Chapter Two
Our offer was accepted and since we were paying cash, our realtor estimated that it would only take a couple of weeks to close. That meant Cyprian and I had to start packing. A moving company was hired but there were a lot of things I wanted to pack myself. Landry, the Dryad man who had raised me, would be moving into my townhouse with his Danutian girlfriend, Rywen. Currently, they lived in the apartment above his bar, the Wilds—the same apartment that I had grown up in. I had moved all of my stuff out of my old bedroom there to give Rywen more space and left everything in boxes so I guess I'd gotten a head start on packing.
But it was still daunting.
I stared around my bedroom, trying to figure out what I wanted to pack myself, and among those things, what could be packed immediately. A stack of plastic bins sat on the floor next to me along with several rolls of bubble wrap, tape, and scissors. I grabbed a bin, tossed the supplies in, and headed toward my dressing table. I took a seat and started to wrap the precious things I had on display there. I carefully enclosed the framed pictures of the men and me, a Venetian glass bird figurine Cyprian had bought me on our honeymoon, and a vintage crystal vanity set Landry had given me for my 18thbirthday, then set them in the bin. I was about to move on to more when Everan twisted into the room.
Twisting is the Danutian mode of travel. We can “twist” our bodies and up to two passengers through the Weave of the Worlds—that mystical material that held everything together—and travel anywhere in seconds—anywhere we'd been to before. Everan and I have used twisting to transport the members of FEAR—the secret government team of supernaturals that my men and I work with—around Earth and even to visit other planets but mainly, we use it to go back and forth between Earth and Danu. Danu is a realm of pure magic and although it's anchored to Earth, there are no direct paths from Earth to Danu. The only way to get to Danu is by twisting. When the Danutians decided to separate themselves from the mortal races, they went all out.
“Everan?” I asked as I stood. “What are you doing here?”
King Everan Lucara of the Southern Kingdom of Danu was a strikingly handsome man although not the sort of handsome that you would expect of a fairy king. He did have exotic, fey features—especially his violet eyes—but his jaw was too square and his lips too slim and stern to convince your average human that he was a Sidhe. His long, caramel-colored hair was braided back in a complicated Danutian braid but it only emphasized those strong features and he was dressed in clothes that, although looked as if they were from another time, didn't bear any resemblance to the frivolous costumes most fairies were portrayed wearing in human artwork. But the most un-fey like thing about him was his physique. Beneath his cognac-colored skin was the musculature of a warrior. Granted, when compared to Malik, Everan seemed more predator cat than bear, but among the slim Danutians, he was positively brawny. At the moment, those sleek muscles were tense and his lips pressed together in a way that made my stomach clench.
“There's been an earthquake in the Northern Kingdom,” Everan declared grimly.
“Are my grandparents all right? Uncle Nial?” I asked immediately. My mother's parents ruled the Kingdom of the North.
“They're fine,” he assured me. “I'm sorry, I should have said that first. But there have been many injuries and smaller quakes are still occurring sporadically.”
“Is there anything I can do?”
“I thought we might go to the North and have a look around.”
“Have there been any flare-ups with the Ebassi forges?” I asked.
Several months ago, there had been an incident at a metal forge in our kingdom. A mage—a Danutian who understands elemental magic in a way that others can't—was brought in to access the situation. He reported that when the element of Fire had met that of Earth in the forge, it had become unbalanced. This created a magical surge that left remnants of wild magic behind—magic which he believed originated with the element of Earth.
And now the Northern Kingdom, also known as the Earth Kingdom for its affinity with that element, was experiencing earthquakes.
“No, the forge has been fine,” Everan reported. “Master Salien is still monitoring it but hasn't noticed any recent imbalances.”
Master Salien was the aforementioned mage.
“So, you want me to check out the North and make sure none of those wild, magical remnants are floating around?”
“I think it would be wise. They have their own mages, but you might be able to see the magic on a greater scale than they can sense it.”
“A greater scale,” I murmured. “You think the whole kingdom has been affected.”
“The earthquake hit the entire kingdom.”
“Yes, I understand your reasoning, I was just clarifying.” I sighed. “Has this ever happened before?”
“The elements turning on us?” Everan asked in surprise. “No. Never.”
“Could it have something to do with the Gods?”
Everan gave me a heavy look.
“That's the real reason you want me to go,” I concluded. “You want me to speak with the Gods.”
“Not exactly,” he protested. “If that were the case, I'd simply ask you to come home.”
“Because all of the Gods live in the South,” I murmured.
The Gods of Danu had withdrawn from their people for many years but they'd come out of hiding for me. There were four of them—one to rule over each element—and all of them had spoken with me. The Goddess of Fire had even given me her sacred necklace, although I had to reclaim it from a human supervillain first. Still, Sairana's Ember—yes, the necklace has a name—was a connection to Danu and held a piece of fire magic inside it. This meant that I didn't have to refuel my Danutian magic through Everan anymore; I could connect through the Ember.
Not that I've ever consciously used Everan in such a manner. He did sustain me once, during the beginning of our marriage, but that was done without my knowledge. These days, I visit Danu often enough that it's not necessary for him to fuel me but having the Ember gave me options in case the need ever arose. It also made me immune to fire. Even though I heal rapidly, I still feel pain and I've been burned horribly three times in my life. Anyone who's been burned knows that it's utter agony and no matter how quickly I had recovered from it, I didn't want to ever endure that trauma again. The necklace—a heavy gold chain with a crimson cabochon the size of a silver dollar hanging from it—would save me from that. As long as I wore it, that is. I shot a guilty glance at Sairana's Ember, where it laid on my dressing table. It's a large piece and wearing it can get tedious.
