Free changeling chronicles 03 - faerie realm by emma l adams Page B

Right?”
    “The veil is fine,” said Frank. “No more disturbed than usual. I think your magic binds you to the veil, somehow. If you can pass through Death, it would make you a valuable asset to the Necromancy Guild.”
    “They’ve refused to have anything more to do with me,” I said. “I wouldn’t want to anyway. It’s bad enough that I’m supposed to handle the half-faeries. I don’t suppose you’ve seen anyone carrying a powerful source of faerie magic around, have you?”
    “In Death or otherwise? No.”
    “Or a shifter? This woman who got killed… it was bad. A half-faerie did it, or a pure-blooded one. I need to know what happened so I can catch the killer.”
    Frank’s forehead creased, his mouth twisting in a way that suggested he was struggling with a decision. Finally, he said, “I will tell you how to cross over the veil, but you’ll have to accept the risk. With apprentice necromancers, even under controlled conditions, there’s always the chance that they might not wake up. The veil might overwhelm you.”
    My heart sank, fear flooding me. Weird how I got the physical symptoms of having a body when mine wasn’t here. “To be honest, I’m not okay with that, but tell me anyway. Never know when you might need to cross into Death.”
    Frank sighed. “Normally necromancers use a summoning circle to tether them to the real world. With magic like yours, though, I’d wager you don’t need one. You didn’t last time you passed into Death, though the veil was thin.”
    “And when the drug was controlling me?”
    “Your magic brought you here.”
    “Damn.” Not only was the magic a pain in my ass in the waking world, it followed me into Death, too. Worse, I couldn’t ask necromancer dude for more details, because he didn’t have magic, much less of the faerie variety. “Tell me how to cross.”
    “Feel your way through. It’s hard to demonstrate when you’re already in Death, but I can show it to you in reverse.”
    “All right. Hit me.”
    Frank leaned forward, grabbed my shoulders and shoved me. I yelped, falling back—and kept falling, magic rising around me like a cloak. My body shuddered, real sensations returning, and I fell to Earth with a crash.
    My eyes flew open. “Jesus, Frank, I didn’t mean literally hit me.”
    “What?” snapped a voice. Definitely not Frank.
    Shit. The big dude from earlier stood over me, and he’d brought a buddy. Great.
    “Thanks for nearly killing me, asshat,” I said, lurching to my feet. Or trying to. Too late, I found my wrists and ankles were bound tight with rope.
    “Ivy Lane,” hissed the guy in front of me, baring his teeth in a wolf-like gesture. “You’ll pay for what happened to Briana.”
    “What?” I said, totally bewildered. My head felt like it had been stuffed with cotton wool, and my physical body reminded me of its presence with a hundred aches and pains. They’d beaten me while I’d been unconscious. I leaned forward and pain stabbed me in the ribs. Ouch. From what I could see, I lay in a room, or a cell, with earthen walls covered with wood in some places and a ceiling about ten feet high, also covered in wooden slats.
    “Briana is dead,” said the Shifter Dude One.
    I raised my palms. “I didn’t even know Briana, I swear.”
    “She was killed by one of the faeries, thanks to you.”
    I shook my head, which made the pain worse. “Huh? How’s it my fault? I don’t own the faeries. Pretty sure they want me dead, actually.”
    Shifter Dude Two stepped forward. Like the first guy, he was heavyset with an unshaven jaw and shaggy black hair. He held a sword in both hands. A familiar-looking sword.
    “Give that back, dickhead. Irene is mine.”
    “You named your sword?” The two men exchanged blank looks.
    I sighed. “Just tell me what I’m supposed to have done, so you can untie me and we can put this mess behind us. What do you say?”
    “I don’t think so,” said Shifter Dude One.
    Typical. My first