The crowd gasped and cheered in anticipation, and Devin felt his anger rise. There was no way he was going to be able to stay calm much longer with the oaf touching Nessa.
Devin heard the whispers and tried his best to ignore them. Nessa’s father’s promise seemed to mean more than she was letting on. It was clear that several people in the audience thought that it was a match that was already made. They were all eager to get rid of Devin. Many even made the comment that it was an arranged marriage. If the King sanctioned it, then the idea must have been floating around. Devin gritted his teeth. He was going to have to leave. There wasn’t much more he could handle. Everyone sitting around was eager to give Nessa away to Liam because he was a sidhe. Not a single person there was on his side in the matter, or on Nessa’s side either. They were all too eager to have her with a sidhe. Devin could see the prejudice against him.
Liam kissed Nessa’s hand, and Devin couldn’t stay another minute. It was too much, and he was too likely to do something he’d regret later. Nessa turned to him as his emotions traveled over the bond. Devin was likely to haul off and hurt one or more of the men if he didn’t leave.
‘Sorry,’ Devin told Nessa. He had to go.
Suddenly all three men fell to the ground at Nessa’s feet. Devin was as shocked as everyone else, but Nessa glanced up to him. He had been filled with rage just moments before. Devin’s manner completely changed. He was no longer jealous, but worried. He grabbed Nessa and protectively put her behind him. What was this new trouble? There was no sidhe magic being used. It had to be the witch. Devin scanned the crowd, but no one stood out. They were all as shocked as Devin was by the sudden change in events.
Nessa peeked around Devin’s shoulder to the men on the ground. Had he done something to put them there? All three had just been standing there professing their desire to court her, and now they were all on the ground before everyone. She felt the magic in Devin before she could respond, and was encased in the protective bubble he was getting better at casting every day. At least she was also getting better at sensing it. Nessa stopped moving where she was trapped.
Devin moved forward and bent down to the closest person who happened to be Liam.
“What’s wrong with him?” Nessa asked over the noise of the audience freaking out. Devin had cast a spell to both keep the stage safe, and to keep the three men’s families from rushing the stage. They didn’t seem too happy about it, but it was better that way
He placed a hand on Liam as he had done each time when saving everyone else. Devin was getting stronger by the minute.
While Devin checked over Liam, Nessa watched the crowd. Some were visibly scared and trying to flee the room while others stared in anger at Devin. Most of the angry sidhe were visitors and didn’t understand how strong Devin truly was, but they did get that he was the one stopping them from getting on the stage. Nessa looked back at Devin.
“What’s wrong with them?” Uncle Rolf asked as he stopped next to Devin.
“I’m not sure,” Devin replied, his hands hovering over Liam. He paused and looked up at Nessa. Releasing the protective bubble, he let her move forward.
“What’s wrong?” she asked tentatively. She wasn’t interested in Liam romantically, but he was an old friend. She hated to see him unconscious as he was.
“I don’t know. He’s barely holding on,” Devin replied quietly. The relatives of each of the three men were pressed to his barrier.
“What’s going on?” one of the men yelled.
“Let us in,” another yelled beside the first. He banged his fists on the see-through barrier.
Devin looked back down at Liam and closed his eyes to concentrate. Suddenly, he pulled back his hands and Liam began to shake.
The faces of the men trying to get in matched Devin’s horror at the sight. Something was gravely wrong with Liam.
‘What is it?’ Nessa asked silently.
‘Magic,’ Devin replied. Not surprising news. Nessa had figured out that much on her own already.
‘Day human magic, witch magic,’ Devin added
Nessa gasped and couldn’t help herself. Her surprise made the men outside the barrier even angrier. If anyone else had told her that she would have argued back that it wasn’t possible. But from Devin, and after what Keaton had told her, she was beginning to see that maybe she didn’t see the sidhe the way they really were.
‘I think touching them made it worse,’ Devin told Nessa.
‘But Uncle Rolf touched them.’ Nessa has seen her uncle touch the one nearest him as Devin rushed over to them. In fact, her uncle actually caught the first guy from dropping off the stage. Why would Devin make it worse?
‘Because I’m a day human, and this is day human magic. I think I’m the catalyst for it. No one else will make it worse. You’ll have to take care of them until I can get some help here,’ Devin explained, standing back up. ‘I can’t help them, and I doubt any sidhe can unless you can find the witch in here and convince her to. I need to get some friends to help us.’
“He’s killing our boys,” the first man said, pointing at Devin.
“He’d never do that,” Nessa snapped at him from her lost thoughts. “He’s already saved several of the sidhe here in the village.”
“And killed a few more,” the second man answered. “We’ve all heard. Finn Ferguson was killed by the day human.”
The first man nodded. “Wasn’t Finn your betrothed? Does the day human have a problem with men being promised to you? Maybe he was acting first this time and attacked Liam.”
Nessa could feel the anger bubbling beneath the surface for Devin. Their words were hard for him to hear as it was for her also. She hadn’t done enough to explain who Liam really was, but she got a clear idea that Devin knew now. Liam shook more beneath Devin. His anger seemed to trigger an even stronger reaction from Liam’s friend.
“He’s doing this. Let us through. Let us protect our men from the day human,” the second man pleaded. He was much smaller than the first man who Nessa knew was a relation of Liam’s.
“Devin would never hurt an unconscious sidhe,” Nessa replied. She at least hoped he wouldn’t. She was sure before that Devin was just acting out of jealousy, but now there was much more anger inside him. Nessa was unsure how long he would be able to hold it together. She should have told him the truth earlier, but she was afraid he was going to leave her.
“Never?” the second man questioned.
“Never,” Nessa replied, sure as she could be. She was more positive the anger was something he wouldn’t act on. Devin had more self-control than anyone she had ever met.
“How about if he was the one to make them unconscious? Then he didn’t do it to an unconscious sidhe. Maybe this is his plan to hurt them and cover it up by acting like he’s trying to save them,” the first pointed out. “We saw how angry Liam was making him. I can see you two are bonded. Can you be sure he wouldn’t act on his instinct to keep you to himself?”
“He’s not like that,” Nessa replied, exasperated. No amount of talking was going to get the sidhe to not view Devin as an enemy.
Devin stood and moved beside her. He was calm for the situation, and all his emotions were checked back behind the emotional wall he liked to put up. At least on the outside no one would see the anger that Nessa was still sure was there. The ironic part was his anger was no longer directed at the courtiers. He was angry with Nessa, but none of the men there would ever be able to tell the difference. She really should have told him more about Liam.
‘They will never trust me,’ Devin told her.
‘Doesn’t matter,’ Nessa replied. Even with all the emotions she did feel from him, and the anger and jealousy that had been there only minutes ago, Nessa was sure that Devin wasn’t the one causing the illness. Unfortunately, the other sidhe thought the complete opposite.
“Devin, it might be a good idea to back away from this until we can get these men better,” Uncle Rolf suggested. Nessa didn’t want Dev
in to leave her with several angry sidhe. The anger was directed at Devin, but she still didn’t feel safe with them.
Devin looked at him and nodded. He turned to leave, and Nessa’s mouth dropped in shock. He was walking away so easily. That wasn’t like him. Was he part of it after all? Was he just going to let the men die? Was he leaving? Without turning around, Devin talked silently to her in her mind.
‘Take them somewhere in the palace together,’ he told her. ‘Keep them safe and isolated from everyone. I’m going to get some help on this one.’
‘What?’ Nessa asked in disbelief. Of all the times to listen to her uncle, he was choosing now? Was he really leaving?
‘Don’t worry, Princess. Whoever did this won’t hurt you.’ Devin mistook her shock as fear for her own safety.
‘What?’ she asked, still too shocked at seeing him leave the room.
‘I’ve gotten better at my spells. You’re completely safe,’ Devin answered. ‘Just keep them isolated. I don’t know what set this off, but there has to be a witch around. I’ll get some help so we can figure this all out.’
Nessa didn’t understand but knew enough to do what he asked. Devin was planning something, and she was sure he would do it perfectly. Devin had a knack for situations like they were in now. She trusted him completely.
“We need to take them to our sick wing of the palace and keep them isolated,” Nessa told the men. “It might be contagious.”
“See,” the second man said as Devin disappeared out of the room, “I knew the day human did this.”
“Devin wouldn’t have done this,” Nessa snapped, starting to get angry herself at all the accusations.
“Then why is the day human leaving?” Liam’s relative asked. He was still glaring at the spot where Devin had just been.
“Because, unlike the sidhe who want to sit around and point fingers, he’s actually going to investigate what happened.” Nessa was furious with the sidhe now. It was true; they were never ones for figuring out the truth. All they really wanted to do was sit and cast blame until someone killed the accused, whether the person was guilty or not. Maybe if they opened their eyes, they would see that Devin was actually an asset and his day human way was a bit more productive than that of the sidhe.
“Only he can activate a curse like this,” the second man complained, still blaming Devin.
“This wasn’t a curse from the sidhe,” Nessa replied, exasperated at how much they wanted to blame Devin. “This is a witch curse.”
The men immediately backed away from their relatives in fear. Outsiders were not tolerated well in the villages, but outside magic was even less tolerated.
Uncle Rolf reached down to usher Nessa away. His hand wrapped around her arm, but there was a space between his hand and her arm. The bubble Devin had encased her in was still around her, but tightly. And she could move it. Devin had been practicing, and she appreciated it. Any lingering fear for her own safety disappeared when she saw that. Even if he wasn’t around, Devin was still protecting her. She should have never doubted that he would keep her safe.
Uncle Rolf noticed her new protective skin. “What is that?” he asked quietly after directing the relatives of the sick men to take the bodies and follow them.
“Devin,” she answered.
Smiling, Uncle Rolf shook his head.
“That’s some day human you got there.”
CHAPTER 4
Devin waited in the glen for his visitors to arrive. Luck was on his side in that they were already near enough to only take a couple of hours flying to get to him. If they hadn’t been at the retreat at the lake they would have had to fly all the way across the United States, which was considerably longer than the two hours total it took for them to catch a plane, land, and drive out into the national forest where the sidhe lived. It would have been quicker to pull them through the trees, but he wasn’t about to try that yet with normal humans. Night humans were much easier to heal than day humans, and pulling a non-sidhe through the trees was bound to hurt them somehow. He was unsure if he could actually heal a day human without making them a sidhe anyway.
Lindsey sat hidden not too far away from Devin. The old sidhe was one with nature, but Devin’s new insights made it obvious where the old one was. Lindsey didn’t pay attention to him but watched the trees. Devin looked in the direction he was staring. The older sidhe was connected to nature more than any of the others. The life inside him reacted with every touch to the plants around him. Lindsey turned his head slightly. The signals from his body fed into the earth and the plants around him and then came back. It was amazing to see. Devin could feel it now, too. Lindsey was ancient, even in the terms of night humans who could live several day human lifetimes. If Devin had to guess, it was even possible Lindsey was an original sidhe.
“They should be here in less than a minute,” Lindsey told Devin without looking at him.
Devin nodded.
“The day human witches don’t belong here. Be careful of them and what they teach. Sidhe should only know one kind of magic. When you start to mix them, there will be problems.”
Devin nodded again to Lindsey’s advice. There was much he still didn’t know about the sidhe, and the giant old sidhe before him was a great source of knowledge.
“They can mix?” Devin asked to be sure. “I was under the impression only those born of the witch bloodline could do their magic.”
Lindsey turned his huge green eyes to Devin briefly before looking back to where the witches would come from.
“If accepted by the witches, anyone can learn witch magic, day or night human. They don’t discriminate,” Lindsey replied. He sat as still as the large trees next to him.
That changed everything. Devin gazed into the forest for his guests. He could feel them walking, but had yet to see them. If Lindsey was correct, Devin might not be looking for a witch in the sidhe village after all. He could have a sidhe that was trained by witches. Was that even possible?
Lindsey seemed to be following Devin’s realization and nodded to him. “While the sidhe keep their villages isolated, they do leave them. Most sidhe, beyond the princess, are raised to leave every now and then. No one speaks of where they go, and everyone keeps it a secret. They like to pretend they don’t need the outside world, and that it’s better in the village, but the elite males have all traveled outside at some point in their lives.”
That made even less sense. “The witches are all females.” Or at least Devin thought they were.
“Not all,” Lindsey answered before sitting down and blending into his surroundings. “Like I said, they accept everyone.”
Devin glanced up at the two approaching women. This was getting a bit more complicated. He hated to draw more people into the mess, but he was sure he was going to need to. He couldn’t fight a magic he knew little about with his own magic that he knew just as little about. Keaton might have thought power was the answer, just like the sidhe, but knowledge could be just as powerful, too.
The older of the two women smiled at him as soon as she saw him. Her dark hair was plaited into one long braid that almost reached her waist, making her seem older than the thirty years she was. Her dark, almost black, eyes crinkled as she smiled. She came forward and wrapped Devin into a hug.
“It’s been a long time,” she complained, not letting go.
“Four years isn’t that long, Maria,” Devin remarked, hugging the woman back.
He had spent a summer with the witches and their night human counterparts but had not been back since. His memories of his tie with the witches and skinwalkers were all enjoyable. It had been the first time in a long time he didn’t have to fear for his life. There was no fighting and no wars. No night humans waiting to attack. He had spent a summer just being a teen, for the most part, with a little combat training on the side. To Devin, Maria looked exactly the same as she had the day he said good-bye to them.
“It’s what,” she paused and counted, “a fifth of your life? I’d
say that’s a long time.”
“It may have been a fifth of my life before, but since I don’t know if I’ll live a normal day human life now, it might be nothing in the long run,” Devin replied. Things had changed, and he didn’t want to think about that part. He was pretty sure Nessa wasn’t interested in the night humans that were to court her, but the thought of a long, possibly forever life where he had to watch Nessa be with someone else sounded agonizing to him.
Maria stepped back and looked Devin over. Her dark eyes sparkled as she examined him.
“Now that’s interesting,” she replied. “I never pegged you for one that would become a sidhe. In fact, if I recall correctly, I think your very words were, ‘I’d die before becoming a night human.’”
The younger girl beside Maria coughed, and Maria glanced down at her.
“He’s not,” she said, barely more than a whisper, and her cheeks flamed red.
Devin looked at her and tried to remember which witch this one was. Nothing about her stood out. She had shoulder length brown hair and brown eyes to match. As she stared intently at the ground, she blushed, yet that still didn’t give him any idea who she was. He stared harder, but he couldn’t tell. It had been four years, and it seemed like she was barely a teenager. She would have been a little kid when he was with them before, and he hadn’t exactly been looking to play with kids during his stay. He was there to train against magic and to learn how to defend himself. The night human skinwalkers the witches paired up with were some of the most powerful fighters in their human form. He had spent three months of getting beat again and again by those men to grow stronger and enjoyed every minute of it.