by Lucy Auburn
“We should go too,” Petyr said, no hint of the jealousy or anything else in his voice. “Before we do, though, the Elders wanted you to drink a draught.”
He motioned behind him, and I saw the three attendants who had bathed and dressed me then led me here. I hadn’t even seen them leave and come back—I’d been so wrapped up in Elah that they’d vanished. Or maybe they had powers they hadn’t yet shown me. This was the fae realm I was in now, after all.
“What is it?” I asked, as the attendant approached me with the chalice.
“It’s made from the sap of an ancient tree that grows here. The energy it gives you will help you control your powers for the next week.”
“Why haven’t I been drinking this the whole time?” I asked as I took the goblet.
“The tree it’s from is sentient,” Petyr explained. “Giving this much sap was a willing sacrifice.”
“Oh.” It was a little strange to know that I was about to drink something made from the tree blood of an ancient and sentient being. “Well. Let’s hope it works long enough for that meditation to pay off.”
“About that...” Petyr sighed. “You won’t just be meditating. You also have to apprentice with someone who can teach you how to use your powers, now that they’ve refused to be bound. I’ve suggested Leon.”
If I’d taken a mouthful of the drink by now, those words would’ve made me spit it out. “No way. The detective? He’ll never say yes.”
“He will, when I tell him this comes directly from the Elders.”
I grumbled, tipping the chalice towards my mouth and drinking from it. There were only a full mouthfuls of liquid inside. It tasted warm and sweet, like honey mixed with wine. I swallowed it easily. The attendant took the chalice back when I was done, and left with her sisters, somehow melting away as if she’d never been there.
“What can Leon teach me, anyway?” I asked Petyr, returning to our earlier conversation. “Is he an incubus?”
“Leon? No.” Petyr cracked a smile at the thought, though I had no idea what made it so funny. “Detective Leon Hardwick is a walker. He has more than one form.”
“Like a shapeshifter?”
“Sometimes,” Petyr said, struggling to put it into words. “He can wear different faces. And turn into a wolf. But mostly, he uses his powers to create a double of himself.”
I raised my eyebrows at all the skills Petyr listed off as if they were nothing. “That’s... a lot. So he can show me how to control my powers?”
“He’s had to spend years learning how to control his. They came on him when he was a child, and he kept shapeshifting against his will. His parents weren’t thrilled to wake up to a wolf cub. He can help you out for sure.” Reaching out, Petyr took my hand. “Are you ready to go now?”
I looked around the bright courtyard one last time, savoring its sweetness. “I’m ready.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll come back to the Realm of Light many times. It’s our home.” His hand was tight at me as he told me, “Alright, here you we.”
And at first, it was just like last time. Bright colors blurred around us.
Then something changed.
I heard a voice calling out to me. Something about it tugged on something inside me, tempting me. I couldn’t resist the sound of the voice. I turned towards it—and Petyr’s hand fell from mine. Suddenly a great yawning space opened between us and separated us.
“Selena!”
I rushed towards him, but he was gone. So was the brightness, and the people that I’d seen passing us by. There was nothing and no one around me that I recognized.
Surrounded by darkness, I felt the most alone I’d ever been in my life.
Chapter Twenty-One
“What is this?” The voice rang out in the darkness, smooth and charming like warm honey mixed with fine wine. “A lost little lamb... oh, no lamb.” Warm light fell on a glowing face, and I saw a man standing in the darkness with me. He had amber hair, brown skin, and near-black grey eyes. “This little lamb has teeth.”
I stumbled back, frightened. “Where am I?”
“The Shadow Realm,” he answered, his voice echoing around us. “More accurately, you’re in one of the Shadow Realm’s many empty places. The Lightbloods didn’t do a good job when they built this place, did they? As for who I am... Vincent Vikander at your service, deadly little lamb.”
Before I could ask him how to get out of here, I heard another voice, this time familiar. “Selena?”
“Petyr!”
“Selena, take my hand!”
Fingers reached out and brushed my arm. I took the hand, not even caring that it was somehow disembodied. Vincent’s dark eyes glanced my way, and he smiled, sharp teeth flashing like a predator. “Until we meet again.”
Petyr’s hand grasped mine and tugged me out. Suddenly I was standing with him in our magical travel corridor once more, bright colors streaking by. He clasped me to him, kissing the top of my head. There was a franticness to him. “Don’t ever do something like that again,” he said, as we came to a stop inside his office once more.
“Do what? How did that happen?”
Maggie saw that we’d returned and waved from her spot on one of the high up balconies, a stack of books on the little table in front of her. “Welcome home!”
Petyr glanced up and waved at her, and I took that moment to step back from him and put some space between us. After all, he’d told me that us getting involved would be a mistake. That seemed to mean we should keep our distance if nothing else.
“Maggie.” Petyr’s voice was warm as he greeted her. “Good to see you again.”
“How’d it go?”
“Well enough,” he said, glancing back at me. “Until the end there.” Stepping close, he took my shoulders in his hands and stared down at me intently. “Selena, you traveled into the Shadow Realm. How?”
“I don’t know,” I said, truly confused. “One minute I was with you, and then I heard this voice. All I did was look over my shoulder and somehow I was in this... darkness, all alone.”
Overhearing us, Maggie came down the steps to where we were and chimed in. “It’s her Lightblood ancestry, Petyr. She’s growing even more quickly than we could’ve predicted.”
I glanced back and forth between them, stepping back from Petyr and his protective arms. “What are you talking about?” I looked to Maggie, confused and betrayed. “Tell me what you mean about my Lightblood ancestry.”
“That scar you bear gives you powers.” Maggie sighed, long and deep. “Selena, I was going to tell you all about it once you’d mastered your succubus powers. But that was meant to be months from now. This slipping between realms—it’s something Lightbloods can do.”
Petyr explained, “Your ancestors built the realms. Their descendants are capable of moving between them without any extra spells or power being used.”
I inhaled sharply. “So going to the Shadow Realms—it wasn’t the voice, was it? It was all me. I did that.”
“You did.” Petyr paced back and forth, lightly wearing a tread into the carpet. “If your powers are coming on this quickly, it’s even more dire than we believed. Selena, you have to start training with Leon today.”
“Great,” I muttered. “The grumpy detective and me.”
“It won’t be that bad,” Maggie reassured me. “From what Petyr has told me about the detective, he’ll be a real asset to you.”
I wasn’t so sure about that. Because if there was one thing Leon Hardwick’s intense blue eyes had taught me, it was that his approval was impossible to win. He’d once suspected me of murder—and for all I knew he still did. Somehow I didn’t think his opinion of me, or my superficial attraction to him, made for a very good student/teacher relationship.
But if I was slipping off to a dark realm full of evil without even trying, apparently someone was going to have to teach me a thing or two.
Naomi
One of the things I loved about demons was the sticky trails they
left behind.
The longer a demon stayed in a human’s body, the more it spilled its odious ooze all over the place. The supernatural energy was thick and disgusting in my nose, but it led me to them like nothing else.
For days I roamed the city, tracking down leads and banishing creatures to the Underworld. There were more and more of them every time I looked into a dark corner or put my head out the window to inhale the scents on the wind. My dark hunter contacts all agreed on the same thing: the demon possessions were increasing. I didn’t have to ask the Elders to know they would want me to take care of things in Baton Rouge, but I did get a confirmation from them in the usual manner.
A flying rat showed up in my apartment and spoke to me.
“Demon possessions all over the city,” it chattered in its unnatural, high-pitched voice. “Main source is confirmed: Baton Rouge. Sending backup. Concentrate all efforts in the Gulf Coast region on finding those in charge and arresting or killing them.”
The flying rat disappeared as quickly as it came, in a puff of magic. I grimaced; the things always creeped me out, but mentioning that to the Elder fae didn’t seem to get through to them. The idea of a talking animal being a varmint just didn’t match with their old traditions.
But I didn’t need to like the rat to get the message: whatever was bringing these things up from the Underworld, it had made Baton Rouge its headquarters. So I sent out the call for the dark hunters to come, grateful that I would see my little sister again even if it was under dire circumstances.
One way or another, we would find the summoner responsible for this and put them down. Sitting in my living room, I sharpened all my knives and plotted my hunt.
I started with the source of the major incident: the party house where Marshall’s creepy benefactor had summoned a demon to possess Talia Freeman and kill his best friend. The house was no longer a crime scene, but when I got there I wasn’t surprised to see it empty and up for sale.
Humans rarely stuck around in houses after one of their own was murdered. My people had no such superstitions; death slept at our heels like a loyal hound.
It was simple enough to stalk through the sparse woods behind the house and find the place where I’d sent that demon down to the Underworld. The ground still smelled of dark power, death, and that particular demon stench that clung to the inside of my nostrils.
I followed the scent to the back door, where the girl had burst out and I followed her. The door was locked, but realtor tricks were no match for me. The lockbox with the key was by the front door. Hand hovering above the pad, I closed my eyes and used all my senses to calculate the combination that was least likely to throw me into danger.
3-5-8-2. No doubt the realtor’s birthday. The lock box opened under my clever fingers, revealing a silver key. It fit perfectly into the front door lock, and just like that I was inside.
I would need to be quick. Already, I could sense that the realtor was on his way back; if I stuck around for long, the sense would turn into a terrible premonition of danger. My abilities didn’t let me see the future—but they did help keep me out of sticky situations. The more I threw myself into danger, the more they told me about what was to come.
Of course, even my senses could be off by a minute or two, which would leave me in hot water if the realtor came back early. So I did my investigation as quickly as possible. The demon trail led me to the place where the possession began—in the kitchen, and the wine cellar that was beneath it, just like what Marshall said.
Opening the door in the pantry, I headed down the unfinished stairs. The wine cellar was shallow; Baton Rouge was close to the coast, and had a high water table. Not many deep basements were built in this city, except by fools come hurricane season.
This one was small, but more than big enough to hold a few people. A team had been through to scrub Todd’s blood from the floor and the wine rack, but my sharp nose still smelled a lot of it. Pinpointing the source of the smell, I followed it to the corner.
“What happened here?” I murmured to myself. Bending down, I pressed my fingertips into the rug on the ground and sensed something. “Let’s see what’s going on under here.”
The rug obviously came after the murder, so maybe it also covered up something demonic. I found the edge of the rug with my fingers and pull it back, revealing the unsealed cement underneath.
“Someone didn’t spend big money on their wine cellar,” I muttered. The blood stains from the murder had set into the floor. Whoever the realtor was trying to sell this place, they had chosen to cover it up with a cheap department store rug instead of telling prospective clients the truth.
There was a hint of a drawing underneath the blood. I traced it with my finger, trying to discern its origin. It was definitely a summoning rune, but which one—and which origins—was impossible for me to figure out without a book beside me. And there wasn’t time for me to stare at it for long, because that sense of danger was creeping up my neck, letting me know the realtor would find me any minute now.
I pulled out my cell phone and took as many photos as I could. Then I quickly put everything back into place and headed out of the house, depositing the key in the lock box where I’d found it.
I was just in time, too. As soon as I left I could feel the realtor pull in front of the house. Shoulders hunched inward, I went straight to my convertible and sped off down the street.
Once I’d shown these photos to someone who could identify their origin, I would be one step closer to figuring out who the hell this demon summoner was who was trying to take down my city.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Selena
They didn’t even give me a day. As soon as I was done getting engaged and slipping into the Shadow Realm, Maggie drove me to the LSU campus to drop out of my remaining classes.
“It’s the only way, Selena,” she said, sensing my hesitation. “You don’t have the time right now to study for your college classes. Better to wind up re-taking a semester than failing out.”
“I know you’re right,” I said, sighing deeply. “I just didn’t expect my life to change so quickly overnight.”
“You’ll see. As soon as you’ve gotten the hang of things, being fae will come naturally to you.”
I hoped that she was right. I headed straight to the bursar’s office to talk to them about my classes. It was easy enough to drop out; they didn’t even ask me for a reason why. I was given the option to drop out of next semester, too, but I put that decision off.
“You have until December fifteenth to drop out and get your deposits back,” the woman at the bursar’s office told me. “Remember that we’ll be closed for the winter holiday.”
“Thanks.”
As I left campus, I glanced back over my shoulder to appreciate the deep Louisiana fall that had taken over. Golden leaves dropped from the old trees, and in the distance, no doubt, football players were practicing for the next game. It had taken so much for me to graduate high school after my parents died; heading to college had been a big accomplishment for me.
I only hoped this wasn’t the last time I stepped foot on LSU grounds.
“I can’t believe you’re leaving.” Talia sighed and stretched out on my bed, which I’d stripped of sheets. Her freshly braided hair fanned out behind her, box braids hanging off the edge of the mattress. “This sucks. I’d just gotten out of prison and everything.”
“I’ll only be fifteen minutes away,” I pointed out. “And it’s just until next semester. Maggie’s house is closer to the Collective and the precinct, and she’s going to help me train my powers.”
“And that hot cop.” Sitting up, Talia folded her legs under her and waggled her eyebrows at me suggestively. “I say you get down with that one.”
“I’m about to be engaged,” I pointed out. “At least, technically. If I want to feed I’m supposed to visit Elah.”
I didn’t feel the hunger now, though—at least, not this morning. The special concoction they gave me
in the Realm of Light had worked, albeit temporarily.
All of the methods to control my power were temporary. At the end of the day, I was going to be the one in charge of them when we ran out of options to delay what was happening to me. And if my experience so far was any indication, I had a hell of a lot more to learn about self-control.
“Well, don’t turn down a sexy time with that hot cop just because you have some fae arranged marriage.” Reaching out, Talia helped me fold my clothes so I could put them into yet another of the empty cardboard boxes I’d brought along so I could move away from campus. “That Leon Hardwick has a tight ass, and he looks like he knows how to use it. I vote for a hookup with him if you’re going to feed your hunger. It’s been too long since you had any action.”
“I did kiss Elah,” I pointed out. And what a kiss it had been—one that promised he was going to live up to my wildest dreams. Biting my lip, I hesitantly told Talia, “I also kissed this other girl at the party.”
She gasped, then smiled. “Oh my God, finally!”
“What?”
“I’ve been waiting for you to admit you’re into chicks ever since you told me you have a girl crush on Natalie Dormer.”
I laughed at her. “Well, who doesn’t?”
“What’s this lady lover like? Tell me everything.”
“It’s Naomi—the woman who banished the demon that was possessing you.” At the reminder of what she’d been through, Talia shuddered from top to bottom. “She was the one who found the real killer. I helped her out.”
“And made out with her, apparently.”
I blushed. “Just twice. The first time, it was right before you were possessed and Todd died. The second time—my powers were starting to bother me, so she let me feed on her.”
