The Evanescence (Fallen Soul Series) (23 page)

Tiny motions for us to follow him, still signaling to keep quiet with his finger placed to his lips, which is contradicting seeing as how every step he takes makes the ground rumble and shake.

Tiny makes his way out into the sunlight while Aislin and I follow quietly behind him as he ducks into the trees, knocking a few over from the roots. Aislin and I rush to keep up with him as he stomps through the trees, going further into the forest until he reaches a clearing.

I slam to a halt and Aislin crashes into the back of me. “What the heck…” She scans the land in front of us, the tall grass, the leaves blowing in the wind, and the hundreds and hundreds of Fey, kneeling in the dirt with their heads tipped forward.

Tiny bows his head at me, before joining them, setting his spear down so he can kneel to the ground.

“What is going on?” Aislin whispers from behind me.

“I have no idea…” I trail off as Tiny lifts his head up and looks directly at me, pulling a long saber from his belt and lifting it towards the air.

“All hail, Gemma, Empress of the Faerie Realm,” he says with his sword raised, and it’s echoed by claps and hollers.

I think back to my vision and how similar the scene is, except for the fact that I’m not wearing a dress and Aislin wasn’t standing next to me.

“Gemma.” Aislin nudges me from behind. “Do something!”

I gape at her. “Like what?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know, like give a speech or something?”

I look down at my neck, at the outline of the Cornu Lepore hidden beneath my shirt. I didn’t do anything. I didn’t even show them it, yet, somehow, I’ve become their ruler. The ruler of the Fey? The
Fey
.

They all keep bowing and it’s starting to make me feel uncomfortable. It’s like they’re waiting for me to say or do something, like give a speech. But about what? How insane is this is? I look at Tiny and he cracks his eyelids open and gives me an encouraging nod.

“I think they want you to say something.” Aislin tells me, prodding me in the back, urging me to step forward.

My jaw hangs to my knees as I stare at her, baffled. “What the hell do I say? Hey, thanks for bowing?” I shake my head and huff a breath in frustration. “I don’t even get what’s going on.”

She shrugs. “I don’t know, but it’s good, though. It’ll get us out of here.”

I turn around to the Faeries scattered across the land as Aislin gently shoves me forward. Tripping over my feet, I catch myself, and stand up straight, feeling idiotic as I cover my mouth and clear my throat.  “Well, this is quite a surprise,” I say in a nervous voice and Aislin snorts a laugh. I glare at her from over my shoulder and she shrugs, stifling more laughter. As irritated as I am, it’s nice to see her smile again, even if it’s at my expense. “And I guess… I guess I’m honored to be your Empress.” I glance around at them all. “Even if it’s because of this.” I take the pendant out of my shirt and move it to the outside.

Giggles, gasps, and whispering spread amongst the Fey and I notice that in between them are Sprites; they’re the ones making all the noise. I wonder if, because I’m Empress, I have the power to make them shut up.

Tiny rises to his feet with his sword pointed upward to the sky “May I speak with you, Empress?”

“Um... sure… and you can call me Gemma.”

Laying his spear on the ground, he weaves around the Fey, flattening the grass with his large feet as he makes a path to me. Tiny glances at another guard as he passes him. He stands up, and together, they make their way towards me.

When they reach me, their large, lofty bodies block out the sunlight and the temperature descends in the shadows.

“My name is Wilhelm,” the guard introduces himself, with a solemn bow of his head.  “I’m one of the Protectors of the Fey.”

I extend my hand out for him to shake. “It’s nice to meet you.”

He hesitates and then reaches out, covering my hand with his, giving it a rough shake. “So, it’s true… you do have the Cornu Lepore?” He eyes the necklace with his fiery red eyes.

I nod, glancing down at the necklace. “I do…” I glance at Tiny. “You saw it, didn’t you?”

He nods. “When we were taking your friend away.”

I suck in a breath, wondering what it means. Wondering if Luna knows. Wondering if I care.

 “That gives you the right to become our leader—our Empress.” He steps to the side so the crowd can see me. The sunlight hits the pendant and reflects across the grass, the trees, the Feys’ faces. “Our ruler.”

“I don’t understand, though,” I tell him as I trace my finger across the red teardrop. “I thought this pendant gave me the ability to control your world, but it had to be seen first… but only you saw it… how does it even work? I’d think you guys wouldn’t be so happy about it.” I wait for him to respond, holding my breath.

“There’s a large amount of Fey that are growing tired of Luna and her antics,” he explains. “Luna wants a war. She wants to control the Fey—our world—however she wants. Things used to be different, you know. We used to have freedom, make choices together, but now it’s what she wants.” He waves his arm at the Fey and, pushing up from their knees, they rise to their feet; some holding spears, some with their wings expanded, some even have Sprites on their shoulders. “We want a change. We want out freedom back. Once I told them about you and the Cornu Lepore, we saw the opportunity to change our lives—make things better. With your help, of course. You can become our Empress and give us our freedom so we no longer have to be slaves to Luna, getting punished,” he winces, “whenever we don’t go along with her.”

I’m not sure what to say. All I ever wanted was an easy ticket out of here. I think back to my vision and how I walked to the throne like I belonged there. Is that what it meant? Do I belong here? The idea is ludicrous, yet deep down, I feel a burn in my heart and a need to help them.

His eyes are full of expectation. “We need your help.”

I glance around at the trees. “Where’s Luna now?”

“She’s up in your world with her followers,” he replies with a frown. “Doing damage, wreaking havoc, I’m sure.” He steps forward and the sunlight leaves me. “But if you’re our ruler… you can stop her.”

I don’t know what to do. I want to help them. They all look so sad. However, I have my own problems, so I do something I’m sure I’ll probably feel very bad for later. I lie. “I’ll help you,” I say and he starts to smile so I hurry and add, “but I have to go back to my world first. I have… I have some friends that are in danger and I need to help them first.” I swallow hard, thinking of Alex. “But if you let me go, I promise, I’ll come back as soon as I can.” When I say it, I realize I’m lying. Well, maybe. Honestly, I don’t know what I mean—what I want to do. Actually I do. I want to go back to school, learn, live, love, breathe. Be free.

He bows his head and takes a long backwards stride. “I know what you say is the truth, Gemma. I can see it in your eyes.”

I try not to furrow my brows because even I don’t know if I’m being truthful. “So I can go?”

“You’re free to go anytime you wish. That’s the power you have now,” he says. “And if you are ever in need, I’ll be there to help you. It’s my job now. We’re your loyal followers.” Then, his head whips up and he stares out at the sky, shouting, “Long live, Empress Gemma!”

The crowd joins in, shouting, laughing, hugging, and throwing things. I feel bad, yet, I don’t. I turn towards Aislin, ready to get out of this place before more stuff happens and I end up turning into a Sprite or something.

“Ready?” I ask, trying not to sound too eager.

She smiles and then winks at me with a cheery look on her face. “Yes,
Empress
.”

I shake my head, suppressing a smile. Then, shutting my eyes, I picture the grey stone castle, its peaking towers, the green grass, the sand beside the rippling lake. I let out a sigh of relief as I feel us being pulled away, whisked back to my world. However, a part of me feels guilty for leaving them. Even though the Fey have never been my favorite creatures, they still don’t deserve to suffer and I wonder if maybe I’ll end up going back and helping them.

As I land on the ground, I shake the thought from my head, relieved to be back in the real world again.

It’s dark, murky, the air smells pungent, but that could be from the mummified corpses surrounding me. Water drips from the stone ceiling and rivers down the walls. I scrape my knife across the rocks as I watch the Lost Souls cower, terrified out of their rotting minds. The fear flowing off them invigorates me, but, for a brief second, it feels wrong.

“See? It’s not so bad,” Draven says, walking the length of the room with a massive grin on his face. The Banshee watches us from the corner of the room, perched on a rock, occasionally joining us.

I nod, cutting a piece off the stone wall. I watch the fragment fall to the ground, already forgetting what I was thinking about. “It’s not too bad.”

We’re in the basement of his place. Apparently, he’s been working on his army for quite some time because he’s already got a whole stash of Lost Souls on hand. He brought me down here to train me and to add Stasha’s body—soul—to the collection.

He carries a long, black whip, laced with silver, as he struts around the room, carrying confidence, even though decaying bodies surround him.

“What you must always understand, Alex, is that strong discipline is the key to their behavior. You give them a chance to disobey,” he cracks his whip as one of them shifts towards him, “they will have no respect for you.”

The willful soul returns to its corner, hunkering back down with the others. Draven rolls up his whip and connects it to his hip. He turns in my direction and gestures for me to follow him as he opens the door. “We can continue this later. There are things we need to discuss.”

Folding my knife, I put it back inside my pocket and give one last look at the tortured souls before I exit the room. Draven waits for me just outside the door and, when I am standing next to him, he removes a long key from his pocket and locks the door behind us, tucking the key back inside his pocket.

He departs towards the wooden staircase that leads to the main floor and I follow behind him. The staircase is old and slightly sways under the pressure of our weight as we make our way up it.

Draven opens the door at the top of the stairs and the light from the hallway greets our eyes, causing me to blink. I follow him down the long hall towards his office. He ushers me to take a seat as he strolls over to the desk and takes a seat in his large leather chair.

“I have no doubt that you will be able to handle the Lost Souls, Alex. You are more than capable. We need to recruit more individuals so my—or should I say, our—army will be strong enough to overtake Helena.” He watches me, wanting a response.

“That shouldn’t be a problem. There are plenty of people walking down the nearby streets every day. We should be able to capture as many as we need—no one would even notice.” Leaning back in my chair I stretch my arms behind me and lean my head back on them.

“Unfortunately, it is not that simple.” He opens a drawer on his desk and takes out a thick book. I recognize it as the book he was reading once before—when he first brought Stasha into the room.

Flipping open the book, he searches for a page. When he finds what he is looking for he shoves the book across the desk towards me. “I want you to read the section on that page. It will explain in detail why your suggestion will not be a success for us.”