"Well, you scared us! Fire is dragging fairies in and out of a portal!" Dekram snapped.
"Old news," Layol growled; the hem of her dress just out of reach. "C'mon! Quit jerking me around and help me. I talked to Etah and she's wasted."
"Older news," Dekram said, slapped Layol's hands out of her way, and tried to work the fabric free. "I got footage of Soahc on the dance floor tonguing a Fire fairy. Also got Detaf staggering in the back door and right up to Etah like they were buds. So drag you’re 'all that' attitude down a level and move away from the window…unless you want to get a buzz on just like Etah and Detaf."
"Yeah, right, like that's so not going to happen. You say you saw Detaf?"
"Yes," Dekram said over at the sinks. She ran her hands under a tulip-shaped faucet hanging over a lily pad that caught the water.
Layol treaded air behind her, a big pixie grin spreading her lips. "I went back in."
"In where?" Dekram elbowed a button on a wind blower hanging from the wall.
While Dekram briskly rubbed her hands, Layol shouted over the whistling wind, "Into the world on the other side of the portal! And this time, I found Detaf. He didn't even know who I was, which is stupid 'cause he sits right across from me in homeroom. Before I could ask him what drug he was on and where his wings got to, another set of Fire fairies showed up and I bolted back through the portal."
"But he came in through the back door soon after you left," Dekram said as the blower quieted. "Did you say he didn't have wings?"
Layol frowned. "Yeah? What do you think's up with that?"
"You were probably seeing things because he's got them now. Etah seemed to be waiting for him."
"Huh," Layol said, "I didn't think he liked Soahc and her foul nosegay of friends."
"Nosegay?" Dekram giggled.
"Yeah, I'm trying to expand my sting words." Layol puckered her lips, nostrils sucking in air. "I became enchanted by the word and couldn't wait to use it."
"Uh-huh." Dekram strummed fingers against her chin. "Bet you started out typing posy. Am I right?"
"A foul bunch, slash, nosegay of friends," Layol rushed her words. "Get it?"
"I never lost it." Dekram shook her head, pulled out her lipstick and turned to the mirror. "It's a stretch, even for you. And if you rush off again I'll enchant your butt right into the next realm."
"Deal with it. I'm using the word, at least, three times tonight," Layol said, finger waggling. "You wait and see. Everyone will be using it tomorrow."
"Such an optimist," Dekram said and then ran color over her lips.
"Such a pessimist," Layol sang back. "Wonder if Soahc will come to class with a Fire tat tomorrow."
Dekram put her lipstick back into her boot. "I also recorded her drinking honey. I almost forgot."
"Stingin' awesome! We got her—we got her dead to rights." Layol's wings blurred with her excitement. "Think we should download the whole thing on the Net?"
Dekram, brow furrowed, tilted her head as they started for the door. "Ya think her mother knows she's hanging with Fire?"
"Ohh-h, now that's better than my Net idea." Layol grinned garishly. "Let's text Mom—"
"We are so not going to send this lewd film to her mother!"
"Okeydokey, however, your father did tell us to forward any cell phone communication about the buzzes, so legally we are oh so obligated to send it to him…ooor…" Layol said as she darted around Dekram and through the exit. The rest of her sentence echoed back. "...we do have the option to attach it to our next Fun Mail entry,"
Nesohc hovered outside the restroom with his arms wrapped around his chest and a scowl on his face when the girls popped out arguing. "What are we going to attach to our next faux HS post?"
"Absolutely not what Layol is suggesting we attach." Dekram hooded her eyes at Layol as they darted up toward the ceiling. Layol looked like a lit Christmas tree with the black lighting and all her body art.
"And what is she suggesting?" Nesohc shouted over the pulsing noise.
Layol thumbed a bedazzled acknowledgment at Dekram. "She caught Little-Miss-Lydia, the Pride-and-Prejudice of Wandermere, on film, sucking down honey and swapping spit with a Fire fairy. And I got some film of-"
Nesohc turned to Dekram. "You got Soahc kissing Fire?"
Layol cut in, "Uh-huh, with tongue action and I got-"
"Soahc was actually French-kissing a Fire fairy?" Nesohc's eyes bounced surprise back and forth between the girls.
"And drinking honey; did you miss that part?" Dekram wanted to know, wings sounding like a swarm of angry bees.
Nesohc shook his head. "I don't like this," he mumbled, eyes searching the buzz. "Either they're using her or she's using them."
"No kidding. And she didn't even notice that we were here," Layol said.
"I didn't notice anyone all put-out about the Fun Mail post, either," Dekram said and then snapped her fingers in front of Nesohc's daydream.
"What?" Nesohc was kinda sorta back in the conversation.
"Did anyone say anything to you about the Fun Mail post?"
"I didn't talk to anyone but you," Nesohc said. "How about you?"
"No," Dekram answered and they both turned to Layol.
"I hung with Etah for a bit, trying to see if she was alright. She acted weird—dodged my questions about the Fun Mail post." Layol winced at the really loud music and the crowd was putting a lot of feeling into the buzz on chant this time. "No one, not even Mirg, said a word about the post. Batted zero and that's when—did I tell you Etah has developed a weird accent?—I headed for the portal to see if I could find Detaf," Layol shook her head at Dekram, "and, well, you know the rest."
"What kind of accent?" Dekram asked.
"Do I look like I work for United Fairy Nations? It wasn't even close to fairy-ish."
"Are you gonna tell me 'the rest'?" Nesohc snagged the girl's attention back with his finger quotes.
Layol squared off with Nesohc, one hand holding a hip. "You stayin' in my face this time? 'Cause I tried to tell you 'the rest' twice already. And I ain't attempting it again, so listen up." She chewed on the inside of her cheek, dramatizing the moment, hip bouncing for effect.
"I went back through the portal." Layol paused, center stage. No one said a word. "Detaf was on the other side and he had no clue who I was. I thought maybe he was über buzzed 'cause he was flat on his back, but after thinking about it he might've been mind-spelled."
Nesohc jerked his head back and harrumphed at the same time. "That could explain Bacs' behavior earlier. Hell, it could explain Soahc's lewd performance."
"That was no performance. She's a slut," Dekram blurted, green sparkles dusting the crowd below.
"Oh, crap yes!" Layol chortled, slapping a knee. "You really got it bad. Yep, that ugly green monster is showing its head, gal-pal." She pointedly looked down at the green sparkles flickering in the light show.
Dekram's snarl looked a little weak. "Don't make me summon up the wicked witch's flying monkeys."
With a big smile and slightly tinted cheeks, Nesohc ended the tirade. "Let's head to the town meeting and see if we can make more sense out of all this."
"Totally agree," Layol said, giggling while looking around at the undulating crowd on the dance floor. "Soahc and her rancid nosegay-crowd cramp my style, anyway."
Nesohc spit a laugh. "You are likening her friends to a rancid posy of flowers?" He shook his head, laughed again, and then said, "Huh, I like it."
"Told ya." Layol snickered and elbowed Dekram along as they headed for the exit. "Two more strategically placed usages and it goes viral."
Dekram shook a grin.
Nesohc walked out the front door of the Black Shamrock and straight into Soahc, Detaf and the Tall-And-Reedy Fire fairy who had helped take Etah through the portal. He stopped so fast that Layol and Dekram stumbled into him.
"Well, if it isn't Pond Scum and her impin'-blue wannabees," Soahc slurred, staggered a step back, ankles wobbling in her plat
form pumps. Both fairies grabbed an elbow. Flame-engulfed shamrock tats bulged over Tall-And-Reedy's gang signature; FF 666.
Detaf wrestled Soahc under his arm, puffing black hair out of his eyes. "Why are you always gettin' all heavy-up on 'em?" he asked, trapping her arms in his. "Ya know I like da half-breed."
Nesohc took a step forward.
Head bobbing, Soahc studied Dekram through inebriated eyes. "Come to gloat, half-breed?—see if I went all postal about the HS post?" She leaned forward, stretching Detaf's grasp. "Bet it was your daddy, right?" Soahc jerked away and would have fallen flat on her face if Nesohc hadn't caught her. "Nobody believes his stupid attempt to scare us." She twisted in Nesohc's arms, fingers waving in Dekram's direction, eyes mocking.
Before Dekram could put up a rebuttal, Layol stepped up, shot Nesohc a maternal look of disdain, and said, "Let's just tuck that-" she pointed at Soahc, "-back into her fetid nosegay of admirers."
Layol jerked Soahc by the arm and then gave her a two palmed shove that sent her stumbling backwards into Detaf and the Fire fairy.
Layol pointed two fingers on her right hand at her best friend. "That's two times I used that word effectively, Dek. Only one more usage to go."
"Usage?" Dekram rolled her eyes; mouth frozen in an 'I can't believe you just said that' expression.
Layol raised an eyebrow at Dekram, and then turned an angry face on Detaf. "What's really going on here? We saw you-"
Dekram snagged Layol's pink dress, turning her unspoken words into a yelp. "-on the dance floor with Etah." She finished her friend's sentence and then gawked at Soahc. "We saw you on the dance floor, too."
A sloppy grin spread Soahc's red lips. "And what, freak? You want some lessons?" She giggled at her own words and ran hands up Detaf's chest.
He pulled her close and laughed down at her. "Pixie," Detaf crooned, "you startin' things. Ya feel me?" He reached for the front of his pants.
Dekram gasped.
Nesohc glared through hooded eyes. "Why are you trying so hard to be Fire, Detaf?"
Detaf's shoulders reached for his pointed ears. "She think she don't want me." He nodded at Dekram, whose eyes got big and round ad she tightened her grip on Layol's dress. "We'll just see 'bout dat."
Nesohc moved closer to Dekram.
Layol grunted, dress stretching as Dekram put her heels into the hold. "Oh yeah," Layol said. "Like she really feels an Air fairy who grabs his crotch is attractive. But hey, Soahc finds a Fire fairy who shows three inches of boxers under a butt-crack sexy enough to get up close and personal on the dance floor. I'd say you got your arms wrapped around your best choice." Layol's elbows worked, wings buzzed as she pulled harder to get in Soahc's face. "Yep, I can see both your choices have 'major ambition' written all over their idiot selves."
"Literally," Dekram mumbled, gathering another couple of inches on the dress.
One side of Nesohc's mouth quivered.
Soahc lurched at Dekram—Detaf pulled her closer. "Don't you be puttin' hurt on fate."
The Fire fairy standing next to Detaf crackled like static electricity and faded. For a split second Dekram saw a creature with an elongated jaw, concave cheeks, pointy ears, and long wispy gray hair that cascaded the length of a wrinkled leathery body, completely naked. Glowing red snake-eyes locked on Dekram, and Detaf leaned over Soahc's shoulder, smiled wickedly, and then clicked pointy teeth together.
Dekram jerked Layol back three human inches. Detaf barked a throaty laugh and filled the gap with menacing dark eyes.
Catching her breath, Dekram studied both fairies but only Detaf and Tall-And-Reedy glared back. Maybe I imagined it. What's wrong with me? Buildings are changing into logs and now fairies are turning into…I don't know what.
When Layol tugged again and Dekram still tightened her grip, Layol put both hands on her hips, spun the dress around her body, and faced Dekram.
Nesohc's wings vibrated invisible. "Back up everyone, let's not get all Brothers Grimm," he said, holding up a hand to Soahc and her advancing friends. "We just came to see if we could hook up. You know, join in," he glared back at Layol who was having a slapping match with Dekram over custody of the hem of the pink dress. Nesohc puffed nose air. "Look, we were just leaving. We didn't mean to crash your party."
Layol whirled on him. "Listen here—snap!—her party? It's a buzz! Last I heard—"
Nesohc nipped her words with a snarl and nasty eyes.
Still stumbling over the last sting, Tall-And-Reedy tugged the front of his shorts up with one hand, scratched his head with the other and then pointed at Layol. He turned to Detaf. "What's she talkin' 'bout all dat butt-crack an' ambition skat, Rage?"
"Lock it up, Imp," Detaf said.
Layol pointedly glared at the Fire fairy's exposed butt-crack.
Tall-And-Reedy burst out laughing and bounced his chin at Layol. "She be radical, sure 'nough, but you mo radical, though." He pointed at Soahc who was nibbling on Detaf's ear. "You be most radical, Rage, true dat."
"You need to shut up." Detaf thumbed a direction, glaring at Tall-And-Reedy. "Party's inside. Craps outside. Feel me?"
Chapter 10
"THAT WAS NOT Detaf!" Layol shouted as they climbed on Renrad.
"You need to learn how to spool your temper," Nesohc said. "Those guys weren't playing around."
"C'mon! I'm not afraid of—"
"Well you should be," Dekram said, taking up the reins. "Something's happened to Detaf—same as Etah and Bacs—and you just about blew the whole espionage thing, almost screaming that you'd just seen him inside."
"I do not scream!" Layol's wings skipped a few beats before she settled behind Nesohc.
"Nah, not any more than you are right now." Nesohc snorted.
Dekram smiled and wrapped the reins around her fingers.
Layol snapped, "You haven't heard screaming. You wanna hear screaming? They'll hear me in the abyss if I really start screaming."
Dekram pulled the reins tight and nudged Renrad's flank with her heels. The dragonfly shot off into the sky and everyone grabbed for something to hang onto.
"You really should have seatbelts wrapped around his middle," Layol shouted over Nesohc's laughter, a fistful of his t-shirt in her hand.
Dekram leaned left, Renrad banked right, and Layol's suggestion fell on deaf ears because Dekram was all wrapped up in the way her body tingled under Nesohc's firm grip around her middle, and the goose bumps his warm breath made on the back of her neck.
After a very erratic flight, they spotted the town hall where the meeting was being held. Renrad circled the building, completely ignoring Dekram's lead.
"Down," Dekram groused, heels tapping. She stretched over Renrad's wings, knees hugging his green body, and slapped the dragonfly's yellow head. "I said down!"
Renrad came to an abrupt stop; all three fairies stacked over his wings. Before they could regroup, the dragonfly banked left, wings buzzing, then bolted for the shoreline of a small pond behind the building and came to another abrupt stop that catapulted all three fairies over his head and onto the grass. Renrad's body vibrated briefly before he darted four human feet out over the pond and landed on a cluster of water grass, wings rock still, eyes on a caddis fly sliding along the surface below the grass.
"Renrad's ride is as wild as Mr. Toad's," Layol giggled, brushing her dress, ankles rocking faux Choo shoes.
Dekram looked shyly at Nesohc. I feel weird, kinda empty now that he's not holding me. Does that mean I love Nes? O'miShakespearianfantasy! That's so wicked scary.
Nesohc smiled at Layol's remark, but his eyes moved to Dekram. "It's a thrill-rush, that's for sure."
Dekram blushed; pink sparkles fell from energetic wings.
"Okay, so does anybody..." Layol paused, eyes playing between Dekram and Nesohc. "I am so pretending to not notice the crushing going on between you two." Layol finger-combed blond hair, eyes staring off over the pond. "So, anyone got a game plan?"
"Um…I don't have a plan." Dekra
m dragged her eyes off Nesohc. "You?"
Nesohc stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans and toed the grass with one of his All Stars. "That's one big building."
"No kidding." Dekram blinked from Nesohc to Layol and quickly added, "I asked Mrs. Laretil about it. She says it was brought through the portal by an Elder to scare the children from entering the human world for sport."
"It's as big as the whole town." Nesohc blushed and rushed his next words. "Wonder if it's filled with human-sized stuff?"
"Gosh, humans must be gigantic." Dekram sounded awestruck.
"Not gonna know nothing unless we go in," Layol said with a face full of impatience.
"Well, we can't just fly in the front door, now can we?" Nesohc said.
Layol wrinkled a smile. "Weeell, we can do the hover around windows thing—kind of risky—or the drop down the chimney thing—a bit messy—or the peek through an air-vent-cover thing—which makes me sneeze occasionally." Her gaze bounced from one to the other. "With the size of this building we have tons of options."
"You do much air-vent-cover spying?" Nesohc wanted to know.
Layol snickered. "Only if the occasion warrants it."
"Ever been caught?" Nesohc pressed.
"Nope," Layol said.
Dekram raised a brow. "I am not even gonna ask what you consider an occasion so special that—"
"Okay, then, it's the roof," Nesohc cut in and flew upward. When Layol bolted after him, Dekram sighed and followed.
"I assume we go through the air conditioner system to get to a vent?" Dekram asked after they'd landed on the roof.
"I'm guessing the exhaust fan ventilator," Nesohc said, pointing toward the far end of the roof.
"Yep, that'd do it… if it doesn't have a screen inside." Layol puffed out her chest, laid her tongue over the teeth on the left side of her mouth, eyes analyzing the fan; an expert in the field of spying. "If that's the case we search for an inconspicuous opening, try to remain invisible, find a vent cover in an upstairs room, and if we're lucky, wiggle though the slats."
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