Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 125077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Trent chuckled, but the words made me stop since up until this point Rufus seemed like a very old-school, refined vampire type. “I’m sorry? You have a bat signal?”
Rufus stopped and turned, an oddly sweet grin on his hollowed-out face. “It is a joke among us. Bats are close to our hearts and our physical beings.” His voice went low. “I am Batman.”
I had to laugh. “Now a sense of humor that includes pop culture references is not something I expected. You guys watch superhero movies?”
He returned to his long descent. “Of course. We enjoy entertainments of all kinds. I think you’ll find us quite accommodating. We live underground, but we try to keep up with the world. As I said, there are many non-primals living in the nest now, and they bring us vitality and a diversity I find invigorating. Our lives are long, and so much of before was spent in the darkness. It is good to surround ourselves with light. Welcome to our nest, Kelsey Owens.”
Ahead of me a set of doors swung open and warm light spilled over the stairs I stood on. Rufus walked inside, his taloned hand gracefully sweeping out to gesture to the grand foyer I found myself in front of.
“Like I would take you to sleep in a cave.” Trent snorted as he walked past me. He stopped on the last step. “You’ve spent far too much time with Devinshea. He spoiled you, baby.”
I had gotten used to a certain level of opulence and comfort. He was right about that. It didn’t look like I would be in a sleeping bag. The lobby of this nest of the primals looked like something out of Architectural Digest, with gleaming wood floors and a stunning chandelier overhead. There were flowers covering one of the walls, thick green vines and blooming purple flowers.
“How do you get them to grow down here?” I was fascinated with this place already. I let go of Eddie’s hand and entered the nest.
“We have several helpful gnomes who aid in the gardens. Because we are in the Under, we have had to adapt our techniques. The gnomes have lived on this plane for centuries and chose not to leave when the other Fae did. When we immigrated from Europe, they chose to come with us,” Rufus explained. “They do good work, though these spectacular blooms come from another creature.”
“My brother was here a couple of weeks ago,” a familiar voice said.
“Rhys’s sexual frustration totally helps plants grow,” another finished. “They bloom because he can’t.”
Evangeline Donovan-Quinn leaned against a wall that likely led farther into the nest, and my son was right beside her. Naturally he was the one who’d thrown his friend under the bus, but I suspected that was all a part of this group’s love language.
“The Green Man has been kind to us,” Rufus acknowledged. “He has helped grow the crops that feed our guests. He gives us the beauty that nature usually reserves for those who live above. We are so grateful to him.”
“You have been more than kind to us, Rufus. The primals have shown us hospitality we could not have expected from anyone, and we are so grateful and humbled by your compassion,” the queen’s daughter said.
Rufus’s head bowed. “We are honored to do you service, bright one.”
Evan was a companion, and I’d heard that she glowed as brightly as her mother did now that she was almost an adult by human standards. The way she presented herself was more mature than most almost eighteen-year-olds I knew. I had a few questions, though. I was going to follow Evan’s lead and be as polite as I possibly could when I asked questions that might be sensitive. “Rufus, I hope you will forgive my ignorance about your culture, and please take anything I ask as a genuine request for knowledge.”
“Of course. You should feel free to ask anything you like. I assure you we are an open society,” Rufus replied. “We have to be. I assume you are going to ask the obvious question. Why are companions safe here when we are vampires who are known for being closer to our savage selves than others?”
“There is nothing savage about the primals,” Evan insisted.
“Ah, but that is where you are wrong, Princess,” Rufus countered. “Our outer appearance is but a hint at our inner selves. They call us primal for a reason. When a primal first rises, we change in a way other vampires do not. We regress to our earliest form, a combination of demon, human, and bat. Our instincts are primal as well, but we are gifted with intelligence, and through discipline and knowledge and faith, we can tame the inner beast and become our truest self. The companions are safe because we honor them. We honor the light they bring, the uniqueness in each one. As we honor the life brought by all creatures.”