The Glittering Halo

by Liddie Cain

  Darby was already dressed in a slim lined gold gown that had thin halter strap and left the pale skin of her back bare. Her red hair had been straightened and looked almost a foot longer than it did when it was curly. “You look gorgeous,” I told her.

  “Not sure I can sit down in this,” she said as she looked at herself in the mirror, but I could tell she was pleased. Bayla continued to smooth out Darby’s hair as Kenna and Aurnia chatted. I changed into the longline strapless bra this gown would require since my boobs were big enough to need a little support. Kenna walked over and zipped my gown up in the back once I had stepped into it.

  Aurnia nodded her approval. I did a turn in the dress, letting the layers of tulle float out around me, then asked, “Why the elegant attire, Aurnia?”

  “My father will be watching,” she said, standing and smoothing the fabric of her own elaborate gold gown. “He won’t be there in person but he will be magically eavesdropping.”

  “Oh,” I replied. I had never met the King of the Seelie Court, but by what everyone had told me, he was an honorable person. Kenna got busy packing up everything she had brought with her while Darby and I grabbed extra clothes to change into after the meeting/reception was over. After everyone was ready to leave, Kenna, Bayla and Darby stepped into the smoke of the roving candle and went to the Gloaming Court. Aurnia picked up the candle after they had departed and followed me out to my car so we could go to my parents’ house to take them with us.

  Mac was waiting for us in the living room when we arrived with Alec beside him. I approached them cautiously, trying to get a hint from Alec’s neutral face what this meant. Mac, however, looked relaxed and kissed me when I reached his side as usual. My parents were sitting on the couch with their bags packed beside them.

  “You look amazing, Dove.” Mac said, affection glowing in his face as he looked at me.

  “You look like a princess,” Mom said, standing up from the couch and walking over to hug me.

  “Or like you should be wearing one of your mom’s pageant crowns,” Dad said. “Though, you have more important crowns in your life now.”

  I smiled at that, walking over and kissing his cheek. I sat down beside him and looked back up at Mac, lifting my eyebrows and looking at Alec in question.

  “Oh, right,” Mac said, blinking out of a daze of watching me. “You distracted me. Alec is going to help us out here.”

  Alec inclined his head in a single nod as Jason and Sylvia joined us in the room. Jason came over and firmly grasped Alec’s hand as they exchanged a handshake. “Lawrence has returned to his office in Atlanta. There was no need to stay after the girl was returned and the charges against Hugh Draper were dropped,” Alec said, his eyes roaming across all of our faces.

  Mac placed his hand on Jason’s shoulder as the three of them stood in front of us. “Alec is delaying his report on what happened with Meredith for a few days.”

  “I’ll take care of things here while you’re gone,” Alec added, his gaze turning toward Jason again where they nodded at each other. They might have gone their separate ways, but it was obvious that Alec felt protective of the vampire he had made. “Devina has plenty of contacts within the Imperium, so once you leave, don’t come back until you’ve taken care of her.”

  He looked at Mac with a serious expression and continued, “And she knows Felix is free now. It won’t be long until she knows the rest.”

  Aurnia made an affirmative “Mm-hmm,” noise. “The Merrow Queen confirmed that Devina knows Felix has escaped Maeve’s enchantment.”

  Mac nodded. “Felix has been staying at the Gloaming Court as much as possible since Devina cannot breach it.”

  “Then it is time for the rest of you to join him. I will protect Steiner with Song and Lear.”

  Mac glanced at me because I was unable to completely block the surge of anxiety that came with his words. I looked between him and Alec. “They will be safe here?”

  “I don’t think Devina will do anything here while Alec, an Imperium officer, is around to witness it. Lear, Rose and Song should all be safe here.”

  “I want to see Song and Rose before we go,” I said.

  “I’ll call them,” Sylvia said, stepping into the kitchen and pulling her phone out as she walked.

  Mac and Jason started sitting everyone’s things together in the living room while we waited. Mom went outside to give her plants a good watering before she left them unattended. Song and Rose arrived together, with Rose being the one who came in for a hug first.

  “Be careful,” she told me in a whisper.

  “Stick close to Alec, okay?” I responded.

  We both squeezed each other one more time before I looked at my newly named girlfriend. Song watched me with her haunting blue gaze. I walked over to her and tucked her hair behind her ear. She was guarded, finally shaking her head at me and grabbing my hand to hold it tight.

  “Don’t do anything stupid while you’re out there saving the world, okay? You’re still mortal.”

  “I won’t do anything on purpose,” I replied.

  Mom and Dad were suddenly on either side of us, and Song frowned at me. I grinned, realizing she hadn’t thought I was going to spring a meet the parents moment on her. “This is my girlfriend, Song,” I told them.

  They both went in for a hug. Song tolerated it, but continued to shoot looks at me over their shoulders.

  “We look forward to getting to know you better when we get back, Song,” Dad said to her.

  “Thank you, Mr. Hunt.”

  “Call me Ell, your boyfriends already do.”

  Jason walked over and gave Mom a big kiss on the cheek. Dad shook his hand before Jason tucked Song up against him and smiled down at her. “Roz’s parents will treat you like one of theirs.”

  Song’s expression softened. “I—thank you. It’s a pleasure to meet both of you. I expected a negative reaction, I think.”

  “None of that here, my dear,” Mom said softly, before smiling at me and saying, “Plenty of room in our hearts for everyone.”

  “We might need a bigger dining room set for family dinners though,” Dad said as he grinned.

  Mac stepped over and touched his fingertips against my back. “Everyone ready?”

  I nodded. Song gave me a peck on the lips, then looked surprised when Mac leaned in for one as well. He gave her a soft smile and waited for her to decide. She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment before leaning in to brush her lips against his. Jason yanked her back to him and kissed her a lot more thoroughly as Mac took my hand and walked over to where Aurnia stood with the lit roving candle at her feet. Mom, Dad and Sylvia stood in front of all the luggage with her. Me and Mac took our places with them. Jason lifted Song off of her feet and deepened that kiss until Song broke away with a gasp. He sat her back down, touched her face tenderly, then walked over to stand on the other side of me.

  I held both Mac and Jason’s hand. All three of us watched the emotions battle across Song’s face as the smoke swelled up around us. I let out a shaky breath when I could no longer see anything beyond the smoke. Mac and Jason both squeezed my hand before the weightlessness swept over us and we were gone.

  Flowers filled the main hall. Long, trailing bowers of white and purple wisteria came from dozens of points around the room and met in the center where a chandelier made of twirling wood and twinkling will-o'-the-wisps hung. Large arrangements graced each of the six long tables of the banquet area. The floor had turned from rock into a thick field of grass that was soft to step on. It was still the peaceful dry cave that overlooked the breathtaking sunset ocean, but a bit of the Seelie gardens had decorated the large cavern at Aurnia’s touch.

  A second throne platform sat slightly lower than the flat hewn rock where Drest and Aurnia’s thrones were. Conall sat on the lower one, four of his guards flanking him and his phantom translucent moon shining down on him. His black crown sat elegantly on his loose snow white hair, and his spring green gaze found me the moment
I stepped into the room. I forgot to breathe. My body could only focus on how beautiful he was when he was in his full Unseelie glory. He glowed with power under that moon. There was no playing human tonight. Those skilled, lush lips lifted in a slow smile that was only meant for me.

  Aurnia walked out ahead of our group where we had paused right inside the doorway. The magic in Fairy caressed through the air and swept across her, a sweet summer breeze that made the flowers dance as she walked by them. Her crown appeared in a bright burst of light and sparkled even after the light dimmed. Drest, already crowned and standing before his throne, stepped forward and took her hand to assist up on the throne platform.

  That robin’s egg blue gaze lifted the moment he felt me look at him. His raven’s wing dark hair sharply contrasted the lightness of his skin. He wore black, as was traditional for the Trows, but a golden sash that attached to a ceremonial sword at his hip stood out against that unrelieved black. His power was certainly more subtle than the sun-like glow of Aurnia or the silver moonbeam strength of Conall, but he was as solid as the rock he stood on in that moment. The Fae of his Court were reassured by the steady foundation that Drest gave them. And he had given me the diadem that I felt the weight of as it appeared on my head.

  Conall stood, holding his hand out to me and indicating a throne that had been placed beside his. Mine. I strode forward, keeping my eyes on his face since I felt every head turn in my direction. The mortal was walking to take her throne in Fairy. If Conall noticed my hand tremble when he took it, he didn’t mention it. He escorted me to my seat with a proud smile on his face before leaning down and saying in my ear, “I have never seen a more lovely sight as you walking across this room to me just now.”

  I reached up and cupped my hand against his cheek, marveling at how sincere he was in that moment. “Thank you. But you must have no idea how you look with the power of the Unseelie Court shimmering across your skin right now.”

  “Wait until you’ve seen your other lovers,” he said, gesturing for me to look forward. Felix, Mac and Jason had just entered the main hall and time slowed for me as I watched them. Fairy was favoring me. It had to be, because there seemed to be a soft personal spotlight that followed each of them as they walked. There was no passing for human for the vampires either at that moment. Jason was in front and he walked with purpose, already having found me, with an intense essence that emanated from his body. But it wasn’t just a metaphysical sensation that was different. He had the same show of power that Conall did, just to a lesser degree. They all did.

  Jason’s skin looked several shades darker, but outlined with that faint inner glow. His dark eyes had an inhuman amber gleam in them, his lips fuller and more red, his movements more captivating. Every power that a vampire possessed to seduce their prey was amplified for them. It took effort for me to drag my eyes away from his face.

  Mac was behind him. He scanned the room before he realized I was looking at him. He smiled, and I was captivated like it was the first time. His framed was outlined in the same moonlight glow as Conall. Looking into his eyes was what made it obvious that their powers were effecting me differently. It was like he was looking down at me during an intimate moment, as if we were in bed together and there was nothing touching our skin but each other and silken sheets.

  Conall touched the skin of my arm and it let me break myself out of the trance. I blinked. “Their passive powers are drastically amplified here. It is one reason their presence in Fairy is so regulated. They become a dangerous temptation. The Fae become enamored with any vampire that enters Fairy.”

  “They’re beautiful,” I replied.

  “Yes. And yours.”

  “Yes,” I said. Then I looked at Felix. He had shed most of his humanity. Black wings framed his body while his brown skin glowed with that fire ember facade. He had not completely dropped his human appearing skin, but he had let the power that he used to hold that form relax so that his demonic body showed through it, so he walked behind them with black angel wings as a heavenly contrast to those demonic fire ember trails under his skin. His dark eyes glistened with the same inhuman amber light that Jason’s did. There was no passive magic to entrance for Felix, but his physical beauty was enough to make you forget yourself even without dripping with power. He was a force of nature walking across that room. The three of them together and the wonder of that moment had me leaving my throne because I couldn’t wait the extra seconds it would take for them to get to me. I had to be there to touch them and feel them take me into their arms.

  I picked up my skirts and stepped down off the dais, almost running to close the distance between us. Jason’s hands caught me around the waist and lifted me, turning so he was pulling me into the midst of the three of them. His lips found mine as Mac pressed up against my back and Felix guided my hand up to touch his jaw and the side of his neck. A tightness in my chest that I wasn’t aware of loosened as the four of us held each other close. When my lips broke from Jason, they were almost immediately claimed by Felix. He swept his lips across mine slowly before drawing back to meet my gaze, and I knew that his mind was full. We were here to begin the end of the chain of events that started so long ago. I caressed my thumbs across his cheekbones.

  “I’ll be with you the whole way,” I said softly.

  “I know,” he replied.

  “Despite our objections,” Mac added, reaching out and caressing the skin that my dress left bare across my shoulder blades. I turned to him, wrapping my arms around his neck and letting him squeeze me up against him before we kissed. I could face anything in Hell as long as these three were with me.

  “Our Rozalyn, the crowned Chancellor of the Gloaming Court and consort to both the Unseelie King and the Gloaming King, shows us what infinite love can mean,” Aurnia spoke to the members of the court, which made me realize that everyone was still watching me kiss my men. I blushed. Hard. Jason turned a charismatic smile onto the crowd. Felix blocked most everyone’s view of me with a flex of one wing and a bold smile to join with Jason’s. Mac focused on me, not caring what the crowd thought, making sure I was going to laugh off my embarrassment. I did smile at him before I hid my face against his chest. He chuckled and gestured for me to return to my throne beside Conall.

  “Love is what brings us together today, because we celebrate our loved ones about to go into battle, as is our custom from times of old,” Aurnia continued as Mac escorted me back to Conall. The Unseelie King again stepped forward and took my hand, leading me back to my own throne. Aurnia had called everyone’s attention to herself, so I was able to settle in without feeling like I was the center of attention and gaze out over everyone gathered.

  The Gloaming Court had steadily been growing in numbers. Since it boasted a Trow King, there were a great number of Trow denizens. They dressed in traditional black, which made it easier to spot them when in their human sized form. They also had a giant sized form and some of their population had a smaller child sized form. When in their “normal” size form, they looked very human.

  Allegiance from the Trows brought with it their alliance with the Goblins. They stayed grouped together at one of the long tables, touching each other. Their size varied a lot. Some were as large as the giant Trows and some were as small as a toddler. They looked human in the way that they walked on two legs and had hands and arms, but their faces were a mix of canine and feline. Some had longer muzzles than others, or whiskers. They left their torsos bare so you could see the fur that covered their backs. No one had the same color pattern, it was part of their identity, so they did not wear shirts.

  A large population of Brownies had left the Seelie Court for the Gloaming Court. They bustled about the room, passing out dinnerware or serving drinks since they weren’t great at sitting still. Along with the mermaids, Lake Maidens had arrived to call this Court home. They dressed like modern humans since most of them lived in the human realm, married human men and only returned for official Court gatherings. Their leader, Isla, s
at beside Dana, the Merrow Queen, who stroked the hair of two Merrow men sitting on the floor in front of her. She nodded to me when our gazes met.

  Her waist length black hair was left loose and tumbled in a cascade of perfect beach day waves. She was in her human form and wore a short dress that showed off her legs. Not all Merrows could take a human form, so it was a small display of power for her to show them off. The men in front of her also wore short shorts that showed off the long and tanned length of their thighs. Conall’s hand squeezed mine.

  “Dana is a powerful ally, and you just won points with her by showing your love for us. The two in front of her are both her husbands, and she has one more husband in her kingdom.”

  She knew that Conall spoke to me about her and watched my face with her gray mist gaze. Hearing that her lifestyle reflected mine made me smile, excitement lighting my features. She returned that smile and swept her hands across the cheeks of the two blond men at her feet. They tipped their faces up to look at her. She spoke to them, too far away for me to hear, but they both looked at me with pleasant smiles along with Dana. I wasn’t sure what she had told them, but it seemed positive.

  “Just be careful with Dana,” Conall continued. “She doesn’t think like a human.”

  “Okay,” I replied. “I’ll remember.”

  A new aura, wide as the ocean behind us, swept across the room like a warm wind. I got a hint of the smell of Mom’s cornbread in the oven, but I knew this aura. I knew the smell would be unique to everyone and call upon warm memories. It was Michael. The Michael.

  He marched into the room dressed in full armor. Glossy auburn hair reached down below the front of his chest. His sharply featured face and long nose were starkly male against his flawless complexion that even lacked a hint of stubble. The atmosphere of Heaven rolled off of him in waves. Michael rarely left Heaven’s inner sanctum, and he was saturated with that grace. He had three sets of white wings and all six were arched high off of his back as he walked.