3. Honest

3

HONEST

T he next morning finds us saying goodbye to the Red Letter Hotel Florence yet again—except this time, it’s left in far better straits with all Quinn’s Dark Fae re-bound to us, ready to protect it.

As Quinn, Ariana, and I make a few final preparations for our drive to Venice, packing a variety of nice Fae and Vampire clothing since we have no clue what we’ll need when we get there, Ariana spends over an hour talking on the phone with her parents about the hidden Dark Fae citadel in Venice and how to find it.

As Quinn leaves Devi with instructions for the Hotel and the United Haven, Curio makes ready to travel with us. He’s best acquainted with the Dark Fae in Italy, since his mother was born among them, and knows how to contact them in Venice.

I leave instructions with Alleno to care for my owl Altenni, and for him to continue speaking with all the Summer Fae who have defected to the Hotel. Revolution is brewing; though it looks far different from what I originally envisioned, I know we need to keep the fires burning, even while Quinn, Ariana, and I are away.

Because we do not know how long it will take to master our Music and oust the Gold Eyes from our power. We have no idea if it will take a day, a week—maybe even a year. It all depends on what we find when we finally get to the Dark Fae in the Hidden City of Venice.

If we can get to them at all, elusive as they are.

“Remember, the Venice Dark Fae are extremely clandestine. No amount of goodwill or bravado will get them to open their doors to you. Show them your true selves . Only then will they trust you and allow you into the hidden city,” Curio says now as we pile into Quinn’s sleek black Maserati Ghibli.

Dressed in a black Vampire suit tonight with black lace detail, Quinn is driving; Ariana is in the passenger seat wearing an emerald green Fae couture gown that makes her hair and eyes absolutely pop, while I’m in the back in a pearl-grey Fae men’s suit with gold hi-lights.

Curio wears one of his winter white Victorian ensembles; sitting next to me in the back as Quinn revs the engine and tears out of the Hotel’s passenger loading area, Curio’s normally teasing face is grave as we discuss how we get into the hidden Dark Fae citadel in Venice.

“My parents were a little vague about how we do that. My father said we don’t find the Venice Dark Fae, they find us.” Ariana turns in her seat, glancing back at Curio and me as Quinn drives.

Quinn flashes a ruby ring at an ornate lamppost; we hear the high whine and see the bright flash of light that happens as we cross over from the Twilight Realm to the human world where the highways are faster and better maintained.

“How in seven hells are we supposed to let the Venice Dark Fae know we’re looking for them?” I ask now, fuzzy on the plan and frowning in the backseat. “I mean, we can’t march into Venice with a megaphone and start blaring that we’re looking for the Hidden City and its Dark Fae, somewhere in the center of Venice’s old town.”

“There are rituals for summoning their ambassadors,” Curio says as he glances at me. “We’re dressed appropriately; all we need to do is to pick up Venetian Carnevale masks when we get there, from a human shop, before we cross Realms again.”

“To wear human masks in a city of Fae lets the Dark Fae know we’re serious about contacting them, apparently,” Ariana says now as she looks at Quinn. “Only Fae who would risk the ire of their Kings by crossing Realms are worthy of their time. And will keep their city a secret.”

“I know a good shop where we can get masks.” Quinn pulls into traffic on the main thoroughfare that runs between Florence and Venice in the human world, the A1.

It feels strange to be driving in the human world, in a very human car with two Dark Fae I once thought were Vampires. But everything has changed in the past months; my entire world has upended, as I finally realized I was no different from Ariana, Curio, and Quinn.

Now we’re traveling in the human world where I was once forbidden to go by my father, the Summer Fae King, though I did it anyway. I even hid numerous stashes of equipment in the human world for my revolution, which I once thought would only be for the Summer Fae.

Devi and her people are liberating those stashes now, taking them all back to the Red Letter Hotel Florence for a potential revolution which may still come.

As I drive through the human world a free man, no longer beholden to any king.

“Lucca? Did you hear me?” Quinn’s voice rouses me from my thoughts.

“No, what?” I blink, embarrassed he caught me drifting when I should be focusing on the task ahead.

“It’s not just me who’s getting lost in plots and plans anymore.” Quinn chuckles as he glances at me in the rearview mirror. “I said Ariana’s parents told us we have to wear our masks as we walk through the Fae side of the city, but we have to bare our hearts somehow. I’m working off the assumption that is both literal and metaphysical. So you and I shall open our shirts to bare our upper chests when we get there, and Ariana’s gown is cut low enough to do the same. We shall link hands, showing our hearts as a trio, then flood our powers wide and let the Music resonate between us. We shall present ourselves as open, bare, and raw about what we feel for one another.”

“Sounds good enough.” I nod, Quinn’s reasoning making sense.

“Once we get in,” Curio says, giving us the next step of our journey, “you’ll want to demand to see the Venice Dark Fae Sages. They are the true power behind the Hidden City, though the Fae side of Venice is ruled by a Master, just like my father rules Novakitsk. But the Sages are who you must speak to about your power; they are the mystical might of the Hidden City. Only they have the knowledge to help you—for they are even far older than my father. And far more knowledgeable about the ancient Ascendant arts.”

“But Venice isn’t that old a city, only about 1500 years in the human world.” Ariana turns, looking at Curio. “Have the Dark Fae Sages been there since the Ascendant’s Fall?”

“No.” Curio answers as Quinn zips the Maserati around a truck, flooring it and making us all grip the doors. “The Venice Dark Fae Sages are some of the oldest Dark Fae there are, but they didn’t always live in Venice. Legend has it, they traveled the globe for eons, until they recently settled in Venice. That was after it was built in the Twilight Realm, a few thousand years before humans got the idea and built it in their world.”

“We’re meeting with some very ancient individuals who could be extremely dangerous,” Quinn says now as a feeling of deep wariness sweeps us through our bond. “We must be at our most diplomatic with them and convince them we are no threat to their Hidden City or their ancient ways. We are only petitioners, seeking a boon of knowledge that might help us.”

“Do you know if they hate the Gold Eyes?” I ask Curio now as I turn to him. “Is that a bargaining chip we could use with these ancient Sages?”

“My father didn’t say when we spoke on our quick call earlier.” Curio frowns now, pensive. “All he told me was that my mother was once under the Sages’ tutelage here in Italy, though she left them to be with my father when they met. She was training with them, and had enough power to resist the Gold Eyes when he came calling because of them. She was even more defiant than my father at not doing the Gold Eyes’ will. Which is why he killed her, apparently. Not just because he knew it would punish my father and drive him utterly mad into his Revenant state.”

“I would be surprised if they don’t know about that creature,” Quinn says as he drives, zooming around yet another truck as he goes way past the human speed limit. Thankfully, the car is enchanted to avoid the eye of any human authorities. “The Gold Eyes has a long and sordid history of trying to either enchant or tear down any person or organization with significant power that might aid his wishes, or oppose him. I’m sure the Sages have at least heard of him, if not had experience with him directly, courting or punishing them.”

“We’ll just have to get there and find out.” Ariana reaches out, setting her hand on Quinn’s thigh as he drives. “In any case, my father told me the Sages respect honesty above all else. Whether or not they hate the Gold Eyes, they’ll be looking for our deepest truth about why we’re coming to them for help. My father said we can’t hold that back from them, not in the slightest.”

“No secrets. Lay it all out for them,” I say now, though what I’m doing is reminding Quinn he needs to be on his best behavior tonight. My dark lover has a tendency to withhold the truth from everyone when he’s lost inside his plots and plans. Quinn eyes me now in the rearview mirror, understanding what I’m telling him.

Even though it’s a constant challenge for him to always speak the truth.

But that’s why we have Ariana. Like a truth serum that lives inside our very veins, her balanced Animante Dark Fae power is constantly seeking the truth, thanks to the original magic of her Royal Summer Fae house.

Royal House Altvie is known as The House of Shadow Truth because it has something deep inside its power that always seeks the truth from lies. As Ariana glances back at me now, we share a thought through the bond. We’ll both help keep Quinn on track with the Venice Dark Fae Sages.

Even if he’s tempted to not divulge to them his full and honest heart.

There’s not much more to say now as we drive. This endeavor has to come from our hearts; as such, there’s not a lot to plot and plan, since only baring our rawest selves is going to get us anywhere with the Venice Dark Fae. Ariana’s parents told her the citadel guards will know our signatures as Dark Fae the moment we walk through the city, demonstrating our trio’s power. We don’t find them; they find us.

And when they do, it’s time to fly by the seat of our pants.

That understanding has Quinn tied up in knots now as he drives. I’ve rarely seen him more out of his element, as he stews and frets about the countless things that could go wrong in three hours when we get there.

It’ll be two hours, actually, the way Quinn drives; still, we have no solid plan to help us. We’ve done the best we could on such short notice, however, because none of us will wait even one more day before attempting to get the Gold Eyes’ power out of our magic.

Lest it destroy everything we love, and everything we’ve helped create.

The drive up to Padua is quiet after our brief talk. Though Quinn continues to zoom through traffic, the rest of us stare out the windows, pensive, as the Tuscan countryside rolls by.

We’re soon crossing over into the Emilia-Romagna region, passing through Bologna, then the Veneto region, which includes Padua. By the time we hit the car bridge to Venice, the Ponte della Libertà, we’re simultaneously relaxed from the long trip but also tense, having no idea what comes next.

As Quinn parks in one of the parking garages at the west end of the city near the cruise ports, we all get out, since the rest of our journey is either by boat or on foot. Dressed in stunning Fae and Vampire couture, we turn heads as we walk through the parking garage, getting photographed by human tourists.

It’s still daytime here; night is an hour from falling, but we look like we’re headed to a photoshoot as the sun sinks low over the water. We catch a water taxi at the Piazzale Roma on the Rio Novo. The four of us settle in to enjoy the ride, as we’re taxied to the shop Quinn knows of, to purchase quality masks.

It turns out to be a famous authentic Venetian mask maker in the human world, called Ca’ Macana, which caters to true lovers and collectors of Venetian mask art. Entering the shop, we’re given a welcome from the man in the store like we’re causal tourists; though the moment Quinn speaks to him in rapid-fire Italian, the rest of us joining in here and there, the man realizes we’re more or less local and warms up considerably.

In no time, we have all the best masks pulled off the walls to peruse and make our decisions. It doesn’t matter which masks we choose; Quinn only supposes they need to communicate something about our true hearts, so the Venice Dark Fae will take us seriously.

In the end, Curio selects a beautiful winter-white and silver joker mask, fitting his buoyant and teasing personality. In classic style, Quinn selects a fearsome yet resplendent Bauta mask done in gold and black, with the half-gilded tricorn hat and hood as part of the mask itself.

Ariana chooses a beautiful full face mask with red lips and a multi-pointed gold, silver, and dark blue star crowning the head. I take a while before finding the one that most calls to me: a simple men’s half-face mask, it has a rising sun blazing from one temple, cascading up over my hair.

Before long, we’re out the door and back into the street. At Quinn’s instructions, we find a quiet alley and put our masks on; he and I unbutton our shirts, undoing our ties so our hearts are bared like Ariana’s.

As Quinn opens his full connection to the United Haven of Florence, using their combined power to cast open a portal through Realms, we’re back through into the Twilight Realm.

The sun is setting as he, Ariana, and I join hands with our masks on and our hearts bared to the evening breeze, starting to walk. Curio follows us, though I feel him raise his wintery magic now as Quinn, Ariana, and I raise our power.

We don’t have any destination as we begin to chime with the Music, flowing between us. We simply have to wander the streets and bridges with our hearts bared and our magic raised until the hidden Dark Fae here notice us.

But our attire, plus our magic, makes the regular Fae citizens of Venice take deep note of us. A variety of Fae live in this city, plus several other Lineages who enjoy the water, like Sirens, Mermaids, and such.

But even here, people don’t just walk around with their magic blaring. It turns heads now, as Fae and others shiver, riveted by our flowing Music as we pass by.

Before long, the sun has gone down, the blue-white nimbus of the Twilight sky all around now as stars pop out far above. We’ve been through countless streets, alleys, and over innumerable bridges; I’m not a Venice native and am thoroughly turned around, though Quinn seems to know approximately where we are.

As Fae-lamps are lit now, sparkling with a variety of colors beneath the stars, I note how there is almost no tension in this city. A few Vampires come and go around us, but they are quiet and calm, as if this place has been given over to a strange balance between the Night and the Light.

I feel the influence of the Dark Fae upon this city, keeping the peace here between the Fae and Vampires in a far more integrated way than Florence. As we pass, I see Fae in the Vampire establishments, and Vampires in the Fae eateries, open late at night to cater to both.

It’s mesmerizing as we meander through; a lovely example of what Florence might one day become, if we can balance the Light and the Night there, too. But first, we have to find the hidden Dark Fae city, and master the Music inside us, without the Gold Eyes.

Which is proving impossible to do, since the Dark Fae have still not made contact.

At last, I heave a frustrated sigh. The person with the most blazing Light in my magic, I’m usually the one in our trio to get most passionate when things get complicated; tired of staring through the eyeholes, I rip my mask from my face. The band of my mask has given me a headache; massaging my brow, I flop to a seat on a wrought-iron bench, tossing my mask to the bench slats beside me.

“This is no use, Quinn. We’re never going to find the Dark Fae. It’s been hours of walking these streets and canals, flaring our magic. Not a peep.” I rub my neck, then crack it. Quinn, Ariana, and Curio surround me, mysterious, as they gaze down at me in their masks.

“We need to give it time, Lucca.” Quinn is magnanimous now as he watches me from his fearsome mask, then gestures to the city. “We don’t know where the Dark Fae are most concentrated here—or even if they’ve seen us but need to fetch the right people before they make contact.”

“The Light and Night are deeply blended in this city.” Ariana nods in her red-lipped star mask. “Even I’m having a hard time telling if someone’s Fae, Dark Fae, or Vampire here. It all just seems rolled together; Quinn’s right. We may have seen some Dark Fae already, but not even known it. The magics are all so unified here.”

“Can we please take our masks off?” I sigh now, irritated. “I’d like to see your faces.”

“Of course.” Quinn is the first to remove his mask, though I thought he’d resist my suggestion hardest. He surprises me by sinking to a seat beside me on the bench—slinging an arm up over my shoulders and pulling me close. “You’re frustrated, Lucca. Your bright Light blisters inside me. How can we help?”

“Can we just… I don’t know.” I scrub my hand through my hair as I try to get in touch with my real feelings and voice them, not just my anger and frustration. “Can we just find a nice hotel to hole up in for the night and try this again tomorrow? It’s been a long day, a long few weeks, and I want a breather. Before we simply jump into the shitshow again.”

“Lucca’s right.” Ariana sinks to the bench on my other side and cuddles close. I put my arm around her, her hand on my thigh. “We’ve been doing a lot lately. Maybe this was premature, heading out on a moment’s notice to find the Dark Fae Sages, when what we should do is recuperate.”

“Every moment we delay is another moment the Gold Eyes can manipulate us through our magic.” Quinn sighs now as his arm comes down from my shoulders. Though even I see the wry smile that takes him as he leans back against the bench, stretching his long legs out.

“However, perhaps you both are right,” Quinn says as he looks up, watching the dark sky with its wealth of bright stars. “Our hearts have been through much; we are all exhausted, despite how well things have been going at the Hotel this past week. The truth is, we’re caught in the middle of massive change, for all of us—and change is never comfortable, even when the outcome is good. We must balance change with rest. Come. I agree with Lucca. Let us find a hotel for the night. We’ll try this again tomorrow.”

But even as Quinn squeezes my thigh, giving me a calm, beautiful smile as we all bare our rawest hearts to each other, I sense presences all around.

As if speaking our truth in this moment summoned someone, Curio clears his throat now, raising his magic in a tight whirl of snow as twenty masked Fae in black step from the shadows all around us.

Lit by the glow of a nearby lamppost, they wear an array of dazzling Venetian masks—far more ornate than anything Quinn, Ariana, and I have on. Because their masks were made by Fae magic here in the Twilight Realm; they shimmer all around us now, vibrant and formidable in the night.

The Dark Fae—come to us, at last.

The costumes of our mysterious Dark Fae from the Hidden City of Venice are just as impressive as their masks, as we take them in now. The full regalia of Carnevale done in silks, satins, and lace, all are black, despite their ornate construction.

A man steps from the throng now, as I feel their vast magic surround us. Incredible, their power snuffs out Curio’s winter wind like it’s nothing. Their leader stands before us, imposing in a judge’s costume of all black with an all-black, long nose Venetian mask.

“The three of you, come with us,” the man says as he indicates Quinn, Ariana, and me. “This one stays here.”

As he motions that Curio is not welcome to accompany us, my heart grips. Because the only person who could truly help us navigate these complicated waters is being told to stay behind, as the man gestures to us silently now.

Inviting Quinn, Ariana, and me into the Hidden City of Venice.