Don’t cross the clan line with those notes, Kae hissed at her.
The eastern spirit only laughed, soaring faster on her route.
Kae briefly caught the spirit, shredding the edges of her right wing with her teeth. The spirit was slowed down for a moment, but then she tore free and pressed onward. The Aithwood groaned beneath the gale the two of them spun—one pursuing, one dodging—but soon they had spilled into the west. Kae let the eastern faerie go, with her tattered wings and her cruel amusement.
Frantic, Kae wheeled to blow north, but Bane had already heard the music and felt the stirrings of old magic.
Jack then sat before an orchard, strumming and singing for the trees. Adaira tried to make sense of his intentions. Was he singing for the earth? For the orchard? But then Kae’s perceptions narrowed, directing Adaira’s attention.
The spirit’s emotions felt snarled, a medley of fear and worry and annoyance. Kae’s wings were churning up cold air, blowing in Jack’s face.
Stop playing! He’s heard you. He’s coming!
Jack was completely unaware of Kae as he sang. The spirit cowered as the storm blew in. She retreated but kept watching from a distance. She saw the moment when Bane’s lightning nearly struck Jack.
Kae lingered long enough for the storm to pass. Long enough to ensure that Jack was able to rise and survey the steaming orchard. Rise and gather his harp. When she passed by him, the air from her wings gently brushed the hair from his brow.
A warning, a chide, a reassurance, a comfort.
Kae released Adaira’s hand.
It took a moment for Adaira to reorient herself, chilled as she was by Kae’s memories. She blinked until the image of Jack had fully faded. Only then did she look at Kae with canny eyes, studying her elegant stature, the sharpness of her features, the golden blotches on her shoulder, collar, and shins.
“You were protecting him,” Adaira said, shivering in awe and gratitude. “Why? Why would you risk yourself like that?”
Kae extended her hand again.
Adaira slowly accepted it, a pulse of apprehension in her throat. She didn’t know what else Kae could show her, and she braced herself to see Jack again. She braced herself to see Bane and his flash of merciless lightning.
Neither of them appeared.
It was a quiet stretch of the eastern coast at night. The tide was suspended, and the foam was churning up the spirits of the ocean. Lady Ream, the ruler of the seafolk, was present, sitting beside a woman with a harp. A woman Adaira recognized with a pang. She inhaled sharply, as if her heart had been pierced.
It was Lorna.
She was young. Her face was pale and smooth, her eyes bright in the moonlight. Her long dark hair was loose, teased by a soft western wind. It’s strange to see your mother at your own age, Adaira thought, both delighted and saddened by the sight.
Lorna was speaking to Ream as if they were old friends, and Adaira wanted to know what they were saying. She attempted to move closer, belatedly remembering she was fastened to Kae’s body and memory. Kae was standing far enough away that Lorna and Ream and the host of other sea spirits wouldn’t notice her, but close enough to direct the winds and ward off the eastern, southern, and northern faeries.
But Kae trusted the western wind. Adaira could feel it in Kae’s chest, like a flame had been lit, and she watched as they blew gently across the sand with their midnight hair and soft, mothlike wings.
Kae seemed lulled for a moment. Her guard dropped as she continued to gaze at Lorna.
A northern spirit arrived. One of her own kind, with needled teeth, a vicious smile, waves of flaxen hair, and crimson wings. Kae caught him before he could steal Lorna’s words. She bit his arm, shredded the edges of his wings.
He fought her, dragging his sharp nails over her collarbone, drawing her rich, golden blood. But he was no match for her, and he knew it.
He submitted, wings tucked low, and faded away to the star-streaked north.
Kae remained where she was on the fringes, watching until Lorna, nose bleeding and wincing in pain, had reunited with Alastair on the moonlit hills.
Why did you play without me, Lorna? he was saying, concerned as he wrapped his plaid around her shoulders. I’m supposed to be with you always.
Tears welled in Adaira’s eyes as she watched her parents. She didn’t know how much of the emotions she felt were hers and how much were Kae’s. They seemed tangled together as the memory faded.
Their hands drifted apart.
Adaira wiped her tears, her heart aching. It took her a moment to tamp down the sob that wanted to rack her chest and flatten her on the cave floor. But she held herself up, determined to process what she was feeling.