Home > A Fey New World : A Reverse Harem Magical Romance(9)

A Fey New World : A Reverse Harem Magical Romance(9)
Author: Amy Sumida

 

After Arach burned them, I held out my hand and drew in the lingering heat, taking its power into me and putting out and embers that might be hiding in the soil. Fire Faeries can use the energy in fire to heal and strengthen ourselves. It's also the easiest way to put out a fire.

 

The smoke cleared, merging with the mist, and Lugh stepped up with the other men to stare at the blackened ground in a reverent silence that we all shared. The plants may not have been sentient but they had held magic. Which meant that we had just destroyed fey magic—a part of Faerie and, therefore, a part of ourselves.

 

But as we stared silently, each of us lost to our sad thoughts, a tiny blade of grass sprang up rebelliously through the ash of its predecessors.

 

“Oh, no,” I whispered.

 

More grass began to sprout and then flowers blossomed upon stalks, their vibrant petals waving like the banners of valiant knights. Maybe the damn things were sentient because it sure felt as if they were communicating. Like a floral middle finger flicked in our faces.

 

“This is very irregular,” Mallien murmured.

 

“The paths aren't the problem,” Lugh noted. “They're only a symptom.”

 

“Like sex,” I muttered.

 

“Excuse me?” Arach lifted a brow at me.

 

“Sex,” I said again. “All of the lust going around the Faerie Realm is a symptom of whatever this is.”

 

“This isn't a disease, Vervain,” Arach argued. “This isn't a symptom, it's simply a result. Cause and effect.”

 

“Look at you, talking like a human,” I teased. But then I sobered, “And you're right. So, if this is the effect, what's the cause? Because that's what we need to deal with.”

 

“Whatever it is, it's strong enough to establish a magical foothold here,” Mallien noted.

 

“A foothold?” Lugh asked.

 

“It jumped, as I said. Leaping from the passageway to anchor itself in this patch of earth,” Mallien explained. “It separated from its source and, as you can see, it doesn't need the source anymore. This has essentially become a piece of Faerie on Earth.”

 

“Oh, fuck,” Lugh cursed. “Faerie said this happened because the realm was flourishing. Does that mean we have to stop the Faerie Realm from growing to stop it from coming here?”

 

“Growing!” I pointed at him. “That's it! It's not just flourishing, it's growing past its borders.”

 

“But the Faerie Realm is surrounded by dark matter—open space,” Lugh argued. “If it's growing, shouldn't it be growing in that direction?”

 

“It should,” I agreed. “Except there's now a ring around the original portion of the realm. A ring of land that was never connected to Earth.”

 

“The Dark Kingdom,” Arach murmured.

 

Everyone looked at Drake.

 

“What did I do?” Drake huffed.

 

“Do you think the Dark Kingdom has somehow confined Faerie and forced her to grow inward, pushing her magic through the Aether and into Earth instead of outward?” Rory asked.

 

The men looked at Drake again.

 

“I didn't make the damn kingdom,” Drake growled.

 

“No, that would be me,” I said grimly. “I don't understand how it would be possible for the Dark Kingdom to affect the magic of Faerie like that. But then again, none of this should be possible.”

 

“It is possible,” Mallien said gravely. “Magic seeks the easiest path. If one way is barred to it, it will find another way instead of pushing harder.”

 

“But wouldn't it have to push harder to get through closed paths?” I asked.

 

“Perhaps it's easier for the magic to break through our seals than to traverse the Dark Kingdom and build new land. Establishing footholds here, on a firm foundation, would take far less energy than forming fresh land in Faerie.”

 

“Either way, it's something to investigate,” Lugh said. “Which is more than we can do here.”

 

“But we need to do something here,” I argued. “We can't just leave patches of Faerie unattended.”

 

“Then we won't,” Patrick said. “We ward them and cover them in a glamour.”

 

“I don't know how to cover other things in a glamour,” I admitted. “Only myself.”

 

“It's okay, A Thaisce, we do,” Arach said with a smile that was a touch condescending.

 

“Watch it, Dragon, or you won't be getting any Vervain-lovin' tonight.”

 

Arach blanched. “That is to say, you could do it if you wanted to learn.”

 

Lugh made the sound of a whip cracking.

 

Arach narrowed his eyes at Lugh. “I watch human movies, High Prince. I know what that means.”

 

“And?” Lugh grinned.

 

“And I don't care if you're the High Prince of Faerie. If you call me pussy-whipped again, I will burn all of your pretty hair off. We'll see how much Isleen likes you then.”

 

Lugh's hand went to his silken mane of snowy hair protectively. “My apologies, King Arach.”

 

Arach grunted with a satisfied air. “Shall we?”

 

“Hold on.” I held up my hands. “Are we really just going to cover this up and leave? We're essentially sweeping a fey mess under a carpet of magic. This is Faerie on Earth; we need to get it back to where it belongs.”

 

“Honestly, Queen Vervain, I don't know how to do that,” Mallien said. “This has never happened before.”

 

“You mean, this could be here forever?” Lugh asked in a horrified tone.

 

Mallien looked at the patch of fey flora and then back at us. “Yes.”

 

“Oh, fuck,” I repeated Lugh's earlier sentiments, too upset to use one of the child-friendly versions I preferred. Sometimes, the F-word is necessary.

 

“This isn't over,” Arach said to me. “We've faced impossible situations before and handled them just fine. We'll take care of this too. For now, we cover it up and cut it off from the humans. Then, we go back to Faerie and figure out what's pushing the magic this way.”

 

“Okay,” I agreed with relief.

 

The men, with the exception of Lugh—who didn't know how to glamour plants either, formed a circle around the magic-infected land and held their hands out toward it. A glimmer rode the air as they placed the fey version of a ward around the area. Then, a shimmer descended. The fey plants disappeared while normal grass and weeds took their place.

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