by Wendi Wilson
“She can do that?” I asked, never having heard of such a thing.
Dad nodded, saying, “And if he even suspected she did, he couldn’t risk contacting us and blowing his cover.”
“All of that could be true,” Easton said, but he sounded unsure.
“Puck has hated the Sylphs since he was banished all those years ago,” Dad conceded. “No matter how much we want to deny it, it’s not completely outside the realm of possibility that he tricked us. That this whole thing was some elaborate plan to get info from us and report it back to Sebille. The ultimate betrayal—the ultimate revenge.”
“No, I don’t believe it,” Mom uttered. “I can’t.”
The discussion carried on around me, words whizzing back and forth as everyone debated just what my grandfather was capable of. And what he wasn’t.
My unfocused eyes stared toward the floor as Dad’s last words cycled through my mind over and over again, triggering a memory. The ultimate betrayal. The ultimate revenge.
What was it Grandfather said the day he left?
My eyes widened as his words came to me in a rush. My blood roared through my ears as tears stung at the corners of my eyes.
“Because I am the notorious Puck. No one bests me and I always get my revenge.”
That’s what he’d said. Revenge. But who was the target of that vengeance? Sebille? Or the Sylph council? Or the king, who lay trapped in an unexplainable coma?
It was too much. I jumped from my chair and ran for the door. I heard shouting voices but couldn’t make out the words over my heartbeat pounding against my eardrums. I threw the door open and ran.
I sprinted with no destination in mind, through the halls and up the stairs. I didn’t stop until I found myself in front of Easton’s bedroom door. I tried the knob and it was unlocked, so I cracked it open and slipped inside, shutting the door behind me.
I threw myself upon his bed and cried. I wept for my mom and Shaela, and what Puck’s possible deception would do to them if it were true. I wept for Finn, who remained unconscious through all of this turmoil.
And I wept for myself. For believing the worst of a man I’d come to admire and hating myself for it, yet not being able to shake my doubts. Either he was a liar and I was a fool, or he was in trouble and I was the asshole granddaughter who doubted his integrity.
Either way, I felt awful.
Sometime later, as sleep came to claim me from my agony, the bed dipped and warm arms circled around me. I burrowed into the warm embrace as Easton’s soft voice whispered comforting words into my ear.
Everything was going to be okay.
We were going to figure it out.
He would always be there for me.
I drifted off then, but my mind continued to spin even in sleep. Nightmares plagued me, filled with images of my grandfather, standing arm-in-arm with the Zephyr queen.
And laughing at us all.
CHAPTER 19
I spent the whole next day in a fog. With sore, puffy eyes and a serious lack of sleep, I shuffled from class to class out of habit alone. I was there, but not really present.
Instead, I was trapped in a mental prison, my mind waffling back and forth between believing in Puck and believing the worst of him. And when those moments of doubt hit, I felt wretched.
He’d proven himself to be trustworthy, hadn’t he? He’d thrown himself in Sebille’s path to help us. To help the whole damned planet. He explained all of his actions, why he did what he did, and was working his way down the path of redemption.
He brought my mother to me.
I knew, logically, that there had to be some reason he wasn’t contacting anyone. He could be under tight surveillance. He could have lost his phone and not had access to any other means of communication. He could be hurt. Or worse.
By the time classes ended for the day, I was a total wreck. I stumbled to my room and threw myself on the bed, praying that sleep would come and release me from the hell of not knowing what to believe.
The door swung open and I cracked my eyes open, blinking against the light shining in from the hall. Shaela shuffled in and pushed the door closed behind her. Her blonde hair was a mess and her eyes were swollen.
I swallowed against the lump of shame in my throat. I was so wrapped up in my own muddied fears, I hadn’t even talked to her about how she was feeling. Puck was her grandfather, too.
I opened my arms and beckoned her with a wave of my hands. She stumbled forward, tumbling into my bed. We held onto each other, only the sounds of our sniffling breaking the silence.
“Do you really think he’s betrayed us?” she whispered after a while, her voice weak and broken.
“I don’t know, Shae. I don’t want it to be true. I want to believe in him.”
“Me, too,” she said. “But if he hasn’t turned against us, that means he…he could be in trouble.”
I brushed a hand over her hair, smoothing it as I stared into her bright green eyes. I didn’t know what to say to make her feel better. I didn’t know what to think to make myself feel better. So, I hugged her close to me and closed my eyes, willing us both to fall into a deep, dreamless sleep where we could find some peace, even if only for a little while.
It must have worked, because the next thing I knew, a deep, rumbling sound pulled me from sleep and Shaela was still cuddled in my arms. I lay there for a moment, blinking my eyes open and closed as I tried to figure out what I was hearing.
The sound abruptly ceased, leaving only the soft whisper of Shaela’s breathing. Still feeling drowsy, my eyes drifted shut as sleep came to claim me once more.
A loud boom accompanied by a wild shaking jerked me fully awake and I sat up with a jolt. Shaela flew up, too, looking around with wild, wide eyes.
“What was that?” she asked.
I shook my head and climbed over her to get out of bed. I sprinted to the door, then cracked it open to peer out into the hall. The other doors in the corridor were open and students were milling around with confused expressions.
Another explosion rocked the building, causing several of the students to drop to the floor. I heard Shaela yip behind me, and turned to make sure she was okay while I used the door jamb for balance.
That was when the shouting started.
I stumbled out into the hall as chaos reigned around me. Grabbing Shaela’s hand so I wouldn’t lose her in the crowd, I headed toward the staircase. We leaned against the rail and peered over, but all we could see was a thick cloud of dust drifting up toward us.
“Come on,” I said, pulling Shaela behind me.
As we ran down the stairs, the sounds of scuffling and shouting grew louder. Another boom rocked the building and my foot slipped off the step, but Shaela’s grip on my hand tightened and kept me from tumbling down the remaining stairs.
I could only describe the main level as pure pandemonium. Students and staff ran around in all directions, and I wasn’t sure if they were running from or toward something. I tried to make sense of what was happening while balls of fire and gusts of wind flew around me.
A screeching voice, wild with panic and fear, brought everything around me to a screeching halt.
“It’s Sebille! She’s taken Easton!”
My head turned toward the voice as the rest of my body went numb. Having seemed to come out of nowhere, Freya stood there, her hair wild and a streak of black soot across one cheek. Her eyes rolled back and forth like they had a mind of their own, not really focusing on anything.
“My son!” she shouted. “She took my son.”
With that last word, she sank to her knees and dropped her dirty face into her hands. I pulled my hand from Shaela’s grip and ran. Without a thought, I called for fire as I moved and a ball of blue-green flames formed in my upturned palm.
Through the cloud of dust and debris, I saw a large hole in the wall of the great hall. I veered toward it, never slowing my step as my pulse pounded in my ears. I needed to find Sebille. I needed to stop her.
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A flutter of black wings caught my attention, and I popped my own wings out to propel myself toward the Zephyr flying through the hole. When I reached the opening, I froze, shock making it impossible to move.
The sky was streaked with oranges and pinks, telling me it wasn’t as late as I’d thought. The sun was still setting. But that’s not what held me immobile. It was the sight of several hundred Zephyrs, their black wings filling the sky as they flew away from the academy.
My eyes searched frantically for a familiar blonde head, my fireball ready to be thrown at the Zephyr who dared to take Easton from me. My breathing grew more and more erratic as I searched, seeing nothing but black—black wings, black hair, even black clothes.
A flutter of color caught my eyes and I focused on it, expecting to see the ice-blue of Easton’s wings. But they weren’t blue.
They were teal.
I met my grandfather’s eyes for one brief moment before he turned and flew away. I watched him go, my heart plummeting as all hope for his innocence drained from me.
He didn’t look hurt. He wasn’t chained, or gagged, or locked away.
He was here, with the Zephyrs, attacking us and kidnapping his granddaughter’s true love. Destroying the academy from the outside in and the inside out.
Devastation dropped me to my knees as my weeping eyes searched the sky for Easton once more. I couldn’t find him anywhere, and soon the Zephyrs disappeared as the sky darkened from dusk to night.
I pulled myself together and prepared to fly after them, but a hand on my shoulder stopped me. I turned to see my father, who looked at me with pity in his eyes. I tried to jerk away, but he held tight, pulling me into his embrace.
“You can’t go after them alone,” he said. “You’ll be killed.”
But Easton was gone, and nothing else registered in my brain as I struggled against him.
“December, stop,” he begged. “We’ll get him back. I promise. But we need to come up with a solid plan first.”
“No,” I argued. “I need to go. Now.”
“He wouldn’t want you to risk yourself,” he murmured.
I fought to pull away until the fight drained out of me, and I slumped in his arms. He led me back inside, but my mind was elsewhere.
It was too much. Easton being taken. Puck being in on it. The school in a shambles while Finn remained unconscious.
My brain and body couldn’t take it anymore and all the strength drained out of me. I felt my father swing me up into his arms, and one thought played on repeat in my head as everything went black around the edges and I passed out.
Easton was gone.
CHAPTER 20
The room was dark, the only sounds coming from my bunny Blossom shuffling around in her cage. I stretched, and wondering what time it was, fumbled for my tablet that I usually left resting on my bedside table. My hand brushed across its smooth surface and froze.
Memories crashed in, making my blood run cold. The loud booms, the dust and the screaming. Freya yelling something about Easton. Me, rushing out to go after him and Cris stopping me.
My grandfather, floating in the air, surrounded by Zephyrs.
I flew from my bed and flicked on the light. Shaela’s bed was empty, still neatly made with its purple pillows artfully arranged. I was still dressed in my uniform, which was wrinkled and damp with sweat.
I bounced from foot to foot, feeling the need to do something, but not sure what. I felt like screaming—shouting my anger and disappointment at the universe, but I knew it would solve nothing.
I needed information. I needed a plan.
I rushed from the room and headed for Finn’s office. I assumed everyone would be there, planning Easton’s rescue. Without me.
I chastised myself for passing out. I wasn’t the weak human girl who fainted whenever anything shocking happened anymore. I was December Thorne, daughter of two powerful Fae families and wielder of fantastic magic.
I should not have been sleeping.
I swung through the open door to Finn’s office and skidded to a halt. The room was empty. My eyes skimmed over the fire burning in the hearth and the chairs, still arranged in a circle from our meeting about Puck’s lack of communication.
“I guess we know the answer to that, now,” I mumbled under my breath, resentment flooding through me.
Where was everyone? Why weren’t they here, planning an ambush to get Easton back?
My feet shuffled across the floor toward Finn’s desk. A single sheet of paper lay there, a single sentence scrawled across it in big, loopy handwriting. I picked it up and read it.
If you ever want to see Easton Oberon again, bring me December Thorne.
The note slipped from my fingers and drifted lazily to the floor as my legs gave out. I dropped to my knees and pressed a hand to my chest, where it felt like a vise was gripping my heart.
This was all my fault.
I threatened Sebille. I made her look like a fool. I bested her more than once and now Easton was paying the price.
I climbed to my feet as renewed energy coursed through me. I paced in front of the desk, my eyes locked on that short, succinct note. I had to do something.
And I had to do it now.
I ran back up the stairs to prepare. With each step I took, the plan I was forming in my mind solidified a little more. As did my resolve to see it through.
Once I was closed off in my room, I methodically undressed and changed into a pair of stretchy workout pants and a snug-fitting tank top I borrowed from Shaela’s chest. I needed clothes that gave me freedom of movement, but also had no flowing edges that could get in the way.
I slipped on some socks and a pair of comfortable shoes, then grabbed the note from my bed where I’d dropped it. Flipping it over, on my night stand, I grabbed a pencil and jotted out a message for Shaela.
I told her I had to do this, and that I knew she’d understand. I asked her to explain things to my parents and to please take care of Blossom while I was gone. I signed it with a “D” and dropped it on her bed. Sticking my fingers through the bars on Blossom’s cage, I scratched her head and murmured a few soothing words to her.
I strode to the door, feeling confident in my decision. It didn’t matter what happened to me, as long as Easton was safe. He was the important one, not me. As interim and future king, the Sylphs needed him, and I couldn’t let Sebille hurt him, or worse, when there was such an easy solution.
All I had to do was hand myself over to her.
My steps stuttered a little, uncertainty plaguing me as I wondered if she’d really uphold her end of the deal and let Easton go once she had me. Picking up the pace, I decided to cross that bridge when I came to it. The one thing I knew for certain was that the longer I made her wait, the worse things were going to get for him.
It was still dark and, though I never actually checked the time, no more than a few hours could’ve passed since the Zephyr attack. If I moved quickly, I could reach the city before Sebille had a chance to hurt Easton at all.
That’s what I kept telling myself as I jogged back down the stairs to the great hall.
The place was deserted, and the gaping hole in the outer wall was all patched up like it had never been there. Magic sure made things easier…except when it made them harder.
I thought about my time at the academy, about how my magical abilities had scared the other students. How my Zephyr side, and what they all considered dark magic, had made them shy away from me. Only those close to me had believed I was good. That my magic was not evil.
People like Easton, who was suffering God-knew-what because of me. Because I existed.
I headed straight for the main entrance, pulling open the huge wooden door and slipping out into the night. I obviously didn’t have a car, or any other means of transportation, so I was going to have to fly. I popped my wings out and bent my knees, preparing to launch myself into the sky.
“December, wait!”
My father rushed down
the steps toward me as the rest of my family poured out of the building. Mom, Shaela, Charles, and even Freya darted behind Cris, and despite the darkness of night, I could see their matching panicked expressions.
“What is it?” I demanded. “What’s happened?”
“What’s happened?” Shaela barked, holding up the note I left her. “What’s happened is my idiot best-friend-slash-cousin thought she could just take off and hand herself over to Sebille like it’s no big deal. That’s what’s happened.”
“I have to,” I argued. “She’s going to hurt Easton because of me.”
“December,” Freya said, moving to the front of the group to stand directly in front me. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but you have to know—giving yourself over to Sebille is not the answer.”
I was shocked that Easton’s mother, of all people, would disagree with me. I stared at her with wide eyes, noting the grief and fear, but also the determination in her expression.
“But Easton—”
“Was taken because he’s the acting king,” she finished, “not because you love him.”
“I know my mother,” Dad said, moving in to place a warm hand on my shoulder, “and that note was only meant to draw you out. If you go alone, she will take you. She’ll have you and Easton, which means she will have all the power.”
“The Sylphs will fall,” Mom added, “with the help of my own father.”
I could tell by the sorrow clouding her expression that she’d seen Puck just as I had. Free as a bird, as the humans used to say, flying side-by-side with the Zephyrs. I shot her a sympathetic look before turning back to Dad.
“If I don’t go, she’ll kill him.”
“If you do go, she’ll kill you both,” he replied. “We’ll get him back, December. We will. We just need to form a solid, fool-proof plan that will get us in and out without sacrificing you.”
“Easton would kill you, himself, if he knew you were even thinking of doing this, D,” Shaela added.
“Yeah, then he’d kill the rest of us for letting it happen,” Charles added.
