by Wendi Wilson
“We have to try,” I argued, imbuing more confidence than I actually felt into my words.
“It may be the only shot we have to defeat her,” Puck added.
Silence fell as we contemplated Puck’s story, the repercussions of his decisions, and fears of what our future may hold.
“So what do we do now?” I asked, breaking the silence.
“First,” Puck said, a malevolent grin curving his lips, “we need to neutralize Aubrey Ellsworth.”
CHAPTER 28
“I saw her eyes change, the same way Cris’s do when his Glamour is slipping.”
It was ridiculous, how simple our plan was to get rid of Aubrey. I’d seen the darkness swirling in her eyes at our last encounter, and all I had to do was go tell Finn. He’d summon her to his office and, using his power to taste her emotions, he’d know something was off about her.
“Are you positive, December?” Finn asked, concern etched across his features.
“I am,” I said. “I know what I saw. Her eyes were black.”
I didn’t tell him that Puck had confirmed my suspicions. That Aubrey had been keeping an eye on him for Sebille since he arrived to make sure he stayed in line. Puck wanted to be the one to tell Finn everything, and I respected that. We just had to get rid of Aubrey first, without Puck being implicated, so he’d be free from suspicion on Sebille’s end.
We needed him to remain a double agent.
A timid tap on the door broke my train of thought and I met Finn’s eyes. He gave me a slight nod, and I walked over and swung it open. Aubrey’s blue eyes widened, then narrowed and, giving her a wide smile, I held out an arm to invite her inside.
“Come in, child,” Finn called out when she paused just inside the doorway.
“What is this?” Aubrey squeaked, then cleared her throat. “Why am I here? I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Then you should have nothing to fear,” Finn said, standing up and making his way around the desk. “And yet, you taste of trepidation.”
He took a long, hard breath through his mouth, which I was sure was purely theatrical to put her even further on edge. I stifled a laugh, which came out sounding like one of Aubrey’s annoying giggles. Finn arched a silver brow at me, and I shot him an apologetic look.
“Why am I here?” Aubrey repeated, her voice deeper than I’d ever heard it.
“Please, take a seat, Miss Ellsworth.”
She took a step toward the chair Finn pointed out. I pushed the door closed and leaned back against it, crossing my arms over my chest like some nightclub bouncer. Aubrey turned back to give me a frown, then made her way toward the chair and sat down.
Finn leaned against the edge of his desk and stared down at her as she squirmed. She seemed to look everywhere but at him, her eyes darting around the room from one object to the next. She crossed her legs, then uncrossed them and pressed her knees together. I wasn’t sure if her nervous fidgeting was real or an act, but it was getting on my nerves.
I stepped away from the door, ready to rush forward and confront her directly, but Finn held up a hand to stop me. I paused and waited for him to speak.
“Aubrey, it has been brought to my attention that you may be attending Oberon Academy under false pretenses.”
“What?” she shrieked, her eyes darting to me, shooting venom as the usually blue color of her irises started to darken. “That is ridiculous. If this mutt told you that, it’s because she’s jealous of me and Tiana and wants to destroy us.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but once again, Finn stopped me with a gesture. He was determined to involve me as little as possible.
“Let’s refrain from the name-calling, shall we?” he said, and Aubrey’s angry expression turned contrite.
Oh, she was good. She looked like the perfect, chastised schoolgirl with nothing more to hide than a mean streak. I sucked my bottom lip into my mouth and bit down on it to keep the accusations from spewing out.
“Please drop any Glamour you have yourself wrapped in.”
Finn’s words sounded pleasant enough, but I felt the wobble of power in my center that indicated he was using his command-that-cannot-be-disobeyed voice. I barely suppressed a groan when nothing happened. Of course, nothing happened. Aubrey was a Zephyr. Zephyrs were not subject to the Sylph king’s commands.
“Interesting,” Finn mused, cocking his head at her. “Being this close to you, probably for the first time since you started attending this school, I can feel the Glamour wrapped around you. And yet, you did not drop it at my command.”
Aubrey’s fear ratcheted up so high, even I could feel it and that wasn’t my specialty. I readied myself, should she jump up and rush me when the walls of her perfectly crafted façade came tumbling down around her.
Then Finn gave me an almost imperceptible nod, and I finally had permission to speak.
“When you and Tiana confronted me in the hall earlier, I saw you.”
Her eyes shot daggers at me as she said, “Of course, you saw me. I was standing right in front of you. That doesn’t even make any sense. You saw me.”
She harrumphed and crossed her arms tightly over her chest, her expression turning downright mutinous. She was lashing out, trying to make me look stupid to get the heat off of herself, but it wasn’t working. Her heightened emotions were detrimental to maintaining her Glamour, and her hair darkened a few shades while her eyes swirled with blackness.
“Are you having a little trouble controlling your magic, Aubrey?” I asked, stepping a little closer. “Your hair looks different. Maybe it wasn’t hair dye, after all, making it such a fake blonde color.”
I was referencing our very first conversation, where she and Tiana had insulted my black hair and I’d insinuated that Aubrey dyed hers. She snarled and tried to stand, then plopped right back onto her butt with an incredulous look at Finn, who was apparently using magic to hold her there.
“Let me go,” she ordered, her voice that same deep timbre from before.
“When I said I saw you,” I said, moving in closer to stand in front of her, “I meant I saw the real you. You slipped up, Aubrey. Your eyes turned black as I watched, then snapped back to blue.”
“No,” she screamed, looking from me to Finn. “She’s lying. Let me go, please.”
“Admit it, Aubrey,” I yelled, throwing as much command in my voice as I could muster. “You. Are. A. Zephyr. Reveal yourself and admit the truth.”
Suddenly there was a popping sound and Aubrey’s appearance completely changed. Her hair morphed from thick, ash-blonde waves to thin, straight, and stringy ebony strands. He eyes turned to obsidian and black wings popped from her back.
“Let me go,” she screeched, struggling against invisible bonds.
“December, order her to tell us what she’s doing here,” Finn said, his voice filled with urgency.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, and she barely missed my face with the spit she shot from between her pale lips.
“Ask again,” Finn said, “this time with the power of command you used before.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Like Easton, the power of command is developing inside you. As the next in line to the Zephyr throne, you have the ability to force them to obey you, like you just did when you ordered Aubrey to reveal herself.”
Shock rippled through me. I hadn’t been intentionally trying to use any power. I was just trying to sound commanding and forceful so she’d do what I said. With an encouraging nod from Finn, I sucked in a deep breath and tried again.
“Aubrey Ellsworth,” I said, imagining power rippling through my words as I spoke, “stop struggling and tell us why you are here.”
He body slumped in the chair, the fight draining out of her as she glared at me with glassy black eyes.
“I’m here at the behest of the great Queen Sebille,” she said in monotone syllables. “I have orders to blend in, establish myself as a respected member of the student body, and keep my e
yes and ears open for any valuable information, particularly in regards to the Sylphid training and war preparations. Anything that may give Queen Sebille an advantage is to be reported immediately.”
“And what, specifically, have you done to assist the queen since you’ve been here?” I asked, wording the question so she would spill on everything she’d done.
I needed her to admit to letting Sebille inside the school the night of the attack without asking her or making my leading questions obvious. The only way I would know that information is if Puck told me, and we needed to protect his cover at all costs.
“I’ve reported on training regimes. What weapons the Sylphs plan to use, how many students control each of the elements, and the names and descriptions of those who excel and need to be taken out quickly.”
Finn sucked in a sharp breath, but I pressed on.
“Have you done anything else?” I asked, infusing the words with more power.
“I let the queen in the night of the attack and led her straight to this office.” She paused for a moment, and added, “I’ve also been keeping a close eye on Robin Goodman.”
My heart thudded in my chest. I could not let her reveal anything about Puck. If she did, she would go back and tell Sebille we knew everything. Our advantage would be lost.
Making my voice resonate, but not actually imbuing any power into it, I asked, “And why would you need to watch Robin Goodman?”
A pregnant pause stretched between us while she decided what to do. I silently begged her to lie, to pretend my power was forcing her to tell the truth and make something up. She did not disappoint me.
“Because he is a powerful Sylph, and his arrival here did not go unnoticed by the queen,” she said in that same monotone she’d used before. “She wants to know if he’s a threat.”
I bit back the sigh of relief that tried to flow out of me at her words. Of course, we planned to tell Finn and the council everything. We just had to wait until Aubrey was gone.
I nodded at Finn and he released his magical hold on her. With a flap of her black wings, she rose into the air. Wind zipped through the room, propelling her faster and faster as she headed straight for the window.
Which was closed.
With an ear-splitting scream, she crashed through the panes, disappearing into the night before the last of the glass shards bounced against the carpet. Finn and I looked at each other, then he shook his head and sighed.
“That’s the second time in six months a Zephyr has broken my window,” he groused as he walked around and took the chair behind his desk.
“Sorry,” I said, not knowing what else to say.
“Why don’t you have a seat,” he said, motioning me toward the chair Aubrey had vacated, “and tell me why you were so afraid when she mentioned Professor Goodman, and why you let her lie about the reason she was watching him?”
Of course, Finn knew she was lying. He could taste it. And I really didn’t want to take the time to get into it. I hadn’t had any time to become acquainted with my mother, who was waiting for me with Cris in his room. Shaela and I hadn’t celebrated our reunion or gushed over the fact that we found out we were freaking cousins. And I knew Easton was eager to see me and make sure I was okay with everything that had been revealed.
But, when the king wants answers, you give the king answers.
So, I had him put a magical privacy bubble around us, leaned back, got comfortable, and told Finn the whole sordid story.
CHAPTER 29
“I want to know everything.”
Ellie Goodman was the sweetest person I’d ever met in my life. She’d been so considerate, insisting that I take a few hours to reconnect with my friends after everything Puck, my grandfather, had put us through. She said we had a lifetime to make up for all the years we missed, but the relationships of youth can be fleeting and we should grasp them tight to our chests before they slipped away from us.
She would know.
We were having breakfast in my dad’s room when she made that proclamation, and I couldn’t help but smile at her exuberance. My smile quickly fell, however, when I tried and failed to come up with happy childhood memories to share with her.
So, I gave her a brief overview of my early life, skipping over the finer details, and didn’t mention Todd and Gretchen Holt at all. My words zinged with energy when I started talking about coming to the academy, learning that Sylphs existed, and that I was one of them.
My tone darkened when I mentioned Rowan, but I made sure she understood how much he meant to me and how he made my transition into this life so much easier. I mentioned his death and the depression I fell into, then quickly changed the subject when I noticed her eyes tearing up with empathy.
“And then, Finn replaced him with this cocky new teacher that Glamoured everyone to love him on his very first day,” I said, giving Dad a pointed look.
Ellie laughter tinkled around me, making me feel all warm and gooey inside.
“And you weren’t susceptible to his Glamour?” she asked, her eyes shining with pride.
“I was, at first,” I admitted. “I thought he was the best thing since fried chicken.”
Dad laughed, adding, “I reinforced it four times, but she still broke free. It was quite impressive.”
“I guess being the granddaughter of both the Zephyr queen and the Sylphid trickster has its perks,” I quipped, but my joke fell flat.
Silence fell between us for several awkward moments before Ellie reached over and laid her hand atop mine. She stared at me with tears in her eyes and a sad smile on her lips.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you,” she whispered. “I would have cherished you and made sure your heart was always full of love and laughter. I’ve always carried you with me here.”
She thumped a fist against her chest and gave a delicate sniff. I turned my hand over to squeeze hers.
“It’s not your fault,” I said, my voice cracking with emotion.
And like a flash of lightning, the heavy weight that had spent a lifetime dragging me down lifted and drifted away. I was not discarded, thrown away like trash by parents who didn’t want me. My dad never knew I existed and my mother thought I’d died at birth. If they’d known I was out there…I had no doubt they would have destroyed the entire planet trying to find me.
“After you…died,” Ellie said, her voice cracking with emotion, “I was a shell of my former self. I was alive, but I wasn’t living. When Mom died and Daddy left, I had nothing but bad memories to keep me company, so I left our village and never looked back.”
“Where did you go?” I asked.
She smiled, saying, “I moved into the city and immersed myself with the humans. I got a job as a social worker, helping human children find loving homes. If only your case had crossed my desk…” She trailed off for a moment, her eyes watering again. “I would have known the instant I laid eyes on you, December. You look exactly like your father and I could never forget his face.”
“I have your eyes,” I said, my tone a little wistful.
“Yes,” she said, laughing through her tears, “you do.”
We chatted for a while about my time at the academy and my out-of-control powers. Dad even mentioned the lustnado, and though my eyes tried to fry him on the spot, my mother just laughed and gently teased me about it.
My mother. It was surreal, really, sitting at a breakfast table with my parents, enjoying a long, leisurely meal and pleasant conversation. We had a long road ahead of us, learning to be a family together, but I felt something I’d rarely felt in my life—hope.
A knock on the door interrupted our talk, and Cris hopped up to answer it. Puck walked in, followed closely behind by Easton, Shaela, Charles, and Finn.
For the moment, the time for reminiscing was over. It was time to plan for the future.
We herded into the living area, Easton, Shaela, and I crowding onto the small couch as Charles perched on the armrest next to Shaela. The adults dragged chairs
from the table over to circle in front of us, and Puck spoke first as he took a seat.
“Sebille will make a move soon. I don’t know which choice she will make, but she’ll either go ahead with her plans for the humans, or she’ll contact me now that her secret spy has been unmasked and ejected from the school and I’m all she’s got.”
“What does she expect you to do for her?” Finn asked.
Puck shot me an apologetic smile as he said, “She expects me to destroy December from the inside, make her life so unbearable that she runs from this place. Out where she’d be alone and unprotected, and ripe for the taking. Simply stated, she wants to use December as leverage to get her son back and then she’ll kill her.”
“Does she think Dad will actually stay with her if she kills me?” I asked.
“Her arrogance knows no bounds,” Dad mumbled.
“He wouldn’t have a choice in the matter,” Puck clarified. “She does not want him back as her only family. She couldn’t care less about him as a person. But he is her only offspring. She needs him to carry on the line so she has someone to pass her throne to when the time comes.”
A horrified choking sound erupted from Ellie. Dad reached over and rubbed circles on her back and whispered in her ear. She quickly composed herself, so Puck started to speak again.
“She refuses to let a Zephyr-Sylphid hybrid take the throne, so I have no doubt that she would force Crispin to mate with some upstanding member of the Zephyr community to produce an heir that is acceptable. One she could raise in her own image.”
“But I don’t even want the title,” I argued. “Just tell her I’ll rescind my claim and she can handpick her own replacement. Then she’ll leave us alone.”
Several raised voices filled the room at once, a cacophony of sound that hurt my ears. Finn raised a hand into the air, and the room fell silent.
“You are, of course, entitled to make your own decision, December,” he said, his voice strong and clear. “But please consider the ramifications of your choice. Should you shun your birthright, Sebille would no doubt still kidnap Crispin and force him to sire another child. She would want her own bloodline to remain on the throne.