by Everly Frost
In fact, it’s almost like… I feel more in control in this moment than ever before.
My wide eyes meet his, my reactions to his touch spilling through my body in flashes.
Far too quickly, the warm sensation vanishes and a painful sucking sensation fills my heart, as if my power is being dragged to the surface faster than I was calling it, rushing out of me at full force.
It doesn’t hurt.
It feels like I’m breaking free.
Starlight explodes between us, the force pushing outward and upward, flinging us apart and up off the ground. A scream of fear tears from my chest, my hair and arms splay at my sides, and my back arches.
I’d meant to touch him, spear my power through him and contain it. Now, the explosion crashes across everyone, including my friends.
The clearing lights up around us. Every dark whorl of bark on the tree trunks is illuminated, the struggling leaves glisten and uncurl, the mud turns slick like molten chocolate, and the fog recedes, revealing all the harshness of the barren plain.
The fallen fae are pushed away from me in the force, their bodies rolling through the mud, some of them thudding against the trees.
Opposite me, the Fell is forced up into the air like me. His fists are clenched at his sides and his head is tipped back while droplets of blood lift and suspend at his side where Evander cut his arm.
He lowers his eyes to mine, his dark gaze more piercing than the starlight shimmering around us.
A second later, my power implodes, pulling us back toward each other, dragging me to the earth. I crash onto my knees as the Fell drops to the ground right in front of me.
My power didn’t hurt him. It didn’t hurt my friends, either, and I don’t understand why. I’ve never used it like that before. I was sure the explosion would kill anyone standing within the blast radius.
The Fell’s chest rises and falls rapidly. His fists clench and unclench. A single drop of sweat slides down his face to his jaw.
I can’t seem to move my arms and legs, sinking deeper into the mud as I struggle to regain control.
Then I shiver and it seems to break the spell.
“Damn,” he whispers.
He gives himself a shake, the same sharp twitch that he made when he seemed to drive back an unwanted thought—except that this time it seems to really worry him. He drops to the side as if his legs aren’t working properly yet, either, clawing at the dirt as he grapples to push himself upward.
As soon as he gets his feet under himself, he stumbles across the distance, grabs Evander’s dropped sword, and positions it right over Evander’s heart.
From this distance, there’s nothing I can do to stop him.
“You have a decision to make, Starlight,” he says. “If you want to save your friends, you will do exactly what I tell you to do.”
I can’t lose Evander. He’s my family. Inside my mind, I scream at my legs to move, finally regaining sensation in my arms. I drop forward, digging my fingers into the earth as I try to push myself upward like the Fell did.
Failing dismally, I raise my head. “I will never betray my Queen.”
“You’re saying that because you think you can save him,” the Fell replies, inclining his head at Evander. “Even if I stab him through the heart, you believe your healers can bring him back. But he won’t survive without his head.”
He shifts the sword to point it at Evander’s throat. The Fell’s muscles bunch. One look at him tells me he’s strong enough to drive the weapon all the way through Evander’s throat and sever his spine.
“Evander would prefer to die,” I scream, thumping my fist into the mud. “I will never do what you want.”
The Fell gives me a slow shake of his head, pressing the sword’s tip lightly to Evander’s throat. My heart stops as a trickle of blood leaks from the cut he makes.
“You’re bluffing,” the Fell says. “You called him by his name. He means something to you.”
Without warning, he raises the sword and rams it downward.
My scream turns into a sob when the weapon thuds into the earth, missing Evander’s neck.
Leaving the weapon where it thrums in the ground, the Fell strides over to me, kneels, and holds up his palms. Each of his fingertips has what looks like a black bubble on it. The bubbles are all burst and black liquid smears his hands.
“The fluid inside these bubbles is poisonous to fae,” he says. “There’s nothing your healers can do. My hands carry the revenge that is rightfully mine. A spell concealed the poison, which could only be revealed by the breath of the avenger.”
The breath of the avenger.
It’s old magic. I know hardly anything about the ancient times, but it’s the kind of magic that can only be conjured by the most deeply held conviction. The poisonous bubbles weren’t visible on his fingertips when I started fighting him. I thought it was strange when he blew across his hand when Evander first attacked, but that was how he revealed the poison.
“That’s dark magic,” I spit.
His expression turns hard, a muscle in his jaw clenching as he grits his teeth. “Dark magic is the only magic the Bright Ones left the humans.”
I glare at the unfamiliar word. “Humans? What is that?”
“Not what,” he roars, making me jump. “Who.”
His closed fist thuds against his chest. “You call us fallen ones. The Fell. We are humans. You left us in darkness, but we are capable of both darkness and light.”
He shoves his hands at me, shifting so close that I could grab him. It’s the first recklessly emotional move he’s made. “My hands contain both death and life. Beneath these outer bubbles is another layer of spells. I carry the antidote for the poison. I can save your friends… if you do as I ask.”
My thoughts churn as I try to think of a way out. Trying to buy time, I ask, “How long do they have?”
“About two hours before they die.”
That means time is now my enemy.
I consider the scene around me as the Fell’s plan becomes clear. He wanted the squadron to come and help me so he could turn them into leverage. He didn’t kill me so that I would become his pawn.
I grit my teeth, testing my legs as sensation returns slowly to them. “What do you want?”
“Simple,” he says. “Take me to your Queen.”
I stare at him. He must be mad. I laugh. “That is not simple.”
“All I want is to speak with her.”
I scoff. “The Queen will kill you before you say a word.”
He shakes his head. “She won’t.”
What makes him so sure? What could he say that would save his life? Once Evander and the others are healed, this Fell is a dead… human.
I struggle to my feet, finally in control of all of my limbs.
I’m not afraid that he will kill me. He needs me as much as I need him, but my heart constricts with fear for other reasons.
I’ve touched him multiple times, even tried to use my power on him, and I have no idea what the consequences will be. Luckily, none of the other fae were awake to see me do it or my position as champion would be in question now. It is the nature of my people—the Bright Ones—to fear darkness and I have come closer to it than any of them. I have risked contamination…
As my heart pounds, I try to rein in my anxiety. “I’ll take you to her on one condition.”
“Name it,” he says.
“You have to come as my prisoner.”
He looks up at me, still on his knees. “You mean in chains.”
“Yes. ”
“If that’s what it takes.” He swiftly stands and holds out his hands, placing his wrists side by side.
I consider him warily. He agreed far too quickly and, despite my demand, I don’t have any chains or rope. We never take prisoners, so we never bring bindings.
There’s only one way to tie his hands, but it’s dangerous…
Making a decision, I give him a clipped order. “Come with me.”
/>
He isn’t so quick to agree this time. “Where?”
I point. “To the glitter field.”
“No.” He shakes his head at me, his brown hair slicking to his neck. He gives me a wry laugh. “The most beautiful things in Bright are the most lethal. That includes you and your glitter field. I don’t have any choice but to go with you.” He jabs his finger in the direction of the field. “But I will not go near that.”
I scowl at him. “If you won’t go near it, how do you intend to come with me to the Queen?”
He tips his head at the sky. Above us, Treble’s light mingles with the waning moonlight. Sunrise is only an hour away now.
“You’ll fly me there,” he says.
Of course it’s the only way. I didn’t expect him to walk through the glitter field, but I also don’t want to face the idea of riding so close to him all the way back to the palace. Luckily, Treble is one of the largest thunderbirds and is strong enough to carry two riders.
Still, I grit my teeth. “I need to gather bindings from the field. If I don’t bring you back as my captive, then I’ll be branded as a traitor and we’ll both be killed on sight.”
He studies me for a moment, his forehead creased in disbelief. “Your own people would kill you?”
“The Fell haven’t stepped foot in Bright for fifteen years. I’m taking a big risk as it is. My friends’ lives are in your hands. Now come with me.”
Before I can stalk ahead of him, he narrows his eyes at me, spins, and breaks into a quick stride, clearly not the type to trail after me like a puppy.
I scowl at his broad back.
My scrutiny intensifies when I see that his shoulders at the top of his arms are crisscrossed with scars. They’re fine ones. Set apart at precise intervals in a hatched pattern that indicates they were deliberately inflicted.
I catch up to him and keep pace at his side, making sure our arms don’t touch. He said we have two hours. It will take a whole hour to make it back to Eteri City and by then, it will be daybreak. If I’m lucky, Queen Imatra will already be awake and eating breakfast in her Inner Sanctuary.
We walk in silence, but the quiet doesn’t bother me. The distant hum from the glitter field is soothing on my nerves.
The Fell slows as we near the glitter fronds. “This is as close as I go,” he says, his dark scowl daring me to contradict him.
For a moment, I wonder… who is he? He didn’t tell me his name and I didn’t tell him mine. We’re strangers and yet… he beat me when nobody ever has. What really gets me is that he beat me without actively trying to kill me.
I take deep breaths to calm my nerves. If I weren’t so certain that I needed to chain him, I would never do what I’m about to do.
“Stay here then,” I whisper. “Don’t make another sound.”
When he remains quiet, I tread carefully toward the field. The waist-height glitter fronds sway as I approach them, glowing brightly in the dark.
I take a careful look around, checking the sky in case there are any other fae flying above us. I can’t let anyone see what I’m about to do.
The Fell is right about the field. It’s lethal to everyone.
What he doesn’t know—what nobody knows—is that it isn’t lethal to me. For some reason, the glitter field responds to my needs. I could run toward it and it would part to let me through. Anyone else would be cut to shreds. It’s a secret I’ve kept since I discovered it when I was a teenager. Not even Evander knows about it.
I take another deep breath before I lower myself carefully to the ground and reach for the nearest stem, gently leveraging it from the earth. Its roots come up easily. As soon as it leaves the earth, the stem transforms from rigid crystal to living material, becoming soft in my hands.
Pulling it close to my body to conceal my actions, I run my hand over the bulb at the top of the stem to remove it, brushing my fingers over the petals as the bulb turns from fragile crystal to soft living material in my fingertips. I quickly slide the removed bulb between two upright stems to hide it on the ground.
The stem I plucked is strong and malleable in my hands. It looks like an ordinary vine now. If someone asks, I can say that I pulled it off one of the trees.
Returning to the Fell, I hold up the vine. “Give me your hands.”
He lifts them without a word, casting wary glances at the glitter field.
I hesitate before I reach for him. The poison is still on his fingers. I can only assume that it didn’t hurt me before because I released my power when he touched me.
As if he reads my thoughts, he presses his palms inward so there’s no chance I’ll touch them.
I quickly wrap the vine around his wrists, securing it in a knot, managing to avoid any physical contact while I do it.
His gaze burns me as he watches me work.
I step back, frowning at him. I sense he could easily slip the knot, but that he won’t.
I shouldn’t feel intrigued right now, shouldn’t care about his motives, but for a warrior like him to agree to be bound proves that he will do whatever it takes to speak with Queen Imatra.
Chapter 4
I shake off my fears and focus on the task at hand. It’s time to hurry home before my time runs out.
I make an arc around the Fell as I stride back to my friends, lifting my fingers to my lips and giving a series of short, sharp whistles.
At my call, all eleven thunderbirds drop from the clouds above us. I sense their agitation. The bond between bird and rider is close. They will be concerned about their riders right now, but they’re trained to follow orders.
I give another whistle and Evander’s bird lands first, the light from her wings casting a bloody sheen over his body as she leans protectively over him, her eyes following the Fell as he walks more slowly behind me.
I can’t help but run the rest of the way to Evander, my heart in my throat.
I’m done putting on an uncaring face for the Fell. I lean over Evander, dragging his torso into my arms before I hover my palm over his face and allow my power to glow across his features.
“Brother,” I whisper. “Please be okay.”
The agonized crease in Evander’s forehead eases as my power soothes his mind. I wish I could see into his thoughts, tell him that I won’t let him die.
The only way to get him back to the palace is to lift him onto his bird. Her talons aren’t large enough to carry him, but at least she has a saddle that I can strap him into. I’m the only one who shuns the saddle.
Cadence spreads her right wing and extends it toward me. Normally, we either leap onto their backs or run lightly up their strong wing bones, but Evander’s heavy, one of the biggest fae.
With great difficulty, I slide my arms under his underarms while facing him and lift him into a sitting position. Then I angle my shoulder under his stomach, gather my legs under myself, and haul him up across my shoulders like a sack of grain. Rising very slowly, I wobble and strain to stay upright as his full weight settles on me.
The Fell’s perplexed voice sounds beside me, closer than I anticipated.
I try to ignore his presence as his caramel scent fills my senses.
“Why don’t you use your power to lift him?” he asks.
I huff as I wobble toward the bird’s wing, my arms and legs burning with effort as I take the first step upward. “I don’t have power over air.”
I hear the frown in his voice. “I thought every fae controlled all of the elements.”
“You thought wrong,” I snap.
“Then explain it to me.”
I scowl, trying to concentrate on my task. Somehow, everything the Fell says sounds like an order. He’s clearly used to bossing people around.
Still, talking takes my focus off the pain in my screaming muscles as I stumble another step. “Every fae belongs to one of two classes: Sunstream and Eventide. Sunstream fae have powers that reflect the seasons. Frost fae control wind and ice. Solstice fae control heat and fire. Springtime fae he
lp grow crops and Harvest fae… well, you get the picture.”
“What about the Eventide fae?” he asks.
I hesitate, since Eventide fae are more rare, and telling him about them means telling him more about myself. “We control the elements of night and spirit. The Dusk fae can commune with animals, Dawn fae are healers, and Twilight fae—like me—control starlight.”
“There’s only one of you, Starlight,” he says, sounding more certain than he should be. He shouldn’t know anything about me.
He arches his eyebrow at me when I shoot him an angry glare.
I’m not about to confirm his statement. I need to lean forward so Evander’s weight doesn’t tip me backward and it’s making the muscles in my back and stomach scream.
“I can help you lift him,” the Fell says, startling me with his offer.
My gaze snaps to the Fell. “You will not touch Evander again.”
The Fell doesn’t give up. “You called him ‘brother.’ He means something to you, Starlight. We need to move. This will go a lot faster if you let me help you.”
“Stop calling me ‘Starlight’!” I grit my teeth and focus on Evander’s weight. “I’m Aura of the Lucidia.”
He’s quiet. “I know who you are.”
I stare at him, my pain forgotten for a second.
How the stars did he know my name?
I snarl at him. “Then tell me your name so we’re properly introduced.”
His expression doesn’t change, unmoved by my order. “Since you don’t already know who I am… I can only speak my name to the Queen.”
Swallowing my frustration, I finally reach the bird’s back, my anger giving me strength to finish my task.
With a scream of effort, I slide Evander onto Cadence’s back, gripping him tightly so he doesn’t slip right off. I rest for a moment, my chest heaving, dragging air into my lungs, but I don’t indulge in rest for long. Quickly adjusting Evander’s torso so he leans over the bird’s neck, I maneuver his legs into the saddle and tie the waist strap tightly around him. It will cut into him and leave bruises, but I can’t risk him falling off during the flight home.
Satisfied that he’s tied on securely, I slide to the ground and give a quiet whistle so Cadence knows to rise into the air and wait for me.
