Fae Magic trilogy : (Alexandra Everest series)

by Jen Pretty

  The next morning was a repeat of the last. I dragged myself out; some hunter cleaned up after me and set my bag beside me after I insisted I could carry it.

  It was only about ten minutes into our walk when we came to the rock we had to repel down. It was a tall, sheer drop and a memory of smashing my face on a rock while climbing sprung into my mind. Roman almost did a happy dance when I told him that. Then he scooped me up in his arms and jumped off the fucking cliff.

  I screamed so loud it hurt my ears as we fell towards the ground at speed faster than I had ever gone. My stomach jumped up into my throat and I clung to him for my life, sure we were going to die. When he landed at the bottom, much more gently than I had expected, with no broken bones or smashed skulls, he set my feet on the ground and before he could even blink I spun and punched him right in the throat.

  I watched while he coughed and sputtered trying to breathe through his collapsed airway. He deserved it. You don’t just grab someone and jump off a cliff with them. He was trying to say “I’m sorry” but it came out like “hi hoary” from his ruined vocal cords. I hope he remembered that.

  I stomped away from the bottom of the cliff and sat to wait for the hunters. They were quick at repelling and it was evident by their well-defined muscles and fit physiques that they trained hard. Even the few women hunters were buff and lean and giant.

  Of course, they all came down the normal way. Instead of being flung off the cliff, it looked much safer, but the flash of a memory of bouncing my face off the rock suggested, maybe, the way we'd come down was the safer route. I doubted my hand would have been able to hold on tight enough to the ropes. Still, a warning would have helped. Daisy just fluttered down and landed beside me. Much more controlled than my descent.

  Stupid Roman was still smiling. I hoped, for his sake, that his magic made him invincible because if he did that again, I would kill him.

  We finally made it to a small gravel road. The SUV’s parked there were all black and exactly the same. There were eight of them. I was escorted to one around the middle of the group and ushered into the back seat. Luke hopped in beside me on one side, Puck on the other, Armond behind the wheel and Roman in the passenger seat. Daisy had been in my arms for a while, so continued his nap on my lap.

  I kept wishing for a memory with Puck or Armond or Roman. The memory of Luke felt so good and real and nearly brought tears to my eyes every time I replayed it in my mind. I would look at him and smile. I remembered the way he clung to the branch and whispered at me to help him down before Evan saw him.

  I napped in the vehicle as we drove and, before I knew it, Luke was nudging me awake. We pulled up to a castle that the guys said was the fae elders’ home and everyone started getting out.

  A group of people were already gathered out front to welcome us. There must have been hundreds of fae. Impeccably dressed, they bowed as I passed them.

  I felt like a fraud. I wasn’t some queen, I had no memory of anything or anywhere and I started to panic. The crowd just kept growing. The people stared at me with adoration, like I was something I wasn’t. I didn’t want to be there anymore. I started looking around for a way to escape. My hands were sweaty, and my feet were itching to run. My heartbeat was pounding in my ears, and the edges of my vision started to turn grey, and I dropped my head into my hands to try and make it all go away.

  Then there was absolute silence. When I looked up, everyone was frozen. I had used my magic without thinking. I glanced around, still needing to get out of there.

  “Take a breath, Lex,” Roman said beside me. He was moving slowly, but not frozen like everyone else.

  “Why don’t you stop completely?” I asked, still breathing heavy and glancing around for an escape route. They surrounded me.

  “I’m pretty powerful,” he replied. I focused on his face to try and tell if he was joking or something, but he looked serious. “Slow your breathing.”

  “A powerful fae? Or something different? You look like a demon,” I said, trying to do as he said. I slowed down my breathing.

  “Now isn’t the best time to talk about me. Let’s talk about what’s happening right now. Why are you freaking out?”

  “Shouldn’t I be releasing all these people? It can’t be healthy to keep them all stuck like this.”

  “Don’t worry about them.”

  I looked behind me. The hunters had gotten out of their vehicles but stayed back.

  “The hunters seem to be immune to my magic, are you a hunter too? I asked.

  “No, Lex.” He sighed and rubbed his face before training his eyes on me again. “I’m exactly what you think I am.”

  I stood stunned for a second. He couldn’t be what I thought he was because every time I saw his pointed teeth flash I thought he was a vampire. My face must have given me away because he nodded encouragingly. I took a step back, and he shattered. His shoulders slumped, and his face fell, and the air whooshed out of his lungs like I had just kicked him in the stomach. It was like that small step had broken the monster.

  “Please, Lex,” he begged unhappily.

  I thought I should be panicking, but the feeling never came. I wasn’t sure why I trusted him, maybe it was because he acted so human, or perhaps it was because Luke trusted him, and I knew Luke. I remembered him.

  I took a deep breath and the half step back towards him. “Ok, um, I don’t know how to do this. I mean, I don’t remember, but I’m going to believe that I knew you and that you aren’t evil. I need to remember, Roman.”

  “I promise you can count on me, Lex. I’m on your side, and I’ll do whatever it takes to help you. We already had this conversation, and I hope someday soon you will remember it, but I would never hurt you. It’s not possible. I’ll prove it to you again.”

  I had already felt like Roman and I had been more than friends, but when he spoke like that, I felt it in my bones. Vampire or not, he was a big part of my life, the life I couldn’t remember.

  “Ok,” I said a bit dumbfounded.

  A group of four very finely dressed fae came out the door of the mansion. They had an air about them of wisdom and eternity. They moved like a gentle breeze, and I figured they must be the elders we had come to see.

  “Good afternoon, Queen. We welcome you back to our home,” a man dressed all in blue said from the steps of the building. He held his hand out towards the open door like I should walk through it.

  Roman leaned into me and whispered, “The elders know that you don’t remember them, so feel free to ask questions. The rest of these people have come to see the Fae Queen, and they need to see you, Lex. Let’s go inside, ok?”

  I let go of the little coil inside me that was tugging the people to a stop, and they all began clapping and welcoming me again in an overload of sound and movement.

  I hustled up the steps, Roman and the hunters trailing behind me. Daisy flew over all the people and landed in front of me, waddling through the doors first like a bodyguard. I smiled at his silly little duck butt, wagging back and forth with each step.

  We were ushered into a large room, set up like a banquet hall. There was space for several hundred people to sit at long tables. One table was on a raised platform and in the center was an enormous, ornate throne. As we followed the elders through the room, I realized we were heading for that table and things started to click into place. I was not sitting on that throne. My panic escalated again. This was all too much. Luckily, Daisy took flight and plopped himself down on the cushioned seat. He peeked up over the table and quacked loudly, breaking all the panic that was rising inside me, his antics making me laugh instead.

  I felt a kinship with my duck. He didn’t want to be a dragon, and I sure as hell didn’t want to be a queen. Sometimes fate had a hand in things. If the story of our meeting was true, maybe Daisy was sent to help me through this. His funny little beak opened and closed as he did a very vocal, duck impersonation of a king commanding his people.

  When we all arrived on the platform an
d began taking seats, I sat beside Daisy on the big stupid chair as I knew was expected of me. Daisy made it seem less intimidating, and if all these people expected me to be their queen, then I could pretend to be a queen for a little while.

  The food was amazing, and Roman asked them to bring me coffee. This was much better coffee than the coffee in the other world. This was the black elixir of the gods. Thank god for coffee and Roman.

  I tried to keep Daisy off the table, but he bit me when I tried to keep him down, and no one seemed to mind his antics as he marched around, swiping baked goods, so eventually, I stopped worrying about him and focused on my plate of food.

  When we finished dinner, the servers cleared the plates and served drinks. The alcohol burned down my throat, but soon I was feeling less anxious. Roman suggested I stick to one glass, but when I finished my second drink, I was feeling better about everything. Including the vampire.

  He was handsome and caring. I may not remember him, but when I reached under the table and took his hand in mine, it felt right. He smiled at me and squeezed my hand.

  The hundreds of people who had dined with us made a procession past our table wishing me well and thanking me. I wasn’t sure what for, but I accepted their praise awkwardly. When they had all come past the head table, I rose and waved them all a goodnight before following unsteadily behind Roman out of the room and up a set of stairs. A maid opened the door to a suite of rooms with a terrific view. I wanted to go out and admire the countryside, but the bed looked glorious and soft.

  I flopped down on it and was nearly asleep when the idea of a hot shower flooded my mind. My eyes sprung open, and I zipped into the sizeable luxurious bathroom attached to the bedroom. The hot water was perfect, and I stayed under it until there was a knock on the door.

  “You ok in there, Lex? You’ve been in there a long time.”

  “Yes, I’m fine. Hot water is just the best thing, ever,” I said as I turned the water off and wrapped myself in a thick robe. I had found some small sticks in my hair from my time running through the forest. I had thought they were all out after my swim in the lake.

  I opened the door, and Roman was sitting on the end of my bed, waiting for me. I felt nervous, and butterflies circled my insides, sloshing around with the alcohol I had consumed to make an interesting happy, slightly queasy feeling.

  He stood up and walked over to me. “I won’t give up on you, Lex. I promise.” His hand cupped the side of my face for a moment, and then he walked out and shut the door behind him. I sighed. A moment later a harsh quack proceeded my door being opened again, just wide enough for Daisy to squish through, and then the door shut again.

  Daisy and I curled up on the bed. Between the long days of running and walking through forests and the alcohol, I was asleep before I knew it.

  I was standing in a forest, again, but this one seemed different. A man was walking towards me, and I recognized him as one of the elders from the table at dinner. They had each introduced themselves to me quietly before our food had come around and this one was Theo, the dream walker like Luke.

  “Hello, young Queen,” he said with an easy smile.

  “Uhm, hi, am I dreaming?” I asked, moving into the clearing towards him.

  “Yes, this is dream walking. I wanted to speak to you in private. I understand that you are missing most of your memories.

  “Yeah, except I remember Luke. He was stuck in a tree.”

  Theo smiled kindly at that. “I’m glad you are starting to remember. I have set up our private jet to take you and your warriors and hunters back to your home. It isn’t far from where you may cross into fae homeland. I hope it will jog some memories. Our people have been without a queen or king for so long. You have brought us so much hope. Sleep tight, young queen.”

  My eyes opened slowly. The duck using my face as a pillow startled me, and I shimmied out from under him. Daisy just curled up and went back to sleep.

  In the main room of the suite, people were busy moving luggage back out the door. I wasn’t sure what time it was, but Luke was sitting at a small table with a covered dish and a pot of coffee. When he saw me, he filled a cup and motioned for me to sit down before uncovering a tray of light breakfast foods; fruit, muffins and danishes.

  “Hey, cousin.” I smiled.

  “Good morning, Lex, you ready to go home?”

  “Yes, I don’t remember my home though.”

  “You live in a condo. It won’t look the same though because you had it renovated.”

  I sipped my coffee. I didn’t remember having renovations done, but I remembered my friend V. That opened a whole part of my life. I set my mug on the table, my hands shaking so hard I was afraid I would drop it. I remembered my parent’s death and my condo and V, my friend. I hadn’t seen her yet. I remembered the nightmares I used to have. My memory cut off somewhere after V picked me up from the hospital, but I knew who I was and where I came from.

  “Oh, man. I remember my life in the city, my condo and my friend Vanessa.” I said. “I would like to stop in and see V if we are going there.”

  Luke’s usually easy-going expression fell into a frown, and he bit his lip.

  “What is it?” I asked, already dreading his reply.

  “She passed away, Lex.” Luke kept his eyes down on his hands as he fidgeted. His words stole the air from my lungs. Her face flashed through my mind. Except her eyes were bright red and her jagged teeth were aiming for my throat. I stood up so fast I knocked the chair over behind me and froze Luke and the house staff who were moving out our things.

  I let go of magic and righted my chair. Everyone in the room was staring at me. I glanced at Roman who had clearly been eavesdropping on our conversation. He looked worried but stayed where he was.

  “I remember,” I whispered. “She became a vampire.”

  Luke just nodded.

  “She tried to kill me.”

  “She didn’t know what she was doing. An evil vampire was leading her.”

  I glanced back at Roman, but Luke put his hand on my arm, bringing my attention back to him.

  “You killed that bad vampire, Lex. The new vampire in charge has changed everything.” He noticed when I glanced back at Roman and said, “He’s not bad, Lex. You loved him.”

  “I loved him?”

  “Oh, honey, you were over the moon about that vamp, and he is killing himself by holding back from you.”

  “Why didn’t anyone tell me that?” I asked, while peeking at the vampire who was now anxiously running his hands through his hair.

  “This has been overwhelming for everyone. Let’s get going, we can talk on the plane.”

  “Ok.” I got up and went into my bathroom, hopping into the shower and washing my hair as fast as I could so I didn’t hold everyone up. Then I got dressed and walked back out to find everyone watching TV. It was in Italian, but Puck of all people was translating for them. I cleared my throat, and they all jumped up and started for the door.

  Time to go home.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The plane ride was excruciatingly long. Puck freaked out the whole time, pacing up and down the aisle. Unsurprisingly, Daisy was ok with flying. Roman said the trip was longer the first time when we flew commercial, but I couldn’t imagine a longer flight. The hunters watched a few action movies while Luke and I played some card games. Roman came and joined us for a little while, but about five hours in, I curled up awkwardly in my seat with the tiny pillow and nodded off.

  I woke up screaming in a cold sweat. My heart was racing, and I tried to bolt out of my seat, but the seat belt stopped me. My panic set off every person on the plane. Someone yelled, and suddenly there was a unicorn standing over me. Thankfully, Daisy kept it together. A dragon would probably do some damage to an airplane.

  I dreamt of V attacking me. Her eyes were red, and she had sharp teeth. The look of pure hatred on her face was terrifying. In my dream, I watched my sword come up, killing her. I wished I could scrub my brain with ble
ach. I remembered my old nightmares of my family’s murder, but this new one seemed a lot crueler. I hoped to hell my dream wasn’t a memory, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask anyone in case I didn’t like the answer.

  Puck shifted back and scowled at me like I had some control of the nightmares. Luke could control them, but I looked around, and he was nowhere in sight. A glint out the window caught my eye and I saw we had already landed at the airport.

  The skyline beyond the airport was home. I would know it anywhere. I unbuckled myself from the seat and walked down the aisle to the door. I took a deep breath and it even smelled like home. That wasn’t saying much about the air quality but being somewhere I knew for the first time drained all the tension out of my muscles.

  Armond led the way through the airport and out onto the street where a bunch of SUVs were waiting to take most of us to my condo. Armond would take half his hunters to the hunter mansion, and the rest of us would follow along behind, after seeing my place.

  The city thrummed in a way that was alive and unique to this place and I was perfectly in tune with it. We coasted down the busy streets and pulled up to my condo.

  The doorman, Clive, held the door for us. His familiar face was welcoming and bright.

  “How are you, Clive?”

  He bowed his head as I approached, and panic struck me. Had he been Fae all along?

  “Thank you for asking, Your Highness. I am very well.”

  I looked back at Luke who shrugged and encouraged me forward through the door. Once we were in the elevator, everyone started talking at once discussing who Clive could be, but Puck was the loudest.

  “He is an elf!” he shouted, and everyone stopped talking.

  “Why would he bow to me? I’m the fae queen, right?”

  Puck snorted, “You are the elf queen, the fae can call you what they want, but you were our queen first.”