Chapter 11 #2
Only when she felt something solid beneath her feet, the heat blown away by a cool breeze, did she open her eyes again.
Callie jumped. Luckily, Helix and his sword appeared through the portal a few steps behind her so she didn’t land on its point—though it was pretty close.
There was another fae male.
For the first time that she could remember, Callie was face to face with one of the Unseelie.
It was easy to tell since this male was the exact opposite in appearance to both Ash and Helix.
His skin was so pale that it seemed to glow, and he had thick, straight hair cut along his jaw that was as black as night.
And his eyes… silver where the Light Fae’s were gold, the irises were nearly swallowed up by the whites of his eyes, they were so fair.
There was something else, too...
The fae could never be ugly. They were designed too perfectly for that. But her sight never lied, and there was a darkness in this particular guard that managed to make him appear beastly to her.
She edged closer to the captain and his sword. If it was a choice between being impaled or letting the Dark Fae male get near her, she’d take the hole in her back.
Helix sighed. “That’s enough, Dusk. Leave the poor creature alone. Melisandre is waiting for us.”
Dusk’s mirror-like eyes flashed in something that was malicious amusement. “That she is. Come, human. I see you wear the brand of one of the Blessed Ones. Shame that won’t save you.”
What?
Helix commanded the Dark Fae to be quiet again and, after that, they both were.
All Callie could hear was the pounding of her pulse in her veins and the slapping of her slippers against the crystal floor.
She couldn’t shake the feeling that she was a prisoner, especially since she was sandwiched by the two very different fae soldiers, and it took everything she had to keep walking if only because she had to see for herself that Ash was okay.
Something told her that he wasn’t, and that scared her even more than the Dark Fae in front of her.
They were inside. Callie didn’t know precisely where, but since she was heading toward their queen, it was a safe bet that it was her castle.
Ash had told her stories about the magnificent castle with its pristine walls and accessories made of crystal.
They marched through corridor after corridor, each one more elaborate than the one they passed, until they reached a set of glass doors guarded by a pair of fae.
Like Helix and Dusk, there was one of each: one Dark and one Light. They wore the same uniform, too, and had a matching sheath hanging off their narrow hips.
Helix said something in a lyrical-sounding language that was most definitely not English. The Light Fae guard nodded. As one, the pair of guards each reached for a crystal knob, pulling the doors open for Callie, Helix, and Dusk.
She hesitated when the doors opened, revealing an open room with blindingly white walls, a massive crystal throne up on a six-inch dais, and a crowd full of both Light and Dark Fae all wearing clothes that belonged at a fairy tale ball.
And there, sitting demurely on the throne, sat a female that stole Callie’s breath away.
She was cloaked in glamour so rich and thick that, even with her sight, Callie saw dainty blonde curls, pale yellow eyes, and perfect, blemish-less, porcelain skin.
But because she could sense the glamour as much as she could actually see it, she forced herself to look past it.
She figured it had something to do with being in Faerie.
The powerful magic was working against her human sight, forcing her to see what the female was projecting.
But Callie had twenty plus years of experience. So, knowing she was going to end up with one hell of a headache later, she screwed up her face and saw.
Though the glamour would have you believe she was Seelie, the fae female was anything but. The blonde curls turned to long, raven-colored waves. Yellow eyes became dark gray. And the perfect face shifted and twisted just enough to make her menacing instead of innocent.
Callie gulped as the female waved an unnaturally pale hand in her direction. The ruffles on her simple light pink gown moved with the motion, proving she was graceful if nothing else.
As she moved, a male stepped out from behind the throne. Callie’s heart leaped up to her throat as she spied Ash—her Ash—wearing the same uniform as always, looking exactly as he had the last time she saw him.
He was okay. This whole strange excursion into Faerie was worth it, because Ash was okay.
She took a step toward him. A warning flashed across his face, there and gone again, but she knew what she had seen.
Callie froze.
“Oh, Aislinn,” the fae female cooed, drawing the attention of every being in the room. “My guest has arrived.”
And… look at that. She knew Ash’s true name, too, thought Callie. Wasn’t that interesting considering he made it seem like giving her his name was some grand, important gesture?
And maybe Callie was being catty, but if this was the Fae Queen—and she was betting it had to be because, well, throne—then she was the only other woman that Ash offered his loyalty to.
Callie immediately hated her.
The fae female stayed seated on her crystal throne, fingers perched elegantly on the arms of the chair, gesturing at Callie with the curve of her chin. “Tell me. Is this she? The human you’ve been playing with?”
Playing with?
“Yes, my queen.”
“Ugly, isn’t she? Those blue eyes and those round ears? Hideous.”
Was it possible to hate her even more? Yes. Yes, it was.
“Mm.”
“What was that, Aislinn?”
“I said, yes, my queen.”
Callie’s head jerked toward Ash. Did he just say—
“Ash?”
The queen sniffed. “Quiet your pet, Aislinn. I don’t believe I gave her permission to speak in front of my court.”
“Silence, Callie.”
It wasn’t his command that had her losing the ability to speak. It was the cold way he spoke to her.
Ash?
Melisandre preened. “That’s better. Honestly, when I requested that you summon your pet for me to meet, I didn’t think she’d actually speak to me.
Didn’t you teach her proper manners?” With a tinkling laugh that left Callie gritting her teeth, the queen said, “Of course not. I can see that you’ve touched her.
Just another human in your bed, Aislinn. Is that right?”
Ash shrugged. He actually shrugged. “Blame my post. I got bored. She was entertaining for a time.”
“Ah, that’s just like you. Always interested in the chase. But once you get your prize… still, I put you at that post for a reason.”
“Yes, my queen.”
“I should punish you, but you’ve been a faithful servant to me these last two centuries, so I’ll let it slide. In fact, I’ve decided to relieve you from your post. You join my personal guard at sunrise.”
“As you wish, my queen.”
Callie had watched the back-and-forth between Ash and Melisandre with a growing sense of horror.
I got bored…
Interested in the chase…
Your prize…
They were talking about her, weren’t they?
“What the—” It just burst out of her. “Ash? What’s going on? I thought—”
The queen brushed her dark hair over her shoulder. To those who only saw her glamour, it probably looked like her innocent blonde curls were bouncing in place. To Callie, the actual gesture was far more threatening.
“You thought what, pet?”
Pet?
Pet?
“Pet?” She turned toward Ash. “I thought you wanted to be my mate. And you’re standing there while she calls me your ‘pet’?”
All around her, she could hear the whispers coming from the others in the room. It started when she spat out the word ‘mate’ and only continued on from there, but Callie drowned them out.
Because when Ash answered? She had to hear what he was going to say, even if it broke her heart—
“What was it you said to me once?” Ice. That was pure ice in his voice. “I could lie to your face and you’d never know? Well, human. Now you do.”
—and it did.
She stumbled back on her heels. He hadn’t reached out and slapped her, but she recoiled just the same.
“What? You… you told me that the fae can’t lie.”
Ash sniffed. “I told you what you needed to hear.”
Melisandre clapped her hands. The cracking noise broke the stare between Ash and Callie, drawing everyone’s attention back to the Fae Queen.
She rose from her throne. “Aislinn, as your queen, I won’t allow this human to treat you in such a manner. I won’t punish you. But perhaps she deserves—”
“No.” The murmurs of the crowd rose in pitch. It didn’t seem as it was often that anyone dared to interrupt the queen, but Ash just did. “I don’t want to see her punished. In fact, it would be better if I don’t see her at all. Just send her back to the Iron.”
Melisandre’s pale eyes glittered wickedly. “Only if you forsake her. With the whole of the Seelie Court as witness, forsake the human you chose over your loyalty to your queen.”
Choking on her sudden gasp, Callie turned back toward Ash.
He wouldn’t do that, would he? She didn’t want any kind of punishment, but to have Ash forsake her after everything they shared?
For a brief moment, their eyes met, before the Light Fae looked away.
“You can’t forsake what you’ve never wanted,” Ash announced.
“So be it.” With a wave, the Fae Queen gestured to Helix and Dusk. “There you have it. This human has no place in my palace or in Faerie. Aislinn said to send her to the Iron, so be it. I want her gone.”
The captain bowed his head. “Aye, your majesty.” With a flick of his wrist, he lifted his sword higher. “Come, human.”
One last look. She gave Ash one last lost, pleading look, an opportunity to take back everything he said, to twist his words and tell every fae in the throne room that he said what he said but it wasn’t what he meant.
Only he didn’t. The blazing heat that was often there when they locked eyes was eerily missing.
He was a stranger.
Worse, he was everything that she once feared he was and had convinced herself that he couldn’t be.
A monster.