dark eyes to his. "Fin, help me." Flynn jerked out of my grip and fell to his knees at her side. He reached for her, held her face between his hands. I took another step and the smell hit me. Rot, so severe I almost gagged.
I tried to grab him and pull him away. But I was too slow. The demon who was once his baby sister grinned wide, showing off rows of needle sharp teeth, and barreled into his chest. The world moved in slow motion as she sunk her teeth into his chest, as feral as any mongrel. And yet somehow more.
Flynn's eyes widened but he didn't use his fist or weapons on the demon. I launched myself into the fray and landed a heavy kick on the demon's small chest. Her small body skidded across the cobblestone.
I glanced at Flynn. Blood blossomed across his chest. He moved slow as he pulled his hand away from his shirt, staring at it. He was in shock. Had to be.
"Shit, shit, shit," I cried. I grabbed my dagger as the demon child scuttled forward on all fours. I called out to Leith, "Shoot it!"
"I don't have a clear shot," he said, voice strained. I had to protect Killian.
The demon leaped and I swung my dagger. It sunk into her stomach. I tossed her off me with a fling of my arm and she rolled across the ground again.
Behind me, Flynn struggled to sit up and shouted, "Gwenn!"
"Fin," she returned. Her voice was void of emotion, but it stirred Flynn into a frenzy.
"Stop playing Gwenn! We need to get you home. Mother needs you," he called. The blood spread faster the more he struggled.
"Stop Flynn! You're bleeding, stop moving," I commanded.
He ignored me. Leith dropped to his knees beside Flynn and pinned his flailing body to the ground. I turned back to the demon as she leaped for my throat. I swung my dagger up and dodged. Her claws sunk into the skin of my forearm and she scrambled for purchase. Damn it, a demon the size of a child should be easy. But I was distracted, my attention caught between the fight and Flynn.
The demon sunk her teeth into my wrist. I swiped again with my dagger, slicing through her throat. She dropped from me and gave the most abhorrent shriek as she rolled across the ground, a trail of dark blood in her wake. Flynn screamed as she turned into ash. But it wasn't holy fire. The demon wasn't dead, just returned to the Demonic Realm. It would have been better to free her soul, but that was a complication for a day when Flynn wasn't bleeding out.
I raced to Flynn's side and looked to Leith. "What do we do?" My words came out high pitched and breathless.
"I'm healing what I can, but it's too deep. We need an actual healer," Leith said through gritted teeth.
"How are we supposed to move him when he's like this?" I asked. Flynn still shouted for Gwenn. He fought Leith's hold hard enough the veins in his forehead became visible.
"Hold him," Leith ordered. I did it without question. Leith clamped his hand against Flynn's head. A few seconds later, he fell still and silent, eyes still wide open.
"You have mind magic," I said. Under normal circumstanced, I'd be in awe. We didn't have time for awe right then.
Leith nodded as he grabbed Flynn's legs. "We have to get him back to the estate. Help me."
I clasped Flynn's upper body and we began luging him back to safety. I looked down at his face, and immediately regretted it. His eyes were glazed and blood bloomed across his uniform. If I hadn't been able to make out the slow rise and fall of his chest, I would believe him dead. If we didn't hurry, he would be.
*****
We were half way up the drive when a shrieking woman hurled herself our way. His mother. She hovered beside him, hands out stretched. She gulped.
"Is he dead?" Her voice broke on the word.
"No," I said. It came out harsher than I meant it, but I didn't have time to apologize.
Thankfully, Leith stepped in, ever the diplomat. "He'll be fine, but we need to get him to a healer. Where is one?"
His mother's hands shook as she pointed back towards the house. I chanced a glance and the tightness in my chest loosened just a bit at the sight of a healer. His robes flew out around him as he leaped down the steps. Two men, who must have been two thirds of the Seznec triplets, raced after him with a cot stretched between them.
We transferred Flynn onto the cot as gently as we could. He groaned and their mother gasped. My arms ached and trembled from the weight of carrying him so far, but I hardly noticed. I wanted to help with the cot, but his brothers were more than capable and in my state, I'd just get in their way. Still, I hustled after them, desperate to keep an eye on Flynn.
"Are either of you in need of healing?" the healer asked as we hustled through the manor corridors.
Leith glanced to me, to my arm that spotted my uniform with blood. It was nothing compared to the rapid blood loss Flynn was facing, so I shook my head.
Leith raised an eyebrow but said, "Nothing urgent." The healer asked what had happened to Flynn, and I couldn't listen as Leith detailed the attack. The two brothers exchanged wide eyed glances when Leith described the child demon, but I focused on Flynn's face. No one else mattered. He had to be alright.
*****
"What do you mean I can't see him," I demanded of the assistant, fist clinched. The dried blood on my sleeve cracked. Flynn had been locked away in a room with healers for hours without any word. Now this scrawny assistant insisted he was fine, but refused to let me in to see him with my own eyes.
I'd been patient. I'd stood by without question as his mother was granted access, as his brothers visited. But I had to see for myself if he was safe.
The squirmy assistant glanced around as though help would materialize from thin air. "Only family is allowed at the moment."
Someone strode up behind me, and the healer sagged with relief. I spun to find Torin, coated in demon blood, standing at the top of the staircase.
My fury must have been written on my face because he took one look, turned to the healer, and asked, "Why isn't he allowed to visit my brother?"
The assistant fidgeted. "Well, we're only allowing family at the moment. So as to not overwhelm your brother."
Torin folded his arms across his chest. "So my whole family is in there right now?"
The assistant's eyes darted around. "No, not now. Your mother, she needed rest. It's been an eventful day. And your brothers are out hunting the, um, demon responsible."
"So Flynn's in there all alone," Torin said, voice full of steel. "And you won't let his brother in arms visit. Interesting tactic." I hadn't gotten the impression Torin particularly liked me, so I didn't expect him to take my side. I stared at the assistant, urging him to let me in.
"Well, when you put it like that, I suppose it sounds a bit odd," the assistant admitted.
"Let us in," Torin commanded.
"I still can't-"
Torin cut him off. "Whose family do you work for again?"
The assistant swallowed. "I suppose one exception won't make too much of a difference." He gestured for us to follow him. I shot Torin a grateful look, but he didn't even glance my way. Perhaps he argued simply to argue, not for my sake. Whatever his reasons, it got me in to see Flynn.
Finally inside the room, I slipped past the assistant and rushed to Flynn's bedside. His eyelids flickered but didn't open and his skin was ashen.
"Flynn," I breathed. I brought a hand to his cheek, but didn't touch. The assistant mumbled some excuse and fled the room while Torin took to his brother's other side.
"They say it was a demon who possessed Gwenn," Torin said, voice low and rough.
I couldn't pull my gaze from Flynn's face when I said, "They're right. I've never seen your sister, but Flynn knew her. She called his name and he called hers. Then she tried to kill him."
Torin sucked in a breath. "I have to free her," he murmured. I didn't think he meant for me to hear, so I didn't acknowledge his words. He took one last glance at Flynn and left the room.
*****
Several hours later, I was pulled from sleep by a stroke through my hair. I bolted up, thoughts a blur. I found Flynn's face, grin less vibrant than usual. Oh. I'd fallen asleep in the chair at his bedside. My cheeks reddened. I hadn't wanted him to wake up alone.
"Good to see you're not dead yet," I said.
"It'll take more than that to kill me," he joked. I bit my lip. We both knew how close to death he came. If the demon's teeth had pierced a little deeper, or a bit to the side, or if the healers had been slower. But none of that happened, and so I shook the thoughts away.
"I'm getting pretty good at saving your life."
"And my life thanks you for it." Flynn tried to sit up with a grunt. I swooped in to help, adding an extra pillow behind him. He stared off into the distance then shook his head. "She looked almost the same, like I'd never even left. I never should have left her behind."
"This isn't your fault. You were ensuring a better future for her on the mainland. No one could have known this would happen."
Flynn ran a hand over his face. "Technically, I know you're right. But it doesn't feel right."
I took his hand in mine so he'd stop rubbing his face. It pressed warm and soft against my palm. "Feelings don't really care for the truth. But it is true, you know. None of this is your fault. Even if you'd stayed, there'd be no guarantee things would have gone differently."
"But they might have."
"But you'll never know. And the longer you spend wracked with guilt, the longer Gwenn's killer runs free," I said. This was something my father drilled into me. No mourning, no guilt, only retribution. It was the only way forward.
Flynn met my eyes. I smiled at the renewed spark. "More than that, I need to free her. Her soul is still in there, suffering."
I nodded. "You will. I'll help, if you want."
He glanced to my arm, still coated in dried blood. "You've already helped plenty. Did you even get that checked out?"
I grinned sheepishly. "I may have been a little too preoccupied with whether you'd die."
"Aww, you were worried about me." Flynn chuckled, then winced.
"Of course I was, idiot. Who else can I rely on to keep me humble?"
"Oh, if that's the only reason you're keeping me around I better step up my game," he said.
"Well, it might not be the only reason."
"Is that so?" He leaned towards me and our noses brushed. He smelled of rain.
The door swung open and we jolted apart. Our hands stayed entwined under the blanket.
*****
I stayed with Flynn as much as I could for his three days of bed rest. His mother was often there, but his father never visited. The only time I left was to complete my duties as a Clunaic. Every time I left, I had a sinking feeling in my gut that something terrible would happen while I was gone. It never did.
Finally, he was allowed to get out of bed. He wasn't allowed out of the manor, but it was better. He listened in when we planned, but didn't have much to add.
A week after the attack, I couldn't find him before bed. I searched, but tried to shrug it off. He was probably with Torin. The two had grown closer since he was cleared and it wasn't like I needed to know where he was all the time. He'd survived 17 years without me, he didn't need me now.
Everyone else was asleep when I entered the privy to clean up before bed. I pulled my shirt, demon blood scattered across it, over my head. I stood in just my corset and pants, which was quite a look. My shoulders and back ached. I'd been wearing the corset far too often lately. I grabbed a wet rag to scrub away the sweat and dirt I'd accumulated over the day.
I was scrubbing a particularly stubborn blood stain when the doorknob moved. I started to say I would be out in a minute, but the door swung open. I must have forgotten the lock.
I leaped back, but there was no place to hid in a privy. My arms wrapped around my corset, but they did not hide it. My face heated and my throat tightened.
Flynn and Torin stood in the doorway. Torin wore a look of surprise, something I never expected to see from him. Flynn stared for a second and a huge grin stretched across his face.
"I knew it! I knew you were a girl," he crowed.
Face on fire, I threw a shirt on. "Tell the whole house, why don't you."
He stepped into the privy, voice lowered. "I told you before, I'm not going to tell anyone. You can trust me, Fallon." He sounded so genuine, but it didn't last. "Is Fallon even your real name? Probably not."
I groaned. This was the worst thing to happen in my time as a Clunaic yet. Even if I trusted Flynn not to tell, there was no way Torin would keep quiet. All my effort would go to waste.
Flynn leaned in, a dimple in his left cheek. I took a breath, prepared myself to spout some excuse, maybe even beg, but caught a whiff of blood. I sniffed again. There was a rotting undertone to it. Demon blood. I looked Flynn and Torin up and down. In the dim light I could just make out the demon blood that splattered their clothes.
"You two were out fighting demons," I said slowly. Flynn pulled back, a crease in his forehead. Torin's face dropped into indifference. I waved a finger at Flynn. "There's no way Arawn approved you to go out."
"You're the one who said I could do my best to set things right," Flynn said, crossing his arms. They had snuck out to search of their sister. Of course they had.
I rolled my eyes. "I didn't mean behind everyone's back while you're still healing!"
Torin spoke up. "Now you know a secret of ours, and we know a secret of yours." My heart lifted.
"I guess we both have to keep quiet," I said.
"I guess we don't have a choice," Torin said.
"I guess not," I agreed. Oh, thank the angels in the holy realm. My life was not about to totally fall apart. "But if you two plan to continue going out to fight demons in the night, I'm coming with you."
"This is our fight, not yours. You don't have to do that," Flynn said.
"I know I don't have to. I want to help." Even if it didn't benefit me or help my mission, I wanted to help Flynn.
Torin stepped in. "We can use the extra help. The demons are very active at night and Flynn is, technically, still recovering."
"Great. Do you have holy fire?" I asked. Killing Gwenn would do nothing without holy fire.
Torin held up an arrow. "I snagged this from Leith. It's new, so it hasn't been set to a particular Clunaic yet."
"Seriously Fallon, you don't have to help us. We've got it," Flynn insisted. "We'll keep your secret either way."
"I'm in this whether you like it or not."