Ascending Into Light (Descending Series Book 2)

by Alainna MacPherson

  Kaer jerked his head around just in time to watch Fallon fall into step behind Banner, who waited by the door. Swallowing, Kaer’s jaws popped with tension but he followed his own leader. One with far more worth than that bloody Seelie filth.

  “Well, I guess we’ll be seeing you soon, Fallon,” Banner said as he rounded a corner leading back to the door they’d come through from the mansion. Seeing a guard pass by at just the right opportune moment, he snapped his fingers and waved at the door they approached, expectantly.

  Jumping to do his bidding the guard whisked the door open. From this side all you saw was what looked to be a dimly lit hall but as they stepped through they reentered the mansion’s hallway.

  “I’m excited to see who you’ll bring as your plus one,” Banner said, walking them to the front door, which someone had closed while they were gone it looked like. Seeing as how there wasn’t a mass supply of lackey’s at his disposal, Banner was forced to lower himself to opening the door himself. Kaer, Fallon was sure, would be basking a little inside at that.

  “Yes she’s excited for the upcoming event,” Fallon entertained the general’s conversation. Nothing good could come from irritating him.

  “Hm, as is the king,” Banner shared, giving Fallon a brazen grin as he turned on the stone at the end of the path, grinding minuscule pieces of rubble beneath his heels as he did, making Fallon’s wings nearly twitch at the nails down a chalkboard sound.

  “Always a pleasure, Fallon. Kaer,” he said, folding his arms across his leanly muscled chest.

  “Yes, well,” Fallon smiled irritatingly, “It’s been very illuminating.”

  At that last word, Fallon found satisfaction when Banner’s smugness turned perplex as he and Kaer took to the air, disappearing from his sight.

  Seriously, how much longer? Jess wondered. She and Alyss were in the media room, keeping busy with Finn and Keegan as they all waited for Fallon and Kaer to return. At sundown, she had walked to Fallon’s door only to be head off by Illian, who informed them that he and Kaer had gone to Seelie court to meet with the king.

  That was two hours ago, and she was done waiting. Past done. Maybe they suspected and have him chained up in whatever dungeon they have. The brutal truth was that she didn’t know what to expect. Illian, Finn and Keegan all seemed uncaring that their leader was in the belly of the fucking beast.

  “Jess,” Alyss whispered beside her, reading yesterday’s local newspaper.

  Jess heard her, but refused to turn to look at her sister. She wasn’t in a very reasonable mood at the moment.

  “It’s not going to do anyone any good for you to worry so much,” her sister tried calming her. “Lets just stay optimistic.”

  Jess whipped her head to pin Alyss with deadly glare, saying “Are you seriously saying I should calm down and think world peace right now?”

  Alyss, to her credit, didn’t bite the bate for a fight, but she couldn’t quite control the quirk at the corner of her lips at the world peace reference. “Noooo…” she said cautiously. “Only that Fallon and Kaer don’t need the bad juju that’s flooding out of you right now.”

  Jess picked at her thumbnail for a moment, mulling over her sister’s words. Dropping her hands onto the plush cream microsuede of the couch they sat on she blew out a breath. “Ok.” That’s all, but it was enough for Alyss.

  “I think Cormac has a thing for me,” she started, still very serious.

  Looking back at her sister and seeing her troubled expression, a burst of laughter escaped before Jess knew what happened.

  “And what is so funny?” Alyss demanded, back straight now.

  That just sent Jess into a fit of chortles that had Alyss tossing a throw pillow at her sister’s head.

  Catching the offending pillow she hugged it close to her chest, bending over it as she laughed all the harder.

  “Ugh,” Alyss said, thoroughly disgusted, waiting her sister out. When she finally came up for air, wiping at her watering eyes, Alyss finally spoke again. “Care to share?”

  “Oh my god, I needed that,” Jess sighed, setting the pillow down next to her before rubbing her aching cheeks.

  “I’m going to hurt you,” her younger sister threatened.

  “Oh man,” she started. “I couldn’t help myself. Your utter confusion and naiveté killed me.”

  “Wha—“ Alyss sputtered.

  “That man has been smitten by you since the beginning, I’m sure of it.” She pointed out to her poor unsuspecting baby sister.

  “Oh, please. You don’t know that.” The protest was there but was interrupted by one of the guys in the room coughing non too delicately. When they both looked over at Keegan, he gave a telling look at Alyss.

  “Are you serious?” She all but jumped when she raised herself onto her knees, sitting taller now. “Who else knows that Cormac has a thing for me?” She demanded.

  “The whole of the nead, I’m afraid,” Kaer answered as he sauntered into the room unannounced. At his entrance, the women stood up from the couch while the guards went at attention. They all looked at him expectantly.

  “You could do worse, princess,” he went on, winking at Alyss in a teasing gesture.

  “Where is he?” Jess cut him off

  Kaer’s dimpled smile disappeared and his expression was somber as he looked over at her. “You are all needed in the meal hall. Queen Brianna should be arriving soon.”

  The sound of four bodies moving to make their way to the exit could be heard but halted deal still when Jess asked again, even more demanding this time. “Where is he?”

  Sighing, Kaer had actually looked pained when he told her, “In his quarters at the moment.” He’d barely finished speaking before she breezed by him, turning in the opposite direction of the meal hall.

  Shaking his head, Kaer waved the others along. There sure was a lot of drama going around since the princesses arrived, he thought, loving every second of it.

  She didn’t knock, she didn’t even think to. All she thought about was her need to see him. Bursting through the front door, she caught sight of Fallon’s back to her, standing in his bedroom, apparently in the process of changing his shirt. When he looked over his shoulder at her, he had an irritated look on his face that faded instantly upon seeing her, leaving just a furrowed brow and pursed lips.

  The magnificence of him made the air catch in her chest for a fleeting second. She hadn’t yet seen his wings and bare back until now. The way the muscles spread out from his shoulders and the spine differed slightly from that of a human males. She would bet money they had more unidentified muscles than what were in the medical text books out there today. Between his trapezoids, his upper back muscles behind the ribs, an unfamiliar one seemed to branch out and spread to both. She could see them flex slightly as he moved his arms, and when he twisted around. They bunched and relaxed in tune to his shoulders.

  When he did fully turn though, he broke the hypnotic effect the vision had on her.

  “Princess,” he started to say, doing his best to look irritated.

  “What happened?” She demanded, closing the distance between them to stand a mere foot away from him.

  Seemingly unaffected by her presence, he continued to slip on the charcoal dress shirt, the same one he had on the night before at last meal, grabbing the back tails to snap the material over the base of his wings and began to walk his fingers up his back, pressing the velcro closed. While he did, he told her, “It was a typical visit to court.”

  His nonchalant manner made her want to slap him. Damn him for making her feel worried and anxious this way and then be an asshole, when she looked for some sort of comfort from him. “Is that really all you’re going to say?” She asked, folding her arms over her chest. She didn’t miss the quick glance he gave her breasts as they were pressed up little. But just like that, his eyes were back on target, gazing at her own with a bit of haughtiness.

  “What more would there be to share, princess?” He knew she hated the
title.

  “Don’t,” she whispered. She didn’t think she could handle him icing her out for much longer. Not with everything else that was going on in her life. She had just started to accept her feelings for him.

  When he raised a questioning brow at her, pretending indifference, she closed her eyes and dropped her hands to her sides in defeat. Shaking her head with disappointment, she turned to walk away from him. Before she could take a second step though, Fallon grasped her above the elbow, yanking her back around to him.

  For a second he didn’t speak. Neither of them did. The silence was filled with a communication being held by their gazes only. One pleading while the other searched for answers. His heartfelt sorrow embedded within their green depths made her own heart ache for him. But it was his call. His move. She couldn’t make this leap for him.

  “I don’t know what I’m doing,” he said at last. Swallowing, she could tell the truth of those words meant so much more than just him and her and what they had between them.

  Jess looked up at him sympathetically, not saying anything, allowing him to go on.

  “When we came up with this plan, Kaer and I, we didn’t take time to think about all the other innocent lives we would be risking. We didn’t take a vote, just decided,” he sighed as he released his hold on her arm, resting his hands on his hips, shoulders slumped. “I decided,” he said, finally.

  And right then, she saw the weight on those shoulders that he carried so burdensome. She began to understand.

  “You told me,” she said, speaking to his bowed head. His dark hair shined with the light from the lamp that glowed from his nightstand. “That you were mo ri the honorary leader,” she went on.

  When he didn’t look up at her. She stooped slightly to grasp his face between her hands, tilting it up so she could see his eyes again. They were lost. She didn’t know how she didn’t see that before now. The blue runes, though there, were dim. What he was feeling went deep to his soul, she realized.

  “A people being ruled by another and in slavery, you think they can’t have use for a true king, a born leader.” He tried to pull away, but she held fast, her hold strong. “You’re wrong. They need that, a king by right.”

  He frowned at her words, doubt already trying to disprove her.

  “I can’t speak for them but I’m sure you’d be surprised by how pleased your people probably were when you brought the idea to him.” She stood straighter now, as he did too. His wings no longer looked like they were sagging, a little bit of life seemed to have been breathed back into them.

  Letting go of his face she placed the palm of her right hand onto his chest, “You’ve all been living in constant imbalance, fear, sorrow, betrayal,” she whispered, feeling him warm beneath her skin.

  “You’re the first king to take this risk, but I think everyone else has been ready for a lot longer than you think.” She could see what she was saying was reaching him. His brows smoother a little.

  “Move on from your doubt, Fallon,” she said. “You can’t walk on eggshells forever.” Smiling at him now, she hoped he would take her words to heart and heed them.

  For a moment he just looked at her, she could tell his eyes were taking in everything, her ears, lips, she even caught him checking out the freckles on her nose.

  “Thank you,” he whispered, very matter of factly. “I don’t believe I’ve ever had anyone want to speak to me the way you just have.”

  “Now,” she glared at him. “Shut me out again and you’ll regret it,” she said heatedly.

  His own smile fell from his lips at that. “I wanted only to keep you safe.”

  “Wrong,” Jess proclaimed. “Your thinking was wrong.”

  He started to defend his reasons, “The less you’re seen with me the less Banner and his bastard guards have reason to think you’re important to me.”

  It struck a cord inside her, she felt it tug. But it didn’t let him off the hook. “The mission is still safe, we’re careful,” she started to reassure him.

  “The mission be damned,” he ground, cutting her off.

  The anger and heat behind the statement had her frozen, completely at a loss.

  “This is no longer just about the mission, Jessandra,” He took a hold of her shoulders, the heat from his grip nearly burning her, his emotions so high. “I don’t know if I can go through with it. Not if it means risking you.” She could see his fear and just how truthful his words really were. “I would never get over it. Over you.” That last part pained him to say, she could see the torment etched on his face.

  “You have to,” she said steely.

  A soberness took over his posture, along with shock. It was apparent he expected her to take on a Juliet persona to his Romeo and cut and run with him.

  Far too much relied on them putting their relationship second behind freeing his people.

  “You’re going to have to find a way to get passed this somehow, Fallon,” she told him. “It’s because of this natural weakness that no one has had the guts to take on my grandfather. It’s not about you.” She realized that what she said applied to herself as well. She, too, needed to pay heed to her own words. “It’s not about me.”

  His hands cooled minutely on her shoulders, only a faint glowing warmth still emanated from his palms and fingers, but the ever present blue patterns swirling, and glowing under his skin remained.

  “Now,” she stood straight, causing those beautiful strong hands to slip from her. “I need you. I need the Fomorian king to back me up. I’m about to take a blood oath and turn into Spider-man all in one night.

  As expected, Fallon’s smile broke the harsh reality of everything just a bit. When he nodded she started to turn away from him, to let him finish getting dressed, when he reached out and gently caught her elbow, spinning her back around to him, her momentum halted by his mouth on hers. The heat was there, but it was at a low simmer this time. The kiss was comforting and spoke volumes to her; he was sorry and thankful at the same time. A peace offering kiss if she ever did see one, or feel in this case. His lips were warm, their relaxed firmness fitted perfectly to her softer fuller ones. They complemented one another in the brief caress, a well matched pair. One that nature and fate allowed them to find in each other. We won’t neglect the gift, she thought.

  A little shaken at the thought, Jess pulled back slowly, but not before brushing her moist lips against his one last time. She wasn’t normally a fate and destiny sort of thinker. Life happened, that was it. And without any preordained plan or mapping by any external powers that be.

  “I’ll see you out there,” she said, smiling at him as she turned and walked out of the room.

  Chapter Four

  He didn’t miss the fleeting look of uncertainty in her eyes when she ended the kiss, but something inside him told Fallon it didn’t have to do with him, or the kiss. Another night, he thought. Tonight was already filled with enough excitement.

  He finished getting ready. When he’d returned from court he had an aching need to change out of the stiff dress shirt he had worn. Maybe he’d ask Dorran to cut back a little on the starch next time she did the ironing but something told him it didn’t have anything to do with her laundering.

  Dorran came in his room to pick it up now and then and took care of his laundry as well. Usually she took it up with her own family’s to the nearby laundromat once a week or so. Since he wasn’t a slob he allowed her to manage the trash and wiping down of the bathroom sink and sweeping. As his assistant of sorts, he didn’t exactly like her being his maid but it was very much appreciated.

  Picking up the glass of water he’d gotten from the faucet earlier on the nightstand, he downed it before setting it back down and headed for the door. Spotting a group of papers on his desk he redirected himself to pick up and glance at the yellow sticky note on the top page that read “Sign these, please.” Finding the flagged page and looking over the dialogue and highlights of the contents, he set the papers back down, grabbed a pe
n that laid near the computer and signed by the appropriate X. Leaving the papers there on the desk, he walked out.

  The Unseelie prince, with his mother by his side, descended the stairs, led by Roshea who had met them topside. The queen skipped her flowing dress tonight and instead opted for a nice silvery pantsuit. If Alyss didn’t know any better, she would have thought she was just someone from the fashion world. Her make up and hair was on point too. Did they even use make-up? Or was it just magic, a glamour, they called it, she wondered.

  “Cormac,” Alyss said in a way of greeting. The usual disdain wasn’t in her voice this time though, which didn’t go unnoticed by the Unseelie prince.

  Smiling at her like a cheshire cat, he said, “Princess.”

  He escorted his mother through the main cavern and into the meal hall. The tables and benches had been pushed up against the walls to make room.

  “Queen Brianna,” Jess said, hurrying in behind them, slightly out of breath from her rush back from Fallon’s.

  “Good evening, Princess Jessandra,” The Unseelie queen let go of her son’s arm to stop in the center of the room. Jess walked over to meet her.

  A man whom Jess had never seen before entered along with Domini and Hayden. He was older looking than anyone else in the room, looking to be in his late forties, early fifties, but from what Jess now understood about the fae, things weren’t always what they seemed. Though Fallon had implied Fomorians lived long lives, he never actually told her how old he was.

  The older man wore what looked like a priest might wear, minus the white collar. Black, plain button-up, long sleeved dress shirt with only the top button undone. Tucked into the matching black slacks with slim black leather belt. The look was complete by polished black leather shoes. Though the shoes did show some life to them, well cared for but with some minor scratches here and there.

  Turning to welcome the newcomer, Queen Brianna clasped her hands in front of her and gave him a wide smile. Taking cue from her, Jess smiled as well.