by Claire Luana
“Jacq! Thank god, I’ve been worried sick. The FFR stopped broadcasting a few hours ago, and no one knows why. The whole of Faerwild is up in arms about it. It’s so weird to see just how famous my own sister is. I was worried they’d captured you.”
It was so good to hear her voice—like a rock in the ocean of madness. “We’re still playing. But Orin’s about to throw the game.”
Cass’s eyes widened. She turned her head to the side. “Guys, come here. Jacq’s on the line. Orin’s throwing the game.”
Louis and Auberon came into view behind Cass. “Did you find the last anchor?” she asked me.
“Yeah, that’s why I’m calling. It’s in the center of the board. Right in the middle of the four squares. I don’t know how you’ll even get to it. It’s protected too. Enchantments, I think, but I’m not sure.”
“We’ll figure it out. Great job, Jacq.”
“Cass, it’s the finish line of the race. Orin’s dad told us that to blow the anchor points, the king needs human blood. I think the king plans to use Tristam’s partner, Sophia, as a sacrifice.”
Cass paled. “We’ll get there first, Jacq. I swear.”
“Jacq.” Another voice lifted me from the mirror. Orin. He was back, and I’d never been more happy to see him.
“I moved a pawn,” he said. “This is it. The game is over. Did you give the potion to Niall?”
I nodded my head. “Yes, the location is here on the board. I’ve just told Cass.” I motioned to the mirror on the work surface. All it showed was the reflection of the ceiling. Cass and the others were gone.
Orin took my hand, and we stepped outside. It was over. The Fantastic Faerie Race was finished. In a matter of minutes, Tristam and Sophia would make their next move. They’d be the victors. I just prayed Orin’s dad could protect himself.
Relief mixed with fear scrambled together to create a mixed bag of emotions. I didn’t know what was going to happen next, but I did know that it was out of our hands. I had to trust Cass to find the anchor and dismantle the MEDs before the king sacrificed Sophia.
Orin pulled out the little game board and placed it in the countertop. We watched together as Tristam and Sophia’s bishop moved into position.
Checkmate.
24
Orin and I stood there for a long moment. He put his arm around me, I leaned in to him. “Your dad will be okay,” I said quietly. “If he’s anything like you, he’s a survivor.”
“I know,” Orin said, resting his chin on top of my head.
I was loathe to leave the moment, unsure of what we would face next, but I knew we couldn’t stay here forever. “I guess we should go outside and wait for the producers to come pick us up?” I desperately hoped that’s who would meet us, not the king’s guards. I prayed the king would be too concerned with getting to the final anchor point and trying to blow up the Hedge to focus on two little race contestants.
It didn’t feel right, standing here waiting while Cass and Auberon and the ICCF finished the battle. But that was crazy. We’d done our part. We’d found the anchor. We hadn’t started this fight. It wasn’t our job to end it. What could we do that trained agents from a powerful international organization couldn’t do? I’d watched too many movies. I needed to leave it to the professionals.
Orin straightened, rubbing my back. “Let’s go.”
We passed Niall on our way out of the house. “Where are you going?” he howled at us. “You can’t just leave me here! I’ll die without you, my sweet butterfly!”
Butterfly? Orin mouthed at me.
I just shook my head.
“The magic will wear off in a few hours,” Orin said. “You’ll be fine, lover boy.” Hopefully, the ICCF would have been successful by then, and they could come pick Niall up and throw him in prison.
Outside, the pale blue sky promised a beautiful day. I breathed in the fresh air. Either everything would be okay, or this might be my last morning of freedom. I didn’t have it in me to worry. My well of emotions seemed to have run dry. All that was left was calm.
“Why are the squares still on the ground?” Orin asked. I frowned. He was right. The ground we were standing on was still painted that strange white.
“Let me see the board,” I said. He handed it to me, and I held it out, both of us looking at it. All the pieces were still there. Not our king, but all the others.
“Why haven’t they picked up any of the pieces?” I asked. “Why haven’t they come for us? Isn’t the race over?”
“Yeah.” Orin put his hands on his hips. “Patricia should be shoving a microphone in our faces right now.”
“Do you still have the original clue?” I asked.
Orin fished in the pocket of his jacket and pulled out the rumpled piece of paper. I scanned it again.
It’s time to prove your mastery,
Of color and piece and square,
One at a time you’ll find them,
Those you love so fair.
But if you are to end it,
You mustn’t take the bait,
Across the board you’ll soldier,
‘Till king becomes your mate.
“It says if we are to end it, we have to make the king our mate,” I mused.
“But Tristam and Sophia already did. They won.”
“What if they won the game, but not the race? What if the game is just a way to get to the next checkpoint? Each of the trials had multiple legs,” I pointed out.
Orin groaned. “Are you saying this thing isn’t over?”
“Sure as hell doesn’t seem like it’s over, does it?”
“No,” he admitted.
We crowded around the game board again. “Look, if we move Niall, we can take Gabe, their king.”
“Ugh, I was hoping I’d never have to see him again.”
“You think I want to go anywhere with that lovesick creep?”
“Just float to the next square, sweet butterfly,” Orin said in a sing-song voice.
I punched him in the arm. Hard. “It’s a powerful potion.”
“It would have to be,” Orin said. “I gave that xana quite a kiss.”
I scoffed, rolling my eyes. “Ugh. Watching that kiss was—” I opened and shut my mouth, trying to find the right word.
“Pulse-pounding? Envy-inducing? Knee-melting?”
“Nauseating,” I finished, crossing my arms before my chest.
“You were so jealous,” Orin teased.
“I was not jealous!” I protested, but my voice went up about an octave, which didn’t help make my comment any more convincing.
“You were positively green.”
“Get over yourself, Casanova,” I said. “Let’s just get Niall to Gabe’s square and be done with this.”
“You know,” Orin said, pulling me back against his chest as I started to walk inside the house. His lips lingered by my ear, his arm wrapped around my torso, pulling me against the hard plane of his chest. “When this is all over, I’m going to kiss you like that. Except my lips are going to explore every inch of your body.”
Heat pooled inside me at his whispered promise, and I found myself leaning back into him, my eyes fluttering closed.
And then, he spun me around to face him, and my eyes popped open. “See!” he said with glee. “Jealous!”
He jogged back inside the house, leaving me, weak-kneed and flustered, to compose myself.
I struggled to glare at him as he returned with Niall at his side, but I couldn’t fight the smile that wanted to break free. Even amidst the madness, danger, and death, Orin could make me laugh. I wouldn’t forget it.
“Rule Number One,” I said to Niall, pulling him up as he tried to go to one knee before me. “If you want to win my love, you need to be quiet. No professions of love. Rule number two. Do exactly as I say. Got it?”
He nodded, wide-eyed, his hands reaching out to grab one of mine.
“Rule number three,” I said. “Don’t touch me. Let’s go.”
&
nbsp; We strode across the game board, through square after square. I was exhausted and hungry, but adrenaline pushed me forward relentlessly. We were so close. I could feel it. We would do this.
As we reached Gabe’s square, the sun was bright in the sky. There should be birds chirping, but the city around us was silent. “He’s close,” I said. “Now Niall—”
But we turned a corner and Gabe was there. Before I could instruct Niall, he threw out a hand, and a jet of blue magic slammed into Gabe, who was thrown off his feet, tumbling into the cobblestone street, where he rolled to a stop.
“Niall!” I shrieked, and Orin and I ran forwards, to Gabe’s side. I’d seen the purple shield flash around Gabe as Niall’s magic had hit him, so hopefully, he wasn’t too badly wounded.
Gabe groaned and rolled to the side, pushing himself up to a seated position.
“Are you all right?” I asked. As I knelt, I realized the black ground beneath me had transformed into regular gray stone. The board had disappeared. By taking the king, we’d finished the game.
He shook his head and grunted, before holding out a hand to Orin. Orin grabbed him and helped him stand. “I’m alive. Gonna need to ask for hazard pay for this.”
“Do you think we could get that?” I asked, hopefully.
Gabe gave a little laugh, shaking his head, blinking. He finally focused on us, then on Niall behind us. “I’d say it’s good to see you again, but…”
“Do you want me to hit him again?” Niall asked, holding out his hands.
“No,” I said. “Just…stand over there.” I hadn’t even known Niall had his magic back. I guess what Orin gave him had worn off. Good thing the xana’s spell hadn’t.
Gabe raised his eyebrow at my instructions to Niall, but I just shook my head. “It’s a long story.”
“All right. Well, congrats you two. You’ve completed the game and earned your next clue.”
Orin and I looked at each other with dismay. “We were afraid you were going to say that.”
Gabe pulled an envelope out of his pocket, dusting it off. “This is the last one. Solve this clue and find your way to the final checkpoint. The end of the race. If you’re still here, it looks like Tristam and Sophia haven’t won yet.”
“Give it here,” I said, my competitive urge kicking back in. I’d been so focused on finding the anchor point and staying alive, I’d forgotten about the race. Winning hadn’t seemed important. But now…we had a chance to win it all. And Niall had confirmed that the final anchor point was the end of the race. If we got there first…maybe we could help save Sophia—and the world in the process.
Gabe handed over the clue, and I ripped into it.
You’ll find the finish line
Inside a place divine
Now’s not the time to falter
The end’s at the scarlet altar
Orin looked up. “The Temple of Titania.”
“What?” I asked.
“It’s a temple. In the middle of the old town. It’s a place divine, and it’s known for its altar covered in garnets, so it looks like blood.”
“You faeries are weird as hell,” I said. “But it fits what Niall told us. Let’s go.”
I wasn’t sure what to do with Niall, but when I turned to tell him to scurry off, he’d already disappeared.
“Where…” I trailed off, suddenly uneasy. Why had he left? Maybe the xana’s potion had finally worn off?
“Clock is ticking,” Gabe said, shooing us in the direction of the temple. “Go!”
25
There was something nice about it just being the two of us again. All through the race, there had been other people along for the ride. Other teams, camera people, those trying to kill or eat us, not to mention the millions of people watching us from the comfort of their own homes. With Ruth still absent, it was only Orin and I running through the town, weaving our way through the quaint little backstreets, passing houses and shops that all looked almost mundane now that the chessboard spell had worn off. As if anything in Faerwild could ever be mundane.
“There,” Orin said, pointing to a spire in the distance. I drew in my breath as the ivory temple came into view, its four magnificent golden domes reflecting the sun’s rays. I couldn’t believe I’d missed the temple—it dominated the skyline almost as much as the palace spires, and could be seen from a great distance. I guess I’d been focused on other things. You know, like not dying, keeping my mother from dying, keeping all of humanity from perpetual enslavement.
“Hang on,” I panted, asking Orin to stop.
“What’s up? We need to hurry.”
“I know, but…it’s important. Can I look at the board again?”
Orin shrugged and unshouldered his backpack. Opening it, he passed me the board. The playing pieces had all disappeared. Whether it meant they were all off the board in real life or it was just that the magic had faded now that the game was over, I didn’t know.
“What are you looking for?” Orin queried, looking over my shoulder at the board.
“I wanted to see if we were heading to the middle of the board where the anchor is. But if we’re here,” I pointed to the board where a tiny temple showed, “then we’re far enough away not to worry.”
Orin took the board from me and placed it back in his bag. “We thought the finish line would be at the anchor point, but maybe we were wrong. Maybe the king plans to sacrifice some other human. Because I’m sure the Temple of Titania is where the clue is leading us.”
“Agreed.”
He placed his hands on my face, gently caressing my cheekbone with one thumb. “Soon, we’ll be able to walk away from this madness. Go back to our normal lives. We’ll win the race, and Cass and the others will dismantle any MED that was placed around the anchor.”
I hoped he was right.
He took my hand, and we once again set off toward the temple. It was okay for him to say that we were close to returning to our normal lives, but I knew for sure my life would never be normal again. I’d seen too much, done too much. I could never go back to fetching coffee for John or being a gopher in a studio. Nor did I want the fame that was sure to dog us when the race was over. Then, there was the small matter of how Orin and I would stay together. It’s not like we could commute from Faerwild to Earth. And so…where would we live? I couldn’t imagine my life without Orin now, but I also couldn’t see where I’d fit in Faerwild. And Orin was so different; would he ever feel at home on Earth? Among humans? Wherever we lived, one of us was sure to be an outcast.
I threw the thoughts to one side as we began to pick up speed again. The temple was even more magnificent close-up. The white facade was decorated with intricate sculptures of strange faerie creatures, and as we passed beneath a delicate arch that held the two carved front doors, I couldn’t help but look up and goggle at the craftsmanship.
As we stepped inside the temple’s interior, the beauty of the space took my breath away. I wasn’t religious, but at that moment, the hair rose on the back of my neck—I felt something…spiritual. The high vaulted ceilings echoed our footsteps as we walked hand in hand past the pews to the altar. Orin had been right. It was literally covered in garnets that sparkled in such a way that gave the appearance of blood seeping right from the altar itself.
“Close, but no cigar.” A voice came from the other side of the vast altar, and my heart fell into my shoes as I recognized whom it belonged to.
“Shit!” I whispered under my breath as Tristam and Sophia stepped out into our line of sight.
“Nice to see you too,” Sophia huffed, sarcastically.
“What now?” I asked, looking around. As far as I could see, we were the only four in the whole temple. They’d shaken off their cameraperson, too, it seemed. If this was the end of the race, it was highly anti-climactic.
“Actually, we thought you might know.”
Orin let out a laugh, which bounced off the walls and reverberated back to us. I shivered as the laugh multiplied, turning in
to a thunderous boom. That, coupled with the blood-like appearance of the altar, turned my sense of awe to one of foreboding. There should have been an endpoint here. Cameras. Confetti. A big ribbon to run through. Something to mark the finish of the race. But instead, there were only the four of us and the vast space around us.
“You don’t know?” Orin said. “We’ve come all this way, and that’s it? All this for a tie?”
“It’s not a tie,” argued Tristam. “No one has crossed the finish line yet.”
“So where is the finish line?” Orin asked. “The clue was pretty clear. The end is at the scarlet altar. Unless you know of any other scarlet altars near here?”
Tristam shook his head while Sophia pouted next to him.
There not being a finish line here bothered me a lot more than not being able to end the race. Something wasn’t right, and yet again, I was left with the feeling that we were all being tricked. But why trick Tristam? It made no sense. The king wanted him to win, and yet, it appeared Tristam was no closer to solving the problem than we were.
I moved forward to get a better look at the altar to see if another clue had been left for us. The altar was an ornate stone rectangle about as high as my shoulders, but it was wider than any I’d ever seen in the human world. Not that I’d seen many, but this one was at least as large as a king-sized bed. What exactly they used it for, I didn’t want to know. Images of human sacrifices filled my mind as I leaped up onto the top to take a closer look at the carvings decorating the surface.
Almost as soon as I’d hauled myself up, the floor beneath my feet began to rumble. My first thought was that the FFR was playing with us, and this was another trial. We hadn’t had to deal with an earthquake yet, but it seemed to be only me that it was affecting. I was falling...no, not falling, I was being lowered as the top of the altar sank inside the walls of it.
When the others noticed what was happening, they scrambled to jump over the walls of the altar. Tristam and Orin managed it easily, but Sophia in the short skirt she’d elected to wear instead of her FFR uniform had more trouble. We were already below floor level as she reached the top of the altar walls and peered down at us as we descended lower still.
