Akasha met me at the top of the stairs with a glare. “Rosa was here. Why didn’t you just let me go with her?”
I was in no mood for more arguments. “You won’t go to your sister until I say so. Go pack, we’re moving again.”
She groaned. “Again? You better get me something good this time—”
“I’m not giving you anything else,” I snapped. “Stop acting like a selfish brat and pack. Now.”
She hesitated, but one look at my face sent her scurrying to obey. I hated to yell, but I had no time to do anything else. Rosamunde was getting too close again. I had to stop this hunt once and for all.
31
The Counter Plan
Rosamunde
So now I knew the truth about the Unseelie’s plans, and I was horrified. This was so much worse than stealing a book and a few hairs. Kidnap Ashleigh? Use her to force Glen to open a gate to the Otherworld, allowing them to circumvent the Seelie Court’s laws about who could cross through the Veil? All of my friends would know that I had betrayed them, and the dangerous magikin that came through the gate could wreak havoc on the mortal world. Zil claimed that they just wanted to be treated equally to the faeriekin, but who knew what they would do if they got the chance? I remembered a lot of old stories about humans being tortured, killed, enslaved, and kept for pets by more powerful creatures. If the Unseelie came into power again, I could be dooming my entire race.
I’d promised myself that I would do anything to get my sister back, but I’d never imagined that it could be this bad. I wouldn’t just be trading Ashleigh’s safety for Akasha’s—if they could force Glen to do what they said, then this would jeopardize all of Earth. I felt guilty that this morning, I’d been ready to agree to Marzell’s plan, measuring the value of my sister against that of my best friend.
And my other plan, to get Akasha back and then confess everything to my friends so they could stop the Unseelie in time, that wouldn’t work at all. By the time my part was done, Glen would have already opened the gate, and I wasn’t sure that he’d be able to get the situation under control and close it again. Not to mention that I would be arrested and probably exiled myself, for breaking basically every law they had and every oath I’d sworn when I became a witch. There was no way of apologizing and explaining myself to get a lesser punishment after something that big.
I flew on in a daze, barely even looking where I was going. So much of the area around Madrone was just mountains and valleys full of trees, stretching on as far as I could see, and only when I flew closer and looked could I see the occasional building or road to break the expanse of forest. I could fly for miles in a random direction and lose myself without any landmarks that I knew.
Getting lost might not be such a bad idea.
The last time that I got stuck in a horrible situation like this, I’d run to the Otherworld, hoping for advice from my Fae patron. But that had landed me in more trouble because there was no opening through the Veil, and only the guardian’s intervention had kept me from getting lost between the two worlds forever. I didn’t think the dragon, Kaorinix, was likely to help me a second time. And I knew without looking up at the sky that it was a new moon that day, the worst time to attempt a crossing, and there were no significant holidays that would make the Veil thinner—Fae hardly cared about Valentine’s Day.
No, I had to think my way out of this one on my own. Or turn to help from a more reliable source. I couldn’t think of a way to fix this mess and still save my sister, but maybe more heads working on the problem would find the impossible solution.
I landed in a tree and pulled out my cell phone. “Hey, Ashleigh,” I said when she picked up. “We need to have an emergency meeting right now. Where can I meet you guys?”
Luckily, Ashleigh, Glen, and Heather were already at Ashleigh’s house. Once I’d gotten my bearings, I flew straight there, going so fast that I was a little out of breath from fighting the cold wind on the way. The sky was already dark with clouds, and the air felt heavy, like a storm was coming.
Ashleigh answered the door just moments after I rang the bell, as if she had been watching for me. “Come into the kitchen, I’ve already got the kettle on.”
“Thanks, you always know what to get me.” I smiled weakly, my lips cracking at the effort, and hurried past her. I left my broom just inside the door, along with my school bag and coat. I didn’t know who could be watching me, and I thought it best that I left no sign of my presence outside.
Glen pulled out a chair for me as soon as I came in the room, and Heather poured me a mug full of steaming tea, setting it down on the table. I managed to smile at both of them, too, as I hunkered down into the seat and rubbed my arms in an attempt to warm up.
They all sat down and looked at me, full of concern, but no one pushed me for information about the emergency. I realized that they were waiting for me to talk first.
I took a deep breath of the steam rising off of the hot mug, feeling it loosen the tightness in my chest, and coughed. “Okay, first of all, you have to let me tell the whole thing straight through without getting mad,” I said, glancing back and forth at all of their faces. “I know that I really screwed up this time, and I’m going to just start off with saying I’m sorry, but if you sidetrack me with questions then it’s going to get all confused and it’s very important that I get to the end. And then you know that I’m going to ask for your help—” I paused to take a deep breath. “Without involving the Faerie Court.”
Glen gave a small, humorless laugh. “I’m getting used to this from you, Rosa. What is it this time?”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Oh, come on, I’m not always that bad. It’s been a few months since my last crisis.”
Glen and Ashleigh exchanged one of their all-knowing faeriekin looks. “You ask us to hide information from my grandfather all the time,” he said gently.
“I know, I know, but this could be the last time, so just hear me out.” I shook in my chair, from more than just the cold.
Ashleigh put her hand on mine. “It’s okay, we’ll just listen, and no one will make any decisions until you’re finished. Promise.”
I looked around again, and the others nodded in agreement, so I took a deep breath and launched into my explanation. “Well, it all started when you got the idea for Heather to write a letter to the Unseelie, and I wanted to write my own letter to my mother.”
As best as I could, I described everything that happened because of the letter: Zil approaching me, the tests I’d gone through to prove myself to the Unseelie, the hints that going through with a final mission would get my sister returned. The only thing that I left out was my crazy crush on Zil and how I’d let it ruin my relationship with Kai, since I couldn’t admit that mistake to anyone else. I didn’t try to downplay how wrong I was to lie and steal from them, although I explained that I felt I was the only one who could find my sister and I would do anything to save her. “At least, I thought I would do anything, until I found out what they really wanted me to do, and I realized that I’d gone too far.”
Glen, who had been gripping the edge of the table tensely during my entire monologue, sat back with a sigh. “They’re trying to open a gate to Faerie. Do you know how they got the dragon scale?”
I blinked at him in surprise. In the back of my mind, I remembered that Louis had said something about a dragon scale, but I’d never connected it with the Unseelie. “I don’t know if they have a scale or not. Why would that be involved?”
He looked over at Ashleigh uncomfortably, and then I saw that she was leaning in with interest. It must have been the first she’d heard of this, too.
“To open a gate, you need something that has connections to both worlds,” Glen said finally. He looked back at me. “It’s in the book that you stole from the library. So you don’t think they have the scale?”
I shrugged. “I have no idea how they mean to open the gate. They wanted to force you into helping them with your magic somehow.”
&
nbsp; He stiffened, a reaction that I took to mean that he knew how to open a gate if he needed to. “How are they forcing me?”
I glanced at Ashleigh, and then down at my hands. “I’m supposed to help them kidnap Ashleigh this weekend. They’re going to blackmail you into doing it so you can get her back. And if I do it, then Akasha will come home.”
“Could they really do that?” Ashleigh yelped and jumped up out of her chair, her wide eyes locked on Glen.
I stared up at her in surprise. I’d never seen her lose her composure that way before.
Glen squeezed his eyes shut. “I’ve sworn an oath to protect your safety above everything else—even the Court. Even my own life.”
Realizing what that meant, the faeriekin girl’s hands flew to her mouth. She turned pale and started shaking all over. “No,” she whispered, horrified. “No, you can’t. I’m not worth that much.”
He jabbed a finger at me. “But if Rosa goes back on her word to the Unseelie, then they’ll know they’ve been betrayed, and her mom will take off with her sister again.” His eyes darkened. “You’ve really screwed us this time. I’ve been lying to cover for you, but there’s no way I can help you now.”
All the color seemed to go out of the world. My worst fears were coming true. I buried my face in my hands. “I’m so sorry,” I gasped. “I thought I could handle it. I thought if I could just get my sister and then tell you, you could fix it.”
“I’m not a magician!” Glen pushed back from the table with a loud scrape of his chair and stood up. “I swore an oath to uphold the law, and so did you! Now you could drag all of us down as accomplices. My grandfather will be furious.”
Ashleigh, still shaking, put out her hand to touch his arm. “You can turn her in. Rosa’s our friend—”
“Who lied and stole from us, and put us all in danger! Some friend!” He turned on me. “I told the Count you were gathering intel, acting as a double agent. I had to do something after you stole that book. Did you learn anything? Do you know where your mother is, or who’s helping her?”
I shook my head desperately. “No, they wouldn’t let me know anything. I only talked to Zil and Marzell. But Zil’s mom seemed to know something, too.”
Heather’s quiet voice cut through the room: “Then the only way to find the scale and Rosmerta is to go through with the plan.”
We all stopped and stared at her. “We can’t open a gate,” Glen said, his voice softening.
Heather shook her head. “If they already know how to open the gate, they’re a threat with or without you. If you get close to them like you’re going to help, you can stop them directly. You find the scale and take down the whole group by sabotaging the ritual.” She spoke calmly, matter-of-factly, as if she’d already gotten it all worked out.
“You’d have to let them kidnap Ashleigh,” I said, glancing over at the other girl. “If Glen stops the ritual, won’t they hurt her?”
Ashleigh wrapped her arms around herself, eyes wide.
Heather had an answer for that, too. “I’ll follow you guys and get Ashleigh away.” She could’ve been discussing our next test, for all the emotion she showed. “You distract your mom, using your witchcraft to stop hers. Then Glen calls in the guard to arrest everyone.”
I slumped back against my chair, my mind reeling with the possibilities. I stared at the others. “Could it work?” I asked, hoping against hope.
Glen sat back down. His hands folded on the table. “It’s dangerous.” He looked up at Ash. “Especially for you. Will you risk it?”
She still looked pale, but she nodded. “I promised I’d do anything to help Rosa.”
Glen nodded. “Then I have to get permission from my grandfather.”
I couldn’t believe that we were considering this, but I had to push my luck one more time. “Don’t tell him,” I said quickly. “I’m pretty sure there’s a spy close to him. If you tell him, then the Unseelie will know.”
Glen clenched his jaw. “Then I’ll only tell the knights who I trust. I have to bring someone to help with the arrests.”
“Okay.” I took a deep breath to steady myself. I’d have to confront my mother. Everything I’d done so far had been going behind her back. I hoped my powers were stronger now after months of practice, but Mom had a lifetime of experience in witchcraft. I couldn’t even begin to guess what she was capable of, let alone how to counter it. I’d wanted to confront her for so long, but was I ready?
Certainty settled over me. “I’ll fight Mom. And when I win, I’ll make her give up Akasha.”
We spent the rest of the afternoon working out the details of our plan. I explained about the fake contest and showed them the reservation to the ski lodge in Bear Valley. The distance would make things a little trickier, as would being on unfamiliar ground, but we’d make sure that didn’t stop us.
Ashleigh and I would borrow a car from the castle, an SUV that could handle the winding mountain roads, and drive up to the lodge on Friday afternoon. When the Unseelie made their move, I’d let them take Ashleigh and insist on going with them, to assure her safety. They’d check her for magical traces, but I’d leave ordinary clues behind so Heather would be able to follow us.
After Ashleigh was secure, they’d call Glen, and he’d drive out to wherever they wanted to meet. Glen guessed that some remote location in Bear Valley must be the site where they meant to open the gate—far enough away from the official gate at Doe’s Rest Castle, out in the woods where no one would stumble across it accidentally. He’d have to go alone, but he felt confident that with his Fae magic and human sorcery, he’d be able to stop anyone in the Unseelie, sabotage their ritual, and steal the dragon scale or anything else that they could be using.
Meanwhile, Glen would text Heather as soon as he was at the ritual site, and then she’d launch her rescue. I’d confront my mother or whoever was holding Ashleigh and get them to tell me where Akasha was.
“And then all of us will ride off into the sunset on Glen’s white horse, where the Unseelie couldn’t possibly retaliate against us.” I shook my head. “Yeah, this sounds like a great plan.”
“They can’t possibly retaliate, because we’ll go straight to the castle, and have all the protection of the Seelie Court behind us,” Glen said firmly. “But Sweetie’s staying home. My grandfather will give us all the vehicles we need, no questions asked. He’ll trust me to fill him in on the details after this is done.”
I sighed. “And Mom will finally get arrested.”
Ashleigh touched my hand gently. “That’s what you want, right? You know it’s too dangerous for her to be out there. You’re the first person she’ll come after.”
I nodded without quite looking at anyone. I still couldn’t get used to the idea of Mom being exiled into the Otherworld to go crazy, and I was sure if her previous crimes hadn’t earned her that punishment, trying to open the gate would be the final nail in her coffin. But as long as she was on the loose, I would never feel safe, always looking over my shoulder and wondering who could be spying on me. It hurt not being able to trust anyone, even my closest friends—and to have them no longer trusting me, knowing that I could still be influenced by such a dangerous fugitive.
“So I think we’ve got everything covered,” Glen said, standing up from the table and stretching.
I stood up and stretched too, grunting as I eased a little stiffness in my shoulders and back. My muscles were all knotted up from the constant tension of the day. For a fleeting moment, I remembered Kai’s back rubs, and it made me sad again.
I cleared my throat. “I’ll tell Marzell that I’m up for the plan tomorrow.”
I turned and gave Ashleigh a big hug. “Are you sure that you’re up for this? You’ll be putting your personal safety at risk. I’m not sure what the backup plan is if something goes wrong.”
She hugged me back and smiled. “I think that I have to do this, for our county. I’ve just been a pretty hostess up until now, but this is my first chance to do so
mething that could help protect everyone. And I really hope it gets your sister back.”
I felt like was on the verge of crying again, both out of gratitude to my friends and sheer relief at finally being able to unburden all of my fears to someone else. No matter what my doubts were, I always seemed to come back to them when things got tough, and they always came through for me. I really needed to learn to rely on them more often.
“Thanks, you guys,” I said in a voice thick with tears, and began hugging all of them in turn. “All of you. You’re awesome.”
32
Valentine's Day
Rosamunde
On Tuesday night, the blizzard I’d felt threatening us finally hit, and the next morning the whole town woke up to roads full of snow and no hope of driving anywhere. Dad, coming into the living room, took one look at the drifts piled up in front of the front door and the garage, and shook his head. “We’re not getting anywhere in that. I’ll call the hospital. Switch on the news, I bet your school is canceled, too.”
The snow was still falling gently, nothing that I couldn’t have flown in. Still, there was no sense in going if everyone else was stuck in their homes.
Sure enough, the news announced that all roads were closed east of San Andreas. Snowplows weren’t expected to reach Madrone until later that afternoon. People counted themselves lucky if they had enough supplies to get by and if they still had electricity—which often got knocked out in remote areas when a storm hit, but in town at least, it seemed to be holding. No one would be able to go anywhere that day.
I hoped that the roads up to Bear Valley would be cleared by Friday. The last thing that I needed was for all of our plans to go wrong because of bad weather. Then I remembered that I was also supposed to tell Marzell that I was going ahead with the plan. I didn’t want to put it off, in case the Unseelie worried that I might have cold feet or decided to change their mind about involving me.
Fae of Calaveras Trilogy Box Set Page 48
