Murder attempts on the Luz didn’t jive with the picture he was trying to paint about the Fae being victims. As it was, I’d only met Teagan, Cora, Conan, and Tyran. All seemed perfectly normal, except for the superhuman beauty and grace. No psycho tendencies in sight. But were they the exception or the rule?
“I am the liaison between Fae and other Unnaturals. But there haven’t been dealings with other species since magic—”
“Was bound,” I muttered dryly, but he didn’t seem to catch my sarcasm.
“That one event had a domino effect. Not only did it create a rift between Fae, but it sent the Unnatural world into a frenzy.”
Rian’s words about werewolves being unable to turn swirled in my head.
“How many more Unnatural species live in Faerie?” The Taurus I’d encountered with Roark came to mind. The humanoid face still freaked me out.
“Not many. Many Kings ago, they fled Faerie.” Interesting. Roark had said they’d been driven from Faerie. I couldn’t help but wonder which viewpoint was accurate. “Only a few species remain. Among them are Mermaids.”
Right. I forgot about the mermaid that had almost bitten my finger off. I didn’t voice my not so nice thoughts.
Doubt swirled inside me. Outwardly, I nodded, but a larger part considered his too energetic words. What I’d witnessed was not jiving with who Tyran was portraying. I didn’t want to be that gullible, naive girl—I wouldn’t be. Even though he painted such a pretty picture, I wasn’t believing squat.
I wasn’t fooling myself on whether I had an actual choice of finding a way to release magic. I didn’t. It was a duty, a payback to the Queen for not letting me die. But I wasn’t about to live here forever and do whatever Queens did, even if I held the title. Or essence. Ultimate power, my butt. They’d survived this far without magic. They didn’t need me past unbinding magic.
I wanted to be as far away from Roark as I could, and this was his world. Plus, I had unfulfilled business in my world and, most importantly, that’s where my sister was. Stuttering in my stride, I realized the emotions I was filtering through like a carousel were attributed to grief. Anger, pain, acceptance, and a slew of others.
It may not have been in the right order, but I was going through some type of coping mechanism. I knew there were books out there that outlined the steps of pain, but I was filtering through so many at a rapid pace and then swinging back to them that it was giving me whiplash. My chest ached with loss, my heart reaching for something unattainable. I was mentally, if not physically, tired. The two weeks I’d been in my stasis-like sleep was a blessing because waking up was a slap in the face.
I pined for my favorite Idaho Mint ChocoChip ice cream. The very act of eating it had always lifted my spirits. I wished this damn Fae transition hadn’t taken that from me, too.
I tuned back in to Tyran as he spoke, nattering on about the architecture inspiration and the accommodations throughout. I only half listened but perked up when he started talking about bathrooms.
“We do take much inspiration from the human world, and though we are behind in architecture due to the restrictions on our magic, we are ahead in plumbing, specifically pertaining to water pumps to bathe.”
“How is that even possible?”
“You’ve experienced our heightened sense of smell?” he asked, slanting me a glance. I nodded, wrinkling my nose. The smell from that hotel room was ingrained in my memory. “That was incentive enough for a Fae named Jyl to look into plumbing systems many, many years ago. He explored many human locals to gain ideas. From the Roman Empire to the Grecian bathhouses, as well as China’s bamboo piping system.”
“How long ago was that?”
“Long before I was born.”
“How old are you?”
“Two hundred and ninety.” My mouth fell open, but he continued as if that were no big deal. “That was the basis of him inventing bathing facilities with water cascades. Many years ago, a Fae came to visit with his human lover. That human took all of our ideas to the human world and so your human showers were invented.”
Fae had plumbing systems hundreds of years before humans. My mind was blown.
“That means you have toilets?”
Tyran’s eyebrow wrinkled. “We do, but the only one who has need of them is Teagan because he has yet to reach Fae maturity.”
My shoulders tensed. Would I need to use the toilet? I haven’t had the urge since waking up. Hell, I should have been hooked up to something if I was passed out for two weeks. Another change to process.
I wanted to take off running in the opposite direction, but I steeled myself, my promise to the Queen ringing in my head.
Tyran came to an abrupt stop and waved me on. I looked toward where he pointed at the wall. What was I looking at? I squinted and moved closer. At my movement, the illusion of the wall broke, and I craned my head to see it was an entrance. A hidden passageway.
He waved me forward again, but no way was I going in first. It could be a trap or some shit. He had a fight coming if he was trying to stick me in some dungeon. Thanks to the Queen, I might even put up a
