Page 12

12

T ess

Friday: Wedding minus 8 days

Thirty minutes till midnight

“ I ’ve fought Fae before, and I’ve always survived,” Jack said for the hundredth time, as we walked toward the square.

“But never unscathed,” I pointed out, for the hundred and first time.

“Hey, it’s Carlos!”

Jack’s sad attempt to distract me only worked because I was worried about Carlos, too. Winning a sword fight with a Fae seemed about as likely as winning a swimming race with a dolphin. Even worse, because at least the dolphin wouldn’t cut you into pieces.

My vampire neighbor stood with his sister slightly in front of where the Fae horses would appear in only a few minutes.

“You know, a week from now we’ll be just coming home from our rehearsal dinner,” I said as we reached the Susan and Carlos, the Gonzalez siblings.

“Ah, sweet Tess. It’s not too late to ditch the kitten and marry me,” Carlos said with a wickedly seductive flash of a smile. “I’ll already be up there with him, waiting for you.”

Jack had asked Carlos to be a groomsman at our wedding.

“Not too late to change that plan, my friend,” Jack said dryly.

It wasn’t vampire powers that made Carlos so dazzling. He’d always been hot, like his sister. He had golden skin, flashing dark eyes, and silky black hair, and he used it all shamelessly. He’d been a few years ahead of me in school, but we’d become friends recently. A few months before, he’d bought a house on my street, so now we were neighbors, too.

And he had a major sweet tooth and loved my pecan pie.

“I’m glad you’re back. But I don’t want you to do the sword challenge any more than I want Jack to do this,” I told him.

“I’m more than happy to cross swords with one of their warriors,” Carlos said, looking dismissive. “But if we want to see how it ends, maybe you should hug me.”

I froze, shocked. “What? No! I don’t want to see your death!”

“What if it could help, though? What if you see me die from a sword thrust through my left side? I’d know to watch my left side,” he said, trying to be persuasive.

“Absolutely not!”

Jack stepped between us. “Hey, vampire. Back off.”

Susan put a hand on her brother’s arm. “Not a good idea. It’s hard on Tess to see those deaths. You know that, right?”

“Plus, I’ve touched Susan and seen nothing,” I told him. “It seems to be a family thing.”

“If you think I’m immune, why not?” Carlos shrugged. “But I don’t want to cause you any pain.”

“Well, we’re done talking about it tonight,” Susan said. “They’re here.”

I had little patience for the queen’s ritual and ceremony tonight, but I forced myself to keep my mouth shut. I didn’t want any outburst of mine to affect what happened to Jack.

This time, things went a bit differently. The queen wore a gown so dark brown it was nearly black, and her mood matched. I guess losing two challenges in a row didn’t make her thrilled, but I couldn’t muster up any sympathy. She’d brought all this on herself, after all.

How hard would it have been to just say, “Hey, you’re up for renewal, sign here”?

No, the Fae always had to make everything complicated .

“Speaking of complicated, the swamp troll just showed up,” I muttered to Susan.

“How do you always get yourself into these situations?” She shook her head. “I mean, neighborliness is one thing. Inviting the smelliest creature ever to enter Dead End to live with you is another.”

“He’s not that smelly anymore. He took a bath.”

“In the pool ,” Jack said indignantly. “Now I’m going to have to drain it, clean it out, and start over.”

“Hush,” I said. “The queen is proclaiming.”

Braumsh strolled over to us, crossing the square as if the rows of armed Fae guards were too insignificant for him to notice. Viviette certainly noticed him, though. If looks could kill, the troll would be splattered across the lawn.

He ignored her, too. When he reached our group, he gave me a huge, sparklingly white smile. “Hello, Tess. What’s up?”

I blinked. “Um, we’re sort of busy here, Braumsh.”

“No problem. I’ll wait with you.” He muscled his way past Susan and Carlos to stand next to me. “We can talk after their Champion defeats your little cat friend here.”

I stared up into his vivid orange eyes. “Hey! We Dead Enders stick together. And you’re one of us. So, you’d better be on Jack’s side, or you can find someplace else to camp out, Buster!”

His face worked, twisting into a grimace that was almost a scowl. “Buster? Buster? ”

“That’s right!”

“Tess,” Jack said, putting an arm around my waist. “That’s okay. Maybe let’s stop arguing with the troll and let the nice queen speak before she smites us?”

“Good call,” Viviette called out, a wealth of sarcasm in her queenly voice. “Let us begin. Tonight, the challenge is the first of three in the Battle component of the Courage Trial.”

I held up my hand.

The queen blew out a breath.

“Wow, you can even drive royalty nuts,” Susan said, fighting a smile.

“Yes, Tess of the Callahans? What is your question?” The snarl in Viviette’s voice let me know I should be quick.

“It’s just … this doesn’t seem quite fair. You said there would be five trials. But this first trial, Courage, actually has three parts. Except the third part of the first trial now turns out to have three parts. So, the five trials really add up to nine challenges, and that’s only if you don’t pull out any more surprise multi-part challenges.”

I’d never seen a Fae’s face turn red before. It clashed with the autumn leaves decorating her hair. “I did not hear a question in all those words, Tess.”

“My question is, how is this fair?” Before she could explode, I hastened to clarify. “I know your honor is beyond reproach, Your Majesty. But mortals are very literal with numbers. Could these first five challenges count as the five trials?”

She tilted her head to the side and considered my request. “No, I am sorry, but no. The Challenges are set. However, I will offer this: no other Trial will have more than one Challenge within it.”

“Take what you can get,” the troll urged. Jack, Carlos, and Susan all nodded.

“Fine,” I muttered.

Raising my voice, I replied to the queen. “That is more than benevolent, as befits such a beautiful and gracious ruler.”

The Frosts aren’t the only people who can Google.

Queen Viviette, however, only raised an eyebrow. “Putting it on a bit thick, aren’t we, Tess?”

I flashed her a cheerful smile. “Just trying to play by the rules, ma’am.”

With one final hard stare, she turned from me and raised her arms. “Tonight, our Champion takes on one of your choosing, people of Dead End. Step forward, Rosen.”

Rosen stepped forward from I don’t know where, because he certainly hadn’t been there before.

Every Dead Ender in the square groaned in sync.

Because Rosen was a beast.

Not literally a beast. Not an animal or a supernatural, non-human-looking creature. No, he looked like every other Fae warrior, except he stood nearly eight feet tall.

“ Him ,” Braumsh said, rolling his orange eyes. “He’s mean, but not very smart. And he always forgets to protect the most vulnerable place on something that big.”

“The feet,” Jack, Carlos, and Susan all murmured.

“AT-AT Walkers,” I said at the same time.

Susan and Carlos grinned, but Jack and the troll looked blank.

“Never mind, it’s a Star Wars reference. Jack, be careful. ” I couldn’t force myself to release his hand.

Jack pressed a hard kiss to my mouth, untangled my fingers from his, and stepped forward. “I’m Dead End’s champion for this challenge.”

“Then let the battle begin,” Viviette proclaimed, and she rang a little bell. I wondered if she carried it around all the time, or if it just appeared when she needed it, and then I realized I was trying to distract myself from the giant immortal warrior who was stomping his way toward my fiancé.

I started forward without realizing it until the troll stepped in front of me.

“No, Tess,” he said, not without sympathy. “You will only distract him.”

Jack raced towards Rosen, and the two met with a thunderous clash in the center of the square. Both bounced back but kept to their feet.

“You stink like swamp troll,” Rosen thundered at Jack. “You keep low company.”

“He may smell bad, but he’s our swamp troll,” Jack snarled. “And I like his company better than yours.”

Next to me, Braumsh’s mouth fell open.

“I told you,” I whispered. “You’re one of us now.”

“You are very odd people,” he rumbled, but I didn’t answer, because I didn’t have time for conversation when Rosen was kicking the stuffing out of Jack. Jack fought back with everything he had, but he was half the size of the Fae, and the odds were not looking good for our side.

Or for the man I loved even surviving this challenge.

I suddenly wished Shelley wasn’t hiding up in Aunt Ruby’s office with my aunt and uncle. Maybe she could secretly magic this monster into a dead faint.

“Get him, Jack!” somebody yelled, and then everyone else took up the refrain. Soon, the entire town was chanting Jack’s name and calling encouragement.

The Fae guards kept silent, but their horses twitched and shuffled back and forth nervously.

“Watch your left!” I shouted when Rosen unleashed a powerful right hook.

Jack glanced at me for a split second, distracted, and the punch landed so hard I could have sworn I heard ribs crack.

I smacked my hand over my mouth to keep from saying anything else, but I thought some very bad words about Rosen, Viviette, and all Fae.

“That. Is. Enough,” Jack shouted, and he threw a flurry of punches at Rosen’s head.

When the Fae raised his arms to cover his head, Jack dropped to the ground and lashed one foot out in a sidekick that swept Rosen’s legs out from under him. When the enormous Fae crashed down, the ground shook from the impact.

Rosen lay there, stunned, for a few seconds, but then he shook his enormous head and tried to climb back to his feet.

Only to be stomped flat by the front paws of a quarter ton of Bengal tiger. Jack stood on Rosen’s chest and roared. Then he snarled at the fallen Fae and opened his jaws very wide, showing a mouthful of very large fangs.

Rosen was no quitter, though. He tried to shove the tiger off his chest.

It might even have worked.

Except then the tiger put the Fae’s head in his mouth.

The entire town instantly went silent, so everybody could hear the sound perfectly clearly when Rosen smacked the ground in surrender.

Dead End = 3

Fae = 0

Viviette shouted something in a language I didn’t understand, and the Fae all disappeared, even Rosen. Jack sauntered over to me, not bothering to shift back to his human shape, and the crowd went wild, yelling and cheering.

“She’s very unhappy,” the troll rumbled thoughtfully. He looked at Carlos. “You know what that means for you?”

Carlos’s face was grim. “Yes. I know. She’s going to throw everything she’s got at me.”

“But I thought she wanted us to renew our charter,” I said. “Why is she making it so hard?”

“It’s not about the charter anymore, lovely Tess,” Braumsh said. “Now it’s a matter of pride.”

Jack deliberately shoved the troll aside with one enormous shoulder when Braumsh said “lovely Tess,” and it made me smile a little, as I knew he’d intended.

But the troll was right.

Carlos was in trouble.