Page 59 of A Sanctuary from Shadow
I could only guess at the frivolity of my court if it wasted time and money on bedazzling mundane things like keys.
Briar plucked the key out of the box, held it up to a ray of fading light. The ruby looked more fuchsia in the sunset. “The gem is filled with your father’s blood, allowing others to open and close the portal without either of you. Your dad gave me one after we first crossed—just in case I ever needed it. But I never had a reason to use it until I saw you’d touched Angel Oak. You opened the portal but didn’t step through, which meant the door to our realm had been standing ajar for more than a week. Gentian’s lackeys would notice it was open. They’re stationed everywhere, watching for things like that.”
I squeezed my knees, an inch from teetering over the edge of an unmitigated freak out.
“I left school the night I saw that picture on your laptop and hopped on a plane to Charleston with the key, so I could lock things back up, but I couldn’t reach it.” Regret shone in his lime eyes. “The bogeybats had already come through.”
My fingernails gouged my kneecaps. “So, I let thosethingsinto this world? I let them in to kill my father?”
Briar’s hand took mine. I didn’t want to be touched but didn’t withdraw. “Yes, you let them in.”
So, now when I need comfort, you choose brutal honesty?
“But what happened to your father wasn’t your fault. It was ours.”
Huh?
“Before I reached the portal, a group of bogeybats attacked. They were perched in the woods around the park, like they’d set up camp. They weren’t on the move. They were waiting.”
“For what?”
“For someone stupid enough to lead them to your father.”
My breath caught. “Do you think those demons stalked me and my friends?”
Briar shook his head. “No. I think they came through the portal days later. And just to clarify, bogeybats aren’t exactly demons. They’re mean, nasty, dark sons-of-bitches, but they’re not demonic. Demonic beings have black eyes to match their empty souls. Unfortunately, a lot of black eyes are showing up in our world.”
If the bogeybats weren’t demonic, I never wanted to encounter something that was.
“Anyway, I managed to escape—drove for miles in all directions to confuse the beasts when they followed me. I lost them somewhere in the Smoky Mountains and called your uncle to let him know. That’s when the meetings began—strategy councils to hash out a plan to deal with the bogeybats.”
I chewed my lip, knowing bogeybat extermination wasn’t all they’d been hashing out. Daddy’s declining health, the status of my uterus, and whether Briar should take the throne from me when my father passed were probably every night topics.
“We worried the bats might split up and spread themselves out over the country. The chances that they might find your father were too great. Bogeybats have astounding noses. Plus, if a human were to spot one—”
“How could they not?” Those bats were so huge and hideous, they’d stick out like sore thumbs no matter where they tried camouflaging themselves.
“That’s complicated to explain, but most modern humans can’t see bogeybats. Not unless they believe in mystical things like magic, the fae, and Danu. Of course, some, like children, still believe and would be vulnerable to attack.”
I paused to ponder that. “Is that why none of the neighbors called the cops last night? Why none of them came to see what had happened to our house today?”
He nodded. “They couldn’t see or hear any of the commotion last night, and your house looks the same as ever to them.”
“Then how can they seeus? We’re mystical, aren’t we?”
“They can see us because the Mother made humans similar to us, so the human gaze looks at us and sees something familiar, which makes us real to them. Otherwise, their cynicism would veil us—and our magic.”
“Then why couldn’t they see us Dananns last night? We were part of that commotion.”
“I suppose they could see and hear you and me. We would’ve looked like crazy people, though.”
What would nebby Mrs. Crankle across the street have seen if she’d stuck her schnoz through her lacy curtains? A pair of college kids acting like children, fighting a make-believe battle against imaginary foes in the middle of the street at night? It was a wonder she hadn’t called the police just for that.
“They wouldn’t have seen the damage done to my car because a bogeybat did the damaging, and the guards wore clothes like this.” Briar extended his arms, modeling his black garments. “Our fighting gear is enchanted, so humans can’t see us when we don’t want them to.” He tapped a spot on his vest by his collarbone. “If I press here, I’m invisible to the human eye.”
I eyed his vest. “When do I get an invisibility suit?”
Briar smiled. “We can have one made for you at the palace, but it won’t do you much good in our world. Invisibility against other fae is a fleeting tactic, since there are so many spells and potions to counteract it.”
