Fairy Tale: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Lillim Callina Chronicles Book 3) (12 page)

“Thanks,” I grumbled.

“Oh you’re welcome,” he said, ruffling my hair with his hand. “Don’t mention it.”

“You’re
the
Warthor Ein,” Kishi gasped from behind me. I peeked over my shoulder and watched as she wiped her mouth on her armored sleeve, leaving a glistening smear that made my stomach gurgle in horror.

“Yes ma’am,” Warthor said, sweeping forward and taking her hand in his. He bent his head toward her hand, and the moment his lips touched her skin, the same silver-blue light spread over her body, healing her in the time it took him to stand back up.

“I thought you’d be taller,” she said, but even as the words left her mouth her eyes went wide. She ran her hands over her flesh. “How’d you do that?”

“He gets that a lot,” I said with a smirk. “The taller bit, I mean.”

“I do not get that a lot,” Warthor grumbled, glancing at me like I was a petulant puppy.

“You do so,” I responded, and Warthor Ein’s eyes narrowed. That was the problem with Warthor Ein. Yes, he was one of the most powerful Dioscuri
ever
. He still looked like a scarecrow in baggy clothing. He wasn’t short exactly, he stood average height. It’s just that when people hear about how powerful he is, they just assume he’s nine feet tall and built like a chiseled bodybuilder.

“Either way,” he snarled, “we have to get you out of here, right now.”

“Why’s that?” I asked, taking a step back from him, my hands dropping unconsciously to the hilts of my swords.

“Why? Because I did not bring you back from the dead to have you become the Wild Hunt’s puppy.” He reached out and seized my wrist in his boney hand before I could even blink and started dragging me down the hallway.

“We can’t leave until Fairy is balanced,” Kishi exclaimed from behind me. “I can still feel it shifting toward Winter. Even killing those cats was barely a blip.”

“Duh. The only way you’re going to right those scales is by killing the Winter Breaker or the Queen of the Cold and Dark herself. You aren’t at that level,
Kishi
. Neither of you are.”

“So help us,” I said, trying to keep myself from following him, but my feet just slid along the marble until he was practically dragging me.

“If you rebalance Fairy the Wild Hunt will claim you, and I don’t know how to fix it yet. Our only chance is to escape before Fairy balances, then I might be able to hide you until I figure something out.”

“That doesn’t sound very Warthor Einy to me,” I growled. “You’re supposed to already know how to fix this.”

He wheeled on me, turning so quickly that I crashed into him. He bent his face down until we were eye to eye. There was real fear there, not the kind of fear I saw when I had almost killed him with Haijiku. No, this was real, tear-you-in-half fear.

“I can’t. And before you ask, yes I spoke to both Zef and Trius. Neither knows what to do either,” he said.

“How could you have already done that? It’s been only a few minutes,” I asked, taking a step back from him.

“Fairy time is slower than normal time. You’ve been gone over a month.” He resumed dragging me across the stone floor.

“Mattoc!” I screamed and both Kishi and Warthor turned to look at me. “Come out here now!”

“Yes?” Mattoc said as he popped into existence in front of me. He was wearing black, wraparound sunglasses and a two-thousand-dollar suit. He shoved his hands in his pockets.

“You told Warthor what happened didn’t you?” I snapped.

“Yes,” Mattoc said sheepishly.

“Is he telling the truth?” I asked.

“Yes,” Mattoc replied.

“Damn,” I grumbled. “Well… I’ll figure it out later. We still have to balance Fairy or what happens to me won’t matter.”

“No,” Warthor said. “I lost Dirge because she was stupid enough to throw her life away for a bunch of wretches. I won’t let you throw your life away to save a bunch of fairies. Do you have any idea how ridiculous that is?”

“If we don’t rebalance Fairy then the whole world will shift into never-ending winter,” Kishi said, stepping up to Warthor and poking him in the chest. “We can’t just leave.”

Warthor Ein looked down at her finger, and Kishi retracted her hand so fast that it blurred. “If you touch me again. I will kill you.” Warthor’s voice was as cold as a blizzard. Kishi nodded and took a step backward, a tremor running down her body.

“The girl is right, Warthor. They need to fix this.” Mattoc sighed and rubbed his face with his hand.

“I know that, ghost,” Warthor snarled. “Diana is sending in a task force to mop up this mess.”

“You talked to my mom?” I swallowed, and I swear my heart actually stopped beating. I sank to my knees and stared absently at the floor.

“Yes. And she agreed we need to get you out of here,” Warthor said.

“I can’t believe you told my mom.” I glared at him. “Why would you do that?”

Warthor held up one and slowly started counting on his fingers. “To. Save. Your. Life. Brat.”

Chapter 13

“Well, if it isn’t
the
Warthor Ein.” The Winter Queen’s voice swept through the hallway like a glacial storm, filling the air with ice and snow and chilling me down to my core. “How nice of you to visit my Court.”

Warthor dropped into a bow that hid me from view behind his body as he spoke. “My dearest Queen. It is truly a pleasure to visit you here in your Court.”

The Queen of the Cold and Dark grinned, teeth like glinting icicles flashing in her mouth as she swept her arms back to reveal two bare-chested men standing on either side of her. Their hair fell to their knees, cascading around their bodies like capes. Muscle that reminded me of a professional swimmer rippled down their sleek bodies. They stood stock still, yet seemed to convey a sort of anxious energy, like a wolf waiting to pounce. The left one had skin as dark as charcoal with brilliant purple cat eyes. The right one was snow white, with blood-red lips and sea-green eyes.

The Queen glanced at me and the look in her eyes made me blush. I tried to look away as she gestured to the two men with a flick of one delicate hand. “Do you like my men? Should I arrange for them to—”

“No, that’s quite all right,” I squeaked, trying to hide myself behind Warthor’s now standing form.

“Are you sure?” the Winter Queen asked, running one hand down the white one’s arm, trailing her fingers over his flesh. “The brothers are quite skilled,” she added.

“She said she’s good. You hard of hearing or something?” Mattoc said, and the Winter Queen’s eyes narrowed into thin slits.

“Have a care, ghost. I could make you corporeal with a snap of my fingers and give you an agony so exquisite you’ll wish I’d left you in your current state.”

“She can do that?” Mattoc and I both said at once, and Warthor’s shoulders visibly sagged.

“Yes,” he said. “She can make him corporeal
in Fairy
.” Warthor turned back to the Winter Queen and sighed. “We must be leaving now.”

“But you just got here, Sir Dragon Knight. I can’t let you leave so soon. It would be inhospitable,” the Winter Queen said as she sauntered past her two guards until she was nearly eye to eye with Warthor. They were nearly the same height, and her features hardened into perfect neutrality.

“Don’t,” Warthor said, and that one word was enough to make the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

“Don’t what?” the Queen of the Cold and Dark asked.

It happened so fast that I barely saw it. Warthor’s sword flashed through the air, impaling the Winter Queen through the abdomen and bursting out her back in a spray of blood. He twisted the weapon and jerked it upward with a loud crack. The Queen’s eyes opened in shock, her mouth opening and closing like a broken fish as she staggered backward.

The brothers were on us in an instant, leaping toward us like comets. Warthor caught the dark one by the throat, snatching him out of the air and jerking his head hard to the side. The Sidhe fell to the ground lifeless, eyes staring off into the distance as Warthor dropped him.

The white one crashed into me, slamming me backward against the ground. My head struck the marble and everything went hazy. I could barely make out the Sidhe’s fist rearing back for a strike when he was blown backward in a wash of heat that made me curl away into a ball.

The Sidhe screamed, falling off me and rolling on the ground clutching his face. Kishi stood over us, her hand glowing like magma as she drove it downward into the Sidhe’s chest. It sank into his chest with a burst of super-heated steam, and the smell of burning flesh filled the air. Light flooded out his eyes, and the Sidhe jerked once, twice, and went still. Kishi withdrew her hand, and the soft glow of sunlight filled the room.

The Queen lashed out with her left hand, body still impaled on Warthor’s blade. The blow caught Warthor across the face, snapping his head back and making him take a few steps backward. With one brutal motion, he jerked his weapon sideways tearing it free of the Queen of the Dark and Cold in a crimson spray.

Warthor’s foot slammed into her knee, dropping her to the ground with a crunch that echoed down the hallway. “Quick, Kishi. Hit her with the hand of light, before she recovers and kills us all,” he ordered.

Kishi glanced at him for a split second before reaching out and grabbing the Winter Queen’s face. Her hand glowed so brightly that I turned my head away. A bone-chilling shriek erupted from behind me, and a shiver rocketed down my spine. I tried to swallow, but my throat was too dry as I crawled to my feet.

The floor shook beneath me, and I reached out and grabbed the wall to hold myself up. It was still too bright for me to risk looking so I just stood there as the temperature in the hallway exploded upward. Sweat began pouring down my face, and I wiped it away with the back of my hand.

That was when the wall beneath my hand shattered like glass. The marble erupted with a shower of sleet and snow, and I fell backward on my butt. A three foot, green-skinned thing with orange splotches stepped out of the smoking rubble and shook its bald head.

Its beady, yellow eyes narrowed, peering closely at me as one long arm moved to shield its face from the glare. Its other arm hung at its side, knuckles scraping the ground as it took another step toward me. The creature’s yellow, cracked toenails scratched deep gouges in the stone floor as he moved.

“Yynnok!” Mattoc cried as he pushed between us and held out a hand in greeting. “What in the blue hell are you doing here?”

The creature turned its gaze on Mattoc and grinned, purple lips stretching backward to reveal a mouthful of crooked, blackened teeth. It took Mattoc’s outstretched hand in its own, and I was surprised that it could touch Mattoc. Evidently, Mattoc was surprised as well because he went stock still as the thing pumped his hand.

“How has it been my friend?” Yynnok squealed in a voice that reminded me of ten-year-olds shrieking about cooties.

“You can touch me?” Mattoc said, shock lacing his words.

“Of course I can touch you. I am the Goblin King. Death bows before me. Don’t you remember that, assassin?” Yynnok asked with a shrug.

“I remember. Why have you come?” Mattoc replied.

“Warthor Ein is here. I could smell his stench all the way in the Underbog. I have come to eat the flesh from his bones.” Yynnok’s purple tongue snaked out of his mouth and ran across his lips.

“You haven’t a chance, goblin,” Warthor growled. “Besides I’m a little busy right now.”

“Your words mean very little to me,” Yynnok said with a smirk as he pulled a small, knobby axe from the sling on his back and hefted it in one hand. He screeched, a loud “Aii!” and leapt over my head. I turned, forgetting about the glare and spots danced across my eyes.

I put my arm over my face as the goblin landed squarely on Warthor’s back and he staggered forward, losing his grip on the Winter Queen. The goblin wrapped his arms around Warthor’s throat as Warthor reached back and seized the creature by the leg. Warthor’s flesh had been burned black under the heat of Kishi’s attack, and his skin cracked and flaked away as he flung the goblin into the wall.

Yynnok hit the stone with a bone-crunching thud, and he slid to the ground rubbing his head. He screeched again and sprinted forward, flailing his arms like windmills and catching Warthor in the stomach, tackling him to the ground.

The blackened corpse of the Winter Queen collapsed, disintegrating into a pile of ash as Kishi turned toward the goblin. Warthor held the Goblin King at arm’s length and Yynnok’s jaws snapped, clamping around Warthor’s right bicep and tearing away a hunk of flesh in a spray of blood and meat.

Warthor gritted his teeth as his arm gave out, and the Goblin King collapsed on top of him. Deep red blood dripped down Yynnok’s chin as his arms whipped out, wrapping around Warthor’s torso. The goblin buried his face in Warthor’s stomach, biting down and tearing away another chunk of meat moments before Kishi grabbed Yynnok by the back of the head and flung him off.

“Lillim, pay attention!” Mattoc said.

I whirled around to see more goblins rushing toward us from the hole in the wall. They were clad in crimson headpieces covered in spikes and feathers. Thick, red fluid dripped down their faces as they charged in a snarling mass, and without thinking, I reached for Shirajirashii. My hands found nothing, and I realized the blades were still across the hallway.

I turned and sprinted toward them, goblins hot on my heels. I dove for the weapons, snatching them off the ground and rolling to my feet. The white blades throbbed with energy as I lashed out, striking the first goblin in the neck. The sword passed through him so cleanly that his body kept coming toward me as his head toppled sideways to the floor.

Blood fountained upward out of his neck as I stepped forward and drove my wakazashi, Set, into the chest of the right goblin. I released the blade and whirled around, my katana, Isis, cutting the left goblin in half as I reached out and grabbed the blade of Set and ripped it sideways out of the impaled creature.

Blood, hot and slick, covered me, dripping down my face and into the creases of my armor. I squinted, trying to blink the blood out of my eyes as I charged the rest of the goblins, but for some reason, they stopped moving even though Warthor and Kishi were still locked in combat with the Goblin King.