Read Online The Road to Bedlam: Courts of the Feyre, Book 2 by Mike Shevdon - Free Book Online
Authors: Mike Shevdon
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"Alex!"
I poured power into the connection. The mirror glowed with harsh brightness, floodlighting the bathroom. The temperature plunged. Still I was losing her. I reached into the focus of power within me and wrenched it open, heedless of the consequences. The dark well in the core of my being dilated and darkness flooded into me. My skin went black, then fell into nothing; a dark hole in existence. My hands were outlines against the milky glass. The light dimmed and a nimbus of pale fire flared around me. The condensation on the glass swirled into frosted fractals around my fingers.
Still I needed more. I drew it into me, pouring it into the mirror until the surface bulged under my hands. The connection was barely there, I was losing her. Power pulsed down my arms, emptying into the bottomless well that was the mirror.
"Niall, please! Stop! You're hurting me, you're hurting the baby!" It was Blackbird's voice.
I hesitated, and the connection snapped. The mirror bounced back under my hands, the whole surface oscillating as the link collapsed. I turned to her, angry for making me lose it.
She was leaning against the door, her lips blanched, her skin grey, her other hand cupping her belly. The power faded from me, faced with that vulnerability. It slipped inwards and vanished.
"What… are you all right?" I gasped.
"What happened? What are you doing?" She sounded weak and frail.
There was a blue-white flash, a simultaneous crack, and then a long low rumble that shook the foundations of the house. Blackbird looked up, then back to me, then around the room. Every surface was coated in delicate frost. The room looked like an ice palace.
"It was Alex," I tried to explain.
"What was? She's dead, Niall."
"She's not. I heard her."
"We went to her memorial service, remember?" She sounded strained.
"I'm telling you I spoke to her. She's not dead." My teeth were starting to chatter. The cold was numbing.
"Sometimes, Niall… the mind can't always accept…"
"I'm not crazy!" She flinched and I tried to cool the anger from my voice. "It was her. I know my own daughter."
She stepped hesitantly forward into the bathroom, wary that every surface was coated in ice. "Look, Niall." Treading carefully she went to the window and threw it wide. Outside, the forest had slipped back into deep midwinter. Every leaf, every tree, every blade of grass was white amid the gloom. "Look what you did."
Another flash bleached everything into outline and then rumbled over the house, echoing out over the hills.
"I… I spoke to her." I wrapped my arms around my naked chest, holding myself, trembling.
"Spoke to who, Niall? Who was it you were talking to?"
"She's not dead. There were people with her, living people." I was shivering now, with cold and shock.
"How do you know?" She took a towel from the rail and draped it around my shoulders.
"I heard them!"
We were interrupted by hammering on the front door. Blackbird glanced at the stairs and then at me. "Put some clothes on," she said.
She left the bathroom, leaving the door wide. I glanced back at the mirror, the traceries of frost outlining my hand prints in the glass. I put my hand in the place where it had been, letting a dribble of power leak into the glass.
"Alex?" There was nothing. I let my hand fall away.
Sharp comments were being exchanged downstairs. I thought I could hear Garvin. I pulled the towel off my shoulders and wrapped it around my waist. As I exited the bathroom he was coming upstairs.
"Get dressed." he said, without preamble. "We're leaving."
"Leaving? Where are we going?"
"Out of here. We have about twenty minutes, maybe thirty, before they arrive. Put some clothes on."
"Before who arrives?"
"Just do as you're told.
I poured power into the connection. The mirror glowed with harsh brightness, floodlighting the bathroom. The temperature plunged. Still I was losing her. I reached into the focus of power within me and wrenched it open, heedless of the consequences. The dark well in the core of my being dilated and darkness flooded into me. My skin went black, then fell into nothing; a dark hole in existence. My hands were outlines against the milky glass. The light dimmed and a nimbus of pale fire flared around me. The condensation on the glass swirled into frosted fractals around my fingers.
Still I needed more. I drew it into me, pouring it into the mirror until the surface bulged under my hands. The connection was barely there, I was losing her. Power pulsed down my arms, emptying into the bottomless well that was the mirror.
"Niall, please! Stop! You're hurting me, you're hurting the baby!" It was Blackbird's voice.
I hesitated, and the connection snapped. The mirror bounced back under my hands, the whole surface oscillating as the link collapsed. I turned to her, angry for making me lose it.
She was leaning against the door, her lips blanched, her skin grey, her other hand cupping her belly. The power faded from me, faced with that vulnerability. It slipped inwards and vanished.
"What… are you all right?" I gasped.
"What happened? What are you doing?" She sounded weak and frail.
There was a blue-white flash, a simultaneous crack, and then a long low rumble that shook the foundations of the house. Blackbird looked up, then back to me, then around the room. Every surface was coated in delicate frost. The room looked like an ice palace.
"It was Alex," I tried to explain.
"What was? She's dead, Niall."
"She's not. I heard her."
"We went to her memorial service, remember?" She sounded strained.
"I'm telling you I spoke to her. She's not dead." My teeth were starting to chatter. The cold was numbing.
"Sometimes, Niall… the mind can't always accept…"
"I'm not crazy!" She flinched and I tried to cool the anger from my voice. "It was her. I know my own daughter."
She stepped hesitantly forward into the bathroom, wary that every surface was coated in ice. "Look, Niall." Treading carefully she went to the window and threw it wide. Outside, the forest had slipped back into deep midwinter. Every leaf, every tree, every blade of grass was white amid the gloom. "Look what you did."
Another flash bleached everything into outline and then rumbled over the house, echoing out over the hills.
"I… I spoke to her." I wrapped my arms around my naked chest, holding myself, trembling.
"Spoke to who, Niall? Who was it you were talking to?"
"She's not dead. There were people with her, living people." I was shivering now, with cold and shock.
"How do you know?" She took a towel from the rail and draped it around my shoulders.
"I heard them!"
We were interrupted by hammering on the front door. Blackbird glanced at the stairs and then at me. "Put some clothes on," she said.
She left the bathroom, leaving the door wide. I glanced back at the mirror, the traceries of frost outlining my hand prints in the glass. I put my hand in the place where it had been, letting a dribble of power leak into the glass.
"Alex?" There was nothing. I let my hand fall away.
Sharp comments were being exchanged downstairs. I thought I could hear Garvin. I pulled the towel off my shoulders and wrapped it around my waist. As I exited the bathroom he was coming upstairs.
"Get dressed." he said, without preamble. "We're leaving."
"Leaving? Where are we going?"
"Out of here. We have about twenty minutes, maybe thirty, before they arrive. Put some clothes on."
"Before who arrives?"
"Just do as you're told.
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