Easy Bake Coven (27 page)

“Are you ready for your first paranormal bar?” Cheney asked with a grin.

“What makes it paranormal?”

“This bar is completely in the Abyss. No humans can see it.” He took my hand and led me to the door. “Just keep your head down, in case someone recognizes you.”

We walked into the rabbit hole. Everything inside was askew. The floor seemed to lean and dip at impossible angles, a gigantic chandelier overhead swayed with the music, and the walls were no more than a series of funhouse mirrors. But the strangest part was the people—tiny winged faeries buzzing around, a section of patrons who looked like children only with cigarettes in their mouths and drinks in hand, a deformed monster group, an attractive, brooding, emo section, and so many more I got disoriented trying to see them all. Cheney pulled me through the room without pausing.

“Not this room; it’s for the tourists.” He winked as he pulled me through a mirror into a stairwell. We followed the stairs down and walked into what could have been a neighborhood bar. None of the noise from upstairs filtered down. The bouncer at the door gave Cheney a once over and nodded, letting us through. The room was dark and music played in the background loud enough to prevent conversations from carrying but not so loud you couldn’t have them. Cheney and I made our way to the bar. He ordered our drinks as I looked around the room with curiosity.

It was pretty empty. In one booth sat four pale, eerily pretty people who moved with an unnatural grace. In another booth, two elves with bronze colored skin watched Cheney with interest. A pretty woman with white hair and eyes and blue skin sat reading a book, and tucked away in a back corner booth was the most attractive man I had ever seen. My heart belonged to Cheney, but my eyes had a mind of their own. He had a face that could have made Michelangelo weep, rippling muscles that couldn’t be hidden under clothes, and an expression that was both bored and predatory—and he looked human. He met my eyes for a moment, then looked away in utter indifference.

Cheney handed me my drink, nodding toward the first booth. “Vampires,” he said. I could’ve guessed that. “Desert elves,” he said, giving them a nod. “And a deva—they’re rare.”

“Who’s that?” I asked and nodded toward the man in the back.

“He’s the other half to the person we came to see and coincidentally why I wanted you to come with me.”

“Holden?” I forgot to tell him what Olivia said about Holden being there too. “I don’t think I’m his type,” I said dryly.

Cheney smiled. “You’re not. If the rumors are true, he only has eyes for one. You’re here so he knows I’m not interested in
her
,” Cheney said, nodding toward the woman who just walked into the room.

She was medium height with reddish brown hair that softly waved around her shoulders. Her face was pretty enough, but her truly striking features were her clear blue-green eyes. As she walked toward the stony man with a vibrant smile, something about him changed. All the bored indifference melted away, and he returned her smile, making him even more handsome than he had been moments earlier. She took his hand and kissed his cheek, and the most amazing thing happened. Her skin literally glowed. It was as if she had swallowed the moon and couldn’t keep the light from pouring out of her.

“Shall we?” Cheney asked, taking my hand. The closer we came to their booth, the more nervous I became. They already appeared to be in deep conversation though neither of them spoke, and the last thing I thought we should do was disturb them. However, Cheney had no such qualms.

“Hello, I’m Cheney, prince of the hunt. I’ve been meaning to introduce myself to the two of you for some time,” he said, extending his hand to each of them. “And I believe you have spoken with Selene.”

Olivia smiled and shook his hand. “Yes. I’m Olivia. It’s nice to meet you.” The man shook Cheney’s hand but made no comment or introduction. “This is Holden. It’s nice to see you in person, Selene. Please have a seat.”

“I’m sorry,” I said immediately, holding my hand out to her. “It’s very nice to meet you, too.”

Her eyes glazed over as our skin connected. “So many emotions,” she said before she blinked away the faraway look. Releasing my hand, she smiled sheepishly. “Sorry about that. Drawback of the job.” Holden took her other hand, giving us both a look that made me want to turn around and walk in the other direction.

Olivia rolled her eyes good-naturedly and elbowed Holden. “Try to be nice.” He curled his lip slightly but stopped looking at Cheney like he might do bodily harm. “You know what? This might go faster if I talk to Selene alone.”

Cheney began to protest, but Holden interrupted him with a dismissive wave of his hand and stood up. “It’s no use. Her mind’s made up. Prince or not, no one changes her mind.”

Cheney sighed. “Her too.”

Holden’s mouth ticked to the side. The two men took seats at the bar, keeping a stool between them. I sat across from Olivia.

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to make you nervous.” The light that made her skin glow retracted until it disappeared, and she looked just like a normal human.

“Don’t worry. This is all new to me. Everything makes me nervous,” I said with a laugh. “I hope this doesn’t sound weird, but your light was lovely.” I felt my cheeks coloring. Sometimes I wished I could think then speak.

Olivia folded her hands on top of the table. “Thank you. It puts some people on edge. So what brings you here today?”

I looked over at Cheney, wishing he was beside me. “We need your help. I don’t know that I’ve fully grasped the situation—Cheney would be better at explaining it than me.”

“Yes, I’ll speak with him soon. I owe Sy and Femi more than I can probably ever repay them. Femi doesn’t just hand out my number to anyone. She obviously thinks I can help you. So why are
you
here?”

I shifted uncomfortably. “Well, Cheney wanted to see you, and I happened to have your number so I called. But I think he only brought me because Holden’s very protective.”

Again she laughed. “That’s true.” Her eyes twinkled when she glanced back in his direction. “I guess I should just come right out and ask my question rather than hinting around the subject. Did you come here for my guidance?”

“No,” I said honestly, “but I’ll take all the help I can get at this point.”

“You have very contradictory feeling surrounding you,” Olivia said, looking through me, which should have been unsettling except she did it with such a natural grace it seemed perfectly normal. “Honestly, I don’t know that I understand them. You’ll have to explain the situation.”

“I’ll try.” I took a deep breath and dived into the story of the last month of my life. There was something very open and comforting about Olivia. She was easy to talk to. She seemed to draw the words from me with her kind, wise eyes. I had the impression that we could become very good friends someday, when the world was less crazy. When I finished my story, she nodded.

“Fate can be such a bitch sometimes.”

That was the wise and knowing advice she was going to give me?

 Her shoulders started shaking, her eyes crinkled, and her lips twitched. A bark of laughter escaped her, and she covered her mouth with a hand, losing all control. I should’ve been offended. My story wasn’t funny, but instead I laughed too. It was ridiculous. Tears flowed down my face and I gasped for breath. It felt wonderful. Olivia pulled herself together faster than I could.

“I’m so sorry. I just never thought I’d meet someone who could give my own story a run for its money. I offered you guidance, so here it goes.” She rolled her shoulders back. “The path you should take is not clear to me. So far you have managed to keep the two distinct pieces of yourself separate, and so long as they’re separate you cannot make a wrong decision. One path would honor your commitment to your human self and the other would honor the elf. No matter what anyone tells you, you can fight who you are for as long as you like, so whichever half you choose will ultimately win the battle.”

“Which half should I choose?”

“What do you want to accomplish?”

 “I want to be with Cheney and to have my human friends and life. I want people to stop trying to kill me.”

“Ah, the simple things,” she said with an amused glint in her eyes. “If you could accept both halves and become whole, you’d perhaps become powerful enough to accomplish most of those goals.”

“Is that what you would do?”

Olivia sighed, glancing back towards Holden. “Honestly, I would’ve chosen the elf half if I were in your shoes. Love is something I could never resist. But do not judge by that. I see the right decisions for others far more clearly than I have ever seen them for myself.”

“What’s your story? How did you end up with Holden? And what is he, by the way? He looks human, but I know that can’t be correct.”

A small smile lit up her face and light seeped through again. “Holden is a free jinni. We were never supposed to be together, but we are stronger than natural order.” Holden looked back at her from the counter with his own small private smile. “That, however, is a story for another time. I promise someday I’ll share our tale with you. Should we bring the men back?” Holden was already on his way, with Cheney closely behind him.

Cheney raised an eyebrow as he sat and I smiled. “I trust the two of you had a nice conversation?”

“Very pleasant. Now how may we be of assistance to you?” Olivia asked.

“You know of the movement against my father’s rule?”

Olivia shook her head, but Holden nodded.

“There’s a group of half-elves and others of mixed heritage rising up against his father. Revolution seems to be in the air these days,” Holden explained to her.

“My father has many rules and policies that are outdated and unfair. However, the rebels are not the answer. They’ve already demonstrated themselves to be cruel and oppressive. They would rule by terror and bloodshed—it’s not the way of the fae.”

“Perhaps it
was not
the way of the fae,” Holden said, his face expressionless.

Cheney frowned. “It will never be the way of my people so long as I take breath.”

“Do you share your father’s prejudice against humans?” Holden asked him.

Cheney closed his eyes for a moment. “Not at all. I like humans very much.” His eyes flickered to me. “I do not blame their human halves for their actions. There are full elves of questionable character, just as there are humans of exceptional character.”

“So you are asking us to side with your father because he is the lesser of two evils?” Olivia asked gently.

“No. I trust I can depend on your discretion in this matter?” They both nodded. “You have not overestimated my father’s prejudice against anyone who is not an elf. Selene, as you know, is a half-elf. She is also my wife. I plan to make the announcement in his court, and he will strip me of my title.” He took my hand. “If it would end at that, I could walk away, but he has placed a bounty on her and refused to withdraw it. I intend to make a stand against him. I ask you to support me.”

Olivia leaned back and Holden did not move. All of this couldn’t have been too shocking to Olivia, as I had told her some of it while I was recapping my month. Holden’s face was as unfathomable as ever.

“No,” Holden said.

“We’ll do it,” Olivia blurted out.

“Liv, it’s not our fight,” Holden said, but his voice had softened considerably.

“It wasn’t long ago that we were exactly where they are.”

“This isn’t our problem.”

Olivia sighed. “Our world is changing. The guardians are being rebuilt from the ground up, and many other races are following our example. Someday, in the not so distant future, I’d like a council of all the races to take over leadership of the Abyss.”

Holden took her hand and kissed the back of it. “Exactly. You have too much going on already. We cannot make someone else’s problem ours.” He raised his eyebrows. “We could also make their situation worse.”

“You mean Hell?” He nodded and she sighed. “I hate it when you’re right.” She looked at me. “I’m sorry. I’ll help you however I can, but if I become actively involved, forces greater than what you’re already dealing with will take an interest.”

My heart sank, but Cheney nodded. “I understand. That’s an honorable idea, but you’ll meet resistance. The races like their autonomy. However, perhaps uniting as one will end the petty wars and injustices.” He pressed his lips together, then finally nodded. “And when the time comes, I’ll stand with you whether or not you stand with me. It would be the best for my people.”

“I’ll ask around and see what I can find out about this rebel group,” Holden said, shaking his head at Olivia which only made her smile grow.

“Let us know how we can help.”

“Thank you,” Cheney said, sliding out of the booth.

I awkwardly hugged Olivia across the table. “Thank you.”

“I’m sure I’ll see you soon, Selene.” She hugged me back. “If you ever want to talk, please call me.”

Holden gave me a slight smile as Cheney helped me out of the booth, and we wove our way out of the club. They may not have joined the cause, but we had two allies.

“That went well,” I said once we were outside.

“Much better than expected.” Cheney put an arm over my shoulders and squeezed. “What were the two of you talking about for so long?”

“She gave me advice.”

Cheney weighed his words. “I’m sure the advice she gave you is well meaning, but guardians guide humans, not elves. Keep in mind her advice may be a bit one-sided.”

“You think you’re so smart, don’t you? She didn’t try to influence me one way or another. In fact, she said if it were her, she’d have probably chosen the elf side. Perhaps guardians could offer elves guidance if elves weren’t too proud to take it.”

Cheney looked properly shamed. “That wasn’t fair of me. What advice did she give you?”

“She suggested I embrace both sides.”

Cheney and I walked quietly, holding hands. “You’ve always struggled against yourself. If you could find a way to make peace, I think you would be better off, too. She gives good advice.”

I knew he was right. She had. The problem was, how was I supposed to do that?