A Fairy Tale (31 page)

It looked like she’d have to make at least a token show of resistance before they’d make a move. She whirled as if just becoming aware of the follower, saw him, and took a few steps backward, feigning shock and fear. She felt the others close in on her, but they still kept their distance. When the silver chain flashed out from the hand of one of the men, it took all her willpower not to repel it or catch it and use it to disable her attackers. Instead, she shuddered as it circled her, binding her arms to her sides. Only when they had her securely bound did they approach her. Two of them grabbed the chain from either side and forced her to move forward.

“We’re taking you to her majesty,” one of them said, making it sound like a threat.

Sophie bit her tongue rather than say, “Finally!”

The Realm—Maeve’s Apartment

Meanwhile

“No, that’s not it!” Maeve shouted as Emily botched yet another verse of the song.

“That’s how I remember it,” Emily said with a shrug. Two small sips of the fairy water had left her so energized that she felt she could keep this up for days. It was actually kind of fun.

The apartment’s front door opened and a cluster of goons entered, surrounding a prisoner. Had they recaptured Eamon? The lead goons looked awfully pleased with themselves. They knelt in front of Maeve and said, “Your majesty, we have done your bidding.” Then the goons parted, revealing their bound prisoner, and Emily’s heart sank. It was Sophie.

“No!” she couldn’t stop herself from blurting. This was the worst possible thing that could have happened. If her sister had swung in through the terrace doors with a dagger in her teeth, that would have been risky, considering that Sophie seemed to be the key to Maeve gaining power, but at least Sophie would have been in control of the situation. As a prisoner, with her arms bound … Well, that was a worst-case scenario.

But then Emily noticed that Sophie’s hair was barely rumpled and her dress was only slightly wrinkled. Her captors were unharmed. Emily remembered how the others who’d tried to capture Sophie had looked after their ordeal, and she knew her sister fought like a wildcat when cornered. Sophie had to be up to something.

Emily tried to catch her sister’s eye to verify her suspicion, but Sophie avoided looking at her directly, instead facing a Maeve who was too stunned with delight to speak. “You needed me. Now you have me. You don’t need my sister anymore, so let her go, and then I’ll help you win the throne,” Sophie said, her voice calm and conversational, but with that bitchy undercurrent she got when dealing with someone who got on her nerves.

Maeve laughed harshly. “You would like that, wouldn’t you?”

“Well,
yes,
” Sophie drawled, sounding like she was losing patience. “That
was
why I asked for it. Now, do you want to be queen, or what?”

Maeve approached Sophie and loomed over her. “No, I think I’ll keep her awhile longer, in case I was mistaken about you. She will come with us.” She turned to address her court. “As will all of you! You will see my moment of triumph.”

Maeve waved her arms, and her glamour shifted so that she wore a gown that looked like it had been woven from spun gold. It had a low-cut bodice and the kind of high collar usually worn by a Disney villainess. The long sleeves came to points on the backs of her hands. A snug straight skirt hugged her body, and a puffy half skirt flared out behind her, trailing onto the ground. Emily was pretty sure she’d seen a dress like that in a movie, but she couldn’t recall which one. Maybe it was pieces from various movies.

A flicker of a smile crossed Sophie’s lips when Maeve wasn’t looking, confirming Emily’s suspicions that Sophie was up to something. She probably had a whole fairy army lying in wait for a major ambush that would rescue all the human captives. When Maeve least expected it, Sophie would open a can of whoop-ass and do her thing. Emily actually felt sorry for Maeve. She thought she had Sophie trapped, but Sophie wasn’t someone you wanted to catch. It would be like setting a trap for a kitten and instead snaring a wild bobcat. Even freeing the cat could be hazardous to your health.

Maeve gestured for her guards to open the front doors. Two of them led the way. Maeve swept after them, and the other guards brought Sophie behind her. Emma/Jen and Leigh hooked their elbows through Emily’s, bringing her along with them. They passed through the lobby, where the rest of the court joined the procession.

After walking for some time, they entered a narrow gap between tree-crested hills. It was the perfect site for an ambush, and Emily readied herself for a fight. She scanned the hillsides, looking for evidence of hidden warriors, but either they weren’t there or they were very well hidden. She looked to Sophie for a cue, but Sophie was walking with her usual grace that made her look like she was floating, even with her arms bound against her sides. Nothing happened. There was no signal, no war cry, no sudden flurry of chaos.

And then the whole procession was out on the other side, totally unscathed. Emily felt the first stirrings of dread. Was Sophie really sacrificing herself for her?

The procession stopped at a wide, weed-choked stream. On the other side lay a tangled mass of thorny vines that might have had a wall beneath it at one time. Emily wouldn’t have been surprised if Sleeping Beauty’s castle lay behind those vines. Maeve made a good candidate for the role of evil fairy in that story.

The guards shoved Sophie forward to face Maeve, who was gloating so hard she glowed even more brightly than normal. “Here we are!” she said with a gesture toward the water and the vines on the other side. “This is why I will be queen. The other rulers don’t even know where to find the palace, but I found this long ago. All I needed was to learn how to get into it.”

“And that’s where I come in,” Sophie said, sounding suspiciously calm. Maeve didn’t know her well enough to recognize the danger she was in from that tone, but Emily had heard it before. That tone tended to come up when Sophie let others talk about what they wanted to do before she let them know that she already had everything arranged.

Maeve gave a laugh that sounded more than a little unbalanced. “Yes, that is where you come in. You never knew what treasure you held, all this time. Your grandmother’s song that you sang so sweetly to us when you were a mere child is the key to winning the throne.” Her tone grew darker and she seemed to grow as she moved closer to Sophie and bent to stare her straight in the eye. “And now you will give that song to me.”

The Realm—on the Banks of the River

Immediately Afterward

It took every ounce of Sophie’s formidable self-control not to reveal the turbulence inside her. She had to count to five with each breath to keep from gasping. Michael
had
been right about the song. It was instructions. And here was the lost palace, behind the vine-covered walls.

So, now what?

She needed to keep Maeve from using the instructions in the song to take the throne and she needed to free the captives. Stopping Maeve wouldn’t be too difficult, given that the instructions in the song were hardly clear and were, in fact, impossible. But there were too many of Maeve’s courtiers around for her to be able to just grab Emily and make a run for it.

Maeve glared at Sophie and said, “The song?”

“Oh, it’s been
ages
since I’ve heard it,” Sophie lied. She had no intention of just rolling over, whether or not the song could help Maeve.

Maeve came closer to her, her lips twitching slyly. “Don’t lie to me. I know you won’t have forgotten this. You had to learn it for a reason. Now, tell me the first part. I remember it having something to do with how to cross the river.”

Acting as though she was deeply reluctant, Sophie sighed, took a deep breath and sang, “To reach my side, tell her to cross a river wide that has no bridge. If she can cross not wetting her feet, then she will know the way to my heart.”

Maeve turned to study the river. “That is easy!” she said after a while. “I am fae. I can fly across.” She spread her arms and a wind stirred the outer skirt of her gown. She rose slowly into the air and moved forward. Sophie bit her lip as she watched. She’d forgotten to factor in magical powers when ruling the tasks impossible. In the Realm this might be considered child’s play. She consoled herself with the knowledge that there were other tasks before they got to the part involving blood. She had plenty of time to stop Maeve.

Before she was over the river, Maeve seemed to hit an invisible wall that knocked her onto her backside. Sophie barely restrained herself from doubling over with laughter. Even some of the most staunch members of Maeve’s court appeared to fight back smiles.

Maeve’s skin-tight inner skirt made it impossible for her to stand with any dignity. She held her hands up and snapped, “Will someone help me?” It took two of her courtiers to pull her to her feet. A couple of women rushed forward to straighten her gown and brush the dust off it. Once she’d regathered her dignity, Maeve turned to face Sophie. “You did that!” she snarled. “I have heard about your enchantress powers. Do not thwart me, girl!”

“I had nothing to do with that,” Sophie said primly, even as she mentally berated herself for not having thought to try. “It would seem that you can’t use magic to complete these tasks.”

“Do you know a way across?”

“Why should I? Until a few moments ago, I thought it was a silly nonsense song.” Sophie eyed the distance between Maeve and the water. One good shove and Maeve’s feet would get wet, which would presumably render this whole exercise moot. She gathered her magical resources and focused on the chain binding her, loosening it so that she’d be able to pull her arms free. When Maeve turned to study the river, Sophie made her move, letting the chain slide to the ground and then grabbing one of her captors to shove him at Maeve.

He checked himself just in time, lurching aside rather than hitting Maeve. Sophie prepared to spring at Maeve, but a voice behind her called, “Stop!” Sophie whirled to see the other human woman—the one who wasn’t Jen Murray—with her arm tight against Emily’s neck, choking her. “If you hinder her majesty, we will hurt your sister.” Jen still held onto Emily’s arms. Emily’s face was turning red, but Sophie couldn’t tell if that was because she couldn’t breathe or because she was furious.

Sophie had thought she wouldn’t have to worry about a hostage situation with fairies because it wasn’t in their nature, but she’d neglected to factor in what their human allies might do. She took a step away from Maeve and raised her hands in surrender. Only when the woman lowered her arm slightly and Emily’s color returned to normal did Sophie turn to face Maeve.

Maeve smiled in smug triumph and said, “Now, if you want your sister to live, you will help me win my throne.”

For the first time, Sophie felt a real surge of panic because she had no idea what to do.

The Borderlands

Meanwhile

Michael shouted when he felt the thing jump on his back. He tried to keep the panic out of his voice because it was wrong for an experienced cop to be more frightened than two old ladies, but this was beyond anything he’d experienced. Facing enemies he couldn’t see and couldn’t defend himself against was scarier than confronting armed thugs.

Amelia raised a hand and he felt the thing leave his shoulder. The area around them suddenly grew quieter. “There, that’s better,” she said with some satisfaction. “I don’t know how long it will hold, so we’d better keep going.”

They’d almost made it to the light when a great whirring roar surrounded them. “What’s this, the flying monkeys?” Michael asked.

“Can you run?” Athena asked in reply.

“To get away from this? I’ll try.” He felt things pulling at his clothes and his hair.

“Then run!”

They took off, Beau putting on more speed than Michael would have believed possible. The sound dimmed as they drew closer to the light, but he still felt like some of those things were attached to his clothes. He wanted to keep running when he ran straight into Athena, who had stopped.

“It’s okay, it’s over, I think,” she said, sounding only slightly out of breath. He gasped for air while an invisible vise clamped down on his chest. It was a forcible reminder of why they didn’t even want him working at a precinct desk yet.

A voice calling, “You!” caught their attention. Michael looked up to see a silver-haired man approaching.

“I think this is the guy who kidnapped Emily,” Michael said between gasps, wishing he had his gun with him.

“Yes,” the man said matter-of-factly. “I am Eamon. And you are Sophie’s friend, the man with the badge of office. Where is Sophie?”

Michael shook his head in confusion. “You kidnapped Emily and you’ve talked to Sophie and you’re still alive?”

“I am trying to help. I explained myself to Sophie. Where is she?”

“She’s here. We were coming to help her. I think she’s gone to Maeve.”

Eamon looked alarmed. “She was warned to stay away from Maeve,” he said. “She’s the one Maeve needs.”

“She knows that, but she’s trying to protect Emily,” Athena said.

“Do you know how to find Maeve?” Amelia asked. “I believe that would be the best starting point.”

“I believe I know where Maeve will go if she has Sophie.” Michael noticed that his wrists were horribly burned. He wasn’t sure exactly how fairy people were supposed to look, but this guy looked like hell.

“You’ve found the palace?” Amelia asked.

“Maeve did. Emily found her map, and I think I can locate the palace now. If Maeve has Sophie, we must get there first.” He turned to go, the others falling in behind him. Michael hadn’t had nearly enough time to catch his breath, but he forced himself to continue.

When they left the woods, they came out into a parklike land dotted with trees. Michael wasn’t sure how fairyland was supposed to look, but this wasn’t it. Everything was drab and brown. “Try not to get too caught up in it,” Athena warned. “It can be very alluring.”