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SEBASTIAN FOLLOWED the seductive scent of the mysterious half fae woman along a trail to a small cottage. He stopped a short distance away and tried to listen in to what was going on inside. A spell muffled the building and he couldn’t hear anything. He cautiously moved closer, making as little noise as possible as he crossed the snowy yard. Shutters were on the windows to block the worst of the storm and he couldn’t see inside.
The master vampire circled around the house in increasing frustration. He came to a window that had a crack in the shutter and peered into a conjuring room. The black-haired beauty was with a fairy who had been horribly burned. “Padavion, I presume,” he murmured. The fairy must have been very beautiful once, but she was now disfigured and her wings were a horrible melted mess.
He watched the two women having an intense discussion, noting the despair on the half fae woman’s face. From what he could gather, she’d come to Padavion for help. It seemed the fairy wasn’t able to assist her. His intrigue rose when hope blossomed on the beauty’s face. She’d been given a lifeline of some sort, but it now seemed the fairy was also hopeful.
The two women concluded their meeting and Padavion lurched out of the room. Sebastian realized she was drunk. That explained the brandy fumes that emanated from the cottage. The mystery about how the half fae beauty had arrived at the fairy’s house was solved when she took a vial out of her purse. She drank it down and her eyes went to the window a moment before she suddenly vanished.
Sound came to him from the house when the fairy dispelled her ward. Padavion was singing quietly as she poured herself another snifter of brandy. His curiosity about the meeting he’d just witnessed was too strong for him to ignore. He strode around to the front door and used the doorknocker to summon her.
“Who is it?” Padavion called out fearfully.
“I’m just a visitor in need of your assistance, madame,” he called back in a charming tone.
“Two strangers turn up on my doorstep in one night needing my help?” Padavion muttered as she stomped towards the door. “Seems like a heck of a coincidence to me.” She cracked the door open and peered at him. Her eye widened when he pushed his hood back so she could see his face. His innate power slipped through the door to ensnare her. “What do you need from me, master?” she asked in a dazed voice.
“Won’t you invite me in, madame?” he asked.
“Come in,” she said obediently and opened the door wide.
Sebastian stepped inside and closed the door. He put his hand on the small of the tiny fairy’s back and guided her to the living room. She sank down onto the chair he indicated and looked at him blankly. “You had a visitor moments ago,” he said.
“Her name is Eden,” Padavion replied. “She’s half fae and half something else. I’m not sure what.”
“Why was she here?” he asked. A surge of excitement welled inside him that he now knew her name. Eden suited someone of her perfection.
“I can’t say,” she replied.
“Why not?”
“I’m bound by magic,” she told him. “Neither of us can speak about why she was here.”
“You made a deal with her,” he figured. “Can you tell me anything about Eden? Can she cast magic?”
She shook her head. “She’s weak and can barely conjure up a flame,” she told him. “Her magic is blocked for some reason.”
“So, she does have magic, but she can’t use it,” he mused, wondering if there was a way to restore her ability to cast spells. Even if she could use magic, she might not be strong enough to become his match. “Do you know of someone who could unblock her magic?” he asked.
“I cannot talk about it,” she said firmly.
“This is part of the bargain you made with her?” he mused, but she refused to answer him. Not even his vampiric charisma could break her silence if the pair had made a deal. He was lucky he’d gotten any information out of her at all. Now that he’d met Padavion, it was obvious she wouldn’t be a good match for him. Her magic might still be strong, but she was broken inside and out from what Onvier had done to her. He needed someone who could stand at his side against his foes, not someone who drank herself into oblivion to escape from her problems. “Do you know of any powerful female magic users who I could form an alliance with against the Immortal Triumvirate?” he asked.
Even in her dazed state, Padavion’s eyebrows rose. Her stringy black hair couldn’t hide her scarred face. “There are few magic users who would dare to defy our rulers, master,” she told him. “I can’t think of any female who would be brave enough to join your rebellion.”
If an exile like Padavion didn’t know of anyone who would stand against the trio, then he had even less of a chance of succeeding in his task than he’d hoped. “After I leave, you won’t remember I was here,” he ordered and headed for the door. There was nothing else she could do to help him.
Padavion had forgotten about him by the time he stepped outside. She began humming as he closed the door. He strode away while withdrawing his power from her befuddled mind.
The snow was coming down even harder and faster now. Several inches had covered the ground during his short visit with the fairy. Sebastian flashed through the forest to the fae suburbs, then crossed a bridge over the river to the Vampire District. He headed for his secluded home and was standing inside his warm and inviting mansion within minutes.
He hung his dripping cloak on a hook on a wall in the foyer and left muddy tracks on the floor. By the time he reached his favorite living room, the floor, his clothes and boots were clean and dry. His cloak would be in his closet, also clean and dry. He paced up and down in front of the fire as he pondered about his problem. Eden kept creeping into his thoughts and he puzzled over why her magic was blocked. It had seemed as though Padavion might know how to unblock her talents.
Sebastian knew he had to focus on his task, but he couldn’t seem to drag his thoughts away from Eden. He’d only spied on her for a few brief minutes, but her hold over him had increased even more. Padavion had told him Eden’s magic was weak, so she couldn’t have cast a spell on him. His obsession with her was puzzling, but undeniable. He came to a stop when he reached a decision. It was clear that he wouldn’t be able to concentrate on his purpose until after he’d satiated his desires on the half fae beauty. Once he’d gotten her out of his system, then he could move on with his search for a match.
