Chasing Shadows

by ERIN BEDFORD

  “Well,” she huffed, “that’s over and done with. The important thing is for you to get home. The president announced their plans for that Fae registration on the news today and everyone has lost their marbles,” she paused and yelled at someone in the background once more before coming back on the line. “I woke up to trolls on the lawn and Faeries in the kitchen. You won’t believe the mess those little critters can make.”

  Oh, I believed it. Faeries were one irritating creature. I wished they had some kind of magical bug spray to get rid of them. If left unchecked they would destroy my grandmother’s house before I could even get there to help out. Not that I was going to, but Alice didn’t know that, yet.

  “I don’t see what the problem is,” I shrugged, though she couldn’t see it, “You are better at calming the masses down than I am. I always stick my foot in my mouth and make it worse.”

  “But they need to see you to feel more secure. Even just being here will help the situation immensely. There are already news crews lining up outside your house, waiting to get a statement from the famed Seelie Princess.”

  I swallowed hard. News reporters? Yikes. Not even on my best day did I want to be subjected to the horror that was the daily news. If I was bad at talking to people, I knew there was no way I wouldn’t be able to make the situation worse by talking to those vultures. Every word I had ever said to them had been twisted into some crazy fairy tale with a gruesome ending.

  Taking a deep breath, I let it out and ripped the proverbial band aide off. “I’m sorry to tell you this, Alice, but you are on your own.”

  “What? You’re not coming? I need you for this. I’m not the princess, or the moderator, I’m not anything. I can’t handle a problem this big.” She kept rambling on and then when she finally took a breath I jumped in.

  “I’m not at Chess’.”

  “I knew it!” she screeched, causing me to wince and pull the phone from my ear. “You big fat liar face. I knew you weren’t at Chess’. Just missed you my fanny.”

  “Yes, yes. You were right,” I grumbled.

  “If you aren’t at Chess’ where are you and how long will it take you to get here?”

  “About that…” I started and scratched the back of my head as I gave a nervous laugh. “I’m in the UnSeelie Palace about two seconds away from going to the Shadow Realm.”

  There was a long pause that had me looking at the phone to make sure I hadn’t lost the call or my phone hadn’t finally died. Nope she was still there. I hoped she hadn’t died of shock, or worse, the Faeries had gotten to her.

  Just thinking of all the horrible scenarios that could have gone down had me calling into the phone, “Alice? Are you there? Blink once for yes and two for no. Wait, no. Don’t do that cause I can’t see you. Just say something damn it!”

  “I’m here.” Was her low reply. Those two words held so much contained rage that I was half tempted to pretend I lost the call on my side.

  “Oh, good,” I gave a nervous laugh once more, “I thought I’d lost you for a second. But anyways like I said, I’m about to head out and can’t help you.”

  “Katherine Nottington, don’t you dare hang up on me!” the tone of her voice had my finger pausing on the end button and then the stupid person in me actually listened and didn’t hang up.

  “What?”

  “What do you mean what?” she shrilled, “You were just going to go to some dangerous realm without mentioning it to anyone? What if you die? What if you got stuck there forever and then who would take your place? The Fae community is already rocky at best, and if the one person they look up to gets herself killed, then who would be here to fight for them?”

  “One, chill the fuck out,” I started, an irritated tick starting at my eyebrow at her words. “Two, I didn’t not tell anyone, the queen knows I’m here, it’s her portal, duh.”

  “Well, that’s just lovely.”

  “Hey, can the sarcasm, I’m not done yet,” I interrupted her before she could go into an even longer tangent. “I’m not leaving the Fae completely defenseless. That’s what you are for,” She tried to interrupt me but I kept talking, “now before you try to tell me you aren’t the one for the job, you are wrong. Who has gone out of their way to find all the Fae in our area? Who’s the one who made sure that they had places to live? Or work? It wasn’t me.”

  “But that’s beside the point, you had just lost the love of your life, you had a reason to be neglectful.”

  “Bullshit. I was too wrapped up in my own problems to care about anything else going on around me. Hell, if you didn’t live with me I wouldn’t have any idea what was going on with the Fae in the human world to begin with. If they trust anyone to help them through this time, it’s you.”

  “If you say so,” she replied with uncertainty.

  “I know so,” I assured her and then turned to Mab who wasn’t even pretending not to listen to our conversation. “In fact, I’m going to send the queen to help you out. It would do the humans some good to see an authority figure besides me working for the Faes benefit.”

  My words caused Mab to raise a brow at me, but she didn’t comment otherwise. Smart woman.

  “All right, if you say so, but this place needs cleaned up if we are having royalty visit. Your laundry has been strewn everywhere.”

  I groaned, those little Faerie bastards better not have messed up my room. I wasn’t a particularly organized person but the system I had worked for me. If they screwed it up I wouldn’t find anything for weeks.

  After I said my goodbyes and hung up the phone, I turned to Mab. “Well, you heard what is going on. You wanted to be there for your people. Now you will get your chance. The humans are going through with the plan to force us to register.”

  At my words, Mab’s face hardened. Her eyes filled with a determination and even I wouldn’t want to stand in her way.

  “We shall see about that,” was all she said before she swept out of the room, her dress fluttering behind her, leaving me utterly alone with the mirror.

  With Mab well on her way, I shook off my nerves and took another deep breath before letting it out. Placing one foot in front of the other, my eyes straight ahead, I stepped through the mirror.

  Chapter 14

  Chess

  I WISH I could say that when I saw Dorian’s sleeping form that I was ecstatic that he had survived, but I’m not that good of a person. The only thing I felt was annoyance and anger.

  This man, this petty, spiteful man had done everything in his power to destroy what Kat and I had. Even before he had joined the Shadows he hadn’t acted for one minute like the dutiful ruler he had once been.

  Before the whole thing with Kat, I didn’t see the prince often. He was too busy messing with the lower Fae to bother with the moderator. The majority of the time he avoided me.

  It had been just after the Seelie Queen had shoved the twins onto me. Not long before Kat showed up in the Underground. I didn’t know if it was a sign of things changing or not, but thinking back to it now, I wanted to think it was the Undergrounds way of warning us. Not that we listened.

  I’d been hanging out at the base of my willow as usual, completely bored out of my mind when I heard an owl hoot. Anyone who had a lick of sense in the UnSeelie Court knew that an owl only meant one thing. The dark prince.

  Cursed as he was at the time, it wasn’t smart to mess with him. He was unstable and unpredictable. One never knew what kind of mood he would be in. Just the week before he had killed two changelings because they had annoyed him. There was no telling what would set him off.

  Now that I knew the Seelie Queen had cursed him, I think it was her way of punishing not just the prince, but also all of the UnSeelie for daring to take her daughter from her, not that the rest of us had anything to do with it. Though, they rest had welcomed Alice with open arms and by association, I supposed that made us all guilty in her eyes.

  The owl hoot was followed by a flut
ter of wings and then the vines that hung around the willow parted to reveal the prince in all his broodiness. His bright blue eyes darted around the area, a scowl on his lips before they landed on me. They curled up into a playful sort of cruel grin that said he wasn’t here for anything I would enjoy.

  Standing to my feet, I tapped my riding crop against my thigh, the stinging pain of it keeping my own temper in check as I greeted him, “Your highness, what do I have the honor?”

  “Half-breed, I’d always wondered why you are here. What makes you so special to give you the role of moderator?” he cocked his head to the side as if in thought. I didn’t answer him knowing anything I said would just set him off. It was a fine line we walked with the dark prince. One I didn’t plan to fall off any time soon.

  “Are you just the queen’s lackey or her lover as well? Are you so good at what you do that she would reward you with a pretend position?” the mocking in his voice caused me to clack the crop harder against my thigh.

  “My position is hardly pretend.” I couldn’t help but answer, regretting it instantly when his eyes sharpened on me.

  “Really? Is that what she tells you? Because the way I see it is you are nothing more than a flunky with a pretty face. Made for their entertainment and nothing more. Not someone like me, with real power.” The prince’s face contorted into a pained expression, the symbols on his face lighting up and then going out.

  I wished I’d known that day what that light meant. That it meant he was fighting against his curse. Then I wouldn’t have done what I had done next, but alas, it wasn’t so.

  Before the prince could spout another insult, I had twisted in place and appeared behind him. Shoving him with a booted foot, I knocked him to the ground.

  “Who is bowing to who now, your highness?” I mocked, laughing at his prone form.

  The prince growled and my laughter was cut off mid laugh as an invisible hand wrapped around my throat. I struggled against his hold on me unable to breathe. My hands scratched at an unseen force.

  “Do not forget your place, half-breed. You may have been given position of moderator but you do not dictate me,” he hissed in my face before the force holding me up disappeared, dropping me to the ground. Heaving in deep breaths, I glared up at the prince who lorded his power over me.

  The memory caused me to have quite a conundrum on my hand. On the one side, I could let Dorian die and with him the Shadows. It would ensure that the Shadows were truly gone and that they wouldn't come back. It was a logical choice. It should have been the easy choice. Dorian would die and the Shadows would be gone and any drama and chance of him coming between Kat and me would be eliminated.

  On the other hand, I could go into his mind and risk everything to save him. Or, I could get rid of the Shadows and Dorian would be safe, but I also ran the risk of getting stuck in his mind myself.

  I felt like I had a little devil on my shoulder whispering to me. “But no one would know if I let him die. Not Kat, not anyone back home.”

  It was tempting to just listen to that voice. He had caused me nothing but pain and heartache as well as put Kat in a horrible position. Sadly though, if I let him die, I highly doubted that the Reaper would help me get back home. In fact, I was positive he wouldn’t.

  There was also the fact that if Kat did find out, she would be devastated. Though, she might say she didn't care about Dorian anymore, there was still a piece of her that still loved him and would always love him. It hurt for me to admit it but it was true. Which was all the more reason that I should let him rot.

  Turning to face the Reaper, I sighed. “What do I need to do?” Even as I asked the question I regretted my decision. I had a sneaky feeling that this would somehow come back to bite me in the ass.

  The Reaper didn't seem to notice the lack of enthusiasm in my voice. Which was good considering if he thought for one second I was going to let his son die, he might make sure I never saw Kat again. Even worse, he could stick me in some kind of hellhole made for the really bad Fae. I was sure there had to be some kind of place for them.

  “I don't decide that actually,” The Reapers voice cut through my thoughts. My eyes jerked up to his face where he had an amused look in his eyes. Had he been able to hear me this whole time? I had forgotten he was able to do that. Damn.

  Chuckling at my distress, the Reaper shook his head. “No, I don’t listen in all the time. You were just projecting your thoughts so loudly it was easy to pick up on what you were thinking. Don't worry everyone thinks that the first time they meet me.”

  Frowning in confusion, I stared up at him. “So, you don't decide who goes where?”

  “I only bring the souls here. Once here they move on on their own. To heaven? To hell? Who knows?” He shrugged. “I'm not dead.”

  “You're not?” I looked him up and down trying to discern exactly what he was. I had thought he was something more than Fae but his previous story made it out that he was just like the rest of us.

  “No. I'm not.” His gaze settled firmly on my face. “The thing you must understand is that I am the same as any other Fae. I just happen to have the ability to cater to the dead.”

  “Then what about those glowing things you said were spirits. How come they are still here?” I waved a hand toward the outside where I had first seen them.

  “Those are the ones who will not be put to rest. They refuse to go beyond to the final resting place. Thus, they linger here trying to take anyone they can with them into their misery.”

  “So then what happens when you die? Does someone take your place?”

  “Of course I will. I'm not immortal,” he scoffed and moved over to where Dorian's body lay. “And as for who will take my place that highly depends on if you will save my son. Like my father and I, he will be trained to cater to the souls of the deceased until he has a child that will take his place. Allowing him to retire and do whatever he likes with his life.”

  From the Reaper’s previous story I had a feeling I knew what he wanted to do with the remainder of his life. The UnSeelie Queen had never married nor had she ever shown the slightest interest in having a king. It wouldn’t be surprising to know she had been waiting for him all this time.

  Clapping my hands together, I rubbed them for good measure before moving next to the Reaper. I cast my eyes on the prince and asked, “So, what do I have to do? How do I get inside of his mind?”

  “It’s quite simple really. Place your hand here.” He grasped my hand nearest to him and led it over to hover above the prince’s chest. He tried to lower it down so that I was touching him but I resisted.

  “You have nothing to be afraid of, he won’t wake up just from you touching him,” he chuckled at my reluctance, “This isn’t even the hard part.”

  “It isn’t?” His words weren’t reassuring at all. I was regretting agreeing to this more and more and it hadn’t even begun.

  “No, the hard part will be getting you out. This part will only take you letting me into your mind as long as you don’t shut me out, then you will easily be able to slip into my son’s head. Once there it will be up to you to figure out how to dispel the shadows.”

  Frowning hard at him, I hopefully replied, “Any ideas of how to do that?”

  The Reaper thought about it for a moment, his grip on my hand lessening, but he didn’t remove it from where he held it above the prince’s body. “There will more than likely be a series of tests. Things that the prince has to overcome to weaken the shadows. Once they are to the point where they can’t latch onto his mind anymore they should be easy to kick out of his mind.”

  Should be? I didn’t like the sound of that. Everything he was saying sounded like theory. Like he didn’t know for sure if it would work and was just making it up as he went along and hoping it would work. Which was bad for me, since I was the one who was putting my tail on the line for a man I didn’t even like.

  “Very well, let’s get this over with so I can go hom
e,” I growled, my tail whipping behind me, making me unable to hide my nervousness completely.

  “Certainly, now place your hand here.” He lowered my hand down, and this time I didn’t resist. When my palm touched the middle of the prince’s chest I held my breath expecting some kind of reaction from his body or to get some sort of shock, but nothing happened. I guess the Reaper was right on that account. He was truly gone from this world.

  “Now,” the Reaper continued, “close your eyes. It will help you to visualize what I am saying.” Pursing my lips in displeasure, I did what he asked. My anxiety shot through the roof each moment I couldn’t see.

  “Good. Now, I want you to picture a door. It doesn’t matter what it looks like, it’s the functionality that matters,” he answered my unasked question before I could even formulate it in my mind.

  A solid rectangular door with dark oak finish formulated in my mind. Why this particular door? I wasn’t sure. It just seemed right as it came into my mind’s eye.

  “I want you to reach for the door handle.” His words echoed not in my ears but in my mind as my hand reached for the brass handle. In my mind, the handle was cool to the touch as if it hadn’t been used in a while. If I were to get scholarly on it, I would say that it was a representation of the prince’s comatose state. His mind and body were unused and thus lacking in heat.

  “This part is very important. So listen closely.” I focused on his words as much as I could, not wanting to do anything that might cause me to get stuck in the prince’s mind, or worse, my own.

  “As you open the door, you must not close yourself off. You have to imagine you are light as air so that you may float from your consciousness to his. Understood?”

  “Yes.” I nodded but realized that it was inside of my head and I hadn’t really physically done it. This was going to be really strange, I could already tell.