New World Order (War of the Fae: Book 4) (11 page)

Gorm smiled.
 
“I should have known it was you who did that.
 
We knew of the tree-trapped creatures.
 
It was only a matter of time before they were released.
 
It stands to reason it would be now.”

“Why, Gorm?
 
Why now?”

He just shook his head at me.

I had to force myself not to go ballistic on him.
 
“Just ... never mind.
 
Tell me how to get Chase.”
 
I was out of patience and the ability to be nice him.
 
Stupid jerk was keeping secrets just like all the other fae I had to live with.
 
Pains in the ass, every single one of them.
 
Except my friends of course.
 
But minus Tim.
 
He was currently a
grade-A
pain in the ass.

“Your friend Tony can take you to him.
 
Use the Gray.”

I turned to my friend.
 
“Tony?
 
Can you do it?”

“Yes ... ” he said hesitantly, “if I knew exactly what I was looking for – or the place, maybe.”

I sighed impatiently.
 
“You’re looking for Chase, duh.
 
In the Dark Fae compound.
 
What else do you need to know?”

He closed his eyes and gave his head a brief shake.
 
“Nothing, I guess.
 
Just come here and hold my hand.
 
Think really hard about Chase.
 
It’ll help.”

“Okay.”
 
I stepped over and took his hand.
 
“What should I think about?
 
His face?
 
His eyes?”
 
I didn’t want to say what I was thinking –
should I think about his amazingly muscled body?
 
Strong biceps, rare but beguiling smile, silent sexy way about him?

Tony interrupted my reverie with his answer, “Anything.
 
The way he looks, conversations you’ve had – memories, basically.”

“Okey dokey.”
 
I turned to our friends.
 
“Finn, Scrum ... can you keep an eye out while we’re doing this thing?”
 
My eyes scanned the trees above us, unsuccessfully trying to locate pixie wing movements.

“Sure,” they both said in unison.
 
Finn took three steps back and notched an arrow in the bow.
 
Scrum moved in closer, putting his back to mine, so that I was between him and Finn.

Gorm sat down on a bed of leaves and twigs underneath the tree, near where we stood.

“Okay, I’m going to start,” said Tony in a soft voice.

I loved the feel of his hand in mine.
 
It was warm and soft, uncalloused.
 

“Jayne,” said Tony wryly, “you have to think about Chase, not me.”

I smiled.
 
“Oh yeah.
 
Sorry about that.
 
I just like the way your hand feels.”

Before I closed my eyes to concentrate, I saw a smile flit across his face.
 
I wanted to give him a super-sized hug right then, but it was going to have to wait.
 
I rearranged my thoughts to focus on Chase.
 
The first thing that popped into my mind was his face – his solid jaw line, full and sculpted lips, high cheekbones.
 
He had a large brow ridge over his eyes ... eyes that were cornflower blue, baby blue, sky blue, every kind of beautiful light blue I could think of.
 
I rarely saw him smile, and when I did it was always a surprise.
 
So slight, but carrying a lot of meaning.
 
At least, it did before he was pixelated.
 
I chose to remember him this way and not as the crazy loon who grinned his head off for no reason.
 
That was a Chase that needed to stay far, far away from me.
 
I probably would have blasted him back into the Overworld if he had kept that shit up around me for too long.
 
I can only handle so much glee before I want to seriously maim or kill its source.

“Jayne,” warned Tony.
 
“Focus.”

“Okay, sorry.”
 
Back I went into Chase la-la land, sighing at the unfairness of it all.
 
This beautiful, silent warrior had left me.
  
Well, he needed to get his ass back here – that was all there was to it.
 
Chase, Chase, Chase – come back to me Chase.
 
Be my warrior daemon again, Chase, you stinkin’ liar, not telling me you were from the Overworld, for shit’s sake.
 
Not telling me you had friggin secrets the whole time we were in that damn forest during the changeling test.

Tony sighed.
 
“I can’t do this.
 
Jayne is too easily distracted.
 
Whenever I get close, she pulls me back.”

I dropped my hand.
 
“I’m so sorry, let me try again.
 
I can do this.”

“Why don’t you let me try,” said Finn, pulling his arrow out of the string and returning it to his quiver, throwing the bow over his shoulder.
 
He frowned at me playfully, “Green elves can focus like nobody’s business.
 
I ain’t lyin’.
 
It’s part of our trainin’.”

I stepped back, momentarily bumping into Scrum.
 
“By all means, green elf, have at it.
 
Go hunt Chase down.”
 
I seriously didn’t care who brought him back, so long as they did it.

“Take my hand,” said Tony.

Finn eyed it suspiciously.
 
“Nobody better tell any of the green elves I was standin’ out here holdin’ no guy’s hand.”
 
He took Tony’s hand and smiled.
 
“Hey.
 
He does have good hands.”
 
He realized what he said a split second later and started frowning.
 

I couldn’t help but laugh, especially when I heard a tiny voice yell out from above, “He’s gay!
 
He’s totally gay!
 
I knew it!”

“What’s so funny?” demanded Finn, glaring at me.

“Nothing.
 
Nothing at all.
 
Just hurry up.”
  
I knew if I told him what the hidden pixie had said, he’d refuse to go forward with the task at hand.

“Concentrate, Finn.
 
Get me into that compound.”

I stood there watching them intently.
 
I couldn’t tell from their expressions what was going on.
 
Tony looked completely focused, and Finn started smiling.
 
It seemed like a strange reaction to thinking about Chase, but whatever.
 
Maybe he was gay.
 
That would be the biggest shock of the year.
 
He did argue the loudest against it.
 
But I had been so sure that he had a special eye for Becky.
 
Come to think of it though, he never did hang around with any of the green elf girls that I’d seen.

Tony did a sharp intake of breath and then sighed, but otherwise kept up his task.
 

I looked over at Gorm and he was carefully shredding a leaf, pulling fiber after fiber away to reveal the naked stem.
 
It was a little disturbing to watch, actually, especially since I had such a special connection with the trees.
 
It’s like he was messing with their body parts or something.
 
Ew.
 
I looked away to clear the images from my mind.

Finn caught my attention back when he stepped back away from Tony and dropped his hand.
 
“Did it work?” he asked.

“In a way, yes.”

“In what way?” I asked suspiciously.

“Well, I was able to make contact.”

“Okay,” I said, still a bit mystified, but happy he’d had some success.
 
“So what do we do now?”

“We wait.
 
Not long I think.
 
I felt a lot of enthusiasm.”
 
He smiled, but revealed nothing further.

“Tony, why does that look make the hair on my butt stand up?” I asked.

Tony laughed in spite of himself.
 
“You have hair on your butt?”

I shrugged.
 
“Little ones.
 
Fuzzy ones.”

“Dang girl, you ain’t gotta share everything, you know,” said Finn, shaking his head.

“Shut up, redneck.
 
Everyone has body hair.
 
Get over it.”

“Not on their butts they don’t,” he mumbled.

“Yeah,” I said, sassily, “they do!
 
Even your precious green elf girlfriends do.”

“I ain’t got no green elf girlfriends.”

I totally had to get him back for the butt hair comment, so I decided to go for the nads.
 
“Oh, that’s right.
 
You’re gay.
 
I forgot.”
 

“Dammit, Jayne, I ain’t ... !”

He never got the last word out.
 
His eyes got as big as saucers and he yelled, “Becky!”

I turned and saw our little water sprite buddy, coming through the trees, a big goofy smile on her too pale face.

I ran over, stride for stride with Finn, to get to Becky.
 
“Beckster!” I yelled, grabbing her into a hug, immediately finding myself being enveloped in a second-layer hug from Finn.
 
“Where in the hell have you been, you little shit?
 
We’ve been
so
worried.
 
I should smack you for doing that to us.”

Becky giggled.
 
“Please don’t.
 
I’m still a little out of sorts right now ...
ow, ow,
Finn, not so tight.”

Finn’s arms left us and I pulled back, looking at Becky’s face.
 
She had dark circles under her eyes and was pasty white in the face, but otherwise she looked like her normal too-happy self.

I started getting cranky, thinking she could have at least let us know she was okay instead of letting us worry.
 
I had felt so terrible thinking I had gotten her killed. “Seriously, where the hell have you been?”
 

“Oh my gosh, Jayne, what happened to your eyes?!
 
They’re .... they’re
beautiful!”

“Focus, Becky.
 
Crazy-eyes explanation later.
 
Where
you’ve
been explanation?
 
Now.”

She sighed.
 
“I have been in the Dark Fae compound.
 
Their clinic, actually.”

To say that Finn and I, and now Tony and Scrum who’d just joined us, were shocked, would be an understatement.
 
A big one.
 
I opened my mouth to say something, but before the words would come out, Becky held up her hand to stop me.

“I know what you’re going to say, Jayne – and gosh how I’ve missed your potty mouth, so I hate to stop you right now – but let me explain.”

I started sputtering.
 
“You’d better fucking explain or I’m afraid I’m gonna have to blast you myself.
 
How are you ... ?
 
What did you ... ?”
 
I was sputtering and that was so not like me, it made me feel weird.

“Okay, okay.
 
First, just take a breath.
 
Let’s go sit down.
 
I don’t have a lot of energy and I still have to go back.”

“Go back?” said Finn, his voice rising in anger.
 
“Go
back?
 
No way, huh-uh.
 
You ain’t goin’ back nowhere ‘cept with us, to the Light Fae compound!
 
None o’ this ‘I’m all Dark Fae’ shee-it with you.
 
No ma’am ... ain’t gonna happen.
 
We already lost a good daemon to that horse puckey.
 
I ain’t gonna lose you too.”

I was a little surprised at his vehemence, but I wasn’t worried.
 
There’s no way our happy, bright water sprite would go Dark on us.
 
She didn’t have it in her.
 
I was willing to hear her out, but no matter what, afterwards she was coming with us, even if I had to beg Scrum to throw her over his shoulder and march out of here with her, Neanderthal style.
 
I’d even go so far as to put a damn power bubble around her ass so she couldn’t teleport away.
 
I refused to consider that it wouldn’t work.
 
Maybe I’d try to mix a little magic into it like Céline suggested.
 
I had to laugh at myself over that.
 
As if I could manage complicated witch magic on top of what I was already juggling.