The Emerald Staff (7 page)

“It is good to see you again, Faedra,” Anna
continued, her voice like velvet but with deadly undertones. She
held out her hand in a show of politeness for Henry’s sake.

Faedra looked at the proffered hand like it
was covered in cockroaches.

“Faedra, what on earth has gotten into you?
Stop being so rude, I brought you up better than that. Anna is my
guest and, as such, you will show her some manners.” Henry
chastised his daughter when he realized from the look on Faedra’s
face she would rather eat worms than shake his girlfriend’s
hand.

CHAPTER SEVEN

“It is alright, Henry, Faedra must have her
reasons. I imagine it must be hard for her to see you with another
woman after all these years.” Vivianna tried to make her voice
sound understanding, and to Henry’s ears it was, but all Faedra
could hear was the condescension that she knew was aimed at
her.

The young Custodian narrowed her eyes at her
mother’s murderer. If she didn’t get out of here straight away,
something bad was going to happen. She could feel herself losing
control of her power. Faen had already dropped her hand; she was so
electrically charged she’d shocked him. She admired the fact that
he didn’t even flinch, knowing the jolt must have hurt.

“Excuse me, I need some air,” Faedra said as
she pushed passed her father and Vivianna, and headed for the
exit.

“Faedra!” Her father’s voice was stern and
reprimanding.

“Not now, Dad.” Without so much as a
backwards glance, she tossed her words behind her with as much
insolence as she could muster.

“You better have a bloody good explanation
for your behavior, young lady,” Henry responded, quite taken aback
by how out of character his daughter was acting.

Faedra closed her eyes and dipped her head in
shame for a split second. She couldn’t remember the last time her
father had the cause to be angry with her, and angry enough to
swear either. Of course, she could not explain her obvious aversion
to his new girlfriend but that was the least of her worries right
now. As she picked up the pace to exit the room before she caused
irreparable damage to life and property, she could hear her
father’s flustered attempt at an apology on her behalf. Snorting in
disgust she lifted her head in indignation and kept on going. She
would never apologize to that woman even if her life depended on
it. Her anger was overwhelming. If she didn’t discharge some of her
energy soon she felt like she would explode, she was hanging onto
it by the skin of her teeth.

“Faedra wait, where are you going?” Faen had
stayed with her when she left, she could sense him behind her, but
he’d had the good sense not to get close enough to touch her. The
energy aura that surrounded her was bright blue now. Luckily, only
his fae eyes were sensitive enough to see just how much danger
everyone in the room was in.

“I need to get rid of some of this…” she
looked around to see if anyone was listening. They weren’t.
“Energy.”

She burst through the back entrance of the
pub and into a small courtyard. The cold wind from the storm
whipped around her. She welcomed the chill on her face but it did
little to calm the pulsing sensation flowing through every cell in
her body.

Faen followed her into the courtyard and
closed the door behind him. It took a few seconds for her eyes to
adjust to the dark, but when they did, she could see they were
alone outside. The occupants of the pub could be seen through the
windows that lined the back wall, but she doubted they could be
seen from inside. Faen stood a few feet away from his Custodian,
and Faedra could sense he was still a little nervous of the power
she was battling to control.

“If I can divert my energy away from this
hand, can you glamour us?” Faedra asked, holding out her right
hand. The warning tingle from her ring was weaker now that they
were further away from the danger, but even standing right next to
evil, Faedra had hardly noticed the ring’s presence, the force of
her own energy had been so great.

“Yes, but what do you plan to do?”

“If I don’t unleash some of this energy, I
think it will eat me alive. I can’t control it for much longer.
There’s a thunder storm, no one will notice a few extra bolts of
lightning.”

Faedra held her hand steady and closed her
eyes. She gritted her teeth and concentrated with all her might to
push the energy up her hand and above her wrist. When she was sure
that she would not shock her Guardian, she opened her eyes and
looked at him.

“It’s okay to touch me now, but please
hurry.”

Faen took a step forward and stretched out
his hand towards hers. He touched the tips of his fingers to hers
and made them both disappear from any stray human eyes that may be
watching.

“Okay,” he whispered.

It was not a moment too soon. Faedra reached
her left arm above her head and let go of her self-control.

Several bolts of lightning later Faedra
crumpled to the floor, her energy expended. Faen moved closer to
help her up. With his warm hands clasping hers, he pulled her up
off her knees.

“Are you alright?”

Faedra looked into his concerned blue eyes
and nodded. He sighed in relief.

“You had me worried for the first time in
twelve years. I have never seen you so… out of control. Are you
sure you are alright?”

Faedra was finding her voice at last. “I’m
fine, Faen, but I have to admit I frightened myself. I didn’t know
I could wield such a force.”

Faen continued to search out her feelings
through the gaze he lay upon her. He was not convinced, she could
tell. She attempted a weak smile to allay his concern.

“Honestly, I’m fine. Don’t worry.” She
touched a reassuring palm to his cheek and he leaned into it.

Faen planted a kiss to her forehead then
moved his hands to surround her and drew his Custodian into a
secure embrace, as though she were a lost child that had just been
found by her mother. He closed his eyes and laid another kiss on
her forehead.

Faedra soaked up the affection her Guardian
was giving. At that moment, the whole world could have disappeared
and she wouldn’t have cared. No such luck.

“Well, well, is this not a cozy scene?”

Faedra’s ring sent its usual warning tingle
through her hand. Her body went rigid in Faen’s embrace.

“I thought I might find you out here. It
would have been a shame if you had blown up this historic
establishment.” Vivianna moved out from the shadows where she could
be seen by the light pooling outside from the windows. Faedra
wondered how long she’d been standing there.

“What do you want?” Faedra snapped, as she
pulled out of Faen’s grasp and turned to face her enemy.

“You know what I want.” Vivianna’s voice was
satiny smooth but no less venomous.

“I don’t have the book anymore, it is back in
Azran being closely guarded. It’s too dangerous for me to be near
it, you know that.”

“My dear Custodian, you know it is not the
book I wish to procure from you.”

“What use is the amulet if you don’t have the
book? It’s of no use to you without it.”

“Now, there is no need to go worrying your
pretty little head about such minor details, that is my job.”

“I will never give you the amulet, I would
rather die first.” Faedra cringed at her words even as she said
them.

“Well, of course, you would. That is the only
way.”

Faedra shot an icy glare at the princess
standing across from her. She was trying to cover up how stupid she
felt about her previous retort.

“You know what I meant.”

“Let me make this easy for you, shall I? I
will give you one week to make the decision.” The evil glint in
Vivianna’s eyes made Faedra’s blood run cold. “You or Henry, it is
that simple.”

“You or Henry, what?” Henry said as he walked
out through the back door of the pub.

Faedra and Vivianna turned their attention to
the newcomer.

“What’s going on, Faedra?” Henry asked, a
wary look creeping across his features.

“Ah, Henry, how nice of you to join us.”
Vivianna’s sickly sweet demeanor returned.

“Dad, please go back inside.”

“No, Fae I won’t. Will someone please explain
to me what is going on out here?” Henry asked, looking from Faedra
to Faen to Vivianna, and back again, sensing the frosty standoff
between them.

“Yes, why don’t you tell my father what is
going on,
Anna
, or why don’t you tell him who you really
are.”

“If I am to reveal my true identity, I think
it only fair that your father does the same.”

Henry narrowed his eyes at Vivianna’s sudden
change in character.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Faedra shot
her father a puzzled look. “Dad?”

“Oh, Henry, you never told her?” Vivianna’s,
oh, so sweet voice would make scratching nails on a chalkboard
sound like a symphony.

“Tell her what?” He was starting to sound
exasperated.

“Faedra, darling. Henry is
not
your
father.”

Faedra’s face paled and a look of confusion
replaced the one of anger. “What are you talking about? Of course,
he’s my father.”

The young Custodian’s eyes widened in
disbelief as she watched her dad close his eyes and hang his head.
He didn’t even try to deny it, and blew out a sigh in a show of
defeat. When he looked up again an anguished expression clouded his
features.

Faedra went cold, icy prickles of panic ran
down her spine. She searched her father’s face but he was avoiding
her gaze.

“Dad? Why aren’t you denying it?” She could
barely get the words out, her throat felt like it had closed
up.

“I wanted to tell you. For so long I wanted
to tell you, but I’ve always thought of you as my own little girl,
and when your mother died, I just couldn’t ever find the words.
You’d already lost so much, I didn’t want to risk breaking your
heart even more. As you grew up, it got harder to tell you, until
eventually the lie became the truth, and I was content to leave it
that way.

You see, your mother was already pregnant
with you when we met and she made it sound as if your real father
were no longer living. I was happy to take you on as my own
daughter. I love you with all my heart, Faedra, that’s not a
lie.”

Henry brought his gaze to meet hers with his
last words, and looked her in the eye. Faedra was almost floored by
the sorrow and remorse she saw there, and took an involuntary step
back.

They stared at each other in awkward silence;
even though it was only for a split second, Faedra felt as if time
had stopped. How many times in one year could her world be turned
on its axis?

Vivianna broke the silence with her smooth
but deadly voice. Faedra hadn’t noticed the princess conjure the
ruby staff but she now had her long slender fingers wrapped around
it. She held her other palm out and mumbled something under her
breath. A small round object appeared in her hand and Faedra saw
her father’s eyes widen in disbelief.

“Here,” Vivianna said as she tossed the
pebble-like object to Faedra. Faedra caught it and laid it on her
open palm. It was a pebble but smooth as glass and black as onyx.
She looked up at Vivianna, confused.

“What is this for?”

“Make sure not to let it turn completely
red.”

Faedra narrowed her eyes at her foe. “Why?
What happens if it turns red?”

The princess gave a nonchalant shrug of her
shoulders. “Time is up.”

Vivianna took hold of Henry’s arm. His
expression changed to one of confusion when he turned to look at
Vivianna’s firm grip on him.

“You have one week, Custodian.” She rapped
the staff three times on the ground.

Faedra saw Henry’s expression change again,
to one of fear, as the tiny red laser lights encircled them and
they disappeared.

“NO!” Faedra lunged forward but it was too
late, they were gone.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Faedra stared for the longest moment at the
empty space where her father had just stood. The fear and confusion
on his face now etched into her mind. Her body went numb. It felt
like her brain had shut down, she couldn’t think of anything to do,
anything to say. No, this couldn’t be happening, not her father,
too. Where had Vivianna taken him? With the ruby staff they could
be anywhere, in any realm.

“Hey, you two, what are you doing out here?”
Jocelyn’s sing song voice cut through the silence in the darkened
courtyard. She looked from Faedra’s shocked face to her brother’s
dumbstruck expression, and her smile fell from her cheerful face.
The young fairy took a step closer to her friend when she realized
something was very wrong.

“Faedra? What happened?”

Faedra looked right through her, still
fixated on the space her father had occupied just a moment
before.

Jocelyn turned her attention to her brother
and questioned him with an expression. He didn’t need her to speak
the words to understand she was now directing the same question to
him.

“Vivianna took Henry.” Faen’s voice was
blunt, expressionless.

His younger sister responded with a sharp
intake of breath.

“With the ruby staff?”

Faen nodded.

Faedra’s consciousness started to creep back
with the sound of Faen’s words.

Vivianna took my father.
She looked at
Faen and Jocelyn as if seeing them for the first time.

Faen moved to rest a reassuring hand on her
shoulder, but the young Custodian looked down at it then up at him
with a dazed expression, and shrugged her shoulder away with a
vicious jerk. Her stunned gaze turning to a glare of hatred.

Confusion crept over Faen’s features, as cold
angry eyes stared up at him.