by Amy Sumida
“No; I'm not talking about raves,” I huffed. “Forget the Underground; just be careful. If you can take a vacation, now would be a good time to do it.”
“Please,” he huffed. “Like I'm going to let some fairy and his techno music scare me. He can kiss my fine, drug-free ass.”
“Lovely.” I sighed.
“Do you want me to warn Abby?”
“I was going to call her next.”
“She's just downstairs,” Karmen said. “I got you, bitch.”
“Okay.” I chuckled. “Thank you... and it's Ambassador Bitch.”
“You think they might take Brandon?”
“We can only hope.” I snorted.
“No kidding,” Karmen huffed. I could practically hear his eyes roll. “Okay, I'm on it. Kiss that sexy black dragon for me.”
“I will.”
“Like... a lot,” Karmen clarified. “Kiss him a lot and deeply. And if you get the chance, do that thing where you stick your tongue—”
“I got it,” I interrupted him. “Seriously; be careful, K.”
“You got it.”
Karmen hung up, and I stared at the phone a minute before one other possible target occurred to me. I dialed again and then had to wait as I was transferred.
“Seren?”
“I need you to put aside your pride for a moment, and take what I say next with the utmost seriousness.”
“Fine, what is it?”
“I need you to lock down Gentry, Uncle Dylan.”
“Sons of witches! What have you done now, Seren?”
Chapter Thirty Eight
After we made our calls, and the Guard had returned from their searches, I said goodbye to Daxon. The Star's Guard, Killian, and I were heading back to San Francisco to use the rath in Gentry to return to Fairy.
“I'd feel better if you took a few days off,” I told Daxon. “Go to Europe or something.”
“I'm not leaving my people swinging in the breeze while I hide, Seren,” Daxon said sternly.
“I know.” I sighed. “I just...”
“I know,” he repeated my words with more meaning and then pulled me into an embrace. “I will worry about you as well. But I trust that you will do the right thing.”
“Ouch. Was that a jab at me?” I teased him.
“Maybe a small one.” He grinned.
“Are we good?”
“You saved our relationship when you told Killian that you didn't think I was guilty,” he whispered.
“And when I agreed to apologize later,” I added.
“That too,” Daxon said just before he kissed me.
The shivers started to rise, but I punched them down. This wasn't the time to get carried away. I leaned back, breaking our kiss, and took a long look in Daxon's deep-sea eyes. Every challenge to our relationship seemed to make us stronger. That—more than anything else—made me believe that Danu had chosen well once again. She may not be able to hear us in the Human Realm or help us, but she could lead us, and I was done rebelling against our goddess. There came a time when you simply had to accept what was best for you. If you were smart, anyway.
Right now, what was best for me seemed to be Daxon.
“Me too,” Daxon whispered in response to my intense look.
I nodded and let him go. I may know what was best for me, but I wasn't ready to dive into it completely.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
When we got back to Gentry Technologies, it was closed, but that might have been because it was so damn early in the morning. I buzzed the intercom by the door to alert the security guards, but no one appeared. Dylan had actually listened to me and shut the whole place down. I was relieved, but I hadn't considered that I'd be locked out.
I pulled out my phone and called him.
“Are you standing on the sidewalk, wondering how to get into Gentry?” Dylan asked smugly.
“Are you snuggled inside your hidden bedroom because you have no place else to go?” I shot back.
“That was unkind, Niece,” he chided me. “You know that I choose to live here; it's not that I have nowhere else.”
“You need to get a life outside of work, Uncle Dylan,” I said gently. “Like, literally outside of work.”
“I'm happy with this for now, Seren,” Dylan said. “When I grow weary of it, I will move on.”
“Fair enough.” I nodded, even though he couldn't see me. “So, you gonna let me in or what?”
“Of course I'm going to let you in,” the voice came from my phone and the door in front of me. “I'm not as unfeeling as you paint me to be.”
Uncle Dylan smirked as he stuck his cell phone back into his jacket pocket.
“Are you wearing a suit?” I shook my head at him. “It's five o'clock in the morning.”
“And I was just preparing for my day,” he said primly. “Do you want to come in or not?”
“Yes, please; it's fucking freezing out here.” I sighed and tromped into Gentry, followed closely by Killian and my Guard.
Dylan locked the glass door behind us and led the way to the elevators.
“I thought you sent everyone home?” I asked. “Why are you going to work?”
“I did send them home.” Dylan punched the elevator button. “But I don't need a full staff of assistants to conduct my experiments.”
“And you have to conduct them in a suit?” Killian asked.
“I dress for myself, Lord Killian,” Dylan said snootily, “not for others. Which means that it makes no difference whether I'm alone or not. This is what I like to wear.”
“I'm buying you a pair of jeans for Christmas,” I announced.
“Oh, sweet Danu; please do not,” Dylan begged. “It shall be a waste of money.”
“Not even designer jeans?” I asked him.
“Seren, I was around when jeans were invented,” Dylan stuck his nose in the air just as the elevator doors opened. “Levi Strauss had his first shop here, in San Francisco, you know?”
Dylan got in the car, and a few of us followed. There simply wasn't enough space for all of us to ride together.
“So what?” I asked as the doors shut us in.
“So, I know why the blue jeans were invented.” Dylan grimaced. “And who they were invented for... laborers. Men whose pants would fall apart because they worked so hard. I am not that type of man.”
“Well, you do work hard,” I pointed out.
“Not physically,” Dylan huffed. “My pants have never fallen apart. Not ever.”
“What a shame,” Gradh muttered under her breath.
Dylan blinked in surprise, then looked over at Gradh speculatively. His eyes coasted over Gradh's lithe body and lingered on her sleek thighs and rounded ass. He began to smile.
“Hey, now!” Conri pointed at my Uncle. “Eyes front, Duke Fancy Pants.”
Dylan chuckled. “I was merely returning the admiration, Sir Barghest.”
“And, you,” Conri said to Gradh. “What the fuck?”
“It was just a harmless comment,” Gradh said. “Like when you wanted to investigate Taboo.”
Conri considered this and decided to take the smart road for once and keep his mouth shut. Gradh nodded in satisfaction, and I smirked. So, that was how you kept a barghest in line.
The elevator doors opened onto the second floor, and all of us—except for my uncle—piled out.
“You got someone on Fell, right?” I asked Dylan suddenly.
“Of course.”
“I'm going to be questioning him again when I get back.” I held a hand to the elevator door so that it wouldn't shut. “Make sure he stays in one piece while I'm gone.”
“I won't hurt him,” Dylan drawled.
“Okay. Thanks, Uncle Dylan.” I let go of the doors.
Just before they shut, Dylan added, “Much.”
“Uncle Dylan!”
“He's just messing with you, Twilight.” Killian grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the elevators. “Come on; I know you want to se
e Aideen.”
“Yeah; you're right.” I let Kill lead me to the door at the far left of the room.
We all headed down the curving staircase, not bothering to wait for the rest of my Guard. We'd meet them on the other side of the rath. Normally, it was bright down by the rath, but at this hour there were only a few security lights on. Somehow, the magical sunshine knew when to dim for the night and when to return in full force. I was becoming more and more certain there were a few sunstrips hidden in the ceiling.
The mound of grass-covered earth looked so out of place in the cement basement, but it also looked welcoming. I realized, with some surprise, that I wanted to go home. I was tired of the intrigue, and I wanted to see my friend, then my father, and my puka. I was homesick for Fairy.
I stepped up to the golden door eagerly, and Killian pulled it open for me.
“After you, Your Highness,” Killian waved me into the dark tunnel of In-Between that reigned in the rath.
“Thank you.” I headed in.
The echoing pound of footsteps followed me into the rath—the rest of the Star's Guard coming down the stairs. I walked the narrow path toward another golden door. This door opened at my push, and I stepped into an idyllic meadow full of wildflowers. I took a deep breath of the fey morning air as my body gave one long tremble and then relaxed. I closed my eyes and let the magic of my home seep into me and revive me. It had been a long night, but now I had a second wind.
I opened my eyes and strode out of the clearing, heading toward Aideen's tree.
Chapter Forty
“Aideen's upstairs asleep,” Eibhleann said as she rubbed her weary eyes with one hand and motioned us inside Aideen's tree-home with the other. “She's taken to using one of the higher guest rooms instead of sleeping down here. It makes her feel safer. But she would love to see you, Your Majesty.”
“Thank you, Eibhleann.” I hugged her. “How are you holding up?”
“Good.” She nodded. “Grateful that my daughter is alive, but angry over her pain.”
“Me too,” I whispered. “Is she doing any better?”
“Her branches have begun growing back, and she seems healthy,” Eibhleann said. “She's just having a bit of anxiety.”
“Aideen felt safe at Gentry,” I said softly, “and that's gone now.”
“Yes; precisely,” Eibhleann agreed. “Seeing you will do her some good, though. You go on up, and I'll get your fiance and your Guard some hot tea.”
“Thank you.” I was already heading to the curving stairs that circled the hollowed out trunk.
I went up to one of Aideen's guest rooms and found her snuggled in the bed, staring out of a tiny window, wide awake. Her palm was laid flat against the trunk of the tree as if it comforted her.
“Aideen?”
She looked over in surprise, and then a smile spread across her face. “Seren!”
I went into the bedroom as she sat up, and then straight into a hug. Her slim arms tightened around me, and I felt a slight tremor go through her before she let me go.
“Thank you for coming,” she whispered.
“Of course,” I said as I took her hands. “Aideen, Killian caught the redcap who took you.”
“I know; my mother told me,” she said softly.
“You did good, grabbing his cap like that.”
“Honestly, I don't know how I was able to get it,” her voice was a smaller version of her usual one.
“He wasn't trying to kill you,” I explained. “He was trying to abduct you, so that this asshole, Barra, could use you against me.”
“Use me?” She blinked.
“Because you're my friend,” I squeezed her hands, “and I care about you.”
“This was to get at you?” She asked.
I nodded. “I'm so sorry, Aideen.”
“No; it's not your fault.” She squeezed my hand back. “In fact, it's a bit of a relief.”
“It is?”
“I couldn't understand why someone would want to kill me,” she whispered. “I've been going through it in my head, over and over, trying to come up with a reason—trying to figure out who I had hurt so badly that they wanted me dead.”
“Aideen.” I shook my head. “You don't hurt people, I do. You were the victim here, and it was because of me.”
“You save people, Seren,” she said with a much stronger voice.
“And put my friends in jeopardy.”
“This doesn't matter.” She waved toward a little branch, just peeking out of her pale green hair. “What are a few twigs in comparison to the millions of lives you've changed.”
“Millions?” I blinked at her. “What are you going on about?”
“Seren, you united Fairy,” Aideen said as if it were both obvious and wondrous. “You've saved a world from war. Not only war, but also all of the little skirmishes that happen between wars. Millions of fairies owe their lives to you.”
“Millions,” I whispered. “I've never thought about it like that.”
“Well, you should.” Aideen smirked.
“Thanks,” I whispered.
“I do hate the thought of my poor branches lying in some trash heap, though.” She sighed.
“Do you?” I grinned as I pulled the branches out of the inner pocket of my coat.
“Where did you...?” Aideen took the bundle from me gently and then stroked the thin branches. “Thank you.”
“I found them in Idaho,” I confessed. “In a sorcerer's shop.”
“What?” Her deep green gaze shot to mine. “Did you say; 'sorcerer's shop?'”
“We've been having some trouble with the undergrounds.” I heaved a sigh. “That asshole I mentioned—Barra—is allowing sorcerers into his underground to sell and buy their wares. I was apprehending some sorcerers when I saw this.” I tapped her branches. “I nearly lost my shit.”
“You nearly what?” She gave me wide eyes.
“I broke down,” I whispered. “I wouldn't have made it out of there without Killian and this hunter named Cyrus.”
“Because you thought I was...?”
“Dead.” I blinked rapidly, trying not to cry. “I thought you were dead, Aideen.”
“Seren,” she said gently as she hugged me.
I lost my composure then and just bawled. I was supposed to be comforting her, not the other way around, but Aideen didn't seem to mind. In fact, she was smiling when I finally got my emotions under control.
“You're happy?” I asked her.
“That you care so much about me?” She asked. “Of course I am. Thank you, Seren. But I'm sorry that you were worried.”
“I'm sorry that you were attacked.”
Aideen laughed and hugged me once more.
“One apology cancels out the other,” she declared. “Let's call it even.”
Chapter Forty-One
To Eibhleann's—and everyone else's—great surprise, Aideen and I came downstairs with bright smiles on our faces. We had a leisurely breakfast with her mother, Killian, and my Guard, during which Eibhleann shot me grateful looks. Then the sun began to rise, and our time ran out. We bid Aideen and Eibhleann goodbye and then went to stand outside of her tree.
Twilight took us. Killian, my Star's Guard, and I reformed in a small courtyard behind Castle Twilight. It was a training yard for knights only, and it had become a go-to spot for twilighting. Mainly because we knew that no knight would be training at dawn or dusk. When you attained the rank of knight you gained certain perks, one of which was not having to get up with the Sun; not unless you were on a mission or at war. As far as dusk; by then, knights were usually preparing for dinner. And now, with our constant use of the courtyard for twilighting, any urge to differ from those behaviors would be squashed.
“We're all weary, so go and get some sleep,” I said to my Guard. “We'll meet in the morning.”
“I'm with you, Twilight.” Killian took my hand. “I just hope I can make it up the stairs.”
“We could hover,” I su
ggested with a smile.
“I'm not going to hover up the stairs,” Kill muttered as he glared at the offending incline and then the statues of Keir's parents—standing regally to either side of the bottom step.
The grand staircase swept up from the entrance hall and then flattened into a landing before splitting into two. We took the left flight and continued up to the royal floor of the castle. Between the castle's towers was the royal family suite; including our dining area and socializing rooms. But Killian and I headed straight to my tower. The door was ajar, but I didn't think anything of it. I just made a beeline for my bed—where a giant, fairy canine was curled up asleep.
Cat's ears perked when we walked in, and then she opened her soft, brown eyes. She gave a happy yip and bounded off the bed. I was nearly knocked over by her exuberance.
“Hey, Cat.” I hugged her and scratched her face a bit. “I'm sorry, but I'm tired. I'll scratch you more in the morning... evening... whatever time it is when I wake up.”
I stood and started shucking off my clothes. I was so exhausted that I left my clothes and shoes in a pile at the foot of the bed. Killian did the same, and Cat followed us back onto the mattress. She was perfectly content to snuggle between our feet after we'd got under the covers.
We didn't get up until mid-afternoon.
My father was waiting for us in the family room. Cat bounded ahead of Killian and me, to lavish some love on my dad. He stroked her fur affectionately before getting up from the couch to hug me.
“Welcome home,” Dad said as he let me go.
“Thanks, Dad.”
Keir resumed his seat on the couch. I took the couch across from his, and Cat curled up by my feet. Killian, however, headed into the adjoining dining room.
“Where are you going?” I asked Kill.
“Don't you smell that?” He shot back. “Lunch is served, Twilight. You want me to bring you a plate?”
“Yes, please.” I laughed and then said to my father, “He could smell a cracker in the middle of the desert.”
“He's a young man and a soldier,” my father said generously, “they need their fuel.” His face went even softer when he added,” I spoke to Eibhleann this morning. Aideen is doing much better.”
