No sign of activity. I couldn’t see Starren actually stepping foot in that place. I crept around the edge of the slight clearing, trying to get a better look. No luck. I stopped and looked up into the branches above me. How hard could it be, really? Little kids did it. I looked around for a low hanging limb, found one I thought looked okay and grabbed on.
This was easy, no problem. I let out a satisfied huff of air and reached for the next branch, clamping onto the first one with my legs until I had a tight enough grip with my hands. After clambering up on this branch, which was thick enough to actually stand on, I looked around for another. Nothing. Not even close. I wrapped an arm and one leg around the trunk of the tree and leaned toward another branch.
Just out of reach. The bark of the tree bit into my hand as I leaned out even farther, nearing the point of no return. Come on, this had to work. I started to tear up. No, no, couldn’t do that, not right now. Jaime needed me. Then the branch I’d been working so hard to reach slowly moved toward me, the tree popping a little. I froze.
The branch stretched closer and stiffened within easy grabbing distance. “Thanks?” I whispered. The tree didn’t answer. I shoved down the trickle of fear attempting to make its way through my body. Between the fact that I was about to have a confrontation with Starren and Wade and the fact that the trees were helping me, this was getting to be a bit much.
I wiggled up the trunk, its limbs hovering close by like it thought I was going to fall. Very polite to an intruder. I was just going to have to trust it really did want to help. I settled into a good spot and looked down at the old farmstead, patting the tree in thanks. It shivered like a happy puppy. So weird. Time to think about that later.
Movement below. There was that dirty, doubling crossing, no good ex-boyfriend of mine coming around the corner. He looked down the lane and then went back behind the house.
“Now the question is if Jaime and Starren are back there too. And if there are reinforcements,” I said under my breath.
A whisper went through what was left of the fall leaves, sweeping out from my tree and spreading through the trees around me. It flowed in a ripple around the clearing and came back to the tree I was in, stopping there. A twig reached out and tapped me on the shoulder three times. I wrapped my arm around the trunk and tried not to hyperventilate. This strange nature stuff had been happening on and off, but nothing this extreme. I didn’t need another thing to worry about right now.
The twig reached out and tapped me again, and again it was three times. Either there were three people over there or this twig was messing with me.
“I need to get over there,” I whispered. The trees around me rustled, then with a pop the large limb I was braced on reached over and intertwined with a branch from the next tree over, creating a bridge. I took a deep breath and moved across, as much because I didn’t want to offend these things as anything else. “Thank you,” I whispered to the first tree, then again when I got to the trunk of the other one, just to make sure it didn’t feel left out.
It took seven limb bridges, but I finally made it to the other side of the house. Jaime was sitting there, an uncustomary pout on her face. I guess she was entitled. Wade was pacing, and Starren was just standing there with her eyes closed. Okay, I’d found them, now what? I settled back against the tree to watch for a minute. It wasn’t ten seconds later that a small branch tapped me on the shoulder. I nearly fell out of the tree. How long was it going to take for me to get used to that?
“What?” I asked, annoyed. The branch pointed to the corner of the house. Movement. Jaden walked around with his hands up. What was that idiot doing? Didn’t he know Starren couldn’t be trusted? “Why couldn’t you have warned me sooner?” I hissed at the tree. The branch pulled back, looking slightly wilted.
How had he gotten here so fast? Never underestimate a worried mother’s driving I guess. I waved at him, trying to catch his attention without drawing Starren’s. He either didn’t notice or was pretending not to. He had to know I was around here somewhere. It was too late for me to do anything. Wade caught sight of him and nudged Starren. She whirled in his direction, jerking Jaime over next to her.
“I know it’s really me you want, let’s just get this over with,” Jaden said.
“That’s true. Get over here.” Starren tugged Jaime closer.
“Who are you talking to?” Jaime asked, so quietly I could barely hear her. Shoot. She couldn’t see him.
Jaden raised his hands higher above his head. “No need for that. Just let her go. I’m here, just like you wanted.” Wonderful. Now I was going to have two Martans to save instead of one. Aww man, and I was going to, wasn’t I? If I didn’t turn Jaden over myself, it literally did me no good to have him taken. Now what?
“Jaden?” Jaime asked. “Are you there?”
Jaden looked sick for a second, then his expression hardened. “So you kidnapped my little sister.” Jaden’s voice was dangerously calm now. I hadn’t seen him lose his temper before, but I got the feeling that if he did, it was going to be a sight to behold. And this was the most likely scenario for that to happen that I could think of. I leaned a little out on the limb I was on, trying to come up with some plan. Nada.
“I’m sorry,” Starren’s voice was cold, like she didn’t mean it. But knowing her, there was no way she’d say it if she didn’t. “I don’t have a choice, I can’t explain it and you wouldn’t understand why, but this is beyond my control.”
“Well you’re right about one thing, I don’t understand,” Jaden said. “She’s just a kid. Jaden looked over toward Wade. “What about you? How do you feel about taking kids from their families?”
He crossed his arms in front of his big chest, a muscle twitching in his jaw. But he didn’t answer. So much for him being a good guy that had followed the wrong orders like he’d been trying to get me to believe.
“Fae don’t have families,” Starren answered for him. “You know that.”
Jaden ignored that. “And how does the Council feel about you breaking one of the most ancient laws?”
“Ha,” Starren snarled. “You aren’t getting us on that.” She gave Jaime a little shake. “Sanctuary doesn’t extend to humans.”
“But she isn’t just a human. She’s half fae.”
Starren instantly paled. More worried than I’d ever seen her. She’d stayed so calm with the trolls, so focused with the hyran. It was almost scary to see her look like that.
“She’s your step-mothers child,” Starren whispered.
“Yes, but also my father’s.”
“Where’s Trisha?” Wade broke in after a second with Starren not answering.
“I don’t know,” Jaden answered.
Wade looked around. I shrunk against the tree trunk, feeling exposed with most of the leaves gone, but his gaze stayed ground level. “I don’t like this, Starren.”
Wait. Here was my chance. I was supposed to be turning Jaden over anyway. This was the perfect moment, if I could convince Starren it had been the plan all along. Even if they didn’t believe me and wouldn’t accept this as payment for my dues to the Council, at least I could get Jaime out of there. I scrambled down the tree and burst into the clearing.
“I’m here.”
Wade’s sword whipped my direction, but Starren just coolly kept her grip on Jaime.
“Trish!” Jaime yelled. “She’s here to save me,” she informed Starren, who glared at her.
“I got him here. My part of the bargain is fulfilled.” Jaden wouldn’t look at me.
“You got him here?” Starren was looking at me like I was crazy. “You helped him escape.”
“I was keeping track of him, making sure I’d be able to turn him over. I didn’t have any way of getting a hold of you, it’s not like you have a cellphone. He’s here, isn’t he? I fulfilled my part of the bargain.” They had to believe me. Had to.
“Trisha?” Jaime asked, her little voice sending nausea through my
stomach like a freight train. I avoided her eyes, and Jaden’s too for good measure. This was all working out like it was supposed to. Like we had agreed. He had said this was fine. But Jaime wasn’t supposed to be involved. The best I could do for them would be to get her back to Rebecca. Rebecca. She was going to hate me.
“Sorry, Trisha,” Wade said when Starren didn’t answer. She still looked slightly shell-shocked that she’d broken fae law, “but your offer was rescinded.”
“What?” They couldn’t do that, could they? Fae weren’t able to break deals, it was in their blood.
“You didn’t stay with the team, therefore you lost anything that would have come with that. We’re taking you in too.”
“You and what army?” I snarled. They weren’t taking me without a fight, and with Jaden helping it would be a rough one.
“Calm down, Trisha. Faerie is a nice place,” Wade said. “You’ll like it there once you have a chance to settle in. You’ll be watched for a few years after you go through the training process, but it will go by fast. You’ll be considered for a permanent spot on our team, if you do well. Things are so much better there than here in the human world. Beyond your imagination. And I’ll be there. We always talked about leaving your fosters behind and starting a life together, here is our chance.”
I glared at him for a second to tell him he wasn’t helping. And him being there really wasn’t incentive. There was nothing in Faerie for me. And how much of me would still be me after I got through their ‘training?’ “You know I tried,” I said to Starren.
“Trish could still help us, Star,” Wade said. “I’m sure she has a good reason for being here, probably just keeping an eye on the family until we got here.” His thought process was lame and we all knew it, but I almost appreciated the fact that he’d tried.
“I tried with the Council, I really did,” Starren said, actually sounding kind of sad. “But they wouldn’t accept what I said. They want her almost as much as they want Jaden.” She left it unsaid, but no doubt the Council had been waiting for this the whole time. They had wanted me to help while they needed me and then fail, so they could swoop in and force me to Faerie. Typical.
Great. I’d given them two Martans and myself. I was losing ground here. Time to stall so I could think. Or so Jaden could think. So someone could think. I asked the first question that popped into my head. “Where’s Cray? Doesn’t he have enough guts to face us?”
“I didn’t tell him where we were going,” Starren answered. “Don’t you have any consideration for others and the trouble you can get them in? You think I couldn’t figure out what happened back in Chicago? He helped you. And if the Council found out there would be serious consequences. I won’t put him in that position. Now come with us and this,” she gave Jaime a little shake, “can go back to its family.”
“Jaime,” Jaden hissed. “Her name is Jaime.”
“Yeah, whatever, just get over here.”
“No,” I said. “Let her go first.” Starren could easily have something else up her sleeve. No way I was letting her get away with Jaime. Even if that meant turning myself over. I’d find a way back from Faerie. Eventually. Hopefully Nina and Dan weren’t dead from old age by then.
“Give me your word you won’t resist and I’ll let your sister go,” Starren said.
“Got a plan?” Jaden whispered through clenched teeth. Why did everyone always assume I’d have a plan?
“No,” I whispered back, not having the heart to come up with a good retort. “Your power couldn’t warn us about this back before we hit Sanctuary?” I asked.
Jaden shrugged. “I can’t control it yet.”
Starren put the blade of her sword against Jaime’s neck, not drawing blood but definitely leaving an imprint. “Hurry up and decide already.”
“Come on, you got us, let the kid go,” I said. “She’ll be out of the way and you’ll have one less thing to worry about.”
Starren jerked her head in my direction and Wade lifted his sword and took a step forward.
I took a step back. “You got us, you got us, no need to get violent.”
“Hands in the air,” Wade said.
My stupid pride didn’t let me respond right away and Starren tilted her sword just a tiny bit, drawing a little blood and causing the poor kid to whimper. Starren was so dead. If Jaden didn’t whack her I would. This was not okay, no matter what she had going on that made her do this.
“Alright, alright. I won’t fight back,” Jaden said. I groaned. He was fae, couldn’t he have thought up something better to say to give himself a loophole?
More distracting was in order since neither of us had come up with anything yet. “How did you find us?”
Starren laughed. “Good old-fashioned detective work. I asked myself where you’d be going, and Sanctuary was the only place that made sense. Once I had that worked out, all I had to do was call the dialysis centers in town.” She put her fingers up to her ear, mimicking a phone. “Oh yes, I forgot my daughter’s appointment time, when should we be there?” she said in a voice much higher than her natural one. She put her hand down and leaned toward me, expression changing to menacing. “It wasn’t that hard. The mom left a little too much behind. We found paperwork and Wade knew what dialysis was. That it needs to happen quite often. I would have expected better from you.”
“Well I would have expected better from you too. Snatching someone out of Sanctuary? I don’t think the Council is going to be very happy.” I was bluffing. I really had no idea what the Council would think.
“An attack would draw too much attention in Sanctuary, so we just needed a way to get you out of the city limits. This was the easiest way I could come up with. They will forgive me not knowing the child is a half breed.” Starren looked done talking. “Let’s get moving.” Starren shoved Jaime forward and waved Jaden toward her with the tip of her sword. I started to drop my hands, but her eyes went to slits and I popped both hands back up in the air. Think. Think.
“Jaime, head on out kid,” I said as we inched forward. “Just follow the lane for a bit and you’ll find your mom.”
Jaime turned around and looked Starren in the face. “Why are you doing this to us?” she asked quietly. Even Starren softened a little at the kid’s question.
“I don’t have a choice. I have to follow orders.”
“Please don’t take my brother. Not again. Whoever told you to do this is mean.”
“True enough, but that doesn’t change anything.”
“Why do you want to hurt us?” Jaime asked.
I took advantage of the distraction Jaime was creating and lowered my hands. Starren didn’t seem to notice. I glanced at Wade. He lifted an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. Was that a go ahead? He didn’t look like he was liking any of this situation either.
I stroked the sword in its invisible sheath hanging on my back. I’d wait until Jaime was a safe distance away, then things would get messy. Hopefully in a way that was good for me and Jaden. I took a deep breath, the enormity of the situation hitting me. There was no going back from something like this. Not showing up for training could be held against my mom, but not me since I didn’t know any better. Straight up attacking an agent of the Council? That was a big no no. Were Dan and Nina worth going against the Council? Yes. They were my family now. Would I even be able to go home with Nina? Figure that out later.
“Let the kid go. You have to hold up your end of things.”
Wade came forward and roughly pulled Jaden’s hands behind his back and tied them together, then came over and gently took mine. I glared at him and he looked absolutely apologetic, but tied them too. As soon as he nodded toward Starren, she shoved Jaime a few steps up the lane.
“Get out of here, kid.”
“No,” Jaime sent eye daggers in Starren’s direction. “Not without Trisha. And my brother, if he’s here.”
“Just go, kiddo,” I said. “Jaden wants you to.”
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br /> “But I’m scared,” Jaime whispered.
I jerked at the ropes, testing them. Pretty tight. I started wiggling my hands. “I know. But it’s better like this. Your mom is waiting, go on now.”
Jaime ran forward and hugged me, stuck her tongue out at Starren and charged down the lane. “I’m going to tell my mommy on you!”
“I guess she has a little of Lucy in her,” Jaden said with a sigh.
“Let’s get this over with,” Starren said.
I rubbed against the ropes, burning my wrists over and over and stopping for a second to let them re-heal. Starren walked us toward the old house. Was there really a portal here? That was the only reason I could figure out why she would want us in there. I continued tugging at the ropes until finally they loosened. We were just getting to the house when my right hand slipped free. If it was two against two I would like our odds after seeing Jaden fight. But he was going to be less than useless. This was all on my own.
Without giving anyone the time to notice, I reached back and jerked my sword from its sheath, cutting Jaden’s ropes in one quick swipe. I was getting good at this. I twirled away from Wade and went into a defensive position. Somehow Jaden maneuvered behind me.
“That’s it, Starren, just let us go.”
“No.” She lunged at me, barely giving me time to get my sword in front of hers to stop the blade from driving straight through me. The ring of metal on metal reverberated through the small clearing. Starren drew her blade back and glared at me, murder on her face. She took another swing. I blocked, ducking out of the way.
She came straight after me, blows raining down with wicked speed, me barely having the time to block them even with my quicker reflexes. She slashed her sword through the air and jumped forward, slamming me with her body and knocking me back away from her. The distance gave me a second to close my eyes and allow all the training with my mother to come flooding back.
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