by De-Ann Black
‘You look stunning,’ he said, smiling at me, such a mesmerizing smile. I didn’t know if I had the willpower to tell him I wasn’t going out with him. And what was he doing here at this time of the day?
‘Ready to go?’ he said.
I was getting nervous. He seemed so pleased to see me. ‘You’re early,’ I said, stalling for time, trying to think what to do.
‘I said I’d pick you up at seven.’
‘Yes, but it’s only...’ I read the time on the clock, and blinked. It couldn’t be that late.
‘It’s seven,’ he said, smiling and looking totally gorgeous.
I grabbed my phone and checked the time on that. Yes, he was right. Had I fallen asleep? Had I got lost in dressing up?
‘I’ve decided not to go,’ I forced myself to say.
‘Nonsense,’ he said. ‘You’ll have a great time.’
Sabastien held his hand out to me. I took his hand and stepped out into the garden. The sky above me was covered in fast moving storm clouds. Darkness had descended so quickly, and the solar lanterns in the garden were flickering into life.
‘Let go of his hand and step back from him,’ a voice said from the shadows. It was Daire. He moved towards us.
‘You would do well to leave now,’ Sabastien warned him.
Daire didn’t falter. His eyes implored me to do as he said.
Sabastien whispered to me. ‘There’s going to be trouble.’ He let go of my hand and motioned towards the edge of the garden. ‘Stand back. I don’t want you to get hurt.’ He looked at me as if he meant it.
I felt the tension in the air.
And then the rage erupted.
The fight was fast and furious.
I should have run into the house, and called for help, but I felt spellbound to stand there and watch the spectacle. Rain lashed down, and lightning lit up the sky.
At first they seemed evenly matched, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Daire was fast, intense, strong and elegant, someone who was used to combat, while Sabastien looked almost cruel in his attacks and exhibited a certain relish when he struck a vital blow. Daire showed no pleasure from the fight but Sabastien sought to bathe in its glory.
Who did I want to win? The good guy of course. Whoever that was.
The storm increased, and lightning struck the winning blow, scattering both of them across the garden. Sabastien struggled to his feet and ran towards me.
‘Hurry up,’ he said, glancing back at Daire who lay unconscious on the ground. ‘You have to get away.’
He held out his hand to me. I hesitated.
‘Vesper, come with me now.’
Before I had a chance to think, he lifted me up and flew into the night sky.
‘Let go of me,’ I shouted, struggling against his overpowering strength. Sabastien was strong, inhumanly so. And the flying . . . the flying . . . took my breath away.
The rain poured down, and I blinked against it to see where he was taking me.
He flew at a terrific speed, through the dark shadows that led towards a medieval cathedral.
Sabastien had his arm around me, holding me tight while his wings that glittered like black starlight powered towards the cathedral. His wings looked ethereal, as if there by thought rather than substance. Gossamer edges were pointed with purple thorns.
I felt myself grow weak, and then I heard Daire shouting as he raced after us through the rain soaked street. He really could run like the wind.
‘Let her go,’ he shouted to Sabastien. ‘Your fight is with me, not her.’
I sensed Sabastien smile as he landed on the edge of the rooftop.
I looked at him, glad now that he had such a tight hold of me for I had no head for heights. In the distance I could see the traffic going by unaware of the drama unfolding high above them. I hoped that someone, anyone, would look up and see me.
On a rooftop, I thought I caught a glimpse of a cat watching us, the silhouette of Midnight, but I blinked and he was gone. I noticed someone, dressed in darkest blue, merging with the night sky. A shiver darted through me. That sense again of being hunted.
The rain was falling lighter now, like mist, and the force of the wind swirling up and around the rooftop whipped my wet hair in all directions.
Sabastien’s elegant fingers smoothed the wayward strands of hair from my face. ‘You look so beautiful,’ he said, almost in a whisper, as if suddenly seeing me for the first time. ‘Such pure green eyes.’
‘Let me go. You don’t have to do this. I won’t tell anyone. Who would ever believe me anyway? I wish you would just let me go.’
‘You should never have said that,’ Sabastien murmured. ‘In our world, you have to be careful what you wish for.’
He let go of me, and I fell from the top of the cathedral unable to grab hold of anything to save myself. The only thing I’d touched was the edge of Sabastien’s coat, sharp with thorns, and felt it cut my hand. The wound was burning hot.
I reached out to him, and for a flicker of a second I saw the regret in his eyes, but I was falling . . . falling from the top of the medieval cathedral and could not save myself.
I heard Daire’s voice, shouting in horror and then the force of him hit me seconds before I reached the ground. His grey wings were barely open, partly torn and ragged. I hoped they were enough to save me, to break my fall, but he didn’t make it in time. He held me in his arms, but his wings didn’t have the power to turn and soar away. The look he gave me I’ll remember forever. As if it was his fault.
Light blazed below us like a shooting star burning through the darkness.
Then we fell right through the ground.
I looked around. Gnarled trees whose roots were shrouded in blue and purple mist trailed off into the distance. Daire lay on the woodland ground beside me, wings folded down his back. He jumped to his feet and helped me up.
‘What…what happened?’ I stammered. Fallen leaves of bronze and burnished gold were scattered all around. The air smelled fresh and clear, of autumn, with the scent of winter drawing near. A sense of snow and winter’s bite.
‘Sabastien dropped you. You fell from the cathedral.’
‘But where are we? He was flying . . . you were flying.’
‘I warned you about Sabastien but you wouldn’t listen.’
‘What is it he wants?’ My voice was breaking.
‘He needs a mortal with faerie blood in her veins. A piece of fae land was stolen from us. We need it back.’
I hesitated. ‘Is this for real?’
Daire nodded.
‘But I don’t have any faerie blood in my veins.’
Daire looked down at the wound on my hand. ‘Oh I think you have, and it’s the blood of a Purple Thorn.’
I thought about the purple thorns on the edges of Sabastien’s coat.
‘Sabastien is a fae of the Purple Thorn. I am a Grey Dagger fae.’
The names sounded familiar. Then I remembered. ‘Orlaith spoke about moths. She mentioned Grey Daggers and Alchymists and Fairy moths.’
‘Orlaith understands about the fae. She believes in faeries. Unfortunately, her love of flowers led her to buy bluebells, part of a bluebell wood on the outskirts of the city. She shouldn’t have done that, but to be fair, she didn’t realise she was buying part of our heritage. And we want it back.’
‘Orlaith knows about you? She’s seen the faeries that I saw in the garden?’
Daire shook his head. ‘No, she believes in her own human way the myths surrounding faeries. The type she paints in her watercolours. Pretty faeries in mystical woods. They’re very nice, but they’re nothing like the real fae — fae like Sabastien and me.’
‘Does she know about the land?’
‘No, she planted the bluebells in her garden, but there is magic in those flowers, and they belong back where they were. No one had any right to take them. Orlaith didn’t know; she bought the bluebells from the seller, and they didn’t know the significance of the land either.’
‘Then why can’t you just take them back? She’d think someone had stolen them. Or if you’re fae, cast some sort of spell and make them disappear and put them back where they came from.’
‘It’s not that easy. When something is stolen from us, it has to be given back willingly, without magic, without pressure. Orlaith would have to gift the land, the bluebells, their roots, to us, and as she doesn’t know we exist, we had to find another way.’
‘Surely you could tell her what happened. Orlaith would give the flowers back. I’m sure she would.’
‘We agree, but we believe that Orlaith is the type of human who would not deal with us revealing ourselves to her quite the same as you have.’
I frowned.
‘Part of our existence relies on secrets and myths. People like Orlaith, who believe in the myths, help to keep our true existence safe. You didn’t believe in faeries. You liked the idea of them, but to meet them, to see them, to know that they are real, and not quite how you ever thought they’d be, it takes a certain type of character to deal with that. Orlaith would tell everyone; she’d paint us, write about us, and even if most people didn’t believe her, many would. Secrecy keeps us safe. We thought that you were the type who would keep our secrets.’
‘You talk as if you know about me.’ This worried me.
‘We do. We’ve been watching you, studying your behaviour, your attitude and loyalty to those close to you. You display great loyalty yet independence. Strength of character. And you sense the fae. For all that you disbelieve, you sense the changes in the air, the atmosphere. You love the feeling of a thunder storm. Your instincts tell you when something isn’t right.’
I nodded, taking in everything he said.
‘What are your senses telling you, Vesper?’
I hesitated.
‘Don’t hesitate. Just say what you think.’
‘I think I’m being hunted.’
The muscles in Daire’s face tightened. ‘Hunted?’
‘Yes. I don’t know why.’
He didn’t answer. He just stared at me as if my reply wasn’t what he imagined.
‘I’ve felt hunted since last night when I went to bed. And I feel it now.’
Daire kicked over the leaves, covering any trace of where we’d been.
‘Do you think it’s Sabastien? Is that what I’m sensing?’ And then I looked at Daire. ‘Or is it you?’
He reacted as if I’d slapped his face. ‘I’m not hunting you, Vesper. Sabastien isn’t hunting you, not as far as I know, but we do want your help in getting the land back.’
‘You said that Sabastien needs a mortal with faerie blood in her veins.’
‘Yes, so that the land would belong to the Purple Thorn fae, but hunting isn’t quite the right word for…’
‘Taking me here against my will? That’s what you’ve done.’
‘Sabastien and I have different ways of handling things. I want to be the one who gets the land back for the Grey Dagger fae. Sabastien wants it for the Purple Thorns.’
‘So you’re rivals?’
‘Of sorts.’
I heard a sound nearby.
‘We have to hurry,’ said Daire.
I felt unsteady.
‘Where are we exactly?’
‘In my world. The world of fae…and others.’
The wood merged in parts to look like a city, a version of Edinburgh. Far in the distance I could see streets, houses and spires against a thunderous sky, and snow.
‘Others?’ I said. ‘What others?’
Daire looked around at the trees nearby — rich chestnuts and hazel. White poplar and blackthorns faded off into the distant wintry snow that fell on the silhouette of a cityscape. A city of darkness and light. His eyes were wary, watchful.
He spoke the word in an urgent whisper. ‘Monsters.’
Noises sounded from the trees. And all I could think of was — monsters.
My instincts warned me I was in danger. Hunted.
My thoughts shot back to the fortune teller’s warning. Edinburgh was fraught with dangers for me. I should go home to London before it was too late. Though I wouldn’t go, and I hadn’t. Had it anything to do with two young men? No, but Daire and Sabastien were fae.
Daire grabbed hold of my hand. ‘Run, Vesper, run!’
I didn’t hesitate. I ran, keeping pace with the swift–footed Daire, faster and faster until…how could I run so fast…?
No time for questions never mind answers. Someone or something was chasing us, gaining on us by the sounds of it.
Daire glanced at me a few times, gauging my reaction to my quickened pace. He no doubt saw the look in my eyes, and the one thought in my mind that answered everything — I was a mortal with faerie blood in my veins.
We changed direction, running deeper into the forest, dodging branches and darting through the foliage, not hitting anything. It wasn’t possible, not in the real world, but this was the world of fae — and monsters.
We came to a gap in the trees. Purple mist obscured the view ahead. Daire didn’t pause, he ran on and I kept up, somehow knowing, sensing that once through the mist we’d be safe.
And we were.
I heard the monsters roar, raging at losing their prey. I heard them leave.
‘What type of monsters are they?’ I said, hardly out of breath from running. ‘And what have you done to me? Am I now fae, like you?’
‘No, but you have enough fae blood to enhance your abilities, physical and mental. You were already intuitive, Vesper.’
‘Will the effects wear off?’ I dared to ask.
‘Yes, they’ll fade in time, especially when you get back home.’
‘Can I go home now?’
‘You need to stay until…’
‘Sabastien, or you, have your land back.’
He was shaking his head. ‘Until whoever is hunting you is found. But we also need our land back.’
‘Why would someone of your kind be hunting me?’
‘I don’t think it’s one of us.’
‘What monster then?’
‘There are as many types of monsters as there are fae.’
‘Take me back to Edinburgh, Daire. I’ll find a way to get your land to you.’
An icy breeze whipped past us, and Sabastien stepped out from the mist. ‘You can’t go home yet, Vesper.’
I thrust my hand out to him, the purple scar visible. ‘You did this. Now take me back. I won’t do anything you tell me.’
Sabastien smiled. ‘You are indeed remarkable. Fighting even when you’re outnumbered in a world that’s not your own. I’m impressed. We were right. You are the one to right the wrong that was done to us.’
‘You selfish prats! Picking on a girl because you can’t get back what’s yours. Cowards, both of you.’
Sabastien was still smiling. Daire looked ashamed.
‘How did you like outrunning the monsters?’ Sabastien said, as if this achievement would somehow make me feel pleased with myself.
‘You’ve poisoned me with your purple thorns,’ I said, trying not to weep as I saw the taint of it on my hand.
‘Better that than being caught by those monsters. That wouldn’t have been pretty,’ said Sabastien. ‘The fae in you helped you outrun them.’
Could I outrun Sabastien and Daire I thought? Could I? Could I at least try?
‘You’re not as fast as us of course,’ said Sabastian, eyeing me suspiciously. ‘And you can’t get back to Edinburgh without us.’
‘Why not?’
‘Can you fly?’ There was a hint of amusement in Sabastien’s voice that made me angry. I wished I had the power to prove him wrong.
Daire was quiet. He wasn’t listening to what we said. His attention was focussed on the forest around us. The blue mist had faded to reveal trees of the deepest green, amber and bronze I’d ever seen. The only time I’d seen such depth of colour was in Orlaith’s paintings of faeries in enchanted woods. How right she was.
> ‘Did you use your magic on me?’ I demanded of Sabastien. ‘I heard you. You whispered in the air. I heard you say spellbound.’
‘Hmm. I did, didn’t I. Though Daire tried to spellbind you first when he offered you the white gold charm.’
I shot a look at Daire who wouldn’t meet my gaze. No denial. So that’s what he’d tried to do.
‘You didn’t touch the charm,’ said Sabastien, ‘but Daire was near enough to enchant you slightly, influencing your thoughts for the rest of that day. You thought about him, didn’t you?’
I nodded.
‘I simply added to the enchantment,’ said Sabastien. ‘I thought it would be easier for you to deal with the fact that we’re fae.’
‘And the corsage — was there something in the scent of those flowers?’ I still wore the flowers on my wrist though they had faded and looked like they’d died a long time ago.
Sabastien’s smile confirmed my suspicions. Then he touched the flowers, making them sparkle.
A sound, swift and fierce, resonated through the trees.
Sabastien became wary. His eyes scanned the perimeter.
‘What is it?’ I whispered. ‘Are the monsters back?’
Daire moved closer to me, guarding me with his body, wings extended like a shield.
I heard a sound, then something shot past me and daggered into a tree, missing me by a breath. A blue arrow, clear as aqua crystal. Daire grabbed hold of me, turning away from the direction of the attack, shielding me from harm. Though I doubted his wings would stop an arrow like this. It cut deep into the bark of the tree, glistening, sharp.
A figure darted through the trees. All shades of blue in clothing, hair and wings. His skin was pale, his hair blond with a turquoise tint. His trousers and top were unkempt, not ragged, but merged with the wood. He was as tall and strong as Daire and Sabastien, and held a huge weaponry bow. It glistened like sea water on a summer’s day, catching the light. Blue arrows were sheathed and strapped across his back.
‘Archer,’ Daire whispered to Sabastien.
I sensed their trepidation.
‘Get Vesper out of here,’ said Daire.
Sabastien nodded, and flew off with me, flying through the forest heading for the city and the snow.