Shinelle first draft: Chapter Three

 

Jazaar appeared in front of her and held her too tightly for her to move. “You can’t go back, you can’t help them anymore.” She made spikes on her hands and he let them pierce him. “Let me save you, please!”

Tears streamed down Shinelle’s face. The brownies had found the tower, and she wasn’t there to help people get away because she’d snuck off to meet a demon.

“Shinelle!” Grabbing the back of her head and turning her face towards him, he said, “I can’t let you run into your death, but I also can’t get us out of here if you’re fighting me like this.”

More gunshots sounded, and there were already fewer screams. The brownies were just killing her family, her people, on sight. She knew there was nothing to do and it made the effort of, well, anything seem so stupid.

He picked her up and took a couple of steps, and they were somewhere else. She didn’t care enough in the moment to look around at the red silk curtains and subtly elegant art on the walls of the room he took them to. She didn’t even consider that if he could leave at any time, how had been in her forest for so long.

When he set her down she didn’t notice it was on a plush mattress the likes of she’d never imagined. On blankets of white and gold, a red pillow slipped under her head.

She didn’t smell the potpourri in the air or feel the chill of the breeze meandering through the window.

She didn’t hear Jazaar saying, “I’ll be right back with help, I have an idea.”

She felt like nothing.

He, on the other hand, felt panic. What had he just done? They had a pact with the brownies. He needed his brother’s transformation magic to protect her. To protect both of them.

So when he left, it was to where his brother always was. The whorehouse. “Kazaar, I need your help.” There was no question outside of a look that would be much less pleasant when he saw what trouble there was.

Jazaar took Kazaar and pulled them back to his room where his brother looked around. “What is this, some kind of prank? Little brother you need to-” Then he saw her. Shinelle, very much a pixie, laying on the bed. Tears silently sliding down her cheeks and body motionless. “What did you do?”

“Something you can help me with.” Then Jazaar went to her and started rubbing her arm. “Hey, I know this is hard and you don’t want any of it, but I need you to sit up.”

Shinelle’s eyes darted to his. “Did you know it takes magic to maintain an illusion?” He shook his head. “We’re close enough to the forest that I know it’s still standing.”

Kazaar realized what that meant and repeated his question from before. “What did you do! This isn’t some girl from a brothel, this is some girl who’s been hiding the pixies!”

“Yes, I know, and I need your help to hide her now.”

“The fuck I will!”

“Are his stripes powder blue or cotton candy blue?” It was such an odd question it pulled Kazaar out of his anger. He approached Shinelle and reached his hand out for her to see. “No, it’s baby blue.”

Looking up at his brother, and grateful she’d at least stopped crying, Jazaar said, “You can’t just let her die. If you give her demon eyes and maybe take her glow she could pass as half demon and that would be enough.”

“You’re going to adopt a half demon right now? You know what the news will look like tomorrow.”

“No. Remember our old weapons trainer?”

“Didn’t he retire?”

“And he takes in strays.”

“Get her up, and looking at me or it won’t take right.”

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Hey Readers! This rough draft was just a stepping stone to my first ebook. Read it on Black Friday 2025. Preorders available now