by Sarah Tobias
“Yeah? Oh, good.” I lost the act. “I have no idea what I just did.”
To shake off the unsteadiness, I sat down. Derek took the seat Asher had so recently vacated.
“You’ve got to stop doing that,” I said as I settled in beside him. “It makes me uncomfortable, how you can so silently sneak around.”
Derek shrugged. “It won’t be long until you can track my every move. I’ll have trouble escaping, I’m sure.”
He could be serious, but more likely he was patronizing me for his own enjoyment.
Irritated, I said, “I need you to be straight with me. Maybe help to figure this out. Then you can go and do whatever it is you fae-people do.”
Derek eyed me lazily. I sizzled with annoyance under his stare.
“You want it straight?” Derek ran a hand through his hair, then crossed his arms over his chest. “Fae don’t have to tell each other where we’ll be to find one another. I figured—rightly—that you marked me yesterday, and thus could sense and therefore track me. It’s automatic, instinctual almost, for a fae-breed like you.”
My knees bobbed up and down with furious energy. “I’m having trouble controlling it,” I admitted. “I don’t know how I’ve done half the things I’ve made happen. How’d I even summon you right now? Or—mark you, I mean.”
Derek quieted, then said, “I’m trying very hard to figure out exactly what Sect you are. You’re perplexing to no end. I know everything there is to understand about our realm…” he trailed off, deep in thought, before continuing. “I’ve done some incognito digging and asking around, so as to not draw any unwanted attention to you. But, I’ve come up with nothing. No fae knows what you are. There isn’t a text I’ve read describing the kinds of powers you display.”
I gave a pert nod. “Which proves the point I’ve been trying to make since meeting you. I. Am not. Fae.”
Derek tapped his fingers against his forearms. “Not so fast. We haven’t fully tested your abilities, babycakes. Normally, fae possess one or two powerful traits. Me, for example. I’m stealthy. Deadly quiet. It’s how I can easily sneak up on my prey—humans. And then, I very conveniently persuade them to forget I was ever nibbling on their soul. But that’s it. That’s all I possess.”
“Meanwhile, I poof a human out of existence.” I rest my chin in my hand as I watch the goings-on in the park. “We’ve been through this.”
Derek’s eyes were hard on my profile as he pressed on, “You, my dear, have told me you can alter reality, persuade people, mark specific fae, and have your human form undergo physical changes. It’s remarkable. Truly, there’s only one other fae that displays the vast array of powers you do.”
Derek went silent. My butt was on the edge of a protruding tree root, my feet twitching furiously, but I didn’t want to move and spook him. “Who? What?”
“Damos,” he said, and if I didn’t know any better, I could swear the name frightened him.
“Like, the King of all fae you were talking about?” I asked.
“Damos,” Derek corrected. “That’s his name, and I beg you, use it sparingly. You don’t want the wind catching that moniker and carrying it to someone who could use it against you. He is feared, even by his own kind. You never, ever want to find yourself in front of him.” Even now, Derek’s gaze darted around the park.
“How is that possible? Why would I display powers that only an evil fairy king possesses?”
“I told you, stop being so glib!” Derek snapped out of his dark and somber mood and glared. “All I can do is study you, watch your powers, and see if it rings a bell. I’ve been around a long time. Centuries. You’re the most exciting thing that’s come up in hundreds of years.”
I massaged the back of my neck, oh so tired. “I wish eating souls and killing my friends didn’t provide you with so much excitement.”
Derek’s expression twisted, but only for a moment, and not long enough for me to catch what it was. Then, he turned back to me, his face carefully blank. “Let’s take you for a test run.”
“Not yet,” I said. The last thing I wanted was to “test” my predatory abilities in a crowded park. “Just talk to me a bit more. Please. There’s so much I need to know. About me. You. What’s inside us. And what’s this Tryne you mentioned before?”
Derek’s brows jumped up over his glasses. “Right. I suppose I glossed over them, and it’s only a matter of time before they come after you.” Derek side-eyed me. “Come after you they will, babycakes. You’ll be their most powerful catch in decades.”
Instead of falling victim to my racing heart, I said, with calm force, “So it’s a them, not an it.”
Derek stared up at the darkening sky, shaking his head in wonder. “It’s rare for powerful fae to make themselves known. They hide well and adapt even better. It’s only the uncontrollable ones, the greedy fae, who make mistakes and end up on the wrong end of the Tryne. It’s incredibly precious to smoke out an old, powerful fae, but if anyone can do it, they can.”
My legs stopped their twitching. I went eerily still.
“Tryne means three,” Derek continued. “A trinity. A trio, if you will. Three warriors, tasked with eradicating all fae from this world.”
I raised my brows. “Three? For the whole wide world?”
Derek laughed, but there was no humor in it. “They annihilate. They are powerful. The Tryne’s been around almost as long as we fae have, each with their own title. A Chaser. A Trapper. And lastly—and most deadly—a Hunter.”
“You’ve used that word before. Hunter.”
“Yes, because one has entered our midst in this quaint little city. He’s always waiting. The Chaser would have led him here, and while the Trapper ensnares us, once the Trapper has the fae, the Hunter will come.”
“I guess I don’t need to ask you what the Hunter then does,” I said.
“He will destroy us,” Derek said anyway. “He’ll damn us to eternity. We’ll suffer with endless pain, because we can’t truly die. But we can be contained.”
I hung onto Derek’s every word, but I was also suspicious. Why was he giving me this information so freely?
“But not all fae are evil and deserve that sort of fate, do they?” I asked. “You don’t seem too heartless.”
There was a moment of silence.
“Babycakes, we don’t kill humans just to sustain ourselves,” Derek said at last, his mouth curling into a slow smile. “We enjoy it. We cause havoc within this world. We start wars, we kill humans’ loved ones. We thrive in mayhem. We take over human bodies to disguise our true selves, with no thought to the soul we consume to get it. Some fae have more fun with humans than others, and I suppose those are Sects you would call ‘evil.’” Derek paused. The piano continued to play, riding on the wind, but the beautiful music couldn’t disguise the ugly words that followed. “I sucked out and consumed the soul of the real Derek to transition and inhabit this body. Does that sound heartless to you?”
Derek regarded me flatly, lifelessly. I trembled, but not from pent-up energy. From fear. From disgust at his meaning.
I replied in a low tone, “I am not like you.”
Although my voice didn’t sound loud to my ears, Derek flinched.
“No, babycakes, I don’t believe you are.”
“Then what am I?”
“That, I can’t answer. But we can try to figure it out before the Hunter finds you.”
Derek said it like it was inevitable. I asked, “Why do you stay if you know at least one of the Tryne is here?”
Derek barked with laughter. “This isn’t my first rodeo with the Hunter. I’ve been around many versions of the Tryne before and know how to avoid them.”
“Versions? You mean there are a bunch of them?”
“There are replacements. If something happens to one of the Tryne and they are killed, the rest lose their abilities. They come as a team, you see. If one falls, they all fall.”
“But you make the Hunter sound invincible,” I sa
id. “You fear him like he’s indestructible.”
Derek gave me a sideways glance. “He is, but the other two aren’t. And he’s just as susceptible to losing his strength if something happens to the others. That is why a Hunter is immensely protective of the other two. It’s also why only the Hunter can banish a fae.”
“Yes, and damn fae to an eternity of suffering. How ironic, wouldn’t you say?”
The skin around his eyes tightened as he stared out into the park. “I believe this tutorial session is over for today.”
I sighed, mentally kicking myself for annoying Derek before I could get more information.
“Time to show me a little of what you can do,” Derek said, stretching while standing. “Let’s go into an abandoned building.”
“I—what?”
“Where else are we going to test out your paranormal abilities but in a spooky, deserted, dangerous location?” Derek gestured around the park, to the growing crowds of tourists despite the setting sun. “Unless you want to cause a mass panic. Actually…”
“No, Derek. No widespread terror today, okay? Let’s go.”
He smiled, seemingly pleased that I was putting my trust in him. I just hoped it was smart.
“Oh goody,” he said before stepping behind the tree. “Follow me.”
“There’s not a portal or something, is there? I cannot handle a fairy Hogwarts, today of all days.” But I followed him, away from the clusters of innocent bystanders.
Derek laughed. “Of course not.” He looked the tree up and down. “Tree’s too small, anyway. I simply need to get you ready.”
I bobbed from foot to foot. I’d never deliberately tried to use my newfound abilities. So far, it was always by accident that I grew fangs, never by choice that I slit throats with them.
“Come on, scaredy-fae. Just use your swift feet and we’ll be there in no time,” Derek said. “Watch me.”
He blew through the park and crested over the Arch, leaving me nothing but my strands of hair to choke on. If I didn’t hurry, I’d lose him entirely, and then I’d really be lost in a dark, deserted, scary late-night city. I took a deep breath, telling myself to fly forward, to become invisible. The heat rose in anticipation, swelling, spiraling down my legs and arms, boiling into my neck. The fire of it consumed me, but I loved it.
I flew into the air, so fast I became a blur as I grazed over the crowds, trees, and buildings, but it was so graceful I couldn’t be the one directing it. I focused on the voice inside, questioning.
…allowing.
Relinquishing control meant I didn’t have to fear being hundreds of feet in the air with nothing but my clothing between me and concrete. The whispers became my GPS, and I dipped, dived, and avoided any and all obstacles like I’d been doing this my whole life.
I couldn’t see Derek up ahead, but, as the whisper-voice reminded, Derek was marked. I’d find him.
Sure enough, I did. I sensed it as he crossed the East River, and I rocketed forward, following him, my feet grazing across the water, dipping down before flying up and into Williamsburg.
The dark sky didn’t deter me as I crested over flickering lights and honking cars, focusing forward, shadowing Derek.
All too soon, Derek came to a stop inside a warehouse, and I had to apply all the brakes my body possessed to prevent from crashing into him as he came to a smooth running stop when his feet hit the floor. I ground to a halt, flying forward as my shoes anchored to the ground, my windblown hair settling in haphazard tangles across my face.
I opened and closed my mouth. “I think I ate a bug.”
Derek replied, “Extra protein. Now, onto what’s important. We’re here, it’s deserted, so let’s see what you got.”
I took in my surroundings. We’d flown through a broken window, and I seamlessly avoided the shards of glass as I entered. Concrete pillars provided foundational support, while jagged pieces of wood piled high in the corner and stacked books angled precariously around the room. A painted ribbon of red ran across the center of each wall, with a Go Tigers! logo on one side.
“Are we in a school gym?” I asked.
Derek shrugged. “I guess. Schools are shutting down all over the place.” He smiled. “Which provides all the more playgrounds for us fae to frolic in and lure our prey.”
I shivered. Our only illumination was the pale moonlight filtering in through the high rows of dusty, neglected windows. “You are so creepy.”
“Duh. I’m monster that eats souls. Now go.” He flapped his hands. “Be powerful.”
“Uh...” I blew out a breath, my cheeks pillowing. I was unsure how to begin or what I was capable of. Or, if I were to be honest, how I just flew from the West Village in Manhattan to Brooklyn.
I started with what I’d just learned: my ability to leap tall buildings and all that. I brushed a hand over my face to remove my tangled hair from my vision as I looked up. Instantly, my body coiled and tensed in anticipation, the dark flame pulsing with pleasure. With little effort, I put myself in the proper state of mind and bent forward before leaping up to the rafters. I nestled between the ceiling and the wooden beams. An errant basketball was tucked into the cobwebbed corner with me.
I must have been a blur, because Derek spun around below, searching the spot I’d just occupied.
“Up here, silly,” I called down.
Derek schooled his impressed expression before he tipped up his head and said, “So you can jump up to the ceiling. Bravo.”
I jolted and nearly fell off the beam when his breath tickled my ear. “So can I. What’s your next trick?”
I frowned.
“Fine,” I said, contemplating my next moves. Then I had an idea.
I turned as gracefully as I could on the wooden beam to face him, my hands and feet resting on each side as I poised like a cat, locking my eyes with his. I pulled gently at the dark flame, the whispers—I wasn’t sure what to call it, yet—accessing a small portion of its allure but not allowing it to come to the forefront. Whether it was deigning to give me the small concession, or merely entertaining my measly attempts at manipulating its power, it granted me this wish and didn’t push to take over. A gentle burn languished behind my eyes.
Derek’s eyelids lowered, the pupils in his soft brown eyes dilating at my command as he started to sway toward me. When my lips were a breath away from his, I said, “You want to get on the ground now.”
Mechanically, Derek nodded. Without question, he departed, using the same invisible technique that allowed him to sneak up on me, and resumed his place on the neglected gymnasium floor.
Connection broken, he lifted his chin in surprise. “Hey, how’d I get down here?”
“I compelled you,” I said as I deftly jumped down, taking the basketball with me as I landed on my feet in front of him.
“You what me?”
“Compelled. Persuaded. Whatever you call it.”
Derek’s mouth fell open. “No, not possible. Fae can’t compel other fae. I don’t think even Damos can do that,” he said, consciously (or unconsciously) backing away. “I’ve never had the misfortune of meeting him, but I’ve also never heard another fae speak of such a thing. Although, we’re not the most communicative bunch.”
“Well, I did it. I told you to leave the ceiling and come back to the ground. And you complied. Also, I’ve repeatedly told you I’m not a fairy, so my compelling you would make sense then, wouldn’t it?”
“No, you’re fae, babycakes. I can sense it. And even you can’t ignore your dining on souls, something only fae do. Even baby ones like yourself,” Derek paused in his retreat, regarding me with newfound interest, as if curiosity was getting the best of his survival skills. “What else you got?”
“Quid pro quo, Derek. I want more information. How do I spot the Hunter?”
“Getting smarter by the minute, little fae.” Derek grinned and took the ball from my hands. It was filthy and deflated, but Derek threw it into the dented, netless basketball rim on t
he other side of the gymnasium, anyway. “It’s ingrained in us. When the Hunter’s near you, you’ll know. Now, show me something else.”
“I don’t think that’s the full answer,” I said. “I doubt I'm going to ‘know’ the same way you do. You’ve already told me I’m different. So unique that you can’t put a finger on what Sect I am.”
“Well then, I can’t help you on that point, now can I? I have no idea how you specifically can sense the Hunter. I just know how I can sense him.”
I harrumphed. “How do I fight him then? If he attacks me.”
In my mind, I wanted the Hunter and I to be on the same team: eradicating fae, saving humans, but I didn’t think he would understand my intentions if we came across one another. Whoever I was, whatever I became, it was looking a lot more complicated than simple black and white or good versus evil.
“Oh, little fae, whatever am I going to do with you?” Derek said with a sigh of perplexity.
He strode towards me, the moonlight through the windows gliding across his glasses as he said, “If you find yourself face to face with the Hunter, it’s already too late.”
Chapter 18
So much work crammed the next few days, I had no time to dwell on killings, or lost friends, or Asher.
After my double shifts at the coffee shop and restaurant, I spent my nights working with Derek in the abandoned Williamsburg school. I barely slept, took five minutes to shower, and spent little time in daylight, much to Macy’s dismay.
During those days, my unnatural abilities waned, though they’d stayed with me for a much longer period than they had before. Derek’s frustration grew as it became increasingly difficult for me to do what he asked.
“Compel me again,” Derek demanded after taking a deep breath, mentally preparing for the next invasion.
I found I enjoyed compelling fae a lot more than I did humans. Unfortunately, this fae presented a tougher challenge. It seemed so simple the first time I persuaded Derek, but my current attempts to compel him were zapping most of my energy, leaving me trembling and nauseous.