by Alex Temples
I felt incredibly at peace in this room. Shivering in the cool air, I decided I better keep moving. The room was always chilly and damp, not dissimilar to a wine cellar. Cushions lined the walls on one side. On the other side, a set of small steps led down to the lowest level, an open space with thick cushions spanning the length of the room. Huming glass, a special absorbent glass with several magical properties, lined the walls of the lowest pit.
It was a sparring pit, built to handle both magical and mortal sparring.
Nia and Tristan had spread out the many pages of the Book of Invasions across the cushiony floor. We’d spent the last week reviewing them page by tedious page. So far, the book had not revealed its secrets. We knew only what we’d known before. The book told the stories of the first fae. We had yet to understand the significance of the stories or what they had to do with us finding the four treasures.
“Fill me in. What do we know?”
Nia looked up from where she was sitting, her hair spilling over her shoulders. She leaned back, sighing softly.
Tristan shuffled the stack of papers in front of him before setting them down. He looked up and met my gaze, looking discouraged.
Nia was the first to speak. “It’s what we thought it was, just stories of the first.”
Tristan looked down at his hands and shook his head. “I don’t know what we’re missing, but there has to be something.”
I scrunched my brow and strolled across the room, joining them on the floor. The first paper I picked up was a diagram with various names scrawled across it in a hierarchical structure. A family tree? I wondered, squinting to try and read the names. Either they were too thin, or they were written in a language I didn’t understand.
Tristan chuckled.
I looked up at him and slowly lifted an eyebrow. “You find something amusing?”
“Not at all, I’m just laughing at myself, because I realized Nia and I haven’t taught you how to read between the lines.”
Nia made a sound as if she’s just stumbled onto something. “That’s it, Tristan.” She said, her voice filled with excitement. She leapt to her feet and spun around, searching the floor.
“Does someone want to fill me in?” I asked dryly.
I should be used to them talking over my head by now.
Nia was wrapped up in her hunt for whatever it was she was looking for. Tristan cleared his throat and then motioned for me to join him. I sighed, crawling over to where he sat cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by crinkled sheets of vellum.
“Come here, Brin. Let’s get to it.”
I settled in next to him, staring expectantly at the vellum he held.
“This is a diagram showing the lineage of one of the royal lines, the house of Cibola.”
I stared down at the page. In shimmering golden ink, was etched a most beautiful symbol. Knots, twisted together in an unending chain within a larger circle. Within the circle, lines twisted into the shape of cat eyes, connecting to each other and then sweeping outwards, curl after curl, reminding me of horse’s mane blowing in the breeze. Nowhere in the symbol did I see anything that could be part of an ancestral chart.
I looked up at Tristan, waiting for the explanation I knew was coming.
He smiled at my confusion and patted me on the shoulder.
“It’s hard for you to not know things, isn’t it?” He asked. His face was kind, if not a little amused.
I remained silent.
“Alright then. You have to read between the lines.” He repeated his earlier phrase.
I looked down at the page again. What the hell was he talking about?
Tristan tilted his head to the side, considering me. “Have you ever read runes, Brin?”
I thought back to the last few months and my mind went immediately to my memory of sitting inside the Rune Tree with Aiden. It was the first time I’d read runes. I would never forget the experience. I shuddered.
Tristan nodded with satisfaction. Now I understood what he wanted me to do.
I stared down at the gold symbol on the page. It was a rune lock. Damn fae. Nothing was ever easy with the fae. Fae were taught how to read runes the same way kindergarteners were taught the alphabet. It was a very basic skill, and it should have occurred to me these were runes. I’d had few encounters with them the past few months, and only during dire moments where I was more focused on survival than I was on the nuances of rune reading.
Aiden explained to me when children were first learning to read runes, and hadn’t yet become attuned to them, they needed to touch them to comprehend them, much like a blind person reading braille.
I glanced down at the rune again, hesitant. I could count the number of times I’d read runes on one hand. One of the times they had packed such a magical punch that I’d been left screaming, before plunging into unconsciousness. I really hoped this wasn’t one of those.
My fingers met the vellum, running over its smooth surface until I came to the edge of the gold. Gently, I lifted my fingers a bit and then pressed them to the golden seal. Magic greeted me and the paper warmed under my fingers. I pictured an ancestral chart, focusing on my desire for the paper to reveal its secrets. The gold melted across the page, and as it ran over the blank space it revealed the drawing and writing hidden within.
There stood a great Oak tree, it’s enormous branches thick with leaves. Numerous limbs jutted out of the trunk, unfurling at the ends to make way for smaller branches. Upon these, sat neatly rounded circles. Within each circle, a name was scrawled.
“Wow. It’s beautiful.” I said, admiring the artist’s effort.
“Yes, it is.” Tristan said softly. “Unfortunately, there is nothing there we don’t already know.” He smiled wistfully.
“I found it!” Nia, who I’d almost forgotten about leapt from the floor, clutching a fistful of papers in her hand with a triumphant expression.
“Found what?” Tristan and I asked in unison.
Nia’s dark eyes glistened with excitement. “I figured out what the dark fae were looking for.”
Tristan and I both clamored to our feet, rushing to Nia’s side to see what the fuss was about.
“These are just more ancestral charts.” Tristan said, frowning down at the page.
“Yes, exactly.” Nia exclaimed.
I frowned at the tiny lettering, trying to pronounce the names scrawled in blue.
“Siani?” I pronounced the name at the bottom of the chart.
Recognition slid over Tristan’s face. “The ancestral charts for the keepers?” He asked.
I paled. The Keepers were the only thing standing behind the dark fae and their goal to destroy the wall between the worlds. All of them were being held hostage at the present moment. All except for me. I was a loose end. I didn’t have enough power on my own to perform the Winter Solstice ceremony and stabilize the wall, but I had just enough ensure a target on my back.
Aelwen had hundreds of fae searching the realms for any sign of the Keepers. The dark fae could not risk killing us yet, at least not all at once. We possess a very special kind of magic - goddess born magic. It extracted a very heavy price from anyone who took the life it protected. Magic always comes with a price.
The dark fae had killed one keeper a few months ago. We had yet to hear what price Gethin had paid, but it was said he had sacrificed the life of his daughter to take the life of the Keeper. I shuddered. What was their interest in the ancestral charts?
Nia and Tristan stared down at the ancestral charts and then back up at me. “What would you do if you had a list of anyone who could raise arms against you, and you were headed into the most important battle of your life?” Tristan asked.
The blood drained from my face. “He’s going after the descendants.” I whispered.
Nia looked solemn. “He can kill them without consequence. They aren’t protected. Their mothers wear the amulets, not them.”
“Why would they kill the descendants? They already have the upper hand. It
’s not that I don’t believe Gethin is ruthless enough, I just don’t know why he or Evrei would waste time sending people after them. I mean, aren’t they just children anyway?” I asked.
Nia considered this. “No, they’re likely all of age, but I think you’re right. There has to be something we’re missing.”
“What if we could use them?” Tristan asked, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
“What do you mean?” I asked, frowning.
Nia contemplated this, staring between me and the sheet of vellum. “Tristan may be on to something. You may very well be able to use them, Brin.” Her voice was incredulous as she stared at me.
“I can use the descendants of the keepers?” I asked, trying to follow her train of thought. Nia sometimes had partial conversations in her head, forgetting to catch everyone else up.
Tristan answered. “Yes, we can use them for the solstice ceremony. All you’d have to do is install them as Keepers.”
“But the current Keepers are still alive.” I argued.
“It doesn’t matter.” Nia interjected. “Though we usually wait until a Keeper is ready to pass on the duty to her daughter, upon retirement or her death, it doesn’t have to be that way. One of the most important reasons we wait, is because the keepers wear the Amulets of Dana. With these, they are protected from much magic, particularly dark magic. As you know, being a Keeper puts a target on your back. However, you don’t need the amulets to perform the ceremony.”
I considered her words. What she said made sense. We still needed to find the Keepers, to find my mother, but if we could locate their descendants, it would buy us some time. We didn’t have long before the solstice. There was no guarantee we’d locate the Keepers in time. If anything, it was an excellent failsafe. I rubbed my forehead, mulling it over. It never hurts to have a failsafe.
I looked up. Tristan and Nia who were watching me carefully.
I shrugged. “I think it’s a good idea, but for me to install them, we’d have to find them. Do we know where they are?”
Tristan nodded. “We know who they are, and with that information we can have them located. It might take a little bit of time.” He frowned considering this.
“It would be stupid for us not to try.” Nia commented.
“Yes. It may.” Tristan said, rubbing his brow. “Time is something we don’t have right now. Let’s get the trackers on this asap and see if we can locate them.”
*
A tall, dark and sinfully handsome man with piercing green eyes and an olive complexion flashed a grin from across the restaurant lobby. I had to fight the urge to look over my shoulder and see who he was checking out.
It had been a rough day. We’d spent 12 hours analyzing the fae ancestral charts in an attempt to pull together a list of the Keepers descendants and their probable locations. The process had been grueling. On the upside, I’d convinced Nia to give Orielle the night off, arguing that I’d be completely safe since I was spending the evening with a special forces guy. She’d agreed, and I was deeply enjoying my momentary freedom.
I wore my favorite pair of boot cut jeans sporting several holes. I’d paired them with a snug black t-shirt bearing an AC/DC logo and my comfiest pair of ankle boots. The humidity had turned my normally straight hair into a mess of half limp curls. To tidy up my appearance, I’d forced the unruly strands into a fishtail braid that hung over my shoulder. I still felt like I was dressed inappropriately for the trendy Catalan restaurant I found myself in.
I’d intended to get together with Tomas eventually, but this project gathering the list of keepers had pushed him to the top of my to do list.
It was terribly handy having a friend who worked at the Pentagon. Tomas had tools at his disposal I could only dream of. Tristan and Nia had dispatched the fae trackers earlier that afternoon, but it never hurt to have multiple resources working towards your goal.
“Brin! Where the fuck have you been?” Tomas’s deep voice jerked me out of my thoughts.
“I thought you were checking out someone behind me. I figured you’d find your way over eventually.” I joked, walking into his open arms and burying my face in his chest. He smelled like soap and his usual spicy cologne. He reminded me of home, of safety. It was good to feel safe. Realizing how much I’d relaxed since I’d seen him leaning against the wall watching me, I pondered the thought that maybe being in D.C. would work out after all. I had Tomas and Oren, and they were family.
We pulled apart and he fixed sparkling green eyes on me, giving me a good up and down and then making a turning motion with one finger.
I groaned, but obliged him, turning in a circle, trying to ignore the few people who were now staring at us. With his height, and his looks, Tomas always drew attention. I think he secretly loved it, no matter how he denied it.
“My god girl, you’re getting too skinny. What the hell are the fairies feeding you?” He exclaimed with mock horror. I punched him in the arm and he smiled, flashing dimples just visible under the light shadow of stubble on his chin.
“Not by choice. You know I worship carbs, and keep your voice down. Secret, remember?” I scolded.
“God you’re a sight when you’re angry. Come on, you beautiful creature, some delicious Catalan food is just what you need.” He intentionally deepened his Spanish accent and the way he said Catalan felt like a caress. Several women in our vicinity perked up as we walked by. I rolled my eyes.
“Stop torturing the poor women, Tomas.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” He replied, amusement in his voice.
I followed him through the dimly lit interior to a private booth near a window overlooking the city. Sparkling chandeliers hung from ceilings painted a deep plum. White table cloths. Wine glasses. Yep. I was way underdressed. I tried to walk right behind him, hoping no one would notice I was dressed for a baseball game, and not a nice dinner.
Judging by the look I got from an blue haired lady in a pink suit, I didn’t think it was working.
We settled into our booth, which was mercifully private, hiding me from most of the room with its high walls. Tomas spoke fluent Spanish to the waiter, who’d brought a bottle of Lambrusco with him. He proceeded to pour us each a generous glass. This was where Tomas took after his father. He liked to order for me. He was the only man in the world I’d let do this, and only because he had much better taste than I did.
I raised the cold red liquid to my mouth and sighed as the bubbles tickled my nose. The taste of cherries filled my mouth. Yep. He definitely had better taste than I did.
“This is delicious.”
Tomas smiled, staring at me fondly.
“It is pretty fucking delicious, isn’t it? Normally I wouldn’t order Italian wine in a Spanish restaurant, but this is one of my favorites.” He raised his glass in the air and we clinked glasses.
I was going to need a refill.
“You still have quite the potty mouth, I see.” Amusement tugged at the corners of my lips.
“Damn right I do.”
“Do you talk like that at work?” I asked, eyebrow raised in genuine curiosity.
He shrugged. “Most of my work involves staring at a computer screen all day. I don’t think my laptop minds.”
I chuckled. “Thank god for that.”
His face grew serious. “How are you, Brin? How are you really? I haven’t seen you in person in over a year, and then only for your father’s funeral where I find out about all this stuff you’re involved in… I know the last few months have been hard.” He finished.
The concern in his gaze pierced through the layers I’d constructed to protect myself. I took a deep breath, reaching out and putting my hand over his.
“Tomas, I’m okay. It’s been a crazy few months. I’m still adjusting to this new…responsibility.” I said, shrugging.
He considered me for a moment and then nodded. “Okay. I’m glad to hear it, and I must say, even though I’m not overly excited about you working with…them, I am happy you aren
’t in New York anymore. Can I ask what happened to that guy you were dating?” His face had gone carefully blank. I knew that expression. This was Tomas being protective.
Once, in college, I’d had a boyfriend who had cheated on me with my roommate. Tomas had snuck into his dorm room and threw all his stuff off the balcony. Then, he’d made him strip naked and climb down to the ground to retrieve everything in broad daylight. When a big, scary special forces dude tells you to climb down the balcony, you do it. It had been parents weekend. After that, I hadn’t had any more boyfriends for the rest of undergrad.
I considered my options. Tomas knew about the fae. He knew what Aiden was, but having not seen the magic first hand, I wasn’t sure he grasped the fact that this wasn’t his typical enemy. Tomas had a thing about protecting the underdog. After all, he’d been teased and tortured mercilessly as a kid. I think it was just too hard for him to watch people being hurt or taken advantage of.
I decided humor was the best tactic.
“Why? Are you planning to hunt him down for me and make him March naked through the city?” I prodded, letting my lips spread into a playful smile.
He chuckled, his deep baritone filling the booth. “Actually, I was thinking about fucking him up. They do still bleed, don’t they?”
The smile melted from my face. “Yes, they bleed. They aren’t invincible, just immortal.”
He considered this. “So, you can kill them?”
“Sure, technically you can kill them, but that’s easier said than done when you’re dealing with someone who can use magic, not only to heal themselves, but to injure or kill you.” I said, staring pointedly into his eyes. “Look, I love you, and I appreciate that you want to take care of me, but I don’t want you getting hurt.” I paused. “And, I don’t want Aiden dead.”
His eyes widened. “You still love him.”
I swallowed, running a hand through my hair.
“Yeah, I guess I do, but we aren’t here to talk about my love life. Actually, I’d rather hear about yours.”
