The grounds around Chateau Raith were as beautifully maintained as always, the summer sunlight slanting dappled through the trees. The driveway meandered from the wrought iron gates to the house, and the unseen guardsman had keyed them open at James' approach. And, of course, somewhere in that estate, the lady of the house, one Lara Raith was

Thomas' usually immaculate apartment was a bit of a disaster area, to put it mildly. A large tree took up a corner, obscuring the Pirates of Penzance poster, and scenting the entire room with the fresh bite of pine. Boxes of ornaments stood neatly around said tree, waiting to be placed on the branches. And that was the full extent of the ( Read more... )

( You gotta spend some time with me. And I know that you'll find, love I will possess your heart. )

How it happened, nobody was sure. Thomas Raith (and a good percentage of the magical community) was pretty certain it was Harry Dresden's fault, but maybe it was beyond Chicago's resident wizard's abilities to create a permanent rift between Chicago and a place in the Nevernever called Equestria.

All Thomas knew for certain was that there were now ( Read more... )

An enigmatic smile played on Lara's lips as she caught the chauffeur's eye in the rearview mirror. She gave him the barest nod and the chauffeur began to turn the limousine off the freeway. As the car shifted, Lara readjusted the collar of her coat and ran a hand lightly along the back of Dean's neck. She'd worn nothing underneath the tailored coat ( Read more... )

((a few hours after this))

Even his old apartment had felt too empty despite its familiar sterility, and Thomas soon found himself leaving the apartment again, aimlessly making his way through Chicago until he found himself in the area around Union Station, where restaurants and bars remained open to feed and water those who came through Chicago by ( Read more... )

Being who he was and what he was meant that Thomas was used to his share of the unpredictable. True, most of the time that unpredictability came in the form of a faerie assassin's flaming arrow to the face or an obnoxious little brother's latest plan to save his ass and the world, but Thomas liked to think he was used to the unpredictable.

What he ( Read more... )

Bianca tucked her feet beneath the voluminous wine-red folds of her dress as she signed her name to the letter, the heavy, cream-coloured vellum a comforting weight between her fingers. She smiled, and set the letter away to be mailed at daybreak, and rose from her seat with ill-concealed anticipation. A car was waiting outside the villa, and she ( Read more... )

( Biggest Set of Drabble Prompts Ever )

It had been a scene straight out of the public imagination four, five decades past: the car Dean had chosen out of the garage roaring its way down the freeway, the pounding music, the wind whipping through the open windows, even his insistence on driving. It was such a human thing, to romanticize a past not even a century gone, and it amused Lara ( Read more... )