by Kristie Cook
A whoosh of air slammed into me as a figure pounced from above, landing on the hot asphalt in front of me. I lost my footing for a moment, but I caught myself and found out just who’d been messing with me.
Cornelius stood firm, letting the faint light of a streetlamp pass over his features. He looked even paler than before, and his eyes shined like stars surrounded by black holes.
“What do you want?” I called out, holding out the sword. I was going to make sure he wouldn’t surprise me again.
Cornelius smirked, his dark elven eyes gleaming in the lights from the casinos behind me. They were all black but absorbed the twinkles of brightness like oil as he blinked amusingly at me.
“You dared to claim my chosen. I challenge you for her hand,” he snarled. A flash of white teeth even brighter than his pale skin appeared, sharpened to points. Long locks of black hair hung over his eyes, and I could see his pointed ears sticking out from behind them. He was thin and not much taller than me. I wondered if he even had it in him to beat me. He could certainly try.
Another shadow approached, a slightly shorter version of Cornelius, but he had more meat on his bones. The younger night elf smiled maliciously at me, looking crazier than his partner.
“Ah, I would’ve brought a friend if I’d known this was a party.” I twirled my sword in a circle, letting the flames spew ashes as the fire flared out to show them I meant business.
Cornelius pulled out his sword, one very similar to mine, but without flames. It had a silvery light curving down the blade in a slender river of glittery white power. I wondered what kind of blade it was, but didn’t have much time to think about it before he was lunging at me, sword swinging.
I met his blade with mine, and sparks of magic flashed, blindingly bright in the darkness. We both swung again, and once more, our blades met. We continued this way for several seconds before his friend caught me on the side with a swift swipe to my legs. I crashed to the ground and rolled away as fast as I could, knowing they’d both be following me with their blades. Jumping onto my feet, I held my sword out as Cornelius again swung at me.
“What the hell, man. I didn’t claim her.” I clenched my teeth together, shoving against his strength. For a lanky guy, he was a powerful foe.
“Liar!” Cornelius backed up to swing his sword down again. The sparks burst out in a circle, lighting fire to a garbage can nearby. I spun away from it and found myself facing his partner.
“What, are you his sidekick bitch or something?”
“Ralis volunteered to help take you down.” Cornelius held back, obviously wanting to see how I handled his friend.
“Oh so, you’re BFFs or something?” I couldn’t help myself. Ralis growled, though he looked confused at my question.
“You’re dead, human.” The guy was really going to say that to me? ClichÉ, wasn’t it?
I chuckled, catching my breath as I rolled back my shoulders. “Don’t be so confident. Being human has its benefits.” I reached into the pack strapped to my side. With a handy enchantment spell, it easily held a lot more than just clothes and weapons. I kept a nice supply of iron bolts and nails in it for rainy days. Summoning them, I grabbed a fistful and flung them at Ralis.
The night elf advanced, dodging most of them before several hit him straight on the chest, face, and hands. He screeched as the satisfying hiss of the iron burning his flesh made me smirk. I didn’t have time to celebrate, for Cornelius decided to pick that moment to join in again with his sword. His hits were hard, and the sparks from our blades started burning my clothes as they landed on them. The ashes sizzled, and the smell of charred material made me sick. At least it wasn’t smoking my arm hair.
“I told you. Whatever it is you think I did, you got it way wrong! She can see whomever she wants.” I shoved at our interlocked swords, finding we were pretty well matched. I cursed under my breath while my muscles burned with tension and fatigue started to set in.
Ralis recovered and jumped onto my back, wrapping his meaty arms in a chokehold that made me drop my sword to frantically grasp at his arms. His weight pulled on my equilibrium and sent us flying backward against a wall.
I stepped forward and slammed him back into the bricks of the wall. My airway was cinched close, and the movement only made him tighten his grip. He didn’t let me go. I could feel the blood rushing to my face as I tried again to slam him back into the wall with even more force, but he still didn’t let go.
“I don’t care if you’re not claiming her. I’m still going to kill you.” Cornelius approached us, a venomous grin pasted on his face. I wanted to wipe it off with an iron bat and shatter those disgusting teeth. “I’m going to enjoy this, Benton.”
How did he know my name?
He put his sword away and pulled out a smaller, shiny blade. Its intricate handle and embedded stones told me it was an eleven-made dagger, lacking any kind of iron. They were sharp and could kill with one stab in the right spot. I had to get out of Ralis’s grip if this was going to go my way.
“Hey!”
Cornelius turned to look toward a voice ringing out from beside us. I took the moment to kick him back and shove Ralis against the wall one more time before I managed to whisper a summons for an iron dagger from my belt. It appeared in my fingers, and I jabbed it back toward Ralis’s torso. His immediate release of my neck and subsequent screech as I stumbled forward told me I’d hit him right where I wanted to. Cornelius was back on his feet and flicking his eyes between me and whoever had interrupted our struggle. His eyes widened, his frown deepening as he stared at Ralis, who was still behind me and moaning.
“This isn’t over,” Cornelius snapped. He ran into the darkness of the shadows and disappeared.
I pivoted to grab Ralis before he could disappear, but I didn’t have to do much. He was already on his knees, struggling to pull the dagger out of his side as it burned and melted into his flesh. His fingers sizzled, and he let go of the dagger in a futile attempt to yank it out. The pain overtook him, and he crumbled to the ground, his body convulsing while a foamy froth poured from his mouth.
“Hey! You left your friend!” I yelled out into the empty space where Cornelius had disappeared. I cursed and peered back down at Ralis, now deathly still. “Some pal you got there.” I reached down to yank the iron dagger out of his guts. I hoped he was dead. If not, I had to finish him off. Great.
A shuffle made me turn back around to find the girl who’d helped me out with her diversion. It was her, Miss Burgundy Redhead, the one who could see through our glamour. She had apparently followed us all the way from Chicago.
“What are you doing here?” I asked. She wrung her hands, and her mouth sat agape. She sputtered as she tried to speak, but nothing comes out of her pretty mouth. I had to admit that even in the dim light, she was beautiful. Her reddish brown hair reminded me of Sary’s, but it was darker, thicker and not as long. Her skin wasn’t as pale either, as though she had spent some time in the sun. Dark green hazel eyes revealed an undertone of brown, and they gleamed under the one lamp reflecting off them from the parking lot. I was so stunned by her sudden appearance that I didn’t realize what was going on behind me until I watched her pretty face morph into utter horror.
“Look out …!”
Luckily, I felt him coming, and I flipped the iron blade in my hand around to swing backward. I hit Ralis right in the chest, so close to the heart, I was sure I’d hit something vital. He stopped mid-swing with a dagger he must have pulled from a hidden spot on his person. His breath came out strained, hissing like an emptying balloon as his eyes rolled backward. His body toppled to the ground in a resounding thud while his black blood began to seep out of the wound in a spreading, oily slick.
“Oh my god! Oh, crap … you killed him! You … you …” The girl was in an all-out panic and began to nervously twitch in place before she ran toward the trash can, still smoldering with smoke, and puked her little guts into it.
“Nice,” I muttered, peering do
wn at Ralis. Well, at least I wouldn’t have to worry about that guy anymore. I poked at his side with my shoe. He was definitely dead. This freed me up to peer around for my Empyrean blade. I found it a couple feet from the girl, who was now on the ground, her head between her knees as she hyperventilated.
“Hey, you all right?” She didn’t answer me but began to rock back and forth, gripping her knees to her chest. “Hey!” I took her chin into my hand, making her focus on me while I waved the other hand in front of her face.
“Slow your breathing down, you’ll pass out. What’s your name, girl?”
She stared at me. Those brilliant, multi-colored jewels for eyes made me want to hold her closer and comfort her until the shock wore off. I shook off the desire oozing through me and waited for her answer. A sheen of sweat across her brow accentuated how much paler she was than a moment ago. I hoped she didn’t pass out. Either way, I was going to have to mind wipe her for all she’d seen, to protect her. If only she hadn’t followed us. It was too soon, and I didn’t have the time to put into protecting her from herself just yet. It was beyond frustrating.
I pushed the long locks of soft hair from her face and let her peer at me as she visibly came back to herself.
“Well? What’s your name, miss?”
“M—my name? Uh … Zena. It’s Zena.”
I smiled, and nodded. “Hi, Zena, I’m Benton.”
She bobbed her head up and down, but still appeared petrified. I got to my feet and offered her a hand. She took it, standing slowly as color poured back into her cheeks. Good. I didn’t feel like taking her to a hospital.
“What kind of a name is Benton?” she asked.
I wrinkled my nose and pushed my shirt back into place since it was hanging even more tattered now. Glancing at the girl, I pondered what to do next. “What kind of a name is Zena?”
“My mom, she’s into that new age stuff, you know. She’s weird like that.”
“Yeah, well, we all got our family quirks.”
I peeked over my shoulder. I could feel her eyes growing wider as she watched me walk over to Ralis and begin to mutter a few words over the dead elf’s corpse, holding out my Empyrean blade in case he decided to reanimate before I was done. Hey, it happened once in a while, so I had to be cautious and make sure they were completely dead. A blast of wind hit us, and his body exploded into a pile of ash, dissipating into the wind in a flurry of flakes.
Zena gasped behind me, and I reluctantly got ready for the barrage of questions she was sure to ask as I replaced my sword on my back.
“What did you do?”
“Its funeral.” I wiped the ashes from my face. Corpse dust. Nothing grossed me out anymore.
“But... how? Did you use … magic?”
My patience was gone, and I stood up to meet her eye to eye. She was cute, I had to admit. Pretty in a vulnerable sort of way. I just didn’t know about those bold eyes which were still filled with terror and edged in a more dangerous curiosity.
“How do you know about magic?” She dared to step closer. I had to give her kudos for doing so. I must’ve looked like one scary beast.
I shook my head, realizing this had already gone too far. “Doesn’t matter. Go home, Zena.”
“No! I won’t leave until you tell me what happened and what you did to that … that thing! What is it? One minute it was following me, the next I’m here and it’s about to kill you, but you scared off his friend and pulverized him into a pile of specks! What the hell is going on?”
She was shaking so hard, I thought I might have to catch her before she collapsed right there in front of me. Why the heck were Cornelius and Ralis following her? That fact alone made me frown. Maybe she’d been discovered for having the sight. Maybe it was that magical artifact around her neck. The necklace glimmered under the street lamps.
Hmm.
Reaching out, I touched her forehead with one finger. “Calm down,” I spoke, sending a thread of power deep into her mind. Instantly, her body stilled and her widened eyes drooped into a dreamy gaze.
“Where am I?” she asked. Her entire demeanor seemed nonchalant, as if standing in a garbage-filled alley way next to an elemental warlock was commonplace. Yet, she continued to peer around, still curious. Darn.
“You’re nowhere. Don’t come back here, you hear? It’s time to go home.” I picked up her fallen purse, slapped it into her arms and turned, marching away in disgust for making such a ruckus and involving an innocent human girl in the mess. I was going to have to be more vigilant while hunting down and fighting rogue Unseelie faeries and these psychotic night elves, which were now mucking up the streets of Las Vegas, too, since the wards had been breached. I’d already had to mind wipe at least three non-magics since I started this mission, and it hadn’t been any fun. I was all about fun, and killing unauthorized Unseelies in the mortal world kept me quite busy enough as it was.
Still, I wished I didn’t have to watch her walk away. I wanted to know more about her. Her jeans were snug and hugged her in all the right places, and I wanted to be the one escorting her in this crazy town at night. I followed her until the crowd swallowed her up. I let her go, no matter how much I didn’t want to lose sight of her.
Clenching my fists, I hurried through the crowd, hoping to find Sary and Braelynn. This time it wasn’t hard. They were sitting on a planter in the middle of the crowd as the show above us ended and the lights flickered back to stillness. Their worried looks told me everything, and that alone upped my glum spirits. When they asked what happened, I simply answered, “You’ll never guess who I ran into.”
Chapter Fifteen Temporary Asylum
Temporary Asylum
Approaching the gates of the Scren Palace never failed to impress me. This Seelie kingdom was the largest in the Southern Realm of the Land of Faerie, and it belonged to my older sister, Shade. I still couldn’t believe how much she’d accomplished within such a short period of time. She was queen of not only the Southern Seelie Realm but also temporary guardian of the treacherous Unseelie Realm since its psychotic rulers, Aveta and Arthas, were put to rest. It’d been just over a month since I’d last been to the palace, but it felt a world away.
It still made me cringe, thinking about the Unseelie castle. The Withering Palace made my skin crawl because it was a living, breathing entity. I’d snuck in and spent a day with the guard. An experience I’d rather not repeat, ever. Knowing my aunt Evangeline, who I never knew existed until about a few months earlier, was taking care of the Unseelie Realm with our friend Jack, a Teleen faery warrior, and gave me some reassurance that the Land of Faerie was stable for the moment.
The human realm was another story.
“So good to be back.” Sary let out a happy sigh as we crossed through the gates. I felt the blast of magic and shuddered. It wrapped around me like an entity, touching and caressing my skin and testing my own elemental magic. Did it do this to Shade? It creeped me out, the way it felt like something alive crawling across my skin. Sary and Braelynn didn’t seem bothered whatsoever by the magical inspection. I, on the other hand, felt like I needed a shower.
“Yes, the iron in the cities was starting to feel a bit oppressive.” Braelynn appeared visibly relaxed now that we were entering the castle. I wondered just how much the human world affected them. I guess I’ll never really know. Maybe I was just as uncomfortable here in Faerie as they were on my side of the tracks, but I doubted it. I think I had the better end of the deal.
“Benton!” Anna’s voice perked up my dull senses, weary from the journey. She was always a ball of energy, and seeing her again would definitely help fight my melancholy. I missed my sisters and James, my younger brother. I didn’t realize how much I had until they were crushing me in their ecstatic embraces.
“Whoa! Air … I need air.” I laughed as they didn’t let go. I didn’t want to let go either. As soon as they did, I held Anna out at arm’s length and stared at her. She’d changed, appeared more mature, and her skin was flawl
ess. In fact, as I stared at my family, I felt a sadness creep through my stomach. The effects of living in Faerie were apparent on their faces.
“Well, well. Look who decided to grace us with his presence.” Shade approached, her long royal garb swishing about her as the train of her dress dragged behind her. She also had the same appearance as my siblings, and I fought the frown blooming on my face with a forced smile.
“Hey there, Sis. Holding down the fort without me?”
“You bet. What’s wrong with you? You look spooked.”
She cocked her head and narrowed her eyes. Damn. She already knew something was off. I couldn’t hide anything from her. Looking away down to James, I chuckled when I found him still clinging to my leg.
“I …” I sucked in a breath and studied them again. Yep, the changes were noticeably great, and I had to find out what was going on. “Why do you guys look so … different? Like, more like porcelain dolls than human? It’s not bad, it’s just … weird.”
“The longer humans spend in Faerie, the more they change. They turn immortal and become even more beautiful, like faeries. It’s the effect of magic on your bodies.”
I looked down at my drab, torn jeans and grimy shirt. I looked like a homeless person. Grit and dirt clung to my clothes and skin. Blood stained my jeans and hung under my nails along with lord knew what. I probably smelled pretty ripe by now and needed a shower promptly.
“Don’t worry, Benton. You can be beautiful, too. I’ll have the workers draw you a nice rose petal bath.” Shade pulled me close, her arm around my shoulders as she stuck her tongue out at me before laughing.
There she was, still my sister. Underneath the magical faery mask, I could see her fiery spirit, strong and true. It’s what made her an excellent queen. I could see it in the workers and patrons of the palace. They watched her pass by with dedicated awe in their eyes. The power she emitted was definitely overwhelming, and I wondered how I’d ever compare to it. But that didn’t really matter to me. I wasn’t in competition with her. There was nothing that could make me happier than working for my sister. I’d taken on this mission willingly to help my family survive the magical world, and I wouldn’t ever ask for anything more.