by Unknown
“What do you mean?” We headed down toward the party, I in another fabulous faerie dress of delicate gold tissue and garnets, and he in a matching tunic and black pants.
“That you helped make them,” he looked away like he was embarrassed. “If you formed them, that means you made them beautiful in your eyes. You made that man look exactly as you wanted a man to look and I look nothing like him.”
“Well slap my ass and call it a doumbek,” I laughed. “That's why you've been in such a mood?”
“What's a doumbek?” He stopped walking to frown at me.
“It's a drum, never mind that,” I shook my head at him. “Arach, I made them in the form the Darkness needed to take not in the form I wanted them to be. You think I chose to make the dark fey black because I like the color?”
“Well, I uh.”
“I mean, don't get me wrong,” yes, I had to play with him a bit. Call it revenge for all those ex-girlfriends of his. “I find them very attractive but I didn't shape them for my own pleasure. I'm not a narcissist.”
“They are quite striking,” he huffed.
“All the fey are,” I couldn't help another laugh. “I gave them black skin and hair because they are dark fey, and the blue eyes were to represent the sadness that they are now liberated from. Also, all that black needed a pop of color, it was the artist in me.”
“You truly have no interest in Rowan?”
“Sweet faerie fruit,” I threw up my hands. “This is the one realm that I don't have to have multiple lovers in. Do you really think I want to add another man to the mix? Frankly,” I felt the laughter leave my heart as my face fell into serious lines, “I couldn't stand any more heartache.”
“A Thaisce,” he pulled me against his chest. “I hope I don't bring you heartache.”
“Well, I guess not so much anymore,” I teased and he slapped my ass. I pulled back and gaped at him. “What the hell was that for?”
“You told me to,” he said gravely. “Oh, and,” he turned me around and actually lowered his face to my butt, pointing a finger at it. “You're a dummy!”
“Doumbek,” I swung around and slapped his shoulder. “It's a Middle Eastern drum.”
“Oh? Is it?” His eyes were alight with mischief.
“You're such an ass,” I grimaced and grabbed his arm to start us forward again.
“But at least I'm not a dummy.”
“Doumbek!”
“Yes, yes, whatever you say,” he chuckled.
We entered the throne room, which was also the dining hall, us fire fey like to keep it simple(insert eye roll here). It was spectacular. I'd once again hired Isleen and Laise(yes hired, I promised them both more jewelry for their effort. I know, I know, I was using the work of one fey to pay another but the earth pixies liked to work, they felt that they were earning their keep, which they never got to do before, so really, I was just being considerate). The dynamic decorating duo had once again done us all proud. They'd gone online and looked up New Years Eve parties on our laptop and had created the fey equivalent.
The air above us was filled with twinkling tiny spheres, like a burst of gold glitter hanging suspended. I reached up and touched one and it tinkled like a bell before floating away. Above those were floating fey lights hung with curling streamers of red to go with the gold spheres, since the colors of the House of Fire were gold and red. I stopped and gaped at them as something occurred to me.
“Did you ever realize that our dragon forms are in the House colors?” I asked Arach.
“No,” he grinned at me. “How surprising that I haven't and what a fortunate coincidence.”
“One might even say it was kismet.”
“That's very close to calling it destiny,” he lifted a brow, reminding me of how I'd said that I didn't believe in destiny.
“Maybe,” I gave him a little smile and continued into the room.
There was a long banquet table running the length of the hall nearest the kitchens, decorated with towering gold statues of fire fey and magnificent candelabra. Crystal glasses were filled with fey wine and silver platters held faerie delicacies from appetizers to desserts. The walls were draped with lengths of gold and red fabric and the floor was covered with thick red rugs. In the center of it all the floor was left bare though, for dancing. I looked up to where the thrones normally sat and saw that the dais had been turned into a stage. A band was already performing. Not minstrels but an actual band.
“Is that?” I went to stand off to the side of the stage so I could gawk up at the musicians.
“Dark Horses,” Arach grinned. “Roarke fetched them for us. I thought it would be a nice surprise for you.”
“And they came,” I laughed as Rain, the lead singer, looked over at me and winked. “On New Years Eve, they came to Faerie.”
“Why is that so unbelievable?”
“Well I'm sure Trevor was expecting them to play at Moonshine and now that the time has synced up, they won't be able to,” I chewed at my lip, wondering what type of damage control I'd have to do when I got home.
“Yes, they mentioned that to Roarke,” Arach laughed. “But Roarke asked them how many times they'd get the chance to spend the first Fey New Years Eve in Faerie. They gave in quickly after that.”
“And I don't think they'll be disappointed that they came,” I looked around the hall happily. The dance floor was filled, fire fey loved rock music. “Thank you for thinking of it.”
“Oh, I wish I could take the credit but-”
“It was my idea,” Roarke beamed at me as Hunter stretched up in his arms and reached for the sparkling spheres above his head.
“But it was King Roarke's idea,” Arach finished with a glare at Roarke.
“King Guirmean of the House of Water!” Isleen announced from the throne room entrance.
“Guirmean came?” I turned to see him looking over the room with wide eyes.
“I invited him,” Arach confessed to me. “I thought he might like to spend more time around our fey.”
“You mean Nora,” I laughed as I saw Nora make a beeline for Guirmean.
“He doesn't stand a chance,” Arach grinned as he watched Guirmean offer Nora his arm and then lead her over to us.
“King Arach, Queen Vervain,” Guirmean grinned at us. “Thank you for the invitation.”
“We're glad to have you with us,” Arach shook Guirmean's hand.
“Some of us more than others,” I winked at Nora and she gave me a confident nod. Oh yeah, Guirmean was done for.
“Let's dance,” Nora pulled on Guirmean's arm.
“Oh, uh,” Guirmean looked over the assortment of wildly gyrating faeries already on the dance floor.
“I'll show you how it's done,” she tossed her hair. “You'll like it, I promise.”
“I... uh... okay,” Guirmean let himself be led away as Arach and I laughed at him.
“King Rowan of the House of Darkness!” Isleen announced from her post near the door, and we all looked over to watch the dark faeries enter the room hesitantly.
“King now, eh?” Arach shot a look at me and I elbowed him in the ribs. “Alright, come along, Vervain. We should probably go greet our guests. Especially since one of them is royal.”
“You're such an ass,” I hissed as we walked across the hall.
“King Rowan,” Arach extended his hand to Rowan.
“King Arach,” Rowan shook Arach's hand and then reached for mine. He turned it over and placed a kiss on the back of it. “Queen Vervain, you look beautiful tonight.”
“Yes, she does, doesn't she?” Arach growled.
“Cut it out, both of you,” I rolled my eyes. “Arach, he's deliberately goading you.”
“I can't help it,” Rowan laughed. “I apologize, it's simply in my nature to cause trouble.”
“Well rein in that nature when you're visiting Fire, won't you?” Arach grumbled.
“I'll try my best,” Rowan chuckled. “Thank you for your hospitality.”
/> Then he introduced the rest of the dark fey and we set them loose upon our fire fey. They mingled well, I was a little surprised by that but I guess I shouldn't have been. They weren't exactly children, were they? They were older than everyone in the room. They blended in well with our fire fey, as several of my fey had similar colorings to the dark. So I think it was good that ours was the first gathering they attended since the settling of their kingdom.
After the excitement of the dark fey arrival, the ambiance in the room settled into one of merriment. We danced to the tribal beats of Dark Horses' music and consumed way too much food and wine. The laughter of children was a happy backdrop to the music, phookas kids weaving in and out of adult legs and the rest of the babies held in loving arms. Fionnaghal was kind enough to watch over Dexter a few times so I could dance with my husband and I gladly repaid the favor, holding her baby girls while Arach held Daoir so Fionnaghal could do a little dancing herself. You haven't seen anything until you've seen an eight legged Hidden One dance.
Then the countdown to midnight began and the fey took great joy in counting down with Rain as he led them over the microphone. When it ended and everyone shouted Happy New Year, the little gold spheres above us exploded in bursts resembling fireworks. Dark Horses began a rendition of the traditional Auld Lang Syne and I wondered if it would become a tradition for the fey as well. How strangely fabulous that would be.
“This song,” Arach glanced at Rain's serious face as he sang it. “It's about forgetting?”
“No,” I stroked the red scales down the side of Arach's face. “It's about remembering.”
“How very appropriate,” his eyes crinkled a bit as he listened. “It sounds a little sad.”
“I think it's more bittersweet,” I mused. “It's almost a warning. To never become so cold or jaded that you can't look back upon the past fondly.”
“Then it's even more appropriate than I originally thought.”
“It's good to remember but it's also good to make new memories. Like this moment right now, you're supposed to kiss me,” I informed him.
“I am?” He asked with a mischievous tilt to his head.
“Yep, midnight on New Years Eve is a time for kissing,” I nodded solemnly.
“Well, if I must.”
“It's tradition,” I shrugged.
“How about we start a new faerie tradition back up in our bedroom?” He leered down at me.
“Rake!” I punched his shoulder. “Just kiss me, will ya?”
He smiled as I slid my hands up the sides of his face and sank into the love that had kept us together through all the obstacles of the past year. My heart was bursting with happiness as the fey fireworks burst above our heads, and my year in Faerie ended as most of faerie tales do, with a kiss.
>O<
Keep reading for a sneak peak at the next book in the Godhunter series:
Perchance to Die
Chapter One
God visits my dreams a lot.
Several gods actually. First there was Thor, then Huitzilopochtli(I call him Blue), Anubis made an appearance for awhile, Hsi Wang Mu was the only goddess to ever visit, and very recently it's been Odin, but this time was different. Because this time the god invading my dreams tried to kill me.
Don't get me wrong, lots of gods have tried to kill me. Ever since I'd discovered their little secret, all the bad ones have kinda been out for blood, but usually the death attempts come when I'm awake. Hsi Wang Mu gave me the Black Plague in a dream once but that was just a warning really, I didn't actually get the Black Plague until she infected me in the flesh, much later. This guy wasn't trying to warn me, he was trying to kill me.
I'd gone to bed late that night, worn out from my second New Years celebration for the same year, this one in the Human Realm. I'd had to help my alpha lover, Trevor find a new band to play in our club Moonshine because our usual band had chosen to play for my New Years party in the Faerie Realm instead. Time had aligned between the three realms, so New Years Eve was on the same day and Dark Horses couldn't play both places. I however, with the help of my ring, could attend both parties.
Lucky for us, Darius had formed a band just for fun and I'd walked in on one of their rehearsals. They called themselves Roar and they were pretty good, so we hired them for their first gig. They were amazing and the packed house loved them so much that they were now sharing the roster with Dark Horses, much to Rain's(lead singer for Dark Horses) chagrin. Rain griped, saying that's what he got for doing a faerie a favor and I told him he should have seen it coming. Since Rain is psychic, I thought this was very funny but he failed to see the humor.
Rain's wounded pride was less important to me than Trevor's happiness though and Trevor ended up quite satisfied, so I was too. Trevor had been wanting to have another band for the club anyway. He didn't want people to get bored with just one band playing all the time and he wanted a back-up for unforeseen situations, like faeries stealing his entertainment on New Years Eve. Plus, Darius was unbelievably happy.
Anyway, I'd gone to bed exhausted but pleased to have entered a new year in both the Faerie Realm and the Human Realm without incident. We'd all been through a lot in the months leading up to the new year so it was a huge relief to be able to celebrate without any trouble hanging over our heads. I should have known it was too good to last.
I was dreaming of the new valley I'd created for Trevor, standing on the banks of the lake in the center of it, when suddenly the scenery changed. The sun that had been shining brightly was blocked out by black wings and then the darkness spread until it was night. From that starless night sky a man descended, coming to rest on the bank a little ways down from me.
He walked slowly toward me, giving me plenty of time to realize that I didn't know who he was. He had black hair cropped close to his head and a slight build that made him appear harmless. He was wearing jeans and a dark shirt, hands in his pockets casually. When he finally came to stand before me, I could see that his eyes were black, so dark that I couldn't discern pupil from iris. He was attractive in a teen idol sort of way, glowing youth with the hint of manhood around his jaw, all topped off with a careless look in his eyes but there was something about him, something in his manner and the tightness in his face that radiated danger.
“This is a nice place,” he commented in a conversational tone.
“I like it,” I replied lightly. “But I've never seen you here before.”
“It's my first time,” he smiled then and leaned close, like he was going to kiss me.
I backpedaled, having no desire whatsoever to kiss this interloping stranger, but he caught me around the waist and threw me down onto the grassy bank. Before I could get up, he was over me, his hands at my throat and his eyes fading to corpse gray. I lifted my hands to fight him but roots came up out of the earth and manacled my wrists. He just smiled, smiled as he tried to choke the life out of me.
Fear rushed through my limbs and I knew that this was no ordinary dream. The lack of air was real, my physical body couldn't breathe along with my dream one. Strangulation wasn't one of the ways I could be killed but still, my body needed air and it would shut down to recuperate if it didn't get any. And that was not pleasant.
So I panicked a little.
In my panic I realized that this was my dream he was in and I had control of it. Teharon had once taught me to Spirit Walk and the lessons I'd learned were applicable to dreams. I needed to take control and stop letting this asshole have his way. So I unraveled the roots around my hands and directed them to hold him instead.
His eyes widened, darkening back to their original color as the roots pulled him off me and held him aloft. I got up and strode forward, calling my fey fire up to rage in my eyes. The roots snaked around his neck and tightened just enough to be a warning to him.
“Now, who are you and why did you just try to kill me?”
“Impossible,” he said. “Only gods can resist my influence. No human can alter a dream when I'm in con
trol.”
“I am a god,” I cocked my head at him, “and I'm also the Godhunter.”
“Godhunter,” he whispered and then frowned. “That's why I thought you were human. You are.”
“I'm also a goddess and a faerie,” I shrugged. “Now answer my question. Who are you?”
“A human, a goddess, and a faerie?” His eyes focused on me in interest. “I've never met someone who was all three.”
“And you probably won't ever again.”
“Well, pardon the intrusion, Godhunter,” he grinned. “I thought you were much more common fare.”
“So you normally kill regular old humans in their sleep?” I narrowed my eyes on him. “Is this your source of energy? Decided to take your own sacrifices, have you?”
“I'll never tell,” he whispered and faded away.
“Son of a bitch!” I sat up in bed, dislodging both Trevor and Kirill as I broke free from the dream.
“What? Where is he?” Trevor sat up and searched our new room on the top floor of the new Pride Palace.
“I'll tell you tomorrow,” I sighed and gave his shoulder a pat. “Go back to sleep.”
Morning would be soon enough to tell him our peace was over.
And if you enjoyed this book, you may also like The Twilight Court Series by Amy Sumida.
Keep reading for a sneak peek into the first book: Fairy-Struck.
Fairy-Struck: Several types of conditions such as paralysis, wasting away, pining, and unnatural behavior resulting from an enchantment laid by an offended fairy.
Chapter One
Once upon a time, isn't that how all fairy tales begin? Except this isn't your average fairy tale. There are no charming princes or wicked witches within these pages and the fair maidens are more deadly than any big bad wolf. This is a fairy tale in the truest sense of the words; a story about fairies... the real story.
My name is Seren Sloane and I'm an Extinguisher. That will mean nothing to you, I'm sure, so let me go back a little further. No one knows the true origins of the fey, I don't think even the fey themselves remember, but theories abound. One theory has them evolving alongside us but where we advanced in groups, banding together to become stronger, the fey morphed out of those outcast predators who were too wild for a pack. Those who don't believe in evolution, think instead that the fey stem from divine creations, angels fallen from God's grace. Yet another tale insists they were gods themselves, or demi-gods, led by a mother goddess named Danu.