Page 19 of Light Fae's Love
As Quinn glances with cunning at the pissed-off creature inside its box, I see the others note it thoughtfully. We’re all thinking what might be possible for Vampire and Fae society if Revenants no longer haunted the night.
Lucca’s incredulousness is the only searing counterpoint; as he gives a soft snort, Quinn gives him a nod, victorious. Because we all know it must have been a massive feat of magic on Quinn’s part to have arrested this creature long enough to get it into its box. As I glance at him, pleasure beams from his dark onyx eyes.
Before Lucca lays into him for real.
“Are you saying you want to catch all the Revenants of the world and return them to their physical selves and sanity, Quinn? That’s basically impossible. There must be tens of thousands of them, all around the globe!”
“Patience, Lucca. We are not there yet,” Quinn says with amiable peace. “It is an intriguing thought, though, no? That perhaps one day Revenants would no longer hunt Fae, Vampire, or anyone else in the dark places of the night?”
“Still, the Summer Fae Prince is right—such a thing would be a massive undertaking,” Arturos says now as he glances at Quinn. “Are you hoping to win favor on the Council by this?”
“Perhaps,” Quinn says, as his dark eyes glow. “Perhaps, however, I think that returned Revenants might join their ancient power to our Dark Havens. Seven of those returned at the Bloodstone event have remained here in Florence and intend to blood-oath to me, though we have not consummated those bonds yet, since they are not ready for such an undertaking. Eiseth, two returned to your own Dark Haven from whence they came of old. And one was a Vampire-Siren… wasn’t she, Arturos?”
“She was,” Arturos says with a quiet frown now, as something dark churns inside his deep, oceanic energy. “Luliana Ouros has taken off around the globe, but she had many things to say about something called the Dark Haven of the Deeps that existed long ago. An ancient Vampire-Siren Dark Haven I did not know about.”
“Ancient secrets and ancient powers which are now available to bolster our Dark Havens, if we cultivate them,” Quinn says with deep cunning.
“Enemies as well.” Lady Eiseth lifts an eyebrow at Quinn. “Your spontaneous feat not only bolstered our Dark Havens, Quinn, but also our enemies’ power. At least ten of those Revenants returned at the Bloodstone event returned to Dark Havens we are not fond of.”
“True.” Quinn’s gaze is measured now as he glances back to the Revenant in the cage and laces his fingers behind his back, watching it. “We are egalitarian and kind, however, and many of those who went mad long ago became Revenant because they were tortured or experienced trauma. I have spoken with those who have joined my Dark Haven, and they are grateful to blood-oath to a Haven run as well as ours. My thought is that the ratio we have seen will continue—that two-thirds of those liberated from their Revenant state will choose to become part of the egalitarian Dark Havens of our allies. While only one-third will return to places of cruelty and horror run by our enemies.”
“A deep gamble, Quinn.” Arturos frowns as he takes it all in. “We still don’t know how someone stuffed all those Revenants into the Bloodstone that night, nor where the rest that got away went, or whom they went home to. They were being wielded as a mass force, with a very strong Master behind them. Dangerous magic. And a very dangerous enemy, to have so cleverly gotten such a mass of Revenants inside your halls, past your copious warding.”
“The Bloodstone was a Trojan Horse.” I realize as everyone looks at me. “Primed to go off if any powerful magic was unleashed at the event.”
“Essentially.” Quinn answers with a knowing look. “You and I triggered the Bloodstone’s nasty surprise when I drank from it and my magic resonated with yours, Ariana, creating the Music of the Spheres and causing the Bloodstone to ring like a bell that night and explode, setting the Revenants free. But none of us have figured out how someone committed all those Revenants into it, or when. It could have been done long ago, an event meant for one of my predecessors in the Dark Haven of Florence.”
“I doubt it,” Arturos says again, as his oceanic gaze pins Quinn. “From the wagering happening that night, Quinn, someone knew a trigger was going to be pulled on you. A big one.”
“And we need to find out who.” Quinn nods with a violent flash in his dark onyx eyes. “For now, we have a demonstration to engage. To find out if Lucca’s, Ariana’s, and my power can reawaken a caught Revenant—on purpose this time, rather than during an intense moment of battle and desperate magic. Ariana: your wrist, please.”
“Why?” I am hesitant as I blink at Quinn.
Quinn turns to me, lifting an eyebrow in theatrical style. “Because I was draining the Bloodstone the night our power resonated and went wild, and I assume I need to drain blood again for us to begin. Lucca, will you hold her steady, please?”
“Be careful, Quinn,” Lucca says. He is harsh now as he takes up a strong stance behind me, wrapping his arms around me with a gentle firmness as I hesitantly extend my arm.
“As careful as I can be.” Quinn holds my eyes with gravitas as he unbuttons my silk cuff and gently rolls up my sleeve. His hands are decadently hot-cold as he curls my wrist into his fingers and holds my gaze, pushing a lightly mesmeric energy through me so there will not be pain.
I feel him go to a calm place deep inside, watching as his power level rises like a flowing tide of darkness and crimson fire in the hall. As he takes a moment to gather his magic, I draw a deep breath to steady myself.
As if he feels me become steady, Quinn glances up, pinning me with his eyes. They’re like black holes as they hold me; as I fall into them, a blaze rises inside me. It’s like the corona of the sun flaring in the darkness of the universe as I am devoured by Quinn’s gaze.
And then he strikes—biting hard into my wrist.
8
RELEASE
Power blasts between Ariana, Quinn, and me as Quinn strikes into Ariana’s wrist. Dark-light and every color of the rainbow, that searing power rocks Ariana as she cries out in my arms, shuddering with pleasure so deep it throws her head back. Quinn cries out also as he drinks, inundated by the resonance between them, joined now by him drinking from her. I do also—feeling it in a sensual rush as Quinn takes Ariana’s blood.
After everything she and I shared today.
Quinn uses that bound resonance between the three of us now. He takes the lead, telling it where to go for the magic we are about to work on the Revenant. His masterful direction over all things metaphysical heaves our bound energies to the max, making our natural reaction to each other’s magic and pleasure roar.
Ariana’s magic thunders through the room now, careening with oilslick-dark rainbows and hot flashes of silver and gold. Quinn’s magic sears into her through our bond, and into me as well as it expands around us in cascades of darkfire Night. As our dark Master’s power thrusts into me, joining Ariana’s might as the two twist into an impossibly dark, beautiful burn inside me, I cry out in ecstasy.
My Summer Fae magic blazing to join the game.