I wasn't going to be able to use the book in Alfheim, so I figured I'd better make good use of it now. While Sam worked, I closed my eyes and asked the book how to make the mantle. Seemed simple enough. And as always the book appeared, the pages flipped, until they landed on the new page, the one Thomas had slipped in.
That's when things got a bit fuzzy. Up until then I just had the intent, put some feeling behind it and spoke the language of the Grimoire, or at least the earlier parts of the Grimoire. There were a lot of languages in this book. But this time I moved without thinking. I knew on some level the Grimoire was in charge, or at least I suspected it was. I reached out to Sam and asked for a vial of the dust.
She handed one to me. I poured it onto the stone in front of me in the form of a rectangle. Then filled it in until the bottle was empty. I felt Sam's and Mike's eyes on me as I held my hand over the square and felt something weave and tumble down my arm. A glance at it and I wished I hadn't looked.
Tiny white spiders oozed out of my skin and crawled to my hand. They jumped onto the square and began spinning webs. Red silk. Hundreds of them came. There were so many of them they fell over each other. My body was locked where it was, a conduit for the book of total annihilation.
Damn coffee table reader.
The rectangle glowed red, sparkled and then the spiders vanished. The book let go and I was on my feet, shaking the ick off of me like a girl who just found a bug in her desert. After I finished my little fit I looked at the stone.
In place of the dust lay a perfectly folded red mantle. Or a facade of it. With a glance at Sam and Mike I tentatively touched it. The fabric was as soft as silk. Spider silk. I held it between both hands. "It feels real."
It is real. The dust is what will convince Maab it is the veil she seeks.
I refolded it and handed it off to Mike. "You keep it. You need to be the one to ask for the exchange."
He took it as if it were made of glass and carefully tucked it into his back pocket. "It's not going to disappear in there is it?"
It should not. But there is always a chance. If the facade does vanish, I would suggest building another one quickly.
No shit. I would have suggested going ahead and making another one. But my muscles ached when I moved them. My shoulders and lower back hurt and I was pretty sure if I laid down, I'd fall asleep. And I did not want to sleep in a Cairn. There were just too many things in the place that set off my danger meter.
"So would this wish she offered be different than the actual exchange between the mantle and Brendi?" Sam asked.
The two are different. Maab made the pronouncement a long time ago. Mike's exchange is separate and Maab gave no terms.
Sam brushed the pentagram away with her boot just before she carried water from the stream in one of the glass bottles and doused the fire. "I think we need to get going."
Yes. Once you pass through the gate you have to cross over the wastes to get to Alfheim.
"Wastes?" Sam and I said together.
She took over. "You didn't mention wastes before. What are the wastes?"
Hob held out his hand and a small, flat disk formed out of whatever he was made of. This is a compass, but it only works in Alfheim. It will point you to the Queen's home. He handed it to me. It looked just like any ordinary compass…except for the runes on the face. At the moment the needle didn't move no matter which way I turned it.
"Hob…don't avoid my question. What are the wastes?" Sam tapped her foot.
I slipped the compass into my back pocket and glanced over my shoulder, half expecting to see a wing back there. I was relieved I didn't.
The wastes are what is left of the warlands.
"Warlands?" Mike had pulled out his huge gun and checked his magazines again. "You mean there was a war in Faerie?"
We were invaded a long time ago by another world. They came with rules after they destroyed the Sentinels. Hob turned to Sam. They did not win, but neither did the Faerie. Soon after they sealed this world away, others left by the war appeared in the ruins. All manner of creatures you would know if named.
"You mean like this Charybdis?" I remembered him mentioning that.
Yes. Charybdis has gone through changes and taken control of the wastes and all manner of creatures. She is very strong. It is why she is the Queen of this realm."
"Are these creatures dangerous? Other than her?"
Yes. And all of them would love the chance to take you, use you and ride your dead shell back to your world. So I would advise caution.
I started to say something but Sam put a hand on my shoulder. "Is there any way to avoid the wastes?"
Hob put a finger to his chin. There is a way—but I do not know if it still works.
"What is it?" She kept her hand on my shoulder.
The Faeries create a pathway—a line—that gives them a corresponding end. If you were to find that correspondence point, and if Maab did not destroy it, then it is possible to avoid the wastes. But if you take the wrong line, another Faerie's perhaps, then I don't know where you would end up.
Mike chuffed. "You mean teleport. Maab set up a teleporting thing."
"Sounds like a ley line." Sam looked at Hob.
Yes. They are Ley Lines. I can show you where it might be.
Sam pulled her hand back. "We'll risk it. Uh…is the way we're dressed fine?"
Yes. Hob glided across the grass to the stream where he walked on top of the water to the opposite shore and gate. Myself, Sam and Mike went through the water but weren't even wet when we stepped out on the opposite side.
Hob touched the lock on the gate and instantly the chains fell aside. The gate doors creaked open, swinging away from us toward what looked like a park in Autumn. There was even a bench in front of an oak. I looked around at the cave Hob lived in and noticed it wasn't so much the Cairn encroaching on the world of Alfheim, but the opposite. Faerie had spilled through the gate like ivy running under the neighbor's fence.
The Ley Line Maab used will be marked. Since I cannot leave the Cairn, I do not know what the mark is. But you will know it when you see it.
Sam reached out and hugged Hob again before she stepped through the gate. Mike shook his hand and gave him a pat on the back. When he and I faced each other, his face shifted both shape and color. With his back to the others, they didn't see Hob look at me with the face of Thomas. Heed what I said, Guardian, about the wish. The future's not written in stone.
He reached out and embraced me then, and I inhaled a spicy, musky scent I hadn't noticed before. When he stepped back, Hob's face was back to the black, blank facade of a department store mannequin. I gathered my wits—which of course had tried to abandon me in a moment of OMG!—and walked through the gate to join Mike and Sam.
The lush jungle we stepped into didn't last long. Within a ten minute walk the high grass and thick, gnarled trees disappeared and were replaced by…nothing. The landscape shifted into barren, cracked dirt. Miles and miles of it. Even the color of the world changed from lush greens, blues and whites to burnt orange, brown and black. In the distance we could see a cityscape that looked like any other cityscape. The sky behind it looked ominous. I hoped like hell that wasn't where we were supposed to go, so when I took the compass out of my pocket, my heart fell into my feet when the arrow pointed in front of us.
"That's Fairyland?" Sam pointed to the looming city. "Looks more like…escape from New York or something."
"According to this, that's Alfheim," I said. "But I'm beginning to think none of this is really Faerie like we learned about it as a kid."
"Uh uh." Mike shook his head. "So…I'm assuming that area between here and there is the wastes?"
I think we all agreed on that assumption. So we drew our weapons, except for me. Because if I used my weapon I'd wake up bad things. "Hob said Maab's line would be marked. Do any of you see an obvious mark?"
We dispersed along the border, keeping on the grass and looking desperately for something—
"I found it!"
Mike and I hurried over to Sam who stood directly in front of the path back to the Cairn. She pointed up. Floating about a foot or two above us was a large sign that read, Quack Like A Duck.
"That can't be serious."
I looked at Sam and quacked.
And found myself at the gate of the distant city.
What the—
A small pop of air and Mike appeared. Then Sam.
"Did anyone else just have a fast forward moment?" Mike looked around us while I stared up at the huge double doors to the city. I couldn't see the tall buildings and spires we'd seen in the distance. The only view we had was of a massive wall. Why would anyone need a wall that big?
"Yeah…and I'm not sure it's making me comfortable." Sam held her knife with the blade down. "There's a smaller door to the right of the larger one. Try that one."
"You want me to ring the bell?" Mike approached the door but he didn't sound all that confident.
"I don't see a bell." I came up behind him.
Mike tried the knob and it turned. With a glance back at us he pushed it in. Nothing spectacular happened. No explosion or attack of killer bees. We simply stepped through another door into a thick, humid garden. Butterflies in colors I've never seen on butterflies came to greet us as we stepped in.
The door closed behind us with a heavy thud. When we turned to look—no door.
"That's worrisome," I said.
"I've got a bad feeling about this." Mike moved in front of Sam and I and brushed the butterflies off.
That's when they started biting. Little fuckers had big teeth! We batted at them, keeping them away from our faces and took off through the garden. It wasn't at all like Hob's garden…in fact…it looked a lot like Mike's garden behind his townhouse. When I tried to avoid going further into the garden, the butterflies came at me with teeth. They did the same with Mike and Sam. As long as we stayed on a path leading into the garden's center—they flew along side us and didn't bite.
We heard the murmuring of voices before we saw anyone. The focal point of the garden was a large shallow marble pool filled with water. In the center sat an empty pedestal. As we passed through a rose trimmed archway the garden abruptly filled with people of all sizes and shapes. Or they looked like people. Actually…they looked like people would in the court of King Louis XIV. Lots of gold trim on waistcoats, collars and sleeves, large poofy skirts, powdered white wigs and loads of makeup. As the butterflies herded us closer to the pond I saw lilies in an assortment of colors floating in the water and I could make out multi-colored Koi as well.
"Ah…the entertainment is here!" A woman's voice rang clear over the murmuring.
We turned to see a rather short woman dressed in red silks descend a marble staircase from a marble balcony. The guests parted quickly to allow her to pass through to us. We stood by the pond, with Mike to my right and Sam to my left. Was this…Maab?
"Welcome, welcome…" She gushed as she curtsied in front of us. "I am Queen Maab, ruler of the Obsidian Court. Oh…he sent me a variety this time! How wonderful! A tall handsome human, and a Sentinel!" Her eyes cut to me and narrowed. "I'm afraid I'm not sure what you are. But you do smell…familiar."
Maab couldn't have been over sixteen years old. On the outside. I wasn't stupid enough to think this is what she really looked like. If there was one thing I was getting used to it was not trusting what I saw. Though she moved and squealed like an adolescent girl, I felt her power and I recognized her voice as the one that'd been controlling the Brendi changeling. Should it worry me that she didn't recognize me?
"My Queen." A tall man in a black and gold costume stepped closer. "Are you sure these are the ones Hob told you about?"
Hob?
We all glanced at each other. Hob? Had Hob betrayed us?
"Well of course they are. Just as he described, though this one," she said and reached out between Sam and Mike to grab for me. "Is a bit different."
Sam brought the hilt of her knife up and into the elbow of Maab. I know what it's like to bang my elbow so when Maab jerked her arm back I was pretty sure it hurt, and she was about to do really bad things to Sam.
"Your highness," I said and stepped forward to make sure she didn't keep Sam on her radar. "I'm not sure what Hob told you about us, but we wanted an audience with you because we found something we learned belongs to you."
Her attention snapped from Sam to me and her frown righted itself in record speed. "Oh? You have something of mine? How can I be sure you didn't steal it?"
"I give you my word." Yeah, it sounded lame but I accented it with a really deep bow. We needed to get Brendi and get the hell out of there now.
"Well…that's got to be the most respect any human thing has ever shown me. Better than the rot that showed up here today." She glanced around, indicating her guests. "So," she said and clasped her hands in front of her. "What is it you're sure you didn't take?"
I stepped in front of Sam just to make sure she stayed invisible as Mike came forward.
Maab's smile widened as she looked up at him. "Did you steal it?"
"No Queen Maab." He went down on one knee so he was eye-level with her. When he pulled the mantle from his back pocket, a hush fell over the crowd. Everyone hovered over us, looking down at the delicate fabric in his hand. I just hoped the thing didn't pick that moment to vanish.
Maab's expression wasn't close to readable. Her eyes focused on the mantle for several seconds before she looked up. "Where…did you get this?"
"From a man in my world. He said he took it from you to protect the world. I wish to trade this for the return of my daughter."
Her eyes narrowed on Mike's face. "Your daughter?"
"Brendi Ross. Your changeling took her and murdered her mother. I would like to trade this for her."
A murmur rose in the crowd as everyone gathered close to watch.
Maab plastered the smile back on her face. "My dear boy, you've braved a great deal to return this to me. But how do I tell you were not the one to take it?"
"I am a mortal in his late twenties, Queen Maab." He took in a deep breath. "The man I took it from said he took this centuries ago."
"I see."
One sullen looking woman with a large mole over her lip waved a fan in her face. "I can see we're not going to have any entertainment tonight."
Maab shot her a narrowed glance and the fan turned into feathers, and then a bird that pecked at the woman's face. The other guests stepped back and no one else commented.
I felt Sam's fingers against mine and I glanced back at her. I believed she was feeling the same apprehension I was. And the same fear things were going to go south, regardless of Thomas's assurances. I was busy thinking up ways to get out of there. If Hob really had betrayed us, then going back to that Cairn would be a trap.
"You are right, dear boy. You are but a man, and the Sentinel with you with the defiant hand is even younger. But this…one…" She reached out to take the mantle but Mike pulled it away.
"My daughter, Queen Maab. And then we shall trouble you no more."
"Indeed." She pursed her lips. Her brows arched. "Ah…she is a Sentinel."
Yep. South. I just heard the bombs drop. Sam pulled my finger to keep me still.
"Yes Queen Maab."
Maab narrowed her eyes until they were slits. The sky overhead darkened. "I now realize who your companion is, mortal. And why he angers me." She smiled, and I didn't like the look of it. "Are you quite sure the only thing you wish to trade for is your daughter?"
Before Mike could answer, I felt Sam's hand jerk away from me. The crowd made an "awwww" sound as I turned to see why she pulled back. But what I saw nearly drove me to my knees.
Sam wasn't with me anymore. In fact…Sam wasn't even human. A statue now stood on the pedestal, a perfectly carved replica of Samantha in her boots, skirt, and knife. Her face looked up at the sky as water poured from her upturned hand.
"Sam!" Mike yelled out as
he pulled the mantle away and stood next to me. I risked a second to touch her.
But she wasn't flesh anymore. And this wasn't a replica. Samantha had been transformed into cold marble.
THE OATH
"You bitch!" Mike pulled his gun in a flash and aimed it at Queen Maab, the barrel centimeters from her nose. "You make her right."
"Is that your trade, mortal? You want the life of your girlfriend for returning to me what is rightfully mine?" She straightened her back and as she crossed her arms over her chest. She grew in size until she was taller than any of her guests. "Is that your trade?"
Mike glanced over at Sam. "You never intended to keep a promise, did you? You are indeed the Mad Queen. A liar and a thief."
"Me? A thief?"
"You stole what wasn't yours, Maab. My daughter was never yours to take. Just like this mantle was never yours."
Maab leaned forward. "She was a Sentinel. And I claim Sentinels." She pointed at Sam. "I claim her! And that mantle is mine!"
"You can't have her. Where is my daughter?"
"Is that your trade? To see where she is and not have her back?" Maab's gaze flickered over to the Sam statue. "Or do you want to rescue your friend before the transformation is final and she dies?"
"How do I know they're both alive?" Mike removed the safety. "You give me Brendi or I will put a hole through your skull."
When Maab looked back to Mike, her gaze slid to me. "Really, mortal? You'll shoot me?"
I knew something was coming before she did it. I just didn't know what. Hob had said not to use the book, but how in the hell else were we going to get out of this? It was pretty damn obvious Maab wasn't going to keep any kind of deal offered and the guests looked as if they were just there for the entertainment. When she pointed at me I ducked and rolled into the crowd. Whatever she fired hit the edge of the fountain and a few of the guests, who immediately turned to stone.
Shit!
Dance By Midnight Page 12
