by Karen Lynch
I stared at her. This was the Fae goddess, the one who had created Faerie and everything in it. I was in the presence of a deity, and all I could think to say was, “Have we met?”
She laughed softly and closed the distance between us to cup my chin in her hand. Images and snatches of conversation filled my mind, whirling and fitting together to form forgotten memories. I saw my body on the ground surrounded by fog, and Lukas and the others were using their power to save me. I remembered pain, but it was muted, and the goddess was there beside me, helping me through the worst of it.
Aedhna let go of my chin to gently wipe away the tears coursing down my face. “You have been so brave and strong. Because of you, the ke’tain is back where it belongs.”
“But I was too late. The barrier is weak, and the storms aren’t going away.” Hope blossomed in my chest. “Are you going to fix it? Is that why you’re here?”
She smiled again, but there was a touch of sadness in it. “It can be healed but not by my hand.”
“Unseelie and Seelie are going to meet to work on a solution,” I said, giddy from her assurance that the barrier could be healed.
“I am pleased to see them coming together, but I fear they have been estranged from each other too long to succeed in this.”
My heart sank because she was right. I didn’t know much about King Oseron, but from what I’d heard, he was dedicated to fixing the barrier. Queen Anwyn was a different story. She had caused all of this, and knowing what I did about her, I couldn’t see her doing anything for the good of others.
“You’re the goddess. Can’t you make them get along and work together?” I asked.
“When I created this realm and all within it, I gave them free will to live as they choose without my interference,” Aedhna explained. “The last faeries to see me were the Asrai who guarded my temple thousands of years ago.”
A gust of wind blew my hair into my face, and I brushed it away irritably. “You came to me.”
“You were human, and though you are now Fae, you belong to both worlds. You wear the stone I gifted you, and you have proven yourself to be brave and worthy of my blessing and the job I chose you for.”
Her praise filled me with warmth. “I’d do it again to keep my family and friends safe.”
She laid a hand on my shoulder. “That is why I know you will succeed in what I ask of you now.”
“What?” I asked slowly.
“To be my hands. I am going to give you the knowledge to heal my world.”
“Me?” I took a step back, and her hand fell away. “I’ve been a faerie for a few months. Wouldn’t it be better to ask someone stronger – like one of the royals?”
“This task requires more than physical strength. You will see that when the time comes. I would not choose you for it if I did not believe in you.”
I took a few breaths to gather myself. My head spun, and I felt a little queasy, but I managed to speak. “You didn’t bring me here to do it now?”
“The time is not yet right. I will come to you when you need to begin. For your protection, you will be unable to speak of this to anyone.”
I shook my head. “Who would believe it?”
She smiled again. “I will see you soon, Jesse.”
She disappeared. I spun in a full circle, but I was alone, except for Gus.
Gus stood and flapped his wings as if preparing for flight. He fixed his molten gaze on me, and when I didn’t move, he let out an impatient growl I knew all too well. The only problem was that it was the same sound he used to make when he wanted his dinner. I thought about his sharp little teeth devouring the raw chicken I’d fed him at home, and I tried not to imagine what his dragon-size fangs could do to me.
Aedhna would not have left me with him if she thought he’d hurt me. Right? At least, that’s what I told myself as I gathered my nerve and walked over to him.
When I was a few feet from him, he stretched out his powerful wings and lifted into the air. I should have been prepared, but I gasped when one of his clawed feet shot out to pick me up and tuck me against his belly. And then we were off.
I dozed off less than thirty minutes into our flight over the ocean. I woke to find that night had fallen, and we were nearing land. Ahead of us was a wide valley ringed by a mountain and tall, glassy, black cliffs.
Lights moved below us as we flew over the valley, and I realized they were torches held by faeries riding tarrans. Was it a search party out looking for me?
I called to them, but my shouts were drowned out by the wind and the flap of drakkan wings. Was Lukas out there with Conlan, Faris, and the others? They must be worried sick, not knowing if I was dead or alive.
The mountain grew closer, and I could make out the lake and the extensive grounds that were lit by torches. People strolled and mingled, oblivious to our approach. I studied them in their court finery and wondered how they could live this life of idle luxury day after day, year after year, without going completely insane from boredom. It had only taken me a few days of life at court to know I could never be happy living like them.
Gus circled the grounds, dipping lower with each pass. Shouts sounded from below, and people scattered when he flew around the perimeter of the lake. One group was too slow to get out of his path, and I heard female squeals and splashes when they went into the water.
He landed on a grassy slope near the lake and set me down gently on the ground. I immediately fell back on my ass. I stood, rubbing my backside, and looked up at the drakkan.
“Thanks, Gus.”
He snorted, and smoke billowed from his nostrils. His big head lowered, and he nudged me hard enough to make me stumble. The next thing I felt was a massive gust of wind as he leaped into the air, pushing me back onto the grass. I lay there watching him rise higher and higher until the darkness swallowed him up.
I stared up at the stars winking in the night sky until running feet alerted me to someone’s approach. I sat up as two males in guard livery reached me, looking at me like I was an alien that had fallen to earth.
“It is you!” One of them hurried forward to give me a hand up. “Are you hurt? Do you require a healer?”
I didn’t need his help, but I accepted his hand. “I’m okay, thanks.”
“We could not believe it when we saw the drakkan set you down,” he went on. “Half the court thinks you are dead.”
“The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated,” I joked as I brushed grass and dirt off me.
“How could they not be?” he asked. “You were carried off by a drakkan.”
The second guard spoke for the first time. “Prince Vaerik and half the guard are out searching for you. We will escort you inside and send word to him that you are back.”
“I don’t need an escort. I think I can find my way by now.”
He blocked me when I made to move past them. “We have orders to accompany you if you returned before his Highness.”
One glimpse of their serious faces told me I wasn’t going anywhere without them. I gave them a resigned nod, and they fell into step on either side of me. I could feel eyes on me as we walked to the entrance, but I ignored all the onlookers. I was getting used to being stared at.
We entered the mountain and took the lift to the upper floors. When it stopped, I was surprised to see the large indoor terrace area I’d passed on my first day here. The two black-clad guards posted there were not the same ones I’d seen on my arrival, but they looked every bit as threatening as they faced the lift to see who had dared to enter their territory. When they saw me, their expressions barely changed as they stepped back to allow us entry.
“This is not my level,” I protested when I was ushered off the lift.
“We will take her from here,” said one of the guards in black. The next thing I knew, my escort had returned to the lift, and the guard who had spoken was steering me toward the courtyard where I had first arrived in Unseelie.
We entered the courtyard and crossed
it to the set of double doors I’d noticed my first time here. He laid a hand against one of the doors, and there was a click as it unlocked. Then he opened the door and motioned for me to enter. I did, expecting him to follow me, but all I heard was a soft whoosh as the door closed behind me.
“Hey!” I spun and grabbed the door handle, but it wouldn’t budge. I was locked in.
“Not cool,” I called irritably, turning to see my prison.
My anger evaporated as I let my gaze sweep the living area that was at least twice as big as my generous suite. This one had more couches than mine and a dining area that could seat eight. It was softly lit by crystal lamps, but the darker fabrics and a collection of weapons on one wall gave it a masculine feel.
I walked over to inspect a charcoal gray shirt carelessly thrown over the back of a couch. I felt a jolt of recognition, and I picked it up to sniff it. It was the shirt Lukas had worn to town, and it still carried his scent. That could only mean I was in his private quarters.
Holding the shirt to my chest, I explored the suite. It was laid out much like mine, only a lot bigger. When I entered the bedroom, I discovered his balcony stretched the entire length of his suite from the living area to the bedroom.
It was his bed, though, that really caught my eye. The black, carved headboard reached halfway to the high ceiling, and the blue coverlet was so dark it was almost black. I had thought his bed back home was huge, but this one could probably fit him and his whole personal guard. I grinned at the mental image of the six big faeries lying side by side in the bed. That image was replaced by one of Lukas and me alone in here, and heat suffused my body.
I gave into temptation and lay back on the bed with my arms splayed. The coverlet felt like silk under my fingers, and Lukas’s familiar scent enveloped me. I would have curled up and gone to sleep there, but the last thing I wanted was for Lukas to walk in and find me in his bed like a stalker.
I gave the bathroom a cursory look before I walked out onto the balcony. It was too dark to see much, but the view would be the same as the one from my suite two levels below. Leaning on the rail, I scoured the valley for the torch lights I’d seen when we flew over it, but they weren’t visible from this height.
Turning, I spied an oversized chair behind me, and I made myself comfortable on the plush cushions. I tucked my legs under me and tried to process what had happened today. I had met the goddess… again. She’d been with me during my conversion, and it was because of her that I was alive.
Now she wanted me to accomplish a feat that apparently no one else in this realm could do. What if she was wrong about me, and I couldn’t do whatever it was that needed to be done to save Faerie?
I rested my head against the cushion and stared at the dark sky. I couldn’t think that way because there was too much at stake for me to fail. Aedhna wouldn’t trust me with the fate of her world if she wasn’t sure I could handle the job. I only wished she’d told me why she’d chosen me. It would make the wait a whole lot easier.
Raised voices startled me, and I realized I must have dozed off. I was halfway out of the chair when a male spoke from inside the suite.
“I brought her here myself, Your Highness, and she did not leave.”
It was followed by Faolin’s voice. “She must be here somewhere, Vaerik.”
I grimaced and walked toward the open balcony doors to the main living area. I was met by Kaia, who rubbed against my legs and nearly knocked me over. Petting her head, I moved to the doors where I saw Lukas with Faolin and the guard who had escorted me here. Lukas and Faolin wore pants and jackets made of some kind of dark leather, and swords hung at their sides.
Lukas’s back was to me, but Faolin spotted me the second I appeared in the doorway. He tilted his head in my direction, and Lukas spun to face me. The wild look in his eyes when they locked with mine sent my pulse racing. I couldn’t remember ever seeing him like this, and I didn’t know whether to be afraid or happy to see him.
“Jesse.” He was across the room before I could speak, his arms wrapping around me to pull me tightly against him. “I thought… I didn’t know if you were…”
The anguish in his voice made my throat tighten painfully. I slipped my arms around his waist and held on tightly as I breathed in his scent. He smelled of fresh air, leather, and the faint musky odor of tarran that made my nose wrinkle. He could reek of skunk, and I wouldn’t care as long as he kept holding me like this.
The door clicked, telling me Faolin and the guard had left, and I finally found my voice. “I’m sorry,” I whispered against his shirt. What happened hadn’t been my doing, but I couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“It wasn’t your fault.” He loosened his embrace and put a hand under my chin to tilt my face up to his. “I should have kept you safe. If you had been hurt…”
I barely registered his head lowering before his mouth closed over mine. The only thought that went through my mind was Finally!
His kiss was hard and possessive, and it set my insides ablaze. I didn’t surrender to it. I matched it with all my pent-up emotion and need. My hands slid up his chest and grabbed the neckline of his shirt to keep him exactly where I wanted him.
Lukas’s chest rumbled with pleasure, and he lifted me until my legs could wrap around his waist, and my face was level with his. He broke the kiss to look at me, and my limbs turned to jelly at the desire in his eyes. Then he reclaimed my lips with the same fierceness, and I knew that if he asked, I would give myself completely to him.
“Vaerik, I see you’ve found your missing friend,” said an amused male voice from across the room.
I gasped and let go of Lukas like he’d burned me. He caught me easily before I fell and lowered me unhurriedly to my feet. His smile did little to reassure me, and my face was on fire when I turned to face the newcomer.
I did a double take at the sight of the male who could be Lukas’s twin. His dark hair was long like that of most faeries, but his face was almost a mirror image of Lukas’s. Even though his clothes were in the same elegant style favored by the males at Court, he had a presence that told me he was no ordinary faerie.
Of course! He was Lukas’s brother Kellen, whom Lukas had planned for me to meet at dinner tonight. I groaned inwardly and resisted the urge to look down at my crumpled, soiled clothes. This was not how I wanted to meet Lukas’s family. I was a mess, and Kellen had just walked in on me making out with his brother.
“It’s more like she found us.” Lukas’s hand gave mine a gentle squeeze. “Father, allow me to introduce you to Jesse James.”
It took a few seconds for his words to sink in, and then shock slammed into me. Father?
I was standing in front of the Unseelie king…who had witnessed me climbing all over his son and heir.
Where was a drakkan to carry me away when I needed one?
Chapter 12
“Jesse.” King Oseron walked toward us. “I have heard so much about you.”
I had never learned to curtsy, so I gave him a small awkward bow. “It’s an honor to meet you, Your Majesty. I’ve heard a lot about you, too.”
He smiled warmly. “Yes, I hear I am a subject of much curiosity and speculation in the human world. Do I live up to the expectations?”
I hadn’t expected the Unseelie king to address me so informally, so his manner threw me off balance. How was I supposed to answer a question like that?
“Father,” Lukas said in a slightly annoyed tone.
The king waved him off. “There is nothing improper in that question.”
Lukas quirked his eyebrows. “No, but I speak from experience when I say that Jesse has no qualms about telling you exactly what she thinks of you.”
King Oseron threw back his head and laughed. His gaze met mine again, and I saw that his eyes were blue but not the same midnight blue as his son’s. And they seemed older somehow. Up close, there were other differences in their faces. The king’s jaw was squarer, and his lips were not as full as Lukas’s. Al
though their smiles were similar, the king’s did not have the power to turn my insides to mush. Only one person had ever been able to do that to me.
“I expect nothing less from the girl who returned the ke’tain to us.” The king reached out and took one of my hands in both of his. “On behalf of Unseelie, I thank you.”
“I… you’re welcome,” I squeaked when I found my voice. Never in my life had I imagined I would someday be face-to-face with the Unseelie king while he held my hand. Could this day get any crazier?
I discovered the answer to that when the door opened, and a dark-haired female came in. She carried herself so regally I knew immediately that she was Lukas’s mother, Maurelle.
Maurelle saw me and smiled. She crossed the room and kissed both of my cheeks. “Jesse, I am so glad you have returned unharmed from your ordeal.”
“Thank you, Consort,” I stammered.
“Call me Maurelle. Vaerik and his friends speak so fondly of you I feel like I know you already.” She stepped back. “I wish we could have met under normal circumstances, but if I waited for my son to present you, goddess knows when that would be.”
“Jesse has been in Faerie for two days, Mother,” Lukas said in an amused voice. “I thought she might want to settle in a bit before I subjected her to a royal inquisition.”
“Vaerik.” She shot him an admonishing look.
King Oseron chuckled. “Are you enjoying your first time in Faerie, Jesse?”
I bit the inside of my cheek. Talk about a loaded question. I’d only been here a few days, and already I’d been poisoned and carried off by a drakkan. On top of that, I had to sit by while he tried to match Lukas with a “suitable” mate.
“It’s more beautiful than I could have imagined,” I told him honestly. “I can’t wait to see more of it.”
He smiled, pleased by my answer. “There is much to be seen. Are you an adventurer, Jesse?”
“I’ve only ever lived in the city, but I hope to travel someday. I don’t know if that makes me an adventurer, though.”
