Death Card

by A C Wilds

  “I almost forgot,” he says, leaning over storm and pulling a long parcel from his saddle bag. I recognize it right away. It’s the Changer sword.

  “How did you? When did you find the time to take it?” I ask in amazement. I didn’t think I would ever see it again. I take it from him and unwrap the cloth. It is sheathed in a intricately designed scabbard. It has roses and thorns carved into the leather. I take it out and bask in its glory. It feels so right in my hand.

  “I snuck in before I put the supplies out by the stream. You need it Azra. It’s the only thing that can beat my father. It has the power to kill him,” he tells me, with a bit of sadness in his voice. He must be so conflicted about all of this.

  I hear the crunch of leaves and turn around to see Grey standing a short distance away. He looks outraged and turned on at the same time. His gaze rakes over me, and that sparking of arousal comes back. I clear my throat and step away from Cass. “Is there something you need?” I ask him, with a bit of a lost voice.

  “Red is back, and he wants to take the horses to the river,” he tells us, as if Red is a person and not a horse.

  Cass unhooks Storm’s bridle from the tree and pats him on the rear to send him on his way. He quickly catches up to Red and Hurri as they are walking in the direction of the river. Logan is trailing behind them with his head hanging down. I also notice a couple of water flasks in his hands. I guess there are even chores for runaways.

  “Do either of you know where we are?” Grey asks, after the trio of horses and Logan are out of earshot.

  “We are in Faerie,” Cass states. He says it like going through portals is fucking normal. We just landed in another realm!

  “I’m sorry, what the fuck did you just say?” I ask him, with an exasperated voice. I might lose my shit right now. All the adrenaline from the chase is leaving my system, and I feel gross and confused.

  “I’m sorry, Azra. When you opened the portal by bending the magic doorway, you opened it to Faerie. I thought you knew,” Cass says.

  “How the hell am I supposed to know the difference between a portal to Earth, and one to fucking Faerie!” I scream. Grabbing my hair, I slink down to the ground. We left one mess and jumped into another.

  Both boys stay standing. Grey looks like he is about to flip a table, if there was one in the vicinity. Cass is just looking at me meekly. He has no idea what to do with me. I look up at them both. “Well, what do we do?” I ask.

  “We find the Dark Court, and ask for sanctuary,” he states.

  “What if they don’t provide it? What if the Dark take one look at you, Prince, and kill us all?” Grey asks, pointing at Cass. He says Prince like it’s a curse word.

  “The Changer is among us. I am her mate. They cannot hurt me if I am hers. They know it will cause consequences that cannot be undone.”

  “That’s all good for you, but what about my brother and I? We aren’t exactly royalty or even Fae,” Grey says.

  “The courts here are different. They don’t have human slaves like the Light does. Instead, they have human companions. Sort of like pets but treated better.”

  If I thought Grey was mad before, it isn’t anything compared to this. He rushes toward Cass and tackles him to the ground. Greyson is on top of him in moments, taking a swing at his face. The rage he has coming off of him is visible. It is riding out of him in waves. I can see the energy in the air.

  “You stupid piece of shit fucking Fae. You all think we are here to amuse you? I am so sick of this!” He pulls back, and punches Cass in the face. Cass lays there and takes the first punch. While Grey is pulling back to hit him again, Cass flips him over, and straddles his chest. He places both hands on top of Grey’s arms at the side of his face and gets really close.

  “Listen to me, because I am only going to say this once. Your anger is going to get us all killed. You need to focus on what is important, and right now getting out alive is the most important; even if you have to pretend to be in love with Azra to do it. This is the only way,” Cass says.

  Grey stares at him like if he had a knife, he’d stab Cass in the eye. I move up to both of them and grab Cass’s shoulder. “Let him up,” I tell him. Cass moves off of Grey and comes to stand next to me. “Look, Grey, I don’t know what you have been through, but I do know what it feels like to be taken from my home, thrust into this world, and flipped on my head. I just saw my best friend in a purple bubble next to the person I hate the most right now. We need to stick together and make the best of this ‘till we can get out of it. I want to protect you and Logan, so please, will you play along?”

  He doesn’t answer either of us. He gets up and stalks off into the woods. Cass attempts to go after him, but I hold him back. “Let him process. He doesn’t have an outlet for all that anger. I can only imagine what he has been through.”

  “You’re right. I may not have known Greyson personally when we were back at the palace, but I do know what they do to the humans. None of it is ever good,” he says, rubbing his head and trying to get the memories out. Thank the gods I didn’t have to witness any of it. I probably wouldn’t be alive.

  Fuck the Fae

  Greyson

  I stomp off into the forest. I can’t look at either of them right now — the way they kiss like they hold each other’s life breath. It shouldn’t bother me seeing her with him, but it does, and it befuddles me. I don’t know why I am thinking of her like this because, fuck, she is a Fae! The last Fae I lusted after landed Logan and I trapped here. There is something about this girl though. She is different. It sometimes slips my mind that I got her into this mess, and that I was the one who made her life infinitely more complicated. It just seems like she has always been a part of me. I fucking hate that. I’m so angry that my body betrays me whenever she is around.

  This little idea I have doesn’t seem like a good one anymore. I took Logan out of that hell hole to bring him into another. I don’t know why I can’t do anything right by him. I suck as a guardian. I wish Mom were here. Even if she couldn’t make it better, at least she could take care of Logan better than I ever could.

  I see them up ahead through the trees. I can’t believe that damn horse can talk. I can hear Logan asking him a million questions. The kid has always been inquisitive. Sometimes it’s not the best trait. He’s laughing though, so Red must have said something funny. At this moment he looks almost carefree, like a real kid. They are splashing each other, and Logan is trying his best to win. He has no chance. The three horses gang up on him, and soon he is soaked. He’s never been able to experience a childhood. It’s good to see him let loose a little, and in turn, I feel some tension leave me as well.

  I’m nervous about being this close to the Dark Court. I have never met a Dark before, but if they are anything like the Light, we are in a shit load of trouble. Cassiel better know what he is doing.

  Turning around, I walk back to our little group, only to be stopped by Azra. “What do you want?” I ask her, with disdain in my voice.

  “What I want is irrelevant; what I need is another matter,” she tells me. Her arms are crossed over her chest, and there is a steel look in her eyes. She seems different now. The first time I saw her dancing at Pete’s, she was lonely and incomplete. The girl in front of me now is determined and pissed off.

  “And what is it that you need, Azra? I would think the Prince has that on lock right now.” I give her my attitude because I can’t show her anything else.

  “Well Grey, I need for us to stay alive, so that I can have a chance to change things, and kill that fucking bastard King,” she says, as she makes her way closer to me. Her hips sway of their own accord. She has no idea how sexy she is. I can feel myself responding to her: the way she smells and the way she looks at my lips a little too long. “You are making it very difficult to hold our shit together. We have no idea what we are doing here, and you constantly resisting, instead of being a team player, is going to get us killed.”

  She is in front of me
now, at arm’s length. I can’t help myself, I reach out and grab her forearm. She jumps in surprise but then relaxes into it. Her eyes bore into mine, and I tell her the first truth, “I can’t submit to you.”

  She looks confused for a second, and then it dawns on her what I am saying. “You think I would make you sleep with me so that we could get past the Dark?”

  “That is what the Prince is asking. I can’t do it. I can’t do it ever again,” I tell her, lowering my voice but keeping eye contact with her. I need to see how she will respond.

  “Grey…,” she says in a whisper. “I would never make you do something you wouldn’t already want to do, but I don’t think that’s the whole truth. You could have said sex, but you said submit.” This Fae girl is smarter than she looks. The Fae live in the gray area. They live for half-truths and non-lies. She just figured out how to read between them.

  “You’re right, I said submit. I will never bend the knee to another being for as long as I live. If you want my body, take it. It will be yours, but I will never give you my soul.” I spew the last part out. My anger is coming to the surface again. I want nothing more than to push her back against a tree and thrust into her like a wild animal. I want to hear her scream my name as I punish her for all the deeds of the Fae. I want to watch her eyes ignite with pain as I make her scream my name in ecstasy.

  Stepping away from her and her heated gaze, I slowly make my way over to where Logan is standing. If I don’t leave her now, I will make us both regret meeting each other.

  Finding a Place

  Azra

  Holy shit, I went to talk to Grey, but I had no idea it would be that intense. His eyes looked like they wanted to burn me alive. My body responded to him, even if I was afraid of what he could do and judging from the enormous bulge he was trying to hide, I think he could do a lot.

  They all come back at the same time. Grey is trailing behind them. Logan is soaked through, but he is wearing a smile from ear to ear. He runs up to our little camp and drops the flasks by the rest of the equipment.

  “Hey Azra, did you know that Red is like a thousand years old? He is like the oldest Arion that is alive right now. He thinks there may be some here in Faerie. It’s been so long since he’s been here. Hey, do you think we will be able to see if we can find some? I’d really like a talking Arion of my own. You can’t call them horses ‘cause they get upset, so what do you think? Can we?” Logan blazes through with the quickness of a child in wonder. It is precisely what I need to hear. The innocence of life before responsibility catches up and chokes the purity out of you.

  “I think if we find another Arion here in Faerie, it will be exceptional. I don’t think we can go looking for them though. We need to get to safety and make sure we have some allies before we continue. I want to first make sure you are secure and out of danger before we get to do any fun stuff,” I explain to him, in the nicest way possible.

  “You make good sense,” he says, and then walks away to stand with the horses.

  Cass and I start to tack up Red and Storm, while Grey tends to Hurri. There seems to be a rock formation or mountain on the other side of this clearing; we may be able to find shelter there. Red walks alongside me as Cass and Grey lead their horses. We walk for about 20 minutes before reaching what I can now see is, in fact, a mountain, but the stone is nothing like I’ve ever seen. It is dark, shiny, black and smooth to the touch. It also pulses with energy.

  “Cass, can you feel that?” I ask my mate.

  “It feels like magic, but it’s different than mine. Almost like there is a piece that has changed,” he tells me.

  “That’s because it is Dark magic. You are feeling your absence of Light. The difference isn’t bad versus good; it is simply different,” Red explains to us.

  I reach out and hold my hand on the rock again. It responds to my touch, and a door slides open. I stand back for a second looking toward the others for some direction. I have no idea if it’s a good idea to enter a dark shiny mountain in a foreign realm, while not knowing what we could meet on the other side. Who am I kidding, of course, it’s not a good idea.

  “I don’t think we have a choice,” Cass says.

  “Fuck that! We have a choice. It’s called, ‘Let’s not go into the creepy-ass cave hole,’” Grey says, standing with his hands on his hips like a toddler.

  “Are you going to throw a tantrum, human?” Cass sneers. Grey is getting to him, and I need to defuse this tension before it explodes.

  “Guys focus here. Let’s take a vote. It’s scary as shit, but I don’t want to be caught out in the open if Michael decides to track us. I’m sure that asshole has someone to do a tracking spell or other magicky thing to get to us.”

  “Magicky? Did you make up a word?” Grey says with a smile. It’s only the second time I have seen him do that, and it lights up something inside me. Then I remember the first time was when he kidnapped me, and I turn away.

  “Ok, all in favor of creepy mountain raise your hand,” I say. Cass and Logan raise their hands, while Red raises his hoof.

  “All in favor of staying in the woods and probably dying because there is an army coming after us, raise your hand.” Grey looks at me and gives me the finger. “That’s not a raised hand, but you lose anyway, so suck it up buttercup.”

  We head into the cave. It’s big enough to fit the horses, but we need to walk in a single file. Cass goes first with Storm, and I follow him alongside Red. Logan and Grey take the rear with Hurri. It is super dark in here. There is not a single ounce of light. I’m going to fall flat on my face.

  Suddenly, a warm globe raises in the air and places an eerie glow on everything. The walls are the same smooth rock, but the ceiling looks like stalactites are hanging down. Each one is super sharp. I hope there isn’t an earthquake, or we all are going to be impaled.

  “I figured the human wouldn’t be able to see as clearly in the dark, so I called up a light orb. We need to move fast to find somewhere safe, and him tripping over everything is going to slow us down.” Cass whispers to me.

  “Thank you for creating the light Cass, but you need to stop with the human bullshit. You’re saying it offensively. I thought I was human for 24 years, so I take it personally,” I whisper back to him. They both need to stop with their prejudices. We are not in the Light anymore. We need to work together to change things. If I have to be the glue to hold us together, so be it. I am the Changer after all… aren’t I?

  “You’re right, my mate. I will try to hold my tongue around…Greyson.” He says the last part through gritted teeth. They don’t like each other. This is going to be difficult, especially if my body keeps responding to Grey the way it has been. I always thought I was a one guy type of woman, but looking at these two, yeah, I can imagine them both naked in my bed at the same time.

  My face flushes with heat at the thought. Thank the gods it’s dim in here because I’m sure I look like a tomato.

  After walking for what seems like hours down a narrow path, the cave widens out, and we come to a large cavern. It is a round shape with additional paths leading out of it. Anything could be down those creepy tunnels, and I have no idea which to choose. I’m so tired and drained from all the adrenaline that has pumped throughout my body, that I want to lay down right here.

  “We should camp for the night here. I don’t smell any danger, so we should be safe until morning,” Red says to me. I know he can feel my exhaustion. I look over at him with a small smile and thank him in my mind.

  “Let’s set up camp then. Did anyone bring food or blankets so we can lay down?” I ask.

  “I brought some bread, hard cheese, and dried fruit from the kitchens before Logan and I left. It’s not a lot for each of us, but it will get us through the night,” Grey says, as he reaches for his saddle bag. He produces another bag and sits down next to me. He begins pulling out the provisions and dividing it into fours.

  “I have blankets and some food for the morning,” Cass says.

>   “I got us some water before, so at least we have something to drink,” Logan says to me with a smile. This kid really can find happiness in any situation. He probably thinks this is one big adventure.

  “You guys are awesome. I wish we had a bit of warmth. I’m not exactly dressed for sleeping outside.” I say.

  “Your wish is my command, Changer,” Red says with a head shake. He blows hot air out of his nose toward the ground. It condenses and turns into a fire.

  “Holy shit, my Arion is a fucking dragon!” I say, jumping back out of the way of the flames.

  “I am certainly not a dragon. Dragons are not a superior species. They think they are, but they smell and go around crushing and exploding things. Not at all superior,” Red says as he trots away from us. The other horses follow, and I take a look at what they are after. In the corner of one of the caves is a moss-like plant. They begin to eat it and seem happy about it. It looks gross, but who am I to judge?

  I plop down in front of the blazing fire Red created. I take one of Cass’s blankets and wrap myself in it right in front of the fire. The heat feels terrific on my body. Grey hands me some food and a flask. I begin to eat and look around at the guys in front of me. A prince without a kingdom, a boy who is impossibly happy, and a man who has had everything ripped from him. I don’t know how I am supposed to help everyone. How can it just be up to me to make everything better? I don’t see how I can change anything. The only thing I am good at is riding. I was never a great waitress; something Noli reminded me of daily. I miss her so much. My heart is in my throat with worry about what Michael might be doing to her.

  I suddenly feel so exhausted that I must lay down. Someone sits behind me and scoots close so that I can lay my head in his lap. I smell fresh spring rain and ozone. I know it’s Cass without even having to turn around. Even though we are in a different realm and a mysterious mountain, I feel safe here with him. I close my eyes and try to relax my body enough to sleep. The darkness claims me soon after, and I drift into a dream of war and death.