The Faerie Slayer
Chapter 20

"I've seen you before," she was oblivious to the hurricane that she'd just unleashed," at La Belle."

"I don't remember," I tried to keep my voice steady.

"You're sure you haven't seen my boyfriend?"

I nodded. She seemed to finally accept this because she began to turn towards the exit of the alley. Her palm began to drip crimson droplets onto the pavement. The phone was now soaked in dark blood. She raised her palm and shook it, splatting the contents even further along. I hurried to her side and held her hands in mine.

"What happened," I asked although I said I wouldn't,"did someone do this?"

There were points of injury, little pecks of holes bleeding out as if she'd been picked repeatedly with a pen or a needle.

"I tried to help this bird, it-bit me," I tried to search her eyes for the truth but she would not meet my gaze. I reached for the hidden pocket of my suit and retrieved a small jar of dapperling mushrooms. I had wrapped the glass jar with thick leather to keep the air contained but I had no use for it anymore. I took the material and wrapped it tightly around her hand. I felt her eyes on me now, hot like the beam of a laser following my every movement.

"You don't have to do this," she whispered. I looked up to meet her eyes and they were blurry with tears. They looked like miniature oceans, her blue eyes had gone vibrant with emotion. I wanted to kiss her so badly, to let her know that as long as I was alive, that there would be no one that can hurt her," you don't have to help me."

"I want to," my words were mumbled. I tried to slow down the flashing of the thoughts that whipped at me as if aiming for my face. I held the havoc of the world in a mental embrace in an attempt to focus on my task," Go to the bar and order a shot of vodka, pour it into the wound and then wash it with warm water, immediately."

"I-I have to go home-"

"It might already be infected. It's better to do this right away."

She nodded but hesitantly. I did not want to leave her here, like this. I wished that I could offer her a ride, but I had to get back to Caleb's body. It was a matter of minutes before someone would find him. I had wasted too much time already.

"How will you get home," I found myself asking.

"T-train."

"Then you have to disinfect this immediately. You cannot wait until you're home."

She nodded again,"thank you.

I just nodded. She blinked away the tears that had fallen over the brink of her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. At my sides, my hands twitched.

What happened, I found myself thinking, what did Caleb say to you to make you this sad? Or was it someone else? What did I miss?

I watched with deep sorrow as she walked away. Right then, staring at her disappearing back, I thought to abandon all my plans and to run after her. My grandmothers voice echoed like a threatening reminder in the back of my head.

'A soulmate is decided by something beyond us all. It's up to us to make the right sacrifices for the better of the most.'

I did not wait to shift after I ensured that no one was around to catch sight of this. I pushed the cars out of the way using my claws and my snout. I panelled a clear pathway for my car and shifted back. I had slightly dented a small Honda Civic by mistake. I hoped that the owner would not pursue this. I peered around for a camera and caught one above some dumpsters in the corner. Although it was not facing me, still, I reached for it and tore it out of the wall. I realized that it was a dummy, to create the false illusion that there is security here. I smashed it into the pavement and proceeded to the inside of my pitch black Mustang Shelby GT500. Anyone within a quarter of a mile could have heard the roar of my engine despite the music. The smokers on the side hurried to disperse at the sound and sight of my vehicle. I sped past the brick way alley and onto the road, causing yet another scene as people flooded onto the sidewalks to avoid being hit. I drove back to the street where I had left Caleb's body under boxes of cardboard. I removed them quickly and unveiled his still body. I placed the trow into my trunk. The stench was rapidly clinging onto everything in sight. My eyes burned and ached at the intensity of the smell. The drive back home was quick, in compassion to other nights in New York City. I wondered how I was going to sneak the trow inside the chalet and downstairs into the prison cell without anybody picking up on his scent. A town full of werewolves were bound to sniff out a faerie from a mile away.

I stopped the car a couple of miles out and grabbed the jug of gasoline that I kept in the trunk. I placed the trows body onto the pavement and began to spill the gasoline on top, soaking absolutely everything until the only thing that I could smell was that.

I could find a way to forge an explanation as to why I reeked of gasoline to father, but I could not explain why I had not killed the faerie yet. I tucked the faerie back into my trunk and proceeded back home.

It was far too late for anyone to be awake at this time, or so I thought. I carried the trow that I had wrapped in black garbage bags in through the back doors of the chalet closest to the stairs that led down to the basement. We had hardly ever used it. It's main purpose was served dozens of decades ago when our ancestors used it as a dungeon. Now, it was home to a dozen empty cells and my fathers infamous Room of Trophies. It was always locked but I did get to see the inside of it once. It reminded me of a library, but instead of books were thousands of jars of faerie dust.

The inside was hollow and murky, the sound of my footsteps echoed alongside invisible drips of water. I placed Caleb's body inside the furthest cell and wondered if he'd awaken soon. I had been forced to give him enough dapperling mushrooms to kill him. It was not my intention but it had happened. I figured that I would leave him here and return in the morning . In the case that he does awaken, I trickled a circle of salt and a combination of pennyroyal and mugwort poison around him to contain his glamours and most of his magical abilities and in the case that it fails, I made another circle of sugar to distract him. In times of doubt like now, I even beaded a string with the same pennyroyal and mugwort poison and tied it around his ankle. I began to retreat out of the prison when I felt a sudden movement behind me. I turned to observe the still faerie and shrugged the feeling of something off. I turned my back and headed for the metal doors but I was halted by a pair of claws that wrapped around my ankles. I screamed out when the nails dug into my skin and tried to pull my leg away. My movements were slowed until I could not move at all because underneath me was the same poisonous berry that Caleb had used the first time to contain me. The trow was wide awake smiling wickedly whilst dripping gasoline and that is when I had realized that the trow had woken up long ago.

He must have acted as if he were still unconscious and slipped the berries under me when I was not looking.

I still had not come up with an answer to what those berries were and so I had no antidote to break the spell. It was a matter of time before the berries began to take effect of my entire body as they had the last time.

"You rat," I groaned out with sheer vexation," let me go!"

"Did you think you would get the best of me?" His grin revealed rotting fangs and a grey tongue.

Luckily, I had already sprinkled the ingredients to his destruction. All that I needed was for him to take a few steps forward and to notice the sugar.

"If you kill me, you'll be summoning a war with the wolves," my voice had gone steady with a twinge of a threat.

"Had you killed me, you would have unveiled the true wrath of the Queen of Fey."

Whilst I still could, I aimed my clenched fist for his face through the waves of shock that shuddered my entire legs. I caught the bottom of his jaw and watched as his body flung back against the pavement wall. Inside of my shoes my feet began to blister. I attempted to step away from them and go bear foot, but I had still not gained control of my feet. If I remembered correctly, last time I had taken me a couple of minutes after exposure to the berries for my immunity to develop. I could not move now but I could anxiously wait and hope that the faerie does not regain composure in time. He stood up and began for the me once again. My arms still worked and so I reached for my hidden pockets in desperation for what's left of the sugar. A small bag with no more then a teaspoon could distract him for less then ten seconds. He knocked the bag out of my hand and stroke me across the face with a clawed palm. He began to chant, but his words had no effect. I felt the blood of my face soak the ground beneath me. I smirked at his astonished face.

"What did you do?" He demanded angrily," why are my spells not working?"

I did not bother to mention the poison that lined the inside of this cell and as accessorized the bottom of his leg that prevented his magic from functioning. I had lost the ability to make use of my arms. Everything had gone so numb so fast. The trow was in a state of panic as he proceeded towards the gates and past the sugar, paying it no mind. He had disappeared out of my sight but I was still in a state of surrender. I remained hostage to the mysterious berries for a couple more minutes although it seemed like hours. I was realizing a partner with the poison, that it only seemed to last and strengthen when the trow was around. It lost its grip on me as he furthered away, and I hoped that no one was awake to catch sight of him. I was quick to run out of the cell and after the faerie. He was outside of the front door and headed for the closest line of trees. I leaped into the air and shifted. On four legs I darted for the trow at full speed. He was helpless but the time he'd turned to meet my gaze. The anklet he wore made it impossible for him to summon a spell or a portal. The only thing left for the creature to do was raise its clawed fists as an attempt to block my rendering paws that screwed right into his brain. He collapsed onto the grass, now dead. I retrieved my claws out of his head and shifted back immediately. I sighed out loud.

To kill the trow this early on had never been my intention. I detested that atop of it all, the first thing that had come to my mind was; how much did Aubrette's truly care about this creature and how much pain will it cause her to know the truth?

I'd burnt the corpse and collected the faerie dust in a small bag. I headed back inside of the chalet, soon halted by my fathers voice. He was mid stepping into his study.

"Son," he greeted," how's it going with the trow?"

"He's still alive," I lied," harder to get to then most faeries, but I will have it done soon."

"Please hurry, we're running out of time."

He bid me no more closure, instead he merely disappeared into his office.

In my room, it didn't take long before a knock disturbed my silence. I unbolted the heavy door to reveal my crouching grandmother. I strained a thin smile," are you back to shed more wisdom?"

She shoved past me using a wooden walker that she used to stub the side of my leg with and planted herself upon my bed. I shut the door and followed. I could not think of any other reason for her to bid me yet another visit besides to apply more pressure.

"I have a secret to tell you, child," she immediately began. Her hollow face seemed to swallow whatever was left of her sockets as if she hadn't slept in days. Where her eyes once were seemed as if a murky hole. I sensed the solemnity of her pressed tone and sat up.

"You can tell me anything, grandmother," I reassured," I won't tell a soul."

"Good, because nobody can know."

"You have my word."

The colour had seemed to disappear from her face. She cleared her throat as if buying some time for herself to determine where to begin. Finally, she started with," I wasn't always without a mate, the truth is I was introduced to my mate years and years ago when I was just starting out as the first female Faerie Slayer that the Odin Pack had ever had."

"I thought that you had been solus ever since grandfather had died?"

"Your mothers father and I were both solus wolves. There were never many of us, but we were both unlucky when it came to finding a mate. Your mother never know her father, therefore you never knew your grandfather. Our time together was brief. He did not know I was pregnant when he died."

A solus wolf was what we referred to a werewolf without a mate. Some were cursed to never find one. for some, a soulmate did not exist and for others, they could have died long before they ever met. I had always feared that it would be the case with me after Candice but I merely, nodded, indicating that she could continue.

"I met my mate whilst I was on a mission. It must have been almost fifty years ago. She was break-taking. I remember seeing her for the very first time, drinking out of a clear lake in the depth of Sequoia Forest. I kept thinking to myself, how could something so beautiful carry such filthy blood?"

She? I thought.

"She wasn't a werewolf?" I asked.

"She was a faerie. The most stunning creature that I had ever seen. I've always believed that perfection doesn't exist, but in that moment I realized that I must have been wrong. Instead, I realized that perfection lies in the eyes of the beholder. She was perfect, in my eyes. Perfectly made for me."

The smile on my lips was genuine. I had never seen grandmother glow like this before. She seemed lost in the story of her past. As she reminisced, she was brought back to life.

"It was my first mission," she continued," I had to prove myself worthy. Everyone before me had been a man. You can imagine the doubt and criticism that I'd endured.

I had exactly seventy- two hours to kill her but I could have in the first three."

"How did you know, that she was your mate, I mean?" I hadn't realized that my voice had dropped to but a whisper. I was fearful for grandmother, scared for a word to be heard by anyone other then us.

"I didn't, not at first. I thought that I couldn't kill her because I was weak. During the three days, I tested myself.I killed dozens of Asrais, every water demon I could find, I murdered a colony of pixies I found nestled atop a dying Rootmen. They grieved for their faerie friend before I skewered their brains. I found a hob, an ogre, I even found three trow brothers that I glamoured with sugar and killed with dapperling mushrooms.

I had no idea that the entire time, she'd known about me. I watched her everyday after every kill, she would appear by the crystal clear lake and go for a swim. Finally, on the third day when I had just a few hours left, she floated to the top and told me she came for me. She travelled all the way from the Land of the Fey to be united with her soulmate.

She claimed she was good. She said she wasn't like the others, that she would never do anything to hurt me or anyone that I loved. She claimed that I must have loved her too, if I was watching her for this long. She knew I was bestowed to kill her.

I still remember her words. She said, for three days I had given you every opportunity to kill me but instead you chose to murder everyone else. In my head, the story of the Rogue Wolf and the Faerie Girl was stuck on replay. I kept thinking that I was a fool, that I was going to fall for the same trap that he had and get the entire pack killed. I could not believe that she was my true mate. Over and over again I told myself that I was being glamoured and that this was a spell that I had not read about. A form of torture used to torment you into submission and soon enough I'd be a wind to be altered at her will."

"What did you do?"

"She gave me the choice. She said, kill me now and you'll be forever freed of your guilt, destined to you by the cruelty of the universe that the Odin Pack's first female Faerie Slayer was mated to her truest enemy, a faerie."

"Or what?"

"Or, we could run away. Not to the land of the folk and not to a different werewolf reserve, but somewhere else, where our existence and love wouldn't not cost us our lives. She promised me she knew a place, a holy place where faeries weren't allowed, she claimed she knew a way in."

"Did she say where?"

"I never found out."

"You killed her?"

Tears pooled in her eyes. Her lids swallowed her gaze shut and I felt the sorrow of her broken heart illuminate as if through me. The subconsciousness of my thoughts begin to resurface in the form of severe dejection. I felt as if my deepest fears were surfacing. The ultimate decision that I'd have to make if Aubrette was truly my mate.

Would I kill the girl in the name of loyalty?

Or?

There was no or. There was no option to escape, none to run away to a magical place where we could be free to love each other. As long as the girl lived there would the the Queen of Fey to hunt her down, alongside my father and a third who I have not yet unveiled who cowered behind the trows and snakes they'd sent to kill her. There was no peace or happy ending within sight. If I were to kill the half faerie girl, I would be doing her benevolence.

"I kissed her," my grandmother collected me back," I kissed to her make sure that she was indeed my mate, and she was. She lifted me off of the ground. For the first time in my life, I felt what it was like to fly without ever leaving earth. I could have kissed her forever," she paused for a minute and I wished that I could see the image of the memory that was inside of her mind,"whilst she was most vulnerable, while my lips was still on hers, I stabbed Ferrum into the side of her head. She was still alive when it was happening. She looked at me with eyes of betrayal. I will never forget how she looked at me, seconds before she collapsed back into the water."

I thought of myself in lieu of my grandmother. Lips locked on Aubrette's, grasping Ferrum with uncertain hands and marching it through her beating heart. I thought of how her face would look if she felt betrayed. I thought about her red blood soaking my guilty hands. I could have sworn that the breaking of my heart was real.

I placed my palms atop of her cold quivering hands and brought them closer to me. I kissed her fingers and whispered into them," I'm so sorry."

She shook her head. Her eyes had hardened," Don't be. I don't regret what I did. In fact, I would do it all over again."

"But you said she was good."

At my puzzled face, her rebuttal was," faeries are wicked. We must never forget that, because it's as soon as we do that we become doomed."

"You would rather be without a mate for eternity then to have given love a chance?"

"I would have been a traitor and a fool to have done anything different."

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