Page 34 of Make Me Bee-lieve

Polina rises to her feet and, with some effort, unfurls her wings. I shield my eyes as the sunlight catches on her wings, which turn into brilliant sun catchers reflecting a dizzying array of rainbow light in every direction. Squinting, I drop my hand to the side to take in the full brilliance of her wings, and my mouth falls open.

“Wow…” I murmur. “So beautiful.”

I could stand here and stare at her for hours, just admiring her beauty. Unfortunately, we don’t have hours. We may not have minutes, or even seconds.

Polina’s smile is tight when she turns to me and extends her hand. “Come, Cal. I will take us to safety, but we must be quick about it.”

CALVIN

Itake her hand, and she yanks me hard against her chest. I’m surprised by her strength, but then again, I guess I shouldn’t be. Though she be but little, she is fierce. The adrenaline is probably turning her into a super bee right about now.

Without warning, she kicks off into the air, her brilliant wings buzzing so loudly my ears ring. Suddenly, we’re high in the sky, shooting for the clouds. When I look back down—a rookie mistake—the hive is already the size of a dollhouse as we soar through the sky.

We slice through the air, back and forth, in erratic movements that make my brain turn to gelatin. And when you’re going as fast as we are, it doesn’t matter if it’s the Sahara Desert or the inside of an oven—it’s going to be a brisk ride. I shiver against her body as she hugs me against her ample chest. Not even her breasts can keep me warm now.

As we pass over the treetops of the Sugardove City Central Park, Polina says, “Look, Cal. Open your eyes! Is this the first time you’ve seen your world like this before?”

I unclench my eyes and force myself to look down. My head swirls like a jug of water, and I let out a soft whimper. “Y-Yeah … I’m not the biggest fan of heights.” Ugh. I must sound like such a loser right now. Some Caretaker I’ve turned out to be, can’t even handle a little flying when it’s necessary.

Polina laughs as we zip through the air. It’s like she’s a different person, like the carnage back at the colony isn’t even happening right now. “When Ser Beatrix and Sylvie have dispatched the yellowjackets, I will take you out for a joyous flight so you can get used to it.”

She said when they dispatch the yellowjackets. Not if. When the chips are down, I don’t think I’d trust even my own brother to get his head out of his ass long enough to help me sort through a disaster. And definitely not one of this magnitude. It’s amazing how much faith she has in her own people, that the thought of them not winning hasn’t even entered her mind.

But Ser Beatrix and Sylvie were gravely outnumbered, and from what I could tell? They were the only two who weren’t in on the coup. There wasn’t a single knight fighting for the crown.

The outlook is grim, but I probably don’t need to tell her that.

Soon, we begin our descent toward a robust field of poppies, lavender, and aster. We must have flown several miles within seconds, but how is that even possible? More fae magic? I’ve never seen a field of flowers like this before, so it’s nowhere I’ve ever been. Then again, I’m not exactly the outdoorsy type. This could be my own backyard and I’d never know it.

It’s painfully obvious that I really, really need to get out more. If I ever make it back home in one piece, I’ll do just that.

We land in a bright orange poppy nestled in front of a small farmhouse. Polina releases me on the plush petal, and I stagger forward before catching my balance. Beyond the flower field, a donkey rolls around in the mud in its pen, and a few chickens cluck and peck at the ground, looking for food. The second the flower’s pollen hits my nose, I let out a torrent of sneezes while Polina stares at me like I’m about to keel over and die.

I take my handkerchief from my pocket and wipe my nose with it. “We’re not in Sugardove City anymore, that’s for sure,” I mutter.

Polina folds her wings against her back and shakes her head.

“W-Where are we?” I ask.

She takes hold of my upper arm, steadying me, and says, “The Scarlet Valley. Sometimes my foragers will come here when everything is in bloom.” Her cheeks are flushed, either from the flight or from the poppy reflecting off of them, giving her a rosy look I’m not used to. She’s gorgeous, even after everything that’s happened to us. “The Valley of Orchids is somewhere to the southeast, where our praying mantis friends live. To the north, the Plains of Coleoptera is where the beetle kingdom rules.”

I blink. “Um. What?”

Polina nods. “We aren’t friends with the beetles.”

“But you’re friends with … the mantis kingdom,” I say, rubbing the back of my head. Okay. This is a lot to take in. Up until a couple short days ago, I didn’t even know fae existed. Oh, sure, I’d heard the old wives’ tales about not angering the fae in your gardens. But I always thought it was generally understood they were not real-real. And now there are other kinds?

“What now?” I ask, running my fingers through my hair, which is whipped into a tangled bird’s nest from the flight.

“Now, we wait patiently for Ser Beatrix and Sylvie to come and retrieve us and escort us back to safety,” Polina says with a shrug. She plops down on the flower petal and lets out a long exhale. I sit down beside her and lean back on my palms. The warmth from the sun feels amazing, especially after that freezing flight we just took.

But that was an ordeal. All that death. All that betrayal. She must feel awful right about now. I look over at her, study her beautiful face far longer than socially acceptable, and ask, “Po? Are you okay?”

Polina is silent for a long moment. “No, I don’t think I am.” She hugs her knees to her chest and sighs. “How did the yellowjackets even enter the colony? We have wards in place for this very reason. Not once have those wards ever failed us. Not ever.”

I swallow the lump in my throat. I’m pretty sure I know who took those wards down; it doesn’t take a genius to come to my particular conclusion. That’s not a dig at Po’s intelligence, either, because even though I’ve only known her for a couple of days, I have a pretty good idea of where she’s coming from. She wants to see the best in others, and doesn’t want to believe that someone close to her might be trying to hurt her. An admirable trait, but it puts her at risk of being taken advantage of. I know what that’s like. To have co-workers ask you to stay late and miss out on events you were looking forward to.

To have your boss ask you to come in on your day off. But this is different, of course. This is life or death, not missed concerts and birthdays.

---