by J. A. Curtis
As soon as we’d finished, I demanded we get to the dance. And we’d arrived before almost everybody.
My intensity might have scared him a little.
Chels offered the sophomore duke her hand, and they led the procession onto the dance floor as slower music played. She and her partner had barely begun to dance when another figure approached. Tall and handsome and a little out of place.
But none of that mattered because even in the dark tux he took my breath away.
With a confidence that struck me as either incredibly enviable or incredibly arrogant, Arius cut in on the dance between Chels and her duke.
What I found even more incredible was that Chels let him. But I also assumed she didn’t want her pictures as sophomore duchess marred by a boy with a bandage covering half his face. So the two began to dance.
Of course, Arius still had that bruise from the fight under his right eye, but somehow, he gave off a slightly dangerous air that made him even more compelling.
I glimpsed Nellie, in a soft yellow gown, across the dance floor, pain and betrayal etched on her face as she watched Arius and Chels together.
Oh no. I took a step in her direction.
“Hello, my lady,” Dramian appeared out of the crowd next to me. He bowed. “May I have this dance?”
Yes, finally a chance to talk with him. Nellie would have to wait. I couldn’t waste this opportunity.
“You may,” I answered. I gave Preston a little helpless shrug as Dramian took my hand, and we walked onto the dance floor.
He began spinning me around and guiding me through intricate dance steps. I stumbled.
“General, I do believe you need a bit more practice,” he said.
“No one can keep up with you, Dramian.”
He smirked, appearing satisfied with my statement. He dropped me into a dip, and I felt my awkward stiffness as he drew me up. We started to gather people’s attention, but I knew it wasn’t me. It was Dramian’s grace that made our dancing look as natural as walking.
“The key is to relax,” he said, his green eyes boring into mine.
Like I could do that with Dramian around.
“Taking Chels now would be a mistake. She can’t lead,” I blurted.
“I’m aware.” He spun me away before drawing me close. “But I’m taking her, anyway. If I hand her over to Margus, we’ll get the supplies we need to survive.”
My fingers grasped his jacket. How did he afford a tux? “You struck a deal with Margus? Dramian, he wants the queen dead.”
“Children are starving. What would you have me do?”
The hollowness in his voice caused me to shudder.
Dramian didn’t have a Veran around to duplicate things. I‘d been so preoccupied with taking care of the faeries of the Haven, I hadn’t even considered how Dramian and the faeries he cared for might be fairing.
“You could hunt more.”
His jaw clenched, and he glowered at me like I was the stupidest person on the planet. He’d stopped doing tricks, and I could see a deep fiery anger behind his eyes. “Babies don’t eat meat.”
Blood flooded my face. In the last battle, faeries on Dramian’s side fell too. That meant he also had babies to support.
“We can work something out,” I said. “We can give you some of our supplies—”
“What? And rely on you for our survival? On him?” His eyes flicked to Arius.
“Better than Margus. He helped kill your brother!”
His fingers dug painfully into my back. “I know what I’m doing.”
“And the queen?”
He avoided my gaze. “She can’t lead anyone. We all know that. At least, this way, she’ll serve a purpose.”
“No—”
“Song’s over.” The music faded, and his arms fell away. “I should get back to my date.”
I clutched his hand. “Dramian, please—”
“Some people are beyond saving, Mina.” He pulled his hand from my grasp.
Arius finished dancing with Chels and made his way toward us. Dramian’s shoulder hit Arius’s as the two brothers passed. For a second, I worried they’d release their faerie guardians on each other then and there. But Dramian kept walking, and Arius’s burning eyes turned on me—and softened.
He came near and wrapped his arms around my waist.
“Dramian is dangerous,” I said, sliding my arms around his neck as we stepped into our dance like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“Yes. He is.”
“He says he has to turn Chels over to Margus, or they’ll starve.”
I wondered if Dramian also thought attacking Chels would somehow make up for losing Iris.
“Which is why we are here,” Arius said. “To protect the girl who tried to put you in the hospital.”
It did feel strange to be taking such care to defend the girl who tried to lay me out.
Preston approached us. “May I—”
“No, you can’t,” Arius said. “Go away.”
Preston gaped at Arius, then looked expectantly at me. “I’m her date.”
“Sorry, Preston,” I said, trying to appear apologetic. I did feel bad. “You get the next slow dance.”
Preston slouched off, melting into the crowd of dancers.
“That was a double standard,” I said.
“What do you mean?”
“You cut in with Chels and her partner, but when Preston tries to do the same thing—”
“I was trying to convince Chels to watch out for Dramian,” he said. “But she brushed me off.”
“Of course she did. Why would she listen to you? You fought off the goons she sent to attack me.”
He was probably on her hit list by now.
“You know we don’t have a choice. The only place she’ll be safe is the Haven.”
He was right. I wished he weren’t. The Haven was the last place I wanted to see Chels right now. With the faeries slowly getting back on their feet after the devastation of their last battle, the last thing they needed was for someone as volatile as Chels to rule them.
His eyes slid down to my dress—a soft silvery silk overlaid with a layer of lace. Kris called it tulle. It pulled tight at the waist and was sleeveless, showing off my griffin tattoo. The bottom of the soft fabrics grazed my ankles.
“Are you going to be able to run in that? We may have to move quickly,” he asked.
“You’d be surprised by what I can do.”
“You’re always surprising me,” Arius said. His dark eyes locked onto mine. “Every time I think I’ve got you figured out, a new side of you emerges I never knew existed.”
I stared into those dark eyes, trying to understand the meaning behind his words. “Is that good or bad?”
“Definitely keeps me alert.” He touched the curled hair lying across my forehead. “Kris did a good job on your hair. It covers the scar.”
His hand dropped back to my waist, and he pulled me a little closer. He smelled so good. Along with the tux we’d found left behind by Kris’s brother, he must have discovered some leftover cologne. My arms tightened around his neck in response, our faces inches apart, his breath on my face, his eyes, which missed nothing, held onto mine. For the first time, I noticed that the deep brown contained flecks of green around the edges. His face intense, he searched my eyes.
“What is it?” I asked, my voice cracked with an unusual dryness.
“Why don’t you hate me?”
I laughed. “What?”
“Mina, I...” he shook his head, “I fought you. Every time you tried to tell me something, every time you actually tried to lead. I tried to stop you.”
“Arius—”
“I didn’t think you could lead. I belittled you. I imprisoned you.”
I flinched. That last one did sound bad.
“I wanted to get rid of you,” he said, his voice soft now. “I thought the faeries would be better off without you. That I’d be happy if only...” He shook his he
ad again. “You should have punished me.”
“I was the outsider,” I said. “You thought you were protecting the faeries. I’m not stupid. I understand.”
An awareness flashed in those dark depths, and he pulled me full against him, his cheek pressed against mine, and he spoke into my ear. “I think you are being far too generous.”
He ran a finger down my spine, and my flesh pricked with goosebumps. He chuckled.
“Breathe, Mina.”
I hadn’t noticed that I was holding my breath. Music forgotten, we stood there, bodies soft, and held each other.
His head rose from my cheek, his body hardened. “They’re gone.”
“Gone?”
Arius swore, pushed me away, and ran to the railing that overlooked the parking lot. I chased after him, squeezing past people to make my way to his side, alert. How could they be gone? Arius had taken his eyes off them for two, three minutes, tops—hadn’t he? How long had we been dancing?
“I see them,” Arius said. He pointed almost straight down. A couple had barely exited the front doors of the building, headed toward the parking lot.
“We should stop them before they get away,” I said, but Arius didn’t move.
“We need to see how they leave, or we won’t know how to track them,” Arius said.
“If they make it into a car, we may not keep up with them.”
Arius jammed his hands into his pockets. “He took the keys!”
“You mean Kris’s car keys?” I said, shocked. Dramian was going to use the car Arius had come in to make his escape. It made sense. Dramian needed a getaway car. A chauffeur had probably driven the limousine he and Chels came in. Dramian must have taken the keys when he bumped into Arius.
Arius slammed an open palm against the railing and swore again. The dark figures Arius had pointed out as Dramian and Chels stopped next to Kris’s Chevy Cavalier.
“We need to get down there and stop them,” I said.
I grabbed his arm and tried to pull him away from the rail toward the door that would lead us to the stairwell, but he shrugged out of my grasp.
“Not enough time,” he said. “Catch me.”
“Catch you?”
“With your griffin.” He climbed up on the railing.
“You’re going to jump?” I said. “Arius, there’s too many people.”
“Not enough time,” he said again. “Catch me.”
People nearby noticed as Arius lowered himself onto the other side of the railing.
“On three,” he said. “One.”
“Arius, stop!”
“Two.”
“I order you to—”
“Three.” He spread his arms and jumped. A girl behind me screamed.
The griffin burst from my arm and swooped down. It closed a claw around Arius’s body and set him on the ground a split second later. Then my griffin flew straight up into the sky, disappearing above the cloud bank.
People ran to the railing shouting and pointing. More kids rushed outside onto the balcony to check out the source of the commotion. Some pointed at the ground, others at the sky, as they described what they had seen.
Down below, Arius dashed forward, trying to intercept Dramian and Chels, but they were already in the car. The headlights came on, and the engine started. The car backed up as Arius reached the parking spot. Tires squealed and rubber burned as it shot ahead, speeding out onto the road.
“Wolpertinger!” Arius shouted.
“On it!” Wolpertinger shouted back. The little guy was braving the night despite his fear of the golden eagle. His antlered silhouette emerged from the shadow of a tree near the parking lot, flapping hard as he followed the car.
People spoke animatedly around me, debating amongst themselves what they believed was going on.
Arius’s dark form turned to face me. “Let’s go!” he shouted up to me.
“What’s going on?” Kris was suddenly next to me as I reached down and jerked the heels off my feet.
“We’ve got to go. Cover for us.” I shoved the shoes at her.
“Right,” she said.
The metal felt cold against my legs as I climbed up and then over the railing. Bracing my weight back against the bars, I spread my arms wide.
“Young lady, what do you think you are doing? Get down from there!” A teacher made his way to the front of the crowd of gathered students.
Screams rent the air behind me as my griffin dove beneath the cloud bank, coming straight down. Feet pounded on the balcony as students and teachers scrambled to get out of the way. The griffin came out of the dive right before it reached out a long claw and snatched me around the waist. It then swooped down toward Arius who was running, his arms out. The griffin scooped him up in the other claw, then rose.
I looked back as we flew away. Almost the entire school now stood out on the balcony, staring after us. One person raised her arms high, and I heard Kris’s voice shout.
“Yeah! Lake City High School, pulling out all the stops!”
There was a long resounding moment of silence as the idea of an elaborate stunt being pulled sank in. Then, to my amazement, a cheer rose from the crowd of students from Lake City High School as they watched us soar away.
18
The Chase
Arius
“Never trust an enemy.”—Nuada
MINA AND I PASSED WOLPERTINGER huffing and puffing to keep up with the speeding car. He saw us and broke off the chase. “I’ll be at Kris’s,” he called.
“Rise above the clouds,” I said to Mina.
“But—”
“Just do it.”
Mina’s griffin lifted us through the gray line of clouds. They were thick.
Mina squinted. “I can’t see.”
“Angle to the right,” I said, tracking Kris’s stolen car as it moved down the street.
Surprise crossed Mina’s face. The griffin jerked too far to the right.
I frowned. “I said angle.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know what you mean by angle,” Mina snapped.
A growl escaped my throat. I pointed. “That way.”
The griffin adjusted to align with my finger. I saw red brake lights flash below.
“They are stopping at a light.” I said.
Good. That would give us time to catch up.
“How are we going to stop them? If they make it to the freeway, I don’t know if we can keep up,” Mina said.
If they made it to the freeway, we might get the brief seclusion we needed to force the car to pull over. Better than these busy city streets.
“Just keep going as fast as you can. I’ll find the right time to stop them,” I said.
We soared closer, but then the light dropped from red to green, and the car took a left, following the sign pointing to I-90 east.
“Light’s changed. They turned left. Toward the freeway.” I pointed, and the griffin followed my directions, her great wing flapping past my head.
The car turned onto the freeway and sped up. It shot forward, careening around slower cars.
“They’re on the freeway.” I pointed. “Go fast.”
“I am going fast.”
“They’re already putting distance between us.”
She threw out her hands in exasperation. “Then you’re going to have to stop them sooner than later.”
I searched ahead for the perfect spot to intercept them. It wouldn’t take either of us long to get past the city lights. Then the freeway wove in and out between the mountainsides, but we were flying high enough I didn’t lose sight of the freeway around the bends in the road.
Cars on the freeway grew more sparse the farther ahead I looked. I finally found a break in the traffic that would allow me to stop Dramian, if I timed it right. I watched the one car weaving its way in the distance toward us, then glanced back at Dramian’s. By the time his car was secluded enough, I’d have about a minute to force it off the road before that other lone car circled around th
e bend into view.
Dramian had passed all the vehicles on his side, save one. He drove up right alongside the car, about to race ahead, but slowed unexpectedly and dropped back, pulling right behind it. I swore.
“What’s wrong?” Mina asked.
“He must know we’re following. He’s tailgating the lead car.” I tugged at the restrictive bowtie at my throat, unsure why I had let Kris talk me into wearing the silly thing.
Mina squinted down at the clouds. As if that would help her see any better. “At least he’s going slower.”
“Not slow enough.”
I read the frustration on her face. If Dramian kept this up, it would take hours to close the distance between us. The two cars drove together away from the rest of the traffic, but Dramian never passed the front car. My window of opportunity was shrinking, but with Dramian pacing the vehicle in front of him, there would be no window of opportunity at all.
The right blinker on the lead car flashed on, and the automobile exited onto a side service road. I blinked at our good fortune. Dramian gunned the engine. I smiled.
“Got him,” I said.
I checked the approaching car. Only thirty seconds. It would have to do.
I released my golem into the roadway ahead of the car. It planted one foot in each lane of the two-lane freeway and braced forward on the off chance that Dramian didn’t stop. The tires squealed as Dramian slammed on the breaks and jerked the vehicle to the side of the road, attempting to steer around my massive golem. But I was ready.
Swinging a fist to the side, I forced Dramian to go even farther off road.
The car skidded sideways as Dramian attempted to turn it back toward the freeway to avoid the oncoming irrigation ditch, but the rear right wheel caught the sloping ground and the automobile tipped. My golem pounded forward and grabbed the top of the car, denting the roof but keeping it from flipping over. Cracks snaked down the glass on the passenger-side window. The rock fist twisted and set the car down as gently as it could, nose first, into the ditch so the back tires stuck almost straight up into the air.
Time was up. Lights sparked around the side of the bend, and my golem dropped like a boulder, arms and head curled inward. The mass blocked the car in the ditch from the lights of the oncoming vehicle. Headlights illuminated the rough stone, and I held my breath. Had the people in the passing automobile seen the rock moving? Or Dramian’s car in the ditch before I could block it?
