Faery Tales & Nightmares (29 page)

As was my shirt
, he realized as he felt her hands slide over his bare chest.

“Whoa,” Seth whispered as he pulled back.

“Sorry.” She smiled a little sheepishly. “I’m still trying to get used to the full Summer, and it’s spring and—”

He kissed her and then stepped away, keeping one arm around her. “I get it.” He reached down and grabbed his singed and steaming shirt from the floor.
The benefits of wearing black T-shirts
. He pulled his shirt back on. “Can we talk for a minute?”

Aislinn’s panic made the heat in the room flare uncomfortably. Faeries around her stopped dancing; couples paused in their kissing; and even the rustling of the almost rain forest–thick plants stilled. Her mood made her faeries react; she was their center. It was like that with all regents.

Hurriedly, Seth said, “Everything is fine with us. I just wanted to talk to you without everyone around.”

“Oh,” she breathed. Her smile returned, and at her joy, the activities throughout the loft, and presumably throughout the whole Summer Court, resumed.

The Summer Queen took his hand and led him through the increasingly plant-filled loft and past a stream—
when did
that
appear
?—that now trickled down a hallway. It seemed as if the division between the outside and inside had vanished in the past week.

He looked at the stream in wonder and then at her with the same swell of awe. Sometimes, it seemed hard to remember what life before Aislinn had been like. He’d fallen in love with her months before she even realized he had stopped hooking up with girls. Instead of going on to art school, he’d stayed here—and ended up going to Faerie and being remade. They were all choices he was sure were right, and not quite a week ago, exactly
how
right had become clear.

Now I just need my mortal life in order
.

He wasn’t truly a mortal anymore. When he was in Faerie, he became mortal, but in the mortal world he was fey. Since his trip to Faerie, he’d spent less and less time around the mortals in his life. He could slip in and out of a glamour with the same ease as breathing, so his new state hadn’t meant giving up the Crow’s Nest, but on the other hand, he only went to the bar with faeries, so he hadn’t been tasked with trying to have a whole lot of normal conversations, either.

Seeing his parents meant facing things he wasn’t sure he was ready to face.

Just inside Aislinn’s room, Seth stopped and looked up. The bed was gone. In its place was a flowering vine that wrapped around what looked look a vat of flower petals atop a tree. “Ash?”

She bit her lip and blushed.

“I was dreaming, and when I woke”—she shrugged—“it was like this. I can’t quite figure out how to get rid of all of the petals.”

“Where’s your bed? Your mattress?”

“That
is
my bed. It was wood, and I guess I sort of made it start growing. My mattress”—Aislinn floated upward, seemingly mindless of the fact that she now treated the air the same as most faeries treated the ground—“is right here. It just has petals all over it.” She sent a small breeze toward the bed, and as flower petals rained around him, she patted the mattress. “See?”

“I do.” He smiled.
This
was the world he lived in, had fought for, and wanted to stay in. There were things he still needed to sort out—chiefly the whole balancing the Dark King and being the faery willing to stand for the rights of any solitary faery thing. Those he would need to figure out, but he’d already been thinking about them. His mortal life, on the other hand, he’d pretty much set aside. He’d like to continue doing that, to ignore the letter that he’d shoved into his pocket, but he couldn’t.

“I need to go away for a few days, Ash. Not”—he held up a hand as she opened her mouth to interrupt—“to see my mother … not
Sorcha
. My human parents sent a letter. They’re in trouble and need me to come to help.”

Aislinn frowned. “How? Where?”

“I have lat and long coordinates. They’re at a campsite in the mountains … which means I need to get to California, hike out to where they are, and… I don’t know. They said it was urgent that I come, and the letter was written at least two weeks ago. I need to go
now
.” Seth couldn’t entirely keep the bitterness out of his voice, but he tried.

Unlike Aislinn, he had no real desire to stay a part of the mortal world. The one big exception was his parents. They were flaky sometimes, but they were
his
. Since they’d left two years ago, they’d kept in touch with sporadic calls and letters, and on one unexpected Tuesday, a visit. They’d called it a “mission” when they left, but whatever church or cult they’d been with had been another passing interest for his mother. Instead of coming back to Huntsdale, they’d followed one random impulse after another, and Seth wasn’t sure if he envied them or admired them.

Aislinn sat on her bed, still frowning. “I can’t go with you. I’m not sure I’m ready to be out in the world without my court yet. I just need a little time to adjust to having all of Summer inside me.”

“I know.” Seth climbed the vine to sit beside her. “I didn’t expect you to.”

“I want to,” she started.

“Ash?” Seth pulled her closer. “You just used sunlight to get up here. You turned your bed into a tree or shrub or whatever this is while you slept.” He threaded his fingers through her hair, and she leaned into him just as the plants throughout the loft leaned toward her as she passed them.

“I could send Tavish or a few of the Summer Girls to protect you.” Her words faded. “I mean, some of them are guards now.”

A soft rain fell in the room as she became nervous. She didn’t bring up his recent conflict with Niall or her fear that the Dark King would decide that he didn’t want to be kind to the faery who now balanced him. Seth had no option but to bring it up.

Seth caught her chin in his hand and made her look at him. “I’ll be fine. Promise.” He paused before admitting, “I’m going to ask Niall to come with me.”

Aislinn scooted backward. “I don’t trust him.”

Seth took advantage of the speed and strength that being fey gave him. He caught her and rolled her under him. “He is my friend. I trust him.”

“You shouldn’t. He’s the
Dark
King, Seth. He can’t be trusted, especially now that Discord lives in his house with him. If I asked you not to spend so much time w—”

“No. Niall is my friend, my
brother
, and Irial is … well, not necessarily good, but right now he’s so caught up in making sure Niall is happy, I doubt that he even has time to start trouble.”

“I still don’t like it,” she said petulantly. “At least take some of my guards.”

“No.” Braced on his arms, he looked down at her. “Don’t start trying to leash me, Ash. I love you, but I am not your subject. I’m not a part of the Summer Court.”

“You’re not a part of his court, either. It was different when you trained there. I didn’t like it, but now…” She stared up at him, tiny oceans glimmering in her eyes. “You’re to be his opposition now, the faery that keeps Niall in line, you know. I’m afraid.”

Seth kissed her words away.

Several minutes later, he pulled back and whispered, “You’re being overprotective, Ash.” He kissed her throat. “You’re worried and looking for problems.” His breathed his words against her ear. “I’m not a fragile mortal anymore. I’ve changed.”

“Me too.” The Summer Queen looked up at him. “Sometimes, I guess that means I’m a little crazy.”

“I know.” He grinned. “I’m not, though. It works out.”

Evening had only just fallen, and the Dark King was in a foul mood. He tossed the phone at the wall, where it shattered into a satisfying number of pieces.

“Bad news?” The voice was unmistakable even in the darkness. Until a couple of weeks ago, Seth’s presence would’ve been a welcome distraction, but the whole Niall-almost-killing-him-and-scarring-his-face thing put a bit of awkwardness between them.

“No,” Niall said. “No news whatsoever. She hasn’t called us.”

“Since?”

“Yesterday,” Niall admitted. “She’s going to spend weekends with us and the weekdays at college, but I thought she’d call more often.”

The laugh that escaped Seth’s lips was quickly turned into a cough as Niall glared at him, but the humor in Seth’s expression was unaltered. In that brief moment, it almost felt like
before
, when things weren’t tense between them.

“You could call her and tell her you’re going out of town for a couple of days,” Seth suggested. “I need to take a trip. I thought you might keep me company.”

“Why?”

Seth shrugged. “I hate flying. I don’t have a car.” He stepped out of the shadows. “And I thought you’d be less able to avoid me if we were trapped in a car together. We need to talk.”

Warily, Niall watched Seth as he walked across the recently bleached floor of the warehouse. He didn’t try to say he hadn’t been avoiding Seth.

“Being your opposition doesn’t mean I’m going to stop being your brother. If that
is
what it means, maybe I should pass it on,” Seth said quietly as he stood in front of Niall’s throne.

When Niall didn’t reply, Seth added, “You can sit here and miss Leslie, go raise a little hell, or come with me.”

“But Irial—”

“Thinks it’s a
grand
idea,” the former Dark King interrupted as he parted the curtains behind Niall’s throne and stepped onto the dais. “I’ll mind the children while you are away. You’ve had a rough few weeks, love. Go take a holiday with”—he waved casually at Seth—“Order Junior.”

Seth made a crude gesture.

“My plate’s pretty full, boy, but I’ll keep it in mind if I need a way to stir a little trouble with your beloved Summer Queen.” Irial leaned down and put a possessive hand on Niall’s shoulder.

Niall looked up at him.

“Your anger and your gloom are perfectly fine for the court, but the court isn’t my top priority.” Irial grinned. “The court
will
be my only priority while you’re away because it’ll serve my goals.”

“Which are?” Niall knew the answer, maybe he always had, but he still liked hearing it.

The laugh that spilled from Irial’s lips was pure Dark Court. “I have all sorts of goals, but in this case, it’s your happiness. Go with the boy. I’ll take care of the court as if I were their king because that is what you
and
Leslie would want.”

“Wait outside,” Niall told Seth, and without tearing his gaze from Irial to see if Seth obeyed or not, Niall grabbed Irial’s wrist.

Irial acted as if he didn’t notice that he was being held in place. “I know everything you’re feeling, all of the time. You’re afraid he’s going to be your enemy now that he balances you, but things don’t have to be antagonistic between you. You’re afraid that he’ll get surly over that scar on his face, but”—Irial reached up and traced the scar on Niall’s face—“most sensible faeries find scars appealing.”

Love and lust tangled into a delicious cocktail, and Niall closed his eyes as Irial’s emotions filled him. He didn’t keep them closed as Irial gave him a kiss that made Niall feel like an idiot for wasting the past hour alone in the dark.

Seth will wait
.

Minutes passed, and eventually, footsteps interrupted them. Neither Niall nor Irial paid any mind until Seth laughingly asked, “Did you find a cure for your mood, Brother?”

Irial looked over his shoulder at Seth. “Voyeur.”

“Not really possible to avoid in Ash’s court … or this one.” Seth looked straight at Niall as he spoke. “And there’s nothing wrong with it, so why would I care? I want Niall to be happy.”

At that, Irial laughed. “If I didn’t know better, boy, I’d think you said the right things just to curry favor.” He kissed Niall again and then shoved him away. “Go on or send the boy away for a few hours.”

“Sorry, but I need to try to catch a bus if you’re not joining me.” Seth’s emotions were a web of worry and frustration and sorrow, but Niall had no idea which of those were a result of the present conversation and which were ones Seth had felt because of whatever trip he needed to take.

“Go on,” Irial suggested. He sat on the Dark King’s throne. “Maybe we’ll have a party while you’re away.”

“Good.” After a lingering look at the faery who shared his home again after too many centuries apart, Niall turned to Seth. “Where are we going?”