by Amy Sumida
“And me!”
Raza looked at me and grinned. Not only had he saved his people, but he was also bringing them home. There was no better result than that and it made me wonder. Things would not have gone the same if it had been Tiernan with me instead of Raza. For one thing, the Alp Luachras would not have decided to return to FR. Did Danu know this would happen? Had she sent Raza for this very reason? Or was this Anu's work? But no, he didn't interfere with his sister's people. Or did he? Perhaps the Gods were working together. Even though we couldn't speak to them when we weren't in the realm they ruled, they could still speak to each other. Had the Gods ganged up on us?
I smiled back at my dragon and hoped that they had.
Chapter Fifty-One
We drove the Alp Luachras to their lake so they could say goodbye to their friends and retrieve their belongings. When we left, we had a few more of them than we'd started with—each one with an oiled-leather satchel slung across their shoulders and an eager look on their face. We drove back to Drostan's house to pick up Killian and our stuff and say goodbye to everyone before we headed to the airport. We weren't going to bother with returning to Kansas City and although Killian, my guards, and I could have twilighted home, it felt rude to do so when Raza had to fly back to San Francisco and then take the rath home with the Alp Luachras.
Killian had packed our bags—his, Raza's, and mine—and had them waiting by the front door next to piles of extinguisher bags and gear. But while the extinguishers were busy packing up their SUVs, Killian was sitting outside on the balcony with Drostan.
“We'll go grab our things,” Conri said as Felix and he headed upstairs.
“Wait here,” Raza said to our Alp Luachra escort.
Williams eyed the little fairies as he came into the foyer. “I don't think we'll have enough room for all of you.”
“We'll take a cab to the airport,” I assured him, then held out my hand. “It was good working with you, Wayne.”
“And you, Seren.” He shook my hand and grinned.
“Give my best to Head Councilman Teagan.”
“Will do.”
Raza and I bid farewell to the extinguishers and then went out onto the balcony. Drostan's head jerked toward us as we stepped outside but then turned quickly away. He had a tumbler full of amber liquid in his hand. I was betting it was something strong. I hoped it was fey strong because I had a feeling that human alcohol wouldn't cut it for him.
“Looks like my ride is here,” Killian noted as he stood up. “You going to be okay, man?” He laid a hand on Drostan's shoulder.
“I'm fine. Thank you, Your Highness. You've been especially kind considering what has transpired between us.”
“You saved Seren; that buys you some leeway,” Killian said firmly.
“I appreciate that,” Drostan said. He glanced at Raza. “It's late. Are you certain you don't want to wait until morning to leave?”
“We can sleep on the plane,” Raza said. “We don't want to impose any further than we already have. Especially not now.”
“It's no imposition, but I understand,” Drostan murmured.
Killian grimaced at me over Drostan's head.
“Actually, we need to order a cab,” I said to Killian. “We've got a group of Alp Luachras with us.”
“Why?” Killian frowned. “I mean, why are they with us? Not the cab thing.”
“They've decided to come home to Fairy,” Raza said with pleasure.
“The Alp Luachras are leaving too?” Drostan turned to us with a wounded look.
“Some of them,” I said softly. “Drostan, do you want us to stay a little longer?”
Drostan swallowed visibly and looked away. “No, Your Majesty, but thank you. I'll be fine. In fact, I think I'd like some solitude. I was just... surprised.”
“I'll go order that cab,” Killian said and gave Raza a pointed look.
Raza frowned at him.
“Why don't you come with me, Raza?” Killian resorted to being more obvious. “The Alp Luachras look like they're getting restless.”
“Oh.” Raza looked at Drostan and then at me.” He cleared his throat. “Thank you for your hospitality and, well, for saving my wife, Baron Drostan. The Unseelie Kingdom owes you a great debt.”
Drostan hung his head before he looked up at Raza. “It was my honor to save her and you will always be welcome in my home, Your Majesty.”
“And you in our court,” Raza said politely. “Goodbye.”
“Goodbye, Your Majesty.”
Raza and Killian headed back inside. I took Killian's vacated seat. Drostan stiffened.
“I know that you hate me a little right now,” I said softly. “And I understand that, but I need you to know that I won't forget what you did for me and Fairy. My death would have caused some... problems.”
Drostan snorted. “Problems? It would have destroyed the peace and set the races at war again.”
“I don't know about all that. Raza and Tiernan wouldn't go to war if I died.”
“You don't know what the death of a beloved woman can do to a man,” he whispered.
“Yes, I do,” I said firmly.
Drostan frowned at me.
“I watched my uncle nearly destroy Unseelie and Earth for love of his dead wife,” I explained. “I know that pain can make a man into a monster, especially that kind of pain, but I have faith in my husbands; I know they would never allow that to happen. And I have faith in you too, Drostan. You will get through this.”
Drostan shook his head helplessly. “I told you that I could never hate you, Seren. That wasn't a lie or a seduction tactic. I've seen who you are.” He looked at me and his eyes shivered a bit as if the mere act of looking at me were difficult for him. “You are not a woman I could ever hate, especially not for something you didn't do.”
“Hatred doesn't always make sense.” I gave him a sad look. “And maybe it isn't hatred but it's definitely resentment. You had to kill her for me. How could you not resent me for it?”
Drostan made a pensive sound. “Yes, maybe I do resent you. I don't mean to but...” He closed his eyes briefly. “I had a good life before I met you. Then I saw your face and my world started to crumble.”
“I get it,” I whispered. “I would feel the same. Except I'd probably be less gracious about it. So, I'm gonna go; I'm gonna get out of your face and let you heal. But if you need anything, anything at all, please scry me.”
Drostan's expression softened and he reached out a hand to me—it shook. I took it and we just sat there a moment in silence, staring at each other with the ghost of a dead woman between us.
“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Drostan finally said as he withdrew his hand. “I'm sure that I will need you in the future. Just not... now.”
I smiled softly and stood. “Okay. Goodbye, Drostan.”
“Goodbye, Seren.”
Chapter Fifty-Two
We didn't sleep much on the plane. It turns out that a large group of Alp Luachras can make quite a lot of noise when they're excited. By the time we landed in San Francisco, all of us non-Alp Luachras were bleary-eyed and ready to strangle us some newts—goo secretions or not. The ride over to Gentry Technologies was even louder, with the Alp Luachras lining the windows of our limousine and shrieking in delight over every new thing they spotted. After awhile, it started to become sweet. That's when I knew I had caught my second wind.
We strode through the lobby of Gentry Technologies, Conri and Felix helping to rein in the Alp Luachras, who were garnering a lot of attention with their small statures and limited clothing. Fortunately, it was around 8 AM and most of the people in the lobby were fairies on their way to work.
The receptionist, also a fairy, ran up to us and curtsied. “Your Majesties and Your Highness, Duke Dylan requests that you attend him before you go home.”
I sighed deeply. “Thank you.”
She curtsied again and headed back to her desk.
“Did anyone call Uncle Dylan and le
t him know what happened?” I asked as we headed to the elevators.
I got grimaces in response. The only one who my uncle didn't patronize was Raza, but Raza wasn't a man who condescended to relay messages. It would never have occurred to him to notify Dylan. He might have scried my father, perhaps, but then my father was a fellow king.
“All right, Conri and Felix, you two take the Alp Luachras down to the rath and into Fairy,” I said to my guards. “We'll meet you there.”
Conri gave me a beleaguered look but dutifully got into the elevator with the bouncing Alp Luachras and the ever-calm Felix. It was a tight fit and my guards were pushed into the back corners. The Alp Luachras waved excitedly at Raza, Killian, and I as the elevator doors closed. I waved back; I couldn't help it, they were too cute to be rude to. Conri and Felix looked as if they were headed to the gallows.
Killian chuckled as he hit the call button again. “Those are some energetic little fairies.”
“They're about to go home after being away for centuries,” Raza said. “You'd be excited too.”
“I'm a little surprised that more of them didn't come with us,” I noted as we stepped into another elevator.
“There is something to be said for the known.” Raza pushed the button for the top floor. “They have gotten used to living among the humans and they're likely uncertain about us as well.”
“Yeah, and in Fairy, there won't be any humans whose throats they can slither down to grab a quick bite to eat,” Killian added.
“They don't need to do that,” Raza said in a chiding tone. “They can eat normally.”
“So, they just do it for kicks?” Killian asked, aghast.
Raza shrugged. “Why do scratch your genitals?”
Killian snorted. “Because they get itchy.”
Raza nodded as if Killian had answered his own question.
“So, eating the contents of a human's stomach is equivalent to scratching an itch for them?” Killian asked.
“I assume so.” Raza shrugged again. “I don't know for certain. But there must be some sort of allure.”
“Maybe they just like the taste,” I suggested.
The elevator dinged and the doors opened right as my husbands both gave me disgusted looks.
“Well, that can't be good,” Uncle Dylan's secretary noted dryly.
I laughed as I stepped out of the elevator. “My husbands didn't appreciate the comment I just made.”
“Ah. Well, you can call it a prelude to your visit with your uncle.”
I laughed harder and she winked at me. She may be utterly devoted to Uncle Dylan but that didn't mean she was blind to his personality.
“He's expecting you; go right in.”
“Thank you.” I opened the door and stepped into my uncle's unusual office.
It had all of the trappings of an executive's office—the big desk, bookshelves filled with important books, leather chairs set before the desk, and even a couch. It had a phenomenal view of San Francisco, the bay, and its bridge from the floor-to-ceiling windows that made up two walls of the corner room and Uncle Dylan sat in a high-backed leather chair that would have looked right at home in any prestigious person's office. But to the left, there was a door that led to Uncle Dylan's private apartments and the walls that weren't windows were covered in a mural of the Unseelie Forest. Most human offices didn't have murals, much less murals of a fairy forest complete with fey creatures. But Uncle Dylan looked right at home with the wilderness of Fairy on one side and the wilderness of a human city on the other.
“Finally,” Dylan grumbled as he looked up.
Uncle Dylan hadn't bothered with a glamour and his fully blue eyes—from rim to rim—moved in our direction without giving away who he was actually staring at. Unsettling, to say the least. His short, black hair was swept back from his face but still formed a contrast with his moonlight skin—a contrast that was nearly as sharp as his features.
“Hello, Uncle Dylan,” I said brightly as I plopped into one of the chairs before his desk. “We have good news.”
“Yes, I've heard that the villain has been found and dealt with,” he said.
“How did you—”
“I have my ways,” Dylan cut me off.
“Then why did you need to see us?” I asked almost churlishly.
“Your Majesty.” Dylan stood and bowed to Raza as if he'd just realized that he was supposed to do that.
Raza nodded to my uncle as he took the other chair. Killian went to sprawl on the couch and leaned into the sprawl until he finally gave up and laid down.
“Did you get a sample of the last batch of newt?” Dylan asked me.
I went still. “No. Why do you ask?”
Dylan grimaced. “Seren, that would have been very valuable to us.”
“In what way?” my voice remained cool.
“I've heard that this drug produced an effect similar to fairy-striking. Is that true?”
“Yes.”
“And it was delivered to a room full of extinguishers and witches,” Dylan went on. “They were all affected and so were you and Killian.”
“Yes.”
“Didn't you consider that something like that needed to be studied?” Dylan snapped.
“No. I was a little busy trying to survive,” I snapped back. “I never considered that you might want to use newt. Why would I? Such a thing would be illegal.”
“I'm not talking about using it against humans,” Dylan huffed. “I'm talking about studying it so that if something similar was ever created again, we'd know how to counter it. If one fairy has come up with the idea, it's nearly guaranteed that more will, Seren.”
I simmered down. “Oh.”
“Yes, oh.” Dylan grimaced at me. “So, all of the samples were destroyed?”
“Yes. I'm sorry.”
“What about the bodies of the humans who were affected?”
I blinked. “I... think the extinguishers are handling them. But they were dosed with an earlier version of newt.”
“Regardless, you need to contact the extinguishers who have those bodies and request a blood sample.”
I sighed. “Okay.”
“You should be pleased,” he chided me. “I've just presented you with a way to correct your mistake.”
“Yay!” I said sarcastically.
Dylan gave me one of his looks. This one said that he was not amused and never would be amused by my antics. I stuck my tongue out at him.
“You may go,” Dylan said crisply.
Raza cleared his throat pointedly.
“Thank you for coming, Your Majesty,” Dylan added smoothly to Raza. “It's always a pleasure to see you.”
“And you as well, Duke Dylan,” Raza said as he stood. He offered me a hand and helped me up.
“Yes, lovely as always to see you,” I drawled to Dylan in my posh voice and sashayed out of the room on Raza's arm.
“Catch you later, D,” Killian said as he rolled to his feet and then followed us out.
Dylan's sigh was loud enough to be heard from the reception room.
Chapter Fifty-Three
My father sent two carriages for us. I was very grateful for this on two counts: first, I didn't have to walk to Twilight Castle, and second, I didn't have to wrangle a bunch of squealing Alp Luachras while I walked to Twilight Castle. It was bad enough with them dangling out of the carriage windows.
Once we reached the castle, the Alp Luachras were set loose to explore the castle grounds while Raza collected our daughter. They'd be trading our Twilight carriage for Raza's Unseelie carriage for the ride to Unseelie. It would take some time to get the horses hitched and all of that but neither the Alp Luachras nor Raza were in a rush. The newt fairies ran for the gardens with cries of delight—Twilight fairies jumping out of their way—and Raza headed into the castle with Killian and me to find Shahzadi.
We didn't have far to go. Rowan and Shahzy were with my father and Cat in one of the sitting rooms just off the entry hall.
Eibhleann was noticeably absent, but I didn't have time to comment on this until after I hugged my beautiful girls, pet Cat, and kissed my father's cheek.
“Where's Eibhleann?” I asked my father.
“At her tree,” he said simply.
Dryads live inside trees, which isn't as uncomfortable as it sounds. Eibhleann's daughter, Aideen, had a lovely home inside her tree. I've stayed with her a few times and never once felt claustrophobic. I've never been to Eibhleann's tree, but it was likely to be just as spacious. Dryads have a connection to their homes that needs to be reinforced consistently. In other words, Eibhleann had to spend a few nights in her tree so they could revive each other and reinforce their bond. My father said that this was good for their relationship—Eibhleann's and his, not hers and the tree; it gave them a chance to miss each other. As a woman who is usually apart from at least one man I love, I had to agree with him. Absence does make the heart grow fonder. It also makes the sex ten times hotter.
