“Swords, not guns. Guns lack in creativity.”
“You get my point,” he said with a withering gaze.
“Wow, somebody’s especially moody tonight. No ambrosia on tap?”
Before he could answer, his wrist comm buzzed. “Commander, we have an emergency. We need you down at the media room right away.”
“On my way,” Eli said into the comm.
We shared a panicked look, then headed for the door. After weaving through the honeycomb maze of halls, we came to a large room with banks of screens. Some were tuned to TV stations, others the internet. It was one of the screens to the left that immediately caught my attention. Not because of the cluster of angels huddled in front of it. But because three very familiar faces looked out at me.
One was the HR. The other two were Quinn and Riley.
CHAPTER SIX
There was another figure on the screen, whom I didn’t recognize. It was clear however, that this fourth person was a faerie. I could also see from the scrolling text at the bottom of the TV that what we were seeing was being broadcast live.
The faerie spoke calmly into the camera. “My name is too complicated to say in your language, so you may call me Taryn Blackflame. I have abducted the Holy Representative of the northwestern United States, as well as two random citizens.”
The silence in the media room was deafening.
“I have done this to prove that I can. To prove that the realm of Heaven has no true power over the other supernaturals. To prove that The Agreement is a lie.” The faerie paused. His bright eyes seemed hypnotic. “I want to make it clear that this is not a ransom situation. I do not want your worthless human money, or anything else. I will take the prisoners into my realm and I will never return them. The balance of power has shifted. We will no longer listen to a false authority. Humans be warned: your time of supremacy is over. The supernatural races will now take their rightful place as leaders of the realm of Earth.”
The faerie smiled. As the camera zoomed out, I had just enough time to see Quinn and Riley, gagged and struggling against their bonds, before the screen went black.
A volcano of voices erupted. “To the briefing room, now!” Eli yelled, taking charge. “Someone get Uriel and Cerelea.”
My mind was a blur as we strode to another room around the corner. I had just been with Riley and Quinn not an hour before. They must have been taken right after they left the apartment. Shock made my blood feel thick and slow in my arteries.
I found myself sitting in a chair around a long conference table next to Eli, without having made any conscious effort to do so.
“How did this happen?” someone called. “Where was the HR?”
“He was in a motorcade on the way to a dinner with government officials. I’m getting intel that the warriors and local police running security were all killed by some kind of explosive devised of faerie magic.” This came from a tall angel that strode into the room. Uriel, I presumed.
“What about the citizens? Where did they come from? Why were they chosen?” asked a woman in a blue tunic.
“The faerie said they were chosen randomly,” someone called in response.
“They weren’t chosen randomly,” I said, my voice spiked with fury. It was all coming together in my head now.
“The two citizens are Zyan’s best friends,” Eli explained as confused looks shot in our direction. “They also happen to be a witch and a werewolf.”
“But why not choose humans? That’s the point, isn’t it?” Another helpful question.
“No. That’s not the point,” I said through gritted teeth. I turned to Eli now, ignoring the others. “Clearly they want me to go after them. To get me out of the way.”
“So they can proceed with their plans.” Eli nodded.
“And they’ll get what they want. I’m going after them.” I stood up. Everyone stared at me in total confusion.
“You mean you’re going to abandon society to go look for your friends?” Eli asked incredulously.
I made a show of thinking it over. “Let’s see. Society? Riley and Quinn? Tough choice. Not to mention, I swore to protect the HR. I keep my promises.”
Eli shook his head. “But no one can get into the faerie realm without permission. Not even an angel.”
“Good thing I have faerie friends,” I retorted, drumming my fingers on the table impatiently.
“And what about…” Eli trailed off, his eyes drifting down to my arm.
I felt my eyes go cold. “I suppose this is where you tell me you won’t allow me to go? Well, you can bite me, Eli.”
A collective gasp circled the room.
“Ms. Star, may I speak to you outside?” Eli asked. He stood and walked out before I could answer.
I stomped out after him. “If you think for one second—”
He spun on me. “Would you shut your mouth for once, Zyan? Yes, I’m very concerned about your bond. Yes, I think he’s going to try to use it against you. Yes, I think it’s nuts that you’ll let Earth get invaded by Hell so you can go rescue your friends. And yes, I’m going with you.”
My mouth dropped open.
“If anyone can fight the bond, you can.” His lavender eyes bored into mine. “I guess I’ll just have to trust that you can handle it.”
I didn’t know what to say for a second. Trust. He trusted me. Well, that’s not exactly what he’d said. I shook my head. I didn’t have time to contemplate this now. “Okay, let’s go then.”
“I’ve got to finish briefing the troops first. They’ll have to be ready for whatever tries to break through.”
“And I’ll get Donovan to come over with every trustworthy supe he can find to help. He’ll replace me as your supernatural muscle.”
Eli looked hesitant for a moment, then nodded. “Okay. Go call him, and I’ll finish up in here. Where are we headed after that?”
“Cherry,” I said.
Ten minutes later we stepped out of the interdimensional paths onto the sidewalk outside Cherry, the club where Dan’s pack had tried to pick a fight after the riot. It seemed like ages ago.
I walked up to the hostess. “I need to speak with Selfora.”
“I’m afraid she’s occupied at the moment,” said the skinny blonde, not even bothering to look up.
“Please tell her it’s Zyan Star, and it’s an emergency.”
“I’m sorry, but she can’t be interrupted.” The hostess smiled sweetly and then began to flip through her little hostess scheduling book dismissively.
“Excuse me.” She looked up and met my eyes, and when she saw the look on my face, she flinched. “Go get Selfora. Now.”
“Right away,” she said, scurrying off. She cast a frightened look over her shoulder.
Eli glanced at me but kept his mouth shut. He knew I was the only chance he had of getting the HR back.
Less than a minute later she returned. “Right this way.”
We followed her to the back of the club and into a lavish private room. One entire wall was encrusted with sapphires and backlit so it cast an eerie hue over the white suede loveseats. The chandelier overhead was made not of crystal, but hundreds of live pixies, their crystalline wings glowing faintly.
“Zyan.” Selfora lounged on one of the bigger loveseats. Two human men sat on the floor at her feet. They looked barely twenty years old and were clad in nothing but leather pants. I raised a brow. “You scared my hostess.”
“I’m afraid I’m in a bit of a crunch, and need to ask you for a favor.”
“Is this about your friends?” Selfora tilted her head slightly, her sheet of ebony hair shimmering.
“Yes.” Since she was going to be direct, so would I. “I want an invitation into the faerie realm. And a guide. I’ll need someone to show us through.”
Selfora looked past me at Eli as if noticing him for the first time. “You always do have the tastiest accessories.” She sighed and stroked the hair of one of her pets. “I like you Zyan. And I like your friend
s. But I’m afraid I can’t get you into the realm of the Fae.”
“Why not?”
“Let’s just say that I’ve angered some of the faerie clans, and it would be unhealthy for me to travel there at the moment.” She smiled, just the barest upturning of the lips. “There is another alternative, however.”
I waited, trying not to pace or drum my fingers or pull my hair out.
“I have an associate that could get you in and take you to your friends. But this man is very fickle and very dangerous. He’ll only take you if he’s in a good mood and you amuse him.”
“And if he’s not in a good mood?” Eli asked.
“He’ll most likely kill you.”
“Well, if that’s all, then let’s go.” I grinned. Eli and Selfora didn’t share my enthusiasm. “Seriously though, if that’s the only option, then what choice do I have?”
Selfora shrugged. “I don’t think any of the other faeries in the city will take you. So, yes, it seems to be the only option if you are dedicated to this path.”
“So, where do we find this faerie fellow?”
“A club called Gemstone. It’s faerie only. Approach the doorman with the green hair and tell him I sent you.”
“And what’s the name of this faerie we seek?” Eli asked. Tension sang in the lines of his jaw, the set of his shoulders, and the way the veins in his arms were popping out.
“He goes by Pan in this realm.”
I coughed. “Pan. Like, Pan the God of nature?” It had to be a nickname.
Another ghost of a smile flickered over Selfora’s lips. “Yes, that Pan.”
“I didn’t know he was a faerie,” I said. A bad feeling crept from the top of my head down to my toes. This dude was bad news. But again, it wasn’t like we had a choice. “Thank you, Selfora. I’ll owe you big for this.”
“Yes. You will.” Her intense opal eyes bound my promise.
I shivered. “What do you have in mind?”
“I’ll let you know once I decide.”
I nodded. “Okay. I’ll be in your debt.” Which was a very, very bad thing when you were dealing with a faerie. But again, not many choices.
Eli looked back and forth between us, shifting uncomfortably. “We’d better get going.”
“One more thing,” Selfora said as I turned. I slowly twisted back around to face her. “You can’t go dressed like that.”
I looked down at my jeans and t-shirt. “What do you suggest?”
She said nothing, but the air in the room got scarce and I felt a shimmer of power flow over us. Selfora’s eyes glowed like molten gold. I couldn’t look anywhere but right at them. In fact, it felt like I was losing my balance, like I would tip forward and fall straight into their depths…
“That’s much better.” She sounded immensely pleased.
I looked down to see that my jeans had been replaced by a black skirt which seemed to be made out of tattered butterfly wings, with iridescent swirls of blue and green and purple. Well, skirt was a bit of an overstatement. Postage stamp? That might be a more legitimate description. My top wasn’t much better. Kind of an off-the-shoulder black spiderweb contraption with long see-through sleeves of shimmery black. Sparkly fishnets and knee-high boots completed the look.
Then I saw Eli and almost choked. His gray tunic was gone, replaced with skin-tight leather pants and a sleeveless shirt made of the same translucent material as the sleeves on my shirt. Abs that would make any woman weep were on display for the world. I moved my eyes quickly up to his face, which was not left without adornment. Black glitter dusted his eyes, and a pinch of eyeliner edged his lids. He even wore a spiked dog collar around his neck.
“Um, thanks?” I said.
“You’re welcome. Again.” Selfora raked her eyes over both of us. “Now leave before I change my mind and decide to keep you.”
I nodded and we headed for the door. Out on the street, Eli turned to face me and I became acutely aware of how scarcely clad we were as he moved towards me to step onto the in-between roads. “That’s a good look for you,” I teased.
He rolled his eyes, then said in all earnestness, “You think if this faerie magic wears off we’ll be naked?”
“I sure hope not.” I gulped as he wrapped an arm around my lower back. And then we were stepping through the paths and out again onto 1st Avenue, near the Seattle Art Museum. Down the street, the sign for Gemstone glared bright blue in the night. A long line wrapped around the block, and I could feel the faint throb of music in my chest.
There were three doormen. Only one had green hair, a vivid emerald spiked all over his head, reminding me of a cactus. We approached from the side. “We’re here to see Pan. Selfora sent us.”
The green-haired faerie eyed us up and down. “A present, huh? Selfora’s certainly in a generous mood tonight.”
I didn’t really like the sounds of that, but I just smiled, neither agreeing to nor denying his statement. The faerie opened the door, and the music nearly knocked me over. “He’s in the back. Far right.”
We stepped into the club and the door shut behind us with a boom that sounded rather final. It was dark inside except for strobe lighting and the glow of hundreds of faerie wings crammed inside the massive room. A lot of the faeries had applied neon paint or shimmer to their wings. Glitter floated through the air, which gave the effect of walking through a 3-D galaxy. We cut our way through the throngs of sparkling bodies. Every color imaginable surrounded us. Some even changed colors, lighting in and out like a firefly.
And the dancing. I knew faeries liked to dance. Even as a human, more than two centuries ago, I’d heard about faerie rings and the helpless humans who danced until they died. But even now, as an immortal, their dancing entranced me. Never had I seen anything move so freely, so pure and vivid. With such life. I felt a reckless and overpowering surge of envy.
As we walked through the pulsating lights and the cascading glitter, I felt like I was diving deep, deep into a dream. I looked up at Eli’s face. He watched them, too, and seemed just as enchanted as I was. I could never be alive like that, needing to subsist on souls as I did. Eli would never see such vibrancy in me, never admire me for anything other than a cold, calculating warrior. Why did that bother me? Why did I want him to see me differently? I shouldn’t care. But I realized I did.
And then we were approaching the corner of the room, and I forced myself to focus. Looking ahead I could see him. Pan, unmistakably. He sat on a curved semi-circle sofa covered in some sort of bronze metallic scales that looked suspiciously like dragon hide. An entourage of faeries sat around him. They all faced him, their bodies tilted forward. He was the supreme center of attention. And enjoying it very much.
As appearances go, he looked pretty normal other than the usual unearthly beauty of the faeries. He didn’t have goat legs or horns, nor was he playing a flute. His hair hung long and straight, a rusty red color, and his eyes glowed a startling spring green like virgin flower buds. He wore pants that looked kind of like riding breeches made out of fine suede, tall boots, and a vest over his bare skin. And let’s just say it was a good night for amazing muscles.
His eyes flitted up to our faces as we stopped before him. His entourage turned to stare as well. “What can I do for you?” Somehow his voice carried easily over the chaos of the club. It was deep, but had a musical lilt, like a mountain stream.
“I’m Zyan Star, and this is Eli. My friend Selfora sent us.”
Pan’s bright eyes passed over my face, down the length of my body, and then swept over Eli in the same manner. “What have I done to deserve such nice presents?”
“We’ve actually come to ask for your help.”
Pan smiled. It was a smile that hadn’t yet decided whether it was friendly or furious. “What kind of help?” His accent was strange; I couldn’t quite place it. Not that there was a human language comparison.
Well, no point beating around the bush. “We need to get into the faerie realms,” I responded. “Selfo
ra thought you might be interested in guiding us.”
“Ah, yes, Selfora has had issues with some of her kin. It is better for her if she stays in the Earth realm.” Pan leaned forward, his hair swinging forward like a sheet of silk. “And what exactly do you seek in Faerie?”
“My friends and the Holy Representative have been taken by a faerie. I intend to get them back. And I need to do it quickly, before Lucifer unleashes a bunch of demons on Earth.”
Pan looked thoughtful. “Yes, I had heard that news. It is all very interesting. I can see why Selfora thought I might be intrigued.” He twirled a strand of hair around his finger. “However, I care very little for human drama, so it matters not to me whether your friends and the HR die, nor whether Lucifer burns Earth to the ground.”
Martinis with the Devil, Part Two Page 6
