Knight

by Karen Lynch

  I glared at him. “It’s not about the coffee.” I didn’t need to add the words “you insensitive jerk” because my tone more than implied them.

  “Then what is it?”

  “It’s nothing.” He was the last person I wanted to confide in. I hadn’t even told Dad about it. That ever since I’d woken up and learned I was Fae, I had taken comfort in the fact that I still looked and felt human. I had no magic or Fae strength, and iron didn’t affect me thanks to my goddess stone. As long as none of that changed, I could pretend I was the same old Jesse.

  I crossed my arms. “Why are you here, Faolin?”

  “I brought you some food.” He set a bulging cloth bag on the counter.

  I eyed the bag warily. “We have plenty of food.”

  “Human food.” He loosened the drawstring and took out various Fae fruits, a few of which I recognized, along with a bottle of green juice and two small, round loaves of dark bread. The juice looked like the same stuff Faris had drunk during his convalescence.

  Faolin finished his task and looked at me. “Your father said you have barely eaten since you came home.”

  “Did he?” I shot Dad an accusing look. He hadn’t been at the door long enough to discuss my eating habits, which meant he’d talked to Faolin before his unexpected visit.

  Dad leaned his shoulder against the wall, not looking the least bit contrite. “You have certain nutritional needs you didn’t have before, and I wasn’t sure exactly what to buy.”

  “Faeries can eat human food,” I reminded them.

  “Yes, but we also require Fae nourishment.” Faolin picked up something that resembled an elongated pink pear. “Fruits and juice will be the easiest for you to digest until your body adjusts to the change. You can have Fae bread but only in small portions at first.”

  “What? No crukk steak?” I quipped. Crukks were the main source of meat in Faerie. They looked like a shrunken version of a wooly mammoth and they were raised domestically like our cattle.

  He gave me a mocking smile. “You can eat crukk if you don’t mind it coming back up an hour later.”

  I made a face. “I’ll stick to beef.”

  “As long as you make sure to include enough Fae foods in your daily diet.” He waved a hand over the food. “You can get any of this at the local Fae market, or you can call us, and we will bring you what you need.”

  “Thanks,” I said without much enthusiasm.

  “Do you need anything else?” he asked.

  Yes. I want to know why Lukas didn’t bring the food, and why he is the only one who hasn’t called me, I thought, but all I said was, “No.”

  “Then I’ll be going.”

  Dad stepped back to let Faolin pass. “Thank you for coming by. We appreciate everything you and the others have done for us, and when my daughter gets her manners back, she will tell you the same.”

  I scowled at my father. What was he talking about? I’d thanked them. Hadn’t I?

  “You’re welcome,” Faolin said. His back was to me, but there was no missing the note of laughter in his voice. At the door, he turned to face me. “Don’t think your new status means you no longer have to train. We will resume that after you build up your strength.”

  “Oh, joy. I can’t wait.”

  “Neither can I.” He flashed me a devious smile as he left. “See you soon, Jesse.”

  Dad followed me back to the kitchen. “It was nice of him to bring you food.”

  “He’s a real boy scout.” I opened the bottle of juice and sniffed. It was the same stuff Faris used to drink. I capped it and put it in the fridge then grabbed a basket from the cabinet for the fruit.

  “You’re not going to eat any of it now?” Dad asked when I was done.

  “Not hungry.” I picked up my mug and gave it a longing look before I poured the coffee down the drain. After rinsing the mug, I placed it in the draining rack to dry. “Well, I guess I’ll save a lot of money on coffee.”

  He came over to put an arm across my shoulders and gave them a small squeeze. “There’s the Jesse I know.”

  I heaved a sigh. “I’m sorry I’ve been so hard to live with this week.”

  “You had a good excuse, so I’ll let you off easy this –”

  The floor vibrated beneath our feet, and a rumbling sound filled the air as if a plane was flying low over our building. I clung to Dad as the windows rattled, and car alarms started to go off down on the street.

  It was over as fast as it had started, leaving the two of us staring at each other in stunned silence.

  I was the first to find my voice. “Did we just have an earthquake?”

  ~The End…for now~

  Keep reading for the Lukas bonus scene.

  Bonus Scene

  This is a scene from Pawn retold in Lukas’s POV.

  “STILL NOTHING?”

  “Not yet.” Faolin scowled at his computer monitor. He had spent the last two days trying to determine how someone had managed to kill the two men under his surveillance. Few things got by him, and he was taking this one personally.

  I had wanted to kill the men who had attacked Jesse in her apartment, but Faolin’s cooler head had prevailed. Even he had to practice restraint when he saw the bruises on her face and throat that night. He had no tolerance for most people, but he was thawing a little for our li’fachan. Not that he would ever admit it.

  My phone rang, and I looked down to where it lay on his desk. Something unpleasant tugged at my gut when I saw Jesse’s name on the screen, and my first thought was that someone was breaking into her apartment again.

  I snatched up the phone. “Jesse?”

  A muffled rustling sound came from the other end, and she said something, but her voice was slurred. Jesse didn’t strike me as the drinking type, but she sounded drunk now. I smiled at the thought of her drunk-dialing me and imagined her pretty blush when I teased her about it later.

  Her next words were raspy and clear and sent shards of ice through my chest. “I think I’m dying.”

  The line went dead.

  “What’s wrong?” Faolin pushed back his chair and stood.

  “Jesse is in trouble.” I spun and strode from the large office we shared on the third floor of the building. He was on my heels when I reached the first floor and raised my hands to form a portal.

  Faolin laid a hand on my arm. “What kind of trouble? Where is she?”

  “She didn’t say. I’m going to her apartment.”

  “Not without me.” He stood back and waited for me to proceed.

  I felt the air in front of me as I murmured the words that allowed portals to be created through the wards on my building. Distracted by my concern for Jesse, it took more concentration than usual to detect the minute traces of Fae energy in the invisible barrier between the realms and to harness my magic to the energy. Once the connection was made, it was a matter of feeding more of my magic into it and manipulating the energy to open a window into my private courtyard at the palace. From there, it required less magic to create a new window to the hall outside Jesse’s apartment.

  “I’ll go first,” Faolin said when I reached for her door. He made short work of the locks and produced a small curved blade before he silently entered the apartment.

  It was dark and quiet inside, and I could see no signs of trouble. What if she wasn’t here? How would I find her? I pushed past Faolin and walked stealthily toward the bedrooms, ignoring the warning voice in my head that said my need to protect Jesse was stronger than it should be for any human female.

  Jesse’s bedroom door was open, and I let out a breath when I found her sleeping restlessly in her bed. She had kicked off her quilt, and she mumbled something unintelligible that was followed by a low whimper. On the bed next to her was her phone.

  Entering her room, I flicked on the lamp beside the bed, illuminating her sweaty, flushed face and damp hair. I laid my hand against her overheated cheek. “Jesse, can you hear me?”

  She turned her head t
oward my touch but didn’t respond.

  “She’s burning up.” I felt her too-hot forehead.

  Faolin came to stand beside me. “I see nothing suspicious. Do you think she’s been poisoned?”

  A fresh wave of worry hit me, and I bent low to sniff her breath. I inhaled several times to separate her normal smell from something that wasn’t quite right. “I detect something, but it’s too faint to identify,” I told him as I touched her forehead. Whatever it was, it could kill her if we didn’t do something fast. “We have to bring her fever down.”

  Faolin disappeared and returned with a wet cloth. He handed it to me, and I pressed it to Jesse’s forehead. She let out a small sigh as I gently ran the cold cloth over her face, but it was only temporary relief. We had to figure out what had caused the fever in order to help her.

  “Humans are prone to infections when they are hurt,” Faolin said as if I’d spoken out loud. “Does she have any injuries?”

  “Not that I can see.” I ran my hands over her arms to check for cuts. Finding none, I dragged the sheet down to expose her lower body. She wore a T-shirt and shorts, and she shivered when I lifted the bottom of her top to look at her stomach.

  “There.” Faolin pointed at her thigh, which was marred by a pink, four-inch cut. “It looks like a knife wound, but it doesn’t appear to be infected.”

  I studied the cut. It didn’t look serious, but humans had fragile immune systems. It still amazed me that they thrived with all the toxins and diseases in this world.

  “Damn troll,” Jesse mumbled, curling up on her side.

  Troll? Was she dreaming or telling us something? I patted her cheek to rouse her. “Jesse, did a troll do this to you?”

  She nodded jerkily, and a small smile curved her lips. “Yes. But I got him.”

  I straightened and shared a grim look with Faolin. “Kolosh,” we said at the same time.

  The kolosh was an ornamental tree that resembled the bonsai tree in this realm. It had been popular here until someone discovered the sap was poisonous to humans. Trolls had begun coating their blades with the sap, which caused fever and delirium in humans, and in rare cases – death.

  “I’ll stay with Jesse while you get the ghillie,” I told him.

  He shook his head. “I cannot leave you here alone. You know one of us must be with you at all times.”

  “I have the same training as you. I will be okay without you for a few minutes. Go. Jesse needs the antidote.”

  He looked ready to argue, but he nodded and strode to the bedroom door. Stopping in the doorway, he said, “She is strong…for a human.”

  “I know.” I smiled down at her. When I first saw Jesse at Teg’s, she had looked so young and completely out of her element. Later, after she’d told me about her search for her missing parents, I’d admired her spirit and courage, but I never believed she’d last alone in this city. Since then, she’d fought a kelpie, survived a night on North Brother Island, and had bested two larger attackers in her home. Those were the things I knew about, but they were enough to convince me never to underestimate her again.

  I brushed a damp curl from her face. “You’re going to be okay. Faolin has gone to get the antidote.”

  She sighed. “Faolin’s so nice.”

  I laughed softly and slipped my arms under her. “Now I know you’ve been poisoned. Come on. Let’s sit you up.”

  Her brows drew together. “Sleep.”

  “No sleep. You have to stay awake.” Kolosh poisoning spread faster during sleep, and the best way to slow it without medicine was to keep the person awake.

  I picked her up and cradled her against my chest, feeling the heat of her fever through my shirt. For not the first time, I tried to ignore how perfectly she fit in my arms and the sense of rightness I felt having her there. She’s not for you, I reminded myself as I carried her to the living room and set her down in a chair.

  I went to the bathroom and wet the cloth under the cold water again. When I returned to the living room, I found Jesse barely upright in the chair and staring at the wall with dazed eyes. Kneeling before her, I gently wiped the sweat from her flushed face and neck.

  “That feels nice,” she slurred, sinking down in the chair.

  I gave her cheek a soft slap. “Stay awake, Jesse.” I glanced toward the door. Faolin hadn’t been gone long, but if we didn’t get the antidote into her soon, it might be too late.

  She made a sound of protest and opened her eyes, which were unfocused and bright with fever. A strange, prickling sensation started in my chest, and it took me a moment to realize it was fear. I couldn’t remember the last time I had experienced that emotion.

  Relief filled me when the door opened, and Faolin came in. “How is she?” he asked as he walked over to us.

  “Same.”

  He held up a cloth pouch, and I stood to let him take my place. From the pouch, he pulled a red leaf from the ghillie fruit tree that grew abundantly in Faerie and was the most effective antidote for kolosh poisoning. He held the small leaf to Jesse’s mouth. “Eat this.”

  She shook her head and pressed her lips together like a small child refusing to eat. I should have known she wouldn’t take it from Faolin. He hadn’t exactly given her a reason to trust him.

  I was reaching for the leaf when he tried again, speaking with all the kindliness of a wounded drakkan. “It will make you feel better. Eat it.”

  Jesse stared at him, unmoving. Few people could beat Faolin in a battle of wills, but he appeared to have met his match. The tightening of his mouth said he knew it, too, but he was also a master of coercion.

  “Shall I get your sprite to eat some to prove it is safe?” he asked slyly.

  Her eyes widened. “You leave my bro-”

  I smiled when he unceremoniously shoved the leaf into her mouth and forced her to chew and swallow it. If the glare she shot him was any indication, she was going to be just fine.

  “You’ll live,” he told her.

  Her mouth turned down. “Don’t sound so happy about it.”

  Faolin scoffed softly. And then he did something I hadn’t seen him do since Faris disappeared. He smiled.

  Jesse tilted her head and smiled back. “You’re cute when you’re not all grumpy.”

  A laugh burst from me as my friend’s smile fell. It might have been short-lived, but for a few seconds, he’d looked like the old Faolin.

  He stood and went into the kitchen to pour a glass of water. “Someone will have to watch her until the fever breaks, but she’ll recover. I can stay and care for her.”

  “No,” I said with a little more force than I intended. His eyebrows rose, and I added, “You and she are not exactly on friendly terms…except when she is delirious with fever.”

  One corner of his mouth quirked.

  “If she comes out of it and finds only you here, it might upset her,” I continued.

  He watched me with the astuteness of a lifelong friendship, but if he saw something in my expression, he chose not to mention it. Instead, he held the glass out to me. “If we can get her to drink, it will be better for her.”

  I took the glass and returned to the living room, where our patient sat with her chin resting on her chest. I shook her awake. “No, you don’t. You can’t sleep yet.”

  “But I’m tired.”

  She looked so exhausted that it felt cruel to deny her rest, but there was no other way. “I know, but you have to be awake for the antidote to work.”

  She huffed and leaned back to pout at the ceiling. “This dream sucks.”

  I grinned and gave her a few minutes to sulk before I lifted her head and coaxed her to drink some water. Once she tasted the cold liquid, she tried to gulp it all down, but I took the glass away before she could. The trick was to keep her just hydrated enough to sweat out all the poison. Too much water would make her throw up, which would not help her.

  A flash of blue on the other side of the room drew my gaze to the tree house in the corner. A tiny face
peeked through the leaves of some vines, the eyes wide and frightened.

  “She’ll be okay,” I assured the sprite, who promptly disappeared.

  I looked down at Jesse to see her eyes had closed again. She groaned when I shook her awake.

  “You’re mean,” she wailed.

  I tucked a damp strand of hair behind her ear. “Just a few hours and then you can rest.”

  Glancing over at Faolin, I found him watching with that same expression he’d had in the kitchen. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he stayed silent. He wouldn’t have told me anything I didn’t already know.

  Jesse’s fever raged on throughout the night, Faolin and I taking turns watching her and giving her water. The growing scent of kolosh on her skin told me the ghillie was doing its job and flushing the poison from her body. When it finished, her fever would peak, and the danger would be past.

  It was dawn when she started to shudder and make little whimpering sounds. I could feel the heat coming off her without touching her.

  “It won’t be long now,” Faolin said.

  He was right. A minute later, her body convulsed, and she cried out in pain. She tried to stand, but I held her down. Her clothes were drenched with sweat and smelled strongly of kolosh.

  “It hurts,” she sobbed, fighting weakly to break free.

  “I know.” I felt helpless. All I could do was watch until the fight went out of her. “That’s it, li’fachan. The worst is over.”

  She suddenly went limp under my hands, and I was struck by the irrational fear that she was dead. I lifted her chin, and something loosened in my chest when she looked at me with sleepy eyes.

  “How is she?” Faolin asked from the kitchen.

  I withdrew my hand and walked over to him. “The fever broke.”

  “Sleep is all she needs now.” He looked at his phone. “Conlan is downstairs with the car whenever you’re ready to leave.”

  “I’ll get her back to bed and make sure she’s settled first.”

  He nodded, and then his eyes went to something behind me. “What is she doing?”