“Need I remind you again, I’m as much fae as I am vampire. What makes you think I can even tell a lie? My grandfather did use you to find us.” Another tear fell, and I felt her grief filling me, strengthening my glamour until it was impenetrable. “And now you show up after all these years, an even bigger freak than you already were. It would have been better if you had died in Kent's cage.”
I reveled in the wave of pain that came off of her. I took in a deep breath and pulled, letting the emotion fill me just as surely as a pint of O negative would have. I fed on her until she fell to her knees with tears streaming down her face; never noticing that the tears were turning into tiny icicles on her eyelashes. It was Irulan’s voice that got through to me.
“Valeria,” she screamed, inches from my ear. “Stop before you kill her.”
I shook my head, trying to clear the fog that had filled it, and watched as Irulan waved her hand, dissolving the glass that stood between her and Carrie. Before I could say a word, she was there beside her, pulling the fallen Sidhe into her arms.
“How could you say those things to her, Val?” She asked, her face marred with anger. “You could have found another way.”
For the second time in so many minutes, it was Fazion that offered words in my favor. “Your wife did what she had to do to accomplished what we needed. Don’t berate her for using the tools that she had at her disposal. Remember, you married a Dark Court Princess.”
He turned to me and sighed. The breath hung in the air, turning into a fine powdery snow before falling at his feet. That's when I noticed the temperature had gotten even colder. “We don't have much time, Princess. The Winter King has almost reached the border to this realm and the old man isn’t going to listen to anyone but you.”
“Huh,” I mumbled, not listening to him as I took in the icy scene the Convention Center had become. “When did this happen?” As far as I could see the sidewalks were nothing but thick sheets of ice. Trees were covered in the stuff; their branches bent at awkward angles toward the ground under the added weight they were being forced to hold. I pushed myself to my feet and turned in a slow circle, not wanting to believe what I was seeing.
There were frozen bodies all around me, some intact, others missing arms or heads. Vampire and shifters alike were locked in cases of ice. They were beautifully-demented creations that shouldn’t be. I followed the ice and as far as I could see the city was falling to the power of my grandfather.
“I have to stop this,” I said to myself, not realizing I’d said the words out loud.
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you,” Fazion groaned as he pointed a shaky finger toward the doorway to the FaeLands. “You have to go through the doorway and stop FaeVar before he gets here!” He had to shout to be heard over the roar of the blizzard that was now spilling into my realm.
“I’m on it,” I said as I threw a hand in front of my face and headed into the maelstrom. It took every ounce of strength I could muster, to fight the wind and snow that was coming through the archway, but once I made it through, the weather was calmer. Oh mind you, it was just as cold and I was pretty certain that I had permanently lost all feeling in my fingers, but at least the wind wasn’t slapping me in the face.
On the other side of the doorway, it looked like a nice winter day. The world was blanketed in a thick carpet of downy snow and trees were laden with icicles. There were no pixies flitting through the trees, but an inquisitive bunch of satyrs stopped their snowball fight to stare at me. The FaeLands was definitely more equipped to deal with the powers of the Winter King than my realm was.
Speaking of my grandfather, the thundering of hooves vibrated through the air, commanding my attention. I stopped waving at the satyrs and turned toward a beaten path near the edge of the woods. There sitting atop one of the largest horses I’d ever seen, was my great-great-grandfather FaeVar, but he looked nothing like the man I first met.
The first thing I noticed was his eyes. Even though I knew his having the same eye color as I was a result of glamour, he'd been born with it intact. Almost like the fates had intended for us to share the same ice blue, silver pupiled peepers. It made me feel like I belonged right off the bat, and now they were gone. There was no way my eyes would ever look like the wide, blizzard-filled orbs that now filled his head.
The next thing that drew my attention was his skin. Whereas before, by Sidhe standards, it was a not-so-extraordinary shade of light brown, now it was pale blue and had a slight sparkle to it that looked like flakes of ice had been trapped right under the surface. His long, white hair was the same, and then it wasn’t.
The waist-length, white strands were there, but as the wind caught the tresses, snow fell to the ground, almost as if he had walked in from a storm and was shaking the snow away to get warm; except he wasn’t warmth anymore. The man before me would never see warmth again.
When I was finally able to find the words, I stepped toward my grandfather and tried to summon the smart-mouthed self that was usually me. The lump in my throat was making it hard.
“Hello, Grandfather,” I managed to croak, in between the shivers and tears that wanted to fall. “This is a new look.”
FaeVar slid off his horse and raised a hand in the air. The contingency of guards surrounding him brought their steeds to a halt. “I feared what I would find when I reached you,” he said as he drew me into his arms.
“You’re warm,” I said against the fur lined collar of his black leather coat. “I wasn’t expecting warmth.”
My grandfather chuckled and grabbed me by the shoulder, holding me to look into my eyes. “I will always be warm to my ilk. My own are free from the chill that my body gives off.”
“Yeah, about that,” I started, “Why? Fazion told me you could have lived in Avalon without claiming the Winter King's throne. He said no one had claimed that right since Methuselah. Why would you do this to yourself?”
FaeVar ran a finger down the side of my face and frowned. “I’m surprised you have to ask, Granddaughter. You are precious to me. I had to claim the mantle to assure myself the power that I would need to stop the Harbinger, and make the Seelie pay for their treachery.”
I took a step back and shook my head. “Don’t use me as an excuse to give yourself a reason to start a war, Grandfather--especially when the Seelie and UnSeelie have just found some type of peace. Or have you forgotten that my wife is a Tuatha Princess?”
“Princess Irulan is never without a home in the FaeLands. Your union ensures that,” he answered, like that made everything he was prepared to do, right.
“That’s not good enough,” I countered. “What about my home?” I turned and pointed to the dismal, frozen scene laying on the other side of the doorway. “The people of Tir Nam Beo aren't equipped to handle that type of cold. People are freezing to death, like that,” I protested, snapping my fingers. “Good men fought by my side to keep our family safe, and now they are dead.”
My grandfather looked at me like I’d suddenly grown another head. “If they fought with you, then it was their honor to die defending a Fomori Princess. I don't fail to understand what you find wrong with that.”
I could see I was getting nowhere. The only thing left to try, was outright begging. “You’ve got to close the door, Grandfather. Charlotte is going to look like Antarctica if you don't. Hundreds of humans would be dead if we hadn’t evacuated the area.”
FaeVar turned toward his men and promptly laughed. The old fucker laughed at me. “One of my own is worth the lives of a thousand mortals. What do I care if they can't handle the cold? Let them get a coat.”
It's funny how sometimes family will make you want to choke them, faster than a stranger will. Because the guy was my grandfather, I tried asking nicely, but my patience was wearing thin. “Your actions can be seen by the human authorities as an act of war,” I spat, no longer able to keep the frustration out of my voice. “You don’t have to live here. What you’re doing is going to make the lives of hund
reds of thousands of Extras, a living hell.”
FaeVar rolled his shoulders and took my hands into his own. “That’s where you’re wrong Valeria. You don’t have to live in that empty place. The mortal realm lost everything that made it unique, eons ago and it’s been dying ever since. I can give them a hasty death instead of the meandering end that awaits them. And you and your family-my children, can return to the home that is rightfully yours.”
That’s when everything clicked. The Harbinger was called by both two Light and Dark Kings, but before Kent even learned of his lower kings actions, FaeVar had already judged the kings under his rule and placed two of his sons, on the suddenly vacant thrones. It happened too fast. How could he have judged two kings, found their replacements, and declared war on the Light Court in such a short amount of time? He wouldn’t have, unless he had beforehand knowledge.
“You knew what those kings were planning,” I said, as I pulled away from my great-great-grandfather. I slipped on the frozen ground and fell to one knee. “You could have stopped them before any of this happened. You let those kings set those bitches loose on my family and for what? To try and talk us into a change of location?”
No, he would have brought that notion to us, personally. He wanted a reason to declare war, to take control of a power that he had no business wielding. My mind replayed our first encounter and, his eagerness to bring battle to the Tuatha De Danann. He needed an excuse to cry foul and I’ll be damned if I didn’t almost give him one, twice.
I pushed myself farther away from him and looked back toward the doorway that led home. Everyone was there watching the scene between me and FaeVar play itself out. I zeroed in on Fazion and saw that the Tuatha king had a smug, satisfied look, plastered to his face. He was waiting for his opportunity to say, ‘I told you so’. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of proving that all the things he’d said about the Dark Court were true. What would that make me and my family?
“Tell me that I’m wrong,” I pleaded with my grandfather, wishing like hell that this was one of the times that I was. I would have given anything to write this off as one of my ‘open smart-ass-mouth, and insert foot moments’. “You can’t tell a lie,” I reasoned and pointed toward the doorway, “So right now; you tell me that I’m wrong. Tell me that I’m wrong and they’ll have to believe you.” My voice faltered, but I refused to cry. “You can’t be the monster that Fazion says you are.”
I looked up into my grandfather’s eyes and waited for him to deny my accusations. He had to deny them, because otherwise it would break my heart to find out that he was ultimately responsible for such pain and destruction. I’d been back to the FaeLands numerous times since finding out the truth about my heritage. I’d spent hours getting to know FaeVar. Or rather I thought that I knew him.
His silence proved that I didn’t know him at all. “Make ready to return to Avalon,” he called out to his men. “The Harbinger is no more. My children are safe. I have no reason to enter Tir Nam Beo.”
I sat there on the cold ground until my grandfather pulled me up and into his arms. “Living in the Mortal Realm may have saved your life, but it’s made you weak, Valeria.”
I stiffened and shook my head. “If you believe that than I feel even sorrier for you than I did a minute ago,” I answered. I allowed myself a few more moments in his arms before stepping away from him. “I’ve quickly grown to love you, Grandfather, and I can’t turn my emotions off like a light switch, but after today it will be awhile before I can bring myself to see you again. What you did is almost unforgivable.”
He nodded as if he knew what I was going to say. “You believe that now, Granddaughter, but as the Fomori in you gets stronger, you’ll begin to understand the choices I made.”
He turned and began to make his way back to his entourage. “Tell everyone that I expect to see you all at Mikilos’s coronation. I’ll send a messenger with the official invitation. Tuatha, remember your word.”
As I stood there watching him leave, I felt fingers slipping into my own and knew that it was Irulan. I squeezed her hand and pulled her closer. Together we watched the Winter King gallop away. “Tell me he’s not right,” I whispered, after a few seconds. “I could never be that callous and cold hearted.”
“I don’t know,” Irulan replied. “When FaeVar took the Mantel it changed him, made the darkness inside him even harder. He sees things differently now.” She paused, and gave my hand another slight squeeze before continuing. “Those changes aren’t limited to him, but rather his entire bloodline.”
“What?” The bottom fell out of my already shaky stomach, and I twisted my head so I could look her in the eyes. Instead of the assurances that I was expecting, she’d dropped another bomb. “Do you mean?”
“I mean he could be right. I don’t know,” she said, cutting me off before my imagination could get the better of me. “But you’re different; you, Anya, the boys…you’re a vampire first, Val. I need you to remember that.”
She sounded like my father. “What if I start to forget?”
“Then I’ll be here to remind you.” She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and leaned forward to press a kiss to my forehead. “Now come on. The doorway is beginning to close and I’m freezing my faerie ass off.”
We turned to leave and I saw Fazion through the doorway. He was standing behind Valerian, and he looked…off somehow. “Ire, what’s going on with your cousin?”
She took my hand as we walked, frowning when she noticed the same thing I did. “I don’t know. He should be happy. We stopped the Harbinger and he kept his word to Uncle-no!” Irulan dropped my hand and began running for the doorway. “Fazion, don’t do it! I know what he wants! Don’t force this on them!”
I took off after her. As I got closer I could see Stryfe and two Manticores standing next to Tamerlane and Constantine. They were undoing the bracers that protected their arms, exposing their wrist. Shit! They were going to force Sidhe blood onto my brothers, triggering the same transformation that I endured.
Vedo picked up my thoughts and spun around to stop Fazion but he was too slow. The conniving prince shoved his bleeding arm into Vedo’s mouth, and pushed him to the ground. I ran toward them, but the Manticores were waiting. They threw out their arms, trapping everyone that wasn’t with their king, in a barrier.
“You’ll pay for this! Do you hear me?!” I screamed as I kicked and punched at the invisible wall to no avail.
“How could you, Faze?” Irulan whispered. I could hear the heartbreak in her voice. “They’re my family, too. Why?”
“I can’t hope to match the Winter King’s power, so I do what I must to ensure the Tuatha continue to thrive,” he answered. “I’ve just paid for a thousand years of peace with my own blood.” He pulled his arm away from Valerian and let my brother fall to the ground. “You should be proud of me, Sister. I’m finally learning to put the people first.”
Stryfe and the other Manticore did the same with Tam and Tino, stepping away from them as they fell to their knees, mouths coated with Sidhe blood. Fazion waltzed toward us, heading for the fading doorway. “Thank you for gathering most of FaeVar’s ilk in one place. That made it so much easier for my Manticores to find them.”
“What?” I didn’t believe what I was hearing.
“I’ll tell the old man that he should expect the lot of you in what…a week, maybe?
“I’m going to kill you for this,” I hissed as he walked by.
“Highly unlikely,” he chuckled. “Irulan loves me, and she could never let you kill someone she loves. I think she’s proven that on more than one occasion.”
The instant they walked through the doorway it blinked away, along with the shield. I flashed to Valerian, dropping to my knees. “Are you okay?”
“For now, I guess. I’ll let you know when I’m not. Go check on them,” he pointed to our brothers.
I flashed to Tam and Tino, holding out hands for both of them. “We need to get to the complex and ch
eck on Mother,” Tam grunted as he shoved my hand away. He climbed to his feet, wiping away the blood that clung to his lips.
“She should be fine,” Irulan said. “No worse for wear than the three of you. But call to make sure.”
Valerian already head his cell pressed to his ear. Despite the commotion in the background, we heard every word that left our mother’s lips. Manticores appeared out of nowhere and rushed everyone that was a descendant of Fae. My mother, grandmother, and uncles were all force-fed Sidhe blood, and then the Manticores disappeared through a doorway that shouldn't have existed.
Gavin and Theodore had already checked with their children and it was the same. Armored Fae, no doubt Manticores, attacked them, only to force their blood upon them and leave.
“Why?” Tam asked her. “What was the point of all this?”
“You didn’t hear what FaeVar said?” I asked.
“We only had visual, no sound. Ire said it was a faerie thing,” Constantine said. “Now answer, Tam. Why would he do this?”
“Apparently assuming the Mantel of the Winter King is more of family operation, than a solo career. His transformation affects his entire line.” I turned and looked back at the space where the doorway was. “He wants us, everyone with his blood coursing through their veins, and now we’ve got no choice but to give in.”
Valerian shoved his hands into his pockets and sighed. “Fazion said we have three days. Is that right?”
“More or less, you’ll be fine for a few days and then the cramps will start. As soon as I got the cramps I started to fade.”
“And if that happens?”
“More Sidhe blood will stave off the transformation for a short time, but it’s like Val said. You’ve got to go. Without FaeVar’s blood, you’ll die,” Ire pitched in.
Tamerlane sighed and ran his fingers though his braids. “Well, looks like we’re taking a family vacation. Tell me, Val, what does one wear to the FaeLands at this time of the year?”
Black Moon Rising (DarkLife Saga) Page 28
