Six Guardians of the Underworld

Chapter 24

nodded. "That's the gist of it." It sounded pretty far-fetched, but still possible. And knowing my luck, it was way more probable than the gray elves would give the scenario credit for. When it came to me, the crazier it was, the more likely it was to be true.

His hands slid up and down my arms in a calming gesture. "It doesn't matter to me. I know it matters to you, and whatever happened in that other realm with Torrie is a crime and awful and inexcusable, but if you're worried about me thinking something bad about the babies, don't."

"I was. And I'm worried about it myself. I've seen them in a vision."

Spike's hands froze at my elbows. "A vision? What did you see?" For the first time since he'd come back from the Gray, he sounded a little happy.

"I saw a boy and a girl, and they were both elementals. One had Ben's elements and one had mine. And they were friends, but they also got into a fight. I got the impression that it was going to be up to me…us…to teach them how to be kind to one another and to always put each other first."

Spike nodded his head emphatically and shook me a little bit. "We can do that. We're a team. We can make that happen together. I promise you, I will work every day of my life to make sure our children are loved and cared for and know how to love each other the way they should."

My heart felt lighter hearing his words. Spike was not somebody to make empty promises. I knew I could count on him. "Okay, it's a deal, then. We teach these kids to be awesome little bad asses." I held out my hand. Spike looked at it for a couple of seconds but then he grinned and shook it. "I love being on Team Jayne."

"I think we should call it Team Spike from now on."

"How about you marry me, and we'll pick a last name we both like, and that'll be our team name?" he said.

My heart stopped beating for a second. There was no way I just heard what I thought I just heard. "What did you just say?"

He looked to his left and right, his gaze pausing on the door to Maggie's house for a few seconds before he looked at me again. "I guess this probably isn't the best place to do this, but what the hell." He got down on one knee and fished around in the pocket of his pants, pulling out a silver band covered in lint. He held it up between us. "Jayne Sparks Blackthorn, you're the coolest girl I've ever met in my life. I've loved you in the Here and Now, the Overworld, the Underworld, the Gray, and in every other realm that ever existed or will ever exist. I love your potty mouth. I love the fact that you have a temper. I love your loyalty and your dedication to doing what's right. And I love how you love everyone around you without stopping and without even having to think about it. I want you to be my forever girl. So, what do you say? I know I'm not the hottest guy in the compound, and I sometimes have a hard time keeping my hands to myself where you're concerned, but maybe you could think about it?"

"Where on earth did you get that thing?" I asked, looking at the ring that was fuzzy with stuff from his pocket.

He quickly brushed it off, blew some air on it, and shined it on his shirtsleeve before holding it up again. "I've been carrying this around with me since Finn and Becky were bonded. I asked an alchemist witch to make it for me out of a piece of unicorn hoof that Valentine gave me. He said it would make the strongest metal ever created. I was just waiting for the right time to…you know…pop the question. But everything just seemed to get in the way, and it was never the right time. But I realized after almost dying in the Gray that there would never be a perfect time, so yeah…" He shrugged, as if that crazy story made any kind of sense. Unicorns are real? "Here I am. Asking you to be mine forever. If you'll have me." He was starting to look nervous. "Or you could just think about it for a while. No need to answer me right away. Or ever. We could pretend like I never did this…"

I snatched the ring from his hand and jammed it on my finger. "Think about it? Are you kidding me?" I grabbed him by the collar and pulled him to me, kneeling down on the ground in front of him and indulging in an awesome kissing session. When it was over a little while later, I pulled away and looked at him. "You're stuck with me forever. I'm not going to lose you again." I stared up at the sky and smiled at the branches above our heads. "Did you hear that, Tony? Spike and I are stuck together forever now. And I want you at the wedding." There was a hitch in my heart, but I ignored it so I could kiss my boyfriend some more. It felt so good to be loved unconditionally, for exactly who I am, by such an amazing person, by such an amazing fae. All the bad things that I'd been through and put up with and suffered up until that point almost felt worth it. Except for losing Tony. Nothing would ever be worth that; but still, I was happy. I felt pure joy in my heart for the first time in a long time.

The door opened to my left and a cranky, raspy voice came to my ear. "You woke me up out of my beauty sleep to witness this nonsense? Two fae sucking face on my doorstep?" She took a step outside as I was struggling to get to my feet and kicked me right in the shin. Then she backed up and started to shut the door in our faces.

"Ow! That hurt! What the hell, you old bag? What's up with the physical a***e?"

Spike stuck his foot in the threshold, keeping the door from closing all the way.

"You'd better move that foot or I will remove it for you," growled the nasty old coot.

"You touch a hair on my man's body, and I'll burn your whole house down," I threatened. And I meant it, too.

She must've felt the genuineness of my promise because she opened the door wider and took her hateful gaze off Spike, aiming it at me instead. "You wouldn't dare."

"Wanna bet?" I held out my hand and let the flames of elemental fire dance along my fingers. My dad used to do this trick with a quarter, where he'd flip it from one knuckle to the next, back and forth, making it look like it was alive and dancing across his hand. When I was a kid and hadn't realized yet what a jackass he was, I wanted to be like him; so I practiced that trick until I was able to do it at expert level, planning to show him one day and make him proud. But he left the house before I could show off my mad skills and never came back, and when I saw him again during court-ordered visitation, I didn't want to show him anymore, so I let th

e trick disappear from my repertoire. But I still had the skills. The fire danced across my knuckles and fingers like I'd been practicing fire juggling all my life. I grinned evilly at my great-great-great-great-great-great-super-calo-fragilistic-grandmother and spoke to her ever so softly. "Please, Maggie. Make my day. Piss me off just one more time, because I am so in the mood to light something on fire right now."

"That's my girl," Spike whispered under his breath. "Kickin' a*s and taking names, like always."

I felt like I could have flown without wings, having Spike stand next to me and back me up like that. Why had I ever let him go before? Why had I ignored all of his advances to moon over somebody as unsuitable for me as Chase was? So stupid. Such a waste of time. I was so glad the universe had finally pointed my heart in the right direction.

"Humph." Maggie waved her hand at me dismissively. "Okay, little girl. Put your elements away. Your boyfriend is safe for now." She looked up at him, her voice rising a few notches in volume and irritation. "You knocked on my door. What you want?"

Spike made a deep bow, resting in this bent-over position for a full five seconds before he stood again. "Mistress Maggie, Fate of fae destiny, glorious great-grandmother to our Mother, I beg an audience with you to discuss the future of fae and humankind."

I turned slowly to stare at this guy who I no longer recognized. He sounded like he was at least a couple hundred years old. Had somebody beaned him in the head when he was in the Gray, giving him a concussion or something?

Maggie's face stretched out to either side, revealing her brownish yellow teeth in what I think was supposed to be a smile. It was seriously gross, whatever it was. "Finally, you bring someone to my door who knows the meaning of respect."

I elbowed my boyfriend in the arm….my fiancé, I mean. Then I glared at the old lady. "Don't get too excited. He's obviously suffering the after effects of getting brain damaged in the Gray. Ignore his bullshit. We want to come in and talk to you about some important shit."I put both hands over my belly. "You don't worry about me being a mother or about my children. You just stay the hell away from them."

She cackled. "I think you will regret asking that of me, and not too far in the future, either." She kept on cackling, even after she opened the door and gestured for us to follow her in.

CHAPTER TWENTY

SPIKE AND I followed Maggie into her tiny living room area. I took a seat in one of her chairs and Spike lowered himself to the footstool in front of me. The old witch flopped down in a rocking chair that had seen much better days, moving it forward and back, making the old pieces of wood creak in protest. "So, young fae, to what do I owe this honor?" She gestured at Spike and me. Her tone was very sarcastic.

"Mistress Maggie, we are here to seek your help and advice with regard to the Forsaken." Spike was at it again with his nutty plan to treat Maggie like she was royalty, which was probably a pretty brilliant plan since she seemed to be eating it up like candy, but there was no way I could play that game with her.

His words had Maggie sitting up straight and paying attention. "What did you say?"

"The Forsaken. I have seen them."

Suddenly, it was my turn to be surprised. He'd actually seen them? I stared at Spike, my eyeballs feeling like they were about to fall out of my head. "Since when? Where? What did they look like?"

Spike glanced at me for a second but he addressed Maggie with his answer. "I spent some time in the Gray walking as a near-death spirit. Once I had been in there for a while, my life force was almost gone, and that's when they appeared. They ignored me, probably because they thought I was never going to leave, but I always knew I would move on—either to the Here and Now or the Overworld—and so I was able to retain much of what I saw and heard when they were around."

"Why didn't you tell me this?" I put my hand on his arm pulling it toward me. I hated to think he'd come so close to those demons of death. I wanted to wrap all my elements around him and keep him safe forever. I'd turn him into a gift that no one but me would ever be able to open—my Spike. I let him go and twisted the ring he gave me around on my finger. It made my heart leap to think that we were actually engaged. And having twins! Oh my god! My life is crazy! How can I keep him safe?!

"I told Dardennes and Celine all about it," Spike said. "That's why I was in their office. But I hadn't had a chance to tell you yet. Everybody wants to get Maggie's help with this, so I figured I could kill two birds with one stone." He took my hand and held it tightly. "Please don't be mad at me. We just haven't had a lot of time since I got back to figure everything out." He leaned in close and whispered in my ear. "We haven't had a chance for you to tell me what you're doing running around in a b*a, either."

I shook my head and then nodded right after. I didn't want him to think I was angry with him, but I was still feeling a little lost. "No, it's okay. I'm not mad. I just…didn't expect this." I paused, processing the last bit of what he said. "I'll explain the b*a thing later."

"Neither did I expect this," said Maggie. She was no longer rocking in her chair but leaning toward Spike with great interest. "And that is rare. Tell me more. What did you see? What did you hear?"

Spike leaned toward her too, his hands together now and loosely folded in front of him as he rested his tattooed forearms on his bent knees. "They have moved out of the shadows and are now waiting in the Gray. They have fae helping them on the outside." Spike looked at me. "You can probably guess who's running the show there."

"Leck." I seriously wanted to punch that guy right in the nuts. And if I ever got the opportunity to do it, I was not going to miss my chance. His nuts were toast as far as I was concerned.

"Leck and Malena, of course," Spike added. "His favorite silver elf."

"They were at the mental hospital where I was," I said to both Spike and Maggie. "Malena was, anyway. I never saw Leck, but I wouldn't have been surprised if he were hanging out there too."

"My guess is he was too busy in the Gray working with the Forsaken," Spike said.

"And what are their plans?" Maggie was literally rubbing her hands together. I could almost see a strategy forming in her mind, spells she was going to concoct, lizards she was going to disembowel so she would have the right ingredients. I wished I had the confidence that this was all it would take to defeat them, but I was pretty sure it wasn't going to be as simple as that.

"I'm sure I don't know everything there is to know about their plans, but I do know that they want to see Jayne. Get to her. I didn't get the impression that they wanted to kill her, but they definitely have business with her. At first it was with Ben and her both, but then they forgot about Ben and focused just on Jayne alone." Spike frowned, looking confused.

"Because Ben is no longer in the picture," I said softly. "He sacrificed himself to save me from my elements, and he gave me his elements to use against the Forsaken, since he knew he was going to be gone when they arrived." I was never going to stop feeling terrible over that. I had been so wrong about him.

Spike reached over and took my hand. "I'm sorry. I know he was a challenge for you, but that was a very kind thing for him to do."

"Kind only slightly covers it. It was a gift. A gift of life. Like what Tony did for you."

Spike and I shared some moments of silence until Maggie broke it all apart with more questions.

"Where will they appear? When?"

Spike broke his gaze from mine and faced the witch. "I don't know a date. They never actually said anything about a date, but they did mention the equinox."

Maggie slowly nodded, her chair rocking again. "Yes, the autumnal equinox in September. Yes, this makes perfect sense."