Rebel Faerie

Prologue VIOLET It was embarrassing. Violet could hardly believe Ada had managed to corner her, Ryn and Dash inside a circle of jagged glass. They were guardians, for goodness’ sake. Before the former Head Councilor publicly exposed all guardians with Griffin Abilities, she and Ryn had been two of the best. And she liked to think they’d only got better since then. Fighting Ada should be easy! But it was her glass statues that were the problem. Ada herself—who turned out to be a wispy woman with blonde and pale pink hair now that she’d removed her mask and hooded cloak—could turn anyone to solid glass with a single touch. Those statues had become animated and were now fighting for Ada, their movements as fast as if they were still made of flesh. What worried Violet the most, though, was whether the touch of these glass soldiers was as lethal as Ada’s touch. Violet wasn’t sure, but she couldn’t take the risk. And that meant she couldn’t get close enough to properly fight off these beings. All around them across the small floating island known as Velazar II, the battle between guardians and Unseelie fae raged on. The veil had somehow resealed itself instead of being torn further, but rather than abandon their cause, this only made the Unseelies fight harder. Two glass soldiers lunged toward her, drawing her attention away from the outer battle and back inside the circle. She ducked down, rolled to the side, and sprang up again, an arrow materializing at her fingertips. The bow appeared in her other arm, and within a second, her arrow was flying straight at one of the soldiers. He shattered into thousands of glittering shards as the other soldier, closer now, swung at her again. His shoulder almost grazed her arm, but she jerked out of the way just in time. As she spun back around, her bow raised a second time, Ryn’s glittering sword came down upon the glass man’s head. He broke apart almost instantly. Then something changed. The dozens of jagged glass pieces forming the circle began tumbling over one another, heading for the center of the circle. Ada’s little fighting ring was growing rapidly smaller. Violet tossed yet more magic at the encroaching glass soldiers as she backed up a few steps, closing the space between her, Ryn and Dash. Ryn swung his blade again, and a spray of splinters flew through the air as another soldier went down. “Stop!” As Violet ducked to avoid the splinters, she looked to where the shout had come from and noticed someone racing away from the battle and toward Ada. Emerson? she wondered, surprise jolting through her. It certainly looked like her, but what was she doing here of all places? The soldiers inched closer, and the glass circle grew smaller, and Em’s shouts reached Violet’s ears: “Stop! Ada, stop! Ada, please!” Unable to pause long enough to shout a warning at Em, Violet gripped two guardian knives in her hands and threw them at her nearest glass opponent. With a quick twist to the side, he dodged the one, but the other struck his chest, turning him to a pile of glittering shards. “Please! They’re my parents!” At first, the words made no sense to Violet. Then she raised her eyes. She looked beyond the glass and saw Em’s desperate face looking straight past Ada and into the circle. At her. At Ryn. And Violet’s world came to a standstill. They’re my parents. Her brain rejected the words immediately. Em obviously didn’t mean what it sounded like she meant. This was a trick to get Ada to stop her attack. A trick that made no sense, but still a trick. It isn’t true, Violet’s brain repeated. But as she looked across the floating island at the girl who’d stumbled so unexpectedly into her life, she saw several things at once: She saw her son’s face, full of terror after waking from a nightmare. Younger and more boyish than Em’s face, yet undeniably similar in this moment. She saw Calla and Chase whispering together, always out of Violet’s earshot. Whispering that had only begun after Em disappeared. She saw Calla’s absolute insistence on finding Em and bringing her back at all costs. She saw—a glass arm sweeping straight toward her face. A blade flashed through the air, severing the arm from its body. The glass soldier fractured and fell in gleaming pieces to the ground. Violet barely saw it. Her eyes were trained on Em as Ada threw her onto the ground and launched herself at the girl. “No, no, no!” Violet gasped. Dash shouted something and moved in front of her, blocking her view of Em. His words were an indistinct echo as she tried desperately to see past him. “Vi!” he repeated, grabbing her shoulder and shaking her. “You have to keep fighting!” He whirled around, shoved another glass soldier back with the edge of his crossbow, then shot him. He jumped back quickly, pushing Violet out of the way as glass fell to the ground near their feet. Violet steadied herself, looking back around immediately to where Ada had Em pinned to the ground. Don’t you dare touch her. The thought flashed fiercely through her mind as she narrowed her eyes, raised her arms, and took aim the moment the bow and arrow appeared. She let go. A second later, the arrow struck its target. Ada cried out and looked around at the arrow protruding from her shoulder. Violet wasted no time fitting a second arrow against the glittering bowstring. As Ada rolled out of the way, someone tugged urgently on Violet’s arm, causing her arrow to shoot into the sky. “We have to jump!” Ryn shouted at her. “Over the glass. Now!” She looked about and saw that every opponent within the circle was gone—and the encroaching glass shards that had formed the circle were about to reach them. “JUMP!” Ryn yelled. She hesitated only a moment before bending slightly, then launching away from the ground. She cleared the glass easily, as did Ryn and Dash. “Where is she?” Ryn asked, whipping around immediately and looking back to where Ada and Em had been moments ago. Violet didn’t have time to answer as yet more guardians who’d been turned to glass rushed toward them. She felt oddly detached from the scene as she fought back with weapons and magic, never getting close enough to let anyone touch her. It all became a confused blur as her mind spun in the background, trying to figure out how Em’s words could possibly be true. Guardians, glass people, Unseelies, Guild transporter pods. Transporter pods. Those definitely hadn’t been there when this fight began. After finishing off another animated statue, she looked around, searching for Em again. There! She couldn’t see Ada, but Em was running toward what remained of the glass circle. “Em!” Violet yelled. The girl looked up, her eyes searching until she found Violet. She altered direction, kept running, and then— Violet cried out as a bright bolt of magic collided with Em. She rolled several times before coming to rest face-down on the ground. Violet started running, but someone caught hold of her arm and tugged her back. She barely had time to try and pull her arm free before she was forced to the ground. A man in a Guild uniform loomed over her, and before she could react, something snapped painfully around her wrists. Guardian handcuffs, the golden sparkling kind she’d never be able to get off. As two guardians pulled her roughly to her feet, she heard Ryn yelling, “Emerson!” Crapping crapping crap, what had he seen? How badly was Em injured? Was she dead? Violet struggled against her captors with all her might, managing to get an elbow in one guardian’s face and a foot in the other’s groin before a third appeared to assist in subduing her. Within seconds, her ankles were bound as well. “Em!” she shrieked, craning her neck to see what had happened to the girl. And finally, Violet caught a glimpse of her, sitting up, her hand pressed against her side. Their eyes met for one moment before the world tipped to the side and Violet was tossed into a transporter pod along with Ryn and Dash. Several guardians jumped in after them, and the clear glass pod sealed itself shut. “No, wait!” Violet gasped. She paid no attention to the guardians moving to their positions within the pod, two facing the front, three facing the captives. She rolled onto her side, pushed herself up, and shuffled in a wriggling fashion toward the glass. She pressed her bound hands against it. “Em!” she screamed as the girl clutched her side and stumbled toward them. The pod rose a few feet into the air and began moving away from her. “Turn this damn thing around!” Ryn yelled from beside Violet. But the guardians, of course, didn’t listen. Em was running after them now, shouting something, but she would never catch up to the pod. She dropped onto her knees at the edge of the island, still shouting. As the pod gained speed and shot away through the air, Em’s kneeling form grew smaller and smaller, and Violet’s heart was somehow full and broken at the same time. She let her hands slide away from the glass as she looked at Ryn. “You heard what she said.” Her voice came out hoarse. “You heard it. Please tell me you heard.” “I heard it.” Though his hands were also tied, Ryn raised them and gripped Violet’s arm. His eyes pierced hers. “How ... how could she be …” “If someone used a shapeshifter?” Violet suggested. “Like ... like with my father ...” “But a child, a baby, can’t control their shifting. It couldn’t have been that.” “Changeling,” Dash moaned from several feet away. He had a gash across his forehead and another on his arm just above the handcuffs. He dragged himself toward Violet and Ryn. “There was a man in the Unseelie prison. Zed. He explained everything.” “Zed?” Ryn repeated, his tone sharp. “Stop talking,” one of the guardians snapped at them. “He told Em she was a changeling,” Dash continued, ignoring the guardian as he dragged himself closer. “He told her he stole her from a faerie guardian couple … and replaced her with … a human. He didn’t say who her parents were …” he collapsed against the curved glass of the pod “… but she must have found out.” Violet’s chest rose and fell rapidly as her breath came in gasps and her eyes filled with tears. “I can’t believe it. I can’t …” She shook her head as Ryn’s fingers slipped away from her arm and he pressed his bound fists hard against his chest. “It’s really true,” he uttered. “Victoria,” Violet whispered. “She isn’t dead. She didn’t die. And she was there, with us at the haven, and we let her go—” “I told you to stop talking!” the guardian repeated. “And I told you to turn this damn thing around!” Ryn shouted right back. His voice shook. Violet could see the agony on his face, the ache of everyone’s heightened emotions assaulting him. The guardian who’d shouted turned to the others and sighed. “Please tell me you’ve gathered enough power.” “Just about,” one of them answered. Then: “Yeah. Definitely enough for a few hours.” The other one said, “Me too.” The shield separating the rebels from the guardians vanished. Knowing what was coming, Violet reached quickly for Ryn. She tugged his arm, and he looked around at her. “We’ll find her,” she said, raising her hands to touch his face. Then the stunner spells flashed across the pod, and Violet knew nothing but darkness.