by L. Danvers
The rest of us stood, too. Grace was beside me, fists clenched as if she was getting ready to unleash a flurry of magical assaults the second things went south.
We exchanged knowing nods. Neither one of us liked fighting, but we would defend ourselves.
The broad-shouldered guard stepped closer. “We’re looking for a fugitive. Jareth Gray. He escaped from the Crystal Palace this morning.” He fished a rolled-up paper from beneath his armored jacket, and a sketch of a man with a long nose and thin mouth twisted in a demented, close-lipped smile revealed itself. “Have you seen him?”
“No,” Keo answered honestly.
Aurora lifted her chin, playing the part of the innocent woman well.
The guard flanked on the right stepped toward us, shading his eyes with his hand. “Aurora Blacklace, is that you?”
Aurora’s shoulders visibly tensed. “Milo?”
The guard nodded. “It’s been years. If memory serves me right, weren’t Isobel and Jareth once betrothed?”
“Mhmm.” She said, the strain in her throat coming through despite her efforts to appear calm.
“Interesting,” he said, slinking closer now. Grace eye’s were ablaze, warning me to get ready. “Maybe we should speak with your sister.”
“I’m sure she’d be happy to oblige. Do you remember where our home is? She should be there now.” She was trying to get them to leave us so that we could make it back to the portal. We’d be long gone before they realized she’d deceived them.
“I do,” he said, wagging his finger now. “The thing is, we already thought to look there.”
“Oh?” Aurora asked, her thin eyebrow arching.
He took another step, looking down at her now as he spoke. “You know, lying to high guards is a crime.”
“I’m aware.”
He looked over at his leader. “We should bring her in for questioning.” My breathing hitched. No. Without Aurora, we’d never be able to create a portal. We needed her. “And bring her friends in, too.”
One of the guards reached for her wrist, and before I had time to blink, Keo let out a feral growl.
Onyx fur sprouted across his flesh as he shifted into his werewolf form. He bit the guard’s ankle and gave it a good twist, taking him by surprise and knocking him to his back. The guards instantly transformed into their terrifying true nature, rows of needle-like teeth sprouting from their mouths. I gulped.
Drawn to the smell of the faerie’s blood, Charlotte’s fangs ripped through her gums. She was at his throat in a heartbeat, and I had to turn away for a second, reminding myself not to give in to the same temptation.
The leader of the guards tore her off of his comrade and flung her with brute force against a tree. There was a gash across Charlotte’s forehead, but it would heal in time. She pressed her palm to it, wincing while she waited for her supernatural healing abilities to kick in.
Now knowing with certainty what she was, the leader picked up a fallen limb and cracked it over his knee, breaking it into a sharp point with which to stake her.
Meanwhile, Keo was still in wolf-form, his dark fur making it seem as if a shadow was leaping as he managed another blow. He landed on the same faerie he’d bitten. The guard withdrew a golden blade from his pocket. Looking for blood, he was about to sink it into Keo’s chest when Julian shifted, too.
Julian’s silver fur glistened in the sun as he reared back on his haunches and sprang forward, knocking Keo out of the way, sending the blade skidding across the ground.
Ben ran for the weapon, and even though he managed to secure his hand around it, another guard crawled up behind him and grabbed him by the wrist. He squeezed so hard that Ben cried out, and even from a distance away and over all the commotion, I could hear the bones in his wrist snapping.
The unicorns began padding the ground, sending plumes of dirt flying beneath their hooves. They were snarling and rearing back, their ginormous wings beginning to flap, sending gusts of wind strong enough to throw Julian and Keo off-balance. Grace ran in the direction of the creatures, using her magic to try to calm them.
Julian was on his back now, and a guard was looming over him. The faerie held out his hand, and I realized then that the tips of his fingers resembled knives more than nails. A wicked grin crossed his face as if he could sense who Julian was. Knew what Julian was—an immortal being.
The world tilted sideways as it hit me. He planned to rip Julian’s heart out.
Charlotte was busy attacking the same faerie who had knocked her over, Xander and Aurora had teamed up against Milo, Grace was handling the unicorns, and Ben and Keo were indisposed.
I was the only one who could save him.
Instinct taking over, I sprang toward the guard. I leaped onto his back, my arms wrapping around his shoulders. He tried fighting me off, tried leaning over to get to Julian, but my hold was too strong.
My fangs tore through my gums, and just as Julian scampered out from under him, I sank my teeth into the faerie’s neck.
His blood tasted like sweet wine blended with the essence of peaches and oranges. An explosion of flavor burst on my tongue, and I lost all control.
Eventually, he stopped trying to fight.
His body collapsed, and I fell right along with him.
Julian returned to his human form, and his arms were around me, ripping me off of the faerie. “Stop, Danielle! Danielle! You have to stop.”
Panting, desperate for more, I slid out from his hold. I elbowed him to knock him away.
I was on the ground again, drinking, everything around me spinning in a dizzying blur.
A fog descended on my mind, and I lost all sense of self.
That was the last thing I remembered before opening my mouth to scream.
A SHARP PAIN IN MY stomach snapped me out of the fog, and before I could even open my eyes, I was hurling.
Note to self: apparently I couldn’t handle faerie blood, either.
When my stomach had emptied, I wiped the sweat from my brow and finally opened my eyes.
No wonder my stomach was somersaulting. We were flying.
Startled, I sat up.
“Feeling better?” Julian asked. He was seated behind me, his arms wrapped around my waist as he held the unicorn’s gilded reigns in hand.
I covered my mouth in embarrassment. Not that he hadn’t seen me sick before... That wasn’t what was intensifying that uneasy feeling in my stomach. The problem was that I had succumbed to bloodlust. I’d pushed him out of my way so that I could take another drink.
I felt like I was going to be sick all over again.
My head dipped in shame. I couldn’t even look at him. But I couldn’t look ahead, either. My insides couldn’t handle it right now. So, I closed my eyes.
Picking up on my emotions, Julian leaned in closer. As he spoke, his warm breath tickled my ear. “It wasn’t your fault, Danielle. It’s your nature now.”
“I’m disgusting,” I said, because it was true.
“No, you’re supernatural. And anyway, if it wasn’t for you, I’d be dead. So, thank you.”
I gulped down the lump in my throat. I guessed he was right. “Did I kill it?”
“Yes,” he said, his voice lower than before.
A tear escaped from my lashes and slid down my cheek. My sniffle gave me away.
“Danielle, what you did was heroic. That faerie was going to kill me. And he would have killed you, too. You did what you had to do.”
I shook my head, still unable to open my eyes. The warm wind blew against my cheek and made my hair fly in wild directions. I sniffed again. “What happened to me back there?”
“The same thing that happened to Charlotte.”
“How long was I out? What did I miss?”
“We took care of the others. Commandeered their unicorns, if that wasn’t obvious by now. You weren’t out for long. We’re nearing the garden now.”
“Wait—you know how to fly a unicorn?”
“They basical
ly fly themselves.”
“This is insane. This is the stuff of fairytales.”
“You should know by now most of the fairytales are based on truth.”
“But flying unicorns? Since when is that even a thing?”
He shrugged. “The storybooks don’t always get everything right. Legends say vampires can only go out at night, don’t they?”
“I guess.”
Suddenly, my stomach dropped. I’d never been a fan of rollercoasters. Traumatic memories of theme park excursions with my family came rushing back as we nosedived. Julian firmed his hold on me and I leaned into him, burying the side of my cheek into his chest. “Julian!”
All at once, the unicorn’s hooves slammed into the ground. We jolted forward and whipped back as a plume of upheaved plants flew into the air and rained back down.
Finally, I opened my eyes.
Julian hopped off of the unicorn’s back and offered me his hand. “One thing I’ve never been accused of is being boring,” he said with a wink. “Are you alright?”
Nodding, I took his hand and hopped off. He wrapped his arm around me to catch me and set me down on the ground. Plucking a root of who-knew-what-magical-plant out of my hair, he pressed his lips to my forehead, and a warm, familiar heat blossomed in my chest.
“You can make out later,” Xander shouted. “Let’s go!”
Danielle
We’d walked right into a stampede.
“Is this the right place?” Grace asked warily.
“Yep,” Keo said. “Home sweet home.” A herd of werewolves and vampires was running, shadows and blurs zipping past in a dizzying haze. Were it not for the sheer number of them or the storm of dirt and dust rising in their wake, you wouldn’t have even known they were there. “The humans must have come back.”
“You think they’re running to get to them? Like to attack?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. I could hear shouting and screaming faintly in the distance, but I couldn’t be sure which side it was coming from—the humans or the supernaturals.
“No,” he said coolly. “I think they’re running from them.”
Xander scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “What could the humans possibly have that could spook vampires and werewolves? Vampires are immortal and werewolves are crazy strong.”
“Whatever it is, I’d rather not figure out the details for myself,” Keo interrupted him, speaking in a rushed voice as his concern for our safety grew. “We need to get back to my place.”
“Is that where they’re heading?” Julian asked, jerking his head in the direction of the fleeing supernaturals.
“No,” Keo said knowingly. “They’re not stupid enough to lead them to our homes. They’re running for the caves. There’s a vast cavern system below these lands that leads to the castle. Opposite direction. If they get there fast enough, it can buy them some time.” He tilted his head toward the right. “Follow me.”
We did as he said, keeping to the shadows as we tore through the realm. At first, we were running on foot. But when I picked up on voices that I could only suspect were human not too far off, we relied on our supernatural speed. I carried Grace piggy-back style, and Julian gave Ben a ride on his back.
Keo had given us clear directions on how to find his home, so the seven of us split up, fearing that traveling as a group would only draw more attention to us.
I focused on running while Grace navigated, holding on for dear life even though I would never drop her. Our hair flew in the wind, a tangled mess of dark brown and sunny blonde hair slapping against my face, obstructing my view. I felt Grace’s body tense, but before she could spit out whatever she was trying to say, an explosion of pain erupted from my chest.
I roared, my legs slipping out from under me no matter how hard I fought to steady myself. My shirt suddenly felt wet. It was saturated with blood.
“Danielle,” Grace said with a gasp. “You’re bleeding.”
As if I didn’t already know.
I fell to my side, bringing Grace down with me. We grunted on impact.
I was on my back, twisting as I tried to resist the sensation of fire burning through my veins. I pressed my finger to the wound, my fingertips turning bright red.
A disheveled Grace was kneeling over me now, panicked but trying to act calm. She released a breath. “It hit your right side. That’s good. Now, we have to get that out of you.”
I wriggled underneath her, begging her not to. The pain was excruciating, and the thought of what she was going to do...
“Sorry,” Grace said, wincing as she ripped the arrow out from my rib cage. It wasn’t a swift motion like you see in the movies. She tugged and jerked and screamed as she yanked it out, and I swore I saw stars as the worst of the agony took hold.
Moaning, I rolled to my side, drawing in a breath, waiting for my supernatural healing to kick in. I knew it would, as it had missed my heart.
“Got one of ‘em,” I heard a voice call out.
Grace sat upright, but they already had her hands behind her back before she had the chance to run.
I could feel my torn muscles stitching back together, and with each breath, I grew stronger. But there was a big difference between healing and being fully healed, and I hadn’t healed... yet.
“What do you think it is, Connors?” a man in uniform asked the other as he loomed over me, looking at me like I was some kind of exotic animal. Keeping his grip on his crossbow, he knelt over me, examining the puncture wound. “Interesting. I thought a silver-tipped arrow would have killed it.”
This was bad. So, so bad.
Grace was kicking and flailing, trying to break free from the man who was holding her back. Why wasn’t she using her powers? I wasn’t entirely sure how they worked. Did she need her hands free to cast a spell?
I peered up at her, and I saw that the man restraining her had a gun to her head.
Grace.
“Waiting for your order, Sir,” Connors, the man with the gun, said.
Each passing second dragged on and on, and I cursed myself for not healing sooner. I tried to push myself up, but the pain was too intense.
I asked myself what Julian would do. He always seemed so sure of himself. Though, to be fair, he’d had for more time to learn to think on his feet than I’d had.
That was it. Time.
I needed to buy us some time.
“I can help you,” I said, coughing, trying to make myself seem more hurt than I was. I was close, so close to regaining my strength. “I’ll tell you everything you want to know. Just let her go.”
The man looked right past me as if I were nobody. “It’s willing to talk. That could be useful.”
There was that word again. I was getting really freaking sick of being referred to as it.
“Sir...”
“A talking freak is of more use to us than a dead freak, Connors.”
Confliction contorted Connors’ face, and he kept flicking his eyes between his direct superior and Grace. I noticed the twitching of his hand. He was trying to decide whether to pull the trigger.
A storm of fury surged from deep in my bones, and I knew at once that I had regained my strength. I wasn’t back to 100 percent, but I had enough strength to do what I needed to in order to save Grace.
Letting out a guttural growl, I pounced on top of the man who had been hovering over me. And before he had the chance to scramble for his crossbow, I threw my head back and sank my fangs into his neck. Ripping his throat out, I tossed the mouthful of flesh and blood to the side, spitting out the remnants that lingered there in an attempt to avoid the twisting of my insides that usually followed.
That was enough of a distraction for Grace to break free from Connors’ hold, and I lifted my chin with pride as I watched her place a spell on him that brought him to his knees. His mouth was open wide, eyes pressed shut, as he dug his fingers into his scalp.
“Grace,” I started.
She thought about finishing him off, but instead, sh
e dropped the spell. Connors was crying now, gasping for air. “I could kill you, you know,” she said, stepping toward him. “One word from me, and you would be dead.”
Warily, he asked, “Then why didn’t you kill me already?”
Her jaw twitched as she eyed him with pure disgust. “Because you’re going to help us.” She looked at me over her shoulder and jerked her head. “Come on, Danielle. Work your magic.”
Realizing what she was asking of me, I went over to Connors. Helping him to his feet, I placed my hands on his shoulders—gripping hard enough that he didn’t dare try to run. I could feel him trembling. But it had to be done.
Widening my eyes, I locked in on his until I had a good hold on his mind. “You’re going to let us go—and you are not going to follow us. In fact, you’re a friend to supernaturals now. And you’re going to dedicate your life to advocating for them. Go find your comrades and convince them to call off the raid. Use any means necessary. Do you understand?”
He nodded blankly, and I shoved away the very human part of me that knew controlling another person was wrong. But he was a threat to me, to Grace, to Julian and to every other supernatural person here in the Kingdom of the Silver Seas. And it wouldn’t hurt for the supernaturals to have an ally on the inside.
“Go,” I told him. And he walked off into the night.
JULIAN RAN TO ME AS I ascended the last rung of the ladder into Keo’s hut. With a push from Grace, I heaved my body through the threshold and landed smack on the floor. Julian threw my arm over his shoulder and helped me to my feet. I hugged my free arm around my stomach as he carried me to the couch.
When Grace had made it up the ladder, he asked her, “What happened to you two?”
Grace wiped her brow and sat on the couch’s armrest. Dreading giving the explanation, she took her time finding the words. “Danielle was shot.”
“What?!”
Julian released his hold on me and grabbed my shoulders. At this angle, he could see my blood-stained clothes. He placed a warm hand on my chest where the wound had healed. “How did this happen?”