Page 39 of Devils and the Dead
“They stole from me,” the queen insisted. “Your laws do not supersede ours, even here on this land you claim as your own.”
“So if an elf were to steal from us, you would support us coming into your kingdom unannounced and without permission to kill them?” I asked.
She hissed. “No one comes to my kingdom without permission. Your laws and rules mean nothing to me. An elf who steals from humans or witches has broken no law. And elf who steals from their queen faces a punishment worse than death.”
Logic wasn’t getting anywhere with this woman. She saw herself as above us all, and none of my comparisons would convince her she’d done wrong.
If she had taken the elves back to her kingdom for punishment, we never would have known anything about their suffering. But she’d left them here, left their spirits to haunt our land with their pained cries. I had to think of some way to convince her to break the curse and release Tinsel.
I took a breath, and tried once more to explain our viewpoint. “You disrespected our rules. We may have supported you if you’d come to us, but you delivered justice onourlands without any respect for our rules. Because of that, we are absolutely within our rights to work to break your curse and free these souls. The curse is onourland. Their souls are hauntingourmountain. You did not take the thieves back to your land for punishment, you cursed them here. You left them here. On our land. We have every right to free cursed souls who are on the lands we claim as our own.”
“I punished those who stole from me. I had every right to do that no matter if they were here or in my lands. But you have released them.” She took a step towards me. “You let all but one of them go. For that, you will pay.”
“No, she will not.”
I couldn’t hide my surprise at the voice behind me.
Sylvie and I both turned to see Cassie walking out from the treeline. My eldest sister came to a stop beside me. “The Perkins witches have protected those who live in Accident for hundreds of years. This is our home. We will defend it from any who seek to attack us or our land.”
The queen glanced from her to the others, then at the werewolves.
“Seven witches rule this place—and we have enormous power,” Cassie continued. “Six of us have infernal mates. If one witch can nearly undo your curse, imagine what all seven of us plus our lovers can do. Then imagine those who would assist us—the trolls and fairies, the shifters, Valkyries and vampires, sylphs and giants, gargoyles and harpies. There are wulvers and dryads, a cyclops and a satyr. There is a dragon and a chimera. You will not win against us.”
The queen sneered. “Your magic is nothing compared to mine.”
“Try us,” Cassie snapped.
Oh no. My eldest sister was known for her temper, and I absolutely didn’t want her to land us all in the middle of a war with the elf queen.
“How about we compromise instead?” I suggested before the two of them started setting things on fire. “There are things you want, and there are things we want. I’m sure we can come to a non-violent solution here.”
The elf queen hesitated, her eyes on me. “Go on.”
The fae loved a good bargain, and it was best to start out with a ton of extravagant demands that would be whittled down to something more reasonable with negotiation. But I wasn’t in the mood to barter for hours with this woman.
“How about if we locate the item that was stolen from you and return it. In exchange, you break your curse, free Tinsel from any further punishment and allow his soul passage to the afterlife. You also do no harm to any of us in or out of Accident, nor send anyone to harm us. You never return to Accident again, or the human lands.”
The queen smiled, revealing rows of sharp teeth. “Bring me the Everbloom and I won’t curse everyone in this town.”
Yeah. No.
“We will find and bring you the Everbloom, and you will not curse anyone in this town. You will free Tinsel, breaking the curse and letting him go unhindered to his afterlife. You will never come here again, nor send anyone to harm us in or out of Accident, or the humans.”
It was basically the same thing I’d asked for the first time, but I couldn’t find any room to budge in my request. This was exhausting playing these word games with her, but I knew more than Tinsel’s wellbeing was riding on this.
She looked at her nails for a moment. “Bring me the Everbloom and I won’t curse the town or attack you, but I’m not setting this thief free.”
“If we offer you a magical item in addition to the Everbloom, will you agree to break the curse and set Tinsel free?” I asked, desperate to help the elf.
Her eyes shone with greed, and I knew I’d found her weak spot.
“If the magical item pleases me and I accept it, then I will break the curse and set the thief free,” she announced. “You have forty-eight hours, then our deal is off. I will leave this portal open for you to bring me the Everbloom and the gift.”
Without waiting for a reply her form dissolved into a column of gold sparks, then vanished, leaving the green oval of light.
Chapter 18
Babylon
