by Mindy Hayes
I nodded. “Thank you.”
“Cameron, don’t you dare move.”
“And go where?”
“Good boy.”
“Thank you, master.”
Calliope shot him an amused look, hugged him, and then dove off the branch.
I followed close behind as we snuck into the dim cave. Torches lit our path, but didn’t shed nearly enough light. The cave was unsettlingly quiet. Where were the voices? The fighting? We should have been able to detect something by now.
Calliope pulled the bow and an arrow from her back and held it in position. I slipped a dagger from the sheath at my ankle and crept up beside her. We were a team. I didn’t want her standing in front of me, as though I needed protection. We’d had the same teacher once. We were equals.
The tunnel stretched on, growing wider and wider. Would it ever end? Gradually, voices echoed off the stone walls. We hugged the rock, searching behind us as we approached, making sure no one was sneaking up on us.
A booming voice traveled down the tunnel from the direction we were headed. “Did you really think a few Keepers could come in and stop us? It is quite laughable. We have a Royal on our side. One word and he could take you all out at once.”
I swallowed my gasp. They were using Marcus as their muscle? The passageway opened up into a giant space with all of our Keepers tied up in the center, surrounded by a thousand, if not more, angry elves.
“So powerful you have a Royal doing your dirty work, Guthron?” Kai taunted. “I’d say that’s quite laughable.”
“Thank you for volunteering,” Guthron said, stopping in front of Kai. He placed the tip of his sword at Kai’s throat. “You’re first to go, faery.”
“Oh, no he isn’t,” Calliope hissed and walked out into the cavern, her bow and arrow poised and ready to shoot. “Hey Guthron! You probably should’ve thought twice before messing with my husband.”
Guthron’s head whipped around. His lip curled up. “Queen Calliope, what a lovely surprise.”
“Isn’t it? If you would be so kind as to untie my men, I’d appreciate it.”
He clicked his tongue. “I am afraid I cannot oblige. You see, they came into my territory and attacked my men. There must be consequences.”
“Oh, I’ll give you consequences.” Calliope’s arrow flew across the room, into our group of Keepers. Her arrow grazed the twine tied around Kai’s wrists and he sprung free. Swiftly, he pulled a dagger from his footwear and slit the rope off the rest before crouching, ready to strike.
“It is amusing that you think you can stop us,” Guthron sneered.
“And it is amusing that you think we cannot.” I walked out of the tunnel and took my place by Calliope with my dagger ready to fight.
“And Queen Sarai, my my. This is quite the surprise. I hoped you and I would have a different meeting. Either way, there is a small detail you two might not be aware of. I have a Royal you might know. Marcus, come say hello.”
Marcus stepped away from the shadows behind Guthron into the dim lighting. His massive figure adorned and pierced with bone towered above the lanky elf. I had never seen his eyes look so menacing, and they were not aimed at the enemy. They were trained on Calliope and me. Internally, I shrank back, but I held my ground and stared back. At the man I thought I could love.
“Dispose of them please,” Guthron ordered.
Marcus stalked toward Calliope and me, his cloak fanning out behind him as he pursued. Maybe I was right about his true allegiance. I didn’t want to be, but how else had they been able to capture all of the Keepers in a matter of minutes? Unless he’d warned them. We’d played right into his hand.
“I did not want it to turn out this way,” he said, his pace not slowing. “I tried to find another way, but you made it impossible. You came too close to succeeding. I have to make this right.”
My heart shattered. I was right. I was going to have to fight Marcus. My fist tightened around the dagger.
“Lia, run!” Marcus shouted. Lia appeared in full fae form from where Marcus had stood behind Guthron. “Get out of here now!”
Lia bolted across the expanse, faltering as she passed us. She stopped only momentarily to nod at us before she barreled down the darkened tunnel. As soon as she was gone, Marcus spun away from us and fire shot from the torches, searing the elves closest to the flames. Their screams filled the cavern.
“Go after her!” Guthron shouted at his clan. “Don’t let her get away!”
Calliope shot arrows at every elf that attempted to follow Lia. My dagger wasn’t going to be nearly as effective as I’d hoped. Sheathing it at my ankle, I honed in on the water beneath the surface. Before any more elves could attempt their escape, a geyser shield of water shot up, blocking the exit. Every elf trying to pass was hurled at the ceiling by the force of the water.
Marcus stood between Calliope and me, hands twitching at his sides, ready to aim fire.
“It appears there are three Royals against you, Guthron!” I yelled. “We do not want to fight. We will show you mercy. All we want is the scroll, the blood, and a promise this will stop.”
His maniacal laughter ricocheted throughout the cavern. “That will never happen. Samras! Ardis! Nevin!”
Three elves emerged from the horde. They stood taller than the rest, had more muscle than the rest. Their ears weren’t nearly as sharp, nor were their teeth. Calliope’s arrows sailed through the air and impaled each of them, but they were unfazed. They pulled the arrows from their bleeding chests and pressed on with entertained sneers.
“These three were the successful experiments who drank our blood,” Marcus quickly explained. “They are stronger, smarter, and nearly unaffected by pain. They heal rapidly, and they are fast.”
Before I could conjure up water, my head slammed against the cave wall. A hand clamped around my throat and rocks sharply dug into my back. Steely eyes bore into mine. I couldn’t swallow. I couldn’t breathe. My feet dangled above the ground. I clawed at the hand gripping my neck, but it was futile. Darkness was encroaching on my vision.
Someone shouted, “Let her go!”
Everything went black.
Chapter Thirty Two
CAMERON
Sigh.
I felt so useless. Once again. My friends were fighting for their lives while I hid for my own safety. I wanted to be able to stand beside them, help them. I needed to get bit by a radioactive spider or struck by a lightning bolt. Maybe I could convince the government to experiment on me. Something was bound to give me supernatural powers, so I could hold my own in this world.
A figure stumbled out of the mouth of the cave, and I pressed my back against the rough bark of the trunk to remain invisible. Peering around the side, my eyes zeroed in on red hair. Lia? Wings stretched out of her back as her head whipped up. Her recognizable eyes searched the forest.
LIA! I almost shouted her name, but if she was escaping I couldn’t draw attention to her. Pushing off the trunk, I stood in the middle of the broad limb, jumping up and down, and waved my arms to catch her attention. In hushed tones I shout-whispered her name. I felt like one of the three amigos, standing on the cement wall, making birdcalls. Look up here! Look up here!
Before she darted in another direction, our eyes connected. Her head knocked to the side like she was wondering if she was imagining me. In an instant, she was on the limb beside me.
“What in the ever-living heck are you doing in Faylinn?”
“Looking for you! What does it look like? What happened to you? You’re … a faery again.”
Her voice quieted. “They changed me.”
“I can see that.”
Lia was a faery again. It finally clicked. We stared at each other, wordlessly. What it meant for Lia being a faery again burrowed into my brain like a tick. She wouldn’t be coming back with me.
“I didn’t really think it through,” she said.
“You left without saying goodbye.”
“It was kind of one
of those, this-deal-expires-as-soon-as-we-walk-away deals, so I reacted on impulse.”
Right. Of course. She was able to be a faery again. Why wouldn’t she jump on that opportunity? This was her true world. That shouldn’t hurt me. Why was I so hurt? It wasn’t personal. She wasn’t specifically choosing to leave me. I was just an unfortunate casualty.
For the first time in my life, I didn’t know what to say.
Lia opened her mouth to—what I could only assume was—let me down gently, but her eyes shifted over my shoulder and panic engulfed them. “Cameron, get down!” She shoved me to the side, causing me to lose my balance and fall to the forest floor.
With the wind knocked out of me, I stared up at the branches swaying above me from my back, black spots floating in my line of sight. I couldn’t do anything but blink and try to figure out what had happened. Did Lia just push me out of the tree? I couldn’t feel my arms or my legs. Was I paralyzed? I cannot get paralyzed right now.
Lying on my back, my eyes traveled up the trunk until I saw Lia still in the tree, fighting one of the creepy fanged guys. I couldn’t call them elves. Elves were happy and smiley and worked in Santa’s workshop. These things were what nightmares were made of.
Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew I should move and hide, but I couldn’t. My body was out of commission. Seriously. Am I paralyzed? I fell like thirty feet. If not paralyzed, something had to be broken.
I could only move my eyes. They watched Lia and her ninja skills against vampire face. A kick to the abdomen. A punch to the jaw. A block to keep him from nailing her face. I watched as she ran up the trunk, back flipped and twisted in the air, roundhouse kicking Vampire Face in the jaw, knocking him off the tree. Which was good in theory; except he landed beside me. And I still couldn’t move.
I heard a thud on the ground near the other side of my body. Please be Lia. Please be Lia.
“Cameron, move!” she barked.
Didn’t she realize I would’ve done that already if I could? “You nearly killed me by pushing me out that tree, and now you think I’m just laying here for the heck of it?”
Without a retort, Lia swept me up in her arms, placed me against a tree farther out of the way and sped back to finish off the elf. Faery speed never ceased to catch me off guard.
Propped up, I saw Vampire Face was already closing in on her, his long nails spread out like Wolverine. Feeling began to make its way back into my extremities, and I edged closer to a shrub with my right elbow to better conceal myself. If I was useless as a human with a knife, I was even more useless as a wounded human with a knife. I was almost ninety-nine-point-nine percent sure my left arm was broken.
No matter what moves Lia used on Vampire Face, he came back for more, stronger and angrier than before. He was a resilient thing. As fascinating as it was to watch her kick his trash, she wasn’t going to win this fight with her ninja skills. No matter how awesome they were. I fished the knife from its sheath on my hip Calliope gave me.
“Lia!” Please let her reflexes be as good as her ninja skills. “Catch!”
The knife went sailing through the air. Flipping back to catch my poor aim, Lia snagged the hilt like a champ. With one swipe to the throat, Vampire Face went down. Lia crouched, scanning the forest for more before she darted to me.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m not paralyzed, so that’s a bonus, but I’m pretty sure my arm is broken.” I cradled it against my chest.
“I’m sorry.” She placed her palm on my cheek. “I didn’t mean to push you out of the tree. I mean, I did, but I didn’t think we were that far up. The elf was coming at your back, and I reacted. I’m so sorry.”
She’d been reacting quickly a lot lately. So, I followed her lead. I grabbed the back of her neck with my good hand and pressed my mouth to hers. Kissing Lia made the pain in my left arm ebb. Mostly because the pain traveled to my heart. She was a faery, and I was a human. And we were never going to be. But, dang it all, I was going to kiss her, as much as I could until I would no longer get the chance.
Lia pulled back and rested her forehead against mine. “I’m so sorry.” If I didn’t know any better, I’d say I heard tears in Lia’s voice.
“It’s okay,” I whispered, keeping my hand tangled in her hair. “I get it. You don’t have to apologize.”
“We’re not finished with you, Faery.”
She reared back. Three vampire faces surrounded us, looming menacingly. Lia reached back and covertly placed the knife in my good hand. “You might need this,” she whispered under her breath.
Oh crap.
The vampire faces converged on us. Lia took two, while the third fixated on me. Ignoring the pain coursing through my body, I managed to get up and stood in the defensive pose my instructor had taught me. His jagged teeth gleamed and his nails spread like talons. Were those things retractable?
I’m in trouble.
“You know, Human, we could change you, too.” Was he bargaining with me? Also, was he for real or trying to distract me?
“There might be a few interesting side-effects, but you wouldn’t have to be a weak human anymore.” The corners of his mouth turned up. If he was trying to smile at me, he was doing a very poor job.
“I think I’ll pass. Thanks.”
“Suit yourself.” Vampire Face lunged at me, and I spun away, nearly face-planting as I lost my balance. Falling out of that tree was not helping my odds. At least I was enough of a distraction to keep Lia from fighting off three of these things.
“You’re not very agile on your feet, Human.”
“And you’re awfully frightening to look at,” I countered.
He sneered and swiped his hand through the air. This time I wasn’t quick enough. His claw-like nails sliced through my left arm I held up in defense.
“Watch it with those nails! You really should get them trimmed. Maybe a little manicure? I hear chicks dig that kind of thing.”
“Enough talking and more fighting,” he roared, coming at me again.
With every swipe of my knife, he dodged left and right, and then advanced once more. I couldn’t even knick him. I kept backing away, but never far enough. I attempted my impeccable side kick and failed. I had cuts all over my body. I was losing stamina. One wrong step and I was a dead man.
An explosion erupted inside the cave. Vampire Face made one mistake. He looked over his shoulder, and that was my opening. One slash across the throat was all I needed, and he went down.
I’m one lucky son of a gun.
Looking down, I saw a hand gripping the hilt of a bloody knife. Was that my hand? My fingers unlatched their grasp, dropping the knife. Vampire Face’s lifeless body lay at my feet, surrounded in red liquid. I backed away. What did I just do?
My fingers latched on the roots of my hair. I scoured the land, searching for Lia, expecting to see her leaning against a trunk with her arms crossed, taunting me. Can’t win a little fight with an elf, Cameron? She was nowhere. Out of the corner of my eye, red hair splayed across the forest floor, tangled in vines and dried leaves caught my attention. And two dead elves lay at her feet.
“Lia!” I scrambled to her side, my knees scraping across the dirt and grit. Had I been able to feel more than concern for Lia, my knees would most likely be stinging, rubbed raw by the earth. Not to mention the slices all over my body. I couldn’t focus on those. Turning her to face me, I brushed the tousled hair from her face. “Lia, are you okay?”
My eyes spotted crimson pooling on her bare stomach, the material torn away. She groaned and placed her hand over it, capturing the blood, trying to close the gash. “Cameron,” she whispered, “I’m not strong enough to heal myself. Take my blood.”
“What?”
“Take it,” she choked and placed one hand on top of the other. “I protected it. I can close my wound enough to save it for you. Just take it. Transform.”
“Are you insane? What are you talking about? I can’t transform. Don’t be stupid.”
/> “Yes, you can,” she croaked. “I mean it.”
“Stop being so self-sacrificing. I don’t want your blood. I want you to live.” I placed my hands on top of hers to add pressure to stop the bleeding. “Calliope!” I shouted into the night. I didn’t know if she could hear me from the cave, but I needed her to help heal Lia. Screw the elves!
“You know the human world no longer holds your interest. This is the perfect out. No one innocent has to die.”
“No one innocent?” I snorted, choking on my pained laughter. “This whole martyr act is getting old, Lia. You paid for your sins with your life when you changed Kai back. I think you’ve sacrificed enough.”
“But you can be in this world with Calliope and live a long life with Sarai.” Lia took an unsteady breath and tried to swallow.
“I’ve lived without Calliope before. I don’t need her to survive. And I don’t love Sarai.”
“You might change your mind.”
“No! Be quiet!” I gripped Lia’s arms. I wanted to shake her. Instead, I placed my hands over hers, adding more pressure to her bleeding wound. “I don’t want Sarai, okay?”
Her eyes scoured my face, emotions flickering across like wings. Confusion. Fear. Hope?
“Are you that stupid and hard-headed?” I placed one red-smeared hand gently on her cheek. “I love you, you idiot.”
Lia shook her head, a tear escaping down her temple onto the soil. Was she denying me? Did she not believe me? I knew it was a little out of the blue, but after that kiss, how could she not feel it?
“I don’t need this world. I just need you.” Lia’s eyes fluttered closed. I frantically searched through the trees. “Calliope! Sarai! Anyone!”
“Cameron, stop,” she murmured.
“No, you stop! I understand why you came back. This is your world, where you belong. You earned this blood back. Stop squandering your life. Stop thinking you don’t deserve it!”
Her head shook. “We could never be together anyway. If I survive, I stay here. I can’t go back with you. At least this way one of us can be happy.”
