The Outcast Prince (12 page)

Lydia closed her eyes, and after a couple of seconds she opened them. “You’re still there.”

“I’ve been here all night, keeping the imps away from you two,” Dylis snapped. “This was not a good idea.” She pointed her finger at Caspian.

Dylis wasn’t going to forgive him for a while. Generally fairies weren’t supposed to reveal themselves unless they were blending into human society. Dylis couldn’t do that as she was supposed to be his guardian in secret. No one was supposed to know he was important enough to have a guardian. Now Lydia did, even if she didn’t understand what he was telling her.

“You were talking to her?” Lydia took a step forward.

“She woke me to tell me about the mirrors in the hope that I could reason with the Grey that put them there and get rid of them before you got up.” He really needed a second cup of coffee for this conversation.

“But I got up too early. You weren’t going to tell me.” Her gaze lifted from Dylis to him, her dark eyes full of suspicion instead of heat and longing.

“I thought about telling you I was fairy last night, but it’s not easy to say and even harder to hear. If not for Dylis, would you have believed me?”

She bit her lower lip, her gaze sliding around the kitchen as if she were looking for more fairies.

“There’s no one else here at the moment.” He hoped that sounded reassuring.

“But last night…” Her eyes widened as she began putting together what she’d heard last night and what he’d just told her about there being Greys in the house.

“There were two imps and a boggart making trouble. Nothing I couldn’t handle.” Dylis tapped her sword. “They weren’t here to hurt you.”

“They were here because of you.” Lydia looked at him, still wary.

“Yes. The Grey is trying to force me to find a powerful mirror for him.”

“With your psychometry.” She paused. “So why not just find it and be done with it?”

That was why it was best that humans didn’t know about fairies. They’d make deals without understanding the consequences. If Shea turned up, he’d trick Lydia out of her soul and then use it as a bargaining tool—it’s what he’d do if he were in Shea’s place. And he knew in that moment he’d do whatever Shea asked to keep her safe.

He had to make the deal to protect Lydia from Shea and his band of Greys, even if Lydia wasn’t sure about accepting the fact that he was half-fairy. She didn’t deserve to be drawn into his drama any more than she already was.

“I’m going to.”

“Caspian, be careful.” Dylis actually looked like she cared.

“Wait.” Lydia put her hand on his arm. “These Greys are bad news?”

“They are dangerous and will do anything to get back to Annwyn… back home.” He knew it was too much strange information, but at least she knew who he was.

“Is this your home?”

“I’m mortal. I was born here.” And he hoped to die here when he was old, but the odds of that happening were reducing. “But I am half-fairy so bound by their laws. Making deals with a Grey carries a penalty.”

Her grip tightened a fraction. “Then don’t do it.”

“He has to. Shea won’t stop until he does. It is better he makes it on his terms than being backed farther into a corner.” Dylis gave Lydia a look that indicated that she thought Lydia was a complication.

“Is that true?”

“Yes.” Maybe the deal he made wouldn’t be that bad. Maybe his father wouldn’t kill him for treason. Maybe Lydia would still want him to stay over after this.

He leaned in and placed a kiss on her cheek. She didn’t pull away, but she didn’t turn her head and place her lips against his either. Lydia released his arm and he walked over to the back door.

“Dylis, protect Lydia. Please.” He didn’t wait for an answer before he stepped onto the verandah.

The light was less bright now that the sun had moved, but it made the scene more chilling. It wasn’t just mirrors. The garden had been torn up. Pavers and grass had been upturned. Plants had been ripped from the ground and were scattered around. He walked down the stairs—even if he got rid of the mirrors there was still damage that needed fixing. And this was just the backyard.

He took a couple more paces and entered the forest of mirrors. His hand brushed the edges as he walked. Most were mundane. People checking hair, a house getting painted, children playing. His hand jerked back as blood splattered and someone died.

“Was that it?” Shea said from behind Caspian.

“No. The mirror witnessed a murder. A recent one.” And there was no one he could tell about it. Sometimes his gift sucked like that.

This time he noticed a half-dozen smaller banished fairies loitering like a gang waiting to be told to start something. Shea’s little band of helpers. What had he promised them in return?

He ignored them and took a deep breath, then kept going, letting the images wash over him instead of taking over. He got fleeting glimpses of a hundred different lives. They spun around and made him dizzy. He wasn’t used to filtering this much information at a time. Usually it was a couple of items, and spending time with each. He stopped and shivered, momentarily disoriented, and he still had the front yard to go. His stomach clenched on the coffee. He should’ve eaten breakfast. He needed to ground himself back in the mortal world instead of the past.

“Well?” Shea demanded like a passive-aggressive shadow that wouldn’t let up.

“None of these.” Caspian pushed the words through gritted teeth. He was cold, like he was standing in iced water. “Return them.”

Shea didn’t move. He looked shorter in the morning light and less ethereal. The magic was costing him. Caspian bit back the smile.
Burn
through
it
and
shrink
so
you’re nothing more than an ugly, little, powerless troll.
As soon as he thought it Caspian realized Shea probably had help gathering all the mirrors. He was a lord not used to doing anything for himself.

“I won’t do more if you don’t return them.”

“You agree to help?”

“I agree to nothing.” The sun on his back helped warm Caspian while looking at Shea froze whatever hope he had of pulling this off. Even if he touched all of the ones Shea had brought, there’d be more tomorrow and the next day and the next. Until he had the Counter-Window, then the location of the Window would be revealed.

Could he hold out and still protect Lydia? He knew the answer and didn’t like it. The longer he waited, the less advantage he had. But he wasn’t ready.

He walked on; again he trailed his fingers over the mirrors, but this time he tried to focus on the grass and dirt beneath his bare feet and the breeze on his skin, the simple things that would keep him in the present. When he’d finished all the ones in the backyard, he shook his head and began to walk around the house to where more mirrors waited in the front yard.

Shea snarled and stalked after him. “You seem to like blondes. It would be a shame if something were to happen to her; she is so mortal.”

Caspian turned slowly. “Leave her alone. She isn’t part of this.”

“But she is. The time you spend with her is time not spent finding the Window. And I have just begun to realize how many mirrors there are in the world now. Last time I spent any time in the mortal world they were a novelty of the rich. Now everyone has them.”

“I’m not here for Lydia. I’m here for a job. This is my livelihood,” Caspian said.

“That is not my concern. There are bigger things at stake than your livelihood. Or life.”

“My job is important to me.” And so was his life and Lydia. He was going to have to deal to stop the hostilities and stop Shea from ruining his life. No matter where he went Shea would follow. He didn’t want the Greys making more trouble for Lydia.

“Help me and I’ll leave her alone,” Shea said.

Caspian shook his head. He didn’t want to be in a deal that said he was helping a Grey. The wording of a deal was everything. If he botched even one word, he wouldn’t live too long to regret it. It had to sound like he wanted to help, but without promising to hand the mirror over… and even then he was counting on Shea not adding clause after clause and binding him up so tight he had no wriggle room.

He found the words he wanted then spoke clearly and slowly so there could be no mistake. “I will find the Window.” Give the Grey what he wanted first. “In exchange call off your Greys and cease the petty pestering.”

Shea blinked, his pale eyes assessing. “I will stop harassing as long as you are helping. You will check every mirror I bring to you.”

“You will return them to where you found them—except the Window, should I find it.” Caspian waited for Shea to tighten the terms.

“You swear not to lie?”

That was a bit vague; he might need to lie to Shea at some point… actually, he could see himself definitely lying to Shea. An honesty clause was a bad idea. “I will tell you if I find a fairy-made mirror.”

His heart was beating a little too fast. He wanted this over. Already the deal was getting more complex than he wanted.

Shea grinned, cold and victorious. “If you fail to find the Window, Lydia’s soul is mine.”

There wasn’t a chance in hell he was agreeing to that. “I have a year and a day to find the mirror. Then you get
my
soul.” Assuming of course he lived that long.

“No. One turn of the moon. Then your soul is mine.”

One month. Was that long enough? He hoped Dylis was as close as she claimed to getting the Counter-Window. That was a clever clause. Even if he failed to find the Window, Shea could use his soul to bribe his way back to Annwyn—assuming his father the Prince cared enough to let that happen. That was a gamble they were both taking.

“I accept.”

“A bargain is struck.” Shea inclined his head.

For a moment Caspian didn’t move. That was it.

There was no peal of thunder or flash of lightning. Just the cold surety that he’d made a deal with a banished fairy. If that didn’t get the attention of the Court, nothing he did would. He knew in his near future he would be called upon to attend. At least the deal had been reasonably favorable, while there was a time limit he hadn’t actually offered to hand the Window over to Shea once found. Before he could sigh with relief while in view of Shea, he turned and walked toward the house.

Caspian appeared to be talking to someone out in the yard, but Lydia couldn’t see the other person or hear the conversation. This was just too weird. If not for the fairy peeking out of the window with her, she would have discounted everything Caspian had said. She almost had. That awful feeling that she’d slept with a stranger, a man she didn’t really know, and that he was delusional had filled her with dread.

That he was actually half-fairy and could see things she didn’t wasn’t much better. It was too far-fetched. And yet how else did she explain the mirrors, and the noises… even Caspian’s psychometry?

She glanced at Dylis, wanting to reach out and touch her to make sure she was there and not some kind of shared hallucination.

“You don’t have wings.”

Dylis turned her head and gave her a glare that was far more threatening than it should’ve been from someone her size. “Fairies don’t have wings; that was some dumb human’s idea.”

“Sorry.”

“Just because Caspian made me reveal myself doesn’t mean we are friends. I have a job to do. And so does he. If he screws up, we’re all in the river.”

“What river?”

Dylis hissed. “One problem at a time. I’m watching Shea to make sure he doesn’t do something shifty.”

They both went back to watching Caspian. Dylis stiffened next to her but said nothing. Then Caspian turned and walked toward the house, his lips pressed into a thin line. He walked into the kitchen and closed the door.

“I need something to eat.” He closed his eyes and kept his hands by his side, his fingers flexing and curling.

Lydia watched him for a moment.

Dylis snapped her fingers. “Food. He needs to ground himself after using all that magic.”

That got Lydia moving. Food she could do. In the freezer was a half-loaf of bread. She pulled out a couple of slices and shoved them into the toaster. While she was waiting she made two cups of coffee, then she remembered the fairy.

“Coffee, Dylis?”

“Tea, since you asked.”

What was she going to put that in? She looked through the cupboard and settled on a smallish teacup that was still far too big.

“A good deal?” Caspian asked, but he wasn’t speaking to her. He was talking to his fairy.

“Brilliant. I couldn’t have done better. Except for your soul you could be fairy.” Dylis sounded like a proud mother. Except she wasn’t Caspian’s mother. No, his father was fairy… which meant his mother was human. She looked at Dylis’s tiny size. How did that work?

“That probably won’t be a problem for long.”

“Don’t be like that. You’ll like Court.”

Caspian snorted.

Lydia handed him the coffee. “How much trouble are you in?”

“It’s hard to say; it depends on how things play out.” He looked at her, his eyes full of things he wasn’t saying.

She wasn’t sure she wanted to ask. How much did she want to get involved? Or was it too late for that?

The toast popped and she put butter and honey on it before giving the plate to Caspian. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

He finished his mouthful of toast and took a drink of coffee before answering. As he ate he looked better, less like he was struggling to focus. “No. Shea will leave you alone now. A fairy’s word is good.”

“So what do I do?” Her yard was full of mirrors, there had been invisible fairies scampering through her house last night, and she couldn’t do anything even though she knew they were there.

“The best thing you can do is pretend that you know nothing about fairies,” Dylis said. “That way you won’t engage with them and accidentally make a deal that will undo what Caspian has done.”

“Right…” She was going to ask why bother telling her about them, but then she realized Caspian really had no other choice; she’d been ready to throw him out and call the cops. “But Shea will know that I know. Won’t he?”

Caspian finished his toast and coffee. “Let’s hope not.” He glanced out the window then back at her. “All my life I’ve had to pretend I don’t see them, that I’m no different than any other human. It’s hard and I didn’t want to place that burden on you. You have the luxury of not being able to see them or hear their voices unless they choose. It will be easier. I’m sorry.” He shook his head and looked at the floor. “Maybe it was a mistake getting involved with you.”

“No. You would’ve told me eventually, wouldn’t you?” But she already knew he’d never told his ex, not even about the psychometry.

“I have more mirrors to check out front. Shea will return them once I am done.”

“Caspian,” she waited until he turned back to face her, “would you have told me what you are if this hadn’t happened?” If he said no, could she still trust him when he was hiding such big secrets? What else could he be hiding?

“I got halfway there last night. That’s more than I’ve ever told anyone. I wanted to tell you, so you would know me, but now I feel selfish. Now you have to live with the burden of that knowledge.”

“I won’t tell anyone.”

He gave her a halfhearted smile. “I know you won’t. Who are you going to tell? Who would believe you?” He shrugged and she had an inkling of what his life was like. No one knew about his magic, no one knew he was seeing things they couldn’t. No one knew him. Not even his ex-wife.

Her heart ached for him, so alone, half in another world and half here and belonging nowhere. And yet he’d used what he had and made a good life for himself. He’d begun to let her in, and she had to live up to that.

“Can I do anything to help?” She forced a smile and tried to feel more confident than she did. The world she knew had just taken on another shadow.

Caspian shook his head.

“I’ll give her a basic education.” Dylis walked to the edge of the counter, leaving her tea behind.

“Thank you.” Then Caspian walked out of the kitchen. She heard the front door open but not close.

Lydia turned her attention to Dylis. “So, what do I need to know?”

Dylis grinned, a feral toothy smile that made her light blue eyes seem as cold as hail. Then she grew and didn’t stop until she was the height of a human. She leaned on the counter and looked Lydia in the eye. Lydia stepped back, her skin cold and plucking up in gooseflesh.

“Number one, looks can be deceiving.” Dylis picked up the teacup and took a sip.

Lydia began to feel like she was out of her depth already.