“Why?” Ariana asked, intrigued as her power subtly stirred inside her.
“Because the temptation for a Dark Fae to use their magics for ill is very great.” Quinn warned now as he watched her. “Passions never die in a Dark Fae like they do a regular Vampire – you will always desire food and drink, and revel in life the way living things do; your heart will never cease to beat, and your breath will never cease to flow. You are stillalive,Ariana, in a way a Vampire is not. Yet you hold the deepest of death-magics within you, to use as you will. Eventually.”
“So you’re saying I’m going to gain power like a Vampire, but I’ll still be passionate like a Fae.” Ariana figured, seeing how that might be catastrophic. “But I’ve never been emotionally chaotic, and my temper is not that wild.”
“But you are Summer Fae, Ariana.” Quinn warned with a pointed look now as he laced his long fingers in his lap. “And Summer Fae are notorious for having hot personalities. The blazing fire of the full summer sun is in your magic – the hot fire of your Summer Fae origins.”
“The ring of fire in your eyes. And your ability to daywalk.” Ariana suddenly understood as she stared at Quinn, so much about him falling into place. “You still have those elements of your Summer Fae power in your magic, though you’re now a Vampire.”
“Indeed.” Quinn spoke more gently as he watched her, something deeply compassionate in him now. “But my Vampire’s dwindling of mortal traits controls my old Fae burn, Ariana. For you, that will never happen. Stories say that some Dark Fae became deeply unbalanced, and those are the stories both Fae and Vampires fear, because Dark Fae can be so very powerful over us. Other stories speak of Dark Fae as sublime creatures, but we do not know how it will go for you. All the stories say, however, that a Dark Fae has a better chance at balance if they are bound to someone to help control their growing power as it opens, rather than be left to weather maturation alone.”
“Bound to someone.” Ariana blinked, cocking her head as she saw another angle to Quinn’s puzzle. “You think that if I bind to you, you could help me control my power as it opens.”
“And keep you safe.” He nodded deeply now, watching her with his dark onyx eyes. “It is not just for my own welfare that I consider my Master’s Kiss for you, Ariana. But also to help you as both the power of the Light and Night open up inside you… and fight at first, for dominance.”
“What can I expect as my magic opens?” She asked then, that dark sensation opening up more inside her as the place that housed her new magic churned. “What’s going to happen to me?”
“Consider this instead: what is already happening?” He asked softly as he watched her. “Dig deep, Ariana, and feel how you are already different than before your powers opened.”
“I feel… light deep inside, and heat.” Ariana found herself suddenly saying, already knowing what Quinn was referring to. As she spoke, a blaze of light flared inside her, scorching her veins. Like the brightness of the midsummer sun, she suddenly felt a deep soothing come after it, like standing beneath a solstice moon. Together, that brightness and darkness twisted inside her, forming the dark-light star sensation she had felt before. “Sunlight scorches through me sometimes, since the Pitti Palace. But other times it feels like the cool light of the moon. Like an ancient star blazing within me… both hot-cold, and dark-light.”
“What else?” Quinn spoke with rapt attention now.
“Sensations are heightened.” Closing her eyes, Ariana dug deep, knowing how she was changing but having trouble finding the words. “Colors are brighter, smells are sharper. Speech seems like music occasionally, and I can feel it when a Vampire’s power presses into me, or surges around me. I feel… energy rushing through my veins, both mine and other people’s. Like everything inside me is becomingmoresomehow.”
“Like something natural inside you is now opening.” Quinn spoke softly as Ariana opened her eyes. “I do not know exactly how your powers will manifest as they open, but I do know they are already resonating quite a lot with mine. I am a strong Master Vampire, Ariana, and though I am not the most powerful, I am a power to be reckoned with. The fact that you are compelling me already says something about what you may eventually achieve. And others are feeling your pull also.”
“Arturos Morregain.” Ariana spoke softly.
“Yes. Arturos is a powerful Master Vampire, and old.” Quinn spoke quietly now, and Ariana didn’t miss the edge of warning in his voice. “Though he is my ally and friend, he is not to be trifled with, and can change a Dark Haven’s fate with a wave of his hand. He has deep ties to the Council of Rome, and though he is not currently on the Council, he has been in the past. I trust both him and Lady Eiseth to keep my secret concerning you, but as your power opens, it is likely that other strong Master Vampires will begin to feel what you are. And will become curious about you.”
“So how does this all connect to your agenda with your Vampire Council?” Ariana frowned.
“Ah.” Quindici eyed her now, astute as he re-laced his long fingers in his lap. “Because I would like to beonthe Vampire Council of Rome, and I am not currently. In order to push my agenda of modernity and egalitarianism among them, I must be. And in order to do that, I must build power I do not currently have with the reasonably small Dark Havens I manage both here in Florence and also in Pisa. Dark Fae have a way of…persuadingVampires and Fae with their power. Indeed, it has been hardly five days since you and I met, and your subtle magic and frank attitude are already having an effect on me to speak more openly about my ambitions than I had intended to. I wish to have your ability in our Dark Haven to not just help convince the Vampire Council of my agenda for all Vampires, but also to help align your Summer Fae King to my cause. Your intrigue as a Dark Fae puts you in the perfect position to become my official liaison to his Court.”
“You want me to not only help you persuade powerful Master Vampires on your Council to your agenda, but also be your emissary to my Summer King’s Court – a place I’ve never been, among Fae I’ve never met, negotiating with a man who wants me dead?” Ariana breathed, incredulous as a deep shock rioted all through her now. “Why?”
“Because Vampires are banned from the Summer Fae Court, and because I wish to engage talks to improve relations between the Vampires of Florence and the Summer Fae,” Quinn spoke back, direct. “If I had your King’s support, the Vampire Council would be far more willing to listen to me, Ariana. Summer Fae are powerful warriors, and dangerous to Vampires. And even elder Vampires tend to listen when Summer Fae rise against them.”
“But why would the Summer Fae help you? They hate Vampires.” Ariana asked.
“Because of the War of Rome.” Quinn spoke back with no bullshit. “The Summer Fae were kicked out of their ancient homelands there, after they lost the War. If I could lobby the Council to allow them to return to those ancient lands, it would benefit them greatly.”
“But why would anyone at the Summer Fae Court listen to me?” Ariana frowned now, deeply concerned about Quinn’s plans as her magic churned inside her. “I mean, I was raised nearly human, in the human world.”
“It is because of your unique upbringing that I believe you would do well, Ariana, and the boldness it has given you; and because of your passion for the truth.” Quinn smiled subtly now as he watched her. “As my oath-bound emissary, you would be untouchable by your King’s laws against Dark Fae. Bringing my Florentine Vampires and the Summer Fae Court together could produce a force that would give us great influence in Rome. Vampires are banned from the Summer Court, but Dark Fae are not precisely, and the Fae are deeply curious about their Dark kin. They would court you, talk with you… which would give you an opportunity to turn ears to my agenda.”
“You’re talking about the Summer Fae Prince, aren’t you? Lucca Bellari.” Ariana heaved a deep breath now as Quinn’s entire plan came crashing home for her. But even as she finally understood, churning with a dark worry about all of it, a vision of the Summer Fae Prince blossomed up inside her. His piercing blue eyes smote her; his fierce masculine beauty and furious grace as he’d battled to protect her at the Pitti Palace had been like a blaze of brightness through her life.
The blaze of the sun to Quinn’s simmering darkness.
“Prince Lucca risked his life to save yours, Ariana.” Quinn spoke deeply now as he watched her. “He didn’t have to battle that Revenant at the palace; he could have called his father’s Brightwatch. But he put himself in harm’s way to save you, and to not disclose your secret to his father. He is feeling your pull… just like I am. Prince Lucca Bellari is our in to the Summer Fae Court.”
“And you want me to seduce him.” Ariana snorted now, though she was strangely breathless as she considered the idea.
“I wish for you totalkwith Prince Lucca.” Quinn breathed to the nighttime solar. “Just talk. Nothing more. I do not wish to use you by bringing you under my protection, Ariana. I wish to reach an agreement between us that is mutually beneficial. I hope you understand that.”
Nodding, Ariana considered Quinn’s words. But suddenly, thinking about the Summer Fae Prince’s furious light made her think of Quinn’s contrasting elegant darkness. As if thinking about the two together now opened up something immense inside her magic, a surge of darkness and scorching heat suddenly flared through Ariana from her opening power.
