Ammon and Thanasis

After I was Drow again, I slipped into my Elvin fighting suit that felt sexy and sensual against my skin. Much better than the leather breeches and Drow warrior shoulder and breastplates over one’s bare chest. The plates chafed. Especially the important parts. 

I adjusted my suit to make sure it was on straight then stretched a little more before I strapped on my belt with my sheathed dragon claw daggers and my buckler, and a grin spread across my face.  

Before I left home I’d loved besting Ammon at sparring, the step-uncle from the human version of Hell. He’d been beyond angry. 

Ammon. I raised my chin and sobered. No. If my father passed to Summerland, I would not make Ammon my mate so that he could be King.  

I ground my teeth as dug my cell phone out of my purse. I jammed the cell into the clip on my belt, much harder than I should have. 

With women being subservient to men in the Drow world, a woman could never rule, so the duties could only be passed to the next of kin—a male—not to me. Not that I’d had any desire to rule. By the Goddess, no way was I going to let that happen, being forced to marry Ammon.  

I tossed my hair over my shoulders before slipping into my boots. My father wasn’t going to die, anyway. He was two millennia and still as healthy as a twenty-five-year-old warrior.  

The only other potential mate was my real—and very cool—uncle, Thanasis. But there was that whole being blood-related thing going on that made me a little squicky. Drow didn’t care, but I did.  

If it came down to it, I figured I’d marry Thanasis and let him rule while I returned to New York City. We didn’t have to have sex, right?  

Drow Society

Drow women being subservient to men—it’s been that way for millennia, so no changing that little fact. It was one of the reasons the Drow were kicked out of the Realm of the Light Elves. Drow are a faction of Elves who refused to give up their male dominated bondage and domination way of life and who also refused to give up the use of darker magic. 

The Elders voted. 

The next thing they knew, Drow were forced to live underground as Dark Elves, unable to tolerate daylight. That was so many millennia ago that it was a wonder if anyone could count that far back. Over the millennia, Drow skin evolved and changed to shades ranging from all hues of blue, gray, and purple. 

Because my mother was human and my father the King would do anything for her, she had the power as Queen to raise me to be a strong woman and firm in my own beliefs. She didn’t go for the BDSM lifestyle and believe me, I’m thrilled with that. My father indulged me in my desire to be a warrior because I was his little Princess and I could do no wrong. Heh. 

The King’s male warriors have always been bitter toward me, but hid it around Father. I’d kicked their butts more than once with Drow archery and with one on one combat exercises using my dragon-clawed daggers. Did that ever embarrass the warriors when I won. The male or males who lost to me wouldn’t live it down for ages with their fellow warriors. 

I’d loved it. Of course, that was when I wasn’t the one who’d lost. 

Magi

The Mandarin Oriental at 60th and Columbus Circle in Manhattan, a fabulous five-star hotel, was where we hid our most precious paranorms. And we hid them in luxury. 

The Magi had the entire two top floors of the Mandarin. Magi . . . Magi are extraordinarily special and I’d only been allowed to be around them a couple of times. Goddess, they were beautiful to a one. Not just beautiful, but ethereal. 

More than the Great Guardian if you ask me, but it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to tell her that. 

(Mirror,  Mirror . . .) 

The Magi could never endure a place like the Pit. They could never leave their sanctuary, but it had nothing to do with their beauty. All Magi are women and all must remain chaste. If they have sexual relations, they will die.  

Peacekeeper Flower Power

Peacekeepers who weren’t Trackers—Healers, Soothsayers, and the rotating Gatekeepers—kept to themselves in another part of the Pit, and they called it by such a unique name I wondered how they ever came up with it.

“The Lounge.”

I’d been in the Lounge once and while a kaleidoscope of color made my head spin, the place made me think of a flower shop on an overdose of speed. Fresh flowers everywhere, wood furniture carved with roses, and the fine upholstery was—of course—a floral pattern. The smell of roses nearly overpowered each being’s natural scent.

Where did the Great Guardian find these Peacekeepers? At a flower shop on Madison?

Peacekeepers were all female, with the exception of Trackers who were split pretty evenly male/female. It was no wonder the other Peacekeepers were all women—a guy’s brain would explode if he stepped foot in the Lounge.

No Hector burgers and beer on tap for these “ladies.” They even had their own little bar that served fruity drinks along with coffees, pastries, and fancy French dinners. How special.

The Healers, Gatekeepers, and Soothsayers—for the most part—seemed to feel they were too good to hang out with the rest of us. “Lesser paranorms” and Trackers.

I had to laugh over that considering the Soothsayers were all Doppelgangers including one who was a beagle and another who was a very large, sleek black rat.  

Weres

The Were pack in the big Apple and the packs in surrounding areas always leave for the countrysides to do their hunting at night. I pictured them heading out on a tour bus and almost laughed out loud.

Okay, no tour bus.

Weres drive mostly SUVs and trucks. Weres are fabulous mechanics, and long before TPTB jacked the price of fuel so that everyone started buying hybrids, Weres all drove vehicles that ran on corn oil. Take that, crude oil companies.

Weres can be scarier than New Yorkers during rush hour, but for the most part they are harmless to humans and other paranorms.

Er, that’s until the full moon. It might be a good idea to head anywhere but the mountains during full moon. Like Tahiti.

Paranorms are cool with Weres hunting wild animals and Weres are good about being on the move and not wiping out any animal species by staying too long.

Werewolves have the greatest numbers out of all Weres. After that come Werecats, which includes lions and tigers, and then come Werefoxes. The Weres didn’t come into the Pit too often because the packs tend to keep to the less populated areas and for the most part like to keep to their own.

Werewolves can shift from human form to wolves any time they want. They’re sleek, beautiful, powerful. Weres always smell like the woods and fresh air. Nice.

Until the full moon. At the full moon they resemble neither man nor beast. You really don’t want to be within a five mile radius of a Werewolf at full moon. Let’s make that ten.