by Kyra Quinn
“There’s no way they left that unlocked,” I said when I realized Aster’s plan.
“Who says I need them to unlock it?” Aster reached into her hair and pulled out a thin silver pin. She crept up to the door and crouched down in front of the handle as she shoved the end of the hair accessory into the keyhole.
“Wait, you can pick locks?”
“In Astryae I can. These locks might be more advanced.” She wiggled the pin back and forth, her voice breathy. “I had a life before I had powers, too. When you don’t have magic, you must be more creative with your problem solving. Now quiet, let me concentrate.”
I bit my lip as my eyes darted between Aster and the corner of the building. How long did we have before someone came back here? What if someone inside the club heard her trying to break in? I had almost dissolved into a full-blown panic by the time Aster huffed in frustration.
“These locks are much more complex.”
My heart sank. “No luck?”
Aster shook her head. “Not the old-fashioned way, anyway.” She pulled out her stave and aimed it at the lock. “Silentium.”
A small red spark shot from the tip of her ruby towards the lock. I held my breath and waited for it to fall away or vanish. Instead, Aster replaced her stave with one of her daggers. She gritted her teeth and smashed the handle down on the lock once, twice, three times. The lock cracked and fell to the ground, the entire affair over soundlessly within seconds. Aster slid the dagger back into its sheath and flashed me a smirk.
“Ready?” She pulled the door open without waiting for an answer. Music blared from the building, the sound of a woman’s laughter interrupting the synthesized beat. What instruments made such gods-awful noises? Whoever invented it deserved to be shot.
“Whoa,” Aster murmured as she stepped into the club. I had half a mind to turn and leave, but I clenched my teeth and followed her into the building. After the week I’d had, bad music needed to be the least of my complaints.
Red and purple rainbow lights flashed down from the ceiling over the dance floor. A creature with two heads—both so hideous I doubted even their mother loved them—stood on a raised platform in the corner over the crowd. They positioned a strange silver machine in front of him, his hands flying across the keys. Both heads nodded to the beat with lazy smiles, their pupils the size of my thumb.
Bodies filled the dance floor from end to end. Demons and other Feyfolk I didn’t recognize pressed their bodies against each other as they moved to the music. Not a single passive occupied the dance floor. A sleek silver bar encircled by piercing blue lights sat against the black wall. Every stool in the room was filled. Two words hung above the bar in flashing neon lights: Club Karma.
A sick feeling gripped my stomach. I reached for Aster’s arm as a cold sweat drenched my face. “I think we should go—”
“Already?” A voice answered from behind, the deep boom of his echo loud enough to be heard above the music. “But you just got here.”
“We’re in the wrong tavern,” I said, afraid to turn around. “Silly us.”
“Oh, I think you’re in exactly the right place.”
Before I could react, my vision went dark. Aster screamed from beside me, but I was powerless to help her. Something tightened around my neck as arms wrapped around my body. I kicked and punched as hard as I could, but my arms and legs remained pinned to my body.
“Stop fighting, bitch.”
Something slammed against my skull. I cried out in pain as spots of light filled my vision. Another strike followed, the impact hard enough to knock me out.
* * *
A fierce stabbing pain shot through my skull long before I opened my eyes. I groaned as consciousness returned to my body. My lower back ached as if I’d landed on a pile of rocks. A bitter taste filled my mouth, my throat raw. What the Fey had they done to me? And what magic could I channel to make the pain subside?
“Lili?” Aster’s voice whispered into the darkness of my thoughts. “Lili, wake up. We have to get out of here.”
It took two tries to open my eyes. Aster’s face hovered above mine, her eyes wide with worry. A dark circle framed her right eye. She forced a smile, her bottom lip swollen and bleeding. Her eyes filled with tears the moment I opened mine.
“Oh, thank gods.” Aster heaved a sigh of relief. She wiped her face with her hands before pressing them together in front of her chest. “I couldn’t wake you. I thought...well, it doesn’t matter now. You’re okay.”
“Am I?” I rubbed my face. “I don’t feel okay.”
Aster laughed. “I bet you don’t. Those demon asshats roughed us up pretty good. Definitely not amateurs.”
“Where are we?” I pressed my hands against the cold concrete floor and pushed myself up to a sit. Instantly I wished I had left my eyes closed forever.
Concrete walls surrounded us on almost every side like a box. Bars of vivid blue light blocked the only open side. An eerie hum filled the air. I reached towards a bar, but Aster smacked my hand away.
“Are you daft?” she hissed. “They make those of pure animus—energy created from the souls of the damned. You touch that, and you’ll join them in the afterlife within seconds.”
I hugged my arm against my chest and scowled. “Deadly energy bars noted. Now what?”
“Welcome to what I’ve been trying to figure out since I woke up.” Aster exhaled a shaky sigh. “They took my stave. The daggers, too. I don’t like to be a pessimist, but I think we’re screwed.”
“If there’s a way in, there has to be a way out.” My voice sounded ten times more confident than I felt. I glanced around the empty cell. Not even a cot or chamber pot had been positioned in the corner. The strange bars of the door burned too brightly to see beyond the cell. In another context, the pale blue light bathing the room might have appeared magical.
“Any chance you’ve got some weird camphelem trick up your sleeve that can cut through concrete?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think I have anything in me at all right now. Otherwise I’d use it to make this headache stop.”
Aster slammed a fist against the ground as a sound of frustration clawed past her lips. “I’m sorry, Lili. This is all my fault.”
I covered her hand with mine and squeezed, the physical contact a small comfort in our darkest hour. “Every decision made, we made together. I’m as responsible for this mess as you are.”
The corners of her mouth dropped. The light of hope in her eyes disappeared. Beaten and bruised, for the first time since I’d met her Aster looked ready to give up.
“When do you suspect they might come back for us?” she whispered.
Not anytime soon. “I don’t know. I don’t even know where we are, but we seem to be alone. If we figure out a way to get rid of those bars—”
“We can’t. Not without my stave. You must understand, Lili. Without my stave or any of my supplies, I have no power. I am as useless as any other petite 21-year-old girl.”
“I need you to calm down,” I said. “Just listen. We will find a way out of here with or without your magic stick. We’ll get you new killing toys when we get back to Carramar. I need you to take a few deep breaths and focus on keeping your shit together.”
Aster blinked. “Are you missing the part where we are trapped in a magic cage in the Shadowrealm with no way out? We may never see Carramar again.”
“Not if you keep this up.” I pushed to my feet, my knees weak. I reached a hand down for Aster. “Things are bad, I won’t disagree with that. But we still have each other, and we’re still alive. That means there’s still hope we can figure it out.”
A metal door swung open somewhere behind us. I jumped as Aster gasped, both of our bodies stiff with tension. Boots echoed through the concrete hallways as they neared our cell.
“Lilianna is it?” a voice as smooth and rich as hot chocolate called from the other side of the cell. The shadowed silhouette of a broad man lurked a few feet from the door, his p
osture rigid and arms folded behind his back.
“Screw yourself,” I snarled.
“I’ve already finished that today, thanks.” He chuckled. “The Queen is ready to see you now.”
“Oops, I must’ve lost my invitation for tea with the Queen. Tell her I have plans, but we’ll catch up again another time.”
Something about the look of terror on Aster’s face only fueled my fire. The words flew from my lips with her confidence behind them, but my stomach remained in knots.
“Who said you had a choice?”
The bars of light vanished. The man on the other side of the doorway was both the most attractive and most terrifying creature I had ever seen. Nothing about him appeared soft or human. He stood at least a foot taller than me, his complexion the color of ash. His bare, broad chest mirrored a sculpture of one of the great heroes, each ab perfectly in place. His wings stretched wider than I did tall, their sheer mass intimidating. Midnight hair fell to his shoulders. Two sharp horns protruded from either side of his skill. He smiled, his teeth filed into sharp fangs.
“Sure you want to do this?” He cocked his head.
My gaze flickered between the deep purple bruises on my flesh and the demon’s bulging muscles. I didn’t like my odds, but I hated the idea of dying a quitter even more. I grounded myself and jutted my chin in defiance.
“We have no interest in meeting your queen,” I said, my voice stronger than I felt. “Let us go, and we won’t hurt anyone.”
The cell around me shook with the force of the demon’s laughter. “You’re as obstinate as they said. You take after your mother.”
Before I responded, the demon swooped into the room and snatched me into his arms. He pinned me to his chest as I kicked and clawed, his face still stretched into a grin. He fixed Aster with a wink and flew from the cell. The bars of light reappeared the moment he crossed the doorway into the hallway, leaving Aster trapped and alone.
“Stop it! Let me go!” I used every ounce of energy I had to struggle, but it was no use. The demon’s claws dug into my skin as his grip on me tightened. My vision blurred as we flew through the hallway, his speed too quick for me to take in my surroundings.
“I gave you a chance to do things the easy way. I knew you wouldn’t take it,” he whispered in my ear as we flew. His rank breath was warm against my face. “This is more fun.”
“Where are you taking me?”
“You ask too many questions. Shut up, or I’ll make you shut up.”
The sharp inflection of his voice suggested it would be unwise to test him. I bit my tongue and settled against his chest. We’d given it our best try. It wasn’t enough. As hard as I’d fought to avoid this moment, fate couldn’t be evaded forever. Ready or not, it was time to meet my mother.
* * *
I’d asked my father about my mother a few times as a girl. All the other children sat wedged between two parents at Temple. Their mothers took them to the market and helped them dress each morning. Family units almost always had at least three people, at least until the children grew old enough to marry and leave home. With Father so invested in his work, Maryanna was often the closest thing I had to a caregiver.
By the time I turned seven or eight, I finally found the nerve to voice my questions to my father over dinner. I waited until he looked good and comfortable, half of his second glass of ambrosia gone before most of his plate. I pushed the sautéed coconut quail around on my dish with my fork and searched for the right words.
When I finally mustered the nerve, I cleared my throat. “Father, do I have a mother?”
Father glanced up from his plate. His eyebrows scrunched together in the way they did when I said something particularly perplexing. “What sort of question is that? Of course you do. Every living creature does.”
“Where is she?” I squeaked. “Why don’t I remember her?”
An expression I didn’t recognize flashed across his face as his features softened. He frowned, his voice gentle as he said, “I’m sorry, Lilianna. We should have discussed this long before now. It never occurred to me how it might impact you to grow up without a mother’s warmth in your life.”
I nodded into my plate, afraid to meet my father’s eyes. My voice disappeared with his confession of guilt. Wherever she was, he’d known all along and never told me.
“It’s difficult to talk about,” he said, his voice tight. “Probably why I’ve tried to avoid it for so long. Your mother — gods, I don’t even know how to say this now — my late wife, your mother, passed away the night of your birth.”
His words knocked the wind from my adolescent lungs. Though he’d offered medical rationale and explanations, I stopped listening the moment he answered my initial inquiry. My mother died to give me life. I’d never get a chance to meet her, and it was my fault.
The news left me empty for a few years. Eventually, I recovered as well as any girl could. It was difficult to mourn something I never had. Father and I got by on our own with little problem, anyway. I never asked about my mother again, and he never mentioned her.
As the demon marched me through a set of decorative double doors, I couldn’t help but wish my father had told me the truth. The last week had been the most confusing of my life. I’d spent eighteen years working towards completing the puzzle of life only to realize I’d been building with the wrong pieces. At least if he’d been honest I might have had more time to prepare for the inevitable.
Though I wanted to hate her as a person, I had to admit my mother had good taste in decor. A cascade of sparkling crystals hung from the ceiling to illuminate the room. A soft floral scent perfumed the air. Her walls matched the color of wine, all the furniture painted with an onyx finish. The demon marched into the room and dropped me down on a plush rug that mirrored the night sky.
“I’ve been waiting for you,” a silvery voice said as the doors to the room slammed shut.
My blood turned to ice. I pushed myself up to find a woman with skin like smoke seated in front of a roaring fire. If I didn’t already know who she was, I would’ve guessed her to be around my age. Not a single wrinkle framed her face, her raven hair piled on top of her head behind a sleek silver crown. She sat with her legs crossed beneath her floor-length velvet gown, her hands clasped over her knee. Her lips curled into a smile that made the hair on my arms stand straight.
“You must be Daeva,” I said, grateful my voice didn’t shake as much as my confidence.
“I told the demons I thought you’d be smarter than you look.” She leaned forward to pat the empty chair across from hers. “Here. Sit with me.”
“I prefer to stand.”
Anger flashed through her eyes, but she shrugged a shoulder. “Suit yourself. I wanted you to be comfortable. We have a lot to discuss.”
My jaw clenched as my body warmed. “There’s nothing I want to talk about with you, not now.”
She rubbed her chin and tilted her head as she studied me. “Why not? What have I done to earn your contempt?”
Besides abandon me at birth alone with the terrible truth of my lineage? “You can’t be serious. Where have you been the last eighteen years? You’re eighteen years late to want a relationship with me.”
Daeva frowned. “I can understand why you‘re upset. I didn’t choose this any more than you did. It shattered my heart to leave you. I thought about you every day.”
I rolled my eyes. “Is that why you sent so many letters to check in and get to know me? Or even bothered to tell me the truth?”
Daeva sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose, her movements exaggerated. “There’s a lot you don’t know yet, and even more you won’t understand. Things aren’t as simple for my people as they are for the rest of the Feyfolk. I can’t afford to think like a person, or to love like a mother. I must always remain strategic. That’s part of what it means to rule a realm.”
I cocked my head, unimpressed. “Even the King of Astryae finds time to spend with his kin.”
“Don’t be so petty. You sound like a spoiled child. You may not agree with all the decisions I’ve made, but I made them with your best interests in mind. That’s what a mother does. And I’m sorry for the years fate kept us apart. I’m here now.”
I scoffed. “Don’t you get it? I don’t want you here now. I’m an adult in the eyes of the law. I am free to make my own choices and determine my destiny. The more your demons chased me, the more I realized how capable I am of standing on my own feet. Cut to the chase and tell me what you want.”
Daeva rose from her chair and came to stand next to me in one swift but graceful motion. Her crimson eyes glowed as she glared down at me. My heart raced as I waited for her to issue her demands.
“I want you to join me,” she said, her voice low. “I want you to sit beside me on the throne, to rule the Shadowrealm as the princess I always wished for you to be.”
A laugh of disbelief escaped my mouth. “I don’t understand. Why send demons to kill me if you wanted to give me a crown? And why leave me in Astryae with a stranger if you wanted me to rule someday?”
Daeva’s expression hardened. “As I said, it’s complicated. As much as I want you by my side, some in Shadow City don’t agree.”
“You’re the queen. I’m sure no one else’s opinion holds more weight than yours.”
Her lips curled into a smile once more. “I see you’ve paid attention. Ordinarily I’d agree with you. Even all the princes of the Shadowrealm combined can’t outmatch my power. But there’s one person who can, and his vote is not in your favor.”
“Zanox.”
Daeva nodded. “He hired those bounty hunters to find you before the angels did, but I suspect his motives weren’t altruistic.”
“And yours are?” I folded my arms over my chest. “Why should I believe anything you’re saying? I don’t even know you because you never tried.”
“I couldn’t.” Daeva’s eyes narrowed. “The magic I used kept you concealed from all Feyfolk until you used your powers for the first time. It killed me to stay away, but I had no choice. If I could figure out where you were, Zanox and the angels could, too.”
