What to Expect When You Have a Fae Baby (The Immortality Curse Book 2)

by Peter Glenn

  Then it started to squeeze. I felt the wind get forced out of my lungs, and I coughed it out as the tree branch wrapped itself even tighter around me, threatening to squeeze me in half. I fought and writhed, trying to push the branch off me, until another one wrapped itself around my left arm, pulling it backward.

  Searing pain shot through my arm, and I thought it was about to break, but that was the least of my concerns. My vision was starting to fade, and I saw spots form in my eyes. The tree was suffocating me. If I didn’t find a way to break its grasp soon, I was done for.

  I summoned forth all the energy I could and willed it into the gem on my right hand. I had been told never to use my magic outside of the training halls, but this was an emergency. Surely the fae rulers would understand.

  Blue fire filled the jewel on top of my hand, arcing outward and enveloping my entire arm. I pushed on the fire as hard as I could, and it spread out, engulfing the tree branch around my chest.

  The tree hissed, and I felt its grip weaken and finally let go.

  I fell to the ground, coughing and wheezing, my eyes searching for the baby bundle. I found it lying on the ground a moment later, encircled by a wave of blue flames. I snatched up the bundle and got back up to my feet, then ran for it.

  When I was several feet away, I turned and looked back at the small copse of trees. The entire thing was up in flames now, and the flames and smoke lapped high up into the sky. A fitting end for the tree spirit that had tried to kill me, but also a signal flare for anyone that might be following after.

  A shudder ran down my spine at the thought of more attackers coming my way. I had no choice. I ran harder, my legs and arms protesting every step of the way. I wasn’t even completely sure where I was going, just that it had to be far away from here.

  The bundle in my arms started to squirm, and I heard the baby let out a little wail. My guess was the previous commotion managed to wake her. I slipped the cover off her head and spared her a glance. Her little face was wrinkled up like a radish, and her mouth was moving, but her eyes were still closed.

  “Shh, little darling,” I said, rocking her a little as I ran. “Don’t want anyone to find us.”

  Not the most comforting thing to say to a baby, perhaps, but I wasn’t sure what else to say. “Momma’s here for you?” I was not the baby’s mother, and whoever she was, she was likely dead.

  Grace’s face muscles relaxed, and she stopped squirming a moment later. I let out a small breath of relief and kept going, returning my tired eyes to the path before me.

  Up ahead, the road forked right in front of a cliff. I made a mental picture in my head of where I was. There was a small town not too far off to the right full of pixies and brownies. A nice place overall, but my mother had told me not to trust anyone. So not there, then. But I needed to pick some destination. I couldn’t just run forever. My legs were already starting to give.

  Fine. Pixieville it was, then. I didn’t know the place’s actual name, as LaLuna never thought it, but that’s where I went. I wasn’t sure what kind of help we’d be able to get there, if any, but it was better than running alone forever.

  Somewhere behind me, I heard a rather loud yell and a crash as the ogre from earlier came back, sporting a fresh cut on his arm and looking none too happy.

  In retrospect, I wasn’t sure if he was actually after me or not, but when an angry ogre runs in your direction, you go the other way. So I bolted for the right-hand path, legs aching and chest burning as I pushed my body to the utmost limit.

  I could feel the ogre’s rancid breath on me now, breathing down on me and making beads of sweat break out all over my forehead, swimming down my face and threatening to blind me. His breath was terrible. I was pretty sure whatever he’d eaten this morning had been rotting for several days before he’d picked it up.

  The ogre raised his massive club in the air, blocking out the sun and poised to strike me down. His swing came so fast I didn’t even have time to dodge. The beast’s arms were surprisingly swift for his massive size.

  A huge whoosh of air propelled me forward from the club strike that missed my back by mere inches. I redoubled my efforts and reached the turnoff before he could ready himself for another swing.

  I sped around the fork in the road, practically diving for safety as the ogre tried to overtake me. He couldn’t slow down in time and ended stumbling forward, balancing precariously on the precipice with one foot while the other dangled over the edge. I flashed the ogre a toothy grin, and he raised his massive club to strike out at me again.

  Bad move. The weight of the club set him off balance, and he lost his footing. The last I saw of him, he was tumbling down the cliff face, shouting obscenities at me. Then he was gone.

  I allowed myself to slow down just a little to catch my breath and kept walking along the path. Another obstacle down.

  But as my breathing slowed and steadied, the reality of my situation started to set in. Yes, I’d managed to avoid two dangers thus far, but how many more were left? What else would I have to face to see Grace to safety? And where would safety even be?

  My mother hadn’t had time to leave me any real directions, and I had only traveled outside of the Guardian Training Center a handful of times. The fae realm was enormous. And dangerous, even to those that belonged there. I didn’t have any idea who I could turn to or who to trust.

  The courts, maybe? But which one, and the entrances were guarded and too far away to make it on foot. I supposed my mother didn’t really need to worry too much about me trusting anyone. Turns out I wouldn’t have known who to go to anyway.

  But if the fae realm wasn’t safe, then where would I go? Who would be able to help me with the baby? I’d never been a mother, but I knew babies needed food and shelter, of which I currently had access to neither. Not exactly a great start.

  A fleeting thought crossed my mind. Something my mother had mentioned once. What had it been? I couldn’t quite recall the memory.

  I shook my head to clear it. Whatever it had been, it was at best a longshot. There was nothing to it. I’d have to leave the fae realm. I’d just spend a few minutes resting and recuperating in Pixieville, then I’d find a portal to the Outer World.

  The path in front of me started to slope downward in slow, lazy circles, and my pace slowed down a bit to match its natural rhythm. Fortunately, the path was well maintained.

  Several minutes later, the path started to level out again and straighten out. I figured Grace and I were only an hour or so from town at most. Not too much longer, then, until we would have a bit of safety. I just had to hold on a little bit longer.

  “Hang on, Grace,” I said, patting the bundle in my arms. She was starting to get really heavy, and it was a strain to keep a hold of her, so I shifted her weight a little. It helped, but only for a moment. “I’ll get help for us soon, I promise.”

  I could have sworn I heard the baby coo even under the thick blankets. I smiled down at her and patted where the top of her head would be once more.

  A loud crack boomed right behind me, and the path came up to meet my eyes as I flew, weightless for a half second, through the air. I wrapped my arms around the baby even tighter to protect her as I slammed into the ground and rolled instinctively.

  Fresh pain shot through my shoulder as it skidded across the hard dirt. I scrambled to regain my footing and spun around to face where the blow had come from.

  My eyes went wide in amazement. A charred, smoking hole as wide as a person stood in the path where my body had just been. I looked myself over. I was dusty, and the scrape on my shoulder was bleeding, but I was mostly intact. The blow had missed me, just barely.

  I heard the sound of something whistling through the air as a massive fireball hurtled in my direction. I squeaked and rolled to dodge out of the way. This fireball careened into the dirt in front of me as well, leaving a similar hole.

  There was nothing for it, I had to run again. You couldn’t fight an enemy you couldn’t se
e, so there was no sense in hanging around.

  I scrambled to my feet and bolted, making sure to hug little Grace as tight as I could. I swayed a little as I ran, aiming for a zig-zag pattern to make myself a harder target. It seemed to be effective, as moments later, another fireball crashed into the ground next to me instead of taking me out.

  A spray of dirt and tree roots flew up into the air, clouding my vision for a moment, then I was well past the latest hole.

  The path before me turned sharply to the right, and the way forward opened up onto a large hill that sloped steeply downward. I turned to follow the path, but didn’t quite make it. Another massive fireball flew through the air, aiming for my right side, so I had to shift mid-stride and ended up heading straight for the hill instead.

  I tucked my head into my chest as best I could, wrapped my forearms around the baby bundle, and tried my best to turn my unexpected descent into a roll.

  Alternating patterns of grass and sky filled my vision as my head started to swim. Fresh waves of pain shot through my body as sharp bits of rocks and twisted roots lashed at my exposed skin, leaving me bruised and cut in a hundred different places.

  I thought the torture would go on forever, but eventually, my downward motion stopped with a loud thud. I tried my best to stand, but it was too much. I was wounded, and my left ankle was sprained badly. Possibly broken, it was hard to tell, but it didn’t look good from where I was sitting.

  My head swam, and I felt like I was going to lose the meager contents of my stomach, but I fought to stay conscious and alert.

  A moment later, my surroundings started to solidify. Pixieville sprawled out before me. I could make out several huts dug into the sides of the hills and cots hanging gently from the trees.

  It hadn’t happened quite the way I’d hoped, but I had reached the town. I breathed a small sigh of relief and unwrapped the baby bundle to check on her.

  She was very still, but she looked no worse for the wear. Was it part of her own latent magic that was keeping her safe from harm? It was possible, I supposed. I didn’t know anything about her except for her name. She could very well have protective magic.

  I brushed Grace’s cheek with my forefinger, and she smiled slightly up at me and reached out to grab it with one of her tiny, reddish-pink hands. Her touch was warm and comforting.

  The whole thing filled me with such joy that I almost forgot the peril we were in. Almost.

  I replaced the wrappings over Grace’s head and tried once more to summon the strength to stand. Every muscle in my body protested the action, and I felt hot blood ooze from a few fresh wounds, but I managed the feat at last, standing shakily on both feet.

  “What you got there?” a voice demanded from somewhere off to the side.

  I spun to face the voice. It was a brownie. Or at least, I thought it was one. She had sun-darkened skin and large, gossamer butterfly wings sprouting from her back that were brownish with a lazy, bluish-purple spiral pattern running through them. Her brown hair partially covered her dark, almost coal-black eyes. She was floating a few inches off the ground and smiling at me.

  “Thank the Fates,” I said, my voice cracking a little. “Please, I’m running for my life. Can you shelter me?”

  “Of course, darlin’,” the brownie said. She reached her hands toward me. “Here, let me take that little baby off ya.”

  I nodded slightly. “Um, sure, just let me...” my voice trailed off.

  A thought reverberated over and over in my head. Trust no one. LaLuna’s mother’s advice. Did that include this brownie? But what harm could she possibly want to do to me or the baby?

  The baby. How had the brownie known it was a baby? Had she seen her a moment earlier when I’d checked on her? But the area had been vacant at that time. I was sure of it. It was the only reason I’d checked on Grace. Then how?

  I wrenched the baby away from the brownie’s reaching arms and backed away a half step. “I’m sorry. I... I appreciate your offer, but I can’t–”

  Something sharp stuck into my back. I craned my neck a little to see another fae behind me. I couldn’t make much out, but this one had short, luminescent hair covering every inch of its body and those same dark, coal-black eyes. This one was carrying a spear, the point of which was currently digging into me, making a little hole.

  “Going somewhere, darlin’?” the hair-covered one said. It grinned at me as well.

  My blood ran cold. It was a trap. My eyes darted around, searching for an opening. I spotted a small copse of firs a little off to the right. Would it be safer than the last? There was only one way to know for sure.

  I sprinted, making sure to keep the baby held fast to my chest, and ran for the cover of the trees. I heard a few growls behind me, but didn’t dare to turn around and look.

  A fireball careened into the path in front of me, sending dirt and roots flying everywhere, obscuring my vision and blocking my path forward. It was all I could do to skid to a halt before I fell face first into the new hole it formed.

  “Just hand over the baby, and we’ll let you leave with your skin intact,” a third voice demanded.

  I turned to face it. It was the fireball-wielding chick. I was certain of it. She had reddish skin and bird-like wings sprouting from her back that went from a yellowish orange near her body and darkening to a blood red at the tips. Her face was elongated, almost like an alien’s, with giant eyes that barely seemed to fit on her head. In her hands, a fresh fireball waited, burning slowly.

  “Please,” I begged. “Please, it was my mother’s dying wish. I must... I must protect the babe.”

  Fireball Chick lowered her gaze and shook her head. “I was afraid you’d say that, darlin’.” She tsked. Her hand with the fire in it raised slightly into a menacing position as she looked up at me, eyes glowing a fierce red and a stern expression on her face. “We’ll just have to take her by force, then.”

  Her eyes trailed toward something behind me, and she nodded once.

  I spun to face the new threat. It was a pair of massive trolls that had appeared out of nowhere. There was fresh spittle in the corner of one’s mouth, like it was excited to eat me. Which I was sure it would do, after it mauled me with the spiked club it carried.

  My mind raced. I needed a way out, but I was surrounded by bloodthirsty fae.

  What would my mother have done, I wondered.

  Then it hit me. The memory from before. A rumor I'd heard bandied about several years ago. My mother had gone off to some party at a local tavern, and she had been running quite late. I went to the tavern to find her, even though she’d warned me to stay at home. I’d never been all that great at following the rules she’d set for me. I’d spotted her talking to a rather nervous-looking fae in a corner of the tavern.

  As I approached the pair, I’d heard a name whispered back and forth in reverence. Mei Wong. A dragon. One of the most dangerous of her kind. She had a sanctuary of sorts outside the fae realm. A place for weary souls where they could not be harmed.

  It wasn’t much to go on, but it was better than meeting a fiery or spiky end here and now.

  I clutched the baby harder against my chest and lowered my head, saying a silent prayer of repentance that I was using the magic I’d been granted again without permission. But what other choice did I have?

  The troll raised his spiky club high in the air and lunged toward me in the same instant that my surroundings started to fade as the magic went to work, surrounding me in a soft, blue light.

  Chapter Four

  MY BRAIN FELT LIKE it was in the middle of a deep fog, but at least I had returned to my own mind. Or at least, I was pretty sure it was mine. I couldn’t imagine LaLuna’s brain wondering about her own bosom.

  But I would. Gosh, it was good to be back in my own head.

  “Ugh,” I groaned. I held my head in one hand and rocked it gently back and forth to clear the fog. “What happened?”

  Mei’s beautiful mug was the first thing that I saw.
She was beaming at me something fierce. “Just a little memory spell, Damian,” she said with a wink. “Nothing serious.”

  I blinked a few times and turned to look at her. “A memory spell?” She nodded. “I had no idea those were so powerful.”

  “Well, it is fae magic. It is not for the faint of heart,” LaLuna’s voice said, breaking through the malaise in my head.

  A smile crept onto my lips, and I turned to look at her. Her wounds were healing fast with the aid of Mei’s healing bourbon, and she was starting to look much like she had in the mirror in my—or rather her—memories.

  “That so?” I quipped.

  LaLuna smiled at me. “Indeed, Sir Damian.”

  I waved a hand dismissively. “Please, it’s just Damian.”

  “Just Damian, then,” she said with a hint of a grin.

  Was she flirting with me? I couldn’t imagine that was the case. More likely, she just didn’t know much about human social norms. Yes, that made a lot more sense. It was obvious from the memories she’d shared with me that she didn’t know much of anything about humans or our world and had lived a very sheltered life.

  I was about to say something else to her when a shrill cry from behind me broke through the stillness in the room.

  “Grace!” we both said in unison, turning to look at her in Yuri’s arms.

  “Baby not happy,” the big man said.

  I rolled my eyes. That much was obvious.

  “What’s wrong?” LaLuna asked. She ran over and picked up the tiny baby girl, gently taking her out of the Russian’s arms. She rocked the baby back and forth a few times, and Grace seemed to calm down a little. “Shh, little one,” she said, caressing the baby’s cheek. “Mama’s here, girl.”

  Grace seemed to appreciate the gesture, even if it left me feeling a little confused. LaLuna wasn’t her mother. Even she knew that. So why use the phrase? But maybe it was just an attempt to keep her calm. I supposed that must be it.

  The baby remained calm for another moment or two, but then she broke into ear-splitting cries once more.