Casually Cursed (17 page)

A flash of dark blue and green bustled by. I stopped. It was a peacock’s plume, attached to a plump peacock. I reacted too late.

Bird!
I thought, reaching. My fingers brushed the end of Merc’s tail, but by the time my fist closed, he and his tail were out the open window.

“Merc, hang on!” I called, turning and running out of the kitchen. “Zach, Mercutio’s gone out the window.”

An empty living room greeted me as I rushed through it.

Where’s Zach?

I pushed the door open and burst outside. “Mercutio, don’t kill that bird.”

Zach wasn’t standing on the front walk, but someone was.

It was a woman—a female faery—the likes of which I’d never seen. And she had a dangerous question for me.

THE FAERY’S LAVENDER
eyes narrowed, a thin smile fixed on her thin face. “Who have you brought home with you?” she asked. “And why would he kill a bird?”

I froze, my gaze darting left and right.

Cats are banned from the Never. I can’t let her see Merc.

“Um, hi.” I stepped down onto the walkway.

She tilted her head, her upswept pink-and-yellow hair swaying when her head moved. Her throat and collarbones were decorated with green and gold vines. And her body was encased in a dress that had a lavender corset top cinched tight with gold ribbons. The skirt was layers of gathered satin falling in scallops to skim the tops of her crystal-encrusted dark green slipper shoes. She looked like a cross between a princess doll and an Easter egg.

“Hello,” I said.

“Who is this Mercutio of whom you spoke?” she asked, resting her long-fingered hands against the fabric of her skirt. The nails were filed to points and painted dark green. The pointed nails looked sinister . . . and strange, considering her springlike getup.

She had pretty, delicate features. Like a porcelain doll. Or a bird.

Was this the queen of the Seelie fae?

I pressed my lips closed. Probably the less I said to anyone the better. I glanced around again. Zach still hadn’t appeared.

“Cat got your tongue?” she whispered, and her tone sent the hair on my arms straight up, like soldiers at attention. “Isn’t that what they say humanside?”

The mention of cats made my spine tingle, but I forced myself to keep still and not look toward the back of the gingerbread house.

“Your hair is very red-orange. As a ruby in a flame. It’s gotten darker when you’ve been humanside before, but never as dark as that. Did you touch it with dye? To look more like Witch Marlee?”

She poked at a hairpin with a pointy fingernail. “You stand so silent and still, looking a little—don’t take offense—a little startled. . . .” She waited. “And even a little . . .” She hesitated again, assessing me. Finally she whispered, “Slouched and scared.”

My spine stiffened, and I stood up straight. “You did surprise me, but I’m not scared.” Sure, I was worried. All my men were missing. But that was none of her business. “Speaking of hair, that’s sure an interesting style you’ve got there.”

Her brows rose. “You’re not yourself, are you?”

My mouth opened, but I closed it again. What should I say?

“Aren’t I?”

“No, you’re not. Do you know me? I’m Roseblade. Do you remember our friendship?”

I hesitated before shaking my head. She thought I was Kismet, didn’t she? And that Kismet had lost her memory. I wasn’t sure whether it was safer to pretend to be my sister or if it would be better to admit who I really was. One thing was certain: I didn’t trust this Easter egg–headed girl.

“You’ve been bespelled. I’m all curiosity over how that might have happened. Witch magic should have washed off you when you returned to the Never. And how could you have found your way home if your memory was lost to you? No, it must have happened after you arrived. Did you drink a potion? Or do you have a wound somewhere? It could be as small as a pinprick.”

“Nope.”

“Take off your humanside clothes. Let’s look closely. It might be very, very small. Just a poison splinter or the tip of a thorn sticking into your skin.”

Realization dawned. Her hair was fashioned into the shape of a rose bloom and her skirt was like satin flower petals. Her nails were shaped like thorns.

“Roseblade. That’s an unusual name.”

“It is? I’ve had it the whole of my life.”

“Rare.”

“It’s true that I’m the only one there’s been or will be.” She smiled. “Unique. You’re unique as well. Do you recall your name?”

The smell of food turned my head. “Oh! I forgot I’ve got stuff in the oven!” I hurried back inside. I grabbed the hot pads that were embroidered to match the dish towels, and I removed the pies from the stove.

“By the golden sunrise,” she exclaimed.

I waved the hot pad over the smoking piecrust. There was a tiny bit of char I’d scrape off. I closed the oven and glanced over my shoulder at the lavender-eyed woman. Her gaze moved slowly around the kitchen, and my own followed it. The table and counter were covered with dishes of freshly made food, ready to be eaten. It was a feast fit to feed an army. Had I made it all? I rubbed my palms together. Yes, I had.

For a moment I pictured my hands working furiously in almost a blur of speed. I hadn’t thought it was strange at the time, but I didn’t think I’d ever worked so fast in my life.

I took a plate down and held it out to her. “Here. Won’t you eat something?” I didn’t want her to stay and couldn’t afford to spend time with someone I suspected might be trouble, but my mouth moved before my brain could stop it. “I’d be so pleased if you tried everything. Won’t you sit?” I asked, extending a hand.

She laughed. “So charming! I’m charmed,” she said with a broad smile. “I believe Witch Marlee bakes. I think you’re afflicted with the same spell as she. Maybe it’s one that encompassed her talents.”

My momma could cook and bake pretty well, from what I remembered, but by the time I was thirteen I’d taken over the kitchen.

I spooned hearty vegetable stew into a bowl, putting a buttered biscuit with it. Then I filled another dish with apple cobbler, adding a dollop of berry compote and whipped cream to the cobbler. I was sorry I hadn’t made ice cream.

“May I dress up your biscuit with honey?”

“Please!” she said.

I drizzled honey onto the biscuit and then added other little bits of food and garnishes to her dish until it was ready to overflow.

“Go ahead,” I said, my own hunger secondary. I waited breathlessly.

“Sunbeams and rose petals! Crystals and coins! Ambers and gemstones!” she exclaimed between bites. “Fantastic!”

Happiness and pride washed over me. More than food, this was what I’d craved—praise.

Only when I’d served her another plateful of food—roast vegetables with spiced meat and herbs, croissants, warm gingerbread cookies, and cinnamon rolls with white icing—did I make myself a dish. I sat across from her while she ate and smiled and waved her free hand enthusiastically.

“I’m going to tell you something secretly,” she whispered. “I won’t be sorry if you never remember that which came before. I won’t be sorry if you never have to leave again. You can stay and make these dishes. We’ll have garden parties that everyone will want to attend. With my blooming flower arrangements, the table set for royalty, and these magnificent foods, everyone will want to come. I will make them wait. I’ll make them court our favor. We’ll be as popular as any, and more than many.” Her eyes twinkled. “Our lady Highness will be the only one who doesn’t need a card of invitation. Everyone else, even the golden knights, will wait for our invitation. And in some cases, wait and wait, if we wish it.”

“Um, I don’t—” My voice dropped off when Caedrin appeared in the doorway.

Seeing my expression, Roseblade looked over her shoulder.

Caedrin’s brow rose, as he seemed to question her presence.

“So she’s come back on her own,” Roseblade said. “Not by force, as some expected.”

“So it seems. How did you come to be here?”

“I surmised it. Am I not clever?” Roseblade said, licking icing off her fingers. “Did I see Osmet? I did. Someone had entered the Never from humanside, he thought. If it was Kismet and if it was known that the trees were telling tales, where might she go to remain undiscovered until ready to reveal herself? This place avoids the trees’ notice. Am I not clever? As clever as a knight or the queen’s first assassin?”

“You are cunning. None could dispute that,” he said, his expression hard.

A blush stained her cheeks. “Kismet, why don’t you wrap some food? We’ll take it to Our Highness.”

“She’s not accompanying you.”

“Why not? I’ve discovered her. Why shouldn’t I take her?”

“You’re not her friend.”

“I was once, which is more than can be said of you. You were never her friend—as she’s said herself to many in the past. I wish to be her friend. Can you say the same?”

Caedrin’s eyes narrowed. “Leave now.”

“Have you a claim to her? If so, make it. Not by general proclamation, but here, in front of her and her oldest friend. Call her your daughter.”

Caedrin stood stone-faced.

“You won’t.” Roseblade rose, smoothing her flower-petal skirt. She folded her hands together and looked at me. “Some whisper that he’s a relation to you, but he’s never said so. He’s wanted nothing to do with you for your—”

“Your tongue is as pointed as your nails, Rosebet.”

“Don’t call me that,” she snapped, darting forward to slap him.

He caught her arm before her hand made contact. She grabbed his forearm with her free hand, sinking her nails into it.

“Let go! I’m not afraid of you,” she said.

“Nor I you,” he said with an amused expression.

Roseblade’s face turned blotchy red with fury. He didn’t release her arm until she let go of his. Reddish-gold blood welled in his wounds and spilled over. Drops rained down onto the floor.

I handed him a cloth, watching the pair of them warily.

“You don’t outrank me, Caedrin. The queen’s made me her first maiden. I’m in her favor. More so than you.” She cleared her throat. “More so than you,” she repeated, hissing the words.

“And yet if I killed you, she’d forgive me.”

Roseblade paled, stepping back. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“I have dared to do many things none expected. No doubt I will do some again. Push me if you will, and we will both find out.”

Roseblade clutched her skirt, raising it enough for me to see her ankles clad in dark green tights.

Legs dressed up as flower stems
, I thought.

“Kismet, let me be your friend. This queen’s knight has never been your protector or adviser. If you allow me, I’ll claim you as dear as a sister. In front of the entire Never.”

“That’s sure a nice offer,” I said, glancing at the marks on Caedrin’s arm. “Let me think it over.”

“What I did . . . it was never a betrayal. No matter what he says,” she said, scowling at Caedrin. “I’ll wait for you at my house, Kismet. It’s on the way. Follow the roses.” She flounced out of the kitchen. Caedrin watched her exit through the front door, which she left wide-open.

He was so still. I wondered whether he needed to breathe at all. Finally he inhaled and then exhaled. I mirrored the action, realizing for the first time that I could take a deep breath without pain. I looked at Caedrin’s arm. His wounds had already closed. I pressed a hand to the middle of my chest. There was no soreness, let alone pain, from the terrible wound I’d gotten the week before. Upon entering the Never, I’d healed.

“Where are your companions?” he asked.

“I don’t exactly know. Bryn’s gone swimming,” I said absently.

“Swimming?” Caedrin echoed, his brows practically touching each other.

“Um, yeah, more or less,” I said hastily. I didn’t want any of the faeries to know that Bryn was part fae. “Zach left without saying a word, which surprises me.” I chewed my lip. “I need to figure out where he’s at. Merc took off after a bird, which doesn’t surprise me, him being a cat and all.”

“What bird?”

“A peacock.”

“One of the queen’s birds,” he said, shaking his head.

“Is she the only one who has peacocks?”

“Yes.”

I sighed. “Of course. What’s the penalty for eating one of the queen’s birds?”

“How could we know, when no one sane would dare? If an animal were to kill a pet of the queen’s, that animal’s owner would slaughter it immediately.”

I felt the blood drain from my face, but clenched my teeth. “Chasing birds is in his nature. Can’t blame him for being an ocelot. He was born one.”

“If he’s found, you must deny all knowledge of him.”

“No way.”

“You can’t protect that cat in here. You can’t even protect yourself,” he said.

“Maybe not. And it seems like you won’t protect us either. You left Kismet to fend for herself, huh?”

His tawny-brown eyes narrowed. “You know nothing of the situation here. You should leave while you still can.”

He didn’t even bother to offer an explanation about why he’d never tried to help Kismet.

Fae don’t have human consciences. They don’t feel things the same way
, I reminded myself, recalling how it felt to have my humanity drained away.

That was another thing I hadn’t realized when we’d entered the Never. I was underhill and still myself, full of Tammy Jo feelings. So it seemed like I had been channeling Kismet’s emotions or lack of them when I’d been drained of witch magic in Duvall.

It made me sad to think of how deadened Kismet’s emotions were. She was half human; caring about people was at the heart of being a person. Her instincts about wanting to get the hell out of the Never were right. She needed to be among normal folks.

“Roseblade wasn’t Kismet’s friend. When she learned that Kismet was a Halfling, she pretended not to care. But she spied and bided her time until she gained information she could use. Kismet entrusted her with the secret of her ability to pass in and out of the Never. Roseblade connived to get the queen’s ear and told her. If not for Roseblade, the queen might not have forced Kismet to become an assassin.”

I scowled.
That rotten—

“Kismet calls her former friend Rosebet.
Bet
is short for
betrayer
. Kismet doesn’t trust her. You shouldn’t either.”

“Kismet doesn’t trust anyone. I’m starting to figure out why that is. And just so you know, you broke Kismet’s heart by letting her be an orphan. How could you do that?”

His face looked pained, but then he recovered, and his expression hardened again. “Your chances of escaping are narrowing. Delay is dangerous. I’ll draw you a map. You have to run. Roseblade will wait a little to see if you come to her. She’d like to present you to the queen in person for the most dramatic effect. But she won’t wait long before she sends word to the castle that you’re here.”

“Where is Momma?”