He kept on shouting, but it was all in Fae. I might have the same level of terror if I stepped into a nest of poisonous snakes by accident. I guess these guys had mixed me up with the rest of the harmless humans.
No point hiding it now. I used my snowflake to peel off my glamour, slipping out of my too-tight boots. The pants and shirt were staying even if they revealed inches of wrists and ankles that had been covered before my transformation.
The horses stopped walking. The wagon stopped moving. The prisoners stopped talking. The Fae started shouting louder and faster.
I smiled. Falin had given me plenty of unintended tutelage. It was as evil as the day was bright. I wasn’t just a Halfling. I was a Dark Elf and these fairies were going to regret imprisoning me.
“Let me go now with my brothers and the rest of these human slaves and I will spare your lives,” I said, appreciating the deeper voice that came with my change. It was a bit gruff with my dry throat, even better.
Some idiot guard tried to poke another shocking stick at me. I growled and ducked to the center of the cage, not wanting to end up in convulsions if I touched that thing when it was activated, even just to knock it away.
“You’re a long way from home, Halfling. I bet it took all of your baby magic to break the binding,” another voice mocked, English accented but understandable.
I wasn’t going to try to fool them I was all powerful, although I had a feeling my particular type of Fae was feared more than most others, even amongst the other Dark Fae. I had another threat up my sleeve that was scarier, especially if these Light Fae had heard about the events that took place here a few weeks ago.
“Have you seen any dragons lately?” I asked.
The Fae looked at each other. Bingo.
“Not since the east woods were hazed during a scrabble,” the mocking guard said, sounding less confident.
“A fight over a female?” I innocently asked. Hint, hint.
“It was over the Light Fae kingship,” another guard corrected me.
“Oh, Aeric was annoyed when they kidnapped me with his Mark on my neck,” I explained.
There was some rapid fire Fae exchanged.
“Show us the Mark,” the closest guard told me. I had counted a dozen total, lazily checking out my surroundings as they conversed. All of them were blonde, thin and tall.
“Open the door,” I counter-offered. Bargaining was practically in Fae blood.
“Should we provide you a horse as well?” said the mocking guard again.
“Everyone is locked up in here except for me and the horses are attached to the wagon, not to mention that there are so many of you strapping lads to keep an eye on me. If you’re afraid I’m too Dark for you, just admit it,” I retorted.
More Fae was exchanged. I yawned openly, winking at the mocking guard when he caught me. He quickly turned to the others and the rapid fire of Fae would have been indecipherable even if I was more fluent. My tongue brushed one of my fangs as I closed my mouth and I wondered if that was what all the fuss was about.
Time for a tactic change. These guys really were too afraid to ever let me out. Perhaps they had judged me by the weapons I had been packing. Now that they could see my Dark side, it put the pointy objects in a new perspective.
“My bum hurts from all the bumps and I have to pee,” I whined, crossing my legs together, helplessly.
“How many Marks do you have?” asked another of the Fae guards that hadn’t talked to me yet. He had either heard more about what happened to the Light King’s army or was smarter than the rest.
I held out my hand and slowly started counting out loud. I heard some gasps once I got started on the second hand. “Uh, well it depends on what you count as a Mark,” I said to them with a cheshire smile instead of providing a number.
“A bite on your neck, lass,” defined another guard, almost sweetly. He reminded me a little of Loren, and I bet he was softer with the females than the other guards. I would try not to pulverize him.
“Oh,” I said, fluttering my eyelashes and looking down as if embarrassed, hands reaching up to cover my neck. It had been mostly hidden by my new, long dark locks that came with my transformation. “There were so many, but they promised me sharing was normal and taking a dozen at a time was the way any good orgy works. I thought we were saving Faerie by making more babies!”
The sweet guard blushed better than I ever would as he cleared his throat. Jackson was making a choking sound. Ah, crap.
“Get out,” the mocking guard ordered. Maybe he was in charge. I directed my fluttering lashes at him, reluctantly, walking over to the cage door with the twins not far behind me. “Just you, Darkling. Open your mouth. I want another look at those fangs.”
I bared them in a toothy grin that promised bite. “Don’t you have fangs of your own?”
“The only females with fangs are Dark Elves,” the sweeter guard explained, staring.
I felt a bit like a freak show, not missing the pointed looks from the closest guards. The warning Falin and Aeric had once given me to hide my fangs was proving justified.
“We have to keep the merchandise sorted,” the mocking guard said, reaching in with one of his hands to finger my chin and pull my mouth open further. I barely tolerated it, eyes flicking up to his as I shot him a look of hate.
I snapped my teeth after a few seconds, shrugging off his touch. “Do you sort us by hair colour? Sex? The ability to walk around with a stick up the ass?” I snarked at him. “If so, I think I’m already on the right side of the door. I’m not leaving without my brothers.”
The sonofabitch shocked me with a stick to the belly while he held my angry gaze. “Pull her out by her hair and shock her again if she tries any magic,” he suggested as I fell back and convulsed in Jackson’s arms. He repeated his order in Fae so I’m sure the English was meant for me.
“Tit-for-tat,” Matthew said and leaped forward to yank the shocking stick from the mocking guard that had hit me before he could pull his stick back out of the cage door.
Matthew immediately went into convulsions beside me but mine had already settled. The stick fell on my belly without harm and I hugged it to me, Jackson pulling me backwards. He reached down and pulled his convulsing twin with us by a firm tug on the collar of his shirt.
I held the stick with the business end out and the closest Fae guards scrambled backwards. My crackle of glee was met by a few cat calls and what I presumed were Fae insults from some of my fellow inmates.
“That’s right boys, here’s Johnny,” I said to add to the confusion.
Matthew laughed. I guess he did watch some old movies. I’m sure I looked crazy enough to take on the iron door all on my own.
Now where was the activation switch on my shocking stick?
My lessons on Fae magic so far had consisted of feeling for a snowflake and speaking a nursery rhyme, or anything else that I found easy to remember, and I used it mostly on spells that were already set like my glamour. Opening the door to Faerie had been rough, and I had no idea how I actually broke my magic cuffs.
Snowflake, cold, not hot rage. Deep breaths. Can’t close my eyes to focus, gotta watch the sneaky Fae.
“It’s glowing,” Jackson whispered.
I hoped glowing was scary. If this stupid thing started granting wishes fairy godmother style, I was going to snap it in half and use the sharp ends to start poking eyes out. I shared my plan with Matthew and he shuddered.
“Seriously?” I said. The twins had been swinging around swords bigger than my arm earlier. That kind of activity could lead to decapitation, much bloodier.
“It’s the eyes. I don’t like the squishy-”
“I know!” I interrupted him, not wanting him to finish that disgusting sentence. “Like when you’re looking through the security hole of a door, what if somebody pokes your eyeball and then breaks in?”
“What?” Jackson said in his ‘you’re actually crazy’ voice.
I held my hand up vertic
ally over my nose and turned to Matthew. “Self defense 101, use your hand to block them from blinding you,” I said, showing him.
Matthew looked confused. “It’s not an actual hole in the door, there’s focusing glass.”
Jackson laughed. “That only works for two-fingered pokes. Who taught you that?”
More Fae from the guards interrupted my brilliant response of cartoons. They were inching closer, even the nicer guy. Maybe I would have to pulverize him after all. One of the younger looking guards that hadn’t talked to me suddenly took off running, heading the opposite direction we had been going.
“Don’t burn your stick out before we reach King Selvyth’s camp, Darkling,” the mocking guard told me, still keeping far enough from the cage bars that I couldn’t appropriately respond.
A couple other Fae hopped onto the front of the wagon pulling us and got the horses started walking again, turning them to follow the running Fae that had already disappeared. The rest of the Fae walked a safe distance around our moving cage.
“Selvyth? Isn’t that the Fae that kidnapped you last time?” Matthew whispered. “He’s a king?”
“Light King,” I admitted.
“Why does he want you so bad?” Jackson asked.
“Honestly, I don’t think he wants me, although the destruction of his camp might warrant a little revenge.”
“Why kidnap you the first time, then?” Jackson pushed.
“It wasn’t about me,” I answered, just repeating what I had been told by Kheelan. He should know since he was the one to practically hand me over to the Light Fae soldiers. “I was bait.”
“Bait for Dain?” Matthew guessed.
If only, then I might be able to rely on a rescue. Now, I was wondering if anyone was coming after us at all. Perhaps I had overestimated my value to my Fae Marks, again. Falin and Eloden had been partial to me, but Dain was in charge and he might not be ready to rush back into Faerie to rescue me once more, especially as my usefulness had been exploited already.
“I was bait for Aeric. It was a family affair,” I said, shaking my head in dismissal. I really didn’t want to get into it.
Jackson looked more confused.
“Kheelan and Aeric are the brothers,” Matthew clarified.
Jackson might not have Matthew’s memory for faces but he was by no means stupid. It wouldn’t take much for him to start putting the facts together and figuring out something had to be going on between me and the two brothers for my kidnapping to make me appropriate bait.
“We’re going to have to break out on our own,” I told the twins, refocusing them to the immediate problem. Talking about the royal machinations of the Light kingdom could wait.
There were quite a few people stuffed into the cage with us. Most, if not all, had to be here unwillingly, captured to be slaves from what the Fae guards had said earlier. I’m sure a plan to escape would be met with some volunteers if only we could find a way to discreetly ask. There was also the matter that they all looked dressed like serfs and villagers from another century. I hoped somebody spoke English.
“Do any of you know how to use this weapon?” I asked quietly, going around and repeating my question one-by-one while holding out my shocking stick.
“No, my Lady,” said a middle aged man that overheard me, bending to the knee before me. I backed up, startled as he got too close. This stick was dangerous. “Magic is the domain of the fair folk,” he added.
“Excuse me?” I said. He had a heavy accent but my problem was his terminology. Who were the fair folk?
“He means the Fae,” hissed Matthew.
“Do you know how the fair folk use their magic?” I asked.
The man kept looking down and shook his head. “Apologies, my Lady,” he said. “I’m but an uneducated metal worker.”
“Like swords?” I inquired. Not going to be much help while we were locked up in a cage.
“Weapons, yes, my Lady, and I also do work for doors and locks.”
“I’m not a lady,” I said, then paused, going back over his final words.
That seemed rather specific knowledge he imparted and timely. Was he saying he could get us out of this cage? I dropped to my knees beside him, ignoring the gasps of our fellow inmates. The twins fell to their knees beside me but looked away, guarding our flanks.
“Do you need your hands free to do your work?” I whispered.
Our potential jail-breaker looked up at me and smiled. “They ran out of metal cuffs when they got around to you and they would never risk them with me,” he explained, holding out hands bound in magic like mine had been earlier.
I stuck the stick between my knees and grabbed onto those beautiful hands with my sweaty ones like it was our first date at the movies and the lights had just gone out. Now to remember how I had gotten out of the magical cuffs on my own and replicate it for the locksmith.
I pulled and grunted and pulled some more.
“Try harder,” Matthew suggested. I had squeezed my eyes shut while pulling with all my might, but I had to open one to glare at him.
“With magic, not your girly muscles, Evie-baby,” Jackson said.
Both of my eyes popped open. I had been angry when I broke free, maybe that was the key to unlocking the destructive side of my magic.
“Make me mad,” I told Jackson.
He grinned. “Do you want to know what we did to you while you were having your beauty sleep?”
The magical cuffs glowed bright white. All of us looked down with excitement and the twins quickly shouldered closer to block the sight from the guards. They weren’t really paying attention to us, too busy talking to each other, probably about the ransom they could get for me.
“You should wash your hands before eating,” Jackson whispered in my ear.
“Nose picker,” Matthew called me.
“She snorts like a hog ready for slaughter in her sleep. I had to plug her nose up with something,” Jackson said, keeping the laughter out of his tone.
I knew they would do it, too, mostly because I wouldn’t hesitate to do such nasty tricks back. Anyone who fell asleep first forfeited the right to bodily security against pranks.
“I’ll make both of you suck my snotty fingers clean and give you wet willies,” I warned, then pulled again.
It was magic.
Maybe you weren’t supposed to know how it worked. Science had an analytical method my mind appreciated, but magic was feelings and intuition and a catchy phrase. It felt like an art, which was probably why I couldn’t wrap my mind around it.
“Do any of you have something small and hard to wedge-”
I handed the man a bobby pin from my hair. I had bought a whole pack of them and shoved as many as I could into my thick, black waves, hiding the little metal weapons underneath masses of tangles. Luckily, I had pulled them out of my luggage before leaving the lab, trying to tame the mess Eloden had made of my hair when fucking me.
The locksmith looked at my hairpin like it was the most ingenious thing ever invented and I was getting all the credit.
“My Lady, if you will take up your walking stick, we can proceed closer to the locked gate,” he suggested, half bowing and gesturing for me to go first.
“It’s Eve,” I told him, taking my stick from between my knees and standing up.
Interesting name for my new weapon. Shocking stick still seemed more appropriate, or maybe glow stick. I could call it glowy. I supposed one could use it like a really short cane, although there was only a small knob on one end. What did they normally do with it, knock out little animals that got in their path? Keep it handy in case someone wanted to play mini golf? I asked the twins what they thought as we walked closer to the cage bars.
“Just remember whatever you did to control the glowing earlier and let it rip out of the stick if anyone gets close,” suggested Matthew.
“Shock anything that moves other than us, got it,” I said, bringing one hand to my brow and saluting him.
“
Don’t worry about hurting them,” Jackson said.
“Oh, I’ll make it hurt,” I promised. The twins could rely on my cold heart, especially when it would make the difference between them escaping or not.
The Fae couldn’t fail to notice we neared the door. Suddenly, the conversations of our guards hushed. I grabbed the door and rattled it against the hinges.
“Let us out before we break your cage one pole at a time and shove the iron up your arseholes,” I shouted.
The mocking Fae laughed at me. “Do you bend metal, Darkling?” he asked.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” I responded, letting glowy thunk along the cage bars as I walked a little closer to his side. I was careful to keep myself still in reach of the twins and the locksmith in case I was needed, but my distraction was better a bit apart from them.
“We’ve caged bigger Fae than you, little Darkling.”
I looked over to another guard, this one a new speaker. His voice was so accented that I barely understood his English. Maybe some of them weren’t speaking to me because they didn’t all understand my language.
I stuck my tongue at him. Language barrier overcome.
“Maybe I’ll have my dragon fire up the rods before I bugger you with them,” I added, remembering the term Eloden had used with me. It somehow felt naughtier than saying fuck.
One of the Fae guards tripped. I felt guilty for a moment before I remembered I was evil. Nice girls might wait around to be rescued but bad girls freed themselves and danced on your grave.
“Have you figured out how to use the wand yet, Harry?” Matthew asked, inching closer to me.
“It’s not abracadabra,” I told him. Didn’t he notice I was a little busy here?
“Is a burning rod what it feels like to have a Dark Fae dick up your arse, Darkling? Did they stuff you in all your holes at once or take turns fucking the sass out of your biggest hole?” asked the mocking Fae, of course.
He was a crude one. I blushed a little to hear him talk like that in front of my brothers, although my dirty taunts weren’t any better.
“We are debating making a dash for it now or waiting,” Matthew shared, grabbing my free wrist as he pulled me right up to his chest and hid my blush. “The metal worker can free the other prisoners but he doesn’t know them well. He was captured last and from a different village. Most of them are slaves and one may give away our advantage in exchange for more freedom,” he whispered.
Falling Into Faerie After Page 11
