by Lexi Blake
“You haven’t gotten the chance to know me so you can’t possibly gauge your interest.” Vorenus took a step forward, his foot inching closer to that moment when the sprite could take him.
Every word out of his mouth made me believe I was doing the right thing. “A female can’t possibly not want a male? Of course. I owe you the time to know you, to allow you to vie for my affections. I know how this goes, vampire. I give you time because I owe it to you. If I don’t want you then I’ve wasted your time.”
He took a deep breath. “You owe me nothing, Summer. I’m fumbling and that’s something I never do. Please, can we start again? I promise I’m not here to hurt you. I want to tell you about your parents. They are friends of mine.”
“You’re from the Earth plane, not the Vampire plane?” I was confused because it wasn’t normal to see a powerful Fae lord, a vampire, and a hybrid human traveling together. It was a little like a joke I’d heard once. A goblin, a troll, and a sidhe walk into a bar…
He frowned. “Vampire plane? I don’t understand. I am a creature of the Earth plane.”
Sure he was. I wasn’t completely ignorant. After all, my father was an earthbound vampire. “Earth plane vampires can’t stand the sun at all. Try again. Vampire plane vamps have adapted, but they need special gear here on this plane. The UV light is stronger here than their home plane. I’ve heard one of the big corporations has made a breakthrough with something called sunscreen. Is that how you’re doing it?”
It bothered me. I knew he was a vampire, but he wasn’t behaving the way he should.
His eyes lit with something like wonder. “There’s a plane filled with vampires? I’ve only ever known the Hell plane, Earth plane, and Heaven plane, though I’ve never been to the latter. The Fae have two small planes attached to the Earth plane, but that is all we know of the universe. And I am a daywalker. It’s a particular talent of mine to walk in the light. Tell me more about this plane.”
It seemed to me he had many talents, but that couldn’t matter now. It wasn’t a smart idea to stand here and chat with him. “Shouldn’t you be worried about Kelsey and her child?”
“I am more worried about you,” he replied, his voice softening. He took another step and he was so close to that water. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the sprite touch the shore, sending tendrils of dark water toward the vampire’s feet.
Was I willing to do this? It wouldn’t hurt him. He would find it pleasurable.
It would still be a violation. It would still be something he hadn’t chosen. I couldn’t do that to him. Not even to save myself. “Marcus, you should move back.”
But I was too late and the Gwragedd Annwn reached from the water and placed her hand on his foot. Marcus’s eyes flared and he looked down at the water sprite, who should have now been totally in control of the man. I could see she was touching his skin, and that connection should have made him melt, should have made him forget anything except getting his hands on the female sprite. He should have been under her thrall.
He bared his fangs. “Take your hands off me or this won’t go well for you, Fae.”
The sprite’s eyes went dark and her hands moved immediately, as though she’d been caught touching something that burned her. “What are you?”
“I am nothing to be toyed with.” He stared down at her and I would have sworn his eyes darkened, and they were obsidian before. “Go back to your deep and bother me no more.”
The sprite—again who should have been singing her sweet songs and dragging her prey close—sank into the waters. “Yes, Dark One. You walk in the light, but the night is here.”
She was gone and the surface of the lake was still again.
He turned those midnight eyes on me. “You knew what she was and where I was standing, didn’t you?”
I wasn’t about to lie or not take responsibility. “I did.”
He took a step toward me, but I held my ground. “You wanted her to pull me into the depths? Do you know what she would have done to me?”
I didn’t like the shame the question made me feel. “I wanted you to leave me alone.”
“I can’t do that.” He stayed just out of my space, not so close I felt it necessary to move away from him, but not so far that I didn’t feel overwhelmed by his presence. “I will be respectful of your wishes, but I cannot leave you. I must bring you back to your parents.”
“I don’t have parents.” Not really. I could think of Zoey Wharton and Daniel Donovan as my mother and father, but it wasn’t truly correct. They’d been the female and male who’d primed the magic that made me. Donovan had selected my form and function, though he hadn’t known he was doing it at the time. I’d been a thought, a wish in his head as he’d made love to his companion. I’ve studied how I came to be. Most of the time—the vast majority of the time—it takes a village to make a creature like me. Daniel Donovan had put his soul into that wish. He’d loved his companion so much, wanted a child with her so much, that I was the outcome of his hopes and dreams.
What would he think of me now?
The vampire’s face softened. “You do, Summer. You have a mother and a father who love you. They’ve been searching for you since they realized you were truly theirs. How old are you, bella? I know time moves differently on the inner Fae planes. I can’t imagine what it works like on planes I never knew existed.”
I wasn’t surprised. Haweigh, the sidhe who’d acted as my foster mother, had explained to me that the Earth plane was isolated, and much of the knowledge of creation had passed from there as the original supernatural creatures had left the plane. As the humans had taken over and proven to be the dominant species, their knowledge of what had come before them had faded from their consciousness and passed into lore. Most humans thought we were faery stories, myths, nothing more than tales to frighten children. It appeared the vampires of the plane were similarly ignorant. “I am considered a youngling.”
“You are considered a youngling by immortal creatures. This isn’t what I was asking.”
“You are immortal.” I knew I was pointing out the obvious, but I wasn’t sure why he needed a specific number. If he was an earthbound vampire, he didn’t have to worry about aging.
He shook his head. “No. I am long lived. I assure you I can die for the right reasons. Do your people count the years?”
“I am twenty-eight.” I wasn’t sure why it meant anything at all to him. “Though you understand that only applies to this form.”
“You are magic, Summer Donovan. You are eternal, so why do you feel so very human to me? I can hear your heartbeat, sense the warmth of your skin. What I cannot feel is the magic I should when close to you.”
My hand went to the charm at my neck, the one I could not take off. “I chose a mortal life.”
His eyes flared and I could sense his irritation. Or perhaps it was fear. “Why would you do that? Why would you choose to be vulnerable?”
I wasn’t about to tell him that story. I might never meet the people who’d crafted my form, but I didn’t want them to know what had happened. Still, I was curious. “How old are my parents now? The Green Man mentioned they’ve had children. I didn’t think earthbound vampires could do that. I thought you came from the Vampire plane and perhaps you were the father of Kelsey’s child, but I’m wrong about that, aren’t I?”
“The process by which I became a vampire took my ability to procreate,” he admitted. “And I am not involved with Kelsey in that manner. She is married. We are merely friends now. Only thirteen years have passed on the Earth plane since the day you were born. Your parents are married in the fashion of a vampire and a companion, but your mother is also married in the Fae tradition to Devinshea Quinn.”
That news brought a smile to my face. I remembered how fond of the faery my mother had been. It was good that she hadn’t been forced to choose. “She is happy?”
“For the most part,” Marcus replied. “It’s impossible for her to be completely happy since she miss
es her first child.”
“Tell me how you made the Gwragedd Annwn let you go.” I didn’t want to get emotional. I wanted to gather intelligence. I also found I didn’t want to stop talking to him. I needed to figure out who this man was. He wasn’t in the memories of my mother, but it was obvious—if he wasn’t lying—that he knew her well. “Vampires aren’t immune to her. Many a vampire has been dragged beneath these waters.”
“As you meant for me to be.”
I felt myself flush. “I changed my mind at the end. It’s why I told you to step back.”
He seemed to accept my answer. “Do vampires here have mental abilities?”
I shook my head. “They’re more like humans in that fashion, though they live off the blood of animals mostly. They’re high tech, as they would say. The vampires of royal blood tend to take a consort. You would call them companions.”
“You are a companion. Do you have a master, Summer?”
I was the one baring my fangs now, though I had none to speak of. “I call no man master.”
His hands came up as though I might attack him. “It’s merely a term used in formal circles where I come from.”
“Is it? I’ve studied and asked questions. You are not the first earthbound vampire to make it to the outer planes.”
“We’re trying to remake the relationship,” he explained. “When your father took the crown, he made it clear that the days of enslaved companions were over. No companion on the Earth plane can be taken without consent.”
Good for my father. I wished he was king here, too. “We don’t have the same protections here. At least not on some of the outer planes. Consorts can be purchased, and that means they can be stolen and sold.”
His shoulders seemed broader than they’d been before. “I will not allow that to happen. You will be in no danger if you come with me. I will take you back to your parents and you will see that the Earth plane is your home. The vampires there are under King Daniel’s control, princess. Your family is very informal, but that is what you are. You are Princess Summer Donovan.” He sighed. “Donovan-Quinn. As you can already tell, Devinshea will be claiming you as his own.”
It was traditional in Fae society. When there was a ménage, the parents all shared the children no matter who the biological parent was.
What would any of them think if they knew what I’d done? Apparently my parents had become royals, had taken over the supernatural world on the Earth plane. Would they welcome the Destroyer?
I didn’t have a chance to ponder that further because I heard a great whooshing sound come from the surface of the lake and then a massive white horse was charging at me. I saw his eyes, deep as night and three times as angry. He whinnied and his mouth came open baring strong white teeth.
I screamed. I was very mortal and as the kelpie caught my arm in his teeth, I knew I was about to prove it.
Chapter Ten
Zoey
I stared down at the pixie currently resting on my hand. “You know what to do?”
Arwyna made that squeaking sound that always let me know she was on board with my plots. Arwyna was the queen of the pixie kaleidoscope who made their home here at the Council headquarters. They served their Green Man and his goddess, who happened to be me. The butterfly-like creatures often clung to me at all hours of the day. I was never surprised to glance in a mirror and see them on my hair.
Lee stood at my side. He’d been raised around the pixies and they seemed to like him every bit as much as his brother, the baby Green Man. The fact that the pixies had never rejected my human son made me love them all the more. And I trusted them. Arwyna seemed to understand that even her good priest could make mistakes.
Her wings fluttered and I raised my hand. She took off, her ruby-red wings whisking her away along with her three most trusted lieutenants. I’m sure she had some other name for them, but I viewed them as my tiny army. The non-Fae creatures of our world tended to see the pixies as nothing more than pretty accessories. Or food. I’d had to threaten the wolves with bloody vengeance to keep my pixies safe.
I noticed that a single amethyst-colored pixie had remained on my son’s shoulder. “You’re staying?”
Lee glanced over and sighed. “That’s Dannan. He’s worried I’m going to die.”
Dannan’s tiny face looked up at me as if to agree with his charge fully. He was an older pixie, one of Arwyna’s generals. Now that I thought about it, I often saw him hovering somewhere around my human son. “When did you get a bodyguard?”
“When I came back from Wyoming,” Lee admitted.
Well, I couldn’t blame them for watching after him more closely, but it made me wonder what they knew that they weren’t telling me. Or perhaps I was being paranoid. The pixies knew how worried I was about Myrddin. Dannan’s overwatch of my human child could come from that. “Will he be okay in the cloak? Pixies don’t tend to like to be confined.”
I could practically feel the ice coming off the elder pixie.
“He’ll be fine,” Lee said as though I should have known better than to question him. “You couldn’t convince him to leave anyway. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we all have one now. Me and Rhys and Evan. I think Arwyna assigned them to each of us.”
She was as worried as I was. I looked down at the pixie sitting on my son’s shoulder. “I thank you for watching my children.”
His head bowed slightly, acknowledging my gratitude.
I moved to the closet. We were in the bedroom I shared with Danny and Dev. My closet was a monstrosity of luxury. It was bigger than my first apartment, and I hid many more secrets here. There was my personal safe where I kept important documents and my higher-end jewelry. It was also where I’d put the bag of holding. I pulled it out of the safe.
“It looks so normal.” Lee reached out to touch it.
It did. It was nothing more than a small tote bag, and not a particularly beautiful one at that. It was ordinary canvas with roped handles. If I’d left it with my other handbags, it would have looked out of place among the Louis Vuittons, Chanels, and Yves Saint Laurents. Dev tended to make sure I had the most fashionable clothes and accessories imaginable. He took special care to dress both myself and Daniel because he understood that image was important for the royal family.
“Do you think she would like me?” Lee asked.
I took a deep breath and promised to make sure that after we’d done this job, that damn cloak was going somewhere Lee couldn’t get it. “So you were listening in.”
I grabbed my pick and torque wrench. I hadn’t used them in forever, but I would be using them today.
“A little, but I knew about Summer before today. We all do.”
“Rhys and Evan know?” I’d tried to keep my children out of this. I knew if we were ever able to find our first child, that I would have to tell them about her, but I didn’t want to get their hopes up.
“Not Evan. I mean she’s heard us talk but she still doesn’t get it,” Lee replied. “Sean knows, too. We had to tell him so he could get Uncle Declan to explain what a transference box was. And no, I wasn’t wearing the cloak when I first heard about Summer. You’re not as quiet as you think you are. You were sitting at the kitchen table with Dad. It was last year. You cried and talked about her. I think it was her birthday.”
The world threatened to go watery because I knew exactly what night he was talking about. I’d been thinking about the fact that my daughter would have been a teenager that day and I’d been sitting at the kitchen table an hour before dawn, crying my eyes out. Dev had gone to bed, but Danny had known what that day was. He’d found me and we’d talked about our girl, wondering where she was and if she was being taken care of. He’d held me until I could finally sleep.
“What were you doing up?” And I was going to have a long conversation with my brother-in-law. He knew about Summer. He should have come to me when the kiddos started asking about transference boxes, but then the future king of Faery wasn’t known for being
thoughtful.
“Got hungry,” he replied, shrugging and making the pixie on his shoulder move. Dannan merely held on with the grace of a pixie who’d been hanging on to an eleven-year-old kid for a long time. “You think she’s coming back? Gray said something about Summer.”
I don’t know why I even tried to keep anything from him. “I’m not sure but I have to think when a prophet starts talking about Summer that he might not mean the season.”
“Would you go after her? If you figured out how to open the veil and go to the big Faery plane? Is there more than one? Like a Seelie and Unseelie, the same way we have here?”
I could hear the trepidation in his voice. I leaned down so I could look in his eyes.
“I’m not sure. I’ve heard there’s more than one, and we would have to figure out exactly which one she’s on. Lee, if I went to find her, you should know I would come back. I would never, ever leave you here. I will always come home to you. If your father has to go somewhere to find Dev, I’ll stay here and take care of you.” I already knew the plan that would be put in place if Myrddin found out where Dev had gone. Or rather if he decided to tell us where he’d stashed my husband. Daniel would go after Dev. He would almost certainly take Trent and Zack with him. I would hold down the fort and take care of our kiddos. It would make me sick inside to not be beside him, but we had more to think about than ourselves. “Someone will always be here with you. I love your fathers, but I’m your mom. I will never willingly leave you.”
His eyes were wide. “She’s magic, right? She’s not human.”
“It doesn’t matter.” I knew what his fear was. He would again be left out. “She would love you. Do you know how I know?”
He shook his head.
“Because your dad made her. The transference box, it took everything that was in your dad’s heart and made your sister.” I teared up again thinking about that night. It had been the night Daniel had come back to me—even if only briefly. We’d made love and for a while nothing else had mattered. It had been the two of us and the world had fallen away. Our pain had fallen away and there had only been love between us. That love had become our daughter. “Summer is the sum total of your dad’s soul, and that means she will love you like he loves you.”
