A hand pulled me back. Alec looked at me like I was crazy.
“What are you doing?” Concern was present in his voice, but something else too. Fear maybe?
I looked down at my hand. Red blotches were blossoming all along my pale skin, now more red than white.
Pain spiked through me. Pain I hadn’t even realized until I stopped looking at the fire.
“I don’t know.”
The others were already on the other side of the room, rushing to get away from the heat. Their blue skin was turning an ugly shade of green, like vomit colored. Yellow blemishes kept creeping up, tainting the blue hue of their normally pristine skin.
He shook his head, then pulled on my arm, to get me further from the fiery infernos.
We ran past the boilers, all hundred or so of them, as we reached for the exit. I turned back to sneak one last peak at the flames. Almost as if they could hear me, or feel me, they bursted up, reaching new heights along each pillar of water.
We went through the door, and when it shut, I couldn’t help feeling like I had just lost something. Like a part of me was just locked up, caged inside, unable to get out.
What the hell was wrong with me?
I looked down at my hand again, the angry burns staring back at me only reaffirmed in my mind that I was going crazy.
“We’re here,” Jon announced, turning to face us. The frog had escaped his voice, and he was talking normally again, though they all still looked off, paler than normal and like they all needed a weeks rest after a bad case of the flu.
He opened the door to his left, and we entered together.
I looked around, surprised by the sight.
“Well, this is not what I was expecting,” Alec murmured in my ear, his breath breaking through our magics.
“Yeah…you could say that.” I took a deep breath. “What the hell is this?”
Chapter Six
Enveloped: To encase an area within Muircadia with a barrier that expels the water, leaving it dry. It can be convenient for Fae, other than Sprites, to envelope an area. Though very few places in Lemuria are, many of the outer villages are enveloped, so that other Fae may come and go easier.
There were more Sprite’s than I had ever seen in one pace, all bundled together in this giant room. Cots lined the walls, and in the back I could see white sheets sectioning off rooms. A Sprite came out from behind one of the curtains, blood on her hands, only to grab some gauze and rush back inside.
Almost all of the Sprite’s were injured in one way or another. Some held their faces, blood oozing out. Others were covered in burns, all over their hands and faces. Many were covered in gauze, wrapped up like mummies trying to hold themselves together. Some adorned casts on their arms and legs.
So many were crying. Children gathered together, being consoled by older women. To the left, men were gathered around tables and tables of weapons that looked mostly familiar, though some I had never seen before.
Lynn looked like she was gagging, until I realized she was only trying to hold in the tears. This was her home. Her love.
“How can it be this bad?” Her voice was a mere murmur, a prayer, a cry for help born from confusion and anger. “How could we let it get this far?”
But no one had the answers.
A male Sprite walked up, heading straight for us. He was the tallest Sprite I’d seen, making me a dwarf in comparison. His onyx hair slicked back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. And he had a scar, deep and angry looking, from the tip of his chin up to hairline.
“Jon, you made it.” They reached for each other, embracing. “Did you have any trouble?”
“No. Thank you for sending the kelpie.” The other Sprite nodded, as he placed his hand on Jon’s shoulder. “You need to rest before we can do anything.”
“Of course.” He turned around and shouted, “Sue!” His voice carried across the room, as he called out. A tiny woman came up behind him, scurrying around reminding me of a frightened rat. She even looked rat-like, her nose long and skinny, and her other features tiny and pinched together. “Can you show them to the resting rooms, please?”
“Of course.” She turned to look at us, “Please follow me.”
We did, everyone sauntering off, exhausted from the journey.
“Alec. Lily. We have separate rooms that would better accommodate you.” Jon’s words stopped us. Rooms just for us? “They are near where I will stay, you can follow me.”
“Of course,” Alec answered for the both of us. I didn’t think my voice would work if I tried to make it. I couldn’t understand the devastation surrounding us. Moans and groans of pain whispered through the water, knocking on my magic, trying to bury its feelings of guilt and remorse deep within the confines of my heart.
We walked closer to the men and women busying themselves with weapons. Liam was already with them, apparently not in need of rest. He was handling what looked like a sword, except it had two blades, one longer than the other.
We entered a hallway, doors lining the walls on both sides. After a few minutes, Jon and his friend stopped walking and turned to us.
“These next few rooms are enveloped. You should be able to rest better here.” He knocked on the door, before opening it. As the door swung in, I could see the familiar water-wall barrier that had surrounded the smaller villages. I released the breath I hadn’t realized I had been holding in. “Yes, I didn’t think this one was taken. You can stay here. I’ll be just across the hall.”
“Thank you,” I told him, because even if he didn’t realize how much this meant to me, I still had to tell him. The expenditure of magic it took to hold these waters back was taking more than a toll on me.
“We’ll convene in the evening, after dinner. That should give us several hours of rest. Put it to use, please. We need you both focused and coherent.” That last part he said to Alec, and then made some weird face. Whatever that was supposed to mean.
We walked in, and as soon as my eyes landed on the bed, it called to me, pulling me forward. I plopped down on the bed, face first, burying my face within the covers. I took a deep breath and released my hold on the magic covering every inch of me. I allowed my brain to relax, finally.
The thin film withdrew, leaving my skin free to breathe the air once more. Well, the lack of real air. But it was better than having to hold the magic bubble around me.
Alec flopped down beside me, on his back, and I watched as his magic withdrew as well. I stretched, my arms going above my head, loosening my bones and joints. Alec scooted along the bed, making his way up to the top.
He patted the side beside him, beckoning me. I got up on my knees crawled over to him, leaning beside him, in his open arms.
He wrapped his arms around me, spooning with me. I pulled my hair to the side, so it wouldn’t be in his face, and he placed his lips on my neck. Shocks of fire raced from the spot where he kissed me, down, down throughout my body.
I started to turn toward him, hoping for more of those kisses, but he held me still.
“Jon was right. We need sleep. Nothing more.” He kissed the back of my head as I sighed. “Sleep, we can talk and stuff tomorrow.”
“And stuff…” I murmured as my eyelids already fought to stay down, against my will.
Within seconds, I fell asleep to the sound of his snoring.
I woke to a burning in my hand. Forcing my eyes open, I looked at it, the red blotches from before had turned an ugly brown-pink that lashed out at me in angry pain.
Alec stirred beside me; his warm arm pulled me closer to him. I could feel him, smell him, and I smiled. His body was fit so close to me, like two pieces of puzzle that were made for each other. My back was firm against his hard chest, and his legs were still bent right next to mine. We fit perfect.
His hand started moving, trailing lazy circles and designs on my stomach. Sparks flew through me, zinging up and down…and way down. Down deep into my heart, and further down, below my stomach, warming parts of me th
at only ever warmed around him.
The pain in my hand forgotten, I turned around to face him. He smiled down at me before leaning forward and kissing my nose. I ran my uninjured hand along his arm, feeling each and every ripple of muscle along it, before reaching his face. He shuddered under my touch, his eyes closing in sweet pleasure.
Looking at him, my breath caught in my throat. He really was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen. His jaw was squared and strong. His nose just slightly off, but sharp. His blond hair circled around his head, little pieces drifting down, shading his eyes. And then he opened them, and looked back at me. Those eyes. Green and swimming, they called to me.
His finger trailed down my cheek, sending tingles down my body. His hand dropped lower, sliding down my arm, and over to my stomach, before grabbing my back and pulling me closer to him. Our legs tangled together.
The moment was charged, the atmosphere on fire.
“You are so beautiful.”
And then he kissed me. His lips barely brushed against mine, softer than a whisper. I leaned into him, loving the feel of his lips on mine. But then he pulled away, only to drop his mouth lower. He trailed delicate, soft kisses along the same spot he’d just touched.
He kept going, shocking me with each touch of his lips to my neck, to the skin just under my ear, to my ear lobe…He was fire in my veins. I pushed my body closer to his. Warmth gathered in my chest and in the lowest pits of my stomach.
I thought…finally. Finally it will happen. I was more than ready. More than anything I was ready to be with him the way two people come together in the most beautiful and intimate act of unity. Because I wanted that. And I wanted it with him.
I reached my hands along his hips, pulling his shirt up, touching his chest and every rippling muscle beneath it. I tugged, hoping he would get the picture.
But then he took a deep breath, pushing my hand down, he rolled over to his back.
I lay next to him, breathing harder than I should’ve been, harder than when we were running in the dark. My heart pounded against my chest, trying to break free, to be with him.
I sighed.
He rolled to his side to look down at me. “We should get up and get some food before the meeting.”
“Why? I mean, we could stay for a few more minutes, or hours.” I said, while staring at the ceiling, which was also blue, like everything else in Muircadia.
He kissed my temple. I looked over at him, his eyes were dark, a hunger in them I knew matched my own. I reached for his face, but as he saw my hand coming, he grabbed it.
“I didn’t realize it was so bad.” He turned and reached into the abscondita, still hooked to his belt, and pulled out a little cylindrical container.
I looked down at my hand again, it was pretty bad, and now that he brought it up, all my focus was on the pain radiating up from my hand.
“Here,” he said, reaching for my hand. “Let me help.”
I placed my hand in his, as he rubbed some salve on it.
“It’ll be fine,” I told him.
“Why did you do it?” His voice was still husky from the kissing fun, and only made me want to kiss him more.
“I don’t know.” I cleared my throat. “I really don’t know.”
He looked up at me, searching for some hidden answer, before tending to my hand once more.
“I mean, I didn’t mean to get that close. It was just so pretty. And I umm…” I didn’t know what to say.
“It looked like you were making the fire grow,” he murmured, not taking his eyes from my hand. I could feel the dead layers of skin come off, allowing the new skin beneath to breathe once more.
“Yeah…it did look like that.” I looked down, finally closing my eyes and trying to disappear. I still didn’t know what that meant. The only other Pixie I knew was a murderous bitch that was dead…and my mother I guess, but she’s dead too. My heart ached for her even more than it always did. I needed my mother, my best friend, not just because she was my mother, but because she would have answers to questions I never knew I had before.
I seriously needed some answers about this Pixie blood in me.
He wrapped up my hand, and then we took turns showering before heading to dinner. Afterwards, we all gathered together in a room, which very much resembled the meeting room we used at the other base.
There were more than just the ten of us who came present. Several faces I didn’t recognize. Some that I had seen when we first came in though. Jon’s partner appeared to be the leader of this group, though, as he stood to the front, everyone looking to him with hopeful eyes.
“Thank you all for coming. I’m sure you have noticed the new additions to our group here, including the infamous Sylph Realm Guard called Alec, and his companion, heir to the Throne of the Empyrean, Princess Lily Volante.” He paused as everyone around the room nodded and smiled toward us.
“I’d like to…” he started again, before someone cut him off.
“Is it true that you killed the other Mortem members?” It was the same mousey woman from before. I think her name was Sue. She glared at us, skepticism in her eyes. “The story has been spreading like a storm across our villages, and now that I see you, I just find it so hard to believe. You don’t look like anything special to me. And it seems less likely that you participated at all.”
My wings burst forth at the accusation. I hadn’t meant them to, but any time I was angered, excited, or really felt any strong emotion they came out. It already felt unnatural to hold them in all the time, I really had no idea how Alec did it, always acting like it wasn’t a big deal.
They sent a shudder through the room, blowing the stale, non-existent air around us, blowing my hair forward into my face. At my outburst, Alec’s wings shot out too, his spicy aura filling me up, eliciting even more fiery emotions.
The look on her face satisfied me. I doubted che’d ever seen a Sylph in true form before. I would bet my eyes were bright orange, flaming with passion, and I already knew, without having to look at him, that Alec was a formidable sight to see.
The others around us looked more in awe, than shock, and that too made me fill with pride at my new wings, at who I am.
“I can guarantee that every single member of the Mortem is dead, beheaded, save for this last one called Xan,” I told her, my voice strong and imposing. “And I can also tell you, that I don’t appreciate the implication that I have ever lied. Or any one that I stand with. We are here to help, not only the Sprites and your Muircadia, but to rid our land of Mastikh and all his followers.”
As I spoke I could feel the importance of what I said. The rightness. My determination flared inside me, making me stand strong.
She nodded, and then looked down, ashamed. I ignored the stares as I leaned back, shifting my wings to hang over the back of the chair.
I glanced at Alec, his smile showed how proud he was of me, his features oozed sexy satisfaction. I tried to hide the smug smile that forced its way onto my face.
“Sorry, Frank, for my interruption,” Sue whispered.
Frank cleared his throat. Jon only smiled beside him.
“Well then, as I was saying, I’d like to educate everyone on our target before we put our plans into motion. Let us truly understand who Xan is before we set out to find him.”
Who Xan is…
He’s a killer. I needed no other information. Other than his location, of course.
Chapter Seven
The Dip: An area in Lemuria where the ground dips lower than any other point in the village. Normally only spoiled Fae live or even near the area at all.
“Xan was one of the first Mortem members. He grew up, as most Nymph do, in Ardennes with a loving family and friends surrounding him. He trained with the Guard, following in his father’s footsteps.
“When his father and uncles were found guilty of treason, they were killed, leaving him to care for his ailing mother and younger siblings. Though, due to the line of succession and recent deaths, he
was in line for Lordship.
“It quickly became apparent, that he had no desire to be Lord of Ardennes, when he chose to leave it altogether, venturing into the Mortal Realm. We haven’t been able to determine exactly why he left the Empyrean, but we do know that he was gone for over a century before returning alone, his family all in the Outer Realm.
“It was after he returned that he began working for the king again, as a Royal Guard. After being granted a short reprieve, only a month of time off, that he returned once again to Ardennes and started the group we now call the Mortem.
“Together the first three Mortem members earned their infamous prestige by working jobs that others would never do, as mercenaries. Though, they made it known they wouldn’t only kill their targets. They often tortured them for hours, sometimes days and weeks, before finally killing them.
Frank looked over at Jon, just briefly before clearing his throat. “After a while, they recruited two more members, and continued their ruthless hunt for blood.”
“I think that’s the basics.”
Then Jon took over. “We know after listening to accounts from survivors that recently he has not been partaking in the torturing of their subjects. He appears to not care very much about anything at all. And we know that when Lynn's group finally located them, killing the other members, that he did not stay to help them.
“This is important, as it shows that he still holds no ties to any other Fae. It shows how his survival is really the only thing he still cares for.”
Frank spoke again. “It's also important to note, that since the other Mortem members have fallen, he has not appeared to take on any new targets.”
“So, the point of this lesson is to let us know what, exactly?” I chimed in, my aggravation showing. “That he used to be a normal guy, but isn’t anymore? That he is selfish and cares for no one? How does this help us?”
“It's important to know your enemy,” Jon answered, though I had really addressed my question to Frank. “It's important to recognize when your enemy has no apparent weakness. Nothing to live for, nothing to fight for.”
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