The Changeling

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Copyright © 2012 by Christopher Shields

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of the publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the Author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Contact the Author at www.wealdfaejournals.com

Cover Art © 2012 by Christopher Shields

Cover Art by Derek McCumber

Editor Richard Shelton

Kindle Edition

DEDICATION

To my late grandfather,

Alton,

who spent years teaching me

the craft of storytelling

over a kitchen table

in Noel, Missouri.

TABLE
TABLE OF CONTENTS:

CHAPTER 1…..
Ultimatum

CHAPTER 2…..
Ozara’s Visit

CHAPTER 3…..
Aftershocks

CHAPTER 4…..
Second Guessing

CHAPTER 5…..
A Crescent Moon

CHAPTER 6…..
Full Disclosure

CHAPTER 7…..
Watchful Eye

CHAPTER 8…..
Seoladán

CHAPTER 9…..
Billy

CHAPTER 10…
Shadows

CHAPTER 11…
Sophie and Vic

CHAPTER 12…
Groundhog Day

CHAPTER 13…
Ohanzee

CHAPTER 14…
Doug

CHAPTER 15…
Déjà Vu

CHAPTER 16…
Pete’s Secret

CHAPTER 17…
Words of Wisdom

CHAPTER 18…
Courage

CHAPTER 19…
Aether

CHAPTER 20…
Ricochet

CHAPTER 21…
Mischance

CHAPTER 22…
A Dreary Pall

CHAPTER 23…
Fleeting Moments

CHAPTER 24…
Upping the Ante

CHAPTER 25…
Resolute

CHAPTER 26…
Cat and Mouse

CHAPTER 27…
Darkness

CHAPTER 28…
Paydirt

CHAPTER 29…
Retribution

CHAPTER 30…
Omen

CHAPTER 31…
Autumn Comes

CHAPTER 32…
Autumn Comes

CHAPTER 33…
Surprise Visit

The night is darkening round me,

The wild winds coldly blow;

But a tyrant spell has bound me,

And I cannot, cannot go.

The giant trees are bending

Their bare boughs weighed with snow;

The storm is fast descending,

And yet I cannot go.

Clouds beyond clouds above me,

Wastes beyond wastes below;

But nothing drear can move me:

I will not, cannot go.

—Emily Jane Bront
ë
,

The Night is Darkening Around Me

The Complete Poems of Emily Jane Brontë

London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1923

ONE

ULTIMATUM

Tension filled
the tiny red bedroom of my ten-year-old brother, Mitch,
as the changeling stared at me, sneering. A stolen smile and forged dimples, simult
a
neously familiar and foreign, did nothing to
disguise
the malice I sensed just under the
mask
of Mitch’s
young
face. Panic and confusion
,
mixed with rage
,
whipped
my thoughts into a tumult
u
ous mess. Some
how, despite
the
desperat
ion and chaos whirling through my head,
I realized I needed to get Doug and the boys out of the room. As I struggled with a plan, a low, rumbling growl broke the silence. Justice
, our black Standard Poodle,
stood next to Doug in the doorway and bared his teeth
, his almond-shaped eyes fixed on the Fae changeling that looked exactly like Mitch
.

“What’s wrong with
him
?” Doug asked, ruff
l
ing
the dog’s
ears.

“Probably too much excitement.” My voice was surprisingly even. “Doug,
c
ould you please take Justice and the boys upstairs? I need to have a talk with my brother.”

“Ditching me again?” he said, grinning.

I returned
his
smile and put my hand on his shoulder. His
blue
eyes twinkled
and his blond hair glowed
in the light as he looked at me.
“Sure
,
”
he said.

“Thanks
.
I’ll be up in a minute
…
promise.”
I
forced a broad grin
, still masking the anger and fear that
rushed
through my chest
and caused
my heart to beat hard against my lungs. The boys
happily left
the room
.
Scotty
,
Mitch’s friend,
stole a quick look at me
as he passed,
and said
, “Told ya
he was being bad
.”

Sara closed the door when the room was empty.

“Where is my brother?” I demanded.

“Safe, for now,”
the changeling responded smugly
.

“I want him back, now, or I’ll tear you apart,” I said growling, causing Sara to grab my shoulders.

“You? Tear me apart
? A
rrogant…” it said, laughing.

T
ear
s
meandered down my cheek and my body vibrated. “Apparently you didn’t get the memo,” I
snarled
through clenched teet
h
.
“I just kicked Chalen’s ass, and I’ll do the same to you if I don’t get my brother back.”

He turned and studied me with a
flippant
expression
,
and then I felt him channel electricity from the wall. The fool
—h
e was really going to try to fight me here? I reached out with my mind and blocked it. He studied me again, a trace of uneasiness quickly fl
a
shing across his face.

“She did that,” he said, glancing
at
Sara.

“No, Drevek, I did not,” she said in a cooing voice, mocking him as she crossed her arms in a fluid movement.

Drevek, if that was his name, tried pulling energy to start a fire, but I blocked that
,
too. Then,
channeling Air,
I reached out
with my mind
and lifted him off the bed,
ignoring
that he looked like my brother, and slung him against the basement wall just hard enough to fully gather his attention. Again, Sara placed a hand on my shoulder. Ignoring her, I pressed my questions.

“Understand, you filth, I can and
will
destroy you if you don’t bring my brother back…
now
!” My voice wavered and another tear fell.

“Maggie,” Sara whispered, “Please don’t hurt him
.
I beg you, set him down.”

“No!” I growled, stifling a scream as I thought about my little brother in the hands of the Unseelie somewhere. “I want Mitch back!”

Drevek was attempting to change out of physical form, but I pressed hard on him with my invisible grip
—h
ard enough to prevent that from happening but not hard enough to break bones.

“What you’re doing is forbidden!” it screeched at me angrily.

“Wrong answer,” I said as I slammed him into the wall again, harder this time.

“Maggie, please!” Sara pleaded. “Let go of him
.
I’ve got it from here. For Mitch’s sake, you cannot harm this Fae.”

I thought about it
her warning, and
panicked by the idea of them harming Mitch
I reluctantly
dropped Drevek on the floor. Before he could change form Sara had a hold
on
him,
and
I prevented him from using his Fire alignment when he tried to fight back a third time. Sara lifted his body off the floor and he spat in her direction, his green eyes filled with rage.

“If you harm me, Sara, the boy dies. You know how this will play out
.
R
elease me or…”