Fated By Starlight by Krista Street

Chapter 26

~ AVERY ~

Even though I promised Major Fieldstone cookies, he was getting cake. I laughed humorlessly as I mixed the ingredients in a bowl on the kitchen counter. Let him eat cake. As if I were Marie Antoinette.

The cliché was fitting, considering I was making a cake with yeast. Before the mid-1800s it was how all cakes were made, since baking powder and baking soda didn’t exist. It meant I needed to manually work the dough, though not too much, otherwise I would lose the air. I had to watch it closely as well. Too much warmth and it would rise too quickly, yet too cool and it wouldn’t rise enough.

Despite the extra effort, this cake was exactly what I needed right now. It required concentration, which made it the perfect distraction after my disastrous training with Wyatt this morning.

The doughy scent of yeast wafted around me as my commander’s grassy-colored eyes filled my mind. I pictured the way he’d hovered above me in the plank position, anger and anxiety pulsing off of him in intermittent waves. I’d been right beneath him, flat on my back, and all I could think about was how close he’d been.

Stupid woman. I knew berating myself wouldn’t help, but it seemed fitting given my reaction. Hadn’t I learned that Wyatt Jamison would bring me nothing but heartbreak?

Ugh. The next few weeks couldn’t pass quickly enough.

The timer dinged, forcing my attention back to the task at hand, yet anger with myself still lingered.

“Why did I ever allow myself to have feelings for him?” I whispered quietly, before slipping the cake into the oven.

I yelped when I accidentally touched the scorching oven rack, a burn singeing the side of my palm. I slammed the oven door closed and proceeded to the sink, holding my hand under the nozzle’s cool spray.

The front door opened behind me, and a chipper voice rang through the apartment.

“Hello to you, Avery!” Eliza called cheerfully.

Charlotte walked in behind her and kicked off her heavy boots. Dirt flaked on the mat like brown snowflakes. She sniffed. “Are you cooking again? Whatcha making this time?”

I turned the water off and inspected my burn. “A cake, but it’s for Major Fieldstone since I promised I’d make him something if he bested me at sparring this morning.” I grumbled. “Obviously, he had no problems doing that.”

“You sparred with my future commander?” Charlotte’s eyes bugged out as Eliza’s eyes widened.

“Are you speaking of Major Bavar Fieldstone?” Eliza gaped.

I winced when an angry red welt lifted on my hand. “Yeah, Charlotte’s future commander. Do you know him, Eliza?”

“Oh yes, everyone does. He’s from the royal line. The king is his uncle.”

My jaw dropped, and my hand fell, all concern for my burn fading. “Seriously? He’s a royal fae?”

“Indeed he is.”

Excited energy danced around Charlotte. “Pretty wicked, eh?”

My thoughts raced as I tried to remember every interaction I’d had with the fairy. Chances were that at some point in the future I would be interacting with Bavar in my ambassador role since most political problems in the fae lands required involving the royals.

I shook my head, embarrassment flooding me that I hadn’t realized his heritage. I hadn’t even known I’d been wrestling with a fairy who was damned near immortal. Well, not immortal. He would die eventually, but unlike normal fairies who lived to around two hundred years of age—sometimes three hundred if they were lucky—the royal fae often lived a millennium. Some said they could even live several thousands of years if luck was on their side.

“Well, that explains his cockiness.” I sighed to myself.

Eliza plopped down on the couch and switched on the TV. The news flashed to life. An image of planets aligning in space filled the screen.

Eliza squealed. “Oh, I am most excited about the comet!”

I peered at the screen. “Those look like planets, not a comet.”

“I know, I know. They are discussing what is going to happen next month because they probably already conversed about what is occurring tonight. Did you not know? The Safrinite comet is appearing tonight!”

“Is that supposed to mean something?” Charlotte asked blandly.

Eliza gave her a pointed look. “Don’t you keep up on fairy celestial events?”

“Um, no,” she replied nonchalantly and plopped down on the armchair.

Eliza sighed in exasperation. “You should, because this event is something even you would enjoy.” She settled herself more on the couch, excitement making her skin glow subtly. “The Safrinite comet only comes every two thousand years and it’s coming only weeks before my realm’s solar system alignment.” She looked at Charlotte expectantly, clearly waiting for a reaction, but Charlotte merely arched an eyebrow.

“Again, what does that mean?” she asked, her tone bored.

“It’s nearly unheard of to have two celestial events this rare occur in such quick succession.”

Charlotte snickered. “So the astronomy geeks are geeking out tonight in the fae lands? And that’s supposed to be exciting?”

Eliza smacked her forehead. “No. It means the entire fae lands is celebrating. My planet’s magic comes from our astronomical and celestial events. We all celebrate their occurrences, even more so when they’re this rare.”

Charlotte’s eyes widened, understanding finally dawning. “Which means wicked-crazy parties in the fae lands will be happening tonight.”

“Yes, parties everywhere.”

Charlotte jumped up from her chair. “Well, why didn’t you just say that in the first place?”

Eliza rolled her eyes. “I thought it would be obvious.”

“Does that mean we’re going to the fae lands tonight?” I asked.

Eliza beamed again. “That is what I had planned on doing. Would you two care to join me?”

I poured the batter into the pans, my mood lifting at the thought of a fun night out. “Sure, I’m game.”

“I’m always up for a party.” Charlotte grabbed a beer from the fridge and cracked the top. She then gave Eliza a quizzical look. “Does a comet really recharge your planet with magic? I mean, isn’t it just little specks of light in the sky or whatever?”

“Not this one.” Eliza put an arm over the back of the couch so she could face us. “It will pass within a hundred thousand miles of our planet and will appear larger than the moon here.”

“No shit?” Charlotte took a swig of her beer. “Okay, you’re right. That does sound kinda cool, even to someone who’s not an astronomy geek.”

Eliza’s expression turned hopeful. “So you’ll both really go?”

“Definitely.” I eyed the timer on the oven. “As long as you’re okay with waiting for this cake to finish so I can drop it off?”

“We can wait. The comet won’t be visible until midnight.” Eliza clapped her hands. “How exciting! Between the Safrinite comet and impending alignment, the magic will be alive tonight and will feel . . .” She sighed. “It shall be something. Our magic shall be rejuvenated. There shall be much celebrating in the fae lands tonight and during the coming weeks in the build-up to the alignment.”

Charlotte grinned. “Partying and heightened magic. Sounds like the start to a good month.”

My mood lifted more as I thought about fairies dancing around their villages and the capital hosting festive parties over the weeks to come. Weekends in the fae lands seemed like the best way to enjoy my final weeks at the SF.

And while it wasn’t the first celestial event I’d heard of in the fae lands, this was the most unique I’d ever come across—especially since it refueled their realm’s magic.

Considering the fae lands’ planet resided in a parallel universe, it was the norm for their solar system to have events entirely separate from earth’s. I still remembered when I was little, and my parents had explained it to me. According to fairy historians, there were many parallel universes, each as big and vast as our own, and it was only luck that our universe and the fae lands’ universe bent at an odd angle that allowed them to touch, permitting realm crossings.

Still, those realm crossings weren’t for everyone. The fae lands resided in a universe more magical than ours, which was why humans couldn’t access it, but supernaturals could.

At least I’ve got enough magic to realm transfer.

I made a sour face, remembering Wyatt’s comments this morning about how magically weak I was. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who’d been taken aback by it. Since Major Armund let me out early today after doing her best to bolster my self-esteem all afternoon, I knew my memory hadn’t over-exaggerated Wyatt’s sharp tongue and soul-lashing comments.

Ugh.

“When will that cake be done?” Charlotte asked. “Do I have time to dress up?”

I arched an eyebrow. “We’re dressing up for a comet?”

“Not a comet.” She smiled mischievously. “For the hot fairies who are gonna be out watching it. If it’s anything like their other celebrations, you’ll want to be dressed up too. If we’re lucky, we’ll be going home with some hotties tonight.”

I shook my head and laughed. If there was one thing I’d come to love about Charlotte, it was that she embraced her sexuality and didn’t have any shame flaunting it.

Maybe it was time I took a page from her book.