“A little something for pain.”
“No thanks. I’ll take some ibuprofen like a normal, twenty-first century person.” She hastily began buttoning her shirt, casting anxious looks at the door as if afraid Finvorra might burst through.
Kheelan winced at the word ‘normal.’ Neither one of them were, her because of her half-fae nature, and him because of his stolen childhood. While human children were raised with Fairy Tales, he had been read Mortal Tales on the ignorant and strange ways of humans. The stories only served to make him more of an outsider with the fairy children. If it hadn’t been for Ealdun and Hefeydd, he would have had no one to play with or talk to.
He started, aware Skye was waving a hand in front of his face. “Hey, you. What were you thinking?”
“About normalcy.” He helped her put on her jacket. “Did you read fairy tales as a kid?”
“Loved them, still do.” She froze, one arm in the coat, the other out. “Did the fairies read them to you?”
“We read Mortal Tales. Only instead of Happy-Ever-Afters they had SEAs.”
“Meaning?”
“Stupidly-Ever-Afters where humans lived in dwellings cut off from the world of nature. They do stupid things like fall in love and get married, actually choosing to mate with one person an entire lifetime, and even worse, they’re usually too blind to see the fairies dancing right in front of their noses.”
“And what about you, Kheelan?” Her words were so soft he leaned in to catch them. “Do you believe in love?”
He scratched the back of his neck. He should tell her ‘yes,’ lead her on. If he told Skye he loved her, she would be more willing to help him even after the attack tonight. But he couldn’t do it. All he knew was that he cared way too much for this human girl, and that scared him more than the Dark Fae ever could.
He cleared his throat. “Are you really feeling better?”
Her shoulders sank. “Positive. It’s getting late, I just want to go home, get some studying in, and then crash.” She buttoned her coat and he followed her out. They headed to the truck.
“Call me if you run a fever or start to get worse. If you’re still swollen in the morning, you need to see a real doctor. “ He pushed down the feeling of guilt for getting her into this mess.
“Sure was lucky you were driving a truck tonight and not your motorcycle.”
She said it casually. A little too casually.
“Until Samhain is over, I thought it would be for the best. The Unseelie Fae have a field day this time of year.”
She regarded him with an expression he couldn’t quite pin down. Part assessing, part thoughtful, and entirely serious. Her green eyes were the darkest he had ever seen them and the light frosting of freckles on her nose contrasted sharply with her paler-than-usual skin. The purple streaks of hair framing her face appeared more prominent too.
His chest squeezed in sudden realization. She had the look of the Fae about her tonight.
Chapter 13
Chrysalis
Skye latched the door shut with relief. Home at last.
She flung her purse on the nearest chair. Without turning on the lights, she risked pulling aside a bit of the drapes to see if they were still out there.
Dozens of supernatural eyes were focused on the window. She drew the drapes tight and rubbed her scalp where a particularly bold goblin had snatched and pulled out a chunk of hair as she climbed up the apartment steps. Skye frowned. Come to think of it, dozens of arms had been reaching for her hair. It was where the fairies eyes always focused. You would think they’d never seen red hair before.
Either the elf poisoning or the ointment medicine from Kheelan made Skye’s mind synapses sizzle disjointedly as she searched for patterns in everything that happened today. Images flashed: blood oozing from her back, black-gloved hands torturing the pixies, the Unseelie fairy attacks, Finvorra’s drunken leer, and the sting of poison arrows But always the images returned to Kheelan, to his dark eyes with their unusual topaz flecks that lit with passion. Skye sank onto the sofa, weak and dizzy from elf poison.
She had no idea what she was in for when she first agreed to help Kheelan. Her life was at risk. Did Kheelan know it was this dangerous when he sought her out? And, more importantly, did she still want to help him?
Skye remembered the hagstone and stood. The sudden movement made her sway and a shooting pain shot up her spine. She grasped the edge of the chair, steadied herself, then turned on her salt lamp to find the stone she’d put on the end table. She needed to see the good fairies again, a reminder of what was at stake.