Chapter One

Myra's shoes were silent on the wooden floor, she snuck through dark halls. She'd spent the rest of the day avoiding her two best friends, a hard enough feat when you go to a school of two hundred people.

She was only held up once when a teacher crossed her path. The bobbing of flashlights made them easy to spot. The girls had been sneaking in, out, and around the school for years. A short drive took her to a seemingly abandoned building. She did have a date for the party but in case things went sour she didn't want to be left at the mercy of a scheming society. Her accomplice for the night wasn't particularly trustworthy or notable for letting another take the lead. The all-knowing look in his eyes and the way he danced around facts set Myra on edge.

Before heading inside, she steered her car all around the buildings, just in case something looked fishier than it already was. Nothing jumped out at her, though she hadn't expected to see much in the dark. Only a waning crescent moon and stars lit the night. The tour just showed her an abandoned section of town that hadn't been renovated or torn down yet. Several buildings in disarray sprawled about an old shopping center with the lights in the parking lots long burned out. A few other cars, driven by mortals or those without the mystic ability to travel blessed to the fae, were parked in the shadiest spot at the back of the old store.

It was the fae she was here to see. They would be about to tell her if her suspicions were right. If Illa and Summer had been keeping who she really was from her this whole time. Myra's memories of using magic threatened her focus, but she pushed them back. She couldn't afford to be distracted here, even if her tour guide was her friend. One could never fully trust the fae. Myra didn't know much yet, but she knew they were forever wheeling and dealing to get the maximum advantage for themselves, especially from humans or part humans. Everything Myra knew she had learned from Nathan. He did tell her what she wanted to know, but she just had to hear it from someone else and her friends didn't seem to be about to volunteer.

Leaving her car a little ways away from the others just in case, she slowly prowled towards where she thought a door would have been.

Up closer, it might have been a department store with several sections to be so big. Perfect for a secret party. If not for Nathan, Myra wouldn't have known either. Somehow the few dirty windows at the back of the store didn't display illumination from even a desk lamp, let alone a party. If it were a regular human party, Myra doubted the festivities would be low key. She didn’t know much about faeries, but she didn’t think they would be discreet about partying. They'd managed to hide themselves in plain sight, though. Myra saw no signs of the few things she’d been warned of would be part of the party. Maybe there was a storage basement.

Even with her eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary and searching for an entrance no less, a dark figure managed to get the drop on her. A delicate hand lay itself on her shoulder.

“And so she finally arrives.” He intoned, as he had been waiting long.

Myra stifled a yell. Her body settled for jumping out of its skin. Breathing hard, she said, trying to be quiet. “Nathan, what the hell?”

“Just making sure you know things can jump out at you.”

Myra stopped mid step and turned to face him.

Nathan stood there, casual and lazy as you please while putting off an aura of being capable of violence. His eyes gleamed in the dark. Pointed features of his elfish heritage curved lightly in amusement. Milky tones contrasted sharply with darkness of the shadows with black hair framing his face and skimming his shoulders. He wore rather regular looking clothing, a simple button down shirt and slacks.

Myra hadn’t know what the dress code was going to be for this event, so she had gone with a plain dark red strapless dress. She wore light makeup that accented her naturally dark hair and honey brown eyes.

Myra withheld the urge to berate him. She took in a calming breath and turned around and started walking. “The party isn’t due to start for another half hour, Nathan.”

He simply grinned at her, offering his arm as he joined her. Seeing no other option, she took it. Nathan swooped her around, starting off for a dark corner of the building. Was there a service entrance?

Soft murmurs loosed themselves from his lips as his hand looped spirals in the air. Light shimmered around them, seemingly from nowhere. The dark scene melted into a dark dance floor, littered with bodies, flashing lights in all colors, fast and low toned music piped in somehow. People, faeries and a few humans, danced in a mass of flesh, twirls, jumps, skips and shrieks.

Myra needn’t have been worried about a dress code. Almost every person wore something different. Some of the men wore business casual like Nathan, others in full suits and some in practically nothing. Myra looked away quickly. The girls wore everything from elegant ballroom dresses seen in the eighteen hundreds to revealing clubbing dresses of today to again, close to nothing.

So entwined were the guests with themselves and each other that no one noticed they had arrived.

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“So, in the human world, huh?” Myra asked, eyes narrowing. Maybe she could get a straight answer out of him for once.

“I never said such a thing.” Nathan replied with another quick grin. “Shall we introduce you? There is one who most wishes to meet your acquaintance.”

Anger at his lie hushing her words, Myra merely nodded and let herself be led into the dance floor. She would not be able to leave Faery on her own. Playing nice with Nathan at least had to be in the cards.

Nathan possessed some sort of grace that allowed him to move through the dancing, twirling bodies, through flailing limbs. The dancers swung within inches of Nathan's and Myra's bodies. Nathan spun and side stepped at just the right intervals. It seemed he danced a choreography all on his own. Myra stumbled behind him, simply struggling to not fall.

Within the crowd, everything seemed to be turned up several levels. The lights were distracting enough by themselves without sparkles glittering of dresses and suits alike and parts of anatomy usually not seen in public- some of which could not be ignored- and dust set off by pixies. The people looked to be of all ages and some ageless. Those who appeared as teenagers danced alongside others who could have been their grandparents.

And the assault of noise. Any club Myra had been to before had nothing on the volume and beats of the music. Loud didn't begin to cover what they played. The notes permeated one's body, pounding against one's heart. For what she saw of the fae, that wasn't metaphorical. Emotions ranging from euphoria to what looked like hysterics, from smug pleasure to oddly sorrow raged openly on their faces and in their movements. Their reactions splashed into Myra like a wave, hitting her from every angle, knocking her off balance both figuratively and literally. If not for Nathan pulling Myra along, she wouldn't have had the presence of mind to keep moving forward.

As they neared the other edge, Myra could see buffets had been set up on one side with seating arranged near it. Even from here, she could make out food anyone could desire laid out on the tables. Few loitered near it.

Nathan walked right up to the one in the center, spoke right into his ear and stood back with Myra.

The one he had spoken to perked up, literally. He had pointy ears like elves and they pointed forward towards Myra. His features were also pointed, but a way subtly different from Nathan’s or the woman on the platform. Myra couldn’t quite point out what she thought was different, but it was definitely there. He had dressed all in black, plain pants and a silk shirt, and hair out of an anime.

Suddenly the sound of the music and its dancers dulled as if the group were outside. “So, she’s the one you told me about. What am I supposed to do?” He asked as if he didn’t have any interest, even as his eyes twinkled.

Someone who wants Myra to say, or Nathan to say, what they want him to do. Power games?

Why Nathan wouldn’t tell Myra himself was beyond her. Sure, she was still skeptical of him, but she wouldn’t just tell him he was lying.

Myra stepped forward. “I want you to tell me who I am.”

The boy laughed. “Tell you who you are. You could wander the seven planes, apprentice under seven masters and learn the seven stars and never know who you are.” His stance shifted. “But that isn’t quite what you ask, is it? You want to know what you are.”

Suddenly and wholly unsure of herself, she simply nodded.

“So," the boy started out matter of factly, "strange things have been happening around you, to you, because of you. You felt some emotion so strongly that you affected the world around you, yes? Things move of their own accord? People bend to your will? You hear things you shouldn’t hear?” Myra's face must have given way that had actually happened. “Truly? What did you hear?”

She didn’t want to say, but she knew he wouldn’t continue if she didn’t. “My best friends conspiring with someone about me.” Myra told him in a rush, keeping her eyes on his. If she let herself focus on anything but right now, she wouldn’t be able to keep what little calm she had.

“You are not fully fae, but nor are you fully human. This has been kept from you for a reason I do not know, but I can guess. In all likelihood, your mother had an affair with a fae man and found out what he truly is but she was already pregnant with you. So she sent him away and kept you, kept you away from Faery so that you could be the human child she loved.

“And your friends conspiring. Tell me, how do you know of this?”

Myra recounted the conversation bits she had heard and finished with telling him, “but staff, students or special guests are not allowed on school property. You have to go through procedures to be allowed in.” Her voice trailed off as she spoke. She realized the stupidity of those words even as she said them. If someone who could transport between dimensions, mere walls and security wouldn’t keep them out.

“I don’t know how your friends were talking to this man, but if they have been with you your whole life, odds are they aren’t going to hurt you. Unless of course, you have to be a certain age or a certain way for a ritual. Before you jump the gun,” he said, oddly human-like given our surroundings, “remember the things you know they have done. As everyone knows, actions speak louder than words. Words can be misunderstood, out of context, as this conversation you overheard most certainly could be. Their actions, however, are the guiding force behind the words they choose. You might not know their exact motivation, but it seems safe to say they are still your friends.” The last word had the emphasis of being more than a title, of having responsibilities and true meaning.

Everything he said had the virtue of being logical, heartfelt, and based on complete fact, but it did little to ease the betrayal Myra felt. Even so, she knew she had to talk to Illa and Summer, find out exactly what they were talking about and to whom. Mostly, she didn't like how he had thrown in age and rituals.

But that wasn't why Myra was here.

Before she could try to pin him down on who she was rather than a guess, the boy spoke again. “Now that I have fulfilled what you want, you must fulfill what I want.” A sly grin appeared on his face. “Debts to be repaid. I’m sure you understand.” He directed to Nathan.

A girl from their circle sprang to Myra's side, eyes delighted and dancing. She wore a flouncing pink dress Myra would have expected in the fifties. Her face was full, childish looking with baby fat. How she could have hid that bright pink in the midst of black, Myra couldn’t fathom.

“The deal is complete, yes?” The girl asked.

He nodded, gesturing at Myra. “Yes, she has gotten what she wants and now she must repay her debt by way of repaying mine. She is yours, Amoria.”