Even a few classy Lamborghinis and Maseratis with dark tinted windows driving by.
“Um… who drives the sweet wheels?” Ariana raised her eyebrows as she watched a hot pink Lamborghini cruise past.
“Vampires.” Lucca chuckled as he watched it also. “My father’s edicts forbid Summer Fae to travel by modern means. Though I would love to try driving a Maserati or a Tesla impertinently down this road to the Palace of Light, I can only do it when I’m in the human world attending a gala at the Pitti Palace. Or some other place I’m invited by dignitaries I meet.” Rakishly, Lucca winked at Ariana.
“You go into the human world that often? Against your father’s edicts?” She stared at Lucca in surprise as he guided their animals away from the main street and down a quieter side-avenue. Deep with greenery like a park, couples canoodled on benches underneath tall cork oaks and cherry laurel, or enjoyed picnics in the grass with foodstuffs and copious wine.
“All the time. But that is a conversation for another day.” Standing in his stirrups, Lucca searched for something, before beaming and gesturing left. Moving their mounts to a gravel path, Ariana saw a picnic waiting for them within a ring of lavender bushes and wisteria trellises.
Complete with coffee and pastries for a morning repast.
“Hungry?” Lucca led them over to the royal picnic as grooms moved quickly forward to take their beasts. Servants were finishing up with the preparations, but as Lucca and Ariana arrived at the blue silk quilt and they rushed in to serve him, he waved them off. “Go. You’re all dismissed. Alleno has monies for you to do some shopping in the city today and lie to my father about how well you served myself and the Dark Fae and what tidbits about her you learned. Enjoy.”
Ariana had completely missed Lucca’s cousin-slash-bodyguard Alleno Massi as he sidled from the shadows. Dressed in his Darkwatch outfit of Regency-style charcoal grey breeches, shirt, and vest like a Fae assassin, Alleno wore a harness absolutely festooned with knives, a sword on his hip as he nodded to Ariana. As he handed coin purses to the palace staff, who received them with eager smiles, Ariana realized dismissing his father’s attendants with pay was a common practice for Lucca. And they clearly loved him for it, as each bowed low before grinning and moving away.
Off about an enjoyable day in the city.
“There. Now we can speak freely.” Lucca nodded to Alleno, who gave him a casual nod back before moving to their mounts. Offering his hand, Lucca helped Ariana down to the picnic blanket though she didn’t need it, it was just nice to touch him. His summer blue eyes lit at their touch, and as they settled on the quilt, she realized there were no fewer than ten different dishes for breakfast, plus coffee and white wine, far more than she could ever eat. As she hesitated, Lucca smiled. “Don’t worry. Alleno will save what we don’t eat for the servants. My days out in the city are enjoyable for all.”
“You really think of everything, don’t you?” Ariana quipped as Lucca poured her some espresso, adding a generous amount of cream and sugar just the way she liked it.
“Not everything. Quinn thinks of everything.” He spoke as he handed her coffee over, then poured a similar espresso for himself. “But I take care of my people, Ariana. And when I am under house arrest, I cannot. Thank you, by the way, for convincing my father to let me escort you around the city and meet with the Summer Fae. It is far more pleasurable than sitting in my room in manacles all day.”
“So it worked? Our plan?” Ariana regarded Lucca levelly now, sipping her coffee.
“So far, yes. And I hope it continues to.” Lucca chuckled, though his eyes flashed with a darker look now. Serving himself and Ariana bacon and eggs Florentine, he put a gorgeous cannoli on each of their plates with a generous square of tiramisu. Raising her eyebrows, Ariana realized Quinn was right; Fae had a sweet tooth and Lucca was no exception.
But it seemed to affect his metabolism not one bit, as the Prince dug heartily into his breakfast, lean and mean and gorgeous no matter how many sweets he ate. Shaking her head, Ariana smiled, taking up some bacon and munching thoughtfully as she watched Lucca stretch his long legs out upon the quilt, crossing his boots in the grass.
“So. How does it feel to be out of your own house arrest? Finally.” He asked as he watched her.
“Relieving.” Ariana spoke honestly, reveling in the touch of dappled sunlight on her skin beneath the wisteria arbor and the smell of lavender and fresh summer air sweeping through the city park. “It’s a welcome change from so much time in the dark halls of the Red Letter Hotel Florence and all that intense Vampire intrigue.”
“Quinn can’t keep you locked up in that Hotel forever, Ariana.” Lucca spoke seriously now as his eyes darkened again. “It’s not good for your Light. Fae need to get out, to revel in the fields and woods and streams. It rebuilds us, keeps us healthy. And joyful. And alive.”
“Actually, that’s one reason I’m here with you today. Quinn thought it would be beneficial for me to revel among the Fae for a while, since being in the palace helped me so much the other day.” Ariana smiled at Lucca, and his smile back was gentle now that they were alone with only Alleno to see. Whom Ariana noted was quietly grooming their beasts, ignoring their conversation other than idle glances to make sure his Prince was safe.
“So… what now?” Ariana asked as she enjoyed a fresh strawberry. “Do we launch right into business or is there pleasure first?”
“There is always pleasure in a Fae’s life, Ariana.” Lucca spoke sexily back, the lordly rogue returning as he turned Ariana’s words into innuendo. Heat simmered between them in a subtle dark-light mirage as Ariana enjoyed Lucca’s attentions. But with an alert glance, he poured two glasses of Prosecco and handed one over. As they clinked, his gaze was penetrating.
“Actually, I’d like to get to know you.” He spoke as he regarded her seriously now. “We met under tense circumstances, and I really know very little about you, or you about me. So… perhaps we should simply take today to get acquainted. We are going to be spending time all summer together, parading you around the Summer Fae. Perhaps for these first few meetings we should just—”
“Date?” Ariana smiled at him now, lifting one eyebrow.
“Essentially.” Lucca smiled winningly. “My father thinks I’m trying to court you for him, so the cozier we can pretend to be, the better perhaps.”
“But it’s not pretend at all, is it?” Ariana sobered suddenly as she set her wine down.
“No. It’s not.” Lucca spoke intimately as he watched her, his beautiful eyes going a very dark cobalt now with a blazing ring of white-blue. “Though my father thinks we do this for him, and Quinn plans an alliance between his Vampires and the Summer Fae, and I do this for my rebellion… the real truth is that I want to see you, Ariana. I want to be near you and hear your voice. I want to hold you in my arms and feel your touch in the twilight. You, Quinn, and I share a connection I don’t understand yet; but the more I’ve thought about it, the more I believe it’s not coincidence. I didn’t know why I was wandering through that hall in the Palace of Light the day I met you, I simply feltcalledto be there. What called me? I can only assume you did. For you see, Ariana, Quinn and I have a deep history. And for some reason, you are now a part of that history, though none of us know precisely why. Fate? Or something more…”
Ariana’s lips had fallen open at Lucca’s tirade, and a shiver wracked her now as they stared at each other in the bright morning. All around, their magics had begun to intertwine like Ariana’s and Quinn’s last night; though now, Ariana’s power shimmered with Lucca’s bright mirage of rainbows rather than Quinn’s dark fire. Taking up her wine, Ariana had a deep swig as Lucca stared her down, his blue eyes very dark now, blazing with heat.
As she watched him, she realized suddenly that the strange weave of all their lives went far deeper than she knew. The only problem was that neither she, Quinn, nor Lucca had any clue why they had become intertwined.
Or where their destinies were headed now.
CHAPTER 14 – MONSTER
