by Peter Glenn
Frenchie nodded. “Oui, monsieur. It shall be done.”
Sevin went over to Hank, and the two talked for a minute, then Sevin headed up the stairs and out the door. I glanced back over at Yuri and the baby. He appeared to have calmed her back down for the moment, and things at the bar were returning to some semblance of normal.
I sat back down at my stool and let out a long sigh.
“Are things always this crazy at Mei’s?” Elden asked from beside me.
I’d almost forgotten he was there. I looked over at him again. He’d almost finished his martini, and he seemed to be the only one in the bar that was in good spirits other than Yuri. Everyone else still looked flustered or exhausted.
“Not usually,” I admitted with a shrug. “Well, maybe a little more recently, but as a rule, no. It’s much quieter around here. I guess you just picked a particularly crazy day to come.” I raised my glass to him before taking another sip.
“So, about that job of mine?” he asked, an earnest look in his eyes.
“Oh yeah,” I muttered. “About that. Look, I–”
“No, no, it’s okay,” he interrupted. “Really.”
I nodded at him. “Well, I’m glad you understand.”
He patted the counter once and set down a couple of bills, then started to stand. “Well, I suppose I really should be going.”
I stood as well and put forth my hand. “It was a pleasure talking to you all the same.”
He reached forward with his hand to touch mine, but stopped about halfway there.
“Ugh,” a strange voice called out from behind us, causing the whole room to go still. “My head.”
I spun on my heels, and my eyes centered on the cause of the commotion. It was Mystery Girl. She was waking up.
Chapter Three
I RAN OVER TO MYSTERY Girl’s side and knelt down beside her. “Easy now,” I said. “You’ve been through a lot.”
Tacobeh was still cradling her head, so I put my hand on top of hers. There was a certain warmth and fire there that hadn’t been there previously. I squeezed her hand gently, and she squeezed my fingers back. It felt right in a way that I couldn’t quite explain.
I pulled my hand away a moment later as her eyes fluttered open, and she looked straight at me. I felt a lump in my throat as I stared into her deep blue eyes. There was something about them that struck me as odd. And slightly comforting, in a way.
She looked straight at me. “I am most grateful to you,” she said in a lilting tone that warmed my heart and ears.
Did she always speak as if she were almost singing? I suddenly wanted to know everything about this girl.
I waved a hand dismissively as my cheeks started to redden. “I didn’t do anything to help you.” I pointed at the shaman. “It was Tacobeh here that healed your wounds. I just stood around staring at him the whole time.”
She looked over at Tacobeh and smiled up at him. “Then it is you I am grateful to, Tacobeh. My gratitude is overflowing.”
Tacobeh patted her hand and stared down at her. “It was the will of the spirits that you live, child. Thank them. I was but their vessel.”
Mystery Girl’s smile grew wider, and she nodded, then flailed about as if she wanted to sit up. It didn’t go very well, and her arms gave way before she could fully push herself upright. I stumbled forward to help keep her from falling back over, and between my efforts and Tacobeh’s, we managed to get her upright and lead her over to a stool at the bar, where she sat, cradling her head slightly.
Mei pushed a drink at her, and I recognized it instantly; healing bourbon.
“Drink it,” Mei told her. “It’ll help you feel better on the double.”
“I appreciate the gift, Mistress Mei,” Mystery Girl said, nodding her head at her, “but I have no way to repay your kindness.”
“It’s nothing,” Mei insisted. “Part of the sanctuary pact.”
She smiled weakly at Mei, then her eyes went wide and a shocked expression washed over her face. “Sanctuary!” she yelled. “The baby! Where is the baby?!” Her eyes darted all around the bar frantically.
“Baby Grace is safe,” Yuri’s calm voice said. He took a few steps closer to her and leaned so she could see the baby cradled in his arms. “I have her.”
Mystery Girl stood up, practically falling back over again in the process. I reached out a hand to steady her and help her back to her seat.
“Easy now,” I said again. “Don’t stand up too fast. You’re not healed yet.”
She looked at me and nodded, then her eyes trailed back to Yuri and Grace. “How... is she?”
Yuri gave her a giant smile. “Baby happy.”
A wave of relief passed over Mystery Girl’s face, and she relaxed instantly. “Much appreciated,” she said to him, patting him on the arm. “She means the world to me.”
“Indeed,” Mei said. “We could tell.”
Mystery Girl blinked a few times and smiled at Mei, then looked about the room. “My eternal gratitude, all of you, for coming to my aid,” she said. “It is truly a miracle.”
“So tell us, who are you? Who’s the baby? How did you come here?” Mei asked.
Mystery Girl looked taken aback. “My apologies. Of course.” She cleared her throat. “My name is LaLuna. I am a guardian of the fae courts.”
A hush fell over the room. Even the baby seemed to get quieter.
“Fae guardian?” I said, head cocked to the side. “What does that mean, exactly?”
LaLuna looked straight at me. “I guard fae royalty and nobility. Protect them with my life.” She squirmed in her seat a bit. “Or at least, I will when my training completes. Technically, I’m still a trainee, though I was due to take the final test next month. But now...”
“Now what?” I pried. This tale was just starting to get good.
She frowned. “Now I am not sure what to do.” She glanced over at Grace again. “The baby, she... she has changed things for me.”
It was my turn to frown. “How so? Do the fae not allow mothers to be guardians or something?” If so, that was a really messed up way to run things. But the fae culture was old. Older even than dragons. And old cultures had their own way of running things.
LaLuna shook her head. “I am not the girl’s mother. I had not even seen her before today.”
“Well, what is it, then?” I pressed.
“I am to guard her with my life. That was my last command,” LaLuna said in a voice that was more mechanical than anything.
“Well that seems like an odd command.” I huffed. “And just like that, you’re going to follow it without knowing a thing about the child?”
LaLuna rocked back and forth in the seat for a moment. “It is hard to explain to those that do not abide by fae culture and our rules.” She bit her lip. “I am not sure how to explain it to you.”
Mei reached out and put her hand on LaLuna’s palm. “Just use your magic. Let us see your memories.”
That seemed like an odd request.
LaLuna’s eyes took on a cold, distant look, like she was horrified. “Are... are you sure?”
Mei nodded. “It’s okay. I won’t tell anyone, I promise.” She shrugged. “Besides, you’re probably going to have to get used to it. It’ll be hard to protect that baby with no magic.”
“If you wish it,” LaLuna said with a nod. Her tone was solemn, and her body tensed up as she reached gently forward, her palm extended towards Mei’s forehead.
Mei grabbed her hand and forced it backward. “Not me,” she insisted, shaking her head. “Show Damian.”
I backed away so fast I almost fell out of my seat. “What? Me?” I pointed at my own chest, eyes wide and looking away. What kind of game was Mei playing exactly?
LaLuna reached her hand hesitantly toward me, and I flinched, inching away even further.
“It’s okay, Damian,” Mei said. “It won’t hurt you. Just let the magic do its thing. You’ll understand soon enough.”
A lump forme
d in my throat, but I gulped it down. “O-okay,” I stammered. “If you say so.”
Whatever she was up to, I knew Mei wouldn’t lead me down a bad path. Besides, I was intensely curious about the whole thing by now and really wanted to know all that I could about LaLuna and her plight.
I scooched a little closer to LaLuna and lowered my head a little bit so my forehead was in a good position to reach. Once more, her fingers stretched out, lightly grazing the skin of my forehead with her soft, gentle touch.
Then everything went black.
WHEN I CAME TO, I WAS in a small apartment. I shot up out of bed and glanced around at my surroundings. Nothing looked to be disturbed other than the bed, but nothing looked quite right to me, either. Wherever I was, I could tell that it wasn’t my apartment I’d woken up in.
Partially because it was so clean. I’d never been a very clean person myself. And partially because it was actually well furnished. Another no for me. About all I had was a bed, a rundown couch, a TV, and a super nice gaming chair. Had to spend money where I’d get the greatest return and all.
But this place... This place was nice. The bed I’d woken up in was plush, with light blue sheets and a white blanket that had little flower patterns woven into the top of it. There were five giant pillows at the head of the bed, each with the same pattern as the blanket. The blanket looked a little disheveled, but seeing as I’d just gotten out from under it, that was to be expected.
Next to the bed stood a nightstand that had a small rose-colored vase on top of it. The vase held fresh-cut flowers. White daisies, I think, though I’d never really known my flowers that well, so it could have been just about anything.
There was a small wicker basket underneath the nightstand that had various objects in it. Some sort of tubes; lipstick and eyeshadow maybe? And another little oblong tube that looked to be some sort of deodorant.
Okay, so I was in someone’s apartment, but not mine. A girl’s maybe?
Then it hit me. This was LaLuna’s apartment. I must be living her memories. That must have been the spell Mei had asked her to cast on me. A memory-reliving spell.
I’d heard of them before, but I’d never seen one in action. But if the rumors were true, I was essentially locked inside of one of LaLuna’s memories. I would live through it as if I was her and do whatever she had done during the same time frame, but from my own eyes.
Talk about super cool. I was stoked.
I had to test it out. My eyes spied a giant mirror against the far wall. Well, it was more of a sliding mirror, really. I guessed that her closet and all her clothes were behind it, but I wouldn’t know for sure unless she had looked there. I tried to force my body to head over there, but nothing happened. I didn’t budge.
Guess the rumors were true.
As if by a miracle, I started heading over that direction anyway a few moments later. My body took a few big strides, and I turned slowly to face the mirror. It was super surreal. I felt like I was moving and on some sort of amazing VR ride at the same time. It was hard to explain.
I took a good, long look at myself in the mirror. I was right. It was me looking at the mirror, but it was LaLuna’s body I was staring at. And now that it wasn’t completely covered in cuts and abrasions, I could tell that she was quite the looker. Was that a hint of arousal I was feeling looking at her body through her own eyes? Was that even possible?
I shivered a little involuntarily. That was actually kind of creepy. Okay, no more of that. We could move away from the mirror now. And move we did. I moved over toward an ornate desk against the other wall that had an unassuming wooden chair in front of it and sat down, then placed my head in one of my hands and thumped the fingers of my other hand against the desk.
Several minutes passed while I sat there, thumping my fingers. It was all kind of boring, really. Should there be a next time, I hoped the memory would start a little closer to the action. No one needs to see boring memories.
The sound of someone knocking at my door roused me from my slump. It was three quick knocks, then a slight break, then two more. It felt like some kind of code.
“Who is it?” LaLuna’s voice rang out through my lungs. Though I had the strangest feeling I already knew.
“It is I, your mother,” the voice from the other end of the door said. “Let me in.”
I got up from the chair and walked over to the door, opening it. “Mother dearest,” I said. “What news do you have–”
That was as far as I got. LaLuna’s mother made a shushing motion and darted into the apartment, slamming the door shut behind her. In her hands, she was carrying a small bundle wrapped in silks.
I recognized it instantly. That was baby Grace.
“Quiet!” LaLuna’s mother insisted. Her eyes roamed about the room. “I can’t be certain if I was followed or not, so listen carefully.”
She took in a deep breath and pushed the bundle into my arms. “This is Grace,” she said. “Take her. Take her and run, far away from here. Guard her with your life. You cannot let anything happen to her.”
“Mother, what are you saying?” I asked. I took the bundle and tried to balance it properly so that I could support the baby within. I managed the feat, but only barely. Her weight felt unnatural and uneven in my hands. “You’re not making any sense.”
LaLuna’s mother backed up slightly, angling back toward the door. “I don’t have time to explain, child. Just please, do as I say. The fate of the fae realm depends on you keeping that baby safe.”
I looked at her with fear in my eyes and nodded. “Yes, Mother. I will do as you say.”
“Promise me, child!” she insisted. “Promise you will guard her with your very life.”
I stepped forward and tried to reach out to LaLuna’s mother without dropping the baby. “Please, Mother, just tell me what is going on!”
LaLuna’s mother made a shushing motion with her hands. “Please, LaLuna. Please, promise me,” she said in hushed tones.
“I... I promise. I will guard the baby with my life.”
LaLuna’s mother’s lips curled into a smile. “Bless you, child. Oh, and don’t trust anyone. Not even the king and queen.” She placed her hand on my shoulder and brought me in for a hug, then released me. “I must go now. Run, and run far.”
“Yes, Mother.”
My head was spinning. What was going on? Who was this baby, and why had LaLuna’s mother brought her to me and asked me to guard her? I still needed answers.
Just then, LaLuna’s mother opened the door to step out again. I took a step forward and pulled on her to turn her around, then gasped at what I saw.
LaLuna’s mother had a rather large arrow protruding from her chest. It had pierced her heart. She looked up at me with wide eyes and fell to the floor, dead, a moment later.
A scream came then, loud and raw. I only realized later that it had come from my own mouth. When the noise stopped, I took one last look at LaLuna’s mother bleeding out on the ground in front of me and did the only sensible thing... I ran for it.
I bolted through the front door. In the same instant, I heard the sound of another arrow whizzing through the air, aimed in my direction, and I ducked just in time for the wooden shaft to graze the top of my head. I felt the feathers in its back fly through my hair and breathed a small sigh of relief that I’d heard it in time.
My eyes scanned the horizon, searching for the archer, but I could find none. So I kept running. I didn’t have a destination in mind, only knew that I had to get far away from here. And fast. I had to move as fast as I could to lose the archer.
Behind me, I heard the thwit of more arrows flying at me and a clunking sound as they smacked into the dirt. One arrow got lucky, and its tip slid into the tender skin of my arm.
Hot blood poured down my bicep as a searing pain shot up it, but I ignored the pain and kept running, tightening my grip on the baby in the process. I had to keep her safe. It had been LaLuna’s mother’s dying wish.
Up ahead,
three different paths opened up. I scanned what I could see of each of them, but they all looked completely clear. I chose at random and took the left path.
Seconds later, a rather large ogre came charging down the right path towards where I had just been. He screamed and hurled a club at me, which just barely missed. Once again, I had managed to dodge my certain doom.
I ran for several minutes until every muscle in my body ached and burned, and I could no longer see the ogre. I spotted a copse of firs up ahead and ducked behind it to give myself some cover and a moment to catch my breath.
I leaned back up against a tree trunk and tried to calm myself down. My heart was still racing, and my breath was coming in coughs and spurts. I knew I had to get the baby out of here, but I had no idea where to go, as I didn’t even know who was after me.
“You’re an awful lot of trouble, you know,” I said to the baby in my arms. I looked down at her and saw a hint of pinkish skin peeking out from the top of the bundle.
Remarkably, it looked like the baby had slept through everything. But then, babies could be like that. They always did seem to like movement.
“Who are you, little girl?” I asked. But, of course, there was no answer.
My arms ached worse than my legs. Carrying several pounds of baby was no small task. I set the bundle down on the ground next to me for just a moment, then propped myself up against the tree trunk again and rubbed my arms.
Instantly, I regretted the move. Sneaking tendrils of tree roots shot up out of the ground, wrapping themselves up and around baby Grace.
“No!” I cried.
I reached forward to snatch the baby, but something was holding me fast against the tree. Suddenly, I couldn’t budge. I looked behind me to see that a nearby tree branch had wrapped itself around my middle. The very forest had turned against me.
“You can’t have her!” I screamed. But it was no use. The tree had me held fast.
