Page 78 of What did you do?

The loud, mechanical cars drove past the sidewalk we were stopped at as the nervous-looking woman angled her head at me. “I thought Darcy owned the farm? Is he okay?” she asked as she moved the little one in front of her closer.

“Oh, yes, I’m his mother’s sister’s daughter-in-law.” I waved my hand and gave a wide smile. “Sometimes even I can’t keep it straight. Anyhoo, I heard Caly has a birthday coming up, and I wanted to do something special. Eight really is such a fun age.”

“You’re the lady that Cal saved in the field last month!” the little girl exclaimed.

“Adrianna, don’t point please.”

“Oh, she’s perfectly fine! Listen, I’m glad I ran into the both of you. I have a gift for Caly at the farm. I’m sort of crafty, I suppose you could say, so I made it. The last thing it needs isjust a little splatter or two from the both of you to make it really special. Would you mind?” I smiled sweetly.

The mother was immediately put at ease. “Wow, that’s really sweet of you. Adrianna and I would love to be a part of that. Caly’s been getting into some trouble lately. I’m sure she’s told you,” she said.

“Cal’s just mad at our father. She really isn’t bad like they say,” the child added.

“Adrianna,” the mother scolded, obviously embarrassed. “Umm…anyway, yes, we will drop these flowers off at home and run over to the farm.”

“Actually, the art is at a studio up the road. It’s very secluded. They haven’t even paved the road yet. Let me drive us so your car doesn’t get stuck.”

They nodded and smiled as we crossed the street to the nearest SUV, happy to be doing something nice for Calypso.

I used the dismal amount of magic I possessed to start the car’s engine as they buckled their seat belts—safety first.

Calypso’s mother caught sight of the empty ignition and froze, giving me an anxious look.

“Keyless start. It’s amazing what they come up with these days,” I chuckled as I pressed harder on the pedal. It was too late for them to change their minds now.

“You know, I just remembered, we have something we need to do,” the woman said, finally listening to her gut.

By now I was driving down a back road out of the small town, gaining a speed the street had probably never seen.

“I’m sorry, but I really can’t let you get in the way any longer,” I singsonged. “She doesn’t belong with two humans anyway. She will be the hero of the Seelie realm. The Elysian Fields won’t be able to keep her out,” I said proudly. “Not that she’d be refused anyway, being Artemi. Becoming Seelie royalty alone would have secured that. The Elysian Fields are like your heaven,” Isaid to the child, my voice filled with saccharine. “Unfortunately, the two of you will not be meeting her there anytime soon. Humans don’t belong,” I snarled.

The now-terrified mother looked back at her young daughter, bracing herself against the dashboard. Turning to me, she said. “You know.” She turned her flushed face to her daughter again. “Adrianna, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry, honey. I’m so sorry,” she sobbed.

The car bounced and swayed. The view blurred like watercolors as it flew by us in shades of green and yellow.

I veered off the road, aiming us toward the old bridge and gunning it once I had lined the car up with the brick wall at its base. I pressed the cruise-control button.

My wings began to spread. I was ready to take off just before the car would crash.

Unable to hide my smile, I glanced behind the seat to watch the little girl as I shrunk myself, letting my wings fully unfold. I couldn’t fly with them, but they would grant me a soft landing.

The girl sat calmly, a marked contrast to her mother’s hysteria. Her sad eyes stared at the incoming wall with a look of defeat. Her little blue eyes filled with tears.

“What did you do?” Adrianna whimpered just before the car smashed into the wall.

21

PRESENT DAY

Mendax

“No. I’m not leaving this realm until there is a leash attached to her throat and she is latched to my side.”

My fist slammed into the doughy gut of the dead Seelie hanging from the tree in front of me with an echoless thud. His headless body swayed back and forth in the cheery sunlight. It must’ve been the tenth Lumins guard I’d killed in half as many days. After killing the first one, chaos and panic rippled over the realm, but then nothing. They were either trying to keep it quiet and hide my arrival, or they were planning something knowing I was very much alive.

“Leave her, Mendax. Now. Are you really about to throw everything away in Unseelie for an Artemi? Afte what they did to our kind?” Queen Tenebris scolded. My mother shifted the black-feathered skirt of her ball gown, lifting it from the mossy forest floor with a look of pure disgust.

“I will never leave her. Human, Artemi, it makes no difference now; her only classification of concern is that she ismine,” I snarled as I clenched my fists, attempting to keep my rage in check.

---