by Chani Feener
“My sight only just started wearing off,” he told her, not for the first time, as he took his final turn around the ring. “With any luck, I won’t have to come here again for a while.”
Nine circles around the outside would gift a human with the sight and allow them to see the fae, as Arden could. The only difference was that their sight wouldn’t last forever. In the beginning, Eskel had come to the ring twice in order to keep his sight going, but the effects seemed to be lasting longer than before. This was his first time since the end of the Tithe.
“I can’t believe you’re calling that luck,” Arden grumbled, turning to watch as he switched places with Cole and the latter began to take his turns around the ring.
“Yes, you can.” Eskel walked over to her, slipping his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket. He bent slightly at the knees, putting them at eye level and blocking Arden’s view of Cole. He grinned when he had her attention. “Come on, this is practically our normal.”
Part of her thought that she should flinch at his words, but he had a point. The two of them had come here before when he’d confessed how and why he had the sight. Hell, their whole friendship was built on the weird and unexplainable. Without it, they never would have met.
“That doesn’t mean I want it to keep being that way,” she said.
“Personally,” Cole called, on either his seventh or eighth turn, “I plan on doing this for the rest of my life. Even if we break your new curse, or whatever it is—”
“When,” Eskel corrected.
“—when we break your new curse, that won’t change the things that we know. We can never really go back, Arden. Can you honestly tell me you’d be fine walking the streets without the sight? Knowing that there are probably things surrounding you, and you just can’t see them?” He shuddered dramatically. “I’m not.”
Cole’s ties to the Goblin Market had given him the ability to see the Unseelie, but he’d lost that when his curse was broken. For the first few days he’d panicked, refusing to leave Arden’s house. It wasn’t until Eskel had mentioned the faerie ring in the woods that Cole had finally shown a sign of relief. It was the only reason Arden was out here with them now, and why she’d taken Cole here herself that first time.
“I spent an entire year of my life trying to get rid of the sight, and now here we all are talking about how our lives might depend on us never losing it. Ironic, huh?” she asked, kicking at one of the small pebbles slightly imbedded in the solid ground. It slipped free of the bed of moss it’d been lodged in and flew across the forest floor, smashing into the low trunk of a nearby tree. The sound was like a gunshot going off a mile or so away.
“You’re getting stronger,” Eskel pointed out, still staring off at where the pebble had struck. There was a tiny imprint in the wood now, and in the thin branches above, a couple squirrels darted around frantically, bushy, gray tails flicking at the air as they searched for danger.
A strong wind blew and the leaves brushed against one another, the loud rustling momentarily preventing any possibility of answering. The air was thick with the smell of frozen dirt and ice, even with the midmorning sun high in the sky. It wouldn’t be long now before they got their first snow. Arden wasn’t sure how she knew that. But she did.
“There’s a group of pixies over in those trees,” she stretched out her left arm, pointing, “and the kelpie the Erlking used against me that one time, he’s still there. That way.” With her right arm, she pointed to the south. “I can feel them. It’s like, a light buzzing sensation up my spine. A heat, actually, that might be a better way to describe it. I know they’re there.”
Cole frowned at her. “That’s pretty intense. I didn’t know all Unseelie could do that.”
“What do you mean?” Eskel asked.
“It’s just, some of the fae in the market used to play tricks on one another. They’d sneak up on the others, stuff like that. Kind of weird they were able to if they could easily sense another of their kind hiding behind the tablecloth.”
“Maybe it only works generally,” Arden suggested. “I only know they’re in that direction. I don’t know their exact position.” She’d initially assumed that her abilities just weren’t fully developed—she was still very human at the moment, after all—but maybe that wasn’t the case.
“They wouldn’t be able to avoid or fight one another if they could pinpoint each other’s locations like that,” Cole nodded his head in agreement with her assessment.
If humans were aware enough, they could typically feel the magic of a faerie when in close proximity to one. It felt a lot like a calling, a yearning, only for something you couldn’t quite put your finger on. The Unseelie’s favorite pastime was making a person feel like there was a hole inside of them, and then offering to fill it up. What Arden felt now, however, was different. There was no want on her part, only recognition.
“What if only some fae can do it?” Eskel tapped at his chin, unwittingly drawing Arden’s attention to the heavy metal ring on his middle finger. Even knowing what the ring stood for, he’d been unable to get rid of it. Couldn’t bring himself to toss out the last physical link he had to his older brother. Arden understood.
Besides, it wasn’t like she’d told him about the premonition the Erlking had shared with her. She’d kept that from everyone, not just Mavek.
“Let’s get out of here,” she said, spinning on her heels and starting the trek back to civilization without waiting for them to reply or follow. It felt too good out here in the woods where it was silent and the life around her was green and brown. She reached out as she walked, caressing the branch of a blackberry bush as she went.
Even though it was too late in the season for berries, a few remaining fruit pressed against her fingertips, and she pulled them back wet and sticky.
When she glanced down, her hand was stained red.
Cato was waiting for them when they came out of the woods, his copper hair vibrant even from across the street. His feet were braced shoulder-width apart as if he expected conflict.
“Now might be a good time to sharpen those thorns, Arden Archer,” he called across the asphalt as she and the others stepped out from the edge of the forest.
“My thorns have never been dull, Unseelie.” She paused, the tips of her pale pink Converse high tops just over the traffic line. They’d been friends, back when she was a child, but that had ended the moment Mavek had claimed her as his Heartless knight. She still trusted him more than she could the rest of his kind, but Cato was an Unseelie at the end of the day.
And one of Mavek’s, at that.
“What are you doing here?” Eskel was the first to ask, coming up on Arden’s left side protectively, despite knowing none of them stood a real chance against a fae as strong as the Puck across from them.
“It’s been weeks,” Cole added, hanging back a step on Arden’s right.
“I’ve been around,” Cato said, catching her gaze. The stormy gray color of his eyes, so different from her own brown ones, swirled and flashed silver in the sunlight. When the wind shook the coppery strands of his short hair, she thought she caught the sound of bells jingling in the distance. “And Arden should have been expecting me today. Isn’t that right, Heartless?”
“I’m not a Heartless anymore,” she stated.
He lifted a broad shoulder absently. “It’s unclear, as of yet, what I should be calling you now. I’ll stick to habit until that changes. You understand.”
“Well I don’t,” Eskel waved his hand between them, clearly irritated, “what the hell do you mean she knew you were coming?”
Arden clenched her jaw, sending a glare Cato’s way before heaving a heavy sigh and admitting, “Mavek stopped by last night.”
“What?!” Parroting each other, the two turned on her instantly.
“What the hell, A?” Cole practically growled.
“Why didn’t you say something sooner?” Eskel demanded.
Cato clucked his tongue, until
all eyes were back on him. Then he rolled his head skyward and rocked back on his heels. “You are aware that she owes you nothing, correct? After saving both of your lives, you should be more respectful.”
Arden blinked, her mouth slightly agape in awe.
“Did you just…” Eskel seemed just as shocked as she was, “defend her?”
Cato didn’t reply, merely stared back unflinchingly until the others dropped their gazes. As Mavek’s right hand man, it was always hard to tell exactly where he stood. He’d helped them out in the past; he’d gotten them all safely to Arden’s after the Tithe, and prior to that night had spent the better part of his time trying to convince Arden to let Eskel go in order to protect him.
She’d tried, eventually, but eventually had ultimately been too late.
“What did the Midnight Prince want?” Cole asked then, bringing them back to the topic at hand. He was tense at her side, obviously annoyed at her for keeping Mavek’s visit a secret, but he didn’t want to argue in front of their fae audience.
“There’s a new regent in town,” Cato answered for her. “His crowning is tonight. You’ll need to be there, Arden.”
“Why? She isn’t a Heartless. She’s not bound to those types of things like before.” As a Heartless himself, Cole had also been required to attend certain faerie events. The regents enjoyed showing their humans off, giving the Unseelie a chance to peek at the contenders for the new Tithe.
“Every faerie in town needs to be there,” Cato said. “It’s the law. If she doesn’t go, it’ll be counted as treason and not even the Midnight Prince will be able to shield her from punishment.”
“I’m not one of you.” Arden gave in to the urge to press her palms against her eyes, a headache already starting to pound against her skull.
“Not fully,” he agreed, waiting until she dropped her arms to look at him once more. “But you aren’t one of them anymore either.” He didn’t have to make any motions for her to understand he was referring to the guys at her side.
“How much of me is still human, and how much is fae?” she asked, surprising herself with the blatant question. It was painful, like opening a fresh wound and asking to be poked there. But she needed to know. It’d been three weeks and each day had been grueling in its own way. The constant dread that new oddities would appear, as she slowly discovered that she could see in the dark, or smell rain before the clouds even grayed…. When she woke up, it was always with the fear of the unknown at the forefront of her mind.
How different would she be today?
How noticeable would it be to others?
“To tell you the truth,” Cato said, voice dropping in an attempt to be gentle, a departure from his trickster nature, “I’m not entirely sure. I could feel you coming before, that’s how I knew to wait here.”
“You could tell me apart from Eskel and Cole, you mean.”
He nodded his head. At his back, a crow let out a loud cry and burst out of the confining branches of a tree, shooting upward to skate across the light blue sky.
“Creepy,” Cole mumbled under his breath, but Arden was too busy studying Cato.
“I didn’t come to talk about this,” he told her. “I only came to deliver the message, and so I have. The crowning is tonight, you know where. Be there at eight o’clock and don’t be late. There are too many eyes on you right now for you to risk even the slightest form of rebellion.”
“Does that mean you won’t be taking me there yourself?” He’d been one of the faeries sent to tail her these past weeks. She’d known, even though he’d kept to the shadows and stayed out of her way. “Guess I’ll have a new stalker tonight.”
“You can escort yourself,” he told her. “Everyone will be on their best behavior. There’s no risk you’ll be harmed, and arriving alone shows that you’re doing so willingly.”
“I don’t have anything to prove to them.” Even as she said it, she knew it wasn’t true. If she wanted to stay safe, keep her friends safe, she had to play the game.
Cato didn’t bother dignifying her with a response, turning instead to wag a finger between Eskel and Cole. “You two, don’t do anything foolish. Stay home.”
Eskel opened his mouth to argue, but Arden stopped him with a hand on his arm.
“He’s right,” she said. “If a human shows up, it’s only going to cause a ruckus. You guys can’t be anywhere near there.”
“He hasn’t even told us where ‘there’ is,” Cole pointed out, tone petulant. He’d never liked being left out, even when it could get him killed.
She debated whether or not to tell them, but there were so few people she had on her side at the moment. Keeping them in the dark wasn’t going to help anyone.
“Rose Manor,” she said, watching Cato’s unreadable expression never waver as she did. “It’s at Rose Manor.”
“This is such a bad idea, A.” Tabby kicked her feet against the counter in the storeroom of Howl Books. They were working the afternoon shift, but since it was so close to winter break, the place had been dead since their arrival.
Arden silently cursed Cole for immediately calling his cousin and telling her about Cato as she stacked another box of science textbooks in the corner of the room. They’d accidentally ordered an extra two hundred, and their boss was struggling to work with the distributers on returning them for a full refund.
“I just want to focus on this,” she said, lifting another box while Tabby watched, giving no indication that she was about to leap down to lend a hand. Heavy lifting for her small frame, she grunted. “You know, this very normal problem?”
Her friend rolled her eyes and leaned back, clunking her head against the pale gray wall. “Look, I get it, it’s been weeks and now suddenly the guy shows back up and asks you to a party. But—”
“Don’t try and psychoanalyze me.” Arden snapped, dropping the box in frustration.
“I’m just saying, it’s okay to want to be around him. I’m not going to judge you for being unsure.”
“I’m not.” Why did everyone keep bringing that up? What did it matter what she may or may not feel toward Mavek? “After what he did, that ship has sailed. You of all people should be trying to remind me of that right now, not—” she waved her hand in the air, “—doing whatever this is.”
“It’s called being supportive.”
“Yeah, well, it’s pissing me off.” In the past, having someone tell her it was okay to have feelings for the Unseelie would have made her ecstatic. Now all it did was make her sick to her stomach, with either guilt or dread. Possibly both. “He was going to kill you.”
“Don’t get me wrong,” Tabby said, “I absolutely hate the guy.”
“Then what’s the point of this weird pep talk?”
Tabby’s gaze softened. “I’ve been watching you struggle with yourself, Arden. You keep telling us that you’re fine and you’re dealing with it, but we’ve been friends a long time. Cole can see it too; it’s just that he doesn’t think it’s his place anymore to say anything. You were in love with Mavek for a year; it’s okay that you’re struggling to let go.”
Her friend nibbled on her bottom lip, contemplating her next words carefully, and then dropped down onto her feet. “As your best friend, I do have to say, you are going to have to let go eventually. You’re right; he’s done way too much damage to be forgiven. Which is also why going tonight is stupid and risky. What if this is just another trap?”
Arden had spent the whole day wondering that herself, playing out all the possibilities. In the end, however, it didn’t matter if it was or it wasn’t.
“Have you guys found any leads on how to stop me from changing?” she asked, and when Tabby immediately dropped her gaze, clucked her tongue. “Exactly. That’s why I have to be there. If there’s even a chance what Cato said was true, I don’t really have a choice, no matter how long we talk about it.”
“Then at least take us with you.”
“Absolutely not.” She’d already spent an hou
r having this argument with the guys. “It’s too dangerous.”
“It’s safe enough for you to take the risk,” Tabby argued.
Arden gave her a pointed look, and then firmly reminded her, “I’m the only one of us who’s Unseelie.”
“Starting to be,” she corrected with a huff, refusing to meet Arden’s gaze. “We’ll stop it. We will.”
Arden tried not to flinch. She really wanted to believe Tabby, but inwardly she was starting to give in to her fear of failure. How many people had to tell her it was impossible before she accepted it? By keeping them around, she was putting her friends in danger, and for what?
Mavek was a liar and none of the fae could be trusted, but Brix had always been open with her, and so had Cato. Neither of them had come to aid her these past weeks, and they’d all clearly known what she was trying to do. Either they too were unaware of how to stop her transformation, or they were afraid of getting involved and pissing off the Midnight Prince.
Outside the storeroom, they heard the bell jingle over the front door and Tabby sighed. “Hold that thought while I take this customer.”
Arden waited until she could hear her friend greet whoever had just entered the store, then pulled out her cell phone to check the time. Her shift had technically ended ten minutes ago, and if she didn’t leave now, she was going to be late to the crowning. She debated whether or not to say bye to Tabby before she left but decided against it, knowing she’d only try to convince her to not go alone.
Instead she slipped out the back, shutting the metal door with a light clang behind her. There was a wide, empty parking lot behind Howl Books that was never used. It was adjacent to a small part of the woods that rimmed their campus. For a moment, Arden stared into the dark spaces between the trees, breathing in the crisp air as she tried to feel for… something.
If there was someone out there watching her, she couldn’t sense them. The weird new ability was still developing, ebbing and flowing so that sometimes she had only her sight to rely on. She didn’t like to admit it, but those were the times when she was most afraid.