Faustine (31 page)

“What are you doing?” Mom asked sharply.

“Just calling Alfred to find out where we’re supposed to be going. I’m sure the driver is mixed up. We seem to be driving into the country! I’m sure Alfred said that the coronation was in the city.”

“
There will be no coronation
. For
you
,” Mom said menacingly. I felt a cold shiver run down my spine.

“Mom?”

“Don’t you
Mom
me.”

What the heck? “Mom!”

The car had stopped outside a country barn. We were at a farm. This was
definitely
not the coronation site!

“Step outside, Faustine.”

“Why? What’s going on? You’re freaking me out, Mom.”

“Look at me,” she hissed.

I turned to look at her. Looking into her eyes, I saw nothing unusual, except for the odd eye-shadow effect I had noticed earlier. I shrugged.

“Look deeper.”

As I continued to stare, wondering if someone had drugged her, I noticed her hands out of the corner of my eye. The request to stare into her eyes had been a diversion. Mom’s fingers had fused. Her hands and arms had turned a deep red. She was a demon. Mom–a demon?

She laughed, an eerie, hollow sound.

This wasn’t Mom. The cackle awakened Fitch who sat up and stared.

“Lady Annabel?” he inquired.

In less than an eye-blink, she walloped him across his face with her fused, red-hot digits, leaving inch-deep welts running from his ear to his nose and mouth. He sat frozen in shock. A second blow threw him through the sunroof, smashing the glass into a bazillion pieces.

Mom or not, I jumped on her. I heard my gown rip.

“Stop it!” I cried, clinging to the demon’s back as she tried to shake herself free.

She cackled as she threw me off; I rolled over her and landed on the floor, where the broken glass from the sunroof ripped into my skin. I looked up at her. Her face was changing, getting older. I was freaking out. I hurled as she transformed into Katerina.

Katerina threw her head back and guffawed. “You didn’t really think I’d sit back and let you go through with the coronation, did you?”

 “Drop this, Katerina. They are never going to crown you! Even if I don’t show up.”

“They will,” she said confidently, and smiled.

“What have you done?” I demanded. What could she possibly have done to assure her success?

“Never you mind,” she threatened. “Get ready to die, half human.”

She took a swing at me, but I managed to dodge it; the force of her swing made her fall to the floor beside me.

Transform, Faustine
! a voice whispered in my ear.
Transform
!

Of course! In my confusion, my body had not reacted. I tried, but I wasn’t quick enough, as Katerina threw herself at me. Something pulled her off of me with a jerk. Ryker. He must be invisible; it had been his voice in my ear. I fully transformed as Ryker and Katerina battled in the close confines of the limousine. Katerina kept striking and punching the air around her as something kept pushing her away from me. Ryker was doing an awesome job. Right up until he went down. He became visible as he fell to the floor; I saw a large gash in his abdomen where Katerina had struck him.

“
Eat that, Demon Princess
,” Katerina laughed, and turned to me.

Her laugh was cut short as I launched my fully-transformed body at her. I had youth on my side; I was stronger and more agile than she. But, she was capable, to say the least. We rolled about in the back of the limo, tearing each other’s clothes to shreds. Ryker lay lifeless on the floor as we jabbed and poked at each other with our prongs. Katerina managed to climb on top of me and began pulling at my hair. That position enabled me to finally get a grip of her waist, and with all the force I could muster, I pushed her off of me and out of the car–through the sunroof.

I opened the door and rushed out to finish her. She had landed on the roof of the car and didn’t appear to be moving.

After I checked on Ryker, who was alive, but badly injured, I looked around for Fitch and the driver. Fitch lay on the ground by the car. He was unconscious, but alive. There were no signs of the driver. I was all alone at a farm, with two injured friends and Katerina. I felt utterly helpless. I sat down by Ryker and took his limp hand in mine. My eyes welled as I took out my phone. I needed to call Alfred.

“It’s okay,” a voice said from the other side of the car.

I transformed instantaneously and leaped over the car to confront whoever was there.

“Calm down, Faustine. We met briefly before. I’m Ryker’s aunt, Amadea. Let me pass, so I can help him.”

I stepped aside, but remained fully transformed. I had no reason to trust her. I watched her intently as she examined Ryker. She was tender, gently running her fingers over his injuries. I relaxed a smidgen.

“Fitch, my friend, is injured as well,” I said, pointing at Fitch’s body lying on the grass.

She looked him over as well. “Faustine, I need to get them some help. I am going to wander them, one at a time. Stay with Fitch; I’ll be back shortly. Stay transformed and keep your eye out for Katerina. I’m guessing this is her handiwork?”

I nodded. “She’s up there,” I said, pointing to the roof. “She’s unconscious, has been since she landed there.”

Amadea pulled the body down and laid it on the ground beside the car.

“This is your mom...” Amadea said, confused.

“She turned into Katerina...” I explained. “And tried to kill me.”

Then, it hit me. Katerina had possessed her to get to me. I fell to the ground beside Mom. “Mom! Wake up!” I pleaded through a sea of tears. My body was shaking.

“Calm down,” Amadea said gently. “She’s alive. I am going to transport her to Cassandra for healing. Stay here with the boys and keep an eye out for Katerina. She may still be around.”

She disappeared with Mom, but returned minutes later and put her hands on Ryker’s shoulders. They both disappeared.

I crawled over and sat down by Fitch. My phone rang, startling me.

“Faustine? Where are you? You are very late,” Dorian admonished.

My eyes welled at the sound of his voice, and I sobbed into the phone. “I’m going to be a bit late, we’ve had an issue. The chauffeur got us lost,” I managed to whisper.

“Faustine, it’s okay,” Dorian soothed. “No need to be so upset over that. You’ll get here when you get here. We’ll wait. It’s not like we can have the coronation without you. Do you have any idea how long you will be?”

“No. Is Alfred there? Maybe he could help with directions.”

“He’s right here. I’ll put him on. See you soon.”

 “Faustine, what’s going on?” Alfred sounded strained.

“Everything okay there?” I asked, concerned.

“I can’t seem to locate Audrey and Viola, but other than that, yes. What’s going on with you?”

I brought him up to date. He listened in silence.

“Amadea will guide you. Just listen to her. I will stall everyone here.”

“What about Mom, Fitch and Ryker? They aren’t going to make it to the coronation. We need to tell Alexandra what’s going on.”

“Let me take care of that,” he replied calmly. “Anything else?”

“To be honest, I’m not in a coronation frame of mind, anymore. Can we cancel? Or at least postpone?”

“No, that’s not an option.”

“Look! I am sitting here, fully transformed, crying, in a shredded dress! How can you possibly expect me to go through with this now?”

“Like I said, you have no option. Amadea will take care of everything. I am going to go now and deal with the thousands who are waiting for you here.”

This was beyond miserable. I turned around at the sound of something creeping up behind me. I was up and ready to attack–a small grey cat. My sudden movement caused the poor thing to scramble away. I sat back down and rubbed Fitch’s hand.

Amadea appeared again and took Fitch away, leaving me on my own for a few minutes before she returned. She sat down beside me and took my hand.

“You can transform back now,” she said kindly, and watched as I obeyed.

My injuries were more prominent in my human form. I was a mess, bleeding gashes and scratches everywhere. “How are Mom, Ryker and Fitch?”

“They will be fine. Ryker was already up by the time I got home with Fitch. They won’t make the coronation, though. Your mom is going to be fine. Cassandra and Edith are healing her. She’ll be back to normal by the time you get to the reception.”

“I don’t want to go to the coronation looking like this.”

“I spoke to Alfred and Spencer. You have to be at the coronation. We
cannot
have Katerina creating any more havoc. Once you are crowned, she’ll hopefully desist. Edith is going to heal you, and Alexandra has another, very similar, gown waiting for you. It’s all going to be okay. You are going to be queen, so it’s time to pull yourself together and act like one,” she smiled.

My injuries were less severe than they looked, so they were no match for Edith and Cassandra’s healing spell. The two of them had me looking as if nothing had happened within minutes.

“Can I see Mom?” I asked them.

“She’s recovering. She’ll be at the reception. Now, go and get dressed,” they instructed.

Alexandra helped me into a dress, which was just as stunning as the shredded one, while Suman sorted out my hair and makeup.

 I felt anxious as I entered the Cathedral with Alfred. Fitch was supposed to have escorted me, but he was still healing.

The Cathedral was totally full; thousands of people were there. People? Probably not; mostly paranormals, I guessed, some of them my subjects. I waved blindly–the paparazzi with their flashing cameras were out in full force. I didn’t see anyone I recognized. Alfred led me up to the podium, where I stood with my back to the crowd. I took a final glance behind me to see if I could spot anyone I knew, but a camera flashed and I turned around again.

All in all, the ceremony itself was very much like a wedding, but without the groom. There was a lot of bloviating by the master of ceremonies. My feet were starting to ache in the five-inch Louboutins Suman had lent me to replace the ones I had broken in the kafuffle. Her feet were half a size smaller than mine.

An hour later, when all the pontificating was over, Alfred stepped over and placed the crown, which weighed a flipping ton, on my head.

I was Queen.

I was unprepared for the sudden reverence from everyone. Everyone bowed, even Dorian and Luke. I’d need to do something about that. I wasn’t sure how to respond, so, to everyone’s horror, I bowed back.

“Your Majesty,” Fitch said, coming up to me and extending his arms.

“Fitchy!”

“Take my arm with your hand,” he whispered under his breath “And don’t throw yourself all over me! Decorum.” I pasted a smile across my face and walked with him down the aisle. I held my back straight so the crown wouldn’t topple. We were driven by Dorian to the reception. I kept the conversation light in the car, not wanting to freak out Dorian. We were accosted by a fresh assault of flashing cameras as we exited the car to walk the red carpet to the reception. I felt like a star. I wondered who the paparazzi thought they were covering. Some rich heiress from New York having her sweet sixteen do?

I spotted Mom as soon as I entered the hall. “Mom! You okay?”

“What happened?” she asked. “One minute, I was getting dressed for the coronation, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up with Cassandra and Edith peering over me. What happened?”

“I’ll explain later,” I smiled, looking at the line of guests waiting to be introduced to me. “Where is everyone I know? Taylor? Neave?” I asked, looking down the line of unfamiliar faces.

“You’ll see them at dinner. The banquet was apparently moved up since you were late, so everyone ate before the coronation. We’ll grab a bite before the dance. I’m famished, and you must be as well. You can catch up with your friends while you eat.”

An hour later, after a numbing amount of introductions I would never remember, and a bazillion photos, Mom led me to a dining room. As we entered, I caught the scent of meat. Ignoring everyone, I let my nose guide me to a juicy steak. Once I finished eating, I sat back and looked up, catching Taylor’s smiling eyes. “Taylor!” I said, and walked over to hug her.

“Look, everyone is here!”

“Yes,” Luke said, taking my elbow. “Let me introduce you to your siblings,” he said, walking me over to an elegant lady in her fifties. “This is Portia.”

“Hey!”

“Hey, right back, sis,” she smiled. “This is Mariel and Jaques,” she said, pointing to the two standing next to her. I smiled. This was a little awkward, meeting my siblings for the first time, so publicly.

“And I am Max,” a voice said from behind me. I turned around to smile at Maximillian, who was accompanied by a pretty Japanese lady. “This is my wife, Choko.”

“Wow, this is amazing,” I said lamely. “I hope we get some time to catch up. How long are you staying?”

“Not long. We fly back tomorrow.”

“Family breakfast tomorrow morning?” I suggested, as Fitch came over to drag me back into the reception.

“Where’s Kismet?” I asked him.

“When Suman heard what happened with Katerina, she took off with Kismet.”

I didn’t blame her. There was no telling where Katerina was.

“Where are Neave and the rest of the gang?”

“Waiting in the ballroom. Ready for your first waltz as the new queen?” he asked.

I was. Waltzing was something I had mastered at Bonfire Academy.

As Fitch led me onto the dance floor, Alfred’s voice boomed across the room. “Our new demon sovereign, Queen Faustine.”

We walked to the middle of the dance floor amidst enthusiastic applause. As I got into position, facing Fitch, I felt a gentle brush of warm air against my cheek. Fitch smiled as Ryker appeared.

“I’ll take it from here,” Ryker said, turning me around as the music started. I walked into his arms and turned my lips up to meet his.