Page 67 of Light Fae's Love
“Lucca,” I say, realizing so much more is at stake now than I previously thought, and I need to fill him in on it immediately. “You have to know, I’m not a Vampire, not like I thought. All these years, ever since we went hunting Dark Fae?—”
“We actually became Dark Fae.” Something reckless and beautiful lights Lucca’s summer-blue eyes now as he chuckles. “I know, Quinn. Alleno, Devi, and Lady Eiseth told me last night. They told me about you, too. Which is why everyone is downstairs right now. Because they are Dark Fae, as well. And the fate of all our futures depends on what you decide to do next. With the Vampire Council of Rome.”
I blink at him as my entire world suddenly floods with new understanding. As that revelation hits me, light fills me in a way I’ve not known since I went into the Revenant catacomb that fateful night with Lucca.
I feel it illuminate me as something new comes into my heart. That light beams from me and I feel it fill Ariana and Lucca also as diamond-bright rainbows suddenly shed off Lucca, and darker, more haunting ones simmer off Ariana. Darkfire blazes around me with my Fae light now; my Vampire powers strengthen as my Dark Fae magic revels in this new discovery.
That my strongest allies—and Lucca’s, too—have been Dark Fae all along.
“Hidden in plain sight.” I understand as everything I ever knew about my world suddenly changes. In an instant, everything shifts—and I know why everyone has gathered here now to find out what I’m going to do in Rome, because it affects them as Dark Fae.
But though I was elated from my previous discovery about my allies and the massive strength they might possess as Dark Fae, a new thought hits me.
And in a moment, my entire life crumbles.
Leaving me with nothing.
“I can’t hold a seat on the Vampire Council. I can never sit among them and champion the progress and modernity I had so hoped to accomplish in Vampire society.”
As the deepest ambition of my life suddenly fractures, Lucca and Ariana cuddle around me, gripping me tight. I know they both feel what just happened inside me. Because all my ambitions and intricate plans are shattered now, leaving only a hole of darkness within.
I am beyond stunned as Lucca steps back, frowning at me and holding my shoulders. Ariana hovers at my side, one arm wrapped around me as I feel her fret. Because I’m not just churning, not like I would normally do when faced with a giant hole in one of my plots. I suddenly feel empty, as everything I ever was and ever hoped to be is yanked out from underneath me.
All hope lost.
“There’s no point. No point to any of this anymore.” I draw slowly back from them both now, needing to process this on my own. Turning, I go to the tall windows of Arturos’ villa, staring out over the settling night.
It looks so beautiful and I revel in it—and understand for the first time in my life what I’m truly doing. All this time, I’ve surrounded myself with beauty, sensuality, and art because of how it made me feel. Little did I know I was actually building my power, increasing it with every painting I admired, every piece of music I devoured with enjoyment, and every fine cordial or wine I created for the Dark Haven of Florence.
I reveled in it all—and it made my Dark Fae power stronger.
It hadn’t just strengthened my Night, I understand now, but my Light as well. Now that I no longer have a place in Vampire society, however, I have no idea what to do with that. I feel more than hear Eiseth, Arturos, and Alleno enter the room, as if summoned by Lucca to help me address my current state. I don’t turn from the windows, but let them all find a place to settle as they decide what to do with me.
As I feel empty for the first time in my life—not knowing what to do with myself.
“Quinn. Being a Dark Fae is not a death sentence to your ambitions with the Vampire Council.” Eiseth is the first to speak, interrupting my thoughts with her smooth alto voice as if she knows what I’m going through.
As if she went through it herself long ago, when she discovered what she was.
“How does the Council not know what you are, Eiseth?” I ask her now as I stare out over the evening grounds, empty but listening to whatever solace she thinks she can provide.
“Careful misdirection with my power, over time.” She is honest—and for the first time, I know why I can hear truth in people’s words, and falsehoods with my magic.
My Dark Fae magic.
Just like Ariana’s.
“All of us Dark Fae who masquerade as Vampire do this with our power, Quinn,” Eiseth says as she continues. “For generations, we Dark Fae who live as Vampires have put out misdirection that the unique abilities our power contains are nothing more than odd leftovers from when we were Fae. The Vampires have believed us. And we kept our Light under wraps… never giving them reason not to. Lest they discover us and oust us from their society when we could do so much good among them.”
“Explain.” I am sharp now, needing the full truth from my allies tonight, when they have held back so much.
“Dark Fae have held positions of power in both Fae and Vampire society for generations, Valerio,” Alleno says, using my old Fae name to make certain I pay attention. It feels strange now as I roll it silently around my mouth.
Knowing that name is not entirely gone from me—now that I’m Dark Fae.
“The Darkwatch was founded by Dark Fae, way back when,” Alleno says as I feel him and Lucca exchange a glance. “It’s a secret none are told, save for those who are already Dark Fae in that organization. We have a silent history neither Vampires nor Fae know about—that we’ve held positions of honor and influence in both cultures, for eons. We do so, and fight to bring the Night and the Light back together again. As they once were in the Ascendants of old.”
“To subsume both Vampires and Fae into the Dark Fae, so only one species exists?” I turn now, pinning Alleno with my gaze.