New World Order (War of the Fae: Book 4) (8 page)

Céline frowned.
 
“Your little bird is going to get himself into trouble one of these days.”

“I believe
that
bird has already flown the coop, actually, but that’s not the point.
 
The point is, I saw this buggane, whose name I almost said, thank you very much, and he had some interesting things to say.”

Céline’s eyes nearly popped out of her head at that one.

“ ... Yeah, Céline, you might want to tape a sign to the door next time?
 
One that says something like: ‘Warning!
 
Don’t say this buggane’s real name, or he’ll eat your face off.’
 
That information might have been nice to know before I went in there.”

“You went
in?
 
To
see
the buggane?”
 
She was staring at me with her mouth still open, an incredulous look on her face.

“Well, technically no, since I was blind at the time.
 
I couldn’t see shit, but I could sure hear it.”
 
An involuntary shudder went through my body as I recalled his Chase-like voice and otherworldly howls.

Céline choked on her own saliva.
 
“You ... gaahhh ... went into the buggane’s cell when you were
blind?
 
Are you
mad?”

“Mad?
 
Mad at who?
 
You?
 
A little, I guess.”

“No, I mean mad as in crazy.
 
Mentally deficient.
 
Nuts, as you changelings say.”

“I told her it was a bad idea,” piped up Scrum, finally weighing in.
 

I turned and scowled at him before continuing, “Oh, I get it.
 
No, I’m not mad or mental.
 
I’m a changeling who keeps screwing up and wanting answers.
 
A changeling who’s losing friends left and right and wants to know how to stop it.
 
The buggane had some answers for me, so I’m glad I went.
 
But he made more questions come up.
 
So here I am, talking to you now, getting answers to those questions.”
 
I threw my hands up in frustration. “It’s like it never ends around here – mysteries, questions, secrets ... ”

Céline looked down at the ground, unable to respond.

“Listen.
 
It doesn’t help any of us fae to keep secrets from each other; don’t you get it?
 
I almost had my head bitten off, literally, by the boogie monster you have locked in that room.
 
I nearly blinded myself with my own powers yesterday.
 
All of this is preventable shit.
 
When are you going to let me into your inner sanctum of knowledge?!”
 
My voice had steadily increased until I was nearly yelling.
 
That’s why I was completely taken off guard when Céline started laughing.

“What?” I asked suspiciously.
 
“What’s so funny?”

Céline fanned her glowing face, a smile plastered across it.
 
“Nothing, nothing.
 
Just your choice of words – inner sanctum of knowledge.
 
Oh, how I wish we had one of those.”

“What?
 
You’re all as clueless as me?
 
I find that hard to believe.”

“No, not that.
 
And for the record, you aren’t as clueless as you think you are.
 
You just don’t trust your instincts enough
and
you don’t give yourself enough credit.
 
If you had the confidence you should have, based on who and what you are, you would be able to muddle out most of the answers you need.
 
All of the ingredients are around you and available to you.
 
Mix them together and the answers will appear.”

“You sound like a witch making a brew.”

Tim said brightly, “Well, you do kinda look like Maggie the witch when you first wake up!”

I reached back to try and grab him but he swung out of the way on my ponytail.

Céline shrugged.
 
“You may do better using a little magic, but I believe you are capable even without.”

“Well, I can’t use magic, so I guess I’m going to have to take the long way around.”

“Don’t be silly.
 
You are an elemental.
 
You are
of
the magic. The magic flows through you.”
 

I eyed her suspiciously.
 
“It sounds like you’re telling me I can do witch spells.”

She smiled.
 
“We have been telling you since the beginning – you are capable of great, great things.
 
It is becoming clearer to us every day that you are our Mother.
 
But we don’t expect you to learn everything in a month, a year, or even a decade.
 
Trust me, it’s a lot to learn.
 
Even the oldest among us doesn’t know all that you are capable of ... you’re a delightful mystery with many powers that all of us on the council look forward to discovering right along with you.”
 
She smiled comfortingly at me.

“Not that old witch dude.
 
He doesn’t like me at all.”

“Who Red?
 
He’s not so bad.
 
You just need to get to know him better.
 
You’ll see.
 
He’s a bit like Niles.
 
Gruff on the outside, all soft on the inside.”

“Ha!
 
Right!”
 
I shook my head.
 
“So about this buggane ... ”

“Yes.
 
About the buggane.”
 
She got serious again.

“He told me that he served with Chase, up in the
Overworld
.
 
Is there any chance he could be confused about that?”

“I do not know the ways of the buggane.
 
They are indeed tricky creatures.
 
But I don’t believe he could lie to you.
 
We were able to determine that he was, in fact, assigned to your protection by Chase or someone caring for Chase.”

I added it up as best I could.
 
“Okay, so what you’re saying then, is if the buggane said it to me, it must be true?”

“True as far as the buggane knows.
 
They are merely low-fae, so you must take that into consideration.”

“Low-fae.
 
Ick!
 
Gack!”
said a disgusted Tim.

I ignored him.
 
“Low-fae?
 
What’s that?
 
I’ve heard it before.”

“They are fae who don’t mix with the general fae population.
 
They shun the company of other fae, except when they prey on them.
 
We call them low-fae.”

Tim added, “I call them the lower-than-low-fae.
 
Fae eaters, all of ‘em.”

His reaction seemed overly strong, even though they were technically cannibals I guess.
 
“Seems kinda discriminatory to me.”

She shrugged.
 
“The term is an old one.
 
They don’t seem to mind it.”

We had reached the door leading to the compound.
 
Céline opened it and stepped inside, waiting for us just by the entrance.
 
“Did I answer all of your questions?”

I rolled my eyes and tried not to notice her flinch at it.
 
“I guess.
 
Maybe.
 
Then again, you created about twenty new ones, so if I do the math, the answer is a definite no, since I’m walking away with more questions than I came with.”

Céline’s laughter at my frustration practically twinkled it was so sparkly.
 
“You are a joy to be around, Jayne, I hope you know that.”

I looked at her face to see if she was messing with me, but it appeared as if she were being sincere.
 
I shook my head in pity.
 
“I think you’ve rode the wind a few too many miles, Céline.”

She reached out and rubbed my back as we walked down the hall.
 
“You were only human for seventeen years.
 
Perhaps after a few more years as fae you will begin to see in yourself what we see in you.”

I smiled reluctantly, wondering how it was that this mysterious silver elf could possibly appreciate me more than my own mother.
 
“Well, I’m going to see what I can do to earn your praise, anyway.
 
I can’t promise I’m going to succeed though.
 
I don’t want anyone getting their hopes up about this whole Mother thing.”

Céline shook her head.
 
“It’s not about hopes.
 
I am who I am.
 
You are who you are.
 
The nosy pixie riding behind your hair is who he is.”
 
She reached the door to Dardennes’ office and opened it, pausing in the entrance.
 
“We do not desire to change anything.
 
Everything is exactly as it should be, as imperfect as it sometimes seems.”

“Okay, silver elf, if you say so.”
 

“I do.
 
Now go have some lunch.
 
I will see you later.”

“Okay.
 
Later, then.”
 
I walked away from the doorway, headed to the lunchroom, thinking about what she said.

“I’m totally busted,” said Tim, his voice muffled in my hair.

“Yeah.
 
But you’re perfect the way you are, nosy parker.”

“I know.
 
Doesn’t take a genius silver elf to know that, though.”

I smiled.
 
“High-one, pixieman, high-one.”
 
I held up my finger near my shoulder so he’d come out and slap his hand on it.
 

He obliged me and then burped.
 
“Are we there yet?
 
I’m hungry.”

I sighed and shook my head as I reached for the door, pulling it open.
 

I was completely unprepared for the sounds and visions of chaos that reached my ears and eyes.

Fae were standing in huddled groups, yelling intermittently, and holding out utensils and plates in front of them like weapons and shields.
 
Food was all over the floor and tables as if there had been a massive food fight – or as if people had been in the middle of eating lunch and suddenly decided to use their fully-loaded-with-food plates as armor.

My eyes were drawn to the place that all of them faced, seeing for the first time the object of their fear.

The buggane had gotten loose, and he was standing in our lunchroom.

“Gor... ,” I started to yell, before I caught myself and started over.
 
“Chase!
 
What are you doing?”
 
Now I was finally able see what a Chase, slash, buggane monster looked like – and it was nuts.
 
Yes, he looked like Chase.
 
But then again, he didn’t.
 
He was too lumpy and too shiny – and there were hairy parts where there shouldn’t be hairy parts.
 
It was kinda gross actually.
 
I think I might have seen some drool drop out of his mouth too.
 
Ugh
.

“Jayne!” it roared back at me.
 
“I found you!
 
Finally!”
 
It started to move towards me and Scrum shoved me to the side, standing between it and me.

“Stop right there, buggane!” he yelled, his hand out, palm up.

“Scrum,” I said, putting my hand on his shoulder, “just give me a minute.”

Scrum didn’t even look back at me.
 
“No way, Jayne.
 
My daedar is screaming warning bells at me.
 
This thing isn’t getting anywhere near you.”

The buggane fixed Scrum with a malevolent glare.
 
A glob of drool fell out of its mouth and made a splatting sound as it hit the stone floor.
 
My stomach turned over at the noise, and I tried like hell not to look at it, but my curious brain wouldn’t le me.
 
Oh, shit.
 
Buggane drool.
 
I could have lived a thousand years without ever seeing that and been perfectly happy.
 

The entire dining hall was quiet, everyone breathlessly waiting for events to roll out.
 
I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye and noticed Finn, slowly notching an arrow in his bow.

“Finn, wait!” I yelled, turning away from him quickly because I didn’t want the monster to know who Finn was or what he was doing.
 
I tried to distract the buggane by talking directly to him.
 
“So, Chase, ummm, what are you doing here?
 
In the lunchroom, I mean.
 
Do you want some food?
 
We have some nice squiggly meats over there you might like.”