was sent by Valerian
himself in order to take over the Court of Midnight. Valerian ruled
the Court of Light with an iron fist. He usurped the throne with a
knife he buried in his own father’s back. His ambition was to unite
both courts and reign over the faery realm unchallenged. He was
like Hitler, only much prettier.
And
through his amazing web of dickery, he used the regent’s influence
to force my mother to agree to the dreaded betrothal. When I was
little, I used to think I was the luckiest girl in the realm. What
girl didn’t swoon over Valerian, the Prince of Light, with his
angelic face and long, platinum blond hair? But I got over it when
I learned the true him. He’d planned to wed me on my sixteenth
birthday, the day I came of age. But a week before the ceremony my
guardian, Graeme MacCuill, spirited me into the human realm. We
lived from town to town, keeping a low profile, hiding from
Valerian’s hunters.
Alas,
Graeme died from alcohol poisoning last year, stranding me alone in
this world. Being on the run for years had taken its toll on my
guardian. Booze was Graeme’s salvation. Even though he was a
full-blooded fae with all the perks and magic, apparently, if you
drown your body with that much alcohol, you’d still be
dead.
I tried
to fend for myself as best as I could. I wasn’t accustomed to hard
labor, but I did what I had to. I worked a bunch of dead-end jobs
and never stayed more than a few months in one place. On a couple
of desperate occasions I resorted to stealing to buy food and room
for the night. That was when I met Jaime. Well, it wasn’t exactly
“met” on good terms. He arrested me when I drove a stolen vehicle.
It was his car. That day I was more moronic than usual and swiped
an unlocked red sedan from a 7-Eleven parking lot. I didn’t mean to
sell it or anything. Not that I knew some skeevy guys who fenced
stolen stuff. I just wanted to drive it somewhere and have a nice,
warm place to sleep. I was broke, hungry and utterly
tired.
I told
Jaime I’d suffered amnesia and didn’t remember anything but my own
name.
Aine.
I didn’t
give him my family name. Not that he was going to believe me,
anyway. The name Ravenbane was uncommon to humans and mostly
existed in the geek forums on the internet. I spent two nights in
Hammond PD’s jail before Jaime took pity on me. Nobody was going to
bail me out. Plus, I didn’t exist in any system. Jaime gave me a
room in his house and told me I could stay until he could look
further into my amnesia case. My stealing attempt was
forgiven.
I should
have left Hammond a few days after that. I didn’t. For once, I
liked it there. I was tired of being constantly on the run. And I
liked Jaime a lot. Okay, I might be in love with him. He was kind,
funny and always treated me with respect. He did all those nice
things, because he wanted to help me out of the goodness of his
heart, not because he wanted to get into my panties. Unlike other
men I’d met so far.
As a fae
princess, my beauty enchants everybody who sets eyes on me. My
white-blonde hair shines like moonlight. My eyes are the color of
precious sapphires. And my pale, alabaster skin is flawless and
glows subtly. Some people often wondered if I were really human or
a breathing, walking porcelain doll. When I was in jail, Jaime had
to put me in a separate cell, because I stirred a riot from all the
other inmates. The other cops always found excuses to linger near
my cell, just to get a glimpse of me. I knew Jaime was scorned by
his coworkers when he dropped the charges and offered me a place to
stay. They thought it was his way of scheming into my
pants.
They were
mistaken.
Besides,
I didn’t mind if he did. Because now I had to scheme my way into
his pants.
I really,
really wanted to bed this man. Fuck his brains out, as the locals
would say.
Jaime
demolished his food in less than ten minutes. “Dinner is excellent,
Aine. You’re so good at cooking. Dad would love you if he
himself in order to take over the Court of Midnight. Valerian ruled
the Court of Light with an iron fist. He usurped the throne with a
knife he buried in his own father’s back. His ambition was to unite
both courts and reign over the faery realm unchallenged. He was
like Hitler, only much prettier.
And
through his amazing web of dickery, he used the regent’s influence
to force my mother to agree to the dreaded betrothal. When I was
little, I used to think I was the luckiest girl in the realm. What
girl didn’t swoon over Valerian, the Prince of Light, with his
angelic face and long, platinum blond hair? But I got over it when
I learned the true him. He’d planned to wed me on my sixteenth
birthday, the day I came of age. But a week before the ceremony my
guardian, Graeme MacCuill, spirited me into the human realm. We
lived from town to town, keeping a low profile, hiding from
Valerian’s hunters.
Alas,
Graeme died from alcohol poisoning last year, stranding me alone in
this world. Being on the run for years had taken its toll on my
guardian. Booze was Graeme’s salvation. Even though he was a
full-blooded fae with all the perks and magic, apparently, if you
drown your body with that much alcohol, you’d still be
dead.
I tried
to fend for myself as best as I could. I wasn’t accustomed to hard
labor, but I did what I had to. I worked a bunch of dead-end jobs
and never stayed more than a few months in one place. On a couple
of desperate occasions I resorted to stealing to buy food and room
for the night. That was when I met Jaime. Well, it wasn’t exactly
“met” on good terms. He arrested me when I drove a stolen vehicle.
It was his car. That day I was more moronic than usual and swiped
an unlocked red sedan from a 7-Eleven parking lot. I didn’t mean to
sell it or anything. Not that I knew some skeevy guys who fenced
stolen stuff. I just wanted to drive it somewhere and have a nice,
warm place to sleep. I was broke, hungry and utterly
tired.
I told
Jaime I’d suffered amnesia and didn’t remember anything but my own
name.
Aine.
I didn’t
give him my family name. Not that he was going to believe me,
anyway. The name Ravenbane was uncommon to humans and mostly
existed in the geek forums on the internet. I spent two nights in
Hammond PD’s jail before Jaime took pity on me. Nobody was going to
bail me out. Plus, I didn’t exist in any system. Jaime gave me a
room in his house and told me I could stay until he could look
further into my amnesia case. My stealing attempt was
forgiven.
I should
have left Hammond a few days after that. I didn’t. For once, I
liked it there. I was tired of being constantly on the run. And I
liked Jaime a lot. Okay, I might be in love with him. He was kind,
funny and always treated me with respect. He did all those nice
things, because he wanted to help me out of the goodness of his
heart, not because he wanted to get into my panties. Unlike other
men I’d met so far.
As a fae
princess, my beauty enchants everybody who sets eyes on me. My
white-blonde hair shines like moonlight. My eyes are the color of
precious sapphires. And my pale, alabaster skin is flawless and
glows subtly. Some people often wondered if I were really human or
a breathing, walking porcelain doll. When I was in jail, Jaime had
to put me in a separate cell, because I stirred a riot from all the
other inmates. The other cops always found excuses to linger near
my cell, just to get a glimpse of me. I knew Jaime was scorned by
his coworkers when he dropped the charges and offered me a place to
stay. They thought it was his way of scheming into my
pants.
They were
mistaken.
Besides,
I didn’t mind if he did. Because now I had to scheme my way into
his pants.
I really,
really wanted to bed this man. Fuck his brains out, as the locals
would say.
Jaime
demolished his food in less than ten minutes. “Dinner is excellent,
Aine. You’re so good at cooking. Dad would love you if he
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