The Changeling Soldier (6 page)

“I want more luck than what the dress will give me. I need more dresses. Please.” Her voice became whiny. Was she hoping pleading would work where demands had failed? This was a woman not used to hearing no.

“Luck is made by the wearer.” Ella’s voice became cool, and she started to think of the best way to escape the house. She could shrink to Brownie-sized or drop the magic that made her visible to humans, but she’d still be trapped until she could sneak out. Was Isaac just outside the door ready to grab her?

No, he couldn’t be in on this. He’d warned her, and she’d seen the lust in his gaze…maybe he was hoping his sister would catch her.

Melody’s face became hard. She watched Ella with the same intense scrutiny that Ella had only ever experienced at Court right after her father’s death. This was the true face of Isaac’s sister. She might be able to manipulate her brother, but she was a fool if she thought she could manipulate a fairy or gamble and win. “I think you make the luck with fairy magic.” Melody opened her hand to look at the fairy stone.

“You don’t want fairy magic.” The kind she put into the dresses was harmless, a gift that could only be given freely. A deal, on the other hand, could be fatal. Ella stepped away from Melody. The dress, now undone, gaped at the back.

Staring at the mirror, Melody looked a little lost. But Ella’s magic wasn’t enough to cloud her thoughts completely. She turned around. “I want you to grant my wish.”

“No. You’re going to pay me for the dress, and I’m going to leave and you’ll forget this conversation happened.” Granting Melody’s wish would teach her a lesson, and the temptation was there. “You wouldn’t want it getting out that you believe in fairies and magic, would you?” Ella put on her sweetest smile. She didn’t need an afternoon to bring down Melody’s fledgling career. She’d brought down fairies who knew what they were doing in less time than it took to finish with them in bed.

However, these days she took no pride in those achievements.

“You don’t deny you’re a fairy?” Melody raised one eyebrow.

“You believe I am, so does it matter what I say? Perhaps you should see someone about those delusions.” She needed to get out of here, and she’d rather keep up the pretense that she was human. Admitting she was fairy would only escalate the situation.

Melody’s lips worked silently for a moment. Then she shook her head. “Fairies are real. Isaac can see them.” She stepped free of the dress and handed it to Ella to fold.

“But you can see me.” Because she let herself be seen by mortals. Again she wondered how much Isaac actually knew and how much he’d shared with his sister.

Melody frowned. “Your eyes…”

“I have a medical condition that’s claiming my sight. In another two years I won’t be able to work.” The lie rolled easily off her tongue, and the magic she was using to confuse Melody was trickling out and weakening her further. She had to leave. Now.

Instead of finishing folding the dress, Ella picked up her bag. She turned, and Melody was right in front of her. Ella stepped back, her calves hitting the sofa. “I’m going now.”

This time the magic in her words had no effect. Melody grabbed Ella’s hand. Pain lanced through her arm and she knew Melody had a small piece of iron on her skin. Her flesh burned. She gasped and tried to pull away, but between the iron wound and the cold in her blood she was too slow. She’d stayed in the mortal world too long, fearing fairies more than humans.

“I knew you were a fairy.” Melody’s eyes were bright as though she’d just discovered a forbidden secret. She pushed Ella to the ground, keeping the iron in place. “This is too easy.”

“Please, you don’t want this.” She tried to drop the glamor that made her visible, but with the iron on her skin it was impossible to work any magic. Fear took hold. Melody knew too much and had no fear of fairies.

“I know what I want, and you will give it to me.” Melody leaned over and picked up something that had been tucked out of sight by the sofa, then she pressed the point into Ella’s hand.
An iron poker.

“Let me go.” The pain of the burn was unbearable. She began to shiver as her already weakened body struggled. She was going to die here because she didn’t grant a spoiled girl’s wish. Even if she did, Melody probably wouldn’t let her live. She should’ve listened to Isaac, handed him the dress and run. Isaac…could she trust him or not?

She hesitated for a moment, but how much worse could this get? “Isaac!”

Melody swung the poker. It connected with Ella’s head in flash of blinding white pain.

Chapter Five

He’d heard the raised voices, but had been unable to make out the words. For a few heartbeats he’d tried to ignore it, then a warning had swept over his skin in an icy rush he’d learned not to put aside. As he moved toward the room, Ella called his name, and then there was the unmistakable sound of something hitting flesh, hard.

Isaac ran, throwing open the door, not sure what he’d find, yet already dreading it.  Cold writhed in his gut. He was too late. What had Melody done?

She leaned over the prone body of Ella. “My God, fairies really do have blue blood.” His half-sister glanced up at him and lifted her hand. Her fingers were coated in bright blue something… He blinked and saw the snow of his dreams stained the same shade, bright but deep, full of magic even as life departed.

“What have you done?” He crossed the floor at almost a run.

“Caught me a fairy who will grant my every wish.” Melody grinned. “Be happy for us. Soon we’ll have everything.”

“What the fuck, Mel?” He dropped to his knees, relieved to find Ella still breathing, but not sure about what first aid to apply. How different from humans were fairies? Then he realized he was half-fairy, so they couldn’t be that different.

“I had no choice. She was going to leave.” Mel edged closer. “Is she alive?”

He tore his gaze from Ella and glared at his sister. Anger burned like acid stripping his common sense away. Melody stepped back, fear etched on her face. “Isaac?”

“You attacked a woman,” he snarled.

Melody took another step back, the poker still held in her hand. “I did it for us.”

“You did it for yourself.” This time he heard the fury in his voice. He needed to calm down and think clearly. He forced himself to take a couple of deep breaths until he could see through the red haze that clouded his vision. He needed a plan. He needed to get Ella out of here and away from Melody. “You shouldn’t have hurt her.”

Ella was a fairy, not just a woman. He couldn’t imagine she was going to feel very forgiving, and nothing he’d read about fairies implied they took kindly to humans who tried to catch them. Melody had read his journal. She had to realize what she’d done.

Isaac returned his attention to Ella. He gently touched the wound on Ella’s head. Her skull didn’t seem depressed. It might be fractured though. The next few hours would be critical. Despite the color, the blood on his fingers was sticky and warm like his blood. The burns on her hand were like the ones he got when from touching iron. What would Melody do to him if she knew what he was? Adrenaline coursed through him, but this time he was under control. Although he was sure that if he looked at Melody again, he would lose it.

Attacking Ella had crossed a line that Isaac was unwilling to forgive.

“She needs a doctor. The head injury could kill her.” Not that he knew anything about fairy physiology, but Ella looked more delicate than she had when she’d walked in the door and flirted with him. He should’ve taken the dress and sent her on her way.

Melody shook her head and raised the iron poker. She pressed the tip to his chest. “She’s mine now.”

“You can’t own a person,” he said with a clenched jaw. And he’d thought he was losing his grip on reality. No, out of the three people in the room, he wasn’t the one missing a few screws. Mel’s ambition had brought her to…would it be murder if Ella died? He knew the answer before the question had even fully formed. Of course it would be.

“She’s not a person. She’s a fairy. No one will miss her because most people don’t think she is real.” Melody pushed the poker and tip dug into his flesh. His skin was burning through the thin cloth of his shirt, but he didn’t flinch. He needed to unarm her.

He eased back a fraction and twisted, Mel stumbled off balance and he snatched the poker off her and flung it across the room. That short contact had been enough to burn his hand. If Mel saw it…

He scooped Ella up. She seemed to weigh almost nothing. Melody needed help, but she was also dangerous and as she wasn’t thinking clearly, getting out had to be his priority. “Ella is a popular designer. She is well known in L.A. You can’t do this to her, but I’ll help you make it right.”

“What are you doing?” Melody glared at him, her gaze slid to the iron poker and her handbag as if she were looking for another weapon.

“Taking care of Ella.”
And getting her away from you
. He’d never seen his sister behave so irrationally.

“Put her down. I caught her. She’s mine.” Mel stood her ground and refused to let him pass.

He looked at Mel, but no longer saw her as the little sister he needed to help and protect. She was the enemy. “Mel, you knocked out a woman. This isn’t right. You know that.” Was it too late to reason with her? In his heart he knew it was.

“She’ll grant my wish.”

“Ella’s unconscious. She won’t be granting any wishes. She needs medical attention.” He remembered the imp offering him whatever he wanted in exchange for his soul as a child. Playing with fairies wasn’t a good idea. Yet somehow he ended up in Annwyn fighting in their battle. And Ella was with him. That gave him hope. Ella wasn’t going to die in his arms.

“You can’t take her to a hospital.” Melody grinned, all cold and malice. “They’ll wonder what she is, then take her away. Put her down.”

Damn it. She was right. “No. I’ll look after her.” He went to walk around his sister.

Melody sidestepped to block his way again. Anger kept his heart beating hard, but he was aware that the situation was tilting. There was a gleam in his sister’s eyes that he’d seen before, right before someone started attacking in what could only be called a suicide run.

“Don’t test me, Mel.”

“Or what? You won’t hurt me.” Melody walked over and picked up her phone.

Isaac took the opportunity and strode toward the door. It had never looked so far away.

“If you don’t do what I say, I’ll call 911 and tell them you attacked her—and me. And that you are holding her hostage”

He turned slowly.

She waved the cell phone at him, taunting him. “One more step Isaac.”

She wouldn’t…yet the tightening of his gut suggested he shouldn’t push her. She’d already attacked one person today. “They won’t believe you.”

“Really? After everything you saw and did, it wouldn’t take much to convince them your mind broke and you snapped.”

It wasn’t him who was having the break. “I’ll deny it.”

“Your word against mine. I’m the celebrity who’s been taking care of her brother. Everyone knows that and everyone knows all your war stories.” She placed one hand over her heart, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. “You’ve been violent with me before, but this is too much.”

His mouth dropped open as if she’d slapped him. “I never—”

“Who do you think they’ll believe?” Her eyes narrowed and her lips pressed into a thin victorious smile.

No one would believe him. Not when he had medals for killing and had spent several months struggling to fit into civilian life and expecting violence at every turn. His job had only amplified that but at least it had put his paranoia to good use. Then there were the incidents when he’d just
known
something was going to happen. It hadn’t been a secret at the base, but was it on his records somewhere? What would people think of that?

Melody had planned this operation and set him up. He’d played his part perfectly, the good brother and soldier all the way through. He ignored the stab of betrayal and tried to stay in the moment. Ella needed help, which he couldn’t do if he was arrested.

He decided to shift tactics. Melody expected him to assist her. Perhaps if he played that role she would calm down. “Look at her. You don’t want her to die. Let me help her.” And buy some time to think his way out of this. “I’ll take her up to my room.” He stepped back, toward the door, keeping an eye on Mel.

She reached into her handbag and pulled out his gun and released the safety. The click echoed around the room.

Fuck.

From the smug look on her face she knew she had him. “We’re in this together. Just like we always were. Before you try to run, I know how to shoot and I’m pretty accurate and I know you don’t want to get shot again. So, you do as I say and you both get to live. You do anything, and I mean anything, to take the fairy away from me, and I will shoot you and her. Non-fatally—well, not at first.”

He drew in a breath. He hated getting shot, and getting shot with his own weapon would be a bitch. “Come on, Mel. We’re family. Why are you threatening me with my gun?” He forced a smile that felt wrong on his lips.

Where was his phone? How far could he run while carrying Ella, and what were the odds of him getting shot in the process? If he was wounded, it would make escape harder. “She made you a beautiful gown. You said yourself that women who wear her dresses are lucky. Isn’t that enough?”

“Luck? No, I want guaranteed fame.” She kept the gun pointed at his chest where Ella was cradled. Would she risk killing Ella…probably not. But she was willing to risk killing him.

“At what price?”

Mel cocked the gun. Apparently at any price.

“You don’t want to shoot me.” Getting shot was never fun. It hurt and damaged things. And he had no doubt that Mel would claim it was self-defense. “It will be messy and hard to explain when the neighbors report gun shots.”

“You attacked me and I had no choice.” She moved a little closer, but not close enough that he could drop Ella and make a grab for the gun. The door was too far behind him to be used for cover, and too flimsy to be effective. He was caught in the open.