bedeviled & beyond 03 - bedeviled & beleaguered (30 page)

Are you well, daughter?

I gave my father a little wave and nodded.
I’m good but I didn’t come back alone. I’ll explain later.

A large fairy with a vibrant, purple glow surrounding him flew into the circle and hung there, facing Zerphor. His paper thin golden wings fluttered softly and his tiny, muscular arms crossed his ermine covered chest. A miniscule golden crown rested on top of his head and thick, wavy red hair flowed like silk from beneath it to rest against broad shoulders. He looked just like a fairy tale king from human stories.

“Greetings King Aelfric.”

He lowered his head in an acknowledging bow. “Mx. Phelps. Have you broadened your powers to dragon riding now?”

I grinned, “Whatever it takes, your majesty. How have you come to be here? Are you with the celestial army in this fight, or will I have to ask my dragon to turn you into a fairy toastie?”

He laughed. “Prince Dialle requested our presence here, Mx. Phelps. I assume we are to assist you.”

I nodded, “Welcome to the fight, Your Majesty.”

He bowed his head again and I slid down Zerphor’s side to the ground.

Noticing the loss of my warm presence beside her, Glynus opened her eyes, lifted her tiny snout and sniffed the air. She stood up on her stubby little legs and let out a loud “Bleurp!” Lifting her tiny wings, the baby dragon fluttered them in an attempt to fly. She lifted off her mother’s back a couple of inches, struggling to stay in the air. Herr bright little eyes widened in panic as she started to slide downward again.

Acting without thought, I reached for her with my power and encased her in a bubble, pulling her toward me before she could fall. She hopped around inside the bubble, fluttering her wings and burbling happily as she floated into my arms.

Astra?

I’ll explain later, Father.

I can’t wait to hear that explanation.

Me neither,
Darma added.

I carried the tiny dragon toward the small group at the back of the room. Glynus’s wings quivered with excitement and it was all I could do to keep hold of her. Her little snout opened and closed as she burbled and, every once in a while a tiny puff of smoke emerged.

“What’s the plan?” I asked my father.

Glynus reached toward Myra, flinging herself out of my arms. Myra was forced to catch her or she would have fallen. My angel looked distinctly uncomfortable holding the squiggly baby dragon but Glynus was oblivious. She snuggled into Myra’s arms and laid her little snout on my angel’s shoulder, gurgling contentedly.

I grinned. “Auntie Myra, how sweet.”

Myra glared, but it was obvious she was touched by the little dragon’s sweet nature.

I turned back to my father. He motioned toward the Fairy King. “King Aelfric will take his army in first to see what we’re up against. He’ll send a scout back with a report on what they find.”

I nodded, “Good plan. Nille and mother won’t expect the fairies to be on our side, we can use that to our advantage once we’re inside.”

Aelfric fluttered up, closely surrounded by his personal guards. Fairy dust glittered thickly on the air, making me cough. I bowed my head toward the diminutive king. “Your Majesty. Once you have your men inside, I want you to offer your services to Prince Nille and my mother. When we enter the room I want you standing with them.”

He thought about this for a moment, “Who shall I tell them sent me?”

I looked at father.

“Your Majesty has been constrained to aid the Serpent in this battle. It is part of your agreement with the Royal Court.”

I frowned, “Won’t mother know that isn’t true?”

Father shook his golden head. “She knows of the agreement but not the finer points of it.”

Flick spoke up, “I believe the king did promise total allegiance to the Serpent and his representatives on the court. This allegiance could conceivably be stretched to include Danika’s gathering of the conduits.”

The king nodded, “That is correct. It would not stretch believability to say I was acting under the agreement.”

“Perfect.” I responded. “Good luck, Your Majesty.”

The tiny king clicked his heels smartly together and swung upward with a sharp flap of his golden wings. He turned toward the door Zerphor had blasted through earlier and his army fell into position around and behind him.

The whir and click of thousands of miniature wings filled the air and a multitude of brightly fluttering lights disappeared through the ravaged hole that had once been a door.

My father nodded toward Zerphor. “What of the dragon?”

Zerphor pled her own case to my father.
I wish to serve the race of man. The gods of Olympus have come to realize that this race is our only hope for survival. My offspring will live among them and learn their ways. Therefore I need them to survive this current threat.

Her voice was more magical than when she and I had been conversing earlier. It was delivered in musical tones that made me shiver. Apparently she could modulate her voice to serve different purposes. The musical tone was no doubt meant to draw the listener in and enhance her appeal.

My father bowed and then lifted his gaze toward her. “Queen Zerphor, welcome. The celestial army will do all in its power to help your race, including protection of your princess.”

The elegant black snout lowered in acknowledgement of my father’s words.

I stared at him with my mouth open. “How do you know her name and that she’s the queen?”

“I recognized her earlier, but things were a bit hectic and then you went flying off.”

I frowned, feeling the need to defend myself against the implication that I’d gone joyriding.

Father patted my shoulder. “We’ll have time to discuss all of this after we save the world.”

Blowing out a frustrated breath, I glared crankily at him. “How many frunkin’ times do I need to save this world? Can’t it stay saved for five damn minutes?”

Father just shook his head and turned away as a bright, red light entered the room on a burst of air and shot toward us.

The fairy was one of the King’s personal guards. He stopped in front of us and saluted, his beautiful red wings fluttering in agitation. “King Aelfric is in place beside the evil ones. He sent me with this report. The tiny soldier shifted his weight from one foot to the other and adjusted his butterfly wings so that they only held him aloft and didn’t jitter with agitation.

He took a deep breath, his bright green eyes avoiding our direct gaze. It was obvious he didn’t like what he had to report.

“All the hostages are dead.”

Darma gasped and her knees buckled. Flick caught her under the arms before she could fall.

I looked at my father. “That murderous bitch.”

Father’s face was paper white with shock. He closed his eyes and I could tell he was praying. Hopefully for the souls of all the people my mother had killed and not for
her
black soul. Though, knowing him, he would pray for her too.

Myra touched his arm but didn’t speak.

When he opened his eyes again they were filled with tears. “Go on.” His voice was husky with emotion.

The tiny solder nodded. “The evil ones hold three Royals hostage.”

Darma stepped forward, grabbing our father’s forearm. “They’ve got Torre!”

The small soldier nodded, “Yes and Prince Dialle and another whom I do not recognize.”

Anger, hot and liquid, filled me. I clenched my fists at my sides and embraced the adrenaline pouring through me. Turning away, I headed for the battered door.

“Astra, wait!” Flick’s voice called out to me in panic. As my guardian he knew when I was in danger of losing my life. It was his job to keep that from happening. I was about to make that impossible. I was going to kill my mother and Nille.

It was unlikely I would survive.

Flick appeared suddenly before me and I ran full smack into him.

I shoved his scrawny chest hard. “Get thee away from me, damnable angel. I go to slay the serpent’s minions. God goes with me.”

Flick shook his head. “No, Astra. God goes with you but He cannot save you if you’re stupid.”

I stopped trying to get past him—an apparently impossible task—and took a deep breath, trying to regain my calm. Unfortunately the fear crept into the spaces where the anger had been in my mind. “They have Dialle and Emo, Flick. I need to go get them.”

He nodded. “I know. We need to save them for many reasons. With them and Torre the circle of conduits is very close to completion. But you need to bear in mind that storming in there unprepared could have much worse consequences than you just getting killed.”

I stared blankly at him, my mind refusing to work properly, burdened as it was by fear and panic.

“Astra, you are among the last of the conduits to be gathered. If Danika manages to trap you, Darma, your father and Myra all is lost.”

Clarity hit me full in the chest and I suddenly couldn’t breathe. I bent over at the waist and struggled against the clenching in my lungs. My stomach roiled and I thought I would hurl.

A hand on my back, between my shoulder blades, pulled the panic away so I could breathe and think again. I looked up into my father’s eyes. They were filled with understanding and pity.

I hate pity. It just pisses me off. “Myra too?”

My father nodded.

I glanced toward my aunt, not even wanting to know how the Serpent could lay claim to a piece of her soul.

She squared her shoulders and lifted her chin, proud and defiant in the face of my pity.

Shrugging my shoulders, I sloughed off my father’s healing touch. “Then let’s get a damn plan together fast because I’m going in there in about two minutes, whether we have a plan or not.”

Flick nodded and turned to my father. They bent their heads together and were soon joined by Myra and my sister. I couldn’t focus on what they were saying. The adrenaline rush I was riding had me way too jittery to listen.

I looked at Zerphor and she lowered her long, elegant head slightly.
I will help you get your men back, dragon fighter.

I nodded.
Thank you. You’ll be my Plan B.

The skin between her bright eyes wrinkled in confusion.
Plan B?

I nodded.
If all else fails we throw finesse to the wind and commence burning, bashing and exploding shit until only the good guys are left standing.

Zerphor smiled in my mind.
I could get behind this Plan B of yours.

Yeah
, I responded with a tired smile.
Me too.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Fairy Dust Up

Into the lair our friends did fly, to aid from inside out,

But on whose side do their swords swing, will they run or use their clout?

The first thing I heard was the buzzing of fairy wings. It sounded like there were thousands of them. I glanced at Myra, who walked beside me and she frowned. We hadn’t sent thousands of fairies into my mother’s lair.

I started to get the uncomfortable feeling that we were about to get an unpleasant surprise. I prayed King Aelfric wasn’t as devious and plotting as I had always suspected he was.

Shifting my mental drawers, I spoke to Zerphor.
I think this is a trap. Get ready for Plan B
.

I feared as much. The small winged ones are not always trustworthy.

We’d left the huge black and Glynus behind in the vehicle room. I was hoping there would be a way into the room from the outside that I could project to her once I got in there. It wouldn’t do to have her crashing through doors and walls to get to Danika’s lair.

Not much element of surprise in that.

I knew we were getting close when the smell of violent death assailed my nostrils. My nose twitched in self-defense. We hit a short, dark hallway that ended in a long flight of stairs. The stairs pitched downward sharply, a heavy metal door at the bottom.

I looked at Flick, who was behind me on the stairs. “This is a trap.”

He nodded, “I know.”

“I don’t think your plan will work.”

He shrugged, “It’s all we’ve got. We’ll just have to go in balls to the wall.”

I chuckled, “Strange expression coming from a guy who doesn’t even have hair on his chest.”

He scowled. “I have balls!”

Behind us, Father jerked in surprise at this overload of information.

“Whoa, TMI. I didn’t mean you had no man parts. I’m just sayin’...you have freckles for Hades’ sake!”

Flick’s scowl deepened, “I’ve always hated these damn freckles.”

I threw him a bone. “They look good on you.”

“Really?”

I gave him the look, “Cut me some slack here, angel. I’m trying really hard to be nice. It isn’t exactly second nature to me.”

Flick shrugged.

We’d reached the door. I put my hand on its surface and nearly went to my knees. Like a flash fire, a horror movie reel started playing itself across my mind and I witnessed the brutal slaughter of over two hundred sick and magic-enraged humans. Prince Nille laughed as, one after another, the humans dropped under his deadly power. In the background, Danika Phelps stood watching, her cold, beautiful face impassive in the face of the hideous slaughter.

Hands touched my shoulders and I shrugged them off. Just at the edge of the vision, I saw three tall, dark forms, standing stiffly along a blood spattered wall, with their heads drooping to their broad chests. Dialle, Torre and Emo looked as if they’d been drugged.

Finally the vision cut off as my hand was wrenched painfully from the door’s surface. I buckled to the ground, my head throbbing with residual horror from what I’d witnessed. When I finally looked up I was looking into my father’s beautiful blue eyes.

“What have you seen, daughter?”

I shook my head. “I saw them all die. Nille killed them while mother watched.”

A strangled gasp had me turning to my sister. Darma’s gaze was filled with horror. Tears slipped silently down her cheeks.

I added, “Dialle, Emo and Torre look to be all right. But they appear to be in some kind of daze.”