New World Order (War of the Fae: Book 4) (2 page)

I heard a heavy sigh.
 
“Yeah.
 
It’s safe.”

“Don’t worry, Jayne, I’ve got your back,” assured Scrum.
 

I didn’t know what Tony’s sigh was all about – Tony’s sighs usually carried a lot of meaning, but without being able to see his face yet, I couldn’t guess what it was.
 
He was a master at communicating with sighs and eye rolls.
 
I was missing at least half of the equation without my eyesight.

I let The Green know that it could release Water and go back into the earth.
 
I thanked it and tried not to feel awful about the fact that I’d used its pure essential light and rejuvenating combination of life forces to hurt another fae.
 
We were at War, and it’s the Dark Fae who had brought it to our doorstep.
 
I refused to feel guilty about the consequences they had brought upon themselves.

The Water Element that I had finally learned how to bring into the mix felt different than The Green.
 
It was sparkly, energetic, bouncy.
 
It reminded me of Becky, which instantly brought a lump of sorrow into my heart.
 
Please, please don’t let her be dead
.
 
The last time I’d seen her, she’d just suffered a bolt of Samantha’s witch power to the chest to end up lying in the grass with a death stare in her open, sightless eyes.
 
But Becky had managed to teleport out of there somehow, so I was going to hold onto a sliver of hope that she was still alive as long as reality would let me.
 

Water proved to be harder to rein in and send back from where I had drawn it than Earth.
 
Part of the problem was that it had come from many places.
 
It felt a lot less concentrated and organized than The Green.
 
Using it and trying to control it was more like herding champagne bubbles or something.
 
I’d had champagne once at a cousin’s wedding reception; it had made me sneeze, all that sparkly stuff getting away from me in my mouth and throat.
 

I had thought that when I had the two elements under control, everything would be back to normal, but when Water finally left me, the only thing that was different was the fact that I could hear better and I could put my arms down.
 
I still couldn’t see anything other than the weird lights.

“Jayne?” asked Tony.

“Yeah?” I said, worried, not sounding like my normal self at all.

“Look at me.”

I heard whispering behind me.
 
I couldn’t tell who was doing it or what they were saying.

I turned in the general direction of Tony’s voice, and tried not to wince at the gasp I heard from him.
 
“What the hell’s wrong, Tony?
 
Why can’t I see you?”

“Jayne, your ... it’s ... your eyes.
 
What do you see?”

“I see blues and greens, twisting all around, moving.
 
What do you see?” I finished weakly, afraid I was now blind and that one of my colossal fuck-ups had made it happen.

“They’re glowing turquoise, kinda like you just described, actually – not your normal hazel color.
 
You can’t see me?”

“No.
 
Nothing at all, other than the swirls.”
 
I closed my eyes and it was the same.
 
I wondered how long I could watch this stuff and not get nauseous.
 
Hopefully it would become a non-issue very soon.

I felt his hand on my arm.
 
“Come on.
 
Let’s get you to the clinic.”

I resisted his pull.
 
“Wait.
 
Tell me what happened, first.”

I felt Tim’s weight on my shoulder as he joined me.
 
“I’ll tell you what happened.”

“Go ahead, Tim.
 
Tell me.”

“Tim,” started Tony, sternly, “I don’t think it’s a good idea right now ... ”

But Tim ignored him, in typical Tim style.
 
“What happened is you blasted the you-know-what out of those Dark Fae.
 
Boo-yah!
 
And the ones who were already dead on the ground?
 
Gone.
 
Poof!
 
Disappeared.
 
Samantha?
 
Gone, but not before she got a nice pricking from Finn’s arrow if I got the story right – I didn’t get to see
any
of it firsthand, since
someone
saw fit to lock me away with a hungry incubus during all the good parts.”

“What about the green elves?
 
And Ben?” I asked, anxious for the response.

“Finn?” prompted Scrum, “She wants to know about Ben and the other green elves.”

I heard footsteps come up on my right.
 
Finn touched my hand, his fingers warm and dry.
 
“The elves are fine.
 
They’ve left for our forest campgrounds.”
 
He cleared his throat.
 
“They took Falco’s body with them.
 
I’m not sure about Ben.
 
There was a lot of wind.
 
He may have left with it.”

“Dammit!”
I yelled.
 
Falco, the sweetest green elf I knew, had fallen in battle, and the asshole I held responsible had gotten away.
 
“I wanted Ben
dead!”
 
Life was so unfair sometimes.

“Jayne, just relax,” said Tony, taking my elbow again.
 
“I’m not so sure you want that on your conscience.
 
Let’s just go to the clinic and see what we can do about ... your eyes.”

I pulled my arm away from him again, calling out, “Scrum?”

“Yeah, right here,” I felt his arm brush up next to mine.
 

“Show me to the clinic.”
 
I grabbed onto his elbow, refusing to let Tony help me.
 
I was pissed he was trying to make me feel guilty for wanting to protect my friends.

“Jayne, don’t be mad at me,” said Tony, sounding very tired.

We began walking towards what I assumed was the gargoyle door leading into the Light Fae compound.

“I’m not mad.
 
I’m just not in the mood for your ‘Ben’s a good guy’ speech.”

“That’s not what I was going to say.
 
I just worry that ... ”

“Tony.
 
Later, man,” came Spike’s voice from in front of me.
 
“Let’s get her seeing again and then we can worry about that stuff.”
 

The sounds of several feet walking through the meadow grasses whispered in my ears.
 
No one said a word as we made our way through the gargoyle door and down the hallway to the clinic.
 
I couldn’t help but wonder what had become of Ben, Samantha, Becky ... and my eyesight.

“So what’s the scoop, doc?
 
When am I going to be able to see again?”
 
Staying flippant about my problem was my way of having a positive attitude.
 
The idea of being blind for the rest of my very long fae life was more than just a little bit worrisome.
 
I’d be a sitting duck for any Dark Fae that came along, from pixie to dwarf to ogre, not to mention the fact that I’d be
friggin blind.
 
I liked seeing the world around me way too much to lose that ability and stay sane.

The fae doctor who’d been examining me and discussing various theories with his colleagues answered, “It appears as if you’ve suffered what we suspect is a temporary loss of vision brought on by the power surges you manifested and sent through your body.
 
Based on the information shared by your friends, it seems as if your –
er
, non-traditional – means of controlling the power could be the problem.”

“He means you suck at it,” translated Tim.

“Yeah, thanks, Tim.
 
Noted.”
 
I rolled my eyes and immediately heard a couple fae gasp in response.
 
One of them quietly apologized.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing,” said Tony, gently.
 

I knew from the tone of his voice he was lying.
 
“Tim?
 
What is it?
 
I know you’ll tell me.”

“I think that fae girl was grossed out by your
glowy
eyes going up into your head.
 
But I could be wrong on that.
 
I can’t really see them from here.”

I turned so he could see me and rolled my eyes again.

“
Eeegads
, woman, stop that.
 
You look like a fae-eating zombie ready to go on a rampage.”

“Oh.
 
Sorry.”
 
Great
.
 
Now I was grossing people out.
 
“So what should I do?” I asked, turning to face the spot where the doctor’s voice had most recently come from.
 
“Do you have any
eyedrops
or anything like that?”

“No.
 
But we are going to consult with some of our witches to see if there are any spells that could hasten the healing for you.
 
We will send a message if we are successful.”

I held out my hand.
 
“Scrum?
 
You here?”

“Yep, right here.”
 
He took my hand and put it in the crook of his elbow.

“Take me to bed or lose me forever.”
 
Smiling at my own lame-ass Top Gun humor, I realized that there is one positive side to being blind – I couldn’t see anyone’s reactions to what I said, so there would be no guilty feelings if I made anyone flinch.
 
Awesome
.
   

Scrum cleared his throat nervously.
 
“You mean to your room, right?”

“Yep.
 
And if everyone’s not too tired, I’d like you all to come with us so we can discuss what happened tonight.”

I heard affirmations of assent around me, able to pick out everyone’s voice but Tony’s.
 

“Tony?
 
Are you in?”

“Yeah,” he sighed.
 
“I’m in.”

I wasn’t going to beg him.
 
If a guilt trip over my blindness got him there, then so be it.
 
Besides, he was the new training coordinator.
 
He obviously needed to get his ass in gear if we were going to have any hope of winning this war.
 

Just as we were leaving the exam room, Dardennes and Céline walked in.
 
I could hear their voices and they sounded stressed, which was very strange coming from them.
 

“Jayne, you’ve been injured,” said Dardennes, worry seeping into his voice.

“You could say that,” I responded, wryly.
 
“I hear it’s temporary, though.”

“That is truly a relief and welcome news,” said Céline, taking one of my hands in hers and squeezing it.
 
“What happened?
 
We have been fighting off attempts at entry in front of five separate doors.
 
Luckily we succeeded in driving them away.
 
We heard that you and your friends did as well.
 
We cannot thank you enough for your efforts on behalf of the Light Fae.”

I gripped Scrum’s arm hard as I thought about Samantha shooting Becky and those Dark Fae elves hitting Falco with that arrow, not sure that what we’d done qualified as a success.
 
Scrum patted my hand reassuringly.

“Could we talk about it tomorrow maybe?
 
I’m pretty tired.”
 
I totally wasn’t in the mood to explain how much I’d messed shit up tonight, and waiting a day wasn’t going to change anything.

“Yes, of course,” said Dardennes.
 
“We will be awake well into the night, so you’re welcome to come join us after you’ve gotten something to eat, or even tomorrow, that would be fine as well.”

“Tomorrow sounds good to me.”
 
I didn’t feel like eating.
 
Thinking about Falco and Becky made me too sad to even go into the dining hall.

“Tony?
 
Will we see you with the gray elves tonight?”

“Yes, sir, after I’ve seen to Jayne.”

“Very good, then.
 
Until later or tomorrow.”

We parted ways at the door. The rest of us went in the direction of the bedrooms, arriving at mine after quite a bit of stumbling on my part, thanks to the uneven stone floors, which originally looked pretty cool in their ancientness but now were the bane of my uninjured existence.
 
One trip from the clinic to my room had already resulted in one slightly twisted ankle and a wrenched arm from trying to hold onto Scrum as I went down.