by Larisa Long
I race to the cafeteria and peek inside. “So many brooms.” I can’t just pop in or I’ll be cackled to death and put in a cauldron. I laugh. Love using the stereotypes when I’m nervous as all fae. I wait until I see the King and Queen surrounded by their coven aka advisors, security and overall hanger ons.
Where are the quadruplets minus one? I try to follow the negative vibes and see them in a corner with a few trapped minions who all manage to flash a fake smile.
Question is, would I be able to get to the King and Queen before B cubed spot me and go for the kill?
“What are we looking at?” Raks says, following my gaze.
“Scared the pixie out of me.”
“Sorry.” He hands me a flower. “I know you don’t like anyone decapitating flowers, but this reminded me of you.” He hands me an already wilted daisy. “Well, it was nicer a few hours ago. Still alive and all.”
“I need to get to the King and Queen.”
He nods and smiles at me with the weirdest expression and moves his body like he’s dancing.
“What are you doing?”
“Whenever I see you, music plays in my head.”
I roll my eyes. “Can you please distract the faehead triplets?”
He bounces his head this way and that and never loses his goofy grin. “How?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. Maybe …” I look him over. “Witch-o-gram?”
He looks down at himself. “You want me to take my shirt off?” He thinks about it for about one second and starts to unbutton.
“Wait. Not here.”
He stops. “Okay. Will you be taking yours off?”
“They’re not interested in me in that special way.”
“Too bad.” He looks me over still bouncing his head like it’s moving randomly on it’s own.
I motion for him to get in there, but he only grins at me.
I motion again. “Okay, you’re up.”
“Okay. Talk to you later?”
I give him a thumbs up. I don’t remember him being that stupid. Gotta be the curse. I hope so. For his sake.
Stripper music starts along with shrieks and screams so I assume he’s starting with the buttons. I glance in to see the Queen has already joined her daughters to leer at Raks while the King puts his hands on his hips and sighs.
I use the op to slip in. “King …”
He whips around. “Zalia, where have you been?”
“We need to reverse the spell.”
“Agreed.” He glances at his daughters. “The realm is in danger of falling. If we can’t control this, we’ll have to evacuate.”
“The school?”
“The realm.”
I look at the cousins. “They’ll only do it without consequences if you order them.”
“And everything will go back to how it was.” He looks at me with regret and guilt in his eyes.
I shrug. “It’s fine.”
“You’re a smart girl. You know what this means.”
I nod. “Only one major curse reversal in a year. Don’t worry about me.”
“Someone should.”
I think of Xury and Blist and even the shifters who seemed to have accepted me as one of them. Sort of. “I have worriers.”
“I will guarantee the other thirty-six will be lessened, and they’ll be loopholes.” He whispers something to a minion. “Now, show me this classroom where they did the curse.”
Luckily walking with the King has it’s perks. While witchlocks smile and then think of approaching me, one look from the King makes them turn the other way.
When we get to the room opposite the crystal class, I stop. “This is it.”
We step inside. Looks just like an ordinary classroom.
“They’ll meet us here to reverse the spell.”
I nod. I don’t remember being alone with the King. In a few minutes I’ll make all brooms physically ill, so I should take advantage. “Why?”
He looks at me quickly, but then his eyes betray his understanding. “I wish I knew. They’ve always been jealous of someone. First their other sister.”
“B3?”
He nods. “She escaped.”
“She’s happy?”
He smiles. “She is. Lives in town. I see her twice a week.” Then his expression turns to worry. “I hope she is alright.”
“Without B3, they turned on me?” I think about it. “They definitely need another hobby.”
He nods. “I will try to curtail them. I’ve let them go wild for far too long. They won’t be able to curse you any more.”
“I know the drill. The ones already present will remain for the time being.”
“I will find a way to reverse them. All.”
“My mother?”
He blushes at my question and glances at the door. He knows we don’t have much time. “She’s a hybrid. A cyphon.”
“Part shifter?” I don’t know why I said it. Yeah, right. I know exactly why I asked it.
The King smiles. “She was which means you can date your jaguar shifter if you can resist your fated mate.”
I do a happy dance in my head and screech almost too loudly. I have to wait for my own ears to recover. “Sorry.”
We both hear a commotion down the hall which means the triplets are closing in like a stench.
“You can trust your teacher, Professor Sway.”
My rune teacher? Why would he bring him up?
“He’s your mother’s brother.”
That little admission takes a bit to get used to. “And he knows this?”
“Sure. He’s always looked out for you.”
“Am I part shifter?”
The King studies me. “I’m not sure. You haven’t shifted yet, but there are some who didn’t come into their powers until later. Professor Sway will teach you about your powers. Teach you to control them.”
“I’ll still be a witch?”
“Always.” He glances at the door quickly. “Tell no other witch about the possibility of you being a hybrid. With the curses still up, you won’t be in danger from them.”
I nod as the door flings open, and the triplets stand there.
Each one sighs before walking in the room.
“Okay, let’s get this over with.”
The King rolls his eyes. “Thank you for taking time out to stop a war that you started.”
B2 smiles, totally oblivious to his sarcasm. “You’re welcome, daddy.”
I have to control my cringe. Hearing her sickening sweet voice calling him daddy is almost too much.
The sisters return to their positions and mumble their spell. I hope the King trusts them to properly reverse and not to add a little extra twist.
“Wait,” Raks screams in the doorway. He’s still shirtless and rushes past everyone to kiss me before he can be stopped. “I’ll wait for you.”
I have to stop myself from wiping my lips off. That might be a bit bratty. I wanted Blist to be my first kiss. Especially since Raks won’t even be able to look at me in a few minutes.
B4 clears her throat. “Are you, like, done?”
Raks nods. “I am. I’ll wait right here for you even if it takes a thousand years.” His smile expands as he points down. “I will not move from this spot.”
Uh huh.
B2 giggles and sighs. “So romantic.”
The King braces himself as we hear loud bangs and explosions. “They’re trying to breach the school. Can we continue please?”
The triplets return to their positions and continue their mumble.
Raks stares at me with the silly expression and grin on his face. The grin slowly begins to fade.
Uh oh. Three. Two. One.
Raks glances around the room. “Why am I here?” He bows to the King and flees.
“So much for sticking it out for a thousand years,” B2 says, laughing.
One of the King’s minions who is built like a statue enters the room and whispers something to the King. He breathes easier. �
��Everything is back to normal now. Well …” he glances in my direction.
“There,” B4 says, yawning. “Can we get ice cream now?”
For fae’s sake, maybe they can get that weird ice cream headache and take off for at least a month. Ow. “I bit my tongue.”
“Ha.” B2 points at me. “She thought something bad about us.”
“Worth it,” I say, sounding like I have a mouth full of cotton.
The King looks in my general direction. “I am assuming the task has been accomplished?”
“You talk so old,” B1 says. “Yes, the task, as you say, has been accomplished.” She rolls her eyes.
“No more curses. No more spells against Zalia.”
“No.” B2 stomps her foot. “She was so much fun to play with though.”
The King looks around me. “Promise me, you’ll come to me.”
I nod then realize he can’t see me. “Yes. Thank you, King.”
He nods and leaves.
“We have a new target now,” B4 says.
“No.” I shake my head. I can’t unleash them on someone else. “Who or what is it?”
They grin and giggle. “We’re not telling you.”
B1 grins as she checks her nails. “Besides we can’t do anything fun until all your curses have been reversed. If we did, you know what would happen …” she shakes her head. “Naughty wanting the curses to overlap and come back to us.”
“Yeah …” I think about what that would look like. “That would be …” I’m trying to think of the right word. My birthday.
B4 jumps up and down and claps. “So, we still get the infamous thirty-six to amuse us.”
I step back. “Why are you three so demented?”
They shrug.
Then B2 has a moment of clarity as her expression becomes more compassionate. “Maybe we’re tired of being hated for being so beautiful and gifted.”
I shake my head quickly. “That definitely can’t be it.”
B1’s grin expands as she waits for me to be punished for thinking something bad about them. She looks up towards the left then the right. “Hey, that wasn’t nice at all.”
“But it was true.” I found my first loophole. Cool. Maybe Blist can make me a spreadsheet to keep track of curses, their waning strengths, and the loopholes. He’s wicked smart with anything technical. “So, why?”
B2 thinks about it. “We’re the most privileged.”
I nod. “You get anything and everything.”
“Except maybe for what we truly want.” B4 pouts.
“Respect?” I ask, wondering if I’m actually having a real conversation with the triplets.
“No,” they all say in unison as if I’ve suggested they should melt together and become one.
Then something becomes very clear. I lean forward as I study each of them. “You’ve declared, haven’t you?”
They grin at the exact same time. “That’s it.”
B2 blows out a breath and waves her hand quickly in front of her eyes. “That’s it. Oh, come on. No tears. They sting. Thank you for figuring that out.”
“We were having real headaches trying to figure it out.” B4 lets it sink it. “That’s it.” She jumps up and down and claps. “Mommy will be so happy.”
“So, you’re all going to be warlocks. Full on warlocks. No worries. No justifications. No motivations. No souls. Just chaos at your whim.”
They nod. “Cool, isn’t it? Want to join us?”
I step back. “Are you crazy?”
“No,” B4 hisses, before she looks at B1 with wide, tear rimmed eyes. “There is no mental defect in our family, is there?”
They all three think about it. If I were asked that, I would point to the three of them. They could have done the same to me, but their intelligence has never been a danger to anyone. I brace myself and wait. I smile when nothing happens. So, I can speak the truth about them. Love loopholes.
I walk to the door but turn back to face the cousins. “You know I think Curse Number 18 is one of your most ingenious.”
B2 smiles and stands straight up. “Why?”
“Think about it. No witch or warlock or witchlock can look directly at me. They know I’m there, but they can’t see me without consequences.”
B1 and B4 look at each other and giggle.
“But …” suddenly I turn very sad.
“What’s wrong?” B2 asks.
“Well, I’m only thinking about your own welfare. It must take it’s toll on the three of you.”
“Troll?” B4 looks around. “Where?”
“Toll?” B1 sighs and rolls her eyes. “As stupid as a one eyed wondu.”
I try to get their attention back on me. “Think of how much energy you have to waste in order to look directly at me.”
The three get together. “She’s right,” B2 whispers.
“Even if I sleep like thirteen hours in a row, I still wake up super tired,” B4 agrees.
“What are we going to do?” B1 asks.
“You’ll figure it out,” I say turning back around.
“Wait.”
I make sure my smile is neatly tucked away before I face them again. “What?”
“What do you think we should do?” B1 asks. “You’re smart and all, right?”
“Well, I think it’s only because of your curse. Remember Curse Number 26? I have to read and study everything three times.”
They giggle.
B1 leans closer to me. “How’d that work anyway? Did you forget and have to read it over?”
I shake my head. “No forgetting. I was just compelled to read everything three times.”
B2 giggles, then her expression turns. “I wouldn’t like that at all, but since I don’t do any of the homework I guess I wouldn’t mind it, you know?”
Wow, that was a deep dive into crazy. “Back to your question.” I take a breath like I’m really thinking about it. Seriously thinking about it. Actually I’m wondering what I’m going to conjure myself for dinner tonight but they don’t need to know that. “If I were lucky enough to have been one of you …” I stop to take a deep breath. “Sorry, that’s just so out there.”
They all nod and smile and trade nods and smiles with each other.
“I would stop fighting that one curse. You don’t want to waste energy on someone like me when you could use it for sleeping and …” I’m trying to think of what they actually do all fae day. “What about next season’s colors for the uniforms? The dances?” Which I’ve never been to thank you very much since it’s all species specific. “And the newest rules. You know those rules don’t conjure themselves.” I wait until it sinks in. “We’d all be seriously pixied if you didn’t come up with new rules. We wait for them every season.”
They consult each other and whisper. “Done,” B1 says quickly before looking everywhere but at me. “Hey, where’d she go?”
B2 looks behind the door, underneath a rug and even in the trash.
B4 only looks up at the ceiling and lights. “Wasn’t she just here?”
They all shrug. I almost fall to my knees and thank every deity that has ever been thanked by every creature in every realm in every time.
Freedom, I sigh. I have to find Xury and Blist.
Chapter 10
I rush through witchlocks who return to parting whenever I’m around. Forgot how fun that was. Where would Blist and Xury be?
Everyone would have been released so they wouldn’t still be … then I remember. Blist. I rush past everyone and find the wall where Liam pushed. I know I won’t be able to get in. I glance around and find a group of shifters talking a few yards away.
Before I can get their attention, Vax walks up behind me. “You don’t need one of us. You’re part shifter.”
“You think it would work?”
She studies me. “You don’t mind being part shifter?”
“Why would I? Shifters are wicked cool.”
She smiles and nods. “Respect.”
I push on the brick I saw Liam push on, and the wall opens. “Respect,” I say back to her. I step inside the darkened tunnel and call upon my light to quickly guide me to the inner door.
I get to the door and don’t know whether I should knock, barge in, ask for a secret password.
“You can come in, Zalia,” Professor Shay says on the other side of the door.
I open the door to find him smiling at me. “I told you that you are always welcome here.”
“Left out a few pertinents though, didn’t you?”
He shrugs. “All in good time.” He studies me carefully. “Your mother had the same one green eye and one blue. And the same hair color. She’d be so proud of you.”
I want to ask him everything, anything, but I am about ready to leap out of my skin.
“Don’t worry, Zalia, we have plenty of time.” He motions to the next room. “Go visit with Blist.”
I rush past him and then walk more slowly. When you have a curse in which anyone you touch can burst into flames, you tend to be careful and not just flail about without watching where you’re going. That particular curse has made me more graceful though.
I step into the large, white room that’s obviously the sick ward. Dozens of beds line up next to each other, and Blist is at the far end. I rush over and loom over him.
He’s lying shirtless with a bandage around his ribs. I get a chair and quietly move it next to his bed and watch him. Boy do I watch him. I don’t think anyone has watched anyone as hard as I’m watching Blist.
Head out of gutter, I tell myself.
Blist shifts a bit and a curl dangles dangerously close to his eyes. Oh, this is torture. What would I give to be able to swoop in and push that hair out of his face and just accidentally fall into him. Oops. I mean if I didn’t set him on fire. That would kill the mood.
He stirs and opens his eyes. When he sees me, he sits straight up and grimaces.
“Careful, you don’t want to pop a stitch.”
He nods. “More like pop about a hundred stitches.”
I motion for him to lie back down. “Hey, did you hear I’m part shifter?”
He grabs his side to keep from laughing. He nods. “That changes everything.”
“Yeah, might have to rethink some of my wardrobe choices in case I need to shift quickly.”
He looks at me so seriously. “Tell me you’re okay.”