Twisted Fate

by D. N. Hoxa

  “And if you die?” I asked, not because her deal scared me, but because I needed to see how much I could rely on her in a fight. She said it herself—what I was asking for was her life.

  “I won’t die,” Faceless said, and it was enough answer for me. She would fight with me, but if her life was in danger, she would walk away.

  It wasn’t what I’d hoped, but it was what I’d gotten. It was still better than nothing. There was no need to look at Hiss now because I already knew what he was going to say.

  I offered her my hand. “Then we have a deal, Faceless.” From then on, we were tied together.

  Julie smiled. I hadn’t seen a more content look on her since I met her.

  When Faceless had let her out of her spell, I thought she was going to be devastated. To be separated from your soul sounded cruel and unnatural, but instead, Julie had looked happy. I wanted to ask her why. What had it felt like? Why would people pay Faceless to be separated from their souls?

  But I couldn’t yet. Faceless walked right behind us.

  We still had no idea who the weapon was, but we knew of a Believer, and we knew how to find him.

  In a way.

  “How will we know that we’re on the right path?” I asked Julie. We were somewhere in the Seventh Ward in New Orleans. We’d had to take one of those yellow taxis to get here again, but this time, the ride had been a disaster. The driver couldn’t look away from the rearview mirror, at Faceless’s mask, and he almost crashed us at least a dozen times.

  When Julie had enough, she paid him and we got off a few blocks away from where we were going—an old motel at the corner of a street, according to Julie’s informant. There weren’t as many people in the streets here, and it was dark. The street was lined with lights, but half of them didn’t work.

  “We don’t,” Julie said. Even her voice was lighter, less strained. “All I heard was that he’d believed himself in a tear in time and space to get away from the Guild and the rest of the world who want his gift. The tear is on the rooftop of the oldest motel in the neighborhood. If he wants to meet us, he will.”

  “And if he doesn’t?”

  Julie had no answer.

  “How many more senseless things does the universe have that I don’t know about?” I whispered to Hiss, whose head was on my shoulder.

  “So much that an eternal life wouldn’t be long enough to learn it all,” he said with his strange chuckle.

  We walked more, Faceless right behind us, as silent as a breeze. I constantly found myself turning around to make sure she was still there. Every time I did, her eye was right on me.

  The motel was two stories high and very wide. The yellow exterior showed every strain time had left on its walls, and even the red and blue sign in the parking lot lost its power every few seconds.

  We didn’t stop by the small office that had the word Reception written by hand on a piece of white wall. Julie took us straight to the metal stairs that led to the second floor. Most of the lights of the countless rooms were on, but nobody was out there with us. Julie knew exactly how to find another set of stairs, so old all their white paint had worn off.

  Eventually, we made it up to the rooftop. There was nothing there except some metal structures on either side that had probably held up a sign once. Julie led us all the way to the other side of it and to the wall of the next building that was right next to the motel.

  There was a brown door on the left of the wall that looked like it ended up there completely by accident. When we stopped in front of it, I looked around for a sign, something to tell us what to do next.

  “This is it,” Julie said. “If we find him in there, we do. If we don’t, we go back.”

  “I will wait here,” Faceless said. She hadn’t spoken at all since we left her house. All she’d brought with her was a small backpack and the black box with her violin in it. I’d been surprised she would join me right away, but I hadn’t complained. The less time we wasted gathering people, the better it would be.

  “It is best if you join us,” Hiss suddenly said. I had nothing against Faceless staying behind, but a look at his wide eyes and I realized he was a bit panicked.

  “Why?” I whispered, but Hiss didn’t answer me.

  “The three of us will search. Julie can make sure there are no surprises waiting for us out here when we get back,” he said instead.

  Once more, Julie surprised me by nodding her head. “I will be right here,” she said and stepped away from the door to let us through. I couldn’t wait to be alone with her and ask her what she’d felt. Physically, she was fine, as she had been before, but right now, she didn’t even look tired. Like the death spell hadn’t touched her at all.

  For now, I just reached for the handle of the brown door in front of me, and I opened it.

  Chapter 14

  Chapter

  * * *

  Mace

  * * *

  Both my legs broke from the fall. The pain coming from my left one woke me. It had healed in the wrong position and now my shin was twisted, but at least the right one had somehow fallen straight. I still felt the pain from it, but it was nothing compared to the left.

  The sky was still dark. Trees all around me and the mountain in front. I couldn’t even see the cave from which I’d fallen, from all the branches and the leaves. It could only mean that the soldiers couldn’t see me, either.

  But even so, I needed to move. They’d be coming for me soon.

  I held onto a tree trunk and tried to walk. I thought I could take care of my leg after I hid somewhere safe, but it was impossible. I couldn’t step on my foot at all. It had to be done right away.

  I’d never had to break my own limbs before, but I’d seen soldiers do it in battle, or after. Fae healed fast, and in times like these, that wasn’t a good thing. In times like these, it was a nightmare. My sword hadn’t fallen too far away. It was close to the wooden box I’d taken from the Summer fae. I crawled to it and bit my tongue every time I wanted to scream in agony. When I reached my sword, I rested my back against a trunk, and I listened as much as my hammering heart allowed. Sweat dripped down my body. I was probably feverish, too, while my body fought to get me back in order.

  Nobody seemed to be moving near me.

  There was no time. That was both my curse and my blessing because knowing that the Summer soldiers would be on their way to me right now didn’t let me hesitate. I pulled up my left leg as far as I could and squeezed my eyes shut.

  “This is gonna hurt,” I whispered to myself, a second before I slammed the handle of my sword onto my leg.

  The pain brought bile up my throat. It was a miracle I managed to hold it back. It was far too dark to see anything properly, so I had to use my hands to check what I’d done. Calling for my magic, I wrapped it around me before I passed out from the pain. And once I was sure that my bone was broken, a piece of it sticking out of my skin, I gritted my teeth and straightened my leg.

  My whole body shook. I hit the trunk with my back again and tried to stay awake. It was over. It was done. Now, I would heal. My leg would be as good as new. I just needed to give it a little time, that’s all.

  Nothing changed around me. Birds and crickets kept me company while I waited and tried to stay conscious. What I would give for some water right now, but I’d left everything with Storm.

  She was probably on her way back to the Winter Shade by now. She loved the forest near it. It was cold and nearly empty, just like she liked.

  It felt like hours passed before the pain began to retreat. I’d wrapped the shirt I’d stolen around the wound, hoping to help it heal faster, and now, I couldn’t tear it off from all the dried blood.

  It didn’t matter. The darkness would cover my face just fine.

  I attempted to stand, and when I couldn’t, I tried again. I’d been through worse. This was nothing compared to what my father had done to me, and I’d survived then.

  I would survive now, too. Taran was somewhere out
there, waiting for me. I was going to find her.

  It took a lot of will to get myself standing, but once I did, I didn’t fall. My right leg was strong enough to carry most of my weight. The tree trunks helped, too. I was headed left, toward Talice, because I still needed the Gateway. I still needed to figure out a way to get to it, now that I had the box the Shade wanted so much. Maybe now it would lead me where I needed to go instead of under the damn mountain.

  The sky remained dark, even though it felt to me like days should have passed. And when I finally saw the edge of the woods, I allowed myself to stop and rest for a second. The light from the town gave me a bit clearer view of my leg. I sat down on the ground and slowly took off the shirt. It pulled and burned my already burning skin, but new blood didn’t spill out. By the time I could see my whole leg again, only a raw red mark where my bone had come out remained. The wound was sealed. My bone was attached properly.

  Now, it would continue to heal on its own. There would be pain, but I’d get through it.

  When I heard footsteps coming from the town, my heart almost stopped beating. I pressed my back to the tree behind me and held my breath. The darkness of the woods still covered me. If I didn’t move at all, the soldiers wouldn’t see me.

  But the closer the footsteps got, the more I realized that they didn’t sound like men.

  Men didn’t have four legs. Horses did.

  I jumped to my feet way too fast, forgetting for a moment that my leg still couldn’t carry me. I lost my balance and had to hold onto the trunk. But I saw her coming toward me, her white pelt visible even in the dark. Closing my eyes, I smiled. Figured that she didn’t leave. Figured that she would find me, even here, even now.

  “I told you to leave,” I said to Storm as she happily trotted my way, as if she were a different horse, not one who complained the entire time we’d been in the Summer kingdom. She came all the way in front of the woods but refused to come closer and just neighed and moved her head to the sides to tell me to get moving.

  Laughing, I grabbed the box from the ground and stood up. For her sake, I pretended I didn’t feel the stabbing pain with every step and hopped my way to her until she was right in front of me.

  “Good girl,” I whispered to her and scratched her chin while she sniffed my face. “I’m okay. I’m fine. Just a little accident. I’m going to need to ride you, though.”

  I tied the chain of the box to Storm’s saddle and hopped on her back. I didn’t count on it to be that hard to do with just one leg, but once it was done, it didn’t hurt as much as before. At least that’s what I told myself when Storm started to run slowly all around the woods, to take us away from the town and the mountain with the Shade atop it. I didn’t stop her or guide her—I let her take the lead. She’d know where to take us just fine.

  “How did you find me, anyway?” I asked Storm as we ate. At dawn, when we arrived in Cetra, the town closest to Talice, I’d had to steal food again—some apples for her and some bread for me. It wouldn’t be enough. My leg was still healing, though I could barely feel the pain now, and my body needed energy, but for now, it would do. We hid in the same woods I’d fallen in, on its other side, despite Storm’s protests. She didn’t like that many big trees so close to her for whatever reason, but she also knew it was the best hiding place for us for now. She knew we’d need to get back to the Summer Shade that same night. And it was going to be twice as difficult now that those Summer soldiers had seen me.

  Storm’s response was a huff. I squinted my eyes at her.

  “You’re not related to one of those spirits that froze everyone back in the Winter castle, are you?”

  This time she neighed. Definitely a negative.

  “Do you want to see what’s in that box?” I asked, and wiping the breadcrumbs off my hands, I stood. The stab was still there, especially on my heel, but it was perfectly manageable. I could run now if I needed to, and that was good enough for me.

  I took the box off Storm’s saddle and set it on the ground in front of me. “Why do you think the Shade wanted me to save this thing from the thieves, huh?”

  Storm didn’t care enough to even look my way. She just continued to eat her last apple in silence. I used my sword to get all nine nails out before I could undo the latch that held the box together. Finally, I opened the lid.

  I don’t know what I expected, but a snowball wasn’t it. There was hay in the box, and half hidden within it in the corner was what looked like a snowball, smaller than my fist. I touched it to test the surface and to see if there was any magic in it, but nothing happened. My finger didn’t burn. And it most definitely wasn’t snow.

  I took the ball in my hand and inspected it. It wasn’t glass or stone—something in between. The white surface was rough and bumpy, and it also sparkled a bit, just like snow did. I rubbed it with my fingers to see if maybe something hid underneath it, but the white material wouldn’t come off. I threw it in the air and caught it again. I even let out some of my magic toward it, but nothing changed. It was just a small white ball still.

  Putting it aside, I inspected the box next. I took out all the hay and searched every inch of the wood, but there was nothing there. No words, no symbols, no description.

  “Thanks, Shade,” I mumbled to myself, and throwing the box away, I put the white ball in the coin bag attached to the belt of my sheath. And just to make sure I wouldn’t lose it, I hid it under Storm’s saddle. It was tight, but it wouldn’t hurt her. She wouldn’t even feel it.

  After that was done, I lay down on the ground, put my hands under my head and watched the little pieces of the sky that I could see through the leaves. I thought of Taran and her smile, the way her skin had felt against mine, the way she’d spoken, the light that shone in her eyes. Sleep took me minutes later, both from exhaustion and from the need to get away from this world and into a better one, even if it wasn’t real.

  I don’t know what I dreamed about, but it was pleasant. I was calm. I was relaxed. My body rested properly.

  But it all changed when I heard Storm’s neighing coming from somewhere far away.

  My eyes opened. I expected a ceiling and windows, a bed underneath me, but instead, I saw trees and a blue sky and felt hard ground against my back.

  Storm neighed again. I sat up with a jolt, half convinced that I was still dreaming, even though I could taste the hot air on my tongue and smell the leaves around me. I looked around, but Storm was nowhere to be seen. We’d stayed close to the tree line at the back of the woods, right near the next town, because she couldn’t stand to be near trees, but she wasn’t where I’d left her.

  She wasn’t too far away, either, judging by the sound of her.

  Then, I heard the voices.

  I stood, completely ignoring the pain in my leg. I hid behind the nearest tree trunk and waited for someone to come closer so I could see who it was.

  Nobody did.

  The voices again, but they were too far away for me to make out any words. Slowly, I started moving closer to the tree line, hiding behind trunks, keeping close to the ground. And when only two trees separated me from the open field, I saw them.

  Storm was in the middle of four fae soldiers. Winter fae soldiers. Their silver-colored armors and the Court emblem shining on them left no doubt in my mind, even before I saw the fifth man who was looking ahead toward Cetra’s small houses, built in groups of four.

  It was my brother Arin.

  The blood in my veins boiled. Storm was trying to get away, neighing and rearing on her two back legs, but the soldiers didn’t let go of her reins. My hand was around my sword, but something stopped me before I unsheathed it.

  It was my brother. If I went out there, I was going to have to kill them all before I could get away.

  And I couldn’t kill Arin. How could I? Not just because he was my brother, but out of all six of them, he’d been the kindest to me all his life. He was my blood. If I killed him now, that would make me the same kind of monster as my fat
her.

  I refused to be anything like him, even if it meant giving up my life for it.

  I let go of the sword’s handle and moved behind the trunk. I could climb that tree and wait for them to leave. When they did, I could follow them until they stopped somewhere and steal Storm away. There were options. All I had to do was make sure they didn’t see me for now. Then, I could plan.

  I watched my brother and his soldiers as they spoke among one another. Arin waved in Cetra’s direction, but two of the soldiers were looking at the woods. One of them looked right at the spot where I was hiding, but by some miracle, he didn’t see me. The branches and the leaves of the trees cast all kinds of shadows on the ground. They hid me better than darkness would.

  I heard their voices and I tried to read the words on Arin’s lips, but they were too far away.

  I was so focused on them that I had no idea what went on around me. I trusted those woods as I would a Shade, and that was my mistake. I only realized it when something hit me on the back of my head hard, and the world went dark again.

  Chapter 15

  Chapter

  * * *

  Elo

  * * *

  I’d been in a cave before. Mace had taken me into one under his castle in the Winter Shade. We’d come to Earth through the Gateway hiding inside it. I’d gone through it myself, too, when I’d come here.

  But the cave that brown door led us to was nothing like it. When I’d opened it, all I’d seen had been darkness. Darkness, and then rocks. There was no gas lamp waiting by the entrance. There were no Shade lights, either. Only darkness and the sound of our footsteps against the ground. Our shoes clicked like we were walking on a glass surface. The light from the outside world, coming through the door we’d left open, became smaller and smaller.

  “Do you see anything?” I asked both Hiss and Faceless. My voice echoed.