Ariel drummed her fingers on the desk. “We think we know what they’re after, but based on Ethos’s behavior, are we sure?” she asked. “Something is missing from this picture. What do they plan to do with the objects?” She went over to the board and wrote: “Clostra: Key. Vitae: Life. Fatifer: Bringer of Death. Aufero: Remove. Gem of Levage: Wild Card.”
“Why do you have the Gem of Levage as the wild card?” I asked.
“It’s the only object that can be used by people who don’t have magical abilities. That’s why the vampires were able to use it.” She glanced over her shoulder from the whiteboard. “The Aufero can be used by strong magic, our magic, which is the only magic that can rival theirs.”
Based on Sebastian’s account of the Faeries’ battle against the witches, it hadn’t been much of a rivalry. It was like comparing a lion to a kitten. Same feline family, except one could rip a person’s throat out with their teeth.
Suddenly, strong magic poured into the house, undeniable, and familiar. The witches folded over, feeling the blood wards they’d placed around the house shatter. They were connected to their wards and felt it when they were destroyed. It was supposed to be a way of alerting them of a breach. Most people couldn’t destroy witches’ wards because they were so strong, but Faerie magic demolished them as if they were inconsequential.
The house shook with such strong vibrations I thought it would collapse. Plaster broke from the walls. I rushed out of the library to the front of the house to find the windows in the front room shattered and shards of glass covering the floor. The seams of the house strained, and overpowering magic shoved me back several feet as the Faeries used magic to push their way through the front door. It flowed unimpeded over those positioned in the front room, waiting for an attack: Gavin, six from Worgen, Cole, Steven, and Sebastian. All had shifted. We waited for them. Nothing. For several long moments, the house underwent an aggressive assault that would have reduced a less sturdy building to rubble. I moved to the front, were-animals flanking me.
The same distinctive magic brushed against me as Ethan took up a position next to me, in human form. I decided to stay in human form as well.
A force like a tornado swept through the room, destroying everything in it. Six Faeries entered, but the power that inundated the air and thrashed our bodies made it seem as if we were facing an army. There were thrums of unearthly magic. Like Ethos, they had luminous amethyst-colored eyes. These weren’t the faces of evil, the things depicted in the book Ethan had given me. Their ethereal appearance, gentle and delicate, belied their infamous depravity. Although their skin ranged from ivory to deep mocha, their features seemed quite similar, as if they’d been formed from the same mold.
I saw their beauty for what it was: a deception. Ethos had changed his appearance so he hadn’t looked like the grotesque monster he was, and that was exactly what they’d done. They’d used glamour to give themselves the faces of gods and goddesses, but they didn’t need to fake the strength to match. I gagged from the putrid smell of unfathomable magic. Its heaviness dragged me down. Just like I had when I’d gone up against Ethos’s magic, I wondered if I could control it—truly control it. Or would I become a servant to its whims the way I had with Maya? Anxiety rose in me as I remembered the time I’d attempted to master and control Ethos’s magic. I hadn’t mastered it; it had mastered me.
When they saw the pack of animals nearing them, they backed away. I thought it was the animals that had caused their retreat—it wasn’t. Their focus turned to me as they began chanting. I felt a pull, then a yank, as a woman emerged from their ranks. She possessed magic, weak magic, but magic nonetheless. The new host. Maya’s new host. A powerful force shot into me, slamming me into a wall. I crumbled to the ground and rolled, preparing to change. That was my best chance. Sebastian soared through the air and sank his teeth into one of the Faerie’s arm, ripping at flesh. A sword materialized in the Faerie’s other hand. Sebastian disengaged in time to avoid the blade.
The trails of blood left on the floor lifted. Red misshapen forms floated in the air before disappearing into nothing. Blood was absent from Sebastian’s teeth when he exposed them. They knew we could track them with their blood. There was a rush of footsteps behind me, then wisps of familiar magic brushed against my back. Relief flooded through me; we had magical backup. Ariel lobbed the first blast of magic at them. It met a field that sent it rebounding with twice the original force, and it hit her in the chest, sending her flying back. Another witch turned, using magic to soften the fall as Ariel struggled to breathe. Josh joined the four witches, but their combined magic hit the field with no effect. I kept my eye on the two Faeries who stayed away from the field. The woman followed them as they continued to work in tandem. One distracted me with magic, preventing me from changing, and the other worked to remove Maya.
The protective field shattered. Ethan advanced and grabbed a Faerie by the throat. The Faerie stopped moving and went through a strange twin of the vampire reversion: skin darkened and became scaly, drying and shriveling before collapsing to dust. The other Faeries disappeared with the woman, leaving behind hints of their magic and a battered house.
I got to my feet, feeling each bruise and cut on my body as I moved. Ethan stood in the middle of the wreckage, trying his hardest to ignore everyone staring at him. If they’d forgotten or missed Ethan’s battle with Ethos, they’d just witnessed a replay of his profound power. Sebastian shifted, and as he inched toward Ethan, clothes knitted around him. He nodded in appreciation to the witch a few feet away who had dressed him. Ethan’s eyes shifted to Sebastian, their stolid masks firmly in place as they addressed the situation like it was a typical occurrence.
“We should find out as much as we can about them. If we find their weakness and their motives, we can stop them,” Sebastian said unnecessarily.
Or we can just send Ethan in to exterminate them.
Ethan stood at the door of his home office with the same pained look as when he’d opened it to give the witches access to all the information he had on the Faeries. Watching them examine his collection of books, notebooks, and dossiers of information, he looked as if he were experiencing slow torture. In some ways, it was. His secrets were his armor. They gave him comfort. Provided security. His office, his sanctuary, the very place where most of his secrets were hidden, was being invaded. He’d lived his life in secrecy to protect himself, his brother, and his pack. He’d hidden parts of himself that were the very essence of his being. He’d only ever shared everything with Sebastian, not me. At times, I even questioned how much Sebastian knew and if Ethan had kept some things to himself.
Josh went to a chestnut armoire with a built-in lock placed in the corner and looked back at his brother, raising his brow—a nonverbal request to open it. Ethan’s jaw clenched, and his irritation flared; he was obviously grappling with the instinct to keep his information secret.
“Ethan, we have to find out everything we can about them and their motives, or we can’t stop them,” Josh said, urging his brother.
“I know,” he said quietly. “I heard the debate the first time. I realize that.”
I pressed my hands against his back, guiding him into the room.
Even for a house the size of this one, the room was huge. One wall was lined with shelves filled with an impressive collection of books. There were two desks, one in a corner and a large executive desk in the center with binders stacked on top, one with my name on it.
After a few minutes of deliberation, he walked across the office, opened the armoire, and returned to his position next to me, watching them sort through his stash of information.
While he watched them, my eyes took in the room again and were immediately drawn to a saber with a gilded, intricately marked handle on the wall to Ethan’s left. I lifted it up, unsheathed it, and looked at the razor-sharp blade, light gleaming along the edges.
He gave me a weak smile and leaned in. “It was a gift.”
“From who
m?”
I thought he was trying to avoid the question, but he might have simply been distracted. Everyone was going through his things. Fingers brushed over the weathered bindings of his books. One witch sat on the floor, flipping through papers and what looked like journals that he’d had on a bottom shelf. Ariel tugged on a small cabinet next to the armoire.
“It’s locked,” Ethan said with a hint of irritation.
“Will it continue to be?” she inquired with the same level of annoyance.
“Yes,” he answered; coolly.
“Ethan, we promised we’d maintain your pack’s confidences, and we will. If it’s related to the Faeries, you need to share.”
“It’s not.” It was a terse, sharp response.
Ariel ended the uncomfortable exchange by smiling and returning her attention to the books. Ethan continued to watch them as they went through the books. His books.
“The sword was a gift from Chris,” he said, moving his attention from the witches’ activity long enough to address me. “Would you like me to get rid of it?”
“Does it work?” I asked, confused by the question.
“It’s an excellent sword.”
“Keep it.”
“You’re an odd woman, Sky,” he acknowledged softly.
I’m odd! You’re having a man tantrum about people touching your things.
I shrugged. “You knew what you were getting.” I grinned, leaned in, and whispered, “Don’t think you aren’t going to show me what’s in that cabinet. No secrets between us, Ethan.”
His smile slowly unfolded. “Of course, Sky.” He was placating me, but I had every intention of making him keep his promise.
Apparently, Ethan was going to spend the day glaring at everyone as they perused his books. I grabbed several journals and sat at the larger desk. Half an hour later, I quickly regretted my choice. Beautiful script filled the pages with the horrors of the Faeries’ reign in graphic detail. Initially, I read each word, going over the accounts of unnecessarily cruel torment at the hands of Faeries. Entry after entry, including one about a witch helpless at the hands of people who saw her as nothing more than a source of entertainment, something to be used for whatever they deemed would satisfy their needs. A group so powerful even the strongest witch’s magic paled in comparison. The elves’ magic was even less effective against them. Ethan and I served as hosts for two of these monsters. After reading over a hundred pages of the travesties people had endured and died of, I started skimming for information that would help us.
I glanced up from the book to find Ethan watching me. “Are you okay?”
“No, these people were vile. I hope their deaths were painful and cruel, which is exactly what they deserve,” I spat. “I want to kill the ones who still exist.”
I knew my spirit shade thirsted for power—perhaps it was so innate that they didn’t know anything else—but I couldn’t help but think of Ethan’s, so powerful and reviled that his own people had turned against him to contain him. Ethan had so much magic coursing through his body.
Josh looked disturbed. I caught a glimpse of disgust as he stared at Ethan and me.
“If you’re hosting a Faerie, why can’t you read the Clostra?” Josh asked his brother. He’d said it softly, as if posing the question to himself.
“They warded it against Ethan’s shade, Amizial, just like it was against anyone who wasn’t a Faerie. They saw you as the enemy and rightfully so.” It was Nia, the soft-spoken witch whose voice matched her appearance. She was tall and wiry, with asphalt-colored shoulder-length hair tucked behind her ears. Her wide moss-green eyes and full-bowed lips overpowered her narrow face. Usually, her coloring had a peachy glow, but now it was pale. Her eyes widened in antipathy as she looked at me and Ethan. She tossed the journal she was reading on the table and shook her head. “This is happening because of you.” She swallowed hard and looked at Ariel. “Have you read the stories? They want it the way it used to be. Whether there’s ten or a hundred of them, they are stronger than us—because of them,” she said through tightly clenched teeth.
She took several breaths, but the color didn’t return to her face. “The stories. What they did to people. To those who denied them.” She stopped and shrugged as if trying to shake off the images. “Their goal was to procreate, often with witches. Some of them chose willing partners, some didn’t. They didn’t always use glamour. They don’t look like what we saw yesterday.”
She leaned forward, flipped through pages, and left the book open for us to read if we wanted to know how others described the Faeries. I didn’t need to read it; I’d seen Ethos’s true form. Nia looked at the book, but I doubted she could read anything through her glassy eyes.
“I know, Nia,” Ariel said, her tone gentle and soothing as she attempted to coax her witch out of her spiral.
Nia frowned and her lips quivered. “You all aren’t much better,” she accused the only two were-animals in the room. Ethan’s face had relaxed, and he looked at her with sympathy. I felt it for her as well. I vividly remembered the accounts of violence, savagery, inhumane treatment, and the abuse of magic I’d read.
Nia flipped through the open book again and pointed. “Look at what the animals used to look like. What they were like.”
“I know their history, Nia.” Ariel maintained her somnolent voice. Curiosity had the other witches looking at the book. Even Josh took a peek. I didn’t bother to look; I’d seen what we had been. Beastly animals that did not remotely resemble humans. Strange bipedal creatures that walked around on two legs, with elongated snouts and fur covering the upper half of their bodies. They spoke, but it had looked grotesque coming from the mouths of feral animals.
I kept my tone light and kind as I responded, “Yes, were-animals were monsters. But it was those monsters, those primitive beings that disgust you, that enabled your ancestors and the elves’ ancestors to defeat the Faeries. We’ll do it again. We just need your help.”
“You are the reason they resurfaced. You made it easier for them to find the objects,” London added matter-of-factly, but she seemed surprised by it as well. “You and especially Ethan.”
Nia didn’t look any calmer but appeared to be just as curious. London took the journal she’d been reading, walked over to Ethan, and pointed to a word. “Can you confirm this word means beast? You speak Faerie, correct?”
Shocked by her assertion, he nodded. “A little. I learned it to do some spells.”
“That’s what you spoke yesterday, when you killed the Faerie.” She didn’t wait for him to confirm it. “Then we know why they have resurfaced. The desire to reign over us as they once did is still there. And because of you, they can.” London looked at Josh, smiling weakly as if she hated relaying the news to him. “Your shade was the only Faerie whose magic could control beasts. Control you all.”
London flipped through other books she’d gone through. She gave Ethan a pointed look. “He didn’t play well with others.” She kept on opening books to pages she’d bookmarked, offering evidence of her findings. “But he tolerated his brother, Ethos.”
Josh’s eyes widened, and he grabbed the three books he’d been going through. “Then this makes sense: Ethos helped the elves and witches hide the protective objects that were obtained during the war.”
“Let me guess, he agreed to this so he would be the last Faerie standing. And he planned to betray the witches and elves at an opportune time,” Ethan said with a sigh.
Josh nodded. “And his brother. The Clostra was warded against Amizial; it was also warded against Ethos. The witches and elves may have accepted his help in hiding the protected objects, but they obviously didn’t trust him. As the last Faerie, he could have read the Clostra, so it had to be warded against him. I suspect his brother was made into a shade so Ethos could have access to his magic later, when he had all the protective objects. He’d be the most powerful Faerie and have the ability to control the beasts. Unstoppable.” He looked at me. “That’s where y
ou came in, Sky. Ethos went after you because he would have been able to use you to do the spells in the Clostra.”
I turned to Ariel. “How did you know I started to perform a rever tempore?”
“It’s very powerful magic, and you can feel it. Never underestimate magic. It can be felt, especially strong magic.”
It was possible that we were more responsible than we could imagine. I looked at Ethan, and if my expression mirrored his, the others had to know what I was thinking.
Nia spoke in the same accusatory tone as earlier. Her stunned appearance lingered as well, a result of reading countless records of the otherworld under Faerie rule. “It’s your pack’s fault. You all don’t respect magic. There’s a reason you shouldn’t have access to it.” She shook her head. “You don’t care about consequences, just as long as the results lean in your favor. Everything and everyone else be damned.” I wanted to be upset with her, but there was truth to her allegations.
The emotions in the room were so strong that the breath I took heightened my frustration and anxiety. “You’re right, Nia. We have fucked up. A lot.” I turned to her. “We didn’t think enough about the consequences or take enough precautions, and perhaps we were selfish. The pack is the closest thing I have to a family. We screwed up, and the only thing I can offer is an apology, not for what I did, but for the consequences that are affecting you. I will not apologize for saving my life or protecting my pack.”
Nia’s frown relaxed but not her intense gaze. “What happens now?”
“We fix it.”
We fix it. That’s all I had, but I’d said it with enough faux confidence that it had seemed like I had a plan, and when I left, no one objected.
I needed a moment. I stood at the edge of Ethan’s backyard, looking at the surrounding heavily treed area that had trails and space between them to allow for a good run—something I desperately needed. I was almost open to hunting something to expend the excess energy from my heightened anxiety and frustration.
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