I hadn’t exactly handled the operation in a manly fashion.
I crossed my arms instead. “I know a few ratty motels and hostels that wouldn’t blink twice at this bunch,” I said. “But that kind of expense adds up, and I kind of quit half my job. We’d need more money than I have.”
“Yes, money is unfortunately an issue,” Taeral said. “And not an easy one for most of us to overcome. Employment is out of the question.”
“I don’t know. Grygg would make a great club bouncer.”
“Perhaps. Until he accidentally breaks a human.”
“Good point.” I frowned. “So where the hell is everyone going to live?”
“You need a place to live?”
I flinched at the voice. Hadn’t even seen Daoin come up alongside us. “Um. Yeah,” I said, glancing at Taeral’s miserable features. “That’s what we were just talking about. All these people can’t stay here.”
“Oh. Well…what about Billy’s house?”
Taeral grimaced sharply. “I’ve not enough room,” he said. “Seven, perhaps you should return to the fire. There’s a chill in this place.”
“I’m warm now. Are you cold, Billy?” His brow furrowed. “Wait, I know. Everyone can stay in my castle. There’s plenty of room.”
“Seven…” Taeral almost choked on the word. “You do not have a castle,” he said gently. “Please. You should go and rest.”
“I do have a castle. I hid there, when…they…” Daoin turned his head toward me. “What is that?” he whispered, staring at the moonstone. “I know these markings. This shape. The…shine of it.” He reached out with a trembling hand. “I think…I’d like to touch it.”
“Go ahead,” I told him.
His hand moved so slowly, I thought he’d never get there. Finally, he ran a fingertip down one glass-smooth blade of the surface, plucked the stone gingerly with thumb and forefinger, and folded his hand around it. “De’ársahd,” he rasped.
The stone flashed once.
And Daoin flew back like he’d been shot from a catapult, crashing down hard against the shallow platform stairs.
“Father!” Taeral ran to him, and I rushed to catch up. He knelt beside Daoin and lifted him carefully, his gaze roaming in a frantic search for injuries. “Father…Seven…are you all right? Please…”
Daoin groaned slightly and opened his eyes. It took a minute for them to focus on Taeral. “What were we talking about?” he muttered. “Oh. My castle.”
“Yes, that’s right,” Taeral said in defeated tones. “But you do not have a castle, Seven.”
“I don’t?” He shivered and stared harder. “You look like my son.”
“Oh, no. Not again,” Taeral moaned.
“Wait…are you my son?” Daoin said slowly. “Are you…Taeral?”
A wrenching sob shook Taeral’s body. “I am, Father,” he whispered. “I am your son.”
“Taeral.” Daoin spoke the name like an answered prayer. “It was so dark,” he said. “And then, there was light. There was…” His gaze swung to me. “Who are you?”
“Er. That’s a long story,” I said. “I’m Gideon. Let’s go with that for now.”
“Okay,” he said. “Gideon. And my name is…Daoin, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is.” Taeral closed his eyes and tipped his head back, then smiled at his father. “That is your name.”
“My name is Daoin.” His features fell. “I don’t remember the rest. Sometimes I forget things,” he said. “But I remember…the castle. We can live there,” he said as his face brightened. “I can take us.”
“No, Father—”
“Wait,” I said, remembering what Taeral had mentioned earlier. That he was like a child, an unpredictable child with vast powers. Maybe he really did know of a place. It probably wasn’t an actual castle, but a child might see a lot of things as a castle. “Let him do it,” I said. “It can’t hurt, right?”
“No, I suppose not,” Taeral murmured. “All right, then. Lead us to your…castle.”
Daoin smiled. “Follow me.”
After Taeral helped him up, he turned and headed for the fire. “Everybody!” he called with his hands cupped around his mouth. “Everybody come here. We’re going to my castle.”
There was a lot of muttering, shocked exclamations, and suspicious looks. Still, all the occupants of the room drifted closer, even the Duchene clan. Daoin was crazy, but he had a certain air of command that was almost impossible to ignore.
Taeral and I stood on either side of him, waiting for the next installment of crazy. It came when he took each of our hands in one of his. “Okay, you all have to hold hands,” he said. “Because…well, you do. I can’t remember why. Just don’t let go.”
Denei and a few of the younger Duchenes balked at that, but Zoba seemed to grunt them into doing it. Soon, everyone had someone else’s hand.
“Close your eyes,” Daoin said. “We’ll be there soon. It’s a great castle.”
Against my better judgment, I closed my eyes.
There was a sudden rush of air, like a strong wind. The bottom dropped out of the world, and for long seconds it felt like falling. I was tempted to look, to see what the hell was going on—but my better judgment suddenly switched sides and recommended that I keep my eyes shut. Really tight.
The sensations stopped all at once. “Here we are,” Daoin said cheerfully.
I looked.
My shocked gasp wasn’t the only one. We were standing in an overgrown courtyard, with a white stone walkway leading to a large, four-story brick building half-swallowed in climbing ivy. Dense trees and thick hedge growth formed a semi-circle around the courtyard, hiding it from the rest of the world. There were muted traffic sounds somewhere outside the wild barrier. An air of long abandonment hung over the entire space.
I could just make out the faded letters formed by paler bricks above the entrance.
CASTLE HOTEL
Taeral turned a wide-eyed stare on Daoin. “Well,” he said. “It seems you really do have a castle.”
“Of course I do. I’m…” A troubled expression shadowed his face, but his smile replaced it quickly. “Come inside. There’s plenty of room for everyone.” He headed for the door, and Taeral started to follow.
Then I remembered something important.
“Hey, Taeral?”
He turned with a question in his eyes.
“Uh. We forgot Reun.”
“So we did.” He looked thoughtful for a minute, and gave a slight smile. “He’ll not take any harm there. I’ll go and fetch him in a bit.”
“Works for me.” I wasn’t exactly thrilled about having a Seelie noble around, even a comatose one. Wouldn’t mind leaving him there forever. I still wanted to kill him.
Taeral shrugged and headed inside with the rest of them. Soon only Sadie and I were left outside. “So, that was a hell of a thing,” she breathed. “He just…whooshed us all here.”
“Yeah. I think I’m glad I don’t have a pacemaker,” I said. “Well, this is one problem solved. But if all these people are staying here, there’s a lot of work to do. This place might be lacking certain features. You know, like running water.”
“Ya think?” Sadie grinned. “What about you? You’re staying, right?”
The question stopped me cold. I hadn’t even thought about it. Part of me still believed I’d just go get my van from Abe and return to the solitary night life. The one where I rarely talked to people, never took risks—and just kind of sat around, waiting until some other body mover picked me up from the place I eventually dropped dead.
I couldn’t go back to that.
“I don’t know,” I finally said. “I mean, where am I gonna park my van? I’ve got a pretty good rate at the garage, you know. And I’m paid up three months in advance.”
She elbowed me hard. “You’re not living in your van. You’re staying, if I have to chain you to a bed and make you.”
“That actually sounds kinda fun. Want to try i
t sometime?”
“Seriously, Gideon.”
I smiled. “Yes. I’m staying, okay? Somebody’s got to keep an eye on Taeral.”
She hugged me, and I felt warm all over. “Thank you,” she said. “I’m glad.”
“Me, too.” I hugged her back and let go reluctantly. “Where the hell are we, anyway?” I said. “I mean, for all we know, he could’ve transported us to Bombay or something.”
“Sounds like the Lower East side,” Sadie said.
“Come on. Your hearing can’t be that good.”
“Or can it?” She arched an eyebrow, and then laughed. “Okay, maybe not. But this is the surface, and my phone works. I checked the GPS the second we landed in what-the-fuck-just-happened.”
“Cheater,” I said with a grin. “Well, I guess we’d better take a look around, if we’re staying.”
“Good idea.” She threaded her hand through mine and led me toward the entrance.
The place was a dump. I knew that long before we walked through the door. But even if the walls were falling down, the ceilings were caving in, and the rat population outnumbered us four to one…it already felt more like home than anywhere else in the world.
Home was where your people were. And I’d finally found mine.
Thanks for reading!
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About the Author
Sonya Bateman lives in “scenic” Central New York, with its two glorious seasons: winter and road construction. She is the author of the Gavyn Donatti urban fantasy series (Master of None / Master and Apprentice) from Simon & Schuster. Under the pseudonym S.W. Vaughn, she’s the author of the Skin Deep paranormal M/M erotic romance series (Loose Id) and the House Phoenix thriller series.
You can contact her at sonyabateman.author@gmail.com.
Table of Contents
SONYA BATEMAN
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
CHAPTER 50
More books by Sonya Bateman