Page 38 of Dark Master's Redemption

Ravenous, just like Quinn.

It’s Lucca who eats less right now after the news he just received, only having coffee and a cherry almond biscotto as we revel in our moment of rest. As Quinn finally returns from wherever he goes when he plots and plans, his onyx gaze fixes on us.

Intense—but also with a vivid brightness in it.

“How are you, Lucca?” Quinn asks now, checking in with everything we just heard.

“Not well. Better than I could be, I suppose,” Lucca answers. Through our bond, I feel how he’s relieved that we’re alive today, but also annihilated by what his father’s done. His energy churns in a tight knot behind me as he holds me in the water. “My father outed me as Dark Fae to my people today. He probably only kept it secret all these years because he thought people might find out about the Gold Eyes if they learned what I was; thus, he tried to keep me from developing my power and finding out what I am, rather than kill me outright. After your fallout with the Vampire Council, however, he knows we’re no longer useful to him, for him to make a run on reclaiming Rome for the Summer Fae. And now the entire Summer Fae rumor mill is churning about me, supporters dropping away from my rebellion like dead flies.”

“I know,” Quinn says, as he takes a deep sip of coffee. His dark eyes are a thousand miles away again as he thinks. “And Council Vampires are probably crawling all over my alliances, if Novakitsk was any indication, to tear them apart before they can help me rise again in Vampire society. Even if they don’t know for certain what I am, no Master has wielded the Music of the Spheres like we do, other than secret Dark Fae ones like Master Ilyov. Even if the Vampire Council isn’t sure what I am, they know what Ariana is. And they know I was bound to you, as well: an incredibly powerful source of Light, and part of why our magic went haywire during that demonstration. It’s enough for them to want me dead. True death… even if they don’t precisely know I’m Dark Fae.”

“So your ambitions with your Vampire Council are moot,” Lucca says, as a terrible chuckle takes him. “And so are mine, now that my father knows we no longer have the power to return Revenants with the Music, to get him an army to retake Rome for the Summer Fae.”

“A dire situation, truly,” Quinn says, as he nods.

“And the Dark Fae don’t trust us, so my ambitions among them are moot as well.” I sigh now as we digest our situation. “We may have power and we may do something with the Music of the Spheres in the Ascendant Realm. But we’re far from controlling it, or liberating our Music from the Gold Eyes’ taint and secret ambitions, so we can truly help our people.”

“It feels hopeless, yes… but I do not think any of this bodes ill for our people, or our missions,” Quinn says. He is alert now as he glances at me, then Lucca, sipping his coffee.

“How could you say that, Quinn?” Lucca looks at his biscotto, then sets it aside, only having coffee now as he cuddles me on his lap in the water. “We’ve lost everything. Everything we ever hoped for.”

“But for the first time in centuries, we know the truth.” Quinn lifts a dark eyebrow at Lucca. “Adicus Briarwick and Illyria Amati know our true origins; they know the relationship King Bellari has with the Gold Eyes. It drove them to side with the Dark Fae… saving Ariana and countless innocents in the process. People who might support us now in toppling the reign of your most heinous father and even the Vampire Council, who still kill Dark Fae on sight.”

“The Dark Fae don’t know us; we could never convince them to get involved in overthrowing my father and your Vampire Council.” Lucca snorts now. “We were treated well as guests at Novakitsk, but that was all. We know nothing of Dark Fae culture, Quinn, and what their people have gone through these past centuries. We might convince some of them to help us, but not enough to throw down King Bellari, or take back Florence from the Vampire Council.”

“You both recall the Music of the Spheres can create not just physical power in the world, but it is also feared because of how convincing it can be,” Quinn says now as something shines in his dark eyes. “Changing minds, overcoming opposition?—”

“My father is immune to the Music, Quinn.” Lucca interrupts now, dark as a thundercloud. “And the Vampire Council are incensed we burned up a good half dozen of their ranks recently. I don’t think our ability to wield the Music is convincing anyone right now.”

“Without sneakily doing the Gold Eyes’ will. Whatever diabolical will that is,” I say, as Lucca cinches his arms tighter around me in the water, stroking my hip.

“Agreed, we do not have enough mastery over the Music to convince anyone of our aims, since we are not free of the Gold Eyes’ taint yet,” Quinn says now as he studies me and Lucca, a subtle smile upon his lips. “But we have assets we have barely even explored. Ariana’s parents, for instance, who hate Lucca’s father with a burning passion, and are now also defending the Dark Fae they traffic from the Vampire Council. Now that we have kicked the proverbial hornet’s nest and brought it right to their front door.”

“You want to rope my parents into all this?” My eyebrows rise as I blink at Quinn’s insinuation.

“They’re already a part of all this, Ariana.” His voice is quiet. “You heard them: Adicus Briarwick and Illyria Amati were involved in all this long before any of us were even born. The memories of Fae are long, and their passions run deep. Your parents were committed to seeing Archivolio Bellari ousted from his throne even before he sat upon it. They only need to see their daughter is protected… to rise up and join the fight once more.”

“They’re retired, Quinn. Give it up.” Lucca waves a hand. “Their fighting days are over. You heard Adicus; they protect people now, not fight anymore.”

“In any case. I believe we have assets we have not even begun to explore yet.” Quinn backs down slightly now as he settles in the water, swirling his coffee. He knows he can’t push Lucca on anything; and the subject of roping my parents into this battle we’re all fighting now is more than a little uncomfortable for me.

But he’s put a bug in our ears now. For better or for worse, Lucca and I are both thinking as possibilities churn inside us. Quinn watches, knowing what he’s done as we all ponder our future, trying to find a way out of our current predicament.

When something suddenly hits me—making the truth blaze inside me like the sun.

“Rock bottom.” I sit up alertly now in the bath, knowing I’ve found our solution.

“Excuse me?” Quinn frowns, not understanding, though he feels my sudden illumination through our bond.

“Rock bottom.” I look at him, then glance around at Lucca. “Master Ilyov said we’d have to give up our ambitions of power to create the Music from our true hearts. He said that was the only way to actually create Ascendant Sigils with the Music, free of the Gold Eyes’ influence. We had to give up everything we ever wanted, every ambition we ever had. We had to become humble… hitting rock bottom to find our true hearts. As I see it, we’ve already hit rock bottom. And are sitting in a bathtub in nothing but our skins now, trying to figure out what the fuck we do next.”

“Ariana.” Quinn’s Summer Fae fire flares in his dark eyes as he cocks his head, getting it. He slides towards us in the water, intrigued. “By Levennia and all the gods…! We have been stripped down to nothing but our hands, hearts, and skins. I’ve already lost the Dark Haven of Florence, and my ambition of ever sitting on the Vampire Council of Rome. Lucca has lost his rebellion, now that his people know he’s Dark Fae, and his ambitions of ever sitting on the Summer Fae throne thanks to his father’s pronouncement. And you never had any clout with the Dark Fae, since you’ve been hidden by your parents as a human since you were born.”

“We have nothing.” I nod, as a strangely liberated sensation flows through me. “We have only us and the people we love, supporting us as we fall. As we hold each other… and all our worlds burn.”

“The only place we could start,” Quinn says with cunning now as he looks at Lucca, “to master the Music of the Spheres. By just being in our hearts, loving each other… and creating Ascendant Music out of true love. Free of the Gold Eyes’ taint at last.”

As something darkens and brightens inside me all at once, I know we’re right. Because our true love for each other and for the people we care about is the only thing we have, now that we’ve been stripped to our barest selves at last.

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