The Book of Eden

by Alex Temples

  It was cold downstairs. I’d found my new home to be drafty in general, but the downstairs never seemed to warm up, no matter how high I turned up the heat.

  I shivered as I lifted the ward and pulled open the front door.

  A man stood on my front porch. He was well over six feet tall, eyes dark, jaw square. An air of danger hung around him. The devil wore a crisp white shirt, open at the neck, sleeves rolled up to expose muscular, hairy arms covered in tattoos.

  “Brinmar, you look enchanting this evening.” The thing rumbled, his voice sliding over me. I felt the compulsion in it, a prickly, intoxicating sort of magic I hadn’t felt before.

  When he spoke, my nipples hardened and my pulse raced. It was everything I could do not to jump his right there. Much to my horror, I found I was staring at his crotch, and I forced my eyes upward until they were on his face. That was a mistake.

  As my eyes met his, carnal images filled my head, naked limbs, bare flesh, thrusting bodies. My knees felt like jello.

  I shook my head and the images disappeared. I was staring into deep black pupils now. Had I imagined that? My cheeks burned, and the creature in front of me laughed, a deep, dark sound, filled with mirth and a touch of madness.

  This one was dangerous. My fae part told me to get as far away from it as possible, for this was what fae were before. This one was ancient, and he was playing with me.

  “Eirian.” I said, my voice cold.

  “Brinmar.” He said, with a nod and a knowing smile.

  I stepped back wordlessly, allowing the queen’s consort to step into my home, even as my senses screamed for me to turn him away. Eirian strode past me, turning towards the stairs with a sureness that unsettled me. He knew exactly where he was going.

  I was moving to shut the door when Neil’s car pulled up, taking the parking spot directly in front of my house. He slid out of a sleek black car and headed towards me. Orielle was with him.

  Fantastic. My body guard is back.

  I’d enjoyed the momentary freedom from her sulky presence. At least when I was with Tristan, I didn’t have to have her trailing me. I chided myself for the insensitive thought and pasted a pleasant smile on my face as the two of them approached.

  Neil didn’t smile as he climbed the steps of my porch. Arrogant prick. I thought uncharitably. Orielle trailed quietly behind him, avoiding my gaze. She didn’t have to say anything. Her eyes burned with rage.

  Of course, she would blame me for Tristan being injured. Why not? Just throw it on top of everything else that was my fault.

  As Neil stopped in front of me, I was prepared for battle.

  “Tristan? How is he?” The tall fae asked in a somber voice.

  Hearing the note of concern in his voice, my hackles settled, and I reminded myself that even though Aiden didn’t trust Neil, Tristan seemed to. They were friends. I eyed Neil curiously. He still wore office attire, a blue dress shirt and charcoal slacks. The top two buttons of his shirt were undone, and his tie hung around his neck, as if he’d just loosened it in the car.

  “Tristan is resting. He’s fine for now. Nia and Siddarth believe the curse is still active, but they were able to slow its progress… until we can come up with a more permanent solution.” I added quietly.

  He nodded, his brow furrowed. He stood there on the porch unmoving. He was waiting for me to invite him in. Maybe the bastard did have some manners. Very well. I suppose I could play nice for the time being. We were united against a common enemy, and that would have to be the way of it for now.

  I moved aside and gestured for him and Orielle to come in.

  The first thing I saw when we walked into my living room was Eirian sitting with Claire, a plate of chicken balanced on his lap. Whatever glamour he’d used on me downstairs was gone. He looked almost like a regular guy as he took a swig from a beer Oren must have pulled out of the fridge.

  Sensing eyes on him, he raised his gaze to me and flashed a dimpled grin. Alright, a regular guy who happened to be sinfully attractive, and clearly dangerous, even in his mortal guise.

  I gave him a measured look, glancing from Claire to him, my message clear. She’s under my protection. Don’t you dare.

  His eyes laughed at me, but he nodded, almost imperceptibly.

  Satisfied, I turned to my new guests to discover Orielle had already settled into an armchair in the corner, as far away from the rest of us as possible. Neil had claimed a seat at the kitchen table. Siddarth, Nia and Oren sat with him, talking quietly amongst themselves. It looked like Oren was getting more comfortable with the fae.

  “Alright, I suppose now that we’re all here, we should get down to business.” I announced, glancing around as I waited for everyone’s attention. The room quieted. As all eyes turned to me, I felt suddenly nervous. Even Eirian and Neil waited patiently for instructions.

  Huh, when had I acquired the authority to instruct a group of centuries-old fae? Eirian and Neil usually answered only to Aelwen. It was true I was the Fae Queen’s granddaughter, but yikes.

  I slowly examined each of their faces. I wasn’t sure I was ready for this type of pressure, but I supposed this was part of my role as the lead keeper. Fae they might be, but I was the only one with the magic to repair the wall. Not even Aelwen could do that, and the wall would only hold up until the next solstice before it collapsed and the two worlds collided.

  If that happened, the dark fae would take advantage of the ensuing chaos and use the opportunity to overthrow the Crystal Court.

  Perhaps Neil and Eirian were too ancient, had seen too much, to muster much empathy for the mortal lives that would be lost if the wall collapsed, but they certainly cared about the survival of Aelwen’s court, a court in which they enjoyed immense power and almost complete freedom.

  Hmm, I guess I could get used to this.

  I cleared my throat.

  “Thank you everyone for getting here so quickly. As you know, Tristan was struck down by a wasting curse while we were in Scotland retrieving the missing pages of the Book of Invasions. Nia and Siddarth were able to slow the curses’ progress and make him comfortable until we can come up with a better solution.”

  “A wasting curse.” Eirian said contemplatively. “Very interesting choice. They aren’t used frequently anymore. They’re thought to be too inhumane.”

  I grimaced at his words. Inhumane? I’d hate to consider what the fae found to be inhumane.

  Eirian rubbed his chin. “Have you called Meurig?” He asked.

  Nia nodded. “Yes, I sent a message to him, but he hasn’t been located yet. I was told he was sent to Cibola on palace business.”

  Eirian nodded. “Yes. I thought perhaps he would have returned by now.”

  Neil cut in. “He should return tomorrow, by mortal time. Why do you ask about Meurig?”

  Eirian gazed at the other man, taking his time to reply.

  “The old bastard is the one who invented the wasting curse.” He spoke the words slowly, so there would be no mistaking what he’d said.

  The fae at the table recoiled at his words. I was sure my expression matched Nia’s look of horror and disbelief.

  “Why would he have done that?”

  Everything I knew about Meurig supported my notion of him being a cherished wise man, a good and just advisor to the queen. I couldn’t imagine the stooped, old fae with the kind eyes designing the type of curse that had so ruthlessly attacked Tristan.

  Eirian shrugged. “You’ll have to ask him yourself. It was in his youth, when he was a young master apprentice in Eden. The curse is created using fruit from the garden. It was outlawed almost 500 years ago.”

  Everyone sat silently for a moment.

  “Well, if Nia has already sent a note to Meurig, there’s nothing else we can do for Tristan at present. I believe Neil informed everyone of Gethin’s discovery of the first object of power?”

  Everyone nodded and I made a satisfied sound.

  “Neil, do we have any more information on wh
at object they’ve managed to secure?”

  Neil shook his head. “Unfortunately, no. It seems the dark fae are still hiding in the Netherealms, thought we don’t’ know exactly where. When my people have more information, I’ll update the group.”

  I nodded. “Great. Thank you.”

  Turning to Siddarth, I moved to the second topic on my list.

  “Siddarth, can you please share a report on where we’re at with mortal cases of magic poisoning, and how our EEV inventory is faring?”

  Siddarth finished the bite of donut he’d been chewing before answering.

  “Yes. We’ve had 59 cases of magic poisoning this week. Emma and I have tightened up the procedures for surveillance, reporting and treatment, and I’m happy to report with the improvements in early detection and prevention, we’ve been able to reduce the number of new cases reported by 30%. The number of patients able to achieve full recovery without EEV has improved by 10%.”

  “That’s excellent, Siddarth. Thank you for your work. I’ll have to send Emma a note as well. It sounds like she is performing above and beyond our expectations.” I said, offering him a smile.

  Siddarth smiled back, nodding graciously. “Yes, Emma is a hard worker.”

  “Alright, I think we can move on to next steps now.” I glanced around the room, pausing, in case anyone objected. The all remained silent.

  I guess I’m doing okay.

  “Thanks to Tristan’s sacrifice, we now have the missing pages and can begin analyzing them in the hopes they’ll help us locate the other artifacts before the dark fae do. I want to introduce you to Claire, who will be handling this responsibility along with me.”

  I motioned in the direction of the couch where Claire remained, sitting next to Eirian.

  Claire?”

  Claire rose slowly from the sofa. She held her spine straight, lifting her chin just slightly as her eyes moved around the room.

  “I’m pleased to meet all of you.” She said. “My mother has served as right hand to the Master Keeper for many decades, with me as her apprentice for the last few. I am pleased to be counted among you as we prepare to defeat the Dark Rider and his master. I’ll do everything in my power to see them brought to justice for their crimes.” Her voice rang clear.

  I couldn’t help but be impressed by her performance. If the presence of the powerful fae in the room rattled her, I couldn’t see it.

  I watched with amusement as Eirian, Neil, Nia and Siddarth all took their turns acknowledging her and formally introducing themselves. The fae enjoyed these formalities. It was something I was adjusting to. Perhaps it harkened back to their court days?

  While the others were talking, I quickly gobbled down a chocolate donut. Rather than stilling my rumbling stomach, I think it made me hungrier. The silence in the room told me it was my turn again, so I licked the last bit of chocolate frosting off my finger and turned back to the group.

  “Alright, now comes the fun part. As Claire and I will be working on decoding the missing pages, each of you will be retrieving the other missing keepers.”

  I paused in case they needed time to digest this information, but the room remained silent. Good soldiers.

  “Now that Claire is with us, we’re only missing five of the Keeper’s descendants. I have locations on four of them. With Tristan is play, we would have been able to send one fae after each Keeper. Unfortunately, in his absence, one of you is going to have to pick up two keepers. Oren has been kind enough to put together a file on each of the keepers. As you embark, you will each receive a file, along with the services of a seeker, provided courtesy of Nia and the Council.”

  I met Nia’s eyes, silently asking her if I was doing okay. She gave me an encouraging nod.

  “Nia, you will go to Colombia and escort Ana Flores.”

  I handed Nia a purple file.

  She nodded and I shuffled through the rest of my multicolored folders until I found the one I was looking for.

  “Eirian.”

  Eirian stood up from the sofa, striding across the hardwood to where I stood. His presence was visceral, radiating a subtle sexuality that made me uncomfortable. I thought about saying something, but then I wondered if perhaps he couldn’t help it. He was one of the most famous of the fae, the great seducer, the embodiment of all that was forbidden. He didn’t spend much time in the mortal realm, as I understood it, and thus couldn’t be held entirely responsible for his middling ability to mask the extent of his power. Once again, my nipples hardened in his presence. I took a steadying breath, praying no one would notice the effect the dark eyed fae had on me.

  I fumbled between the orange and red folder, wondering briefly if I should send him to Germany instead, but I pushed the feeling off and handed him the orange folder.

  “You will go to Japan and retrieve Sayumi Satō.”

  “As you wish, my lady.” He said, his lips curled to form a smug smile, eyes twinkling as he watched me.

  He could read me like a book. Good god. I was going to have to have Nia teach me some trick to keep his glamour from getting to me.

  Eirian bowed and returned to his seat on the sofa. I took a deep drink from my coffee and pulled out the next folder.

  “Siddarth.” I dropped two files on the table in front of him. Siddarth eyed me with interest, his warm, brown eyes assessing. I knew he saw how Eirian unsettled me.

  I’d known Siddarth for years in our work at the NYU lab. Aelwen had sent him to spy on me when I first took a position at the university, worrying that eventually the things that went bump in the night would discover who and what I was. I hadn’t known he was fae until earlier this year. Despite the deception, I trusted him implicitly. Sid’s lie had gained him nothing and he’d only been following orders, so I’d forgiven him quickly.

  “You get the enviable task of popping by Istanbul to collect Esma Alabora. Please be careful. I think we’re all aware of the tension in the region right now.”

  Siddarth nodded, examining the green folder.

  “But that’s not all. If you’ll open the yellow folder, you’ll see a file on Nikolaus Ruhmann, of Prum, Germany.”

  “Nikolaus? I thought all the descendants were supposed to be women?” Claire interrupted.

  I chewed on my lip. “Yes, so did I. However, this is what we came up with. It may be that the German Keeper does not have a daughter. Siddarth will have to learn more when he’s on the ground.”

  For good measure, I added something Tristan had shared with me on our trip.

  “Tristan seemed to think that the sex of the keeper might not matter as much as conventional wisdom has it. You must remember that keepers were not always female.”

  There was a round of murmuring, before the group settled down, seemingly accepting my answer.

  I raised an eyebrow, glancing around and waiting for other questions.

  “Okay. Finally, Neil.”

  He arched an eyebrow.

  I handed him the last folder.

  “Your task is the most difficult. You are headed to Tanzania for Gloria Mushi.”

  He frowned. “I hardly think retrieving one woman from a half-tamed country will be a problem.”

  I smiled. “Perhaps it won’t. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get an exact location on Gloria. Recordkeeping in Tanzania is not the best, but besides that, Gloria is an archeologist. According to our intelligence, this time of year she’s usually camping in various locations across the savannah, surveying or excavating along with her team. We think she may be in Northern Tanzania, in the Ngorongoro National Conservation area.”

  Neil processed this, a grimace spreading across his face.

  “Camping?”

  I nodded, my lips twitching.

  Neil frowned deeper. Neil hadn’t seemed like the type to enjoy camping, but I wasn’t familiar enough with Eirian’s skill in the mortal world to trust him to hunt someone down in East Africa.

  “Very well.” Neil said. He nodded and scooped up his folder. “It will be d
one.”

  Nia stood, putting her hand on my arm. “You don’t need to worry about us. We’ll bring everyone back here as quickly as we can. Is there anything you need before we go?”

  It was a good question, but I couldn’t think of a damn thing. I glanced around the unlikely group.

  Eirian, the seducer, retrieving a Japanese teenager. Neil, rigid in his adherence to rules and structure, setting out onto the Savannah to track an archeologist. Feminine, dainty Nia headed to the Amazon. Siddarth, unassuming as he may be in Istanbul, would stick out like a sore thumb in Germany. I hoped fervently he wouldn’t encounter any problems. I was pretty sure a mountainous village in Western Germany didn’t see a whole lot of Indian men, but then, you never know.

  “I just want to thank you guys. I know this is as much your fight as it is mine, but I really appreciate you making me feel like I belong somewhere.” My voice was steady, but inside I was quaking.

  Siddarth jumped up and wrapped me in a hug. “You’ve always belonged in our world, Brin.”

  Nia raised her glass of root beer. “To Brinmar, for being the glue that holds our worlds together, and to her new friend, Claire.”

  Slowly everyone raised a glass, a coffee mug or a beer bottle.

  Eirian looked amused. Neil may have smiled, but the expression was so quick I missed it. Siddarth and Oren were all in, thrusting their beer bottle in the air with enthusiasm and offering their own toasts in Irish and Edenese.

  Claire and I looked on with amusement, coffee cups raised in solidarity.

  We toasted and swigged our drinks. The meeting dissolved and we spent the next few hours eating donuts, chatting among ourselves and teaching the fae how to play monopoly.

  In the early hours of the morning, Eirian was declared the winner. We all wandered off in search of a few hours of sleep.

  Tomorrow, the real work began.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “I don’t know how you expect to find anything in those pages. They weren’t written for mortals.” Orielle grumbled. She rolled her eyes in our direction for the third time that hour.

  Claire and I had brought the leather-bound pages of the Book of Invasions up to the third floor of my apartment, so we’d have room to work.