Chapter Three

All three princes stared at each other. It had been nearly a century since Jayce had visited the Fee clan, when Jonas had made his transition. It was uncommon to attend a transition in only a century. The other clans hadn’t had a transition of power in at least two centuries by human standards.

Halflings usually lived nearly as long as the Fae did. One of the many boons granted by their heritage. It wasn’t unheard of for Halflings to die. Their line of business wasn’t conducive to long life. At least there would be a formal changing of power this time. Jonas had been thrust into it when his father had been torn literally in half by an enraged redcap. Nasty business, that particular witnessing.

Jayce took a deep breath and climbed the four short steps to the portal mouth. Without a backwards glance at his compatriots, he strode through the flickering air.

For a split second, his skin was flayed from his body, all the breath sucked out of his lungs, and it was possible that his heart stopped. Then the agony was over and he emerged into the chilly afternoon air. He heaved a sigh of relief and hurried out of the way for Beckett and Tobin.

“My Lady, Lords…” Jayce jumped at the Halfling‘s voice. “We weren’t expecting you for a few hours.” The Halfling gestured expansively. “We are still in the middle of preparations for the ceremony tonight. I am most happy to show you to your rooms, so that you can rest until we have made ready.”

The language was stilted, old-fashioned. It was almost as if the words didn’t exactly fit in the Halfling’s mouth.

Gemma rolled her eyes. Jayce was behind her, but he could tell. Her entire body moved with the expression.

“Silas.” The single word was a warning. About what exactly, Jayce wasn’t sure. Gemma’s whole posture changed, from behind it was as if she became an entirely different person, or maybe just shedding the façade she felt she had to wear in Faerie. “You don’t have to cater to us. Is there anything that we can do to help?”

The Halfling smirked at the diminutive Fae. “We’ve just about got it. I do need to make sure that Bailey is ready. It’s nearly night, and I haven’t seen her since early this morning.” He held out his hand to Gemma. “Would you like to come with me? I’m sure she’d love to see you. She missed you so much.”

“Not enough to stick around, or come and visit. You both have a standing invitation to the Winter Court, you know that.”

“I also know that, while not expressly forbidden, it’s very frowned upon for Halflings to cross the portal. No one particularly cares for cops, no matter the side of the portal you’re on.”

Gemma laughed, but it held a touch of sarcasm. “You’re nowhere near as cool as a cop, Silas. You already know that. But lead the way, dear sir, I’d love to see how my foster sister fared in Hawaii. Is she tanned?”

“That girl couldn’t tan if her life depended on it.” Silas took Gemma’s hand and hauled her away. “Make yourselves comfortable!” He tossed over his shoulder. “The main house is up the hill. You’re welcome to explore if you’d like, but I wouldn’t stray too much. The woods’re pretty thick around here.”

Jayce wasn’t sure about being so unceremoniously left to his own devices. He stared around at the bustling Halflings.

The community was far more expansive than he remembered. The portal was situated on a raised dais in it‘s own little park, the center of a lively, active town. He could feel the wards that protected the courtyard, kept anything from entering or leaving without the properly keyed spell.

A small guard shack stood at the mouth of the walkway leading into the town. No doubt a formality for visiting human dignitaries, something familiar to them.

Jayce stepped off the dais. “I guess we’ll explore…” He took a hesitant step toward the guard shack.

Tobin pushed past him. “Come on. I am famished and I’m sure they have something resembling food at…what did he call it? The main house?” He strode purposefully toward the guards, and flicked his fingers at them dismissively as they stood. “I can very well figure out where this house is,” He addressed them, “Without so much ado. We aren’t incapable.”

Beckett shoved by Jayce as well. “Maybe you’ll Spark here, and we won’t need to call the Hunt.” He loped hurriedly after Tobin, and Jayce trailed behind.

Sparking for a Halfling didn’t feel…natural. Not that the Courts ever stood on actual tradition when Sidhe mated. It would be embarrassing to feel the spark for a lower Fae or, Goddess forbid, an Unseelie.

But when Jayce had imagined getting that knowing, that draw, it would be for a full-blooded Sidhe female.

Bailey rubbed her eyes, stretching with a yawn. The shadows on her floor were long. Much longer than she expected. She bolted upright. She shouldn’t have slept so long. Instead of the ritualistic bath, it would need to be a quick shower. Hopefully the Gods didn’t mind her not being totally “cleansed” for this process.

She jumped from the bed, and darted to the en-suite. The redeeming factor for this room being on the third floor is someone had saw fit to add a bathroom to every room. She hadn’t thought of necessities like clothing or a maybe a towel from the linen closet.

She turned the tap as hot as it would go and jumped in. Luckily, someone had kept her bathroom stocked with fresh soaps and shampoos, and she quickly worked the lather over her body.

She had hoped for some personal time, a little while to remember her body being just Inherent, not filled with the Fae Magick of the portal too. She should’ve taken the opportunity before falling asleep.

It’d been too long since she’d taken a lover. Nearly a year. They never lasted long. Her magick always swirled thicker and heavier when she was in the throes of passion.

The closer to a lover she became, the more passion she possessed. It had led to plenty of mind-blowing orgasms, but never allowed Bailey to keep a lover for more than a few months at a time.

There was something to her magick that might have been related to the succubi, she would watch her lover slowly lose pieces of themselves, the mood would change. What had been fun would become obsession. She couldn’t handle the pressure, and would end the relationship long before it would run it’s natural course.

Or maybe she just wasn’t built for monogamy, though her heart sometimes longed for that one specific person that would ignite her world.

She leaned her back against the shower wall, sliding down until she curled up in the bottom. The water beat a heavy staccato on her skin, almost painful in it’s heat. She was not made for this responsibility.

Her breath shuddered from her body, her mind and heart tumultuous. She did not want this life. To lead, to be trusted so completely. The eagerness her body had held before was gone. Instead came the crippling anxiety that had forced her to defy her grandfather. She couldn’t do this! Why did everyone insist she could?!

She was sobbing before she even realized. A clawing, painful, choking sensation overwhelmed her.

“Christ on a biscuit! B, B…where are you?!” Someone was wailing in the background and she tried to answer Silas, but her words failed her.

The awareness that it was her own keening that was keeping her from speaking washed over her slowly.

“Silas, I think she’s in the bathroom.” The soothing, soft, lilting voice broke through the nervous breakdown Bailey was having, and her wails died into nothingness.

The bathroom door crashed against the wall, and Silas physically threw himself in the room, hands curled and at the ready, a crush of power washing through.

Bailey gasped, and threw her arms around herself, belatedly realizing that she was both naked and icy from the frigid water. When had it gone cold?

Silas stalked the entirety of the small bathroom. “All clear, Gemma. B, who the hell was screa--oh my GOD! What the hell?!” He comically slapped his hand across his eyes and fumbled out. “Unclean! Impure!”

“What are you on about?” Gemma slid into the bathroom after Silas made his exit, just as Bailey jerked the handle for the water, stopping the frigid flow. “Ah…naked B. Now I understand.”

“G-g-gemma…” Bailey pointed a shaking finger through the door. “Will you grab m-m-me a towel? It’s so cold.”

“Cold water or not, you scared the fuck out of us!” Silas yelled through the open door. “We thought you were being murdered. Why the hell didn’t you just turn off the water when it got cold? That’s the smart thing. You don’t just lay down in it screaming, like an idiot!”

Gemma scooted out and returned just as fast, holding out a thick fluffy towel. “Are we done having nervous breakdowns, babe? Your fear was like a solid wall of molasses in the hallway. You can’t broadcast like that. Any more and you’d have petrified the entire household.” As Bailey meekly reached for the towel, Gemma glared at her. “Four years in Hawaii and you don’t even have the grace to be a little more speckled?”

The sarcastic joke sliced through the rest of Bailey’s tension and she managed a small laugh. The anxiety hadn’t hit that hard since her teen years. “I’m sorry…I guess I’m just scared.”

“That’s smart.” Gemma replied as Bailey wrapped herself tightly in the towel, taking care to make sure her breasts and ass were fully covered. “Wild Fae magick isn’t something to trifle with. The magick we are born with is a small taste. The actual portal magick comes from both worlds. It’s good to be afraid. It’ll keep you from being stupid and wielding it without care.”

Gemma hopped up on the vanity countertop, kicking her dangling legs. “But, and I have to stress this, it is not so terrifying that you would need to unleash the entirety of your innate magick on your unsuspecting relatives and guests. You have to control yourself before you ever take the transition.”

“Guests?” Bailey reached for her brush, about to attempt to detangle her mass of curls.

“Well, yeah. If I’m here, don’t you think the representatives from the other Courts are too?”

“I didn’t exactly put much thought into it since you two barged into the bathroom during my panic attack and my favorite cousin saw my naked ass.” Bailey pointed the brush at Gemma. “Now, where are these other Lords of the Courts?”

“Last I saw before Silas hauled me off up here, they were staring slack-jawed at the village. I can’t wait until they get a taste of the current technology. They didn’t last longer than two years earth-side during our exchange program. And that started fifteen years ago, give or take? Wasn't the Blackberry all the rage then?”

Bailey laughed, “They’re going to shit themselves over the VR in the family room--”

The door to Bailey’s bedroom crashed open for the second time, three breathless Fae tumbling in one after another. The brush slipped from nerveless fingers into the floor. Her entire body flamed, she could feel the embarrassment from the tips of her toes to the ends of her hair.

Gemma slid off the countertop, trying to position herself to slam the bathroom door closed, but not before Bailey met a pair of panicked emerald eyes.

Her world tilted on it’s axis. She gripped the countertop to steady herself, as the breath forcibly left her body. His silver hair cascaded around him like spun starlight. He heaved a shuddering breath that Bailey mimicked.

He straightened, the entire six foot four of him too much for her small room. Hell, maybe he was too much for the outside world too. There was something about him that screamed feral, other, and oh-so-vitally male. Somewhere, deep inside Bailey, right next to the last vestige of panic, fanned a small spark.

Gemma finally slammed the bathroom door closed, cutting off Bailey’s view of the ethereal males. Bailey turned wide, rounded eyes on Gemma. “Who the hell are they?!”