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“Over there.” I pointed to the stalls where we could borrow a horse and cart. I had no intention of walking all the way to the palace barrows. I was tired from the trip with Iris and felt like I’d never warm up, though compared to the Northlands this storm was a spring breeze.
The woman who was manning the stables gave us the once-over, then broke out in a smile. “Welcome, Otherworld Sisters. You have need of a cart?” Her voice was clipped, and I realized she wasn’t used to speaking English. She must have recently come out of the forests.
There were still enough wild places that some of the Fae remained relatively untouched by society, but that was dwindling and pretty soon I feared there would be a struggle between the FBHs and the Earthside Fae over territory.
Andy Gambit, tabloid reporter for the Seattle Tattler who did his best to make our lives a spectacle, was afraid of those of us from Otherworld, but the fact was, he’d better keep a watch in his own backyard first. We were far less of a threat than the Earthside Fae who had quietly absorbed the shock of deforestation and development for the past hundred and fifty years.
“Thank you.” I accepted the reins to the covered cart. It was a two-seater, with one horse to guide it. As Delilah and I settled ourselves inside, I realized that although the buggy would protect us from the majority of the snow, it wouldn’t do much against the cold. Delightful.
“Do you remember how to drive one of these things?” Delilah glanced at me, then at the horse. “It’s been a while.”
“Not that long.” I paused, testing the reins. Truthfully, it had been a good two years or so since I’d sat behind the reins of a buggy, but I’d spent a hell of a lot more time than that driving one when I lived in Otherworld. And, after one mistake of reaching for the gas pedal, the feel of the leather in my hands came back and I tsked to the horse, keeping a steady hold on the reins.
A thousand acres is a surprisingly large area when you’re cold, and snow is blowing in your face. I blinked against the flakes as they landed on my eyelashes, grateful for waterproof mascara, and guided the horse through the middle of the cobblestone street. The stones were covered with packed snow and ice, and more than once I was actually relieved we were in a buggy and not the car. The Triple Threat seemed averse to shoveling snow, and the horse was now plowing us through a good ten inches of the white stuff. Up here in the Cascade foothills, it snowed more often, and with more depth than in the lowlands or the sea-level cities.
By now, the only visibility came from the silver-dark sky and the lights shining to the sides in barrow houses, where the Earthside Fae—those who had been accepted into Talamh Lonrach Oll as actual inhabitants—lived.
The member rolls were far greater than the inhabitants. So far. What the government would think when they saw how many Fae there really were, was yet to be seen. Although FBHs had accepted—some more reluctantly than others—that they were not the only beings on the planet, I had a feeling they weren’t going to be comfortable when they knew the full extent of just how many Fae there really were in the world. Or vampires. Or Weres. Or Cryptos, for that matter. The fairy-tale stories had opened up and come to life. The monsters had come out from under the bed, and we were among them.
“Would you want to live here?” Delilah asked, gazing at the lights that shimmered by the sides of the road.
I gave her a faint smile. “I don’t think so. I doubt if they’d accept Smoky into their hearts . . . or even Morio. Trillian, maybe—even though he’s a Svartan and they’re actually part of the elven line. And Svartans and elves don’t mix well.”
“Svartans and Fae don’t mix well.” She blushed. “I’m sorry Menolly and I gave you such a hard time about him all these years. Now that we’ve gotten to really know him—”
“You mean, now that you’ve been forced to live with him?”
“That, too.” She ducked her head, grinning. “He’s really a pretty good guy. I still think he’s arrogant as hell, but that’s just his nature. He loves you, he dotes on you, he helps out with the household, and he adores Maggie.”
“Well, thank you for finally noticing.” I reached over and bopped her on the nose.
“Anyway, you were saying?”
“What? Oh, would I want to live here?” I let out a long sigh. “Don’t get me wrong—I think what Titania and Aeval are doing is a good thing. And it is beautiful. The magic sings to me. But it’s cold, Kitten. The magic leaves me cold and feeling alone. Like starlight—it’s brilliant, but it’s so far from anything you can touch or feel that it’s almost . . . empty.”
The horse’s quiet clipping of hooves on snow-covered cobblestones soothed my nerves as we wound our way through the maze of paths and trails. A lot of construction was going on, and it looked like houses and barrow mounds were springing up all over the place.
None of the houses were over a single story, though—and all were cottagelike in structure. No electricity lines crossed through the land, nor would they. I knew that Titania and Aeval had insisted on that—the power to fuel these homes would come from magic, and solar and geothermal energy. From the wind and from sun and from steam.
Eye catchers glimmered along the paths, marking each new street. It seemed odd to see the shimmering lights over here, Earthside, but I had a feeling that more than a little crossover was happening. Otherworld was borrowing some of Earthside’s technology, and the Earthside Fae were latching onto some of the wonders back in Otherworld. It rang odd, like the two worlds were reuniting, in their own way . . . roots long torn apart winding back together again.>I bit my lip. We’d been gone only a few days, but it seemed like a lifetime. “She found Vikkommin. Or rather, what was left of him. Apparently . . . it’s a long story, Delilah, and I don’t feel like talking about it. But she proved . . . she won back her right to have children. She was responsible, but there were extenuating circumstances.”
Delilah let out a long sigh. “She’s powerful, our Iris.”
“More powerful than you know, and the powers they stripped away from her are returning. Everyone thinks of house sprites as cute, winsome little creatures who exist to be cleaning machines, but they’re so very wrong. Iris could probably level the three of us if she were mad enough. I don’t ever want to see her have to use her powers the way she did against Vikkommin. It nearly destroyed her the first time.”
“But she’s free now? To marry Bruce?”
“Yes, and to have children. I’m not sure that will be enough for her, though.” I paused at a red light, then turned onto the freeway entrance, gaining speed as I pushed the car into higher gear. The traffic was light this time of night, and it was cold enough that the snow was sticking to the road. By morning, it would be another solid sheet of black ice. “This weather’s crazy. We need a break. Have they said when it’s going to stop snowing and go back to rain?”
“We’re in an Arctic cold snap—it’s supposed to last another week or two and then gradually warm back up. And what do you mean, you’re not sure that will be enough?” Kitten fidgeted, tugging on the seat belt.
“Something happened out there on the ice fields, and before you ask, no—I don’t know what. But Iris returned, both happy and pensive. Something’s in the works with her. But you know how close-lipped she is. Until she’s ready, she’s not going to dish.”
I sped up, matching the speed of the oncoming cars, and darted left into the next lane, then left again so we’d be away from the upcoming exit-only lanes. As I eased into the speed—we weren’t going that fast, considering the weather—I let out a sigh and relaxed.
“So what about you? Sharah cleared you for combat?”
Delilah grinned. “Yeah, and boy am I ready for it. I hate being on bed rest. But I need to work out. Eight weeks of sitting around the house has turned my body to jelly, and she warned me the first few weeks are going to hurt when I start using my muscles again. She’s had me on some physical therapy, but the muscles are tight and they’re going to pull.” She sobered then. “What do you think happened to Chase?”
