by Claudy Conn
He took Jazz’s hand and started to follow the girl, but Jazz pulled out of his hold and demanded, “It does matter. I need to know. Tell me.” She couldn’t say why, but somehow she knew that the more she learned the better equipped she would be to handle what was coming—and all her Fios senses told her something ugly was coming soon.
“We Royals enjoyed time travel until a few years ago. There were rules, and Prince Breslyn broke them more than he should. This place was one of his rule breakers. We are not supposed to set down roots in the human world, but he loves Scotland and Ireland.” Trevor shrugged. “Breslyn does what Breslyn wants, and most of the time the queen forgives him.”
“But he can’t get back here anymore?” she asked thoughtfully. “So we can’t expect him to swoop in and rescue us?”
“No, he can no longer travel through time. We are not certain, but we believe that even our queen cannot …” His voice trailed off, as Frankie was now out of sight.
“Come on—let’s go, sit, and have our dinner,” he said on a laugh.
“Oh, yes, that wonderful aroma … I am famished. How did you do that?”
“I am a Royal, Jazmine Decker. I can do many things. You would do well not to forget that.” His voice was low, and suddenly Jazz was sure he was going to kiss her. He was bending towards her. He was putting his arm around her waist. He was pulling her close. Yes, yes, he was going to …
He bent to her ear and said in a low, husky voice, “Perhaps, one day, you will ask me to show you some of the things that I can do …”
He unbent and led her to the kitchen, where they found Frankie already seated at the table, eating a basketful of biscuits and with a drumstick in her free hand.
~ Six ~
THE DARK PRINCE Hordly looked around at the old barn he had converted to serve his requirements. It had taken some concentration and a great deal of magic. He felt strangely drained from the effort.
He had never had to construct anything so elaborate. His life in the Human Realm during that final battle with Gaiscioch leading the charge had been short-lived. Pestale had always been the one to plan, construct, and execute. He had never had to build anything anywhere. It had all been provided for them by the Dark King; this had been a new and taxing experience.
He sneered when he thought of the Dark King. Hatred oozed through his body. Pestale still thought of the Dark King as a father, but he no longer did. How could he? The Dark King had always viewed him with distaste.
He shut down such thoughts. He quickly cast a spell of concealment so that his habitat would be hidden from the outside world.
He needed this place, this refuge where he could work and think and find a way back to his time without plunging himself into the Dark Realm.
The Orb had closed the portal at the monoliths. He could not use that portal in its present state, but he was trying to recall the spell his brother had once perfected. Perhaps that spell would enable him to open another door from the past to his own time period … right in Killarney, where it had sucked him back instead of allowing him to remain in the present. Once in the present, he could work on a way to get his Morrigu and brothers out of the Dark Prison.
What might help was the residue created and left to linger in the atmosphere when the Orb first opened the portal, before it realized he was Unseelie. Could he harness that power? He would only have a few more days to collect it before it was too weak to be of any use. The question was how—how could he collect it?
However, now he needed rest. He needed to return to his full potency because the Seelie Prince was hunting him, and he knew sooner or later the Royal would find his hideaway.
He went to the cabinet drawer that held the Seelie Orb and held it in his hands, no longer concerned that he would be recognized as Unseelie. The Orb already knew.
The feel of the Seelie artifact made his skin crawl. It was as though the crystal was repulsed by him and in turn gave his skin the sensation that hundreds of Dark Fae bugs skittered all over his flesh.
Hurriedly he set it on the round table he had created. He sat with the window flanking him so he could look out on the meadow. It was all so beautiful. Green and fresh no longer existed in the Dark Realm, only decay—decay left by the hapless monsters the Dark King had created and abandoned.
At his back, two human women played with one another on his large bed, ignorant of anything other than their sexual needs. He found his lust for human women was bottomless. He couldn’t get enough. They were lovely and moved so beautifully beneath him. They expired so easily but were also easily replaced.
He enjoyed their passionate displays, but that was for later.
He spoke the words of enchantment and asked to be shown where the Seelie Royal, Prince Trevor, could be found. The Orb did not respond.
“I am Seelie—you must obey me,” he told the Orb, as he had the first time he had used it.
It had responded immediately then, unaware of the Unseelie inside him as he had been careful not to touch it. Too soon the Seelie Orb realized its mistake and withdrew its magic. That was why and how everything went wrong. It was what had landed him in the past.
“You are tainted,” the voice rebuked. “You are not Seelie but a Dark Fae!”
“Obey me. I am the Dark King’s son!” he snapped.
“You are the Dark King’s abomination,” it murmured contemptuously.
“Don’t tease my temper, Orb. I am made from the Dark King’s essence, and you must obey,” he said, using a threatening tone.
“You have Seelie in you, but the Unseelie in you prohibits me from granting you what you want. It is enough I allowed you into the Human Realm.”
“You threw me back in time, and that is forbidden.” Hordly sneered as he spoke.
“I did not throw you back in time. I granted your request before I recognized you for an Unseelie. My magic pulled back—thus, here you are.”
“Show me the Seelie prince, help me, and in the end I will return you to Faery,” Hordly offered.
The Orb was silent for a long moment and then said softly, “You have no magic to return me to Faery.”
“I will leave you for the Seelie prince to find once you get me back to the Human Realm in my time.”
Again, the Orb was silent. “Your word is meaningless.”
“You can scan me for the truth,” Hordly returned.
The Orb turned dark, and Hordly felt as though something had entered the center of his brain, something with feathery tentacles.
When the Orb spoke again, it was a simple word: “Witness.”
The Dark Prince saw at once that the prince was within a warded estate. He could not look inside the huge mansion, and he fancied he heard the Orb chuckle over the fact.
“Damn you!”
“Did you think to trick a Seelie Relic?” Then the Dark Prince did, in fact, hear the Orb laugh.
He picked it up and threw it across the room. It fell hard, rolled, and continued to laugh before it said, “You have many choices, Dark Prince. It is yours to choose wisely.”
Hordly controlled the rage threatening to overtake him. He needed a plan. What would Pestale do? What would Pestale caution? Suddenly, he had a plan that could work.
He knew the Seelie Prince would not remain safely behind the wards. He would, without a doubt, venture out to locate him, and he would have the lovely he had called Jazmine Decker with him.
What he needed to do was get a hold of her again and, this time, imprison her. That would make the Seelie Royal come to him.
His grin spread, and he turned to the human women in his bed. He liked his plan because, damn if he didn’t want to explore the human, Jazmine Decker!
* * *
Dinner was over, and Frankie had been tucked comfortably in her bed. She oohed and aahed over the softness of the mattress and the sweet scent of the pillow and the coverings. She clung to Jazz for a long moment before she whispered, “Please … don’t leave me … promise you’ll take me with you when you go
.”
“I promise that you will stay with me until I find you a proper home,” Jazz said, stroking Frankie’s brown curls.
“No, I don’t want any other family. Just you”—her chin pointed towards Trevor—“and him,” Frankie said vehemently.
“Well, Trevor and I aren’t going to be to, well … we … well …” Jazz sighed and decided to give up on that explanation. “Tomorrow is a brand new day, and we’ll see what it brings.”
She left her then and, as she closed Frankie’s bedroom door, saw Trevor shift off. She sighed worriedly to herself. However, no sense fidgeting about it now—other matters needed attending.
She found her Royal seated by the fire in the library poring over an ancient manuscript. “What are you doing, Trev?”
“Remembered this manuscript. It might help, and what do you mean, calling me Trev? Since when did I become Trev to you?” He frowned at her.
“From the moment you displayed that big open heart and helped me take care of Frankie. So, I repeat, whatya doing … Trev?” The tease was alive in her voice, and he responded with a grin.
“Just thought I would investigate your pendant … the queen’s pendant.”
“Huh?” Her eyes narrowed. “You don’t really know how to use it, do you? Oh, I should have guessed when you didn’t immediately try!”
“I do know how, but it can do many things. I want to be certain I manage it correctly.”
“Well, I tell you what. This is what I’m going to do.” Jazz held the pendant in her hand and whispered a spell that had been handed down from generation to generation. No one had ever been able to translate it, and it had occurred to Jazz that perhaps it had something to do with the queen’s charm.
And it did.
Suddenly the atmosphere in the room changed. It was warm, almost tropical. For a moment, Jazz actually expected coconut trees to pop up. And then it was as though the air right in front of them took on shape and folded back to display a dark, round opening. That opening filled with light, Jazz smelled gardenia and pine, and then the face of the most astoundingly beautiful creature she had ever seen appeared. Jazz knew this had to be the face of Aaibhe, Queen of the Seelie Fae!
“Ah, Trevor,” the queen said softly. She then directed her gaze to Jazz and added, “And you, my dear, are a McWallen.”
Trevor rose to his feet and bowed his head briefly before he spoke. When he did, he put one arm and fist across his chest in what Jazz fancied was a warrior’s salute of allegiance to his queen. “My Queen, it is not Pestale who escaped but his brother Hordly. However, he did not make it to our time in the Human Realm but to the year 1816, and we were dragged into the past with him.”
“I see,” the queen said thoughtfully. “And what is your plan?”
“I have my Death Weapon and am on the pursuit,” Trevor answered.
“And you must keep my Fios safe,” the queen said with an urgency that surprised Jazz.
“I mean to whether she wills it or not. She, however, wishes to return to her time,” the prince said and sighed heavily.
“No, no, I don’t,” Jazz said. “I mean, I did, but now … there is Frankie, and I think I can help the Prince get Hordly, and—”
“I accept your very brave offer, Fios, but tell me, who is Frankie?” the queen said softly.
Jazz made a lengthy explanation, and the queen’s bright eyes glittered. “You both may remain with my prince for now, and I expect that you, my Jazmine, will watch over the Fios child.”
“Can we get out of the past using this pendant?” Jazz dared to ask. “My … er … Queen.”
Aaibhe chuckled. “Indeed, in a manner of speaking, but I should like you to retrieve the Orb that Hordly has in his possession and return him to the Dark Realm first.”
“Big order,” muttered Jazz.
“But we can handle it.” Trevor grimaced at Jazz.
“Tell me something,” the queen said suddenly. “You have taken up residence in a mansion whose wards are strongly infused … so strong I can feel them. Tell me now, Trevor, whose home is this?”
“Er … ah … well,” said Trevor.
“It has Breslyn’s style and scent, so there is no need to tell me.” She shook her head. “It always astounds me that each time he breaks my rules, it turns out for the best.” She sighed and said, “Pestale has remembered everything. The waters of the Cauldron were tampered with, no doubt by his brothers. He did not receive its full strength. The brothers should all have been made to drink at once.” She sighed heavily. “The Dark King has once again found other matters to divert him from his promise. It is always thus, and so we must handle the situation we are left with. I am depending on you, Trevor, and on the Fios McWallen.”
She paused and then softly said, “Pestale has sent me a message. Imagine the gall—he managed to crack open the Prison Wall long enough to shove through a drone who delivered the message before Morgan LeBlanc put it out of its misery. It was galling to have an Unseelie in Tir. It has never happened before, and that in itself was a message. Pestale believes he will be successful in his renewed efforts to take control of Tir and the Human Realm. There is something different in him. I feel it, know it, saw it in the language and style of his delivered message. I believe he has received the means inadvertently from the Dark King to break free with an army. I have assembled my team once more, but I need you to contain Hordly. He and Pestale must not be reunited outside the Dark Realm.”
Once again, Trevor’s arm crossed his chest as he bowed his head. “So it shall be done, my Queen.”
“To do so, you must retrieve the Orb,” the queen said as she faded from sight.
Trevor and Jazz looked at one another, and then without warning he took two long strides to her and pulled her hungrily into his arms as his mouth sought and found hers!
~ Seven ~
HE COULDN’T HOLD back any longer. He had watched her stand before his queen, knowing that everything she had been taught told her to be afraid of the Queen of Seelie Fae.
Jazmine Decker had stood—a brave lass, enchantingly beautiful and willing to put her life on the line to do what she could to stop a force so powerful it could wipe her out of existence with so very little effort. She knew that and was willing. It was as though her soul glowed brightly all around her, mesmerizing him, holding him, drawing him closer.
She had stood, lovely and strong, with those deep blue eyes filled with courage and honesty, and he found he couldn’t control himself any longer.
He wanted her. He had been wanting her and denying it to himself. She was mortal, and he shouldn’t intrude on her life, but even if it was for a short time, he wanted her—had to have her. But did she want him?
He moved in, and when he took her into his arms, it felt so right, it felt so undeniably right, and her lips parted for his. Ecstasy—the immediate understanding that she wanted him as well! Her tongue danced sweetly, hotly, with his, and she was too delicious to deny. He tasted her; she was honey and vanilla and life, and ready and his. She had to be his!
In that moment, he wasn’t just kissing her; he found himself adoring every nuance that was Jazmine Decker, every move she made, every delicious breath she inhaled and exhaled. He felt her take his kiss with hunger and return it with passion, and he felt himself on fire with feral need. He pressed his hard shaft against her body, and she pressed back. Hot, hot, hot, hot—no thought, just hot.
It was as though a net of primal desire had wrapped itself around them, and he couldn’t stop kissing her, tasting her, touching. By Danu, her breasts even through the muslin gown she wore were delectable, and he wanted to lick her nipples and see their fullness and—
She put a hand out to his chest and pushed at him.
He heard her murmur the word ‘no’, and he was jolted, couldn’t believe, but stopped himself nonetheless.
It took such great effort, but he stopped and held her away by her shoulders. He stared down into those blue eyes that kept him captive still and whisper
ed questioningly, “No?”
“No,” she said softly. “My friend Tammy recently told me to have fun, even for one night, just have fun, and if ever a girl could have fun, it would be with you, but I am not about ‘fun’. I should be, but I am afraid I would get lost in you, with you, and we are from different worlds. When this is over, you will return to Faery—your Isles of Tir—and I will hopefully be off for my permanent job as a marine biologist. I am very certain I would compare every man I meet in the future to you, and none would measure up—so, no.” She turned from him, and he released her.
Prince Trevor watched her walk away and followed a few steps after her. He saw her take the stairs to her bedchamber and felt a loss that was so much more than he had expected.
Her words about no other man being able to compare to him had lifted him. Her words about meeting and being with another man in the future had dropped him into a pit of depression.
How could he think of her with someone else?
It was what he had to do—let her go to someone who would be there for her, grow old with her …
She had spoken realistically. One day he would go to Tir, and she would remain in the Human Realm, and she would take a human man who would have what he never could. And this thought brought his fists heavenward as he silently bellowed!
* * *
It had been three days since Trevor had taken her into his arms and kissed her. She could feel and taste him still.
It was all she dreamed about. It followed her everywhere she went, through everything they did. At least she was busy with Frankie most of the time.
She had asked Trevor to return her clothes to her and had also requested him to outfit Frankie with breeches and a shirt instead of a dress.
Frankie had laughed to see herself dressed like a boy but loved the comfort, and Jazz had taken her outdoors and started teaching her the art of self-defense. It was at the end of one of these training sessions that she asked, “Frankie, did your mother have any opportunity to help you grow as a Fios? Do you know what you can do … with your magic as a seer?”
