“Right and then…shit happens. A lot of shit…” She gritted her teeth because she couldn’t remember the rest of the damn story for the noise in her head.
The bluebirds hopped on her shoulders, all six of them, chirping the tune right along with Marty.
Now Nina came up behind her and gripped her shoulder, her long fingers pressing into Toni’s skin. “Then one foggy Christmas Eve…” she belted out directly in Toni’s ear. “Sing, kiddo. Sing with me. Focus and we’ll do this together.”
The landscape became a blur of muted lights and fuzzy shades of haunting limbs, all looking to snatch her up with crystallized talons.
“Just hear those sleigh bells ring-a-ling, ring-ting-ting-a-ling too…” Marty’s cheerful voice faded, the grip of her hand on Toni’s arm feeling farther and farther away.
Until she was entirely alone.
The world around her began to spin, twisting and turning even as she stood stock still.
And then as quickly as it began, it stopped.
Abruptly, she was standing in a meadow, tall stalks of lavender and sunflowers rocked to the rhythm of a warm breeze. Toni lifted her face and inhaled. It was just like the meadow behind her grandmother’s back in Idaho.
No. No it wasn’t. It couldn’t be. Remember the words of warning Jon spoke, Toni. Things are not always as they appear.
Right. So she wasn’t really at her grandmother’s house with the porch swing and her old beagle, Tootsie, lying at Toni’s feet. She was in a fairy garden with bad, bad dudes who wanted to trick her so they could drag her off to this queen to get something from her she didn’t understand.
Shaking her head, she tried to dispel the image in front of her, but there was no purging it. The sky grew a brighter blue, the clouds somehow puffier, the breeze warmer, the flowers more colorful. As though someone was using a lens to bring everything into focus. And then her brother Cormac was there, waving her toward him, smiling, happy to see her—above all, safe.
God, he looked so good. So handsome and tall, his strong features serene.
It was then her heart constricted. It had been three long years since they’d said goodbye, and she missed him so much she almost dropped to her knees.
He waved again, the sun catching the glint of the ring on his finger.
No, Toni. That’s not your brother. Remember what Stas did to his ring finger? This illusion has all its fingers.
Run, Toni! Run far, as fast as you can! her instincts screamed.
But run to where? She swirled around, almost tripping on the length of her dress. Dropping the pelt from around her shoulders, she grabbed the ends of her skirt and raced away from the image of her brother, ran until her feet were bloody and the shoes pinched her bridges so hard she had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from yelping her pain.
Tears stung her eyes as the scenery whizzed past her and then the voices returned, but they were no longer courting her like a lover, they were screaming her name.
Toni! Toni! Toni! We know what you did! You ruined your brother’s life!
The wind began to howl once again, tearing at her dress, whistling through the length of her hair, and still she ran harder.
As she flew from the pounding in her head, the panic racing through her veins, she stumbled and tripped over a stump, hidden in the meadow’s floor, tumbling end over end until she slammed into something hard.
A grunt of pain ripped from her throat, now raw as she gasped for breath, and she forced herself up on the palms of her hands and looked around to assess where she’d landed.
A fluttery, soft hand reached out and caressed her cheek, comforting and gentle. “Poor Toni. Are you lost again? Come with me, I’ll take you to your friends,” the small voice murmured, light and airy.
A fairy. She was staring at an honest-to-goodness fairy, her gossamer eggshell-colored wings twittering in the air. Her dress was made of the tiniest of feathers in green and blue, just brushing the tops of her thighs, and a halo of gold surrounded her head.
Her tiny hands held out to Toni, she said again, “Come. I’ll take you to your friends, but we have to hurry!”
Aw, hell no. She wasn’t going to end up fooled again. She’d never live down the Great Starbucks Incident of 2015, but by God, there’d be no more stupid on her behalf.
So she decided to take Jon’s tact—the fearless, angry-warrior one.
Driving herself to her feet, Toni stomped her foot and demanded, “Reveal yourself or face the wrath of my…”
Her what? She didn’t have a sword like Jon—or even a weapon, for that matter. This had gone much better when Jon made the threats.
“Forget I said that. Just tell me who you are and what you want!”
The fairy laughed, twitching her miniature toes in time with her wings. “Nothing more than your safety, Toni. Now hurry, come with me!”