Maybe that’s a learned trait from his twin?
Frowning as I think about my sister for a second, I blow out a long breath. This is a lot of peopling for me without teaching anyone a lesson. I’ll have to work on my extroversion skills on this journey because I doubt this will be the only time we’ll be stuck in the background observing the fawning. As my Fae Prince finally heads toward us, I notice there’s a tiredness to his face that only we can see. Being ‘on’ all the time has to be exhausting, even for someone as comfortable with fame and fans as he is.
“You look as though you’re going to slash through the people with your knife, lass,” he says with a small grin. I shrug and he leans in, placing his forehead against mine. “All these supes have worked with me and the band for years, so I had to give them all of my attention to amp things up for the tour. I promise I won’t leave you lurking in the shadows like a secret again; this will be your ‘coming out’ party as much as it is my album’s.”
My eyes widen in a look of sheer horror. “I’m sorry, what?!”
That gets a full on belly laugh from Dezi and even Khol is trying to hide his reaction behind his hand. Tiernan strides over, glaring at all the men surrounding me as he takes in my expression. “What have you idiotsdoneto her? Knuckles looks like she’s going to take off running and not stop until she hits the goddamn border.”
I point at Rev, swallowing before I reply. “He says this stupid tour is going to…introduce meto everyone!”
The leopard blinks, then presses his lips together, and it’s obvious that he, too, wants to laugh. My outrage grows as I realize all of them think this is fucking hysterical and I want to sink into the middle of the Earth. Closing my eyes so I don’t shriek in frustration, I mutter to myself in my head, trying to calm down. Suddenly, a rush of magic coasts over me and it feels like a warm blanket.
Damn. I just figured out how to soothe my rage. I wonder if?—
“Holy shit!”
Turning, I look at the Prince in front of me. Nowhisexpression is shocked and I have no idea why. Is it that surprising that I didn’t lose my temper? I mean, I’m volatile, but not reallythatvolatile. I can be reasonable, especially when it’s a public place like this. “What? What did I do? Why are you all looking at me like that?”
Tier is the first to find his tongue. “Knuckles, we aren’t making faces at you because we can’tseeyou.”
What.
Rev chuckles softly, his forehead still against mine. “I can feel my head touching yours, Sparkles, but you’re definitely invisible.”
“Oh, my fucking Goddess.” I blink as the others nod in agreement. “How did I do it? More importantly, how do Iundoit?”
“Both excellent questions, witching,” Dezi says as he crosses his arms over his chest. “Your power is clearly growing, and this land is certainly aiding it. Didn’t you gain power the last time you visited?”
“It sure as hell did,” Khol answers while I continue trying to come to grips with this situation. “That’s when she started sparkling and glitter dusting and floating.”
“Mmmm,” the vampire says unhelpfully. “We should be extra careful while we explore Faerie. Fiadh may experience surges and ebbs; she will need help with learning control.”
Rev rolls his eyes, pulling back from me to give Dezi an irritated look. “Excellent deduction, Captain Obvious. The problem at hand is helping her understand how to reverse what her magic did instinctually. When Fae magic develops in our young, we teach them that magic is deeply rooted in your emotions. Place intent behind your words and thoughts when you want to use it,butwhen you have ‘big feelings’, your magic will almost… assume… what you want and react.”
Suddenly, I know exactly what happened. Revelin announced that shit about introducing me, everyone was laughing, and an intense desire to disappear from the face of the Earth filled me. My magic must have responded to my thoughts to make me invisible.
Not a precision tool yet, clearly, but a good step.
A smile curls my lips as I close my eyes again and imagine that warm blanket I felt lift off me. When I open them again, the relief of the guys’ faces tells me I’ve worked it out. “Better?”
“Fuck, yes,” Rev breathes. “Don’t scare us like that. We’re not sure how your magic works or why it didn’t do what it should have at your witchy birthday party. If you get stuck, I can do my best based on centuries of magic knowledge, but I never know if it will help or hurt. Fae magic is… different.”
“I’ll be more careful. But you helped this time,” I admit. Looking around, I see the tension in all their frames and know what needs to happen. “But I think we need to get into your Magical Mystery Bus and chill out for a bit, Rev. This has been kind of adayso far.”
He grins boyishly, grabbing my hand before jerking his head at the others. “Don’t worry about the stuff. Illarion, my long-time Elven tour assistant, will bring it along once the others dissipate.”
Narrowing my eyes at him again, I curl my lip. “That bus isn’t supposed to house everyone, right?”
“Oh, lass,” he coos with a bright grin. “Ilikejealousy on you. But no… the bus is for me and whomever I invite at any time. For this tour, it’s just us unless we hold meetings during rides. That may have to happen, by the way, but I’ll enjoy every second of you giving death glares to all and sundry during them.”
Huffing, I tug on his hand. “Let’s go get comfortable. My temper isn’t reliable andallof you dimwits are enjoying the weird effects of Faerie’s magic on my emotions too much.”
But oddly, I seem to be the only questioning why thefuckFaerie is affecting a witch this much—I suppose that’s a question for later.
Iexpected the groupies being a problem, but I’d somehow deleted the fawning staff and his fucking agent. Not surprising, because Amethyst is a grade-A cunt and I’ve never liked her. My team has strict instructions toneverlisten to her, only Rev, and she still tries to command the security as if she has a say. Fiadh is going to smash heads with her every time she slithers up to convince the Prince of nonsense.
We need to be very watchful because Amethyst is powerful and has no scruples.
