Call to Arms (War of the Fae: Book 2) (14 page)

I realized as I finished swatting the bits of dried leaves and twigs off my tunic that it was uncommonly silent.
 
I looked up and was astonished at the vision that greeted me.

Every elf, including Robin and Finn, was down on one knee, head bowed.
 

I kept my eyes on them, sure they would soon realize I was free and jump up to use me for target practice again.
 
My green glowy thing must have temporarily blinded them or something.
 

Time to get Finn and get the hell out of here.
 
I walked over quietly to where he was kneeling, just a few feet away.
 
I nudged him in the shoulder, whispering to him as loud as I dared.
 
“Finn!
 
Come on!
 
Let’s go!”

He looked up at me, tears in his eyes.
 
He stared at me but didn’t move.
 
He looked like he was paralyzed.

Shit.
 
I’ve given them all fucking strokes.
 
I was in a panic now, pretty sure that one accidental stroke might be believable, but thirty of them?
 
Probably not.

I walked over to Robin, leaning down a little, looking at his face,
trying
to see if he was still conscious.
 
He looked up as he heard me approach.
 
He had tears in his eyes too.
 
He stood as I began speaking.
 

“Hey, um, Robin?
 
Listen, I’m sorry about that ... whatever ... ”

“Mother ... ”

One word.
 
That’s all he said.
 
Was he calling me ‘motherfucker’?
 
Because he had a funny way of delivering the insult.
 
He didn’t look even remotely mad.
 
He didn’t look like he wanted to kick my sorry butt.
 
He looked like ... like he was going to cry some more.
 
When
I
called someone a motherfucker, I was usually pretty pissed.
 
Like level eight pissed.
 
He ... was not.

“Okaaaaay, so anyway, I think that went ... well.
 
So whaddya say my friend Finn and I go back to the compound?”

Robin turned, signaling his troops to stand.
 
They all dutifully got to their feet, arms dangling by their sides.
 

I grabbed Finn’s elbow, ready to drag him back into the trees with me.
 
The minute I saw a single bow or arrow coming up, I was going to beg any nearby vines to wrap their stupid elf assses up with supersonic speed.
 
It’s what I should have done in the first place.
 
Go with what you know, that’s what Tony always used to say.
 
There was nothing more I wanted right at that moment than to talk to my best friend.
 
I missed him desperately.
 

This entire situation settled it.
 
If they didn’t give me a phone or some way to contact Tony, I was outta here.
 
This whole ‘welcome to our party, now we’re going to kill you’ shit was total
bullhonkey
.

“Come on, Finn, we’re leaving.”

Finn stumbled along, following my lead but saying nothing.
 
He was totally out of it.

“Where’s the door, Finn?
 
I don’t know how to work this shit.”

Finn didn’t respond, so I looked back at him, yelling, “Finn!
 
Snap out of it, dude!
 
I need you to tell me where the fucking door is!”

Finn stopped walking.
 
He looked up at me, exhaustion all over his face.
 
He smiled sleepily.

I went back and stood in front of him.
 
He watched me come all the way up, never taking his eyes from mine.
 
I snapped my fingers in his face.
 
“Helloooo?
 
Anyone home in there?”

“Yeah, Jayne, I’m here.
 
Whaddya want?”

I threw my arms up in frustration.
 
“What the hell is wrong with you
?!
 
I’ve been saying it over and over!
 
Where is the damn door to the friggin’ compound?”

“It’s right there,” said Finn, pointing off to his right.

“Open it.”

“Okey dokey.”
 

Within seconds the door appeared.
 
Finn looked at me, grinning.
 
“Does that make you happy?”

“Yes!
 
It does.
 
Freak.”

Finn just smiled at me, not moving.

I grabbed his arm.
 
“Come on, you stupid redneck zombie.
 
Let’s go.”

I stepped into the hall and then stopped.
 
Which way, left or right?
 
I imagined Dardennes’ little sitting room; maybe he’d be there and I could go confess my sins.
 
I got a weird vibe off to my right, so I went that way, dragging Finn with me.

Spike appeared, coming out of a doorway on our left.
 
Immediately his eyes started to glow red.
 
“Well, hello, Jayne.”
 
He smiled at me, giving me his famous
hotsexy
grin.

“Not now, Spike, I don’t have time for your shit.”

Spike was taken aback.
 
He snapped back to regular Spike ... the non-incubus Spike.
 
“Why?
 
What’s wrong?”

“Just help me get Finn to Dardennes’ office.”

A door just up ahead had a candleglow around the edges.
 
This must be what Finn was talking about, that I’d know the door when I saw it.

I knocked on the door three times.

“Enter!” I heard, coming from inside.

I pushed on the heavy door, swinging it inwards, dragging Finn in by the hand.
 
Spike followed and shut the door behind us.

Dardennes was sitting at his desk, Céline standing at his right looking over his shoulder at a map laid out on the surface.
 
Niles the dwarf was on his left, also examining the document.
 
Ivar stood in the corner, a few paces back from them, near one of the many floor to ceiling bookshelves.

Dardennes lifted an eyebrow as we approached.
 
“Yes, Jayne?
 
How may we help you?”

I sighed, a little guiltily.
 
“I think I did it again.”

“Did what again?”

“Gave some elves a stroke or something.
 
Like I did to Céline.”

Dardennes looked at Céline and then at Niles.
 
They all looked back at me with questions in their eyes.

“Which elves?”

“You know very well which elves.
 
The green elves.
 
The ones you told to try and kill me today.”

Dardennes chuckled.
 
“Jayne, the green elves did not try to kill you.
 
Perhaps you are letting your imagination get away from you.”

“Listen, old man, when thirty elves notch arrows in their bows at you and tell you that you have thirty seconds to figure out how to defend yourself, that’s attempted murder.
 
It’s
not
my friggin’ imagination.”
 
I grabbed Finn by the shoulder of his tunic, pulling him forward.
 
“Tell ‘em Finn.
 
Tell ‘em what they did.”

They turned their gaze to Finn.
 

Finn said nothing.

I whacked him on the back.
 
“Finn!
 
Wake up, you redneck idiot!
 
Tell them what happened.”

“Wait, Jayne, let me see what I can do,” said Céline, coming around the desk, looking concerned.

She reached Finn, stopping in front of him.
 
She took his hands in hers and stared into his eyes.
 
I could see her thumbs rubbing circles on the backs of his hands.
 

Finn was smiling, saying nothing.

“Finn.
 
Where are you right now?”

“I’m in the light.”

“Are you in The Green?”

“Yes.”

Céline broke her gaze away and looked over at Dardennes, nodding at him.
 
He reciprocated the gesture, giving her some sort of approval.

Céline turned back to Finn.
 
“Finn, I need you to come out of The Green.
 
Come back to us here at the compound.”

“No.”

“Yes,” she said sternly, jerking on his hands.
 
“You cannot stay in The Green.
 
Mother needs you
here.”

Finn had the look of a petulant child on his face – a child who was going to refuse an order from his parent; but then he reluctantly gave in.
 
He closed his eyes for a few seconds and then opened them back up.
 

He saw Céline standing right smack in front of him and backed his head up as far as he could without stepping away from her.
 
He pulled his hands from hers and leaned a bit to the right, looking around her left shoulder to Dardennes and the others by the desk.
 
Then he turned his head sideways, looking at me.

“Jayne?
 
What in the H-E-double hockey sticks is goin’ on here?”

I smiled in relief.
 
“Welcome back, Finn, you crazyass motherfucker.
 
You scared the shit out of me, you know that?”

Spike started laughing.
 
“Wow, what was that all about?
 
That was
awesome!
 
Finn, dude, you were in like a trance or something.”
 
Spike turned to me.
 
“You did that to him?
 
Do me next.
 
Come on, do it.”
 
He was tapping himself on the chest, totally psyched about the idea of being sent into The Green where, apparently, Finn had just come from.
 
Spike was way more amped up than I was used to him being.

Céline stepped away from Finn, going back to stand by Niles.
 
“We need to get a crew out to the green elf training grounds immediately.
 
Niles?”

Niles gave a sharp nod.
 
“We will handle it.”

Dardennes turned to look over his shoulder.
 
“Ivar, get some of the ogres in on this too please.
 
I don’t want any arrows getting loose.”

Ivar nodded and joined Niles, heading out the door.

“Will someone please fill me in on what the hell is going on here? This is the second time I’ve nearly killed an elf.
 
Only this time it was like thirty of them.
 
And right before it happened Robin Hood or whoever he is specifically asked me not to do that.
 
He’s gonna be pissed.”

“First, tell us exactly what happened, then perhaps we can all piece it together.”

I looked at Finn.
 
“Do you remember what happened?”

“Nope.
 
I remember bringin’ you to the trainin’ ground, talkin’ to Robin, and then I ended up here.
 
I ain’t got
no
idea how I got here, neither.”

Finn was going to be useless, apparently.
 
“Fine.
 
So what happened is that I went there to do some training with Finn.
 
Robin said something about them testing my self-preservation instincts, and then he told me I had thirty seconds to defend myself.
 
Next thing I know, all thirty of those trigger happy elves had their arrows up and were getting ready to shoot me dead – right there in front of Finn.
 
I tapped into The Green, told Finn to get the hell out of the way, and then I let ‘er rip.”

“You let her rip,” said Céline.

“Yeah, that’s what I said.
 
I let ‘er rip.”

“ ‘Her’ being
... ?
”

“ ‘Her’ being the connection.
 
The power.
 
The energy.
 
You know, Céline.
 
The Green.”

Céline nodded, a smile on her lips.
 
“Yes, I do know.”

“It was different this time though.”

“In what way?” asked
Dardennes.
 

I was about to answer, but then I decided I’d had enough of their twenty questions.
 
It was my turn for a change.

“Listen.
 
I’m getting tired of all these questions.
 
I think it’s time you answered some of mine.
 
Like first of all, how come all the fae around here keep trying to kill or maim me?
 
And how come you tell me you’re going to help me figure out what my powers are, as if that’s important to you, and then do it by having other people try to drown me, drain me, or shoot me?
 
Why the secret hallways?
 
What’s up with tricking the brownies with chocolate balls?
 
How come my bedroom doesn’t have a window?
 
Why does everyone but me have a group of friends to train with?
 
Where’s Tony and how can I contact him?
 
And what’s with the mystery meats that are still moving on the buffet?”