by Jaymin Eve
With a loud exhalation of annoyance, I pulled myself to my feet, dusted my pants off, and started trudging along between the tall hedges of this labyrinth path thingy. I scanned my surroundings constantly, bemused by how boring and mundane it was so far. I wasn’t sure what I expected, having only had a few minutes to wrap my head around a Faerie labyrinth, but surely they could have expanded out from green hedges…
Green hedges which appeared to be pushing up into the sky the further I walked.
As they grew, the darkness around me increased. Great … I just had to open my big fat brain and start thinking about how things were not scary enough here. I should have learned my lesson about that the last time I was in this shithole. The land of Faerie read thoughts and then had a good ol’ laugh creating your worst nightmares.
Despite the growing darkness, my footsteps did not falter. I was not scared of much. Even when I was alone I always had my animals to keep me company. And if Rose was right about my boys tracking me, they could very well be there when I got to the center of Faerie. I freaking hoped they were.
As I walked I periodically reached for my dragon. The wall was still between us, but for some reason it seemed thinner. Maybe Braxton was right. Time was the only thing that could break down these barriers, cement our bonds. I had spent so much of my life pushing her down, forcing her to stay caged – not to mention Louis’ magic subduing her – that now I didn’t know how to bring her to me. I would figure it out though. She would be hugely important in the fight against Larky.
I wondered how much time had passed on Earth since I disappeared. No doubt they were well into the new year now, late January maybe. It was almost the quads’ birthdays. They were born on the first of March. I was the thirteenth of October. We were all twenty-three this year, though some days I felt closer to a hundred and twenty-three. All I could say was that we’d better not still be in the middle of this shit when the quads’ birthdays rolled around.
They were only two years away now from taking over as leaders of the American Supernatural Council. Now that Kristoff was gone and not trying to frame them for murder, they might actually have a shot at learning something. Kristoff. That sorcerer was totally still on my shit list. As soon as I had a spare second I was hunting his ass down and killing him. That’s if one of the quads didn’t beat me to it.
My tumultuous thoughts were cut off by my wolf perking her head up inside. She had sensed that we were not alone any longer. I slowed my pace, stepping lightly, keeping my presence as hidden as possible. The hedges had grown at least a hundred feet high. It was very dark on the ground, but I could still see quite clearly. A slight mistiness was invading, but I didn’t let that deter me as I continued along. About six feet separated one side of the hedges from the other, hopefully keeping out anything too massive. Mind you, I should have known that in Faerie, it didn’t have to be massive to whoop me in the ass.
Two figures stepped out of the misty shadows, blocking the path. Identical in every way, it took me a moment to figure out what I was seeing. My first guess were chipmunks, about three-foot-tall, brown fur with tan stripes across the bridges of their nose and along their tummy area. They stood completely upright, like humans, and had more than a little intelligence shining in their large globe-like eyes.
Still … how much trouble could two little rodents really cause?
The three of us remained motionless, our stare-off silent, although my wolf was urging me forward. She was hungry and chunks of chipmunk sounded like a perfect end to the day. Personally, the Jessa part of me preferred my meat a little less alive. Raw was not my favorite way to eat.
It didn’t take long for me to be over our stare-off. Time to give my wolf what she wanted. Moving forward, my movements were swift and sure, arms already elevated in preparation of grabbing each chipmunk around its fluffy neck.
One of them opened its mouth and I expected squeaks or something to come out.
“What are you doing in our labyrinth, bitch?”
I pretty much tripped over my feet then and did a flip before sprawling out on my ass.
What the actual fu…? Did it just call me a bitch? Wait … did it just talk? Chipmunks don’t talk. Not on Earth anyway.
Chipmunk number two piped up then. “I am totally going to eat your ass.”
Um. Laughter exploded from me. I doubled over holding my stomach, trying my best not to choke. This had to be a joke, seriously. Between fits I could see that the two chipmunks looked uncertain, exchanging worried glances, which only made me laugh harder.
I finally managed to pull myself together. “You two … thanks, I needed that.” I wiped at my eyes. “But I’d really prefer it if you didn’t eat my ass.”
“That’s right,” a deep voice said from right behind me. “There is only one creature that gets anywhere near Jessa’s ass.”
I froze, my entire body going into lockdown as it tried to figure out if that voice was really there or if it was a figment of my imagination. I knew I had to turn around, I had to move my goddamned feet so I could see with my own eyes. He’d snuck up on me, which was happening a lot lately, and neither my wolf nor dragon had detected him. That had to mean he wasn’t real. It was just my heart and mind trying to bring my pack to me. Bring a piece of home.
Of course, I still had to turn, to see him for a second, even if he was only an illusion.
White teeth and dimples assaulted me, and a muffled sob caught in my chest. Jacob. The male standing before me might not have been the number one Compass of my heart, but he was a close second with the rest of the quads. I hesitated. Was this just the labyrinth screwing with me? Was he some sort of shape-shifting, killing machine?
The moment my wolf started to howl and push me forward I knew it was really my boy. I scrambled toward Jacob. His white hair glowed softly in the dark labyrinth as he used super speed to meet me half way. I wasn’t sure if I was crying or laughing, or even breathing as I wrapped myself around him, absorbing everything about him, his fey scent, the elemental power that was so much Jacob, especially the fire he loved to keep closest.
He started to hum as I attempted to pull myself together. His strong arms held me tightly, enclosing me in his warm and familiar body. A million memories burst through my mind as the song of birth or de la entréed started to pour in a haunting melody from his lips. He knew I loved that fey ballad the most. It had been a comfort for me my entire life.
I held on to him as tightly as I could, and for just a few moments let all of the stress and worries fade away. But of course, there was only so long I could hide my head in the sand, and as the last notes of his beautiful voice faded into the darkness, I was back in the nightmare which had become my life.
Pulling some of my focus from Jacob, I sensed that the chipmunks were both confused and cautious. I was about to turn and see what those little fuckers were up to when one of them must have edged a little close – possibly to eat my ass – because Jacob let loose a fireball. The whoosh of heat was distinct as it left his body. The first flame would be a warning, but if they tried it again we’d soon be dining on crispy critter.
I knew it was time to remove myself from Jacob’s arms. We had to find our way through the labyrinth and I had a million questions to ask him. Top of that list: where were the other Compasses? Still, I struggled to step away from his comfort.
After an eternity, and nowhere near long enough, I pried myself away. Jacob set me gently on my feet but stayed in my personal space, crowding me, one hand tangled in the hair at the nape of my neck as if he couldn’t let me go yet. We remained like that for many silent moments, my wolf and I simply breathing in the pack bonds. Being without my pack was like being cut off from part of myself. You can survive, at least for a short time, but it’s not comfortable.
“How long have I been gone?” I blinked a few times to clear the rimming of tears. “Have you been in Faerie the entire time?”
Jacob shook his head, those grass-green eyes slightly shiny themselves a
s he focused completely on me. “We were on Earth trying to find you, trying to keep Braxton in line while he carved a path of destruction through the sanctuary and every single being who ever had contact with the dragon king. We didn’t know you were on Faerie until just recently. Even Louis couldn’t find you, so whatever sorcery the king had around you was very strong.”
I took a few long, deep breaths through my nose. “How is that possible? Louis knows everything. Larky somehow managed to get one over on the most powerful sorcerer on Earth?”
Jacob smirked and I wanted to reach up and touch his cheek. I was so happy to see that smile. “Larky. That’s gold, Jessa babe. I’m totally stealing that. And yep, old Louis has been well and truly duped, which pissed him off a tad. Not to mention that Brax pretty much ripped his arm off and tried to beat him to death with it.”
I felt my face scrunch up. “Why?”
“For all the times Louis knew more than he said, and for the fact that he promised to act as your big brother and then he let you disappear without a trace. Brax is a loose cannon right now. It takes literally nothing to set him off. He killed one of the fruit twins the moment you were taken, and the second followed soon after.”
I tried to feel sympathy for those bitches, but … I just didn’t care. They signed their death warrant long ago. I realized there were so many more things I had to be asking him, but at the same time I knew it wasn’t smart to be standing still in this place.
We had to keep moving before the really scary shit came out to play.
Chapter 4
Jacob and I shifted apart as we turned to observe the path. I swiveled my head, taking in the complete circle of our surroundings. The chipmunks were gone, having scampered away at the first sign of a fireball-wielding fey. Still, even though nothing was around us, I sensed eyes out there. We were being watched.
“We should start walking,” I said. “We have to make it through the labyrinth and to the isle of the shining ones.”
Jacob just gave me a nod before holding out his hand, and together we started to stroll along the darkened path, the green grass swishing around my feet.
“Tell me everything else,” I said as we crossed the distance at a reasonable pace. “How did you finally find me in Faerie? Why are you the only one in here? Where’s everyone else? How are Dad, Lienda and Mischa?”
I had thought about my family a lot during my time in Larky’s castle. When I wasn’t tearing his shit to pieces, that was.
“I won’t lie to you, Jessa babe, it’s been really bad with you gone. I never expected it would be fun or anything, but shit fell apart in an epic, mammoth, gut-wrenching way.” He had to clear his throat a few times then, and I gave his hand an extra squeeze.
“We were fucking devastated,” he said, “not knowing if you were okay, if you needed our help. We were doing anything we could to find you, chasing down every goddamn lead which ever existed on Larky and his lairs. It’s been weeks, weeks of nothing, dead ends, and dead supes – especially after Brax was through with them. Then, yesterday, when we were back in Romania dealing with shit at the sanctuary, which mainly involved a lot of interrogation of marked and mystics, Louis and Brax felt you. After that, the sorcerer knew you were in Faerie and he opened a portal straight away.”
“I escaped,” I mused out loud, doing the math on when they had appeared. Right after I managed to break free of the castle illusion. “When I jumped from the castle, I must have broken some of the spelling which was hiding my essence.”
Jacob nodded. “Whatever it was, those two felt you just long enough for us to find the castle. We were intercepted by the king and his men before we could get to you. Did you know he has an entire army of elves?”
I blinked a few times. “Elves? I didn’t even know elves were still a thing.”
Jacob laughed. “I didn’t either. They were definitely some sort of elf or half breed. Their skin was very green. Probably for blending in the forest.”
That explained the green-skinned food bringer in the castle.
“In any case there are a lot less elves in the world now. Brax tore most of them to shreds. The rest of us got about eight seconds of fun. Your mate hogged all the killing for himself.”
I had to push down my agonizing need for Braxton. I was starting to get all jittery, like a crackhead overdue their next fix. I had to not think about him or I was going to go crazy.
“What about Larky? You fought him … you guys know he can’t be killed, right?”
A flicker of something flashed across those green eyes; the skin tightened along his brow. “We’d just finished off the elves and were facing down Larky when some sort of ripple went through his illusion world and he took off. He was heading in this direction right before he disappeared.”
He probably felt my energy leave. I had no doubt he was hunting me right now and could still reach us here. We had to move faster.
Jacob picked up the pace with me, continuing his story as we dashed along. “We gave chase but were intercepted by this weird human-fey creature. She told us where you had gone, and with her map we found this labyrinth no problem.”
Good old Rose. Well, it was nice to know she wasn’t a complete bitch-face. She might have sort of whammied me to get me in here, but she sent my boys after me, so it wasn’t all bad.
“We all tried to follow you, but I was the only one not repelled by the barrier. They decided to send me in so I could scout for you. Louis knows another way to the center of Faerie. They’ll meet us there.”
Hold up. “One: how do they know what’s at the end of this path? And two: why couldn’t they get in here?”
Jacob got that look on his face then, the one which appeared whenever he couldn’t talk about fey secrets. Well, screw that one sideways on a horse. Not today, buddy. The fey owed me, because I was in their land and in an ass-ton of shit. I wanted answers and I wanted them now.
I must have been growling without realizing, because Jacob started to laugh. He wrapped me in his arms. “Calm, Jessa babe, my loyalty is always to you. You know that. It’s just that there are some things which I am forbidden to talk of. I’ve sworn oaths and will be held to them.”
I sighed. “Okay, I understand that, but with most oaths there is a way around them. What can you tell me?”
“Well, your sister is back in Stratford with your mom. Jonathon thought it was the safest place to stash the pair for now. The sanctuary is compromised because of all the marked there. The king hasn’t called them yet, but if he does, there is a veritable army right there ready to detonate on the supernatural world.”
I was relieved to hear that Mischa was back home, and clearly okay, or Jacob would have mentioned something more. She had been badly injured in Krakov, and it was really screwed up for me to have been taken before I knew if she had survived. Jacob’s news relieved tension I hadn’t even know I’d been holding onto.
Mischa and I had issues. Big ones. She’d acted like a complete fucking moron, trusting the fruit twins. She should have known better. She grew up with humans, for shit’s sakes, and humans were fraught with deception and disloyalty.
I’d be a liar if I didn’t admit that her stupidity did worry me. I hoped that wasn’t a permanent part of her personality. I was prepared to give her the benefit of the doubt this one time – this one time only. Mischa better have pulled her head out of her ass by the time I got back to Stratford, or we were going to have a much bigger issue than a lack of trust.
What we really needed was time to bond. We should have always had a bond – which would have ensured she had less human weirdness in her – but our life together had been stolen from us the day of our birth. Hopefully when this shit with Larky was all over, we’d finally have our chance.
The labyrinth stretched out in front of us, so far nothing crazy was jumping out, but I doubted this peace would last much longer.
Jacob continued, “The four of us have been working on our bond and our abilities to fight the king. And yes, we
do know that for now we can’t kill him. He’s surrounded in these layers of protection, millions of ties which are like a cushion against any blows we deliver.”
I had information to add to that now but I didn’t want to interrupt him. I needed to hear about my pack.
“I don’t know for sure, but I think the others couldn’t enter the labyrinth because it’s a direct link to the Isle of the Gods. You can use this path to access any one of the four quadrants. You need strong fey blood to be allowed in here.”
I felt my face crinkle as confusion swamped me. “Well, how the hell am I in here? Don’t tell me I’m a dual shifter and somehow fey also.”
Jacob laughed then. “Yep, you’d be even more of a super special supernatural then, wouldn’t you?”
I snorted. That was a mouthful. Super special supernatural. Had a nice ring to it though, except I did not want any more specialness, especially if it meant the dragon king could use me for whatever diabolical scheme he had planned. And we all knew he had something crazy-assed planned for me.
“Am I allowed in the labyrinth because of the mark?” I wondered out loud. “I’m pretty sure Larky made some sort of deal with the shining ones before he died, and the marked was one of the things he received in return.”
Jacob tugged me closer to him and I wondered fleetingly if he had sensed something out there. My wolf and dragon didn’t seem alarmed, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t something alarming around.
“I doubt they would have made a deal with him, but if that’s the case he’ll owe the gods a massive favor. The fey started to flee these lands because a great evil sleeps here. The shining ones battled them, but something happened and the great ones lost a lot of their power. The fey were afraid that if the evil ever awoke, there would be no one that could contain them.”
