Dreamfever_The Fever Series

by Karen Marie Moning

  RHINO-BOYS: Ugly, gray-skinned Fae who resemble rhinoceroses with bumpy, protruding foreheads, barrellike bodies, stumpy arms and legs, lip-less gashes of mouths, and jutting underbites. They are lower mid-level caste Unseelie thugs dispatched primarily as watchdogs for high-ranking Fae.

  Addendum to original entry: They taste horrible.

  Addendum to original entry: I don’t believe they can sift space. I saw them locked in cells and chained up in Mallucé’s grotto. It didn’t occur to me at the time how odd that was, then later I thought maybe Mallucé was somehow containing them with spells. But after Jayne made his comment about imprisoning Fae, I realized that not all Fae can sift, and I’m starting to wonder if only the very powerful ones can. This could be an important tactical edge. Must explore.

  Addendum: They have a taste for pretty young human girls and will swap the incredible high of Unseelie flesh for sex. Ew!

  ROWENA: In charge to some degree of a coalition of sidhe-seers organized as couriers at Post Haste, Inc. Is she the Grand Mistress? They have a chapter house or retreat in an old abbey a few hours from Dublin, with a library I must get into.

  Addendum to original entry: She has never liked me. She’s playing judge, jury, and executioner where I’m concerned. She sent her girls after me to take my spear away! I will never let her have it. I’ve been to the abbey but only briefly. I suspect many of the answers I want can be found there, either in the Forbidden Libraries, which only the Haven is permitted to enter, or in their memories. I need to figure out who the Haven members are and get one of them to talk.

  Addendum: I’ll topple her reign of power yet. She won’t let the sidhe-seers do their job. She keeps them under lock and key, but I think I’ve smashed the first cracks in the abbey walls. I think they’re going to mutiny.

  ROYAL HUNTERS: A mid-level caste of Unseelie. Militantly sentient, they resemble the classic depiction of the devil, with cloven hooves, horns, long satyrlike faces, leathery wings, fiery orange eyes, and tails. Seven to ten feet tall, they are capable of extraordinary speed on both hoof and wing. Primary function: sidhe-seer exterminators. Threat assessment: kills.

  Addendum to original entry: Encountered one. Barrons doesn’t know everything. It was considerably larger than he’d led me to expect, with a thirty- to forty-foot wingspan and a degree of telepathic abilities. They are mercenary to the core and serve a master only so long as it benefits them. I’m not sure I believe they’re mid-level, and, in fact, I’m not sure they’re entirely Fae. They fear my spear and I suspect are unwilling to die for any cause, which gives me a tactical edge.

  Addendum to original entry: I rode one!

  RYODAN: Associate of Barrons, and IYCGM on my cell.

  Addendum: Top on my list of people to track down.

  Addendum to original entry: See Chester’s. This man is one of Barrons’ eight, whatever that is. They are all big men, preternaturally fast, most badly scarred, and they ooze something that just … isn’t human. Ryodan worries me.

  SEELIE: The light or “fairer” court of the Tuatha Dé Danaan, governed by the Seelie Queen, Aoibheal.

  Addendum: The Seelie cannot touch the Unseelie Hallows. The Unseelie cannot touch Seelie Hallows.

  Addendum: According to V’lane, the true queen of the Fae is long dead, killed by the Unseelie King, and with her died the Song of Making. Aoibheal is a lesser royal, who is one of many that has tried to lead the People since.

  SEE YOU IN FAERY!: Catch phrase for sycophantic human sex kittens who will trade anything and everything for the high of eating Unseelie flesh. They believe if they eat enough, it will make them immortal and they’ll get to go to Faery, too. Said in the most annoyingly chirpy tone possible!!!

  SHADES: One of the lowest castes of Unseelie. Sentient but barely. They hunger—they feed. They cannot bear direct light and hunt only at night. They steal life in the same manner the Gray Man steals beauty, draining their victims with vampiric swiftness, leaving behind a pile of clothing and a husk of dehydrated human matter. Threat assessment: kills.

  Addendum to original entry: I think they’re changing, evolving, learning.

  Addendum: I know it is! I swear it’s stalking me!

  Addendum: They’ve learned to work together and shape themselves into barriers.

  Addendum: They’re all over the world now!

  SHAMROCK: This slightly misshapen three-leaf clover is the ancient symbol of the sidhe-seers, who are charged with the mission to See, Serve, and Protect mankind from the Fae.

  SIDHE-SEER (SHE-seer): A person Fae magic doesn’t work on, capable of seeing past the illusions or “glamour” cast by the Fae to the true nature that lies beneath. Some can also see Tabh’rs, hidden portals between realms. Others can sense Seelie and Unseelie Objects of Power. Each sidhe-seer is different, with varying degrees of resistance to the Fae. Some are limited; some are advanced, with multiple “special powers.”

  Addendum to original entry: Some, like Dani, are superfast. There’s a place inside my head that isn’t … like the rest of me. Do we all have it? What is it? How did we get this way? Where do the bits of inexplicable knowledge that feel like memories come from? Is there such a thing as a genetic collective unconsciousness?

  Addendum: In that sidhe-seer place in my head is a dark, glassy lake. It scares me.

  SIFTING: Fae method of locomotion, occurs at speed of thought. (Seen this!)

  Addendum to original entry: Somehow, V’lane sifted me without my awareness that he was even there. I don’t know if he was able to approach me “cloaked” somehow, then touched me at the last minute and I just didn’t realize it because it happened so fast, or if perhaps instead of moving me, he moved the realms around me. Can he do that? How powerful is V’lane? Could another Fae sift me without me having any advance warning? Unacceptably dangerous! Require more information.

  *SIFTING SILVERS, OR SILVERS, THE: Unseelie or Dark Hallow; an elaborate maze of mirrors created by the Unseelie King, once used as the primary method of Fae travel between realms, until Cruce cast the forbidden curse into the silvered corridors. Now no Fae dares enter the Silvers.

  Addendum to original entry: The Lord Master had many of these in his house in the Dark Zone and was using them to move in and out of Faery. If you destroy a Silver, does it destroy what was in it? Does it leave an open entry/exit into a Fae realm, like a wound in the fabric of our world? What exactly was the curse and who was Cruce?

  Addendum to original entry: Barrons has one and walks around in it!

  Addendum: Cross-reference Hall of All Days. The way it worked before the curse was this: The Hall of All Days was the central airport where you could choose from millions of mirrors that connected to a second mirror on another world, dimension, or time, and travel there. The mirrors were two-way portals at that time, and to return, you just stepped back through them into the Hall. I think they concealed the mirrors on the other worlds in inanimate objects, so only a Fae could find them. The queen sensed the power of the Silvers, which the king had created for his concubine. To allay her suspicions that he was still keeping the mortal the queen despised, he had to give her the main part, including the Hall, but he kept a portion separate, where he built the White Mansion on a hill for his concubine.

  The way it works now, since Cruce cursed it: Everything is screwed up. The mirrors in the Hall multiplied exponentially and now number in the billions. They are no longer two-way, the places they show as destinations aren’t necessarily where they deposit you, and the worlds connected by the Silvers have all been badly splintered with IFPs. Cruce messed up billions of worlds, dimensions, and times. However, they are, as Barrons puts it, navigable if one knows what one is doing and has the necessary Druid arts at his disposal. It seems Barrons has been in the Silvers quite a bit. Usually, one mirror connects directly to the next. When you look in that Silver, it shows its destination. But sometimes people (like Barrons and the LM) “stack” Silvers, forming tunnels to create space to force the person (i.e., m
e!) stepping in to drop their weapons and show the ransom, or, in Barrons’ case, so he can litter the corridor to his garage with killing demons who won’t let anyone through. Don’t strain your brain trying to understand the Silvers. I don’t think anyone does. Just expect the unexpected.

  *SINSAR DUBH, THE (she-suh DOO): Unseelie or Dark Hallow belonging to the Tuatha Dé Danaan. Written in a language known only to the most ancient of their kind, it is said to hold the deadliest of all magic within its encrypted pages. Brought to Ireland by the Tuatha Dé during the invasions written of in the pseudo-history Leabhar Gabhåla, it was stolen along with the other Dark Hallows and rumored to have found its way into the world of man. Allegedly authored over a million years ago by the Dark King of the Unseelie (A Definitive Guide to Artifacts; Authentic and Legendary).

  Addendum to original entry: I’ve seen it now. Words cannot contain a description of it. It is a book, but it lives. It is aware.

  Addendum: The Beast. Enough said.

  Addendum: How the feck am I supposed to contain the thing? Is this a joke?

  *SPEAR OF LUISNE, THE: Seelie or Light Hallow (a.k.a. Spear of Luin, Spear of Longinus, Spear of Destiny, the Flaming Spear). The spear used to pierce Jesus Christ’s side at His crucifixion. Not of human origin, it is a Tuatha Dé Danaan Light Hallow and one of few items capable of killing a Fae—regardless of rank or power.

  Addendum to original note: It kills anything Fae, and if something is only part Fae, it kills part of it horribly.

  *SWORD OF LUGH, THE: Seelie or Light Hallow, also known as the Sword of Light, capable of killing Fae, both Seelie and Unseelie. Currently, Rowena has it and dispatches it to her sidhe-seers at PHI as she deems fit. Dani usually gets it.

  Addendum: Saw it. It’s beautiful!

  Addendum: Stole it from Rowena and gave it to Dani permanently.

  TABH’RS (TAH-vr): Fae doorways or portals between realms, often hidden in everyday human objects.

  Addendum: I think they’re actually Silvers, like the cactus on the desert world where I found Christian, only apparently I can’t see them. Sure could use a sidhe-seer who could!

  “TAKING BACK THE NIGHT“: Song Dani and I made up, now the sidhe-seer international anthem.

  TUATHA DÉ DANAAN, OR TUATHA DÉ (TUA day dhanna or Tua DAY) (See Fae, above): A highly advanced race that came to earth from another world, comprising the Seelie and Unseelie.

  UNSEELIE: The dark or “fouler” court of the Tuatha Dé Danaan. According to Tuatha Dé Danaan legend, the Unseelie have been confined for hundreds of thousands of years in an inescapable prison. Inescapable, my ass.

  UNSEELIE PRINCES: Death, Pestilence, Famine, and War. According to the LM, one of them was killed eons ago, and Dani killed another, which means only two remain. Then who was the fourth at the church? The LM claims it wasn’t him and that there was no fourth. Did I just imagine it? There are memories from those earliest hours, even days that are terribly blurry.

  V’LANE: According to Rowena’s books, V’lane is a Seelie Prince, the light court, member of the queen’s High Council, and sometimes consort. He is a death-by-sex Fae and has been trying to get me to work for him on behalf of Queen Aoibheal to locate the Sinsar Dubh.

  Addendum: He gave me Georgia back! When the walls came down, he protected my parents and preserved Ashford. He restored power and order to the entire state for me. Our relationship is changing, now that I am immune to his death-by-sex Fae eroticism. Are we becoming equals? I’m worried about him. Why did he disappear from the abbey? Why did he look so pained?

  VOICE: A Druid art or skill that compels the person it’s being used on to precisely obey the letter of whatever command is issued. Both the Lord Master and Barrons have used this on me. It’s terrifying. It shuts down your will and makes you a slave. You stare helplessly out from your own eyes and watch your body doing things your mind is screaming at you not to do. I’m trying to learn it. At least to be able to resist it, because otherwise I’ll never be able to get close enough to the Lord Master to kill him and get vengeance for Alina.

  Addendum: I can resist and use it now! Funny the steel you find inside when it’s either that or die. But Barrons was right: The student and teacher lose the ability to use it on each other. Proficiency cancels it out.

  WARD: Just learning about these. They’re all over outside the Forbidden Libraries. I can pass through most of them for some reason. I don’t know why. It’s either one of my sidhe-seer talents or something I acquired through all my struggles. They’re tricky things.

  Z-LO: Barrons’ version of the MacHalo. Black. Lighter, brighter, and more efficient, but I’m not about to tell him that.

  *Denotes a Light or Dark Hallow.

  Recipes from Dublin

  Mac’s Favorite Unseelie Dishes

  Perfect for meals or quick snacks on-the-go!

  IRISH SODA BREAD

  (Great for in pockets on-the-go!)

  4½ cups flour 1 cup diced Unseelie

  2 Tbsp. sugar (the more finely you dice it,

  1 tsp. salt the harder it is for it to move)

  1 tsp. baking soda 1 large egg, whisked

  4 Tbsp. butter 2 cups buttermilk

  1 cup raisins

  Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

  Sift together 4 cups flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda into large mixing bowl.

  Using pastry cutter, cut butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs, then stir in raisins. Add diced Unseelie, making certain it doesn’t wriggle back out of the bowl.

  Add beaten egg and buttermilk until dough is too stiff to stir. Dust hands with flour and gently knead dough just enough to form rough ball. DO NOT OVERKNEAD, as this will make the bread tough. Place dough on lightly floured surface and shape into round loaf.

  Place dough in lightly greased cast-iron skillet. Score top with an X to open the loaf so center cooks well. Bake until golden brown, about 40–50 minutes. Bread is done when toothpick or knife inserted into center comes out clean.

  TRADITIONAL IRISH STEW

  1 cup Unseelie, cubed 1 sweet Vidalia onion,

  1 Tbsp. olive oil chopped

  Parsley, bay leaf, thyme, 10 small white onions

  rosemary 1½ cups diced celery

  1 lb. potatoes 1½ cups peas

  2 cups finely shredded Salt and pepper to taste

  cabbage Fresh chopped parsley

  Heat Unseelie in lightly oiled pan. (Enjoy how miserable it seems to make it!) Add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and add parsley, bay leaf, thyme, and rosemary. Lower heat and simmer.

  Peel potatoes and cut into eighths if large, quarters if medium.

  Add potatoes, cabbage, onion, small onions, and celery. Simmer 20–30 minutes, then add peas. Simmer an additional 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Season to taste and garnish with fresh parsley.

  BUTTERMILK/STRAWBERRY SCONES

  (My personal favorite!)

  2½ cups all-purpose flour 1 cup buttermilk

  2 Tbsp. sugar 1 egg

  1½ tsp. baking powder ¾ cup sliced strawberries,

  ½ tsp. baking soda well drained

  ½ tsp. salt ½ cup Unseelie chunks

  ½ cup cold butter, cubed

  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

  Line large baking sheet with parchment paper.

  In large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using pastry cutter, cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a separate bowl, whisk buttermilk and egg and pour over the dry mix. Stir (minimally!) with fork to make loosely formed dough. With a wooden spoon, gently mix in strawberries and Unseelie chunks.

  With lightly floured hands, form ball of dough. On floured surface, knead gently, no more than ten times. Pat into a 10-by-8-inch rectangle. Cut into 4 squares, then cut each diagonally in half to make 8 triangles. Place on sheet and bake on center rack of oven until golden, 15–18 minutes.

  *I like to glaze them a few minutes before they’re done
with butter and sprinkle them lightly with raw sugar!

  TEA, AKA FINGER*, SANDWICHES

  (As served to Inspector Jayne)

  1 8-oz. package cream cheese, ¾ cup finely chopped

  softened Georgia pecans

  1 cup Unseelie, diced Dash rosemary

  3 hard-boiled eggs, finely Dash garlic

  chopped Salt and pepper to taste

  ½ cup celery, finely chopped 1 loaf fresh-baked bread, sliced,

  Half a medium onion, with crusts removed.

  finely diced

  Add all ingredients to softened cream cheese and mix well. Spread on bread and cut into desired shapes.

  An invaluable advantage of this recipe is its thick consistency, which keeps the Unseelie from wriggling too much. Non-cream-cheese-based tea sandwiches have the unfortunate penchant for crawling off the serving platter. (Unseelie sticks well in peanut butter sandwiches, too.)

  Another great thing about this recipe is that the only thing you have to cook is the hard-boiled eggs, and if you’re in a hurry, you can omit them.

  *Or toe, or arm, or whatever parts you’ve got.

  SHEPHERD’S PIE

  (One of Inspector Jayne’s favorites)

  2 lbs. potatoes, peeled 1 carrot, peeled and chopped

  and cubed 1 sweet Vidalia onion, chopped

  2 Tbsp. sour cream 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

  1 large egg yolk 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

  ½ cup heavy cream 1 cup beef broth

  1 Tbsp. olive oil 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

  2 cups Unseelie, cubed ½ cup peas

  Salt, pepper, and garlic powder 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh

  to taste parsley leaves

  Preheat oven to Broil/High.

  Boil potatoes in salted water until tender. Drain and place in bowl; put aside. Mix sour cream, egg yolk, and cream. Add to potatoes and mash to desired smoothness.