Five: Out of the Pit (Five #2) (25 page)

I wiggled around until I faced Johnathan again. “What do you think they did?”

He shrugged. “Try a spell, just make it non-lethal.”

The only spell I could think of on the spot was the sliming spell I’d used on Alec. “
Oblimo
.” I aimed the spell at the purple Faerie nearest me. The slime coalesced and flew toward her—until it reached the net and rebounded to cover Johnathan and me.

The purple Faerie hugged herself and more tinkling laughter rolled from her mouth. “Magnificent, Young One!” She clapped her hands gleefully.

Johnathan turned his head to spit slime from his mouth. “I guess that answers that question. Good thing you didn’t shoot your monstrous electricity bolts at her, we’d be fried.” He wiped a glob of slime off my face.

“What do you want from us?” I asked.

“Want? What doth we want, Lily?” The purple Faerie turned to the lime green one.

“Well, Cindra, mayhap we can strike a bargain with these younglings. Their freedom will come at a great price, but greater will be their suff’ring if they decline to make a deal.”

“Oh, and,” Cindra the purple Faerie added, “Before you e’en think about trying to cut or rip the net just know it is Elvin made and attempts to do so would be futile.”

Lily laughed and fluttered her wings until she was suspended just above where we lay. “Loving, kissing, mages. What shouldst we bargain for?” She lay a tiny finger aside her chin and tapped.

Cindra joined her, their eyes quickly glancing over me and lingering on Johnathan. Cindra said, dreamily, “I wouldst have this one. He is a handsome one. I wouldst have him as mine own bauble, to play with as I please.” She smiled at Johnathan, beautiful amethyst eyes sparkling.

I turned my attention from the Faeries to Johnathan. His eyes were dilated and a trickle of drool hung at the corner of his mouth. He was under her spell. I growled and pinched him on the soft underside of his upper arm. He didn’t even blink. His lips formed into a stupid grin. I pinched harder and gave a little twist. That got his attention. He grimaced and pulled his arm away.

“What was that for?”

I glared at him. “You were falling under her spell, Johnathan. You should thank me for saving you. And I thought Alec was the one who had a thing for Faeries.”

He frowned. “Really? What was I doing? I don’t remember.”

“You were drooling. And I seriously thought your eyeballs were going to pop out of your head.”

“I’m so sorry. You know it was just a Faerie charm, right? I had no control,” he pleaded.

I decided to give him a break—if anyone knew what it was like to be charmed, I did.

I turned my glare to Cindra. “No deal, Faerie.”

Her mouth turned down in a pout. The Faeries spoke to each other in the impossibly fast language of the Fae.

Lily flew closer to where we lay captive under their Elvin net. Her face floated just inches from mine and I could smell her sweet breath—like lilacs soaked in sugar. “Magic Girl, the bargain we hath agreed upon for your freedom is thus; we shall let ye free if one of ye remainest in love with the other—but, the other… we takest away the love. Ye may decide betwixt you, which will be the lover and which will be loved. This is our deal.”

Too horrible to even consider, I turned my gaze to Johnathan as the bile rose in my throat. I swallowed the burning acid. “No.”

Cindra placed her tiny hands on her hips and yelled in a high pitched, Faerie voice, “We’ve given ye two bargains to choose from. Pick one. Or don’t. Be it known that the result of refusing one of our generous options is death. And the boy goes first, while ye watch.”

I shook my head, too horrified to speak.

Johnathan said, “Will you give us a few minutes of privacy as we discuss our options, please.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “Fine. A few minutes only. We’ll be up in the trees, watching.” They flew to the top of the trees above us.

I turned hysteric eyes on Johnathan and shook my head. “We can’t…”

He put a finger to my lips to shush me. “We don’t have to bargain with them. Let’s figure a way out of this net. Quick like. Any ideas?”

I took a deep breath and forced my mind away from the horrible options the Faeries presented us with. “We can’t lift it off of us. They have it magically tacked down somehow. We can’t use magic, it’ll just rebound on us. I don’t know what would happen if we tried to portal out, but it doesn’t seem like a good idea. I can’t think straight. I’m sorry.”

“I have an idea but we’ll have to move fast.” He looked up into the trees. “They’re still up there but they won’t be for long.”

He whispered his plan in my ear. I agreed with it even though it sounded just a bit crazy.

Johnathan concentrated on the sloping earth below our feet, right next to where the net touched the ground. Nothing appeared to be happening, though I could feel his powerful magic working below the surface. When the earth started to trickle down the slope, I performed my assignment and levitated the both of us.

I felt the pressure of the rebounded levitation spell pushing down on us. The pressure lasted only a brief moment and then the ground shifted beneath the lower half of our bodies and a miniature landslide-slash-sinkhole appeared. Johnathan and I were whooshed under the net and down the hill faster than a toilet flush.

I scrambled to my feet and looked up just in time as some pretty major Faerie magic descended like lightning. I tapped into my shield bracelet and threw up a shield just in time to block the attack. Johnathan made it to his feet and grabbed for his channeling rod—I was the only one of the Five that had near perfect aim without the use of a rod.

The Faeries rocketed toward us, their faces masks of rage. With my free hand, I blasted the green Faerie with a binding spell and she dropped to the ground like a falling star. The purple one flew straight into my shield, pushing both Johnathan and I back a step with the force. He aimed his channeling rod at her, but she dodged the flare that erupted from the tip.

Cindra landed next to the net and reached to lift the edge. Without thinking about which spell to cast, I threw magic at her. It turned out to be the same spell I’d sent flying at the Demon,
Shalbriri
, at our first meeting. A miniature tornado surrounded the Faerie, whipping her around at warp speed. Her wings were plastered flat against her body and her long, purple hair flew about her face like Medusa’s snakes on speed. The tornado continued for about thirty seconds and then came to an abrupt stop.

Cindra’s wings were still wrapped around her like a blanket, and she dropped to the ground, moaning with dizziness. She attempted to stand, but just slumped to the side. I laughed while Johnathan sent a binding spell her way.

I dropped the shield and looked at Johnathan. “Have I ever told you I hate Faeries?”

He smiled. “Yeah, me too.”

“And to think Tinkerbell used to be my favorite Disney character.”

Not wanting to get too close to the world’s most obnoxious of tricksters, we each levitated one Faerie to an area away from the net, on semi-level ground, where we could draw a circle and send them back to their realm.

he golden light of dawn was chasing away the darkness of night when we finally got back to the hotel. I let myself into my and Halli’s room as quietly as I could, but she still woke up.

“Where have you been all night?” She shaded her eyes as I turned on the bedside lamp.

“It’s a long story involving Goblins and Faeries. I’ll tell you after I shower and get some sleep.”

“M’kay.” She rolled over and returned to sleep immediately.

I was really glad Joe had paid for three nights in the hotel. I could sleep for most of the day without worrying about having to check out.

After Johnathan and I woke up, we all went to lunch together and he and I regaled our friends with the tale of our exciting adventure.

“And, what, exactly, were you two doing when the net dropped on you?” asked Alec with a knowing smirk.

“Star gazing, what did you think we were doing?” Johnathan’s grin gave away the lie.

Alec rolled his eyes. “Star gazing. Yeah. Right. Is that what the kids are calling it these days?”

I threw a fry that connected with his head.

Halli looked thoughtful for a moment before asking, “What did you do with the net?”

“Brought it back with us. It’s made of such light, thin material that it folded up small enough to fit in my pocket. That reminds me”—Johnathan turned to look at Joe—“They said the net was made by Elves. I thought there were no Elves around anymore.”

Joe perked up at that bit of news. “There aren’t. The net must be really old. The Elves all left this realm during the Dark Ages, when human kind became too unstable and uncaring for them to share realms with. Elves are long-lived creatures and find Humans to be far beneath them in the ladder of life.”

“Well, they know how to make nets, that’s at least one thing they’re better at than Humans,” Johnathan said.

Joe leaned forward. “Do you have it with you now?”

“Yeah, it’s in my pocket. Do you want to see it?” He reached for his pocket.

“Not here,” Joe held up a hand. “Let’s go somewhere a little more private.”

When we got outside and away from any prying eyes, Johnathan pulled the folded net out of his pocket and handed it to Joe. Joe ran it through his hands and shook his head. He tugged on the spider web thick netting, then tugged a little harder. His face turned red and his hands shook as he put all his muscle into it. “The strength of this thing is unbelievable.”

He refolded it and handed it back to Johnathan. “That could come in handy someday; you should find a spot for it in your gear belt.”

“I plan to. I’d like to play with it a little though, see what charms I can lay on it and practice throwing it, too.”

“That’s a good idea,” Joe agreed. “We’ll add it to our practice sessions.”

None of us had brought a change of clothes, and since it looked like we’d be there for a few days, we were all in need of some. We could have just portalled back and got our spare sets, but Joe decided we could all use more clothes anyway. So, we found this awesome second hand store called Deseret Industries. Looking through the dozens of racks of used clothing was like a treasure hunt. Halli and I could have spent hours there, but the boys hurried us along.