The Changelings (War of the Fae: Book 1) (41 page)

She took my hand and pulled me to the obelisk.
 
"Say the words."

"I can't."

"Yes, you can.
 
And don't lie or say something you think other people want to hear.
 
Say what is in your heart – what is your fondest desire?"
 

I took a deep breath, looking at Becky and then at the door.
 
I looked again at the inscription there, carved into the stone.

Speak Your Fondest Desire.
 
Enter To Begin The Change.

I closed my eyes, listening to the sound of the orcs roaring and the people of The Green yelling their war cries.
 
Everything was connected.
 
Everyone was here for me and because of me.
 
I already had my wish.

"My fondest desire is to be someone extraordinary."

The door to the obelisk opened, and I stepped into the darkness beyond.

The corridor beyond the obelisk of waypoint four was lit with torches set in old metal sconces and brackets embedded in the stone walls – stone walls that were not built with individual blocks of stone fitted together, but walls that were carved right out of great pieces of rock themselves.
 
I ran my hand across the wall as I walked.
 
It was slightly moist and smelled of minerals.

After walking down the corridor for what seemed like a long time – but was probably no more than two minutes – I saw the gentle glow of candlelight in the shape of a rectangle up ahead.
 
As I got closer, I realized it was a closed door.
 
The light shining behind it and seeping through the cracks had created an illusion of a glowing shape.
 

The door had big iron bands on it, holding the wood together and maintaining its shape.
 
There was an iron knocker on the front.
 
It had a familiar face on it, but I didn't make the connection.
 
How do I know this face?
 
I grasped it and banged it down on the metal plate resting underneath, three times.
 
The door swung open to reveal Tony standing in the doorway.

I jumped on him, burying my face in his neck and closing my eyes, hugging him as hard as I possibly could.
 
I wanted to be instantly transported back to Florida – back to my horrible house with my disgusting mother's boyfriend and everything.
 
I didn't want to be here anymore.

"It's not that bad, Jayne, you'll see," whispered Tony in my ear.

"Yes it is," I answered, my voice muffled by his shirt.

"Just come in and talk to them."

"No."
 
I refused to let go of him.
 
"There's a war going on out there, you know."

"Yes, we know.
 
Come on ... come inside.
 
They'll explain everything."

I let Tony go.
 
"They who?"

Tony turned and gestured to the inside of the room.
 
"They,
them
."

I looked in the room and gasped.
 
Not only were all my friends there, but so were Dardennes, Ivar, Niles, Céline, the Lady of the Lake – otherwise known as the whore – the werewolf I had talked to and probably a few of his friends but I wasn't sure because I'd never seen them looking so un-wolf-like, Gilly, Gander, the vampire, and last but not least, Jared.
 
And he was standing with all the forest people.

"Ha!
 
I
knew
you were in on it!" I yelled at Jared, pissed all over again.

Jared gave me a vague smile and tipped his head.

I looked at Tony smugly.
 
"I fucking
told
you, but noooo, you wouldn't listen."

Tony held up his hands, surrendering to my superior intellect, or at least that's what I told myself.
 
"You win, Jayne, you were right ... about part of it, but not all of it.
 
Come on, let's sit down.
 
They're about to start."

"Start what?
 
Eating us for dinner?"

I shot an evil eye over to the wolves and the lake whore.
 
I didn't care if Becky was still alive.
 
That woman was still rotten to the core and I know those wolves would have eaten me if I had come down from the tree.
 
I wish I'd just gone ahead and pissed on them.

I took a seat at the massive wood table where the rest of my friends were sitting.
 
Spike looked at me and smiled, his face turning red.
 
I pointed at him, mouthing the words,
'You're mine later.'

He raised his eyebrows all cocky-like, welcoming my challenge.
 

Okay, so it's not all bad right now
.
 

I sat down next to Chase and Tony.
 
Chase nodded at me and I reached over and squeezed his arm.
 
It was nice to know he had my back.
 
I tried to ignore the other warm feelings that came up when I looked at him.
 
I don't think I was talented enough to juggle two love interests simultaneously.
 
Of course, I'd never tried, so maybe ...
 

Tony kicked my seat, for sure vibing me and picking up on my amorous thoughts.
 

Dammit.

"
A-hem
.
 
Let's get the meeting started, shall we?"
 

It was Dardennes talking.
 
I gave him my most powerful evil eye.
 
I
so
wanted to get him alone and show him just how appreciative I was of all the lies, deceit and near-death experiences.
 
He was just lucky as hell that Becky was okay.
 
Now at least I didn't have to avenge her death, which I had been totally prepared to do.

"First, congratulations on making it through the test to the end.
 
We are all very proud of you, as we are well aware of the obstacles you faced."

I snorted at that.
 
Obstacles, my ass
.

Dardennes continued, pretending he didn't hear me.
 
"You have all not only succeeded in completing the test and earning your five hundred dollars, you have also qualified for the special bonus that was mentioned by my colleague Céline on your first day at the lodge."

My ears perked up at the word 'bonus'.
 

"Before I share the details of that with you, it's important that I give you some background.
 
Without it, the bonus would make little sense to you.
 
I hope that you can remain patient with me."
 
He gave me a particularly pointed look, to which I responded with a good rolling of the eyes.
 
"I ask that you hear me out and give my colleagues your due attention as well.
 
We have some history to share with you."

He paused, looking to each of us for some sort of response.
 
We all nodded, now at least curious.
 
History wasn't my favorite subject, but I had a feeling this history lesson was going to be different than the ones I was used to hearing in school.

***

"Many years ago, thousands of years ago, in fact, there was a special species of human-like creatures on the Earth.
 
Today this species goes by many names, but we call it 'fae'.
 
This species is very similar to the human species, with some key differences, one being that the life spans of the races that make up this species are much longer – for some as long as several thousand years – and another difference being that they all have what
you
would call supernatural abilities.
 
These abilities are supernatural to the human species, but are in fact, quite 'natural' for the fae species."
 
He paused to take a drink of water and let his words sink in.

I felt like Alice must have felt when she fell into the rabbit hole.
 
Yes, when I was in the forest, some next-level freaky shit was going on.
 
Yes, I was now talking to trees.
 
And yes, I just saw an army of orcs being attacked by an army of ... fae.
 
But it wasn't until sitting through this little history lesson that I finally, finally felt like I was in another dimension.
 
That shows you how fucked up in the head I was at this point.

Dardennes continued.
 
"Within the fae species are many fae races.
 
You have already met some of them: the werewolves ... "
 

At this, the pack of guys who I assumed now were the werewolves who had treed us the other day, bowed their heads to us.

" ... the gnomes ... "

Gilly and Gander bowed low, and once again I was thankful I wasn't standing behind Gilly.
 
I saw one of the wolves glance over at the wrong time and quickly look away, swallowing hard.
 
That'll teach him to look at the ass end of a gnome with a miniskirt on.

" ... the sirens ... "
 

The Lady of the Lake looked at us, without making any gesture at all, but we knew who he was talking about.

The big door opened and the guy I had nicknamed Robin Hood stepped through, nodding to Dardennes as he took his place among the fae.

" ... the Green Elves ... "

Robin Hood fae nodded his head briskly at all of us.

" ...
 
the Dwarves ... "

Niles put his hand to his chest over his heart – I suppose it was his warrior salute.

" ... the Incubus and his female counterpart the Succubus ... "

From behind Dardennes stepped the vampire guy we saw attacking Chase.
 
He gave a little curtsy before stepping into the background again.

" ... the daemons ... "

Jared nodded his head at me only.

Dardennes gestured above his head.
 
"And the orcs ... I believe you've met them as well.
 
They're ... a little different ... but obviously not human."
 
He gave us a weak smile, and some of us couldn't help but return it.
 
Mine was of the bitter variety.
 
Yeah, we fucking met the orcs.
 
One of your little dwarf friends did too, much to his regret.

Tony kicked my seat.
 

I turned around and gave him my mean look.
 

His return expression said, '
Give the guy some slack.'

I thought,
'Fuck that!'
as hard as I could back at him and stuck out my tongue.
 

He rolled his eyes at me.

"Don't forget the old hag posing as Samantha," I said resentfully.
 
She was the first being I'd ever killed and I was still pissed they had pushed me into that.

"Yes, she was one of our witches – an unfortunate end, but our colleagues know the risks of participating in the tests.
 
But we will get to that later.
 
For now, let me continue with our history ... Céline?"

Céline stepped forward and picked up where Dardennes had left off.
 
"You may be wondering how the fae came to have these supernatural abilities and the humans did not.
 
Well, actually, if you believe this, then you are of course forgiven for it, but you are wrong.
 
You see, many humans do have these abilities, but they are too closed off from the source of their power to ever put their abilities into practice.
 
There are some humans who have no abilities, that is true; but you would probably be surprised to know how many
do
.
 
How can that be the case?
 
Well, it is simple:
 
Many of the humans who inhabit this planet actually have abilities like this because they are part fae.
 
Let me ask you ... have you ever experienced a feeling of déjà vu?
 
Have you ever had a dream about something, only to have it or some version of it come true?
 
Have you ever seen someone you thought you knew from somewhere else?
 
Do you ever meet someone and for some reason, get very bad vibes telling you to stay away from them?
 
Do you ever have dreams where you fly above trees or breathe underwater?
 
Did you ever go somewhere new and feel as if you'd been there before?
 
And finally, have you ever felt that you were special, but misunderstood – on the outside looking in?
 
All of these are manifestations of fae ancestry."

We looked at each other.
 
Even Chase swung around to look at me.
 
I wondered if talking to trees meant something.
 
Apparently my friends thought it did.

"Over the years, many fae have lost their connection to the magic that links them to their abilities."
 
She looked around at our faces.
 
"I see that several of you doubt the concept of magic."

She was including me in this observation, because her explanation was entering the 'too far fetched to be believable' zone.
 
Actually, we had passed that zone a
loooong
time ago, but I had to draw the line somewhere.
 
I guess I drew it at the word 'magic'.

"Humans call sleight of hand and illusion magic.
 
This is a misnomer.
 
Magic is not a trick or something that fools your eyes.
 
Magic is an energy present here on this planet and out in the universe.
 
It is the energy that binds all of us together and to other living things – and even to things that are not living, or that are only in a partially living state."