House Of Night

Onyx Lume POV

Every summer after my eighteenth, I was taken to the fae along with my mom. She was bonded to the Queen of the House of Night. Fae didn’t like humans, but we were tolerated.

Magnus didn’t like much of anything else; he only liked three things. He loved and worshiped his mom, animals, and nature. Yet in a room full of fae staring at me with disgust, his stare just looked a little less harsh. I was like the animals he bonded deeply with, except he simply tolerated my presence. Not that we saw each other much since he was always doing his own thing.

His father was always across the Faelarian Sea doing something for “work,” but the king always felt off to me—something dark I couldn’t name and didn’t care to.

My mom was a single woman raised by both of her parents, with their own issues. When they passed away, they stayed gone, and I think that’s my mother’s curse. She loves endlessly. She’s undeniably loyal and kind, but that’s always taken for granted by most.

Surprisingly, Ms. Night was just as kind. The fae can live for thousands of years; I guess that gives them thousands of years to become better people. But us humans—we get eighty years if we’re lucky.

Being in the fae every summer made me realize how valuable time is. In the human world, people get sick and get old, yet in the other world, everyone remained the same. Maybe they changed every couple hundred years. I knew their magic felt stronger—you can see the difference between young and old fae, the high and low.

This summer, I leave for college. No more faerie land, no more magic. Part of me loved the idea of running away forever. Part of me was terrified of what Magnus or Mrs. Night would do if they didn’t find me.

But it’s not as simple as telling them I want to be free. The Nights, a powerful family, might like us, but we aren’t equals. Being friends with a Night in the fae isn’t all bad. The beautiful summers, magic, and summer camp every year get better and better—but something tells me to run.

“Mom, I’m back!” I said as I unlocked the front door from my little trip picking up things I might need. It was going to be a good day.

I dropped the bags near the door and walked toward her room, still talking.

I pushed the door open, and the world stopped.

She was on the floor.

Too still.

For a second, I thought she was asleep.

Then I saw her eyes.

Black markings crawled over her skin like something had burned itself into her veins.

I don’t remember when I started screaming.

The neighbors heard. The police came. I refused to let them pull me away from her body.

Today was the day we were supposed to leave for the fae.

Someone made sure she didn’t.

There was a lesser fae serving as a police officer, and I whispered to him:

“It wasn’t human.”

I say word by word, my heart beating out of my chest, black tears dripping down my cheeks as the mascara I put on was ruined.

“We were sent as an emergency escort and to retrieve Onyx Lume. The King ordered immediate transport via stardust. I’m a glamour fae; no one will question your mother’s death. Only you see the marks.”

“My mother’s dead, and you’re telling me that protecting fae is more important than her being murdered? We’re peaceful. We moved around a lot, but she didn’t deserve this. I don’t deserve fae covering this up!”

I didn’t care and shouted it at the top of my lungs, but he was a glamour fae; it was easy for them to hide my voice, hide my breakdown from other humans.

“The King has ordered immediate transport.”

The fae blew stardust around me, and I found myself in their world again, just ahead of the House of Night.

The front lawn was full of mid fae with cameras and video equipment. I was escorted by a guard and saw Magnus for the first time in a year, his eyes immediately locking on me.

We were just in the same places; our mothers were friends. Were.

There was a look I’d never seen in his eyes. Pain?

“My mother is dead, and a glamour fae covered it up for the other humans,” I scoffed.

He took a deep breath. The action shocked me. His breathing meant he had a heart, which was hard to believe considering his seemingly soulless eyes.

“The queen is dead,” a lower fae presented the news to Magnus, who seemed unsurprised.

“Magnus, why are you not reacting?” I felt for my dagger plated in iron, just in case. He was never violent toward me, but his composure was surely freaking me out.

“Because my mother was an oracle and told me her time was coming soon. She wrote it in her books.”

“The queen was an oracle?” The news shocked me. Oracles were usually driven mad by their visions to the point they commit suicide. I couldn’t blame them—watching people you love die before it happens, before tragedy.

“She was one of the best of our time,” his jaw locked.

“You have to stay until we figure out who did this, Onyx.”

I scoffed.

“Magnus, you aren’t the King, not technically yet. You can’t command me to stay in the fae. I have a human life. I want to see my mother’s body. Bury her.”

He nodded before the glamour fae came before me, showing us my mother’s body. He made sure to cover her from the others, only allowing me and Magnus to see.

It was already prepped for a funeral. The fae worked fast.

The tears came back, my cheeks burning so hot that the tears that fell felt cold in the spring air.

She wouldn’t want me to die like this. I knew she would want me to find who did this. She’d want me to be safe.

Part of me wanted her killer to find me so I could kill them myself. But if a woman like my mom couldn’t defend herself against this, it was fae. And by the looks of it, someone wanted her dead. Badly.

I felt the air shift as he sighed.

Magic.

“By Aerith Night, I bind Onyx Lume to the fae, where she will stay, unable to be set free until three hundred and sixty-five days.”

He stared at the moon as he said it, his command becoming law to the stars, the moon, and to me.

The Nights had never used their power on us. But I just knew I couldn’t leave now. That didn’t mean I wouldn’t still try. In fact, it might drive me even harder.

Part of me forgot I was grieving. Part of me felt it wasn’t real.

My mother’s gone, and his kind killed her.

Magnus POV

I wanted to burn this world down.

My mother’s gone, and a dark fae killed her. I could see it in the markings and in her face. The anger started scorching the last bit of whatever I had left in my heart.

Her death was something she prepared me for so long ago, but each warning was brushed off. I didn’t want to believe it.

You never want to believe something’s true before it happens. So you take all you have for granted. Until you don’t.

But she saw her fate. It was almost always a guarantee.

She left me everything she owned over my father, who was always across the sea. He didn’t deserve the news—not when he left her to rule, not when he chose his work over us. I didn’t need him in life, but my mother would want him here.

Onyx found her mother the same way, but she was in the human world. It seemed to happen at a similar time. It was fake, but not the same. The markings were similar but different.

Our mothers were connected, in life and death.

“Dear sun, moon and stars, we all played our part. What’s done is done, and I vow to unmask the dark.”

I stare at the moon, cursing myself to find who did this.