Dark of Winter: A Between the Worlds novel Read online

  “Ah, indeed,” Zarethyn said, understanding the comparison to ley lines. “You could follow this sense to her, yes?”

  “I believe I could.”

  Zarethyn nodded, contemplating the parking lot and the Elven Guard as they worked. “I will send Brynneth with you to track down this sense and see if you can find any further sign of Allie, or her vehicle. The rest of us will work this area and see what can be learned here.”

  Jess nodded briskly. Bleidd drifted away, towards his car, as Jess began quickly going over what little the two of them had uncovered or guessed since arriving. Jess kept one eye on him as he spoke to his brother, more than slightly concerned that Bleidd might simply leave and start looking for Allie by himself. Catching the direction he was looking, his brother said, “Jess, I know how upset you both are, and understandably so. We will do whatever we can to help find her. But this must be done by the Law. There has already been one human death and we do not yet know how its connected to Allie’s disappearance.”

  “Are you concerned that whoever took Allie may be outside our jurisdiction?”

  “No,” his brother said grimly, “I am concerned that whoever took her may be entirely in our jurisdiction.”

  Jess inhaled sharply. “You mean the Dark Court.”

  “Surely it occurred to you that they may have finally moved against her.”

  “No,” Jess said, gritting his teeth and struggling to hide his surging anger. “If I had thought after all these months that any of their agents were still seeking her, or had any indication of a Dark Court presence in Ashwood, I would never have left her unprotected.”

  “Of course not,” Zarethyn said quickly, placing a reassuring arm around his brother’s shoulders. “And there has been no such indication. I would not have left her unguarded or open to any danger either. But look around and think. She is unconscious and missing, taken but seemingly unharmed. There’s no indication of anything here, except that she is gone. There is a dead human, with what you think is a broken neck, and Fey footprints around him. Bleidd says she is somewhere north east of here, within 12 miles; what does that mean, except the border of the Holding? What is the most likely conclusion looking at all that, except that she was taken by someone seeking not to kill her but to bring her into the Holding, through one of the illegal paths the Border Guard seem incapable of closing?”

  Jess looked down, then nodded sharply, “Then we must find her as quickly as possible.”

  “I do not disagree, but we must also be cautious,” Zarethyn said. Jess looked up at him, eyes narrowing. “If you find her vehicle near the border, or any sign that she was taken across the border, pull back for tonight and wait. Let me know exactly what you found and where.”

  “Zare-“ Jess began, his entire body tensing as he spoke.

  “No, listen to me. I care for her as well. Not as much as you obviously but I do value her life, and even if I did not I could never allow what she knows from her grandmother’s grimoire to fall into the hands of the Dark Court. But this has layers of implications. We must deal with the human police here, and we must tread carefully with the Border Guard. Allairian is still stinging from the embarrassment of letting that other Dark Court agent slip across the border on his watch, and he has not forgotten or forgiven the loss of life among his Guards because of it. We must be extremely cautious in how we handle dealing with him now, and if we uncover proof of an illegal crossing point then we must step back and let the Border Guard handle it. We must Jess.”

  “That will mean a significant delay,” Jess gritted out.

  “Not if we ensure that Allairian is motivated to act very quickly. But we cannot act for him. If it is the Dark Court that has taken her then we know they need her alive, and she is pregnant – even they will not harm her now. It will take them some time to get through the Wildlands and into the Holding proper, and from there they will have to gain access to a Road to another Holding. This will all take time, and we know that physically at the least she is safe.”

  “Are we so certain of that?” Jess asked, some of his worry for his wife showing despite his best effort to hide it.

  “Jess, even the Dark Court would never harm a pregnant woman,” Zarethyn said confidently. “Take Brynneth and Bleidd and follow her trail as far as you can. But remember what I said.”

  Jess nodded curtly, stepping away from his brother. It would not be easy to do as he was being told, but he could find no flaw in his brother’s logic and he knew that aggravating the Border Guard could cause some serious complications finding Allie as well. If they closed the Border…He glanced over at Bleidd where the other elf was standing impatiently by his car. He will not like this Jess thought but somehow I must make him understand why we cannot rush along her trail, no matter how much I wish we could.

  Sighing he went to get Brynneth.

  *****************************

  Bleidd guided his car carefully along the rutted-out back road, wincing in sympathy for the sports car’s suspension every time he couldn’t avoid a bump. Jess and Brynneth followed closely in a Guard vehicle, the large sedan handling the terrain much better. As soon as they had cleared the area of town that passed for a city center he had turned off his headlights, better able to concentrate when he could see without distraction. His eyes were not bothered by the darkness, but the brightness of the headlights – although legally required – made it harder instead of easier for him to navigate.

  As they had moved further out it had become easier to follow the connection to Allie as well, and he felt the miles between them falling away as he drove. As they worked their way further and further into the rural part of town his heart sank though because he knew they were almost at the border, and yet Allie was still at least a few miles away. As he turned onto a road that he wasn’t even certain was a real road, with the boundary to Fairy a palpable presence up ahead, he had no choice but to admit she had bene taken across the border.

  He slowed his car and stopped, parking in the middle of the single lane road. Behind him the Guard car did the same. A moment later Jess’s voice was in his mind, worried. “Is she here?”

  “No Jess she isn’t, she is at least another few miles ahead,” Bleidd thought back, not trying to hide his unhappiness.

  “In the Holding then,” Jess said, resigned. “Well, let us leave the cars and walk a bit further to see if we can find the place she was brought across.”

  Trying to push away a surge of hopelessness Bleidd turned his car off and got out, the chill air biting into his flesh as the wind cut across the open fields to either side. Just ahead the forest loomed, a dark, snowy presence in the night. Jess and Brynneth walked up to join him and steeling himself he moved onwards. There were tire tracks in the snow that lightly covered the road’s surface and Bleidd guessed that they were recent. He wasn’t surprised that the tracks and the road led the same direction as the pull of Allie’s presence.

  Less than a mile of walking and the woods suddenly gave way to a small clearing lit by electric lights. In the center of the space, where the road ended was a small cluster of buildings including a house and garage. The three elves stopped at the edge, under the cover of the trees and brush.

  “How are there lights here when there are no power lines? And we are right against the magic of the border?” Brynneth asked, keeping his voice low enough that only his companions could hear him.

  Bleidd was the first to suggest an answer, his years living among humans and experience fixing magical problems with the electronics around the house helping him put the pieces together. “They have solar panels on the roofs. Do you see those metallic looking flat rectangles? Those collect the light from the sun and turn them into electric energy. And as to the other, they must have a mage, or several, or witches, who are dealing with keeping everything spelled and protected from the magical energy.”

  The other two peered curiously at the solar panels, which they had never seen before, but did not question his explanation. Jess, f
rowned as he spoke, “Then we should go no further. If they are likely to have multiple mages, or witches, then we need reinforcements before proceeding.”

  Bleidd shook his head, not wanting to stop now that he felt they had gained so much ground. “Allie is past this point, the connection to her pulls beyond here.”

  “How far beyond?” Jess asked, his voice gentler now.

  Bleidd grimaced. “At least another few miles. But if we continue, now, before they know she is already missed and being pursued, we have a much greater chance of finding her quickly.”

  “If she is across the border then we must alert the Border Guard and let them find the crossing point before we proceed.” Jess said, fighting his own reluctance. Brynneth nodded in support.

  “We cannot waste the time. We know that she is already across, how can we be sure if it was here or elsewhere? How much time will we waste if the Border Guard investigates here and finds nothing?” Bleidd said, angry and not hiding it.

  Jess flinched back from his anger. “I am sorry, truly, but the situation is not so straightforward as any of us would like. We are running head first at this point into the unknown.” He stopped and glanced at Brynneth weighing Allie’s life after she was found against how much he could trust his oldest friend among his own people. “Bleidd, my love, the odds are very high at this point that it is the Dark Court who has taken her-“

  He stopped as Bleidd gasped, his eyes cutting back to the buildings. He started to step forward, before the other two elves restrained him, Jess whispering in his ear, “No! Don’t do anything foolish! You said yourself she is not there now. Bleidd, please. Listen to me.”

  Finally Bleidd managed to get himself under control but it was a huge effort. Despite how obvious it seemed to him in hindsight he truly hadn’t thought about the Dark Court being involved in this. He had been so focused on getting to her and getting her back safely that he had given little thought to why she was taken, seeing that as something that they could worry about later. As soon as Jess mentioned it though it was glaringly obvious not only that they had the strongest motive but also the most reason to take her into the Holding. From there she could be moved to one of the Great Roads that magically connected this Holding to several of the other Fairy Holdings it was allied with. It had always been clear that whatever agents were after her were not from this Holding but infiltrating from another one, seeking to gain a foothold here. They likely had a small presence and a few safehouses, but if after almost a year of dedicated hunting by the Elven Guard here none of that had been found their presence must be small. Bleidd’s own experience told him they were probably dealing with a dozen individuals or fewer. And that, quite obviously, meant their plan must always have been to get Allie and take her to whichever Holding they held sway in.

  He took a deep breath, grateful for the hands that restrained him because they also acted as a physical anchor to reassure him. “If it is the Dark Court, and you are likely correct that it is, then it is all the more essential that we find her as quickly as possible. Before they succeed in getting her out of the Holding.”

  “Think my love,” Jess said, his voice still low. “She cannot be easily moved out of the Holding. They would not have taken her into the Holding unless they meant to make for a Road, and they cannot access a Road, especially with a kidnapped woman, without time and effort.”

  “This is true,” Brynneth said. “If we are agreed that the Dark Court still pursues her for her knowledge of her grandmother’s book then they will need to get her somewhere they would have ample time to get the information from her. This will take them time, but it also gives us more time to find her. It is a blessing that they chose to take her now, while she was pregnant. Pregnant they cannot torture her. They cannot even deprive her of food and drink, or otherwise ill-treat her. To do so would violate taboos even the Darkest of the Fey will not think of breaking.”

  Bleidd took a deep breath, forcing himself to relax. They are right of course he thought cynically. Humans may have no such compunctions about harming a woman while she is with child but its unthinkable to the Fey. It is simply not done. I have been too long among humans that I would forget that. “I cannot be happy about any delay in looking for her.”

  “I understand,” Jess said, looking at least as unhappy as Bleidd felt. “But we gain nothing by rushing headlong after her. Even if we didn’t have to worry about politics with the Border Guard – which we must – we have no idea what we would be walking into in that clearing. We are but three people, and only two of us are Elven Guard. If this is nothing more than a coincidental thing, a building that happens to lie along the path between where we are and where Allie is now, then that is one thing. But if we are following along her trail, if she was taken on this direct a route, and we are looking at a place that is an illegal crossing point…walking into it would almost certainly get us all killed. And that would help Allie not at all.”

  Brynneth hesitated, slightly and then added, “And we would be wise not to underestimate Allie. She is not without her own…unique abilities. It may be that she will find a way to use her empathy to her advantage in this situation, or her ability to pull on other people’s emotions.”

  Jess and Bleidd exchanged a long look, as what Brynneth had left unsaid hung between them. Bleidd could see Jess’s uncertainty, so he decided to be bold and push, since Allie had said once before that Brynneth already knew her secret. “You may be correct in some of what you say Healer, but you should not over estimate her either. She is without a doubt more than simply an empath but she has never used what she can do offensively against an enemy. I am not sure that she could even if she wanted to.”

  Jess looked between them uneasily, but Brynneth nodded, “Knowing Allie even as well as I do, you are probably correct. Still, if she is clever she may be able to bluff to certain degree. Her kind are greatly feared among the Dark Court.”

  His words hung in the air, heavy, between them all. “So Allie was right”, Bleidd thought to Jess, “Brynneth does know that she is a Bahvanshee.”

  “Yes,” Jess thought back, his feelings uneasy, “he does seem to. But we have no idea what that means to him.”

  Bleidd tried to catch Jess’s eye but Jess was looking intently at Brynneth. “Bryn, we have been friends for a long time, and I value that highly-“

  The Healer eased his grip on Bleidd to wave a hand, cutting Jess’s words off. “Peace my friend. You do not need to fear my having this knowledge. I have long thought that the only difference between elven empaths and the Bahvanshee is circumstance of birth. Born in the Light Court we call them empaths and train them to be strictly moral, as we do Healers who could also do great harm if they chose to. Indeed I have heard some very disturbing tales of Dark Court healers, but that is an aside. Born in the Dark Court such empaths learn to use what powers they have to defend themselves as best they can. We know so little about them because the Light Court has had so very few of them.”

  “Interesting then that most elven empaths are born into the Dark court,” Jess murmured. Adding privately for Bleidd, “So he also knows what Court she was born into.”

  “He has healed her enough, especially her mind these past few months, that he may know her better now than she knows herself,” Bleidd thought back grimly. Aloud he said, “That is certainly an interesting theory but we all know that most would not want to hear it. All they would hear is Bahvanshee and they would be calling for her head to ease their own fears.”

  Brynneth nodded. “I know, and so I will not speak of it. Nonetheless Allie may be able to use that reputation to her advantage.”

  “Perhaps,” Jess said, his voice uncertain again. “For now though we must focus on finding her. The next step to that is to pull back and alert the Border Guard. They can handle clearing this location, or processing it if need be.”

  Bleidd shook his head still not liking this idea, but Jess was right that plunging ahead into the unknown would not help anyone. He eased back and th
e other two elves let him go, following him as they returned the way they’d come.

  “As soon as the Border Guard clears this we will return and continue our pursuit,” Jess promised, but the words felt hollow to Bleidd. He walked back to his car under a cloud of failure torturing himself with images of Allie, captive and afraid, while they wasted time doing nothing.

  Chapter 3 – Friday Morning

  Allie woke up disoriented and overheating. She blinked heavily into the darkness of an unfamiliar room, plain walls, no windows, and a single closed door. The pungent scent of goat filled the air and clogged her nostrils, and she fought the urge to sneeze. She slowly rolled onto her side, the lumpy mattress she was lying on creaking with her movement.

  Why am I still wearing my boots? She thought, as the heavy weight of the work boots she wore in winter pulled at her feet. She blinked a trickle of sweat from her right eye, uncomfortably aware that whatever hair wasn’t still in her ponytail was plastered to her skin. Then Oh, no wonder I’m so hot I’m still wearing my coat. Why would I be wearing my coat inside? This thing is way too hot, that’s why I only wear it when it’s really cold out.

  Reflexively she tried to move her arms, to raise a hand to wipe the sweaty hair off her face, and found that her wrists were tied together. She blinked stupidly at the rope around her wrists, then groaned, flopping back down onto the uncomfortable mattress. Oh you have got to be kidding me she thought, still feeling fuzzy. I’ve been kidnapped? Again? Who gets kidnapped twice in one year?

  She lifted her joined hands up and managed to awkwardly wipe her sweaty face with her sleeves. Then with some maneuvering she unzipped her coat, the cool air against her overheated body a blissful relief. With some additional squirming she managed to kick off her boots, which made a set of heavy thuds as they hit the floor. She winced and froze, waiting for the door to fly open, but when nothing happened after a minute she relaxed.