CHAPTER ONE SAMPLE

To The Death

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Skye ran full speed up the embankment of a heavily wooded area. Head swiveling this way and that, she frantically examined the terrain. She had to find shelter before it was dark, which would be soon. More importantly, she had to shake the two people following her. She couldn’t let them catch her again.

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This was her third attempt, and she didn’t want to go back. Glancing around her, Skye decided to put her new skills to the test. Making sure her pack was secure, she picked the best tree, took a deep breath, and flooded her muscles with the power of the FAE. Skye called upon the wind that had filled the wings of the angels prior to their fall, and leapt up into the air. For though the FAE no longer flew, they could slow the surrounding gravity to assist them to hover temporarily, control a fall, or in this case, help them jump very high.

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Grasping the best branch, she used the remaining amount of momentum to swing herself up to perch on it. Resting sufficiently to catch her breath, Skye began to scale the old tree. Once high enough to be hidden from those on the ground, she sat, straddling her branch of choice, and grabbed her small canteen lodged into the side pocket of her pack.

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Pulling it out, she twisted the flip cap, opened the bottle, and drank. Taking no more than a mouthful, she swished the warm bit of water in her mouth and swallowed.

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Not terribly refreshing, but needed.

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With a deep breath, she slowly let it out as she fastened the cap back on and slid the canteen into its pocket. It was time to move on. Reaching out with her elevated senses, she heard something that caused her to go unnaturally still. The two FAE tracking her were closer than she’d like. Carefully, she moved a few feet higher. From here, she could leap from tree to tree, using the canopy of spring foliage to hide her from those on the ground below.

If she didn’t fall. That was the key.

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“You can do this,” Skye said to herself. “Just don’t look at the ground. Eyes on the prize.”

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Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out, focus…jump!

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Using the same technique from before, Skye flew through the air and hit the next tree with a tiny oof, then promptly lost her footing. Sliding down a few feet, she reached out, caught a branch, and held tight.

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“Fuck,” she mouthed, and pulled herself up.

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She’d overshot. Given too much power. Live and learn.

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A footfall landed below her, soft and barely audible, but she heard it.

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Crouching on a sturdy limb, Skye held onto the branch above to steady herself as her hip leaned into the trunk of the tree. Slowly she breathed in through her nose to stay quiet. Her heart hammered in her chest, but the man following her wasn’t a vampire, so she didn’t worry about him hearing it. She just needed to stay perfectly still.

 

Skye focused on staying calm. She only had to make it through this and she would be free. Not just physically, but she’d be free to learn all she had been promised.

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Skye barely caught the glimpse of the reddish-blond hair of the man who tracked her. He’d be looking up, down, and all around for sure. Skye couldn’t move a muscle or he’d see a group of leaves move and be on her in a flash.Soon, another person joined him. They wore a black hoodie with the hood up. However, Skye didn’t need to see them to have a good idea of who it was. These two were the best. If she eluded them tonight, it would bring a significant shift to her life.

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The two spoke mentally to one another, as FAE siblings are wont to do, and they split up; one going up farther into the Ramble of Central Park while the other leapt up into the trees to the opposite direction of Skye. Not wishing to waste time, Skye glanced toward the setting sun. If that was west, she knew where to go from here.

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Skye’s blue eyes examined the forest from her perch, hunting for the best way to travel from tree to tree to reach her destination prior to darkness falling. She had to get to the lake. If she remembered the map correctly, the boathouse wasn’t far from here, so that was where she’d go.

 

Not trusting that the person in the black hoodie had truly gone the way it appeared, Skye backtracked a bit, took a short breather to eat her last power bar, drank nearly the rest of her water, and moved on. The rest and food helped her regain some energy, and she pulled on her FAE strength and the air around her again.

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Leaping upward, she shoved off from one tree to the next, controlling the gravity about her when she could to soften landings. Once she felt she’d gotten far enough away, Skye eased herself back down to the forest floor and moved west until she found the boathouse.

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It was now so pitch black out that to continue onward, Skye needed to pull on her FAE ability of enhanced sight. Doing so, she found what held all the boats together. Taking a bobby pin from her hair, she picked the lock open, untethered a few boats, and set them free. Leaving it unlocked to make it appear as if someone hadn’t secured up the boats at the end of the day, Skye broke into the boathouse as well and fetched a paddle.

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Choosing a boat for herself, Skye stepped into it and sat down. Shoving off from the embankment, she drifted quietly out onto the dark water where there was the least amount of light. Skye worked herself to the floor of the boat and curled up as best she could. This way, the boat would appear empty from a distance.

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“This fucking reeks,” she whispered, trying not to breathe through her nose.

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However, with her arm used as a pillow, she soon got comfortable and let the motion of the boat, as it drifted off into the middle of the lake in Central Park, lull her into a sense of security. Once she felt she was far enough from shore, Skye peeked over the side of the boat and searched to see if there was anyone following her. Unlike vampire night vision, FAE couldn’t see heat signatures, so their distance of sight was more limited. This meant that if she couldn’t see the shore, they couldn’t see her either. It was time.

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Sitting up on the seat, she took the paddle and looked up at the sky. Seeing the stars, she figured out which way was west and slowly headed in that direction as quietly as possible. The pace was painstaking, but it worked. It wasn’t long until she saw Bethesda Fountain.

Quietly gliding up to it, Skye pushed out with her hearing. To do this, she often pictured extending herself outward in all directions. She would take in all the data near her, and then shove out further, and if possible, even past that. Doing this, she heard nothing but the water slapping up to the cement steps and an owl hooting at her from a tree branch above.

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Stepping out onto the bottom stair, Skye shoved the boat back out into the water and headed up into the park. Keeping her eyes peeled for a possible attack, Skye moved past the fountain to the Bethesda Terrace Arcade arch. Usually the home of musicians and other performers during the day, at night the area held only the music of crickets and other night creatures. Here and there, she’d catch the sound of voices of the homeless who lived in the park, but they were not a threat to her.

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With a palm placed on a cool tile of the arch, Skye pulled out her small flashlight and walked along hunting for the mark on the wall. It took longer than she’d have liked, but finally there it was: the symbol of the Unseelie Court.

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Grabbing her pocketknife, she opened it and poked her finger. Squeezing out a tiny drop of blood, she touched what looked like, to her anyway, an Egyptian hieroglyphic. The moment her blood touched it, the button glowed and depressed inward.

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Before her eyes, the wall shimmered, and though she could see the outline of the diamond-shaped tiles on the wall, she also saw through them to a world beyond it: the land of the Unseelie Court. With a leap of faith, she stepped into and through the wall, as if it were the entrance to the Hogwarts Express at Platform 9¾. However, instead of finding a train full of soon-to-be wizards and witches on the other side, she stood in the land of the Dark FAE. Not only that, but Skye found herself face to face with the Dark Queen herself: Danae.

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“Well, shit…” Skye whispered to herself.

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The queen nodded and cleared her throat.

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A tall man came forward. He approached and handed Skye her two swords, the ones she’d had handed over to Alexie and Alarica Gage at the beginning of the final test. It had been how long now? Two weeks? Three? It felt longer since the final challenge had begun. However, if she was being handed her weapons, this still wasn’t over. Because of this realization, she took them and awaited further instruction.

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The same man who gave Skye her swords back put his hand out to her. “Your pack, please?”

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Skye set her swords down, removed her backpack, and handed it to him.

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He placed it in the arms of another who attended the queen, then said, “This way, please.”

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Skye picked up her blades and followed him down some stairs into a circular arena that sank about twelve feet into the ground. They walked to center in silence.

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He nodded at her. “Wait here, please.” He turned and left her there, went up the stairs that promptly vanished, and then headed to stand by Danae.

“Okay, that’s odd,” Skye muttered.

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The queen clapped her hands twice. “Pagita!” she shouted, pronouncing it pug-ee-tah.

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“My queen!” a voice responded from behind Skye.

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Just like the stairs, it was as if this woman appeared out of nowhere. Pagita seemed to be close to Skye’s size, possibly a tad bit taller. She stood there in battle gear, her short blond hair slicked back from her angular face, one sword in each hand.

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Pagita bowed, either to Skye or the queen, Skye wasn’t really sure, and then took a fighting stance.

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“To the death!” the queen shouted.

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“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Skye said.

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Pagita looked as if she reveled in the challenge and charged toward Skye with a battle cry.

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“Fuck, she’s not kidding!” Skye said, and lifted her two swords up to block the advancing attack.

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