Each Fae warrior was coated in tiny particles of magic, thanks to the dust they used to trap witch magic so they could use it in their day-to-day life. My projectiles weren’t magnetized, but I knew they’d be attracted to the magic coating the Fae—like called to like as always.
From a distance, I watched as the funnels snapped up each warrior. Each one released a different noise—a shriek, a yell, a curse. Each noise traveled to me, telling me that they were captured. I didn’t stop until every single warrior—over seventy-two in total—was trapped within a funnel of their own.
“It’s time to land,” I rasped, squeezing Daniel’s hand as I launched myself from his arms.
I let myself be twirled around in the sky, not calling on my wings until I could see the individual rows of tobacco plants in the farm below me, and not just one big blur of green. Then, and only then, did I allow myself to fly to safety. The wind buffeted me into a graceful glide, helping me as I landed neatly in the front yard of the ramshackle farmhouse.
“What the Sol were you doing?” my grandmother yelled at me the second I was on the ground.
“Freefalling,” Linford replied, grabbing her and curving his arm around her shoulder. “She was safe.”
I shot him an appreciative look, amused when I saw his eyes were twinkling at me in understanding—the wingless would never understand the joys of what I’d just done.
Apparently, my men didn’t either.
They were scowling at me as they landed, their wings fluttering with their outrage as they came to a halt in front of me.
“Was that necessary?” Seph blurted out.
I reached up to pat his cheek. “Don’t be jealous. I’ll Claim you as soon as this is done.”
He blinked. “This has nothing to do—”
My grin was swift. “Of course it does.” My eyes darkened as my amusement was swallowed whole by irritation. “They’ll pay for disturbing our Claiming.”
His frown lessened some, but he shook his head. “You’re not strong enough to pull these stunts.”
“Wanna bet?” I retorted, cocking a brow at him. “I wasn’t strong enough. Now I am.”
The glow protected me, my magic was a shield I could never begin to describe because it hadn’t been like this just a few days before. How could I explain something that made no sense? How could I reason something I didn’t know how to justify?
I couldn’t, so I didn’t.
I didn’t waste words or time.
Instead, I twisted around to face the sea of funnels that undoubtedly had every meteorologist the world over gaping at the unnatural phenomena—even scientists who knew about witches and their affinity at meddling with the weather would be aghast at this sight.
“What are you going to do with them?” Matthew asked me.
“Use them as leverage,” I told him, raising my palms outward once more and drawing my fingers in a come-hither motion.
At once, the funnels moved toward me.
“The plants!” my grandmother shrieked, and I grimaced, realizing that if I followed through with my plan, they’d be destroyed.
With an internal shrug, I allowed the funnels to release their quarry. Though they’d only been within the vortexes for a short span of time, a few moments would be enough to knock anyone out, especially with the speed of the tornados.
As the warriors dropped like dead weights, I let them fall, only calling on the wind, at the final moment, to let them drift softly to the ground.
I lined them up in a neat row and headed over to them. Seventy-two males had thought to take me captive this day, and not a single one had gotten close enough to me to even damage a hair on my head.
As I strolled forward, Matt grabbed my arm. “What’s the plan?”
“We’re going to call on mine and Seph’s new talent.”
“You’re going to petrify them into platinum?” Daniel rasped, his eyes widening.
“Yes,” I murmured. “But don’t worry, I can bring them out of it.”
“How do you know?” my grandmother inquired, her brow arched.
“Because I can take away what I give.”
Her eyes flared and I noticed her flinch as she huddled back into Linford’s arms. That I’d scared her with my words was a given. What I’d just declared was impossible, and yet I knew it was well within the realm of my abilities.
I grabbed Matt’s wrist and, after squeezing it gently, said, “Let me go.” His sigh was one thing, but I saw the guilt in his eyes. “They were going to take us captive, Matt. You owe them no loyalty.”
“My brothers will be amid the battalion,” Seph rasped. “They were there in Hawaii. I see no reason why this won’t be the same battalion.”
I felt merciless when I argued, “They were going to detain us. Do you want that? Do you want them to run experiments on us? To use us as they’ve used witches since time began?”
“We helped witches,” Linford corrected. “You were going crazy from too much power. Looks like it’s starting in you, my girl.”
I shook my head. “Why? Because I’m thinking clearly and being rational? I tell you true—I won’t harm the warriors, but they would harm us.”
“You know she’s right, Linford,” my grandmother muttered, her hands clinging to her Virgo mate’s. I had to wonder at their bond. I knew they hadn’t completed the Claiming, couldn’t since the Virgo bond was a collective, until the Claiming when it turned individual, but it seemed as though they were rebelling against that ‘law,’ or just living outside of its borders.
“Show me what you will do, Granddaughter,” Linford ordered.
I didn’t appreciate his imperious tones, but I was used to obeying my Elders—or getting a slap around the ear for my pains. With a huff, I complied. I knew they wouldn’t be satisfied with a flower, as had been the way before. They needed something conscious too.
As I thought about my intentions, I held out my palm, and a small vortex started there. I called on the elements as I had always done, except this time I was channeling into a whole different collection of elements.
I’d transcended the simple four of earth, fire, water, and air, and had merged into the world of the periodic table. That was the only way I could describe it. That was how I did what I did, and those bits and pieces of naturally occurring elements were glued together by a Sol-ton of magic which could only be a gift from Gaia herself.
On my palm, a furry tarantula appeared. She was big and hairy, and I reached up and carefully ran my finger along her left hind leg. I knew from experience that gentle touch calmed the furry munchkins.
“Is she petting a spider?” Dan whispered to Seph.
I shot him a look. “A tarantula,” I corrected.
My grandmother shuddered. “I’d hoped you’d have grown out of that habit.”
“What? Of having spiders for pets?” My lips curved. “I did. When I moved to LA.” My life hadn’t exactly accommodated pets. Even ones that lived in terrariums. I’d been too busy for friendships outside of work, and even they’d been tense thanks to the competitive nature of the fashion industry, and boyfriends had been out of the picture too—casual hookups were all I’d had time for.
Funny, wasn’t it? That only now I picked up on how lonely I’d been.
A soft huff escaped me at the thought, and I raised my arm and let the tarantula move up and down it. There was always a bite risk, but I didn’t mind. It wouldn’t be the first bite I’d had.
“You had a spider as a pet?”
“Several, over the years,” I told Seph with a grin. When he pulled a face, I just shook my head at him. “Different strokes for different folks.”
Seph rolled his eyes. “Okay, so what’s the plan?”
“Grandmother, you can attest to how much I love tarantulas, correct?”
“Yes.” She grimaced. “I can.”
“Okay.” I sucked in a breath and stroked the creature’s hind leg once more. Except this time, my intent was different, and it was all about in
tent. That’s what I was understanding.
If I intended harm, I could do harm.
If I intended peace, I would make peace.
Within seconds, the metal that was a part of my magic overtook the little beast. It was immortalized in the substance until my intent changed, and when I touched the spider once more, it retracted into the furry little beast it had always been.
Of course, for messing with it, it bit me. I winced but took it as just punishment.
“Rather fitting considering what the warriors will do to you when you wake them up,” Linford commented dryly, eying the bite.
I called on more elements, silica this time, and crafted a rudimentary terrarium to house the spider in. It didn’t take kindly to its prison, but I couldn’t let it roam around the farm—only Sol knew if it might take a liking to the crop.
“That won’t keep it contained,” my grandmother advised grimly, a look of disgust on her face. No one in my house had been happy when I’d found a terrarium at a nearby garage sale, and had then saved up for my first Tarantula—Ninny. I’d never really been a cat or a dog kind of girl.
“I know, but it will for a while, and that’s all I need.” I allowed the wind to carry the box through the open doorway and into the kitchen. The wind, ever polite, closed the door behind it. The second it was shut, my grandmother shuddered.
“She’ll be out before you know it.”
Wincing, because she wasn’t wrong, I mumbled, “I know. Remind me to get her proper equipment.”
Dan grunted. “You mean we’re keeping her?”
My lips twitched. “Of course.”
“Great. Just great,” he muttered, and I patted his arm in mock commiseration.
“It’s a hard life,” I teased.
His eyes were on the warriors. “And it’s about to get a lot harder.”
Six
Seph
I blew out a breath as I stepped toward the downed warriors. When I saw four of my brothers, I winced and pointed to them.
“My kin.”
“They wished us ill, Seph,” Riel pointed out softly.
“That I give a damn at all surprises me, Riel,” I replied uneasily. “We’re not close. We’re not like family at all. Just related by blood.”
“I won’t harm them.”
My thoughts returned to the spider. “I believe you.”
“Then why the concern?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s different on something so much bigger.”
She blew out a breath. “I can see why you might think that, and I wish there was a way for me to explain how I know I’m right, but there isn’t. You’ll just have to trust me.”
“I do,” I stated instantly, and I meant it. The bond might not have been sealed between us, but it pulsed with life.
“Then let’s do this, yeah?” she whispered, her hand reaching for mine so she could squeeze it.
Sucking down some air, I nodded and began to move down the line. As far as I knew, this shit worked on intentions, so I figured I had better focus on wanting to turn my kin into this preserved state, otherwise it wouldn’t work.
The grass was crunchy beneath my feet as I headed over to one end of the line of soldiers and she walked down the other side.
Troupe warriors wore no real armor save for the novices and, ironically enough, the generals. There was no need for protection, but there was a need for a means of demarcating rank. There were ten generals, and each one answered to an Assemblyman. My father’s general, for example, was my brother, Sebastian, but he wasn’t in this line. Of course, my father was supposed to be semi-retired, but everyone knew that was bullshit.
The general in the row was a man I didn’t know, which told me he was new to the position since I knew most of the officers thanks to my father’s role in the government.
Whatever she’d done to them in the funnels she’d sent their way, it had knocked them out. I wasn’t sure if that was because they’d been spun around at such a speed, or if it was simply down to the fact that her magic had done something to them, but they were out for the count.
I kicked the first man’s boot with mine to make sure, and when his body just flopped left and right, I knew he was definitely unconscious.
Gulping and hoping this worked because Riel appeared to have a plan that she hadn’t involved us in—one I intended on finding out swiftly—I ducked down, pressed my hand to the male’s hand, and watched, stomach churning all the while, as he turned into that strangely odd metal that I sensed was neither silver, gold or platinum, just colored that way. For all I knew, it could have been mercury! It was silvery and shiny, that was the extent of my knowledge.
Riel and I moved quickly as it took barely any time at all to stun the warriors. We met in the middle where, irony of ironies, the general lay.
She dipped down and gave him the special treatment before smiling up at me and getting to her feet.
As she went to move back to where her grandparents and the others were standing, I asked, “What next? What do you intend to do with them?”
She blinked at me, then murmured, “We can discuss that as a unit.”
The truth was, my train of thought had been running down the same path as Linford’s. It felt disloyal, but Sol, witches with too much power went crazy. All Fae knew that. And I highly doubted her being witch born Fae would help keep her sane, not with the amount of power she was packing.
That she intended to share her game plan filled me with a small measure of relief as I had to believe that meant she wasn’t turning loopy.
As we strode back to the others, hand in hand, I squeezed her fingers when she murmured, “It’s time we talked.”
Gabriella nodded. “There is much to discuss.”
Riel smiled then, still holding my hand, we walked over to her grandfather. She reached up with her free hand and stroked Linford’s brow. “Can’t have you looking so old while Abuela looks sexy.”
Linford’s arm snapped out to grab her wrist. “You shouldn’t waste—”
“It’s done,” she chided. “You’ve already wasted a lifetime without each other. I can’t allow that.”
Linford licked his lips but there was hope etched there when he glanced at his mate. “You’ve no idea how much power you have. It might not be infinite.”
“I hope it isn’t,” Riel instantly countered, her face set in somber, serious lines. “I hope it does have some limitations, but I hope they last until I’ve done what needs to be done.”
Linford’s still-wrinkled features tensed. “And what is that?”
Riel patted his cheek in a gesture that was odd, considering she was so young and Linford was so old, but at that moment, Riel didn’t feel young. Something about her felt timeless, and that something put me on edge.
“We’ll discuss that inside.”
She dragged me forward, her hand refusing to let go of mine as she took me into the kitchen. As everyone crowded around the small table, the chairs scraping against the scratched tile floor, she finally released me and headed for the stove where she began making coffee, shoveling the ground beans from a bag she found in the old-fashioned refrigerator.
As she worked, she hummed, and the sound was like a lullaby. It was sweet and pure and made my ears tingle with its beauty. Gabriella hovered for a second before she moved over to Riel, placed her hands on either side of her arms, and murmured, “Mija, let me make it while you talk, sí?”
Riel blinked in surprise but nodded. Then, after sucking down a sharp breath, declared, “While I was sleeping, I was thinking.”
“You were thinking?” Daniel repeated bluntly, his eyes wide with disbelief.
“Yes. I know it sounds weird, but I was. It wasn’t like a normal sleep. It was different. Unusual. I was thinking while resting. I didn’t know what was happening out here, but I was just processing.
“That’s what led me to my conclusions.”
“Which are?” Linford prompted, his tone wary.
“Firstly, the Fae will never let me rest. Ever. I’m too useful, have too much potential to let me lead a regular life. Am I wrong?” she asked, her focus switching to Linford.
“No. You’re not.” His reply was instant, but his tone was wooden with his displeasure at his own words.
“That means we have to find a way to change the balance.”
Linford’s brow rose. “And that’s why you petrified those warriors?”
“If the Assembly had left me alone and hadn’t sent them, I wouldn’t have. Instead, they bombarded their way into my life while I was Claiming my men.” She sniffed, her metal nails further scratching the Formica on the table as she spoke. The noise was enough to have me cringing, but I just listened to what she had to say, content to do as she’d just admitted—process rather than judge.
“There’s also the matter of the AFata, who still want me apparently. Enough to try to take me by force again. That in itself is rather inconvenient, but after using their magic against them today, I could say their interest in me came in quite handy.” Her lips twitched. “Talk about killing two birds with one stone.”
“You probably hurt the witches who cast those spells,” Gabriella predicted over by the stove.
“They wouldn’t be hurt if they’d just left me alone,” Riel reasoned with a shrug.
Her grandmother’s mouth tightened, but she didn’t counter the argument.
“The AFata are another issue entirely, but, and I have to believe this is true, Abuela, do they care for witchkind?”
Gabriella frowned as she leaned back against the counter. Her hands bracketed her waist as she wavered back and forth, evidently contemplating the question.
For a few seconds, she just stared at her granddaughter, then she nodded. “They do. They hate the Fae, and that’s their driving force, but other than their desire to do anything to mess with the Fae’s plans, their intentions are pure.”
Linford snorted. “And what she means by ‘desire to mess with the Fae’s plans’ is tantamount to terrorism. Don’t be fooled by her romanticizing.”
Finally Faeling: An Eight Wings Academy Novel: Book Three Page 8