Darkness & Light (War of the Fae: Book 3) (29 page)

I noticed another figure standing off to the side.
 
It was Samantha ... smiling.
 
Maggie shuffled past her, nodding as she went.

What the fuck?

“Thanks, Maggie,” said Samantha loudly so I could hear, watching me as she spoke.
 
“We appreciate your help.”

I was seized by a rage I didn’t know I was capable of having.

“You sold me out, Maggie
?!
 
You gave me up to the Dark Fae?
 
I thought we were
friends!”
 
Spit was flying from my mouth as the venomous words spewed out.
 
“You’re no better than a rotten
orc!
 
You hear me
?!
 
A fucking black, slimy, pile of steaming, stinking
orc shit!
 
I hate you!
 
I hate you!
 
Do you hear me
?!
”

And that’s the last thing I remember saying before I saw her beady black eye and everything went black.

My back was hurting – probably from all the bumpy hard things that were poking into it.
 
I wasn’t ready to open my eyes yet and identify what they were.
 
My other senses were telling me way more than I wanted to know.
 
It was cold and damp where I was.
 
The bed or whatever I was lying on was stone, and not very smooth.
 
I could hear water dripping somewhere and there was a musty smell all around me.
 
I was pretty sure I was underground somewhere or inside a cave.
 
I couldn’t hear anything but my own breathing and the occasional tiny splash of water.
 
At least, I hoped it was water.

I moved my hand slowly up to my chest and found that Tim was still there under my tunic.
 
I could feel his warmth, so that meant he was alive.
 
I hoped I hadn’t squished him during the transport.
 
There was no doubt in my mind that I was in the Dark Fae compound; I didn’t need supernatural skills to figure that out.
 
I was probably in a dungeon.
 
They’d definitely have a dungeon.
 
Assholes.

I reached down my leg and felt the empty sheath where Blackie’s solid presence should have been.
 
Dammit.

I opened my eyes and visually drank in the things I saw.
 
I was in a cave room of sorts.
 
The entire space was carved out of stone.
 
There were no bars holding me in here, so it wasn’t as
dungeony
-looking as I expected.
 
Still, there was a door and it was shut.
 
I was willing to bet it was locked from the outside.
 
There was no bed, just the stone slab I was lying on.
 
It could probably double as a virgin sacrifice altar in a pinch.
 
I turned my head to get a look at the floor, hoping against hope I wouldn’t see a puddle of blood there.
 
Luckily there was none.
 
The floor was stone too and
damp-looking
.
 
One of the lumpy rock walls opposite me had some water trails on it, and I could see that this was the source of the drip, drip, dripping that I’d been hearing.

I sat up slowly, fighting the dizziness that threatened to overwhelm me.
 
Whatever Maggie or Samantha had hit me with had done a hell of a job.
 
I tried to remember one scrap of information after yelling at Maggie, but there was nothing.
 
I could have hooked up and gotten busy with an orc and I probably would have slept through the whole thing.
 
I squeezed my legs together as the visuals assailed my mind.
 
I’m not sure I could recover from something like that.
 
I shivered with revulsion just thinking about it.

“Okay,” I said out loud to the cave room.
 
“Time to go home.”

I tried to pull The Green into me but there was nothing.
 
Just a black void.
 
The panic started to rise up in my throat, but I talked myself down, my voice bouncing off the walls.
 
“Just relax.
 
The Green is out there.
 
You just need to be patient and try again.”
 
And so I did.
 
And then again.
 
But nothing happened.

“Fuck!”
I yelled out to no one in particular.

“Bugger!” yelled someone back.

“Tim?”
 
I looked down at my chest.

“Would you mind getting me the heck out of your bra, please?
 
It’s hot and squishy in here.
 
I’m trying not to vomit but if you don’t get me out soon, I can’t promise anything ... ”

“You’re out, you’re out!
 
Look!”
 
I pulled my tunic open as fast as I could and jerked the top of my bra down.
 
Tim wasn’t expecting the sudden freedom, so he tumbled out, landing in my lap.

“Oh,
crudbuckets
, that hurt,” he moaned.
 

I watched him struggle to his feet, trying to get his footing on my legs but failing miserably.
 
I picked him up as gently as I could and set him on the bench next to me.
 

“What the heck happened?
 
How come I was in your bra?”
 
He looked around as he rubbed his butt with one hand and his head with the other.
 
“And where are we?”

“What happened was Ben and Samantha, helped by Maggie, and we are in the Dark Fae compound.
 
I think.”

Tim spun around to look at me.
 
“No!”

“Yes!”

“Oh, this is not good.
 
This is not good
at all
.
 
Jayne, do you know what this means?”

“I’m pretty sure it means we’re prisoners.
 
Or at least I am.
 
They don’t know you’re here.”

Tim thought about that for a second.
 
“Are you sure they don’t know I’m here?”

“Pretty sure.
 
Why would they have left you in my bra?
 
And I sure didn’t tell them you were there.”

“Tell me everything you know,” he ordered, all business, walking around and occasionally shaking out a leg or bending over to stretch his back.
 
“We need a plan, but first I need as much info as you have.
 
Go.”

I filled him in on our sad predicament, trying to remember as many details as I could.
 
When I finished, Tim was shaking his head.
 

“I can’t believe she helped them capture you.
 
That’s just typical Maggie.
 
I should never have introduced you to her.”

“What do you mean it’s ‘typical Maggie’?
 
She’s always been nice to us.”

“Ha!
 
That’s what you think.
 
Maggie does what Maggie wants for Maggie’s reasons.
 
If it suits her to be nice, she’s nice.
 
If she wants your wing, she pulls it off.
 
If she wants to sell you out to your worst enemy, well, she does that too.
 
Believe me.
 
I know what she’s capable of.”

“You guys have a history, and I know it’s not all good.
 
Tell me what she did to you.”

“Other than pulling my wings off more than once?”

“Yeah.”

“No.
 
What’s in the past needs to stay in the past.
 
Right now we need to figure out how to get out of here.
 
If they keep us too long, we’ll end up staying.”

I got a super creepy feeling hearing that.
 
“What do you mean?
 
I’m not staying here.”

Tim sighed loudly.
 
“Fae who are brought here rarely leave.”

“Why?
 
Do they get ... killed?”
 
The idea had me feeling
barfy
and panicky all over again.
 
I could hear my heart beating in my ears.
 
I had to take a few gulping breaths to keep my stomach contents where they belonged.

“No.
 
Worse.
 
They
choose
to stay.
 
The Dark Fae mess with their minds.”

“Not this mind,” I said confidently.
 
“I’d no sooner willingly shack up with a Dark Fae than I’d sleep with an orc.
 
Ain’t gonna happen, as Finn would say.”

“You say that now, but I’ve seen it.
 
Perfectly rational, intelligent fae.
 
One day they’re Light Fae and happily married, the next they’re Dark Fae and saying ‘See you later, sucker.’
 
Trust me.
 
It happens.
 
And it can happen to you and me.
 
We need to get out.”
 
He started pacing back and forth even faster.
 
At this rate he was going to wear a track in the stone bench.

“Okay, fine.
 
We’ll make a plan.”
 
I thought for a few seconds and then realized I was fresh out of ideas.
  
“What’s our plan?”

“You said we were out there with Tony and they didn’t take Tony, right?”

“As far as I know, they didn’t.
 
Just us – and you only because you were in my shirt.”

“I was in your bra, Jayne.
 
Your bra.
 
And let me tell you – your boobs are seriously sweaty and sticky.”

“Yeah, well, next time I’ll leave you to be a squirrel’s lunch, how about that?”
 
I got up and walked around, testing out my legs.
 
“Ungrateful punk.”

“Have you seen anyone here yet?
 
How long have we been here?”

“No, and I don’t know.”

Just then there was a sound at the door.
 

“Quick, get in my shirt!”
 
I leaned over and scooped Tim up, shoving him back in my bra before he could react.
 
I could feel him trying to get out, digging around and scratching my skin, so I lightly smacked him on the outside of my shirt.
 
“
Sssh
, someone’s coming in,” I whispered desperately, “and stop
scratching
me,”

The door opened to reveal Samantha standing in the doorway, smiling her catty smile at me, making me want nothing more than to smack it right off her stupid face.
 
Now that I knew Maggie was somehow involved in messing with my powers, I wasn’t as impressed by Samantha’s witch status.
 
She was probably a goofy changeling who didn’t have a clue, just like all the rest of the newbies.

“Ready to cry uncle and let me out of here?” I asked.

She sneered at me.
 
“Right.
 
You’re not going anywhere until Ben’s done with you.”

“Oh, yeah.
 
Ben.
 
So what ... is he Jared’s replacement for your shriveled, black heart?”

“Shut up.”

“How long did that take?
 
To forget your friend Jared?
 
A whole day?”

“It’s not like that, Jayne.
 
But I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”

“No, that’s good.
 
Don’t expect me to understand how you could sell all your friends out for a lying demon just because he happens to be good looking.
 
I’ll never understand someone like you.”

“So, you think I’m good looking?” said Ben, stepping out from the other side of the door to stand next to Samantha.
 
“That’ll be all for now, Sam.
 
I’ll meet you at lunch.”

“But ... ”

“I said that’s fine.
 
Please leave us.”

“Don’t you think
... ?
”

“Samantha.
 
Go.”
 
He glowered at her.
 

She shot me a look of hatred and then stormed off, leaving Ben and me almost alone, Tim still hidden in my bra.
 
Thankfully he had stopped struggling.
 
I could feel his tiny body moving with each rapid breath.
 
I prayed Ben wouldn’t see or hear it.
 
For all I knew, this turd had supersonic hearing powers.

“So what’s the plan?” I asked, irritated.
 
“Torture?
 
Dismemberment?
 
Death?
 
Just tell me; the suspense is giving me a rash.”