by Zoe Parker
“With a heavy heart, he sat and pulled the child onto his lap and discovered just how special the child really was. It is not the Darkness that caused this, she said to him.”
A shiver races up my spin. I know who this story is about.
“As she lay dying in his arms she whispered words to him in a voice not her own, speaking the very first Prophecy. This senseless death made Life angry, but being the creature that he is, he cannot take a life. He can only give it. So he did the only thing he could do. He told another of the first Prophecy. And they told another. And so forth and so on. Until it’s taught to every Feyrie child born.”
He lights a cigarette and offers me one, I decline.
“The rules always the rules, right? Stonewalled by his own rules, Life could not change what was to come but he could nudge it. So, he did. So he does.” He smiles a sad smile and blows his nose on a stained tissue.
“Nice story,” I comment.
A story told by a man who isn’t a man. I just have no idea what he is. Still smells human, and I can’t detect any glamour or Magiks.
So, I ask, “How did a human come to know it?”
“I’m an old man who likes to gather stories. I have a good memory and I’ve lived a long life.” He smiles his gap-toothed smile and I smile back.
And I’m a rocket scientist.
“I heard you asking for help, and I bet you’re not someone who asks for it often. So, I’ll put my two cents in this… I wouldn’t be too surprised if the answer you’re looking for is waiting right outside the door,” he says with a rather smug smile on his face.
Standing I start to cross the small room to the window to see what’s outside the door.
“Just a little longer, if you don’t mind. It’s been a long time since I had such pleasant company.”
Laughing a little, I sit back down. Silly of me to think he meant literally.
“What kind of person do you think you are?”
I sigh. that’s a good question. “I kill things.” Oh, such eloquence I have.
“You know the girl at the prison? You gave her freedom from more suffering. She begged you for death and you gave her the mercy of it. The others? They deserved what they got. Be what you were created to be.”
Shocked, I lift my eyes to meet his and find they are no longer just blue. They are the prettiest, brightest blue I have ever seen. And I know them. They were the eyes of the girl I killed in the cafeteria.
And I thought of the few others that I tried to help over the years, all with identical blue eyes. How did I not notice the sameness?
“It wasn’t fair for you to suffer alone. So I tried to make sure that sometimes you had a little company or a way to show that heart you hide so deep. You gave everything you could to help others. Your food, your water, and occasionally your laughter. That was the greatest gift of all. That despite all the shit you went through, you still laugh. And you shared those laughs with me.”
He reaches across the fire that moves away from him and wipes a tear off my face.
“The creature you are is what they need. Your Darkness is your army, Iza. He is the First, infinite. And he will fight them all for you. Let him be your wrath, your justice. Let your pain feed his rage. But still give him your hope, your faith, and your love. And that laughter, Iza. Give him the laughter.” He wipes away another tear.
And in a voice so gentle that it makes me fight to keep from crying harder, he says, “Does Phobe know you named your son after him before you even knew him? That the child they ripped from your body and murdered is the reason you will never bear another? Does he and your father know that the blood locks who did it haven’t been brought to justice?” The words suck the oxygen right out of my lungs. “They do now.” He leans forward and pats my cheek. “Your son is with your father. He has been for many years, but now your father knows it.”
Frowning at me he says, “You need to stop hiding from that pain, girl. Use it.”
He stands, and he’s no longer an old dirty man. Light, warmth radiates from where he stands. Pulling me by my numb hands to my feet, he embraces me. With that embrace, something inside of me that has long been broken heals a little.
And as I pull away and look into his blue eyes, I see things I will never see again.
“Destiny is what you make it. And you, my girl, will make yours count. I grant you what you asked me for from the deepest part of your heart—from that place that many forget. And even as you take life, you give it. A rare balance that few can find, but you have managed to find accidentally. Never lose that thing that makes you who you are.” He kisses my cheek and then he’s gone.
I plop back down on the crate. Holy shit, my mind has been completely melted. And to top it off, now I’m afraid to look outside.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Phobe
Iza snuck out of the Sidhe without telling anyone again. The last time she did this, she was taken by the humans. An endeavor, that although annoying in the beginning, ended up being a bit of fun towards the end.
It was a good learning experience for Iza as well. She needs to be pushed. Not babied like these creatures keep trying to do. I only stepped in with the humans because of the Light Magiks. They caused her too much pain for me to it allow to continue.
Those are a weakness for her, Light Magiks. There is no way to protect her from them unless I am there… which I cannot always be if she sneaks out.
Walking outside, I find her footprints. The snow is falling, and I can see as I follow her trail where she stopped to look at it. Her tracks are deeper there.
I suspected she would like the snow.
Her tracks lead to the lake to a spot where the ground is torn up. The smell of her anger is strong here, the smell of… sadness even stronger. And something else, a whisper of scent, then it is gone with the breeze.
Frowning, I follow her tracks away from the lake to where they end at the top of a small hill. I can feel her ahead of me, but I cannot see her. Something is blocking me.
No, not something. Someone. A very familiar someone who should not be here, but cannot seem to stop meddling. Instead of breaking through the barrier in front of me, I wait. No one will harm her in there. Not this time.
Using my Magiks to poke a hole in the shield protecting her and the creator of it, I peek in. A small shack with a light glowing merrily in the window greets me.
I can see her looking out the window, then she is gone. I can feel echoes of her turmoil through our bond. And there is something inside of me that is pulled to her because of it.
Fighting that pull is irritating but necessary. This time I will not interfere. This time.
But I can listen, and what I hear… death will not be enough.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Iza
Walking into the Sidhe after the disturbing but enlightening encounter with the All-Father—because only an idiot wouldn’t know it was him—I head straight for the kitchen.
I’m starving.
“I’ve looked for you everywhere, Iza.” Jameson says, coming up behind me at the counter where I decided to make myself a sandwich.
I chased a house goblin off with a relatively good-natured growl. I want to do this my damn self.
“Yes, my lady. Alagard informed us that you were having him train the children.”
I pause mid-mayo and look up at Nika. Understanding her concerns is fine but she needs to understand mine as well.
I say, “I don’t want them defenseless. They aren’t going to be on the front lines of anything, but they have every right to know how to protect themselves. Those children need that.” I start to make my sandwich.
Going back to the fridge, I rummage around for things to put on it besides mayo and lunchmeat. A can of sardines snags my attention, making me smile a little. I grab pickles and hot peppers too. And spray cheese, spray cheese is good on everything.
I’m going to make a supreme sandwich. Throwing it all together with a grunt of satisfa
ction, I take the first bite. Oh my god, it’s so good.
“That’s disgusting, Iza. I have no idea how you’re eating that right now,” Jameson comments, covering his mouth.
Taking another bite, I smile and very maturely open my mouth and show him my half-chewed food. When he gags, I laugh and immediately choke. Coughing and laughing at the same time, I’m able to breathe again and continue eating my masterpiece.
Nika and Jameson are watching me with mirrored looks of horror. You’d think I just killed someone with the way they’re looking at me.
“Back to the children. Iza you cannot let them be taught weapons at such a young—”
I cut her off. “Those children have already suffered because they couldn’t fight back. I will not have it happen again. They will train the same as everyone else. They will learn how to use their own abilities. They will learn weapons and they will learn hand-to-hand. None here will be defenseless ever again, understand?” Speech done, I eat the last bite of my sandwich and start looking for chocolate. I know there’s some hiding in here somewhere.
“Iza, I don’t think—”
Turning to Nika I frown at her. “The shit done to them… you really have no idea. You saw the wounds on the outside not the ones on their souls. They want to stop being victims and I’m going to make sure that they do.”
She looks at me and I can see the urge to argue in her eyes, but she clamps her mouth shut. I have a point and she knows it. The old ways of doing things are over.
“But with guns, my lady?” Oh, there’s the real pickle with Nika. Guns.
“I love knives and swords. They work against a lot of things… but not everything believes in a fair fight. This world here is full of creatures that don’t believe in honorable combat. They only believe in putting a gun to your head and pulling the trigger,” I explain.
“I feel like they are blasphemous to our ways,” she grumbles.
“Nika, they will be using them, so we need to be using them. It’s not the 1800s anymore. And you’re forgetting one very important detail.”
“What’s that, my lady.”
“I don’t believe in your ways.” I grab a bag of cookies and leave the kitchen.
The patter of feet trying to catch up makes me sigh. Jameson was strangely quiet during our little chat in the kitchen. I’m betting that he’s—
“Iza… my lady, I don’t disagree with Nika.”
—just dying to say something.
“That’s nice.” I keep walking.
“Children are helpless. They should be cherished and protected.”
At his words I stop walking, and he walks right into my back.
“Those children, our children… have had things done to them that would turn your hair white. They had their innocence, their freedom, their pride stripped away from them. Do not argue with me about allowing them to have their dignity.” My tone is firm. I’m not going to change my mind.
The kids asked me, all of them. Even little Cadey. So yeah, they can learn to fight, and no one will stop it. Not unless they want to deal with me… in a bad mood.
“Are you sure this is the right thing to do?”
I turn around at his question. He’s a breath from me so me, stepping up into his personal space is easy.
“You had a pretty good childhood, didn’t you?” He nods at my question. “I didn’t, those kids didn’t. Ruthie’s mother was murdered, and she was bartered to the pack alpha for a debt of two hundred dollars. Michael’s parents were murdered in front of him and he lived in the street as the errand boy for a bunch of blood suckers.” I have no choice but to tell them—otherwise they’ll fight me tooth and nail.
So, I keep going. “Lissa was raped when she was seven and even though she fought back, it wasn’t enough. Cadey and Louise were beaten and starved right along with their sister. And Knox—” I swallow the lump in my throat. “—he was used for years as a sex slave by a pack of perverts that I pulled apart like bread for what they did to him. This is the kind of world we live in, Jameson, not the one you both imagine exists. Now, if you question my judgement on it one more time, I will rip your goddamn heads off.” By the end of my tirade, because it’s absolutely a tirade, I’m yelling.
Both are staring at me in shock.
Laughing humorlessly, I continue, “You two thought they were just poor and maybe slapped around a little?” After a moment they both nod. “God, open your fucking eyes.”
With that said I turn around and head towards my room. That shit gave me a headache. Stress-ache. How can those two call themselves Feyrie? To roll over and show their bellies. No wonder the Feyrie lost.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Phobe
Iza’s anger calls me to her. I find her sitting at the end of the dock at the lake, her feet hovering inches above the freezing water. She is wrapped in a fluffy coat of some kind with a neon pink hat on her head.
The cold does not really bother her, so I imagine it was one of the many mother hens. I go to work once again on her shields. Her thoughts are hidden from me, thoughts she is putting effort into hiding.
This is becoming a bad habit for her. But now it is only ever a temporary one.
“When will you stop keeping me out?” I ask softly, coming up to stand beside her.
She tosses a stick into the water. “We’ve had this talk before, Phobe.”
Yes, we have. That does not mean I have changed my stance on it. “We can try that thing again.”
She laughs a little as she says, “You mean talking?”
“Yes, that thing.”
“Nika and Jameson are pissed off I’m letting the children train.”
Foolish Feyrie. Iza is doing what is best for her people now. “You are doing the right thing,” I say, in agreement with her.
“Oh, I know. What bothers me is they think it’s okay for the kids to be completely defenseless. That really fucking bothers me.”
Then it is not their judgement concerning her, it is their naivety.
“When they see the atrocities that really exist, they will change their minds,” I say.
She looks up at me and her eyes flash black.
“I don’t care if they change their minds. My gut tells me it’s the right thing to do. My Magiks tell me it’s the right thing to do. They can take their opinions and shove—” Her words cut off suddenly and she frowns at me, right before she is yanked off the doc into the water.
Something she is kicking at under the water is dragging her towards the middle of the lake. Water nymphs.
Fuck, she distracts me too much!
Feeling my Magiks flare angrily to life I watch, and I wait. I cannot and will not coddle her. Iza needs to be strong. She can do this. She meets my eyes and gives me a smile of pure mischief. The tightness in my chest eases.
‘You’d think since they live in water, they’d use soap once in a while.’ She would comment on something so unimportant to the situation.
‘They snuck in during the barbeque, I imagine, and have lurked here waiting. There is a bounty on our heads.’ It is the only way they could have gotten past the Sidhe.
My shadows lash out and come into contact with one of them. They pulled her away from me because they were warned about me. In this case, it is not me they should fear. Watching the churning surface, I find it hard not to jump in and help her, but I know she can do this herself. And she wants to.
Iza has some scheme in her head, I am sure. Plus, the chit is having fun with it. The sound of running feet comes from behind me. I am not the only one who watches her.
“Where is the Lady?” Adriem asks as he stops at the edge of the water.
Nightmares are not keen on swimming. The fact that he is considering it will impress Iza.
“Water nymphs,” I answer.
I start counting down in my head. One hundred and twenty seconds is how long she has before I go in after her, whether she wants me to or not. I feel her irritation waft across our bond.
&nbs
p; ‘One hundred seconds,’ I say to tweak her tail.
“Iza doesn’t know how to swim.” Michael’s soft voice sends a wave of irritation straight through me.
That sneaky fucking—
Water explodes upwards in a funnel and Iza rises out of the water, her Magiks a dark shadow around her. She is laughing at the spout of water that rises to reach for her, missing by mere inches.
Darkness crawls down her arms, covering them in her Fiend armor.
Clever.
With a smile directed at all of us she turns and dives back into the water, chasing the nymph who failed to recapture Iza.
‘Enough fun, Iza. Telling me you cannot swim is an important thing to share before you play with water nymphs.’
I feel her exasperation, but it does not stop me from diving into the water. Cutting through its cold, murky depths, I spot the first nymph. Grabbing her foot when she tries to flee, my touch turns her solid. Her blue eyes turn to me and fill with fear.
Someone definitely told her about me.
With ease I toss her out of the water onto the shore. I know with her being locked in solid form, the water is no longer her salvation. I also know that the others are waiting on shore and will take care of her.
Iza holds one by the throat, studying her. The third nymph is trying to sneak up behind her, and I get a surprise. Iza turns her body slightly, her gaze not leaving that of the one she holds, and the bone sword appears, running right through the neck of the nymph behind her.
The nymph dissolves in death and the sword vanishes as quickly as it appeared.
