by S L Mason
“Yeah, now that right there, Mister. That’s what we in the Marine Cor. call a threatening maneuver,” Tom says as Captain Obvious. “So, if I was you, I’d not make any more moves. You know how to help the kid, help him. Otherwise, you’re about as useless to us as tits on a bull.” Tom spits on the ground not far from Janice’s feet.
All those other times when I said I didn’t like Tom, this is one of those times when I understand why Jake keeps him around. He’s a threatening, trigger-happy gambler. I don’t want them to kill Janice because a part of me feels drawn to him. My heart rate speeds up when I’m around him. It isn’t fear. There is another part of me that wants to see him dead and bleeding. Those two sides war with one another. I sigh with resolve and then tear my eyes away from his full, serious lips.
Janice carries on with his negotiations. “The only way to save him is exactly what you were doing. You have to get the belt off of him. Even then, it might not slow down the change. The more you fiddle, the faster the magic works. If he fights it, it closes in on him. If you had left him enchanted and asleep, he might not have changed for months. By waking him, the enchantment moves ten times faster.” His violet eyes bore into me. I pull away to glance from Nick, to Jake, to Tom, and then down to the withering form of poor Brad.
Janice’s voice raises the melody creating the enchantment. I watch Brad’s eyes begin to milk over, and his fidgeting and whimpering quieten.
I urge Janice on. “It’s working! Keep going!”
Janice’s voice rises even higher, sharp and determined. His eyebrows draw together as he slowly allows the music work. He abruptly cuts the notes off. “I can’t. He won’t let me.” Janice searches my face with drawn eyebrows and a clenched jaw.
“I thought we didn’t have a choice. You guys sing and we’re fucking zombies. What do you mean he won’t let you enchant him?” I demand, crossing my arms and uncrossing them, waving my hands around.
“Let me clarify, I can’t enchant him. He’s been blocked.” His violet eyes trace my every move; it’s irritating. It reminds me of a cat how their body and face never move, only the eyes.
“He can’t be blocked? What are you talking about? You enchanted him before. Do it again!” I step over to Janice. I’m ready to slap him as hard as I can. My body wars within me.
He doesn’t flinch away. “You took the enchantment off.” It’s a statement, not an accusation.
I retort, “You know I did.” I feel the exasperation growing within me. “So, what, I took the enchantment off. I sang what you sang with my own twist.” I shrug.
Brad hardly looks human anymore.
“Sarah, you blocked me out. If you want him enchanted, you have to do it yourself. I can’t beat you.” Janice’s face goes deadpan as the importance of his words washes over me.
Jake leans in, pressing his gun firmly against Janice’s temple “Well, that there is the wrong damn answer,” he informs Janice.
Tom snickers in the background with his tongue hanging out. Tom demands, “What ‘cha doin’ out here all by yourself there, hey pretty boy?” Once again, I like Tom’s style.
Cool as a cucumber, Janice replies. “It doesn’t matter why I’m here alone. We need to put Brad under before he finishes changing.”
My eyes are drawn to Jake’s hand.
Nick breaks his silence, “Give Sarah your gloves. Maybe they’ll stave off the burning long enough for her to pull the belt off.”
I have my doubts, but anything is worth a try.
Jake removes his hand from his weapon and thrusts it toward me.
“You take the glove off, boss lady,” Jake’s eyes never leave Janice’s face. “We don’t want our pointy-eared friend getting any ideas, do we?”
Janice tilts his head to the side, raising one eyebrow. “Why don’t you just sing, Sarah? You can end his pain right now. All you have to do is sing a song and entrance him.” The logic of his words isn’t lost on me, but neither is the cost.
“Yeah, I don’t think we’re going to be takin any orders from you here, pointy boy.” Tom’s finger twitches over the trigger guard.
“None of your business why I won’t sing.” I pull the Velcro from the back of Jake’s hand. I begin to tug the glove off. The inside of the glove is coated in sweat. The glove slides off. I take the leather portion and do my best to fold it around the tongue of the belt. It’s no good. It still burns through the leather. “Okay, I give up. How the hell do you get this thing off of him?” The tips of my fingers are tender and red from my attempts.
“I told you, Sarah!” Janice nearly shouts. “I can get it off, but I will have the same issues you’re having.”
Why doesn’t he just say what he means? “But fairies can heal themselves,” I interject.
“The more he fights the enchantment, the hotter it burns and the faster it turns. You must put him to sleep before we can get it off of him. I’ll take it off myself. I swear by the blood of all the Queens, and Danu herself, I will do this. I will not fail you, Sarah.” I’ve never heard a Fae oath, but Janice makes it sound pretty solemn.
“If you’re lying to me and this is some kind of gimmick, I will find a way to...”
Jake pushes me out of the way. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, Sarah. We heard you threaten him the first time; it was actually better the first time.”
I gaze down at what’s left of Brad. I push the head of the orange stallion out of the way. The blue stallion nuzzles the back of my head, urging me on.
I feel for the music inside of me, the same music I used to unlock the kids and Brad a little while ago. I sing it in reverse. My voice rises, and I watch the eyes of the half-man half-horse in front of me roll slowly then milk over as he falls under my spell.
“That’s it, Sarah. Keep going.” At Janice’s urging, I continue.
My focus never leaves Brad’s withering form. He quiets his whimpering. His body settles, and he stops twitching.
“Okay, humans, I’m going to move slowly over to your friend. I’m going to take the belt off of him, and afterward, Sarah’s going to heal me,” Janice says as a matter of fact.
“I didn’t say I was going to heal you. I said you can heal yourself. Don’t put words in my mouth.” I bark.
“I cannot heal myself. It is against the rules of Fae. If you’re injured, someone else must heal you. They have to care enough about you for you to be healed. Otherwise, my healing takes time just like every other living creature.” Janice says, then his eyes move from my mouth to my eyes.
“Come on, Sarah! Just let him do it. Just say you’ll heal him,” Nick pleads.
“Fine, I’ll heal you,” I huff at Janice while blowing my bangs out of my eyes.
Janice is by Brad’s side in two steps. I watch his hand take the belt off. Smoke rises from his hands. The muscles around his eyes grimace in pain. He pulls air in between his teeth, creating a hissing sound. Finally, the belt loosens, releasing its hold. It falls to the ground.
The flesh around Brad’s belly is blackened and withered. The belt’s magic digs in, chewing on him and willing to rip him apart in order to change him into a horse. His hands are already altered to hooves. He’s reached the point that he’s no longer a man, but he isn’t yet a horse either. His head and neck haven’t changed.
He was always so good-looking. Bile rises up in my throat, burning me.
“Take a long look, Sarah. This is what Puca does to his stable boys. He uses humans to create Fae horses.” Janice’s solemn voice rings with the truth. The other horses nuzzle Brad, rubbing their scent on him in acceptance.
I turn on Janice. I want to pummel him. “And you let him. You just let him do it, don’t you? All you Fae you sit down here and have your little soirées, eating your vegetables and looking at your day-glo plants. Then every now and again when you get bored, you go up to the surface, killing as many humans as you can on a spree because someone told you to. Isn’t that what you said? Someone told you to do it?” I spit the words at him like my threats from
before.
He reaches out as if to touch me.
I draw back in disgust. “Don’t you dare fucking touch me! I don’t know who you think you are. You’re some crazy creature that lives under the ground and stole me away from my parents.” Blood pounds in my ears, racing through my veins. “You left Arty here at this very barn so he could turn into a horse with the rest of these humans.” I choke.
It hasn’t really struck me, but Janice is alone. I whip my head around, searching the area for additional Fae only to find none. “Where’s your reinforcements? How did you find me? Why did you come here alone?” My lips pull back in a grimace of anger.
“I didn’t bring anyone. It’s me, just me.” His hands open wide.
“How did you find me?” I move to him.
“I didn’t put an enchantment on you, if that’s what you mean,” Janice replies.
I want to scream. “Is that how you found me in the human world?” It comes out as a whisper. I already know the answer. It had taken everything I was to get into the Hallowed Hills. When I left the Hallowed Hills, I’d left anything from Fae at my parents’ house. I’d bathed since the maze, even if it had been something as simple as an enchanted lotion it wouldn’t have lasted long enough for him to track me. He’d followed my magic trail, just like I’d followed his. The one thing I couldn’t wash away or erase, magic. It lingers in my blood.
“I knew you would run away from Fae as soon as you figured out a way. After you left, I figured you would go to your parents. I went there and found the maze stones. You left Fae without the mushrooms. That’s impossible. There’s no way to return to Fae without a mushroom circle. So, I grew one for you. It works like a homing beacon.”
I should’ve known better, shaking my head in disbelief. “Is that why I was so drawn to it?” I ask.
He closes his eyes, tilting his head back. My eyes are drawn to how truly black his hair is becoming. “Yes, did you hear the song of Fae?” His face gives nothing away.
“The mushroom sang to me,” I whisper.
“Without that song playing through your mind, you would never get back into Fae. I knew you’d return for Olive, but I thought Arthur was with you.” Janice looks from me to the others.
“It’s just another fairy trick. I wouldn’t believe him.” Nick’s words stick in my mind. Nick places his hand on my shoulder to physically support me.
“Being as I don’t trust you, Janice. I don’t believe you either.” I reply.
“Don’t you see what’s happening, Sarah? I came here alone to find you. I knew you were with other people. I also knew you would never come back here without somebody helping you. I don’t have Arthur, Deston doesn’t have Arthur. I don’t know who does. I do know this—you need allies. You can’t keep fumbling around and expect to not be discovered by someone or worse, taken hostage. All of your friends turned into the very thing you’ve just witnessed. And Fae will turn them. Fae won’t feel any pity or sorrow for you or for them. If you want to help your friends and help yourself, you must come with me. Let me help you. Do you see what’s happening to you? Do you think what’s happening is normal?” Janice implores.
I know he’s playing on my uncertainty and fear so that I’ll go with him.
“I don’t believe you.” My resolve falters. Can he help me?
“I’ll go get Olive and bring her back to you. Olive is a scared little girl. The Fae are protective of their young too. Let me bring Olive back to you.” Janice is too eager to help me.
Nick breaks in. “Terrible idea. If you let him leave, he’ll come back with an army and take us all.” Nick shakes his head.
No matter how much I want to believe Janice, the nagging in the pit of my stomach tells me I can’t. Fae aren’t to be trusted—they’re murderers.
CHAPTER 14
“Why don’t we waste him and go on about our business?” Jake presses the muzzle of his gun into the base of Janice’s neck. He pushes Janice forward, forcing him down on one knee.
“Stop!” I cry. I’m angry and scared, but I don’t want to become like one of them— the Fae. Seeing Jake hurt Janice bothers me. It isn’t just about being better than the Fae. My heart leaps to my throat at the thought of Janice in pain or suffering. Bravado aside, I do care. My eyes had lit upon his hands blackened and burnt the skin cracking open in places and oozing.
I somehow, I expected that with the Fae’s connection to nature, their blood would be green. The viscosity of the liquid comes through the cracked skin, resembling blood but the color is all wrong. Some fantasy writer once wrote about unicorns having silver blood. The truth is so much more mundane and yet frightening at the same time. His blood is blue, dark royal blue. As it drips out onto the ground, small mushrooms sprout with every drop. Something in my chest flutters, I’m not even sure why, but my eyes meet his. “Is that how you made the mushroom circle?” I whisper.
Janice grimaces and replies, “Fairy circles can only be made with fairy blood. It’s usually somewhere a Fae died. It takes a lot of blood to create a fairy circle. The bigger the circle, more blood.” He informs me.
“Did you bleed yourself or did you bleed someone else for hours?” It comes out harsh. I don’t intend it too.
“Ryan, one of my underlings was already dying. I simply made his blood useful. He’d bled a great deal before we ever got back to the maze stones. He only had enough blood left in him for maybe three-quarters of a circle. I bled the rest myself, for you, Sarah. To give you a way back and a way out.” He offers.
“He could’ve used any of the Fae blood. They have no allegiance to one another.” Nick sneers, he’s blinded by his fear for Nikki.
“Yeah, it’s just another Fae trick,” Jake says. “Don’t believe the fairy. They don’t do anything but lie.” Jake wants to blow Janice head off. Another untrustworthy source.
“How much of the circle did you bleed before Ryan?” I watch Janice’s body language.
He smiles. “I could tell you anything right now, you wouldn’t know.” That isn’t true. He’s lying. The ring of the lie is there. Is it a tone or a note? Either way, the magic tattles on him.
“Oh no, Janice. I would know if you were lying. How much of the circle did you bleed before you found Ryan dying?” I prod.
“Full quarter. We fanned out in your parents’ neighborhood, checking every house over and over to see if you were hiding in one of them, being clever. You are clever, Sarah. Ryan was shot in the kitchen of some house, but we couldn’t find anybody there, and no trace of you.”
“Did you search the house for the culprit?” My heart is in my throat. Please say he didn’t find them!
“Yes, I couldn’t find a trace of anything. The dogs just sat in the kitchen and whined by the back door.” His eyes watch me carefully.
New fear grips me. It had to be my dad, but why did he leave the basement? Unless the Fae discovered the safe room and he shot him to keep it safe. That’s the only explanation. The door to the safe room is by the back door of the kitchen. Of course, the dogs sat there and whined. It could’ve been any house. Just because the dog was whining by the back door doesn’t make it Sorenson’s.
The ring of truth reverberates. He’d bled for me. I had made a promise. I said I’d heal him. I meet his violet eyes, so expressive, so beautiful, and his eyelashes jet black. His eyebrows slowly fade from white to black. As my eyes follow down the white hair on his head, I see the long trendles fading from white to black. The last time I’d seen him only the tips were black. Now it’s spreading. Over half of his hair has turned from the bottom up as if the color is changing in the reverse. His lips are full and firm. His jaw is chiseled, coming to a slight point with high cheekbones and a high forehead.
Creases around his eyes are the only telltale signs of pain. He quietly keeps it hidden behind a façade of control.
I resolve within myself. “Tell me what I have to sing to heal your hands. A deal is a deal.”
A smile breaks across his face. “I knew not
all of humanity had lost their honor. You only need to keep thinking in your mind, ‘your healing is mine.’ Sing a B-flat.” He instructs.
It sounds silly to me, I can’t really do that. I try to find the B-flat with my voice, but it doesn’t come. His version of healing won’t work for me. Instead, the song that keeps coming to mind is, “Rain, rain, go away, and heal Jan-i-ce today.” I sing it several times, and the parched skin on his hand fleshes out, knitting itself closed. The blood crusts flake away into the grass.
“How did you do that?” He turns his hands over, observing the changes.
I shake my head. “I sang and healed your wounds. What’s the big deal?”
Nick clears his throat and thrusts his hand into his hair, slowly running his finger around the edge of his ear. I stare at him and down at the ground. My hand finds the peak of my ear, the point has elongated. My eyes go to Janice’s ear, even as my fingers trace my own.
“You created your own healing song. Amazing!” Janice’s eyes dart to my hand as his pupils dilate. “When did you start changing?” he demands.
“Since I left the maze and the Hallowed Hills.”
Jake and Tom pull their weapons back. They are still trained on Janice, who kneels on the ground eyes wide with wonder.
“I swear my allegiance to you. I am yours to command,” Janice exclaims.
Jake growls out. “Don’t believe him! He’s a pointy-eared liar. They’re probably raised to be liars their entire life.”
I tilt my head to the side and cock an eyebrow at Jake. “Really, do you think I’m stupid enough to believe the words that come out of the mouth of a Fae? I’ve been down here longer than you.”