Authors: Nicola Claire
“I'm a little early. I was hoping to convince you to have a drink with me,” he said, thrusting his hands in his pockets and looking vulnerable.
I bit my lip and flicked a glance at Avery. He seemed quite content chatting his latest protégés up. He didn't look like he was going anywhere with them though. He was sitting quite comfortably flush against the male while his eyes devoured the woman at his side. So, I probably wouldn't have to give chase. I returned my gaze to Gabriel.
“Come on,” he said hopefully, holding out his hand to me. “Maria will look after the bar.” And when I hesitated, “Just one drink, Luce. It can't do any harm.”
I sighed. He was right. Avery was busy and right there at the bar and besides, this was Gabriel. He was harmless and innocent and it had taken a huge amount of courage for him to work up to organising this. One drink. What did it matter if I entertained him for just one drink?
I slipped my hand in his and was immediately somewhere else.
The white, pristine sand between my toes sparkled under the hot, blazing ball of a descending sun, in a crisply blue sky tinged with pink. The azure blue of the ocean beside me swept in and out in rhythmic waves upon the shore. A soft, fresh sea breeze wrapped around my body, making me realise I was no longer dressed in my short shorts and singlet top, but instead in a skimpy hot pink bikini. Three triangles covering strategic spots.
I whirled around taking in familiar palm trees swaying on the edge of the sand and found Gabriel.
He smiled, his hands still thrust deeply in his pockets.
“Where am I?” I asked, but I already had a fairly good idea. I'd been here before.
“Um, I think it might be the Bahamas.” Yep. Definitely been here. “I wasn't in control of this shift.”
“Where is he?” I asked, clenching my hands in fists and trying to use my Light to shatter the illusion. It would have worked if it was an illusion. I know it would have. But this wasn't a mind manipulation, this was an actual place.
I was standing in the hot sand of a Bahamas’s island at the mercy of the Fey who had brought me here.
“He'll meet us here soon,” Gabriel answered, then added a little sheepishly, “I'm sorry, Luce. I had no choice. They threatened my father's life.”
“You're a fairy,” I said with little emotion in my voice. I was surprised. I hadn't sensed it. And more importantly, neither had Avery. But, I was not going to show that surprise to the fairy before me.
“I'm an
umskipti
,” he answered without an ounce of shame. “Jorge has raised me as his own from birth. His real son lives in
Álfheimr
.”
“He doesn't know,” I said, shocked at the violation that the Fey had carried out on my boss.
“No.”
“How did they get his son into
Álfheimr
with the portals closed?” I asked, trying to puzzle through it, despite a rising tide of fear threatening to drown me at any moment. I had to get out of here. I had to get back before
he
came.
“There has been one portal open. It only operates in one direction though. It's how death charms left behind here can still work. But, I've been here centuries, since before the others closed.”
Living out one changeling life after another. I didn't need him to say it, I could picture how it went. Even though the portals were closed, the Fey still managed to steal our fertile children and replace them with their changelings, their
umskipti
. And, when Amicus, Michel's sire, faced the final death, he was saved by the amulet he wore and was still able to enter
Álfheimr
.
“You're a pack of bastards, you know that,” I spat at him.
“I'm sorry, Luce. Really I am. I like you. A lot. But, you are his
elska
. I am honour bound as a member of the Royal Court of
Ljósálfar
to do everything in my power to return you to him.”
“I don't believe that,” I said, feeling a sense of dread roll through me. "The other fey who confronted me on the street in Rio..."
I didn't get to finish my sentence, suddenly Gabriel was chiming, a haunting musical sound. Beautiful, but eerily wrong. “Did they impregnate you?” he asked through gritted teeth.
“Why do you care?”
He ran a hand through his short hair. Then almost reluctantly admitted, “I get to go home if I deliver you in one piece.”
“So that's what this is about?” I said, understanding slamming into me like a ton of bricks. “Your release from this realm in exchange for my captivity.”
He just stared at me with an infinitely sad look on his face.
“I'm sorry,” he whispered and disappeared.
I stood there breathing heavily for a few minutes, trying futilely to think of a way out. And then I felt him. Sensed him behind me, walking quietly closer.
I took a deep breath in, made sure my Light was firmly wrapped around my body, pulling on the edges of the metaphysical cloak to make sure it was closed. Then turned to face the bastard, kidnapping, double-crossing Prince of
Ljósálfar
.
“
Elska
,” he drawled as he came to stop a foot in front of me. “Finally I've found you.”
Without hesitating, I pulled my fist back and punched him hard in the jaw.
Elska
my arse!
I sat on the beach getting sand in my bikini and waited for Lutin to come around. I'd hit him hard. Both physically and with my Light as a back up too. So, the chances of him coming to quickly were slim. I'd made a quick survey of the area of beach we were on, but it was secluded and the jungle behind the palm trees that fringed the beach, was dense.
I had considered using leaves or vines of some description to tie him up, but I'm an urban survivalist. Not a wilderness one. He didn't have anything in his pockets that would have helped either. And I purposely avoided pulling his sleeves up to reveal his bracelet. Fey silver and I were not a good mix. I don't think my Light cloak would have kept me safe from that.
His tall, nearly six foot well-toned body, lay in a slump on the beach beside me and I took the time to consider him as unemotionally as I could manage. His chiselled cheekbones and out-of-this-world handsome face were relaxed in unconsciousness. His lips so full and kissable. Even knocked out, he could have an effect on a woman. It's just what they are. They don't need their melodious voice or their musical chimes to influence you. They have a body made by gods and absolutely every aspect of them is designed to capture your attention.
I studied his short spiky blonde hair, always messed up in some sort of mischievous style. Lutin was all imp. His sole purpose in life was to have fun and wreak havoc. He'd spelled me in the past, but I wasn't the naïve half-human I used to be. I knew his intentions were not pure. He only wanted my body for the Fey children he thought I could conceive. There was no long lost love between us, it was all about what he thought I could give him. Not what he could give me.
I took a deep breath in and pulled my gaze away from his magnetic form, then leaned back and watched the sun dip below the horizon. I was guessing we were about an hour behind Rio here. It had just gone dark at Copacabana when Gabriel spirited me away and now the dark was bleeding into the sky in the Bahamas too.
How the hell was I getting out of this? I could have just left Lutin here and begun exploring. Going inland didn't look like a safe bet. Bare feet and wearing only a skimpy bikini, didn't bode well for a jungle-like scene. Following the beach would have been the best bet, but I was thinking Lutin was not stupid, he'd chosen our island well. There'd be no village with helpful locals to dial up a rescue mission here. I was on my own and would have to deal with the situation myself. Typical.
I stroked my Light cloak mentally and made sure it was snug. Lutin was not going to get the better of me, that much I was sure.
A low groan came from beside me and Lutin rolled onto his side.
“If you try anything, anything at all, I will punch you again even harder,” I said evenly as his eyes peeled open and he blinked at me. “Not to mention smashing you with my Light.”
“
Elska
?” he asked, his voice a little shaky.
“New rules Prince of
Ljósálfar
,” I said, stabbing a finger into his chest. “You do not get call me
elska
. My name is Lucinda to you. Got it?”
He just looked at me and blinked slowly. I could see the cogs whirring inside his head. Things had not gone as he had planned, but so far all was not lost. His eyes began swirling a maelstrom of greens, hypnotic and mesmerizing, but failing to pull me in. My cloak was working.
“Oh, what big green eyes you've got, grandma,” I said and batted mine back at him.
He was up and standing over me in a second. I'd forgotten how fast he could move. Not like a vampire, a flash of colours and then they were there. The space around Lutin had warped a little and he had simply stepped through it to get to where he now stood. I realised in that second, that it was the shimmer I had seen in the bar. Fey distorted the air around them. Impressive and also a little scary. Just what could they achieve when space was at their mercy?
I held his gaze with a look of defiance. “Things not going your way, Lutin?” I asked innocently. “I'm not begging for it, like I'm supposed to? I guess you're going to have use that famous charm of yours instead. Win me over with chocolates and roses. A bottle of wine wouldn't go astray too.”
He took a deep breath in and let it out slowly as if counting to ten in his head. The tension in his shoulders began melting away with the air as he released it through his lips.
“Why are you fighting this, Lucinda?” Well hell, he'd used my name, things were looking up. “We are meant to be together. We fit. Your Light calls to mine and mine to yours. It is not something to fear, but to cherish. I will always cherish you.”
I stood up and brushed the sand off my rear. I had a couple of different ways I could handle this. At the moment I held most of the power. Well, apart from being on an island I couldn't name and no way of getting home. But, he no longer had influence over me. Not that I wasn't aware that he was constantly trying. My cloak of Light was billowing around me as though air was breezing past and trying to make it come loose. I was guessing it was his Light. The moment I felt it I would be gone. He was doing his best to find a weakness, even as he stood before me and acted calm. I could hold it for a while, but I knew without a doubt that he would wear me down.
He
didn't know this yet, so I had to play my cards right. And play them quickly.
“We got off to a bad start, you and me.” He just cocked his head at me suspiciously. Yeah, I didn't blame him, this was a long shot. “I know you're not all bad and personally, I'd prefer you over some of the others who would try to get in my pants. So, I was thinking...”
I didn't get to finish my sentence, Lutin began chiming musically and then his hands were running over my body, checking for injuries.
“Are you all right? Did they harm you? I will kill them. Every one. You are mine and no one else's.” His arms wrapped around me and his face buried in my neck, his hands stroking my back in circles. I'm not sure if he was calming himself or me.
“Um, I'm fine,” I managed to get out without pushing him away. Pushing him away would not help my plan.
His hands came up and framed my face, one on each cheek. “Are you sure?”
I stared at him for a moment, realising the subtle attacks on my cloak had ceased. He was so concerned with my safety and health, he'd stopped trying to influence me. I swallowed under his intense gaze and just nodded.
He leaned forward and it took all of my self control not to pull back. His lips moved to brush over mine, but I pulled back slightly and placed my finger over them and said, "Not yet".
“
Elska
,” he breathed, leaning the length of his body in closer to mine.
“Not
elska
,” I answered softly. “I need time to get to know you, Lutin. Please don't rush me.”
He looked at me for a moment, hunger obvious in his eyes. “What would you have of me, Lucinda?”
“Take me back to Rio and stick around for a while. Let's see how it goes,” I said with a coy smile. God I'm not the world's best actress, far from it, but I was trying for that Oscar. I was giving it everything I had.
It must have worked because he sighed, ran a finger over the back of my hand and suddenly I was dressed in my short shorts and singlet and standing behind the bar at
A Praia Mocambo
. My hand went under the counter and grabbed my jacket as Lutin slipped into a chair in front of the bar and gave me a dashing smile. I shot a covert glance at Avery who was being restrained by two fey; bigger and burlier than him. And who, by the looks of it had roughed him up pretty nicely. And then sent a blast of my Light out targeting every single shimmering being on the beach.
Musical chimes rang out in a cacophony of notes, clashing together and clanging in my head. I wasn't the only one to hear it. Humans were doubled over, hands to heads and Avery was gritting his teeth, as he tore through what was left standing of the crowd towards me. I jumped the counter, grabbed his outstretched hand and ran.
I'm fast, I can get some speed up when I try, but maintaining my cloak against Lutin and blasting so many fey over such a wide space had taken its toll. Avery swept me up in his arms and we flashed to the other side of Copacabana towards Ipanema Beach. Somewhere, in amongst the tourists and happily celebrating locals, he found a car. Something sleek and fast and red. I vaguely thought, perhaps a
Ferrari
. He settled me in the passenger seat and slid in beside me. Using his
Sanguis
Vitam
to start the engine and then we were off.
I silently did my seat belt up and tried not to notice how recklessly he was driving. Eventually I had to close my eyes and just let my head fall back against the leather of the seat and concentrate on slowing my breathing down.
It was several minutes and even several more kilometres later, when Avery spoke.
“You smell of him.” His voice was a low growl. “Did he hurt you?” This through gritted teeth.
“I knocked him out with a fist to his face. Laid him flat for the first hour and then taunted the fuck out of him for the rest.”
Avery slowly started to smile and shook his head, turning back to the road in front of us. “Fucking hot,” was all he said and I had to smile too.
After a few more suburbs and a gradual straightening of the seaside road we were on, I started relaxing. And then started yawning. I was knackered. My Light had worn me out. Usually I'd be up for the rest of the night, but the encounter with Lutin had done a number on me.
“Get some sleep, Ms. Monk,” Avery said, sliding me a glance.
“Where are we heading?” I asked through a yawn.
“As far and as fast as I can from here. We'll get lost in the throng that is São Paulo. Don't worry, I'll hide us tonight. Now...
sleep
.”
As if to prove a point on how shattered my shields were, including my Light cloak, his command slammed into me and I fell instantly asleep.
São Paulo is bigger, badder and noisier than Rio. I'd travelled through it briefly on my way to Copacabana, but it hadn't felt like the right sort of place to lay down roots. It actually made me quite jumpy. Something I don't really wish to admit to a soul. When I stumbled into Copacabana however, I knew I'd found somewhere I could call home. Even though I am a Kiwi through and through, and Auckland will always hold my heart, I needed somewhere that called to me as a home. Somewhere I could feel comfortable and start to mend my fractured heart. Rio was it. And now I had lost that too.
I woke up as we began weaving through the busy streets of São Paulo. Honking horns and screeds of pedestrians, even in the middle of the night, made for a forceful wake-up call. I started stirring as soon as the car began its slow stop-go motion.
“Welcome to
Cidade da Garoa,
Ms. Monk. The City of Drizzle,” Avery said as he negotiated the traffic.
It wasn't raining. Or drizzling for that fact. But, I guessed São Paulo had inclement weather. Who'd give their city that sort of nickname? I snorted to myself. At least Auckland's was City of Sails.
“Do you have a plan for where to stay? Dawn's approaching,” I asked, taking in the number of vampires I could sense throughout the city centre's limits.
“I am well aware of when dawn will arrive,” Avery answered crisply. Grumpy, huh? “I'm going to ditch the car and then we'll book into a hotel. It will be difficult for them to sense us here. There is simply too much magic.”
I looked out of the window and tried to get a handle on the amount of concrete and glass that surrounded me. I'd read somewhere that over eleven million people live in São Paulo, Auckland has just over one million. The high rises here were sandwiched together, practically leaning over on top of each other. White concrete, coloured yellow and orange in the lights of the night, standing like giants above us. It would take a lot to get used to this many people in such a dense area. And to top it off, my
Sanguis Vitam Cupitor
powers were thrumming with signatures. Many of them Dark.
“How many vampires in this city?” I asked, rubbing my hands on my jacket sleeves to stop the tingle of blood life power in the air.
“I would have thought you could have answered that better than me, Ms. Monk,” Avery offered.
I could have, but somehow the number and degree of Dark in this city was making my spidey-sense tingle to such an alarming level, I was starting to simply shut down.
When I didn't answer Avery continued. “This city is run by a conglomerate of vampire clans. Gangs, you might say. I was surprised to not find you here, when I tracked you. Your hunter skills would have kept you busy in São Paulo.” He flicked a glance at me, taking in the constant rubbing of my arms and the fidget that had started up in my legs. “You are not comfortable here, are you?”
“There's something not right in this city. There's just so much Dark,” I whispered.
“Can you maintain your shields? All of them?” He pierced me with a look that said: don't lie!
I took a deep breath in and answered. “It might prove difficult.”
He swore loudly. “We'll stay one day, then move on somewhere less taxing tomorrow night. Hopefully, one day in amongst all of the Dark will keep us shielded from the Fey.”