Free Faerie Magic by Emma L. Adams

from Faerie. Did the half-faeries know the Grey Vale existed at all?
    Damn. If they didn’t, it explained a lot. For one, why they’d trusted Velkas. For another, why some of them were pissed I’d closed the veil. They didn’t know what lurked on the other side would have likely killed them along with everyone else. Because nobody had explained it to them. The only half-faerie witnesses to what happened had been the ghosts who’d come back when the veil opened, and they’d disappeared once I’d closed it.
    “How exactly are they promising to take you back?”
    “Only the winner finds out.” She sniffed. “Anyway—he won. But when he came home, he was different, and… and…” She burst into a fresh wave of sobs.
    Damn. It sounded like someone at these Trials was ambushing people and handing out illegal drugs. Or selling them. Promising to take people to Faerie, though… either it was a trick, or someone was screwing around with the energy of the realms. Again.
    Great.
    “Er,” I said, over her crying. “Did your boyfriend mention… if anything strange happened while he was at the Trials? If anyone, er, gave him anything, or promised…” I trailed off.
    “Gave him what? Who’ve you been talking to?”
    I think that’s my cue to leave. “Nobody. It’s just weird how his behaviour changed overnight. If that’s not normal. Uh.” Stop babbling, Ivy.
    Alain stood, sweeping her golden curls over her shoulder. Even in this state, she was still gorgeous. “Who are you?” she asked. “You look like someone I’ve met before. You aren’t from the Trials.”
    “You’ve probably seen me.” I stood, too, as casually as possible. “I’m sorry for what happened, but I’ve somewhere I need to be.”
    I turned my back, and vines shot out of the floor, pulling me into the air. I yelped, hanging upside-down. “What the hell?”
    Alain approached me, squinting. “Something’s not right about your magic.”
    “I’m Summer.” The green eyes were usually an indicator, though my natural eye colour was pale blue.
    “No,” she said, moving her hands in a scything motion. “You’re human.”
    Crap. Cover blown. Literally. A breeze swept me up and slammed me into the nearest tree, and I felt the disguise melt off my skin, revealing my human form beneath. My back struck against the bark, and I gasped as the air rushed out of my lungs. Drawing my knees up to my chest, I managed to land in a crouch.
    “You took advantage of me, you bitch,” Alain shouted. Tears streamed down her face, and I held my hands up in surrender.
    “I’m sorry,” I said. You did invite me in, I wanted to say, but that wouldn’t be a wise move. “I’m leaving, I swear.”
    She raised her hands to the ceiling and a torrent of water shot towards me. I raised my arms, stupidly, but the deluge swamped me from head to toe. I spat out salty water, realising she’d turned her own tears into a weapon. What the hell kind of crazy Alice in Wonderland crap was this?
    I pushed away from the wall, facing her. “Hold on,” I said. “Can we talk—”
    Another gust of wind hit me. This time, I braced my arms, trying to find my own magic. I still didn’t fully understand the Sidhe lord Avakis’s power, but I did know it drew on negative emotions. And I was all kinds of pissed off.
    Blue smoke curled around my wrists and formed a barrier between me and her. I moved forward, no longer in danger of being caught in a whirlwind. I’d never tried this before, but my magic seemed to be stronger here in the half-faeries’ territory and reacted almost before I moved. I shoved outwards, pushing the shield at Alain, and she flew against the opposite wall behind a swirl of light blue smoke.
    Alain screamed. “Bitch. Let me go!”
    “Promise not to attack me again and I will.” If it was too late to cover up what I’d done, I’d make damn sure I walked away with some answers.
    “I’m not telling,” she said, like a sulking kid.
    “I’m