New World Order (War of the Fae: Book 4) (42 page)

“Holy shit, Beck, a little warning next time!
 
Geez!”

She smiled, nearly bouncing with happiness, “Oopsy!
 
Sorry!
 
I’m just so excited, I had to come right away.
 
The loyalty test was no biggie and only took, like, two seconds.
 
I went and saw Naida and she was so happy to see me, she actually
smiled
.
 
Can you believe it?”

I shook my head.
 
“No.
 
I can’t actually.
 
I think you imagined it.”

“No, seriously.
 
She did.
 
I even saw her teeth.”
 
Becky moved to go sit next to Finn, causing him to smile and redden a little, making his freckles stand out in relief.

I grimaced at the idea of Naida’s teeth.
 
I didn’t want any details.
 
My made-up visions of what I thought they’d look like were enough for nightmares.
 
“Tony was just going to give us a primer on the Gray.”

Everyone turned to look at Tony, and I could see him trying not to squirm under the attention.

“Okay, well, I guess I should say first that it’s kind of a lot like here.
 
Most of the stuff there is like a carbon copy or something.
 
But the people or fae are missing, at least the living ones are, and there are some other things there instead.”

“Other
things?
 
Like what kind of things?” asked Scrum.

“Spirits.
 
Fae that can travel there like me or like the gray elves – although they do it differently than I do sometimes.
 
Those kinds of things.”

“You mean, like, ghosts?” asked Becky in a hushed voice.

“I guess you could call them that.
 
Everyone who dies spends a little time there – it’s kind of the space between realms.
 
But if you’re lucky, you’re only there for a little while.”

“Why only if you’re lucky?” I asked.
 
I thought about my mom being in there, and was so glad Tony had been there to watch out for her.
 
The idea of my mom hanging out with ghosts didn’t sit well with me.

“I’m not sure why it happens, but some of the spirits in there have been there for a while.
 
They went in and then didn’t move on.
 
Most of them are not what you’d call happy.
 
They sometimes ... uh ... try to get others to stay with them.”

“Oh, dang, unhappy ghosts.
 
Gives me the willies,” said Finn, shivering visibly for effect.

“I’m not really explaining this right.
 
It’s not that they’re unhappy.
 
It’s that they’re lost.
 
Dissatisfied.
 
Lonely.
 
Unlinked to anything.
 
It’s very sad, really.
 
Sometimes I go and try to help them, if I have time.”

“Does it work?” asked Scrum, reverently, “Are you like, a spirit guide or something?”

Tony shrugged.
 
“Sometimes it works – I see them heading off somewhere with a purpose, as if they know what to do finally – other times it doesn’t.
 
They’re stuck in their rut and it’s what they do.
 
Haunt the Gray, I guess you could say.
 
That’s why the place has kind of a negative feel to it.
 
But it doesn’t bother me.”
 
He looked at me and I kind of knew what he was saying, even though he didn’t come right out and say it.

“So are you
in there
, in there, or just kind of like a ghost there too?” asked Scrum.

“Well, it depends.
 
Sometimes I go fully in, like as myself.
 
And other times I go in through astral projection – sending my spirit in, basically, but leaving my corporal body here in this realm.”

“That’s different than the gray elves,” I said, remembering when Gregale, one of the gray elves, had taken me to visit Tony when he was still living in Florida.

“Yeah.
 
They can only go in with astral projection.
 
They can’t go in fully, like me.”

Before I’d met Tony, I was kind of in my own Gray.
 
I didn’t have much of a purpose, other than being angry.
 
I didn’t know where I was going or what I was supposed to be doing.
 
I was unhappy and feeling unloved.
 
But his friendship changed that.
 
I guess in a way, he was my spirit guide.

He smiled at me, vibing my thoughts so I didn’t have to say them out loud.
 
But I did anyway, because I wanted everyone to know how awesome he is.

“Tony was my spirit guide.
 
He’s the reason I’m here.”

Finn looked at us and nodded.
 
“Ya’ll have a special bond.
 
Everyone can see it.”

“I kinda feel that way with all of you guys,” said Becky, shyly.
 
“That’s why I didn’t stay over there with the Dark Fae – even though there are some super nice ones there.
 
I’m totally serious, guys.
 
There are.
 
They’re not bad guys like you all think.”

“Ben is,” I said, with absolute conviction.
 
Nothing she said would change my mind about that.

“No, Jayne, he really, really isn’t.
 
I got to know him a lot, and he’s a super nice guy.
 
I can see why Tony and he were friends.
 
They’re a lot alike.”

My mouth dropped open.
 
“Are you sure they didn’t put some weird juju on you, Becky, because I swear I just heard you say Ben is like Tony – and in my world, them’s fightin’ words.”

Becky smiled.
 
“You can’t catch me, Jayne, so don’t even try.
 
And I’m serious.
 
Ben is nice, helpful, always ready to offer advice if you want it.
 
He really cares about the fae.
 
He’s dedicated to our entire species.”

I snorted.
 
“Pfft.
 
Whatever.
 
He has an agenda and he roped you into it.
 
I know what I know.”

“You know what you
think
you know.
 
There’s a difference,” she said, refusing to give in.

“Becky.
 
Do you want to stay in this room or do you want to get kicked out?”

“Stay.
 
But with my
own
opinions.”

Tony raised his eyebrow at her and then looked at me, waiting to see what I’d do.
 
I almost hated that he didn’t jump in and handle it for me.
 
Becky was pushing me into a corner and it wasn’t like her.
 
It made me mad, which was too weird, because being mad at Becky was like being mad at Bambi or something.

“Fine.
 
Have your own stupid opinion.
 
Just don’t go preaching the Ben’s awesome sermon at me, ‘cuz I’m not buying.”

She shrugged.
 
“Okay.
 
Fine.
 
But you’ll see.
 
Eventually.”

I narrowed my eyes at her, but let it drop.
 
It didn’t matter anyway.
 
I was staying as far away from Ben as possible.
 
As far as I was concerned, our elements just didn’t mix well.

I looked over at Scrum who was busy rubbing his short hair over and over, as if petting a dog, and it reminded me of Gorm.

“Hey, Scrum, what happened to Gorm?
 
Did he escape?”

Scrum dropped his hand into his lap.
 
“No, not exactly.
 
He said his debt was paid.
 
He wanted to go report back to Chase and get released so he could go back to his cave.
 
Without you here, he didn’t see any point in staying.”

“So you just let a fae-eating monster wander off into the forest?”

Scrum squirmed a little, “Well, no, actually I escorted him over to the clinic where a witch mixed up a potion for him to drink, I took him to that spot where you had taken Chase before, and then I made him drink it.
 
Then I got the heck out of there before he woke up.”

“What was the potion for?” asked Tony.

“To erase his memory of his time here.”

“Including the part where he liked us and agreed not to eat us?” I asked, a little annoyed.

“Um ... maybe?”
 
Scrum started petting his head again, at a furious pace.

I rolled my eyes.
 
“Great.
 
Okay, so if any of you see the Chase-monster or any buggane in the forest, run like hell.”

“What does a buggane look like, anyway?
 
The only one I ever saw looked a lot like Chase,” said Finn.

We all looked at each other, puzzled expressions on our faces.
 

“Okay, that was helpful,” I said sarcastically.
 
“Tony, you really need to get a training manual together – with pictures.
 
Color ones.”

He smiled.
 
“I’ll get right on that.”

“I’m not kidding.”

“She’s right,” said Finn.
 
“We need, like, a fae encyclopedia so we ain’t so clueless all the time.
 
I swear, half the accidents we have are preventable.”

“You’re preaching to the choir, Finn,” I said.

“I’d buy the book,” said Scrum.
 
“I’m going on instinct most of the time, and that’s okay for protecting different fae, but for the rest of the stuff, like just living here, it would be really helpful.”

“Well, I promise to meet with the gray elves about it – but I know it’s not their priority right now.”

“Speaking of meetings,” I said, “what do you guys think about this meeting thing with the Dark Fae?
 
Do you have anything you want me to bring up when I’m there?”

“I’m glad you asked, Jayne,” said Tony.
 
“What I’d like to know is, what exactly is this threat?
 
Does anyone know what form it will take?
 
When it will come?
 
What resources we could use against it ... ?”

I held up my hand to stop him.
 
“Tony.
 
This is exactly why I think it should be you wearing that cloak instead of me.”
 
I glanced at the shimmering turquoise cloth hanging on a hook on the back of my door where my towel usually hangs.
 
“I have no idea what everyone needs to know or even what to say when I’m with those guys.”

“Just follow your instincts,” suggested Tim.
 
“If nothing else, they provide excellent comic relief.”

“Thanks, Tim.
 
Very helpful.”

“I aim to please!”

“What’d he say?” asked Becky.

“He said he wishes he was as intelligent as I am, but that he knows he’ll always have to live with the fact that along with his wee ass, he only has a wee brain.”

Becky smiled first at my answer and then at Tim’s obvious annoyance as he flew around the room gesticulating at me.
 

I ignored him and listened to Tony instead.

“No, you are the perfect choice for the honor.
 
If you don’t think to ask those questions, don’t worry about it.
 
The gray elves are always brought into the loop immediately.
 
If you all decide that we need to cooperate with the Dark Fae, then I’ll be working with their gray elves too.
 
Together, I know we can work it out.”

I shook my head.
 
“You’re a lot more positive about this ‘working in cooperation’ thing than I am.”

Becky jumped in.
 
“Jayne, now, I know you don’t like Ben.
 
And I know they tortured you over there ... so don’t go getting all p.o.ed at me, but I have to tell you that I met some super nice Dark Fae.
 
They weren’t bad guys at all.
 
I told them about what happened to you there and they told me they were against it.
 
Everyone was, except for Maléna and that guy Leck, of course.”
 
She leaned in and whispered the rest.
 
“They’re kind of, like, loonies, if you know what I mean.”

“So they let loonies run the show.
 
Perfect.”

“No, not really.
 
They’re kind of off on the side of things.
 
Maléna is on the council, but she doesn’t really get along with the others very much.
 
Leck is her buddy.
 
I think what happened to you was not sanctioned by the council.”

“Well, Ben was there.
 
He knew what was going on.”