11. Risk

11

RISK

Q uinn’s and my meeting with the Summer Fae King is already going badly, as we are blockaded by Brightwatch the moment we arrive at the Palace of Light. Dressed in our finest, Quinn in an elegant maroon tux and me in a white cherry-blossom gown to match, we have a new Revenant captured in Quinn’s Florentine Box—though I still have no idea how he went about catching one of those things, Quinn gone all morning doing it.

He’s brought his Vampires to levitate the massive cage up the palace’s steps into the foyer; the Summer Fae Brightwatch holds a watchful perimeter around us in the late afternoon now, their long silver-gold spears leveled as Quinn’s Vampires float the runic silver cage into the entry hall. Beyond the entry, Brightwatch bar the way completely; Quinn’s Vampires are not allowed any further into the Palace of Light. They turn back with deep bows to Quinn.

As I gaze down the gilded butterfly hall before us, thinking it looks like a gauntlet.

As Quinn waves a hand so his smoke-dark magic pushes the floating cage smoothly down the hall, I watch this new Revenant heave against the drawn curtains, ringing the cage’s silver bars. I feel its frustration; our plan today is a massive gamble, and unease churns inside me, knowing we have to deceive Lucca today so Quinn’s plan can succeed.

Lucca hasn’t even contacted me once in the past three days; deep inside, I feel him still simmering about Quinn’s plan, and how much he’s against it. I feel his fury strengthen as we proceed towards the Throne Hall with our dozens of guards.

He knows Quinn and I have arrived to do our Revenant demonstration for the King.

Lucca’s fury builds step by step as Quinn and I approach the King’s Throne Hall. We arrive at the ornately gilded doors, and I see the hall is packed with noblefae come to watch the spectacle. It’s an intensely public event, as Quinn and I move in on opposite sides of the cage, him swirling it forward with slow movements of his hands and a blasé attitude as if he does this sort of thing every day.

As Quinn and I arrive with the massive cage before the King’s high dais, I watch the Summer Fae King Archivolio Bellari rise from his gilded dragonfly throne and Lucca from his smaller sky-blue and white one to the King’s right. Intrigue is in King Bellari’s vivid golden eyes.

And a dark fury is in Lucca’s.

“Vampire Master Quindici DaPonti and Dark Fae Ariana Summers of the Dark Haven of Florence. Be welcome.” King Bellari begins with far more political panache than he’s shown before. Clearly, he’s interested in what we will show him today and is willing to be civil. Quinn notes it also, returning that grace with a deep nod to the Summer Fae King, which I echo.

“King Bellari. A pleasure,” Quinn says with his fellow-well-met nature.

“I hear you have a demonstration for us today, though your caginess at explaining it to my ministers was nearly as immense as the cage that now stands before us.” The King snarks with a flicker of fire in his golden gaze as he glances at the rune-worked box. Handsome and dressed in his usual all-gold Fae military garb, imposing as always, it’s as if Archivolio Bellari can’t quite help but be snide with Quinn, though he reins it in somewhat today. “Do show us what is inside. I am ever so curious.”

Though the King’s strong voice drips with sarcasm, Quinn does nothing but give an elegant, low bow. With a cunning smile that his drama is proceeding as planned, Quinn swirls his hands, causing his dark aura to pull the four gilded cords at the edges of the box.

The Revenant is revealed, slamming against the bars with similar seething hatred as the one a few days ago, as gasps resound in the hall. Noblefae shrink back; even the King startles, his eyes flying open at what is revealed—though beside his father, Lucca merely crosses his arms.

Dressed in a beautiful doublet and breeches of white today, embroidered with sky-blue, plus elegant silver-grey boots, Lucca’s summer-blue gaze is dark as he stares Quinn down. But as his gaze pins me, his white-hot wrath surging through me from our joined power as if chastising me for going along with Quinn’s scheme, I focus my mind like a lance.

And send a thought straight to him.

Patience, Lucca. And we’ll get everything we want today. Please, trust me.

Lucca inhales as he receives my mind-sending, his blond eyelashes flickering. I’ve been practicing using my magic in subtle ways since our trio’s bond; as noblefae continue to shrink back in fear and their King blazes at Quinn with a seething ire, I know everyone in the hall missed my message, except Lucca.

Almost everyone. I see Lucca’s man Alleno Massi, dressed in dark charcoal Fae assassin’s gear and festooned with weapons, frown from his place behind Lucca’s throne.

“DaPonti!” King Bellari snarls now as he makes a very Italianate gesture to the thing in the cage. “Vampire Revenants are forbidden inside the Palace of Light! Remove this abomination from these halls at once, or lose your amnesty here today.”

“A moment, my King.” Quinn raises his hands in a calm, peaceful gesture. “You invited us here today because you wished us to prove our might as your allies. You wished to have a concrete reason your Summer Fae and my Vampires and the Dark Fae Ariana Summers should all work together, in a pact of peace in Florence and perhaps more. I have brought you that reason. If you indulge me in a small demonstration today, you will see why I have brought this Revenant into your halls. And what it could mean for our future alliance.”

Though the King’s full mouth twists up in fury now, his gold eyes blazing, I see intrigue in him. Quinn is nothing if not a showman; the King is hooked already, even if he doesn’t want to be. He heaves a hard sigh, gesturing at the cage again. “Fine. Show us this demonstration. Now.”

“Thank you.” Quinn leaves off saying my King this time; I see the subtle snub make Lucca raise an eyebrow. Though Lucca frowns in consternation now at what we are about to try, I feel him hold his energy back from our trio. He will not take part; Quinn raises an eyebrow at Lucca, feeling his withholding as Lucca raises his chin back, his arms crossed.

I see fear move through Lucca’s eyes also, though, as I extend a wrist to Quinn and he mesmerizes me lightly so it won’t hurt, then bites. Noblefae all around inhale sharply as Quinn drinks, spreading his massive, darkfire aura through the hall and coaxing out mine. The King pins his gaze to us, watching with an almost sexual eagerness as my power surges from me in a dark-bright rush of midnight rainbows, flashing silver and gold.

Gasps come from all around as I succumb to the sensation of my power flooding out now. It’s too much; I can’t contain it as Quinn’s rising magic strokes me and seduces me more, making my power pour out in a tirade.

Lucca’s energy yearns towards us as I fall into Quinn’s arms, shivering as my eyelashes flutter. Still, Lucca holds his power back from our trio in protest, as Quinn’s and my magics now resound into a singing sound through the hall. As it rings the columns, the stone floor, and the bars of the cage, even the Fae King’s golden throne, that amazing, impossible Music makes everyone shudder with ecstasy. Power surges all around us now, deep into the crowd.

The noblefae unable to resist the Music’s call.

I am shuddering from that massive power ringing through me and Quinn, as shock devours the King’s face. Though he fights it, Archivolio Bellari recognizes the Music of the Spheres; as Quinn sings softly now, shaping that sound just like he did three days ago and wielding it as it pours from his lips, I see the King recoil.

But it’s not just Quinn singing this time; as I listen to the Music he’s shaping, I feel it inside me now. That sound issues from my own lips as well as Quinn’s today, twisting and merging into his. As if somehow I was able to create it my entire life, I breathe our combined energies now like it was always there for me.

Quinn spreads that power wide in tremendous wings of fire, light, and golden-dark rainbows, wrapping it around the runic cage. He inundates the Revenant, as I feel it succumb to the tremendous power of the Music of the Spheres, sung by two hearts now rather than just one.

But something is wrong with our Music without Lucca, just as Quinn expected. Deep inside, it’s too dark flowing through me, as that sound issues from Quinn’s lips and mine. As if we aren’t enough to balance that power, the entire harmony floods with Night suddenly.

Erotic, deep—and dangerous.

As the Revenant fights inside its cage, resisting our unbalanced seduction, the entire Fae Court begins to sunder. The too-dark Music boils from Quinn and me now, and our bodies pull close as even we succumb to it; I feel Quinn’s dark draw turn it impossibly sexual, writhing in a heady chaos that he did not intend today. I’m not adept enough to marshal the Music yet, and Quinn’s power dominates it.

A roaring energy filling the hall as the hedonism of the Night now rules the day.

That dark sound seethes through the King’s Throne Hall as Summer Fae suddenly turn to each other, throwing each other up against columns or down to the floor in a burst of hedonistic abandon. Fae strip away clothing, devouring each other in orgiastic delight as they succumb all throughout the space.

King Bellari roars in fury now, sweeping down from his dais in a heave of golden wind, his eyes on fire to stop what’s going on. His power surges in tremendous golden auric wings, as I barely have a moment to see him manifest searing golden whips in either fist. Locked in the Music, I shudder, unable to escape it as the Brightwatch surge in with their King, silver-gold spears flaring as they corral the populace back from Quinn’s and my devastating magic.

As the Summer Fae King snaps his golden whips straight at me, Lucca moves fast. In a flash of all-white light, he stands tall before me now—manifesting a protective shield around himself, me, and Quinn with massive auric wings of pure diamond light.

As the King’s whips crackle like twin strikes of lightning, I see Lucca standing with both whips lashed around one upraised forearm. His arm has been flayed to the bone as he stands strong before his father.

To take the King’s punishment for those he loves.

White and blue light streams from Lucca in tremendous wings of power, blazing with diamond-bright rainbows as he stares his father down. Those lashes blister him, in white-red burns so bad I can smell it. As Quinn’s and my power falters from the intensity of Fae-magic drowning the hall now, I hear Lucca’s voice, his father’s cruel whips of light still wrapped around his forearm.

“Your lashes are not needed here, father. Because Quinn and Ariana aren’t yours. They’re mine.”

As the Fae King roars in fury, Lucca turns his back. He shakes off those cruel whips, his forearm a ruin of blistered flesh and exposed bone. It courses with blood as he stares me and Quinn down with a bright fire in his eyes.

As Lucca strides to us, his massive wings of diamond light curl around us in protection, stroking us both as they breathe a scorching love into us. As he unleashes his vast Royal Summer Fae magic into our trio at last, rocking me and stumbling Quinn, Lucca casts his head back in ecstasy. Flooded by Light, we are a true trio now as Lucca takes Quinn and me into his arms.

And the Music surges, complete—pouring into the Revenant and returning it to its flesh.

The Music releases as the woman inside the cage falls to her knees with a vicious, beautiful cry. Pure white, her eyes are like snow and her hair like rivers of silk as she casts her head back, an amazing all-white aura surging from her spine.

I know those are Fae-wings rather than Vampire as she gasps, the rest of the hall with her. King Bellari is staring at the cage and his lips have fallen open; as he approaches, Lucca ushers Quinn and me away.

We step to the side as Alleno rushes down to Lucca now, beginning a healing on him with Quinn to repair his arm and staunch the copious bleeding. The King moves to the cage in wonder, gazing upon the beauty of the woman within, her skin parchment-pale but her cheeks beautifully flushed as her white eyes blaze.

Every color of light shines from her as the King extends his fingers, and she reaches out to him. But as their fingertips touch, her aura floods midnight-black, and she hisses with tiny Vampire fangs bared. He recoils with a surprised inhalation.

And the woman’s aura calms back to its snow-lit beauty—as she glances at Lucca, me, and Quinn.

“I was lost in dreams of horror,” she says, in perfect English now. She sets an honoring hand to her heart as I feel a vast love beam to me—though I’m not sure if that power is Fae magic, Vampire, or both. “But you woke me, wielders of the Music. My name is Iris, and I bear a message for those who have released me from my Revenance. You shall know true power. And none shall be able to stand against you, when hearts and minds are one. ”

As an astonished energy breathes through the hall, the Brightwatch hangs back while noblefae recover from their near throw-down. Quinn, Lucca, and I stare at the woman in the cage; Lucca moves forward and sets a hand to the bars.

As the woman reaches out, stroking Lucca’s fingers with hers, power roils through the hall. Her massive aura of every-color light unfurls at Lucca’s touch. Quinn and I move forward also, astonished, as she smiles at us. She reaches through the cage’s bars, clasping Quinn’s hand and putting it to Lucca’s, then setting mine atop the rest.

“When hearts and minds are one,” she repeats, “you are unstoppable. Do you understand?”

“We understand,” Quinn says, quiet. “But it is easier said than done.”

“Find a way.” She winks mysteriously before removing her touch from ours. She watches us all with a deep, unfathomable gaze, then smiles the happiest smile I’ve ever seen, beaming with light and rainbows.

Before she flashes out—disappearing from the cage.

“ Where is she?! Where did she go?” King Bellari surges forward as golden wrath fills him at her departure, gesturing nastily at the cage.

“I believe she took herself elsewhere, now that she is liberated,” Quinn says with an amused chuckle as he turns back to the King. Deep inside, I feel he’s just as unsettled as the Summer Fae King, though, about the unique Vampire-Fae he just returned from Revenant insanity, rather than a pure Vampire, like he expected.

Not to mention the woman’s sudden disappearance, as if escaping his runes was easy.

Despite that, nearly everything went according to Quinn’s plan today; but I know he hoped to have a Vampire sworn to his Dark Haven at the end, thus convincing King Bellari of our ability to grow our might for a push towards Rome.

Regardless, our demonstration made a deep impression on the Summer Fae as whispers erupt all around now, fans fluttering wildly. Quinn watches the rumor-mill begin among the disheveled Fae nobility, smiling with deep cunning. Lucca watches also, alert for backlash from this demonstration as Fae all around peruse him with intrigued gazes.

But as they understand the extent of their Prince’s power—to harmonize the infamous Music of the Spheres, along with a Master Vampire and a Dark Fae—King Bellari sees it, too. For though his golden aura smolders with wrath, he shuts his lips. He sets his jaw, staring Quinn down with the most blistering hatred I’ve ever seen. As he looks back to me and Lucca, Lucca stares his father down in quiet defiance, despite Alleno still healing the smoldering ruin of his left forearm.

At last, the King gives his son a nod.

Though his golden eyes burn to do it.

“We have seen powerful magics today,” King Archivolio Bellari says then, loud enough to be heard by the entire hall as his voice echoes through the vast space. “My son Lucca, true Prince of my loins, can wield the Music of the Spheres—an ancient and little-understood art, though formidable. Used in tandem with the Master Vampire Quindici DaPonti and the Dark Fae Ariana Summers,” King Bellari gives us each a nod now, though it’s tight, “this power has done a wonder unforeseen in our halls today—returning a mad Vampire Revenant to their right mind and flesh. We see promise in this, and would be amenable to continuing peace talks with the Vampires of Florence.”

“We have terms,” Quinn says, as he stares the King down with dark fire in his eyes.

“Of course.” King Bellari’s words come with a small snarl as his golden eyes burn. He pins Lucca with his gaze; Lucca stands strong, however, meeting it and doing him one better with his furiously white-blue eyes.

I see darkness and light both in Lucca, as he stares his father down and whispers erupt again through the hall. The King pins me last with his fire-gold eyes, giving a soft, murderous snort. I know we’re in for a shitshow then, though he’ll hold our alliance from the power we just showed. It’s going to be a rocky ride in Florence, however, as the King’s gaze leaves me and he gestures elegantly to the cage .

A rocky ride we all will have to endure—until we secure our aims at last.

“Take your contraption home,” King Bellari says to Quinn, though his voice is still furious as it echoes through the hall. “We shall meet anon for further talks, Master DaPonti.”

“My King,” Quinn says with grace, as he bows low to the Summer Fae King. Setting my hand to his arm, he turns—though I don’t miss the subtle wink he gives Lucca as we pass.

The smallest, wryly amused smile lifts Lucca’s lips as he shakes his head at us. His energy pours through our trio now, though, in a beautiful wave, grateful that everyone is safe today. As Quinn passes Lucca, Lucca’s fingers steal out, brushing Quinn’s.

I see Quinn’s smile go from pleased to aching as his gaze meets Lucca’s.

And then we’re past, moving back through a parting wave of astonished noblefae and Brightwatch. Quinn swirls his smoke-dark aura, levitating the empty cage and moving it back out of the hall.

As the King’s entire throne room erupts into gossip—that not even the Brightwatch’s bashing of spear-butts upon the marble floors can stop.