Inimical

by Genevieve Iseult Eldredge

  Aldebaran smashes against it.

  Darkfire versus white flame, he shoves all his power at me. Molten flame riddles holes through my shield, hissing into my jeans and cute top. Agony spears me, but I don’t let go.

  Dad, I will protect you.

  An incredible sadness hangs over him, the queen ashes at his feet. He stands against the falling darkness, the inevitable death of our hearthstone, but he stands alone.

  No, not alone. He has me.

  It doesn’t matter that he left me and Mom.

  This is about me, not him. I don’t let helpless people die.

  Aldebaran grits his teeth. His hands are crimson veins to the elbow, crackling. Spatters of darkfire drip to the gilded marble, eating through with a hiss. The air around the throne shimmers and warps with all the heat and Summer power we’re pushing.

  His eyes blaze, twin corrupted suns trying to scorch me.

  “Syl, I’m coming!” Roue’s voice strengthens me, thrumming in my soul.

  I push back against Aldebaran, blasting him with white flame. I can’t purify the Inimicals inside him, but I can force him back. Step by step, I shove him away from the king until his foot teeters off the top landing.

  Triumph burns inside me. “Got you.”

  “I will…have…the king.” Blood drools from Aldebaran’s mouth as he smiles, waves and waves of darkfire rushing up around him like thunderclouds. “I will become king!” He slashes at the air, and the waves crash down, hammering against my shield.

  My world is darkness and fire, smoke and embers smothering me.

  For a second, I’m lost, the stench of burnt Summer choking me. Through the haze, I see Aldebaran looming over my father, clenching his fist, golden light pulled up from my dad’s pores.

  My father racks on the Aureate Throne.

  Desperately, I fling a hand out. Please, let me be strong enough!

  Heat flushes through me, and a white shield plumes up over the king, cutting off Aldebaran’s dark Inimical magic. Summer floods back into my father.

  Yes! Score for the sleeper-princess!

  “No!” Aldebaran’s power slams into the shield. I feel the rush of heat and fire, but my shield holds. He snarls. “You!”

  “Me,” I tell him proudly. I’m weak, drained, but at least I’m on my feet. “You won’t have him.”

  “I will” he says, “And then I’ll have you.”

  “Brave talk. For a dead man,” a sultry voice says.

  “Roue!” At the sound of her voice, my spirit soars. There she is, standing at the bottom of the stairs, all dark, broody beauty encased in badass black leather and motorcycle boots. A shield of Winter chills the air around her, keeping Summer at bay.

  I feel the amount of power she’s pushing into her shield. She can’t keep it up for long, but right now, my girl is here. Alive, well.

  On my side.

  She strides up the stairs in all her dark Fae glory. “Am I late to the party?”

  “Roue!” I hurtle into her arms, and she wraps me up in a tight hug. Her autumn leaves scent fills me up, and I revel in it. In her.

  “Long time no see, princess.”

  “I hate to interrupt this reunion,” Aldebaran snarls sarcastically. “But you’ll both be going now. I am still prince here.”

  He clenches his fist. A sudden rush of Summer heat blasts us, making my ears pop. Suddenly, everything is howling and hot, the heat ramping up into brutal scorching.

  The Gates of OverHill rise up, golden, glowing.

  He flicks his fingers, and Roue and I are blasted toward them.

  I hold on, pouring the last of my power into the white shield protecting the king and the hearthstone he holds.

  The heart of Fair Faerie.

  “Go, Syl.” The king’s voice touches my mind.

  “No, I have to save you!” I won’t run when all of Fair Faerie is dying. I couldn’t save the queen, and I’ll always regret that, but I can honor her loss by fighting.

  My father’s voice is gentle. “Your shield will hold. The heart of Fair Faerie will be safe. For a time.”

  “How long?” I cry, panic seeping into my brain.

  “Say goodbye, Syl.” Aldebaran leverages his princely power, and all of Fair Faerie responds, the very earth and castle shaking all around us, Summer ramping up into a blasting, hot wave.

  He’s going to—

  The Gates slam open in gusts of heat.

  “No!”

  “Until Midsummer.” Aldebaran thrusts a hand out. And Summer responds.

  Bam! It’s like being sucker-punched in the gut. Roue and I are slammed back, through the Gates, through the Shroud…

  “Oof!” We tumble out back in the mortal realm.

  Locked out of OverHill. With only my white shield between Aldebaran and total dominion over Fair Faerie.

  22

  ROUEN

  Midsummer’s Day

  So far away

  Another eternity

  - “Midsummer,” Euphoria

  * * *

  Midsummer has come. The Great Convergence is at hand.

  I stand in the Adamant Hall, darkness and gloom shuddering around me in the seconds before Dark Faerie and Fair Faerie crash into each other. Blasts of Winter and Summer rock the realm, snow and scorching heat trying to occupy the same space.

  The adamant crown is heavy on my brow. I grip a blade of gleaming jagged ice.

  I am the Winter Queen, but my realm is in ruin.

  The weight of Fair Faerie crushes down on my people, scorching them to cinders where they stand. Summer rips through the throne room, beams of brightness burning everything in their path. The Adamant Throne shivers, the last thread of gloom in the hearthstone dying, dying…

  There’s only one way to stop it.

  I must kill the Queen of Summer.

  She stands before me. My enemy. A blade of fire clenched in her hand.

  The Winter in my blood surges, cold and hard inside me. Murderous rage sweeps me up as everything that is dark Fae in me urges me to kill, kill, kill! I drive forward to thrust the blade into her heart.

  I mustn’t think of who she is. What she means to me.

  The impact shudders up my arm. Blood hits my face.

  “Roue,” her dying breath feathers across my lips.

  I know her. My heart knows her. She is my dearest, my love, my soulmate.

  My heart shatters as she slips, dead, from my arms. “Syl!”

  Still screaming, I sit bolt upright on my cot, the borrowed My Little Pony comforter tangled around my legs, my lyric notebook on the floor, pages spilled out. Cold sweat slicks my skin, my whole body trembling. A Summer breeze touches my cheek, and I nearly lose it all over again.

  And then Syl’s there.

  A harried look on her face, her soft hands on mine, she eases me from my nightmare-soaked panic.

  “Roue.” Her voice is a balm to my ragged soul. “I’m here.”

  I clutch her hands, gulping in breaths to calm my leaping heart.

  She has to tell me three more times before I get ahold of myself. Her voice, her touch, the soul-bond, is all that drags me from the nightmare back to reality.

  I heave out a breath. “So real this time…” My voice comes out shaky, scared.

  Gah! I’m supposed to be the strong one.

  “We can both be the strong one.” Syl picks my undisciplined thought right from the soul-bond. She wraps me in a tight embrace. It feels so good, so real.

  I need this. Need her.

  I hold on for dear life, brain whirling as I dart my gaze wildly around, trying to root myself in reality—the darkened living room of our tiny apartment, the moon through the window, my cot, my lyric notebook, my leathers thrown over the chair, my violin on its stand.

  “It’s all right. I had a bad dream, too,” Syl whispers into my hair.

  And now we’re holding each other. But there’s something cheerful about my girl.

  I pull away enough to look her in the
eye. “What’s up?”

  Now that she’s sure I’m okay, a slow smile curves her cute mouth. “Let’s talk over midnight pizza.”

  “Midnight pizza?” I look at my track phone. 12:03 a.m. On cue, my stomach growls. I’m a sucker for late-night snacks, and my girl knows it. I throw the comforter off my legs. “All right. I’ll order if you grab some sodas out of the fridge.”

  “Quietly.” She puts a finger to her lips.

  I don’t have the heart to tell her Georgina’s probably awake anyway; she’s just giving us our privacy. “Deal.”

  Syl gives me a quick peck on the cheek. She sneaks off to the kitchen while I call Bottoms Up Pizza and put in our order. Pepperoni and extra cheese for me. Gross Hawaiian for her. Once the call’s placed, I head to the front door.

  Clink-klink! My bare foot collides with a big bag—Georgina’s—and knocks it over. I freeze like a deer in the headlights as a bunch of metal rods plink-plank across the scuffed linoleum.

  No. Not rods. Black-iron stakes.

  That’s right! Our old Faerie plan. I guess her weaponsmithing friend came through for her, after all. Too bad we’re locked out of Dark Faerie and Fair Faerie. Plus, I’ve agreed to the duel and its conditions. It’s not like we’ll have much use for the stakes now.

  So why is Georgie carrying a whole butt-load of them around in her bag?

  Chills rake my spine. Syl’s immune to iron’s draining effects, but I’m not. Georgina knows about the Great Convergence. Of course she’d want to protect her daughter from me.

  It’s the worst-case scenario, but Georgie’s the sort that always prepares for that kind of thing. In fact, I think she’s got an actual Zombie Apocalypse plan, with maps and equipment lists and everything.

  I can’t blame her for stacking the deck against me.

  Quietly, I grab a scarf from the coat rack, wrap my hand, and sweep the iron stakes back into the bag. The barest touch of the metal sends waves of nausea ripping through my guts. Now I’m totally regretting midnight pizza.

  Just the idea of food’s enough to make me want to hurl.

  “Roue!” Syl’s sending is a whisper, which is hilarious since no one can really overhear our telepathic soul-bond convo. “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah.” I nudge the bag and head downstairs to wait for the pizza guy.

  Twenty minutes later, I’m back in Syl’s room, pizzas in hand.

  She’s got paper plates and napkins. “I got us two ginger ales,” she says, holding the cans up. “No caffeine.”

  “Good call.” My girl knows caffeine makes me bounce off the walls. Though I’m pretty sure neither of us is going to get back to sleep, no matter what we drink.

  We dig in to our pizzas. My stomach proves what a champ it is by getting over the Iron Stake Incident in record time. I polish off two pieces to Syl’s one and brush my hands off on my sweats.

  “Okay. Tell me what’s up with the cheer.” Not that my Summer girl needs a reason. Her positive, look-on-the-bright-side attitude is one of the things I adore about her.

  But right now? My girl’s especially cheeky.

  “I figured it out.” Her smile’s infectious. “‘Until Midsummer,’ Aldebaran said.”

  I raise an eyebrow. “Yes?”

  “He can only keep me out of Fair Faerie until Midsummer, when the power of Faerie shifts to favor OverHill.” Syl raises her soda can and clinks it against mine. “So, I only have to keep my shield up until then.”

  “All righty.” My gaze goes to the calendar. We have a little over a month to go before Midsummer. “Are you sure you can keep it up that long? It’s not like Prince Fancy isn’t going to be hacking away at it the whole time.”

  Syl waves her hand. “It’ll be fine. No sweat.”

  I sense her worry down the soul-bond, but I take her hand and squeeze it. “I believe in you, princess.”

  Her smile makes wearing my heart on my sleeve so worth it.

  My dark self rears up, tempted by her closeness, but I’m not even going to risk it. Besides, I’m still a little on edge after the nightmare.

  So, after pizza and sodas, I kiss her goodnight, slamming down my dark self’s urge to take her, possess her and head back to my cot, where I fall asleep working on my next song, “Darker, Darkest.”

  Too soon, Syl’s shaking me awake, and I’m opening my eyes to a sunny morning.

  I can’t help the groan that works its way all the way up from my toes. “Urgggg…”

  In contrast, Syl’s bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. “Wake up, sleepyhead.”

  I mutter darkly and yank the covers back over my head. How can she be so cheerful all the time?

  “Because I believe in us, silly.”

  Of course she hears that, because soul-bond.

  Then she brutally yanks the covers off me. “And I also believe we’re gonna be late unless you get your adorable behind up and into the shower.”

  My adorable…? All of a sudden, I’m blushing, sweating, hot in all the right places, smiling like a complete goof. I can’t help it.

  I’ve got it bad for her.

  I get to my feet, sloughing off the covers to my futon.

  Syl’s standing there, the brightest thing in my tiny alcove. She’s blushing, too, because she’s rarely so bold. It’s a good look on her. The blush and the boldness.

  “Thank you,” she whispers.

  Right. Gotta practice controlling my thoughts. I don’t need to be sending every little last thing down the bond. Fae go crazy that way. But for now…

  She’s sidling closer to me in her cami and boyshorts, her red curls adorably rumpled from her pillow. Her eyes are hooded, and there’s the faint scent of vanilla bodywash.

  Everything about her is inviting.

  “Come here, you.” I take her in my arms and kiss her the way I wanted to last night, the way I didn’t trust myself to.

  Hey, a girl can only take so much temptation.

  She’s warm and soft, her lips parting for my kiss.

  I lose myself in her. She melts into me.

  The next thing I know, our kiss is intensifying, Syl pushing me back against the wall, me nipping her bottom lip. Everything about her is bright and Summer, and everything in me that is Winter aches for her.

  I grip her hips and pull her close. “We should probably stop. School…”

  “I…don’t know if I want to stop.” She looks at me, those grey eyes desire-dazed.

  Her confession hits me like a troll’s mallet, and suddenly, my heart is pounding, my mouth’s done dry. “I don’t want to stop, either.”

  Oooh… My dark self rises, rattling the bars of her prison.

  I can feel Syl’s desire down the soul-bond. My own need races headlong toward hers, two runaway trains eager to collide.

  “Are you okay?” Syl twirls her fingers around a lock of my hair and kisses me again. She senses something’s going on with me. “Roue…talk to me.”

  “I…” I’m trembling with the effort of holding back. Every dark Fae instinct in me tells me to take her, possess her, body and blood and soul.

  “Girls.”

  I nearly jump out of my skin at the sound of Syl’s mom’s voice. And there she is, Georgina Gentry, with her disapproving mom glare.

  I pull away, my cheeks flaming. Syl’s red, too, to the tips of her ears.

  “Right. Shower.” I’m everything awkward and klutzy right now, knocking my music stand to the floor. Sheet music goes everywhere as I extricate myself from my alcove, leaving Syl standing there as I flee.

  I escape into the bathroom, my heart pounding in equal parts desire and terror. My dark self laughs in my mind. Oh yeah? I fire back, stepping into the shower. I crank on the hot water as if I can scald her dark urges out of me. It takes every ounce of willpower I have to keep her behind the bars of her mental cage.

  For now, she’s trapped.

  But how long before she breaks free and takes control?

  23

  SYL

  P
assion runs hot

  In the blood of a fair Fae

  - Glamma’s Grimm

  * * *

  Can I just say that my Roue is hot with a capital H?

  And after our morning makeout session, I’m still a blushy mess (and trying not to show it) by the time we get to school. Also? Holding onto her hips as she guns the huge Harley through the streets of Richmond, her body pressed against mine…

  So not helping.

  My mind is going all sorts of unhelpful places.

  It’s all I can do to keep my runaway desires from bleeding down the bond. I know Roue’s hesitant. She thinks she could hurt me, but I know the truth.

  My Roue’s stronger than any darkness—inside or out.

  If only she could believe in herself the way I do.

  Honestly, though, now isn’t the best time for us to be thinking of taking our relationship to the next level. Our soul-bond caused the Great Convergence.

  Who knows what’d happen if we were to actually be together?

  Faerie might implode. Or worse.

  I try to distract myself by thinking of anything else. Instantly, all our problems rush in—Dark Faerie, Fair Faerie, the Great Convergence, my dad (even though my shield’s still intact), the Xi, Miss Jardin—everything.

  By the time, Roue turns into the drive to Richmond E, I’m clenching the Aureate Queen so hard her crown leaves marks in my palm. My chest is tight and my pulse is racing with anxiety.

  Roue reaches back and squeezes my knee. “It’ll be all right, princess.”

  Her touch is soothing and exciting all at once. Still, I can’t help the thought that rockets down the bond. “With everything happening, the last place I want to be is summer school.”

  Roue nods, pulling into the students’ parking lot. She throws the kickstand down and turns to look at me. “I don’t want to wait around till Midsummer, either. But…” She runs a hand through her artfully messy raven-dark hair. “We don’t have much of a choice. We’ll just keep training so we’re ready when the time comes.”

  “Training, right. We should get back to that.” Sighing, I take her hand and slip off the bike. The other thing’s that been bothering me is—