Enchanted Addictions: A Reverse Harem Fairy Romance (The Twilight Court Book 11)

by Amy Sumida

  “Once stopped, the cair will secure itself,” Max answered. “We've made the design as simple as possible, knowing that most fairies who will use it will not be familiar with human cars.”

  “Very wise, Max,” Tiernan said in approval. “Even I, who am familiar with cars, appreciate the simplicity.”

  Max flushed with pleasure. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

  “I assume the pedals work the same. The left is the brake and the accelerator on the right?” Tiernan asked.

  “Yes, Sire.”

  Tiernan pushed the button. The cair whirred softly to life and lifted a few inches off the ground. The Imps around us made appreciative oohs and ahs. Tiernan checked the side mirrors and rear mirror like a first-time driver and then pushed gently on the accelerator. The cair moved forward smoothly. The grinning Seelie King steered us out of the rotunda and waved at the Imps as we passed.

  The Imps cheered again.

  Chapter Nine

  The cair was a success. We rode smoothly over the beaten earth roads at a speed just a little faster than a carriage could muster. Then, Tiernan briefly sped up. This was mainly what we needed the vehicles for—to get from place to place faster—but there was more to consider than just pollution. There were fey creatures in the surrounding area and the last thing we wanted was fey roadkill. If Tiernan did have the Imps make more cairs, he would also need to find a way to keep the animals off the roads. Or perhaps the cairs.

  I leaned over the back of my seat to ask, “Max, do you think it would be possible to adjust the airflow so that the cairs hover higher? If we could get them high enough, we wouldn't have to worry about the animals.”

  “That's a brilliant idea, Your Majesty!” Max exclaimed. “We'll have to come up with an alternative way to push the cair forward but I think we can do it.”

  “Wouldn't that make them planes?” Tiernan mused.

  “Not if we keep the wheels and give them the option of driving slower on the roads,” I said.

  “Planes have wheels too,” Tiernan reminded me.

  “Planes also require runways and go at much faster speeds,” Max pointed out. “I think we could manage speeds a little faster than a dragon flies but I don't know about any faster than that.”

  “Indeed, any faster than dragon flight might be too much for Fairy,” Tiernan noted.

  “I don't know about Fairy,” Max said, “but it would likely require a higher altitude that would pose numerous problems.”

  “See?” I asked Tiernan. “Not a plane.”

  Tiernan chuckled. “I don't really care what it is as long as it works. Max, you have my permission to attempt to get this cair higher off the ground.”

  “Thank you, Your Majesty!” Max exclaimed.

  We drove back to Sprocket and had a celebratory lunch with the Imps. After the feast—of hamburgers and hot dogs done Imp style—my family and I headed back to the castle in our normal carriage, leaving the prototype cair behind for the Imps to tinker with. Tiernan, Falcas, and I spent the rest of the day playing games I'd brought from Earth and just having some quality family time. Although, Operation—you know, that game where you have to remove bones without hitting the sides—didn't survive my son. The first time Falcas hit the edge and the buzzer went off, shadows shot from his fingers and crumpled the game. Fal was distraught but Tiernan explained that the Shadowcall would be unpredictable until Fal learned to fully control it. I added that I didn't much care for the game anyway and Falcan agreed to try Monopoly instead.

  With exception to the Operation demolition, the rest of my time in Seelie went peacefully—a blissful period with my beautiful boys. Raza and Tiernan were both good about handling most of the kingdom business and Daxon handled everything to do with the Underworlds. This meant that I could relax when I wasn't working for the Council. Occasionally, there was something I had to deal with as Queen but beyond the cair thing, this particular visit to Seelie was all play. There was awhile there when visits like this—when I did absolutely nothing productive—had made me antsy but now that I was working with the Councils again, or at least one of them, I could appreciate the idleness.

  On the morning of the fourth day, I kissed my sleeping son on his forehead—we had said goodbye the night before—and then gave his father a more intense kiss.

  “Enough of that,” I said breathlessly as I pulled away from Tiernan. “Twilight's coming and you're going to make me miss it.”

  “That may have been my intention,” Tiernan confessed.

  I dropped into a serious tone to say, “I'll miss you.”

  “I'll miss you too. Try not to wind up in another swamp.”

  “I'll do my best. I love you, Seelie King.” I stepped back and hovered above the floor as the twilight magic filled me.

  “I love you too, my queen,” Tiernan's voice faded as I did, my body shooting through streams of magic to reform in my bedroom at Twilight Castle.

  The top floor of Castle Twilight was the Royal Residence and connected the four main towers of the castle keep. Each tower was used as a bedroom suite and had a bathroom, a dressing room, and an office, or, in Rowan's case, a playroom. Although I call them towers and they look like towers, inside, they are not what most people imagine towers to be. There are no winding stairs leading to a lookout or multiple floors. The height of the tower was used to create a vaulted ceiling and the top of that height was inset with clear crystal to allow for more light and a great view of the sky.

  Killian had his own tower for a couple of reasons. One, we both had a lot of stuff—fighting gear as well as royal garments and the like, and two, it's nice to have your own space. But whenever we were home at the same time, we shared a bed—usually mine because his tended to get covered with weapons, stuff to clean weapons, and stuff to sharpen weapons. Currently, my bed was full of puka and little girl.

  “Mommy!” My daughter, Rowan, cried as she leapt off the bed and ran over to me.

  Cat, my best friend, who happened to be a puka—a type of shapeshifting fey canine, leapt off the mattress with Rowan and yipped happily. She towered over my little girl, her shaggy, gray fur flopping silkily as she settled her soft, brown stare on me. Knowledge beyond even that of a fey creature filled those puppy eyes—wisdom given to her by the Goddess.

  “My baby!” I cried and bent to hug Rowan. “Hey, Cat.” I pulled her into the hug as well. “Has Rowan been a good girl?”

  Cat huffed in a way that suggested the question was idiotic. Of course, Rowan had been good—she was an angel in the body of a child. That girl didn't know how to be naughty. No, all of those naughty genes had gone to her sister, Shahzadi, my daughter with Raza. Rowan had somehow wound up sweet, kind, and a bit shy. Despite that, one day, my angelic little girl would become a Lady of the Wild Hunt, following in her Uncle Tiernan's footsteps. I'd seen a vision of it and even though visions could change—especially ones of a distant future—I didn't think that would be the case with this one.

  I pushed Rowan's auburn curls back from her flushed cheeks and kissed her forehead before I let her go. Her pale green, snake eyes gleamed at me—a softer, feminine version of her father's. We assumed Rowan was a Nathair-Sith like Killian, but she'd yet to shift or even partially shift into a snake. She had, however, displayed clairvoyant powers that were likely inherited from both Killian and me. Killian has psychometry—an ability to touch an item and get information about the person who last handled it, while I have a light precognition ability. Both are human psychic abilities, as opposed to fairy magic, but then, Rowan is part human—we think. It's hard to tell when your children are all touched by a fairy goddess.

  “Where's your daddy?” I asked as I looked around the room. “I expected him to be here too.”

  “He's in there.” Rowan pointed at my office door and whispered, “Talking to someone important.” She said the last word as if she were repeating the way it was said to her.

  “Who?” I frowned and headed into my office.

  Killian was in
deed inside, seated before the pedestal that held my crystal ball. He often used mine since he didn't have one in his office. His office was a bit of a shambles and putting a crystal anything in it would have been a bad idea. Plus, there was no sense in getting him a ball when I had one; they were expensive suckers. Kill glanced over as I walked in and gave me a wide grin as he held his hand out to me.

  “Hold on, Sir, my wife just walked in,” he said to the ball while he kept his eyes on me.

  I took Killian's hand and let him pull me over with it, then leaned down for a quick kiss. He had his shoulder-length hair pulled back in a hasty ponytail and some tendrils had made their way free to hang around his rugged face. He needed a shave but it was kind of sexy. I pushed one behind his ear before I turned to look at the man he was speaking to.

  “Hello, High Councilman Murdock,” I said without surprise.

  Murdock, although one of the highest-ranking council members in the Human Council, liked to contact Killian personally when he—and now, we—were needed on a mission.

  The gruff old man grunted at me before nodding to Killian. “Go on and tell her.”

  “Tell me what?” I asked Kill.

  “We have a new assignment.”

  “Already?” I asked, my brows lifting. “Nothing for months and now two in a row.”

  “I wish this were as simple as a killer beast,” Murdock grumbled.

  “What's happened?” I went still.

  “A body was found in Kansas City,” Killian said. “Human and homeless. The death was recorded as an overdose. A few days later three more bodies were discovered. They looked like overdoses as well but this time they were teenagers from a good area.” Killian grimaced as if there shouldn't have been any difference in an investigation regardless of who the victims were. “The coroner did a drug panel and it confounded her. She took it to her superior and it eventually reached one of our people. Our scientists analyzed a blood sample and found traces of magic and an unknown substance. Even with all of their databases on the Fey, they can't figure out what the substance is.”

  “We're hoping that your father will analyze the sample at Gentry for us,” Murdock added.

  “I'm pretty sure he'll be okay with that, though it will be my uncle doing the actual work,” I said. “But are you saying that these people were drugged with magic?”

  “Something touched by magic,” Murdock corrected me. “We don't know if they took a black-market spell or what, but there have been eight more bodies since the kids.”

  “Has anyone notified Daxon?”

  “We have nothing to tell him as yet,” Killian said. “All we have are possibilities and questions.”

  I frowned. “It feels a little like keeping him in the dark.”

  “The High Council would prefer to keep this to ourselves until we know exactly what it is,” Murdock said. “I'm sorry, I know you want to be forthcoming with your husband, but telling King Daxon would mean alerting the Fairy Council and we're not prepared for that yet. We hired you, not them. This is the price they pay for not being wise enough to snatch you up.”

  “All right,” I agreed reluctantly. “I understand.”

  “For now, can you speak with your father?” Murdock asked. “We're waiting on his answer before we send the sample by overnight courier.”

  “And then what?” I asked. “Do you want us to head to Kansas City?”

  “Of course,” Murdock huffed. “I need you down there ASAP to figure out what the fuck is going on.”

  “I just got home and I've barely seen my daughter,” I said firmly. “I'm going to at least have breakfast with her and our family before we head to Missouri.”

  “We can't leave till twilight anyway,” Killian whispered to me.

  “You've been to Kansas City?” I asked him in surprise.

  “Oh, you thought we were heading to SF and then flying,” Killian said with dawning comprehension. “Yeah, I've been there before. I did a council job there once so I've even been to the local house. We can just twilight over.”

  “Well, in that case, I'll go wake up my father.”

  Chapter Ten

  I walked back into my office a few minutes later feeling a bit lightheaded and nauseous.

  “Are you all right?” Killian asked as he stood up.

  “I'm fine,” I said quickly. To Murdock, I added, “My father says that you may send the sample. He'll advise Uncle Dylan to make it a priority.”

  “Excellent! Give him our thanks,” Murdock said.

  “Sure thing.”

  “I'll let the Kansas City Council House know that you'll be arriving this evening.”

  “They're about two hours ahead of us,” Killian noted. “We'll probably get there around nine.”

  “Very good. Keep me apprised.”

  “Will do.” Killian brushed a hand across the ball to end the scry. As soon as Murdock's image disappeared, he turned to me and demanded, “What happened?”

  “I should have knocked more than once,” I whispered, my face going twitchy.

  “Oh, no,” Killian gaped at me. “You didn't. He... they weren't...”

  “Yep. My father and his Dryad girlfriend were going at it when I walked in. I knocked and they didn't answer so I assumed they were still asleep. I was so very wrong.”

  “Oh, sweet Danu.” Killian groaned.

  “I know!” I exclaimed with sudden vehemence. “I'll never get that image out of my head. You wouldn't believe what she was doing with her branches.”

  “I don't want to know!” Killian held his hand up to stop me. But then he blinked. “Hold on, maybe I do.”

  “Killian!”

  “Well, anything she can do with her branches, I should be able to do with my snake tails.”

  “So, you want to take sex tips from my dad's girlfriend? Tips I learned from walking in on her with my father?”

  “Is that wrong?” He grinned broadly.

  “You're such a man,” I huffed. “No, you're such a dude.”

  “Hey! I don't know why that's worse but it sounds like it is.”

  “Oh, it is,” I assured him as I left the office. My expression shifted dramatically while I walked up to Rowan. “Hey, baby girl, are you hungry? I ordered us some breakfast.”

  “Are we eating with Grandpa and Eibhleann?”

  “I think so.”

  “You're not sure?”

  “Grandpa is a little busy right now.”

  “Oh.” Rowan frowned. “Okay.”

  I let out a relieved sigh that she didn't push me for details, then picked her up and carried her down the hall and across the way to the central portion of the Royal Residence. There, among several other rooms we shared, was our family dining room. Cat came with us and plopped down next to the chair I sat Rowan in. Coffee, juice, and some scones had already been delivered but the rest of breakfast would take a few minutes longer. I made Rowan a plate with a jammy scone and poured her some orange juice while Killian poured us some coffee. I was just sitting down next to my daughter when my father walked in with his live-in girlfriend. Excuse me, they call them “consorts” in Fairy.

  Neither one of them looked embarrassed. In fact, they smiled broadly at me as they headed to their seats. My dad veered off course to kiss Rowan good morning and then me before sitting down.

  “I'm so sorry,” I said in a low tone. “I should have knocked again.”

  “You're welcome in my tower at any time, Daughter,” my father declared. “You are more embarrassed than either of us are.”

  “Really?”

  “I'm not at all embarrassed,” Eibhleann said with a little confusion. She leaned over to Keir to ask, “Why should I be embarrassed?”

  “You shouldn't, my love.” Keir kissed her. “My daughter has a human mentality about sex.”

  Rowan's little ears perked up and she set down her scone to ask, “Sex?”

  “Dad,” I whined.

  “She knows about sex. Don't you, Rowan?”

  “I
t's a way for two adults to show their love for each other,” Rowan replied as if reciting something she memorized. “And a lot of fun.”

  I looked at Killian and he grinned.

  “Yeah, I added that part,” Kill admitted. “I had to explain why you were making those sounds.”

  “Oh, dear Goddess,” I groaned. “That's it, we're getting my tower soundproofed.”

  “I like to scream when I have fun too, Mommy,” Rowan said. “It's okay. I can get very loud when I ride Cat in her horse form.”

  “Oh, yes, Mommy likes to ride—”