Page 32 of Beltane

“Help, help, help,”they cried, vibrating with a weak sort of helplessness. “Come quick!”

I shivered against it and clenched my eyes shut, holding myself tighter, wishing I didn’t know what they were saying. It wasn’t a good thing they were so insistent we come closer, and I feared whatever was polluting them would inevitably drag us down with it.

Diana whispered something to Poppy, drawing my attention back to her. This time, a faint shimmer twisted around her head, almost like…almost like a dust cloud had formed in dark crimson swirls.

“What do you think it means? The sacrifice?” Ivy slumped into the booth behind Diana and Poppy, and I followed her, sitting across the table while Carter and Lex raided the fridge behind the bar.

I focused on the shimmering spirals around Diana, now picking up speed as it continued circling the queen. Could no one else see this? Was I the only one?

“Nothing, obviously.” Lex grabbed a few bottles of water and walked back to Ivy and me, handing one to each of us before opening his own and sitting down next to Ivy. “Prophecies are bullshit, or have we forgotten Poppy is supposed to be the almighty key that will reunite the fairies and the humans?”

She was, at least according to Ashley. But I wouldn’t hitch my pony to that cart quite yet. Some chosen one Poppy had turned out to be. She’d hand delivered my cousin and extended family to the king, which in turn had led to the deaths of my parents, Lex’s brother, and almost Carter’s father. Lex told us we shouldn’t have trusted her, and despite his involvement in honing her new ability, using it to our advantage had been a terrible mistake.

“I won’t use my power again,” Poppy said, shaking her head. “I don’t care what he does. It was horrible…I was too upset to teleport. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get back.” Diana hugged her tighter, murmuring something in Faero-Gaelic that sounded soothing and maternal. Poppy seemed to eat it up, but we all knew better. She played the part of a twelve-year-old, but those eyes told a different tale. I looked at her, and an old soul peered out.

“Are you sure about that?” Lex raised an eyebrow at the changeling, which got my attention. Of course, we shouldn’t use her power again. Messing with time was never a good idea.

“What are you thinking?” Ivy asked, clearly already onto Lex’s ulterior motive.

“What if she went back in time and asked the fairy queen how they kept the king out the first time?” Lex shrugged. “What if she asked her how to fix the ruby dust and where the king would keep our family members?”

I immediately hated the idea for reasons I couldn’t explain. The dust around Diana’s head spun faster, growing more frantic the longer we talked. The queen winced, grimacing through it, almost like she could sense the same thing I could.

“That feels like cheating,” Carter said, rubbing a hand over the back of his head as he sat down next to me. “She might not tell us, even if she knew.”

Lex looked at Diana, narrowing his gaze on the queen of fairies. “You’ve been awfully quiet since Finn told you what was going on.”

She glanced down to the table between us, shaking her head like she didn’t understand him. But something had changed in her since we touched her yesterday, and now that we were in Killwater, she had a glimmer to her eyes that almost reminded me of when she’d been at the height of her power.

“We should try to help her again,” I said, squinting at the queen as I held my hand out. “I see what’s wrong with her now.”

Diana glanced down at it, biting her bottom lip before looking at Poppy. The young girl nodded and shrugged as if to say it couldn’t hurt.

“What do you mean?” Carter stood and came closer, placing his hand in mine, palm up, his scars on display.

“I can see the ruby dust around her head.” I told them what I suspected, how it felt similar to when I connected with the earth’s energy. “I think…I think I can heal her.”

“You can?” Poppy’s eyes grew wider. “You have to help her. Please, Miri. Please.”

“And why should we listen to you, huh?” Lex sneered, raising an eyebrow at her. “Didn’t you run off to betray us at the first opportunity?”

“Lex, cut it out.” Ivy stood and walked to stand next to Carter, putting her hand over his. “Poppy already feels bad enough.”

There would be time to admonish the changeling for what she’d done. I understood her reasoning, even if I didn’t agree with her choices. It didn’t matter anymore. We were here, staring down the end on the horizon. We had to keep plowing forward; we didn’t have a choice. Diana still hadn’t moved, almost like she was apprehensive of joining in. Had it hurt last time? She’d yanked her hand away rather suddenly.

“For goodness’ sake.” Poppy grabbed Diana’s arm and put her hand in Ivy’s. “It’ll be fine. Right, Carter?”

Carter nodded, but he had no way to know that. Of course, his fairy curse had made him the luckiest person on this side of the realm. So if anyone was going to give us a boost of confidence, it was him. Once the four of us were connected, Lex opened his mouth to speak, but I shushed him.

“Allow me,” I said, closing my eyes while I let the energy of our connection flow through me. “Heal.” I sensed the sickness in her the same way I knew when a plant was dying or thirsty. It started in her heart, a decaying vibration that had spread to her brain and stomach. It picked away at her sense of self, removing her further from who she truly was every day it went untreated.

Ivy gasped, a visceral pulse shooting from her hand into the rest of us, combining with Lex’s frigid ability to seek the truth. Carter radiated fortune, amplifying the warmth and light we’d need to find the darkest parts of Diana. The queen squirmed, groaning as I poured all of it into her, nearly trembling with the potency of our combined gift.

“Heal,”I said again, my voice deeper and more robotic. It sounded properly demonic, but it contained the strength to break through. The crimson particles swirled faster, the cloud around her growing more dense, so thick it became impossible to see her through it. My heart pounded and my hands grew sweaty, shaking as the rush of our power roared again.

Diana tried to pull away, her soft panting now more alarmed and terrified. But no, we were almost there. This was for her own good, for the good of the world, for all of fairydom and humanity. We needed the queen back. We needed her to help us fix this, to set everything right.

There.I saw it, deep down inside of her, a faint burst of light that hummed with the radiance I associated with her. It had been tucked away, hidden behind a cloud of impenetrable red magic. I went closer, making sure to hold on to my spouses while I did. Ivy and Carter mentally urged me on, and when I visualized them in my head, I saw the four of us standing in the woods at twilight. A soft peachy haze coated the sky, painting the world in soft blushes and violets.

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