by Leia Stone
“We here?” I asked.
She nodded. “Hope so.”
Lifting Liam up, I threw the door open wide and we flew out into the pandemonium. There was a huge crack in the ground that I almost fell into. Fae were shouting and flying around in a hurry. We were at the cliff on the edge of Faerie. With Elle’s help, we took off, Liam in our arms, and flew right for the elders’ house.
I spotted two of the elders, Rose and Maple, out in the city square helping some garden tender Fae fix up market stalls that had fallen over. Fresh food splayed out over the ground, and the river was a murky brown. We flew right up, over all of the chaos and directly to the elders’ door. Using my left booted foot, I kicked in the door and we landed hard and fast.
Indra was near the tree when we came tumbling into their house, and I saw the jar of healing water in her hands. She shook herself in shock as we splayed out in a crash landing in her entryway.
“Bring that to me!” I shouted, pointing to the jar.
Her mouth popped open in shock as she flew towards us, jar in hand. “You let him in here? After I forbade it?” Her voice laced with anger as she scowled at me.
I looked down at Liam, who was bleeding out on the front of her doorstep.
“What the fuck is wrong with you!” I shrieked. A crowd had started to form behind me, I could hear the flutter of wings and murmur of voices. “A Fae is injured. A man is dying. Give. Me. The. Healing. Water. NOW!”
Something unfurled inside of me, and I knew if I wasn’t careful that bright light would shoot out and I wasn’t ready for Indra to see that yet if I could help it. I still needed to figure out what it was.
She tucked the jar into her chest. “This is for the crystals.” She lowered her voice, smiling nervously at the crowd that had assembled at my back.
I was about to give her a piece of my mind when Liam reached into the messenger bag and pulled one of the crystals up into the air, his hand turning black as he held it.
Oh gods.
Indra nearly fainted from seeing such a thing, and I lunged forward and yanked the jar from her grasp. Unscrewing the top, I knelt to pour it over Liam’s wound, when he held me back and dunked the crystal inside of the jar.
He visibly sighed in relief as the water touched his hand and chased away the darkness, turning the crystal a clearish blue like the others. Not even a trace of the darkness remained on the crystal, his hand, or even in the water.
“Now you,” I told him.
He shook his head, shakily setting the clean crystal at my feet and reaching into the messenger bag to get the second one. When he grabbed this one, his body convulsed for a second, and I choked down a sob.
“Liam!”
He dipped it into the water and his shaking stopped.
Finally he pulled his hand out and clutched the clean crystal to his chest tightly. Wasting no more time, I yanked up his shirt and poured the rest of the healing water over his stomach, watching as a miracle was performed. Skin stitched together, arteries and muscles grew. It was like no healing I’d ever seen, and a depressing realization hit me that this might have saved my mother, had I known and had some then.
Liam gasped, clutching his stomach as the water slowly healed him, until finally he sat before me, panting. All that remained was a small puckered white scar.
The entire village was behind us now and I knew this would require an explanation. And I was glad for that.
Fuck these lies.
Fuck keeping people in the dark anymore. The truth needed to be revealed.
Standing up, I pulled Liam up slowly to stand with me, each of us holding our crystal.
“Indra,” I said to the elder, “Liam is my soulmate, whether you choose to believe it or not.”
The crowd gasped and I heard a few mutter “black wings” and “Dark Fae.” “He helped me get these crystals, and we will work as a team from now on, getting the rest that are needed … but you must allow him to live here, with me. He’s one of us.”
Beside me, Liam made to speak, but I shushed him.
I held my chin high. “It’s that or I leave Faerie.”
Everyone behind me gasped, but it was Indra I was watching, her gaze roaming over Liam like he was a snake.
“Come in and we’ll certainly talk about it,” she cooed, giving the crowd her best smile.
“No,” I said immediately. “He stays or I go.”
“Lil—” Liam tried, but I shushed him again.
“No. They can’t treat you like this.”
“If Lily says they are soulmates, I believe her!” I recognized Maye’s voice call out from behind me and forced down a sob of relief. Everyone started to echo Maye, the village baker. “I believe her. Soulmates shouldn’t be separated. He’s one of us.”
Indra sighed, resigned. “Alright.”
My body relaxed at her words.
“He’s clearly proved useful today,” she said, “If he continues, I don’t see why not.”
“Lily,” Liam whispered, pulling me towards him. I turned to him with a smile on my face.
The second I saw the pain in his expression, the sheer agony, my stomach dropped.
“What’s wrong?” I looked to his now healed wound, wondering what was causing him so much pain.
“You and I are from different worlds. I … have to go home. I need to bring this to people who count on me.” He held up the crystal.
My throat constricted so hard then that it was physically painful not to cry. “Well, bring it to them and come back here.”
Reaching out, he brushed his fingers across my bottom lip. “I can’t. Where would a fish and bird live together? I’m sorry … I’m out of time.” Leaning in, he brushed a quick kiss to my lips and then he was … gone. The last memory I would have of would be his retreating black wings, smoking inky tendrils wafting through the bright blue sky of Faerie. It was like a sinister reminder from the gods that he didn’t belong here with me.
I wanted to run after him, to beg him to stay, but my mother had taught me a very important lesson when Owen Jaspers broke up with me at age sixteen: “You shouldn’t need to chase love. If you do, it’s one-sided.”
My heart tore in two and I kicked myself for this moment, the one I knew was coming since we made love. It seemed so long ago … but it was only last night. How had I gotten here?
Having my heart ripped out in front of the entire town.
I was Violet Wren’s daughter and I would show my village just how strong I could be. The entire crowd had fallen into a hush. Indra stared at the ground.
Wiping my eyes, I reached down and pulled the cool blue crystal into my hands. Then I turned and faced my people.
“The elders and my mother have kept you all in the dark in an attempt to give you a sense of security.”
“Don’t do this,” Indra warned sharply behind me.
I looked back at her, cutting her with the cruelest glare I could manage. I didn’t trust her anymore. Something was off, and I was going to find out what.
“But I won’t do that!” I yelled as loud as I could. Liam was probably at the blue door now, leaving with Mara and his crystal. Gone from my life forever.
Raising the crystal high for everyone to see, the sun shone on it and everyone gasped. “These are soul crystals. They are what keep Faerie standing, the power of the Tree of Life. And as a seeker, it is my job to retrieve the remaining four of them from Earth, where they are being hidden by Winter King Cypress.”
Rumbles and cries started throughout the crowd. Parents covered children’s ears and I nodded.
“Oh yes. He’s alive and well on Earth with his … halfling children.”
The Sons of Darkness was a scary name, and I didn’t want my people to fear any more than they had to.
I stepped closer to my people. “I, as the last seeker of Faerie, vow to retrieve all of the crystals and restore our beautiful world to its former glory.”
Gasps, shock … some Fae fell to their knees and wept. I
t was a crazy sight and I wondered if I’d taken it too far, if they could handle this truth.
“No more will we have a small patch of spring. No. These lands will heal, and we shall have Summer, Fall, and Winter again!” I shouted, feeling a bit like Mel Gibson in Braveheart.
Definitely too far.
They erupted into applause as Indra hooked me under the armpit, dragging me backward inside her house and shutting the door behind us.
“You do not make promises to the people. That is a queen’s job.” Her eyes held such malice, I didn’t understand it. More and more I was seeing why Mara feared the elders. But I wasn’t afraid anymore. I was their biggest asset, indispensable. I could fucking parade the sleeping queen around town while smoking weed and she couldn’t do shit.
Yanking my arm out of her grasp, I held my hand out so she could take the crystal. “Want to place this at the tree for me?” I taunted.
It was a dangerous game, but she needed to know her place. If touching this crystal would mortally harm her and I could hold it with ease, then she’d better fucking be nice to me and honor my wishes to no longer keep our people in the dark.
My threat came through loud and clear. Her wings glowed so brightly I thought they might burst into flames, but just as quickly they died down.
“I’ll pass.” She stepped aside and bowed her head slightly.
Checkmate, bitch.
As I walked to place the crystal at the base of the tree, I struggled with giving that woman my back.
Everything had changed since my mom had died. Nothing about Faerie felt safe anymore.
Reaching out to set the crystal down, a burst of light pulsed from the tree, sending waves of calm and warmth throughout me. When I stood, Elle was waiting. Indra was gone and I wondered if I had done the right thing in talking to her so harshly.
Elle cleaned her blade on the thigh of her jeans. “What now?”
I stepped towards my best friend. “We go after the next crystal.”
She nodded, adjusting her blades. I was tired, utterly heartbroken, but even more, I was fucking determined to restore these lands to their former glory. And when I did, I was putting out an invitation to all of the halflings on Earth. It was time for everyone to come home.
Serving the Fae: Preorder now May 29th 2020
https://smarturl.it/ServingTheFae
Acknowledgments
It takes a village they say, and that is certainly true with most things. Thank you to my village. My readers, ARC team, indie author friends, cover designer, editor, marketing manager, and assistant. It truly takes a village to have a successful book launch and I am forever grateful to all of you. <3
Leia
Also by Leia Stone:
Matefinder Series
Matefinder- Book 1
Devi - Book 2
Balance - Book 3
Matefinder Next Generation Series
Keeper - Book 1
Walker - Book 2
USA TODAY bestselling Hive Series
Ash - Book 1
Anarchy - Book 2
Annihilate - Book 3
NYC Mecca Series
Queen Heir - Book 1
Queen Alpha - Book 2
Queen Fae - Book 3
Queen Mecca - Book 3
Dark War Saga
Protector - Book 1
Defender - Book 2
Redeemer - Book 3
Dragons and Druids Series
Skyborn
Earthbound
Magic Torn
Fallen Academy Series
Year One
Year Two
Year Three
Year Three and a Half
Year Four
Supernatural Bounty Hunter Series
Magic Bite
Might Sight
Magic Touch
Wrecked (Standalone dark contemporary)
Dream Wars Trilogy
Rising
Domination
Obliteration
The Titan's Saga
Releasing the Gods
Wrath of the Gods
Revenge of the Gods (September 2020)
