Enchanted Revenge by Theresa M. Jones Read Free Book Online

here,” he said, mistaking my words. “Welcome to the Empyrean, Land of the Fae.” As he said it he lifted his arms, as if to showcase the landscape like a masterpiece of art. “Welcome home, Lily.”
    “You have wings!” I said, because once again I couldn’t stop myself. He chuckled as I stated the obvious.
    “I am Sylph. All Sylph after the age of seventeen grow wings. I could hide them if I needed to, though it’s not common practice. Depending on where you are, anyway. They are something to be proud of, they explain your past. Sometimes even your future. You’ll understand better after your birthday.”
    “But you didn’t have any before,” I said, arguing at the insanity of it all. “Just a minute ago, you looked normal, with no wings. And now you have them.”
    “I was cloaked, as all Fae are in the Mortal Realm.”
    “But…” I felt the urge to argue. To explain that I needed explanations. To make him understand that all of this, the tripudio, the porta, the wings, it’s all crazy.
    All of it.
    “Why do you even travel between realms? What is the point of it? When you could live in a place like this…” As I said it, I too motioned with my hands at the surrounding beauty. “Why would anyone want to leave this place?”
    He shrugged his shoulders before he answered me.
    “Some are banished to live as mortals, after their magic is stripped from them as a form of punishment for one crime or another. Some choose to live there, still with their magic, but cloaked as I was.”
    I didn’t understand it. Everything I had seen so far, and it wasn’t much, was beautiful. Amazing. How could anyone choose to leave? Why would they want to live as an other- someone different and foreign, like I was- when they could choose to live here, among their own kind?
    “And then some live there in hiding,” he continued, oblivious to my internal debate. “I’m guessing that was the case with your parents. I don’t know who they were, but I feel as though I should. I could sense something intrinsically good and important about them.” Then he seemed to think harder on his words.
    “Why would anyone need to hide? My parents are…were good. They were the best people ever,” I reiterated, my determination to avenge them stronger than ever.
    “I believe that, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t have enemies. Though the Empyrean is beautiful and wonderful, not everything about it is perfect. Not all Fae are good.”
    “Are there like, light fairies and dark fairies?” I asked, thinking more of the light elves and dark elves of the paranormal stories I read.
    “No. There are four kinds of Fae. I’ve already explained this to you.” His voice took on an edge like he was already losing his patience with me.
    “Yeah, I remember. Land, air, water, fire… I get it. But then, what could possibly be bad with this place?”
    He sighed and then started looking around the forest we stood in, as if trying to get his bearings or to decide where we would go.
    “That is a loaded question. I’ll explain as we walk. Deal?” he offered.
    I nodded and motioned with my hand for him to lead the way. He started walking toward the single path I noticed.
    “Please, wait one second,” he said to me, after we had only just started on the trail.
    He stood in the center of the trail, which was maybe four feet in width. He placed his hands to his side, then lifted them up, palms up, before he put them back, palms down. It looked like he was pushing air up, then pushing it back down. I didn’t ask him what he was doing though, because he was doing his serious concentration thing again.
    “Yes, this is the right way. They came through this way. Well, at least some of them did.”
    I nodded. “Okay, then that’s the way we go.”
    He turned and looked back at me, a question in his eyes like he was trying to figure something out about me.
    “What do you plan on doing when we find them? Do you have some skill in hand-to-hand