A Taste for Blood (The Godhunter, Book 6) (11 page)

“
A werewolf,” he shook his head. “This just gets better and better. What are your other lovers? Oh let me guess... a vampire? Oh no, that's too obvious, hold on, hold on. Uh... a leprechaun? Oh wait, that's one of ours. I know... an angel!”

“
How the fuck did you know that?” I stood up, my eyes narrowing suspiciously on him.

“
Sweet nectar of lust,” he exclaimed as he sat up straight again. “You're fucking an angel? Truly?”

“
That was just a guess?” I eased back down but kept my narrowed gaze on him. “Truly?”

“
Yeah,” he huffed. “Damn, I
am
impressed. How did you get with an angel? Oh and which one? I've met a few of them, I may know him.”

“
It was through work,” I huffed a laugh, “and his name's Azrael.”

“
The death angel?” He ran a hand through his short, black hair, so similar to Azrael's. “Now that one I've never had the pleasure of meeting. Kind of a loner if I remember right.”

“
It's because of his job,” I said defensively.

“
Alright,” he held up a hand, “don't get all twisty. I was just sharing what I knew.”

“
Yeah, okay,” I sat back, relaxing a bit. Then another knock drew both of our attentions but before I could get up to answer, Danal strode in.

“
Vervain,” he started but stopped when he saw Roarke. “What is he doing here?”

“
We're just talking,” Roarke got to his feet with fluid grace, “and I'm just leaving.”

“
Yes, you most certainly are,” Danal followed him out, slammed the door behind him, and then swung around to face me. “He is not fit company for a lady. Do not let his pleasant face seduce you.”

“
I wasn't,” I laughed. “Don't worry Danal, I'm not interested in Roarke and I'm not planning on being here long enough to worry about anyone's interest.”

“
Well,” he frowned, “okay then.”

“
You came to escort me to dinner?”

“
Yes, exactly.”

“
Okay but before we go, I have a couple of questions.”

“
I'll try my best to answer them,” he took a seat in one of the other spindly chairs.

“
I've heard that I shouldn't eat or drink anything here,” I grimaced, “and I probably shouldn't trust anything you say to me about it, if the stories are true.”

“
You're a goddess,” he frowned. “You should know all about the stories humans come up with and how they're only based loosely on truth.”

“
Yeah, I do but I'm wondering, in the case of faeries, which part is the truth.”

“
Let's think about this rationally,” he pursed his lips before continuing. “If we wanted to bespell you with food or drink, we'd have to place an enchantment over your food and your food alone, which I admit has been done in the past to keep favored mortals in Faerie, but to do that now, to you, we'd have to know which food you would choose to eat at the banquet. A task that is tremendously difficult and for a result that may not be to our liking.”

“
So you're saying you don't know if anyone wants to keep me here, much less would want to put the effort into keeping me here against my will?”

“
Precisely,” he nodded. “There's a chance you may not leave anyway. So why would anyone waste spellcraft on keeping you here when it may prove unnecessary?”

“
Hmmm,” I thought about it. “Also a good point. Okay, I'll give you that. Now how about saying thank you? I've read that you should never thank the fey, that it implies an obligation and can get you in trouble.”

“
Oh please,” he rolled his eyes. “I never understood that one. Saying thank you is simple courtesy. Why would you deny anyone simple courtesy, much less a faerie who could magic you if you pissed them off?”

“
So I can say thank you?”

“
Yes, by all means,” he waved his hand loftily, “thank anyone you'd like.”

“
Okay, how about those little faeries I've seen running about,” I frowned, trying to think of a better description. “The ones with the big noses and dark skin.”

“
Brownies,” he nodded, “they're harmless. They do most of the menial work around here, cooking, cleaning, that kind of thing. They're pretty good-natured and as long as you don't harass them, they'll be kind to you. Is there anything else?”

“
Yes, you mentioned that you were from the House of Air.” I'd never heard of faeries divided by element and the witch in me was fascinated. “What does that mean?”

“
Faerie is divided into five houses,” he took on the tones of a college professor. “The House of Air, which I was born into, are the flying fey, like the bean-sidhes, the will o' the wisps, and so forth. The House of Earth are those sidhe born with ties to the earth, such as your green ladies, leprechauns, trows, hags, and brownies. The House of Fire are the hot fey, dragons...”

“
Dragons?” I blinked. Dragons were faeries? I thought about the eyes my pendant had showed me. Maybe they weren't Nidhogg's eyes after all. “There are faerie dragons?”

“
There
were
sidhe dragons,” he corrected. “Now there is only one, the King of the House of Fire. He's a sidhe fey who can change into a dragon form. There is still an aspect of the beast present on him, even while in man guise, so he'll be pretty easy to recognize. He's very volatile and should be approached with care, if at all. You probably should just stay away from him.”

“
Will I be meeting him tonight?”

“
Possibly,” he frowned. “I believe some of the Fire House is in attendance. Whether or not their King is, I don't know. If word of your arrival has spread, which I'm sure it has, there may be more arriving. Just to get a look at the human.”

“
Fantastic,” I grimaced, “now I'm a sideshow freak.”

“
Humans have always held a fascination for us and they have been lost to us for a very long time. You can't blame them for wanting a glimpse.”

“
Yeah, okay,” I harrumphed.

“
Now, the House of Fire also includes goblins, best to stay away from them too, especially the red caps which are the larger, nastier versions. You'll know them by their bloody hats, thus the name. Also there are phookas, and leanan-sidhe, actually, just stay away from the entire House of Fire as a general rule.”

“
Right,” I frowned, “fire bad.”

He rolled his eyes and continued. “The House of Water includes all the water fey, your kelpies, mermaids, selkies, asrai, merrows, and so on. Then the final House is the House of Spirit, this is simply the classification of the ruling sidhe. They can in fact be from any House but once they marry into the High royalty, they become Spirit. King Cian was born into Spirit, his coloring displays this as most children of Spirit tend to be pale,  but Queen Maera, she was born into Fire.”

“Fire?” He'd just warned me off Fire and now he was saying I couldn't avoid one.

“
Yes, she's a leanan-sidhe.”

“
And that means what exactly?”

“
The leanan-sidhe are all very pale, night loving sidhe. They tend to have a lot of female children and so marry outside of their race quite frequently. Their blood is strong though and often children of mixed alliances will lean more toward their leanan-sidhe bloodline.” He paused for effect, his eyes glinting mischievously. “They are what your people call vampires. They drink blood for sustenance.”

“
Oh, okay.”

“
Oh, okay?” He frowned, evidently not the reaction he was hoping for.

“
I know the Vampire God back home,” I shrugged. “They've kind of lost their wow-factor for me.”

“
Huh,” he huffed. “Those vampires are different, a mistake, I believe. The leanan-sidhe were born as such,” he sniffed. “Well that's the Houses of Faerie. Any more questions?”

“
Yeah, how do those fragile wings carry you?”

“
So asks the woman who can change into a lion,” he huffed. “Magic, girl. I'm magic.”

Chapter Fifteen

The dining room of the High Court of Faerie was a bit unexpected. It was round, the walls made entirely of twisting roots and vines instead of the polished wood I'd seen everywhere else. So you could see through them in spots, catching glimpses of food bearing brownies or late-comers. In the center of the circle of vines, was the dining table, if you could call it that. It was a huge spiral, with one throne-like chair at the center end and a smaller throne right next to it at the inner curve. From there on there were normal sized chairs to either side of the spiral, all the way to its winding end.

“
How long does it take to get to the center?” I whispered to Danal.

“
Awhile,” he chuckled, “but that's part of the socializing. You stop and talk to people along the way to your seat.”

“
So when do you think we'll actually be eating?”

“
Oh, some fey have started already,” he waved his hand to indicate the lucky few who were seated on the outer end of the spiral.

“
Uh huh,” I smirked, having a feeling we wouldn't be so lucky. “And where will we be sitting?”

“
At the place of honor,” he laughed. “The very center, right beside the High King and Queen.”

“
Of course,” I sighed. “Let's get a move on then. I'm starving.”

“
Ah,” he plucked a pastie from the tray of a passing brownie. “Not to worry. We fey don't deny ourselves pleasure. There will be sustenance along the way.”

“
Sweet!” I took the offered pastry. “Thank you.”

“
You're welcome,” he beamed and led me into the spiral.

Soon, we were wading through a sea of faeries, most of them intent on stopping us for conversation. They looked me over with eyes too big or too small, brightly colored or with oddly shaped pupils. Delicate hands reached out to touch me as well as thick ones tipped with long claws. Lips stretched in amusement, some a little too wide, some with a touch of cruelty, and some with just too many teeth behind them. It was dizzying and exciting. I thought my world had been full of magic before, but the Realm of Faerie had opened my eyes to even more fantasy. The artist in me was fascinated.

Gods could be creepy or strange. They could do wondrous things and horrible ones. The fey had those aspects to them as well, most definitely, but they weren't gods. These people, these beings, were unlike anything I'd ever seen. More terrifying and more beautiful than any god or goddess I'd ever met. For me, it was like standing outside the massive aquarium at Sea Life Park. I loved leaning against the glass, staring at the beautiful fishes while they swam alongside sharks in peaceful harmony. It was the only way I could appreciate the ocean, with that thick partition between us but here, in Faerie, there was no glass to keep me safe. I was swimming with the sharks.

Just like those denizens of the deep, there was a different kind of intelligence behind the faerie stares. Reasoning that was alien to mine. I knew, without a doubt, that there were fey in the room who would tear me to pieces just for the fun of it, or just to see what my insides looked like, and they would do it with child-like joy and complete assurance in the appropriateness of the act. These were not humans and they were not gods, they were faeries and I needed to remember that if I was going to make it home with my head attached.

“
Lady Vervain,” a silky voice wrapped around me, twisting into places it didn't have a right to be going.

I turned and stared. The room was full of strangely beautiful beings but this one struck a chord in me, vibrating through my body and tuning me to his music. It was dark symphony, with sharp leaps and terrifying drops, all glimpsed through the slitted pupils of his bright yellow eyes. Dragon eyes. I knew who he was immediately, before I even took in the rest of him. The sharp edges to his face, the sprinkling of red scales at his temples, and the thin lips pulling back in a knowing grin, to reveal a set of teeth whose main purpose was to rip and tear into living flesh.

The emerald pulsed hot on my neck.

“
King Arach,” Danal shifted his body so he was just slightly in front of me. “May I introduce you?” The Dragon King nodded without taking his eyes from me. “Lady Vervain, I present King Arach of the House of Fire, Leader of the Host.”

“
Nice to meet you,” I held out my hand to him and one of his dark red eyebrows shot up.