Through Time-Pursuit (2 page)

Dedication

To my Street Team for everything they do!

Revenge is a fervor in our own blood,

to be cured only by letting the blood of another

—Charles Caleb Colton,
Lacon

~ Prologue ~

Chancemont LeBlanc

Present day

ALL AT ONCE—he was on her! The Dark Prince Pestale had the Death Sword across her throat, and if her brother moved another step toward her, it would only end in getting her killed.

Chancemont LeBlanc stood rigid and filled with fear for his young sibling, Lana.

And then, right before his eyes, the Dark Prince, grinning all the while, slit young, sweet Lana’s throat, and she was forever lost to them.

Thunder rolled through his body then—rolled through it still. His sword vibrated in his hands, feeling his need.

He wanted blood, the Dark Prince’s blood,
and he wanted it more than he had ever wanted anything else in his life.

Fury took over his despair and buried the pain of grief with the hope that he would soon have the Dark Prince in his grip and torture him before he put an end to the Dark Fae’s miserable existence. Sorrow—deep, haunting sorrow—filtered through to his heart and blinded him with the all-consuming need to avenge his young sister’s death. Guilt shouted out his faults and blamed him for her death
—but guilt was a waste of time
. He replaced that guilt with purpose and became centered in his goals.

Find Pestale, capture Pestale
,
and drag him to Dravo, where he and his father could inflict pain and punishment on him before putting him out for the buzzards to feed upon.

Thoughts of his father off alone and mourning in silence made him cringe. His father would never get over this loss. He was the Milesian leader, Morgan LeBlanc, a big man that his people on Dravo relied upon.

His da—who he could have passed as his brother, so young was he in appearance—was lost to drink and self-inflicted solitude. Who could blame him?

His da, who had always been a force in Chance’s life, was broken by this final loss. And rage filled Chance as he made his plans. Milesians were an immortal race—not born that way, but created by the dust from the Fae World of Danu when that world was destroyed. The dust had come through the portal that brought the Fae to the Human Realm.

Now, their joint loss of Lana would hurt them through eternity.

She was the only daughter, a reminder of the great love his father had for Chance’s mother, lost so long ago. Sweet Lana, his bright-eyed baby sister who had not yet reached maturity, with her entire immortal life ahead of her
—
until Pestale
.

Revenge
? Someone once told him revenge could be sweet. He wasn’t certain that was true, but he shouted to the winds, “Revenge canna bring back her laughing eyes, or her dear voice …” His own voice trailed off, because he needed revenge, for without it—without revenge—he could not attain justice. To Chance the two walked a straight and parallel line.

His father had stopped drinking when he realized what Chance was going to do. He had grabbed him by his shoulders and shook him. “Do ye think I can lose another? Doona go, Chance …”

“Da, he must not be allowed to live.”

“Chance, me own best hope … doona go …”

It had nearly stayed him, the distress on his father’s face, but the need to avenge his sister’s murder was greater. “I must, Da, ye know that.”

His father had sighed with acceptance and had talked to him for hours. He told him to be cool-headed in his pursuit. He said with tears in his eyes that revenge and justice were two different things.

Are they?
Chance asked the sky, “Are they different? I doona have the answer to that, but I do have my immortal skills, m’magic, and my Death Sword. It will take all those things to find the devil, and to lay hands on him. He is a Dark Fae Prince, the eldest of his brothers—the most cunning of them all,
and I will have his blood
,” he vowed to the heavens and himself.

Two days had passed since they had lost Lana to Pestale’s death weapon. Two days since they fought beside the Seelie Fae to bring down Gaiscioch and the Dark monsters. Two days, and Pestale remained alive.

Chance’s thoughts were violent as he spoke to Pestale as though he were there. “
There is nowhere ye can outrun me
. I will track ye to the ends of the earth, and beyond if necessary. I have shouted it to the heavens
, I am Chancemont LeBlanc,
and I shall have yer filthy Dark Fae blood!
”

Young Seelie Prince Trevor had joined him in this mission, and they would soon make tracks. He couldn’t deny the Seelie Fae his place with him, because of Lana’s memory. How he had objected to her little romance with the Fae prince, in no small part because Trevor was the younger brother of Prince Dante. Chance and Dante had fought on opposite sides of the war thousands of years ago, and though Fae and Milesians were no longer enemies and had in fact joined forces recently against the Dark Fae, Chance held no love for his former foe and no wish to see his sister falling for a member of the Royal House of Lugh, Dante’s brother no less! Now he wished she were with him … flirting up the lad once again.
Och,
but he could hear her laugh …

He berated himself. If only he had kept Lana on Dravo … in chains—it would have taken chains to keep her from the fight, for she had been too headstrong to listen. He should have foreseen this; he should have spelled her home.

The war with Gaiscioch was over. The Human Realm was safe for the time being. The two remaining Dark Princes had been returned to the Dark Realm, where they would forever remain imprisoned with Queen Morrigu.

Gaiscioch was dead—his evil but a recent memory—but Pestale had escaped and was somewhere in the Human Realm.

It rode him hard and drew blood that Pestale was free! Chancemont’s determination went beyond purpose, beyond thought, and took him to a place where all he knew was his need for justice.

So then, Chance had become a hunter.

He would capture the evil prince, and he would make his demands before he put him out of his misery—for he would keep him there, begging for death until he said Lana’s name.

And so it began.

~ One ~

Princess Royce of the House of Nimrough

“ROYCE!”

“Trevor!” She turned and tried smiling in spite of what she knew she was about to face on the other side of the door she had her hand raised to. Trevor was one of her closest friends. “What are you doing?”

“Long story—but I guess you know about … about Lana,” he said grimly.

“My brother told me, and I am so sorry …” She watched as his jaw stiffened and his face suddenly looked older. He must have fallen hard for Lana LeBlanc.

She reached out and petted his arm but said no more. She didn’t think he needed words. He gave her a crooked smile and sighed heavily. “I am off to meet with Chance, and then we will find the devil …”

“Yes, Trev, but I heard that he is the oldest of the Dark Princes and very cunning—
you watch your back
,” she cautioned, recalling an incident where he had been braver than he had been wise. She touched his face. “Trev … he can move in and kill you with the same sword he used on—” She didn’t want to say the name and see the pain in his eyes and quickly changed her warning. “He is ruthless, and you are not.”

“He may be cunning and ruthless, but I am a Seelie Prince of the House of Lugh. Danté taught me everything I need to know, and what he didn’t teach me, Breslyn did. You can rest assured that I am totally equipped as a Tracker and a warrior,” he said with a superior tone.

This pronouncement made Princess Royce laugh. “You are pretty darn proud of yourself,” she said affectionately and was pleased to see him crack a genuine smile.

“Sounded pompous, huh?”

She made a show with her thumb and forefinger. “Just a little … but I know if anyone can do it, Trev, you can.”

He patted her on the shoulder. “Thanks and good luck, yourself.” He indicated Queen Aaibhe’s chamber with his chin. “I heard you’ve been called on the carpet again, for your
wayward ways
.” he smiled and shook his head. “You know, she once sent Breslyn into the middle of the ocean floor and took away all his powers …” His eyes teased, and he flicked a long tress of bright red hair before her eyes.

She pushed her hair out of her face and touched him, for she was genuinely worried this time. She knew he would not totally understand; Trevor did not care for humans. However, he would sympathize with her all the same. Instead, he released a bark of laughter.

“Don’t worry—she probably goes easier on her princesses.”

“Not this time …” Royce sighed. “I didn’t just bend the rules, Trev—I exploded them.”

“I heard,” he said softly and then added as he twirled another strand of her long hair and flung it across her nose, “It’s okay, Red—you couldn’t help it. Don’t know why these humans draw you in so completely, but she knows your state of mind is compassionate and as wild as your fiery disposition, so don’t worry, she won’t banish you.”

He smiled and shifted off, and Royce took a long drag of air and blew it out slowly. She entered the queen’s chambers, and
there she was
—Aaibhe, Queen of the Seelie Fae.

The queen held her fingers pyramided, and she looked to Royce like she was … what? Royce couldn’t tell. She tried to see what those brilliant, iridescent eyes held—controlled fury? No—was it disappointment
? No
 … ah,
determination
. The queen had most certainly made up her mind to handle the situation differently than she had in the past.
Uh oh—trouble
,
Royce thought as she closed and then reopened her eyes. At least she’d remembered to change her jeans and tee for a pretty blue silk dress and had blinked her hair into a thin gold band that held up the long strands on the top of her head in the style she knew the queen preferred.

The queen smiled softly, patted the chair next to her own, and said softly, “Sit, my Princess, and do not hesitate—
explain yourself
.”

“My Queen,” Royce started to say as she sat. “First, allow me to point out that the child wasn’t dying. Hence, it wasn’t as though I was bringing him back to life …” The words she had just blurted sounded absurd even to her, but it was the truth, at least as she saw matters. She immediately observed the queen’s reaction and stopped any other words that wanted to tumble from her lips. Instead, she folded her hands together in her lap and tried again, more calmly. “What I am trying to say, Queen Aaibhe is this: I did not really infringe on the path of destiny … and even if I did a little, it was totally necessary because he would not have been in that awful and unacceptable situation—well, it was in essence, our fault, wasn’t it … I mean …”

“
Our fault?
”
The Queen of the Seelie Fae raised her lovely brow and interrupted. “How so?”

“The Dark Fae escaped because we couldn’t stop them from doing so. One of those sinister monsters chased young David, reached for him, and the child stepped backwards into the street. He was hit by a car and would have been paralyzed for the rest of his life. Our fault.”

“I see,” Aaibhe said so softly Royce almost couldn’t hear her, and then she asked, “So then, my Princess, do we make it our business to round up any humans that survived an attack by the Dark Fae but are in critical condition and heal them? Is that what you are suggesting?”

“No, I know that is not possible, although I wish it were. I know we can’t reveal ourselves to the general population, but in this case I was right there! I saw it happen, and before I could do anything to stop it …” She shook her head. “David and his family are friends of mine, and I have a great affection for them … and … I … I couldn’t …”

“You were there because you were involved with a human family—and overly involved and attached to this child. It put you in a precarious situation. You lent your aid without permission, you risked exposing yourself and
us
to humans, for what? So that you could heal the boy. I am not without compassion, my dear. I do understand. I do see it all very clearly. The question is
do you
?” Aaibhe said grimly.

“I am their friend—they don’t know that I am a Fae … let alone a Fae princess. They didn’t know that David’s injuries were serious. I healed him before they knew anything. They simply did not realize anything untoward had occurred.”

“Let me understand your point of view. Are you saying that when we happen to be on the spot … and
a favored human
is injured, we may heal them without taking precautions or worrying about the repercussions?”

“No … that is not what I am saying.” Royce pleaded with her eyes and hoped her queen would understand. “These were extraordinary circumstances. The Dark Fae
were
our responsibility, and they escaped because
we didn’t
keep them contained. They were loose—killing and maiming—and David was there, right before my eyes, and he would have been crippled all his little life and …”

“And as I have said, I quite understand—do not think I don’t—but what I want to know, because I am your queen and must discern your reasoning, is did you give some thought to what it would mean to the future if you healed him?”

“I … no, there wasn’t time.” Royce hung her head and then raised it. “Besides, we can never be sure what is destined and what is not. Perhaps there was a reason I just happened to be there when this took place … perhaps I was meant to heal him?”

“You have this all worked out then, have you?” the queen said with a cluck of her tongue. Then with pursed lips she took Royce’s chin in her hand and made her look into her eyes once more.

“I … didn’t think about anything else. He is a child, and I care for him …” Royce pleaded.

“Of course you did, and I do believe you know that when you broke our rules, rules that were put in place after great consideration and necessity, you walked the edge of danger with regards to the workings of our beliefs. We Fae understand that tampering with the fates is a serious act.” Aaibhe clucked briefly and then added, “Your parents are concerned about your obsession with humans, and unlike Prince Breslyn, you don’t have the maturity and experience to deal with the intricacies of ‘breaking the rules’.”

“My Queen …” she started. “His fate should not have been determined by the Dark Fae.”

Aaibhe put up a hand and halted her from speaking. “I have asked you to sit in on Council meetings with Aida and Ete as your guides … do you not care for them?”

“I adore them. They are like older, wiser sisters … well, Ete is. Aida is just so much fun …”

“And still you do not attend the meetings,” the queen said, clearly reproving her. “What am I going to do with you? You need to mature, Royce. You need to take your place on the Council.”

“The Council meetings are so boring, and I am not interested in politics.” She sighed and studied a work of art across the room.

“Duty sometimes is boring but nevertheless necessary.” The queen waved off any answer her princess might give, and it was clear that she was becoming impatient with her. “So, because the Trackers and our Royal Houses are overtaxed rounding up the stray Dark Fae in Ireland and Scotland … and even England—”

“Yes, my brother said some have escaped to England, and he went after them this morning,” she stuck in, hoping to show that she was in fact concerned about the situation.

“Indeed, and we are even working with the Milesians, one in particular, Chancemont LeBlanc.” The queen inclined her lovely head. “I know that you have heard something of
that
tragic story.”

“Yes, Trevor has just left me to join the Milesian in the effort of tracking and capturing Pestale.”

“Precisely, my Princess.” The queen rose from her seat and took a turn in place. Royce watched her with dread.
Here it comes
, she thought.

“As it happens, Princess Royce, I have decided to make you a part of
their team
. You have specific and extraordinary abilities that they might find useful.”

“
Me
—my punishment is to team with Trevor?” Now this was beyond wonderful, Royce thought, almost clasping her hands together.
Is this what she calls punishment?

The queen’s iridescent eyes narrowed, and one delicate brow rose. “Do not think you have gotten away with your misbehavior. Indeed, little one, I am putting you in grave danger. It is time you stopped playing mother to these humans and began the business of being who you are—a Seelie Fae princess.” She waved off Royce’s objection and silenced her with a glare. “This is a mission that you must execute with purpose and determination. It is time you wake up and realize your duty to your own kind. I need you to open your lovely eyes and recognize what is important in the large scope of things.” The queen sighed and then added, “This will not be easy, child. Chancemont will not want you to accompany them, and he will not welcome you. If you wish to carry out your Queen’s orders, you will have to prove yourself to him, and I expect that you will find a way to do so.”

Royce was so relieved that the queen was not relegating her to the middle of a mountain without power to get out—she had heard enough stories to worry about this—that she almost jumped up and hugged Queen Aaibhe. However, she checked herself and bowed her head. “Yes, my Queen … I will do as you ask.”