A Kind of Magic (36 page)

When she was done and Josephine was still lying dazed on the ground, Sophie looked up, addressing the crowd that had gathered close to watch. “I can see why my ancestor was reluctant to sentence her sister to death, but a death sentence would have been more compassionate. Josephine did what she had to do to survive, and I can hardly blame her for that.” Addressing Nana directly, she said, “Do you have a safe place you could put her? Let her live in the Realm. After this display, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about her finding enough allies to be a real threat.”

Nana went over and helped a shaky Josephine to her feet. “I’ll see what I can do for her. Come on, honey, let’s get you some good food. It’ll probably taste better without all that iron in your blood.” As she walked away, leading a surprisingly docile Josephine, she said over her shoulder to Sophie, “Nice way of handling that. Now, be a dear and wrap things up, okay?”

Sophie stood and glared down the assembled fae. “I hope no one has a problem here. Can we go at least a month without someone else trying to take over the Realm? It’s getting old. Now, we need to repair the barriers between worlds since we can’t trust you fae to behave yourselves. The human world isn’t what it once was and they aren’t prepared to deal with you.” Whirling on the enchantresses, she added, “And you can see that it’s never as simple as human against fae. Please spread that throughout your organization. We all need to work together in the future to make a better world for all of us. Well, better worlds.”

Amelia grinned at this. “That sounds like a very good idea.”

“Is she fae?” one of the other enchantresses asked warily. “I thought she was one of us.”

“Oh honey, I’m not one of anybody,” Sophie said. “And if I’m going to be part of any organization, it’ll be a new one that’s about cooperation. Now, I believe we have a market going on out there.”

The fae didn’t need to be encouraged to celebrate, and within seconds, it was as though nothing had happened. Most of the assembled fairies rushed outside, any divisions between them forgotten, and soon the sound of lively music drifted in from the terrace. Sophie felt the shakes that came after a sudden release of tension and looked around for a chair before she fell. Michael didn’t look much better than she felt. In fact, she had to catch him when he swayed, and since no chair was handy, she sank to the floor, bearing his weight. “Mrs. Smith!” she called out, sure the wise woman would know how to help him, then sounding harsher than she intended, she snapped at Michael. “And just what were you doing back there? Trying to get yourself killed?”

“I was trying to help you,” he said, moving so that she now sat leaning against him, within the circle of his arm. “You needed someone without power who was different, and isn’t that what everyone keeps telling me I am? Who else could have done it without dying? And obviously, I’m not dead.”

“You could have been,” Sophie said, furious at the tears that stung her eyes.

Mrs. Smith came to kneel beside them. She caught Michael’s chin in her hands and stared into his eyes for a moment. “Well, this could be interesting,” she said.

“Interesting how?” he asked.

“You may have just become an honorary fairy.”

“A what?”

Sophie extended her magical senses, and she detected something different about him. “You’ve absorbed some fae magic,” she said.

“Does that mean I have power?” he asked, sounding somewhat alarmed.

“I’m not sure,” Mrs. Smith said.

“See, this is why you shouldn’t have done that,” Sophie said.

“If he hadn’t, you’d be dead, dear,” Mrs. Smith said. “Now say thank you to the man who saved your life.”

Sophie looked up at him, suddenly feeling shy. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Though if you’re a fairy now, maybe I shouldn’t say that.”

“I don’t think I’ll be very orthodox,” he said with a grin. “And you know I couldn’t let her kill you. I’ve lost too much already.” His arm tightened around her, pulling her closer against him, and she let herself melt into his embrace for a moment, drawing strength from his closeness. It was just his cop instinct, she told herself. He’d have thrown himself in front of anyone. But he had mentioned her as someone he didn’t want to lose, and that was enough for now.

The Throne Room

Next

Emily gave her sister a few minutes to sit snuggled up against Michael. They looked awfully cozy, and they’d been through a lot. When she thought they’d had enough time to recover a little, she made her way over to them. “Anything you need me to do?”

Sophie looked up at her, her face drawn and pale with exhaustion. “Do you think you could track down Maeve in the palace? I’ve about had it with her, and I think Nana should do something about her.”

“That actually sounds like a lot of fun. Eamon, want to come with?” She didn’t wait for an answer before heading out, but he followed her. “Where do you think she’ll hole up?”

“She’s hiding in the tower. That’s where she always goes, and I can sense her.”

“Okay then, I guess we’re climbing stairs.”

She’d thought the tension in the throne room during the fight had been bad, but in the tight quarters of the stairwell, the tension between her and Eamon was too thick for anything weaker than a chainsaw to cut through it. “I hope when they repair the barriers it stops all the weirdness,” she said, trying to find a way to ease into the conversation they needed to have. “There are all those theater people who’ve been dancing all night, and one of my costars seems to have picked up a leanan sidhe. Except he thinks I’m the redhead he’s seeing in his dreams.”

“She might have been putting on your face to entice him, but that would only work if he already saw you in his dreams.” His voice was stiff and formal sounding. Was he hurt? He was the one who’d been avoiding her.

“That’s a scary thought. Still, maybe he isn’t as bad as I thought. And he is talented.”

Instead of responding to that, he said, “Maeve is just ahead.”

Apparently he was going to keep this professional. She could do that. “Okay, ready for an ambush?”

He waved a hand, flinging the door of the tower room wide open, and both of them hit the woman inside with magic, immobilizing her. Emily felt it was ridiculously satisfying to be able to use fae magic against Maeve. If only she’d known she had the power last summer when Maeve caught her. Emily’s magic wasn’t that powerful, but combined with Eamon’s, it was more than enough to immobilize Maeve. “I bet you’re wishing you’d left me alone,” Emily said to the seething captive fairy as they hauled her down the stairs, bound with a magical silver chain Eamon had conjured. “You’d still have a court and you wouldn’t have been double-crossed so often.”

Nana had returned to the throne room by the time they returned. She was sitting on her throne, handing out judgment to the fae who’d sided with Josephine. “Ah, Maeve,” she said, sounding conversational. “It seems like every time there’s a threat to the Realm, you’re involved. You fall for every line that any traitor throws you, and I’ve had enough. I don’t want you in my court, and I don’t want you in my Realm.”

“Not exile!” Maeve blurted.

“Oh, I’m not that cruel, and I don’t want to create another Josephine. We’re safest if you’re a mortal living in the mortal world.” She waved a hand, and Maeve changed. It was subtle—she was still ridiculously gorgeous, but in a more human way. She didn’t glow the way the fae did, and all sense of power was gone. Maeve wailed and sank to the ground, sobbing.

Emily was surprised by just how stricken Eamon looked. He loved humans and studied human culture to the point he probably fit in better with them than with other fae, and he had no love for Maeve, but the look of pity on his face nearly broke Emily’s heart. Now she understood why he’d been avoiding her. No matter what he felt for her, this was what he’d have to do for them to be together if she didn’t move into the Realm. She wasn’t ready for that step, so she could hardly blame him for not wanting to give up his immortality.

And that was when she realized her feelings for him were real. He wasn’t just an itch she wanted to scratch. She cared about what happened to him, and she cared too much to make him give anything up for her. That was a particularly cruel irony, to understand how much she felt when she knew she couldn’t act on it.

Maybe that’s what had been going on with him: he’d realized he didn’t want her giving up her life for him. So where did that leave them, caring about each other too much to be together? She supposed that was why Charles made a good distraction. It would be better for both of them if she forced herself to move on.

Even though Maeve had caused Emily so much trouble, she still felt a little bad for her. “Don’t worry, Maeve,” she said, helping the former fairy to her feet. “You’ve got the looks to be a supermodel, and it’ll be a few more years before you have to start worrying about wrinkles.”

The Throne Room

Meanwhile

Michael knew he probably needed to get up at some point, but he was comfortable the way he was, with Sophie nestled against his side. He was trying hard not to think about what had happened to him and what it meant. “Don’t you have a matinee?” he asked after a while.

“Oh dear, don’t remind me,” she said with a groan. “But this is when manipulating the Realm comes in handy. I can take a nap here and get home barely after the time I left.”

“That
is
handy. Do you think I’ll be able to do that sort of thing?”

“Don’t get too excited about maybe having powers.”

“I know. We need to figure out what it means.”

“I’m sorry all this happened to you. It’s my fault.”

He tightened his arm around her shoulders. “Don’t say that. You didn’t mean for anything to happen. It was some kind of destiny thing.”

“And you got all tangled up in my destiny.”

“Have you considered that it might be my destiny, too?”

She looked up at him with her odd eyes. “Well, you must be different in some way to be able to respond to things the way you have, so I suppose that’s a possibility.”

She slid out of his arms and stood, moving far more gracefully than he’d expect of someone who’d been through what she had. He needed her helping hand to drag himself to his feet. “Now, about that nap,” he said with a groan.

Leonie’s people ushered them all to rooms in the palace. Since time didn’t really work here, he wasn’t sure how long he slept, but he woke totally refreshed. He found his way back to the throne room, where Sophie was waiting. They were soon joined by Emily with a yawning Beau, Mrs. Smith, and all the enchantresses. Guards brought the now-human Maeve. “Okay, everyone ready?” Sophie asked before leading the group out of the palace to a spot where she could open a gateway.

While the Drake sisters hugged their grandmother good-bye, the woman in white approached Michael. “I have been given permission to stay,” she told him, beaming radiantly.

“That’s good,” he said. “But I hope I’ll still see you around.”

“I’m sure you will.” She rose on tiptoes to kiss his cheek before scampering away.

He noticed that Eamon wasn’t among the group and wondered what was up with that. He and Emily had seemed pretty close, but then it wasn’t as though this was a permanent parting. He was back and forth all the time, so he was probably busy doing something for the queen. And he likely was too smart to get close to Emily in front of Sophie.

When all the farewells were said, Sophie opened the gateway, and they stepped through, emerging in the predawn park. The others fanned out, and Michael noticed Emily giving the guards instructions about Maeve, but he hung back with Sophie. “So, rest or food?” he asked.

“I’ve had plenty of rest, and I’m starving,” she said.

“Then how about a very early breakfast?”

“Sounds like a brilliant idea.” She took his arm as they began walking. “You know, I planned all this for Sunday night, when I had a bit of a break.”

“Too bad Josephine didn’t cooperate.”

“Is it weird that I feel a little sorry for her? I think if I’d been in her situation, I’d have reacted a lot like she did.”

“I don’t think you would. Remember, the coup came before your ancestor gave up the throne. Maybe if she hadn’t been a traitor to her own sister, she’d have had the throne honestly. I don’t see you betraying your grandmother to get power.”

“I gave the power to my grandmother.”

“My point exactly.” They walked a little while longer, and he noticed that light flurries of snow were falling. “The world still feels a little magical. They must not have fixed all the barriers yet.”

“Or maybe it’s in the eye of the beholder,” she said.

“So now that I’m a little magical, the world will be more magical to me?”

“No. The world is magical to you because you’re willing to see beyond what you expect, and you look with your heart.”

“That sounds like the kind of thing Mari says when she’s mocking me.”

“Are you so sure she’s mocking you? Maybe she’s sincere and covering it in snark. I think she admires you a great deal.” She hesitated a second, then added, “And I don’t blame her.”

“And just imagine what she’d say if she knew I was part fairy—you won’t tell her, of course.”

She looked up at him, grinning. “Never. It’s our little secret.”

He couldn’t resist imagining the dancing snowflakes forming themselves into a crown that hovered just over Sophie’s head, then was startled when they did so. He quickly scattered them as it struck him what he’d just done, and the flakes settled on her hair.

“Don’t let it go to your head,” she said.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Still, it was going to take some getting used to.

THE END

You have just read the third book in the Fairy Tale series,
A Kind of Magic
.
A Kind of Magic
is also available in audiobook and paperback formats.