The next evening came too fast. That morning I’d received a fire message from Oden that simply said, Waterfront. Seven o’clock.
I left my apartment around six and headed for Celadine’s in hopes I’d find Cillian and get to say goodbye. He hadn’t responded to any of my texts. Maybe he was off in another foreign country again, blowing off steam. Perhaps I wouldn’t even get to say goodbye.
I pushed open the heavy black iron gate and walked along the old paver stones embedded in the ground as I gripped both straps of my backpack. I had no idea what to bring for a three-day trip to the Domain of Nightmares, so I just brought the essentials; a few pairs of jeans, a couple t-shirts, underwear, socks, deodorant, and a toothbrush.
“Avery, what a pleasant surprise,” Celadine greeted me from the solarium door. Even on the cusp of winter, she found a way to grow her garden of black dahlias, irises, and various foliage. She was draped from head to toe in violet silk, tied at her waist with a black sash. Only the hint of her stunning tattoos peeked up from her neckline. “I thought you had other arrangements this evening?”
I stuffed my hands in my jacket pockets. “I had some time to kill before I go.”
She tipped her head to the side, her heap of braids and dreads shifting slightly. “He’s not here.” I nodded and pretended something across the private yard caught my attention. “I’m not sure where he is, actually. He’s blocking me out again.”
“Figures.”
“Do you have time for tea?”
I smiled. “Yeah, that sounds nice.”
I followed her inside the modest Victorian mansion and sat on one of the pristine white chaises while she prepared tea in the kitchen. I never saw staff here, not so much as a random cleaner. I wondered how Celadine kept this place so neat and tidy. The dark wainscotting never had a speck of dust on it. The place was like something ripped straight out of a story about a Victorian witch. Fitting.
She entered from the kitchen with a silver tray in her hands; mugs and a teapot, tiny jugs for milk and sugar, and a strange rectangular black box. Celadine set the tray on the table closest to me and took a seat at my side.
I peered inside my mug and saw a glob of honey. “Earl Grey?”
She grinned. “Of course.”
“Are you okay at the gallery without me around for a few days?”
“Oh please,” she guffawed, her bracelets jingling as she waved her hand at me. “We don’t have a showing booked for weeks. This is always a downtime for the gallery. Use it to your advantage.” She crossed one leg over the other, and the purple kimono slipped one down her thigh, revealing even more cool tattoos. “And I told you to take time to learn your magic. You have a–”
“Grand existence,” I said with her, and we both laughed. “Yeah, yeah, I know.” My lungs filled with a sigh, and I wrought my hands together. “I guess we’ll see, won’t we?”
She leaned over and grabbed the black box. “This is for you.”
I slowly took it from her and ran my fingers over the suede-like surface. “What is this? Is this a gift? Celadine, you didn’t have to get me a gift.”
“Just open it,” she insisted, flashing those violet eyes.
I plucked the top off. A small knife sat in black satin with a hilt wrapped in leather and a dark, shiny metal for the blade. I picked it up. “Why is it so heavy?”
“Most swords and daggers are forged of steel,” Celadine told me. “That one dagger is made of iron.”
“Oh…” Iron could harm, sometimes even kill, Fae. I rubbed my finger over the side of the blade. “It feels staticky.”
“I figured you could withstand it, being mostly human.” She gestured to the box. “There’s a sheath for it underneath.”
I pulled away the silky fabric and found a brown leather sheath. The blade slipped in perfectly, nice and snug, and I stood up to attach it to my belt.
“Thank you,” I said sincerely. “I love it.”
She smiled up at me. “I’m glad.” She patted the couch for me to sit down again and leaned over to pour the tea.
The dagger fit perfectly, hidden beneath my jacket, and didn’t dig into my side when I sat. Like it was made for me.
I got to the boardwalk by seven but had no idea what part Oden would be waiting at. The thing stretched on forever around the downtown coast of the Halifax harbor. So, I just waltzed along. The November full moon was like a bright medallion beaming down at me.
“Are you ready?” Oden said from behind, and I spun around with a startle.
I tugged at my backpack straps and glanced around, hoping to see Cillian. It didn’t feel right to leave without saying goodbye.
“Avery?” Oden said and held out a gloved hand.
I stole one more look around and heaved a sigh as I slipped my hand in his just as Cillian dropped from the sky in a dark, inky blaze.
“Avery!”
I took a step for him, but Oden gripped my hand tightly, and the world fell away as his hollow, raspy cackle echoed in my mind.
In only a moment, we stepped through the fabric of space and time, and I stepped foot on the dirt path that led to a castle in the distance. Oden slowly spun to face me, and I slapped his cheek with everything I had. He barely flinched but gawked at me with mock pain.
“You could have let me say goodbye!”
He put a hand to my throat, just enough to keep me in place, and I shuddered at the raging storm I witnessed in his eyes. “Let me make one thing very clear, right here, right now. I will not bend nor yield to anyone, much less a vampire. You made the bargain, Miss Quinn. We’re on my time now. And I am Lord of this Domain. You will treat me as such.”
And I would not bend or yield to him. I slapped his hand away and squared my jaw. “As long as we’re making up rules, don’t fucking touch me again.”
We engaged in a stare-down heightened with stubbornness and rage on both ends. Finally, he turned from me in a huff.
“Come,” he said curtly. I hesitated but sped after him. “You’re free to roam the mansion. The courtyard outside, as well. Use the grounds as you wish, ride our horses, explore the libraries, employ my staff to your needs.” He stopped abruptly and glared down at me. “But stay away from the Dark Forest. You’ll find nothing but death in there.”
I pursed my lips, trying to hide the tremble I felt in my knees. “Noted.”
Oden continued up the path. “There are no water sources around the mansion, so don’t even think about traveling in or out or inviting friends. No one can wisp to the main house. Only I can.”
That explains why I’ve always been brought to the edge of the property. “Anything else I should be aware of? Should I start writing this down?”
“You could watch the sarcasm.”
“Nope.”
He grumbled under his breath. “I’ll show you to your quarters. There’s a fully stocked wardrobe. Choose something appropriate and join us for dinner. I have guests, so I expect you to look presentable.”
“I didn’t come here for dinner parties, Oden.”
He swung a large wooden door hanging on creaky hinges and stepped inside. “Yes, while I’d love nothing more than to take three days off from my duties to teach some wayward human magic, I’m a Lord.” I followed him through the winding corridors and the lower-level rooms. “I have meetings and duties that simply can’t be pushed aside.” He touched my arm, and, in a blink, we stood outside a beautiful door covered in ornate carvings of vines. “This is where you’ll be staying. Dress. I’ll have someone come and assist you. Meet us downstairs in an hour.”
“I don’t need help–”
He snapped his fingers and disappeared.
Fuming, I pushed open the heavy door and let it fall closed behind me as I stood and took in the enormity of my room. It was like a studio apartment nestled in a wing made of stone with a giant canopy bed to the right draped in black silks, a giant, gothic-style wardrobe to the left, flanked by a beautiful matching vanity and writing desk.
To the back, a set of massive glass doors open onto a balcony. A quaint bistro table sat in the moonlight. I peeked inside the only other door to find a bathroom fit for royalty with dark stone, brass fixtures, and wooden finishes.
I tossed my backpack on the bed and flopped down on the plush mattress with a sigh. A muffled cry from my bag made me bolt upright. I scrambled for it and pulled back the zipper. Lattie poked her head out and blinked widely at the room.
“Lattie!” I exclaimed. “What the hell?”
She tumbled out onto the mattress and stretched her wings. “It was Julie’s idea.”
I rolled my eyes but laughed. A knock came at the door, and I shot a startled look at my stowaway. “Hide.”
“I will not,” she seethed as I hopped to my feet and opened the door.
A lithe fairy stood with a leather bag in her hands. Her green skin melted into her hair and swirled atop her head like soft-serve ice cream. Giant, black, almond-shaped eyes blinked at me as her tiny mouth opened.
“I’m Mags,” she said softly but firmly, pushing her way inside. Two Fae, like Lattie, fluttered in behind her, carrying a pitcher of wine and a tray of snacks. She set her bag down and threw open the wardrobe doors. “I’m here to help you get ready for dinner.”
“Oh, I really don’t need help,” I told her and swatted at Lattie to hush her hissing at the others. “I’m just going to wear this.”
Her bean pole frame twisted halfway around, and she gestured at my outfit of torn jeans, brown leather jacket, and chipped red nail polish with her too-long arms. “Those cheap rags hanging from your body will not do. You’re Lord Oden’s guest. That comes with certain expectations.”
“To hell with Oden.”
Mags and the two sprites gasped in unison. “Entry to this castle and our Lord’s time is a privilege bestowed onto no one. You are lucky to even be here. I would show some grace.”
Lattie climbed onto my shoulder and bared her teeth at them. “And Avery could turn you all to heaping piles of charred flesh. I would watch how you speak to her.”
Mags laughed. “I doubt that. Isn’t she here because she doesn’t know how to use her own magic?” She snapped her fingers, and an invisible force pulled me to my feet, holding me in place. “Now, what shall we wear for a first dinner?” She hummed to herself as she rifled through the dozens of garments made of tule, chiffon, and silk. Gemstones and glittered sheer sparkled, and I cringed. “Ah ha,” she exclaimed and pulled out a floor-length gown made mostly of pink tulle. “Perfect.”
My eyes widened at the gaudy thing. “Absolutely not.”
Mags snapped her fingers again, and my clothes disappeared.
“What the hell!” I grabbed a blanket from the bed and covered myself.
Another snap, and my bathroom door swung open. With another snap, the tub was already half full. Steamed billowed into the air.
“Do I need to bathe you, as well?”
I grimaced and stalked toward the bathroom. “No.”
After a few minutes in the giant, black, clawfoot tub, I wondered if I’d ever experienced something so lovely. Oils of all kinds were stacked on a wooden cart; bubbles tickled my chin as I sunk down. I closed my eyes and inhaled the heavy wafts of cherries and vanilla, then soaked until Mags banged on the door.
I wrapped a large black towel around myself and stepped into my room, my hair sopping all over the place. Mags snapped her fingers, and the vanity chair pulled out. She gestured to it, and I rolled my eyes as I sat.
Mags’s long, boney fingers worked my wet hair with a mix of skill and magic as the two sprites fed me an assortment of cheeses and berries and a glass or two of something like champagne. Lattie hoarded all the meats and smoked bits of cheese.
My hair shone in long waves of red, soft like roses with half pinned back in cascades pinned with pink pearls, and I tried not to stare at myself in the vanity mirror. But I couldn’t help it. Mags was making me look almost…Fae. When she finally stepped away, my makeup done, I couldn’t believe the woman that stared back. Then Mags snapped again, and I was dressed in the pink dress.
“Oh, no, I’m not wearing this!” I said and jumped to my feet. “I look like a balled-up bubble gum wrapper!” The tulle ruffled and scratched at my skin as I moved.
She dug her fingers into the air, and I felt the invisible forced shove me down into the seat again. Without another word, she plucked a sparkling pink tiara out of her bag and placed it on my head.
“Hell no.” I immediately removed it and tossed it on the vanity. Mags swiftly placed it back, but it barely touched my hair before I ripped it off again. She went for it, but I glared at her as she pinched it between her fingers. “If you put that damn crown on my head one more time, I’ll melt it to the floor.”
“Lord Oden won’t be pleased,” she said.
“Let’s get one thing very clear here, Mags,” I said and smoothed out the ridiculous dress with as much dignity as I could muster. “I’m not here for your Lord’s approval. We made a deal for him to help me. Once that’s done, I’ll never step foot in this place again.”
Her dark green lips curved into a coy smile. “Very well.” She snapped her fingers, and the door flew open. “Time to head down for dinner.”
She shoved me towards the doorway. “Where do I go?”
“Just follow your nose.”
Mags and her little team went left while I headed right down the long, winding hallways that seemed to never end. Lattie sat on my shoulder and curled into my hair.
“I can’t believe you have to come here every month,” Lattie hissed in my ear as we passed torches and statues and giant vases filled with plants I’d never seen before.
I groaned as my dress scraped along the stone floors. “As much as I hate to admit it, this might be my only option if I want to avoid turning everyone I love to…how did you describe it…heaping piles of charred flesh?”
Lattie let out a tiny harumph. “You’re a god among ants.”
I rolled my eyes as we took another turn. “I thought I was an annoying mortal who accidentally bound you to them.”
“You can be both.”
I laughed, grateful for how much it seemed to ease the tightness in my chest as I tried not to overthink what I was really doing. Wandering the gloomy halls of a castle in search of a dining room where a Dark Lord awaited to dine with me. I did as Mags said and followed my nose through a set of swinging doors, only it brought me to the giant kitchen.
Everyone in the room halted and turned to me with stunned expressions. Half a dozen Fae manned the kitchen; some with four arms, some stood on stools, while one towered almost to the ceiling. A stumpy, round Fae female with woody skin pointed a ladle at me.
“You lost, girl?”
Another moved toward me, licking their slimy lips as they gripped a giant cleaver dripping with yellow goo. “Have you come for dinner…or for dinner?”
He gestured to a giant boiling cauldron that hung over a fire in a stone wall. The others chuckled darkly as they all narrowed in on me, eliciting a violent hiss from Lattie and her tiny claws gripped my hair.
A hand touched my shoulder and spun me around. Sullivan, Oden’s brother, gave me a smirk.
“Dining room’s this way, Red,” he said and motioned for me to follow.
I gathered up the many layers of my hideous dress with a huff of annoyance and struggled to keep up with him. We left the doors swinging closed, boxing in the riot of laughter that ensued with my absence.
“You guys could at least give me a map for this place or something,” I said.
He chuckled lightly. “You’ll get used to it.”
His hair was tied back in a ponytail at the nape of his neck, but he wore what I’d always seen him in. Mundane black jeans and an old band T-shirt that looked like it’d been through the washer with rocks. His clunky leather boots echoed off the walls as we walked.
“I don’t plan to stick around long enough to get comfortable.”
He stopped outside two grand doors made of jade and etched with intricate black carvings and runes. “We’ll see.” He waggled his eyebrows and hauled open one of the doors.
I stood back and gawked at the gothic masterpiece that was the dining room. Like everything else in this castle, it was fit for a gothic king. Stone walls towered overhead, black chandeliers dangled from the ceiling at different heights, weighed down with a million candles. A long, rectangular table cut the middle of the space, made from dark, glossy wood. A centerpiece anchored the surface; a glorious mess of twisted branches and golden fruit with beautiful flowers I’d never seen before.
Oden sat at the head of the dining table. It was lined with black armchairs on either side, their backs done in a twisted design of black vines. A shadowy figure occupied one of the chairs to the right of Oden. No defining features to be seen, just pure, empty blackness. But two eyes blinked at me, and I knew where I’d seen it before.
In the Dark Forest.
“I brought a guest,” Sullivan said cheekily as he motioned to me and sauntered around to his seat to the left of his brother.
I remained in the doorway, Lattie nestled beneath my hair at the back of my neck.
Oden’s stormy gaze flashed across the room, almost…looking right through me. “It appears you’re not the only one, brother.” He gripped the air in front of him, and Lattie squealed as she was pulled from my neck and sucked right into his hand. He squeezed, and her little screeches made me cringe.
“Don’t hurt her!” I yelled.
Oden brought her to his face with a snarl. “Come to make trouble?”
“I’m here to watch Avery.” She chomped her teeth, narrowly missing his nose, then reared her head and bit down on his finger.
He shook her from his grasp, cursing under his breath, and she flew back to me at the far end of the table. Oden glared daggers at me as Sullivan snickered like a kid, and their guest sat unmovingly. I just narrowed my eyes at all of them.
“Why am I dressed like this?”
“You stay in my home; you’re expected to dress accordingly.”
“That wasn’t part of the bargain.”
Oden swiped a glass of red wine from the table and brought it to his grinning mouth. “You didn’t ask.”
I clenched my fists as my stomach twisted, that familiar and unwanted pressure of my power quickly growing. Sullivan had the right mind to look worried, but Oden clucked his tongue and waved his hand in the air in a pulling movement.
“We’ll have none of that at the dinner table, Miss Quinn,” he said with finality, and my magic snuffed out. “Now sit.”
My breathing quickened with panic as I slowly took my seat as far from the three of them as I could. I couldn’t control what lived in me, what belonged to me, but he could? That thought left me unnerved.
Oden and Sullivan engaged in conversation, just whispers from where I sat, while the kitchen staff brought out tray after tray and pitcher after pitcher, filling the table. Someone set a massive plate down in front of me, and I grimaced. Salmon? I grabbed a fluffy, buttery bun from a tray and lobbed off a bite while Lattie sniffed at my plate.
“You can have it,” I told her. “I hate salmon.”
Oden and Sullivan ignored me for the entirety of the meal. But not their guest. His insidious gaze was on me the whole time. An inky being swirling with whorls of utter blackness. The absence of everything. A void made into form.
I refused to show any fear in this place and just slumped in my chair as I ate bun after bun and engaged in a stare-down with it. Lattie shredded through my salmon, the smell enough to make me want to gag. But I kept my composure as I waited for this dinner to end so Oden could start teaching me magic.
But it never ended. It went on for hours as I filled my belly with bread and wine. Oden talked business and other things with his two guests, ignoring that I was even in the room. I couldn’t even catch his gaze.
“Sullivan,” Oden said a pitch louder, his plate long empty. “How goes operations at Umbra?”
Sullivan swiped a pitcher and filled his glass. “It’s fine.” He shot a look across the table at the dark entity. “If Misery kept his ilk in check, things would be much easier.”
Misery? That was its name?
The dark form shifted as if stretching shoulders it didn’t really have. “My ilk, as you call them, are not meant to be controlled. They are the deepest, darkest emotions of the living. They take, and they feed. What would you have me do?”
Sullivan took a long drink. “They’re only permitted to feed on emotions in Ironworld, and you know it.” He arched a bold brow at Misery. “If I find out any more of your kind have been feeding on human blood, I’ll have them banned to the Dark Forest for eternity.”
Misery slammed a shadowy fist on the table. “They’re already banned to the forest!”
Sullivan shot to his feet. “I created Umbra to siphon the energy you and your ilk need. Consider it a privilege, you fucking monster. You’re lucky my brother doesn’t burn that forest to the ground with you lot in it.”
Misery gave a harumph and a sly chuckle. “Our gracious Lord would never,” he said with a lip-licking noise. “He needs us as much as we need him. Perhaps more.”
My head swirled under the weight of all the wine, and I dragged my eyes across the table at Oden, expecting him to straighten out the discussion, but he was staring at me with a calculating look as he sipped from his chalice.
I quirked a brow, happy to finally have his attention. “Are we going to practice or not?”
He smirked and pulled a cigar from his jacket. I watched him bring it to his mouth, and he patiently lit it, puffing until the tip glowed red. I wanted to shoot from my chair and holler at him. But Lattie was asleep in my lap, and my head swirled with booze. So, I sat there all night while the three of them ate and talked more business I didn’t care about.
I later woke in a cold sweat. It was well past the middle of the night, and I had no memory of returning to my room. Or changing into pink silk pajamas. I groaned as I tucked the blankets around my chin and rolled over, almost squishing Lattie. My stomach wanted to heave, but it came in waves, and I waited it out until I finally fell into a deep sleep.
***
The bedroom door flung open, ripping me from the dead sleep. The side of my mouth was sticky, and Lattie must have been awake for a while because half my head was twisted into dozens of tiny braids. I wiped my face with the back of my hand. I’d commit awful things for a glass of water.
“Time to get up,” Mags declared and flung open the drapes. Sun barged into the room, blinding me. Lattie hissed and hid behind my back. “It smells like the cellar in here.”
That wasn’t early morning sun; it was definitely sometime in the afternoon. I’d already wasted an evening and a morning and learned absolutely nothing. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and waited out a wave of nausea.
Mags clucked her tongue at me. “Bastard.”
My brows pinched together. “What?”
“Nothing,” she replied and shook her head as she turned to the wardrobe. She rifled through the contents and pulled out a black dress that looked like it would choke me. “Go bathe.”
Her two sprites flew in, carrying trays of breakfast snacks. Muffins and fruit and coffee. I could have kissed them. I quickly made a coffee and headed to the bathroom, leaving Lattie to the food.
There was nothing but crumbs when I returned, but she fluttered over to me and held a muffin out as she blinked those giant black eyes at me. I bit into it. Cherries. Coffee settled in my stomach, and the bath had done some good, so I sat at the vanity without a fuss.
I sipped a second coffee in silence while Mags worked on my hair. She yanked and twisted and pulled my blood-red mane into a beautiful, intricate updo of braids that held a giant bun in place.
“Lord Oden is away on business this afternoon,” Mags told me. “But he’ll return this evening.”
I ripped my hair from her fingers and stood up. “What?”
“Lord Oden is away–”
“No, I heard you,” I said impatiently. “What is this? What’s happening here? Is this a trick of some kind?”
Mags steeled her expression and folded my dress over in her arms. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I came here because Oden promised to teach me magic, to control my powers. It was his idea. It’s the afternoon of day two, and all I’ve done is eat, drink, and sleep.” I slapped my hands at my sides. “And let you dress me up like a damn fool.”
“You have to trust our Lord has a plan,” she replied. “He always does.”
I scoffed. “Hard to trust a plan you’re not privy to.”
She took a few steps toward me and patted my arm with her long, green fingers. “I believe it’s called faith, dearie.”
I sulked while Mags finished my hair, then snapped her fingers to get me in the dress. A long matte black thing draped to the floor and swallowed my neck. The matching corset was so tight I could hardly breathe.
“Christ,” I huffed as I tugged at the boning. “Can we maybe loosen this thing? I enjoy breathing from time to time.”
Mags chortled and cleaned up her things, heading for the door as she beckoned her two minions. “Loosening a corset defeats the purpose of a corset, dearie.” She tucked her leather bag under her arm and opened the door. “You’re free to wander the castle until Lord Oden returns.”
She left the door open, so I waited a moment before I turned to Lattie. “Come here and help me get out of this damn thing.”
“The corset keeps the dress together,” she replied. “What other options do you have to wear? The witch took your mundane clothes.”
I fanned through the many garments in the wardrobe and realized they were all equally horrendous and constricting.
I bent over the back of the chair and groaned. “This place is going to be the death of me.”
“Let me help.” She flew behind me, and as her tiny but able fingers pulled and loosened the strings, I took a few deep breaths and made sure I could move without too much restraint. “Is that better?”
I twisted and turned my torso with ease, but the corset still held the dress in place. “Yeah, thanks.”
With nothing else to do, we roamed the mansion for the afternoon. Checking out other quarters, peeking inside offices and sitting rooms. I dared a pass by the kitchen when our stomachs grew hungry, but the same terrifying kitchen staff manned the area, and I didn’t want Lattie to end up on a platter.
We found a solarium that faced the courtyard, and we sat for a while with books we’d taken from one of the office bookshelves. I sat in a comfy oversized chair while Lattie rummaged every nook and cranny for bugs and mice with no luck.
The sun had begun to set over the distant horizon of forest tops, and candles automatically sprung to life with little flames around the room. I closed the book I’d been reading–something about the history of this region of Faerie and the various animal and plant life that thrived here.
Lattie flew over and ripped it from my grasp like a child in a tantrum. “I’m starving! Does this place not feed its guests?”
I rolled my eyes and laughed. “You ate my entire breakfast tray.”
A low growl rumbled in her tiny chest but was cut short as she sensed something in the room. She crawled up my chest and stood on my shoulder, glancing around with narrowed eyes.
“What is it?
“Shhh,” she hissed in my ear and sniffed the air. She lowered onto her haunches as her lips pulled back over her teeth and her narrowed eyes scanned the room like a hunting dog zeroing in on its find. “Something’s in here.”
Then I felt it. Swirling around my ankles, brushing against my leg. I dared a glance down. Black smoke crawled around the floor at my feet. Most of the candles blew out, leaving the room in the dank, orange glow of the slowly setting sun.
The black entity mixed with the dissipating smoke of the candles and crawled up my frozen body as Lattie swatted at it with her claws. The thing almost seemed to be…sniffing me. It reached my neck, and a yelp squeezed in my throat as it moved to my cheek and my ear, rustling in my hair, then coiled back down to the floor, where it slowly began to take form. It seemed to pull the darkness from the very shadows in the room, solidifying into some sort of strange shape. No, not a strange shape. A dog-like shape.
A jet-black dog sat at my feet, back straight, its giant paws tucked together as it blinked at me. One adorable, pointed ear twitched as it let out a little whine.
Shakily, I reached for its head. “Don’t eat my hand.” I smoothed my fingers over the silky fur between its ears, and the beast softened at my touch, inching closer and leaning into it. I chuckled and moved to the edge of my seat to scratch behind both ears. A warm tongue flicked out and left a slobbery kiss on my wrist. “Well, you’re just adorable. Where did you come from?”
Lattie seemed unnerved. She jumped off my shoulder and fluttered over to the window, searching for her next prey. I couldn’t tell if she were leery of the beast or just jealous. The dog put its whole weight against me as I pet it, its face nuzzling me, its hefty whip-like tail beating against the stone floor.
“What are you doing in here, Red?”
I spun and twisted in the chair. Sullivan stood in the doorway, glancing around as if he’d never seen the solarium before. No, more like he was seeing it for the first time in a long while.
“I was reading,” I replied and sat back down as he inched further into the room. Lattie had flown out one of the open windows, and the dog was gone. “Hey! How did you do that?”
“Do what?” he gave me a puzzled look but chased it away with a smirk. “Enter the room? I’m told I do make quite the entrance. Want me to do it again? This time I can back my way in so you can check out my ass.” He wiggled his hips, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“How are you so different from your brother?” I asked as he threw himself into the other oversized chair.
I liked Sullivan’s style. Grungy and almost mundane. Thin black suspenders held tight, stretchy black pants tucked into the tops of his high combat boots. A black t-shirt showed off a few tattoos on his arms. Nothing compared to Celadine’s artwork, but cool, nonetheless.
Sullivan kept glancing about the room as if studying an old friend. “Oden and I couldn’t be more different because we’ve lived different lives.”
“You spend a lot of time in Ironworld.”
He blinked at me. “How did you know?”
I shrugged and set the book I’d been reading on the coffee table between us. “I can just tell.”
“So, what have you done all day?” he asked as he took a cigarette from a metal tin and lit it with a match.
“You’re looking at it,” I said begrudgingly. “I wandered the castle for a bit, then sat here with some books for a few hours. Your brother is a terrible host and even worse teacher.”
Sullivan took a long drag, and I fanned away the smoke. He waved his hand, and it began wafting out the window. Jealousy seethed in my veins. I wanted to be able to do that.
“Yeah, he’ll be back later this evening. He had some pressing matters to tend to.”
“More pressing than upholding his end of a gilded promise?”
He chuckled and tapped his cigarette on an ashtray that appeared on the table. “You have no idea, Red.”
I raised my chin. “Enlighten me.”
He took one more long puff and snuffed it out in an ashtray that appeared on the coffee table. “How about I feed you instead?”
Lattie suddenly appeared on the window sill like a dog that had just heard its food dish rattle, and I rolled my eyes. “Fine.”
He brought us down to the kitchen, and I sighed in relief when I saw that it was empty. The staff had long gone home, and everything was tidy and spotless. I lingered near the door as Sullivan raided the fridge and cupboard.
And something occurred to me. “How is it powered? I thought technology wasn’t a thing here.”
“It’s not,” he replied, his hands stacked with a tray of meats, cheeses, and fruits. A bottle of wine tucked under one arm. He tapped his boot against the side of the fridge, and it shimmered as though covered with a mirage. “It’s magic that cools it. Some enchantment from the Winter Lord.”
That perked my interest. I’d heard so little of the chilly domain we suspected Julie came from. “You know the Winter Lord?”
He shook his head and tucked a baguette under his chin. “I’ve never met the guy. Sounds like a real piece of work if you ask me. But my brother met him once.” He paused for a moment, staring off. “It was my father who truly knew him. They were allies once upon a time.”
“What happened?” I asked.
Sullivan rolled his eyes with a raspy chuckle. “That’s a long story.” He motioned to a cupboard near my head. “Grab two glasses, would ya?”
I exchanged a glance with Lattie, who never left my side, and plucked two large, stemless wine glasses from the cupboard before following Sullivan through the kitchen, the dining room, and a set of patio doors that opened onto an outdoor living room. I was grateful for the weather here. I didn’t miss the bite of early winter in Ironworld.
The full moon shone bright and blaring, like a flashing neon sign of a reminder of what I’d gotten myself into. Sullivan set the food down on a coffee table between two black wicker chairs, and I sat in one of them.
“This was a waste of my time.”
“I assure you it’s not,” he said and poured me a glass of wine before taking a swig from the bottle. “Whatever my brother is doing or planning, have some faith in him.”
“Have some faith in him?” I guffawed as I picked at the cheeses. “Why should I even believe you? You tossed me at the feet of vampires and nearly got me killed. And your brother… He hired Evaine to hunt me down like a dog and somehow convinced me to let him train me, which he’s yet to do.”
His face paled, and he took another long swig. “I’m sorry about that. I had no idea who you were then.”
I stuffed cheese and bread to the side of my mouth. “I’m not anyone.”
“Sure, Red,” he chuckled softly. “Sure.”
Did they know who I really was? I didn’t dare ask.
Lattie flew off with smoked sausage. “I don’t want to wander the halls of a castle in a stupid dress, like a fucking extra on the Addams Family. I just want to learn to control my magic and get the hell out of here.”
“Well, what can you do?”
I stuffed more cheese in my mouth and lobbed off a bite of ham. “I can call,” I said between chewing and taking a sip of wine. “And I can travel through water.” When he seemed impressed, I added, “I mean to a couple of locations…in Ironworld.”
He laughed, but I didn’t get the sense he was laughing at me. “Oden will help you master that burning sun, I promise. But it will take time. Be patient.”
Cillian’s face flashed through my mind. “I’m not sure how long I can keep coming here.”
He drank some more and leaned down to swipe a handful of grapes. I’d already eaten half the cheese.
“Well, what else do you want to learn?” he asked.
I brightened. “Wisping. I want to learn to wisp. I’ve tried and failed miserably.” And try as I might, I couldn’t replicate what I’d done the other night.
He gave me a curious look. “You can water travel, and now you want to learn to wisp? I’m offering to teach you some real magic here. Why the need to be mobile, Red? You live in Ironworld. Just drive, take the bus, a cab.”
“It’s not that easy for me,” I replied, my cheeks flushing with warmth. “I don’t do so well in enclosed vehicles. Cars, buses, cabs, you name it. They make my head swim and my stomach heave. That’s why I ride a bike.”
He nodded. “That makes sense.”
“What?”
“Cars, buses, trains,” he said and paced in front of me. “They’re iron cages. And you’re–”
“Part Fae.” The realization washed over me, nearly taking the breath from my lungs. All this time, all my life, that’s why it affected me so much. I wasn’t prone to motion sickness. Some dormant part of me knew they were magical traps. I steeled myself and set down my glass as I stood from the chair. “Teach me to wisp.”
And so, he did. Or…tried, at least. Midnight was fully upon us when I collapsed on the ground with a groan, covered in sweat.
“It’s hopeless,” I muttered from beneath the arm I’d flung over my face as I lay on the grass.
Sullivan’s boots toed my leg with a friendly nudge. “You’re getting it, Red. You just wisped a whole ten feet.”
I pushed against the cool grass and sat up, glaring at him. “Don’t mock me.”
He held up both hands. “I would never.”
“What am I doing wrong?” I asked. “Is it because I’m not fully Fae?”
“Nah,” he replied and offered me an arm. I grabbed it and pulled myself to my feet. “You can do it. You’re just scared. You’re not visualizing where to go.”
“But I am.”
“Yeah, but you’re only visualizing what you can already see in front of you,” he explained. “If you want to wisp to the other side of the castle, you have to see it, feel it, smell it. As if you’re already there.”
“But I don’t know what it really looks like over there,” I said. “Everything here is foreign to me.”
“Try again. Visualize a room or place you have been here and can remember well. Feel it, smell it, hear it.”
I sighed and closed my eyes as I rifled through the images in my mind. My quarters, the kitchen, the dining room, the solarium, the throne room… Flashes of the explosion made my heart race. Then the memory of being thrown from the rubble and landing on the grass. I tried to stop it, but it played in my mind like a movie. The feel of stone and dust against my face, the smooth grass sliding beneath me, the branches of the Dark Forest whipping at my skin as I ran. And then, that familiar feeling of being sucked through space and time.
No…no, no, no!
I peeled open my eyes to find myself surrounded by dense forest.
“Shit.”
I’d wisped right into the heart of the Dark Forest, right to the very spot I ran to on that fateful night Evaine dragged me to the Domain of Nightmares.
How did I do that? I clenched my fists, closed my eyes, and concentrated on visualizing Sullivan standing on the patio. But nothing happened. I tried again. Nothing.
Emotions flooded my body–were forced into my body, and every ounce of happiness spewed from me. I wanted to die. And just as quickly as it came, it was gone.
I leaned against a tree and gasped for air.
“I don’t recall inviting you to my home,” a slick voice said as shadows moved around my feet. Misery. “Come to play with me and my friends, have you?”
“No,” I replied and spun on my heel, but something held me in place. “I accidentally wisped here. I’m just leaving.” Damn it, how did I do it? How did I wisp?
Inky whorls of darkness swirled up from my feet, wrapping me in shadows.
“Why the rush?” Misery asked with a fox-like sneer. He manifested in front of me, and those unearthly eyes blinked madly. He was like the boogeyman brought to life. “I wonder what our mighty Lord of Nightmares might do if his precious guest was returned with her eyeballs missing.” I felt an invisible claw gently rake across my cheek. “Or her tongue.” He put his mouth to my ear and purred darkly, sending a rush of unwanted goosebumps over my skin. Claws sliced my dress across the boning of my corset, nicking the skin of my stomach, and all I could do was let out a stifled wince. He chuckled evilly. “Or her fragile, mortal innards.”
I couldn’t figure out how to wisp, but I knew how to call upon my power. Controlling it was another story. But I didn’t have a choice. I had to get away.
My magic yawned awake and blossomed in my hands, burning away the shadows. They absorbed into Misery, and he took on a more human form. He was still all black, even his eyes, but his features sharpened to that of a man, and he grabbed me by the throat.
My magic sputtered out as I gasped for breath and clawed at his wrist. He squeezed harder and harder, and a low and hollow chuckle floated out of him.
The sky cleaved with lightning, and something dropped from above. No, not something…someone. Oden. He roared and shook with anger as the ground rumbled. Misery let me go and shadows leaked from him like an oil spill, each one taking on a solid form and encircling the two of us.
Oden grabbed my arm and hauled me behind him. I wanted to protest, wanted to scream to let me help, but a bolt of light formed in his hand, and he held it out as it shaped into a white, glowing scythe. He took one giant swing and cut every single shadow being in half. Their unnatural screams pierced the sky, and Misery stood just a few feet back, hunched over in rage.
Oden pointed the scythe at him. “You have three seconds before I banish you to a sunny pasture somewhere.”
Misery gestured to speak, and Oden slammed the bottom of the staff on the ground, shaking everything around us. The shadow creature fled, and the Dark Lord turned to me with an unreadable expression, his chest heaving under a half-opened black shirt and charcoal vest.
My mind raced with questions. “What are those things?”
The glowing weapon was gone, and he smoothed back a few stray white hairs as he towered over me. “Syphons. They can produce and feed on all the darkest emotions while dissolving all that makes you happy. Misery, Grief, Fear, Vengeance, Anger, Sorrow. The list goes on.” Oden eyed me up and down. “You must have been a beacon for them. All those human emotions fluttering about.”
“How–how did you find me?”
He wriggled his wrist, showing off golden rings, all gilded promises. “The bargain includes that no harm would come to you. So, when harm was coming, my wrist burned, and I followed the bargain to you.”
I digested that as I thought of something else. The glowing scythe, he’d just made it out of thin air. No, out of light, just like I had once and haven’t been able to replicate since.
The storm in his eyes began to settle, his breathing calm. “How did you end up so far into the forest?”
“I accidentally wisped.”
“Accidentally?”
“How did you do it?” I asked, bypassing the amused look he was giving me.
“Do what?”
“The blade… You made a solid thing from nothing.”
Oden grinned coyly. “Not nothing. It’s my power, my darkness, my…I guess you could say it’s moonlight, to be exact. It flows in me like a living thing and can be manipulated into whatever I want it to be. Just like your light.”
He formed the scythe again, and I marveled at it. He was right. It was moonlight. I stepped back as it morphed into a sword, two swings and it was a lasso. He roped it over me, tightening it around my body, constricting my arms and lungs. The look in his eyes said one thing, be afraid. I dare you.
I only grinned up at him. “Show me.”