Beyond the Iron Gate (The Faery Meadow Book 1)

Elaine walked two blocks away from the little eatery she found her parents at. They stopped in front of a little yellow painted townhouse. Then they followed the cobblestone path up to it after her mother opened the iron gate for them to walk through. Her father was already up on the porch and had unlocked the door.

When Elaine stepped inside the house, she smiled a the dainty floral wallpaper and antique looking decorations. There were so many plants clustered everywhere, but the house other than that was pretty modern like she was accustomed to in the human realm. It was smaller too.

Elaine’s parents watched as she looked around and then sat down across from her when she settled on the navy blue sofa. Colt sat beside her, but her parents remained standing by the stone fireplace.

“We didn’t want to be separated from you for so long. We had meant to come to get you ourselves, but there have been rumors for the past decade of demon sightings. We were unable to travel to pick you up or afford a deliverer to do so for us. Eventually, we saved up enough money to have the best faery we could find bring you home,” her mother revealed.

Elaine had gathered by their small home that they weren’t wealthy like the other huge white marble houses they passed down the block. Some of the homes reminded Elaine of the fancy ones she had seen down south when her foster parents took her to New Orleans for vacation.

If they really cared about her though, Elaine thought they would have come themselves and not bothered waiting to be able to afford to hire some faery like Lorcan to take her to them.

“Demon sightings?” Elaine echoed while keeping her eyes trained on her parents.

Her mother still looked salty about something and her gaze was on Colt again.

“Yes, but let’s not talk about that right now. How did you find us on your own? Should we be thanking your...friend here?” her father probed with a tense smile.

“Yes! If it weren’t for Colt I would be lost forever. You should be paying him and not the other guy for helping me find my way. Lorcan mated me to him and Colt undid it,” Elaine said quickly wanting desperately for them to give her some answers on the situation.

Her mother looked sick and her father spoke first, “Mates? Lorcan better not have. I knew we should have hired someone else.”

“I think you’re confused, dear. The one standing beside you appears to have tricked you. Lorcan would have never mated you without your consent. He’s royalty and a true gentleman. Colt has done this to you,” her mother explained sharply.

Elaine looked at Colt not believing her mother.

“She’s right, but I told you I wasn’t sure about what the consequences of me unmating you from Lorcan were,” Colt hinted while avoiding mentioning the topic that would land him back in hell.

He wasn’t surprised her parents heard of the demon situation, but he himself wasn’t involved in the death of the witches who were have said to of summoned a demon through one of their portals.

Elaine folded her arms while slumping back against the couch. She didn’t blame him. She blamed the two “adults” standing in front of her who acted so heartbroken when they saw her for the first time after years. They didn’t know how hard she struggled to adjust living with each different set of foster parents she was given over the years. They would never truly know.

Her voice sounded hollow and she looked it too. “Lorcan abandoned me. You should have come for me yourselves.”

“We weren’t allowed to, honey. Only royal fae are allowed to use portals and the like,” her mother defended while seeing her daughter stand up and approach the mantel of the fireplace.

Colt remained on the couch.

Above the fireplace was a setup of pictures, most of which were taken of her parents. However, toward the far side of the row of images was a smaller image of two babies nestled between two photographs of her parents.

She pointed at the image. She knew the one baby was clearly her by the color of her eyes and little funny baby hat that somehow managed to survive the years with her as she moved around in foster care.

“W-who is this?” Elaine croaked while pointing at the other baby.

Her mother laughed and Colt glared at the sound. He watched Elaine’s father whisper something to her while Elaine had their back turned to them. Their faces were grim, but when Elaine’s father pulled away from her mother her mother’s face brightened.

“Why don’t you remember, Elaine? That’s Lorcan! You used to play with him here when you were younger. Don’t you see his red hair?”

“I don’t remember. His eyes are different though.”

“You know a baby’s eye color changes as it grows.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I guess I can kind of see a resemblance...”

Elaine thought his soft head of fuzz didn’t look that red though. If anything, it appeared more bronze to her. She really couldn’t tell for sure. The photo was old and faded. She was relieved though at the news.

For a moment, she feared something tragic may have happened to a long lost sibling of hers, or worse, she had another sibling they chose to forget about forever and leave behind in the human realm like she felt they almost did to her.

“Lorcan will still be looking for me. Do you know how I can contact him or will you find a way to let me know I’ve made it home?” Elaine asked.

Her mother shook her head and her father held his chin in deep thought.

“I’d like a word with that troublemaker. James should be able to find him. Lorcan will surely still seek payment for his effort,” Her father scoffed while opening a black cabinet and pulling out a pouch of coins. He tossed it to Colt, “But it’s obvious he failed so I’ll be paying you instead. We can’t thank you enough Colt for bringing Elaine home to us. I would also like to speak with you tomorrow about this unmating ordeal. I hope you truly do have what’s in her best interest.”

Elaine didn’t really like how her father still wanted to pay Colt for “delivering” her to them. Still, she rather see the money go to him than Lorcan.

Colt grinned. “Of course I do, sir.”

He counted up the money and ignored Elaine’s look of disapproval.

Elaine’s mother and father told them they had to make a trip to the Aeringdal court to notify them of her arrival and Lorcan’s failed attempt to retrieve them. They weren’t comfortable keeping from the court the faery man they found her with.

However, they cut Elaine a break since they already knew she was stressed with the mate ordeal and blamed themselves partially for Lorcan’s accidental mating of her. They were just so glad they finally had their daughter home and safe. They weren’t fond of the dark-haired man she came with, but they trusted it wouldn’t hurt to leave the two alone while they made their day trip over to the city.

They would be back soon enough and Elaine’s father gave their neighbor a call to watch over the house just in case.

Elaine and Colt went into the kitchen after a long discussion of Colt’s intentions to stay with her until her parents returned. Elaine insisted that it was fine they head their own ways. She knew he had a job and she wasn’t sure what would happen to him if he skipped out on it.

Who does he even work for? Is it another demon in hell? It must be, Elaine thought while picking up a handful of berries from a bowl on the kitchen counter. She was very hungry.

She felt things were happening to fast and she thought when she finally met her parents she would feel some sense of stability in her life. However, she found herself feeling quite the opposite and very much a stranger in her own home.

Elaine supposed most of that was because she simply wasn’t too happy with the way they went about explaining their delay in reuniting with her. She had so many questions, but the answers could only be provided when they returned tomorrow.

Colt looked out the window of the small guest room her parents told her would be hers now. There was a grey quilt on the twin sized bed and in the corner was a wooden dresser and chair. The closet doors were made of wood as well and the window curtains were a light green. Colt sat on the chair crossing his legs with a frown while pulling a long sword out of the back of his shirt.

“How do you keep and carry so many weapons on you?” Elaine laughed.

“My shadows carry most of the weight.”

“Oh. Well, I don’t suppose it would hurt to check out the town? It will give us something to do in the meantime until the day’s end. If you’re tired from traveling we can just say here too if you want. I feel bad I’m holding you up. You don’t need to stay if you don’t want to. I’ll be fine here by myself until my parents come back tomorrow.” When she finished speaking, a knock came from the front door.

Colt stood up in a flash and was already out of her room by the time she heard the noise. She gathered he must have used his shadows to transport himself downstairs to the front door because it was only a moment ago he stood at the top of the steps.

Poor little faery. They both are going to hell. So don’t worry about either being your mate, dread consumed her as she heard the voice speak in her mind. The spoken words ended with a malevolent chuckle that left her shaking like a dead leaf in the wind.

“W-what do you mean?” Elaine whispered in fear out loud while gripping the railing in a death grip.

She wasn’t expecting the creepy voice to respond because it never did answer her questions and worries in the past. This time was no different and she was beginning to think it was a demon like Lorcan alluded to because it seemed to enjoy her misery. Colt was a demon though too, but he could never be as sinister as the awful voice that plagued her mind.

She leaned over the railing, and looked down, wondering how the voice knew about the visitor or even where she was, to begin with. Through one of the open windows on the ground floor, she saw a familiar head of fiery red hair.

A moment later, the front door opened and Lorcan flew in.

END OF BOOK 1