by Kim Schubert
I heard her grunt followed by her annoyed scream, “Asshole!”
“Keep still, it has been some time since I’ve seen the offspring of The Queen,” Baqer requested thoughtfully. He had to be kidding.
I shouldered the underbrush out of my way. One sword would have to be enough.
“Do you know who my father is?” Anna asked softly.
I stopped my approach. I knew this information was critical to Anna and I wasn’t sure where else she was going to obtain it.
“You don’t know?” Baqer questioned, surveying her, walking around her still form.
There was no guarantee that Baqer would tell her the truth, though. I debated, stepping forward quietly.
“No,” Anna answered.
“Hmmm,” Baqer mused. “Let me show you.”
The jungle disappeared, along with my sword. I grunted, finding myself standing next to Anna.
“Is that me?” she asked softly.
I recognized the room as The Queen’s chambers. I saw the bed with our mother in it. Her brow was slick with sweat, her cheeks pale as she held the small bundle of baby Anna to her breast.
“What are you going to do with her?” a voice asked The Queen. Anna and I turned as one to the man facing the large paned window, his back to us.
“Selena has offered me quite a sum for her,” she said, a servant coming to take the babe. The Queen passed off Anna without regard for the infant’s squawking.
“You should kill her.” The man turned and I sucked in a breath. I’d recognize that evil face anywhere.
“Luharposn,” I whispered. While a singular Fae had many faces, he enjoyed the skull of death best. I recognized the sharp cheekbones and soulless eyes that had spent lifetimes torturing me.
“Why kill her when she will fetch a price? Besides, the vampire will probably kill her, anyways.” The Queen shrugged, the life of her child inconsequential.
“Now tell me, what of the other matter?”
The vision snapped out and we were standing in the nursery, in pristine condition with no broken window.
The nursery was cloaked in the dying red light from the bay windows, giving a pink cast to the normally pale skin tones of the father and infant daughter.
Gently, he stroked her face in the worn wooden rocker, cooing to her gently as she blinked large green eyes at him.
“You are so beautiful, little one,” The Magician whispered to my infant self.
A delicate hand snuck out of her swaddle and tightly held onto his finger.
“So strong,” he whispered, smiling down at me, his eyes brimming with tears. He took a shaky exhale, leaning back against the rocker as he held my small body tightly to his own.
I looked soft and warm wrapped up in the pale pink blanket. He knew he should put the baby down into the matching wooden crib carved with protective symbols, get some sleep before the ceremony tomorrow. He couldn’t, he couldn’t put his daughter down. How was he going to give her up tomorrow?
He felt the presence outside the door before the visitor knocked. “Enter,” he called softly, allowing the wards to relax while Doyle’s large body pushed through the double doors.
He stood almost to the ceiling, a minotaur of massive proportions, head of a bull with the body of an overgrown and exceptionally hairy man. The Magician could feel Doyle’s dark gaze on him as the giant moved in front of him, kneeling down to place his large, horned head close to the child’s.
“She is beautiful, Magician,” Doyle commented.
“Thank you, Doyle.”
Doyle lifted his dark eyes up, shifting his shaggy black head to stare into The Magician’s eyes.
“You do not have to give her up,” Doyle reminded him, reaching out a dark, hairy hand to stroke the girl’s face.
“I don’t have a choice in the matter,” The Magician ground out through clenched teeth, involuntarily pulling his child closer to his chest.
“There is always a choice, Magician,” Doyle claimed.
The Magician shook his head sadly, blinking back the tears.
“Shall I come back tomorrow?” Doyle asked softly.
“Yes,” The Magician agreed, his eyes glued to the soft bundle in his arms.
Doyle lumbered his large body up, resting a furry hand on The Magician’s shoulder. The Magician nodded once, relaxing the wards as Doyle exited.
Exhaling, The Magician continued to rock his daughter gently.
…
“What the fuck?” Anna yelled.
I shook my head, finding my equilibrium unbalanced after visiting first her birth story and then my own.
“Could you hear your father’s thoughts?” I asked, slowly regaining awareness that I was indeed still holding my blade.
“He hates me,” she spat. “That’s the Fae who kept you prisoner when Selena double crossed them?”
I nodded, meeting her gaze. “Yes, he’s a monster Anna, but he’s an exceptionally powerful monster, which means…”
“I’m powerful, too.”
I nodded. This was good, we were going to need a boost in power if we expected to defeat the library Fae.
Anna nodded back, her brow furrowed.
“I do so love the past, copious amounts of forgotten tidbits left lying around.” Baqer strolled out through his mists again, his staff held tightly in his right hand; the Fae had a love of theatrics. “For instance, your father wanted to kill you,” he said to Anna. “And yours gave you up even though he could have fought for you. The end result was the same, the rejects went to Selena.”
Baqer shrugged as if our lives were no big deal. I grunted, my grip on my sword painful. The Fae walked over to Anna, lifting a short red lock. I tried to move, but found myself immobilized yet again. Dammit! I was painfully close to Anna.
“It’s fascinating to me that both your fathers bound your inherited magic—perhaps so you couldn’t kill them later? It is quite the quandary, as though they had knowledge of future events,” the asshole mused.
“Those are big fucking words for such a small asshole,” I taunted. I wasn’t about to admit that he was probably right. The Magician had said I was the key to his freedom more than once. It left me feeling sickly used.
His eyes narrowed, the fire back in them, “You will do well to respect me. I have full permission to do whatever I please with you both.”
“No,” Anna said, “you don’t.”
She snatched the sword from my hand and I willed my fingers to let go. She swung it across Baqer’s smug face. His mouth opened in shock as the blade cut him into two pieces.
The illusion of the forest fell away, replaced by just a library.
Anna heaved several breaths as the body of the Fae shriveled into itself until nothing was left.
“Do you think he is really dead?” Anna asked, her voice soft as she looked down upon the brown residue Baqer had left behind.
“I hope so. I don’t think he would play dead. He had permission to do what he wanted,” I told her, coming to stand by her side.
Anna nodded, and I knew the memory Baqer had shown her was eating her alive. My father might be an asshole who sold me, but at least he had, in some twisted way, loved me.
“Who do you think grants that permission?” Anna asked, turning to me and handing me my blade.
“My guess would be the Fae Queen. Our mother doesn’t hold that kind of rank or power over the Fae.”
“Do you think she is the one who took our mother to Earth?”
I shrugged, going to pick up my other blade. “I don’t know, but let’s see if we can find the books we need.”
Anna nodded, going to the door and letting Ox and the infant in.
“What took so long?” he asked, looking around the dusty library.
“Fae problems,” Anna muttered, not expanding on the matter.
Ox nodded, looking around the library. “You remember the titles?” I asked Anna.
“Yes. Ox, do you want the list of titles as well to help search?�
� Anna asked, approaching a shelf.
Ox shook his head. “We were never taught how to read,” he admitted.
“See, Olivia, maybe there are benefits to being sold to an insane vampire,” Anna chided me.
I grunted, refusing to agree to that statement.
“At least they didn’t kill us,” Anna commented under her breath.
I sighed, pausing in my perusal of the leather-bound texts in front of me, turning to watch Anna across the room.
“Our past does not define us, Anna. Our choices today do.”
It was her turn to grunt at me. I turned back to the books. She had to let it go, not that I was entirely successful in following my own advice.
Chapter 5
Logan rubbed his temples. “What do you mean, ‘We have a problem?’” he grumbled at Jerry.
“They’re not waking up. Amin is a djinn, he shouldn’t be unconscious, not for this long,” Jerry said, sitting across from Logan in the office.
Logan drummed his thick fingers on his oak desk. It was his third desk. He and Olivia had broken the first two, and he was about to crush this one as well.
“What are our options?”
Jerry shrugged, shaking his head. “Hope Olie figures it out.”
Logan leaned back forcefully in his chair. “That’s not good enough.”
Jerry shrugged, meeting his gaze. “It’s not like we have a coven at our disposal. Olie killed off one of the most powerful, and the others are not exactly lining up to help us.”
Logan continued to drum his fingers. “What about the necromancer?”
Jerry blinked at him. “Jaelle?” he said after a pause, finally remembering the name of the necromancer Olivia had saved. After, of course, being kidnapped along with Mark and Jerry.
Logan nodded. Jerry sat back in his seat, crossing his arms over his lean chest. “I don’t know if she can help, or if she’d be willing.”
Logan grunted, “Find out if she can. I’ll handle the willingness.”
…
We loaded the books requested by my father to the kitchen.
“Where is Giv?” Anna asked, using the metal pail to fill another bottle for the baby.
“I don’t know,” Ox answered, opening the door to look outside. “The cow is gone,” he commented.
“What?!” I asked, going to stand next to him before pushing outside. The dead griffin carcasses still sprawled in the red dirt, but there was no cow.
“Anna,” I said, turning back. She came to the doorway, shaking her head.
“Our packs are gone,” she reported.
“Fuck,” I hissed. “Where the hell could he have gone?”
“Does it matter?” Anna sighed. “We only have maybe another day’s worth of milk for the baby. We don’t have time to hunt him down and bring back the cow. Not to mention that we can’t separate in case your father calls you back early.”
“Dammit.” I wanted to hunt Giv down and slit his throat, family or not.
“Is she going to die?” Ox asked, looking down at the small bundle in Anna’s arms.
“No.” I stormed over to the dead griffin bodies, pulling off a handful of feathers, ignoring the pain in my palm.
I stood, seeing Anna and Ox watching me. “We are going to open a portal on this side.”
Anna moved back as I marched in and dropped my handful of feathers on the butcher block counter.
“How?” Ox asked, stunned.
“I’m the daughter of a Magician. Anna is the daughter of a Fae. We have the power, we just need the knowledge.” Anna met my gaze before turning to study the books resting on the counter.
“Let’s get to work,” she said, handing the baby to Ox.
“Ox, let’s teach you the alphabet while we work.” I tore a blank piece of paper from one of the books before I went to the hearth and pulled out a piece of charcoal.
Ox looked up at me, surprised, then lowered his eyes to the page, watching my drawings intently.
“You get to sing, Anna,” I told her, laughing.
“I don’t sing.” She glared at me before reciting the ABCs for Ox.
I easily found the spell my father had used. I remembered the ingredients: griffin feathers, unicorn horn, and shadow lark.
“Did you find it?” Anna asked, coming to stand next to me.
“I did.”
“What’s wrong?”
“It took me a week to gather the shadow lark and unicorn horn. The last two ingredients I wasn’t conscious enough to even know how to obtain.” I looked at Anna. “We don’t have that kind of time.”
“Maybe there is another spell,” she offered, opening another leather-bound text and flipping through the pages.
I nodded, not voicing the hopelessness waiting to be unleashed. It would do us no good.
…
Tommy typed rapidly on Logan’s desktop computer, grumbling. “I don’t know why you can’t have this conversation in my room.”
Logan raised an eyebrow at him. “You have a half-naked woman in the poster across from your desk.”
“That’s She-Ra, and she’s a bad ass,” Tommy corrected him.
Logan leaned back in his high-backed office chair. “Not the message I am looking to send.”
Tommy shrugged, slowing down as he typed the last few keystrokes. “Alright, hit enter and you are ready to go.” He went to sit next to Jerry, while Mark relaxed on the couch.
Logan looked over the trio, knowing none of them would be leaving. They wanted Olie back; at least this time, she hadn’t been shot.
He cleared his throat and hit enter.
Jaelle’s sleepy face came on the screen, her pale head propped in her hand.
Logan cleared his throat again. Jaelle jumped before rubbing her eyes. “Logan,” she greeted him. “You have some of the best hackers in the world. I never dreamed to be found by you, nor did I think commandeering my phone in such a way was possible.”
Logan gave her a half smile. Tommy had harangued her for close to an hour before she relented and agreed to take the Alpha’s call.
“We need you and your coven to come to St. Ann. We need your help.”
Jaelle leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms over her frail body. “You have your own mage, besides I’m not even stateside.”
“He isn’t powerful enough on his own for what needs to be done,” Logan admitted. He certainly didn’t enjoy admitting a weakness, his own or anyone else’s.
Jaelle continued to watch Logan intently. “You haven’t yet told me what this is about.”
“Nor do I plan to,” Logan answered.
Jaelle sighed. “I owe Olivia, not you. Have her call me.” She hit a button on the computer to end the call.
Tommy laughed.
“What the hell!” Jaelle yelled, smashing her computer in frustration.
“She can’t hang up,” Tommy chuckled.
Logan moved closer to the computer screen. “Jaelle, you have two hours to get to the mansion, or I’m coming for you.”
Tommy reached over and hit a few buttons, ending the call.
“I assumed you were done,” Tommy said.
“I was.” Logan leaned back, steepling his hands.
“What now?” Jerry asked.
“I hacked into the security cameras at the hotel in Mexico where Jaelle is staying. I’ll know when she checks out,” Tommy said, dashing from the room.
“You think she will do what you said?” Mark asked from the couch.
Logan rubbed his forehead. “I’m open to other ideas.”
“Let us take the jet to where Jaelle and her coven are, and escort them back,” Mark said.
Logan nodded. “Do it.”
…
I was re-reading the spell I had found when Anna came to stand over my shoulder.
“Absolutely not,” she said, trying to pull the book away from me.
“Look Anna, it says to drain a succubus or incubus, which none of us are, but what if we take a little from
each of us?”
I looked over at Ox, seeing him watching us closely, his mouth hanging open. “Would you be willing to contribute?” I asked him.
He nodded before looking down at the baby. “We wouldn’t take any from her,” Anna said quickly.
Ox nodded. “This will get us out of here?”
“Hopefully. It’s our best option. I think we can find the rest of the supplies here so we don’t have to waste time on traveling,” I answered.
“If it doesn’t work?” Ox asked, shifting in his seat.
“Then we try something else, until we find a way out of here.” I stood up, placing a hand on Ox’s shoulder. “We don’t give up, ever.”
Anna grunted, and I raised an eyebrow at her. “Let’s go storm the castle,” she smiled.
I nodded, about to head to my father’s study when the ground began to rumble.
“What the fuck?” Anna and I asked in unison, moving to the kitchen door.
Ox stayed at the island, holding the child close.
“Don’t come out until we tell you,” I told him, moving to the door and stepping outside.
Anna and I turned to the right, watching the cloud of dust billowing our way.
“Any idea what it is?” she asked me out of the side of her mouth.
I shook my head. We drew our swords in unison.
“No time like the present to find out,” I grunted. Nothing was getting past us. Anna and I held our stances tensely while the dust cloud pounded closer.
I squinted into the thick red dust. “What the fuck?” I whispered.
From the brief glances of brilliant purples, iridescent blues, and pearl whites, my mind pieced it together. “It’s the unicorns,” I said, dropping my stance and stowing my blade.
Anna glanced at me before turning her attention to the slowing dust.
“You certain?” she asked.
“No,” I answered honestly.
“Dammit, Olivia,” she hissed at me, stowing her blade. “You better be fucking right about this.”
The ground stopped rumbling as the horses slowed to a trot. “Unicorns,” Anna breathed, squinting and coughing out the dust.
“Unicorns,” I agreed, without the wonder. “I don’t remember them having riders,” I mused.
