The Witch and the Wolf: Part Three (4 page)

Rory had cast as many protections spells and jinxes around the room as she could. Since the fae had created their world out of magic, there was a lot of it for her to borrow. While the fae magic was different from her own, it gave her enough of a boost that she could both protect and defend herself and Cross. She never would have been able to do that in their dimension.

She went to the window to look out and Cross snapped at her ankles.

“I get that you want me to stay back, but that won’t work for me.” The twins and their friends across the street weren’t going at it anymore. They were all looking toward the beach. One of them broke from the group and ran toward the forest. Renn and Reno appeared to be arguing while the male fae watched the beach. She strained to hear, but they had made the glass in the window incredibly thick. She was about to magically enhance her hearing when the twins abruptly stopped arguing and looked to the beach again too. All three turned and ran for the forest.

Rory frowned. “Something is coming from the water I think. The orgy across the street just ran off.”

As she was speaking, more fae streamed by the window. They were all looking over their shoulder in horror. Rory was suddenly queasy.

“We need to head for the forest!” She went for the door, but Cross blocked her path. “Something is going on out there and I don’t think it’s about us!”

She took down all her spells and jinxes. It was pointless. If magic could do something to whatever was out there, the fae would have used theirs. Their magic was no less powerful than her own, likely even more so.

“Cross, we need to get out of here. I don’t think my magic is going to do us any good here.”

The wolf wouldn’t budge. 

“I’ll use magic to move you if I have to. At least let’s go outside to see what it is.”

The wolf was like a statue. Rory was ready to rip her hair out. The portal from home should be opening any second, she knew it was a bad idea to move
, but she couldn’t ignore her instincts. Every fiber of her being was telling her to run. She didn’t understand why the wolf wasn’t feeling it too.

There was a loud crack outside followed by a boom. Rory caught the glow just out the corner of her eye.

“Fire! One of the buildings has to be on fire.”

Not just any fire either. It was a green glow she saw, not the typical orangey-red
of normal fires. How long would it be before that fire got to them? She wouldn’t be able to put it out if a fae started it. That kind of magic was beyond her understanding. The best she could do was cast a protection spell and hope for the best.

Cross finally perked up. He didn’t move from the door
, but he got to his feet.

“Look, we don’t have time to discuss this right now seeing as how you’re a wolf and all. We need to move! I know
we’ll miss the portal, but it won’t help us if we’re dead!”

He looked thoughtful. Rory could see the green light getting closer. She used her magic and pushed Cross away from the door. “I’m sorry
, but I can’t wait for you to make up your mind. I’m going now, come if you want.”

She flung the door open and almost ran straight into a fleeing fae. The woman didn’t even slow down. The smell of fire was strong outside
, but Rory couldn’t see anything in the night except for the bright green flames eating their way through the village. They could have stayed in the house another three or four minutes before things got dangerous, but she didn’t want to risk it. Another fae ran past her, only this one had a gash on his arm.

“What’s going on?” she asked
, stepping into his path.

He knocked her down. “There’s no time! Get to the woods! They broke the wall and are headed this way. Gavin’s already dead.”

Cross was standing between her and the man growling. “What?! Who? Gavin’s dead?”

The man kept running but yelled back to her. “We knew this would happen. Sophia tried and some good that did!”

Cross’ ears perked up and he turned toward the beach too. Rory turned but didn’t see anything except the fire getting closer. She glanced into their dwelling, but there was still no portal. Beatrice was going to have to come find them again if the coven wanted to help them.

“Come on.” Rory joined the fleeing fae and ran for the woods too. They had found a wall on one side of the village and had guessed there would be more. Goddess willing, the fae were running to the woods because that was the only open side of the village.
Cross was close at her heels as she ran. Once they were a few feet into the forest, she couldn’t see any fae. She had no idea where they were going, but she was going as far as the stream. They could stop there and talk about where to go next. Each step into the woods, she felt her anxiety seeping away. She had made the right choice. The village was in danger, not her and Cross.

“Oh, thank god!” Sophia was standing near the stream with Renn and Reno. As soon as Rory got closer, she looked relieved.

“Someone told me Gavin’s dead.” Rory said
, panting.

“He is
, but it’s his own fault,” Sophia said without any remorse. “I ran for the woods as soon as I felt the breech and told him to come with me. He insisted on staying and fighting.”

“Fighting what?”

“The ones we sealed out of Northlands' village,” Renn said.

“Our enemies,”
Reno clarified.

***

Cross shifted back to human form. “Why the fuck would you bring Rory to this place if you’re in the middle of a war?!”

Sophia frowned at his nudity and cast him a pair of jeans. “Put these on. And we aren’t in the middle of a war. I would say more of an ongoing skirmish.”

Cross pulled on the jeans. “Call it what you want. What are you fighting?”

“We need to keep moving,” Renn said.

“They will come to the woods,” Reno warned.

“I suggest we walk and talk,” Sophia suggested. “If we walk now, we won’t have to run later.”

“Second,” Rory said, still bent over breathing hard. She was in great shape, but the adrenaline drop was getting to her. That was the only reason Cross didn’t object to going deeper into the woods.

“As I said earlier, there were fae on this side who were a part of the atrocity,” Sophia explained. “When we came over, us innocent sealed ourselves away from them. We want
ed nothing to do with them. Once we did that, they considered us traitors and on the same level as all the other magical creatures.”

“They want a clean dimension to begin anew,” Renn said.

“Once we’re gone, they will have it,” Reno said. The twins had no emotion in their voice as they spoke. The only sign that they cared whether they lived or died was that they had run. The fae walking around them didn’t seem all that concerned either. Some had even stopped off in the woods to continue having sex.

“Why don’t you fight back?” Cross asked.

Sophia rolled her eyes. “What’s the point? It’s only more killing and that isn’t what we’re about. I don’t want that on any of my people’s conscience.”

“This is war
, even if you don’t want to call it that.” Rory was finally able to breathe normally and join the conversation. Her face was slightly pink, but she didn’t look any worse for the wear. Lucky for Sophia.

“Gavin is dead,” Rory continued. “They’ll kill all of you it seems. What kind of plan do you have to protect your people? Hide in the woods until they go back to their side of the wall?”

“No. Once we reach the end of the woods we will construct a new wall and make a new village.”

“And this is what you offer to Northlands Fae on our side?” Cross asked. “Has anyone ever taken you up on that? Seriously, lady
, you are fucked up. Nobody deserves to be brought to this place.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Sophia said. “We don’t want to be here any more than you do.”

“You want help to get back to our side?” Cross guessed.

Sophia stopped and looked at Rory. “He is right. We would like help to get out of this hell. I am truly sorry for bringing you here and we will stay if you don’t want to help. But we are innocent and don’t deserve to be here.”

Cross threw his hands in the air. “And there it fucking is. There it is. That is why you brought her here. Not to ‘give her a chance to choose’ or because you wanted to give her time to think about the claim. No. You need a fucking favor.”

“You can say no and I will understand completely,” Sophia said ignoring Cross.

  He forced himself between her and Rory and looked the fae queen in the eye. “We’re done here. We aren’t going a step further with you.”

“
Aurora can decide for herself. You don’t own her, dog.”

“How can I help you?” Rory asked from behind Cross. “You’re much more powerful than I am. Why don’t you open a way back yourself? You were able to get me here.”

“We were able to get you across because Olaf had weakened the barrier between the dimensions. Even then, we could only open the portal for a short time.”

“If I could open a portal don’t you think I would have tried it as soon as Cross and I were pulled over?”

“I’m not asking you to do it alone,” Sophia pleaded. “You and I can do it together. You are much more powerful than you realize. None of my people would be able to keep a portal open for longer than a nanosecond and don’t have the energy to keep one open long enough to get us all over.”

“Send them back one at a time once you get your new wall built,” Cross told her cruelly. “You’ll have enough time before the ‘evil’ Northlands fae break through your defense. Good luck.”

Cross turned his back on the queen and shoved Rory back. He wasn’t taking no for an answer this time. They were going to go east instead of north. They would have no part in this fae drama. He still didn’t trust Sophia. She was hiding something. There was no reason she would need the help of a baby witch for a major cast like she was talking about. Cross didn’t know magic well, but he was pretty good at sniffing out liars and Sophia stunk to the high heavens. He wasn’t going to let Rory get caught up in her game.

“Don’t
push me!” Rory shoved him back. Hard.

“I’m not letting you stay near her. We need to get home and she can’t help us with that.” He hadn’t meant to push her that hard. He just needed to get her away from Sophia.

“I can decide where…” Cross cut her off by picking her up. “Put me down, Cross. Right now. I’m only giving you one warning.”

He wasn’t sure what she was going to do
, but he was willing to take whatever she threw at him.

“Dog
, you will regret this,” Sophia said from behind him.

Rory kicked her way out of his arms. He had to let her go. He didn’t want to hurt her. “Rory..
.”

She put her hand up and looked around him to Sophia. “Don’t you threaten him!”

Sophia pulled her head back in surprise. “He was manhandling you. It didn’t sound like you liked him carrying you off. I was only trying to help you.”

“I’m getting sick of you saying that. If you were really trying to help me, why didn’t you tell me about this right away?”

Sophia gave Cross a look, but it did nothing to wipe the grin off his face. Sex and a reasonable Rory in the same night? Things were finally looking up for him.

Rory’s head was pounding. There was so much to process and that run had really taken a lot out of her. She had been afraid when the Sun Riders had attacked her, but this was different. There was no Cleary Coven here to run in at the last minute and save her. It was just her and Cross. And Sophia knew. She knew! Dinner was a great time to have spilled the beans on their situation. Now Gavin was dead, not that Sophia seemed to care, and the village was on fire and all the pressure was on Rory. Her choice was going to either save or doom a lot of fae. Possibly innocent fae.

Renn and
Reno were looking at her expectantly, hopefully. Thankfully none of the other fae had taken time to stop their fleeing to watch the drama.

“We need to start moving again,” Sophia said. “It doesn’t matter what you choose right now. We need to get to safety first.”

“I’m going with Cross,” Rory said quietly.

Sophia just looked at her and then walked away stiffly with the twins. She hadn’t said anything or tried to get Rory to go with her.

She shoved Cross again. “What the hell was that?”

“I’m sorry,” he said immediately. “I’m really
, really sorry. I didn’t mean to push you so hard. Won’t happen again.”

Rory shoved him again. “Good. We should move
, I guess.”

“I think we should head back to the village actually.”

“What?! We barely got out of there.”

“Actually, we had no problem getting out of there. Both of our alarm bells rang
, but look,” Cross pointed to the village, “the fires have died down. There isn’t even any smoke anymore.”

“You’re hoping the portal is still there.”

Cross nodded. “It’s worth a try. If either of us feels anything is off, we head to the east and don’t look back.”

“What about Sophia?” Rory asked
, uncertain. There were no flames, but that didn’t mean there was no one back there anymore. Cross looked incredibly frustrated with her question. “I know you don’t like her, but I’m just not convinced she’s evil yet.”

Cross gritted his teeth.
“Then why did you say you were going with me?”

“It felt right.” And it had. She had gone with her gut because she had nothing else to trust. Her head and her heart were at war in this decision. Her head didn’t trust Sophia very much and was skeptical of everything the queen said. Her heart wanted to help. Some of these fae were probably innocent and they had been left to rot with the whole lot. She would want help if she was in their situation. She wasn’t
around in the Middle Ages when it had happened. She just didn’t have all the facts. The worst part was she was going to have to make the decision without them.

“If it felt right
, then why are you still asking questions about Sophia?”

“
I think we should go back too.” Rory dodged his question. “It’s worth a try.”

It was also how she was going to make her decision. If the portal was still open or opened while they were there, she wouldn’t do anything to help the fae. As much as even thinking
it pained her. If their rescue had failed, she would open a portal to their dimension with Sophia. Unless she could come up with a reasonable way to decide on their way, then she would do that. She just couldn’t see that happening.

“What’s on your mind?” Cross asked as they walked. “You haven’t said anything.”

Rory hesitated before speaking. “I don’t know how to make this choice. I know you think we should just go, but that just doesn’t sit well with me. I wish I had more information.”

“You mean like you wish your fairy godmother would show up and tell you if Sophia was lying and what actually went down during the supernatural purge?”

“Something like that.”

“Too bad. That isn’t how it works. You have to decide. You know what I think
, but that doesn’t matter. Or what Sophia wants you to do. Or the Cleary Coven. The only one who can choose is you.”

He sounded as distraught about that as she was. He really wasn’t that bad. She sighed. As soon as she made her choice regarding the Northlands Fae, she was going to have to decide what to do about her and Cross. She used to pride herself in her ability to make tough choices when other people caved under the pressure.
Pride goeth before the fall and all she guessed because she was feeling sick about all these decisions.

They were across the stream. She stopped and tried to clear her mind for a minute. “I don’t feel anything yet.”

Cross nodded. “Me either. So far, so good.”

As they got closer to the village, the smell of burned wood was strong. She coughed and gagged on the thick smoke that was covering the village.

“You ok?’ Cross asked.

She spit a few times. “Yeah
, but we can’t stay here long. There’s no wind to carry the smoke away. I can’t blow it off without choking all the fae in the woods.”

“Damn. I was just going to suggest that. I think our dwelling is fine though. It looks like the fire stopped before it got there.”

Rory could barely see the door when they were a few feet in front of it. Once they got inside she took a deep breath and leaned on the shut door. Everything was exactly how they had left it. Since the windows were closed, only a small amount of smoke got inside. There was no portal in the main room, but she didn’t feel any magic either.

“I don’t think it’s happened yet,” Rory said
, after Cross looked at her, confused. “We have to wait and see.”

“Fine by me. I can wait all night,” Cross said
, going to sit on the couch. Rory went to sit on the opposite side of the couch and pulled her knees up to her chest. She rested her head on her knees and breathed deeply. The air inside was fine, but there was still a heavy tightness in her chest.

***

“Why haven’t we seen anybody on our way back?” Cross asked, looking out the window. Rory was still curled up on the couch. He didn’t know how to help her and it was making him cagier in the small room. His wolf wasn’t telling him to get out, but it was anxious. Something felt off in the village.

“What?”

“We haven’t seen anybody. They implied that the ‘bad’ fae were hot on our tail. That’s why we were all running through the woods.”

Rory looked up at him finally. “I don’t know. I guess they passed us?”

“If they did, there can’t be very many of the ‘bad’ ones.”

“Maybe they went back where they came from,” Rory suggested. Even she didn’t sound convinced of that. “I didn’t see anyone in the village either.”

Cross paced in front of the window. It was no use looking outside. The smoke was too thick to see anything. “What if they were running from the fire and not from some advancing fae evil army?”

Rory stretched out her legs and cracked her knuckles. “Maybe. But the twins said there was someone out there.”

“Yeah. The twins and Sophia, but you didn’t hear anyone else screaming about some evil fae army.”

“Wrong,” she shook her head. “The guy I ran into on the street said it too.”

Cross tried to remember who she was talking about. He put his hands on his head. “No, that guy didn’t. He said ‘they’ were coming. He didn’t say who. We really need to get the fuck out of here. Why isn’t the portal open yet? It should have been minutes and it’s been clear over two hours now.”

“Beatrice might have gotten lost on her way back. It’s not like she left breadcrumbs to follow or anything. Be patient,” Rory chided.

He was being patient. He had gotten her away from Sophia and back to where the portal should be. The fucking Coven needed to keep up their end of the plan. They couldn’t sit here all night. Someone was going to come looking for them. There was no way Sophia went through all the trouble to get Rory here only to let her slip away.

“You’re right,” Rory added a few minutes later. “He didn’t say who was coming. But what does it matter?”

“You know damn well what I’m getting at,” he snapped. He would have asked her to blow the smoke away, fae in the woods be damned, but that would have only made her mad. She was still clinging to some hope that Sophia and her fae weren’t all evil. It was pretty damn clear what was going on. The maddening part was that he had no way of contacting the coven or anyone else and telling them to hurry it the fuck up.

He needed to get Rory to the other side. Everything would be fine once she was safe and out of this dimension. Cross didn’t care what they had to deal with at home or if she wanted to break the claim once they got back. At that second, he just wanted her to be safe. He had worked so fucking hard to keep her out of harm
's way and now he was so close to succeeding it was driving him crazy. All he could do was wait and stop anyone from hurting her before the portal opened.

He was pacing again when his wolf perked up. “Shit.”

“What?” Rory was standing at the window looking at the smoke. She must not have felt anything yet. Her magic was so keyed up on this side he expected her to be well ahead of him on the danger front. Since she wasn’t casting yet, it was possible his wolf was wrong. The magic hit him and he realized he had misinterpreted the signal. Magic from the other dimension was creeping into the room.

“I think that’s the rescue mission,” Cross said
, relieved. It was about goddamn time.

“It sure is,” Rory said
, smiling brightly. He hadn’t seen her that happy since she was at the diner last.

One of the lamps in the room burned out as magic came in from their dimension. It was pinpointing to the spot they had seen Beatrice in first. They stood near, ready to jump in the minute the portal fully materialized. Cross’ wolf growled. He shook his head. The magic must be getting to him. His wolf growled again and barked. Cross tried to ignore it
, but the wolf was persistent. Rory was looking at him with round eyes.

“I think something’s coming,” she said
, eyeing the portal nervously.

“I know. Shit.” He didn’t want to turn again even though his wolf was yelling for it. He wanted to be able to talk to Rory when they got through to the other side and showing up naked in front of the Coven wasn’t going to win him any friends. Shit, or maybe it would
, but he wasn’t willing to test that theory.  It was only a few more seconds until they would be able to pass through.

“
Aurora!” the door to the dwelling opened and a very angry looking Sophia was standing in it. Smoke poured into the room around her. Her face wasn’t as bad as Gavin’s earlier, but her eyes were hollow sockets in her face. “I came back to look for you and you’re leaving? Just like that?! You weren’t even going to say goodbye to me?”

Rory’s mouth opened and closed a few times. Wind picked up in the room as the portal started to open.

“Don’t do this. Please,” Sophia begged, coming closer. “We’ll all die if you leave. Is that really what you want? For all of us to die like Gavin?”

Cross wasn’t going to give her the chance to get any closer or talk Rory into doing anything. He grabbed Rory around the waist and jumped through the portal as it fully materialized. It wasn’t like when he was following the tunnel earlier. This was like jumping through a window. One second he was in dwelling, the next he was falling into crunchy grass.

“Close it now!” he yelled, before he even had his bearings. He kept one hand on Rory, but it was over. The portal was closing as he savored the smell of home.