by Kimbra Swain
“Marshall, get the helmet,” Rhiannon ordered.
“Yes, my Queen,” he responded. Lowering himself slowly into the pool, the centaur moved toward Stephanie slowly. “She is bound.”
“Yes, she is! Point for the centaur,” Brockton laughed. Were all these fairies bat shit crazy?
“It doesn’t matter. Take it!” Rhiannon demanded.
“No! You can’t take it off or it will kill me! Please no! Don’t take it off!” Stephanie bellowed.
When I made it to the door, I looked back to see Marshall reaching for the helmet. Stephanie’s body shook in fear. She looked desperate, and desperate people do stupid things.
“Marshall!” Rhiannon screamed as the centaur hesitated. Brockton practically cackled as he watched Stephanie try to strain away from Marshall. Her face expression changed again. Another flip-flop was coming.
To our right a bright light flashed. I shielded my eyes at its intensity. A long ripping noise spurred me to lower my hand. Through a shimmering rift, I saw my home in Shady Grove. Evening had set in and the lights to the house glowed brightly. Two figures paced on the front porch. Stone and Bronx. Tennyson’s guards walked back and forth with large guns. As the rift widened, they stopped their pacing to stare at us which meant they could see the rip. I heard Stone call out to Tennyson who rushed out the front door of the house. Jenny followed on his heels.
“Jenny, get the children,” he ordered.
“What did you do!?” I screamed at Stephanie.
“Don’t rush her, Grace. Don’t play the game,” Levi warned. My previous admonition stuck in his head, because I felt him willfully keeping himself from dragging me back.
When I moved to the edge of the pool, Brockton leaned forward smacking on popcorn. “Oh, this is going to be good,” he muttered.
Throwing out the Winter power welling up inside of me, the room and bath turned to ice. Stephanie’s teeth chittered at the sudden cold.
“You wouldn’t release me. You wouldn’t help, so I will finish you!” she said.
“Through the rift!” Rhiannon ordered.
Marshall bounded out of the frozen pool throwing shards of ice everywhere. The thundering centaur’s hooves filled the small room as they rode through the torn veil. I dashed after them. Levi, instead of holding me back, ran alongside of me. Just as I tried to jump through, the rift shut. Levi hauled me backwards and we landed on the icy floor of the bath. My knights slid to a stop behind me. Stephanie giggled as she watched us tumble to the ground. Brockton roared kicking back in the camp chair and spilling popcorn all over the floor. Even the ogres laughed.
“Levi,” I said. He was already standing with Excalibur to open a portal home.
“You might want to wait on that,” Brockton warned.
“Nothing keeps me from my children,” I said.
“Stephanie, come here,” he said.
“Yes, sir,” she replied. No longer bound, she waved her hand over the water breaking up the ice inside. She marched up to Brockton, kneeling at his feet. She leaned her helm-covered head into his lap.
“She’s such a good little fairy queen,” he said, brushing her cheek through the opening of the helm with his hand.
It reminded me of the boy on a leash that Rhiannon had in Summer. Only, Stephanie didn’t require a leash or collar. She submitted to him willingly. My skin tingled and my bones vibrated with hatred for her.
“Gloriana,” Levi called to me. His voice echoed as if he were in a chasm. “We have to go home.”
“The helmet,” I said.
“Your children need you,” he replied.
“I control her, and she controls the helmet,” Brock said. “I couldn’t put it on since it didn’t belong to me. However, she is the daughter of a queen. Honestly, Gloriana, she’s better off with the helmet than you. Queen of the Exiles.”
“If we don’t take that helmet, we all die,” I replied, knowing that I might never see my children again, but it would be worth it to stop Brockton.
“Listen to him. You should go spend your last days with your children,” Brock smiled. “You have such beautiful children.”
“Where is your wife?” I asked. He stopped stroking Stephanie’s cheek, grimacing at my question.
“I have no wife,” he said.
“I’m sure that you married an ORC,” I replied.
“A means to an end. She failed me. I’ve replaced her with Stephanie,” he said. “She has been by my side all along. I cannot fault her too harshly for having a son before she became mine.”
“Stephanie, your son is a strong, brilliant young man. Don’t you care about him?” I asked. My motherly instinct reached out to hers. However, I found it didn’t exist.
“He is better off where he is,” she said. I agreed. Especially now, watching her enthralled by my uncle.
“Make your move. We are with you,” Levi encouraged.
“We need Robin,” I said. “Finley.”
“Damn. I thought I told you to stay out of my head,” my brother protested.
“Find Robin,” I said.
“Screw this, Glory. You and your fucking brilliant ideas. I’m going home,” Finley shouted.
Brockton laughed. “He was always a spoiled brat. So much worse than you, but then again, he didn’t completely disregard his father’s orders like you did.”
The reason for my banishment reared its ugly head again. Time to change the subject.
“Finley, get back here,” I ordered. It was a mute order. Verbal only with no magic.
“Fuck off,” he growled, stomping off toward my bedroom. “Come on, Astor. You have a wife to get back to.”
“Um,” Astor hesitated. He looked at me, then somehow caught on. “I’m going with him.”
“Go. Don’t be in Shady Grove when I get back,” I said. “Traitors.”
“Seems you have a problem,” Brock said.
“No, she doesn’t. She has us,” Dominick fired back at him. I sure hoped he was crying wolf.
Troy stepped up next to him leveling Driggs at Brock and Stephanie.
“Aren’t they Dylan’s guns? You gave his guns to your dog?” Brock scoffed.
“I gave his guns to his best friend,” I said.
“You realize you can’t touch me here,” he said lifting his hand just in front of his body. A shimmering shield appeared as his hand caressed it.
“I can take it down. Then we rush him. On three,” Levi said.
“On your signal,” I agreed.
Levi’s power swelled inside the room. My tattoo began to pulse as he drew more of it to us. The strings on his guitar vibrated with anticipation. Brockton’s eyes widened. Fear flashed in his eyes. The bard scared him. Very good.
“One.”
“You should know something Brockton, before I kill you,” I said, flicking icy blades out from my bare hilts.
“Two.”
“What is that, Gloriana?”
“That when I take the throne, you will be forsaken,” I said.
He stood, watching Levi as he instructed the ogres to delay us.
“Don’t let her leave the room!” I instructed. The command lurched out of my body to Luther, Troy, and Dominick. I saw the slight nod of each head.
“Come, my dear. I’ve had enough fun for one day,” Brockton said preparing to retreat.
“Thr…”
“Hi, honey, I’m home,” Robin cackled as she appeared in the room with us.
“Is she there?” Finley asked.
“Yes, but you stay outside the room. Keep watch. I’ll call out to you if we need help,” I instructed my brother. I wasn’t sure where he had found Robin, or how he found her so quickly, but the shocked look on Brockton and Stephanie’s faces was priceless.
“Stephanie, please go to my chambers and wait on me,” Brockton instructed.
“Um,” she said, looking at us, then at Robin. She had two choices on how to leave the room, and she didn’t like her chances either way.
�
�Now!” he commanded. I felt the magical wave pass through us as he forced her to obey.
“Yes, sir,” she whimpered. She took tentative steps toward me as she had chosen to avoid the witch on other side of the room. I’d already instructed the guys not to let her leave, plus Finley and Astor were right outside.
“Robin, I can only guess how you got out of your little prison,” Brockton smirked. “It’s unfortunate. I was hoping to enjoy your torture even longer.”
“You are going to regret the day you turned on me,” she said flinging balls of fire at him. Each one dissipated as they hit his magical shield.
Stephanie decided it was her moment to bolt. I let her slip past me as I continued inching toward Brockton. Levi stayed close to me as Dominick and Troy pounced on Stephanie.
“No! Don’t take it off. I’ll die!” she screamed.
Brockton looked over his shoulder where Dominick and Troy had Stephanie pinned on the ground. “She speaks the truth,” he said. “Stupid wench took it to manipulate me, but you cannot manipulate a manipulator!”
Yep, they were all bat-shit crazy.
“Let me go!” she squealed.
Robin continued her fruitless onslaught of fireballs. Just before Levi and I got in striking distance, she screamed, “Watch out!” You know, I never understood loyalty. The enemy of my enemy was my friend. No, they were your enemy too!
Brockton spun producing a sword out of thin air. I felt his magic move too late. He swept down at me with a strike that would have severely injured or killed me. Levi tried to react with magic, but even his power had to take a moment to cast. Dominick’s wolf shift was faster as he plowed into me. We hit the icy floor hard. He slid past me to a stop.
My armor had a red streak across it.
“Nick!” I screamed knowing I wasn’t hit.
Nick still in wolf form rolled over and tried to stand. Blood poured from his leg where his front left paw was severed from his body. He crumpled to the floor shifting back to human.
“Now!” Brockton screamed. The ogres charged Troy and Luther who were holding a writhing Stephanie.
Brockton approached me with his sword raised. Lowering down upon me, it met the quick work of Levi and Excalibur. Brockton grunted to right himself and squared to Levi.
“Oh, that’s right. Bard has a sword. Show me what you’ve got,” Brockton laughed. He started taking swings at Levi.
“Get Nick and get the hell out here,” Levi said.
“No, I’m not leaving without you,” I said. He grunted as he slammed Excalibur down on Brockton’s sword. The tattoo on his arm ignited, and his rock anthem started to play.
I slid myself across the ice to Nick. “Let me see,” I said.
“No,” he grunted.
“You are losing blood fast,” I said, looking at the puddle forming below his hand.
“Leave me,” he said. “Just get out of here.”
“I’d slap you if you weren’t hurt. Finley!” I screamed.
Astor and Finley rushed into the room. “Oh, shit,” Finley said.
“Get her out of here,” I said pointing at Stephanie. Finley reached up to her shoulder at the base of her neck and squeezed. She crumpled to the floor. Apparently, my brother had learned my father’s sleep pinch.
Troy pointed Driggs at the ogres, making quick work of the oafs. I was glad they didn’t have a learning curve when it came to those guns. He and Luther moved over to us. Taking Dominick’s shredded shirt, he made a tourniquet for Dominick’s arm.
“That’s not going to work. We’ve got to get him back,” Luther said.
“He won’t even last that long,” I said.
“Grace,” he muttered. “I can’t go back. I’m lamed. The pack won’t have me.”
“Bull shit. If I say you stay, you stay,” Troy countered.
Levi and Brockton traded blows behind us while dodging magical bullets from Robin. She’d changed her tactics. She now threw fire balls and the bricks from the bashed-in wall at Brockton and Levi.
“Cauterize the wound,” I said to Luther.
“If you do that, he won’t get the hand back,” Troy said.
“What? Is he going to grow a new one?” I asked. Perhaps there was some weird shifter regeneration that I hadn’t heard of before now.
“No, but maybe the doc can reattach it,” he said.
“He is going to bleed out,” I argued. Nick’s eyes started to fade. I slapped his face, not too hard, but enough to jolt him awake. “You stay awake!”
“Yes, ma’am,” he muttered.
“Put something in his mouth. Luther, we need fire,” I said.
“I’ll give you fire,” Robin said hurling a fireball toward us. Luther stretched his wings out to block the flaming orb as it raced toward us. It hit his wings fizzling out. Robin growled in frustration. She started throwing the bricks at us. I pulled power to block the bricks with my own glittering shield. The sapphire heart on my arm pulsed with power.
Brockton hit Levi with a lucky strike, knocking him to his knees. I held my breath for a moment, as Levi righted himself after the blow, then countering Brockton.
“Well done. You’ve been taught well,” Brockton said with admiration in his voice.
“I learned from the best,” Levi boasted.
“Tennyson doesn’t fight anymore. He’s grown weak,” Brockton said.
“That’s where you are wrong,” Tennyson said from the doorway. He held his sword up with a glittering portal just behind him. I cringed for a moment, hoping something terrible didn’t happen to him while he was in this room. Having him here was such a risk.
“Fuck,” Robin said, darting for the hole in the wall.
“You bitch!” Brockton yelled at her retreat.
Finley and Astor dragged the sleeping Stephanie through the portal.
“Luther, seal that wound before he dies,” Tennyson said.
Luther nodded, then his fist turned to a glowing ball like heated steel. Troy grabbed Dominick’s wrist pressing it hard against the fist. Dominick’s scream ripped through the room. My heart pounded and ached for him as the smell of burned flesh filled the room. His tortured eyes looked at me just before they rolled back in his head.
“Get him home,” I ordered.
Troy and Luther lifted him up, moving quickly to the portal.
Tennyson helped me off the floor. I hadn’t noticed the tears rolling down my cheeks until he brushed one away. “Get Levi out of here,” he said.
“You go through that portal now!” I said.
“I’m not staying here. I’m noble, but not stupid,” he said.
Brockton’s sword flashed against Levi’s again behind us. They were both tiring of the fight. I pushed Tennyson toward the portal. I saw him step through before I started running toward Levi.
“Position him so that your back is to me,” I said. Levi didn’t acknowledge me, but I saw him shift his feet to put himself between Brockton and me. Brockton started backing him up thinking he had the advantage. Just before I got to Levi, I leaped toward him. “Now!”
I landed square on his back, wrapping my legs around his waist.
“Home!” he yelled as his magic swirled around us.
The Otherworld faded, and we were suddenly standing in my front yard back in Shady Grove. A yard full of centaurs and exiles. I had one of my arms around his neck holding on and riding his back as the gathering stared at us.
“Hi.” What else was I supposed to say?
Sliding off Levi’s back, he turned to me catching my cheek with his palm.
“Are you hurt?” he asked quietly.
“No,” I muttered.
“The blood is all his?” he asked.
“Yes, I’m fine,” I replied. “I promise. I’m fine. Please go get Tabitha.”
With the yard full of centaurs who weren’t attacking my home, my attention focused on Levi. He lowered his cheek to mine. His heart pounded in his chest. Turning slightly, he placed a kiss on my cheek.
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nbsp; “I’ll be right back,” he said, stepping away. Power moved as he disappeared from sight. He knew where Tabitha was based on his connection to the wards and the town. My cheek tingled where he had planted the kiss.
Facing the crowd behind me, I pushed through some observers to see Tennyson and Troy leaning over Dominick who was laying in the grass.
“Levi went to get the doc,” I said, kneeling down next to him. “We should take him inside.”
“I need to take him home,” Troy said. “The pack will handle this.”
“He saved my life, and this isn’t going to be easy for him. Please take him inside,” I pleaded. It wasn’t an order. I didn’t want to overstep Troy’s rule over the pack.
“Alright,” he gave in to my request. Luther and Finley hoisted Dominick’s limp body, carrying it into the house.
“Mom!” Aydan exclaimed as we walked through the door. He ran up to me, putting his arms around my waist.
“Aydan,” I said, brushing his blond locks with my hand. “Where is your sister?”
“She’s upstairs. They sealed her room with a ward. Amanda, Mark, and the brownies are with her,” he said.
“She needs to stay up there. Nick is hurt, and the doctor is on the way,” I said.
“They are taking him to Callum’s room?” he asked.
“Yeah. Do you mind sharing with him until we get this sorted out?” I asked.
“That’s fine,” he said.
I kissed him on the forehead. Callum stood behind him watching the exchange. I couldn’t pass him by. My motherly instinct kicked in, and I pulled Callum into a hug.
“You okay too?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he blushed.
“Alright,” I said, scuffing his hair.
Before I went into the room with Dominick, Troy grabbed my arm. “The decision isn’t mine alone. The pack handles things in the old ways. I may be the alpha, but if they vote him out, I can’t do anything about it without losing my standing.”
“It doesn’t matter. He stays in Shady Grove, regardless,” I said.
“He’s been kicked out of one pack already. It’s his story to tell, not mine, but I’m not sure what kind of state of mind he will be in after losing a hand,” he said. “Shifting will be fruitless.”