Enchanted Revenge by Theresa M. Jones

they were, down. He took a deep breath and then went to the left.
    The tree house thing he went up to wasn’t very different from the other hundred or so. It was wide and smooth, but still strong and pretty.
    “We can stay here.”
    I nodded again, no longer wanting to say anything. Now that I was so close to the tree, I could see that the door didn’t actually have a handle on it. It was the same texture and color as the rest of the house, with the same bark patterns and everything, like it had been carved right from this very tree. Right in the center was a strange looking window. I couldn’t see through it, but for some reason I felt as though you could see out of it from the other side. It was diamond shaped and grayish-blue in color. Alec reached up and placed a hand right on the diamond, and the door opened.
    I could tell that no one had been here in a while. The scent of fresh dirt, stale air and dust immediately penetrated my nose.  After walking through the doorway, I took two steps down into a living room that was impossibly too big for the tree it was within. Logically there was no way that a room that size could fit into the tree that I had just walked into.
    The ceiling was high, and the room wide, and off in the back I could see a hallway that led to more rooms.
    Who needed logic anyways? I mean, I walked through the sky to get from Kansas to Texas, and the dude walking beside had wings. Wings ! So whatever… a tree house isn’t that strange, considering. Still, I didn’t understand it. I had to know how this could be possible.
    “How?”
    He turned and looked at me, the wary look gone from his face and replaced with a look of confusion, eyebrows scrunched together. “How what?”
    “How is this possible? We just walked into a tree, and now I’m in the middle of a large house. It even looks like a normal house, minus the dirt floor and leafy roof.”
    He chuckled and shook his head once. “Sometimes I forget that you haven’t been here before, or that you don’t remember when you were. It’s magic, of course. All homes in The Empyrean are like this. Small on the outside, and much larger on the inside. The more powerful the Fae that owns the residence, the larger and more grandeur the home inside is.”
    “Then whoever lived here must have been very powerful,” I guessed. The room was huge. The chandelier in the center was sparkling from the last bit of sunlight through the windows. Which was weird, because on the outside there were no windows, except that diamond in the door.
    “They were very average as far as magic was concerned, though they were strong, loyal Fae.” The somberness in his tone made me realize that he must have known who lived here. I wondered if they had been friends, or if he had a girlfriend or wife.
    One thing I did know, whoever had lived here before, wasn’t here anymore. They were gone. Just like my parents.
    “You knew them?”
    “Yes,” he said, but did not elaborate, and I got the feeling even if I asked him to, he wouldn’t. I understood. If someone asked me about my parents right then, I wouldn’t wanna talk about them. But at least I could relate.
    “I’m sorry.” And I meant it. I don’t know who he lost, but whoever it was, he had been close to them. He closed his eyes and nodded, as if saying thank you .
    “Come. I’m sure there is still something to eat here.” And then he turned away from me and headed down the hallway. Before he turned away completely, I was almost positive I saw a tear slip down past his eye. And it made me even more curious about this impatient, handsome fairy boy that had vowed to help me. Maybe he was so willing to help me in my vengeance, because he too was seeking vengeance of his own.

Chapter Eight
Cheslin : A sweet, black, squishy fruit that is highly nutritious. They can be eaten up to a decade after being picked and are plentiful in Ardennes. 
    The hallway we walked down was fairly normal. Wooden walls. Wall