STORM LORDS: Gale Season

PROLOGUE: ALANDRA

The Mundane Plane, Seattle
An abandoned house somewhere in the city

I typically had little patience for Light Bringers, and the royal ones in particular got on my last nerve.

While invisible, watching the three of them nearly consumed by one of my fellow Shadren should have been fun. But it wasn’t. Mostly because the super sexy Light Bringer with the silver eyes, the one I’d been — not stalking, but keeping an eye on — looked to be in real pain.

Where I came from, the Dark Tribes had split a long time ago into: Shadren, my kind; Dark Lords, emo-type assholes with attitude; and Djinn, fun Darklings who liked screwing with the Light Bringers — our enemies.

Light Bringers liked to think themselves better than everyone because of their association with the Light bands of energy, totally disregarding the fact that nature loved balance. Not Light, not Dark.

Technically speaking, we Shadren, a mixture of both, were the closest to balance as you could get.

Someone screamed, and I focused once more on the fight before me in this odd world with no magic. Being here would have been fun if I didn’t have to worry about these Light Bringers dying.

The Dark Lord, a big, creepy sorcerer who’d recently become besties with my aunt, kept trying to kill the blue-eyed Light Bringer.

And yes, I had to mention them by eye color, because these Light Bringers were identical quadruplet princes. Gorgeous, dark-haired, muscular warriors of Light who hated anything dark.

Since I was a creature of Shadow, that included me, I guessed.

I watched my charge, Aerolus, the Wind Mage, do his best to get free of the monster feeding on him.

But no one could control the Nocumat, a being of Shadow energy made of red goo, for lack of a better term. The Nocumat could assume any form and devoured anything it — he — felt like.

I waited and watched the drama unfold. The Dark Lord and his minions kept trying to kill the River Prince and his human mate, a woman with surprising power. A Djinn appeared and threw himself into the fray.

Magic splashed all around. The Dark Lord’s minions kept dying, and they stank something fierce.

I tapped my foot, still waiting as the other two Light Bringers tried to fight the Nocumat, doing him no damage at all while being slowly consumed.

Man, I was so bored.

Then the Djinn vanished with the Dark Lord. With all the minions dead, I was in no danger. Well, not from anyone Dark.

Assuming the likeness of my aunt, I appeared before everyone and totally blew my invisible cover. But it had to be done. The Nocumat was an adolescent with a crappy sense of humor. If I didn’t do something, he’d eat the Light Bringers and make all my hard work for nothing.

“Enough already, Oxcen,” I snapped.

Oh, my queen. Apologies, but the Dark Lord invited me to play. He sounded sulky in my mind, his kind not able to speak with words.

I noticed Aerolus gaping at me and shook my head at him. The dumbass. “All you had to do was call me by name.” Which he should have known if he’d followed the many clues I’d been leaving him.

I stepped over the River Prince’s human mate, treading lightly over Oxcen, who’d spread himself all over the floor.

It’s time to go home, Oxcen.

But Queen Lidra, I don’t want to go.

Out loud, I said, “I don’t care. You shouldn’t have encouraged the fair one to call on you. Wait until I tell your mother what you’ve done. She hates the Dark Lords.”

Oxcen quickly lost shape and contracted, freeing the Light Bringers he had been clinging to. He rolled back into himself until only a drop remained. I clasped the charm around my throat and sent Oxcen home.

Then I called upon the Shadows and froze the others in time. I noted Aerolus’ confusion and said, “He can’t hear us or see us. Or move.” I motioned to the Earth Lord, the prince with brown eyes and a fun sense of humor.

I should have been more attracted to him. But no, I was stuck on the studious mage who treated life too seriously. I circled him, wondering why I found him so sexy. If he’d been human, I’d have likened him to a big, strapping nerd who didn’t know how to talk to girls. The thought made me smile.

He scowled. “I don’t know who you are but —”

I didn’t like him thinking he spoke to my aunt. Though still gorgeous, she was old, bitchy, and allying with Dark Lords to overtake Aerolus’ homeworld.

So I shifted back into my own form, that of a younger Aellein princess with softer features. I was magnificent, and I knew it. It was about time Aerolus knew it too.

I could tell I’d impressed him by the look of awe on his face.

Ha! Still got it.

My grin faded when I thought of all the trouble I’d gone through to help this guy. “I’m tired of waiting, Aerolus. But I admit the view’s been nothing but pleasant.”

I gave him a lazy once-over and centered on his crotch, deliberately crude. To my delight, he twitched, his arousal evident. Thank the Shadows. For as long as I’d been watching these royal Light Bringers in this mundane world, I’d never seen Aerolus express lust.

Until now.

“Finally.”

He flushed and said, “I appreciate what you’ve done with the Nocumat. But my brother is —”

“Waking up from a bad dream.” I shuddered. “I’d have nightmares too if Oxcen wrapped his greedy little hands around my neck. That boy needs a firmer hand.”

“Boy? Dream?”

His brother started to wake and distracted him, calling out for his affai—what these Light Bringers called their brides. With the right partner, the royal Light Bringers, also known as Storm Lords, gained immense power. Already, both the Prince of Fire and the River Prince had found their affai.

Now it was just the Wind Mage and Earth Lord who remained single.

And that annoyed me, for some odd reason. “Oh, and don’t worry about Tessa. She’s sleeping it off, I expect. Quite a woman.” I did like her. She had the ability to siphon energy and fit perfectly with the arrogant River Prince.

“Who…what are you?” my Wind Mage asked with suspicion.

Really? “Aerolus. What am I? How rude. Whatever would Ravyn think?”

“What do you know of my mother?” he growled.

I grinned, pleased he now realized I knew things. That I was powerful. “Aerolus, I know everything about you.”

I also knew that soon enough, reinforcements would arrive. Reinforcements that hated my kind. I sighed. “I have to go. It won’t be long before Oxcen lets slip that the queen has been here. And since she’s in council, they’ll know something’s wrong. I’ll be around. If you really want to find me, look for me the next time you cross planes.”

I warned, “But whatever you do, don’t tell Arim or the others about me. They won’t understand. And you and I aren’t even close to ready to convince the Aellei to leave the Storm Lords alone. It’s bad enough one Dark Lord has them rethinking their position on interfering. But then, maybe it’s not just one.”

Arim was the Storm Lords’ well-known weapon. The most powerful Light Bringer in the many worlds.

“What?”

I didn’t have time to explain, even though I found Aerolus adorable in his confusion. “You know, this would be a lot easier if I had help. Stop playing around and find me, mage. I’m getting tired of watching and sleeping alone.”

Then I made a dramatic exit. I let loose a blinding flash of white light and teleported home to my refuge in the Between, a hideaway between planes.

There, I grabbed a cup of cocoa, a box of bonbons, and settled in with a new episode of The Bachelor while I waited for the future to find me.