Bloody Fairies (Shadow) Read Online Free PDF Page A

fast. He made it there first and barred the way. Laughter lines still creased the corners of his eyes, but he was serious again. “Not so fast there, I haven’t finished with you yet. Oh, are you crying?” He thrust a handkerchief at her. “Do stop.”
    Hippy slouched back to the chair and sank into it. She dried her face with the handkerchief and took another gulp of the wine. There, she felt better again.
    Pierus resumed his seat.
    She sniffed. “What? What else do you want, now you’ve had a good laugh at my expense?”
    “I apologise, my dear.”
    He said it so seriously Hippy felt mollified. “I’m sorry I hid in your tent,” she said. “I didn’t mean to.”
    “Why did you go behind that curtain?”
    She shifted in her chair. “I heard someone coming, it seemed like the best place to hide.”
    He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “And what did you see there?”
    “I don’t know. It was kind of a rip or something. What was it?”
    “If I tell you, you must swear to me to keep it a secret.” He frowned. “Fairies are not very good at keeping secrets, in my experience.”
    “I won’t tell a soul,” Hippy said. “Honest, and if I did they wouldn’t believe me anyway. Ishtar wouldn’t even believe me when I told her I met you. I swear you can trust me.”
    “Indeed.” He regarded her intently. “What you saw behind the curtain is a rip in the fabric of Shadow. It is effectively a doorway into the world of Dream.”
    Hippy’s eyes grew bigger than ever. “Dream?” she whispered. “Really? Where the humans live?”
    “Really.” He moved closer. All Hippy could see now was his eyes. “I must go on a journey into Dream to seek out an ancient treasure. It is our only hope of defeating the vampires and driving them back into the Darkness where they belong. If we allow the vampires to overrun us, Shadow will be lost.”
    Hippy stared. “When do you go?”
    “Very soon,” he said. “But perhaps you’re wondering why I haven’t gone already, when we know an attack is imminent.”
    “Not really,” Hippy said. “I mean, yes.”
    “I cannot find this treasure alone. I need a descendant of the treasure’s first guardian.”
    “What does that mean?”
    “I asked myself that same question for many, many years. And only now, when I found you hiding behind my curtain, did I figure it out. I need you.”
    “Me?” Hippy’s mouth fell open. She quickly closed it.
    “Yes my dear, you. A fairy. A fairy who is willing to go on a quest with a muse to help save Shadow.”
    “But–but I–” Hippy put a hand to her head. There was no way. Mum and Dad would never allow it. The elders would be intractable. She’d risk banishment at the very suggestion. But to go away with the muse king, hunting for a treasure? Ishtar would never laugh at her again.
    “Perhaps you need some time to think it over,” he said. “You seem unsure.”
    “I want to do it more than anything,” Hippy burst out. “But the elders will never allow it.”
    Pierus gave her a thin smile and patted her hand. “You just leave the elders to me, my dear.”

 
     
     
     
    CHAPTER THREE
     
     
    The spiked fortifications of the fairy camp brooded like black teeth against a blacker sky. Nikifor and Flower each carried a smoky gas lamp on the end of a tall pole, shedding a cold blue light the sentries would see a mile off. Hippy dug her nails into her palms and chewed on her lower lip. Never mind how bad it looked being escorted home by not one, but three muses. She would not let Pierus know how much trouble he was going to get her in. No way. He was the first person to ever ask her to do something real.
    “Hey!” A muscular fairy with a blood-smeared face barred their way when they approached the gates of the fairy camp. “You can’t come in here!”
    Hippy sighed. “It’s me, Ishtar,” she said.
    “Oh, well you can come in. You other three get lost!” Ishtar shook her spear at them.
    Pierus sniffed.