“But they register as human,” Tiernan argued. “And they were born in the Human Realm. Fairy should have no hold over them.”
“It doesn't matter! Just shut up!” I screeched and took Aidan's head into my lap. “Aidan, I'm doing this to help you, I'm so sorry.”
Aidan's eyes shot open and locked on mine. I blew lavender dust from my fingertips, covering him in the sparkling magic, and his body instantly relaxed as he fell asleep. I laid him down and went to the others, flinging dream-dust over them until all the witches were sleeping soundly.
“Well, now what?” I ran my hands through my hair wearily.
“Now we set up camp,” Tiernan pulled me into a hug. “Well done, Seren,” he whispered in my ear. “You saved them a lot of pain.”
“And don't I know it,” I said as I eased away from him. “Alright, everyone, let's try and make the witches as comfortable as possible while we get camp set up.”
“Yes, Princess,” came a chorus of replies.
“Thank you,” I sighed and looked down at Jennifer Wasutke. “Goddess help us when you wake up. You're the last one I wanted to have more magic.”
“You think they'll become more powerful?” Ainsley stopped, bent halfway over Aidan.
“Why wouldn't they?” I shrugged. “I did.”
“Magic is a mystery,” Gradh offered. She was helping Torquil carry Frederick to a shaded spot and as she walked through the sunlight, her sunset skin glimmered a rosy-bronze. She glanced over to us with her sky-blue eyes and smiled grimly. “Who knows what path it will take with them?”
“Who indeed,” I frowned, wondering if I should try speaking to Danu. I decided that she already knew what we were going through and if she wanted to offer her insight, she would have done so already. “For now, we'll just have to wait and see.”
Chapter Fifty-One
We brought the witches closer to the fire as night fell. Raza paced anxiously, worried about the delay and what it might mean for Raye. I didn't know what to say to help him so I just kept watch over our sleeping witches and prayed silently to Danu that they would live through whatever transformation was happening within them.
I don't know when I fell asleep but I woke suddenly to screaming. I jumped up and found Prime Elder Wasutke standing in the middle of the meadow, holding the edges of her new feathered wings as if they were vicious snakes that might, at any moment, strike out at her.
I rushed forward and took her arms as everyone else closed in. Jennifer stared at me with eyes like a spooked horse, and then she looked beyond me and screamed some more. I slapped her and she refocused on me, blinked, then fell to the ground and wept. I turned to see what she'd been staring at and felt my eyes widen as far as they could.
“What?” Sarah frowned at me, then looked at the other shocked faces and lifted her hands to her face. “What's wrong? What happened to me?”
I ran to her and grabbed her hands, pulling them away from her gaunt cheeks. “Sarah,” I said calmly. “Take a deep breath.”
“Tell me what's going on!” She shouted.
“When you crossed into Fairy, your fey blood was awakened,” I said gently as the other witches started to gather behind me.
“Tristan,” Sarah moaned as she looked over my shoulder.
I looked back and saw that Tristan had gone through a similar transformation to Sarah's. His face was deathly pale, his cheeks sunken, as were his eyes. And those eyes... they were shrunken, as beady as any dullahan's, and they started darting around uncontrollably. Beneath those crazy orbs, his mouth had widened and even as I watched, it began to smile.
Sarah screamed.
“Sarah!” I shook her. “You can fix it with glamour. It will be okay, I promise.”
“Okay?” She screeched as she held her hands up to her smiling mouth. “Do I look okay to you? Because I don't feel okay,” she fell to the ground and began to laugh hysterically. Then she looked up suddenly, setting her gaze on Raza. “Is this what you meant when you said;soon perhaps?”
“No,” Raza whispered. “I had no idea that this would happen to you. None of us did. You have my deepest condolences.”
“I'm so sorry, Sarah,” I started to reach for her again but but then Frederick started shouting.
“There's something on my back!” Frederick pulled off his jacket and started yanking at the buttons on his shirt. “Get it off me! Oh Goddess, what is it? Get it off me!”
He yanked his shirt off and turned in a circle, trying to see what was attacking him. Jennifer, who was still crouched amid her raven-black wings, started cackling along with Sarah. The rest of us just stared in shock as a pair of delicate dragonfly wings unfurled from Frederick's shoulder blades.
“What are they?” Frederick screamed.
