Ollie, Ollie Hex 'n Free (2 page)

Still . . . Jessica was possessed six months ago and so far she hadn’t really come after us. If she wanted to target us she would have done so by now. The only time she even made a swipe was at Halloween—and that had been half-hearted at best. From what we could get out of the man who was caught, she just wanted him to watch us. That was all. As for the opening to the past, well, it was Halloween. Magic works a little bit differently that time of year—sometimes with unexpected results. It was hard to say if it was intentional or not.

Katrina plopped down on the ottoman in front of me. “I have an idea I want to run by you—a plan really. I think it could change things and get—”I shook my head, suddenly overwhelmed by the upcoming hole her leaving would create in my life and unable to feign enthusiasm for her exciting plans that didn’t include me. “I’m so sorry—but can we rain-check? I’m exhausted. I’ll help you get your boxes to Grandma’s house tomorrow, and we can chat then.” Kat’s pale blue mask cracked as she frowned. I pushed myself out of the chair, knowing I was being a terrible friend. “Have a good night.”

Once in the hallway the guards snapped back to attention and I repressed a sigh. I wasn’t actually tired, but I didn’t want to be with Kat and I didn’t want to go out. If Corbin and I were still friends, he’d entertain me. He wouldn’t leave me. Corbin was old enough he had done all of his changing. It was a pretty safe bet that in a hundred years, he’d be the exact same vampire he currently was.

I looked back at my guards, who sometimes felt more like captors. “I think I’ll call it a night. Why don’t you go to the kitchen and get something to eat?”

Of course they didn’t leave, so the three of us headed back to my room. If I wandered the hallways and corridors, they’d report it back to Cheney and he would worry. I didn’t know what had changed in the last thirty minutes but something had. I felt restless and smothered by the life that I’d chosen. Maybe it was the fact that once again I was treated like an unreliable outsider by two of the people I loved most: Cheney and Sebastian. Or maybe it was just because Katrina leaving suddenly felt very real. Whatever it was, the coldness in my chest continued to spread.

The sound of my door closing behind me echoed through my silent room. I strode to the window, anxiety making my heart pound. I rubbed at my chest, but my uneasiness only grew—and I couldn’t say why, which only made it worse. I had to calm down.

Forcing myself to take deep breaths, I focused my attention outside. Unlike the human world, here the sky was a velvety sable splattered with specks of heaven and the moon shone like the light of a door left ajar. It was as if the daylight was hiding beneath the cover of night. Lights still glistened and warmed the land, but they weren’t artificial. They were made from the soft illuminations of the fae that enhanced nature, but didn’t alter it, thus never tinted the sky pink like electricity did. The flipside of this soft, natural light, however, was deeper, more threatening shadows—darkness so deep in places that anyone or anything could hide. Even with that grim thought though, my feet itched to be running free through the darkness. Anything to not be cooped up in here.

My eyes trained on a particularly black shadow that almost appeared empty of life rather than obscuring it from sight. I imagined a rabbit hopping into the shadow and falling down, down, down, down, down, never hitting the bottom, just free falling forever because that was what it was like living in the darkness—a constant fall with nothing to hold on to.

With that image playing over and over in my mind, a single thought began its cancerous spread. The darkness wasn’t empty. Something lurked in that bleak shadow, something base and pernicious. It watched me too, sizing me up to see if I was worthy of the fight that was coming.

A sharp knock on my door snapped me back to reality. I took a second to look outside. Once again, the shadows were just shadows. I tried to laugh off the lingering feeling of dread as I went toward the door, but couldn’t quite manage. My heart still beat too fast and icy fear gripped me tight.

“Yes,” I said, opening the door.

“Pardon the interruption, your majesty.” A stiff-voiced, unfamiliar guard bowed before me. “The vampire has been sighted in the garden.”

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get them to just call me Selene. “Thank you. I’ll come at once.”

I went to my closet and fetched a velvet cape with a white fur lining. Corbin’s presence could only mean one thing. Something terrible had happened. I followed the trio of guards down the corridor, but stopped them at the exterior door.

“It’s better if I talk to him alone.” Three pairs of eyes fell to mine, and I sensed their reluctance to allow me outside alone. Cheney would have told them not to leave me, but technically he didn’t out rank me. Cheney and I were equal. I sighed. “Very well. You may come as far as the garden, but you mustn’t step foot inside it unless it appears I need help. Agreed?”

“Yes, your majesty.”

I permitted them to step outside first and make sure it was safe. It was their job and as Cheney kept reminding me, if I didn’t let them do their job I robbed them of their usefulness. I had, of course, argued that their “usefulness” robbed me of my freedom—but no one really seemed to care about that. When they gave the okay, I transported immediately.

Corbin had allowed himself to be seen in the garden because he wanted to meet with me, but he wouldn’t still be there. Corbin and I always met in the same spot. I reappeared in the maze and there he was on the bench, short white hair sparkling like frost in the moonlight. The urge to hug him fluttered within me and for the first time that night I felt energized and light.

He sucked in a breath when he saw me, and a moment of peace crossed his face until he scowled it away. Despite myself, I was happy to see him too. I sat down next to him, but he stood up and bolted away from me in a flash.

“Corbin?”

“You are ravishing as ever,” he purred. His eyes were always black, but as he started back toward me with jerky, slow movements, they darkened even further until they matched the shadow I watched from my room.

“Corbin?” I said again with a hint of warning.

He stopped as if he’d slammed into a wall. “Perhaps you should run, pet.”

Selene’s huge golden eyes blinked, but she didn’t budge. All the better. A sudden movement from her would have made the battle against the aching, demanding hunger growing like a beast inside of me impossible to ignore.

My desire for her was constant. It teased and taunted without mercy. A taste was never going to be enough. I wanted all of her. Another wave of hunger hit. It would be so easy to finish this and claim her as my own, but that was in direct opposition to my own survival. She would destroy me.

Alone in the dark, that hardly mattered. Her smell danced in the air between us, marvelous, mouthwatering and sweet. The exciting, lustful appeal of her life force pulsed toward me. I fought my limbs as they rebelled toward her. How had I ever gotten used to this creature sitting before me? Absence had only made it worse.

She stood slowly, but didn’t walk away. Instead she approached one even step at a time, until she could easily touch me if she wanted. My hand shot up to grab her and I jerked it back down, but my feet continued forward. Her cape brushed against my shirt and the warmth of her skin heated mine. The world around us trembled—or maybe it was just me.

She smiled slightly and reached up to stroke my hair. “Why does it glisten?” Her voice was low and soft as the darkness surrounding us, blending in because she was part of it. She couldn’t see it, but she belonged to the moon, the night. We were her home in the same way the way her husband belonged to the light.

Anger exploded in my chest, ripping away the softer feelings. “I’m not a toy. You can’t pull my string when it suits your mood.”

Her smile vanished as she shook her head and blinked back the hurt. “I’ve never thought that.”

“We had an agreement, and I have honored it—but if you change the rules now, I won’t continue to. I have allowed you to leave me. I have told no one about you. Do not test my resolve, pet. I assure you, it is weak.”

Her eyebrows knit together. “I didn’t—” Her lips pouted. “Why are you here?”

Confusion dripped down my spine. She honestly didn’t know. The pull had been so strong this time, I was certain... I went still as death, perhaps dying again. She was my purgatory. “You missed me. You wished I was here. You longed for the dark. I felt it.”

She sucked in a breath between her teeth. “I—” Her lips pressed together, fucking sympathy swimming in her eyes. “Corbin, I’m so sorry. I was just having a moment. Feeling sorry for myself. I didn’t mean—”

Her words cut like blades but they were welcome. Pain always was. “Happily ever after isn’t as fun as you thought, is it?” I stepped around her and went back to the bench more in control, thanks to the chilling effect of being humbled by my own desire yet again. Now that I was here I didn’t want to leave. “You might as well tell me what’s bothering you. How has Prince Charming failed to live up to the mark?”

Her gaze faltered. “Cheney hasn’t done anything.”

“Of course not. He’s perfect in every way.” I raised an eyebrow and she averted her eyes. “So why, pet, if you are still madly in love, are you missing the likes of me?”

She rubbed her stomach and frowned, then sat down next to me. “I’m not.”

Elf, human, or witch, whatever she chose to be, there was one constant facet in Selene’s identity: she compulsively lied to herself. Instead of seeking and establishing who she truly was, she strove for who she
wanted
to be. “Then the question remains, why am I here?”

She took a deep breath, then stood and paced the area in front of me. I waited as she tried to reason herself into submission. “Everything is changing. The election is coming, Kat’s leaving, Jess is still gone, and—” She gestured at her stomach.

She looked regal with her cape, satiny smooth dark hair, and skin so golden and fine it was luminous. She sounded small and timid, though—two things Selene never was. “So?”

“I’m scared.” Her voice was little more than a hushed breeze.

I had to be missing something. This was the girl who voluntarily died so she could go to purgatory and then not only got herself through it, but she helped me too. “What exactly are you afraid of?”

She tried to speak several times before she could. “I should go back inside.”

I caught her arm. “Do you honestly imagine you could say anything that could shock me?”

Tears spilled from her eyes. “I haven’t told anyone this, but…” Her small hands clenched into fists at her side. “I’m scared of the baby.”

Her agony tasted bitter in my mouth. Her fear wasn’t something that could be eliminated nor was it something I could understand. Was there something wrong with it? She took ahold of my shirt, crunching the fabric as she clung to me.

“You have my undivided attention,” I said. The fine strands of her hair fluttered in my breath.

“Selene?” a woman’s voice called out frantically. “Are you out here? Selene?”

The change was nearly instant. She released me and vanished.

Seconds later her voice shouted from beyond the maze. “Corbin—Corbin, please come quick.”

I looked in the opposite direction. I wasn’t a hero. I wasn’t a good guy. I sure as fuck wasn’t getting anything out of being one. She chose Cheney. He could deal with whatever crisis was befalling her this time. I left the way I came. I didn’t run, but I took the luxury of walking through the shadows until I was off the castle grounds and heading into the town just outside of the gates that were meant to keep people like me, and everyone else, in our place.

A small, agitated crowd had formed by the gate around two struggling human women. The one with long blond hair strained against the hold the other one had on her, while four elves knelt behind the women unmoving. I slipped back into obscurity and circled toward the castle wall to better watch the show, curiosity piqued.

I drew up short when I recognized them: Jessica and Leslie, members of Selene’s coven and now the perpetrators of her current chaos. Crossing my arms over my chest, I leaned against the wall. Things were getting interesting. The castle gates opened and Selene, Katrina and a slew of guards stepped out.

Selene’s fury vibrated in the air and her splayed fingers crackled with magic. “Let. Her. Go.” No trace of earlier weakness. She blazed forth looking exactly like what she was, Queen of the Fae, beautiful and deadly.

“Or what? You’ll kill us both?” Jessica tightened her grip on Leslie and smiled wickedly. “But you won’t do that, will you? You’re weak or you would have come after me months ago.”

Selene flicked her wrist and Leslie screamed as Jessica wound her fist tighter in her hair, holding her in place despite the kinetic force of Selene’s blow.

“That’s not part of the game, my friend. Cheaters never win—except for you. How many times have you cheated? Life, death, on Cheney? Lines are meant to be crossed, aren’t they, Selene.” A small crowd formed around them.

“You’re not Jessica. I don’t know who you are, but I will find a way to kill you.” Selene’s glare could have melted the sun.

“We shall see,” Jessica said softly before her voice rose again. “Today, however, we’re playing a game. It’s very simple and I’m sure you can follow. It’s called
Get to Know Selene.
” Jessica dragged Leslie to the left, exposing the line of kneeling elves as another dark-haired woman stepped out of the crowd and came to a stop behind them. “I ask a question and you answer it—or one of these people will die. Are you ready? If you try to cheat—something we all know you’re good at— we’ll kill them all.”

Selene’s face was hard and elf-like as she looked on, giving away no emotion.

“Let me give you an example. I could ask you something like ‘Are you still bound to a vampire?’ and then you would say...” She made a come-on gesture with her hand.

Selene’s shell didn’t crack and she didn’t respond at all. Jessica nodded to the pretty, brunette behind the elves, and she reached around the female on the end and dragged a blade across her neck.

Everything went silent as death.

Jessica smiled. “See? You were a little slow to pick up on the rules. Good thing we had an example. Do you understand now?”

Selene nodded. “You won’t get away with this.”

“I already have,” Jessica fired back. “You won’t stop me even if you could. Let’s play. Is it true that you plotted with the King’s bastard son to kill both him and Cheney?”

Every face in the crowd turned to Selene and waited. After a few seconds Jessica nodded to her associate again.

“Wait,” Selene said, stepping forward. “Stop. I will answer.”

The dark haired girl looked to Jessica again who held up her hand. “Go ahead then.”

“No,” Selene said firmly. “I never planned to kill Cheney. I have always loved him.”

The corner of Jessica’s mouth ticked. “Hmmm, technicalities.” She tapped a finger against her chin. “But the judges will accept the answer. Congratulations, you’ve made it to the bonus round.”

“Where you release the hostages and face me one on one?”

“Not exactly. In today’s bonus, you get to choose whom to save. You can rescue one coven member or the rest of the elves. Whichever one you choose, the other will die. I’ll give you a moment to decide.”

Selene couldn’t charm or bullshit her way out of any of this. She had already been devastated by her other friend’s death, but if she didn’t choose the elves she could kiss her position and the castle goodbye. What would she do? Judging by everyone’s expressions, I wasn’t the only one curious.

Her chin raised and her face relaxed. She had a plan. “No more games. You will release them all, or I will kill you where you stand.”

“Oh, will you now?” Jessica shoved Leslie aside, releasing her entirely. Then she said something I couldn’t hear and Leslie froze like the elves. “Prove it. Kill me now and everyone goes free. All of this ends. It’s the only chance I will give you. Free shot.”

It should have been easy. Selene should have stepped up and killed the witch, but she didn’t move, not right away. Her chest heaved then she stepped forward, raising her hand. “I’m sorry,” she said, releasing a bolt that hit the other woman dead center.

Jessica laughed. “You’re going to have to try harder than that.” She blasted her own red ball of energy at Selene.

Selene blinked and shook her head, as the energy exploded around her, but not on her. She hit Jessica again with a larger, heavier bolt, but still she laughed.

“That one may have made my hair staticy. Maybe you’re not as strong as you would like everyone to believe. Still, you’d think the person who walked down into purgatory and took the Pole of Charon would be strong enough to kill one little human witch.”

Jessica’s companion threw her knife with such speed and precision there was no way Selene could have dodged even if she had been paying attention—which she wasn’t. I moved from the shadows just as the knife bounced off her stomach and clattered to the ground. What in the hell just happened? Selene blinked and the knife flew back at its owner, impaling her left shoulder.

Jessica sniffed the air. “Or maybe it’s the child. It’s draining you. You look tired—and there’s the distinct odor of weakness in the air. ”

The crowd whispered.

Jessica stared at Selene’s stomach thoughtfully. “I’m surprised you wanted children. You’ve always been a bit selfish and preoccupied. I mean you’re the last person who should be a mother, if we’re being honest. We’ve all said it—oh, maybe not to your face, but the truth has always been there. Even you must have thought it. You know how you get. Unreasonably jealous of anyone receiving more attention than you.”