by J. S. Malcom
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
EPILOGUE
Realms of Fire and Shadow: Fae Witch Chronicles Book 3
J. S. Malcom
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In Faerie, magical power means everything. Keeping it means finding the key.
After barely escaping with my life, returning to Faerie is the last thing I want to do. But my mission has grown only stronger now that I’ve sworn to save more held trapped in that realm. If only I know about their fate, then I'm sure as hell going to save them. Even if it means returning to hell.
The upside is I now know where Julia is being kept. The downside is she’s being used as bait by the High Mage. Meanwhile, the Seelie are losing their stranglehold on magical power, as the realm destabilizes around them. Which only makes them more dangerous in their quest to regain immortality. There’s both fighting in the streets and search parties on the hunt. I soon learn those men are hunting for me. My only hope is taking refuge with more of the hunted, the rebel faction plotting to take back magical power. They need me and I need them. But there’s another who needs me too, the intoxicating fae lord who hasn't forgotten what passed between us. It may be that his power over me proves too hard to resist. But how can I know if he wants me for who I am, or because of the magic that may lay hidden within me? Because if I’m the one foretold in the prophecies, I may hold the fate of three realms in my hands.
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
EPILOGUE
CHAPTER 1
Moments ago, I was chilly and pulling my hood up against the rain. Now, as I walk beside Cade, the stars shine above and a mild breeze caresses my face. Both would be pleasant enough, except the sudden shift in atmosphere only serves to remind me that I've once again entered a different realm. One not truly meant for humans, and with just a misty bridge separating me from that other realm I so narrowly escaped.
I knew I'd be back, of course. At least to Faerie, if not Silvermist. There’s never been a choice. I couldn't possibly forget that Julia remains trapped, nor could I forget the unspoken promise I made to Helen, Lily and Mitch. These were never options. Still, I’d be lying to myself not to admit that I've remained terrified at the thought of returning. More frightened than I've ever felt at the prospect of facing vampires, demons or even body snatchers. Those creatures, I’ve faced on my terms, in my own realm, where my powers as a veil witch have afforded me a level playing field. Like last time, I have no idea what to expect from what lies ahead. I only know it can’t be good.
Still, first things first, and I turn to Cade. “What have you heard? Where’s Julia?”
Cade nods as we keep walking, obviously not surprised to be getting right down to business. “At the palace. At least, we’re pretty sure.”
I’ve been back in Silvermist for mere minutes and already my mind teems with questions. “Who’s we?” I say. “How can you be sure? Hang on, there’s a palace?”
Cade glances over, shrugging to underscore what he says next. “It’s kind of a long story. I should probably just start at the beginning.”
“Okay. Sorry.” I glance up as a meteor streaks across the sky, blazing bright and tinged with hues of orange and green. It’s the second I’ve seen since we’ve been walking, and I’m curious, but it will have to wait.
“Don’t be sorry,” Cade says. “I get it. The whole mess is confusing as hell. Okay, so after it happened, you know, that thing in the alley—”
He only gets that far before I interrupt him again. “What the hell was that? Did you know that could happen?”
“Well, technically, yes.” Cade rubs the back of his neck, possibly due to stress, or maybe because his head still hurts from when those guys knocked him out with a club.
After a week of concern for him, and a million times hoping he wasn’t dead, I’m suddenly pissed off. I can’t help it. “Do you think you should have mentioned that? Do you have any idea what I went through?”
Cade winces. “Kind of. Not all of it. Sorry.”
I shake my head in disbelief. “Sorry?”
“Well, I mean, that sort of thing doesn’t usually happen in Gorgedden. Usually, we’re safe there. Relatively speaking, of course.”
I narrow my eyes. “Of course.”
“Well, what I mean is, that’s more the kind of thing you’d expect if you wandered into Seelie territory. Those guys must have been getting paid a lot to take a risk like that. As you can imagine, the Unseelie don’t take kindly to anyone caught trafficking captives to the Seelie.”
This time I scowl at him. “Great. I’ll take comfort in knowing that.”
“Honestly. I should just start at the beginning.”
I try to ignore another meteor, this one tinged blue and yellow. “Okay sure. Please start at the beginning.”
We turn a corner onto the main street running through Silvermist, or at least the part of it I’ve seen before. Light spills from the windows of businesses as people walk along in pairs and groups. A few ride slowly by on horses. None seem worried, or in any particular rush.
Cade too looks around, as if distracted. “Where to begin?” he says.
I grit my teeth. “At the beginning.”
Despite the edge to my voice, he laughs. “Right, sorry. The beginning. Let’s see if we can make that happen.” He takes a deep breath, and then exhales. “Okay, so that thing happened in the alley. One of those guys sapped me, and when I woke up you were gone. Don’t get me wrong. I totally freaked out but, to be honest, part of me felt pretty sure you’d be okay. I mean, if you’re the one from the proph—” Cade clears his throat. “Never mind. We’ll get to that later.”
My non-pointy ears definitely prick up at that one, but I decide to hear Cade out.
“The only thing I could think of was that we told Revlen we’d meet her in the morning. Remember her?”
I do, of course. “The rebel cell leader.”
Cade looks around. “I know we’re not in Faerie, but you might want to keep it down. Anyway, yeah, her. Remember that guy Ecubon she mentioned? Wel
l, he showed up as promised and Revlen asked him about your friend. Turns out he saw a girl matching her description being taken through town about two weeks ago.”
Those images from before rise within my mind again—captives tied to horses, terrified and humiliated as they’re paraded through town.
“I’m sorry,” Cade says. “I know this can’t be easy to hear. But, hopefully, she’s okay. Your friend, Julia. See, here’s the thing—Ecubon said she was brought in by Vintain himself. He got word that she was taken to the palace. So, what I’m thinking is that she must be considered valuable. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be there.”
Two things click into place for me. The first is that I’ve heard that name before. Vintain. Raakel’s husband mentioned that he and his men were the ones looking for me. The other is that Cade must be right. Julia is valuable, because she’s bait.
“Vintain,” I say under my breath, committing his name to memory this time.
Cade assumes I’m speaking to him. “Right, Vintain. High Mage, advisor to the Queen. Tall albino bastard who rides out sometimes with the Royal Guard to intimidate the lowly masses. You might remember him from when we ran for our lives and hid in the sewer.”
So that’s Vintain. I do remember him, of course. I’ll never forget that scene, when the fanfare sounded and those men rode in on their horses, their leader targeting that couple for humiliation. I never saw his face, but I remember the way the hairs rose on the back of my neck, and that undeniable sense of familiarity.
In my heart I know, but I ask just to be sure. “Does he have a scar?”
“Down the side of his face,” Cade says. “Ironic, isn’t it? The Seelie are vain as hell, but all the magic in the world won’t take a scar like that away, because magic put it there. At least, that’s the story. Some other mage did that to him.”
“That was Grayson.” Again, I say it more to myself than to Cade.
Cade touches me on the shoulder. “Are you okay?”
The real answer is, Not really. Not at all. My blood boils at just the thought of him, and what he did to Julia. Not to mention Lauren Flannery, and who could guess how many more.
But what I say is, “I’m fine.”
“Okay, good. I’m sure you’ve been through a lot. But, yeah, I’ve been thinking it had to be him. Especially given the level of magic you described. They can do a lot using changelings, but full-on magic? Teleportation? That’s a far cry from run of the mill spying and creeping about. To channel that kind of power, you’d have to be a mage.”
Which, come to think of it, has to be the only thing Grayson wasn’t lying about. No, not Grayson. He was the old man who toppled over dead in a doorway, his life stolen. The man I knew—the creature I knew—is called Vintain.
Once again, I consider this ability of the fae—at least the Seelie fae—to exist in our world using changelings. Given the extent of what they appear capable of experiencing in that form, I have to wonder why they ever bothered inhabiting our realm physically. Greed, I guess. Power. That seems to be what they’re about.
“Unfortunately, by the time I found out about your friend, you were already gone,” Cade says, snapping me out of my reverie. “Revlen’s people had no idea who those guys were who abducted you, nor where you might have ended up. So, I was pretty much stuck.”
I almost interrupt him again to say, You were stuck? But I decide to let it slide.
“I spent a couple days searching for you,” Cade says. “I didn’t have any luck, obviously. After that, I kept hopping back and forth between the human realm and Faerie. I figured, if you escaped, you probably wouldn't come back to Silvermist. I mean, I guess you could have if you'd wanted to, but it didn't seem likely. Besides, I knew Isaac and Sloane would step in if you showed up. Anyway, I was right. You went back home, and here we are again.”
I see the oval wooden sign for the Rowan and Thistle hanging above the sidewalk up ahead, so I guess that must be where we're heading.
“Speaking of which,” I say. “Why are we here? Wouldn't it make more sense to be in Faerie?” A chill ripples down my spine just thinking about the place, enough so that I shudder.
“First, because you have to be careful where and when you enter Faerie,” Cade says. “Things have been heating up fast over there. Also, I should probably check in with Isaac and Sloane, not to mention Hellhound.”
That one gets a double-take. “You haven't checked on your dog in two weeks?”
We stop outside the door to the bar. “Technically, Hellhound isn't my dog. I'm more his adopted half-human. Besides, Isaac and Sloane look after him too. They pretty much have to, the big mooch.”
We enter the tavern, and as we cross through the room I don't look to see if people stare at me. I've got bigger fish to fry than to worry about whether I'm giving off an outsider vibe. Desdemona, on the other hand, I can't help but notice, since she's already staring daggers my way. Damn, that pixie doesn’t miss a trick, and apparently she’s a champion at holding a grudge.
We claim a couple of barstools and Melanie nods from where she stands at the beer taps filling a couple of mugs, to let us know she sees us.
“Where was I?” Cade says.
I try to think back through his scattered narrative. “You kept going back and forth between realms.”
Cade nods. “Oh, right. That's how I found out about—”
“How are you guys tonight?”
Melanie wipes down the bar while Desdemona spins a couple of coasters out in front of us. Naturally, she glares at me. I swear, if Jerome and Bobby ever drag her back to the Cauldron again, I will seriously kick their asses.
“Pretty good,” Cade says. “A pint of Oberon for me, please.”
Melanie turns her attention to me. “So, you came back.”
It's hard to say how she feels about that, but I just say, “Couldn't stay away.”
She cracks a smile. “Yeah, that's pretty much how it works. Once you know it's here, Silvermist can be pretty addictive.”
Yeah, it's a great place, other than it being a gateway to Hell. I do my best to scrounge up a smile too. “I guess I'll have an Oberon too, please.”
Because how could we possibly set out to save my best friend without stopping off first for a beer? I'm starting to wonder if Cade might be both a thief and a lush. Although, maybe he needs to keep himself partly numb to stay sane. I can’t really blame him, considering how much crazy shit he seems to deal with on a regular basis.
Melanie goes to get our beers, Desdemona flips me off, and I turn to Cade before we lose the thread again. “That's how you found out…” I look at him expectantly.
For a moment, Cade stares at me blankly. Then he makes the connection. “Oh, right. That's how I found out that you freed a freaking changeling!” Heads turn at his sudden outburst, and he lowers his voice again. “You realize that's never happened before, right?”
I shrug. “Beginner's luck, I guess.”
Cade stares at me for a moment, as if waiting for me to say more. When I don't, he continues. “Somehow word got out about it too. Revlen said Lady Ferntree, or whatever the hell her name is, was totally freaking out. Of course she was. She not only lost two slaves—she also let a fugitive slip right through her fingers. On top of that, you made her husband look like a total fool. There Vintain was looking all over the place for you, and you were right there under his nose the entire time.”
It's not news to me that I was being searched for, although the reminder doesn't exactly improve my mood, considering where we’re going. All the same, I use it to segue back to Julia.
“So, Vintain. Does he live at the palace?”
Cade sips his beer and nods. “He's part of the court, definitely.”
“And I suppose there must be a king and queen, and all that?”
“Just a queen,” Cade says. “High Queen Abarrane.”
I slug back more of my own beer, disgusted. “High Queen Abarrane? Isn't that a bit redundant?”
Cade laughs. �
��Right, there's no low queen. In fact, there aren't any other queens at all. Not since the Winter Court prevailed in the war for magic.”
Why doesn't this surprise me? “Let me guess, a war fought with magic to see who got control of the magic.”
A smile tugs at Cade’s lips. “I see you're getting the picture. The Seelie definitely lack a sense of irony.”
I heave out a sigh. “Irony is a difficult sensibility to manage when your entire existence centers on self-importance.”
Despite my tone, Cade laughs. “Exactly. Apparently, you've already mastered the subject of Seelie nobility. That was fast.”
Cade raises his mug and I clink mine against his, although I'm not sure what we're drinking to. Absurdity? Futility? Desperation and hatred? Take your pick.
“I had something of a crash course,” I remind him. “Thankfully, I was able to graduate within a week. And by graduate, I mean barely escape with my life. Which reminds me, what was that thing you said before? Well, that thing you almost said. I could have sworn you were about to say prophecy, but I'm sure I must have gotten that part wrong.”
Cade lifts his eyebrows as he hesitates, but then says, “Don’t freak out or anything. I’ve been trying to find a way to tell you for a while now.”
Desdemona, I notice, is hovering a bit too close for my comfort. So, she’s a nosy little creature too. I narrow my eyes at her and she flitters back over to where Melanie is talking to some customers. I turn back to Cade again. “Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like this part?”
Not that there’s been a part I’ve actually liked so far.
Cade lowers his voice. “To be honest, until now I haven’t been sure. Although, like I said, if it was true, I figured you weren’t likely to end up spending the rest of your life as Lady Fernpot’s kitchen bitch. But then you managed to achieve the impossible.”
He stares at me intently, as if waiting for me to say something. “Are we talking about freeing Ellie again? Because obviously that wasn’t impossible. I did it.”
Cade nods emphatically. “My point entirely. For anyone else, in the history of Faerie, reversing one of their changeling spells has been impossible. Apparently, that doesn’t apply to you.”
