Page 29 of A Kiss from the Fae (Mistress of Magic #2)

Faye could hear the music from two streets away and almost turned back more than once before reaching the club where the London covens were holding their annual Samhain party.

It was pronounced sow-in , the old Celtic name for what was now Halloween.

In the old pagan days, it was the festival announcing the onset of winter, and traditionally the time when the division between the ordinary world and the otherworlds – the elemental lands of faerie, the spiritual origin of nature and the lands of the dead – were easiest to transgress.

Samhain was the night witches remembered loved ones that were in spirit, and traditionally, it was a night for divination and all kinds of mediumship, being that it was so much easier than usual to talk to the ones in the next world.

At home, Faye always set a place for Grandmother and Moddie at the dinner table, sharing stories and memories of them with Annie.

Then they would usually read each other’s cards for the year ahead and walk down to Black Sands Beach to dance under the moon, perform a ritual they had planned out in advance, or just sit companionably and watch the waves.

Yet tonight, as the city’s children dressed as ghouls and wizards and collected sweets door-to-door, Faye found herself standing outside the wide steel doors of a club on the south side of the river, uncomfortable in a pair of black stiletto-heeled boots and a short black dress that she was glad her coat hid.

As it was Samhain, she’d made her makeup darker and more dramatic than usual, and curled her reddish auburn hair into long ringlets.

Tonight, Rav was going to some work drinks again – he’d asked her if she wanted to come.

It’s Halloween! Your thing, right? he’d asked, but she’d explained she had a Samhain celebration to attend.

He’d looked disappointed, but not enough to persuade her not to go.

As she stood there, Faye gazed up at the stars.

The night was dark, velvet, magical. The deep layers of the past spread out in black-gold layers; each star, each tree, each leaf a door to another life, another time.

Samhain always gave her this special feeling; it was a time of magic, when anything could happen, when the otherworlds were close, and slippage could occur.

Faye was waiting for Annie and Susie. Annie had suggested they invite the cast of Coven of Love ‘for research’, but in actuality the guest list was too exclusive: only members of London covens or their approved friends and contacts were permitted, and no one without one of the ornately foiled tickets got past the two tall, tattooed men on the door.

Ruby had organised tickets for Annie, Susie and Faye.

She tried not to stare at the people filing into the club, but in some cases, it was hard not to look twice.

Not everyone was hiding their evening wear under a long coat, and in fact, if anyone apart from Ruby at the Coven of Love set had attended, their preconceptions would only have been confirmed: tonight, there were plenty of floor-length gowns, velvet or otherwise.

Faye was reminded of the faerie ball in Murias, where some attendees wore elaborate fae costumes with wings, leather leaves and flower crowns; some wore gothic outfits that fitted the stereotype of the witch or wizard, with black cloaks and pentagrams hanging from their necks.

Yet also, there were a number of other amazing looks and outfits, from prom dresses with delicate fascinators to a man with a pink Mohican who, Faye could see as he removed his jacket to enter, was stripped to the waist and wearing only a pair of sequinned shorts.

The variety of London’s witches was staggering.

‘Wondered if I’d see you here.’ Faye felt a hand on the small of her back and turned to see Gabriel Black, who was dressed in his trademark black tailored suit and white shirt, but this evening had the addition of a black bowler hat and red pocket handkerchief.

‘May I escort you into the ball, Miss Morgan?’

‘Hi, Gabriel. Looking sharp.’ Faye gave him a shy kiss on the cheek.

‘Ah, well. One must do what one can,’ he demurred. ‘Are you waiting for someone?’

‘My friend Annie and her girlfriend. You can wait with me, though.’

‘I’d be delighted.’ He took the pocket handkerchief out, refolded it and replaced it in its pocket. ‘How are you?’

‘Okay.’ She sighed. ‘You?’

‘I think we’ve gone past the social niceties by now,’ Gabriel replied, nodding and smiling at some people going in. ‘Customers,’ he said, by way of explanation.

‘Most of the coven will be here tonight. I know you told Ruby, but are you going to mention your adventures in Falias to them, or…?’

‘If you don’t mind, I’d like to keep it between us. For now, at least. It’s personal.’ She frowned, wondering if she should tell the rest of the coven. But she wasn’t a real member and, she rationalised, she didn’t owe them anything.

‘Of course.’ Gabriel nodded, and there was a comfortable silence between them until a moment later when Annie got out of a taxi with Susie and yelled at Faye from across the street. ‘Your friends, I assume?’ He tipped his hat to them as they crossed the road.

‘That’s them.’ Faye felt a rush of happiness as Annie, dressed in a skintight black PVC catsuit and black biker boots, danced over to them and planted a kiss on Faye’s cheek. Even though she had to keep her hair long and blonde for Coven of Love , she’d curled up the ends into a sixties’ style.

‘Howaya, sweetheart?’ Annie took a double take at Gabriel. ‘Who’s this, aye? I didnae tell ye I was goin’ to be Emma Peel tonight, but look, ye’ve found ma John Steed for me.’

‘Annie, this is Gabriel Black. Gabriel, this is my best friend Annie and her girlfriend, Susie.’

‘Delighted to find a fellow fan of vintage British espionage.’ Gabriel shook Annie’s hand, laughing. ‘And I assure you, it’s a happy accident. I’m afraid I usually look this way, though the bowler isn’t an everyday thing.’

‘Charmed. Hi, Faye.’ Susie kissed Faye on her other cheek; Faye suspected that she now had red lipstick on one side of her mouth and pink on the other.

Annie’s girlfriend was dressed in trousers, a gold waistcoat under a nicely cut jacket and her hair was arranged in a sleek blonde bob.

‘She’s Emma Peel, I’m Pussy Galore,’ Susie explained. ‘Formidable women of British cinema.’

‘Right.’ Faye laughed. ‘Bewitching, both of you.’

Inside the club it was busy. Annie and Susie immediately lost themselves on the dance-floor, and Faye followed Gabriel to the bar.

The floor was sticky and the music was excessively loud, but Faye felt at home immediately, though she wasn’t much of a club person.

There was something to be said for being among her own kind.

On stage, a rock band were playing; Faye had no idea who they were, but she danced a little on the spot, listening to them. Gabriel handed her a bottle of beer, and she tapped the top of hers against his.

‘Cheers!’ he shouted. ‘You look beautiful this evening.’ Faye felt her cheeks flush and looked away. ‘But you always do,’ he shouted again, smiling. She didn’t know what to say.

‘Thank you,’ she shouted back awkwardly.

She would never usually wear a dress this short, but when she’d looked at her wardrobe, it was the only thing that seemed appropriate.

Ruby had invited her by text; when Faye texted back to ask what kind of event it was, Ruby had sent a smiley face and written: Drinks, dancing, costumes – anything goes.

She didn’t have a costume, and she would never have worn one; fancy dress was for the adventurous.

But when she’d zipped up the short dress – one she’d bought on a whim when shopping in the West End – she’d felt sexy, so she’d worn it.

It had a scoop neck and long sleeves, and she’d left her legs bare.

Rav had growled appreciatively when he’d seen her in it.

A fitting party outfit for a queen he’d chuckled.

I’m half tempted to make you late again.

Things had improved a little between them in the last few days, but Faye was all too aware that the balance hung between them like a gossamer thread.

‘Hey! This party is awesome!’ Annie and Susie reappeared, and Gabriel handed them both a beer each. Annie grinned and took a long drink. ‘Faye. I love this guy.’

Faye smiled and tipped her beer bottle into her mouth. Gabriel took her hand.

‘Dance?’ he asked, and she nodded, leaving her drink on a nearby table and following him to the dance-floor.

Gabriel was a good dancer. Faye felt herself relax in the sea of bodies, all of whom were enjoying themselves, and none of them watching her.

She felt the music take her over, and she moved to it, within it, enjoying the waves of music that took her from elation to energy and a sense of togetherness with the crowd.

Gabriel took her hand and twirled her around. She laughed and twirled him back.

As they danced, she wondered momentarily if Gabriel had feelings for her, but she hoped that he didn’t.

She valued him as a friend, and she had precious few friends, especially ones that understood about magic.

And though Gabriel was an attractive man, there was none of the raw animal attraction that there was between her and Rav.

Rav was like a bull; even just a look from him made Faye feel like she was dissolving.

There was something so hypnotic about his raw masculinity that Faye couldn’t help touching him whenever he was near.

And to have such a large, strong man submit to her in the bedroom too was deeply erotic.

Things had improved greatly between Faye and Rav. Since the night when he had taken her on the sofa, Faye had put the issue of him and Mallory behind her; she didn’t want to be jealous.

Outside the club she’d observed the amazing variety of costumes, but as she looked at Gabriel, Faye realised that some of the bodies she saw in the corner of her gaze, dancing, jostling and kissing, were different to the rest of the coven members there.

It wasn’t that their costumes or dress were strange, but the bodies themselves were less…

real. She frowned and focused her gaze on them. Surely it was a trick of the dim light?

Yet, there was a translucence to some of the figures that danced and jumped, tapped and twirled. And it was a look that she recognised.

She shouted in Gabriel’s ear.

‘There are faerie folk here. Elementals. They’re not human!’ she yelled, hoping to be heard over the band, but Gabriel winced, shook his head and pointed at his ear. ‘Elemental beings. They’re here, dancing in the crowd!’ she repeated, and watched as understanding filtered across his expression.

‘Are you sure?’ he mouthed at her, and she nodded impatiently.

They stopped dancing, suddenly still in the sea of movement around them. Faye pointed into the crowd.

‘Look. There! And there!’ She pointed at the vague, hazy figures that glittered at the edge of perception. Since she had been carrying the obsidian wand, it had made her feel strong and focused; she had dreamed vividly of Falias when she had left it near her bed.

However, Faye had also found that her own power for seeing auras had increased since being given the wand, and tonight, the colours of the people around her were glowing much more vividly than she was used to – red, orange, green, blue.

The elementals, though – if that was what they were – did not have human auras.

They were insubstantial, only half there, like an intermittent film being played in the background.

As soon as Faye pointed at them, they disappeared, and Gabriel shook his head. He couldn’t see any of them.

Faye heard laughing behind her and spun around, but there was no one behind her except dancers, headbanging intently and definitely not laughing.

‘Did you hear that?’ she shouted, but Gabriel shook his head again and looked at her doubtfully.

‘Faye, maybe we should get some air,’ he shouted, and took her elbow, aiming to steer her off the dance-floor, but she pulled away.

‘I saw them! I’m not going mad!’ she shouted back as the song slowed.

The opening bars of the next song started – a ballad that held the crowd in a sweet lull of expectation.

She felt a strong hand in the small of her back and looked around, confused. Who else but Gabriel was trying to get her attention?

But it was Finn Beatha who leaned in and kissed her cheek, smiling that pouty-lipped smile that she could never resist.