by Ashley Meira
“Of course.” I groaned, placing my cup down so I could bury my face into my hands.
Adam placed a hand on my back. “Didn’t you mention she was a god?”
“A self-declared god,” Bane corrected. “Any fae with enough power could ostensibly become an actual god. In Arcadia, at least. The laws of their world differ from ours.”
“I sense a pattern,” Charlotte said.
“Which makes you smarter than us,” I told her, palms muffling my voice.
“Technically not,” Adam said. “We had no idea the Heart contained Gadot.”
“You’re right. I blame your brother.”
He chuckled and pulled me against his side, brushing his lips against my temple.
Charlotte watched us, an unreadable expression on her face. “So, she basically was to the fae what Gadot was to people here?”
“No idea,” Bane said. “All I know is that she managed to obliterate every member of the Fairy Court and take over the Heartwood, the capital of Arcadia and the seat of power for the Court.”
“She obliterated the entire Court?” I asked.
“Yes. Six of the most powerful fae in Arcadia wiped away with a bat of her lashes. For the fae, who abhor drastic change and maintain a delicate balance of power between themselves, the upheaval was enough to make them fear Trixie. They went to war, of course. Despite being called the ‘Fair Folk,’ the fae are bloodthirsty, but terror still coated their every move.”
“But they won, right?” Charlotte asked.
Bane pressed his lips together, probably to hold back a sarcastic remark. I wondered if it hurt him as much as it hurt me? “Yes, but the fae are used to a different kind of warfare, one played out in the Court or ballrooms.”
“Like petty nobles?” I asked, wrinkling my nose over the memory of bodyguard duty. The first time I’d been assigned the job, I’d been astonished by how vicious the upperclass had been behind each other’s backs
“I wouldn’t say that to their faces, but yes. They suffered heavy casualties in the war.”
“So, Cyrus— Gadot is going to summon Trixie,” Adam said. “But why him? Did something happen to Diana?”
I frowned, trying not to worry. Was she okay? She may have been working for the enemy, but she was still my sister.
“Trixie was sealed between worlds,” Bane said. “The only connection she has left to any physical plane is her crown: the Wreath of Narcissus. To summon her back, you need to perform a ritual where the veil between Arcadia and Earth is thinnest. There are a few places like that around the world — and six of them are on these peaks.”
“He’s going to summon her here?” Charlotte asked, her eyes widening. “Where? What about the dragons? What’s going to—”
“Mind your blood pressure,” Bane drawled. “I’m not privy to what goes on in the thoughts of madmen. Most of these ‘thinly veiled’ places are far away from civilization, so I imagine he came here because this is the most mountainous of them all. It would explain why he was sent instead of Diane.”
“Diana,” I corrected. “Why?”
“When the fae sealed Trixie and buried her wreath, they put up powerful protections across every one of these thinned zones to prevent anyone from trying to bring her back. Gadot would be powerful enough to breach those wards, assuming he was near enough to his source of strength.”
“A mountain,” Charlotte concluded. “But he’s an earth mage. Shouldn’t he be fine anywhere?”
“You work better in fertile soil,” Bane pointed out. “As does Olivia. Desert mages find themselves at a hindrance when faced with such greenery.”
“It’s a mixture of experience and natural affinity,” Adam said. “Like with the desert mage example — they don’t have enough experience with abundant plant life to find steady footing for their spell work. They can adapt, but it’ll take them time, and they’ll always have a tie to drier earth.”
I stared at Adam in mild awe. Sure, he still wasn’t looking at Charlotte, but this was the most I’d heard him say to her.
“Affinity…. Well, considering shifting. A mage doesn’t choose their animal — it’s predetermined before birth. As a phoenix shifter, I have a natural affinity to fire and wind. I will always default to those elements if I act on instinct. As a dragon, Damien favors lightning, ice, and wind. It’s kind of a chicken and egg situation. Did we have the affinity and that’s what decided which animal we shift into, or does the animal we’ve been chosen to shift into determine our affinity?”
Charlotte nodded along. Her eyes were wide with interest, and she had no problem staring at him while he spoke. That vanished a moment later when he stopped speaking and lifted his head toward hers. Suddenly, there was nothing she found more interesting than the Persian rug beneath her feet.
Figuring they were still far from leaping across the table and hugging each other, I turned back to Bane. “How do we stop her?”
The Fireborn raised a brow. “Don’t you mean: how do you stop the ritual?”
“I know how: destroy the altar and take the Wreath back. This isn’t my first rodeo.” Though it might be the only one I had a chance at stopping so far. Considering my track record, however…. “I need a backup plan in case Trixie is freed.”
“Learn to survive underwater,” he said dryly. “Though not near the Mariana Trench. That place is filled with horrible sea life.”
“I heard the kraken lived there,” Charlotte said.
“A lot of giant squids live there, all equally unpleasant.”
“Is it the suckers?”
“It’s the beak for me.” I shuddered. “Something so squishy shouldn’t have a beak.”
“Indeed.” Bane nodded, his features still twisted downwards. “As for a method to defeat Trixie: that falls under the current Fairy Court’s knowledge. They’re the ones who defeated her in the first place.”
“Finally, some good news.” Adam breathed a sigh of relief. “The Council can send—”
“Send what?” Bane’s brows arched higher than ever before. “An official request? Proper channels require proper paperwork, and I have absolutely no intention of providing testimony.”
The look in his blazing green eyes made it clear he’d kill us before allowing his secret to come out, and I had no desire to call his bluff.
“And you can’t use Charlotte as a proxy. She has a terrible poker face,” he continued, ignoring the girl’s affronted look. “With a threat this severe, I guarantee the Court’s representatives will be vigorous in their interrogation. They won’t disturb the Court unless they’re sure there’s a credible threat, and if they feel you’re holding something back….” He shrugged. “Charlotte won’t last under their scrutiny. The fae make even Inquisitors seem tame.”
“For a hermit, you sure know a lot,” Adam said darkly.
Bane sneered. “The actors may change, but the play remains the same. Politics is politics. And it’s a surer bet with the fae.”
“Since the actors usually don’t change at all,” I finished quietly.
Fae lived a really long time — even longer if they remained in Arcadia, where the world’s magic sustained them. I wasn’t sure how long it had been since Trixie was defeated, but based on how far down Charlotte had to excavate, it had to have been a few hundred years. And Bane said the current Fairy Court were the ones who had defeated her in the first place, so I figured their methods hadn’t changed much over the centuries.
“You’re ancient,” Charlotte said, ignoring his glare the way he’d ignored hers. “Do you have any fae contacts we could reach out to? Preferably a member of the Court?”
“No. I haven’t been in contact with the Court since….” His eyes darkened. “Either way, they won’t be well disposed toward me.”
“Can you kill Gadot yourself?”
“No.”
Adam frowned. “Why not?”
“I don’t do that anymore,” he said, his eyes darkening.
“That isn’t a good ex
cuse,” Adam said through gritted teeth. “If you have the ability to end this—”
“It’s not an excuse,” Bane said sharply. “Mind your own business, boy.”
“Then what?” Charlotte threw her hands in the air. “You can’t just be a negative Nancy. You have to give us at least one solution!”
He eyed her disinterestedly. “You — that is they — could approach the Court directly. It would certainly cut out the middle man of politics if you’re not affiliated with the Council.”
“Good.” Charlotte’s smile returned, and I found myself envious at how optimistic she was. “Let’s do that. Even if I can’t go, we’ll still be able to stop Gadot.”
“At least I won’t have to chain you to the wall to keep you here,” Bane said. “However, the only way to approach the Fairy Court directly is to request an audience in the Heartwood.”
“You need a special passport to travel to Arcadia,” Adam said. “Fae who emigrated from there have one by default, and those born here have to apply.”
“And since the only way to travel to Arcadia with those passports is through Council-sanctioned portals created by the Court’s representatives, it counts as ‘official,’” Bane said. “You’ll need a fairy to open your own portal. Off book. One powerful enough to operate alone. Unless you want to involve an entire fairy ring.”
Fairy rings were groups of fairies that came together to amplify their magic. Since fairies didn’t really like playing together, fairy rings didn’t happen very often. Usually, they were only formed by representatives of the Fairy Court in order to open long distance portals so the fae could travel between our world and theirs. Some fairies banded together and opened portals to bring family members to Earth in secret, but the odds of finding them weren’t in our favor.
“Is there even a single fairy who can do that?” Adam asked. “Besides members of the Court.”
“Certainly,” Bane said. “Any fairy with the ability to open portals can do it. Technically. They need to have an abundance of magic as a great deal is required to breach through to another world. Beyond that, it’s a matter of proper instruction.”
I tapped my chin thoughtfully. “Would a fairy who has the ability to open portals in quick succession and shrink down have enough magic?”
Bane turned to me, a cautious yet hopeful look in his eyes. “How… unusual. Do you know someone like that?”
“I thought fairies could only do one or the other?” Charlotte asked.
“That’s what makes it unusual,” Bane said, his expression turning unreadable once more. “It takes a fair amount of magical stamina to open multiple portals — or long distance ones. If this fairy can do that and shrink herself down simultaneously, I imagine she’ll do. We’ll need to see.”
“How do you know it’s a girl?” she asked.
Bane gave her a flat look and turned to me.
“It’s a girl,” I confirmed, twisting my communication ring around my finger. Well, she did want to be more involved.
Chapter Fifteen
Rocks plummeted toward the earth. I winced as a large boulder crashed into a nearby home, the woman exiting it falling to the ground. She survived, but the inhuman wail she let out told me her family hadn’t.
My legs itched to run inside and rescue them. But from what? They were crushed. There was nothing I could do about that. To my left, the ghoulish cries of the drugged rang out. Trixie was there, her girlish face innocent and mild. She looked no more than twelve years of age, with lavender-colored hair tied up into two buns above her ears. Braids encircled them, coming up to nestle under her crown. The Wreath of Narcissus sparkled under the apocalyptic sun.
A dress made of shimmering crystal adorned her body. Her feet were bare, swinging back and forth as if she were sitting on a tall chair instead of floating above a horde of mages she’d drugged. Fairy Dew might not have come from fairies, but she’d certainly gathered a hefty supply.
She smiled at me, her perfect square teeth scraping across her lower lip. She looked almost bashful, but there was no mistaking the sadistic glint in her midnight eyes. A flick of her wrist caused all the mages to turn toward me. Their eyes were clouded by the Fairy Dew, and their magic flickered like wildfire.
My own Fire danced at their incensed magic, telling me to fight. Not that I had a choice either way. A flurry of ice, fire, and electricity flew my way. I dodged the attacks. I could have absorbed it, but that much magic would have strung me out. I needed to keep my wits about me. The war had just begun, and I wasn’t going to lose against the first wave.
I threw my sword at an ice mage in the front before firing off a blast of chain lightning at the rest. My sword proved enough of a distraction to keep them clustered, and purple light darted between the crowd. The mages began spasming. They hit the pavement, their reddened eyes rolling back as foam came out of their mouths. A pang of guilt hit me, but it was small enough to ignore. They may have been mere pawns of a cruel god, but this was war. I didn’t have the luxury of mercy.
Trixie was gone by the time the bodies had stopped convulsing, and I was set to follow her example. These streets were quiet, but there was more fighting to be done.
As I continued down the ruined road, I caught sight of The Golden Cat Cafe. Recognition stirred in me, and I forced my body toward the ruins that had once been a second home. Cement filled the interior, and bodies littered the entrance. Hands reached out from cement sealed windows, remnants of the victims who’d tried to escape from Gadot’s attack.
I knelt before a face encased in the rough stone. Her features were barely visible in the mask of terror they’d been twisted into. Anna, Ollie’s assistant. My heart clenched as I realized he might still be safe, that he could have been out when this happened. But like my other dreams, the me living through this knew his body was in the kitchen, locked behind tons of cement.
Part of me wanted to rush to Adrienne’s store around the block, but dream me continued to her original destination, and I didn’t have the heart to redirect her path.
She knew Adrienne was dead, too.
Adam’s Hummer waited at the end of the street, and I entered it, casting a quick glance at the picture tucked into the visor above. Adam and I were sitting on a checkered blanket with a picnic basket in front of us. His arm was around my waist, and we both wore happy smiles as we stared at the camera. Before I could make sense of the happiness I felt, I shoved the picture further into the visor, hiding it from my view. Dream me didn’t appreciate the memory, it seemed.
I drove through the wreckage that had once been Santa Fae, noting the crushed buildings. Everything was rubble, the once gargantuan structures now dust. Their glass remains gleamed in the light, water droplets streaming from them like tears.
As I approached Water Nymph Bay, I parked the car and stepped out. My boots splashed in the puddle just outside, the salty scent of the sea filling my senses. Seraphine had come by recently, which was odd, because she favored the Asian cities. Even when she destroyed Santa Fae with her tsunami, she’d allowed Gadot to cause the earthquakes on the ocean floor to amplify the waves for maximum damage. Then, she’d vanished, and news of a terrible typhoon devastating Hong Kong had come through the next day.
A shadow flew toward me. I stepped to the side, watching as a large spear slammed into the cement where I’d been. The ground cracked, and I rushed forward as a giant hole began to form. I’d parked far enough away for the car to be safe, but the trio of charybdis told me my luck was about to change. They were just as fast on land as they were in the water, and Seraphine’s resurrection had given them more strength than ever before.
I threw my sword at them, watching them split up before charging toward me. A blast of lightning hit one in the chest, and he flew back. I rolled away from a heavy punch and ducked under an incoming spear. This charybdis held onto his weapon, and my sword was at a significant disadvantage against the polearm.
Deflecting his attacks as best I could, I focused my magic to
ward the other two. If I could take them out, I had a better chance at defeating the spear-wielder. The one I’d hit with lightning proved easy pickings, and it only took one more blast to put him down. The other was faster. He dodged my fireballs with unearthly grace before stealing his fallen comrade’s spear and joining the fight.
One spear was bad, two was impossible. With a sword, at least, and I’d been hoping to conserve my magic. Sure, I could replenish my supply with other mages, but the ones around here were enthralled by Trixie, and she kept them hopped up on Fairy Dew. The possibilities of what their tainted magic might do to me was concerning, to say the least.
I raised my free hand, summoning a wall of fire, and ran away to gain some distance from the two charybdis. As soon as I had room, I threw another barrage of fireballs at the dark outlines hulking behind the fiery wall. The charybdis leapt back, dodging the blows. They overcame their fear of the flames soon enough and charged through the wall, hitting the pavement and flopping around in the sea creature’s version of stop, drop, and roll.
I threw bursts of wind at them as they did so, but their writhing movements were too fast, and I couldn’t aim properly. Should’t I be better at this by now? What was going on with me?
Before I could answer, something grabbed me from behind. I struggled against the arm clamped around my neck, but my attacker knocked my sword away and wrenched my hair back. I recognized the action as Nicholas’, and when I looked back, I saw the familiar mud-colored eyes of my kidnapper.
“I suppose I should let you go as a thank you,” he said, his voice as cold as ever. Had I not been struggling so furiously, it would have sent ice through my veins. “After all, if you hadn’t failed to stop Trixie’s summoning, you might actually have had a chance at stopping me. I could have gathered an army like the one she has amassed, but no one manipulates people the way she does. Even Seraphine’s touch is heavier, though it’s always good to have a representative in the Eastern branch.”