No Faerie Tale Love (Faerie Series Book 1)

by Mercedes Jade

  Chapter 19:

  I FROZE IN MY VERY compromising position.

  Loren pulled me against his big, hard chest as he curled himself up into a smooth sitting position, shifting me to his left hip and reaching for the handle of his whip. He had it untangled and pulled our cage door open in seconds, flicking it so it released with a little sting of cold magic. Kheelan reached from behind me and yanked my bra into place matter-of-factly and broke the magic binding my arms.

  Gentle, invisible hands cupped behind my head, tipping it back as Eloden licked my neck over his Mark. He thumbed the hickey that Loren had left close to it. Loren’s hand tightened at my waist, but he didn’t move otherwise.

  “Thought you couldn’t hold your invisible glamour if you talk,” I whispered to my ghostly lover.

  “Can’t glamour my speech but the rest of me can stay hidden,” he explained, also whispering right in my ear. “Can’t speak in your mind without your charm, either.”

  Kheelan had left that charm locked up with my keys in Baby. Another strike against him. I didn’t think telling Eloden this little fact was a good idea right now. He had caught us in flagrante delicto of holding a threesome when he had probably rushed over here to rescue me from Lord asshole, expecting screams of a different sort. I would rather explain when Eloden was too far away to wring Kheelan’s neck.

  I shouldn’t care but I did, now knowing that Kheelan had done it for love of his brother.

  “How are you holding your glamour surrounded by this much iron?” I whispered back when Eloden silently stroked my arm too long, worried he was planning to do something he would later regret.

  “With effort,” Eloden admitted. “Say goodbye to your new fairy friend.”

  Crap, I had been protecting the wrong Fae. “Don’t kill him,” I said. I remembered the neck slicing motion that Aeric had made when he said Dain told Eloden to deal with my threats a little more definitively than he had the gangster at the Changs’ apartment. Eloden might look like a sexy Irish professor, but he sidelined as a Celtic warrior and I had no doubt he could carry through with his promise to Dain.

  “He knew the risks when he touched you,” Eloden said.

  “A few hickeys and a little slap and tickle are not killing-worthy crimes,” I protested.

  “Hickey?” Eloden said. “You attract more trouble than any other Halfling I’ve met.”

  Lyrical words followed Eloden’s barrage and I felt his magic sink into my skin like the warmth from sunbathing, leaving my body almost painfully hot for Loren to touch with his cooler magic. Loren tightened his grip on me, anyway.

  “Is this Falin or Dain?” Loren asked.

  Eloden’s dark chuckle raised warning hairs on the back of my neck. “Selvyth’s army is going to die screaming when those two arrive for stealing her. You should leave too before you meet their end. We’ll forget this mistake of touching her, once.”

  “Where are you taking her, Eloden?” Kheelan whispered. “We know the camp. I can get her a horse.”

  “Orin will take care of it.”

  “Why don’t we all sneak out and avoid the battle?” I suggested. “Orin’s hurt,” I reminded him. “Kheelan’s hurt,” I added, although I wasn’t sure Eloden would care about the latter. I shouldn’t care, either.

  “Aeric wants to greet his father since he came all this way for the funeral,” Eloden said, pulling me by the shoulders from Loren’s embrace. “Release her or I will pin you to the floor with iron like a pretty butterfly to add to Selvyth’s collection.”

  I wiggled against Loren’s hold. I had to cut ties for his own safety. “Let go of me, boy. Eloden at least is dark enough to meet my needs.”

  I looked down at Eloden’s hands that I could now see, although I was sure he was invisible to the others, and then up to Eloden’s familiar face and green eyes. I had missed him so much, my saviour. Everything was going to be okay now.

  “Loren’s here to heal Kheelan’s back. He will keep his mouth shut about our leaving if you let him go. I don’t think he likes Lord asshole any better than Kheelan,” I told Eloden.

  “Run fast, boy,” Eloden said, wrenching me free as he conceded to my wishes.

  Loren reached for me and a line of red appeared on his throat. He pulled his neck back from the blade Eloden held against him. It must be strange to be wounded by an opponent he couldn’t see. Fighting Eloden would be impossible.

  “If you really want to die by my hand, then find us later,” Eloden suggested, slipping out of the metal cage with me in his arms.

  I stumbled as we hit the ground. All that time cramped up and bound had left me feeling weak as a newborn lamb. The incredible orgasms might have played a role, too.

  “Slow down,” I hissed.

  Eloden put me over his shoulder. For once, I didn’t protest. It was better than the bony shoulder of the Fae that had carried me out of the woods half unconscious.

  Loren and Kheelan exited the cage as well. Loren had coiled his whip and attached it to his right hip. He pulled a bow off his back and handed it over to Kheelan. A quiver full of arrows followed. As Loren turned, I saw that he had his own still strapped to his back. Had they been glamoured like mine? Kheelan strapped on the quiver but kept the bow in his hand.

  “Shouldn’t we stay to help them?” I asked, feeling uncertain as the two Fae stood all alone next to the cage. Just like when I had dealt with the guards trying to shackle Kheelan, I was sure no one would hurt them without orders, but they wouldn’t help them, either. Kheelan’s only friend seemed to be the Fae standing next to him and their relationship was still dubious to me having seen the whipping Kheelan had endured while Loren watched.

  “How many battles have you fought?” Eloden asked, briskly walking us away.

  I wanted to answer plenty, but I think he meant it literally.

  “Kheelan is badly hurt,” I said again.

  “Quiet,” Eloden ordered. He turned abruptly left.

  I heard the screams before I heard the flap of giant wings. I tried to look up from my awkward, upside-down position to the sky. It was so dark that I couldn’t detect anything until bright, orange-red flame lit up the night and revealed the massive dragon breathing death down on the center of the encampment.

  “Kheelan!” I screamed. Our cage had been near there.

  Eloden fell back a step as something thudded against his other shoulder.

  “Over there,” an unfamiliar Fae voice shouted.

  Eloden turned and threw something, ducking with me still in his arms.

  “Quiet,” he reminded me.

  He quickly carried me to hide behind a wagon, this one without a metal cage. I fell from his arms as he collapsed against the wheel.

  This time I didn’t scream even though there was an arrow protruding from Eloden’s shoulder and blood enough to tell me it was in deep. He grasped the arrow to pull it out but I grabbed his hand to stop him. “It will bleed more if you remove it,” I told him. I knew that much about arrow wounds, but that was about it.

  “Quiet,” Eloden repeated, snarlier. “It’s iron.”

  “Oh,” I said, sounding stupid because I should have realized why we were hiding. Iron around him was hard enough but penetrating his body must have pushed his limits to the breaking point and stripped our invisibility glamour.

  Eloden snapped off the end of the arrow with white and black feathers on it, then pulled his knife out and shaved a sharp point to the broken stick. He ripped his shirt over the still embedded part of the arrow, struggling to reach the awkward spot high on his shoulder, then he stabbed the sharpened stick into the wound.

  “They were here,” came another Fae voice. He also sounded in pain but the gruff voice was still too close for comfort.

  I took over the stick in a panic, digging deeper than Eloden could with my better angle. He didn’t make a sound other than the disgusting sucking noise from his wound as I dug around and more blood leaked out. At least it was sluggish, indicating a venous bleed. The r
andom medical knowledge I picked up reading things meant to help my mother and Ai Lung wasn’t as calming as usual.

  The stick hit something hard as the Fae found us. I fervently tried to lever it out, regardless of how much it had to hurt Eloden, hoping I didn’t snap the stick in half.

  Eloden hugged me to his chest with his bad arm and told me to close my eyes, using his other hand to throw a ball of fire at the two Fae before they could draw their bows towards us. They didn’t die screaming. They never even had a chance, dropping to the ground in burnt husks.

  “Uh,” I mumbled against Eloden’s chest.

  “You were supposed to close your eyes, Sweetheart.”

  “I thought Fae were immortal,” I said, shocked.

  “We had to set your brothers straight on a few things, including immortality,” Eloden said, groaning quietly while I started moving the stick again. I felt the arrow shift.

  “My brothers?” I repeated back, concentrating. The arrow popped free with a gush of dark blood.

  “They’re smart. They caught on fast,” Eloden praised, rotating his still bleeding shoulder.

  “Should we banda-” I paused mid-word, remembering my frantic call to Jackson. “Are you telling me that my brothers are here?” I asked.

  “They’re with Orin,” Eloden admitted.

  “Sweet, injured Orin is the only one protecting my human brothers when there are dragons and fire magic?” I asked, dismayed.

  “They brought their bows,” Eloden replied, like that made it fine and dandy. He plucked the sharp stick I was holding out of my hands and hid it under the wagon along with the arrowhead. “Jackson told Dain he was only coming to fetch us as a courtesy since you mentioned him by name in your phone call about your kidnapping.”

  Eloden’s voice had risen dangerously by the end of his sentence. “Quiet,” I reminded him.

  “We’re at the perimeter. It was bad luck that those two found us. Still, you should count your blessings it’s me that was sent to fetch you instead of Jackson or Dain, especially when I found you fooling around with some light fairy.”

  My mouth suddenly felt parched. When did Jackson get grouped with Dain? What kind of conversation took place to get my brothers brought along to a battle? Mostly though, I was worried about Dain. I knew how to sweeten Jackson’s temper from years of experience. Dain had never shown me anger or any loss of control over his emotions. I dreaded what he would say when he found out I had been used against him.

  “Can you glamour us again?” I asked. No matter how much I dreaded facing the others, I still needed to see my brothers were okay. Hopefully, Dain would be too busy to talk.

  “Possibly, but I want you to be ready for it to drop. I’m going to remove your glamour and place mine on top.”

  “My ears?” I asked.

  “Are your ears going to help you escape?”

  “Maybe?” I said, unsure.

  “Falin told me how to unglamour you. It’s a bit tricky, whoever laid the glamour on you at first did incredible work. If you hadn’t ordered Falin to remove it using the bargain’s magic, he may not have figured it out.”

  I was really confused. “How can a glamour someone else laid stay on me my whole life?”

  “It’s tied to your magic. You feed it yourself, all the time.”

  I looked up at Eloden’s green eyes, almost luminescent in the dark. It had to be his magic lighting them up. He wasn’t human. Would my true form be too monstrous to him? I remembered Aeric’s measured look when I had woken up unglamoured.

  “Did Falin tell you what kind of Fae I am?” I asked with apprehension.

  “No, but he did mention you were under the influence of an aphrodisiac spell and had trouble adjusting to your form. I’m sure it will be better this time.”

  The ground shook with an explosion. I looked back at the encampment. “What was that?”

  “Aeric has arrived.”

  “I thought it was Dain.”

  “We should be out of here before Dain arrives.”

  I nodded. That sounded like a good suggestion.

  “Fine, remove my glamour,” I said.

  Eloden arched a brow at me. “Was that an order, Sweetheart?”

  “Didn’t you say that the magic of the bargain helped Falin? I ordered him around for my bargain’s capitulation.”

  “You have been spending too much time with Light Fae if you think you can get away ordering Dark Fae in the same way.”

  Eloden hadn’t complained about my prickly treatment earlier. Why had my free pass been revoked?

  “Falin is Dark Fae,” I pointed out.

  “Falin was on his best behaviour and he was under the influence of a bargain. Don’t expect a repeat performance.”

  “Every time I turn around you guys have a new rule,” I muttered.

  Eloden chuckled. “They’re ancient rules and customs, Sweetheart. You’re the one that’s new to them.”

  “Whatever,” I said. “Fae ought to get with the times before they go the way of the rest of the dinosaurs.”

  “Why don’t you try old-fashioned respect for experience and let us guide you,” he suggested. He pulled me in between his legs to sit. “Close your eyes and think of your snowflake.”

  “My charm?”

  “No, your magic. Feel it inside you.”

  “Falin didn’t do this.”

  Eloden nipped one of my ears. “I’m going to show you how to take off and put on your glamour yourself.”

  “I thought it was complex,” I said, feeling uncertain. My only magic so far had been to reactivate my bow glamour.

  “Complicated for another Fae to do, not yourself.”

  “Fine, show me how to remove my glamour,” I ordered, sitting back against his chest. It rumbled with laughter behind me.

  “Sweetheart, maybe you really do need a crop,” Eloden threatened, hands grabbing my shoulders so there was no way to move away.

  “I thought the crop was for the horse, not the rider.”

  “If you can keep your seat, there will be no need for corrective measures,” Eloden said. “Now focus. Close your eyes.”

  I did as he said and searched for my snowflake, feeling completely corny. The center of my chest felt icy as I looked inward and I nearly laughed out loud. It figures I had a heart of ice.

  “Got it,” I said.

  “It’s easier because you are in Faerie. When we return to your home, the magic will be deeper. Remember what it feels like, where it lives in you.”

  Well, that confirmed it. We were in another dimension and it was out of a fairytale. Mary Poppins perfect.

  Another series of explosions shook the ground. I heard a roar from the sky. My eyes popped open.

  “Eloden?” I whispered with trepidation.

  He hugged me from behind. “Hush, we’re safe here.”

  I closed my eyes again and found my icy heart. “Let’s hurry. What’s the spell?”

  “I want you to imagine your snowflake melting while you say the words to a song, nursery rhyme, or something easy for you to remember.”

  I almost popped my eyes open again at the bizarre instructions. “What?”

  “The charms we prepared for you earlier, so you had to use our spells. This is your own magic, triggered by your intent. It doesn’t really matter what you say, but nursery rhymes are easiest to remember.”

  “It doesn’t have to be in Fae?” I clarified.

  “Snowflake, melting, nursery rhyme,” he repeated. “You think of your snowflake freezing and reforming to put the glamour back on. Your glamour isn’t actually being stripped. This is simply hiding it until you are ready to use it again.”

  “Hey Diddle, Diddle. The cat and the fiddle,” I said and felt heat burn all over my body. I stopped, opening my eyes. “Something’s wrong,” I muttered. It had sounded too easy.

  “I’m going to kill Falin,” Eloden muttered.

  “It’s probably my accent or something,” I said, dismissing his threat.
Everyone threatened Falin. He tended to piss people off. “It might be easier for you to do it for me this time,” I suggested, remembering not to order Eloden.

  “The spell worked. Remember your rhyme,” Eloden said, pulling me up by my shoulders as he stood.

  I noticed immediately that I was taller, reaching Eloden’s shoulders instead of mid-chest as I turned, then promptly tripped, throwing myself against him.

  “Ahh... fuck,” I swore. My voice was different, a bit more gravely. I should have noticed that earlier. “Why are my arms and legs longer without glamour? That’s a shitty thing to do to glamour myself so short normally that I need to stand on my toes to get the last box of Oreos on the shelf.”

  Eloden didn’t seem to commiserate. “You’re short for an elf,” he said, straightening me up on my awkward, long legs like a new foal.

  “I’m Light Fae?” I asked, surprised. I pulled a handful of my black hair out and examined it. It looked the same colour, although longer. It was down to my butt and wavy. The Fae braids were gone. I could eventually get used to it.

  “Halflings can be darkly coloured even if their magic is light,” Eloden replied, lost in thought as his fingers traced over his Mark on my neck.

  I thought about Loren’s brown eyes so different than the rest of the Light Fae I had seen. At least, the twins would be happy. I hadn’t gone to the dark side, after all.

  “Well, cool, I guess,” I said, faintly disappointed. So far, elves weren’t high on my list of nice Fae I want to be when I grow up.

  I tried to take a few wobbly steps. It was easier now that I remembered my legs were longer, like being prepared for unsteadiness when strapping on heels instead of just waking up with them on.

  “Will I be allergic to iron now?” I mused out loud.

  “No, even glamour can’t mask iron poisoning. You’re immune. Some Halflings have better tolerances than others.”

  Another explosion shook the ground. This time I felt it hit me like a blast of cold magic. It left me frozen where I was standing.

  “W-what was that?” I stuttered.

  The power felt like a bomb going off and the aftershocks percussed against my ears.