Summer Court of the Seelie fey was exactly as I remembered. Balmy, sparkly and filled with deadly trance-inducing flora. Steering clear of the poppy fields, we’d made our way to Amaryllis, the Summer fey who’d trained me, unsuccessfully the first time, to use my powers. Tilak left to find more information about the witches and their predictions, trusting the Summer fey to keep me safe.
It was quiet in the cottage, except for the occasional breeze stirring the wind chimes and knocking the screen door against the frame. I sat on a toadstool chair, close to a roaring fire. It was my third day in Faery and we’d spent most of the time trying to get my powers to activate on command. Today, however, she was undertaking a different task.
“Now, give it a quick stir,” Amaryllis said. Her delicate fingers hovered above a long reed whisking around a wooden bowl on its own. I was trying to listen, but it was difficult to concentrate in this heat. It made my head fuzzy. Or it could have been the candy she’d been feeding me all morning.
“And then you need to pour it into a mold in order to get the leaf shape,” she prattled.
I nodded absently. I’d become far more apt at devouring faerie food without the nasty side effects than my first time in Faery, when I’d fallen into a dizzy spin of wild colors and hallucinations. According to Adrius, I even tried to take my clothes off. He’d teased me about it for days.
Adrius.
Where was he? With Venus, having a wonderful life together? It was hard to imagine, but that might have been because I didn’t want to.
“Aaaand, I’m boring you to tears, aren’t I?” Amaryllis said.
I snapped back to the present, clearing my throat. “Uhm, no, not at all. You were saying something about leaves.” It was the most unconvincing lie ever told.
She smiled, sharing the same thought.
“Sorry, it’s just, I was thinking.”
“About Adrius?”
I looked away, focusing on something moving in the distance. A bird perhaps, though much larger and more vibrant than anything in the human world. Post-prehistoric times, that is.
“I know how in love the two of you were. I don’t believe a love like that could possibly vanish.” She snapped two delicate fingers together, and it sounded like the ring of a tiny bell.
I shrugged, forcing back the drops of moisture pooling in the corners of my eyes. I’d cried enough tears back home. It’s true, the last time Adrius and I were here, we were together, and it would have been impossible to miss how in love we were. Now... I inhaled deeply. “That was then. Things are different now.”
Her glistening wings fluttered behind her. “Hmmm. So you say, but your aura tells another story entirely.”
I met her violet gaze again. “My aura? What does it say?”
“That you still love him. And you wish to find him, and free him. That is the real reason for your return, is it not?” She gave a smug grin.
I was speechless. How could invisible colors of light energy surrounding my body say so much?
“If you were not still interested in freeing him, what else keeps you here when the doorway to your home could seal shut at any moment?”
“There’s so much more to it than that. I want to see him, but not for the reasons you think. I can’t leave until I do. Once I know how to break the curse, I need to see...” I trailed off. It sounded stupid.
“If he still wants it broken?” Amaryllis giggled.
My eyes narrowed. “You find this amusing somehow?” Not surprising. Faeries found humor in even the darkest situations.
“Yes,” she said through deepening chuckles. “You’re still a silly human under all of that power. But of course he still wants his freedom. Why would he not?”
Shrug. “I knew how much having it meant to him, but if he was in love with her again then who knows, maybe he’s changed his mind.”
And with that she burst into full blown laughter, falling backwards on to the couch, clutching her middle.
I shook my head and tried to decode her laughing fit. “So… you’re saying I should try? That there’s a chance he still might want—”
“You,” she finished my sentence.
“I was going to say his freedom.” The hope that he still might want me was too painful to consider. How could he, after everything? We had no future. Never really did. They would never let us rest, and even if the spell worked and the veil remained open, we would still be faced with the same issues. He couldn’t survive in my world without Hawthrin’s potions to keep his lungs from becoming polluted. And I would be forever on the run here in his world. Even my little hideaway in Faery wouldn’t stay secret for long. The king had spies everywhere and the bounty on my head was high. And yet still, I couldn’t bring myself to leave without knowing for sure.
Amaryllis straightened. “Whatever your true reasons for coming, if you are doing this you must be quick. The elders have predicted there is little time left before the veil is sealed completely and you become trapped here. Eternally. And believe me,” her face shifted to a serious expression, “forever is a long time to run from those who hunt you.”
I stared at the mossy covered floor. Tiny flowers sprouted around the edge, like a decorative border. “Venus had no trouble using her powers in my world. I figured once I returned here…” I shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t know, I guess I assumed mine would work too.” I looked up at her. “Why do you think they aren’t?”
“There's a reason you couldn't conjure your magic in your world. It was too hard to summon the control and energy needed. You were still relying solely on your magic from our world. When you used your grandmother’s magic, you had more success, yes?”
I nodded. All of the spells I’d tried from Gran’s grimoire had worked.
“You need to unite the two. Use both sides of your magic and do not fear them. In the Nevermore, you are linked to that energy force. It feeds your gifts and flows to you freely. The more time you spend here, the stronger they will become. Venus has had much more time to practice her powers. She's stronger in your world. But you are stronger than she is in this world. In fact, you are stronger than most.”
“It didn’t feel like I was stronger when she was torturing the people I love.”
Amaryllis wrinkled her delicate nose. “What did she do to them?”
"You could say she derives a curious amusement from lighting things afire."
“Things?” she frowned.
“Yes. You know. Like cars. Trees. People.”
"Ahh. I see." She looked horrified.
I sighed. “What about my healing gifts?”
She looked unsure. “They may work here, if you strengthen your powers. But they'll not likely work in your world. Not unless you dampen the darkness interfering with them. That is something only your father can help you with. King Oberon is gifted in the healing arts and you share his bloodline. There must be a way he can reverse whatever is poisoning them.”
“Now I just have to find him. Any suggestions? A magic portal that will land me directly on his doorstep?” Unless I could use magic it would be too dangerous to travel the old-fashioned way.
“There are always shortcuts from Faery to everywhere else. However, you’ll find the palace gates more heavily guarded than before. Take caution, and remember who you are. Your dark magic will serve you well against the forces that seek to oppose you.”
I was still upset that Zanthiel had refused to go with me. He’d sent me on my way back to the human realm. Probably figured I was safely tucked on the other side by now, doing something mundane like math homework or vocal practice, instead of setting out on a potentially fatal rescue mission to free a prince I no longer had any claim to. “I came to Faery for two things. To find my father and to figure out what's wrong with me. I’m not leaving until I’ve accomplished them.”
“No you didn't.” Amaryllis hopped off her seat and wandered through the open door to the gardens, a labyrinth of hedges that changed size and position regularly. “You came for more than that and you know it. You want to know who is behind the spell sealing the veil against the will of the high order of wizards. And you want to break the curse binding Adrius to Venus. It’s fine to admit you want those things, Lorelei. I want them for you too. None of us wish to see you with,” she looked over her shoulder, then lowered her voice, “the dark one.” She sat on the center of a sunflower which effortlessly held her weight.
I followed her, laughing. “You know, you can use his name, Amaryllis. It’s not as if saying it aloud once will call him to you.”
“Won't it?”
We both jumped at Zanthiel's voice.
Amaryllis cringed and her shoulders curled inward. I thought she'd shrivel into herself completely if she could.
I put my hand on her forearm to reassure her. Then I gave Zanthiel a warning look.
“You know, a civilized being would make his presence known and not eavesdrop on a lady’s private conversation.”
He gave a half-smile. “We both know I’m not a civilized being. And if I wanted to know what was going on inside your head, I would listen for myself. In fact, I already have so you could say I'm all caught up.”
I felt my face warm, but I couldn't figure out why. Not like I'd been thinking romantic thoughts about him. Quite the opposite. Yet, something about being reminded of our intimate connection made me worry about thoughts I'd had when I wasn't paying attention.
“If the next thing you say is that I'm not a real lady, I'll have to smack you.”
He laughed.
Amaryllis watched us closely. I could see the wheels turning in her mind.
“You are obscenely energetic, considering you kept me awake all night,” he said darkly.
From the corner of my eye I saw Amaryllis's jaw mouth fall open, her eyes wide and full of shock.
I fought back a smile. “If I recall, it was you keeping me awake,” I said, barely able to contain my own laughter.
“You started it.”
“You finished it.”
By then Amaryllis's expression had become too much and I burst out laughing. The confused look on her face only made me laugh harder.
She frowned. “So you two are... or are not... Never mind,” she said, hopping down from her sunflower. “I have some things to attend to for Titania.” She glanced back at us once more before she flittered away into the twilight ethers.
“That was fun.” I had almost recovered from my giggle fit.
He nodded. “Fun is over now. I thought you’d returned to your world. And yet I find you here. On the brink of another catastrophic idea.”
“I’m not a child. And I know what I’m doing.”
“Do you? Because your actions state otherwise.”
“I have powers, Zanthiel. They grow stronger with every second I’m back in the Nevermore, I feel it.”
“And are you willing to use them to do what needs be done? Are you willing to take a life to save your own?”
I swallowed, and blinked twice. Was I?
He laughed darkly, knowing my answer. “We both know that you are not. And there is the tragic fault in your plan. Those who reside in this realm are more than willing to end your life for the king’s bounty. Some for mere sport.”
“There has to be a way around it,” I insisted. “I’m supposed to be here according to a prophecy in place for eons. How could one haggard old witch’s prediction possibly derail that?”
“Even you know that fates can change.”
“You’re right, they can. Including the one the Beansidhe saw.”
“Stubborn until the bitter end.”
I crossed my arms. “You were the one who bailed. Not me.”
“I won’t let you sacrifice yourself.”
I was prepared to argue, all night if I had to, but a piercing howl interrupted us.
“What was that?” I turned to see a dark yellow cloud against the azure sky, moving quickly toward us. Too quickly. Against the wind.
“This is not good,” he muttered. Then he cursed and grabbed hold of my hand. “Run, Lorelei. And whatever you do, do not look back.”
We raced faster and faster, against the wind, as the cloud enveloped us. The air choked out of my lungs. Coughing and sputtering, I fell to the ground. My knees ground into the dirt, my legs refused to stand. Zanthiel picked me up in his arms, and ran with me, but it was not for long before he fell to the ground as the thick yellow cloud suffocated us. I gasped, my eyes bulging, threatening to burst from their sockets. Laying on the ground I took one last gasp, as the toxic cloud flooded my lungs, and my last conscious breath escaped my chest.