by Alexia Purdy
If being a Faerie Ancient could ever be called normal.
I turned toward Aveta, who was smoothing down her black dress and muttering complaints under her breath about the stench and the dirt. I was sure she was missing the Withering Palace with a vengeance now.
I gasped at the thought.
“Whatever is the matter with you? The iron doesn’t seem to be doing a thing to you, so why are you all jumpy? Let’s get out of here.” Aveta stomped past me, her long, silky black hair swaying.
“Your palace… it’s not yours anymore since you died.”
Aveta stopped in her tracks and turned toward me. “What the hell do you mean by that?”
“My sister, Anna… she’s been given control of it since I became an Ancient.”
Aveta closed her dark eyes and inhaled. I felt a shiver of magic in the stillness of the tunnel’s stale air, as though a nonexistent wind had passed by us. Goosebumps rose on my arms, and I hurried to rub the eerie magic away. Aveta was stronger than I was when I was a human, but now I was supposed to be more powerful than her. From the way things felt, it didn’t feel like I was that much more powerful.
“I see. However, the palace is my domain again. It has sensed me, and your sister is nowhere to be found there. She has relinquished control of the palace. She can never return to Faerie.”
“What?” I hurried to catch up to Aveta, who had immediately begun marching away. “It’s true that she’s not there right now, but only because she needed help from the human world. She grew too ill to remain in Faerie. That doesn’t mean she relinquished control.”
“It does. She can’t return, so she can’t rule the Withering Palace. Simple as that.”
“So you’re just going to take it back? Just like that? My aunt and her husband are guarding it in Anna’s absence. They won’t surrender easily.”
“They won’t have to.” Aveta grinned, holding her head up. I swore if she got any cockier than she was now, I was going to swing a fist into her face. “You’ll tell them to step aside when we get there.”
I scoffed. “Who says I’m going to go there with you? I’m not going to help you become the evil queen of Faerie again. I’m not stupid.”
“You will do this for me. I helped you out of your prison. You will give me back my palace, and on top of that, for taking care of Arthas—since we know how to do it now—you’ll help me with one more thing. After that, I will never bother you again.”
Aveta’s face was so close to mine, I could feel her hot breath against my skin. I chewed on my lip. What could I say that would make her change her mind on any of this? Would she truly leave me alone?
“And my family? If I help you with those two things, you’ll let them all be for as long as you live?”
Aveta smirked and took a tiny step back. The scowl on her face told me she wasn’t into this deal at all, but after a few moments, I could see her facial muscles relaxing, and her shoulders slumped slightly.
“Fine. I will let your family be if you return the power of the Withering Palace to me and help me with one last task.”
I swallowed down the tight lump in my throat. Please don’t let me regret this.
“Agreed. But what is this thing you need me to do?”
Aveta began walking again, but I was already matching her pace. When she finally broke her silence, I was left utterly shocked.
“You will move the stones beneath my castle and reopen the labyrinth gate to another part of Faerie. I can only access it from the depths of the rocks.”
“And what’s down there?” Did I even want to know?
“It doesn’t matter to you.”
“I get it, it’s none of my business, but since we’re in all of this together, why don’t you indulge me?” I held my breath and listened to her swishing steps crunch across the old debris and gravel of the tunnels. We would be outside soon, and I could hear her breathing quicken as the iron stench became stronger. It would be unbearable outside for her.
“If you get me out of this forsaken city and back to my castle, I’ll tell you.”
I tried to hide my smile from her, but my lips quivered.
“If you’re going to gloat, I won’t tell you a thing,” Aveta snapped.
“Sorry. I swear that once we leave these tunnels, I’ll give you a lift back to your palace. Just tell me what is buried beneath it already.”
Aveta laughed. Again, it sent a shudder through my body. That woman did not need to laugh for any reason at all. It was downright terrifying.
“My love is down there. I lost him when my mother collapsed the entrance to the Labyrinth of Fears, and I cannot move the rocks. There are too many. You have control over all the elements. Use your earth powers to help me, and I’ll leave your family alone for as long as I live.”
We continued in silence as I let her words turn over in my mind. Aveta had once been in love? Her mother must have been truly horrid to have severed her connection to her love forever. I was suddenly pelted with longing for my own daughters. I would never treat them in such a manner.
The tunnel began to brighten, and after one final turn, we were free. As the setting sun glared into our eyes, I held out my hand to my former enemy.
“Just hold on tightly, and don’t let go.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Dylan
Standing at the borders of Faerie was the last place I had wanted to be this morning, yet here I was. Except this time, I wasn’t returning to Benton’s place. Instead, we were heading into the city of Seattle. Ilarial had given us a general idea about where to find this mysterious faery named Astenos.
Seattle was big. It would be nearly impossible to find a person, let alone a faery who didn’t want to be found. I breathed slowly, staring out at the wards that surrounded Faerie and feeling blasé about everything all at once.
Suddenly, the wards wavered, blinking for a moment as colors streaked across the invisible wall. It had lasted just a second, but both Nautilus and I glanced at each other, knowing what it meant.
“The wards are wavering even more now,” Nautilus observed. “How much longer do you think they’ll hold?”
I blew out a breath, my heart pounding at the thought of the wards completely failing. “I don’t know. Maybe a week. Maybe just a few days.”
Nautilus nodded, but I could see the concern written on his face. He shoved at his long dreadlocks, tying them back as he continued to stare at the borders.
“Let’s get this over with. I don’t think we have a second to lose in finding this Astenos character. If Ilarial says he’s the key, then more than likely, he knows exactly how to fix this.”
“I agree. No time to lose. Come on.” I waved him forward, and we easily crossed the barrier. A human would be compelled to turn and walk away from the ward, but if it failed, they would soon be able to peer right into Faerie. The two worlds would crash. What would happen to the magic of Faerie? Would it cease? Would it take over all the land? I wasn’t even sure how the wards were created or why. There had to be a good reason, and if there hadn’t been, we might actually find that out.
Something in my gut told me we didn’t want to find out. Losing the wards of Faerie would be devastating to everyone, including humans.
We paused to glamour our outfits into normal clothing styles for human males. Our faery garb would stand out too much in a busy city like Seattle. People rushed all over, cars were honking as roads backed up from the early morning traffic. The water beyond looked endless as we walked along a sidewalk, taking in the sights.
Where would a faery who knew too much hide in a place like this? I glanced at the street signs and spotted a café on the opposite corner. It was not as busy as some of the other shops in the surrounding area, but there were a few customers plugged in to their laptops and sipping on coffee. There were some larger machines along one wall, most of them unoccupied, and I smiled. I’d heard about internet cafés, but there weren’t as many around as there had been a few years ago. For
tune was smiling on us, though, and it looked to be the perfect place, where no one would bother us if we used one of computers.
“There. We can check the internet in there. It might have something we can use to find Astenos.”
Nautilus nodded, not as schooled as I was on the human world, but he wasn’t that unfamiliar with the common gadgets, machinery, and workings of it. Luckily, he was also a Teleen and didn’t suffer from the effects of iron. I made a face; the city reeked of it, and even though it never burned in any way due to our special powers of fire and electricity, it still smelled horrid.
We entered and made our way to one of the computers.
“Hey, guys, computers are for customers only,” the barista called out before taking the next order from a nervous-looking businessman who appeared to be late for something. He muttered his order to the barista and glared at us for interrupting. Glancing at Nautilus, I nodded as he made his way to get in line for a coffee or snack, whatever would meet the barista’s criteria to consider us “customers.” Meanwhile, I sat at a terminal in the corner, where we’d have a bit of privacy.
Nautilus was already conjuring up some money from a stash in his pocket, which was really his hip pack enchanted to be invisible. He pulled out a twenty-dollar bill and handed it to the barista when it was his turn. The guy stared at him for a moment, waiting for his order.
“Oh, sorry. Two iced teas. Small. One unsweetened.”
The barista’s mouth tightened as he rang up the sale, knowing it was a cheap order. I grinned as I logged on to the internet browser and searched for anything to do with a man named Astenos. I doubted he used his faery name in the mortal realm, but I had no idea what else to look for.
Nothing appeared after I entered “Astenos.” Brainstorming, I entered “faeries of Seattle,” “fae,” “magic men,” and “immortal neighbor,” but came up with nothing useful. I groaned and ran my hands through my hair.
“Here, man. Have some tea. I couldn’t think of anything else we’d like off their menu. It looks to be full of sugary drinks.” He made a face. I sipped on the iced tea he’d handed me and nodded, glad he had put some sugar into mine. I wasn’t like Benton, who loved his super sugary sodas. They were all right, but I preferred natural teas just slightly sweetened.
“This is fine. Thanks.” I shook my head as I tapped out one more phrase to search, but it came out negative as well. “Dammit.” I threw my hands up in frustration.
“Nothing coming up?” He took a seat next to me and studied the webpage. “Geez, if there’s information about Astenos in there at all, it could be anything.”
“I’m trying to type in some phrases or key words that might bring something up. A name, an address, something. A lead… anything. Any ideas?” I looked at Nautilus, who was already almost finished with his tea. He sat pensively as he drank, mashing together ideas. I didn’t normally hang out with the guy, but he was bright. One had to be to make it to Captain of the Teleen Guard, like we both had.
“How about mysterious or unexplained events in Seattle?”
I straightened, elated that he had come up with something. “Sounds perfect. Let’s try that.”
Pages of results showed up. I groaned internally but searched through them quickly without finding anything suspicious. When I reached the tenth page of results, I was ready to quit when Nautilus nearly spit out his drink as he pointed to an entry near the bottom.
“There! That has to be something.”
I followed where he was pointing and read out loud. “Unexplained drains in power continue throughout the city of Seattle. Authorities have no idea what is causing the surges, but they appear to be centered on the north side of town. No culprit has been apprehended, and the power is spontaneously restored before repairmen arrive to service the malfunctioning generators and powerlines. These power drains appear to be happening randomly, but there have been six events so far this year.”
I turned to Nautilus, my eyes widening. “This has to be it.”
“But what does a faery need electricity for?”
I turned it over in my mind, wondering the same thing. It could only be one thing. “He must be part Teleen. He’s been ironside for so long, he must depend on the power grid to keep his own faery magic going. Even Teleen aren’t made to permanently live in the human world. He must have figured out a way to keep his magic intact by absorbing high levels of electricity.”
Nautilus raised his eyebrows, impressed by my assumption. “Not bad. Sounds plausible.”
I checked the map showing the locations of the power drains and triangulated a possible search area. “Here!” I pointed to a row of houses near the edge of the forest, right where any Fae would want to be: close enough to home to see it yet far enough away to stay hidden. “I bet you he’d take up near the woods.”
“Let’s get to it then.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Shade
I frowned at the silhouette of the Withering Palace before me. My magic allowed me to jaunt only to the borders of its stone walls, but not within. Of all the disadvantages of becoming an Ancient of Faerie, running into an equally powerful entity like this palace and bumping heads with it was the worst.
Aveta stared lovingly at her castle, reaching out to touch the rough stones of the exterior wall. She closed her eyes and smiled before whipping them open with elation.
“It remembers.”
“Will it return control to you?” I asked, more out of fear than curiosity. I hoped it didn’t. Something deep down told me Aveta would keep her word and stay away from my family, but there were always ways to torment people without lifting a finger.
“Yes, it has.” She turned to me, her oily black eyes dampened with happy tears. I’d never seen her so exhilarated. She was practically drunk with emotion as she turned, hiked up her skirt, and dashed to the front entrance where the Unseelie guards almost messed themselves at the sight of such an apparition. Some of them righted themselves in time to stand between her and the gate and hold out their spears and swords.
“Who goes there?” one hollered.
“Fools! You forget your queen so soon?” Aveta snapped her fingers, and the soldiers dropped to the ground, immobile but grunting with the effort of fighting against her curses. She pressed on, muttering as she passed. I walked behind her, glancing at the guards and wondering if she was going to release them or let them rot.
“Don’t worry, they’ll be fine in just a bit. Come along, girl. You’ve much to learn.”
I threw her an incredulous look. “What are you talking about? I didn’t come here to learn things from you.”
She stopped and swiftly turned, drilling her dark eyes into my very soul. If looks could kill, I’d have been a goner. I straightened, reminding myself who I was in the spectrum of Faerie powers. She may have been powerful for an Unseelie queen, but she was not as powerful as an Ancient, no matter what she thought.
“You’ll bring me what I want, and I will show you what you need to return to your whole world.”
“And what would that be?” I crossed my arms, knowing there was no way she knew what I truly wanted. How would she? She had been trapped in that prison when I’d married Dylan, when I’d become engaged to Soap, and when I had given birth to my daughters. She knew nothing about me, and yet she eyed me like she held an invisible sword, slicing into my insides and studying what lingered there. Maybe she was intuitive, but there was no way she was omniscient.
“It’s what everyone wants: love, belonging, happiness. I’ll show you how to take it back, grasp it with your hands, your mind, heart, and soul, and never let it go. For one so young, you’ve lost so much hope, Shade. I find it hard to believe how little faith you have.”
I pressed my lips together as she turned back around and headed deep into the castle, not to the throne room, where Evangeline and Jack might be waiting, but to the dungeons beneath the castle.
I’d never been down there. It was not a pretty place to linger. Most of it
was collapsed, with one side of it full of rubble. The rocks were impassible. It was this side of the dungeon she led me to, past long-forgotten cells with iron bars, filled now only with cobwebs, dust, and ghosts that cried out of the violent past of this place. I shivered as we walked past them, whispers floating in the air. Hauntings were very real in Faerie, but I’d never been in a place where I’d shivered at the caresses of unseen beings. It was rather unsettling, and I wondered if the spirits had the power to harm anyone.
I hoped not.
Not that they could do much to me, but Aveta wasn’t an Ancient. She… what was she now? I cocked my head in her direction, and for the first time I realized she was a fully tangible being again, with a living body. How had this happened? I wondered if my magic had revived or conjured up a mortal body for her to inhabit. There was no other explanation. No wonder she’d had to wait for me to leave the mind prison. It was the only way she wouldn’t come out the other end as a ghost to join the others hanging in the musty dungeon air. The fact that I could do that both thrilled and frightened me at once.
“Here.” Aveta motioned toward the wall of rubble. It was massive and blocked the entire expanse of the dungeon on the west side. “This is it.”
I studied the boulders of black obsidian. They had formed part of the original castle, and what lay above had been built later. Most of the boulders were taller than both of us, and some were as high as a two-story building. I let my eyes wander up the rubble to find an end of it. There was no defined edge on any side of it and nothing to reveal that there had been a labyrinth behind the collapse.
“This is going to take a lot of power,” I said, my voice echoing across the stones. They vibrated under my words as though they knew who I was and what I could do. They were listening for a command from an earth-powered elemental. I turned toward Aveta when something occurred to me. “Why have you not asked the palace to remove the debris?”
