by R. A. Rock
“If I were an ancient Fae with a penchant for messing with people, where would I hide?” Finn mused.
“You haven’t guessed?” Tess said, entertained. The hallway they were in was definitely sloping downward. “And I would modify that question to be: if I were an ancient Fae with a penchant for messing with people and no body to worry about, where would I hide?”
“No,” he said, suddenly stopping.
“Yes,” Tess said, hooking his arm with hers and pulling him onward.
“Tess,” he said, in a whiny voice. “I don’t want to go to the wyrm tunnels again.”
“Where else would she hide?” Tess said as the hallway began spiraling down and away from the main floors of the castle.
The painted, ornate walls gave way to bare stone and Finn knew when they stepped off the tiles that they were now in the ghost wyrm’s lair. They would die if it passed through them.
“I think we should stop using the rings so much,” Tess said, sounding thoughtful.
“Why?”
“Because with magic, there’s always a price and just because we can’t see it, it doesn’t mean that there isn’t one. We ought to keep the rings for emergencies, I think.”
“Fine by me,” Finn said. “As long as we can use them if we need them.”
“Yes, of course,” Tess said. “I just don’t think we should be using them unnecessarily.”
Finn gave a nod. “So, where is she?” Finn said as they continued to follow the orb down tunnel after tunnel. He obviously wanted to get out of there and Tess couldn’t really blame him. There was a musty smell in the air and Tess sneezed.
“Where’s who?” a youthful voice trilled. “Is that my man?”
A beautiful young woman with raven-black hair and a white owl on her smooth shoulder stepped out of the shadows. Tess suddenly got a whiff of swamp that overpowered the dank odor of the tunnels for a moment.
“Perdira,” Tess said, wanting to step between the ancient Fae and Finn. But she didn’t. Finn could take care of himself. Still, if she tried to use that spell on him again, Tess could not be held responsible for what she might do.
“Finn and Tessa,” Perdira said, looking highly amused. “More visitors. I don’t usually see so many Fae. This has been a busy year.”
“We’re not the first to visit you?” Finn said.
“No,” Perdira said, stepping toward them. Both Tess and Finn instinctively stepped back away from the powerful being who liked her mischief far too much.
“Who was here before us?” Tess said, not trusting Perdira even the least little bit.
“Who wasn’t here?” Perdira said. “The Dark Queen. Nyall. Runa and her puppy dog man.”
“Why did they come?” Finn said in consternation.
“Same reason you did,” Perdira said with a chuckle. “They came for the map that leads to the crown.”
“Oh no,” Tess said in dismay.
“Yes,” Perdira said with glee. She clapped her hands together. “Isn’t it fun? Who will get the crown first?”
“Perdira.” Finn glowered at the ancient Fae who had almost tricked him into lying with her when they had visited her in Perdira’s Mire.
“Here,” she said, flicking her hand at him.
A leather scroll came out of nowhere and hit him. It began to fall. He snatched it out of the air.
“What is it?”
“It’s a map of the wyrm tunnels,” Perdira told him. “It shows where the crown is.”
“Supposedly,” Finn said, his expression dark.
Perdira pouted. “You don’t trust me, Finnley?”
“I don’t,” he glared at her.
“What reason could I have to not tell the truth about where the crown is?”
“To make trouble.”
“That’s true,” Perdira said, considering it. “You do have a point.”
Finn unrolled it to look at it. “It’s blank,” he said, shooting a furious gaze at Perdira. Tess put a hand on his arm as she came to look at it with him. The owl fluttered its wings, seeming upset by Finn’s anger.
“That’s part of the fun,” Perdira said, chortling. She petted the owl and it settled back down. “Everyone's map will appear after the Grand Revel. Everyone gets a fair shot that way.”
"That late in the week? Why not right away?"
"Well, that wouldn't be any fun."
Tess made a disgusted noise in her throat.
“Perdira, you are so twisted,” Finn said, hardly able to believe how the ancient Fae was playing with them all. “How can we even trust that this map is real?”
“Look at it this way,” Perdira said, putting a finger to her lips. “You can’t.”
Tess groaned.
“But,” Perdira held up one slender finger, “think about this. I don’t have to falsify the map to create trouble. I have now given a map to the Dark Queen, Nyall of the Light Court, Runa Byrne, and now you two. Don’t you think there will be a delightful amount of mischief just from that alone?”
“She has a point,” Tess said. “And what choice do we have? The only way to get the crown before the other three—”
Perdira interrupted. “Four.”
“Sorry?” Tessa said, tapping a finger as she listed each name. “The queen, Nyall, and Runa is only three.”
“It’s four, counting the King,” Perdira said, a grin spreading across her face.
Finn shook his head.
“Well, you didn’t think the King would just let one of you have the crown, did you?” she said reasonably. “He buried it there for a reason.”
“We should not be accepting help from Perdira,” Finn growled. “She can’t be trusted.”
“But how does the King know we’re all going after it?” Tess said, already knowing the answer to her question.
“Because I told him, of course,” Perdira said with a little skip of her lovely young body. “You see? The map is real. There’s enough fun without providing a false map.”
Tess covered her face with her hands.
“Oh, come now, Tessa Callahan. I’m helping.”
Tess put her hands down and put them on her hips. “How are you helping?”
“You want to end the Severance, right? And I’m giving you the means to do it.” And she honestly seemed to believe her words. She really thought she was helping.
“You’re also making it very difficult,” Tess pointed out, disgruntled.
"Fine, I'll tell you something I didn't tell any of the others," Perdira said, folding her arms. "The map is for the wyrm tunnels but it does not show the entrance."
"What do you mean? Everyone knows the entrance to the wyrm tunnels."
"Ah, but there is another section of the tunnels that the King blocked off when he hid the Crown. There's a secret entrance that your magic expert friend will know how to access."
"Well, this is maybe useful," Tess conceded. "But you are making things difficult."
Perdira shrugged. “A Fae’s got to have her fun somewhere. Unless you want to provide some, Big Boy?” She made come-hither eyes at Finn and sent out her magic siren spell.
Finn stepped back away from her.
Perdira frowned. “You think I like hanging out down here with the wyrm? Finn could keep me warm.” She gave Tess a considering look. “But you want him for yourself, don’t you, Tessa? Interesting.”
“Goodbye, Perdira,” Tess said, turning to go. "And thank you."
It wouldn’t do to be ungrateful to such a powerful being. And she was truly thankful that she was helping them.
“Yes, thank you,” Finn added.
Tess took one more look at the powerful Fae, who winked at Finn. Tess rolled her eyes.
“You’re welcome to come keep me warm anytime, Big Boy.”
He frowned, pivoted on his heel, and joined Tess.
“Watch out for the wyrm,” Perdira called after them and then giggled. They didn’t answer. “He’s blind. And has no sense of smell whatsoever.”
This seemed like it might actually be useful information and Tessa tucked it away in the back of her mind. They climbed in silence until they arrived back in the hallway of the castle.
“This is terrible,” Tess said quietly as they continued to climb upward to the main floors. The hallways were completely deserted down here.
“Tell me about it,” Finn said. “The Dark Queen, Nyall, Runa and Lorcan, and the King? How can we possibly hope to get there before the rest of them?”
“I don’t know, Finn,” Tess said, stopping and turning to face him. “I don’t have a clue how we can do this. But I know we have to. We can’t let any of the others get the crown.”
Finn took her hands. “What about translating the Scroll and ending the Severance? We’re kind of on a timeline, remember?”
“I know, I know. But we don’t know how to do that.”
“That’s true.
“But we can do this. We have to stop the crown from falling into the wrong hands. Once that’s done, we’ll translate the Scroll so we can read it and end the Severance.”
“I’m in, Tess. You know that.”
Tess gave him a grateful smile. “Now, who can help us get an advantage?”
“Izzie,” Finn said at the same time as Tess said, “Nat.”
They both nodded and were silent a moment.
“Look, Finn, I know this seems like we’re veering off course, but I swear, we are going to translate the Scroll and end the Severance. I promise. We just have to do this first.”
“I know, Tess. Believe me, I know. We can’t let any of the others get the crown. If Runa gets the Crown, she'll give it to the Dark Queen, who will use it to do even more evil throughout the Unseelie lands. It may even give her what she needs to bring down the Light Court."
"True," Tess agreed. "We have to keep it out of the Dark Queen's hands. That's our first priority. We get the Crown then we can decide what to do with it. Maybe give it to the King, if that seems like the right move."
"Agreed. But we need more information if we’re going to do this. We need to find Izzie and get him to tell us about the Crown of Visions.”
Chapter 13
Finn and Tessa hurried back to the masquerade after their chat with Perdira. They moved from ballroom to ballroom following an orb to find Izzie. Then unexpectedly, Tessa tugged on Finn’s hand and yanked him back against her hard.
“Finn, dance with me,” she said, acting strangely.
“What?” he said, trying to keep searching but she wasn’t letting him. “Tessa, as much as I would love to dance with you, we’ve got to find Isadore and—”
When she still didn’t let him go but instead buried her head in his chest, holding him tightly, he realized that something must be wrong. She was hiding her face.
“We forgot our masks,” she said into his shoulder.
“No problem. I’ll get them,” he whispered.
Finn reached into his satchel, feeling around in the outer pocket where he had tucked them.
They weren’t there.
Shadows and Chasm.
“That pocket doesn’t have fastener. They must have fallen out.”
“Chasm and Severance. We have to get to one of those alcoves.”
He wrapped his arms around her, pressing his face into her hair that smelled of raspberries. They both pulled up a glamour but that would only fool the people that didn’t matter. Those who were searching for them would see through a glamour easily.
She turned them sharply so that her back was facing the other way. The hour was late and the music more edgy than when they had left the ball. As he asked the question, a wild set started up.
“Dance,” Tess ordered.
Finn, caught up in the music, worried about getting the crown, and now concerned that they might be about to be discovered, held on to Tessa and whirled her around the dance floor.
Her body was tight against his and they moved as one person. The dancers around them were sweaty and wild and, once, they bumped into another couple. But finally when they got close to an alcove with a curtain, Tess tugged on his hand and brought him into it.
They were breathing hard and he was so wound up from the dancing and excitement that he wanted nothing more than to take Tess right here. Against the wall.
He shook his head.
What a thought. He would never do that.
But Stars above, he wanted to.
“What were we thinking coming in here without our masks?”
“We weren’t thinking,” Finn said and he couldn’t take his eyes off of Tessa. That gown as yellow as the sun and the ample cleavage it revealed was killing him. And her hair, which was pinned up, had tendrils of curls that had fallen down and were now framing her sweet face. It was hard to remember at moments like this that she had almost killed him—more than once. “I find it hard to think with you in that dress.”
He didn’t know why he said that. He should have kept his thoughts to himself.
Tess blushed, making her even prettier. And he couldn’t help but notice that she was still breathing deeply, even though she ought to be calm by now. The sight of the tops of her breasts swelling out of her bodice with each breath she took were driving him crazy.
Stars above, he couldn’t help but want her.
Badly.
And if her breathing and that look in her eye were any indication, she was feeling the same.
“Tessa.”
She took two steps, closing the distance between them. Her arms went around his waist, dragging the hard planes of his body against her curves and Finn groaned, capturing her face in his hands. The kiss was hot and Finn thought he would burst into flames if it went on much longer.
Apparently, he wasn’t the only one who thought so because when he pulled away from her, she wrapped a hand around his head and brought his lips back to hers for another quick kiss. Then she stepped back, her blue eyes darkened with desire.
The tension between them had been wound tightly as a clock before and all the kissing they had been doing lately only seemed to be ratcheting it even higher.
Finn knew they couldn’t go on like this much longer. But neither could they jump into bed together either. They were kind of being hunted right now and they had a huge mission to end the Severance. What they didn’t need was the drama that sleeping together might create. Still, he could hardly stand being near her when he wanted her this much.
Speaking of clocks, nearby, one of them struck eleven times and then did the chime for quarter past the hour.
“Eleven fifteen?” Tess said, her eyes wide. “We have to get back to our room.”
“Shadows take me,” Finn swore. “I’m not sure there’s time.”
“Well, we can’t be caught here after midnight. I’m too old for that nonsense. What are we going to do?”
“We use the rings.”
“But we said we weren’t going to use them as much, remember?”
“I think this qualifies as an emergency, Tess.”
“I’m not sure it’s an emergency but fine. I don’t want to be caught out after midnight either. What’s your plan?”
“We use them just to get out of the masquerade. We’ll walk straight through this wall into the next room. Once we’re in there, we turn visible again and get back to our quarters as quickly as possible.”
“Agreed.”
They both turned their rings and walked through. As soon as they were in the next room, they twisted them back, not noticing the couple that were in a heated embrace on the couch. A head popped up and Finn’s heart stopped.
“Well, well, well, look what the ghost ring dragged in,” said a voice that Finn had hoped never to have to hear again.
“Sanndrah,” Finn said, closing his eyes.
This was great. Just great.
“Finnley,” Sanndrah said, getting to her feet and slinking around the couch in a dress so red that it looked as though she had bled a pig to make it. Her blonde tresses were mussed and she finger-
combed them, not seeming abashed at all. The man she had been making out with when they entered the room seemed bewildered and also annoyed.
“You can go,” she said to him with a flick of her hand, not even looking at him.
“What?”
“Go,” she said more firmly.
The man was disgruntled but he went.
Finn narrowed his eyes as Tess stepped up beside him. He remembered Sanndrah’s ways all too well. She was sexy as sin and a hellcat in bed, but her personality out of bed left a lot to be desired. Finn had hoped when he had said goodbye to her at the last ball that he would never see her again.
Sanndrah didn’t say anything as the door clicked shut.
“Well, it’s been nice seeing you, Sanndrah,” Finn said, moving to leave the room. “But we have to be going. We want to get in before midnight.”
“Actually,” she said, pointing at him. “I have something to say to you.”
“Come on, Finn,” Tessa said. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Finn’s not going anywhere,” Sanndrah said, her voice like castor oil—smooth, oily, and vomit inducing.
She flicked some dust at them and both Finn and Tess turned to statues. It was an immobilizing spell. But Finn could already feel it wearing off. Why would she bother to use such a short-lived spell?
His ex moved quickly to a leather bag that sat on the dresser. From it, she withdrew four metal balls. She gave Finn a triumphant smile and rolled the balls toward him and Tess.
Oh no. That’s why she didn’t care if the spell wore off.
The four balls made a sharp crack as they shot into a perfect rectangle around the two of them where they stood. There was a humming sound and a shimmer as the magical force field snapped into place, trapping them physically and inhibiting any spells they might have. So much for using any of their magical objects. They were Sanndrah's prisoners.
A minute later, Finn and Tess unfroze.
“What are you doing, Sanndrah?” Finn said. “Let us out.”
“No, I don’t think I will,” she said, looking thrilled at her catch.