We've all heard the saying - something about how you have nothing to fear but fear itself. And it sounds like such an easy thing for a Human to accept - especially when you know a wise President like FDR has said it. But then you find out that you're not so Human and that fear might have sharp claws and pointy teeth... and then you're scared all over again.
I picked my way through the trees, thinking of the Slaugh and how he'd been so bold and gallant in the face of death. Here and now, making my way through the woods, I did my best to channel his spirit. If something happened I wouldn't have Westley to save me or the Slaugh to make a deal to get me out of trouble. This would be it. I'd be on my own.
I'd been walking for ten minutes when I thought I heard the sounds - the strains of muffled groaning. Feeling the adrenaline kick in, I spied a clearing up ahead and subsequently slowed down my pace, treading as quietly as I could. By the time I had it made to the edge of the clearing I hadn't even realized I'd been holding my breath... until I noticed my friend on the opposite side, tied to a tree. And so was Juliette.
"Sienna!"
Forgetting all logic I burst through the clearing and approached my friend at a run. Sienna was in her pajamas and slippers, standing upright against the trunk of a tall, thick tree, bound by rope at the ankles and hands. A rag was in her mouth, her long, blonde hair was loose and disheveled, and a bruise was quickly spreading over one eye. She stared at me, her eyes wide and terrified as she attempted to speak over the rag. Juliette, however, didn't appear to be conscious. Her head lolled at the neck, motionless.
"Sienna, what happened to you? Who did this?"
I reached up and pulled out the rag, allowing Cici to speak.
"Tammy, you shouldn't have come here," was her hollow whisper. The terror expressed in her face seemed to go beyond simple fear. The girl was traumatized. "You've gotta go - they'll be back any second."
"I'm not leaving you," I said sternly. "Now tell me - who's they?"
I stooped to try my hand at the thick knot of ropes tied against her ankles, crying out in pain and pulling away as soon as my fingers made contact.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you - those ropes are sprinkled with rowan,"
Ignoring the burns on my fingertips, I looked up at Cici's face. She'd been pale before this moment, but now she was white as a sheet, staring at the person behind me who'd spoken.
"Erica," I spat through gritted teeth, standing and turning to finally face my enemy. "Or should I call you Tanise?"
Tanise sauntered further into the clearing, donning a smirk as ominous as her apparel - tight jeans, tight t-shirt, and boots. It couldn't have been more than thirty degrees out and yet she seemed wholly unaffected by the elements. Judging from her power over fire, I had no trouble believing that it somehow kept her warm. Her dark hair was pulled back from her face and for once the cruelty and hate wasn't masked or hidden. She let it hang for all the world to see, as brazen as my own abhorrence.
"Call me whatever you want Tamsyn. Just don't call me Auntie."
"Stop right there," I ordered, firmly planting myself between Sienna and the Knight. "Don't come any closer."
Tanise did as she was told, smiling as she briefly raised her arms like how a dark angel would spread their wings.
"Look - I have no weapon. No Blade of Woe."
"Lucky me... because I do," I replied, putting one hand behind me in order to remove the knife I had tucked in the waistband of my jeans.
But Tanise's smile only widened at the sight of the knife in my hands.
"You're brave enough to wield it, but are you brave enough to use it?"
"I dunno. But come any closer and you'll find out."
I watched as her smile curled into a sneer.
"Let them go, Tanise. Sienna and Juliette aren't part of this. It's me you want."
"Well, you're partly right. It is you that I want - Sienna was bait. All it took was one text from her phone and I knew you'd come running. But the Vampire..."
Tanise cast a shrewd, calculating glace at Juliette's unconscious form. Briefly I followed her gaze, noticing how the ropes that bound the Vampire had burned the parts of her skin that were exposed - as if they'd been soaked in Vervain.
"Well, she's necessary. And she's not going anywhere."
"Then you'll at least let Sienna go?"
Tanise threw her head back and laughed - a harsh, grating sound that caused me to grip the handle of the knife that much harder.
"Afraid not, sweetheart. No one's going anywhere."
Tanise clasped her fingers behind her back and tilted her head as she observed me with her horrible grin.
"You're-you're-you're gonna kill me?" Sienna cried out. "Please - just let me go! I swear I won't tell anyone! I - mmm mmm mmmmmm."
I picked up the rag and stuffed it back into Sienna's mouth.
"I'm really sorry Cici, but you've got to let me handle this," I muttered, low enough for only the two of us to hear. "You keep talking and I'm pretty sure she'll kill you just to keep you quiet."
"Tanise, think about what you're doing," I said aloud, turning back to face my opponent. "You can't harm Sienna. She's innocent. Killing her is against Fae law."
Tanise sighed and rolled her eyes, letting out a sigh of exasperation.
"Honestly I knew you were thick but this is reallypathetic. Until you hand over the Sorcerer, you, and anyone you've ever come into contact with, are fair game. Besides, I have a feeling there's nothing innocent about that one..."
"Whatever, Tanise. I'm taking my friends and we're going - now. You and I can settle this later."
But before I could turn to cut Sienna's ropes, the Blade of Woe began to vibrate in my hand. Thoroughly surprised, I looked down to see the knife take on an odd red glow, suddenly growing hotter, and hotter, and hotter...
"Damnit!" I yelled, forced to drop the knife. It fell to the ground with a sizzling noise, sinking to the forest floor as it burned its way through the snow. Clutching my right hand I looked down to see my palm and fingers had turned an angry red. A few welts were already rising. "You're an idiot!" I spat, glaring at Tanise, whose eyes were now burning as red as they had in the cave. "Westley didn't kill your sister - Titania did."
"Lies," was her cool reply.
"She was jealous," I continued, speaking in a harsh softness. "Tierney envied my mother and she wanted the crown so badly she was willing to frame Westley for it. And now she has you, her personal lap dog, clearing away the evidence. If you kill the Sorcerer the truth dies with him - don't you get it? Don't you see what she's doing?"
"You're wrong. My sister would never lie to me."
I could see Tierney's anger rising - it was as palpable as the cold in the air. No doubt, she would probably unleash some of that wrath on me soon, but I'd do whatever it took to keep Sienna and Juliette alive. It wouldn't be fair to let them die for mistakes and problems that I had created.
"Then why don't you go ask her?" I taunted. "Don't worry, I can wait. I'll be here when you get back."
"Nice try, but like I said - you aren't going anywhere and neither are your friends. Not until the Queen has arrived..."
"What are you talking about?" Beneath the warmth of my coat I felt my skin grow cold, prickling with goosebumps.
The red glow receded from Tanise's eyes and she smiled again, seeming to regain some of the collected composure she had come so close to losing.
"A looooong time ago, our brother - your Uncle - cast a spell that would ensure Titania never set foot in the Human realm. Tonight, that spell will finally be broken."
"But... how? How is that possible?"
"Think Tamsyn... All the recent suicides - the deaths of those people were quite strange, were they not? But what if those suicides were really murders? What if a Suicide Fae was framing a Scavenger in order to keep others - like you - off the trail? What if this Fae sucked the soul right out of your boyfriend's mouth? It's pretty easy to convince someone to hang themselves once they no longer have a reason to live..."
"No. No." I whispered, and fell to my knees as Sienna's muffled moans rose in strength from the horror of Tanise's admission. "You took his soul?"
I shut my eyes to block out the horrible truth, but it did no good. The image of Dean's smiling face was as clear now as it had ever been.
"No, she didn't Tamsyn. I did."
I opened my eyes just in time to see Coach Ashby enter the clearing...
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