Ferrous (Fae's Folly Book 1)

by Valerie Mars

  “How doesn’t matter. Complete the ceremony, Speaker,” comes the voice of Kai’s father as I dare to look above my head. I don’t know what the next step from being in a pickle is, but I’m living it. Clear as any other in the room, a glimmering manifestation of magic extends from my body. I stumble as Celeste yanks my hand and motions the leftovers onward. When I check over my shoulder, threads of gossamer whimsy float like silk in my wake.

  Rather than being filled with dread or anxiety as I ought to be, it’s smoldering indignation that I feel as we snake through the quads. Why, of all colors on Earth and Faerie, does it have to be periwinkle?

  36

  Mallory

  To say I’m freaking out would be an understatement. Celeste’s vice-like grip keeps me grounded enough to stave off floating away like the Willy Wonka kids, but it’s all I can do to focus on the faces we pass as she calls on various members of our group to stand next to quads.

  Now that I’m tripping balls, I can see the way magic recoils from or gravitates toward other magic. Most of the quads are excellently paired, their magic romping around like bunnies in a daisy field or lazily threading around one another like a couple clasping hands. Now and then there’s a visual indication of discord, where two members don’t get along and their magic separates with barbed delineation as if to say, “We didn’t choose this.”

  It’s obvious when the Autumn fae finds her place, as tendrils of magic from the quad reach out to her. They envelop hers, welcoming her in. The next leftover to leave isn’t quite as strong a match, but three out of four isn’t bad.

  My right eye begins twitching, so I transition into staring at the ground between groups to limit the time I spend straining myself with the light show. Another Separatist finds their home, and when we arrive before the next quad I find my gaze landing upon a familiar set of boots.

  I’m afraid to look up at Kai, Ryland, Larkin, and Bash. If there’s any chance the council and clause actually hold me to this, I don’t know what I’ll do if I’m thrust into another quad. Probably get myself strung up in the center of town, is what.

  Celeste, however, is not afraid. The speaker is on a mission and quickly announces my name before moving on with the last of the leftover Springs.

  Kai’s repeating no to himself in the same fashion he did the night I tripped into the portal. Ryland’s voice reaches my ear. “Was it tea that you drank?” Of course he saw.

  I nod as Bash’s arms surround me in smoky warmth. “That was terrifying,” he whispers into the curve of my neck.

  My arms lock in around his waist. “I missed you,” I whisper back.

  “We must hold hands now,” Larkin voices with some degree of timidity. I guess he’s newer to the group than I am. The first thing I see after reluctantly detaching from Bash’s chest is Celeste’s figure jogging back to the platform about to tear the fifth seal a new one. A peek above Bash and me reveals a brilliant turquoise that envelops my periwinkle as fiercely as his hugs. He leads me to stand between him and Larkin—right between Summer and Spring where I belong.

  Celeste’s words are but a faint buzz in my ears as I take in the sights soaring above our circle. Larkin’s lemon yellow winds through us all, while Kai’s shy steel blue concentrates near Bash and me. Bash’s turquoise stays clear away from Ryland’s dustiest of roses, but ping-pongs between the rest of us. The periwinkle attached to me reaches to them all, and—what the fuck? Did Ryland’s magic just try to crowd the others’ away from mine? Greedy fuck.

  “Come back to us, Brooks.” His voice returns me to reality, thin as that line may be. I meet his eyes across the circle, and in the absence of the lights I notice how dizzy I am. “She’s going to say the words now.”

  I badly want to inform him his magic is pink, but Oberon’s Clause takes precedence. Bash squeezes my hand, and I nod before returning my gaze to our magic. I’ll rest my eyes later when it’s over.

  “…for generations to come. United together, we hereby invoke Oberon’s Clause.”

  The crowd waits in silence as the council and I watch the grand finale. Our magic coalesces between us, swirling like a tempest. They agitate into a flurry that makes it impossible to decipher one from the other. Faster and faster they spin until screeching to a halt. I blink, and the magic flows back into our bodies in equal portions of five. The result is a loose cord, looking like a blob of multi-striped toothpaste just happy to be floating around our heads. Gone are the individual auras, our new auras identical.

  Separate, but inseparable.

  A tear spills down my cheek. Whatever this periwinkle thread within me represents, I know within every fiber of it that there’s no way I’m going home anytime soon. Not unless these four souls come with me. My home is with them now. To split from a single one of them would be to split myself from the inside out.

  The thought sends an icy chill down my spine as I realize the devoted squads Oberon’s Clause created tonight and all the pain to follow. How much more desperately will someone fight on the battlefield if their comrade’s heart beats with a piece of their own? What future horrors did we just ensure?

  I expect the moments following the ceremony to be pandemonium. But like the reading of the first scroll, it’s awkwardly anti-climatic. The air grows stale before Celeste comments that the powers may take a second to kick in, like a second bout of puberty. All I can think of are boys with cracking voices and hands that spontaneously combust. No thanks, I like my hair at its current length and volume.

  She eventually remembers the droves of dejected quads without Techie blood and offers her condolences before dismissing them. Countless blank stares and tear-soaked lashes funnel past, but I have to wonder if by the end of it they’ll be considered the lucky ones.

  I do my best to focus on the floor as Celeste explains that we’re to move into old family lodging within the castle and citadel tomorrow evening to facilitate getting to know our squads. Our unit better come with storm-proof glass and a fire extinguisher if they expect Ryland and Bash to share space.

  That’s ignoring the meaning of my periwinkle contribution to the cord, of course. There’s a lot to unpack there. Things that I’m pretty sure haven’t been unpacked in all of history. So that’s cool. I’m cool. Everything is cool.

  Kai is first to speak after Celeste gives her closing remarks. “Team meeting at Ryland’s?”

  Before anyone can reply, the wind-whisper of Ramsey Everhart finds all five of us. “We request the presence of your quint at the chamber session tomorrow morning.” Ryland sends confirmation while Larkin rubs at his ears. I ache to do the same. His voice is a violation.

  “Welcome to the shit show, Voss,” Ryland says with a chuckle drier than my mother’s corn bread. Bless her heart.

  Larkin begins to protest, but the four of us all but cackle. His brows resign inward. “I can see there’s a lot to discuss.”

  Bash takes a knee. “Piggyback for my weary Mal-gal? You should rest your eyes on the way back.”

  I’m not about to argue against some extra Bash time. Even with the new quint time we’re to spend together, my gut tells me I’m not done losing him to August yet. I hop on and press my cheek into his shoulder. That’s the stuff.

  No one says a damn word on the way to Ryland’s apartment. Several people attempt to engage with us along the way, particularly in Larkin’s case, but each interaction meets a swift conclusion. There’s an elephant in the room with us, and she’s riding on Bash’s back.

  He deposits me onto Ryland’s cantankerous couch when we arrive, the bruises on my bottom making me hiss through my teeth. “This couch doesn’t come with us.”

  Larkin raises a brow as Bash tucks in next to me. “Is it really that bad?”

  Bash pats the remaining space to his left. “Come and find out.”

  “Oh, come on,” he says, walking to the other end of the couch. “It can’t be that—oh, dear. The couch will stay.”

  There’s a beat of silence as Kai and Ryland gather
water in the kitchen. I watch the toothpaste squiggles of magic do their thing above Larkin and Bash which leads to the realization that this may be the first time the three of us have been in the same place together. Bash doesn’t know he’s Enzo.

  I try to make eye contact with Larkin, but Bash’s frame fills the space between us. “You make a better door than window, Bash.”

  “Huh?”

  “Hold on,” I say, wriggling so my back rests against the arm of the couch. “Take these.” I extend my legs over his lap, which he casually rests his right arm upon. “Now I can see Larkin.” He waves, and the three of us laugh. This is serious, though. I look into his unfamiliar eyes. “Can we tell Bash about your friend Enzo?”

  His lips form a surprised o, and he looks to Kai and Ryland as they return with glasses of water. “I suppose we’ll keep many secrets together, the five of us.”

  “More of ours than yours, I guarantee,” says Kai as he sets down glasses before Bash and me.

  “Thanks.” I grab mine and start chugging. Bash wordlessly slides his glass across the table to join my soon-to-be empty one. “Also thanks.”

  “I’ll break the ice, then,” Larkin starts. “Nothing realm-rending, but I somewhat possess a second identity known by the stage name ‘Crescenzo.’ I don’t know if Mallory mentioned an ‘Enzo,’ but we had a few encounters.”

  Bash’s brows are halfway to his crown, lips pursed. “No shit, huh?” He extends his left hand. “Nice to meet you, Enzo.”

  Larkin shakes his hand, wincing and looking uncomfortable. “I’m a bard, but I’m better able to perform with an altered appearance, I’ve found.”

  Kai nods. “It’s unfair, but I suspected such after witnessing the way you looked at Talonwood yesterday.”

  Larkin rakes his fingers across his crown in agony. “Ugggh.” The way it rearranges his golden hair is almost as distracting as the magic. “That guy is such a sleaze.”

  “No argument there,” Bash agrees.

  “And what do you think of our Mallory?” Ryland asks from his sitting chair. Our Mallory, huh? He crosses his leg and leans back, but there’s obvious tension in his jaw.

  Larkin sweeps his gaze across the room. “I think she’s candid and wonderfully refreshing. I was relieved when she was added to our quad, for by then she knew me as Enzo. It’s difficult making real friends.”

  I stick my bottom lip out as an exaggerated way to convey I’m touched.

  Ryland stares at Larkin with the intensity of a father before prom. I don’t feel he’s earned that right, but suit yourself, dude. He then takes a long sip of water before planting both feet on the ground and perching on the edge of his chair. “I believe we can trust him. Twyla seems to, as well.” His first statement surprises me, but the second does not. Twyla’s positive opinion would be worth a lot if she got an emotional read on Larkin. No wonder she was so pushy about leaving the tavern with him.

  I glance at the strands of color above Ryland’s head, the same strands as Larkin’s. “To harm us would be to harm himself.”

  “More specifically, if you harm Mallory, we will harm you,” Kai clarifies in a voice that reminds me he’s probably killed people. Why can’t I just pretend he’s my lovable bookworm?

  “I’m not sure what I’m promising, but you have my word,” Larkin says. “Did you feel it? The stretching and pulling and tugging…and then sudden, absolute serenity?”

  Bash nods. “Like everything got scrambled up but stitched back together the right way.”

  All four of them look at me. I bust into a grin, because the least magical of us is currently the authority on all things Oberon’s Clause. “Visually, it’s exactly as you say. What was once our own now belongs to the quint. Skye gave me the tea and Rylandyourmagicispink.” It’s a wonder I lasted as long as I did.

  He narrows his eyes before shrugging. “Should have known it was a Summer.” He smirks. “Who wants to tell Larkin?”

  “I…do,” I grit while attempting to dig myself out from Bash’s arm. I can’t believe there’s so much weight in that alone. He mercifully lifts it, and I hop off the couch and squeeze myself in the space between him and Larkin. “I feel like I owe him an identity reveal, anyway.”

  Larkin’s lips press thin. “You’re glamoured?”

  “For safety reasons. I’m not a Separatist,” I say while wiggling the ring up my finger. I slip it off. “I’m human.”

  Larkin’s chest rapidly inflates with air, courtesy of his nostrils, which take in my iron-rich scent. My true scent. His pale eyes comb over my ears. “How?”

  Ain’t that the question of the night.

  Kai takes over. “I was banished to the human realm until recently. The council entrusted Ryland and Sebastian with delivering me back, and during that mission Mallory tripped into our lives.”

  “Literally,” I huff.

  “We meant to get her home, but being so close to the matching, the council decided to have her stay to preserve portals until a new portaler comes into power. And with the new influx of Separatists, they thought her the perfect person to spy for traitors in the meantime.”

  “Wait, so how in all the stars is she a part of this quint?” Larkins eyes are wild as he searches our expressions.

  “That’s the question we’re here to determine,” Ryland answers. He sniffs. “Brooks, slip that ring back on.”

  I give him my best Bitch, really? face before sliding it onto my finger.

  Kai raises his hand. “I have a theory.” When no one says anything, he continues. “To my best knowledge, that herb doesn’t exist on Earth. It’s possible the plant is composed of more magic than it is carbon.”

  Bash scoffs at the idea. “What, so she drinks it and now she’s stuck here?”

  “There’s a lot of that in the fairytale books at home,” I realize with a stone in my gut.

  “Maybe rather than being stuck here, it’s that the humans in the stories simply happen to stay here,” Kai muses in complete ignorance of my anxiety. “And with the existence of magic in her during the ceremony, maybe the clause considered Mallory eligible. But it’s just a theory.”

  “Hardly matters now, does it?” Ryland says, ever the sandpaper condom to my nerves. “All we can do is wait and see.”

  I frown. “Wait and see what?”

  “If you grow ears and magic, of course.” Ryland’s tone mocks, but I think everyone in the room is wondering if that’s in the realm of possibility. I refuse to entertain it.

  Larkin’s hand touches my shoulder and Bash nearly growls. I pat his leg. “Easy, big guy. He’s your bonded, too.”

  “Been a hell of a day,” he grumbles. “Sorry.”

  I note the tightening of Larkin’s dimples a moment before meeting his eyes. “What’s up?”

  “Is Mallory Meadowbrook your real name?”

  Ryland throws his hands up. “Of everything we’ve revealed, that’s your concern?”

  I double over in laughter, because I clearly recall no one caring about my real name a week ago. But it’s a Larkin thing to ask. I wipe a tear and straighten my back. “Mallory Brooks. It’s a long story.”

  His dimples relax. “I’m sure it is.”

  It’s late o’clock by the time everyone leaves. Bash is first to go, saying he needs to pack up his room and make sure August is alright. I’m still wondering if Bash is alright, but then he leaves me with a scorching kiss in the hallway that has everyone shaking their heads when I return to the suite. Fae hearing prevails again, but I’m sure my flushed cheeks earned an assist.

  Larkin excuses himself shortly after, thanking us for taking him in. Ryland matter-of-factly stated we didn’t have a choice, but I assured Larkin that I would have chosen him, anyway. Him and Enzo both.

  That left Kai with me and Ryland, and the three of us discussed the Iron Blight over coffee. Kai took his black while Ryland and I took the entire cow.

  Kai didn’t know what 5G was, but he’s at least familiar with 4G from his stint on Earth. R
yland had a tough time wrapping his head around how it could be any more toxic than a telegraph, which led to Kai and me exchanging knowing cringes as we attempted to fill him in. We still have some work to do on that front.

  I’m currently yawning through Kai’s side-note on ham radio as we finish an explanation of radio frequencies. It’s more Kai’s explanation than mine, of course. The power of the tea is waning, the images of magic near translucency as I begin to consider whether Kai’s knowledge of humans outweighs mine. I’m leaning on yes, with the exception of s’mores and hippos. But he’s gaining ground.

  Ryland’s notorious eyebrow quirks at my yawn. “Why don’t you see Kai out the door?”

  I open my mouth to protest, but get hoodwinked by another yawn. The two of them exchange their own knowing glances, and I sleepily fumble my way to the door.

  I look up into Kai’s crystalline eyes, and the motherfucker opens his arms in anticipation of a hug. I don’t fight the grin that tugs at my cheeks as I accept his offer. One could say he’s been trained, but my heart hopes it’s that he’s changing.

  Or thawing, as one Ice Prince would say.

  Kai departs, and I lean against the door after pressing it shut. Ryland stands with his arms flung over the back of the sitting chair again, the corners of his lips threatening to stretch into a smile. “Couch or bed?”

  I eye the couch, wishing I’d hit magical puberty at this very moment and gain the ability to shoot laser beams from my eyeballs. “Bed.”

  His trace of a smile becomes a smirk. “Let’s head to bed, then.”

  Wait, what? “You aren’t going to sleep on the couch?”

  He starts down the hallway, tossing his reply over one shoulder. “Stars, no. That couch is awful.”

  TO BE CONTINUED IN

  ZEALOUS (FAE’S FOLLY BOOK TWO)

  Afterword

  There it is, folks. You just read my book baby. If you liked this book or want to tear me a new one, please leave an honest review on Amazon, Goodreads, or wherever we’re reviewing books these days so other readers know what to expect. Your reviews are the lifeblood of indie authors.