“But I’m—”
Camille grabbed my wrist. “You’re what? All powerful? Do you even have it under control? My mark felt like a weight, like a monster growing in my soul, trying to eat me alive.”
“Well, that’s not what this feels like. It surges through my body all the time, the power, just itching to get out.”
“Renounce it. Throw it away.”
“I’ll need it one day. I feel that in my soul. But, if I use it at the wrong time, with people I love, I take away their choices.”
“You have to accept what you are. Only then can you access the power when you need it and be at peace when you don’t. Have you talked with Alena about this?”
“Yeah, I mean she knows how it feels to struggle with reining in a basic instinct, so I told her.”
“Is that what it feels like every time you want to make a decision for someone?”
“Only on the big ones, when I know we’re putting her and you in danger.” I stuffed my hands in my pockets.
“You have to realize we can protect ourselves, especially Alena.”
“I grew up knowing I needed to protect my mom from my dad, sensed from a young age his apathy toward her. She was all alone, providing for us.”
Camille laid her hands on my shoulders. “It’s in your nature to protect those around you. Think of that instinct like the leadership one. You have to fight it, trust that everyone else will do their job too.”
“So, I’m at war with my father and Theron, Sonia, Alena, you, and myself? When will this be over?”
“You, Alena, and I are on the same side. We want the same thing.”
I locked my gaze on hers. “I feel like I’m the only who can find the faerie people. Like they feel threatened by the presence of vampires and perhaps even more than one of us.”
“Maybe you are the only one.”
“Then, let me go. We need an aerial view.”
Camille grabbed my arm. “It’s too risky. We can rent a helicopter.”
“We’ve been out there all day. Nothing’s in that jungle. Go back inside. You and Alena will sense if I’m in trouble, and Aaron or Dimitri can find me in seconds.”
“This is a bad idea.” Camille tightened her ponytail.
“But you’re thinking about it. You know I’m right. What if it’s our only shot?”
She bit her lip. “Fine.”
“Promise me.” I gripped her shoulders. “Do not wake Alena unless I’m about to die.”
I sprung into the air before she could object. It was a bad idea for me to be out alone, but I couldn’t play it safe any longer. The feeling had become suffocating. Before, I only had to think about Mom. But my list grew too long, and the burden weighed on me every second. It wasn’t logical to think I must bear it alone, but I couldn’t shake the idea.
Flying over the dense forest, I gained altitude, hoping to find a gap in the tree cover, anything that might be a portal. Then, I saw it in the very center, a tiny break in the trees. Hovering over the space, I descended to the forest floor. Sliding my phone from my pocket, I pinged my location and noted the time, half past two. If lore held, I only needed to wait thirty minutes until the witching hour.
I paced the area, repeating aloud again and again what we needed, assistance in stopping Sonia from raising all the dead witches, to get St. Maurice’s blade so my brother and the rest of the vampires would be free. Both my brothers were part-vampire, and I was a witch, so why did summoning faeries feel odd? Don’t berate yourself. You’ve only known about this world for six months. I refocused on the goal.
“If one of you will just talk to me, to us. We need to unite to defeat Sonia and those who lead Michael’s coven. They can’t be allowed to raise these fallen souls.”
Repeating my plea over and over, I circled the small clearing. I thought my eyes would adjust to the darkness, but it seemed to become blacker and blacker. Every nerve tingled with adrenaline coursing through my body. Perhaps this was a bad idea. What if a pack of fossa attacked me? Did they even hunt that way? Did natives live in the forest? I could defend myself, but that would mean exposure, witnesses. Then, everything stopped, the bugs, the birds, the frogs. Even the air stood still.
A quick flash of light shot around me. I heard a whooshing sound and a sharp pain emitted from my neck. Feeling the spot, I found a wooden needle. Another prick pinged on my arm and I grabbed my bicep where another needle stuck in my skin. Pulling it out, I held my phone up high, letting my flashlight illuminate the space.
“I don’t mean to hurt you. Please, just come out and talk.”
Shoop, shoop, shoop. Three more needles pelted my body, hitting my thigh, torso, and forehead. My muscles seized, and I dropped to the ground. I could see, hear, think, but not move. Six large bronze-skinned men materialized from the darkness. They held spears in one hand and instruments, I guessed to be blow guns, in the other.
“So, you want to meet a faerie, do you?” One with a white beard loomed over me.
“Right now, I just want to be able to blink.”
He plucked the needle from my face. “You should have your wish soon.”
“Thank you.” I went to sit up, but my muscles didn’t respond. “Are you—”
Forming a ring around me, they extended their wings. faeries were real, or I was on a bad trip induced by whatever toxin laced the wooden darts. “Is this real?”
“You’re a witch, and you’re not sure faeries are real?” one dressed in green robes asked.
“How do you know I’m a witch?”
“We saw you fly into the clearing, no wings. You’re a witch. Plus, you smell like them. And we can, you know, sense your thoughts. Didn’t you even research faeries before you came looking for us?” He pulled a needle from my bicep.
“Thank you.” I pushed myself up to a sitting position and pointed to my leg. “May I?”
“You’ve got your magic, unless we slap these on you.” He produced a string of beads from his pants pocket. “Guess standing can’t hurt.”
Another of them, dressed in red, plucked the wooden shaft from my leg and offered his hand. “Steady, you might need a minute.”
Standing, the ground tilted below me, and I stumbled to a tree stump. “Thanks, again.”
“Thanking your attackers, that’s new.” He laughed.
Eyeing the group, I assessed my situation. Could faeries do magic? Was I in real danger?
“Wow, you’re new, aren’t you?” The white-bearded gentleman twisted the hairs on his chin and squatted in front of me.
“Can you read my thoughts?”
“Isn’t that what I just said, mate? Yes, unless you block us out.”
“I have nothing to hide.”
“And the answer to your question is no, you’re not in danger. Your magic would be faster than our weapons.”
I studied his face. “My magic, or all magic?”
“Yours. You are very powerful.” He circled behind me.
“What about you?” I turned to the man in the robe. “How powerful are you? You can fly? How fast? And you are warriors?”
“Some of us choose to join our armies, protect our own people, but all of us are protectors of the human realm.”
My eyebrow shot up. “The realm, or the humans?”
“Smart.” The one dressed in red with crimson wings approached. “The humans. And you wish to convince us the humans would be in danger if vampires start to retaliate against the witches for taking their kind. But the vampires risk exposing themselves if they do that.”
“Michael’s coven can’t be allowed to raise their departed souls. How many witches does that flood the earth with? Witches in vampire bodies.”
The white-bearded one chuckled. “Vampires with souls. Sounds like a good trade to me.”
Bolting up, I charged him. “They are beings too. They don’t deserve to have their lives taken over.”
“Especially your brother, right? Don’t bother talking. Between us, we know everything.”
Red wings hovered over me. “And no, we are not all green as in your children’s books.”
“Or light-skinned or red-headed.” One in a multi-colored robe approached.
“It would help if I knew your names.”
“I am Alemayehu.” The white-bearded faerie held out his palm. “My name will suffice.”
I stood and grasped his hand. “I am Hunter.”
Alemayehu shook his head. “We will not help you, Hunter. This is not our fight.”
“What if humans started dying? Are there other faeries that may decide differently?”
“Why do you think you need faeries? Shouldn’t this be a vampire problem? Perhaps werewolves or trolls would fight with you?”
“I thought you knew all my thoughts.” I glared at him.
“Yes, you believe they would be taken over just the same. You would be delivering an army to Michael’s coven. This Sonia cannot be that powerful. It would not be stood for.”
Balling my fist, I leaned towards him. “That’s where you’re wrong. This is an old dark magic. It’s been growing for years, and they mean to have dominion over all the beings. Surely you see the threat in that.”
“I do not believe it. The witches will check their own. They have done it before and will step in again.”
“Yes, with Sonia, but now she is free, immortal, and more powerful than ever.”
“The witches will solve it. We’re done here.” With a flash of light, the faeries disappeared.
Muscles twitching, I plopped onto the tree stump. I’d failed to convince them. It seemed they’d already made up their minds, and I wondered why they bothered coming. Perhaps they were sick of me hounding their land. Maybe they thought they could change my mind, stop me from thinking faeries would help because others might. Standing, I stretched my arms. This was a victory. I learned something. We just had to find faeries that were willing to stand with us.
It took all my energy to fly back to our cabin, and I trudged up the steps. Nothing happened when I tried a cloaking spell. Realizing that whatever was in those darts and my two flying sessions had tapped my strength, I tiptoed to my bunk, collapsing on the mattress.
“Hunter? Hunter—” Alena’s voice broke through the fog of my sleep.
“What?” I pushed up on my elbows, and my head throbbed. “Oh, God, my head.”
She slapped my arm. “You scared us to death. It’s after noon. You’ve been comatose half the day. Camille, Grady … no one could find anything wrong with you.”
Chancing sitting up again, I shrugged. “Probably the past week just caught up with me.”
“Camille and I made some chicken broth for you.” She held a bowl out to me.
My stomach grumbled, and I swung my legs to the floor. “I feel like I could eat a whole chicken right now.”
“Well, that’s a good sign. But I think you should start with this.” She set the platter on my lap.
I indulged her and sipped the salty warm liquid till there was none left in the bowl. I hated keeping things from her but didn’t want to tell her about my jaunt the prior night. “I’m sorry I worried you.”
“Are you crushed we didn’t find any faeries?”
“Yes and no. I’m not sure how hopeful I was. We have to figure something out though and fast.”
She faced me. “What about another forest? Or should we go to the werewolves first?”
“I think it has to be faeries first. I don’t think we’re going to get any other support with some secure muscle power.”
“Okay.” She jumped up. “Where to next?”
“Daintree Rainforest in Australia is supposed to be over one hundred eighty million years old.”
“Food, and then travel plans.” She slipped her fingers in mine and pulled me up.
We’d been at such odds, it felt good to be on the same page for once even if she didn’t know the whole story. Entering the great room, the others greeted me, but I avoided Camille. While Aaron and Dimitri worked on travel plans with Anne, the rest of us sparred in the gym. My muscles felt sore, but my magic seemed to have regained its full strength. It felt good to push my body, make it stronger, but being together with the team reminded me of who wasn’t there. DJ.
Camille found me when Alena showered. “What happened?”
I admitted how six of them paralyzed me with the darts, and Camille popped me on the arm.
“Hey, why’d you do that?” I rubbed my skin.
“Cause you’re an idiot, that’s why. I was so stupid to let you go. What if they’d kidnapped you, taken you back to their realm or wherever they’re from?”
“But I got good intel, their poison is a good defense, and although this group wouldn’t help, another may.”
She harassed me with questions, most of which I couldn’t answer, till we heard Alena shut off the water. Pointing at me, Camille backed to the door. “That will be the last time I let you pull something like that.”
I didn’t care if she was mad at me. I knew how to contact the faeries, and I would do it again when we got to Australia. That was what half of me said; the other half thought I might be going insane. Perhaps we should be concentrating on our own people, the witches, instead of leaving that piece to Anne and Marcus.
Giving Alena time to dress, I knocked on her door. “We should call your mom, see what progress they’ve made with the witches.”
“Hunter.” She wrapped her hand around mine. “I know you’re freaking out. My mind is swirling with how to get DJ and Gregor back too. We talked to my mom this morning. Chalondra and Orm are contacting the witch covens. But none believe them. They think it isn’t possible.”
“Why didn’t you brief me on this? What about Marcus?”
Her red locks swished back and forth as she shook her head. Red tears started to pool in her eyelids. “It’s not good. Marcus and his coven will side with us. They are only half as large as Michael’s now that Theron is engaged to a daughter of the next largest coven. The elders fear Sonia, and the younger generations want what Sonia is offering, a strong witch faction that doesn’t have to worry about vampires.”
I locked my hands around her biceps. “We could show them how vampires and witches can get along.”
“Are you forgetting that DJ, Jude, and I are not supposed to exist? We could be executed along with our parents.”
“Damn.” I stomped away from her.
She wrapped her arms around my middle. “We’ll get them back.”
“You don’t know that.” I spun into her.
“We have to have faith.”
On the flight, I researched the Aboriginals people of Australia and their belief in “spirit beings” that conveyed knowledge from the creative beings in the spirit realm. I thought about how the witches, vampires, and humans lived in peace long before the flood and wondered if it would be possible again. Most superhero stories depended on the heroes remaining anonymous because humans would never allow more powerful beings to exist out of fear the beings would rule or harm them. I guessed it to be true. If you look at human relationships with any other creature, beast, or bird, whether protected in the wild or raised for food, humans had control or the means to control animals.
I focused on the maps and aerial views of the forest and noted potential portals to the faerie realm. The trick would be to keep Alena and Camille distracted. I needed allies. Grady, Jude, or Tyler would never agree, but Aaron and Dimitri might.
Landing, we loaded into an SUV Anne arranged for our stay and headed to a safe house. It lay in the middle of the forest. The hike the next day through the dense jungle felt like a waste. I couldn’t even enjoy the scenery for thinking of how I might escape that night. I got my chance when everyone else went to sleep and Alena wanted to spar. Aaron and Dimitri volunteered to work out with her, and I pretended to be tired.
One o’clock came, and I removed my shoes and tiptoed down the hall to the control center. With Aaron and Dimitri occupied, the room was empty. Checking that no one saw me, I
slipped into the dim room. I knew my way around computers. The passwords would have been the trickiest part except for the fact that I’d pulled them from Aaron’s brain while we were hiking. Witches weren’t supposed to be able to read minds, but I focused on the task all day and had been able to find the password in Aaron’s thoughts. It felt wrong, and I didn’t like it, but I convinced myself it was a means to a good end.
Tapping on the screen, I brought up the video surveillance programs and reset them to play the feed from the back of the house in a loop of the previous hour. Next, I padded to my room and put on the Kevlar jacket and pants Anne had designed for us. The suit felt like wearing bricks, but I figured it was better than being drugged again.
I evoked a cloaking spell and made my way to the back exit. Tapping in the door code, I released the lock and clicked the door shut behind me. Hiking a mile into the forest, I took to the air. I circled the forest once, looking for the darkest part, and descended into the trees. Using my phone for light, I searched for a clearing. With the start of the witching hour, the forest grew silent. The hairs on my arms pricked with anxiety. This would either prove to be the smartest or the dumbest thing I’d ever done. Hadn’t I learned my lesson last time?
A branch cracked behind me, and I pivoted towards the sound. Amber eyes glowed in front of me, and the woman pointed a cocked arrow at me.
“Why are you here?” Green wings flapped on her back.
I raised my palms. “Don’t shoot. I’m alone and mean you no harm.”
“Why do you think you could do me harm?”
Spreading my shoulders, I tugged on my sleeve, revealing the mark on my wrist. “I’m Hunter Michaels.”
“I’ve heard of you.” She began to circle me. “You contacted my brethren in Africa.”
“Then you know what I need?” I confronted her. “Who are you? Will you aid us in defeating Sonia?”
“I am Queen Titania, ruler of Aubren, the Kingdom below this realm.”
Many questions floated through my head, but I focused on the goal, getting her to agree to lend us soldiers. She listened while I explained our circumstance and how we believed the faerie could aid us in breaching Michael’s coven’s complex.
The Kingdom Journals Complete Series Box Set Page 115