Free Emerald City Dreamer by Luna Lindsey

awoke with a snarl and slammed against the unwarded glass, shattering it inside the cage.
    Gretel screamed, "It's got loose!", and flung her notebook at the cage as if she'd seen a bug.
    Hollis calmly got up and started walking towards the warding apparatus.
    Jina stopped playing her guitar.
    The redcap squealed like a rat when its skin touched the cage bars. It couldn't get out, at least. Its eyes took on a fierce glare, and the rose fell to the floor, shattering into a million pieces as if it were made of glass.
    Hollis didn't make it to reset the wards. Everyone doubled over in pain as the faerie shouted, "Pity me more, glass on the floor, set me free, or I'll kill you four!"
    Sandy's world became a blur of hurt, whether physical or emotional, she couldn't quite tell. She wanted to lash out but found herself paralyzed in terror.
    Hollis tried to stand and reached for the switch on the warding device, but the redcap merely laughed at him as he fell back to the floor.
    " Pity me! Set me free!" the nykk said, jumping up and down in the cage in a little tantrum. The bars shook, and out of fear, Sandy almost reached out to open the lock.
    But the sound of Jina's guitar stopped her.

    Pity we've not, she sang.
    Mercy's all rot.
    You're on your back,
    Tied in a knot.

    The redcap whined and Sandy risked a glance up. Its legs were tied around its arms which were looped around its head. It choked and sputtered, trying to breathe.
    With great effort, Hollis reached the switch. The red light on the lid of the now-broken jar began to blink again, the wards back on.
    " Emergency backup initiated. Cage wards activated," he grunted. Then he kicked the cage violently and the faerie rolled around helplessly in the broken glass, its face turning blue.
    Sandy whirled on Jina. "What the fuck was that, a rose?"
    He had lured her in with roses.
    " Sorry Sandy, I didn't do it on purpose. I let the glamour go where it wanted."
    " You. Know. How I feel. About roses." Sandy threw her notebook at Jina and stomped up the stairs.
    The spell worked. But it didn't matter. There were serious problems to fix, like how to release the glamour without letting out the faerie's own magic.
    Sandy was beyond the ability to focus on her work, even in light of this huge success. Images of roses flashed in front of her eyes, and the feelings she'd successfully fought for so many years flooded back.
    She had a bottle of Glenlivet in a safe place in her room. By the time she was done drinking, there was no need to replace the cork.

CHAPTER 9
----

    " NOW, WHEN WE GET TO THE CITY, the people are not going to be friendly. You just have to let the Spirit guide you... Ezra, are you listening? Ezra!"
    Elder Noah had been going on for hours, making him memorize scripture, lecturing him on how to speak to a crowd. It was long past dinner, and Ezra was pretty sure they'd skipped lunch. He wasn't sure how this missionary thing was going to work out for him.
    " Sorry, Elder Noah. Can we eat now?"
    " Of course not! What is wrong with you? Don't you love God?"
    " I love God, of course I do. It's just, I'm tired and hungry."
    Noah sighed and shook his head. "Don't you think Daniel was hungry when he was thrown to the lions? Don't you think Yeshua was hungry when he fasted in the desert? Surely you can last a few hours."
    Ezra nodded. The boy knew that Daniel was a righteous prophet and Yeshua was God. Ezra was just...
    " I know, I just thought, maybe a short break."
    " Listen, kid, you might not like me, or the way I do things, but I don't like being assigned to you either. I don't like you, and I don't like kids. We all suffer, right? So shape up."
    Ezra sat a little straighter and tried to pay attention.
    " As I was saying, if you pray hard, and let the Spirit flow through you, it's easier to ignore the jeers from the heathens. You must forgive them, for they know not what they do. Got it?"
    Ezra nodded again and played with the charms on his bracelet.
    " I said, got it ?"
    "