by Eva Chase
Jagger and several of the others nodded. I turned back toward the vague shape of the cave openings I could make out through the trees. My king’s presence, so much stronger now, wound through my chest. I’m coming.
“Here I go,” I said, and switched to the old tongue. “Wind carry me to the place of my heart.” Darton might have looked at me strangely if I’d called him a “place” in his hearing, but the truth was he was the closest thing to a real home I had.
I twirled my wand. The wind whipped up around and through me. And with a lurch—much less disorienting than crossing an entire ocean, thank the light—I was stumbling on cold stone ground in the darkness of the cave.
One of the dark fae standing nearby gave a cry. Darton was slumped by my feet. I snapped out a lash of light, jerking the sword through the air at the same time. The five fae gathered around me staggered back a step, and the spell lit up my reborn king.
His hair was damp from the cave’s moisture and matted at one temple with scabbing blood. A coil of shadow bound his wrists and ankles. The arm the fae had broken rested at an unnatural angle. But his eyes were open and bright.
“Darkness begone,” I spat, gesturing to his bonds. They fell away—and the dark fae charged at me, shouting spells of their own.
Darton shoved himself upright and grabbed Excalibur from me with his working hand. It lit up with an eager flash. He stabbed the blade into the bolt of dark magic blasting toward us and smashed the energy apart. I bent down to grasp his shoulder so he didn’t have to try to stand just yet. He lifted the sword, already knowing what we needed to do.
“Darkness begone, darkness fall! Light knock the sense from their darkened minds!” I yelled. A thunderclap of light blazed through the cave. Two of the fae toppled. The other three had conjured shadowy shields around themselves. The light slammed into them, shattering the shields and throwing the fae backward, but not quite hitting them.
The three of them started to press forward again, but a crackling rang out on the other side of the cave. My allies had reached us. Flames leapt and electricity shot out all across the cave entrance. My grip on Darton’s shoulder tightened.
“Again?” he said, his voice creaky. It pained me to hear it, even as his determination squeezed at my heart.
“Let’s show them what they get when they mess with my king,” I said.
He chuckled roughly and heaved himself onto his feet. I shifted my hand from his shoulder to the bare skin at the back of his neck.
“Darkness begone, darkness fall!” I hollered, my own voice hoarse. Darton sliced the sword through the air. Another wave of light crashed through the cave. It smashed into the remaining fae, sending them flying right out of the cave into the midst of the fae hunters.
Excalibur dipped in Darton’s hand. He swayed. I caught him with an arm around his back. “Hey,” he said, sounding slightly dazed. He leaned his head next to mine. “My wizard.”
I laughed, but something about his tone made my throat constrict. It was so tender. How hard had they hit him in the head? I touched his cheek as I steadied him. His broken arm hung useless at his side. I bent over it and murmured a few words to knit the bone. It would still be too painful for him to swing the sword with it quite yet, but it was a step in the right direction.
“Your wizard, as always, sire,” I said. “And right now I recommend we make sure these fae are well and truly beaten.”
He carried his own weight walking to the cave’s opening, mostly, but he moved stiffly after the many hours of lying bound. “You got my message?” he said. “I tried... I couldn’t manage much. And then they saw me moving and tied my wrists tighter. Took the phone off me too.”
“I got the message,” I said, “inarticulate as it was. It gave us a better idea of how to find you. Apparently they held on to the phone, because it led us right to you. And here we are, back together.”
“I tried to fight them off, in the cemetery.”
“I know, my liege. You felled two of them, did you realize? It’d be a little much to expect you to conquer an entire dark fae army. You might be an excellent king, but you’re not a god.”
His mouth twitched with a hint of a smile, but his expression still looked pained. “It shouldn’t always be you,” he murmured.
I didn’t know what he meant by that, but we’d reached the edge of the forest then. “Art!” Keevan hollered, and slapped his arm around his best friend. Izzy hurried over too. The fae hunters had spread out through the woods around the caves. They looked as though they were patrolling rather than actively fighting now.
“The fae?” I said.
Priya loped over to join us. “They took off when they saw what they had to contend with out here.” She hefted her borrowed flamethrower with a grin. “I’ve never seen a fae look quite that disgruntled. It was really very satisfying.”
They’d be more than disgruntled. They’d be furious—and panicked at the thought of the Darkest One’s displeasure.
“They’ll have been waiting for others to join them, to take Darton the rest of the way to Chicago,” I said. “We should get moving before those reinforcements, or others, show up.”
“Chicago?” Darton said as we headed down the mountainside toward the road. His legs were steadier now, but he wavered a little on the rocky ground. “Why would they be taking me to Chicago? Where are we now? I haven’t seen anything except shadows and trees for... however long it’s been.”
“The World Peace Summit,” I said. “It looks like the dark fae are gathering around Chicago to meet the Darkest One.” A shiver passed through me. They’ve probably already met her by now. She herself could be sweeping toward us at this very minute, ready to claim her long-awaited prize. “I think that’s where she’s planning on unleashing... her plan.” I caught myself just shy of mentioning the dragon. He’d asked me not to tell his friends.
“Oh,” Darton said. He swallowed audibly. Probably processing the thought that the monster lurking inside him could be poised to destroy one of the largest cities in the country. He wet his lips. “But we’re going to stop her.”
“Of course we are,” Keevan said. “That’s what we do.”
“Emmaline has been working with one of the fae hunters on this trap for the Darkest One,” Priya said, with a brightness that sounded a little forced. She knew it wasn’t going to be easy. “Something to do with electrical currents and I don’t know what else.”
Darton lifted his head. “You got that thing working?”
Well... “It’s getting closer,” I said. “And, sorry, you’re still the necessary bait.”
He gave me a crooked smile. “That seems to be what I do best.” He held my gaze for a beat longer than usual, his eyes searching mine. I didn’t know what for.
Keevan cleared his throat. Izzy motioned to the scabbed cut on Darton’s forehead. “Did they hurt you anywhere else? I think the fae hunters have medical supplies. I guess they’d need to in their line of work...”
Darton touched the patch of dried blood and make a face. “They mostly just kept me tied up. Even this is really my fault. I hit my head on a rock while I was trying to break free after they first grabbed me. I think they added something to their magic after that, so I couldn’t move at—”
A cry rang out through the forest from below. Most of the fae hunters had gone ahead of us. My pulse stuttered. I grasped Darton’s hand, and we pushed faster through the forest.
I had my wand ready as we burst from the trees, but there was no battle to join when we emerged from the trees. The fae hunters were hustling around the line of parked vehicles with more sounds of dismay. My gaze caught on shattered glass glinting on the pavement.
Several of the flood lamps on the cars had been smashed. One had a gaping hole in its windshield. Another’s hood was completely caved in. The dark fae had battered our transportation as they’d fled.
I turned, and a yelp escaped my own lips.
One of the van’s back doors was hanging sideways from
one hinge. The other was folded inward. Howard stood there, his hands shoved into his hair, his stance defeated.
Chapter Twenty-Two
I dashed to the van, dragging Darton with me. Even if I couldn’t see any dark fae at the moment, I wasn’t leaving him out of arm’s reach. I wasn’t giving them another chance to grab him.
As we came up on the back of the van, my heart sank all the way to the soles of my feet. A blast of dark magic had consumed most of the interior. The rods were crumbling, eaten away by a sudden rust. The black box that had housed Howard’s generator lay strewn in little pieces across the floor. Wires had melted together into a shapeless blob.
Our trap looked like a pile of old junk.
Howard pawed through the mess, his mouth pressed tight. “Can you salvage anything?” I asked. My voice came out raw.
He shook his head. “I’ll have to start over from scratch. I don’t know where I’ll get another conductor like the one I had in there... I constructed those at home. I’ve got other ones there...”
But his home was a day’s drive away, he didn’t need to say. We didn’t have a day. We might not even have an hour.
I exhaled shakily. That trap had been our one shot. I didn’t have any other plans left. We had Darton, but no real way to protect him. No way to stop the Darkest One from doing whatever the hell she wanted.
Jagger walked over. He studied the ruin of the van and folded his arms over his chest. “Is it still drivable?” he said.
Right. Because the only thing worse than having lost our chance at imprisoning the Darkest One again would be losing Darton again, right here, because we didn’t have any means to escape her minions.
Izzy had already opened the driver’s side door and hopped in. The engine rumbled and then sputtered out. Whatever magic the dark fae had thrown at the vehicle as they’d charged past, it had wrecked the van all the way through.
“How are we getting out of here then?” Keevan asked.
Jagger let out a huff of breath. “We’ll manage. They didn’t hit all the cars. They haven’t knocked us down yet. But I’m thinking we should be getting out of here fast?”
He glanced at me. As if anything I’d contributed so far had gotten us closer to real safety. I swallowed a slightly hysterical laugh. “Yeah. Out of here and fast sounds good.”
“All right. We’ve got people one state over we’ve been in contact with. They’re already heading out to meet us. We’ll pile into the cars that are still working and meet them halfway. I’ll see if they can scrounge up a few extra vehicles while they’re at it.” He paused and gave my shoulder a quick squeeze. I had no idea how despondent I must have looked to provoke that gentle gesture from Jagger of all people.
“We’ll regroup,” he said. “We’re not beat, and we won’t be.”
He could say that, but from where I was standing, it sure as hell felt like we were. The Darkest One had no doubt already landed on America’s shores. I’d barely managed to weaken the dragon in Darton. We were out of time and out of options.
But there was nothing to do but go forward and hope some other answer came to me on the way. Jagger motioned us toward the truck where I’d first met Yasmin. Darton and I climbed in the back with her and a couple of the other fae hunters. She’d already gotten out her laptop.
“Let’s go!” she said. “I’m not liking the readings I’m seeing here.”
Jagger waved his arm, and the truck and a few of the cars pulled onto the road. The driver gunned the engine. I watched the wrecked van until we turned the corner, leaving my last great plan behind for good.
We had our rendezvous with the local fae hunters at a farm near the state border. The windmill creaked as its tattered blades rocked back and forth in the breeze. Weeds choked the fields beyond wooden fences that were half collapsed. Not much chance of us being spotted here by anyone who’d find our activities suspicious, but the whole place had a deathly atmosphere that left my nerves prickling.
Only four new hunters joined us, but they’d managed to bring one vehicle apiece, partly thanks to a quick bank transfer I’d made through my phone. They’d picked up a couple of RVs for sale at a used dealership. “That’ll make sleeping on the road a little less painful,” Jagger said, as if he thought we could just keep driving and somehow that would fix everything.
But what else was there to do? As the hunters bustled between the vehicles, redistributing supplies and discussing routes, I took a bottle of water one of them had passed me and wiped the powder from my face and hands. Then I rinsed out my mouth. Between the aura of death and the literal poison in the ashy mix, I’d been feeling increasingly queasy. Painting myself in darkness definitely wasn’t a permanent solution.
When I was done, I handed the bottle to Darton. He drained the third of water left in the bottom. I brushed past him to flick on the truck’s radio.
After a few attempts, I found a station with a news show. The hosts chattered away about a political bribery scandal and a deli meat recall. Then the weather anchor came on.
“We’re seeing quick a sudden cold front sweeping the east coast this morning,” he said. “Temperatures have dropped to around fifteen degrees below the expected average at this time of year. It’s not clear what caused this sudden shift, so meteorologists are having difficulty predicting when it might pass.”
Darton rested his hand on the small of my back and leaned his head over my shoulder. “Do you figure that’s because of the Darkest One? No storms this time?”
“I’d stake my life on it,” I said. “She’s here. And she can’t resist strewing discomfort to lead up to the main event. But a full-out storm would mean planes can’t fly in all those world leaders for tomorrow.”
“If we can stay ahead of the dark fae until after that... I guess there isn’t much chance she’d give up?”
“No. Not much chance at all.” I grimaced. “The summit is supposed to last for an entire week. I don’t know if we even can stay ahead of all of her minions that long. And if by some miracle we did, she’ll find some other way to use you. She’s been waiting fifteen hundred years for this moment—more if you count the time before. A small delay isn’t going to put her off.”
As if on cue, the news show switched focus. “Anticipation is building for the massive World Peace Summit. Crowds gathered near the O’Hare Airport to watch the presidents from France, China, and Brazil arriving. The event will kick off with a public forum held in Lincoln Park tomorrow afternoon.”
I shut off the radio. Hearing that news didn’t help me. We couldn’t outrun the Darkest One forever. We couldn’t take her on with flamethrowers and electro-guns. Between Darton’s sword and my magic, we couldn’t do more than knock out regular dark fae, so we certainly weren’t stopping their high lady with the tools we currently had. What was left? What was I missing?
Or maybe there wasn’t anything.
The oath’s itch crept up my fingers into my hands. I shoved them into my jacket pockets and turned away from the truck. I was exhausted. I hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday. Maybe the newcomers had brought some food to give me the energy I needed to keep resisting.
I took one step toward the nearest RV, and an icy finger traced down my back.
My body stiffened. I held my breath, taking in the sensation, as the frigid tendril pierced deeper inside me. A hum of dark magic ran through it. A magic and a chill I knew better than I’d have liked to.
It was her. The Darkest One was searching me out. Because she knew she’d find Darton with me, of course. And she’d found me. Practically tapped me on the shoulder from afar.
I tried to grasp onto the thread of her magic with my own awareness, but it yanked away from me. I stretched my mind after it as it trailed into the distance. The chill vanished, leaving only the regular fall damp in the air around me.
From afar, yes. She wasn’t close enough for my half-fae senses to find her. But that was a small comfort. She’d pinpointed my location. We had to get moving. I had
to throw her off somehow. I had to—
In my panic, I lost my grip on my body. I swung around, my arms jerking toward Darton. He caught them by the elbows as if thinking I’d turned to him for an embrace. The heels of my hands rammed into his chest. Words sputtered off my tongue.
“Break and bur—”
No. I couldn’t make my arms budge, but my neck moved. I smacked my face into the roof of the truck, cutting off the spell less than a syllable shy of rupturing Darton’s heart. Pain jarred through my jaw and into my skull, snapping the oath’s hold.
Darton grunted. My stomach lurching, I wrenched my arms back to my sides. He pressed his hand to his chest, just below where my palms had struck him. His mouth twisted.
A little of the spell had slipped out. I’d hurt him. My throat choked up. “I’m so sorry. Let me—”
I cut myself off, jerking my hands back from reaching for him. As if he’d want me trying to help after I’d done the damage. But Darton blinked at me, and then his face fell. As if, somehow, he was more bothered by my pulling back than the fact that I’d almost killed him.
I touched his chest tentatively, digging the fingernails of my other hand into my palm to hold back the oath’s urge. With a quick murmur, I found the problem. My fractured spell had cracked two of his ribs.
At least I could knit those back together. Ramming my nails deeper into the wound on my palm, I whispered a few words to seal the bones.
“Are you okay?” Keevan said, coming over. I dropped my hand from Darton’s body and stepped back.
“Sure,” Darton said. He prodded the spot without so much as a wince. “Em was just healing me up.”
He didn’t say I was the one who’d hurt him in the first place. Keevan wouldn’t even guess, considering where we’d just found Darton. He’d assume it’d been the dark fae’s doing.
But even his kidnapping had been my doing, hadn’t it? I’d led them to the safe place we’d made, even if inadvertently. I’d taken the oath that was preventing me from being able to keep him by my side without risking him more. And now the Darkest One was using me as a target to track him down.