books 1 - 3

by Ella J. Smyth

  For the next two hours, she focused on being in the moment rather than letting the panic run away with her. Walking as fast as she did helped. It was difficult to dwell on the terrible images her mind conjured up when she was gasping for breath.

  The day turned out to be another scorcher. The initial part of the walk was in the open, and the asphalt soon heated up in the face of the sun’s onslaught, rising higher and higher.

  At one point, Adi stopped and looked back. A misty heat haze shrouded the entire Neckar Valley like a fogbank. It gave Heidelberg an ethereal feel, as if the faerie world was encroaching on the human realm.

  If somebody had told Adi last year that she would stand in a German forest above a fairy-tale town, about to enter the actual faerie realm to rescue her ex-boyfriend, she would have collapsed on the floor, laughing. Yet here she was, facing a foe who hated her, who had already tried to kill her once and threatened to do it again.

  Sighing heavily, Adi turned back and continued onwards. When she entered the forest, the cool dampness provided a welcome relief from the sweltering heat. Within seconds, moisture beaded on her skin. She wiped her hand down her arm, relishing the coolness under her fingers.

  By the time she reached the red brick building she remembered from the day before, she was nearly vibrating out of her skin. As she stood in front of the open door, looking at the well surround that guarded the entrance to Faerie, her fight-or-flight instinct kicked in. If she walked away, she would almost certainly condemn Honi to an awful fate. Yet the very thought of jumping into the hole made her skin crawl.

  She bent over, the rough, cold stone pressing into her chest. The smell of moisture, which she always associated with old cellars, drifted from deep below. She picked up a pebble and dropped it, counting under her breath. She stopped at twenty when she still hadn’t heard the stone hit the bottom.

  What if she was wrong, and this wasn’t the entrance? Would she simply plummet to her death? Would they even find her body since she hadn’t told anybody where exactly she’d gone? Suddenly lightheaded, she rested her forehead on her folded arms and groaned.

  Come on, Adi, don’t be a wuss. You know this is the right place! If you don’t do this, you’ll never see Honi again!

  Before she could reconsider, she straightened up and climbed onto the well surround. She closed her eyes tightly and then, for whatever reason, held her nose with one hand. While she still wondered what made her do that, she held her breath and jumped.

  God, she hated the way her stomach lurched as the rest of her body fell. And fell. And fell. Her breathing ratcheted up to full-out panic. Her mind told her that she would probably enter another dimension at the end of her fall, but all her body knew was that she was going to splatter at the bottom of the well. The air rushed past her so fast that she couldn’t even scream.

  Just when she thought that maybe her body had gotten it right after all, sunlight pierced the blackness surrounding her. And just as quickly as she’d fallen, her descent slowed as it got brighter. Within another second, her body dropped gracelessly onto a forest floor.

  Ouch, that hurt. Winded, she gasped for breath, staring at the tops of giant oak trees and majestic firs. She couldn’t afford to stay here, though, so as soon as she remembered how to move, she rolled over and pushed up on her hands and feet. Her back ached and was likely covered in bruises from landing on the cans in her backpack.

  She limped to a copse of heavy-trunked trees and sat down behind them to consider her next steps. It was just as well she’d hurried, because she’d barely rounded the trees when she heard voices and heavy feet marching towards the portal.

  Several tall faeries approached the hole in the ground, and the leader knelt down, examining the area where Adi had landed so heavily. He seemed to smirk, although Adi couldn’t be sure of his expression, given her view was obstructed by the heavy undergrowth. He stood up and quickly gave instructions to the other guards. Immediately they spread out and began searching the area.

  Adi cowered as low as she could, burrowing into the little hollow she was lying in. She wouldn’t escape detection if one of the faeries walked to the other side of the stand of trees. Pulling her head between her shoulders, she scrunched her eyes shut, like a small child who believed they couldn’t be seen as long as they couldn’t see anybody.

  Steps were coming ever closer but stopped short of walking to her side of the copse. Her muscles were so tight, she was afraid of giving herself away by shaking so hard. Just when she expected to hear a shout of discovery, the guard moved away again. Her breath escaped in an inaudible whoosh, and she relaxed minutely.

  She didn’t dare move for long minutes. When she finally gathered enough courage to lift her head, she was alone—no sign of the faerie troupe. Quickly, she gathered her pack and stood up. A narrow track cut through the dense growth, more like an animal trail than a purposely created path.

  Adi could only hope that the guards weren’t coming back that way. It wasn’t like she had any other choice, though. At least following the trail gave her some chance to make it out of the forest and find her way to the castle. She had no idea what to do once she got there. Like everything else in her life lately, she’d just have to wing it.

  As she walked along, she took note of the woodland around her. She recognized most of the plants and trees. The forest in the spirit world, which had very nearly killed them last year, had been just different enough to make the experience even more nightmarish than it would have been otherwise. Here, the animals behaved the way normal forest critters would.

  A squirrel ran headfirst down a tree before disappearing in the dense thicket at the base of the trunk. When she passed a rare clearing, a small emerald-green lizard scuttled off a stone where it had been sunning itself. Birds sang all around her—she even heard a cuckoo in the distance. Wild pink and purple rhododendron blossoms, as big as the palm of her hand, provided colorful splashes against the dark green backdrop.

  Just as Adi saw the light growing brighter at the edge of the woodland in the distance, movement drew her gaze to her left. There, between the trees, a large body advanced slowly towards her. Adi instinctively took a step back as a black wolf came closer and closer.

  There was something familiar about the animal, and when he lifted his head and looked at her, she recognized him. Ho’neo’s eyes were dull, no longer the vibrant sapphire blue she was used to. His fur hung off his skinny body, lank and mangy looking.

  Adi rushed towards him, falling to her knees as he collapsed, and pulled his massive head onto her lap. Her fingers flew over his prone body, checking for injury.

  “Oh my God, what happened to you? Where is Honi?” she whispered.

  The wolf whined softly before closing his eyes. Adi panicked, trying to wake him.

  “Ho’neo, come on, wake up!”

  There was no response, and as she poked and prodded him, begging him to react, to stir, he seemed to grow ever more insubstantial under her fluttering hands. As she watched in disbelief, his body slowly disappeared, until she was sitting there, all alone.

  “Well, shit,” she murmured. If she needed any more confirmation that Honi was in terrible trouble, she’d just had it. She firmly pushed down the thought that Ho’neo disappearing might mean that Honi wasn’t alive anymore. She wasn’t going there. Ever. While there’s hope, there’s life, and all that bull. She wouldn’t give up until she had confirmation that he was dead. Her determination renewed, she pushed against the ground to get back up, ready to trudge on.

  “There you are. You’ve led us a merry dance, human.” The dry voice gave her such a fright, she sat back down again.

  When she turned around, the blond guard she’d seen near the portal stood behind her. Up close, looking into emotionless blue eyes, she recognized him. She’d met him only days previously, when he’d dragged her to see the queen. Adi closed her eyes and shouted, “Oh, for fuck’s sake, can I not get a break?”

  29

  Honi didn’t wan
t to open his eyes. Nothing good would greet him. His body lay on cold, hard stone, which did little to improve the pain blooming in his ribs. A foot nudged his prone body, and Honi squeezed his eyes closed even tighter. Maybe if he kept them shut, whoever was next to him would go away. His wolf brain processed thoughts more slowly, yet he remembered.

  He remembered turning—the shock and desperation when he’d opened his eyes and could only see shades of black and white. The confusion when his sensitive nose was inundated with scents he shouldn’t have been able to smell. Cat urine under a layer of soap under a layer of footprints under a layer of grease.

  He couldn’t have described the complexity of the experience if somebody had asked him. There weren’t enough words in the human language to express how tendrils of smells wormed their way from his nose to his brain and built themselves into complex puzzles.

  Honi had tried to stand up, still reeling from what had just happened to him. Before he could get his feet under him, though, a sharp kick to his ribs had thrown him down again. It had hurt, badly, and he’d heard one of his ribs crack.

  He’d yelped, trying to articulate a human protest, but not being able to do it. He had a snout and teeth, and his tongue was too long to form words. His protest had ended in a forlorn whine before another kick had brought him down to the ground again.

  That’s when he’d smelled it. A stench, sharp as chemicals, assaulting his sensitive nose. It had reminded him of air freshener, biting and cloying, but also of the harshness of frost on a cold winter’s night. She’d been standing over him while he’d tried again to struggle to his feet. With his weak lupine eyes, he’d made out long hair. It had to be a woman, but it hadn’t smelled like a woman.

  There’d been something inorganic about her, a mix of chalk and rock, basalt and sand, mixed in with more organic scents like grass and flowers. It had been the oddest mixture he’d ever come across. Instinctively, he’d known that she meant him ill. There’d been pure malice emanating from her. He remembered that it didn’t go deep enough to permeate her entire being, but it was old and dense.

  His wolf brain hadn’t been able to deal with it, so Honi had given up. There’d been no point trying to figure out all the different sensory inputs while he was still trying to get back on his feet.

  And now the same same cold odor overwhelmed his senses. He instinctively squeezed his eyes shut while his nose told him that that the queen was standing next to his head. He waited for the next kick, the next explosion of pain. It didn’t come, for which he was stupidly grateful. Instead, her soft hands came around his neck and smoothed over his fur. When she removed them, she left behind a tightness, something that smelled of leather.

  Maybe she’d put a collar on him? It didn’t bother him too much. At least it didn’t hurt. He dropped his head onto his crossed paws while keeping his eyes trained on her retreating figure. He didn’t see the guard approach until he was right next to him and pulled hard on the strap. It constricted around his throat, and Honi coughed. The woman laughed and said something.

  In response, the man twisted the leather tighter and tighter. Honi tried to get away, tried to breathe. The strap hurt his throat and compressed every inhale. Opening his mouth as wide as possible, the wolf choked and pulled against the strong hands of his handler, who twisted the garrote tighter the more Honi struggled.

  Honi’s eyes rolled up into his skull, and his legs buckled under him. Soon he collapsed again, lying on his flank, his legs weakly kicking in protest, while the faerie guard strangled the life out of him. Blackness encroached on his vision, and even his whines couldn’t make their way out of his constricted airway. As he dropped into unconsciousness, the woman’s mocking laughter followed him into the blackness.

  Adi trembled, her hands restless and shaking. Plus her feet hurt after the long march back to the castle under the watchful eyes of Sir Douchebag Blue Eyes, as she’d christened the faerie guard in her mind.

  Rather than being led back into the giant hall where she’d last met the ruler, she was now standing in a much smaller, more intimate room. The creature she knew as the snow queen sat in a wooden chair, adorned all over with carvings of woodland animals. For the last minute, she’d stared at Adi, her pallid face devoid of any expression.

  “Well, Adi, I may have underestimated you. I don’t like admitting it, but I was under the impression that Honi was your master, your… teacher.”

  She paused briefly before the last word, as if it hurt her to concede that Adi was more than a slave, tied in terms of ownership to Honi.

  “I’ve since learned that his gift, while remarkable amongst humans, is nothing compared to yours.” She smiled, the corners of her mouth pulling upwards, yet the emotion never reaching her eyes.

  “I was hoping that you’d come back to Faerie.”

  Adi lifted her head and fought down her fear.

  “Where is Honi?” she asked, aware of the tremble in her voice.

  “Honi,” the queen replied, “is being looked after well. He’s such a pet, isn’t he?” Her smile grew wider.

  “Can I see him?” Adi asked.

  “In due time. For now, I would like you to be my guest and avail yourself of all the lovely things my realm has to offer you. Please don’t be afraid of eating our food. Contrary to what you may have heard, it will have no ill effect on you. Weaker humans might become more susceptible to my powers, but you will suffer no disadvantage. All drinks and meals are safe for you. I swear this by my power as Guardian of the Worlds.”

  The queen’s voice had dropped lower, and Adi knew that this vow was important and wouldn’t be broken. Her stomach growled, and she couldn’t wait to get something into it. The fruits she’d seen last time were so much more tempting than the crushed sandwiches from her backpack.

  The queen waved her hand at her, and at the dismissal, Sir DB ushered her to the exit. Rather than pull her through the door by her elbow as he’d done before, he bowed politely and allowed her to go through first.

  The next few hours were surreal. Adi was given a different room from before, larger and more decorated. The most striking features were silk wall hangings, depicting the most exquisitely detailed scenes of life at court. Apparently, faeries loved nothing better than dancing and feasting. Adi spent some minutes standing in front of the largest tapestry and staring.

  The longer she stood there, the more she saw. When she discovered that there were some really naughty things happening in the background, she giggled. Seriously, what was happening in open doorways and windows was like the Kama Sutra for faeries. Pale, long-limbed women entwined in the most delicious ways with very attractive, lightly muscled men. It didn’t stop there.

  Adi’s eyes grew large, heat rising to her ears—there seemed to be no taboo at all against same-sex entanglements, or more than two faeries enjoying themselves. Huh. She quickly looked around, feeling inexplicably guilty for perving on the figures on the wall hangings.

  Adi shook her head and chuckled a little at her paranoia. She had no way of knowing if she was being spied on by magical or other means. Besides, if they didn’t want her to look, they shouldn’t have put the tapestries in her room.

  Her stomach rumbled again, and this time she didn’t hold back. She grabbed a peach from a wooden bowl and took a big bite. When the juicy morsel entered her mouth, she literally stopped breathing. Oh. My. God. The fruit’s golden flesh sparked an explosion of flavor on her taste buds. Sweet, slightly acidic, sunshine with a hint of almonds. She’d had peaches before, obviously, but none had ever tasted as complex as the yellow-red fruit in Faerie.

  As she took another bite, chewing dreamily, she wondered if maybe there was no spell on faerie food. Maybe it just tasted so damned good that human edibles paled in comparison. For the next hour, she stuffed herself with as much food as she could manage. The days spent in darkness, starved and desperate, were still fresh in her mind. It would take a long time to feel secure again, to trust that nourishment was always available. />
  Access to nourishment wasn’t the only thing that was different. Adi explored her environment the way she’d wanted to previously, but hadn’t been able to. The first thing she did was make sure that she wasn’t locked in again. The door opened easily, and Adi peered through the gap to check that there were no guards outside.

  Taking a deep breath, she flung the door wide open. Head held high, she slowly walked down the dimly lit corridor. She encountered several servants, but no one attempted to stop her. On the contrary, everybody nodded at her affably. This was a very different experience from when she’d been dragged down the hallway by the queen’s grim guards.

  A stone staircase invited her to descend to the lower level. Running her fingers along the banister, she nearly skipped down the stairs, excited to explore the courtyard she knew was just through the outside door. She had to push hard to open the solid wood portal to the outside.

  When she finally slipped through the door, her mouth dropped open. She had no idea how the faeries had created this garden, but it was like nothing she’d ever seen in the human world. There were fruit trees in all stages of bloom—cherry trees covered in pink and white blossoms at the same time as they bore shiny, dark red fruit. Lilacs with sweet-smelling purple-blue flowers right next to chestnut trees with their distinct spiky green fruit. The laws of nature were suspended in this garden.

  Even though Adi had only just eaten her fill, the sight of all the ripe fruit made her mouth water. She walked along paths adorned with black, white and gray pebble mosaics. Just as she was about to stretch out her hand to pluck a luscious plum from a branch, a pitiful yelp sounded from around the next corner.

  Adi had never been able to ignore a suffering animal. She sped up, walking around the cypress hedge lining the path. On a grassy patch, a big male wolf cowered between two large faeries. One of them, his face distorted in anger, raised his arm, holding a vicious-looking whip. The animal’s wretched whines rose and fell, interrupted by yowls whenever the whip connected with his back.