Loose Changeling: A Changeling Wars Novel

by A. G. Stewart

  “The first time he invited me back to his house, I watched him open the refrigerator and saw all those four-ounce packages of beer kaese—he'd never bothered to eat even one of them. That's when I knew I was going to marry him.”

  I huffed out a sigh. “That sounds pretty simple.”

  “When it's right, it sort of is,” Lainey said.

  Kailen stepped back into the living room, a bowl of spaghetti in hand. My father and Owen followed him. Owen carried a tray of sandwiches. He set it down on the coffee table, making sure to break off a small piece for Jane. “Thought you might be hungry,” he mumbled. He wouldn't meet my gaze.

  Kailen wolfed down the pasta. The color returned to his face in increments. I reached for a sandwich.

  “No,” Kailen said between bites. “You turn that thing into egg salad, or you don't eat it. You have to practice, Nicole.”

  “I thought I had to overcome my block,” I said.

  “You do, but I'm not going to send you into the Arena only having performed a few bits of magic. The Guardians' champion will crush you.”

  I closed my eyes, concentrated. With Owen in the room and my prior experience, it took only a few seconds to change the sandwich.

  “Transformation is definitely a strength of yours,” Kailen said. “It makes sense. It's what Maera is best at as well. It'll serve you well in the Arena.”

  I took a bite from the sandwich. “Can you stop saying ‘Arena’? It's making me antsy. What about Faolan? What is he good at?”

  Kailen scraped the bottom of his bowl, ate the last bit of spaghetti, and rose to his feet. He unclipped the sword tube from his belt and held it out to me. Mystified, I took it, the metal cool against my palm. “Why are you giving me this?”

  “You should open it, give it a few swings,” Kailen said. “One of my Talents is my ability with the blade. But I learned everything I know from Faolan. He's the most talented swordsman among all the Sidhe.”

  Me? With a sword? The sandwich felt like cardboard in my mouth.

  Just then, Kailen's watch began to beep.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  The beeping echoed off the walls of the living room.

  I tossed the sandwich onto the table. “For fuck's sake, can't you just turn that thing off or something?”

  Kailen ignored me, lifting his wrist to check the face of his watch. “We have to move. I set up wards, but they won't last forever.”

  “What is it?” Lainey asked.

  He shook the watch, looked at it again. “Not sure. Not Guardians. They don't trigger the alarm at all. Something else.” He scooped up Jane and reached for his sword. “No time for lessons, I'm afraid.”

  “Well, where else are we supposed to go?” I asked.

  Kailen stopped and huffed out a sigh. “We can go to my condo. It's a safe house—invisible to those who wish me harm.”

  “That would have been useful in the beginning,” Owen said, his face red. “Instead, you run us all around town. Great idea, great.”

  “Invisible to those who wish me harm. I’m not sure how well it will work for Nicole. Besides, she wasn’t exactly friendly to me when I first showed up,” Kailen said. I handed him the sword. He clipped it to his belt and then took my hand. “She might not have been able to enter. Let's go.”

  I gently extricated my fingers from his. He looked at me but didn't say anything. Owen was right here, in the room. Yes, we'd shared a kiss—a confusing one, but it wasn't enough reason to start holding hands. “I'll follow you,” I said.

  “Wait!” My mom hurried back into the room, a necklace in her hands. She placed it over my head. I looked down. The chain was silver. The charm itself looked like a bundle of sticks, woven with white fibers. A blue crystal lay in the middle. “You won't win any fashion awards,” she said, “but it's a protection charm. It might help.” Her lip began to tremble, but she bit it. “Stay safe. Be careful.”

  “Thanks, Mom.” I embraced her, inhaling her scent. I hadn't always gotten along with her, but she was my mom.

  “Owen, you're with us,” Kailen said. His watch beeped again. “Whatever it is, it's at the wards. Stay close behind me; don't step outside the boundaries. Nicole, you'll feel them. Owen, just step where we do.”

  My dad and Lainey each hugged me in turn. My dad cleared his throat. “You just yell for me if you need me. Fae or not, no one hurts my little girl without going through me.”

  “Stay inside, please. I'll come back,” I promised them. “I just have to take care of this whole Changeling thing.”

  Kailen hovered next to me and I sensed his impatience. Before I changed my mind, I followed him out the door.

  He needn’t have told Owen to follow in our footsteps. Hobgoblins, ten of them, hovered around the house. They stood a little ways back, held back by an invisible barrier. “Kailen?” I said, my voice an octave higher than I would have liked.

  “It's okay,” he said. “Just stay within the bounds.”

  As Kailen had said, I sensed the boundary. It smelled of honeysuckle and brushed against my skin—a light pressure. Kailen had parked his car in the driveway. We headed toward it.

  From the midst of the hobgoblins, a man stepped forward. Though the weather was cold, he wore a black satin bathrobe over a pair of jeans, and black gloves. His blonde hair was slicked back. He crossed his arms and regarded us. “Kailen, it's been a long time,” he said.

  “Dorian,” Kailen said. Though he said the name casually, his hand crept toward his sword. “I can't say well met. So you're the one sending the hobgoblins? And venturing into the mortal world? You’re a prince. Your father will have your hide.”

  “Everyone with a bit of moonstone does it. Besides, I don't think he'll mind if I destroy the Changeling. It pays to be in Grian’s favor these days,” Dorian said. He leaned over, careful not to cross Kailen's ward, and looked at Owen. “Still hanging out with mortals, I see.”

  “It prevents me from dressing like a complete idiot,” Kailen said.

  Dorian raised an eyebrow, but then waved a dismissive hand. “What do I care what mortals think of the way I look?” He breathed in. “After all these years, all this flitting between our world and theirs, and you still make a strong ward. But you know me, Kailen, and you know I can break it.”

  I jabbed a finger at Kailen's back. “Who is this guy?”

  Dorian met my gaze. “I can answer for myself. I'm one of the Caervohns. If you'd been raised in the Fae lands, we'd have crossed paths. Our families used to be friendly, before this unpleasantness with creating a Changeling started up.” He readjusted the tie of his bathrobe. “It's too bad, really. None of this is your fault, Nicole.”

  “That's sweet,” I said, “or it would be, if you hadn't tried to kill me.”

  He gave me a lazy smile. “Just making sure you know this isn't personal. Grian can be a fickle woman, and if things change, I wouldn't want us to be at odds.” He took a half step forward.

  Something in the air shifted. The honeysuckle scent increased in its intensity.

  “Get into the car,” Kailen said. He plucked Jane from his pocket and handed her back to me.

  I, in turn, handed her back to Owen. Owen made a beeline for the car door. “I'm not getting into the car,” I said to Kailen. I was tired of getting pushed around and chased.

  “You're strong, but you've had very little practice. Get into the car.”

  “There are ten hobgoblins and one Fae against you. I don't know what Dorian can do, but I know what hobgoblins can do. I'll take the hobgoblins. You take him.” I leaned down and plucked a twig from my parents' lawn.

  Kailen nodded. “Fine.”

  Owen, from inside Kailen's car, yelled, “Nicole, don't be stupid!”

  And that was all I needed. The twig lengthened, widened, became metal. I didn't hold a stick anymore. I held a sword, the blade long and thin.

  “Impressive,” Dorian said. “So the Changeling has some control over her powers.” He took another step forward. The
smell of honeysuckle became overbearing, mingled with the scent of black pepper. Dorian took one last step, and the honeysuckle disappeared. The hobgoblins rushed forward.

  I lifted my sword and prepared to meet them. For a few panicked seconds, I regretted my decision, felt my heart flutter in my chest as I wondered if I would die. And then some instinct kicked in, prompting me to move. I ducked to the side, avoiding the grab from the first hobgoblin, and sliced my sword upwards, through its innards. It dissolved into liquid. I took the head from the second before it had a chance to make a grab. Something tugged at my hair from my left. I whirled, and cut the arms from two more hobgoblins. Others rushed to fill the empty spaces.

  I’d always thought myself a little clumsy, but now I moved with the grace of a gymnast. I tried not to think about it too much as I impaled another hobgoblin. If I tried to analyze this, I might lose hold of it, like an athlete that chokes on the last event. Only I would lose my life, not just a medal.

  I lost myself in the dance. Dart to the side, thrust, slice, turn. My feet and arms seemed to move of their own accord, my thoughts in a haze. Despite the situation, my pulse coursed through my veins steady and unchanging. Ten hobgoblins became seven, became five.

  And then there were only three. I took a moment to rest, my sword outstretched, my breathing quick. The three remaining hesitated, the remains of their brethren soaking into my parents' lawn. I didn't wait for them to attack again. I went after them, my sword raised.

  I went for the one in the middle, slicing through its torso. The other two moved to the sides, trying to surround me. I cut two arms from the one on the right and felt the cold grip of a hobgoblin on my left arm. I gave that one my full attention, stabbing it where I assumed its heart was. It dissolved.

  The last hobgoblin seized my hair. I yelped.

  “Nicole!” A strangled sound.

  The battle haze I'd been in seeped away. My signature, dark chocolate, was thick in my nostrils. Dorian's gloves and sleeves lay in tatters, exposing silver flesh beneath. His metallic hands closed around Kailen's throat. Kailen reached for his sword, now lying on the ground. He wouldn't make it.

  I flipped my sword, grasped the hilt with both hands, and plunged it behind me, where I guessed the hobgoblin to stand. A shower of black, sticky hobgoblin juice rewarded me. So much for that bath and change of clothes.

  I charged toward Dorian. I'd have to get him in the back, chest, or legs. I guessed from his tattered sleeves that his hands and arms wouldn't yield to the blade of a sword.

  The legs. I ducked as I approached and aimed my sword low.

  Without missing a beat, Dorian removed one of his hands from Kailen's neck and grabbed the blade of my sword. He wrenched it, bending the tip of the sword and sending me tumbling to the ground. Before I recovered, a silver hand had grabbed the front of my shirt.

  “Not bad,” Dorian said, “especially for manifesting only a few days ago. You might have rivaled Merlin or Morgan if you'd lived long enough.”

  I glanced at Kailen. His face had begun to turn purple.

  I had to do something. I was a Changeling. Hadn’t Kailen told me that I was dangerous? I had abilities that no one else did, like the ability to control doorways. I closed my eyes and concentrated. I thought of the Void, of the way it had felt to pass from the mortal world and into the Fae world. I pushed these thoughts toward the air behind Dorian, fueling it with the indignity of the past few days. When I opened my eyes, the air behind Dorian looked different, shimmering like a mirage. I had to push him somehow, get him to step into it.

  Dorian suddenly released us both. “Sun and stars!” he said. “You have a grushound on your tail?”

  Kailen rubbed his throat and coughed. “I thought you sent it after us.”

  I grasped for my bent sword and looked out into the street. The grushound sat two steps from the sidewalk. It still had the eyes I'd given it, big and brown, like a puppy's. Somehow it didn't look so intimidating with puppy eyes.

  “I don't have grushounds at my disposal,” Dorian said. “I leave them as free agents; I'm not crazy enough to try and tame those things. Doesn't matter if I kill you or it does,” he said. He stepped back—and fell through the doorway I’d created. He disappeared.

  I leaned forward and touched the shimmering air. The intense scent of dark chocolate filled my nostrils, and then both smell and doorway were gone.

  “Back up slowly,” Kailen said behind me. “The grushound is still looking at us. It must not be used to being able to see yet, so don’t make any sudden movements.”

  I did as he said. I gripped my sword tightly in one hand and turned my head slowly toward the grushound. Despite everything that had just happened, it still sat in its spot on the street, staring at me. It must have tracked my signature. We made our way to the car. “Open the door,” I whispered to Kailen. “I’ll go around to the other side.”

  The grushound got to its feet then and took three slow steps toward me.

  “No,” Kailen said from between his teeth. “You drive. It’s after you. You get into the car first.”

  I wasn’t going to argue with that logic. I reached behind me and fumbled for the latch of the door. As soon as it opened, the grushound broke into a run.

  “Go!” I yelled at Kailen. I slid into the driver’s seat and slammed the door shut just as the grushound reached it. It scrabbled at the metal, its claws raking into the car's side.

  Kailen slipped inside a few seconds later. He dropped the keys into my hand. “Drive!” he said. I didn’t need to be told twice. I turned the key in the ignition, put the car in reverse, and gunned it. The grushound slid from the door, the tires screeched, the engine roared. Someone screamed. I’m pretty sure it was Owen.

  I turned and shifted into drive. The grushound sat where I’d left it, head tilted to the side. But I didn’t stay to contemplate the grushound’s actions. I tore down the street, taking the three left turns that took me out of my parents’ subdivision.

  “Well,” Kailen said slowly, “we’ve confirmed that you’re capable of both opening and closing doorways without moonstone.”

  “Is that a good thing?” I said, my voice shaking.

  “It means you can seal the opened doorways shut, which is the purpose the Aranhods had in mind when they created you.”

  But what good would that do if I couldn't breathe for long enough to figure out who or what was opening them? I made a couple more turns before I realized I had no idea where I was going. “Where's your place?”

  “Keep going; I'll tell you when and where to turn.”

  I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel as I drove. I hadn't clawed my way to the top at Frank Gibbons, Inc. by being complacent and unquestioning. “Something doesn't feel right,” I said.

  “The grushound? I noticed it was acting strange as well,” Kailen said.

  “No. I mean, yes, it was, but that's not what I'm thinking about.” Truth was, I had so many things flying through my brain that I found it difficult to concentrate. But Dorian's appearance had set something off. “I don't know much about the Sidhe, so correct me if I go wrong anywhere. Grian wishes me dead because my creation broke your laws and she doesn't care to see the laws changed.”

  Kailen nodded. “A Fae raised by human parents will inevitably become a Changeling.”

  “The other Fae families see my creation as a grab for power, and they wish to kill me so the Aranhods will not be the only family with a Changeling.”

  “True as well,” Kailen said.

  “It is illegal for the Fae to venture into the mortal world,” I said.

  “Technically, yes.”

  We hit a red light. I turned to look at Kailen. “Then why were you exiled and yet Dorian is allowed to wander around as he pleases, in a bathrobe, no less?”

  Kailen cleared his throat. If he'd worn a tie, I was sure he'd have loosened it. “You're assuming I was exiled for venturing into the mortal world. We're not supposed to meddle too much, but it's the so
rt of rule everyone breaks.”

  “No? Then what did you do?”

  Owen coughed from the backseat. “Nicole, it's green.”

  I accelerated. “I'm still not sure how much I trust you, Kailen. So far I've done everything you've told me I should, and look how that's turned out.”

  “The Aranhods trusted me to—”

  “Maera and Faolan did!” I said. “Not me. You may have some illustrious history with them, but as far as I know, you're just the guy who dropped me off as a baby and then came back when I caught my husband cheating on me. Everyone else seems to know what you did; why not tell me?”

  “I didn't want you to know,” Kailen said, his voice small. “I thought it might make you think differently of me.”

  “Well, this is a little uncomfortable, isn't it?” Owen said, to no one in particular.

  “Think of you? I don't know what to think of you,” I said.

  “What I did was terrible. I tried to use my magic to save a mortal's life.”

  I blinked. “Okay, clearly I don't understand as much about the Fae world as I thought I did. That was terrible?”

  Kailen leaned back against the headrest, his head turned away from me. “No. You don't understand.”

  “How about if you tell me?”

  “There are few entities with more power than Grian. It was not by her decree that I was exiled. What I did was try to circumvent the natural order. Everyone has to live by certain rules, Nicole, and I tried to break the most hallowed ones. For my arrogance, the Arbiter banished me. Every time I go back to the Fae world, I grow older, like a mortal, and my powers grow weaker. The longer I stay, the more I age. The more like a mortal I become.”

  “When we went to see Maera and Faolan…?”