Read Online Dark Vision by Debbie Johnson - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Debbie Johnson
Ads: Link
And, last but not least, the fate of the whole world now rested upon my shoulders.
What a difference a day makes.
The band – The Cloaks of Darkness – were on stage, doing an ironic cover of The Smashing Pumpkins’ ‘Bullet with Butterfly Wings’. As Isabella, the singer, drawled that opening line about the world being a vampire, my heart constricted: even knowing what she was, I’d have happily walked over and opened a jugular for her.
I tore my eyes away, and instead looked at Gabriel.
‘Why are we here?’ I asked, accepting now that he’d hear me, despite the din.
‘You need to meet some of my people,’ he replied. ‘So you know who is on your side, and who to avoid.’
‘And your people – you – where do you fit in? You look mortal, and you say you’re a king, which
sounds
mortal. But then there’s the whole body-swelling-up thing, and the fact that you talked about humans as “them”. Sorry if it’s a drag but I need to know a few things.’
He nodded, still scanning the room for his killer leprechauns. Or whatever.
‘The High Kings were mortal once. They ruled in Tara, and the Otherworld was the realm of the Tuatha de Danaan – kings, gods, the dead, that kind of thing. And at the start of each High King’s reign, the sacred stone – the Lia Fail – would shout his name, and the new king would be ceremonially mated with Mabe, which would ensure well-being across the mortal lands.’
‘Mabe? That would be me, then?’ I asked, pretty sure I’d not done any ceremonial mating in recent times.
‘No, not then. Then it would be the priestess that represented Mabe in the mortal world. But over the millennia, the lines have become blurred. The lines of the High Kings … mingled, shall we say, with those of the Tuatha de Danaan. The blood mixed, and the race developed. I am the High King of the mortal realm, but I am also a descendant of gods.’
I took a sneaky look at him – the violet eyes and the master-race body – and decided I could believe that. He certainly looked like one, and he was definitely bossy enough to be both.
‘So where do you live, and, you know, hang out? When you’re being human?’
‘Dublin, mainly, sometimes New York. But I move around. I’m what you might call an older man, and too many questions would be asked if I stayed in one place for too long. My body clock doesn’t work in quite the same way as a mortal’s. I can pass as human, but I’m not. I can visit the Otherworld and pass as Tuatha, but I’m not. I’m both.’
‘So … what am I? I feel mortal. I get hangovers. My nails need cutting. I don’t see a goddess when I look in the mirror.’
He laughed and, before I could stop him, stroked my face, with the speed of light.
‘That’s in the eye of the beholder, Lily. But to answer your question, you are the spirit of Mabe, born into human flesh. Your sisters were, also. And I’ve been waiting a very long time for you.’
Right. To do the whole mating thing. Yay.
‘Why me? Why this whole spirit-into-flesh affair? Why not the priestess, like it’s always been?’
‘Because that cycle has ended and a new one has begun. It was always prophesied that this would happen. I was raised to believe it, to wait for you, to secure the fate of humanity. It is a moment of great weakness in time, and one the Fintna Faidh are looking to exploit. That’s why I need to keep you safe, Lily. That and a few other reasons.’
My mind was a whirl of questions, and there was a whole new sister issue I was having to clamp down on for the time being, but any further conversation was halted by the arrival of a short, stocky, dark-haired man. Not quite a leprechaun, but stick him in a green suit and he could give it a go.
‘Finn,’ said Gabriel, clasping him on thick shoulders with both hands. Finn grinned at me in a manner that can only be described as impish, and gave me a quick bow.
‘My Lady,’ he said, ‘it is an honour to be at your service. My
What a difference a day makes.
The band – The Cloaks of Darkness – were on stage, doing an ironic cover of The Smashing Pumpkins’ ‘Bullet with Butterfly Wings’. As Isabella, the singer, drawled that opening line about the world being a vampire, my heart constricted: even knowing what she was, I’d have happily walked over and opened a jugular for her.
I tore my eyes away, and instead looked at Gabriel.
‘Why are we here?’ I asked, accepting now that he’d hear me, despite the din.
‘You need to meet some of my people,’ he replied. ‘So you know who is on your side, and who to avoid.’
‘And your people – you – where do you fit in? You look mortal, and you say you’re a king, which
sounds
mortal. But then there’s the whole body-swelling-up thing, and the fact that you talked about humans as “them”. Sorry if it’s a drag but I need to know a few things.’
He nodded, still scanning the room for his killer leprechauns. Or whatever.
‘The High Kings were mortal once. They ruled in Tara, and the Otherworld was the realm of the Tuatha de Danaan – kings, gods, the dead, that kind of thing. And at the start of each High King’s reign, the sacred stone – the Lia Fail – would shout his name, and the new king would be ceremonially mated with Mabe, which would ensure well-being across the mortal lands.’
‘Mabe? That would be me, then?’ I asked, pretty sure I’d not done any ceremonial mating in recent times.
‘No, not then. Then it would be the priestess that represented Mabe in the mortal world. But over the millennia, the lines have become blurred. The lines of the High Kings … mingled, shall we say, with those of the Tuatha de Danaan. The blood mixed, and the race developed. I am the High King of the mortal realm, but I am also a descendant of gods.’
I took a sneaky look at him – the violet eyes and the master-race body – and decided I could believe that. He certainly looked like one, and he was definitely bossy enough to be both.
‘So where do you live, and, you know, hang out? When you’re being human?’
‘Dublin, mainly, sometimes New York. But I move around. I’m what you might call an older man, and too many questions would be asked if I stayed in one place for too long. My body clock doesn’t work in quite the same way as a mortal’s. I can pass as human, but I’m not. I can visit the Otherworld and pass as Tuatha, but I’m not. I’m both.’
‘So … what am I? I feel mortal. I get hangovers. My nails need cutting. I don’t see a goddess when I look in the mirror.’
He laughed and, before I could stop him, stroked my face, with the speed of light.
‘That’s in the eye of the beholder, Lily. But to answer your question, you are the spirit of Mabe, born into human flesh. Your sisters were, also. And I’ve been waiting a very long time for you.’
Right. To do the whole mating thing. Yay.
‘Why me? Why this whole spirit-into-flesh affair? Why not the priestess, like it’s always been?’
‘Because that cycle has ended and a new one has begun. It was always prophesied that this would happen. I was raised to believe it, to wait for you, to secure the fate of humanity. It is a moment of great weakness in time, and one the Fintna Faidh are looking to exploit. That’s why I need to keep you safe, Lily. That and a few other reasons.’
My mind was a whirl of questions, and there was a whole new sister issue I was having to clamp down on for the time being, but any further conversation was halted by the arrival of a short, stocky, dark-haired man. Not quite a leprechaun, but stick him in a green suit and he could give it a go.
‘Finn,’ said Gabriel, clasping him on thick shoulders with both hands. Finn grinned at me in a manner that can only be described as impish, and gave me a quick bow.
‘My Lady,’ he said, ‘it is an honour to be at your service. My
Similar Books
