“There was nothing odd there, but it isn’t the safest place to be. There are too many ways in and out, and it isn’t fortified for safety. I could get in and out of there without a problem, and I don’t even need to be invisible,” Devin replied. Ronan nodded. He seemed to already know that was the answer.
“We need to set up the blood barrier as soon as we get her out of there,” Ronan added, pointing to the room behind them.
“And how long will that be?” Devin asked, knowing Nessa was listening too.
Ronan shrugged. “My father likes to talk, and he’s the quietest of the group.” Devin nodded. He knew many just like that. Nessa watched their faces flash in front of her mind. She didn’t know a single one of them, but Devin did. It was going to take some time to be used to being inside someone else’s head. That wasn’t one of the abilities of the sidhe.
Nessa cringed as Devin looked up and she recognized the girl walking down the hallway directly toward Ronan and Devin.
‘Friend?’ Devin asked in Nessa’s mind.
Yep, of course he noticed her- ‘Not exactly,’ Nessa replied, as the girl made it to Devin and Ronan.
The girl was beautiful, maybe one of the most beautiful people Devin had ever seen. That made Nessa a bit upset when she heard that thought pass his brain. Of course she was beautiful. She was the only daughter of Maureen after all—the only woman to ever sit on the sidhe council of five. Fiona was just a younger, more beautiful version of her mother, with her long blonde curls that were never out of place, her perfectly-shaped nose, and a smile she could use as a weapon. Yes, Nessa knew Fiona Ferguson.
“Ronan,” the girl said cheerfully. “I didn’t know you’d be waiting here.”
‘Doubt that,’ Nessa told Devin.
Ronan stood and kissed the hand of Fiona. Fiona fluttered her eyes as if to be shy and reserved. Devin didn’t move from his spot. He could feel the jealousy of Nessa through the bond, but she had nothing to worry about as he saw through the perfect exterior of the girl in front of him. She was anything but innocent.
“And you brought a human friend,” she said just as sweetly. “It’s nice to meet a human here in the sidhe world. I bet you’ve not had the nicest welcoming. Such old superstitious fools here. I am Fiona Ferguson, a childhood friend of Ronan’s.”
“He’s not here with me,” Ronan corrected as a couple of sidhe passed and must have heard the comment. They glared at Ronan, not believing him. Nessa had to stop from chuckling out loud at that. She loved to make Ronan uncomfortable.
“Oh, you’re not?” Fiona replied.
Fiona acted surprised to hear the news, but Nessa doubted she was anything but surprised. In fact, Nessa would not have put it past Fiona to have perfectly timed her arrival to meet Devin. Fiona always felt it was necessary to have every man in the sidhe village drooling over her. She wasn’t satisfied to have just Rhys tangled around her little finger. Nessa had seen firsthand as Fiona cheated on Rhys when they were dating, just to take some fool of a guy away from someone who had really cared about them.
“Well, if you aren’t here with Ronan and you are left to sit here alone by whoever brought you into our little world, I could be your guide. I’d gladly show you the palace and grounds if you want. I grew up here and know just about everything about this palace. It’s really quite intriguing, and has lots of secrets,” she offered. She sat down a bit too closely to Devin so that after she was done pointing down the hallways, she accidentally bumped Devin’s arm.
“No, thank you,” Devin replied, scooting over a bit closer to Ronan to give Fiona plenty of room. Nessa was beginning to like that Devin was a man of few words.
“Oh, but whoever brought you here left you all alone. I don’t know how long you’ve been sitting here, but it can’t be fun. I bet it’s a bit boring. Wouldn’t you want some company?” she asked innocently.
“He’s a guest of Nessa’s,” Ronan added, scooting over a bit now that Devin was sitting closer. Ronan tried to hide his grin at how artfully Devin was evading Fiona.
Fiona shrugged and placed a hand on Devin’s knee. “Then she should have been a better hostess. If she can’t find the time to do anything but leave this poor human here alone, then maybe he should be my guest. I’m very thorough in showing day humans around the sidhe world. I bet you don’t know much about the sidhe. I could teach you a lot about the sidhe.”
Devin gently took her hand off his knee and placed it back in her own lap. Fiona tried to hide her anger over him not falling for her. She had been sitting just right for him to be able to see down the top of her dress. Devin had noticed and had ignored her. Being a day human in a night human world had taught him to be wary of any night human throwing themselves at you. He didn’t know what the story was with this specific night human, but he wasn’t about to go wandering alone with her. She was a night human after all, and he was food to night humans.
Nessa pulled out of Devin’s mind. Her blood was boiling. Fiona had always rubbed her the wrong way, but they had very little in common to actually even need to interact. In fact, in the past few years the only thing they had in common was Rhys. It seemed now that Rhys was gone, Fiona was making attempts to move on, maybe. While Nessa was off learning how to hold a bow and defend herself, Fiona was learning poetry and the art of dance. Nessa never cared for the courtly ways of the female sidhe, but she especially didn’t care for Fiona. Nessa stood, and the people around the table stopped talking.
“I must go,” she said to them, not even waiting for them to protest about her departure. “I have other business to attend to.” The people around the table looked startled by her sudden need to leave. Nessa made it to the door before someone spoke.
“You will be attending the feast in your honor tonight?” Maureen called to her.
Nessa stopped at the doorway. She didn’t want to attend any social gatherings. She wanted to be back in her room, finding the answer to free Devin and get him as far away from her world as possible. Fiona’s making a target of him was just the topping on the cake. No good could come of a day human walking around her people.
“It’s expected that the ruling head attends all diners in their honor,” Maureen added, emphasizing that Nessa didn’t really have a choice.
“Yes, I’ll be there.” Nessa hated her reply, but knew that it was futile to argue with them.
“And who will be your date?” Maureen continued, as if she didn’t care, but Nessa knew otherwise. “You need to make a smart choice on this. With your coronation comes the responsibility of marriage and children. You will be expected to be making an heir to the throne soon.”
Nessa cringed. She didn’t want to think about that. Maureen would now be making an even better push for her son to be Nessa’s fiancé.
“I’ll be bringing Devin,” Nessa replied and opened the door at the same time. The whole room gasped. Nessa smiled at the door and outside world. At least that response got them to shut up.
Nessa hurried over to Devin, who was now standing and not taking Fiona up on her offer. He seemed to be doing his best to just keep Fiona off of him. Nessa was relieved to see that, until she came closer and saw Fiona leaning ever-so-slightly to show off her assets that were close to tumbling out of her top. Fiona wasn’t the subtle type when it came to men.
“All done,” Nessa said to Ronan and Devin, ignoring Fiona—or rather, doing her best to ignore Fiona.
Fiona didn’t look happy at Nessa’s appearance, but her disdain quickly was hidden. Nessa saw it and was sure Devin saw it as well. Fiona was not someone you wanted on your bad side, but then again Nessa was unsure if Fiona even had a good side. She’d never like Fiona when she was dating Rhys, and she wasn’t about to start liking her now that she was throwing herself at Devin.
“Vanessa,” Fiona said sweetly, standing and hugging Nessa like an old friend.
Nessa didn’t return the hug and just waited for Fiona to let go. Nessa looked to Ronan and grabbed Devin’s arm to haul them both away. F
iona must have gotten the clue to what Nessa was feeling, but ignored it. She had her eyes glued to Devin.
“Sorry, Fiona, we must be on our way,” Ronan apologized as he followed Devin and Nessa.
“Ahh, but I didn’t get a chance to speak with your human more,” Fiona complained. “I didn’t even get to know his name.” Fiona pouted. “You all must really come visit me and my brother. He would be happy to see you home.” Nessa cringed.
“Maybe later. We really do have business to attend to,” Ronan replied as Nessa kept going.
There was no way Nessa wanted to spend any time with Fiona, and she didn’t want to see Finn. Finn had been a great guy, and a great childhood friend, but everything was too strained when she was promised to him on her seventeenth birthday. It was even worse now that she had broken the engagement. Nessa really didn’t want to see him. By agreeing to her brother’s terms, and pretending to be him at the tournament last month, she had gained her freedom from marrying Finn. She had no plans of going back on her win for herself.
CHAPTER 6
“And this seriously won’t offend everyone when I show up dressed in my normal clothes?” Devin asked. They had already protected the room with a blood spell that Nessa had assured him would keep them safe. Devin doubted that much and made his own adjustments to the room. Now they were sitting as Nessa’s hair and make-up was being done.
“I don’t know. I don’t attend these things. Ow,” Nessa complained as her curls were pulled and styled up by one of the assistants in the sitting room.
“Ever?” Devin asked, dubiously.
Nessa had been a sidhe princess before she was the soon-to-be queen. She had to have attended some formal functions. Devin doubted that back in the night human world he was raised in that he would have lived the night if he had shown up dressed in normal clothing. Lord Randolph was a bit strict, but Nessa told him he didn’t have to dress up for the night’s celebration.
“I’ve been to three events ever in my life. My father didn’t want us children there, so I never went when I was younger, and my brother liked to keep me locked up. The last one I went to was months before I went to the tournament and where Rhys sprung an engagement on me,” Nessa replied, shutting her eyes as the make-up artist prompted.
“He was engaged?” Devin asked as he sat down to watch Nessa get ready. Rhys had attended the tournament over a month ago with the intention to marry Devin’s former charge, Arianna.
Nessa blushed through the make-up being applied. “No, it was my engagement.”
“The one you broke,” Devin replied.
Devin had, for a moment, forgotten about that. Now he was seeing why Nessa insisted that he be her date for the event. Not only were there assassins, and a council that hated her, but an ex-fiancé to deal with as well. It was turning more into a night he wanted to say no to, and he would have if he knew that she would stay safe. But unfortunately, that didn’t seem like the way of the sidhe. In fact, they didn’t seem to have any qualms about killing each other. Instead, he was going to have to go to the tortuous event with her and deal with all the chaos that was bound to happen. Nothing good could come from throwing all those people into one room.
“Yeah, that didn’t go over too well with Rhys or Finn’s family. Finn didn’t seem to care, but his family wasn’t happy. They saw a marriage to me as a way to power,” Nessa replied, standing to look in the mirror once her make-up was applied.
“Isn’t it?” Devin replied. She was the ruler now. Her husband would be the second most powerful sidhe.
Nessa thought for a moment. “I guess so. But like it matters. The way the sidhe work, all the men would marry me to take over the power, not share it with me. Maureen is the only female sidhe to ever sit on the council of five, and probably will be the only one ever.”
“And not your friend Fiona? Won’t she follow in her mother’s footsteps?” Devin could tell by one five-minute meeting that Fiona had a hunger for power.
Nessa was saved from answering as Ronan entered the room. He brought a change of clothes that he tossed to Devin. Devin nodded and took the clothing, walking to the bathroom to change. At least Ronan seemed to have a better understanding that showing up to a formal function in jeans and a T-shirt was not a good idea.
“That’s fine,” Nessa said, shooing the hair and make-up people away in order to follow Devin.
Ronan escorted the crew out of her room as she stopped Devin right before he made it through the bathroom door. Devin paused and turned to her, making them stand almost chest-to-chest. There wasn’t much space between them, but Devin didn’t move. She had been following him.
Devin paused and stared at her. The make-up was making her sparkle more than normal. He wanted to look away, but couldn’t. Devin was entranced by her. Nessa didn’t speak. She was too close to Devin, and he had already removed his shirt on the walk to the bathroom. Devin stared at Nessa and felt like he could see deep into her soul from where he stood. She was a completely open book as she stared at him. He wanted to pull her into his arms like he had been imagining for days now. It was growing worse, the urge to touch her.
The door to the room slammed and pulled them both out of their reverie. Nessa took two steps back.
“Leave your jeans on. Don’t wear the sidhe pants,” she told him, looking to Ronan for agreement. “Your jeans protect your weapons from being seen. If you change then everyone will know about the blades you carry. They may doubt you can fight on their level, but they will be more cautious if they see you are carrying weapons.”
“Very true,” Ronan added as Nessa joined him by her bed where she grabbed her dress. Nessa passed Devin and went into the bathroom, leaving Devin and Ronan in her room.
“The unnatural fabric is a good disguise from sidhe magic,” Ronan explained.
“Then why don’t you guys just wear day human clothing?” Devin asked. He pulled the sidhe tunic over his head where he stood.
“Because everyone would then suspect you are hiding something,” Ronan replied as Devin set the rest of the clothing down and reached for a belt.
“And they won’t suspect me?” Devin asked. If day human clothing was a good shield, it would make sense to wear it.
“Exactly. Since you are a day human, they won’t actually think you’re in jeans for any reason other than being a day human,” Ronan added, nodding to the belt. “And they would never expect you to be guarding Nessa. A day human guard would be unthinkable, and laughable at best. No one would seriously consider that. Then again, I don’t think most day humans are like you.” Ronan smiled and shook his head at his own last statement.
“Do you expect trouble?” Devin asked as he fitted the belt around his waist and then grabbed a second dagger to place into his shoe, just under his pant leg.
Ronan shrugged. “I kind of always expect trouble at these events. Everyone together in one place, it’s like a great family reunion. Everyone hates each other for some reason or another, and everyone has someone they wish would just keel over. It’s a good place to murder someone and get away with it since there are always several people that would’ve wanted it done. The grouping together alone breeds hostility, and we often find someone acts on it.”
There seemed to be many reasons why Nessa wasn’t taken to the events by her parents. Even as a child she could have been targeted for her own family’s affiliation.
Nessa returned from the bathroom in a pale green dress that shimmered when she walked. Devin and Ronan both stopped talking to stare. The front part of her hair was pulled up into a mass of curls that cascaded down her back but left her face free of curls and her neck exposed. In the dress she looked more feminine and delicate than at any other time Devin could remember with her. She was a fairy princess in that moment. She paused just outside the door and looked around at the room, then back to the two guys.
“Something wrong?” she asked due to the silence. Both guys coughed like they hadn’t just been thinking something else, and turned back to
each other. Neither replied, so she added, “Ready to go?”
Ronan and Devin nodded and followed behind Nessa as she left the room without a glance back. Devin was immediately on alert to the sidhe world around him. He could sense several people hiding around the corridors as they walked. Nothing in this world was as it seemed. Deception was a part of life. It didn’t even make Nessa or Ronan pause that there was magic all over the place. Devin followed close, knowing that even the calmest setting could prove eventful. Nessa didn’t even look back to see if the guys were following until she made it to one last doorway. Music filtered out the cracks of the entranceway. She paused finally and looked back. Ronan gave her an encouraging nod. The doors opened and the music and talking grew quiet.
“Queen Vanessa McKinny is present,” the herald at the door announced as Nessa stood and waited. “The feast may begin.”
Nessa walked into the room with her head held high, though she was as nervous as Devin had ever seen her. Devin waited to enter two steps behind Nessa as he had been instructed. He briefly inventoried the entrances and exits to the room they were walking into, and there were many. It didn’t look good. There had to be at least twenty doorways. There was no way Devin could watch all of them. The rounded room had grand arches leading to each door, and the middle ballroom floor was filled with people and tables.
The whole room stood as Nessa entered. It was, by far, more formal than Nessa had made it out to be. Even worse for security than the multiple entry points was that as Nessa proceeded to the head table, Devin noticed that there were only two place settings. They would be sitting ducks sitting above everyone at a table by themselves. Devin had no choice but to follow behind. He pulled out the chair for Nessa and then sat beside her. Everyone in the room sat down similarly, and the music and talking began again.
‘How long do we have to stay?’ Devin asked.
Normally, Devin didn’t mind the social formal functions. He had grown up attending them in his own home since he was raised by the head of the night human family he was part of, but now he was a bit worried. Here there wasn’t the protection he was used to seeing. There were no guards at the doors, or really anywhere. It seemed more and more like a free-for-all, and Nessa was the piece everyone was gunning for. The situation worried him. He could already see at least one assassin wandering around the outside loop by the doorways. If there was one, there were probably more. So much for the protection spells.