by Meg Xuemei X
“One day you’ll be the death of me, Cass,” Reysalor said. “It’s not the right time to introduce you to the Academy. You should remain anonymous for now.” He ran a hand over his golden-red hair in frustration. “Would it appease you if we went for a walk in the mortal realm?”
I grinned. “Reys, I know you’re always on my side.”
He rose from his chair. In an instant he was beside me, twining his fingers with mine that still sparked with black fire. Boone and the warriors stared at our linked hands, shocked to silence.
“Stay away from Cass’s fire,” Reys said. “It burns all others.”
Except him and Lorcan.
“What are we waiting for, Reys?” I snapped my fingers. “Let’s go for a stroll.”
“Do you have some specific place in mind?” Reys asked, arching a brow.
Right, no one snapped fingers at the fae prince, but I was excited.
“Yes,” I said cheerfully. “Misery Twist in New York. I want to try their famous cocktails. Devil’s Love is their house special.”
“How did you learn about that club?” Reys asked, his expression unreadable.
“I told you that I dream-visited the mortal realm, didn’t I? It’s one of my more useful abilities, you know. I had nothing else to do in the cage.”
I’d been robbed of any chance at an education. Dream-visiting had taught me about the world and kept me sane in my prison.
“No, you didn’t tell me about that gift of yours. I see, our little Cass still has layers of secrets.” He regarded me thoughtfully, and I regretted volunteering the information. “I was wondering about all this passionate talk of freedom. In truth, you just want to go to a nightclub to get a cocktail.” At my anxious look, he sighed. “I’ll take you to Misery Twist, but I have some conditions.”
Why must there be conditions every time? I bit my lip. “I thought we just ended the bargain. You agreed to take me there, and I graciously accepted it.”
He shook his head. “Oh no, I haven’t even laid out the terms.”
“We can do that later,” I said.
“Probably,” Reys said. “But first you’ll promise to follow a couple of rules for your safety. Then we’ll get ready and leave in an hour.”
I would do anything to visit the places I’d dream-visited. Freedom to venture into the world and live a little was worth everything.
“Half an hour,” I said.
Reysalor narrowed his eyes, and I smiled meekly at him.
Reys had a soft spot for me.
“Fine, an hour,” I said, putting up my hands to show that I was compromising. “I’m as ready as if I was born for it. All I need is to put on a pair of boots and grab a dagger.” I spun around to head upstairs to my room, but then I turned back to him. “On second thought, Reys, may I borrow your flaming sword?”
19
The five warriors wanted to come along to guard their prince and me, but I knew they wanted a free drink. I was fine with that since I wasn’t the one buying.
Reysalor wore a navy-blue t-shirt and dark designer jeans. The fae prince looked hot as fuck, and I had to put effort into slowing my pulse down.
The four male guards put on sweats and slacks that fit in the mortal world. Ambrosia wore a tight black top and leather pants.
Their clothing concealed their weapons well. If I hadn’t known they were armed, I never would have guessed it.
Initially, I had put on a sexy dress that exposed most of my breasts and barely covered my ass—I’d seen girls dressing like that in my dream-visits—but Reysalor intervened again.
“Do you want a drink, or do you want an army of men swarming you?” he had asked, not actually wanting my answer. “The first rule is: Don’t bring attention to yourself. Your scent is already irresistible. With an outfit like that, you’ll probably get us all killed. I don’t know what Boone’s assistants were thinking when they got you dresses like that.”
The buzzkill then made me wear a plain blouse and a pair of jeans, though the jeans did hug my ass nicely.
Reys was controlling and didn’t want me to stand out, but I decided not to fight him on the small things, since my main goal was to go out and have fun. If I had to sacrifice looking sexy for a taste of freedom, so be it. But I salvaged some of my sexiness by fixing my hair a little and blow drying it. I also highlighted my eyes with a light eye shadow.
Reysalor’s approving look was worth everything. “You’re a natural beauty, Cass. You don’t need makeup like the mortals.”
Reysalor was never stingy with compliments, unlike Lorcan.
Where was the High Lord of Night now? Had he acquired the spells I no longer needed? He wouldn’t try to bind me. Reysalor had given me his word.
My heart twisted at the thought of the vampire lord, but I tried to push him to the edge of my mind. Tonight would be Cass Saélihn Night. I planned to dance a lot, drink more, and party till dawn.
The seven of us gathered in the center of the forest-garden outside the mansion.
Boone waved at us at the doorway. “There’ll be a large chocolate mousse cake ready for you when you return, little Cass.”
“With cherries on the top?” I asked.
He winked. “With many cherries on the top.”
“The cake is only for me, right?” I glanced at Reys and the warriors.
Ambrosia rolled her eyes, and the others shook their heads in disbelief.
I needed to stake my claim now before they thought they could take what was not theirs.
“I’ll guard it for you faithfully,” Boone said.
I smiled at him. “I’ll remind Reys to give you a raise.” It was Reys’s money anyway. And if I could remember by the end of the night, I would also remind Reys to bring back a bottle of liquor for Boone.
Boone chuckled. He’d grown on me—I was the only one who truly appreciated the superb meals he prepared for us.
Reysalor wrapped an arm around my waist as if afraid of losing me. The five warriors formed a ring around us, towering over me, which was not to my liking. They each placed a hand on either Reys’s shoulder or mine.
“What’s that for?” I grunted. “Why is everyone touching me? I don’t like surprises.”
Reysalor smirked. “You love surprises more than anything, little Cass.”
That was true.
“But I need an explanation—” The rest of the words stuck in my throat as I was lifted in the air, spinning in the wild wind around me.
The blossoms and trees blurred into a kaleidoscope of dancing colors.
It stopped as suddenly as it started, and I landed behind a fence of high bushes, with the Academy courtyard and school buildings over the fence, and Reys’s mansion on the far end.
“What the hell was that?” I demanded.
Reysalor and all his warriors laughed as I tried to get my bearings. They must have done that a hundred times. They hadn’t even given me any warning.
“I can shift in the mortal realm,” Reys said. “The Academy is at the edge of two realms, but technically, it’s in the terrain of the mortal realm.”
“You can’t shift in the immortal realm, even though you’re a fae heir?” I asked.
“No one can shift in the immortal realm,” Ambrosia said, always quick to shoot out opinions.
I sneered. “Someone shifted right in front of your prince and me in the immortal realm this morning. Right, Reys?”
Before Reysalor could finish off Jezebel after we’d eliminated all the vampires, she’d vanished into the air. I hadn’t told him it wasn’t her power. She’d had help.
Reysalor’s expression darkened. “We’ll figure out how that was possible.”
“Who is she?” Hector asked.
“An enemy,” Reys said. “We’ll get to it later.”
He regarded me with concern and pulled me closer. I was grateful that he didn’t tell them she was my mother. I didn’t want anyone who didn’t know Jezebel to associate her with me.
I had no
problem leaving her behind and starting a new life, possibly with Reys.
“Ready to party, little Cass?” Luke said.
I narrowed my eyes. “Call me little again, I’ll let my little fire toast your big monkey ass.”
The others chortled, including Reys. They weren’t taking me seriously. I’d need to set an example to have them fear me. Reys was too easygoing. While his warriors all respected him and showed him their loyalty, they also joked with him.
No one joked with Lorcan. The vampires all feared their High Lord and I preferred his management style. No vampires had called me little, but a lot of them had tried to kill me. On second thought, I wasn’t exactly sure whose style was better.
Luke charged into the wall of bushes and disappeared without a trace, his teasing laughter lingering in the air.
Who would imagine a fence of tall bushes standing between the mortal and immortal realms? It was quite clever. Now I knew where to look, I narrowed my eyes on the shimmering veil instead of the plants.
“You can see through the glamour?” Hector asked incredulously.
“Of course,” I said, spreading my arm. “It’s right there. What’s not to see?”
“Can you see His Highness’s mansion from here?” Hector asked.
I pointed. “Right there. A bit far, though. You guys need to trim the purple wisteria on the rooftop.”
“Damn,” Rainer said, giving me a weird look. “She’s short, but she can be useful.”
He dove through the shimmer and vanished before I could send my black fire after his ass.
My attention fixed on the veil connecting the two worlds. My pulse pounded, and my heart filled with excitement. Just as I was about to throw myself toward the bushes, a strong hand grabbed me from behind.
What now?
“You go where I go, Cass. And you don’t go alone,” Reys said, sliding his arm around me and pulling me through the veil.
There was no resistance from the leyline. It was as easy as stepping through a door. The bushes and Academy vanished in a blink, and a half-burned city across the river greeted me.
20
It was night in the mortal realm. I stood on an abandoned deck under a long, broad bridge, with Reys by my side, overlooking the scarce artificial lights glittering under the dark sky.
Most of the skyscrapers along the gray river were cut down to a third of their former height and many slanted. Sparks of fire and plumes of smoke spilled from the blackened, broken windows. The city that never slept was no longer the glistening gem of my memories.
“What the fuck!” I said.
“That’s the aftermath of the gods’ fire and lightning,” Reys said. “New York is in relatively good shape. Half of the continents are now rubble. Most of the UK, Europe, and Asia are gone. The gods leave part of the human technology running after showing the mortals how useless their weapons are against them. Only Australia stands intact, for now, because a demigod rules there. The gods want the world to keep in mind how easily they can destroy the civilization the humans built over two millennia.”
Something stirred in me, then rage and sorrow rose and coursed in me, as if I regarded the cities and the planet as mine—my territory and my possession—and some terrible beings had trespassed and set what was mine on fire.
Where did this odd, intense possessiveness come from? I didn’t own the land. I had no claim on it or anything.
A spectrum of magic, different than its kin in the immortal realm, rose from earth and tugged at me, as if it wanted me to own it, as if it was my birthright.
“Did you feel something, Prince?” Hector asked quietly, and stood behind us in a guarding position.
Reysalor watched me with interest. “Magic has risen and appears in the mortal land.”
I didn’t want them to look into it, and I had more urgent questions.
“The mortals just surrendered?” I asked.
“Most of them,” Hector said. “The few who refused to bow to the alien gods joined us.” He snarled. “We’re the only ones who stand a chance fighting back, and we’ll fight them until the last one of us stands.”
That was why Reys and the other council members had hidden an army of magic students in the Gifted Academy.
And he thought I could kill the gods and save the world. So, he and Lorcan had sought me out. Who had misled him with the absurd idea that I could be a superhero? I didn’t want the burden. I might have fire and air power, but from the destruction of the city before me, even an idiot could see that the gods’ powers were way beyond mine.
My mother had locked me up to prevent the world from being destroyed, but the world had been burning this entire time.
“The gods know that we’re preparing an army to go to war with them,” Reys said. “They’ve been trying to find the leylines to the immortal realm. It’s only a matter of time before they breach our last defenses. In physics, our realm is linked to the humans’. When their world is destroyed, the immortal realm will collapse.”
I tore my eyes from the sore sight of the broken city across the river. I’d dream-visited the marvelous streets of New York City for several years since I was child—for some reason my dream-visits had stopped after I reached adulthood, making my life a hell. This scene was hardly what I’d expected.
Fury surged in me. I didn’t know how to handle the sudden, unbearable heaviness that pressed into my chest, choking me. I’d had enough sadness in my lifetime. All I wanted was some lightness and fun.
I needed a drink. Desperately.
“Did you bring me here for a drink or what?” I snapped at Reysalor.
If Reysalor thought he could manipulate me with this grotesque sight and have me vow to kill the gods, he wasn’t just delusional. He was cruel. And I would have been wrong to think that he actually cared about me. Whoever had left this mark on New York City would squash me like an ant if I ever stood in front of them. My air and fire magic and bad attitude would only amuse them while they picked at their teeth before snuffing the life out of me.
“For the cocktail, of course,” Reys said softly. There was a hint of melancholy in his voice that I hadn’t heard before. “We should get going. We’ve stayed long enough.”
We hurried down the pedestrian walkway along the gray river. Reysalor held my hand and the five guards spread around us, two at the front, one on the side, and two bringing up the rear.
We seemed to be the only ones here at this hour. The mortals were probably cowering in their boxy houses and apartments, praying the gods’ fire and lightning had forgotten their existence.
“Are we going to walk to the nightclub?” I asked, wanting to escape this terrible sight and get a drink in me as soon as possible. The fog had risen and concealed part of the wrecked city. “You can do this shift thing, Reys. Why don’t you just poof and bring us there?”
“I thought you’d like taking a walk,” Reys said. His teasing tone was back.
“We try not to use magic in the mortal realm,” Hector said from beside me. “Unless it’s necessary. We don’t want to draw attention while we’re at war with the gods. They’re looking for any chance to infringe on our realm. They’ve already killed many of our kind.”
Hector was observant and perceptive. Any mortal or immortal knew what was going on with the world and the gods, yet I was clueless. Though he’d never asked, he knew I hadn’t been around for a long time. When I had thrown a fit in order to come to the human city, I’d mentioned the cage. He might have made a connection, but he showed no pity towards me.
“We try to travel between the two realms as rarely as possible,” Rainer murmured behind me.
And they’d all come here because I wanted a cocktail. An unease rose in me. I darted my gaze around. The streets were eerily quiet, which screamed danger.
If a god was around, I might just get everyone killed. I chewed on my lip. Maybe I should ask Reys to take us back. I didn’t want to be responsible for anyone’s death. I was just starting to warm up to the
five warriors.
“We have establishments in every human city,” Reys said. “When we’re in their territory, we use cars instead of shifting, to avoid leaving magical imprints the gods can trace.”
I jogged quietly as I debated telling him we should go back. But I’d come so far. I’d fought Reys and won the right to have a drinking night in the mortal realm. All I wanted was a cocktail at Misery Twist, which I’d dreamed about for years. But, what if we encountered the psychopath gods?
I couldn’t possibly have such bad luck. Or could I?
“Reys, I think maybe we should—” I said as Reysalor stopped me at the corner of a broad, tree-lined street.
I looked over and saw the place in my dream come to life.
“Misery Twist!” I cheered, completely forgetting what I had been about to say to Reysalor.
I strode straight toward the red door carved with the symbol of a black dragon biting its nail, not caring about the two, huge inhuman bouncers planted outside the door.
I was eager to go in and claim my cocktail. If they stopped me, I would cause a scene and let them have a taste of the ice I’d shoved down the vampire king’s throat.
But someone else stopped me.
A strong arm sneaked out, lightning fast, and tugged me back against a hard chest. If the scent of autumn rain and the pure, intoxicating scent of man—all distinctly Reys—hadn’t muddled my mind a little, I’d have stomped his toes.
“Not so fast, my fierce Cass,” Reys purred, his warm breath trickling along my temple. “Remember the rules.”
“Fine,” I groaned. “What rules?”
Fuck all the rules.
Fuck all the cages, visible or invisible.
21
Reysalor nodded to his elite guards, and Rainer and Ambrosia beat me to the door. One of the bouncers stamped an inked rune on their wrists before swinging the door open to let them in.
As they disappeared into the club, Victor and Luke peeled themselves away from the group and blended into the shadows of the night. They wouldn’t be coming in for a drink then. The poor guards would have to patrol in the frigid night.