Heart of the Fae (The Otherworld #1)(33)
The second voice was far more masculine. Nasal and harsh, it made the pain behind her eyes spike higher.
“Please,” Sorcha whispered. “Do you have any water?”
“Can she hear us, Cian?”
“Humans can’t hear us when we’re glamoured. She’s hallucinating.”
Sorcha stepped forward towards the sound, searching for the owners of the voices. “I can hear you. I came to Hy-brasil to speak with a faerie who lives here.”
A scoff echoed across the stones. “There’s plenty of faeries around here, human child. But there aren’t many who will talk to you.”
“Excuse me?” She blinked. “I need to talk to a Tuatha dé Danann who resides here. The MacNara twins sent me.”
“Well that changes things,” the feminine voice said. “We might help you with that.”
“We absolutely will not!” The other voice, Cian, was the male. “The master will have our heads, and I’ve gone toe to toe with him too many times. I will not be part of this.”
“Please,” Sorcha stepped forward and stumbled on a stone. She landed hard on her knees, crying out when the jagged rocks tore through her tender flesh.
“Look at her, Cian! We can’t just leave her here.”
“Don’t be saying my name! Leaving her here is exactly what we’ll do. We’re not helping a human. Don't touch it! Woman, you'll be the death of me. She might be ill!”
“But—”
“No buts! Stop helping people so much and think of your own hide! Humans don’t belong here. Let it slip back into the water and forget about it.”
Sorcha touched the gaping wound on her knee. Blood dripped from the torn flesh, already scabbing over, and encrusted with salt and sand. “Her,” she whispered. “I am female, not an it.”
“Could’ve fooled me,” Cian grunted. “You look like something I’d scrape out of the ocean and toss to the side. Good luck making it to the castle.”
Footsteps pattered across the granite stones. They were leaving. She gasped and stumbled to her feet, bracing her legs wide for balance. They couldn’t leave, not yet.
“Wait!” she called out. “Please, wait!”
A blast of air heralded the approach of a Fae. Warm lips pressed against her ear and the feminine voice whispered, “I’ll take care of you if you can make it home. One foot in front of the other, dearie.”
Sorcha lifted one leg and placed it before the other. She was unsteady, weak, and drained, but determined. Each movement splintered through her body in needles of icy pain.
“My body will not stop me,” she whispered.
The longer she moved, the more her muscles loosened. Pain turned to ache, ache turned to exhaustion. She relaxed, and the fog cleared from her mind.
The haunting isle revealed tiny details of beauty she had not seen from the ship. The rocky shore was hazardous, true, but there were also small sparkling barnacles stuck to the stones. A pathway hewn into the side of the cliffs led up to emerald fields similar to her home.
And why wouldn’t it be similar? This was still Ui Neill, she reminded herself. A mirrored reflection, but still the same structure of land and earth. The Otherworld was not so different from her own.
She hefted herself up on the first rock and caught her breath. Tiny purple flowers poked out between her fingers. The sun reached its peak, the heat causing mist to rise from the surrounding fields. It wasn’t natural to see clouds this time of day, but there they were.
Sorcha pulled herself up on jutting stones and the marked pathway until she stood at the top of the hill.
Green filled her vision near to bursting. It was overwhelming to see such beautiful landscape. Her heart clenched and her fingers curled. Rolling hills covered in the most vibrant grass she had ever seen stretched as far as the eye could see. White dots of sheep lifted their heads every so often, smaller lumps of wool leaping through swirls of white fog.
Above it all, the castle loomed. The high peaks of towers looked like swords striking the gods.
Ravens flocked overhead. Their screams reminded her why she was here and how far she had come. She paused, hands on her hips, and lungs heaving.
“Not much farther now, Sorcha,” she said to herself. “Then the real job begins.”
Gravel crunched beneath her feet and she marched towards the castle. Her skin itched as if there were hundreds of eyes watching her journey. She supposed there could be. Fae were invisible to humans, and there were many on this isle.
She couldn’t envision this as a prison. It was far too beautiful, too plentiful, too…human.
Skittering sounds of running feet rushed past her. Sorcha rocked forward with the force, her skirts staying stiff with sand and salt. Her tangled hair stuck to her face as she whipped around.
No one. Not a single person stood around her, but she could feel the crowd. Hands tugged her clothing and grazed across her arms and pack.
She swallowed. “Thank you for your hospitality. I need to make it to the castle. Could you help me?”
It was a shot in the dark. The Fae standing around her might not want her to go there. They might want to toss her over the edge of the cliffs and wipe away all traces of humanity. Sorcha wouldn't blame them. Humans were rarely kind to the Fae.
Instead, gentle hands cupped her elbows and encouraged her to lean against them. The sores on her feet were so painful, she didn’t hesitate to accept the invisible support. Tears pricked her eyes at their kindness.