by J. A. Curtis
But the name echoed through me like a memory that wouldn’t go away, straining at the edges, demanding attention.
I stood in a forest, barefoot, in a dress, with a boy. My eyes scanned the trees. Where was the castle? The queen? Why wasn’t I wearing my armor?
The smell of pine and smoke surrounded me, the smell of Dramian—the rest of the world in faded and muted tones. A rushing sound grew and then faded. I knew that one. Cars.
I gasped, shaking my head. Where was I?
Who was I?
“I’m sorry to do this to you, Mina, but I’m still going after Chels.” He took what looked like a small round metal disc from his black suit pocket and pressed it against my skin. His thumb slid across the disc, and two wires came out of the sides, encircling my bicep.
Mina. The name snapped me back to the present at the same time my faerie guardian melted back onto my arm.
Dramian dashed away, leaping onto his dragon. He smirked at me. “Maybe we’ll try that again sometime.” And the dragon took off, twisting up into the sky, taking the fiery dragon-boy with it.
THE METAL DISC DIDN’T come off. The more I wedged my fingers under and tried to yank it off, the tighter it coiled around my arm. It warmed at my touch as I pried at it until pain shot through my arm and I yelped, jerking my hand off and clenching my teeth against the smell of burning flesh.
The disc cut me off from my faerie guardian. I had tried to release it to intercept Dramian as he’d flown away, but nothing happened. I’d tried several more times, but to no avail. Although my faerie guardian tattoo was still on my arm, I couldn’t sense it.
I glared at the disc. Who would make such a horrible thing? How did Dramian get his hands on such a horrible thing? The answer was obvious. Margus.
I walked on bare feet back along I-90. I didn’t think hiking up into the mountains without shoes was a smart idea. Plus, Kris’s house was closer than the Haven. My burnt arm ached, and the injury to my head throbbed, reminding me I wasn’t fully healed.
Sharp rocks and pebbles cut into my feet, and I cursed Dramian for the hundredth time in ten minutes. I picked my way carefully. The last thing I needed was to lacerate my feet on some broken glass.
Headlights highlighted the roadway ahead. I’d crossed to the other side so I would walk in the same direction I wanted to go. I turned toward the oncoming car and waved my arms, trying to appear distressed. With my bare feet, dirt-covered dress and tangled, windswept hair, I didn’t have to try too hard.
The car slowed and pulled off the road. With a sigh of gratitude, I hurried over to the descending passenger-side window.
“Honey, are you okay?” a middle-aged woman asked. She had styled hair and kind, crinkled eyes.
I shook my head. I wasn’t okay for so many reasons. “The people I was with abandoned me. I need a ride, just into Coeur d’Alene, there, up ahead.”
“Get in.”
I reached for the passenger-side door, but then thought better of it and opened the rear-passenger door, crawling in the back. Better the woman scrutinize me in the limited rearview mirror than in full view as I sat right next to her.
The woman glanced at me with worried eyes as she pulled onto the road. I buckled my seat belt and leaned back, resting my pain-filled head on the soft headrest. With a slow breath, I sucked in the calming, warm safety of the car.
“Are you sure you don’t need a hospital? Or the police called?” the woman asked, worried.
I must look that bad.
Yes, call the police, I thought. This time, I’d give them my name first thing and go home, done with this crazy world of faeries and crushing responsibility for good.
“No. If you can drop me off at my friend’s house. I’ll be fine. She lives by the soccer park in Coeur d’Alene.” I really needed to learn Kris’s address.
“I know where that is.”
As we drove, a series of fire trucks sped past, headed toward the fire we’d started, lights flashing, sirens blaring. I wondered how often that happened after one of our fights.
Now I can feel guilty for putting firefighters' lives in danger. Wonderful.
I’d meant what I said to Dramian. Everything was my fault. And for a moment, I’d thought I might solve everything with my falling or ending—whichever Dramian felt fit to impart on me.
Arius would have no choice but to lead the faeries again. Dramian would feel like he’d gotten revenge for Iris’s death, and Chels—well, she probably had about the same odds of survival with Arius protecting her. And the more I felt the weight of keeping her safe, the more I loathed the responsibility.
One sacrifice—all problems solved.
But that wasn’t right. There was still Margus and the Fomori, and with me gone, there’d only be one less faerie around to protect the faeries of the Haven. I didn’t know how many faeries Margus was working with, but from my visions, I suspected there were more than a few. We needed our numbers.
All of them.
Arius and Dramian. We needed to come together.
At least I’d given Arius and Chels a chance to escape. But Dramian would seek to intercept them before they reached the Haven, and if they clashed, I wouldn’t be there to break them up. Dread stole through me. It's not like I could expect Chels to do anything other than cower and cry. She only cared about herself.
Would Dramian mention our kiss to Arius? Silly question. It had been the first thing out of his mouth when he broke us apart. He wouldn’t miss the chance to rub it in Arius’s face.
The thought made me want to bang on the back of the woman’s chair and demand she step on the gas. Instead, I gave her directions to Kris’s house, and when we arrived, I thanked her for the ride and climbed out of the car. She rolled down the window.
“You go relax and take care of yourself, you understand?” the woman said.
“Thank you,” I said, grateful for her concern without the nosiness.
Kris sat on the porch of her parent’s home, lounging in a large jacket that must have belonged to her boyfriend. Wolpertinger perched on the porch rail. Kris had discarded her dress and heels for more comfy clothes. I envied her.
She rushed down the steps toward me. I waved to the woman in the car as she drove off.
“I wasn’t sure you’d be back.” She caught the look on my face. “What happened?”
“Dramian kissed me.”
“What? He—what?” Wolpertinger freaked. He sat very still on the porch, probably so he didn’t draw attention to himself, as the woman who’d dropped me off turned the corner.
From her shocked and bewildered stare, this wasn’t the response Kris expected. But it was the one I most needed to talk about. And she was the only one I could discuss it with.
“What about Arius and Chels?” Kris asked.
“I don’t know about Chels, but I don’t think Arius and Dramian will be making out anytime soon.”
Kris rolled her eyes. “Nice that you can make jokes while looking like your whole world has been blown into a million pieces. Come, sit down.”
I followed her onto the porch and sank into a chair. Kris sat next to me.
“Tell me everything,” Wolpertinger said, but I held up a hand. and he understood the signal enough to stop and bow his head.
“Can you pull this off?” I held out my arm toward Kris, showing her the disc.
“Why? Can’t you? What is it?”
“A parting gift from Dramian. It’s why I had to hitch a ride back here. It blocks me from accessing my faerie guardian. And no, I can’t get it off. At least not on my own. Try pressing your thumb against the metal first.”
Her thumb grazed the metal and the wires attaching my arm retracted with ease. She dropped it into my open palm. Curious. So I couldn’t take it off, but Kris could. Maybe it had to be removed by someone other than the wearer?
Horror crossed Kris’s face. “Mina, your arm!”
The skin looked scalded and tender. The cool air grazing across the burn increased the
stinging ache. I tucked the arm against my side to hide it from both the cool breeze and Kris’s gaze.
The connection with my faerie guardian came surging back. I released it just to be sure, and Other Mina stood in front of me. Satisfied, I pulled her back on my arm.
I wanted to talk more about Dramian’s kiss, but I didn’t want to waste time either. The longer I waited, the closer Dramian came to finding Arius and Chels. I filled Kris and Wolpertinger in on everything that had happened after we left the dance, reluctantly glossing over my and Dramian’s brief interlude. I couldn’t do it justice without diving into it, and I didn’t have time.
Kris took out her phone and began swiping.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“You need to get to Arius, and it sounds like the fastest way to catch up is by car.”
“Yeah, but Arius has your car.” I winced. Now probably wouldn’t be the time to mention the crushed roof.
She held the phone up to her ear. “So? I’ll borrow my boyfriend’s car. You go inside, get changed, and put some ointment on that arm. We’ll be leaving in fifteen minutes.”
20
Sacrifice
Mina
“I’m beginning to see a pattern in your behavior, I—you know you don’t always have to take the hit.”—Nana
KRIS INSISTED ON DRIVING. I was pretty sure she still had a limited-use driver's license since the DMV in Idaho didn’t upgrade until someone turned seventeen. At fifteen, I didn’t even think she was allowed to drive after sundown. The sun was very down. But Kris had made up some smooth lie to her boyfriend, convincing him to drop it off so she could “drive it in the morning.”
I considered arguing with her. The last thing I needed was to have someone else to protect. But the fastest way to Arius was by car, and after her car hadn’t returned, I doubted Kris would let me take someone else’s. Especially since I had zero driver’s training. I figured if she could drop me off and drive away, she’d be of little interest to anybody.
The car sped down the highway. I fingered the armband and the disc in the front pocket of my sweatshirt. Kris had given me the sweater and a pair of jeans even though I offered to wear the clothes I’d brought from the Haven. She’d snatched those clothes from me and promised to burn them. Before taking off, we’d thrown the backpack with the glass ball along with a pair of fresh clothes for both Chels and Arius into the trunk. Wolpertinger lay on the back seat of the car. His soft snore told me he was asleep. I searched the sky. I most likely wouldn’t glimpse Dramian’s dragon, but watched anyway.
When we got closer to the Haven, I planned to have Kris drop Wolpertinger and me off, then fly up into the mountains in search of Arius and Dramian.
“So tell me about this kiss,” Kris said.
“I haven’t told you this, but Dramian and Jazrael had a thing in their past life. Their feelings for each other were... strong.” After what I’d experienced, even that word felt like an understatement.
“And that’s why Dramian kissed you?”
“No. I don’t know. I don’t think he remembers. I know about it because I can look into the past. Dramian—he’s in a lot of pain, and I offered to help him, and the next thing I knew, he was kissing me.”
“And then he stuck that thing on you that burned your arm.”
“The burning was partly my fault for pulling too vigorously.”
The look on Kris’s face said she didn’t think that was a good enough excuse.
“Anyway, he kissed me,” I said, “and then I was seeing all this stuff from her past. From Jazrael’s past about her and Dramian. But I wasn’t just seeing it, I was experiencing it, and for a moment, I couldn’t separate myself from who I was then, and all I wanted—all Jazrael wanted—was him.”
Kris bit her lip, and I could see her trying to process my words. “So you’re saying Jazrael wants you to be with Dramian. But Mina has feelings for Arius.”
I shook my head, but paused. Was that it? Jazrael wanted someone, and I wanted someone else?
I definitely had feelings for Arius, but our relationship was still new. It felt on and off, and frankly, I didn’t know where we stood. My feelings for Dramian had been strong while we were kissing and my vision played out. Now that I knew those feelings existed, there was no going back.
We passed a sign for an upcoming exit and an idea struck me. “Take the next exit. I want to check something.”
Kris did as I instructed, pulling off the freeway. I directed her to a rutted, unpaved side road that ended in an old rickety garage. Nuada had kept several cars for driving into town, and this was where she’d stored them when not in use. If Arius had realized Dramian might intercept them before they reached the Haven, this was the most logical place to stop. I was pretty sure Dramian didn’t know about it.
Wolpertinger stirred in the back seat. He stretched, sticking his furry bum into the air. “Are we stopping? Good, mother nature is calling.”
“Wait here. I’ll be back in a minute,” I said to Kris.
I got out of the car, and Wolpertinger exited after me, flapping off into the dark woods. I approached the large wooden doors of the garage, Kris’s headlights lighting them up. They were normally padlocked shut, but someone or something had been powerful enough to break it. Smashed pieces of padlock lay scattered in the grass. I gripped one side of the sliding garage door and tugged.
“Arius?”
A figure popped up from between two cars. My eyes adjusted to the darkness, and a bit of the light from Kris’s car highlighted Arius’s form. He still wore his suit except, like Dramian, he’d discarded his coat and tie. The top button on his now dirt-streaked shirt was undone, and he’d rolled his sleeves. I relaxed, glad I thought to check this place.
“What is wrong with you?” he growled.
I glanced behind me, at first thinking he must be addressing someone else. Maybe Chels, but his dark gaze pinpointed on me.
“What?” I asked.
“You,” he said, as if cussing me out, “disappearing like that, taking on Dramian alone.”
“And you and Chels were able to get to safety. Sooo, you’re welcome.”
But that only seemed to make him more upset. He ran a hand over his face. “Do you even think before you act? I’ve never met someone so consistent with being regardlessly reckless—”
“I’m reckless?” My face heated at that. “What about you? You jumped off a building and expected my griffin to catch you in front of the whole school. You risked exposing our world.”
“This isn’t about who is more reckless.”
“It isn’t? Good,” I said, “because you are just as reckless as I am, Arius, Warrior of Thunder.”
He stepped close, his eyes taking in my face, but even though it was dark in the garage, I knew he didn’t need to step closer to see me. He must have wanted me to see him better. The anger in his eyes, the crease of his brow, the grim line of his mouth.
“Mina, before you went off with Dramian, did it... did it even occur to you that there might be some way other than sacrificing yourself to Dramian’s wrath?”
The question caught me off guard, as did the way he said it. Like he was sad for me. I didn’t—he should be grateful. When I pretended to be Chels, I hadn’t known if I could take Dramian. In an out-and-out fight, I would have lost for sure. I made a sacrifice. For him, for Chels. To protect them. Why was he saying this?
“This is my duty,” I said. “I didn’t have a choice.”
His jaw squared as he clenched his teeth, and his eyes narrowed. He turned. “Chels is this way,” he grumbled.
He led me back between the line of cars, stopping between two. Their doors were open so that the dome lights in each car gave off a little light. A small tarnished window sat behind her on the wall of the garage. Chels huddled on the passenger seat of one of the cars, dress torn and stained, hair disheveled, mascara streaked, the pride of her crowning from hours earlier gone.
A fallen queen.
> Seemed like karma had caught up with the queen of Lake City High School.
She sat there, arms locked around her knees, shivering. I should feel sorry for her.
The scar on my head throbbed.
“Sucks, doesn’t it?” I asked. “Others using their power to terrify and control you?”
Her eyes widened, and her head rose a little. “According to him, I am your queen.”
I turned to Arius. “You told her?”
He shrugged. “We were here for hours. It was the only way to get her to calm down.”
“If I am your queen, then you have to obey me,” Chels said. She stood, her arms wrapped around her torso as she shivered, a proud set to her chin. “And I command you, both of you, to take me home. Now.”
The arrogance.
“Sorry,” I said with more than a little pleasure, “but we can’t do that.”
“But,” she spluttered, her hands dropped to her sides in fists, “you have to do as I say.”
I couldn’t help but note the resemblance between our so-called queen and a petulant child.
“The only thing I have to do, Your Majesty,” I growled, “is make sure you don’t die.”
“Mina,” Arius said.
“I want to go home, to my family, to my friends—”
“I know this is inconvenient for you, but there are people out there who want you dead. Make the wrong move, and you’re a goner,” I said.
“Mina.”
Harsh shadows played on Chels face. “Are you threatening me? I command you—”
“So considering we are the only ones standing between them and you. I would stop commanding and start doing what we say,” I snapped.
“Mina.”
I spun to face Arius, ready to lay into him for not backing me. The look on his face stopped me cold. He raised a hand and pointed behind me. I turned toward the old tarnished window.
Wolpertinger beat his wings against the small window, speaking rapidly, his voice muffled by the glass. I rammed my shoulder against the small window to get it to open a crack. Wolpertinger’s voice came loud and clear.
