Chapter Thirteen
April
After the light faded like mist dissolving in sunlight, I could see distant mountains gleaming in the bright light. There was what seemed like miles of rolling, green hills that looked like they were bowing at the foot of the massive mountains.
Malachi stood beside me as he looked around. Eveie was nowhere in sight.
"We've got to be in the Shadowlands." Malachi gazed at the wilderness that surrounded us.
I reached for his hand and squeezed it in mine. He turned and looked at me with surprise. A gust of wind blew past us as it fluttered his dark hair. We could have been in Avalon with a picnic waiting for us under a tree. We'd be carefree with no demons, angels or monsters after us. And for that moment, I allowed myself to think everything was over.
"I'm glad you're not going to die," I said finally.
Malachi smiled as he took my other hand.
"Me too, and thanks," he said as Eveie came up the hill we stood on.
"Come children, there's something I want to show you." She came only half way up and motioned with excitement for us to follow her.
Malachi startled, pushed me behind him as Eveie ran down the hill laughing like a little girl.
I stepped out from behind him. "If she wanted us dead, she'd done it by now. And besides, she wants children, and we're her children. If we want out of this demon-mother-loving nightmare, we'd better play along until we can figure a way out."
I ran down the hill laughing as Eveie in all her silver and white, waited for us like a guardian ghost.
"Come on Malachi!" I yelled as I joined Eveie's side.
He hesitated for only a moment, and then ran down the hill, but not as joyfully as I did. His face was flushed and then casted over with a green shade. He turned away and acted as though he was going to puke all over the neon green grass.
"You still have poison in you." Eveie stood beside Malachi and gazed at him with tender eyes. "We need to fix that, come on; I've got just the thing." She smiled at him as she ran her fingers across his cheek.
I almost expected him to flinch or worse, punch Eveie for touching him, but he did neither. Instead, he gazed back like a lost puppy that was surprised to have found a caring soul.
We followed Eveie up and down hills and finally reached a stream with a cottage-style house nestled beside it that you'd read about in fairytales. It was made of rounded stones mortared together with what looked like clay and wood shingles that covered the roof. It was surrounded with flowers and a stone pathway that led to an arched, wood door with a silver knob. Blue shutters framed the large, square windows, and a matching mailbox sat propped on a crooked tree limb used as a post. They got mail here?
Before Eveie opened the door, she opened her mailbox. I looked at Malachi, but he was leaning over the daisies puking all over them.
"Just bills," Eveie sighed.
"Wait," I said, taking a step back. "You have bills in the Shadowlands?"
Eveie smiled at me as she looked over her shoulder with the two envelopes in hand. "The Shadowlands, no-but the Isle of Stars, yes." She opened the door, and I helped Malachi inside.
"I'm sure you are wondering what the Isle of Stars is, and I can tell you that it is Fae owned and very exclusive to you and your mother's kind." Eveie turned on the orillions that were on a shelf above the stone fireplace.
Inside was as charming as the outside with its puffy chairs and sofa, open to a kitchen with a round table in front of the fireplace, and a loft with a spiral staircase leading up to it. I would have never thought a demon would live in a cottage with flowers in a place that looked like it was peeled off a calendar and we had entered it.
"Sit Malachi on the couch." Eveie motioned towards the striped couch of white and pale pink.
I gently sat Malachi down as he moaned and hugged his stomach. Eveie handed me a glass with a yellowish liquid in it.
"Have him drink it," she said sitting across from us.
I pressed it up to his mouth without question and he drank it. Eveie, I knew, wasn't going to hurt us. Malachi looked too green to argue with anyone. Eveie wasn't the demon I thought she was all those years, and in fact, she wasn't anything like I expected her to be.
"My mother's kind-what do you mean by that?" I asked as Malachi leaned over resting his head on the arm of the chair. Eveie smiled and placed a pillow under his head. "My mother was a monster from the Crosslands of Iethia."
"No, she was far from that." She looked at me. "Who told you that?" She asked with questioning eyes.
I felt heat radiate up my back and my hands began to sweat. "Hesediel told me about my mother," I replied meekly.
A flicker of blue flames erupted in her eyes. "He barely knows half of the story your mother was trying to cover up." She glanced at Malachi. "He's going to be sleeping for some time, let's go outside in the garden where we can talk."
On a stone bench among an array of delicate and colorful flowers, Eveie and I sat watching the water in the flowing stream glisten by. It cascaded over the rocks, and the sound of the trickling water was the only noise around us besides the occasional breeze through the garden.
"Ella and I made this place." Eveie stated as I waited for her to elaborate on it, but she didn't.
"It's very pretty?kind of like a fairytale house," I said with a smile as I kept my eyes on the water.
I could see out of the corner of my eye, Eveie gazing at me. I knew she was studying me, but I didn't want to look at her as I found Eveie still disturbing and unsure of her true intentions.
"It's your home and your father's home." I turned my head to meet her vivid eyes.
"My home?"
She nodded. "It's time you heard the other half of your story, April Snow."
Eveie said what Hesidial had told me was true, but only to his knowledge. My mother, Aleena, left him shortly after I was born and knew someone was after her. She thought them to be demons or angels that were trying to kill her and me as well. Aleena knew I'd be safer in the human world and gave me up for adoption.
"It broke her heart and every fiber of her being to give you away." Her voice was t ender. "Hesidial tried to help her, but she couldn't be helped by him or any monster or angel. That's when I found her near death." She placed her hand over mine. "I felt her love for you mix with my rare ability for a demon to have compassion, but I have it and chose that day to give into it. My sisters I had always followed, and now, they are not here to control me. I chose that day that a time would come where I'd carve a new path for demons and when I took your mother's life force, I took her love for you."
I jerked my hand out from under hers and stood up.
"You did a Taking on my mother?"
Eveie had a shocked look on her face. "I did to preserve her within me. Her love for you would have been lost, but it stayed alive in me. I truly did it to protect you."
"But you came to me in the darkness and threatened me with fear. You told me that my mother didn't care about me or want me right before we captured you in the stone."
Eveie shook her head. "No, it wasn't me all the time, and sometimes my sisters liked to watch me when they thought I didn't know. They didn't trust me, and that day I had to put on a show until the time was right for me to reveal myself to you. Eos knew of you and wanted me to get rid of my pet, but I didn't want to. I tried to hide you and being a demon, well you will never lose that frightening demon appearance to humans, or in your case-a Fae or actually only half-Fae."
I gave Eveie a confused look.
"You are not human at all, April Snow." She smiled as the silver scales on her cheeks sparkled in the sunlight. "You are part monster and part Fae, and not just any Fae, but one from the Isle of Stars."
I sat back down and looked at my very human looking feet as I cradled my head in my hands. "So what's that supposed to mean?I have butterfly wings or something?"
"Not butterfly wing
s, but aura wings. And I'm going to help uncover it for you."
Seth
"Rusul is dead," Nessa said, peering at me through the silver bars that took the place of a door to a bedroom with windows filled with glass so thick, it distorted the outside view.
"They are blaming you for everything." Edan added with arms crossed as he constantly looked over his shoulder to make sure his father wasn't coming.
"I kind of got that impression when they put me in here." I let out a breath of air.
Uncle Hes was dead too, and it was my entire fault-the thought of it was there, but it wasn't soaking in.
"What about Ayil and Yolanda?" I asked and not sure if I wanted to hear the answer.
"Yolanda is grieving, but is alright, and Ayil is healing." Nessa let her gaze mix with mine for a moment. "I'm sorry about your Uncle Hes. I didn't know him very well, but I'm sure he was a good monster."
I really didn't know him either, but he was blood of my blood and that had to mean something.
"I have to get out of here," I whispered to Nessa.
"Yeah, especially since my dad wants you to be executed-archangel style," Edan said plainly. "He's taken over Rusul's place for the time being until Yolanda can recover."
"Archangel style?" Nessa questioned.
"Hey," I interrupted. "Get me out so we can find April and Malachi."
"How do we know where they went? My father has sent out guards and scouts, and they're not in the Shadowlands. The portal Eveie made, is a dead end and impenetrable."
I rubbed my chin and then my head as I let out a sigh. I wished Ezra could communicate with me and tell me where April was, but no matter how much I tried to reach out and find the smallest piece of her, I only found the emptiness of the darkness. My time, April's time and Malachi's time was running out. And now with Isaiah running Shangri-La, I would probably be executed archangel-style whatever that meant, I didn't want to know.
"I know where Eveie went," a tiny voice said.
Nessa and Edan turned as I stepped towards the barred doorway.
"Ella, I told you to stay put, and I'd be back soon." Nessa, who wasn't much taller than Ella, said looking down at the dark-haired girl.
"But I know where Eveie went and where she took my brother. If you want to come, then come along, because I have the key." Ella held up a silver wand that I knew was a Fae-made etch. She could make a portal.
April
Eveie and I stood nestled between the vibrant, green knolls that looked like giant waves of green water frozen forever. Black rocks jetted out of the ground like teeth in random places, and the blue sky overhead was filled with puffy clouds.
I stood in front of Eveie as she smiled down at me. Gently she placed her scaled hands on my shoulders. Immediately, tiny tendrils of electricity curled inside of me. I didn't expect the sudden force and thought of pulling away when a voice entered my head.
Let her help you, April. You are more than a monster-I can see that clearly in you now. Eveie is pure of heart that is a mixture of Aleena and her own. Their love for you is strong. Don't push it away?you belong here?
"Ezra," I said her name out loud as Eveie deepened her smile at me.
"Listen to the voice of your strength," Eveie said.
I expected Eveie to explain what she was going to do, not just place her hands on me and jump right in with uncovering my aura. But just as quickly the fear and confusion filled me; it was quickly extinguished by understanding and the bond that had been created between Eveie and my mother so many years ago. Their desire to protect and love me was shared between them. Their minds, heart and soul slowly mingled as one. It was almost as if they had become another being that they created together.
I closed my eyes, and thought of Ezra. She was strong, and mixed with my strength only made us stronger.
My body felt light, and I couldn't feel the ground beneath my feet. The green landscape faded into a glitter-filled one as the air around me lifted me up as if it had arms holding me. I tilted my head backwards and looked up at the blue sky that was electrified with colors. I had never felt so happy, and didn't want it to stop, but I felt the air around me weaken.
Slowly, I glided downward until I felt the ground against my body. The air had cleared, and the blue sky was just blue again.
I smiled at myself with the lingering effects of what just happened, still giving me a buzz. But what just happened to me? I forced the question in my head.
I sat up to see Eveie sitting on a rock gazing at the landscape as if nothing had happened. My head spun as I tried to steady myself by clutching onto the thick blades of grass. I drew in a deep breath causing my lungs to suddenly hurt. I coughed as silver glitter fell around me dusting the green blades of grass. I then noticed the skin on my arms was covered in silver flecks and my royal hexmark was no longer black.
Gingerly, I ran my fingers over the silver lines that looked like someone had poured metal into a cast, and then fastened that metal design onto my skin. It even had a solid feel to the lines, like a scar would.
Eveie casually turned her head and gazed at me with her blue eyes surrounded in all of her white and silver. She slid off the black boulder and came up to me, lifting me by my hands. She twirled a strand of my hair between her fingers then reached behind me and flicked something on my back. Silver glitter exploded between us.
"What-what is it?" I frantically asked as I reached over my shoulder and felt something like stretched paper or sheer material. I started to pull on it as pain shot through my back. "Ouch!" I yelled as a pang of worry filled me.
"Don't pull on them. They are part of you now, and I must say," she nodded her head, "you are the first of your kind, April."
"Kind?first?Eveie what have I become?"
She smiled and flicked some more glitter. "You are the result of when a monster and a Fae have offspring, but you look just like them, and I knew it was in you the whole time, April." Suddenly, Eveie's voice shifted and her hair started to turn brown. Her face filled with color and her eyes matched mine.
"Mother?" I breathed.
She smiled and then her image was gone. Eveie smiled back at me as my vision faded and I felt the cool ground next to my skin.