by KB Anne
As if a lightning bulb hit us at the same time, we dove for the phone. “Starr!”
Chapter Fourteen
Starr
* * *
A hush ran through the crowd as the Great White entered the room pulling the crowds’ attention away from us. He moved through the room at an inhuman speed and seized my hand. “I alluded to the reunion of one of our esteemed founding members during my sermon, and now, with our closest friends and family, I present Jessalyn Silverlain, the granddaughter of our founding members and greatest benefactor, Horace and Evelyn Silverlain.”
With his clammy, catfish hand he spun me around to face the crowd.
A huge round of applause exploded around me. I was aware of the snap, snap, snap as cameras got their fill of the Great White and his latest trophy. Skillfully, he removed my fur stole and draped it over his arm, then he pushed me into the arms of a stranger who hugged me briefly before I was ripped away and yanked into someone else’s embrace. Someone groped my ass—it wasn’t accidental. Before I could punch my harasser, I was shoved off to someone else. I staggered from person to person getting handed off as the flavor of the month. Each encounter sapped more of my energy to the point I didn’t have much strength left. Soon, I’d pass out. I looked wildly for someone, anyone to rescue me. I caught Jude’s eye. He burst through the crowd with Thomas close behind him. He slide his arm around my waist, but instead of further depleting my energy, I leveled out. Thomas stood beside me. Sami and Jovie Lynn stationed themselves around me too, and Kenneth guided us back over to the cake, where my grandparents were standing with the Great White.
My grandfather glared at Jerry White like he wanted to kill him. If there wasn’t a crowd of vapid followers and the event wasn’t televised, he probably would have. The Great White acted unaware of Lord Silverlain’s murderous intention as he smiled at me as if to say, “I’m in charge,” before actually saying, “Now, now, everyone, I know you are as excited to meet Jessalyn as I am, but you have to give her some room. She’s not used to our Southern hospitality. She’s been in the cold, harsh north for far too long.”
The crowds spilt open like the red sea. I was thankful for all of my guards, even Sami. If it wasn’t for them, I’d still be getting felt up by horny leeches and having the remaining reserves of my energy sapped.
“Jerry Jr. where are you? I have a feeling Jessalyn needs a familiar face,” The Great White asked the room.
Soon, Jerry Jr appeared beside Thomas, looking as happy about the situation as I felt. He reached for my hand, a fake smile covering his face.
“Nice to see you again, Jessalyn,” he said.
“Likewise.”
Snap. Snap. Snap went the cameras.
“Oh son, don’t be shy. Show Jessalyn how much you missed her,” the Great White said circling around us like the shark he was. He wanted in on the pictures and whatever physical encounter was about to occur between his son and me.
If we didn’t have an audience or a few dozen cameras aimed at us, I firmly believed Jerry would have rolled his eyes or at least waivered before swooping in to kiss me on the cheek. As his dry lips pressed against my skin, I felt nothing. No tingle. No tightness below the belly button. Absolutely nothing.
The Great White clutched my bare shoulder with his slimy hand. I almost collapsed from a combination of disgust and a zap of some type of energy contrary to mine. Something dark and sinister, but it was like he knew I’d react that way and held me up. “Let’s not get too carried away in front of our audience. We are in church.”
All he needed to add was a hardee-har-har to really yuck up our awkward encounter.
“Well,” the Great White continued, “now that the greetings have been made, time for cake and refreshments.”
With the offer of food, the crowds disbursed to grab their cake that was somehow sliced while we were “on stage.” The Great White’s hand trailed down my back and graced my ass as he headed over to an eager group of reporters.
Sourness filled my throat. The Great White saw me as shark bait. And if I was ever alone with him, I’d become his next meal. I wrung on the bracelet Jody made me wear. It was a thick silver wire. I could probably use it as a garrote if I really needed to. And at dinner tonight, I planned to slip a steak knife off the table and keep it close. I might be a prisoner, but no one would sexually harass me.
Jerry Jr remained next to me as we watched his father make his way through crowds of fans fawning over him.
“Do you ever get used to it?” I asked him quietly.
“You get numb. Eventually you don’t even notice,” he said before eating a piece of cake someone had given him.
“You don’t notice complete strangers pawing and kissing you?” Or your father molest me?
His blue eyes held mine for a long time. Understanding passed between us. “I was never groped like you were. You’re the new flavor.”
I couldn’t comprehend why I felt at ease with the son of the Great White. I guessed because we were kindred spirits of sorts. Prisoners of someone else’s making.
He glanced at Jude and Thomas flanking us, along with Sami and Jovie Lynn serving as back up.
“Do you get used to having all the bodyguards?” he asked.
“No. Do you want one? I could probably arrange a reassignment,”
The question took him off-guard, but then he laughed. He lived a lifetime denying who he really was. “Hm,” he said, “I might need to take you up on your offer.”
We laughed until a photographer shoved a camera lens in my face. The desire to speak left me.
Chapter Fifteen
Di
* * *
We missed the service. While Jerry White Senior spoke about new truths and histories yet to unfold (I can only assume here, but all his services were recorded and they always, always follow the same theme), Frank and I were caught up in discovering our own new truths and histories yet to unfold, and evidently, between Egyptian cotton sheets.
The cameras were still zoomed in on Starr. She really was breathtaking, not only because she was a Fae and all Fae were beautiful at least in the books and the movies, but because she might possess the ability to steal breath from people. Her Fae abilities were untapped our last time together. I honestly couldn’t wait for her to discover her true self. She was always a force to be reckoned with. I suspected even without our help, she was going to kick some major Silverlain and Organization ass.
Sami and Jovie flanked her, along with Jude and another beefy muscle head.
Frank’s finger traced each of their faces. “They must be her guards. That would explain why she hasn’t escaped yet.”
“How many guards does it take to keep her imprisoned?”
“Silver Fae royalty might possess stronger powers? And they’re only human, so that’s probably why she needs so many.”
It could have been my imagination, but it seemed like Sami’s eyes flashed red. “Did you see that?”
He zoomed in. “What?”
“Watch Sami’s eyes.”
They flashed again. “There. Did you see it?”
He looked at me. The worry etched into his face reflected my own. “Sami isn’t human? How can that be?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. She might be glamoured like Starr, or she turned a certain age and it triggered the change, or…” my eyes widen.
“What?”
“When she shot you? Maybe that triggered it.”
“Or the Organization turned them?”
We turned back to the screen.
“Are Jovie’s eyes flashing?”
“Not that I notice.”
“What about Jude or the other guard?”
“I don’t see anyone’s eyes change except for Sami’s,” I said.
“That doesn’t bode well for Starr. Sami hates Starr. I serve as exhibit A-Z.”
“Thanks the gods, you survived.”
He pursed his lips, “But my release day was marked by Starr’s kidnappi
ng.”
My mouth watered. “Look at the size of that cake! It must be some kind of dedication ceremony.”
Frank snapped his fingers. “They’re in the Jessalyn Silverlain wing.”
“The prodigal granddaughter returns.”
“Looks like it.”
The room was filled with dozens of congregation members. “If they eat the cake, are they subject to the whims of Fae?”
“That’s a good question. My Fae knowledge is slim at best. Now, vampire, werewolf, even demon, I’ve got covered, but Fae? Not so much.”
Jerry Junior bent over and kissed Starr’s cheek. Jerry White Senior pushed himself between them. He said something the cameras didn’t pick up before backing away leaving the two of them by themselves. The cameras followed Jerry White Senior for a few minutes before returning to Starr and Jerry’s son.
The cameras zoomed back in. Starr’s eyes brightened when Jerry Jr. said something to her. Soon, she was laughing and from the looks of it, enjoying herself.
“Starr doesn’t fake happiness,” Frank groaned.
I squeezed his hand. “We are not telling Christian about this.”
Frank pulled away from me. “What do you mean we’re not telling Christian?”
I ticked the team off my fingers. “Not Christian. Not Ben. Not Coda. Not even Rebecca.”
He scowled. “Why not? They have a right to know.”
“Know what?”
“That Starr’s moved on. That she doesn’t need us. That she’s happy in her new life.”
“Happy? You can’t make that assumption just because she was laughing with White’s son.”
Angry tension filled the van. “Can’t I? We both know Starr doesn’t fake happiness. She might act a certain way for survival purposes, but she doesn’t fake happiness, and that,” his lip curled as he stared at his phone laying on the pleather seat, “was happiness.”
“Frank,” I said quietly. A lone tear trailed down his cheek. He swiped it off angrily for its betrayal. “You’re not acting rationally.”
He jerked away from me. “Rational? I’m the only one who is. You, Ben, Coda, hell, even Rebecca keep acting like Christian and Starr are soulmates and their bond is unbreakable and that it’ll last through even the most difficult of tests.”
“It is.”
He clenched his jaw. “I don’t buy it. She’s forgotten all about us.”
Then it hit me. I couldn’t believe I didn’t realize it sooner. “That’s what this is about?”
“What?”
“You think Starr’s forgotten all about you. You’re still in love with her, aren’t you?”
His eyes widened. “What? No,” he reached for me, but I was too fast for him. I slipped out the door and ran. I was a fool for believing for one second that Frank could fall for me. That I could be anything more than a sideshow distraction for him while Starr was gone. I was a freaking idiot.
“Di, wait,” he yelled.
His feet pounded against the pavement as he took off after me but I wasn’t having it. I wasn’t falling for his crap.
Whatever we had was over. And so was the church service and the dedication party. People streamed from the building and into the parking lot getting in my way. I bobbed and weaved through them trying to keep afloat. Throwing elbows when I needed to get through. Kicking shins when I didn’t.
“Where are you going? Di stop,” he shouted.
Dolores Umbridge’s doppelganger sneered at me as I knocked into her.
“What are you looking at hag?”
Her mouth rounded into an O. “Why I never,” she huffed.
“Thou must not tell lies,” I screamed and kept running.
“Di, stop,” Frank yelled.
People took notice, but it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. I just needed to get away.
Ka-boom! A bright flash blinded me.
The ground rocked. My feet bucked out from under me. My hand shot out for someone, anyone to hold onto or I’d be crushed by the screaming hordes of churchgoers. Someone swooped be up into his arms.
“I got you,” Frank said.
I cried out. As much as I wanted to deny it, I was relieved he saved me. I fisted my hands into his shirt to confirm he was real and not a figment of my imagination. Thank the gods, he wasn’t.
He fought his way through the panicked stampede toward the building. Flames erupted from the front of it.
What the hell?
We stared in horror. Our friends were inside. Starr. Ben. Coda. Rebecca. All of them.
Chapter Sixteen
Starr
* * *
Even sugar riddled cake didn’t lift my spirits.
And by the way, it was chocolate. If chocolate cake didn’t help, nothing would.
When the paparazzi got up close and personal with my face, I suddenly realized my life, especially when I was out in public, was never going to be my own. My grandparents and the Great White were intent on using me to extend their own personal agendas. I was a pawn in a game I didn’t understand.
After getting manhandled by White and his congregation minions, I couldn’t wait to get home and take a shower. It was a shitty move on his part to toss me to the masses. Nothing more than a power play. I suspected he knew my energy would get sapped by the physical interactions between him and members of his congregation. He was Fae, but was he a Silver Fae like me, a Shadow Fae like Jude wanted to be, or were there other types of Fae? And why did Shadow Faes affect a Silver Faes’ energy or was I just special and I meant that in the most sarcastic way possible?
I shuddered to think about what type of evil the Great White might have in store for me. I needed to learn how to build my energy and protect my reserves in the future.
I scanned the room for my grandparents. We’d been here for what felt like hours. How much schmoozing could two people, even if they were Silver Fae royalty, accomplish in the Great White’s domain?
The floor pulsed beneath my feet. Instinctively I crouched in a wide lunge. A few days ago, high heels would have been the death of me. Today my Fae nature took over. The chandelier swung overhead.
“What’s happening?” Sami hissed. A silver sword appeared in her hand. Jovie stood beside her with one of her own. Before I could ask where they got them or worry that they were going to use them on me, Jude and Thomas wrapped their arms around my waist, hoisted me into the air, and ran out of the Jessalyn Silverlain Wing.
People swarmed around us as we entered the hall. Each one in a sprint for an exit. They were fast, but Shadow Fae were faster and thankfully not that smart. In Thomas and Jude’s rush to remove me from danger they reached for the quickest hold rather than the strongest one. I wiggled and slipped out of their grip. Once free, I scrambled for the emergency exit
“I got her,” Thomas yelled grabbing me. He flung me on Jude’s back. Jude’s arms locked around my legs. I reached for Jude’s neck my claws extending. Thomas threw a silver boomerang at my hands. It caught one of my wrists, transformed into an iron handcuff, and magically snapped my other wrist to it. Bile filled my mouth. I felt powerless against them, and it pissed me off. One day, I’d get my revenge.
Thomas and Jude sprinted out the emergency exit. Sirens blasted as the security alarms were tripped, but the noise was lost to the chaos around us. The silver limo slammed on its breaks when the driver spotted us. The passenger door automatically opened, and we leapt in. Sami and Jovie followed. The five of us sat gasping for breath. Soon after Kenneth entered with both of my grandparents. I scanned everyone in hopes that I could take advantage of a weakness, but they were unscathed as well.
“Drive,” Grandfather yelled. The door closed and the limo took off.
Grandmother smoothed out her dress. A life threatening crisis was no excuse for wrinkles. “Horace, what happened?”
Grandfather pressed on his bracelet.
“Yes, Lord Silverlain?” A female voice asked. I looked around but none of us were talking, and the driver’s voice
was low and gravely. Did the limo have its own version of Siri?
“Get me Treadwell.”
“Yes, Lord Silverlain.”
Grandfather rested back in his seat. His hawk eyes landed on my wrists. “Why is my granddaughter bound?”
“She was trying to get away,” Thomas said.
Grandfather frowned at him. “In the middle of an emergency evacuation with the two of you holding her? Unlikely. Free her.”
“But sir,” Jude began.
Kenneth leaned over Jude and sliced the bindings with a silver dagger. He slipped the dagger back into a sheath under his pants before sitting back up. “Never question the King.”
“I… I apologize,” Jude stammered.
As you ought too.
I winced as I rubbed my wrists pretending they hurt far more than they did. I glared at Jude, then Thomas before smirking at Sami. Dramatic effect had its place.
Her eyes didn’t flash red, but her death grip on the handrest suggested my theatrical demonstration produced the desired result.
“Lord Silverlain, General Treadwell is calling in,” Limo Siri said.
Grandfather pressed on the lapis lazuli stone on his bracelet. “What happened?”
“A complication.” Treadwell’s disembodied voice echoed through the limo.
“Explain.”
“The enemy infiltrated the service and left a bomb in the stadium. It detonated during the Dedication Ceremony.”
“Results?”
“Our fail safe worked. We apprehended one. The others got away.”
Grandfather’s fists tightened, the tips of his ears grew pointed, and his eyes flashed bright blue. “Are you in pursuit?”
“We lost them at the arrival of emergency personnel.”
Intense energy blasted off my grandfather. A tsunami without the water hit me and flung me under. I fought through the thick air to rise back to the surface.
“Treadwell.” One word, a single name, but the implied warning unmistakable.