“What about Tam Lin? Trenyth said he was captured?” Morio stabbed a piece of meatloaf with his fork.
“Rozurial was on the trail of Tam Lin when he saw a brigade of goblins swoop in and cart him away. They knew who they had, I’ll tell you that, because they didn’t hurt a hair on his head, even when he somehow managed to kill a good six or seven of them.” Trillian stared at his plate.
“How did he do that?” Shade handed me the salad and I passed it over to Chase, who gave me a soft smile.
“Roz said there was some sort of blinding light . . . it came from the spirit seal. When it cleared, several of the goblins lay dead. But there were too many, and they overwhelmed poor Tom. I wish him a speedy death, because being carted before Shadow Wing?” Trillian shuddered.
The thought of poor Tom, as broken as he was, being dragged before the Demon Lord was more than any of us could handle. I could see it round the table, crossing everyone’s face.
I spoke to break the silence. “You say Smoky and Roz are still hunting for Venus the Moonchild and Benjamin?”
Trillian nodded. “Yes.”
“Venus is crafty and he’s a shaman. Chances are, if anybody makes it out of there, he will. If Ben happens to be with him, so much the better.” I sent a silent prayer to Bastus that my old friend, the former shaman of the Rainier Puma Pride, had made it safe. “One thing is for sure, if the goblins catch Venus, he’ll take them down as hard as he can before he gives up the ghost.”
We filled Trillian in on what had been happening with us as the evening wore on. Nobody wanted to leave the table—it was too safe, too homey, and for a brief moment, it felt like we could rest.
But as dinner came to an end, a terrific gust of wind passed over the house and the sound of breaking branches hit the roof.
Trillian wiped his mouth and stood. “Sounds like it’s brewing up a storm out there. I’ll go and make sure there was no damage to the roof.”
“I’ll help.” Morio followed him out.
Hanna began to clear the table and Nerissa jumped up to assist her.
Chase stood and yawned. “I guess I’ll head back to Iris’s and hit the hay early. I’m exhausted and we’ve all got a long day tomorrow.”
Camille brewed a pot of tea while waiting for Morio and Trillian to return, and Menolly headed downstairs to keep Amber and Luke company. Shade and I said good night and wearily made our way upstairs.
Tomorrow, we’d have to start sorting out the pieces. Tomorrow, we’d face the mess we were mired in and figure out some way to deal with all of it. But tonight . . . tonight was for healing and resting, and hopefully, for peaceful dreams.
Chapter 20
Shade closed the door behind us and turned on the music. As the strains of Leonard Cohen’s “I’m Your Man” filtered through the room, we looked at each other. What could we say? So much had happened in the past few days, yet here we were, in a brief lull, not knowing how long the fragile moment would last.
He held out his arms and I slipped into them, leaning softly against his chest. He kissed my cheeks, brushing away stray wisps of my bangs. I caught my breath as his lips trailed down my face, softly pressing against my own. Melting into his arms, I inhaled deeply, the warm scent of his musk firing my hunger.
In silence, I reached down to unbuckle his belt. He held up one hand, and motioned for me to raise my arms. As I did, he lifted my shirt over my head, then softly turned me around to unhook my bra. His arms slid around my waist and he reached up to cup my breasts, breathing gently against my neck. I shivered at his touch, wanting him to throw me down, take me hard, make me forget the sorrow and tears and death that surrounded us.
Slowly, I pressed back against him, as he fingered my nipples, bringing them to attention. With a long breath, I unzipped my jeans and shoved them down, using my feet to kick them off. He slid his hands down from my breasts to slip his fingers under the sides of my panties, and with a smooth gesture, pushed them down my hips. Still with his arms around me, he traced his way across my stomach, his fingers tickling as he brought them down to finger my clit. I moaned gently, moving in rhythm to the music as he began to stroke me, circling softly at first, then harder as he picked up the pace.
I squirmed, letting out a loud groan, but still he moved with precision, not hurrying, not letting me hurry him. I could feel his erect cock through his pants, pressing against my back, and all I could think about was how much I wanted him inside me, filling me up, thrusting deep to take me out of my head.
“Shade—” I started to say but he shushed me.
“Quiet. Let me do this.” Abruptly, he turned me to face him, and slid his arms around my waist and began to dance with me, his knee pushing between mine as we moved to the sultry music. I laughed, suddenly, and kicked off the panties from where they’d fallen to my feet.
“I want to feel your chest,” I whispered, tugging at his shirt.
Still grinding against me, he let go and quickly divested himself of his shirt, then his arms were right back around my waist. I pressed my breasts against his bare chest, the coffee of his skin warm against my paleness. Draping my arms around his neck, I pressed my lips to his, my tongue dancing with his. We kissed, slow and long and deep, the fire kindling between us.
Shade chuckled, one hand caressing my lower back as he cupped my butt with the other. “Oh Delilah, you are ripe on the vine. You are my puss in heat.”
I let out a little growl, playfully nipping him on the nose. “What are you going to do about it? Going to scratch my itch? Going to give me a taste of what you have under those pants?”
“You want it, babe? You want it hard and fast?”
“Hard, fast, and deep.” And the energy shifted again, from playful to serious as I pulled away, crooking my finger as I backed up to the bed. “Come get me if you want me.”
He unbuckled his belt and slid it out from the loops, then stripped out of his pants. He was glorious, dark and rich skin shimmering in the dim light. I gazed at his cock, hungry and licking my lips.
Responding to my challenge, he strode over, grabbing me up and tossing me on the bed. The next moment, he landed between my legs, his lips fastening around one nipple to tease and nip at me. I let out a little cry as he lowered his lips to between my legs, and the next moment, he was licking me, his tongue creating delicious swirls. I could barely catch my breath as he continued, unrelenting, until I couldn’t think, couldn’t feel anything but the pulse of his tongue driving me higher. Panting, I let out a choked cry as I came, hard and sharp, and tears began to run down my face as the stress of the past few days let go in one long wave of release.
Shade immediately rose up to thrust his cock deep inside me, and I wrapped my legs around his back, rocking with him as we drove the demons into the night, pushing them away with our passion.
And, in the midst of death and destruction, there was this: the stroke of his cock, inside me, creating the union that made all the pain and worry worth it. As he came, I let go and, once again, tumbled into the minor death that is orgasm. And there, watching over both of us, stood my lord Hi’ran, Elemental Lord of the Harvest, the fire of passion crackling between the three of us even as the fires of war raged on in my homeworld.
CAST OF MAJOR CHARACTERS
The D’Artigo Family
Arial Lianan te Maria: Delilah’s twin who died at birth. Half-Fae, half-human.
Camille Sepharial te Maria, aka Camille D’Artigo: The oldest sister; a Moon Witch and Priestess. Half-Fae, half-human.
Daniel George Fredericks: The D’Artigo sisters’ half cousin; FBH.
Delilah Maria te Maria, aka Delilah D’Artigo: The middle sister; a werecat.
Hester Lou Fredericks: The D’Artigo sisters’ half
cousin; FBH.
Maria D’Artigo: The D’Artigo Sisters’ mother. Human. Deceased.
Menolly Rosabelle te Maria, aka Menolly D’Artigo: The youngest sister; a vampire and jian-tu: extraordinary acrobat. Half-Fae, half-human.
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Sephreh ob Tanu: The D’Artigo Sisters’ father. Full Fae. Assumed deceased.
Shamas ob Olanda: The D’Artigo girls’ cousin. Full Fae.
The D’Artigo Sisters’ Lovers & Close Friends
Astrid (Johnson): Chase and Sharah’s baby daughter.
Bruce O’Shea: Iris’s husband. Leprechaun.
Carter: Leader of the Demonica Vacana Society, a group that watches and records the interactions of Demonkin and human through the ages. Carter is half demon and half Titan—his father was Hyperion, one of the Greek Titans.
Chase Garden Johnson: Detective, director of the Faerie-Human Crime Scene Investigation (FH-CSI) team. Human who has taken the Nectar of Life, which extends his life-span beyond any ordinary mortal, and has opened up his psychic abilities.
Chrysandra: Waitress at the Wayfarer Bar & Grill. Human. Deceased.
Derrick Means: Bartender at the Wayfarer Bar & Grill. Werebadger.
Erin Mathews: Former president of the Faerie Watchers Club and former owner of the Scarlet Harlot Boutique. Turned into a vampire by Menolly, her sire, moments before her death. Human.
Greta: Leader of the Death Maidens; Delilah’s tutor.
Iris (Kuusi) O’Shea: Friend and companion of the girls. Priestess of Undutar. Talon-haltija (Finnish house sprite).
Lindsey Katharine Cartridge: Director of the Green
Goddess Women’s Shelter. Pagan and witch. Human.
Luke: Former bartender at the Wayfarer Bar & Grill. Werewolf. One of the Keraastar Knights.
Maria O’Shea: Iris and Bruce’s baby daughter.
Marion Vespa: Coyote shifter; owner of the Supe-Urban Café.
Morio Kuroyama: One of Camille’s lovers and husbands. Essentially the grandson of Grandmother Coyote. Youkai-kitsune (roughly translated: Japanese fox demon).
Neely Reed: Founding Member of the United Worlds Church. FBH.
Nerissa Shale: Menolly’s wife. Worked for DSHS. Now working for Chase Johnson as a victims-rights counselor for the FH-CSI. Werepuma and member of the Rainier Puma Pride.
Roman: Ancient vampire; son of Blood Wyne, Queen of the Crimson Veil. Menolly’s official consort in the Vampire Nation and her new sire.
Rozurial, aka Roz: Mercenary. Menolly’s secondary lover. Incubus who used to be Fae before Zeus and Hera destroyed his marriage.
Shade: Delilah’s fiancé. Part Stradolan, part black (shadow) dragon.
Sharah: Elfin medic; Chase’s girlfriend.
Siobhan Morgan: One of the girls’ friends. Selkie
(wereseal); member of the Puget Sound Harbor
Seal Pod.
Smoky: One of Camille’s lovers and husbands. Half-white, half-silver dragon.
Tavah: Guardian of the portal at the Wayfarer Bar & Grill. Vampire (full Fae).
Tim Winthrop, aka Cleo Blanco: Computer student/genius, female impersonator. FBH. Now owns the Scarlet Harlot.
Trillian: Mercenary. Camille’s alpha lover and one of her three husbands. Svartan (one of the Charming Fae).
Ukkonen O’Shea: Iris and Bruce’s baby son.
Vanzir: Was indentured slave to the Sisters, by his own choice. Dream-chaser demon who lost his powers and now is regaining new ones.
Venus the Moon Child: Former shaman of the Rainier Puma Pride. Werepuma. One of the Keraastar Knights.
Wade Stevens: President of Vampires Anonymous. Vampire (human).
Zachary Lyonnesse: Former member of the Rainier Puma Pride Council of Elders. Werepuma living in Otherworld.
GLOSSARY
Black Unicorn/Black Beast: Father of the Dahns unicorns, a magical unicorn that is reborn like the phoenix and lives in Darkynwyrd and Thistlewyd Deep. Raven Mother is his consort, and he is more a force of nature than a unicorn.
Calouk: The rough, common dialect used by a number of Otherworld inhabitants.
Court and Crown: “Crown” refers to the Queen of Y’Elestrial. “Court” refers to the nobility and military personnel that surround the Queen. “Court and Crown” together refer to the entire government of Y’Elestrial.
Court of the Three Queens: The newly risen Court of the three Earthside Fae Queens: Titania, the Fae Queen of Light and Morning; Morgaine, the half-Fae Queen of Dusk and Twilight; and Aeval, the Fae Queen of Shadow and Night.
Crypto: One of the Cryptozoid races. Cryptos include creatures out of legend that are not technically of the Fae races: gargoyles, unicorns, gryphons, chimeras, and so on. Most primarily inhabit Otherworld, but some have Earthside cousins.
Demon Gate: A gate through which demons may be summoned by a powerful sorcerer or necromancer.
Dreyerie: A dragon lair.
Earthside: Everything that exists on the Earth side of the portals.
Elemental Lords: The elemental beings—both male and female—who, along with the Hags of Fate and the Harvestmen, are the only true Immortals. They are avatars of various elements and energies, and they inhabit all realms. They do as they will and seldom concern themselves with humankind or Fae unless summoned. If asked for help, they often exact steep prices in return. The Elemental Lords are not concerned with balance like the Hags of Fate.
Elqaneve: The court city of Kelvashan—the Elfin lands in Otherworld.
FBH: Full-Blooded Human (usually refers to Earthside humans).
FH-CSI: The Faerie-Human Crime Scene Investigation team. The brainchild of Detective Chase Johnson, it was first formed as a collaboration between the OIA and the Seattle police department. Other FH-CSI units have been created around the country, based on the Seattle prototype. The FH-CSI takes care of both medical and criminal emergencies involving visitors from Otherworld.
Great Divide: A time of immense turmoil when the Elemental Lords and some of the High Court of Fae decided to rip apart the worlds. Until then, the Fae existed primarily on Earth, their lives and worlds mingling with those of humans. The Great Divide tore everything asunder, splitting off another dimension, which became Otherworld. At that time, the Twin Courts of Fae were disbanded and their queens stripped of power. This was the time during which the Spirit Seal was formed and broken in order to seal off the realms from each other. Some Fae chose to stay Earthside, others moved to the realm of Otherworld, and the demons were—for the most part—sealed in the Subterranean Realms.
Guard Des’Estar: The military of Y’Elestrial.
Hags of Fates: The women of destiny who keep the balance righted. Neither good nor evil, they observe the flow of destiny. When events get too far out of balance, they step in and take action, usually using humans, Fae, Supes, and other creatures as pawns to bring the path of destiny back into line.
Harvestmen: The lords of death—a few cross over and are also Elemental Lords. The Harvestmen, along with their followers (the Valkyries and the Death Maidens, for example), reap the souls of the dead.
Haseofon: The abode of the Death Maidens—where they stay and where they train.
Ionyc Lands: The astral, etheric, and spirit realms, along with several other lesser-known noncorporeal dimensions, form the Ionyc Lands. These realms are separated by the Ionyc Seas, a current of energy that prevents the Ionyc Lands from colliding, thereby sparking off an explosion of universal proportions.
Ionyc Seas: The currents of energy that separate the Ionyc Lands. Certain creatures, especially those connected with the elemental energies of ice, snow, and wind, can travel through the Ionyc Seas without protection.
Koyanni: The coyote shifters who took an evil path away from the Great Coyote; followers of Nukpana.
Melosealfôr: A rare Crypto dialect learned by powerful Cryptos and all Moon Witches.
The Nectar of Life: An elixir that can extend the life span of humans to nearly the length of a Fae’s years. Highly prized and cautiously used. Can drive someone insane if he or she doesn’t have the emotional capacity to handle the changes incurred.
Oblition: The name for the act in which a Death Maiden consigns a soul to oblivion.
OIA: The Otherworld Intellige
nce Agency; the “brains” behind the Guard Des’Estar.
Otherworld/OW: The human term for the “United Nations” of Faerie Land. A dimension apart from ours that contains creatures from legend and lore, pathways to the gods, and various other places, such as Olympus. Otherworld’s actual name varies among the differing dialects of the many races of Cryptos and Fae.
Portal, Portals: The interdimensional gates that connect the different realms. Some were created during the Great Divide; others open up randomly.
Seattle Vampire Nexus: The group now overseeing most of the vampire activities in the Seattle and surrounding areas. Run by Lord Roman, son of the vampire queen Blood Wyne, the SVN now oversees Vampires Anonymous.
Seelie Court: The Earthside Fae Court of Light and Summer, disbanded during the Great Divide. Titania was the Seelie Queen.
Soul Statues: In Otherworld, small figurines created for the Fae of certain races and magically linked with the baby. These figurines reside in family shrines and when one of the Fae dies, their soul statue shatters. In Menolly’s case, when she was reborn as a vampire, her soul statue re-formed, although twisted. If a family member disappears, his or her family can always tell if their loved one is alive or dead if they have access to the soul statue.
Spirit Seals: A magical crystal artifact, the Spirit Seal was created during the Great Divide. When the portals were sealed, the Spirit Seal was broken into nine gems and each piece was given to an Elemental Lord or Lady. These gems each have varying powers. Even possessing one of the spirit seals can allow the wielder to weaken the portals that divide Otherworld, Earthside, and the Subterranean Realms. If the all of the seals are joined together again, then all of the portals will open.
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