Raising her eyebrows, Ariana went over, and the woman smiled at her. “Makeup? Lightweight for cocktail hour or darker for dinner?”
“Cocktail hour, thank you.” Ariana blinked, astounded at the Hotel’s fabulous service. With a smart nod, the bird-woman, of a Lineage Ariana didn’t recognize, dove in with brushes and sponges. Her long, taloned fingers were expert; in no time, Ariana had a lightweight look with smoky eyes and bright crimson lips to complement her natural coloring. Rising with genuine thanks, she saw no place to tip and felt bad until the bird-woman hustled her away with a laugh. And then Ariana was walking out of the women’s bathing area, elegantly refreshed.
To find Quinn waiting for her – lounging handsomely against a marble column.
Quinn’s dark eyes shone with pleasure as Ariana emerged from the women’s area in her slinky green dress and heels. As she came to him, he pushed away from the column, his aura undulating around him now with a deeply sensual motion as if compelled by her. Dark and lovely, his power was like smoke as it curled subtly around Ariana’s ankles – stroking her and making her breath catch. Untucking his hands from the pockets of his fine suit, deep maroon tonight with black details in addition to his gold-onyx Rolex, cufflinks, and rings, he caught himself with a wry smile, pulling his power away.
Though he set a hand casually to her low back as he escorted her from the hall – as if he couldn’t stand not touching her.
“You look lovely.” Quinn murmured as they exited the hall, moving off down one of the underground thoroughfares, though he soon nodded them up a stone staircase on their left.
“So do you.” Ariana answered as they ascended, breathless for some reason as he touched her. As if his very touch was electric, Ariana felt a silver wave of her newly opening power rise again in his presence, and it made her reel a little as they ascended. Though he steadied her subtly at her back as if he had felt it, he was only cordial and pleasant like before as he took them up past the ground floor to a second level.
“I was thinking a drink would be in order for cocktail hour. Shall we?” He asked as they arrived at the top, the second-floor halls as beautifully appointed as the ground floor, but far more airy with massive vaulted windows that caught the last of the day’s waning light.
“Lead the way.” Ariana answered as he offered his arm to her at the top of the stairs and she wound her hand lightly around his elbow. As they strolled in silence, Ariana watched the Hotel come alive all around them, now that it was almost night. The late summer sun had set, and everyone had turned out in their finest couture for the evening. Multitudes of people from numerous Twilight Lineages came and went, music pouring from salons as they passed, elegant bars and swanky 1930’s billiards halls packed with people drinking and gaming. As they moved through it all, Quinn gave cordial nods here and there, and at times received low bows, finally escorting Ariana up a beautiful set of wrought-iron stairs flanked by ornate indoor palms.
Taking them into an art-deco lounge that overlooked the entire Hotel.
Made completely out of wrought-iron and glass, the lounge was like a sky haven as they walked upon glass that looked down on mid-air. It was beautifully disorienting as Ariana and Quinn passed the main art-deco glass bar and headed up yet another set of glass stairs to a further lounge above. Entirely made of wrought-iron and glass like the level below, this upper floor was accented by potted palms and walls of orchids, and had beautifully private royal blue padded booths shrouded in greenery that overlooked the Hotel. As Quinn gestured to a booth in the greenery, unclipping a blue velvet rope, Ariana slid into the curved blue silk bench, assuming it was reserved for him as Hotel Head. As a bartender in a smart black vest and tie rushed up, Quinn ordered a dirty martini, then raised his eyebrows at Ariana.
“Boulevardier, please.” She told the bartender, and he nodded with a quick smile. As he left, Quinn slid in to the bench opposite Ariana.
And suddenly, they were alone in their heady sky-nook.
“The Hotel looks beautiful from up here.” Ariana commented, in part to cover how much her pulse suddenly raced to be alone with Quinn, surrounded by greenery and glass and overlooking all of Florence. From their vantage, she could see how immense the Hotel truly was in the Twilight Realm. Probably twenty times larger than the Medici Palace in the human world, it had dozens of sections, many of them indoor but also quite a few outdoors, beautiful courtyards and colonnades that captivated the mind.
“The Glass Bar does have an excellent view, truly.” Quinn spoke pleasantly now as the bartender returned with their drinks, setting them down with a smile before whisking away. Sipping her Boulevardier, Ariana found it deliciously balanced between the orange peel, Campari, bourbon, and vermouth, probably the best she had ever tasted. The bartender had left an assortment of chocolate truffles with their drinks and Ariana eyed them, hungry after fencing. Gesturing at the truffles with a smile, Quinn said, “Please, enjoy. They are made in-house.”
“Don’t mind if I do.” Ariana answered, taking up one with white striping and a decoration of gold leaf. It was mint, but such a complex flavor of mint that she paused in astonishment from her first bite.
Before the truffle flooded her with a bright-cool heat, and an incredibly sensual rush.
“Wow. That’s something.” She spoke with astonishment as she set it down, needing another moment to enjoy it, she was flooded so hard with a heady, fresh eros now not unlike Curio Silverfrost’s magic.
“I take it your Fae parents never charmed food for you with their magics when you were growing up?” Quinn spoke casually now as he sipped his dirty martini, though his onyx gaze was alert upon Ariana. Just like that, they had eased into the conversation she knew he wanted to have about her Fae-human upbringing, though Ariana was amazed at how elegantly he’d done it.
“My father wouldn’t use his magic for small charms like this, unless it was truly necessary; still won’t.” Ariana spoke as she sipped her Boulevardier. “He has wards protecting our manor-home outside Florence, but he never uses his magic outside the house, nor much inside. He always said others could detect our power, and that it wasn’t safe for my mother and I, since we had no magic to protect ourselves. It was better if everyone assumed we were human… so we lived that way. Other than them teaching me Fae culture and arts, so I could know my heritage. But I was forbidden from talking about those things or demonstrating them while I was away at boarding school or University. And even now, working internationally like I do.”
But as Ariana spoke, a sadness overcame her suddenly, wondering if she was ever going to return to her old life, or if she was stuck here now. Taking up her truffle, she bit into it again just to have its uplifting briskness charm her, rather than face the heavy fact that her life had quite suddenly, and probably permanently, changed. Working internationally and traveling often for her job, Ariana was used to change. But as she sipped her drink again, silent now, something darkened deep inside her and she frowned.
“I hope you do not mind,” Quinn spoke quietly now as he watched her. “I’ve taken the liberty of arranging for your rent at your apartment in Florence to be paid, and other bills so you won’t be missed. A cover story has gone out that you are taking a sabbatical from work, and went quite suddenly to Costa Rica to have a break from the stress. I have acquired your luggage and personal items from the Pitti; they should be in your rooms now, and I can fetch anything you like from your Florence apartment. If you wish.”
“You did all that?” Ariana blinked, astonished that he had been so thoughtful though it was also slightly unnerving. But of course, a Master Vampire like Quinn who ran three Hotels, a Dark Haven, and damn near an entire city would have magical ways of doing things, Ariana supposed.
“I did not contact your parents or friends in Florence,” he spoke gently to her now. “But your cell phone is in your rooms now, and I have had a small charm put on it so you can dial out of the Hotel and back to people in the human realm. I thought you might like to call your parents. And explain to them what has happened.”
“How much can I tell them?” Ariana asked as she sat back in the booth with her drink, frowning as she stewed, though it wasn’t at Quinn.
“As much as you like.” He spoke levelly back, though one finger tapped the base of his martini glass as he regarded her deeply now with his dark onyx eyes. “But you may wish to know, Ariana… that your parents have been lying to you. There is no such thing as beingmagic-burned, or magical burnout. If a Fae or any other kind of magical being over-uses their power during battle or otherwise, it simply exhausts them and their body shuts down. They either die or they recover, but there is no in-between. There is no such thing as having your magic becomeburned outof you. And thus, if your mother is truly Fae… she would have had magic when you were born. And she has been doing something to hide it all this time – in addition to yours.”
Something rioted inside Ariana then, as she swiftly caught her breath. As she stared at Quinn, she strangely felt no lie in his demeanor nor his steady gaze – and as she realized he was telling her the truth, a dark pit the likes of which Ariana had never known opened up inside her. Suddenly, she felt sick as she swallowed hard, a seething energy churning in her like a roiling midnight lake with leviathans beneath it, rather than that beautiful moonlit glow or even the blaze of golden intensity she’d felt when she’d sparred with Quinn earlier. This was a dark thing, as her newly opened magics churned inside her at Quinn’s words.
As she knew suddenly that he was telling her the truth – and that her parents had been lying. All her life.
“Why would they lie to me about having magic? And why lie to me about being a Dark Fae?” Ariana murmured then, as tears stung her eyes though she didn’t allow them to be shed. Glancing up at Quinn, she pierced him with her eyes, and saw only a sincere sobriety back.
“I presume because they wished to protect you from something, or someone.” Quinn answered quietly now without coddling. “Summer Fae are forbidden from living in the human world by edict of your King, Ariana, these past six hundred years. Your parents are living in direct opposition to that edict. So I can only assume they are running from him, your King Archivolio Bellari. Or something else for which they had to hide your mother’s magic and yours from detection. Perhaps because either she – or you – were too powerful.”
