Hidden In Shadows, A Fae and Vampire Romance: Shadow Court Chronicles, Book 1

Chapter 2.1: Waiting

 "I hate the human world," she pouted as she picked at the thread worn blanket, the motel's poor version of an attempt at a bed covering.

They had rushed through the Fae hill without a backward glance, through the portal that lead to the human world, and had located a barely passable version of a motel in United States not far from the family's safe house. Now, six hours later, they were free and clear, but Lyss kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. Too much time was passing without news, and her twitching nerves were playing havoc on her body. She played with the burner cell phone nervously as she waited for her family to call and give her the all clear signal.

Kieran had refused to take her to the safe house, even after her demands, unless a call came telling her that others from her family were there. He had more trust issues than anyone she had ever known, and that was saying something when you came from a paranoid family. So she was sitting in a room that was stuffy and belonged in the 50s, eating convenience store food and paying only a passing glance to the television that was going on about new paranormal activity.

Five years ago, the world of the Fae had come out to the human world and announced their presence. Soon after that, other beings in the paranormal world had taken advantage of the chaos and had announced themselves to the humans as well. That was, only after they had allowed the Fae to handle most of the political issues. They were infamous cowards like that. It had taken the humans a couple of short months to realize they were not as powerful as they had originally thought. A couple short lived skirmishes from human fanatics that left their numbers devastated had finally convinced them they were no longer at the top of the food chain.

Now anything that was paranormal was hot news, and it was just one of the reasons she stayed out of the human world as much as possible. The paparazzi were horrible, and new laws prevented her from permanently cursing the low life scum. They were one of the reasons that they were currently hiding out in a cheap motel instead of staying in a more accommodating hotel. The choice had been a cheap motel or a constant glamor. She had chosen the option that held less work for her in the long run.

"Lyss?"

"Mmmm?" She looked up to see him engrossed by the television. Odd, considering the man hated technology with a passion.

Slowly, the volume rose, and she began to hear more of the words from a female news anchor.

"We, again, are reporting on the tragedy that occurred only a couple hours ago that resulted in the deaths of many in both the Unseelie and Seelie Court."

"What the hell?" she whispered as she peered around Kieran's back.

"We are now going to go live to the press conference being held by King Maguis."

Her entire body went still. King Maguis? King of what? She didn't even think that the man had enough brain power to plan a coup, let alone be a king of an entire court. How the hell had he taken the crown? Did that make her the queen?

The television went black for a second, but it felt like a lifetime to her before it flashed into color. Maguis dominated the space in a tailored black suit. For a man who had just survived a coup, he looked perfectly fine to her. He had no outward marks that he had been injured, but she barely paid attention to that. Her eyes focused on what he was wearing on his head. It was a finely woven golden mesh crown with sparkling lights of power shining where a regular mortal crown would have had gems. The conniving bastard wore the golden crown of the Seelie Court, and he was going unchallenged.

Things were beginning to click in her head. That murdering low life scum had planned the whole thing. She could see the glint of triumph in his eyes and that pricked at her pride. The man had outplayed both her and the oldest Fae in the political game. It was a huge shock to her as she had been almost positive that he had people who tied his shoes for him. He wasn't even known for his intelligence within his own court. She needed to see who else was with him because she highly doubted that he had been able to do this alone. She needed to know how far his maneuvering had gone; she needed to know who her enemies were.

She waited impatiently until the camera panned back, allowing her to finally see who stood behind him. She wanted to be shocked to see her dear cousin, Sebille, standing directly behind him and a step to the right but she wasn't. She had always known the vertically challenged, five-foot-four Fae was a power-hungry tramp. It wasn't much of a surprise that she had latched onto someone who had planned to take over the court.

Today, the little power-hungry waif wore a black sheath gown that oddly looked like the remains of Lyssa's wedding gown. Her hair, a mixture of deep reds, pumpkin oranges, and burnt mustard yellow, was pulled up in a loose bun, the escaped tendrils curling around her shoulders. A subtle insult, it was not missed by Lyss, but she let it slide. She would gladly let her cousin take her sloppy seconds if that made the conniving, sadistic bitch from the medieval era happy. Her bright yellow eyes held a glint of triumph that matched Maguis'. Lyssa wanted to dive through the television and strangle her gloating cousin by her curly hair.

To Maquis' left, was the true shock for her. It was the man, Janice, who had been her father's main adviser. He was a tiny man, a whole five foot nothing, but that was to be expected—he was a brownie. He also wore black clothing, but his muddy brown eyes showed signs of stress and sorrow. He was an unremarkable man. Neither handsome nor ugly and could have been easily passed as a human if he would have had a nose. Where a nose would have sat on a normal creature, he had two thin slits. She hoped he didn't talk or open his mouth too wide to reveal his rows of pointy teeth; they tended to make normal humans squeamish.

She scooted close to Kieran and wrapped herself around his arm. She knew that she wasn't going to like this press conference. She could feel the wrongness of it, even if she did not know the exact details of it.

~~~

The next part will be released on Saturday December 5, 2015. If you want to read the whole book NOW Absolutely FREE. Just visit here http://hotromancestory.com/scc1-free-book-wp/ To grab your free copy of this book today.