by Lola Gabriel
“I’m real, Laila. I’m here, holding you, loving you. And I’m a fae,” Cedric said.
“Right,” Laila said, a little bit sarcastically. “So we’re all fairies here, then?”
“Not exactly,” Cedric said. “Let me ask you something. When you went up into the mountains, did you see Fabian’s castle?”
Laila nodded her head.
“Humans can’t see that castle. Fabian has it guarded with a strong protection charm that stops humans from seeing it,” Cedric said.
Laila’s head was spinning again. Wasn’t that pretty much what Jack had said when he told his story in her classroom? Did the whole town believe this story so completely that they believed the castle was invisible? Was it some sort of mass hysteria?
As crazy as Cedric’s story sounded, he didn’t sound crazy. He was stable, genuine, calm. And his arms felt good around Laila. She felt so safe when she was with him. Was it possible that it was all true? It didn’t sound possible, but surely there were things on earth that Laila didn’t know about or understand. What if this was one of them? But her? A fae?
“If I’m a fairy, why don’t I have wings?” she demanded suddenly.
“Because you’re a real fairy, not one from a children’s story,” Cedric said. Laila could hear the smile in his voice. “Real fairies can’t fly. We have heightened senses, heightened instincts, and we are immortal. We stop aging at twenty-nine and there are only certain things that can kill us—we don’t get human diseases and if we have an injury, we can heal ourselves. The only things that can kill us are decapitation, Ure, a kind of metal, or a wound so severe we bleed out before we can heal ourselves. We have magic, which we use to make potions and charms. This isn’t making any sense, is it?”
Laila shook her head. Honestly, it wasn’t.
“Don’t worry. I didn’t really expect you to believe this. But once Polly gets here, she can tell you the same thing as I have and if you want to know for sure, you can take the potion that will undo the potion that holds your fae side back. And then you’ll know for sure,” Cedric said. “Until then, do you trust me to keep you safe from Fabian?”
“Yes,” Laila said without hesitation.
She knew if none of this was real and Cedric was living in some sort of dream world, then she maybe shouldn’t trust him, but she did. There was no getting away from that. She trusted Cedric completely.
“Imagine for a second I believe this fairy stuff. How old are you really?” she asked.
“Well, in human terms, I stopped aging at twenty-nine, so my body is, and always will be, twenty-nine. But I have been around for just over three hundred years,” Cedric replied.
Somehow, the matter-of-fact way he said it made Laila think there was some truth to all of this.
“Tell me about life three hundred years ago,” she said.
Before Cedric could begin, Laila’s cell phone rang. She pulled herself from Cedric’s arms, missing his warmth, his solidity.
“Hold that thought. That must be my mom,” she said.
She jumped off the bed and rummaged through their discarded clothes on the floor until she found her cell phone. It was indeed her mom, and she took the call, holding two fingers up to Cedric, telling him she would be two minutes. She slipped out of his room and into the hallway.
“Mom?” she said.
“Nope, it’s Dad,” Fabian’s voice said.
Laila felt herself go cold inside. His voice was full of glee, and the implication of him calling her from her mom’s cell phone wasn’t lost on her.
“Where’s my mom? What have you done to her? If you’ve hurt her, I swear I’ll kill you,” Laila said.
“So dramatic. You definitely get that from your mom’s side,” Fabian replied. “In answer to your question, your mom is dead. Polly, on the other hand, is very much alive. She’s right here in my castle. It was almost too easy to take her. I was on my way to Cedric’s place—that interfering fucker is going to get it—but I stumbled across Polly instead, and well, it seemed much easier to get you back this way and then deal with Cedric later.”
“What do you want?” Laila demanded.
“It’s simple, Laila. I want you. Come to my castle, alone, and accept your fate, or Polly dies. And believe me when I say it will be a long and painful death. You have two hours to show up here or she’s gone.”
He ended the call, leaving Laila standing holding her cell phone stupidly for a moment. What the hell do I do now? she thought to herself. Fabian had given her a choice. Her or her mom.
She turned and opened the bedroom door and stepped back in. Cedric was still sitting on the bed where she had left him. He jumped up when he saw the look on Laila’s face, and in that moment, she made her choice. She chose to trust in Cedric.
“That wasn’t my mom,” Laila said. “It was Fabian. On my mom’s cell phone. He has her, Cedric. He said I have to go to the castle alone and accept my fate. If I’m not there in two hours, he will kill my mom.”
She could feel tears prickling at the corner of her eyes as Cedric came to her and wrapped her in his arms.
“You’re not going anywhere near that castle, Laila. I need you to promise me you will stay right here. And I swear to you I will save your mom,” he said.
Laila nodded, certain she had made the right decision. If someone had told her a couple of weeks ago that she would trust a man she had known for less than two weeks with something so important, she would have laughed at them and told them they were nuts. But here she was doing it, and nothing she had ever done before had ever felt so right.
17
Polly bit down hard on the inside of her lip. She felt like crying, but she wasn’t going to allow herself the indulgence of tears. Not in front of Fabian.
She was in a large metal cage, the kind she imagined was originally made to keep large animals in before people decided that was inhumane and zoos started to build proper enclosures. That wasn’t why she felt like crying, though. It wasn’t even Fabian’s presence as he stalked around outside of the cage laughing and tormenting her.
What bothered Polly more than anything was the phone call Fabian had made from her cell phone just over half an hour ago. The phone call where he had demanded Laila come to the castle alone or he would kill Polly. Polly didn’t care in that moment what happened to her. Her sadness came from knowing that Laila would come for her.
Polly thought that even if Laila came, Fabian would kill her anyway, but even if he kept his end of the bargain and let her go, she would still lose Laila, still fail Catherine. She would rather die herself and have Laila leave Greer and go underground somewhere. Or truthfully, she would like to kill Fabian. She wished she had done it all of those years ago when she had the chance, but Fabian was powerful, and the castle had always been filled with his men. And he was no fool. If she had tried to slip something into his food or drink, he would have known it, and at the time, Polly had been afraid that if she had done it, Catherine would end up taking the rap for it.
“The great Polly Kent,” Fabian said from outside of the cage in a mocking tone. “How the mighty have fallen. You really thought you could keep her away from me for all of these years, didn’t you?”
Polly didn’t answer. She just looked at Fabian, hoping her disgust for him showed on her face. If it did, it didn’t faze Fabian. It didn’t even slow him down.
“The best part of it is that you were doing a good job of it—too good—and then lo and behold, the silly girl delivers herself to me. That must have been painful for you, learning your precious little Laila was coming to Greer, and knowing you couldn’t tell her not to without explaining why,” Fabian said.
Polly knew her face had given away the hurt she felt at his comments when he grinned wickedly at her. How could she not be hurt by what he was saying when he was so right?
“And there you sit, finally about to pay for what you’ve done,” Fabian went on. “Do you still think taking the potion to repress your supernatural side was a go
od idea? A witch with no magic. You’re less than useless.”
Fabian turned away from Polly before he could see how much that comment hurt her—another comment that hit home because of the simple truth of the matter. When Polly had left Greer with Laila and had given her the potion to repress her fairy side and give her the normal human life her mom had wanted her to have, she had known she, too, would have to take the potion, otherwise Laila would eventually question why Polly never aged. And yes, she regretted that decision more than anything in that moment. Yet again, she had failed Laila. Yet again, she had failed Catherine.
Polly turned as Fabian did, seeing a man come into the room. He ignored Polly completely, focusing only on Fabian.
“The scouts have reported that Laila is on her way up to the castle. And that she’s alone,” the man said.
Polly’s heart sank. She had known Laila would come, but until it was confirmed that she was on her way, she had hoped that she was wrong, that Cedric would stop her from coming somehow.
“Thank you,” Fabian said. “Bring her straight to me when she gets to the castle.”
The man nodded and left the room and Fabian turned back to Polly.
“You know, as happy as I am to have Laila back, I half hoped she wouldn’t come so that I could kill you. I would have enjoyed that,” Fabian said.
“Who are you kidding, Fabian? You’re going to kill me anyway,” Polly said with a sigh.
“Ah, how well you know me,” he smirked.
He fell silent, and the next time either of them spoke was when Laila was escorted into the room. The man who had announced she was coming came in with her, his hand on her arm. She kept trying to throw him off.
“I came here of my own free will,” Laila snapped. “There’s no need to drag me around.”
“She’s right, Carl. Let go of her,” Fabian said.
Carl nodded and instantly took his hand from Laila’s arm.
“Leave us,” Fabian said.
“That’s not a good idea,” Carl said.
“You don’t think I can overpower her if I need to?” Fabian said with a raised eyebrow.
Carl flushed red and instantly nodded his head and scuttled out of the room.
“Let my mom go,” Laila said. “I kept my end of the bargain, now you keep yours.”
“Laila, no, don’t do this,” Polly said quickly. “Just…”
“I’m sorry, Mom. My mind is made up,” Laila said. She turned back to Fabian. “I said let her go.”
Fabian shrugged his shoulders and came over to Polly’s cage, looking amused. He smiled at Polly.
“She’s quite the little dictator, isn’t she? Your influence, I presume,” he said.
Again, Polly ignored his taunts. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small silver key. As he waved the key in the air, a padlock appeared on the cage door. Fabian put the key in it and opened the door, and then he stood back, gesturing for Polly to come out with a flourish. Polly stepped out of the cage, wondering if she could take Fabian by surprise and knock him out. With no weapon, she knew she had no chance of it.
“Mom, run,” Laila said, a tinge of panic lacing her voice.
Polly was torn. Without her magic, she was useless to Laila, and the last thing she wanted was for Laila to see Fabian kill her. But she couldn’t just run off and leave Laila here to face her fate alone.
“You’ll be leaving here quite soon, unfortunately, Laila. But in the meantime, I’m sure we’ll have a lot of fun together. We have a lot of catching up to do,” Fabian smiled at Laila before Polly could make her decision on whether to stay or go.
Her eyes widened slightly as Laila began to change in front of her. She got taller, wider, and Polly realized what was happening a few seconds before Fabian did. Within five seconds, the transformation was complete, and it wasn’t Laila standing before them. It was Cedric. He had used his fae magic to disguise himself as Laila.
“Yeah, one problem with that,” Cedric said as he pulled a gun from his waistband. A gun that had been concealed as a purse in his disguise. “I’m not Laila.”
He pulled the trigger on the gun as Fabian started toward him with an angry roar. It went off with a loud bang and Fabian dropped to the ground.
“Cedric Waters,” Cedric smiled at Polly. “Let’s get out of here.”
“We’re not going to have long before he’s up again,” Polly said, wondering if they shouldn’t slit Fabian’s throat and finish the job.
“I beg to differ,” Cedric grinned. “The gun is loaded with Ure bullets.”
Polly smiled at that news. Ure was a rare metal that could kill any immortal, and she knew then that Fabian wouldn’t be getting up ever again. Polly and Cedric ran from the room and toward the door to the castle. Carl appeared in their path, blocking their exit. Cedric showed him the gun.
“This gun is loaded with Ure bullets and I won’t hesitate to use it on you. It’s your call. Move, or I’ll kill you,” Cedric said, his voice calm and cold.
Carl didn’t hesitate. He jumped to the side, letting Cedric and Polly pass. As they reached the front door, an alarm started to blare out.
“He’s warned Fabian’s men that we’re on the loose,” Polly said.
“It’s okay. Once they see Fabian is dead, most of them won’t care enough to come after us. And for the ones that do, my pack is waiting for us a little way down the mountain. They won’t get past them,” Cedric told her.
He reached out and took Polly’s hand, and together, they ran down the mountainside. Polly could hear feet behind them, but they weren’t even a quarter of the way down the mountain when a woman stepped out of the trees.
“Keep going. Get to Laila. We’ve got this,” she said.
“Thanks, Cassie,” Cedric said. “Remember, we’re not monsters. Anyone who is trying to flee, let them go. Only kill those who try to fight you.”
“Got it,” Cassie said with a smile. “Now go before I beat your ass and kick you down the mountain myself.”
Cedric laughed and he and Polly began to run again, a little less urgently now that they didn’t have Fabian’s men on their heels.
“Do all the members of your pack give you orders like that?” Polly asked as they moved, a little surprised Cedric hadn’t admonished the woman, even though the comment was clearly meant in a good-natured way.
“Only Cassie,” Cedric smiled. “She’s not just my beta, she’s my sister too, so I guess she has a few privileges. But I know I can always trust her completely to have my back.”
18
Laila jumped to her feet when the door burst open. She felt relief and joy flood her when Cedric and her mom entered the house. She ran to meet them and the three of them stood in a tight embrace for a moment.
“Thank you,” Laila said to Cedric when they separated. “You did it. You saved her.”
“Try not to sound so surprised,” Cedric grinned. “And just so you know, Fabian won’t be a problem anymore.”
“I take it Cedric has told you some of the story about who you are and what happened when you were a baby?” Polly said after they had had another couple of hugs and sat down.
Laila looked at Cedric nervously and then back at Polly.
“He did. But it all sounded so…” she trailed off, not wanting to say it in front of Cedric.
“Crazy? Insane? Bullshit?” Cedric finished for her with a grin. “Don’t worry, I know how it must have sounded.”
Laila gave him a grateful smile and then focused on Polly.
“So, what’s the story, Mom? How much of it is true?” she asked.
“All of it,” Polly said. “Your real mom was a prisoner of Fabian’s. She accepted her fate and he began to allow her a little bit more freedom. We met in the town and became friends. When she got pregnant, she was distraught at the idea of Fabian having children around him. She knew his plan—if you were a boy, you would have been killed at birth. If you were a girl, you would be raised to the age of eighteen and then sold to t
he highest bidder. She didn’t want that for her child. We came up with the plan that I would take you and raise you as my own.
“I’m sorry I lied to you about who you really are, and about your parents, but your mom made me swear that I would give you a normal human life and not risk Fabian ever finding you. I gave you a potion that suppressed your fae side, and I took some myself—I’m a witch—so you would never realize I wasn’t aging.”
“And then, like an idiot, I came here even when I knew you didn’t want me to. I never dreamed any of this would happen, though. I’m so sorry, Mom,” Laila said.
“So you believe the story is true now?” Cedric asked.
“Yes,” Laila said. “And not just because my mom has confirmed it. While you were gone, I realized that as crazy as it sounded, you weren’t crazy, and that meant it had to be true.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for, Laila,” Polly said. “I should have tried harder to stop you from coming here. I just thought it was likely Fabian had moved on, and I couldn’t think of any way to stop you from coming here without breaking my promise to your mom.”
Polly smiled at Laila and then Cedric.
“Besides, I think maybe coming here wasn’t the worst thing in the world, huh?”
“Mom,” Laila protested, blushing and giving her an admonishing look.
Polly laughed and held her hands up.
“Okay, okay, I won’t say anything else,” she said. “At least not after I say this. The potion that represses your fae side has an antidote. One you can take to become your true self.”
“I…” Laila said.
She stopped. She didn’t know if she wanted to take the potion or not and she didn’t want to have the debate about it in front of Cedric. Because immortal or not, none of this changed the fact that she couldn’t be with Cedric because she could never give him a real family.
“You don’t have to decide right now,” Polly said. “But if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go and grab the potion and take some myself. Living in this aging body is getting a bit tiresome, to be honest.”