Clash of the Otherworlds: Book 1, After the Fall (4 page)

"What's the big sigh for?" asked the fae to my right.  I looked over and saw a werewolf sitting next to me.  I assumed that's what he was because he was totally built and had very hairy arms; plus, he was sitting next to a guy I knew to be a Light Fae werewolf.

I shrugged.  "Just thinking about how much work it is to be on the council."

"Eh, it's no big deal, really.  You just talk to your people and bring their ideas and decisions to the table with you."

"What do you do now, though?  Now that you have two werewolf members at the table, I mean?"

He smiled.  "Well, in theory we're supposed to be all the same people.  But some of our brothers and sisters aren't quite ready to do the group-hug thing, so we're still talking to people individually - he to his and me to mine.  Then we have a quick meeting together before we come here to get on the same page."

I smiled back.  "Naughy, naughty.  We're all supposed to be on the same team now."

"Yeah, I know.  It'll happen eventually."  He held out his hand.  "My name's Aidan by the way.  Nice to meet you, Jayne."

"You already know me, I guess."  I gave him a half-hearted smile.  "Exactly how much of my reputation has preceded me?"

He laughed.  "I'd have to be living under a rock not to know who you are at this point.  But that's a good thing, don't let it get you nervous.  I've only heard good things, so no pressure."

"Yeah, right."  I rolled my eyes.

"Want to hear a story that will make you feel better?" he said, whispering conspiratorially.

"Sure," I whispered back, leaning closer to him.

"My first council meeting?  I got so freaked out, I shifted," he rapped his knuckles on the wood table, "right there at my seat."  He chuckled, looking at me for my reaction.

"You shifted?  What do you mean?  I don't get it."

"I shifted.  I changed.  You know ... I went from man to wolf?"

"Oh.  Damn.  That sounds scary, actually.  Did you eat anyone?"

"Eat anyone?  No.  And not scary; more like humiliating.  Not only did I lose my pants, but there I was, showing everyone I was supposed to be impressing that I had the control of a two-year-old."  He shook his head at the memory.  "I still haven't lived that one down."

"Well, that's one way to liven up a meeting, I guess."

"I'm good for that.  You'll see."  He winked at me, promising future mischief.

I liked him already.  Anyone who managed colossal screw-ups at council meetings had to be someone I could hang with, even if he was Dark Fae.

Ben came to the seat on my other side, just as the meeting was starting, nodding at Aidan.  "Hey, Shifty.  How's it hangin?" he asked, smirking and pulling his cloak out from under him as he sat down.

"See?  What'd I tell ya?" said Aidan, winking at me before shooting scowls in Ben's direction.

I couldn't help but giggle.  I was reading all kinds of things into Ben's greeting which was probably what I was supposed to be doing, but it felt bad to be doing it in a place we were supposed to be so serious and mature.

I tried to get my mind off Aidan's missing pants by examining the group around the table.  Maléna and Dardennes sat at the head of the table, Céline at Dardennes' right.  I recognized all the Light Fae council members, but knew only a couple of the Dark Fae.  They had two green elves, which we had none of here.  Otherwise, we were pretty evenly-represented.  It was curious to me that there were no gray elves here, though, Light or Dark.

"Thank you, council members, for gathering here today.  On behalf of the Light and Dark Fae, Maléna and I welcome you."

Maléna the silver elf nodded her head, gesturing for Dardennes to continue.  They had once been an item, when Dardennes was Dark Fae, before he got booted out and sent over to the Light Fae.

"We've asked you here for several reasons.  First, to move forward with our plans to integrate the fae here in the compound; and second, to discuss the current status of the situation which brought us together in the first place."  He looked over at Ben and me, making me squirm under the attention.

Ben was much cooler than I was.  He nodded his head, looking first at the silver elves at the head of the table and then at all the other faces around us.  I was feeling wimpy at the moment, though, so focused on him instead of the strangers.  Ben never looked at me, but he reached under the table and found my hand, squeezing it.  I returned the gesture for a second and then pulled my hand away, lacing my fingers together in my lap.  I didn't want anyone to get the impression that I needed to hold onto him to feel confident, even if it might be true at this particular moment.

"The rooming situation seems to be well in hand.  Everyone here is empowered to settle any disputes that arise, but please feel free to come to Maléna or myself if you feel as though our intervention is required."

Maléna spoke next.  "Is there anything that needs our attention now in this regard?"

A dwarf raised his hand.  "We've had some problems in our section."

"What kind of problems?" she asked.

"Some axes got away from a few hands.  Some facial hair was removed."

A few fae gasped.  I looked around, trying to figure out what that meant. 
Is it code for cutting someone's face off or something?

"That is serious," said Dardennes.  "How do you recommend we move forward?"

"We've already taken the wrongdoers into custody.  They're spending some time in the lower levels, ruminating on their transgressions.  And we've given the standard punishment - eye for an eye."

Aidan winced, whispering, "Harsh," under his breath.

I wished I had pen and paper.  I needed to write a list of all the questions I would have for later.  First on that list would be: 
What's the big deal with facial hair and do they actually take eyeballs as punishment? 
I knew the expression, but Aidan's response and similar ones from the others caused me to question whether it might be a literal thing with these fae.

"Sounds as if you have matters taken care of," said Dardennes, visibly relaxing.

"Yes.  But it bears keeping in mind that some will need to be reminded of our common goals and the consequences for not following the edicts of our combined council."

"Well-said," added Niles, nodding his head in respect.  The dwarf speaking smoothed his beard down onto his chest and made a small bow in Niles' direction.

It looked to me as if the guy had everything he needed to keep the Light Fae dwarves in line, because if Niles were on his side, the rest of them would be.  He was the hardest hard-ass of them all.

"Moving on then, to probably more pressing matters," said Dardennes, signaling for Maléna to take over.

"Yes.  Regarding the matter brought to our attention by the Overworld creature, Chase ... our first order of business must be to find the breach where the Underworld creatures are entering our realm."

"He's not a creature," I burst out, unable to stay silent about it like I probably should have.

Maléna narrowed her eyes at me.  "He most certainly is."

My nostrils flared in contained anger.  "No, he is not.  He's an angel.  There's a difference."

"Not to us, there isn't," she said, staring me down.  "Any being who is not from here, who does not
belong
here, is a
creature
by definition."

I didn't want to argue with her and seem like a petulant child in the middle of the meeting, so I just shot my thoughts really hard in her direction. 
He's not a creature, you stupid bitch.  He's a guardian angel and nothing you say will change that!

"I'd keep that comment to myself if I were you
," said a girl's voice in my head.

I screwed up my brows in confusion, rolling my eyes up into my brain, as if I'd be able to find the answers to my questions up there. 
Did I just think that to myself?

"No, you did not.  But please, stop making that face. Everyone's going to think you're missing a screw."

You mean, they'll think I have a screw loose
, I corrected.

"Loose ... missing ... same thing.  Stop it.  Seriously.  You look like a lunatic."

I schooled my features to seem normal again, acting as if I were shrugging off Maléna's insults.  Her voice faded into the background as I continued my internal conversation.

Who are you?

"A friend.  Just pay attention to what she's saying. It's important."

And then the voice disappeared.  I searched the faces of those around me but couldn't tell who was talking in my head; and whoever it was, she refused to respond to any more of my questions.  Maléna's voice came back into focus.

"It's obviously somewhere in the Green Forest, within the trees.  Orcs have been sighted near both compounds.  We were informed by Céline that a demon was present in Florida at the home of Jayne."  She barely glanced at me before continuing.  "There is apparently a plot of some sort to impregnate Jayne to spawn some sort of
creature
with the power to bring about the end of our world."  She stared at me, her chin lifted ever-so-slightly, daring me to contradict her about the creature thing, I guess.  

But I was in total agreement with her on this one.  Any child conceived with a beast like the one that killed my mother and tried to steal my virginity would definitely qualify as a creature in my book.

"Does anyone else know of this legend or foretelling?" asked one of the witches.

"We have heard nothing of it," said Red, the Light Fae witch I knew from our council.  He was the one who had nominated me to be here, wearing this cloak.  Part of me hated him for that, while the other part couldn't help but have a soft spot for the old geezer.  He tried so hard to stay annoyed with me, it was almost entertaining.  He made it look so easy.

"Has anyone talked to the old witch of the wood?" asked Aidan.

"She won't speak with us," said Celeste, another witch from the Light Fae council.

"They're talking about Maggie,"
said the voice in my head.

Oh, so you're back.  Who are you?

The voice sighed. 
"You could go talk to Maggie.  She likes you.  Not so much with these other fae."

"Are you guys talking about Maggie?" I asked no one in particular.

"Yes, we are," said Maléna.  "What do you know of her?"

"She and I go way back," I said, laughing to myself about the irony of that statement.  This wasn't one of those figurative things, since she really was an ancestor of my mother's.  "I could talk to her if you want."

Maléna looked to Dardennes who nodded.  She turned back to me and said, "Yes.  It's worth it to try at least.  What's the worst that could happen, right?"  She smiled, but there was no warmth there, almost as if she were hoping Maggie would unleash on me.

"Well, she could turn me into a toad.  Spell me to throw myself into a fire.  Root my feet into the ground, making me stand in the forest until I starved to death."

Maléna just smiled, lifting an eyebrow briefly before continuing.  "Anton, please let her know what exactly she should be discussing with the witch.  I don't want her going off-plan and revealing things she shouldn't."

I tried not to let Maléna's tone or words make me feel small and stupid, but it was difficult.  But then Ben's hand touched mine, and a shot of heat came through and rushed into my chest, making me feel strong and ... fiery.  A quick glance in his direction told me he'd pulled some of his Fire element into himself and shared it with me.  His cloak was glowing a little with it.  I wondered if he even knew.

"I think we need to have a rule at the meetings," said a green elf at the end of the table.  "No bringing Elements into the room."

I felt like I'd been caught being bad or breaking the rules.  I looked guiltily over at Dardennes and Céline, ready to apologize and swear I'd never let it happen again.  It hadn't even been
me
doing it, but it just as easily could have been; I didn't have the best control in the world.

Ben startled me by speaking first, and loudly.  "Neither you nor this council is in any position to tell me what I can and cannot do with the Elements I command.  And the same goes for Jayne. 
We
do not answer to
you
."  The rest of his statement remained unsaid, but that didn't matter.  It was floating in the air above all our heads: 
You answer to us.

I stared at his face.  It was dark with anger and power, the likes of which I hadn't seen there since we took down the demon at my mom's house and sent its soul back to the Underworld.  I was both afraid and intrigued by Ben's reaction.  He seemed to have a much stronger opinion than I did about what our place in this world was.

I expected the fae around the table to start yelling and protesting Ben's show of arrogance and power, but none of them said a word.  Some of them shrugged it off, a couple looked down at the table hiding their expressions, and others seemed slightly surprised.  The only one who looked angry was Maléna.  Her sister, Céline, stared up at her with trepidation.

Maléna spoke first.  "You answer to this council, just as everyone else here."  Her voice held a note of authority that matched Ben's.

Dardennes looked as if he were about to step in, with his hands held up and his best peace-maker grin on, but he was cut off by Ben's sharp response.

"You are mistaken, Maléna.  Jayne and I answer to
no one
but one another.  This council answers to
us
.  Spirit has recognized our union; our positions as the Mother and Father have been recognized in the Overworld and the Underworld.  Your recognition is of no consequence to who and what we are."

"You have been in contact with the Underworld?  Well, isn't that interesting," she responded, acting as if he'd just revealed some big secret he shouldn't have.

"As have Céline and Jayne and several other Light Fae who met the demon called Torrie."

"What does he mean?" asked a green elf.  "What has the Underworld done to acknowledge our elementals' positions?"