16. Maeve

My breath caught as I watched Flynn stroll across the field toward the fae.

Something told me this was very, very dangerous. I remembered last night that it had taken all the guys working together to take down our attackers. At least these guys were Seelie – I remembered that the Summer Court wore green, and weren’t generally antagonistic.

I can’t believe I’m sitting here, acting like this fae nonsense is real. Seelie, Summer Court – what is wrong with me?

Even so, I shuffled closer and pressed my entire face into the wall, desperate to bear witness to whatever happened.

Flynn slowed his pace, stepping in front of the two figures. He held out his hand.

The fae looked up. The one holding the bundle stepped back while the first darted forward, hissing through his long, sharp teeth.

Not human teeth.

“Stay away, human,” The fae hissed, loud enough so I could hear. “You are forbidden to prevent us from accessing the gate.”

Flynn shrugged. “Maybe I’m a rebel. Maybe I don’t care about the rules. What have you got in the bundle?”

“A little gift for the fae king,” the first fae replied.

Flynn grabbed for the bundle. The first fae leapt in front of him, snapping and snarling. Flynn waved his hand in front of the fae’s mouth.

“Mate, you need some breath mints! You smell fouler than a protestant’s shitter.” Flynn raised his hands behind his head. “I’m not going to break any rules, Seelie. I just want to see what you’ve got.”

The fae snarled, but the second fae tapped his friend on the shoulder and whispered something in his ear. The first fae stepped aside, his lips turning up into a cruel smile.

“Be our guest, mage.”

Don’t look, Flynn. It’s a trap or something. Why else would they change their mind and decide you can see what they’ve got?

The fae held out the blanket. Flynn slowly reached forward with one hand, the rest of his body tense. He flipped a corner of the blanket over, revealing a tiny baby’s face, all screwed up with sleep.

I gasped when I remembered what Corbin had said last night. They steal children and take them away to become slaves in their court.

“This is a human baby,” Flynn said, his voice burning with anger. “You’ve stolen it.”

“Don’t worry. His mother won’t even miss the little tyke. We enchanted a pumpkin to appear as him. They never notice the difference.”

“You’re Seelie. Why would your ruler command you to do this? How will you get the baby back to your realm?”

“So many questions,” the first fae said, flipping the blanket back over the child, who squirmed in his arms. “You’re an inquisitive one.”

Even from here, I could sense the anger rolling off Flynn. “You can’t take this child. I won’t let you.”

“Are you going to fight us, water witch? Are you going to try and bar us from our right of way?”

“Maybe,” Flynn smirked. “You’re not the only one who can break the bloody rules.” He raised a hand to the sky and uttered a single, strange word.

Nothing happened. The fae watched the sky, smirking. A single white cloud bobbed over the edge of the wood that stretched along the far side of the sloping field, like a fluffy sheep trotting along on the breeze. A few moments later, the cloud doubled in size, and the edges grayed as they grew heavy with water. The cloud spread over the sun, and the temperature dropped.

Rapidly.

I rubbed my arms as a frigid wind blew down the valley. The raincloud billowed overhead and the heavens opened up.

A torrential downpour pounded down, the full force of the water focused over the mound. Thick droplets pummeled the earth around the mound, forming deep puddles across the field. Even from my position back behind the wall, water drizzled over me, sticking my clothes to my body. Down the slope of the hill, I could see water cascading down the stone steps leading into the sidhe, pooling there, lapping against the stones as the sidhe filled up. A few moments later, the water flooded over the top step and a puddle spread over the ground.

“It’s a pity about that unpredictable British weather,” Flynn says with a sardonic smile.

“That is against our laws, water witch,” the first fae growled, wiping its matted hair from its eyes.

“Nope, all perfectly above board,” Flynn lowered his arm and flipped his head so the lock of red hair over his eye stuck up at an odd angle. “You fae are perfectly capable of swimming down to your doorway, but I don’t like your chances of getting that baby through without drowning it, and you know how much your monarch is going to love a dead baby.”

“You will be sorry!” The fae spluttered, holding the baby to his chest. It wailed and flailed its tiny arms, annoyed at being held under the cold shower.

“It’s not so nice when your own tricks come back to bite you, is it?” Flynn smiled back.

The fae looked like he was going to attack, but then he leaned back on its heels and an evil smile played across its lips. I glanced behind Flynn, where the fae’s eyes rested, and saw something that turned my blood cold.

A face emerged from the water flooding the sidhe, followed by a pair of broad shoulders clad in a black cloak that didn’t seem to register the fact it was submerged. The fae gasped in a couple of lungfuls of air.

“Is this what passes for an English summer?” he called out in a deep, singsong voice, like a tenor warming up before a concert. He rose out of the water, shaking himself off like a wet dog.

Even through the driving rain, I could see he was hot. All the fae I’d seen so far were beautiful – with that perfect skin and those crystalline eyes – but even by their standards this guy was out-of-this-world. Wavy hair framed his face and streamed down his back, thick and black and shimmering with streaks of silver. His cheekbones stood in high relief – two razors slicing across his face, drawing the gaze down his aquiline nose to those pouty, sexy lips and strong jaw. A drop of water collected on the tip of his chin. His coat pulled in all the right places, and a gleaming white sword on his belt declared him a warrior. Emerald eyes blazed, their depths unfathomable.

An aura of raw power radiated from his body, slivers of that power plunging into my chest and pounding between my legs.

At that moment, I believed in magic, because this guy was definitely a fairy.

Stop thinking like that. If he is a fairy, he’s an Unseelie, and he’s dangerous. In fact, Flynn’s probably in trouble. I should go and find the others.

But without Flynn, I’d barely remember the way back to the castle. If the fae decided to attack, by the time I got back, it would be too late. I hadn’t brought my phone down with me, and I didn’t have any of the guys’ numbers anyway. The best thing to do is to wait here and hope the element of surprise will give us an advantage.

The Seelie fae bowed to the new arrival. “Welcome, your Highness.”

My teeth chattered. I crawled closer on my elbows, heart pounding. This wasn’t good. This was three fae against Flynn.

Flynn whirled around, his eyes bugging out of his head as he registered the black-clad figure. The grey clouds parted and slid away, revealing the clear blue sky and pounding heat of the sun beyond. “I’ve never seen you before, Prince.”

Why is that Unseelie here with the Seelie? I didn’t think they got along.

Listen to me, all knowledgeable about the fae.

“We’ve never had the pleasure.” The dark fae extended his hand to Flynn. “I am Blake, Commander of the Aes Sidhe. What seems to be the problem here?” he asked in a bored voice when Flynn refused to shake his hand.

“This witch has blocked the entrance.”

The fae named Blake grinned. “It’s only water.” He kicked a spray at Flynn. “And it is a mighty hot day. I think you’ll find a solution to this problem presents itself.”

The two fae glanced at each other, then they both dropped to their knees and started to slurp at the puddle, gulping down the water. Flynn summoned another raincloud, but the fae who came out of the water raised his own hand to the sky, and suddenly Flynn was on the ground, clutching his head and howling with pain.

“Flynn!” I cried, leaping to my feet and vaulting the wall in one go.

I took off down the hill toward them, aware that I had no weapon and the twig Rowan gave me was still sitting conveniently under my pillow back at the castle.

The two fae didn’t even look up from their thirsty work, but Blake met my eyes with his – two emerald lakes, clear and bright as crystal.

I fell into them, my steps grinding to a halt as his gaze stunned me into inaction. I swung my arms but found I couldn’t move. It was as though I was trying to claw my way through an invisible wall.

What the hell is this?

“Well, well,” the dark fae said, smoothing down the seam of his coat. “What have we here?”

“Get away from him!” I yelled, balling my hands into fists. My words came out shrill, panicked. I tried to push my way toward them, but that invisible wall held me back.

Blake grabbed Flynn by the neck and jerked his body like a puppet. Flynn’s eyes rolled back and his mouth hung open. “I hear your request,” Blake said to me, his voice like syrup. “But I don’t see how you will follow it up should I decide not to obey.”

“I’ve got powers the likes of which you never encountered before, pal.” I shot back. “If you don’t want to feel the wrath of the Arizona state under-21 competitive chess champion, you’d better back the fuck off.”

“Such language, and in one so young and beautiful,” Blake tsked, flopping Flynn’s head from side to side. I pounded against that invisible wall, but it didn’t do anything except send shooting pain up my arms. “And that accent… they really don’t teach you to speak properly in America.”

I stepped back, panic rising in my chest. My sneaker caught the edge of something hard. I kicked it with my toe. Metal. Some kind of tool. Maybe heavy enough to do some damage.

Blake stepped toward me, dragging Flynn behind him. He pressed his hands against Flynn’s temples. Flynn’s eyes clouded over, and his face kind of crumpled, as if his skin was sliding off his bones. Something crackled under the fae’s fingers, giving off a sugary sweet scent as Flynn’s face contorted in agony.

Blake continued. “And your vocabulary… tsk tsk. You’re on English soil, so you need to learn correct English. A shag is a bird and descriptive of being overtired and a delightful naked activity. A rubber erases pencil marks and doesn’t prevent childbirth.”

Blake took another step toward me, dragging Flynn’s limp body alongside him. If I was right, he’d just stepped over the invisible barrier, but I had no way of knowing for sure. “To you, trousers are pants, instead of the sexy scrap of fabric underneath. Tell me again, what do you call?—”

CLONK.

The spade connected with the side of Blake’s head.

His emerald eyes remained fixed on mine, but the rest of him wobbled. His hands slid from Flynn’s cheeks, and he toppled forward, hitting the ground hard. He didn’t get up.

“In Arizona, we call that a spade, motherfucker.” I grinned, waving it at Blake’s crumpled body.

“Maeve—”

I dropped the spade and rushed to Flynn’s side. He’d fallen with Blake, his body bent over backward. His skin felt cold and clammy.

“What did he do to you?” I cried. Flynn slid his hands around my neck and allowed me to pull him to his feet. A lattice of dark spiderwebs spread across his temples and forehead, radiating out from where Blake touched him.

“Nothing a dram of finest Irish whiskey won’t cure.”

Flynn’s weight dragged me over, but I managed to pull him a little way up toward the hill.

“Don’t worry…get…the baby…” he whispered, each word a ragged breath.

I whirled around just in time to see Blake crawling toward the sidhe, the baby tucked into the crook of his arm. The other two fae had already disappeared down the staircase, which was now only ankle deep with water. Blake turned back at the entrance to the mound, his crystal eyes meeting mine. He shot me a lopsided grin that might’ve been vaguely attractive if he hadn’t just tried to kill my friend. The baby cooed in his arms.

“I’ll be seeing you around, Miss Arizona,” he called. “Don’t worry, I haven’t damaged your Water Witch permanently. At least, not much. If I were you, I’d keep practicing your chess moves. Because next time, I’ll show you just how important a pawn can be.”

I hurled myself toward Blake, but he disappeared down the steps, his coat fading into the darkness below.

“We’re too late,” Flynn croaked. He leaned hard against me, barely able to support his own weight.

“What did he do to you?” I stroked the lattice of red lines across Flynn’s freckled cheek.

Flynn’s eyes darkened. “I have no idea, but I feel like I’ve been run over by a train carrying a herd of holidaying elephants, and then another train carrying plutonium. But… I guess we just met Blake, prince of the Unseelie Court.”