Darkness & Light (War of the Fae: Book 3) (49 page)

I wrenched back on the green light in my mind, straining with the effort.
 
I could see the bubble getting thinner, but still Tim remained trapped inside.
 

There was a knock at the door, but I didn’t want to risk breaking my concentration, so I ignored it.
 
I could hear the door creak open and then Becky’s voice.
 

“
Whoaaaahh
, that’s
awwwwesome
.
 
How’d you do
that?”

“I have no idea.
 
I can’t shut it off,” I said, nervously.

“Oh.
 
Well that’s a problem, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, no shit.
 
Any ideas?” I looked over at her briefly as she walked up to stand at my side, alternating nervous glances between Tim and me.
 

“Maybe you could just, I don’t know, put your arms down or something.”

I started to move my hands to my sides and the bubble bounced wildly, knocking Tim over inside.
 
He struggled to get up, all cranky now because I’d messed up his hair.
 
He smoothed it down while shooting me the stink eye.

I put my hands back
up,
making sure Tim was once again suspended over his bed.
 
“Got any other great ideas?”

“Hey, don’t put your hate on me, I’m just trying to help.”
 
She stuck her tongue out at me.

“Try harder, H-two-O girl, my arms are getting tired.”

“I’m gonna go get somebody.
 
I’ll be right back.”

“Who are you going to get
?!
” I yelled, but she was already gone, disappearing into the air, probably just to piss me off.
 
She knew I was jealous of her mad teleporting skills.

Becky was back in less than a minute.
 
“She’ll be here in a sec.”

“Who?” I asked, suspiciously.
 
But then I knew.
 
My room, which is totally closed off from the outside world, was suddenly full of wind
.
 
“What the hell did you do, Becky?”
I whispered angrily.

A mini tornado appeared out of thin air up near my ceiling and then touched down next to me.
 
Its revolutions slowed until I could see the form of Céline taking shape.

I frowned at my friend.
 
“This was the best idea you could come up with?
 
Tattling on me?”

Becky rolled her eyes.
 
“I didn’t tattle.
 
Céline will help you, not punish you.
 
She
likes
you, dummy.”
 
Then Becky tried to blind me with a smile so bright it could block the sun.

I just shook my head at her.
 
“Whatever.”
 
Friggin’ happy ass water sprites.
 

The Green was holding strong and true – even my nervousness about Céline being here didn’t have any effect on it.
 
Tim sat down in the bubble with his legs crossed.
 
I could totally picture him in there holding a box of popcorn in his lap.
 
My screw-ups? ... Total pixie entertainment.

“
Jayne,”
said Céline, a little taken aback by what she was seeing, “hello.”

“Uh, hi.”
 
Trying to act casual, while holding out a ray of green light that happens to be holding a pixie trapped inside, is impossible.

“What exactly do we have here?
 
Or do you not know?”
 
She glanced at Becky who I could see out of the corner of my eye shaking her head and mouthing the word ‘no’.

“Well, what we have
here,
is me saving Tim’s ass and then me getting stuck in savior mode.”

“Uh-huh.
 
I see.
 
And so you need assistance in ... shall we say, shutting off the power?”

“Yes.
 
That’s exactly what I need.”
 
I felt better already, having defined the problem.

Céline looked at the bubble and then back at me.
 
She was staring at my face and I tried to smile, but I was too worried about Tim being forever trapped in one of my screw-ups.

“Let’s try this ... can you try to focus on something else, maybe?
 
Instead of thinking of The Green, think of another thing or another person – like your friend Tony, for example.”

Saying it was easier than doing it.
 
I tried to think of something else, but my panic would rise up as soon as I saw the bubble start to move.
 
I was afraid Tim was going to start zinging around the room and go splat into a wall or something.
 
“I can’t.
 
I keep thinking the bubble’s going to get away from me and then I won’t know how to get it back.
 
Or Tim.”

A knock at the door took her attention away from me.
 
I sensed Becky leaving my side, and the door opening behind me.
 
The sound of Spike’s voice filled the room.

“Well, well, well ... what do we have here?”

Becky spoke in hushed tones.
 
“She’s stuck.
 
She can’t let go of it.”

Spike came up behind me and talked softly in my ear.
 
“Got yourself all up in the shit again, didn’t you, Trouble?”

“Yeah.
 
You could say that.”

Spike addressed Céline.
 
“So, what’s the scoop?
 
You getting her out of this mess?”

“I’m trying,” she responded, frustration in her voice.
 
“I’m afraid I’m a bit out of my element.
 
I am merely a servant to the wind.
 
I do not command it.
 
She has a much greater control going on here than I am familiar with.”

“Why don’t I give it a shot?”

I looked at Céline, wondering if she would be okay with an incubus changeling stepping in where she had failed.
 
I probably shouldn’t have worried because Céline wasn’t about ego or status.
 
“By all means,” she gestured towards me, “see what you can do.”

Spike stepped around to where I could see him.
 
He was so ridiculously good-looking I could hardly stand to look at him.
 
All the sexual tension set the bubble to bouncing again and Tim got a little panicky looking.
 
He held his hands straight out from his sides, steadying himself against the curved green glow as he cast worried glances at us.

Spike smiled at me.
 
“Hey, babe.
 
You okay?”
 
He reached up and stroked my upper arm, sending shivers down my spine.
 
The green glow intensified.

“I’m not so sure that’s the best approach, Spike,” warned Becky.
 
“You’re making it worse.”

“
Shhhh
... I’m just going to guide you through a little exercise the incubi use to help us focus, okay?”

I nodded my head, not trusting myself to speak.
 
If this focusing exercise included him getting any closer or touching me anymore, we were going to have a problem.

“Okay.
 
Now, look at the green light in your hands.
 
Block out visions of anything else.
 
Just focus on that light.”

I did my best to do what he was saying but he was standing too close.
 
Visions of green lights warred with visions of Spike without his shirt on ... Spike leaning over me ... Spike kissing me.

The green glow got brighter again and the bubble darker.
 
Tim started waving his hands in front of him, gesturing for me to stop.

I sighed in frustration.
 
“This isn’t going to work if I can see you or hear you, Spike.”

Spike stepped away and whispered something to Becky.
 
I heard her say, “Be right back.”

“Becky’s going to get Valentine,” said Spike.
 
“He’ll be able to help you.”

Oh great.
 
Spike’s mentor.
 
The last time I’d seen him in action, he’d nearly drained Chase’s life energy from him.

Spike stayed out of my visual range but I knew he was still back there.
 
It kept my light burning brightly.
 

My bedroom door opened with a bang and then I could hear Valentine behind me.
 
“Oh. My. Goodness.
 
What have you gotten yourself into
now
, sweetness?”

“I’m a little stuck.
 
Spike says you can help me focus and get this thing wrangled.”

Valentine addressed Spike, “How come you couldn’t do it, lover?”

Spike cleared his throat,
embarrassed,
“She can’t focus on it right when I’m around.”

“Tsk, tsk.
 
Young love.
 
Always interfering in the flow.
 
How many times have I told you?
 
There is no room for love in the life of an incubus.”

Before Spike could reply to that interesting tidbit of information that I was trying not to let bother me, Valentine arrived at my shoulder.

“Okay, cutie pie.
 
Here’s what you’re going to do.
 
Focus on that adorable green light you have coming out of your hands.
 
Focus on that and nothing else.
 
Hear my words but then do it without thinking about me.
 
I know
,
I know ... how are you going to stop thinking about Valentine?
 
How could anyone?
 
Believe me, girl, I hear what you’re saying.
 
But try.
 
Try very hard.”

I could hear Becky snort behind me and it made me smile.
 

“Get yourself all joined up with that pretty light.
 
Mmm
-hmmm
, that’s right, it’s just you and the power.
 
Nothing else matters.
 
Commune with it.
 
Meld with it.
 
Welcome it in.
 
It is you and you are it.
 
You are one.”

As his words droned over me, I felt myself slipping into a more focused realm.
 
Now I could sense the power flow and how it continuously coursed through me without actually leaving.
 

“Once you are fully connected mentally, grab that flow and pull it back into you.
 
Show it
who’s
boss.
 
Make it go.
 
You’re in charge, sweetie, you’re the captain of this ship.
 
Show it your fierceness.
 
Hold nothing back.
 
You are the queen of the green light.
 
This is your house.”

I am the boss
,
I am the boss
.
 
Get your ass back in here green light.
 
Don’t make me put orcs back in your damn trees.

I don’t know if that last thought is what did it, but suddenly I felt a shift in the power.
 
Now The Green wasn’t flowing through me ... I was flowing through it.
 
Overwhelming.
 
Controlling.

I moved my hands until Tim was suspended just a pixie-foot above his bed.
 
Then I visualized myself grabbing the flow and shoving it back down through my feet and into the floor below.
 

As if I had turned off a light switch, the green glow snapped off, taking the bubble with it.
 
Tim was dropped down onto his bed where he bounced once and then sat, cross-legged and wild-eyed.
 
That lasted for about a second before he jumped up and started whooping.

“
Whooooo
hoooo
!
 
That was
awesome
!
 
Do it again!”

I stepped over quickly, fixing him with an angry stare.
 
“Stop jumping around you crazy ass pixie before you light a fuse to another nuclear bomb.”

Tim stopped jumping and pouted at me.
 
“Party pooper.”

“Party pooper, my ass.
 
Don’t you realize how serious that was
?!
”

Becky came over and touched my arm.
 
“It’s fine now, Jayne.
 
Relax.
 
Tim is fine.”

“Yeah, but ...
”
 
I
couldn’t put into words what I was thinking.
 
I couldn’t shake the images of Tim being fried or exploded by a power flow that was coming through me that I couldn’t control.
 
My other mistakes with The Green were different.
 
The power seemed more passive.
 
It just made people oblivious and happy.
 
Now it was almost aggressive.
 
I was afraid of what it would do to someone when it backfired.