Chapter 13

13

V anth followed his mother's instructions to a part of the fae district he had never been to before. It felt darker and wilder, a psychic pulse of danger spreading out to warn people to stay the fuck away.

"We have to leave the van here, and your ghouls can't come either," Eiline told him before hopping out of the passenger seat.

Behind him, Elektra gave his shoulder a squeeze. "Don't freak out on me, Vanth. I'm having too much fun."

He laughed. He couldn't help it. "You're going to tell me some of your secrets when we get to safety. You should've told me about my father."

"Would you have believed me?" Elektra asked, her gray eyes curious.

"I'm not sure I believe it now."

Elektra winked at him. "Exactly. Now, get your ass out of the car." She opened the back door and shut it behind her.

Vanth looked at his ghouls. "Watch the van. Anyone tries to steal it, you can eat them."

He grabbed his spare bag of clothes that he always had in the van for emergencies and went to see where Elektra and his mother had gotten to.

They were waiting for him next to a moss-covered oak tree. The forest had appeared not long after the city had been founded.

The story was that the fae had opened the first door to Faerie there, and the forest had moved in overnight. Vanth could only imagine how many doors they had now. The ruling council didn't care as long as the doors opened into the fae district. It gave them more of an incentive to guard them and ensure no monsters decided to come through.

The monsters could wear a kind face too, so only the gods knew what was actually lurking in the woods. That was the thing about Inferno—there was always a bigger monster to take you out if you stepped out of line.

Eiline smiled weakly at him. "I know you are angry, but one day, you will understand. Now, stay close to me. There are few who can get to my father's land, and if you wander off, I won't be able to find you again."

Vanth looked at Elektra. "Want to hold hands? You know, just to make sure you don't get lost."

"If you are scared of the woods, just say so," she shot back.

Eiline was looking curiously between them but shook herself. She searched through her pockets and pulled out a handful of random items. Amongst the spools of thread, dried flowers, and toothpicks was a bent iron nail. She took the nail and put the rest of the items back in her pocket.

"Stay close," she repeated and placed the iron on her palm. She whispered soft words to it in a fae dialect Vanth barely knew. It was like a mash-up of Gaelic and Old Norse, and he caught something of the rhyme being about smiths and forges.

Beside him, Elektra sucked in a sharp breath. "So that's who your grandfather is. I've changed my mind. Maybe we should hold hands."

"Too late, princess. I want my hands free in case I need to kill something," Vanth replied. He took his dagger and sheath from his boot and tucked it into the band of his jeans for easy access.

Elektra had one of her sickles out but hadn't released the blade. "Good point."

The nail in Eiline's hand straightened itself out and began to spin like the needle of a compass.

"Follow me," she said, her eyes sparkling with delight. "He's going to be so happy to see you, Tarael." He couldn't remember the last time his mother seemed so excited. He couldn't stay mad at her despite the sting he felt about being lied to for so many years.

The forest closed in around them, and he felt like the world was holding his breath. His mother took the lead, following the direction of the iron nail in her hand. Elektra didn't seem to find any of it odd, but he supposed it was because she had lived more time amongst the fae than he did. For all he knew, the hand full of junk in his mother's pocket were all enchanted objects.

One thing Vanth remembered from all the fairy tales was to stay on the path when walking through an enchanted wood. His mother seemed to ignore this advice altogether.

"I hope that we aren't going to end up in some gingerbread house in a cage together," he said to Elektra.

"I really doubt that would've been your first time in a cage." Elektra smiled at him, and he felt the swift bite of attraction sink its teeth into him again. Under any other circumstances, if he had met a necromancer like her, he would have asked her out. Her scent reminded him of some kind of mix of pine, cinnamon and the flavor of her magic when she used it… He shook himself. Definitely not the time to be having those kinds of thoughts. He wasn't even sure that reapers like her could go on dates.

"If you keep talking to me like that, I'm going to think that you're hot for me, princess," he teased. "And no, it wouldn't be the first time I was in a cage."

Ahead of them, his mother was leaping from stone to stone across a stream and humming to herself.

"How long do you think she will stay lucid for?" Elektra asked.

"Hopefully, long enough to get us where we are going, or we will be properly fucked." Vanth looked about at the dark forest. He didn't like the feeling that it was watching him. He pointed to the rocks. "Ladies first."

"Oh, no, godling. After you. I told your mother I would watch your back. She's scarier than you," Elektra replied. Despite her teasing tone, she was studying the dark water.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Nothing. Just thought I saw something. I haven't been in Faerie for a long time, and it's messing with me."

Vanth stared at the trees. "We have passed into Faerie?"

"A little while back. The change is subtle. Maybe a half-blood isn't as sensitive to it."

On the other side of the stream, Eiline waved at them. "Hurry up, children!"

Vanth hopped out onto the first stone, and when he didn't immediately slip over and fall on his ass, he hopped to the next. He was almost at the far bank when the hair on the back of his neck stood up, and he turned back to check on Elektra. She was moving across the stones with a lot more grace than he had, her booted feet moving swiftly and surely.

Vanth was about to turn back around when the water rippled beside Elektra. He opened his mouth to shout a warning when a head made of water, weed, mud, and teeth lunged for her. She went sprawling backward into the water.

"Elektra!" He shouted, pulling out his dagger and diving after her.

The water was freezing. Sharp pain bit against his skin as he swam toward the fiery red of her hair. The creature had her caught in its teeth, and she was thrashing to get loose.

Vanth plunged his dagger into the creature's equine neck, the blade going deep. The creature bucked hard against him, its strong back colliding with him and sending him shooting backward through the water. He swam back toward it and plunged his knife into its belly.

Elektra had kicked herself free and was swimming fast towards the shore. The monster in the water gave up on her and turned its attention back to him.

Instinct drove Vanth to reach for his magic, and he sent a warning pulse of his death power toward it. The creature shrieked and bolted on stone hooves through the water and as far away from him as possible.Vanth breached the water and sucked in lungfuls of warm air.

"What in the ever-loving fuck was that?" he called out as he swam to the shore. Elektra pulled him out of the water, her face pale with shock.

"That, my boy, was a selkie," his mother said. She looked him over. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Not me, but it had its teeth in Elektra."

Bright blood was seeping through her jeans. "It's nothing. It didn't have me for very long."

"How far away are we from your father's house?" Vanth asked his mother.

"I'm not exactly sure. Navigating this way isn't an exact science."

Vanth crouched down and reached for Elektra's jeans. "Show me how bad it is. Fuck knows what was on those teeth."

"Stop fussing. I'm fine."

Vanth sat down on the grass. "I'm not going anywhere until you show me."

He wasn't sure if fae instincts were guiding him or not, but the sight of her blood was making him feel crazy. He had been crazy to follow her into the water with a creature he had no idea how to defeat.

Elektra hissed in annoyance at him and pulled up the leg of her jeans. Bite marks in a large crescent had punctured the flesh of her calf, the skin around it jagged and torn from where it had pulled away so suddenly from her.

"It's nothing. It didn't have me long enough to cause any real damage. We can patch this up when we get where we're going," she said, her tone laced with annoyance.

Vanth grabbed her ankle to keep her from pulling away from him. "It's not nothing. If I don't wrap this, then you will be leaving a trail of blood through the forest that will no doubt attract some other larger predator to attack us."

His backpack had somehow stayed on during the tussle in the water, and he had never been so grateful that he had placed a waterproofing spell on it. He rummaged around in the bag and pulled out a small first-aid kit. In his line of work, accidents tended to happen. He pulled out two white patches and pulled off the protective tape on one side. They had been a gift from a med mage friend of his and were guaranteed to heal her in the next few hours.

"This might sting a little," he warned before he placed the patch over one side of her leg. Elektra made a soft hissing sound but didn't object to him placing the other patch on the identical ring of bite marks on the other side of her calf.

"Do you always fuss this much?" she asked.

Vanth ran his thumb over a spare patch of skin. "I haven't decided if I am going to kill you still for breaking into my house, princess. I don't want some selkie claiming my prize. I need you to be fighting fit or it wouldn't be fair."

Elektra only laughed at him. "I love that you still think you stand a chance."

Vanth stroked his thumb over her soft skin again and smiled at the goosebumps that rose in its wake.

"Maybe I stand more of a chance than you think," he whispered.

Her gray eyes widened, and he quickly looked away. It wasn't the time or the place.

Vanth pulled her jeans back over the patches and reached into his bag again for a small vial of black sand. He opened it and sprinkled the sand over the blood that she had left behind. Instantly, it began to smoke and disintegrate into dust.

"We can't be leaving a trail or allow any creature from here to get their hands on your blood. I really don't need to deal with you being under some monster's spell right now," he shot her a wry smile. "None but mine anyway."

Eiline called out to them from the other side of the glade. "Can we keep moving? I can feel the madness returning, and I don't know how much longer I can hold it."

"We are coming!" he shouted back. He stood up and slung the strap of his bag over his shoulder again. "After you, princess. I need to ensure you aren't dripping on anything as we go."

Elektra reached out and placed her palm on his chest, and the hammering beat of his heart slowed as it calmed. "I'm okay, Tarael. Thank you for jumping into the water after me."

"I'll figure out how you can repay me later when I'm not nervous that something else is going to jump out to try and eat us."

"I don't know, it makes things interesting." Elektra removed her hand and hurried to catch up to his mother, only slightly limping on her wounded leg.

Vanth didn't know what to do with the worry and panic for her that were suddenly smashing into his heart. He really fucking hoped that it was some primal instinct that he had never encountered before. Fucking fae genes .

Time didn't seem to make any sense in the forest. One moment, they were in startling morning sunshine, and the next, twilight gloom.

Eiline was almost jogging in her haste to get to her father's house. Vanth didn't know how he could help her counter the madness that was threatening to come back. He could only do his best to keep up and watch over them.

It was getting dark when the smell of blood hit his sensitive nose and tongue. No, not blood. Iron .

The loud bang of hammer against steel rang through the trees, and Eiline started running.

Vanth felt a ward trigger with a magical warning as he stepped through it, and a house appeared between the trees. Smoke was rising from a building next to it, and the biggest fucking fae he had ever seen stepped out from amongst the shadowy interior. He had dark brown hair that hung in a messy braid and a gray-flecked beard. He carried a hammer and looked ready to bash in heads until he spotted Eiline. She threw herself into his arms, uncaring of the sweat and soot that covered him and his apron.

" Athair ! Athair !" she said as he lifted her up and squeezed her.

"My little flower. You've finally come home. Who are the kids?" he asked, his voice a husky grumble. He studied Vanth with a face similar shaped to his own.

"That's Elektra. She's a reaper. This is Tarael. He's your grandson," Eiline said and then promptly burst into tears.

The smith stared at Vanth, and they both said at the same time, "Well, fuck."