FAUSTINE (Bonfire Chronicles)

by Imogen Rose

  “Princess?” he said, looking from me to Neave, obviously unsure as to who the princess was. As he opened the door further and came into the room, he turned out to be a drop-dead hot guy around my age. I didn’t recognize him from the Academy, though.

  “Who are you?” I asked as formally as a princess should. In response, he did a quick half bow and introduced himself.

  “I’m Luke. Princess, we have a situation. Please come with me.”

  “A situation? Where’s Mom?”

  “She’s been taken to a safe place. And I need to secure you as well.”

  “From what? What’s happening?”

  “My father will explain. Please come with me. Your friend should come, too.”

  “Where is my mom?” Neave asked, finally finding her tongue.

  “Your mom?”

  “Yes, my mom. She was out there with Lady Annabel....”

  Luke shook his head. “Lady Annabel was by herself when I arrived. There’s no one else out there.”

  Neave shoved her way past Luke and rushed into the living room. I followed with him at my heels. Tessa was clearly not there.

  “I’m going to go home and see if she’s there,” Neave said, starting to make her way to the door. Luke stopped her.

  “Call her first,” he suggested.

  “Yeah,” she said, pulling out her cell phone. She waited and then turned to me. “Look, she’s not answering; it went straight to voicemail. I’m going to go and look.”

  “Hold on,” Luke interrupted. “What’s your name?”

  “Neave.”

  “Neave, hang on for a moment. I just want to make sure that you’re safe.”

  “Safe from what,” I asked. “What’s going on? Where’s Mom?”

  “Look, we have to get out of here. I’m going to bring you somewhere safe, then I’ll explain. Your mom is fine, Princess. Neave, I want you to come with us for now. Okay?”

  “No. Not really. I don’t know who you are or what’s going on, but I have a feeling that I should be looking for Mom. So that’s what I’m going to do.”

  “Neave,” I pleaded. “Please, come with me. If something has happened to your mom you’ll need help finding her. Whatever is going on, we need to figure it out, okay?”

  “Can we at least stop by the apartment to see if she’s home?” Neave begged.

  Luke nodded and hurried us out the front door. We stopped briefly at Neave’s apartment and found it empty. I momentarily questioned my willingness to follow a complete stranger–demon–to goodness knows where, but my instincts told me it was okay. All the same....

  “Luke, you’re going to have to tell me what’s going on, or I’m not coming with you,” I declared, as we waited for the elevator.

  “It’s your dad...” he began.

  “My dad? What about him?”

  “Well, he’s disappeared.”

  “How?”

  “No one has seen him since the graduation dinner at the Academy.”

  “So?”

  “I don’t know, but we have to take precautions. You know, just in case.”

  “In case of what?” I hissed, now totally frustrated.

  “In case he’s been abducted, or even killed.”

  I felt myself go cold. “He was with me at graduation, just a couple of days ago. Maybe he overdid it at the party and is sleeping it off somewhere. This is a bit of an overreaction, don’t you think?”

  “Maybe. Hopefully. But we can’t be too careful. He is a demon king. My demon king.”

  “Well, if...” I started as the elevator arrived.

  “Faustine, I promise that I’ll explain this better as soon as we get to my father.”

  “Who’s your father?”

  “His name is Dorian. He’s your dad’s wing man, so to speak.”

  I had never heard of him, but then, my dad wasn’t particularly forthcoming about his life. “I’m guessing he’s a demon, like you?” I asked, for confirmation.

  “Well, I’m a half demon, same as you. My dad’s a full demon.”

  For whatever reason, I had assumed that we were going to drive out to a secret location somewhere in Brooklyn, or even New Jersey, for a super-secret meeting. As it was, we didn’t even leave the building. The elevator took us straight down to the basement, where I had never been. For a demon, I was kind of squeamish. Spiders–bugs of any kind–freaked me out, and I associated basements with bugs. So, I wasn’t particularly happy to be wandering around in the basement storage areas. We walked through corridors, past dark rooms, and then into a particularly unused storage area–unused, as in cobwebs everywhere. Blech!

  “Where the heck are we going?” I asked, frustrated.

  “Not far now, nearly there,” Luke reassured me. He took my hand, pulling me past the dust-covered boxes piled high around the room. Neave followed closely behind us. We stopped at the very back of the room and faced the wall. Oh, great. Now what?

  Luke put his hand to the wall and tapped on it. Nothing happened. He tapped on it again. An opening appeared in the wall as two sections of the wall slid away from each other. The opening wasn’t big, just large enough for us to fit through, one at a time. I was seriously questioning my good sense at the very moment Luke pushed me through.

  The opening closed behind us. I was a little concerned, and I could feel my fingers tingle as the glow began to emanate from my hands.

  “Princess, there is nothing to be afraid of,” Luke said, taking my glowing hands. “Let me turn on the lights. My dad will be here in a moment.”

  I was instantly comforted when Luke turned on the lights. Although I can see pretty well in the dark, the light offered a security that the dark was unable to give. As the light flooded the room, its full opulence was revealed. This was like a mini palace–think chandeliers and velvet everywhere! How wonderfully quaint–a mini palace hidden away in the basement of an Upper East Side building.

  “Please sit down,” Luke said, pointing to the lavish eighteenth-century sofa that dominated the center of the room. “I’ll go get Dad; he’s probably in the study.”

  “Do you live here?” I asked curiously.

  “No, we use this place from time to time for official business. It’s more of an office than living accommodation.”

  I nodded as he left.

  “What the heck’s going on?” Neave spluttered. “I don’t like this one little bit. How do you know he’s not a bad demon who’s out to kill us?”

  “I don’t. Are you afraid?”

  “Of course not! One spell and he’s toast.”

  “Exactly. I’m curious, which is why I’m going along with this. And, I need to know where they’ve taken Mom.”

  “Oh, I can find her easily enough for you....”

  Neave stopped talking as Luke came back into the room with a very large man. Large, as in tall–he must have been at least seven feet. He was clearly Luke’s dad. He looked just like Luke, but older. And taller! They shared the same dark hair, reddish eyes, and aquiline nose.

  He bowed as he approached me. “Princess, I am Dorian, a friend of your father’s. Have you heard from him?”

  “No. The last I saw him was at the graduation dinner.”

  “Did you see him leave with anyone?”

  “No. He was still around when I left to pack. He came up to say goodbye and watched me leave.”

  “Who was around when this occurred?”

  “Gosh, everyone! I mean it was graduation. So the whole graduating class, the teachers, parents. Loads of people, beings.” I shrugged. “What’s going on?”

  “Sebastian–your father–is missing. Now, that presents us with a multitude of problems. We are, of course, gravely concerned about his safety. Moreover, we also have to make sure that his domain is adequately managed in his absence. Now, I would normally take care of matters myself if this was a scheduled leave of absence, but it isn’t. So his heir must take over,” he said, looking over at me and nodding.

  “Me? You’ve got
to be kidding! Doesn’t he have like a zillion kids? Have one of them take over. I’ve got to get ready for high school on Monday!”

  “Not quite a zillion,” Dorian said disapprovingly. “Seven others, to be exact. But that’s beside the point. We have to obey his directions, which clearly state that you are the ruling heir in his absence.”

  I closed my eyes. Ruling heir. What did that even mean? Rule what? London? “Well, I don’t want to go to London! I just got back from Europe! Find someone else, or you do it yourself,” I said angrily, glaring at Dorian.

  He sighed.

  “Sigh away. That’s not going to change anything. Let me out of here!”

  “Princess, please. Take a moment and think about this. Do you really think your father would have deemed this had there been another choice?”

  “Well, I don’t know! I hardly know my father. Where’s Mom?”

  “She’s at the Waldorf. She is safe.”

  “Is Tessa with her?”

  “Tessa?”

  “Tessa is my mom,” Neave interjected.

  Dorian shrugged. “And who are you?”

  “This is Neave. My best friend. Her mother was having dinner with us when the doorbell rang. We were told to go to my bedroom before they opened the door. So, we didn’t see who it was. And now we’re trying to figure out what happened to Tessa.”

  “Was that you at the door?” Neave asked Luke.

  He nodded. “Yes. But only Lady Annabel was there, no one else. Could Tessa have left through a different exit?”

  “Yes,” I said. “There are two exits, but why would she do that and leave Neave behind? It doesn’t make any sense. Did Mom say anything?”

  “No. But I can go ask her about Tessa.”

  “Would you please? I’m getting worried about her,” Neave said.

  “Princess?”

  “Please, call me Faustine. I need to think. I can’t, won’t, rule anything! I don’t even know how. I’m sure being the demon sovereign of London is complicated.”

  “It is. And we are aware of the fact that you must finish high school. It would be better if you would agree to do that at a London school....”

  “No. I would not agree to that,” I said firmly.

  “In which case, you would have to rule by proxy, while attending school here. Not ideal, but it can be done.”

  “Look, I’m assuming Dad will show up sooner rather than later, but what exactly am I expected to do in the meantime–the bare minimum, please?”

  “I’d be happy to run the day-to-day affairs in London and report back to you, if you’d like,” Dorian offered. “You would still be required to sign off on any important matters. You’ll be required to go through a formal coronation, even if you only rule for a short period. Protocol is important. It will mean a trip or two to London, at the very least. We’ll try not to disrupt your life too much, but you’ll be expected to perform your duties.”

  “I’m assuming you will go through my duties and explain everything?”

  “Luke will. He’ll be at your side. He was scheduled to start high school with you anyway, so this doesn’t disrupt his schedule. We do have another issue, though.”

  “My dad?”

  “Yes. We need to find him. If he has been abducted or harmed, it may be that you are in danger as well, which is very alarming, as we don’t know who we’re dealing with. We need to be able to keep you safe. I’m very uncomfortable with you going to school. I’d rather you stay and rule from here until we know what’s going on.”

  “Here? As in this basement?”

  Dorian nodded solemnly.

  “No way! Anyway, I think you are totally overreacting. I’m sure Dad’s fine. He’s got about a bazillion powers; it would be hard to take him down. You have no evidence that there’s any danger–he just hasn’t been seen for a while–so I’m not staying down here, that’s for sure. Now, I’d like to go home. And bring Mom back home.”

  “As you wish, Princess. We will, of course, tighten security around you and your mother.”

  “Are you going to help me find my mom?” Neave asked, clearly agitated.

  “Certainly, if she is connected to Sebastian’s disappearance....”

  “Or not. Of course, he’ll help,” I said firmly, nodding at Dorian.

  “As you please,” he said with a bow.

  “That’s it, then. I’m going back home now,” I declared.

  “Please, take this with you,” Dorian said, extending his palm.

  I took the shiny object from him. A ring? “What’s this for?” I asked.

  “It’s a ring with the demon sovereign’s insignia. Please wear it.”

  As I stood peering into the full-length mirror, I couldn’t decide whether the red of my eyes was enhanced or diminished by the blue shimmer of my new Marc Jacobs dress. Neave and I had picked it out together at Saks, with Luke impatiently watching over us.

  “Come on, ladies!” he had pleaded. “You look great in everything! Just pick something!”

  And this is what I had ended up picking. I shook it out and twirled; this would be perfect for dancing. I wondered if any dancing occurred at these kinds of parties. Neave gently tapped on my bedroom door before entering. She was wearing her maroon dress. She looked amazing with her blonde hair in a loose bun at the nape of her neck.

  “Love the maroon. It’s a perfect complement to your date’s eyes,” I teased.

  “About that...” she started.

  “Yeah,” I prompted. “It’s not that bad. He is kind of yummy.”

  “Yeah, but couldn’t we just go as friends? I can’t really see the necessity of him going as my date. You’re going solo,” she stated.

  “I think he just wanted to. I’ve seen the way he looks at you,” I smiled. Whomp! And I was down. The witch had elbowed me so hard that I had fallen onto my bed, face first.

  “Oh, shush!” she grumbled.

  “You know I’m right,” I said, laughing at her. “Anyhow, how’s your mom?”

  “Oh, fine! However, she scared the heck out of me, disappearing like that without a word. She still won’t tell me what it was all about. Council emergency. Whatever that means. It must have been important for her to take off like that, though,” she mused.

  “Yeah. There are too many emergencies going on for my liking,” I sighed. “I still haven’t heard from Dad. Not that I was really expecting to hear from him, for a while anyway. But the fact that Dorian still hasn’t heard from him really worries me,” I said, looking at the ring shining from my right hand.

  “Lemme see,” Neave said, taking my hand in hers and peering at the ring. It was simple–a platinum band with a two-prong fork studded with black diamonds. “It’s sort of ordinary looking, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah. But that’s just as well; I wouldn’t wear it if it was big and ugly.”

  “So, have you been told what you are expected to do yet?”

  “Not a lot. Luke said that I have to greet a bunch of dignitaries who are flying over from London tomorrow. Ordinarily, I would fly to London to see them, but school starts on Monday, so it’s easier for me if they come here. They weren’t too pleased, but they’re coming anyway.”

  “Who are they exactly?”

  I shrugged. “I’ve no idea. My guess is a bunch of paranormal fuddy duddies. It’s going to be a barrel of laughs.” I rolled my eyes. “I can’t see them taking kindly to a teenage half demon joining their little group. Anyhow, I want to forget all about that for tonight and reenter the wonderful world of Manhattan parties. I can’t wait to meet everyone!”

  “It’ll be awesome. We scored the Ixis Twins to perform for us. Major wicked.”

  I had never heard of them. They must be a new group that hadn’t made it big in Switzerland, yet. “Okay, let’s go; I’m ready!”

  “You look awesome.”

  “So do you!” I grabbed Neave’s hand and led her into the living room where Luke and Mom were waiting for us. Luke stood up as soon as he saw us. I w
ent over and kissed Mom.

  “Baby, you look so beautiful,” Mom said, hugging me tight. “Take care of her,” she said, looking over at Luke who nodded in response.

  “Ladies, you look great. Let’s go,” he said. We each took an arm and walked out together. Luke looked hot. The suit was perfect on him. As we walked, Luke was leaning toward Neave. There was definitely something brewing there.

  We drove past Times Square on our way to the party in the Village. I was feeling slightly on edge. I had no idea what to expect. If Neave and Luke were going to spend time together, I might be a bit lost. At least I could catch up with Audrey and Viola.

  I could hear the sounds of the party blocks before we arrived. Loud music intermingled with chatter, singing and stomping noises. The excitement and energy were electric! I was ready to party!

  “Faustine, stay close to me at the party,” Luke instructed as we drove up to the entrance.

  “I’ll do my best,” I promised.

  The camera flashes blinded me as we walked into the party. “What’s with the paparazzi?”

  “I dunno. I guess they’re here for the Ixis Twins,” Neave shrugged. “Just smile and keep going.”

  I was momentarily thrown by the sudden contrast in lighting as we entered the club. I felt disoriented, so I grabbed Luke’s arm, steadying myself as I surveyed the room. It was large, with a dance floor in the middle that was completely packed with bodies moving in time with the music. There was a DJ booth on one side, surrounded by people. How would we ever find anyone we knew in this crowd? I looked over at Neave.

  “Follow me, we have a private booth.”

  I was glad she knew where she was going because it was a jungle of pulsating, sweaty bodies. We had to push through them in dim lighting to get to the booth. A sour-looking man guarding the walkway pointed us in the right direction. The booth was a small area with a couple of comfortable-looking sofas and some tables and chairs.

  I collapsed onto the couch next to the twins, who had already been seated. “Wow, this is crowded!” I exclaimed to no one in particular.

  “No kidding,” Audrey agreed. “A bit different from the dances at the Academy.”