AFFINITY

by Viola Grace

  Affinity

  Book Two of the Half-Blood Club

  By

  Viola Grace

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Affinity - Book 2 of the Half-blood Club series.

  Copyright © 2007 Viola Grace

  SERIES ISBN: 1-55410-776-8

  Cover art by Martine Jardin

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by eXtasy Books

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  To anyone with a close group of friends. You know, the ones that you can see every week or once a year, and it is like you were never apart.

  Prologue

  Moonlit skin writhed on the silken sheets. The couple on the bed had been twisted together for hours, their magic swirling in the air around them in a wild cloud.

  His lips caressed her throat while his hips worked in a steady beat. He groaned his release against her ivory flesh as his body shuddered in completion. Councilor Wyx fell to the side of his companion and closed his eyes as he struggled to regain his breath.

  “So my granddaughter will be tested by the council?” Isowyn fixed her gaze on her companion and arched one brow. Sweat ran down her sides and coated her willowy limbs with a fine sheen that made her glow in the darkness. Her silvery hair was tucked behind one delicately pointed ear.

  “Yes my dear Isowyn, at the next full moon your granddaughter will be brought before the council.” He opened his golden eyes and met her steady gaze. “You do realize however that I am not guaranteeing her passing the tests, only that they will be administered.”

  “I understand that, Wyx, but I need her to have this chance. She is all that I have, and there is no guarantee that Erak will ever reproduce again.” She brought her lips down to meet his and in a few seconds of dueling her tongue with his he moved to cover her once again.

  “A pleasure doing business with you, Isowyn.” His hips rocked forward and his turgid member slid home once again.

  She arched her back, welcoming her fey lover. This was what her kind did best. Those of the faerie were very good at sex—after all, they had plenty of time to practice.

  Her granddaughter needed to know the pleasures of her own kind.

  Chapter One

  “Okay Gran. How is this outfit?” Esmerelda Hawks pivoted in front of the mirror, her aqua silk dress flaring out at the hem, then drifting to gently caress her legs once again. The scooped neck showed a hint of her impressive cleavage, but the long flowing sleeves gave the dress a demure cast. She knew her grandmother would hate it.

  “Don’t you have anything that shows more skin?” Isowyn’s voice came through the mirror. She was always a little exasperated by her granddaughter’s choice of clothing. She prided herself on being in the height of fashion at all times. Esmerelda’s fashion sense had never ceased to cause her despair. It showed every time that they were together and she tried to convince Esmy to let her buy her some new outfits.

  Esmy rolled her eyes at her reflection. “Gran, it doesn’t matter what I wear. These tests are only to confirm that I have the talents of a fey, remember?”

  It was amazing that a voice that was reminiscent of chiming bells could be so condescending. “It always matters what you wear in the courts and clan functions. You know how appearance fixated the fey are. You have enough of a disadvantage being born to a human without looking too much like one.” It was another of her disappointments that Esmy hadn’t taken after her father’s golden good looks. As far as she was aware, Esmerelda had ended up on the human side of the coin toss.

  “No kidding,” Esmy muttered under her breath. Then louder, “Gran, I just wanted to warn you, I am going to drop the glamour as soon as I get into the council hall. I look a little different than I did the last time you saw me.”

  “Nonsense, I am looking at you right now. You look like your mother, but you have your father’s complexion.” Isowyn was impatient now. “I will see you in precisely three hours. Don’t be late.”

  As the mirror flared and then stilled, Esmy sighed. Her grandmother had not seen her true face since she had learned to disguise it. That had been over twenty years ago. She had overlaid her more delicate features with a slightly sturdier, more human version. She downplayed her height and flattened out her figure with the aid of magic.

  The glamour she learned to use let her run and play with other children from the age of seven. No one could tell that her lineage was not completely human unless she let them see the real her. As her power grew she took on the task of cloaking her friends in the half-blood club, a group of women which George had assembled after they all met at a county fair. Each of the others had a reason similar to hers for wanting to blend in.

  George wanted to choose, not be chosen. As a dragon of impressive strength, she was a desirable mate for any of the males in the clans and councils. Her mother’s choice had been to hide her daughter from the notice of the dragon council.

  Arabel had mated while in dragon form, then laid an egg. When the egg hatched forty years later, Graylin—George—had been born fully grown with all of her mother’s knowledge. Her father did not even know she existed and Arabel had no intention that he ever know. His position in the High Council of Realm would make her daughter a prize for any of the shape shifters of the dragon clan.

  Though George was physically an adult, she was emotionally immature when they met and the girls had formed an instant bond. This was in part because, even though George was only fifteen years out of the egg, she could drive. It opened the boundaries for travel, shopping, and mischief for the club.

  In contrast, Jinx was relatively free of obligation. Her mother, Emily, was born to a werewolf clan, but left when she was eighteen to join the mundane world. As a beta female, she had the enhanced senses, but was unable to shift her form to that of a wolf. Her rank in the clan was a low beta, so no one challenged her decision to leave. She took a job working in a bar as a waitress and fell in love with the bartender. Two years later her daughter was born. Emily’s clan had no interest in the half-breed child and aside from inviting Emily alone to the annual events and meetings they had no further contact with the family.

  Melissande—Jinx—developed her peculiar talent at the age of ten. She could write spells. New spells. Spells that no one had even conceived of before.

  She was an archive. All magical knowledge was hers. The trick was that she could not use it herself. She could only write the spells that her friends requested, or the ones that were dictated by the moment.

  Jinx had needed to hide strictly because of what she was, not who. Having her as a clan or council member would instantly give any clan an advantage over the others. Her ability to create new spells—never before recorded—was one that occurred every thousand years. The last Archive was locked in a room by the Magus Guild and forced to create new spells on command.

  Jinx did not want to end up that way.

  Hex was helping Jinx. She provided her with wards on all of her properties and her car. Hex was an extremely
powerful witch, born to a mother who had minor talents in healing and a father who had been destined to rule his clan until he met Isobel. When Isobel turned up pregnant, Sirus left his clan to marry her. His arranged marriage was cancelled and he was disowned by the rest of the Marlin family. When Izzy Junior was born, he was ecstatic. His little darling was the jewel of his existence. When she began to display hints of magical talent, he took it upon himself to teach her everything he knew. Soon she eclipsed her teacher.

  When Hookey met her at a fair, they formed an immediate friendship, giggling and making up names that would not trigger any listeners from either the fairy or warlock councils. This let them discuss magic freely.

  Esmy smiled as she thought about her friends. Hex was based on the German word for witch, Jinx because her luck seemed to be destined to be bad, with men, magic and any government paperwork she happened to touch. She had been audited more times than anyone Esmy had ever known. George had gotten her name from the tale of Saint George and the Dragon. They had all had a good laugh at the tale, as the true history of the encounter had been somewhat skewed. The dragon had been female, and George had definitely not been a saint. Enough said.

  Hex had christened her Hookey the time that the boys from the local high school had begun to flirt with them and Esmy had used her glamour to turn invisible. The boys had been startled, to say the least. Hex ended up using a memory spell that Jinx had written for just such an occasion, sending the boys on their way.

  Esmy sighed again. Watching herself in the mirror was causing melancholy. Everything ended. Even the closed-in, tight knit group of friends. They would no longer be in a bubble alone, hidden from the outside world. They would be open, exposed and vulnerable, and it was all her fault. Shaking her head, she checked her watch. Two hours and forty five minutes to go. She had better be on her way.

  She got into her car, a sensible navy sedan that made her grandmother cringe. Seatbelt in place, she began the two hour drive to the Realm High Council Hall.

  Two hours and fifteen minutes later, she sat in the parking lot of the High Realm Magical Council. After turning down what most would see as a dead end lane, she was through the quicksilver portal and in Realm. It was an alternate dimension used for centuries to hide the more exotic magical species and those who had to flee persecution in their homes. Different species had different means of arriving in Realm. Some used mirrors and Esmy could as well, if she so chose. But she preferred to drive. It took longer and helped her to steady her nerves.

  Only thirty minutes until the moment when she dropped the glamour. She really hoped that her friends were somewhere safe when it happened.

  Chapter Two

  She dawdled in the courtyard as long as she could, trying to still her shaking hands. When she could delay no longer, she walked into the Fey hall and met her grandmother.Her dress billowed and swirled around her in the magical currents that filled the hall. It was a wild and frantic pulse in her veins. Gooseflesh broke out on her arms and legs as her personal magic tried to fight the invasive touch. It really didn’t like the touch of the strange magic and she had to fight to control the urge to turn and run. Or burst into magical flame, whatever.

  One of the most fantastic and graceful of creatures ever created bore down on her and embraced her.

  “You’re right on time, Sweetie. The council is just convening now. Are you ready?” Isowyn was stunning in a deeply cut midnight gown that left nothing to the imagination. Her silvery hair flowed down her back in a metallic wave. Every inch the elven lady, she was the picture of supernatural grace and breeding. Her eyes were warm as she looked over her human-seeming granddaughter though—she genuinely wanted full rights and acknowledgements for Esmerelda.

  “Yes, I’m ready.” With a deep breath, she dropped the glamour that she had held for the last twenty years and walked into the council hall. Isowyn’s gasp followed her back as she strode to meet her fate. She felt a frisson of guilt for deceiving her grandmother all these years, but it had been for her own benefit. The elves would have claimed her and her talents if she had been visible earlier.

  The walls of the council hall seem to flutter in reaction to her power. The delicate stone lattice-work and carved flowers moved as if in a summer breeze. The architecture was a crowning achievement for a species that had a short attention span.

  All eyes turned to her as she walked down the center path cleared by the gathered assembly. At the far end of the hall was the triumvirate that she was about to face. Jaws dropped as she glided up the pathway and stopped in front of the councilors.

  “Esmerelda Hawks?” Councilor Wyx was astonished at the appearance of the woman in front of him. Her features were all fey. She did not match the description that Isowyn had given him, but with her puzzled grandmother trailing behind her, there was no one else she could be. Waves of midnight hair rippled in a magical current, her delicately pointed ears alternately revealed and concealed. Her glowing pearl skin framed the cat-like emerald eyes that almost seemed too large for her features. Her lips were pure human though, full and pouty, drawing every masculine eye in the room.

  She drew up her shoulders, looked him straight in the eye and answered him. “Yes. I am Esmerelda Hawks, daughter of Erak Elsmeth. As my grandmother, Isowyn Elsmeth has arranged, I am here to be tested by the fey council.” She curtsied deeply to the one male and two females sitting at the council table.

  Esmy assumed from the intent way they were looking at her, that they were the ones about to take her magic apart. She wondered how they were going to deal with her special talent when it came up in the process.

  A murmur of interest behind her reminded her that it wasn’t a private matter and she sighed in resignation. The audience in the chamber was a nuisance, but they would move back once the fireworks began.

  The male who seemed to be the spokesperson of the council finally made the introductions. Most likely, he was the elf that her grandmother had seduced to get this hearing. “Yes, of course. I am Councilor Wyx, this is Councilor Madeel and to my left is Councilor Treyla. Treyla will be conducting your tests. Are you ready to proceed?”

  “I am.” Her gem green eyes were solemn in her pearlescent skin. This was not going to be pleasant. Trelya looked far to cheerful for this solemn testing.

  Looking curious, yet condescending Wyx announced, “Councilor Treyla, will you please begin?”

  “Of course. Esmerelda, will you please step forward?” The councilor rose from her seat at the table and brought a number of instruments out of a rosewood box that was on a podium behind her chair.

  As the first test for her power level began she took a deep breath and co-operated, slowly. It would only extend the testing process and give her a few more precious moments until her special talent was exposed. She jumped through every hoop they gave her. Literal and figurative, several of the tests involved illusions inside circles.

  By the end of the testing, Esmy was sweating. Magic was swirling loose in the room, sparking against the walls and bouncing onto the floors. The magic returned to Esmerelda when it had finished its rounds, then started its journey again. She shivered to the bone with each returning pulse of energy. Her magic was mixing with that of the fey in the room and returning to her supercharged. It was actually almost arousing, which wasn‘t all that surprising as the bulk of her magic was sexual in nature.

  Greenery was springing up inside the hallways, wrapping around tables and writhing over chairs. The building was delighted to have her magic within it and had begun to hum with the power.

  Spectators from the fey community had gathered in the gallery surrounding the hall. As her magic was taken through its paces, they oooohed, and aahed, clapped and whistled. Apparently entertainment was in short supply. When it was all over, the councilors drew together and consulted for a few minutes. Wyx darted speculative glances at her while Treyla discussed her findings about Esmy’s particular branch of talent.

  She could only make out a few words here and t
here, but she thought she heard Wyx ask if Treyla was sure about the affinity. Affinity…huh. That would explain what happened when she got too close to a fey guy. Or any guy really.

  “Esmerelda. Would you object to a test of Treyla’s findings?” There was an unwholesome look in his eyes. This was too creepy. She had seen that look in human eyes before, but it wasn’t that…hungry. He had obviously heard of her talent before, and was looking forward to testing it. Since this talent didn’t pop up frequently in magical circles, he wanted to try her himself. Definitely creepy.

  Her mind dredged up her basic self-defense classes as he approached. “No, but I would like you to remember that this is only a demonstration. Nothing further will occur.” Her voice was firm. She gestured for Wyx to come closer.

  As he moved closer, Esmy felt the change coming on. Her eyes were lightening and her breasts were shrinking in size until they were pert B cups. Her skin took on a golden tone and her hair began to ripple and twist into a shining green cape. She was turning into his fantasy woman right before his eyes, and his eyes were hungry.

  “That’s close enough. Councilor Wyx, that is close enough!” She sent a blast of power through one hand and he was flung back against the wall. As soon as he was five feet away from her, her body returned to its normal state. Pale skin, blue-black hair, large breasts and rounded hips. She sighed deeply and looked at the other two councilors. They looked back with pity in their expressions.

  Applause and whistles were filling the chamber. Those who had seen her shift forms and had understood what they were seeing quickly filled in the rest of the masses.

  Affinity was a polite word for a female who had the talents of the ancient sirens. They had been able to draw in all men, but not by singing as the legends told. When a male approached one of these creatures, she transformed into his ideal woman. It was a mating response that was out of her control. The ideal mate for one of these particular women was a man for whom she did not change. It was the holy grail for fey with this particular talent, she knew. She had been looking for it her entire life.