And then the nightmaresbegan.
21
Iawoke in darkness.The scent of iron and dirt pressed in close, hugging me along with the shadows. I sucked in a sharp breath and reached out for anything I could find. My hands curled around rusted metal bars, and I pulled myself to myfeet.
I was alive. I could scarcely believe it. Lugh had attacked me. Or, his nightmare wraiths had. Same thing,really.
The nightmares had engulfed me, drowning me. The last thing I remembered was screaming out his name. His face had flashed in my mind, over and over and over. He was Lugh, and then he was not, and then he was Lugh again. It was all I could think about as the bloody images poured into my mind. And then darkness had pulled meunder.
Why had he spared me? Why had he thrown me...into some kind of dungeon? That was what I assumed this was. With the dirt and iron and flaking bars, it was the only thing that made sense. Instead of throwing me into a grave, he’d taken me as hisprisoner.
In the distance, I heard the creak of a door opening. My pulse flickered in my neck, and I tightened my grip on the bars. Light splashed into the darkness, highlighting my surroundings for just amoment.
I’d been right. I was trapped in by bars, looking out into a corridor that led to other similar cells. And I wasalone.
The light vanished as the door slammed shut. Footsteps sounded on the floor, coming closer to where I stood shivering in my cage. As the intruder strode closer, the scent of him swirled into my nose. An intoxicating scent, one I would neverforget.
I pressed my lips together, swallowing down the words. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of speakingfirst.
“I see you’re awake now,” Wraith Lugh said in that familiar growl of his. “You’ve been out for three days. You’re lucky to havesurvived.”
HowhadI survived? So many wraiths had descended upon me. The nightmares had driven me mad. Truth be told, I felt like myself, if a little weary. After an attack like that, I should be either dead or barely on themend.
“No thanks to you,” Isnapped.
“You’re not dead, are you?” he snapped right back in a sharp tone that matched mine. “I could have left you on the lawn todie.”
That suggested he’d intervened, that he’d stopped the wraiths from ending my life. But that was impossible. He’d made that much clear. Lugh was gone, and this thing was a murderous wraith who wanted to see the end of the civilised world. He had no reason to saveme.
“You know what? You have an excellent point,” I said. “You were threatening my death all over the place, and yet here I stand. You didn’t let the wraiths kill me. Now, why is that, Wraith Lugh? Or should I just call youLugh?”
He scowled. “You are insufferable. I will truly never understand why the fae had so much interest in you. He should have killed you the second you stepped foot inside hiscastle.”
“You’re changing the subject,” I pointed out. “I’ve noticed that you do that a lot. Probably because you don’t want to answer myquestions.”
Once again, he laughed. “You truly think I spared you because of some deep hidden feelings leftover from thefae.”
I arched a brow. “Do you have some other explanation? Because from where I’m standing, that’s sure what it lookslike?”
Although I would have preferred if the hidden Lugh had also somehow found me better quarters than this. I didn’t even have a bed, let alone a comfy duvet or somepillows.
“I have a far greater use for you,” he said, almost as though he read my mind. “You will be bait for theothers.”
I tightened my grip on the bars. “What others? Saoirse? Uisnech? What do you want withthem?”
“No,” he growled, striding closer. It was still too dark to see him, but I could practically feel every outline of his body. The memories of his face were enough to make me recognise him amidst the shadows. “For the Morrigan. She is the only one who is any threat to my inevitable rule over the mortal realm. As soon as I have led her here, the world will becomemine.”
Oh. So, that was why he’d saved me. Not because he recognised some deep, dark feeling for me, something leftover from the magic of my bond withLugh.
I was a muppet for hopingotherwise.
“Nice try. But that will never work,” I snapped back, more for show than anything else. If I were being honest, his words had sent a sharp chill through my heart. He was right. The Queen had the best hope of stopping his assault on the mortals. Without her, he’d barely have afight.
I couldn’t see his face, but I couldfeelthe flash of his wickedgrin.
“Ah, there you are wrong.” He inched closer, dropping his voice into a hiss. “I have already sent her the threat. She is on her way, with a small ragtag band of fighters. She didn’t have time to gather a large army. My plan will work, Moira. And you will havehelped.”
Anger flashed through me, but the emotion was quickly replaced with remorse. He was right. If I hadn’t been so intent on tracking him down, I wouldn’t have delivered him the very thing that would draw the Morrigan out: me. I’d been so convinced that I could find the real Lugh hiding in the depths of the wraith that I’d risked it all. Not just my own life but the lives of everyoneelse.
