When they arrived at last to the place where the familiar had spotted the fairies, they quietly scrambled toward some bushes that seemed to overshadow a sunken area below the hill. There, they saw three fairies with dark wings hovering above a bonfire as though in a trance.
When they descended back to earth, one of them finally spoke. “This better work this time,” he said sternly. The female next to him hovered and said, “It has to. It’s only a matter of time before others start to catch on what’s happening.”
“They already have,” another female said. “One of them bit a human earlier tonight.”
“How did that happen?!” the male demanded. It was hard for Kenzie to take him seriously considering he had sparkling wings sprouting from his back, dark as they may be. But it was evident in his tone that he meant business. “Someone was supposed to be watching them! Where were you, Isis?”
“It’s Ace’s fault,” the female, Isis, insisted. “He went off to do who knows what. He thought they’d only go after the plants, but it turns out this time they’ve developed a hunger for flesh too.”
Paige’s coven was already there and prepared, their wands in tow. They waited and watched as the male fairy, who must have been the leader, angrily threw a strange elixir onto a shivering human’s head. The man began coughing and gasping for breath.
The hacking finally dissipated, but when the smoke from the elixir vanished, in its place was yet another zombie.
“Blast it!” the first female shrieked. “Why won’t this work?!”
“You’re probably not mixing it right, Lilly,” Isis groaned.
“That can’t be it,” the male fairy snapped. “Our powers are flawless. Something must be wrong with the recipe we were given.”
“No it’s not,” a fourth fairy declared as he seemed to appear out of nowhere. Kenzie looked closer and saw that he’d come out of one of the tiny houses in the vicinity, then grew to full size. He looked as menacing as his comrades, even with his wings.
“How do you know that, Ace?” the leader questioned dubiously.
“Because I got that recipe from a reliable source.”
“How reliable is this source? Who is it precisely, and why did I not know of it?”
“Because, Thalin, had I told you, you never would have agreed to it.”
“Answer the question, Ace. Where did you acquire this elixir recipe?”
“I hope it wasn’t at that elixir consignment store,” the first female, Lilly, stated.
Ace shook his head. “No, it was from...another supernatural being.”
“Who?” Isis demanded.
“Well, not a fairy, but someone else with magical abilities.”
“You correlated with a witch?!” the leader, Thalin, boomed. “Are you mad?!”
“There was no other way to obtain it!”
“And she just handed it over to you willingly, did she?”
“She wants peace and I gave her the impression I wanted the same thing. She’ll never suspect that her own recipe will be used to create a fairy army to eliminate all inferior species to us.”
That was all the cue that Paige and her coven needed. They leaped out from behind the bushes, clutching their wands.
“What the...?” Lilly gasped.
“What the hell are you trying to do?” Sasha demanded. “You’re turning people into monsters! Why?”
“That’s none of your business,” Thalin said lividly. “And if you’ve come here to try and stop us, your efforts will be in vain.”
It became obvious that witches and fairies didn’t waste time socializing. They cut right to the chase. Incantations were chanted and spells were cast. Kenzie, Hayden, and Isaiah just sat back and watched. At the moment, there was nothing else they could do.
It seemed the glowing orbs of fire and lightning would never cease. Yet even if a fairy or witch was injured, they quickly recovered themselves and continued the duel. Kenzie was getting restless and tired of waiting to see the outcome of this battle. The full moon would be up for several more hours. Was she supposed to wait until then, when their powers were no longer as strong?
But finally, the fairies’ powers began to deplete. Kenzie had forgotten that some spells take more spiritual energy than others, and the fairies had exhausted most of theirs already thanks to the elixirs. The witches were winning.
Paige managed to pin Lilly down as the battle raged on around them.
“Who was the name of the witch who gave you this elixir?” Paige demanded as she held the fairy down so she couldn’t get up and fly away.
“I don’t know, Ace is the only one who spoke with her. We had no idea he was planning to coerce a witch!”
“And you think that makes it okay? Turning people into zombies?”
“That was an unfortunate side effect.”
“No shit, an unfortunate side effect! You can’t just magically transform someone into another species!”
“If vampires and werewolves can do it, why not fairies?”
The fairy then cast one final spell to throw Paige off of her before standing (or rather, floating).
“I’ve had enough,” Isaiah raged under his breath. “If all they’re going to do is chit-chat, I say we take them down now.”
“Sounds good to me,” Hayden replied, surprising Kenzie. She thought vampires and werewolves hated each other, but they both actually agreed on something. Maybe there was hope after all.
And that was how she found herself left behind in the bushes as two supernatural creatures with a lifelong history of hatred stalked toward the fairies and witches.
“What’s this?” Thalin asked. “You brought a mutt and a blood sucker to help you? You’re pathetic, witches.”
“We didn’t bring them to help,” Miranda shot back. “We brought them for a backup. And it’s a good thing we did. Of course, we can easily take you down ourselves, but where’s the fun in that?”
“Besides,” Isaiah added, “turning someone into another creature without their consent is wrong, and last time I checked, illegal.”
“We’ll be letting your fairy authority know all about this,” Hayden asserted.
“That won’t be necessary,” Isis replied sardonically. “You’ll all be destroyed by the time we’re finished here. And that includes your friend hiding up there in the bushes. That’s right, I see you up there!”
Kenzie sat up, shocked. How had they seen her? She swore she was camouflaged in.
Suddenly, she felt herself being lifted. She glanced up to see Ace carrying her down toward the bonfire with the rest of the odd bunch. For a guy with wings, he was pretty strong. He carried her like a ragdoll.
“Put her down!” Isaiah and Hayden demanded at once.
“Certainly,” Ace smirked. He dropped Kenzie roughly, and though she was only a few feet in the air, the impact of her body hitting the ground was unbearable.
“You bastard!” someone roared. Kenzie wasn’t certain, but she thought it was Hayden. Or was it Isaiah? She had no idea; her head was ringing too much from her unwelcome impact with the dirt.
And then more noises followed. She felt someone’s hands trying to lift her up again, but they were suddenly slapped away. Her eyes were closed at this point; she just wanted the pain to go away and the madness to be over.
And suddenly, it was. The next thing Kenzie knew, a bright flash of light came from behind her closed eyelids. When she opened them, the fairies were gone, the witches were poised with their wands outstretched, and Isaiah and Hayden were in battle stances.
“What the hell happened?” she asked. Geez, why had that impact hurt her so hard? She didn’t fall that far. How embarrassing.
“It’s over,” Paige said simply. “We took care of them.”
Kenzie slowly sat up and looked around. Paige was right. There wasn’t a trace of the fairies left.
“How?” she stammered.
“A special hex. Or rather, a charm. We were able to combine our powers to basically implant a light inside the dark hearts of those fairies. That also cured the zombies. It’s not something we use often, but in this case, it was necessary.”
“Oh. Well, awesome. I only wish I could have done something to help.”
As she watched the baffled faces of her involuntary comrades, Kenzie remembered when Paige had asked her if she was certain she wasn’t a witch, especially considering her loyal companion Sage. Kenzie knew the truth. She wasn’t a witch, but that was okay. She knew who she was, and that’s all that mattered.
Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling of helplessness she’d experienced when the supernatural creatures were battling each other and she’d had to stay hidden in the bushes, unable to contribute anything.
“Kenzie, you didn’t have to contribute,” Isaiah told her when she mentioned this as he knelt down next to her. “Although, you could have hidden yourself a little better. I don’t know how they saw you, but I’m glad you’re all right.”
Kenzie managed a smile before looking up at Hayden. He looked concerned as well, but also relieved if not a little remorseful.
Suddenly, Kenzie felt very tired. She couldn’t stifle a yawn, and of course the two males with acute hearing abilities heard it.
“I think I better get back to the hotel,” she stated unnecessarily. Isaiah and Hayden nodded. She thanked them both and traipsed back to her car. She’d left Sage at the hotel and was looking forward to getting back, safe and sound. Unfortunately, it started raining on the way there, so the trip seemed even longer than usual.
When Kenzie arrived at last, she managed to stay awake long enough to take a shower. As she was about to climb into bed, her instant messenger chimed. She looked and saw that it was Jillian.
LifesABeach: Kenzie! Are you okay? I just got off the phone with Isaiah.
WolfKen: Yeah, I’m fine. Did you know he was coming? He said you didn’t, but I want to be sure.
LifesABeach: Well, I mentioned a couple of things to him, so it didn’t really surprise me. But he did keep me in the dark about where he was until a little bit ago. Which I’m going to kick his ass for. But I’m so glad you’re okay.
WolfKen: I am too.
LifesABeach: So...Isaiah told me you were hanging out with a werewolf.
Kenzie looked heavenward. Seriously? He had to add that little detail in?
WolfKen: Did he also mention who exactly the werewolf was?
LifesABeach: No...is he someone in particular?
WolfKen: Turns out that guy I was lusting after, according to you? Hayden Howland, the reporter? He’s a werewolf. It was him.
LifesABeach: HOLY SHIT!!! That’s awesome! I knew you’d find your dream guy!!! This one’s perfect for you! And just think, if you guys get married someday, you wouldn’t even have to change your name that much!
WolfKen: For crying out loud Jillian, who’s talking about getting married? It’s Austin and Cheyenne who are planning a wedding, not me. Besides, Hayden doesn’t want that kind of relationship. Turns out it’s because he’s a werewolf.
LifesABeach: You mean he’s like Isaiah? He never wanted it but he has no choice but to deal with it?
WolfKen: Basically, yes. Which of course I told him I love wolves and it doesn’t make any difference to me, but he’s as stubborn as I am.
LifesABeach: That sucks. I’m so sorry, Ken.
Kenzie just shrugged indifferently. She finally told Jillian that she was exhausted and going to bed. Once she burrowed under the covers, she fell asleep instantly, but not without a few dreams. The most prominent dream was of a certain handsome werewolf and her. A dream that unfortunately probably wouldn’t become a reality.
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