Chapter 2
Come on, buddy,” I said and gave him a small shake. “Wake up for me.”
Now that he wasn’t wincing in pain or scowling at me, I could see that he was a good-looking guy.
Pretty even. High cheekbones, full pink lips, slightly cleft chin, and lightly golden skin.
I couldn’t get a read on how old he might be—grown for sure, but he looked like he’d never shaved a day in his life.
The pointy ears were just as weird as the wings, but otherwise, he looked like the kind of man I would’ve liked to get to know better.
Suddenly, he lifted his head with a gasping breath, and I tightened my hold on his shoulder so he wouldn’t move too much.
“Easy there. You’re okay.”
He looked at me like he maybe needed a moment to remember what the fuck was happening. I smiled pleasantly at him, trying to be nonthreatening and helpful. I wouldn’t mention the fainting if he didn’t.
Finally, he gave me a nod and blew out a breath. “Are you done?”
“Yep, all done.” I eyed my work and shrugged. “The only other thing we could try is taping the wings together or sticking it to your back, if you want even more stabilization.”
He made a whimpering noise that he quickly turned into clearing his throat. “No, I think, um… I think it’s fine as is.”
“Alright. Then let’s get you on your feet to make sure everything else is okay.”
I held his upper arm while we both stood with our own groans. My knees were going to hate me for a couple days, but at least nothing was broken. And he seemed fine except for that wing. I was really starting to feel bad about that.
I grabbed the first aid kit and found the medicines. “So I have Tylenol. Have you ever had that?” Because what did I know about fairies? Did they go to the barber to get a tooth pulled?
He peered at the blister pack suspiciously. “What is it?”
“A pain reliever.”
He put a hand up and stepped away. “I won’t take human remedies.”
“And I’ll try not to take offense to that.” I put it away and snapped the kit closed before stuffing it into my backpack.
When I looked up again, he was marching away from me. And, yes, part of me was glad to see the back of him and happy to let him go. But…I needed someone to help me. He was going to have to do until I could beg someone else to step up.
“Hey! Hold on.”
He didn’t even slow down as I trotted to catch up with him.
“Look, I know I’m to blame for landing on you, breaking your wing, and in general fucking with your life right now.”
He made a snooty little noise, but I ignored it and smiled at him.
“I’m pretty sure you saved my life, though, and I’m in your debt because of that.”
His gaze snapped to mine. Oh, now he was paying attention, huh? Because there might be something in it for him? Same, dude. Same.
“Let me help you,” I said as sincerely as I could.
“We’re clearly out in the middle of nowhere.
There’s nothing but dead grass and half-dead trees as far as the eye can see.
I’ve got food and water and medical supplies.
You, I’m guessing, know which way to go to get to a city or a, uh…
An inn maybe? How about we help each other out? ”
He literally just looked me up and down before heaving a sigh. If I had the first clue about where I was or what I was supposed to do next, I’d leave his broken ass right here.
“Fine,” he said and kept right on walking.
He really was going to make it difficult. Okay, buddy, it’s on.
“So what’s your name?” I asked in my most pleasant tone. “I’m Wallace Crowne.”
“Solaris.”
No surname, or not one he was going to hand out?
“Solaris,” I repeated. “Cool. Do your friends call you Sol?”
“No.”
I didn’t ask if it was because he didn’t have any friends.
“So where are we? And how long has the drought been going on?” Because I could look back and see that our footsteps were grinding the crispy grass into the very dry dirt.
Solaris side-eyed me for a second as we trudged along. “We’re in the Summer Court. The drought is because we’ve been locked in our season for three years.”
“Why have you been locked in summer for three years?”
“The curse.”
Okay, so he wasn’t delusional from a head injury—there was a curse. But then he actually didn’t say another damn word about it. I groaned, apparently finding my limit for playing nice. “Are you seriously going to make me keep dragging information out of you?”
He sighed. “Three years ago, someone very powerful cast a curse on all the seasonal courts to trap us in our seasons and prevent anyone from traveling. Those who had been in a different court for whatever reason were instantly transported back to the court of their birth. I’m told the constant high temperatures and long days of summer have caused some sort of fatigue to the plants and soil. ”
A sort of climate change crisis for the fairy world? And after only three years the plants were dying. I had to wonder aloud, “How are you growing food?”
“Greenhouses.”
That made sense and also brought to mind what the other places must be doing. “Does this also mean there are people stuck in a perpetual winter?”
“Yes.”
Either they’d already been using greenhouses and those trenches below the frostline, or the people living in an endless winter might be seriously suffering. Who would do that?
“You said ‘someone very powerful,’ so you don’t know who cast the curse?”
“No. I also don’t know what they want. I’m aware of rumors, but no facts other than the results of the curse.”
“What’re the rumors?”
He eyed me like he didn’t want to talk about it.
“Oh, come on. What else are we going to do?” I gestured at the expanse of nothingness ahead of us. Seriously, I couldn’t even see a distant city or anything else. Just a few copses of trees barely clinging to life and miles of brittle grass. Not a single distraction as far as the eye could see.
He heaved another sigh and kept on trudging. “Some say the king cast the spell to teach the princes a lesson, force them to grow up, or make them change in some way. I think that’s absurd. There was nothing wrong with the Summer Court before the curse.”
Their own father? “Were the princes assholes or something?”
“No. Well, some of them.”
“Are they young? Doing dumb kid things because they’re dumb kids?”
“They’re all in their prime.”
“What does that mean for a fairy prince?”
We were about the same height, but he did a thing where he managed to look down his nose at me just by tilting his head back a bit. “Fae, thank you.”
“Sorry. I don’t know the difference.”
Solaris stopped and turned to face me, his expression incredulous. “I’m not the size of a bird.”
“Oh. Okay. So fairies are literally the tiny ones. Tinkerbell and her girl friends.”
“Who?”
“She’s a popular fairy in the human…realm.”
He got walking again. “Rather dangerous of her to leave her own realm.”
“Well, we mostly thought she was make-be— Uh… Never mind,” I said as I changed my mind about discussing real and not real with the fae guy who was already feeling salty. “So what’s it mean to be in his prime for a fae prince? Like, twenty-something?”
“I’m four hundred and six.”
“Pardon?”
“Fae age slowly and are immortal for the most part.”
“You look like you could be about—I don’t know—maybe twenty-five, if you were human. I felt pretty invincible when I was twenty-five, so I guess that would’ve been the prime of my life.”
“How old are you now?”
“Just turned thirty.”
“Well, you’ll age much slower now that you’re here.”
“Really? How much slower?”
Solaris shrugged. “As a child, I met a human who was over nine hundred years old.”
“Shit. Okay.” But I stopped being so impressed as plenty of movie references came to mind of cobweb-covered senile old men who’d lived way longer than they should’ve. “Was he a drooling pile of brittle bones begging for death?”
“No.” Solaris gave me a look like I was nuts. “He was elderly but not unfit. I believe he’s still alive.”
“Okay then. Something to look forward to, I guess.”
“Especially since the rings have been closed for three years as part of the curse. Though you somehow managed to arrive, there is no way to send you back.”
I stopped in my tracks and felt suddenly cold. “What?”
He came to a halt and looked back. “Uh, yes, the person—or persons—who cast the curse have made it impossible for spellworkers to open a ring to any other realm. We are all well and truly trapped in place.”
“But I got here.” I gestured behind us to where we’d fallen, noticing dark clouds rolling in. “I mean, it was from the ground in my world to the fucking sky here, but something opened. How’s that possible if it’s impossible?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged only to wince. “I’m unable to do it, and those of equal or specific skills are also unable.”
Trapped in place. That phrase started banging around in my brain until I had to lean over, bracing my hands on my knees and taking deep breaths.
Whatever weird magic sent me here wasn’t going to send me home.
How was it possible that I couldn’t ever go home?
I didn’t want to accept that just because I was in some ridiculous fairyland.
I felt Solaris rest his hand on my shoulder. “I apologize for my casual delivery of such news. However, I do think it’s best for you to know the truth now rather than live with a hope that will only be dashed later on.”
Taking one last deep breath, I stood straight again, and he took his hand back. He didn’t know everyone. Who even was this guy? Just because he didn’t know anyone who could fight against the curse and open a portal to send me home didn’t mean no one could. I just had to find them.
Before I could say so, a startlingly loud clap of thunder had us both flinching. Those dark clouds behind us were seriously roiling and a hell of a lot closer. As I watched, lightning cracked the sky and honest to god hit the ground somewhere back there. It left a plume of smoke.
“Fire,” he said.
“You’re kidding.”
He fluttered his wings and immediately cried out in pain. “We need to go. Quickly.”
I looked back again and— Okay, yeah, now I could see fire. “Run!”