by Claudy Conn
Aaibhe’s elegant arms were outstretched, and her head was well back, allowing her white gold hair to flow freely in the wind. We could hear her as she whispered the ancient Danu words, and a hush blanketed all of us as fighting seemed to freeze in mid-movement.
We saw our Aaibhe, Queen of the Seelie Fae as she sacrificed some of herself in order to draw on enough power to complete her task, and then with a gulp, a resounding boom, and a series of splutters, like an engine dying down, the portal closed in upon itself and vanished.
I saw Prince Breslyn hold onto her as she appeared to collapse. However, she steadied herself and gave her hand to the diminutive Fae princess at her side. The prince and the lovely princess exchanged some words, and then, suddenly, queen and princess were gone.
I stood gaping for a moment (and hardly noticed as a dark beast attacked and I struck him down) because I was so engrossed with the vision of the handsome Prince Breslyn, who had arrived at Danté’s side, slapping him on the back.
Laughing, he asked, “What, old friend—too many for you to handle? Need a little help?” He grinned and winked my way as he started forward and said, “Damn! Let’s give these buggers some bloody hell!”
Danté beamed. “By Danu, Bres, I have them well in hand.”
“Oh, aye, so you do, but where is the fun in fighting without me at your side?” Breslyn shouted back as he sliced through a pair of spidery Dark Fae and added, “Come on then, let’s finish this, as I have to get back to Ireland.”
I stared in some fascination for a moment as Prince Breslyn and Danté fought side by side. They were like a well-oiled machine, working as one, anticipating each other’s moves, taking apart the numbers coming at us.
The prince was an eyeful in battle with his dark blond hair loose and flying around his oh-so-good-looking face—though not as good looking as my Danté … at least for me. Breslyn glanced from me to Danté a couple of times and shouted something to Danté I couldn’t quite hear, although I tried.
I watched them work, plunging their death weapons into what seemed like hordes of Unseelie coming at them at once, and didn’t have one moment of concern. These two together could handle anything that came at them.
However, as I admired my Danté (my Danté?), I sighed when I realized I had been thinking of him that way and he had not declared himself as such. Then I had to put those thoughts aside as a slithering, six-foot reptile thing was swinging its long, hard tail my way!
I had just enough time to jump up and over the tail, shift behind it, and stab it through. It turned on me, howled with rage and pain, and swung a long club right at me. I dodged it, but it caught my right shoulder. I flinched downwards with the pain. That hurt—and it made me mad. I stabbed him in the head, and that brought him down. I was surprised to see him disintegrate into a pool of green glob, something like what frogs leave behind … ugh.
I turned and met Prince Breslyn’s glittering silver eyes, smiled, and heard Danté growl at my side, “Don’t be looking that way, woman … he is taken.”
Hmmm, I thought, is Danté jealous? Oh, I hoped he was jealous. Would that mean something? Did it mean something? Even in the heat of battle, see where my mind was? I decided to egg Danté on. Crazy, right? Timing ludicrous, but there you are, love makes fools of us. “He may be taken …” I teased, tongue in cheek, “… but still worth a look!”
“A spanking is what you need,” Danté teased right back, obviously having taken my measure in this game, and then he shouted, “Your back, love!”
I turned in time to slice a blob of Unseelie. What the heck had the Dark King been doing? How had he created so many varieties of ugly?
I sliced with my sword (as it instructed), but the damn ugly moved out of the way, and instead I only managed to slice the thing into two parts. My sword objected, “No, Radzia … no … that is not good.”
As the two parts wiggled towards one another, I understood. My sword was right; this was sooo not good. I tried once more, and now I had four parts wriggling towards each other.
“It will try and unite and be larger—stronger,” my sword informed me. “The eyes—stab each of its eyes.”
I looked for the eyes and found five of them. “Ewe …” I cried as I stabbed one after the other and yellow goo came flooding out. I couldn’t get to the fourth and fifth eyes as it kept rolling over to protect itself.
Chance was there suddenly and threw some powder on the four blob parts, and it went up in flames. I beamed at him and gave him a high five. He roared with laughter. I didn’t know what was so funny …
No time for contemplation. Not the time for anything, as an Unseelie jumped onto Chance’s back and started pounding on his head.
Danté, who witnessed this, dove at it and soon had it down and dead. Chance inclined his head in a silent show of thanks as he said, “Aye … then, Fae.”
“Let’s get this done,” Danté answered.
“Easy enough now that your queen closed the portal,” Chance shouted as he took off the head of a charging Dark Fae. “And I will admit that your queen is and always has been worthy of the Milesian blood you Fae spilled so long ago.”
“You spilled quite a bit Fae blood as well … so I think the score is even,” Danté yelled as he pulled a face and went to help Breslyn, who was laughing as he slashed through a collection of Dark Fae that had surrounded him.
I could see as I looked around that the Dark Fae numbers were greatly diminished. It wouldn’t be long now. Then all at once I noticed a group of Unseelies that looked to be of the same caste, and these, unlike the ones they left behind, were able to shift.
It was obvious they would head for the city! They needed to feed and strengthen their power. I had to do something. Could I track them? Danté had taught me to track … and now I would put it to the test.
As it turned out it was easier than I had anticipated, because even though these particular Dark Fae had the ability to shift, they were only able to do it in short spurts.
Thus, they left behind a scent at each jump that was fresh and strong. They seemed to be able to bounce less than a mile each time, and it didn’t take me long to find them. Of course, they had come across a busload of tourists just disembarking …
I stood for a moment and planned my strategy as they reached up to help the unsuspecting people who could only see the human Glamour the Dark Fae used. One of the beasts pinched an elderly lady as she passed by him. I thought she would scream, but she didn’t. She looked about herself in some confusion and touched her arm but kept following the Unseelie ahead of her towards an alley.
Time to step in, punish, and eliminate!
I was in the first one’s face before he knew what hit him. I enacted the shield of concealment as I took off his ugly head before I consigned it to a desert dimension. The elderly lady stood stock-still as confusion swept over her face. I spoke into her mind, telling her to go into the restaurant with her tour guide.
The other four Dark Fae had managed to collect a small group of tourists and circled them. One of the Dark uglies turned to growl at me as it held onto one of the male tourists.
I sized them up. They were all the same caste—tall, grayish-green, with skin that sagged in wide lines (if you could call it skin), and they had arms … a lot of arms that were a variety of different sizes.
Yuck! I thought, as I whispered into the minds of the six or seven people they had herded. “Break through, run, just make a run for it. Go to the restaurant … find your tour guide!”
The group of people did just that before the Dark Fae knew what was going down. The tourists charged through and ran like the devil was after them. In a sense, four devils were, but I stepped in and blocked their path.
I don’t think they appreciated this, and they began making a fierce, primal sound as they contemplated taking me on.
I guess I didn’t look like much of an opponent … compared to their size, girth, and drooling mouths filled with gnashing teeth. I gave them the ‘come on�
��try and get me’ sign with my fingers.
They thought they could and lunged in unison. I am quick, and as I said, I had made something of a plan in my head. I shifted at the very last moment, so that the dumb brutes knocked into one another like giant oafs.
This seemed to infuriate them, but I didn’t give them time to think as I made one sweeping move with my sword and had two heads flying across the avenue. A blink, and all their body parts were sent with their fallen brethren to the desert dimension.
“Two left …” I told them as I smiled sweetly at them. “Think only two of you can get me down and take my sword? Wanna try …?”
The notion that they might get hold of a Death Sword was even more tempting than the opportunity of killing and feeding on me; however, this time, they were more cautious. They didn’t rush me but instead moved slowly in my direction.
They didn’t get any further than that because at that moment Chance arrived at their backs and pierced one and then the other.
As each collapsed, Chance sliced off their heads, laughing all the while.
I hurriedly sent their bodies the way of the others. I looked up at Chance and smirked. “I was okay, you know—had the matter under control. I didn’t need a rescue.”
“Wasn’t rescuing you,” he answered with that killer smile. “We were nearly finished up at the river. They didn’t need me, and I saw you take off after this crew. Thought I’d join you and have a little fun.” Chance was in high spirits.
I smiled at him, and apparently that was all he needed. The next thing I knew he was grabbing for me. I stepped back, but not quickly enough for a man who had the move down pat; he caught me around my waist as he whispered, his head bent towards my mouth, “’Tis time I brought you to m’home, little one …”
The next thing I knew we were traveling through space and I thought time, although I was not certain. Perhaps it felt that way because the dimension we entered was not meant for a Fae to breach …
His home was something out of a history book! The castle was built along a medieval design. The landscaping was lush with fruit trees, and I saw a huge patch of blueberry bushes. Horses grazed in several fenced-in paddocks. I saw sheep, and I saw people of all ages and sizes busy with various chores, but what struck me as odd was the way each was clothed. Some looked as though they belonged to the medieval ages, like the castle. Others were wearing jeans.
I saw that they did indeed have modern amenities such as electricity and modern machinery … although I did not see any cars. It was like a dimension trapped between time zones.
I looked at Chance, and although I still had a heavy lecture to give him about whisking me away without permission, I was for the moment intrigued by his world. I couldn’t stop myself from asking, “What the heck—where are we … what is this?”
He laughed and flirted with a girl in a tight pair of jeans and a clingy red sweater who was just passing by us. She made eyes at him but kept on walking … swaying … making sure his gaze lingered. I shook my head. Player in the biggest sense of the word came to mind, but I tugged at his leather sleeve for an answer.
“This is our home. Dravo, we call it.”
“But why … why do you live apart … from us. Wasn’t Ireland your home?”
“Aye … but then, as you already know, we are immortals. Our children are born—as long as we don’t have them with humans—immortal. We decided it would be easier to make a home in another dimension, where we can live freely without having to make up lies about deaths and births. We have all we need here.”
I watched his people as they went about their business. They all seemed occupied and happy, very happy. “Do you have an economy? How do you go on … ?”
“We have what we need,” he answered simply, and then he laughed. “Not what you expected?”
“Well, in the first place, I wasn’t expecting anything, because I wasn’t expecting to be kidnapped and brought here! Point me in the right direction. I have to get back.”
“Not yet.”
“Now.”
“You can’t leave without my escort. The walls weren’t made for a Fae to pass through in either direction without one of us as escort.”
“Walls—you mean like a shield?”
“Precisely … now, why don’t you take off your clothes and have a swim.” He was trying to steer me towards an inner courtyard, which I assumed was private. I stood my ground, but I asked, “Oh … I suppose you have a heated pool?”
“An infinity pool … quite refreshing.” He tried taking my hand.
I yanked away from his touch. “Home, Chance … now.”
“No. I have sent everyone off to their own homes, as soon as I brought you here.”
“I didn’t see or hear you do that.” I said in spite of myself once again.
“Yet, I did … we communicate very well together, we Milesians.”
I made a face at him and looked away because he was already in the buff except for a pair of black boxer shorts that did very little to hide his dancing dick!
It was time for me to leave. I called for Danté in my head as loudly as I could. Would he be able to hear me from another dimension?
Chance reached for me, but I frowned at him and stepped away. “Is this your idea of seduction—taking a girl against her will?”
“You don’t know what you want yet.”
“Oh yes, I do, and I have it … back there.” I waved my hand around as I didn’t know what direction my universe was, but I needed to make a point.
“Danté—you think your future is with Danté? He is a Fae … he knows nothing about taking care of the woman in you. He wouldn’t be able to please you … ride you as I will, Z. He won’t know how to anticipate all your needs, and satisfy them—but I promise you, woman, I will … oh yes I will.” He grabbed me then and tried to kiss me. I kicked him in the shins as I screamed, “Let go of me!”
However, he seemed to think I might like it rough and tried to persuade me by holding me tighter. I wasn’t concerned, really. I had come to understand Chance. He had a ‘forever’ twinkle in his eyes, as though he had gone through life laughing. I strongly suspected he had never truly been in love; he liked his freedom too much. There was no real harm in him when it came to females. He liked us—probably too much—and believed we really liked him. I knew he would release me as soon as I made it clear. One day he was going to meet someone he couldn’t live without, and then … whew. But never mind all that; I didn’t like being played with and stomped my foot at him to make it clear. “Let me go!”
“Do you mean that? I can’t believe you mean that,” Chance teased.
“I THINK THE LADY REQUESTED YOU TO RELEASE HER.” Danté’s big, booming voice was at my back, and then he had shifted and I was at his back, peeking around his body and thinking Chance was in trouble now—and so he deserved. I didn’t appreciate being abducted by force and trickery. However, Chance wouldn’t have hurt me, and eventually he would have returned me home. I had never been afraid of him, just annoyed with him.
Knowing all of that, I didn’t want Danté to kill him—and Danté appeared to be in a mood to do just that.
Chance put up his hands and grinned, not afraid and not abashed. “Och, man, so it is like that, is it?” He inclined his head and then came up grinning. “Well, well, I didn’t think ye had it in ye!” He wagged his finger. “So be it, but … here is the rub. If ye mistreat her … if ye make her cry … I’ll come for her and make her mine.”
“Never going to happen, and, Chance, touch my woman ever again without her leave … no, never mind that, touch my woman, and I’ll wipe the floors with you!” Danté snapped. “She will never be anyone’s property … Z is her own person, but try this again, and you will know what it means to abduct not just any Fae’s woman, but my woman!”
Chance laughed right out loud and put up his hands. “You can’t blame a man for trying—I mean, just look at her!”
Danté turned to me, but he wasn’t smil
ing as he ignored Chance’s remark. “What the hell were you doing going after a sect of Unseelie by yourself?”
“Well … I … er …”
“And without informing me? I was lucky that Breslyn noticed you take chase.”
“How did you get past our Dravo shield?” Chance asked Danté curiously.
Danté true to form stood like the warrior he was and said, “I am a Royal Fae prince. Do not think that because we allowed you to live, because we signed the Treaty of Man, because we have never invaded your world, that we could not! We have always been powerful enough to wipe you out to your last man. We chose not to.”
So saying, Danté had my hand, and once again I was shifting, but this time it felt different, more like Fae shifting. When we stepped out onto MacDaun land under the midnight sky, I said to him, “Shifting with Chance was way different.”
“That is because what he does is an imitation of our shifting. They are what they are because of Danu dust and Danu gold, but they are not Fae.”
“What does that mean?”
“When Danu was destroyed, particles of it were scattered throughout the earth. Some areas received a high concentration, and the Milesians lived in a high-concentration area. They breathed the dust, they farmed the land and ate the dust … and became immortal. They also found gold dust from our planet … and our gold is very different than earth gold. It enables us to create death weapons. It is what they did.”
“Huh …” I uttered, and just then I looked up. “Oh Danté … look … a shooting star …”
~ Fourteen ~
DANTÉ DIDN’T LOOK at the falling star. Instead, he looked down into my eyes and then took me wildly, almost frantically, into his arms and kissed me, and he kept on kissing me as though he would never let me go.
His tongue played with mine, teased it into step, and waltzed pressed up against my own in a way that took me to another world. His kiss whispered poetry into my body, and I was lost to his touch, to the expertise of his fingers as they traveled over me, and I didn’t even know when he put a cushion of quilts on the damp grass before he lowered me onto it.