by Maria Lima
Tucker and Niko rose and returned to their places, Niko by my side, Tucker by Adam’s. Liz then stood up and joined the twins, kneeling in between them. She’d dressed in a deep green frock, similar in cut to my own but much simpler. Her bright red hair was pulled back into a braid, small seed pearls woven into it. The three joined hands, forming a loose circle. As they did so, I took a second cup from Jess’s hand, this one containing wine and drops of each of their blood, collected before we entered the hall. “Liz, Rhys, Ianto,” I intoned, “brothers of my blood, cousin of my blood, you wish to enter a full blood bond?”
“We do,” they answered in unison.
“Then let it be so,” I said and handed Rhys the cup. “Drink and share your blood, as your lives will be shared with each other.”
The three passed the cup, drank deeply, and when done, returned it to me. I drank the last sip, binding them to me and, through me, to Adam. “Rise, my brothers, my sister.”
Rhys and Ianto rose and returned to their positions behind us, Liz to her seat.
Lance stepped forward, the very picture of a courtier, and spoke. “Now we shall greet our peoples.” With a bow, he stepped back and they began to come up, one, two, four at a time, representatives from all over the supernatural Southwest.
Three hours later, I was about to tear my hair out with the boredom. Sure, I knew this had to be done, but an ongoing parade of dryads, nymphs, water sprites from cave lakes, a few were Clans—mostly coyotes—from New Mexico, various fey and half fey. Even Old Joe showed up, resplendent in a dark suit.
He approached us, a beautiful crystal bell in his hands. “My lady. My lord.” He bowed from his waist, both hands still cradling the bell. “From my people to yours.”
“Joe?” I asked, my question both tentative and perplexed.
“Miss Keira,” he replied, deep voice full in power and strength. “After you left that day, I got to thinking. I asked around, dug up some records, and discovered where I’d been found.”
“A cave?” I ventured.
“Yes,” he said. “Near White Rock, near the rock itself, actually. So I went there and sat. When night fell, they came. My people.”
Adam looked at me with questions written all over his face. “Later,” I murmured.
“You’re going with them?”
Joe nodded. “I am. In thanks for finding me, and leading me to them, they sent this. If you ever have need of us, ring it. We will come.”
I took the bell from him, holding it in two hands as he had. Power thrummed through it. “We thank you, Joe, you and your people.”
The old man nodded and bowed again, then vanished into the crowd. I smiled. Not bad, Keira, I thought, reuniting an old changeling with his Clan. Too many of the lesser fey got lost that way in years past, mostly in the old country. Leaving changelings, taking human children in their place. Sometimes, they forgot to retrieve their own.
A young man was next in the rota. Dark hair and light eyes, pale skin placed him as either a lesser fey or Sidhe. I shielded hard as Sidhe energy reached me. Damn it. Adam gripped my hand.
“Eamonn,” Adam said, voice neutral.
“Aeddan.” The young Sidhe bowed and grinned at Adam, calling him by the Welsh version of his name. “I am here to wish you and your lady well on behalf of our liege, your father.”
“Welcome, Eamonn,” I recited, the words now automatic, a part of the ceremony. They came, they bowed, and sometimes brought gifts. We welcomed them. Some pledged fealty and allegiance, others just acknowledged us. This was an ancient courtly ritual dance of words and action. Eamonn straightened, in preparation to—no, he wasn’t leaving. What the …?
He open his arms, a ritual gesture again. “My lord. My lady. I crave a boon.”
“Speak then.” Adam kept his surprise hidden, but I felt it just the same. I knew he was taken aback by Eamonn’s words. These actions were not in the script.
“I bring a request from your father, your family to present themselves.”
“Drystan is here?” I said quietly. “Why?”
“My lady, he wishes no harm, no ill will toward you. He and his party only wish to be recognized. M’lord Drystan and his other son wish to rejoice with you on your bonding.”
Wait—Gideon was here, too? “No ill will, my ass,” I whispered. “Gideon’s shown me nothing but that since we broke up.”
Adam smiled at me. “My love, there is no reason to ignore them. We can take the high road on this. My father has done nothing ill toward us.”
“Well, Gideon can fucking well take the road and keep right on going. Adam, your father is welcome, but his other son is not.”
“Keira,” Adam said in a low voice so as not to be overheard. “We cannot allow one without the other. Gideon can do nothing to you here. You are surrounded by our Protectors. You have the advantage of home ground.”
“Damn it, you always have to be rational.”
“Not when it comes to my brother and your former lover,” he said. “But we cannot be seen to be childish in front of the Clans.”
I gave him a wordless growl, then acquiesced. “So be it then, but if he tries anything …”
“Then blast away, my love,” Adam said, amused at my ire.
I gave the young Sidhe a nod. He bowed and exited. Less than a minute later Drystan entered, his bearing mighty, his face with a grin the size of the Rio Grande, beaming at me. “Welcome to our family, dearest Keira.” He approached me with arms held out wide. “May I?”
I sighed and nodded. I rose and he swept me into an unexpected hug. “Welcome, my dear, indeed.”
Before I could resettle myself, my “spideysense” pinged. Gideon. In an echo of his father’s pompous entrance, he swept in, dressed to the nines, if your nines equaled what was top of the line Underhill. Dark gray cloak, black tunic embroidered with the finest of silver threads. Too bad his gear could never outshine Adam’s simple yet elegant plain black. Adam wore his majesty as comfortably and easily as his own skin, hundreds of years of being the Unseelie prince and heir, then vampire king. Gideon’s relatively new royalty fit like a prêt-à-porter suit, well tailored but not truly a part of him.
“My lady, a boon?” His light eyes stared directly at mine, catching my gaze and holding it. I barely paid attention to the various other Sidhe who entered, probably Gideon’s retinue.
“What do you want, Gideon?”
“A small request, something you can easily grant.” He bowed, a showy formal sweeping bow that only served to reflect his youth. I thought I was carrying this off fairly well; Gideon just seemed to be playacting. “I request to set up my court in the hollow hills of Texas, my home for many years. There is a cave—”
“No fucking way.” I stood up, but before I could sweep down the steps, Adam grabbed my arm. “He has no right to this land,” I protested. “No right to that cave, nor that entrance to Faery.”
“But my dear girl,” Gideon said as he bowed deeply, a smirk on his face. “I absolutely do have a right.”
“How’s that?” I challenged.
“By right of primogeniture, of course.”
“Sorry, bud, that just won’t fly with me. You may be a few months older than me, but our Clan leader gave me this territory. Gigi’s call, not mine … and from what she last said of you, I doubt you’ll get a clod of dirt from her, much less the caves.”
“Oh, you misunderstand, I’m not speaking of Kelly blood but fey blood. The land belongs to Faery, and right to a piece of this should, by law, belong to the eldest.”
“Still screwed. Adam is the eldest son and, so far, not disinherited.” I shot a look at Drystan, who seemed as puzzled as I was. He shook his head at Gideon. Heartened, I continued. “These lands, if you wish to claim for Faery at all, belong to my family, the Seelie Court, my aunt’s blood, not Unseelie.”
Gideon rose from his bow and gave me the smirk that ate Texas. “Exactly, my dear cousin, exactly.” With a flourish, he threw a hand out to one of the women in
his entourage. “I would like to introduce my bride.” As she stepped out from behind one of the taller men, I gasped. She was blond, fair of skin, with clear gray-blue eyes. Her beauty, had it been in the sky, would outshine the moon and many of the stars. She stood tall and proud, her grace surrounding her like an ermine cloak … and she was very, very pregnant.
“May I present Aoife ferch Angharad, the Seelie queen’s daughter and heir.”
In the stunned silence that followed Gideon’s announcement, another, smaller woman, her hair dark as mine, eyes as gray, stepped forward. She carried herself with dignity and grace, her pointed face blank of all expression. She moved from behind Gideon and Aoife, tilted her dainty chin upward, and stared me straight in the eyes. As her face, blank of any readable expression, registered, I sank into my chair and began trembling.
“Mother?”
Her face still as the lake in the doldrums of summer, she handed me a rolled parchment. “We claim the right of Challenge.”
I leaned back into my chair as the words sank in. Adam stood, frozen in place. Gideon, his wife, and my own mother were officially claiming the right to challenge us for our land.
They’d just declared war.
Table of Contents
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
