One of the creatures got close to Thomas’s leg and opened its mouth, ready to chomp down. But Thomas ran his sword through its chest and turned it to ash before it could take a bite out of him.
Reed appeared in the empty space a moment later.
I dashed for the creature closest to him and stabbed it through its back. It turned to ash and fell into a pile at my feet.
Reed spun around, balls of yellow magic in his hands. He almost shot it out before realizing it was me. Then he looked beyond me, and his expression hardened. “Move,” he said, and his eyes turned black, the balls of magic in his hands turning into black smoke.
I scrambled away, and he blasted a group of creatures coming around the pond with a cloud of dark magic.
The creatures screamed. But not painful screams—angry ones.
Then they walked right through Reed’s dark magic, like it was harmless fog.
He cursed and blasted them again. The black magic was opaque this time, and he held it, like I’d done with the cyclops.
Like before, the creature in front stepped through, followed by the rest of the group of five.
“It’s not working!” I screamed at Reed, quickly taking down one behind me with my knife. “You have to use your weapons!”
He pushed out a final angry cloud of black magic, his eyes turned back to normal again, and he reached for the sword at his back. We nodded at each other and ran toward the group of black-winged creatures, our backs together as we took them down one by one.
I ran and leaped at the last one, landed on its back, and shoved my knife through its heart.
It turned to ash, and I fell with it, my feet landing in the center of the pile of soot. I bent my knees to absorb the fall, and then straightened, spinning slowly around to check if there were any more of them left.
There weren’t.
“Get up to higher ground,” Thomas instructed. “Now.”
We ran up the hill and stopped halfway to the villa. There were no more of those creatures in sight. And the stench wasn’t as bad.
Sage shoved her sword back into its holster. “What were those things?” she asked.
I gazed out at the piles of ashes around the lake. “It’s going to sound crazy,” I said slowly. “But I think they were zombies.”
“Zombies don’t exist,” Thomas said.
“Selena and I watched an entire television series about them,” I said. “They looked just like that. Minus the wings, of course. None of them bit you, right?”
“No,” Sage said, although she checked her arms and legs for bites, anyway. “But they were definitely trying to.”
“Like I said.” I nodded. “Zombies. Well… winged zombies.”
“Fae zombies.” She still didn’t sound like she believed it.
Reed stepped forward. “What the hell’s a zombie?” he asked.
Right. He’d grown up in Mystica and only came to Avalon weeks ago. He hadn’t had time to educate himself on Earth’s pop culture.
“Dead people.” I glanced back at the piles of ashes surrounding the pond. “Well, in this case, dead fae.”
“Those things didn’t look dead to me.”
“They were corpses,” I said. “Hungry, mindless corpses with only one goal—to feed off the living.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Thomas said, but then a twig snapped behind us.
We reached for our swords and spun to face the villa.
A guy around my age with orange wings and light blond hair stepped out of an open door. Unlike the dull, black wings of the fae zombies, his wings glowed. They sparkled, too. It was like they were alive.
I’d never seen anything so beautiful in my life. In his white breeches and tunic woven with gold threads, he was like an angel, or a god.
He held up his hands to show he had no weapons. As if that mattered in the world of supernaturals. Then he took a few slow steps toward us, looking at us with as much curiosity as I suspected I was looking at him.
The four of us kept our swords raised, ready to defend ourselves if attacked.
He focused on me with his hypnotizing topaz eyes. Then he stepped closer, shot orange magic from his hand to create domes around Thomas, Sage, and Reed, and stopped in front of my sword. “Will you let me inspect your weapon?” he asked, his voice musical and perfect.
I lowered my sword, rotated it so the point faced the ground, and held it out to him.
Suddenly Reed’s hand was around my wrist, the tip of his knife an inch away from the fae’s chest. “He’s using compulsion on you,” he murmured, his voice so low that it was almost a growl. “Use that magic I taught you to fight it.”
Anger flared through me, and dark magic raced to my head. I hadn’t realized how fuzzy my mind had been until it was clear.
I pulled my sword toward me and narrowed my eyes at the fae. “You were trying to compel me,” I said.
“Your friends’ minds are closed to glamour,” he said. “Yours was open to it. Although now it’s not, thanks to your boyfriend.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.” I stepped away from Reed, although my anger remained, and my brain stayed clear.
The onyx ring I wore should have protected me against the psychic attack.
Why hadn’t it worked?
No matter. The dark magic was doing what the ring couldn’t.
I raised my hand and shot a black cloud toward the domes surrounding Sage and Thomas. The orange barriers disintegrated, and they both hurried to stand beside me. They held their weapons at the ready, their teeth shifted into sharp, wolfish points. Reed’s eyes were black, and from the shadow across my vision, I suspected mine were, too.
Then the shadow lifted, like removing a pair of sunglasses. But the dark magic still swirled within me, ready to answer when I called. Ready to protect me.
Thomas shifted his teeth back to normal. “Who are you?” he asked the orange-winged, god-like fae. “And why do you want to see our weapons?”
“I’ll answer when your friend’s blade isn’t an inch away from my chest,” he said. “Fae can’t lie, so my word is true.”
“Prove it,” I said.
“I cannot.” He smiled wryly. “But what does it harm him to lower his weapon and let me follow through on my promise?”
I glared at him, although it only made him smile wider.
Ugh. He was just as frustrating as Reed.
“Reed,” Thomas said. “Lower your knife.”
Reed smirked and pulled the knife slightly inward. “Now my knife is two inches away from your chest,” he said. “Answer the question.”
The fae tilted his head and studied Reed, taking his time before answering. “You portaled here from Earth, yet you play the games of the fae,” he said. “Fascinating.”
“The question,” Thomas reminded him.
“Yes.” He straightened, although that childish playfulness still danced across his face. “I’m Aiden Gallagher,” he said. “I live in this villa. And I want to see your weapons because they’re the only things so far that have successfully killed the afflicted fae.”
Sage stepped closer to Thomas and shifted her teeth back to normal. “Afflicted with what?” she asked.
“The plague,” he said. “Once bitten, it infects them and turns them into…” He looked at the piles of ash near the pond and frowned.
“Zombies?” I said, since it was sounding more and more like my guess was correct.
“Monsters.” His playful expression was gone, replaced with something else. Fear. “All our attempts to kill them have failed. Now you drop in and do it with simple swords and knives.”
My holy weapon’s magic warmed in my hand, like it was insulted. “These are far more than simple swords and knives,” I said.
“They’re iron,” he said. “I feel their poison from here. But we’ve tested iron weapons against the afflicted. They’re as ineffective as anything else. So, what’s so different about your weapons?”
Thomas lowered hi
s sword, although the three of us kept ours where they were. “We didn’t come here to speak to you,” he said. “We’re here for Princess Ryanne.”
Aiden raised a blond eyebrow in surprise. “You know my mother?”
I reached for the token in my pocket, pulled it out, and held it so the side with my initials faced Aiden. “I’m Torrence Devereux,” I said. “This is Reed Holloway, Sage Montgomery, and Thomas Bettencourt. I believe your mother is expecting us.”
48
Torrence
A man and woman without wings met us in the entrance of the villa. Servants, from the looks of their plain garb. Red tattoos circled their right biceps, and they silently followed behind as Aiden led the way through the wide, tall halls. I’d say they were human, but I couldn’t catch any supernatural scent to know for sure. Especially because they and Aiden all wore necklaces with a little cloth sack packed with fragrant lavender.
Probably to disguise the awful, rotting smell of zombies that polluted the air.
Since the boarded-up windows blocked the sun from coming through, Aiden held a bright ball of orange magic to light the way.
“Apologies for the darkness,” he said. “We rotate sleep schedules so one of us is always awake to maintain the magical wards around the villa. The boards are added protection, just in case.”
Just in case the fae zombies break through.
Chills crept up my spine at the thought.
Was Selena inside one of these villas, too? Was she hiding out from the afflicted?
I hoped so. At least then, she’d be somewhat safe.
“The afflicted can’t get up the hill?” Reed asked as we walked.
“Not most of them, “Aiden said. “The few who make progress just get blasted back down with our magic.”
“Interesting,” Thomas said. “They tried to bite us while we fought them. Do they survive on blood?”
“I don’t know,” Aiden said. “Ever since the Empress issued the command to stay in our villas and keep up the wards, we’ve stayed put. All I know is that the afflicted can’t be killed, and that those who get close enough to try get bitten and contract the plague as well.”
“Until us,” I said.
“Yes,” he said. “Until you.” He stopped in front of a tall set of carved, wooden double doors and gazed up at them. “These lead into the courtyard,” he said. “We usually keep them open, but now…”
“You keep them closed as an added wall of protection,” Sage said.
“We take every measure we can.” He squared his shoulders, but his hands trembled around the ball of orange light. “We spend most of the daylight hours in the courtyard, since it’s open to the sun. I was there with my mother when we heard your screams.” He paused and looked us over. “Don’t point your weapons at her when you meet her. She doesn’t take well to threats.”
“Noted,” Thomas said.
The three of us voiced our agreement as well.
As if we’d be stupid enough to point our weapons at the woman we’d come to for help.
Aiden looked to the servants, and they opened the doors to a huge, manicured garden around a long, narrow pool of crystal-clear water. Colorful flowers bloomed everywhere, although a few were starting to wilt. A breeze rolled through, and I held my hand to my nose to block the smell.
Aiden brought his necklace sack to his nose and sniffed. “You’ll eventually get used to the smell,” he said. “But these help.”
He walked through the doors first, and we followed at his heels along the red bricks.
A beautiful woman with turquoise wings and hair as blond as Selena’s sat on a bench at the end of the path. She wore a deep violet dress that matched her eyes. Like Aiden’s clothing, it was threaded with stitches of gold. But her eyes didn’t sparkle like Aiden’s. She looked worn out and tired.
She silently eyed the four of us, making no move to stand.
“Mother,” Aiden said. “The screams came from these four visitors who portaled in from Earth. They arrived at the pond entrance.”
Her gaze sharpened, and she looked at us with newfound curiosity. “That portal has been unused for decades,” she said. “How did you get tokens to travel through it?”
Thomas held up his token. “They were given to us by King Devin, vampire ruler of the Tower kingdom,” he said, and Ryanne flinched when he said the king’s name. “I’m Thomas Bettencourt. King Devin told us to find you, and that you might help us on our mission.”
Sage, Reed, and I also showed her the back of our tokens and said our names, too.
Ryanne straightened her skirt, stood, and blinked away tears. “The time has finally come,” she said. “I’ve been waiting for this day for decades. Of course I’ll hear you out.”
Sage bowed her head in respect. “Thank you,” she said.
Ryanne’s eyes sharpened. “Never say those words to a fae,” she warned. “It’s an insult, and implies a lack of true appreciation. Saying ‘thank you’ binds you to an unspecified debt to the fae you speak it to.”
Sage sucked in a sharp breath. “So now I’m in your debt?” she asked.
“Yes.” Ryanne paused and eyed Sage’s black onyx ring. “Your ring. Give it to me.”
Sage pressed her lips together and looked at her ring. Her vampire magic protected her from psychic attacks, but we didn’t know the strength of fae magic. Without the ring boosting her natural abilities, she could be vulnerable to their glamour, like I’d been earlier with Aiden.
She couldn’t afford that weakness.
Reed removed his ring and offered it to Sage. “Take mine and give yours to the princess,” he said. “My magic is enough to protect me from their glamour.”
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“I wouldn’t offer if I wasn’t.”
“Okay.” She took the ring from Reed and put it on her thumb, since it was too large to fit on any other finger. Then she removed her ring from her index finger and handed it to Ryanne.
Ryanne took it, smiled, and pocketed it. “A beautiful piece of jewelry from a beautiful woman,” she said. “I let you off easy, since it’s your first time in the Otherworld. Plus, I believe you’re here so we can help each other. Most in this realm will not be as kind.”
“I’ll remember your advice,” she said.
“As you should.” Ryanne nodded, and then turned her attention back to all of us. “The pond is surrounded by afflicted,” she said. “How did you get past them? None of you were bitten, right?” Her round, doll-like eyes widened at the thought.
“We weren’t bitten,” I assured her. “We’re all trained fighters.”
“You were lucky to escape unscathed,” she said.
“It was more than luck,” Aiden said. “They turned the afflicted to ash. I saw it with my own eyes.”
“Impossible,” Ryanne said, although she studied us closer now. “What type of supernaturals are you?”
“Sage and I are vampire-shifter dyads,” Thomas said. “Reed is a mage, and Torrence is a powerful witch.”
“And your abilities destroyed the afflicted?”
“Not quite.” I removed my knife from my weapons belt and pointed it downward, to not be a threat. “We destroyed them with these. Holy weapons.”
She glared at my knife like it was poison. “Iron weapons,” she said. “But we were told those don’t work.”
Thomas reached for the hilt of his sword. “Holy weapons are weapons that have been blessed by angels or Nephilim,” he explained. “Only steel can withstand the strength of the magic that makes the weapons holy. We use them to fight the demons on Earth.”
Alarm crossed Ryanne’s eyes. “The demons have returned from Hell?” she asked.
“Years ago,” Sage said. “We’ve been at war with them since.”
She sighed in disappointment. “So you’re not here to help us against the afflicted,” she said. “You’re here to ask for our help in your war against the demons.”
“No,” I said. “We’re
here to rescue our leader’s daughter and bring her back to Earth. Selena Pearce.”
Ryanne stilled, and hope bloomed in my chest.
She knows Selena. Or at least, she knows of her.
“We were hoping you might know her, or more helpfully, direct us to where we can find her,” Thomas said.
Ryanne paused, and then said, “I may be able to do that.”
“Help us, and we’ll help you,” I said in a rush. “Once Selena’s safely back on Avalon, we can help you fight the afflicted.”
The moment the words were out of my mouth, I regretted them.
Did I just make a deal with a fae?
I couldn’t bring myself to look at the others. I hadn’t been in the Otherworld for an hour, and I’d already messed up.
“Watch your phrasing,” Ryanne warned. “Don’t make an offer you can’t keep.”
“Does that mean you’re saying no?” I wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or disappointed.
“I’m saying no,” she confirmed. “Because it’s not I that you need to speak with regarding such political matters. It’s the Empress of the Otherworld. Sorcha.”
The Empress. Whoa.
It made sense, but still. How had this gone from a find-and-rescue mission for Selena to requesting an audience with the Empress so quickly?
And was Ryanne offering to introduce us to the Empress? Or was she telling us to go off on our own—through roads likely filled with fae zombies—to seek her out? Probably the latter, since the villa was on lockdown and the four of us were apparently the only ones who could take down the afflicted.
“I understand.” I lowered my eyes, and then looked back at Ryanne. “But if there’s anything you can tell us about Selena, please, help us. She’s my best friend. I need to find her.”
She pressed her lips together and nodded. “I know Selena,” she said. “Everyone in the Otherworld knows of Selena.”
“What?” I asked. “Why? How?”
She raised her hands and aimed her turquoise magic toward a white garden table surrounded by cushioned benches. A platter of finger sandwiches with the crusts cut off appeared on top of it, along with six wine glasses. “This will be a long conversation,” she said. “It’s best we make ourselves comfortable.”
The Faerie Wand (Dark World: The Faerie Games Book 4) Page 20
