Brie Tart - Iron and Ivy

EXILES OF EIRE

Iron and Ivy

Treason and Treasure

Vices and Vixens

HEART OF HELLFIRE

Sweet Child

Bleed For Me

Mama Kin

The Date

Iron and Ivy, and the entire Exiles of Eire series, is written for ages 14 and older due to the following sensitive topics:

• Abuse
• Adult mental illness (including schizophrenia, anxiety, and suicidal ideation)
• Death of a family member
• Grief
• Kidnapping
• Some violence
• Some cursing/rude language

PROLOGUE

S team and the stink of battery acid clogged Jens nose. She opened her eyes but the exhaust stung them to tears. Everything blurred.

Manny? Wheres Manny?

Jens vision spun worse than her head. She managed to glance toward the drivers side, barely registering the full moon outside the window or the crumpled metal and broken glass that used to be the front of the car.

She found Manny. Her boyfriend lay limp against the steering wheel. The last minute, toilet-paper bandages of his mummy costume hung listlessly from his arms. He smelled like one too many beers and bright blood leaked from the crack in his head. Black clumps of hair made cowlicks around the wound. His dark eyes stared right through her, unblinking.

Jen reached over to shake Manny. A stabbing pain between her shoulder and neck stopped her halfway. Her collarbone hadnt held up under the strain of the impact between her body and her seat belt. The massive airbag sagging over the dashboard must have prevented her from the same fate as her boyfriend. She used her other hand to feel around for the seat-belt latch. She had to find a nearby house or gas station with a phone so she could dial 9-1-1.

Another sharp pain stopped her, this one from her swollen stomach.

The baby!

Only seven or eight months along, she counted in her head, still too early. Her heart beat in her ears as she clawed for that latch. The plastic black wig that had come with her Cleopatra costume fell away from her sandy blonde hair and into her eyes. She tried using her other hand to help tug the thing off. Another sharp spasm from her collarbone made her see flashing white spots. Trapped under that seat belt, her breathing picked up near the point of hyperventilation. Gruesome pictures of Mannys empty face flashed in her mind, then more of a bloodied fetus slipping down between her legs, a red stain blossoming around the lifeless lump.

Quite a grim situation you have here, a stranger said with an odd accent that echoed two languages at once. The womans hair flowed down her back in waves and its color matched the fresh blood running across Mannys face. She wore a sheer white dress that draped over every slender curve of her body, its train pooling around her bare feet. A dark chain bracelet dangled from each of her wrists.

Jen hugged her stomach as her panic settled some. Thank God. I-I need a hospital. Please go find a payphone oror something.

I doubt the girl will be alive for much longer if I do that. I wonder what she would have looked like. The tall woman bent over to peek through the shattered windshield. She focused on Jens stomach, her ethereal gray and silver eyes turning down and her slitted pupils widening with interest.

Howd you know it was a girl? Jen froze and only then noticed the way the womans skin glowed. It illuminated the space around them as it accentuated her creamy complexion and narrow features.

The strangers full mouth turned up in a knowing smile.

Jen gave her savior a second once over. Everything about her seemed to fit together without a single flaw and shed appeared in the nick of time. Are you an angel?

In a manner of speaking. Her smile tightened to a line. The skin at the corners of her lips didnt wrinkle like it should.

Am I dead? New tears prickled in Jens eyes.

I am not here to deliver you to any afterlife. My purpose is to grant your requests, your hearts desires. She tapped her nail on Jens stomach. Perform any special favors you might need.

Manny and the baby, Jen begged. Save them, please.

It is a little too late for him, dearie. The woman waved toward Mannys body. His arms still dangled from the steering wheel and red drenched his white t-shirt. I am afraid you should have acted sooner for him. Any more puttering around and the child will share his fate.

Another contraction tore through Jen.

No, help her, Jen cried. Ill do anything!

Anything? I can work with that. She set her palm on Jens belly. An eerie calm settled over the teenager.

Your name, girl?

Jennifer Diaz. The pain dulled to a tolerable ache and Jens mind cleared. What do I have to do?

I am Riona of Bri Leith, the woman said, her tone losing all sarcasm or sweetness. In exchange for making your child well, you must promise me something in return.

Of course. Anything.

I seek you and your daughter coming home with me.

Jen flinched back into her seat. Her collarbone throbbed, but not enough for her to notice under the angels strange touch. She shook her head.

This is not a dire punishment, but a blessing, Riona said. I would take you and the child to my homeland, let you raise her. Where I come from is a beautiful place with every pleasure you can imagine and more. Both of you would live forever in rolling green hills among lords and ladies, palaces and grand courts. She could learn the ways of magic, of the earth and its children.

But I dont even know you. Jen thought of all the homes she had seen since her single mothers arrest. Shed always had a packed suitcase under her bed, just in case. Mannys mom let me live with them. Shes supposed to help with the baby. Why do we have to go with you?