by Elle Casey
I frowned, my eyes scrunching up in my half sleep as I tried to figure out why Spike was on the wrong side of the bed and why he was groaning. When I couldn’t figure it out, I opened my eyes and turned my head.
“What the fuck?” I said softly.
I was outside. That was the first thing really wrong. The other thing really, really wrong was the fact that a strange fae guy was lying next to me and he was so pale he looked nearly dead.
I sat up in a hurry. “Hey!” I punched him in the arm
“Ow, that hurt,” he said.
His voice did it. Falco’s voice — a sound I thought I’d never hear again for as long as I was alive as a fae. Everything came flooding back to me … the fight in the Overworld, the dragon, my friends stuck somewhere I didn’t even understand where.
“Oh my god!” I jumped to my feet, taking off running toward the fae compound. I was in the Infinity Meadow, under the tree where my mother had been buried.
“Hey!” came a weak voice from behind me.
“Oh shit,” I said, making a u-turn and going back. I bent down and grabbed Falco’s hand, yanking on it for all I was worth. “Come on!”
His body spun around and now his head was at my feet. He looked up at me. “What’s your hurry? We just got here.”
I kicked him in the shoulder. “Get up or I’m leaving you out here!” I let his hand go and ran. I pulled some of The Green up into me as I went, reaching out for Robin’s signature in the network. I found him there, his presence steady and strong. Also possibly asleep.
Wake up, Robin! Emergency! Alert! All hands on deck! I left off the connection and picked up the part of my connection that I knew would get Aidan and his friends awake. Those werewolves just loved it when I howled at the moon like that.
Shifters! Everyone! Emergency! Emergency! Meet me in the assembly room of the fae compound! Tell Dardennes and Celine and the rest of the council! I knew every single werewolf in the entire forest would be running around in circles wolfing out and holding their ears, but there was no time to be subtle. I had to get a rescue posse together and go save the planet.
Chapter Forty
FALCO CAUGHT UP TO ME when we reached the door that led from the Infinity Meadow to the fae compound. I pushed it open and dragged him through. He could walk but he seemed too mystified to do it fast enough for my taste.
“What’s going on? What happened? Where are we right now?” he asked, looking at the walls as we jogged by.
“No time to explain,” I said, running out of breath. The adrenaline rush was killing me, sucking the energy out of my lungs or something. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
I imagined the big double doors leading into the assembly hall, and they soon appeared on my right. I burst through them expecting to see at least half the fae population there, but instead I found nothing. Crickets.
“What the fuck,” I said, coming to a standstill, my chest heaving as I tried to get enough oxygen into my brain.
Falco walked to the first row of seats at the back and sat down. “Wow, I’m tired. When’s the assembly going to start?” He yawned really loudly.
I was standing there scratching my head when the first person walked in. It was Aidan, and he was extra hairy and super puffy with lots of juicy muscles. He looked left, right, and then straight at me. His voice came out all growly. “Jayne. Are you all right?” He stopped in front of me and gripped my upper arms really hard with hands big enough to palm my entire head.
I shrugged him off. “I’m okay but no one else is. I need everyone in here, stat. We have an emergency.”
His arms fell to his sides and he tilted his head at me. “You called all the fae here because … you had a bad dream?”
I looked at him like he was nuts, which he obviously was. I never realized before how stupid werewolves were when they first woke up. “No, I didn’t just have a bad dream. Don’t be an idiot.” I blew air up into my face, trying to ease my sweating situation. It was getting bad.
His eyebrows went up into his hairline, but he got cut off from saying anything by the doors flying open and Céline coming in wearing a dressing gown.
I leaned out sideways so I could see around Aidan. “Uhhh … Céline? Why are you in your pajamas?”
She made an effort to smooth down her hair as she clutched the edges of her robe together. “I was sleeping.” She looked quizzically at Aidan. “What’s going on here?”
He backed away off to the side and held his hands up. “Beats me. Talk to the elemental.”
My hands went to my hips when I realized I was being kind of mocked. “Hey! Watch it with the attitude, okay? It just so happens that this is a damn emergency and I don’t know why it’s taking all of you so friggin long to get here.” I looked past them at the doors that remained shut. “Where is everyone?”
“They’re sleeping,” Céline said, moving in slowly toward me. “As you were. Did you sleepwalk here?” She looked over at Aidan. “Perhaps she needs a glass of water.”
I backed up. “I don’t need a goddamn glass of water, Céline, I need a posse! I need a big friggin band of warriors and every single spell caster you have on staff in this place!”
Aidan was opening his mouth to say something when the doors opened again. This time it was Dardennes and Niles coming in, and the only one standing there looking like he was ready to go kick some ass was the dwarf.
I gestured at him. “Now that’s what I’m talking about. Thank you, Niles.”
Niles stared at me and then looked at Céline. “Is this a joke?”
That was it. I’d had enough of their ridiculousness. Obviously this was an emergency, otherwise why would I be back from my companionship duty so soon? Idiots! I walked over and grabbed the back of a chair and started yanking on it while I growled. “Eeeerrrrgh, I friggin hate this place sometimes! Grrrrr!! Errrrrr!” The damn seat just rocked back and forth a little; it was totally unsatisfying when it didn’t come unbolted from the floor so I could throw it across the big room.
“Jayne, please sit down,” Dardennes said, using his nicey-nice calm voice. The one that totally gets under my skin.
I let go of the seat and backed up some more, keeping all of them in my sights. I pointed to Falco. “Take a look at this guy and then talk to me.”
I waited as all their gazes moved over to where I was pointing.
Then they all looked at each other and then at me.
“Jayne. Sweetie. You’re sleepwalking,” Céline said taking a short step toward me.
My jaw dropped open. I looked at all of their faces, but all I saw there were expressions of confusion and pity. Then I looked over at Falco. He looked confused too. “Oh my god,” I whispered at him. “They can’t see you.”
His face went whiter, and he swallowed loud enough that I heard it. “I’m a ghost,” he whispered. And then a tear appeared and tracked down his face.
Chapter Forty-One
I RAN UP TO THE front of the room, taking the stairs up to the raised platform, afraid someone was going to tackle me and keep me from saying what I had to say. Aidan had a weird look in his eye, and the vibes coming off him had turned slightly aggressive. I pulled a buttload of Green power into me and let it know as best I could that under no circumstances was anyone allowed to touch my person. Bubble shun, bubble shun, if anyone touches me, act like a stun gun. It would be just like these idiots to put me in jail when all I was trying to do was save their sorry butts.
“Okay, you guys need to listen up.” My voice echoed around the room.
“Jayne, please come down from there,” Dardennes said as the doors opened behind him.
“Send them away,” he said to Niles, barely glancing toward the new entrants.
“No!” I screamed. “Don’t you dare send anyone anywhere!” I pointed at the doors and glared in concentration as I spoke to my favorite element. Open sesame is what I say, keep those doors ajar all damn day! They flew open and glued themselves to the walls, the power of the Earth element holding the
m there as if they’d grown together into one big piece of wood.
I smiled. “There. Now everyone can hear my story.”
Dardennes sighed heavily and looked at Céline. She shrugged her shoulders as if to say they were going to indulge the spoiled brat one more time before they had a hot toddy and went off to bed again.
Idiots. They were going to be really sorry they didn’t listen to me faster. Another ten angels had probably just died in that Overworld clusterfuck as a result of them not taking me seriously.
Fae started filing in, but I got started when I saw a couple more council members show up. They took the front row of seats, just below my feet.
“Okay, so apparently you guys are not aware of the fact that our little trip to the Isle of Skye got bamboozled and completely hijacked.” I looked out over the group hoping to see worried expressions, but all I saw was confusion. Again. It was getting seriously annoying.
I glared at Dardennes. “Why is this no big deal to you? I don’t get it. I’m telling you our trip is in the shitter, and all you’re doing is crossing your eyes at me.” My arms flew up and banged down at my sides. I’d never been so at a loss as I was at that point.
“Jayne, you aren’t leaving on your trip for another several hours. You were supposed to leave at dawn.” He looked down at his wrist. “It’s two in the morning.”
Panic hit me like someone had clubbed me with it. I had to put my hand on my chest to keep my heart inside it, since it felt like it was trying to escape. “Are you kidding me?” What fresh horror is this? Is there a second Jayne asleep in my bed? If I see her, will I be thrown out of time and lost to my elements? I wondered then if I shouldn’t just run out into the Infinity Meadow and keep going until I disappeared into an ocean or something.
I shook my head. No. I’m not there. I’m here. There couldn’t be more than one of me. The earth would tilt off its axis and explode. “We already left,” I said, my mouth so dry the words hardly came out. I had to clear my throat three times before I could try again. “We left yesterday or the day before.”
Céline and Dardennes exchanged a look. Red the witch frowned at me as he gripped the arms of the chair he’d chosen to sit in. Niles put his hand on the head of his axe.
“Please listen to me.” I’d resorted to begging; that’s how desperate I was to be believed. “Our whole group left here a couple days ago, and when we got to the Isle of Skye there was a trap there waiting for us. At the bed and breakfast where you told us to stay.”
Celine stood, looking first to Dardennes and then at Red before she looked at me. “Jayne, we understand you’re upset. It’s clear to us that you believe what you’re saying right now.” She had her hands out at me like it was supposed to calm me down.
“Go look!” I screamed, pointing at the doors. “Go look in my room! See if I’m there!”
She smiled patiently. “Of course you’re not there. You’re here in the assembly hall with us.”
More werewolves appeared in the doorway looking very frazzled. When Aidan noticed them, he waved them over to him and they stood together in a group. He motioned for them to stop talking so they could listen.
I wanted to cry with fury and frustration. Everyone was patronizing me and wasting precious time. I was going to lose my friends forever, not to mention the entire Overworld too.
“Go look for Tim. If Tim’s here, you can lock me up and throw away the key.” I was breathing so fast and hard, I was starting to get dizzy. I had no idea what to expect. Would Tim be there, sleeping, cuddled up with Abby? Would he fly in and look at me funny and tell me I’d been dreaming everything?
Was I? Was it possible to dream with that much clarity? With that much detail? I glanced down at my arm and a wave of relief washed over me. Holding up my arm, I yelled. “Look at this!”
Everyone’s eyes swiveled over to the stage.
“This happened to me in another realm!” I looked up at my demon blade injury along with everyone else and noticed how much it had healed. Now the only thing showing was a pink line.
“Jayne, you’ve been in many battles,” Céline said. She sounded like she was begging … begging me to sit down and shut up.
I pulled the demon sword out of my belt and pointed it at the group. “Someone go right now and look for Tim, or I’m going to start stabbing people. I’m not kidding.” It probably wasn’t helping my situation to act like I was going postal on my friends, but I wasn’t exactly thinking with my rational mind at that point. Desperation causes people and fae to do really fucked up shit.
“I will go,” Aidan said, taking off at a jog without another word.
I nearly swooned with relief. This elemental had no quarrel with the wolf, that was for damn sure. Thank the universe for werewolves. I nodded, trying not to let my relief show. Niles would take it as weakness and a sign that it was time to come after me. I could see in his eyes he wanted to tackle me to the ground and put me in irons. They’d probably put me in Moriah’s old cell, the unbelieving bastards.
“While Aidan’s gone, why don’t you tell us whatever else is on your mind,” Red said, folding his hands over his stomach.
I couldn’t tell if his smile was happiness over the fact that I was about to bury myself deeper or meant to encourage. Regardless, I had the green light to spill my story, and I wasn’t going to waste the opportunity. For all I knew, Tim was going to come flying into the room any second complaining that I’d interfered in his beauty sleep.
“Like I said, we left for our trip yesterday. Or two days ago, I’m kind of lost on the time.” I reached up to scratch the front of my head and realized that my hair accident was right there for everyone to enjoy. Goddammit, no wonder they don’t believe me. I probably look like an escaped mental patient. I fluttered my hands around at my sides, hoping to distract them from my upper body, but it wasn’t working. Everyone was staring at my face and probably my hair too.
I sighed out long and loudly before I continued. “Anyway, we got there in the middle of the night …” I paused, holding up a finger. “No, wait. Other stuff happened on the way, I forgot.” I hated that my mind felt foggy. “On the way, we stopped at a rest stop, and when I went into the bathroom…”
“Are we really here to listen to your story of how you used the toilet on your supposed trip?” Red asked, his eyebrows up in his hairline.
I pointed at him with my sword. “I will cut you, old man. I’m serious. This is important. It’s not a joke.”
He blinked once but didn’t say anything. Now I was mad enough to fuel the fire in my brain and the story came in clearer. “We experienced some time slips. Someone tried to drown me in the bathroom, but I got out of it using my elements and this handy dandy dragon scale,” I held it up for them to see. “When I got out, though, no one had noticed anything.” I knew I was telling things out of order, but it didn’t matter. They just needed to know the basics and believe me about it so we could get the hell out of here and over to the portal. “In the car at a rest stop I had the same conversation with Tim twice, but he didn’t notice it.”
“He was probably drunk on dandelion nectar,” Niles said, earning himself a few laughs from the crowd.
“NO! He wasn’t drunk on anything!” I knew I was slowly falling down into a rabbit hole with a huge group of fae as witnesses, but I couldn’t seem to stop it from happening. “That’s not what it was! He was sober and he didn’t realize we were re-living the same moment a second time. It was a time slip!”
“What do you know of time slips?” Red asked suspiciously.
“Exactly!” I yelled pointing at him. I started pacing the stage. “I knew nothing about them until they started happening. And then when I explained what had happened to Jared and Tony, that’s what they called it.”
Red and Dardennes exchanged a look that I took as a positive sign.
“So we were on the alert after. We stopped using rest stops. We peed on the side of the road instead.”
Niles shook his hea
d, dropping it into his fat, little hand. I ignored him.
“We arrived at the bed and breakfast and there was a witch there. A Fate. Her name was Judith.”
At that, Red sat straight up in his chair. “You lie!”
I screeched at him. “No! I don’t lie! That’s what I’m trying to tell you!”
Red stood. “You have heard that name before and you are using it now to manipulate us!”
I threw my arms up. “Why in the hell would I do that? What purpose would it serve?”
There was a commotion at the doorway and suddenly Aidan was there. He was out of breath. “The pixie is not there. His wife has not seen him.”
I wanted to cry with relief. I pointed and jumped up and down. “See?! What did I tell you? He’s not there. None of them are.”
Robin came in the door behind Aidan.
I pointed at him and screamed. “Robin!” I might have also hit him with a little blast of The Green. He jumped back and held his chest.
“Yes, Mother,” he finally said.
“Call to Finn! See if you can locate him!”
Robin looked first at Aidan and then at Dardennes. Dardennes merely inclined his head, that cool motherfucker. I totally wanted to brain him with the hilt of my sword, but I resisted.
Robin closed his eyes and remained serene for about ten seconds. Then he looked lost and confused. When his lids opened again, he shook his head. “He is not there.”
“What do you mean he’s not there?” Niles asked. He sounded pissed.
“I mean simply that. He is not there.”
“Not reachable? Not awake?” Niles kept pushing, probably hoping Robin would say Finn’s friggin phone was off the hook, but the elf didn’t comply.
“The only time a green elf cannot be reached is when he is no longer in this realm.”
I ran off the stage toward Robin, my feet on fire. I had to get through to them. I had to make this happen. I came to a halt in front of him as he put his hand on his bow.
“Robin,” I said, gasping for air, “I need you to do something for me.”
