Demon soul crossroads wi.., p.21
Demon Soul (Crossroads Witch Book 2), page 21
“Ow!” Amaya slaps the back of her neck too. “Did something sting you?”
“Yeah, I think so.” Even as I say it, I start to feel woozy. Through blurry eyes, I watch as Amaya starts to sway on her feet.
I ask, “Everything okay there?” Weirdly, my voice sounds like it’s coming back at me from far away. It seems deeper and has this weird dreamlike echo.
Amaya’s face starts to go pale. “I feel weird. Kind of like—”
“Kind of like what?”
“Kind of like…” She sways again, takes a step back, then drops to her knees.
Huh. That’s weird, because my legs feel funny too. A little on the numb side, almost like they can’t hold me up. Come to think of it, I feel numb all over. Oh, wait. Am I on my knees now too? I am, aren’t I? When did that happen?
Across from me, Amaya topples over onto on her back. Her mouth gapes open as she stares up at the sky through glassy eyes.
Using my weird deep, echoing voice, I call out, “Amaya! Are you okay?”
In the next instant, I’m staring up at the sky too—lying on my back as I think about the color I see above me. Why does the sky have a violet hue?
Then, I remember. Oh, right. Faerie.
It’s such a strange place. So, very, very strange…
The sky goes from violet to purple as it keeps getting darker. Then it’s black, but I might just be seeing at the inside of my eyelids.
Yeah, I think that’s it.
Chapter 17 – Cassie
When I finally open my eyes again, I discover that I’m sitting on the ground with my arms behind my back tied to a tree. Still in a haze, I watch as figures scurry about talking to each other in a guttural language. My eyes start to clear and I realize that the figures look quite a bit like monkeys. In fact, they look quite a bit like six-legged monkeys.
Fucking Faerie. I swear to God. I never come here without someone, or something, capturing me. Although, by all appearances, this looks to be a new low.
A voice beside me mutters, “You have to be shitting me.”
I look over to see Amaya tied to a tree of her own. “Oh, hey. You’re awake.”
Understandably, she glares at me. “Didn’t you say it couldn’t be the same forest?”
I nod. “Quite the coincidence, wouldn’t you agree?”
She lets out something like a growl. I keep eliciting that response lately.
“Yeah, you might say that,” she huffs, then goes back to watching the spider monkeys. “What do you think they’re doing?”
I check again to make sure it wasn’t my imagination. “It looks like they’re building a fire.”
“And they’re definitely talking to each other,” Amaya says. “That’s not just me, right?”
I nod again. “Oh, no. They’re definitely talking to each other.”
At that same moment, at least a dozen spider monkey heads whip in our direction. Those same spider monkeys all start screeching as they jump up and down, stomping their feet on the ground. One of them stomps in our direction and yells in our faces.
I wince and turn my head away. God, eat enough bananas?
He reaches behind his ear—and, yes, due to his lack of pants there’s no doubt as to his gender—and pulls out a thin wooden tube. He raises it to his lips and scowls threateningly.
Okay, got it. We either keep it down or get another dart in our necks.
I nod by way of acknowledgment. He turns and stomps off again, all six spider-monkey legs bowing outward as they take him away. Gross, much?
I whisper to Amaya, “Apparently, they don’t like it if their dinner talks too much.”
Amaya whispers back, “Comforting.”
“Yeah, I know. Not a good situation.”
“No shit. What are we going to do?”
“Not sure yet.”
“What about your magic?”
“Which involves my hands,” I point out.
Sadly, it’s never occurred to me to try casting magic with some other part of my body. I suppose it must be theoretically possible. I’ve never thought to research it before. So, provided we survive, there’s a class I could propose that the Shadow Order starts teaching. Toe casting, possibly. Or boob magic. I need to think about this more.
“But you’re the Fae Witch,” Amaya whispers desperately.
“Which means jack shit to monkeys,” I point out.
The head monkey starts screeching and stomping again. He takes the tube out from behind his ear. He glares meaningfully as, behind him, that fire keeps rising higher.
Right. We’re being a very rude dinner. Thanks for the reminder.
I wait until the head spider monkey turns his back again, then resume tugging at my ropes. Definitely a no-go, not that I should be surprised. Given that spider monkeys have six hands, it stands to reason they’d be digitally dexterous. Those knots are not going to give.
“That fire sure is getting big,” Amaya whispers.
“Thanks for reminding me,” I whisper back.
“Find a way to open a portal!”
“How?”
“You’re the fucking Fae Witch. Figure it out!”
It’s not like I can blame her for being mad at me. I did sort of get us into this mess. Well, okay, I totally got us into this mess. But it’s not like I want to get eaten by spider monkeys either. In fact, if I go out that way I’m going to be seriously pissed. I also can’t help but wonder if ending up in this position suggests having made some very bad life choices. This shit’s not normal.
I look up as the monkeys start hopping up and down again. This time, apparently, because they’re super-excited. If I was to take a guess, it’s because their fire just got sufficiently hot. At least that’s the vibe I’m getting as one spider monkey keeps gesturing at the fire and then gesturing at us.
“This doesn’t look good,” Amaya whispers.
I’d like to offer words of comfort, but nothing comes to me other than, “No, it doesn’t.”
Suddenly, the ground beneath our feet starts to rumble. The spider monkeys freeze, then stare up at the mountain. Even from a distance, you can hear boulders rolling and trees cracking. You can also hear the vines start singing, their high-pitched voices ringing through the air. The spider monkeys fall to their knees.
“Are they praying?” Amaya whispers.
“I wonder if they do that every time Persephera has an orgasm.”
At that same moment, hoofbeats pound through the forest and horses burst through the trees. They stop and rear back, as the men and women upon them hold onto their reins. Those men and women wear the deep blue coats and lavender capes of the Fae Royal Guard. The woman out front looks back and forth between us and the kneeling spider monkeys.
Her eyes jump back to me. “What’s going on here?”
“Seriously, you’re asking me?”
She frowns like I’m stupid. “Well, what did they tell you?”
I frown right back at her. “Not a whole lot, other than ‘shut up, we’re going to eat you.’ Not in those words, exactly.”
She sighs and strides toward the head spider monkey, just as he gets to his feet. They speak in low guttural tones as he becomes agitated, repeatedly pointing in our direction. The fae guard hears him out and then approaches us again. “He says you keep trespassing in their territory. Is that true?”
“Not on purpose!”
The fae guard shakes her head impatiently. “I find that hard to believe. The Arachnoboons mark their borders quite plainly. Didn’t you see the signs?”
Right, of course, they’re the Arachnoboons. Who else would they be? “No, we didn’t see any signs, because we didn’t cross any borders.” I lift my chin in a haughty manner. “By any chance, do I look familiar?”
Not to be conceited or anything, but there’s a giant portrait of me in the front hall of the palace. So, maybe if this chick could just free us from the Arachnoboons, we can skedaddle before this gets any more embarrassing.
The fae guard studies me for another few moments, then states flatly, “You didn’t cross any borders.”
“Exactly.”
“Because, let me guess, you can open portals.”
There you go. Finally. But what’s with the freaking attitude? “You got it.”
“Just like the Fae Witch.”
“Yes, just like—” Wait, what? I pull against my restraints and growl, “I am the Fae Witch!”
The fae guard bursts out laughing. “Of course you are, sweetie. You and all the other teenage girls wearing glamours to have those same”—she points at my face—“bright green eyes and that pitch black hair. Oh, and those little spotty human things.” She gestures at my nose this time. “What are those called again? I always forget. Fuckles or something.”
I narrow my eyes. “Freckles.”
She laughs again. “Oh, right! Freckles! They’re all the rage these days, aren’t they? So you can look like you have the power to come and go as you please. We all know that the fae can’t leave Faerie. That’s just the way it is, so maybe it’s time to grow up and accept reality.”
I kind of get the feeling she’s not even talking to me. Which makes me wonder if she might have a few issues with her daughter. Although, I have to admit, it’s kind of flattering to hear that I have a teenage fae fan club.
“Here’s the deal,” I say, doing my best to sound reasonable. “First of all, I’m human. As is my friend here.” Okay, a little lie there, but it’s not worth going into. “Second, I’m not a teenager. I just look young because I’m a Veil Witch. So, if you could just untie my hands, I’ll open a portal and prove who—”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” the fae guard says. “That would be a violation of the Arachnoboon Accords.”
Right, of course, the Arachnoboon Accords. “And what might those be?”
“Our recognition of Arachnoboon sovereignty over their lands. As far as they’re concerned, they caught you fair and square.”
To my amazement, the head spider monkey nods curtly, indicating that he understood every word the fae guard just said. Seeing this realization dawn upon my face, he glares triumphantly.
Amaya looks back and forth incredulously. “Meaning they get to eat us?”
The fae guard shrugs. “Well, we don’t encourage that sort of thing. But the Arachnoboon Accords clearly state that—” She stops when one of the other guards whispers in her ear. Her eyes widen, then she whispers back, “But I thought that she and Esras…”
I catch just that much, but I get the picture. Word got around that Esras and I were history. Now, she might be in a little bit of a pickle, seeing as she almost just gave me up for an Arachnoboon dinner.
The other guard whispers again, this time as he points through the trees. His boss nods. “Hmm, you’re right,” she says. “He’s not far off at all. Please dispatch a lingualawk.”
By which she means the talking birds the fae use to send messages back and forth. The fae may not have cell phones, but their birds have higher IQs than most humans.
Beside me, Amaya says, “Now what’s going on?”
I tug at my bonds as I that bird takes to the sky.
“Cassie!” Amaya hisses. “What the hell are they doing?”
I stop struggling and accept the truth, which just so happens to be super embarrassing. I can’t bring myself to look at Amaya, as I mutter. “I think they just called my boyfriend.”
Chapter 18 – Amaya
The next morning, Esras walks beside us as we leave the palace where we just spent the night. I glance over at Cassie and can’t help but smile at seeing the smile upon her own face. She just looks so happy, long past her embarrassment at being discovered. Esras smiles peacefully too, and I feel sure that things got intimate between those two last night. Very intimate, to judge from the way they’ve kept beaming at each other.
I suppose I should have felt lonely last night when I begged off after dinner to give them time alone. Somehow, I didn’t, as I was escorted to my room by one of the palace guards. Maybe because she was so kind, making sure I had everything I needed before leaving me on my own again. Or maybe it was because I soon became distracted by my luxurious apartment with it’s private balcony. Either way, as I walked out onto that balcony and gazed up at the stars in that otherworldly sky, I thought of Kai. But in those moments, it wasn’t sadness or loneliness that I felt. Instead, it was hope—because if it was possible for me to be where I stood in that moment, than truly anything was possible. Even if just briefly, I cast all doubt aside. And as I did, I felt sure that somehow he was near me.
Now, we cross the grounds and where we finally stop beside the gardens. The same ones we walked through last evening as Esras and Cassie gave me a tour of this place. Part of me still can’t believe Cassie hasn’t chosen to live here. Although, another part of me wonders if at some point she might choose differently. I could be wrong, of course. At times, Cassie can seem quite hard to know. Still, there’s no denying the fondness that shows in her eyes each time she looks at the man beside her.
“Well, Amaya,” Esras says. “It was nice meeting you. I wish you luck with your mission.”
Within his dark eyes, I see no doubt that he feels I’ll somehow be triumphant. I guess that’s part of why he’s a natural leader. From the moment I met him, he made me feel both valued and respected, while never once reminding me of the power he holds within this realm.
He turns to Cassie. “And you’re sure I can’t help you?”
Her eyes linger on his as she speaks softly. “Not this time. I’m sorry, but soon we’ll need to get back.”
And there it is, that gulf that divides them. Those of his realm can’t go to ours because the fae were banished long ago. Yes, Cassie can come to his realm, but her allegiance remains with the one she’s sworn to protect. Still, none of that seems to matter as they embrace one another. As they do, I’m sure that to them I’ve stopped existing entirely. Not that I mind. In fact, it feels right, this devotion they feel for one another.
They draw apart, but Esras keeps his eyes on hers. “Remember what I said.”
She smiles, even as she wipes a tear away. “I will.”
After a moment, she turns to me. She takes a breath, then says, “Ready?”
One moment later, we step out onto the side of the mountain again. It’s quiet up there now, with just a soft cool breeze blowing past. For a few moments we stand in silence, each lost in our own thoughts. Then Cassie sighs.
I look over at her. “Doing okay?”
She considers, then nods. “Yeah, I think so.” Her eyes meet mine again. “By the way, sorry about… well, you know.”
She doesn’t have to say more. “Honestly, it’s okay. Really.”
After a moment, she chuckles and I can’t help but smile too now. It’s just so absurd, the whole ordeal, the two of us having been captured by the spider monkeys. And, of course, the fact that Arachnoboon lands just so happen to border the same mountain which serves as Persphera’s doorway. We would have been eaten if the fae guards hadn’t shown up when they did, especially if Esras hadn’t ridden out with them to investigate ongoing seismic activity. Apparently, Persephera and Gelnorn have been going at it pretty often lately. But those events also brought Cassie and Esras together again, if only for a short time.
“Like you said before, I guess it was meant to be.” By which, I mean what she said about us trusting we were on the right path. That we needed to trust in our instincts.
“I guess so,” Cassie says.
A few more moments pass as she must think about him. But at some point, her thoughts turn back to me again, as well as the reason we came here. When her eyes next meet mine, I see resolve within them. “Come on. Let’s go find a way to save Kai.”
We enter the cave and make our way back toward the plinth. We stop and listen, just to be sure, but the cave is silent. Cassie reaches into her pocket and pulls out the tiny pink car. She looks down at it and chuckles, then passes it to me. “This should probably come from you.”
Which I guess makes sense. After all, despite everything, the deal that was made here exists between me and Persephera. So, I put the car in my pocket and then hold out my palm. I look at Cassie and say, “You know what to— Ow!”
She shakes the blood off her knife. “No point in drawing it out.”
I fix her with a glare, then turn and place my hand on the plinth. At the back of the cave, the vines start singing as the tunnel of light appears. Soon, Persephera strides toward us, like last time emerging from what must be some other dimension. She smiles sheepishly, then says, “So, about yesterday...”
My eyebrows shoot up to my hairline. “You knew we were here?”
A smile tugs at her lips. “Let’s just say my senses were heightened. I hope that wasn’t too inconvenient.”
Not at all. Except for almost getting turned into Arachnoboon stew. But what I say is, “We were happy to come back at a better time.”
Persephera sighs. “I really should come up with some way for people to make appointments. Then again, it’s not like I advertise my presence.”
Yeah, you sort of do. In case you haven’t noticed the earthquakes. What I say is, “It was a miracle that we managed to find you.”
She must like the sound of that, since she smiles and steps closer. She takes hold of my hand and heals my wound. Then she peers past me into the gloom, her orange eyes searching. Seeing nothing there, she frowns. “Oh, I see. Well, I guess that’s it then, isn’t it?”
Abruptly, she turns and starts walking back toward her doorway. And, of course, the vines all start trilling.
I call out, “Wait!”
The vines gasp in shock, then shut their little mouths.
Persephera stiffens, stopping mid-stride in the now silent cave. Without turning around, she says, “Did you just issue a command?”
A quick glance at Cassie suggests that I just messed up big time. With bugging eyes, she beseeches me to try again.
