The Overt Operation (Department of FAE Book 2)

by Renee Greene

  “What do we do?” Vanessa asked as she sat in the cage with her knees up and her arms around them, looking very insecure. “What do we do?”

  “I don’t know,” Dylan admitted. “We’re beaten, literally. I doubt I can even walk. You can’t get out of the cage to heal me. There is nothing we can do. Perhaps Bryan can come and save us. He is powerful. I can do nothing.”

  “You can,” she assured him. “Tell me how to get out of here. Surely you know something of locks. Did they teach you to pick them when you trained at the department?”

  “Barely,” he answered. “I spent an afternoon on it, but I’m not any good, and I’d need a good lock pick set. I’m a bodyguard.”

  Her gentle voice was soothing with the pain he was in. “Who do you protect?” she asked. “Doesn’t your department work with fairies? There aren’t other fairy worlds, are there? People can’t pass through the arch for you to protect.”

  “Our department does a little more than it claims,” Dylan explained. “We use what little magic we have from this world to help the police, so I’ve protected witnesses. I’ve also had to protect scientists before. There are people who would love to get their hands on the research our department does.”

  “Apparently even inside your department,” Vanessa pointed out. She reached her hand through the bars of the cage but couldn’t get her shoulder through. “I’m not strong enough to bend these, but if you got loose, you could. Is your strength returning from the tengai? Can you break the ropes? You did before.”

  “I’m not sure,” Dylan admitted. “I am too weak from the beating to know what my strength would be if I was well. And no, I can’t break the ropes. Even at my best, I shouldn’t have been able to do that. That was an adrenaline surge from seeing them clipping your wings.” He hung his head and added, “I’m sorry. I failed you. I promised your father I would not let anyone harm you, and I failed.”

  “No,” she corrected. “You didn’t fail me. You fought three high elves to try to protect me. Then you broke your ropes and kept them from doing more than two clips, even though you knew they would punish you. You are my hero. You are the best boyfriend a girl could dream of.”

  He lifted his head to look at her. She was holding her hand out to him and gazing at him. “I’m fine,” she assured him. “Pixies heal well. Yes, that hurt, and my wings still hurt, but it’s manageable, and I will be fine. Now, be the hero that I know you are and find a way out of those ropes. I know you can do it. You may not be able to break them in your condition, but you are smart. Now, be the guy I have fallen in love with and get us out of here.”

  He startled. Did she just say what he thought she did? He looked into her eyes with more determination. He had to get her out. His shoulders were in pain, but he looked up at the ropes binding his hands. They were hooked on a hook above his head. He tried for a minute to rub the ropes through on the metal hook, but since the hook was not anchored in place but chained above, it just moved with him as he moved his hands. That wouldn’t work.

  He next tried swaying forward and backward to get the hook swinging. It was hard to push off with his feet, as they barely could touch the ground, but when he got the hook swinging enough that he could kick the wall, he did. Soon the chain with the hook was swinging enough that it came to a high enough angle that he could twist and slip his bound hands off of it. He was flung to the floor and hit it hard, as he really couldn’t break his fall. He lay on the floor in pain for a moment.

  “That was amazing,” Vanessa whispered, worried they would be heard, even though there was no guard. “Can you untie your hands?”

  He force himself up and walked over to her cage. It hurt to even move, but he needed her. When he reached the cage, he moved as close as he could and asked, “Can you kiss me through the bars?”

  It wasn’t the most romantic way for them to kiss, but she was still happy to do it. She had him turn around and rubbed her hand through the bars onto his back. It took time, but there were still hours until morning.

  She could not fully heal him while caged, but he did become more coherent and much less in pain. His back still had stripes, and he was still bruised and had a black eye, but he could function.

  He immediately went over and started rubbing the rope around his wrists on the top edge of the wooden table in the room. When he had worn the ropes enough, he took a breath and pulled, breaking the ropes.

  He next went over to the cage Vanessa was in. He pulled on the bars and bent them slightly, but not enough. In a panic situation, he might have been able to bend them, but the adrenaline surge wasn’t there. Sure he was anxious and scared, but not in the same state of panic as when he broke the ropes before.

  He looked around the room. It would have been really nice if the key to the cage and the key to the door were hanging on a peg by the door. That’s how it always works in movies or books, but they had no such luck. The guards had taken the keys.

  Dylan looked around the room. There weren’t keys, but there were implements to torture people with. He picked up the whip that was used against him, but it would be no help. Then he noticed a metal spike. He could imagine what that was used for. He went over to the door to the cage and used the spike to hammer out the pins in the hinges. Once he succeeded, he took the door off and let Vanessa out.

  “How do we get out?” she asked. “Can you take the door hinges off of that door?” She pointed to the door out.

  “I don’t know,” he answered. “They are bigger and stronger hinges, so I doubt it. I will try, but first things first. I really need more healing.”

  She could see that, and could have started by rubbing his back and chest, but instead she kissed him. After all, he was her boyfriend. He didn’t complain at all about the kisses.

  They kissed for a few minutes, and he was feeling much better. Yet, he didn’t immediately go to the door. “Thanks for healing me,” he told her. “I wish I could heal you. Your wings have to hurt.”

  “They do,” Vanessa admitted. “Honestly, I can’t fly right now. I don’t even have the strength to change size.”

  “But you healed me anyway,” Dylan noted. “You are an amazing girlfriend. Can I give you a kiss, one that isn’t to heal, just because I want to?”

  There was no need to answer. He gave her the kiss, and it was beautiful, so hopeful after all they’d been through.

  They hugged for a few moments afterward, then Dylan suggested, “We need to go. I’d like to get out of here before the guards come in the morning and I have to fight them to get us out. They are high elves, so they have much faster reflexes than I do. I’ll take a beating even if I do succeed, and likely I’d fail. I really think they’d be upset and do worse to us if we fail to escape.”

  That was a horrible thought. Vanessa tensed. How could they do worse? She’d had her wings clipped. He’d been beaten. What could be worse? She didn’t ask, as Dylan might just answer. “Let’s go,” she agreed.

  As they walked to the door, Dylan found a knife and put it on his belt. It would do little good against a high elf with a sword, but it beat nothing.

  The door would not open, and the lock and hinges were on the outside. Likely the door would be barred too. “We’re trapped!” Vanessa panicked.

  Dylan took her hand and assured her, “We’ve gotten this far. I’m not giving up now.”

  He went over to the small air vent. It had bars on it, bars close enough together to keep a small pixie from flying out. “If I can break those, can you fly around and open the door?”

  “I don’t know,” Vanessa panicked. “It will likely be locked, not just bolted. I can’t break a lock, and I doubt the key will be sitting on a peg by the door.”

  Dylan nodded. That was true. “Do you know where Smari would be being kept?”

  “I don’t,” Vanessa answered. “Likely another dungeon. Is there more than one?”

  “I’ve never been here before,” Dylan pointed out. “I have no idea.”

  They couldn’
t get out, so they tried to sleep for a few hours before the guards came.

  They only slept about two or three hours, as they needed to be awake way before the guards arrived.

  When the first guard came down the steps, the moment the door opened, Vanessa spun around releasing fairy dust to blind him in light for a moment while Dylan grabbed him from behind and held a knife to his throat.

  “Don’t move!” Dylan warned. “You may have better dexterity than me, but it takes little to slit your throat.”

  The guard started to call out for help, but Dylan pulled the knife closer to his throat, so he became instantly silent, knowing Dylan very well might kill him, as the guard was one of the men who had beaten Dylan the day before.

  Dylan debated using him as a hostage, but instead decided to push him in the dungeon while he and Vanessa ran out of the door and barred it. He was so thankful that fairy castles didn’t have alarm systems.

  They hurried up the stairs. Dylan was panicked, but tried hard not to show it and panic Vanessa more. His half thought-out idea had so many places it could go wrong.

  They moved carefully down the hall and hid in a boudoir. A lady in the room started to scream, but Dylan grabbed her mouth to silence her. “I am sorry,” he apologized. “I mean you no harm. I am from the human world and have been captured and am trying to escape.”

  “I am Elanil, handmade to the princess,” the lady explained when he let go of her. “How can I help you?”

  “Hide us,” Dylan pleaded, “and we need answers. Do you know where Princess Smari is being held?”

  “I do,” she answered. “She is locked in a room and under guard. I can get in to see her if it will help.”

  Dylan looked at her for a moment. Could he trust her? Sure, she looked innocent enough. Honestly, she looked beautiful. She was almost his height, but thin like an elf and incredibly beautiful with a very dignified, yet humble, look to her. He really had no choice but to trust her. Perhaps she was loyal to King Dakarai and knew nothing of Fardoragh’s treasonous acts against him.

  They heard guards coming down the hall, looking for the escaped prisoners. “Quick, hide in the wardrobe,” Elanil suggested.

  Could he trust her? Likely not. Yet, there was little other option. He took Vanessa’s hand and stepped into the wardrobe with her. His heart raced as Elanil shut the door. What if she was about to tell the guards they were trapped in the wardrobe?

  Vanessa hugged Dylan tightly, tucked her wings against her back so they would fit in among the clothes, and buried her face in his chest. He put his arms around her. She was terrified, but still felt so secure that he would protect her. There was no place she’d rather be in a terrifying situation than in his arms.

  They listened as the guards came to the door and banged on it. Elanil opened the door and politely answered it. When asked if she had seen the human male and pixie from the human world, she responded, “I would love to. If you find them, I want to meet them.” She pointed around the room and offered, “If you want to look for them, you may, although the princess is coming in to change into her day dress soon, so that might be embarrassing.”

  The guards looked around the room but did not do more than look. They then proceeded down the hall.

  Dylan sighed in relief. Elanil hadn’t turned them in. When he and Vanessa stepped out of the wardrobe, Dylan thanked her, then asked, “Can you help us free Princess Smari?”

  Elanil tensed and explained, “I’d like to, but if I do, I could upset the princess or Fardoragh. Dakarai is a good man, and his son Lindir is incredible, but Fardoragh could have me killed without getting permission.”

  Vanessa smiled when she saw how Elanil lit up at the mention of Lindir’s name. Yet, everyone knew that Lindir was betrothed to Princess Lilian.

  Elanil debated what to do for a moment, then stepped up to Dylan and offered, “I will help you, but you must promise protection for me. I am but a handmaid with little power or significance. If I help you, take me with you.”

  “Do you mean to King Giles’s castle or to my world?” Dylan asked. “I cannot take you to my world.”

  “King Giles’s castle will be fine,” Elanil agreed. She blushed and admitted, “I’d love to go to your world, but right now, I merely want to get somewhere safe. I know far too much of what Fardoragh has done and what he plans on doing. People don’t really watch what they say when servants are around.”

  “You may come with us,” Dylan replied, “but I cannot promise that I will be a good protector. I already failed Vanessa, and she had her wings clipped. I cannot keep up with the speed of a high elf. My strength is coming back, but I do not have your speed.”

  “I can help strengthen you more,” Vanessa offered, and she walked over and kissed him.

  “Are the two of you betrothed?” Elanil asked, noting their feelings were more than tactical.

  “No,” Dylan answered, “but she is my girlfriend. In your world that may be close to betrothed.”

  Elanil smiled at them and told them that they made a beautiful couple.

  They took a few minutes to plan. Ideally, they could have Elanil get a guard uniform for Dylan and let him just walk in and take Smari out, but that would not work. Dylan was far too broad shouldered to fit in Elven clothing, and his lack of pointed ears would be a dead give-away that he was not a guard.

  Instead, Vanessa shrunk to six inches tall and flew around, trying to stay hidden. Dylan walked with Elanil, but would duck around corners if they saw someone. Elanil carried a platter with food on it from the princess’s room.

  When they neared the room Princess Smari was in, Dylan hid in a doorway while Elanil approached. “This is for the princess,” she told the guards. “Please, let me in.”

  “She just had breakfast half an hour ago,” one of the guards pointed out.

  “I don’t question,” Elanil pointed out. “I just do as I’m told, and I was told to bring this to Smari.”

  The guards looked at the food on the tray. Nothing looked suspicious, so they opened the door.

  When Elanil went in, Vanessa flew around the guards, sprinkling pixie dust, and lighting the area brightly enough so it was hard to see. Dylan took advantage of their distraction to sweep the legs of one as he elbowed him in the face and then turn and punch the other in the temple. The one he punched went unconscious. The one on the floor screamed, so Dylan kicked him unconscious too.

  “Hurry!” he called to Elanil and Smari.

  Smari and Elanil ran out the door. Smari was pretty, perhaps not stunningly gorgeous. She had brown hair with a white streak in it, a teardrop shaped face, and big, bold eyes. Her horns were very small, but she had them. She also had pointed ears, as the pure fauns did. She did not look to be a regal princess, but she seemed genuine and innocent. Dylan would have found her attractive if it wasn’t for her legs being like a satyr’s. Part-animal races were not appealing to him at all.

  “Quickly,” he urged. “Let’s go.”

  They all ran down the hall, expecting guards to come after them. They hid again in the boudoir they had been in before for a while as trouble passed. Once again, guards came to the door, and Elanil played dumb as the others hid in the wardrobe.

  When it was finally safe, they left the room, grabbed a sword from the armory for Dylan, and continued out of the palace.

  When they came outside, there was trouble. On a large platform that was likely used to address the people, Godric stood with Pyria and other guards. He was calling to the crowd of people around, “Find, the human male. Tell him he has thirty minutes to come save his fellow spy or she dies. We will make a trade, him for her.”

  Dylan looked over at Pyria. She had betrayed him. He could be killed because of her. Yet, it felt wrong to leave her. Perhaps there was more to the story than he thought. Besides, she was bound. Her tail was tied to her waist so she could not use her stinger. Her wings were tied down to her back. Her hands were tied behind her, and she looked beaten. He had to try to save her, but
he also had to protect Vanessa, Elanil, and Smari too. They were his first priority.

  “Can you get two horses?” Dylan asked Elanil. “It should not look suspicious, as it will appear one is for you and one for the princess.”

  “I can,” she assured him. She tensed and added, “Unless it is known that I have helped you. Then, I will be captured and killed as a traitor to Fardoragh. We need Dakarai back.”

  “Indeed,” Dylan agreed. “Yet, now, we must deal with this.” He told her to get the horses, and showed her where to hide with them with Smari and Vanessa.

  Vanessa was panicked that he was going to try to save Pyria. She knew him well enough to not try to talk him out of it, as that is what made him such a hero. Yet, she did insist that he allow her to strengthen him before the rescue as much as possible.

  It didn’t take much to get him to kiss her so she could enhance his strength and healing ability. In fact, he was quite eager to kiss her. She could feel his desperation in his kiss, and she tried to stay strong for him.

  “Come back alive,” she whispered in his ear as she embraced him afterward. “You are strong. You can do this. I believe in you.”

  “You be careful too,” he warned her, “and if I fail, ride back to King Giles. Your brother and father can protect you. You don’t need me.”

  She worried that he was saying that expecting to die. “I want you,” she assured him. “You are a hero. Now, come back alive.”

  He held her hand as long as he could before he walked off toward the crowd. Once he did, he tried not to look back and draw attention to them.

  A cloak would have been great so he would not be recognized walking through the crowd. Surely if people saw him, they would turn him in. Since he didn’t want to end up on the platform bound and with his sword removed, he went for a direct approach.

  His first problem was getting through the crowd. He walked over to a maiden who was holding the reigns of her horse while watching the ordeal.

  “May I use your horse?” he whispered, putting his finger over his lips to indicate to her not to reveal who he was.