Portal: A light fae urban fantasy novel (Arcane Realms Book 1)

by N. M. Howell

  23

  Kraevek led her across the dark station to a doorway she had never seen. Beyond, shelves of books lined two walls, mismatched chairs and a table made from a spool of steel cable stood between. Raina expected the man to pull down some dusty tomes. Instead, he continued through the room to a hallway.

  “The Fae have leveraged many human ideas to promote separatism,” the man said, walking on. “Most recently of course has been the science of genetics. Now it can be proven that Light and Dark Fae are separate species, vaguely related cousins. Such is not the case.”

  At the end of the hall, a steep staircase led up. “What do you mean?” Raina had read the studies herself. The information seemed conclusive.

  “What human science cannot fathom is the influence of magic. Think of Oreálle, forever in sunlight. How would any creature evolve in such a place? Would it dismiss the need to sleep, even the need to move? And in the case of the Light Fae, why would we develop such an affinity for magic if everything was provided for? You see, Oreálle was never a world of eternal sunlight and clement meadows. It is, and this is where human science gets it right, a separate dimension. A dimension where each side of the Fae evolved. Yet ancestors of both Dark and Light Fae did so in different eons. It would be mere speculation, but it may well be that the Dark Fae became Earth-bound many hundreds of millennia before the Light.

  “Time itself is different in that dimension, and, as you’ve experienced your whole life, time can be manipulated there. Do you know how the portal was constructed?”

  Raina followed Kraevek through an iron-bound door into a hallway crammed on each side with rusting, dripping pipes. “No. It was always there.”

  “Long ago, before written history, small portals existed on all corners of the Earth, including the place now known as Central Park. Light Fae lived near these tiny cracks, narrow passages to Oreálle, from the Orient to the New World. They needed the flow of magic the way living things on Earth need the sun. Human legend tells about caves to the Underworld, magical glens where people became lost. Through our magical evolution, the Light Fae learned to control the portals. A fragment of each small portal was taken during a fair late morning and brought to New York. These fragments were assembled into a broad gateway that allowed easy passage to a wonderful, carefree place. Over the past two centuries, nearly all the Light Fae have emigrated there. And why not? It is an easy life where a Fae can live in full exposure to the dimension’s magic.”

  Another door stood camouflaged in a concrete wall. Kraevek waved a hand and the door opened onto a hallway of white subway tiles. “You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Raina said.

  “It is a bad thing. The only thing that gives magic power is the physical world. Magic defies physics: physics defines magic. In a place where everything is magic, it becomes mundane, feeble. The Light Fae abilities atrophy. After only two centuries, they were vulnerable to attack.”

  The winding tiled hallway led to a subway station. Kraevek continued to the exit. They emerged on East 63rd and Lex. “Why would the Dark Fae destroy the portal?” Raina asked.

  “Unlike Bright Fae, the Dark cultivate the remnants of magic. The greatest source of this, at least until five years ago, was the forests of Europe—the place where human fairy tales emerged. That is why you now see so many Dark Fae flocking to the city. Where once magic flowed like a mighty river, only stagnant pools remain. It is from this that the Dark Fae draw their power. Certain factions of the Dark Fae see the destruction as a boon. But just as the Light Fae become weaker by their existence in Oreálle, the Dark Fae become more violent as the remnant magic is used up. That is why both sides of the Fae must exist in balance.”

  “Then why do the Light and Dark fight each other so much?”

  Kraevek hung his head. “For the same reasons humans do. To cling to their own identities by fostering an us-against-them mentality. To secure resources, even though magic by its very nature is not a commodity, but a process.”

  They walked up Lexington Ave. “What about you and my mother? Is Mom a Fae Lord?”

  “She is, as I am.” His face lifted as he spoke. “We met so long ago, back when so much hope existed. I loved her. I still do, although that means never being near her again. Not even if a balance is restored between the Light and Dark.”

  “If?” Raina said.

  “It seems unlikely. The creation of the portal redirected the flow of all Oreálle’s magic to this one location, like an open floodgate in a dam. Both its creation and destruction mean only one thing: the extinction of both the Dark and the Light.”

  “How can that be?”

  “Magic is life to the Fae. And the magic has stopped flowing.”

  Raina shook her head. “Can’t the portal be reopened?”

  “The Dark Fae faction who destroyed the portal believe it can, at least for a short time. Their intent is likely genocide of the Light Fae, and the total closing of the realm.”

  “But that means everyone dies!”

  Kraevek nodded. “Yes. The Dark Fae don’t believe this. They’ve existed beyond memory without a portal, outside that other dimension. What they fail to understand is that the magic that allows them life, and magic only comes from that one place.”

  “But you’re a Fae Lord. Can’t you stop them?”

  The man’s eyes went distant. “No. Not anymore. At the start of the Blood Days, I was captured. Years of torture… broke me. I have little capacity for magic. If your father had not pardoned me—”

  Raina inhaled hard. “You were tortured by the Light Fae?”

  “My aspect is Dark, despite my true nature. Your mother intervened on my behalf. It was not known that she was also Fae Lord. We never had the chance to ascend to the Fae Court. Your mother’s true identity can never be known. Just as I’ve hidden myself among the humans all this time. Most believe I’m dead.”

  Raina’s head spun. It was too much to take in. She sorted the tangled threads of information. “We need to find out how the Dark Fae intend to open the portal, and open it ourselves.”

  “To what end? The Light Fae are even more vulnerable now than ever.”

  “So we stop the attack!”

  “So optimistic,” Kraevek smiled. “You can’t know how much you remind me of your mother right now.”

  Raina ground her teeth. “We know the terrorists are linked to the academy. The attack will come from there.”

  “Agreed,” Kraevek assumed his stern expression. “I’ve been meeting with an informant. A spy even the confraternity don’t know about—the only person I trust implicitly. We’ve uncovered a lot, but the actual plans of the splinter group remain elusive. If the Egalitarian Confraternity can resist sending more of our troops to be captured and mind-wiped, we may still have a chance to stave off whatever the plan might be. I need to return to the infiltrator as quickly as I can.”

  Raina grabbed his shoulder. “What can I do?”

  His smile returned. “Train harder to unearth your Fae Lord abilities. The Fae sorely need a lord to lead them. I have a gift that might help you. Will you accept it?”

  A gift? Raina still wrestled with the fact that this man, this broken man, was her biological father. She could barely grasp the fact that she was not who she believed she was. A gift from a stranger—the start of all cautionary fairy tales. She resigned herself. “If it will help, then I have no choice.”

  Kraevek stepped closer and raised his palms. “Close your eyes, Raina.”

  As she did, she felt the pressure of his hands on her face, against her eyelids. Sparks rose in the dark, the pressure returned from within her. Those sparks were stirred by an internal wind into a roaring fire.

  The hands left her face. All around her, the world looked different, clearer. Magic glimmered in the bare twigs of the trees, surrounding a gutter, drifting on the breeze. Raina understood what she saw—remnant magic, the Dark Fae source of life and power.

  Kraevek dropped his hands. With a curt nod, he strode qui
ckly away west. But not before Raina saw a glow emanate from his dark skin. A Fae with aspects both Light and Dark. She now believed he was what he said he was: a Fae Lord. A dozen paces away, some subtle change occurred and Raina could no longer pick him out of the crowd.

  Jax leaned on the wall next to the back stairs door. Raina stopped short in the alley way. Too late. He’d already seen her.

  “Talk to me.”

  She walked past him, fumbling her key into the lock. “No.”

  “Talk to me Rainara. Please.”

  Her hands shook too badly to unlock the door. “We have nothing to say to each other.”

  “What did I do that was so wrong?”

  Raina spun toward him. “How can you not know?”

  She was filled with anger. Anger at Jax for his cruel attack on a helpless man. Perhaps more so, she felt consumed by an impotent rage that her parents, her ancestors, all the Fae both Light and Dark, had screwed up the world so badly.

  Still, whatever her true self, she had grown up Light Fae. Jax became the locus of her blazing emotions. “You beat the crap out of a helpless man!”

  “That ‘helpless man’ nearly took out my guards. He could’ve hurt you. I had to protect you.”

  “So that gives you the right to kick a man who was half unconscious—tied up even!”

  “Right?” Jax said through his teeth. “I have a responsibility, a duty, to protect my people. Whatever that takes. You don’t understand, Rainara, you’re human. You haven’t been forced to live in the shadow of selfish, self-serving arrogant Light Fae and their human toadies. We have more right to this world than they do. Yet they build their portal, hoarding their magic.”

  “How the hell do you think you lived in their shadow? You’re two different species, right? Isn’t that what everyone says? You’re more closely related to humans than them. Yet humans are the dominant species. Why don’t you think you live in their shadow?”

  “That’s just it. With their exclusive realm, we’re forced to live among humans.”

  Raina blew a raspberry. “Says who? Live where you want. Go back to the Black Forest or whatever. Go live on an island. It’s your choice to live with humans. Your people’s choice.”

  And her people’s choice, she realized, but tamped the thought down hard.

  Jax’ face darkened. “You don’t get it, and you never will. This is something you don’t ever have to deal with. But I’ll let you in on a little secret. My parents didn’t die in an accident. They were killed by the Light Fae.”

  The words hit Raina like a slap. Still, she already heard that the people she thought of as her own had tortured her father to the point where he lost most of his power. She had no illusions regarding the popular view of the happy, lighthearted Light Fae.

  “That’s why I do what needs to be done,” Jax said. “That’s why I’ve become what I’ve become.”

  Raina knew he didn’t mean an instructor at the school, or a malicious academy guard. “What have you become, Jax?”

  “One day soon, you’ll see.”

  But Raina could see. Something malevolent crackled about him like a black energy. His very dark eyes flared with dim orange light—a light she almost recognized. It could have been a consequence of Kraevek’s gift, but she didn’t think so. Something was very wrong. She knew she would’ve sensed it before. “Jax, tell me.”

  “I’ve become one of the good guys, Rainara. A hero. One day I hope you’ll understand.”

  She watched him turn on his heel and stalk away. Fear moved across her inner thoughts like a glacier.

  24

  Raina worked the late shift in the grocery on automatic. Her brain was too full to digest all that she’d learned. She wondered if she were headed for a mental breakdown. Derek eventually dragged her away from the register.

  “Hey, Raina, are you all right?”

  “I’m fine. Just let me finish my shift.”

  His head cocked, brows knitting. “We closed half an hour ago.”

  Except for Lee, no one occupied the store, not even the employees.

  “You’ve been through a lot. Let me get you some soup or something.”

  Raina headed for the back hall. “I have to find out what Jax has done.”

  “Jax? What does Jax have to do with anything?”

  “I wish I knew. I need to know. Something really bad is going to happen.”

  “Why don’t you just call him?”

  Derek stood in the doorway to the office. Raina frowned thoughtfully at so simple a solution. She dialed his number from memory—she didn’t have a cell phone to remember for her. The answering machine picked up.

  “This is Jax, don’t bother leaving a message. I’ll be away for some time.” Beep.

  Derek questioned her with his expression.

  “Weird. He didn’t say he was going anywhere.” He said he’d become a hero. Did that equate to war hero?

  “You’ve been training hard with Trini. She must’ve taught you some Shadow Fae magic you can use.” Derek scowled at her. “Like you did to me.”

  “That was—” She searched for words. “I was really worried about you. I’m sorry I scryed you, but I thought you were in danger.”

  “Can’t you scry Jax?”

  She shook her head. “I need something of his—” Raina remembered that she had one of Jax’ possessions. Her heart stepped up a few beats. “Call Trini. I think I might have a way to find out what he’s up to.”

  The half-fae arrived less than half an hour later. She squinted around the tiny space. “You live here? Man, you’re more hard core than I thought. Where do you stand when you pull down the bed?”

  “Nowhere,” Raina said. “You could always sit on the toilet.”

  Instead, they all sat on the Murphy bed. Raina took a jacket from a hook on the door. Jax had put it over her shoulders on their last date. Which was probably their last date ever, she thought with a squeeze of pain.

  Trini caught on. “You’re gonna try to soft-scry him.”

  “I might need help.” Raina cradled the soft jacket.

  Angling her head at Derek, Trini said, “Well, we had a bunch of protection tats on the Moth-Boy, and you busted through those without even trying. Give it a go.”

  “About that—is that my shirt in the corner?”

  “Shut up, Derek,” Trini said.

  Raina ran the black fabric through her hands, felt the silken lining. Memory flashes of Jax wearing the jacket flickered in her mind. Her consciousness filled with his face, his firm touch, his kiss…

  Jax.

  The way he dimpled when he smiled.

  Jax.

  His brisk stride. His muscular frame.

  Jax…

  …swiped sweat from his brow, hands gloved in crude mittens of silver material.

  “…just know what the point of this is!” He growled.

  Merit Sharp, the headmaster of the academy, stepped into Jax’ view on the far side of a ring of gem-like pillars. Like Jax, he sweated profusely. “We need warriors who can battle the Light Fae in their own realm. The transformation is a necessary step.”

  “Regardless, we have no way into Oreálle.” Jax’ voice rose in tenor at a door opening on the far side of the circular room. Heated air wavered like a mirage.

  “Leave that to me.” Sharp backed away, calling out, “Ernella!”

  The ugly inquisitor stepped up, wilting in the heat. She raised her hands, palms inward, encasing a blue glow. The luminescence struck Jax with palpable impact—a healing version of the Zephyr of Hoarfrost. He shook his head, looked down at himself.

  Raina almost withdrew.

  Save an elaborate skein of thick silver and gold wire that mirrored his blood vessels, Jax was naked. At a sound, his eyes jerked toward the open door. Orange light bloomed, like guttering flames. Three silhouettes appeared, each hauling a chain. Behind them, the source of the light moved closer. It was egg-shaped, four feet tall, glowing like forged metal. Except as the three d
rew nearer, a shadow writhed within the superheated shell.

  The men wore hooded fire suits, the wheeled pallet holding the giant egg bent with the heat and weight. With heaving, straining steps, they dragged their burden into the circle of pillars. Glowing shell and shadowy movement completely filled Jax’ vision.

  “It’s too hot, Merit! Gods beyond, get me out of this!” Jax struggled, chains rattling, his hands came up, shielding his eyes.

  “For the good of the Dark Fae, Jax, let yourself be consumed!” Merit Sharp shouted.

  Intense light flared, so bright that Jax’ bones were revealed in his arms and hands.

  Blackness…

  With a scream, Raina leapt to her feet, the jacket tearing in half. Trini had been gripping her arm, and nearly vaulted off the bed into the wall.

  Raina grabbed her. “They’re killing him! We have to find him, stop them!”

  “No.” Trini winced, removing Raina’s gripping hands. “They’re changing him, making him some kind of weapon. Forging him the way men forge steel.”

  “Forging him?” Derek’s eyes went wide. He had been unable to share the vision.

  Trini shook her head, eyes down, hands fluttering. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”

  “Kraevek,” Raina said. “We have to tell him. The cabal is sending forged warriors into Oreálle.”

  “We still don’t know how,” Trini said. “The portal is destroyed.”

  Derek interrupted. “She’s right. Kraevek has spies in their organization. But they probably aren’t privy to something like this.”

  “Sure, we’ll just call his cell phone,” Trini smirked darkly. “C’mon, the man appears out of the blue whenever he wants. He’s so secretive, we hardly know anything about him.”

  Raina’s jaw dropped with an idea. “Kraevek gave me… a gift.”

  “Oh, excellent!” Trini said. “Get it out! We can at least get an idea where he is.”