Courts and Cabals 2 G.S. D'Moore (the little red hen read aloud .txt) 📖

in a cold sweat. Through it all, the little Fae never stirred. I envied her.

Dawn came, and a black SUV with dark window tint waited exactly where Evelyn promised it would. It was unlocked, and the keys were in the ignition. Xamira, still dealing with the death of her twin brother in the bleeding grounds, got behind the wheel. Lilith took the copilot’s seat, and Dani stretched out in the first row. She threw her arms behind her head and closed her eyes, but I saw through the charade.

The Fae and I took the very back row, and Dani was acting as a security buffer. We still didn’t know who or what she was, and she could very well be an assassin aimed at me or Lilith. I knew that wasn’t the case, but Dani didn’t, and Dani wasn’t keen on taking my advice. In her defense, I didn’t have a great track record.

We set out at daybreak, and missed most of the traffic as we headed south on the I-580. We stopped for breakfast sandwiches and coffee outside Carson City – the state capitol – before continuing our journey south in silence.

I’d never been to Nevada before, and I took in the natural beauty that was the complete opposite of Upstate New York. For one, there was no snow. It was rare there wasn’t any snow this close to Christmas in New England, but out here, the only white was on the snow-capped peaks in the distance.

“Holy shit it’s almost Christmas!” I had the revelation somewhere around Mono Lake.

Yule had been the twenty-first, and despite all the shit that had happened, that was yesterday. It was the morning of the twenty-second, which meant I still had a few days to buy gifts. I’d need one for Lilith, Dani, Xamira, it would be polite to get one for Aden; and a condolence gift for the loss of Xander. I should get something for Lilith’s mother, as she was kind of the boss. It would probably be nice to get one for the girl sitting next to me, the one staring at me with fascination.

From what I knew, most Fae tried to keep their glamour humanish to blend in. Whoever she was, she’d missed the mark a little. Despite what I thought I saw at first, there were no faerie wings that I could see. Her face was young, with a set of too-big eyes the color of the harvest moon. She had an extremely slender build, almost to the point of looking starved. If it wasn’t for the link between us, I wouldn’t have been able to tell she was female. She had no curves that I could see. Still, the too big eyes, and youthful face screamed cute the same way a puppy or kitten did.

“Gods!” I jumped under her penetrating, amber gaze.

Dani sat up with a hunting knife in her hand, and the small girl recoiled away from the cold iron blade. Xamira didn’t even bother to take her eyes off the road, and Lilith calmly turned to regard the Fae.

“Master, you survived,” the Fae exhaled with joy. “I feared I wasn’t strong enough. I gave you all my strength,” she blabbered.

“Yeah . . . right, I’m still kickin’,” I replied, and her face lit up with a smile so genuine and pure that it warmed my often-cold heart.

“Welcome,” Lilith greeted formally. “Be known to Dani Underwood of the Dwarfs, Xamira Venitas, Imp of the Venetian Cabal, and . . .”

“Lady Lilith,” the Fae bowed her head low and averted her eyes. “My master’s master.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that,” I countered, but the Fae didn’t look up until Lilith made a rise motion with her hand.

“I am Fern Morningpuff, bound to the power of Master Cameron Dupree,” she shot me a look out of the corner of her eye, like she was looking for my approval.

I gave her a thumbs up, but turned to Lilith and made sure my eyes conveyed that I had no fucking idea what was going on. “What do I do?” I mouthed.

“You serve Cam’s power?” Dani squinted. “What does that mean?”

“I was bound to the noble and strong Ser Fredrick of the Winter Court. When you defeated him in ritual combat, I became yours. I apologize, I did not come to your side sooner. My gifts are meager compared to great ones like you.”

“Ha!” I couldn’t help the bark of laughter that escaped my throat. No one had ever called me a great one.

“Morningpuff?” Lilith chewed on the name for a moment. “That’s a pixie clan.”

“Yes, Lady Lilith, we Morningpuff’s are known for our loyalty,” the little Fae’s non-existent chest puffed out with pride.

“Pixies are a race of lower Fae,” Lilith filled me in. “There are a lot of them, but they’re not particularly powerful,” she gave Fern an apologetic look, but it didn’t seem to bother the pixie. “What are your gifts, Fern?”

“I have the gift of force. I can enter the place between the realms, but my time in-between is limited. I was told by my master that I am talented with glamour,” she replied meekly.

“Telekinesis,” that part I knew from her throwing Marcella off me. “Fern being able to go to the cold world would take some strain off you,” I thought of the possibilities if Lilith had to lead another escape like the one we’d just been through. “As for glamour . . .”

“Pixies are known for stealth, and are excellent at gathering information,” Lilith explained. “Their glamour isn’t powerful enough to outfit entire pocket dimensions like Aveena’s, but you shouldn’t overlook the finer manipulation of glamour. It can be very effective.”

Lilith would know. Her own gift of glamour was paltry compared to a noble Fae’s. She’d probably learned all kinds of little tricks. With Fern, I had those little tricks at my