by Melissa Marr
I couldn’t see the face of the boy holding her—his embrace too intimate to mean friendship or comfort—but I could see his short curls and the outline of his shoulders. It wasn’t Nash.
For nearly a minute, I couldn’t look away, and I couldn’t stop smiling. I’d tried and failed to drive a wedge between Nash and Kaylee, when—if I’d been willing to wait—someone else would have done the work for me.
Sure, Nash would be heartbroken for a while, but then he’d get over her. And I would get a second chance. He would finally truly see me again.
“Thank you, Syrie.” I leaned over the table and slowly reached for the notebook, afraid with every second that she’d snatch it away. But her pencil never paused, the exposed tip flattened now, almost flush with the wood around it. She kept sketching as I carefully tore the first page from the notebook and folded it, then slid it into my back pocket, eager to go. I had mere minutes left before the harpies would come back, and I’d only gotten half of what I needed from Neiderwald.
When I stood, Syrie looked up, as if surprised to realize she wasn’t alone. Her right eye—her only eye—was still bright green and shiny, and she was as alert as I’d ever seen her. But when she blinked, her disfigured left eyelid didn’t completely close, and I had the sudden eerie certainty that the empty eye socket still watched me, and that it somehow saw more than her remaining eye ever could.
Uncomfortable, I glanced down at the table—and gasped at what she’d drawn on the inside cover of the notebook. Emma, in perfect detail from the terror in her eyes to the dark freckle high on one cheek. And behind her, holding her, if the suggestion of an arm around her waist was accurate, was Troy, broad, dark wings spread and ready. All around them stood mounds of stuff—junk, mostly—collected by the harpies over a lifetime.
“Oh, shit! When is this? Is this now?” I asked, not really expecting an answer, yet hoping for one anyway. Em could be a pain, but that didn’t mean she deserved to be eaten alive. Besides, if I started feeding the harpies, they’d expect a meal every time I came. . . . But Syrie just turned to her drawing again and began detailing Troy’s arm.
I ran for the door, hardly noticing the art I stepped on, then raced through the living room and into the grimy kitchen, where I threw open the basement door. The stairwell was dark, but a weak glow lit the bottom step and a rare glimpse of the concrete floor. But I heard nothing and sensed no movement from below.
Emma was fine. Troy didn’t have her yet. And if I got back into the car and drove off now, I could probably prevent whatever Syrie had seen the start of.
Or . . . I could get what else I’d come for. But could I manage both?
I started down the stairs slowly at first, to make sure I was really alone, but once I was sure, I pounded down the rest of the steps and skidded to a stop in the lone patch of uncluttered floor. For one long moment, I could only gape at the huge basement, lit by one bare bulb dangling from the ceiling. I’d seen it once before, but my memory of the harpies’ stash didn’t do it justice. Or maybe their collection had grown.
There was stuff everywhere. Stacks of it, spilling over and under tables, burying chairs. Drifts of it, piled against the walls. There were clothes, books, toys, dishes, patches of carpet, parts from cars, and even a tower of roof shingles, obviously never used. The harpies had coins, jewelry, polished stones, and glittering hunks of glass in all colors. There were photos, and pillows, and a table piled high with pill bottles, an entire tribute to the pharmaceutical industry, the contents of which they’d probably never even sampled—a tragic waste.
But the worst—or the best, depending on your viewpoint—was a series of human bones displayed on long shelves in descending size order, from femurs all the way past phalanges to bones too small for me to identify, crowned by a macabre display of naked skulls on the top shelf.
The whole thing was overwhelming. It was disgusting. It was . . . a lot to have to sort through. And I only had minutes.
I scanned the basement quickly, and my gaze snagged on a low table covered in boxes full of shiny things, so I picked my way through the ocean of junk toward it.
Normally, I’m not into jewelry—piercings aren’t jewelry; they’re body art—but I’d worn the necklace Nash gave me every single day. Until the night Nea had demanded it as payment for an opportunity to find him. I’d handed it over, but promised myself that I’d get it back, first chance I got.
But the table held dozens of jewelry boxes, most full of tarnished junk, and I had no way of knowing if there was another stash just like it buried beneath a pile of clothes or a stack of books. So I took the trinkets one at a time, tossing rings, earrings, necklaces, and brooches over my shoulder, then shoving the empty boxes onto the pile. I’d gone through eight of them before I finally found my necklace, buried in a collection of silver-plated rings and charms. Holding it again was like holding it for the first time, the night Nash had given it to me.
The silver horse shone in the light from above, wavy suggestion of a mane blowing back in some unseen wind as she raced toward something I was sure I’d been chasing all my life. Her stylized rider was golden and willowy, riding bareback and naked, long hair trailing behind her. Nash said it reminded him of me. Of the old stories about maras riding people in their sleep, feeding from their bad dreams, and the archaic association of the word nightmare with a female horse.
I would only have given the necklace up for a chance to find Nash, and now that I’d found him, I wanted it back, so I could hold at least that piece of him, while Kaylee claimed the rest.
I slid the chain over my neck and tucked the horse and rider into my shirt—then froze at the familiar dry whisper of wings folding and unfolding behind me, a habit comparable to fidgeting in humans and a sure sign that the harpy who’d snuck up on me was either excited or pissed off. Or both.
Shit, shit, shit! I turned slowly to find Troy watching me from the bottom step, his leathery black batlike wings half extended behind him. “You broke the rules.”
I shrugged. “I’m pretty sure they’re going to carve that on my headstone.” But not for a while, hopefully.
“That means I get to break one too,” he said, and before I could argue, he glanced over his shoulder and shouted. “Nea! Come look what I found!”
A second later, Nea jogged down the steps, followed by Desi and the third female harpy, all missing their jackets. They’d dropped the human disguises in their own home.
“Sabine wants her bauble back, and I think we should let her keep it. But she’s gonna have to leave us something else instead.” Troy stalked toward me, and I looked past him to the stairs. But Nea stood at the base of them, and I’d never get past her.
“Hold her,” Nea ordered, and the two other girl harpies rushed me.
I punched the first one in the gut, but before she even hit the ground, Desi grabbed my other arm and nearly dislocated my shoulder. I can hold my own in a fair fight, but two on one? While the other two had harpy speed and strength, clawlike nails, and jaws that could bite through a human tibia? I should have brought a weapon.
The downed harpy stood, and Troy grabbed my right hand. “I think this little piggy is a fair trade, don’t you?”
“Piggies are toes, dumb-ass,” I snapped.
Troy only shrugged. “Want something to squeeze, for the pain?”
I glanced pointedly at his groin, my heart racing so fast my vision was starting to blur. “How ’bout something to break off?”
He shook his head slowly and squeezed my fingers until I had to bend them or let him snap them. Then he pulled my index finger back up, preparing to rip it off. “Should I count to three?”
But before I could answer, a loud thud came from the kitchen. Something heavy crashed down the stairs, tumbling end over end. Nea jumped out of the way in time to avoid the rolling wooden cart, but the microwave hit her leg when it flew off the top. She went down, stunned, but not out.
Emma ran halfway down the stairs holding the rail in one ha
nd and a steak knife in the other, and I blinked, sure I was hallucinating. I would never have expected fight over flight from her. Did she actually give a damn about me, even after I’d driven her straight into hell? Or did she just want the car keys?
Troy dropped my fist and ran to help Nea. I jerked my other hand from Desi and punched the other harpy. Then I stumbled my way through the piles of junk toward the stairs. But Emma was gone.
Pulse racing, I whirled around to find her in the middle of the basement, buried knee-deep in crap, eyes wide with fear, jaw stiff with defiance. Troy stood behind her, one arm tight around her waist, his chin resting on her shoulder. Just like in Syrie’s picture.
“Em, you okay?” I asked, as the three others gathered around them, heedless of the mess they stood in. All four sets of harpy eyes watched me, shining in the light from overhead. All four bodies looked tense and eager to lunge at me, finger-claws ready to shred flesh.
“Been better,” Emma said, and I was surprised by how steady she sounded. “What the hell is all this?”
“You were supposed to stay in the car.”
She shrugged, the gesture limited by Troy’s grip on her. “I told you I had to pee.”
“I think I’d rather have this than your tiny little finger.” Troy stuck his nose into Emma’s hair and she flinched, but remained resolutely, impressively still while he sniffed her. “She looks good enough to eat.”
If I gave her to them, they’d let me go. But though I was a predator, I wasn’t a murderer, and crossing that line would make Nash see me like everyone else did—as a monster. Hell, I’d see me as a monster if I left her, especially since she’d come down to help me.
But Em saw my moment of indecision, and that’s when she truly started to panic. “Sabine . . . ?” She struggled against Troy’s grip, but he held her easily.
“Let her go.”
Troy’s mocking smile widened. “But she’s good for several meals, and I swear we’d savor every bite.”
“Get the hell off me, you sick fuck,” Emma spat. And I realized she was going to try something an instant before she threw her head back.
There was an audible crunch, then a screech as Troy dropped her to grip his ruined nose. Emma ran for the stairs. Nea and the other harpies lunged for her. Pulse racing, I spun in search of a weapon and grabbed the only possibility nearby—a human femur.
I turned as the redheaded harpy tripped over a box on the floor and went down hard, and I was already scrambling after the other two, Nea in the lead.
Emma hit the first step and grabbed the rail.
Stumbling over a cracked mop bucket, I fought for balance then swung the bone. The ball joint smashed into Desi’s skull, and I spared a moment to be thankful she hadn’t spread her wings, probably because of the low ceiling.
The redheaded harpy crouched and hissed at me as Nea grabbed a handful of Emma’s hair and hauled her down three steps to the floor.
I swung again as the redhead raked pointed almost-claws toward my face. Her nails scored my cheek. My club—someone’s bone—slammed into her temple. The old femur broke in half, but she was down for the count.
At the base of the staircase, Nea stood with one hand tangled in Emma’s hair, the other around her throat. Emma looked scared, but she was holding it together. I stepped forward, ready to fight bare-handed since I’d lost my club—until something heavy landed on my back.
I stumbled forward, scrambling to regain my balance, and Troy’s screechy voice whispered in my ear. “Shoulda just let me have her. . . .” He threw his weight to one side, trying to knock me off balance. If he hadn’t been light—necessary physiology for anything that flies—that would have worked. Instead, I braced one hand against the wall and reached back with the other. My fist curled around a leathery handful of wing, edged by a long, thin bone, like the elongated fingers that frame a bat’s wings.
I pulled. Hard. Something tore with a satisfying, visceral pop. Troy screamed and when he fell, his wing ripped all the way to the pointed joint at the top. His screech hit notes that would have made a bean sidhe wince.
Troy would never fly again.
While he screamed and clutched what he could reach of his ruined wing, I race-shuffled through piles of junk toward the stairs, where Nea had already hauled Emma halfway to the first floor.
I jogged up the steps. Nea heard me and tried to turn, but she was confined by the tight space. I grabbed the base of her left wing and pulled, clinging to the stair rail with one hand. Nea screamed and let go of Emma. I shoved the harpy with both hands. She fell over the rail and crashed into a pile of old-fashioned metal toys.
“Go!” I shouted to Emma, as injured harpies got to their feet below us.
Em bent for something on the next tread, then raced up the last few steps and into the kitchen. On the first floor, I grabbed her arm and hauled her through the house, only pausing for a second when Emma gasped at the sight of Syrie standing in the middle of the living room floor, empty left eye socket aimed right at us, purple pencil clutched in one fist.
Then we were moving again. We ran out of the house, across the yard, and around the side of the store, ducking twice when a harpy lookout dived toward us from the sky. I dug the keys from my pocket and popped the locks remotely as we rounded the corner into the parking lot.
Em pulled open her door while I slid into the driver’s seat, and a second later, she slammed one hand down on her lock. I started the car, shifted into drive, and cut across the corner of the sidewalk, then shot toward the dark road.
“Who was that girl?” Em demanded, panting as the speedometer bobbed toward eighty and I finally remembered to turn on the headlights. “The one missing an eye?”
“Syrie.” I glanced in the rearview mirror. They couldn’t follow us without losing their jobs and forfeiting their lives. But not checking seemed careless. “She’s an oracle. I don’t know where they found her, but they’ve been charging for her services for years.”
“She gave you this?” Emma plucked Syrie’s drawing from the center console, where it had fallen.
“Don’t. . . .” I tried to grab the paper, but she unfolded it, holding it out of my reach.
“Uh-oh,” she said, staring at the image of her best friend.
I shrugged. “From my perspective, it’s more of a ‘Woo-hoo!’ kind of moment.”
“Are you gonna show her?” Emma breathed, and I could feel her staring at me. “Are you gonna show Nash?” Then, before I could answer, she gripped my arm. “You can’t tell them. You don’t know that this is really going to happen, just because some half-blind little girl drew it on a piece of paper.”
“She’s never been wrong, Em. Syrie is how I found Nash in the first place.”
“Fine. But you don’t know the context. This could be nothing—unless you make it into something.”
And that was just one of the options I’d considered. . . .
“Sabine, if you show this to Nash, I’ll tell him you nearly got me eaten by a harpy.”
“I’m not going to show him.” For now.
“Good. Then I guess I won’t dump this all over you.” She shifted onto one hip to dig in the opposite pocket, then held something out to me. “I found it on the stairs. It’s yours, right?”
I glanced at the vial of liquid envy cradled in her open palm and couldn’t resist a smile. “Thanks, Em,” I said, and she smiled back, like we might actually be friends someday. But we wouldn’t, because we lived in different worlds, and mine wasn’t as simple as black and white, truth and lie.
My version of the truth was that I wasn’t going to tell Nash—not yet, anyway. But that had nothing to do with her lame-ass threat and everything to do with not tipping my hand until the time was right.
I didn’t want to win the battle. I wanted to win the war.
MERELY MORTAL
by Melissa Marr
“I want this.” Keenan stared out at the expanse of snow that coated the lawn of the Winter Queen’s house.
Our house. Our home. Outside of her domain, it was still autumn, but within her immediate area, it was always winter. For most of his nine hundred years, that would have been debilitating to him. Now—because of Donia—he had rediscovered how perfect snow and ice could be.
The Winter Queen came to stand beside him. Without any of the doubts—maybe a twinge—that he’d felt with her for decades, he wrapped an arm around her waist. She was the reason for everything he had that was good in his life. During the past few months with her, he’d known a peace and happiness he hadn’t ever experienced. Even if he lived the rest of his life as a human, he was happier than he’d ever been in all of his years as a faery. All because of Donia. Unfortunately, the faery who had given him such bliss wasn’t as happy as he was.
“We could stay home,” Donia offered again.
“No. You asked what I wanted.” He turned to face her, studying her expression for some clue as to her mood, as he had been the past few weeks. Her worry over his new humanity had created an unpleasant tension in her, and all Keenan wanted was to erase her worries and fears, and prove to her that they would be happy whether or not he remained merely mortal. “I want to go away with you. Just us.”
“But—”
“Don, it’ll be fine.” He caught her hand and pulled her into his arms. “We’ve never taken a vacation. Ever. We’ll go away, spend some time together, talk, relax.”
She exhaled softly, her sigh of cold air muffled by his scarf, and then whispered, “It’s so near winter starting, though.”
“And last month it was too warm. I’m not objecting to being here at the house or on the grounds with you, but we have a few days between summer ending and winter beginning. It’s a perfect time to steal away. Let’s take time for us.” He leaned back and stared directly into her frost-laden eyes. “The world was nearly frozen for years, and even if things do stay warm a little longer, the mortals won’t object.”