Heart of Thorns: a Between the Worlds novel Read online

  Heart of Thorns

  A Between the Worlds Novel

  By Morgan Daimler

  All rights reserved. This book and contents may not be reproduced or transmitted by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems without permission in writing from Morgan Daimler. Reviewers may quote brief passages.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination; any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, locations, or incidents are entirely coincidental.

  Copyright 2016 Morgan Daimler

  ISBN-13: 978-1530115679

  ISBN-10: 1530115671

  Dedicated to my readers, the ones who have enjoyed this series and who want to see more stories of Allie and her friends. It means a lot to me to know that you care as much about these characters as I do – book 4 is definitely not the end.

  Thanks to Allison and Tricia for letting me bounce ideas off of them and offering helpful suggestions. And to my beta readers Maya, Cathy, Tricia, and Paige for constructive criticism and feedback.

  Novels in the Between the Worlds Series:

  Murder Between the Worlds

  Lost in Mist and Shadow

  Into the Twilight

  Non-fiction by Morgan Daimler:

  By Land, Sea, and Sky

  A Child’s Eye View of the Fairy Faith

  Where the Hawthorn Grows

  Pagan Portals: Fairy Witchcraft

  Pagan Portals: The Morrigan

  Pagan Portals: Irish Paganism

  Pagan Portals: Brigid

  Fairycraft

  Table of Contents

  Guide to Characters Names and Pronunciations

  Prologue - Sunday

  Chapter 1 - Sunday

  Chapter 2 - Wednesday

  Chapter 3 - Saturday

  Chapter 4 - Sunday

  Chapter 5 - Monday

  Chapter 6 - Tuesday

  Chapter 7 - Wednesday

  Chapter 8 Wednesday part 2

  Chapter 9 – Friday

  Chapter 10 – Saturday

  Chapter 11 – Sunday

  Epilogue

  Guide to Characters Names and Pronunciations

  Aliaine “Allie” McCarthy–Ah-lee-awnya

  Bleidd – Blayth

  Jason Takada–

  Ciaran – Keer-awn

  Jessilaen – Jes-ih-layn

  Brynneth – Bree-nehth

  Zarethyn – Zair-eh-theen

  Morighent – Mor-ih-hent

  Riley Douglas

  Allairian – Ahl-lay-ree-ehn

  Naesseryia – Nays-seh-ree-uh

  Prologue - Sunday

  She sat nervously in her car waiting for the line of vehicles to creep forward through the checkpoint. Even though, rationally, she knew that there was no reason for the police not to wave her through like everybody else she bit her lip and hunched down in her seat. She’d turned the radio off not wanting even the slight possibility that the wrong music playing might ruin her chances but now the silence pressed in oppressively. The driver’s side window was rolled all the way down in anticipation of her turn at the bridge, but she wished for the distraction of music to take her mind off what she was doing. The muted sounds of traffic and the water from the river below barely even registered over the engine noise of her own car, which sounded like it was about to give up. Another worry to add to her list.

  Several vehicles ahead of her was a large truck, and as they crawled up to the edge of the bridge, the boundary between mortal earth and the Bordertown that existed across the river, she watched several more dark-blue-clad police officers emerge from the squat building by the side of the road – one officer leading a police dog – and realized the truck was going to be searched. Her frayed nerves screamed in protest at the added delay. Against her will she found her eyes drawn to the police officers’ guns as she watched them quickly opening and searching the truck.

  Finally, just when she was starting to seriously consider turning around and trying again on a different day, the truck was waved forward and the line began moving again. Now there were only three cars ahead of her, then two. As the car directly in front of hers moved up to take its turn she could feel the sweat trickling down her back. It was a chilly day, typical for mid-September here from what she’d learned, but much colder than she was used to and she shivered as the nervous sweat made the air seem colder.

  Her anxiety at having to wait evaporated as her turn finally arrived, and instead she was seized with an almost overwhelming urge to flee. Almost. Instead she crept cautiously forward stopping as soon as she reached the bored looking officer. He stepped forward, his expression unchanging, barely glancing at her as he extended his hand. “Border pass paperwork, and ID, please.”

  She swallowed hard, handing him the documents and hoping again that she’d filled everything out correctly. He read it so carefully that she felt her jaw clenching.

  “Have you ever visited a Bordertown before Ms. Douglas?” he asked, finally breaking his paper shuffling silence.

  “No, sir, this is my first time. My cousin has though and he told me I should. You know bucket list kind of thing. I’m really looking forward to it though,” the words came too quickly and she bit her lip to stop the flow of inane speech, knowing she was babbling.

  He glanced up at her then, his brown eyes serious. “You staying with friends while you’re here?”

  She felt a surge of panic at the unexpected question, and shook her head mutely before forcing out, “No sir. I was going to stay in a hotel. The Red Oak Inn has some great reviews online.”

  “It’s a decent place,” the cop agreed, glancing back at her paperwork. “They have some pamphlets at the desk about things to see around town, and a guide to cultural interactions with Fairy beings. You’ll want to make sure you read that one, if you’ve never been to a place like this before. You can get into trouble real quick offending the non-humans and they don’t usually care much that you’re new in town. Would hate to see you get escorted out of town or end up in the lock-up because you got yourself into trouble here.”

  She felt her face freezing, her eyes painfully wide as she desperately tried to read between the lines of what he was saying. But he was already moving on, making a note in a small pad he carried then taking out a small stamp and punching a red “approved” on each page of her form. He handed her back the papers and her ID. “This is good for two weeks. Your name will be in our system and we’ll note when you leave – if you aren’t through back to mortal earth by the 14th day an alert will go out. You don’t want that to happen, trust me.”

  Her knuckles went white on the steering wheel at the implication, and she struggled to keep her voice level. “I was told I could apply to extend it for another couple weeks if I wanted to stay a bit longer.”

  “Oh, I’m sure that won’t be necessary,” he said smoothly. “Despite what you may have heard there really isn’t that much excitement around here. Two weeks is plenty of time to see the sights and have some fun – honestly most people only visit for three or four days.”

  “Oh,” she said, flustered. Of course they do. It’s just one town after all she thought mentally kicking herself for not anticipating that people would find it odd that she might want to linger. “Well, I kind of planned for two weeks so I’m sure I can find something to do.”

  “Welcome to Ashwood,” he said already stepping back and waving her on. “Enjoy your stay. We’ll see you in a few weeks.”

  She eased her car forward across the bridge, thinking Okay, w
ell, I’m in. Two weeks should still be enough time to get this done.

  As she merged onto the street on the other side of the bridge her nervousness dropped away and her face hardened as she mentally switched gears, focusing on her goal. I know you’re here. And I’m going to find you. And when I do you’ll pay for what you did and you’ll fix everything that’s been wrong since you ruined it all. One way or another I will make sure you do.

  ********

  Morighent of clan Soileireacht, once mage in the Elven Guard in a Fairy Holding far from where he now stood and former elven Outcast, stood by the back door of the place he had called home for more than a decade. He stared unseeing at the sunset beyond the woods that filled the area behind the house, unable to shake a growing feeling of unease. No matter how he turned it over in his mind though he could not quite place why he felt uneasy and the nagging sensation had put him in a foul mood.

  “Bleidd? Are you okay?”

  He was so lost in his own thoughts that for a moment he didn’t recognize the use-name he had answered to for more than half a century, and when the words finally registered he felt a foreboding chill go over him. What is wrong with me tonight that I am thinking of myself as Morighent again, when he is long gone? he thought unhappily before turning towards the door, “I’m fine Allie. Perhaps a bit tired.”

  She looked at him as if she could feel the lie behind his honest words, and he tried not to wince. Being an empath and psychically tied to him, she probably could. But being Allie she didn’t push him. “Alright. Well Jason wanted me to tell you dinner’s ready.”

  He nodded but didn’t immediately move to come into the house so she stepped out, limping down the concrete back steps and over to him. Despite his odd mood, he felt himself relaxing in her presence, unable to resist the effect she always had on him now. He reached out and pulled her in against his side, reveling in the small intimacy. Even after four months he sometimes struggled to believe he deserved her in his life, although she made it plain that she needed him in hers.

  She wrapped her arms around his torso, tucking her head under his chin. He was tall for an elf, and towered over her by more than a foot, even though she stood at nearly five and a half feet herself. Looking down he watched the wind play with her blond hair, pulled back as usual in a loose ponytail. She sighed, “I don’t suppose you’ve had any luck finding any potential new roommates?”

  “Not so far,” he said, stroking her hair. “I’m hesitant to bring anyone else into the house that won’t mesh perfectly with everyone already here.”

  “I understand, believe me, but even with Jess helping out on top of what you and Jason and Shawn contribute we really need at least one more person.”

  “Things at the store haven’t improved?” he asked, frowning. He knew how important her bookstore was to Allie and that she was worried about the store failing. More importantly the question made a good cover as he struggled to hide the surge of jealousy that immediately sprang up when she mentioned Jessilaen contributing to the bills – Bleidd hadn’t know about that, and while he could appreciate the necessity of it, it stung his pride. Jess had been Allie’s lover first, since the spring, but Bleidd and Allie had been roommates for more than ten years in the old Victorian that had been passed down through her family. Initially the two elves had been rivals for her attention and even now that all three were lovers Bleidd struggled not to feel competitive with the other man.

  “No, it wasn’t a great summer,” she said after a long pause that made him wonder what she didn’t want to say, stepping away and taking his hands to pull him with her into the house. “But I don’t want to talk about anything depressing right now. Shawn’s at the theater so it’s just the three of us for dinner, the original roommates. It’ll be fun. You know, like old times with just the three of us.”

  Bleidd refrained from pointing out that the last time, several months ago, that the three of them had shared a meal together and spent social time with each other they’d ended up finding a killer and his victims, and Jason had shot the man. He doubted Allie would appreciate that particular reminder. He stepped towards the house, letting her hands slide from his, just as Allie, who had somehow managed to inherit none of her elven mother’s gracefulness, tripped on her own feet and fell, landing on her hands and knees next to the steps.

  As soon as she hit the ground he knew something was wrong. Without thinking he reached out through the psychic bond that connected them, reflexively closing out Jessilaen, who also shared the bond, and speaking only to Allie. “What is wrong? Are you hurt?”

  “Yes,” Allie responded the same way, her mental voice flat with shock. She rocked back onto her knees, clutching her hands against her chest. “I – when I fell…there was some broken glass next to the step. It, it’s in my hand.”

  “It’s in your hand?” Bleidd repeated, his worry sharpening as he knelt down and tried to get her to show him the hand she was cradling against her body. He could already smell the blood.

  “Yes. It really hurts,” she thought back, her words now starting to feel tense and tangled as she fought her own response to the injury. This close and speaking into her mind directly Bleidd shared an echo of Allie’s own gift and could sense vague impressions of her emotions, but almost immediately he felt her struggling to push him out.

  Bleidd repressed a frustrated sigh, knowing that Allie was the definition of a bad patient; she hated feeling weak and rarely admitted how bad something actually was, which meant if she was saying this injury hurt it had to be fairly serious. She would only block him from picking up on her feelings if she was afraid they would betray her, and he struggled not to snap at her for her desire to hide her weakness, even from him. Instead he pulled her against his chest like a small child, waiting until her rigid body relaxed and only then did he carefully take her wrist and extend her injured hand out so he could see it. She turned and buried her face in his neck, obviously not wanting to look again.

  Transfixed through the middle of her palm was a thick shard of glass. Nearly three full inches thrust out, blood-soaked, from the back of her hand and at least another inch extended from her palm, the glass on that side coated in dirt and grime. At its widest point he guessed it was about two inches across, and from the thickness he thought it was likely from a very old windowpane. There was no telling how long it had lain on the ground unnoticed, and the level of dirt covering the lower side meant the chance of infection was high.

  Allie’s voice was hesitant, muffled against his chest as she switched back to speaking aloud, to limit his ability to read her emotions, even if, at its strongest, it was only slight compared to her own ability to read his. “Let me know before you pull it out so I can brace myself.”

  “Allie, be serious,” he did snap then, his own worry making his temper short. “I’m not removing it. We need to get you to a healer.”

  “What? Why? It’s just-“

  “It’s just a huge chunk of glass impaling your hand,” he cut her off, his words hard. “You have no idea how much damage it could have done, and I am certain you’d prefer to keep the full use of your hand.”

  “Oh,” she said, her voice timid and uncertain. She swallowed hard before going on. “I guess we should go to the clinic then.”

  He started to ask her why she would rather go to the human run clinic than seek out her friend Brynneth at the Elven Outpost, when he was a skilled healer, but decided he’d rather not know. Jessilaen may be on assignment right now in the Fairy Holding itself, but I know Brynneth is not. And if I know he is not then Allie surely does as well. Either she has some daft idea about what she’d owe him for asking Bleidd thought, unreasonably irritated, or she’s not telling me something about Brynneth. Like she didn’t tell me about Jessilaen paying some of our bills.

  She looked up at him suddenly, her blue eyes grabbing him more effectively than anything else possibly could. “I’m really sorry about this.”

  “It’s not your fault, it was an accident, althou
gh you do seem to have more than your share of those,” he said trying to relieve the tension with a joke.

  “No, I can feel how upset you are, angry, and I’m sorry. Leave it to me to fall on nothing and manage to find the one piece of glass in the entire yard,” she said and he hated himself, just a little, for letting his jealousy effect how he was feeling when she needed sympathy not anger. He made a valiant effort to push his lingering annoyance down.

  “Allie-“ he started, but she was going on, looking away and trying to stand up.

  “You go eat I’ll see if Jason can drive me-“

  “Allie!” this time he spoke again directly into her mind, despite his own discomfort with that method of communication and the way he knew it opened him up even more to her empathy. “Please stop. I will drive you. It upsets me to see you hurt like this, but don’t push me away because I can’t look at a chunk of glass in your hand as if it were nothing.”

  “It is nothing,” she thought back reflexively but she stopped trying to stand on her own and instead let him help her to her feet. “In fact there’s no reason to tell-“

  “We have to tell Jess about this,” he interrupted, knowing what she was about to say and jumping to include the other elf. Not because he felt strongly about informing their other partner about every detail of their lives but because he knew how much it would irk him if he wasn’t told about such an injury. And he suspected that if they wanted their three-way relationship to last long enough to see the new year they could not risk keeping secrets between any two of them. His own annoyance at something as minor as not knowing who was paying for what supported that.

  As if thinking of him had drawn his attention – and Bleidd didn’t discount the possibility that it may have – Jessilaen’s voice was suddenly in both their minds, “Allie? Bleidd? Are you both well?”