Stay (21 page)

“Why not use your fairy magic?” Tuck asked.
“I have never seen anyone as powerful as the two of you.” He
gestured toward Jenna then looked back at me.

“The queen has fairy magic too.” I started to
say.

“Not like yours.” I looked up to see Brokk
looking intently at me. “You are a direct descendant of the royal
blood line. No one else should have magic as strong as yours.”

I looked at Jenna, studying her hard. “Jenna
does.” I stated.

She looked surprised. “No, not like yours
Callie.”

“I have watched you train, Jenna. Your magic
is every bit as strong as mine.”

“
How can that be?” Brokk asked as he
eyed Jenna.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”
She said defensively.

“Jenna, you do have an affinity for all of
the elements.” Tuck said gently. “It is a very rare occurrence, but
it is something that you should be proud of.”

“I’m sorry.” Jenna was shaking her head. “I
just don’t understand how that could be. I mean, I know that I can
use all of the elements, but I am nowhere near as powerful as
Callie. You have seen her. You know how strong she is.”

“I also know how strong you are.” Tuck smiled
as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her to him.

Everyone was quiet for a while. I was willing
to bet that we were all thinking about the same thing. If I was
this powerful because of my bloodline, where did Jenna’s power come
from?

That was a mystery that would have to be
solved at another time, right now, we needed to prepare for a
fight.

“Jenna, do you think that between the two of
us we can do this?” I asked her.

“Yes, I think that we can handle it. We will
need to stay together, we would be more lethal that way.”

“What will we be doing?” Brokk asked as he
peered up to me with his gorgeous sapphire eyes. “We can not just
sit here and do nothing.”

“We will fight until we have to use magic.” I
said. “But I don’t think you are up to it Brokk. You still need to
recuperate from your last run in with the Guard.”

“I am fine.” He said as he struggled to his
feet. He winced a little but quickly straightened himself to prove
that he was okay. “I will not let you go in there without me.”

“He’s right.” Tuck said. “We need all of the
help we can get, even with the magic.”

I looked at Brokk. He was still a little
bruised but he was pulling himself together pretty quickly. That
still did nothing to stop my heart from skipping a beat each time
that I saw him try to hide his pain. What other choice did I have?
We did need him.

“Okay.” I said. “But we will all stick
together. I don’t want any of you getting hurt because of me.”

“These people deserve a fair and kind ruler.
This is for all of them. We can do this.” Jenna said. Her words
revealing the excitement that was starting to build for the
battle.

I nodded. “Let’s go.”

Chapter 22

We stood just outside of the tunnel door to
ready ourselves. This time we opened our wings. We may need them if
we wanted to win this fight. I wanted to use them to fly to the
palace but Tuck thought that it would draw to much attention too
soon.

This was the first time that I got to see
Brokk’s wings. During the rest of the times that I had spent with
him, I was still under my parents glamour spell.

I was in complete awe. His wings were large
and shimmering silver. They were outlined in a deep gold and they
were covered in gold scrollwork similar to mine.

I couldn’t help but wonder what that could
mean, but I did understand why my mother would agree that we should
marry. It was almost as if he were made for me.

As much as I hated to, I had to push those
thoughts from my mind. I had a battle to get ready for.

I pulled my sword around so that it was
hanging at my side. I could easily reach across my body and pull it
out if I needed to.

I followed Tuck and Jenna into the deserted
streets and Brokk was not far behind me. He was still limping and
he was apparently having trouble keeping up. I slowed my pace a
little so that he would still be able to see me, but I still kept a
close eye on Jenna and Tuck.

I watched as the pair ducked back into the
shadows. Jenna had turned and jerked her head, signaling me to take
cover. Brokk must have saw it too because he grabbed my hand and
pulled me in to a dark alleyway. He placed himself between me and
the street blocking me from the guard that strolled whistling
by.

Thankfully, he did not even look our way as
he passed, but we waited a few more minutes just in case.

Brokk held me to him with one arm around my
back as he watched over his shoulder for the guard. I took in a
deep breath and closed my eyes as his honeysuckle and wood scent
left me heady. I opened my eyes to find Brokk staring down at me
with a sly smile on his face. I gave him a stern look, but that
only made him smile wider.

“Callie.” He whispered softly against my ear.
“Before we go any farther there is something that I need to
do.”

I looked at him inquisitively for a moment as
his eyes held mine. He tilted his head slightly and I felt like my
heart would leap right out of my chest. He reached up and took the
back of my head into his hand as he gently pulled me forward. He
firmly pressed his lips to mine.

I resisted and tried to pull away but he held
me in place. I opened my eyes to find that I was staring straight
into his. I froze as I felt a flood of emotion start to fill me and
tears started to swirl against my eyelashes. I found it impossible
t resist him any longer, so I reached up and locked both of my arms
around his neck and kissed him back.

It started out soft and sweet but soon a
desperate passion ignited between us both. I opened my mouth
slightly and allowed him to explore further with his tongue as I
did the same in turn.

The kiss grew deeper by the second and I
struggled to breath, but I did not want to let him go. He lowered
his arms to my hips and I responded by pulling myself up and
wrapping my legs around his waist. I felt as if I could not get
close enough to him. Right then at that moment I never wanted to be
anywhere else in the world.

“Uh, hey.” I heard a soft voice say.

I pulled back from Brokk and peered over the
top of his shoulder to see Tuck and Jenna staring at us from the
end of the alley. Suddenly I remembered where I was and why I was
here. I felt an instant heat flood my face and I was sure that I
must have turned ten shades of red.

I looked back to Brokk who was smiling once
again. He placed one more soft kiss on my lips then I untangled my
legs from him and he lowered me back down on my feet.

“We’ll be right there.” Brokk called. “Just
give us a second.”

“Okay, well hurry up.” Jenna said. She and
Tuck slipped back into the shadow on the street.

Brokk looked back at me. “Callie, I am sorry
but I thought that this may have been my last chance to set things
right. I did not want to leave this earth without ever even have
kissed you. I just wish that I had done it sooner. Maybe you
wouldn’t have kissed that Kailen guy if I had.”

I rolled my eyes. He was trying to be sweet,
but the guy in him was shining through. “Brokk, I am sorry about
Kailen. I wish that I never would have even met him. But I can
promise you one thing, he never kissed me like that.”

He smiled and his chest swelled with pride. I
had to roll my eyes again. Typical guy. He grabbed my hands and
placed one more kiss on the top of my forehead. Then he reached
over and to my surprise, he stuck his hand into the pocket of my
blue jeans and pulled out the ring.

“How did you know that was there?”

“I couldn’t miss that lump against your
leg.”

His smile widened and he slid the ring back
onto my finger.

“I know that we can’t talk about everything
that happened right now, but I do love you Callie. Will you please
wear my ring?”

Tears once again. I just couldn’t help
myself. I swear I did nothing but cry anymore.

“Of course I’ll wear your ring.”

He kissed me again. Slow and deep as he
picked me up by my waist.

“Are you ready?” He asked hesitantly.

“Let’s go kick some butt.”

We rounded the corner onto the street and
found Tuck and Jenna waiting for us in the next alley. The two guys
led the way this time and Jenna followed along beside me.

“What was that all about?” She asked leaning
in to me.

“I don’t know. Something just came over me. I
could not stop myself.” I said with a giggle.

“Will you ever learn?” She laughed and so did
I as I shook my head no.

I looked up to find that we were getting
close to the palace. This is where things were going to start
getting tricky. The guards would be more concentrated in this area
in order to protect the queen.

I stared up at the tall white turrets, my
palms we starting to sweat. I rubbed my hands together in an effort
to help me concentrate on what I needed to do.

If we tried to take out the Guard right now,
they would alert the queen and her personal guards and she would
probably flee. But if I tried to go straight for the queen there
would be too many guards coming to her rescue that we would have to
fight. There was no easy way to do this.

“Let’s just try to get as far as we can
before we start trying to take anybody down.” I said.

“Okay, nobody do anything until they
absolutely have to. The closer we are to the queen, the better.”
Jenna instructed.

Everyone agreed and we pushed forward. We
made it all the way up the front marble stairs when suddenly the
large wooden door flew open and Bree stepped out.

She looked to me and then at Brokk as if
trying to ascertain what was going on. “What are you doing here?”
She asked, bewildered.

“Bree,” Brokk said. “I want you to go
straight to your room and lock the door. Do not come out until I
come for you.”

“What are you talking about Brokk? I just
helped you escape. This is about her isn’t it?” She nodded toward
me, sounding angry.

“Bree, you just need to do as I ask.” He
insisted.

“Why? Why do you have to keep doing things to
anger the queen. You just keep getting yourself hurt Brokk!” She
was starting to sound desperate.

Tuck and Jenna looked at each other and then
turned to look back at me. I was not sure what to say or do. Bree
had always been the one to help me when I was locked away here, but
I never got the impression that she really liked me. I always felt
like it was a chore for her. Now I was beginning to wander what her
relationship was to Brokk.

“Brokk, if she is not going to listen to you,
then we need to lock her up ourselves.” Tuck motioned toward
Bree.

Brokk spun to face Tuck. His anger showed on
his face. His nostrils flared, his body grew rigid. I moved to
place myself between the two of them, holding my hands up to
Brokk.

“You will not touch her!” He growled.

“Brokk!” I said desperately. “Nobody wants
Bree to get hurt. It would only be to protect her.”

His eyes met mine and I could see him begin
to calm instantly.

“I won’t let anything happen to her. I
promise.” I said to him more quietly.

He nodded and turned to face Bree. “Please
Bree, let’s go up to your room.”

She looked at each of us and then nodded to
Brokk. He took her by the elbow and led her inside. They walked to
the top of the stairs and into what used to be my old room. I
waited at the bottom of the stairs with the others.

I heard a door close and then a click as the
lock was turned. Brokk appeared at the top of the stairs looking
forlorn. I met him halfway as he descended the stairs. I took his
hand and looked deeply into his eyes for a moment. I still couldn’t
figure out why he got so angry.

“She’s going to be okay, Brokk.” I
whispered.

He nodded in acknowledgement. We moved
through the palace toward the queen’s sleeping quarters. I found
myself a little surprised that we had not run into any of the
guards by then.

“Something is not right.” I whispered to
Brokk.

“I sense it too. The palace was surrounded by
guards when I tried to get in earlier.”

We made it to the door of the queen’s
chamber. I pressed my ear to the door but I was not able to hear
any sound coming from inside. I gently tried to turn the knob but
it was locked.

“I’ll kick it in.” Whispered Tuck. He drew
back and with one hard thump of his shoulder the door flew
open.

We rushed inside with Jenna and me in the
lead. Tuck and Brokk stood on either side of the door. Brokk
reached up and flipped on the lights.

It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust
to the brightness after spending so long in the darkness of the
tunnels. I rubbed my eyes hard and looked up to find that we were
surrounded by at least thirty of the queen’s guards and she was
nowhere in sight.

“It was a trap!” Jenna exclaimed. “Somebody
must have warned them that we were coming!”

“It must have been the Drakes! Damn!” Tuck
said. He drew his sword as the guards closed in on us.

“What do we do Callie?” Jenna asked as two of
the guards rushed towards her.

I started to panic, everything was happening
so quickly that I barely had time to think. I held up my hands and
called to Erion, the spirit of the air. He was there in an instant.
I threw my hands forward and a strong gust of wind was sent into
the approaching soldiers. They flew backward and crashed into the
wall with a hard thud.

That took at least a third of them down, but
the rest pulled out their weapons. They looked ready to fight.
There was still too many, I had to try again. This time as I looked
to Erion, I spun my arm around in a circular motion. A few seconds
later a small funnel of wind appeared before me. I threw my arm out
toward the guards, and the funnel followed suit. It flew into the
soldiers and ripped the swords from their hands. I could see the
silvery glint of the weapons spinning around inside of the tube of
air.