Serving the Fae (Daughter of Light Book 2)

by Leia Stone

  His face scrunched up. “Excuse me?”

  “I want a private moment with the queen’s healer. Leave now.” I was sick of this shit. My whole life, I’d seen the Elders as gods when really my mom had been the one doing all the work. Now they thought they were going to boss me around and deny my requests? It was time I took a stand and demanded respect.

  The Winter Elder stepped forward. “I don’t appreciate the way you’re speaking to me.” A frigid gust of air brushed past me, and I steeled myself. It reminded me of Liam.

  I stepped closer to him, calling his bluff. “I don’t appreciate you denying my request to give the Halflings a place to live once I wake the queen and fix the world.”

  Kira swallowed hard, head down, trying to pretend she wasn’t eavesdropping.

  I crossed my arms. “So, if you want me to keep bringing you your shiny crystals like a good little girl, then you’ll leave. Now.”

  He looked absolutely affronted.

  Good.

  It was time people started questioning the Elders. Because something wasn’t right here, and I was going to get to the bottom of it.

  Turning on his heels, Aubin blasted past me and left the room, slamming the door behind him.

  Kira looked up at me, the queen’s feet still in her hands. Maple had been right—her toenails were green.

  “Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Kira hissed, giving me a look of total shock.

  I shook my head and knelt to whisper. “They need me, they won’t kill me. And something is seriously fucking wrong with them if we think they will kill us over talking back.”

  She gulped. “Look, I’m new to this, too, but Petal…she told me some crazy stuff before she died.”

  Chills broke out on my arms. Petal had been the lead healer for Faerie until she’d died about six months ago, and then Kira had taken over.

  “What kind of crazy stuff?” I asked.

  Kira lowered her voice. “Petal liked attention. I thought she was lying at the time, but now I don’t know…”

  “Kira. Tell me.”

  She let out a shaky breath. “She just told me weird, random things, like…that Indra put your mom in the cages once.”

  My eyes widened. “What?” Anger flared inside of me, red hot. The cages were for criminals and wrongdoers.

  Kira shrugged. “And that the queen had bruises on her upper arms in the shape of fingerprints.”

  You could have blown me over with a breath of wind. This was crazy.

  “What else?” I leaned in, trying to piece things together in my mind like a puzzle. Bruises on the queen? That was…treason.

  Kira shrugged. “That’s all I remember. I thought she was lying.”

  “Okay…” My thoughts raced a mile a minute. “Here is what we are going to do. I want you to get a bed in here and sleep next to the queen. I want her under twenty-four-hour observation.”

  Kira’s eyes bugged. “What? The Elders won’t allow that.”

  I shrugged. “I don’t care. The queen is…my aunt.”

  I waited for the inevitable gasp, which was accompanied by a slack jaw and wide eyes. “Are you…?”

  I shook my head. “Not royalty. She and my mom were half-sisters, but it makes me her next of kin.”

  Kira bowed her head. “Then it is my duty to follow your instructions, as I honor family wishes over political ones.”

  It was in their healing code or something; my mom had told me once.

  “I should have known.” Kira shook her head. “You look just like her.”

  I stared at the woman in the bed and wished she could just wake up and tell me what to do.

  After giving Kira a quick hug, I left the room.

  When I opened the door, I was prepared for the fight of my life. Indra would no doubt be pissed by my behavior and want to punish me. But instead, I walked straight into Rose. The Spring Elder looked nervous as she pulled me by the arm to her room, which was just down the hall from the queen’s. I allowed her to drag me inside and shut the door.

  “Oh, crystals, you’re going to end up imprisoned like Mara, you crazy child.” She kissed her fingers and raised them in the air as a sign of pleading with the ancestors.

  My blood ran cold. “What?”

  Rose frowned. “I don’t agree with it, but Indra has sent for another pair of cuffs to be made. The next time you step out of line, she’ll bind you.”

  Bind me? I laughed—I couldn’t help it. “And then who will get her crystals? If I can’t go to Earth, I can’t save Faerie.”

  Indra was all about instilling fear. I could see that now. She controlled with fearmongering.

  Rose nodded. “Oh, she’ll allow you to go to Earth, for certain periods or certain days. Every move will be tracked, and once Faerie is restored, you’ll be stuck here forever. Branded a traitor to your people.”

  Fear flashed through me as I was knocked off my high horse. “But…I’m important.”

  Rose nodded. “And Indra wants to be the most important of us all.”

  That statement rang through my entire body, echoing inside my head as I really thought about what she’d said. “So important that she would hurt the queen?” I ventured. I knew it was a wild speculation, but bruised arms, green nails…something wasn’t right.

  Rose reached out and covered my mouth. “Never speak like that again. Of course not. Indra loves the queen more than anything. Everything she does is to keep her safe and bring her back to health.”

  I wasn’t sure about that, but clearly Rose was, so I nodded. “I’ll tone it down,” I promised.

  Rose sighed in relief. “Way down. No more talk of the Halflings, and no more disrespect. Indra can be strict when she feels her rules aren’t being taken seriously.”

  “Her rules? I thought all Elders made equal decisions.”

  Rose’s eyes widened. “Our rules. Our rules, dear, but Indra is the leader of the council, and she’s done a wonderful job of keeping us safe all these years.”

  Yeah…I kept hearing that.

  “All right, well, thanks for the warning.” I brushed my hands off on my pants.

  She nodded, giving me a sweet smile as I headed for the door.

  “Oh, one more thing.” I raised a hand. “Since I’m next of kin to the queen, I’m insisting Kira sleep in there with her and monitor her case more closely.”

  Rose nodded. “I think if that would help the queen, it’s a wonderful choice. We’ll just run it past Indra—”

  “No. I’ve made my decision, and it will be honored, lest we upset the gods.” I kissed my fingers and held them up to the air. Family wishes over a dying loved one were to be honored above all else. We took healing and consent very seriously.

  Rose blanched, then nodded. “All right, then. I don’t see a problem with it. The queen needs all the help she can get.”

  Yeah, she did. And Rose was clearly blind to the fact that Indra was possibly hurting and not helping.

  I left her and headed out into the main room, passing the healing tree and entering the library. I was about to open the door to Mara’s when I saw a book on the shelf called Breaking Advanced Illusions. Illusions like the one keeping my mother’s journal pages blank?

  Peering over my shoulder and seeing no one, I swiped the book and slipped it into my bag.

  I’d gone full on anarchy, and I gave zero fucks.

  Mara looked up as I entered. “Where to, girl?”

  “Let’s get Elle.” I didn’t want to walk through town right now and see people. I’d much rather have Mara spit me out at the blue door on the cliffs, right near my house.

  I wasn’t ready to steal a crystal from Liam yet, but maybe he’d help me find out where the others were. Once again, I had to ask for his help, and I hated it. Especially after what he’d done to me.

  Ten minutes later, I stood before my bestie.

  I’d told Elle that I was prepared to take all the crystals eventually, but I would take Liam’s last because we had a deal.
“We’ll just do a recon mission to see if he’s even there,” I said. The thought of seeing Liam again made me equal parts excited and angry.

  She nodded.

  I drove the point home: “We’re not taking his crystal, we’re just going to ask for his help.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “Are you trying to convince me or yourself?”

  I didn’t know anymore.

  “Where to?” Mara asked. “New York again?”

  I met Elle’s gaze. “Seattle.”

  Mara stilled a second. “Oh. Okay.”

  She knew Liam was there. Since she’d told Elle and me the tragic story of losing Daniel, her human lover, and losing her Halfling child in utero, I was wary of talking to her too much about Liam. I knew it probably brought everything back for her.

  Without another word, we strapped in, and she took us to Seattle.

  Stepping out into the light dusting of rain reminded me of my first crystal-hunting trip, when I’d met Liam. The way the blue light had danced between us…I hadn’t wanted it to be true, but we were soulmates. Something that had once horrified me now just made me feel sad and lonely.

  Pulling my special pen out, I clicked the crystal end and watched as it bulked and transformed, taking the shape of a teal VW Beetle.

  “Just a quick in and out,” I told Elle for the tenth time. “We’re not taking anything.”

  She nodded. “Whatever you say, boss.”

  With that, I took off down the road and checked in with my own moral compass. How badly did I need this crystal? Would I take it from my own soulmate and his friends? He’d said people counted on him, and I knew he was probably holed up with his Sons of Darkness crew.

  Breathing in through my nose, I allowed my gift to take over and nudge me in the direction of where I wanted to go.

  Strong pull to the left, dull right, weak straight, stronger right—it took us half an hour of steering through the main city and then out into open farmland. We were weaving up a mountain dusted with mist when I got a strong pull in my navel. Veering the car to the right, I headed up a steep mountain driveway until I reached a chain-link fence and a sign: No trespassing. Violators will be shot.

  A crystal was here. I could feel it.

  “This is it.” I gulped and pulled the car onto the side of the road, crunching over some ferns.

  “You think it’s Liam or his dad?” Elle asked as we stepped out of the car.

  I sighed. Was I imaging that I felt Liam’s energy close? “My gut says Liam, but let’s not take any chances.”

  She nodded and drew the gun at her side.

  A frown pulled at my lips. “But don’t hurt anyone in case it’s just Liam and his friends.”

  She saluted me. “Affirmative, unless said friends try to kill us, which has happened before.”

  Well, yeah, before Liam and I had been a thing.

  Had we ever been a thing? I didn’t even know anymore.

  Without another thought, I walked around the fence and through an opening, and we trekked quietly up to the house. It was dark out, maybe ten p.m. Time was so weird here, and the country was so big that time was different in different sections. I still didn’t understand it. Faerie wasn’t like that, of course.

  Letting the moonlight guide our steps, we finally came to an open driveway leading to a decent-sized house. I inhaled through my nose. “Smells like animals.”

  Elle pointed behind me to a chicken coop and a huge garden that opened up to a big red barn. “Let’s start looking in windows and see if we can tell who lives here,” she suggested, dashing out into the night. I trailed after her as she pranced across the yard on light feet.

  I was a few paces behind her, so I hadn’t yet peeked into the first window, but there was a light on. By the look on Elle’s face, there was something scandalous going on inside.

  “What’s wro—” I whispered, and the sound died in my throat as I peered through the window.

  I recognized Liam’s black wings right away. He sat at the edge of a bed, holding a spoon full of broth or something up to a woman’s mouth. The woman was clearly very sick. Her hair was nearly gone, just a few blonde chunks framing her gaunt face. Dark circles hung under her eyes the way they did when a human was close to death. She looked about forty-five years old, and I could tell from here that they were related. He had her eyes…

  Liam’s mother was sick.

  All the breath I held whooshed out of me in that moment. This was why he fought so hard…why he said people were counting on him.

  It was her.

  Liam had left me to care for his ailing mother, and I’d hated him for it. Now I felt like a jackass. Of course, I hadn’t known, but I should have thought about it. Obviously, he had a human mother—he was a Halfling. I’d never imagined she was still alive and with him.

  “Liam? I can’t sleep.” A small boy walked into the room, and Elle and I froze. He looked about five years old and had the same black wings, blond hair, and blue eyes. The spitting image of Liam, but younger.

  Holy fucking crystals.

  Liam had a brother. And a mom. Liam had a family…

  My mind spun.

  Liam set the soup down and stood just as another boy appeared in the doorway to grab the little brother and tuck him into his arms. This boy was about twelve, again with black fae wings and blond hair.

  How many of them were there? Holy shit.

  “I got him,” the twelve-year-old mini-Liam said. “How’s Mom?”

  Liam sighed, looking at the frail woman in the bed. “Well, she’s not in pain right now.”

  His face crumbled. “I guess that’s good.”

  Liam put his arms out. “Come on, I’ll sing you a song,” he told the littlest one.

  My brain malfunctioned at the thought of Liam sweetly singing a little boy a night-night song. I had grossly misjudged him. We all had.

  My mind raced with questions. He was protecting an entire family? A mother, brothers? How many brothers were there? Why hadn’t he told me? My throat tightened with emotion.

  The sound of a snapping twig brought Elle and me out of our trance, and I turned toward the sound—just in time to see a blur before I was cracked over the head.

  Then it was lights out.

  When I came to, my eyelids sprang open to see slivers of moonlight filtering into a dark room. I was staring up at a ceiling fan. The base of my skull throbbed, causing me to wince as I glanced around the space.

  “Are you here for the crystal?” Liam’s voice was near, dark and full of emotion. I was lying in a bed—from the smell of it, his bed—and Elle was draped over a beanbag, passed out.

  Liam crouched in front of me, and that was when I saw the knife in his hands.

  Would he hurt me? Kill me, his soulmate, to protect his family?

  My throat tightened. “You don’t know me if you think I could do that. Not to you. Especially not after seeing…your family.”

  He flinched. “You saw?”

  I nodded, trying to sit up before a wave of dizziness washed over me. I grabbed my head and whimpered.

  “I’m sorry. My guards don’t know who you are. I had to stop them from killing you both.” He slipped the knife into a thigh holster and sat down on the bed beside me.

  We both looked out the window, moonlight causing each blade of grass to look magical. We were so close that I could have moved my hand just a few inches and touched him, but I didn’t. Everything felt far away when it came to Liam. I didn’t know anything about him because he’d never let me in.

  “Are they your brothers?” I looked over at him and noticed how stressed he seemed. Dark circles ringed his eyes, and his mouth was set in a constant frown.

  He nodded.

  “How many do you have?”

  “Five brothers. Plus my mom. Six people that depend on me for food, medicine, energy from the crystal, protection, shelter…”

  His voice cracked, and I moved my hand until the back of it was touching his. We might not
have been in a solid relationship, considering that he had broken up with me two weeks ago, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t be a good friend.

  He reached out and squeezed my palm.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked. What I’d felt for him had been all-encompassing, a love that had consumed me, but clearly, he hadn’t felt the same.

  “Would it have mattered?” he scoffed.

  I yanked my hand back. “Yes!”

  He turned to face me, his face contorted with rage. “Since the day I met you, all you’ve said is how Faerie needs all the crystals and we shouldn’t have any.”

  I threw my hands into the air. “That doesn’t mean I think you should die! It’s just a fact. The Faerie crystals belong in Faerie. Not on Earth with the dark fae.”

  His face pulled into a menacing scowl. “We aren’t dark, we just aren’t exactly like you with your pink hair and shiny pink wings.”

  I sighed. “That’s not what I—”

  “All this time, you’ve called me a dark fae, Halfling, Son of Darkness, and you speak about my people as if we are demons. Why the fuck would I trust you with my most treasured secret? My family.” He crossed his arms and glared at me.

  The wind rushed out of me then, and tears pricked my eyes. My heart sank into my stomach, and I had to keep myself from sobbing. He was right.

  “Liam…I…those names are just what I was told to call you. Your own father calls his people that.”

  He glared at me. “We are not a part of my father’s cult.”

  Cult was an apt word. I needed to fix this—I needed him to know that I saw us as equal.

  “What would you like me to call you and your people?” I suddenly felt like a racist shitbag, flinging the words dark and Halfling around like they wouldn’t bother him. I had no idea how he felt about it.

  He looked at me incredulously. “Just because we have a human parent doesn’t make us different from you. We’re fae. We have wings and magic and horns and everything else your people have.”

  I nodded. I didn’t want to tell him that none of my people had horns—that it was an attribute only the dark fae had. What mattered here was respecting his self-identity.

  “Okay. You’re fae. You’re like me.”