by E. A. Copen
“The why doesn’t really matter. In the end, it’s about you. I know your kind,” I spat. “Power-hungry. You’ll do anything to get what you want.”
Noelle leaned in. “That makes two of us then, doesn’t it? Or is this the one thing you won’t do for your little girl?”
I swallowed. “Loki promised me.”
“He promised you my cooperation in exchange for three dead gods.” She held up three fingers and quickly dropped two of them. “You’ve given him one. You can either kill two more gods on his list, Lazarus, or you can give me what I want. Either way, someone dies, and you get your precious daughter back. But tick-tock. My offer’s only good a few more minutes. After that, you’re on your own getting into the prison where they’re holding her.”
I could do it, get into the fae tower on my own now that I was in Faerie. It wouldn’t be easy, especially since I didn’t have many friends left, and I didn’t know where it was, but there had to be a way. I just couldn’t think of it, not with my brains scrambled.
Even if I got into the tower, what then? I had no way to get home from there without Noelle’s help, and I couldn’t fight all of Summer by myself. Summer had some fierce warriors. I knew because I had fought alongside many of them.
I closed my eyes and exhaled. “I won’t kill the Winter Queen for you, but if you choose to kill her while Remy is in Faerie, that’s your business. I won’t help you beyond providing the opportunity.”
She spread her arms wide. “That’s all I ask.”
“And in exchange, you have to give me your word that Remy will be returned to Earth, unharmed.”
Noelle pursed her lips. “Titania may have already harmed her.”
I pushed the thought of what Titania might’ve done to Remy away. “Then give me your word that you’ll do everything in your power to return Remy to Earth in my custody.”
She smiled and extended a hand. “Done.”
I gripped Noelle’s hand. Icy magic raced up my arm and kissed my cheek in a gentle caress before snapping back. Noelle winked at me. I looked over to where Emma stood with her back to me. What had I done?
Chapter Seventeen
Noelle showed me to another room where a huge map was spread over a large round table. Four knives held the corners in place. While she spoke about battle plans, I fantasized about picking each of them up and stabbing her with them. If I was going to go down for murder, it might as well be for murdering someone who deserved it, right? Too bad she was the only person who could help me.
I would still owe Loki two more kills once this was over. If I didn’t keep my word, he’d probably kill me, and I had no plans to die. Maybe I could negotiate on which names next time, find a god worth taking out. Not all of them were as good as Hades. His face flashed behind my eyes, and I shook my head to clear it.
“Are you okay?” Noelle asked. “You need to pay attention.”
“I’m fine,” I lied. “And I heard you. Getting there is the easy part.”
She pointed out a structure on the upper half of the map. “The princess is being held in a tower that lies on the edge of Titania’s territory. It is not, however, neutral ground. The moment I cross into her lands with the intent to do harm, I’ll be in breach of our treaty. It will be an act of war. I want you to understand that. I’m going to war to help you.”
“Technically, you’re forcing your queen to go to war, but who’s counting?”
Noelle rolled her eyes. “Not you, obviously. My spies report the tower doesn’t have many guards, but all of them are elite warriors. They also claim to have sighted a dragon in the area.”
I placed my hands on the table and leaned over the map. “Let me guess. Big guy. Breathes fire. Has a little bun of hair on top of his head?”
She blinked. “How did you know?”
“I know the guy.” I cringed. “He’s not a Summer fae. That’s Prince Roshan of the Light Court. Remy’s mother was sort of promised to him.”
“Did they wed?”
I shook my head. “Odette died in childbirth before that could happen.”
Noelle nodded. “Then the alliance was never made official. I don’t know why he’d be in the area. As far as I’m aware, the Court of Light is unaware that Titania has her.”
“Maybe he’s trying to figure out why Titania built the tower at the edge of her territory. Could be he’s a spy too.” I shrugged. Doubted it. Roshan wasn’t exactly a go-getter. He was more of a dragon with an emotional eating problem. I couldn’t guess why he’d be around, but I hoped I didn’t have the opportunity to ask him either. Roshan might’ve been a coward, but once he got motivated to do something, he was hard to take down.
“There’s only one entrance.” Noelle tapped the tower. “They’ll be holding her at the top. The only way to get to her will be fighting our way through dozens of enemies.”
“Or maybe not.” I turned away from the map to face her. “The fetch version of me took her, right? He’s probably been hanging around too since he’s working for Titania. All I have to do is convince them that I’m him and walk right in.”
She folded her arms and rubbed a thumb on her bottom lip. “It’s risky, but it could work. What’s the backup plan if they discover you’re not the fetch?”
“Run like hell and kill everything that gets in my way, I guess.”
“Our way,” Noelle corrected and pulled up two of the daggers. She spun them in her hands before setting them aside to roll up the map. “We’re in this together now, Lazarus.”
I pushed away from the table. “How’d she make this fetch?”
Something like that would take a lot of magic, and I assumed a biological sample, all of which Titania could’ve gotten from me while I was half dead in Summer a few months ago. Just having the power and ingredients wouldn’t be enough, or else fae would be making fetches all the time. As far as I knew, I’d never run into one, which meant they weren’t that common. To make a duplicate of a Horseman would probably be even more involved.
Dammit, I still didn’t know if Bizarro Laz had my Horseman powers too. If he did, that’d be a problem.
Noelle shrugged one white shoulder. “It takes a lot of time and energy to grow one. Considering the state of Summer these last few years, it’s not surprising that Titania has been dedicating her magic to something other than her people.”
“Hold on a second.” I raised a finger. “Did you say years?” On Earth, it had only been a few months since my last trip to Summer. I knew time passed differently in Faerie, but that was way more different than a few weeks turning into months, wasn’t it?
“Faerie is a fickle mistress,” said the fae with a mischievous smile. “Decades could have passed on Earth while you’ve been here, or only seconds. It depends on her mood. For us, it has been nearly thirty years since you defeated the Shadow Army for Summer. There are songs about it. Plays, even.”
Thirty years? And Remy had been trapped in Faerie for nine days. How much time had passed for her while I was trying to get to her? I gripped the metal pipe I’d brought with me. Even more reason for us to launch this attack on the tower now.
Noelle’s eyes snapped to the pipe in my hand. “You shouldn’t have brought that.”
“What, this?” I lifted the pipe and studied it. Iron, I realized. I’d brought a weapon that could maim and injure fae in Faerie. Once we were close to Remy, it might even kill them. The pipe in my hands was deadlier than Noelle’s swords. It’d hurt more anyway. And if she got out of hand or tried to betray me, maybe she’d think twice if I had iron in my hands. I hadn’t meant to bring it. It just sort of happened, but hell if I wasn’t going to capitalize on a happy accident. I lowered the pipe and let the hollow end thump against the floor. “This is my new staff. It goes where I go.”
“Be careful with it. Faerie herself could reject you just for having it here. She’s—”
“Fickle, I get it. Who else is coming with us to the tower?” I turned my head to address Emma, who leaned against on
e of the walls, arms crossed. She hadn’t spoken to me since she found out what I’d done. “Em, you in?”
She didn’t answer.
I glanced at Noelle before stepping away from the table. “Be mad at me all you want, Emma. Hate me if that’s what you want to do. Once this is over and Remy is safe, you can do or say whatever you want, but until then, she needs you. This isn’t about me. This is about saving Remy and Jessica, wherever she is. So, are you in, or are you out?”
Emma lifted her head, lips pursed. Her eyes felt heavy on my face. “What do you need me to do?”
The place where Summer and Winter met was both beautiful and terrifying. Gray sky clashed against azure blue. Dead, scraggly thorn bushes brushed right up against lush, green bushes. A small stream flowed from Summer into Winter and iced over just a few feet over the line, freezing fish in place. Snow had fallen in a jagged line, stopping just short of the Summer boundary.
And in the distance on the Summer side, tucked against rolling hills and crawling vines, stood a single stone tower. It rose high enough to give the guards on the roof a prime view of Winter for miles. The tower was surrounded by a moat filled with spikes. It’d be a fifty-foot drop down into the icy water, ensuring the drawbridge as the only way in.
With no vegetation for us to hide behind, they would easily see us approaching. I couldn’t approach from the Winter side or they would suspect something, so we’d had to work out a way to get me across the boundary. Noelle almost didn’t go for it, but it was the best plan we had short of cooking up an invisibility spell, which neither of us knew how to do. It’d probably fail in Faerie anyway. Glamours worked well in Faerie, but apparently, she didn’t like other types of illusion magic.
We came at the tower from the east. There weren’t any trees or bushes for cover, but the patrols were mostly on the western side since the east side of the tower was still under construction. Noelle walked in front of me, the braided rope around her wrists and my pipe at her back. I kept it only lightly pressed against her so it wouldn’t burn her through her dress. Emma walked alongside her, bound just like Noelle.
“Are you sure this is going to work?” Noelle growled. “What if the fetch is already here?”
I stepped over a large rock. “Then we improvise.”
“Improvise.” Noelle gave a very unladylike snort. “Only a human would call that a plan.”
“Hey, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. Ninety percent of everything I do is improv. Improvisation has a long and glorious history on Earth with such masters of the art as Colbert and O’Brien.”
“Colbert and O’Brien,” Noelle repeated. “And their improvised battle plans work?”
“Totally, but only after eleven. Good improv always gets a little dirty.” I looked up at the tower. We were nearly within range.
“Stop!” Armor clanked and a shadow peered down from the tower, the glint of some fae metal pointing straight at us. Crossbow. Three more guards joined him, pointing their crossbows at us. “State your business.”
I spread my arms wide, yanking the rope holding Emma and Noelle slightly. “Guys, it’s me. And I brought a present.”
The guard squinted down at me. “Is that the Winter Knight?”
I grabbed a handful of Noelle’s hair and jerked her head back. “Well? Answer the man.”
She shot me a dirty look. “I am the Winter Knight.”
“Who’s that then?” The crossbows shifted slightly to the left, focusing on Emma.
I let go of Noelle to put a hand on Emma’s shoulder. “I brought the knight for Her Majesty. A new toy. But the woman? She’s mine.”
The guards conversed among themselves. They weren’t buying it. I had to convince them and fast.
I cleared my throat and shouted up, “The longer you make me stand out here in the sun, the more I sweat, and the more I sweat, the grumpier I get. You really want me pissed off once I get in the tower with you, boys?”
They exchanged glances. “Lower the drawbridge!”
“See?” I whispered to Noelle and Emma. “Told you it’d work.”
“You didn’t have to play the part so well,” Noelle snapped back.
“Of course, I did. They wouldn’t have bought it otherwise.”
Metal chains clanked and wood creaked. A massive slab of wood lowered from the front of the tower and thudded into the ground in front of us, bridging the space between us and the entrance to the tower. The easy part was over. Now for the hard part.
I pushed my captives forward. Across the drawbridge, I could feel their eyes on me, but I didn’t dare look up. Looking up would’ve spoiled the illusion. They’d have seen the nerves on my face. I’d never had a good poker face.
We were home free until a company of guards filed onto the bridge, forming a line of eight men on either side. Who else but Sir Foxglove would stride out, decked all in bright Summer colors? He’d affixed his helmet too. On anyone else, the big plumed helmet would’ve looked ridiculous, but I’d seen Foxglove fight. He was nothing short of badass.
Walking out to greet us at his side was the Summer Knight, William. I hadn’t seen him fight, but if he was the Summer Knight, he outranked Foxglove, which probably meant he was a certified badass too. Dammit, I hadn’t counted on either of them being here.
They marched to the end of the column of soldiers. Foxglove drew his sword. “Halt! Come no closer, Horseman, or your life is forfeit.”
Shit, was my cover blown? Couldn’t be. I’d played evil me perfectly. Guess I had to keep playing him. I pulled Noelle in front of me like a shield. “Get out of my way, Foxglove!” When he didn’t move, I addressed the Summer Knight. “William, tell your dog to back down. Titania won’t be happy if I turn him into mincemeat.”
William drew his sword. “We’re not letting you near the girl, Lazarus. Titania entrusted us with her protection, even at the cost of our own lives. That means we must protect her from all threats, even you.”
“Turn around,” Foxglove snarled. “I’ll give you a thirty-second head start before I come after you.”
Geez, these guys were serious. Just what had Bizarro Laz done to get them so upset? I couldn’t take either of them. Together, they’d be practically unstoppable. “Why? What’d I ever do to you?”
“You must be joking!” Foxglove grabbed his helmet and tore it off, revealing a deep, puckered scar over the left side of his face. He pointed at it. “Tell me you don’t remember holding my face against hot iron the last time I stood between you and the princess? I should’ve challenged you years ago, the first time I saw you raise a hand to her.”
I flinched. Raised a hand to my own daughter? Oh, hell, no. Bizarro Laz had gone too far. I would strangle him with his own guts when I found him. But first I had to convince these two that I wasn’t him, and I had to do it without letting the crossbowmen above hear or they’d shoot me dead.
I pushed Emma out of the way and jammed my metal pipe into the back of Noelle’s neck. She cried out and went to her knees before turning and hissing, “What the hell are you doing?”
“Improvising,” I growled back through clenched teeth. “Roll with it if you want to live.” I yanked her head back and pressed the pipe to her neck.
William surged forward, but Foxglove held him back.
“Do you think we care if you kill her?” Foxglove asked. “She is the Winter Knight, servant of our sworn enemy.”
“She dies on Summer’s soil, there’ll be war. You want a war, gentlemen?” I pressed the iron harder into Noelle’s neck, making her scream as it burned into her. “Do you?”
“Coward!” William shouted, gripping his sword.
Foxglove put a hand on William’s shoulder. “What is it you want?”
“I want a one-on-one fight with you, Foxglove. Give me a chance to finish what I started.”
He smirked and tore off his mossy green cloak, letting it flutter in the air. “Gladly,” he said and stepped forward.
I had flashbacks to how he’d sp
un through the Shadow Army, cutting soldiers down with ease. It’d been mesmerizing to watch. Those had been trained soldiers with armor and swords. I was just a guy with a pipe and a little magic. Against a swordsman like Foxglove, I had no chance. Me and my big mouth.
Chapter Eighteen
Foxglove opened with a strong vertical strike aimed at the top of my head. I pushed Noelle away and brought my steel pipe up just in time to catch the blade. His sword steamed and hissed when it struck the iron-heavy metal. Foxglove grimaced.
“I need to tell you something,” I said so only he would hear.
“Tell it to your god.” He swung up an armored foot and landed a good, hard kick to my groin.
I don’t care who you are, getting kicked in the family jewels hurts like hell, Pale Horseman included. When that kick is coming from an armored boot… Let’s just say it was damned effective. I curled up, eyes watering, and went down to my knees, unable to breathe, let alone move.
“Pathetic,” Foxglove spat. “I expected more from the man they call Death.” He leveled his sword against my neck. “Any last words, Horseman?”
Movement in the sky caught my eye. “One,” I wheezed out in a high voice. “Duck.”
“Duck?” he repeated, wrinkling his nose. Too bad he didn’t listen.
A loud roar tore through the valley. Foxglove spun, eyes toward the sky just in time to take in the huge, green dragon as it landed on top of the tower. The dragon’s talons gripped the wall and it shook like a dog coming in out of the rain before belching fire.
I tackled Foxglove’s legs and got him down just in time to avoid being hit. From on top of Foxglove, I twisted to look behind me. Emma and Noelle were safely out of range of the fire. Noelle glanced up at the crossbowmen who had focused their fire on the dragon perched on the roof, then ran forward and thrust her wrists just above the fire burning on stone. Once the fire singed the rope, she pulled her wrists apart.