Once Upon a Changeling
Page 17
“Yeah,” I said. “You used Marcos too.”
“Look,” said Marcos, “you don’t really know anything about our relationship—”
“No one does,” I said. “Cindi wouldn’t tell anyone, or let you tell anyone. She acted as if she were ashamed of you. She used me for status, you for sex or affection or whatever the hell she wanted you for, and—”
“I didn’t,” said Cindi. “I didn’t mean to use Marcos. I was scared to tell my parents about Marcos. My parents liked you, Russ. But Marcos is … .” She trailed off again. “I’m sorry, Marcos. I didn’t treat you well either.”
“It’s okay,” he said. “I never blamed you.” They were staring into each other’s eyes the way people did in romance movies. “But why didn’t you tell me about the baby?”
“I didn’t know,” she said. “I really didn’t know I was pregnant. You have to believe me. I don’t think Russ does.”
Did it matter what I believed anymore?
“Cindi,” said Marcos. “We have to get you out of here. You have to recant everything. You have to be a model inmate. At the trial, take it back. Say it was that depression thing Brooke Shields had. Say anything. We have to get you out of here. I want us to have the baby.”
She nodded. “Yes. I want that too.”
The way they were staring into each other’s eyes … . “I, um, am going to leave you guys to talk a little,” I said.
They didn’t look anyway from each other. They just made affirmative noises as I slipped out of the room.
The next morning, Puck called me. She wanted me to meet her back at the Hill. I drove there, figuring that this would be the end of it. She was going to be the queen of the faeries. She wasn’t going to have time for a teenage human like me.
Finn met me at the door. He shook my hand. “Puck was right about you,” he said. “You are wicked brave. I can’t believe you stabbed the bitch queen like that.”
Other members of the Resistance were there too, patting me on the back and congratulating me. I was a faerie celebrity, it seemed.
Puck was waiting for me in her new chambers. She was sitting on a huge bed, its post made from tree roots that grew down into the floor and up into the ceiling. The bed was covered in pillows and a bedspread the color of spring grass. She looked radiant and glowing. She was powerful, beautiful. She awed me.
She patted the spot next to her on the bed. I climbed up and sat down. “Whoa,” I said.
She nodded. “Yeah, it’s weird. I’m the effing Korrigan Queen. What the heck?”
“What are you going to do?”
“Well, it’s going to be a lot of work. I’m installing members of the Resistance into high positions in court. Together, we’re going to work to change things. It’s exciting, but it’s overwhelming, you know?”
I was certainly overwhelmed.
“But that’s not why I wanted you to come,” she said. “We never really did get to have our date.”
I was surprised. “I thought … I mean, aren’t you stuck on the Hill now? Didn’t you say the Korrigan couldn’t leave Faerie?”
She shook her head. “That? That’s just because they were snobs. The key really is to be close to humans. That’s what makes it okay for you to come and go. The old queen took the babies so that she could leave the Hill for the fall. She could have done it any time she wanted. But the old ones are snobs. They didn’t want to be close to humans, even if it meant they could leave.”
Huh. “So, that’s why she did it? Took the babies? To leave?”
“She ate the babies,” said Puck. “Gross, right?”
I shuddered.
“Anyway,” said Puck, “I plan on being really, really close to you lots of the time, so I don’t think it’ll end up being a problem.” She kissed me.
That went on for a little while. When we came up for air, I couldn’t help but bring something else up. “So, we’re dating,” I said, “but there is the whole issue of you living for hundreds of years and me kind of … well, not. I mean, there’s not much future in this relationship, is there?”
Puck laughed. “Now, who’s moving fast?”
“Sorry,” I said.
She took my hand. “It’s okay. Do you remember when I stopped you from eating the food?”
I nodded.
“If humans eat faerie food, they get stuck in Faerie,” she said. “And if you’re stuck in Faerie, you age like faeries do, which is to say, not very much. So, if you ever did want to make this more permanent, you’d just need to eat something.”
I considered. As teenage relationships went, this was definitely out of the ordinary. But it was good to have options. “Cool,” I said. “Well, for now I think I’m just going to try to get back into newspaper class when I get back to school.”
Puck laughed. “You do that, Russ Knight.” She lay back on the bed and pulled me down with her.
I pushed a lock of her blue hair out of her eyes. “But,” I said, “I’m not saying that eating faerie food idea is completely off the table for me.”
Our lips met. And let me tell you, making out with a faerie queen is pretty freaking amazing.
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V. J. Chambers is fond of snakes, cheesecake, her boyfriend Aaron, Stephen King books, Buffy, and corduroy pants (although not exactly in that order).
She is the author of Once Upon a Changeling through Curiosity Quills Press, the two Jason and Azazel trilogies and many other stories for teens and adults.
She lives in Shepherdstown, WV.
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Appetizer:
Book Cover
Title Page
Main Course:
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Dessert:
Closing
About the Author
Copyright & Publisher
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