by Kimbra Swain
COMIN’ UP A CLOUD
Fairy Tales of a Trailer Park Queen, Book 4
Kimbra Swain
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Kimbra Swain
Comin’ Up a Cloud, Fairy Tales of a Trailer Park Queen, Book 4
©2018, Kimbra Swain / Crimson Sun Press, LLC
[email protected]
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.
Cover art by Hampton Lamoureux @ TS95 Studios https://www.ts95studios.com
Formatting by Serendipity Formats: https://serendipityformats.wixsite.com/formats
Editing by Carol Tietsworth: https://www.facebook.com/Editing-by-Carol-Tietsworth-328303247526664/
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Acknowledgments
Coming Soon…
About the Author
A cool breeze flowed around me kicking the fabric of my skirt up around my legs. Spring was almost here, but not quite. I stared at the stone marker before me. The limestone pillars surrounding me sang with power. I stepped up on the center stone, and the triquetra carved into it ignited in blue light. The sounds of the meadow ceased as an icy fog settled on the ground. It drifted up around the stone, then around my legs. A low thrum vibrated in my feet.
The power and knowledge that my father gave me had become too much to bear. I was sure that I didn’t deserve it. I also knew I’d never be able to wield it as he had. My heart and soul were bound to this warm land while he was once bound to the barren cold of eternal winter in the Otherworld. The two realms were not compatible. I concluded that it wasn’t compatible with me.
This was Dylan’s idea. Curse him for being so damn smart and sexy. The one-two punch should be illegal. Gathering the power and knowledge of my father, I dipped into the well of the stone circle, but instead of releasing its stored power, I thrust my father’s power down into it.
The searing cold shot out of my body into the stone. I screamed in pain.
“Grace!” I heard Levi’s voice in the back of my mind. He was nearby with Dylan. I’d brought him along to keep Dylan out of the circle, but I didn’t take into account his servitude. It kicked in, and I knew Dylan was now holding Levi back.
My scream petered out into a low whimper as the last of that raw energy left my body. I sank to the stone in a crumpled heap. The thrumming sound of the circle stones terminated. I felt too weak to whip a gnat.
Dylan got to me first, rolling me over on my back.
“Talk to me, Gracie,” he said softly. His warm hand caressed my face.
“Levi Rearden, you were supposed to keep him out,” I scolded Levi.
“She’s fine,” Levi gruffed, then walked away.
“Are you fine?” Dylan asked.
“Shit, that hurt,” I said.
“Is it all gone?” he asked.
“The memory of it is still there,” I said. “But yes, I think I might be able to walk straight now.”
“You won’t be when I’m done with you,” Dylan grinned.
The last few months had been rough for both of us. At first, after receiving my father’s inheritance, it overwhelmed me but I soon recovered enough to please my fiancé as he deserved. However, with each passing day, I slept more and had less energy. I knew that my father intended me to do something with the power, but I just couldn’t use it like he did. I’d slept three days straight prior to this in preparation to store the power and knowledge in the well I had built in the woods outside of Shady Grove, Alabama.
The town voted me the leader of this fairy rabble, which is exactly what the town had become. An influx of refugees from the war-torn Otherworld descended upon Shady Grove. The onslaught included fairies of all shapes and forms, as well as an unusual number of shifters. Lone wolves joined Amanda Capps and Troy Maynard’s make-shift pack. A loyal werewolf pack could be very helpful if needed. Troy assured me he had it under control. Since getting to know him better, I had found he was the son of an alpha but was banished because he refused a fight with his own brother to take the alpha position. I didn’t understand werewolf politics. I barely understood fairy politics, but I trusted Troy. He’d come through for Dylan and me on several occasions.
During my waking moments, I spent my time making hasty decisions with the new fairy council. As a result, Dylan and I lost our intimate time. The closest we’d come to anything was snuggling in bed together as I slept off the intense exhaustion. I felt different with that energy surging inside of me. The control I had over the darker parts of myself teetered over a pit of abandon. I was willing to try to force the power into my well deep within the forest outside Shady Grove, Alabama just to get a small reprieve.
Finally, with the power stored in my well, I felt like myself. Dylan’s lips found mine, and I was home. “Come on, Grace. Let’s go,” he said.
“I’ll go anywhere with you,” I replied.
“More than the trailer?” he asked.
I held up my fingers making a “tiny” gesture. His laughter filled the meadow. I heard my bard groan in my head. I sent back an equal groan of immature proportions. Riley MacKenzie still had her meat hooks in him, but he seemed to be happy with her. Angry at me. Very angry at me. For what I had no idea, but now that I had my wits about me, he would have to ‘fess up. Life wasn’t right if Levi wasn’t brooding about something, but I wanted to know what it was.
Dylan helped me to my feet. As we walked away, the fog swirled up once more.
“Gloriana, where are you going?” my father’s voice ripped through the air.
Dylan stepped in-between me and the triquetra stone. I shoved him out of the way as I stood in awe. My father, diamond-encrusted antler crown and all, stood before us, as a blue shimmering ghost.
“What the hell?” Levi said.
“Bard, I’ll have you know there is no such thing as hell unless you consider the eternal cold of my realm as such,” my father’s ghost said.
“Father?”
“Gloriana, why have you bound me like this?” he asked looking down at the stone.
“What you gave me was too much. I couldn’t handle it,” I said.
He scoffed, “You are my daughter. Of course, you could handle it.”
“Seriously, Father, since you died, the Unseelie Otherworld has fallen into Brock’s hands. There was nothing I could do. He had it before I could even shift there,” I said.
“Nonsense. All you have to do is go
there with my power, and it’s yours,” he said simply.
“I don’t want it. I never did,” I protested. “Why did you do this?”
“I could not bear to see my child die!” he yelled. The circle stones vibrated with his voice. Even in death, he knew how to make the earth tremble. “I could not watch you leave this world.” The second statement filled with love softened the blow of the first one.
“She’s not going to take over down there. The best we can hope for is to provide anyone that escapes a haven here. Perhaps you could help us with that,” Dylan suggested.
“Serafino, I’ve had just about enough of your interference. To be honest, if she didn’t love you, I’d end your pathetic flame,” Oberon said.
“Father! Enough! You are no longer in control. I am. Right?” I asked.
“If you have to ask, then most certainly you are not,” he said. “The question is, my child, who is?”
My uncle for one. He held the power in the deepest, darkest places in the Otherworld. His wife, Bitch Face, was Rhiannon’s daughter. Rhiannon, the queen of the Seelie in the Otherworld, had recently assured me by messenger that she still had a firm control of her parts of that realm. Despite her assurance, I was afraid that Brock was only moments from holding the entirety of the Otherworld. To be honest, I couldn't care less. Except that Shady Grove had exploded into chaos with more and more fairies arriving daily. We were inundated. Of this, I wasn’t in control either. Mainly because I’d spent so much time sleeping.
“Father, either you help, or you enjoy your time trapped in my well,” I sneered. I didn’t have time for this. I had a fairy town to run and a fiancé to fuck. Probably in reverse order.
“You may ask my advice. You may use my power. You can leave me here or take me with you. But until you take what is rightfully yours, this nightmare will not end. Brock’s reign will end that world and this one unless you stop him. It can only be you, Gloriana,” he said. His image began to fade. I’d wished I hadn’t been so harsh, but his words to Dylan were too much.
It was time to get busy. In more ways than one.
Panting I rolled over on my back to stare at the trailer ceiling. “I’ve missed you,” my exhausted voice said to Dylan.
His voice, husky and breathless, said, “Not as much as I’ve missed you.”
“That’s probably true. I am amazing,” I smirked.
He reached over and pulled me to him. “That you are, my Queen,” he whispered in my ear. He rolled out of bed, then put on a pair of jeans. “Coffee?”
“Yes, please,” I said. Once he left the room, I dragged my thoroughly sexed body out of the bed, to get a quick shower.
The garden tub in my triple wide hadn’t been used yet. All that fuss and it collected dust. I jumped in the shower, washing the sex off of me when I heard the front door slam. That would be Levi coming home after a long night with Riley. It was funny how no matter how big the trailer is when the doors open and close, the whole house shook.
Drying off, I looked at myself in the mirror. Chestnut brown hair, full lips, and turquoise eyes. Ever since my father’s power settled upon me, my glamour’s brown eyes hadn’t returned. I thought that once I stored that power, I would look like myself, but the cool power of winter pulsed through my eyes.
Slipping a t-shirt over my bra, I stepped into jeans to follow my nose to the rich scent of coffee. As I entered the kitchen, Dylan handed me a cup. “Thanks,” I said. “Levi, dare I even ask what the hell is wrong with you?”
“None of your business,” he pouted while flipping channels on the television.
“Levi, one day you will learn that your business is my business,” I laughed. He didn’t find that amusing, but Dylan did.
“Leave him alone,” Dylan whispered in my ear. I supposed he knew more than I did, so I let it go. Looking out into the trailer park, I marveled at how much it had grown in the last couple of months. However, the village idiots still lived across the street. Their newest contraption grew day by day in their front yard. They’d spent the last few weeks collecting plastic bottles. One by one they were gluing them together to make a boat. It had turned into a plastic graveyard. Bottles lay all over the yard. I shook my head at the mess.
I supposed if it decided to come a gully washer, then we could depend on Cletus and Tater to Noah our asses out in their plastic boat. “Rufus, I think you would be shit out of luck,” I spoke out loud. My internal conversations were finding their way outward. Rufus wagged his tail at my feet, hearing his name. I dropped him a treat from the jar on the counter.
“Grace?” Dylan looked at me puzzled.
“Oh, I was thinking if all damnation came down on us, Cletus and Tater could save human civilization with a plastic bottle boat, but I think Rufus and all the other critters would be out of luck,” I said.
“I wouldn’t get in that thing. Just let me drown,” Dylan said.
“You are lucky. You can just fly,” I said.
“I’d save you, baby,” Dylan smirked.
Levi grunted.
“You know, Levi, I could just jerk a knot in your tail,” I said.
“I’d like to see you try,” he said. He flipped the remote over to Dylan who almost spilled his coffee trying to catch it. Levi stomped off to his room. I stomped behind him. I knew I’d slept a lot lately, but every time I was awake, Levi pitched a hissy fit. Time to get to the bottom of it.
“Grace. Leave it,” Dylan warned.
“Why? Why is he acting like this? Do you know?” I asked.
“I do, and I say leave it. If he wants to talk about it with you, he will, but not with you chasing him around the trailer,” he said. I sighed. Damn brooding bard.
Through the door to his room, I heard the soft thrum of his fingers on his guitar. He’d retreated to his music. I worried about him. Something was wrong, and it had been since right after Valentine’s when I suggested he seduce Riley using his guitar. He didn’t give me details, but I thought everything went off as planned that night. From the moment Levi walked into my trailer, I’d given him hell, and he’d taken every bit of it. I loved him. He was family.
“What’s the plan today?” I asked.
“I’m not your secretary,” Dylan smirked. “But you have to go to the council meeting today. They are rezoning a few areas to build more apartments.”
“Is that really necessary?”
“Actually, it is. Troy is going to need some help on the force. I’m thinking of rejoining them. He said the job was mine if I wanted it,” Dylan said.
“Seriously? What about the private investigator stuff? Jeremiah has kept you busy,” I said. Dylan had worked with Jeremiah to hunt down and weed out the troublemakers that had come to town after Brock’s takeover. We either set them straight and allowed them to stay with a vow to me as their queen, or we would kick them down the road.
“Yes, I’ve had plenty to do, but I miss law enforcement. It’s in my blood,” he said. “If you don’t want me to do it, I won’t.”
“Darlin’, you know I’d never keep you from doing something you wanted to do,” I said, but I knew I’d regret those words. I’d worked with Dylan when he was the sheriff as a consultant to supernatural matters. He didn’t need my help. At the time, he knew more than me.
“Come here,” he said beckoning me to the recliner. I sat down in it with him. He brushed a finger down my cheek. “Do you mean that? I know you, Grace. You didn’t want me going back.”
“I’m a woman. I can change my mind anytime I want,” I said.
“So, you are saying I should call him and tell him yes before you change it again?” he laughed
“Probably,” I replied. “Dylan, if you want to do it, then do it. The town probably needs you more now than ever.”
He yanked his cell phone out of his pocket and punched a few buttons. “Hey Troy, can you meet me for lunch at the Diner?”
I heard Troy Maynard’s voice on the other end of the line. Troy was the sheriff. He took over after Dyla
n was put on leave of absence for his involvement with using me as a consultant. Dylan never went back to the force, and Troy’s position became permanent. He was a good law officer helping us out as much as he could. His mate, Amanda, also worked in the sheriff’s department. She and I didn’t see eye to eye on most things, but she was an ally.
“Thanks, Troy, I’ll see you there,” Dylan said, hanging up the phone.
“I guess I’ll go down to the community center meet with council, but I think I can make it back to meet you for lunch,” I said. “That is if you want me there.”
“Of course, I want you there,” Dylan said. “Your support of this means a lot to me.”
“Well, it’s settled. I might stop by the bar, too. Haven’t seen Nestor in a few days,” I said.
“I love you, Grace,” said Dylan.
“I love you too,” I replied.
Dylan and I went our separate ways after a few kisses and hugs. I hopped into my brand-new red Ford F150. Dylan bought it for me as a gift for winning the election. Plus, we desperately needed a new vehicle since I managed to destroy two. Before I left, I knocked on Levi’s door. He didn’t answer.
“Levi, are you all right?” I asked.
“I’m fine, Grace,” he replied.
“Are you sure? You know you can always talk to me,” I said softly. I felt his troubled heart through the door. Levi always had something on his mind and something on his heart. I loved him for it, but it was frustrating at times. I would do anything for Levi Rearden. Dylan, Winnie, and Levi were my family. I would kill for my family.
“Not now. Maybe later,” he replied.