Hidden Darkness (Hidden Saga Book 4) (8 page)

The small dining room was one of my favorite rooms in the palace. And I had my most favorite person with me.

The low lighting gleamed off of Ryann’s beautiful chestnut hair and gilded her bare shoulders. She had surprised me by coming back to Altum tonight—I was concerned about her admitted lack of attention to her schoolwork, but selfishly I’d been thrilled.

              I probably would have been “fine” without her for tonight, as she’d said, but I didn’t want to be without her—ever.

The welcome dinner for our new ambassador wasn’t a full scale banquet. I’d scheduled a larger event for a few days from now when Nox and Vancia would return from abroad and pay us a brief visit. Tonight’s gathering was a formal dinner in one of the palace’s more intimate dining rooms. My family had actually shared meals here together throughout my childhood.

The room was long and narrow, anchored by a heavy rectangular table that was lined with ornate high-backed chairs. Above us all, a chandelier made from a tree trunk and its exposed roots dripped with tiny lights, making the occasion feel festive.

My mother and her sister Sofie were there, seated at the far end of the table. The Light Council members were in attendance. I sat at the head of the table with Ryann to one side of me. Ava sat on my other side, with Culley next to her.

He seemed to appreciate the pomp and circumstance—not to mention the plentiful food and wine—though he always seemed to be having a good time, no matter where he was. Ava was subdued, and on more than one occasion, I noticed her casting wary glances at Ryann.

Everything all right?
I asked Ryann.

She cut a side glance at me.
Fine. Are you okay?

I nodded. I’d been feeling a little strange earlier in the day, but this evening I was in good spirits. After all, I had the most beautiful date here.

              “You look amazing,” I whispered to her, leaning close. Of course I could have said that to her mind-to-mind, but I enjoyed watching the spray of goosebumps that covered her bare skin when my breath caressed her ear.

              She leaned a bit closer to me and spoke softly, gazing up into my eyes. “And
you
—are the sweetest guy in the whole world.”

              I grinned, feeling like I’d just swallowed a spoonful of summer sunshine. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for this woman. “I should pay you more compliments,” I teased.

              “It’s not that.” She dipped her eyes and wore a secret smile. “It’s everything you do. I can’t wait to be your wife.”

              The air left my lungs all at once, leaving me pleasantly lightheaded. She’d never said it quite like that before. Sitting close to her, so delicate and beautiful and sweet-smelling, and knowing that in a few short weeks I’d finally be able to act on all the feelings and distracting thoughts I’d been having, I found it hard not to snatch her out of her chair and carry her to my bedroom right then and there.

              I was about to respond—probably with something entirely inappropriate for a public dinner—when Culley spoke up. 

              “I’m looking forward to my tour tomorrow. Will we get to see the saol water facilities?”

              Irritated at having to shift my attention from Ryann to his smug face, I struggled to keep my tone pleasant. “Yes, if you’d like. You’re interested in production?”

              “Oh of course. Especially as it’s in such demand now among humans in your—what’s it called Ryann? Marigold Tea?”

              “Magnolia Sugar Tea,” she corrected him. “I didn’t think it was especially popular among Dark Elves.”

              Since the summer Olympics, fewer and fewer humans were susceptible to glamour because they’d started drinking Ryann’s tea, which contained saol water. That meant the Dark Elves had taken a direct hit—their songs weren’t guaranteed chart-toppers anymore, their movies and TV shows were not as successful as they had been. Of course not everyone drank it, but the number was high enough that its effects were significant.

              Culley laughed at Ryann’s statement as if he found her unbearably cute. “Oh, I’m a huge fan. I think you’re quite brilliant for discovering its effects and finding a way to get the word out. Not many humans are so clever—or so beautiful.”

              He raised his glass in tribute, and Ryann’s chin dipped modestly.

              “Thank you,” she whispered, clearly uncomfortable.

              Inside, I was seething with annoyance. But I raised my own glass as well, forcing a smile. “Hear hear. I couldn’t agree more.” I took a sip and then kissed Ryann on the cheek, pulling her a little closer to me.

              “How
much
saol water is actually in the tea?” Culley asked, giving Ryann an interested glance.

              “You know I’m not going to answer that.” Her tone was firm but not unfriendly. “It’s a secret recipe.”

             
“Of course—can’t blame me for trying.” Culley laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to launch a competing brand or anything.”

              Ava interjected. “Sweetie, stop teasing Ryann and let her eat.”

              Ryann shot Ava a grateful look, and Ava returned her smile warmly. There was definitely something going on between the two girls, though there seemed to be a new understanding between them. I’d have to ask Ryann about it later.

              Culley’s expression was not so pleasant. In fact, he nearly glared at Ava and probably said something to her mind-to-mind as well because she flushed and shook her head slightly before dropping her gaze to the tabletop.

              She recovered quickly, though. Her tone was bright as she asked me about one of the appetizer offerings on the table. “Life here is so different,” she said. “We make so little of what we use—we’ve gotten so far away from the ways of the first ones. I’m not sure that’s a good thing. Tell me about your food production here. Are you mostly a hunting society or is there a good deal of agriculture as well?”

              As I turned to answer Ava’s in-depth question, I saw Culley from the corner of my eye. He was leaning across the table toward Ryann, once again engaging her in conversation. Though I kept a pleasant expression on my face for Ava’s sake, my hand curled into a fist beneath the table.

              I sent Ryann a quick message—more eager to act on it than she could possibly imagine.
Let me know if he bothers you, and I’ll have him re-seated at the children’s table.

              Her answer was immediate and confident, one corner of her mouth pulling up in amusement.
Don’t worry about me. This guy doesn’t faze me at all.

It was true. Culley Rune may have been pinned and re-pinned, shared, Tweeted, drooled over non-stop on Instagram, but he did nothing for me.

              Sure, he was a beautiful guy, but the Elven world was full of them, and I already had the best of the bunch.

At the moment, Lad was being monopolized by Culley’s counterpart. He and Ava sat close to each other, deep in discussion about the various food courses being brought to the table and the Elven wines that accompanied each one.

The atmosphere in here was intimate, even romantic, resembling photos of wine cellar dining rooms I’d seen online. It was mostly quiet as the majority of the dinner guests communicated with each other mind to mind. Other than the muted clinking of silverware and some soft music piped in from another room, their low voices were the only sound.

Glancing over at the two of them, it was impossible not to notice how lovely they looked together—they were Elven after all, and they were each pretty much the finest the species had to offer. They made a pretty pair.

The sight didn’t bother me as much as it would have before. Not that I fully trusted Ava now—my trust was in Lad. But she had assured me she had no romantic interest in him, and I believed her. Still, I
would
feel more comfortable if I knew what her glamour was. 

              Just as I had earlier, I used my own glamour on Ava, reading her emotions as she interacted with Lad. She smiled and laughed, tossing her hair and keeping intense eye contact with him, but there was no real attraction between them. She was either faking the whole siren thing or that was her natural behavior, twenty-four-seven.

She
was
nervous about something—I couldn’t be sure what. When she cut her eyes subtly to Culley, I assumed it had something to do with him. Maybe she was worried about
him
being jealous?

              She needn’t have worried. He wasn’t paying the least bit of attention to her side of the table. Instead he’d turned the full-wattage of his admittedly dazzling smile in my direction.

“What did you think of Los Angeles, Ryann?”

“It was… interesting. Unfortunately, there was not enough sight-seeing and too much fighting for my life.”

He gave me a mock pout. “That’s a shame. You need to make a return trip. I’ll be happy to show you around. I guarantee you’ll have a better time with
me
.”

His come-ons were so outrageous, I almost laughed. “I prefer the comforts of home, thank you.”

“Of course. How could anyone not love it here fifty k’s south of Woop Woop?”

Now I did laugh out loud at what I assumed was the Australian term for “the middle of nowhere.”

“If you’re so bored, you can always go back to California.” I raised a challenging brow. “There must be at least a
few
women in Los Angeles you haven’t hit on yet.”

He smirked. “And leave my ‘dear betrothed?’ How could I possibly bear it?”

In spite of his facetious tone and blasé expression, when I read his emotions I did detect a note of jealousy after all. Did it bother him for Ava to spend time with Lad?

Deciding to test him a bit, I said, “She
is
lovely. Everyone thinks so.”

Now he allowed his gaze to wander to her. She was leaning toward Lad, head tilted to the side, appearing completely fascinated with whatever he was telling her.

“It’s often the most beautiful roses that hide the most vicious thorns,” he murmured, then held his wine glass aloft, motioning for one of the servers to refill it.

Hmm. An interesting thing to say. Had Ava hurt him? Rejected him in some way? They were betrothed, but with arranged marriages, there was no guarantee of affection or even willingness on either part. I’d learned that from Lad and Vancia’s parent-orchestrated betrothal. We’d been led to believe Ava and Culley were in love and would find it too painful to be separated, but that wasn’t necessarily accurate. Based on the emotions I was picking up from him, it could be one of those unrequited attraction situations.

“Well, I’m not afraid of her thorns,” I said. “I’ve seen worse. And I have some experience with sexual glamour myself. It’s not
impossible
to resist. Lad may not even be susceptible to it.”

Culley’s eyes widened suddenly and then narrowed as a grin spread across his face. “Oh, you’ve figured out her glamour, have you?”

“Yes, and I’m not threatened. The Dark Council will have to do a little better than that if they want to mess things up in the Light Kingdom.”

Culley made a little tut-tut noise. “I hate to see such an ugly lack of trust in one so pretty. I assure you, we are here as ambassadors, nothing more.”

Care to repeat that in the Elven way?
I asked him, taking a sip from my own glass.

“Oh my, the half-breed has some skills.” He nodded deferentially.
I’d be delighted to. Your relationship with the Light King makes no difference to me at all. I wish you all the best on your upcoming wedding. May your love last forever.
He gave me a deeper nod, almost a bow, and did a little courtly flourish with one hand.

And what about your love?
I set my glass down and gave him a direct look.

I’m not sure what you mean,
he said.
I am offered love on a daily basis from any number of women… and men.

He was trying to fluster me, to throw me off. Undeterred, I asked again.
You care about Ava, don’t you?

Culley didn’t answer me mind-to-mind. Instead, he gave me a chiding we’re-not-going-there smirk.

“You seem to put a good deal of faith in love, my lady. I have never found it to be all that reliable. Let us hope the young king is as… dependable as he seems.” Watching his fiancée chatting amiably with mine, he stroked a finger across his full bottom lip. “Even the best of us can forget ourselves sometimes.”  

The dinner went as well as could be hoped with Culley constantly watching me and Ryann’s warning still ringing in my ears. What she didn’t know and probably would never believe was that I really
didn’t
plan to seduce her fiancé or harm him in any way—not anymore.

              When I saw them acting so loving with each other early in the evening, I was truly happy. Apparently it wasn’t too late. What I’d already done to him hadn’t been enough to alter their course. I could still live with myself.

              Of course once Culley had taken such a keen interest in my interactions with my intended target, I had to keep up appearances. It was horribly uncomfortable to flirt with Lad right in front of Ryann. Honestly, I was a little shocked she didn’t call me on it, or at least throw visual daggers at me. But she seemed content and unconcerned throughout the evening. Maybe she didn’t buy my act. I hoped Culley had.

              Now I was driving through the small town near Altum’s rural location—Deep River, the sign at the city limits had read. I was supposed to check in every few days with Mother and hadn’t spoken to her since we’d arrived in Mississippi. I was actually eager to talk to her for a change—I had something I needed to say.

She answered the phone on the first ring. “Where have you been? Why haven’t you called? How is it going so far with the Light King?”

              “Hello Mother,” I answered, pulling into a grocery store lot and parking my car. “I’m fine, thanks for asking.”

              “Oh Ava, why must you always be so combative? Of course I care how you are. But the fact that you’re calling tells me your trip went fine. What I’m concerned about is the
reason
you’re there.”

              “Yeah… about that…” The words drifted as I chickened out. I had imagined myself boldly telling her of my decision, but years of conditioning kicked in, and the declaration faded on my tongue.

              “What? You haven’t been able to spend time with him yet?” 

              I rolled down my car window. The sounds of traffic from the nearby street and a shopping cart rattling across the lot drifted in with a rush of heated air. Though it was fall, the weather here was still steamy. I rolled the window up again and turned up the air conditioner.

              “No. I have.”

              “What then? Your glamour isn’t working?”

              I got a quick mental image of Lad’s face, followed by a sharp blast of gut-churning guilt. “No. It works on him. I’ve seen the proof.”

              An exasperated sigh came through the line. “Just tell me what’s going on. I surely hope you’re not going to say Culley’s been a problem. He’s supposed to be helping you, not distracting you.”

              “It’s not Culley.” I hesitated, sitting up straighter in my seat, fighting through the fear. “It’s me. I’m not sure I can do it.”

              “Have some confidence,” she scolded. “You’ve already said your glamour works on him.”

              “No. I mean, I’m not sure I
want
to do it anymore. Not after actually meeting him and his betrothed. It doesn’t feel… right.” 

              The silence on the other end of the connection was worse than a thousand explosions. Thora Morten never shouted, never even raised her voice. When she did speak again, her calm, measured tone was filled with a malice so deadly, I got goosebumps.

              “You ungrateful little brat.” The pause was so long I wondered if she was even going to continue, but unfortunately, she did. “You
know
how much we need this. Your performance in this task will ensure our survival or seal our doom. I am dependent on Audun’s good graces. If he learns of your treason, he’ll send us both away—penniless.”

              That was true. Audun wasn’t known for his generosity or forgiving nature. From what Culley had said, he could barely spare a concern for his own child. He wouldn’t hesitate to throw us out if I failed to complete my assignment. But how could I? 

“I don’t mean to be disloyal. I just want to do the right thing. Now that I’m here and I’ve seen it, I don’t think the Light Court means us any harm. I don’t think destroying the peace pact is necessary.”

“What is
necessary
is loyalty to your family, to your
mother
—who has sacrificed everything for you,” she hissed. “How will I survive without the support of the Dark Court? Hmmm? What would you have me do—sell my body to the humans? You’re lucky
your
glamour isn’t sexual glamour. It’s utterly useless when your bond-mate has died. I can’t marry again unless I marry a human man and glamour him every day all day long to keep him away from my bed and make him
think
he’s satisfied so he’ll
allow
me to live with him. I can’t think of anything more exhausting or repugnant.”

“Mother… no, of course not. I can still model. I can support us. You could probably model, too. Or work in news again. Or… I don’t know. There are all sorts of jobs.” Mother had been a national news anchor until her perpetually youthful appearance became too difficult to explain. Then she’d retired, and we’d lived on my father’s considerable income.

“Jobs.” She repeated the word as if it were in some guttural foreign language. “Yes. That sounds like a
wonderful
future. I’ll take a never-ending succession of monotonous, low-paying jobs for the rest of my eternal life. If I’m banished from the Court, I’ll have to move continually and take on new identities in order to cover for my lack of aging. I might as well kill myself now.”

“Please don’t say that. You could come here to Altum. I’m sure Lad would welcome you.”

“Ha! I’d rather sleep on a bench in downtown L.A. than rot in that moldy hole in the ground, taking charity from some… glorified cave-dweller.”

I thought of the warmth of Altum, its glowing mineral-rocks, its slow, gentle way of life, the way the people had welcomed me, an outsider. An enemy. A liar.

Mother was wrong, but I clearly wasn’t going to convince her.

“Can we maybe tell Audun to send someone else? Tell him my glamour
doesn’t
work on Lad or something?”

“It would be too suspicious to switch ambassadors now.”

“I could tell Lad I’m sick and need to go home.” I certainly felt sick at the prospect of what I’d been asked to do. 

“No, Ava. You were very carefully selected. You’re the only one who can do this. No other glamour will get the job done without casting suspicion on the Dark Court. And you must be joking to suggest lying to Audun—you do remember what I told you about
his
glamour, don’t you?”

“Yes.” I shivered again, though the air temperature was perfectly comfortable now.

“Please darling.” Mother’s tone had changed, becoming soft and placating. “I need you to do this, for me, for
us
.” She paused. “Your father would have wanted you to take care of your family—the way he always took care of you.”

The guilt swamped me, just as she knew it would. Closing my eyes and tipping my head back against the headrest, I visualized the horrible night we lost him.

Christmas Eve. Not a holiday our kind celebrated, but I was in first grade, and having gone to school with humans and becoming familiar with their ways and customs, I’d become totally enamored of the idea of Christmas. It seemed so magical.

I’d been crying that night, feeling sorry for myself that I wouldn’t have a gift to open—not that I needed anything. I had far more possessions than most of my human schoolmates would ever have. But at the time, it seemed tragic.

My father had made up some excuse for leaving the house early that evening—and he’d gone out to buy me a Christmas present. The police came to our house two hours later. The next morning, my mother’s hair was pure white, and her eyes… they’d never looked at me the same way.

“All right,” I whispered into the phone, barely managing to choke out the words.

“What did you say?”

“I said all right. I’ll do it.”

“That’s my good girl,” Mother cooed. “You’ll see darling. It’s for the best. When you succeed, you’ll have the gratitude of the Dark Council and especially of Audun—his good side is the safest place to be, you know.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll check in on Thursday. There’s a banquet Wednesday night in honor of Nox and his bride—they’re taking a quick break from their honeymoon.”

“From their tour of destruction, rather. I hear he’s been decimating the remaining fan pods in Europe. Such a shame. We’ve got to put a stop to this soon or risk losing everything we’ve built. You must—”   

“I know, I know. I will.” There was a knock on my car window. A man stood just outside it, but I couldn’t see his face because he was too tall. All I got was a glimpse of a lean waist encased in faded jeans. “I need to go. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Bye sweetie. Mummy loves you.”

“Kay, bye.”

Hitting the end-call button, I rolled down the window. A face appeared in it. Not a man—a boy. Well, a guy about my age. He
was
kind of a man.

I had a quick, dazzling impression of black hair and strong features and a bright sunny smile. And his eyes—they reminded me of a trip my family had taken to an island in the Caribbean. Our seaplane had flown over what seemed like miles of the clearest turquoise waters. I’d never seen anything to match their color until now.

“Um… can I help you?” I asked, sounding a bit dazed.

His smile widened, revealing dimples in both cheeks to match the small one in his chin.
Wow.

“I was going to ask you the same thing.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I noticed your car here when I went into the Food Star a while ago—we don’t see many California plates around here. Or many Corvette convertibles. When I came back out of the store just now, you had your head back on the headrest there, like maybe you were having a problem. I thought maybe you were lost or something.”

“No. No thank you—I’m fine.”

“You sure about that?” He reached into the window and touched my cheek lightly with a fingertip. I jerked my head back away from the surprising contact. Rubbing the drop of moisture between his fingers, the guy stared at me, waiting for my answer.

I was momentarily stunned by his concern—and those eyes. Finally, I snapped out of it. “I’m fine. I don’t need any help. I don’t have any problems.” What a lie. I had so many problems I didn’t know where to start.

“That’s too bad,” he murmured.

“What? Why?”

The sunny smile reappeared, making those turquoise eyes twinkle. “I’m pretty good at solving problems. Name’s Asher, by the way.”

His hand came back through the window, leaving me no choice but to shake it. It was a big hand, warm and work-roughened. This was no pampered pretty boy—he had to be a mechanic or a construction worker or farmer or something. I released it quickly.

“Ava. I’m just passing through.”

Asher backed away from the window, still smiling, as if something I’d said amused him. “Okay Ava-just-passing-through. If you do need any help, just look for Big Red here.” He patted the enormous pickup truck parked next to my car. “I’m usually around.”

He dipped his chin in a respectful little nod and walked away from my car, going to the driver’s side of his own vehicle. I let out a long breath, watching him go. That was by far the strangest encounter I’d ever had with a human. Usually they weren’t so… interesting. Or well-built.

Great, Ava. The last thing you need is another human to sympathize with. Get your mind
off
the Levis and
on
the mission.

I put my car in reverse, backed out of my spot, and left the lot of the Food Star. Just before making the turn from Main Street onto the county road that would take me out to Altum, I noticed a flash of red in the rearview mirror.

Asher’s truck had been behind me, but was now fading into the distance.