I looked up ahead. “Is that…?” I asked to the air.
“It looks like it.” Raina added, her jaw slack.
“Yep.” Vincent said matter-of-factly. “It’s a unicorn.”
We looked as its golden horn reflected light off of its pastel coat. I couldn’t believe it.
“Believe it, my dear.” Lucinda said.
“I think I’m gonna like it here.” Raina said.
* * *
“Now that is a proper mead!” Trevor exclaimed, leaning back in his chair. He held the glass of golden liquor up to the light, admiring its hue before drinking deeply.
The balcony we were sitting on was simply stunning. As was the house we were in, the neighborhood that the house was located in, and the entire Fae settlement. The colors were bright and vibrant, and the architecture flowed in an almost fluid way. The surfaces sparkled where the setting sun hit them, and the air smelled of light flowers. Even the dark wood that lined every window, fencing, and doorway had a shimmer to it in the light.
A great valley stretched out below the balcony were on, and the setting sun cast strange shadows through the unfamiliar forest below. I couldn't help but get lost in the splendor of it all. Winged unicorns occasionally broke through the trees for a brief moment, only to disappear again beneath the green canopy below.
Of course, some of them fly.
A deep-throated burp behind me reminded me that Trevor, on the other hand, was getting lost in the potent honey wine that our hosts were fond of brewing.
Raina had wandered off with the green-skinned Gaia to explore their magickal libraries, while Vincent had set off in search of Angelique and Jack. Evie was nowhere to be found, so I decided to take advantage of Trevor's considerable paranormal knowledge.
He had wanted me to drink with him, but I took a drag on the local Fae cannabis instead.
“So,” I began, exhaling, “What’s with the whole ‘Midnight Fae’ thing?”
“Well, you know the Wood Fae.” Trevor replied.
“Quite well.” I answered.
“Between them, our current hosts, and the Morning-tide Fae, we have all of the Fae races still in existence.” He downed the rest of his glass in a gulp. “There used to be six races.” he continued, gesturing with his glass. “The three we know, plus three more...”
Trevor put his glass down and refilled it. “The Water Fae,” he continued, holding up a finger on his free hand, “… an ancient and powerful race who were said to be able to control the waters of the oceans. Two, the Noontide Fae… powerful buggers.” He picked up his glass as he held up a third finger. “Three, the Midnight Fae. Probably the most powerful of them all. Scary fuckers.”
“What happened to them?” I asked. Powerful beings like this wouldn’t go down without a fight, that was for sure!
“Nobody knows.” he said with a shrug. “Something big, dark, and explosive, from what I hear. Then poof! We go from six Fae races to three.”
I wonder if Rini knows anything about this? I thought. My train of thought was interrupted, however, by the french doors that led back into the house opening. I looked up in time to see Angelique glide in.
She was dressed in a different outfit, this one green. It was as skin-tight as ever, and I had a hard time breaking away from my thoughts to generate speech.
“Hey there, Angelique.” I slightly stammered. “Vincent find you?”
“Yes, he did.” she said. “He’s currently trying to raise Jack’s spectral traveling party on a communicator to see about their arrival. Everyone else is here.”
“Good, good.” I went to take another hit of my joint when Angelique continued.
“Has anyone offered you an extra bed-mate tonight?” she asked. “I told them that they could offer, though I doubted that you would take them up on it.”
Whatever I was expecting her to say, it wasn’t that. “Wha… what?” I choked out, coughing on the pungent smoke and my own surprise.
“In case you couldn’t tell, Twilight Fae are a bit, uh, your word would be ‘horny’.” she explained. “It’s their custom to offer a sexual partner to guests. It started as their way of not feeling guilty as they pursue their own carnal interests, but it has become a very popular duty. They love magickal creatures, empowered humans included.”
So that’s why so many of the Fae who have been tending to us have been so friendly! “No, no offers yet.” I said.
“Well, don’t be surprised when the offer comes.” Angelique smiled. “Vincent’s not the only one with a weakness for bespectacled beauties such as yourself.”
She glided out of the room again, and I hit the joint. I suddenly needed another one.
* * *
The weed had done it’s job. I was no longer stressing out over the ramifications of Angelique’s compliment to me out on the balcony. Instead, I was wondering if I shouldn’t just plan on sleeping in the ridiculously comfortable cushion I was laying in, mobility not being my strong suit at the time.
Across from me, Raina and Drucilla sat on an overstuffed sofa. They weren’t touching, but I could see how open to it the blue-skinned Fae woman was just through her body language. Raina didn’t look turned off, but she was obviously keeping her space personal… for now.
“Oooooh, that’s good… right there!”
Evelyn’s moan showed that she was not only more open to the standing invitation of Darla, Dru’s older (and slightly darker blue) sister, she was enjoying the company quite a bit. I looked over to where she was laying in between the Fae woman’s legs, Darla’s hands rubbing her shoulders in slow, sensuous motions.
“I hope you’re as good with your hands everywhere.” Evie sighed.
“Hmm., maybe you should find out in a bit.” Darla replied, her voice almost a purr.
“Please tell me my room isn’t next to hers.” Raina asked Drucilla. She glanced back at Evelyn. “No offense, but your brother has told me about how loud you can be, and I’ll need to smoke a lot more of this Fae weed to sleep through that!”
“I probably could.” I said.
“You could sleep through a thermonuclear explosion, the amount that you smoke these days.” she replied.
“I’m the Sorceress.” I shrugged. “My tolerance is higher than a party at Willie Nelson’s house.’
Evelyn laugh-snorted so hard, she started coughing.
“Did you hit her choke button?” Raina asked Darla.
“Honestly, no...” She replied, though there was a grin on her face as she said it.
“No, no.” Evelyn said, recovering. “It’s just… Willie Nelson’s house! That was a great time, and hilarious!”
“You’ve met Willie Nelson?” Raina asked, dubious.
“Oh yeah." Evelyn waved her hand. "Did a job for his tour manager. Seems that a new roadie that he'd hired had done himself in the weekend before the tour rehearsals started, but he was so drunk when he died that he showed up for work anyway! We helped the spectral good old boy pass over, and then got to go to a tour kick-off bar-b-que at Willie's house."
“What was so hilarious about it?” I asked, slightly more awake out of interest.
“Well,” she continued, “Trevor had been making a right ass out of himself all day, talking about how he could smoke anything that was thrown his way. So, he takes two hits off of Willie’s joint, and passes out five minutes after.”
“Serves him right!” Raina exclaimed.
“No no, that’s not all of it!” Evelyn replied. “So a couple of Willie’s roadies… living ones… take Trevor, strip him naked, and then laid him out to sleep it off in a horse stall!”
“Oh my Gods!” Raina laughed.
“With a horse in there?” I asked.
“With a bloody donkey in there!” Evelyn was laughing as much as any of us.
“Nice!” Drucilla grinned.
“He woke up two hours later, and fucking snuck out!”
“No way!”
“He still doesn’t know!”
It took a minute for the laughter to die out, leaving us somewhat winded. “You have so many good stories!” I said once I was able.
“Ah, you’ll get your own great stories.” Evelyn said with another wave. “Especially if you stay around Vincent and Angelique. I could tell you stories about them...”
“That you’ll tell them another time.” Darla said, rubbing her hand over Evelyn’s shoulder and just under the collar of her shirt.
The grin was gone, replaced with a lusty stare. “Yes, another time.” The two got up and left the room, never taking their hands off of each other.
“You know, I could have Gaia stop by your room later.” Drucilla said, looking at me. “If you and Vincent want to play with someone new.”
To tell the truth, being warned didn’t really help me prepare for the offer. “Uh, no...” I stammered, “No, that’s OK.”
“Seriously?” Raina asked, her gaze locked on Drucilla. “Here I am thinking you guys are cool, and now this?”
“What’s wrong?” Drucilla asked, confused.
“She,” Raina pointed at me, “is obviously altered all to hell. You mean you guys are alright with propositioning an impaired person?”
“My apologies.” Drucilla said, her hands raised. “I haven’t been around humans in quite a while. I had forgotten about your culture’s issues over consent.”
“Are you guys always this horny?” I asked, my own curiosity getting the better of any shared indignation with Raina.
Drucilla shrugged. “We enjoy sex. We indulge in it whenever we feel like it. But we don’t have the same history as you do regarding sex and gender.”
“No?” Raina’s voice was softer, her anger ebbing somewhat.
“No.” Drucilla replied. “We’re an egalitarian society with no artificial divisions between ‘men’s’ and ‘women’s’ work. We judge each other on our abilities, not our biology. We also can’t get pregnant unless both partners agree beforehand, so ‘no strings attached’ carnal enjoyment is easy for us.”
“What about falling in love?” Raina asked.
Drucilla’s voice grew soft, and she looked directly at Raina as she spoke. “We love freely and unashamedly. Some of us choose to bond with another individual, but there’s never the expectation of exclusivity.”
“I don’t know if I could do that.” Raina said. “Fall in love with someone, then… have sex with someone else? How can you have sex with love and then a random hookup?”
“I always have sex with those I love.” Drucilla answered. “We love our friends as fiercely as we love our mates… sure, it’s a different kind of love, but it’s just as real. Some of the most special experiences with lovemaking have been with my dearest friends.”
“And nobody gets jealous?”
“No. They’re happy to see the people that they love enjoy themselves.”
“OK, I can see that.” Raina smiled.
“We can also love beauty.” Drucilla’s voice dropped slightly, and she ran a finger up Raina’s leg. “When someone’s beautiful, inside and out, it can stir the heart as well as… other places.”
“Annie, you chill here?” Raina asked, not looking away from Drucilla’s eyes.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I slurred.
“Good.” Raina smiled.
They left, and I fell asleep with a smile on my face.
* * *
I woke up the next morning in a big four-poster bed with emerald green sheeting. Vincent was sitting up in bed next to me, reading a massive book written in the strange script of the Fae.
“Hey.” I yawned, stretching.
“Hey.” Vincent replied.
“What ‘cha reading?”
“The Lord of the Rings.”
“In Fae?”
He shook his head. “You’ll never really understand the story until you read it in it’s original Fae.”
“Wait.” I said, sitting up. “Tolkien was Fae?”
Vincent closed the book and looked at me, grinning. “You mean it’s not obvious?”
He got up and walked over to the dresser where an assortment of baked goods were stacked on a silver tray. Next to that was a silver urn with steam coming out of the top, and he poured me a mug of the hot liquid.
“My love, I present you with the best coffee in the Fae world.” He handed me the mug and I took a sip.
“Wow!” I said. “This looks black, but it tastes...” I took another sip. “Yes, it tastes like vanilla, caramel, and… is that cinnamon?”
Vincent shrugged. “It tastes different to everyone. It’s supposed to mimic your favorite flavors in coffee.”
“What does it taste like to you?”
“Blood and chocolate.”
I closed my eyes. "I must be really tired because I think I'd drink this even if it tasted like that!" I drank again, grateful that it didn't. I drank again, and then looked at the cup. "Uh, I've drunk half a cup, but it still looks full."
“Oh, that’s because it won’t run out until you’ve had enough.” He said, stepping away.
I looked at my drink. “This is the coolest thing ever.” I said, completely serious.
“So, did you have fun last night?” Vincent asked, carrying the tray of pastries over.
“Yeah, but not as much fun as Evie and Raina had.” I replied, plucking a square pastry off of the top of the stack.
“Ah, did they catch a ride on the orgasm express?”
“And then some.”
“All Fae love sex. Some are just a little freer with it than others."
“You could say that again!” I took a bite, and the pastry tasted like a chocolate tart. “Is this magickal too?” I asked, holding it up.
Vincent nodded. “They think it’s the best way to keep guests happy, to make the food really good.”
At least it’s not all sex! I thought. “So, did Jack ever arrive?”
“Late last night.” Vincent sat on the edge of the bed. “We can go find them after breakfast.”
I looked at my still-full coffee cup. As long as I’m not too wired!
* * *
We found Jack sitting outside of a multicolored house just a couple of street-like paths away from our accommodations. Every building looks alike, yet completely different I mused to myself. I felt like I could get lost there, yet never get too lost.
Jack waved us over, and I sat next to him. A silver pot of magick Fae coffee sat on the small table between us.
“Coffee?” he asked, holding a mug up.
“Oh no," I said, my hand raised, "I've drunk a gallon, I think."
“If only they could do this with Mountain Dew.” he said wistfully.
Hatsu stuck her head out of the door of the house. “Oh good, Vincent!” she said.
“Yes?”
“May I speak with you for a moment?”
Vincent went inside with her, and I leaned in to speak quietly with my friend.
“So, how’s it going with you and Katsu?” I asked with a grin.
“It’s… going.” he replied, nodding. “Going quite well.”
I shook my head. "Really, dude? You don't date for two years and then hook up with a five thousand-year-old mystical being?"
“Um, what about you?” he retorted, eyebrows raised. “You practically never dated anyone, and now you’re banging someone that’s not only centuries old, but also isn’t even human!”
“Touche.” I surrendered, hands raised. “So what took you so long?”
Jack squirmed slightly in his seat. “Yeah, well, you weren’t the only person with questions about my intentions.” he said. “Seems that her big Sis also wanted to have a sit-down with me.”
“Scary.” I said, eyes slightly wide.
“You're not kidding!" he agreed. "But it wasn't so bad. She just wanted to make sure that I really liked her, not just..."
“Not just looking to get laid?” I finished.
“Exactly!”
I grinned. “You know, if you weren’t attached, you’d
be swimming in Fae sex right now.”
He stopped and looked at me. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“So the things that Hatsu said about Fae orgies?”
“Totally real.”
“Damn." He smiled. "It's a good thing that I like her."
I smiled, and then saw Vincent emerge from the house alone. He took another seat by the table, a chair that appeared as he needed it.
“So, dude...” he said, looking at Jack, “you already got the ‘don’t break the heart of my little sister or else’ talk from Hatsu?”
Jack swallowed. “Yeah. Something tells me that I should take her seriously.”
“You should." Vincent couldn't keep the amusement from his voice. "These supernatural types have seen too much bullshit to ever 'hope for the best'. They find that it's more effective to threaten evisceration and depend on an individual's self-preservation instincts to kick in."
“Great.” Jack’s voice told me it was anything but.
“So I assume that Hatsu wanted to talk to you about things other than her scary face.” I said, moving on.
Vincent’s face grew more serious. “She did. It seems that her friends in the paranormal underworld have been noticing a lot of ‘movement’ on the less traveled pathways.”
“Movement?” I asked. “What does she mean by movement?”
“Ways of traveling that aren’t used that often, either because of difficulty or danger, are becoming more active.” he explained. “Whoever’s behind it is powerful, too. To not only travel these paths, but to also cloak their identity from Hatsu’s friends… who, I should remind you, are some powerful fuckers… it’s kind of concerning.”
“What’s going on?” I asked, baffled. “Do you think that it’s connected to the attacks on me?”
Jack and Vincent exchanged glances, ironic grins and chuckles shared between them.
“Should I tell her?” Vincent asked.
“Nah, let me.” Jack answered. “I’ve known her longer.”
“What?” I was seriously confused.
“Annabelle, darling.” Jack said, looking at me. “You’re the Sorceress. There hasn’t been a Sorceress for over a century. There are millennia-old creatures that fear your eventual power.” He put his hand on mine for emphasis. “Anything weird that’s going on, I can virtually guarantee is connected to the attacks on you.”
The Witch: Book Two of The Sorceress Saga Page 15