Fairytale (Fairies of Rush)

by Maggie Shayne

  But this was her sister. Her twin. Her Brigit, whom she’d locked away in a room in the back of her mind; a room reserved for things she couldn’t have. Things she’d someday have. Her dreams of Rush. Of the man she’d choose to rule beside her. And of her beautiful dark-haired, ebony-eyed twin sister.

  Now Brigit was here, within reach. And Bridin was afraid she’d forgot how to behave with someone she loved. Maybe, she’d forgot how to love at all.

  She squeezed her eyes shut tight, and her throat closed off. No tears came, though. No tears for Bridin. She often thought she had none.

  She’d think of more practical matters now. Like how to get upstairs to the Intensive Care Unit, where Brigit was waiting. She’d been without drugs for hours and hours now, and she felt stronger. Clearer. A little magic, then, to help her on her way.

  She’d be checked on by nurses at every shift change, she knew. It had just been done. She had time. The guards had been ousted, and her own nurse, Kate, was in the waiting room, sipping coffee. She focused, closing her eyes, willing those who met her to pay no attention, to ignore her as if she were not even there. Invisibility was not a physical state, but a mental one. One she hoped she’d achieved as she opened her door and stepped into the hall, toward the elevators.

  * * *

  “All right,” Mac said, and he gave Brigit’s hand a squeeze. “All right, I’ll go for now. But only to the nearest motel. I’ll call in, leave my number at the nurses’ station.”

  Brigit nodded. “And I’ll call you if there’s any change,” she promised.

  “Or if you need me. For anything. And I mean it, Brigit,” he said, stepping into the elevator, turning to face her. “I love that oaf in there like a brother. And he loves...” He stopped speaking all of a sudden, frowning as his gaze shifted to something behind her. His eyes changed, altered, took on an entranced quality.

  Brigit turned to see what had captured his attention so thoroughly. A woman stood there in the all but deserted hallway, looking around uneasily.

  The elevator doors slid closed. The line of his vision was broken. Mac was gone. And the woman’s eyes found Brigit, and then she blinked as if in surprise or shock or something.

  She was beautiful. Her golden blond hair framed her delicate face and spilled down over her shoulders, all the way to her waist. She was slight, short, and fragile-looking, like Brigit, but with an inner strength that showed in her topaz-blue eyes.

  She took a step closer, lifting a hand as if reaching out. “Brigit?”

  Brigit blinked hard and rapidly. It couldn’t be. It couldn’t possibly be...but something inside her was saying that it was. “Bridin?”

  “Is it really you, Brigit?”

  Brigit stepped toward her, shaking her head in wonder. “My sister,” she whispered in blatant disbelief. And then she saw the pendant around the woman’s neck. The pewter fairy, twined around a quartz point. “Bridin...” Brigit’s voice gave out. But she moved faster, and her sister did likewise, until they were clinging to one another in the center of the waiting room.

  Brigit’s arms held tightly to her sister’s body, and she felt her frailty. The petite build, the apparent fragility, but she felt the strength underlying all of that, too. She held her hard, trembling all over, and when she finally backed away, her tears made it hard for her to see clearly.

  “I can’t believe this,” she said, sniffing, and brushing at her cheeks. “Bridin, what...” Her words died, as she remembered what Adam had learned about her sister. And she looked again at what she was wearing. “Are you a patient here? Are you sick?”

  Her almost-smile was so perfectly sane. So knowing. Her eyes were filled with emotion, but remained dry. “I only pretended to be sick, so they’d bring me here. I knew you were coming, Brigit. I had to see you.”

  A little chill ran up Brigit’s spine, and she licked her lips. “How could you know I was coming here tonight?”

  But Bridin was scanning the waiting room. “Where’s Raze? I thought he’d be with you.”

  “Raze?” How could she know Raze?

  The blue eyes widened. “He’s not sick, is he? Gods, I never thought of that! Is he all right?” She swung her head, looking around frantically.

  “He’s fine,” Brigit said, touching her shoulders to calm her. “Raze is fine. He’s just sleeping off a tranquilizer.”

  “Then why are you here?” Bridin asked, her body relaxing, her face returning to its placid, calm mask as she faced Brigit once again. “This is the Intensive Care Unit, Brigit. What’s going on?”

  “It’s...” But before she could answer, Bridin’s hand was touching her face. Her chilly palm cupped Brigit’s cheek, rested there, still, steady. As if she were feeling something there.

  Eyes closed, Bridin said, “Oh, Brigit...you could have been killed. It was so dangerous, to go there. And the man...the man...who tried to destroy you when he realized you’d seen my painting...didn’t you recognize him? He’s the Dark Prince. His family murdered ours, Brigit. They were the reason we had to flee Rush. And he’s kept me his prisoner all my life. He’ll do anything to stop me from going back.”

  Her arms closed again around Brigit, and she held on with surprising strength. “He wanted the painting because he knew it was my message to you.”

  “The painting?” Brigit felt her blood run cold.

  “Yes. I painted it for you, Brigit. I gave it to my nurse, as a gift, but I knew she wouldn’t keep it. I knew it would make its way to you, somehow, and bring you here to me. And it did. But I’m sorry it nearly got you killed.” Her sigh was deep and ragged. “Thank goodness your Adam was there,” she said softly, and still there was surprisingly little emotion in her voice.

  Brigit shook her head, trying to digest what all of this meant. And eventually, Bridin’s grip eased, and she backed away. “You think it’s true, that I’m insane, don’t you, Brigit?”

  Brigit shook her head. “No. It’s obvious you’re not. You know about Adam. . and about that...that dark being...” She lifted her head, her eyes wide with wonder. “He’s dead, I think. He tried to kill me, and Adam jumped in the way and—”

  “Yes, I know. Adam was wearing your pendant. And the Dark Prince’s blast was reflected right back onto him. But he isn’t dead. I’d sense it if he were. That blast wasn’t a killing one. Seems our enemy balks at the murder of beautiful fay princesses. Lucky for him he intended to show mercy, not to obliterate you, or it would have certainly destroyed him. As it is, I believe he’s gone back to Rush. The blast put him in nearly as bad a shape as it did Adam. I sense...” Her brows knit together. “I sense he’s weak, and in pain. But not dead. Not that one.”

  Brigit blinked, slowly letting her mind absorb the truth, reeling, because she could no longer deny or doubt it.

  “It’s all so simple,” Bridin told her. “Brigit, the fairytale is real. You don’t know about Rush because you don’t need to. I remember everything because I must. I have to fight Darque for the throne, and I have to restore our kingdom. Brigit, it’s time for me to go back there.”

  Brigit lifted a hand to stroke her sister’s hair. “I’ve only just found you again, Bridin. I don’t want you to leave me now. Not yet.”

  Bridin smiled gently. “I won’t leave you. I can’t. The only way either of us can pass through the doorway to the other side, is if we enter it together. Unless you come with me, Brigit, our kingdom is lost.”

  Brigit backed away, shaking her head. “But...I can’t. I can’t go back with you, Bridin. I’m sorry, but—”

  Bridin’s head jerked up, and for the first time, real emotion became apparent in her expression. Anger colored her eyes a shade darker, and her lips thinned, jaw clenched. “You have no choice in the matter. It’s our destiny to return to Rush! We must go back. Our people are depending on us.”

  “Your people, you mean. God, Bridin, I don’t even remember this place. There has to be a way you can go back without me.”

  “There isn’t.” Bridin i
nhaled nasally, so deep her chest expanded. Her chin came up. “So I have to find a way to convince you. My own sister.”

  “You don’t have to convince me of anything, Bri—”

  “This man. The one who saved you. He’s in there?” She jerked her head toward Adam’s room.

  Brigit nodded.

  “And you fear he’s dying?”

  “No...” Brigit sighed, lowering her chin to her chest. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

  “Come on, then.”

  Bridin struck out across the waiting room, her steps fast and purposeful. Brigit ran after her when she realized her intent, but before she caught up, Bridin had burst into Adam’s room, and was at his bedside. She leaned over him, touching his face, just the way she’d touched Brigit’s earlier.

  Bridin pressed her palms to either side of Adam’s face, as Brigit rushed over to her side, scared half to death. Then Bridin went utterly still and her mouth fell open.

  “What is it,” Brigit asked, searching her sister’s face.

  “It’s him,” Bridin whispered. “He’s the one I’m supposed to find.”

  “What?”

  “He knows the way,” she said softly. “This man knows the way back to Rush. He’s been there, Brigit. I saw him in a dream. He’s the one who’s going to show us the doorway back home.”

  “Bridin, you don’t understand. He’s the reason I can’t go back with you. I love this man.”

  “We can’t let him die.”

  “No, we can’t let him die,” Brigit said softly. Then she narrowed her eyes and looked up at her sister.

  “I thought you said it wasn’t a killing blast?”

  “For a fairy, it wouldn’t have been. For a mortal...” She shook her head sadly.

  “Is there a way we can...help him?”

  Bridin stared into Brigit’s eyes. “I can help him. But if I do, you have to promise to come back with me. I want your word. Give it to me, and I’ll save your Adam’s life.”

  Brigit’s heart twisted into a hard little knot. But she looked down at Adam, so still in that bed, and she knew she had no choice. She couldn’t let him die. Brushing a tear from her cheek, she nodded. “Yes. I promise. If you help him, I’ll go with you.”

  Bridin seemed to sag a bit in relief. Then she bent over Adam, laying her palms on his temples, closing her eyes. Seconds ticked by, and Brigit waited, watching, praying.

  And right before her eyes, the crystal point dangling from Bridin’s neck, hovering just above Adam’s face, began to glow very softly. A gentle white gleam suffused the quartz. And it beamed downward, touching Adam’s face, bathing it.

  Brigit blinked and rubbed her eyes, but the apparition didn’t go away. Not until Bridin shook her head, and stood straight again. “I’m not strong enough. Not by myself. There are still too many of their chemicals floating around in my bloodstream, diluting my magic. You’ll have to help me, Brigit.”

  “M-me?”

  Bridin looked at Brigit’s neck, frowned. “Where is your pendant?”

  “I...” She gave her head a shake, and thrust a hand into the pocket of her jeans, pulling out the pewter fairy, with its broken chain and blackened crystal.

  “Well, it’s no good like that,” Bridin said. “Cleanse it. And hurry up. We don’t have all night.”

  Brigit frowned, just staring at her.

  Bridin’s eyes softened. Her tone gentled. “I’m sorry, little sister. It’s so vital to me to get back. I’ve been waiting so long for this day. I...I’m being impatient and short-tempered with you, forgetting you don’t understand the ways...”

  She stepped closer to Brigit, took her hand, and laid it across her own upturned palm. “But you know you have magic in you, don’t you Brigit?”

  Brigit nodded. “Yes. I know. I think a part of me has always known. But I didn’t understand...”

  “Close your hand around the pendant, little sister.” And as she said it, she closed her own, delicate hand around Brigit’s, so the pendant was trapped in their fists. “Close your eyes, and work up your energy. Get mad. Think about the Dark Prince and the way he hurt Adam.”

  Still unsure she could control her own abilities, Brigit complied. She closed her hand tighter and squeezed her eyes simultaneously. As if summoned against her will, that scene at the ball park came rushing back to her. And she did feel angry, despite the distractions at hand.

  “That’s it. Now, focus all that anger on the evil caught in your crystal. It’s his evil, Brigit. Aim your anger at it and fire, just the way he did when he hurled his evil at you. Use your anger as a weapon, and your goodness to blast that evil out of the crystal.”

  That odd state of focus that always came over her when she was painting began to steal over Brigit again, right now. Only instead of fixating on an image she wanted to reproduce, it was all directed toward that evil creature that had hurt Adam.

  “Send it back where it came from, Brigit.”

  From the tips of her toes, a wave of something rose, up through her body, filling her, rushing upward tingling every nerve ending like an electrical charge. Her lips parted and it escaped, bursting from her in the form of a shout. “Get out!”

  And then the feeling was gone, and she felt weak, as if she’d just run a mile.

  Bridin’s hand over her fisted one eased, and with her free hand, she gently pried Brigit’s fingers open. When Brigit looked down at the necklace resting in her palm, the quartz point was as clear and as sparkling as a flawless diamond. She blinked down at it, then up at her sister.

  “Magic,” she whispered. “You’ll get used to it. Now, you have to do it again. For Adam.”

  Her gaze went to Adam, lying so near death in that bed, and her heart tripped over itself with the force of what she felt for him.

  “Come on, Brigit. Help me bring him back. We have to hurry. As soon as the Dark Prince recovers his strength, he’ll be back here. And his henchmen will be looking for me soon as well.” Bridin took the pendant out of her hand and put it around Brigit’s neck, tying a knot in the chain because the clasp was broken. “Now, go stand over there.”

  Brigit moved to the opposite side of the bed. She felt as if she were in a dream. Everything was out of focus and surreal. Dazed, she watched her sister, imitating her every move. When Bridin leaned over Adam and placed her hand against his left temple, Brigit leaned over and pressed her palm to his right one. Her cheek touched her sister’s, and their pendants met, the chains twisting together right over Adam’s face.

  “Now,” Bridin whispered, “Make him live.”

  Strength surged through Adam’s body, shooting out into his limbs and zinging through his veins more potent than that electrical charge had done.

  * * *

  “Live!”

  That command, spoken more fiercely than any drill sergeant’s meanest bark, rang in his ears. And it took him a full minute to recognize that beloved voice.

  “Live, Adam! Be all right! Dammit, live!”

  Soft, warm hands were pressed to either side of his head, and Brigit was shouting in his face. He thought he’d better respond soon, before she slapped him or something.

  “Adam, wake up!”

  “All right, all right,” he rasped, forcing his eyes open. “Give a guy a break, would you?”

  “Adam . . .” she croaked.

  She leaned over him, and her beautiful black eyes brimmed with tears. Her lips trembled into a half-smile as she searched his face. “Adam?”

  Lifting one hand to the back of her head, he pulled her closer, kissed her mouth, tasted her tears. And when he let her go, and she straightened away from him, his vision was a little clearer, his body a little stronger, as if he’d drawn sustenance from that kiss. Damned if he didn’t believe he had.

  And then he saw the other woman standing nervously near the door, peering out on occasion.

  She was beautiful, the other one. Not a nurse. A patient, by the way she was dressed, and...

  Ah, but what did it matter
?

  He met Brigit’s eyes again, and all that had happened came rushing back to him. He shivered a little, shook his head. “Brigit, what in hell has been going on here?”

  The door opened and another woman came in. This one, a doctor. Obvious by the white lab coat and the stethoscope around her neck.

  “Brigit, I know you want to be near him,” she began, “but he needs to rest and—” She broke off, looking at Adam as if seeing a ghost. And then she said a word that Adam was pretty sure she hadn’t learned in med school.

  “Brigit?” Adam prompted.

  “I...I’m not sure.”

  The doctor finally snapped out of her state of shock, and came further inside, gripping Adam’s wrist, flicking a pen-light into his eyes, muttering under her breath.

  Glancing around at Brigit, the doctor said, “You two are going to have to step out while I examine him.”

  “No, Dr. Evans,” the strange, golden, rail-thin woman in the hospital gown said softly. “I’m afraid we can’t do that. Adam’s leaving. Right now, and so are we.”

  Every eye in that room turned to the woman who spoke with such quiet authority. And for some reason Adam couldn’t figure out, he agreed with her.

  “Who are you?” Dr. Evans asked. “Are you a patient here, or—”

  “No,” Brigit said quickly. Maybe a little too quickly for Adam’s peace of mind. “She’s my sister,”

  Your sister! He sat up straighter in the bed.

  “She wanted to take a nap and a nurse gave her that hospital gown to wear.”

  As Brigit spoke, the blond woman surreptitiously moved one hand behind her back. But not before Adam had seen the i.d. bracelet on her wrist. He also saw the pendant she wore, and realized at least part of what Brigit had said was true. She was her sister. The mysterious, elusive Bridin had somehow materialized in his hospital room. And that meant—his heart began to crumble into tiny bits of dust. That meant that his time with Brigit was just about over. She’d found her sister, or her sister had found her. And it was time for them to fulfill their destiny, and for him to fulfill his, if he could.