Autumn Whispers (An Otherworld Novel)

by Galenorn, Yasmine

  Court and Crown: “Crown” refers to the Queen of Y’Elestrial. “Court” refers to the nobility and military personnel that surround the Queen. “Court and Crown” together refer to the entire government of Y’Elestrial.

  Court of the Three Queens: The newly risen Court of the three Earthside Fae Queens: Titania, the Fae Queen of Light and Morning; Morgaine, the half-Fae Queen of Dusk and Twilight; and Aeval, the Fae Queen of Shadow and Night.

  Crypto: One of the Cryptozoid races. Cryptos include creatures out of legend that are not technically of the Fae races: gargoyles, unicorns, gryphons, chimeras, and so on. Most primarily inhabit Otherworld, but some have Earthside cousins.

  Demon Gate: A gate through which demons may be summoned by a powerful sorcerer or necromancer.

  Dreyerie: A dragon lair.

  Earthside: Everything that exists on the Earth side of the portals.

  Elemental Lords: The elemental beings—both male and female—who, along with the Hags of Fate and the Harvestmen, are the only true Immortals. They are avatars of various elements and energies, and they inhabit all realms. They do as they will and seldom concern themselves with humankind or Fae unless summoned. If asked for help, they often exact steep prices in return. The Elemental Lords are not concerned with balance like the Hags of Fate.

  Elqaneve: The court city of Kelvashan—the Elfin lands in Otherworld.

  FBH: Full-Blooded Human (usually refers to Earthside humans).

  FH-CSI: The Faerie-Human Crime Scene Investigation team. The brainchild of Detective Chase Johnson, it was first formed as a collaboration between the OIA and the Seattle police department. Other FH-CSI units have been created around the country, based on the Seattle prototype. The FH-CSI takes care of both medical and criminal emergencies involving visitors from Otherworld.

  Great Divide: A time of immense turmoil when the Elemental Lords and some of the High Court of Fae decided to rip apart the worlds. Until then, the Fae existed primarily on Earth, their lives and worlds mingling with those of humans. The Great Divide tore everything asunder, splitting off another dimension, which became Otherworld. At that time, the Twin Courts of Fae were disbanded and their queens stripped of power. This was the time during which the Spirit Seal was formed and broken in order to seal off the realms from each other. Some Fae chose to stay Earthside, others moved to the realm of Otherworld, and the demons were—for the most part—sealed in the Subterranean Realms.

  Guard Des’Estar: The military of Y’Elestrial.

  Hags of Fates: The women of destiny who keep the balance righted. Neither good nor evil, they observe the flow of destiny. When events get too far out of balance, they step in and take action, usually using humans, Fae, Supes, and other creatures as pawns to bring the path of destiny back into line.

  Harvestmen: The lords of death—a few cross over and are also Elemental Lords. The Harvestmen, along with their followers (the Valkyries and the Death Maidens, for example), reap the souls of the dead.

  Haseofon: The abode of the Death Maidens—where they stay and where they train.

  Ionyc Lands: The astral, etheric, and spirit realms, along with several other lesser-known noncorporeal dimensions, form the Ionyc Lands. These realms are separated by the Ionyc Seas, a current of energy that prevents the Ionyc Lands from colliding, thereby sparking off an explosion of universal proportions.

  Ionyc Seas: The currents of energy that separate the Ionyc Lands. Certain creatures, especially those connected with the elemental energies of ice, snow, and wind, can travel through the Ionyc Seas without protection.

  Koyanni: The coyote shifters who took an evil path away from the Great Coyote; followers of Nukpana.

  Melosealfôr: A rare Crypto dialect learned by powerful Cryptos and all Moon Witches.

  The Nectar of Life: An elixir that can extend the life span of humans to nearly the length of a Fae’s years. Highly prized and cautiously used. Can drive someone insane if he or she doesn’t have the emotional capacity to handle the changes incurred.

  Oblition: The name for the act in which a Death Maiden consigns a soul to oblivion.

  OIA: The Otherworld Intelligence Agency; the “brains” behind the Guard Des’Estar.

  Otherworld/OW: The human term for the “United Nations” of Faerie Land. A dimension apart from ours that contains creatures from legend and lore, pathways to the gods, and various other places, such as Olympus. Otherworld’s actual name varies among the differing dialects of the many races of Cryptos and Fae.

  Portal, Portals: The interdimensional gates that connect the different realms. Some were created during the Great Divide; others open up randomly.

  Seattle Vampire Nexus: The group now overseeing most of the vampire activities in the Seattle and surrounding areas. Run by Lord Roman, son of the vampire queen Blood Wyne, the SVN now oversees Vampires Anonymous.

  Seelie Court: The Earthside Fae Court of Light and Summer, disbanded during the Great Divide. Titania was the Seelie Queen.

  Soul Statues: In Otherworld, small figurines created for the Fae of certain races and magically linked with the baby. These figurines reside in family shrines and when one of the Fae dies, their soul statue shatters. In Menolly’s case, when she was reborn as a vampire, her soul statue re-formed, although twisted. If a family member disappears, his or her family can always tell if their loved one is alive or dead if they have access to the soul statue.

  Spirit Seals: A magical crystal artifact, the Spirit Seal was created during the Great Divide. When the portals were sealed, the Spirit Seal was broken into nine gems and each piece was given to an Elemental Lord or Lady. These gems each have varying powers. Even possessing one of the spirit seals can allow the wielder to weaken the portals that divide Otherworld, Earthside, and the Subterranean Realms. If the all of the seals are joined together again, then all of the portals will open.

  Stradolan: A being who can walk between worlds, who can walk through the shadows, using them as a method of transportation.

  Supe/Supes: Short for Supernaturals. Refers to Earthside supernatural beings who are not of Fae nature. Refers to Weres, especially.

  Talamh Lonrach Oll: The name for the Earthside Sovereign Fae Nation.

  Triple Threat: Camille’s nickname for the newly risen three Earthside Queens of Fae.

  Unseelie Court: The Earthside Fae Court of Shadow and Winter, disbanded during the Great Divide. Aeval was the Unseelie Queen.

  VA/Vampires Anonymous: The Earthside group started by Wade Stevens, a vampire who was a psychiatrist during life. The group is focused on helping newly born vampires adjust to their new state of existence, and to encourage vampires to avoid harming the innocent as much as possible. The VA is vying for control. Their goal is to rule the vampires of the United States and to set up an internal policing agency.

  Whispering Mirror: A magical communications device that links Otherworld and Earth. Think magical video phone.

  Y’Eírialiastar: The Sidhe/Fae name for Otherworld.

  Y’Elestrial: The city-state in Otherworld where the D’Artigo girls were born and raised. A Fae city, recently embroiled in a civil war between the drug-crazed tyrannical Queen Lethesanar and her more level-headed sister Tanaquar, who managed to claim the throne for herself. The civil war has ended and Tanaquar is restoring order to the land.

  Youkai: Loosely (very loosely) translated as Japanese demon/nature spirit. For the purposes of this series, the youkai have three shapes: the animal, the human form, and the true demon form. Unlike the demons of the Subterranean Realms, youkai are not necessarily evil by nature.

  PLAYLIST FOR AUTUMN WHISPERS

  I write to music a good share of the time, and so I always put my playlists in the back of each book so you can see which artists/songs I listened to during the writing. Here’s the playlist for Autumn Whispers:

  A.J. Roach: “Devil May Dance”

  Adele: “Rumour Has It”

  Air: “Napalm Love; Playground Love”

  Al Stewart: �
��Life in Dark Water”

  Alice Cooper: “Welcome to My Nightmare”

  Android Lust: “Saint Over,” “God in the Hole,” “In the Arms of the Heretic,” “Here and Now,” “When the Rains Came,” “Vereor,” “I Need to Know”

  Asteroids Galaxy Tour: “Lady Jesus,” The Sun Ain’t Shining No More,” “Sunshine Coolin’”

  Awolnation: “Sail”

  Beck: “Que Onda Guero,” “Hell Yes,” “Black Tambourine,” “Elevator Music”

  Black Mountain: “Angels”

  Blue Oyster Cult: “The Reaper”

  The Bravery: “Believe”

  Broken Bells: “The High Road,” “Your Head Is On Fire,” “The Ghost Inside,” “October”

  Cream: “Sunshine of Your Love”

  Creedence Clearwater Revival: “Run Through the Jungle”

  David Bowie: “Golden Years,” “I’m Afraid of Americans,” “Without You”

  Dizzi: “Dizzi Jig”

  Don Henley: “Dirty Laundry”

  Dragon Ritual Drummers: “The Fall”

  Eastern Sun: “Beautiful Being”

  Eels: “Souljacker Part 1”

  Everlast: “Black Jesus,” “Ends,” “What It’s Like”

  Foster the People: “Pumped Up Kicks”

  Gary Numan: “Petals,” “Sleep By Windows,” “Hunger,” “I Can’t Stop,” “My Dying Machine”

  Gorillaz: “Kids With Guns,” “Clint Eastwood,” “Feel Good, Inc.,” “Stylo”

  Gotye: “Somebody That I Used To Know”

  Hanni El Khatib: “Come Alive”

  Heart: “Magic Man”

  Julian Cope: “Charlotte Anne”

  Lady Gaga: “Paparazzi,” “Born This Way,” “Teeth”

  Ladytron: “Black Cat,” “Predict the Day”

  Leonard Cohen: “I’m Your Man”

  Lindstøm and Christabelle: “Lovesick”

  Lou Reed: “Walk On the Wild Side”

  Mark Lanegan: “Bleeding Muddy Water,” “Riot In My House,” “Phantasmagoria Blues,” “Wedding Dress, “Methamphetamine Blues,” “Like Little Willie John,” “Riding the Nightingale,” “Miracle”

  Neil Young: “Cinnamon Girl”

  Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds: “Red Right Hand”

  Nirvana: “Come As You Are,” “Lake of Fire”

  Offspring: “Come Out and Play”

  Pearl Jam: “Jeremy”

  Radiohead: “Creep”

  Screaming Trees: “All I Know,” “Dime Western”

  Soundgarden: “Superunknown”

  Suzanne Vega: “99.9F,” “Blood Makes Noise,” “In My Movie,” “Solitude Standing,” “Straight Lines”

  Talking Heads: “Burning Down the House,” “Life During Wartime,” “Take Me to the River,” “Girlfriend Is Better”

  Tangerine Dream: “Grind,” “Burning Bar,” “Dr. Destructo,” “Gaudi Park,” “Three Bikes in the Sky”

  U2: “Elevation,” “Vertigo”

  Zero 7: “In the Waiting Line”

  Dear Reader:

  I truly hope you enjoyed Autumn Whispers, book fourteen of the Otherworld Series. I love writing this world, it develops and grows with each book, and I see so many possibilities ahead for the D’Artigo sisters. This book expanded the war to a huge degree, and much of what was started here will play out over the next several books in the series. The next book in this series will be Crimson Veil, book fifteen, coming February 2014. And so, I’m including the first chapter here, to give you a taste of what’s coming up for Menolly and her sisters.

  For those of you new to my books, I hope you’ve enjoyed your first foray into my worlds. For those of you who have followed me for a while, I want to thank you for once again revisiting the world of Camille, Menolly, and Delilah.

  Bright Blessings,

  The Painted Panther

  Yasmine Galenorn

  The sky was clear for once, though rain was forecast before morning. The moon glimmered, her faint sliver shining down over the cemetery. Soon she would be new, dark, and hiding her face. A steady flurry of gusts rocked the trees, the silhouettes of their boughs shaking like tall sentinels sounding the alarm. It was the perfect night for a funeral. A funeral none of us wanted to be at.

  We were gathered at the Seryph Point Cemetery, around the open grave. A small group we were, not many there to send off our friend to the afterlife. There was me, Menolly, and my wife, Nerissa. My sisters Camille and Delilah stood beside us. Derrick Means was there—my bartender. And Tavah, Digger, and Kendra—all from the Wayfarer. Chase had joined us, as did Mallen. We had asked our men to stay home, to watch over the house. As I said, we were just a small group, but everyone here had cared, everyone was here because they wanted to be.

  Chrysandra’s casket rested in front of us, over the grave on the lowering device. Her body would fade back to the earth, even as we consigned her soul to the long nights of eternity. At the service—which we’d held in our house—Morio and Shade had worked their magic to seal her body in her grave. Nothing save the most powerful necromancer could ever raise Chrysandra’s remains. She’d be free from the threat of being turned to a zombie. She’d never come back as one of the undead. Her soul was long gone and her body would be free to undergo its natural breakdown, undisturbed from the machinations of sorcery.

  We had said our good-byes at the house. We had bid her farewell. Now we were here simply to stand witness to the final act. To the last chapter in our friend’s life. Chrysandra Reece had been a waitress at the Wayfarer since I first came Earthside. She’d stayed on as I moved from bartender to owner. She’d helped me out, done her job and then some. But Chrysandra had been a private person. We still knew nothing of her family. It was like she’d left every trace of her past behind her, put it in a safe box and buried it somewhere to keep it hidden. Even now, in death, all we had left of her were these—her mortal remains.

  I’d gone through her effects, helped Chase clear out her apartment after the fire that had destroyed my bar and the lives of eight people caught in the flames, including Chrysandra. We’d torn the place apart, but there had been nothing to indicate that she’d had any life before she first came to the bar. I was beginning to suspect she’d been in the Witness Protection Program, but if so, they seem to have left her unsupervised. Whatever the case, Chrysandra had died as she had lived—a private person, a loyal employee, and a woman I considered my friend.

  As Gage, the funeral tech, lowered the casket into the ground, I closed my eyes. I’d cried myself out. I’d cried when I realized she was dying, in such horrible pain that she couldn’t even scream at the hospital. I’d cried as I sucked the life out of her burned and crisped body, ending that pain. And I’d cried till my bloody tears left irremovable stains on my sheets. Now, the tears were gone, and I just wanted to find the arsonist responsible for Chrysandra’s death, and the deaths of the others who had perished in the flames.

  Gage glanced at me. He might as well be nameless and faceless, for all I knew him, though I knew he was a werewolf. He worked for the funeral home where we’d made Chrysandra’s arrangements. We’d limited our transactions with them to buying her casket and paying for her care. She had told me once she wanted to be buried in a simple pine box, unprotected from the elements. She didn’t want her body to outlast time. So we’d ordered a hand-carved coffin that was untreated, that would give her up to the earth as it broke down. We’d arranged for Gage to be there, to lower the casket, but we’d taken care of the service ourselves. The funeral director was a Supe, and he understood. He didn’t try to push us into buying an armored casket that would last forever.

  Silence hung heavy, like fog soup, as we watched the casket descend into the waiting grave. Delilah and Nerissa tossed roses on it. Derrick stared straight ahead, trying not to let anything crack his gruff demeanor, but I knew the werebadger was taking it hard. He and Chrysandra had gotten on, and I suspected they’d been on their way to a romance.


  Tavah and Digger might be vampires, but they had also been friends, and now watched the proceedings bleakly. Camille stepped forward and gave me a nod. I took hold of her hand as we recited our prayer for the dead.