by Brandi Bell
The light telling you to put your seatbelt on lights up, bringing me out of my thoughts. After landing at the airport in Kansas City, we exit the plane and find a limo waiting for us. If I have to work with the supreme asshat, at least we’re doing it in style. We head to the Angel Rock Bar in the power and light district. Antoine’s waiting for us when we pull up.
“Hurry, we need to go before we are seen,” Antoine rushes us.
“Why can’t we be seen?” I question.
“Simple, my dear girl, I don’t want anyone following us,” he replies.
“Oh, then what are we waiting on?” I ask.
“Nothing, follow me, quietly,” he answers.
We follow him to the basement. There’s an unmarked door that looks older than the rest of the doors in the establishment on the far wall. Antoine walks towards it, while the rest of us hang back and watch.
“Are you coming? I thought this is what you wanted Seamus,” he says looking at the incubus.
“Of course, you heard the man, let's go,” Seamus says to us.
Antoine turns back to us, “Before I forget, you all must change your clothes. How silly of me. If we cross over wearing our Earth clothes we will draw too much attention.”
He walks over to a pile of clothes. He grabs a dress and hands it to me.
“You expect me to wear this?” I shriek.
“If you don’t you’ll stand out too much, females don’t wear pants in Caestia,” he explains.
“Fine, but no one talks of this ever,” I say glaring around the room.
Antoine passes clothes out to everyone, and we change. I hate dresses so this was an experience I wasn’t looking forward to. At least once dawn comes, it’ll be Jade’s turn to wear it.
“One more thing, time runs differently in Caestia, so it’s daytime there. I don’t know how it will affect you with your particular condition,” Antoine says looking at me.
“Either I’ll stay awake on the Earth schedule or Jade will wake up when we cross over. Doesn’t really matter either way does it?” I ask.
“I guess it doesn’t,” he replies.
Once everyone is dressed, Antoine walks back to the door and opens it. He gestures for us to come forward.
“Make a chain, hold the hand of the person before and behind you and don’t let go until I say,” he lectures.
We form a chain with Antoine at the front, followed by Elias, then me, Grady, and Seamus bringing up the rear. We all clasp hands; Antoine walks through the door. The chain makes a smooth entrance. The door shuts behind Seamus leaving us in the dark. We follow Antoine blindly until he stops. He opens a door and we are bathed in light. It was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, then all goes dark.
Chapter 10
Elias
I’m hoping Ruby will get to experience the daytime in this new world. The moment Antoine crosses the door, she stiffens up, then tries to jerk her hand out of mine. I can tell by that it’s Jade and not Ruby now.
“Stop it Jade, we need to stay connected,” I growl.
“What’s going on?” she asks.
“We are on our way into Caestia. It was night when we left, but daytime here. We didn’t know if you girls would switch or not,” Antoine explains.
My frustration is agitating my wolf. He’s pacing under my skin. He doesn’t like that our mate is not in her body any more than I do. I try to hush him, now is not a good time to change. He finally relents and settles back in his corner of our mind.
I turn my focus back to the world we have just walked into. It smells slightly of decay, like everything is just beginning to die. The grass is brown, and the leaves on the trees are all beautiful colors. There are shades of yellows, oranges, and reds surrounding us. I look around in awe. When Antoine said we were going to come into the realm in the Autumn Kingdom, I thought it was just a name. I can’t wait to see the differences in the rest of the Kingdoms.
“Wow, this is literally Autumn. Does it stay like this all year round?” Grady asks.
“Of course. Only Earth has changing seasons,” Antoine answers.
“What do we do now?” I ask.
“We travel around, and ask the right questions my dear wolf,” Antoine says, smiling.
“Is there anything I need to know?” Jade asks.
“Just that time moves differently here,” Seamus says softly to her.
“I hope that means we’ll get back in time to save my dad,” she says with worry in her voice.
My wolf didn’t like that. We hadn’t considered the time moving differently would affect our mission. He started pacing again, this time I couldn’t stop him, I change right there.
Chapter 11
Jade
My jaw drops open. I’m looking at a giant red wolf where Elias was just standing. I really need to learn more about shifters.
“Elias, are you ok?” I ask the wolf.
He bumps me with his head. I scratch him behind the ears, “It’s ok Elias, we will figure everything out. We’ll need you to stay a wolf until we find you more clothes though. I doubt people would ignore a naked man walking around.”
“It’ll be ok, there are a lot of shifters in Autumn and Summer. It’s not unusual to see mixed groups with animals among them here,” Antoine explains, “My contact lives just a few miles north of here. We’ll go there and regroup, and get clothes for the wolf.”
“What’s the plan once we get there?” Seamus asks.
“We’ll start asking which fae can cast this type of curse, and then find a way to break it,” Antoine answers.
We walk in silence, Elias glued to one side, Grady on the other. Seamus looks disgruntled but says nothing. Antoine is the only one looking happy; it made me wonder what put such a pep in the strange man’s step. I feel at a disadvantage, I’m the only one who hasn’t met the man yet.
“Why are you so happy?” I ask him, curiosity getting the best of me.
“Most of my kind become overjoyed when we meet our mate for the first time,” he says grinning.
“Oh? When did you meet her?” I question him.
“Why my dear, when we crossed over into this realm,” he chuckles at me.
“No flipping way! We’re not having this conversation, and I’m not collecting any more mates!” I yell at him.
He chuckles and continues walking, ignoring me completely. I’m in a sour mood, tired of all these men claiming to be my mate. What about what I want, I think to myself. Then I realize I’m drawn to them, each in a different way, but I don’t want to be. Why did the goddess make my life so complicated.
We reach the top of the hill we are walking up and see a small village on the other side.
“Just there,” Antoine says pointing at the village, “that’s where Jerome lives.”
“You sound excited,” I comment.
“Oh, I am! I haven’t seen my brother in a couple of years. Only talking through a contact stone,” he exclaims.
“Well, let’s go then,” Seamus speaks up.
We continue walking over the hill and down into the village. It’s strange to be in a world with no electricity or technology. Everything feels less polluted. I take a deep breath then regret it immediately. We’re walking past a horse, and well, I gag on the smell. The men all start laughing, even Elias in his wolf form appears to laugh.
“I’m glad I could amuse you all,” I pout.
“Don’t be like that, Jade. If it was one of us, you would have laughed too,” Grady points out.
“You’re right,” I say with my arms still crossed over my chest.
We turn the corner at a small house with a thatch roof. Everything here blends into the land, rather than working against it. I marvel at the difference between where I live and here. I run into the back of Seamus. Elias growls, I look up, we’ve stopped in front of a little cottage. Antoine knocks on the door. After a few moments a man that looks similar to Antoine answers the door, there’s one huge difference. The man who answers the door has hu
ge black wings coming out of his back. My jaw drops, but only Grady seems surprised.
“I think we forgot to tell Jade and Grady about the fae,” Seamus chuckles.
“Antoine doesn’t have wings, why does his brother?” I ask Seamus.
“Why my dear, I do have wings, I’ve just become accustomed to hiding them, since living in the human world,” Antoine tells me, he then makes his wings somehow come out of his back. I nearly faint.
“Some warning would have been nice,” Grady grumbles.
“You’re fine. Expect the unexpected here,” Antoine says.
“If we expect the unexpected, isn’t it no longer unexpected?” I ask.
“That’s a good one, my dear,” he replies.
We follow Antoine into Jerome's house. Inside it’s simple in its decor. Everything looks as if it’s moulded from the earth, or from naturally fallen trees, instead of how we make stuff on earth. I sit on a chair, the others follow suit.
“What are you doing here brother? Not that I’m not happy to see you,” Jerome asks Antoine.
“Our wolf is in need of some clothes, and we need a place to figure out this curse,” Antoine answers him.
“You are welcome to stay as long as you need to of course, but I don’t know how much help I’ll be,” Jerome answers.
“Can you make a list of anything you know that can cast a sleeping curse?” I ask him.
“I can do that, but I don’t know a lot about the other Kingdoms,” he replies.
“We’ll travel there as well. Do you know anyone who can get us permission to travel through the others?” Antoine asks his brother.
“I know someone in the courts, I’ll send word that you need permissions. We should hear back soon on the outcome,” Jerome states.
“Awesome, could I have some clothes now?” a very naked Elias asks.
I try not to stare but he’s standing right in front of me. My face turns bright red, I’ve never seen a naked man before today.
“Like what you see, Jade?” he asks, swinging his hips.
Grady and Seamus both lunge at him, he ducks and they knock heads.
“I was only kidding guys, calm down,” he says while laughing.
“You idiot, you might be comfortable with nudity, but your schlong is now the first she’s ever seen!” Grady yells at him.
“Oh shit! Sorry Jade,” Elias says; his entire body blushing, as he follows Jerome through a doorway.
“Well, I don’t think I care too much for that shifter now,” Antoine says, his eyes dark.
“You all need to remember you don’t own me,” I say. “Yeah he embarrassed me a bit, but he didn’t mean it the way you guys took it.”
“You’re right, but I have too much competition as it is,” Grady replies.
“I’m not competition, lad, I already told Jade I’m willing to share,” Seamus tells Grady.
“You both need to back off, she’s my mate,” Antoine growls.
“You all three need to remember that ‘she’ has a brain and ‘she’ decides who ‘she’ is and isn’t with!” I yell at them.
“What are you all talking about?” Elias asks, as he returns fully clothed.
“These three are fighting over me, like I don’t have a choice in who I’m with,” I answer him.
“Why not just be with all of them, if they’re your mates?” he questions me.
“I don’t know, that seems, hard,” I reply.
“If we can make it work with Ruby, there’s no reason why you can’t make it work with these three boneheads,” he tells me.
Elias looks at the three men, “Why can’t you respect each other for Jade’s sake?”
They all grumble and stop arguing. I sit back and pout, not wanting to address my feelings yet. Elias sits at the table next to Jerome.
“How’s that list coming?” Elias asks Jerome.
“About done. Can’t think of anything else,” he answers. “My contact is getting your passage sorted out now.”
“How can you know that without leaving?” I ask.
“Contact stone, I believe humans call it texting,” he tells me.
“Oh, well I feel kinda dumb now,” I reply.
“You’ve been invited to the castle for dinner,” Jerome says, his voice quivering.
“Isn’t that a good thing?” Seamus asks.
“Depends on what mood Queen Thessilia is in,” Jerome answers.
“Well, what can we expect then?” I question him.
“If she’s in a good mood, then a meal with a room full of fae. That could mean there is a lot of hedonism going on. If she’s in a bad mood, torture, for you or for you to watch,” he explains.
“Well, we better hope she is in a good mood, there is no denying the queen her request,” Antoine replies.
“It’s almost dark, I hope Ruby behaves,” I say nervously.
“Aye, lass, that one could get us all tortured,” Seamus says.
“Let’s get going, it’s a bit of a walk to get to the castle. It’ll be dark before we get there, so we will explain to Ruby,” Antoine explains.
We leave the house and start walking north. I take in the scenery as we go. This land is so clean and beautiful. That’s the last thought I have.
Chapter 12
Seamus
It’s odd being in this land. It feels like home, and I’ve never felt that before. We are about an hour from dusk, I look over at Jade, and red is bleeding into her eyes.
“No way! I didn’t think this was possible,” I exclaim.
“What?” Elias asks.
“Look at your mate,” I answer.
“Ruby?” Elias asks her.
“No shit! How the hell am I here? It’s still daylight,” she yells.
“It’s another realm, we don’t understand the rules for the two of you here,” Antoine answers.
“Where are we at now?” she questions him.
“We’re on our way to the castle to have dinner with the queen. Be on your best behavior or she might just kill us all,” Antoine tells her.
“Fine, but I’m not good at behaving,” she tells him.
“Isn’t that the truth,” I retort.
“Don’t worry demon boy, I won’t make them torture us like you did me,” she spits at me.
I mentally roll my eyes. That lass doesn’t have a polite bone in her body. My mother seemed to like her well enough though. I long for my Jade to be back, I wish I could find a way to seperate the two of them permanently.
Chapter 13
Ruby
I can’t believe the nerve of that man, acting like I’ll fuck everything up for everyone. I’ll be damned if I prove him right. I’ll make sure that I’m the best behaved one so no one can say shit.
We continue walking, it’s taking forever to get there. I watch the sunset; it’s pretty cool to see things in the daylight for the first time. I wonder if it’ll happen again. No one knows the answer though.
Finally, a large stone castle is on the horizon. It is imposing, made out of red, yellow, and orange stones of some sort. This world is so weird. We move faster with our goal in sight.
“Anything else I need to know before we get there?” I ask.
“Just don’t piss anyone off and we should be ok, if she’s in a good mood,” Antoine answers.
“Well, great. Let’s hope she’s not PMSing,” I snark back.
It’s been dark for about an hour before I’m lost to the dark.
Chapter 14
Grady
I look over at Ruby to tell her to behave, and I see her eyes bleed back to green.
“What is going on?” I ask a little too loudly.
“How am I here when it’s dark?” Jade shrieks.
“Very odd, it seems Ruby is only awake at twilight. I wonder if she will come back an hour before dawn as well,” Antoine muses.
“This is some freaky shit!” Elias exclaims.
“I for one am glad to have Jade with us to meet this queen,” Seamus says
.
“Of course you are, Ruby would have managed,” Elias says hesitantly.
“I’m sure she would have, buddy,” I say patting him on the back.
“The castle is beautiful,” Jade says with awe in her voice.
“It is,” I agree.
She turns to me, and throws her arms around me, embracing me.
“I’m glad you’re here with me,” she says, then her lips consume mine.
My cock hardens, not a good time for this to happen. I break the kiss before I would like, but we are on a mission.
“Later, baby,” I whisper in her hair.
I had two sets of eyes glaring at me, I smirk at them, Jade came to me, not the other way around. I’m so glad she still wants me, I find it hard to keep up with her having two more mates. I don’t know how my bandmates do it.
My heart is pounding in my chest, as my anxiety spikes the closer we get to the castle.
“I can smell your fear, get ahold of yourself, Grady,” Elias growls at me.
“Sorry, the thought of being tortured doesn’t sit well with me,” I snap back.
“It will be fine, gentlemen. The queen is in a good mood, look at the fae around the castle,” Antoine points out.
The fae are all dancing, singing, and having sex, in the courtyard. I guess that is what Antoine meant by hedonism. We walk closer and Antoine gets a huge smile on his face.
“What luck, today is the best day to come to the castle. The queen is celebrating something,” Antoine tells us.
Chapter 15
Antoine
I was nervous when we were summoned, but now I am elated. From what I remember, the parties of the Autumn Court were amazing. I’m not sure how my companions will feel about them though.
“No matter what you see, don’t react. Signs of weakness aren’t well tolerated,” I say, staring at them.
