“Good.” She smiled, arching her back lightly. “Now we’re even. I can’t even look at you without wanting to tear off your clothes. Come on, let’s get to our seats before they start the ceremony.”

As we headed up the aisle, looking for the others, I said, “I’m thinking of changing my hairstyle. At least for special occasions.”

I didn’t mention that the thought made me nervous. I’d braided my hair the day after I returned home from the OIA therapy center, one year after I’d been turned. The locks had never been out of the their braids since then.

“I’d love to see your hair down,” Nerissa said. “A cloud of burnished copper . . . yes, it would be lovely.”

We scooted in beside Delilah and Chase. Delilah grinned at us. She was done up in a rose-colored silk tank top, a pair of pale pink linen trousers, and she’d traded her clodhopper boots for a pair of ivory flats. Chase gave me a little wave, still looking subdued. He was dressed in Armani. Camille, Smoky, and Morio were one row up, along with Iris and Maggie.

The rest of the seats were filled with FBHs, although I saw Sassy and Erin sitting on the other side. A niggle of guilt washed over me. I should be over there with them, but then again, the less Erin depended on me over the coming months, the sooner she’d be able to function on her own. Learning the life from another vampire was one thing. Living with your sire could create an unhealthy bond if it went on too long.

A buzz ran through the audience as Jason took his place at the altar. He was dressed in an exquisite tux with a pink vest, and he looked stunning. To his right stood another man, as dark as Jason but a few years younger, and I guessed it might be his brother.

The officiate took her place at the podium. As the music started, Jim Croce belted out “Time in a Bottle,” and Tim began to walk down the aisle. He wore a black tux, and his shirt was as blue as his eyes. He was followed by three brides-maids—it was hard to tell whether they were women or men in drag—but they wore tasteful silver dresses and carried bouquets of red roses and white carnations.

As Tim joined Jason at the altar, I thought about love. I thought about the possible pairings in the world and how rare and wonderful it was to find someone you could share your innermost self with. While I didn’t know if I’d ever have that, for now Nerissa was my companion. And for now, what we had was enough.

I turned my attention back to the ceremony. The officiate was speaking.

“. . . love—it’s all about love. We come together, we create our families, we choose our mates out of the desire to form a life together. Love takes many forms, wears many faces, but when it’s real, when it touches your heart, you will know it and—with hope—embrace it. Love is stronger than hate, love is stronger than anger. Love is stronger than all artificial divisions that exist in our world. But love must be nurtured and carefully tended . . .”

My thoughts turned inward again. Harish had loved Sabele, and she’d been stripped away from him. I’d held his hand when we told him we found her remains and he cried. Rozurial had loved and seen that love tragically ripped out of his life. Mother had crossed to another world for love. Camille’s love encompassed three men—her heart was so open and embracing. Delilah was caught between lovers.

Was love permanent? Perhaps. Love could be killed, love could be torn asunder. But the one thing that couldn’t happen to love was for the essential will to love to be destroyed. And no matter what evils lurked in the world, that would forever be true.

As Jason kissed Tim, we rose to our feet cheering, and I felt bloody tears well up in my eyes. I dashed them away using the crimson handkerchief that Sassy had loaned me and turned to Nerissa. She leaned down and kissed me.

“A kiss for love,” she whispered. “Now let’s go congratulate the grooms.”

CHAPTER 29

The next night was Litha, the summer solstice, and our attendance was required—as both emissaries for Otherworld and relatives of Morgaine.

We were in our best ritual wear. Camille’s tattoo on the back of her left shoulder that marked her as one of the Moon Mother’s daughters glowed with a silver light. She was wearing a long, strapless dress that swept out from her waist into a wash of sparkling gauze.

Delilah was dressed in her finest tunic and leggings, with Lysanthra strapped to her leg. The black scythe tattoo on her forehead glimmered with streaks of orange fire.

I’d opted for a long, crimson dress and for the first time in years, my hair shrouded me in a cascade of curls. I still wasn’t sure about the new me, but at least for tonight, I’d wear it down.

The gathering of Earthside and OW Fae was on a thousand-acre preserve that the Fae Queens had bought northeast of Seattle. The land was a haven of fir and cedar, oak and maple and huckleberry, and winding blackberry vines. Situated among the foothills of the Cascades, it was easy to find and yet out of the way enough to avoid being swallowed up by the cities.

I knew the Fae Queens were actively buying up as many smaller parcels of land around the central preserve as possible. Titania was in the process of moving her barrow to the land, and soon Smoky would be free from her meddling. He was so grateful he’d agreed to attend the gathering along with Camille and Morio.

While the werepumas had opted to stay home, Chase had accompanied Delilah, which I found slightly perturbing. The detective didn’t realize how dangerous it could be for a human to hang out in Fae central. Of course, a couple ambassadors from the mortal world were here, too—officials from several governments who had first been set up to deal with the incoming visitors from OW. Now they found themselves sharing their own world with Earthside Fae, and the balance was shifting again.

FBH pagans and witches had petitioned to join the gathering, and a select few had been allowed, but for the most part, those attending were Seelie and Unseelie blood, and the dryads, floraeds, sprites, and sylphs. Naiads and undines lounged in the lake along with the selkies of the Puget Sound Harbor Seal Pod.

The trees here had been woken up, I thought as I wandered around the perimeter of the vast lea in which we all stood. The trees, the land, the lake situated on the land—they were all sentient and aware. From every corner and niche the nature spirits were watching us, vibrant and joyful and feral and dark. The summer solstice was the shortest night of the year, and we were balancing on the cusp of a new era.

Tonight, the Fae Queens would officially ascend to the throne. I glanced over at the stage where the crowning would take place. Queen Asteria was there, and beside her stood our father, who had come over as an ambassador for Y’Elestrial. Feddrah-Dahns was there, an emissary from the Dahns Unicorn Herd, and several other regal presences were hanging out with them.

A loud trumpeting filled the air, and I wandered over to the court where Delilah and Camille were talking in low tones with Father. He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

We’d had a little time to talk since he arrived, and for the first time, I suspected he meant what he said. He’d accepted me as I was, vampire and all. He was a handsome man, and part of me, remembering Jason and Tim’s wedding, wished that he’d look for love again. Mother’s death had hit him hard.

“Menolly, I’m glad you’re here. Before the crowning, Morgaine has something to say to you—to all you girls.” He stepped back, a frown on his face. I could sense that he wasn’t happy with whatever it was, but he remained silent.

Morgaine swept up, a cloud of lavender and silver, black and indigo. As Queen of Dusk, she’d be ruling over the time between daylight and night, and her court would run under the perpetual twilight.

“Good, you’re finally here,” she said, looking at all of us. “We have to talk before the coronation.” Her nephew Mordred joined her, scowling. He didn’t like us—any of us—that much was clear, but he inclined his head in a haughty, polite manner, and let out a little huff.

“Have they decided yet, Aunt?” he asked.

“Decided what?” Camille asked.

Morgaine ran her gaze over us. “You girls stand between worlds, as do I. Only you stand between three worlds—the world of mortals, the world of Y’Eírialiastar, and the world of the Earthside Fae.”

It had been some time since we’d heard the Sidhe name for Otherworld, and her use of it took me by surprise for a moment.

Morgaine noticed and smiled. “The humans’ word for your world cannot begin to encompass the beauty there. I give it due honor.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” I said. Relative or not, no matter how distant or close the connection, I didn’t trust her. I never had, and I never would.

She let out a small sigh. “You must make a choice tonight.”

“Choice? What are you talking about?” Camille asked.

Morgaine’s smile turned cunning, and I took a step back. She wasn’t on our side. She wasn’t on anybody’s side but her own.

“I offer to you seats in my court. You are my flesh and blood, no matter the centuries that passed between our births or the fact that you were born in Y’Eírialiastar and I was born Earthside. We are still kin, and I offer you the title of princesses in my court.”

She glanced up at Mordred. “Mordred is my heir apparent, but should he not produce a child of his own, you would be in line for the throne of Queen of Dusk. Camille first, and then Delilah.” She turned to me. “While I can offer you a seat in the Court of Dusk, I can never offer you the chance to rule, since you can no longer have children.”

Camille and Delilah gasped, but I just studied Morgaine, wondering what the catch was. “What do we have to do for this honor?”

Morgaine winked at me. “It’s very simple, my girls. You renounce Y’Eírialiastar and pledge yourself Earthside. You resign all your commissions over in Otherworld—except, of course, those that bind you to the gods—and you take up duties in my court.” She leaned in close. “You would still be fighting the demons, but for me. For us. For all the Earthside Fae.”

Without missing a beat, I shook my head. “I’m not playing,” I said. “Thanks, but no thanks. I’m loyal to my duties, and I’m loyal to my home and the Court and Crown who now rules the city.”

Camille glanced at me, worry filling her eyes. She looked back at Morgaine, and I could tell she was choosing her words carefully. “You offer us a great honor, Queen of Dusk, but we regretfully must decline. Would you willingly accept someone into your court who broke old oaths and allegiances without just cause? Could you ever really trust us?”

Mordred smoldered, but I detected a hint of relief in his sweat. He didn’t want anybody in line to take over from him.

Delilah shook her head. “No. We can’t accept. But we’re here to honor you and the others and to celebrate the unfolding of a new era.”

Morgaine stared at us darkly, then turned. “Never forget what I offered you. The offer stands for a time, but if you choose to take it after tonight, the price will go up. Think it over before saying no. You have until sunrise.”

As she swept away, followed by Mordred, we looked at one another.

“Wherever that damned woman goes, trouble follows,” I said. “We’ll have to watch her carefully.”

“I think the Supe Community will find itself splitting as the Earthside Fae join the Courts of the Three Queens, leaving the Weres and vamps to themselves.” Delilah let out a long sigh. “All we can do is watch and wait and hope to hell Morgaine never gets her hands on one of the spirit seals, because you know she’d be up to no good with it.”

“I think . . . I think I finally agree with you,” Camille said sadly. “The coronation is about to begin. Shall we watch?”

Delilah shrugged. “Might as well. Let’s go join Father and Queen Asteria. I feel safer around them.”

I swung in beside her and wrapped my arm around her waist. “What’s that?” I asked, feeling a hard bottle pressing against me from the pocket of her tunic.

She shook her head, grinning. “Nothing you need to know about.” I stepped to the side and waited until she’d gone on ahead, then quietly looked at the bottle I’d fished out of her pocket. I stifled a shout. The nectar of life: the elixir that would grant a mortal extended life. One bottle of this down the hatch, and Chase would live almost as long as a full-blooded Fae.

As half-Fae, we’d be offered the nectar at some point to extend our lives, providing the Court and Crown was willing to allow us the privilege. But Delilah had to have stolen this. Nobody in their right mind would just give it to her. I stared at her, wondering whether to say anything, when Camille gave a little cry as she opened a scroll one of Father’s messengers handed her.

“What is it?” I said. “Are you okay?”

She nodded as her eyes teared up and a smile broke out across her face. “It’s a message from Trillian. He’s alive, he’s okay, and he’ll meet me in Otherworld in the autumn, to come back home with me. There’s a truth spell cast on this parchment, so I know it’s not a lie.”

In the bustle as Morio and Smoky joined us, I slid the bottle back in Delilah’s pocket. Whatever happened with Chase would happen regardless of what I said or did. We’d sort it out later.

As the trumpets sounded again, and the Queens of Morning, Dusk, and Night knelt before Queen Asteria to receive their crowns, I tried to block out worries about demon lords, Fae politics, and human hate groups.

The world overflowed with beauty in life, in death, in all stages in between. There was so much beauty around us—hideous beauty and beauty so brilliant it made my eyes water.