A Dark Faerie Tale Series Omnibus Edition (4 page)

Prologue

ONE LONG PAUSE
and the man pondered the choice he had just made. The faery exile, Verenis, watched the woman and her new husband as they laughed and chatted away inside their house. Her long, honey-brown hair shone in shimmering waves down her back and swung around as her husband twirled her about the kitchen, dancing to the music from the radio, which sat on the windowsill. Verenis didn’t acknowledge the pangs of jealously that swirled in his stomach; he had made his decision, and now had to let it play out. She’d be safer this way.

The child would grow without knowing him, without knowing her powerful potential. He would not be there to teach her the ways of their magic and life. It had to be this way and he could not change it, no matter how much he longed to. For the safety of the child and the love of his life, he had erased the woman’s memory of him forever. He watched them as the happiness spread across their faces. He had handpicked the man for her, made sure he would be a great father, love the child like his own, and love the woman more than life itself.

The faery closed his eyes, feeling the breezes of the cool winds graze his face. He had never wished to leave her like this. He longed to hold her, and be the one to swing her around in a flowing dance. The tragedy of it all caused a fierce ache in his heart and arrested his breath in his throat. Glancing back to her one more time, he turned away and ran with the wind toward the embrace of the forest.

Chapter One

“YOU DIDN’T REALLY
mean that, did you?” Shade said as she observed her friend Brisa, whose face reddened with frustration.

“Rachel had it coming; she’s the one who started it!”

Shade looked at her friend’s ruined shirt, streaked with the remains of a red strawberry smoothie. The substance was sticking to her, and it felt cold. Her top was no longer the vibrant yellow it’d once been.

“She’s a dumb idiot anyway,” Brisa muttered. “She shouldn’t be calling you those names. I only stated that she was a
‘dumb as a wall, self-deluded bitch’ in self-defense. I said it for you. Besides, it’s only the truth.”

Brisa frowned and gave up rubbing at the stain with a washcloth and soap. She pulled the shirt over her head and let it slip to the ground. Glaring at her locker, she realized her only other shirt was her gym T-shirt.
It figures there’s nothing else to wear.
She sighed. “She shouldn’t have thrown her smoothie at me. The next time I see her she’s going to pay,” Brisa hissed and looked at Shade. “You’re not a freak. Don’t ever believe anything she says. She’s wrong!”

Shade peered at her friend. Brisa rarely got along with anyone. Not a day went by that she wasn’t in the principal’s office cleaning chalkboards, wiping down desks or doing some other tedious job. Many times, she’d received these punishments for whatever trouble she’d gotten into, instead of hanging out with Shade.

Still, Shade had known Brisa since they were toddlers and would stand by her through anything. She was the only one who knew about Shade’s strange abilities−hearing voices in her head. Brisa was the only one Shade trusted.

“It’s all right, Brisa. I guess I would think I was a freak, too,” Shade gave her friend a shrug. “Besides, it’s my fault for blurting out what they told me about Rac
hel. Who would have known she was cheating on the final if I hadn’t said anything? She needs to wise up. Well, at least you didn’t smash her nose in; you only need one more fight to get that suspension they’ve threatened you with already. Your mom would hang you!”

Brisa grinned with a slight shudder at the thought of her mother. Brisa’s face was smooth and olive-toned with bright blue eyes. Her dark brown hair flowed lazily in waves to her mid back. She wasn’t gorgeous, but she wasn’t bad looking either. Sh
e rarely had makeup on and preferred to wear her hair in a low ponytail instead of letting it flow freely around her shoulders. She was as much of a tomboy as a girl could be−completely opposite of her friend’s more girly disposition. Shade’s dark, brown hair was similar but longer than her friend’s, and her complexion creamier. Otherwise, they looked a lot like sisters.

“Like I need help in that department,” Brisa groaned as she pulled her hair out from the collar of her gym shirt and smoothed the wrinkles down. Brisa and her mother rarely got along. She tended to spend more time at Shade’s house than at her own.

Shade pulled out her cell phone to peek at the time. It was getting late, and their afternoon class was starting in two minutes. Dropping the phone back into her bag, she scooped it up before shoving away her own long, brown locks. She tapped her friend’s shoulder, urging her to hurry. “Gotta go, do you want to be late? Ms. Temor is going to lock us out! Chop, chop!” Shade turned and sprinted toward the entrance to the locker room and shoved the heavy metal doors out of her way.

“Wait up!” Brisa called as she stuffed her ruined shirt into her backpack. She stumbled behind Shade and cleared the doors just before they slammed shut.

*****

SHADE SIGHED. SHE
swung her legs down from the stone ledge she had propped herself on by the main entrance of the school.
Might as well start walking,
she thought. Her mom had forgotten to pick her up
again
, and it was a long walk home. Her backpack was heavy, but not as much as some days when her homework was piled high. Luckily, today was a light homework day.

The warm air rippled along Shade’s face. The final bell had rung ages ago, yet here she was, still waiting,
again
. Brisa rode the Portland, Oregon city bus home and was long gone. Shade wished she had hopped onto that bus with her friend. This had been happening too often lately.
Mom has too much on her plate
, Shade thought. Her full time job, two sons and Shade’s younger sister kept her so busy. Shade, being the oldest, was on her own.

The streets were quiet as she walked home. A slight breeze swept up some litter and floated it past her. She was feeling good, especially compared to how she’d felt a couple of weeks ago, when she had caught pneumonia, The illness had caused Shade to miss a lot of school, and her grades had taken a beating. She’d been feeling pretty out of it for the past month. Now, she wasn’t so sure she’d be able to get caught up enough to raise some of her D’s to B’s, much less A’s again. One class was still an F.

Squeezing her eyes together, she gritted her teeth and tried to not imagine having to endure getting an F for the first time in her life. She’d graduate either way, but the drop in GPA was not going to go over well with her. Shade sighed and looked ahead, hoping her luck would get better soon.

The bright sun was glaring down, and it reflected off the white concrete sidewalk like a floodlight, blinding her. Shade’s little brother, James, had smashed her last pair of sunglasses just two days before while playing one of his infinitely, highly imaginative games. She wished she had replaced them already.

Shade passed the main streets of the city and continued walking down the sidewalk, skipping over cracks on the aged concrete. The roads turned into longer stretches of periodic houses and empty lots as the worn brick buildings of the city’s center faded behind her.

“Only a whole mile or so to go,” Shade mumbled to herself. Both her feet ached a little. She was thankful she’d worn tennis shoes today instead of her usual thin flats. Still, she wasn’t used to walking so much since it was only her third day back to school. Feeling one of her shoelaces loosen as it began to whip her calf and flop around, she stopped walking and bent down to retie it firmly.

Hesitating, she glanced up and scanned the street and the warehouses, which surrounded her. The cool autumn breeze whirled around her, causing the fallen leaves to float in the wind and sling dust into the air. She squeezed her eyes shut and let the dust and debris blow past her before getting back up.

Holding her breath, she could’ve sworn she’d heard something.
Is it footsteps?
It was like someone scurrying about, or running, but also trying to be quiet about it. Shade peered around her, surveying the area. Whatever it was, it seemed to have come from the abandoned warehouse to her right. She studied the dilapidated brick structure; it was the only tall building for miles, and it gave her the creeps. She listened hard for anything to betray itself but heard nothing. The windows were mostly boarded-up and weeds littered the ground all around it.

Go inside, now.

Shade paled. She hadn’t heard the voices sound so desperate in quite a while, and this was not good. It was not her inner voice or her conscience. It was very different, like someone else whispering into her ears, but she was the only one who could hear them. Shade had never been able to explain it to anyone, mostly because it would’ve just sounded so crazy.

They were more like some sort of entities who spoke to her inside her head and asked her to do their bidding. Shade never understood the reasons why. The voices would become clearer and stronger when they wanted her to do something specific. It wasn’t ever anything absolutely insane like killing someone. That comforted her, but nevertheless, she cringed at the sound of their voices tingling in her ears. No one knew of this ailment except Brisa.

Shade shuddered as she thought about telling someone else about them
.
No one would understand or even look at her like a normal person again if she told anyone. She’d become another institutionalized, psychotic, hormonal teenager.

They’d think I was another paranoid schizophrenic teenager if I told anyone,
she thought.
Can’t go to any loony house where they pump me up with drugs until I’m comatose. I can’t.

Hurry,
said the voices
.

Hurry to what?
Shade inquired silently.
There’s nothing here!

Quick,
they told her with urgency.

Shade pressed her lips together. She
had
to obey. The voices wouldn’t leave her alone if she defied them, and she couldn’t handle that. She had tried to not listen to what they wanted once before, and there had been dire consequences. Three nights of relentless chatter inside the head was enough to drive anyone to a nuthouse. She couldn’t go through that again.

Okay already!

She bent over and slipped through a hole in the fence that was nearest to her. The building looked even scarier up close. The wind howled around her, whipping her long, brown hair up and caused it to smack her face. It was as if it was taunting her decision to inspect the building. The front door had been boarded-up with thick bolts and two by fours. Apparently, no one was meant to enter this place.

There’s no way in, where do I get in?

The basement,
the voices said together.

Shade gulped. It would be dark in the basement, and whatever was in there would not be welcoming her. She didn’t even have a flashlight. Nothing good would come of this at all. Even so, she walked around the building toward the rear, searching for any openings.

And there it was: a small, dusty and rusted window near the ground. As she knelt down, the rocks crunched under her feet and dug into her knees. She lowered herself so that she was level with the window and frowned. The dust and moist earth stuck to her jeans and fingers.

E
www, I hate getting filthy!

The window was tiny and probably just big enough for a small person to fit through. Shade groaned.
Just like me
. She cringed at the thought of crawling through it. It would be a tight fit, but she thought she could probably make it. She pushed on the pane but nothing happened. It’d been years since anyone had moved this frame, and now it was stuck.

Maybe I should give a good hard push….

Shade scooted onto her bottom and got closer to the window, pressing her feet against it. She gave it a good shove and heard a loud screech as the metal frame screamed in protest, opening to the world. The dust billowed around her in a swirling cloud, causing her to go into a coughing fit.

She dusted her clothes as she muttered to herself. There was no doubt that she’d need another shower tonight. She peeked inside, but it was a deep void of darkness.
Oh boy, this is gonna suck
, she thought. Shimmying through the frame, she heaved herself into the darkness below.

Shade crashed onto the floor, tumbling to a stop.
Ouch! That’s definitely going to leave a bruise,
she thought
.
Shade rubbed the sore spots and scanned the room for signs of movement. There was nothing but dust and darkness to greet her. Standing, she dusted her jeans off again.

There was a dim light coming from the now-busted window, but her eyes had begun to adjust to the darkness of the room. The small room was empty except for a worktable at one end of the basement and the parts to an old bicycle at the other end. There were also a few pieces of junk strewn across the floor. Even in the poor light, she could see there was a staircase in the middle of the room. She walked to it and grabbed the thin metal banister. She started up slowly but froze, hearing a sound that made her stomach tighten.

Footsteps were fluttering above her, but they quickly faded. It seemed like they had stopped to listen for something or someone. Maybe they had heard her. She didn’t move for what felt like a millennium, her heart pumping quick and loudly in her ears. She stood still, holding her breath and fearing discovery.

The time ticked on, but Shade didn’t hear any more noises and decided to slowly ascend the stairs to the door at the top. Her hand gripped the old brass knob and she paused. As she gulped back her fear, she listened for anything that might be waiting for her beyond the door.
Pray, just pray that no one is waiting on the other side
.

Shade turned the knob as quietly as she could; the slow creaking moan of the door echoed in the silence. The wind was still howling outside the basement window, shaking it in its frame until the vibration loosened it and it slammed closed. Her stomach tightened at the sudden noise.
Claustrophobia must feel like this
, she thought.

Shade opened the door and looked around the gloomy building. Light streamed in through the boarded-up windows as she peered into the long hallway that was just beyond the door. The place was vibrating from the forces outside; everything creaked and sighed, like a ship tossed about in an angry sea. Shade wished more than anything to be home, snuggled in her room, safe. She stepped out into the hall and closed the basement door behind her as quietly as she could.