Courts and Cabals 2 by G.S. D'Moore (warren buffett book recommendations TXT) 📗

blackened, died, and vanished as a swirling vortex of color exploded in the center of the dorm room. The remaining changelings cried out in panic as they found themselves clustered in the suddenly tiny space.

“Useless,” she would have spit on them if it wasn’t beneath her dignity.

“Shall we,” sweat permeated Godric’s brow. He didn’t have the power to conjure portals between the realms on his own, but her mother did. Her lending strength to the goblin was another bad sign.

“Yes,” Aveena didn’t need any more prompting. She needed to face this head on.

She stepped into the swirling mass of light. It felt like someone grabbed her behind the eyes and gave a yank. There was a slight falling sensation, and then she landed on her knees in the center of a beautiful frozen tundra. She forced down her irritation as Godric stepped through the portal without incident, and it closed behind him.

Despite her anger at her own sudden nausea, a sense of rightness flooded through her. She’d been in the human realm so long she’d grown used to the sensation that everything was a little off. The realms vibrated at slightly different frequencies. Some were harsher, and others softer. The human realm was softer than the faerie realm, which was why Fae could travel freely while humans couldn’t come here. It was a strategic advantage that was unmatched. The Fae could invade the humans at a time of their liking, and the humans had very little recourse.

Of course, there were other realms with harsher frequencies that posed the same danger to Aveena’s home realm, but there were protections against those that the humans had not discovered.

“And likely never will,” she smiled as snow blew across the stunning landscape.

Sunlight rained down on the endless field of ice, highlighting each individual snowflake for anyone that bothered to watch closely enough. She smelled the cleanness in the air, tasted the artic bite on her tongue, and felt the wind caress her body like a long-lost lover.

“Home,” she sighed.

Any human who inhaled the air here would have their lungs freeze in their chest. It was beyond cold, but Aveena felt nothing but warm comfort blossom in her heart. With that sense of relief flooding every fiber of her being, she dropped her human glamour.

Even in her true Fae form, Aveena was considered stunningly beautiful. Her true form was more humanoid than most Fae, with some stark differences. The first was her height. During the battle with the whore, she’d assumed part of her true form in the human world. It was against the laws of her people to show the mortals their true form. Humans were not worthy. She was not supposed to show anyone what they really looked like, but in the heat of battle, she nearly disobeyed.

Her half-sister might have caught a glimpse of her through her glamour armor, but the other witnesses had seen nothing but a massive armored figure. Here, in her homeland, she wore no armor, she wore nothing at all as she towered twice as tall as the six-foot goblin. Her hair whitened from sun-blonde to snow white, and her skin took on an ice-blue hue. Blood-red geometric patterns swirled across her body in random expressions of her power. Humans would think they were tattoos, but, yet again, the insignificant human mind couldn’t fully comprehend what they represented.

Another deep breath and her massive breasts heaved with the effort. She could smother a mortal man between her true form’s tits. She flexed powerfully-built arms and legs. The males of her species were shorter and built of muscle and fur, but the stronger females exposed their bare flesh to the elements as a sign of strength. They also exposed everything else, and dared a male to even think about trying to claim them.

The human’s Worldwide Registration Act required all Fae to announce their species when they stepped through immigration. Aveena’s identification showed her as a frost giant. She’d laughed at the immigration officer’s confused expression when she’d first entered the mortal realm. Not only because her glamour looked nothing like a frost giant, but because frost giant wasn’t what she truly was. No human could understand the power and heritage of her proud race.

Out of courtesy to the hot-tempered males of her race, she donned clothes. Her sudden arrival would be distracting enough without spilling blood in an effort to court her. With imperceptible effort, she summoned a white, hooded robe and strode toward the ancient stronghold of House Foxbelle. Even from this far away, she could feel her mother’s displeasure radiating across her domain. Aveena didn’t falter, and Godric had to jog to keep up with her as she marched to face her fate.

Chapter 3

“Dani, slow the fuck down!” I yelled as the van slid around a corner like it was in the latest Fast and the Furious movie.

I had a white-knuckled grip on the armrest and would have grabbed the Jesus bar if there was one. As we skidded, I locked eyes with an owl in a tree. I saw its pupils widen until the gold of its eyes were nearly nonexistent. I could reach out and touch it for a moment . . . and then we were past, tearing down the dirt road toward the safehouse we prayed was there.

We were close. I could tell. There was something in the air I couldn’t quite put my finger on, but it sent a chill up my spine. This might be a safehouse, but it probably wasn’t the nondescript apartment in the middle of some city you saw when a CIA agent was on the run. This place belonged to one of the most powerful cabals in the world; an organization filled with mages, succubae, imps, dwarfs, and gods only knew what else.

I was still thinking about what we were walking into when Dani slammed on the breaks.