accidental 11 - accidentally ever after (12 page)

“You
can
do this, Toni!” Jon whisper-yelled in her ear, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her close. “You must, or succumb to the madness. We’re almost at Elessandra’s.”

Briefly, she wondered why no one else appeared affected by the buzz of the fairies or the whisper of the trees, but the maddening hum of their voices distracted her.

Sweat began to pool between her breasts as the fairies circled her head, calling to her, singing her name, inviting her to partake in their mayhem.

But it was the whispers of the trees that haunted her.
“Everyone knows, Toni. They know. They know what you’ve done. They know!”

Still, she fought to press forward, the shoes like weights at the end of her ankles, her head light and heavy at the same time. Dannan’s feet plodded forward, the thump of their heavy slaps against the earth now mingling with the taunts, becoming a drumbeat, a canvass for the whispers.

Each step became like a walk in quicksand until Marty pulled up from the rear and took her other arm. “Sing with me, honey. It’s the most wonderful time of the year. We should be singing carols! Wanda, you start.”

“
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, had a very shiny nose
!” Wanda crooned, her voice cracking.

“Who is this Rudolph? Reindeer most certainly do not have shiny noses,” Jon protested, looking at Marty as though she’d sprouted another head.

Toni’s breathing became ragged as the humid air stuck in her throat, but she was determined to focus on anything but the suggestions being whispered in her ear.

“He’s a kids’ story back in my land. He’s an outcast. The other reindeer make fun of him because of his nose. They’re mean assholes. He leaves Santa’s camp—or something, and then he runs into Bigfoot—“

“The Abominable Snowman,” Nina corrected on an amused chuckle.

“Right and then…shit happens. A lot of shit…” She gritted her teeth because she couldn’t remember the rest of the damn story for the noise in her head.

The bluebirds hopped on her shoulders, all six of them, chirping the tune right along with Marty.

Now Nina came up behind her and gripped her shoulder, her long fingers pressing into Toni’s skin. “
Then one foggy Christmas Eve
…” she belted out directly in Toni’s ear. “Sing, kiddo. Sing with me. Focus and we’ll do this together.”

The landscape became a blur of muted lights and fuzzy shades of haunting limbs, all looking to snatch her up with crystallized talons.

“
Just hear those sleigh bells ring-a-ling, ring-ting-ting-a-ling too…
” Marty’s cheerful voice faded, the grip of her hand on Toni’s arm feeling farther and farther away.

Until she was entirely alone.

The world around her began to spin, twisting and turning even as she stood stock still.

And then as quickly as it began, it stopped.

Abruptly, she was standing in a meadow, tall stalks of lavender and sunflowers rocked to the rhythm of a warm breeze. Toni lifted her face and inhaled. It was just like the meadow behind her grandmother’s back in Idaho.

No. No it wasn’t. It couldn’t be.
Remember the words of warning Jon spoke, Toni. Things are not always as they appear.

Right. So she wasn’t really at her grandmother’s house with the porch swing and her old beagle, Tootsie, lying at Toni’s feet. She was in a fairy garden with bad, bad dudes who wanted to trick her so they could drag her off to this queen to get something from her she didn’t understand.

Shaking her head, she tried to dispel the image in front of her, but there was no purging it. The sky grew a brighter blue, the clouds somehow puffier, the breeze warmer, the flowers more colorful. As though someone was using a lens to bring everything into focus. And then her brother Cormac was there, waving her toward him, smiling, happy to see her—above all, safe.

God, he looked so good. So handsome and tall, his strong features serene.

It was then her heart constricted. It had been three long years since they’d said goodbye, and she missed him so much she almost dropped to her knees.

He waved again, the sun catching the glint of the ring on his finger.

No, Toni. That’s not your brother. Remember what Stas did to his ring finger? This illusion has all its fingers
.

Run, Toni! Run far, as fast as you can!
her instincts screamed.

But run to where? She swirled around, almost tripping on the length of her dress. Dropping the pelt from around her shoulders, she grabbed the ends of her skirt and raced away from the image of her brother, ran until her feet were bloody and the shoes pinched her bridges so hard she had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from yelping her pain.

Tears stung her eyes as the scenery whizzed past her and then the voices returned, but they were no longer courting her like a lover, they were screaming her name.

Toni! Toni! Toni! We know what you did! You ruined your brother’s life!

The wind began to howl once again, tearing at her dress, whistling through the length of her hair, and still she ran harder.

As she flew from the pounding in her head, the panic racing through her veins, she stumbled and tripped over a stump, hidden in the meadow’s floor, tumbling end over end until she slammed into something hard.

A grunt of pain ripped from her throat, now raw as she gasped for breath, and she forced herself up on the palms of her hands and looked around to assess where she’d landed.

A fluttery, soft hand reached out and caressed her cheek, comforting and gentle. “Poor Toni. Are you lost again? Come with me, I’ll take you to your friends,” the small voice murmured, light and airy.

A fairy. She was staring at an honest-to-goodness fairy, her gossamer eggshell-colored wings twittering in the air. Her dress was made of the tiniest of feathers in green and blue, just brushing the tops of her thighs, and a halo of gold surrounded her head.

Her tiny hands held out to Toni, she said again, “Come. I’ll take you to your friends, but we have to hurry!”

Aw, hell no. She wasn’t going to end up fooled again. She’d never live down the Great Starbucks Incident of 2015, but by God, there’d be no more stupid on her behalf.

So she decided to take Jon’s tact—the fearless, angry-warrior one.

Driving herself to her feet, Toni stomped her foot and demanded, “Reveal yourself or face the wrath of my…”

Her what? She didn’t have a sword like Jon—or even a weapon, for that matter. This had gone much better when Jon made the threats.

“Forget I said that. Just tell me who you are and what you want!”

The fairy laughed, twitching her miniature toes in time with her wings. “Nothing more than your safety, Toni. Now hurry, come with me!”

“Um, no. Not gonna happen. You crazy bunch of Shamalotians have fooled me once. That won’t happen again. I nearly ended up flatter than a pancake the last time I gave in to temptation. I’ll just wait right here, thanks.”

The fairy looked confused, her ethereal face strained. “But your friends are waiting. They’re just over there. See?” She looked over her shoulder and pointed with a sweet smile.

Yep. They sure were. With an exception: This particular manifestation of Nina lacked one thing—the bluebirds who’d been her constant companions since they’d started. They weren’t on Carl’s back either.

Toni sauntered close to the fairy and snatched her up by her wings, holding her with thumb and forefinger. “Liar. If you guys are going to conjure up hallucinations, at least pay attention to the details and get it right. So, who are you and what does your boss want from me?” Toni demanded, giving the fairy a light shake.

The fairy pouted up at her, her wee features distorting. “I’m just trying to help you, Toni,” she said as though she were hurt, her voice rising.

Toni made a face at the fairy. “Enough with the bullshit stories?
Who are you and what do you want?”

Just as she asked the question, her fingers exploded apart, the fairy escaping her grasp and flitting off to the distance, where she morphed, shedding her small body in favor of a much larger mirror image, growing, rippling back and forth in the wind that had now turned bitterly cold.

With the swift prowess of a ninja, the fairy made a fist, creating a ball of fire she made dance in her palm. Then she lobbed it forward, the screaming orange-and-blue flame coming straight for Toni.

In that moment, Toni’s body responded in much the way it had when the dragon had appeared. Her feet began to tingle, growing warmer by the second, and her hands arced upward, effectively catching the flame and hurling it back at the fairy with a harsh grunt.

And again, for the briefest moment, her mind said,
shut the front door! You just caught a fireball, dude.

But her body wasn’t satisfied with just catching the fireball, her body wanted to catch this menace and make her talk—make her admit she’d been sent by this effed-up queen.

And then she remembered something. Something important.

She could breathe fire.

Hah!

Closing her eyes, Toni inhaled deeply, summoning up the visual of the night before when she’d started the campfire, and then she recalled Nina’s words—
just breathe
.

That familiar acrid taste in her throat returned, rising up in a wave of bile just before she blew a hot stream of fire in the direction of the fairy, swishing her head left to right to spray her foe.

The fairy screeched her outrage, rising high in the air like an enormous half human, half butterfly, her wings pounding out a throbbing beat. Pushing her legs together, she made an arrow of her body and shot forward at Toni, the wind whistling like a missile launching as she raced forward.

Toni! She’s headed right for your damn head. Duck, you idiot!

But her body was all like,
Fuck that
.
Why not just jump up and catch a bitch midair like you’ve suddenly been drafted in the NBA?

Her legs didn’t falter; her feet no longer ached with that dull throb. Instead, they felt as if someone had injected them with adrenaline as she fell to her haunches and pushed off, leaping upward and looping her arm around the torpedoing fairy’s neck.

“Gotcha!” she roared, launching her to the ground, throwing her with such strength, the fairy’s body left an imprint on the meadow’s floor.

Landing solidly on her feet, Toni wasted no time in jumping on top of her and pinning her to the cold earth, straddling her hips.

Victorious, she grabbed hold of the fairy’s feathery bodice and yanked her upward. “Who the fuck are you and what do you want?” she roared in her perfectly proportioned face.

“Toni!” A voice from far, far away, laced in frantic tones, yelled, “Let go of her, for shit’s sake!”

Nina? What was Nina doing in the meadow? No. It was another trick. It wasn’t really Nina.

Hands slipped under her armpits and began dragging her from the fairy, but Toni fought the notion she might not get the answers she needed. So she struggled, but the arms were stronger, pulling her, tugging her, and all the while yelling, “Toni! Wake up!”

“Milady! Come back!” Jon bellowed, his strong hand cupping her cheek.

Come back? From?

Cold water from out of nowhere splashed her in the face. Toni sputtered and coughed, fighting to open her eyes as she swiped at them with her fingers.

“Toni, honey? Wake up! It’s me, Wanda. Look at me!”

Her eyes flew open to find herself back in the Garden of Wings with everyone staring down at her, worry marring their expressions.

“What happened?”

“One minute ye were here with us, the next ye disappeared into thin air, lass,” Dannan said, his blue face concerned. “We followed the sound of the crash yer body made when ye landed on the ground. Where did ye go?”

Toni shook her head. “I don’t know! It’s like you said, I was here and you all were singing Christmas carols and then I was in my grandmother’s meadow…”

So now someone was just snatching her up?

Jon’s face came into her line of vision next, his eyes troubled, his hand cupping her jaw. “Toni, are you all right?”

She didn’t have time to waste lingering on the fact that his hand felt pretty damn good on her skin. She was out for blood. The blood of a lying fairy.

“Where’s the damn fairy?”

Jon pointed over his shoulder with clear hesitance. “I’m afraid you’ve maimed the Truth Fairy, milady.”

“The Truth Fairy? Seriously?” she asked, spitting at the water dribbling down her face and over the front of her gown.

“Of course, lass,” Dannan responded, kneeling down to place his hulking frame in front of her. “The king uses her oft to parse the liars from the truth sayers. ’Tis important when creating armies to keep our lands safe.”

“Oh yeah? Well, the Truth Fairy just tried to kill me with her ninja fireballs.”

“That’s not true!” a diminutive, weak voice protested from behind Jon.

“Liar, liar, wings on fire!” Toni croaked, her throat raw.

And then Marty and Wanda gasped.

Toni’s eyes flew to the fairy lying on the ground as she began to return to her normally petite size—well, except for her nose. Her nose sprouted from her face like the pointy end of a carrot.

Jon pulled Toni upward, tucking her close to his chest in a possessive gesture she wasn’t up to fighting. “What say you, fairy? Does the maiden speak the truth?”

Flitting upward, her head rolled on her neck as she warred with the weight of her nose. Pressing her tiny hands to each cheeks, she held her head upright to keep it from lolling. “Look what you’ve done!” she screeched in outrage.

Toni was astonished, her eyes going wide. The nerve. The damn nerve. “What
I’ve
done?”

“You’ve stolen my powers!” the fairy squeaked. “I can feel it! Disgusting humans! The lot of you!”

Dannan plucked her from the air and eyeballed her. “Did the queen send ye?” he growled.

Her legs dangled as she tried to shake her head. “No!”

Dannan looked to Toni, his blue face stoic. “She speaks the truth, maiden.”