“I didn’t drink the chalice,” I said out loud. “Matthew, give the pixie my baby finger,” I said, turning my head to flop towards him.
Matthew brought my hand up from the other side. I was too lazy to turn my head again to look at the real Matthew, although I never mixed the twins up.
“Oops,” I said with a smile at Jackson.
“Is she drunk?” Jackson whispered.
“Not unless I skipped right to hangover,” I complained.
A sharp pain in my finger got a yelp.
“Quiet,” Kheelan said. “Don’t even whisper if you can’t remember to do so.”
“That doesn’t feel like a thorn,” I whispered.
“It’s a pixie bite. You are the one the pixie will suck the magic from for the transfer. It might make you feel a little queer because of the toxins but it isn’t fatal,” Loren whispered back. “Keep silent and I will do my best to provide some healing for a moment.”
Great, I had a pixie bonded to me that bit Fae and made them feel queer with toxins. Was that like magic mushrooms inside a pet scorpion? Look, don’t touch.
“Is he hurting her?” Matthew whispered.
“No, the bite will be numb by now. Whatever is affecting her started by the gate. It is not pixie toxins,” Kheelan answered. He already sounded stronger. “Take off what essence you can, Sir Pixie. I do not want it unintentionally harming her.”
Do you wish me to take it all?
“Take it,” I said.
Kheelan had been right. My baby finger was numb but my heart was another story. The icy flow from my chest went down my arm and into Derrik faster. It was like drinking a slushie too fast and pulling back because of the brain freeze, but I couldn’t stop the pixie from drinking. It burned and stabbed at the same time, exquisitely painful.
I screamed.
“What is going on over here?” shouted someone over my scream. “Either buy something and gag her so the rest can drink in peace or put her over your knee and provide the rest of us with entertainment.”
“How remiss of us, innkeeper,” Loren said, leaving my back. His icy, soothing touch dropped as well, but I kept my screams locked away. Derrik’s draw had stopped as soon as I screamed and I could feel him scrambling back up my arm to climb onto my head and hide in my hair.
I blinked my eyes open. My stomach rebelled and I twisted free of everyone, falling to my knees to vomit all over the stone floors. These were grey and flat but I still thought about bloodstones and wretched again, this time not producing anything but dry heaves.
“You need a room if you want privacy,” the innkeeper said but she sounded less harpy. Yeah, screams might be sexy for the monsters here but vomiting was disgusting. I wouldn’t want me to be the entertainment either.
“That is for the inconvenience while we blocked your doorway trying to purge the poison from my Mistress’s stomach before it settled too deeply. If you could provide a pot, we’ll bring her upstairs. This is for a room.”
Loren must be paying her well because the next thing I knew, I was standing upright and a small, black pot was shoved at my chest.
“Clean up your mess, child,” the innkeeper said. She didn’t hand me anything else to help, like a towel or a cloth.
“Hold the pot, Mistress,” Kheelan said and waved his hands at the mess I had made. The smell that hit my nose a moment later told me where he had made it magically disappear.
Loren plucked the pot from my hands before I added to it and put a lid over the foul contents. He handed it back to me. “Anything from your body should be burned,” he whispered, leaning close so it stayed between us, and the pixie, of course.
That strange sense of improvement when you throw up everything in your stomach washed over me. I still felt drained and weaker than usual but I no longer had pain. The thirst I had continued to rage.
“Drink,” I said.
Weren’t you supposed to pretend to be mute?
I brushed a strand of hair behind my ear and gave Derrik a flick.
The innkeeper laughed. “Drink until she’s sick and then a bit more room for wine? Keeps me in business, at least. I’ll send some brambleberry spirits we keep in the back for invalids to your room.”
“She will be sure to enjoy your good taste and discernment for her gentle stomach,” Loren said. I watched as he laid three silver coins across her palm. “Do you have water for her to rinse her mouth?”
The innkeeper gestured to a little fountain with a spinning wheel at the side of the room. It looked decorative but there were a few wooden mugs sitting upside down on the surrounding stone ledge.
“She’s not the first to come from the gate with a terrible thirst, but water is not like to quench it for long,” the innkeeper commented as Matthew grabbed one of the mugs and offered me water.
Do not drink until one of your servants have tasted it.
It was so hard to wait, but I swung my head to look pleadingly at Loren. He drank from my cup and handed it back to Matthew. “It’s fine,” he said.
I sipped from the cup that Matthew held then swished, opening the lid of my pot for a quick few seconds to spit. The next sip turned into a gulp and another, draining the cup of the coldest, sweetest water I had ever tasted.
“One cup only. I want her up in her room before the next wave hits,” the innkeeper said.
Jackson grabbed me under the arms and tugged me away from the fountain where I was already kneeling and thinking about scooping the water up with my hands.
Matthew had put the cup down and accepted a big bronze key from Kheelan. “Take her to the room. Don’t stop for anything or talk to anyone,” he told my brother.
“I’ll be up to check her over as soon as Kheelan has conducted his business,” Loren said. “Keep her rested and quiet.”
My plans to plot an escape were looking ever further away. I was too sick to even walk on my own. I had Loren’s offer to help my mother to consider and now there was my pixie. Could I even take him out of Faerie? And Kheelan was even more complicated.
“Come on,” Jackson said taking an arm.
“We’ve got you,” Matthew said and took my other arm.
I looked back once more at Loren and Kheelan watching as we made our way to the stairs.
I slipped on the first step.
Had that been Dain I had seen in the crowd?
“Do you want me to carry you?” Jackson asked.
“Hurry,” I said. The front door might be better, but I had just finished convincing myself that running without a plan was a poor choice. Besides, as I blinked and searched the room again there were no familiar Dark Fae peering back at me.
Who’s Dain?
—I thought you couldn’t read my mind.—
You shouted his name. Clearest thing I’ve gotten from your drugged thoughts.
—I’m drugged?—
Poisoned, likely. I’m still trying to make sense of your blood. It’s quite a strange mixture. You’re showing signs of poisoning but your servants don’t seemed too alarmed.
—I didn’t drink from the chalice. I’m sure.—
You do seem more confident this time. Then why were you ill upon the floor?
—I don’t know. I had a headache. Maybe that did it. A strange, burning in my neck and—
Burning? Who is this Dain to you?
I shook my head, giving Derrik a shake, too. He was clinging to my ear and I could feel him tapping his tiny fingers on the fleshy lobe as he impatiently questioned me. The nosy pixie wasn’t going to get my life story because he had shared a few drops of my blood.
“Up we go,” Jackson said, scooping me into his arms and ducking his head to the side so my bow strapped to my back didn't get him in the face..
I wondered if my stomach would heave again with the sudden shift in position but the water had truly settled it. It felt good to be surrounded by Jackson’s strength and familiarity in this strange place.
“Thank you,” I told Jackson. “I’m sure I�
�ll feel better if I lie down for a bit.”
“Don’t drink the Kool Aid,” Matthew said as he leaned over his twin’s shoulder to buss me on top of the head.
I snorted. “Isn’t that the truth. This whole place is one fucked up fairytale.”
“Definitely more Grimm Brothers than Disney,” Jackson agreed.
You do not ignore a pixie unless you want to-
“Hello humans.”
“Get out of the way,” Matthew frostility greeted whoever stopped us at the top of the stairs. It was so unlike Matthew that I had to assume whoever it was presented a threat that needed repelling.
“Is that any way to talk to your betters?”
Yep, definitely a jerk and going to be trouble.
I shifted the pot to one arm to hug against my chest and put my other hand on glowy, pocketed in my skirts.
“Tell us if you see someone Dark enough around here to bow to and we’ll gladly mind our manners,” I muttered, feeling braver in Jackson’s arms. I remembered what jibes worked on the slavers. Dark jokes were a guaranteed hit and should keep the attention off the twins.
Derrik yanked on my ear.
Do you have no sense of self preservation?
The pixie was a few inches tall. His cowardice could be excused. I was supposed to protect my brothers and a bout of stomach upset and nerves couldn’t weaken me when I was needed.
“This place is practically crawling with Dark magic,” another, decidedly feminine voice said. “Makes me feel quite at home.”
There hadn’t been many females that I could see in the inn other than the innkeeper herself and a few guests. Even the servants had all been male. I shifted to get a look at her.
Jackson had made his crack about Disney too soon because that was a princess from the Magic Kingdom walking towards us. She had beautiful red hair styled in perfect waves with violet eyes and a dress that was green like mine, but hers was a soft, frothy and elegant affair that reminded me of sea foam as it pooled all the way to the floor. It swished like waves moved it from underneath as she glided towards us on hidden feet. There were shells dangling at her ears and more encircling her neck with a thumb sized green jewel winking from the vee of her very low cut gown.
“I haven’t seen anything Dark here except for the terrible reception. Water and ice should be free with the room,” I said, reminding myself that there were now two Fae to check out. I needed to get a look at the jerk.
The male that had first stopped us was either a Halfling or possibly another Dark Fae, making the words I just spoke seem foolish, although I had been joking. I quickly looked over black hair and green eyes with a smattering of freckles and long, lean limbs. He was armed with a bow and a sword, so the weapons didn’t give anything away. The celtic torque wrapped around his upper arm seemed more of a Dark thing. His age was indeterminate. They all looked either young or very old. I could simply ask if I wanted to start a fight.
“Who are you?” the male Fae asked.
I guess I wasn’t the only one lacking manners. “I’m about to be sick,” I said. “Too much of the town’s water.”
Frothy backed up a few steps. Matthew took the lead and tried to push pass her.
“Stop them,” the male Fae said, sounding exasperated with his female companion. Apparently, she was the muscle.
“Run,” I suggested to the twins. The sea princess looked ready to sprout tentacles and grab us all. I pulled glowy out and fired it up with frightened magic.
We did run, or at least, the twins tried. They were as fast as me, and they were good at pushing through a crowd and ducking around others. Too bad this wasn’t a football field.
Frothy sang. Her voice was more than musical. It was a seduction of a starry night with moonless ocean waves bathing my feet and cold sand seeping my warmth away, lying there in wait for the Siren come to drag me to a watery grave.
Wake up.
The sharp prick of Derrik biting my ear shook me from the imagery feeding my hypnotized thoughts, mixed up with Derrik’s warning of her Fae type. A Siren? Were those mermaids? Maybe sea princess wasn’t so far off.
“Drop her,” frothy sang.
I fell like a rock at Jackson’s feet.
“Ouch, fuck,” I muttered, glad that Kheelan had made my gown voluminous for extra padding. My pot was in both of my hands and thankfully the top hadn’t popped off, but every one of my other weapons and those of the twins had been stripped and left on the ground. We had been hypnotized and I didn’t like the experience any better than the time Orin did it to me.
“You’re awake?” sang the Siren, sounding a little off key.
I ignored her and glanced at both of my brothers, staring ahead at nothing like zombies. Only I had shaken off the Siren’s spell with Derrik’s help.
“What a naughty mouth you have for a Lady,” the male Fae said. He squatted down beside my feet, between me and my weapons. “Take the humans. I won’t need your help with this one any longer,” he told the Siren.
“They’re twins. It’s like Winter Solstice. I can eat one and then have another treat. No need to savour just one slowly,” she spoke with glee, voice still sounding musical. She grabbed Jackson and kissed his mouth hard, smashing her lips against his unresisting, hypnotized ones. He stood there and stared ahead.
No fucking way. I was pretty sure in this twisted tale she meant exactly that, to eat my brothers in a gluttonous feast. I looked away from my brothers and back to the first problem in my way.
“I will kill you both,” I threatened while giving the male Fae the same look I had bestowed on Dain. It meant nothing would stop me from protecting my own.
He smiled. “You’re going to kill a Siren and a Dark Elf with nothing but that little pot of your shame as a weapon?”
Something shivered inside of me to hear he was the same kind of Fae as me. Loren might not have been wrong about the whole evil aspect if this was an example of Dark Elves.
That is a terrible idea.
—How do you know? I didn’t even finish thinking it yet. Better ideas would be helpful right now.—
Call on your Marks.
“Does one of your powers include foresight?” I asked the Dark Elf male, quickly deciding on an action. I had no idea how to call my Marks to me.
“No-”
I kicked with one of my sturdy boots right between the Dark Elf’s squatting legs, which he blocked of course, and then smashed my pot against his skull with all of my strength.
“Good guess, then,” I said, leaping up.
The Siren screeched. It wasn’t musical at all but made me want to stuff cotton in my ears. It rang like an alarm.
“Break whatever spell you have over my brothers now, or else, I’ll tip this all over your dress,” I threatened, stomping down on half a foot of foamy lace so the Siren couldn’t escape me.
“Kier!” she screeched.
“Shut up,” came from behind me.
I tried to swing around to intercept the Dark Elf male as I heard him shout, but he returned the favour of my surprise attack with something else equally hard to the back of my skull. My teeth clamped down on my tongue and my head clanged with pain and darkness.
I should have grabbed for a weapon when I had the chance.
“Take the pot from her hands before she spills it,” the Siren ordered, using her more musical voice. I felt one of the twins obey and my weak fingers couldn’t grasp it any longer. I hunched over and tried to blink away stars.
Derrik was silent. Had he been squashed to death with that blow to my head? I called his name, although it came out as more of a whimper.
“Our blooded connection was cut with your precious hold on consciousness,” whispered a voice in my right ear. “Call your Marks, now.”
Cruel hands wrenched me off my feet. I kicked and reached back to scratch but my feeble efforts were easily corralled. My head pounded with my own screams. At least, they had to get someone’s attention between me and the Siren yelling. Kheelan sho
uld be racing to the rescue any moment.
“Help,” I shouted for good measure, shaking off the last of my stars.
What are you doing?
“Calling for my Marks,” I said out loud, forgetting to think it.
My captor laughed. “Are you just newly passed the veil?”
“Put your hand over your Mark and then call his name!” Derrik whispered into my ear.
Kier stopped laughing and shifted his grip to grab both my arms and pin them to my sides. “The fight going on downstairs muffled even Melissanda. If a Siren can’t be heard, then you have no chance. Fate has delivered you to me.”
What fight? I listened for a moment and heard the din of something going on. I had missed it.
“How do you know Kheelan is my Mark?” I said.
“I can practically taste his magic on you, Halfling. I wondered why Kheelan would bring slaves and a female here, then hide them upstairs instead of keeping them with him to barter. If he’s Marked you, then there must be something worth keeping about you.”
“Just a breeder,” I said.
“No need to speak then,” Kier said. “Melissanda, take her voice and remove the little bird in her hair, too.”
Derrik left my hair in a flutter but he didn’t desert me as I first assumed. Kier started cursing and ducking with me in his hands, unable to swat Derrik away as the pixie attacked his head.
“Get his eyes,” I yelled, using my voice before the sea witch stole it.
I winced even as I made the suggestion, but what else was a tiny pixie with a thorn sword going to do to get me free? Okay, I also had issues with eyes. It was the most terrible thing I could imagine and Kier deserved it.
“You have to hold her still,” Melissanda said.
“Get that flying pest,” Kier ordered, he was hiding his face against my back.
I wondered for a moment if we were going to win but Melissanda started singing and my headache skyrocketed. The twins grabbed my arms on both sides and held me so the Kier could be freed to deal with Derrik.
“Fly away,” I yelled desperately.
A streak of dark red darted around me for a moment, then shot towards the banister, sparkles trailing behind like a comet tail. At least my newest companion would be safe. He might even be able to find Kheelan or Loren to help us.
Falling Into Faerie After Page 28
