Fairy Tale: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Lillim Callina Chronicles Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

nothing save a thin, flower-print skirt that swished as he walked around.
    “The Queen? Queen of what? How do I find her?” I asked, glancing back at the orange crystal, trying to will it show me more. Grey smoke curled and fell back against itself inside its jagged edges, and I resisted the urge to hurl it at the Eldest. Boppy had taken me to meet the Eldest, and at my request, I was brought to the viewing room.
    A giant orange crystal jutted from the ground beneath our feet like a living thing. As I watched, the crystal melted back into the pulsating floor, color washing out from its perch in a wave. I turned back to The Eldest. “Well?” I asked.
    “The Queen of the Hot and Bright,” he said, and his voice was clipped, almost hurried as he hopped back and forth from foot to foot in that same way Boppy did. Like he was both nervous and had too much energy.
    I narrowed my eyes at him. “That really doesn’t give me much information,” I replied. I hadn’t ever heard of a Queen of The Hot and Bright before and, even though it didn’t sound like someone I wanted to meet, I was relatively sure it should have been in one of the many classes I’d taken on Fairy. Had it been one of the essay questions I skipped because we only needed to answer two out of five for the final?
    No, I was relatively sure I’d have remembered the title. So why hadn’t I heard of it before?
    The Eldest glanced back and forth around the room, as though trying to make sure nothing was listening in. He leaned very close to me, so close that I could feel his cool breath on my ear as he spoke. “She’s the Queen of the Sidhe.”
    The light around us seemed to flicker, glowing a little brighter for the span of a moment. I swallowed and felt a chill run down my spine despite the warm air in the room.
    “So those people who captured Kishi are Sidhe?” I asked.
    Terror flashed across the Eldest’s eyes. Without a word he reached out and clamped his hand over my mouth. “You cannot speak of them, cannot call them by what they are or she may awaken,” he cautioned.
    “Who may awaken?” I mumbled into his hand.
    “The Queen,” he replied, the words slipping out from beneath his teeth in a hiss. He put one finger to his mouth and watched me, beady eyes boring a hole into my face until I nodded. He released me, which was good because his hand tasted like salt and mildew.
    “You mean she’s not awake yet? How is she ordering those guys around then?” I asked after wiping my tongue off with the back of my hand.
    “With dreams,” the Eldest said. He gave me one of those looks that made me think that he suspected I was very dull indeed. I sighed and sat down on the floor.
    Honestly, I didn’t know a whole lot about the Sidhe. That wasn’t my fault though. They were one of those mythical creatures that no one really liked to mention because to talk about them was to invite disaster. Even amongst the Dioscuri, mentioning the Sidhe was not done.
    If the Sidhe were so scary that you couldn’t even talk about them, how the hell was I supposed to track them down and save Kishi? I was twelve inches tall, and it wasn’t like I could go to the local gas station and ask for directions. What was I supposed to say anyway?
    “So where are those that can’t be named, and how do I find them?” I asked with a sly smile.
    The Eldest narrowed his eyes at me to show how little he was amused by my antics. “Once you destroy the Scáil, I will help you find your friend… and not a moment before,” he said.
    He waved his hand, and a large tome appeared in it like, well, magic. Without another word, he thrust the volume at me. I took it from him and nearly screamed. My face stared back at me from the cover. That wasn’t good… wasn’t good at all. I’d almost forgotten about Boppy and his silly stick figure prophecies, but now, with my own face looking at me, I was pretty sure he was right… even if he was a pretty terrible artist.
    “That doesn’t