Ascending Into Light (Descending Series Book 2)

by Alainna MacPherson

  Just when she wanted to call it a medical supply room, Fallon turned her to face the left wall and the massive mirror hanging on the wall. It was the only thing on that side of the room there wasn’t any space for more. The silver frame was a bit tarnished, but in good shape for as old as it probably was, considering it’s owners. It was simple, nothing special, but it was still impressive to look at. The whole piece spanned three feet wide and a good six feet high and hung low on the wall itself, so she could see clearly their feet in the reflection. The only light in this room, a lone light bulb that dangled irritatingly from the ceiling, bumping around the tip of Fallon’s wings as he moved about the room. She could see the tiny light annoyed the giant but he tried to ignore it.

  “What are we looking at here?” Jess asked when he finally stopped fighting and just let the stupid bulb rest on his talon.

  He sneered up at the damned thing before meeting her gaze through the mirror.

  “It’s called a scáthán,” he told her. “The Seelie put it here so they’d have easy access to and from D’lansis,” he explained as she stepped closer to get a better look. When she reached out to touch the frame, he caught her hand firmly. Looking up at him, shocked at the strong grip before he loosened it and told her, “Be careful. I don’t know exactly how it works. Just that it does by Seelie touch only. We don’t want to accidentally call on the Seelie court.”

  Good point, she thought, keeping her hands to herself.

  “Wait, so what are we doing here then if we can’t use it?” She asked, confused.

  “We are meeting someone,” he answered. She focused on the mirror to meet his eyes.

  “Meeting someone?” Just then, the mirror began to ripple. Fallon’s reflection distorted and blurred, like water after someone tossed a handful of pebbles into it’s glossy top.

  “Step back, princess,” Fallon said, amusement clear in his voice.

  She backed away as he directed, keeping a strained eye on the liquid surface. The ripples seemed to turn violent and created wakes as the molten silver bounced against the frame’s edges and back towards the middle. In the next heartbeat, with Jess watching, it stilled, the fluid stopping instantly, though it still wasn’t smooth or clear. The reflections were just distorted colors.

  “What—“ Before she could asked what the hell had happened, a brown booted foot poked through the bottom of the mirror, followed by the rest of someone’s black jean pant leg. Preceding the rest of the body, Cormac’s face came through first, smiling at her when he caught sight of them waiting for him. He finished stepping through the frame and turned to face it. Reaching up, he said something that Jess didn’t understand, “Oscail an doras.”

  I need a tutor, she thought.

  Facing them again, Cormac smiled in greeting and stepped closer, extending his hand to Fallon, who accepted it and clasped his forearm in return. “Fallon.”

  “Cormac.”

  Releasing their hold simultaneously, Cormac looked to Jess.

  “Princess Jessandra, good evening,” he said as he bowed his head to her.

  Nodding awkwardly to him, she refrained from squirming under the title. She still wasn’t sure what the proper response to being bowed to was. Did she bow back? Or did she curtesy? Ignore it? Ignoring it felt rude. She didn’t want to offend the wrong person either. The situation was sensitive, her taking a crown that wasn’t really hers, just by blood. Even she knew that she was an outsider to this world.

  “Mother looks forward to your visit,” he said.

  There wasn’t a particular reason, nothing she could put her finger on, but his statement had her stepping back, closer to Fallon. Maybe, deep down, somewhere inside, she was scared. Just a little. She’d had her fill of new places and people, but she was throwing herself into a brand-new environment with more new people. And this time, without Fallon. Suddenly her idea didn’t sound so great. Suddenly, she wanted to go to Fallon’s room and hide out until the world outside was fixed. Silas was magically defeated. The Fomorians were freed and the Unseelie were back in the seat of the rest of Faerie. But she knew that was impossible. Reality required her participation in order for all of those things to come true.

  Fallon reacted instantly though Uncaring of Cormac’s presence, he snaked his arm out and around her waist to draw her tight into his side. His wing drew over and around her front, curving at the tip slightly too. He knew. She didn’t need to explain or answer a bombardment of questions, he just knew she needed to feel his strength. It didn’t change things. He didn’t try to talk her out of going or tell her everything would be alright. False words weren’t necessary. His presence was enough to ease her anxiety.

  Cormac gave her a sympathetic smile but remained silent. After a quiet moment he looked down, shuffling his feet as he did and cleared his throat nervously. Both Fallon and Jess looked at him curiously. Judging by the new flush on his cheeks, Jess guessed what the topic of his thoughts might be. She also wondered if he’d ever had anyone before that made him blush.

  “The queen had extended the invitation, so to speak, to your sister, Princess Alyss.” He about choked on his tongue but Jess appreciated his awkwardness and obvious discomfort under Fallon’s judgmental gaze, it helped her with her own anxiety. The endearing scene he made had a giggle bubbling up within her. Luckily she was able to conceal it before he suspected that she may be laughing at his expense.

  Smiling now, Jess said, “Well then, lets go see her and tell her the news.” She looked up at Fallon briefly, sharing a quick moment of silent amusement, except he didn’t look very entertained. Ignoring the serious expression he wore instead, Jess turned to exit the cramped room.

  When Jess left the room, Fallon and Cormac remained where they stood for a couple of awkward seconds.

  Breaking the awkward silence, Fallon spoke first. “You understand that I’m giving over to you my mate and her sister for your tutorage and I expect your life to come before either of theirs.” His eyes met Cormac’s dead on, a hint of a bluish glow hovered beneath their dark green irises.

  “I do. And it will,” Cormac promised without hesitation. To his credit, he wasn’t being the cocky asshat that Fallon knew him to be.

  Nodding with a sort of satisfaction, Fallon turned towards the door Cormac began to follow behind him when, belatedly, Fallon stopped and rounded on the Unseelie prince, pinning him with a deathly stare, his wings rising up intimidatingly behind him, drawing Cormac’s gaze to dart between his sharp talons and his haunting green eyes.

  “As to your intentions for the Princess Alyss. Don’t think that I don’t know what happens in my home. Should I feel my involvement is required, I will step in. And trust me when I say you won’t want me to get…involved.” He selected the last word carefully. It was loaded with so much more meaning behind it. Cormac heard it too and read him loud and clear. He gave a quick affirmative nod of his head. Fallon didn’t say anything further, just turned on his heel and walked out to find Jess nearby speaking with Gillian.

  As he approached, he caught the tale end of what Jess was saying to his cousin. “I’m so sorry. I will replace it the first chance I get,” She said, regretfully. Gillian smiled sweetly at her, reaching over to pat Jess on her shoulder in comfort.

  “Not to worry, princess,” she began to say, but before more could be said, Fallon stepped in.

  “When is your day off next, Gillian?” He moved to stand close to Jessandra. His body recognizing hers, growing minutely warmer with her presence.

  She seemed to feel the same rush, for she swayed closer to him for a split second before catching herself and standing straight once again.

  To her credit, Gillian was expertly ignoring the whole thing and just looked up at him.

  She smiled welcomingly before answering, “Not until this weekend.” It was only Wednesday.

  “Perhaps you and Jessandra can go shopping then,” he suggested.

  Jess began to decline, surely his cousin would feel obligated to take her along
. “Oh, no. Gillian has better things to do, than to –“

  “No, actually I’d love to go shopping with you,” Gillian said excitedly. Jess would swear the woman looked like you’d dangled Disneyland park tickets in front of her instead of a shopping trip.

  Fallon smiled very satisfactory. Looking down at the doubtful Jess, he said to her,” You’re a princess now. Gillian knows what is appropriate. One or two outfits should do,” he added with a wink.

  “Alright,” she said, caving in and looking back to Gillian.

  “Great. Saturday?” Gillian chimed. Nodding to both of them, she turned to walk in the direction of the residences.

  Fallon bringing up the fact that she had changed status wise, made looking over to Cormac, who waited patiently outside the storage room door, a little more real. She wasn’t just going to camp out at Unseelie to roast marshmallows and learn tricks. She was going to learn how to developed her powers, secrets that only Seelie knew. Starting with that mirror.

  The three of them started to walk back in the direction of Jess and Alyss’ rooms. Cormac, if Jess wasn’t mistaken, had broken a protocol that was probably ingrained within him since birth by walking ahead of Fallon, the leader and king of this dwelling that he was currently in. Fallon allowed it, but Jess was sure it wasn’t because he was just as entertained as she was about his excitement to see her sister. Eyeing Fallon as they walked, she thought he looked to be sizing Cormac up. Puzzled, Jess left it for a later time as they approached her sister’s door. Cormac knocked and stood back to stand regally in wait for her to answer.

  When Alyss swung the door open, it was apparent she hadn’t expected the Unseelie prince on her doorstep. Hair messily tied atop her head, wearing a dark purple sports bra and skin tight black capris, she was obviously ready for a workout. A quick flash of pink flushed her cheeks at the sight of Cormac and the amused look on his face at her appearance.

  “Uh, hi?” She said confused, glancing from Cormac to Jess who stood behind him and Fallon at her side.

  “Good evening, my lady,” Cormac said, obviously having checked his ogling and remembered himself long enough to give a bow.

  “Cormac said Queen Brianna has invited you to come with me to stay in Unseelie for a little while,” Jess informed her, getting to the point.

  “Oh,” Alyss said. The hesitation in that single word had Jess sliding around Cormac to come up close.

  “What?” Jess asked.

  Alyss looked to Cormac for a millisecond before meeting her sister’s eyes. Jess could see the fight or flight response under the surface of her gaze. Quickly, Jess took Alyss by the shoulders and shoved her back inside the room, shutting the door on the males.

  “What’s wrong?” Jess demanded in a harsh whisper.

  “I can’t go with you,” she said, looking pained. Jess knew her normally stable baby sister would have followed her in a heartbeat if someone else hadn’t rocked her. She studied her for a second before nodding her understanding.

  “Okay,” Jess said, reaching out to rub a soothing hand over Alyss shoulder. “Okay,” she repeated, trying to calm her.

  “Are you going to tell me why?” She asked, already knowing the answer. Seeing the confused look on Alyss face, struggling to find words for her, Jess just squeezed the shoulder she gripped. “That’s fine. Another time.”

  This was definite switch up. Alyss had always been the one to take risks and still remain level headed. Jess was the overly cautious one who never felt comfortable taking risks.

  “Are you okay with staying here?” She asked.

  “Yeah, I’ll stick around until you get back,” Alyss assured her, feeling a little more comfortable with the conversation now.

  “Alright,” Jess said, letting go of her sister and standing back. “I’ll hedge Cormac off, but you’ve got to fill me in later.”

  Nodding, Alyss took in a cleansing breath. “Sure,” she said relieved to be off the hook. At least for the moment.

  “And,” Jess said, interrupting Alyss’ new found calm. “You probably should explain things to Cormac later, too.” Seeing that it was pointless to argue the obvious root of her anxiety, Alyss nodded, shutting her eyes for a second.

  “Stay here,” Jess told her, before opening the door just enough for her to slip out.

  Both men still stood outside but had turned their backs to the door. At the sound of the door opening, they turned back around expectantly. She witnessed Cormac’s face fall when he saw that Alyss didn’t follow her out, thoroughly crestfallen.

  “I’m sorry, Cormac,” she began to say, approaching the Unseelie prince. “She’s going to stay here, for now.” She added that last part to give him hope. She had high hopes for the two to become a couple too. The building blocks were obviously there, but of course, the right ones needed to be selected for the structure. Pick the wrong ones and you risk the foundation crumbling before it’s even real.

  He gave her a half hearted smile and nodded. Looking down at his feet for a second, he cleared his throat, collecting himself before looking up at her. Fallon had walked over to stand beside her. “Shall we grab your things then?” He suggested.

  “Sure,” she agreed, moving around him to walk along the path that led to her own door. Opening it, she stepped inside, leaving the men to follow. When Cormac began to step inside, Fallon reached for his shoulder, fingers digging in as he yanked the faerie back and proceeded ahead of him into the room, leaving him behind.

  “Right. I’m just going to wait out here.”

  Fallon shut the door on the sound of him clearing his throat. He stood just inside the door and watched Jess come back in from the bathroom with something in hand, her hairbrush. She walked to the bed where her duffle bag sat unzipped. He could see her clothes peeking through the two edges. The reality of her leaving made sweat bead on his forehead suddenly. It went against everything in his nature to let her walk away from him. Not from me, he reminded himself. She wasn’t leaving him for good. She needed this.

  None of that mattered to the part of him that was linked to her.

  Closing the distance between them, he spun her around to claim her lips in a brutal, almost animalistic way. Her breath caught when he snatched her up against him, the air rushing against his cheek when she sucked it in through her nose. She gripped his sides, digging holes into his shirt. He wasn’t gentle, he knew it but he couldn’t calm himself. Besides, she wasn’t protesting. The coppery taste of blood powered over the kiss and he realized that she’d cut herself on his canines. But neither of them stopped. Rather, he released her briefly to wrap his arms around her waist, lifting her to him. She instantly moved her hands to brace them on his shoulders and boost up, spreading her legs to wrap them around his hips. Jess’ head swam as she grasped the back of his neck with one hand, feeling the telltale tickle of the runes beneath her palm, threading the other in his hair to hold tight. Like the times before, his wings instinctively drew in like curtains, intensifying the radiating heat coming from him.

  She tilted her head to the side as his lips, traveling from hers to glide along her jaw, settled at her neck. She scraped her nails on his scalp as she opened and closed her fist around the hair there, breath hitching in and out as he worked at the skin on the curve of her neck and shoulder. His hot breaths puffed and sweated there, mixing with the seat from his mouth. When he clutched her even tighter, her own breathing became labored as a growl grew from deep inside his chest. Without warning he latched his teeth on a ligament and muscle, sucking. Her gasp sounded like a cry from the pressure he still had around her torso. The clean underwear she had put on earlier would need replacing after this. She couldn’t recall ever being so slick before down there from just a kiss. After a few heart racing seconds, he released the punished skin and kissed it tenderly before taking her jaw in one hand, turning her mouth back to his for another onslaught of kisses, tongue and mouth greeting each other in earnest.

  A rapid knocking jerked their lips apart, both twisting to
look towards the wooden door.

  “Mo ri,” it was Kaer. “Don’t forget about your meeting this evening.”

  Slowing, he loosened his hold on her, and she did the same, sliding down his hard body slowly. Her hands brushed the smooth leather of his wings, causing him to unintentionally jerk from the contact.

  “Duty calls,” she said, smiling at him when her feet were planted firmly back on the ground.

  “Yes, it does,” he agreed, obviously disgruntled at having been interrupted. “Come,” he said, stepping to reach around her to zip up the bag on the bed and lift it up, carrying it for her.

  Before he opened the door though, she quickly reached for his other hand, squeezing it tightly, watching the runes go crazy when she did. At their peak, she let it go, only to curl her hand into the crook of his elbow to grasp his sleeve. He opened the door when she had settled beside him, escorting her out of the room and past the dutiful second as he stood nearby, keeping a watchful eye on the surroundings. It was unnecessary, but it was a whole lot more polite that the cheeky look that Cormac was giving him, wide grin taking over half his perfect Seelie face.

  “Let’s get on with it,” he grumbled.

  Chapter Seven

  “Hold still,” the man hissed, tightening his grip on her hips after losing his rhythm and slipping out of her channel when she inched forward on the slick satin bedcover.

  Letti didn’t say anything just locked her elbows and willed her legs not to cramp up. If they did, or her arms failed to hold her weight in exactly the very position she was in, that it would last longer. And it would irritate him.

  And she didn’t want either of those things to happen.

  “Yes. Better. Now,” he said behind her, before taking himself in hand to align the head back up with her opening. He ignored that the lube had started to wear off and pressed forward, past any friction that threatened to offer resistance.