Through Time-Slamming (16 page)

Everywhere the vegetation was full with fruit and berries and he thought of the Dark Realm, where they had nothing.
They had nothing!
His father had created this Realm for a beast and created the Dark Realm for them. Because he wanted to atone, he created mist and fog and a lifeless dimension and forced them all to inhabit it!

“You did this for a beast!” Pestale said out loud and then gritted his teeth and shook his fists. “You unholy devil! You created this for the Gorka and the
Dark Realm for us
? We had to suffer your regrets and then your shame which you thought should be ours? We suffered through darkness and gray, wanting, and then you found your human, Crystal! You left us to wither while you went off to live your life with her!
You are the devil!
The devil the humans speak of…
is you!”

Bitterness tasted like bile in his mouth.

Fury made his head spin and then he was twirling in circles as his rage took him out of control.

He tore up a whirlwind of vegetation which flew in every direction. All he could think was that the Dark King had always held himself aloof from an ugly world of his own making. He had held himself aloof from the experiments he conducted with life. He created monsters and leaving them to grope about trying to live on nothing. Where was the justice in that? One day, when he was ruler of the Universe he would find a way to kill Crystal and make his father suffer everlasting pain. That was his final goal.

His father had created Gorkum, this lush realm for the last of the beasts, Gorka. It was a veritable paradise. Luscious fruit was in abundance here. He, his brothers, and Morrigu rarely received any fresh fruit, let alone these tropical gems. Then only because Crystal would send it to them when she remembered they had nothing.

He knew that Gorkum had been created while the Dark King was still Queen Bridget’s consort in Danu. He knew from his father’s tales in those early days before Crystal, about the tragedies the Gorka inflicted on the Sluagh sect of the Daoine and on all Fae. That still didn’t excuse him. He could have maintained a brighter, better world for them in the Dark Realm, if he had wanted to.

He knew Queen Bridget had helped his father create this realm with the
Wheel of Being.
The
Dark King had later coveted the
Wheel.
It was the cause of the destruction of Danu. The Dark King wanted what the Queen would not give.

He had delivered the Gorka to this realm as promised, but the female Gorka had not survived the journey or the magic of the pendant. He wasn’t sure.

Suddenly…

A howling screech overhead was heard as he stared into the blue sky. He stood very still.

It was so blue. So very beautiful. So opposite of all the Dark Realm.

And then it came into view, a blot of ghastly shades of brown and red. The spiked featherless flesh dripped with some disgusting drool or fluid. Some might have called it the forefather of the dragon, but Pestale knew what it was—a problem solving beast and thus,
supremely dangerous.

The Gorka. Fantastic to behold with its red eyes zeroed in on its meal, a rabbit the size of a lion.

It held itself in the air, hovering in place with its spiked tail flapping with anticipation of its meal. Before its flapping wings drew in for the dive downwards, head pointed at its goal.

A ray of controlled fire shot out of its dragon like mouth and cooked its meal before taking it in its large talons and flying off.

Pestale stood for a long moment.

This was not the time to capture it, because the dungeon wasn’t large enough to hold it. He would have to construct something larger.

Chapter Fifteen

MORNING CAME WITH a bright light and Jazz blinked against its intrusion. Encased in Trevor’s arms, she gently lifted his hand off of her breast and tried to slip out of bed.

“Where are you going, sweetlife?” he asked in a voice that made her never want to leave his side.

“I thought I would shower and get ready,” she answered. She touched his shoulder first before moving her finger down to his biceps and lovingly traced the pattern of ancient runes. “I like showers better than blinking myself clean.”

“Aye, so do I when you are there with me,” he said. He kissed her ear and added, “But no.”

“No?” she answered.

“Stay here. The only getting ready I want you to do is for me,” he whispered. His golden eyes caressed her face and then traveled over her body with explicit meaning.

She laughed and jumped off and away from the bed. She made it to the shower. As the wonderful many jets of hot streaming water covered her body, she felt his hand travel over her slick flesh. She felt his hard dick pressed against her rump as he bent her over slightly and fondled her breasts. The way he wielded his fingers over her skin turned her mind to mush and her knees were so damn weak.

“You have to teach me what you need from me. I want to know everything there is to know about you,” he whispered softly in her ear. “Like now, I feel your body tremble with need and I want to hear what you need…what, Jazmine Decker.”

“You. I need you now, tomorrow, yesterday, always,” she answered softly unable to hide the desire he wrought out of her.

“I have lived so many years, but now those years I realize were merely existing. This is life with you. Because of you. You make me stronger than I have ever been. I feel warm and hot, and cold and hungry. I feel like I can never get enough of you. I feel that you must be here right at my side, everywhere I go…Jazmine Decker…
I feel so much.”

She turned then to face him and pressed her wet slippery body against his hard one while looking up and into those golden eyes. “Trevor of Lugh, you are the one.”

He grinned like a boy, “Well I better be.”

She laughed, but just as he bent to kiss her they both heard
their Queen’s call,
sharp and persistent in their heads!

Trevor made a rueful face and blinked them both out of the shower. Jazz sighed but there was no choice. Something must be wrong.

A moment later, as Jazz flipped a brush through her long blond hair, she turned to find a leather outfit on the bed.

A dark brown leather jacket, a black and skimpy tank top and matching black leather pants had been neatly laid out. No bra, but a black lace thong lay all by itself. Very sexy.

Trevor said, “you don’t have enough warrior clothes and I had a notion to see you in this.” She was wrapped in a towel and backed away from him saying with a laugh, “The Queen is waiting.”

“Then you best blink it on, before I get that towel off you,” he said in all his naked glory.

She gulped as she could see his hardness already waiting for her. Hurriedly she did in fact, blink on the outfit in total and stepped further away from him. She thought that this Fae thing of blinking clothes on and off was way cool.

~*~

A moment later, hand in hand they stepped into the Queen’s chamber to find Breslyn stomping about and saying they had to act immediately.
His beloved humans
were being tortured and eaten throughout Dublin.

Trevor stood straight and squeezed Jazz’s hand reassuringly. She realized she was shaking at the picture this presented in her mind. This latest news was horrifying. Pestale would not rest. Danté with Z beside him shifted in and announced that he had sent his Lugh warriors to champion the humans in Dublin. He wanted permission to join with them in the battle.

“I know you have other plans for me, Aaibhe,” Breslyn was frustrated. “I need to go in and protect them…”

“No, my prince. The Lugh warriors have this. Pestale may have sent in a variety of Unseelie castes into Dublin, but Danté and his efficient crew will swiftly cut them down.” She waved a hand. “You must realize that Pestale means to draw us out and take our measure. Let us not play his game. Let us defeat him with but a small fraction of what we are and what we can do.”

Breslyn nodded and said, “My Queen, I must do something. Danté and his fighters shouldn’t be allowed to have all the fun.” He winked at his old friend, but it didn’t hide the grimness behind the mischievous look.

“And you
shall
help, very soon. We all shall do a great deal,” she answered. “I have not yet heard from Princess Royce, but I do not believe it will be long before she and Shee Willow will find the
Twalla
. Once we have that, everything will fall into place. In the meantime we must contain them.”

The Queen sighed heavily and suddenly reached out for Radzia who had been biting her bottom lip and looking like an anxious and crazed female. Aaibhe touched her hand. “I see you are very upset. You need to have a clear head. You must not think of those who have passed, but of those you will spare. In this, you must forget your human side. You will fight with Danté, back to back. You and your warriors will finish them off and return here as soon as you are able.”

Radzia nodded and turned to Danté who gently ran a finger over her cheek and then tweaked her black hair. Then without a word Jazz watched them shift off.

Dublin was under a major attack.

She knew that in spite of what the Queen had said that this was awful. Jazz wrapped her mind around it—every single time the Seelie got matters under control, Pestale threw another monkey wrench in just to send them scrambling. She was sure he was trying to hit at their morale, but she knew the Seelie well enough to know
that was not happening!

However, Jazz was on edge. She cast Trevor a worried glance as he put his arm around her shoulders and drew her close.

No one spoke as they waited for the Queen to continue. When she did, her brilliant eyes were alive with determination.

“Pestale has sent in his shifters to Dublin and I will not soften the blow by telling you we have matters completely in hand. We do not. Pestale’s Unseelie army is extensive and ours is not. He has sent in a variety of Unseelie castes to Dublin and some of these abominations, as we have witnessed, feed by eating their prey alive. Others suck the life-force out of their victims, while still others feed on the fluids of their victims. These Unseelie always prefer humans over animals as their source of food.” She eyed Jazz and said steadily, “you will be met with a horrendous vision when you join the battle again. The attack on humans will only get worse and you all need to be prepared for what you will see.”

Jazz knew the Queen was speaking to the human in her just as she had spoken to Radzia. She stood straight and silently nodded that she understood.

Aaibhe looked up at Morgan who put a hand to her back. Her glittering lashes fluttered sadly a moment before she continued. “Many eons ago Queen Mab maintained the equivalent of what humans…” she looked at Jazz. “…would call blueprints of all the castles Fae constructed in Scotland and Ireland. Queen Mab has always been far-sighted, much more so than I.” Aaibhe blinked and a map was laid on the long table she had transported to her private chamber for this meeting.

“We have this drawing of the inner design of Morrigu’s Castle.” She frowned for a moment as memory flitted through her mind and said idly. “Morrigu always loved Scotland. I can’t think why she left to follow the Dark King. I have always put it at infatuation and he was so wrong to allow it and then to discard her when she was no longer welcome in Tir.” She sighed heavily. “Nevertheless, we have this blueprint and it clearly shows us the exterior walls and the original interior, which was left shielded all these thousands of years while she was lost in the Dark Realm.” She eyed Breslyn. “I am certain Pestale has made some changes since they have taken it over. Thus, I have asked Deimne to fly overhead and get a mental picture of the interior as it is now. He will meet with us soon and then we will plan
our
next move.”

Jazz became anxious. “Where…” she bowed her head respectfully, “…my Queen, is Frankie?”

“She is with Nuad’s daughter, Suade training in the Pavilion. I thought it best if she did not hear about the atrocities being committed,” Aaibhe sighed. “Indeed, Breslyn show us what progress Danté has made.”

Breslyn gritted his teeth, waved his hand, and parted the airwaves as though he had installed a large movie screen. A live picture of Dublin was presented.

They watched in abject misery as they witnessed their beloved Dublin under siege by monsters.

Dublin citizens were under attack from nightmares come to life. At first, they were unable to grapple with what they saw coming at them. They were so beyond easy targets Terror gripped students and professors alike at Trinity where monsters stepped out of the atmosphere and began grabbing and taking out their eyes, their hearts, and eating them while others were frozen with fear and disbelief.

And then mass hysteria took over.

As they ran in all directions, people ran out in front of cars and screamed about aliens and monsters. The Unseelie fed with a gluttony that left Jazz unable to look.

But humans are resilient. Some were not willing to just stand there and be killed. As hopeless as it seemed, some took up weapons and quite by accident, one of those weapons was made of iron. Iron bars left at a construction site. The word quickly spread that the monsters had a weakness to iron.

The Lugh warriors grinned to see the humans fight back. When one large human swung hard and took off the head of one of the insect Unseelie, it slumped into its gooey death and a roar of victory went up.

Jazz whooped, but it was short lived. There were just too many Unseelie. The screams of agony, the shouts of terror of those unable to fight back, of babes and innocents being ripped to shreds and eaten was almost too much to bear.

Unable to stop herself she called for her sword, which appeared in her uplifted hand. She was unused to her role as a Fae. She was unused to taking orders from the Queen. She couldn’t wait for permission as she announced hoarsely, “I am for Dublin, my Queen.” She didn’t even wait for Trevor or wonder if he would follow as she shifted out to do her part.

~*~

She stood for a moment taking it all in as around her cars and buses slammed into one another. Unseelie took over the heart of the bustling city. If Pestale wanted chaos, he certainly had achieved that goal and terror reigned.

Brave Garda looking like the swat teams she had seen often enough on TV, were armed and shooting, but bullets didn’t work and the Garda became a part of the causalities.

From above, a helicopter fired round after round at the monsters, while another helicopter with a news crew shot a live video of the onslaught below.

Jazz shifted into the very midst of this and without hesitation,
Slammed
twenty Unseelie to the ground and dove into the fray. Taking off heads with her Death Sword, spearing them as they lay helpless on the concrete, and taking on one after the other like a demon crazed.

She knew the helicopter was overhead and was certain the Queen would not want the humans to see and film her. She enacted the Féth Fiada. Invisible now, they would watch and wonder what was killing the monsters.

No time to think about that as she turned and found a seven foot centipede with the head of a young and lovely human coming at her. She froze for a moment, staring at the innocent face as its many scrambling insect arms reached for her.

It went down suddenly and she saw Trevor with his Death Sword dripping green . She smiled at him, but he wasn’t smiling back. He took her upper arm and brought her in close, his voice a low hard growl, “Do you want me sick with worry? Is that what you want? Do you want me rushing in and unable to fight properly while I search for you?” he shouted at her.

“No Trev, I couldn’t stand by…”

“Don’t ever go off like that again, Jazmine Decker. You owe it to me to speak with me before you rush into battle. I have that much right, do I not?” he said as he shifted his hold to her waist and drew her closer still. Even in the midst of death and destruction, his love was like a halo all around him. He glowed and she felt his love as she said, “Okie dokie.” Now,
let’s do this!”

“Right, but you need to know that Breslyn demanded and received permission to come in with the Dagda Warriors as well, so he will be surrounding the city and moving in with Morgan LeBlanc and his Milesians. We will have them contained so you and me, Jazmine Decker mine, we go back to back. You don’t leave my side. We’ll work the heart of the city while they bring in the rest.”

“Agreed, Trev, agreed.” She stepped away to
fling her sword
into the back of a giant slimy thing. It looked like half Lizard, half human in appearance. The creature dropped where it stood as she called her sword back to her. She saw Trev grin out of the corner of her eye. She suddenly realized that she had somehow turned into a warrior.