The Faerie Games

by Michelle Madow

  “Back up.” I held up a hand, taking in what he’d said. “You mean if I’m nominated by a god, I’ll have magic?”

  “You will,” he confirmed. “Powerful magic rivaling that of a full-blooded fae.”

  I smiled, liking the idea of being nominated for these Games more and more. “So if I’m chosen by a god, I play in the Faerie Games,” I said. “Then, once the Games are over, I’ll be free to go home?”

  “The winner of the Games earns his or her freedom and is no longer a half-blood servant,” he said. “So, yes. If you win the Games, you’ll be free to leave the Otherworld, if that’s what you still wish to do.”

  “And if I don’t win the Games?” I watched him carefully, expecting some kind of catch.

  “If you don’t win, you’ll have no future to bargain for,” he said. “Because you’ll be dead.”

  14

  Selena

  I shot up into a sitting position, looking at him in horror. “What do you mean?” I asked, even though what he meant was clear. I just needed a few seconds to process it. “Are you saying that the Faerie Games are played to the death? Like some kind of barbaric gladiator game?”

  “Precisely.” He pursed his lips. “Although the Faerie Games aren’t barbaric.”

  “You’re having people fight to the death—for entertainment,” I said. “That sounds pretty barbaric to me.”

  “It’s entertaining,” he said. “But it’s also necessary. After all, we can’t have too many half-bloods gifted with powers from the gods as free citizens in the Otherworld. That would upset the balance of our community. So each year, the chosen players compete in the Games, and the winner earns his or her freedom. The winner is also provided a generous stipend for life. It’s a wonderful opportunity. Most half-bloods are thrilled to be chosen, or even nominated.”

  I shook my head, horror racing through my body as I looked at him. This was so twisted.

  “And if I don’t want to be nominated?” I asked, tension edging in my tone.

  “You don’t have a choice,” he said. “I will be nominating you for this year’s Faerie Games. If a god chooses you, you will play. And hopefully you will win.”

  “No.” I glared at him, anger sparking under my skin. He couldn’t force me to do this. He couldn’t keep me here.

  I wanted to go home. To do that, I needed one of those portal tokens in his pocket. I’d seen him put them there. If I could just get to one…

  I leaped forward, a hand stretched out to reach into his pocket and steal a token.

  He waved his hand and a burst of green magic flew at me, throwing me back into my seat. I tried to move, but it was no use. I was stuck.

  “What did you do to me?” I asked, all but feral with anger now. My magic crackled inside of me. But like always, no matter how angry I got, my magic refused to release.

  “You’re not strong enough to fight fae magic.” He looked at me like I was a lost puppy. “Relax, Selena. I’m your father. I have your best interests at heart.”

  “Prince Jacen Pearce of Avalon is my father,” I said. “Not you.”

  “I am your blood.” He remained frustratingly calm as I continued to push against his magical hold on me. “Nothing will ever change that.”

  “Fine.” I stilled and gave up on fighting his magic, since my efforts were failing. “If you truly care about my best interests, then send me home. If you send me home now, I promise I won’t have the Nephilim army of Avalon come after you to punish you for kidnapping. Which they will do, if you don’t cooperate.”

  “Resorting to threats now, are we?”

  “It’s not a threat,” I said. “It’s a promise.”

  “Your Nephilim army is no threat against the fae.” He released me from his magical hold, as if proving his point.

  “The Nephilim army is the most powerful army in the world.” I sat back up, flexing my fingers to confirm I could move again. “They’re a threat to everyone. Don’t underestimate them.”

  “I’m not underestimating anyone,” he said. “I’m simply stating the truth. Or have you already forgotten that I can see all possible futures?”

  He was right. I’d gotten so angry about the Faerie Games that I hadn’t taken that piece of information into account.

  But I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of admitting it.

  “You claim you want what’s best for me,” I repeated, and he nodded. “Does that mean that in all possible futures, I’ll win the Faerie Games if I’m chosen to play? Is that why you want to nominate me?”

  “I already told you.” He sighed and massaged his temple. “I don’t like to tell anyone what I’ve seen of the future. It never ends well.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “You just avoided answering my question.”

  “I did,” he said, dropping his hand back to his side. “But you need to trust me, and trust my gift. The future will always be a better place if you’re nominated for the Games than if you’re not. If I don’t nominate you tomorrow—”

  “The nominations are tomorrow?”

  “They are,” he said. “And the Games start immediately afterward.”

  Crap. That didn’t leave me a lot of time to talk my way out of this, or for my parents to rescue me.

  Panic squeezed my lungs.

  I never should have drunk Torrence’s transformation potion.

  “I’m not ready,” I said, desperate now. “At least give me time to get ready. You said the Games happen every year. Can’t you wait to nominate me until next year’s Games?”

  By then, hopefully I’d have figured out a way to hightail it out of there.

  “That’s not an option,” he said. “I’ll be nominating you tomorrow.”

  “Is there anything I can do or say to change your mind?” It sounded pathetic when spoken out loud. But since he couldn’t lie, I needed to know the answer.

  “No,” he said, and with that single word, I felt my fate seal into place. “But I will tell you this, and nothing more. Trust yourself and your instincts. Do that, and you’ll have the best chance at winning the Games.”

  15

  Torrence

  Not being able to use my powers in front of anyone while I was pretending to be Selena was ridiculously hard. But I managed.

  Barely.

  I was playing a game of soccer—witches against shifters—when the Earth Angel teleported into the center of the field. She caught the ball right after I’d given it a hard kick in the air, stopping it from making a goal.

  Everyone stopped playing at the sight of her.

  She looked at me oddly, and I immediately knew why. Selena didn’t like sports, let alone play them for fun. Yet there I was, playing front and center, having a total blast.

  Oops.

  The Earth Angel tossed the ball toward the nearest person—the hot mage, Reed.

  He caught it easily.

  “Selena,” the Earth Angel said, looking straight at me with her golden eyes. Even though she was my best friend’s mom, she still intimidated me. Angels and Nephilim tended to have that effect on people. “I need to speak with you. Come with me.” She walked over to me and held her hands out.

  I looked at her hands strangely and almost asked where we were going. Then I remembered—since Selena had no magic, she couldn’t teleport herself. It usually didn’t matter on Avalon, since we were discouraged from teleporting unless absolutely necessary. It was expected that we save our magic, and get the exercise.

  Whatever was going on, it was clearly important.

  Had Selena and I been caught? I hoped not. She’d never forgive me. Well, she would forgive me—she always did. But it was going to take a lot of groveling.

  “All right,” I said, reaching out to take the Earth Angel’s hands.

  She teleported us off the soccer field and into the private quarters she shared with Prince Jacen.

  Selena’s dad was pacing around so much that he could have worn down the Turkish rug. He stilled when we arrived and loo
ked at me, worry shining in his strange silver eyes.

  The Earth Angel was by his side in an instant. Now that her guard wasn’t up, I saw that she was worried, too.

  That was somewhat good, right? If they’d found out about the swap, they’d be angry. Not worried.

  This had to be about something else. Something totally unrelated to Selena out there in California pretending to be me.

  “There’s no easy way to say this, and we wanted you to hear it from us first,” Jacen started. “So I’m just going to get on with it. Torrence is missing.”

  I looked back and forth between them in shock. This had to be a joke.

  But their solemn expressions remained the same.

  “What do you mean, she’s missing?” I finally managed to say.

  “Her mom called soon after waking up this morning,” the Earth Angel said. “She went to wake Torrence up for breakfast, and she was gone. At first she thought perhaps Torrence had come back to Avalon early without saying good-bye, but her stuff was still in her room. And Torrence is nowhere to be found on Avalon.”

  “She can’t just be gone,” I sputtered, panic coursing through me. “Can’t my mo—“ I almost said my mom, but stopped myself. “Can’t Amber do a tracking spell to find her?”

  “She tried.” Pity shined in the Earth Angel’s golden eyes. “The spell found nothing.”

  I swallowed, overrun with so much horror that I needed to sit down in one of the armchairs surrounding the fireplace. Because if my mom couldn’t track her, that meant one of two things.

  Either someone was using a cloaking spell to keep her location hidden.

  Or she was dead.

  But no. That wasn’t right.

  Because they were searching for me. Tracking spells weren’t fooled by transformation potion. It was impossible to locate Avalon, let alone track anyone on the island. Since I’d been on Avalon this entire time, of course the tracking spells resulted in nothing.

  They needed to be searching for Selena.

  Which meant I needed to tell her parents the truth.

  “I think you guys should sit down.” I held onto the arms of the chair, bracing myself for whatever was to come. “Because I have something important to tell you. And you’re not going to like it.”

  16

  Torrence

  I was right.

  Selena’s parents were pissed off.

  They didn’t even yell at me, which was the scariest part. They just looked at each other in fear and walked into the bedroom of their quarters, telling me to stay where I was before slamming the door shut.

  There must have been a sound barrier spell around their bedroom, because I couldn’t hear a word they said in there. I chewed on my thumbnails as I waited. That was a habit of mine, not Selena’s. But now that the cat was out of the bag, there was no need to hide my habits anymore.

  Finally, after what felt like forever, Prince Jacen and the Earth Angel emerged from their room. But now, the three mages—Dahlia, Violet, and Iris—were with them.

  As always, the mages wore floor-length medieval gowns. They were the only ones on Avalon who dressed formally every day. The rest of us preferred casual, comfortable clothes. Even the Earth Angel and Prince Jacen.

  “Torrence,” Dahlia said, looking me over uneasily. “I trust you created an antidote pill?”

  “Of course I did.” Witchcraft 101 said to always create antidote pills for every potion created.

  “Fetch it, bring it back here, and take it,” she said. “As quickly as possible. It’ll be best for everyone present to have you in this conversation in your true form.”

  I teleported into the manor house, rushed inside the female witch dormitory, and reached into the underside of my pillowcase. The antidote pill was just where I’d left it.

  Pill in hand, I teleported back into Prince Jacen and the Earth Angel’s quarters. Well, I tried teleporting back inside. Just like in the manor house, there was a privacy barrier spell around their quarters. So I ended up outside their door.

  I knocked and was ushered back inside by Dahlia.

  “You got it?” she asked.

  I opened my palm, showing her the red antidote pill. Then I popped it in my mouth and chewed.

  Like all antidote pills, it was chalky and hard to swallow. But I forced it down. I watched my hands shimmer in front of me, and seconds later, I was back in my true form. My black Avalon Academy jumpsuit changed shape with me.

  The Earth Angel looked at me, her golden eyes harsh with anger. “Take a seat,” she said, motioning to the sitting area in front of the fireplace.

  I situated myself in one of the armchairs again. The three mages all sat in the larger sofa together, and Prince Jacen and the Earth Angel took the loveseat across from me.

  “Selena’s life is in danger with every passing second, so we don’t have much time,” the Earth Angel began. “Bella’s been informed about the situation and is doing a tracking spell to find her. Because of a blood oath that was made, Jacen, Dahlia, Violet, and I cannot tell you why Selena’s in danger.”

  “What kind of blood oath?” I asked, looking suspiciously between all of them.

  “One that was made on the night of Selena’s birth,” Iris said. She sat closest to me, and as always, she wore a green gown. “But I wasn’t in the room when the blood oath was made. Thus, I’m not bound to it.”

  “So you can tell me what it is?”

  “I don’t know all the details, as they’ve been withheld from me because of the blood oath,” she began. “But over the years, I’ve pieced things together and realized what must have happened on my own.”

  “Selena’s biological mother went into labor on the night of Prince Jacen and the Earth Angel’s wedding,” I said what everyone already knew. “She died giving birth and entrusted Selena to Prince Jacen and the Earth Angel’s care. What else is there to know?”

  From the pained look on the faces of everyone in the room with me, I guessed there was a lot more to know.

  “Selena’s biological mother—Camelia—was only permitted to live on Avalon because she was pregnant and her baby needed to be kept safe,” Iris started. “You see, she’d made a deal with the fae. She’d promised them her firstborn child. But she didn’t want them to have that child. So there was only one place she could go where the fae couldn’t find her.”

  “Avalon,” I said.

  “Correct.” Iris nodded. “She died giving birth to Selena and entrusted her to Prince Jacen and the Earth Angel’s care, as is public knowledge. But there are… peculiarities with Selena’s magic.”

  “Selena doesn’t have any magic,” I said. “She wants to have it, and she tries, but…” I paused and shrugged. Because as much as I wanted Selena to learn to harness the magic she said she felt, the fact that she still hadn’t managed even the simplest spell was a bad sign.

  I’d always figured that her biological father must have barely carried any witch genes at all.

  “She does have magic,” Iris said. “But the descriptions she gives of the magic she feels inside of her isn’t witch magic. It’s faerie magic.”

  “Selena’s biological parents are witches,” I said. “How can she have faerie magic?”

  “Because Selena’s biological father isn’t a witch,” she said. “He’s a faerie.”

  I looked at her in shock. This couldn’t be true. It didn’t add up.

  “When Camelia went to the crossroads to make a deal with the fae, she didn’t only promise her first born,” Iris continued. “She also conceived a child with the fae who made the deal with her.”

  “But faeries are stronger than witches and mages,” I said. “So if Selena’s half fae, why can’t she do magic?”

  “I’m getting to that part.” Iris held out her hands, as if she were telling me to stop talking and start listening. “You see, all of us in this room knew the truth of Selena’s heritage. But after Selena’s birth, none of them would talk about it. It didn’t take me long to realize
why. When they were all in Camelia’s chambers helping Camelia give birth, Camelia must have bound them to an oath of silence. But she must have been so feverish with blood loss that she didn’t remember there was one more person who knew the truth of Selena’s parentage, who wasn’t in that room with them. Me.” She squared her shoulders, smiling proudly.

  “Why weren’t you in the room with them that night?” I asked.

  “Camelia went into labor in the middle of Prince Jacen and the Earth Angel’s wedding,” she explained. “Someone had to oversee the ending of the celebration and keep the rest of the citizens of Avalon in line and happy. The job was mine.”

  “So you weren’t bound to the blood oath,” I said, and she nodded. “So why didn’t you tell Selena the truth? Why keep this from her for all those years? Do you know how much she’d kill to know she has magic?”

  “I didn’t tell her because she doesn’t have magic,” she said sadly. “At least, not magic she can access.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It took me a while to figure out, but after a few years of observing Selena as she grew up, I realized what must have happened,” she said. “Camelia knew she was dying. As you know, a witch can perform extraordinarily strong magic if they put their entire force behind it, although it will cost them their lives.”

  “A Final Spell.” I stared at her in shock.

  Final Spells tended to be cast in one of two situations. Either an extreme sacrifice, or when a witch knew they were about to die.

  My mouth dropped open as I put the pieces together. “Camelia used her Final Spell on Selena.”

  17

  Torrence

  “Yes.” Iris nodded. “Camelia used her Final Spell to bind Selena’s faerie magic. I tried my hardest to figure out how to unbind it, but nothing worked. Selena will never be able to access her faerie magic. I feared telling her would only cause her frustration—and potential danger if she tried to get her faerie magic unbound on her own. So I said nothing.”