Phantom Fae (6 page)

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Alton fly after a human on foot who looked suspiciously like Brett. Her heart did a flip as she soared in that direction, fearful it was Brett and her suitor intended to kill him because he was angered that she had protected the human.

She called out a shrill roar that told Alton in no uncertain terms that he'd better not harm the human. That wasn't their business here. Destroy the supply wagons. That was all. The people managing them and protecting them had vanished. All but the human, Brett, who couldn't do such a thing. She still thought of him as hers—her prisoner, her servant, hers to protect. If he was to be punished for some punishable offense, she would mete out the punishment, no one else.

Ena was beyond furious with Alton. If he had any notion that she'd choose him for her mate, he had to realize that if he killed Brett, she was through with him. Brett was a defenseless human. He was a good fighter against the fae who fought using similar kinds of combat. But no way could he survive an encounter with a dragon who was out for his blood.

Alton had disappeared into the forest, and she wondered if he'd shifted into his fae form. His wings spread too wide to easily navigate a piney woods this densely treed. Though if he had transformed into the fae, he'd be at the disadvantage because she was certain Brett would be armed with the sword and daggers she had given him.

Not that she wanted Brett to injure Alton, should the dragon be defenseless, but she thought it served him right that Brett would have the upper hand for a change.

She was still flying through the forest, searching for Brett, her wing span not as wide as Alton's. Since he'd already cleared a ragged path through the trees, snapping off branches in places, she was making good progress when she heard a raven cawing in an annoying manner and the sound of grunts and groans and curses coming from two men.

"Freya! I've got this!" Brett shouted, sounding winded.

He was with a female phantom fae? She hadn't seen anyone but the human making a hasty retreat into the woods.

"Don’t tell me you can talk to a crow," Alton said, sounding just as breathless, but condescending also.

A crow?

If Alton and Brett were talking, they couldn't be killing each other. Ena hoped.

When she reached them, she found Alton had shifted into his fae form and Brett was fighting him, both using their bare fists. She couldn't believe it. How primitive. Were they nuts? She didn't think Alton had ever resorted to something like that, which was so far beneath a dragon shifter fae. Brett probably did this in his old high school all the time.

Alton had a split lip and dried blood on top of it. His right eye was swelling, red, and already turning colors. Even though Brett was huffing and puffing, his fists red from hitting Alton, he didn't have a mark on him anywhere that she could see.

She would have taken pity on Alton, except she knew he'd been out for blood when he'd taken off after Brett. And Brett had weapons, yet he did not use them on the unarmed dragon shifter.

In the shadows of the woods, Ena settled down on the pine needle covered forest floor to watch. She shifted into her fae form and noticed a raven eyeing her. Was it the same one that had been cawing? Had Brett befriended a bird? The human was remarkably well-adapted to changing situations and had been able to befriend her staff without even trying, despite his being a human who was a fae-killer.

The two men were faltering, stumbling, and staggering, barely able to stay on their feet. She folded her arms, annoyed with the both of them.

One more fist to the jaw, then Alton collapsed on his butt as if he couldn't take the punishing assault any further. Brett was trying to catch his breath, not gloating, just glowering. Then he offered his hand to Alton to help him up.

Alton hesitated to accept the truce, and she wanted to sock him.
Be a man
, she silently entreated.

To her relief, Alton took Brett's hand and the human pulled the fae to his feet.

"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 she 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."