by J. C. Nelson
The abomination swung its hands up to its eyes, shattering chunks of bone away long enough for it to see me, and it rose to one knee, reaching for me.
“Stop!” I screamed at it, my voice echoing in the empty street.
It did.
“Stand.” I gave the order, and it rose, heaving blasts of breath from diseased lungs. The stench of its morning breath reeked like a thousand buffet dinners gone bad.
I looked at the cursed mark on my hand. What had the history books said? The handmaidens commanded the Black Queen’s armies. The handmaidens ruled over all of her creatures. “Do not move.”
From the street corner, Liam stumbled in my direction. The loss of consciousness had caused him to revert to his normal form. Naked, but normal. I held my arm out in front of me, as if the mark could shield me from the abomination.
Mikey growled like he’d gotten a dozen years’ rabies shots, and came hurtling toward us, leaping onto the abomination’s back, tearing into its flesh. The abomination convulsed but continued to obey my command. After a few moments of tearing flesh from it only to have the flesh regrow, Mikey dropped to the ground on all fours, then changed, becoming more wolf man than wolf.
“Little help?” He looked to Liam, who nodded.
With claws like meat cleavers, Mikey tore the abomination’s ribs back. In the cavity, a heart like an elephant’s palpated, humming with saffron energy. That was how we’d killed the others—when I ran them over, it crushed their hearts.
Liam reached in and tore the heart loose, then vomited on it, fire that seared and blackened the flesh until it finally stopped moving.
I threw myself at him, wrapping my hands around his chest. “I’m sorry. Ari’s helping me get rid of the lie— Ari!” I let go of Liam and ran for the storefront.
Inside, Ari lay nestled in a pile of fashionable clothing. When I shook her, she opened her eyes. I’d seen this look before. Spell exhaustion, caused when Ari pushed herself too far, too fast. Liam stepped through the glass, letting scales cover his feet to keep them from being sliced up.
“Here.” I took a lace gown from the pile and threw it to him. “I’m so sorry about what happened.”
“We’ll talk later.” Liam tied the dress around his waist and gathered up Ari like a bag of tenpenny nails and walked out, with me following.
Mikey flexed his muscles, tearing a Kingdom mailbox from the concrete and tossing it over his shoulder.
“What are you doing with that? The gnomes will be furious.” I shook my head, glad it wasn’t me this time.
Mikey gave the box a shake, and a muffled shout rose from inside. “Wyatt was with us when those things attacked. I used to do this to nerds all the time.”
I tried not to laugh, and failed. “Grimm? You can come out now.”
He appeared in half a dozen taxi mirrors, a look of satisfaction on his face. “Well done. Now, if you—” He stopped, looking around. “Marissa, where is the sixth creature?”
I looked around, frantic, and listened. The streets still stood silent. I can’t tell you why I looked behind me. Call it instinct, maybe training, or would it be so awful to say that for once the universe let me have a little luck? I turned to the west just in time to see a taxicab come sailing straight toward me.
Twenty-One
I RAN TOWARD the flying cab, not away, knowing that Wyatt-in-a-box and my triathalon-training best friend would be so much meat for the abomination. Liam might be able to do something, or might not, since he usually needed a nap between transformations. And of course, holding still would have left me in the path of an unexpectedly airborne cab.
As I rolled to my feet, thankful I wouldn’t have to tip the cabby for a ride I didn’t want to take, I saw a familiar form. “Prince Mihail.” The cab exploded behind me in a crush of glass and metal.
He’d gotten an armor upgrade, obviously, looking like a knight in bleached bone as much as a swamp monster. “Marissa.” My own name sounded foul on his lips, as if their speaking dirtied me.
“I command you to stand still.” I raised the handmaiden’s mark to him.
He shook his head. “I don’t work for you. I only take orders from the real handmaiden. Much as I’d like to kill you now, I have something more important to do. I have to deliver the news.”
“You do that. Tell Isolde we killed her army. Tell her we’ll kill the rest. If I can do this with an armored truck and a witch, imagine what black-ops spell casters with tanks are going to do.” I continued toward him, hoping that Liam wouldn’t leave Ari unprotected to come to my aid.
“You think this is her army? The death of a few experiments? That’s not news that matters. I have to tell our queen, I found the one she’s looking for.” Monster Mihail turned and plowed through a brick wall, disappearing through the building. The explosion one street over as he came out rattled my teeth, but I kept my focus where it belonged. On my friends. On my fiancé. “Grimm, where are the police? I need an ambulance. And a can opener.”
“Law enforcement are hiding, as well they should be. I’ll notify the district chiefs to sound the all clear.” Grimm’s failure to note the fact that his agents were neither military nor deputized worked out in Kingdom’s favor more often than not. We weren’t concerned with or beholden to most laws.
“Do we have casualties?” I looked up and down the line of wrecked cars. In High Kingdom, the folks there carried a sort of luck that often left them safe in the face of disaster.
“Yes. Leave them to the first responders. Take Arianna and Wyatt to his mother’s home, not the Agency. The morale situation there is best dealt with by me alone.” Grimm disappeared before I could weigh in on the subject, despite the fact that I had opinions like anchors to share.
Mikey borrowed a cab, and with Ari in the back and Wyatt in the trunk, we clunked our way back to his mother’s house. Every single bump we hit, that boy managed to complain about, though with the trunk and the mailbox, he didn’t complain loudly.
• • •
MRS. PENDLEBROOK WAS waiting for us in her yard, a parasol shading her from the sun. She opened the gate so that Mikey could carry in Ari, and watched without emotion while Liam pulled the mailbox from the trunk.
I caught her eye and crossed my arms. “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be under the Fairy Godfather’s protection.”
Mrs. Pendlebrook looked down for a moment and shook her head. “I appreciate his hospitality, but I would rather live out my life here in my home. This house has become a part of who I am. I’d rather die here than live anywhere else.” She turned sharply away, cutting off the discussion.
Liam gave her his usual goofy grin, which evaporated under her gaze like spit on a cast-iron griddle. “You have a hacksaw in the toolshed, Mrs. P.?” The fact that he was still wearing a dress didn’t faze him.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Downstairs, in the basement, you’ll find a plasma cutter and a set of diamond drills. Be careful not to get the hem caught, young man.” With that, she spun and marched inside, probably off to make tea and crumpets. I’d never eaten a crumpet, but if anyone would have them, it would be Mr. Pendlebrook.
Liam brought a toolbox out of the basement and worked to cut Wyatt out of the mailbox while I swung on the porch swing, thinking about Prince Mihail’s words. “The one” could be Mikey. As a wolf, he’d always been clear that his first loyalty was to the pack, and his second loyalty was to his stomach.
Or Ari. I wouldn’t put it past Isolde to hold a grudge. In fact, I expected her to have spare arms just for grudges.
Worst of all, he might have meant Liam. Strictly speaking, not Liam, but the curse he carried. The only reason the Black Queen would seek out Liam on his own would be to have wrought iron bent into a nameplate for her castle door, or maybe a few steel roses.
She had to be after the curse.
Prince Mihail meant to gai
n its power once. I wouldn’t take bets on which he hated me for more: poisoning his body with a magic apple or giving away his chance at true power.
After far too many yelps and complaints from Wyatt, Liam finally cut the post office box open and helped Wyatt out. Wyatt would need to gain a hundred pounds to have a leg up on a string bean, but what he did have going for him was Prince Magic strong enough to give Ari a run for her money.
“I’m going to apply bruise cream. Afternoon, Marissa.” Wyatt nodded to me as he disappeared into his mother’s house.
Liam followed Wyatt up the steps, but detoured to sit beside me. He knew I loved the porch swing, because it reminded me of our second date, when he showed off some of his iron work, and I admired some of his iron muscles.
He patted the iron chains. “I could make you a swing like this.”
“Yeah, we could take out the kitchenette, eat in the swing at breakfast. You think the super would mind?” I laid my head up against him, not wanting to talk curses or queens.
Liam wrapped his rough hands around mine. His fingers, thick with calluses, made mine feel like twigs. “He didn’t complain when we had asbestos tile installed in the bedroom. He’ll keep his mouth shut unless I saw off a support beam. Which I won’t.”
“Marissa, Mr. Stone, would you mind joining me for a moment?” Grimm watched me from the crystal windowpanes. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he regretted interrupting. Not that the Fairy Godfather ever admitted to regretting anything.
Inside, Grimm waited in a full-length dressing mirror that looked like it came from Victorian England, by way of the local thrift store. “I finally understand my daughter’s goals.”
Liam stiffened, his muscles rippling like iron. “And?”
“The Court of Kings is quelled, and what few princes remain are under my protection at the Agency. I believe she means for Gwendolyn to rule the Court of Queens. That leaves only Kingdom’s army. She will not suffer them to interfere.”
I looked over at Liam, unsure what this could possibly have to do with him. “Your point?”
“Those creatures were a test, a trial run. Without leadership, without purpose. Her next move will be with reason. She will destroy Kingdom’s military in two days, when the full moon makes a portal easier.”
Liam nodded. “So you are calling out the army.”
“No.” Grimm shook his head. “They will not answer to me. Without the Court of Kings, the military is paralyzed. By the time they act, it will be too late. The horde of abominations she means to unleash will kill everything in their path.”
Ari came from the kitchen, a teacup in her hand, a white bandage wrapped around her head. “We didn’t fare well against them one at a time. What makes you think we’ll do any better against a horde?”
Grimm paused, his eyes closed, his hands clenched. “Arianna, I will give you weapons I forged for my own daughter, but never allowed her to touch. They will amplify your powers.” He looked to Liam. “Master Stone, do you recall the potion I gave you to guard the vampires?”
Liam nodded. “All dragon, all the time.”
“Not just dragon.” Grimm vanished, and a creature appeared in the mirror. A creature the size of a city bus, that looked like the great-granddaddy of dragons. “You’ve always been trapped in an intermediate state. This will allow you to take the true form.”
I put one hand on Ari and one on Liam. “And I can command her creations. Make them easy to kill.”
All three of them spoke at once. “No.”
Grimm shot a warning glare to Ari and Liam, then looked back to me. “When you invoke the handmaiden’s authority, you accept the Black Queen. Her hold on you becomes stronger. I have shielded your mind from her invasion, but if you choose to give her entry, I cannot prevent it.”
Liam turned toward me. “We’ll take out Isolde’s garbage and give Kingdom time to organize.”
“Grimm, what’s left of Prince Mihail was there. He said he’d found the one the Black Queen was looking for. Was that Mikey or Liam?”
Grimm’s eyes looked to my chest, no doubt thinking, as I was, of the thorns waiting at my heart. “Neither. She seeks the power of the curse. The man it is attached to matters nothing to her.” He looked back to Liam. “Now, sir, do you understand why I cannot allow you to confront her?”
Liam nodded, a nearly imperceptible shudder working through him. “Did you think about my theory?”
If I had ears like Mikey’s, mine would have perked up at that comment. Liam tended toward the “Smash first and ask questions later” line of thinking. His theories usually formed around “What was that guy thinking?” while watching football.
Grimm nodded. “It seems logical, near obvious. And indeed, it fits with what Marissa described.”
I scratched my head while I tried to figure out what I’d missed. “Described what? You two been smoking something?”
Liam leaned over to whisper. “Do you trust me?”
“Of course.” The fact that he had to ask offended me more than the question.
“Then let him do this.” Liam stepped away and gave Grimm a thumbs-up.
Grimm’s eyes narrowed, and his power streamed out from my bracelet, rushing over me. “I’d like you to try to resist me.”
My body went cold, and I took a step toward Liam. That is, my feet moved, dragging me along with them. My muscles listened to some other master, and all my effort, all my force couldn’t make them stop, not even for a moment. “I can’t.”
“You must.” Grimm redoubled his efforts, and against my will, I ran, a prisoner in my own flesh, drawing back my fist.
I swung in a haymaker, a punch that would have knocked a few teeth out of Liam’s mouth. He caught my hand, right as Grimm released me.
My knees buckled, and I sagged, letting Liam catch me. He held me up against him as I shook, fear and anger mingling in confusion.
“Well done,” said Grimm. “I had to command every movement, every step. You claimed you could not stop me, but in truth, it took the might of my will to force you.” A single tear of glitter ran down Grimm’s cheek. “I’m sorry, but I believe Mr. Stone is correct.”
I pushed away from Liam, looking to Ari, and noted she looked as lost as I felt. “About what?”
“You agreed to serve Fairy Godmother. It is not only a handmaiden’s bond by which Isolde commands you, but the power of a fairy’s contract. By consuming Fairy Godmother’s power, my daughter has assumed her debts, and in this case, her agreements.” Grimm nodded to Liam. “You were correct, sir.”
Liam sat on the coffee table, making it groan. “And the other part?”
“I cannot say.” Grimm looked back to me. “But it makes sense as well. Marissa, when you first met Fairy Godmother at the funeral ball, what did she offer you?”
That was years ago. A different me, a different time, when I’d gone with Ari to her father’s funeral. Like all other celebrations I attended, it ended in disaster. “Work. Just like everyone else.” I wiped tears from my eyes, remembering how she made me feel. Insignificant. Wrong.
Grimm nodded. “And she set the terms.”
In my mind, I heard her voice, like my grandmother and a grade school teacher rolled together. “I don’t keep people. Three tasks, and you’d be done.” And when I faced her, through the mirror, in the realm where Ari practiced magic, her words came back to me. I was hers. I agreed to it. “So Isolde can make me do anything.”
“Only two more things. She may only command you by the power of a fairy twice more. I will not allow her to force you into a deal again. My power will prevent that.” Grimm’s image flashed around the room, as he looked at the windows, making sure we weren’t being spied on. “And so I ask you to return to her.”
“What?” Liam grabbed me, as though I’d be sucked through a portal right then and there.
Ari shoo
k her head. “You’re spending too much time in a mercury mirror. It’s poisoned you.”
“Hear me out.” Grimm returned to the mirror. “Marissa is bound to Isolde both by Fairy Godmother’s power, and as a handmaiden. Either one alone, I can deal with. Arianna can take the position of High Queen and strip my daughter of her title. I can join myself to Fairy Godmother and destroy us both.”
“But not both at once.” Liam’s voice sank, despair flooding into it. “If you kill Fairy Godmother while she’s still bound . . .”
Grimm bowed his head. “Her survival is not guaranteed in either case, but I believe that once her agreement is completed, Marissa will suffer only the handmaiden’s bond. Isolde’s death may destroy her mind.”
“Not going to happen.” Ari spoke in a voice like steel. “It’s time you taught me those spells.”
“I’m not letting Marissa go.” Liam wrapped his other arm around me. The sweat steamed off of him.
“Use your head for a moment.” Grimm’s tone sounded like an angry judge. “My daughter will not kill Marissa, not while she needs her as a shield. Every moment Marissa is with her is one more moment for a slip of her tongue. ‘I command you to get me that glass.’ ‘I order you to kneel.’ Let her waste her power over Marissa.”
“Let’s go.” Ari walked toward the mirror, ready to step through it.
And the mirror shattered as a hammer flew into it, throwing Grimm’s image into a hundred pieces. “That is enough foolishness.” Mrs. Pendlebrook strode across the room, grabbing Ari by the arm. “You have no concept of what you are undertaking.”
“Spells. Black Magic. Power.” Ari spoke through gritted teeth, unbowed.
Mrs. Pendlebrook put her hands on Ari’s cheeks, looking straight into Ari’s witch eyes without fear. “Forget the magic. The court. High Queen is not a position one walks away from. I escaped, with the help of the Fairy Godfather, but I was neither a seal bearer nor a witch.”
