She laughed when her feet hit the cobbles on the street below. “Yeah, and if fish had legs, they could ride bikes.” No use howling at the moon. It would change nothing. Only action would.
Chapter 9:
Boston Common lay a few blocks south of the haunted block of flats, or maybe it was a whole house. While inside, Kennedy never gave it much thought. Now it mattered little. Soon she would reach Frog Pond and need to confront the Elves and their Sylvan allies.
She darted across Beacon Street and slipped into the park. Snow covered the lane. The way things were going, it might take several days to dig the city out.
Slipping her way down the slight hill, the hair stood up on the back of her neck. She wasn’t alone. What scared her more was the fact she couldn’t identify who was in the woods with her or where they had hidden themselves. It was bad when creatures hid the scent of magic. In Kennedy’s book, it meant they were up to no good.
An arrow whizzed past her head and embedded in a tree trunk. Kennedy flashed up her shield. It would slow bullets and make them near useless. Against magic arrows, not so much.
Risking her life and possibly giving the assassin another shot, she ran to the wayward arrow. It was as she feared, the arrow was of Elven design, complete with runes and a silver fletching. She snapped off the shaft and dove for cover as another arrow joined the first.
She was some distance from the pond. Running for it would mean exposing herself to fire. It was easy to calculate the direction the archer camped out for her arrival.
Why would the Elves try to kill her just before she turned herself over to them? That made less sense than a Leprechaun shooting off the magic weapon over the Zakim Bridge. Nothing about this night made sense. If she was to learn anything, she needed to reach the Elven grove on the far side of the pond and live to tell the tale…
Her high-tops helped. They increased her speed and maneuverability. Unfortunately, the snow did nothing to help with her traction. That might have played into her favor as well. With each cut in direction she made while running from tree to tree, her course became chaotic and hard to predict. She knew the arrows flew past her, but none connected. Either she was a wonderful dodger, or that archer was the worst marksman the Elves had. That seemed unlikely. The math didn’t add up.
Kennedy rounded a tree and spotted the crack in reality she searched for. It had been several decades since she visited the veil, and that had been an unpleasant experience. Bad enough she vowed to never find a reason to ever visit the land of the Elves again in her lifetime, and Kennedy planned to live for a very long time.
On the far side of the veil, she spotted her attacker standing in the light of the streetlight. Her eyes told her what she feared most. The damn Elf was ballsy enough to stand in the open with his hood down, pointed ears for all to see sticking out from under his long flowing white hair. “Bastard.”
He fired point blank. The arrow passed through the shimmering crack in reality as Kennedy dove for the safety of the other side. Her shield was still up and helped to deflect the magic arrow, but in her haste to dive for cover, her right leg lifted higher than the rest of her body. The arrow sliced clean through her shield and hit her in the back of the calf muscle. The burning pain of the arrow searing into her flesh was more than she could bear. She landed in the land of the Elves cursing like a sailor with the force of voice only intense pain can produce.
She wanted to roll on her back and grab the pain in her leg, but the arrow jutting from her wound made that a bad idea. Instead, she opted to roll on her side, grabbing her right leg to stop the flow of blood as it stained the bright green grass.
It was daylight on this side of the veil, and warm. If not for the pain coursing through her leg, Kennedy would have been happy for the respite from winter. Gaping wounds tended to hamper celebration. She did make her presence known to all by the swears that continued to roll off her tongue.
Over the centuries she had taken great pleasure in learning all the cuss words she could, from as many different languages as she ran into. It was a hobby that became useful at times like these. Not that she was often wounded by magic arrows, but she was content to know that, if she was, her vocabulary was prepared for the experience.
Someone came to her aid. Kennedy was shocked to recognize a familiar face. Sybil leaned over her. “Fancy meeting you here.”
“Where’s my brother and sister?” Kennedy screamed; small drops of spittle flew into the air. She didn’t care what scene she made in the land of the Elven kind.
Sybil raised her hand over Kennedy’s forehead and murmured, “Ad somnum.”
The witch watched as the Elf’s face went hazy, and the trees and blue sky behind her faded to black. Time for a nap.
<=OO=>
Kennedy had become accustomed to strange things long ago. Her life revolved around the bizarre and unexplainable. When she woke up in a tent, with the sun shining high in the sky, surrounded by what felt like spring, the scents of honeysuckle and jasmine drifting in the air… that part of the experience didn’t come as a huge surprise. Century-old memories came rushing back. She knew the scent before she opened her eyes.
What grabbed her attention were the six fairy ladies of the Seelie Court standing around her bed. She looked at each one in turn. They all stood like statues, eyes closed, heads lowered. This must be some kind of joke, except to her knowledge the ladies didn’t play pranks like the other Fae. They always presented a stern unwavering front of solid decorum. An example for the other Fae to follow. Pity few of the Fae followed their lead.
Kennedy’s past experience taught her one thing: don’t mess with the court. In her youth a few decades earlier, she got wrapped up in the concerns and protests of a few female norms. Witches had always lived in a female-dominated world, so what the norm women of the world suffered didn’t sit well with Kennedy. She lent her knowledge and magic potions to the cause. Like a modern Prometheus, she gave the secret of the Concilium potion. Not the sledgehammer of a full mind-control philter, but a drink that would make the males of the world listen to the valid arguments of the other fifty percent of the population.
It worked. The women gained their rights, nonviolently. They convinced enough men to support their valid claims. They won their rights. The problem was the court became suspicious of the change in man’s heart. Men, males specifically, are notoriously stubborn creatures. They will refuse facts right in front of their face to maintain the status quo.
As a known associate of the movement, the court suspected Kennedy of treason. Giving the knowledge of magic to a norm is one of the few capital offenses.
Kennedy escaped punishment. The court found insufficient evidence to charge her with a crime. They all had their suspicions she was guilty—the court told her so to her face—but they decided to not use more active methods to reach the truth… either torture or magic to gather a confession.
The young witch assumed they each held some reason for not punishing her. The women of the court were strange that way. Kennedy assumed they thought the outcome was desirable. They hated to see women mistreated so. In this instance, the ends justified the means.
However, Kennedy learned long ago to never assume she knew the mind of a Fae. Their thought process was as different as a witch was to a norm. The motive in any creature was a bitch to understand.
The ladies hadn’t moved the whole time she lay there waiting for anyone to speak.
“Ahem.” She cleared her throat softly.
“I know you’re awake.” The six spoke as one. It had been nearly a century since her last meeting with the ladies. They always creeped her out. Several more centuries could pass before she met with them, and it would still be too soon. “I study the problem.”
That was code for shut the hell up, I’m—we’re thinking.
The ladies could take any form. As fairies, they were also shifters. Now they looked like the Elves they choose to reside with. Kennedy had never seen their true form. Hushed discussions between witches s
uggested to ever see their true form would lead to madness. Kennedy didn’t want to test the theory to prove it wrong.
As one, the women who still surrounded her waved their arms in a slow arch over their heads. A shimmer of magic followed the movement. It resembled Kennedy’s protection shell spell but was much stronger.
None spoke until the spell was finished. As far as Kennedy understood, the inside of the tent was cut off from the rest of the world… in a place cut off from the real world. The implications made her mind swim.
“We can speak now… in private.”
Kennedy asked, “What is that spell?”
All six answered as one. “We call it the cone of silence… We stole the name, though.”
“We are cut off from the outside?” Kennedy wanted to plead her case, but if the Elves were involved, she didn’t want them to overhear her.
“You can speak freely.”
“I believe the Elves are working on starting a war with the outcasts. They have attacked me… and others. I have found their magic used to control others. I think they are trying to frame me for using magic in public… I swear I have followed your last orders.” Kennedy thought she was about to break down. The pressures of the night weighed hard on her soul. She needed her covenmates to help share the burden.
“These are strong accusations. We have your evidence.” Two pairs of hands revealed the arrow Kennedy broke from the tree and the collar she took from Randell the werewolf. She should know few secrets could be kept from the court.
“If you know about these things, you know more you are not telling us. Please, can you tell me what is going on? I am trying to honor the pact of the witches and keep the peace, but it is hard to do while I sit alone in the dark.” Kennedy fought back her emotions. It would do little good to appear the frail human before the court. Part of learning magic was to keep her emotions under control. The wrong emotion at any time might sour the casting of a spell and blow your face off.
The six ladies closed their eyes once again.
Kennedy assumed they conferred in private, but truthfully, she had no idea what they did. For all she knew, they were arguing over whether they turned the iron off.
They spoke as one. “All indications point to the Elves not acting in this affair without our approval. Strong magic is involved. The only viable answer lies with the involvement of the Unseelie Court. As the keeper of the peace, we task you to visit the Unseelie Court as an emissary to determine if they start a war. If they do, you must negotiate a cease-fire so the two sides can come to terms. This modern world will not survive a war amongst the Fae.”
Heart racing, Kennedy fought hard to keep her emotions under control. The court’s first words made the rest of their statements hard to understand. “The Elves act with our approval?” Kennedy did her level best to keep her tone calm and measured.
The voices were still as one. “Not all actions you attributed to the Elves are the work of the Sylvan Folk. What better way to implicate the Seelie Court than to use our proxies as scapegoats?” A single fairy spoke. Kennedy found it more frightening than when they all spoke. “Do not assume to understand our minds. What we do, we do for the peace of human- and Fae-kind.”
Reflexively, Kennedy balled her fists into the sheet that covered her. “Does that include imprisoning my mentor, Marylynn?”
The single fairy’s face showed zero sign of emotion when she spoke. “As a matter of fact, it does.”
It took all of Kennedy’s willpower to not attack the Fae and try, in a vain attempt, to burn down the entire pocket dimension they called home. She understood she didn’t have the power to destroy crap in this land. Their home, their rules, but the unemotional ladies did nothing to calm her anger. If anything, their passivity only intensified it.
“Before you act rashly, remember your oath,” the one said softly.
Damn if they couldn’t read her mind… Her oath was to protect the peace, not defend either of the courts. Her coven was all that mattered now. “I will be your emissary, but once this is over, both courts will need to answer to the abuse of power they wield without oversight.” Kennedy wanted free of the land of Elves, where she could have her own views without the thought-police eavesdropping on her emotions.
The ladies of the court reversed the wave, and the shield protecting the tent disappeared.
They spoke as one. “You are free to go, goddess’ speed on your journey.”
Yeah… pack sand, was what she wanted to say but instead muttered out of reflex, “Thank you. Goddess protect you.” The fact the court could read her thoughts gave her some solace as she stood and inspected her healed leg.
It only made sense. If the Elven arrow wounded her, the best people to heal the magic damage would be Elves. They did a good job; it didn’t leave a mark.
Time to head south and into the realms of the Unseelie Court. She hated traveling south.
Chapter 10:
Since the 1700s, the south side of Boston carried a reputation of being a rougher part of town. Up until the American Revolution, the north side and south side were both controlled by human gangs. The Fae syndicates tended to keep a lower profile. Great gang wars had been fought over the turf separating the different gangs for centuries, both norms and Fae picking sides in the war. News of the violence was suppressed for years, keeping the general public ignorant of the violence happening around them. As long as it was thug killing thug or Fae killing Fae, most of the general population turned a blind eye.
Kennedy needed to travel into the roughest parts of the city to the Unseelie Court. Run by the Leprechauns, they had retreated to one of the many green spaces that remained. Another cemetery, of course, full of dead things and rarely visited by norms. It made the perfect hiding place for many types of Fae.
Outside the confines of the Seelie Court’s tent, she took a deep breath of the warm moist air of the Elves’ secret garden. If not for the Sylvan creatures who called this place home, it would have been easy to convince Kennedy to stay longer. She knew a wicked killer storm waited for her outside, and she didn’t relish the cold and blowing snow.
“You should be in irons.” She knew the voice that spoke as it rounded the tent. It was Sybil. Kennedy wanted to bash her face in but knew it would be unwise to attack an Elf on their home turf.
She turned to face the bitch who attacked the Succubi for no apparent cause. “It is nice to see you too…” Kennedy forced herself to put on a fake smile and turn her voice as sweet as possible. In truth, she wanted the satisfaction of tearing this creature’s face off with her nails. “Where are Dani and Trinity?”
“You don’t know? Why am I surprised… you did turn tail and run as soon as the going got the slightest bit difficult. You missed all the fun.” The wry smile that spread across the female Elf’s face made Kennedy’s blood boil.
Kennedy felt the hair on the back of her neck rise. In this instance, she wanted nothing more than to let loose all her rage and frustration into her magic and let the fur fly. “Just tell me if they are safe in Elf custody, and things won’t have to get ugly here.”
Sybil laughed, taunting her. “I am late for a meeting with the court.” She turned to enter the tent Kennedy just left. “If we did have any of your little coven in custody, it would not be my place to tell you. Anything I said, you couldn’t trust, anyway. Besides, we have real problems to attend.”
Before Kennedy responded, the female Elf disappeared beyond the flap. Damn, she hated Elves. If she read the last cryptic message correctly, the Elves didn’t have the twins. That might be good or bad, or Sybil played with her, and the twins were safe in a cell somewhere. Kennedy didn’t want to ponder the other possibilities. No bodies had turned up, or she would be certain to get a visit from a certain Agent Decker and his pet Goblin boy.
As much as she wanted to remain in the warmth of this magical place, she wanted to be rid of the foul being that made up Sybil’s personality. Besides, she needed to leave the veil if she was going t
o reach out for help. Cell phones never worked in magical lands like this place the Elves had created. She had no bars for a call.
It had been several decades since she came to the veil, but she didn’t recall the court’s tent being so far removed from the intersection between the two worlds. Perhaps the court knew something they didn’t tell her, and they had prepared for this coming war, with the Fae of the land outside going about their daily lives, ignorant of the danger that lay just over the horizon.
That sounded like something the court would do. Reaching the doorway between the two worlds, she took a last deep breath of the warm air. She would miss the sun and warmth, but it was time to travel to see the Unseelie Court and the malevolent ones that made up the dark side of the Fae.
Passing between worlds always tickled Kennedy’s soul. This time was different. When she’d stepped through, a feeling of dread filled her heart. Phone in hand, she checked to see if she had bars. They climbed slowly the farther she stepped from the space between. The lack of signal didn’t give her pause. It was the color of the night—or rather day—that concerned her more. Her phone informed her it was 0710, well after sunrise, yet the sky was as dark as midnight.
Stranger still, there was no traffic. Even if the governor called a snow emergency, there should be people on the streets struggling to go on with their lives. The streets were deserted, not another soul to be seen. “Shit,” Kennedy mumbled to herself.
She pulled one of the cards from her front pocket and keyed in Alleye’s number.
“Hola,” the voice called from the other side, a little too loud on speakerphone. Aaliyah blared over the line.
“Alleye, it’s Kennedy. I need a ride to the cemetery in Forest Hills… for just one this time.” Kennedy walked to a coffee shop on the south side of the commons. It might be open, and she could get out of the cold and snow while she waited. “I don’t think the T will be working today.” She didn’t think anything nonmagical would be working till this was sorted.
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