always bad). I was so screwed.
Faeries are the slipperiest things in the world. IPCA (before it was IPCA and back when it was APCA and all sorts of individual country acronyms) worked for decades to find a faerie, any faerie, and learn his true name. Their plan involved using pretty young girls as kidnap bait. Dozens of pretty young girls, none of whom were ever seen again. Except one girl, who discovered a great secret.
Faeries are unaffected by alcohol, but much to her surpriseâand the faeriesâ undoingâthey get very, very drunk on carbonation. Using copious amounts of Coke, she was able to discover a single faerieâs true name. With that she was able to force that faerie to do her will and reveal several other faeriesâ namesâwho were forced to reveal other faeriesâ names, as well. Thus followed thegreat Faerie Catalog and Control Operation of â95.
It sounds more impressive than it was. A whole bunch of workers on the project ended up dead or missing, and faeries guard their names closely even from one another, so IPCA only got a fraction of them. Hereâs what IPCA should have learned, still hasnât quite learned, and probably never will learn: you cannot control fairies. Can. Not. They arenât logical or rational. They donât obey the same laws (physical, social, emotional, trafficâyou name it) that we do. They always have their own agendas and are just plain smarter than us. Plus, in finding and using their names, we were messing with paranormal magic deeper and more powerful than any of us understood.
I say us. I mean arrogant IPCA.
I pondered all this as I sat on Rethâs couch, trapped in the Faerie Realms and wondering how long I could hold out before I had to sleep, eat, or drink. Or pee for that matter, because I wasnât seeing a toilet. Stupid immortals. Was faerie magic really worth all the mess and risk we incurred by working with them?
There had to be another option. I couldnâtâwouldnâtâcall Reth back. I knew he would never let me out, and there was no way to escape other than the Faerie Paths.
Another faerie! It was perfect. The faerie names I had been assigned were to be used only in dire straits. These were dire enough for me. I opened my mouth and stopped.
I still couldnât remember. The names were so strange,and I had been so scared Iâd blocked it out. Lying back on the couch, I stared at the ceiling; it shimmered with crystals. I watched it and racked my brains for the ruby-haired faerieâs name.
The crystals reflected an unidentifiable source of light. It seemed like there was some sort of meaning, a pattern. And now I was detecting faint colors, too. They were telling me something. If only I stared long enough, hard enough, didnât think about anything elseâ¦and if I closed my eyes and didnât think, it would be even better and it would all work outâ¦.
âNo!â I sat up, blinking to keep my eyes open. No more ceiling.
What was her name? I knew that I knew it. And then I rememberedâshe was the faerie Lend had hitched a ride with. Fehl! Fehl was her nickname. And her full name wasâ¦
âDenfehlath!â I shouted, triumphant. After a few seconds the outline of a door formed on the wall and she walked through, still looking bored.
âOh.â She frowned.
I jumped up, giddy with relief, but stopped myself before I said anything stupid. This time I would be careful. Specific. âPlease take me back to the IPCA Center where I live.â
She held out her hand and I took it.
âStop!â Reth commanded from behind us. I didnât let go of Fehlâs hand as I turned to look at him. âSheâs mine.â
Fehl gave him a sharp smile. âItâs a named command. Ihave no choice.â
Rethâs golden eyes brimmed with rage. Thatâs another thing about faeries. Nasty tempers. I had seen him lose control once beforeâit was what
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