by Kimbra Swain
“Levi,” I repeated.
“Son, you should listen to her,” his father said pouring the liquid into his glass.
“No, you should listen to me. I don’t want you to ever address this with her ever again,” he screamed over my shoulder at his father.
I ran my hands up his chest to his neck sending shockwaves of power through him. He groaned as the power flowed between us involuntarily. I felt William turn to watch us.
“Levi, listen to me,” I said.
“Grace, please let go. I can’t do this. I won’t do this,” he said.
“Dublin, I swear. Look at me,” I said.
His blue eyes ranged to the darker shade of cobalt as he focused on me. “Please don’t make it worse,” he murmured. I felt all the pain and disappointment he’d been holding back, but I felt his connection to me as well. A strong, confident love. I’d never felt anything like it. Even with Dylan. It wasn’t possible for Dylan and I to have this kind of connection, because Dylan wasn’t a fairy.
“Tell me what you want me to do. I’ll do anything to make this better for you,” I said. His hands found my cheeks and he leaned in on my forehead.
“I’ve got enough. You, Winnie, and Aydan are my family. That’s all I need,” he said.
He had said the right thing again, ignoring the deep feelings inside. We all have done it before. We tell ourselves the lie to be able to accept the truth.
“If I can feel what’s inside of you that you don’t speak about, then surely you can feel me as well,” I said.
He growled in frustration, and I felt the pull of power as he skipped us to my office. The lights were off and it was dark in the room where my desk sat. The door to the other room slammed closed, and he backed me up to it. Hovering over me, he looked down into my eyes. I remembered this, only our positions were reversed, and there wasn’t a song I could sing to get him to back down.
Removing my hands from his chest, he pinned them to the door on either side of me.
“Now, we need to get something very clear between us,” he said. His voice had deepened to a husky, dark rumble like thunder in a distant storm. Leaning down over my lips, he paused. With the smallest movement, they would have been touching mine. I held as still as possible, but my body trembled as the sexual fairy deviant inside of me did a triple back-hand spring and a round-off. “This can never happen.”
I couldn’t respond to him. He’d transfixed me there in shock and every bone in my body craved him. No emotions. Purely physical. He was hitting all my triggers as if he’d known them all along. He pressed his body to mine, and I felt his arousal.
“You are the queen, and your king will return. You have people to rule and a kingdom to take. I will be beside you the whole way, but this,” he said, pausing to roll his hips into me. “This will never happen. I will not be your Lancelot.”
Levi, the bard, was telling a story. An epic story of a king, a queen, and her lover. He refused to play his part in the story that destroyed my father’s kingdom. I suspect that the initial failing influenced the second fall as well.
“I don’t know what to say,” I muttered.
“You don’t have to say anything. I know your heart. I know it probably better than you know it yourself. I see it and feel its every beat. Forgive me for this, but I needed you to understand,” he said having lost his storm. The cool collected Levi had returned. Backing away from me, he released my hands.
He turned his back on me, and I watched his shoulders slump as if he’d lost a battle. But we both knew he had won it. He didn’t cross the line, and neither had I. Walking around to look at his face, he opened his eyes to focus on me again.
“I love you, Levi,” I said.
“I know,” he replied. He took my hand, and we skipped back to the truck in front of his father’s house which was dark, but I could see his silhouette watching us from an upper window. I hoped that one day William and I could find some common ground. Until then, I was the fairy queen ruining his son’s life.
While Levi drove us home, I stared out into the star-filled sky. My cheeks burned with the flush and heat of the sexually charged moment. I turned the vent in the truck to blow the air-conditioning right on me. Sighing deeply, I looked over to Levi who chanced a glance my way.
“Hot?” he asked. I saw the glint in his eye. He really was a devil.
“Yes,” I said.
“I guess more than one person can melt an ice queen,” he smirked. I swatted at him across the seats, and he jumped causing the truck to swerve. He started laughing as he moved us back into the correct lane. I couldn’t hold back. I started laughing too. The tension wasn’t gone completely, but it had eased.
Perhaps hiding my problems in the closet letting them out one by one wasn’t a good idea. Levi, I supposed, was no longer in that problem closet. He came barreling out of it in a sexually-charged stampede. I couldn’t handle another onslaught.
In the darkness of the silent house, I opened Dylan’s closet. The jacket swayed lightly on the hanger. The intense smell of leather filled my nostrils as if the jacket had become the air freshener in that small space. Touching the sleeve, I felt the softness caress the tips of my fingers. I pulled it off the hanger quickly and pressed it against my cheek. My tears flowed down onto the worn jacket. I wanted to wrap myself in it and forget the world.
But the world might not continue on if I didn’t. That was the final truth I needed to accept. I wasn’t the exiled fairy living by the skin of her teeth anymore. I was a queen. I was a mother. My son. My daughter. They were my reasons for living and ruling. I took the jacket and hung it on the back of a small, wooden chair in the room. Backing away from it like it was a rattlesnake poised to strike, I sat down on the empty king-sized bed.
After Levi and I had arrived home, we went into our normal routine of getting Winnie and Aydan fed and ready for bed. Winnie chattered on about how Mark had gotten into another fight about a boy at school, and that if he fought again, Miss Jenkins wasn’t going to let him come back to school. Levi said he would go talk to Troy to see if there was anything we could do to help keep Mark out of trouble.
She went to bed asking about the birdhouse that she and Levi were going to build. They had found some supplies in the shed to build the house, but not everything they needed. Levi promised to buy the remaining items, so they could make a birdhouse for Dylan.
Aydan babbled in non-sensical baby talk all night. He was quite vocal, and it was completely adorable. The extra full stinky diaper was less adorable, but still a sign of a healthy, growing baby boy. It made my heart sad to know he wouldn’t be little much longer. I had to enjoy it all, even the super poopers.
When everyone in the house settled and went to sleep, I made my way up to the master bedroom that I hadn’t used. My bright idea was to finally sleep in the bed if there was any way possible.
Sitting on the edge of it proved to be difficult enough, but I forced myself to lay back on the pillows. I didn’t get under the covers or disturb the bed much. Staring up at the ceiling, I thought about the coming bonfire and the spells that would be needed to ward off the evil eye once and for all.
Astor gave me a box earlier in the night that Wendy had sent over for me. It contained a beautiful three-piece dress. The note attached said that she had one of her fellow gypsies make it for me. The top was nothing more than an ornate white bra. The bottom of the skirt was long and flowing just like traditional wanderer garb. It also contained a sheer jacket with long duster type tails that matched the crochet part of the dress. It was exquisite. The craftsmanship mirrored the detail of the blue dress I had worn into Summer that grew with my rapidly expanding body. Delicate protections spells were woven in and out of the details of the dress. There was also a long white beaded necklace. The stones were milky quartz and very heavy. Many types of stones were used by the gypsies to ward off evil. I had once owned a necklace much like it.
The dress was sexy. The gypsies who were very open sexually believed
that spells and magic could be driven by sexuality. Many of the ritual dances and dresses were provocative. If the dress were any indication, tomorrow’s celebration and ritual would be along the same lines.
When I opened the box downstairs, both Levi and Astor begged me to put the dress on, but I hadn’t felt the confidence to do it. I would wear it to the bonfire. The ritual dance for midsummer should include the most powerful of the magic wielders in the camp. Fordele and Wendy had asked me to dance, and I wouldn’t deny them. Especially after receiving the gift.
Astor promptly gave me another amulet to wear. He said that he was waiting for the right time to give it to me. A thank you for allowing him to stay in Shady Grove and live a new life. I almost cried when he said that I’d given him a purpose that he never knew he needed. The large circle pendant on the necklace featured a scrolling sun. It, too, had magical protections from the Summer realm. Astor explained that the amulet also was a wish for prosperity. My kingdom needed a little good fortune in this dark curse.
Levi and I decided to find out more about the Perilous Vale and the curse on Shady Grove. Hopefully one day, we would be able to remove that curse on the land and the people here. I saw no reason that they didn’t deserve a second chance like those who still lived in the Otherworld. In fact, if the curse could be reversed, I’d almost do it, but I knew there were beings under this one that didn’t deserve another chance.
Focusing back on the jacket hanging from the chair, I wished on that enchanted object for my fiancé to come home. I ached to see him and show him our son. Those final thoughts drifted through my mind as I finally slept in the bed for the first time.
The next morning as the house began to awaken, I snuck into Aydan’s room and made a place for him on the floor in the master bedroom. He laid on a blanket gazing upward while cuddling a soft blanket that had a baby deer head attached to it. Tabitha had called it a lovey. He lovied it thoroughly. Especially the ears of that poor faun which received the brunt of his teething slobber. When I picked him up out of his crib, his toothless grin sported the whitening edge of a tooth that was about to cut through his gums.
“Too soon, Little Bird,” I told him. He babbled a reply and smiled again to prove I’d actually seen it. After feeding him, I sat him on the floor to watch him play.
The house bustled below us. I heard Astor and Levi getting Winnie ready for school. After she left, the house became quiet again. Only occasionally footsteps. I had felt Levi in Aydan’s room. He must have gone in to check on him.
“You have him?” he asked with a touch of panic.
“Yes. He’s in here with me. You can come in,” I said.
“No, I have a phone call to make,” he replied.
I wondered if after last night things would get awkward between us. I hoped they wouldn’t, but it only made sense that they would. Replaying those moments in the trailer office hadn’t helped my mood. At the time, I told myself it was purely physical, but I had to be honest with myself. It was much more than that. Something I couldn’t define. Something that didn’t change my love for Dylan.
Levi was a part of me. We shared the blood oath. He was in my head with unfettered access. I wouldn’t ever speak of it, but I also wouldn’t lie to myself anymore about it.
Speaking of the devil, Levi walked into the room. He glanced down at Aydan with a smile as he listened to someone speak to him on his cell phone.
“Yeah, hang on. She’s right here,” he said, handing me the phone. “Tennyson.”
Taking it from him, I took a deep breath then answered, “Good morning, Tennyson.”
“Morning, Grace. I hope I didn’t wake you,” he said.
“No, not at all. What can I do for you?” I asked.
“We should talk. As soon as possible,” he said.
“Would you like to come to the house?” I asked.
“I can do that, but maybe your children shouldn’t be there,” he said.
“Aydan isn’t old enough to understand anything and Winnie is at school,” I said.
“I’ll be there in 30 minutes,” he said promptly hanging up the phone.
“I want to be here when he arrives,” Levi said.
“Why? Do you know what he’s going to say?” I asked.
“It’s about Dylan, and no, he wouldn’t tell me,” he replied. “I’ll go find Scarlett O’Astor and send him to the store if you don’t want him here.”
“I don’t think I need an audience for this,” I said, knowing that whatever Tennyson had to say was bad news.
“Want me to take Aydan with me? You can get a shower before Tennyson gets here,” Levi asked. He picked Aydan off the floor with a grunt. “Good grief. You are heavy, Aydan.” The little man grinned as if he knew he was becoming a chunk. He wore his baby fat proudly, and quite handsomely. I was biased, but I didn’t care.
“I’m considering abandoning buying clothes. It’s warm enough that he can go with a just a diaper,” I said. “I can’t keep up with his growth.”
He shook his head. “Shower,” he prompted.
“Damn, you are so bossy,” I said.
“Get used to it,” he said as he walked out the door.
I’d put him in his place, eventually. After last night, I didn’t feel like arguing with him. Taking one last look at the jacket on the chair, I turned my back on it to get a shower. I wasn’t sure it was moving on, but it felt like progress. Sometimes acceptance is moving forward. Not accepting death, but accepting change. My life and heart were forever changed because of that man.
I poured Tennyson a glass of iced tea which had turned into a staple at the house. I knew that Levi drank it, but he introduced it to Astor who found it to be better than his wine back in Summer. I disagreed. I grabbed an orange soda from the fridge then joined Levi and Tennyson in the living room. Aydan had been fed and was spending some time in the floor on his tummy.
“Get to it,” I said handing him the glass.
“That’s what I love about you, Grace, you don’t beat around the bush,” he said.
“It’s annoying,” Levi said as he slipped into his brooding role. I cocked my head sideways at him and caught the slightest twinkle in those denim blue eyes. The damn devil.
“For my benefit?” I asked.
“You love it,” Levi responded. Tennyson watched us knowing full well we were leaving him out of the conversation, but he didn’t seem to mind.
“Sorry. We are done,” I said.
“Actually, I think the two of you are far from done, but that’s a discussion for another day. I’ve received information from the inside about the jar and Dylan. I’m glad Levi is here because the news isn’t good,” he said gravely.
“Go ahead,” I said. The humor between Levi and I evaporated with Tennyson’s business-like tone. He tugged at his lapel. The dark charcoal business suit tightened around his broad shoulders. I met his cold eyes, anticipating his news. My nerves were shot, and I needed something to keep me going.
“Brockton does have the jar, but he has released Dylan from it,” he said.
“Really? He’s alive?” I asked.
“There is no easy way to say this. That evil bastard is seeing if there is a limit to how many times he can rise, and what if anything could make the death permanent,” Tennyson said. He didn’t sugar coat it for which I was glad. I’d rather be stabbed with a sharp instrument than a dull one. Dylan was living the life of a thousand deaths.
“Fuck,” I muttered as the tears rolled down my face. Levi buried his face in his hands, refusing to look at me. “You knew?”
“Yes,” he muttered. He tugged on the base of his shirt, pulling it off over his head. His chest and stomach were covered in scars that wrapped around his sides to his back, but they weren’t cuts or gunshot wounds. They were burn scars. Crossing the room, I knelt before him. He closed his eyes tightly as I reached out to touch the ridges of the healed wounds. Levi’s skin looked like a topographical map. Some wounds were worse than others. My chest hurt
looking at what must have caused him extreme pain.
“Burns?” I asked.
“Yes,” he muttered. Tennyson said stoically watching us. “I healed as much of it as I could.”
“Dylan did this?” I asked.
“No, Brock did this,” Levi said through gritted teeth. “Dylan wouldn’t hurt me.”
“But he did,” I said as I started to see the whole picture. “That’s why you wouldn’t tell me what happened?”
“Grace, I…” He broke. I wondered how long it would take. When you hold things inside, especially for the good of another person, they can swell up like a cadaver in the sun. They had done something so bad to Dylan that he had burned Levi.
“Does it still hurt?” I asked.
“No. Please don’t be angry with him, because he’s just not himself. They’ve made a game of killing him. Then they stuck him in a cell with me, and he went off. He said I was supposed to be with you. He was right. I should have been with you. They had given me a knife knowing I would have to kill him to save myself. It took several times before he calmed down enough to be slightly rational. Even then, he was a mess. How much of this do you want to know?” Levi asked before he let it all out.
“Everything you are strong enough to tell me,” I said.
He shook his head as Tennyson sat silently across from us. Honestly, I didn’t want him here any longer. This seemed like a private conversation, but I had agreed to let Tennyson be on my war council. Levi obviously contracted him to find out whatever he could about Dylan.
“Once I got him to calm down, they would bring someone in to kill him. They had cast a spell on the jar that once he turned to dust, it automatically sucked him in like a vacuum. They were having fun with it, but Brockton got angrier every time Dylan rose. I don’t think they can kill him. Robin doesn’t have the power,” he said.
“Rhiannon would have to do it,” I said.
“That’s why she had a jar,” Tennyson interrupted. “Robin was trying to convince her to kill Dylan once he rose. They gave her a fake jar to see if she would keep her word. It never got that far, and now she won’t deal with them at all for interrupting the confrontation with you in Summer.”
