New World Order (War of the Fae: Book 4) (13 page)

“Don’t we know it,” I said, rolling my eyes.
 
She was useless in battle.
 
There was a reason there were never many sprite casualties in fights – they never stuck around during the hard parts.

“Shush.
 
There is a bigger problem out there, one that some of the Dark Fae have been warning the Light Fae about for years; but the Light Fae won’t listen. In fact, not all of the Dark Fae are listening either.
 
But you
should
, Jayne.
 
And Tony and Finn and Scrum.
 
All of you.
 
If we could all get together, we could challenge the Light Fae council and make them listen!”
 
She was practically foaming at the mouth she was so excited.
 
She looked like a rabid chipmunk, which made me start laughing in spite of the gravity of the situation.

“Stop laughing, Jayne, this is serious!”
 
She sounded like she was about to cry.

“Okay, fine,” I said, trying to hide my smile.
 
“Tell me what is so serious, other than what I already know.”

“We have huge problems, as I was trying to say a minute ago.
 
We have a much bigger threat hanging over our heads than you could even imagine.”

“What already?” said a frustrated Finn.
 
“
Shee-it
girl, quit with the suspense, would ya?
 
I’m practically fallin’ asleep over here waitin’ for you to finally spit it out.”

She frowned at him but continued.
 
“We are under threat from
others
.”

“She’s probably right, you know,” came the voice of Gorm behind us.
 
I’d completely forgotten he was here with us.
 
He was still sitting under the tree, a pile of shredded leaves around him and in his lap.

“She’s right about what, boogieman?” I asked.

“She’s right there’s a threat out there.
 
And from what you all have said, it sounds like it’s coming.”

“What kind of threat?
 
From whom?” asked Tony, all seriousness.
 
I knew his war planner game-face when I saw it.

“From the creatures.
 
The creatures of the Underworld.”

I thought about what Gorm had said for a second, about the creatures from the Underworld coming here, and asked, “What creatures?
 
Like the orcs we were talking about?”

“Yes, like orcs.
 
And probably others.
 
Many others.
 
If the orcs have found a way to get here, no reason to think the others won’t follow.”

I looked at Tony and he stared back at me.
 
I shrugged my shoulders, disregarding Gorm’s ominous tone.
 
I’d seen orcs and so had all my friends, except Scrum.
 
Sure, they were a pain in the ass and disgusting in general, but other than that, I didn’t think much about them.
 
There were way more of us than them, so I’d never considered orcs a threat.
 
Dwarves probably did, since they were so easily put on a spit and turned over an orc bar-b-que pit, but not me.
 
I had Blackie, my trusty dragon fang weapon, and the orcs hated it.

“I don’t see what the big deal is.
 
We’ve run into orcs several times.”

Gorm shook his head.
 
“Well, that’s the problem.
 
You should definitely not be seeing orcs
ever
in this realm.
 
The fact that they’re here should tell you something is very wrong.”

Tony shook his head as if trying to clear it.
 
“Wait a minute.
 
You mean, the orcs are here from the
Underworld?
 
And the Light Fae supposedly don’t know about it?
 
That’s not right ... ” He reached up and scratched his head before continuing, “No, they know.
 
They battled the orcs we ... or I should say,
Jayne
, released from the trees when we first came here during our changeling test.
 
I don’t remember it actually, since I was erased afterwards, but I’ve been told the story by several fae.
 
They knew the orcs were there then, and yet they’ve done nothing from a strategic planning perspective to deal with it.
 
I’m sure they feel the threat has been neutralized.”
 

“Well, it hasn’t,” said Becky, all pumped up now that she had an active listener.
 
“There are more.
 
And they will be joined soon by other creatures ... from there.”

“Says who?” I asked, ready to call her bluff.

“Says those who walk the Gray.
 
And Chase.”

“Ha!
 
Now I know they’re feeding you a line of bullshit.”
 
I smacked Tony on the arm with the back of my hand.
 
“Tell her, Tones.
 
You walk the Gray all the time.
 
You would know if there was something going on.
 
Go ahead, tell her.”

I sat there smugly staring at Becky, waiting to hear the reassuring words of my friend telling her that she was being bamboozled by the Dark Fae who were still busy trying to recruit my friends.

“Well.
 
Um ... ”

“Tony, what’s wrong?” said Scrum, walking over and bending down to look in his face.

I jerked my head back in Tony’s direction and saw that he looked confused.
 
“Tony, what the hell is wrong with you?
 
Tell her there’s no threat.
 
Tell her the only scary things in this forest are the buggane, the Dark Fae, and Scrum’s hair.”
 
I winked at Scrum when he looked at me with questions in his eyes.
 
I didn’t have time right now to talk to him about his gnome-head problem, but promised myself I would later.
 
Poor kid was out in the weeds.

“I’m sorry,” Tony said, shaking his head and lifting his eyes off the ground to look at all of us in turn, “I was just thinking about some things I saw when I was in the Gray recently.
 
At the time they didn’t make a lot of sense, but now that Becky mentions this, it ... well, it kinda does.”

I dropped my face into my hands.
 
“Oh, for the love of all that is holy,
Tony
.”
 
I lifted my head up and stared at him with my mean face.
 
“Would you
please
, tell me what’s going
on?!”

“Yeah, I’m with Jayne on this one,” said Finn.
 
“Ya’ll are just bein’ a bit too evasive for my likin’.” He stood up, brushing the leaves off his butt.
 
“Tony, we got things to do here and we ain’t gettin’ any of ‘em done.
 
Tell us what there is to know and then let’s go get Chase.
 
If Becky’s still got some healin’ to do, well, I think she could do that at our clinic, but o’ course that’s her choice.”
 
He looked at her and I noticed the pain in his eyes.
 

I had been wondering for a while, but this look confirmed for me that the poor guy really liked her.
 

Becky didn’t say anything in response and she didn’t meet Finn’s eyes.
 

Things were not looking good there.
 
I hoped like hell she wasn’t going to break his heart like I was starting to think Chase had begun to break mine.
 
Her story made me doubt my staunch resolve that he’d joined the Dark Fae under coercion.
 
Damn the Dark Fae to the Underworld!

“Sorry, guys, I’m just trying to process it all,” said Tony.
 
“What made me think there might be some truth to her words, is that I’ve noticed a lot of disturbances in the Gray.
 
Normally it’s a pretty calm place – sure there are some dark forces in there and some unhappy souls, but for the most part, they all kind of exist in harmony.
 
But lately, not so much.
 
I feel an energy there that just doesn’t belong; and it’s definitely not a good energy.
 
It’s been growing steadily.
 
The gray elves don’t seem to sense it – I don’t think they have the same experiences in the Gray that I do.
 
They kind of skim the surface of it, whereas I go in very deeply sometimes.”
 
He looked at all of us and saw that we were mostly lost.
 
“I’m sorry, I’m not explaining this well.
 
It’s difficult if you haven’t been there.”

I patted his arm.
 
“Don’t worry about it, Baloney.
 
If you say something’s up, something’s up.
 
It’s that simple.”
 
I sighed loudly, clearing my mind as I did.
 
“So ... BFF of my heart ... do you think that what Becky is saying could have some truth to it?
 
That maybe some mean-ass creatures are going to come and invade the Green Forest through the Gray and attack us?”

He shrugged.
 
“I guess there’s a chance.
 
I’d like to speak to the gray elves and Dardennes about it.
 
That’ll be the first thing I do as soon as we get back.”

I looked at Scrum and Finn, and both of them were nodding their heads in assent.
 

“What do you think, Tim?!” I yelled out into the forest.

I was rewarded with the sound of buzzing wings and then a vision of the handsomest pixie I know doing a flip in midair in front of my face.
 
He steadied himself, hovering just inches from my face, and said, “I think it’s time to take a vacation!
 
Fiji anyone?!”
 
And then he buzzed away.

“What’d he say?” asked Finn.

I rolled my eyes.
 
“Nothing useful.”
 
I turned my attention back to Becky.
 
“Okay, so what’s the deal?
 
Are you coming back with us, or are you a turncoat?
 
An abandoner?
 
A traitor to the cause?”

Becky laughed and reached over to hug me.
 
“I love you, Jayne.
 
Do you have any idea how much I’ve missed you?”

I sat there patting her on her little back.
 
“It’s not like you’ve been gone forever.
 
It’s only been like a day or two, geez.”

She let me go and sat back, saying, “Well, it feels a lot longer than that.”
 
She looked cautiously up at Finn who was standing next to us, but he didn’t return her gaze.
 
He was staring off into the distance, his mind elsewhere, or so it seemed.

“I’m going to stay here a little while longer, but then after I’m better, maybe in a few days, I’ll come back.”

I noticed Finn’s hand that had been white-knuckling his bow relax a little, and the frown between his eyebrows melted away.

“I don’t know about Chase, though.
 
He’s ... still in the process of working out his issues.”

I grabbed her hand.
 
“Tell me,” I begged.
 
“Tell me what’s going on with him.”

She smiled and patted my hand, apparently trying to soothe me.
 
“He’s getting better.
 
Much better.
 
He’s not all delirious anymore.
 
He just smiles a lot more than normal and occasionally laughs.
 
He has to take injections every day though.
 
They had to use ... uh ... pixie blood to make his antidote, so ... ”

She had a totally guilty look on her face, which set the alarm bells off in my head.
 
I squeezed her hand a little harder.
 
“Beckyyyy ... ?”
 
The pixie blood thing wasn’t news to me, which she obviously knew, so I had a hunch there was something else going on.

I could sense her trying to pull away from me, the way her eyes had gotten a faraway look in them all of a sudden.
 
She tried to stand up as if she was leaving, but I pulled her back down.
 
It was time to get tough.
 
“I’m giving you two seconds to come clean before I put you in a permanent bubble.”

“You wouldn’t,” she insisted.

“I would.
 
And I’ll probably be stuck in there with you, too, since I suck at it.
 
So if you don’t want to be stuck with me in a green bubble for the rest of your very long fae life, you’ll fess up.
 
I know you’re hiding secrets; and if they involve Chase, I have a right to know what they are.”

Becky tilted her head.
 
“How so?”

I smacked her on the shoulder.

“Ow!
 
What was that for?” she said, reaching up to rub her arm, frowning at me with as much anger as she was capable of – which wasn’t much.