Power of the Fae

by Ariel Marie

  There are hundreds of people here to celebrate with me. Most I didn’t know but they were invited because of their social standing and me being my father’s daughter. Avoiding the dance floor is a must. The Fae love to dance and a lot of the latest music and dances in the human realm are now popular in Faery. I, unfortunately, did not inherit the dance trait from my father’s side. Since it is my birthday party, I must circulate the room and thank everyone for coming. Every few steps I take, someone grabs me to wish me a happy birthday and try to make small talk.

  After about an hour of greeting guests, I’ve already had a few glasses of champagne in my system. I run in to a few people I know from around our city and a few friends from my childhood. I lost Tillie about a half hour ago. I’m pretty certain she left me to go to the bar. By the time I get to the bar, she’ll probably have disappeared again. Once alcohol is in that girl’s system she can’t stand still in one place for long.

  Standing on my tiptoes trying to catch a glimpse of Tillie’s blonde head, I feel a presence behind me and hands grip my waist. A sigh escapes. The person I did not want to see tonight has found me.

  “Hey, beautiful,” Christian says as I turn to face him. Look up at him, I should say. Fae men tend to be on the tall side and he’s definitely taller than me at six foot four inches. His blond hair is pulled back from his face and his clear grey eyes stare at me. His eyes were the first things that drew me to him when we met a few years ago.

  “Christian.” He frowns at me as I step back from him.

  “Can we talk for a second?” He grabs my arm, pulling me behind him. I try to resist but it’s pointless. We might as well get this over with. He pulls me over to a quiet alcove off the side of the ballroom. It’s a small intimate area where no one can see us. “Look, I know you’re still mad at me.”

  “Don’t even go there!” I start but he cuts me off.

  “I miss you. I’m willing to do anything to get you back, Lina.” He looks sincere, almost desperate, but I still don’t think that I can trust him.

  “Christian, you hurt me. I thought that I meant something to you.” I look up at him. He gently backs me up against the wall, tucking a piece of hair behind my pointy ear. I close my eyes at the familiar touch. I have missed him too, but my mind keeps telling me that I should not trust him with my heart again.

  “You do. Just give me another chance, please,” he whispers. My body begins softening as he nuzzles the crook of my neck and trailing kisses up my neck, capturing my mouth with his. He’s mastered the art of kissing. My defenses drop as I kiss him back with the same intensity.

  A throat is cleared in the doorway. We break away quickly. Christian continues to stare down at me, not backing away. His grey eyes have darkened as they always do when he’s aroused or emotional. I’m captivated by his smoky eyes and can’t look away. I hear my name. I look around him seeing my brother standing in the doorway with his eyebrows raised.

  “Keegan!” I try to push Christian away but that’s like pushing back a brick wall.

  “Excuse me, I hope you don’t mind if I steal the birthday girl,” Keegan says.

  “I have to go,” I say softly to Christian, waiting for him to back up. He nods his head as he steps away from me.

  “Happy Birthday. I’ll catch you later, Princess.” He kisses me on the back of my hand before Keegan whisks me away from him. I glance back and Christian is standing in the doorway with his eyes glued to me. Keegan keeps his hand on my lower back steering me away in the direction of the bar.

  “Um, thanks!” I groan.

  “It looked like you could use some help.” He leads me to the bar and orders shots of tequila for both of us from the bartender. I love spending time with my older brother. It’s rare that he smiles and I always have to try to find some way to get him to laugh. He’s become too serious since taking over the Guardians.

  The Guardians have been busy this week. We have been dispatched on a few missions. The Dark Fae has been causing trouble in a few of the smaller towns and the Guardians have had to deal with them. We have also had a couple of Fae that were reported missing that we have been looking into.

  “So are you two back together?” he asked.

  “Nope,” I say smoothing my hair down.

  “Sure looked like it to me,” he replied with a raised eyebrow.

  “It’s complicated. That was his, ‘please take me back’ attempt.” The bartender brings us our shots.

  “Happy birthday, Lina. I’m proud of you! Love you little one!” Keegan says while hugging me and placing a kiss on my forehead. “We need to go meet Dad. He wants to speak to you in his office.” His green eyes are serious as they stare down at me.

  “Now? What’s going on?” I say after taking my shot of tequila. The cool, clear alcohol burns while it goes down and I suck on my lemon. I shake my head and blink my eyes a few times. Yikes! This is my last drink for the night. Any more and I’ll be crawling up to my room.

  “I’m not sure. I think it’s important. He’s been in his office all day and just told me to find you and to meet him in his office,” he says close to my ear over the loud music. I nod my head to confirm I heard him. I’m feeling young again. I’m about to do something we haven’t done in years.

  “Race you!” I yell out as I flash to my father’s office.

  That’s one of the best parts of being part Fae. I can teleport myself to where I want to go. As kids, once we learned how to teleport, that would be our game. Most human kids would run races to see who were the fastest. Fae children would teleport and see who would get to a certain place first.

  Chapter Two

  ~Lina~

  I appeared outside my father’s office door two seconds before my brother, laughing. Keegan rolls his eyes at me.

  “What are you twelve?” he says chuckling, placing his hands in his slacks pockets.

  “It got you to laugh! Don’t be mad that I beat you!” I joke with him. You have to find some fun in life. Our lives have become so dangerous and unpredictable that sometimes you just need to have a little fun.

  I love making him smile and laugh. He doesn’t do it enough. He’s been through so much over the years since our mother’s death. He can be so serious. Most people are afraid of him because of how powerful he is. But to me, he’s still my big brother, my hero, and my protector. Even with a ten-year age difference, we are still as close as any brother and sister can be. We are both mixed with witch’s blood and Fae but his Fae powers are more dominant.

  I knock on my father’s office door. I hear a muffled response and open the heavy door. We walk in and see my father sitting behind his colossal desk staring at his computer. His office is massive. It has vaulted ceilings. The ceiling is concave and has a blue sky with white clouds painted on it.

  It looks so real, that if you stared at the ceiling long enough, you would think you were looking out a window. In the middle of the ceiling is an all gold chandelier with diamonds hanging from the light fixtures. The mauve colored walls are accented with dark mahogany wood. The office is oval in shape. Half of the walls are encased with dark mahogany wood bookcases with thousands of books. The other walls are ceiling to floor windows that let in a lot of natural light during the day.

  You can tell he’s been in his office all day. There are papers strewn everywhere on his massive dark wood desk, a half bottle of Jack sitting on the desk and my father just looks tired. As a full-blooded Elf, my father is over five hundred years old and doesn’t look a day over forty. Elves can live to be over two thousand years old. He gets up and crushes me in a tight bear hug.

  “Happy birthday, Lina. Having fun at the party?” he asks while assisting me to a chair. He points to the other chair in front of his desk. “Have a seat, Keegan. I’m sorry to pull you two away from the party but I need to speak to both of you.” He props himself on the edge of his desk, while Keegan sits in the chair next to me.

  “Thanks, Dad. The party is great. What’s going on?” I a
sk, crossing my legs and leaning forward. I look over at Keegan and he has his Guardian leader face on. I look over at my father and give him my full attention. I immediately sober up, wishing now that I didn’t do that shot. What could be so important that he would call us to his office this late? It’s my birthday. I’m surprised that he just didn’t wait for tomorrow morning.

  “There is some disturbing news coming from the human realm and this could not wait. Your grandmother Azura has contacted me. There seems to be some disappearances going on over in the human realm and they need help.” He pauses and shifts.

  “Why are they contacting us?” I ask. My grandmother is a powerful witch in the human realm. Why would she need help from the Fae?

  “Apparently, this has been going on for a while now. There are witches, faeries, shape shifters and vampires that are missing and it’s starting to be noticed. There is a lot of tension over there.”

  “There have been a couple of Fae disappearances here in Faery as well. Could these be connected?” Keegan asks.

  “We believe so.”

  He passes us each a folder. Each folder contains the listing of the supernaturals that have disappeared and the circumstance around their disappearances. I look through the folder and count at least twenty victims. Each page has a picture of the person with their demographics, what they are, their profession and when they disappeared. The last page catches my attention. My head pops up instantly once I see who is on the last page.

  “Why is Mom in here?” I exclaim! We both look to my dad. I look back down and stare at the picture of my mother. My finger absently traces her beautiful face. A sigh escapes. Over the years, there have been so many nights where I wished and prayed to have her hug me one last time.

  “Most of the victims are assumed dead but we are not sure. Some of the circumstances surrounding some of those missing are close to what happened ten years ago when your mother died. We aren’t sure if they are related but it’s a start. I think Loredana’s death is related.” He stares off for few seconds. He appears sad, almost as if he’s reminiscing about my mother.

  He may be the heir to the throne and known as the deadly Prince, but he has never kept his feelings about our mother from Keegan and me. My mother was his world and he has never gotten over her. After my mother’s death, my father’s focus was raising me and keeping me protected. Family is important to him and he would do anything to protect his.

  Keegan and I visit my mother’s mother, Azura, every summer and whenever she requested us since our birth. My father knew how important it was for us to grow up knowing both sides of the family and learning our witch powers as well. The look of sadness quickly disappears. He looks over at me.

  “Lina, I want you to go to your grandmother’s in the human realm. You will represent the Guardians and help where she needs you. We need to get to the bottom of this before treaties are broken and war is started. You are to leave first thing in the morning.” I stand up in shock that I’m being assigned a solo mission. Keegan follows.

  “She’s going by herself? Let me send two Guardians with her.” Keegan moved to stand by the window behind my father’s desk. “She will need help.”

  “No, she will need to go alone. I only want her to investigate. Be our ears to find out what is going on.” My father stands in front of me and brushes a strand of hair from my eyes. “Lina, you’ve been a Guardian for a year now. I think it’s time we send you on your first solo mission. Can you handle it?”

  I nod my head. I’m torn between being excited at being trusted with my first solo mission and realizing that this will be my first solo mission. I’m used to having the other Guardians with me on missions. We work as a team. Occasionally someone is sent out on a solo mission, but it is usually one of the more experienced Guardians. It’s time to show them that I can handle myself without the other Guardians around.

  “I don’t like sending her by herself.” Keegan turns to look at our father, scowling while crossing his arms against his chest. I walk over to him and look at him to assure him that I will be fine.

  “I got this Kee, plus Grandmother will be there. Nothing will happen. If I run into trouble, you’ll be the first person I’ll call.” He doesn’t look happy at all. “You would even be able to do your big brother thing and swoop in to save the day.” I’m joking but he doesn’t crack a smile. We both turn as my father walks up to us.

  “Azura wants you at the next Witches’ Council meeting. They will give you more information about the disappearances. She will also have you meet with the local werewolf Alpha and his pack to discuss the missing werewolves.”

  “Dad! Lina will be meeting with the werewolves? She needs another Guardian with her! I don’t trust those wolves!” Keegan yells. My father glances sharply at my brother and my brother lowers his voice. He may be the leader of the Guardians but my father is still in charge.

  “Father, please let me send someone with her,” Keegan pleads one final time. My father shakes his head.

  “It’s time for her to branch out on her own. Keegan, you and the rest of your Guardians will start looking into the missing Fae here. We’ll need to find if there is a connection between your mother’s death and the missing Fae. We are walking on eggshells right now with everyone in a panic with the amount of victims increasing.” He looks at Keegan and then me. “I love you both and I need you to do what you do best.”

  “Yes, father,” we say while nodding our heads to our father. Keegan and I look at each other and both flash out.

  Chapter Three

  ~Colin~

  The full moon is high in the sky. Not a cloud is in sight. The night air holds the scent of the approaching rain. The thick forest holds the songs of the nighttime. Running through the woods, I burst out of the brush into a small clearing that opens to a lake. I trot over to the lake and take a few sips of the cool water. To my left my brother Devyn, my Beta, walks out of the forest. He’s a large light grey wolf with a white patch of fur on his chest that resembles a diamond. His front right paw is white while all the other paws match his light grey fur.

  My other brother Micheil jogs into the clearing. He’s a chestnut colored wolf with the same white diamond patch on his chest. He also comes over to the water. We’ve been out for a couple of hours running through the woods. It feels awesome to run with my brothers.

  “Colin, are you ready to go back?” Devyn asks me telepathically.

  I shake my head. I want to run a little further. I’m not ready to go back to the compound. As werewolves, we have the ability to speak telepathically to other wolves that we share a bond with or our life mates. As brothers, we are born with the family bond and can freely speak to each other. My wolf catches the scent of a deer in the breeze coming down the hill across the lake.

  “I sense a deer up the hill. Let’s hunt!” I say to both of them through our bond with a wolfish grin.

  Micheil yips and takes off first towards the grassy hill on the other side of the lake. Devyn and I follow. Both of my brothers respect me for my position as Alpha of our pack, the Diamond Pack. The other position I hold is the Leader of the North American Legion.

  I’m Colin MacKenzie, first-born son to Goraidh and Anna MacKenzie and oldest brother to Devyn and Micheil MacKenzie. My father was the previous Alpha of our pack. As was his father before him and his father before him. Our family has led the Diamond Pack for hundreds of years. Each male in our family has the same white patch in the shape of a diamond on our chest when we are in our wolf form.

  My father was killed fifteen years ago by a silver bullet to the heart. He was leading a fight against another wolf pack, the Kingston pack, which was trying to take over our land and pack. The fight between Alphas got dirty and one of the wolves shot my father when they saw my father was winning and was going to kill their Alpha.

  When he died, I naturally took over the pack being his first-born son. I was born and raised to be the next Alpha. My first duty as Alpha was to seek revenge on
the pack that killed my father. We hunted down and killed all of the members of the pack that conspired against my father. There was no mercy for killing my father. Two members escaped that night. They can run but eventually I will find them.

  My brother Devyn is my Beta, my second in command. I trust him with my life. He is a natural Beta. He helps run our pack and there is no other person that I would have as the Beta. He is also a member of the Legion.

  The Legion is the enforcers of the werewolf laws. We do not answer to the human police or human laws. The Legion protects and serves the werewolf community across the human realm. When laws are broken, the werewolf in question will have to answer to the Legion.

  Micheil, the youngest of the MacKenzie brothers stays far away from any and all forms of violence. It’s not that he cannot fight or defend himself. He can be a force all on his own. He just had a different calling in life. He is the healer in the family, a surgeon. He graduated from a human medical school, completed a surgical residency and now has a thriving practice in Langdale.

  We run up the hill and separate automatically into a triangular formation to surround the deer. Our prey’s scent gets stronger as we get closer to it. We’ve hunted together since we were pups. I can sense my brothers exact locations. There is tall grass and wild flowers everywhere. The moonlight provides just enough light for us to hunt. At the top of the hill is a ninety-foot red maple tree on the other side of the high brush. The branches spread wide with the leaves still holding onto their dark green color.