Chapter 53

“Shit,” I yelled and jabbed the iron dagger toward the waterhorse. “Get back Varaux or it’ll take you under.” Didn’t the brownie know better than to skirt death being so close to the water with this thing?

“She won’t hurt you.” He whistled again.

The Kelpie nickered but stomped its black hooves on the bank beside me. Dirt scattered from its hooves all over me.

“That’s a good girl, Lassie.”

I scrambled up, wiping dirt off my pants, and keeping the dagger ready. “Lassie like the old TV show about a dog?”

“What show?” He lifted his hand toward the beast, and she lowered her head so he could scratch her nose and muzzle.

“Never mind.” I shook my head. “How can you trust this waterh—Lassie?”

“Oh, she’s taken me many times to places throughout the territories. Though I’ve never gone beyond Darrius’.”

“Wait. She can take us to Darrius’ lands? How soon—I mean how quickly can we get there?”

Varaux pursed his lips as though thinking. “About an hour before dusk or so.”

I couldn’t believe I was even considering this. “And the same to return? Like we could ride her back here after getting the dragonroot.”

“If we go straight there and back, we’d return by morn’.”

I couldn’t stop my smile. That would give me plenty of time to get the dragonroot for Darrius. “Never thought I’d say this, but let’s go.”

“You can’t ride on her with all your weapons. It’ll hurt her.” He rubbed her ear, and she pawed the ground with a hoof.

“But I can’t go into dark Fae territory without protection.” Was this a trap? Is Varaux working with the dark Fae to harm me and the princes? It would explain why he was so friendly with the Kelpie. I clutched my iron dagger tighter. “No. I won’t be unarmed ever again and taken by surprise.”

“I know what you’re thinking. That I’m going to ambush you.” His dark eyes saddened, and the tip of his nose reddened. “But I found Lassie when she was a wee thing. Nearly dead from a kobold. I took care of her and nursed her. Fed her sweets from the kitchens. She won’t hurt anyone unless she saw them as a threat to herself or me.”

“I’m not too sure you’re right about that,” I said remembering how close her hooves had come to crushing my skull. What I wouldn’t give to know how to fly with my damn wings. But all they liked to do was flutter outward at the worst times. Plus, they seemed so fragile and delicate like they wouldn’t be able to support me anyway.

“No weapons,” Varaux said in a stern voice.

“How about a compromise then?” I asked. As his queen, I could order him to listen to me, to do whatever I wanted. But I didn’t want to be that kind of monarch. “I bring the bow and arrows and one iron dagger and one silver.” That should be enough if I was careful of whatever we found in the shadow realm. Though honestly, I wanted to take every single dagger and sword I could carry.

“The iron and silver will hurt her.” He shook his head.

“What if I wrapped it up? Used a bit of magic to seal it up—you could help me do that, right?”

He frowned, his eyebrows pinched, but he finally nodded.

After I unloaded all of my weapons except the bow and daggers, I wrapped them in my cloak. Then Varaux whispered a spell over them and they sealed up like a waxed shroud. I grasped ahold of the bundle, locking it in place under my arm.

“Let’s go.” I nodded, though inside I didn’t want to do this. I wanted to run in the opposite direction of this huge dark waterhorse who looked like she’d rather stomp me into oblivion than help me.

“Mount up,” Varaux said.

“You go ahead.” Part of me still wasn't sure if I could trust him fully. If he intended to drown me, then he was going to sink with me.

Instead of giving an excuse, Varaux clicked his tongue and the waterhorse lowered his head and the brownie climbed onboard. Then Varaux motioned to me and I handed him the sealed bundle of weapons.

With my stomach in knots, I hoisted myself up onto the Kelpie’s back behind Varaux. The ground looked so far away, and the horse swished its tail at me. “Yeah, I don’t like this any more than you do.”

“Take a deep breath.” Was the only warning Varaux gave before we leapt into the air and dove into the murky depths of the lake. Water rushed up my nose. We dove down under the water until I couldn’t see a thing. Deeper and deeper we went.

Dark water surrounded us as the waterhorse swam, its muscles contracting fast and hard. I couldn’t see a damn thing. But it felt like we were flying through the water. Only the Kelpie’s magic kept me in place. How long was this going to take?

My throat constricted and my lungs burned for air.

I was about to break my sword out of the binding and thrust it through this monster’s belly when we broke through the surface.

The air choked me, and I coughed and gagged. Varaux, unaffected from our journey, climbed off the waterhorse and gave it a pat on its neck.

“Good girl.”

I snorted and the Kelpie bucked, throwing me off its back and onto the shore.

I spat out grass and sat up. The air burned my lungs, but I was so busy trying to remember how to breathe without coughing that I couldn’t think of much else.

“Here’s your weapons.” Varaux handed me my cloak and blades wrapped inside.

Snow fell heavy and my teeth started to chatter. “T-thanks.” At least my cloak was dry. I pulled it over my shoulders and sheathed my weapons. The land was covered in snow and the lake was now a wide river.

“Through the woods there,” Varaux pointed, “is the shadow realm. This is as far as I can travel with you. I need to stay with Lassie, or she’ll get scared and flee.”

“A waterhorse afraid?” What kind of things lurked beyond the woods for a demon horse to be terrified?

“Lassie is our only hope for a quick exit from this nightmare and making it back to Darrius in time.”

The conviction in his words convinced me to trust him in at least this— he wanted to heal Darrius as much as I did.

“Wish me luck.” I stood and drew the cloak around me tighter. This place felt like it was colder than the North Pole and about as dreary as any horror movie. Ice weighed down branches. There were no flowers or even leaves on any of the trees. Like everything had been stripped bare.

“Just hurry, I don’t want to be here any longer than we have to.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” I trudged through the snow, pushing down the fear that crept in long shadows as I entered the woods.

After about an hour of walking, my clothes were frozen and tiny icicles clung to my hair. I couldn’t feel my feet. My hands were turning blue. First thing I was going to learn how to do once I got back was how to use magic to dry myself and keep warm. I tucked my hands underneath my arms as I hiked. My breaths came out in white puffs of smoke.

“Avery,” a soft voice called on the wind.

That sounded like Maggie. I paused, shaking my head. Must be my imagination.

“A-A-Avery.”

“Maggie? Where are you?” My heart pounded in my chest. Had the dark Fae left her out here in the cold to freeze to death?

“H-H-Help me.”

“I’m coming.” I rushed through the woods as fast as the calf-high snow would allow. “Hold on.”

The wind howled as Maggie continued to call my name. My legs felt frozen, but I pushed each foot forward. Was she hurt? My stomach clenched. What if I hadn’t been here…my friend could have died alone.

I spun in a circle, trying to figure out the direction of her cries. “Maggie, where are you?”

“H-H-Here.” A greenish glow flickered in the distance. “P-P-Please hurry.”

My throat tightened and I leapt over a fallen tree. She sounded so close now. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. She had to be here.

“I’m here, I’m here, but I don’t see you.”

“Gotcha,” a voice that sounded like Maggie’s on a bad cold day answered.

I spun, drawing my dagger, but arms like thick branches wrapped around me. The smell of a bog drifted over me. A wraith!

“Let go of me,” I yelled, struggling to get free of its deathly embrace. I wanted to head smack the thing except Helga had warned me of any more head trauma for a while.

“I will enjoy devouring your soul and bones.” Its voice changed again like beetles scratching along the metal.

If I could just reach my daggers. I would need both iron and silver to have a chance. But its arms were like thick bands of steel across me. And it squeezed, pushing out the air in my lungs.

I could die here. Darrius would die. And I needed to rescue Maggie from these monsters. It had used my fear and memories to draw me to it. I should’ve known better.

“It’ll be over soon, little Fae,” it said.

Pain surged through me and I screamed. But the wraith only sucked harder on my soul. I was being ripped apart from the inside out.

“Let her go,” Simeon marched out from behind a tree.

Was this another wraith come to trick me?

The creature hissed. “She is mine to take and taste. She came to me willingly.”

“I will not ask again.” Simeon drew his sword.

“You have no authority here, prince of the Seelie court.” It tightened its hold on me and a fresh wave of pain dragged through me. “Leave before I take you too.”

Simeon’s eyes flashed an amber color a second before he charged.

The creature dropped me, and I crumpled at its feet. Simeon thrust his sword a hair above my head and into the creature. It screamed, backhanding him, and knocking him into a tree.

“Simeon,” I choked out. My breaths labored, I drew out both iron and silver daggers and stood on shaky legs.

The creature laughed. “You are protecting him?”

“Shut up and die.” I dove forward, slicing both blades across the creature’s stomach.

It shrieked and kicked me backward.

“She doesn’t even know you’re a monster like me, does she?” it taunted.

“Don’t listen to it,” Simeon said from behind me.

“Let’s show her who you really are.” The wraith laughed and thrust a clawed hand out.

I ducked, rolling out of the way. “Simeon!”

My warning came too late. The hand pierced Simeon’s chest and thick, red blood pooled from the wound, staining his cream shirt.

He stumbled backward; his eyes dark.

“Simeon,” I choked back a sob and my heart shattered. “No!”

His body collapsed to the ground, but a dark figure rose behind him.

In his place now stood an Unseelie with dark hair and amber eyes. And I understood in that instant everything that had been going on since the Gwyllion attack.

This creature had possessed Simeon and used him to plant the poisoned arrow. Sent the shadow kin assassins after me. It had stolen my weapons and planted the poisoned arrow in that cabinet to kill Darrius. Now, because of it, Simeon was injured as well. My world was crashing down around me.