by Alexia Purdy
“Look, I’m just going to see what Soap has gotten himself into. I’ll be right back, okay? We can talk more when I return… if you want to.”
She bobbed her head up and down, looking sad yet wide-eyed. I wanted to kiss her in that one moment more than I ever had before. Restraining my urges was something I wasn’t used to doing, but after what had happened with Sary, I didn’t want to screw things up.
First, business had to be taken care of. I had to find Soap so we could talk about our mission. We had to get back to the Raven court, and if we were lucky, we’d make it back by the next afternoon.
“Okay, then,” Zena said, still achingly beautiful as she gazed at me. “See you in just a bit.”
Chapter Thirteen
Soap
Somewhere between hours two or three, I’d given up on Benton. I wasn’t a patient kind of guy at all. He was probably having a little too much fun with Zena. The bastard probably didn’t care that I hadn’t returned and was getting pathetically lost in Zena’s pretty hazel eyes.
Damn. He was such a player, always finding the girl more important than the mission. Some partner.
Traitor.
I sighed and leaned against the hard stone wall. My back ached, and my immobile wrists and ankles made it hard to find a comfortable position. I was used to sleeping anywhere while traveling with Benton, but this was ridiculous. I wished I was somewhere with a nice soft bed for once. Like back at the Scren Palace. At least Shade was there.
Thinking of her bothered me. I should have been over her by now, but thoughts of the girl were flying back into my head with increasing frequency. The problem with love and faeries is that most fey men only ever take one mate. We love for a lifetime because we’re meant to fall in love with another immortal faery, not a human. But now that Shade was married to Dylan, I felt like I had an empty chasm within my soul. I was supposed to love her forever. I had given her my heart unwittingly, thinking she would always return to care for it, but she hadn’t, and I was left inevitably still in love with her. Unrequited love is the worst kind, and I wished I could just rip out my heart and put it away until the pain ceased and I could possibly love another.
At least thoughts of her helped pass the time. Cornelius had his book reading and his soldiers had their guard duty. I had nothing to do but think. It was a dangerous thing; my mind can too easily get lost in what might be or what should have been.
A polyamorous relationship was another solution to this problem of Shade and me, but I hated to think it could be the only one. I didn’t want to share Shade with anyone. Hell, that’d all depend if she’d even agree to it in the first place. Dylan was her husband already, and that was that. Though it wasn’t uncommon for a queen of Faerie to take on more than one husband, a practice extremely common in the Teleen Faerie clan due to their lack of females, it was less common for male kings of Faerie to take on multiple wives due to the fact that faerie hearts will normally cling to just one other person.
But Shade was not all faery. She was part human and could hold more than one love in the vastness of her heart. It was possible, wasn’t it? For her to love more than one man at one time, it could work, couldn’t it?
I shook these ridiculous thoughts out of my head and tried to focus on the situation at hand. There had to be a way out of this. The night elves weren’t kidding when they said they were setting up a trap for Benton. How he’d pissed them off so badly was beyond me, but I think him killing one of their friends was a huge part of that. The leader continued to read his book by the fireplace and let his comrades set up booby traps for Benton to fall into. They were placing little orbs that would explode on contact. I was starting to get fidgety, watching them set it all up. If I didn’t do something now to keep Benton from blundering into one of these lethal traps, he’d be dead in a flash. I needed to do it quickly.
Staring down at the twine around my wrists for the thousandth time, I wiggled my wrists some more. I wished glamour would make my bones smaller… wait! I could totally do that. I groaned at my stupidity. It’d been so long since I’d morphed into a person or creature smaller than me, I’d grown too accustomed to my full-size faery form. Shade had the same magic, but hers was more of a complete transformation. Mine was more of a glamour, but it did affect my size sometimes, especially if I morphed into something really small, like a butterfly, to fly the hell out of there.
But I couldn’t just leave. I had to find out why they wanted Benton in the first place, or they’d continue to try and trap my friend. I settled back down when one of the night elves glanced my way. I knew I wouldn’t be leaving before Benton’s arrival. I’d have to either talk my way out of this one or break out and find Benton before one of those explosive orbs got him.
I groaned. Benton was complicating my life in ways I didn’t need. The price for friendship was harsh.
“So, what’s up with all the fireworks?” I said. “Benton must’ve seriously pissed you all off.” I had stated the obvious, hoping to draw Cornelius into my conversation. It was worth a try.
Cornelius lowered his book. A dark, angry look on his face made it known that I’d interrupted his solace, and he wasn’t the least happy about it. I didn’t care. The guy could throw a fit about it if he wanted to. My job was to squeeze any kind of information I could out of the freak; there had to be something I could use against him. Suave words were more of Benton’s forte, but I could charm the pants off of any girl, so why not try to finagle my way out of this hot mess first?
“What makes you think Benton pissed me off?” Cornelius leaned forward, dangling his book from his fingers as he shot a glare my way. I could tell my interruption was unwanted, and if I didn’t say the right thing fast, I was going to pay for it dearly.
I shrugged. “I guess it’s because I wouldn’t put so much effort in baiting a guy and then blasting him to bits without so much as a conversation first. What’d he do? Steal your girl? Eat the last bonbon? What?”
His eyes darkened as his tight frown twitched at my words. I had to admit his glare dug into me like a knife, but I refused to flinch. I’d seen worse things in my life, and his pathetic attempt at intimidation was not going to work out the way he wanted it to.
“I’m not going to blow him up. Like you said, I just want to chat first. If he meets a trap first, so be it.”
I nodded toward the orbs littering the entrance to the large room. “Well, then your guys have it all wrong. Those orbs are going to explode the moment someone walks through that door. You might have them tone it down a bit if you really want to converse with my ol’ pal. He might not be one for many words after an attempt on his life like that.” I chuckled, trying to lighten the mood as I crossed my legs Indian style and leaned forward. “So what exactly are you two going to talk about?”
“I don’t think it’s any of your concern, half-blood.”
“Oh, geez.” I rolled my eyes, making it more than apparent. “Enough with the insults. I thought your kind were far more advanced than that.” I crunched my eyebrows together, feigning severe disappointment. “I have you know my friend is an elemental warlock and can probably incinerate you with one flick of a finger. If I were you, I’d be scared witless that he’s coming for me. And don’t you worry about your silly bombs; he’ll disarm them in a jiffy. He’s not the kind of guy who’s opposed to some collateral damage, so don’t think for one second he cares what happens to me if they go off.”
Cornelius sat pensively for a moment before leaning forward once more and placing his book on a small table next to his chair, dog-earing the page he was on. That alone made me grimace. I hated people defacing books. That was just wrong on so many levels. I wondered briefly what book it was. I hadn’t read a book in ages, but I wouldn’t mind getting a good recommendation or two. Faeries live a pretty long time, and occasionally we sit down and read a book to waste some time.
“I’m serious, though. Benton’s not going to be too happy when he finds out what you’re up to.”
He rolled hi
s eyes, flipping the book back open, determining my words were not worth another moment’s thought. He dramatically dove back into his novel, holding it up, close to his face.
Dammit. It was worth a try.
Think. Think. Think.
I peered around the room, taking in everything and everyone. There had to be a solution. Something I hadn’t seen before. If only Shade was there, she could communicate with Benton and warn him to stay away or find some other manner of dealing with Cornelius. Braelynn and Sary wouldn’t be a bad alternative either. The girls were wickedly smart and could bend us out of any situation. It was times like these I missed the girls madly and wished we were still traversing the land of Faerie together, like it used to be.
But things never stay the same in the land of Faerie. Magic corrupts everyone and everything absolutely.
I closed my eyes, mentally sending Shade a warning in the hope it might catch the wind and get to her. The chances of that were next to nil. I hated to admit defeat, but I had to stick this out and see if I could save my friend.
“Half-blood.” Cornelius snickered in my direction, waving me down out of my head. I’d caught his attention, and he couldn’t concentrate on his book any longer. He tossed it aside and leaned back. Ripping him out of his solace was payment enough for me. “You say you know this Benton well, right?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know the sorceress Braelynn?”
I nodded. “Yes. I’ve worked with her before.” I fidgeted, wondering what he was up to. Giving him too much information could be fatal, but I had to keep him talking. I could find out things about him and his operation that might be helpful.
“Tell me, did she and Benton ever have a… thing?” He had to force the question out, and he cleared his throat as he leaned forward, invested in my response.
“Braelynn interested in Benton?” I laughed. “No way. He was involved with another chick from Faerie named Sary, but those two? They were just friends.”
Cornelius’s face lit up, and I almost shuddered to see him happy. What was it about Braelynn that so interested him?
“You’re telling the truth? If not, I’ll make you pay dearly for your lies.”
“Of course I’m telling the truth. I’m fey. Like you, I can’t lie.”
“True. But you know how to manipulate words. What if you aren’t quite telling me the truth?”
“I have no reason to try and get around it, even though you are keeping me captive. Look, Benton’s my friend, and he has his eye on some human girl right now. I think that after what happened with the faerie chick, he’s not thinking of bedding any girl from Faerie ever again. Honest.”
“Good to know.” The night elf sat back, lost in his thoughts and tapping his fingers together with a menacing look masking his thoughts. “Is it the girl Zena?”
My stomach dropped. “What if it was?” It was my turn to ask questions. “What’s Braelynn have to do with a guy like you anyway?” I snapped. I didn’t want this elf to beat me at my own game and desperately tried to redirect the conversation away from the subject of Zena. Hadn’t Benton mentioned she’d been drained by a night elf? Was it Cornelius? Why would he want to drain a human of power? She was nothing special, short of being cursed with the Sight.
The night elf shot me an acidic, conspiratorial glare. A smirk deepening the creases of his face. “It wouldn’t concern you.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, wondering what his problem was. “You’ve been draining the girl, haven’t you? Why?”
“That is of no consequence to you.”
“If Benton or Zena are involved, it has everything to do with me.”
“You are nothing but a stray half-blood. Stay out of our business.”
“But you’re all up in mine.”
“Shut up!” Cornelius jumped to his feet and approached me, hand in the air, ready to strike. His nostrils flared in and out, and his face grew crimson, making him look like a smashed pomegranate.
“You need Braelynn. That’s it, isn’t it? You need her to cure you, but you drain the human girl for energy in the meantime. Why her?”
Cornelius’s hand fell to his side, but his anger didn’t dissipate quite yet.
“That girl, Zena. She’s not just human. She’s… other.”
I shook my head. I would have known that. She had the Sight and could read palms, but that was it. “You’re crazy.”
“Am I?”
“If Braelynn won’t help you, I’m sure it’s because you’re an idiot. You made this whole mess yourself. If anyone is to blame for why you need to be draining people, it’s you.”
“What do you know about it?”
I shook my head in disbelief. “I know enough. What… do you love her or something?”
He approached once more, and I tried not to flinch as I caught sight of his leg, moving at top speed. It met my stomach with a short, quick snap of a kick. Grunting, I curled up, feeling the pain rush up my insides and pushing against my snapped rib. Gasping to breathe, I stayed as silent as I could, not wanting to give Cornelius the satisfaction.
“There’s no use asking me anything more, half-blood.”
That word again. Now I knew how Shade felt when others called her that. I clenched my teeth and breathed through the pain. As it slowly ebbed away, I shifted back into a sitting position. The night elf was already sitting again and reading his book, like he hadn’t just buried his boot in my belly. I wanted to ram his shoe so far up his arse he wouldn’t be able to walk for weeks.
“She cursed you, didn’t she? That’s why you have to drain girls you think are others or special. You could just wither, you know, and save the world a lot of problems. Just die.”
Controlling my inner thoughts was harder than shutting my mouth.
Cornelius leaned back, hand on his chin as he stared hard into the fire. I’d gotten to him, anyone could see that. Braelynn, that saint of a woman, had cursed him with some energy drain. He now had to drain others to stay alive. What a pity. I almost felt sorry for the bastard, but I couldn’t say he didn’t deserve it. Braelynn never did anything without good reason.
Now if only I could get myself free.
Come on Benton, do me a favor and smash this guy to smithereens already.
Chapter Fourteen
Benton
Scanning the streets of Las Vegas, I saw no trace of my friend. The sunset was still brilliant, even though the sun’s direct glare was past the western mountains. White streaky clouds covered part of the gunmetal sky, turning a dull gold color as they stretched toward the dying light beyond the peaks of mountains. The shadows were long, the streets in shadows, and a touch of a chill was in the air.
Subconsciously warming my skin with my inner fire, I continued to search for Soap as I crossed the street and swept my eyes across the cracked asphalt and peeling paint jobs of the cheap motels lining the northern end of Las Vegas Boulevard. Unsavory characters of all sorts popped in and out of alleyways and doorways, peeking about and jutting their bloodshot eyes at me, lingering just long enough to cause me concern. The human world was getting just as uncomfortable as the Faerie world. Somehow I didn’t feel like I belonged in either one.
“Come on, Soap, where did you get off to?” I mumbled.
I couldn’t sense his magic anywhere nearby. Feeling eyes on me again, I swerved around but barely caught site of another junkie ducking behind a garbage dumpster. Shaking my head, I swept an invisibility glamour over myself before reaching into my bag of tricks and pulling out a small beaker of blue fluid.
It was a tracking spell similar to the one Braelynn had cast on the small Elvis statue Ferdinand had given us to find Lorell over a month ago, but it was my own formula since I didn’t have anything of Soap’s to track him with. I poured it out into a circle surrounding me, splashing it on my shoes, emptying the bottle.
Whispering the words needed to complete the spell, I focused my mind on my friend, the things I found familiar about him: the way he spoke wi
th his vaguely Irish accent, his quirks. I had to concentrate hard on the face of whoever I was tracking, or I wouldn’t be able to find them. Once I honed in on them, their image was replaced with the location where I could find them.
Squeezing my eyes shut until the stars spraying across my vision disappeared, I found myself inside a large room that initially reminded me of a warehouse. I turned in place, finding a fireplace on one side where the night elf I’d fought before I’d mind wiped Zena was sitting comfortably, flipping through a book. He appeared bored and skipped over some pages before he resumed reading. Across the way from him was Soap, anchored to the ground by layers of thin rope.
“Oh, Soap. What did you get yourself into?”
I refocused on the night elf, whose name returned to me as Cornelius, and wondered what he wanted with my friend. It didn’t take but a split second for me to realize that Soap wasn’t the intended target at all. It was all too easy to figure that one out.
He didn’t want Soap. He wanted me. Too bad he didn’t know I could see right through his trap, including all the nice firebombs he’d littered about in an obviously amateurish attempt to blow me up had I walked in there blind. But I wasn’t that stupid. Neither was Cornelius. He’d been a formidable foe when we’d last fought. Why would he be so clumsy?
I snickered and mentally walked right past the firebomb orbs to the outside. I needed to see where this place was located so I could find it. The world had darkened, and I strained my eyes to read the street names and the number spray-painted three feet tall on the side of each warehouse wall. So it was a warehouse… with a fireplace? The elf must have magically created it to make the place feel more comfortable.
My magic was fading as the blue homing water evaporated, but it had lasted long enough for me to capture the address of this hideout.
So Cornelius wanted to see me. I couldn’t wait to find out why.
