Spelled (16 page)

The guest list was small and intimate, just the major heads of the fairy-tale families. Cinderella sat with Charming. Behind them was Jack with his plus one, the goose. Beauty sat closest to the door.

That wasn't right.
She
shouldn't be here…
I just couldn't put my finger on why.

My stomach twisted and coiled like a snake ready to strike. Now I was extra glad I had chucked the food. Clutching my bouquet for dear life, I walked toward the man standing in the front of the room. His cream-colored tux had twice the amount of diamonds that mine did. It attracted the light and made him difficult to focus on from far way.

Staring down at my bouquet, I kept walking. The satin ribbon that bound the flowers together had crimson spots from my pricked finger. The stark contrast of red against the white was unsettling. It reminded me of another party.

I heard the chandeliers shatter onto the floor. But when I looked up, they were still floating. I stared back at Beauty, but the Beast was wearing her yellow dress. I blinked and Beauty sat there again.

Looking now to the front, there were two thrones with a crown resting on one. My breathing quickened. I looked up into my groom's eyes. They were deep sapphire—the wrong color blue.

My bouquet went up in emerald flames.

I remembered everything.

“I would rather face down a swarm of fireswamp rats than one pixed-off princess bride.”

—Prince Humperdink

My fury reigned unchecked, and green flames rolled down my arms.

Burn
it. Burn it all. Leave nothing but ashes.

The voice grated, like it left splinters of wood in my mind. I didn't care.

The magical five-piece orchestra was still playing Tinkerbell's “Canon in D.” They were the first to go. I shot a fireball to the corner and blasted the instruments into toothpicks.

It was immensely satisfying. And there was so much more to come.

I advanced on the wizard with both hands fisted at my side, glowing with emerald flames. “Do you have Verte and my parents?”

His chest rose and fell rapidly while treading backward until his heels hit the dais. With nowhere left to go, he pointed at Rexi. “It was her idea.”

“Wrong answer.” I aimed the flames for his head, but he fainted, so I only singed the top of his pompadour. The power inside me was disappointed I had missed. But the wizard's head did make a pleasant crack when it hit the throne.

I rounded on Rexi and snarled. “Why did you betray me?”

She smirked. “Because the Gray Witch offered me a better deal than following after you like a handmaiden.”

She's the worst of them all. Making you believe you could trust her. The punishment for treason is death.

My anger smoldered at the traitor. “I will ask you once. Where are they?”

“Rotting in—”

I threw the flame, but she deflected it up with a platter. Too bad for her, she was standing under one of the chandeliers. It crashed on her head, and she crumpled onto the floor.

Not
enough. More.

“Who else…” I spun around, ready to face any attackers in the audience, but no one was there. Little voodoolike dolls sat toppled in the chairs, the magic that animated them gone. I walked down the aisle, torching each and every one as I went by.

More
.

Outside the ballroom, a litter of puppies sat in the hall. There was the sound of tinkling crystal behind me.

“What are you waiting for? Fry her!” Rexi screamed to the dogs.

The lead pup burped a small flame, but that was it. They looked drunk. No, not drunk—drugged. One of the dogs still had burrberry sauce on his snout from the food I'd tossed out the window. I took out the leader of the pack with a single throw, the blast throwing the others to the side of his ashes.

Each time I used the flames, I felt my body getting weaker and colder. But still, the power inside wanted more.

It was hungry.

Rexi shrieked from behind me. I blindly threw a flame in her direction. The resulting explosion took out the door and crumbled most of the wall. I staggered and caught myself with one hand on the ground. The flames were dancing in front of my eyes, turning the world to bright green.

Behind the barrier of rubble, Rexi was throwing a temper tantrum. From the crashing sounds, she would be out here soon. The dogs on the ground weren't stirring yet, but I heard more claws scratching their way up the staircase. Those puppies would be normal again and fully lethal in a matter of minutes, and if my dimming vision was any indication, I didn't have enough juice to take them all on.

There was no time to track down Verte or my parents, and I suspected they weren't here anyway. I had to get out, and there was only one exit point and I only had a slim chance of surviving. I climbed through the hole and called for the one who had made it. “Kato!”

A blast from behind forced me off my ledge and into free fall.

Seconds went by, and I wondered if I would have been better off fighting my way through the puppies.

A streak of brown shot from around the side of the tower, and Kato snatched me out of my descent.

For a moment, all I could do was memorize his features, from his whiskery chin to the ice water in his eyes. “That is the right color blue.”

I laughed when his face crinkled up in confusion.

We were gaining altitude when the top of the tower seemed to explode outward.

“Dorthea!” Verte stood in the center of the blast. “Hurry!”

Kato angled to make the turn back and swoop her up, but I stopped him.

“It's not her.” My heart shattered all over again.

“How do you know?” Kato flapped his wings just enough to keep us in place, like treading water.

“She called me Dorthea,” I whispered sadly.

“Pum'kin, I've missed you.” Now my father stood in the center of the room.

Oh Grimm, this hurt. This treachery was worse than being drugged, betrayed, and burned—it was the loss of hope. I nudged Kato. “Let's go, please.”

As he turned, I saw my mother blink into place where my father had been. “You come back here right this instant, young lady!”

I buried my tear-stained face in Kato's fur. I couldn't bear to see any more. He put his back to them and started to fly away.

“No!” Rexi screamed from the tower, and I looked up just in time to see the explosion of feathers as Kato's wing was obliterated in a flash of lightning. His face screwed up in anguish. The remaining wing flapped furiously to make up for the loss of its pair, but it was no use.

Once again we were falling. We had flown far enough away from the island that we were over the water. Usually crash-landing in water is better than solid ground. Except my life depended on my hair not getting wet.

“Get ready!” Kato called and banked left.

“For what?” I flipped over and saw what he was aiming for. There was something floating in the water that looked like alphabet letters. But we were diving too fast. We were going to miss them.

“You can't mean to…”

“Yep,” he said and dropped me as we passed over.

I landed with a squish and my hair sizzled against the slimy letter
C
. Seconds later, Kato hit the water with a giant splash. The drops rained down on me, making my hair crackle more, taking my breath away.

With effort, I pushed up from the
C
and looked forward. The letter
B
blinked while the
A
was sideways, like a snout. I must have been riding BeC, the mythical ABCserpent. Though I was pretty sure it was imaginary and shouldn't really exist.

Wonder gave way to panic when Kato didn't resurfaced.

No, no, no, no
. He couldn't die now. I'd finally figured out that I liked him—the “more than my shoes” kind. “Excuse me.” I patted the
C
insistently to get the serpent's attention. “Helllooo?” I knocked harder.

What were my options? I couldn't just jump in the water. According to Crow, if the flames went out, I'd die. I considered a swim anyway.

“What?” The voice gurgled and sounded like it came from underwater.

My voice was breathy, and I was practically jumping out of my skin. “My friend. Please use your snout and pull him out of the water.”

The serpent turned away from the spot where I had seen Kato land. “No. Why?”

“Because he'll drown.” I panicked. It had to turn back—I had to make it turn back. I let the flames return to my hands. “If you don't pull him up I'll…”

Kato flew up from out of the water and landed with a wet squish on letters
D
through
L
.

The voice spoke from under the water again. “No.
Y
.” It shook the
Y
at the end of its tail. “No need for threats.”

I crawled my way through the slime to check on Kato and ran my hands over nearly all of him. His chest moved up and down, but his side oozed blood from where his left wing used to be. “Grimm save us. Are you okay?”
Please
be
okay.
When he didn't move, I called louder. “Can you hear me?”

“Yes.” He groaned and opened one eye. “My wing is busted, not my ears.”

I gave him a huge hug, and he winced beneath me. “Sorry.” I shifted slightly, still not willing to let him go. It felt like I had lost everything all over again today. I would hold on to the one thing I had left to my last breath—and then some.

My hands continued to search around his body for signs of any more damage. I lifted his paw and counted his nails. He still had seven left. “Why didn't you call Bob for help?”

He raised his head slightly to better see me. “They knew. As soon as I was out of your sight, they muzzled me, put iron thimbles on my claws, and tied me down with chains. I stayed bound in a well for nearly a week not knowing what happened to you.”

I dropped the paw in surprise. “A week?”

His head fell back down with a slurp. “Yes, but it felt like years. What were you doing, and why do you look like you're getting married?”

There was no way to explain that well. I didn't really understand most of what had happened myself. My head was foggy as I tried to figure out what was poppy-induced dream and what was real.

“Long story. Short version, I took a nap and Rexi elected herself Team Villain MVP.” I could feel my temper rising.

“I know,” he said, curling his lip. “She came down and personally tied me to the roasting spit. If that servant ape hadn't let me go, I would have been barbecue.”

That surprised me. “Nikko? See, aren't you glad that I didn't let you eat him?” My arm grazed Kato's side, and he hissed in pain. We could go over our little travelogues later. Right now, we needed help. “We've got to find someone to bandage you up. I'll ask the serpent to take us to land. Then we'll call Bob, get you home, and I'll take care of Blanc.” I paused and let the emerald flame come to my hand again.
Yessss
. I cared a lot less about the curse than I used to, and the inner voice had taken on a softer, almost fuzzy quality. Almost comforting. In fact, I couldn't remember why I'd refused his request in the first place.

I crawled back toward the head. The serpent continued swimming while I checked on Kato. It traveled quickly; the island was nowhere in sight. The sea had narrowed and we were cruising down something more akin to a river, with high cliff walls on one side, thick Ironwood trees on the other.

I patted the brow of the
C
again. “Excuse me. Thank you for saving my friend, but he's really hurt. Can you take us to land?” The ABCserpent didn't answer. I had the feeling I was getting the silent treatment. “And I'm really sorry I threatened you. It's been a rough few days.”

“Apology accepted,” the serpent gurgled. “Remember that nice girls use their heads and their words. Not their hands.”

Great, I was stuck on a pacifist serpent.

“I'll keep that in mind. About finding a spot to land…”

Glug
glug.
“Yesss. I know someone who will help. We're almost there.”

“Thank you!” I turned to get Kato ready, but he was already limping my way. The serpent giggled under the water. I thought Kato's nails may have been tickling it.

“We're going to somebody who can help,” I said to Kato and crawled back to him.

We couldn't get there soon enough—Kato wasn't looking too hot. He swayed on his feet, more than just being on the water would cause. And he was shaking his head and laughing in a delirious sort of way.

“We're here,” the serpent singsonged from the water.

I looked away from Kato and saw that we'd pulled up to a beach. A very familiar beach—with a weedy garden and a shack with shutters stuck on with gum.

I knocked on the
C
. “No, no, no. You've made a mistake. There's no one here to help us. Just a blind head hunter.”

“Hydra has many spare parts. She will help your friend.”

She had lots of heads, but what were the odds she had wings too? Or that she wouldn't just try stealing Kato's good one?

“But she's creepy.” My voice turned down at the end. I knew I was whining, but the image of the heads was still fresh in my mind. Maybe she was just a harmless old lady with a morbid hobby because she got tired of collecting spoons. After all, she had tried to warn me about Black Crow.

Hydra ambled out of her shack. She was being led by a girl in trousers with pokey blond hair. Rexi.

Kato roared. “Why?”

“Okay,” the serpent gurgled. The tail poked out of the water, slid under Kato and I, and deposited us, roughly, on the beach.

“Thanks,” I muttered.

A watery, “You're welcome,” came as it sped away down the river. We were marooned, but I was ready to fight. Ignoring BeC's advice about words versus hands, I readied my flames to take Rexi out, but Kato was already bounding up to her.

Kato cornered her against the house and growled. Then he collapsed.