In fact, you could almost say I was made of fire. I’d learned to throw fireballs, teaching myself the skill before my mother got her memory back enough to help me refine my skills. She’d turned out to be a drill sergeant about training me and my remaining siblings, Anna and James, on how to use our powers. I wondered if my older sister, Shade, who’d been in the Land of Faerie learning of her own magical heritage from her paternal grandmother, would learn enough to use her elemental powers as well as we now did. I hoped so. Shade could use all the help she could get in Faerie.
I stomped out of the room, feeling the slight shiver of the barrier ward that kept the room hidden from the rest of the basement. I shook it off as I made my way toward the stairs, up to the rest of the house to scavenge for a late dinner. I was famished. Studying was some seriously draining stuff, and my stomach was on a constant prowl for food and fuel, capable of emptying the fridge of every edible thing.
“Hey, Mom.” I passed her as I bee-lined for the fridge and jerked the door open, scanning the contents. “Starving.”
Mom shut the sink water off and dried her hands on kitchen towel as she crept up right next to me, reaching over my shoulder to point out a foil wrapped plate.
“Your dinner is under there. Heat it up yourself.”
She turned and headed out of the kitchen in a somber mood, but I just chalked it up to the stress of training us and shrugged as I watched her leave. I grabbed the plate and held my hands over the foil, forcing the heat into it. Food reheating was one of the first lessons Mom taught us. Really minor, I know, but we had to survive any way we could. It was a simple but vital lesson that could change my life. I knew that in the Land of Faerie, it would definitely come in handy. The wilderness out there was more primeval and unforgiving than anywhere else on earth. The fact that my sister Shade was out there winging it as she learned how to wrangle her own faery magic and fire powers kept all of us on edge. Especially my mother.
I shoveled the dinner down my throat before heading toward my room. I paused at the door to the basement, wondering if I should read some more about Uncle Brendan’s adventures before bed or give it a rest. I sighed, feeling the fatigue flex its achy fingers through my shoulders and neck. Who ever said magic made everything easy? I had twice the amount of homework now: school and magic lessons. There just weren’t enough hours left in the day for sleep, too. It was starting to catch up to me, to say the least.
“How long do you think Shade will be gone?”
I jerked my head around to find my younger sister, Anna, lingering in the doorway to her room, looking pensive. How’d she get so quiet moving about? Usually it was me freaking everyone else out with my stealth skills.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. She’s got a lot going on.”
Anna nodded. “I miss her. I wonder if she even wants to return.” She leaned on the doorframe, picking at the wrecked nail polish on her fingernails. One hand was clean of the polish while the other looked like she’d hammered the color off. The smell of nail polish wafted from her room, making me cringe.
“What are you doing in there, getting high off the paint fumes? Yeck.” I wrinkled my nose, and she stuck her tongue out at me, making a point to roll her eyes like she was five or something.
“I was doing my toenails. Can’t let the summer come on up and let my feet look like snarled tree bark.” She huffed and turned back into her room, where the sounds of the latest teen heartthrob songs were blaring from her stereo. The resonating boom of her door slamming left me there, rolling my eyes to no one.
Yeah, well. Whatever. I shook my head and headed to my room. Well, it wasn’t actually just my own room since I shared it with my little brother, James. The girls didn’t have to share. Shade, who was never there, had her own cave, which I was thoroughly eyeing to take over and boot her stuff out if she didn’t come back soon. I gave her silent door a stare down before slumping into my own room where James was out cold on his bed, curled up like a little snail under the mountain of his tangled comforter.
A dim lamp sat on the nightstand table situated between our beds. Its soft glow lit up the room in an ambient blue light. I sighed and grabbed my MP3 player, stuffed my earbuds in and flipped through the list of songs before settling on one with a relaxing, techno-electronic beat. I laid back on my rumpled sheets—I never make my bed—and stared at the ceiling and let the beats take me away.
Nothing like being tired but fully awake.
My mind wouldn’t leave the pages of Uncle Brendan’s journal. He would’ve been an awesome mentor, especially since I lacked a father figure. My mother’s recent recall of all her powers after a long seventeen years without any memory of them had shocked us all. Headstrong, she was an awesome teacher, but constantly being surrounded by females was a lonely kind of life. I definitely wasn’t including my younger brother in this—he didn’t really count and wouldn’t understand anything I went through right now.
I never met anyone gifted with magic outside our family. Except for the faery folk my sister hung out with and my own family, there was no one I could relate to. What if there were no others like us in the human world? What then? But I didn’t believe it. It just couldn’t be true.
My hands hovered above my chest, and I formed the smallest fireballs I could manage. They hovered and crackled as they lit up the room in warm, orange flickers. Pushing at them with my power, they spun, slowly at first, then more rapidly until they were but a glowing circle. Their momentum created a small funnel, whipping the still night air into a frenzy and blowing my hair into my face. I started laughing; it was pure joy. Nothing compared to using my powers. It definitely made my life less dull.
A whimper from my brother’s side of the bed made me quiet down, and I retrieved the fireballs before they set anything ablaze. They rolled my way carefully, their flames crackling until I put them out with a tiny hiss of vapor in my palms. Only a wisp of smoke remained, slipping through my fingers and curling up toward the ceiling. Checking that James was still sleeping peacefully, I laid back onto my pillow and closed my eyes, willing the sleep to come.
I’d soon finish reading the grimoire from my Uncle Brendan and practice wielding the sword with Mom. I was on my way to becoming a world-class fighter.
Chapter Four Diversion
Diversion
March 5th 1702
There is no way to know exactly which magical being is going to fare badly against your fire magic, but it’s most certain things of this earth disintegrate in any kind of flame. Once you know this, accept it and let it become everything you are, it can either be beneficial or break you when the power fills the head with obsessions that do not exist. Never let the fire control you. It consumes within as it does without.
~Brendan
The present …
I slipped on the shirt Sary had tossed me. It was the gauzy kind faery folk wore, like the flimsy, loose peasant type that needs to be laced up to mid-chest to keep it from falling off. I felt foolish, like I was going to star in a high school musical of Romeo and Juliet. I was definitely not a Romeo, and I most certainly did not have a Juliette in sight. Not that the position wasn’t open, I just hadn’t met anyone who’d caught my fancy yet.
I watched Sary move about the main room as I managed the short walk to the meager kitchen table she’d served dinner on. She was gorgeous, I had to give her that. I admired her long red hair and smooth skin, perfect like porcelain and fire fused together. She was fey, making her one of the most beautiful beings to exist on this earth. I hated to admit that I was somewhat smitten with her and even wondered if her faery magic might have an effect on me after all. The thought made me whip my eyes away when she turned around to place a plateful of hearty food in front of me.
“Um, wow.” My eyes widened to take in the abundance of food on the plate. “Thank you!” I grabbed a fork and dug into the pile of mashed potatoes, steamed veggies and slices of steak. I was surprised to see her cooking such human-like meals. Most fey ate a mostly ve
getarian diet.
“You’re welcome.” She sat across from me with her own plate, piled just as high as mine, but without the meat. I was impressed.
“Hungry, too?”
She paused before she stuck a spoon into the mashed potatoes. “I’ve acquired quite a taste for your human food. In a way, it’s not that much different. Just the flavors vary depending on the many seasonings available.” She chewed thoughtfully before stabbing a slice of carrot. “I don’t agree in the way you humans breed your food. Modifying it makes it taste funny, so I avoid the animal meat from your world.”
I laughed. “Never thought too much about that. I guess you’re right.” I ripped off another bite of steak and savored the flavors bursting on my taste buds. “Doesn’t seem to be the issue here. You’ve mastered the dry rub steak like an expert.”
She didn’t look up, but I could swear I saw her blush under the cape of red hair hanging over her delicate face as she chewed quietly.
“We’re leaving for Chicago later today.” She’d finished her meal before I had, leaving me to stare at her in disbelief, mid-chew.
“What? Already?” I swallowed, hoping I hadn’t offended her by speaking with my mouth full.
“Yes. I really can’t wait to see my brother.”
Her chair scraped across the floor as she got up and set her plate in the sink before returning with her drink refilled. Iced tea.
“I’ve not seen him for many months.” She gripped onto her mug tightly, her knuckles turning white as she stared down into it as if she expected the fluid to enlighten her with the future.
“I’m going with you.”
She whipped her head up, surprised. “You’re not coming with us.”
“Why not?”
“You’re not fully healed.”
I huffed. “I’m pretty darn close. Give me another swig of that faery magic cure-all drink you gave me, and I’ll be right as rain.”
Her face turned scarlet, but she didn’t relent. She wore a tough shell, but I just needed a crack to slip into. “No, Benton. You need to go home and recover. Dealing with banished fey is no life for you. You’re human.”
“Oh, but you can keep my sister as your queen, though? That’s all right, then?” I sounded bitter, but I didn’t really care. She wouldn’t be leaving me behind. “This isn’t a request.”
She got to her feet, shoving the chair back. “Shade is fey. Our sister. You’re not. You may have magic, but you don’t belong nosing yourself into faery matters.”
“I’m as powerful as you are. Fire elementals can deal with a lot of crap, including the faery kind of stink. I’ve killed more banished fey than I care to count. Who do you think is cleaning up the mess your kind created? All those who escaped the wards of Faerie, they threaten your world and mine. Guess who’s rounding them up? Me. Not you, me.”
“It’s not your problem.”
“So what? I’m not doing this for fun, if you haven’t noticed. Shade’s my sister, and she needs me to do this. I’d do anything for my family. Someone needs to clean up the creatures who breached into my world, yet here you are, telling me I’m not needed? That’s bullshit!”
I slammed my mug on the table, splashing iced tea over the rim. I didn’t care. She’d pissed me off enough to cramp my stomach. I’d eaten too much, too fast, and now I was more than a tad bit livid, with adrenaline surging unforgivably through my body. Sary may have been beautiful and kind enough to fix me up in my moment of need, but she shouldn’t be treating me like a sickly human who was beneath her.
She’d turned redder than a sunburn, with a splash of horror in her eyes, making me feel like I might’ve gone too far.
“You’re kind is so barbaric. Your people have killed those that didn’t deserve to be killed. It’s not that I don’t need your help, really. Please understand. You won’t be coming with us. I fear you have ulterior motives besides helping me find my brother.”
“You’re wrong. And … my people?” I eyed her in disbelief. “You’re one to talk.”
I sucked in a breath, not sure what to say to her anymore. It seemed there was nothing I could say to change her mind. She was set on not letting me go with her. Maybe I could follow her and Braelynn. Maybe I could accompany them without her knowing.
“Fine.” I shoved away from the table and slammed my dish into the sink. I didn’t bother to check if it had shattered. “Don’t come crying to me when you find more than you bargained for when you get to Chicago,” I snapped and shuffled my way back to the bedroom. I was going to pack my things and leave before them. At least that way I could watch them leave later and follow them.
Sary said nothing more, but I felt her hardened stare on the back of my neck. As I sat on the bed, I rubbed at the sore spot along the side of my stomach, which still ached with each breath. The deep, thrumming pain made me rethink my situation. I needed to be more aware of things, especially my own health. I hated to admit that Sary was probably right. I needed to recover. Trampling around Faerie would not do. I’d have to be even more vigilant to avoid getting hurt again.
The pull of my injury made me rub it once more, wincing as the pain flared up. I wondered just how far I could go without passing out from the excruciating ache. The faery draught helped it heal faster, but it was a serious wound that required more than one dose of medicine.
“Here.” Sary bumped a cup against my shoulder. I turned to find her holding it out, a sad expression on her face. I ignored it and glanced into the cup. It was filled with the faery healing draught. She remained calm as she waited, but full of sorrow.
“Thank you.” I reached for it and slipped my fingers around the cup, where they brushed hers. She didn’t let go right away but let her fingers hold onto it for a second too long, making me flick my gaze back up to hers. Her skin felt like a kindred heat testing my boundaries and feeling oh so good.
“You can come with me. On one condition.” Sary shifted on her feet, looking torn.
“All right. Anything.” I didn’t want to argue anymore.
We both held the cup until I nodded. I didn’t want her to let go, I wanted her fingers to slip over my hands even more, up my arms and around my body. It was a sudden longing, and I was left lost and bitterly cold when she let go to sit on the bed. She motioned for me to drink down the sweet nectar, and I did as she wanted, afraid to anger her again. I was more afraid of her leaving my side. Immediately, the pain threatening to overwhelm me receded like an ocean tide sucking away the ache. The relief made me breathe out a pleasurable sigh.
“What’s the condition?” I hoped I wouldn’t be sorry with what I’d already agreed to.
“You will not kill anyone around my brother, or him for that matter.”
“That’s two conditions.”
She pressed her lips taut, letting her breath leak out slowly as she continued to glare at me.
“Okay, okay,” I said. “No one dies while visiting your bro. Got it.” I whipped out my most charming smile, hoping my pearly white teeth and quirky looks would win her over. She shook her head, looking like she wasn’t sure about this, then stood up and whipped out of the room before I could ask her anything else.
I smiled. Nothing like having a beautiful woman around to distract from the real problems. Now I would get to see her for a bit longer. What wasn’t to love about it?
For once, I was actually looking forward to something.
Chapter Five Seen Unseen
Seen Unseen
The ward wavered, and I frowned as I felt its magic spark when it touched mine. This particular wall of the Land of Faerie had been tampered with, and a temporary fix was keeping the ward functional somehow. Curious. I could feel its spell trying to reject me, like a swift slap of nausea and a wave of electricity humming along it and down my extremities. Who would attempt to fix it without the proper magic? It wasn’t a bad try, but it was amateurish at best.
Still … like I could fix it myself in a jiffy. I smiled at the thought and let out
a short huff. I could fix it if I had two other witches to help me. Sealing a ward to a land as gigantic as Faerie drained the best of any magical being.
“Think you can do a better job?” Braelynn snapped. She’d obviously been observing me when I’d approached the barrier. I laughed and pointed to the ward.
“Did you do this?” I turned back to the wavering wall while it tried to shove the spell of aversion down my throat. It bounced off without any effect. “It’s not bad. Just … you know … not perfect.”
“No, I most certainly did not.” She examined the wavering magic. “I’d make sure it would’ve killed you, not just shock you with a spit of static.” Braelynn’s scowl made me want to burst out laughing, but I avoided it by walking through the barrier. There would be plenty of time to dislike one another. I didn’t know how Shade spent so much time with these girls. After just a couple days, I was already feeling abrasive toward them. It didn’t bother me so much as it did them, from what I could tell by their constantly strained frowns. It was fun annoying them, though, and it only made me want to do it more often.
“Seriously. Doing your best to piss us off again, aren’t you?” Sary stood with arms folded and her foot tapping furiously on the ground. I was completely sputtering as I choked down a chuckle. Shrugging, I threw her a goofy grin, hoping it would cause her to rethink being mad at me. I was crass, I got it. That didn’t mean I wanted to be fighting the entire way to Chicago.
“Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t really mean to insult anyone. Let’s just say I don’t have much of a filter and leave it at that.” I winked, bowed and moved ahead, hearing them both sighing in tandem. Moments later, they passed me, keeping their distance like I had the plague. This was going to be an interesting trip. The amount of conflict to come when we did get to our destination was definitely bound to be a party I didn’t want to miss. It would be especially interesting when Sary met her brother Ferdinand again. She was going to be in for a truly unanticipated shock.