City of Fae

The queen rose up, lifting her forelegs off the ground. “Mm … This is … different. Tell me, Construct, what are your memories of me?”


I blinked, once, twice, my mind latching onto the single word. “Construct?”

She cocked her hairless head and blinked. “Puzzling. You do not know me, do you? My dear … Perhaps I was hasty weaving your construction. We shall rectify this unfortunate matter. Come. Stand. You have not yet finished my tasks. Soon, soon you shall rest, and well deserved your rest shall be.”

Construct? It seemed to take a lifetime to get to my knees, and another to find my feet and stand. Even upright, she towered over me. “I’m Alina O’Connor.”

“Yes, yes … of course you are. And the next time, you’ll be Joanne Turner, and the next perhaps … Caroline.” She gave an odd little bark of laughter. “Caroline, yes … Some irony there. Perhaps I will give you a different accent. Yours is grating somewhat.”

“What … what are you going to do to me?”

“Nothing I haven’t done before.” A leg arched high to my right and tapped on the bricks. Tap-tap. “We waste time. You are mine. The time has come for you to fulfill your purpose,” tap-tap-tap, “Alina O’Connor … A fine name. I listen, I hear … They think me trapped, but I am always watching. I hear them talking of light, of noise, of people, of life … I heard this name, Alina … Do you like it?”

“This is”—I gulped and stepped back—“this is madness.” Another step back, another.

“A name is necessary, when you walk among them. A life too. A reporter. Someone who asks questions. Someone who watches, records, reports back. That is what I needed. You failed your first task, to watch Sovereign, report back to me, and kill him. It matters not. I still control Sovereign. I control you.” Her body fell into that left-right rhythm once more, coaxing the madness from my mind, smoothing the fear away. “You are close to him, yes?”

“Yes.” The acknowledgment burst from my lips of its own accord.

“Younglings such as him are easily distracted, in that you have done well. He was my best once. My ancient hound. Ruthless. Obedient. Deadly.” She threw her head back and laughed. “Oh, but as with all pets, he bites. A pity.” She flicked a hand. “He failed me. I’ll deal with him soon enough, but we have more pressing matters. Three Keepers are dead. One remains.”

Left and right, back and forth. Tap-tap. I blinked, trying to clear the blurring in my peripheral vision.

She inched forward, stalking down my retreat, “Once I have restored you, you will forget all of this nonsense. My faithful pet. You will be my eyes, my instrument, my killing blow. And we shall rise together. Take this city as our own. And feed …”

I lifted a hand, but it didn’t feel like my own. Even as I brought my fingers to my face, touched my cheek, I felt nothing. What was happening? This wasn’t real. I was Alina O’Connor. Trainee reporter. American Girl. But this … this place, this dream …

The queen’s razor-edged voice sliced into my skull but I no longer understood her words. The sway of her body held me frozen, locked still. Heavy eyelids sagged.

“There, there … Isn’t it so much easier without those messy memories clogging your thoughts?”

Memories. Yes. My job … wasn’t real. My life? Was any of it real?

“Submit to my will, my sweet thing, listen … listen to the breeze. Isn’t it uncomplicated? Isn’t life simple? You will kill for me, Alina O’Connor. Kill so that I will be free. It is your purpose. Forget all that you think you know. You are mine. You will always be mine. I am your queen, I created you, you are a part of me, and you, Alina, will free me from this prison.”

“Yes.” I heard a voice very much like my own say. I dropped to a knee, even though it seemed a strange thing to do. My head bowed, eyes closed, life seemed so simple now. Kill the keeper. This would please my queen.

Looking up, I fell into her red-eyed gaze, fell into the dark truth harbored at the back of my mind. Alina O’Connor wasn’t real, but her mission was. Kill the Keeper. Kill Warren. Sovereign had failed. I would not. I am hers. And she will be free.





Chapter Sixteen