"I'm not fighting you or your people. I'm not siding with Prince Grotto and his minions. I'm on Ena's side," Brett said, his chest puffed out.
She smiled a little at Brett's declaration, but she knew Alton wouldn't like it.
Sure enough, Alton stiffened. "You leave her out of this."
Ena realized the way she was blending in with the forest shadows, neither of the men had seen her yet. She was glad to hear that she still had Brett's loyalty. She cleared her throat, not wanting the men to get back into a fistfight again. Startled, the two men glanced in her direction, their eyes widening to see her standing there observing them.
"Ena." Brett looked as though he was on the verge of tearing across the forest floor to join her and…what? Give her a hug? He'd better not show that kind of affection toward her. She could just see Alton shifting and turning Brett into ash.
Though she shouldn't have, after meeting Brett, she'd often wondered what kissing a human would be like. Actually, not any human, but this disagreeable one. Would it be any different from her dragon fae kind? Probably not as wild as a dragon fae shifter's kiss.
"I will help you," Brett said, as if he were pledging his loyalty to her all over again. And then he added with a roguish smile. "Besides, I still owe you for these clothes. How will I ever pay you back?"
The raven glanced down at his clothes. Ena felt it was almost a joke between them now, though she was going to provide him free room and board and pay him some kind of an income so he had some spending money. She suspected he'd still offer to pay her back when she had planned to gift them to him in the first place.
"You cannot trust him." Alton brushed off the leaves clinging to his jeans and black T-shirt that featured a gray wolf baring his wicked teeth, his amber eyes narrowed, his nose crinkled up in a growl. Did Alton think that portrayed him? All growl and bite? He was the only fae she knew who loved to wear human clothes in the fae world, which got him some ribbing for it. "He only says that because he's afraid of two dragon shifters in the forest."
Considering his swollen eye and bruised face, she raised her brows at Alton. She imagined he had bruises elsewhere that his clothes hid. Had he even gotten one punch in on Brett? On the other hand, Brett didn't appear to be offering his services because he was cowering before the scary dragon shifters.
"He's had training," Alton said, as if he could read her very thoughts. "He probably beat the fae to a pulp who he planned to kill before he murdered them. And he probably bullied everyone in his human schools."
"I've taken up martial arts to protect myself from clowns like you." Brett folded his arms, looking very superior, for being a human in the fae world. "I never fought anyone who was itching for a fight. Like you."
His face a tight mask, his eyes narrowed at Brett, Alton looked like he was ready to shift into his dragon form and cook Brett's goose.
"I'm glad you're on our side," Ena said quickly to Brett. "Did they…they treat you well?"
The raven cawed as if she was answering Ena.
Brett was still dressed in some of the clothes she had purchased for him with her hard-earned gold. He was wearing one of the blue tunics and trousers that she had favored, his boots still brushed and clean as if he took good care of them. Which made her appreciate him for taking care of them so well. Either the phantom fae didn't give him clothes so that he would fit in with their own kind or they wanted him to look like he was one of the dragon fae, on the side of Prince Grotto and would be fighting against Ena's shifter kind, the dark fae, and hawk fae.
She wondered, too, if the only reason her suitors had decided to fight alongside of her was because they assumed Brett would be with the phantom fae and they wanted to terminate her interest in the human—permanently—if she had any notion of rescuing him. Or maybe, they were just being protective of her. How would it look if she went and got herself killed and none of them had made an effort to fly by her side?
"The queen and her mage apprentice want me dead. Otherwise, they give me food and shelter," Brett said.
Shocked, she stared at him, wondering why in the world the phantom fae had wanted him then. "Why would they want you dead?" She couldn't believe it. And she felt bad all over again for giving him up to them.
"Can we speak alone?"
"No," Alton said, when the question was not his to answer!
Ena wasn't afraid of Brett as far as speaking to him alone, but she also had nothing to hide from Alton. "Speak plainly and tell me what is going on. Why did they want you in payment for our safe passage?"
The raven fluttered her wings before Brett could respond and suddenly she transformed into a phantom fae. A beautiful phantom fae. Ena stared openmouthed at the creature. What the… Ena had never heard of a fae turning into another creature. Well, except for the dragon shifters. But a bird?
Ena was not the jealous type, and yet, she didn't like it that Brett knew the fae personally and had befriended her. A phantom fae. Her enemy.
"He is a mage apprentice, a phantom fae, just like his family before him. Only they were rebels and the queen had them eliminated. Now Brett joins us from the human world and she wants him dead, just like his family. Except she intends to use him for killing sport. He promised to aid me in removing the curse that the mage apprentice used on me to turn me into a raven for most of the day and night."
Ena's mouth gaped a bit again, then she switched her attention to Brett. He was a phantom fae? Not a human? "You are a phantom fae? Wait…a mage apprentice?"
She didn't trust either. And she just couldn't believe any of it.
"That's what my grandfather said before he died from the poison the queen had her people administer to him."
"I'm so sorry, Brett," Ena said. She wasn't sure how he'd feel about it since he had only just met him, but just Brett's slightly bowed shoulders and grim look seemed to say he felt bad about losing the only family he had known, even for such a brief time.
"And this is Freya," he said, then introduced Ena and Alton.
Ena wondered about the other mage apprentice. "The one shooting the fireballs at us was the mage apprentice who cursed you?" Ena asked the raven- cursed fae.
Freya bowed her head a little.
Ena noted Alton—her suitor!—was staring at the fae in stark wonderment. "What?" she snapped. He was supposed to want Ena's favor. Though she knew he had a wandering eye. Still, to do so in front of her? She couldn’t believe it!
"What?" Alton snapped back. He motioned to the raven-cursed fae. "She attacked me in her raven form. Me, a fire-breathing dragon. I just never imagined the crazy raven looked like her. I mean, that she was a phantom fae. That she wasn't just a bird."
Ena scowled at Alton. Looked like her? Not just a fae, but a beautiful fae with long, dark hair piled up on top of her head, whereas Ena always wore hers short, unlike most of the fae females. Freya had beautiful brown eyes that made her look innocent and sweet, not like some creature that would fight a fearsome dragon. And Alton definitely looked fearsome when he was after his prey.
"I have to help her," Brett said.
Breaking into her thoughts and the annoyance that Ena felt toward Alton, she whipped her head around and stared at Brett. Without wearing the clothes of the phantom fae, he didn't look like he was one of them. But that he was a mage? That could work in their favor, she supposed. Not that it made her happy. She kind of liked that he was a helpless human, a good fighter, and a friend, but… what was wrong with her? She should be glad for him that he wasn't just an ordinary human, stuck in the fae world. She wondered then about his other two friends, Mark Creston and Bryan Jessup also fae seers. Were they fae also? If so, what kind?
On the other hand, Brett seemed to be unable to transport in the fae way. So he was still rather helpless.
"You can…use mage powers?"
"He can surround a sword with flames." Freya sounded proud of him.
That irritated Ena. He was her prisoner and only she had the right to feel proud of him, as far as s
he was concerned.
"And he can fly, sort of," Freya said.
Brett didn't look happy about what the woman had revealed. Did he want to keep his abilities secret from Ena and Alton?
"Fly? Show me." Ena shoved her hands in her leather pockets.
"I kind of did it during the mage trials—not really knowing how I did it."
Was he telling her the truth? He appeared to be.
"And the flaming sword?"
"I'm not sure how to stop it from flaming once it's started," he admitted, looking a little embarrassed.
Now, Ena knew why he hadn't wanted to reveal his abilities. He hadn't learned how to use them. Which made him a handicap, not someone whose abilities could be counted on. He could actually be dangerous to himself and others. She groaned. She should have known. When it came to Brett…
"So you don't want to go back to them? And join their forces?" Ena asked, having to be sure where his loyalty truly was now that she knew he was a phantom fae.
Frowning, Brett looked exasperated with her. "They are my enemy. Or at least the queen and the mage are. But I can't kill the mage. If I did, Freya would forever be cursed. I have to convince him to turn Freya back into her human…well, fae form."
He still thought in human terms, making Ena see something of that earlier side of him.
"Maybe we can help Freya," Alton said.
"What?" Ena couldn't believe this. What was up with the dragon shifter? She couldn't believe Alton would offer to aid the phantom fae. They were as much his enemy as hers.
Alton shrugged. "If we help the girl, she would pledge her loyalty to us." He turned to Freya. "Am I right?"
She nodded.
Alton continued, "Since the human-turned phantom fae has her best interests at heart, he will continue to be her protector."
So was that the truth of the matter? That Alton believed Brett was totally taken by the phantom fae and that would be the end of Ena being interested in him? As if Ena was interested in Brett any more than calling him a friend because he had been so dedicated to her.
"And?" Ena asked.
Alton's faster fae healing abilities had made the bruises on his face fade and his eye wasn't nearly as swollen shut now. "If he possesses mage abilities, we can use him on our side. After that, they can go their own way. Sounds like a good deal to me."
Ena hadn't ever thought she'd hear Alton suggest such a thing, but she suspected he was trying for a bit of matchmaking between the fae turned raven and Brett. She still couldn't see him as a phantom fae. And she didn't like mages in general. They could be powerful and dangerous. But she could see her household staff taking him in just as they had before and treating him like one of the family still. She could also see Alton wanting to get rid of Ena's interest in Brett, not that she was going there, but Alton seemed to think so, while he was hoping Brett would agree to stay with Freya.
Freya shifted into a raven and cawed.
Brett turned to her and frowned. He said to Ena, "She can't hold her form for long."
"So we go after this mage?" Alton asked.
Ena didn't know why Alton was so eager to help the fae. She didn't think that his plan would cement a relationship between Brett and Freya. Brett seemed to want to help her, as was his nature, but he didn't seem overly interested in her, as in looking to be her lifemate.
"We have to locate the mage first. What is his name?" Ena asked.
"Zane," Brett said, his gaze focused on Ena.
She couldn't truly figure him out. He confused her. Maybe because he was raised as a human. Even Princess Alicia, who had been raised among them also, confounded her often. "Okay, so where do we find him? The last I saw of him, he was shooting an ineffective fireball at me and then he disappeared."
"He was supposed to keep track of me and not lose sight of me. I'm supposed to die at the magic trials and then he will take over as the new queen's mage. She will want him dead, I suspect, if she learns he has lost me. Or maybe not if he's the only other mage that she can possibly have at her beck and call."
"So we use you as bait." Alton sounded way too eager.
"I suspect he's close by," Brett said. Then he turned to Freya. "Can you find him? Without earning his wrath?"
"I'll go with her," Alton said. "I can fae travel with her and we can locate him. Then it will only be a matter of bringing him to you in fae chains."
"As long as he doesn't use some deadly magic on you," Brett said.
"Maybe we should all go." Ena didn't trust the mage's power and worried Zane might get the best of Alton. Or even that of the cursed fae.
"Let's all go," Brett said.
Ena had no choice but to take hold of Brett's hand and transport him. The raven was sitting on Alton's shoulder. Ena took hold of Alton's hand also, so they wouldn't lose each other while fae transporting. Then they left.
She got a bad feeling when they ended up in a phantom fae cemetery. What if the raven-cursed fae decided to turn the two dragon shifters over to her people in return for the queen ordering the mage to free her of the curse?
Chapter 6
When Brett and his friends arrived at the cemetery near the castle of the phantom fae, the blue-black sky was threatening to dump rain. Jagged bolts of lightning speared the ground and sheets of lightning lit up the dark clouds. Brett wondered why Freya would bring them this close to the royal castle. He didn't feel it was safe here for any of them here.
Then, cocky as could be, Zane strode through the archway into the cemetery, a wicked gleam in his eyes. Brett was certain he planned to use magic to take the dragon shifters hostage. Before Zane could do anything to any of them, Brett wished he could freeze him there. Like a Popsicle.
And it was done. One wizard, hand raised as if he intended to cast a spell, frozen in time and place.
Ena stared at the mage, then turned her attention to Brett. "You did that?" She didn't sound like she was in awe of his great wizardry skills, more like she was worried he had them. Maybe that he might not have any control over them. Which he had to admit, he didn't.
"I'll take him," Alton quickly said, as if he was just as wary of being here, surrounded by the dead of the phantom fae with the castle so nearby. Most likely some soldiers would still be there and eager to learn of the dragon shifters being here.
Sure enough, soldiers began to pour into the cemetery. Zane must have warned the soldiers of the dragon shifters arrival. So he hadn't really meant to use his great magic to capture all of them. The soldiers were armed with iron mesh fishnets.
Alton shifted into his dragon form and using his talons, he grabbed up the frozen mage. Instead of landing on Brett's shoulder, Freya settled on Alton's scaly back as he flew off.
As a fae, Ena grabbed Brett in a body hug and carried him away, vanishing. He had to admit he totally approved of the closeness they now shared. Until they ended up at the edge of No Man's Land and she let go of him on the ground, then shifted into her olive green dragon form. Before she could grab him in her wickedly sharp talons, he climbed onto her back. He wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not, but he felt more in control like this. Unless he fell off. Then he was doomed.
Holding onto her body with his arms and legs the best he could, he prayed he didn't fall off when she flew across the region he had meant to travel before. The rain suddenly came down in torrents, making it slippery to hold onto her. Huge sand worms erupted out of the soil, snapping jagged teeth at her. Then something strange in the woods existed beyond that, wraithlike creatures floating about. He couldn't imagine how hard it had been for Ena and her staff to make it across this region, driving wagonloads of treasures when her people weren't warrior-trained.
As soon as the wraiths saw the dragons, they flew at them in an attempt to seize Ena. Alton was already well out of site. Brett hated that he hadn't been here to aid her and her staff when they had encountered this treacherous region earlier. It also angered him that the phantom queen was the reason he couldn't do so and that her only purp
ose in having him join them was to give Zane target practice for his mage skills.
Beyond the woods, the land opened up into a lush green meadow, and what looked like a safe haven. Though looks could be deceiving. Ena continued to fly onward. In the distance, he saw the spires of a magnificent castle, flags waving proudly at the top of each of the five towers, hawks embroidered on the flags, proclaiming this was the royal castle of the hawk fae kingdom.
She flew to the east of it to a smaller castle separated from the larger one by a great forest. Then she settled down in the inner bailey where Alton was already standing in his fae form, eyeing them. Zane was still frozen solid beside him. And Freya, in her raven form, was sitting atop one of the walls of the courtyard.
Brett immediately slid off Ena's back. She shifted and gave him a look that could kill, which made him believe she didn't like him riding her.
"I need to consult Queen Ritasia and see if she will allow us to use the services of her mage. He is a full-fledged mage. Maybe he can get this one to do our bidding." Ena motioned to the frozen figure of the mage.
"Since he's fully-trained, he might be able to," Brett said. At least he was hopeful.
"Maybe he could teach you a thing or two." Ena turned to Alton. "Watch them. I'll be right back."
Then she vanished.
Alton glowered at Brett, who glowered right back at him. Brett was surprised to see the damage he had done to Alton's face fade so fast, courtesy of their fae genes.
Then to Brett's astonishment, Alton folded his arms and said, "Can you teach me how to fight with my fists like you do?"
Brett smiled. Could he ever.
***
As soon as Ena reached the royal castle doors, guards quickly opened them for her. "Lady Ena," one said.
She didn't think she'd ever get used to the fact that the dark fae queen had conferred on her the title of duchess for having saved her daughter-in-law. "Is Queen Ritasia here?"
"In the Great Hall."
"Thank you." She hurried off to the Great Hall where more hawk fae were preparing to go into battle, the first wave of soldiers having already left with the king. Ritasia was to follow, leading the second force. They were headed for the dragon fae castle, whereas Ena and her dragon shifters had been tasked to hit the supply wagons. They had also been accompanied by foot soldiers who had fought some of the phantom fae soldiers guarding the supply train.