The United States government used St. Louis as a testing facility for its war games across the globe during the 20thcentury. These atrocious experiments destroyed a lot of the land and a significant number of communities of color in the city—so much that the city became unlivable. The red lining, the racist and sexist history, and the loss of Indigenous land due to colonialization were abhorrent. We had asked the communities who already lived here what we could do to help and worked on gaining their trust as we made sure they had what they needed to thrive. We dedicated the land back to the Indigenous tribes like the Osage, Sioux, and Iroquois. It had taken longer than we anticipated to bring it back to livable conditions, even for supernatural communities.
While this town had its ups and downs, and often wildly swung one way or another depending on the humidity, we worked together to keep this city as open as we possibly could to both humans and the supernatural. It was a lot of long days and nights where we thought we’d end up starting our own wars, but in the end, we made it work, and we were forced to learn about each other in the process.
I was reluctantly made the head of the Unseelie faction. This was in part due to my abilities, but mostly because I was the strongest Fae outside of Underhill as the heir to the Autumn Court. I also had a fiery mean streak when provoked, but I’d worked hard to circumvent the training I’d been subjected to back home.
While I was comfortable with my own powers, I did notenjoy leading. I was someone who was good with ideas, not the execution of those ideas. Like most Fae, I loved a game where I could continue philosophizing, but I wasn’t a decision-maker. I wanted to speak my piece and let others make the decisions.
The remainder of the thirteen were great at the parts I wasn’t. They were leaders, but they’d been doing it for so long that I questioned if they knew how to rest. They spent their time making decisions, while I spent most of my time finding patterns and making recommendations before a problem arose.
I wondered, not for the first time, if I should readThe Princeagain, since most of my colleagues loved Machiavelli. They weren’t fans of his work, but they were interested in the politics that made up this world, and it was rumored that many leaders on Earth slept with a copy ofThe Princeby their bedsides. The idea of a broken human system where we debated on whether it was better to be feared than loved didn’t sit right with me, and it never had. I believed that people would love and respect leaders if their needs were met, and I didn’t believe in the construct of currency in exchange for goods. Machiavelli was not what the humans needed, but we still debatedThe Prince’s merit to this day, even if I had gotten my way in the end.
Obviously, I wasn’t a fan. I’d memorized the text from front to back, but I also met Machiavelli when he was alive. I’d never met a bigger ass kisser in my life, and that was saying something, considering I grew up in the courts of the Autumn king.
I adored my colleagues—mostly. They wanted what was best for their people, and the city was thriving. We worked hard to make sure that it stayed peaceful, and that the inhabitants of our little city had what they needed. While we didn’t all agree on everything, we did agree that this was the most important part about starting thePax.
I was screaming along to Saosin when I turned my head and noticed a young human kid staring from the car next to me. My car’s stereo was loud enough, Vampires half a mile away could probably hear “Seven Years” clear as day.
I stared back at the kid, twisting my face as I activated my glamour. I adjusted my features to seem like a grotesque monster while I waited for the light to turn green. The kid turned around toward their mother and screamed as her car started to move forward. I gunned it. Might’ve gone a little too far there. I giggled to the point of tears. Maybe it was from a lack of sleep? It was just part of being Unseelie. Maybe it was a bit of immaturity as well.Nah.
The building was unassuming to the naked eye, but each floor was elaborately built to the specifications of each faction. The Unseelie floor was a forested oasis. It almost perfectly mimicked Underhill, the Fae’s realm. There were vast fields of greenery in some spots, with a mountainous region at the back of the building that hosted some of our creatures of the night. The floor had its own creation magic, made by me, that mimicked sunlight and the moon equally based on the flow of time in Underhill. The forests gave the creatures of the court ample space to run in the middle of downtown St. Louis, with the convenience of parking in the building.
I entered my office, stepping back as a raven flew out. I never knew what I’d see here, and I loved that. My office was a tomb of antiquity with everything I was able to bring with me from the Unseelie court. Most of the pieces were relics that had made their way to Earth in one way or another.Hello, Pandora’sBox.Not a box like a lot of people believed, but an unassuming jar that resembled an urn.
My office might’ve been the most secure place on Earth, even tighter than Fort Knox, but I still did inventory every time I entered. While thePaxknew what I held in my possession, I could never be too careful.
“Ah, what do you have for me today, Aibell?” I asked as I sat down behind my desk, making room to start up my laptop. Aibell was my main enforcer. She was a badass banshee who often stepped in when I needed a push.
“Princess ÓDubhlaoich—” she started.
“Please, Aibell,” I cut her off, “I’ve asked you for a hundred years now to just call me Adaela.”
She stared at me deadpan, pushing her short brown hair behind her ear. “Sorry, ma’am. The floor is secure and is business as usual, but we have one of our own who could use a little extra help.”
I glanced up from my laptop, where I was going over my calendar for the day, “And that is?”
“Well, Angus and Bride are near the mountains, and they need help reinforcing their boundaries against Beira,” Aibell said.
The annual reinforcement was coming soon, since we were nearing the end of winter, but I furled my brows, trying to remember if we’d ever met up this early in the year. I moved around a few meetings as Aibell and Ionia updated me on the faction’s security before making my way to find the two love birds.
Angus and Bride were in a weird, yet unique position here at thePax. Bride was of the Seelie court, and even at thePax, the Seelie and Unseelie preferred to remain separated. There was just too much hurt between all of us over our very long history. However, Angus’s mother Beira was a cailleach, or an old hag.They were of the Unseelie Winter court, but they were known for their intense jealousy—particularly of beautiful women. Bride was still one of the most beautiful women on Earth, and Beira’s jealousy of her often led her to abduct Bride every winter when Beira was strongest. When we began thePax, both Angus and Bride petitioned to come with us, and they shared their time equally between both courts.
It warmed my cold, dead heart to see the two of them so in love after so long together. They had a cabin by the mountains and lived in thePaxheadquarters full time as a precaution. While Fate had played a role in their relationship, I worked with the other Unseelie members to help provide extra protection for Bride. She hadn’t been abducted since, and watching her bloom was one of my favorite success stories since moving to St. Louis.
Even exhausted, I smiled genuinely as I approached them, “Bride, Angus, so great to see you two. I heard you might need my help?” I asked as I shook both of their hands.
Bride smiled at Angus. It was gross how adorable they were. Absolutely disgusting. I loved it. “I don’t need any help at the moment, but I did want to catch your attention. I know you’re busy, but I had something I wanted to show you,” she said, excitement shining in her eyes.
My smile grew wider as I peeked down toward her belly, and she laughed as she punched me lightly on the shoulder, “I’m not pregnant, dork. Angus and I likely will never have children, and both of us are okay with that. No, this.” She pointed toward the ground near the base of the mountains.
Small, neon purple and teal flowers were growing amongst the rocks and dirt near our feet. My eyes went wide as I forgot how to breathe. These flowers, calledLus Mór, or more commonly foxglove, didn’t resemble the plant that grew on Earth. It developed more like a primrose with long pistils or stamens breaching out from the center of the plant. Foxgloveswere toxic, butLus Mórwere even more so. To touch one would mean death, but my death magic made me immune to its toxins, which was likely why they summoned me here. I almost couldn’t believe it. I stared in astonishment for long moments while I tried to figure out how these delicate, yet deadly, plants had made their way outside of Underhill. I bent down and picked one of the purple flowers, examining its magical properties. It was definitelyLus Mór,because the death magic radiating from its beautiful petals activated my own death magic at the base of my skull.
I ran through the options of how these flowers had made their way to thePax. It could mean that Underhill was gracing us with its presence, which I would’ve detected. We had a special bond. Leaving Underhill was the most difficult thing I’d done in my life, since Underhill was the source of most Fae magic.
Or it could be the sign of a bad omen, that death awaited us. These plants didn’t just grow like foxglove did. It was magic, and I didn’t have the ability to growLus Mórhere. That magic solely rested on Underhill. I didn’t think any of the Unseelie, or Seelie for that matter, had the ability to grow it here either. Were we creating our own Underhill by being here?
Angus and Brides’ postures shifted with discomfort etched across their faces. Were they troubled about theLus Mórgrowing here, where they lived, or were they afraid that they had stumbled upon an omen? It was hard to tell, but I understood why they were concerned.
“I will do some research to find out how they’ve started growing here. In the meantime, I’d appreciate it if you could keep this between us,” I said. I didn’t want to start with any undue alarm in the rumor mill. I was glad Ionia, my third, wasn’t here. She and her pixie friendswerethe gossip mill in the Unseelie faction.
