Prison of Supernatural Magic

by Laynie Bynum

  I inhaled sharply. Caleb was a prince. A rebel prince. And he had taken the plant to help the fae back home. “You’re going to destroy the school with your troops?”

  He nodded. “Yes. I have had spies in the human world for a long time because I knew the vampires would eventually try to create something to breed more fae servants and something that could help us. Join me and if we survive, you may stay in the Summer Court permanently. That is my promise.”

  I stared at him, heart dropping into my shoes. I thought of Nilsson using the fae underground to get seeds from this place. I wondered if Caleb's spies were in that same underground. “I get that I need to pay my dues, but I’m not a warrior. I’ll be a hindrance, not an asset.”

  A wide grin spread across his face. “Don’t sell yourself short. I saw your magic. That’s why I took your first creation. I am working on ways to safely use it for the benefit of our people.”

  My jaw dropped. I hadn’t thought of that.

  “And you escaped the prison all by yourself. And most importantly, you know its inner workings. So, what do you say, Peony? Are you in or are you out?”

  Chapter Fourteen

  What was I doing? I’d been asking myself this question for the past few weeks. While spending time in the faeland was amazing and relaxing, as Caleb allowed me to stay in a literal tree house near the meadow with furniture carved from the tree itself, watching Caleb order his troops how to shoot poison darts at fast-moving vampires and then use wooden stakes on the weakened monsters was an unnerving reminder that soon we’d head into battle.

  Caleb’s Summer fae troops consisted of tall, athletic, and drop-dead gorgeous men and women. All wore bronze and green uniforms with bark belts and leather armor. It didn’t look comfortable, but the hundred or so troops didn’t complain. Many had hunter green wings while others possessed wings of forest bronze. Only a few had light green wings like mine. The Summer fae, it seemed, had different levels of magic just like those of us who had gotten trapped on the Earth side.

  Yet all were deadly with weapons.

  Caleb had me train beside them and didn’t leave anyone much time for speaking. Some of the soldiers, particularly the women, sneered at me when Caleb mentioned I was once earthbound. Clearly, we were looked down upon. The faeland was just like home in some ways, with women at each other’s throats. Luckily, I knew how to play that game.

  When I was supposed to engage in a sword fight with one of the women, she fought dirty, throwing dirt into my face. I managed to close my eyes just in time and summoned a small tree that grew under the fae woman, who took a ride skyward, screaming profanities. My magic sure was amplified in the faeland. To my shock, instead of chastising me, Caleb let out a low laugh. “Well done, Peony. Always try to surprise your opponent. Now, let’s move on to target practice.”

  A few soldiers gave me nods of approval, while the fae who had returned to the ground glared at me and kept her distance, which was fine by me. Apparently, my magic was impressive even to fae who had spent their whole lives in the Summer Court and were thus not weakened by iron.

  Following the others' suit, I picked up a bow and arrow, but Caleb walked over to me. “You’ll learn later how to use it, but given how short we are on time, I’d prefer to focus on your strengths and teach you new skills later.”

  Later. If there was a later. If I survived. “Sure.” I gave him a playful smile before remembering that I didn’t need to flirt anymore to survive.

  “I want you to summon more trees.” Caleb gave me strange, ancient looking seeds that I’d never seen before. With my magic amplified, it was easy to turn the seeds to thick roots within minutes that produced huge trees with wide trunks and thick branches.

  The plant summoning didn’t end with trees. During the next week, I summoned fields of moss that could slip up enemies, and hordes of vines that could capture and knock out several warriors at once.

  After this, I learned to control plants that already existed. I made shrubs march across the meadow to attack targets. I made trees fall on others. Eventually, I was able to seize the magic resting in the ground and make roots of giant trees rise to attack anyone in their path.

  “Your magic is almost of royal quality.” Caleb grinned as if this was amusing. He was a strange man. He wasn’t threatened by my magic, but he also didn’t ladle on the praise. No tearing me down, yet also no idolizing me. He saw the real me and treated me for who I was. This was both exhilarating and terrifying.

  When I glanced back up at him, I found that his gaze had turned to the setting sun over the meadow. The Summer troops were wandering back to their tree houses in the woods, and only he and I remained.

  Tingles swept over my body as I realized that like a tongue-tied idiot, I hadn’t replied to his comment about my magic almost being of royal quality. Before, I would’ve twirled my hair and told him that I knew my magic was amazing, but now that response didn’t seem right. In fact, I wasn’t sure what the right response was. “Thank you?” The words tasted strange on my tongue. They made me feel weak, yet also lighter.

  Caleb’s green-blue eyes twinkled. “So that layer of ice around your heart is melting.”

  I crossed my arms, not wanting to speak about myelf. I did not need him to find and scrutinize my flaws. So instead, I turned the conversation around. “Why are you doing this?” I motioned around our training field. “You’re safe here in the faeland. Taking the plant, I understand. But why risk your life and the lives of your troops to take down Nocturnal Academy? Especially since you don’t exactly seem fond of earthbound fae here.”

  Caleb’s eyes darkened, and his fists balled. “Because watching the suffering and slavery and not doing anything even though we can is wrong. I am not my father.”

  “You’re doing this to spite him.” I recognized that look in his eyes. I had opened the portal to spite my mother, after all.

  “I’m not a child. I’m not doing this to get his attention. I’m doing this because I hate the system we have. All of it. My mother was one of the fertile fae, and my father used her to produce a spare, then cast her aside when I was born. Fertile fae women have had their lives become hell at my father’s orders since the Plague came. We are one step away from implementing a full breeding program.” He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, they blazed with anger. “This must stop. If we allow the earthbound fae to return to their rightful home, their magic will heal. They can help us. We will be able to rebuild our society, together.”

  We stared at each other for a long beat. Strangely, the disgusting way Caleb and I had been brought into the world, not by love but by force, felt uniting. In a calm, but strong voice, I asked, “When do we attack Nocturnal Academy and the Reformatory?”

  “How about tomorrow?” His low voice caressed my skin, his gaze drilled into me, and I couldn’t deny the longing that hummed in my body. For once my sexuality didn’t feel like a weapon, but like something else, something I wasn’t quite ready to face.

  “I’ve been working with messengers on the Earth side,” Caleb continued, apparently unaware of the effect he had on me. “The underground. They say it’s a good time to attack. The students for the Fall Semester at Nocturnal Academy have arrived, meaning a lot of earthbound fae are in the same place. We can free them.” He paused. “I know my father won’t be happy about bringing them back to the faeland, but I’ll find a way to convince him.”

  I nodded. The King needed to get over the fact that some fae had run from the Plague generations ago. And he needed to realize that us, the descendants of those refugees, weren’t at fault. “How are we going to take down Nocturnal Academy?”

  A grin played on Caleb’s lips. “You’re just going to have to wait and see. Focus on your part. You know the layout of both the prison and the school. You know where our best weapons will be and how the vampires will react. I am counting on you to prove yourself, for our sake and yours.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  It turned out that getting o
ut of the faeland was easier than getting into it, at least for Caleb. No full moon was required. All we needed was a fairy circle on the other side, which wouldn’t be a problem as there was one in the garden at Nocturnal Academy. A couple of teachers had used it to get in and out of the prison school. The vampires, I knew, didn't expect any Summer forces to come through and free the disgraced fae on the other side. They were used to their slaves being ignored by the court that now scorned them.

  Now their oversight would be their downfall.

  And better yet, the garden would provide us with plenty of plants to work with. The trick would be getting them inside the castle. The Home Decor classroom would be another favorable place for us to take the fight as was the top floor of the vampire students’ dormitory tower. I had helped create the display of plants there myself and knew there was a lot we could work with.

  At dawn, Caleb had the troops assemble in the meadow, forming three lines. While his little mission was okayed by the king, thanks to the bargain Caleb had made, there wasn’t any support coming from him. I had the feeling the king didn't know about Caleb's plan to bring the earthbound fae home. No one showed up from the royal line or otherwise to see us off. We were on our own. Caleb didn’t seem to mind or more likely was doing a great job of hiding his disappointment. Maybe, he even thought that this mission might bring him closer to his father if he succeeded.

  No, that was me. Always seeking approval. Caleb had accepted his bastard status and seemed almost amused by it. Still, it must’ve left its mark.

  Now, Caleb paced before us. “We will emerge in what Peony says is the Outer Garden of Nocturnal Academy. We will fan out through the school and fire at any guards and teachers we see. Follow the maps she drew us. Help and backup will meet us within the academy’s walls. From there, follow the maps to free the fae trapped in Nocturnal Reformatory below the school. Evacuate them all into the surrounding forest.”

  Caleb turned away. I almost backed into a guard as Caleb uttered low words and opened the portal, not needing a fairy ring on this side. From the faeland, the portal glowed yellow rather than green, and revealed a foggy sunrise and a familiar garden on the other side. Caleb held up his arms. No one spoke. The air filled with tingling and crackling magic as the portal grew bigger to reveal the trees and flowers of Nocturnal Academy’s outer garden, and the gray twin towers of the gothic castle.

  Caleb stepped through the portal and onto the grounds of Nocturnal Academy. Not wanting to look weak in front of the hundred or so Summer fae lined up behind me, I followed him without hesitation while wondering who the heck Caleb had worked with on the Earth side, and if we could really evacuate the academy’s and reformatory’s students while fighting the vamps. Bracing myself, I stepped through the portal, knowing that right now there wouldn’t be any answers to my questions. A tingle swept over me, and then I gasped at the lack of magic in the air. I had forgotten how thick and suffocating the air was in the human world. The weight dropped off my back as my wings vanished, and my feet hit the inside of the grassy fairy ring. Caleb waved me out of the mushroom ring and onto the empty cobblestone plaza. The pink light of dawn bathed him.

  The vampires would not come out here during the day. I eyed the castle with its tall spires that housed the school on top of Nocturnal Reformatory. The castle’s double wooden doors would lead right into the school. All the windows were shuttered to keep out the daylight, which hopefully meant the vampires wouldn’t see us out here. I highly doubted they’d bother to look as they had no reason to expect the Summer Court to attack them.

  The fae students would rise soon and go to breakfast in the dining hall. That would be the best time to gather and evacuate them. And the best time to attack the vampires, who would be tired from being out all night, hunting and partying.

  Caleb and I stood aside as the troops moved quickly and silently through the portal and out of the fairy ring. The garden, made to look like the faeland, was still mostly dark and quiet. Lanterns in the trees went out in response to the daylight.

  Caleb eyed the doors and lowered his poison dart gun. “Peony, you must give us the word when to proceed. We are relying on you.”

  I gulped.

  You mess up everything. You’re selfish and unreliable. You are a no one and nothing.

  Shut up, Mother! Shut up, shut up, shut up! You don’t have any control over me. I’m my own person now.

  An ominous gong went off from inside the castle, signaling the start of breakfast. Caleb looked to me, and the troops behind us grew two inches taller as they stood on their toes, determination shining in their gazes as the portal closed.

  “That’s the signal to go to breakfast,” I said. “We should wait ten minutes for all the fae to reach the dining hall.”

  But Caleb waved me to the big wooden doors. “Our fellow resistance stated they would meet us inside. One is a vampire, who as a former guard, knows several secret entrances. The other is a fae of high standing and an odd alliance my father wouldn’t approve of. But with a common goal and enemy, we must work together.”

  My heart thumped as I followed Caleb to the door, not liking this development. Who was he talking about? Caleb held out his hand, which sprouted a vine from his palm. The vine shot at the door and turned into the shape of a key. It turned and to my astonishment, the door unlocked and opened an inch.

  For a moment, I just stood there and stared like an idiot. Our magic could do that?

  Caleb motioned for me to step in after him, and I snapped out of my surprise. We entered the darkness of Nocturnal Academy, and I found myself facing two figures who waited for us in the narrow corridor. One was tall and broad, the other was a few inches smaller than me.

  We were close to the spot where a secret door in the brick wall led to an exit. This was a quiet part of the school. In the distance, the low chatter of fae students heading to the dining hall sounded.

  As I stepped closer, my eyes adjusted, and I saw who our allies were. A tall, well-built vampire with blond hair and icy blue eyes stood before me. Beside him was a fae with dyed purple hair and cobalt eyes, which narrowed as she examined me. The air chilled.

  “Thorsten. Onyx.” I had been nothing but a complete bitch to them in the past. I had even filmed them kissing and tried to sell out their forbidden romance to Lord Vulthus. My actions were unforgivable, and now, these two had come for their revenge. This was a trap. I backed to the door, but Onyx lunged at me and seized my collar. “Peony. What are you doing here?” Clearly, she hadn’t known that she’d be working with me either.

  My thoughts raced. Did her surprise mean this wasn’t a trap after all?

  “You know each other?” Caleb’s forehead creased.

  “We sure do.” Onyx gritted her teeth and released me with a shove, an ice dagger materializing in her hand. “Peony cannot be trusted.”

  Thorsten advanced, fangs flashing, and I shuddered. “Peony tried to get us both killed. She is the type to crawl up to anyone who can give her power. Pathetic. You’re the flavor of the week, Prince Caleb.”

  Caleb glanced between us, the creases on his forehead deepening. I didn’t want to tell Caleb about my attempts to destroy Onyx but knew I had no other choice. I had to come clean, even if that meant he’d hate me afterward. “I was a real bitch.”

  “You were a psychopath! You tried pushing me off a cliff and helped Vulthus twice!” Onyx interjected.

  I nodded, because that was the truth. “I did horrible things, but I swear I’m done snuggling up to the vamps. That’s the truth. You both know I can’t lie.” I stared Onyx down, willing her to see how much I meant the words.

  To my shock, the ice dagger in her hand melted as she exchanged a glance with Thorsten.

  “I suppose we could use her help,” Thorsten growled. “Then we will figure out what to do afterwards.”

  “Keep an eye on her,” Onyx said to Caleb.

  I bit my tongue as Caleb let in the rest of the troops, who filed into the crammed hall in si
lence. I deserved the mistrust. Onyx might’ve landed me in the dungeons during my stint at Nocturnal Academy, but I had done worse. Twice, I had passed information to Vulthus, the king of sadists, unconcerned with how horrible the death or punishment would be that he bestowed on Onyx. I’d let my blind hate drive me. I’d been jealous of how free and unconcerned Onyx was about fitting in. I’d been jealous of her confidence to be herself and not play one role after another. But no more.

  The four of us walked deeper into the school and toward the dining hall. The greasy smell of eggs and bacon hung in the air as did the sweet scent of syrup.

  We were close. I gathered all the magic I could into my chest. Would there be anything in the dining hall I could use to my advantage? They kept potatoes and other vegetables in the kitchen where fae workers slaved away. They wouldn’t show much resistance.

  “Follow me,” I told Caleb, waving him around the corner. “We free the kitchen workers first and then the students.”

  “Someone will need to take the students through the secret passage.” Thorsten motioned to a spot in the wall where one of the bricks glowed in a faint greenish light. I would’ve missed it if I hadn't seen the guards open walls before.

  Caleb nodded. “Group one will incapacitate the guards with poisoned darts. The potion should last for two hours. You left the package where we agreed?”

  “Yes.” Thorsten moved his hand in a quick and complicated pattern over the bricks, and the door opened.