Darkness & Light (War of the Fae: Book 3) (16 page)

I looked at him like he was nuts.
 
We were out here in the Green Forest, Chase tied to a tree laughing his fool head off, and this guy is talking about clinical trials?
 
Was he mental?
 
I started worrying that we had a total psycho on our hands, and not the savoir he was making himself out to be.

“Listen, Goose, I appreciate your little medical breakthrough or whatever, but this is not a joke.
 
My friend needs help and he’s not interested in being a lab rat or whatever it is you’re talking about.
 
So unless you can really help him, I’m going to need you to get the hell away from us.”

My hand itched to lift Blackie up and put it in his face, but I didn’t want him disappearing again until I knew for sure he wasn’t going to be any help.
 
I was desperate – so desperate, I was talking to some strange gray elf
who
I’d never seen or heard of.

Goose smiled patiently.
 
“No, he would not be a lab rat.
 
Our study is beyond experiments with animals.
 
We have actual fae participating in the study now who have found great success with our treatment.”

Finn spoke up, unable to hold back his curiosity, “So, what is this treatment then?
 
You jus’, give ‘
im
a shot in the butt cheek or somethin’?”

“No.
 
We have witches on staff
who
have found the means to create an antidote ... much like the one described by your friend.
 
Maggie, I believe, is her name.”

“So what is the antidote like?
 
What does it do?” I asked.

“It’s a series of treatments, administered at various stages, until the pixilation is completely removed.
 
The side effects are ... manageable.
 
And temporary.”

“Have you actually had a
pixying
completely reversed yet?”

Goose cleared his throat.
 
“
A-hem
, well, not exactly.
 
And the correct term is ‘pixilation’.
 
But we are very, very close.
 
For thousands of years, various groups have worked on this solution, but for the first time, we have had major breakthroughs.
 
It is quite exciting really.”
 
He looked meaningfully over at Chase, his expression becoming serious.
 
“Your friend needs us, that much is clear.
 
And you shouldn’t wait too long to decide what to do.
 
The longer you wait, the harder it is to heal and the less chance there is of him coming all the way back from it.”

I got a panicky feeling in my chest.
 
It was becoming hard for me to breathe.
 

“Well, it sounds good ‘n all, and not to be rude or nothin’, but we don’t even know who you are or where you’re from.
 
An’ you’re just expectin’ us to hand over our friend to you and a
buncha
witches we don’t know either?
 
Huh-uh.
 
I don’t think so.”
 
Finn shook his head and frowned.
 
“No siree bob.
 
Ain’t gonna happen.”

Finn was right.
 
As tempting as this sounded, I couldn’t just give Chase to this guy like that.
 
Not when we knew so little about him.
 

“He’s right.
 
Tell us what we need to know.
 
Who are you and where are you from exactly?”

“I can tell you that I am Gustav.
 
I am a fae ... of the
wrathe
race, as you can see by my tunic.
 
I live in the Green Forest with others of my kind.
 
And I am Dark Fae, if that makes any difference.”

I looked at him aghast.
 
“Of course it makes a difference, you Dark Fae dumbass!”
 
I immediately held up Blackie, noticing that Finn had beat me to it, already holding Gustav in his sights.

“Ah.
 
So, you are Light Fae ... and newly changed if I am not mistaken.
 
Do not
worry,
you have nothing to fear from me.
 
I am merely a scientist at heart.
 
Look ... ” he held up his hands and gestured around him, “I hold no weapons.
 
I have come in peace.”

He certainly didn’t look very threatening.
 

“You’re Dark Fae.
 
That makes you the bad guy,” said Finn, matter of factly.

Gustav smiled.
 
“I see they have the propaganda machine well-oiled and working soundly in the Light Fae camp.
 
How unfortunate for you.
 
Actually, young green elf, the world is not so easy to fit into categories, now is it?
 
I suspect your friend was pixilated by a Light Fae pixie, yes?”

“Yeah.
 
So?”

“Sounds to me as if
he’s
the bad guy.
 
Not me.
 
I’m offering to help.”

“But what do you want in return?
 
That’s the real question here.”
 
I’d learned one very valuable thing from Maggie, who never even tried to hide the fact that it was her motto – nothing in this world came without personal sacrifice.

“So suspicious.
 
So doubting.
 
But I will give you your answers so that you will feel more comfortable – because it is true that I do this for selfish reasons.
 
We have lost several of our brethren to pixilation.
 
The more subjects we have from different fae races, the more opportunity we have to find the cure.
 
We are nearly there.
 
But we cannot ask fae to volunteer to be pixilated so we can continue our work.
 
I travel the Gray looking for those who have had the misfortune to run into an angry or misguided pixie.
 
That is why I am here and willing to help – even though you are, as we say over in the Dark Fae compound, the
bad guys
.”
 
He smiled at that, raising his eyebrow at us in a challenge.

I suppose it did make sense that he considered us adversaries.
 

Finn looked at me, shrugging his shoulders.
 
“Makes sense to me.”

“Yeah, me too.
 
If
he’s telling the truth.”

And that gave me the perfect idea.
 
“Just wait one second, Goose.
 
I want you to talk to a friend of mine.”

I tapped into The Green through the nearby ley line again.
 
I needed one more favor from Maggie, so I sent my message out:
 
Maggie, get your wrinkly old lie-detecting ass back here.
 
I will owe you one.

A grouchy Maggie showed up not long after, joining the three of us under the branches of the Ancient tree where Chase remained tied.

“Maggie, I need you tell me if this guy Goose is telling us the truth.
 
He’s offering to help Chase, but I’m not sure if I can trust him.”

She looked over at him and grunted, then looked back at me.
 
“What is your offer?”

“I will owe you one favor of your choosing, if you do this for me.”

“Anything I want?” a slow smile spread across her face.

I was a little uncomfortable about this opened-ended bargain, and a
lot
uncomfortable about that smile, but I didn’t see any way around it.
 
I had nothing else to give.
 
“Within reason, yes.”

“Whose reason?”

I rolled my eyes at her.
 
She would have made a great lawyer in the human world.
 
“I don’t know ... an average
fae’s
reason, I guess.”

“Done.”
 
She nodded at me.
 
Then she turned to face Goose.
 
“Speak!”

“Tell her what you told us,” I said.

Intrigued, Goose began his story.
 
“My name is Gustav and I am of the Dark Fae.”

“Truth!”

Goose jumped, temporarily startled, but then he continued, “I am part of a group of witches that are working to heal those who have been pixilated.”

“Truth!”

“We have found a cure.”

“Lie!”

Gustav frowned at her and then looked at me.

“You have to be exactly truthful or she’ll know.”

“Ah,” he said nodding.
 
“Okay, we are nearly to a cure, and we have had many successes recently in finding it and successfully treating advanced pixilation.”

“Truth!”

“And if I hand Chase over to you, you won’t hurt him?”

“No.”

“Lie!”

“Sorry ... What I mean to say is, the only pain he will endure, is that which is a side effect of the treatment.
 
Otherwise, I intend him no harm.”

“Truth!”

“And you’ll let him go when he’s done with the treatment or when I ask you to return him?”

“Yes, absolutely.”

“Truth!”

“And you’ll tell me the truth about how and where to find him?”

“Yes.”

“Truth!”

I looked at Finn.
 
“Can you think of anything else we need to know?”

Finn looked at him and said, “You have no other reason to help Chase other than your scientific experiments?”

At this Goose squirmed a bit.
 
He took a few seconds to answer.
 
“My only interest in your friend, personally, is scientific.”

“Truth!”

I looked at Finn and he looked at me, shrugging his shoulders.
 
I guess we were both satisfied enough to take the risk.
 
I didn’t feel as if I had any other choice.

“Thank you, Maggie.
 
You can go back to bed now.
 
Go get your beauty sleep.”

She grunted and then shuffled off, disappearing among the trees.

I faced Goose.
 
“Okay.
 
You can take him to your lab.
 
But I want your solemn promise that you’ll take good care of him.
 
He’s very special to me.”
 
I tried not to think about how special he was because a lump was forming in my throat, making my voice rough.

“I promise you, I will do whatever I can to help rid him of his pixilation problem.”

“And when will he be ready to come back home?”

“Assuming you can get us a sample of the pixie’s blood, one week, if all goes well.”

“One
week?
 
Holy shit
, how in the heck are we
gonna
put off the council for a whole
week?”
asked Finn.

“I don’t know.
 
And how the hell do we get a sample of Tim’s blood?”
 

I focused my attention back on Goose.
 
“Okay.
 
So how do we get you a pixie blood sample and how do we get Chase home when it’s all over?”

“Have your Light Fae healers take the sample – tell them it’s for Maggie.
 
Meet me back here with it tomorrow at noon.
 
And then I’ll return here with Chase in a week.
 
Same time, noon.
 
If I can get here sooner, I’ll send you a message.”

“How are you going to do that?”

“I will visit you through the Gray.
 
Now that I know you, it should be possible to find you.”

“How will I know you’re there?”

Goose smiled patiently.
 
“I’ve been told it feels as if the hairs on the back of your neck are standing up, and of course you will hear me when I speak to you.”

“That pleasant, eh?”
 
I smiled bitterly.

“I’m pretty sure it won’t work inside the compound,” said Finn.

I hadn’t heard that before, but being a part of the green elves gave Finn access to a lot more security info than me.

“You are correct.
 
But when you are outside, it will work.
 
I will just keep trying, if need be, until I catch you out in the forest somewhere.”

“Fine.
 
So how are you going to transport Chase to your lab?
 
And where is your lab?”

“I have already contacted some ogres who assist in our security details.
 
They will be here shortly.
 
And my lab is in the Dark Fae compound, here in this forest.”

The fact that there was a Dark Fae compound here in the same forest was an interesting fact, but I had other more immediate concerns to worry about.
 
I decided I could mull over the Dark Fae compound issue later with my friends.
 
Besides, Finn would probably know something about it.