J. Nelson - Free Agent

Like a tornado of blades, she rolled under him and came up on the other side. They stood a few feet from each other, and Evangeline tossed something to the floor. A wolf ear, and it didn’t grow back. I edged around her, trying to get a clean shot, but she sidestepped, keeping herself between me and it. The wolf swiped at her, almost a feint, and came away missing two fingers. They didn’t grow back either.

“You have no idea how long I’ve waited to do this,” said Evangeline.

Fenris howled with rage, but in the middle of his howl, she attacked, driving him backwards. With every step, she moved him, with every slice, she whittled flesh from him. Wolf skin lay like ribbons on the floor. She slipped. Maybe she was too tired. Or too hurt, or maybe she was just human, but one inch made all the difference. Fenris whipped a claw around, catching her by her single braid. He brought his other claw in, raking across her abdomen. Blood gushed out but she didn’t even bother trying to hold it in, she swung the knives around, stabbing him through one eye, and then the other.

Fenris dropped her in a wet mess, raising claws to eyes. Already, the eyes took shape again, filling in the sockets.

My first bullet caught him in the stomach, and as the magic rippled out he screamed, a wolf howl of agony. The second one followed so close it almost took the same hole. The third one I put right through his eye.

He fell backwards, flesh dripping like sizzling fat, as Grimm’s corrosive magic warred with his healing powers. The flesh turned black and dripped away faster than it could regrow. I didn’t wait to see him dissolve. I was kneeling on the floor, watching Evangeline die. She was my teacher. My mentor. Some days almost a friend, and I couldn’t do anything for her. In the movies, you always get to say good-bye. You get to tell someone what they meant to you, and maybe hear they cared for you, but she was gone. Her eyes lay open, but empty.

“You killed Fenris. The wolves will not be amused. They’ll make bacon from your breasts for that,” said a voice I knew. A voice I hated.

“Mihail, it’s past your bedtime. Your mommy wants you to come home.” I closed Evangeline’s eyes.

He stood on the steps that led out of the chamber and up to the main tower.

I advanced on him, not caring why he didn’t have the good sense to run. “She says I’ll suffer if I fail to keep you safe. I could do with a little suffering right now.” I wasn’t about to waste one of my magic bullets on him. I was going to kill the bastard myself. I’m not usually a killer, but I have my limits.

He held up an apple, crisp and red with a candy shell. “I think not.” It glistened under his fingers. So perfect. So magical. “I think I’m going to toss this your way. I might get a little mess on me, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take. Then I’m going to go upstairs and enjoy a little ‘there’s not going to be a wedding night’ sex with the princess.”

Something crashed into his head, and he fell forward. I winced as the apple bounced down the stairs. Tiny cracks split open on its surface as it rolled up to me, and it bubbled on the broken edges.

“My name is Ari. It’s not a hard name to remember.” Ari stepped out of the shadow of the stairs. She had a cut on one side of that cute little face and a black eye. Her scalp showed where several patches of her hair had been torn out, but she was alive, and she ran down the stairs to me.

“Marissa! It’s here. I can feel it.”

“The fae Seal? Grimm said it wasn’t anywhere. He was thinking maybe on a different plane.”

“It’s here, I’m certain of it. It’s near my cell.” She looked down, and saw Evangeline. The color drained from her face and she took my hand. “I’m sorry, M. I’m sorry.”

“I’m going to kill someone for her, that’s a promise. Starting with the prince.” My hands shook, and my eyes blurred with tears that were neither fear nor sorrow. That’s when the spell hit. A standard binding spell, nothing fancy. I wasn’t watching and I wasn’t ready. It hit me so hard it knocked me off my feet.

Ari managed to stay on her feet. In fact, the spell hardly did anything to her besides ruffle her hair. One of these days I have got to be a princess. She looked up to the stairs, where Queen Thromson stood in a completely impractical gown. Sweeping and shiny, and leaving absolutely nothing hidden. She might as well have been wearing plastic wrap.

“Gwendolyn,” said Ari.

“Arianna, I told you to call me Mother.”

“And I said to call me Ari. You are not my mother. Let us go. There is still time to get the Seal back to the fae before they destroy the city. How could you do this?”

Ari’s stepmother—I mean, Gwendolyn—walked slowly down the stairs and knelt by Mihail.

“Why would I give it back? It took me so long to take it from them. Daughter, war brings opportunities. The Kingdom authorities will suffer heavy losses. There are bound to be casualties in the Court of Queens. And who better to lead as High Queen than your mother? The fae believe they come unopposed, and they will die by the thousands.”

“So will most of the people in the city.”

“There are people who matter, daughter, and people who don’t. Get used to it. You matter. Your friend there does not. Who should I spare? You or her?”

Mihail rose to his feet, looking more than a little bleary. “Neither. Kill them both.” He walked over to the queen and kissed her, softly at first, and then with passion. “How do you like that, little princess? Your mother is ten times the temptress you are, and luscious in ways I would love to show you.”

Ari giggled. “I’m so happy for you. The prince I can’t stand and the stepmother I hate. I hope you two have a long life together. I do.” I felt the power rushing into her, and the spell around us lessened. The queen felt her magic too, and a look of rage passed over her face.

“Magic? You have taken the path of the witch? I’ll kill you myself before I let a child of my house do that.”

“I am a seal bearer, Gwenny, and not part of your house any longer.”

The binding spell on me weakened. I could move, though it still pressed in like being smothered under a mattress.

“You have used your power before touching a seal, Arianna. You are a witch, tainted with wild magic. And as such, I will strike you down.” The queen raised her hand. When Ari did magic there was this feeling like water drifting over your skin. When the queen did it I felt like I stood in a whirlpool. Ice grew at the queen’s fingertips, absolute elemental cold.

I stood, but I couldn’t quite aim, and running wasn’t an option under twenty tons of spell.

She flicked her hand at us, and an orb of pure cold floated lazily our way, freezing the stone underneath. Ari hadn’t moved, not one inch. In the midst of the queen’s magic I hadn’t noticed that she’d built a spell of her own, a round disk that grew darker and darker at the edges. She spun a shield. The winter orb struck her shield, and for a moment everything stopped. The orb exploded, unleashing a blizzard.

I’m convinced Ari’s shield saved us. I had ice on my skin and the floor was covered in snow, but a cone of protection extended back from where she stood. I could finally move. I couldn’t sling a spell to save my soul, but I could toss an apple. The broken apple at my feet lay coated in ice. I grabbed it and did my best baseball impression, hurling it straight at the queen. It was a thing of beauty, right up until she caught it.

She held the apple an inch from her hand by pure willpower. The apple’s protective shell shattered and magic oozed out onto its skin. The queen tossed it aside without regard, and as it passed, it touched Mihail. Brushed his hand, really, but a sliver of candy fell from the apple, and I saw for a moment the spell contained inside. A spell designed to twist and destroy magic. Magic like princes have.