Suddenly, Gabriel was there between us. He struck her chest with a roundhouse, thrusting her back from me. A second later, the report of his handgun echoed in the close quarters living room space. The bullet ricocheted off the fireplace as Monica appeared on the other side of him, but he twisted into a spinning rear heel kick and caught her in the stomach. Her shrieks were sharper than nails on a chalkboard.
Another shot missed, and then the handgun jammed. More faerie jinxes.
Rather than struggle with his firearm, Gabriel tucked it away and drew a stake from his coat. Before he could stab her, Faerie Fire exploded in his face, a handful of weak sparks hampered by the poison in her body. Her backhand knocked the iron stake aside, and it flew somewhere across the room.
Gabriel swore, but a dull gleam near the fireplace caught my eye. I darted over and managed to wrap my fingers around the cold, hard handle of the nearest fireplace tool before Monica came after me again.
Then he caught her in a rear chokehold. She swung from side to side, grasped at his arm, and tried to free herself, putting her deteriorating darkling strength against his shifter muscle. His biceps bulged, and his face flushed with exertion.
“Do it, Sky!”
I thrust with the fire poker the way Coach Barrett had taught me, angling up beneath her knobby breastbone, through the diaphragm, and piercing her heart.
Coach was right. It slid through her like she was made of butter.
She sucked in a sharp breath, a wheezing gasp, eyes wide open, startled. One of her bony hands closed around my wrist, the touch scorching through my flesh like fire.
Too late. I shoved it inches deeper, ramming the tool home to finish the job, even though the first stab had probably been enough.
Wailing like a beansidhe, Monica flailed away from us and fell to the floor, scooting a few steps with the poker protruding from her chest. Every sound, whether it was a cry or a gasp, was wet with the blood probably filling her lungs, because there was no way I didn’t get one of those too. Black liquid leaked around the wound and trickled from the corner of her mouth.
Unlike Jiro, the iron reacted with her skin and sent up intensifying curls of smoke and ash while consuming her from the inside. I watched until she ceased twitching. Then I placed my boot against her chest, wrenched the poker free, and stabbed her again, imagining it was for Pilar. Or maybe for Yasmina’s parents, because they’d lost a daughter just to sate this petty creature’s need for vengeance.
I didn’t realize I was crying, or that I was still stabbing her, until Gabriel’s arms wrapped around me from behind. Until he pried my hands loose from around the poker and hugged me tight to his chest.
“Shh, shh. Hey. She can’t hurt anyone anymore. She’s gone.”
I’d wanted to be strong the first time I killed a darkling faerie by my own hands. Instead, I blubbered. “Fae aren’t supposed to be like this.”
“I know.”
He held me long past the time my tears had dried up, leaving me exhausted and sick. My chest ached.
Her death hadn’t hurt. If anything, the sad waste angered me, because she’d had so much potential and squandered it to be a vindictive bitch.
And now I had to pick up the pieces of what she’d shattered.
28
Special Circumstances
Gabriel and I sat on the porch for five minutes, holding each other and babysitting Creepster until the police arrived. The boys in blue handled Creepster’s arrest and EMS took Sharon away. Once Gabriel had gotten her out of the house, he’d had her run to the neighbor’s to call 911. I hadn’t even gotten the chance to check on her.
Not long after Scary’s corpse freaked out the mortal law enforcement, Danielle and Christian slid their motorcycles through the congestion of police cars and dismissed the grateful officers. I waited on the steps of the house as they crawled all over the building, searching for clues or whatever it was experienced sentinels did at the scene of a major magical disturbance like this.
The crime scene belonged to the SBA for now, the police too petrified of anything related to magic to rush the investigating sentinels out. That didn’t stop a bunch of them from blocking access to the area with their cars, standing out in the street like major magic-fearing tools, and stringing up yellow strips of police tape. Nosy neighbors watched from their windows and lawns, some of them filming with their phones.
Which meant all of YouTube would get to see my pathetic butt sitting sadly on the porch while the real sentinels took over.
Then finally, about half an hour later, Simon and Sebastian emerged from a magical portal looking like pure hell. The odor of singed fur surrounding the latter, and spots of blood stood out on the cream Henley beneath Simon’s sweet overcoat.
“Are you all right, sweetheart?” Sebastian asked, crouching down in front of me.
“I think so. I… Yeah, I’m good.”
“You two did good, from what I hear,” Simon said. He squeezed my shoulder, gave Gabriel an approving nod, and then moved past us into the house.
“He’s right,” Sebastian said. “Now that your part is done, I’ll have Dani take you two back to campus.”
“What? No. I want to stay and see this all the way through. There’s so many questions that haven’t been answered.”
“You kids have done enough. Go back and get some sleep.”
Before I had the chance to argue further, Dani stepped over and stared Sebastian down. “No. They’re not kids, Sebastian. If they’re old enough to assist with nosferatu attacks and take down leanansidhe, they’re adult enough to finish the job here. This was their kill. Don’t shut them out.”
“Yes, Sebastian. They’re not kids,” Simon’s voice carried to us from inside.
A flash of red spread over Sebastian’s face. He raised his hands in surrender and straightened upright again. “All right, what do you want to know?”
“What the hell was going on with the sentinels earlier tonight, for one? We tried to call and report in, but nobody was available. Not even you two.”
The older sentinel grunted and rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, I saw the missed calls. You’ll be pleased to know we recovered both babies, including a few other kids. As for the sentinels from campus, the ones assigned to follow you were also hit by the baku. They weren’t as fortunate and ended up in a ditch.”
“Are they all right?” Gabriel asked.
“Just a few broken bones and bruised pride.”
“Was it Jiro?”
Sebastian’s breath escaped him on a long sigh. “No idea, not yet anyway. We’ll have someone on campus question him about his whereabouts.”
“You seriously believe he’ll be on campus?”
“If he’s innocent, yeah. I’d say him being gone would be pretty damning, and we’ll have our answer. Until then, I’d like to assume the best.”
Except, deep inside, I knew Gabriel was right about Jiro. The odds of another baku showing up weren’t high.
“Looks like it’s a positive ID on Monica Cunningham,” Simon’s voice sounded from behind me. I twisted around to look at him standing in the open doorway. “I know. You told us, but now it’s an official statement.”
Sebastian grimaced. “That’s two now.”
Gabriel’s head swiveled, and he blinked at the wolf. “Wait, two?”
“Abby Monroe was there when we found the kids—as a grendel—despite being Bound over the summer.”
All the blood drained from my face and left me cold inside. It hadn’t just been Monica. It wasn’t only a faerie thing, which made it all the more frightening to contemplate that someone out there had the ability to overturn a Binding and restore powers to paranormals denied their magical abilities.
Christian shook his head. “This changes everything. If the Conclave cannot trust Bindings to remain permanent, what will happen from now on?”
Sebastian’s broad shoulders dropped. “I don’t know. We have Abby in custody, but whether we’ll glean any information
from her remains to be seen.”
That was a part of sentinel business I knew nothing about—interrogations weren’t covered until senior year—and something told me now wasn’t the time to ask. Gabriel had glanced away, staring out at the yard.
“What now?” he asked.
“There’s gonna be one hell of an investigation and lots of changes, I imagine, but school will go on just as it always has,” Sebastian replied. “And you two will have one hell of a story to talk about.”
“Are we even allowed to—” I stopped and canted my head, a tingling sensation starting in my chest and traveling down my arms. Magic, a lot of it, filled the air. The others sensed it too, and Sebastian groaned, muttering something about they should have expected this.
It all made sense a second later.
The triumphant orchestra of King Oberon, Eldan, and Dain’s combined heartsongs filled my ears with beautiful music before the three faeries moved into my line of sight. When they shimmered into existence on the lawn, the snow vanished beneath their feet. The gathered crowd watched, a lot of them with slack jaws. More phones appeared to capture the moment. The police had to push back a few people who tried to cross the barricade.
I hurried to my feet and started to bow with everyone else, but Oberon shook his head.
“No. As you were, Lady Skylar.”
The four sentinels around us stepped away to help contain the crowd.
“What are you doing here, Your Majesty?”
“To see this darkling with my own eyes.”
“Such a thing has never been done.” Eldan offered me a hand. “Will you take us to her?”
Gabriel moved with me when I stepped toward the fae warrior. Eldan took one look at Gabe’s face and withdrew his hand, instead gesturing for me to lead the way.
Even knowing what I’d find in the living room didn’t make seeing Monica’s corpse any easier. I swallowed back the bitter taste in my mouth and crossed over.
Eldan crouched beside the body. “You took her down?”
“Yeah.”
“You did well.”
Dain laid a supportive hand on my shoulder while Oberon studied the body with a weary, defeated frown on his face. He sighed, and those broad shoulders drooped beneath his cape.
Either Gabriel was more in tune with my emotions than I anticipated or my expression mirrored Oberon’s, because he squeezed my fingers, and the warmth of his support surged through me with renewed encouragement.
“I know this soul and the true face hidden behind her self-inflicted disfigurement. It was only a year ago that I and the other members of the Conclave found her incompatible for magical life.”
“Monica was…” I struggled with finding the words.
“Selfish,” Oberon said for me. “She had no care for anyone beyond herself. I saw into her soul and knew this was a path she would take on her own if left with her powers. This, however, I did not foresee.”
“How was she able to do so much? I mean, I didn’t think fae darklings were powerful after first turning.”
“Under typical circumstances, they are not, but there is nothing ordinary about this. So, let us see what she’s been hiding away.” Oberon ripped the air above Monica’s prone body before reaching into nothingness. While every fae had their own personal slice of the Neverspace, the most powerful among our kind could reach beyond the barrier at any time.
Oberon dragged out a deteriorating Dream Box that had seen better days, its surface once polished cherrywood, now reduced to a half-rotten husk. He placed it in Eldan’s hands. Another box followed in similar condition, then another. By the time he reached the seventh Dream Box, the cu sith’s arms were full. The faerie hound’s nose turned up in disgust.
The final one was gorgeous and shining ivory, still glowing with joy, power, and warmth. A photograph of a smiling infant had been embedded into an oval depression on the lid.
“How did she get so many boxes?”
The king sighed. “A few fae from my court vanished earlier this year, but we never discovered their fate. It seems the Hidden Court has been busy with more than your campus.”
“Will this box’s rightful owner be able to use it again or did Monica ruin it?”
He turned the box over in his hands and smoothed his thumb across the picture. A lot of love had gone into the box, the picture recent. “I believe she will. The magic has not yet been tainted. Not completely. Enough love and memories of her child remain to cleanse the darkling’s corruption.”
Ending the silence that had fallen over him since the fae lords arrived, Gabriel stirred beside me. “What happens now?”
“That remains to be seen. For now, all I can do is extend my gratitude to you both. You stopped a dangerous threat and saved more lives than you know.” The king’s gaze settled on me. “I should think, in this instance, you may want to speak with your charge face-to-face.”
“But we’re not allowed to speak—”
“Special circumstances call for special measures, and I can think of no reason greater to blur the rules. She needs you, Lady Skylar. Go to her.”
Gabriel and I emerged from Simon’s portal, landing in a bustling emergency room lobby much to the shock and awe of everyone sitting inside. After Gabe explained we were from the sentinel office, a shocked nurse directed us to the examination room where they’d taken Sharon. I’d spent too much energy to get a bead on her.
Hand in hand, we walked down the hall, but Gabriel paused beside the door. “I’ll stand out here.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. She’s your charge, Sky. I think this is a talk you two need to have alone.”
Mouth suddenly too dry to do anything more than nod, I walked inside the room and shut the door behind me. This wasn’t how I imagined meeting my charge—not that I’d ever expected to be face-to-face with her, introducing myself and saying, “Hi, I’m your good luck charm!”
Sharon stirred in the bed. “Mom?”
I licked my lips and forced my mouth to cooperate. “No, sorry, but I’m sure she’s on her way.”
Dark swirls muddied her aura. Monica hadn’t been able to affect her directly, but she’d managed to cause damage by using Creepster as her avatar, working through him to do her evil. I wanted to wash away the anxious gray and mustard yellow bleeding across Sharon’s once golden aura.
“You’re the one who rescued me.” She pressed a button to raise the incline on her bed.
“Not alone. My name is Skylar. Gabriel is the guy who got you out of the house.” A few steps brought me to her bedside. Sharon studied me, her hands twisted together in her lap. “I wanted to make sure you were doing okay.”
“I don’t know. It’s all been sort of crazy.”
I nodded. “Have you called Oliver yet?”
“How did you…?” She stared at me, and something like recognition surfaced in her gray eyes. Her gaze shifted from my face to my hair and then back again. “Are you… are you my faerie godmother?”
I nodded again, pure eloquence. “Yeah.”
“Wow.” Some of her tension eased, and her aura lightened. “I didn’t think… I mean, I’m no one special.”
“Sure you are.” Ignoring my pounding heart, I sat on the chair beside her bed.
“I wondered sometimes, you know? I mean… it’s just when I’m scared, or I’m nervous, suddenly everything is okay again. Or it feels like someone just gave me a hug.” Sharon smiled shyly. “Last year, you said I was wearing a pretty dress. We met on the sidewalk outside of the restaurant.”
“You remember that?”
“It really helped me that day, and I never forgot it.”
“You would have found your confidence eventually, but I’m glad my compliment meant so much. I really meant it too. No magic involved.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I’m just sorry I didn’t help you sooner. I never even noticed that guy was following you. I’m not even sure who he is.”
“He was a custodian
at the college. I’d see him when I stayed late to practice. He’d always say hello and seemed so nice…” Her voice drifted off, and her gaze went out of focus. After a minute, she shook it off and drew her knees up under the thin hospital blanket, quaking beneath it. A quick tap of my wand changed the blanket into a thick quilt embroidered with purple butterflies.
Her eyes practically jumped out of her skull. “Whoa.”
I froze. “Sorry. Habit. I can—”
“I’ve never seen magic up close like this before. Thank you.”
The tension left my shoulders, a breath whistling out of me as I returned the wand to Neverspace. “You’re welcome.”
“So, does this mean you used magic to get me my job? Oliver?”
“No,” I said quickly. “I didn’t cast any spells on people to get you what you needed. I only nudged you a little bit to help you gain the confidence you needed. You earned that job, because you’re talented, and you won your man all on your own.”
“You didn’t do anything?”
“All I did was introduce you, and the rest happened because… you’re a really good person. And I’m honored to have been your godmother.”
“Wait, does that mean you aren’t anymore?”
The panic that seeped into her eyes prompted me to lay my hand over hers. “Sharon, you don’t need me anymore. Not really. But if you ever really need me again, I’ll do my best to be there.”
“Oh.”
I squeezed her fingers. “You’re going to do great, trust me. Besides, I’m not saying I won’t see you again. In fact, I’m quite looking forward to attending your concert with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra this spring. Any chance to get my boyfriend into a suit.”
“Seriously?” Her voice squeaked. “You waste your date nights on me?”
“Trust me, Sharon, seeing you play music is never a waste.”
The Scary Godmother Page 31
