by Elle Casey
Elle Casey is an American writer who lives in Southern France with her husband, three kids, and Hercules the wonder poodle. In her spare time she writes young adult novels.
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War of the Fae
Book Three
Darkness & Light
Elle Casey
... Coming April 2011 ...
Read on for a Sneak Peak at BOOK THREE ....
Chapter 1
Tony’s arm rested on my shoulder, sending a sense of peace into my heart. My best friend wanted to stay with me. We didn’t have to be apart anymore. Now all I had to do was figure out what to do about the flaming demon fae standing in front of me with a nuclear bomb in his hands.
“Ben! He doesn’t want to go with you! He’s coming with me!” The roar of our two gathered powers made it difficult to hear, but apparently there was no need for me to yell, because Ben answered me in a perfectly normal tone of voice and I understood him just fine.
“I heard him. But I don’t believe he’s making the decision with all of the information he needs. It’s only fair to him that he go into this with full disclosure, don’t you think?”
His answer was unsettling, but only because I didn’t want Tony to think I was hiding anything. I knew the truth and I had already told it to Tony before Ben showed up. We were the good guys, the Light Fae; he represented the bad guys, the Dark Fae. There was nothing else to tell.
It’s obvious this guy Ben knew something about the use of psychological warfare. He probably invented the term a hundred years ago or something. You never could tell the age of a fae from the looks of him. On the outside, he was a seriously, amazingly awesome-looking human boy of eighteen. On the inside, he was probably a three hundred and fifty year old, ugly ass serpent, using a spell to mesmerize me into thinking he was this hot guy. I gave myself a mental shake – I couldn’t keep focusing on his looks; I had to concentrate on the blackness of his soul.
“Tony knows everything. I already told him before you came in, uninvited and unwanted I might add.”
Ben broke his gaze from me and looked at Tony. “Did she tell you that she’s going to force you to fight in a war? That you’re going to have to kill other fae?”
I felt Tony’s hand leave my shoulder, bringing me a moment of unease. I’d just spent thirty minutes convincing Tony he needed to go with me and then everything would be okay. But I knew he didn’t like the idea of violence; and apparently so did Ben.
“Tony knows enough to make a good decision, which he already did. So why don’t you just get the hell outta here so we can be on our way?”
“Um, Jayne?” said Tony’s scared voice from behind me. “I ... I really don’t want to be a part of a war ... ”
His voice trailed off, but I knew what this meant. I had to do something to salvage the situation as best I could.
I fixed Ben with my angriest look. “Power down, asshole, so we can talk about this without blowing up the neighborhood.”
“I will if you will,” he said, eyebrow raised in challenge.
I eased back on my hold over The Green, letting it know I wanted it to go back through the ley line below Tony’s house and down into the Earth where it existed when I wasn’t calling it up and using it to do my bidding.
I saw the red glow that had amassed itself in Ben’s hands get lighter and dissipate up his arms and around the back of his body. Soon we were both standing there looking like regular teenagers again. No more glowing and no more roaring or humming.
I looked at the guys to my left and right. They all visibly relaxed from their fight-ready stances, but still remained wary.
“I don’t trust him,” said Finn.
“Me neither,” said Spike.
Chase and Jared reserved judgment. Tim remained motionless in Chase’s hand.
“Well, I do,” said Tony.
I looked at Tony with frustration. “Dammit, Tony, what the hell? I thought we went over this?”
“No, we did. I’m not saying I’m going anywhere with him or not going with you. I’m just saying I trust him. He’s been nice to me, Jayne, and he hasn’t done anything to hurt me. And apparently, he could have if he had wanted to.” He looked up at Ben, giving him a nervous smile.
This was so typical of Tony, giving someone the benefit of the doubt, even when that someone was a fucking demon.
“Listen, Tony, I get it that you felt abandoned when I stayed in the forest and you came back here,” he started to interrupt, and I was fairly certain he was going to say something about not ever having been in the forest, so I held up my hand to shut him up, “and I know you don’t remember being there, but you were, and I’ll be happy to prove that to you when we get back. But we need to go.” I looked back over at Ben. “You may trust him, but we sure as hell don’t; and I have a friend to take care of.” I gestured with my head to Tim, who was lying in Chase’s hands, his blackened stump of a wing sticking out from his side.
“He’s breathing,” said Chase.
“Well, thankfully he’s unconscious, because I know for a fact that having a wing taken off is painful – I’m sure having one burned off is excruciating.” I shot Ben a look that conveyed what a piece of shit I thought he was.
Tony looked at Tim and got a sick look on his face. Ben was going to ignore my comment but then he saw Tony’s face too.
“Tony, you need to understand – pixies are very dangerous. They may look small and cute, but he was coming over to pixelate me. I was only defending myself.”
Tony looked at me for confirmation, making me feel uncomfortable. Why was I having to defend my friend who was only saving us from Ben?
“Tim, as you’ve conveniently forgotten, was only saving us. From you!”
“I did nothing. You’re the one who issued the threats. I was only defending myself.”
The further this conversation went, the worse I felt. Somehow Ben was turning everything around to make me look like the bad guy in this whole thing. I know my face was expressing my frustration, and as I looked at him to respond, I saw him smile smugly. Fucker thought he had me up a tree.
“Don’t stand there and act like you’re mister honest guy. You never told Tony you were fae, and you never told Tony what your true intentions were, either.” I looked at Tony and continued, “Ask him, Tony. Ask him why he didn’t tell you. You trusted a guy who was lying to you and hiding things.”
Just then there was a banging on Tony’s door.
“Tony? Do you have someone in your room?”
Tony got a panicked look on his face. “No, Mom! It’s my music!”
“Well, turn it down. It’s way past your bedtime.”
Finn snickered but had the decency to look chagrined when he saw my dirty look. All we needed was for Tony to think we were laughing at him. Sure, his mom was a clueless idiot and obviously nearly deaf, but that wasn’t Tony’s fault.
I whispered to the group. “Listen, we’re not getting anywhere with this. Besides, there’s no point anyway. Tony’s coming with us, and we need to go.” I looked at Tony, my eyes begging him. “You’re still coming, right?”
“Yeah, I’m still coming. But I want to hear what Ben has to say first. He’s my friend, Jayne. I know you don’t like that, but that’s how it is. I owe him the chance to give me his side of the story.”
Ben smiled. “Tony is a fair person. He’s always been willing to listen. Maybe you can take minute to listen too, Jayne. You might be surprised to hear what I have to say.”
“Pfft, not likely.”
Jared stepped up, his hands held out in peace. “Why don’t we take this outside or somewhere we can talk.” He glanced at Ben and then me. “Neutral territory, a place everyone would feel comfortable.”
Ben nodded.
I looked a
round and everyone else seemed to think it was a good idea. I was more in favor of just getting the hell out of there and never looking back, but I had to be fair to Tony. I didn’t want him leaving here thinking I had anything to hide.
“Fine. Where?”
“How about the all-night diner, over by the school?” suggested Tony.
We all nodded. Two seconds later, Ben’s form began to fade. “See you there,” was the last thing he said before he disappeared in a puff of black smoke and wind.
I looked at Tony and saw that his eyes were bugging out of his head.
I scoffed. “Yeah. You trust this guy. Fucking demon fae or whatever he is.” I shook my head, walking to the window and looking out. Ben wasn’t out there. I wondered how far he could go with that disappeary-smokey thing.
I gestured to the guys. “You guys go ahead. I’m going to help Tony get some stuff together.” I looked at Chase. “Please be extra careful with Tim. I’m going to see if I can find something to put him in.”
Chase nodded in acquiescence. The others climbed out the window wordlessly while Tony and I watched. Once we were alone, I turned to him.
“You need to pack a couple things – just what you can’t live without. There will be clothes and stuff for you there.”
“For me where?” asked Tony, not moving.
“At the compound. Where we live.”
Tony looked distressed.
“Listen. Here’s the deal. Once we get there and you get a full tour and know everything that’s going on, you will have the choice to stay or go. You had that chance once before, but you chose to come home. I think it’s because you didn’t know everything then. Now I can make sure you know it all. I’m pretty sure once you do, you will choose to stay.”
“So I can come back if I decide I want nothing to do with this stuff?”
I shook my head in frustration. “Yes. But Tony, you’re not going to. Ben being here is proof of that. Either way you’re getting involved. You’re either going to come in voluntarily with us, or you’re going to get dragged in by Ben. You’re important to him for some reason he isn’t telling us. And you’re important to me because you’re my best friend.”
“What about Tim? I thought he was your new best friend.”
I smiled. “Jealous?”
Tony smiled slightly. “No. Not much.”
“Well, you have nothing to worry about; no one can take your place in my heart. You’re going to love him though. Just be glad you can’t hear him.”
“You can? How?”
“Witch’s spell. I’ll explain about that later.”
“Why don’t I want to be able to hear him?”
“Let’s just say pixies are gassy.”
Tony got a disgusted look. “Oh, geez.”
“Yeah. Tell me about it. Come on, let’s pack. What do you want to bring?”
Tony looked around his room, walking over to pick up the picture of him and me that had the broken frame from being thrown against the wall by him the other day. I had seen him throw it when I visited his room traveling through the gray with the help of my friend Gregale, a gray elf. That’s when I really knew how much trouble Tony was in.
He pulled the frame apart and took the picture out, tucking it into his back pocket and throwing the frame in his trashcan. He reached down and picked up a sweatshirt from the floor, tugging it over his head. Last, he sat on the edge of his bed and pulled on his boots.
“Do you have something I could put Tim in?”
Tony gestured towards his closet with his head as he tied his bootlaces. “In there.”
I went over and opened the door, pushing junk aside until I found an old shoebox. Then I went to his pillow and pulled the pillowcase off, using it to line the inside of the box to make it more comfortable for Tim.
Tony stood and went to his desk, pulling a piece of paper out of his printer.
“I’m gonna leave my parents a note.”
“What are you going to tell them?”
“That I’m leaving for a while and I’ll call them later.”
“Tell them you’ll send them an email. We have computers there but not phones.”
Tony shrugged. “Okay.” He finished, folding the paper and putting it on his pillow. He pulled up his covers so the bed looked neater. His dirty clothes went next, kicked into a pile in the corner of the room. Tony looked around, throwing up his hands and letting them drop to his sides.
“Ready?” I asked.
“I guess so.”
“Come on.” I wanted to get the heck out of there before he changed his mind.
We climbed out of the window and went to the edge of his porch roof, using the nearby fence to climb down. The guys were waiting for us in the front yard.
I walked up to Chase and held the box out. “Will you put Tim in here, please?”
Chase carefully lowered him in. I took the box back and looked inside. My little buddy was still out cold. I covered him as gently as I could with the edge of the pillowcase and put the box lid on. “Hang on tight, Tim. I’m gonna get you back so Maggie can fix you right up.”
I fought the feelings of sadness that started to well up, shoving them down hard. I could not go into this showdown with Ben feeling all weepy and weak. There was no downplaying the seriousness of this meeting. I was fighting for Tony’s life. There would be time for crying over Tim later – when I had all my guys on a plane, headed back to the Green Forest.
Other books by Elle Casey
War of the Fae: Book One, The Changelings
Wrecked
A Young Adult Action/Adventure novel – Four teens from the same high school but opposite ends of the social spectrum go on a cruise and end up shipwrecked on an island together. If you liked The Breakfast Club and The Swiss Family Robinson movies, you’ll love Wrecked. Here are some recent reviews by book bloggers:
“I’m not sure sure how to begin this review and remain professional… so I’ll just be honest. I FUDGING loved this book! (SOOO SOOO MUCH!) It was fantastic! =) I’m so glad that I read it … It was so good, I can’t even wrap my head around how much I loved it … I was also very impressed with the quality of the writing, every detail was so vivid! I could clearly picture what was going on in the story and put myself in their place. I can’t recommend this enough… go read it!!!”
“The relationships, emotions, and actions of the four protagonists were kept real, like I could honestly see these characters as teens with real reactions. They make great decisions, make not-so-great decisions, take action, make a home, fall in love, laugh, cry, have meltdowns, and do what they can to survive. Oh, and did I mention there are pirates? Because there are pirates (okay, the marijuana growing drug dealer type of pirates); and, as Wrecked puts it, “You know, Pirates of the Caribbean is very misleading…Why was I rooting for the bad guys?”… From being introduced to the four protagonists, to when they’re on the cruise ship, to when they’re in a life boat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, to their life on the island, and all the way to the satisfying conclusion, Wrecked will keep the reader interested.”
“… My favorite part of the book was their time on the island. The character dynamics were well done, and Casey clearly put a lot of thought into what they would need to do to survive, not just physically but emotionally. This was the part of the book I felt had the most depth. I actually found myself hoping they wouldn’t be rescued! … This was a fun book and a promising debut novel.”
