Fairy Rings and Dragon Kings (Book 7 in the Twilight Court Series)

by Amy Sumida

  “Oh, good for you,” Killian murmured.

  “When did your father take you to Twilight?” I asked.

  “When I was twenty.” Timmy gave me a sheepish smile. “My family didn't want to give me up, and I wasn't ready to leave either. It was my mother who finally insisted that I go for a visit with her, and see how wonderful Twilight is.”

  “Really?” I asked in surprise. “I thought all twilight children were required to move to our kingdom by a certain age?”

  “It's a loose law.” Timmy smirked. “Come on, Princess; you know your father. Do you really think that King Keir would send soldiers out to collect reluctant children?”

  “No.” I smiled affectionately. “Dad would never do that. He thinks of Twilight as a sanctuary, not a prison.”

  “Exactly,” Timmy agreed. “And that was what I saw as well. My mom was right; Twilight is spectacular, and King Keir's court provided me with opportunities that I would never have had in Seelie. Look at me; I'm a Rath Lord! No selkie has ever held such a position.”

  “Is your father proud?” I asked with a smile.

  “So very.” Timmy beamed at me. “He visits every year; Washington is a selkie paradise.”

  “I'll bet,” I said as I looked out the window. “This is lovely.”

  Timmy pulled off the road and pointed through the trees. “There's Fawn Island. The shore at the bottom of this hill is the closest one to the island. You guys going to be okay from here?”

  “Yeah, this is perfect. Thank you, Timmy,” I said as I climbed out.

  “My pleasure, Your Highness.” Timmy nodded to me. “And it was nice to meet you, Your Soon-to-be Highness.” He smirked at Killian.

  “Yeah, it was good to meet you too, Vampire Seal.” Killian closed the door and waved to Timmy as the fuilròn drove away. “So”—he turned to me and smiled—“I have an idea.”

  “Oh, sweet Danu.” I groaned as I headed down the hill.

  “No, it's good; you'll like it,” Killian promised.

  “Does it have to do with how we're getting to the island?” I asked.

  I scampered down to the shore and stared out across the murky water. It wasn't that far to the little island, and it was still dark out, so we wouldn't have to worry about being spotted. But it was also really fucking cold, and I was not looking forward to getting in that water. As I contemplated the chill and the possible sea life, Killian came up behind me. I heard him moving about but didn't think to look at him until I saw a giant, barbed tail out of the corner of my eye.

  I jerked around to find Killian in his snake form—a massive snake form. His russet-colored scales looked black in the shadows, but Killian's acid green eyes caught the light like a cat's and brightened. He opened his mouth, showcasing fangs as long as my forearms, and spoke.

  “I can swim,” he said gaily. “Hell, I'm big enough that I can probably just slither over the seabed with my head above water.”

  “Damn,” I whispered. “I think you're right.”

  “Climb on, Beautiful,” he hissed as he lowered his head. “Oh, and grab my clothes, will ya?”

  “All right.” I gathered the pile of his discarded clothing and gear, then scurried onto his head. It was slick but flat. “Don't jostle me too much or I'll slide right off,” I warned Killian as he headed into the water. “Also; it's a little weird to hear you talking in this shape.”

  “Says the princess of vampire seals,” Killian huffed as he slipped through the water.

  “Uh, they're called vampeals,” I said with sass.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  When we reached Fawn Island, Killian lowered his head, and I slid off him. He slithered up the rocky shore, making barely any noise for something so large. When he shifted back into human, he was dry and naked. I gave him a goofy grin as I appreciated the view.

  “I would strike a pose or something, but it's fucking cold out here,” he said as he shivered. “Hand me my damn clothes, Twilight!”

  I laughed and gave him his clothing, then scanned the area as he dressed. The shoreline we'd arrived on was deserted, but I could see lights through the trees. There was a house just a few yards in. No doubt, it would be guarded, possibly even warded.

  “We'd better use our glamours to go invisible,” I said to Killian. “Other fairies won't be able to see us unless they're actively focusing on finding magic...” My voice faded away as I thought of Raza; he hadn't needed to focus to sense Moire when she'd been following us. “Or they're powerful enough to sense us without focusing,” I amended.

  “So, we're good unless the guards are fey and actually doing their jobs, or are really bad ass?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay, take my hand, then.” Killian settled his leather hoodie over his head and held out his hand. “I don't want to lose you.”

  “That's not going to happen, Snake-zilla,” I teased as I took his hand.

  “Yeah, yeah, they always say that,” he muttered, “usually right before they ditch me.”

  “Shut up,” I huffed. “You've never been ditched in your life.”

  He smiled unabashedly and admitted, “Maybe not, but you're the only woman I've worried about it with.”

  “I love you, Kill,” I whispered. “You know that.”

  “I do, but love can make a man have unreasonable thoughts.” He sighed deeply. “Never mind that; let's go find those missing people.”

  “You know, you'll be able to sense my magic if you concentrate hard enough,” I whispered to him. “Your fey blood will help you with that.”

  “Maybe I just wanted an excuse to hold your hand.”

  “How romantical,” I drawled.

  “Besides, I don't want to have to focus to find you,” he went on. “We're not all kick-ass ex-extinguishers with a psychic ability to see auras. I don't think you realize just how much effort it takes us plebes to be able to sense someone using a glamour.”

  “Oh, how sad for you,” I teased. “Life must be hard as a caster witch turned nathair-sith.”

  “I can't even stand you right now,” he muttered, but he kept holding my hand.

  We crept through the trees and up to the main house. There were a few random lights on inside it, so we eased by the darker areas of the building first; peering in windows and trying to get a feel for the place. A few guards passed us by, but we stayed still, and they didn't notice us under our glamours. Which was lucky because they were fairies.

  “What kind of fairy was that?” Killian whispered to me after the second guard went by. “He looked like a damn Viking.”

  “Yeah.” I watched the fairy turn a corner and wander out of sight, his platinum blond hair like a beacon in the dark. “I think he was a haldde.”

  “Is that seelie or un?”

  “Seelie.”

  They were all seelie, every guard we came across. I started thinking about Tiernan and the issues he was having in Seelie lately. Then a chubby dwarf waddled out onto the front porch wrapped in a parka that made him look twice as fluffy. Except, he wasn't a dwarf; he was a moomin.

  “What is that?” Killian asked me.

  “A clue,” I whispered back. “We'll talk about it later. Let's find the humans.”

  We peered into several windows, seeing only sleeping fairies and empty rooms until we came to a living room at the back of the house. It was full of humans lying on the floor in neat rows. They were stretched out on blankets, but the arrangement didn't look very comfortable. Yet, they seemed to be asleep.

  “The humans are in here,” I said to Killian. “But it's not all of them.”

  “Stay here,” he said. “I'm going inside to check things out.”

  I waited with my back pressed against the wall, listening for any movement inside or outside of the house. It was a quiet morning, with very little breeze to it, so I was able to hear Killian returning before I saw his aura. He was walking with his arm extended, searching for me. I took his hand as soon as he came within reach.

  “Ther
e isn't a lot of activity inside the house,” Killian reported in a whisper. “But I overheard some guards talking about an auction they're holding later today. I think they're selling the humans.”

  “I need to know what's going on here,” I whispered anxiously. “But the humans are my priority.”

  “How much time do we have till dawn?” He asked.

  I focused and felt the twilight magic tickling the edge of my mind.

  “Half an hour at most,” I said. “We'll need a boat. We can't twilight them all off the island, and they're not going to ride the Snake Express to shore either.”

  “So, we get them out of the house, to the shore, and wait for the extinguishers to arrive?” He asked.

  “Or we steal one of those boats we saw docked out front.”

  “I'm down with that,” Killian's smirk was in his voice.

  “Go keep watch at the corner,” I said as I dropped my glamour and pulled my sword.

  “What are you going to do; cut the lock?” Killian stayed invisible.

  “No, I'm going to break the glass with the hilt of my sword.” I pushed him toward the corner. “Now, go keep watch.”

  “All right,” he huffed, and I heard his footsteps departing.

  I took off my jacket and used it as a muffler, placing it against the window as I bashed the glass with the hilt of my sword. The glass cracked and fell inside the room. It was loud enough to wake the sleeping humans, but I hoped it wouldn't attract any more attention.

  The people stood and looked at me with blank expressions. Right; they were fairy-struck, all of them, and I wouldn't be able to command them unless the fairy who had done the striking told them to listen to me.

  But I could remove the enchantments.

  I climbed in the window and started with one of the men. I was hoping he'd be resilient enough to remain calm and help keep the others quiet as I made the rounds. There must have been thirty people in the room; this was going to take awhile.

  As soon as the man was released from the fairy-strike, his eyes went wide with terror.

  “I need you to hold it together,” I whispered urgently to him. “My name is Seren, and I'm here to help you, but I can't do that if you freak out on me. Understand?”

  “A man did something to me,” he whispered back and rubbed at his head. “I couldn't refuse him. Was I hypnotized?”

  “Yes, you were.” I gripped his shoulder and shook him. “All of these people have had the same thing done to them. Now, we can sit here and talk about it, or I can get you out of here.”

  He nodded violently. “Okay. Tell me what you need me to do.”

  “What's your name?”

  “Charles,” he said. “Charlie.”

  “Charlie, can you help me keep the rest of these people calm?” I asked him. “I'm going to release them from their... trances, but they're going to be scared and confused.”

  “All right.” He said and took a deep breath. “I'll help with them.”

  We went around the room together; I released the fairy-struck humans, and Charlie talked them down as I moved on. We had about ten people left, including two children, when Killian came to the window.

  “Seren,” Killian hissed. “The Viking is circling back. You got maybe ten minutes max.”

  “Shit,” I swore. “I need more time. Do what you have to do, Blair.”

  “On it,” Killian said.

  I finished with the adults and then worked on the kids. Thankfully, both of the missing children were there. The little girl calmed easily enough; her eyes remained wide and terrified, but she didn't cry. The boy was different. He started whimpering right away.

  “What's your name?” One of the women asked him.

  “Jake,” he cried.

  “Okay, Jake; I'm Mary. I have a boy about your age waiting for me at home, and I want to get back to him,” she said. “If you can be strong for me, I'll be strong for you, and we can get through this together. Okay?”

  “Okay,” he whispered.

  “There are some bad people out there,” I said to Jake. “We need to be very quiet as we leave so that they don't hear us.”

  “I want my mommy,” he whispered even as he went into Mary's arms.

  “I know,” Mary said, “and this nice lady is going to take us to your mommy. We just need to be quiet, okay?”

  “Okay,” Jake said again.

  “We're clear,” Killian's face appeared in the window. “And we have to go. Are you done?”

  “Yeah, hold on.” I turned back to the humans. “Have any of you seen any other people here? I'm looking for about seventy more.”

  “No,” Charlie said. “I may have been hypnotized, but I remember what happened, and I don't recall seeing any other prisoners.”

  “Seren!” Killian hissed.

  “Okay!” I snapped at him, and then I gentled my tone for the humans. “This is Killian; he'll help you out of the window. Be careful of the glass.”

  It wasn't a fast process, but we got everyone out of the house, and then we herded them quickly toward the dock. We passed the Viking fairy on our way. He was lying propped against the house, eyes wide open with shock and two punctures—like fang bites—in his neck. Black veins trailed out from the bite over the fairy's pallid skin. I scowled at that but didn't have time to ask Killian, even if he hadn't raced ahead to find us a boat.

  The sky was lightening to dark gray, and soon there would be a hint of purple in it. I could feel the magic filling my toes, but it wasn't quite there yet. We were nearly to the dock when I heard a boat engine start, and I wasn't the only one who heard it. As we pounded down the wood planks, our footsteps nearly as loud as that engine, a group of fairies ran out of the house.

  “Go!” I shouted. “Get on the boat!”

  I turned and held my hands out before me, focusing my energy on the dock behind us. I called the firethorns and built a wall of thorny vines between us and the fairies. Our pursuers growled and flung their own magic toward us, but as it approached, my vines burst into flames and attacking magic sizzled out.

  “Seren!” Killian shouted. “Get on this fucking boat!”

  I jumped on the boat, and we sped away from Fawn Island. I stood at the back and watched as more fairies come pouring down to the shore, spreading to the sides of the dock. I had cut them off from the other boats, but my barricade wouldn't last for long without me empowering it, and in the end, it didn't matter. Several of the fairies called on their air magic and began to fly over the surface of the sea.

  The humans cringed together in fear, but I didn't have the time to comfort them. I went to the back of the boat and called to the water. I'd been practicing with Tiernan, and I was getting good at my elemental beag magics. I hoped I was good enough to save us.

  The sea began to toss and roll as sweat dripped down my temples. My arms shook as I pulled on the water. Moving a glass full was one thing, but shifting a sea, even just bits of it, was an entirely different matter. I calmed myself and stopped fighting the elements. Tiernan said that the easiest way to manipulate nature was to encourage it to do something that it wanted to do. So, I urged the sea to do what came naturally. A wave lifted from the calm surface and smashed into one of the fairies. He fell into the ocean, leaving another five still in pursuit.

  “Do you need some help, Twilight?” Killian asked.

  “Just drive! Take us straight to Anacortes; we can't chance the island.”

  Both of the children were crying now, and some of the women were joining them. Waves broke around us as the boat broke through the frigid water, sending saltwater into my eyes and the taste of the sea to my lips. I rubbed at my face distractedly and chose another target.

  Twilight hit, and I inhaled sharply as the rush of power went surging through my body and out of my fingertips. Giant balls of flaming vines went hurtling through the air at our pursuers. The fairies swerved, but most weren't fast enough, and their screams proclaimed my success. Still, they kept coming—burnt skin and all—and
a flare of frustration made me fling a hand out toward them helplessly. A tidal wave surged with the motion of my hand, lifting high into the air and coming down over the flying fairies. They all disappeared beneath the water.

  One of the human men cheered, and Killian looked over his shoulder to give me a smirking nod. I was even a little impressed with myself; I had no idea that I could do that. It looked as if twilight empowered my beags as well.

  Then the roar of more boat engines jerked my head back around.

  My firethorns blockade had fizzled out, and the remaining seelie had made it to their boats. They sped across the water toward us; an army of fairies against Killian and me. I gathered my magic and prepared to blast them, but I was worried. Even if we made it to land, they'd be right on our heels. I didn't want to fight a magic battle on the shores of Washington. The sky was lightening, and another ferry would be on its way to Orcas island soon. There would be a line of vehicles waiting to drive aboard that ferry; happy families waiting eagerly to start their vacations. That was too many witnesses and too many possible casualties. We'd have to continue down the coast until we either lost our pursuers or stopped their pursuit.

  Then a swarm of speedboats swept in front of us, forming a barrier between us and the seelie. Men and women in black kevlar began shooting iron arrows at the fairies pursuing us. The seelie turned their boats around and sped off, knowing a losing battle when they saw one. One of our rescuers motioned briskly to me to get the humans to safety.