"Here? In this mountain?" I asked, not sure whether I was understanding correctly or not.
"Yeah. In a cave with access to the outside, so they can fly in and out."
"How'd you learn about that?"
"Shayla. Before she left us she gave us some info to try and help us."
"Why'd she leave you?"
"She was attacked, actually." We took off running and lost track of her.
It sounded too eerily familiar. "By angels with black wings?" I asked, hoping the answer would be no.
Samantha nodded. "Yeah. You saw some?"
"They came after Beau, too. What are they?"
"Demon angels from the Underworld. They've been slipping in through the void like everyone else."
"Courtesy of Ben," I said, my anger coming through in my voice.
Samantha looked at the floor of the cage. "Yeah. I think so."
"Did you help him with that?" I asked.
Samantha's head jerked up, her eyes blazing with earnestness. "No. I had nothing to do with that. I knew he was working with some others to bring demons up to the Here and Now to scare people a little bit, but I had no idea he'd gone this far." She looked over at him in his cage and leaned in closer towards me again, speaking softer now. "I'm not even sure he knew exactly what he was getting into. He seemed as surprised as we did about the dark angels."
"You wish," I scoffed.
"No, I mean it. He didn't look happy. He looked scared, actually."
I didn't believe her, but I did think that she believed herself. I was struggling to hang onto reasons to hate her, but my conscience wasn't making it easy.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked, sitting back and wrapping a string she'd pulled out of her tunic around her finger, turning the tip of it white.
"I'm just ... trying to figure you out, is all."
She breathed out in a bitter huff. "I haven't made that easy, I guess."
"No. Not at all. You were my sworn enemy an hour ago."
"Now what am I?" she asked, not looking at me and pulling on the string that was strangling her finger for all she was worth.
I shook my head. Life was so messed up. How could all the feelings of anger and hate and bitterness against her just be melting away like frost off a heated windshield? I thought they were a permanent part of me, something that would never leave, let alone be replaced. Replaced with what? Pity? Respect? Friendship? It was too much to figure out now. And maybe it wasn't even my choice. The thought was sobering.
I sighed heavily, feeling the weight of mature choices settling down over my shoulders. It would have been so much easier to just tell her to go to hell. "I don't know, Samantha. What do you want to be? You tell me."
I could sense that she wanted to speak, but there was something holding her back. I could almost see it burning her up inside. "Say it," I urged. "What's the worst that could happen? I could tell you to fuck off, and then we'd be back to normal again, right? No harm, no foul." I waited with bated breath, wondering what she was going to reveal about herself. Would it be her deep-seated hatred of me, impossible to dismiss with a single conversation? A desire to ring my neck with her bare hands? Something worse?
She whispered something unintelligible.
I leaned towards her a little. "What? I didn't hear that. Talk louder."
"I said ... friends." She looked up, the vulnerability in her eyes nearly killing me. "I'd like to be friends. The real kind. Like you are with Tony."
I opened my mouth to speak, but no words would come out. Is she serious or is she mocking me?
She rushed to keep talking. "You don't have to say anything. I know you can't do that. Not with me. Not now. I was just saying ... you know ... someday maybe. If you can stop hating me, eventually." Her voice sounded strangled and wheezy as if her throat had closed up most of the way.
Truth, truth, truth, truth ... The genuineness of what was being presented to me by my formerly sworn enemy banged around in my head. A vision of Maggie's beady but all-seeing eye pierced through my memories, making the sensation even more intense. Truth, truth, she's telling the truth.
I said the first thing that popped into my head. "Why on earth would you want to be friends with me?" How does a person go from hating to liking in such a short period of time?
"Why would you ask me that?" she said, almost pitifully.
"I don't know ... you're a badass witch. You hate me. Everyone thinks you're the next big thing in witchyville. I'm a fuck-up. I swear too much. I do stupid shit all the time. I think Tony only keeps me around because he feels sorry for me."
"You can't possibly really think that," she said softly.
"I really do," I said. "Make a chart. There are a lot more people and fae in the 'Hates Jayne Sparks' column than the other."
"I'm not there."
I smiled. "No, you're in the 'Annihilate Jayne at First Opportunity' column."
She smiled back. "No. I'm in the 'Wannabe Disciple of Jayne' spot."
I snorted. "Please. Now you're laying it on a little too thick, don't you think?"
She shrugged. "I've messed up. I got in way over my head and trusted the wrong guy." She glanced over at Jared, so briefly I wasn't sure it had actually happened.
I looked over at him too and noticed right away he was staring at us. "Jared's a good guy, Sam." I looked back at her, and oh, how my heart was aching for this poor girl right now. I glanced over at Spike and saw his profile as he leaned against the bars of his cage, his hair sticking out all over, his straight nose, the lips that covered my favorite smile ever. I'd almost walked away from all he was so freely offering me. What an idiot I was. Not anymore. Samantha and I were both a couple of jerks when it came to guys. Maybe there was hope for her too.
She nodded, saying nothing, her chin to her chest. A tear fell from her face down into her lap.
"He really cares about you," I said softly.
She shook her head. "He left me behind," she whispered. "And Ben was just there. All the time, he's been there."
"Jared hated himself for leaving you, you know. He's just so blind to the council's orders sometimes. You can't fault him for his dedication, when it's something you want so badly for yourself."
She nodded, sighing wearily. "I know. I don't hold it against him. I just wish ... things could be different."
"I think they can. The Dark and Light Fae are together, thanks to Ben and Maggie fucking around in things they shouldn't have been. So why don't you take advantage of it and mend some fences, as Finn would say."
"I'm trying," she said, looking up, rushing to wipe the moisture from her cheeks.
"Yeah. I got that." I smiled. "Just relax. We have time to fix this stuff. Trust me."
"You have a spell up your sleeve to get us out of here?" she laughed at her own lame joke, as if me casting a spell would be a good idea in any situation, let alone one where we had to escape in one piece.
"No, not a spell. I've got friends, though." I nudged the baby lying on the floor next to me. "Hey, Baby Bee. Are you hungry still?"
He was sleeping on his chest with his arms and legs tucked under him, his little butt up in the air and his pants drooping down enough to reveal his tiny crack. He moaned a little at my words.
"Come on, little dude. Time to fly around. We need you to play spider nakies right now."
He sat up suddenly, his hair stuck out to one side, drool shining on his cheek. "Spider nakies? Where?" He looked around the cage blindly, sticking his lower lip out when he noticed no one was actually naked. "No spider nakies in here."
"Not us. You. I need you to do a special secret mission for us, just like your brave papa. If you do this, I'm going to get you a big, fat strawberry." I'd spied one on the floor under one of the benches earlier.
"You play too, Lellamental."
"Yeah, okay, I'll be right behind you." I acted like I was getting ready to take my tunic off. "See that key down there? The one hanging on the hook by the door?"
<
br /> Willy crawled on hands and knees over to the edge of the cage to see where I was pointing. Once his eyes locked on the target he nodded.
"He can't get that, can he?" asked Samantha.
"Sure he can, Sam. This is no regular baby pixie. This is Tim and Abby's son. He's the strongest, smartest, fastest pixie baby in the entire realm. And he can fly really well."
Willy was busy scrambling out of his clothes, a huge grin splitting his little face. "Spider nakies, to the rescuuuueee!" he was shouting gleefully, tripping on his pants and falling on his ass.
"What's he saying?" she asked, staring at him intensely, possibly trying not to laugh.
"He's doing his war cry right now, getting ready to fly right at that key and bring it back to me so we can open this cage and get him some yummy strawberries, right Baby Bee?"
"Yes!" He stood quickly with one hand on his hip, his legs spread, his other hand held up above him in a clenched fist, baby man parts dangling down in an area I tried to avoid looking at.
"Why is he naked?" she asked, a look of fascinated disgust on her face.
"It's part of the awesomeness. Without the nakedness it would just be a spider game. Willy likes to feel the breeze, I guess." I tried to withhold the snickers that were battling to take me over. "Okay, Willy. Now I'm gonna do something special with this game, okay? You're gonna feel it in your belly, and it might tickle, but you just need to go get that key and bring it right back here, okay?"
He nodded his head, looking so much like his dad it made my heart ache.
"Okay, little buddy. Go for it." I pulled The Green up into me and had to immediately set the brakes on it, it was so powerful here and bubbling with enthusiasm to overtake me. Woof. Easy now. Just a little bit to get him strong enough to lift that damn key. I sent the energy into my little friend who'd just left the safety of our cage in flight.
I knew the moment it hit him because he zoomed up to the ceiling and then sideways, heading directly for Jared's cage. The daemon shot his hand out just in time to catch the pixie before he face-planted into the bars.
"Wooo - eeeeee, Lellamental! That doesn't just tickle my tummy! That tickles my booty too! Weeeeee!" He struggled out of Jared's grip and took off again.
"Willy! Get the key, you spaz! Get the key!" I shouted.
Everyone in the cages started rooting for him right along with me.
"Come on, Willy! You can do it, little guy!" yelled Finn.
"Get it, Willy. Get the key for Jayne!" shouted Tony.
"Woo hoo, get it little pixieman!" laughed Spike.
"Spider nakies to the rescue!" I yelled.
Jared clapped along with Niles. The only ones not cheering him on at this point were Samantha and Ben.
And then one more voice joined the fray. "Come on, Willy! You can do it!" yelled Samantha, looking over at me for a second before clapping her hands for him. She had a huge smile plastered on her face, and for a second, I could totally see her as a happy person. I'd never seen that vision with her before, and I had to admit, it wasn't awful.
We all watched as Willy bumbled his way over to the key, looking like a naked, drunk pixie possibly having a seizure in midair. He finally reached the key ring and gripped onto it with arms and legs, looking over at me. I couldn't see his little face, but I knew exactly what he was doing - smiling like a maniac.
"See me, Lellamental?!" he yelled. "See me! I'm doing it!! Spider nakies to the rescue!"
"That's it, buddy! You're doing it, alright! Bring it over here now! You can do it! You're the strongest pixie in the whole world!"
He set his little wings to buzzing triple-time, slowly but surely lifting that heavy key off the hook. Soon it was free, and he was immediately falling to the ground with its weight.
Samantha gasped.
I shot more energy into Willy's little body, trying hard to hold it back and give him only what he needed. The energy so badly wanted to rush in there and just blow him apart with the power. It was like a wild horse, bucking and straining to get away from me.
Willy rose up, the key in his spider nakie grip, and he made his way over to us in our cage, sometimes falling a few feet, sometimes diverting left or right, but eventually reaching my outstretched hand and falling down into my palm, completely out of breath. He rolled over onto his back, his arms and legs spread out, making him look like a very sorry, very limp starfish. "I did it, Lellamental," he gasped. "I'm ... the strongest ... one."
"Yes, you are, Willy. Yes, you are." I stood up carefully and drew my arm and his prone body back into our cage, handing the key that lay across his chest to my cage-mate. "Open it, Samantha. We need to get the hell out of here before someone comes back."
She rushed to fit the key into the lock and opened the door, leaning out a little to look at the ground below. "Now what?"
"Now one of us climbs up on top of this mother and goes over to that chain and shimmies down to the ground to lower all of these cages for us to get out of."
She looked at me, laughing at the ridiculousness of it. "Seriously? That's your plan? I can't do that; I'd fall and kill myself. Can you climb like that?"
I frowned, looking over the path I'd have to take to do it. "Uhhh, no. Probably not."
"Throw us the key!" urged Jared. "We can climb out."
I looked down at the exhausted naked baby in my hand. No way was he going to be able to fly that key anywhere else without some food first. He was half asleep again already. I picked up his clothes off the floor of the cage and urged him to get dressed before he was completely out. I'd already seen enough pixie parts to last me a lifetime.
Samantha walked over to the edge of the cage nearest Jared.
"Wait!" yelled Ben from the other side of us. "Toss it to me. I'm closer."
Samantha looked over her shoulder at him and then back at Jared, biting her lip. She turned to me. "What should I do?"
I shrugged. This one was all on her. Something just told me to stay the hell out of it and let her sink or swim on her own.
"Tell me!" she insisted, whispering loudly.
"It's totally up to you. Past, present, or future maybes. You decide."
Jared was in his cage, his hand held out, reaching towards her. His gaze was steady, calm, forgiving.
Ben had his arm out too, his body pressed against the bars. His gaze was penetrating, passionate, intense ... powerful.
Samantha looked from one to the other and then took a step closer to Jared. "Ready?" she asked him.
He nodded, his lips pressed together in concentration.
"Samantha! What are you doing?! Toss it to me, not him!" growled Ben.
I smiled to myself. As you sow, so shall you reap, motherfucker. I felt nothing but a sense of justice at seeing Ben left hanging in the dust.
It was like the world turned into a slow motion reel as Samantha lowered her hand down and then jerked it up, releasing the key at the apex of her upward swing. It sailed above the level of our cages, out towards Jared. His eye never left it, following its trajectory so he could capture it when it got close.
But the throw went long. The key was going to go over the cage and hit the wall behind it. I felt my hope deflate like a leaky ballon, as I saw our plan for escape disappearing into thin air.
Jared back-pedaled in his cage, walking blindly in reverse as he tried to adjust his catching stance, but he couldn't get to where he needed to be in time.
Just when I thought all hope was lost, a skinny arm and hand popped out of the top of the cage, snatching the key out of midair and pulling it down inside.
"Gotcha!" said Finn, a huge smile breaking out across his freckled face. "Tried to get away from me, but ya didn't know I played left field, did ya?" He held his hard-won prize out for Jared to take. "Open that lock, man. Let's get the H-E-double hockey sticks outta this joint. I got me a girl back home waitin' for me to come back in one piece."
"Gladly," said Jared. "Thanks for having my back, dude."
"Anytime, you know that
, J-man." They fist-bumped before Jared reached around with the key to unlock their cage. Two seconds later Finn was shimmying over the top of the cage with a leg-up from Jared. With only one close call, he made it to the chain and then down to the ground where he was able to turn the cranks that lowered our prisons.
Jared rushed to Ben's cage, opening the door and releasing him, Spike, and Tony to join us. Tony and Spike came right over to give me huge hugs, and I gripped them as hard as I could while being careful to protect Willy's sleeping body that I held in my left hand. I stared at Samantha over my friends' backs as she stood off to the side trying not to look at us.
I released Tony and then Spike and walked over to Samantha. I held out my right hand. "Friends?" I asked, staring her down, daring her to take my offer.
She unfolded her arms and took my hand, thinking she was just going to give me a limp shake, but I refused to let it go until she looked me in the eyes.
"I mean it, Sam. Never throw this back in my face because I'm only offering once."
She nodded strongly. "I understand. I accept."
I sent some of The Green up into our joined hands, causing both of us to catch our breaths. Then we both nodded, staring at each other, acknowledging the connection that was there. The Green had made it all so clear. It wasn't the link that came from us touching hands that had come alive in our eyes; it was the deep roots we felt now that connected us as girls suffering the same kind of misunderstandings and neglect in our lives, and also as women who were related by blood somewhere up the line - two girls who might someday actually do something good in the messed up realm we called home, if they played their cards right and had the right friends at their sides.
Our hands broke apart, and I could no longer feel her skin touching mine, but I still felt her link. She was an official part of my life now, for better or for worse, and it was so much more meaningful than a fake bonding ceremony cooked up to manipulate and use people or fae. I looked over at Ben with disgust, hating how he'd played both of us. He was going to pay when we were done here, and if the look on Samantha's face was any clue, I was going to have help bringing the revenge. I sent my new friend a look that said, You fuck with one Blackthorne girl, you fuck with them all. She nodded once before turning and walking towards the entrance to the room.