by C. M. Cevis
“I assume that you are the keeper of the gate?” a rather gruff voice said, bringing Luna’s attention to the now open door on the other side of the room. The two men who stood in the doorway were dressed just like the guards that had accompanied Gideon.
Luna eyed them warily, but neither of them seemed interested in attacking her. “I need to see Queen Maya.”
The guard on the right nodded. “We will send word that the guardian is here and requests an audience. Is there anything else we should tell her? Perhaps something about Prince Gideon?”
“Perceptive.” Luna smirked. “Yeah, tell her that her son is draining life from people in my town. She’s got about ten minutes to bring her royal self down here, or I start raising hell.”
The guard speaking looked taken aback, but nodded and turned to leave, closing the door behind him. “Stay here,” he barked just before the door closed.
“Where else would I go?” Luna muttered. She flopped into one of the chairs. She was not a fan of waiting.
39
It took seven minutes and thirty-two seconds for the door to open again. Luna looked up from her watch as the guard stepped to the side and Maya entered.
“I don’t appreciate you threatening my guard,” she said, her chin lifted. Based on the queen’s dress and posture, Luna had no idea if she’d been roused from sleep or come from a state function. The woman was classy. And still, Luna could sense the tension radiating from her.
“I don’t appreciate several things that I’ve gone through in the past few hours. Deal with it,” Luna replied without missing a beat. She motioned to one of the other chairs as if this were her office and not just some random room in what she assumed was a faerie castle.
The queen sat. “What is it that you need?”
“Your son has recently found his way out of both the restraints you provided and the ones that I added. However he’s done it, he’s been able to return without me or my sister realizing.”
The queen arched an eyebrow. “That sounds like your problem.”
Luna narrowed her eyes. “He’s been doing something to leech life from people in my town. I have no idea who is on the receiving end, but I don’t believe it’s Gideon. It feels nothing like him. And I can’t get near it, because whenever I do, it leaps at the chance to touch me.”
The queen paled, but she didn’t speak.
“What is going on? How did he escape your leash? And why is he killing my friends?”
“My leash? What about your magical locks, hm? They were supposed to keep him bound,” Maya said, her calm cracking to reveal worry.
“Listen,” Luna began, then took a deep breath to reign in her frustration. “We could start with throwing around blame—and you know you hold your fair share—or you can tell me what is going on before your son kills someone I care about and I reciprocate.” Luna leaned forward. “And please believe me that if he kills someone because you don’t want to spill, once I find him, I’m coming to find you.”
Maya’s eyes widened and she leaned back, away from Luna’s words. “I believe you,” she said softly.
“You should. Now talk,” Luna said, sitting back again.
Maya cleared her throat and sagged visibly, as if the responsibility of queen and mother were too great to hold. “I have never heard of our magical restraints failing and am unaware of any way he could have moved through your locks. Vernon has been attempting to investigate your magic since you so thoroughly stymied him on our arrival to your realm, and has made no progress.” The brief smile did nothing to banish the exhaustion from her suddenly lined face.
Luna nodded. “Thank you for answering my first question. And the second? It’s a bit more pressing.”
Maya drew in a breath. “What do you know of fae magic?”
“I had the impression being fae was a bit like being a witch, in the sense that each fae has a type of magic that they are more skilled in.”
The queen nodded. “My son is a fae of light, like I am. We are rather closely related to life fae, so some of our abilities overlap, but we are not the same. For Gideon, his abilities lie in illusion, mostly.”
Luna frowned. Normally she’d be interested in a lesson on fae powers, but right now people she knew were hurting. “That doesn’t seem like the kind of magic that can steal life from someone.”
“It’s not,” Maya answered quickly, sensing Luna’s impatience. “But there is a fae from years ago that… I suspect has been influencing him, helping him.”
Luna crossed her arms. “Keep talking.”
“Many years ago, a half-fae, half-human witch named Lianna wreaked havoc on my people for months until she was caught in the act. Because she had personally slighted my parents, and because her crime is one of the most heinous among our people, she was given an unusual sentence. She lost her fae longevity, and as her now-mortal life waned, so would her power.”
Luna frowned. “I don’t understand, how did that help keep her from causing problems again? Why wasn’t she imprisoned or banished?”
“The thought was that since her power waned as her life did, this would be more painful for her. She was unable to use her power to steal life from others, the task was now too taxing on her. If she became gravely injured or sick, her magic lost its potency the closer to death she became. That also means that the older she gets, the less powerful she is.”
“And Gideon is… helping her? Why?”
The queen’s face showed a deep sorrow. “Gideon… feels his position as a prince means he should have more power than any commoner. But that is not how power works, as I’m sure you well know.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Luna said, making a face. “It goes where it wants, though genetics do have a say. For witches, at least.”
Maya nodded slowly. “My husband is not powerful, and he has no desire to be. That perceived weak line of magic seems to have been passed down to his son.”
“Ah.” Luna nodded. “And this weird witch fae lady promised to make Gideon powerful if he gave her life.”
“Right. She doesn’t care where the life comes from, even if it comes from him.” Maya shuddered.
“And to keep her from taking his life, he’s become a conduit for her to take from others.”
“Yes,” Maya sighed. “Gideon doesn’t know that I know about his little deal, but since he does all of his hunting outside of the fae, I’ve kept quiet and hoped that one day he’d come clean.”
Luna blinked at the woman in front of her. “Wait a minute. Are you telling me that you’re okay with your son and his accomplice killing people willy nilly, as long as they aren’t your people?”
Maya seemed to age in front of Luna. “The mantle of royalty makes one do things that in other circumstances seem incredibly hardhearted. I had my reasons, but see now that they are inadequate.” She bowed her head. “I do not know how many have died because of my inaction.”
Luna wanted to both smack and hug the woman. “We can talk about that later—because we will talk about it, make no mistake. In the meantime, I need to know two things: How to stop what this woman is already doing, and how to find your son.”
The queen looked up, seeming eager to offer aid where she could. “I believe Gideon should be able to cut off the connection to the witch, since it runs through him. It’s just a theory, and one that depends on his willingness. If he feels threatened, he won’t cooperate.”
Luna sucked her teeth. “Your family is a piece of work. Is your husband like this too?”
Maya ignored the question. “As for finding him, you can use this.” From the folds of her dress, Maya pulled what looked to be a bracelet. A circular stone piece was set in the wide metal cuff.
“When Gideon’s punishment was announced, I created this seer bracelet so that I could keep an eye on him. If anyone found it, his punishment would be extended when he did nothing.”
Luna didn’t bother to say what she was thinking on that one.
“Say his full name—Gideon O
wen Light—and look into the stone, and you’ll see him in his immediate surroundings. If you are tracking him, the stone will glow brighter the closer you are to him physically.”
“Great. Magical red light green light,” Luna muttered.
“Magical what?”
Luna glanced up at Maya. “It’s a children’s game where you…”
Maya looked completely lost.
“Never mind.”
Maya nodded and stood. “Is there anything else that I can do for you at this time?”
“Yeah,” Luna said, following suit as she slipped the bracelet onto her wrist. “Stop being such terrible people. Half of this could have been avoided if someone cared just a little more.”
She walked through the gate and back into her basement without giving Maya a chance to respond. She’d learned nothing while in the fae world that made her understand Maya’s or Gideon’s decisions. Whatever they were getting, it seemed to be just what they deserved.
40
Gideon had ended up panic running down a small, out of the way street that no one looked to pay attention to, judging by the large box that held nothing but rotting food and garbage at the end of it. Part of him wanted to gag and retch from the smell, but he refused. For the moment, anyway. His concern was how having his royal ass royally handed to him.
“How in the world can you stand that aroma?” Lianna asked, standing several feet away from the offending dumpster.
Gibeon swore he felt his heart leap up into his throat for a moment, until he realized it was Lianna. That wasn’t better than it being Luna, but at least it wasn’t the one who was pissed at him currently. “It’ll keep people from coming too far back here, and tight now that’s what I need.”
“There wasn’t anywhere else that you could have hidden? Work your magic on someone and become their favorite houseguest or something?” she asked, wrinkling her nose.
Gideon looked up from the dim alleyway and made a face. “Doing that would allow you to drain them, and since Luna knows that I’m the one giving you that connection, leaving more of a trail would be stupid.”
“She saw you?”
Gideon nodded. “I found someone who was running over with life. Except it was her best friend, a shifter. I’m not sure how she knew I was there, but she arrived before I’d made it through the house.”
“Judging by the house she lives in, it was probably warded all to hell.”
Gideon let his head drop. It hadn’t occurred to him that the wards might notify their owner when they were tampered with. Though that didn’t explain how she’d covered that much distance so quickly.
“What are you going to do now? You’re a fugitive, from both your kingdom and a witch who is probably pretty irritated at you.”
“No idea. I’m still working on a plan. You could help me, you know.”
Lianna shrugged. “I’ve already gotten involved more than I should have by getting you out of that house at night. That was not an easy bit of magic to work, and you promptly screwed it up, didn’t you?” she snapped.
“You could go find your own life sources…”
“Or I could just take yours. I wouldn’t have a problem with it, but I’m sure you would.”
Gideon felt his heartbeat speed up more than he’d have liked, but he pushed the fear back down into his belly and went back to concentrating on the brick wall just behind Lianna’s face. He was well aware of what she could do to him if their deal was broken. Or if it wasn’t, it wasn’t like she was the most truthful person, there wasn’t anything keeping her from breaking the deal other than the fact that she needed him. The life he provided was more than just his one. That was why she stuck to the deal, nothing else. He chose to say nothing, since he wasn’t sure if his voice would betray him or not.
“Figure it out, little prince. Or I will move on and take back what I’ve given you.”
She was gone in a blink, and Gideon let out a breath that he hadn’t been aware he was holding.
41
When the seer bracelet revealed that Gideon was sitting outside leaning against a brick building—which described half the buildings in town—Luna resorted to Plan B. Thanks to a best friend who was willing to shift and do some scenting as if she were a bloodhound and not a big wolf lady, they’d found him hunkered down behind what had to be the smelliest dumpster in all of Calidity.
Instead of pouncing, Luna and Asher had waited and watched. Gideon muttered to himself, shifted, scratched, but didn’t move from his spot. Their patience paid off when a tall, slender woman appeared out of thin air— Luna assumed she was the faerie witch Maya had told her about, but she didn’t want to find out the hard way if that meant she was more than Luna could handle on her own. She’d allowed the two of them to convers without her interfering, just in case they were about to reveal something helpful, and once she was sure the witch was gone, she made herself known.
“Quite a fall from grace,” she said from where she’d been perched in the back of the alley on what was probably supposed to be a fire escape landing. She saw Asher leap from the fire escape and head home, her shift at the coffee shop due to start in a few hours.
Gideon scrambled to his feet and looked around in panic.
“She’s gone. She won’t be coming back to save you from me.” Luna grinned, hopping down from her perch and slowly strolling toward him.
The prince froze like the prey he was.
“I had to go all the way to your mother, in her big fancy castle, to find out what the hell is going on around here. I don’t even know why I didn’t tell her and that older guy with her to shove it and take care of their own punishments, but now I wish that I had. You are not worth this much trouble. And if this is how you’ve gone about getting you mother’s attention, you are in need of some serious therapy.”
“My mother? How in the world would she know anything about what’s going on?” Gideon asked, his voice trembling and betraying how calm he was trying to appear.
“She knows, dude. She said she’s always known, and had ignored it since you always went outside of the fae to hunt for what’s-her-name. She and I are going to have a talk later about how only caring about fae lives is a problem.”
He looked stunned. “Then why did she let this happen?”
Luna almost lunged for him. “Why did she… You little idiot, you made this deal with that horrid woman. You did! Don’t you dare walk around here like your poor decisions are her fault. She can take blame for her part in the aftermath, but this decision, this deal, that was all you, Prince Dummy.”
Gideon furrowed his brow as if confused. “Why didn’t she stop me, then?”
Luna sighed. “Because she’s just as stupid as you are but more in the motherly, I-love-my-son way. She wanted you to tell her what was going on, to talk to her. So she waited.”
Gideon’s face fell. “Oh.”
Her voice hardened. “Yes, it’s all very touching and wonderful, but we can deal with that later. Right now, you are going to release whatever you’ve done to the two people I know about around here and the however many I don’t. Right now.”
“I don’t know that I can,” Gideon almost whispered.
Luna chuckled darkly. “You’d better figure it out, Gideon. I am not in the mood to let people die on my watch. If they die, so do you. The fae witch is not the only dangerous person you need to worry about.”
Luna knew her expression was terrifying, and Gideon reacted like appropriately. She hadn’t had to use that expression, that tone, in years. It felt nice—which concerned her. Could she slip that old persona on like a comfortable pair of jeans? She had no idea whether she was alright with that or not.
Later. Always later.
“Lianna will kill me, I know she will. I’ll take my chances with you,” Gideon said, pushing himself to his feet.
Luna was genuinely surprised. This Lianna woman must have been quite a witch. Or one hell of a liar.
“Liza,” Luna thought.
&nbs
p; “Right” came the reply.
Gideon’s body tensed and his hands flew to his temples. He groaned, then squealed, and finally screamed. Blood leaked from one of his ears as he dropped to his knees.
“It’s really fascinating what my sister and I can do when we put our abilities together,” she said.
“I wasn’t sure it would work. Thank you for being our test subject,” Liza said with a smirk.
“Please… stop,” Gideon whimpered.
Luna rolled her eyes. “You’d be terrible if someone ever decided to kidnap you to get to your mom. You’d spill every secret you have without any effort, wouldn’t you?”
She gave her sister and look and the power immediately stopped flowing through her. Gideon took a moment to stand, gasping for breath and wiping the dripping blood from the side of his face.
“Let them go,” Luna said.
“Alright, alright… I’ll try.”
“You’d better try hard, little prince. I’m pretty sure you’ve used up all the goodwill my sister had towards you,” Liza said, chuckling.
Gideon closed his eyes and shakily began… doing something. Luna wasn’t sure what, but she could feel something stirring around her, as if the world was shifting a bit. Then, it stopped.
“I can’t,” Gideon said.
Luna blinked at the prince. “Pardon?”
“It’s not working, I can’t break the connection.”
Luna frowned. “Wrong answer.”
Gideon threw up his hands in front of his face, as if that would block anything that Luna was doing. “Wait!” he yelled.
~*~
It was too late. He blinked and like it was nothing, Luna had sent him back to her basement. His mother’s leash sat several feet away from him on a chair, and his neck and wrists were encircled in heavy iron chains. The iron wasn’t pure—that would have been painful beyond belief. No, these chains burned into his skin just enough to cause damage, but not so much that they’d cause anything to fall off. Maybe scarring if he was in them for any significant amount of time. That seemed a silver lining.
