Call to Arms (War of the Fae: Book 2) (19 page)

Many heads were nodding in affirmation around the room, but no one said anything.

“As I have asked Jayne to work with us, I now ask all of you, my fellow fae, to work with Jayne as well, in our quest to find the answers that we seek.
 
Whether or not Jayne is our Mother, well, that is for us to learn in the future.
 
But whether Jayne is a fae?
 
That is without question.
 
Jayne is one of us now, one of our Light Fae family members.
 
And we should welcome her and the other changelings into our family and into our midst, be they Elementals, Elves, Dwarves, Sprites, Ogres, Daemons, Wrathes, Gnomes, Pixies, Incubi,
Succubi
, ... ” he chuckled, “ ... well, you get the picture. We must all work together to help them find their places in our family.”

A single, “Hear, hear!” rang out across the room.
 
It came from the green elf camp to the right.
 

Another answering cheer came from the opposite side of the room, from a group in red tunics.
 

And then they all joined in, creating a thundering cacophony of voices, vibrating off the walls of the room.

I felt a huge wave of relief wash over me.
 
I wasn’t going to be tried for any crime against the fae today.
 
I turned to look at my friends to my left and my right.
 
They were all smiling back at me.
 
Chase released my hand and put his arm across my shoulders.
 
Finn grabbed my other hand, holding onto it gently.

The only thing missing in this fantastic love fest was Tony.
 
I felt something squeeze my heart.
 
I had to figure out how to get him back with me.

The meeting broke up and we all practically ran back to my room, doing our best to avoid the crowds and stares.
 
I slammed the door shut behind us.
 
Everyone either sat on my bed or on the floor around it.

I walked over and smacked Becky lightly with the back of my hand.
 
“Move over, Beckster.”

She scooted and made room for me to sit near the head of the bed.

“So,” said Becky.
 
“That was fun.”
 
She smiled at me.
 
“Motheerrrrr ... ”

I shoved her.
 
“Don’t even start that shit with me Becky or I’m gonna ... I don’t know.
 
Whoop your ass or something.”

She disappeared and then reappeared in the corner of the room.
 
“You’ll have to catch me first.”
 
She stuck her tongue out at me and then disappeared again, only to reappear at my feet.

I kicked her fast.
 
“Gotcha!”

She play-frowned while she rubbed her hip.
 
“Meanie.
 
Hey, you know what? My
mother
used to kick me like that ... ”

I gave her my threatening look.
 
“I am
not
fucking around Becky.”

She held up her hands.
 
“Okay, okay, chill.
 
I’m only joking.”
 

Even my threat couldn’t totally wipe the dopey smile off her face though.

Spike spoke up.
 
“Did any of you notice someone missing in there today?”

We all looked at each other, shaking our heads.

“Jared.
 
Jared wasn’t there.
 
Isn’t that kinda weird, that he wouldn’t be there for that important meeting?” asked Spike.

“He’s back in the States,” explained Chase.

“Doing what?”

“Looking into something.”

Chase was being evasive.
 
“Looking into what, Chase?” I asked.

“Not sure exactly.
 
Something in Florida.
 
Dark Fae stuff.”

“Where in Florida?”
 
I was wondering if it was anywhere near Tony.

“Dunno.”

“How come you didn’t go?” asked Finn.

“My job is here with Jayne.”

“Your job?
 
What job?” I asked.

“Bodyguard, basically.”

I nodded my head.
 
“Cool.
 
Super cool, actually.
 
Ironman is my personal body guard.”
 
I smiled, thinking about how awesome that was.
 
I ignored the nagging thoughts that were trying to intrude, about why people generally needed bodyguards in the first place.

I looked at Becky.
 
“Do
you
have a bodyguard?”

She shrugged.
 
“Don’t need one.
 
No one wants to mess with a water sprite.
 
Plus, we’re hard to grab.”
 
She sent a challenging look over to Spike.

He took the bait.
 
“I could grab you if I wanted to.”

“No you can’t.”

He started to get up.
 
“Yes I caaaaaan.”

“Nope.”

Spike moved in a blur of speed I had not expected.
 
One second he was on the floor, and the next he was in front of Becky, his arms wrapped around her body, pinning her arms to her side.
 

“Gotcha!”
 
His eyes were glowing bright red.

“Nope!” she yelled delightedly, right before she disappeared, leaving him sitting there, hugging the empty air like a total dork.

“What the
... ?
”

There was a knock at the door.
 
Spike moved to answer it, still confused.
 
He opened the door to reveal Becky standing in the doorway.
 

“Told you.”

She came back in and sat on the edge of the bed.

The look on Spike’s face was priceless.
 
Everyone except Chase started laughing
their
asses off.
 
Even Spike eventually joined in, the light in his eyes fading to
a dull
amber.
 
Chase just shook his head.
 
Must be the daemon in him that kept him from losing control like we seemed to be doing at the moment.

Finn managed to get back to business while the rest of us tried to catch our breath.
 
“So, what was that stuff you were tellin’ us about before the meetin’ started?
 
Somethin’ about bein’ eliminated?”

I took a deep breath to calm myself.
 
“Yeah.
 
That’s it.
 
I told you everything I heard.
 
But today I recognized the voice of one of them and he was at the meeting.”

“Who was it?” asked Chase, all business.

“I don’t know who he is.
 
I think he was wearing a light gray tunic.”

“Elf,” said Becky, matter of factly.

“It wasn’t the same color as Finn’s or Célines.”

“I know.
 
The gray elves wear light gray.”

“Why would a gray elf want to eliminate one of us?
 
We’re practically harmless.”

“I wouldn’t say you’re harmless, Jayne,” said Finn.
 
“You turned a whole group of warrior fae into a
buncha
blubberin
’ babies, me included, I’m sorry to say.”

“Yeah, but that’s a lot different than actually being a threat.
 
Sure, I can make someone cry.
 
I don’t see how that’s very threatening.
 
I’ve been able to do that to other kids since kindergarten.”

Becky admonished me.
 
“Jayne, did you make other children cry when you were little?
 
Were you a bully?”

“Hell, no.
 
But if I was in the play area playing with the mini-kitchen and some bossy little bitch came in there thinking she was gonna take my tiny plastic frying pan, then of course I would have been within my rights to have some words with her, which may have then involved some crying; but I never did anything unprovoked.”

Becky laughed.
 
“Oh, well that’s different.
 
I hated those kids who came in and took the frying pans away.”

“I know, right?”
 
I shook my head.
 
Damn five-year-old bullies.

“Uh, hello, can we get back to the subject of war and survival please?” asked Spike.

Chase stood up.
 
“I suggest we keep our eyes out for this gray elf.
 
Jayne, when you see him again, point him out to us.
 
I think we should do what we can to get near him, see who his friends are, that kind of thing.
 
If there’s a plot against Jayne or any of us, we need to figure out what it is before we go running to Dardennes.”

“Yeah,” agreed Finn,
 
“I don’t wanna go in there half cocked, bein’ new guys an’ all.”

I looked around and everyone was nodding in agreement.

“Okay, so that’s the plan then.
 
Recon.
 
I like it.”
 
I smiled at my friends.
 
“I’m going back to the computer room.
 
Anyone want to join me?”

“I’ll go,” said Chase.

The others chose to go back to their rooms and wait for dinner.

Chase and I went to the computer room where I checked my email account.
 
Nothing from Tony yet.

“I’m
gonna
take a nap before dinner,” I said.

Chase shrugged.

We parted ways in the hallway outside my door.

“Hey, Chase?”

He stopped in his doorway.
 
“Yeah?”

“Thanks for being my bodyguard.”

“I’m your daemon.
 
But you’re welcome.”

I smiled.
 
He gave me his reluctant Chase smile, which was plenty good enough for me.
 
I went into my room and laid down on the bed, instantly falling into a dreamless sleep.

It seemed like only a few minutes later I was back in the dining hall eating dinner, trying not to notice all the fae staring at me.
 
Most of them were friendly stares, but not all.
 
The gray elf we were discussing in my room earlier didn’t show.
 
In fact, there were no gray elves around at all.

I finished and stood up.
 
“I’m going to check my emails one more time.
 
Anyone want to come?”

“I’ll come,” said Spike, casually.

Chase sighed loudly.
 
“No you won’t.”

Spike looked at him, perturbed.
 
“What business is it of yours if I go or not?”

“I know your intentions, Spike, and that makes it my business.”

“What are you talking about?”
 
Spike was the picture of innocence.

Chase looked at me.
 
“He’s not going for the computers, he’s going for you.”

I raised an eyebrow at Spike.
 
“You got bad intentions, sexy boy?”

He smiled and offered me a slight shrug.
 
“They’re all good intentions as far as I’m concerned.”

“Well, I don’t mind if you come.
 
I can behave myself, and it takes two to mess around.”
 
I stood to go, Chase and Spike moving to follow me.

Finn and Becky decided not to go.

“See you guys tomorrow morning at breakfast,” said Becky.

I gave Becky a hug and punched Finn, still sitting in his chair, gently on the shoulder with my fist.
 
“Later, alligators.”

Spike, Chase and I went to the computer room.
 
I logged on and saw a new email from Tony waiting for me.
 
I was so excited.
 
I clicked on the new message.
 

‘Hey Jayne, what’s up?
 
School’s fine.
 
It sucks without you, but I understand you had to get away for a while.
  
I’m worried about you, so stay in touch, okay?
 
When are you going to be back?
 
There’s a new guy here now, Ben.
 
He lives right down the street.
 
We walked home together today.
 
He seems pretty cool. We’re in all but one class together.
 
I’m actually not sure why he’s talking to me.
 
All the popular girls were all over him and it’s only his first day.
 
Brad Powers asked him if he wanted a ride but he walked with me instead.
 
I guess his days as a potential popular kid are numbered if he keeps doing that.
 
LOL.
 
Well, I have to go.
 
Ben’s coming over to do homework with me.
 
I guess he’s pretty good at science and math.
 
See you soon, I hope.
 
Tony.’