With a Kiss (Twisted Tales) (35 page)

I took another bite of the apple, not realizing how hungry I was. With every bite, I felt my power growing, especially since I was cursed to protect this child. “Of course I’ll never break my promise,” I said between bites. “But I also promise I will defeat you and save this little changeling.” The hag’s eyes widened. “Now, which promise should I keep?” I asked.

“You didn’t promise you’d fight me
exactly
,” she tried to reason. “Just that you’d save the changeling . . .”

“Then let me correct that. I promise to fight you
and
I promise to
win.”

The hag hissed low and catlike. For a lady who never had to keep a rein on that temper, she wasn’t about to start now. “Balor,” she shouted. “Get her!”

The Cyclops loped for us. I jerked back, surprised out of my mind. This plan would only work if I fought the hag,
not
her minions. Bugul stepped in front of me. I noticed he was wearing a fat red-and-white striped tie for the occasion. It looked strange on his usual get-up. “How about I take out that other eye, Balor!” he shouted at his nemesis. “It was pretty easy last time, as I recall.” Bugul thumped his club into his palm with a menacing look. A few ogres scurried for cover.

Cyclops scowled, his eye bulging. He turned from me and aimed the bulk of fire from that eye straight for Bugul instead. “I’ll burn you!”

“Bugul!” I shouted. “Move!” Shots of painfully bright light shot past our scurrying feet, spraying chunks of ice against the pillars of the castle. The vaulted ceiling shook above us. Bugul dodged out of the way. I sucked in my breath. He wasn’t hurt.

“Usurpers to the throne!” The Snow Queen waved the ogres forward, bringing the battle into full swing. “Take them out!”

This wasn’t exactly going as we planned. Balor’s eye rotated crazily and he aimed it on me this time. I twisted away, pushing far from Bugul. The last half of my apple got knocked out of my grip and rolled under the table, where it became covered in dust. I gagged when I saw it. I wasn’t supposed to eat the whole apple, was I? Didn’t one bite count as breaking the rules?

One of the witch’s monsters shrieked behind me when a beam of light missed me and hit him square in the neck. As soon as the ogres figured out that standing next to me was getting them all killed (which took a little longer than it should), they edged away in a panic. And just like the school play, I found myself doing flips in the air to avoid getting hit, faster than anything they threw at me.
Look, Mom, no wings!
Who needed those to fly? My faery mother had put a strange curse on me. I could do practically anything if it was connected to protecting this child.

“I taught her that,” Hobs said with a laugh. He pulled out his weapons from the coffin. I ducked behind it, listening to the shouts of pain coming from the ogres behind me. The ice grew thicker around the table. It wasn’t my imagination; this room was getting colder. The Otherworldly was sneaking his way in, but how? Where?

Balor shot madly for me, and I dove away. The coffin splintered into a thousand pieces. He was taking forever to run out of all that ammunition he packed away in that eye of his. There was no way I could search out that Otherworldly with him on my back.

“Princess!” Hobs shouted. I still wasn’t used to my new title. He tried again. “Ha . . . Halley!” I looked up at his warning just as an ogre toppled over me, about five arrows in its back. I rolled out of the way and the ogre crashed into the floor. Hobs had taken care of him. Bugul fought off a whole army, but the Snow Queen’s minions were gaining ground, despite the skill of my protectors.

The wolves targeted in on Hobs. “What do you, the changeling, and the princess have in common?” Gray growled.
All of our names start with an H?
None of the wolves looked like they were playing anymore. Octavius stalked out his prey. Gray and Glasses took up the rear.

“We’re all strangely attractive?” Hobs guessed. “No, we smell great.” Octavius chuckled appreciatively—until he saw Hobs draw another arrow. “Wait, I’ve got it,” Hobs said. “We’re taking down this madhouse?”

“No.” Gray bared his teeth. “You’re all going to die!”

Most of the nymphs had already peeled out of the room. A few of them, led by their glamorous leader Glistenda, glared at everyone in general, especially at me. Glistenda took out some faery dust and I prepared myself for an onslaught of her magic.

Half of the hag’s army had been taken out of commission with the Cyclops’s less than detailed job, and the hag shrieked when I switched directions and headed straight for her. “Get away!” she cried. But I didn’t stop—I knew what I was doing. Everyone close to me was falling in droves, she’d be next. Balor aimed straight for me and I slowed, seeing Babs in the hag’s arms, but it was too late.

“No!” I shouted.

“No!” the hag echoed. The Snow Queen would get blown away, along with her precious cargo. She managed to free one arm from Babs and pointed it at Balor. The single motion threw the Cyclops through the air. He landed into a pillar, colliding with Glistenda. The nymph’s faery dust exploded over them in a cloud. Balor sneezed before they both collapsed into an unconscious heap. “Idiot,” the hag said.

“Here’s a riddle. What happens when winter takes over the Sidhe?” I heard Hobs ask the wolves. They hesitated, lifting their furry ears. “We all die,” Hobs briskly answered for them. “Okay, now let’s see if you can get this one. Why would a prince fight his own mother? I mean, if she gets all the power, wouldn’t he just inherit it?”

“Not if there’s nothing left to inherit,” Glasses surmised.

“Genius.” Hobs nocked the arrow in his bow, but he didn’t need to. The wolves had already turned from him, their considering eyes on their queen. The mirrors behind her were shaking.

“Rumpelstiltskin is coming through the mirror!” Hobs shouted out to me. It was our code name for the Otherworldly. There was more than one mirror, but one look and it was obvious which one would bring the Otherworldly through. It was larger than the others. It warped almost in half it was so hot. The glass melted and peeled down the sides, running down to the floor and pooling into a nasty black puddle. Despite the mini-volcano behind the witch, my body trembled with the cold. It meant I was losing this fight, and I didn’t know why.

My fingers felt stiff and I glanced down. They were turning blue. What had the queen done to me? She gave an unnatural giggle, her feet lifting off the ground. She carried Babs into the air with her. “You will die here, my girl. The curse is not yet broken. You still cannot make the ultimate sacrifice for love.” She pointed at me and I felt the chill of it seep through my chest.

The hag was turning me into an icicle. This was what we wanted, for her to fight me, but I was still losing! Just like the Snow Queen said, my power wasn’t complete. I still didn’t belong here. I spied the last half of the apple under the refreshment table. It was on the other side of the room and I sprinted for it. My joints ached with the cold. Hobs circled and rushed to the mirror to stop the upcoming disaster. The Otherworldly was on his way, but there wasn’t much Hobs could do about it.

Bugul was in the thick of the battle. Gan, our infamous love-talking fiend, emerged from somewhere in the back clad in cravat and knickers. He cringed when he saw Bugul and took his beautiful self off the other direction. He raced past me just as I dropped to my hands and knees to get to the dust-covered apple. I heard a loud crash and caught sight of some huge, hulking black thing materialize from the ceiling. Gan’s missing shadow had finally come for us.

The wolves prowled around the mirrors, sniffing and whimpering. The mirror spat its heat at them and they jumped back with a howl of pain. The colder the room, the hotter the mirror got. It boiled over like water. The icy air around it cackled and sizzled with the heat. I wasn’t sure which one would win, but as soon as I took a bite of the dusty apple, the room warmed. I sucked in some air, feeling it heat up my insides like hot cider. I took another bite and felt better than ever. I moved my thawing fingers. They tingled.

The hag swiveled on me, snarling like a cat, her black hair a shadow behind her. “A changeling like you will experience the same transition a mortal does when eating our food—you will feel it dearly. As a faery, our rules will bind you. Now, drop that fruit! It is forbidden.”

If anything, I chewed faster. Once I was through with this apple, I’d be one of them. I hesitated. Did I want that? If I broke this rule—if I could love this mortal, I would lose all who loved me. I would have to leave my life in the Otherworld. My family would forget everything about me. My shadow would steal the love that rightfully belonged to me. But it didn’t have to be this way. Why did I have to lose everything? I could love my family now. No matter what anyone said, the Starr family was mine.

I didn’t have to eat the rest of this apple. I stared down at it.

“Halley!” Babs called me her own name. The hag held her tightly. “Halley!” she sobbed, reaching out to me. She didn’t even know I could save her. She just wanted me with her. I looked from the fruit to her. I remembered Hobs molding her fuzz of hair into little devil pigtails. I saw her in my Midsummer Dream costume parroting everything I did. She was now a part of me. It was impossible to leave her here. I bit down on the juicy flesh of the core and the air glowed. One more bite and this apple was done for.

“You eat the rest of that and I curse this child,” the hag cried out desperately.

It was no empty threat. She had done it to a kid before—namely me. I looked from her to Babs. “But if I don’t eat it, you lose your kingdom to me.”

She stilled. “What are you saying? How is that possible?”

“You should know. It’s the curse you gave me. I cannot rule unless I love a mortal,” I said, even as I realized it, “and if I don’t take another bite, it means I love this child . . . and I do.”

“Surely you know what that will do to you?” The Snow Queen asked. “She cannot love you back!”

The part of the apple I had already eaten felt stuck in my throat. I would lose Babs no matter what I did, but at least this way she’d be safe. I swallowed.

“Your love will kill her!” the hag said.

Is that what the curse meant? Those I loved would die? I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. “Hobs!” My voice cracked over my shout. “Do something!”

The mirror had reached its boiling point and started to freeze over. My eyes stung when I watched its brittle surface crack. A green vine broke through, followed by another. They grew longer and more spindly, dancing through the glass, as wide as tree trunks twisting dangerously around us. The wolves passed out from the heat. At least I hoped they had passed out. I liked them too much for them to die on me. But what did it matter? Soon we would all be dead.

The largest of the vines settled firmly against the ice-covered floor. A black inky finger wriggled through after it, followed by another. What would the Otherworldly do when he saw me? Would he try to take me? If anything, it would be a convenient way for the Snow Queen to boot me out of here. And if he joined forces with the witch, we’d all be goners.

“Hobs!” I shouted.

Hobs was busy keeping the ogres back. Gan’s black shadow lurked behind them. Hobs broke off a sharp icicle from an arched doorway and glanced over at me. There was only one way to stop the witch—and I was sure he was trying to figure out a way around that. He landed the sharp end of the icicle into an ogre and pulled away, shaking his hand to get some feeling back into it. “Mother!” He tried to distract her from tearing me apart. “You don’t want to do this!”

Her eyes went hard and
she turned from him to Babs, screeching out her
curse on our little girl.
“As long as summer rules, you cannot come. For deadly is the warmth of sun. Your prison is ice. Death only you’ll part . . . for forbidden love will melt your heart.

“No!” I cried out.
She had actually cursed Babs against me. I was summer. My touch would now be deadly to her. The second my rule began, Babs could never be with me. It was too cruel. How could she do it? “No,” I whispered.

“Now,” the Snow Queen said, “what will you do, princess? Will you rule this place and kill this child with your warmth?”

I clenched down my chattering teeth. There wasn’t enough warmth in me to do anything yet. I could feel the chill overcome me. It was more than the air around me—it was in my heart. If I finished the apple, I’d save myself, save the Sidhe . . . and kill Babs.

Bugul was too far away to help. Hobs tried to get to my side, but he was outnumbered by the ogres. With any luck, the dumb creatures would tackle each other, instead of him, but even worse, Gan’s shadow leaned against one side of the building. Parts of the terrace toppled down over the fighting mob.

Hobs dodged a wicked-looking sword and dropped down behind a broken pillar to avoid getting hit by the falling ceiling. “Don’t listen to her!” he shouted. “There are holes all over that curse! It’s always that way. Just eat the rest of the apple!”

I shook my head. “I don’t see a hole in this one.”

“The girl cannot abide the same sphere as you.” The hag raised her hands in triumph, cackling giddily. “You must leave or kill her. Winter and summer cannot coexist.”

“She can’t abide with you, either.” My breath came out in a fog as I felt her magic take the life out of me. “She
is
you now. Don’t you see? You made her the successor to your throne. You made her winter. It is you who must leave, you
hag
! You’re no longer needed here.”