My heart plummeted to my feet, and I could feel his companions tense as Pan decided what to do with us. I wouldn’t go down without a fight, but even I knew it was hopeless fighting against this many faeries.
But it seemed Pan wasn’t done with us yet. He looked up at me. “You are an interesting being, Zyan Star. Anam Gatai, if my senses are correct?” I nodded. “But unused and neglected is your magic, wild as an untended garden. You could do yourself and others much harm with this untrained power.” He paused, then reached out and grabbed my right hand. “This is very interesting. Lucifer himself tried to bond you. You must be very important to him. Demon power runs within you now.” He took a deep breath and leaned back against the metallic scales. “And an angelic companion. Very amusing. How did the two of you form this relationship?”
“The HR wanted Zyan’s help on an important mission,” Eli responded. “I was tasked as her partner.”
“I see,” Pan said. “Purely business then?” Eli and I nodded simultaneously. Pan’s lips turned up in a smile. “Really? Are you sure?”
“Just work partners,” Eli said.
Pan frowned. “Well, I have to say that is really very boring. Especially considering that I initially thought Selfora sent the two of you over as entertainment.” He sighed and made a barely perceptible gesture to his groupies. “I’m afraid if that’s all, then I really must continue on with my evening.”
Several of the faeries rose to their feet and moved towards us.
“Wait.” I put up my hand to keep them back. My eyes moved to Pan’s. “What kind of entertainment did you have in mind?”
Pan smiled broadly, a crocodile in sight of prey. “Oh, nothing too extravagant. I’m just so curious, seeing the two of you together. A soul thief and an angel. Willing partners. That’s something I’ve never seen, and I’ve been around a very long time.”
Butterflies started forming in my stomach. This couldn’t be going anywhere good. “So, do you want to watch us chase down some criminals? That’s what we do best.”
Pan chuckled. “Oh, I doubt that. I doubt that very much.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
I could feel the muscles in my jaw tightening. He was starting to annoy me. “Just tell us what you want.”
“So feisty,” he cooed. “Maybe a few minutes with you would do the trick.”
Eli stepped forward, putting himself between me and Pan. “Watch it.” His eyes had deepened to a twilight hue.
Pan laughed, long and hard. When he had stopped, he said, “Such chivalry. Once again, however, completely boring. I’ll tell you what I want, because you asked so nicely.” His eyes danced up to mine. “I want to see some real heavenly passion from your boyfriend here. I want him to kiss you. And don’t even try any dainty pecks.” His eyes flicked back to Eli. “Kiss her like you mean it.”
“You’re joking.” Eli’s face was a mixture of anger and horror.
Pan let the smile drop from his face. “Do I look like I’m joking?”
“But I can’t kiss her. It’s against the Angelic Code for an angel to—” he paused and glanced at me. “Unfortunately The Agreement classified her type under the devil’s dominion. So, the Code states that angels can’t have relations with Anam Gatai.”
That was news to me. I’d never thought something like that was actually written in their laws.
Pan waved a hand dismissively. “I’m not asking you to have relations with her. Just kiss her. Kiss her, or your Holy Representative will be stuck in Faerie forever. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind this one little thing in order to save his life.”
Eli opened his mouth and then closed it again. Pan sat back in his seat smugly, watching the struggle of emotions on Eli’s face with obvious pleasure. Eli turned towards me, blushing furiously. “Uh, Zy…”
We seriously didn’t have time for this shit. I closed the distance between us and pulled his face to mine. He stiffened for a moment, taken off guard. I dug my fingers into his neck, signaling for him to get with the program. All we had to do was give Pan a good show and we’d be on our way.
Eli’s lips, which had been crushed awkwardly against mine, softened and parted. He reached one hand up to cup my cheek, the other slid around the small of my back, pulling me against the hard muscles of his chest. His hair fell forward against my cheek. I reached up and ran my hand through it, not realizing until I did it that I’d been wanting to for a long time. The music of the club seemed suddenly louder, pounding against our skin, pulsing through our veins. And then another song wove into the mix, the racing of Eli’s life force, silver and pure and sweet. I could feel it coursing through him, and an answering fire rushed through me. Without conscious intent, my lips moved from his, trailing down his jaw and along his neck. I could feel it flowing under my mouth, everywhere my lips moved…
His fingers trailed up the length of my back, making my skin shiver. It distracted me just enough to break the siren song of his soul. He lifted my chin with his fingers, guiding me back to his lips, those petal-pink lips. The shy angel was gone now, something had changed. He had an edge to him now, a fire. His usual careful control vanished—no rules, no duty, no expectations to fulfill. His lips met mine with a freedom I hadn’t seen him express with anything else. I felt a heady buzz roll through me, like I’d just downed a few pixie dust martinis. His fingers trailed down to my hip, leaving a simmering line of fire, and each kiss seemed to sear through me like starfire…
A noise broke through my trance. Clapping.
Eli and I broke apart, our eyes meeting for just a moment. His held a strange brightness and something else… confusion? I felt dizzy and disoriented, and now the club music seemed grating and the lights hurt my eyes.
“Well done,” Pan said, his smile huge. “Now that’s what I call entertainment. Was it really so torturous for you?” Neither of us answered, and his smile widened. “I think that was amusing enough for me to let you out of here alive.”
“What about taking us into Faerie?” Eli asked.
Pan leaned forward again. “Well, you are in luck. I am not friends with Taryn Blackflame, the abductor of your friends, in fact I dislike him very much. I will take you to the realm of Faerie, and lead you to your friends.”
“And back to this realm again?” I pressed. Although I was probably pushing my luck.
Pan smiled, and this time it held amusement. “Clever girl. Yes, I will lead you out again. All of you. If you can get your friends back from their captor.”
“Thank you,” Eli said.
“Nothing is for free. You will both owe me a favor, which I will call upon at a time of my choosing.”
“We already did you a favor.” I tried to keep the anger out of my voice.
“That little bit just kept you alive. But to go into Faerie, you will each owe me something else.”
“Fine.” I glanced at Eli, and he nodded.
“I’ve never had an angel owe me a favor before.” Pan smiled at Eli. “This will be interesting indeed.” Eli shifted uncomfortably. “Shall we head out then?” Pan rose to his feet, a tall walking staff with an ornate metal head appearing in one hand. “Follow me.”
We didn’t have far to go. To the left of Pan’s corner of the club, a door opened onto a longish hallway. At the end of the hallway stood two satyrs. Not the cute-looking ones from out of a C.S. Lewis book, but looming seven-foot-tall ones with suspicious orange eyes. They held wicked axes which were crossed in front of another door. The door itself was fairly nondescript, just a gray metal door like you could find in any back alley.
Pan smiled as he approached the guards, spinning his walking stick in his hand. “Good evening gentlemen. I’m taking a couple friends on a visit home.” They said nothing, just stared at me and Eli and slowly moved their axes out of the way. Pan opened the door and held it for us as we passed through.
At first I thought we’d just passed into another room of the club. It was still dark, and there were still glowing shapes here and then. But then, l
ooking up, I saw sky. Stars glittered overhead above skyscrapers that shot up into the night. We were in a city. Totally not what I was expecting.
Pan strode past me. “I imagine it goes without saying, but stick to the path, and stay by my side. If you do not, I cannot guarantee your safety.”
Eli looked over at me, his expression tense and his eyes a darker purple than I’d seen them before. “You first. I’ll take up the rear.”
I nodded and marched briskly to keep pace with Pan, which was a little tricky wearing these ridiculous spike-heeled boots. “So this is Faerie, huh?” I asked.
Pan nodded. “One part of it. There are many, many faces of Faerie, only a handful of which you’ll see today.”
“How far do we have to travel until we find Taryn?” Eli called.
Pan spun and placed a finger to his lips. “My young angel, there are spies everywhere. Be careful what you speak of.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “But to answer your question, we must travel through this realm, then another before we get to where your friends are being held. We can only hope that they kept Taryn amused and are still alive.” He turned and continued walking.
We hadn’t actually passed any faeries yet, unless they were hiding in the shadows. The street we were walking down had a feeling similar to New York, or maybe Tokyo. Glowing signs hung from various entrances, offering services such as ‘Wing Art’, ‘Dream Enhancement’ and ‘Purest Unicorn Dust in All of Faerie’. Graffiti colored many of the walls, except these pictures moved and sparkled and reached out at you. Up ahead I saw the first residents of Faerie creating their own graffiti portrait. They didn’t need paint; they waved their hands, spraying on color with their magic. The air around them hummed with power, and clouds of color and smoke plumed into the black sky. As we passed, I could see the scene they created was a rather intimate one, involving at least ten faeries. Their pleasured moans filled the street, and a dove-white hand reached out to me as I passed, beckoning me to join them.
Hmmm. Looked like Faerie was certainly going to live up to all the wild tales I’d heard over the years. Maybe even exceed them.
We entered a more active part of the city. The glowing colors and flashing lights made my eyes blur. Magic vibrated in the air everywhere. I’d never been in a place where it permeated everything so thoroughly. I couldn’t imagine the power the faeries held, that they could expend so much constant energy to sustain it all. Even the air itself seemed alive, a sinuous invisible being wrapping, curling, swimming around everything.
I saw a faerie couple walk out of their building and approach a large, clear sphere. It looked solid, but had a slight rainbow sheen like a bubble. They opened a seamless door in the side of the sphere and stepped inside. The man appeared to be pressing some sort of keypad, and then the bubble vanished.
“Cool mode of transport,” I whispered to Eli.
He just nodded sternly, seemingly unimpressed.
“How many cities are there in Faerie?” I asked Pan.
“Several hundred,” he said with a glance over his shoulder at me.
“Really? I had no idea there were that many.”
“Only a small percentage of faeries choose to visit the Earth realm. Most stay in Faerie. We number in the tens of millions.”
I was flabbergasted. With those numbers faeries could easily overtake Earth.
“Earth has its charms,” continued Pan, as if he had read my thoughts, “But Earth cannot sustain the volume of magic that we perform here. It would tear it apart at the seams. A supernova of epic proportions.” A small smile crossed his lips as if this thought amused him greatly. “Thus, we have no desire to conquer and occupy it. Humans themselves are our playthings, and they are plenty amusing enough to keep us entertained.” His green eyes glowed as he looked at me.
I wanted to change the subject. “So, what is this city called?”
“Valyria. The City of Night.” He waved his walking stick, and the metal tip showered sparks over our heads. “And our next stop is the Dawn Fields.”
We walked in silence for a few more minutes, and gradually came to what looked like a train station. There were tracks, benches and ripped up posters adorning the sides of the buildings. A couple minutes passed, maybe three, and then I felt a gust of air and turned to see the train had arrived. Not arriving, arrived. I hadn’t heard it coming or anything. “What on Earth?” I muttered.
“What on Faerie,” Eli said. It was his first attempt at humor all night.
An ordinary-enough looking train; sleek and steel gray, a metallic caterpillar. The doors whooshed open, faeries exited, and we got on. It had poles and ‘oh-shit’ handles hanging from the ceiling just like a subway. I heard a sing-song voice announce that the train was pulling out of the station. I grabbed one of the handles.
“You may want to sit down the first time,” Pan suggested, gesturing to one of the seats.
“I’d rather—” and the words were ripped from my mouth as the train shot forward. As in, went to warp speed like a space ship. Everything turned to pin-pricks of color, including my body, and then to streaks of light. I had a moment to wonder at the dematerialized state of everything, and then we had jerked to a stop again. I hung limply from the handle, my stupid boots crumpled beneath me. Sheepishly I scrambled to my feet.
Pan just smiled. “I welcome you to Dawn Fields.” He waved his arm in a wide arc at the view.
I followed Pan and Eli out the doors of the train onto the platform. I blinked in the bright light of a cotton candy streaked sunrise. It was perfect, that vivid awesomeness that usually only lasts a few moments before vanishing. An enormous field of flowers stretched out before us, as far as the eye could see in all directions. A slight breeze shimmered over the fields, making the flower petals sigh. Perpetual dawn, a new day, fresh and flawless forever. It was so beautiful I thought I would cry.
Pan laughed at my awestruck expression. “Well isn’t this lovely? Time is a-wasting, however, so let us be on our way.” He stepped out into the flowers and began to tromp through the meadow.
Contrary to the City of Night, Dawn Fields was everything I had envisioned Faerie could be. Every blade of grass, every flower petal, every cloud, every far-off shimmer of water was insanely bright and perfect and vibrant, like one big acid trip. I could imagine linking hands with complete strangers and running through the flowers, dancing and jumping and spinning. Living to smell the honeysuckle and gaze at the sky and watch the sun rise eternally.
I wondered if Heaven was like this. I glanced over at Eli, to see if something in his expression would give me a clue. It did seem his expression had softened somewhat; he no longer glowered at everything. Of course, other than asking him, I would never know. I would never visit the realm of Heaven. I ground my teeth in frustration. Eli was a constant reminder of something I could never have. Like forbidden fruit dangled right in front of my nose.
Pan turned back and smiled broadly at me, and I wondered again if he could read my thoughts. Incredibly creepy. “We’ll reach a lake before too long, and we’ll need to gain passage across to the city of Elanid. It is there that your friends are held captive, if still alive.”
I pushed his comment from my head, focusing on my surroundings to keep from thinking about what was happening to Riley and Quinn. I studied the strange animals meandering through the meadow. First, a creature that looked somewhat like a pony-sized lemur, except instead of brown or yellow fur it was pale purple all over with dark purple ears and a striped tail. It tore flowers from their stems and then slurped the nectar with a long curled tongue like a chameleon’s. We also came across a flock of birds with long legs like storks that changed color to match whatever flower they touched, and instead of feathered wings they had dragonfly wings.
Gradually, the lake Pan mentioned came into view. Its blue was brighter than the brightest turquoise waters of Earth’s most lush tropical paradise. A few strange boats dotted the surface that upon closer inspection seemed to be made purely of colored
silk. And on the far side of the water I could see a beautiful city on the horizon, with tall shining spires, gleaming bridges and shimmering flags. “How are we going to cross?” I asked.
“I will ask the water faeries to bear us across,” Pan replied.
Eli and I gave each other a questioning look, but kept our mouths shut. Pan approached the shore and whistled loudly as if calling for a taxi. A minute or so later, five heads popped out of the water. It was hard to see them with the sun glinting off the water, and being as how they seemed to be all silvery themselves. I could barely tell where the water ended and they began. Or maybe they were one and the same.
Pan began to speak to them in faerie language, which I couldn’t understand. A moment later, he reached into his vest and pulled out a wooden pipe, made of small reeds all strung together in a row. He placed his lips to the instrument, and then the most gorgeous music I’d ever heard flowed up into the sky. The water faeries clapped their hands together and laughed delightedly, splashing and swimming around in circles. All too soon his song died off, and I couldn’t tell whether it had been one minute or one hour. Time had vanished into his music.
Martinis with the Devil, Part Two Page 7
