by D. N. Hoxa
I already knew there was another fairy still standing, but I hadn’t expected him to heal so fast from what my beads had done to his face. He hit me with the handle of his gun right on my temple, and I fell against Turtle’s hood, before hitting the ground. When my eyes opened, the barrel of his gun was right in front of me, finger on the trigger, ready to squeeze. Good thing I was faster. Pulling my leg up, I kicked him right in the crotch and sent my beads for his Adam’s apple. It gave me enough time to make it to my feet, the right side of my head hurting like hell, and my ears still whistling. The gun had slipped from my hand when the fairy knocked me to the ground, so I threw the knife, already soaked in the other’s blood, at his chest. He began to shoot his gun without aim as he tried to push my beads away.
I jumped to the ground on my stomach and reached for my other gun in the back of my waistband. The bullets kept coming, making me jump at the sound of each of them, and I couldn’t shoot yet because, if he knew where the bullet was coming from, he’d be able to aim his gun to the ground, and I didn’t want that.
I waited until he spent all his bullets, then I shot him once in his right knee.
Cruel, maybe, but very necessary and twice as efficient.
I ordered my beads to retreat and they did so grumpily. The fairy was on the ground now, breathing heavily, pulling the trigger of his empty gun. Before I got closer to him, I raised my shield, just in case he wanted to attack me with his magic. And he did—sparks flew when I kneeled beside him, grinning.
“She sent you, didn’t she?” I said when I caught my breath. It was as clear as day. Maybe the whole world thought I’d lost my mind—even Bender—but I hadn’t, and this was my proof. These fairies were here on her orders. Jane Dunham’s orders.
“You’re going to pay for this with your life, witch,” the fairy said, then tried to spit on my face. But the spit didn’t reach me and fell on his shoulder instead.
“Sure thing, fairy guy. Right after you pay with yours.” Having mercy was only going to get me into trouble with the likes of Jane Dunham, so I took in a deep breath and I put my gun on the fairy’s forehead. “What does she want with me? Tell me, right now.” He was going to die anyway and he knew that, so I’d understand if he refused to tell me anything.
“Nobody wants anything with you, witch,” the fairy said, suddenly laughing. His face, full of bruises and cuts from my beads, looked scary as fuck, but he put his hand on my gun and pulled the barrel until it touched his forehead. “I’ll see you in hell.”
“Why the boy? What’s he to her?” I asked him as he slowly put his finger above mine on the trigger.
“You’re going to find out soon. The whole world will,” he said, and tried to squeeze the trigger, but I didn’t let him.
This guy was telling the truth, I could feel it in my chest. For some reason, that made me take the gun out of his reach and stand up. My head was a mess. I looked at the car and saw Ezra in the backseat, his backpack in front of him as he tried to get as small as possible.
And the fairy I’d knocked unconscious on the sidewalk…was gone.
Running to the other side of the car, I looked at the ground. He’d been right there! I kicked him in the face and he fell unconscious. A look around the neighborhood said that there was nobody there—fairy, witch or human. A few feet away was the body of the dead fairy. Yes, he hadn’t moved, but the other guy…
The other guy had already run away. Cursing under my breath, I ignored the living fairy sprawled in the middle of the street with a bullet in his kneecap and a face full of cuts. I collected my two knives from the ground—those things cost a hell of a lot more than guns. There was no reason to kill him now. If his friend had already escaped, he’d tell Jane Dunham—or whoever he was working for—about me. No, the fairy would get to live another day.
Right now, I had two much more important things to do. Get Ezra someplace safe and find Julian Walker.
Nine
“Are you okay?” I asked Ezra after a few minutes. I looked at the rearview mirror every other second to make sure we weren’t being followed, and so far, things were looking good.
“I’m fine,” he breathed, but he didn’t sound fine.
“What was that? Are you sick or something?” I’d never seen anybody having seizures in person before, but from what I’d heard, Ezra had definitely had one.
“I’m not sick,” the boy said, looking out the window. “It was that man again.”
“What man?”
“The prisoner.”
I let that sink in for a second. “You saw a man in prison again?”
“It was the same man. He was…he was getting into my head.” Through the corner of my eye, I could see his chin quivering.
“What was he saying?” Whether I liked it or not, the fact that those fairies had come after Ezra, and the report signed by Monica Raymond in my pocket, wouldn’t let me doubt the kid’s words. Maybe he really saw a man in a prison.
“Your name.”
A shiver ran down my back and heat crawled up my chest. “My name?”
“He said it, too,” Ezra whispered.
“No, you said it.” I’d been looking right at him when he said my name, right before the fairies announced their presence with a gunshot.
But Ezra shook his head. “It was him.”
“Okay,” I said, nodding my head. A ten-year-old boy claiming that a man in a prison had spoken my name through him. No biggie. All was fine.
“You don’t believe me,” Ezra accused. He sounded hurt.
“No, I do. I just…” The words escaped from me and it took me a few seconds to collect them again. “I just need some time to let that sink it, that’s all.”
Ezra’s tired sigh filled my ears. “Who were those people?”
“Fairies,” I said in a rush, thankful for the change in topic. “Nothing you need to worry about, okay? You’re safe.” Was that the truth, or was I lying to the kid again?
“I’m not worried,” he said. “I think I know why my vision told me to find you. You’ll keep me safe.”
For the love of God. He took my heart, threw it on the ground and stepped on it. My mouth opened but no words came out. What the hell had I gotten myself into?
“Where are we going now?” Ezra asked, but for some reason, his voice seemed to reach my ears from very far away, and in an echo. You’ll keep me safe, he said. Could I?
Suddenly, I was hyperaware of my beads, my magic, and every weapon I had on my person. Only two Pretters in my braid. I was going to have to do much better than that, just as soon as I got back to the office. More knives and another gun. Yes, two more guns. If Ezra thought I could keep him safe, it was no longer a question of could I. It was a question of how would I.
“We’re going to a friend of mine. I think you’ll like her. She’s not much older than you, only sixteen,” I said to Ezra when I could find my voice again.
He only nodded. Going to Lynn maybe wasn’t the brightest idea I’d ever had, but for now, the only thing I could think of was how to get in touch with Julian. The last time we were in the fairy realm, Lynn had given me the tear shaped black ravenstone that could open portals to Julian, but she had been the one to find it in the first place. She’d found Dena Waldorf’s things. Her grandfather had been a fairy, and if she had a portal opener with her, then she probably had something else I could use to get to the fairy realm. At least I hoped so, because the alternative was to go through one of the open portals. Not that it couldn’t be done, but I’d have to fight guards on both sides, and I’d rather keep my blood from spilling as much as I could.
So, Joseph Davis’s house it was. It wasn’t far from Ezra’s, and because I’d been there once before, I could get there much faster. I just hoped that she was there, and that she’d agree to help me.
“I might need to take a trip to another realm, Ezra. It’s not going to be long, but I’ll leave you in safe hands, I promise.” By safe hands, I meant my landlady, Ms. Riley. For reason
s I hadn’t still figured out myself, she was a person I would trust with my life without a second thought. And it did help that she knew how to take care of herself better than most, and that nobody would guess to go look for Ezra at her apartment, right above my office. Hiding in plain sight and that sort of thing.
“Winter, I need to stay with you the whole time,” Ezra said.
“Yes, I know, but trust me, the fairy realm is no place for you.” It wasn’t a plan for me, either, and I was half fairy.
“Why the fairy realm? You could fight those people by yourself just fine,” he complained.
“Yes, because there were three of them. The next time they come after us, there’ll be many more. And fighting them off every time they come means keeping you hidden forever. You don’t want that, do you?” Ezra shook his head. “We need to find out why they are after you and who sent them.” I didn’t tell him that I already knew that part. It was Jane Dunham, and Julian was the only one who could help me expose her to the Seelie Court.
“And kill them?”
God, I was such a fucking bad influence on children. Seriously, they shouldn’t have been allowed around me. “Yes.”
“I still think I should come with you. You might need me,” Ezra said and brought a smile to my face.
“If I do, I’ll come back to get you, okay? And trust me, you’re going to love Ms. Riley. She’ll tell you wonderful stories and make you the best tea you’ve ever tasted.” It didn’t occur to me that she could say no to my babysitting request because she’d never said no to me before. Renting that office had been a blessing in disguise. Sometimes, having limited choices did pay off. If I’d had enough money, I’d never have rented from her, just like the rest of the world.
“Okay,” Ezra whispered, though he wasn’t happy about it.
I turned on the radio to fill the silence that followed his whisper, but even the music didn’t do anything to calm me down until we reached the Davis’s house. Checking my phone on the dashboard, I wondered if it was better to give Lynn a call rather than just knocking on the door. But calling her on the phone would give her time to prepare. I didn’t think she’d lied to me—Bender hadn’t thought so, either—but one could never know. With a deep breath, I decided against calling and climbed out of the car.
This time, Ezra came with me. No way was I leaving him alone in the car again. What if those fairies had arrived just five minutes earlier? I’d have still been in the house and they could have taken Ezra without me even realizing it. For now, until we made it back to Manhattan, I’d keep him with me.
The Davis house was quiet, almost as if it were empty. It had occurred to me that Lynn might not even be home, but if that were the case, I’d have to just call her. Knocking on the door, I wiped my face with my hands some more, though I’d taken all of the fairy blood off my skin in the car. The stains or my shirt, though…I’d just tell anyone who asked that it was coffee. The shirt was black, so you couldn’t really tell.
Or, you could, but Lynn had seen me in even worse situations. I doubted she’d mind.
When I heard footsteps coming from the inside, I casually put my hand behind me, ready to reach for my gun, and prepared my beads to attack if whoever opened the door was anyone but a member of the Davis family.
Lucky for me, it was Lynn, and she was shocked to see me.
“Winter!” she shouted. “Oh my God, what are you doing here?”
I grinned. “Hey, Lynn. Came to pay you a visit.”
Raising her brows, her eyes fell on Ezra’s face, who was keeping his head down. “Who’s that?”
“Ms. Riley’s nephew,” I said. It was a solid lie, the winner among the other ideas I’d had on the way there.
Lynn squinted her eyes at me. “He’s not Ms. Riley’s nephew.”
Ah, hell. “Yes, he is.” I scratched the back of my neck and looked away from her. “Are your parents home? I hate to stand on your doorway like this.”
“You know my parents are not home,” Lynn said, rolling her eyes and stepping aside to make way for us to enter. “Coven business, as usual.”
“Good,” I said, as if I hadn’t expected the answer. “Are you alone?”
Lynn closed the door and looked at me, confused. “Why are you asking?”
It was almost laugh worthy. Was she afraid of me? “How are you, Lynn?” I said instead. “You look good.” And she was wearing a white shirt. I don’t think I’d ever seen her wearing anything that wasn’t black before, and her hair had grown, too. It now touched her shoulders and it made her look more girly.
“Thanks,” Lynn said, and looked down at me. “You’re full of blood.” She flinched.
“Yeah…”
“I’ll let you borrow a shirt if you want.”
“No, I’m fine. It’s just a little blood.” It was a lot of blood. “Can we talk? I have to ask you something.”
Lynn looked pointedly at Ezra. “Sure,” she said reluctantly. Suspicion came off of her in waves. I swear, nobody could ever guess that she was only sixteen. The way she looked and moved and spoke, it screamed adult.
We followed her up the stairs in the middle of the round hallway. The inside of the house was exactly the same as the last time I’d been there. Everything—even the light colors on the wall—had Caroline's signature. Lynn’s mother sure had taste, but something was missing in the perfection of every detail, that something that made a house a home. Maybe it was just because I’d never lived in a place like that before. My mother’s taste in decorating had always been minimal—her favorite flowers and small figures of animals were all you could see in our house—and, needless to say, she’d rubbed off on me.
Lynn took us to the second floor and into a corridor set with a beautiful dark green carpet, its walls full of beautiful paintings—you could tell those were the real thing by just looking at them. The first door to the left was the only one out of four that was half open, and that’s where she led us.
Her room was twice the size of my office. A huge bed with purple sheets was to the right, the wall across the door made completely out of glass, looking down at the pool in the background. Her desk looked brand new and her laptop like she’d just picked it up from the store. Even the seven round carpets put randomly all over the room looked too beautiful to step on.
“I’ve got two soundproof spells in here, so whatever you want to say, it’s safe,” Lynn said.
Impressive, I thought and looked around once more to see if I could find where she kept the Pretters. One was probably on top of the door frame, and the other somewhere on her nightstand. Now, knowing Lynn, she probably had a third one she never told anybody about, and I was guessing it was somewhere behind the door to our left, which could only be her closet.
“Good to know,” I said and cleared my throat. “I need to see Dena Waldorf’s things.”
Lynn wasn’t surprised at my question. In fact, it was almost like she’d been expecting it.
“I was the one who found those things. They belong to me,” she said, rather calmly, but a bit of red that she couldn’t hide touched her cheeks.
“How did you find them, anyway? Bender said you never told him.”
Lynn crossed her arms in front of her and looked at Ezra, who hadn’t even opened his mouth since we’d been there. “Why do you need them?”
“Because I do. I really do.” She could hold off from telling me how she ended up with a dead witch’s things because of Ezra, but the next time we met, I couldn’t wait to hear all about it.
“What’s going on?” Lynn asked me, squinting her eyes at me again. I hated it when she did that. It made me feel like she could see right through me.
“Nothing’s going on. Look, just get me the stuff so I can see what’s there. I really don’t have time.” Since I wasn’t in a position to make demands right now, I had to tread very carefully, because this wasn’t just someone I could fight or kill, then steal from. This was Lynn.
“Tell me what’s going on and I’ll g
ive you anything you want,” Lynn said, stepping closer to me, her black eyes shining with excitement now. No more suspicion.
“I can’t tell you anything else, except I really need to find Julian,” I mumbled. “If you have anything that can take me to the fairy realm…”
“Why not use the portals?” Lynn asked.
“Because guards. And because I want to be incognito when I get there.” If Jane Dunham found out that I’d gone to see Julian, I’d be screwed. She could get to me much easier in the fairy realm, where she had people to protect her, possibly even fight for her. Not to mention that she probably knew I was with Ezra, and seeing me there, she’d know he was here alone.
“I’m coming with,” Lynn said with a scream.
“Are you fangirling?” It was just so weird to see her like that. Not even a month had passed since we last saw each other. Could she have changed that much from the black eyeliner girl who first came to my office with Bender, wanting me to teach her how to kill?
“Just tell me what we need Julian for. Give me the details,” she said, waving her hands to tell me to speak faster.
“We don’t need Julian for anything. I’m not giving you details. But does this mean you have something that can take me to the realm?” She’d jumped at it right away, which could only mean…
“No idea,” Lynn said with a flinch. “I don’t know what any of it is.”
Shit. “Show it to me.”
Lynn looked at Ezra again. “In front of him?”
“Yes! Just get me the things, Lynn.” I was already tired. I’d fought three fairies, drove for more than four hours, and I only had one coffee before the day even began.
“Not until you say that I’m coming with,” she said.
I gave her a pointy look. “You’re not.”
