Fae (37 page)

“He can wait? For after round two?” The hope in Kiernan’s voice made her want to laugh.

“No, you’ve put him off for a month, and I thought you promised you weren’t going to ditch him again?” She smiled up at him and he grumbled, but she knew he cared about his best friend. He leaned over and grabbed the loud, buzzing phone and answered it.

“Hey man – yes, I’m still coming – no, I’m not cancelling – I’m just…. wrapping things up. Twenty or thirty minutes? Deal.” Kiernan pressed the screen of the phone and looked back to her. “I’d rather be here with you, Glowworm.”

Neala pinched the back of his arm and he yelped. She smiled, “You’re not the only one with a promise to keep, Kiernan. I have my own plans for the next three days.”

“I know, I know. I guess this means we have to put clothes on?” His eyes trailed over her and she returned the favor, taking in the hard planes of his body, the strong cut of his jaw, the five o’clock shadow she’d felt brushing against her skin – and his vibrant green eyes.

“Yes, we have to put on clothes and
you
need to put in your contacts. Remember? You need your creepy Laochra eyes to go see Cole.” She grinned and he faked a pout.

“You thought my eyes were creepy?”

“Oh, by Eltera’s grace, don’t even try to pout right now.” Neala grinned and he returned it, picking her up in his arms to walk towards the bedroom.

“Fine, I won’t pout, but I’m going to enjoy every
single
minute I have with you until I have to leave, and I’d prefer if you’d get dressed really, really slowly.” He leaned down and kissed her, and she laughed against his lips.

They got dressed, probably much more quickly than Kiernan would have preferred, and he stepped out of the bathroom. It was a strange sight to see the irises of Kiernan’s eyes black again, but there was no way he could see the other Laochra without the costume contacts he’d ordered. As Neala moved closer she marveled at how perfectly they covered the green, and she found herself tilting her head to try and see the edges.

“Well, how do they look? Is Cole going to run me through with a sword when he sees me?” Kiernan tried to make it light, but they both knew there was a lot of risk with him going back, but it would be worse if he ignored his friend again. Until Neala was able to stay in their new, hidden home – Kiernan had to keep everyone away from his apartment.

“From what you’ve told me, Cole would never hurt you. But they look perfect. You look like you did when I met you.”

“I don’t look happier?” He grinned and she laughed as he wrapped his arms around her.

“So smooth.”

“You say that like it’s a surprise, when we both know how awesome I am.” He said it seriously, but Neala just laughed again and shoved him back a bit.

“
You
made me a promise, Kiernan, now go fulfill it before your head is too big to travel, and do
not
make that a joke!” She smiled up at him, her own excitement catching up with her. “Please go get her?”

“Of course,
mo ghaol
. Kiernan grinned and stepped back from her, swooping into a deep bow that she was sure he had
actually
perfected during the Renaissance. Then he shifted, and she had to rub her eyes to let herself refocus. It wasn’t five minutes later when she heard a high-pitched squeal from the living room.

“NEALA!”

Neala rushed into the living room and was almost tackled to the floor by the force of the five-foot ball of energy. A puff of blue hair was tickling her nose when she squeezed Irena back. The pixie hadn’t wasted any time calling Kiernan once she was settled with an organization that helped to get women back on their feet and out of the slave trade. Right now she was using a glamour to hide who she really was, but she was still Irena.

“I’m so glad you’re here!” Neala couldn’t hide her own excitement, and they hugged again and jumped up and down. Kiernan was trying to hide his laughter behind them.

“So, I brought a
list
of movies we have to watch. And I’m thinking our meals should revolve around sugar and pizza, and you said we would go shopping if you -” Irena was buzzing and talking fast like she always did when she was happy, but she stopped silent and let out an ear piercing squeal. “THE BANDS ARE GONE!”

Neala grinned. “Yes, I finally convinced him to try -”

“That’s amazing! It means we can go out, and
you guys
can go out, and I’m just so happy for you!” Irena let go of her glamour and her figure blurred for a second until the whir of pixie wings was audible, and then Neala saw the friend she knew so well. Blue skin and all.

“With so much fun planned, I guess you don’t need me around then?” Kiernan faked a wounded look and Irena just rolled her eyes and jumped over to the couch to drop herself on it. Neala walked over and wrapped her arms around him.

“I will
always
need you.” She kissed him softly, and she could feel when his lips spread into a smile.

“It’s only three days, right? And this time nothing will happen.” Kiernan whispered into her hair as he hugged her tight against him.

“I’m yours, and you’re mine. Forever. Eltera promised us that. Three days is nothing.” Neala whispered back.

“I love you, Glowworm.” He kissed her, and she grinned.

“I love you too.” With one last kiss he stepped back and grabbed his duffel from near the wall. Neala crossed her arms over her stomach and waved a little. Kiernan winked at her, and then shifted, but she wasn’t worried. She knew he’d be back.

She’d spend the next three days being as normal as it was possible to be when ‘normal’ included an orphaned pixie and a Faeoihn trying to figure out modern day Seattle.

Then he’d be back, they’d start the journey to save her sisters,
however the hell they were supposed to do that
, and the time they had spent apart wouldn’t matter.

It wouldn’t matter because they really did have forever, and for once the future was something Neala really wanted to think about.

END NOTES

I just wanted to tell you thank you for reading this book. I wrote this book years ago and set it on a shelf because A) I wasn’t ready to show it yet, and B) I wasn’t ready to write it the way I wanted it. In mid-2015 when I picked the draft back up, dusted it off, and met Fae and Kiernan all over again – I remembered why I had needed to get the story on paper in the first place.

That led to a months long re-write and a series of edits to get the story to where I wanted it to be, but I have to say it’s something I’m glad to have out there now. There are many, many more Faeoihn to save in this world, and many more books to come. Each one will follow a different Faeoihn as she struggles to find the one person meant for her, and each path to their happy ending will be unique.

I do hope you stick around for the ride that the ‘Daughters of Eltera’ series will be.

Before you go, it would mean the world to me that if you liked this book that you take a few minutes to write a review and capture how you’re feeling right now so other readers can find my work! Reviews are truly one of the most effective ways to help authors out, and I would be very grateful.

Want to always know what’s going on, or get the inside track on upcoming releases? All of that is sent out in my mailing list, and I only send out one message a month – so please
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If you just can’t wait for more Faeoihn action, there’s a sneak peek of Book 2 in the series ‘Tara’ on the next pages, and if you’d like to check out some of my other books they’re linked at the end of the book.

Happy reading, lovelies!

Below is an EXCLUSIVE sneak peek of the next book in the Daughters of Eltera series, ‘Tara’. Keep reading for Chapter One!

Chapter One

Toulouse, France

Alaric was the only one willing to sit outside in the morning chill of February, but with his coat pulled around him and a strong cup of tea in his hands he much preferred the solitude the outdoor tables provided. His eyes scanned the windows to his left and he watched as the crowd inside milled together, people talking and laughing over pastries as they planned their days. The door opened and he could feel a puff of the heat from inside generated by the furnace, the crush of bodies, and the constantly working ovens and coffee machines. A buzzing wave of French language crashed into him and his mind worked overdrive trying to translate the bits and pieces.

“- he’s going to university –“

“- one sugar, yes –“

“- of course, I will call –“

As if the last comment had been for him his cell phone started to vibrate against the table top, the screen didn’t show a number, but spelled out UNKNOWN in block letters. Like he didn’t know who that was.

“Luca.” It wasn’t a question, Alaric knew who was calling because it was right on time. Two weeks since his last contract, just enough time to slough off any potential guilt that could have lingered, but not so long that he was out of practice.

A chuckle came over the line. “Alaric. How’s Toulouse?”

Of course he knew where he was, not even driving a stolen car from Germany and using fake credentials at the border was enough. Alaric once again glanced at his phone and wondered when Luca could have activated the GPS in it, or even when he could have had access to it. He had to get better at locking up his hotel rooms.

“A chill in the air, but the view – spectacular.” Alaric turned his eyes away from the normal people on the other side of the glass, the cold air settling over him as he went through the motions with Luca.

“Good. Listen, I wanted to know if we could talk,” a beat of a pause that most people wouldn’t have noticed, “in private.” Luca’s voice sounded upbeat, just a friend calling another friend on holiday, but the message had been received.

“Absolutely, give me a minute.” Alaric kept up the friendly tones in his own voice as he reached into the messenger bag at his side and pulled out the small laptop and a bundle of cables. Flipping it open the machine whirred as it kicked on. Alaric was already plugging in cables in preparation for the next step. Oh yes, the conversation. “How’s the family?”

“Busy as always, no one ever seems to come home anymore. Always out and about.” Luca’s voice held a hint of humor in it, the update on the other men in the organization coming across in code. Alaric had always thought that Luca’s favorite part of playing Bosley to all the angels he had out in the world was the opportunity to talk like a secret agent.

Even though that’s kind of what he was. Just replace government agencies with private funding.

“I hope you’re not too lonely there, Luca.” Alaric’s voice talked for him, filling the air time as the computer came on and he started loading the phone encryption program. Once it was running, Alaric set the phone down on the table, plugged in the cables and picked up the little over-the-ear headset. The light in the program went green and as far as anyone who may have been listening was concerned, he was going through a tunnel of static that wouldn’t end until the program turned off.

“We good?” Luca’s voice came over the line crystal clear and Alaric tucked his hand over the earpiece to muffle the wind.

“We’re good.”

“Just to be extra special safe, I have your signal doing a tango with cell towers from Spain to Egypt.” He was bragging, but Alaric didn’t care much, all the techno-babble that would come out of Luca if he asked a question, or made a comment, wasn’t worth it.

“What can I do for you?” Alaric felt the cold in the air penetrate farther than it should have with his coat, the chill settling all over him leaving him in that mental state that kept him separate, and logical, and heading for the finish line. Just how Luca’s group had trained him.

“We have a quick turn-around request, and you’re the closest to the action. Sending you an e-mail, decrypt algorithm A46JZX.” Luca’s voice was all business now that the conversation had really started, and Alaric logged the string of letters and numbers in his short-term memory while he brought up the email server.

“A moment.” His touch opened up an email that looked like spam on the surface, an advert for a dating website offering a month of free membership.
Ha ha, Luca
. Hitting a few keys he brought up the decryption software and typed in the algorithm. In moments the real email appeared with three attachments. “What am I looking at?”

“I need you to hear me out before you make a decision, Alaric.” Luca’s voice was strained, and he saw why immediately. The first attachment was full of timetables and maps. But on the top of the second attachment were a series of photos shot at some fancy party and they were all of the same woman, young, looking unreal in a long black dress. Honey blonde hair was pulled up off her neck in a messy bun, and she was dripping with jewels, a million-dollar smile lighting up her face as she was tracked through the party by whoever’s camera had been clicking. A forty-something man in a tux had his arm coiled around her in almost every picture, his chest puffed up with the pride of having her on his arm.

“You better tell me that this is about him.” Alaric’s voice was clear, but he could see from the angle of the photos and how she was centered in each of them that this call was about her. No women. No kids. That had been his rule since he’d started with Infinity Consulting, which contradictory to its name specialized in endings, and didn’t consult anyone about anything.

“It’s about both of them, actually, and don’t you dare hang up on me. Hear me out.” Luca snapped out the words as if he was racing the end button on Alaric’s end.

“Talk.” Alaric was tempted to hang up, potentially hard enough to crush the phone. Let Luca try and track him then.

“The client attempted to make a deal with the man in the picture, Gianni Formato. The deal was declined and the client wants Gianni eliminated.” The tension in Luca’s voice eased as he kept talking and the line was still open. Alaric didn’t have a problem with what he was saying so far, he could remove Gianni from the picture with ease. Tapping open the third document to cover up the pictures of that woman he saw the floor plans of a three story - plus basement - villa in Milan, Italy. Exterior pictures were below the floor plans, there was a heavy-duty gate in front of the driveway and the garage, but that gate came right up to the surface streets. All the windows had security bars, and to most people it looked like a fortress, but Alaric’s mind was already clicking away at an entrance strategy.

Then his mind screeched to a halt as he tuned back in to what Luca was saying.

“- just bring the girl back to the client, and all done.”

“What?” Alaric tilted the laptop towards his body as a man and a woman left the café and walked past him. “You know my rules, Luca.”

“Listen, the client doesn’t want a hair touched on her head. In fact, he’ll be pissed if she’s hurt. That leaves me with an extremely short list of people I can send in with moral fiber that are also within range to have this done tonight. In fact, that list is you. Just you.” Luca’s voice was deadly serious.

“I’m not a delivery boy.” Alaric’s hand was gripping the strap of his messenger bag hard enough to make his knuckles go white. He couldn’t raise his voice, couldn’t draw attention to himself, but he didn’t want to be involved with the elegant socialite in those pictures.

“Alaric, if you turn this down I’m just going to have to call someone else within range, and no one else within range has the same,” another pause, “
values
, you have.”

Hello back, meet corner
.

“I will not hurt her.” Alaric spoke it quiet enough that only the sensitive microphone angling down from his ear could pick it up.

“Is that a yes?”

“Tell me the rest.” Alaric sighed and leaned back against the cold chair, and he reached a hand for his tea out of habit but the cold air had turned it into an unsatisfying waste of tealeaves. Over the next fifteen minutes Alaric finished reading through the documents, all of it the bare minimum he needed to know to do the job. Most of the information Luca transferred was about the when and the where. They usually had plenty of time to plan these things, but this had to happen tonight, between midnight and four am.

“He’s paying two million, and another half a million upon delivery. It’s a pretty nice pay day for a few days of work.” Luca was back to his happy self on the other end of the line, and Alaric could almost see the smile as Luca talked while his hands moved over the keyboard in his computer cave. All those screens flashing information at him while he handled the navigation of their invisible ship to keep them all afloat.

“The client is going to have to cover all my expenses. This kind of turnaround is going to cost money.” Alaric had pulled up the internet to start looking at flights to Milan, it was going to take him at least five hours to pull out of Toulouse and get to Milan, get a car and gear up. That was all before he could even scout the place in the daylight.

“I don’t think he’ll have a problem with that.” Luca had already checked out of their conversation. The contract had been assigned, and he had others to call, other moves to make.

“Alright Luca, I’m on it.” That is, as long as no one asked him to hurt the girl he would be.

“That’s my boy, Alaric. Call me when it’s done, and you have her, so I can update the client.” Luca’s end of the call clicked off, and Alaric started turning off the program and unplugging the cables. It was a matter of a few minutes to book a flight under an alias to Milan, he found a hotel just far enough from the target to give him some breathing room, but not so far as to be unreachable if there was fallout. He grabbed his phone again and called a car dealer he had worked with before. If he was going to have to leave with the girl, he was going to be able to do it fast and in a car he knew he liked.

As he clicked the laptop shut and sat back his eyes tracked the winter sunlight as it continued painting the clouds. Luca knew his rules and he hoped that out of respect for their relationship he wouldn’t put him in a bad situation. Luca knew
why
he had the rules too – and the memory bobbed to the surface, his mother’s face flashing in front of him. Her eyes open, but unfocused.

He scrubbed a hand over his face and settled into work mode, there was no room for reminiscing about old tragedies right now. Compartmentalizing his brain he tucked all the messy things away, his childhood, his mother’s death, all the rage he felt at thinking of it. There was only his current assignment and the steps it would take to complete it. No room for emotions in all of that.

When he slipped the laptop into his bag he realized the girl’s name hadn’t been on anything and Luca had never said her name. It was better that way, personal details led to distraction.

He reached in his wallet and laid a few bills under the plate his ruined tea sat on. Crossing the bag over his chest he climbed onto the Ducati motorcycle and started it up, rolling away from the café and back towards his hotel. The streets were still mostly empty in the morning and he picked up dangerous speed on the small streets, but it cleared out his head as he tilted his body carefully to handle the turns, focusing on the balance, and the acceleration, and not the lives he’d take in the next twenty-four hours.

It was better not to think about it.

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