Even though she knew without a doubt who he was and what he could do, she still stared at him, half in wonder half in disbelief. “I was unconscious all night?” she said, shaking herself out of it.
“No, most of that was sleep.”
“There’s no way I could’ve slept.”
“You snore…like a kitten of course.”
“What do you think is keeping those nasty pixies from coming after us?” she said, hurrying to change the subject.
He shrugged. “Can’t be sure. They must be bound to the oaks.”
“I’d love to get my hands on one of those little shi––”
“Looks like you’ll have that chance.” He reached out and plucked one of them from her curls. Pinching the pixie’s leafy wings between his fingers, he dangled its limp body between them. It was either still sleeping, or weak from being so far from the oak grove.
She took it from him, frowning at the creature. “Hey there, unlovely little bug-thingy,” she said, her voice momentarily singsong. “And I thought pixies were supposed to be cute and glowy––and nice.”
Opening its beady eyes, the pixie bared its fangs and shrieked.
Startled, she dropped it to the ground, lifting her foot to squash it under her boot.
“Whoa, hold on there,” Finn said, grabbing her arm and throwing her off balance.
“Are you serious? We were just on the menu for the all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet and your little friend here was at the front of the line.”
“That’s just its nature. It’s nothing personal.”
“It was to me,” she argued as he shivered and folded his arms. “If I look anything like you, I’m the poster kid for chicken pox.”
He turned and started walking.
Fate regarded his hunched shoulders and the drag in his step with concern. “Are you okay? You’re looking a bit slumpy.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“No, really. Did something happen you’re not telling me about?”
His jaw muscles contracted as he trudged through the thinning brambles. “It was those oaks and the things they were dreaming––it was bloody disturbing.” He gave her a dismissive wave. “I’ll be fine. Mae’s the one in trouble right now.”
She grabbed his hand to stop him and held up her notepad. “Let’s take the transporter back and make sure the Book of Fables is where we left it. Then we can think about how we’re going to help Mae. Okay?”
“Aye,” he said with a weary sigh, “sounds like a plan, Scottie. Beam me up.”
Sithias was coiled up in front of the book, reading its massive pages when they arrived.
The snake turned his head all the way around to look at them, a wide grin baring his fangs. “Ahh, you’re finally back. What wasss ssso dire that you were out all night long?” His scolding tone softened when he saw how scratched and beaten they looked. “Whatever did you two get into?”
Finn charged over to the snake. “Bloody hell! What happened to my wards?”
Sithias drew back with a pained expression. “I grew concerned, ssso I disssturbed the little pilesss you made. First I tried to sssee if you’d changed the fable, but there wasss no mention of you. Ssso far it’sss the sssame terrible end.” He started talking faster and with increasing excitement. “Then out of sheer boredom I read through the other fablesss––all but the lassst. I was getting ready to read it when you arrived. You should know there’s a common thread throughout each one. I sssuspect a sssinsister force working behind––”
“What if the dark faery had found the book?” Finn interrupted, his eyes red-rimmed and crazed as he glared at the snake. “But I suppose you were thinking you’d be off with the big book long before that happened.”
Sithias uncoiled with hat in tail, his head down. “It’sss true. I did read sssome of the wordsss aloud. Just to tessst it, mind you.” His worried glance bounced between them.
Forming a fist, Finn punched his other hand. “I knew it.”
“But I’m ssstill here,” Sithias reminded him. “It would ssseem only one of you two can transport usss from one fable to the next.”
Finn turned to Fate. “See? He can’t be trusted.”
Slithering closer, the snake stared at them with round watery eyes. “You can trussst me. I promissse. Even if I had been able to read my way out of here, I would’ve returned for you.”
“Aye, I believe that like I believe in old Saint Nick.”
Fate tried to ignore the snake’s big crocodile tears. “Finn, at least we know we don’t have to worry about him or anyone else taking off with the book. I say we give him one more shot.”
Finn looked ready to argue, but exhaustion had taken over. He slumped against a tree, his eyes shut. “Fine, I’m too wrecked to bother with him anyway.”
“Oh thank you, misss. You won’t regret it.”
“One chance,” she warned. “If you do anything, so much as sneeze wrong, I’ll use my magic notepad to write about you floating out in deep space.”
He nodded with a timorous flutter of his wings. “I underssstand, misss. You both have my undying allegiance.”
Finn slid to the ground. “I need an hour to catch a wink.”
She wrote up a large canvas tent with two soft beds inside, a bowl of hot water and some warm towels to clean his wounds. “Lie down,” she said, leaving Sithias outside. She guided him to a bed. He collapsed into it. “While you’re asleep, I’ll go over to Mae’s and warn her father about what’s coming.”
His brow furrowed with worry. “No, if the dark faery’s there, you’ll fall under his spell again. I need to be with you. It’s not safe. The last time you flew off without me, you nearly got yourself killed."
She dabbed at his pixie-bitten chin with a moist cloth. “True, but I managed to escape.”
He winced. “That stings.”
“Who’s the big baby now?”
A mischievous smile formed on his lips. “If I’m the baby, does that mean I get a kiss goodnight?” he murmured.
Fate’s heart raced at the mention of a kiss. He looked so weak and vulnerable, and absolutely irresistible. She smiled. Finn McKeen…in the flesh. Unbelievable.
She leaned close enough to feel the warmth of his breath against her mouth. Closing her eyes, she waited for his kiss, the kiss she’d imagined a million times but knew could never happen.
Seconds ticked by.
She opened her eyes. He was fast asleep. She pulled away, feeling silly and more disappointed than she had a right to.
“Ladies and gentleman, I give you another cringeworthy moment in the life and times of Fate Floyd,” she muttered. Rising to her feet, she stared at his angelic face, then leaned down. “Sweet dreams, Finn McKeen,” she whispered in his ear. She hovered there, itching to nibble his earlobe.
His mouth curled into a faint smile as he turned over, hugging his pillow.
She drew back. If she stayed any longer, she could really misbehave. Using every ounce of willpower, she forced herself to step away and promptly marched herself out of the tent.
Chapter 10
SITHIAS WAS WAITING outside the tent. “I have an idea, misss. Sssince you’ve been told to ssstay put, I thought I might help you write a happy end to thisss fable. Being a ssstudent of the heart, I fancy myself a bit of a writer. I’ve dabbled in a little poetry, but mossstly playsss––”
“First off,” she interrupted, “Finn’s not the boss of me.” Pulling the tent flap back, she stuck her head back inside to see if he was still sleeping. He was out cold, but a fretful almost feverish expression had replaced the peaceful look he’d had only a moment ago. “I guess I should stick around. I’m a bit worried about him.” She regarded the snake with curiosity. “Okay, we’ll give it a go. But first, I have some pixie crust to wash off.”
She could’ve cleaned up in an instant, but decided to soak in a hot bath so she could unwind. Afterwards, she treated her scratches, bites and bruises, combed out her washed hair and dressed in fresh clothe
s. Then she wrote up a cup of hot chocolate, a pen, sheets of paper and a comfy winged back chair. Sithias settled onto the silk pillow she provided.
Once she was sitting comfortably, she held her pen poised to write. “Okay, where should we start? I vote for bringing in a prince to slay the dark faery and marry Mae.”
Sithias tilted his head and tapped his chin with the tip of his tail. “Hmmm, I’m not ssso sssure that alignsss with the ssstory’s purpossse.”
She raised a brow in surprise. “Oh really? And what do you think is the purpose?”
“Well, if I were to hazard a guesss, it isss to unite thessse two unlikely characters and experience the joy of the dark faery’s transformation made posssible by the love of sweet Mae.”
Fate choked on her drink, quickly rearranging her expression from shocked to unimpressed. “That’s all well and good if you’re writing for writing’s sake. But just so you know, that dark faery is a mean piece of work. I don’t think there’s enough sweetness in any one person to transform that monster into anything trustworthy.”
“Exactly what happened out there?”
“The dark faery had his evil oak trees hold us prisoner while a swarm of pixies snacked and napped on us.” A shudder ran through her as she put a hand to her sore ribs. “If Finn hadn’t dreamed with those trees and tricked them into letting us go, we’d be a pile of bones like that poor family we found.”
Sithias looked horrified. “Oh, how terribly atrociousss. No wonder you look like a beekeeper after a bad day at work. Well, the dark faery sssimply mussst die. Now then, let’sss discusss how we’ll bring hisss villainy to a wonderfully disssastrous end.”
They worked for several hours, laughing at the silly story lines they were inventing before settling on the one they felt most confident about.
Fate stared at what they’d written. “It sure feels good being the one who’s making things happen for once.”
“Yesss indeed.”
She took a deep breath. “Okay, I’m ready if you are.”
Sithias dipped his sinuous neck in a royal bow. “Begin your recitation of our eloquent prose. I assure you, the applaussse will be deafening.”
Fate cleared her throat and began, “Before the dark faery could reach Mae and present himself in human form, Fate intervened by calling on the God of the Woods, that wise and gentle spirit who is the sap within the roots and whose ancient face peers through every branch and leaf in the world. The Green Man rose from his bed of earth to restore the cursed oak grove to natural order and bless Mae with a bountiful harvest every season for as long as she lived.”
She looked up from the passage. “Well, it sounds like a happy ending to me––no more evil faery and free groceries for life. But how will we know when it’s done? There’s no way I’m going back to that grove to see if it worked.”
“Maybe our happy ending hasss been freshly inked onto the pagesss of the Book of Fablesss?” Sithias asked.
Fate jumped up from the chair. “Brilliant, my dear Sithias. Let’s have a look, shall we?”
A deep rumbling suddenly ripped through the earth.
She stumbled as roots tore from the ground like buried rope. Sithias whipped his tail round her waist before she fell.
The surrounding forest seemed to buckle and bend inward, with a horrible cracking and toppling of timber. Then the earth swelled several yards ahead of them, heaving into a mound of tangled bush and roots. A gnarled knot pushed its way through the thick greenery, forming a fierce, disturbing face and green eyes glittering with eerie luminescence.
Fate and Sithias froze in place as two massive hands of twisted roots broke through the ground, lifting a giant head and torso out of the ruptured earth. The smell of soil saturated the air as the giant rose ever upward––towering over them a good hundred feet––showering dirt and leaves on them.
And worms.
Fate muffled a frantic scream behind her hand. Sithias tightened his grip on her, his head snaking close as he hissed under his breath, “Be ssstill, misss. We don’t want to draw undue attention. You can ssscream all you like once he leavesss to go after the dark faery.”
She tried to stuff down the horror building inside her. Shaking, she held still, her eyes squeezed shut. Then something slipped from her hair and landed on her chest, cold, wet and squirming. Shrieking, she tore away from Sithias, slapping at herself to get the worm off her skin. It went flying, landing a few feet from her.
Relieved to be free of it, Fate looked up, only to see a mammoth hand filling her field of vision.
•
Finn woke with a start, soaked in sweat as Fate’s blood-curdling scream ripped through the dark fabric of his nightmares. Feeling her terror like it was his own, he leaped out of bed and raced from the tent, heart pounding in his throat. He skidded to a halt when he saw a giant made of earth and vegetation take one enormous step and disappear from sight with Fate clenched in its gnarled hand.
He kneeled, gripping the loose soil strewn around the encampment. Every muscle within him pulled tight with fear as he pushed his senses into the earth. Within seconds he touched the giant. The sheer enormity of its presence and the vast, ancient wisdom dwelling within the entirety of its being was so overpowering he had to break the connection. It was an elemental, one of the Olde One’s his grandfather had told him about. At least he knew the Dark Speech, the secret language of Druids that spoke to nature’s elements.
Finn looked up in grim surprise as Sithias emerged from his hiding place. “She summoned the Green Man?”
Still mute with shock, Sithias nodded.
“Why?”
“To dessstroy the dark faery and ressstore balance to the foressst.”
Finn shook his head. “No, the Green Man sees Fate as the imbalance to the natural order of the forest.”
“But how can that be?”
“Because there is no imbalance here. The dark faery is here to protect a gateway between worlds. Any trespassers disturbing this place must suffer the consequences.”
Sithias’s eyes widened. “You know all thisss from feeling the dirt?”
“That, and my lingering connection to the oak grove,” Finn said, curling his hands into fists as the monstrous visions he’d woken from came rushing back. He couldn’t bear the thought of Fate becoming a part of those nightmares. “I have to get to her now.”
“I can take you,” Sithias offered. “Of courssse, it will involve sssome touching.”
Finn glared at the snake’s ivory scales and the strong ripple of muscle moving underneath. His skin crawled with disgust. “If that’s what it takes,” he grumbled. Shutting his eyes, he tensed against the snake winding around his waist. As Sithias lifted off the ground, he squeezed hard, the upward motion so swift it knocked the air out of his lungs.
He watched the ground shrink beneath him. As they crested the forest canopy, he saw the Green Man towering over the barren oak grove, looking down at Callum.
“Set me down there.”
“But sir, you’ll be sssorely outnumbered.”
“Just do it.”
Sithias swooped down and dropped him.
He landed near Callum, startling him. “I don’t know how you two escaped, but I’m pleased you’ve returned so we may finish what we began.”
Finn crouched in place. “I’ve come to help you win Mae’s heart in exchange for the life of my fair lass.” He chanced a quick glance upward, his gut wrenching when he saw the wild look of desperation on Fate’s face.
Callum laughed, as did his pixies and the sinister oak trees. “What a fool. Why would I need your help? I’ve already sent Mae’s dowry. Her father has given me her hand, and she has agreed to marry me this very evening.”
Finn gave him a cold, knowing smile, a look that disrupted Callum’s confident grin. “That may be, but someone there will see through your false veil and know you for the hideous monster you really are.”
Callum’s grin turned wooden.
“Your life i
s in danger,” Finn continued, “as is Mae’s.”
Fury flashed over the dark faery’s face. “Who would dare harm Mae?”
“No one but you,” Finn said coolly.
Callum lashed out with his cane, rage twisting his face.
Ducking out of the way, Finn sprang to his feet.
“Take him,” Callum roared, his voice an unearthly growl.
Before Finn could move, a branch snaked out and grabbed him.
He heard Fate’s cry from above, but kept his gaze fixed on Callum and delivered his message. “Don’t let Mae swear any promises to you––or you to her…besides that of marriage.”
Callum’s murderous expression paled, betraying recognition and fear. “What promises?”
The tree tightened its hold, crushing his chest. He could barely get enough air to speak. “That her heart…will beat only… for you as long as you…never kill another living thing.”
The dark faery marched up to him. “And what do you think would happen if such promises were exchanged?”
“You’ll both die.”
Callum’s lips twitched. “Those vows were spoken last night. How can you possibly know what we whispered to each other? Are you a sorcerer?”
Finn tipped his head back, looking up at Fate where she struggled within the Green Man’s immovable grasp. “If you…let us both go,” he gasped, his head falling limp, “I’ll hand over…what you and Mae need…to live a long and happy life…together.”
Callum hesitated.
Finn could see him wrestling with his thoughts. After his hellish connection with the trees, he knew too well what carnage the dark faery was capable of. He wasn’t one to capitulate to demands of any kind.
The moment stretched into torturous doubt.
At last, Callum signaled the oak and the Green Man. “Release them.”
The tree let go. Finn dropped to the ground, his already bruised ribs in excruciating pain as he sucked in lungfuls of air. He glanced up, expecting to see Fate being set down, but the Green Man hadn’t budged. “You get nothing until Fate’s released,” he said, rising to his feet.
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