Their world was not like our own. They lived on a dual sun planet. They had races that only those who were of the non-Human world knew about. There was an unknown ruling force for their universe, which only a few knew about. It was the kind of knowing that if one spoke a word of it to someone who was not to know, it would be the signing of a death sentence.
There are humans. They were boring and basic. Every-one knows about them.
There are Vampiric Humans. They were allergic to the sun, and had fangs. They, unlike their Full Blood Vampiric cousins, did not need blood to survive. They also did not possess the strength of their cousins.
The Elven Humans were almost ethereal in their beauty. They both were tall and slim. Both male and females were of similar size. Males were usually taller, but on average, only by a few inches or so. They were more fragile than most normal humans were.
The governing world of the Spirits Council, which most of the humans, including Vampiric and Elven, knew not a thing about. They were clueless on the existence of them.
The unknowns are also the Magickals and the Faeries.
The Magickals keep the Faeries under control. There are two types of Faeries: The Good and The Bad. The Good usually, for the most part, work with the Spirits Council to keep the The Bad under control. There, like in any society, are those that claim to be The Good but working for The Bad. The Spirits Council does the very best that it is able to keep that to a minimum, but nothing is ever completely done away with.
The Faeries, no matter Good or Bad, are fiercely loyal. They will kill for those they care about, whether the one they care about is wrong or right. Faeries also have the choice of going Good or Bad. They have the option of switching sides, easily, and usually without too many com-plications. If they are forced to “go after” the ones they previously worked for, they are able to pull back and use previous obligations as the reasons, but if are found to feed information to the other side, they are immediately killed, no questions asked. A few have died under false information, but it was a price to be paid for switching sides.
The Magickals are usually humans, including the Elven and Vampiric. Around the time, they turn sixteen, they will either develop magical powers or they do not. If they do, they are taken to special schools to learn how to control and use their magic, along with train to become part of the Spirits Council “army”. If they do not develop any powers, then they do not enter the special school. At times, this can and does cause problems for families if one child develops the powers required and another does not. The one that does not is not to know anything about the Spirits Council nor why their sibling is going to a special school and they are not. The most common excuse is that the Magickal child is having problems at the school and needs special lessons, or whatever is needed to be said to make the non-Magickal child not feel not included.
The Magickals that are deemed strong and fit are used as “foot soldiers.” The strongest and toughest are sculpted into the perfect assassins. Some assassins ended up switch-ing sides, which can make for a very dangerous opponent, but one that the Spirits Council assassins are used to deal-ing with.
Other Magickals were used to help protect the humans. The Faeries, as the Magickals were told by the Spirits Council were jealous of the humans. They were always of the same size, and did not have to deal with any of the problems that the faeries have to. As most anyone knows, though, most things are not done out of jealousy but for other reasons. The Spirits Council just has decided not to share the real and true reason with the Magickals and eve-ryone else who happens to be involved with the ongoing conflict.
There are a few select few Magickals who are chosen to be molded to become future leaders of the Spirit Council. They are chosen at a young and tender age. Some are be-cause of who their family just happens to be. Some are chosen because of their achievements. Some are chosen because their family greases the pocket of certain members to guarantee a place for their child. As with all systems, there is a way to corrupt it and there are those who are willing to do whatever they must to get what they feel that they deserve or what they desire.
Along with developing magical powers, Magickals’ bo-dies also begin to slow down the aging process. At sixteen, a Magickal will look sixteen, but at forty-six, that same Ma-gickal will look to only be about twenty-six. The average age for a Magickal to die at, from old age, is around three hundred.
When they find the Mate of their choice, they are able to share the ability to slow down the aging process. There is one major downfall to doing so, though. The person, no matter how the relationship works out, will retain that ability. There are also a maximum number of times that it can be shared. No Magickal has yet found that exact number in the recorded histories of the Magickals.
Her red hair glinting in the sunlight, Alestra Silvergust quickly steps inside her store, The Griffin, to avoid being burnt by the bright sun. As she closed her door, she glances up, towards the sun, and sighs, wishing that she could be out there, more often, with fewer consequences.
Alestra was a member of the Vampirian Human race. The legend states that, at one point, her ancestors begged of the gods to remove their blood requirement from their biology. The gods allowed this change to occur but not without some requirements. In giving up the requirement that they survive on the blood of their own kind, they also gave up many of their strengths: their stronger than most humans’ strength, their ability to move nearly at the speed of light, and their ability to flash through space and time. They gained the ability to be out in sunlight but not for extended periods of time. Some of them retained the ability to have control over locks and lights, as well as the mental ability to erase the memories of certain peoples, but that is a trait that is few and far between with the current generation of Vampiric Humans.
Alestra turned around with a sigh. She loved who she was but sometimes it would be nice to be able to be out-side. She had craved that since she was a child. Today was a day that she wished she was able to take a stroll. The sky was a beautiful grey blue color, the color of a beautiful day. There were few to no clouds floating across. She hated being forced to stay inside when everyone else was able to walk around freely.
There was a tinkle clink sound, one that carried through the store, and she looked up. A broad smile spread across her face as she recognized the person coming in. It was her best friend, Trellyn Firebrand. Her gorgeously tanned skin glowed in the reflection from the sun through the glass door. Her grey, sharp eyes sparkled with humor.
“Hey, Alestra, what is shaking?” Trellyn asked, with a hint of laughter in her voice.
“Hey there, Trellyn, how is it hanging? Nothing too much is going on here. Just the normal ‘woe is me, I have to stay inside always’ self hate.”
Trellyn rolled her eyes, as Alestra expected her to do. “Girl, you have got to stop hating on yourself just because you cannot walk in any sunlight. Come on, Girl! You got a great store and you gots one hell of a great friend.” Trellyn said the last line with a laugh. She then posed a little, and pretended to fan herself for her awesomeness.
Alestra laughed, lightly, and prettily. She could not help it. Her friend always had a great way of making her laugh. The way that Trellyn voiced things, and how she spoke so bluntly never failed to surprise Alestra, nor did it ever fail to make her laugh right when it was supposed to.
“I know, Trell, I know. I have got to stop this ‘my life sucks because I cannot worship the sun’ mentality. Just stopping it though is harder than one might think,” Alestra said with a sigh. Her almost silver eyes shined a fraction with unvoiced thoughts.
Trellyn wrapped her arm around Alestra’s shoulder and gave her a bit of a squeeze. “Buck up, Girl. I think you just need to have a little fun. Actually have a life instead of just pretending you do.”
This was the same old line Trellyn had given Alestra. Over and over, she heard about how she needed to just get a life, and the rest would fall into place. Alestra had no idea who Trellyn figured that, but since Trellyn always seemed so happy, and full of life, maybe there was more to it than just empty words and promises of hope.
“Maybe, Trell, just maybe, I will take you up on your of-fer. One of these days, I might just have to. I definitely need to get a life. I am not getting any younger, and eventually, I would love to have a family, some kids, maybe.”
Trellyn laughed gaily. “Girl, if you are goings to do it, you are going to have to do it now. Do it now. Grab the life by its horns and live your life. You might only be twenty-six, but do you want to start having those kids in your forties? Nah, no one does!”
Before Alestra could respond, the bell tinkled and clinked, signaling the entrance of someone else. She looked up and smiled broadly. Trellyn’s brother, Temper, had walked into the store. He was almost like a brother to her. She loved him like a brother that much was true.
Sometimes, she wished she had some sort of non-platonic feelings for Temper. It would have made her life a lot easier. She knew their family. She loved their parents. Her family got along well. Sadly, it was not meant to be, because those feelings she had hoped to develop never came to fruition.
She spun away from Trellyn swiftly and easily and launched herself towards Temper. He opened his arms, his dark green eyes sparkling. Unbeknownst to Alestra, Temper did have feelings towards Alestra. He felt more than just brotherly/sisterly love towards her. He would never act upon those feelings, knowing that Alestra did not feel the same. That and he would have had to explain what he really was, as well as whom and what he worked for. He did not think that her mind could wrap around that subject.
Alestra reached her face up and kissed his cheek. She was not short by any measure but she always felt petite and dainty next to Trellyn and Temper. Trellyn was a couple of inches shorter than her brother, but still at least six inches taller than Alestra, who was five feet, six inches, or so. Temper also had muscles on top of muscles, or so it seemed to Alestra. She knew he was a very active man, but she wondered how much work he had to do to maintain that physique.
Easily stepping out of Temper’s arms, Alestra looked at him, with a smile on her face. When she smiled, her face lit up. She smiled carefully though, refusing to show off the fangs that she was born with. They, in her mind, were something she had to hide, not something, she should have any sort of pride in. She even refused to show them off to Temper and Trellyn, even though they both knew of them, and had seen flashes of them. Temper looked at Trellyn with a shrug who shrugged back. It was something they were used to by now with Alestra, and since they both had their own secrets they kept from her, they did not usually call her out on it.
“Hello there, my friend, Mr. Firebrand. What brings you to my humble shop?” It was the line she used most of the time that he showed up, which was not very frequently.
Temper grinned at her, his white, nearly perfectly teeth almost sparkling. There were only two teeth out of place, which Trellyn liked to say that she knocked loose to keep him from being too perfect. Who liked a perfectly perfect smile anyway? “Nut tin’ much, my darlin’ Alestra. Nut tin’ much. Just wan tin’ to see the woman of me dreams,” he said, with an accent nearly identical to Trellyn’s. It made since they were siblings, but most of the time, that was the only thing that they had in common. Trellyn came off as sarcastic but with a kind heart and a strong mind. Temper came off just as his name suggested: easy to rile and hard to calm.
Alestra snorted, as she did each time he pretended, in her mind, to be attracted to her. She refused; no, she was just in denial, that he, or any man, would have feelings for her.
“Whatever you say, Dude, whatever you say.” She looked at him, with a concerned look on her face. He hard-ly ever showed up in the middle of the day, let alone just a couple hours after she opened her store, and never during the week, like today. Something was up. Either something was on its way to going down, or it had already happened. She looked his face over, checking and double-checking, scared that she might be right, but wanting so hard to be wrong. “Something happened, has it not? What happened? What is it? Please, Temper, just tell me.”
Temper gently gripped her arms. They were trembling from her fear. She was scared to death that something had happened to her family. She had already lost one family member; she was so scared that she was going to lose another one again.
Temper held her arms and looked at her, looking deep into her eyes. “Allie, it’s not your family. Not yet at least,” he added.
Alestra looked up at him. “What do you mean? Not yet?”
Temper sighed, and dropped her arms. He took a step away and began to pace a few steps, just going a few steps forward and then a few more back, for a few seconds. It felt like hours to Alestra before he spoke again. “There have been threats. Numerous, since the passing of your *father. Your mother decided to keep you and your siblings out of the loop on that issue.” One could hear the disgust and disagreement with that choice in Temper’s voice. Obviously, he would have made a different decision if it had been him to make it.
Alestra’s jaw literally dropped, and she took a few steps back, until her rear end hit the side of her counter with the register. She reached back, gripping the marble tile that covered it, gripping until her hands were white with the strain. “There have been more? Why would I not be told about this? Why was I not told about this?” She looked at Temper, then Trellyn, and back at Temper. “Should I not have been notified? Should I not know that my life, the lives of my family, the life of those I love have been threatened.”
Trellyn walked over, carefully, to Alestra’s side, and put her hand over hers. “Just listen to him, Honey. Just listen to him. Trust me; I think you are going to want to listen.”
Temper nodded at Trellyn. “I have wanted to let you know for the longest time, but no one felt that you suppo-sedly were not able to handle the news that your life, and other’s lives might be in danger.”
Alestra looked at Temper. “What do you mean?” She at-tempted to take another step back but was stopped by the counter. “How do you know this? How do you know any of this?”
Temper sighed, a long, deep, obviously troubled sigh. It was obvious that there was an answer he wanted to give but was not allowed to. “Alestra, I cannot answer that question right now.” When her mouth opened, as if she was to question him, he held up his hand. “Please. This is not some game that I am playing. This is a life or death situation. Your life and the lives of your family’s, all of them, they are all in danger. I am not fucking with you. You know that I would never lie to you, purposefully, nor would I deceive you, unless I had a damn good reason. True?”
Alestra nodded, and sighed. “Okay, fine. I will accept that. So, why am I now learning of this? Why am I just hear-ing about all of this now? Why, after all these years, am I deemed worthy enough to find out that my life is being threatened; that it is still being threatened? For the love of the gods, my *father died over ten years ago. If I, or my family, have been threatened since then, how could I not know?”
Temper stepped closer, but stopped when he saw her eyes go wary. This was all coming as a shock to her, and she was not completely ready for the whole truth, even if he was of the ability to give it to her. “I do not know why your mother decided to leave you out of the loop, but *he* did. You need to know now because you have been named as their next target.”
“Their? What the hell does that mean?” Alestra was get-ting angrier with each word, and it was showing in the grip of her hands, and the look in her eyes. They were blazing fire.
“I cannot tell you the whole true store, but I can tell you that the ones after you, and your family, are dangerous. Very dangerous, in a way that I cannot begin to make you comprehend. I, and my team, have been charged with keeping you safe.”
“Your team. Your TEAM? What the hell does that mean? You have no team. You are an out of work bum, according to Trellyn and your family.”
Trellyn coughed. “Um, no, Girl. That is just the story that he and I give.”
Alestra jerked her hand away. “You!? You are in on this now? So, now I cannot trust you either?” Alestra seemed to sink in on herself, mentally and emotionally, though the only outward sign that she was truly affected by what was going on was her eyes. The color was not as bright as it was when she was angry. It was a duller, muted color.
“Gods damn it, Temper! You had to bring my ass into this. I am not a part of this, but no, I have to deal with your bullshit too. What is next? Telling me that Cullum will be there?” Trellyn’s eyes widened as Temper’s eyes tried to avoid hers. “You know how well that kind of crap will go down. You know how he feels about certain humans.”
“What the hell are you talking about? What do you mean you are not a part of this?” Alestra was getting similarly confused and angry, angrier than before. “Would someone tell me what the fuck is going on already? I have the right. TELL ME NOW!”
“Basically, Princess, you have to leave with me and Temper. If not, you risk the life of yourself, that of every member of your family, and anyone that has ever been exposed to you, even if it was an accidental run in. That is what is going on.”
?
Alestra spun around at the voice that spoke behind her. It was a man, tall, and dark. He had black hair, and bright green eyes that did not even seem real. He had muscles. There were not as many as Temper’s but they suited his physique perfectly. He had a sneer that was framed by a pair of kissable lips. Alestra shook her head at that thought.
Who was this man? Where had he come from? How had he gotten into the shop without her seeing? Her back door had a very sophisticated alarm that was claimed to not to be able to hacked or broken into. She guessed she was going to have to call that manufacturer and demand her money back, or some sort of compensation, because this man was not supposed to be here.
She looked at Temper, who seemed almost relieved to see the man show up. She looked at Trellyn, who was avoiding eye contact and looking around the room.
“Okay, and who the hell are you, may I ask?”
“Oh, you are such a prim and proper Princess. In addi-tion, yes, you may ask, but no, I will not answer who I am. However, Trellyn over there does know me, as well as Temper. He’s a partner of mine.”
Alestra looked at Temper. “Well, I guess it is a good thing that I never had a thing for you, huh?”
Temper just glared at her. “Ha ha, Allie. Ha ha. You know that I am not gay, no matter how much certain people,” he said with a glare at Trellyn, “would like to make other believe that to be true.”
Alestra shrugged, still annoyed with Temper. “Okay, fine. I do not really give two figs whom you think are. I just want you to use that exit right there,” she told the man who had arrived from the back, while pointing at the entrance / exit that Temper and Trellyn had used to come into the store, “and show yourself out. Just make sure it actually does hit your back end on the way out.”
“Oooh, a temper does she have. A fiery Princess will do you good but not at this moment.” The contempt on the man’s face and in his voice was undeniable.
“Okay, seriously. What the hell did I ever do to you? I have never seen you in my life. I have no idea who you are, yet you talk to me like I am a piece of gum off the bottom of your shoe.”
“That is extremely astute of you, Princess. I did not think you would have the brains to be able to figure that much out.”
“Cullum, Dude, back off. Okay just back off.” Temper’s temper was flaring but it did not seem to ruffle the man it was directed at. Alestra lifted up her hand, in an attempt to calm him down. “No, Alestra, this is one fight, no matter what, will I back down. This man might be one of the best I have ever had, but I will not allow anyone to talk to you like that. You do not deserve that. Not from him, not right now.”
“Oh, now you get protective over a female? Since when do you let anyone of these,” he said with such disgust that Trellyn gasped a little, when hardly anything ever affected her. “You are one to talk about protecting someone. Show me Trinity Jolansa, and then I will see you at your best, I guess.”
“Fuck you, Cullum, fuck you,” Temper said, the temper immediately falling flat, and the fight leaving his eyes, leav-ing them dull and almost lifeless. Alestra had never seen him like that. She immediately walked over to him, and put her hand on his chest. When he turned away, gently push-ing away her hand, Alestra control on her temper snapped. She spun around, and stalked over to the man who had hurt the one who was as close to her as a brother, if not closer.
“You are a bastard. I do not give a flying fig what you have to say about me, as I have no idea who you are but you hurt my friend, and that was uncalled for. You hurt him, just because you have no idea what friendship truly is. Temper called you a friend, and you treat him like this? You fucking bastard! You are the one who is not worth the slime that a slug uses to slither along. You are not worth the effort one would need to wipe shit off one’s shoe. Just leave.” She pointed to the door, anger forcing her to make it a stabbing motion. “Just get your ass out of my shop before I call the authorities and have you escorted out.”
“Sorry, Princess, but I am not going anywhere. Not until the threat against you is eliminated or you are. Either way works for me.”
Trellyn gasped, and reached for Temper before he could make a move. It seemed that her actions were not needed because Alestra had already made a move. She reached up, and slapped Cullum’s face, leaving a bright red hand shaped mark on his face. Before he could react, she delivered a well-aimed punch with her other hand to his solar plexus. She smiled brightly when he made an audible oof sound when her hand connected with his solar plexus. “Now, get the fuck out. I will take my chances against what-ever is out there, but I will not be going anywhere with you. Not now, not ever.”
Cullum turned on her, with a look so full of fury that she took a step back, and then another, just to be safe. She was not easily frightened of a man but the look he gave her was enough to send chills of alarm up her spine, and make the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Temper walked over to Alestra, and pulled her away.
“Alestra, you need to just back off. Trust me, Love, just back away.”
Alestra would have normally fought against the hold, but for once in her life, she listened to reason, and just stayed back. She did not completely listen, though, and snarled, “Why the hell are you not listening? LEAVE!”
Cullum moved towards her, each move of his legs care-fully controlled. He stopped just inches from her and Tem-per.
“Cullum, do not say what is sitting on the tip of your tongue. I am still pissed as hell at what you just said, and the wrong word to the best friend my sister and I have ever really had will just set me the fuck off.”
Cullum looked at Temper, and then at Alestra. A look of disgust caused his lip to curl, showing off a bit of canine. It was not a long tooth, nor was it a short one. Alestra’s eyes widened when she saw it, and her mouth dropped, slightly. Cullum rolled his eyes at her.
“What is the matter, Princess? Have you never seen a half breed at all? Did your daddy keep you hidden away, and protect you? Are we too good for your lily white pres-ence?”
Alestra gasped. She looked at him, eyes a bit scrunched, her nostrils half flared, a seriously confused look on her face. She had absolutely no idea what this man was ranting and raving about. She was quite vocal in how she told him that, as well.
“I have no flipping clue in hell what you could even be-gin to be talking about. No, I have never met a half-breed. I was told that they were not possible. I was told that Vampiric Human and Human had incompatible DNA. That they could never create a child, no matter how much they might desire one.”
Cullum scoffed. “Great lessons in life you were given there, Princess. I wonder how many lies your mother filled your head with.”
Alestra struggled against Temper’s hold. She struggled hard, and with all her might. “My mother never lied to me. If she told me that, it was either what she believed or it was what she had been told. She and my stepfather, who was Human, tried for years to have a child and could never conceive. Trust me, if she could have had a child with him, especially now that he is gone, do you not think they would have done so.”
Cullum shrugged. “Your step father was an idiot who thought that your mother hung the moon, and believed everything that she said, no matter what. She had her children through her beloved Vampiric Human mate, before he was killed. Why would she want more?”
Alestra struggled more against the hold Temper contin-ued to have. “Temper, let me go, okay. I will not do some-thing stupid.”
Temper shook his head. “Sorry, Love. I know you ex-tremely well. Your brain does not always connect with your heart, and I know this man. He will set you off, purposefully, just to put you back down.” He looked at Cullum. “While I do know why you are acting like this, pissing her off will not achieve the goal of keeping her safe. I know you do not care if she lives or dies, but I do.”
Cullum sighed, and looked at Temper. “Whatever, Man, just whatever you have to say. Let her rot for all I care. If she is coming, she needs to be on the ship in no less than three hours. Anything after that, and she will be left behind. You, as well, if you fail to show up at the appointed time, will be left behind, friend or not. There is too much going on for us to lolly gag around. Do not forget to show up, Temper. I would hate to have to leave you.”
With those words, he disappeared. Not walked out the door and disappeared, but literally just poofed out of the room, leaving no sign that he had ever been there in the first place.
Temper dropped Alestra’s arms and she looked at him and at Trellyn. Neither one seemed surprised at all that he had just disappeared like that.
“Okay, what the hell is going on? Who was that? Why was he so hostile? And how the hell did he just disappear like that?” She expelled the questions with barely a breath between each sentence.
Trellyn looked at Temper and threw her hands in the air. “Do not look at me, Bro. You know I was all for telling her the truth from the beginning. The whole truth, leaving absolutely nothing out, is what I want to hear.”
Temper rolled his eyes. “No, even with Cullum being a freaking moron, she will not be able to handle the whole truth. Not yet, not now.”
Exasperated, Alestra reached up and smacked Temper on the back of his head. “Will you stop talking like I am not here? Now is not the time for that. Just stop!”
Reaching up to rub the spot that Alestra had smacked, he looked down at her, with resignation in his eyes. “Oh for the sake of the gods, Alestra, I cannot tell you this! I cannot. It is forbidden.”
“Forbidden? I just saw a man, who was flesh and blood, and half-Human half Vampiric Human that just disap-peared. Literally, he was here and then he was not. How do you explain that? Do not give me this ‘It is forbidden’ bull-shit.”
Temper laughed lightly. Alestra was definitely not react-ing how one would have expected her to react. She wanted the answers, and would think on them later, dwell on them sometime in the future, but for now, she just wanted those questions to be laid to rest.
Trellyn looked at Temper. “For the love of the gods, Dude, just tell her. Tell her something. Let her know some-thing that will explain anything.”
Temper rolled his eyes at Trellyn. “Fine, then you can be the one to take the blame for this!” Trellyn just shrugged, as if she did not have a care in the world. “Okay, Alestra, you want some form of the truth? Are you serious on this? If I tell you, and you freak out and tell someone else, you will literally be signing my death sentence. This is not a joke. This is more life and death than your own situa-tion.” At her nod, he continued. “Okay, Cullum Katara is technically my boss. He is what is known as a Magickal. He, in the most basic of terms, has magical powers. He can poof anywhere. He can pretty much do whatever he wants to do. Like most everything, there are limits, but not too many, considering what he does for a living. He is what is known as a Protective Assassin. He has been assigned to protect you, along with our team of Lasiandra Colorns, Jamerly Mackonal, and myself. While Cullum says that he is willing to let you just die, he would never actually follow through with that, because it would be risking death himself. That, and what we are fighting, he refuses anyone to be hurt by them. He has lost enough to them.”
Alestra looked at Temper, almost as if in a daze. “’What we are fighting’? What does that mean? Who is after me? Who wants to see harm come to my family? Explain this to me, please, Temper.”
Temper took a deep breath, and looked her right in the eyes. What he was going to show her was absolutely going to blow her mind. He signaled, covertly, to Trellyn to come behind Alestra, just in case.
Alestra looked at Temper, and felt her mind empty and become relaxed. Then, Temper disappeared. Alestra gasped, and looked around. Where did he go? Why did he disappear? What was going on? Then she felt something brush up against her ear, and the flutter around the back of her head to the other ear. She attempted brush it away, but felt a small poke on her finger. She looked to the left, at her shoulder, and sitting there, was Temper. He had gone from six feet six inches to only around six inches in height. He was sporting a pair of green and black wings, which sparkled in the beams of light from the filtered skylight above. Instead of the clothing he was wearing previously, he was wearing a loincloth, and not much else. Catching her eyes, he snapped his fingers. He instantly appeared before her, in all of his six foot six glory, including the clothing he had been wearing before.
Temper cursed as Alestra’s eyes rolled back into her head, the whites the only thing visible before her eyes closed completely and her body collapsed in on itself. Thankfully, Temper and Trellyn had expected it, and Trel-lyn was there to catch her, and slowly bring her to the floor.
Temper dropped to his knees next to Alestra. He looked up at Trellyn with a scowl on her face. “I knew this was going to happen. I just knew that this is what would happen when she found out the truth. Now how the hell do we tell her that it was someone in our family that ordered the hit on her father, all those years ago, and that that person is also the reason that her step father was killed and that her mother is still missing?”
Trellyn looked down at the face of her friend, the very best friend that she had ever had. “I do not know, my brother, I do not know, but I do know that we will find a way to make her understand. But until we figure that out, and before she completely comes to, please, can we get her to Cullum’s ship, so we can get out of this situation before it becomes more than either one of us can handle alone. When we get onto the ship, I will contact someone to take care of things here, so that she will have one less thing to worry about.”
Temper nodded at her, and took them all to the ship, using a similar piece of magic as Cullum used, but also dif-ferent, at the same time. When they arrived on the ship, he carried Alestra into a room that was decorated in colors similar to what she would find in her own house. Temper was thankful that she would at least have that comfort, since it might be a long while until she actually will have the chance to see her house again.
He left the room, and ran, literally, into Trellyn. He nodded at her. “She is still not conscious. I do not know when she will awaken, but if you could, stay with her until she does. I need to check in with Cullum and the rest of the team.” At her nod, he kissed her cheek and went off in search of Cullum.
?
Cullum was standing at the cockpit, with Lasiandra Co-lorns. He had his back to the entrance door, though a slight stiffening of his spine showed that he had heard the approach of Temper, even before the door slid open.
Cullum was bent over one of the controls, reading some of the readings. Based on the white knuckled fist he had sitting on the side of the controls, either something was going on with the ship that was not good, or he might be regretting how he acted in Alesta’s store earlier.
Temper took a deep breath and stepped inside the cockpit. Cullum turned around, his mouth tight. “So, the Princess is aboard, and it seems, unknowing that she is.”
Temper growled to some extent, but kept his displea-sure in check. “I know you hate Vampiric Humans. I know you have very good reason too, but you also know that Trellyn and I have every reason to hate them as well. Yet, you notice that we both love and adore Alestra. Do you not think there might be a reason for that? Do you not understand that maybe, just maybe, there are some Vampiric Humans who are not that bad? Who do not suck? Who are not out to rid the world of the ‘half breeds’ and the rest of us who are not like them?”
Cullum rolled his eyes. “You are thinking not with your brain but with another part of your anatomy, Temp. One does not have to look very hard to see that you find her desirable, and that you want to be with her, and claim her.”
Temper flexed his hands, attempting to keep a reign on the outburst that wanted to come forth. He knew that Cul-lum’s reasons for hating Vampiric Humans were good and legit ones, but he was not happy hearing him discuss and talk about Alestra like she was the worst thing that had ever been born on the planet.
“Okay, I am not going to discuss this any further at this moment, but can you lay off of Alestra for the time being. She had no part in the death of your family, no matter how much Vampiric Human she has in her. She also has no idea where to find your sister. Trust me, with this girl, if she did, she would tell you.”
“Whatever, dude. I do not care if her precious little feelings are hurt, but for now, I will not say a word to her, because you asked me not to. For now,” he added with great emphasis on the last sentence.
“Thanks, Cull. Seriously, if you ever take the time to get to know her, you will realize that she is not as bad as you most likely would like to believe that she is.”
Cullum shrugged and looked back at the instrument panel he had been concentrating on before. “Anyway, we have bigger problems than if Princess’s feelings are hurt. According to this, we are losing our shield power. We are more than losing it. We are hemorrhaging it like a stuck pig with a slash in its throat.”
Temper gagged a little at the picture the description brought up in his head. “Ugh, could you not have found another analogy to use? That is just absolutely disgusting. Nothing else could be more totally and completely nasty.”
Cullum laughed at Temper’s discomfort. “If I didn’t know any better, I would think that you were disgusted by something, my man. You are a trained assassin, for the sake of the gods. Why would the image of a dead bloody pig bother you at all?”
Temper groaned. “You know me well enough to know the answer to that. I am so not going into that right now. Anyway, any idea what the problem with the shield power is? It is not like we have been hit any time recently, and if we had, it would have long been fixed. Regular mainten-ance rules out wearing out.”
Cullum nodded. “That leaves sabotage, but who would be dumb enough to sabotage my ship? There is not a one that I can think of.”
“I do not know of anyone that stupid. Then again, I do not know that many stupid people. I meet someone stupid I force myself to forget them.”
“Yet you still remember the Princess.” He held up his hand at Temper, warding off the voicing that he was bound to have. “Last one, for now, I promise. It was just one of those things that I could not resist letting slip.”
Temper growled slightly. “Just stop. I count you as a friend. You continue to dig on her, and I will be forced to count you as an enemy, okay.”
Cullum mockingly saluted Temper, while Lasiandra just rolled her eyes. “You two boys make me wish I had joined the convent like my mothers had desired of me,” she drawled with a lilting, sexy accent.
Temper’s eyes flashed to her, with a slight hint of an-noyance. “Just stay out of this, Aria. You might like to claim female as your gender, but no one here really believes any of it.”
Lasiandra ’s fist drew back, and Cullum grabbed her arm. “Not on the ship, Baby Girl. You know that. You can kill him on your own time, but for now, we need him alive so that I do not kill Princess, okay?”
Lasiandra looked at Temper, and rolled her eyes. She quietly got out of her seat, and most likely for the first time in her life, walked away from Temper without giving into the desire to lay a man flat. Her Elven Human form in its all of its glory. She was a gorgeous six feet three inches, with long silvery blonde hair that reaches almost to her rear, and usually braided loosely. Her lavender eyes usually flashed with fire, but as she left the cockpit, they were dull and almost lifeless.
Cullum watched as Lasiandra left him and Temper alone, a strange look on his face. He looked at Temper and saw a pained expression on his face. It seemed his friend was not as unaffected by Lasiandra as he liked to pretend. It was going to be a rough situation for them, if they ever attempted something. Lasiandra, being an Elven Human was part of the Spirits Council. Her family was also all but royalty, which was ironic considering Cullum counted her as a friend but was so distrustful of Alestra who’s family was nowhere near royalty. Taking into account that Temper was a Faery, even though he was a Good Faery and his family has always been in the trust of the Spirit Council, relationships between the Faeries and any other species was frowned upon. It was more than frowned upon, it was almost against the law. It was, in fact, actually against the law in some areas of the world. There were some groups attempting to change those laws, but like with any sort of secularism, it was slow going, if ineffective at best.
Temper looked up and caught Cullum’s eyes and saw the speculative look he was giving him. He shook his head. “No, man, do not even think about it. There will not be anything happening between Lasiandra and me. There is just absolutely no hope of anything becoming of that.”
Temper sounded so defeated that Cullum wanted to say something, but what could he say to him? Nothing would truly fix the situation, unless Temper and Lasiandra both wanted to attempt a relationship and see where it went from there. Cullum nodded at Temper, in total understanding. It might not show but Cullum did have some experience in wanting what he could not have, or what he should not.

Cullum was twenty-six, and fresh out of the Spirit Council training becoming specialized in space flight, armed protection and covert operations, when he met one whom he thought he was going to spend the rest of his life. Her name was Rokta Tailmark. He thought she was perfect, but he found out too late the truth about her.

Shaking his head, blocking out the past, Cullum focused on Temper. He placed his hand on the man’s shoulder, in understanding, and then dropped it. Temper grinned at him.
“Getting all touchy feely on me, are you, Cull? Wow, you must really be hurting for a lay,” he said with humor in his voice.
Cullum reached up and smacked Temper on the back of his head, something he knew the other man hated, which mean he took great pleasure in it all the more.
“Okay, whatever, Temper, back to the shields. We need to get them fixed as soon as possible, or we risk becoming sitting ducks out there.”
Temper nodded in agreement. “I will get right on it. Maybe I will see if Lasiandra if she would be willing to offer me some assistance.”
Cullum laughed at the good humor of his friend. No matter what happened in Temper’s life, he never let it get him down. He always found a positive in everything. To have that sort of mentality was something that made Cul-lum envious of his friend.
“You do that, Temper. Personally, I am going to make sure that The Princess is awake and relatively unharmed.”
Temper looked at Cullum, whose eyes held a mischiev-ous glimmer. “Cull, take it easy on her. She is not in any way related to the death of your family. You have the right to hate her because of what she happened to be born but do not let it completely shroud your ability to be at least civil to her.”
“I remember my promise, Temper. I will not break un-less forced to. You know me a hell of a lot better than that.”
Temper emitted a small sigh, and walked out in search of Lasiandra. Cullum watched Temper’s retreating back, and looked back at the instrument panel, a small frown on his face. Something was up with it, and he was going to get to the bottom of it, but first, he had to check on the newest passenger of the ship.
?
Alestra woke up, and looked around. She did not rec-ognize anything at all. She opened her mouth to scream when Trellyn walked into the room through an automatic sliding door. Alestra quickly sat.
“Where am I, Trellyn?” Alestra was not nervous. She had a feeling of where she most likely was, whether she wanted to be here or not.
“You are on Cullum’s ship.” She held up a finger and waved it at Alestra. “No, there will be no arguments. You need to be kept safe. Besides you being my very best friend, Temper’s job and life depend on you staying alive.”
Alestra looked at Trellyn, head slightly cocked, face confused. “Why would his life depend on my life?” She understood that his job relied on her. That part he had made most abundantly clear.
“If you ignore the fact that he has feelings for you that are more than brotherly, the organization that he belongs to, if you die on their watch, will kill this whole team. Your family has that much power.”
The mention of her family brought the whole shop inci-dent back with vivid clarity. She remembered Cullum’s animosity. She recalled his literal disappearance. Then her recollections dredged up the transformation of Temper, and she looked at Trellyn, her eyes wide.
“So I see you now remember that. I wondered when you would recall that.” Trellyn took a deep breath, and sat on the edge of the bed, close to Alestra. “Okay, first you need to understand that you can never tell anyone what I am about to tell you. There are too many lives at stake for you to tell the wrong person what you know.”
Trellyn waited for Alestra to agree. Alestra thought that it must be something she was never going to believe, but was something she was just going to have to trust Trellyn was the truth. She loved Trellyn as a sister, and trusted her with her life, so she gave her that trust. “You are completely understood, Trellyn. Under no circumstances will I share what I know.”
“Good, because I am so not supposed to be telling you any of this, but for your sake, I think you need to know.” Trellyn took another deep breath and began.
“Temper and I are Faeries.”
“What do you mean Faeries? Do you mean like that stu-pid cartoon for girls that happens to involve little flying creatures?”
“Yes, we are basically like that. Nevertheless, our spe-cies, and yes, it’s a species, have the ability to be at full human size if we desire to be. We can easily go back to Faery size if we desire, yes, but most of us prefer to be in the human form.”
“Okay, this is hard for me to understand, so bear with me. Why do you prefer human form? I would think being able to fly would be the best thing in the world.” Alestra leaned forward a little, relaxing, and for some reason, com-pletely accepting this. It was not too hard to believe. She was a Vampiric Human, but her Vampiric brethren still existed, though most non Vampiric Humans did not know that. Why should the existence of Faeries be any different than that?
“I personally hate to fly. If I have to be totally honest, I’m scared of heights.”
Alestra laughed lightly at that, because she knew it was definitely the truth. Her friend would not even climb on a ladder that would bring her higher than her six foot three inch height. “Okay, that makes sense for you, but why for others? Why does Temper prefer it?”
“Okay, the reason for Temper brings me to the reason you are here. There are two types of Faeries: The Good and The Bad.”
Trellyn laughed lightly as Alestra’s eyes got huge at that. “What is the look for? It is not much different than the fact that all humans have good, bad, and those in between. With Faeries, we cannot ‘ride the fence’, so to speak. It is also a free choice.
Those who choose The Good, like my family, tend to work for the Spirit Council. That is whom Cullum and Temper work for. That is who was sent in to keep you safe. The Good Faeries and the Magickals, they both work to-gether to keep the world safe from The Bad Faeries.”
She looked carefully at Alestra. “Cullum is a Magickal. He is considered a rare breed. Besides being half Vampiric Human, he is also a half-breed with the Magickals. His mother, who was a full-blooded Human, was a Magickal. His father was not, and was the Vampiric Human. I will seriously be killed if I told you this, but his family was killed by The Bad Faeries and a clan of Vampiric Humans. That is why he is so hostile towards you.”
Alestra gasped, understanding written on her face, along with pain. She could completely relate to his hatred of her. She represented the family that was cruelly taken from him.
Trellyn watched the play of emotions on Alestra and wondered how she could be so forgiving of Cullum’s atti-tude. Then again, Alestra’s father had been brutally mur-dered when Alestra was only a young child, and she had been the one to find the body, which was something very few people knew about. It was not something that was ever really released, for the sake of Alestra who had it mostly blocked.
Alestra looked up at Trellyn. “You are wondering how I can be so forgiving, are you not. It has to do with my father, but it has it is more than that. To have lost your family so cruelly, and then to have the kind that had assisted in that murder, and be under orders to keep that person alive, I do not think that I could do that. Can you imagine if someone murdered Temper and you had to keep them safe and alive?”
Trellyn nodded in understanding, and her fists clenched and unclenched at the thought of losing her brother.
“Okay, now, can we get back to what you were telling me about? What exactly are Magickals, and why do Good Faeries and Magickals have to work together to keep the world safe from The Bad Faeries?”
“The reason for that, Princess, is that The Bad Faeries are one of the most corrupt types of beings there could be. They will steal, kill, rape, whatever they have to do to get whatever it is that they want. Most of the time, it seems that what they ultimately want is to see everyone else dead, including their own kind, Good or Bad.”
Alestra’s head jerked up at the sound of Cullum’s voice. He was lounging in the doorway, and it looked like he had been there for long. She wondered if he had heard what she had said about being able to forgive because of what happened with his family. Judging by the banked fury in his eyes, he had. She looked worriedly at Trellyn, who was also watching Cullum’s face.
“Yes, Princess, I did hear Trellyn tell you about my family, including what you said after. It matters not to me, because I do not request your forgiveness. I do not care if you let me off for what I have said. It has no bearing on me.”
Alestra’s dropped her gaze, looking at the bedspread that she was lying on top of. She was not surprised to hear him say it, but for some reason, it hurt her to hear him say it.
“I understand, Cullum. As well as that you are stuck with me. I will do whatever you want me to do. I will stay out of your way.”
Cullum looked at her bent head, a frown on his face. He hated her, right? He could not stand being in the same breathing space as her, yet he felt a small stab of pain in his chest at the thought of her avoiding him. He shrugged it off, assuming it was just that he enjoyed the pot shots, even though he promised Temper he was no longer going to make them.
“Is that’s all you have to say, Princess? Just make sure that you do. In addition to staying out of my way, make sure you stay out of the way of my crew and my team. They have better things to do than to cater to your every whim and need. There is a chow hall, a couple of game rooms, and a few replicator stations. Anything you need, you get yourself, just like everyone else on this ship.”
Alestra stared angrily up at him, with fire in her eyes, leaving no doubt to the fact that she had a spine, even if she did not always show it. “Where the heck do you get the impression that I need someone to wait on me, hand and foot?”
Cullum snorted mockingly. “Well, let us see. You show up on my ship, unconscious. You were unconscious be-cause you passed out. Where would I get that idea?”
Alestra made an objection angrily. “Excuse me, Mr. High and Mighty. I just watched a man disappear, after never having seen that before. In addition to watching my best friend’s brother goes from six foot six to about six inches in the span of a heartbeat. No, no way should I have a reason to react by falling into a faint. No one has ever reacted that way.”
Cullum leaned away from the wall to clap mockingly. “Bravo, Princess. Good show, great show of sprit.”
“Oh fuck you, Cullum, seriously, just fuck you. I really do not care what you think of me. I am not some spoiled princess like you think I am. I have what I have because I worked for it. I am who I am because of what I have had to go through.”
Cullum leaned back against the frame, with a contemp-tuous look on his face. “Are you sure about that, Miss Prin-cess? What have you really gone through? Have you really gone through that much, besides the loss of one parent?”
Alestra gasped at the gall of the man. “It was more than the loss of a parent. It was my father, the man who cared for me when I was sick because my mother could not be arsed to do a thing for me or my siblings. It was the man who taught me to read, who helped with my homework. It was the man I worshiped with all that I am.”
Alestra brushed angrily at the tears starting to fall down her face as she forced herself off the bed to stalk towards the man standing there, so scornfully looking at her, like she was a rock stuck in his shoe.
“It was not just the loss of my father that has made me who I am. It was finding his body the morning after he was murdered, by Faeries, it seems, as I have just found out. It was the sight of his blood all over the bed and the floor. It was seeing his eyes wide open, staring at nothing. It was the fact that he never made a sound so that he would not alert me to the fact that something was going on. It was the fact that, even in the last moments of his life, he protected me. That is what made me who I am. The money my stepfather has is not mine. The money that my mother has is not mine. My father was penniless when he married my mother, and was technically that way when he died. My money is only what I have made.”
Alestra looked at his clothes. The dark blue shirt was well cut and obviously made just for him. The pants, in black, were of similar make, and fit like they were made just for his legs to slide into. While they made for an impressive look, the cost just screamed out.
“At least I do not judge those, based on who they are.”
Cullum growled, and leaned his face close to hers. “Princess, while I feel for what you had to endure, it does not change my opinion of you. You and your kind take for what you can, regardless of the consequences.”
Alestra nearly screamed in frustration. She shoved her hands against his chest, and pushed. She was rewarded for her efforts to hear him laugh derisively.
“I am leaving Princess. Do not worry about that. I will not be back, unless I hear that you are disturbing my crew.”
“I will not come anywhere near your crew. I have better things to do than to do anything that might cause you to darken my doorstep again.”
“It is technically my doorstep, Princess. It would do you good to remember that.” With that, he spun on his heel and left Alestra and Trellyn alone.

Alestra spun around and dropped in a nearby chair. “Oh my god, that man is impossible.”
Trellyn laughed. “You two were spitting off fireworks like something I have never seen. I have never seen Cullum take such an instant dislike to anyone like he has you.”
Alestra sighed, and pushed her vibrant red hair back, the braid having come loose at some point. “Well, right now, the feeling is more than mutual. I have never been that insulted in my life.”
Trellyn laughed harder. “You are forgetting when you first met Temper. He called you a snooty snotty brat who needed to pull her head out of her ass. You proved him wrong, and now he absolutely adores you. You just have to win over Cullum. You just have to show how awesomely amazing you are. Just show him what you show the rest of the world, your bubbly beautiful self.”
“I do not care what he thinks of me. That man is insuf-ferable. He is an arrogant buffoon who thinks he knows everything about everything. If I never see him again, it will be too soon.”
Trellyn snorted lightly with amusement. “If you say so, Allie, but I think you are protesting way too much. You do have to admit the man is pretty cute, right? He has those muscles in all of the right spots.”
Alestra attempted to hold in a laugh but failed misera-bly. “Okay, yes, I will admit that he is a fine specimen of the male gender, but that is about all he has going for him. A female would have many problems looking past the ego the size of a large mountain.”
Trellyn laughed again. “If you say so, Alestra, if you say so, but I still think you might like him, and hate that fact.”
Alestra said something extremely unladylike to Trellyn, annoyed by the fact that she had guessed something that Alestra refused to acknowledge to herself.
?
Cullum re-entered the cockpit area of the ship, and took a deep breath. He could not believe that he was having any sort of reaction besides deep disgust and hatred towards Alestra, but the defense of herself had added some respect for her, in his opinion, though he refused to recognize it. Her telling him about finding her father’s body, and the fact that she was able to do it without breaking down, added even more points in her favor. He could only begin to imagine what she had found. He had been spared finding the bodies of his family, since he had been away at school.
He shook his head, as he flopped into a nearby seat. He leaned his head against the back of his chair, closing his green eyes. He looked both stressed and relaxed, some-thing that only he seemed to be able to pull off easily.
He jumped up when he heard someone approaching the door, eyes flying open. He had not been startled but he was just very uncomfortable with having someone see him showing any sort of stress or weakness, as stress was too him.
“At ease, Cullum, it is just me,” Temper said with a smile on his face. When Cullum visibly relaxed, Temper continued, “Well, Lasiandra kicked me out of the engine room. It seems that I might be ‘too stupid to be able to even touch something so infinitely precious’ or something like that.”
Cullum snorted in good humor. “Only Lasiandra can say something so eloquently. Does she have any idea why it is reading as having little to no shields?”
Temper seemed to shuffle his feet, as if he did not want to answer the question. It was an unusual reaction for him to have, which made Cullum a little suspicious and also worried at the same time.
“Can you please just come out with it and tell me what is going on?”
“Okay, the truth is that the shield reading was correct. The problem is that when we were supposed to get it fixed, it seems it was not. It was not the fault of the shop, it was …” Temper seemed to not want to continue the sentence.
“It was the fault of whom? Was it you? Was it me? Was it someone else? Whose fault is it, Temper?”
Temper forced out a long-suffering sigh. “It was my fault. I was distracted by something going on with Lasian-dra. Do not ask me what it was, Cullum, because I prom-ised her I would tell no one. Let us just say it is one of the reasons she cannot stand to be anywhere near me, and the reason she threatened to quit a month ago.”
“I know she’s pregnant, Temper. I also know that you are the father. She actually already told me. Well, I forced her to tell me when she told me she wanted to leave the team.”
Temper sank into the seat that Cullum had vacated ear-lier. He dropped his hands into his lap, and his chin hit his chest. The way his body was held screamed frustration of not knowing what to do.
He lifted his head and leaned it back against the chair, closing his eyes briefly. He lifted his head off the chair. “I do not know how it happened. Okay, I know how it happened, just not how if that makes sense. We were protected. We took precautions. Shit, we used several types.”
“You know what they say about being over-protected. Something always tends to break through those defenses.”
“How would you really know? You are Mr. Perfect in which nothing ever bad happens to you.”
Cullum laughed, out loud, and almost uproariously. “Yeah, sure, Temper, nothing bad ever happens to me.”
“Dude, you are crushing on my emotional upheaval. Let me mope and groan already.” He looked over at Cullum, who had plopped down in another chair and was in a very relaxed pose. “What the hell am I supposed to do? She wants nothing to do with me, and she seems to think I want nothing to do with her. She has this ridiculous idea that I want her to just disappear, along with the baby.”
“I have no idea what you should do, Man, but all I can really suggest is do not let her disappear. Do not let her just walk away. Do not give up on her. If you really want it to work, just be there for her, until she is ready to listen. If that fails, fall on Plan B.”
“Okay, so what is Plan B?”
“I have no freaking idea man. I hope that if it comes to that, you have one. Better hoping would be that it you never have to deal with it.”
“I guess that is just what I am going to have to do. I have no idea how I am going to go about it but I will make her listen to me, and I will make her see that I do want her, and that I do want the baby.”
He looked at Cullum worriedly. “I just realized some-thing, though. She is an Elven Human. I am a Faery. How the hell are those genetics going to work out. As far as I know, there has been no Faery to Human, of any sort, cross breeding.” He sighed deeply. “Good gods, man, I am scared to death. I cannot lose her, or the baby. I refuse to even consider the chance.”
“That is probably a smart move, Temper. She and the baby will be fine; you know that. Oh, have you at least told your sister? Considering we are now stuck with her being on the ship as well as The Princess, she is going to either hear about it or figure it out. It might be smart to just tell her.”
Temper shook his head. “Oh hell no, I am not telling my sister that I got Lasiandra pregnant. No way can I tell her that. She will kill me and join Lasiandra in the battle.”
Cullum laughed, realizing that Temper was most likely correct in his assumption about Trellyn. “What about The Princess? Are you going to tell her?”
“Why would I tell Alestra? Why does she need to know?”
“Oh, I do not know. Maybe it would be because she is in love with you?”
Temper laughed loudly. “Alestra is not in love with me. She has never been in love me. I am nothing more than an older brother to her. I am the brother of her best friend, and that is all that I am to her. There was a time when I might have wished that she had more than those feelings, but at this point in time, I do not want that. I want to see her happy, but I know that her happiness does not depend on me.”
Cullum thought on that, though he pretended not to. “Well, she is a friend of yours. It might help to have a fe-male’s opinion, even if I do not think much about her. She might be able to give you some insight into the female psyche or whatever.”
“No, I will not tell Alestra. That would just weird me out too much. I am more likely to tell Trellyn than I am Ale-stra.”
“Why is that, though? Why would you refuse to tell her, if you are so close to her? If you trust her so much, why would you not tell her?”
“I cannot tell her because she would not understand. She believes in love with sex. She believes that a commitment must be made. She’s extremely old fashioned when it comes to things like that.”

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