Faith is Fallen (Broken Fantasies Series)

Chapter 28

"What took you so long?" Mike grumbled as Cara came back through the gate.

"Should I even start to complain that your ignored my instructions?"

"Hey, I was out of sight of the gate. But that doesn't mean I couldn't see you as you came through. Besides, I think I could almost feel it." He said that last part sheepishly, like he didn't want to admit it.

Cara simply nodded. "Let's go."

"Where to?" He fell into step behind her. "And what happened?"

"Unfortunately, all I was able to do was confirm my suspicions."

"Your brother is definitely behind it?"

"No one in Faery has seen him in nearly two hundred years."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. They suspect he set off a series of events that my mother and the king of the Unseelie are still dealing with."

"What did he do?"

"Get the already Chaos-loving Unseelie to make an unseemly mess of my world."

#

"So, what's the plan?" Michael asked Cara as they reached the car.

Cara paused, hand on the door handle, not having an answer for him. At least, not a good one. "We've got to lure him out the same way he's been trying to do with me. Neither of us want to continue living our lives with this hanging over our heads." She pulled out her cell phone, wanting to call Val—they could use all the help the could get—but couldn't get a signal.

"Were you trying to call someone?" Michael asked as he started the car.

"A friend of mine. A wizard called Val. Unfortunately, he's in Italy right now, but he would be invaluable at out side."

"A wizard, huh? There are wizards. Scratch that. By now I should know not to question it. Of course there're wizards. Why not? There're fairies after all."

"Fae," Cara muttered under her breath.

"Whatever." He turned off the dirt road onto smooth ground once more. "So, how do we lure him out?"

Cara had no idea, though she couldn't imagine it would be hard. After all, he wanted her dead. Surely he would show himself if she did, right? "I'll have to do some thinking."

He looked over at her, but said nothing before turning his gaze back on the road.

#

By the time they got back to Michael's father's house, it was growing dark, the sun's red light silhouetting the trees on the horizon. Cara got out of the car on autopilot. Even after a hundred years, she still wasn't used to cars. They just didn't seem... natural.

"So, have you gotten any ideas," he said as he jingled the keys in the front door's lock.

"One."

"Do tell." He pushed the door open walking backward. "I'm all ears."

"If he's really been looking for me, he wouldn't be worth his salt if he wasn't paying attention to any magic I might be using."

"What, you haven't used magic in the past couple of centuries?"

"Oh, sure I have, but nothing big. I haven't done anything big since I left Faery in the seventeenth century."

He nodded and dropped on the couch. "So, do you have anything in mind?"

Cara frowned. "It would have to be something believable. Something he wouldn't question me trying to pull off." She started biting her thumbnail in contemplation.

"A protection spell, maybe? Or a concealment spell?"

"Those aren't usually very strong. I can make a charm for either and wouldn't even blip his radar."

"Oh."

"But your mind is on the right track. After the attack on you, he would expect me to try something. Or at least he wouldn't question it." Of course, no protection or concealment amulet was perfect. The only thing that would work perfectly would be to physically keep him out of harm's way. "A pocket universe!"

"A what?"

"A pocket universe. The only way to keep someone safe is to put them somewhere they can't be reached, somewhere the enemy can't go. It would take a massive amount of magic to create and maintain, and it would be totally plausible that I would try."

"You're sure?"

"Yes, but I think first we need to teach you some magic."

"Why the hell would you want to do that?"

"So you can defend yourself, of course. Plus, that'll hopefully give me enough time to reach out to Val." She finagled her cell phone out of her back pocket, and dialed. The phone rang, then went immediately to voicemail. She switched to the text message window, and sent a message. "SOS. Return immediately."

"Now, hopefully, he gets that quickly." Cara looked around them, realizing they never should have returned here. "We need to go. Come on." She stood and headed back the way they'd come."

"Hey! Now wait just a damned minute. Where are we going now?"

"Somewhere remote."

"We just left somewhere remote. Why would we want to go back?"

Cara grabbed him by his shirt front. "We need to go somewhere he won't come looking for us while we're preparing. As in, not here. And the more remote, the less likely we will be noticed, which means you will be able to practice magic."

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh. Let's go."

"Where to this time?"

"My place."