Chapter One
Fiona Redbank watched as the fire inspector searched the ruined house and chuckled to herself wondering what explanation he could possibly come up with for the fire that would make sense to anyone reading his little report. She’d seen this man before looking around the aftereffects of one of Sebastian Helm’s temper tantrums. She’d often tried to clean things up and make the handsome man’s job a little easier by staging something to make the fire look as if it had been an accident. But tonight, the Lombard Fire Department had been notified quickly and had come to the scene just as they were leaving. She didn’t have time to make the situation look natural. Nor did she have time to gather her necklace, which had come off in a skirmish with Jayden Storm.
She watched the man through the broken window, staying as concealed as possible. She didn’t have her earth sister, Eliza Whittaker’s, ability to blend with her surroundings. Fiona was ruled by fire and often wished that she was affiliated with something a little less destructive. Eliza was affiliated with earth and made the world a better place by growing plants and using the herbs to make tea to help people. But that was who Eliza was. She was a giving person by nature and loved to help people. Fiona was just happy that Eliza had been able to help her human soulmate, Jimmy, before the demons destroyed him like they seemed to do to everything else.
Her two other sisters, Sonya Kai and Raven Knight, were affiliated with air and water, respectively, and they often chided Fiona for her very nature, as if Fiona could change who she was. It wasn’t as if she’d chosen to be affiliated with fire. She was born that way. They all were. So why did they always have to give her such a hard time? Fiona had a fiery personality to match her element. She never understood people who didn’t speak their mind. Those seen but not heard. She was given a voice for a reason and that reason was to let everyone in the room know what she was thinking. She wasn’t the smartest or wisest person, like Sonya, or the most powerful and mysterious, like Raven, but she had some good ideas occasionally. But her sisters rarely listened to her.
Like her knowledge of opposite elements. When she and Eliza had gone to the library to see if Eliza could figure out anything about the mark that had appeared on her palm, Fiona had explained to her about opposites. Eliza was young, the youngest of the four of them, maybe around four hundred years, so Fiona could understand Eliza not knowing about opposites. But Sonya was the eldest among them, around fifteen hundred, and when Fiona had mentioned it to her, Sonya just waved her off as if Fiona was wasting her time.
Fiona knew this was the key to getting rid of those annoying demons. Before her mother had died, she’d sat Fiona down and told her what she’d discovered about fire. It was common knowledge that air fuels fire. Without air, the flames can’t happen. But everyone thought that water was the opposite of fire, since when doused with water, flames go out. But fire’s opposite was actually earth. Humans had some clue because when they’re battling a big forest fire, they often try to snuff the flames out with sand rather than douse it with water.
They still used water to douse building fires, though, which made her job afterward a little trickier. Looking at the water-logged house they’d been in several hours ago, she snickered when she thought of how Raven would chastise her for being so destructive. Water did just as much damage, if not more, than fire did. Sure, the fire burnt the frame of the house and the property inside, but it was the humans spraying the entire structure with water that made it so the construction company had to demolish the entire house and re-build. Because with water came mold, and, aside from spiders, there was nothing Fiona hated more than mold. It made her fingers swell and her nose itch.
She felt a tingle up her spine and looked in to see the fire inspector hold up her necklace to the sunlight. She had a ward on it to protect it and to let her know when someone other than her touched it. The warning she felt now was different from when she’d had to take off the necklace to satisfy the goblin-kin librarian, Tamarack, when she and Eliza had been there a last week. When Tamarack touched it, she’d been made aware that he was touching it, but she didn’t feel anything. With the man inside the house, though, she felt him touching her necklace as if he was caressing her skin. She actually felt his thumb delicately sliding over her as he examined the stones that made up the dancing flame design.
Creeping up to get a better look, she saw him clearer. He was tall and muscular, not body builder muscular, but strong enough to carry a fire hose into a burning building and carry someone out if they needed rescuing. She’d always found human fire fighters attractive. There was just something about the bravery needed to rush into a burning building with the sole intent to save the life of anyone inside. It was an honorable profession, and the human men who were in that profession were physically fit.
The human inside had broad shoulders as the fire inspector’s coat he wore stretched across his back. It went down over his backside, unfortunately. There was no way she could consider a man attractive unless he had a nice backside. The normal flat man butt didn’t do anything for her. Some women went for the size of a man’s penis. Fiona went for the roundness of his butt.
When he turned to look at the necklace in the better light, she studied his face. He had red hair, like hers, only a little darker. His was more a reddish brown, rather than the reddish blond that she had. His hair was cut short but looked thick, like if he left it to grow longer, he’d have the mane of a ferocious lion. She didn’t have a preference on long or short hair. She did like the hair on his face, though. It was thick and full and covered the entire lower half of his face. Her fingers itched to touch it. His eyes were a subdued shade of green, much less vibrant that her own emerald, green eyes, but still green. Whatever part of his face that wasn’t covered with the beard was covered with the ubiquitous freckles that came with having red hair. She didn’t have any freckles because for most of her long life, she’d stayed out of the sun. Not because she didn’t love the heat, but because her job began when the sun went down. That was when the demons came out from under their rock and wreaked havoc in the world.
The man looked suddenly at her as if sensing her presence. She cursed when she saw him tuck the necklace inside his shirt pocket. He was supposed to turn the necklace over to the police as evidence. If he’d have done that, she could have had Raven call Detective Dominic Warder, who was their contact on the human police force, and he could’ve retrieved the necklace for her. But this guy didn’t turn the necklace over. He put it in his pocket. Why would he do that? All it did was make her job harder because now she had to get it back from him herself.
She stayed concealed until the inspector was done inside the house and came out to his truck. He looked around one last time, and his eyes seemed to settle on her, but she knew that he couldn’t see her. She’d pulled a little energy from the nearby ley line and magically hid herself from his sight. It was a disguise spell on steroids. All non-human-looking fey-kin had a disguise spell to make them look human as they walked among humans. The spell was cast on an object the person carried and was renewed every few decades or so. Eliza was usually the one who cast the spells for the fey-kin. They’d put in their disguise order with a troll-kin named Lemony Krumpet, and he’d contact Eliza with the details.
Though Eliza’s magic of concealment was more powerful than any of theirs because of her innate ability to blend, they all could disguise themselves. Fiona could walk around looking like an eighty-year-old man if she wanted to. She and her sisters could always see though the magic, just as Alexa could. It was because of the elemental fairy blood. The more you had, the less the magic affected you. Alexa Nicomachus was the last pure blood fairy in the realm, and, to their knowledge, Fiona, Eliza, Sonya, and Raven were the only half-blood fey. Every other non-native being was a mixture of fey and human, called fey-kin. There were a lot of beings that came over with the original fairies four thousand years ago, but there were none left. Either they’d died or were killed by the demons. Alexa was immortal, and Fiona and her sisters would live to be at least fifteen hundred years, judging from Sonya’s age, but the other beings didn’t have the longevity that the elemental fairies did.
A truck engine roared to life, distracting Fiona from her musings. She watched the red truck pull away from the burnt house and drive down the newly paved road. She hurried to her car and got in, making sure that she stayed a safe distance away, so he didn’t notice her following him. It was hard not to notice her beautiful car, though. It was a cherry red Tesla Roadster. Her car could go from zero to sixty in under two seconds and could sustain speeds in excess of two hundred and fifty miles per hour. Not bad for an electric car.
Fiona loved speed and the adrenaline rush that went with it. She watched ahead as the red truck casually drove through traffic. She felt the tingle and knew that the man inside was touching her necklace again. The sensation was erotic, as if it was her skin that his calloused fingers were caressing and not the enchanted metal and gems. She’d had humans touching her necklace before and the reaction was the same as when Tamarack had touched it. She was aware of the touch but didn’t feel it. What was different about this man? As she followed him down the highway, she was determined to find out.
She watched the man through the broken window, staying as concealed as possible. She didn’t have her earth sister, Eliza Whittaker’s, ability to blend with her surroundings. Fiona was ruled by fire and often wished that she was affiliated with something a little less destructive. Eliza was affiliated with earth and made the world a better place by growing plants and using the herbs to make tea to help people. But that was who Eliza was. She was a giving person by nature and loved to help people. Fiona was just happy that Eliza had been able to help her human soulmate, Jimmy, before the demons destroyed him like they seemed to do to everything else.
Her two other sisters, Sonya Kai and Raven Knight, were affiliated with air and water, respectively, and they often chided Fiona for her very nature, as if Fiona could change who she was. It wasn’t as if she’d chosen to be affiliated with fire. She was born that way. They all were. So why did they always have to give her such a hard time? Fiona had a fiery personality to match her element. She never understood people who didn’t speak their mind. Those seen but not heard. She was given a voice for a reason and that reason was to let everyone in the room know what she was thinking. She wasn’t the smartest or wisest person, like Sonya, or the most powerful and mysterious, like Raven, but she had some good ideas occasionally. But her sisters rarely listened to her.
Like her knowledge of opposite elements. When she and Eliza had gone to the library to see if Eliza could figure out anything about the mark that had appeared on her palm, Fiona had explained to her about opposites. Eliza was young, the youngest of the four of them, maybe around four hundred years, so Fiona could understand Eliza not knowing about opposites. But Sonya was the eldest among them, around fifteen hundred, and when Fiona had mentioned it to her, Sonya just waved her off as if Fiona was wasting her time.
Fiona knew this was the key to getting rid of those annoying demons. Before her mother had died, she’d sat Fiona down and told her what she’d discovered about fire. It was common knowledge that air fuels fire. Without air, the flames can’t happen. But everyone thought that water was the opposite of fire, since when doused with water, flames go out. But fire’s opposite was actually earth. Humans had some clue because when they’re battling a big forest fire, they often try to snuff the flames out with sand rather than douse it with water.
They still used water to douse building fires, though, which made her job afterward a little trickier. Looking at the water-logged house they’d been in several hours ago, she snickered when she thought of how Raven would chastise her for being so destructive. Water did just as much damage, if not more, than fire did. Sure, the fire burnt the frame of the house and the property inside, but it was the humans spraying the entire structure with water that made it so the construction company had to demolish the entire house and re-build. Because with water came mold, and, aside from spiders, there was nothing Fiona hated more than mold. It made her fingers swell and her nose itch.
She felt a tingle up her spine and looked in to see the fire inspector hold up her necklace to the sunlight. She had a ward on it to protect it and to let her know when someone other than her touched it. The warning she felt now was different from when she’d had to take off the necklace to satisfy the goblin-kin librarian, Tamarack, when she and Eliza had been there a last week. When Tamarack touched it, she’d been made aware that he was touching it, but she didn’t feel anything. With the man inside the house, though, she felt him touching her necklace as if he was caressing her skin. She actually felt his thumb delicately sliding over her as he examined the stones that made up the dancing flame design.
Creeping up to get a better look, she saw him clearer. He was tall and muscular, not body builder muscular, but strong enough to carry a fire hose into a burning building and carry someone out if they needed rescuing. She’d always found human fire fighters attractive. There was just something about the bravery needed to rush into a burning building with the sole intent to save the life of anyone inside. It was an honorable profession, and the human men who were in that profession were physically fit.
The human inside had broad shoulders as the fire inspector’s coat he wore stretched across his back. It went down over his backside, unfortunately. There was no way she could consider a man attractive unless he had a nice backside. The normal flat man butt didn’t do anything for her. Some women went for the size of a man’s penis. Fiona went for the roundness of his butt.
When he turned to look at the necklace in the better light, she studied his face. He had red hair, like hers, only a little darker. His was more a reddish brown, rather than the reddish blond that she had. His hair was cut short but looked thick, like if he left it to grow longer, he’d have the mane of a ferocious lion. She didn’t have a preference on long or short hair. She did like the hair on his face, though. It was thick and full and covered the entire lower half of his face. Her fingers itched to touch it. His eyes were a subdued shade of green, much less vibrant that her own emerald, green eyes, but still green. Whatever part of his face that wasn’t covered with the beard was covered with the ubiquitous freckles that came with having red hair. She didn’t have any freckles because for most of her long life, she’d stayed out of the sun. Not because she didn’t love the heat, but because her job began when the sun went down. That was when the demons came out from under their rock and wreaked havoc in the world.
The man looked suddenly at her as if sensing her presence. She cursed when she saw him tuck the necklace inside his shirt pocket. He was supposed to turn the necklace over to the police as evidence. If he’d have done that, she could have had Raven call Detective Dominic Warder, who was their contact on the human police force, and he could’ve retrieved the necklace for her. But this guy didn’t turn the necklace over. He put it in his pocket. Why would he do that? All it did was make her job harder because now she had to get it back from him herself.
She stayed concealed until the inspector was done inside the house and came out to his truck. He looked around one last time, and his eyes seemed to settle on her, but she knew that he couldn’t see her. She’d pulled a little energy from the nearby ley line and magically hid herself from his sight. It was a disguise spell on steroids. All non-human-looking fey-kin had a disguise spell to make them look human as they walked among humans. The spell was cast on an object the person carried and was renewed every few decades or so. Eliza was usually the one who cast the spells for the fey-kin. They’d put in their disguise order with a troll-kin named Lemony Krumpet, and he’d contact Eliza with the details.
Though Eliza’s magic of concealment was more powerful than any of theirs because of her innate ability to blend, they all could disguise themselves. Fiona could walk around looking like an eighty-year-old man if she wanted to. She and her sisters could always see though the magic, just as Alexa could. It was because of the elemental fairy blood. The more you had, the less the magic affected you. Alexa Nicomachus was the last pure blood fairy in the realm, and, to their knowledge, Fiona, Eliza, Sonya, and Raven were the only half-blood fey. Every other non-native being was a mixture of fey and human, called fey-kin. There were a lot of beings that came over with the original fairies four thousand years ago, but there were none left. Either they’d died or were killed by the demons. Alexa was immortal, and Fiona and her sisters would live to be at least fifteen hundred years, judging from Sonya’s age, but the other beings didn’t have the longevity that the elemental fairies did.
A truck engine roared to life, distracting Fiona from her musings. She watched the red truck pull away from the burnt house and drive down the newly paved road. She hurried to her car and got in, making sure that she stayed a safe distance away, so he didn’t notice her following him. It was hard not to notice her beautiful car, though. It was a cherry red Tesla Roadster. Her car could go from zero to sixty in under two seconds and could sustain speeds in excess of two hundred and fifty miles per hour. Not bad for an electric car.
Fiona loved speed and the adrenaline rush that went with it. She watched ahead as the red truck casually drove through traffic. She felt the tingle and knew that the man inside was touching her necklace again. The sensation was erotic, as if it was her skin that his calloused fingers were caressing and not the enchanted metal and gems. She’d had humans touching her necklace before and the reaction was the same as when Tamarack had touched it. She was aware of the touch but didn’t feel it. What was different about this man? As she followed him down the highway, she was determined to find out.
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