The Accidental Fairy, page 21
“Move faster!” Elrond bellowed, interrupting their mental conversation with the crunch of his feet on the snow.
As they approached a clearing and the moon shined down on the spot where toadstools sprouted from the ground and small woodland creatures scattered, she heard a rustle in the trees before she saw the henchman the OOPS gang must’ve been talking about.
There were way more bad guys then there were of them. Suddenly, she felt quite small.
But that didn’t last long before an eruption of sound burst from the surrounding woods, and she heard Elrond call out and order, “Get him to the king!”
Then Raff yelled, “Prim, duck!”
Instead of rebelling, she did what she was told.
And when she looked up, quite suddenly, everybody was Kung-Fu fighting.
With wings.
Chapter
Twenty-Four
Mass chaos erupted as men charged the group with wands similar to Elron’s, slicing the air and leaving flames in their wake, knocking the falling snow off trees and turning it to ashes.
Limbs flailed, people flew through the air, fists swung as the wind howled.
Darnell took fairies out with a swipe of his big hand, swatting them all like flies. Sten used a sword (trolls had swords?), dueling with two men at once, sweat glistening from his brow.
Most surprising of all was Raff. He flapped his wings with a fury, scooping up one henchman after another and clobbering them between his two colorful appendages.
Prim stood in awe for only seconds before she heard a loud roar.
“Wanda! Look out!” Marty screamed as a flaming purple ball headed straight for her head.
Wanda ducked in time to take cover in a bush but there was someone else rushing up from behind her, and no one around to help.
Prim didn’t even bother to scream to her—she dove for the henchman, managing to successfully knock his wand from his hand.
As she tucked and rolled, he grabbed her ankle and hauled her toward him with a howl of rage.
Prim clawed the earth beneath her, the snow seeping through her jacket, her fingers raw from clinging to anything she could get a hold of.
And where was all that invisibility now when she could really use it?
She tried to kick out, twisting in his hold until she could see his angry face and his bulging muscles. Using her free leg, she slammed the heel of her foot into his face, knocking his chin upward just before Nina grabbed him by his silver wings and launched him high in the sky.
“Get the fuck off her!” she thundered.
Pushing herself off the ground, Prim mouthed a thank you before Nina was off again, hurling herself into the clouds of snow and the scream of war cries.
Elrond stood in the middle of the melee in the clearing, his wand high in the air as he called out, “The hour is upon us! We must kill him now or suffer our deaths!”
He charged Raff, running at him with the speed of a gazelle, his wand pointed straight at Raff’s unsuspecting back as he used his wings to take flight. A hot glow spring from the tip of the wand, burning fiery red as it zigzagged toward Raff.
No. No, no, no!
Not today.
Instead of screaming Raff’s name, instead of thinking before she reacted, Prim ran to cut Elrond off at the pass and without warning, without so much as a blink of any eye, she took flight.
She was flying? Sweet baby Jesus, she was flying.
Bouncing and skidding, her hump became a single flapping wing, buzzing in her ear like that of a small motor.
Her flight was reckless, precarious at best, skidding and sliding as she went, her feet scraping the snow covered ground, but it lifted her enough to launch herself in front of the wand to keep its magic from piercing Raff’s back. “Nooo!” she screamed.
Instead of hitting Raff, it slashed her, the wand singeing her ribcage with a heat so agonizing, she felt like she was on fire, knocking her to the ground and to her knees.
Tears stung her eyes as she tried to get to her feet, but the pain was so fierce it took her breath away. Prim fell forward, seeing a flash of light from the corner of her eye, aimed at her head, but she couldn’t seem to move herself to avoid it—and she knew then, this was it.
It was over. She didn’t have the kind of skills everyone else did, including Raff, it appeared.
Raff thundered her name. “Prim! No!”
“Elrond! What have you done?” a loud voice from above boomed.
As quickly as it had begun, everything stopped—and the silence that ensued in the clearing was deafening. Even the snow felt as though it stood still.
Prim fell to the ground, no longer able to hold herself up, but Raff was instantly beside her, on his knees, his hair soaked from the snow, his eyes fearful. “Prim, Jesus Christ, are you okay?”
Nina, Marty, and Wanda raced to his side, their hair plastered to their skulls, their chests heaving from battle.
“Get her the fuck off the ground!” Nina ordered.
Raff hauled her upward into the safety of his arms, tucking her next to his warmth.
Marty and Wanda hovered over her, nestled in Raff’s arms, with Darnell and Sten in the background.
“Prim!” Marty said, pushing her wet hair from her eyes. “Where are you hurt?”
She didn’t have time to answer before they heard footsteps stomping toward them, loud and sure. “Elrond!”
Immediately, Elrond fell to his knees, dropping his wand. “Your majesty.”
A very large, very fit man with chocolate-brown hair and gold wings, dressed like Prince Charming in red and white, regally stood before a quivering Elrond, hands on his lean hips.
An army of winged men in battle gear stood behind him, their wands drawn, standing at attention.
He toed Elrond, forcing the small man to look up. “Rise! I demand an answer! Why have you attacked these people without my permission? How dare you!”
“Soren!” another voice called out. “Stop! You must listen. He must be killed!”
The group, stunned once more to silence, protectively gathered around Raff and Prim.
Soren turned toward the voice. Yet another man, much older yet equally regal, who looked a great deal like Soren aside from the gray hair and a few wrinkles around his eyes, rushed toward them while everyone else remained silent.
“Father?” Soren demanded, his deep voice resonating throughout the forest. “What have I told you about interfering in official matters of the Unseelie? You are retired from running the kingdom. I am the king.”
Ignoring the pain in her ribs, ignoring her rapidly beating heart, Prim gasped, “Unseelie…”
Oh, this was bad, right? So bad. The Unseelie were bad guys.
If you’ll recall, not all of them are bad, Prim.
Yeah, but the way her luck had been going, a girl could never be too careful.
The group tightened their protective stance, Sten with a hand on his sword, but the king held up his hand as if to tell them they were safe from him.
Soren bowed before her, his dark eyes apologetic. “Primrose Dunham, is it?”
She fought not to stutter as she straightened in Raff’s arms and with her eyes, dared this fancy pants to lay a finger on him. Clinging to his arm, she narrowed her eyes. “You leave him alone!”
He chuckled, a deep, pleasant sound. “I am Soren, King of the Unseelie. I mean you no harm. However, it’s my understanding this little toad has, with the help of my interfering father, created a situation.”
“Is that what you nuts with wings call this shit?” Nina crowed, pointing to the single wing on Prim’s back as she glared at the man
Prim slid from Raff’s arms and hobbled on one foot to face the handsome king, and he was, indeed, handsome.
Wiping the falling snow from her eyes, she waved a finger under his nose. “If that’s what you call trying to kill me and Raff, then yeah. It’s a situation.”
He pressed a wide hand to his heart. “My deepest apologies, Primrose, and to your friend, as well. We seem to have a mix-up, one that could have been completely avoided if my father had simply let me run the kingdom instead of listening to an old fool who enjoys a bit of gossip…and who entertains the idea he might have the prestige of advising the king one day.”
From out of nowhere, Farrah appeared and flit to Prim, her wings beating out a pulsating sound, smiling a cheerful smile as she pressed her deliciously warm hands to Prim’s cold cheeks. “That’s a big deal, by the way. Oracle to the king. That means Elrond is a suck up.” Then she brushed her hands together. “Do your ribs feel better?”
Prim looked down at her stomach, where her bulky jacket had been torn by the fiery wand, only to find the stinging wound gone. Holy shit. It did feel better.
“It…it does…” she said in wonder. “Thank you.”
“It does, indeed, mean Elrond is a suck up, and he shall pay for his transgressions!” Soren thundered the threat, his dark eyes flashing.
Elrond quivered, clasping his hands together. “Sire, I beg of you, please spare me your wrath!”
“Quiet!” Soren shouted. “I’ll deal with you later. Guards, contain him.”
The guards instantly sprang into action, seizing Elrond and shackling him.
Soren turned back to the group. “And this man, is he one of yours?” He snapped his fingers and a guard brought forth a sniveling, bloodied Smitty, who’d somehow survived the collapse of the dungeon.
“Please let me go! Please,” he begged. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ll never tell a soul what I saw. I swear it!”
Nina snatched him from the guard, ripping him right from the man’s hands. “You cowardly piece of shit—shut the fuck up! Remember when I told you to pick the way you wanted to die? It’s time to choose, fucknob!”
“Nina!” Wanda grabbed her arm and pulled her away. “Why don’t we let Soren handle this. No one ever has to know what happened to Smitty back in our realm, now do they?”
Nina grinned and tweaked Wanda’s cheek. “You crafty bitch. I like the way you think.” She virtually lobbed him back at the guard, then looked to Soren. “Nah. He’s not one of ours, but he did help your little pecker of an oracle try to kill Prim.”
Soren glared at Smitty, his eyes terrifying. “Away to the dungeon!” he yelled, snapping his fingers as Smitty begged for mercy and the guard dragged him away.
As Prim watched him being carried off, kicking and screaming, she looked upward. That one’s for you, Mom.
Then Soren looked to the crowd of men behind him. “Draco, come. Show my father what you hold in your hand.”
A man of medium height, dressed in a long red robe with a similar bowl cut to Elrond’s, let a roll of paper unfurl. “Sire? Shall I proceed?”
Soren gave him a curt nod, rocking back on his heels. “Please do. Let us settle this once and for all.”
Draco cleared his throat. “As it is written, unto the world a child will be born. The only one of its kind. Half-light, half-dark. It will unite the two worlds and there shall be peace for all.”
Oh, boy. Someone was in deep shit.
Soren grabbed the scroll from Draco and held it up to his father’s worried face. “Did you hear that, Father? Unite. The prophecy claims the child will unite the dark and the light. Not destroy it! In future, rather than entrust ancient writings to an oracle, might I suggest you use an expert in the field?”
There was an incredibly awkward silence before Elrond began to sob as the snow fell on his head and the wind howled. “Please, sire. I beg of you, I did not know!”
Soren lifted his chin as he gazed at the sniveling oracle. “I do not believe a word you speak! You sought hierarchy for your own gain. You aren’t a selfless guide to the royals—you are a fraud! Take him away! I will not look upon this imposter any longer.”
Soren’s father’s face fell, his eyes downcast, his gray head hanging between his shoulder blades. “Oh, Soren. I am so deeply remorseful for all that I have caused.”
“Tell that to them.” Soren pointed to the group. “Tell that to Primrose and…” He looked to Raff, waiting.
He lifted a hand and wiggled his fingers. “Oh. Um, Rafferty. The dark and light guy.”
The corner of Soren’s lip lifted into an almost smile before he shut it down and once more, grew stoic. “Rafferty. Of course. Look what you have done, Father! You have ruined two lives with your interference. Had you left well enough alone, this young couple’s lives wouldn’t be in such upset. For that, I do apologize to you—to both of you. Father, apologize this instant!”
Soren’s father looked at both Raff and Prim as he bowed. “My deepest apologies. I shall find a way to make amends.”
What did you say to a guy when one of his people had turned your life upside down? Not a problem? We cool?
But apparently, that wasn’t good enough for Soren. His wings flapped wildly. “Father! how can you amend changing the trajectory of a man’s entire life? For stealing his beloved past from him with truths you had no right to reveal? You must stop this nonsense of declaring strife between the dark and the light, or I promise you, I shall have you locked in your wing with nothing more than a visit from a guard with a plate of food three times a day!”
“Soren?” a quiet voice spoke up from the crowd.
He whipped around, his dark eyes going from hard as nails to soft as butter when he recognized who’d spoken. “Pria?”
“Soren!” she cried, pushing her way through the guards and giving Prim a good look at just how much Raff resembled her.
She hadn’t been able to see her very well in the dungeon, but if she hadn’t confessed to giving birth to Raff, there would have been no hiding it when they were side by side.
She was as beautiful as Raff was handsome, her glistening blonde hair, long and shiny even in the snow, falling well past her waist. Her eyes were round and bluer than blue, just like Raff’s
The pair eyed one another with longing so obvious, Prim’s heart hurt.
And then the light bulb over her head went off.
Romeo and Juliet.
Soren was Pria’s dark fairy lover—and that made him Raff’s father.
This felt too much like an episode of Days of Our Lives.
Pria fisted her hands, her eyes on fire. “Tell me you’re not here to bring harm to my son! I will fight you with everything I have in me to prevent his death!”
“Harm him? Pria, no. No!” Then Soren gasped. “You are the fairy who gave birth to this boy?”
She stood tall, grabbing Raff’s hand, lifting her chin in regal fashion. “I am and I will protect him at all costs.”
“Is he…?”
“Yes,” she sobbed.
He looked at Raff in disbelief. “Why didn’t you tell me I had a son?”
“Because look what would have happened had I confided in you!” she spread her arms wide at the fallen men and the OOPS gang, their hair a mess, their clothes torn, streaks of dirt covering their faces. “This is what your father would have done. We were forbidden, and I would not allow your family, your father, to take my child! I gave him to a wonderful family who were never the wiser, and he was well loved. Had your father known of our unholy union, he would have killed my son!”
Soren glared at his father, his jaw clenched. “Guards, take him back to the castle and keep a close eye on him. We shall revisit this conversation upon my return, Father.”
As the guards escorted Soren’s father away, he turned back to Pria, his features softer as he held out a hand to her. “Pria. My one and only beloved. I would have protected you, had you come to me. The dark is different now under my rule. I promise you, things have changed. Let us talk, shall we? All of us—Primrose, Rafferty—together we shall find our way through this.”
Pria let out a small sob, taking his hand and going to his side, her smile tremulous, hopeful. If nothing else was certain, their love for one another was crystal clear.
“I think your fairy mommy and daddy just made up,” Nina cackled in Raff’s ear.
Marty and Wanda, enraptured by the star-crossed lovers based on the expressions on their faces, scowled at Nina. “Hush, Vampire! Something beautiful is happening.”
Raff, who in the span of an hour had met not only his biological mother, but his father, too, stood in the middle of them all, frozen in place.
She reached for his hand and squeezed it. “Are you okay?”
He looked shell-shocked as everyone anticipated his answer. “I don’t know. I feel numb.”
And how could she blame him? His whole world had just been tipped on its axis. What did you say to someone when that happened.
Pria held out her hand to Raff, her eyes warm and welcoming. “Will you talk with us, Rafferty? Will you let us at least explain? Let us to show you how to use your abilities properly and help Prim with her wing?”
Prim stood in front of him and cupped his cheeks with her freezing hands. “Listen to me. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do, Raff. It’s up to you…but if you decide to do this, Mr. King of the Light and Dark, I’ll be your paper towel.”
Raff smiled down at her, focusing only on her face. “I dunno. This is a pretty big spill, Prim.”
Prim nodded. “Not a lie. But! I’m the super self-absorbent kind of paper towel. Two-ply, select-a-size,” she joked, her gaze tentative.
“Two-ply? Isn’t that toilet paper?”
Prim waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. “It does the same thing. It cleans stuff up, doesn’t it?”
He dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose. “Well, in that case, how can I resist?”
“You sure, buddy?” Darnell asked, clamping a hand on Raff’s broad shoulder. “Say the word and we get Gary to take us back. We got you two.”
Sten nodded and held up his phone, his green hair beautiful under the moonlight. “All it takes is one text.”
Raff patted Darnell’s hand. ”Listen, you guys, I just want to say thank you. For everything. But I’m okay.”
“And look the fuck at you,” Nina crowed with a grin, giving Prim’s wing a tug. “Who has a big girl wing?”
