Twisted Fate

by D. N. Hoxa

  “You’re fae,” I finally whispered, and only after that I realized that I’d drunk the potion Julie had given me. I did not look like an elf. I looked like a terran.

  So how had he seen past the magic?

  The man’s lips stretched into a crooked smile. He was even more handsome from close up. Ice cold fingers wrapped around my wrist, and Charlotte pulled at my arm.

  “Oh, gods, it’s Daredevil!” she whispered, as if she had any hope that he wouldn’t hear her. But we were practically chest to chest, he and I, so he got every word.

  “Walk with me,” the man said and spun around toward the crowd like he knew for sure that I would obey him.

  “Let’s go!” Charlotte said and shot after him, but I’d already let go of my knives, so I caught her arm in time.

  “No, wait! We can’t follow him. We don’t know him.” He was fae. That would be reason enough for him to want to kill me, even if he didn’t know me personally.

  “It’s Daredevil, Elo. He wants to talk to you. Let’s just hear what he has to say, okay? Please! I really just want to meet him. Please,” she said so fast, my head spun.

  I tried to look around for Hiss. Wherever he was, he still hadn’t found me. He would know what to do.

  But Hiss was nowhere to be seen.

  “C’mon!” Charlotte yelled, and she pulled me toward the crowd, after the fae, so excited she could dance on those floating ribbons herself.

  My mind buzzed. Instinct said that I needed to leave right away. That man was fae.

  But I also wanted to know. How had he known that I was elf? Why did he want to talk to me?

  We were almost at the stage when we spotted him standing behind a small crowd that was watching the man sitting cross-legged on the ground, spitting fire all around him. I focused on breathing and tried to control the beating of my heart before I stopped beside him and held Charlotte by the hand next to me, just in case she wanted to get away while I wasn’t paying attention.

  The fae was a few inches taller than me. The fire coming from the performer bathed his profile in orange, making him look unreal. His skin glowed differently here, with that light. Which made me think maybe he was Summer.

  “Have you come for me?” he asked without ever looking my way. His eyes were on the performer’s fire, and it reflected on them.

  His words confused me at first. “No. How did you know?”

  “Witch’s stone. So, you just happened to come to my show by accident?” He sounded skeptical.

  “Exactly. What’s a witch’s stone?” I hadn’t heard about something like that before.

  Suddenly, he moved. His hand came up, and when he opened his fist, a small grey stone with a hole right in the middle of it was in his palm. A leather tie was attached to it, like he wore it around his neck. The stone didn’t look magical by any means, but he closed his fingers and put it away much too soon.

  “So, you’re not going to try to kill me? That’s a bit disappointing,” he said and smiled that crooked smile again, his eyes moving to my face for a second. “Do you live here?”

  “Yes. What exactly does a witch’s stone do?”

  “It sees through magic if you look through its hole,” he simply said. “How come? Were you cast out, or was it your choice?”

  I flinched, but I didn’t think he saw it. He was still focused on the fire, as far as I could tell. “A bit of both. What about you?”

  “Choice,” he said. “I don’t want any trouble in my Circus.”

  If he was honest with me, I could be honest with him, too. “I didn’t realize this place was owned by a fae. I wouldn’t have come because I don’t want any trouble, either.”

  “Hi, I’m Charlotte. I’m a huge fan of your act,” Charlotte suddenly said, the words bursting out of her like she’d been holding them back all her life. “I saw you last year, too. It was phenomenal!”

  Daredevil looked at her and grinned. “Happy to meet you, Charlotte. I’m glad you were entertained.” Then, he shot a look at me. “You’re welcome in my Circus any time as long as you don’t cause trouble. Elf or terran makes no difference to me.” He turned slightly toward me and bowed his head. “Enjoy the rest of your evening, ladies.” And he turned around to leave.

  His words repeated themselves in my mind as we watched him leave, and Charlotte thanked the gods for having met the Daredevil. Did he mean it when he said that whether I was elf or terran made no difference to him? What were the odds that I’d meet him on this night, after everything that had happened?

  And was there a chance that he could help me?

  I already knew what Hiss would say if he were here: only one way to find out.

  Before I knew it, I was running and pushing through the crowd to go after him, Charlotte right behind me.

  “Wait!” I called. I’d been saying that word a lot that night, but the fae heard. He stopped, his huge shoulders easily the size of two ordinary men together, and he turned his head back. “I need to talk to you, too.”

  It was a little while before I reached him and saw the confusion written all over his face. And the irritation.

  “What?” he barked, looking down at me like I was beneath him now. Maybe it had been a bad idea to go after him, but it was done now.

  “In private. It’s important,” I said in a breath, and when Charlotte slammed against my back, I couldn’t stop myself in time. I slammed right into his chest, too.

  If he was irritated before, he was downright angry now.

  “This better be good.” He turned around and kept on walking.

  The fae took us around the stage where he’d performed his act and into a brown tent that somehow blocked almost all the sound coming from outside. He pulled the fabric of the tent’s entrance open and watched me and Charlotte go through before he stepped inside.

  It was a big tent. There were chairs, a bed, books, but most of all, there were weapons. He had swords and knives and maces and hammers and an entire arsenal thrown all over his tent. There was still grass beneath our feet and Shade lights floating inside the tent, bathing it in a brighter green than I’d ever seen before.

  The fae didn’t stop until he was on the other side of the round space. A table with bottles of all kinds of beverages was there, and he poured himself a red liquid that looked like blood, much thicker than wine. I’d worked as a bartender for a week, but I still couldn’t identify what it was, only that he enjoyed it. The moment he took a sip, his shoulders visibly relaxed.

  When he turned to us, he lowered the hood of his jacket and sighed. “Make it quick. I’m tired.”

  He meant to intimidate me, and I was a bit intimidated. Not because I thought he could kill me but because he could refuse to help. He could be a spy. He could be working with the sidhe.

  He could be a million different things.

  I searched the tent with my eyes one last time, hoping Hiss would be there, and then I stepped forward. This fae was just a man. No matter the outcome, I was doing this.

  I walked over to where five chairs were gathered near the fabric of the tent, and I sat down. Charlotte remained standing behind me, and the fae only smiled and rested his hip on the table behind him, his drink still in hand.

  “My name is Elo Heivar,” I started. My voice didn’t waver, but his dark eyes widened instantly. Slowly, he lowered the glass.

  “Elo Heivar is dead,” he whispered, surprising me yet again. I don’t know why I’d been sure that he’d lived here his whole life, like Julie. That he wouldn’t know who I was. Maybe because he hadn’t tried to kill me when we met?

  “I’m very much alive, I assure you. But that’s not important. Tell me, Daredevil,” I said, even though I was sure that it wasn’t his real name. “Have you ever heard of the sidhe?”

  He started walking toward me and dragged a chair until it was right across from me. He sat down and put one leg over the other as he watched me intently.

  “I’ve heard the terran tales,” he said and reached for his pocke
t. He took out his witch’s stone and brought it to his eye, and he looked at me through it. I had rarely been more self-conscious about how I looked. I even sat up straighter.

  “Not the tales. The real sidhe. They are fae, too. A different kind of fae.”

  He put the stone down. “There are no two kinds of fae.”

  “There are,” I insisted. “And I’m here to tell you that they’re gathering, preparing to go back to Gaena and start a new war against both our kinds. They plan to take over Gaena completely and kill us all. If I don’t stop them, they will succeed.”

  The silence in the tent was only broken by the hushed sounds of the outside that the Shade hadn’t kept out. I held his eyes but focused on the rest of him instead. His green hair, spiked, pointed in every direction. The stubble that looked more a shadow on his square jaw. The drink in his hand. Eventually, he brought the stone back to his left eye and watched me through it.

  “Have you heard about what happened here a few nights ago, in front of the Guild’s Protection Unit?” I asked when I couldn’t take the silence anymore.

  “I have,” he said with a nod.

  “That was the sidhe. And me and my friends and several Winter fae.” Mace had been there. That’s where he’d killed me, but I left that part out.

  “That was necromancers,” the fae said. “I heard all about it. Bo-bo and Ari did it.”

  “Bo-bo and Ari are working with the Light sidhe. They were helping them to get to the Gateway to cross to Gaena.” I didn’t need to tell him that the Gateway was in the Guild building they ruined.

  Putting down his stone, he leaned over, resting his elbows on his knees. “And you were there, too?”

  I nodded. “I was.”

  “Me, too. I saw them. I fought them. They’re very real,” Charlotte said from behind me. I wanted to ask her to sit down, but if she felt more comfortable standing, I didn’t mind.

  “You fought them?” said the fae, raising his brows at Charlotte like he didn’t believe a word she said.

  “She’s part elf,” I said, suddenly irritated. “She’s as good with a sword as you are.”

  “Do you really expect me to believe anything you just said?” He actually sounded curious.

  “I do. I’m going to try to stop the sidhe from crossing to Gaena, but to do that, I need help. I’ve been tasked with finding people who can help me defeat them before they reach the Gateway, and I was hoping you would help me.”

  “Why would I do that?” The mock in his voice made me angry.

  “Because you’re fae. Gaena is your world, too.”

  He fell back on his chair, and he moved so fast, I instantly reached for my magic. When I did, I realized that there was no more pain in his hands at all. He’d burned both his palms, I’d felt it, but there was no sign of it anywhere now. No pain in him whatsoever.

  “I don’t have a world. I’m a wanderer. An entertainer. And, most importantly, not a believer of tall tales.” He raised his stone and watched me through the hole.

  He didn’t care, not in the least. I could see his face, the look in his eyes, and he wasn’t interested to know about Gaena at all. I don’t know why that disappointed me as much as it did, but I instantly felt like a fool for having chased after him the way I had. This had been a mistake, and I needed to leave fast, but the moment I stood, Hiss’s voice came from somewhere behind me.

  “She speaks the truth.”

  He had already entered the tent. For once, it made no difference to see him slithering his way toward us on the grass, slowly. I’d already spoken to this fae. He’d said what he had to say. He didn’t believe me, and I couldn’t force him to. I wouldn’t.

  But…

  “You,” the fae said, pointing his finger toward Hiss. He’d stood, too, and was watching Hiss like he wasn’t sure whether to explode in anger or laughter.

  “Yes, me,” Hiss said and began to crawl up my leg. “Elo is telling you the truth, fae.”

  But the man shook his head, smiling that awful smile. It was hard to determine whether he was happy or mad with rage just now. “You shouldn’t be here at all,” he said. “You should not be here!”

  He was definitely not happy, but more importantly, he knew Hiss.

  How? I’d never met anyone who knew Hiss before.

  “And you shouldn’t, either. Yet here we are,” Hiss said from my shoulder. “I’ve heard about you. The Daredevil—is that what they call you now?”

  “You should go rot with the rest of your kind, snake,” the fae spit angrily. “You don’t belong anywhere anymore.”

  “What does that mean?” I asked. What was Hiss’s kind?

  “On the contrary—I belong right here,” Hiss said, now comfortably wrapped around my torso, only his head visible from under my shawl. My body was much more relaxed when it felt his heat on me. I was used to it by now. “And you belong in Gaena. It is your duty to fight for your land.”

  “Don’t you dare speak to me about duty,” the man said, and the glass slipped from his hand and to the ground. Red liquid spilled all over his boot, but he didn’t seem to mind. “I am done with Gaena. What happens to that place is not my concern. And you are not welcome here.”

  “I am deeply sorry to hear that,” Hiss said. “But do me a favor and think about it. The sidhe are real. The war that’s coming is real. You should never let your pride get in the way of your sight.”

  “You filthy little—” he started, but I couldn’t let him go through with it.

  “That’s enough,” I said, and he was so surprised to hear my voice, like he’d forgotten I was there at all. “I’m sorry to have wasted your time. We’ll show ourselves out. Come, Charlotte.”

  The fae didn’t try to stop us. I didn’t expect him to. He’d been very clear.

  But before we left the tent, he called after us. “Why are you with her? What kind of a twisted creature are you?” His voice dripped disbelief.

  Hiss didn’t reply.

  I let the fabric of the tent drop behind me, and we walked out of the Circus in silence.

  Chapter 12

  Chapter

  * * *

  That night, Hiss didn’t talk to me at all. I didn’t talk to him, either.

  I didn’t talk to him even when we got into a bus with Julie to get to Belle Chasse, where the Soul Splitter was supposed to be. He didn’t offer any explanation, never uttered a single word, and though it bothered me to admit it, I was disappointed.

  What had that fae meant? Why had he been so angry to see Hiss with me? What did he know about Hiss?

  More importantly, what did I know about Hiss?

  It bothered me, but I didn’t let it show. Half my mind was made up to go looking for the green-haired fae at nightfall and ask him what he’d meant. If I didn’t know for sure that Hiss would be disappointed in me, I wouldn’t have thought about it twice.

  Soon, when we got off the bus, and into a yellow taxi to get to our destination, I stopped thinking about it altogether.

  Belle Chasse wasn’t all that different from the French Quarter, except for the colors and the music and the people. Everybody seemed to be in a hurry around here, even though it was still not even ten in the morning. According to Julie, the potion I’d drank the night before still held. I still looked like fake Elo, but that didn’t mean my heart didn’t skip a beat every time someone looked my way.

  But where we were going, there was nobody there. The taxi driver dropped us off in the middle of a wide street surrounded by trees on either side. The only thing that made one side of it look different from the other was a piece of wood mounted on a thin pillar. It didn’t say anything, didn’t point in any direction. It only looked like it was hoping to blend in with the rest of the woods behind it.

  “This way,” Julie said when the taxi driver sped away and she started walking toward the pillar. She had black trousers on. That was the first time I’d ever seen Julie wearing anything but a dress.

  “Are you sure? How do you know?�
� I asked, but she refused to answer. Hiss refused to answer, too. He only stayed there, wrapped around my torso, his face hidden behind the black shawl I’d put around my head. It covered most of my face nicely, and even though it was hot outside, I didn’t mind it one bit. It made me feel less exposed to the outside world.

  After the tree line, the woods became less and less dense until there were barely any trees anywhere on the field around us. Just green grass on the sides of a narrow, semi-pathway made by the steps of the people who’d come through here before. They must have been looking for the Soul Splitter, too, because Julie followed that pathway and never strayed away from it.

  I was sweating by the time we saw trees again and a small house in the middle of a meadow. The trees were tall, a kind I didn’t recognize, but they provided shade against the sun that poured heat onto us without regret. Julie stopped before we descended the gentle slope that would lead us into the meadow.

  “For the last time, Elo—are you sure about this? Once we step over to the other side, there is no going back,” she whispered. Her cheeks were white, but I wasn’t sure if it was the death spell she’d been infected with or the panic of being here with me.

  “I’m sure,” I said, but I didn’t sound sure. I sounded confused because that’s what I was.

  At least I wasn’t afraid for my life—or hers. I still had my magic, as alive and as vibrant as ever inside me, and if it somehow failed me, I still had the two knives Julie had given me. The Soul Splitter wasn’t a vampire or a ghoul, or Julie would have known. Those were the only creatures my magic couldn’t control because their bodies were technically dead. I couldn’t stop an already still heart.

  And I doubted the Soul Splitter was sidhe, either.

  “Let’s go,” I made myself say and took a step forward before my own mind turned against me and made me walk away. I couldn’t afford to walk away. This needed to be done, and I would do it. “You can wait for me here if you want,” I called to Julie, but she was already following me. “I really don’t mind. I would prefer it.”