I snapped my eyes open, feeling my heart jump for moment. Amy was okay. She’d escaped and was probably heading toward the Agency right now. She was with… another human? Another faery? His appearance had wavered in my head, and I decided he was a faery disguised as a human. Was he holding Amy prisoner? Who was that guy?
Sitting up, I barely missed banging my head on edge of the top bunk, hunching down just in time to avoid slamming into the metal. Rubbing my face, I let my mind focus on the present and rolled the dream over in my mind again. There weren’t many clues, just that Amy was still in the forest but far from the faery clan. Maybe, I hoped, she was almost home. It had been night in the dream, so maybe it had been after the attack.
If only I could grasp onto her mind some more, but it was sketchy and murky, like I was seeing it all through flashes of someone else’s dementia. I hated the disconnect which probably came from the interference of the faery clan’s magic on Amy’s mind.
Regardless, if she was on her way back, I had to ready the Agency. If she appeared as a faery, she was in danger. And her friend… the guy. What about him?
I shook my head. I would ring his neck if he’d had anything to do with imprisoning Amy. He was obviously a faery, but why was he with her, and what would he do when she returned home?
Almost in answer to my question, the alarms began to blare loudly and flash their lights. I shoved on my boots and tucked in my shirt, glad I hadn’t fully undressed to sleep. It was a habit I’d acquired in the military. Be ready. Always. Even if you’re going to be out for the night.
Heading out into the hall to look for Jay, I ran right into Tinker.
“Hey, man.” I tapped the guy on the shoulder and gave him a questioning gesture. “What’s going on?”
“There’re two figures at one of the entrances, punching in Amy’s code. It was changed after she was snatched, just in case, but it might be her trying to enter the building. Come on, it’ll be a good idea for you to come see if it’s her.”
I nodded. “Where’s Jay?”
“He’s already downstairs.”
I followed the tech expert down the stairs to get to the first floor. The elevators were fast, but never as fast as jumping down the stairs two at a time. Once we arrived at the bottom floor, we found a crowd waiting at the door, guns pointed at a pair of people standing with their hands up in the air just outside the entrance.
“Put your hands up! Don’t move!” the team leader commanded them. The pair did as they were told, and I watched helplessly as two soldiers approached them with handcuffs and a neck cuff lightly laced in iron. They were designed to keep faeries from using any magic but did not burn their skin. They were just toxic enough to keep them subdued. I strained to focus on the faces of the two strangers as the officers twisted their arms behind them and clamped the shackles around their wrists and necks. It was Amy. She was letting them restrain her, and she wasn’t alone.
Chapter Fourteen
* * *
Amy
“Hands up!”
Seconds after I rang the rear doorbell to request entry into the Wicked Grove Supernatural Regulatory Agency building, we were pressed against the wall with our arms in the air and dozens of guns pointed at our noses. My code had been declined, and I’d had no choice but to ring the bell and be surrounded by a bunch of guards. I motioned to Atieran to do as told and allowed the team to grab us, place iron gauntlets on us and escort us inside.
The iron stung. It wasn’t agonizing and didn’t burn into our skin, but wearing them was annoying as all hell and left my skin feeling prickly and heated, like an itch I couldn’t scratch.
“Get me Craig and Jay Rollings. They’ll know what to do with us,” I demanded.
“We know who you are. The question is, who’s your pal?” One of the guards pointed his rifle toward Atieran.
I turned toward Atieran, who had shed his glamor and stood there in all his faery glory. He had no qualms about being half naked, with just a leafy loincloth to cover his bits. I, on the other hand, peered down in horror to realize my goods were barely covered by leaves too, with skin showing in splotches of normal human skin and patches of green. I guessed my humanity was returning faster than I had expected. The iron helped.
“He’s Atieran. He’s a prince from the faery tribe holding me captive. He helped me escape. Please, don’t hurt him!”
A soldier shoved at Atieran, who tripped and fell to his knees. Not patient enough to help him back to his feet, the soldier smacked him with the butt of his rifle.
“No! Leave him alone!” I screamed, afraid they would kill him before we were transitioned back.
“What’s going on here?” One of my brothers pushed his way through the group and stared at us, running his eyes over Atieran before flicking them back toward me. “Amy? Is that really you?”
“Oh, thank God. Yes! Help us. They’re hurting Atieran. He helped me escape.”
I stared at my brother, his face familiar and his voice even more so, but his name eluded me. Hadn’t I just said their names a moment ago? I panicked. My mind was still cloudy. What if it stayed this way?
“Amy? It’s me, Craig.” He hesitated before stepping closer. “It’s really you, isn’t it?” His eyes narrowed, but recognition sparked within them.
“Amy? Yes, that sounds right.” I let the name swish around in my head before glancing back at Atieran, who was on his feet again, his knees scraped up but in otherwise good condition. Once Craig had showed up, they’d stopped roughing him up. When I returned to my human state, I would take note of the soldier who’d beat on him and have words. Firm words.
“Come on, we have to take you to decontaminate. You know what that entails, right?” Craig turned toward my other brother, who had just joined him. Jay! His name was Jay! I remembered!
I nodded in answer to Craig’s question, swallowing because I vaguely remembered that iron had a lot to do with it. I turned toward Atieran, wishing I could reach out to him. “I understand. Please be careful with Atieran. He remembers his human life more than any of the other faeries, but he’s been one for so long, I don’t know if he’ll tolerate the process as well.”
Craig nodded and peered at the faery prince. “We’ll take all the precautions we can, but we need to separate you two. I’ll make sure he is treated with respect.” He glared at the soldiers who’d initially taken us in, his threat hanging in the air. They lowered their eyes and began moving forward, urging Atieran to move without looking at Craig.
At least he’d be treated well now. I had the guarantee of my brothers.
Craig and Jay were their names, and I was Amy. I repeated this in my head as I let them take me to a chamber deep in the basement of the Agency.
“Okay,” Craig said, “this is the iron room. I hope you remember what it is, because things are about to get a whole lot more uncomfortable for you. Once we put you in there, it’s going to feel like you’re dying.”
I inhaled sharply before throwing him a small nod. He opened the door and led me in while I held my breath for as long as I could. The room had white padded walls with cameras in the upper corners. I knew that once I took a breath, everything would start to burn, and I’d want to run screaming from that place. I had to be ready even though there was no amount of preparation that could help with what was to come. I could already feel the iron’s effects on my skin, like the sun beaming down onto it.
“Okay, Amy. It takes a couple of days. We’ll bring you food and drink, but try to get some sleep. It’s better if you sleep through it. Here.” Craig held out a blue pill and a cup of water another operative had just handed him. I guessed they figured I’d respond better to my sibling than a stranger. They were so correct in that assumption. “It’ll help you sleep through the transition. I suggest you take it. The transition will be… disturbing.”
I nodded and swiftly snatched the pill from his hand, tossed it back and reached out for the water. After swallowing, I inhaled a quick, shallow breath. The bu
rn of the iron-infused air made it feel like I was standing over a volcano, sucking in fumes.
“Oh, my god!” I coughed, clutching my throat. “I hope it starts working fast.”
He nodded and placed a hand on my shoulder, his concern flowing out from him. “Give the pill five minutes to take effect. Just try to relax and lie down for a bit.”
He turned away and headed out the door, followed by Jay and the other operatives. They locked the door behind them, leaving me alone. Great. Atieran and I were going to bear the brunt of the transition alone. I wished more than anything that he was there with me, even though we’d be suffering instead of conversing.
Clearing my throat, I took Craig’s advice and sat on the floor, for there was no bed provided, just the softness of the padded walls and floor. The iron seeped over my skin and down my throat, charring my insides as I gasped. Another breath, and my stomach tilted, making it feel like the room was beginning to turn with it.
I can do this, I thought to myself. Just a few more minutes. Breathe.
I coughed, sputtering with the drool forming in my mouth. Swallowing it down, I reached for a pillow on the floor. There were no seams on it and it didn’t move, for it was sewn to the padded floor. Great. So, suicide prevention was on the table too. I lay back onto the soft puff and squeezed my eyes closed, counting down the seconds as they ticked by.
Sixty, fifty-nine, fifty-eight, fifty-seven… breathe….
I sat up, clutching my throat again, and screaming as my lips and nostrils burned. Horrified, I stared at my skin as it sizzled, bubbling from the fumes.
“Help! Make it stop!” I screamed at the door, unable to get to my feet from the agony rolling through me. I bent forward, dry heaving. My hair follicles burned, as did every pore in my body. I lay back down, writhing from the pain.
They were pumping iron mist into the room from the vents. My lungs were on fire. I suddenly wished I had just died instead of returning to the Agency. Curling up, I let the tears squeeze from my eyes and drip onto the pillow, soaking my hair, which was now turning back to normal human strands.
Would this be worth it?
Was Atieran experiencing the same thing as I was, or was it worse? I squeezed my eyes shut, heaving phlegm onto the ground next to me. What if it was much worse for him? Oh, god, what if it killed him? I prayed it didn’t.
“Stop!” I screeched into the empty room, glaring at the cameras watching my plight with their silent, judgmental eyes. I wanted to jump up and tear them from the ceiling but couldn’t muster enough energy to even get to my knees.
I was going to die there, alone. Pathetically alone. Why couldn’t they have left me with Atieran? At least then we could’ve held each other as we burned to death. I sobbed into my arm, the dark green viney skin flaking off as I rubbed it with my face. I wanted to rip off my limbs. I rubbed furiously at my arms. It only sent more flakes of burnt skin off, floating into the air around me like a snake had gone to town shedding its skin.
Then, as suddenly as it had enveloped me, the pain ebbed away, like the tide pulling from the shore, fading as the medicine began to work. I lay back down, heaving deep breaths into my body which no longer burned even though I could still see that the iron was eating through my faery shell. Closing my eyes, I let my mind drift away deep into a place where I could hide and there was no pain.
That’s some good stuff, was the last thought floating through my mind before the room faded away and my eyes lazily closed.
Chapter Fifteen
* * *
Jay
Digging my fingers into my palms, I paced the room as Craig reached over toward the intercom and muted it, effectively cutting off Amy’s screams. My skin prickled as the hairs on my arms stood on end, as though the room was filled with static electricity. From Craig’s pale complexion, I could tell he was feeling the exact same way.
“How long does she have to be in there again?” he asked Jessie, the technician seated at the monitor watching her thrash about the room until the sedative took effect. It was the longest five minutes of our lives, and watching her agitation as she clawed at the padded walls and floor was akin to torture.
“She must remain in the iron room for at least three days and then be observed for any manifestations of the faery transformation.”
“Manifestations?”
The technician refused to look at us and instead wrote her observations in a log. “If she can’t overcome the faery magic, she’ll have to remain in the iron room for at least a month,” she finally said.
“A month? She can’t be out of commission that long. We need her to capture this tribe that’s causing so many problems.”
“I’m sorry. That’s the protocol. Three days, and if there’s no response, then a whole month.”
“Dammit!” I slammed my hand against the brick wall. Craig winced, probably thinking I might’ve hurt myself. “I can’t watch this.”
I turned away to leave the room while Craig continued to observe. Feeling the knot in my gut tighten, I glanced back at the monitors before exiting, sighing and deciding there wasn’t much more I could do for Amy. Luckily, precisely at that moment, Amy collapsed to the floor and drifted off to sleep. Relief flooded my senses, and I felt just as exhausted as my sister looked. The three of us were so in tune with one another, I wouldn’t doubt I’d find Craig sprawled across one of the bunks upstairs in a few minutes too.
“Hey, Jesse,” I called out to the technician from the doorway, “can you please call me on my cell if there are any changes? I’ll be in the sleeping quarters.”
The tech turned and nodded, watching me as I exited the room.
Everyone’s eyes were on the “triplets” now. With one of us in the iron room, the rumors were going to be flying across the Agency that maybe, just maybe, the three of us were finally defeated and our streak of good luck had run out.
I turned and headed out of the monitoring room and down the hall.
“Hey, wait up!” Craig called out as he jogged to catch up with me. “Want to check in on Ridley with me before heading to the bunks?”
“I don’t know. I’m pretty beat.”
“Yeah, me too. Maybe I’ll go later. She’s been resting anyway.”
We walked in silence to the locker room and adjoining sleeping quarters. Once there, Craig slid down to sit on the bunk opposite mine, rubbing his face. The exhaustion plaguing his bones showed in the five o’clock shadow along his jawline and the bags under his eyes. I sighed, lying back on my bunk and hoping Amy slept most of the time away in her prison. I’d have to see how she was holding up when I awoke. She was tough, always the one to keep her chin up when things got sour; this should be no different.
And what of the faery she’d brought with her? Craig had not assessed him to see how he had dealt with the iron room he was being held in. Whatever his story was, there had to be something important about him to be able to help Amy escape. Craig mentioned the faery clan might retaliate for the missing faery. If the fae was important, detaining him could cause a war. We’d have to question the guy once the initial severe effects of the iron poisoning wore off. If he survived the transition back to human, that was.
Sometimes it took days. Sometimes just hours. There was no telling how long it’d take with a fully assimilated faery. Amy was still in her transition phase, the part where she could easily be returned to her human self. Nothing mattered more than getting our sister back into fighting condition. Maybe she could help us understand the fae more or even help us defeat the clan now that she knew the inner workings of the tribe. Maybe the interrogators could coax answers out of the male fae too.
Craig swung his legs up after tossing off his boots and lay on top of his blanket. There would be no going home that night or any time soon. Not with Amy and Ridley recovering from their ordeals. We were stuck there for the time being. Might as well get comfortable.
He placed a hand over his eyes to block what remained of the dim lights shining in from the l
ocker room. It was enough to annoy him, but I watched him do his best to ignore it. At least most of the agents went home at night. Only a few used the headquarters to nap or sleep the evenings before the nightshifts. At the moment, it was just us there.
“How’s Ridley?” I asked.
Craig turned toward me, leaning on his arm after lumping the thin military-issue blanket under his chin. He sighed before he closed his eyes once more. “She’ll live. The antidote is working. She hasn’t yet regained consciousness though. Maybe by tomorrow.”
“That’s good.” I yawned, turning in my bunk to face him. “We did a bang-up recovery job today, didn’t we? I knew it wouldn’t end well.”
Craig nodded, frowning as he thought things over. Our intuition worked at odd times, but I could tell he’d felt the apprehension about the mission too. We’d both failed to act on our gut feelings, but at least he wasn’t the only one who’d been privy to the sensation. It didn’t matter. No matter what happened, the outcome always remained the same. Nothing ever changed in our precognitions, but Amy was the factor that usually told us if things would happen or not. Without her, our own predictions were usually moot. She usually confirmed if something would happen or not.
If only our powers worked when we really needed them to. No one had guessed Amy would be taken by the faery clan or that their powers had grown to adapt against ours. Who could’ve guessed that?
“Yeah. Next time we need to go in with a larger force, more weapons, a more defined plan. They almost slaughtered us out there. If not for Ridley and Tinker, we’d be faery toast right now.” Craig groaned, covering his eyes with his opposite arm. Soon, he’d pounce out of bed to shut off all the lights in the locker room. I knew how he could be when things irritated him.
“But we’re not, so there’s that. I say we just wipe them out. Wicked Grove would love to expand. Why not clear the forest and the damn faeries all at the same time? Two birds, one stone kind of thing.”