Page 11 of The Fairy Hunter
"I know," I say. Because that’s the only explanation for their exhaustion and weakness. The vine’s spikes had poison in them. I can almost feel it burning the cuts on my throat. But the vines only held me for a moment. The others? The poison is racing through them.
"We can't help," she whispers, and there's fear in her eyes.
"I know," I say again. And I do. When I chose my own name, I knew what I was doing.
A tear rolls down her face, and I see she's trying to lift her hand, but she can't seem to. Instead, I brush her tear away. "It's okay. I'm not afraid. Alright?"
"Luna," the fairy calls, far too much pleasure in her voice.
I look at the others. They're just as pale as Olivia. Brenda has fallen, so that her head rests on Hyun’s shoulder. Shanice's eyes are staring at nothing at all. And Bethany? She seems to be unconscious. It makes me sick to see. We have fought many horrifying creatures in our lives. These are the days where we should be resting. We deserve it. Instead, one of us is dead, and the others are in bad shape. These women deserve better.
But right now, I don't have a lot of tools left in my belt. All I can do is sacrifice myself to ensure my friends are safe, knowing they may never avenge me. If they get my body, chances are they'll be out of town and far from here before my friends have recovered. No one will find them. The fairy will glamour them both to appear differently, and they won't be able to see through it.
Unless a miracle comes through, the most I can do right now is make sure that they live.
When I stand up and move toward the carving on the ground, there's a strange feeling in my gut. I'm not ready to die. I can't imagine what Will will think, or how he'll feel. He's finally pulled himself out of his depression enough to see the benefit of a retired life. He finally wants to travel and to see the world.
But he might have to do it alone.
I take a deep breath, staring at the rune on the floor. It still glows a light reddish-orange. And as I step onto it, a vibration travels up from my feet. Even if I didn't know this was dark magic, even if I knew nothing about magic or spells, I'd know this was a bad one. All the spirits chanting this whole time has powered up the darn thing. All it needs is to have that power released.
Still, I move until I'm in the center of it. Then, I turn to face the fairy and her husband. Matilda pulls the crystal from her pocket and my gut churns. I remember this crystal. It had been created in the pool of life. Shortly after, Brenda had burned the last map to its location that we knew to exist. And then she'd placed the crystal in the vault, knowing that a crystal that could teether an undead spirit to this world permanently was just too dangerous.
She was right.
As I stare at it, it reflects all the colors in the room, but more. It's like a rainbow is trapped beneath the surface, only the power within its surface is so strong it takes my breath away. I want to look at that crystal forever. I want to touch it. Within it, I feel the ability to reverse so much of the uncomfortableness of old age. It whispers that it could erase my stretch marks. That my breasts could be perky again, and that the flab on my belly and thighs could be gone. It promises things that I wished for in the darkest moments of the night, or when I moved past a mirror after the bath and frowned at the changes I never realized had come over me. In my mind, I was always twenty. Still a young woman. Still full of life.
And I could be again.
I shake my head and jerk my gaze from the crystal. That thing is so dangerous I don't even want to touch it. I don't want to ever feel this clawing need to use magic to reverse the impact of time on my body. Every stretch mark, every change of my body, it’s part of me. What that crystal wants to give me... it could only bring trouble.
"Now, the others have charged up the rune," the fairy says, a smile curving her lips. "We need only to repeat the words to the spell, with her in the center and you holding the crystal, and it'll slowly drain her of her life, leaving her body an empty shell, and then you can move into her body, and the crystal will finish it all. We'll be done with this forever, and have our whole lives in front of us."
Her husband kisses her again, and they move toward the symbol. Towards me. Both of them are gazing at me like predators waiting to devour their prey. Every instinct within me screams to get out of this rune, to get away from this crystal, to dive out the window if it frees me from this situation. But my friends... they're helpless. They need me. If I escape, the fairy will simply replace me with one of them.
Matilda holds up the crystal and the light catches it. "It's time for a new start."
Something slams into the crystal, and it goes flying. My mouth drops as it hits the ground and shatters into a million pieces. Those incredible colors explode out of it, lighting the entire room like a miracle, and then the light is gone as quickly as it appeared, leaving behind nothing but broken shards and shocked faces.
All of us turn at once to see Olivia on the ground, slumped over. A smile is on her face, another potion bottle already in her hand. Clever, clever Olivia. She knew her magic couldn't defeat them, but just throwing one bottle to break the crystal? Genius.
Although the movement seems to have cost her the last of her strength.
"What did you do?" the fairy, Matilda, screams.
Her husband grabs at his face, pulling his skin like he’s about to have a breakdown. "What do we do now? You said that was the only way. That even in the witch's body I'd eventually be pulled back to the other side without the crystal. It was the only way to be sure I could stay here forever."
"I don't know." The fairy's voice is almost a hiss. "But I know these bitches are going to die for this!"
She lifts a hand, but I act without thinking, leaping from the circle and knocking her to the ground. Her face is a mask of shock as I lean above her, grinning.
That's right, fairy-jerk, our magic might not compete with yours, but there's always a good old fashion beat down. Which is exactly what I do. I start punching her as hard as I can in the face, each blow feeling like a blow for justice. A much-deserved punishment for all she’d done to Tamara and my other friends. I know when she recovers from her shock, she’ll make me live to regret this, but I don’t care.
Suddenly, her husband tosses me off of her, and then I see him standing above me, the vines from the door coming ever closer. And I don't care. We might all die here, but there's nothing these two can do to keep this jerk here forever. One way or another, he'll be pulled back to the other side. And there’s something oddly satisfying knowing that.
But then the most extraordinary thing happens... I hear a roar and the wall of vines covering the door is shredded in front of me. The fairy and her husband turn toward the door as a giant bear comes flying into the room, my giant bear, followed by all the other women's husbands. They're attacking in an instant, with daggers, potion bottles, and even just their fists. My bear quite literally rips the head off of the mailman. And then, as the fairy screams, he attacks. Within moments, she's a bloody mess.
"Don't kill the others!" Brenda shouts, her voice weak. "They have spirits in them, but we can save the souls inside."
