by J. S. Malcom
I can’t help but ask, “What about how they got back? Do they talk about that?”
Ellie nods. “Sure. It was different for them. I came back with you. They just suddenly found themselves here again. There’s some weird-ass stories too, like how their changelings burst apart into those moth things. And, like, suddenly they were just back home again, but still wearing the same clothes from the other side. Stuff like that.”
I can’t help but wonder what those who witnessed those events thought. Did they just go into denial? Chalk it up to trauma somehow?
“Didn’t anyone see them?”
Ellie shrugs. “A few. Some of us were accused of running away, joining cults and stuff like that. Most people say they were alone at the time, either like camped out in their room, or out walking somewhere.”
It makes sense, when she says it. According to the accounts of confused parents, their children suddenly became withdrawn. They started keeping entirely to themselves. It was one of the first signs that something had changed.
“I’m glad to hear they’re okay,” I say. “I mean, for the most part anyway.”
Ellie keeps her eyes on mine. “There’s one girl who says she met two people on her last day there. They snuck into the palace where she was working as a kitchen slave.”
My heartbeat ratchets up a notch. She must mean Kim, the girl who kept Cade and me from being caught. She spotted us just as the kitchen boss was inspecting his troops, and pulled us into the walk-in cooler.
I try to maintain a neutral expression. “I wonder who they were.”
A smile tugs at Ellie’s lips, and it feels like she can see right through me. Right, she’s psychic. I almost forgot. “Yeah, it’s pretty weird,” she says. “Almost like someone with some sort of magic went back there again. And, you know, found some way to break the curse. Or the spell. Or whatever the hell it was.”
I sip my coffee. “Hmm. That sounds like a pretty tall magical order.”
“I know, right? I wonder who could pull off something like that.”
She keeps staring into my eyes and grinning at me. I feel myself losing the fight against a smile of my own.
“You may have magic, but you’re the world’s worst liar,” she says. “It was totally you, wasn’t it?”
I hesitate one last time, and then say, “Maybe.”
Ellie bursts out laughing. “Oh, my God! I knew it was you! You’re a freaking magical rock star! You know that, right?”
I shrug and say, “Just don’t tell your Facebook group, okay? I just… I don’t know. It could get weird.”
“A humble magical rock star. But, sure. Whatever you say.”
“Thanks.” I finish my coffee, thinking it’s probably time to go. “So, you’re okay,” I say. “Other than school, I mean. Is there anything that, you know, maybe I could do? Anything you need?”
Honestly, I don’t know what I could do for her. I’m not half-bad at dealing with evil entities creeping about in our world, but I’m terrible when it comes to living a well-adjusted life. I’m probably the farthest thing from being a role model. At the same time, I want Ellie to know I’m there for her.
Ellie’s eyes start to glisten, even as she smiles. “I think I’m okay,” she says. “I think I really am.”
“Good.” I push my chair back from the table and gesture toward the living room. “I guess I should probably get going. Are you, I don’t know, okay being at home alone? I mean, I could stay if you want.”
Ellie lifts her eyebrows, a smile playing on her lips again. “I’ll be fine.”
I get that I just asked a seventeen year old girl if she’d be okay at home alone. Weird. Still, there aren’t many people in the world who’ve been through what she has. Both of us know that the bogeyman can be very, very real.
Ellie walks me into the front hall, giving me another hug before I leave. She opens the door and says, “Hey, Cassie? Don’t be a stranger okay?”
“I won’t. I promise.”
So, I guess that’s it, and this is one of the few times when I’m glad my instincts were wrong. Everything is fine here, and if there was anything bothering Ellie she would have told me by now.
I’m stepping through the front door when she says, “Oh, there’s something I didn’t mention.”
I stop and turn to face her again. “What’s up?”
Ellie shrugs. “It’s probably nothing, but I’ve been having this weird dream lately.”
CHAPTER 9
Silas Two Weeks Ago
Silas kept walking, pulling his collar up against the cold as he thought about the things he saw last night. After meeting with his case worker, Silas had finally eaten. He’d taken a long shower and then gone to a movie. Then he’d walked some more, and kept walking until he felt too tired to keep going. Basically, whatever it took to keep his mind off the idea that he might be coming unglued.
The fact was, he’d felt scared. Scared of going back to Wilkins now that he was finally free. Scared of losing his apartment and his access to that bank account that somehow, almost magically, kept replenishing with cash for him to spend. But mostly he’d felt scared of what that vision he’d experienced might mean.
That fiery tunnel, had it been real? What about the woman he’d imagined walking toward him? Had she just been part of some hallucination? Silas had been almost able to convince himself of that, except for one thing. He hadn’t just seen her, he’d felt her power calling out to him. She’d wanted to tell him something. No, it was more than that, he knew. She’d wanted to give him something. And if Marcus hadn’t knocked on his door, he really might have climbed up onto that window sill and stepped forward. If he had, where would he have found himself? In some other place entirely? Or would he have just found himself—
His head snapped up as a car horn blared. Silas wheeled around to see the car careening toward him, the eyes of the woman driving pinned wide at the sight of him suddenly being in the intersection. She’d locked up her brakes but couldn’t possibly stop in time. Time slowed as they both braced for impact. At the last moment, Silas thrust out his hand, magic flaring at his fingers. The car lurched to a stop, only a moment later to be hit by the one behind it. Other drivers slammed on their brakes as the intersection became a pileup. More horns blared and people rolled down their windows.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“You just caused an accident, you fucking moron!”
“Get out of the street!”
Silas started walking again. He looked back once at the woman who’d almost hit him. She continued to stare, frightened and seemingly oblivious to the fact that her own car had just been struck. Her stunned face was aglow from the stoplight above the intersection. Yes, she knew, Silas could tell. She’d seen it when he’d used his magic. Or maybe she’d felt it. And despite being the cause of so much havoc, he couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across his face. Yes, he was a freak, but he knew that. He always had been. But he was also a powerful freak, and that power kept growing stronger.
Silas blended into the crowd on the sidewalk, only then becoming fully conscious of where he was. He was in Shockoe Bottom. It was Friday night and people were going to the bars, clubs and restaurants. Silas decided to do the same, choosing an Irish bar he saw up ahead. It seemed as good a destination as any, and he soon slipped inside to the sound of Celtic music. The dining room was full, the bar nearly full as well, but Silas managed to find a place there to sit. He ordered a pint of Guinness, since it seemed like the thing to do and there were ads for the stuff all over the place. He’d never had one before, this beer as dark as midnight, and he wondered if he wouldn’t like it. But that aspect barely mattered. He was a free man with money to burn. Why he had that money, Silas wasn’t worried about at the moment. He supposed a debt of some sort would have to be paid eventually, an obligation met. No problem. He’d figure that out when the time came, if this Grayson guy ever chose to show his face.
“Isn’t that stuff kind of bitter?”
At first Silas thought the question couldn’t be meant for him, but then he heard her speak again. “I’ve always been afraid to try it.”
He turned to see a girl looking back at him. She was pretty with sandy-blonde hair and blue eyes.
The girl blushed and said, “Sorry, I was just curious.”
“This is the first time I’ve had one,” Silas said. He took a sip and grimaced. “You know, it might just be an acquired taste.”
She laughed and raised her glass. “Miller Lite,” she said. “That’s about as hardcore as I get. Do you live around here?”
“Not too far,” Silas said. “Walking distance.”
Of course, to him, walking distance was a relative term. He’d probably covered five miles today already, and might well walk five more before the night was through. Lately, it felt like he had no choice but to keep moving. Now that he was off medications, the buzzing feeling never seemed to quit—that energy which sometimes felt like it could light him on fire.
“Me too,” the girl said. “My place is tiny, but it beats living in the suburbs. Screw that. Where are you from?”
“Here, basically,” Silas said.
“Me too. I grew up in Bon Air. What about you?”
“I moved around.” Silas hesitated, and then added, “I was in a few foster homes.”
The girl averted her gaze, just for a moment, but Silas didn’t miss it. “Oh,” she said. “What was that like?”
She glanced down at her phone which sat on the bar before her, its screen dark. She moved to touch it, but then changed her mind.
“It was okay,” Silas said. “No biggie. Did you like Bon Air?”
But he’d already blown it, he knew. Why had he mentioned the foster homes? That wasn’t what she’d asked about.
The girl looked around. “It was fine,” she said. “A little boring. My parents and sister still live there.”
She played nervously with her hair, as if she regretted telling him even that much.
“The foster home thing was a while ago,” Silas said, hoping to reel things back in. “That stopped when I was sixteen.”
The girl frowned, confused. She hesitated, then asked, “What happened after that?”
Silas felt his face grow warm. “I was… I stayed in the same place for a while.”
Maybe it was the way he said it, but he could tell she sensed something being off. “Where was that?”
“Just this place,” Silas said. “I stayed there for a few years.” He tried to recover by adding, “I have my own place now.”
But that only made his meaning more obvious. Before now, he hadn’t been allowed to live on his own. It wasn’t his power that made him feel warm this time, as the blood rushed to his face. Silas took another sip of his beer. He made another face, but the girl didn’t laugh this time. She dropped her eyes to her phone again, touching it to make the screen light up. She checked her messages, or at least pretended to. This was why Silas never talked to anyone. It was a waste of time. There wasn’t one part of his life that was normal, that wouldn’t make people uncomfortable.
Music played in the background. People laughed and talked. Seconds ticked by while Silas tried his beer again. If anything, it only tasted more warm and bitter. The girl kept looking at her phone.
“Do you work around here?” Silas said.
For a moment, he wondered if she hadn’t heard him. She kept poking at her phone. Then she looked his way again. “I should go,” she said. She faked a smile and added, “It was nice meeting you.”
She dug into her purse and left ten dollars on the bar. She pushed back her barstool and left. Silas turned to watch her leave, part of him thinking it would be so easy to stop her. All he had to do was point a finger and pull her back again. Like he’d stopped that car. It was just a matter of bending things to his will. He almost let it happen, stopping just short of letting those sparks arc between his fingertips.
What made him change his mind was that he didn’t think the girl was wrong. Not entirely. While he had a past, it wasn’t one he could share. He wasn’t like other people and never would be. What mattered now was finding out where exactly he did fit in, and what it was he was meant to do. In that moment, he felt sure he knew who could tell him.
~~~
An hour later, Silas stood at his apartment window looking out over the city street. He took a deep breath, and then another to pull the energy into him. That thing for which he had no name, but that made him feel like electricity was surging through his veins. And, as he knew it would, Silas felt a rush of power. His chest grew warm, heat pulsating out through his core and limbs. Light flared at his outstretched hands, a glowing orb rising into the air. It shimmered, swirling between colors, white at first and then pale blue, and then shifting to green. He waited until it glowed fiery orange, and then spread his arms commanding the globe of light to expand.
He stepped back, blinking against the glare. He watched as what he’d called forth came into being. A smile bloomed on his face, spreading into a grin as the orb both widened and grew taller. Light flickered and pulsated as a seam opened, drawing back to deepen and become a tunnel. Soon, a figure appeared at the other end, striding toward him. At first she was just a silhouette, but soon she took on form.
She moved gracefully, wearing a long sheer dress that allowed light through to reveal her long legs and the sway of her hips. Silas’s gaze lifted from there to the roundness of her breasts. She came closer, the orange glow shining back on her to show the perfection of her features. She had deep red hair and high cheekbones. She had a straight nose and full, sensuous lips. Firelight flickered in her eyes, making them seem to glow with a golden light of their own.
“I’m Nepheras,” she said.
It took a moment for Silas to find his voice. “I’m—”
“Silas,” she said. “I know. You summoned me.” As she said it, the corners of her lips rose in a smile, that same smile reflected in her eyes. Playful, alluring, and deeply promising.
“I… I summoned you,” Silas said.
His words sounded stupid to his own ears, disbelieving and nervous. He waited for her to laugh, but she simply nodded, that smile still gracing her lips.
“Yes, you summoned me,” she said. “You’re ready for answers. Please.” She extended her hand through the gap, reaching for his own. With the contact came a euphoric sense of pleasure, a tingling that rippled through his body.
Silas stepped into the tunnel and Nepheras smiled once more. Then she let go of his hand as she turned and started walking. Silas followed her farther into the passageway. The space around him glowed orange, but he barely noticed. He kept his gaze on Nepheras’s backside, where that same sheer fabric now accentuated the perfect shape of her ass.
If he was hallucinating, Silas didn’t care. While he felt lightheaded, he also felt completely unafraid. He could even calmly accept that, where Nepheras should have shoulder blades, she instead had a pair of folded black wings that tapered down to her waist. Was it possible that, with just her touch, Nepheras had somehow placed him under a spell? If so, Silas wasn’t worried about it. All he wanted was to touch her again.
The hall ended with another portal, this one shining with a golden hue. Nepheras turned to him, the mischief in her eyes betraying that she knew where he’d been looking. “This is where you’ll get your answers,” she said.
Once more, she extended her hand for Silas to take. That euphoric tingling buzzed through him again as they stepped through another gap. There, the dreamlike sensation started to fade, as if Silas had awakened onto a new reality. They stood within a vast chamber, with a gleaming marble floor and a high arched ceiling supported by smooth white columns. Colorful tapestries hung on the walls. Giant vases held plants and sprays of oversized flowers. One wall held a series of windows, each arching to a bladelike point. Before one, a man stood looking out into the night. His long platinum hair rode down the back of his black, floor-length cloak
As if sensing the
ir arrival, the man turned to face them. He had bone-white skin marked by a scar along one cheek. His eyes were the color of jade and his ears rose to finely tapered points.
“Silas, I’m so glad you could join us,” he said. “Nepheras and I have been looking forward to this moment.”
CHAPTER 10
Wrapped in a towel, I slide hangers back and forth in my closet as I search for something to wear. My choices consist mostly of faded jeans, most of them torn at the knee, and long-sleeve t-shirts. There’s the dress I wore to Cade’s and Dabria’s wedding, and the black pencil skirt and top I bought thinking I’d eventually have a swanky dinner with Grayson. Right, I need to burn those at the first opportunity. I don’t exactly need the sad reminder that I thought I was dating a handsome witch, while I was actually being hunted by a demented fae mage. Hard to see that coming, but one could still argue that I’m not the best judge of character. I mean, come on, the guy kissed me and I had nightmares about a monster.
Oh, and at the back of my closet, leather leggings, a blouse with puffy sleeves and a suede vest. These are the same clothes I wore when I finally returned from Faerie. I told myself I wouldn’t need them again. Evidently, I didn’t believe myself since clearly I kept them. Even now, I tell myself they’re just souvenirs. Reminders of a time gone by. Why don’t I fully believe that?
I force myself to focus on what I might actually wear. For brunch, the dress is out of the question. Way too formal. Obviously, I’m not wearing the tragic pencil skirt and blouse. So, I climb into my least beat-up looking pair of jeans, put on a plum colored top and complete the ensemble with a light gray cardigan. I give the sweater a sniff, hoping it doesn’t still carry that thrift store musk it had when I brought it home. It kind of does, despite being washed a few times. I’m about to peel it off again when I hear someone knock on my door. Shit, Autumn said she wouldn’t show up until twelve. I check my phone to see that it’s actually twenty past. Shit again. Now I can’t even be mad at her.