To The Fairest

by Adrianne Brooks

  “How’d you know about the shoes then?” I asked, voice muffled.

  He shrugged and danced fire just above my skin, a kiss of heat that brought my nerve endings to life.

  “I used to work as a smith.” He said idly. “The people here like using dragon fire to create their little odds and ends. The fire imbues the object with a certain amount of magic and has the added bonus of making it damn near indestructible. Those slippers are some of my finest work.” He frowned, thinking. “I made a sword once that I was pretty proud of, but the wizard who commissioned it didn’t want to pay so I tossed it in a lake.” He sighed. “In hindsight I realize that I may have overreacted a tad.”

  My eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Let me guess, the sword’s name was ‘Excalibur’.”

  He gasped, pleased. “Yes.” He exclaimed, pulling my body on top of his own and beaming up at me. “That’s amazing, how’d you know?”

  I grinned. “I got lucky.” I said. Despite my amusement, I sobered a moment later.

  “What’s going on with Paiden?” I asked. “Have you fought yet?”

  His eyes clouded and he shook his head. “No. That was his mother, Esther, you saw earlier. She’s hoping I’ll mess up somehow, prove to the clutch that I can’t be trusted. If she can convince the others that I’m weak, they’ll turn on me long before I have the chance to kill her son in combat.”

  “They’re looking for a reason to question your loyalty.” I said and he nodded. My eyes filled with tears. “Does having your Black Widow fiancé hanging around count as a reason?”

  The fact that he hesitated made the tears flow faster and I sat up, straddling his waist and rubbing my eyes with the back of my hands like child.

  “I’m sorry.” I said anxiously. “I know I shouldn’t have come, but we need your help.”

  I spent the next few minutes explaining everything that had happened while we’d been apart. Once I was done he sat up so that my breasts were pressed tight against his chest.

  “You need to get to hell’s gate?”

  I sniffed but managed to nod.

  “I can get you there.” He said, thinking aloud while he ran his hand in soothing circles at the small of my back. “In fact, after tomorrow, I’ll be able to use some of our hunters as backup once I take care of Paiden.”

  “But what about m-me?” I hiccupped. I didn’t want the clutch to be able to point at me and whisper that I was the reason for their king’s moral downfall. It would have been flattering if it were true, but Sam had no more turned on his own kind than I could my own mother. He loved the clutch, and more than anything he wanted them to prosper. Whether that was under his rule or not didn’t matter. I knew that if he could avoid being the ruler he would. But if Paiden didn’t have what it took to take the throne, then there was nothing Sam could do to give it to him.

  “What about you?” He asked in reply to my query.

  “Won’t my being here make you look weak?”

  He grinned. “But you aren’t here.”

  “Huh?”

  “Black Widow?” He said, shocked. “What black widow? All I see is the lovely, ruthless, and charming Maleficent.” He started nibbling at my ear and I giggled. “A witch who has not only managed to instill terror in the hearts of men, but who also happens to be extremely good in bed.”

  “Sam?” I said in mock outrage. “When did you become so sneaky?”

  “I learned it from my future mother-in-law.”

  I burst out laughing at that and he flipped me on to my back and kissed me until my amusement faded into something darker, but no less sweet.

  * * * *

  That night I found myself wandering the house.

  I’d slept for a few hours after Sam had fixed the door and allowed Chris and Rachel inside. The home of the Rom Baro had nearly half a dozen rooms so there were plenty of options for us all to choose from when it came time to settle down for the night. The plan was to keep me indoors until just before the challenge was to take place. There was less of a chance for me to mess up that way. Maybe I should have been offended by their lack of faith in my acting abilities, but instead I was grateful for it. It was less stressful this way.

  Though if I had really believed that I wouldn’t have been up in the middle of the night, checking rooms and brushing my hands through shadows to assure myself of our continued safety. I found myself standing at a window on the second floor, gazing at one of the abandoned houses directly across from us. Its windows were blank an empty and in that moment it more resembled a dead body than a collection of rocks and stones. Wrapping my arms about my middle, I closed my eyes. The baby had been relatively quiet ever since our run in with the giant. I couldn’t tell if that was because we were in no immediate danger or if she were still exhausted after we used so much dragon fire. I felt a gentle tumble, a twist, more of a sensation, a thought, than anything tangible.

  My arms tightened in a fleeting show of comfort and I opened my eyes.

  In a window across the way, I thought I saw a shadow standing amongst shadows. The impression of another human being, standing there staring at me forward. My hands pressed against the glass and my eyes narrowed as I struggled to make out something. Anything to prove to myself that there was someone watching and that I wasn’t paranoid.

  I jumped, biting back a scream when I felt arms encircle my waist.

  “What are you looking at?” Sam asked, voice thick with sleep. I leaned back into him and when next I looked the window was empty. Lacking, even, in intent.

  “Nothing.” I told him with a sigh.

  “Come back to bed?” I hesitated only for a moment before I let him lead me from the room and back to the bed we shared. Sleep may have been hard in coming but eventually, it did come and sweep me away.

  * * * *

  Hours later I was sitting at table in the kitchen of the house that Sam had once called home before coming to the human world. Rachel was sitting next to me and we were devouring the food that had been placed before us while the menfolk discussed strategy.

  “Sorry we left you guys outside for so long.” I told her between bites. “I know you were worried.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” She said, taking a sip of from a flagon of wine that sat between our two plates. “We stopped being concerned when we heard all the moaning. And the growling. And the breaking furniture.” She looked at my red face and smirked. “If I recall correctly, someone in this house was a ‘naughty, naughty, girl’? Are we talking teacher and student, master and servant, or horny babysitter and randy employer? Chris and I have a bet going.”

  I knuckle punched her and she fell back in her seat clutching her arm and laughing despite the pain.

  “Schoolgirl.” She decided with glee, in the end knowing me too well for her own good. “Definitely catholic schoolgirl.”

  Our conversation came to an end when we both glanced up to find that Chris and Sam had joined us once more. Chris looked grim whereas Sam seemed strangely at ease. I saw my other slipper in his hand and I reached for it.

  “Is it time?” I asked, bending to put it on. Rachel had borrowed a spare tunic and pair of britches from a clothesline. If anything the glass slippers looked even more out of place with the slightly medieval clothes than they had with my jeans and t-shirt. In reply, Sam nodded.

  “We don’t have much time. Everyone should be gathering about now.”

  The slippers' magic washed over me and I sighed as I filled out and up. It was like going through puberty only with more impressive results. I rose from my seat to follow him to the front door but he stopped suddenly and turned to me. He studied my face for a moment before leaning down to kiss me lightly against the lips.

  “Wait five minutes, and then come down.” He said, speaking low.

  I frowned. “Why?” he looked at something over my shoulder and I followed his gaze to find Rachel and Chris talking softly. Rachel seemed surprised by whatever Chris was saying but after a moment she smiled and nodded. Suspicio
us, I looked back up at Sam and scowled.

  “What are you up to?”

  “Nothing.” He said innocently. Rather than stand around waiting for me to interrogate him further, his voice rose to catch the attention of the other couple. “Rachel?” He called. “Wanna be my entourage?”

  She beamed. Strutting forward she hip checked me out of the way and slid her arm through his. “I’d be happy to.” She said. Together they trooped from the house and I stared after them feeling strangely jealous.

  “Alex?”

  I jumped. For a moment I’d almost forgotten Chris was there. He was so quiet sometimes it was like being related to a strangely charming mime. Walking over to me, Chris grabbed my hand and gave me something small and round. I looked down to find the Toadstone that had been around Rachel’s neck sitting quit and still against my palm.

  My lips parted but all I could think to say was, “This, doesn’t belong to me.”

  “It does now.”

  “But—?” I shook my head and looked at the Toadstone again. The pearlescent surface was perfect in every way and I felt something deep in my womb give a sigh of relief. “Why are you giving me this?”

  He shrugged one shoulder and stuffed his hands deep in his pockets. Despite his obvious discomfort, his eyes were steady and unyielding.

  “It’ll protect you.”

  “From what?” I asked with a nervous laugh.

  “Everything.” He said, and he said it with such confidence that I couldn’t help but believe him. “It will protect you from everything. Poison—”

  “I’m pretty sure I’m safe on that front.”

  “Sickness.”

  “That could come in handy.”

  “Fire.”

  “This is getting better and better.” I said, thinking of my little burning bundle of joy.

  “And demons.” He finished, his eyes darkening. My hand clenched convulsively around the stone. “They won’t be able to hurt you, they won’t even be able to touch you.” He continued. “You,” His eyes dropped briefly to my stomach. “Both of you, will be safe.”

  I rolled the stone between my hands. No matter how much I touched it, it never grew warm, and there was a strange comfort in that.

  “What about Rachel?” I asked.

  He shook his head.

  “I want you to be the one to keep it. And when she’s born, I want you to give it to my niece so that no matter where she goes, or what she faces, she will never be alone or scared.” His face contorted and he cupped my hands between his own. “Not like we were.”

  I glanced down and tears clogged my throat, made it hard to breathe. His grip tightened until I was forced to look back up at him. The guilt in his expression was like a stab in the heart.

  “When we were little, I wasn’t there for you.” He said. “I wish I could go back and change it. But I didn’t have a choice back then. Now? Now I have a choice.”

  I was a sobbing mess and he wrapped me up close, muttering nonsense and petting my hair. I breathed him in and for the first time since he’d come into my life, I felt as if I’d finally found my brother.

  Chapter Fifteen

  I wasn’t much of a fighter.

  I never had been.

  It was more in my nature to scurry quietly, and skillfully, from confrontation. If asked, I wouldn’t say that I was a coward so much as an expert on strategic retreats. Unfortunately, that skill hadn’t really been working out for me lately. Even so, as soon as Chris and I joined Rachel at the edge of the cliffs with the other members of the clutch, I started feeling…nervous. Sam had issues controlling himself thanks to his new heart. So I knew that there was regular Sam, dragon Sam, and then Hulk Dragon Sam with all capital letters. A part of my unease had to do with Hulk Sam, but not all of it and as the Sam stepped forward to meet his challenger I began looking at the members of the clutch more closely.

  They seemed normal enough, for a clan of shape-shifting dragons. But even so, there was something vaguely wrong about them. Something off. There was a stiffness to their expressions, a hesitation before they showed emotion that made them look like a bunch of bad actors. Not all of them were like that, but enough were that I mentally began keeping a tally. I’d picked out ten when Esther stepped to the edge of the cliff and lifted her arms to the sky.

  “To the Death.” She cried and the clutch whooped and hollered. Some gave Paiden supporting claps on the shoulder and I scowled as the young man smiled cockily under the praise. He was a tall young man, taller than Sam. His shoulders were broad and his muscles rippled as he stripped down to nothing. Sam followed suit and looking at them side by side I felt the first stirrings of doubt. I was wearing the Toadstone around my neck and now I clutched it for comfort. Shocked when I realized that it had grown warm when I hadn’t been paying attention. There was a snap and my hair was pushed back from my face as both men shifted in an explosion of air.

  Sam and Paiden launched themselves into the sky with just a powerful flexing of their wings. They shot straight into the air, bodies streamlined like missiles, and the sky erupted in fire and chaos as they tore into one another in a fury that was all the more frightening for its suddenness. Dragons weren’t much for niceties or ceremony I supposed. The clutch screeched, their voices rising like a symphony Sam and Paiden’s armor glinted under the afternoon sun, turning them into balls of light, stars dancing and bouncing off one another. Roaring ripped through the sky like thunder whenever one of them made a strike and more than once I had to press a hand to my mouth to keep from vomiting as nerves got the best of me. It was during one of those very moments when I happened to see something very strange.

  The shifters that I had mentally grouped together as ‘strange’ in my mind, had begun to surround the other members of the clutch. There was an empty, reflective quality to their eyes that I would never have noticed if I hadn’t turned away from the fight in the sky. I nudged Rachel and she followed my subtle nod to investigate as well. Her fingers clutched the sleeve of my blouse, and I knew she saw it too. I looked over at Chris only to realize that he had been staring at the strange shifters from beneath lowered brows this entire time.

  What was it about them that made the three of us so uneasy?

  I heard someone cry out and I saw with a start that it was Esther. I glanced up just in time to see Sam tear into the younger dragon, moving at such speed that he punched through the Paiden’s armor like a bullet. When he came out on the other side of the boy, his body was covered in the jewel toned fire of Paiden’s blood. There was a crack and then Sam’s diamond teeth were crushing Paiden’s heart and swallowing the broken pieces down. Paiden’s death was like a sandcastle crumbling.

  Bits of him falling away until his core simply collapsed in on itself. Ash and bone rained down over the ocean and his mother wailed and dropped to her knees. Seeing her bent over, clutching her stomach and rocking back and forth, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. Not only had she lost the man she’d loved, she’d lost the son they’d had together. It was no wonder why she seemed to hate Sam so much.

  Which was probably why she lunged for him the second he landed. He was shifting back into his human form as the distraught mother formed a ball of dragon fire bigger than her head and chucked it towards him with all of her might. I moved instinctively, knowing that I wouldn’t make it to him in time and unsure what I would have done even if I did. To my relief and shock, the flames shot straight past Sam…and hit the shifter coming up behind him directly in the face. The man convulsed, unable to scream with the fire already eating through his flesh and down to bone. He collapsed, body rigid in the suddenness of death.

  That was around the time that the shit hit the fan.

  Men poured out of homes I’d assumed to be empty and the dragons with the strangely reflective eyes turned on the rest of us. They fought, tearing and clawing, as these new adversaries forced them closer and closer towards the edge of the cliff. Caught in the middle of it, I stumbled back with the flow of
the crowd. I heard someone cry my name, but I couldn’t see them past the dragons struggling on all sides. All around me I saw bodies tense, teeth bare, and skin shift to armor as the clutch began to shift.

  But abruptly the air grey heavy, cloying, and with dread weighing heavy on my soul, I looked past the clutch to the woman who came to stand in the center of the street. She was regal in a long red cape and fitted black dress. Her blond hair was done up in a soft chignon. If it weren’t for the wrinkles and sagging flesh, Danielle Greyson would have looked like her old self again. Her eyes were lit with power and I could see the vines swimming just under her skin, searching for a way out. Esther forced her wings from her back, but before she could shift further, my mother increased the pressure. Whatever spell she was using was effectively keeping the dragons being attacked from shifting fully and many of them stood there, half man, half beast, and unable to fully become one or the other.

  Danielle smiled and the dragons with the glazed eyes went to her side. I realized then what had set off my warning bells about them. They had the same look in their eyes as the poor men I used to enchant when I’d had no control over my allure. Now they flocked around Danielle, gazing at her in adoration and waiting for her next command. All of them as eager and obedient as dogs. A quick scan of our group showed that we were mostly women and children. There were a few men here and there on our side, and they were hardened, rough looking sorts who seemed as unlikely to fall under Danielle’s spell as Chris or Sam.

  Speaking of…

  I found Sam standing at attention before three of his bespelled clutch mates. I didn’t have to wonder why he wasn’t ripping them to shreds for long. On their knees before the dragons were Rachel and Chris, and I tensed when I saw the balls of dragon fire in their hands, not even inches away from my brother and best friend’s faces. Sam was staring at the two dragons, making it clear with every tensed inch of his body that he would take them down the second they showed any signs of hesitation or weakness.