Forever Fae (33 page)

I can’t believe the dark sorcerer is inside Avery’s body.  I wonder how of
t
en he’s done that and if he’s ever done it with Warren’s body.  It
would explain
Warren’s odd behavior.
Merrick goes still while I watch Calista walking through the village.  She’s smiling and talking to the various people as she walks by
us
.  This must be so hard for her to do.  I kne
w she was strong, but having to
endure what she’s going through takes great courage.  They disappear into a scraggly looking building and I turn back to Merrick.

“What else did she say?” I ask.

“She says she’s sorry for us having to see her like this, but it’s all an act.  The ring Elvena gave her is protecting so
me of her magic, but not all because s
he can feel the talisman draining her essence.  I told her earlier that we were invisible a
nd we plan on getting her out.
She also made an imp friend called Nixie who’s going to help with the rescue.”

“That’s right!”  

I turn quickly, startled. 

“What the hell
?
”
I hiss quietly.  My chest hurts
from jerking around so fast but what I see in front of me must be the imp Calista was talking about.  She’s green with green spiky hair and h
er wings are fluttering so fast with excitement I can’t tell what color they are.  She holds her hand over her mouth to keep a laugh from escaping.  I think she f
inds
it amusing
that she
startled
us.  I wonder how she knew we were here.

“Who are you?” I order.

Her voice has a twinkling sound when
she speaks
.

“My name is Nixie and
I am the one who is going to help you escape.  I knew you would arrive sometime to save the
p
rincess
so I kept my senses open to find you.”

The imp can’t see my looks of suspicion since I’m invisible
, so I ask curiously
, “Imps don’t freely offer their help or magic without some sort of payment.  What did Calista promise you?”

She floats in the air with her wings flapping silently.  She looks off into the d
istance and her smile fades.  Her features soften when she speaks
.

“The
p
rincess
has promised to take me with her and my family will seek refuge in the Fall Court when you both rule it.  She
has promised to keep us safe and t
hat is all the payment I need.  I was taken from my family as a child and was threatened with their deaths if I ever decided to leave.  We will be safe with you and the
p
rincess
under the protection of the Fall Court.  She will be an amazing
q
ueen
,
just like you will be an amazing
k
ing
.” Her eyes are bright
and she seems to take on a peaceful glow. 
Her actions are genuine
and if Calista trusts her, then I will
,
too.

“Thank you, Nixie.  What do you suggest we do?”
I ask softly.

She flies and looks around the area quickly and then replies,
“Your power works out here, but once you enter one of the dwellings your power will stop.  The power is too stro
ng surrounding the buildings so i
t’s basically a prison when you’re in them.  I suggest you make your move outside and somewhere out of the path of the village and the other creatures.”

Merrick cuts in and says, “Calista knows about the magic and I told her to get outside as quick as possible.  Once she’s out I can tell her to take a walk with the body snatcher and get her to separate from the village so they can be alone.”

Nixie nods her head in concentration and then quirks her brow. 

“That might work, but I th
ink he’ll get suspicious of just taking a walk.
You both are not go
ing to like this, but he
is extremely vulnerable when it comes to Calista and her
… body.”

At my
sudden hiss
Nixie cuts me off and raise
s her voice to interrupt the tirade I
am
about to go on.

“She’s had to do what
is
necessary, and no, she hasn’t been hurt physically, but emotionally she is hanging on by a thread.  The Princess is strong, but this has worn her down gre
atly.  Not to mention he
is stealing
more
of her
power each minute she wears
the talisman.  She won’t be able to get that power back once it’s gon
e, but once you come together and form the Fall Court
,
she’ll
b
e more powerful than she is now because y
our power will help her gain all she’s lost.  Most people die within minutes of wearing the talisman, but she’s been wearing it for over a day now.  The sorcerer has
already
succeeded in gaining the essence of one of
T
he
Four
through her
, and now he plans to make her hi
s
d
ark
q
ueen
.  Once he completes this, he’s going to start planning ways to capture the others of the Four.”

“If we destroy the talisman he won’t get Calista’s power.  Do you know how to destroy it?” I ask Nixie.

She shrugs her shoulders and answers sadly
.

“No one knows, but many have tried and failed.  The talisman could be thrown in a pile of lava and it wouldn’t
be
destroy
ed
.” 

‘
Well, shit, there goes that idea
,’ I think.
  When we get back home we need to research on how to destroy it and how to kill the dark sorcerer.

Nixie falls silent
as
her focus shifts
to
a
building
.
Calista
emerges,
covered
in blood and smiling.  I can tell
the
smile is forced
.
I can see the
trembling
of
her body and the sadness in her eyes.  She’s doing good pretending, but she must
have had to do something awful because by the way she looks
,
it must have been brutal.

The Avery body snatcher has his arm possessively low around Calista’s waist and he leans down to whisper something in her ear.  He pulls her in tighter to his body
,
takes her earlobe into his mouth and
begins to suck it.  She feigns a giggle
and pushes him off.  He is so dead after this. 

Grabbing my attention
,
Merrick whispers, “I have her guys, a
nd Ryder I need you to calm the hell
down.  It’s hard for me to see this shit
,
too, but we have to because it’s all part of the plan.  I told her what to do and she says to follow her and we can go from there.  She also says that wha
tever you see, do not interfere.”

Nixie slyly points out
, “She’s
smart and she’s
very good at manipulating him so I know she can get his guard down.”

I hate to see what she has to do to get his guard down.  If anything
,
she will literally be getting h
is guard up.  I am already being pushed to the
limit with the
rage taking over
my body and I’ve been shaking so bad I don’t think I can even walk straight.  I just hope I can keep my anger in check without blowing our cover.

“Alright, guys
,
let’s go,” I snap.

With Merrick and I still invisible
,
we silently make our way to follow Calista.  We see her heading to the side of the village and through the woods.  We walk
a good distance behind them and my vision is
perfectly clear
.
It’s clear enough that I’m able to see the dark sorcerer’s hand on Calista’s ass the whole way through the woods.  I close my eyes and grip the handle of my sword
.
When
I open
them
there’s only one thing I see…the color red.

Chapter 25

Calista

The dark sorcerer and I head down the many flights of steps in the tree and he holds my hand the entire time.  It’s actually Avery’s body, but the mind of the dark sorcerer.  It’s weird with him being in Avery’s body because
his
mannerisms are so different from Avery’s
mannerisms
.  I’m curious to know how this works.

“Does Avery have
any
control when you take over his body?”
I ask.

He seems amused
.

“No, he doesn’t, and I know he despises
it
.  I block him out when I take over his body.  I don’t like to hear his incessant whining.”

“Tell me about it,” I respond, knowing exactly what he means by that.

We reach the door and he opens it to reveal the outside.  It’s still dark, of course, but the lights of the dwellings give off a faint glow across the village.  I hear a noise in my head and
I pause.  Was that Merrick?
I didn’t think that would be possible with th
e talisman still around my neck, but I can feel the connection open up.

“Merrick
?
”

“I’m here, Princess.  Ryder and I are both here.  We’re off to your right hidden in the trees.  Actually, we are both invisible hiding behind the trees.  Why are you with Avery an
d holding his hand like that
?”

“The dark sorcerer is inside Avery’s body.  He can take over certain people’s bodies and when he uses his own body he can appear as anyone.  He appeared as Ryder when I came to him
the first time
and I
just about
lost it, Merrick.  I almost died of h
eartbreak thinking it was Ryder because
I thought he betrayed me. Also, our powers do not work inside the dwellings
,
they only work outside. I hate that you have to see me like this, but I’m only pretending.  This was the only way I could think of to distract him.”

“Well, Ryder is right here with me and determined to get you
to
safe
ty
.  I don’t think he li
kes what you’re doing though
.
W
ell
, neither do
I
.  The clothes are a little distracting if that’s what you mean by distracting the dark sorcerer.  Whatever you do, try to stay outside as much as
possible to give us more chances
for escape.”

“I will.”

I am trying to talk to Merrick and talk to the villagers and some of the fae in the army at the same tim
e
,
which isn’t very easy.  We’re
headed to the prison and I already have a sick feeling in my stomach
thinking about
wha
t I’m going to see in there.  The dark sorcerer
said he had a surprise for me, but I don’t know what kind of surprise would be in a prison.  I have about two minutes bef
ore we reach it so I continue
to fill Merrick in on what’s been happening.

“I am so sorry you have to see me like this, Merrick.  Apparently, this jackass likes to pick out my clothes, and let me tell you, they’re a little too small if you can’t already tell.  The ring Elvena gave me for my birthday is helping protect
me
from me being drained, but I’m starting to feel some effects from the talisman.  This m
an is one sick bastard and we’re
headed to the prison to
go
do who knows what.”

There are two guards at the door and both of them are trolls.  The dark sorcerer has a
lot of trolls here and
a lot of fae from both the
Summer
and Winter Courts.  It p
ains me to know that we had this
many traitors.  I wonder if there is a way to disting
uish who is loyal and who isn’t when I get back home, or
rather
if
I get back home.

The trolls b
ow their heads and step aside.  I walk through the door and the first thing I want to do is
squeeze my eyes shut and put my hand over my mouth to
keep
from screaming.  But instead, my eyes stay open and I try not to focus on one particular thing. The visions of what I’m seeing will stay engraved in my brain for eternity.  I bite my tongue to keep from screaming and the piercing ache of the
bite keeps my mind on the pain instead of the grotesque things I’m seeing.
The taste of blood fills my mouth and I have no other option but to swallow it.  The metallic taste makes me want to gag.