I reached into my pocket for the earplugs that Jinx had given me. I inserted the bright colored foam into my ears, immediately dampening the music. For once, I was glad that my friend enjoyed clubbing. The earplugs were high quality and made to reduce sounds even at high decibels. Since The Piper’s flute played a low, haunting melody, the plugs almost completely blocked it out.
Of course, I was still a couple hundred yards away.
I checked my phone and brought up the text from Father Michael. Sancte Michael Archangele, defende nos in proelio, contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium. Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur, tuque, Princeps militiae coelestis, satanam aliosque spiritus malignos, qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo, divina virtute, in infernum detrude. Amen.
Below the Latin, Father Michael had included the words in English. Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle; be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray. And do thou, oh prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God thrust into Hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world for the ruin of souls. Amen.
I repeated the phrase, securing it to memory. I slid the phone back into a secure pocket and took a deep breath. I just hoped that the priest’s theory was correct.
I flipped my throwing knives, rotating each one hundred and eighty degrees to hold the blade between my fingers. I bent low and scooted closer to the music and dancing lights. When I could feel the music tugging at my body like a gale wind, I ducked behind a headstone and dug my boot heals into the turf.
I took a calming breath, centering myself like I would for a potentially nasty vision. I focused my mind and imagined bricks and mortar being laid to form a strong, impenetrable wall around my psyche, bolstering my will. I would not succumb to the demon music. Would. Not.
I opened my eyes and peeked around the headstone, careful not to let my face brush the moss covered stone. Bile rose in my throat and I ground my teeth. What I saw nearly broke my heart.
Children were huddled together on the chill, damp grass. The children, still clad in the pajamas they wore when they were abducted, shivered against the cold.
As I watched, something moved across the ground like shadows shifting through the sea of fog, heading straight for them. But these shadows were covered in skin and mangy fur. Hundreds of rats rushed toward the children, teeth and eyes flashing. The children whimpered and pulled each other closer.
I spun around the headstone and leapt to my feet, but as I rushed toward the children, the notes of the song became more urgent. The children were jerked upright, compelled by the music as if pulled by invisible puppet strings. Rats nipped at their ankles as they joined hands and began dancing in a circle.
I pulled my eyes away from the children and searched for the source of the music. A tall, slender faerie stood opposite my position, the circle of children between us. He held a flute to his lips with long, slender fingers that danced along the instrument like spiders. The man was wearing colorful pantaloons over hose and a matching vest over a loose, puffy blouse.
I’d found The Piper.
Though The Piper’s unusual clothing and tall, slender build were typical for a faerie, his lined face was not. Wrinkles creased his forehead and chin and his ebony hair was streaked with white. The Piper’s mortality was showing.
Coiled beside him like a cobra ready to strike was Melusine. The lamia’s lips were parted in a smile of total ecstasy. The bitch was getting off on the children’s terror.
“No!” Ceff yelled.
I looked over my shoulder to see Ceff rushing toward the circle. He was staring in horror at his ex-wife.
“Ah, my love,” Melusine said. “I knew you would come. You always did care too much for the children.”
She tut-tutted, pouting her lips. With her fangs retracted Melusine was beautiful—if you could ignore the fact she was a crazy, psycho bitch.
“How could you do this?” Ceff asked. He gave a slow, disbelieving shake of his head. “What did you possibly think you could accomplish by harming these innocent children?”
“You have only yourself to blame,” she said. “I was the perfect wife and yet you loved our children more than you loved me. Children should be put in their place. They should be made to suffer for stealing what is rightfully mine.”
The color drained from Ceff’s face.
“You cannot fault me a father’s love for his children,” he said.
Melusine ignored his words, caught up in her own fantasy. The woman was truly crazy. Her hatred and jealousy had grown into an evil, festering wound that could only be healed with the suffering of more children.
That was what Melusine gained from tonight’s charade. She would revel in the pain inflicted on these kids. If her ex showed up to watch, that was a bonus.
“You and I can be together again my dear,” she said, eyes gleaming. “As soon as I destroy this half-breed distraction.”
Melusine turned to me, fangs extending. Scratch that. She was also here to win Ceff back and kill his new girlfriend. Lucky me.
I stepped forward with my left foot, adopting a throwing stance. I bent my knees and shifted my weight to the ball of my right foot. I needed to get close enough to The Piper to disrupt his spell, but first I had to make it past Melusine.
I yawned and stretched my right arm overhead. If I kept her talking, maybe I could get my knife into position without her knowledge. I hoped she’d underestimate the lowly half-breed.
“If you’re going to kill me anyway, how about you tell me how you tricked the wisps into helping you,” I said.
I moved my right hand just behind my head. I hoped it looked like I was scratching my neck, not readying to toss my iron-tipped blade.
“Do not blame your foolish brethren,” she said. “The wisps were promised the return of their princess for their service. And I, my dears, have delivered.”
Faerie bargains; they were always filled with loopholes and trickery. I spat. I would show her what happened to those who bound my people with deception and lies. I would show them all what it meant to anger an Unseelie princess.
Melusine had to be stopped. She would never change. The fact she’d used my own people in her more recent evil machinations added to my conviction. Melusine may have been Ceffyl’s queen, but she never cared about his people. The bitch cared only for herself. In a jealous fit Melusine had murdered the heirs to their kingdom and abandoned her king. It was time she paid for her treasonous crimes against the kelpies.
Melusine shot toward me, fangs fully extended. As she rushed me, she lifted a sword and aimed it at my head. I adjusted for the change in distance and threw my knife with lightning speed, faster than I’d ever thrown a blade while practicing with Jenna. I smiled. I was drawing strength from the wisps now hovering around my head.
My knife buried itself deep in Melusine’s shoulder, putting her sword arm out of commission. The sword fell from her hand, arm hanging limply at her side. Without hesitation, Melusine dipped her body and retrieved the sword with her left hand. Great, the bitch was ambidextrous—just my luck. I readied my second knife to take out her left shoulder when Ceff stepped in front of me.
“I will not let you do this,” Ceff said, facing Melusine. He risked a glance at me and shouted. “Go! I’ll take care of Melusine. You and Jinx rescue the children.”
Ceff turned to face Melusine and widened his stance. The telescoping handle of his trident shot outward as he flicked his wrist hard, the move an open threat. If it came down to a choice between Melusine and the children, he’d pick the children, just as he’d always done. The knowledge made the tension bleed from my neck and shoulders.