Dancing With Monsters (34 page)

“
Are you alright?” I asked
switching my gaze between him and April.

“
Yes, believe it or not,
we are well here and Eveie cured not only me, but turned April into
a demon-bit-Fae-monster girl. It turns out our little spell-struck
is part Fae and part monster.” Malachi stepped aside as Nessa,
Edan, Malachi and I looked at April as if she was a sideshow
spectacle at a circus. She looked uncomfortable.

“
April, you…” I started to
say as she let out a huff and turned around fluttering her
transparent and glowing wings.

“
Are those wings?” Edan
asked as Nessa elbowed him and gave him a stern look. “I’m just
asking.”

“
I’ve got wings, and like
Malachi said—I’m a Fae.”

“
You are Fae, are you
sure?” Edan asked tipping his chin down as if to make sure he heard
her right. “I’ve seen a few Fae before, but not with wings. Are you
sure this isn’t just some monster deformity?”

“
She is Fae—not deformed.”
Malachi stepped closer to Edan, looking at him as if insulted. “Her
father is the crowned prince of The Isle of Stars and the Fae here
have wings. You know, archangels don’t know everything.”

“
Well…” Edan cocked his
head and shrugged his shoulders as if going to elaborate on why
that wasn’t true, when Ella cut between them.

“
And you are my brother,”
Ella said, gazing up at Malachi’s confused face.

She smiled at him and slightly bounced
up and down as she waited for him to reply. Malachi’s face paled as
his eyes slipped from Edan, and focused on the girl in front of
him.

“
What?” He asked with
disbelief.

“
It’s true, Malachi,”
Eveie said, stepping towards us, but far enough away as if she
sensed his uncomfortableness. “Your sister never died that horrible
day. I kept her for you, for us…”

Malachi didn’t reply, but just looked
down at the girl who smiled back at him. Ella took him by the hand
and examined his fingers.

“
I used to hold onto your
index finger all the time when we went somewhere because your hand
was too big for mine, but not your finger.” She lifted her eyes to
him searching his as if he remembered too. “I couldn’t say Malachi,
so I called you Mal, instead.”

I stood beside Malachi as everyone
watched.

He looked at the girl as if he wanted
to believe her, but at the same time didn’t want to. I knew years
had passed since then, and he spent most of them trying to move on
and bury the massacre that took his family and way of life. Ella
stood patiently gazing up at him. She was the reflection of
Malachi, even down to her steady stare that always reminded me of a
hawk searching the vast fields in hopes of finding a mouse for
dinner.

I didn’t say anything as I watched
Malachi’s doubt fade.

“
If you still don’t
believe me then,” Ella rolled up her sleeve and showed him her
hexmark. “Incomplete—it’s incomplete, and you used to tease me
about it.”

Ella’s hexmark was faded in places
like someone had erased parts of it randomly. She kept her eyes on
Malachi as she rolled her sleeve back down, and Malachi stopped
her. He looked at her hexmark and ran his fingers over
it.

How much more evidence do
you need?
I wanted to say to
him.

“
I told you that two
Stelhollow hearts still remained in this world.” April stepped
beside Ella, but instead of April’s eyes gazing at him, it was Ezra
who was speaking. “This is Myra, your sister, and she is alive.”
Ezra glanced over her shoulder at Eveie. “The demons that took your
village were not all evil. She has healed you, protected Myra, and
April as well. Trust lies were least expected and suspicion sits in
the most unexpected places that we’d never guess. Judge by actions
rather than what you perceive.” Ezra gazed at all of us. “There
will be disturbances in the future—find your alliances now, or you
will perish in the outcome.” She let her eyes rest on me before she
faded.

“
Ezra,” I said as I
stepped in front of her just as April’s head dropped then
lifted.

She looked at me with confusion as I
gently touched her cheek. She looked at me with bewilderment at
first, then with understanding.

“
Ezra,” she confirmed, and
I nodded.

“
But your name was Myra,
not Ella.” Malachi gazed down at his sister.

“
She picked that name
since I didn’t know her true name,” Eveie said, still standing a
slight distance away as a servant would do waiting on her
employer.

“
It’s true, I did.” Ella
confirmed with a smile. “Eveie told me about you, and said this day
would come, and it has.” She wrapped her arms around Malachi with a
giant, content smile on her face.

Malachi was taken by surprise by her
gesture, and stood with arms out, frozen as if contemplating to hug
Ella or not. He looked down at her as she continued to embrace him,
eyes closed.

“
She’s your sister,” I
said, as if he was waiting to be formally told.

Malachi glanced at me, and then back
at Ella. Slowly, and almost like a rusted gate, Malachi’s arms
curled around Ella.

“
Myra, I dreamed of this
day, but never thought it possible. And your hexmark is
beautiful.”

Ella smiled u at him. “I
know,”

Malachi lifted his eyes to Eveie, and
nodded. “I have you to thank.”

Eveie’s eyes filled with shock, and
I’m sure being a demon, no one had probably ever thanked her for
anything she did. Her surprised expression faded into a
smile.

Suddenly, April ran past me with her
translucent, glowing wings behind her.

“
April?” Nessa ran after
her as they both stopped at the crest of hill.

April turned and looked over her
shoulder at me. The blue sky framed her and the wind gently blew
through her hair as Nessa gazed into the distance trying to see
what April had noticed.

“
What are you looking at?”
Nessa asked.

I joined them along with Malachi, Ella
and Eveie. We looked into the green-scape that surrounded
us.

“
You don’t have dragons or
gargoyles around here, do you?” Edan asked Eveie.

“
No,” she said, not
removing her eyes from the horizon. “But this is the Isle of Stars.
Many creatures live here, and could be any number of
them.”

I touched April on the shoulder, and
was going to ask her what alerted her to dash up the hill as if
someone had called to her. She quickly placed her hand on mine and
turned to me with Ezra’s indigo eyes.

“
The archangels are here,”
she said, trembling. “But so are demons.”

April

“
How can you see them?”
Nessa asked.

“
I sense them.” I replied,
with my hand still on Seth’s. I felt Ezra surface inside of me like
a fishing bobber floating on water. We were one, but yet a small
piece remained of her, and it still reached out for Seth. “They
travel quickly—both of them.”

“
Can demons withstand
being here?” Malachi asked no one in particular. “They aren’t
strong enough to leave the shadows, unless…” He turned to Eveie.
“The serum…”

His eyes narrowed as he looked at
Eveie who stood expressionless at first, and then started to shake
her head.

Even though Eveie had done nothing but
prove herself as a good demon, Malachi still held a piece of
suspicion for her. Having Ezra to guide me, I honed her ability to
see into and past things, and seeing things for what they
are.

“
It isn’t the serum—it’s
something else.” I cut in front of Eveie as she opened her mouth to
defend herself. “The serum can’t be made without this.” I raised my
hand showing the engagement ring Ben had given me. I felt it had
been years since he had proposed to me, and looking at it made my
heart ache. “It’s something else that is making them
materialize.”

“
I still don’t see
anything.” Nessa reported as she kept her eyes focused on the
peaceful looking landscape.

“
Even if I did have the
serum, I would never give it to any of the demons in the shadows.”
Eveie stepped towards Malachi with chin raised. “You have no idea
what sort of things exist there, and I never want them to leave
that horrible place.”

Malachi’s eyes softened as a sudden
whooshing sound passed over our heads. We ducked and frantically
surveyed into the bright sky.

“
Please tell me that was
just the wind,” Nessa said, as a cawing sound gave her
reply.

I stood up as Malachi pressed himself
next to me and grasped onto my wrist as you would a small child so
they don’t get lost. I closed my eyes, and reached out to the
invisible creature that flew over our heads.

It was by itself—a scout, maybe. It
had no intentions of hurting us, but it did try to send a message.
Without thinking, I blocked the message. It tried again, and I
blocked it again.

I felt the air around me stir as if a
large fan had been placed over our heads.

“
Fine, if you overpower
me, then I will take a sample with me.” A voice, female, said as I
opened my eyes and scanned the skies overhead.

“
Where did that come from?
I can’t see anything!” Edan yelled over the wind and the sound of
wings flapping overhead.

I looked up at the empty sky knowing
something was there, but was invisible. Malachi, Seth and Edan
stood in front of me with Nessa beside me gazing up at the sky as
well.

“
Who are you?” I demanded
worming my way between Seth and Malachi.

Malachi grabbed my arm, but I jerked
it away as I glared into the blue sky. “I said, make yourself
known! Who are you?” I repeated.

Suddenly, right over my head, the sky
started to ripple like water. Slowly, a shape began to take form as
I watched it pull the colors from the sky making it almost
translucent, but solid enough to see it. If I had to guess what it
was, I’d call it a dragon. It had a long neck, oval head,
glistening, iridescent scales, and webbed wings that gracefully
flapped behind it. Its eyes reflected the clouds surrounding us as
it made eye contact with me.

I should be scared out of my mind, but
I wasn’t. The creature had a majestic appearance to her, and from
what I sensed, she wasn’t here to hurt us—at least that wasn’t her
duty right now.

“
It’s a sky serpent!” Edan
yelled as he grabbed Nessa.

Malachi pulled me back, and started to
run towards the cottage along with everyone else. I didn’t think
the structure would protect us from whatever a sky serpent could
do.

“
Fine,” the serpent huffed
as her shadow glided over us and then landed right in front of
Eveie’s home, gracefully.

We stopped dead in our tracks as the
ghost-like sky serpent blocked the entryway. She towered over us as
she gazed down with dark eyes that were like two sponges that
soaked up what color she had to her. Her skin slowly reflected the
color of the flowers, the grey stones, and blue sky that made her
look like a watery cutout of the space before us.

“
Stay back!” Edan
commanded to us as he held out his arm like a traffic cop stopping
vehicles. “I’ve training with sky serpents before.”

The serpent cocked her head, and
looked bemused even through her translucent appearance.

“
I’m impressed, little
angel.” Her voice was pleasant, and very human-like. “Most don’t
claim experience with us, and lived to tell others about it—yes,
very impressed.” Her voice rang with amusement.

“
You serve the Fae here,
don’t you?” I asked, stepping forward as Malachi pulled me back,
and gave me
an are you crazy
look.

I kept my eyes on the sky serpent as
Malachi grasped onto my wrist. With eyes that looked like two
organs, a heart maybe, that had tiny veins and capillaries trailing
to it, she glanced between Malachi and me.

“
He protects you, young
Fae.” She sounded pleased. “My time here isn’t supposed to be long
as others are treading on our ground.” She glanced in the distance.
“I bring no resistance with me, and come in peace as that is the
way of the sky serpent on The Isle of Stars.” She looked at Edan
who held a dagger in front of him. “You would know this, Edan, son
of Isaiah Tollwick, if your experience was correct.” She still had
an amused tone to her voice as Edan lowered his blade
slightly.

“
How do you know my name?”
He asked.

“
I can see through all of
you, and that’s why the Fae employ me and others like me as their
watchguards. My name is Rowain, and I’m the personal guard of
Eldon.” Rowain set her eyes, feathered with color, on me and
slightly bowed. “He sensed you, April Snow, but didn’t know who you
were exactly, but I can tell you are Fae mixed with other
creatures. You bring an un-pure presence to our lands.” Her eyes
pulsated with color as they narrowed.

Seth, Malachi and Edan, acting on her
threating looks and words, stepped closer to the serpent with
daggers toward her. Nessa slipped in between them as Edan gave her
a discouraging look that she ignored. Eveie, who stood a few steps
behind me, clutched her arms protectively around Ella. Rowain
glanced at all of us as if she was studying our movements, and
summing us up.