Lies in the Dark

by Robert J. Crane

  “Uh huh,” she said, nodding her head. “And?”

  “Lies of omission, totally leaving out an entire story. Changing the subject, or drawing the attention back around to the other person,” I said, ticking them off on my fingers as I went through my toolkit.

  Her eyes flashed dangerously. “You really would make a good Seelie. Still, that is just the beginning. Faerie has existed for centuries upon centuries … you don’t think that creatures who can live that long haven’t mastered the art?”

  “Lockwood isn’t like that,” I said, a little too quickly. I wasn’t sure if I was saying that for her benefit or my own.

  “See, we Winter fae will pull your hair, make poorly worded deals with you humans, or even snatch your children … but we don’t hide behind masks or pretty words to make our real intentions known.” Her eyes glittered with darkness.

  “Like that’s any better,” I said.

  “Tell me … which is more dangerous?” Orianna stepped toward me, golden eyes flashing. “The enemy who stabs you in the front? Or the friend who stabs you from behind?”

  I didn’t know how to answer that. I’d experienced that very thing far too recently. And I had done my fair share of dosing it out, too.

  But Lockwood would never do that to me. I trusted him. He had never given me a reason to not trust him, not ever. And he had countless opportunities to harm me instead of help me, if that had been his intention.

  I swallowed, but my throat was dry and cracking. I needed water. I felt like I would die of heat exhaustion in this awful place before the guards ever came back.

  “The Seelie avoid the truth whenever possible,” Orianna said. “They dance around it, with their flowery language or leave out important parts by papering over them with clever deceptions.”

  I stared around. Flowery language wouldn’t do us any good where we were.

  “Haven’t you noticed how they focus entirely on the positive, and ignore the negative?” Orianna smiled. “Instead of ‘Oh, you’re going to bleed out from that wound,’ it’s ‘How can I make you more comfortable?’”

  “They can’t all be like that,” I said.

  “Of course not,” she said. “Look at me. The difference between Lockwood and me is that I don’t try to deny who I am, or where I came from.”

  “Lockwood has never once denied that he was Summer fae,” I said. “Lockwood truly believes that Seelie are on the side of right, in spite of his problems with them, with the court. He believes they stand for justice and order.”

  She let out a bitter snort of laughter. “He probably does believe that. But that doesn’t make it so.” She cocked her head at me, smiling—but it wasn’t a nice smile at all. “You remember us talking about the massacre of Howl? How everyone was killed except me, who was left alive to tell the world about the horrible Unseelie and what they’d done?”

  I nodded. “I didn’t understand why they’d kill their own people—”

  She rolled her eyes. “They didn’t. It was the Seelie who destroyed that town, who killed old people and children—” She stopped, unable to speak for a moment, then her voice dropped to a whisper. “They were just glamoured to look like Unseelie.”

  “What?” I said, hardly able to absorb her words. “Why would they do that?”

  She gave me a look that implied that I was profoundly stupid. “Seelie have a twisted sense of justice. And they probably wouldn’t mind the chance to grab some Unseelie territory while they were at it.”

  I swallowed. “But … Lockwood would never do anything like that. What about his time in the paladins?” I asked. “I may not know very much about them, but it sounded like they were meant to be peace keepers who took the side of truth.”

  “Again, skewed like everything in Seelie,” Orianna said, her big eyes glued to me. “What you see as truth and what others see as truth are two very different things. I mean, why do you think he was tossed out into exile?”

  “Scheming,” I said.

  She rolled her eyes. “Well, yes, since this is the Summer Court we’re talking about. But also, probably because he thought something was the truth, and the king or queen thought differently.”

  “Truth is truth, no matter what,” I said.

  “Funny thing for a liar to admit to,” Orianna said.

  “I know when I don’t tell the truth,” I said.

  She frowned. “You may be one of the few, then. I honestly believe the Seelie don’t even see it anymore. They truly don’t realize how blinkered they are. Their lies have become a truth to them.” She shook her head. “Doesn’t matter anyway. You, me, Lockwood—we’re all exiles for different reasons … but they all seem to revolve around the truths we told.”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked. “I’m not an exile.”

  Her big eyes found mine, and she smiled, smugly. “No, liar? You’re well thought of in your own land? Everything going smoothly for you?”

  Ouch. Not gonna lie, that stung. I ignored it, though, trying to keep a straight face. “Why did you get kicked out of Winter?”

  “Told you,” she said. “Because of the truth.” She kicked at the rocky earth.

  I stared at her. Her situation was starting to sound an awful lot more like Lockwood’s.

  “It’s not like it matters …” she said, turning around and staring off into the distant, red clouds overhead. “Being of Winter, I’ll likely rot down here before they even remember they’ve got me. If they don’t execute me first.”

  “You don’t think they’re just going to leave us down here, do you?” I asked, a nasty flood of fear rushing up my arms and down my legs.

  She shrugged. “Who knows? I don’t see what use they have for us now. You probably told them what they wanted, or at least enough to get Lockwood to spill his guts, figuratively. And if he doesn’t …” She shrugged. “They may do it for him, literally.

  I quivered a little. “Roseus said that Lockwood was still alive.”

  “He may have been when Roseus last saw him,” Orianna said. “Remember what I said? Dancing around the answer.”

  The relief that had been so welcome was gone again, replaced with nagging anxiety again as I wondered if Lockwood was all right.

  “When you were talking to Roseus, I don’t suppose you tried to ask for my freedom too, did you?” Orianna asked. There was a tinge of sadness in her voice. The question hung unanswered a moment too long. “Yeah … I didn’t think so. Why would you? It’s not like we were friends or anything …”

  And then she sat with her back to me, staring into one of the lava rivers. The dragon across the other side of the lava slashed his tail through the air as I made eye contact with him, as if daring me to try and flee.

  I wondered how much it would hurt to get eaten by a dragon … or if they were actually real or not.

  Part of me hoped I could get my vision to flicker again, that it might show me the truth of where we were, or what was happening.

  But it was useless. I couldn’t will the flicker into happening. Or maybe there was nothing to see.

  I stared up at the roiling clouds overhead, thinking just how much they looked like the state of my soul.

  Lockwood …

  Somehow, in the hands of the Summer Court …

  I had a feeling he wouldn’t even last the day.

  Chapter 28

  It got very quiet in that prison cell. The passage of time seemed to slow under the heavy, sulphuric air, nothing to mark its passage except the sweat that trickled slowly down my back. There was no movement of a sun, or a moon, or stars; only black, smoky sky overhead.

  I’d sat there for so long, unsure what to do, unsure what to think, that my legs were cramping beneath me. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t think of anything. I didn’t know how to get to Lockwood. I didn’t know how to deal with this faerie magic on my own terms.

  I had nothing, and no one.

  There was hardly any sound, aside from my own breathing, in and out, and the s
oft, ominous roar of the lava as it rolled past. Thunder rumbled occasionally overhead, but I lived in Florida, the lightning capital of the world. I was familiar with thunderstorms.

  Well … at least I had lived in Florida.

  I wondered what everyone back home was doing. Was Mom in hysterics yet, because I hadn’t come down for dinner? Was Dad already threatening to call the police to send out a search party for me?

  What about Xandra? She probably wouldn’t know I was gone until the next day, and by that point, hundreds of years could have passed here in Faerie. I’d be bones and dust by then.

  And what about Iona? Would she know that I had gotten myself mixed up in something with Lockwood? Would she mourn me?

  And

  Mill …

  When would Mill find out? How would he find out? One of his friends and his girlfriend vanishing in one fell swoop? Even for a man who’d lived as long as he had, that probably wouldn’t be easy to bear.

  I bit down on my lip to stop myself from crying. Physical pain was easier to focus on than the heartache that was worming its way through my chest and in my guts.

  I glanced over at Orianna. She hadn’t moved in hours. She still had her back to me, and she was refusing to look in my direction.

  I didn’t bother calling out to her. What would I even say? Sorry for getting you trapped, even though it’s not really my fault.

  I didn’t want to believe her about Lockwood being tortured. What reason would the Seelie have for torturing him? Why not just send him back to Earth, prevent him from coming back somehow? After seeing the state of things in Faerie, I wouldn’t blame him for being like, Yeah, fine, whatever. I’m out, suckers. Peace.

  At least, that’s what I would have done.

  I struggled with a small worm of betrayal that had wriggled its way into my heart, too.

  Even after all of this, I still didn’t understand Lockwood’s part in this fae drama. What had he done? Why hadn’t he told me? Why wouldn’t he let me in?

  Roseus’s face on the beach flashed across my mind, and I suddenly understood.

  If anyone was ever going to question me, I could say truthfully that I didn’t know anything.

  I swallowed hard, trying to remove the lump of worry in my throat. The feeling of anxiety was so intense now that I thought I might retch right into the lava. What a pretty sight that would have been for Orianna. I wouldn’t be able to sleep, not here. Not only was the heat heavy and the smell repugnant, but how could I possible rest when I didn’t know if Lockwood was all right … or if I would even wake up?

  I wanted to voice these questions, but the only other person here was Orianna. I didn’t have anything left to say to her, and she certainly had nothing to say to me.

  I had no idea how much time passed, maybe a couple of hours, maybe a full day, when suddenly, a bright spot of white appeared across the lava river from us, beside the dragons, which had never once lowered their guard. It was one of the soldiers, dressed in gleaming armor. He leapt easily over the superhot river to stand in the little black square of rock that Orianna was sitting on.

  Orianna got to her feet and rose into the air, her wings fluttering furiously. “What are you doing?”

  The guard followed her a step into the air, and reached out. She was slow, and he caught her arm, yanking her toward him. He pulled what looked like manacles from out of sheer nothingness, clanking them closed on her wrist. They were glowing white hot, like metal freshly out of a forge. Orianna screamed.

  “Don’t try and get away, you filthy Unseelie deceiver,” the guard said. “If I had it my way, these would be real Earth iron.” He pulled on the manacles and dragged her over the lava river toward the dragons.

  “Wait!” I called, scrambling clumsily to my feet. “Where are you taking her?”

  The guard did not reply.

  “Where are you taking me?!” Orianna struggled as much as she could against the burning handcuffs, yelping in pain. I could just hear the sizzling of the metal against her flesh. Tears glittered on her cheeks.

  But even as I watched, they both disappeared as if they had been engulfed in a shadow, and I was left with silence.

  My heart was beating rapidly, my breathing coming in quick bursts as if I had run a mile.

  They had taken Orianna. Where?

  They weren’t going to torture her … were they?

  Stay calm, Cassie. Losing my head right now would do nothing for me. I needed to fight the heat and just … chill. But it wasn’t easy. I was sweating what felt like gallons and hadn’t had a drink in forever. I mopped my brow with a sodden sleeve and sat down again to wait.

  Just as my breathing was starting to return to normal, another guard appeared from the light and fluttered over to the lava rock where I sat.

  “Iron Bearer,” he said coldly, “come with me.”

  “I’m leaving the prison?” Slowly I pulled myself to my feet, dizzy from the heat.

  “I am going to have to bind your hands,” the guard said, and I heard a distinct tremble in his words. “For your protection.”

  For my protection, my ass. I lifted my chin into the air ever so slightly.

  There was one thing in this world that I was better at than all of these faeries … one thing that I could do that they outright could not.

  Lie.

  So I shrugged and held out my hands to him. “It’s not like I need them, anyway.”

  Perfect.

  The guard’s eyes grew just a fraction wider, and he hesitated for just a second before he put the magic cuffs around my wrist. They were a pale, icy blue, and for a moment I wondered if they’d be painfully cold, the opposite of Orianna’s, but they just felt like ordinary metal. Perhaps they didn’t consider me that much of a threat after all.

  The guard didn’t seem convinced, though. He stared at me, stiff and uncomfortable. “Would you prefer I carry you out? Or would you like to walk?”

  “I’d rather walk, thanks,” I said. I didn’t want any faerie flying me anywhere. I was going to leave on my own two feet. “Where are you taking me?”

  “Sorry,” the guard said. “I am not at liberty to say.”

  Well, at least he was honest about it. “But you know?”

  The guard hesitated again. He really did seem genuinely nervous about being near a human.

  “Yes,” he said.

  Awesome. Maybe this could work.

  “Fine. Vamonos,” I said.

  He stared at me blankly.

  “It means, ‘Let’s go,’” I said.

  “Right.” He nodded curtly and waved his hand. A chunk of rock emerged as a stepping stone over the lava, then another.

  I stared down at them, white-hot lava flow running around the tiny little rocks in a stream of desperate heat. “Uh, yeah … Phys ed is kinda my worst subject because my coordination is not great.”

  The guard stared at me in plain confusion.

  “You better make it a bridge if you don’t want me to fall in.”

  “Ah.” He twirled his hand, and more rocks emerged from the lava, forming a bridge about two feet wide with no rail. It arced over the center of the river, rising enough that it didn’t even touch the bottom of the stones in the middle.

  “Thanks,” I said and started over it. He followed a step behind, watching me as I walked.

  This begged an interesting question: How much more could I get him to do? Could I get him to … trust me?

  Fear me?

  I had to get Lockwood back. And Orianna, if I could.

  I hadn’t given up yet. I was still in this game.

  As I got to the other side of the bridge, the scenery changed abruptly, and I was standing outside of the cell in the dank, dark hallway where I’d originally entered.

  Dungeon, really. Let’s call it what it was.

  “If you would follow me, please,” the guard said, just barely touching my arm to steer me the way.

  I glared at him, and he withdrew his hand as if I had burned him. />
  I was a human, and that made them wary of me.

  It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing … and I’d find a way to make it work.

  Chapter 29

  The guards—of whom there were seven; another one seemed to join us every few steps—walked me out of the dungeons and back into the castle proper. Their metal boots rang on stone floors, a steady cadence that made me think of gunfire. It was a disquieting contrast to the normal whisper of wings that one heard in this land.

  On that note, it was much quieter; fewer faeries floated overhead, and most of them were no longer in fancy ball attire. Though it was hard to tell; Faerie fashion was far different from Earth fashion.

  Maybe the faeries thought so too, because I got a lot of strange looks as I was marched down the long corridor with the windows that looked out onto different landscapes. Every faerie we passed fell silent and many scurried to get away from me as fast as they could.

  It was as if I were a plague victim, and they were all afraid they were going to catch something horrible from me. I swallowed hard. That couldn’t be good news for me.

  The guards walked me toward a large group of guards, who were piling bundles wrapped in what looked like cloth or leather into a golden carriage pulled by two pegasuses.

  I kept trying to look over the guards on my tiptoes for any sign of Orianna or Lockwood, but I didn’t see them anywhere.

  “Care for something to eat?” I wheeled around, stomach plummeting, and saw Roseus standing there, munching on a bright red apple. He chewed it happily, some of the juice dribbling onto his chin. “This is an Earth fruit, right?” He took another bite. “They’re rather good, though not very sweet, are they?” He didn’t even finish chewing before he had taken another chunk of it between his teeth. “I imagine you must be starving, being in that dungeon all night long.”

  I figured out his game pretty quickly. Of course he wanted something. “I already told you I don’t know anything.”