"Come with me." Tiernan held a hand out to me."Where are we going?" I glanced over at Aideen where she stood in the kitchen; packing us some food for our trip to the Twilight Court.She just smiled and nodded."I have something I want you to see." He motioned me upstairs. "Come on, I promise you'll enjoy it."I took his hand, and he led me to the stairs. I had spent the night on the third floor; in one of Aideen's guest bedrooms. She had slept in another guest bedroom on the second floor while Tiernan had taken her usual bed on the first floor; just in case someone made it through the enchanted trunk. It was an odd feeling to have someone protecting me, and I bristled a bit to be put in the position of damsel in distress, but Tiernan wouldn't budge. My safety had become their priority and my ability to defend myself was only to be used as a last resort. Well, we'd see about that.I let go of my irritation and focused on the tree house. Aideen's home was amazing although I'd been
"It's not what you think," he said softly. "This isn't about me hating humans. I don't hate them. Although, as I've told you before, I have little tolerance for them and even less interest on a personal level.""Then what is it about?" I felt my face ease into blank confusion."It's the magic," he said and shrugged. "It guides us; like a very strong instinct. Fairy magic can be wild and erratic but there's calculation even in its capriciousness. It wants to flourish, as all things do, and the best way for it to thrive is to magnify itself by bringing two powerful fairies together.""So, how did I come to exist?" I lifted a brow and looked over at him. "If its goal is to bring two powerful fairies together, why did it allow my birth?"We were both sitting with our legs drawn up, our bodies pressed together at shoulder and thigh, and our entwined hands in my lap. It felt comfortable but also strange. As if we shouldn't be at this point yet, but there we were, and I didn't want to mov
"How many fairies want me dead?" I asked as we made our way through the forest to the Twilight Court. A thick vine snaked out from the underbrush and curled around my ankle just tight enough to make me stumble. "Damn it!" I growled and glowered at the vine as it slithered back into the brush. "I'm bigger than you, plant! I can uproot you!""Um, no you're not, and no you can't." Tiernan nodded his head toward the shadows of the forest, and I caught sight of a giant, tear-shaped plant with fronds curling up into the tree branches above.Vines as thick as my thighs fanned out from its base in all directions and the skeletons of dead animals littered the ground around it. The large leaves parted like the petals of a flower and a humanoid creature slithered out. She was entirely pale green—her skin slick like the inside of an aloe leaf—and completely hairless. Her arms ended in rubbery vines and so did her legs, but where her arms hung free, her legs were attached to the plant... which wa
I looked down at my dirty combat gear and then out at the assemblage of elegant fairies. I'd never felt so inadequate in all my life. They were dressed in shining silk and velvet; long hair done up in elaborate hairdos to highlight beautiful faces which needed no make-up for enhancement. Mingling among these elite sidhe were lesser fey but even they made me feel out of place with their strangely beautiful attributes. Cat eyes peered at me from human faces, hooves poked out of the hem of pant legs, horns crowned haughty heads, and fluffy tails flicked beneath full skirts. There were leathery wings, scaled skin, and multi-colored fur; bodies ranging from very small to massive, and fairies who looked more like beasts than humans.Then the crowd parted and a fairy man stepped through. He was tall with an athlete's build and skin as pale as my Irish complexion. He wore a simple blue tunic over black pants. A sword belt was strapped around his waist and the silver sword hanging from it shon
Keir barely took his eyes off me as he led me through a winding corridor filled with extraordinary fairy art. Sculptures of strange creatures writhed under the serene gazes of regal sidhe portraits which hung next to intricate tapestries portraying scenes of astounding beauty. Everything was perfect and shiny; not a hint of dust or a single scratch to be found. I felt like a stain that needed to be scrubbed away."Your mother's death was the most painful thing I've ever experienced," Keir said as he opened a door and led me into a magnificent room."For me as well," I murmured as I peered around me.It was a circular room so I assumed he'd brought me into one of the towers. As large as my entire house back in the Human Realm, it had polished wood floors with luxurious silk carpets laid precisely across them. The carpets were woven with intricate designs of cream and silver. A rather poor color choice for something meant to be walked on. They looked as if they'd never seen the sole o
"Yes, we rule the between of all things. There are even places considered to be in-between which lie on both Seelie and Unseelie land. Little spots where we might find sanctuary if we were to need it," he said. "It really spits off the other kingdoms.""Spits off?" I frowned and then chuckled as I caught his meaning. "You mean it pisses them off?""Ah, yes." Keir laughed with me. "Human speech can be tricky, but your mother tried to teach me general expressions so that you might feel comfortable around me." He sighed dismally. "I guess I'm not so good at it.""I think it will be more fun this way. Just keep trying, and I'll keep laughing." I tried to imagine my mother teaching this fairy king human colloquialisms and just couldn't do it. Not my serious extinguisher mother. Had she been a different person entirely with him? And why had she never been so with me?"It's a deal," he said. "Was that one correct?""Yes, that was right." I grinned encouragingly. "So, you were saying that
"The Sluagh were sent after me on two occasions." I watched his expression grow more and more ferocious. "Tiernan saved me both times. The last was when we went to Gentry Technologies. They showed up in the building and followed us back into Fairy. At least, I think they did. I never saw them in Fairy.""They were at Gentry?" He frowned. "But I spoke to Dylan, and he mentioned nothing about the Sluagh.""Is it possible that he didn't know they'd been there?" I offered. "We were separated from our team, which I assume was Aideen's plan, or your plan rather, and so we were on a totally different floor from the others when the Sluagh attacked.""I'll need to confirm it with Aideen." Keir took a deep breath. "It's possible they were secreted in but that would take great magic.""Does your brother have that kind of magic?" I asked."Oh, yes," Keir whispered."Then that's probably what happened," I said. "The first time they attacked us, I was in a car with Tiernan, and they lifted us
Keir left me alone so I could bathe and change into something for dinner... after he pointed out where the bathroom and the closet were. They were behind two adjacent doors in my room. One led to a ridiculously luxurious bathroom and the other to a ridiculously elaborate closet. I fit right in since my being there was pretty damn ridiculous too. What would Abby say if she could see me? Would she laugh or cry? Or would she beg me for a bath in the ginormous tub?I smiled at the thought and went into the bathroom through the door beside the fireplace. Even the door was beautiful; cream colored wood adorned with silver curlicues as if the Fey couldn't stand the thought of even one thing being plain. I shook my head at the door as I closed it behind me. Abby would probably be living this up; already immersed to her chin in fairy bubble bath or sifting through the rows of stunning gowns hanging in the closet. Or perhaps trying on all the shoes. Abby had a love for shoes that bordered on be