Pretty Little Fairies

By Sophie Stern

A fairy king. A dark fae. An attraction that could kill them both.

My sister needs a potion or she's going to die. The stakes are high when I wander into Dark Falls, but they're even higher when I meet someone who could change…everything. Dark fairies aren't allowed in the capital city. We aren't allowed anywhere. Ever.

The fairy king is a notorious asshole who only looks after himself. He doesn't care if his people starve. He doesn't care if the world burns around him. Not as long as he has his girls and his admiration.

But when I'm captured, the fairy king might also be my only chance at getting back to Tulip before it's too late.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sophie Stern
• Release date: Nov 16, 2019
• ISBN: 9798201022587

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Pretty Little Fairies

Sophie Stern

Copyright © 2019 by Sophie Stern

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

A fairy king. A dark fae. An attraction that could kill them both.

My sister needs a potion or she’s going to die. The stakes are high when I wander into Dark Falls, but they’re even higher when I meet someone who could change...everything. Dark fairies aren’t allowed in the capital city. We aren’t allowed anywhere. Ever.

The fairy king is a notorious asshole who only looks after himself. He doesn’t care if his people starve. He doesn’t care if the world burns around him. Not as long as he has his girls and his admiration.

But when I’m captured, the fairy king might also be my only chance at getting back to Tulip before it’s too late.

I feel light, even in my darkest hour.-Tori Amos, Darkest Hour

Chapter 1

Rose

Murder has never been my favorite way to pass the time.

Killing demons, vampires, and yeah, even hunters is something that a lot of dark fairies enjoy, but not me. To me, it’s always been one of those negative perks that comes with the job. Like, hey, I’m really sorry to be killing you right now, but you know, our kingdoms are kind of at war right now.

It doesn’t really seem fair or right, but that’s how it goes.

I learned a long time ago that fair and right are two words a fairy doesn’t get to think about too much. Despite our powers, we’re viewed as being lesser beings. We’re viewed as being dangerous or evil or mean. The reality is that most fairies are none of those things, but our reputation precedes us.

So sometimes, we have to fight.

I slink through the darkness on my way home, trying to avoid being seen. If I’m spotted, I’m going to have to fight, and I don’t want to fight. I always win, anyway, so that’s just one more reason I don’t want to deal with it. If someone attacks me, I’ll kill them quickly, easily, and as painlessly as possible.

I’d rather not kill them.

I’d rather just go home.

I make my way through the dark city streets, careful to avoid detection by the charmed birds that flutter down the streets. They can’t see everywhere at once and with the cloaking spell I put on myself before I left, I should be good to go. Unless I happen to step right in front of one, they won’t see me. Not today. Not this time.

It’s a good thing because damn if I’m not tired of fighting.

Carefully, I sneak down the streets and make it to the little house I share with Tulip and Daisy. My sisters are all I have left and together, we do little more than survive.

How is she? I ask, stripping my cloak and tossing it on the floor in a heap. Daisy sighs and moves behind me to pick it up. She grimaces as she hangs it on a hook on the wall. Water drips from the fabric and creates a little puddle on the floor.

Daisy hates puddles.

The same, she says. Did you get the potion?

No.

Rose, she says, shaking her head. We don’t have much time yet. Maybe a week.

I know, I say, and I look helplessly toward the bedroom. It’s not fair what happened to Tulip. None of this is fair. "But the pharmacist didn’t have anquan potion. Neither did the herbalist. Neither did the witches I visited." I run my hand through my hair helplessly.

I had begged tonight.

I had gotten on my knees and begged the coven for help.

They had been sad to turn me away. I could tell they had wanted to help me, but they couldn’t. They couldn’t give me what they simply didn’t have. No matter how much I needed it. No matter how much I wanted it. They simply didn’t have the only potion that could save Tulip.

The bite, Daisy says. It’s hurting her.

We’re out of options, I tell her, whispering. I’ll leave at dawn.

Rose, no, Daisy says, realizing what I’m saying. You can’t go.

I don’t have a choice, Daisy. If I don’t go to the capital city and get the potion, the demon bite is going to kill Tulip.

Nobody is going to blame you if you don’t go, my sister says.

I’ll blame myself, I tell her. She’d do the same for me.

No, Daisy shakes her head. She wouldn’t.

Maybe not, but that’s not what this is about, is it? It’s about doing the right thing, Daisy, and you know this is the right thing.

But the king... Her voice trails off and I know what she’s thinking. Dark fairies are banished from the capital city. Dark Falls is known for its zero-tolerance policy. If I’m caught when I go there, I’ll be executed within days. Maybe hours.

It’s a risk I’ve never been willing to take until now.

I don’t want you to leave, Daisy whispers. What if you don’t come back?

I’m going to come back, Daisy, I tell her. I always come back.

Maybe there’s another option.

Like what? I know what Daisy is trying to do. She’s trying to find any reason, any idea, any solution that will prevent me from traveling to Dark Falls because the risk is seriously incredible. If I go, and I’m caught, then Daisy won’t just lose Tulip. She’ll lose me, too. She’ll lose two sisters for the price of one and wouldn’t that just be ironic?

The coven, she starts to say.

I was there tonight. They didn’t have it.

The dark wizard.

Fresh out.

What about the demon circle? Do they have any?

I raise an eyebrow. Are you suggesting that demons keep the antidote to their very bites right beside them? Uh, no. They don’t have it.

What about the vampire brigade?

Daisy.

Rose?

It’s time for me to go.

I place my hands on my sister’s shoulders and look at her: really look at her. All I see is fear and terror and sadness, and there’s a part of this entire thing that tugs at my heart because I know just how horrible this really is. I know exactly what’s happening. I know that no matter what happens next, it’s going to change Daisy’s life and maybe that’s not going to be for the best.

Maybe it’s going to be hellish.

Maybe it’s going to be unforgettable.

Maybe it’s going to destroy everything we’ve worked for.

But...

Daisy. It’s time.

Finally, she nods.

Yeah, she says slowly. Okay.

Get the amulet, I tell her. Get everything. I’m going to say goodbye to Tulip.

Daisy hurries off to start gathering the things I’m going to need for my journey. Dawn is in just an hour. I’ll leave as soon as it arrives.

I move to the bedroom and place my hand on the door. For just a moment, I pause, hesitating. Am I doing the right thing? Part of me thinks that I’m not. Part of me thinks that if I don’t succeed, then I’m going to be destroying Daisy’s entire future. I know that’s true. I know that if I don’t come back and Daisy loses everything, that she’s going to break.

There’s another part of me that thinks I can’t let fear overtake me this time. Not when my sisters need me right now. Not when Tulip is so close to death. I’m not ready to lose her. None of us are. Besides, what happened wasn’t her fault. Should she really die because a rabid demon was loose in the city? She couldn’t have known what he was until it was too late. She couldn’t have done anything to stop him. None of us could have.

I wait for just another moment, listening. Am I doing the right thing here?

Finally, I push the door open.

About time, Tulip says. I wondered when you were going to come in.

I look at my sister propped up in her bed. Her eyes are hollow and her skin is pale. Her wings are out, but they’re droopy. Some of the shimmer is gone from them.

You could hear me? I ask.

Yes.

Good. That means your hearing hasn’t gone yet. What else did you hear?

Everything.

Oh?

I know you went searching for the cure.

Let me see the wound.

She doesn’t protest. How very unlike her. I reach for my sister’s arm and carefully unwrap the purple bandages wound around it. The bite happened only days ago and already, it’s basically destroyed her entire arm. Who knew a demon’s bite could be so potent?

Well, demons, apparently. Why else would they hunt fairies?

It hurts, I say. It’s not a question. Of course it hurts. It’s a fucking demon bite.

A little, Tulip lies.

I’m going to Dark Falls, I tell her.

Don’t do it.

I don’t have a choice, Tulip.

There’s always a choice.

I smile. Now you sound like Mom.

Well, she was a smart lady.

If I have a choice, then this is the one I’m making, Tulip. I just came to tell you goodbye.

I don’t want this to be the last goodbye, she says. I don’t want to die without you here, Rose.

Suddenly, it’s as though I’ve been stabbed in the heart by a thousand tiny daggers.

I don’t want this to be the last goodbye, either, I tell her. So, it won’t be. I’ll come back to you, Tulip. I pledge my life on it.

Chapter 2

Rose

It’s with a heavy heart that I leave Tulip’s room and go back to the living room of our tiny cottage. Since there’s only one bedroom, Daisy and I have been sleeping in the living room on the floor. We’ve let Tulip have the room to herself so she can be as comfortable as possible. Sometimes one of us will sit up with her, but today that all changes.

The amulet, Daisy says. She hands me our mother’s heavy gold amulet. It offers protection and will help ensure I’m undetected as I roam through the city to find the potion that I need to save my sister. There are a lot of different creatures in Dark Falls and none of them are friendly to fairies.

Especially not fairies like me. 

I look at the amulet. It’s heavy in my hand. Daisy lifts my hair up so I can hang it carefully around my neck. Then I tuck it under the top of my camisole so it’s undetected by the naked eye.

The reality is that the anquan potion should be easy to find. The dark wizard I spoke to, Martin, told me that his teacher, another wizard, holds vials of it in Dark Falls. Martin gave me a token of worthiness to bring with me to prove that he gave me his blessing in getting it. Once Luther gives me the vial, I can come home and administer it to Tulip.

I just have to make it through the city.

I have to make it to the wizard’s home.

May the light guide you, Daisy whispers, looking at me. She has tears in her eyes and for just a brief second, I wonder if I’m doing the right thing. Then I hear Tulip groan with pain and I steel myself. The sun is rising. It’s time to go.

The light will guide me, I tell my sister. I’ll be back as soon as possible.

She has seven days, Rose.

I’ll be back before then. Hopefully tomorrow, unless something goes wrong.

We both know that something always goes wrong with stuff like this. Anytime someone’s life is on the line, everything that can possibly go wrong does. It would be just our luck, too.

I pick up my cloak and hook the clasp. Then, without another look back, I grab my bag and walk outside. The door slams shut behind me and I wait and listen until I’m certain Daisy has locked it. Then I glance around to make sure the monitors are gone. Once I’m satisfied, I take off down the road.

I have a long walk ahead of me.

IT TAKES ME NEARLY an hour to get out of Dark Village. The vampires sleep during the