Phantom Fae

  "He would want equal payment. I'll already be sharing a quarter of it with you."

  Brett smiled and raised his brows.

  "You're in training. I'm the teacher."

  "You're a dragon, who loves to hoard treasure."

  She smiled.

  "Someone then who has the courage to do this—the heart of a lion."

  "The ways of a raven?" Ena asked.

  "I was thinking of Freya. But you might know someone who's better suited to the job."

  "If Freya will do it, I'm game."

  "But if the fae seers are ruthless…"

  "She attacked a fearsome dragon. Remember?"

  Ena was right. "Yeah, she nearly gave me a heart attack. But she could turn into a raven back then."

  "We'll ask her."

  "And if not her? Do you have anyone else in mind?"

  "I'll ask someone on my staff, but I really don't want to get them involved. Let's get some sleep. Tomorrow morning will come soon enough."

  When they rose from their seats, Brett closed the distance between them. He wanted to hug her in the worst way—but she immediately put her hand to his chest to keep some distance between them.

  He smiled and took her hand and pulled her close, then gave her a warm embrace. "I've wanted to do that forever."

  She hugged him lightly back. "What if we're related?"

  "Then think of this as a brotherly hug."

  She socked him on the shoulder and he laughed. In the blink of an eye, he was in his chamber.

  He couldn't believe it. He was thinking how he had to go to his chamber and then he was there.

  A rapping sounded at his door. He quickly crossed the floor. When he opened the door, Ena was frowning at him. "Just how long have you been able to fae transport?"

  "Thirty seconds." Brett was telling the truth, though Ena looked like she didn't believe him for one second.

  Chapter 16

  The next morning Ena woke and quickly dressed in her usual Gothic style clothes and joined her staff and Brett for breakfast before they left for the human world to rescue Duke Tully. What she hadn't expected was to see Freya seated at the table.

  Freya smiled at Ena. "Good morning. Brett came to see me and asked for my help with your job. How could I say no after all he's done for me? He said I would earn a quarter of the payment for the mission, but it really isn't necessary."

  Ena glanced at Brett. He shrugged. "I figure her part will be worth every penny she earns."

  Ena couldn't believe it. He made her feel miserly because she was only paying him a quarter of the treasure. Now he was giving away every penny of it to Freya?

  Ena was just being a dragon and that was their nature. Nothing wrong with it at all. She wanted to remind Brett that if he didn't earn his keep, he was back to being a master gardener in charge of his friends.

  Mark and Bryan scarfed up a half dozen sausages and more eggs than a couple of bodies could eat in a week.

  Freya forked up some more of her eggs. "This should be fun. I haven't had the freedom to visit the human world except for a couple of minutes."

  Both Ena and Brett frowned at her for making the comment about it being "fun." Brett said, "You know we may have to eliminate the fae seers?"

  "Knowing you, it will only happen if it's absolutely necessary."

  "What about the risk you could be taking by going with us?" Ena asked.

  Freya finished her cup of tea and set the mug on the table. "Alton said he's coming with us."

  "What?" Ena couldn't believe it. How much did Alton think he'd get paid? And why in the world was he even asked or why had he assumed he could just tagalong without Ena's permission?

  "The fae seers can take us both hostage and he can protect me as a dragon if things get out of hand," Freya said.

  "Wait, this is my case," Ena said. Maybe no one else would realize it, but dragons were territorial over missions and Alton would be well aware of it.

  "He doesn't expect payment. He only wants to help."

  Since when did a dragon shifter do a mission like this for free and not mind that he wasn't being paid for it? Alton often asked for even more treasure than she did on assignments! Not that she wasn't worth as much as he was, but she was magnanimous to an extent.

  "All right, where is he?" Ena asked. "We have to leave right after we finish eating."

  "He's coming and said he'd meet us after we eat breakfast," Freya said.

  Sure enough, just as they got ready to leave, Ryker let Alton into the keep.

  "I want to go also," Mark said.

  "And me," Bryan added. "We've always been human, no fae aura. We're fae seers. We can talk their language. We might be able to convince them that the fae don't intend to kill them."

  "Not true," Ena said.

  "We can help." Mark was already wearing human clothes and so was Bryan as if they thought Ena would automatically just take them with them.

  Brett smiled at them. "You won't get any treasure for the job."

  "We want to visit home, as it were. Not our home, but you know what we mean." Mark shoved his hands in his pockets.

  "Yeah. We really want to help both sides if we can." Bryan looked to Brett as if he could make Ena agree.

  Brett wisely didn't say anything.

  "This was a one-person operation. Now there are six of us going?" Ena shook her head.

  "The more of us, the better the outcome for us," Mark said.

  Still, Brett didn't agree or disagree.

  She let out her breath. He knew his friends best of all. "What do you think, Brett?" She swore his chest swelled a little with pride at being asked.

  "I think they could be a great help, truthfully."

  Not sure he was right, she nodded. "Okay, let's get our army of people on our way. Brett, take one of your friends, if you think you can manage." Then she changed her mind. It was one thing for him to fae transport to his chamber from within the castle walls for his first time ever, but to transport so far away in the States when he'd never done such a thing alone could be a disaster. "Forget it. You're coming with me. Instead of me transporting you though, I'll have you transport me to ensure you can do it. The rest of you can figure out what you want to do." She gave them the address, and then waited for Brett to lock his arms around her.

  When she felt his warm body pressed against hers and heard his heartbeat thundering in her ear, she thought she was in heaven. For the first time since she'd met him, she was all for his courting her and more, if he continued to be the man she'd grown to love over the past several months.

  "Ready?" he asked, his warm breath caressing the top of her head.

  "When you are."

  ***

  The high school where the fae seers attended, who held Duke Tully hostage was huge, filled with students headed into school. Brett thought he could easily get lost in the place if he'd gone to school there.

  The fae were all invisible, which meant anyone in the school who wasn't a fae seer couldn't see them. Then they went to the office to locate where Kenny Smith was at first period.

  They'd already made plans, like searching for where he was, and then everyone entered the classroom—Mark and Bryan as new students, Freya and Alton were the bait, and Ena and Brett were watching surreptitiously for any students' reactions indicating any of them saw the invisible fae.

  While the fae watched for everyone's reaction to see if anyone looked surprised or shocked, the students eyed the newcomers—Bryan and Mark—from time to time as the teacher talked about the American Civil War. Brett couldn't tell who Kenny Smith was. When the class ended, everyone left the room and Brett and the others watched the students hurrying off to lockers or other classes.

  "Any clue?" Ena asked.

  "I thought maybe the guy in the yellow shirt," Freya said.

  "I'll go for the one with the gray T-shirt," Alton said.

  "A guy wearing a navy shirt looked suspicious to me. When we first entered, his shirt was dry. But he began to
sweat a lot during the class," Brett said.

  "Then two of us will follow each of them," Ena said.

  "Which one did you think it was?" Brett asked Ena.

  "A guy in a faded red shirt. It had fae dust on it. He might have bumped into a fae, but I want to follow him to be sure. Brett, why don't you go with Freya? If she gets into trouble, at least you'll be there to protect her. Alton is visible so he can trail the other guy. He can protect himself if he has any trouble."

  "All right." Brett and Freya hurried after the guy in the yellow shirt. "Why do you think it's him?" Brett spoke low for Freya's ears only because he was invisible.

  "The guy smells of sweat and fear."

  Brett had the same thought. He and Freya kept pace on either side of the guy. Instead of going to a classroom, he ducked inside a restroom.

  Freya didn't hesitate to follow him into the boy's room, shocking Brett He had just assumed she'd wait out in the hall. He should have realized she hadn't been here before and wouldn't realize she wasn't supposed to be in there. She was just doing her mission: following the fae seer to learn if he was going to meet up with any others, or lead her to where Duke Tully was being held hostage.

  But having been "human" before, Brett had to admit he felt a little uncomfortable with her going in there. Luckily, no one else was in the restroom.

  The boy immediately turned, yanking handcuffs out of his back pocket, and clamped one on Freya's wrist. They had to be iron, the only way he could keep her from transporting. "Ready to join the other one?" the guy snarled, his dark eyes nearly black, his black hair cut military style.

  At least they knew for sure now that he was one of the fae seers.

  Brett so wanted to take care of the guy and free Freya, but he knew that they had to let this play out and learn where Duke Tully was being held hostage. Hopefully, this guy would take them to him. Brett wished he had a cell phone like in the "old days"—at least it felt like—before Freya took him to the fae world and that was the end of his cell phone.

  Not that Ena or anyone else had one to communicate with anyway. But this kid did and he pulled out his phone. As soon as he did, Freya did the unexpected. She turned visible so that anyone could see her. And they were still in the boy's bathroom!

  "Turn back into your invisible self," the guy growled.

  If he got physical with her, Brett would get physical right back with him. Brett couldn't help but smile at Freya's audacity though.

  Two guys walked into the restroom and one said, "Hey, dude, take it somewhere else."

  "Cool, Kenny," the other said. "I never knew you had it in you."

  Kenny forced Freya out of the restroom. He opened his mouth to speak to her, but she spoke first. "Hey, watch it. I've got powerful friends who wouldn't hesitate to turn you into ash."

  "Like I was a vampire or something?" he said. "Right." He pulled her through the hallway where students were entering their classes.

  "Where are you taking me?" Freya asked.

  Brett spied the guy with the faded red shirt, a manacle around Alton's wrist as he moved him in their direction. Alton was still invisible to the normal population, but when he saw Freya was visible, he did the same thing as she did. A few students gasped when Alton suddenly just appeared.

  "Hey," one of the boys said. "Let them go."

  "Yeah," another said.

  Brett was glad that some of the kids were standing up for the ones they must have thought were being hazed or something. Though he understood what a mess this was from a fae seer's standpoint and how dangerous the fae could be to them and to him when he thought that's all he was.

  But in this case, the boys had to take the fae to their hideaway where they held Duke Tully. Brett was glad he was still alive unless they were holding a different fae hostage. That would be bad news.

  "Gary, we've got a real problem." Kenny glanced at the three boys blocking his path while another said he was getting a teacher.

  "Tell me about it. Did you get hold of Jim?" Gary asked.

  "I didn't have time."

  "We're part of a class project." Freya smiled, trying to assure the other kids that they weren't really hostages. "We're fine."

  "Class project." Alton agreed, smiling just as brightly, though his eyes were glowing gold, which meant he was really pissed off. No fae liked being confined in iron manacles.

  The fae seers cast glances at them. They had to know they were way out of the faes' league. They might be able to take one fae hostage, but at school in front of everyone?

  The boys moved them quickly through the hallway to the exit door to get out of there before the one kid got a teacher involved who would investigate this class project story.

  When they reached a blue sedan in the students' parking lot, the boys manacled the two faes together, then forced Freya and Alton into the backseat. Before Gary could climb into the backseat to keep them under control, he called their other buddy. "Jim, we got two fae we're taking to the storage facility. Do you want to go with us, or stay here? Hey, that's great news. Okay, see you in a minute."

  "What's up?" Kenny asked.

  "He's found two fae seers like us. He wants them to come with us. What do you think?"

  "Is he sure?" Kenny appeared wary that all of a sudden two fae seers just happened to make themselves known when they had just captured two more fae. Then again, Bryan and Mark were human—as far as they knew—so were bona fide fae seers.

  "Yeah, just like any of us here."

  "How did they know about him? We don't advertise what we are. We don't really exist as far as most people are aware," Kenny said.

  "They said he had fae dust on his shirt. So either one had just walked into him at some time or another, or he had taken one hostage recently when he was wearing that shirt. The guy named Mark joked as if he wasn't serious, but you know that's the only way we can meet up with our kind. Make light of it and see what the response is," Gary said.

  "Okay. Great. Unbelievable, but we can always use some new guys on the team."

  They saw Jim coming with Mark and Bryan, both looking glum, like fae seers would who had a grim task at hand.

  Ena was with them, nicely invisible and no aura showing.

  "We'd better get rid of them pronto. Who would have ever thought any more of them would show up like this?" Gary said.

  Mark cleared his throat. "That's the trouble with taking one hostage. It's not like they don't have friends and family back home."

  "You sound like you're sticking up for them," Gary said.

  "Yeah, what gives?" Jim asked. "Either you're on our side or—"

  "Look, why would we be on their side when they could easily kill us, too? We're the same as you, remember? I'm just saying that killing one of them has consequences. I know. We've lost good friends that way. Even my stepdad was killed by one of them. They took my friend Brett with them to the fae world. Who knows what they've done to him?"

  Made him a mage, dragon and phantom fae, Brett thought. At least his parents had.

  "Then there's another possibility to consider," Mark said. "That we are fae."

  "What? You're out of your mind," Gary scoffed. "What? Did some of them brainwash you?"

  "The one we had taken hostage was a fae princess. One of her rescuers killed my stepdad and took Brett as her hostage. Princess Alicia had been taken hostage earlier because she was a fae seer."

  "Wait, so you're saying she was just human, then they turned her into a fae princess?" Jim asked, skeptically.

  Gary was frowning, but Kenny looked interested.

  "No, she was a fae princess all along, but she didn't know it. Her mother never told her, and she had notes from her dad, who taught her what to look for in the different fae realms. When she was taken into the fae realm, she discovered—to her shock—that she was a fae princess," Bryan said. "She hadn't been killing fae, just keeping her fae seer ability secret. Then she turned out to be one of them."

  "How do you know this?" Gary asked.
>
  "I told you. We had taken the princess hostage, thinking she was fae, which she was, but she'd been human at our school before this, no fae aura. So we were confused, until she said she'd been human, or thought so all along. Then here comes this other fae, who had always been a fae and never lived in our world. The princess saved Brett's life, saying he might be a fae himself. So see? We may not really be human. It's just something to consider," Bryan said.

  "Well, was Brett one of them or not?" Kenny asked.

  "We were taken hostage in the fae world," Bryan said.

  Jim folded his arms. "What? No way. You're making all this up."

  Mark shoved his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, way. We had stolen a fae princess. And we were taken hostage, but the fae who had taken Brett in, and given him room and board, not treated him like a prisoner, came for us and wanted us released. That was her payment for saving the princess's life. So yeah, we saw their fae kingdoms, and lived to tell the tale."

  "So you don't know which side to be on, sounds to me," Jim said.

  "Hey, just telling you that this might not be all black and white," Mark said.

  "Come on, let's take these two fae to where the other is. I'm not sure we should take these two with us," Kenny said. "Sounds like they're fae lovers."

  "Yeah, until the fae come for them and kill them," Jim said. "Let's go. You two are on your own."

  Jim got into the passenger seat. Kenny drove. Ena sat on Jim's lap, which meant he'd lose the feeling in his legs. Gary sat in the backseat with the two fae. And Brett stayed with Mark and Bryan. But they were already moving toward another car.

  "We're stealing a car," Mark guessed.

  "Borrowing. We'll have it back before school lets out, hopefully," Brett said.

  Bryan found a brand new, black mini-van. "What parent would give their teen a mini-van?"

  "Works for us." Brett appeared inside of it, unlocked the doors, and then Mark got to work on hot-wiring it.

  They hurried after the other car and drove out into the country until they reached a facility with storage units ranging from small to boat-sized lockers.

  The boys parked at a small unit and Kenny got out to unlock the door as the others waited in the car. Within viewing distance, Mark parked the mini-van down at the end of the row of storage lockers. A truck drove past them and parked in between them, the bed of the pickup stacked high with boxes.