Faerie Dust [Fae-Hunters #1] Read online

  Faerie children were fair. Bringers of good fortune, prosperity and wealth, all things humans long for but very rarely receive as often as when they have a faerie child.

  And some are just dumped off on an unsuspecting world, like Glen.

  But love was their one weakness. Love could weaken the strongest of faerie warriors into a pile of nothing. It was why she'd buried her own mother. It was why Shay promised her mother—seconds before death took her—that she'd never fall in love.

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  Chapter Two

  The Faerie Warrior Queen had set her up all along Shay suspected, which explained the energy behind her initial strike.

  Rhiannon stepped back, while blood spilled in two straight lines from her nostrils, the result of Shay's well-placed slug. Her white-blonde hair was swept away from her narrow face. Lavender eyes glowed with a mix of rage and satisfaction, as if she'd waited for this response for years.

  Shay's chest rose and fell when she took her own step back. Her eyes scanned the room for any reaction from the queen's guards, but none moved from their spot beside the throne. It was their job to protect Rhiannon from outside threats, but not to interfere in her private battles. And this was as private as it got.

  "What's the matter with you, Shay?” Rhiannon asked as she wiped a transparent sleeve beneath her nose. The fabric was ruined, stained with the green fluid.

  "You set me up.” Shay kept her stance in defense mode. This could end in a bloody duel that would see one of them dead.

  "I don't know what you're talking about.” Rhiannon retreated farther, then collapsed onto her throne.

  The sound of dry leaves beneath her body made Shay flinch; she hated when the queen allowed the leaves to become brittle and die. It was in their grasp to help keep all plants and flowers alive, but Rhiannon enjoyed the control. Much like she seemed to enjoy this confrontation.

  "Am I not the best warrior you have?"

  "You are and you know it!"

  "Then why'd you set me up on my latest assignment?” Shay asked, glaring at the queen.

  "Ah...” Rhiannon nodded knowingly. “I see. I wondered why it was taking you so long to report on the progress of your latest hunt."

  "You knew there'd be a connection—"

  "I didn't know—"

  "Don't lie to me, Rhiannon. It doesn't suit you!"

  "It's Queen Rhiannon to you—"

  "I'll call you whatever I see fit. At the moment I'm leaning towards bitch!” She spat the last word with anger.

  They'd been born only a few years apart. Rhiannon was her senior, but it was hard to establish such royal hierarchy with someone Shay had grown up with. Their mothers had been colleagues—friends who, many times, partnered up on hunts—and left the two girls to fend for themselves together. They'd been like sisters, until Rhiannon's mother Shina inherited the throne but died shortly after under suspicious circumstances. No one challenged Rhiannon for the throne after it became hers, although sometimes—especially nowadays—Shay had started to doubt Rhiannon's right to the power.

  These days she seemed more concerned about adding to her authority. For each new faerie released back into its natural habitat, the queen inherited a little more strength. It was why Rhiannon pushed her hunters into one assignment after another, sometimes more than one case at a time.

  Rhiannon lifted a light eyebrow, one dainty leg thrown over the throne's armrest. “Care to explain what got you so upset you had to hurt me?"

  "You set me up on a hunt with someone...” Shay's voice trailed off. Her mind filled with thoughts. She didn't doubt her old friend had set her up, although she couldn't understand the reason behind the move. But what good would it do to admit to this? Maybe she should just be happy enough to have caused her an injury that would take a few days to heal. If Shay admitted she felt something for Glen, it would be out in the open.

  Witnesses would attest to her admission of emotion, and that could come back to bite her in the butt. She'd be plucked off the case, given another, and Rhiannon would be free to grind away at her a little further each day. If Rhiannon's true intention was to defeat Shay, for whatever reason, Shay wasn't willing to add fuel to the fire. Rhiannon had access to prophetic powers suppressed in the rest of them. She'd win at this game every time.

  No, the best thing to do was to play along.

  "Well?” Rhiannon urged. The blood dried along her upper lip.

  "You still know how to get under my skin,” she whispered, “even after all this time...."

  A smile spread along the queen's lips, and her eyes twinkled.

  Shay suspected Rhiannon was playing games with her. The queen had her pieces strategically placed on the board game. It wasn't in Shay's best interest to push her luck for now.

  "Ah ... I like to keep you on your toes, Shay."

  Shay bowed her head and focused on the petals that adorned the castle's floor. The sweet-scent of roses filled the air and, for the first time since she'd charged into this marble chamber, she allowed herself the pleasure of inhaling it. Plants and flowers always helped calm her system ... even if the fire deep inside refused to subside.

  "Now, if you're done with the dramatics, I've got other business to attend to,” Rhiannon said.

  "Yes, my queen,” Shay returned with a small bow of respect. She straightened up, refused to meet her friend's gaze again, and instead, turned on her heel to head toward the double doors.

  "Oh, and Shay,” Rhiannon called after her.

  She stopped, back rigid. “Yes?"

  "Get a move on that latest hunt of yours, will you? I've got several other cases that need your kind of urgency."

  "Yes,” she whispered.

  * * * *

  Time moved differently in Breena. It moved a lot faster than in the human world, but not so much that the faerie folk missed out on life around them.

  They were mostly a peaceful race of ancient beings that chose to intermingle with the human world only when necessary.

  The fae-hunters were set up several centuries before, when medieval humans discovered faeries were not just myth but a truly exceptional reality. There were certain points around the globe where access to Breena was granted. Most humans were oblivious, but there were a number of people that knew and used the wisdom of the faerie to their own advantage.

  Breena was a safe haven for true-blood faeries, pixies, leprechauns, brownies, and a great many other breeds. They'd even offered passage to nymphs and sprites that cherished nature more than humans did.

  But they weren't all paddocks and trees. Breena had a rural area with sprawling meadows and beautiful forests, but Shay Lee didn't live there. She dwelled in the city, although it wasn't like Sydney with the fumes of cars, buses, and trains. Their transports were friendly to the environment, organic, and helped everything within their city walls to thrive.

  Houses and apartment blocks were built with mud bricks, all magically laced together to withstand any type of destruction, which was necessary because with all the good and peace of her people, there were some negative creatures. Goblins were her people's enemy. Every now and then, they'd slip in through the cracks to take from them. They slaughtered her kind in the hundreds whenever they got the chance to steal the blood of the faerie.

  But a battle hadn't happened in years. Breena's defenses were pretty tight. Now their main focus was to find their own people and claim them back from the humans. There were too many out there that lived and died an average mortal life without ever finding out why they felt so strange ... so different. Why they could keep luscious gardens while others couldn't. Why flowers bloomed when they walked by.

  Shay took pride in her job. It was more like a legacy that had been passed on through her family. Her great-great-great grandmother helped form the organization. It was in her blood. It was the reason why she hated that the queen was given the power to govern them. She always believed the hunters themselves should elect their leader. Or via another divine way th
at didn't involve slaughter and usurping to the throne.

  "Is there something wrong, Shay?"

  She shook her head, released all the uneasy thoughts, and turned toward her pet and only companion in her small apartment.

  "Not really, Flee,” she replied with a sigh.

  "It looks like something's bothering you,” Flee continued with a small frown.

  Shay offered her a smile.

  Flee used to be a caterpillar. She'd found her on one of her daily runs, slumped on the side of the road, half-dead. But Shay took her home and used her faerie magic to help the process of development along, until Flee turned into something between a butterfly and a pixie. Tiny golden wings fanned out behind her. They sparkled with glitter when the sun shined on her. Flee's body was long and wide, the size of a newborn human baby, lime green and yellow. Two long antennas sat at the top of her thick head that held a beautiful face, which looked more humanoid than insect. She was a beautiful sight but, more than that, she provided Shay with companionship when there was no one else around.

  "Don't trouble yourself. I'm fine—"

  "Is it because you miss Tien?"

  "What makes you say that?"

  Flee nodded toward the photo frame on the shelf in front of her. Flee didn't have any arms, a side effect of her unnatural evolution.

  Shay hadn't realized she was focused on the only snapshot she had of her mother. The beautiful cinnamon curls curved around her petite face, a smile on her narrow lips. She was breathtaking. No wonder she'd fallen at the hand of love. It was no surprise that a male was eventually able to touch her mother's heart. There had probably been many confessions of love toward her before she fell victim to it.

  "It's not—It's nothing,” she said, not eager to explain her twisted thoughts. Besides, her mother had been gone for a long time.

  "Where are you going?"

  "Back to the humans."

  "Another hunt?"

  "Yeah, you could say that,” she whispered. The image of Glen's face flashed inside her mind. Shay didn't think of him as just another hunt. Her heart ached at the mere thought that tonight would be the last time she'd see him.

  But it had to be.

  Tonight, after dinner, she planned to show him his real self before they snuck back into Breena so she could dump him into the institution that would help him adapt.

  After that, Glen would be free to roam and do whatever he wanted. But for now, she had to stay focused, concentrate on what she had to do tonight, and enjoy his company one last time. Shay had no doubt that this date was one she'd cherish for the rest of her life.

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  Chapter Three

  Dinner was nice.

  Shay was surprised at how easy she found it to talk to Glen about little things that didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. Books, movies, trivia—it all helped ease her system until she was genuinely comfortable. No longer had to fake it while she hid the real reason she'd accepted this date.

  But what was the real reason? Her heart continually jumped every time she met his eyes. The way he seemed to smile only at her. A special glance that took her breath away and made her wish they were in the privacy of a bedroom.

  "Are you cold?” he asked.

  "No, I'm fine. Thanks.” Faeries rarely got cold. They were warm-blooded creatures that no climate affected.

  He offered her a smile, and turned his gaze back to the long expanse of street ahead of them. They were walking down Liverpool Street, only one intersection away from the bridge that would lead them to Darling Harbour. She matched his steps, didn't want their time together to be over, yet.

  "You don't mind going for a walk?"

  "No, I love to walk,” she answered. She mostly got around in Breena via the use of her wings, but Shay still liked to stretch her legs out as often as she could. And to walk alongside this gorgeous man would do the trick.

  Silence settled around them when they left the noise and the lights of the city behind. A few scattered couples passed by as the two entered the large expanse of paved area ahead of them. She wanted to stay clear of the stores and exhibition center. Desire raced through her body and the need to be alone with him threatened to push the dust to the surface. Shay could feel it just below her skin, pores ready to explode.

  She didn't want it to show until it was time, and they were concealed from the scattered crowd.

  Glen surprised her when he took her hand in his, pulled her along until they waltzed into the Chinese Garden of Friendship. He dropped her hand to pay the admission price. She loved it here. There was a true feeling of harmony inside these gardens. Shay often took a timeout between hunts to ponder her thoughts or meditate with the surroundings.

  He grabbed her hand again and led her down the serpentine path, farther into the thick of things as darkness began to close over the sky. It was near closing time, and they were the only ones inside.

  "I love it in here,” Glen said, as he took a deep breath of the clear oxygen around them. “I like to come sometimes to get away from the grind of city life. Sometimes it can get you out of whack."

  "I know what you mean,” she said with a sigh, amazed at how his words complemented her thoughts. To think he might have been somewhere inside these gardens at the same time as she made goose flesh rise along her skin.

  He swiveled her around to face him as they entered one of the pavilions. Glen pressed his body flush with hers, hands at his side as he dipped his head and touched her lips with his.

  The electricity traveled from her lips, down the rest of her body, and left a trail of spiky desire that made some dust shimmy off her skin.

  Glen gasped and jerked away. “I'm so sorry. It's just—"

  "No, don't be—"

  "I just couldn't ... I can't help myself. I haven't been able to stop thinking about you; not since I noticed you.... “His eyes were wide, shiny despite the darkened area in which they stood. He laced his fingers with hers and led her farther into the gardens.

  The wind that danced through the canopy of trees and leaves around them breathed a sigh of relief that caressed her skin. These gardens were alive, well kept, and looked after by people who truly loved them. It was a beautiful sensation, which only helped arouse her further.

  "It's okay, Glen. I know how you feel,” Shay whispered, with a small yank on his hand to force him to stop. The words were out in the thick air around them. She pulled her fingers from his to caress the smooth line of his jaw before she had a chance to stop herself. But she didn't want to stop, did she? No, the way her head buzzed and heart pounded with the foreign emotion ... Shay realized she'd fallen in love with Glen Row the first time she'd laid eyes on him almost a month ago.

  That afternoon when her eyes cut through the traffic to watch as he ate a donut, which left crumbs and icing sugar on his lips, she'd wanted to reach out and wipe them away, not with her hands, but with her eager tongue. And now here he was saying he felt the same intensity. It had to be because they were meant to be together.

  Her mother's words whispered inside her ear. There is only one soul that can complement your own out there, Shay. She'd never felt the remotest tug at her heart, so Shay refused to believe at the time. She remembered the last conversation she had with Tien. Her mother explained the undeniable sensations associated with love, where the mind became secondary to the intoxicating desires of the heart and flesh.

  Flesh, she'd understood. After so many years of fulfillment and perfection in this duty as a hunter, Shay had enjoyed physical consummation along the way, but this was different. She felt as if she were on fire, as if her body would wither away if he didn't reach for her again.

  "Do you feel it, too?” His eyes were dark now, the distant lights strategically placed in the gardens several feet away.

  "It's all-consuming, isn't it?"

  "Yes.” His warm breath played along her face.

  Shay touched her lips against his for an array of soft intricate kisses that tightene
d her stomach. She reached for his warm hand and led him off the path, into the thick foliage around them.

  He tugged at her hand. “What're you doing, Shay? We can't go in—"

  "It's all right,” she whispered, as she encouraged him farther into the foliage. “The garden welcomes us. Can't you feel it?"

  Shay listened to the whispers of the insects, and the birds in their nests that made her feel as if they were in her home. She doubted Glen noticed, but the trees and leaves parted in front of her, made it easier for them to step into the heart of these gardens.

  The excitement bubbled up inside her.

  This was it, the right time for Glen's authentic nature to escape.

  Glen's breaths were heavier. His gaze wandered around them with every step.

  She finally stopped. A smile tugged on her lips as the shrubs below parted and a bed of clovers maneuvered beneath to make a new cushioned floor for them to lie upon. And they would be horizontal very soon.

  "You're so amazing,” he whispered. His gaze still roved everywhere. His hands rubbed lines up and down her arms. “How did you do that?"

  "I didn't do it,” she answered.

  "But the trees, the leaves—"

  "Shh.” Shay pressed her index finger to his lips. “There's been enough talk for tonight."

  His eyes sparkled like jewels. His own desire spilled forward, made her crave him even more. She pressed her body against his, craned her neck to maintain eye contact. She reached his shoulder, a tiny woman compared to him, but that wouldn't matter.

  It never did.

  Shay pressed both hands against his cheeks. The smoothness of his skin beneath her palms ignited her desire further. Faerie males only developed mild stubble, never beards. She raised herself on tiptoes to press her willing lips to his. Only this time, Shay opened her mouth farther to encourage him. His tongue slipped between her parted lips, and she almost swooned when they connected.

  The scent of the plants around them heightened with every new sweep of his tongue. Glen pulled her body tighter against his with eager large hands on her back.

  "You're so beautiful. All I want to do is...” His voice trailed off as his mouth moved along the underside of her chin and left a line of heated breath and kisses that smoldered her mind and set her body on fire.