Tiddly Jinx (19 page)

Just then, Selene ran into the square, her mouth falling open at the sight of her friend. Immediately her hands went up and intense concentration settled across her face. The heat around me eased slightly, but it was still there. Selene moved toward Jessica, her fingers flexing and her cheek twitching. Jessica started to lower toward the ground, but the heat around me grew. Whatever Selene was doing, she wasn’t necessarily winning.

I waited until Jessica’s full attention was on Selene, then pulled my sword, took a deep breath, and launched myself at Jessica, whacking her on the back of the head with the hilt. She went slack and dropped to the ground, and the air cooled around me almost instantly. Selene and Sebastian ran the rest of the way to us.

“Are you okay?” she cried, throwing her arms around me.

“Let’s get her off the street.” I picked Jessica up and handed her to Sebastian. Blood was coloring the back of her head. “Take her back. To the dungeon.”

A soft child’s cry came from behind me. We all looked toward the noise, and I saw to my horror a pale-blue, somewhat lumpy and deformed looking infant with stark white eyes crawling toward us. Another cry came from the opposite direction and I turned to see another, then another. They kept coming until it became clear that soon we would be surrounded.

“Take her back, Sebastian, before she wakes up!” I urged again. He vanished with Jessica in his arms, and the remaining sweet, flowery smell in the outdoor air went with them, leaving only the stench of rot.

Selene and I stood back to back. “Do we kill them?” she asked, sounding as appalled by the thought as I was.

I reached toward one, and its mouth opened wide as it lunged at me. Scavengers. My sword seamlessly sliced through the small creature, and Selene followed suit. It didn’t take long to dispatch them.

“What in the hell was that?” she asked.

I was about to reply, but it was clear to both of us that, despite Selene’s question, another tear had been opened and all signs pointed to Jessica as having done it.

“I’m going to check on Jess,” Selene said.

I caught her arm. “The people are scared. She killed at least six.” I nodded toward the burnt circles remaining on the ground from where they had been standing before burning to death. Selene blanched, but nodded.

Slowly the people in the buildings began trickling out. Some went to the scorched earth and fell to their knees, silent tears streaming down their faces. Others stared at the strange corpses at our feet. Selene nudged all the bodies into a pile with her foot and covered them with her jacket. I held her hand a little tighter. When she was finished we went to each person and offered what condolences we could. The crowd began to murmur, then people started shouting out questions.

I held up my hand. “I’m not sure exactly what happened today, but the suspect has been apprehended and will be dealt with accordingly, I assure you. We must investigate and understand before we punish.”

“She wasn’t even fae,” someone yelled. “Why was she here? What are those creatures?”

“She is part of my coven,” Selene said. “She was here helping us, but something has happened to her. We will discover what it was and who did it, and they will be brought to justice.”

Unhappy chatter erupted throughout the crowd. “What was she helping with?” someone asked.

“A death curse was placed upon my family’s bloodline by my father. The witch helped me discover who made the curse and how to break it,” I said, and the crowd gasped. “She has been a friend to the fae.”

“So that excuses murder?” someone else shouted.

“No,” Selene and I said at the same time. “But it does give her the right to defend herself,” I finished. “It’s no more than I would give to each and every one of you. Please, go about your day, and care for those who have lost loved ones today. This is a tragedy for our people, and I mourn with you.”

“I’ve known her for years. I can tell you from the bottom of my heart she would never knowingly hurt anyone, especially our people. Please find within yourself the ability to withhold judgment until we know all the facts,” Selene added, her expression earnest and her eyes soft.

Slowly, people began to leave. I looked down at the pile at our feet. What were we supposed to do about them? More importantly, how were we supposed to find the tear in the middle of a crowded street, if the tear was even here in town in the first place?

Selene’s eyes narrowed, scanning the area and looking for the tear. After a moment, her breath caught. “There it is.” She pointed underneath the building across the street from us. It took me a moment to see it. There was a spot darker than the rest—an impenetrable darkness.

“I’ll wait here,” I told her. “Go back and get some guards.”

“We need to close it,” she said.

“We can’t.” There was no way anyone could cast a dark spell in the center of town. The people were already scared and suspicious. If we closed the tear now there would be rioting.

She disappeared. I pretended to look for clues and people continued to avoid me. Moments later she was back with three guards. One disposed of the bodies for us while I instructed the other two to guard the area and explained the small creatures that had attacked us the best I could. When the location was reasonably secure, Selene and I walked back to the castle.

I waited until we were through the gates before I spoke. “What happened to her?”

“I have no idea,” Selene said, worry thick in her voice. “I need to talk to her.”

“I tried when she was floating, but she wasn’t that responsive. I had the feeling that she recognized me, though.” I didn’t want to ask the one question on my mind. Was this what happened when a witch went dark? Jessica helped with one black magic spell, and suddenly she was attacking people in the town…attacking me.

“Why do you say that?”

“There was something in her smile. It was dark and sinister, but she knew me. I felt it.”

“Or whatever possessed her knew you.”

“Selene.” She wouldn’t look at me. “You have to consider that maybe the spell she did with Frost was too much for her.”

“No. That’s not possible. She’s fine. She was fine last night. Tired, but fine. I don’t understand—” She hit her hand against her forehead. “Frost!”

With that she ran into the castle, taking the stairs two at a time. When she got to the guest quarters she threw open the door to Frost’s room. “What did you do?” she yelled, approaching Frost’s bed.

Frost’s blonde head slowly came out from under the covers and she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “What are you talking about? What time is it?” She flopped back down.

I caught Selene around the waist before she could go after her. “I know you did something to Jessica. You conveniently missed our meeting this morning. What spell did you cast? Why are you so exhausted again?”

“You’re insane,” Frost said, scowling. “If someone has cast a spell on your friend, then look somewhere else. It wasn’t me.”

“I see you for what you really are,” Selene spat.

There would be no reasoning with her at this point. She was protecting what she loved with the fierce passion that she did everything, but when she was like this she wouldn’t listen to anyone. I took her out into the hall. I stuck my head back into Frost’s room. “I’m sorry. She’s…”

She shrugged. “She loves her friends. Can’t really fault that.”

“If you want to, I think we could use your help figuring out what happened.”

She hesitated. “I think it’s best if I kept my distance.”

I nodded and shut the door. Selene paced the hallway behind me. “She did it. I know she did it.”

“She didn’t look like someone who had been up and casting. We need to see Jessica. We need to consider the other possibility.”

She pressed her lips together in a vain attempt to hold back the tears. “Cheney,” her voice broke.

I put my arm around her and led her down the hall. “There’s no use getting upset over this until we know what’s happening.”

She nodded against me. We made our way down to the dungeon. Sebastian was waiting outside of her cell with a stoic expression on his face. He glanced over at us. “She’s still asleep.”

“I hit her pretty hard.”

Selene wrapped her fingers around the iron bar for a few seconds then released a breath. “I need to go inside.”

“No,” I said. “If she wakes up the way she was…” She leveled a particularly heartbreaking look at me. “I’ll check on her.”

She nodded, and Sebastian unlocked the door. I went to the small bed where Jessica was lying. I felt the back of her head where I’d hit her. There was a lump and a small gash, but no major damage. “Jessica,” I said, shaking her slightly.

Her eyes fluttered but did not open.

“Jessica.”

She groaned. “Why do you people always shout? My head...” She opened two completely normal eyes. “Where am I?”

She seemed to be alright, but I wasn’t ready to let my pregnant wife in the same room as her just yet. “What’s the last thing you remember?” I held her wrist like I was taking her pulse. Her skin felt cool to the touch this time.

“Last night. Selene gave me a tea to drink. She said it would make me feel better by morning…man, was she ever wrong. Why? What happened?” She blinked a few times then sat up. “Am I in the dungeon? What in the hell is going on? Where’s Selene?”

“I’m here,” Selene said from the other side of the door.

“What happened?” Jessica repeated.

“You attacked people in the town. I think you killed six,” I told her, stepping back.

Her mouth fell open. “Is this like a practical joke or something? Because it’s not funny.”

I swallowed against the dryness in my mouth. “I’m sorry.”

“But I didn’t…I couldn’t have…”

“It wasn’t you,” Selene said. “You were possessed. I’m sure of it. Now I just need to prove it.”

“Okay, well, let me out. I’ll help.”

I shook my head, watching her close for any indication she was faking. “We can’t. Not until we know what’s going on. It’s for your safety as well as the public’s.”

Her entire face fell. “You’re serious. You aren’t going to let me out.”

“I’m sorry,” I said again. Locking up one of Selene’s best friends wasn’t easy, but it was right. I wouldn’t have let any other offender go, and I’d promised I would treat her like I would treat everyone else. “But we’ll find who is behind this. I swear. I’ll also keep a guard with you at all times.”

“Selene, don’t let him to do this,” she pleaded.

Selene sniffled. “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice no more than a whisper.

I stepped out of the cell and Sebastian turned the key, the click echoing through the stone hallways. Sebastian volunteered to stay with her until a guard could make it down. Selene was too upset to do much of anything, so I walked her to our room. When I closed the door, I finally remembered the elves waiting for me in my office.

I headed back to them with more of a sense of obligation than anything else. “Gentleman, I apologize for keeping you waiting,” I said as I came back into the office.

Their unhappy grumbling stopped as I entered the room, but I still received a few scowls. Selene’s father, Tahlik, stood and gave me a half bow. “Erlking.”

“Tahlik. What can I do for you?” I wasn’t in the mood to play games.

He frowned. “I know you must be very busy, but we have come on what we feel is important business to all elvenkind.”

I waited for him to get on with it.

“We have an issue with you stepping down from the throne. The fae are in a state of upheaval as it is. We need the stability that you bring as our leader. A new ruler, elf or otherwise, would upset things. We think the whole alliance may fall apart if you leave.”

I had no idea what to say. This wasn’t what I thought would happen at all.

“Though incorporating a vote is a good idea, we have discussed matters and decided no other elves will be nominated to run against you. You have the support of our houses.”

I forced a smile. “Thank you. I am honored.”

“We have also heard rumors of an heir. Is that true?”

I nodded.

He smiled wide. “So I am to be a grandfather?”

I wasn’t sure Selene would see it that way, but technically it was true. I nodded again, then pressed on. “Was that all?”

“This last thing I feel sheepish even asking you.”

“Please go ahead.”

“There are rumors of a weapon that can raise the dead and allow the wielder to travel between worlds. Within all of these rumors, two people are mentioned more often than not. You and Selene. Obviously this is concerning for many reasons, but not the least of which is how much something like this can frighten the public and hurt your and my daughter’s campaign. Obviously we don’t believe this, so we came to have you deny these rumors. If there was even an ounce of truth to them, you would surely step down before one or both of you could be implicated and put on trial.”

Apprehension flashed in my mind. The public couldn’t know about the Pole being here and especially not who brought it. “If I had a weapon such as that, do you think I would be here talking with you now?” I laughed. “I would be off exploring those other worlds you spoke of.”

All the elves joined in my laughter, but a thin smile spread across Tahlik’s mouth while something other than humor glinted in his eyes. Strategy and political maneuvering weren’t new to me, but it wouldn’t take the others long to notice I didn’t answer their question. Tahlik gave the impression of someone who was shifting the pieces on the board exactly to where he wanted them before he made his move for checkmate. It was hard to say exactly what he wanted, but Selene was the way to get it from me. If the public found out, she would be in a cell right next to Jessica, awaiting death and I couldn’t stop it. We had to find who was talking about this and put an end to it before people started believing the stories they were hearing. Too many pieces were in the air and too many ends dangled in the wind to control. Two days might as well have been a thousand years. The secrets were starting to crumble around us.