AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Then she took a deep breath and raised her arms. Blaine’s heart raced as he watched Erin wield her maenad powers, her movements graceful and confident as she righted the statue, fixed its base, and then turned the faery blood deep into the earth. Before long, the interior of the little glen looked utterly peaceful again, as if nothing had tainted this sacred ground. Blaine was awed by her abilities and found himself more attracted to her than ever before. He realized that, against all odds, he was falling for her.
Erin magically dismantled the shrubbery surrounding the statue and then they returned to the Temple in the wee hours of the morning, grateful to see the crowds had thinned a bit from earlier. Erin pulled Blaine into an alcove along the edge of the main room, a convenient location to monitor action without being pulled into it. Hidden from the watchful eyes of the club’s patrons, Blaine took a deep breath, his heart pounding in his chest, and shared his feelings with her.
He pulled her close and whispered into her ear. “Erin,” he said, his voice barely audible over the din of the club. “I need to tell you something.”
Erin looked at him, her eyes filled with curiosity and concern. “What is it?”
Taking a deep breath, Blaine fixed his gaze on her and declared firmly, “I’m head over heels for you,” his words resonating with the intensity of his feelings.
Erin stared at him, her eyes wide with surprise. For a moment, she was silent, and Blaine felt his heart sink, fearing that he had made a terrible mistake. But then she smiled, her eyes shining with happiness.
“I’ve been falling for you too, Blaine,” she whispered, her voice filled with warmth and affection.
They melted into a passionate kiss, their connection growing stronger with every lingering touch. Blaine’s hands explored her body and ignited the smoldering fire of desire between them. The chaos of the club seemed to fade away, leaving only the two of them intertwined in an intimate embrace.
But their moment of intimacy was short-lived. As they pulled away from one another, the scene shifted, and they were suddenly brought back to the reality of the situation. The club’s noise and energy washed over them, reminding them of the urgent task at hand.
“We did it,” Erin whispered, her voice filled with a mixture of disbelief and pride.
“Yeah,” Blaine agreed, his heart swelling with affection for her. “We really did.”
Their moment of triumph, however, was brief. A figure detached itself from the shadows, and Blaine’s heart leaped into his throat as he recognized one of the fae.
The fae approached them slowly, their eyes filled with curiosity and wariness. Blaine felt a sudden determination to make the situation right and to show that he could be a mayor who could handle even the most extraordinary of circumstances.
“Hello,” Blaine said, stepping forward and extending his hand. “My name is Blaine, and I’m the mayor of this city.”
The fae hesitated for a moment, then reached out to grasp Blaine’s hand, their touch sending a shiver up Blaine’s spine. “I am Althea,” the fae said, their voice melodic and otherworldly.
Blaine nodded, trying to appear calm and collected despite the pounding of his heart. “I’m glad to meet you, Althea. We rarely have visitors like you in our city.”
Althea’s eyes flicked to Erin and back to Blaine. “Yes, I can see that. We were drawn here by a powerful force.” The fae’s gaze lingered on Erin, and he knew she was who the fae was referring to. “It seems your city is becoming more interesting.”
Blaine glanced at Erin, whose tense smile couldn’t have been more forced. “Yes, it is. And we’re doing our best to navigate those changes.”
The fae regarded Blaine for a long moment, their expression unreadable. Then, to Blaine’s surprise, Althea nodded slowly. “Very well, Mayor Blaine. We shall see how your city fares in these strange times. Tell me, what is this place?”
CHAPTER49
NADIR
The city’s shadows cloaked Nadir and her cabal mates, their figures barely distinguishable in the dim light of the crescent moon. The air was ripe with the city’s usual nocturnal scents: a blend of exhaust fumes, fried food from late-night eateries, and the damp earthiness of a recent rain. Somewhere, a dog barked, the echo bouncing off the narrow alleyways. The quartet moved with deliberate precision, a choreographed dance honed by years of experience, their task as grim as the night itself.
Nadir, her daemon-touched senses heightened, focused on the task at hand. Her eyes, sharpened by her daemonic elements, cut through the darkness, scanning their surroundings for any signs of intrusion. In her hands, the lifeless form of the fae felt hauntingly cold, a stark contrast to the warm, vibrant creature it once was. Orias held the other end of the body, shrouding the form in shadows.
The chatter of Azimuth and Kobol served as the backdrop to their grim endeavor, the pair engaging in a morbid debate over the best place to leave the body.
“I’m telling you, Azimuth,” Kobol persisted, his eyes flashing brilliant green in the darkness, “burning is the most efficient way.”
Azimuth snorted, rolling his eyes. “Because nothing saysnothing to see herelike a roaring fae pyre in the middle of the city. We need something commonplace. Something that points away from Erin, her temple, and the god-touched. But not too far away, either.”
“We have to be smart about this,” Kobol said firmly. “I remember the stories of old. The fae won’t care how one of them died, or where.”
Nadir chimed in, a hint of exhaustion lacing her words. “While you two debate on how best to draw attention to ourselves, Orias and I will settle for stashing the body in some dark corner. I’m not even sure why the placement matters that much, as long as it’s in some communal space.”
Azimuth nodded. “If the fae aren’t sure who’s responsible, it’ll delay their response and give us time to come up with a plan to help your friends.”
“I thought you were against us working with the god-touched?” Nadir asked, surprised at his sudden change of heart.
