by Juniper Hart
“Not so fast!” the girl called out to them. “You still owe for this round!”
They paused and stared open-mouthed at her, but they didn’t argue, each of them reaching for their wallets to silently throw a twenty onto the table before ducking out of the exit.
“I hate those little bastards,” Egan growled, turning to the girl. “Are you okay?”
She grinned, no sign of the near-demon she’d appeared to be seconds earlier.
“Of course,” she replied. Her pale green eyes lightened as she glanced at Gia. Egan turned back to the bar, still grumbling, and the girl faced Gia. “Well,” she sighed, “I could not do this for a living, but that was fun.”
“I…” Gia didn’t know what to say. “Thank you.”
The girl laughed, and Gia was entranced by the lyrical sound of her voice. She decided the blonde must be a sorceress.
“I’m Allegra, by the way,” the woman said.
“Gia Cirone.”
Allegra’s smile widened, and she leaned in closely. “You know, just because you’re a fairy doesn’t mean you need to act like one.”
“I- I don’t know what you mean,” Gia whispered, her eyes wide as she tried to absorb what was meant to be sage advice.
“It means you can stand up for yourself, Gia. You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for.” Allegra whirled to leave, but Gia cried out to her, half-panicked that she would never see her again.
“You—you forgot your tips!” she cried lamely. That wasn’t what she had intended to say.
What Gia had wanted to ask was where Allegra had found her confidence, how she had learned her power. Allegra seemed to believe it was as easy as snapping her fingers, that the gregariousness would appear in the blink of an eye, but Gia knew better. She wanted nothing more than to be assertive and tough like the… sorceress? She still was not a hundred percent sure what to make of Allegra, and it wasn’t like she could just ask her.
Allegra pivoted back, her blonde hair fanning wildly along her shoulders.
“Those are all yours,” she replied. “Unless, of course, you want to take me out for drinks one day? We can compare war stories, but I suspect you’ll have a few that will make my skin crawl.”
“I do!” Gia gasped. “I’d love to take you out for drinks! Can you—?”
But Allegra disappeared, leaving her in a sea of drunken patrons, wondering if the girl had really existed or if Gia had made up a superhero in her own mind.
3
It had been Lennox’s immediate instinct to fly directly back to the Hollows and find his brother, but when he stormed out of Southern Belle’s headquarters, he had a change of heart. The last thing he wanted to do was see his brother’s smug face when he could already picture it so vividly in his mind.
No, he decided. I’m already in hell. No need to make it worse by going home.
Minimally, he wanted some liquid courage before going head to head with Wilder.
“Back to the hotel?” Castor asked, and Lennox grunted in response.
In his anger, he had forgotten the fact that it was eight thousand degrees outside, and when he stepped out of the car again, the humidity caught him off guard, almost knocking his breath from him.
“Are we heading back tonight?” Castor called before Lennox could fully shut the backseat door behind him.
“You can,” he said. “I might be a few days.”
“All right.” Castor pulled away, and it wasn’t until he was gone that Lennox remembered he hadn’t apologized for the way he had treated and talked about his sisters.
I’ll catch up with him when I get back, he thought, and when I’m in a better frame of mind. I couldn’t give him a sincere apology if I wanted to.
“Hotter than a witch’s tit out here, ain’t it?” a hot breath whispered in his ear, and Lennox was consumed with shivers, despite his foul mood.
He turned to address the woman at his side. She had long ginger hair that fell in coils around her, and her black eyes seemed to glint mischievously as she stood on her tiptoes, brazenly touching his arm.
“It really is, isn’t it?” Lennox replied, trying to place where he’d seen her before. She looked so familiar, but the southern accent was throwing him for a loop. She’s a pixie, isn’t she? Why is she talking like that?
There were no accents in the Hollows, no matter what part anyone hailed from. Their tones were even and understood everywhere.
“You don’t remember me, do you?” she sighed, dropping her arm off his broad shoulder and shaking her head with disgust.
“I do!” he protested. Now that she had dropped the accent, his mind was trying to come up with her name, unfortunately drawing a blank.
“Mira,” she reminded him with a scowl. “We… well, I would say ‘dated,’ but we both know it was more like unadulterated troll sex.”
“Mira!” Lennox exclaimed, sighing in relief. He did remember her. It had just taken a few minutes to pull it from the recesses of his mind. She had been fun, but not as fun as the lycan twins.
Lennox blushed at the comparison.
“I’m sorry,” he stammered. “I’ve had a shitty day.”
Mira snickered. “Tell me about it. We’re sweating our balls off in New Orleans in August. Pixie blood is apparently a gnat’s wet dream.”
“I wouldn’t know about that,” Lennox chuckled, looking around uncomfortably. The last thing he wanted was to make small talk with a pixie he’d only slept with twice and never bothered to call again.
“You’re staying here?” she asked, gesturing at the hotel. Lennox nodded.
“Yes—well, only for a few more hours. I have to get back home.”
“Let me buy you a drink,” Mira offered. Lennox immediately opened his mouth to refuse, but she held up a delicate hand to stop him. “It’s the least you can do after giving me the royal brush-off,” she said, laughing. Without giving him an opportunity to respond, she linked her arm through his and half-dragged him toward the lobby.
She’s not wrong, Lennox thought miserably. I just wish that she’d picked a better day for it. He was beginning to wonder how many people he’d pissed off in his life, and the number made him cringe.
They made their way to the bar, where Mira immediately took a seat on one of the barstools, patting the one next to hers so that Lennox would take it. Sighing to himself, Lennox realized he had no choice, and he sat down beside Mira.
“Mira, I—”
“Shh! No talking until I have a Cosmo between my lips.” Mira grinned coyly at Lennox. “Unless you want to put something else there for old time’s sake.”
The unexpectedness of the bold question took him by surprise, and Lennox suddenly found himself blushing like a schoolboy.
“Relax, Lenny! I’m just joking with you!” Mia howled. “Man, I wish you could see your own face right now. And I thought you dragons were known for your sense of humor. Are your brothers this dry, too?”
Lennox scowled. He didn’t want a reminder of his brothers, not when he was trying to forget his sorrows. Mira didn’t seem to notice his distress, because she turned to the bar to order a drink.
“Mira, I’m sorry,” Lennox said, rising from the barstool where he had only just sat. “I’m really not in the mood for company right now.”
“Hey!” she protested, seriousness crossing over her face. “What’s going on? I was just teasing you. I’ll stop, I promise.”
Lennox eyed her, unsure if he should stay. She seemed sincere, but he truly was not in any mindset to entertain anyone, least of all a pixie who was probably angry with him. When he caught Mira’s dark eyes, though, he saw nothing but warmth and concern exuding from them, and he didn’t sense any malice emanating from her.
I’m a dragon, he told himself. I would know if one of my underlings was feeling vengeful. After all, I’ve felt it enough times.
“Please?” Mira pleaded. In the end, Lennox nodded.
“Let’s find a booth,” he said before she could ins
ist on him sitting down at the barstool again. “I always feel conspicuous sitting in front of the bartender.”
“Works for me. We’ll find a booth, stuff our faces with tapas and cocktails, and you can regale me with the woes of ruling the Hollows.”
Lennox heard a bell of alarm sounding in his head. That sounded an awful lot like sarcasm.
“Geez, Lenny, everything I say seems to rub you the wrong way,” Mira sighed as they headed toward an empty booth. “Is it my tone or…?”
“It’s not you,” he said, shaking his head. “I’ve just got work issues on my mind.”
Mira snorted. “What do you need work for, anyway? I never understood that about you and the others. You could literally be anywhere in Sunside or below, doing exactly what you want, and yet you still choose to play the mortal head games. Why?”
Lennox blinked at her inquiry, surprised that she would even ask. “How many Mai Tais can one drink, Mira? You know what happens when the brain starts to stagnate?”
“I haven’t had the pleasure of knowing,” Mira replied dryly. “But I imagine you’re going to tell me.”
“You may not be as old as me, Mira, but you have been around long enough to see what happens when beings lose their sense of self-worth?”
Mira cocked her ginger head to the side and smiled beguilingly. “They have sex with strangers by the truckload.”
Lennox bristled. There was no denying that she was purposely goading him. He wasn’t just being sensitive.
I knew this was a mistake, he thought, standing from the booth. She only wanted to do this to stick it to me. She’s pissed that she was nothing more than a one-night stand.
“Where are you going?” Mira demanded, her black eyes widening to half the size of her translucent face.
“I’m tired,” he lied. “I’m going to my suite to lie down, and then I’m heading home.”
“Wait a second,” Mira said. “I’m scaring you off, aren’t I?”
“No,” Lennox denied, not wanting to get into it with her any more than he already had. “I’ve just had a brutal day.”
“Let me make it up to you,” she insisted, reaching out to grab his hand pleadingly.
“There’s nothing to make up,” he told her. “I just—”
“What if I grant you a wish?”
The question hung heavily in the air, and Lennox looked around to see if they were being overheard. His pulse quickened slightly. How long had it been since he had heard that question and known it was meant in the literal sense?
“You shouldn’t say things like that,” he growled. “It’s not proper to bring magic out of the Hollows, and you know you’re forbidden to grant me wishes.”
“Why can’t I do magic on the Sunside?” Mira demanded. “You and your brothers fly around up here all the time, and you get caught most of the time, too.”
“We are an exception to the rule,” Lennox reminded her—not that he needed to explain himself to her.
“Well, what if I’m an exception this one time?” she asked coyly. “I can grant you any wish you want.”
A hot flush swept through Lennox’s body as his mind began to run wild with the possibilities.
Hundreds, even thousands of years before, the pixies and fairies had tried to win favor with the prince brothers by granting them wishes, but as Wilder grew more powerful, he had put an end to it, enacting a new law that forbade the princes from accepting wishes. Any sprite caught bequeathing them to a dragon would be instantly sentenced to death.
It had been years since anyone had approached him with such an offer, and Lennox didn’t know how he felt about it or even what to make of it.
Is this a trick? Has Wilder sent her to me to see if I would bite at the bit?
It didn’t make sense that his brother would do such a thing, but it seemed like a big coincidence.
“What are you really doing here, Mira? Did Wilder send you?”
Mira snorted. “Wilder? Your brother? God, no. He terrifies me. He’s got even less of a sense of humor than you tonight.”
“Why are you here?” Lennox asked her again, suspicion clouding his eyes. He couldn’t stop himself from wondering what he would do with one wish, even though he knew it might be a trap.
“Where? In New Orleans?” Mira sounded confused. “I have a house here. I was just getting out of the Hollows for a while. Maybe you don’t feel it, but it can get really oppressive sometimes.” She grinned disarmingly at him. “Or maybe it’s just the rest of us that feel that way.”
“No, I’m fairly sure most of us feel it,” Lennox sighed.
“So? What do you say? I grant you one wish. Only one. And then we’ll wipe the slate clean, okay?”
Lennox gnawed on his lower lip, his gut churning.
“At least sit down while I finish my drink,” Mira chided him as the server approached with the drink she had ordered at the bar. “You don’t have to agree, okay? Just please don’t rat me out to Wilder. He really would have no problem sending me into a fiery pit.”
“Why?” Lennox asked curiously. “What have you ever done to him?”
Mira studied his face for a moment. “Are you seriously asking me that, or are you just being coy? Your brother loathes the pixies. He would have had us all murdered in the fourteenth century if the lycans hadn’t fought for us.”
Lennox’s brow furrowed as he tried to recall such an order. Had Wilder even been powerful enough back then? It was hard to recall. Time had lost all its meaning so long ago.
“In any case,” Mira continued, “he probably hates us more after that, but at least I know you like some of us.” She winked, and Lennox sat back against the vinyl seat, considering her offer. He crossed his arms over his barrel chest.
Maybe this isn’t a set-up, he thought, his mind whirling as their gazes met. Maybe this is fate. What if Mira is here so that I have a chance stop my tyrant brother once and for all?
“So?” she chirped, reclaiming the southern accent. “What’ll it be, baby? You want a wish or not?”
Slowly, Lennox nodded his head, his heart thudding in his chest as he thought of exactly how to word his heart’s desire.
“Yes,” he answered, grinning. “Yes, I do.”
4
“Stop looking like someone is going to jump out of the shadows and eat you!” Allegra laughed. “You’re making me nervous.”
“I’m sorry!” Gia gasped, her eyes pouring over the cavern walls with unadulterated awe. “I’ve never seen anything so… so…”
There were no words to describe the opulence of what she was observing. They were inside the Parker Palace, a structure which had known many names over the years, changing with the dragons as they shifted personas.
Once upon a time, it was a dreaded place; an eerie fortress the others avoided with great effort, the wrath of the princes real and terrifying. It had been stolen from the vampires and tried to be reclaimed many times, but the dragons held fast and strong to their pillaged goods.
Although that had been before Gia’s time, the tales of the princes’ cruel reign was not easily forgotten, even as they adjusted and adapted into seemingly “normal” creatures, not plagued by the need to destroy and control. At least, not in the fifth century way. These days, their power was seen in wealth and on paper.
The Parker Palace was the biggest building in the Hollows, though no one knew exactly how big it was. It had been built upon and destroyed many, many times. Now it was a majestic stone estate with high, domed ceilings of glass and dozens of entrances.
There were hundreds of staff members working inside, given that the castle was not only a residence for the royal princes, but also a full-on complex of businesses. The palace housed a mall, several labs, and a floor of offices, including a travel agent and a real estate company.
But Gia and Allegra were entering the seemingly endless ballroom, which had been decorated in a fairy tale theme. Gia was both impressed and disgusted by it.
“You’re grimacing,
” Allegra giggled, tugging on her arm again.
Gia hadn’t realized she had stopped walking to take in the indoor English maze, constructed of lattice and thorns. She felt as if she were in a dream, floating on a cloud as Allegra guided her toward one of the many bars set up throughout the gallery.
“You work in here?” Gia choked. “How—how do you find your way every day without getting lost?”
Allegra snickered. Even that sound was musical.
“I don’t work in the ballroom,” she assured Gia. “There are entrances closer to the boutique. Come on. Let’s get you a drink before you have a panic attack.”
Gia allowed her new friend to steer her, but her mind was whirling as she wondered what it would take to live and work in such a place. Shyly, she cast her gaze toward Allegra, who was smiling at people she knew, confident and charming. Again, Gia was struck by how easy it seemed for Allegra to blend in among the people, as if she had been born and raised with a crystal goblet in her mouth.
I imagine I’d have to be more like Allegra to end up in the upper echelons of Hollow society, she thought, not slinging drinks to college hooligans in Columbus, Mississippi.
Gia had been both stunned and thrilled when Allegra called the bar a couple days after they had met, asking her out for drinks. Even though she had teased Gia about paying, Allegra happily picked up the tab, and from then forward, they had become fast friends, seeing one another almost daily.
Sometimes, Allegra would come to her work and pick her up to bring her back to the Hollows crossing, while other nights they would meet after and find a twenty-four-hour hole-in-the-wall in the Trenches, where they would have coffee and laugh until dawn.
They were together so much that Gia genuinely began to consider Allegra as her best friend, something she’d never had before in her life. She always been too awkward for friends, too meek. It was easy to be overlooked in the Hollows when everyone else was so intriguing.
What does she see in me? Gia wondered, but she dared not ask Allegra, lest the blonde suddenly realize what a mistake she was making.
