Rise of the Fae

by Rebekah R. Ganiere

  “Most people call it being stubborn.”

  “Either way. The answer is, I don’t know what I feel for you, but I know that I want to feel something for you and that’s more than I can say for any other female out there.”

  She pursed her lips and nodded. “I understand that. I’ve never had feelings for a guy before. I’ve used men and used men and used men to get what I want. Sex, money, power. It’s how I was raised. I’ve never even thought of opening my heart with a guy before you. But now...” She sighed. “Somehow you crawled right inside of me and rooted yourself in my breast. I can’t seem to get you out of my head. Even though you’re stubborn, and overbearing, and bossy and won’t let me drive your car—”

  “That was a very expensive car.”

  “Even so... You’ve seen parts of me in these past weeks that I’ve never showed anyone. And you’re still here.”

  “I’m still here.”

  He stroked her cheek. The brakes of the L screeched as they slowed to a stop. He wanted to kiss her. To run his fingers down the length of her body and feel her quake beneath him as he brought her to the heights of pleasure once more.

  “Come on. I want to show you something else.”

  “More?”

  They climbed to the edge of the train and descended the ladder.

  “Yeah, one more thing.”

  * * * *

  Selene walked hand in hand with Neeman through the mostly barren streets. Vamps moved about here and there doing various jobs, but on a whole, the sounds of the city seemed muted by the death of so many humans. No one stared at her this time. No one called to her or chased her down. They moved out of the way and some even bowed to Neeman.

  They strolled past store after closed down store.

  “It’s sad,” she said. “To see capitalism gone from America.”

  Neeman glanced at her. “Yes, it is. It’s not completely gone though. You were lucky that you didn’t have to watch its decline. Watching stores close or burn. Seeing vamps crying in the streets trying to understand what was happening to them. The smell of death that lingered for years. It was our job as trackers to keep the peace here in the Chicago territory.”

  “Did you have to kill people?”

  His shoulders hunched and he pulled his hand away, shoving them in his pockets. “Too many.”

  Compassion raced through her in a way she’d never experienced. Was she starting to have real feelings for Neeman? The things he’d told her on the train seemed to be more than he’d shared with anyone before. She knew it was childish to like the fact he hadn’t shared those things with Danika, but she liked it just the same. All she’d heard about was Danika since she arrived. From Neeman. From Mason. It was nice to feel like she had something real and her own.

  A bright marquee flashed up ahead. An old vamp stood inside a ticket booth. Neeman pulled out his wallet as he approached.

  “Afternoon, Neeman.” The old man smiled, crinkling up his wrinkly face.

  It was still strange to Selene that they called the middle of the night, noon.

  “Hey, Gus.” Neeman slid the money under the gap in the glass.

  Gus looked at Selene. “You finally got yourself a girl?”

  Neeman chuckled. “Something like that.”

  Gus slid Neeman’s change and his tickets through the gap. “Well, you treat her right. Good ones are hard to find.” Gus winked at Selene, making her smile.

  “I’ll do my best,” Neeman replied. “But this one’s a handful.”

  “The ones that are worth it always are.”

  Neeman pulled open the door to the theater and held it for Selene.

  Immediately she was hit with a feeling of nostalgia. Inside the entrance of the theater was an old fashioned candy counter and soda fountain. The aqua and red interior reminded her of when her mother used to take her out for a cream soda. Happy memories from before they’d found Mason flooded her. Memories she’d forgotten she even possessed.

  “I figured you of anyone might get a kick out of this place.”

  Gus shuffled out of the ticket box and hustled his hunched body behind the counter. He threw on an apron and hat and smiled up at them.

  “Welcome, what can I get you?”

  Happiness brightened Selene’s thoughts. “A cream soda float.”

  “And for you sir?” Gus looked at Neeman.

  “A root beer float.”

  Gus nodded and set about getting out glasses and ice cream.

  Neeman showed her over to the wall of candy dispensers and together they picked out various old candies and put them into bags. They debated over whether licorice or licorice rope was a better candy and then argued between the old-fashioned candies versus the newer sour candies. In the end, they bought some of about half the candies in the store.

  Gus handed them the floats and Neeman ordered a bag of popcorn and paid.

  The theater seats were empty. An old organ stood at the foot of the stage. A vamp sat at the organ, filling the theater with beautiful classic tones.

  “Where do you want to sit?” Neeman asked.

  “Well since it’s so packed in here, it’s hard to choose. But I guess let’s go dead center.”

  She headed to the middle of the theater and took the center seat. Neeman sat next to her and they sipped their floats and munched on popcorn, listening to the music.

  Beautiful red velvet curtains hung around the stage and draped the walls. Ornate gilded busts hung on the wall and a giant glimmering chandelier dangled above.

  “How’d you find this place?”

  “I’ve come here since the seventies. It was just about out of business by then, but I refused to let it go under.”

  She looked over at him. “You own this?”

  He shrugged. “Gus owns it. I just...invested in it.”

  She shook her head.

  “What?”

  “The layers you possess know no bounds, Neeman.”

  “Like an onion.”

  “What?”

  He laughed. “Shrek?”

  She shrugged.

  “Never mind. So tell me. What is the fae plane like?”

  She picked popcorn kernels out of the bag one by one and popped them into her mouth. What was the other plane like?

  “Worse than hell.”

  “It’s beautiful in its own way. There are no vehicles. The technology is more organic. There are no such things as fashion or fast food, or television or anything that makes Earth, Earth.”

  “So what did you do there?” He sucked on his straw and gulped down the rest of his root beer.

  “I meditated and gathered food and took walks and sat. I did a lot of sitting.”

  “So there aren’t jobs there?”

  “Oh there are. I just wasn’t allowed to have one. They were too afraid I’d go crazy and start killing everyone.”

  “So is your demon like Mason’s? Destruction and fire and all that?”

  Selene swallowed.

  “Yes,” her inner demon roared.

  “Mine likes chaos. She thrives off energy and madness.”

  “So she isn’t into destroying us all?”

  “No.”

  “Liar.”

  He raised an eyebrow at her.

  “To be honest, it’s been so long since I’ve let her take over completely that I have no idea what she would do if I ever let her out. Chaos, sex, fighting, jealousy, those have always been vices of choice, but she’s been cooped up so long...”

  “But it was her that I met the first night, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes. But not completely. She has been taking over my consciousness, but my form stays mine. She can’t turn into her true form unless I let her.”

  “You share the same father as Mason. He can’t control his demon side that well.”

  “Yes, but I am more fae than demon.”

  The music at the organ stopped and the curtains parted.<
br />
  “I’m going to run to take our glasses back before the show starts,” said Neeman.

  Selene handed him her glass and he headed toward the lobby. She watched him go, getting a nice view of his firm buttocks and broad shoulders.

  “He’s nice to look at, isn’t he?”

  Selene whipped around. Her demon roared and clawed to be let out. She tried to keep her hands from shaking, staring into the aqua blue eyes of Lorcan. She’d almost forgotten about him and her mission since he’d left her for dead pinned under the fallen ceiling in the compound. He plucked several pieces of candy from her bag and stuck one in his mouth. The sight made her swallow hard.

  “He’s okay.” She faked nonchalance, taking a piece of candy back out of Lorcan’s hand and crunching it.

  Lorcan’s eyes bore into her. “You can’t lie to me. I heard what you said on the train. For you, that was as much as saying you loved him.”

  She crushed a handful of popcorn between her fingers. “I never said that.”

  “The tension in your voice betrays you.”

  She swallowed and tried again. “What do you want, Lorcan? Why are you here?”

  “Me? What are you doing here? I told you that you were supposed to contact me. You’ve been in Coven House for almost three days. When are you going to be delivering Danika?”

  “It’s not that easy—”

  “It is that easy. You get her, you bring her, Maelstrom follows. We go home.”

  “I’m doing my—”

  “It would be sad to see Neeman hurt because you couldn’t fulfill your orders.”

  Selene refused to look away but her body shook as her inner beast clawed at her stomach to be let out at the thought of Lorcan hurting Neeman.

  Lorcan popped another candy in his mouth. “I have taken matters into my own hands. Things have been set in motion. You’ll see your opportunity to strike and grab Danika soon enough. Just stay close to her and Maelstrom and you will know when to make your move.”

  His gaze locked on hers again and he brushed her hair behind her ear. “I know you think I hate you, but I don’t. With that said, I won’t hesitate to fulfill your mission if you won’t and kill everyone you care about in the process.”

  She resisted the urge to pull away.

  “I’ll see you soon, and remember, to honor your family is to love your family.”

  “Hey! The movie’s starting.”

  Selene whipped around to find Neeman coming back into the row. Her heart stopped and then thundered. She looked back over her shoulder. Lorcan was gone.

  The seat next to her groaned as Neeman sat. “Are you all right?”

  Her gut told her to tell him the truth. To tell him about why she’d come and what Lorcan wanted her to do. To tell him that he was in danger if she didn’t betray her brother. But the words stuck in her throat like a lump of cookie dough.

  “I’m fine.” She sipped the new soda he’d brought.

  “Are you sure? You look frightened. Was it the organ player? Did he do something?” Neeman scanned the theater.

  “No. No,” she said. “The boy didn’t do anything.”

  He stared at her hard, searching her face.

  She planted a smile on her face and patted his arm. Then she turned to the movie screen.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Neeman still looking at her. She hooked her arm in his and laid her head on his shoulder.

  Her mind whirled. She didn’t want to see him hurt, but she couldn’t do what Lorcan wanted her to. It was wrong. The fae were wrong. But she didn’t want anything to happen to Neeman... Question was, who did she care about more? Mason or Neeman?

  Chapter 19

  Selene spent the entire movie staring at the screen but seeing nothing, Lorcan’s words played over and over in her head.

  “Did you not enjoy it?” asked Neeman as they walked out to the exit.

  “I haven’t seen a movie in so long. It was just like I remembered.” She threw out the popcorn bag.

  “Do you want anything before we go?”

  “No thanks.” She patted her stomach. “I’m ready to burst.”

  He stared at her for a moment. “We should do this again. Gus is running a Star Wars marathon in a couple of weeks.”

  “Huh?”

  He chuckled and his smile hit her heart and made her knees wobble.

  Neeman held the door for her. Gentlemanly kindness wasn’t something she was used to.

  They waved to Gus inside the booth and Neeman walked to an awaiting vehicle. Riley sat in the driver’s seat.

  “How did they know where to find us?”

  “I called him while I was in the lobby,” said Neeman. He smiled at her again.

  She nodded and he opened her door for her.

  His countenance had changed. He seemed lighter, less stressed. It chafed her that Lorcan was ruining her life once more.

  “How was the movie?” Riley asked as she slid in.

  “It was great, just I like remembered them.”

  Neeman hopped in his seat and gave Riley a hard look. “Drive.”

  There was no small talk as they made their way to Coven House. Selene found herself more tired than she could imagine. With everything she’d been through she’d hardly taken a moment to really think about where she was or what was going on. Watching the buildings whiz by, with the rhythmical sounds of the road pulsing through her body, lulled her into a hypnotic state.

  Things were so much more complicated than she had anticipated. If it was just the Earth being destroyed, she might be able to carry that burden on her shoulders, but the torture of Neeman... Strangely that wasn’t something she thought either she or her demon would be able to handle.

  When she’d lived here previously, it had just been her, her mother and Mason. No one else had mattered. She’d gotten soft. Possibly because of the loneliness she’d been subjected to for the last two decades. But Neeman... He’d gotten inside of her soul somehow. He’d opened her up, made her feel, care, hope. Hope was the worst of what he’d done. He’d made her hope that there could be a chance for them. But once again the fae were determined to make her life hell.

  The car halted and she opened her eyes, recognizing the exterior of Coven House. Maybe if she ran, joined one of the human enclaves and stayed away, maybe they wouldn’t find her. Would leave her and Mason and Danika and Neeman alone. But how could she be sure? Lorcan wasn’t an easy man to dissuade. And if he ever found her... His anger knew no bounds.

  “Are you okay?” Riley’s voice broke into her thoughts. He stared at her through the rearview mirror.

  Neeman turned and his eyes lit on her hand, which gripped the door handle. She swallowed and tried to force herself to smile, but couldn’t seem to make her cheeks work.

  “Get out. Run. Leave. Keep him safe.”

  She looked down at her hand. Her nails lengthened and her head buzzed.

  No. This couldn’t be happening. Not now.

  She fought to keep her demon at bay, but her vision blurred and she felt herself fading to sleep. The gate finished opening and the car rolled up the driveway. Neeman stared at her till they stopped.

  She bolted out of the car. The feel of his gaze was stifling. She’d made it to the front steps when he caught her by the arm.

  “What’s going on?” His voice was flat and emotionless, but his eyes searched her face.

  The words once more stuck in her throat. She wanted to tell him. To let him in and have him tell her he’d keep her safe. That they’d figure it out together. All those loving words people who cared about each other and were in relationships said to help console and support each other in times of need. The words danced on her tongue, willing her to say them. To tell him the truth.

  “Let me out. Let me handle Lorcan. I’m the strong one.” Her inner demon raged on and on.

  Selene’s gut clenched as her inner demon tried to pry her way out.

>   “When I’m free I’ll protect loverboy. I’ll protect all of them!”

  “I’m tired,” she managed. “It’s been a long night.” She could barely see him through the haze in her vision.

  “Your eyes are turning purple again,” he said. “Is that her? Is Seraphine trying to get out? Why does she want out? What’s going on?”

  “Nothing. I’m just tired and she can feel it.”

  “You’re lying. You’re as pale as I am and have been since the theater. Something happened at the theater. Or was it what I said on the train?”

  “Tell him. Then let me out so he and I can go destroy Lorcan together.”

  The front door opened and she was grateful for the interruption. Mason stood in the doorway. For once, Neeman didn’t pull away. He actually moved closer to Selene, his body pressing closer.

  Mason looked between them. “Is your phone off?”

  Neeman removed his phone from his pocket. “Yes. We were at the movies.”

  Mason nodded. “Sherman’s here.”

  “Let me out!”

  “Who’s Sherman?” Selene rubbed her temple, trying to stave off the incessant screaming in her brain.

  Neeman slipped his arm around her waist and she was glad for the support as she almost passed out.

  “What’s he doing here? Are the others with him?” asked Neeman.

  “You need to come in,” said Mason. He looked at her. “And you need to hide.”

  “I’ll take her upstairs and join you in a minute.”

  Mason nodded and moved out of the doorway. Neeman slid his hand from her waist and ushered her toward the door. She pulled out of his reach.

  “I’m not a child, loverboy.” Her voice wasn’t her own and she slapped her hand over her mouth. Seraphine had gained too much control. She cleared her throat several times.

  His eyes were like cold steel. “Sometimes I’m not so sure.”

  “And what does that mean?” Seraphine spat. “You have no idea what’s going on—”