City of Fae

Freedom was marvelous. Until I got cold, and hungry, and very lost. That’s what you get for running headlong into freedom without a plan. Still, it was worth it. In the early hours of the morning I found my way back to my Mile End home, but it didn’t belong to me. I didn’t belong in that life. I stood in the living room and didn’t like anything about the place. How had I ever lived there? It was gray and neutral and bland. Where was the color, the flare, the personality? I showered, changed clothes, and left it behind without looking back. Miles had set up that life. I wanted nothing to do with it.

Without a cent to my name, and only the clothes on my back, I walked with purpose. Sure, I didn’t have a job, or an address, or a birth certificate, or a heart, but that was wonderful. I was a blank slate, and I had big plans. I wanted to go to the movies, to dance in a nightclub, to get drunk and fall over. I wanted to laugh until it hurt. To cry at sad movies. I wanted more chocolate fudge cake, and to experience those intimate things I’d felt with Reign. These were all things people did, right? Thoughts of Reign dashed my dreams somewhat. I didn’t know if I’d see him again, and if I did, because of what I was, I wasn’t sure we could ever be close. I pushed thoughts of him aside and walked until my legs ached and my feet hurt. Headlines on newspapers declared the fae liars and monsters. Photos of the dome draped in web adorned every front page. I heard snippets of radio reports from passing cars. The fae were being rounded up. Some called for them to be sent away to special reservations. New laws were being written. The fae would be excluded from society until they could prove they weren’t out to eat us. Considering they needed humans to live, they weren’t going to be proving they were all sweetness and light any time soon.

And then there was me. Evidently fae enough to feed from Detective Andrews. I couldn’t deny how his touch had revived me. Or how I’d lapped it up. I wanted more. Wanted it like I wanted chocolate cake. But, if I was fae, then I couldn’t risk touching him again. What if the worst happened? What if I accidentally bespelled him? I wondered all of this as I knocked on his apartment door and cursed myself for even being there. I had no idea what time it was or what day it was, just that my feet had carried me back to him.

He opened the door and sighed, looking far from pleased. Leaning a shoulder against the frame, he crossed his arms and bowed his head. “Alina, you shouldn’t be here.”

Okay. I’d expected a hello, at least. “I, uh, I wanted to thank you, for everything.”

His restless eyes flicked up to mine. With a frown, he shoved the door open and waved me inside. I could smell coffee and toast. My stomach rumbled. “I can’t go back to my place. It doesn’t feel right, ya know?” I rambled. “Can I have something to eat? I’m starving.”

He tensed, shoulders squaring before he turned. “You can’t stay here.”

“No,” I said, and laughed a nervous bubbling chuckle. “No, I know … I mean. Honestly? I just wanted to see if you were okay.”

His expression tightened. “It’s been a rough few days.”

“They believe you now though, right?” Why was this so awkward? It hadn’t been like this before. Thanks to my stealing his draíocht, I knew him better than ever. He was a good man. Honest. True. And Sad. So very sad inside.

“Alina …”

“We got her. We survived. Why aren’t you happier?” He flinched as though my words had cut him. “It’s me, isn’t it? Because of the touch. I … I didn’t know that would happen. And, ya know, if it hadn’t, I’d be dead, so thank you.” He looked about ready to chew me out. “I think.”

“Alina—”

“Maybe I should go.”

“Just stop talking for five seconds, will you?” A tiny smile twitched his lips. “The FA still control the fae. They’re still liaising with the police and government. Are they legitimate?”

“No.” That there was a chance the general could still be alive had my skin crawling. Warren had healed quickly. Perhaps the general could too. “They were the queen’s pawns. Maybe not all of them, but enough.”

He nodded, not surprised. “The queen got to Miles. How many others did she get to?”

“I don’t know.”

“What about Under? Are the fae still down there?”

I shrugged and tried to ignore Andrews’s disapproving glare. I should go back down there. Armed Response had tried to get in and failed. Made of draíocht, I could walk right inside. For all I knew, Shay could still be locked up. And then there was the queen’s larder, if she had one. There might be people still inside. I’d go back, soon, very soon, right after I’d eaten. “Uh, are you having breakfast? I really am hungry, I mean peckish …” However I said it, it came out wrong. “Look, this is really awkward. I won’t touch you, okay. So let’s get that out there in the open so we don’t have to dance around the elephant in the room. I mean, it’s not like I don’t want to—wait, that’s not what I meant.” Oh God. Stop speaking. “You’re lovely and everything … I mean, before this happened, I would have, ya know …” I pressed my lips together and breathed in through my nose. I really needed to stop talking. “No more touching.”

He swallowed a laugh, and then a restrained bubble of it escaped his lips anyway. It sounded bitter. “It’s not funny.”