Atone: A Fairytale (Fairytale Trilogy) (25 page)

“Well if it isn’t the little terre-verde princess.” Talon gave her a lazy grin. “Until we’d heard that you had awakened, I’d thought you were just the stuff of bedtime stories.”

In spite of her anxiety about Nicholas and the mirror, Becca had to choke back a laugh. If Talon had been trying to get on Lilia’s bad side, he’d succeeded. She could practically see the storm clouds gathering in her friend’s expression.

“Is there someone that has more authority than you that we could speak to? If you cannot stop these
animals
from entering the human world, perhaps there is someone who cares more about maintaining the divide between the realms than you do?” The condescension was fairly dripping off her voice.

“Maybe antagonizing him isn’t the best choice,” Alex muttered.

Talon’s brows had drawn together at Lilia’s use of the word animals. “You should be careful what you say about the fera, Princess.” The inflection he placed on her title suggested he wasn’t using it as a term of respect. “And you should return to your own world. The longer you are here, the more likely other fera will feel your presence on our land.”

“Too late for that, boy.” A deep, sarcastic voice cut across the field. Talon rolled his eyes to the sky as if praying for patience and turned toward the caves.

“Elkin.” He greeted the fera who appeared in front of one of the cave entrances. “The petite-fae and the demi-terre-verde were just leaving.” He shot a warning glance at Lilia.

Becca sucked in a breath as she recognized the fae. He was one of the two fera that she’d battled in the city. The lighter-haired one. Somehow she didn’t think he’d be interested in her plea for more time.

“What, leaving before we’ve discussed the fate of the animal they have under their protection?” Another voice. Becca recognized it as well, right before the speaker appeared next to Elkin. He leered at her, his golden-brown eyes with the narrow pupils were just as unsettling as they had been before. “Are you here to surrender the enchanted beast to us?”

Becca felt Alex’s hand tighten on her own. She couldn’t hear over the pulsing of her magic inside of her. She felt such rage at the two fera, and it was as if the rage had fed directly into her power.

“No,” she choked out.

“Pity.” The dark-haired fera smiled. “If you chose to protect him, then we have no choice but to consider you a threat.”

He and Elkin began to advance toward the three girls. Becca heard Talon shout, “Wolfram, this is none of—” but the rest of the words were cut off by a loud rushing sound. Becca’s hair blew back from her face and she blinked against the blast.

“Well that got out of control quickly,” Alex’s voice was deadpan, but the protective wall of shimmering magic that she’s created in front of them was anything but low-key. It shimmered with soft white power shot through with diamond strands. Before Becca could even react enough to add her own power to Alex’s spell, the semi-transparent wall had curved into a circle and surrounded them; protecting them on all sides. Becca felt Lilia’s hand slip into hers and she in turn reached for Alex’s.

“You cannot defeat us here on our own land,” Elkin warned. “We are not in your metal-and-concrete encased world now.”

“True,” Alex said diplomatically as her protection spell began to be infused with gold and green, as Becca and Lilia’s magic poured into it. “But I was able to defeat Briar Rose in her own house by myself, and here I have my two sisters with me. We don’t want to fight you, but if you refuse to let us leave in peace, if you refuse to give us the time we need to free our friend, then we will.”

“Brave words, petite-fae.” Wolfram snarled.

“The obsession these people have with bloodlines is ridiculous.” Alex’s voice was low enough to only be heard by Becca and Lilia.

“Brave, but true.” A clear, sweet voice cut across the field. The three girls turned toward the sound. Bryony, Violet, and Saffron stood to their right. Bryony gazed at the fera steadily as she continued; “They will fight and they will win, with or without our help. However, they do have our help. They are of our family and therefore under our protection.”

“They are on our land. The portal is ours.” Wolfram snarled.

“The portal is at the border of our lands,” Bryony pointed out, “because it was made for our sister. Her daughter has a right to demand that you cease your incursion into the human realm through her mother’s portal.”

“She has no right to demand anything. The portal was created by a fera.”

Bryony smiled serenely. “Let us ask the portal’s creator then.” A look of indecision skated across Wolfram’s face. “What is the matter? Do you not wish to speak with your king on such an important matter?” She turned to Talon and instructed, “Summon your brother.”

Becca’s eyes had grown wider at the mention of a king, but now her jaw dropped open as she whipped her head back to look at Talon, who apparently was some kind of fera prince. He looked both annoyed at being told what to do and relieved that someone else was dealing with the situation. Becca was dying to look over at Lilia and see if the news that Talon shared a rank with her had irritated her further, but she was afraid to miss any of the drama playing out in front of them.

Both Elkin and Wolfram looked furious, but uncomfortable enough that Becca guessed their king might side with the three sisters. Bryony looked perfectly calm, as did Saffron. Violet, on the other hand, looked…wrong. She didn’t look upset or nervous, but strangely vacant, as if she was seeing and feeling nothing.

“This is an unexpected pleasure,” a deep male voice rumbled from the other side of the field. Becca turned from her scrutiny of Violet to see another fera standing near Talon. He was tall and muscular, with shaggy black hair and dark eyes. Even from this distance Becca could see his pupils were like the other two fera’s. She wondered briefly why Talon’s weren’t. “I did not know we were to have guests on fera land.” His words were welcoming, but there was a warning implicit in them as well.

“Queen Liliana’s daughter and her descendants are here because these fera have entered the human world and have used their magic to attack my niece. We are requesting your promise that no more incursions into the human world will take place.”

The king shot a withering glance at Elkin and Wolfram. Becca could tell this was the first time he was hearing about their little jaunt into Los Angeles. He strode forward across the field toward the three girls. Becca knew without a doubt that if it had been him she faced in the alley she would have lost. Badly.

Their spell burned brighter as he approached it.

“I will not harm you,” he said with a smile. “You have no need of protection here on my land. Your family name is enough.”

Alex looked at Bryony, who nodded. Their spell fell to the ground and dissipated. Becca still felt extremely on edge, and she could tell the other two girls did as well. Neither of them dropped their grip on her hands.

The king’s gaze slid over them, settling on Lilia. “You look very much like your mother.”

“Thank you.”

“Bryony, Saffron,” he nodded to each of them, “it has been many years.” He turned the full force of his gaze to Violet. “Violet, it is good to see you.”

“Beorn,” she replied, her voice was oddly flat. She finally turned her light blue eyes to him and even from a few feet away Becca could read the pain in them. “You as well.”

Becca sucked in a breath. Beorn must be the beast that Violet had loved—still loved. She had tried to speak of it in the past tense, but Becca recognized the pain she couldn’t mask.

Beorn looked at the mirror spell behind them. “I had heard my portal spell had been altered; I felt the magic twist away from me when it happened, but I did not expect to find it this much changed.” He turned the full force of that dark gaze on Becca, and she felt a shiver run up her spine. She was extremely glad that he seemed to hold the three sisters in some kind of affection because otherwise the power reflected in his gaze would have scared her.
Who am I kidding?
she thought derisively.
He scares the crap out of me
.

“You must be very strong. And a petite-fae, no less. I do not know many fera who could have matched my magic like that.”

Becca swallowed. “I had a strong motivation…Your Majesty.” She added as an afterthought

He laughed; it was a deep, growling sound. “You do not need to address me so formally, especially as you a from a royal family yourself.”

Becca’s forehead creased as she shot a look at the three sisters. He could be talking about the fact that she was descended from Queen Liliana; but she’d been a queen because her human husband had been King of Arraine. It didn’t seem like being that many generations removed from a royal human family should matter, and both Bryony and Violet had addressed him as if he were an equal. She glanced at Alex, who looked back with wide eyes. Somehow she had a feeling that what the three sisters had told them so far about their family history didn’t even begin to scratch the surface.

“And your motivation is to save this beast?” He was studying her intently as if he’d set out a test he expected her to fail.

“He isn’t a beast. He’s a man. A man who has been twisted by magic. Your magic. And I want to free him from the grip of your claws.” As she answered, she saw Violet glance at her with a small smile.

“But he is weak. He would not have fallen prey to the protection spell if he were not.” Beorn crossed his arms, and when she could see his resemblance to Talon, even though the younger fera was much more lightly complected.

“All humans are weak. It’s one of our greatest strengths—the ability to be vulnerable.”

Beorn threw back his head and laughed. “I would not have expected less from a member of your family. Your propensity to love the humans has caused problems.” Out of the corner of her eye she saw the vacant expression return to Violet’s eyes as she slid her gaze away from them and stared out across the field. Becca wished she knew what to say or do, but she had no idea what the history between them was.

He glanced back at the mirror spell. “I see you share your aunt’s emblem flower.”

Becca nodded. He’d lowered his voice, but she wasn’t sure if the three sisters could still hear them.

He gazed at her for a moment. “For that reason, and that reason alone, I will spare your weak-willed human. You have tangled yourself into my spell, and I wish you luck in untangling it.” He raised his voice so that he could be heard across the field. “No fera will cross into the human world through this portal.”

Elkin and Wolfram protested, but Beorn cut them off with a raised hand. He looked so fierce that Becca took an involuntary step back. “Quiet. You may leave us. Do not fail to honor my promise to the terre-verde.”

The other fera didn’t look happy about it, but they both bowed their heads and then shimmered out of sight. Becca realized that she was probably messing with a delicate political balance, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. She was so relieved that Beorn was promising that they’d remain safe from the fera while she tried to break the curse’s hold on Nicholas. Not that she had any idea how to do that, but that was another problem for another day.

Beorn turned back to the three sisters. “Talon will remain to guard the portal and ensure that my order is kept.”

“Thank you, Beorn.” Violet answered in her too flat voice.

His eyes flashed dark fire. “I do not want your thanks. I regret ever gifting Liliana with the portal—” he broke off as Violet lifted her eyes to his face. “Goodbye. Be well.” The words seemed to tumble out of him, and then in a flash of deep gold magic he was gone.

Becca stared at Violet and her sisters, her hands still gripping Alex’s and Lilia’s. “I’m sorry we caused a problem.”

Violet gave her a sad smile. “The problem was caused long before you were ever born. And now you may return to your world in safety.”

Becca looked at the other girls, who nodded back at her. “Goodbye then,” she said as they moved toward the portal. Alex went through first, still holding her hand. Becca was about to follow her when Violet called her name. Both she and Lilia turned to look at their aunt.

“My sister Liliana was right. She always said when you are with your true love you make your own magic. Let it be true for you.”

Becca could see a tear slip down Lilia’s cheek at hearing her mother’s words repeated. She looked up at Violet, at the sadness in her eyes, and nodded. “I will.”

And then she went back through the mirror.

~ Chapter Eighteen ~

“
I
WAS WORRIED
about you.” He padded into the room silently as soon as the sun dipped below the horizon. She’d been sitting at the window waiting for him.

“I know. I’m sorry. Alex and Lilia were with me.”

“That’s the only reason I didn’t try to go in after you.”

She smiled at that. “Probably wouldn’t have been the best idea. It was an interesting experience. Lots of crazy fae.”

A growl rumbled through his chest. “I don’t want you risking your safety like that.”

“It’s fine now. We’re safe. The king of the fera gave me his word that no fera would come through the portal. He’s the one who made the damn thing.”