Hidden Worlds

by Kristie Cook

  Faery etiquette was lacking in the real world. If I thought humans were rude, faeries topped that. I wondered if the iron in the city was bothering them. Braelynn didn’t seem to notice, but Sary might have been more vulnerable to its effects. I didn’t dare ask her, though.

  “Hey.” I tapped Braelynn, and she grabbed my elbow to draw me closer before another person cut between us.

  “What is it, Benton?” Wow, she was suddenly all formal. I hoped that didn’t mean she was going to try and be the adult of the group now. I couldn’t stand authority. I’d been on my own for a while and didn’t need that around me anymore.

  “Um … what’s wrong with Sary?”

  Braelynn sighed as we weaved through the thick crowd, barely keeping Sary within our sights. “You’re wondering about the iron sickness and if it messes with our moods, aren’t you?”

  I nodded. So Braelynn had some wonky intuition, too. It felt like she was violating my thoughts. Maybe her holding my arm wasn’t a good idea since it obviously amplified her power, but I didn’t want to let her go and get lost in the crowd.

  “Well, you’re assumptions are right. It makes us feel quite moody, messes up our equilibrium. It’s thick here with all the metal and concrete structures. I don’t feel it as much as Sary does, but I can already feel it burning my bones.”

  “Ouch. Sounds painful.”

  “It takes getting used to, but it’s tolerable with the right glamour. Stay out here long enough, though, and it’s impossible to shield oneself from all the effects of it.”

  “Like the banished?”

  She nodded. “Exactly. They begin to deteriorate rapidly and need to either stay away from the cities or acquire magic another way.”

  Someone slammed into my shoulder, sending me toppling over and almost on my rear. Finding my balance, I popped back up to find Braelynn staring back at someone with familiar fury in her eyes. I followed her line of vision and watched as a large man with bright blue eyes with deathly pale skin and black-as-night hair smirked at us before turning to run into the crowd. I lost him before I could even give chase, like he’d made the press of people swallow him up whole.

  “What the hell?” I rubbed my shoulder and winced. It hurt like a bad sunburn. I peered over to see if Braelynn was okay and took her arm again. “You all right?” She nodded. “Do you know him?”

  “Unfortunately, I used to.”

  I gave her horrified stare. “You do? Who is he? What’s up with the friendly bump?” I rolled my shoulder. Was it getting worse by the second? I was sweating and feeling more and more breathless.

  “No one to be concerned about.” She turned and proceeded toward the entrance of the Golden Nugget, where Sary was waiting and impatiently tapping her foot.

  “Come on! You guys are as swift as slugs!”

  I rolled my shoulder one more time. The spot seared even more, making me suck in a breath. “Sorry. We were sort of attacked.”

  Sary widened her eyes and scanned the throngs of people flowing by like a rapidly gushing river. “What happened?”

  “A former lover of mine, Cornelius. He ran into Benton,” Braelynn stated, looking morose.

  Sary flicked her gaze between us. “Not Cornelius of the night elves? That’s not good if he knows we’re here.”

  I was completely lost in this conversation. The tormenting ache in my arm wasn’t any help. “Excuse me? Elves? How come I’ve never met any?”

  Sary turned toward me and touched my aching shoulder. I winced, but didn’t let her see just how much it was killing me. Her face told me she already knew.

  “The night elves are a faction of Faerie who deal in dark arts and magic. There are the sun elves, too, who work with more of the good magic of the earth.”

  “Ah, so bad boys and good boys.” I turned to Braelynn, frowning. “So you like the bad boys?”

  Braelynn pressed her lips tight but chose that moment to step forward and squeeze my shoulder hard. I hissed, the pain almost making me black out. What the hell was wrong with these women?

  I yelped. “Hey! That really hurts.” I didn’t push her away when I noticed her eyes slip into concentration and her lips begin to move. When she finished, she pulled away and rubbed her hand like it was also burning.

  “Sorry. He hexed you. I had to remove it before it took hold and made you lose the use of your arm.” Cocking her head, she frowned. “It was already taking a good hold on you.”

  I rotated my arm, feeling much better, but appalled at what she’d said. “He hexed me? What’s wrong with these people? I didn’t do anything to him.”

  Sary laughed. “Actually, claiming another’s chosen can be quite the insult in Faerie.”

  My eyes widened. I thought they were going to pop out. “WH—what?” I spun toward Braelynn, whose serious mask of a face made my fury surface. “You’re his chosen? A night elf? Why would he think I claimed you? I didn’t claim anyone. Spit it out, I got to hear this.”

  She sighed and stepped forward before I grabbed her elbow. “Oh, no. Spill it, sister.”

  Braelynn glared back at me, and I noticed a tiny sheen of tears forming in her eyes. “He was my chosen. I loved him once, many years ago, and he betrayed me. I left. End of story.” She shook my hand off and proceeded to enter the casino where a blast of frigid air, which kept the cooler air in and the warmer air out of the place, sent her long brown hair flying up behind her.

  I looked to Sary, who shook her head in disapproval. Apparently I was the only one still confused. It would have been nice to know I was facing a dark elf who had history with Braelynn. I was tired of them holding back information that might be critical to my survival. This was exactly why I loved working alone.

  The casino crowd was almost as thick as the one outside, with an added layer of cigarette and cigar smoke stuck to everything, like it was permanently stamped into the walls. It made my nostrils burn as we made our way through bunches of tourists, bachelorette parties, drunken college boys and addicted retiree gamblers. I walked through a puff of cigar smoke and almost choked, frowning at the old man sitting at his slot machine, purposely blowing the smoke into the walkway. He cackled at me, showing off a mouthful of missing teeth. The smoking had wreaked havoc on his face, filling it with stale-looking wrinkles and shriveling his skin. I shook my head and walked on, staying close to Braelynn, who was now clutching the crystal Elvis with both hands.

  She abruptly turned and made her way toward one the seedy bars near the rear of the casino. The smoke was making my eyes water and my chest wheeze. I hoped we wouldn’t be in there long.

  She stopped right before reaching the bar, staring at one of the bartenders as she fingered the crystal. I found the person she was focusing on and slipped onto the nearest stool.

  The bartender was a bald, slightly stout man. Usually they had some hot chick or good-looking guy behind the bar, but the downtown casinos seemed more established and held onto their workers longer. I think. It seemed to be so with this man. He looked utterly human, like someone’s uncle, or even someone’s grandfather. Who knew, really? I sat on the stool right next to Sary and Braelynn. The bar was crowded, too. The entire place was one huge people magnet.

  We finally caught the attention of the bartender, and he headed our way. I wondered if this was the guy we were looking for.

  “What can I get you, and can I see your I.D.?” The guy extended his hand as he studied our faces. I pulled out my wallet and confidently plopped down my fake I.D. Hey, it helped to have one when I was frequenting bars all over the place looking for Unseelie escapees.

  The man studied it, scrutinizing it for what seemed like forever. He didn’t even ask the girls for theirs and seemed to avoid looking at them. “What can I get you?” He handed the card back and drilled his eyes into me.

  “Can I have a coke? And I need to ask you something.” The bartender narrowed his eyes and began his routine of plopping a napkin onto the counter, filling a glass with ice and squeezing the tap to fill i
t with soda.

  “Sure thing. What can I help you with?” He placed the soda before me and waited. “That’ll be four dollars. What can I answer for you?”

  “We’re looking for Lorell.” I studied the guy’s nametag, feeling disappointed to find it said ‘Larry’ on it.

  “Who’s asking?”

  “We’re from the Scren Palace, under the authority of Queen Shade of the Southern Realm,” Braelynn answered with a hushed voice before I could. I glanced at her and slipped the money onto the counter before sipping the cold beverage. I offered some to Sary, who shook her head at me, making a face at the bubbly drink.

  “There’s no Lorell here.”

  Braelynn held out the crystal Elvis and set it on the counter. “I have something he needs.” She let the crystal flash under the bar lights, which were sparsely spread across the ceiling, keeping the atmosphere dimly lit but bright enough to not trip over anything. The bartender’s eyes widened as he became entranced with the figurine. Rainbow colors pepper his face and illuminated the glamour he was wearing in tiny, fractured wisps of faery light.

  Ah, a faery bartender. Nice.

  “Where did you get that?”

  “You know where.” I’d never seen Braelynn so determined as she tried to break the man into confessing who he really was. I guess she wanted to find out more about Oran than any one of us. Still, I watched Larry’s venomous stare as he matched her eye for eye. His fingers twitched, like he was ready to snatch the figurine right out of her fingers.

  “Give me that.” His tight-lipped mutter made no difference to Braelynn as she withdrew the crystal and pocketed it once more. This didn’t bode well for Larry, who reddened even more.

  “If you find Lorell, we’ll be waiting for him by the pool.”

  She stood and waved for Sary and me to follow. I downed the remains of my soda and slammed it on the bar as we left. I glanced back to make sure Larry wasn’t going to hop the bar and rampage toward us. Seeing him glued to his spot, I saluted the guy as we continued on and eventually disappeared into the crowd.

  Chapter Twelve Unraveling

  Unraveling

  I focused on the variety of bikini-clad ladies hanging in and out of the pool. I felt overdressed in my jeans and T-shirt, but I was sure to give them something to notice with my laid-back rocker look, nonchalant with sunglasses on. I was having a grand ole time, and I hoped Larry wouldn’t rush to meet us poolside. A glass of Guinness was sitting next to me on a tiny table. I probably shouldn’t have been drinking, but I wanted to relax. It was a vacation spot, and the magnificent pool facilities were resort worthy. It literally felt light years away from the dark battle I’d been waging against the escaped Unseelie and was definitely several steps up from being laid up in bed with a Draelik injury.

  “Must you drink that foul fluid?” Sary wrinkled her nose as she studied the glass of alcohol, which was already dripping from condensation. I beamed at her disgust, finding it more than just amusing. She looked gorgeous when she was mad. I liked seeing her seethe, so I was perfectly fine grabbing the glass and taking a long, deep swig of it despite her grimace.

  “It’s an acquired taste.” I set it back down and let out a satisfied “Ahh,” which she leered at.

  “You humans never cease to disgust me. Honey wine is much tastier than that atrocious muck.” She leaned back onto the towel covering the lounging chair. She was sweating and looked terribly uncomfortable, even when she sipped her glass of ice water with a lemon wedge squeezed into it.

  “Why is it suddenly insanely hot here?” She fanned her face and lifted her long, red tresses, frantically waving them in the air to cool herself.

  “You’re next to a hot guy. What do you expect?”

  She puffed up like a hen and scowled, turning away from me. I shook my head, about to burst out laughing, when Braelynn’s voice distracted me.

  “He’s coming.”

  My alarm bells began to go off just then. Unseelie were near, and I could feel their impure magic stinking up the air like skunks. I reached back for my sword, but only saw Larry approaching us. He seemed harmless enough. Still, I stood up as he reached us, in case I had to act fast.

  “Shade’s warriors are quite leisurely with such important tasks.” He hovered over us, near the edge of the pool, with an angry sneer gnarling his mouth.

  “Best boss ever.” I crossed my arms and watched him for any aggression. I was happy to have my sunglasses on, knowing he’d be hard pressed to know what I was thinking with them covering my eyes.

  He sniffed and continued to frown. “Where’s the crystal?” He turned to Braelynn, who was sitting up but hadn’t gotten to her feet. She was mighty confident about herself. I wasn’t yet sure if I should take this as a good sign or not.

  “Where’s Lorell?”

  “He’s indisposed.”

  “Oh, well. That’s mighty unfortunate then.”

  The guy turned scarlet, even more so than what the heat had already done to him. “I don’t have time for your petty faery games, girl. Give. Me. The crystal.”

  Braelynn jumped to her feet and stepped forward. “Give me Lorell.”

  The moment her dress bumped into him, his eyes widen as a spark flashed between them. It seemed to force him to take a step back, even closer to the edge of the pool. He almost lost his balance, but caught himself just in time.

  “You dare threaten me with your putrid faery tricks? Your heads will roll for this.” His snarl remained carefully subtle since he didn’t want to alert the many hotel employees wandering about.

  “Look. I’m sure Lorell wants his crystal as much as you want him to have it, but you have to keep your end of the bargain. If you just bring him to me, or us to him, I might consider your demands.” Braelynn folded her arms, never wavering. She looked somewhat bored, but I could feel the magic she was radiating to repel Larry. It was laced with some sort of offensive taint toward Unseelie fey and was making Larry sweat like a waterfall, almost as if he’d already fallen into the pool and drenched himself. Whatever it was doing to him, he hated it, and his resolve was crumbling before our eyes.

  “Enough!” He hissed as he tried to step away but couldn’t move. I noticed Braelynn had him in some sort of magical chokehold that was mighty unnerving to the big guy. She was stronger and more conniving than I’d ever given her credit for, and it left me thoroughly impressed.

  These girls had a lot up their sleeves. I bet that even if I spent weeks with them, I’d never truly know them.

  Chapter Thirteen Crystal Intentions

  Crystal Intentions

  August 5th, 1702

  The variety of roots and herbs used in elemental magic can be lifesaving. I managed to cut my arm on a scythe while chopping down some curiously overgrown brambles creeping into our cornfields at an unnatural pace. I worry the witch has returned and cursed my family again. Still, the cut was not healing well enough, even with the use of my fire magic to seal the wound.

  I questioned my good faery friend named Aliander. He informed me that many oracles and healers of Faerie use herbs collected in both the human and faery worlds to heighten the healing effects of their spells. He assisted me in finding useful plants and offered information on what each one could do. I learned which were good healing ointments excreted from root plants and discovered some, which if dried in the sun, could be used for severe pain when ingested. I mixed some of the healing plants with some of our own medicinal herbs and applied the mixture to my festering wound. The following day, I was pleasantly surprised to find the wound completely healed and lacking any trace of contamination.

  ~Brendan

  Braelynn eased back on her magic and let him go with a twitch of her finger. He staggered to the side and settled down on one of the plastic lounge chairs. She paused for a moment before she sat down on another lounger, motioning for me to join her. I gave her a “What the hell?” look, but she flicked her large brown eyes at me, daring me to not comply.

  After that
show, I sat down right away, still keeping a keen eye on Larry.

  “Fine. I’ll take you to Lorell. He won’t be happy to be disturbed,” Larry said, wiping his brow with his sleeve.

  “Why not?” I asked.

  Larry glared at me, flashing his inhuman eyes from beneath his human-like glamour. They glowed amber, like a wild devilish animal, and I could almost see the face of a boar shimmering behind it. He was an Unseelie creature to the bone, that was for certain, and not a pretty one whatsoever.

  “He avoids the Sidhe faeries at all costs.” He took a deep breath and got to his feet. “This way. And don’t you dare pull another one on me or even go near your weapons while in his presence. He has wards to zap you where you stand for that.” The boar-like man continued forward without even turning back to make sure we were following.

  I fell into step next to Sary, looking confused. “What’s he mean by Sidhe?”

  She sighed, still annoyed at me for some reason or another. Like most women I get to know, I’d already gotten on her bad side.

  “The Sidhe are the ruling class of faeries. Those with Sidhe blood are usually the rulers of either of the courts. Most of them don’t take to the human world much because it weakens our magic. Your sister is part Sidhe, as am I, but I’m also human.”

  I look ahead to Braelynn, who was just ahead of us. “What about Braelynn?”

  Sary shook her head. “She is not Sidhe, but she’s a great sorceress. The human world doesn’t bother her much. It affects most Sidhe, but there are exceptions. Unseelie and lower class fey wither in the presence of iron-filled human cities if exposed to them for prolonged periods of time.”

  I nodded. It was interesting learning more about the Faerie world. It was still confusing, but I figured since I was a mercenary on a mission to kill Unseelie escapees and the banished who got in my way, I might as well learn all I could.