Page 31

“What I mean is, that’s what happened to the azeroths,” Lysander blurts, flushing a pretty blue all over his face.

I resist the urge to kiss him right then and there.

Orion doesn’t need any more ammo. “They spent so much time with us, they started to absorb some of our magic. But they were greedy. A little magic wasn’t enough, they wanted all of it — enough to become immortal.

Through witchcraft, they found a way to steal it.

We didn’t realize they were preying on other monsters until it was too late.

A Kingsmeet was called — a summit of monster kings — and they accused my great, great grandfather of being careless and allowing the cult to run wild.

There was nearly a war, until he agreed to banish the azeroths and send dryads protect the other kingdoms’ territories from them. ”

“Except the shadowfey. We can take care of ourselves,” Orion interjects.

”We underestimated their greed.” Lysander’s eyes drop.

“Eventually, their physical bodies rotted away and they became nothing more than hungry shadows, immortal just like they wanted, but unable to sustain themselves unless they fed on us. Whenever they found a fairy outside the borders and —” he swallows.

“Drained them, the fairy’s magic would keep them sated. ”

I want to comfort him, but he looks like he needs to get this out. Plus, I’m… fascinated. And kind of horrified.

“When I was a baby, the azeroths got desperate and broke through the dryads’ protection, into our valley.

Many monsters died in the attack, including my father.

Many azeroths were wiped out as well, but not enough.

My family fled, moving to a new home every time they tracked us down.

Five years ago, they found us. My mother sacrificed herself to save Elsabeth and I, and we’ve been on our own ever since. She’s all I have left.”

That’s it. I straighten. “You’re gonna go with or without Syril’s approval, aren’t you?”

Lysander’s shoulders hunch. “Yes.”

“Then I’m driving you there. I won’t let you go by yourself.”

Orion grimaces. “You’re both nuts, and I’ll be staying here. I don’t want to cross Syril in this.”

Lysander nods decisively. “Just don’t tell them until we’re gone.”

“Wow.”

I shut the truck door behind me. Lysander stands frozen at the edge of the bank, staring out at the scorched earth, his wings trembling faintly.

We’re on the riverbank down behind the industrial park, and I’m pretty sure there wasn’t a big, jagged stretch of broken rocks here before.

The sky glows reddish, sunset making deep shadows in the ground.

Between the shadows the stone is blackened and cracked.

When Lysander said ‘ fairy battle ’ this isn’t what I pictured, honestly. I was thinking more… sparkles.

I step up next to him. “What happened?”

“Dragonstone.” He turns to me. “You should stay in the truck.”

“It doesn’t look like anyone’s here.”

“I think they’re gone,” he says, scanning the rocks.

“So it’s not dangerous anymore, right?”

He nods slowly. “Right.”

Then he starts to climb down the bank.

“Hey,” I call after him. That’s not what I meant — but of course he wants to see if there’s any evidence of his sister. Are the big holes in the ground from her, or the azeroths? “What’s dragonstone?”

Lysander doesn’t answer.

Shouts from down the bank make me straighten. This is technically private property, and we shouldn’t be caught poking around. I squint at the approaching figures, but they don’t look like dock workers. They’re strangely familiar — and as they get closer, I can see they’re definitely not human

“Ezra!” The smaller figure waves, calling my name.

With a jolt, I realize it’s Belle — the riiga from the paddleboard competition. Behind her is a taller version of her, another riiga who’s wearing an airy pink dress and ribbons in her braids.

“Hi, Belle.” I wave back. “What brings you here?”

“We live here, silly.” Belle grins, showing all her teeth. Her athletic body is wrapped in lycra sportswear, and her hair is plastered to her head as if she’s been swimming. Maybe she has. I wouldn’t want to swim in this river, but maybe monsters are immune to pollution.

“You live… here? In the industrial park?”

The other riiga makes a sputtering noise. “We don’t live in the industrial park — just nearby.”

“ Very near,” Belle interjects.

Her sister puts her hand out. “I’m Daphne.”

I shake Daphne’s hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Ezra. The, uh, human.”

“We know.” She exchanges a look with Belle.

Belle keeps going. “We have a biiiig house underneath the complex. The humans have no idea. Sometimes we come in through the river, but there’s also a secret warded entrance in the warehouse they’ve never found. They’re so silly and magic-less.”

“Shh, Belle.” Daphne puts a finger to her lips, darting a glance at me.

“Right.” Belle bites her lip. “So why are you here? Is that the prince ?”

Daphne shoots her another quelling glance, but Belle ignores her.

I hesitate, not sure how much I should tell them. “Yeah, it’s Lysander.”

“Are you here cause of the explosions?”

“ Explosions ?”

“I saw them.” Belle puffs up. “I called the secret reporting phone number. But they didn’t tell me the prince would come. He should stay away from here — it’s dangerous.”

“You were the one who reported the, uh, battle?” I feel silly calling it that, but Belle nods firmly.

“I heard them while I was feeding the eels. Sometimes there’s construction down the bank but I knew there was nothing planned for this month.

So I went to the surface. It was a fairy fighting the magic-eaters — and she had dragonstone!

” Her eyes light up. “She was trying to trap them in a dragonstone circle. It went off — boom, boom, boom — and the azeroths screamed a lot. She must have killed some of them, but most of them were still alive. So I called our other sister, Ann, and she said she would help but she also sent me away. I didn’t get to see anything else. ”

“I don’t know if you should tell the human all this,” Daphne hisses, but Lysander’s footsteps behind me stop her short. She bows quickly. “Your Highness.”

“You were the one who saw my sister?” Lysander demands, coming up behind us. “Was she okay?”

Belle ducks her head. “I saw a lot of flashes.”

“I didn’t know Elsabeth had dragonstone at her disposal,” Lysander murmurs. He sounds troubled. “Was there anyone with her?”

Belle shakes her head.

“Why wouldn’t the dragons help her? Why didn’t she come to me?” His jaw tightens and his hands fist in his sweater.

I touch his elbow gently. “It seems dangerous. She’s trying to keep you safe, isn’t she?”

Lysander’s brow furrows.

“It is dangerous,” Daphne says.

“Is your sister okay?” I ask Belle.

She smiles shyly. “Ann is very strong. She just needs a nap in the healing water. By the way… I’m sorry about trying to drown you before, human.”

I shrug magnanimously. “It’s all forgotten.”

Belle seems satisfied, although Daphne gives me a narrow-eyed look. But it’s true — it’s not like anyone would’ve let me drown in a public pool. Besides, it was pretty cute to see Lysander get all protective that day.

“Was Elsabeth injured?” Lysander presses.

Daphne shakes her head. “Ann said she disappeared quickly.”

“So… are the rest of the azeroths dead now?” I can’t help wondering.

Both Daphne and Lysander look doubtful.

“Ann would have said,” Daphne says.

“Elsabeth would come find me if they were.” Lysander’s bright blue gaze darkens. “After centuries of being hunted, it can’t be that easy —”

A resounding crack interrupts him. I jump. It’s followed by a boom and a flash that lights up the darkening sky, exactly like Belle described. Daphne grabs Belle and yanks her sister behind her.

“Look out!” she hisses.

Two shadowy figures peel away from the rocks as smaller explosions go off like fireworks, making my vision sparkle.

I can barely make out the figures, but they seem to be wheeling back and forth between the blasts, jerky and uncoordinated, like confused puppets.

What I can see are honest-to-god medieval style robes, complete with a weird symbol embroidered in the middle of the chest. I guess that’s the cult part of undead cult .

Much more creepy is the way they move. And the fact that when the explosions die down, they suddenly regroup and put on a burst of speed, coming right at us.

I hardly catch a glimpse of their wizened faces, which look like they’re melting and reforming in front of my eyes, before the two azeroths fly up the bank and Lysander steps in front of me.

“No!”