Chapter Seven
Rez had steam coming out his nose or the nearest thing to it. He stood by the pool, a lit cigar in hand. He’d only had two puffs before the bastard started in.
“Don’t be so damn defensive. Just admit you should have returned to the Guard.”
“I had better things to do.”
“Like hiding out in the backwoods while other men, men of real courage, served Tannisford? We lost good men in our battle against the Ancient Fae. You weren’t there.”
Rez’s nostrils flared as he took a step closer to Stone. “You’re a prick, you know that? A Goddess be-damned, self-righteous prick. You’re just pissed because Rosamunde wanted me that night. And I could have had her.”
Stone launched at him and Rez was ready. He blocked Stone’s punch then threw his own but it never connected.
Instead, it was as though his arm shoved through several layers of thick clouds. His momentum, however, carried him forward and the next thing he knew he was rolling on the ground, yet not the ground.
He was on the floor, but nothing he recalled from Stone’s house.
He looked up and saw Holly. Her eyes glinted. “I’m going to have all kinds of trouble with you, aren’t I?”
Still on the floor, he looked around. The air was blurred. “You took me into the continuum again. What am I doing here and where is here?”
“My house in the mountains.”
“What the hell? Take me back to Stone’s house. Now. I have business with that asshole.” He rose to his feet. His face felt tight and pinched and his hands kept making fists.
“Not until you calm the hell down.” She turned and waved her arm. The blurriness disappeared and he was fully in the present.
But she hadn’t returned him to Stone’s house.
The need to finish things with Stone had him pacing. He wanted to leave, but he couldn’t teleport and he had no idea where he was. He hadn’t been to Holly’s house before. “So, this is your home.”
“It is. Would you like another drink? I, too, have a fine single malt, though not Houndstreath.”
She moved away from him toward the left then disappeared behind a wall. He realized he was in a large stone foyer and the door was behind him. Opposite was a long hall with a bank of skylights that angled down a pitched ceiling. He could see stars.
To the left was a living room and to his right, a large kitchen and dining room that opened to a vista of forest. “You really do live in the mountains.”
“I do.” He couldn’t see her, but he could hear the clinking sounds of glass as she prepared a drink.
She peaked around the corner then jerked her head in the direction of the hall. “There’s a guest bedroom and bath down there. My art studio and my fae workshop as well.
She stepped into view and waggled a tumbler at him. “More scotch?”
He nodded, but couldn’t seem to move. He had a strange mixture going on in his blood. He had too much adrenaline from a broken-up fight and confusion from having been time-pathed to an unfamiliar environment. He wanted to punch something.
When she rocked the glass again and offered a smile, he finally put his feet in motion. He all but grabbed the glass and took a deep swig. He’d been smoking a cigar. He wondered where it had gone to and what kind of apologetic note he’d need to send to Rosamunde.
Damn all the elf-lords to hell.
Fine.
Whatever.
As he moved into the living room, he was impressed. The ceiling was very tall, at least fifteen feet and angled to another bank of windows that had an incredible forest view. Her home sat on a hilltop and the Tannisford forest rolled in the distance for miles and miles. The opposite peaks were still capped with snow. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so beautiful, Holly. This must be a custom home and it must have cost a damn fortune.”
“It would have, but I did a lot of the framing and sheet work, even some of the flooring. I only used a troll contractor when I needed him. I did have him do the roof and sometimes we’d work together. But I did most of the interior work myself, including the plumbing and electrical. Well, not the rough work. I’m on a septic system.”
He frowned as he turned to stare at her. “You’re serious. You built this house?”
She turned and poured whisky from a decanter into a second glass. “I refuse to be offended. I loved every second of it. The experience was worth all the torn nails, cuts, bruises and wrecked work boots.
He noticed a hallway beyond the bank of windows. “What’s over there, past the fireplace?”
She turned to look. “The master. It’s not big, though the closet’s a good size. But it suits me.”
A couch sat opposite the windows and a stone fireplace flanked the wall shared by the master bedroom.
She moved closer. “Feeling better yet?”
He pivoted toward her and watched her eyes sparkle with amusement as she brought her tumbler to her lips.
He took another hefty swig. “Not yet.” His gaze was caught by a modern painting above the table that held three decanters. “This looks familiar.” It was an abstract of an oak tree, beautiful, rugged, dramatic. For a long moment, he couldn’t keep his eyes off it. He saw movement as well, like wind through the leaves.
“I’ve seen this before. Somewhere.”
“Probably my father’s office if you were ever there. I believe you might have taken a class of his?”
“I did.”
“The two paintings are similar. I worked on them at the same time to explore some of the technique. But I took each a different direction depending on my mood.”
He turned toward her, his mouth agape. He waved his glass toward the two-foot-high painting. “Wait a minute. You did this?”
“Why do you look so surprised? No, shocked. You don’t think very much of me, do you?”
He held her gaze, but remained silent, considering. “You’ve had an easy life, Holly.”
“I know I’m young by Realm standards, but I don’t know anyone’s life that’s easy. And my father didn’t exactly pamper his children.” For whatever reason, her lips curved. “Did you really call the ruling Mastyr of Tannisford a prick?”
He chuckled. “Guess I did.”
“And didn’t the same man once beat the crap out of you?” She sipped her whisky again. “So, what made you so mad?”
He stared into his glass, his jaw working all over again. “He pushed me about not having gone back to the Guard.”
She turned so that she faced him fully. “So, why didn’t you?”
He saw and felt the accusation, same as Stone. He’d been asked that question a hundred times. He responded as he always did. “I had better things to do.”
“Like riding your bike?”
“My Harley? That’s one of them.”
“Whoring?”
“That’s definitely another one and I won’t apologize for it. I like women.”
He expected her to give him a dressing down, instead she frowned.
“What is it this time?”
She shook her head. “Something my father once said to me.” She seemed reluctant to continue.
“Spill it. I respect Professor McCrae”
She appeared to think for a moment, then shrugged. “He believes a man who chases a lot of women has a hole in his heart so deep all his realm goodness has started to leak out.”
He finished his whisky and set the tumbler on the console by the decanters. He squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his forehead.
He didn’t want the memories to come but they rushed over him anyway like a tsunami, like they always did, just as they’d done earlier at Stone’s house. He could still smell the bodies of his dead sons burning on the pyre. Their throats had been torn out viciously.
“Rez, I’m sorry.” He felt her hand on his arm.
“What are we going to do here? You and me?”
“I don’t know.”
He glanced around the room and turned toward the fireplace. His gaze fell on the rough thick dark wood mantel and the surround. “Did you do the stone work?”
“No. I had –”
She broke off. When he turned to look at her, waiting for her to finish her sentence, she had two fingers pressed to her lips and her cheeks flamed. What the hell?
He glanced back at the stone work. Suddenly, he understood and his face eased into a smile. One of Oregis’s side businesses was stone-masonry but the labor wasn’t exactly legal. Or the materials, for that matter.
“Well, well, well. So, the professor’s daughter has feet of clay.”
Her color only deepened. “I’m not proud of it. She stared up at the ceiling. Her gaze refused to return to his.”
He started to laugh and couldn’t seem to stop. “Oregis uses illegals from the U.S. He smuggles them across the Access Point by paying huge bribes to the officials on both sides.”
She sighed heavily. “I couldn’t have afforded it, otherwise.”
He glanced around. “Wait a minute.” He even moved back into the hallway and stared at the kitchen. “That’s not a cheap fridge you’ve got humming back there.”
“Okay, you got me. I buy a lot of stuff on the black market. Because you’re right. I teach two classes a week plus I sometimes run workshops in mixed media. My income’s a bit thin. You don’t need gloat.”
“I’m thinking maybe I do. But I have to say I like you better for it.”
“Well, lucky me.
He laughed outright “How did you meet Oregis, anyway?”
Her lips formed a soft twist and her hands slid behind her back. She rocked on her heels. She then cast her gaze toward the floor. No not the floor. Her feet.
He got it. “You buy shoes on the black market.”
“My budget isn’t small. It’s cramped.”
He drew closer and caught her softly pointed fae chin. “You do it because it’s exciting and different. You can’t fool me, Holly. You’re a secret rebel.”
~ ~ ~
Holly glared at Rez. “No. I’m not.”
He didn’t say anything to her protest. He just grinned.
The trouble was, the smile on his face of pure amusement made him look young. For a moment, she saw the kid he must have been. The errant thought wiggled through her mind: When do we lose our youthful enthusiasm? Our innocence?
She knew when life shifted for Rez, of course. The night his family was killed and his daughter abducted. She’d read of the brutality in the newspapers. His loss had been severe.
Her own had as well with the death of her brother. He’d been dismembered by several Invictus pairs, tortured in fact. Very few people knew the truth.
She and Rez had two things in common. They had loved ones savaged by wraith-pairs and they were both connected to the black market. Three, when she thought about it. Each appreciated her father’s writings.
Was he right? Was she a rebel?
She’d never thought of herself in those terms. But maybe there was a grain of truth. She supposed he’d only meant to tease her, but here she was, taking the whole statement apart and holding it up to the light.
When she’d healed Rez the first time, his face had been unrecognizable. Mastyr Stone had truly beaten him within an inch of his life. Later, the bartender at the Wild Boar, Wanda, had related the sequence of events to her. Stone had come through the door like a Valkyrie on a mission of vengeance. Rosamunde and Rez had been quickly working their way to taking their clothes off in front of the Goddess and everyone when Stone burst in.
A wave of his power had swept through the bar and he’d attacked Rez. As big and as powerful as Rez was, the surprise and viciousness of the attack incapacitated him. He’d never had a chance, despite his size. Stone might be slightly taller, but Rez’s shoulders had greater breadth. And Holly would know. She’d held onto them when he’d pinned her to the oak.
For a few seconds, her mind dropped down that rabbit hole. She became lost in the memory of having sex with him. Little lightning-like shivers chased over her body. She could feel his cock inside her.
“Holly?”
Her gaze snapped to his. “What?” A warm flush covered her cheeks, but she wasn’t embarrassed this time.
He drew close. “What’s going on in your head because right now the whole room smells like your scent. You know the fragrance of geraniums? It’s edgy yet sweet. But it’s you, as well. I’m not saying I don’t like it because I do. But I’m not sure it’s what you want or what either of us should be doing right now.”
She stared at him. “Rez –?” But the rest of the words were hard to find.
He frowned suddenly and planted his hands on her shoulders. “What’s wrong?”
“Vojalie said something to me and I have to pay attention to it. I know I’ve expressed my dislike that you didn’t return to the Guard. But she also said it seemed to her I trusted you on an instinctive level.”
“Why would she say that?”
“Because of the oak tree. I mean, what we did against that tree, what you did to me... I’ve never done that before in my life. I’ve never been one to hop into bed. Ever.”
“Wait a minute. You told Vojalie we had sex?”
She chewed on the inside of her cheek. “Sorry. But at the time, it seemed important.”
“Did she disapprove?”
“No, not at all. I did.”
“Your standards again?”
He eased the grip on her shoulders, but he didn’t let her go. His touch was warm and comforting.
This time, his dark unruly scent filled the room. Her breath caught as she held the eucalyptus and thyme fragrances in her nostrils and took apart the strong, erotic layers.
As she stared into his eyes, as she felt his hands on her shoulders, what was blood rose came alive all over again. How easy it would be to fall into bed with him.
He leaned into her and sniffed her neck, her face, the line of her throat. A soft rumbling growl returned as he switched to telepathy. I can smell your blood, Holly.
She planted a hand on his chest and gave a gentle push. She didn’t want to disconnect completely, but she needed to tell him something.
When he drew back, and with his hands still on her shoulders, she held his gaze. “I want your protection, Rez.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Of all the things you could have said right now, I wasn’t expecting that. What exactly do you mean?”
She found it hard to breathe. “I have a terrible feeling that I will be hunted by another mastyr vampire, someone vile. And the part of me that is a blood rose will respond without discrimination. I’m frightened of that possibility. Will you protect me?”
“Of course, I will.”
“Are you sure, Rez?”
“You don’t think I’m up for it? Not as strong as, say, Stone?”
She shook her head and wrinkled her nose. “Well, no. That’s not it.”
“Is he not good enough, either, Holly? A ruling mastyr?” Rez’s lips curved. There was nothing malicious in his expression. He seemed amused.
She had to think for a moment. “I guess I always saw myself with a fae. That’s all I’ve ever dated. Not that I’ve dated all that much. How about you?”
“I’ve dated. A lot.”
“No. I mean what was your wife like?”
At that his smile dimmed. “She was lovely. A good woman. An excellent mother.”
“Was she a vampire?”
“She was.”
Holly wondered if sex with a vampire always included the sharing of blood. The thought of it caused her gums to throb in two specific, very vampire-like places. She thought it odd and wondered why she was experiencing a vampire teething process. Maybe it was her imagination.
He released her fully. “I will protect you. I know enough about this phenomenon to understand how attractive you’ll be to other mastyrs. I’ve been there.
“The problem is, I don’t see where this is going, either. Why have you and I come together? It makes no sense. You want someone no doubt more like your father, an intellectual, a fae. As for myself, I don’t want anyone.”
Holly had always loved the why of things. For her, it was the most intriguing part of any situation. Why does anyone fall in love? Is it to procreate? To meet the deepest needs of the other?
When she dated, she often engaged in the why questions with her man. Of course, the hardest ‘why’ to ever answer was always the same: Why did she keep breaking up with the men in her life? Why were the men she dated never good enough? And even sometimes the worst one of all: Why was she never satisfied?
Now, Rez had come into her life. So, why was he here, of all men?
She grew very still as another question rose to mind. Was her desire for him only because she was a blood rose?
~ ~ ~
“Why are you looking at me like that?” She appeared as though a strong wind had blown across her face for about an hour.
Her brows rose. “Like what?”
“Like you’re stunned, but curious at the same time.”
“Do you think the Goddess or Fate or whatever wanted us to come together?”
“I was never big on the concept of destiny.”
At that precise moment, the air rippled near the wall of windows. Rez reached instinctively and pulled Holly behind him. He bent his knees wishing like hell he had a weapon with him. Even so, he began winding up his battle energy preparing to fight.
He felt Holly’s hand on his back. Though he’d only experienced the continuum a couple of times, he recognized her time-pathing vibration.
Not yet, he pathed. Let’s see who’s decided to pay us a visit.
Two realm persons arrived, both familiar: Davido and Oregis. The latter had his back to the room. He was floating in the air in front of Davido.
Rez relaxed and dialed down his battle energy. He would have offered his greetings, but his forest gremlin foreman appeared to be in the middle of an argument with Davido.
Forest gremlins were the smallest of all realm-folk and generally despised unless you really got to know them. “And I said I refused to go. I was headed to the black market where I thought he’d gone. I wanted to find out for myself if he was dead or not.”
Davido extended his arm in Rez’s direction.
Oregis shifted his gaze to Rez. His thin eyebrows rose. “Well, what do you know. The grapevine got it wrong. You’re not dead at all. But you’re supposed to be.”
Rez had no idea what Oregis was talking about. He would have asked, but Holly moved past him. “Oregis. Davido. Though I’m not sure what has brought you here, welcome to my home.”
She leaned down to embrace Davido first, then shook Oregis’s small hand.
He was tall for a forest gremlin at eighteen inches and a full-grown, full-blooded male. He had a familiar glint in his eye as he bowed over Holly’s fingers and kissed her hand.
Oregis cut a dashing figure in brown suede hip boots, tan leathers and a black vest. He had long black hair. He wore the front section braided to hang in front of large, pointed ears that added another four inches to his overall height. His eyes were coal black, his complexion suntanned. He had no aversion to sunlight. He was muscular, compact and sexed up all the time.
There wasn’t a forest gremlin around who didn’t know just how to provoke another realm male.
As Holly turned to speak with Davido, Oregis moved in close to Holly. Behind her back, he humped his hips a couple times and winked at Rez when he did it.
Unfortunately, Rez’s blood rose craving had put him off-kilter and he launched at Oregis. He didn’t make contact, however, because he found a sudden wall of power as Davido simply waved his arm. Rez hit the field of energy and fell to the floor.
“What the hell?”
He leaped to his feet ready to do battle once more, but Holly cried out, “Rez, what are you doing and would you please dial it down? You’re battle energy is burning my face.”
He saw her horror-stricken eyes then glanced at his hands. They were white hot and ready to fire. Only Davido’s enormous power had kept him from killing Oregis.
“Damn.” He kept staring at his hands as though they didn’t even belong to him.
Oregis, secure in Davido’s protection, levitated to sit on the troll’s shoulder. He crossed his booted legs at the knee and grinned like the devil he was.
Davido rose in the air so he could meet Rez eye-to-eye.
Oregis smirked. “A little short-tempered are we, Mastyr? You need to get laid.”
“Why aren’t you at the mine, is what I want to know.”
Holly drew close. “What mine?”
Oregis glanced at Holly. “Lover boy owns a ruby mine and I manage it for him. He’s a catch. You’d do well to nab him right quick.” When Holly turned to stare at Rez, Oregis made a circle with his hand, winked again, then shoved his finger through the hole back and forth several times.
Rez could feel his battle energy warming up again. But Davido intervened.
He slapped a hand on Rez’s shoulder. “Ignore him. We have much more important things to discuss like how you and Holly are going to stay alive for the next two nights.”
Rez scowled. Davido wasn’t fae. He didn’t have abilities to see into the future. Or if he did, he’d never mentioned them.
“Do you know something I don’t? Did Vojalie have a vision?”
Davido had counseled him after the loss of his family. He’d also encouraged him to keep looking for his daughter. His drive to find her had been one of the reasons he hadn’t rejoined the Guard. He needed to be free at a moment’s notice to head to any of the other Nine Realms to search for her, though often in morgues.
The black market had become a family of sorts. At the smallest whiff of a rumor, they’d send word to him about any vampire female seen, dead or alive, in a wraith-pairing. Until the final battle against Margetta, he’d head to a different realm every night.
Davido waved a hand to the couch, gesturing for all of them to sit down. They had details to discuss.
Rez glanced Holly’s direction and saw the tightness of her shoulders and the way she compressed her lips. He was used to battle, but Holly knew none of it. He recalled seeing her weeping at Stone’s house. He had to keep reminding himself she wasn’t just a rookie, she was a fae artist who liked building things and teaching her classes. She wasn’t exactly built for war.
He sat down beside her, slid his arm around her shoulders and gave a squeeze. “Listen, Holly. We’re in this together. And you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”
“Like you, not serving in the Guard.”
For the first time, he didn’t hear nearly so much judgment in her voice. “Yes, exactly like that. We all have a part to play. At the same time, we each must do what we believe is right for ourselves. Beyond that, the world can suck it.”
Oregis, now perched on Davido’s shoulder, screwed his lips in Davido’s direction. “This isn’t going very well.”
Davido took his time sitting down to make sure he didn’t unseat Oregis, then smiled. “My friend, I think this is progressing just fine.” The three ridges of his forehead were barely rumpled and his blue eyes glowed. His thick wavy brown hair was combed straight back. He wore expensive Italian loafers, a red silk shirt, and tailored pants. He was ugly as sin, yet his charisma lit up the room.
Rez addressed his foreman. “What did you mean you wanted to see if I was alive?”
“Right. I was sitting in my favorite jump seat at Dinah’s when, a couple tables down, some messed up shifter said, ‘Heard Rez bought it out at Boylbury.’ I choked on my bloody Mary.”
Rez didn’t know what to make of this. How could a rumor like that even get started? It didn’t make sense. “There was a battle on Main Street, but no, I’m not dead.”
Oregis turned to Holly. “Speaking of bloody Mary’s, have you got some tomato juice?”
“I do.”
But when Holly moved to get up, Rez put a hand on her knee. “Forget that for now. This isn’t a social call.”
Davido confirmed his statement. “No, it’s not.” He leaned back enough to give Oregis a scolding frown.
“What? I didn’t get to finish my drink because you showed up with your tale of the apocalypse then you brought me here.”
Rez ignored the gremlin and addressed Davido. “What apocalypse?”
“Our gremlin friend exaggerates.”
“Oh, yeah?” Oregis called out. “How else would you interpret, in your words, “Then the Nine Realms will cease to exist as we know it.’”
Holly broke in, “Davido, what’s going on? I’m sure Vojalie must have told you that Rez killed five wraith-pairs in Boylbury and two more pairs in Millerell.”
He nodded solemnly. “She did.”
Rez rose to his feet. “You’d better give us some answers. Now. What the hell is going on? What has happened in the past fifteen minutes, because Holly and I haven’t been here longer than that.”
“After you left, we reached a consensus. First, none of us knows what’s going on, where the wraith-pairs came from or why there seem to be regular realm-folk taking on wraith characteristics. But your near-death in Millerell then five wraith-pairs showing up out of nowhere in your home village, tell us something critical is in play and that you and Holly are at the center of it.”
Holly asked, “But no vision from the Sidhe Fae Council or even your wife?”
Davido had never looked more solemn. “Only one. From Vojalie.” When he turned to stare at Holly, Rez felt a kind of dread he hadn’t known in a long time.
He sat back down, closer to Holly than before.
When Davido didn’t speak, it was Holly who broke the tension. “In the past two years, when I’ve studied time-pathing with Vojalie, I guess I knew it wouldn’t just be for fun.”
“No, Holly. It’s not.”
“So, what you’re suggesting by your careful avoidance of your real point is that I’ll be putting my life on the line, but to do what? And stop trying to protect me. My father might be a fae intellectual, but my mother is a vampire. Understand? And I built this damn house, so get on with it. Spit it out.”
Oregis, still perched on Davido’s shoulders, crossed his arms over his chest and grinned. “I’ve always liked her. She’s my kind of woman. Reminds me of my wife. Got strength, that one.” He glanced at his watch. “BTW, gang, I’ve got an appointment in a few.”
Davido didn’t respond to Oregis’s announcement. Instead, he glanced from Rez to Holly. “That’s just it. We don’t know. It’s going to be your job, if you’re willing, to find out exactly what this latest threat is. You’ll need to work together, that’s clear. But it’s Vojalie’s opinion and mine that a dark fae or even several of them working together, have been blocking the Fae Council’s ability to receive useful visions and intuitions about the future. Whatever is going on, it’s been extremely well-shielded.
“Tonight, however, they’ve tipped their hand with the poison attack on Rez then sending five wraith-pairs to Boylbury. Whoever they are, whatever their purpose, they’re serious.
“What we do know is that Underworld is involved.”
Rez leaned back in his seat. Underworld. It was the name for the darkest part of the black market and inhabited by the most powerful of the dark fae and other realm-folk attached to them. These folk engaged in the worst kinds of black market enterprises. Holly’s shoes and Oregis’s illegal workers were one thing. But Underworld trafficked in drugs and people, both human and realm.
“So, what do you say, Rez, Holly? Will you head into Underworld and see if you can figure out who the enemy is and what they’re up to?”
Rez felt a cold spot form dead center in his chest. He’d gotten within forty feet of the entrance to Underworld once and had to turn back. He’d never felt so much evil in his life.
One of Oregis’s friends had guided him there, a place heavily misted. Confusion had set in and made him almost delirious. He’d promised himself he’d never return, never again get that close to the place.
Yet, he was uniquely qualified to gather intel because of his proximity to the black market. He had dozens of contacts through the realms. He knew the back doors to all kinds of places. He was the right man for the job.
But Underworld.
~ ~ ~
Holly had heard of Underworld, but she’d never seen it. Even the black market only sat at the fringes. In fact, she’d never really believed it existed as a physical space.
“Let me understand. Even with all the work Vojalie and I have done together, she never spoke of Underworld as an actual place with a physical location. I’d always thought of it as a term used to encompass any realm-folk who happened to be involved with dark forces. Or if anything, I thought it was another word for the worst parts of the black market. You’re saying it exists, in real time and space?”
Davido had never looked more solemn and the hard look in his eye scared her. Usually, his blue eyes shone with so much humor and good-will she couldn’t help but be drawn to him. Right now, she didn’t know what to think.
“Underworld is a location and there’s one in each realm. The vilest elements of our world and from earth frequent these establishments. But they are guarded with every manner of dark fae ingenuity possible.”
“Can’t Mastyr Stone and his Guard go in and clean it out?”
Davido shook his head slowly and Oregis mimicked him, but not for humor’s sake. The forest gremlin appeared equally solemn and his large pointed ears twitched.
“Why not?” She knew her voice sounded shrill, but she’d never been so frightened in her life.
She was fae. Very, very, very fae. She was feeling it now, as well, the future heading toward her like the proverbial freight train.
Sometimes the sensitive elements of her genetics could be so raw from sensation and feeling, she would sit trembling for half an hour. What she sensed now, as she opened those same sensors, was a darkness she’d never felt before. She’d only experienced something similar earlier when she saw the dark fae inject Rez with the poison.
She shifted her gaze to Oregis. “So, the black market isn’t part of Underworld?”
He shook his head. “We might be a thieving lot. But most of us have a code we adhere to especially concerning Underworld. But there are some, even among my kind, who prefer the more addictive aspects of the place.”
“Have you ever seen it?”
“No. Don’t want to. Sometimes gremlins go in. Mostly, they don’t come out.”
“Have you ever seen the entrance?”
“Hell, no. It’s said that once you’ve seen it, it’s too late.”
“How do we even go looking for it then?”
Both Davido and Oregis remained silent.
She realized Rez hadn’t been saying much. As she turned toward him slightly, she sensed something different. His gaze was narrowed and fixed on the opposite bank of windows or maybe the rolling forest and snow clad peaks beyond. He seemed deep in thought.
Rez?” She wanted him to come back. She needed him here, in the conversation.
She repeated his name with a sharper tone.
Though he finally turned to look at her, she could tell his thoughts were fixed elsewhere. His words illuminated what he was thinking. “I know what we have to do.”
“What’s that?”
“We need to go into the continuum right now and see if we can locate Underworld.”
~ ~ ~
Rez turned to look at the forest again. He knew in his gut they needed to use Holly’s time-path to locate Underworld. But his thoughts had run a completely different direction, something he couldn’t say to Holly right now.
Instead, his daughter had come sharply to mind. She’d been sixteen and so beautiful the night she’d been taken. She’d been shooting hoops with her brothers and had blown him a kiss. “Love you, Dad. Don’t forget the school play.” She was the lead in an old realm musical and the performance was at midnight. “I’ll be back by eleven.”
He’d come back to a nightmare.
But why was he thinking about Isobel now?
His heartrate suddenly doubled. What if the reason he’d never found her, not even in any of the realm morgues, was because she’d been taken to Underworld?
“You would do that? You would go to Underworld?”
It took Rez a moment to register Holly’s question. When he did, he also recognized the familiar disparaging surprise in her voice.
By now, though, his own opinion of her had softened and he’d begun to comprehend she had reasons for believing everything she’d heard about him as well.
“Of course, I would.” He even smiled.
Her brows rose. “Right. Neither of us are what we seem.”
“That was my thought.”
“Okay.” She nodded three times in a row, swift bobs of her head. “And you want to do this now?”
“Why wait? If we go on the offensive, we’ll have a better chance of surviving.”
Both Davido and Oregis dipped their chins in agreement.
She took a deep breath. “Okay. I think. Sweet Goddess, I never thought I’d go to a place like Underworld.” He watched a shudder pass through her. But she rose to her feet anyway.
As he joined her, he needed to keep reminding himself she was a very sensitive fae woman. Her reactions would never be a strict emotional response. The powerful fae he knew had connections to the future and could sense events. Getting close to Underworld, which would be laden with streams of dark fae energy, might prove very difficult for Holly.
To her credit and without hesitation, she lit up her time-pathing ability.
Even though Rez had only been in the continuum a few times, the unique vibrations were already familiar to him. The moment Holly pulled him in, he recognized the blurred edges all-round the living room. Because they were essentially still in the present, both Davido and Oregis appeared frozen in time. Each was still and unmoving. The trees beyond the windows didn’t sway in the breeze either.
It would only be as they went back in time that they’d be able to watch events unfold, though safely ensconced in the continuum. He understood the profound advantage they would have in terms of surveillance.
Holly shook her head. “I’m not sure what to do since I don’t know where Underworld is.”
“Can you picture the dark fae? The one that injected me with poison? That might be a good plea to start.”
“You’re right. It would. She has to be part of this whole thing, whatever it is.”
Holly’s eyes darted back and forth. He felt her nerves riding her. He placed both hands on her shoulders. “Dial it down, Holly. Look at me. Take a deep breath. What you’re feeling is a kick of adrenaline. Is your heart racing?”
She nodded in more jerks of her chin. “I’m sorry. I’m shaking. I can’t seem to stop.”
He pulled her into his arms and held her close. He pathed, This is all new to you and what you’re experiencing is normal.
I fear this place. Underworld, I mean. I have the worst feeling.
With his arms around her, he could tell some of her trembling began to subside. He rubbed her back. Think of it this way. Wherever we go, we won’t be visible. No one can see us. We’re basically going on long-range reconnaissance. We’ve got a pair of high-powered binoculars we’ll be using at a safe distance and no one will be able to see us. How does that sound?
Better. And you’re right. That’s exactly what this would be.
He felt her grow very still, as a vampire might. He continued to rub her back and kept holding her until she pulled away.
He released her, but watched her carefully. She was a rookie he was taking into battle.
Her eyes didn’t jump around anymore and her shoulders had relaxed. She put her hand on his chest. “Better. Thank you.”
“You ready to do this?”
“I am.”
This time, she moved to stand next to him but reached up and put her hand on his shoulder. She closed her eyes and huffed a sigh then pathed, I’m picturing the dark fae as I remember her from Millerell. You didn’t see her, but when I went into the past and watched her inject the poison, I caught a glimpse of her. Her hair was blond, long and straight. She braided it with peacock feathers. Beyond that I didn’t see her face. Her clothes struck me as upscale.
Focus on her then. Find her in the past.
Her time-pathing vibrations beat heavily now, a solid drum against his shoulder. He felt a jolt as she pathed, I know her or at least of her. Her name is Lanarae. She’s on the Sidhe Council’s watch list. I remember seeing several dark fae on a poster once. Vojalie showed it to me, maybe for this reason.
Another shudder went through her and her eyes opened.
Rez covered the hand on his shoulder. “You can do this. She won’t see us. Remember that.”
“Right.” He realized she wasn’t scared. This was something else. Excitement. Holly, the rebel. “I’ve got her location. It’s as clear to me as the warmth of your hand on mine.” He gave her fingers a squeeze.
She turned and smiled up at him.
His heart responded with a stumble then a tightening that made his eyes burn.
Her smiled broadened. “Shall we go spy on the bitch?”
“Do it.”
Holly faced forward and nodded. A strong vibration began and the time-path moved swiftly. He tried to detect a specific direction. Were they heading north or south? He could almost tell but they were moving so fast.
The continuum stopped abruptly and there, ten feet away, was the blond dark fae Holly had described. She stood near a long wood worktable through the blurred walls of the continuum. She had several vials of blood in a holder in front of her. She wore a teal woven gown, to her feet, with wide gold bands on her sleeves at the wrists. Upscale was right.
Lanarae frowned suddenly then looked around.
Holly whispered, “I think she knows we’re here.”
“It would appear she’s aware something’s up.”
Rez had no idea the extent of the woman’s power, but after a moment, she seemed to relax. She put the vial back in its place then returned the holder to a small, nearby fridge.
When she started to leave the room, he pathed to Holly, Follow her.
The time-path moved swiftly as did the dark fae.
A stone hallway followed, then a branching of halls. All were made of gray stone, but the ceiling of each was made up of jagged rock, as though chipped away unevenly from a cavern.
I think we’re in a cave, Holly said.
I would agree. Keep the time-path moving right at Lanarae’s heels.
As she stayed with Lanarae, the hall branched over and over. Each side path was a different tunnel. Some had stone walls. Others were simply the uneven rock of caves.
Holly kept pace with the dark fae. This must be an entire cavern system.
It is.
But which one? Tannisford had at least two dozen extensive systems that he’d explored at length. Yet, Rez had no idea where he was.
He felt it then. A dark fae spell covered the entire area and blocked his usual ability to know where he was in Tannisford.
I think Lanarae has be-spelled this system.
I have no doubt of it.