Page 16 of Within the Veil

I don't hesitate as I walk straight through the door and into her room. Where she was... still in a coma... I frown...I know I felt her more than I have in the past few weeks. I looked at Jensi and Luca, who were following close behind. Right after she fell into her coma Jensi and Luca developed similar matching sentry marks all over their body. Although theirs were shaped strangely like flowery penises. They kept them covered...obviously. When we felt the surge of power thrum through our veins despite her not really being here, we realized that her power called to them. Her power was unprecedented. There has never been any Fae queen with three sentries and six mates, let alone four children, even if they weren't born yet.

Regardless, over the past few weeks, we realized that we had a deeper connection to her lifeline as her sentries. We may not be her mates, although not that I would mind that in the least, in the traditional sense, but our bond went deeper than that. We could literally plug ourselves into her, mentally, like a computer, and relay every aspect of her health. While her mates were bonded to her on an emotional level, there was something about the sentinel bond that brought us...closer.

"Strange," Jensi walks closer, his long legs eating the distance between the door and the bed, and touches her forehead, briefly closing his eyes. "I know I felt her; I wonder why she is not truly awake yet."

Luca follows and sits on the edge of the bed, and leans forward, resting his elbows on his leather-clad legs, "Maybe she is finally out of where she was 'stuck' and is coming back to us?"

We look at each other and pause briefly. I let my eyes flutter closed to consider his viewpoint, reaching out to the tether that bound us together. For weeks now, we have felt her laying just beyond our reach, but as I do a full scan I feel my heart leap into my throat, thrumming wildly.

She is, indeed, closer. Her mind was just within our reach. However, not quite here yet. It is certainly worth a try to attempt to reach her on a metaphysical level, however, Fae or not, it wasn't smart to reach her until she was fully ready and only Hudson could tell us that. And right now? She wasn't talking.

Just as I open my mouth to say as much, Ryder strides into the room and drops dozens of bags magically onto the floor.

Our eyes bug out of our heads.

"Ryder, what the fuck. Where did you get all this stuff..." I ask, incredulously, stepping back and almost tripping over a box that was not there a moment ago.

Luca stands up from the bed to peer closely at the boxes and starts to rattle off names of what looked like...designer combat boots and... "are those Armani knife sheaths," I say as I reach for one of the bags at my feet.

He slaps my hand away with a growl, "When I'm stressed, I shop, and to answer your question, I'm a fucking magical woodland creature who finally got his fucking powers back. So if you think I'm not going to be flying around singing Disney songs while I jump through the Veil and make it my bitch, you got another thing coming," Ryder huffs, admiring himself in the mirror as he magicks on outfit after outfit, blindingly fast. I know he was vain as a 'human', we always teased him back at the academy, but clearly, his addiction to shiny things went beyond magical memory charms. But if memory serves me correctly, Fae can either go one of two ways, being nude to be closer to nature, or being addicted to the finer things in life since it was a representation of their status.

In Ryder's case, despite knowing he should be more than secure in his station, was and is still painfully vain. But I supposed it could be worse...he could prefer being naked.

"At least it's just clothes with Ryder. Can you imagine if Hunter was anything more like his people? I hear one Arallu demon collected the fingernails of his enemies. And he would keep them alive to just...reclip them..." Luca says, voice pitched low as he continues to stare at Ryder. "This is nothing," he adds.

I blink, shifting slightly to see if he was joking or not, but his blue eyes are steady, if only a little wide. "I could spend a hundred years learning about your people and still be completely shocked at every turn,"I mutter with a shake of my head.

"You know Ryder," Jensi snickers, "you are worse than a leprechaun going through all their gold." After a few moments, he gives up on walking through the room and blinks to the door of the room instead, leaving a trail of glitter in his wake. He did it to fuck with me, trying to convince me he and Tinkerbell were cousins. Regardless, the effect is still funny. Think apparation from Harry Potter, but only with a lot more shine, pomp, and circumstance. But just from my ridiculous amount of observation and research these past few weeks, it isn't just Jensi who had the desire to, always show off; the Fae were all a bit grandiose and can't just pop in and out, no. They always had to fucking shimmer and shine.

"I'm going to need you not to talk about our cousins that way. Bad enough they get the short end of the stick...get it?" Ryder doubles over, laughing, and I look at him in silence. Then Jensi, Luca, and I blink our asses downstairs, leaving him to cuddle his hoard of designer labels.

* * *

Grayson

* * *

I barely lookup from cutting up the toppings for the pizza as King, Jensi, and Luca appear in the room.

"Ryder showed up with all his crap?" I ask, setting the veggies to the side to chop the tomatoes up for the homemade sauce while Remi and Zane knead the dough for our pizzas.

She laughs, " I was wondering where he went off to again. I shouldn't be surprised, he's already filled up the basement with stuff and glamoured it to make it look spotless. He's a hoarder," she rolls her eyes good-naturedly.

"Sounds about right. We didn't know it was getting so bad," King mutters, settling on the kitchen island's chairs.

I shrug, "not like he can't afford it. At least he pays humans for their goods. Most Fae don't. Although, to be fair, our clothes are of a much better quality. So it's hard to justify using any form of payment for human wear, but...Ryder is a creature of habit." I smile, bringing a spoon full of pasta sauce to my lips to taste. The flavor explodes over my tongue, and I nod appreciatively. I have no idea how we operated as humans when our senses were so damn refined as Fae. I feel like I can taste the sweat of whoever planted these tomatoes. Returning to full power was glorious, although I wasn't entirely sure why our senses were affected when our memories were wiped. I can only imagine it was to keep the spell working effectively. Still, it is a treat to smell and taste the simplest of things and I wouldn't take it for granted again.

"How was the council meeting?" I ask, although, by the looks on their faces, it didn't go well. As usual. Going about things diplomatically rarely do, especially with the Fae.

King's jaw clenches, "Those three are pissing us off more and more every damn day."

I frown as I magicked up beers, as Jensi and Luca lean forward on their own chairs their faces brightening at the Fae brew. King was fortunate that he was Hudson's sentinel, otherwise, he wouldn't have had to chance to truly taste the little luxuries we Fae have perfected over the years. Beer being one of them. Faerie food and mortals didn't mix, not unless they wanted to be trapped in our world forever.

As for the council, well they were proving themselves to be quite useless when it comes to making decisions. You would think that they were absolutely incapable of doing anything for their people. I may have led a different faction of the Seelie, the Lough Leane water Fae to be exact, but I don't remember the...instability being so horrid. For the most part, there was always a semblance of control within Tír na nÓg. I know the Fae thrived under a monarchy, but this was ridiculous.

"I'm trying to understand why we have to go through all the politics," Hunter growls as he swaggers in, needlessly--since he could have summoned whatever he wanted-- carrying a box of anchovies he must have grabbed from the basement for the pizza. I have no idea how I could consume meat back just a few short weeks ago, but I was glad to finally be back to my familiar diet of fish.

I put the sauce to the side and turn to lean against the stove. Again, pointless with magic, but the cooking process was soothing. Instant gratification is not all it was cracked up to be.

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