The Aetherfae Read Online Free Page A

member to arrive. I wanted to hear what they said, so I slid through the barrier opening with her. It was a risk to be inside the barrier with Ozara, but I felt I had no choice.
    Inside, I immediately noticed the tense energy coming from members of the Council—some in particular. Guanyin, Asharyu, Kapo’pi’i, Sherman, and Victoria, were wary and nervous. Even Ostara, Avery, and Calis seemed unusually tense. Each channeled energy in small amounts—the behavior reminded me of a gunfighter who flexed his fingers just inches away from the revolver in his holster. Oddly, Ozara and the remaining Council members seemed calmer, as did the Unseelie Elders.
    If anyone should be nervous, it’s the Unseelie, right? They ’ re surrounded by Aether and lifelong enemies.
    “Yesterday there was another attack,” said the muscular, bronze-skinned Fae, Toci. She originally came from a Central American clan of Fae, and was considered a goddess by the Toltec and Aztec people. Her eyes, the color of bright copper, flashed as she continued. “The Second infiltrated our defenses at Seoladán de Teotihuacán . Under a veil of Clóca, it eliminated fifteen Ometeo Clan guards, two Seelie, and my old friend Kukulkan, one of the Ometeo Clan leaders.”
    “Kukulkan is dead?” Ozara’s eyes squinted as though she was pained by the news before she dropped her focus to the ground. “The Ometeo Clan…do they bear ill-will toward us?” she asked without looking up.
    Toci bent her head forward, raven black hair spilling over her shoulders. “The Ometeo have reached a decision. They have noted, as many of the independent clans have, that attacks on the original clans have only occurred in certain circumstances.”
    Ozara lifted her amber eyes, focused and blazing now, and stared intently at Toci. “And, pray tell, what circumstances are those?”
    I was stunned, completely fixated on Toci.
    “The only original clans attacked so far are those with working ties to the Seelie and Unseelie,” she said.
    “We have provided protection for all the original clans for five millennia, have we not?” Ozara barked. “Not once in five thousand years have the original clans fought with one another—not until the Second appeared. For all that time, no Fae has died over a boundary dispute. Each Fae, regardless of allegiance, has been permitted to travel anywhere in the world. Do the Ometeo really desire a return to the old ways? Border raids, power struggles, mayhem—that cannot be their desire. Expelling the Seelie will only invite violence with the southern clans.”
    Toci’s face hardened and she met Ozara’s gaze with matched ferocity. “We were not able to prevent the deaths of elders—not among the Ometeo, or among the Sidhe, or the Jinn—they have all noticed. Ozara, surely you recognize that more Fae have perished in the last year than in any time except the Fae wars. The Ometeo have expelled the Seelie and consolidated their borders.” Toci projected an image of Mexico, Central America and the upper half of South America. She highlighted an area between a perfect line just south of Mexico City from coast to coast, and another across the bottom of Panama. The area darkened to red, including the entire Yucatan Peninsula. “This is now Ometeo territory. Trespassers will be destroyed on sight.”
    Ozara shuddered, her elegant fingers tightened into fists. “I suppose Tiolac will begin human sacrifices again at the Pyramid of Tenochtitlan? That is what this is about, is it not?”
    Shaking her head, Toci exhaled loudly and crossed her muscular arms. “The Ometeo leaders did not discuss that. I certainly hope the question is not as accusatory as it sounds. You know how distasteful I found the practice. Nothing has changed. I’m not wearing the mark—there is no black on my face—I am a loyal Seelie.”
    Ozara’s expression softened. “I was not questioning your loyalty, Toci. I apologize.”
    “Your apology is accepted. Before you