As Ariana edged closer, she saw the spring green cocktail dress the woman had landed on. A luscious color that appeared silver one way and vibrantly apple-green the next, the fabric shimmered under the chandeliers as Devina liberated it, then hustled Ariana back out to her room. The green became intensely bright like emeralds in the sun’s rays; while as it passed through the shadows, it acquired a deep silvery color like a midnight forest. Made of slinky silk with a sweetheart bust and slim waist, the dress was like a waterfall as Ariana ran her fingers over it. Returning to the bed, Devina laid it out as she plunked a pair of blush stiletto heels on the coverlet.
“I can’t wear heels that high.” Ariana blinked now at the intensely vicious heels. “I wrenched my knee getting bucked off a horse a few years ago and it’s still a problem.”
“You can ride? Well, that’s promising. But don’t be a baby about the shoes.” Devina snorted as she rolled her eyes, taking the dress off the hanger. “These garments are made by magic – they’ll wear well under any circumstance and the heels won’t dump you on your pretty ass, no matter how stupid you are walking in them from your human-world life. Come on. Suit up. Then we’ll do your makeup and hair for the tour.”
But as Ariana frowned, wondering why she had to get this dressed up to tour a hotel, Devina reached out, her fast hands trying to undo Ariana’s robe. With a quick motion from all her fight-training in her youth, Ariana blocked it, though her heart rate rose at the sudden interaction.
An intense standoff happened then, as Ariana gave Devina the eyeball and the Vampiress stared at her until the feisty Devina threw up her hands with a scoff and turned to face the windows. Shedding her attire as she re-learned control of her pulse, Ariana stepped into the slinky green cocktail dress. It was a delicious fit; tight in the waist and bodice yet flowing over the hips in a short bias skirt that nearly exposed but covered everything. As she stepped into the tall stilettos, she found them ridiculously comfortable, as if made from clouds.
Facing the mirror, Ariana found she suddenly looked like a supermodel herself, even without her mess of red hair done. She was used to wearing professional attire at an auction, but this was a red-carpet look that billionaire art patrons had – and Ariana stared, amazed at how good she looked. Seizing Ariana’s wrist mercilessly now, Devina Scarlotti tugged her to the opulent Italian marble bathroom. Plunking Ariana down on a velvet pouf before a gilded makeup mirror, Devina rolled out an equally gilded hutch of stylist equipment.
As Ariana finally realized she was not under threat – unless it was from getting her hair yanked by the vastly impatient Vampiress.
“So why do I need to look this good to tour your Hotel? And why am I getting a tour while I’m still recovering?” Ariana finally asked as she sat still for the Vampiress, now spritzing her wild red waves with something that smelled like melons and sparkled in the air like dew, yanking through it all with a very normal wide-toothed comb.
“You’re fine now; your fever has passed and you’re on the mend from your magical exhaustion so it is time to get you oriented in this place you now stay, the sooner the better.” Devina spoke with an Italianate scoff as she worked. “As for the Red Letter Hotels, they are an elite chain of über-exclusive destinations, which cater to the highest echelons of both Twilight and human society around the world. Which is why we can’t have you accidentally leaving your rooms and stumbling around like an idiot before having a proper tour – it’ll look bad.”
“Human society?” Ariana blinked as she tried to turn her head to look at the Vampiress, though Devina seized her head in her long fingers and made Ariana stay put. “Humans come to the Twilight Realm?”
“All the time. But only those who won’t spill the beans or freak out about it.” Devina continued with a tightly amused smile now as she began clipping long twists of Ariana’s locks up and readying a strange-looking cordless curling iron. “We have elite guests here, so everyone who is in-residence at the Hotel must look their finest at all times. Some Hotels are casual; ours is not. Florence has an excellent reputation as one of the most opulent and exclusive Hotels even within the chain itself – and that’s how our Hotel Head keeps it. To eventually make itthetop destination for what we do here. Though he also runs Hotels in Pisa and Venice,thisis our flagship destination in Italy.”
“And byhe, you mean Quindici DaPonti.” Ariana spoke as she began putting it all together. “And what exactly do you do here that’s so unique?”
“You’ll see,faeadonna,” Devina chuckled now as she moved quickly through curling Ariana’s hair with her magical curling iron. “Vampires run this Hotel, and so it is reflective of our unique culture. As you will soon see on your tour, Vampires have exquisite taste, love history but also modern innovations, and are highly posh creatures. You, as a Dark Fae, are different than a Vampire but have some of our abilities. You have been mostly Sired but left to survive or die, and are thus unique – in that you survived in the first place, but also somehow managed to hide both your Summer Fae and Vampire powers until three days ago. Our Hotel Head is most curious to see how your power matures now that it has been awakened. Hence, why we are helping you, when many Vampires would simply slaughter you and move on.”
“Slaughter me?!” Ariana did turn around to look at Devina then, horror surging through her as her heart leapt to her throat and her new star-dark power flared in alarm. “Why?”
“Because you’re dangerous, of course!” Devina blinked at her now as if Ariana was an imbecile. “As a Dark Fae, you possess the strongest of both Fae and Vampire magics, little one! Something blocked yours from awakening – probably some charm put on you way back when. But now that you’re unblocked, you shall begin to awaken to both your Fae and Vampire powers simultaneously. Only one in five hundred Fae survive a partial Siring by a Vampire to become Dark Fae. Your unique power is a threat to your Summer Fae King. And to Vampires also… though Quinn sees promise in you. Which is why you have amnesty here and no one beneath this roof wouldeverdare harm you. Come now, hold still and let’s finish this up.”
As Devina yanked Ariana’s head, curling her hair quickly now, Ariana returned to that simmering place inside, feeling her new power burn. Devina’s words about Dark Fae troubled her deeply; yet again, she wondered how she had been turned Dark Fae, and when, and what the hell it actually was. Her parents had never told her that some Vampire had tried to Sire her but left without finishing it when she was a baby. As Ariana’s long red locks became Hollywood-perfect, pinned up on one side with a diamond peridot clip, Ariana wondered how she had survived when most Fae apparently died from being turned Dark.
And what it meant for her life now.
As Ariana’s hair was finished, glossy and radiant in a way even the most professional stylists couldn’t do, Devina started on makeup with quick, professional sponge-work and brushes. The makeup was so light on Ariana’s skin that it felt like it wasn’t even there; and Devina said no more now as she focused, motioning for Ariana to close her eyes and lining her lids before doing blush and lip details. Quick and professional, in a moment Devina was done, hustling Ariana up from the velvet pouf.
“There. All finished. Come on, time for our tour.”
As Ariana rose, she blinked at herself in the gilded mirror. Devina had created an incredible red-carpet look for her with the slinky green cocktail dress and the tastefully elegant makeup and hair. As Ariana stared at herself, Devina clasped a tremendous cuff of diamonds and peridot on Ariana’s wrist, setting matching teardrop earrings in her ears. Though Ariana had been a part of the high-money art life and had learned skills like archery, horseback riding, and calligraphy at their manor-home outside Florence as a child, her parents had raised her mostly away from glamorous society, in both the U.S. and Italy. But all of a sudden, Ariana was looking at a wild beauty of the summer fields straight out of Hollywood as she stared at herself in the mirror.
Feeling suddenly more Fae than she ever had in her life – as she stared at her incredible transformation in a world steeped in magic.
CHAPTER 4 – HOTEL
As Ariana began her tour of the Red Letter Hotel Florence with the Vampiress Devina Scarlotti, a number of things became apparent. One was that Devina was held in exquisitely high regard at the Hotel, receiving deep bows from immaculately put-together staff bustling by wearing jeweled crimson pins in a stylized “R” with their sleek Italian lace cocktail dresses or ostentatiously sexy modern suits. Another was that the Hotel was like a fortress-palace from the Renaissance, influenced by earlier eras as Ariana and Devina navigated the darkly sensual yet fantastically ornate stone and marble halls with their high crystal chandeliers and cobalt silk drapes and countless Renaissance paintings upon every wall. As they moved through a busy evening rush, people in all sorts of elegant couture glanced at Ariana curiously.
Hailing from every Lineage in the Twilight Realm.
As they toured this ornate ballroom and that grand hall, Ariana felt as if she were at the most exclusive art gallery in the world; where not just the décor was of the highest class, but even the people were the most elegantly artistic things Ariana had ever seen. Before long, she began to recognize the Vampires among both staff and guests; pale, they had a beautiful contrast between their often dark hair and vibrant eyes versus their luminous skin. A variety of Twilight Realm people walked the halls as the sun flashed out, Lineages Ariana had read about but never seen; fantastic Phoenix with long coats of turquoise or crimson plumage over their downy bodies, sleek Merpeople with glimmering silver scales at their temples and jubilant, bubbling-water laughs, wearing barely-there couture of shimmering scales.
But the various stages of undress of the patrons at the Florence Hotel had Ariana blushing now, her cheeks hotter and hotter as as they passed people in all sorts of elegant corsetry and lace loungewear, intense European club-wear and more. Taking her to a fantastic aviary with birds unknown in the human world, then on to an enormous 1920’s billiards-hall packed at cocktail hour with patrons drinking and gaming, Devina ignored the intense aura of sexuality in the halls as if it were utterly normal. One massive Werewolf man growled at Ariana sexily as he passed, not wearing anything over his immense body with its shaggy white wolf-fur and exposed genitalia, only ornate gold torques gracing his neck, wrists, ankles, and frankly enormous man-parts.
And though everyone bowed to Devina and snuck curious glances at Ariana, no one said anything until they arrived at a massive ebony desk nestled in a black and white hall with a checkerboard floor. Ornate wrought-iron formed a beautiful conservatory above and all around, with niches of potted orchids where couples talked or flat-out made out in plain view on royal blue silk chaises. White and blue night-moths fluttered through the space, and as Devina led Ariana to the enormous ebony desk thoroughly carved with a Roman orgy, a man at the desk turned to welcome them.
Luminously elegant with short silver hair swept up from his forehead, he was tall and wan as if he might blow away at any moment. Beautiful, his full pale lips smiled with delight as Devina and Ariana arrived; as Ariana neared, she felt a sensation like silver music flow into her, tinkling with bells like a winter sleigh. Perfectly silver-blue, his eyes were like icicles shining in a midwinter day; as they neared, he flipped closed an enormous gilded ledger he’d been writing in with a gold fountain pen. His waistcoat was white with curling silver embroidery, his silver-grey trousers dark to match his tie. His white silk shirt looked so soft, Ariana instantly wanted to touch it, and as those lovely silver-blue eyes alighted on hers, his dark eyelashes suddenly flickered in astonishment.
“Devi. And who is this that you’ve brought to the Main Concierge desk?” He spoke in a musical, silvery tenor voice as he stared at Ariana, obviously impressed. She was likewise impressed with him, realizing that he looked like stories she’d heard of Winter Fae, though his silver-dark aura was also strangely Vampiric.
“Curio.” Devina spoke briskly as she nodded at Ariana. “This is Ariana Summers. She’s a guest of Quinn’s.”
