Flicker (34 page)

“That way.” Nasser pointed and she turned. “We’d better make it snappy.”

Chapter Twelve:

Fierce

Filo and Jason walked past park benches, past couples holding hands, and past groups of faeries chasing each other over the brittle grass. The moon was high in the sky, and Filo could feel its power filtering down to earth. The faeries were drinking it in
like wine, absorbing it. He and Jason were taking it in too,
on a smaller scale. There was magic in the air tonight, and they were breathing it in. Filo could feel it stirring in his blood
like sparks of electricity
, strengthening him.

“Are you gonna
give me the silent treatment all night?” Jason asked.

“Shut up, Jason.”

Jason sighed. “You’re just
acting like this
because of the dryad thing. Don’t take it out on me.”

“
This is as much your fault as it is Nasser’s.”

“You’re one to talk. The way I hear it, you were the one who told Nasser to check the revel. I wasn’t even
there.
”

“That’s half the problem. Every time you decide to take off, every time you’re
not there
, something bad happens. Do you even know how much trouble you cause?”

“Filo—”

“And for what? A good time with a bunch of half-breeds?”
he fumed.

“
Filo
, I—”
Jason just looked at him for a long moment, his gray eyes cloudy
, before dropping his gaze
. He raised his hand to the back of his neck, and Filo saw the raised scar there, which Filo had helped him to carve. He remembered the day Jason ha
d gotten that scar as clearl
y as if it had been yesterday.

“You’re wrong
, you know
,” Jason said
finally
. “I don’t go looking for trouble.”

“What, then?”

“I just
need time to think sometimes,
get out of
the
apartment,” he said.
“
Nasser’s not always easy to be around. Come to think of it, I guess I’m not, either.”

“How do you mean?”

“All we do
anymore
is fight—which is saying something, since you know how much it takes to get Nasser to snap.”

“
Yeah.
He’s got the patience of a
brownie in a garbage dump
,”
Filo acknowledged with a snort.

“
Exactly.
But even when we’re screaming at each other, he’ll never
say
what’s really bothering him
.
” Jason shook his head despairingly. “Maybe he’s stressed out because we don’t
have money for rent or food
,
or
he’s
worried
about some dryad
—
but
he’ll never admit that
he’s
anything but perfectly fine.
He thinks he has to do everything himself.
You know how he gets
.
He’s too serious for his own good. And I’m not serious enough,
”
he added quietly.

Filo nodded silently. When they were kids, Nasser
had been
the same way.
He was
overly protective
by
nature, and he
’d
look
ed
after the three younger apprentices because
Neman
and
Morgan
didn’t
.

He never considered it when he was a child, but Filo realized now that it
couldn’t have been easy.
He
had few memories of Nasser where
the older boy
didn’t have dark circles under his eyes
and a slightly strained expression.

But Nasser didn’t share his p
roblems if he
didn’t absolutely have to, and he was often reluctant to accept help
. He and Filo were alike in
t
hat way—Nasser, because he didn’t want to burden others; Filo, because he hated to appear weak.

“
It makes me crazy,” Jason muttered.
“
He doesn’t see me as an equal. He
doesn’t trust me enough to tell me what’s really going on
, not even with Lee and the dryad
.
Why should I even bother?
 
I
just
can’t be around him all the time.
You know?
”

Shrugging, Filo said nothing. Jaso
n was so open
. Even if Filo could find the words to explain that need to seal emotions away, Jason wouldn’t understand.
So he kept his mouth shut, and they
walked on in silence.

Behind them, there was a splashing sound and low
, growling
speech.
Dark magic crackled in the air.
They turned and crept toward the noise, peering cautiously around the trunk of a large oak tree.

A skeletal, green-skinned woman stood in a nearby pond, calf-deep in water. Her hair was lank seaweed and reeds that hung around her sharp face. Jenny Greenteeth, Filo thought immediately. A water faery with a taste for human children.

Three kids—two girls and a boy, none older than thirteen—were walking dazedly toward the pond, their gazes fixed on Jenny. One of the girls had a distracting quantity of freckles; the other wore her hair in pigtails. The boy wore thick spectacles.

If the children saw that Jenny was a monster, their faces didn’t show it. They were
enchanted,
being drawn in by her magic. They couldn’t help it.

The black water in the pond began to rise, overflowing and rolling over the grass. Jason shivered. Filo sighed and unbuckled his bag. “Let’s take care of this. You grab the kids.”

With a nod, Jason stepped out from behind the tree. He worked his way slowly around toward the pond and the kids, out of Jenny’s line of sight, trying not to catch her attention. Filo approached the pond and stood directly in front of Jenny, trying to do the opposite.

“Where’s your sister?” Filo asked loudly, feeling through his bag. If he could distract her while he grabbed something useful, then this would be easy. “Nellie Longarms? I haven’t seen her around tonight. I thought she’d be out, preying on children.”

Jenny l
ooked at him quizzically. “You’
re mistaken, Seer. Nellie is not my sister.”

“But you
are
kin. Aren’t you?”

“You are a stupid Seer,” Jenny snorted.

“I’m not the stupid one.” Filo touched the canister of salt and began pulling it slowly out.
Icy
water washed over his
boots
. “You can’t even keep your kinfolk straight.”

Jenny snarled, and the water was hot, suddenly, boiling. Filo stumbled, swearing. He dropped the canister. The lid popped off and salt poured out, dissolving into the water.

Pigtails cried out. Jason was trying to pull her away from the pond, but she was fighting him. Freckles and Specs glanced around, like the glamour Jenny had woven was fraying now that her focus was on Filo. Then the glamour thickened, falling over the kids like a heavy blanket. Freckles and Specs started moving toward the pond. Pigtails thrashed against Jason.

“Try to tr
ick me?” Jenny howled,
pointing furiously toward the canister, which was now floating away. “Try to t
rick me, Seer?” M
agic flowed from her like dark water.

Water surged upward; Filo lost his balance and fell onto his knees. Before he could stand, more water flowed upward and froze tightly around him, trapping his legs. Frost spread over the water and ground beyond,
though the pond remained bubbling
.

Jason had gotten Pigtails by her wrists, but she twisted suddenly, and
he
slipped, losing his grip. Now the three kids were
skating
toward the
pond
.

Jason
slipped
, flinging his hands out to catch himself. He hit the uneven ice hard, smacking his face against it.
When he looked up,
his lip was bleeding freely. The ice surrounding Jason melted and refroze around his arms and legs.

“Filo!” Jason yelled hoarsely. “I can’t get up!”

Without a word, Filo squeezed his eyes shut and channeled his magic into his hands. It wasn’t so different fr
om lighting a candle
. He envisioned his magic taking shape, becoming hungry blue flames. When he could feel them brushing his skin, he opened
his eyes
.

At his thought, the flames leaped from his hands and onto the ice, which steamed and hissed, evaporating into the chill air. He was free. Scrambling to his feet, Filo saw that Pigtails, Freckles and Specs were gathered around the edge of the pond.

And then: the sound of shattering glass and a blinding white flash, singing
with power.

Jenny s
creeched, her skin
blistering as the
wall of light slammed into her.

The flash fade
d, and when Filo turned
, he saw a skinny girl with mouse-brown hair. She clutched a glowing light bulb in each hand.

Shading his eyes with his hand, Filo squinted at the gir
l. Their gazes met
through the white light
.
“Alice?”

Alice’s expression was unreadable. “Help Jason,” she called, hurling another light bulb.

Filo
slid
over to where Jason was still frozen.

“Is that Alice?” Jason asked, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Without answering, Filo
dropped to his knees beside Jason. H
e gloved his hands in
blue flames and touched the ice trapping Jason. It evaporated in seconds. Jason stood carefully as Filo shook the excess energy from his hands, watching the blue sparks sputter and wink out.

As the second flash died away, Filo turned. Jenny was gone from sight, but the ripples spreading over the pond told Filo that she was still around, probably sunk to the mud at the bottom of her pond to rest and heal. Pigtails, Freckles and Specs wavere
d as they stood, looking dazed
. Alice stood by
the water’s edge, staring at Filo
.

Jason broke the silence first:

“‘And though she be but little, she is fierce,’” he quoted grandly, smirking.

“Jason, be quiet,” Alice said sternly, which only made Jason grin bigger. She turned to Filo, a hand on her hip. “Well?”

“You shouldn’t have done that.”

Alice
rolled her eyes
. “You’re welcome, Filo.” Her voice dripped sarcasm.
“
It was
nothing
, really. Don’t mention it.”

“I had
it under control,” he insisted.

“T
hat’s rich.” She
jerked her chin toward
the kids. “What’re we gonna do about them?”

“I don’t know. And I’m not sure I care,” Filo said honestly.
“Leave them here.”
“I can take them back wherever they belong,” Jason offered.

“No way,” Filo said immediately
.
“You’re not
going anywhere. I told Nasser we’d stick together. If you get into trouble without me, I’ll never hear the end of it.”

Shrugging
, Jason said, “Fine then. You deal with the kids.”

“Jason,” Alice broke in. “Don’t listen to him. He’s an idiot.”

“You don’t have to tell me.”

Alice smiled
fondly
. “Take
the kids where they belong
,” she implored. “I wouldn’t know what to do with them, and Filo’s—well, he’s Filo. Please?”

“Ah, the magic word,” Jason grinned. He motioned toward Pigtails, Freckl
es and Specs. They approach
him haltingly. “Relax. I
’m not gonna bite.
Where do you kids live, anyway?”

“Thank you, Jason,” Alice said, as Specs recited his address. He seemed to understand that anyone who would go to so much trouble to keep him from being drowned probably wasn’t g
oing to hurt him, and the others
were following his lead.

“No problem, Alice.” Jason glanced at Filo. “I’ll see you back at Flicker.”