Suri pointed at the path leading to the small room like a general leading a charge. “Left!” she shouted. The group took off in that direction.
“There will be another exit,” said Amber. “A passageway, a backdoor. It’s how they brought in the dead bodies.”
“Got it. Talk later,” Suri said, and broke the connection.
There was so much dust in the air. She coughed, ran her tongue over dry lips. Swallowed through a dry throat.
Is this how the Syrian refugees feel? She absently wondered. Nah. Probably 10x worse. Stop whining and get a move on.
She went second last down the passage, Paulie close behind.
Amber was right. Dead bodies lay on long shelves all across the room. It was like a library, but instead of books there were corpses. Suri kept a wary eye on them as she ran past. It was Faerie, after all. Zombies were a thing here.
The group got through the initial corridor of bodies. Nothing attacked them. Closer inspection showed the bodies were ancient. Yellow bones, scraps of what was once clothing. And the smell! Suri would never forget it. It was just…death. It smelt like death. It made sense. They were in a tomb. A huge one. Row upon row of bodies stretched out farther than they could see. A labyrinth.
The shaking and noise of feet didn’t reach them in there. All was quiet but for the shuffling of their own shoes. Suri followed the person ahead of her. Straight forward, through to the end of the tomb and out the other side. Or so they thought.
The shelves of bodies were not lined up properly. Some of them curved, making walls. They would reach the end of a row and have to choose left, or right. Not knowing which way to go, Suri went with the rest of the group. Left, right. Right, right. Left. Over and over again. Then they stopped.
A murmur rippled through the line. “Dead end.”
“What?” A young, male voice exclaimed in disbelief. “I thought this was the way out!”
“What the hell’s going on?” A different voice. Strained. Weary. Ready to snap.
“It was her fault. Suri! She led us in here.”
“Where is she? Does she know the way?”
When Suri answered negative, they got really riled up.
“Then why did we come here?!” the young man bellowed.
Then everyone chimed in.
“Yea!”
“Take us back!”
“It’s her fault!”
Suri met Paulie’s eye. He shook his head. Neither of them knew the way back.
It was stifling in the tomb. Dusty, and hot. Everyone was thirsty. The adrenaline from being scared went away, replaced by lethargy. Heavy eyelids. Yawns from tired shopkeepers.
Before, they had been desperate. Ready for action, and easy to lead. Now they were annoyed. The plan had failed. There was no clear path forward. And they looked for someone to blame.
“She tricked us.”
“Is she with the fae? I heard they had humans helping them.”
“Where is she? Find her!”
Angry voices, intent on causing trouble.
The last thing Suri needed—any of them needed—was to start fighting with the people she was trying to save. Besides, Suri didn’t want to hurt anyone. She’s not a bully.
A thick hand shot out from the crowd and snatched her arm. Suri jerked away.
“Quiet!” Paulie bellowed. Everyone went quiet. “There was an open area not that far back. I think we can find it. Let’s rest there and decide what to do.”
The crowd grumbled unhappily, but it was something. No one offered up any other ideas. So back they went, stopping at a wide circular area in the labyrinth, and sat on the dusty stones. All around were shelves full of skeletons. Watching with eerie stillness.
“Let’s tie her up,” said one man. His eyes were rimmed in red, wide and crazy with fear. The others voiced their approval, and moved as a mob to restrain Suri.
“Stop!” A tiny voice, trying to be loud. “All of you, stop! I have cake!”
9
Clarissa pushed through the crowd, curly, brown hair bouncing as she stepped next to Suri and held her cake high above her head. She wore a grave, “shame-on-you” expression. Suri took the chef’s hat from her pocket, puffed it up a little, and put it back on Clarissa’s head.
“Thank you,” Clarissa said earnestly. She turned to address the crowd. “Ahem! Ahem! Your attention, please!” All was quiet again. No sound but the odd sneeze and cough. No running feet. Not that it meant there wasn’t something in the labyrinth, trying to find them.
“Those of you with manners.” Clarissa paused, taking her time to glare at several people in the crowd. “Are invited to have some of my cake. If you promise to be nice to my friend.” She put a hand on Suri’s shoulder “And not argue and cuss. Thank you.”
There was no hesitation. 50 voices rang out, “I promise!”
Everyone had one bite. It was enough. Maybe their blood sugar level was really low. Whatever the case, they perked right back up. Color returned to their cheeks. They start talking eagerly about how to get out of the labyrinth.
With one cake, Clarissa did more than Suri ever could with a spell.
Cake makes everything better. It’s basically magic.
Suri licked the last bit of frosting from her finger. Realized she wanted more of Clarissa’s cooking. Heck, she wanted to eat her cake every day! And to do that, she needed to find a way home.
It was Wednesday, after all. Wine, Chinese food, and Orange Is the New Black with Amber. Their weekly tradition. Suri wasn’t going to miss it. Even if it was 4PM the next day when she parked Blackbird outside their apartment, they were going to binge-watch Netflix. Be couch potatoes for a while. Talk about boys.
She was drifting off into a daydream. Started thinking about Orlando, from the theater. Almost missed the pair of blue eyes watching her from a nearby shelf. It was a fae male, crouched atop one of the shelves.
A spy.
Suri launched a bolt of magic at him. He dodged. Backflipped off the shelf and into the crowd. Another spell was charged up and ready to go. Suri couldn’t risk using it with the crowd standing so closely packed. So the fae walked up to her and they met face-to-face. Everyone edged back, making a small clearing.
Oh, my.
He was drop dead gorgeous.
Tall. Lean. Short, golden hair. Lantern jaw. Dark blue eyes. Shirtless. Distracting Suri with his wide chest and thick biceps. Black leather pants. Tight enough to show a bulge.
Suri took him in with a glance. Felt warm, like she’d just gulped down a hot cup of tea. Despite everything, a blush crept up her face.
She growled it off, but the warm feeling remained. You know the saying, the body has a mind of it’s own? It happens.
Sparks spat from the spell in Suri’s hand. It was fully charged. Ready to blast the fae to pieces. He calmly met her eyes. His body language was totally relaxed. As if he wasn’t surrounded by a pack of humans crazy enough to swarm him. Even Clarissa was scowling.
“Talk. Fast,” Suri ordered. It seemed she had become the leader of the group.
He turned away. “Follow me if you want to live,” he said, and leapt back onto the top of the shelf. Jumped to the next one, agile as a cat, and set off across the top of the labyrinth.
“Shit.” Suri shook away the lightning spell. Quickly summoned a globe of light and sent it trailing after the fae.
“What if it’s a trap?” Paulie asked.
“If he’s an enemy, we’re already trapped.” Suri replied. “Let’s go!” she shouted, rousing the others.
They were ready to go on. Suri just hoped she wasn’t leading them toward another dead end. Clarissa’s cake gave her a second chance. She wasn’t counting on a third.
* * *
They chased after the fae. He never slowed, forcing all the humans to stay at a jog.
After ten minutes, it was obvious just how lost they had been.
The labyrinth was far larger than any of them had imagined. Thousands and thousand
s of fae had been buried here. It took twenty minutes to reach the other side.
Suri was in the front of the group. Tracking the fae with her light, making sure he wasn’t lost in the darkness. She didn’t know what his motivation was. Frankly, she didn’t care. He was taking them through the labyrinth. They didn’t hit one dead end. Anywhere was better than being stuck among the dead. If he hadn’t arrive, well, Suri wasn’t sure what they would have done. Probably would have ended up blasted the shelves apart. Made their own path. But also telling the creatures chasing them exactly where to go. There was a good chance the labyrinth would have become their tomb.
We owe this fae our life.
Since humans were being persecuted, killed, hunted by fae, it made for a strange situation. Something was going on in Faerie. Plots and schemes that Suri couldn’t fully see.
The fae stopped. Next to him was a small, metal door. The exit.
Amber was right, Suri thought. Chinese food is on me tonight.
She sighed. There I go, getting ahead of myself again. She was so darn desperate to get out of this place. Out from underground, out of Lodum. Out of Faerie. Back to her crappy little apartment and twin-sized bed. And food. Her stomach wasn’t the only one growling around here. Clarissa’s cake was a distant memory. Suri’s tongue was thick from lack of water. Dry from the dust. The taste was entirely gone.
“You first,” she said to the fae.
He quirked a lopsided grin. Opened the door and ducked through.
More walking. Suri’s stomach was really starting to hurt. Her muscles were stiff from fighting. Every step up the steep stairway made her grimace. She lagged behind. People passed her by. Some gave her a pat on the back. A soft “thank you.” They hadn’t meant it before, when they’d turned on her. Not really. It was all good now.
Yeah, right.
Suri wasn’t counting them as friends. Not yet. First they had to see this thing through to the end. Then she would decide if their little backstab was worth remembering.
The stairs went on and on. Suri put one foot in front of the other. Again and again. At one point, she fell asleep. Next thing she knew, Paulie was shaking her awake. “Suri. Hey, Suri.”
“Mm, what?” she looked around. The nearest person was a dozen steps ahead of them. No one was behind. “Oh.”
They kept going. Paulie stayed with her the rest of the way. The pain was so bad in her stomach that she might have thrown up. Not that she had anything to throw up.
All at once the floor flattened out. Light smacked her eyes in a warm wave. Not torchlight. Natural, honest-to-goodness sunlight.
For a moment, Suri was blind. She held an arm up to cover her eyes. Felt for all the world like Gollum when he left the mountain to chase Bilbo. It was day again, if only barely.
It was morning’s first light. Creeping in through a large, gothic window.
They had arrived in a mansion. Or was it a palace? Suri blinked, took in the room around her.
Rich tapestries hung on the walls, showing scenes of men and women fighting in armor. Others showed city that looked like Lodum, but much smaller. Before it had grown to the size it was now.
Ornate chandeliers hung from a high, open ceiling with exposed wooden beams. Bits of smoke drifted up from the candle wicks. They had been put out with coming of the sun. A pair of tall double doors, made of glass, led out to a large balcony. The other side of the room found a desk covered in maps, parchment, quills and ink. Small wooden objects, like children’s toys, rested on the maps. And in the middle of the room was a large, round table. It looked to weigh one ton. Made of oak, it held many stains and gashes. Some were dark. From blood, perhaps. Silver, high-backed chairs set around it glimmered with the light of the sun.
No one was sitting in the chairs. Understandable, given that all of them were refugees in enemy territory, and didn’t have a darn clue who had saved them. Maybe the owner was sensitive about his furniture. Maybe they weren’t supposed to be there. Faerie is faerie. Best to leave it alone as much as possible. They’d already had enough trouble. Dirtying chairs made of solid silver, which could quite possibly belong to nobility, was simply a bad move. Besides, they didn’t even look all that comfortable.
The room was wide. Nothing else in it. Space enough for all 50 of them to sit down on the carpeted floor. Stretch out, as some of them did, and start snoring. Most of the people just looked weary. Utterly exhausted. Their eyes lit up when the fae appeared, shutting a door behind him, with a large bucket of water. He placed it on the table. Snapped his fingers and 50 silver goblets appeared next to it. The water began to pour itself. Hovering in the air, moving between goblets and filling them one at a time.
Wow. I mean, wow. Fae magic isn’t much stronger than a human’s, but they’ve been practicing a lot longer. They have style. If the fae was trying to show off, he was doing a heck of a good job.
For their part, the humans remembered their manners. Lined up, taking one goblet at a time, only to drain it and set it back down on the table. Wait for it to be refilled. Suri was absolutely parched. She drained her goblet immediately. Felt that cold trickle down her throat and expand through her chest that you get when you haven’t had anything to drink for a long time. Heaven.
The fae came back with another bucket. Then a third. All three hovered around the table. Sometimes bumping into each other and splashing a bit of water. Refilling cups as fast as they could. When empty, they flew out the door where the fae came from, refilled, and returned.
One bucket had impressed Suri. Three put her on edge. It might not seem like a lot more, but it takes three times the effort. She perked up a bit. Straightened her back, eyes sharp on the fae. Observing as much as she could.
Suri and the fae were the only gifted with a lick of real power. Paulie, maybe some of the other shopkeepers, had some juice. Not much though. Certainly no combat experience, or battle spells.
Gifted came in two kinds. You had the entrepreneurs. Money-minded individuals, like Paulie, who used their magic to help with their craft. Gave them an advantage over their competitors. Almost guaranteed a starting six-figure salary. Smart.
Suri’s kind was the rough-and-tumble kind. Street-wise. Working as couriers, DJs, club bouncers to make ends meet until they got recruited by a guild. The Demon Hunter Guild and the Saffron Order were the big boys. Mercenary groups like Black Gauntlet were also an option, but that was the 1% of the 1%. All paid top dollar, and were tough as shit to get into. Think Navy Seals of the magic community. Filled with veterans. Working for clients or the magic council in discreet operations. Usually against rogue magic users, or supernatural beasties. That’s where Suri planned to end up. But none of them accepted recruits younger than 24, so she had to wait.
The fae who saved us, he was like Suri. A fighter. Had the thick, callused hands and bruised knuckles of a practiced swordsman. Forearms corded with muscle. And that was only half of it. With the buckets, Suri’s suspicion was confirmed. He was more than a swordsman. More than an ordinary gifted. Far more.
He looked at Suri without looking at her—watched her from the edge of his vision. Only briefly flickering his gaze over her body. Stray glances. Sizing her up. Suri was another alpha. A potential challenger.
She didn’t feel like one. She was hurt, tired, hungry. Even at her best, she was still just a courier. Once she was a Demon Hunter? Sure. They could tango. At the moment, she was outclassed.
Suri did everything she could to make the fae think otherwise. Kept a stiff upper lip. Didn’t lay on the floor like she wanted to. Made rounds, talking to the people who had made it through the tunnel and labyrinth. It’s generally best to seem stronger than you are. People are less likely to mess with you.
That was all that Suri wanted, for this fae to give them water, maybe a bit of food, and let them be on their way. No complications. But dinner ain’t free. And those silver goblets certainly weren’t meant for rabble such as themselves. The fae wanted something. He was trying to win them over.
Next came out a row of silver platters, covered in big slabs of cheese and dark, steaming bread. The crowd practically threw themselves at it. Started grabbing at the food before the platters even floated down to the table.
Suri frowned. It’s well-known that Faerie food is enchanted. The most basic lesson from the old folk tales. But not all Faerie food. Only if they wanted it to be. It was a good way to sucker in humans. Drug them, and kidnap them. Again, Suri had to admit that this fae could kill them in a much simpler fashion. Like opening the front door, yelling, “I rounded up all the humans!” and stepping out of the way.
Mouth watering, Suri didn’t lift a finger. She let the others empty the platters. Watched them for signs of enchantments taking hold. Nothing usually happened until ten minutes after the last crumb left the last silver platter. The platters and the buckets zipped out the room. The fae entered again by the same door, only to open the glass double doors and walk out on the balcony. Through a slim opening between the drapes and the wall, Suri saw him summon a sparrow. A whisper in its ear, and it was off.
Carrying a message
Suri had half a tank of magic left. Enough to put up one heck of a fight. Too bad her body was dead tired.
“What was that?” she asked, stomping right up to the fae.
“Private business,” he said.
“Private, my ass! Did you tell them where we are?”
The breeze from the balcony tussled his golden hair. He smiled, showing off his perfectly straight, pearly white teeth. “Of course. They told me where to find you.”
Then he walked past her, into the room. Everyone had collapsed to the floor. They were sound asleep.
“Paulie!” Suri ran to him. Crouched by his side and shook him. He kept snoring, a peaceful expression on his face.
Five beams of death magic shot from Suri’s clenched fist. Goblets bubbled into piles of molten silver. A tapestry turned to dust. Two windows smashed. A chandelier caught on fire.
It was a show of power. The fae didn’t budge.
“Break the enchantment! Now!” she roared.
Faerie Mage: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Vampire's Bane Book 1) Page 6
