The war between the immortals was over, butshe suspected the war with the humans was just beginning. The Lordof the Shadow Realms couldn’t destroy them all; vampires and boththe light and dark fae fed on humans. They could also feed onimmortals, but many immortals didnotappreciate that, sovampires and the fae mostly relied on mortals for sustenance.
But then, with as crazy as he was, the Lordmight decide to destroyeveryhuman if they became a problemand require immortals to feed only on each other. Things wouldbecome desperate then as few immortals allowed others to feed onthem in any way.
She didn’t know how the light fae weresurviving. They’d refused to fight, and because of that, immortalsreviled them. At one time, she often saw them in the human realm,but she hadn’t seen any in almost a year.
Unlike the dark fae, who fed on the energyproduced by sex, the light fae absorbed the joy humans emitted, andeven if they weren’t scorned and terrorized by other immortals whenthey were in the human realm, there was little joy left in thisworld. But that was their problem to handle; she had her own todeal with right now.
Glancing over her shoulder, she made sure noone was around before she entered the manor, strode down the hall,and jogged up the sweeping stairs to the second floor. At the top,the hallway ran straight ahead of her for fifty feet before veeringaround a corner.
Her steps were muffled by the dark bluecarpet running the length of the hall. Unlike the first floor,where most of the rooms had gray stone walls, the upper level wasdrywalled and painted. The walls were a cream color and lined withfamily pictures.
The complete silence still felt so odd, andshe resisted hugging herself as the lonely feel of the placeweighed her down.
Stopping outside a door halfway down thehall, she took a deep breath before gripping the knob and shovingthe door open. She didn’t look around; she couldn’t as tears filledher eyes while the scent of her dad filled her nose. He’d smelledof the outdoors and mint, and those aromas lingered in hisroom.
She blinked back her tears as she opened hisdrawers. She removed a black sweater and some socks. Unable to keepup with the flow of tears, she gave up trying as she ran to hiscloset, pulled out a pair of jeans, and fled the room. Closing thedoor behind her, she leaned against it as she wiped at the tearsstreaming down her cheeks.
It had been six months since word of hisdeath arrived, yet the knife of grief digging into her heart madeit feel like it was just yesterday. She didn’t know if it wouldever get better, but she wouldn’t be returning to his room any timesoon.
Shoving herself away from the door, sheburied her misery as she hurried to one of the hall closets andpulled it open. She removed a couple of towels before returning tothe first floor and entering the kitchen.
Dinner was already in the oven, but Sahirawasn’t around. She had to be somewhere nearby as she wouldneverlet one of her meals burn, but Lexi was glad her auntwasn’t here; she couldn’t deal with questions right now.
She rushed to fill a pot with water beforeSahira returned. She ignored the warm liquid splashing over herhand as she glanced around. She could always tell Sahira one of thehorses injured themselves, Sahira wouldn’t question it or go to thebarn to check, but she didn’t want to lie to her.
When she finished filling the pot, she leftthe room and was careful not to spill anything as she rushed downthe hall. Her feet didn’t make a sound on the red rug covering thegray stone floors. She kept her ears attuned for some hint ofSahira, but the manor remained unnaturally subdued.
No, it wasn’t unnatural anymore. This was theway it was now.
She slipped through the library's open doubledoors and paused to glance back into the hall. From the kitchen,she heard the back door click shut. Sahira must have been out inthe garden.
Lexi turned her attention from the hall andcrossed the room toward the large, gray stone fireplace. Overhead,the dark wood beams running across the cathedral ceiling didn’tblock the sun streaming through the skylights. It illuminated thehardwood floors and brought out the gold in the blue and goldOriental rug in the room's center.
Normally, she loved the way the sun spilledthrough the skylights and the large, arched windows making up mostof the wall on her right, but she barely noticed it now. Just asshe barely noticed the thousands of books lining the shelves to herleft, behind her, and around the fireplace.
She’d read every book in this room, many ofthem more than once. She’d always spent a lot of time here, butsince her dad died, it had become her favorite sanctuary. Twooverstuffed love seats faced the fireplace. The one on the left washers, while her father favored the one on the right.
Often, as a child, she would lay on her bellyon that rug. She’d prop her chin on her hands and kick her feet inthe air while gazing at the fire and listening to her father readwhatever new tale they were venturing on together. He had a thingfor the classics, his favorite being Oedipus. She had a thing forfantasy, her favorite being any Harry Potter book.
She stopped next to the fireplace and glancedback to make sure Sahira wasn’t around. Her aunt knew about thetunnels, but she would question why Lexi was entering them.
After every tunnel was built, Sahira would gointo it and cast a spell to keep them cloaked from the outsideworld. No one who didn’t know they were there would ever be able tofind one of the tunnels.
But she couldn’t go back and close thelibrary doors because Sahira would wonder about that too. Lexi hadto take the chance she could slip into the tunnels without Sahiraknowing.
Standing beside the fireplace, she kept herattention focused on the doors as she pressed one of the rocks. Itpushed in, and something clicked. When the inside of the fireplaceswung open, cool air drifted out from the shadows beyond. Taking adeep breath, Lexi prepared herself for what she was about todo.
Once she crossed this threshold, there was noturning back from her decision, but then, she’d already come toofar to turn around now. She’d already brought the dark fae furtheronto her property, and now she had to care for him.
CHAPTER 16
Lexi picked up the bottle of blue potion and liftedit. Inside, the golden liquid sparked a little as it swished backand forth. From behind the counter, the witch with the cool blueeyes and black hair watched her.
“How much?” Lexi asked about the healingpotion.
The dark fae in the tunnels had healed somesince yesterday, but it wasn’t fast enough for her liking. Sheintended to get him out of her life as soon as possible, and if thewitches’ concoction helped with that, then she would pay for it.Normally, she would have asked Sahira for this, but she couldn’t dothat now.
“Two hundred,” the witch said.
