Shadow: Bloody Fairies Part 32

"Mmmm," Hippy said. "Fairy dust soup. I miss my mum's cooking."

Pierus put a bowl in front of her and ladled steaming red liquid from the tureen. It splashed down the sides and a droplet burned her hand.

Hippy looked doubtfully at the mixture. Liquid fat floated on the surface and globs of red congealed at the edges. Chunks of purplish meat floated in it. She sniffed at it and wrinkled her nose. "Did something die in there?"

"Blood soup," Pierus said. "Fresh from a wild rabbit. I understand such things are terribly good for a pregnant fairy."

Hippy gagged and pressed a hand over her mouth. Her stomach threatened to revolt. Her chair clattered backward and fell over when she ran for the nearest door.

Pierus's laughter cut into her raw nerves like razorblades.

Hippy didn't stop until she found her way outside again, where she fell to her hands and knees and threw up under the overgrown winged lion until she'd emptied the entire contents of her stomach.

Her hands trembled. She went to the fountain, cleaned her hands and face and rinsed her mouth. She shot a furious glance in the direction of the castle and thought about walking right back in there and emptying the blood soup tureen over the muse king's head.

Instead she turned her back on the whole thing and walked down the path. When she was safely on the other side of the bushes she ran across the plains. The late afternoon air was cool and refreshing on her skin. The wind of her pa.s.sing whipped through her hair, lifting it off her neck. The deepening light made shadows in the dips in the gra.s.s while the sky slowly turned a deep shade of blue-purple overhead. The further away she got, the better she felt. The gra.s.s was soft on her bare feet. The s.p.a.ce helped to clear her head.

She stopped and turned around when the castle was a tiny dot in the distance, just where it should be. It was going to take a lot of convincing to go back there.

When she turned her back on the castle again, Clockwork stood in the path. He took her hand and they kept running.

Hippy had thought they would go to the nearby forest. Instead Clockwork skirted the trees and headed for where the ground sloped upward, then followed a rock face until it opened into a narrow fissure. Here the two fairies squeezed through the opening and came out into a damp, mossy clearing sheltered on all four sides by steep rock and open to the sky. In one rock face there was a shallow cave.

Hippy put her feet down gently on the moss. She tip-toed around the bases of the tall trees growing in there. They had to reach up very far to feel the sun.

When she'd walked the whole clearing she sat down next to Clockwork in the cave. He'd lit a fire in a depression in the rock; the flames warmed her fingers and toes. The light faded outside and cold seeped in with the darkness.

"Are you hungry?" Clockwork asked.

She shuddered. "I don't know."

"Here." He handed her a basket filled with berries and small, rock-shaped cakes.

Hippy's very empty stomach growled. She tore into a cake. "Where did you get these?"

"The forest people gave them to me."

Hippy almost choked. She swallowed what she was eating while Clockwork clapped her on the back, and got her breath back. "Forest people? You talked to them? They didn't kill you?"

"Of course not. Fitz gave me a few things to tell them if I was ever caught. Really, they were very friendly. They mostly wanted to know what the pretender was doing with a fairy on his cart."

"What did you tell them?" Hippy bit into a second cake. She was starving and the cakes were really good.

Clockwork grinned. "I said you were my sweetheart and I was here to rescue you from the muse king, who was holding you against your will. It seemed more likely than the truth."

She ate a handful of berries. "Did they believe you?"

"They gave me food and showed me this place to stay," Clockwork said. "And an axe." He pointed to a stout, long-handled, double-headed axe with wickedly curved blades resting by the fire. "And they said we could go safely through the forest when I rescued you."

Hippy investigated the weapon. "Nice." She gave a disconsolate sigh and ate another cake.

"Is he starving you?" Clockwork demanded.

"I don't know. Maybe." Hippy blinked back errant tears. Even pregnant fairies didn't cry. "He tried to give me blood soup. The smell made me throw up and he laughed."

"Come on. We'll kill him right now, take the Apple and go." Clockwork reached for the axe.

"No!" Hippy put her hand on his arm. "We can't. What if we killed him and it was the end of all Shadow?"

"You heard Fitz. That's a lie."

"What if Fitz was wrong?"

Clockwork poked at the fire. A shower of sparks went up into the darkness. "Fitz is the smartest person I know."

"But are you prepared to take that risk?"

He sighed. "I don't know. I guess you're not."

Hippy shook her head. "Not really. But listen, as soon as I have a chance I'm going to find the Apple of Chaos. Then we have to get out of here. Really, really fast."

Clockwork chuckled. "He's going to be a little bit upset, is he?"

"He's going to be so mad he'll eat his own face."

The two fairies giggled. The fire crackled. Silence settled. Clockwork and Hippy laced their fingers together.

"Are you going to be okay?" Clockwork said.

"Of course I am. What can he possibly do, apart from play his mean little tricks and act like a complete a.s.s?"

"I don't know. The forest people said he took one of them to live in the Arch once."

"Really? What happened?"

"They don't know. He never came back."

Hippy thought about the skeleton she'd seen. She felt ill again. But she didn't want to worry Clockwork, so she quickly changed the subject. "You know what's really weird? Nikifor. I think Pierus is doing something to him. He gave him this drink the night we left Shadow, to take away his fear. Now Nikifor's really sick and he babbles and says weird stuff about consequences."

The stick Clockwork had been playing with stilled. "What did the drink look like?"

"It was green. He didn't want it, but Pierus made him."

"Sounds like vibe."

"Vibe?"

"It's a Freakin Fairy drink." Clockwork raked his dreadlocks out of his face. "Completely harmless to fairies, of course. It just used to give us a little bit of a laugh and make our voices go funny. But it's a terrible thing for muses. It takes away all their fears, all their boundaries and rules. It's like they suddenly have a direct link to all that inspiration out there. It floods them and they can't handle it. But once they start drinking it they can't stop either, or they go crazy and die." He drew a line across his throat with his index finger. "Pierus stole the recipe from my grandfather when my dad was young. He was supposed to be trying to negotiate for more silver, but once he had that, he scarpered."

Hippy stared at Clockwork, her eyes wide. "Nikifor's going to go crazy and die?"

"If he's been drinking vibe, then yes, one way or another. He could survive for decades if he has a little now and then, but if he doesn't, he'll have another day or two, tops."

"There must be a way to help him!" Hippy buried her face in Clockwork's shoulder. He smelled like wood smoke and leaves. She didn't want to go back.

"If he went to my people, maybe." Clockwork sounded doubtful. "But I'm more worried about you, Hippy. Let me go find the Apple of Chaos."

She shook her head. "No. If you get caught there's no telling what he'll do. I'm going to find it tonight and come back."

Clockwork turned her face and looked into her eyes. He looked very serious. "And if you don't come back tonight? If something goes wrong?"

"Then I'll come back tomorrow and tell you what happened. Don't worry. I can leave anytime I want. He can't stop me." Hippy leaned forward and gently kissed his lips.

Clockwork closed his eyes and returned the kiss. Hippy let herself imagine, just for a minute, that this was her life and she could stay in the cave all night. It was a nice thought, but she felt worse when she ended the kiss. "You'd better think up a way to get us back to Dream. I'll see you soon." She hurried out of the cave before she could change her mind and stay.

She found the crevice and squeezed through it. It was a good thing she'd decided to end all this tonight. In another few weeks she'd start getting fat from the baby and wouldn't fit down here.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE.

Iron weights dragged from her feet. The night wrapped icy fingers around her ribs and squeezed. It was so very dark she couldn't even see the ground, but she knew she was going the right way by the unerring dread that gripped her shoulders with each step.

The moon peeped over the turrets. Hippy shivered. She usually liked the moon, but here even that looked cold and unfriendly, outlining harsh angles on the castle she hadn't seen during the day. When it rose higher, it flooded the plain with silver light.

That was when she spotted Pierus.

Hippy slowed her pace. Far across the plain he moved up and down in a regular pattern, dragging something over the ground, then returning down the same path, scattering things. She would have sworn he was gardening if his movements weren't so like a weird dance, the way he would turn, the way the skirt of his long coat flared out.

She picked up her pace. The distance to the castle lessened. She pa.s.sed under the Arch, where it was now so bitterly cold her teeth chattered until she'd left it behind completely. She looked over her shoulder at Pierus.

He looked up at the same moment. Their eyes met. There was no change in his expression, but he did not break the eye contact. Hippy experienced a horrible sensation of being pinned to the spot for three eternal minutes. She gritted her teeth, broke away and turned her back on him, but the p.r.i.c.kling in her spine told her he watched her all the way.

She bolted toward the castle, but skidded to a halt again at the fountain. "Nikifor?"

Nikifor stood on top of the wall that divided the fountain, hair tumbled around his face, naked sword high in the air, transfixed by the moon. His eyes snapped to her when she spoke. He stared right through her. "I fear nothing," he said. "Nothing. Not your dreams or illusions or lies. Not the blood spilled from the sky every time I open my hand." He paced across the wall and dropped to the ground in front of her.

Hippy backed up fast. "Would you put that sword away? You're going to hurt yourself. Or I'm going to hurt you. Either way you really should calm down."

He stalked her movements. "Do you think I'm fooled?" His voice rose to a shout. "I know mist when I see it! I haven't spent my life dragging your every vision kicking and screaming from the ether just to come to this! I know I was born to kill, to drive back the darkness, and that makes me just another foul creation of your twisted intellect!" He doubled over and uttered a hoa.r.s.e, guttural roar.

Hippy fled inside. Gas lamps and candles burned in every room. She raced into the dining room, but it was clean. She checked the kitchen, but there was nothing there either. She didn't even know what she was looking for until she stumbled into a small room that contained only a round table in the centre and two chairs. She slowed her pace. On the table she found a silver pitcher and two empty gla.s.ses; in the bottom of the gla.s.ses there were drops of green liquid. She picked up the pitcher and sniffed it. It smelled of something intoxicating, more intoxicating than coffee or Poppy's brandy or anything she'd ever encountered. It confirmed her worst suspicion. At least Nikifor wouldn't die in the next two days.

She backed out of the room and glanced towards the doors of the castle. Pierus was busy. So was Nikifor. Maybe there was no better time to find the Apple of Chaos and go, while they were both whacked off their faces on Freakin Fairy juice. She'd left Fangs scratching in the garden, she'd find her on the way out.

Hippy headed for the stairs, but she stopped only halfway up the first flight when footsteps thumped through the front door. She turned around, one hand on the railing.

Pierus's hair, normally so neat and tidy, hung knotted over his face, the new white streak tangled into the black. There were shadows under his eyes and beads of sweat on his forehead. He removed his coat, but never took his eyes off her. "And just where have you been all this time, my love?" He walked toward the stairs.

Hippy backed away. "Out."

"You are not permitted to go out. I thought I made myself clear on that point." He mounted the steps one by one, like a cat stalking a little bird.

Hippy steeled herself. She was more than a match for the muse king. She wasn't going to be afraid. She freed Fluffy Ducky from his pouch and let him run into the palm of her hand. "You leave me alone," she said. "You're not thinking right. I saw those gla.s.ses. You and Nikifor both drank the vibe, didn't you? I don't want any part of your madness."

"You are my madness." He stalked closer still. "Where did you go, Hippy Ishtar? Do you have a friend? Did you lie to me when you swore you were loyal?" He reached out and grasped the back of her head. His breath held the same intoxicating scent she'd found in the pitcher in the other room, but now slightly rancid.

She wrinkled her nose and pulled away. "Take your hands off me or I'll smack you in the teeth."

He brought his face close to hers and breathed in. "You smell like wood smoke," he said. "Interesting little thing, my love. b.l.o.o.d.y Fairies don't know about the vibe, because they don't talk to the Freakin Fairies. So how do you know?"

Hippy's cheeks grew painfully hot. "Leave me alone." She shoved him in the ribs with her free hand and ran past him down the stairs, only to find Nikifor blocking the doorway.

Pierus went after her, wrapped a hand in her hair and snapped her head back. "I asked you a question, Fairy."

Hippy flung Fluffy Ducky at his face. Fluffy Ducky, who had apparently been waiting for this chance, curled his legs around, ready to latch on.

Pierus ducked his head, raised a hand and caught Fluffy Ducky in his fist. Then he smiled.

Hippy didn't like that smile at all. She screamed so loud the gas lamps flickered. "You let go of my Fluffy Ducky!"

Pierus stalked over to a table and opened a wooden box. He put the struggling spider into it, closed the lid and locked it.

Hippy shoved Pierus away from the box and tried to tear it open. "Fluffy Ducky! Don't worry I'm going to get you out!"

"Nikifor," Pierus said.

Something in his voice made Hippy stop what she was doing. She looked from one muse to the other. "Oh, no you don't."

There was nothing of the Nikifor she knew in the muse who stalked her now. Hippy clutched the box to her ribs and backed away from them both. "Stop it, both of you. You're not thinking straight. And trust me, I will hurt you."

"But my dear girl, I always think straight. I plan everything." Pierus closed in from her right, Nikifor from her left.

"Did you plan this?" She put her foot on the first step. Fine, she'd go all the way up and jump off the roof. There was always an escape.

"No. This is a diverting distraction. Put down the box."

"No." Hippy backed up three more steps. "I won't let you hurt Fluffy Ducky."

"Look." Pierus put his hand into his pocket, then opened it. A wisp of something sparkly rose into the air.

Hippy's eyes widened. "Oh, that's shiny."

Nikifor darted forward and knocked the box out of her hand.