by Sarina Dorie
The pieces fell into place.
“I know what we have to do,” I said. “We will restore balance to the land and throw the Raven Queen from her throne.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
A Blessing and a Curse
If I intended to defeat the Raven Queen, there were preparations that needed to be made. Like it or not, I couldn’t rescue Imani yet. I now remembered enough of my past to not make the same mistakes twice.
I needed to ramp up my power. Vega and I recharged ourselves again that night. I was surprised when my husband accompanied us.
“I can’t let you ladies have all the fun,” he said in an indifferent monotone that gave away no indication whether he meant that as a joke or not.
I didn’t like Thatch leaving the household of children alone with Elric in his weakened state. Then again, Elric hadn’t seemed as fatigued. He’d stayed up later than usual. Could it be because I was pregnant? Was fulfilling my contract all it took to restore his magic? I tried not to dwell too deeply on the idea that I was carrying someone other than my husband’s baby. I could focus on domestic situations after I had defeated the Raven Queen.
Thatch instructed Vega, perhaps better than I could, on the proper method for sourcing electricity and places to go to avoid detection. He preferred unlit parking garages. Mostly I suspected they were unlit because of his doing.
Vega had already improved since her first outings with me. It wasn’t going to be long before she outdid me again. Soon she’d probably be shooting lightning out of her eyes. At me.
It had crossed my mind several times that it was time to tell Vega that I was with child. I didn’t know how she would react. I just needed to wait for the right moment. Unfortunately, there was never a good moment to provoke Vega’s wrath.
“I have something I need to talk to everyone about,” I said.
Vega reclined on the seat in the parlor while the maid prepared tea. Elric sat up straight as a rod on the couch beside her. No doubt he felt some apprehension as well.
Thatch stared out the window, ignoring the tea and cookies. He must have had a lot on his mind if he wasn’t tempted by a cookie.
“Well? Spit it out,” Vega said.
I glanced at the maid, waiting for her to finish handing Vega her cup and saucer. The young woman lingered, as if hoping for a bite of juicy gossip.
Elric smiled at her pleasantly. “That will be all. We’ll ring if we have need of anything else.”
The maid curtsied and left.
“Thatchy, come join us,” Elric said. “Your wife wants to talk to you.”
Reluctantly Thatch seated himself beside me. He placed a hand on my knee, the gesture reassuring.
Vega smiled, a little too sweetly, the same way she did right before she said something cutting. “Now what did you want to discuss with us, dear Clarissa?”
Thatch squeezed my knee in warning, as if I didn’t already know about Vega and her moods. She’d been my roommate for three years. I was quite aware how volatile she could be.
“It has come to my attention over the last couple of days. . . .” My tongue became tied as reason left me. “What I mean is, I wasn’t certain before—I suspected it was true—but now even Elric can tell. And the Dragon Court knew—um.” I cleared my throat. “I’m pregnant.”
“Is that all?” Vega asked.
“With Elric’s baby,” I said.
“There is no longer a magical imbalance between Clarissa and me,” Elric said quietly. “With the payment of this debt, I am starting to recover.”
“It’s about time.” Vega jabbed him with an elbow. “Ask your father whether that pleases him enough he’ll start repairs on the estate. Surely he has the decency not to want his grandchildren to live in squalor.”
I gazed into Thatch’s eyes. “I know this will make things difficult for you.”
“I wasn’t worried how this would affect me. I’m concerned how others might treat you.” He hugged an arm around my shoulders.
The warmth in his words reassured me everything would be all right. I had the best husband in the world.
“Shall we discuss how we will raise this child?” Elric asked. “Will you return to work, and the baby will stay here? Or do you want to stay in my estate and work at Vega’s school when we get it up and running?”
I couldn’t think about those things now. I didn’t know whether I would be alive and able to raise this child after I battled with my greatest foe.
“I think we should all keep on living together as a great big happy family,” Vega said, eyes narrowing despite the smile on her face.
Thatch grimaced. I had to laugh at his reaction. I didn’t mind the idea of an unconventional family, but I could see how he might go insane living for the rest of his life in a “small” mansion with Elric.
“Indeed! Wouldn’t that be splendid?” Elric took Vega’s hand in one of his and mine in the other.
“Yes, dear.” Vega sipped at her tea daintily, batting her eyelashes at her husband. “And if you touch Clarissa again, you will wake up less of a man than you used to be. If you attempt to make another such bargain without my explicit permission, I will destroy you.”
From the glint in Vega’s eyes as she gazed at me, I couldn’t tell whether she was pleased this was over or if there was more to come because she intended to murder me in my sleep.
All four of us were regaining our magic. Step one of my plan was complete. I needed to move on to the next phase.
The other task I needed to perform was a summons of my own. Not from strangers of the Dragon Court, but I needed the assistance of my friends. I needed a Red army to defeat the Raven Court, or as close to one as I could manage.
I stayed up the rest of the night writing letters to my friends. Thatch had always advised me against sharing my secrets with Josie, Khaba, Pinky, and others, but lies had only gotten me in trouble. It was time to come clean and explain what I was. I needed their help, and I couldn’t very well get them involved without explaining the kind of mess they would be getting into. It wasn’t fair to ask something of people without giving them all the facts.
Khaba had a right to refuse based on his principles. Of course, he might also turn me in. Josie had a right to say no, that this was too dangerous. Pinky might refuse on account of not wanting to become entangled in Fae affairs. He was a free sasquatch.
They were all free. I didn’t know whether they would be after this.
I sent invitations, delivered by Thatch, to Gertrude Periwinkle, Pro Ro, and Grandmother Bluehorse. I wrestled with the idea of asking Hailey—she wasn’t a minor and was no longer my student—but she was still young, and I didn’t want to endanger her. I would have slept in that morning, but Vega pounded on my door at dawn. We were going on another excursion to power up. It wasn’t until after dinner, during cocktail hour, as the children played music and Elric and Vega danced in the parlor, that the first guests arrived.
Elric didn’t even greet his guests. His face was rosy and his eyes full of light as he danced. My eyes saw what I usually couldn’t, the way he absorbed particles of energy from the music and the dance. His muse half was being nourished by the creativity in the room. It was no wonder that he only had eyes for Vega, and he remained oblivious to anything else because of how malnourished he was.
Sam and Ludomil came together, looking lost as the butler showed them in. I was surprised they came. I hadn’t invited either of them. I rose to greet them and thanked them for coming. From the wrinkle between Thatch’s brows, I could tell he was uncertain about this plan of mine.
When the song ended, Elric and Vega meandered over, greeting them and sending for a servant to bring drinks.
Vega glanced at the satyr’s cloven feet tracking in clumps of dirt from outside, but she didn’t complain. Elric shook their hands and spoke to them at length, looking both men in the eyes as though they were equals rather than as the subordinates they were often treated as a
t the school. Pinky, Khaba, and Josie came in next.
Khaba greeted me with a bear hug. “Did I make your wish come true tonight?” As usual, he was dressed in hot pink and looked fabulous.
“Halfway true. You’re here. That was the first part of my wish.”
“Aren’t you sweet?” He kissed me on top of my head.
I was relieved I had him on my side. He would be instrumental in my plan. Djinn magic was more powerful than any other Fae’s.
“I need to ask a favor of you,” I said.
“A friend in need is a friend indeed.” His smile turned somber. “You do realize I can’t control my djinn magic. If you free me again, I will be all-powerful and all evil. I’d just as soon kill you as the Raven Queen.”
I nodded. “I have a plan.”
Josie nudged him out of the way and hugged me, fussing over me before I could tell him more. Khaba winked at me and helped himself to the decanter in the corner.
Josie wore one of her all-purple lace dresses that matched her witch hat. She’d swapped out her black-rimmed glasses for a pair the hue of eggplant. More lavender streaked her hair. She wasn’t hiding her second and third set of arms. I wondered whether she was out of the broom closet about her jorogumo self.
Unlike the times he was on duty at school, Pinky went nude—or as nude as a sasquatch could get with a full furry coat growing all over his body.
Pinky glanced around at the interior of Elric’s estate uncomfortably. “I wonder how many sasquatches broke their backs building this estate,” he muttered.
Josie nudged him. “Shush. You said you’d behave.”
I smiled. She sounded like me when I shushed Thatch. Not that I was going to tell her that, or she’d make barfing noises.
Pinky lifted me off my feet as he hugged me, his musky scent of forest and herbs smothering me. It was a good thing Pinky took showers these days, or else I would have choked. He exchanged a few niceties with me before joining Khaba where he spoke with Elric.
Thatch sat in the corner of the room by the window. His spine managed to be as rigid as a rod, while his shoulders were hunched. He looked lonely and dejected. Part of that may have been because he was an introvert who hated social occasions. And part of it was probably because he was despondent about my plan. He didn’t think we had a chance at succeeding.
I did. This wasn’t going to be like the times before when I had rushed into something without thinking. The blessings of the Dragon Court made me confident it would be different this time. I had wisdom.
Josie watched Pinky across the room, blushing when she caught him staring.
“Does someone have a crush on a big handsome hairy man?” I asked.
“No, not a crush!” she whispered. “We’re . . . you know . . . dating.”
It didn’t surprise me. I had always known he was fond of her. And she had melted into a puddle of goo when Elric had temporarily glamoured away Pinky’s fur and revealed the face and physique of Magic Mike under all that fur. I had hoped she wasn’t just into him because she liked the way he looked without his hair—which was a huge part of a sasquatch’s identity.
“You don’t make him glamour all his fur away, do you?” I asked. “When you’re together, I mean?”
“Only on special occasions. Sometimes he has fur. Sometimes he doesn’t. Sometimes I have six arms and ten eyes. Sometimes I have two.” A mischievous smile crossed her face. “We like to switch things up. It keeps things exciting.”
I nodded. “Switch things up.” I suspected I would have liked to not switch things up in the bedroom if I could help it. “So that must mean a jorogumo is able to have sex with a sasquatch?”
She blushed. “Yes.”
“How does that work? Are you in your true form? Do have to wear a muzzle so you don’t bite? Does that mean you can’t kiss or what?” I had always wondered about this.
She smacked me on the arm. “Clarissa, that is so personal! I don’t ask you how you don’t vomit when you’re with Professor Jerkface.”
“Perhaps you should,” Vega said. “It’s a fair question.”
I grinned. “I just want to make sure you’re happy.” She deserved someone who would love her for who she was. “And I want you to have a satisfying sex life.” Because I knew it would irritate her, I added, “Like me.”
She make a retching noise. “I don’t want to know.”
I guided her over to the settee. “And the new principal doesn’t make rules about fraternization between employees?” Khaba had always been a stickler for rules.
“Thank Nimue, no! Principal Khaba rewrote the staff handbook. I’d have to quit if he hadn’t.” She leaned in closer. “Once you go sasquatch, you’ll never go back.”
Pinky grinned at her from across the room where he spoke with Khaba and Elric. Pinky winked.
They both deserved someone who would accept them as they were, magical eccentricities and all.
Josie’s smile turned mischievous. “I’ve been dying to talk to you alone. There’s this thing I’ve always heard in lore about bigfoot that I never realized was true until—”
That was the moment Vega chose to park her rear end between us, pushing us apart. “Not that I wouldn’t love to hear more about your sasquatch sexcapade, but we have other things to discuss.” Vega gave me a pointed look. “Like Clarissa’s plan for taking over the world and becoming the most powerful Witchkin that ever lived.”
“Um. . . .” Josie said, at a loss for words as she looked at me.
“Vega, we aren’t going to take over the world.” I never could tell what was really going on in her head. “We’re going to bring justice to the land and take back what is ours.”
Her eyes glittered with delight. “Exactly. We will avenge our enemies and punish them. I will make the dead rise and crush our foes. The world will feel our wrath.”
Josie adjusted her glasses on her nose, frowning. But she held her tongue. She knew how Vega could be. Josie turned to me. “So what’s your plan?”
Maddy and Hailey burst through the door, distracting me from the conversation with my friends. Hailey had drawn her chestnut hair back into a ponytail, showing off her pointed elf ears. She wore a tracksuit, looking like a high school gym teacher. Probably she was arriving from after-school sports.
Maddy waved at me. Even with her hair cut short—almost as short as Vega’s—she gave off the impression of being a blonde bombshell. She was now a Red affinity because of the potion Vega and I had made so that she could become pregnant, but it didn’t take away from the siren beauty radiating from her. Her clothes were baggy and old, but she could have worn a potato sack and made it sexy.
“Is that alcohol?” Hailey asked, pointing to the full bar where some of the staff stood talking. “There isn’t a legal drinking age in the Faerie Realm, right?”
Maddy gave her a pointed look. “I’m pretty sure I know what Ms. Lawrence will say about that.”
I marched over to my former students. “What are you doing here?”
Maddy threw her arms around me. “We came to help you, of course!” She was tall enough that she loomed over my short stature when she hugged me.
I pulled back. “You can’t be here. We’re having a grown-up discussion tonight.”
Hailey crossed her arms. “I am a grown-up. I’m a teacher, remember?”
True. But a very young teacher.
Maddy patted my head as though I were a little dog. “And I graduated. I’ve had a baby, and I’m independent. I live on my own and take care of myself. Mostly.”
My former students didn’t understand. They were too unskilled. I glanced at Thatch. He was no help staring out the window.
“This isn’t the time for a social call,” I said. “I need you to come back another time.” If there was another time.
Maddy scanned the room, her gaze fixing on Thatch before returning to me. “We heard about Imani and came to help.”
“How? Wh
o told you?” I asked.
They both glanced at Josie. Of course.
“She didn’t mean to tell me,” Hailey said. “The thing is, I overheard Miss Kimura talking to Grandmother Bluehorse and Coach Kutchi. They both wanted to come, but the coach had an away game tonight and Grandmother Bluehorse is too old. Her arthritis has been acting up again, and magic can only do so much.”
“So we came to help instead!” Maddy said in excitement.
“You can’t help. You’re too young, too unskilled, and too impulsive.”
Hailey glowered. “Imani is our friend. If the Raven Queen had caught one of us, she would try to help in any way she could.”
“What about Greenie?” I asked. It was hard to believe they hadn’t told Imani’s best friend.
“She’s with the baby,” Maddy said. “Someone needs to take care of him.”
“Plus, Greenie has a family. She’d be missed. She isn’t an orphan like us,” Hailey said. “Her family wouldn’t let her come. They need her for the farm.”
I looked into their eyes, seeing the desperation there. I understood that need for action and desire to fix the world.
“We’re here for you,” Maddy said. “You’ve always been there for us. Tell us what we can do.”
Hailey punched her fist in the air. “Yeah. We’re ready to kick some Raven Court ass!”
Vega shot her a dirty look from across the room. Perhaps she didn’t like her chamber music marred by profanity. Not that she wouldn’t win an award for swearing herself. Then again, there were children present, playing their instruments. Maybe she didn’t approve of swearing in front of kids.
Between the music and the chatter, it drowned out the arrival of new guests. I would have missed Balthasar Llewelyn and Ben O’Sullivan if it hadn’t been for their larger-than-life personalities. They rushed over and hugged me.
“Oi! Ms. Lawrence, look at me! Like my suit?” Ben was wearing all green.
“Um, yeah.” With his red hair, he looked like a leprechaun.
“I work at Leprechaun Banking! Isn’t that great?”
“I still don’t get how that’s even possible. You can’t do math,” Hailey said, putting voice to my question.