The Faery Keepers (26 page)

             
There's a knot on the tree that looks like a suitable enough place to try this. It even conveniently looks like a door knob. I press my wrist awkwardly to the bark and close my eyes, hope for the best.
Please open
, I will with my thoughts.

             
After almost a full minute, I dare to open my eyes and see if it worked.

             
Nothing
. The tree hasn't changed an inch from when I'd originally closed my eyes.
Dang. Come on, I need in! OPEN!

             
And just like that, an outline of the door glows to life, much when you have the light on and the rest of the world is dark, you see that light seep through the cracks like a beacon.

             
Yes!

             
I reach to push on it, it doesn't budge. I drop my arm, momentarily stumped.
Hmm.
A thought dawns on me then. No, it can't be.

             
Cautiously, I grab the knot of bark I'd tried before and pull.

             
The door gives way and opens.

             
Success
. I could dance I'm so happy.

             
My elation is short lived, though. As soon as I can see inside, I know there is something horribly wrong. The dreams that I've had are definitely real because the proof lies before me.

             
Bodies, dead
Fey
, lie before me. A smell, like a strange mixture of rotting petals and charred flesh assaults my nose and I gag, covering my mouth as my eyes widen in horror. It's so overwhelming that I fight the urge to vomit, and when the door closes behind me and cuts off the fresh air supply, it only intensifies. Even though I try not to look too closely, a part of me can't help it and I end up staring at the frozen faces and mutilated bodies still in the position that they died in. I barely recognize the face of Breen, one of the Queen's Guard, as he lay among the savaged; his arm has been ripped off and rests a few feet from the rest of him, still clutching that strange black bladed knife that he had.

             
A scream builds in my chest and I shove my fist in my mouth before it has a chance to escape. Who knows if the attackers are still in here and screaming will only get me found and killed.

             
I step carefully around the fallen, hoping with all my heart that Derek isn't one of them. Because if he is I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive myself. Why hadn't we looked for him earlier than now? Why hadn't I? I had a hunch that this was where he was, and did I do anything? No. I'm being as useless as an umbrella on a sunny day.

             
During my musings I have wandered into the
throne
roo
m. The doors
are no longer there, burned beyond recognition so that the entrance is merely a gaping, empty hole. Inside, every single chair and bench has been knocked over. It all looks like one big tangled mess of wooden legs and seats, muddled together and intertwined. It will take hours or days to clean all of this up, I think as I pick my way through them to the stage-like area at the front. I end up tripping multiple times in my efforts and by the time I reach my destination my knees and hands are bloodied and the flesh torn.

             
There's an odd stain of a silvery substance pooling around the ornate chair when I step up there and my mind, in its foggy daze, struggles to comprehend what it is. It’s an irregular shape, and spots and splashes stretch past the original spot, much like a blood stain on the crime shows my mom watches.

             
Blood.

             
Blood can't be silver, can it?

             
Yes, yes it can, in a
Faery
.

             
Realization hits me and I double over in shock. No, I can't be right. This is just some strange liquid that spilled. It can't be blood. It
especially
can't be blood from who I think it is because if it is, then this is
very bad
. If it's from who I think it is, the Zions have officially started open war on the
Fey
and that is extremely dire to those involved. And that would mean that I will most likely die. Oh, this was just
great
.

             
“Kate?” I know that voice.

             
I have never been so relieved to hear Derek's voice in my life. I turn around and see him by the double doors. Shock paints his face as he looks at me in confusion. “Kate, what are you doing here?”

             
“Derek.” My voice sounds as relieved as I feel and he sees that. We jog towards one another simultaneously, kicking chairs out of our way. As soon as he's in arms reach I throw my arms around him in a rib crushing hug. “I was so worried. Are you alright? I mean Maggie was worried too, but she's still in school and I
had
to come find you.”

             
“I'm fine,” he says and I finally release him. There's a small gash that's still bleeding on his brow and he's speckled with bruises and other cuts and abrasions, but otherwise he's in one piece.  His brown eyes are serious and I'm almost afraid to ask what's on his mind.

             
“What happened?”

             
“The Zions ambushed us. They found one of our entrances. Kate, Chrysantha is dead. They've taken her body. You know what this means, don't you?”

             
I shake my head, not wanting to hear it, afraid of what this means, what will happen next.

             
“We're at war.”

~ End of Book One ~

             
For all of those fabulous people who put up with me along the way, I couldn’t have done this without you. My friends and family, and those rare friends who are my family. Colleen and Alicia for being my cheerleaders and reading early on, even when I thought everything I wrote was crap (Which you then assured me, multiple times, it wasn’t.) Adam for letting me talk to you and figure out what  perilous torture I was going to put my characters through next and asking “Why?” every once in a while. Mom & Dad: I love you. I wouldn’t be here without you and this lovely book definitely would not have happened. And everybody else for not running away from me and my absolutely crazy self and taking the time to read this novel I somehow managed to scrape together. Thanks a million. You all mean the world to me. Reading rocks!

About The Author

Melinda Hellert
is an
book
addict and has loved
them
from a young age.
She lives in Ohio with her family. When she isn’t writing she can be found
curled up with a good book, drawing and
painting, or
procrastinating online
. You can find out more about her at
www.thefaerykeepers.webs.com
or follow her on Twitter @SoThisIsLoveM77.
The Faery Keepers is her first published novel.

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