Finally released from the earth’s power, a cry behind her made her turn to face this new threat. Had she let the power go too soon?
Oisinne stood before her. Not broken and mad like in the human world, but tall and strong, his eyes twinkling with humor and intelligence. This was the man she’d married. The man she’d defied her own father for, the man she’d fallen hopelessly in love for. The man she’d laid with under the summer sky, making love for hours in sweaty abandon.
He reached for her, and for a moment, she longed to fall into his arms. She ached for that forgotten magic of young love, that giddiness and glee of discovering each other’s bodies. A flicker of movement on his hand caught her eye, and she spied something beneath the skin. Clíodhna concentrated and the hand became a feral claw, cruel and sharp.
She jerked away from his grasp and danced back. “Who are you?”
“I’m your husband, Clíodhna. Do you not know me?”
Eying the claw, she said, “My husband is sleeping in my house. You are not Oisinne.”
“But I am. Do you not remember how we met? You looked so tempting, with your black hair loose and long, wet from your bathing.”
The memory swept through her mind. She’d been bathing in the river, certain she had privacy, when Oisinne had come upon her and stolen her clothing. It had resulted in a merry chase through the woods but she’d caught him. A smile stole upon her face, but she wiped it away.
“You are not Oisinne.”
He took a step closer. “I have his body and his memories. Who else would I be?”
Such an odd phrasing. Clíodhna didn’t trust it, not here in Faerie. Though she didn’t stand in Faerie, did she? She dwelled in a dream of Faerie, an imagination of her own construction. This imagined Oisinne possessed her memory as well.
She took a further step back and considered drawing again on the earth energy. Whatever this creature might be, she didn’t trust him.
He laughed. Something in the tone triggered recognition and her blood chilled. She realized now who she faced. “Bodach, go away, I don’t want you in my dream. Begone!”
“But I want to make love to you like you have with your dear husband. It’s his body, nothing new or unusual. I would taste your sweet nectar, my flower, and enjoy your charms as Oisinne has. As Adhna has. As your pet monk has. You have plenty to sate us all.”
The earth power hammered at her feet, eager to enter her body once again. Her body tingled with anticipation and desire.
“If you won’t allow me to taste of your body, Clíodhna, let me swim in your memories. Tell me how Adhna escaped my trap, and I shall let you go free.”
“Ha! As if I’d believed any offer you gave me, Bodach. Go.”
“But it’s true, my honeysuckle. Sweet, sweet, Clíodhna. Adhna can’t give you a fraction of the pleasure I can. He’s bound to being kind and gentle. Sometimes gentle is too easy. I can give you intense bliss with just a little pain. All I need is a bit of information, and the ultimate delight is yours.”
The tingling she’d felt when he touched her before returned, deep within her pelvis, but she called the earth’s energy up instead. This time, she tamped down hard, concentrating on only drawing a bit. In the mortal realm, it had taken all her will to call up even a small amount of power, but in Faerie, that trickle became a rushing river. Blasted by the torrent, she shoved most of it back as she reeled.
“Do you believe your paltry powers can stop me, Clíodhna? It’s silly of you to try. It would be so much easier to just give me what I want. I promise you won’t regret it. I vow to a fair exchange. Your body craves it. I can taste its desire. It calls to me.”
He didn’t lie, which came as a horrible realization. Her body ached to embrace him and experience everything he offered. In her dream state, her body took two steps forward, despite her will. Her skin itched for his touch, hot and desperate. Sweat shone on her arms, glistening in the light.
“Ah, yes, just like that. Come to me, my flower. Let me lick your petals and plunge my stinger inside your—”
She slammed him with the earth power in the middle of his chest. He stumbled back with a cry of rage.
“Treacherous human! For that, your children will pay!”
Clíodhna’s rage burned white-hot at this threat, and she stopped tamping down on the earth’s energy. She pulled on it and blasted him with the light, pushing against him like a raging waterfall until he stumbled back. Further and further, step by step, she pushed Bodach away from her dream-body. “You will not harm my children, do you hear me! Stay away from me, stay away from my family. Stay away from everything I love!”
Oisinne’s skin melted away, leaving the bark-skinned Bodach she remembered. This form, too, faded away, sparkling into tiny motes and those motes danced into the darkness.
Another voice echoed in her mind, a kinder, gentler voice. “Clíodhna, you must leave.” This one she recognized. Adhna.
“Leave where? Here? I’m trying to!”
“You need to leave your home.”
“What? I can’t do that! I have to care for Oisinne. Where would I go? Will you get out of my head? I don’t want to talk to nothing.”
As shining motes danced back from the night, they formed her lover. His mouth curved into a welcoming smile, his arms out. “You look well in your dream-form, Clíodhna.”
