Slumber

by Tamara Blake

  She’d make it right. She had to.

  She returned her attention to the napkin. By the weak dawn light beginning to filter through the trees, Ruby made out the symbols Aryenis had drawn: a flower, a crown, lips, and a stick figure holding out something in its hands. Like it was giving a gift, maybe?

  “Hey, Aryenis, what did you mean by—”

  But she was already walking out of the graveyard. “Wait!” Ruby called after her.

  Aryenis didn’t pause.

  “I…I have something to give you!” Ruby yelled in desperation.

  Aryenis halted. Over her shoulder she sent Ruby a questioning look.

  Ruby swallowed. The only thing she could offer Aryenis was the page she’d torn out of Shelley’s storybook. But it was also all she had left of her family, and the thought of giving it away hurt so much she almost couldn’t breathe.

  She held the page out. “For you,” she said, blinking back a sudden rush of tears.

  Aryenis studied her face for a long moment. Despair filled Ruby as the moment stretched out—her hunch wasn’t going to pay off after all. Then Aryenis stepped forward and took the paper. Ruby’s mouth fell open when she said, in a lilting accent, “I accept your gift of the heart. Thank you.”

  “You—you’re welcome.” Ruby mentally crossed her fingers, hoping that her sacrifice would pay off. “You have a beautiful voice,” she added.

  She was rewarded when a slight smile lifted Aryenis’ lips. She beckoned Ruby. “Come with me. I have something to show you.”

  Ruby gave Shawn’s grave one last look. Then she hurried behind Aryenis, who had started to disappear into the trees. The fairy lead her deeper into the forest until they came upon another clearing. Please don’t let it be more graves, Ruby prayed.

  She gasped, but this time in amazement. Shimmering flowers filled the glen, a beautiful garden in the heart of the forest, lush with many different species. There were roses of every color: blood red, lavender, flaming orange, pure white. Exotic purple blossoms that looked like trumpets. Delicate lilies next to puffy peonies. Ruby recognized some of the blooms; she’d seen the fairies destroy them during that stupid forfeit game.

  “Did you grow these?” Ruby asked. “No wonder you were so upset that day.” She stroked the petals of an exquisite poppy glistening with dew, and inhaled the fragrance. “Your flowers are breathtaking.”

  “Thank you,” Aryenis answered with a gracious nod. She gestured to a circular patch of velvety grass, right smack in the middle of the garden. “Please, sit.”

  Ruby lowered herself to the ground, cross-legged where Aryenis indicated, then waited as patiently as she could when Aryenis sat as well.

  “You wish to know about us,” Aryenis began.

  “Yes, please. If you don’t mind,” she added hastily. She felt on edge and so desperate for answers she could scream, but she didn’t want to make Aryenis decide to stop talking again.

  “I will tell you what I can,” Aryenis said. “Maybe it will help you in what you desire to achieve. Before we fae came to Cottingley, long ago now, I was garraíodóir máistir—master gardener to an Bhanríon, the Queen.”

  “The Queen?”

  “Yes, the Queen of all fae. I was in charge of the gardens that surround her palace in the Old Country.”

  “That sounds really important.”

  Aryenis nodded regally. “We fae love flowers—they are life-givers, and inspire our magic. I was held in great esteem by the Court, and I served well for many centuries.” Ruby saw tears glimmer in Aryenis’s eyes, and the fairy bowed her head. “But I grew proud. I began to resent that the fruits of my labors were only to be used by the Queen and her Court favorites to strengthen their magic. So I left. But before I did, I stole seeds from the Court gardens, for the flowers you see here.”

  She swept her arm, and Ruby’s breath caught as the flowers swayed and rustled in response.

  “The Queen was enraged, rightly so. The nectar from my flowers is so powerful it should only be used under the strict eye of the Court. When I became garraíodóir máistir I had taken many oaths to protect the gardens from defilement—with my life, if need be. When I left with the stolen seeds, I became an oath-breaker. It is one of the worst crimes we fae can commit.”

  Worse than murder? Ruby thought, but the memory had made Aryenis upset. The tears were running freely down her face.

  “In punishment,” Aryenis said, “the Queen cursed me to only speak the truth—a heavy punishment, because we fae take great pleasure in deceptions.”

  “No shit,” Ruby muttered.

  “Because I cannot lie, I will not speak to the others, but only speak to someone who is unselfish and honest. You proved yourself by giving me a gift of the heart, the only thing you have of your beloved sister. And so I speak to you and gift you with the truth.”

  “Oh…” Ruby realized the meaning of the drawing now: the flower meant the seeds Aryenis had stolen, and the crown symbolized the Queen, and Aryenis’s curse was represented in the lips. The stick figure giving the gift was the final piece of the puzzle.

  Aryenis heaved a deep sigh. “I regret leaving the Old Country to live with these young fools. They have no restraint, no balance, no wisdom.”

  Young fools? Aryenis looked the same age as everyone else at Cottingley—around 16 or 17 years old—but she remembered how Ash described being more than 60 as still very young. “How old are you?” she asked.

  Aryenis cocked her head and pondered. “I tended the gardens of the Temple of Isis for the Pharaohs before I came to serve an Bhanríon. How old is that?”

  For the Pharaohs? In, like, Ancient Egypt? “Um, really old.”

  “The Queen was right to curse me,” Aryenis went on. “I deserved to follow the rebels to this terrible New World outpost.”

  Rebels? Outpost? What did Aryenis mean now? She spoke as if The Hamptons was a backwoods colony. Or, Ruby realized, maybe when Aryenis got here, it was.

  “You gave me your gift of the heart, Ruby Benson. Now I will give you three pieces of wisdom. Once I have done so, I will speak no more. So listen well.”

  Ruby nodded.

  Aryenis held up three fingers and ticked them down as she spoke. “One: if you play Violet’s game and win, Violet will be compelled to do as she promises. It is an immutable law of magic. But she will try to trick you into giving up this right.”

  Ruby nodded. “Violet can’t go back on her deal, but she’ll try to bullshit her way out of it. Got it.”

  “Two: the sweet nectar you drank is from the Court flowers. It may already be too late, but you must not drink any more.”

  Ruby was mystified. “Nectar? You mean the stuff Tam put in my coffee? That’s nectar?”

  “Do you understand?” Aryenis asked impatiently.

  Just thinking about the delicious syrup was enough to make Ruby long for another cupful. But she nodded. “Yes.”

  “Third, Tam and I are not the same as the fools at Cottingley. We are from the Old Country, where the fae are much wiser—and feel deeply.”

  That’s all well and good, Ruby thought, but we’re not in the Old Country—we’re here at Cottingley, where the fairies are heartless assholes.

  Aryenis had ticked down the third finger. She curled her hand into a fist and put it against her mouth. Ruby understood. Aryenis was done talking, maybe forever.

  Ruby stood. The whole situation was nightmarish, like the darkest tales in Shelley’s book—‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ or ‘Rumpelstiltskin,’ where the human had to beat the magical creature at its own game or suffer a gruesome fate. Ruby now wondered if those stories weren’t stories at all.

  So it could be done. Maybe she was being delusional, but for the first time since she woke from the Slumber, Ruby felt a sense of hope. All she had to do was beat Violet at her own game. Of course, that might prove impossible, because Violet was a vicious bitch who wouldn’t take any chances. Still, she was going to try.r />
  “Thank you, Aryenis. I won’t forget your help.”

  As expected, Aryenis did not reply. But she gave a sad smile in response.

  “I hope we’ll speak again someday,” Ruby said. With one last nod at the silent fairy, she turned and ran back through the woods, past the graveyard and the fresh-churned dirt of Shawn’s grave, and through the trees until she broke free of the forest and to the spot where Shawn died. The puddle of congealing blood was already vanishing into the earth, as if the grass itself wanted to erase all traces of violence. Or maybe it had been charmed to do so.

  On the hill, the mansion rose against the gray sky and clouds heavy with mist. As usual, crows hovered on the battlements, cawing sulkily. After the beguiling scents in Aryenis’s garden, the air around Cottingley stank of mold and decay. Just like the creatures inside.

  Her every sinew rebelled at returning to that horrible place. I could take off now and never look back.

  But then she’d never be free. And her family would suffer forever.

  “I’ll find a way to beat Violet,” she said out loud. “Or die trying.”

  Steeling herself, she started jogging across the lawn toward Cottingley.

  Chapter Seventeen

  When Ruby reached the flagstone patio, she paused, winded, a stitch jabbing between her ribs. Man, she must have gotten way out of shape living the life of luxury at Cottingley. Of course, barely eating anything and guzzling champagne all day would also be hell on her stamina. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a solid meal. It seemed like the entire time she was under the Slumber, she lived on Cristal and Tam’s kisses.

  Tam’s incredible, scorching hot kisses. No. She would not think of him. Not his arms holding her close or the smell of the specially blended aftershave he had imported from Tokyo, lingering on her skin after they’d had a long session making out—

  Stop it. You need to move on. Focus or you’ll lose everything.

  As she reached the front steps leading up to the house, a faint chirp sounded in her pocket. She pulled the cell phone out, flicked open the cover, then gave a fist pump. Two bars!

  She had several messages, but ignored them for the time being and punched the shortcut to the hospital with shaking fingers. How long had it been since she talked to her mother? Weeks? Months? Oh God, what if Mom—no, she wouldn’t think of it. “Hello? This is Ruby Benson. I’d like to speak to Margie Benson. Is she…still a patient?”

  “One moment, let me check our records.”

  Ruby bit her lip so hard it bruised. After what seemed like an eternity, the operator came back on. “I have a Margaret Benson receiving treatment in ICU.”

  “That’s my Mom,” Ruby said. Thank you, God. “Can I talk to her?”

  “Hold, please, while I transfer you to the nurses’ station.”

  Ruby jiggled impatiently while she listened to super cheesy Musak. After a few minutes, a voice came on the line. “ICU.”

  She repeated her name for the nurse. “How’s my mom doing?” Ruby blurted.

  “Not very well, I’m afraid.” On the other end, the nurse shuffled papers. “The aggressive chemo hasn’t been effective in reducing the mass on her thyroid, and it’s taking a toll on her resistance. You’re Ruby, right? She’s been asking for you.”

  Ruby blinked back tears. “I…haven’t been able to visit.”

  “I don’t think you should put it off any longer,” the nurse said gently. “Her situation…is very serious.”

  “Tell Mom I’ll be there as soon as I can. Tell her—” Ruby’s throat closed. She cleared it and said, “Tell her I love her.”

  “Sure, hon, I’ll tell her. But I’m sure she’d much rather you told her yourself.”

  “I know. I’ll be there soon.”

  Ruby beeped off. She dropped her head in her hands and fought the tears. She couldn’t handle the thought of her mother lying lonely and abandoned in some sterile hospital room, waiting for her daughters to come see her. Dying of some bullshit disease that Violet cursed her with.

  She lifted her head. Now for Shelley. If Mom was at death’s door, what was happening to her little sister?

  Quickly, she punched the Garcias’ number. No answer. But it was the middle of the day—most likely the Garcias were at work and the kids were at school. She hoped Shelley wasn’t upset that Ruby hadn’t called, and that the Garcias were cool with keeping her for so long. She’d find a way to explain everything once she returned to pick Shelley up.

  If she returned.

  Don’t think like that. You can win this thing. You have to.

  Inside, Cottingley was dark and rank with the lingering stink of spilled booze and sweaty bodies—as usual during the day, when everyone was sleeping. Instead of stifling silence, however, excited voices babbled from the bar lounge.

  “Here we go.” She took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

  The lounge was packed, and buzzing with anticipation. It seemed like the whole household had turned out to be entertained by Violet’s challenge. There were some fairies Ruby didn’t think she’d even seen before. Most had decked themselves out in their fanciest designer threads, though as always a few were still half-dressed as if they’d just rolled out of bed.

  “She’s here!” Skye clapped her hands like a demented child. “The game is gonna start!”

  Avid eyes raked Ruby, and the expressions on the fairies’ faces ranged from mildly curious to evil glee. Ruby could barely fathom that she once partied with these creatures and thought they were the coolest, most awesome group of friends she’d ever had.

  “Violet should challenge her to hang upside down by her feet for a day,” she heard one of the fairies remark. “That one guy lasted about two hours until the blood vessels in his head popped.”

  “Yeah, that was super-gross,” someone snickered.

  Through the crowd, Ruby caught sight of Tam, his face tense, standing next to Ash. When she met his eyes, Tam made a move toward her, but Ash put a restraining hand on his shoulder. He fought Ash’s grip for a moment before turning away.

  Fine by her. She wanted nothing more to do with Tam anyway. Nothing. Ever.

  The fairies parted to let Ruby through to where Violet had ensconced herself in front of the fireplace on a throne of pillows. She looked like a queen bee, flanked by her two half-naked pretty boys. Her lips curled upward when Ruby approached, and she stretched luxuriously out on the silky pillows like a cat.

  Or a snake.

  “Ready to play my game, human?” she asked once Ruby stood before her.

  “Ready.”

  “Let’s stick with the classics. If you can complete three simple tasks, our bargain will be binding. You can leave here free, with luck following you all the days of your brief human life.”

  “And you’ll leave my family alone forever?”

  “Forever.”

  “Then I agree.”

  The watching fairies went bat-shit with excitement, bursting into chatter. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the muscles in Tam’s jawline tighten, but he said nothing, did nothing.

  “Silence!” Violet yelled, and they fell quiet. She stroked the cheek of the boy on her right. “Stefano here will show you to the tower room. There you will find a pile of seeds. The rules are simple: separate the poisoned seeds from the good ones. You have until midnight to complete the task.”

  The boy rose, trance-like, and began to walk toward Ruby.

  Violet grazed the pouty lips of the other boy with her thumb. “And Alejandro will make sure you don’t run away.”

  “I’m not going to run away,” Ruby said as the other boy rose from Violet’s side, zombie-like, and joined his companion. “I’m not a coward like you, putting spells on innocent people behind their backs for kicks.”

  The fairies erupted in shrieks of glee.

  “Tam’s ex is one feisty bitch,” Yukio laughed.

  “Yeah, I bet she was a hel
lcat in bed,” said another.

  Violet’s eyes gleamed with fury. “I’d watch your mouth if I were you, trailer trash. Better go before I forget the rules and let the boys here take turns finding out how long it takes to pull your nails off.”

  Shouts of “Do it, Violet! Oh, that’s so siiiick!” filled the room. The fairies were really hopped up on the prospect of more blood and violence, Ruby realized, as they clapped and jumped around like a pack of wild dogs with a juicy bunny in front of them. She could hear bets taking place on how long she’d last when the necklace started strangling her.

  When the jostling was over and she was able to look over the gathering again, she couldn’t find Tam among the fairies. He’d slipped away. Obviously he was already over her. Moving on to the next human probably.

  Ash grabbed Ruby’s arm and pulled her aside. “Are you insane? Why would you agree to this? You know you can’t beat her.”

  “Thanks for your vote of confidence. Anyway, why do you care what happens to me, a worthless human? You didn’t when Shawn was being chased to his death.”

  The question seemed to throw him off. “I guess because you getting hurt will bum Tam out, and he’s a lot less fun when he’s in one of his moods.”

  Despite herself, Ruby warmed at the thought that Tam actually might care about her. But then she remembered that fairies like to lie. “He’s so bothered about what happens to me, he didn’t even stick around,” she pointed out. “Where did he go, anyway? I bet he’s already looking for my replacement.”

  Ash shrugged. “Tam doesn’t exactly confide in me—or anyone, for that matter. He lives by his own set of rules. You should have bailed when you had the chance, Ruby.”

  “That’s the difference between us, Ash. My mom and sister need me to win. It’s called putting yourself on the line for the people you love.”

  Ash blinked like she’d slapped him across the face. Before he could answer, a hard poke in her back made her stumble forward.

  “Get going,” said Alejandro. He shoved her after Stefano, and together Violet’s minions began pushing fairies out of the way so she could make it to the door. As she passed, they jeered and hollered at her, some giving her a pinch, some flicking her hair as she made her way out of the lounge.