Sinister Seductions (Book 1 The Flower of Bottesford Series)

Chapter 9: An Unexpected Addition

I was brought back from the dream world by the sound of wind chimes. The restaurant downstairs had opened for lunch, and diners were entering the front door in what seemed like a tsunami of hunger rage. I checked the time on my phone, it was 11:15 A.M. Groaning I rolled over while pulling the blanket over my head. Unfortunately, the smell of food was coming through the vents of my room strongly, and my stomach growled its protest that my late night soup dinner was not sufficient.

Sighing, I tossed off the blankets, set my phone to charge and headed to the kitchen area to put on coffee. Glancing around the room I noticed that Ari was nowhere to be seen which made me frown. I was not concerned with her safety, as I knew she could handle herself more than well enough. But if she thought she was going to ditch me again today, she had another thing coming.

I headed to the bathroom to shower. I felt dirty after sleeping in my clothes all night.

The moment the hot water hit me, it was like all the cares of the world slipped away. Water was always like that for me, a calm and soothing entity that slowly lulled me into security. I believed it was because fire was my element to call, and water was the natural counterpart to fire. Washing myself with the dull scented soap the room provided, I got out and dried off, taking this chance to look at myself in the full length mirror for a moment.

I guess if I was to be impartial and honest, I once had a nice looking body. But it was now so marred in both scars and tattoos that there was very little of what I was naturally born with.

I had thirteen tattoos in total, all except one had been placed on my body by a tattoo artist who practiced witchcraft for the purpose of controlling what the High Priestess had referred to as my “natural” power. When it first developed, my natural abilities were naturally completely out of control. I was causing rampant destruction where ever I went, and it was a large reason behind my leaving Tamaran. I had been a ticking time bomb of unprecedented mayhem. So the Council had devised the plan and requested the tattoo artist mark me in a way that would help channel the energy.

Twelve of the tattoos represented each elemental force, each chakra point, and was focused over my core with a mandala. My left wrist was branded with four elemental sigils for water and my right wrist was covered with four elemental sigils for air. My right foot carried four elemental sigil for fire, and on my left foot the four sigils of earth.

Down my spine from my tail bone to my skull were sigils for the seven chakra points. Everything was balanced and pulled together with a swirling purple mandala that had been tattooed in the center of my solar plexus right under my breasts. Each tattoo was infused with a spell that helped me harness and focus my energy appropriately instead of it bursting out every which way.

The last tattoo was on the side of my neck, tucked just behind my right ear. It was the symbol for the Council of Delphi and the Oracle. Represented by an ornate sword piercing through the center of a set of scales which balanced the sun and the moon. The symbol characterised the motto of the Council: Justice and Balance. δικαιοσύνη και ισορροπία. I wasn’t sure how long it was that I stood there staring at myself lost deep thought, but it was apparently long enough for Ari to reappear from where ever she was hiding and scare the crap out of me again. I leapt nearly two feet into the air as a loud gong sounded throughout the apartment. My head shot out of the bathroom door and I was rewarded with the sight of my wayward familiar rolling around the kitchen table pummeling some sort of creature. She had clearly teleported herself here to gain the upper hand in her fight. Any other time, I might had found it funny, but right now I was less than amused.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?” I barked out wrapping a towel around myself. Couldn’t I have just one peaceful morning?

Ari shot up like I had electrocuted her, and she proceeded to fly angrily around my head chattering to herself in a language I couldn’t understand. I shook my head irritably and headed closer to the table to take a look at our uninvited guest, and I was startled to see what she had been tussling with: a water sprite.

Ok now I am just confused.

Water sprites are the cousin race to the pixies, essentially being pixies themselves, and herald from the same family genus. Though this sprite was of a different elemental nature than Ari, I did not understand why they would be fighting. They were basically family.

The sprite which currently sat dirtying my kitchen table was a male. Slightly taller than Ari with the same gossamer wings, he had short navy blue hair and sky blue colored eyes. His aurora was flickering angrily through the various tones of blue from aquamarine to indigo, and he peered at me to Ari and back again clearly trying to determine if I was a threat.

“You mind telling me what you are doing, beating the crap out of my friend and making a mess in my kitchen,” I regarded him coolly.

“I not!” he spat, “she attack.”

My gaze swept to Ari who was still flying in angry circles. I didn’t believe him.

“Ari has no problem with sprites. Never has. And she is not one to start fights with her own kind so try again.”

“Me greet. She attack. Take here, “he insisted. I raised an eyebrow at that.

“Ari! Mind weighing in here please.”

“He come, not leave. Kept bugging, not leave.” Ari chittered, her angry voice like little symbols going off in the air.

I looked back to him, “So you were bugging her, and wouldn’t leave her alone, so she decided to clock you one?”

“No! Say greeting, try talk, no listen. Rude, very rude. Try talk, find problem. Why no talk. She attack.”

Realization suddenly dawned on me what had happened. I spun around to Ari, “Am I really hearing this right now? You attacked him because he was essentially hitting on you?”

She became flustered and turned into a flurry of color so intense I could barely see her form anymore. I pinched the bridge of my nose in irritation. I did not need this s**t today.

“I am going to change. You both figure this out with no more fighting. I expect this to be sorted by the time I get back.” I pointed a threatening finger at both of them before huffing my way to the other side of the flat to put on some clothes.

I checked my phone and saw that I had missed a text from Mara in all the excitement.

‘Can we meet at 1?’

I checked the time, 12:15 P.M.

I responded yes and text her the address of a small café down the street that I could walk to but was still far enough away that she wouldn’t be able to immediately determine the location of the safe house. She may be my sister, but I couldn’t trust her to be on my side just yet.

I dressed quickly as I still needed to sort out my fairy problem before I left. And that is when I noticed how incredibly silent it was.

I walked over to the kitchen area and my apprehension turned to amusement when I saw two little figures sitting side by side, not looking at each other, but not seeming to hate each other’s presence. Like two little kids who had a crush on each other but had just gotten into a fight. It was so adorable I had to hold in a laugh.

“Ok you two. I have to go now,” I looked at Ari, “I am meeting Mara.”

He looked at her with a look that I would call almost adoring as her head shot around and she looked at me alarmed. “No leave, not me and him!”

It was hard to contain my laughter. I know I shouldn’t find her distress cute, but it was like two little kids courting each other for the first time and she didn’t know how to deal with the attention. Adorable.

“Well you can come with me. I told you we had things to get done today that you weren’t getting out of.”

She smiled happily, clearly relieved, but the he suddenly chirped in happily “I come! I come!”

I raised a brow at that. “Shouldn’t you be getting home? Your den will be worried about you.”

His aurora suddenly went out like a candle being extinguished, and I knew I had said something wrong. “What is it? What happened?”

“No family. No friends. No den. All gone.” He let out in a pained whisper.

I furrowed my brow confused. How could a entire den of fairies just be gone?

“Where did they go?”

He shook his head sadly, “Not know. Humans took.”

I felt the demeanor of Ari shift at that, her colors turning dark and sorrowful. As someone who lost many of her den mates, she understood how he felt better than anyone.

I was disturbed. Why would humans take a den of sprites? What use would they have with them? Killing them I could understand, humans consider most of the fairy folk to be no better than typical garden pests. But taking them?

Something was not right and I was struck by the same sense of unease I had felt outside of Sinister Seductions. Something more was happening in Tamaran that was being let on.

I heard the bell sound and I knew Ari was trying to redirect my attention back to the depressed sprite. Unsure of what other option there was, I did the only thing I could think of.

“Okay. You can stay with us for now while I sort out what happened to your family.”

The room was suddenly full of jovial blue colors as the walls shimmered like the waves of the ocean.

“Yes, yes, yes. Stay!” He chittered and flew around my head happily, joined by Ari who seemed to be swept up in the mood.

I sighed. One fairy was difficult enough, but two? I was going to lose my mind.

I shook my head again while checking my phone for the time. 12:35. it’s time.

“All right, let’s go you two.” I headed for the door before stopping suddenly and looking at him again. “What’s your name anyways?”

“Lark!” was the chirped reply.

“All right Lark, I’m Ria. You already met Ari.” I gestured. Heading out the door with the two fairies in tow, I tried to push down the apprehension in me but it wouldn’t leave.

What the hell is going on here?