Rather than intimidate her, it was just normal. There were many occasions that he winged a night on patrol, so to speak. They may not be a fully integrated part of the community, but they all found it their responsibility to take care of it. If they occasionally scared the shit out of a crime load or someone pushing drugs on the streets, they took care of it. Most of what they did was on the fly. They were a warrior race, and sitting and wasting away in the hole that was their home, didn’t sit well with any of them.
The four of them looking like a force to be reckoned with, even in their formal wear, stepped into the large room together. The footman, of sorts, did not announce their arrival, but he did avoid eye contact as best he could.
They didn’t separate at first, keeping up with appearances of guests enjoying the party. Aside from the soft music the small orchestra was playing, the room had a noticeable hush since their arrival.
The bodies nearly stumbles on each other as people scrambled to get out of their way as they walked to the back of the room where sweating glasses of champagne sat for waiters to collect to pass out from their trays. Ignoring the stares and murmurs as people slowly began to find their voices again, Kaer reached the table first. Falling kept a weary eye on the room as Kaer passed a glass to each of them and took one for himself.
Taking a minuscule sip, Fallon scanned the faces. As he briefly made eye contact with a few of them, they hurriedly glanced away, desperate to look calm so as not to draw attention to themselves.
There were nearly two hundred people in the room, locating Ceiricin would be nearly impossible if they remained together. They would have to split up.
“Circle the room,” he instructed them, keeping his eyes on the crowded room Conversations had begin to resume, the strong tension had abated somewhat. The king’s poisonous way of thinking had infected them all. He just hoped they could find a way to cure it. Let me know if you see him, “ he said before leading Shana around the right side of the room. Kaer and Roshea took to the left.
“I’m so glad you came to your senses,” Shana’s voice cut into his concentration. He found he was working much too hard on trying not to get caught that his mind was losing focus of the things – people, in this case, around him. Particularly the one practical draped over his arm, looking rather pleased with her current state The dress’ deep V in the front presented her breasts in obvious invitation. His body had no reaction to the offering for what it was, though. His skin was starting to itch even more. Needing to put some space between the two of them, he carefully extracted his arm from her grip.
Noticing the look of unease on his face, she loosened her hold, her fingers looked white with the strain from gripping him so tightly. The hurt look in her eyes didn’t bother him. Not anymore. He knew she played a game. A game of which she also understood she could not win. Without her touch, his body began to grow calmer, less erratic feeling. He hadn’t realized it until just then, but his heart rate had gone up and was now returning to a more normal pace.
Looking up from her pained blue eyes, he glanced around the room again, his eyes focusing on each face as he did, taking in details, crossing people off as he went.
No. Nope. Not him.
The man in the picture Brianna had sent them didn’t look to be there.
“Fallon!” Came a voice from behind Fallon. Turning, he caught Bain’s eye as he approached them.
Cursing under his breath, he plastered a small smile on his face and waited for the prince to join them. When he stood close, he and Shana gave a small bow each. “Your highness,” she murmured. Fallon could see her shaking. She might be brazen to Fallon and her people, but she knew the dangers involved if she offended the Seelie prince.
“How’s it going, Fallon?” Bain asked, taking a sip of his champagne. He worse medals on his chest, much like the human royalty did at important functions but they didn’t have medals for all the wars and battles back then.
Fallon played along, even though he secretly wished the prince to go away. Certainly there were others he would much rather schmooze.
“Going well,” he lied.
Bain smiled widely, he opened his mouth to ask him something before someone came up from behind him and leaned in to whisper something in his ear.
His brows shadowed his eyes suddenly at whatever the servant had said to him. Then, just as quickly, he plastered a smile back on his face, glancing between Fallon and Shana.
“Excuse me, father requests my presence,” he told them. “Enjoy the festivities. I’m sure it’s been a while since you’ve had the pleasure to celebrate.”
That last part carried such a low blow, even Shana looked surprised as the prince walked away.
Fallon briefly touched Shana’s shoulder in comfort, then dropped his hand and went back to business.
He slowly walked the room, aware that Shana followed beside him. Though she wasn’t pleased with his withdrawal from her, she didn’t dare storm off or separate herself from him. It wasn’t safe for anyone, especially a female, to be alone within the walls of Seelie, at least not for Fomorians.
There. Fallon spotted the likeness from the photo back at the Nead on a man not quite twenty feet from him. Zeroing in, Fallon studied him.
Same hair, eyes, and the hint of a dimple on his left cheek peeked out as he spoke to a couple of noble looking men. He, himself, wore an expensive tux, but it was free from any adornments. Brianna said he was of noble blood but didn’t cater to it. Maybe she was right. Maybe this male, who resisted flashing his family name and inheritance to get noticed, was the one they needed. They risked everything for this. If they got it wrong and the male had no desire to side himself against his king, and, worst case, reported them, it was over. Their plan would be scrubbed and they would be locked up with the rest of his people, to be slaves, or publicly executed to make an example.
Coming to the front of the room, where they had entered, Kaer and Roshea met up with them. Once they were gathered around one another again, Fallon spoke, all the while lifting his glass to take a casual sip, “I’ve spotted him.”
Kaer and Roshea perked at that but they, too, raised their glasses to fake sip their drinks, eyes glancing over in the direction of which Fallon’s moved.
Kaer’s eyes did a quick once over review before returning to Fallon, giving a minute nod of his head. He agreed that this was the one they were searching for. The one who traveled to the heart of queens every Tuesday to rendezvous with his younger half-sister at the diner she worked at. His father had passed away a couple hundred years ago and his mother had fallen for an Unseelie. The mother, having succumbed to a rare illness, his baby sister’s heritage had been discovered. Though she was forced to leave Seelie, he remained. Fallon wanted to condemn him for not following her to the Unseelie and watching over her, but it was obvious he still cared for her, no matter her parentage. It also meant they may have someone in the Seelie to fight on their side.
Maybe.
They still had to sell him on the idea first.
Glancing down at Shana, he noticed she was trying desperately to follow along with them. They hadn’t discussed with her the whole plan, or the lack of plan, that is, to find Ciericin before arriving at the mansion. Fallon had ordered Roshea not to say anything either. The less she knew was probably for the better for everyone.
“What do you want to do?” Kaer asked, taking another nonchalant sip of champagne.
“We wait,” Fallon instructed. “Until the king makes his speech. The guards will be focused and gathered in here.”
“You want to try and do this outside?” Roshea inquired. Fallon nodded, which had her asking her next question.
“How do you propose we get him to leave the ballroom? More importantly, how do we do it without making it obvious it’s to talk with us?”
Fallon pursed his lips together and looked down at Shana. Startled, she stopped fidgeting with a ring on her right pointer finger and glanced at each of them, searching for answers.
Settling back on Fallon confused, she asked, “What?”
Kaer and Fallon were gathered in the dim light of the hall to the left of the ballroom. When Roshea started rushing towards them they grew tense.
“They’re coming,” she warned, moving to slide in the shelter of a doorway across from where they ducked behind the large curtains that draped to the floor. Just as they are all hidden, Shana, on the arm of a new beau, this time Ceiricin, breezes in.
Fallon, from behind the yards of cloth, peeks through a tiny crack between the panels. Judging by the awestruck look in his eyes, the other male seemed to be really enjoying himself. Anticipating an even better time soon to come.
Poor guy was going to be disappointed, Fallon silently mused. Shana halted him just before the door, in which Roshea hid, to press him against the door. Fallon could just barely make out what she said to him.
“Will the king miss your presence?” She asked, cuddling her breasts against his chest, her hand flirting with a button on his shirt.
Ceiricin’s breath gives a sort of shudder at her touch and closeness before answering.
“The king doesn’t notice everything that happens in the castle.”
“That’s good,” she crooned, leaning in to nuzzle his neck. As she did so, she reached behind him to turn the knob on the door.
Stumbling in, Ceiricin is unaware of Fallon rushing up behind Shana or Kaer and Roshea closing in on them. It happened so fast, a whirlwind to Ceiricin, that when they stood around him, Shana already a few feet away, giving them space, Roshea and Kaer holding him on either side, he still had stars in his eyes from kissing Shana.
“We have a proposition for you,” Fallon’s deep voice has him blinking, looking around at all their faces.
Slowly, awareness began to settle in. The pressure on his wrists and shoulders where the other two Fomorians held him steady, had the rest of him stiffening, resisting.
Undeterred, they didn’t budge.
“We only want to talk,” Fallon told him, hoping to set him at ease. When all it did was make him even more panicked.
“This is a funny way of talking,” Ceiricin growled. The
Studying him for a moment, Fallon looked at Roshea and Kaer.
“Let him go,” he said.
“What?” Roshea asked, shocked.
Kaer, taking a second, looked at her across Ceiricin’s chest. “We need to show we aren’t the bad guys.”
Frowning, she studied him, then Fallon, then, resting on Ceiricin, glowered. “Don’t try anything,” she warned.
Confused surprise had Ceiricin lifting a brow at her. A second later, the two slowly released their hold on his arms until he was completely freed.
Rubbing his left wrist, he eyed Fallon, then glanced at Shana standing behind him and to his right. “Thanks for that, sweetheart.”
Rolling her eyes, she just crossed her arms and paced away, leaving the four of them to stare at one another.
Nodding to Roshea and Kaer again, he signaled them to back up, give him space. Slowly, they stepped back a few steps, warily watching Ceiricin.
“You’re here because of me. Not her,” he said, gesturing towards Shana standing by the lone window.
Ceiricin glared at Fallon. “And what do you want with me, then?”
Fallon took a moment to gauge the male. Then, rather than sweetening his words or working his way up to it, he blurted out, “To help us.”
Shocked amusement danced across Ceiricin’s face before a grin broke out. “What the hell do you need my help for?”
Taking his time, Fallon stepped a little closer to him. “We need your help to get close to the king.”
Mirth gone, swallowed by dreaded seriousness, Fallon suddenly had Ceiricin’s attention.
Frowning, Ceiricin looks at each of the Fomorians, assessing them.
Then, looking back at Fallon, he asked, “What are you planning?”
Fallon stepped closer to him. “We need an inside man.”
Ceiricin held Fallon’s gaze for a moment, considering. Then said, “Alright.”
Fallon raised his brows as Roshea suddenly gets antsy. “What? Just like that?” she demanded.
Holding a staying hand out in her direction, telling her to quiet, Fallon shook his head.
But Ciericin obliged in answering her anyway. “He killed my mother.”
A new kind of tension grew in the room. Fallon frowned at him. “She died of illness.”
Ceiricin shook his head vehemently. “No,” he grated out.
“No,” he said again, taking a deep breath. “That’s just what the king told people to save face. She was his favorite whore.” He spat the word out like it burned his throat. “She only did it in hopes he’d never find out about her sins.” He chuckled sourly and rolled his eyes as they burned with a film of tears.
After collecting himself, he looked back at Fallon. “It blew up in her face when Ellana got sick with a common cold,” he ended with an amused chuckle. Though they all knew it was a twisted joke of fate he laughed at.
When Roshea looked confused, Fallon glanced at her and told her, “The Seelie don’t catch colds.”
“Ah,” Roshea said, understanding dawning.
“He killed her when he found out,” he explained. “She’d committed an unforgivable crime, laying with Ellana’s father, an Unseelie.”
Quiet settled over the room for a few moments as they all mulled over his words.
Then, Fallon broke the silence, “So you’ll help us?”
Meeting his gaze, Ceiricin asked, “What do you need from me?”
Snapping his head to look at Shana over his shoulder, Fallon waved towards the door. “Go. Keep a look out,” he ordered her.
For a split second, she looked as if she might protest, then, thinking better of it, she stomped over to the door, yanked it open to step out into the hall. Though they expected it, she reframed from slamming it closed.
Roshea looked to Fallon and Kaer. “We probably don’t have much time,” she warned.
Nodding, Kaer moved to stand shoulder to shoulder with Fallon. Roshea did the same. Though smaller, she still looked like a force to be reckoned with.
“We need you to keep us informed on what the king is doing. Where he goes, his routine.”
Ceiricin didn’t hesitate, “Done.”
“Once we learn when the best time to strike will be, we can plan,” Fallon told him.
Frowning, Ceiricin asked, “How will I get you this information.”
It was Kaer’s turn to speak, “You still visit your sister every Tuesday for her shift at the diner?”
Brow cocked, Ceiricin was a little surprised at this bit of information. “You’ve been tailing me?”
Kaer shrugged. He didn’t really need to know that it was Queen Brianna who gave them the information and she knew because Ellana, his sister, was a friend of one of queen’s handmaidens.
Out in the hall, Shana stood, irritated, but head on a swivel looking up and down, keeping watch. Chewing on her thumbnail, she heard murmuring voices and footsteps. Several people were approaching around the corner. Jumping into action, she leapt to the closed door and rapped her knuckles on the wood.
Hearing the warning knock, the four look at one another knowingly.
“Times up,” Roshea said.
Moving to the window, Kaer checked outside.
“The king won’t let you out of here alive if he even suspects,” Ceiricin warned.
Kaer, spotting several guards and guests mulling about below, turned back. “Can’t take the window,” he concluded.
“Shit,” Roshea cursed under her breath.
Suddenly, another rapping sounded, this time frantic.
“Out we go!” Fallon told the room and rushed for the door with everyone else filed behind him.
Scaring Shana when he yanked the door open, she jumped. “They’re coming!” She whispered frantically, gesturing in the direction of the approaching footsteps and conversation.
Jerking his head in the opposite direction, he looked at Kaer.
Nodding, Kaer grabbed Shana’s arm and started to run for the opposite end of the hall, telling Roshea, “Let’s go,”
Fallon crowded Ceiricin at the last second, growling at him, “Don’t think to betray us, remember why the king keeps us around.” With that, he turned and quickly walked away. Just as he rounded the corner, Bain, with a woman on each arm, and a noble trailing behind, strode into the hall. The women were giggling at something Bain said
As they passed by, Ceiricin bent his head in a small bow, to which Bain barely noticed, squeezing the ass of the lady on his right, making her squeak.
“Damn cheat,” Alyss shouted in the space between her and the fifty inch television, where a split screen showed two separate players infiltrating a foreign compound.
Finn chuckled at her anger. “You’re only sore you’re losing,” he taunted back. His brother, though caught up in the game as well, smacked him on the shoulder from his spot hanging over the back of the couch between the two.
“Oh!” Finn groused, baring his teeth at the interruption in his concentration.
“Mind yourself, idiot,” Keegan warned him.
“Yes!” Alyss cheered suddenly, Keegan having given her the opportunity she needed to get ahead of his tricky bastard of a twin.
“Shit,” Finn snarled, his moves becoming more erratic, his fingers on the controls more abusive to the innocent remote.
Hearing the plastic crackle under the strain, Keegan cringed. Those damned things weren’t cheap.
“Ease up, brother,” he warned, tapping Finn, lighter this time.
“She’s almost on me though, brother!” He argued. No way was he going to let the Seelie win. Not at his own game.
When the time on the right corner of each of their boxed screens blinked red in the final countdown, Alyss remained quiet and nearly deadly looking in her concentration, whereas Finn came out of his seat to stand a foot in front of the television. Keegan grew nervous that he’d put the remote through the thing or his fist. Knowing better than to get between him and a game at this point, he stayed positioned, safely, behind the couch. Of which he could duck behind should the idiot take to plucking the appliance off its stand and toss it across the room.
Ascending Into Light (Descending Series Book 2) Page 13
