by Wendi Wilson
As we crossed the grounds, something was bugging me, so I asked the guys about it.
“Why wouldn’t Shaela just use her power? She could make whoever took her captive fall in love with her, and they’d let her go to make her happy? Right?”
“There’s a natural balance preserved between the Sylphids and the Zephyrs,” Cris explained. “While our magic in its purest form is deadly to the other species, the opposite side of that coin is that our weakest magic, that which is based on Glamour and emotion, is the least effective on each other. It would take a much older, stronger Fae than young Shaela to keep up that type of Glamour for any period of time.”
A memory struck me, and I asked “So, would you say Sebille’s the strongest Zephyr? That her Glamour would fool most Sylphs?”
“Naturally,” Cris said. “Her abilities would dupe most Sylphs and Zephyrs, alike.”
“When I first saw her in Finn’s office that night,” I said, “she looked beautiful. But within a few seconds, the Glamour faded and I saw the real queen underneath.”
Easton took my hand and laced our fingers together. He knew that whole night was difficult for me to talk about, despite my victory over the Zephyr queen. That was the night we’d lost Rowan.
“I told you on my first day,” Cris replied, “holding a Glamour with you is extremely difficult. It could be your mixed heritage, or that you’re just unnaturally strong, but without constant effort, any Fae’s Glamour doesn’t stand a chance of holding up.”
I opened my mouth to say something, then snapped it closed again as I realized we’d arrived at the edge of the woods. Easton pulled me into a hug, whispering words of comfort and admonishments to be careful in my ear. Then he kissed me on the lips before slipping into the woods.
“You’ve got this, December,” Cris said, smiling warmly before he too, slipped between the trees.
All alone, I followed the edge of the tree line until I hit the approximate spot Finn had pointed out to me from his office window. The spot where they’d found Shaela’s purse and the note. I took a few cleansing breaths, preparing myself for what was to come.
Then I stepped into the forest.
Walking between the trunks was like being on a different planet. The giant canopies created by the tree limbs kept the forest’s interior cast in perpetual shadow. It was eerily quiet as I tilted my head back and stared at the uppermost branches, which seemed to pierce the sky.
Refocusing on my part of the mission, I turned in a circle as my eyes probed the dark spaces between the trees. Unable to see anything, I breathed in deeply through my nose, letting it out slowly. Then I cupped my hands around my mouth and yelled.
“I’m here! Where are you? Show yourself so we can get this over with!”
I spun round and round, shouting at the top of my lungs, my words echoing off the tree trunks and reverberating through me. When the kidnapping, hostage-taking bastard didn’t show himself, I started to get mad.
“You wanted me. Now come and get me!”
The snap of a twig had me twisting around, peering through the trees behind me. A dark shadow emerged, large and misshapen. A chord of fear struck through me until I realized the shadow was a tall, lean Zephyr and the bulky, disproportionate part of him was Shaela, draped over his shoulder.
A dull thud and high-pitched whimper met my ears as he tossed her to the ground. I started to step toward her, but he held up a hand and a sharp wind blew me back.
His obsidian eyes glinted in the low light as he said, “December Thorne, I am here by order of our one true Queen, Sebille of the Zephyrs, and I command you to come with me. If you come without a fight, your young friend here just may live to see another day.”
Suddenly, I stepped out of the woods on my right. It was one of the guys, Glamoured to look just like me, black wings and all.
“It’s me you want.”
The words came out in my voice, from a Fae that looked exactly like me. Just to make things more confusing, I popped my wings out so that we would be completely identical. The Zephyr looked confused, glancing back and forth between us.
Then another me stepped out from the trees on my left.
“I’m over here you big idiot,” the new me said.
My lips twitched, but I forced my face to remain neutral. That was definitely Easton. Despite using my voice, he couldn’t hide his own confident tone. I’d know it anywhere. I was just glad our enemy didn’t.
“What is this?” The Zephyr said, taking a small step backward.
He looked nervous, and we had him on the run, so I pressed forward.
“Let Shaela go,” I said. “Once she’s free and clear, we’ll tell you who the real December Thorne is.”
His head swiveled from left to right, his black eyes moving between the three of us as his face pinched with fear. He shook his head, his breathing accelerated and his whole body started to tremble. He had no idea who he was dealing with and it scared him.
Good.
Just as I started to feel a little overly confident, he threw his head back and laughed. Easton, Cris, and I exchanged wary glances, wondering if the Zephyr had just lost his damned mind.
“Did you actually think I was so easily fooled? Or frightened?” he asked, his voice strong and booming. “I am Elias, commander of Queen Sebille’s army. I fear nothing.”
On my right, Cris sucked in a sharp breath, but I forced myself to keep my eyes on Elias. The Zephyr waved a hand toward us, and Easton’s Glamour dropped, showing his true form.
“Ah, young Oberon, the king’s grandchild. I think perhaps Queen Sebille will be doubly pleased should I deliver you alongside the abomination,” Elias said, once side of his mouth turning up in a smirk.
My eyes chased to Cris, but his Glamour held, so I refocused on Elias and Easton. I started gathering my power, careful to keep it below the surface. Easton, on the other hand, decided to just let loose with his, sending a blast of air in Elias’s direction.
The Zephyr pumped his wings and hovered above the ground, riding the current like a bird flying against the wind. Once the blast of air passed, he touched back down to Earth gracefully. My eyes darted to Shaela, who was still lying on the ground behind him, her hands and feet tied by golden cords, a cloth gag tied around her head. Her eyes met mine, full of anger that promised revenge against Elias, and I knew she was okay.
“You Sylphids are quite entertaining with your meager displays of power,” Elias said, that awful cocky smirk still on his face. “The one with the girly pink wings was quite amusing, attempting to rescue his girl from me.”
“Charles,” I breathed. Then louder, I demanded “Where is he? What have you done to him?”
Elias hooked a lazy thumb over his shoulder and in a nonchalant voice, said “You’ll find his broken body in that direction.”
I fell back a few steps, my lungs working overtime as I started to hyperventilate. He couldn’t mean—
“You killed him?” Easton asked, his voice cracking with the same emotion I was feeling.
Elias shrugged. “You’ll all be dead by the end of this war, anyway.”
My eyes rolled from left to right, looking at Easton, then Elias and Shaela, then over at Cris, who still maintained his Glamour and looked exactly like me. He appeared to be concentrating very hard, using every bit of his power to hold onto the illusion.
Too bad I was about to blow the whole plan to hell.
I may have been willing to stick to it before. Confuse the Zephyr, use our abilities to overpower him and get Shaela back, then cast him out so he could run back to Sebille with his tail between his legs. But nothing had happened like it was supposed to.
And there I was, my grief at losing another person consuming me. That grief warred for supremacy against my desperate fear for Shaela, and my empathy for what she must be feeling, to lose her first boyfriend like that.
Anger. Grief. Fear. Anger. Grief. Fear.
The emotions cycled over and over through me, fueling my er
ratic powers as they rose inside me. I vaguely heard Easton calling my name, but all my brain registered was that he was giving away my identity. That Elias would know that I was the real December.
Which was fine with me.
“Come and get me, asshole,” I gritted out between clenched teeth.
The Zephyr’s eye gleamed with anticipation as he took a step forward. A strong wind rushed from his body, whipping my hair back from my face, but I stood strong. I was an unmovable force, my keyed up emotions turning me into something I didn’t recognize. An avenging angel of death.
My body felt lighter as my own power rose to the surface, and within a few seconds I was levitating. I blocked out Easton and Cris, and even Shaela, my vision tunneling until Elias was the only thing I could see or hear.
“Nice trick,” he smirked, completely unafraid.
He flapped his black wings to lift himself off the ground. He zoomed forward, a black blur crossing the space between us. I blinked and he was in front of me, his hands cinching around my throat and cutting off my air supply.
I vaguely heard people shouting, felt the tree branches scratching my skin as gale-forced winds pushed us around the edges of the clearing. Easton was trying to blow him away from me. I gasped for air as Elias’s grip tightened, and my head started to feel foggy and thick.
Just as black spots danced across my vision, Elias loosened his grip just enough for me to suck in a shallow breath. A feeling of relief filled me, replacing all the negative emotions. Then he spoke.
“My queen wants you alive. If I kill you, she’ll be upset with me. And no one survives very long when Sebille is upset with them.”
His lips turned up at the corners, his obsidian eyes shining with delight.
“I will take young Oberon with us, to keep you company and please my queen. The others, unfortunately have to die.”
My eyes darted to Shaela, lying on the ground, bound and gagged. Then Cris, still holding his Glamour with sweat pouring down his temples. Then I thought of Charles. Poor Charles, killed for trying to rescue Shaela. Lying lifeless and alone somewhere out in the dark woods.
Heat built up inside me, so hot I could feel the tingle of it on my skin. The wind shifted, obeying my will, and started to spin around us, gaining speed with every second that passed. The whole area lit up with flickering lights, making shadows dance around us.
Anger. Fear. Grief.
I could feel nothing else. Not the pain of his tightening fingers bruising my skin. Not the burn in my lungs from lack of oxygen as he choked me, his voice demanding that I stop what I was doing immediately.
Anger. Fear. Grief.
I vaguely registered that the flickering lights were actually flames, and that we were surrounded by a wall of fire, cut off from the others. A great rumble filled the air around us, followed by shouts as the ground trembled and split open.
“Stop this,” Elias hissed, his face close to mine.
Rain flooded down upon us, soaking us instantly. The fire continued to rage despite the downpour. The crack of electricity buzzed around us as lightning struck somewhere above the treetops, a deafening boom of thunder following closely behind.
Anger. Grief.
The fear was gone as my body hummed with power. Nothing could touch me. I was invincible.
And this fucking Zephyr was going to pay for what he’d done.
Chapter Fifty-Nine
26
“December.”
The sound of my name pulled me from the black abyss, a nothingness that I’d swam in forever. Or it could have been two minutes. I had no idea.
Keeping my eyes closed, I moaned as I became aware of pain pulsing through my body. Everything hurt. My skin, my muscles, my bones. My throat.
Elias’s fingers had caused that pain.
My eyes flew open with a gasp. The first thing I saw was Easton. He was beside me, his dirty face streaked with tear tracks. His eyes were red and puffy, and as I watched, he sniffed and rubbed the back of his hand across his nose.
“Are you crying?”
I knew it was a stupid question, particularly after everything we’d just gone through, but I was shocked. I never, in a million years, thought I’d ever see Easton Oberon cry.
“No,” he said.
When I just looked at him with question in my eyes, he leaned in and pressed his wet lips against mine. Pulling back, he stared into my eyes for a moment before speaking.
“I’ve been trying to wake you up for hours. For hours, there’s been nothing. Not even a flicker of response. I thought I’d lost you, that your burst of power had been too much for you to handle and that you were gone. You didn’t have an aura, D.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, reaching over to cup his cheek.
I looked around for the first time, realizing I was in a bed. The room was unadorned and sterile-looking, most likely in the infirmary. My eyes snapped back to Easton in a panic.
“Shaela?”
“She’s fine,” he said, giving me a soft smile. “Cris, too.”
I sagged back against the pillow with relief before tensing again. Not everyone was okay. Charles…
I choked, then gagged on the emotion clogging my throat. Poor Charles. He was dead, and it was my fault. All. My. Fault.
“D, there’s something I have to tell you,” Easton said.
I shook my head, my eyes stinging with tears as silent sobs wracked my chest. I didn’t want to hear anything else. I couldn’t handle any more. I just couldn’t.
The door opened, creaking softly on its hinges, but I didn’t look to see who it was. I didn’t want any more visitors. I just wanted to wallow in my grief and guilt. It was what I deserved.
A feminine sigh met my ears as the weight of someone sitting bounced against the mattress. Fingers caressed my hair with delicate strokes, making me squeeze my eyes even tighter. I didn’t want to enjoy the comforting touch.
“D,” Shaela’s voice whispered. “Look at me, D.”
I didn’t think I could ever look at her again. Not after what I’d done.
“Is she okay?”
My eyes snapped open at the sound of that voice. My gasp echoed off the walls as I soaked in the sight of him, from his strawberry-blond head to his mud-streaked boots.
“Charles?”
I mouthed the word, but no sound actually came out. He stepped close to the bed and picked up my hand, prying open the fingers that were clenched in the bedsheets. He gripped it between his warm palms, squeezing lightly.
“I’m fine,” he said. “That Zephyr used wind to bash me against a tree trunk over and over again. He thought he killed me, but my heart was still beating. It took a few hours, but my healing powers eventually mended my broken bones enough that I could move. I reached the clearing just as you—”
His words cut off abruptly, and he snapped his mouth shut with a clink of teeth.
“What?” I asked, when no one in the room would meet my eyes. “What happened? What did I do?”
“You killed the Zephyr,” Easton murmured.
“I…what?”
I couldn’t comprehend the words. What did he mean? I couldn’t have…
“What do you remember?” Easton asked, taking my hand after Charles released it and move to put his arm around Shaela.
“I don’t know. The forest. The plan. Elias had Shaela. You and Cris came out looking like me. You dropped your Glamour, but he didn’t. Elias choking me…saying he killed Charles.”
My eyes flashed to the Sylph, taking in his reddish hair and pink wings, his healthy complexion. He looked fine.
“What else?” Easton prompted when I didn’t continue.
“Anger,” I said. “I was so angry and grief-stricken and scared. Those emotions blocked out everything. I remember my power building up. Wind, fire, rain. Did I open up a crevice in the ground?”
Easton nodded, but his eyes were shifty. He was keeping something from me.
“Where’s my ring?” I asked.
“Just give it to me, Easton.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the emerald ring, handing it over with a sigh. I slipped it onto my finger as he spoke.
“The nurse took it off when she treated you. I was just holding it for safe-keeping,” he explained.
But I didn’t care about his explanation. I wanted to see his aura.
It was solid blue, and I heaved a relieved sigh. He was worried about me, but didn’t fear me. My killing Elias must have been an accident, then.
“Just tell me, Easton,” I said. “I can take it.”
He glanced at Shaela, who gave him a resigned nod as she swallowed hard. My eyes flicked between them, then to Charles, who just gave me a sympathetic look. What the hell?
“You lost it, December. No one blames you. You thought he’d killed Charles, and he hurt Shaela. He said he was going to kill her, and Cris, too. He planned to take you and me to Sebille as prisoners.”
As he spoke, I remembered that part, and how angry I felt. But after that was just blackness.
“What happened?” I whispered.
“Your arms flew out to your sides and power flooded out from your chest. We could see it, a blinding white light with dark swirling through it. Elias was ripped away from you, then hung suspended in the air.”
“So he escaped?” I asked hopefully.
But I knew the answer to that question. They’d already told me I killed Elias.
With a sorrowful shake of his head, Easton continued. “You wrapped wind around his body, holding him in place. Then you set him on fire. When he burned to death, you dropped his body into the crevice you opened before closing the gap, burying his remains.”
“Oh my God.”
“He said he was going to kill us,” Shaela said, her voice filled with desperation. “And you thought he already killed Charles. No one blames you, D.”
I looked at her, my eyes wide with disbelief. No one blames me? I killed a man in the most vicious and painful of ways, buried the body, and I don’t even remember it.