15
Alarie
I had not expected Rhett and Luke to be waiting for me when I finally made my way back to the Rein manor that afternoon. I was cutting it close—I had not planned for our hike and other things to take quite as long as they had—but I’d still make it on time to the Fall Ball if I started getting ready now. I would have to skip Rhett’s pre-party festivities and meet Cass at the Ball, however.
“What’s up?” I asked, surveying my friends.
They both looked tense. Luke was sitting on a long sofa, parallel to Rhett’s bar, when I entered Rhett’s main lounge. But Luke rose from the sofa to greet me as soon as I entered the room. Rhett stood behind the length of his bar, holding a drink in his hand. I couldn’t be sure, but I had my suspicions that the contents of Rhett’s glass contained something stronger than a refreshing iced tea. It looked like Rhett had been running his hand through his golden locks of hair.
Luke reached my side, and I became very conscious of the makeshift outfit I’d borrowed from Cass’s closet since he’d decided to abandon my clothes in the alcove of the watering hole. I was wearing one of Cass’s white cotton t-shirts, which I’d tied up in the back so that it did not hang to my knees. The pair of black athletic shorts I’d borrowed from Cass were also unsurprisingly so large that I’d had to roll them up several times until they just barely hung over my hips.
Unsure, I looked at Luke, waiting for his reaction. Luke and I were not exclusive, and he wasn’t the jealous type, but being with Cass was the first time I had been with someone other than Luke in a long while.
Luke broke into a smile, his handsome face lighting up despite whatever it was that was on his mind, and I felt tension I did not know I had been holding in my chest escape. He picked a leaf out of my hair and I smiled back at him, slightly chagrined. Luke took my hand in his and led me to the lounge he’d sat on before, pulling me down beside him. He may not be upset about Cass, but something was still off with him.
“Al, this is something that we maybe should have talked to you about sooner,” he began. “Although, in our defense, we didn’t really anticipate you flying over the High Court naked,” Luke teased.
We? I looked over at Rhett. What did Rhett have to do with this?
“Am I correct in believing that Cass did not have the ability to fly before your hike with him today?” Luke asked.
“Yes…” I responded tentatively.
“And he gained the ability to fly during your”—he cleared his throat suggestively—“time together while away from Court today?” he asked.
I nodded my head.
“Al, it’s your magic,” Rhett said, cutting to the chase.
“My what?” I exclaimed, snapping my head in Rhett’s direction.
“Your magic,” he replied resolutely, walking over to where Luke and I sat.
“I don’t have any magic, Rhett,” I retorted, equally sure.
“Yes, you do,” Luke replied.
“No—” I began to protest.
“Yes, you do, Alarie,” Luke insisted. He allowed the light of his magic to shine through the room. His skin sparkled like his every pore was made out of an ethereal light—his reminder of how his magic came back to him while he had moved inside of me in the ocean back at the Silver Court.
Rhett nodded in agreement with Luke.
“Al, you remember when we all had that…real good time together?” Rhett asked.
Of course, I remembered. A girl isn’t likely to forget a threesome with her two gorgeous best friends.
“Well, after I was with you, more of my magic came back. It almost feels back to normal,” Rhett finished.
“I don’t…I don’t understand,” I mumbled, my grip tightening on Luke’s hand like his touch was the only thing tethering me to reality.
I felt lightheaded. I pictured the shredded thread of gold I had imagined mending when I was with Rhett and Luke. I hadn’t told Luke or Rhett about it. I thought it had something to do with possibly being Rhett’s mate, and then, in all honesty, I had gotten so wrapped up in the moment that I completely forgot about it.
Rhett came and sat on the other side of me.
“Al, it’s okay,” he said, grabbing my other hand.
“We think we are the only ones who know. But you’re going to have to talk to Cass. This isn’t the kind of news that can get out,” Rhett cautioned.
“What? Why? Look, I’m not convinced that I do have any magic—not the kind you are suggesting—” I stammered. “But if I do, then why does it have to be kept a secret? You both have magic. Plenty of people still have at least some of their powers,” I pointed out.
“Because we don’t understand your magic, Al. We don’t know anyone who has ever been quite like you,” Rhett replied, deathly serious.
“Can you imagine if people found out that after all these years of the magic dying, you have some power that gives other people their powers back? Can you imagine if Vandros found out about power like that?” Luke asked ferociously.
He was gripping my hand a little too tightly, but he realized it and let up.
“Al, tell me you understand?” Luke pleaded. “They’ll take you away from me. They’ll lock you up. People will do anything to get their powers back,” he said, his voice raising.
“Guys! GUYS!” I said, squeezing both their hands.
“I think you’re crazy. I don’t know why or how you got your powers back. And I don’t know why Cass got his wings when he did. I don’t have any more magic than the next fae born during the last twenty-four years. And I certainly don’t have the kind of power you are talking about. But…” I said, cutting off their protests, “I will talk to Cass after the Ball tonight.”
Rhett squeezed my hand and then dropped it, slithering away back to his post behind the bar. I looked at Luke inquiringly. He leaned in, kissing me gently on the cheek before pausing near my ear.
“Don’t think coming home dressed in another man’s clothes will keep me away from you,” he growled, scooping me into his body.
A rush of excitement flooded through me before settling into an aching throb between my thighs. He squeezed my ass with both hands, but the kiss he gave me on the lips was soft and sweet.
“I’ll let you start getting ready,” Luke said, releasing me.
He gave me a smile that didn’t quite make it to his eyes.
“Hey, Al, did you hear the news about the King?” Rhett called to me, back to his normal, confident self.
“No, what is it?” I asked.
“The King is using the Fall Ball as one of the five or ten engagement parties he will probably have. It’s going to be the biggest celebration we’ve had in decades, and it starts an hour before the Ball!” Rhett exclaimed.
“I have to go get ready!” I yelped, already half-running down the hall.
I hopped into the shower, and as the hot water poured over me, I ran my fingers through my hair and thought about what the boys had said. My magic. My magic. But I didn’t have any magic. I’d never done anything remotely magical in my entire life. There had been times in my life where I’d wished I had some kind of magical ability. Of course, all fae had some magic. It was that spark of magic that made us immortal. But I’d never flown, fought, or so much as baked a pie with any kind of magical prowess. I’d come to terms with that fact and accepted that, probably because of my being born around the time that the magic began to fade, I just had less magic than most.
I wasn’t completely oblivious to what they were talking about. Jay, Luke, Rhett, Cass—all men who I had been with in some capacity and all men who now had recovered their powers while others’ powers continued to falter. But there had to be something other than me that tied the powerful group of men together. Their relationship to the King? The fact that they are the first-born male in their family? But even as I ran through a list of possibilities, I remembered that Luke wasn’t the eldest—his brother Brad was.
I was not the reason for them getting their powers back. I couldn’t be. I just couldn’t be. That kind of power didn’t exist. There was no power that could reverse the dying magic. There wasn’t even a power associated purely with sex. What they were suggesting—that somehow these men had gained their power back from sex with me—was not a thing. It was unheard of.
It did not exist.