Clash of the Otherworlds: Book 1, After the Fall Read Online Free Page B

created by my fast walking towards a seat would cool my face off before I sat down.  All Ben had to do was say one little hardly suggestive thing and I was all embarrassed again.  I seriously needed to get a handle on myself.  I might be a virgin, but that didn't mean I was totally inept around guys.  Not normally, anyway.  But something about Ben made me feel like a fluttering idiot whenever we were alone.
    I took a seat at the far end of the table, while Ben stopped to talk to several other fae who had beat us to the meeting.  They were Dark Fae I had only seen once at our binding ceremony, both witches.  My mind wandered to the one Dark Fae witch I did know - Samantha.  Supposedly, she and I shared the same grandmother, Maggie.  Actually, Maggie was more like a great grandmother times ten or something, she was so old and so many generations back.  I still wasn't sure that I believed that story, but Maggie was a real stickler for the truth.  I couldn't imagine her lying about it, as strange as it seemed.  The fact that Samantha had tried to kill me a couple times and seemed hell-bent on hating me made the idea of being related to her almost laughable.  I shouldn't have been surprised, though; my own parents hadn't seemed to like me much, either.
    I refused to consider memories of my mom right then, because she'd died in such a horrible way, being tortured by a demon.  I didn't want to cry in front of all these people.  Surely, they'd revoke my cloak then.  Not that I'd mind, but I'm pretty sure it would be a huge disappointment to a lot of fae who were counting on me to be mature and do the right thing by them.  I sighed, thinking how light the cloak was when the mantle of responsibility it represented was so damn heavy.
    "What's the big sigh for?" asked the fae to my right.  I looked over and saw a werewolf sitting next to me.  I assumed that's what he was because he was totally built and had very hairy arms; plus, he was sitting next to a guy I knew to be a Light Fae werewolf.
    I shrugged.  "Just thinking about how much work it is to be on the council."
    "Eh, it's no big deal, really.  You just talk to your people and bring their ideas and decisions to the table with you."
    "What do you do now, though?  Now that you have two werewolf members at the table, I mean?"
    He smiled.  "Well, in theory we're supposed to be all the same people.  But some of our brothers and sisters aren't quite ready to do the group-hug thing, so we're still talking to people individually - he to his and me to mine.  Then we have a quick meeting together before we come here to get on the same page."
    I smiled back.  "Naughy, naughty.  We're all supposed to be on the same team now."
    "Yeah, I know.  It'll happen eventually."  He held out his hand.  "My name's Aidan by the way.  Nice to meet you, Jayne."
    "You already know me, I guess."  I gave him a half-hearted smile.  "Exactly how much of my reputation has preceded me?"
    He laughed.  "I'd have to be living under a rock not to know who you are at this point.  But that's a good thing, don't let it get you nervous.  I've only heard good things, so no pressure."
    "Yeah, right."  I rolled my eyes.
    "Want to hear a story that will make you feel better?" he said, whispering conspiratorially.
    "Sure," I whispered back, leaning closer to him.
    "My first council meeting?  I got so freaked out, I shifted," he rapped his knuckles on the wood table, "right there at my seat."  He chuckled, looking at me for my reaction.
    "You shifted?  What do you mean?  I don't get it."
    "I shifted.  I changed.  You know ... I went from man to wolf?"
    "Oh.  Damn.  That sounds scary, actually.  Did you eat anyone?"
    "Eat anyone?  No.  And not scary; more like humiliating.  Not only did I lose my pants, but there I was, showing everyone I was supposed to be impressing that I had the control of a two-year-old."  He shook his head at the memory.  "I still haven't lived that one