Page 72 of Tricky Princess
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” Ros said, kissing her knuckles before glaring over his shoulder again.
“I know,” she said, bringing his attention back to her. Poor Florence had been glared at plenty since he arrived. “But I hadn’t even thought it was possible.”
Ellea did her best to keep her eyes on him, even if she wanted to look toward his father. Ros was here now, and he had her; they were partners.
“Any seer here is dead,” he said. “But it wouldn’t hurt to try. Where would you like to start?”
“Maybe we should get Billy?” Ellea asked.
Ros thought for a moment before looking to his father for an answer. Azzy nodded.
“Should I be in my fluffy mutt form?” Billy asked as Ellea magicked a circle of salt, candles, and crystals.
The salt would protect her, the crystals guide her, and the candles would light her way back. Ellea repeated the steps, doing her best to distract herself from the tightening feeling in her chest and the fear of looking into her parents’ current whereabouts. The goal was to not look too far, only to see a hint of a plan.
“Gods, no,” Ellea said. “Except if Ros keeps snoring, then I may need you to turn into my fluffy cuddle buddy.”
Billy snorted as she stepped into the large salt circle. “A bit of déjà vu?”
“Yeah, except we are in Hel, we both have demon boyfriends, and I’m insanely jealous of your legs,” Ellea joked, joining her in the circle.
“I’m a helhound,” Garm corrected from the chair he barely fit in.
Ros and Garm had joined them in a small room, both of them refusing to leave the girls alone. Florence and Duhne were keeping watch outside, and Azzy was off distracting the other kings with his findings.
“Don’t bother us,” Billy scolded.
She sat down, folding her legs under her and patting her lap for Ellea to lay her head on. Her chest ached, the motion reminding her of her uncle. It was the same position he would take when he would jump through her mind. She took a breath and a quick look at Ros before she lowered to the ground, turning and placing her head in Billy’s lap.
The carpet was soft under Ellea’s back as she stretched her legs and arms out with her palms to the ceiling. Her head fit comfortably in Billy’s lap, and her familiar stroked her forehead, moving hair off of her face before gently placing her warm hands on each of her cheeks.
“Ready, Bug?” Billy asked softly.
Ellea looked up into her warm amber eyes, finding strength in their depths. It had always been them, her and Billy, ever since she was little. With her, she could do anything; and with her new family, she was unstoppable.
“Yes.”
Ellea closed her eyes and cleared her mind, feeling anchored to Billy, to Ros, and even to Garm. She hadn’t had a chance to explore her connection to Garm yet, but her magic knew him as much as it did Billy. She was anchored by her magic too—her trickster magic. It held her close, embraced her power, and protected her as her mind drifted.
Show me. Show me them.
The words rang through her head; they were angry, not curious and searching as they used to be. Her parents were causing destruction and needed to be stopped. She thought about the events of the day, the ones that Ros had told her about, and the time she saw them at the party.
What are they doing in our time? What are they planning?
A tether pulled at her stomach, lurching her from the room, through worlds, and into the woods. Woods she didn’t recognize that were lit with artificial light. Tall floodlights were scattered throughout her path, their massive domes facing a clearing that held figures.
Ellea looked around her, unable to see through the darkness at her back.
“Well, there’s only one way to go.” Her voice was eerie as it echoed around her.
As she walked toward the distant figures, the feeling of being watched kept following her. Any time she looked over her shoulder, there was nothing there. Her surroundings flickered into flames and chaos and quickly turned back to the clearing. She kept moving, focusing on the meeting taking place and not the smell of death and smoke. A smell that still haunted her.
“The world we are destined to live in is nearly upon us,” her mother’s evil voice said to the audience. “We are superior, and we deserve to run free.”
Ellea rolled her eyes as she remembered her mother’s ramblings.
Things shifted again, and she could feel the weight of her mother’s hand on her shoulder. She tried shrugging it off and stepped into the light, bringing herself back to the meeting. Her old vision was nagging her, and she needed to focus on the present.
