Page 7 of Dark Fae's Destiny

“There are rituals for summoning their ambassadors,” Curio says as he glances at me. “We’re dressed appropriately; all we need to do is to pick up Venetian Carnevale masks when we get there, from a human shop, before we cross Realms again.”

“To wear human masks in a city of Fae lets the Dark Fae know we’re serious about contacting them, apparently,” Ariana says now as she looks at Quinn. “Only Fae who would risk the ire of their Kings by crossing Realms are worthy of their time. And will keep their city a secret.”

“I know a good shop where we can get masks.” Quinn pulls into traffic on the main thoroughfare that runs between Florence and Venice in the human world, the A1.

It feels strange to be driving in the human world, in a very human car with two Dark Fae I once thought were Vampires. But everything has changed in the past months; my entire world has upended, as I finally realized I was no different from Ariana, Curio, and Quinn.

Now we’re traveling in the human world where I was once forbidden to go by my father, the Summer Fae King, though I did it anyway. I even hid numerous stashes of equipment in the human world for my revolution, which I once thought would only be for the Summer Fae.

Devi and her people are liberating those stashes now, taking them all back to the Red Letter Hotel Florence for a potential revolution which may still come.

As I drive through the human world a free man, no longer beholden to any king.

“Lucca? Did you hear me?” Quinn’s voice rouses me from my thoughts.

“No, what?” I blink, embarrassed he caught me drifting when I should be focusing on the task ahead.

“It’s not just me who’s getting lost in plots and plans anymore.” Quinn chuckles as he glances at me in the rearview mirror. “I said Ariana’s parents told us we have to wear our masks as we walk through the Fae side of the city, but we have to bare our hearts somehow. I’m working off the assumption that is both literal and metaphysical. So you and I shall open our shirts to bare our upper chests when we get there, and Ariana’s gown is cut low enough to do the same. We shall link hands, showing our hearts as a trio, then flood our powers wide and let the Music resonate between us. We shall present ourselves as open, bare, and raw about what we feel for one another.”

“Sounds good enough.” I nod, Quinn’s reasoning making sense.

“Once we get in,” Curio says, giving us the next step of our journey, “you’ll want to demand to see the Venice Dark Fae Sages. They are the true power behind the Hidden City, though the Fae side of Venice is ruled by a Master, just like my father rules Novakitsk. But the Sages are who you must speak to about your power; they are the mystical might of the Hidden City. Only they have the knowledge to help you—for they are even far older than my father. And far more knowledgeable about the ancient Ascendant arts.”

“But Venice isn’t that old a city, only about 1500 years in the human world.” Ariana turns, looking at Curio. “Have the Dark Fae Sages been there since the Ascendant’s Fall?”

“No.” Curio answers as Quinn zips the Maserati around a truck, flooring it and making us all grip the doors. “The Venice Dark Fae Sages are some of the oldest Dark Fae there are, but they didn’t always live in Venice. Legend has it, they traveled the globe for eons, until they recently settled in Venice. That was after it was built in the Twilight Realm, a few thousand years before humans got the idea and built it in their world.”

“We’re meeting with some very ancient individuals who could be extremely dangerous,” Quinn says now as a feeling of deep wariness sweeps us through our bond. “We must be at our most diplomatic with them and convince them we are no threat to their Hidden City or their ancient ways. We are only petitioners, seeking a boon of knowledge that might help us.”

“Do you know if they hate the Gold Eyes?” I ask Curio now as I turn to him. “Is that a bargaining chip we could use with these ancient Sages?”

“My father didn’t say when we spoke on our quick call earlier.” Curio frowns now, pensive. “All he told me was that my mother was once under the Sages’ tutelage here in Italy, though she left them to be with my father when they met. She was training with them, and had enough power to resist the Gold Eyes when he came calling because of them. She was even more defiant than my father at not doing the Gold Eyes’ will. Which is why he killed her, apparently. Not just because he knew it would punish my father and drive him utterly mad into his Revenant state.”

“I would be surprised if they don’t know about that creature,” Quinn says as he drives, zooming around yet another truck as he goes way past the human speed limit. Thankfully, the car is enchanted to avoid the eye of any human authorities. “The Gold Eyes has a long and sordid history of trying to either enchant or tear down any person or organization with significant power that might aid his wishes, or oppose him. I’m sure the Sages have at least heard of him, if not had experience with him directly, courting or punishing them.”

“We’ll just have to get there and find out.” Ariana reaches out, setting her hand on Quinn’s thigh as he drives. “In any case, my father told me the Sages respect honesty above all else. Whether or not they hate the Gold Eyes, they’ll be looking for our deepest truth about why we’re coming to them for help. My father said we can’t hold that back from them, not in the slightest.”

“No secrets. Lay it all out for them,” I say now, though what I’m doing is reminding Quinn he needs to be on his best behavior tonight. My dark lover has a tendency to withhold the truth from everyone when he’s lost inside his plots and plans. Quinn eyes me now in the rearview mirror, understanding what I’m telling him.

Even though it’s a constant challenge for him to always speak the truth.

But that’s why we have Ariana. Like a truth serum that lives inside our very veins, her balanced Animante Dark Fae power is constantly seeking the truth, thanks to the original magic of her Royal Summer Fae house.

Royal House Altvie is known as The House of Shadow Truth because it has something deep inside its power that always seeks the truth from lies. As Ariana glances back at me now, we share a thought through the bond. We’ll both help keep Quinn on track with the Venice Dark Fae Sages.

Even if he’s tempted to not divulge to them his full and honest heart.

There’s not much more to say now as we drive. This endeavor has to come from our hearts; as such, there’s not a lot to plot and plan, since only baring our rawest selves is going to get us anywhere with the Venice Dark Fae. Ariana’s parents told her the citadel guards will know our signatures as Dark Fae the moment we walk through the city, demonstrating our trio’s power. We don’t find them; they find us.

And when they do, it’s time to fly by the seat of our pants.

That understanding has Quinn tied up in knots now as he drives. I’ve rarely seen him more out of his element, as he stews and frets about the countless things that could go wrong in three hours when we get there.

It’ll be two hours, actually, the way Quinn drives; still, we have no solid plan to help us. We’ve done the best we could on such short notice, however, because none of us will wait even one more day before attempting to get the Gold Eyes’ power out of our magic.

Lest it destroy everything we love, and everything we’ve helped create.

The drive up to Padua is quiet after our brief talk. Though Quinn continues to zoom through traffic, the rest of us stare out the windows, pensive, as the Tuscan countryside rolls by.

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