“Indeed she is. I’ll take you to meet her.”
“Really?” That would be kind of amazing. Izzy wanted to ask how old she was, but wasn’t sure if that would be rude.
Izzy blinked the sleep from her eyes as they got out of the car. “Where are we, Bain?”
There was a slight nervousness in her voice; they were literally in a large field surrounded by trees. She could barely make out the road that had led them here.
“Do you know what tree that is?” Bain pointed out a small tree being dwarfed by the taller ponderosa pines; it was thick with yellow leaves and full of bright red clusters of berries.
“Uh, no, can’t say that I do. I’m not a botanist.”
“No, but you are a smart ass,” Bain muttered.
Izzy raised a brow at him. “Okay, I deserved that. What kind of tree is it?”
“It’s a Rowan.” Bain stood behind Izzy and turned her in a full circle. The perfectly rounded meadow’s circumference was lined with the bright trees.
“Okay, that’s actually really cool, and they’re very pretty, but why did we stop here? Is this how we get to Rowan’s compound?”
“This is her compound.” Bain smiled as Izzy’s brows knitted together. “Trust me and don’t hold your breath.”
Bain pulled her against his chest and wrapped her in his wings as he spun them in a full circle. Izzy watched the ring of Rowans pass by. She felt a shift in the air. It warmed and, as Bain stopped them, she was greeted by a wide bridge that led over a small brook, and into a large, stone-built castle. The color was fascinating, in a soft terracotta with towers and turrets. There was a large, ornate shield over the tall, wooden doors, featuring an eagle perched on a man’s arm and a snake wrapped around the other.
“Welcome to the Middle World and Rowan’s compound,” Bain said as he let Izzy go and stood tall and proud next to her.
“What was that? How’d you do that?”
Bain smiled as he lightly took her elbow in one hand and grabbed her bag and a hissing, yowling Garcia with the other. She hadn’t even seen him pull her poor cat or her bag from the car. The thought had her turning to see if the car was still there. It wasn’t.
“Rowan’s compound sits between our two worlds. That’s why we have cell service here. We won this land many, many years ago, when Rowan took her role as leader to the Light Fae. She had her compound built on this spot. This is the strongest passage between our worlds. As it is our goal and responsibility to protect humans from the Fae, Rowan cut off one of the main hubs by building her fortress upon it.”
Izzy walked with him, shaking her head. It was unreal and fantastic at the same time. Two men stood guard at the large, ornate wooden doors, both nodding as she and Bain approached. Bain nodded back as they opened the doors.
“What were they?” Izzy asked, looking over her shoulder to get one more peek at the two men who stood in full armor at the entrance to this medieval fortress.
It wasn’t at all what she expected the doors opened to a large, open courtyard with stables, a large, open gorge tower, and a conical spine to her left. Izzy smiled cautiously at the few people milling around. She noticed a chapel in the distance as Bain steered her through a stone wall with a large, open archway to her right. This area opened into a spectacular garden area with a mosaic pathway to the castle’s main keep. The building was square and simple in its design, but rose high above the castle’s curtain walls. It had a long wing of what Izzy guessed was the main living area jutting off to the right, at half the height of the keep’s walls. It was hard for Izzy to wrap her head around the pure size of this fortress, or compound as Bain had called it.
It was massive and beautiful, especially the gardens. They were filled with fall colors, a large Rowan tree sat center stage of the shrub, and a flower-filled garden. Vines grew on both sides of the main door to the castle’s keep. Bright red roses adorned the deep green vines. It was magical.
Ah… the events she could hold here.
“Rowan’s guards.” Bain’s voice pulled her back to him and away from her work-related musings.
“What?”
“You asked what they were… They’re Rowan’s guards.”
“Well yeah, I gathered that, but what are they?”
“Ah, you mean what kind of Fae are they?”
“Yeah… is that inappropriate to ask?”
Bain chuckled. “Not really, they’re sirens.”
“Like the beautiful sea creatures that send sailors to their deaths?”
Bain sighed. “You carry some major stereotypes, sweetheart. They are obviously male and I guess maybe they’d be considered beautiful, but they aren’t sea creatures. They live on land and breathe air, and they are an excellent warning systems, as well as fighters, both using their ability to burst eardrums and hand to hand.”
Izzy smiled sheepishly at him. “Sorry, I can’t help but try to understand all of this by equating it to what I’ve learned about mythology and stories I’ve heard.”
“I know, and I understand. Now come on, I’ll introduce you to my brothers.”
Izzy nodded and followed Bain into the open foyer of the main keep. She watched as people bustled by, most stopping to greet Bain briefly, and then moving on.
“It’s about time you got back. I’ve been stuck handling Cree on my own. He’s not happy, brother, not at all,” a relieved voice boomed from above them.
Izzy’s eyes shot up where a tall man stepped from a balcony a good forty feet above them. Izzy gasped and stifled a scream as the black-haired man came free falling down. Halfway to the ground, a pair of onyx wings sprouted from his back and glided him down the rest of the way safely.
Bain shot Izzy a quick, sideways glance before approaching the man. Izzy’s heart calmed, giving her the opportunity to look at the guy. He was a few inches shorter then Bain was and sported a goatee. It did very little to hide the baby face that sat behind the scribble of facial hair. He looked young, maybe twenty-five, but Izzy knew better. She tried to remember what Bain had told her about his brother. She thought he had said the youngest name was Kale.
Bain pulled his brother into a half hug. “What’s wrong with Cree?” he asked.
“He’s a pain in the ass,” the brown-eyed Immortal teased. “Nah, I just miss having my partner in crime around.”
Bain nudged the man with a hard fist. Izzy grimaced, it looked like it would hurt, but he didn’t even seem to notice.
“All right, Kale. This is Isabelle.” Bain introduced his brother. She was proud she had the name right.
She stuck her hand out. “Izzy, you can call me Izzy.”
“Hey! I thought only your friends were allowed to call you Izzy?” Bain said with mock outrage.
Izzy shrugged. “No, in fact, everyone calls me Izzy. I just wasn’t sure I wanted you to.”
“Why not?” Bain feigned hurt.
“Because you were an arrogant, bossy, smug intruder in my home.”
Kale let out a soft chuckle. “I like her already. It’s nice to meet you, Izzy.”
“You too.” She grinned.
“I’ll walk with you guys to your room. As soon as we get you settled, Bain and I have to meet with Lothar and Uriah. Darnell will be by shortly to see if you need anything. But we shouldn’t be long. Then someone can show you around.”
Bain narrowed his eyes at Kale, but didn’t say anything.
Izzy smiled as she, Bain, and Kale made their way up the wide staircase, to the right and into the building off the main keep. She didn’t hear much of Bain and Kale’s conversation; she was busy taking in the sights. The walls were covered in tapestries and paintings, some depicting people or Fae as it were, others showing battles and some of landscapes that looked too perfect to be anything you would see in the Human World.
“Here ya go, I’ll leave you two to it and I’ll see you in Cree’s chambers in a few. Again, it was nice to meet you, Izzy.”
“You too. Thanks Kale.”
“I won
’t be gone long. When I get done, I’ll show you around and introduce you to my other brothers.”
“Okay, sounds good.”
“All right.” Bain turned and headed out the door.
“Hey, Bain?”
“Yep.”
“Thanks for… everything.”
He winked at her. “My pleasure. Now hang out till I get back. Don’t stray too far; it’s easy to get lost in here.”
“I think I’ll wait right here till you get done.”
Bain nodded and closed Izzy’s door behind him. Now he needed to find out where Ro and Cree were, and why Lothar was calling a meeting.
Chapter Sixteen
Lothar was second in command of the Immortal warriors, but it wasn’t like Cree to leave in the middle of the rise in Dark Fae activity in the Human World. Bain had told Izzy that there weren’t many Fae in her world and six months ago, that would have been the truth, but there were more and more reports coming in from Hawk’s Eye Security.
They had been expecting Zander’s return. Every hundred years or so he made his way to the human realm, feeding off the luck of successful woman.
It was Zanders’ MO. He had a thing about well-to-do and hard-working women. Bain had heard him say their luck was sweeter, stronger, and longer lasting. Bain hated the delicate balance of peace they held with the Dark. It was understood that luck-eating leprechauns would feed from humans. It wasn’t right, but it was how it worked. Bain and his brothers were only allowed to interfere if a Fae went so far as to detrimentally harm a human. Most luck eaters didn’t over indulge on one specimen. He growled lightly to himself—Izzy was no one’s specimen.
The blond-streaked mahogany hair belonging to Lothar greeted Bain as he entered Cree’s office. Whatever Lothar was studying, it kept him from lifting his head to greet his brothers.
Bain cleared his throat; he wanted to get this over with so he could get back to Izzy. She had a curious mind, and he wasn’t sure how far that would lead her from her room. There was nothing that would hurt her here, but there was plenty to frighten her.
“Always the impatient one. Glad to have you home, Bain.”
Bain smirked. “Nice to see you too. What’s going on?”
Lothar sat in Cree’s big, oversized leather desk chair. For being in a medieval castle, the office was very modern to human standards.
A large, glass-topped desk sat in front of big, picture-style windows, and bookshelves covered the far wall and held thousands of tomes; chronicling Fae history. There were a few novels for pleasure on one shelf. Cree liked to read human classics. A massive fireplace took up most of the opposite wall, where five chairs sat as a seating area angled towards Cree’s desk.
“How is Miss Moreno adjusting to her loss of luck?”
“She’s become quite accident prone.” Bain lifted the corner of his lips, thoughts of her earlier healing flashing in his mind. Oh, how he had nearly taken advantage there.
Lothar pinched his brows together. “Why do I feel pleasure at that, brother?”
Damn empath.
Bain waved him off. “Don’t worry about it.”
“So she’s given you a reason to stretch your abilities?” Lothar asked.
Bain nodded. Yes, she had. “So what’s going on?”
Kale and Uriah came in then, arguing about something, pushing and joking around.
“You’re late,” Lothar told his two younger brothers with a smile.
“You do far too good of a Cree impression, Lothar,” Kale drawled.
“And you almost do a good impression of an adult Kale,” Lothar quipped.
Kale rolled his eyes and flopped into the seat next to Bain.
Uriah gave a nod in Bain’s direction, and Bain returned the greeting.
“Okay, since we’re all here, let’s get started. Rowan has contacted Darion about Zander. Turns out the Dark Fae leader isn’t overly concerned about a few humans, but Zander hasn’t passed back into the human realm long enough for us to catch up with him, so we can’t get to him without Darion’s help.”
Bain groaned; that was not what he was hoping to hear.
Lothar gave him a sympathetic nod. “Rowan isn’t ready to let us go into Darion’s territory and take Zander by force yet. But Zander isn’t our only issue. I’m not sure how, but the Dark are flooding the Human World. I have a few reports of what sound like Fae attacks there.”
“Where are Ro and Cree?” Bain ask suspiciously. This new information enforced his feelings that Cree and Ro should not have gone anywhere.
“They’ve gone to Lark. They left before I got the reports from the Human World.”
Lark was a border village. They had problems with the Dark over the years in this particular village. Bain didn’t like Rowan going there, but with Cree at her side, she’d be fine.
“What’s happening in Lark?” Bain asked.
“The same old issues. Rowan went to enforce the magic at the border. They’ve had some petty thefts and fighting mainly. There was an uproar with one family; it seems their daughter disappeared with a brownie, but it looks like the two have been meeting secretly for a while now.”
“Did the brownie influence her?” Uriah asked.
Brownie’s were trouble-making Fae. They were good at twisting things and influencing others, but they were mostly harmless.
“No, she’s a brownie as well. She knows all the tricks. She apparently loves him and wishes to leave the Light for the Dark—that’s my impression anyway—so she can be with him.”
“That’s not good,” Kale grunted. “We can’t be losing our people to the Dark. That’s why we pick sides; that’s why were aligned.” There was heat in Kale’s voice, a reprimand born of something deeply embedded in him. For all his give-a-shit bravado and attitude, the alignment of the Fae was something he stood forcefully behind. Bain knew it was built of pain and betrayal, something he wondered if Kale would ever get over.
“True,” Lothar agreed, “but this is one young individual. I’m not worried about the Light jumping ship. What I am worried about is all the Fae activity in the Human World.”
Lothar looked to Uriah. “I want you and Kale to do a sweep of downtown Los Angeles. There have been reports of what sounds like vampire activity.”
Bain sighed, and Uriah smiled wide. “Isabelle would get a kick out of that. How long did it take for you to convince her you weren’t a vampire?”
Bain threw a decorative pillow at Uriah; Cree’s office hadn’t escaped his sister’s touch.
“Ha,” Kale bellowed. “She called you a vampire?” His brown eyes were sparkling.
“I’m surprised you didn’t already know… and no, she asked if we were vampires.”
“Did you tell her vampires are real?” Kale wiped at his eye. He loved Bain’s reaction when he was called or even associated with vamps.
Granted all vamps to this day had aligned themselves with the Dark, but they were Fae and he really wasn’t sure where Bain’s hatred for the bloodsuckers had come from. But he enjoyed the fire that sparked in Bain’s personality when any conversation turned to the vamps. Of course, Kale loved anything that had to do with fire.
“No,” Bain grunted. “She was freaked out enough.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t lull her with your boyish good looks. What happened?” Kale mocked.
Bain gave him the one-finger salute. “Have fun patrolling, brothers.”
“Before you go, Bain, Rowan and Cree will be back tomorrow afternoon to meet with Isabelle, and Meriah will be here in a couple hours for your feeding.”
Bain raised a brow. “I’m good for a least another week.”
“I asked her to come early. You’ve been in the Human World longer than usual and even you admitted you’ve been doing a lot of healing.”
Bain nodded. “Fine.”
Chapter Seventeen
Izzy lay flat on her back, hugged in the soft material of the large bed that took center stage in the room Kale and Bain had lef
t her in.
Her instincts to stay put had warred with her overwhelming curiosity; she wanted to explore the castle.
She’d spent the last half hour longingly gazing out her window. It was a beautiful piece of arched glass with a stunning pink, green, yellow, and blue stained glass, turning the arch into a separate piece of stunning artwork—a Celtic sun shining against a blue sky with a single blooming pink rose. Below the piece of artwork stood a large window that looked out onto the gardens, a large, rolling grassy area, a few small homes, and beyond that was another curtain wall to the fortress. It was a small, well-guarded village of sorts.
Izzy watched the people below. They were so very normal. A few small children played in a field, while couples walked hand and hand, and others carried goods towards the center of the castle’s fortress. She had watched them while she waited for Bain’s return.
Garcia had grumbled until she let him loose in the room. He had made his way to the windowsill to stare out at the sights with her, his tail twitching. She had eventually given in and opened the door that led to a small balcony off her room. Garcia had found his way down to the ground and went bouncing off in the grass. He’d stopped a few feet away from the building, not straying too far.
She met the sweet, older man named Darnell. He was short and a little stout with rosy cheeks, grey hair, and a very sweet disposition. He had brought her some refreshments and then insisted on unpacking for her. She smiled and worked alongside of him, until he’d bid her good-bye to see to arrangements for the evening’s dinner.
Now she lay on the bed, twiddling her thumbs, staring at the exquisite ceiling over her bed. It was a large skylight that let the dimming light of late afternoon into her room. The sun was fading, and the deep orange and pink of the setting sun bathed her room in a magical light. She couldn’t wait to see the stars tonight as she lay in her bed in this magical world.
“Am I interrupting?”
Izzy lifted her head to the deep bass of Bain’s voice. He stood with his hip pressed against the doorframe and his muscled arms crossed over his chest, with a twinkle of mischief in his violet eyes.
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