I had no weapons, nothing to defend myself with, and there was no way in hell I was going to get close enough to her to hurt her. I needed another plan, a way out of here, but that wasn’t going to be easy to find. I started coughing as the ash fell around me. Peering up and through the opening Invidia’s magic had left in the hedge, I saw her charging another bolt and advancing on my position.

  I decided to move again, this time quickly stepping out of cover and throwing myself into a shoulder roll to get under another hedge. Invidia was quick, though, her movements only a hair’s breadth behind me. Her magic struck the leaves and the branches above me, quickly turning them to ash as she’d done before.

  “Killing me won’t get you your house back,” I yelled. “You have your powers, why don’t you save it?”

  “It’s too late for that,” Invidia screamed. “And if you were Fae, you would understand why, but you’re just a disgusting human, a simple ape that decided it could think, but I’m the one at fault, here. I’m the one who thought you could be more than the sum of your parts.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Enough talk!” she roared. I could feel the wind rush past my face and move toward her, as if she were sucking it into herself, getting ready to unleash a volley of lethal magic in my direction.

  I didn’t have many cards to play, but I did have one… the stupid card.

  Instead of finding another place to hide, I vaulted over the broken hedges and charged at Invidia. I was moving faster than normal, and so was Invidia, but I felt like I still had the edge on her when it came to speed. Her eyes widened, filling with something like rage and glee.

  When she threw her hand toward me, a bolt of searing magic shot out of it. Calling on Elaith’s training, I didn’t try to side-step it; instead I leapt over it, curling my body around the green beam as it raced toward me. The light was hot enough to scorch the air around it as it sailed under me, but it didn’t touch me, and when I landed, I realized I hadn’t lost any momentum.

  I kept pushing towards Invidia, whose expression had twisted into itself. Any glee had vanished, leaving only pure anger behind. She linked her hands together, and a warm, green glow began to rise from the space between them. I had a feeling she was going to do more than throw laser beams at me this time, so I focused on reaching her as fast as I could.

  As soon as I did, I threw the first punch.

  This was suicide. I didn’t have a hope in the world of beating her in a fist fight, I also didn’t have another choice. Yes, I could’ve made a run for the gates, leapt over them, and started running into Arcadia. But then what? Where was I supposed to go? And on my own, no less.

  If I was going to die, then I was going to die on my feet fighting this mad woman, instead of lost in some Arcadian forest.

  Invidia was quick enough to pull away from my punch, but I had broken the spell she was charging between her hands. Snarling, she wound back one of her arms and went to punch me, but I was able to block it with my forearm and get even closer to her.

  I figured the closer I was to her, the less likely I was to get hit by one of those magic blasts.

  After she threw her punch, I tackled her, throwing my shoulder into her gut and pushing her to the ground. On the grass we struggled, each of us trying to get on top of the other, to get the upper hand. We were both moving quickly, fast enough to counter each other’s moves, but I couldn’t get one up on her. She was too fast, too strong, and way out of my league.

  When Invidia grabbed my arm and pinned me to the ground, I knew, I was finished.

  Panting, I stared at her. “Do it,” I hissed, as she charged lightning into her other hand. “Kill me like you killed Elaith.”

  “You deserve this,” she said. “You have cost me my home, my name, and my prestige, and now you’re going to die.”

  I shut my eyes hard, but even then, I could see the rising light of the magic that was about to kill me. I put a hand up to protect myself from it, but I knew, at this range, there was no escaping death. She was going to kill me.

  The light flashed bright. I pinched my eyes shut as hard as I could, but death never came. Invidia shrieked and released me. When I opened my eyes, it was as if Arcadia had grown a second sun. The sky was aflame with sparkling gold, and it was Invidia who shielded her eyes from it now.

  “What are you waiting for?” Rell yelled. “Get up!”

  The brilliant ball of light collapsed into itself to become a burning ball, vaguely in the shape of a golden dragon with a horn on its snout. “Rell!” I called out. “You’re alive!”

  “Of course, I’m alive. What did you think?”

  “I thought the fire Sprite had killed you!”

  “Uh, I’m part Drake. Fire can’t hurt me, but she can kill you, so get up!”

  I scrambled to get to my feet and away from Invidia. She had already recovered, and she was also getting up, her silvery hair whipping wildly in front of her eyes. She looked deranged, like a woman who truly had lost everything, and had nothing else to lose.

  “I’m so tired of you and that thing,” she spat.

  “He’s not a thing,” I said, “He’s my friend, and you can’t beat us both.”

  Invidia grinned. “Are you sure about that?” she asked, and she curled both of her hands into cups; cups that quickly began to fill with glowing, green light.

  “What now?” I asked.

  “What do you mean?” Rell asked.

  “Don’t you have any other tricks?”

  “Nope. Dramatic entrance was about my one good card. That, and the light thing.”

  “I’ve used all of mine, too.”

  “So, do we run?”

  I nodded. “Now would be a good time to run.”

  Turning around to run, I almost slammed into the man standing behind me. He pushed me aside with one hand and stepped toward Invidia. “Enough,” Silvan called out. “This has gone on far enough.”

  “Silvan…” I breathed.

  “Okay, his dramatic entrance was better,” Rell said, rolling his eyes.

  “You would dare put yourself between me and this rabble?” Invidia hissed.

  “Our people are dead and dying, our house is burning, and you are consumed with thoughts of revenge against this human. Those aren’t the actions of a leader, Invidia. End this, now. Go back and tend to our wounded, save those whose lives you still can.”

  I noticed his eyes turned to Elaith. He lifted his right hand toward him, opened his fingers, and a trail of green orbs gently floated over to Elaith’s body. I wasn’t sure if they were alive or dead, but they hadn’t moved in a long time. Stunned, I watched as the knife in Elaith’s neck slowly pushed itself out and fell to the grass.

  The wound it had caused knit itself moments later.

  “You have disappointed me for the last time, Viscount,” Invidia said, “Your feelings toward this human have caused you to abandon your duties, your word, and your honor.”

  “I never should have brought her here,” he said, “I never should have involved her in your insidious plans.”

  Invidia straightened out. “Step aside, Silvan. I will not ask you again.”

  The Viscount held his ground. Turning his head slightly to the side, he said, “Get behind me.”

  I moved in behind him just as Rell landed on my shoulder. Invidia, blinded by rage, charged another bolt of magic, only this time she aimed it at the Viscount. I watched it hurtle toward him at speed, but he put his hand between it and his chest, and he caught it.

  The lightning turned into a ball of glowing, green light in his hand. With a thrust of his arm, he sent it right back at her. The lightning struck her in the shoulder, Invidia spun around, and then fell. Silvan let his hand fall, and exhaled. The skin was dark, and charred, but he was okay.

  And Invidia?

  She was down.

  CHAPTER 21

  “You killed her,” I said, on the back of a sigh.

  Silvan shook his head. “No,” he said, “Look.”

  He pointed at Invidia, and I saw her move. She was picking herself up, groaning from the effort. The wound in her shoulder was sizzling and smoking, but it hadn’t disintegrated her like it had those hedges behind me; it had wounded her instead.

  “You,” she heaved, “You—you… traitor.”

  “I have watched you spiral out of control for long enough, Invidia,” Silvan said, “You are not well, you must see that.”

  Behind her, Emerald Hall was burning. Tongues of flame spurted from almost every window, and the smoke coming through the skylight opening was black, and thick. I could hear the house’s supports groaning and breaking under the strain, and I couldn’t help but feel like the house was dying, and those sounds were its death throes.

  “You should have never interfered,” Invidia hissed. “If you had just kept your distance and let her do what she had to do, she would have won the Favoring by now. None of this would have happened.”

  “This didn’t happen because I lost your precious Favoring,” I said, “This happened because you’re cruel, and because the beings you chose to tie up decided they’d finally had enough. That, right there, is a mess you made yourself.”

  Invidia roared and raised her hand as if to lash out with magic, but the Viscount stepped in front of me again and deflected the arc of lightning she hurled at us like it was nothing. I didn’t know he had this kind of power. I’d never seen it before, had never experienced it. Maybe it was something new, something he never had before now, but whatever it was, Invidia couldn’t get past it.

  “I’ll warn you for the last time,” Silvan said, “Stand down.”

  “And then what, Viscount?” she hissed, “My people flee, my house is burning, and I have been humiliated. Emerald Hall is dead, its people will never come back, and neither will my daughter. What do you suggest I do?”

  “Take up a hobby?” Rell suggested. “Some people like to knit.”

  “Not helpful,” I whispered.

  “I wasn’t trying to be.”

  Silvan shook his head. “You had everything you wanted,” he said, “Why did you do this? Why did you ask me to bring this human here, to this place?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?” she snapped.

  One of the windows behind her collapsed, bringing some of the wall down with it and sending sparks flying in all directions. Invidia turned her head and looked up at her house, at what was left of all the prestige she had ever earned. When she looked at me again, there was no more rage in her eyes, only pain.

  And tears?

  “It’s not obvious to me,” I said, stepping carefully forward.

  Invidia paused. A single tear fell down her cheek, painting a streak white skin under all the soot on her face. “You were supposed to win,” she said, her voice low, and broken. Defeated. “You were supposed to leave this place with a Fae lord so my daughter wouldn’t have to.”

  “What?”

  She shook her head. “I have been dreading this Favoring for decades, ever since she came of age. There are none as beautiful, or as talented as Kadeera. I knew, from the beginning, when the time came for her to take part in the Favoring, she would win, and I would lose her forever.”

  “So… you wanted me to win and pretend to be your daughter for the rest of my life?”

  “Once you were married to the lord, you would have been able to assume your normal identity once more. The marriage would have protected you from harm. You would have been looked after… you would have lived the life of your dreams, the life of a princess… and I would have kept my daughter.”

  “Except, your daughter hates you so much she keeps running off to Earth. Last I checked, she stole my identity and left this place in her rear-view. What makes you think she would have come back if I had won the Favoring?”

  “I would have convinced her. Somehow.”

  I looked up at Silvan, a scowl on my face, memories of my own past flashing in front of my eyes. “All of this, then… all the lies, the deceit, you did it because you love your daughter so much you can’t stand the thought of someone taking her away?”

  “Spare me the lesson in irony. I know I have driven her away with my actions. I had been so preoccupied with making the Favoring look legitimate, I have pushed her away. Now, look at me. I am a shadow of who I once was. Hollow. Alone.”

  My chin quivered, but I held it in check. “My mother didn’t fight for me,” I said, after a pause.

  Invidia gave me her eyes. “Why not?”

  “Because she was more interested in herself and her own life than in mine. In ours. It was always about her next boyfriend, her next bartending job, her next whatever. I was never a priority, which is why I escaped as soon as I had the chance. I left that life behind, left her behind… but not a day goes by where I don’t feel the sting of her absence.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “Your people are devious… you’re the thorns on the roses, you’re liars. But so are mine. We’re more alike than I want to admit, which scares me to death. I always thought if there was a fantasy land of faeries and elves out there, that you’d be better than us. Kinder. Gentler. But we’re all just as fucked up as each other. I guess what I’m saying is, I can relate.”

  “Hey,” Rell whispered, “I just had a meeting with the other voices in my head, and we all want to know, what the hell are you doing?”

  I shook my head. “You have kidnapped me, imprisoned me, forced me to dance around like a show pony… but I still, somehow, feel like I should help you.”

  “Help me?” Invidia asked.

  “Kady hated the idea of the Favoring… I don’t know why, exactly, but there’s a chance she hated it for the same reasons you did. I’m pretty sure neither of you talked about it, though.”

  “Kadeera and I spoke all the time,” Invidia scoffed, “There was no way of getting that girl to see reason.”

  “Did you at any point tell her you didn’t want her to compete in this thing? That you didn’t want her to be taken away from you? Or did you tell her she had to do what was right for the House?”

  “I couldn’t tell her the truth,” Invidia said, “I had to formulate a plan while maintaining appearances. If anyone knew how I felt, anyone at all, I would have been disgraced, I would have lost everything. The Favoring had to go on as planned.”

  I took a deep breath, then exhaled. “The Favoring is ended, and you’ve lost everything. The only thing left is Kadeera, and she’s on Earth, and I’m willing to bet she won’t talk to you even if you showed up. Especially if you showed up looking like that.”

  Invidia’s eyes narrowed. “I feel like you are coming to a proposition.”

  I shrugged. “Send me back to Earth,” I said, “And I’ll make sure Kady comes home to you.”

  “A convenient proposal… but one that gives you all the power. How do I know I can trust you?”

  “You don’t, just like I didn’t know whether or not I could trust you, or Elaith, or the Viscount. I didn’t even think I could trust Rell, at one point.”

  “Hey,” he protested.

  “Relax,” I said, “We’re cool. Anyway, the point is, if you send me back, I can go look for Kady. I can tell her what happened here, tell her how you feel. If she’s anything like me, she’ll be relieved… I know she’ll come back to you.”

  “And what do you get out of this?” she asked.

  “I get to go home, for good. You and your people promise never to try to kidnap me again.”

  “And let you tell your people the secrets of the world beyond the portals? Do you have any idea what kind of damage your brutal, violent kind would do to this place if they knew how to access it?”

  “Humankind doesn’t know about you, and I’m not about to go telling anyone that fairies live on the other side of the rainbows. I’d get locked up in an insane asylum for the rest of my life.”

  “All I have is your word.”

  “From where I’m standing, my word is worth more than yours.”

  “And from where I’m standing,” Silvan put in, “We have more power than you do right now.”

  It looked for a moment as if Invidia was going to spit poison at him, but she bit her tongue and held back. More of the house was coming down, now. I didn’t think it would be long until the rest of it collapsed into itself and there was nothing left of Emerald Hall except a pile of burning rubble.

  “Fine,” she hissed. “I will send you back to your world, but mark my words, human. If you don’t send my daughter back through the portal I am about to open, there will be nowhere you can hide where I won’t find you.”

  “I don’t know,” I said, “It’s pretty easy to get lost in Seattle if you really wanted to. Besides, I don’t think you’d fit in where I’m from. I’d spot you a mile off.”

  Invidia aimed a hand off to the side, and with a circular gesture of her fingers, a shimmering ball of light slowly began to appear. “Dismiss me at your own peril,” she said, as the ball of light grew, and grew, until eventually it seemed to open from inside, revealing… another world on the other side of it.

  “Oh my God,” I blurted, my hand rising to my lips.

  It was the Blind Racoon; the alley out back, at least. I saw the small stairs that led to the backdoor, the chain-link fence to the partially condemned building on the other side of it, and even the dumpster Rell fell into so many, many lifetimes ago.

  “Go, before I change my mind,” Invidia said.

  “I can’t believe it was that easy,” I said. “You just ripped a hole between dimensions, and you made it look easy.”

  “I didn’t rip anything,” Invidia said. “I simply have the keys. That’s the fundamental difference between your kind and mine. We have finesse, you use brute force.”

  “Finesse got your house burned down. Maybe you could use a little brute force.”

  I walked over to the portal, my heart thundering inside of my chest. This was it. I was finally going home, and although I had one more thing I had to do for Invidia, I knew, my time in Arcadia was over. I wish I could say I was going to remember it for its breathtaking beauty and the freshness of the air, but the air smelled like smoke, and this place was full of monsters.