by Lina Jubilee
“Damn it,” I shouted when I skidded to a halt, gripping the frame of the open door. No one was in here.
“Who are you?” said a voice from behind me—an elven woman whose snow-like face paled beneath her green updo when we locked eyes. She took a step back as I ran to her, clutching her by the shoulders. She cried out.
“Where’s Tianah?” I demanded.
“I—uh—are you that human King Alarik fell in love with?” she asked.
I shook her. She wasn’t dressed for combat, so I’d have to hope she wasn’t about to slam me against the wall with a shooting vine. “I need Tianah,” I said, not answering her question.
Her brow furrowed, the shock slowly melting off her face. “She’s making a portal right now for Xer… For King… For Xerxes,” she finished, her head slowly shaking. Maybe Xerxes’ support wasn’t so widespread.
Double dammit.
“Well, that portal needs to close,” I snapped. “Take me to her.”
“They’ll never let you—”
My eyes narrowed. “Then I guess I’ll need your help, won’t I?”
Chapter Eighteen
The elf woman, whose name was Flora, led me up several more flights of stairs, bowing slightly to any elf we passed who looked at me funny. But no one questioned why I was walking side by side with this elf maiden. Alarik really needs to work on security, I thought. I probably could have waltzed right past the guards at the entryway to the village with just a hello.
When we approached the throne room, she told me to hang back in an alcove—that Xerxes’ most loyal followers would be guarding the portal home.
If I had any power other than succubus lips, I’d be right there, pummeling the lot of them. I whispered to Flora, telling her what to say to Tianah—that she had to shut this portal down and then she had get me close enough. That her real king’s life depended on it.
She nodded and straightened her back, smiling as she approached the two elves in front of the door. I watched from the shadows down the hall.
Flora went inside. I waited and waited. Dammit, my plan got stupider with every second. I just had to hope Veras could hold its own, especially with the Renegades and Wade and maybe Darien down for the count.
And I had no idea where Alarik had gone.
Then there were cries and shouts. The elves in front of the throne room door bolted inside and I ran after them, peering in.
A portal sputtered and fizzled as one elf man tried to hold on to it—his partner, Tianah, now lowering her palms, Flora at her side.
Elves charged at her and I bolted in, yelling, drawing their attention as I body-slammed into the other elf barely holding open the portal, causing it to close as we both tumbled to the ground.
“What in the mother’s name…? Are you mad?!” shouted one elf guard, both to Tianah and myself.
He turned on her. “Now you have to try again, try to get it somewhere nearby. I know if you portal morons focus hard enough, you can picture a place to open it—”
“No!” I said, jumping to my feet. The portal-creating elf I’d landed on top of looked up at me, running a hand over his sore shoulder.
“Who the root are you?” said the elf man, striding toward me.
“She’s our queen consort,” said Flora, speaking loudly. “And you will obey her.”
“The sediment I will,” he said. “I follow Xerxes, and he’s to wed Princess Alanna—”
“Her Royal Highness won’t wed him,” said Tianah, tossing back her head. “She told me so herself. She loves him, but she knows that much power isn’t good for him. And she’s never been as devoted to him as he has been to her—because he’s too blinded by his ambition.”
Well, that was a revelation. That did me little good at the moment.
“Send me to Xerxes,” I said to Tianah, stepping forward to snatch the dagger from the angry elf man’s hilt at his waist. He looked flabbergasted as he darted forward to snatch it back, but I jumped away.
“I can’t do it alone,” said Tianah. She looked around the room. The other elf soldiers bounced and shuffled and looked all around the room, as if to ask one another which side they should be on.
Even coups were too new to this place. Xerxes could only inspire so much loyalty when the mere idea of revolt was foreign to them.
“You can do it with me,” I said, stepping toward her. The elf soldier whose dagger I’d stolen leaned toward me again, but another elf soldier jumped out of line, her own dagger shooting toward his neck. “Let her go, Thorn,” she said. “Let this be over…”
His eyes widened, but he didn’t move.
“Tianah, with my boost you can send me right to him,” I said. “I know you can.” A lie, but I had to sell it. “I got here because Normak used my boost to create a portal from my Earth to your Nelia.”
Gasps echoed around the room. Flora grinned, then curtsied toward me. “A human truly worthy of being queen consort.”
If she needed to believe that for everyone to help me on my way, so be it.
I continued, the mental clock running down in my mind. “If Alanna is with him—and she’s likely to be—I bet your portal will fail almost the instant it appears, because the princess nullifies your powers.” I straightened my back. “But I need you to do it anyway. I need to jump through the instant it’s open and I need to surprise that motherfucker and put an end to this.”
Tianah bit her lip but nodded.
“Thank you,” I said to her, to Flora, to the elf soldier who’d kept that disgruntled elf at bay. “Please… don’t participate in a coup again.”
“What’s a coup?” asked Flora, cocking her head.
But I didn’t have time to explain. I pushed forward and kissed Tianah, letting the power move between us, then stepped back.
She squeezed her hands into fists, trembling at the feeling coursing through her, then with a slight jut of her head, she raised both hands at me and screamed, shooting out the wavy, shimmering black light.
She’d shot the portal right at me.
Blinking, I stumbled, my feet echoing on shiny white tiles that seemed to be decorating an office building lobby.
Focus! I shouted in my head and I spun, just taking in the sound of my name as my leg came into contact with something hard with a thud—someone’s broad calves—and I flung the dagger I was still holding high, slamming it right into the back of a set of broad shoulders.
Fuck me, I was trusting that Tianah had been able to send me literally right behind Xerxes. I could have been stabbing an innocent stranger for all I knew.
A shriek echoed across the wide-open space and I realized Alanna was right beside me, her hands going to her face as she trembled. But I was wrapping my legs around the form in front of me, shouting and digging the dagger into his shoulder as the green-haired elf man below me choked and gurgled and blood started flowing out from his wound. I saw his face for the first time—Xerxes all right.
Thank the fucking universe.
Not that I’d wanted to kill him, but I couldn’t be sure I hadn’t with the random movement of my blade. And the blood loss. I shrieked again and pushed harder at the dagger, and we both fell to the ground, his blood pooling and staining the white floor.
“Aurora!” said a voice again. A familiar voice. But I was lost, panting loudly, growling like an animal, sitting up on the fallen back of my prey.
“Starlight,” said the voice, softer now. Alarik crouched by my side, his eyebrows drawing together as he took me in.
My breaths quieted and I stopped making animal noises, my shaking hand letting go of the dagger. I stared at it. It was covered in blood.
“Enough!” shouted a woman—Alanna. She’d clearly been crying, her voice wavering. “Enough, you fools! Call this off!” She looked down at her brother and I realized his arms were tied behind him with green vine.
“Do it!” he shouted over his shoulder and there was a flurry of footsteps, but I couldn’t think beyond what I’d just done.
/> Sniffling, Alanna bent over and removed a dagger from her own belt, sawing at the vines holding her brother captive. As soon as his hands were free, he put them to either side of my face and planted a kiss on my lips. “Starlight,” he said soothingly. “How…?”
But I shook my head numbly.
“He’s still breathing,” said Alanna, panic in her voice. She pushed at me gently and Alarik sent her a withering look, but I complied and shuffled off Xerxes’ back.
My wrist comm crackled with static and voices and I realized I was really back. I was really here. I lifted the comm to my lips, Alarik’s hands falling away. “Hello?” I called out.
“Aurora?” said Jayden.
“Angel!” shouted Nash. Things must have calmed down enough for him not to be fighting.
“Let the elves go if they don’t put up a fight,” I said, exchanging a look with Alarik, and he nodded. “They have orders to stand down. They should be hearing from their comrades soon.”
Alanna slowly flipped Xerxes over. His eyes were closed and blood pooled.
“Roulette can heal him, maybe,” I told her. “But you have to be far enough away to not nullify her powers.”
Alanna sobbed, bending over her sort-of lover. “I can’t do anything!” she wailed. “I can’t help him, I can’t help my brother—all I do is take and take away!”
“Aurora, we can’t get home,” said Alarik, grim, as he stood and walked over to his sister, tugging on her head gently until she buried her face against his knees.
I stood, too, trying not to look down at Xerxes as my knees shook. “You can. With a boost, your portal creators can open on this side,” I said. “It’s a long story, but… that’s how I threw together this plan.”
Alarik drew me to him and kissed my forehead. “My love,” he said. “You are… You are the reason for all of this. I know it. With you, we’ll find a way to approach this more peacefully.”
I raised an eyebrow as I took in his musky scent, not wanting to contradict him, and with more pressing things to worry about.
“Alanna, I’m sorry,” I said, “But if you want to try to save him, you need to move. Then I can tell Rou where to come.”
She nodded and stood, letting her brother support her. I took her other side and we headed toward the doorway, our footsteps coated in blood half the way.
When we hit the sidewalk, I relayed my plan—promising to explain everything in due time—to Jayden and Roulette, relieved to hear that everyone on Veras was okay—that Rou had healed Darien and that no one else had sustained too heavy an injury.
“Elven messengers seem to be talking to these other soldiers now,” said Jayden. “A cease fire.”
About goddamn time. Alarik and I kept shuffling, practically dragging Alanna farther and farther away.
“We need to get her away from the worst of the human injuries, too,” I said, directing them down a relatively clear alleyway. There were fewer vines here, which made sense in Alanna’s bubble of movement, I supposed.
Alanna kept crying. “I’m sorry. Brother, I’m sorry…”
“Hush now,” he said, reaching across himself to rub her head with his free hand. “We’ll talk about everything later.”
“Rou’s aware Xerxes’ injuries are bad,” I said, causing Alanna to hiccup and tumble between us. I hadn’t meant to make it worse. “So she agreed to see to him first.” Although that had taken some convincing. The cool breeze from over the waters danced across our faces, ruffling our hair, and if I squinted, I could almost believe I was out for a stroll with two pointy-eared tourists.
After walking several blocks, we came across a playground, empty of children, with equipment designed to resemble forest animals—frogs and weasels and rabbits alike. I jutted my head toward it and Alarik and I directed the crying Alanna toward a metal tree-stump-like chair.
“Aurora?”
I turned as I let go of Alanna to find Zander, sitting atop a rock overlooking the waters some distance away.
“Zander!” I cried, running toward him. He took me in his arms, lifting me off the ground, and kissed me while I wrapped my legs around his waist. He kept peppering kisses all over my face.
“What the hell happened?” he asked. “I lost my power”—he glared over my shoulder at the elven princess as he set me down—“and I felt useless, so I decided to look for any injured people, see if anyone came this way.” He looked around him. “And it was just so damn peaceful, so for a moment I zoned out.”
I filled him in on as much as I could, though I had to interrupt him every few minutes to touch base with Jayden over the comm.
Zander used my comm to speak with Lila via Wade’s comm and confirmed the Renegades were all okay, if still powerless. They’d been helping with the injures at the condo complex and my eyes widened at the thought of those rebels helping Typical humans with anything.
“Aurora!” called Alarik from behind me and I grabbed Zander’s hand, pulling him toward the waiting elven royalty.
Alanna hiccupped as I approached. “I can’t go home,” she said.
I looked to Alarik as I spoke to her, confused. “Yes, you can. You might not have heard before, but I can boost Normak or any other portal-creator you have here and make it so you all can go home.” Not to mention, I was sure the elves back in Nelia would create portals to send a search team.
She shook her head again. “I could, but… Someone needs to knock me out. I have to be unconscious for portal-creators—for anyone—not to lose their powers around me.”
“Hey,” I said, dropping Zander’s hand to give her shoulder a comforting squeeze. “It’s okay.” So there was a way around her powers… I looked up at Alarik. “Is that how you got her back the first time?”
His face went grim. “Yes.”
“Well, we…” I looked to Zander and he shrugged. “We can knock you out as gently as possible, Alanna.”
She sobbed, cradling her face in her hands. “I can’t go back. Not if Xerxes is being taken there.”
Alarik nodded. I didn’t know whether to push—but I had my own ideas why the prospect of going home might bother her just then.
“All right,” I said. “We’ll figure out a place for you to stay here, okay? Don’t worry about it.”
“Thank you,” said Alarik softly.
The comm burst to life with Jayden relaying the news that Xerxes was fully healed but restrained, and I allowed Alarik to speak through it to explain his plans.
We had a lot of cleanup to do. The buzzing of helicopters overhead reminded me that there were bound to be a lot of eyes watching, too. Nice of them to show up when it had all calmed down. “I’ll hide her,” said Zander from beside me. “I’m useless enough at the moment as is.”
I gave him a quick kiss and nodded, sending Alanna a sympathetic look before I took Alarik’s hand in mine, heading back to the fray to get our new coexistence started.
Epilogue
“Strip poker,” said Nash, drumming his fingers on the meeting room table as I flipped lazily through news stories about “our new Nelian diplomatic relations.”
Oh, the controversy it had caused when Alarik had started talking to people—the mayor, the governor, the president. He wanted to help the environment—he’d insisted we cooperate—and he had the full support of the Renegades, who were demanding another look at Natch-targeting crimes, too. Lila’s teleportation had been coming in handy for moving Alarik in and out of diplomatic meetings, letting the powers-that-be know they weren’t to be messed with.
And of course, his portal-creators had to stop by Veras headquarters for a boost before they could send him home to Nelia between visits.
Though he made sure to stay for dinner—and breakfast—at least once a week.
“Angel, I’m talking to you,” Nash said, waving a hand in front of my face. “Hello? Where’s Aurora’s trademarked righteous indignation over the fact that I just suggested we pass the time by playing to remove one another’s clothes?”
> Letting out a deep breath, I shoved the tablet away. Alarik had already convinced Congress to enact an immediate massive investment in clean energy, with promises to shift current power works jobs to the new facilities. Damn, things were much easier when a threat dangled over these politicians’ heads.
Now I sounded like Zander. He’d pounced on Alarik as the face of a—to put it lightly—dictatorship when it came to certain causes.
“Welcome to the dark side, darlin’,” Zander sent me over the bond.
I sent him an image of the two of us going at it in a room with all the lights dimmed. “Only interested in joining you in a dark room,” I sent back.
I’d kept my boys in line to make sure nothing went too far and nothing implicated Veras. We still had work to do, even if our two enemies were no longer a direct threat.
In exchange for allowing me to keep them in line, I allowed them to exert all manner of control over me behind closed doors.
My groin rumbled as my toes curled.
“Okay, I’m just going to start stripping and see if you notice that,” said Nash, jumping to his feet and peeling off his T-shirt.
I laughed, finally bringing myself back into the moment. “If you think I’m going to stop you, guess again.” A wry smile darted over my lips as I took in his chiseled chest, bringing myself to my feet and running my fingers up and down his pecs.
“Chastity, have you seen—? Oh, sorry.” Jayden cleared his throat and pushed his glasses up his nose. “I thought she was in here.”
“She wanted to go to town and I offered to monitor things for her,” I said. I kissed Nash on the nose for his silliness and then crossed the room to Jayden, wrapping my arms around him and pecking him on the cheek. “What’s up, sweetheart?” I asked him.
