Umbra Read online

  2

  BORN FOR THIS

  Shock somersaulted through Jess. A glance out the window told her that it was still the middle of the night, so Sunny couldn’t be calling from Umbra. Communication from the fae lands was only possible at dawn and dusk.

  Instead of apologizing for telling him to f-off, Jess demanded, “Why aren’t you in Umbra?”

  Sunny’s lips quirked. “Might I remind you I’m not your blood sworn and have complete liberty over my movements?”

  Jess’s cheeks flamed again, but she tamped down thoughts of Rune. Clutching the sides of the fount, her knuckles turned white as she focused on Sunny. The vamp, who had once hunted Jess through the woods at Castle Nox intending to kill her, was now her ally. Jess had explained that she intended to rescue the Sidhe and bring about Silva’s restoration. Something Sunny was on the same page about.

  Sort of.

  Jess asked, “Did you find Astra?”

  Sunny had been searching for Jess’s Unseelie friend, on and off, for the last six weeks. Jess hadn’t heard anything from her for almost two months. The last contact she had had with her had been through a mirror pool, during which Astra had confided that she was in the Silvan Mountains. Astra had been searching for something that could weaken Queen Mara. But Jess and Astra had been cut off by a storm. The same storms that had continued to ravage the Silvan Mountains relentlessly.

  In the last few weeks, Sunny had only been able to penetrate the lowest slopes of the mountain. The storms made the higher regions impenetrable. Jess had hoped to have Astra’s help with whatever information she’d discovered about Queen Mara. But the longer her absence lasted, the more that hope had dwindled. Now, as she waited with bated breath for Sunny to speak, hope sparked.

  “Yes,” Sunny affirmed. “The storms finally diminished. I met her at the mirror pool you described, where you last spoke to her.” As he pre-empted Jess’s interruption, he added. “Yes, she has information concerning Mara.”

  Jess’s pulse raced. Not only was Astra okay, but she also had information that could help in the coming battle. “What did she tell you?”

  Sunny tilted his head. “She wouldn’t disclose much. But what she did say was important enough that I won’t repeat it here,” he finished pointedly.

  Jess wasn’t surprised that Astra wouldn’t give up much to an unknown vamp. Jess had given her ebony Umbran orb to Sunny, the twin to Astra’s so that he could contact the fae. Jess had hoped that his carrying her token would prove to her friend that he was her emissary. Expectation beat through Jess. Astra had told Sunny something. Something valuable.

  There was no perceptible crackle presently and the urge to know more pulsed through Jess. “I just had a fight with Theo, I don’t think he’ll reach out again tonight,” she explained.

  “Don’t think,” Sunny stressed. “Forgive me for not trusting such a solid assurance.”

  Jess scowled. The vamp had a knack for making her feel like a clumsy child stumbling around, in danger of hurting herself. But, Sunny was correct about the precariousness of discussing things here. At any moment, Theo could choose to reach out with Lorenzo again. That was the maddening truth—Theo could eavesdrop whenever he wanted. Certainly, he did at dawn and dusk when Sunny ordinarily called.

  Sunny knew about the deal that existed between Jess and Theo. His refusal to talk about something that the mage could use against them later reinforced once again the transient nature of Jess’s alliance with Theo.

  Sunny, the strategist.

  Hardly surprising. It was something he’d had a thousand years to cultivate. Through working with Enodians. A vamp who was responsible for bringing about countless human deaths over the centuries to increase Enodian tethering grounds. He’d even tried to bring about the Eventide prophecy. He’d endeavored to matchmake a Triodian and Enodian to produce progeny—for the sole purpose of being a blood sacrifice to the Between. He’d spent his thousand years’ existence in pursuit of creating the divided: the para whose blood would heal the Between.

  It certainly is enough to weird you out. In a way, his whole existence has been spent in waiting for me to be born.

  “Let’s keep this conversation short and sweet,” Sunny urged, drawing Jess from her musings, “lest your current ally starts snooping. I’ll meet you in Umbra tomorrow at the Herba Terra, the grass plains, four miles south of Lares. Your second will know the Depths portal I speak of.”

  “Tomorrow?” Jess exclaimed. “My wolves aren’t ready,” she protested. “They’re still being outfitted. Only seven hundred are armored.” Despite being keen to leave Villa La Alba, she knew all of the Rems would be needed to penetrate the Unseelie capital.

  “You won’t need all of them to enter Umbra through this Depths portal,” Sunny answered. “The portal we’re using—the one I not long left—is only guarded by a pucca unit of twenty. Fifty of your wolves will suffice. Once we’ve defeated that unit, we’ll meet Astra, listen to her information, and consider our next steps. The patrol shouldn’t be missed until dusk when, according to my Unseelie informant, a guard change is due. Meaning we’ll have enough time to get ourselves and your troops elsewhere.”

  Shock tumbled through Jess. For weeks Jess had known her shifter army, despite their iron claws, was likely insufficient against Mara. The queen’s army of aerial and pucca units comprised a similar number to Jess’s wolves. But many of the queen’s aerial units were armed with their own iron-tinged sluagh.

  The iron-tinged sluagh were another defense Queen Mara herself had. Who knew how many the three centuries-old queen possessed. A chill swept down Jess’s spine. The white marks on her wrist and neck were scars from when the queen’s sluagh had attacked her. The queen had sent them into the Triodia Prison to capture Jess. Since Jess’s first moment in the para world, Mara had sought to get her hands on her. Moreover, the Unseelie queen believed herself capable of taking on the gods themselves; she’d been lying in wait for Jess in Umbra when Silva had almost been restored. They didn’t know what power Mara possessed that seemed capable of rivaling a goddess, but even Sunny thought it best to approach Mara’s unknown threat with caution. It’s why he’d been as keen as Jess to track Astra down. Which, against all odds, they now had.

  Despite Jess’s utter conviction about the path she was on, trepidation churned through her. A pair of black eyes full of contempt flashed through her thoughts. Her stomach knotted as she remembered her failure to convince Rune of her belief. She imagined Astra standing as jury against her, too. Would her Unseelie friend think her unhinged as well?

  “Did you tell Astra about the Sidhe and me?” Jess asked quietly. As Sunny had pointed out, he wasn’t her blood sworn; he could say and do whatever he wanted. Had he disclosed everything to her friend?

  Sunny shook his head. “She’s heard through the grapevine about the High Witch almost sacrificing you to the Between. I explained to her that the Sidhe is Silva and that Mara’s imprisoned her. I told her that I possessed Alba’s consciousness, that I’m next in line to be Alba’s vessel, and that your blood sworn is insulated from the god’s consciousness by his oath to you.” He smiled wryly. “Keep it simple, right?”

  Jess only nodded but internally something unclenched. At least she wouldn’t be met with a “you’re-bat-shit-crazy” look from her friend. She knew she’d have to explain things before long. But at least, initially, she could try to get her friend’s help, without being faced with judgment.

  “I’ve arranged for myself and Rune to be portaled into Umbra with the dawn,” Sunny said.

  At Rune’s name, Jess felt as if she’d been punched. But she only nodded. Sunny and she had agreed that both of Alba’s heirs should journey to Umbra when the time was right. In case the restoration of the gods required both of them. Yet, Jess’s heart thundered in a violent rhythm; Rune could be in the very room that Sunny was.

  “You have your second to portal you through to Umbra tomorrow, yes?” Sunny asked.

  Dearbhla, Jess’s sec
ond, was half fae and could open the Depths and Heights portals. Jess nodded in confirmation. But the suddenness with which they were about to go to Umbra whipped up other concerns.

  “What about Theo?” Jess broached.

  Sunny frowned. “There’s no sign of Lorenzo is there?”

  Jess shook her head. There was no tell-tale crackle. Their conversation was still private. She hurried on, “I want to inform Jorah of Theo’s tethering of para sluagh before I leave…”

  “You don’t want to lose your Rems, who at present are our only resource against Mara,” Sunny said. “Furthermore, the last thing we want are political reshufflings on Earth that will interfere with the Unseelie, Enodian, and vamp contacts I have placed as informants. They’ll be our only means of garnering information while we’re in Umbra.

  “Count your blessings that Theo hasn’t discovered your plan to leave yet. I’d dispense with the necessary preparations for you and your Rems to leave as quickly as possible. That way you can, hopefully, keep your leaving unknown to him until you’re gone.”

  Sunny’s informants within the Triodia were how Jess had been able to keep apprised of her father and Matteo. Sunny was right on that front—they needed them to remain where they were if she was to receive news about her loved ones. Jess had often found herself drawing on Sunny’s wealth of experience to navigate her alliance with Theo. But her spirits fell at the thought of leaving Earth without exposing Theo. After all, he was desecrating the sacred Silvan groves with power he’d gained through Jess. He’d only learned how to tether para sluagh because of her. Because she’d killed her uncle. Blood slaying blood. Worry tumbled through Jess. What dark depths would Theo succumb to in his quest for more power? But, with a heavy sigh, she allowed herself to be guided by Sunny’s circumspection.

  Another worry surfaced, and Jess asked, “Do you think Theo will be able to contact me through Lorenzo’s blood sluagh while I’m in Umbra?”

  “Theo’s capabilities are as unknown to me as Mara’s,” Sunny answered. “Perhaps the communication between you will be undisturbed. Or, perhaps, it’ll only be possible at dawn and dusk when the Between is at its thinnest.”

  The host of uncertainties swarmed through Jess, but she only nodded. Feigning a fortitude she didn’t feel, she said goodbye. “I need to pick the wolves I’ll take. I’ll see you at Herba Terra at dawn.”

  An easy smile slid across Sunny’s face. “Until the dawn.” His hand was visible beneath the water as he lifted the yew orb from it, then his bronzed skin and golden hair dissolved, the ripples undulating inwards as the connection broke.

  Jess released a heavy exhale, for once relieved to be alone in the bleached bedroom. Her heart climbed into her throat. As she stared into the mirror pool, she remembered the first night here at Villa La Alba, when she’d initially made contact with Sunny through this fount. Over and over, their conversation replayed in her mind,

  “Your blood sworn tells me you wish to speak to the next of Alba’s heirs.” His glittering emerald eyes had assessed her.

  If his words hadn’t been enough, the conceited sparkle in his eyes proclaimed that he thought, without doubt, he would be Alba’s next vessel. Until recently, there had been three vampires who possessed a part of the god, Alba’s, consciousness. When Queen Mara had captured the Sidhe, she had killed Cuill, the oldest vamp with a piece of Alba’s consciousness. Now, only Sunny and Rune survived. But only Sunny was motivated by Alba’s consciousness to restore the gods. The blood oath that Rune had sworn to Jess suppressed Alba’s desires.

  “That’s correct,” Jess had said. “Mara’s taken the Sidhe, and I need to save her.”

  Sunny was silent for a beat. “I witnessed the restoration of Silva begin through Cuill’s eyes. You’re saying that you witnessed it through the Sidhe’s?”

  “Yes,” Jess had agreed readily. “But it was more than that. In the Cathedral when I conjoined with the Sidhe, I realized she and I have always been one. Just disconnected. I know she’s the missing part of me. Something I only recognized when my consciousness passed through the Between.”

  Sunny’s lips had twitched. “Have you considered opening the Between and offering your blood again then?” He didn’t try to conceal that he thought of Jess as nothing more than a consecrated blood bag. He’d thought that she had a misguided and inflated sense of self-worth.

  Jess had realized it was pointless to try to explain what she had tried to Rune. Such as her rage blackouts throughout childhood that she couldn’t remember, but that she knew had been the Sidhe seeing through her eyes in this world. When the Sidhe had been trying to help her. Whenever Jess had felt a deep-rooted fear, from that very first time her foster brother, Jacob, fired stones at her, the Sidhe had clawed her way along that fragile bond between her and Jess and defended her.

  All those violent outbursts that the Sidhe had dealt out on Jess’s behalf had only succeeded in shunting her from home to home. When it had seemed she was only ever destined to be broken and bruised. But it had all been for this. Jess knew deep down she was born for this.

  She may not know how the restoration of the gods would come to pass—the echo of insight that she’d gleaned in the Between while she’d merged with the Sidhe had all but faded. But something had told her that she needed both Rune and Sunny in Umbra. Above all else, her intuition revealed to her that the Sidhe and she were meant to be together. Jess had felt the clawing need in her to defend the Sidhe. And for that to happen, she wanted to get this vamp working with her.

  She’d used the other argument she had up her sleeve, the memory of which lingered from the moment she’d been joined with the Sidhe. “The moment I was ripped away from the Sidhe, I felt Mara’s magic rise like a barrier between us. I know Mara is blocking the Sidhe from coming to me.”

  Sunny’s eyes had darkened. “Mara’s iron-tinged sluagh,” he murmured, clearly recalling the shadows that had crawled around the Sidhe as she’d been locked in irons.

  Jess had nodded. “I felt them before in this world, and I remember the same lingering coldness and haziness around the Sidhe.”

  Acceptance wound across Sunny’s face. “It will be our duty and honor to be the gods’ vessels. After we’ve taken back the Sidhe from Mara.”

  Jess had seen through Sunny. Read between his words. He thought her infected by the goddess, Silva. That the goddess’s greater consciousness had duped her and was still compelling her to Umbra to her death. That just like last time, he’d believed all that was needed from Jess was her blood. The sacred blood bag. His smile had barely concealed his mockery. He saw her as a blind martyr. But it didn’t matter.

  On the bright side, he was a powerful ally, with lots of contacts in the para world that he’d built over centuries. Jess knew from striking her deal with Theo that while your intentions aligned, you could work with anyone…

  As Jess grounded herself in the bland room of La Alba, the same sense of need to rescue the Sidhe moved through her. For the first time in weeks, anticipation permeated her. Tomorrow, she’d be that much closer to the Sidhe again. Once more, Jess’s burning need to get to the Sidhe and experience that completeness consumed her. But it scattered like light on water, beautiful and effervescent. She wanted to catch it, to bottle it, but it was only an echo.

  The chill of the room intruded on her musings. She moved to the alabaster fireplace. The villa had central heating, but it was January and the early mornings bore a chill before the building heated up. Jess took a lighter from a box on the mantlepiece. Another box rested beside it, full of art supplies; things she hadn’t touched in weeks. They were yet another reminder of what she’d lost, of how different she was from the person she used to be…and might never be again.

  Jess lit the firelighters in the hearth. The scent of wood transported her back to a different time, to one before she discovered the Sidhe was a part of her. To one in which she’d already believed she’d found her other half. To Norway. To a cabin made of wood and glass. To a roaring sto
ve. Her skin heated with the ghost of Rune’s touch. She replayed the sense of his hands on her body. She quivered at the memory of his fingertips against her frame. At the time, Rune’s touch had seemed to bring her to life, but now its memory seemed to undo her.

  She remembered how she’d claimed him that night. “You’re my shadow.” Those words that had been full of passion and tenderness seemed like a horrible prophetic statement of the way he haunted her now. She couldn’t think of him without remembering how she’d abused that claim. Every spark of memory seemed to burn her with reproach.

  Jess’s stomach clenched. Rune’s look of shock and betrayal plagued her.

  And tomorrow, I’ll see him.

  Dread swam through her at the thought of those ink-black eyes filling with anger and hurt. She’d barely felt anything down their blood bond since they’d parted. Rune had slammed the door between them. But the anguish she’d seen stamped across his face still overwhelmed her with such vividness. Trepidation swirled through her as she remembered how she’d felt there was no other option but to compel him, all the while feeling a gut-wrenching sense that she was mutilating what was between them. How could she repair the damage she’d done? How could she when she still couldn’t see how to achieve what she must except by going against him?

  Jess clung to the practicalities that needed to be achieved before her departure. She needed to choose which troops to take: the swiftest wolves. Dearbhla’s advice would be invaluable tonight. Gritting her jaw, her stern expression her armor, Jess exerted herself.

  You’re the Rem Alpha.

  With a determined step to the door, anticipation thumped through Jess. It was time to summon the iron-clawed.

  3

  THE WORLD IS BREAKING

  The scent of lichen in the earth filled Matteo’s nostrils, cast up by his claws as he ran. Embedded in the lava, the lichen was what gave the slopes of the Vesuvius National Park its fertile soils. The abundance of plant life and luscious specimens of tree were much due to the warmth that had spilled into the earth long ago and prepared the land for growth.