“We’ll get him to start the war.”
“I’ll never help you Rytas. Never.” Donovan was yelling now and struggling harder. The faes struggled to hold the large man.
“That’s the great thing about the fae,” Rytas said as he walked up to where Donovan was being held. “We can be persuasive when we’re alone as my little Seraphina showed you. Together, we can make a man stab himself in the heart. If you get my drift.”
“No,” Seraphina yelled. She’d not manipulated him. She knew she hadn’t. He’d wanted to see her again and dance with her. Now he thought the worst of her.
Rytas nodded at the guards, and they pulled him away towards their jail to be chained up and influenced. She couldn’t stand the thought.
“Rytas you said we couldn’t influence other paranormal beings.”
“I did say that, but with more than one of us it is possible.”
His friendly tone had turned cold and more formal with her. She couldn’t help but think she’d somehow fallen out of his favor. Her mother would be horrified.
“Go home Seraphina, if I can use you any further, I’ll let you know.”
That was the sentence that really got under her skin. Rytas had relied on her every day and sent her on multiple missions, most of them for good, and this was what she got? A cold send-off after she failed one time. She had endured ridicule at the hands of other fae within their community. Her mother's scorn only added to the misery, and now she would be completely impossible to live with. None of it sat well with her, and in those seconds, she decided to free Donovan. She just wasn’t sure how to do it.
As she left the king’s house, she saw that Sima and Dae were back out front. They had coffee sitting next to them on a small table, and it gave her an idea.
“So, you like coffee then?” She casually came up to them and peered in the cup.
Sima pushed her spear in front of her. “Yes, so, it’s the one thing we can have all day and night. Keeps us up and alert.”
“Me too,” she said and made her way back home.
A plan was forming. Seraphina’s mother drank a concoction called honeysuckle wine. It was very potent and acted like morphine and some type of sleeping aid in one when you’d had enough. The two guards would be her first obstacle to free Donovan, the second guard would be outside his door. She’d figure that one out as she went.
Once at home, her mother drunk yet again from nectar, couldn't help but to remind her of her failure. But she didn't mind. She had other plans.
“Mother,” she yelled as she walked into the house. “How much honeysuckle wine would one have to drink to knock out until morning?”
“You’re that ashamed of your failed mission,” her mother slurred at her. “I knew you were going to fail. I could tell when you walked in the door yesterday. Now, what will become of us?” The elder fae slurred through the last few sentences and stumbled to her feet. “So, you want to sleep away your shame?”
Seraphina just went with it. “Yes, I want to sleep.”
“Well, I’ll get you a glass then.” Her mother sounded happy she wanted to drink with her. It almost made her feel a little guilty. She couldn’t drink it, she needed it. Walking into the kitchen, she saw her mother had poured the honeysuckle in a tall glass. It wasn’t a lot.
“That’s all you need to sleep?” She looked at it with doubt.
“Yep, put you right out.”
“I’ve seen you drink more than that before supper.”
“I dilute it with a little brandy, besides I’ve built up quite a tolerance.” She smiled proud of herself. Seraphina wanted to tell her the king was angry with her to wipe the smile away, but she didn’t. Her mother being proud of the amount of wine she could hold was not the type of achievement she wanted. Making the best cookies, tending the best garden, sure, being the lush of the fae, not so much.
“Drink with your mother.”
“No, I think I’ll take it in my room so I can go straight to bed. Thanks.”
Her mother tilted her glass back and went to pour another. It wouldn’t be long until Miss ‘built up a tolerance’ would be passed out on their couch. When she was sure her mother was asleep she made her way back into the kitchen and took the glass her mother had poured her. She matched the amount and poured all of it into a thermos taking it with her as she snuck out of the house.
Chapter Six - Rescue Mission
Donovan would be held in the back of the king's house and getting to him would require some quick work on Seraphina's part. She saw Dae and Sima standing at their post, both coffee cups were steaming. The partition that separated the guards from the entrance of the house was green and transparent. It would show her shadow if she dipped behind it. She'd have to create a distraction to get them away from their posts.
The horses were kept in a stable to the side of the king's house. She crept through the woods in front of the two guards making sure to stay out of sight behind the trees. When she made her way to the horses, she closed her eyes. They would have to break out for it to be convincing. She couldn't just open the gate and have them trot over. She pictured a snake slithering through the grass towards them. In her mind, she showed them the fence and gave them the idea they were in danger.
"Don't hurt yourselves," she told them, "just break down the fence."
At first, she wasn't sure it had worked. The horses still grazed, but then one kicked up on its hind legs and jumped back throwing her head from side to side. The other three soon mimicked her backing away from the spot they thought the snake was crawling and then they ran. The fence splintered making the desired amount of noise, and the horses ran towards the house.
"Damn dumb animals," she heard Sima yell as she chased after them. "Help me with them Dae, hurry."
Seraphina knew she had maybe a minute before the two guards had the horses calm and led them back through. She rushed forward and poured the honeysuckle wine into each of their coffees hoping the taste would blend well enough they wouldn't notice until they'd drank quite a bit.
She barely got back behind the trees before Sima came through leading two of the horses. She watched as they put them back in the stable tying them to the opposite side of the fence, called someone to come out and fix the gate, and went back to their post.
Sima took her coffee immediately and gulped loudly. "Something's wrong with my coffee. What did you do to it?"
Dae picked hers up to taste it. This was fortunate because Seraphina had been worried they may drink it too far apart and one would collapse without the other.
"Tastes fine to me Sima," Dae said drinking more from hers. Seraphina watched them both finish their cups and was surprised they stood like nothing was wrong. Great, I found the other two lushes in our community, she thought. She’d made sure to add more than her mother had shown her to make sure they’d go down quick.
Sima was the first to go down, she simply fell forward onto her face. It looked painful, and Seraphina cringed.
"What the hell?" The words were all Dae got out before she crumpled to the ground and her head slid down the partition. They were out. The first part of her plan was complete. Now to get past the other guard.
Tiptoeing around the sleeping fae she made her way through the front door and past the throne room. Rytas would have retired to his study or his bedroom at this point, but he would have left someone good guarding Donovan.
As she got closer to his cell, she saw the fae guarding him was Lucas. They'd gone to school together. She really liked Lucas. He had wavy blond hair and a toothy grin. He put her in the mind of a surfer guy you might see in the movies, only he had ashen skin.
"Hi, Lucas. I don't suppose you'll just let me see the prisoner?"
"Hey Sera, great to see you. No, I'm under strict orders."
"Then I'm sorry about this," Seraphina said.
The look of confusion on his face was replaced by fear when he saw her pick up the heavy vase and bring it down on his head. She felt awful as he fell to
the floor and hoped he wouldn't have too much of a headache when he woke up.
It was at this point she started to wonder if freeing Donovan was worth it. She'd knocked out three people in one way or another, taken her mother's precious honeysuckle wine, and for what? She knew why. It was her fault he was here, he'd followed her back hoping to make amends. She couldn't expect him to confess his undying love for her, but that would be all right with her.
Man, I really am losing my mind, she thought as she approached his cell.
He was sleeping. His large form sat on a bench, and his head was leaned slightly back. Somehow, he looked more handsome like that than he had before. Seraphina's heart gave a little leap as she cleared her throat.
"Hi," she said.
"Hi," he opened one eye and sat up stretching.
"Why did you follow me back?"
“I thought about it and felt like Lily was a little harsh. I wanted to say I was sorry and I like you. That’s something I’m not so sure about anymore.”
“Look, I’m sorry you feel betrayed, but I’m trying to make it right.”
"How are you trying to make it right?"
She opened the door with the keys she'd taken off Lucas. "By getting you out of here."
He followed her and paused when they got to Lucas' sleeping form.
"Did you kill him!" He exclaimed.
"No, I knocked him out. Come on."
"You did that for me?" He put a hand to his chest and batted his lashes at her.
"No time to be cute. We need to get going." Seraphina bounced from foot to foot looking around anxiously.
"Where are we going?"
"Don't worry just hurry." She tugged at him and led the way down the hall and deeper into the king's house. Seraphina was desperate for him to get going before they came after both of them. "We'll have to go through the underground of our little community so things might get a bit weird."
"Weird?"
"Trust me, you'll see what I mean."
They made it to the end of the house, and she led the way through a large wooden door. Once they were inside the hallway narrowed, and the walls were covered in rock. She'd only been this way once when she did a job for Rytas. She'd been told to come in from underground to listen in on a meeting he was having with the dryads. Some sort of peaceful negotiation on land ownership, she couldn't remember now.
Once they'd crept through the tunnel for a while, the hallway changed and bright murals spread out across the rock as the wall opened to reveal an enormous cave. The colorful paintings were of what could only be described as fairy orgies. When the king was questioned, he had no idea who had painted them beneath his home. This had been the weird part she was telling Donovan about. She avoided looking at him while they were surrounded by naked winged creatures in compromising poses.
The cave they were in led to another less embarrassing one. Seraphina was hurrying to get to that entrance when she heard Rytas talking from within. Why was he in his basement at night? The tunnels would usually be empty at this time.
"Stop," she whispered to Donovan and held a hand up as she crept closer to the cave entrance. There were at least fifty people crammed in the cave and Rytas stood on a platform in front of them.
"For too long we've been confined to the stream and the waterfall unable to live the life we truly want. We won't be held down by the weres anymore. It's time for the forest to take back what's theirs."
He punched a fist into the air, and everyone let out one loud cheer. It was eerie how they all stood completely still staring ahead. No one seemed to want to take their eyes off Rytas or scratch their head or do anything. It was all too weird.
"Is everyone prepared for the takeover tomorrow? Are you all willing to do what you have to do? WE march at daybreak!"
The entire crowd said yes at the same time, and Seraphina backed straight up into Donovan. His arms went around her waist, and for a moment she allowed herself to feel the hardness of his chest against her. Coming to her senses she turned and pushed him to keep going. They made their way down the rest of the tunnel and out a side exit that came out on the other end of the waterfall.
"You were right it did get weird," Donovan said shaking his head.
"I was talking about the strange paintings on the rocks when I said that. This is a complete disaster."
"Who were all those people?"
"Some were nymphs and dryads. Some were human. He's controlling a whole army of people. A lot of them were my people. I don't know what to do. I recognized the people my mother was with earlier. Donovan, she could be in there." Suddenly the king she'd served so diligently was a monster to her. How could he take over so many people's lives?
"How could he do that? I know you're persuasive in groups, but not that persuasive."
"I don't know. It's almost like they're under a spell."
"Penelope," Donovan said clenching his fists. "Always where she shouldn't be."
Running towards the woods, she was looking over her shoulder and almost ran into a man sprinting their way.
“Donovan, stand back, I’m here to rescue you.” The dark-haired man she’d seen him with at the ball was running towards them. Jeremy was his name, she thought she remembered. “Get away from him you evil fae.”
He rushed at her knocking her to the ground, and she prepared to fight him bringing her knees sharply into his stomach.
Chapter Seven - It's the Witch
“Oomph,” Jeremy said as she connected. He rolled off her and held his stomach on the ground. After a couple breaths, he grabbed her leg as she stood and walked past bringing her back down. She raised both hands in the air ready to smash him in the face.
“Stop,” Donovan yelled. “We need to go. The witch is controlling a bunch of water fae and they are going to attack the alpha."
"What? Penelope?"
"Why does everyone know who this is?" Seraphina was starting to come unglued.
"Because Jeremy used to date her and she's tried to kill us before."
"I am here to save you big guy. Get away from this water witch."
“I was already saving him, so your presence is not needed.” Seraphina puffed her chest out.
“Saving him? You were saving him from yourself. Your people kidnapped him with weird magic, to begin with.”
“Okay true, but, I saw the light. I know now I shouldn’t have lied and this war does not need to happen. The problem is now my King has a bunch of crazy fae zombies planning to attack the alpha."
"Which one?" Jeremy and Donovan said at the same time.
"I don't know." Seraphina realized it could easily be Walter or Stefan. There was no way to know.
"Donovan do you have your witch tracking device ready?" Jeremy said.
"Yep." Donovan's skin shimmered, and he shook for a minute. His nose elongated, and his head started to get bigger. His back bent hunching over, and he went down to all fours. When he looked up at her, Seraphina saw a black bear with beautiful green eyes. They were even greener in his bear form.
He took off into the woods leaving Seraphina with Jeremy. This was going to go really well.
"So, you're into dating witches huh. That chick who hated me at the ball, is she a witch?"
"Listen I don't trust or like you so let's just hang out in silence."
Seraphina paced for a while and then jumped and splashed in the stream. Jeremy sighed loudly and crossed his arms in front of his chest. She picked at a tree branch and made a small house out of the sticks. He rolled his eyes and sighed again.
She started to pace again.
"Can you not just sit still for two minutes?" He erupted at her leaping from his seat on a log and throwing his arms wide.
"No, I'm bored. Is he coming back? You wouldn't let me talk."
"He will return with the witch."
Jeremy didn't say anything else, so she continued to pace despite his huffing. It was getting later, had to be around midnight. She'd broken him out close to nine o'clock.
"So, is your wife a witch," Seraphina asked unable to help herself.
"I'm going to check the perimeter," Jeremy said and stood up to stomp off towards the woods. He muttered some inaudible words in her direction but kept his back turned away.
In the distance, she could see something coming. She couldn't tell right away if it was a bear or not, but it was large. As the form got closer, she could see it was Donovan and a woman. She assumed it was the witch.
As they got closer, she saw the woman was chained to him. Her long black hair framed her face, and she glared as they moved towards her.
"Found the witch, where's Jeremy?"
"Who is this, his new mistress?" The witch tried to walk towards her, but the chains stopped her.
"No, Penelope this is none of your business. You're going to tell us what you’re doing with the water fae, or I'm going to keep you chained until you do."
He held an orb up that glowed slightly and the witch cringed away from it. Seraphina deduced it was somehow holding her there or keeping her from doing magic.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I've not been dealing with the fae."
"Don't play dumb Penelope," Jeremy said as he walked out of the woods.
"Jeremy." The woman said it with a mix of pleasure and hate in her voice. The strangest thing Seraphina had ever felt coming off someone. She was only usually tuned into paranormal being's feelings a little bit like when she could tell Donovan was a kind soul. This woman's emotions were about to knock her down.
"I may have done a favor or two for the king, but it's been a while." She said as she touched a toe to the dirt. Seraphina realized she was trying to play coy.
"What did you do for him, Penelope? There's no reason to play dumb with us. You know Donovan can keep you chained to him for days." Jeremy laughed.
Seraphina felt a stab of envy that the witch could be chained to Donovan for the day. She tried to push that away.
"He wanted to have stronger manipulative powers, but I don't know why, or for what. I was minding my own business when this guy busted in and kidnapped me." She yelled the last part to emphasize it.
Strong Love Page 4