by Paige Orr
Just then a woman bursts through the door and when she notices Melissa laying there in the state she’s in, she lets out a broken cry as she rushes towards her. Her mocha skin, combined with the green of her piercing eyes is almost as deadly and her lithe, toned body that looks ready to rip each one of us apart. I can restrain the gulp that I take when she whisks by me and her anger washes over me.
She falls to her knees opposite Zaphyr and hovers her hands over the top of Melissa, seemingly not knowing where to put them. She turns to Zaphyr as tears collect in her eyes, making them almost turn luminous with the pain and resentment shining from within them. With a vicious scowl, she nearly growls at Zaphyr, sounding like a wild animal ready to pounce to protect who she cares about.
“What have you done!? I told you if you hurt her, Prince or not, I’ll return the fucking favor!”
“I didn’t do anything! She was like this when we got here. I don’t know what the fuck happened, all I know is that the wounds were caused by the dead Harpy behind me.”
The woman's head snaps in the directions of the corpse, widening at the sight. Her hands begin to tremble as the full weight of the situation settles on her shoulders and her breathing picks up the pace with the knowledge. I understand why she’s so shocked. Most of the younger supernaturals believe Harpies just to be myths, and that’s how we usually prefer it.
“Fuck! I thought those things were more like scary stories to make kids behave! Who the fuck would even know how to treat this shit!?”
“Anyone we have isn’t close enough to get here in time. What about your Coven Mistress, she should be close and usually the knowledge is passed down when each Coven Mistress takes over?”
The woman doesn’t answer Zaphyr as she pulls out her phone, quickly dialing a number and waiting impatiently for someone to answer. When they do, she quickly cuts them off.
"I’m sorry, Isabella. I don’t have time for our usual greetings. It's Annika, I need you to come to the address I’m about to send you, It’s an emergency.”
From Annika’s expression, I can tell the conversation isn’t going well. This is why we never work with Witches so high up in the ranks. Most of them would never agree to help people outside of their fucking coven. I’m not saying that most Fae aren’t just as bad, but we try not to allow that elitist bullshit to get in the way when someone’s life is on the line. Isabella says something to Annika and I can see the frustration building in her face as she snaps down the phone.
“Listen! My best friend is laying in front of me covered in fucking wounds inflicted by a Harpy. So I don’t have the time for your fucking bullshit, I’ll deal with any punishment you have for my treatment of you afterward, but right now I just need you to get your ass over here!”
She hangs up the phone, quickly sending a message to her Coven Mistress before turning back to Melissa and hovering her hands over her again. This time a faint glow comes from her palms, surrounding Melissa’s body, and Annika closes her eyes in concentration. With her eyes staying closed, she tilts her head towards Zaphyr, eyebrow furrowing.
“I can only keep her steady while we wait on Isabella turning up if she fucking turns up.”
We all wait, with the sound of the clock hanging on the wall seeming to make the minutes drag on longer. Already I can see a light sheen of sweat starting on Annika’s forehead from the strain of making sure that Melissa doesn’t get any worse. How did everything go so fucking wrong, so fucking quickly?
Only this morning did Melissa fully agree to help us with this, and now her very life hangs in the balance. This is why we should have never involved someone from outside our small group. How if she doesn’t make it, there’s no one else to blame apart from us.
Feeling guiltier than I have in years, and seeing just how much Annika is struggling, I slowly approach her and kneel beside her. I may not be able to do much to help, but as a Fae of the Spring Court and a Druid at that, I have an affinity for healing. Annika’s eyes snap open, staring me down with a stony expression.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, pretty boy.”
“Well, I'm a druid and I thought two sets of hands would be better than one. I can't heal her, but I can help you keep her stable and stop the poison spreading any further through her bloodstream.”
She looks at me warily, trying to figure out if I’m being serious before coming to a decision. With trepidation still on her face, she gives me a sharp nod and I call on my magic. Heat bursts from my core and I guide it up and through my arms, waiting for the telltale green glow to surround them. As soon as I have enough energy gathered, I aim it at Melissa’s chest, letting the warmth of my healing spread through her.
The combination of both of our healing seems to do the trick, as Melissa’s labored breathing slowly evens out. I don’t know how long both of us kneel there, putting everything we have into keeping Melissa alive, but it must be awhile as we are both startled when the doorbell rings. Annika’s magic cuts out as she rushes to her feet and heads for the door, causing me to push even more magic through myself to the woman lying in front of me. I hear her greeting Isabella, but I refuse to let myself become distracted right now.
I know that I’m using too much energy, but being Fae it will be easier to recuperate than the Witches would. I can feel that it’s putting more strain on me as the sounds around me become muffled, and I close my eyes, refusing to let the connection go until I know that the high priestess is ready to perform her ritual.
I get lost in my mind, slowly swaying with the sounds of the earth calling for me as I continue to push everything I have into healing Melissa. I don’t want to admit it to the others and worry them more than they already are, but with all the healing I’ve done through the years, this one is by far the hardest.
Not only am I using more of my energy than I have in a long time, but I’m also trying to keep an eye on her breathing and her heartbeat. Any other time this would be as easy as keeping a conversation with someone, but then I’ve never had to fight against poisoning this strong. My ears begin to buzz as the swaying grows more intense, and it’s not until I’m being pried away from Melissa that I realize how long I’ve been lost to the magic.
As everything slowly comes into sharper focus, I finally register the chanting coming from the sharply dressed woman crouched by Melissa. Finally, having the time to take in Isabella, I take in her sleek curly brown hair that’s wrapped elegantly at the back of her head with not a wisp out of place. Matched with the commanding pantsuit and her sharp features, she projects a not to be fucked with attitude.
I know that I’m only trying to distract myself from the ritual in front of me with my perusal of her, but I’d much rather that then watch the clock continue to tick as the very life I was keeping contained inside Melissa could be leaving her body. I exchange a look with Cail, Morpheus, and Zaphyr, and I find the same emotions in them that I feel myself. The hope that Melissa will pull through, and the fear that she won’t.
Unable to do anything to help make things go any easier, we settle in ready to wait however long the ritual will take. Even if the ritual works, it might not be enough. All we can do now is wait.
Chapter Fifteen
Melissa
I sneak through the back door, holding my shoes in my hands, trying not to make a single sound. I know by now that mum should be fast asleep, but that doesn't stop the spike of adrenaline at the thought of being caught. Tonight was my boyfriend Jaspers birthday, and somehow I’d managed to sneak out of the house earlier to go round to his to celebrate.
Mum had been very vocal about her dislike of Jasper. But I refuse to listen. She was always the same about the people that only I can see, even though none of them had ever done anything bad to me, so why should I listen to her now. I wouldn’t have even needed to sneak out if she would just listen to me sometimes.
Over the years she’s become more and more strict with me, telling me it’s all for my own good, but how is controlling everything in my life good for me. I
know that my life isn’t terrible, and in fact, I have it better than so many people out there, but I can't help feeling suffocated with all of her rules. Sometimes I just want to be like any other teenager, break some rules, and have some fun. What’s so bad about that?
I creep my way around the kitchen counter, basically holding my breath to listen for any sound that she might be awake, but when silence reaches my ears, the air rushes out in relief. As much as I might moan about her, I still love my mum more than anything in this entire world, which is probably why her lack of trust in my decisions hurts so much.
As I make my way out of the kitchen and into the hallway, I continue to strain my ears, not wanting to let my guard down until I’m safely in my room. It would be just my luck to be caught just as I get there and end up with a lecture to end all lectures. I keep my eyes on the stairs, certain that any moment she will appear with that disappointed look on her face, telling me how she expects better from me.
As much as I try not to let her words get to me, every time she sits me down when I do something she disapproves of, and instead of anger she tells me how disappointed she is, it hurts like a vice squeezing my chest. I swear that when women find out that they are pregnant they all go for a workshop where they tell them that their disappointment is the best way to deal with a “wayward” child, especially since that's all she ever seems to say to me.
Because of how focused I am on the stairway, I don’t notice the puddle until the liquid quickly soaks through my socks, causing me to leap backward in shock. Mum would never leave something spilled on the floor, and as I look down, taking in the still growing dark pool, trepidation fills me. I could just be being silly, but right now I don’t care so much about getting caught, all I care about is making the sick feeling in my stomach go away, which is why I call out to her.
“Mum?.. “
I wait on her groggy reply, but when it doesn’t come, my heart beats out of my chest as panic fills me. My hands shake as I reach into my pocket, pulling my phone out to shine the flashlight on the pool at my feet. It takes me a few tries to even get the phone unlocked with my hands shaking so badly, and when I finally get it unlocked, I have to take a deep breath before bringing up the flashlight.
I close my eyes as I flick it on, too scared to see what’s on the floor. I know it’s stupid and that it won’t change what’s on the floor, but I can’t seem to stop myself. Slowly I crack open my eyes, looking down to my feet, and when my eyes reach the blood pooling at my feet a scream tears free from my throat as I drop my phone.
When the phone lads on the hardwood floor beside me, the light bounces around the walls, and what is revealed to me is the most horrifying sight I’ve ever laid eyes on. There on the wall opposite me hangs my mum, pinned upside down with nails through her hands and feet. She’s almost unrecognizable as the blood still pouring from her cleanly sliced neck coats her face, spilling into her mouth that’s open in a silent scream.
I feel something inside of me break as I rush towards her, babbling incoherently as tears stream down my face. Everything around me seems slow and sluggish, and it feels like an age before I finally reach her. I fall to my knees, bringing me eye level with my mum's listless eyes, and in a haze, I try to find a pulse.
Not feeling anything, I fall backward, scooting away from my mum's corpse, not even taking in the fact that I’m backing through her blood. My hand brushes against something hard, ripping another scream from me as my head whips towards what it was, finding my phone still laying where I dropped it.
Through the numbness that’s beginning to creep in on me, I pick it up and dial 911, not even hearing a word that I say to the operator. My mind just keeps going over and over how I should have been here, and how I could have done something to stop this from happening to her.
I don’t remember the call ending, or crawling back across the floor, but everything around me seems to blur together as I cling to my mum just repeating one word over and over again.
“Sorry, sorry, sorry. I’m so sorry.”
My eyes snap open as I wake with a gasp, my hand coming up to my throat as I struggle to breathe through the pain of my memories and the fire in my throat the feeling of hot tears burning their way down my cheeks as a sob hiccups out of me. I’ve not thought about that day for so long, but the memories are just as hard to think of now as they were all that time ago.
I can feel my mom’s blood sticky on my palms as I wipe them down my covers, fully freaking out now. No matter what I do, the memories cling to me, refusing to let me go from their clutches. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see dark shadows approaching me, causing me to panic even more as I scurry back on the bed trying to get away from them. Finally, a deep baritone voice breaks through the haze surrounding me and drags me from the depth of my mind.
“You’re okay Melissa, there’s nothing here that can hurt you.”
Turning towards the voice, I find an unfamiliar man with long white-blonde hair that’s hanging down past his shoulders. His eyes are the colors of raw amethyst, drawing attention to his long lashes that any girl would be jealous of. From there, my eyes trail to his high cheekbones and slightly pointed ears. His features are androgenous and ethereal, and yet he exudes raw masculinity.
My eyebrows furrow in confusion at finding a stranger in my room, but before I got the chance to ask him who he is, another four people crowd around the bed. Looking around them all, I find Annika, Morpheus, Zaphyr, and another man that I don’t recognize. Annika notices my confusion and thankfully clears everything up for me.
“Hey chicka, sorry about all the testosterone going on right now. Imagine calling this royal dickhead instead of calling me. He even dragged the other royal fucker and his aide along with him to rush to your rescue.”
I try to speak, but all I manage to do is make the burning in my throat worse and causing myself to have a violent coughing fit. When the coughing subsides, a glass of water appears in front of my face and I follow the long elegant fingers up the arm to the other man.
He gives me a warm smile that crinkles the corner of his eyes, and I take a moment to look him over as I take a drink. Unlike the others, he looks like he spends all of his time in the gym and I swear even his muscles have muscles. His obsidian hair is scrapped close to his head along with a five o’clock shadow. His cerulean eyes pierce through me, filled with kindness.
I move my gaze away from him when his eyes begin to twinkle with laughter at how seriously I’m looking at him, and a blush stains my cheeks as I look back at Annika. Clearing my throat, I test my voice and find that I'm not going to hack a lung up if I talk I get back on track.
“I can’t remember making the phone call. I just remember being pinned to the wall by the Harpies' claws and getting a lucky shot off as she was reaching back for the killing blow. Why don’t you introduce me properly to our new friends before I spill my guts in front of them… again?”
Nika gives me a mischievous grin that I can’t help but return before getting myself more comfortable on the bed. I know from what she said that at least one of them is Prince Cailean, which could be bad for me since I kind of stole from him, but I decide not to worry about that right now, there would be no point getting myself worked up.
“Well, this lovely man who just got you the water is Elias, Prince Cailean’s aide, and the lovely gent with the white hair would be the Prince himself. You already know these two fuckers, so that’s you caught up on the who’s who of your bedroom invaders.”
I give her a warning look at the laughter I hear in her voice before composing myself and looking back to the other. I can see they are dying to know what happened, but I know that to give them the whole story means spilling all of my secrets. Fuck, not even Nika knows what I can do, and yet I’m going to have to tell them all. How the fuck do I manage to get myself into these situations, at this point I’m wishing I turned that creep, Mr. Sullivan, down. Sure I’d have ended up homeless, but I could have always stayed with Adelaide or Ni
ka. Well, they do say hindsight is twenty-twenty.
“Look, to explain to you guys what happened, I’m going to have to tell you something personal about myself that no one else[1] knows apart from Adelaide.”
They all nod their heads curiously, but I can see the hurt in Nika’s eyes that I’ve not been able to trust her with what she’s about to hear. I do my best to show her how sorry I am without letting the others know, but all I can do now is hope that she can understand once she hears what it is I have to say.
“For as long as I can remember, I’ve been able to talk with the dead. Nothing creepy like sitting in a graveyard and shit, but ghosts have always been drawn to me. Don’t ask me why, I stopped looking for answers a long time ago.”
They all do their best to hide the shock that they’re feeling, but they aren’t quick enough to mask it before I see it. I can’t stop the grimace that slips out as I straighten my shoulders, closing myself off to them and the judgment and disgust that I’ve learned to expect over the years. Thankfully, none of them get the chance to air their thoughts as Morpheus asks me.
“I can see why you don’t tell anyone, but what does that have to do with this investigation kitten?”
“Well, I went to visit Adelaide before going to the house. She can see certain things to do with people's futures, and she told me that what I can do is the key to solving the disappearances. While there, she told me to use my sight to find the clues.
At first, I had no idea what she was talking about, but then I put the pieces together and called on one of the ghosts that hang around me to try my theory. Anyway, long story short, I can see things like sigils, and using the sight I can see all ghosts, not just the ones that show themselves to me.”
They seem to be taking my revelation in stride, like they get told every day that someone has been talking to ghosts. I can’t complain really, anything is better than the usual reaction. This time it’s Cailean who has questions for me.
