Entwined Realms Volume One

by Danielle Monsch

  “Yes, Lord Kyo and I are in agreement.” His next words were a volley, a gentle probe against her defenses. “And your thoughts?”

  The quirk of her eyebrow spoke that she knew what he was doing, but she answered anyway. “While I agree that Esh was our priority, I think I put a little higher value on the Realm Jumper than perhaps you or Kyo.”

  “The Realm Jumper has many advantages, yes, but it can accomplish nothing that a large group of powerful wizards could not.”

  “Perhaps.”

  “And your tone says you believe otherwise.”

  She smiled, a shading of amusement that he called her out. “I don’t trust magic, so I’m always asking what if. The Realm Jumper can access all nine of the other Realms, but what if, just maybe, it can access more?”

  “The Tenth Realm? That’s a fable.”

  Her smile widened, and she inclined her head an inch. “More likely I’m pissed the best I can claim is a draw with the Corpse Bloom Queen.”

  He stepped closer, keeping a respectful distance but placing himself behind his desk and into the center of authority. “Ah yes, the Pale Lady. Unexpected, that.”

  Fallon put her hands in her pockets and leaned back against the wall, one knee bent and the sole of her foot propped against the vertical surface in a false façade of casual repose. “Was it unexpected for you as well?”

  “Of course. When it comes to the necromancers, I would not leave unmentioned even a suspicion of their workings.” There was a globe on his desk, done in browns and gold with very little primary color. His index finger stroked with lazy ease over a section changed more than any other because of the Great Collision, an area where necromancers ruled. “We now have in-fighting amongst the necromancers to consider in our future plans. Reign and the Pale Lady have ever been at odds, but this display means that she, at least, has decided no longer to keep it hidden from us. Open warfare has been declared in their ranks, and we will be drawn in.”

  “Necromancers not able to make friends with one another? Shocking,” Fallon said with deadpan delivery.

  “I would not take this so lightly. Of all in our alliance, she has an especial hatred for you.”

  “Let me lose sleep that yet another necromancer wants me dead, or undead, or whatever.”

  “Oh, she wants you dead. She wants you obliterated down to the mention of your name. She would not keep you around even as a trophy to display.” The handsome lines of his face sharpened, and the predator flickered over his features for the briefest moment. “But it’s not as if that is what all of them wish, is it?”

  Fallon met his gaze straight on. “Beware taking that path, Phoenix Lord. I am not yours to poke and prod.” She straightened, hands still in pockets but body more visibly ready for battle, Tenro glinting behind her shoulder.

  The barest tilt of his head signaled the acceptance of her words, and he continued. “Do you have any word why Reign did not try harder to reclaim the Realm Jumper? Using only the Skin Dweller in such circumstances is almost pathetic.”

  “We came up with the same reason I’m sure you did – something better is out there that he wants and his efforts are focused elsewhere. We have Tec working on it, but…” Her words trailed off.

  “With the theft of the items in the vault, too many variables.”

  “Too many variables,” she agreed, her attention locked onto a ten-foot tapestry of a phoenix in full glory, its wings and its neck straining upwards. “Esh will come to you soon. He’s still holding onto anger, but even if he wanted to leave his heritage alone, Nalah is too curious to let information go unclaimed.”

  “Of course he’ll return. From the moment his fire awoke, that conclusion became inevitable. He is of phoenix blood. When the blood calls, he will answer, and he will stand beside us in all battles.”

  “Such good luck one so strong and talented came into his power in these tense times, when war is edging ever closer.” Fallon’s voice held a weary, far away note, her vision fixed on the phoenix.

  “War is always close. Our existence is to hold it at bay.” For those few words, the false pleasantness was gone, and pure determination and fierce purpose were all that existed. With a deep breath, he became again bland politeness. “Please thank Lord Kyo for his assistance in returning one of ours to us.”

  Fallon took her attention away from the tapestry and once again faced him, her face as devoid of true feelings as the Phoenix Lord. “Lord Kyo needs no thanks and is always ready to help his allies. He does ask that you share a financial burden that came out of this mission. It seems the Blackguards accuse us of not informing them of the true danger of this mission, which caused their man to get caught and killed. To smooth over relations, Lord Kyo has offered monetary compensation, which they have accepted.”

  “Of course. Should I include a note of condolence?”

  “No need. The man killed was a violent scumbag who had no family. Personally, I think the world is better off without him and am sure he would have died soon enough, but…” she gave a small lift of her shoulder, the move shifting Tenro and causing her red hair to curl around the sword’s hilt. “Politics and all.”

  “Politics is all.” He bent over the desk and wrote something in elegant cursive. “To think, if this man hadn’t died, Nalah would have accomplished her task in short order, and she and Esh may never have reunited, which would have meant Esh’s power would not have manifested.” Stuffing the note in an envelope, he handed the paper to Fallon.

  She took it with quick flick of her hand, her gaze steady and unflinching on his. “Crazy to think how things work sometimes.”

  “Indeed. How do you believe things work, Dragon Slayer?”

  She snorted, straightening up, her body language that of one ready to depart. “I don’t care about gods or heavens or politics. I swing my sword and take down any in my way, and the moving of the pawns I’ll leave to all of you who enjoy sitting behind the desks.”

  “As you say. Please give my regards to Lord Kyo,” he replied, courtesy in every line of his body.

  She inclined her head and turned to go. When she was halfway to the door, he called out, “And please give my highest respect to the Most Great One, Master and UnMaster of all.”

  Fallon spun to face him while walking backwards, still heading towards the exit. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” she said, her voice and countenance amused confusion. And she spun around again and continued to the door.

  He lowered himself to his seat. “Oh yes…”

  Tenro’s hilt gleamed against Fallon’s coppery-red hair, visible only a moment before the swordswoman exited the room.

  “I’m sure.”

  The End

  The Rooftop

  Chapter One

  ‡

  “So this is the Dragon Slayer? A human girl not even old enough to buy alcohol from the bar down below?”

  It was windy here, on the top of the six-story building situated on the edge of the city, a strong enough wind to drive the cold through the leather of her black coat and settle it into her skin. The cold, though, had been a small price in return for both the view and the peace she had been enjoying, an enjoyment cut short by her visitor.

  Fallon didn’t need to glance towards the roof’s edge to know who he was. He didn’t hide his magic as he approached, a tsunami of dark power that threatened to topple her, and only the steady weight of Tenro at her back kept her upright.

  He stayed on the periphery of her vision, but she refused to offer him the satisfaction of looking his way. He wasn’t attacking – not yet, at any rate – so she’d let this play out. “Very perceptive, Master Vampire. Your legend is obviously earned. What next? Commenting in awe over the fact I have red hair?”

  “The hair color is the one thing I approve of.” He strolled into her line of vision, a confident walk of a man who owned all and was comfortable in that power. He turned to face her, the blood-red eyes of a vampire alight in the full moon, his near-black hair gleam
ing like the pelt of a wild animal.

  The whispers now made sense – low, hungry words from men and women who should have known better than to be pulled in by physical beauty from such a foul creature.

  Her fingertips itched, and not in desire to release Tenro.

  “Don’t be a fool.”

  Her spine straightened in instinctive reaction to the tone, the interruption of those words from deep inside her enough to break any fragile bonds the vampire wove.

  Before her lay the enemy. The only end guaranteed if she forgot that fact? Death – or worse. “Strangely enough, approval from those who don’t even bother to introduce themselves before commenting on my shortcomings…tends not to make much of an impression on me.”

  The corner of his mouth lifted at that, and then the swiftest, lightest furrowing of his brows, as if even he did not expect to give this reaction. “Forgive my poor manners. Please, call me Reign.”

  She shrugged, taking care to lift Tenro into his line of vision. “Of course I will, at least until the day I call you a dead enemy.”

  His smile at that statement was pure humoring. “And until the day one of us utters those words, what shall I call you?”

  “Let’s keep this informal vibe going, shall we? I’m Fallon.”

  “Fallon.” He repeated the name as though he was tasting it, breathing it out to distinguish the subtle shifts, the various nuances. “It suits you.”

  “Don’t expect me to return the compliment.”

  He was intent, no humor now but no anger either, his whole bearing the relaxed awareness that spoke of one who was relating the complete truth as they knew it. “It is who I am, and not even the Dragon Slayer and wielder of Tenro can change that truth. What are you, girl? Twenty, twenty-one?”

  Moonlight poured over him, this vampire who was a legend in ancient times, long before the Great Collision. It highlighted the sharp planes of his face, making the predator stand out that much more. “I think this is where I tell you age ain’t nothing but a number, and the only thing that matters is how hard I shove Tenro through your chest.”

  His features relaxed into a devilish smirk, and his tone became pointed, poking to find the soft spots. “Even younger then? Tenro must be desperate to choose such a champion. Are you allowed out so close to bedtime?”

  Mama clutching her close.

  My brave little girl.

  My beautiful little girl…

  She hadn’t been young in a very long time, and she returned his smirk with her own, designed to tell him so. “Actually, I was sent out to get some exercise so I could get a good night’s sleep. How about I pull my sword and we have ourselves a little workout?”

  He faltered, the smirk fading as he studied her with more intensity than he had earlier. He must have reached some internal decision, for the intensity lessened though did not disappear. “You just may be a worthy adversary after all.”

  The fight inside her faded, at those words, at the beginnings of something which lit his eyes, announced itself in the tilt of his head. No, she didn’t want to fight, and unease filtered through her nerve endings at that knowledge. Fallon shoved against it, hardening her voice as she replied, “But we aren’t going to find that out tonight, are we, Vampire? After all, you weren’t prepared to bump into me, and you wouldn’t want to do anything that may cause disruption to your future plans.”

  No surprise showed on his face at her talk of plans. He either was an excellent poker player, or he long ago accepted that something of the magnitude of ripping apart the Realms could not be hidden. “There is something to be said for anticipation.”

  There was no innuendo in his tone, but that something in him deepened, sharpened, and her breath seized in her lungs as surely as if an enemy had landed a punch center of her chest.

  He turned away, to go back the way he had approached. “We will see each other again, Dragon Slayer. Don’t disappoint me.”

  He couldn’t have the last word, not at this first meeting. “It would hurt my heart to know I didn’t live up to your expectations.”

  Reign glanced over his shoulder, his gaze locking with hers. “No,” he murmured, the sound only a decibel louder than the still swirling winds. “I think I need not worry about that.”

  *

  “I knew I’d find you here.”

  “Are you saying I’m predictable? Bad habit for my line of work.” Fallon answered as Reign came to stand across from her. Such predatory grace, the way he moved, sure and possessed, gentleman and jungle cat in seamless combination.

  “Which would you rather I say? That you are predictable, or there is a part of you that no matter how hard you try, I still know?” The question wasn’t meant to get an answer, it was meant to get under her skin. Damned if she’d let him see if it did. He only waited a beat before continuing, “I would think after the unfortunate event that occurred with the vault, Kyo would be more careful in letting his people wander alone.”

  She snorted. “Please. All that means is we now have a bunch of idiots waving around items to make themselves look cool, all the while having no clue how to wield them. I’m in more danger of getting hurt from looking at some of Laire’s fashion choices.”

  Reign stood there, looking the same as he did at each of the handful of times they had found themselves together on this rooftop. Still beautiful, still dangerous, still possessing a power that threatened to buckle her knees under her – the only being who could claim that particular privilege. Sometimes she had come in search of him, other times he came to her, but it was as he said…they both somehow just knew.

  After all the years, all the war, only that fact could stop her in her tracks and terrify her as no bloodshed in battle had the ability to.

  He looked her over with blatant intent, his gaze containing an edge that had her swallowing hard before she could stop herself. “Do you know what I think?” he said at last.

  “I live to hear such things.”

  He stepped forward, only a handful of steps, but enough that the full force of his gaze grabbed and held hers, enough that she could almost believe she could feel his breath, hear the beat of his heart under his chest. “I think I am done with anticipation.”

  In the longest, darkest nights, when she was pushed past exhaustion, almost past sanity, thoughts would occur, thoughts she would never allow herself otherwise. Now, Reign stood before her and, with only a sentence, battered against a door she did not acknowledge existed – and on the other side of that door, thousands of thoughts screamed and scratched to be let free.

  A cry for help broke through the haze, and in instinctive reaction her head whipped to track the sound. “One of yours?”

  She turned back to him. Reign’s face held such repressed fury Fallon had to lock her knee to stop the urge to step back. “If it is, they’ll beg for death months before I let them experience it.”

  The door was now safe, and she was not going to allow herself to go near it again. It was time to leave. “And here I thought Kyo was a tough boss.”

  Fallon walked to the edge, ready to jump down, only to be stopped by Reign’s words. “We will not meet here again, will we?”

  The truth of his words hit her, and loss came hard on its heels. No, they would not meet here again. The end game was in motion, and the strange neutrality that marked these meetings no longer existed. Looking into those beautiful blood-red eyes, she opened her mouth to speak, shaped her lips around the word, but the sound wouldn’t come, the final affirmation refusing to let itself be uttered.

  Another cry from below, and Fallon tore herself away from his gaze and went to help whoever was waiting. She did not look back.

  She did not look back.

  The End

  Note from Danielle Monsch

  Peoples! Thanks for purchasing Entwined Realms, Volume One, a compilation of the first four stories set in the Entwined Realms universe. If you have a moment, please leave a review! Reviews are the way retailers decide which books are worth promo
ting, and reviews help authors so, so much – Thank You for the consideration!

  Next up to be Released: The Dream Crafter (Entwined Realms, Book 2) will be out November 2014.

  For those of you who love Fairy Tale redos, ones that are slightly twisted, very sassy, humorous (as only I can deliver!) and promises you a Happily Ever After every time, please give my Fairy Tales & Ever Afters series a try!

  And should you be interested in hearing about my other books and want to know as soon as they are released, please sign up for my newsletter! Newsletters are sent out only when a book is released or I’m giving stuff away, and your email is never used for any other purpose or sold/distributed to anyone else!

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  Fairy Tales & Ever Afters Reading Order

  • Loving a Fairy Godmother

  • Loving an Ugly Beast

  • Loving a Prince Charming

  Loving a Fairy Godmother

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  Too bad he didn’t realize the Dragon would be the least strange part of his day…

  Fairy GodMOTHER. As in female – it’s right there in the name. With those divine dimples, killer blue eyes, and hard muscled body, no one’s going to be mistaking Tiernan for a female anytime soon, but due to a wish gone wrong, Tiernan is now the only Fairy Godfather in existence. Strangely, most Fairy Godmothers don’t have a problem with this change in the status quo… all except the one Fairy Godmother he’d go and win a kingdom for.

  Organized, efficient, logical – and happy with the status quo, thank you very much – Reina never liked that Tiernan was allowed in the program. After all, the FGs do not need a stubborn, infuriating, feckless male messing up tradition, and she wants him gone…like yesterday. Circumstances arise that might let her get her wish, but in a way even she never wished for.