Managing Expectations

by Erin R Flynn

  “Being bums, yes, I know.” I glanced at Geiger. “This works?”

  “Yes, of course, go enjoy your fun, child,” he agreed, beaming at the idea that I could have fun, not simply more problems or bullshit.

  Yeah, me too.

  I turned and gave Darby way too heated of a kiss. “Let’s go play and I want to try all of the food. Like all of it. Should we bring crystals? I bet I could easily do crystals. I thought to suggest this before but it—I don’t want to use this for the dragons or politics. Maybe that was selfish but—”

  “It’s like she’s me,” Izzy whispered. “Weird.”

  I shrugged and pulled away from Darby. “Okay, so let’s hurry and get food going. We’ve got lunch coming too? We can take a break from the park for that, or are we going after?”

  “We can take a break for it since you can open portals,” Hudson answered, looking amused as well. “I’ll stand in lines for food since I won’t be much for the rides unless they’re cute ones.”

  “Will you fit on the cute kiddie ones?” I teased him, beaming when he simply chuckled at me.

  I didn’t care. We were going to Disneyland.

  Nothing could upset me that day.

  We hurried to do our sampling and reviews—with a lot of me prodding to move faster—and then I took the world’s fastest shower, getting ready in record time. Hudson finally lost the battle with laughing when I threatened to leave him there when he hadn’t even showered yet.

  Craftsman promised he would bring Hudson and Izzy in a bit, along with some crystals if I really wanted to use the outing. I kissed him in thanks, thinking it always smart to have a stockpile of my crystals even if I had help now.

  It was only being paranoid if I was wrong, and I wasn’t. The world sucked most every day.

  Geiger handled the tip and when we arrived to pick up our tickets that someone had already ordered, our media was waiting. Everyone had started with e-tickets, but Craftsman had squashed that when he saw the disappointment in my aura.

  Maybe it was silly, but I wanted the physical ticket from my first theme park. I didn’t have many mementos, and the idea of starting to have good ones to save was… I wanted to. I really wanted to.

  “Ms. Vale, are you cheating on Councilman Shurr already?” a reporter asked me above the others.

  I gave the guy an amused look, playing the part we’d all discussed would be best and played to my strengths. Mostly being dismissive, snarky, and pissing off men as fast as possible.

  “I heard the vampire council’s latest ploy to try and get me as theirs and honestly, it’s seriously pathetic on a whole new level,” I drawled. “I mean pathetic. I never touched the power-hungry douche who would blow up his mating and family to—gross. It never happened. There are hundreds of witnesses that I was at the bust of the vampire council trying to abduct me.

  “I know there’s magic in this world, but I didn’t think cloning was an option for me to be in two places at once. So just in case his next move is a sex tape of ‘me’ touching his gross ass, we’ve been there and done that. I don’t care who the vampires got to wear a glamour charm as me this time, but no one with a brain is going to fall for it. Is this the only trick the vampires have?”

  “You cannot just call a respected councilman a liar and—” the guy snarled at me.

  I shut him down with a look of death. “Are you here as media to report on what actually happened and ask questions or as one of his lackeys to start more shit? You’re not with the cops. So pick a lane and try to stay in it with some integrity, mate. That man made up all kinds of shit about me and I will call him on it. It’s gross. It’s obscenely disturbing this is their next ploy.

  “I was with my boyfriend when he says we were—I honestly can’t repeat it without vomiting. Darby and I are on spring break and will enjoy it. I don’t care what lie comes in next. And I understand the councils try to push this narrative I’m a whore because I grew up with humans, but it’s disgusting. It’s disgraceful that I would be a whore, and he bragged his having a mistress is a viable option.

  “But not for me. I would never be someone’s mistress. I have more value than that, no matter what these dinosaurs think of women or that they treat us like mares they can do with whatever.” I winked at Darby and he took the cue, coming over and hugging me from behind so everyone focused on him as well. “The councils can lie about whatever they want, but it won’t change reality.

  “And I’m not giving this crap with Shurr any more thought after this conversation. My boyfriend—who I love and would never cheat on—asked me to have some spring break fun and we’re going to. We had tickets ordered to meet up with our friends, and I’m not letting the vampires, the councils, or the gods themselves interrupt any more of our fun like last night.”

  I thanked the other reporters, besides the mean guy, and headed into the throng of humans to get our tickets, knowing they wouldn’t follow. The rules were clear not to make a scene or clue humans in that there was a world inside their world. Even right then had been on the line and people could have gotten in trouble.

  Which was why I’d been kind and put up a barrier around all of it. I suspected someone would figure that out later and hopefully our media would say something nice about me trying to protect supes. I could use that kind of pat on the back since so many assholes constantly spewed shit that I would destroy everything.

  The moment our tickets were in my hand, I was dragging Darby to the entrance, my boyfriend having to remind me we needed to wait for the others. The guards were dying, Zack and Ray looking at me as if they’d never seen me before.

  I bit back a growl when a cloaked portal opened—something I learned I was so powerful, I could still feel—and a dozen fairies blended with the crowds to come into view. Light and Dark Guardians.

  One of which was Taeral.

  He held up his hands in surrender. “It was Iolas or me, Princess. You said on the record, live on camera, you would be here today. We both know there are people who would risk all the humans here to get you and we cannot take that chance.”

  “Fine, but no judgmental looks or comments. I’ve always wanted to come here.” I sighed when he nodded. “That’s something at least. Iolas has a stick up his ass.” I shrugged when a few of the Light Guardians gave me shocked looks. “He was friends with Queen Meira. He compares everything I do to her and her standards. It’s suffocating. I’m me. I don’t—”

  “Not today,” Darby cut in, kissing my hair and wrapping his arm around me. “This is your happy day.”

  I nodded, snuggling back against him. Yeah, it was my happy day.

  And he was right, it was a happy day. One of my happiest ever. The stars aligned and for once, nothing fucked with us. We got the tickets to skip lines where we could and waited other times, joking around, eating, and enjoying the day when we did.

  Mostly, Hudson came on, but other times he’d be waiting after with some sort of dessert that made me drool and tasted even better. We ate and ate, and we also did our lunch sampling.

  Izzy and I got souvenirs, plus a ton for the hobgoblin kids since everything was geared for tiny sizes anyways.

  Lucca met up with us after lunch and while I noticed how hard it seemed to be for him, Craftsman, and Hudson to not enjoy this with me as the men in my life, just for today, I would put a pin in that. Tomorrow, I would start working on handling that better since that was difficult for them, and I needed to acknowledge that better.

  But today was a day to give the child inside of me something she had always wanted and never had.

  And I wasn’t only talking about taking pictures with all the Disney Princesses.

  Though I did.

  Actually, every Disney character I could find… Bribing Hudson to take a few as well. Apparently, telling him I would get naked really would get him to do just about anything.

  When it was time to do our dinner sampling back at the resort, I was exhausted from being that excited and keyed up for so long.
Still, it was one of the best days of my life and I would never forget it.

  I couldn’t even contain my squeals when Darby and Izzy promised to plot out a plan for our summer.

  And I would even admit to them it was so much fun.

  5

  Something happened after we arrived back to the resort. I wasn’t sure what, but Taeral seemed unable to form words and became quieter than normal before hurrying to leave. I had no clue what that was about, but I was fairly sure it would come up later.

  Great.

  “Can we talk while the others handle dinner?” Craftsman asked me quietly.

  Nervously.

  I nodded, thanking Izzy when she ordered everyone to head out with her and give us privacy. It was nice that someone understood we needed it and would do it, even if she was blunt about it.

  “Everything okay?” I worried when we were alone.

  “Yes, wonderful, but I want to—I’m not sure how you’re going to react to this topic.” He cleared his throat as he pulled out my chair for me and then took the one next to me at the table when I sat down. Reaching over, he took my hands in his, his thumbs running over my skin.

  “Julian, you’re making me nervous.”

  He sighed. “Sorry, this is my first time asking. My mum wants to have dinner. The three of us. I’ve never asked a woman to meet her. I mean, I know you’ve met her. In passing only, and not as—this went better in my head and less—”

  “It’s fine,” I promised, squeezing his hands. “It’s my first too and—”

  We jumped to our feet as two portals opened, Iolas, Taeral, and several of the high ranking Dark and Light Guardians that I’d unfrozen filing into the cottage. Yeah, something was going on.

  “I’ve had a really good day and if you’re about to ruin it and interrupt something important, I will kick all your asses,” I warned.

  And for once, none of them so much as flinched, whatever going on bigger than my demeanor shocking them. It didn’t even cut through whatever mindset they were in, every warning alarm I had going off at once.

  I pushed Craftsman behind me as I threw up a barrier with a second and third in front of it just to be safe since I had no idea what the leadership of the most powerful fairy warriors were capable of. “I don’t know what’s going on but—”

  “Did you make these crystals today, Your Highness?” Iolas asked, holding up a box of them.

  I blinked at him, my mind trying to catch up and process all of this. “I’ve never made—”

  “Tier them up,” he corrected.

  “I have no idea.” I glanced between the group. “Where did you—”

  A Dark Guardian held up the bag Izzy had been carrying. “They were in this purse. This is the one from today’s outing, yes? You can confirm what Taeral has told us, Princess?”

  “You all need to—”

  “Were you at the outing today, Dr. Craftsman?” a Light Guardian asked him before I could finish.

  “Don’t answer that,” I interjected before clapping my hands to get all their attention. “Hey! What the fuck is going on here? Why are you all in a tizzy and freaking me the fuck out?”

  “She’s got three barriers up,” Taeral muttered, feeling where the last one was, so clearly he could sense the magic. “Tone it back. She is unused to our ways and power.”

  “We apologize, Princess,” the other Dark Guardian said, letting out a slow breath, the others doing the same and the tension in the room dissipating.

  Somewhat.

  “The crystals you made today are tier ten, Princess,” Taeral explained.

  “I find that bloody unlikely,” Craftsman argued, moving out from behind me and like he was going to grab them.

  “You’re not leaving these barriers,” I growled.

  “Right,” he sighed.

  “Your Highness, we would never hurt you,” one of the other Light Guardians whispered. “Never.”

  “Something major is going on here,” I defended, crossing my arms over my chest. “You are all acting super sketchy and—”

  “A fairy has never made tier ten crystals before their wings have grown,” Iolas interrupted. “Never. Not even of the royal lines or heirs. It’s said to be impossible, Your Highness.”

  “Oh,” I breathed, blinking between all of them. “Um, then why do you all seem so upset? Isn’t it good if I’m excelling or something? Do we kill mutants or—what’s the deal here?”

  “How about we confirm any of this?” Craftsman said, going the other way. “Toss me the box and I can verify they’re hers and the level.”

  I nodded when I was ready and basically made a hole in the barriers for them, one of the fairies tossing in one box. Craftsman easily caught it and scanned it, closing his eyes and reading the magic.

  “Bloody fuck, love,” he whispered when he was done. He stared at the box with awe. “They’re tier ten and yours. We knew you’d reached tier eight since our magics intermingled, but to jump two levels like this, this fast, is astounding.”

  “That’s one of White’s favorite words for my magic,” I grumbled, shifting my weight from one foot to the other. “Yeah, cool, got it. Why are you guys so damn agitated? Can’t—you don’t seem happy.”

  They all shared a look, somehow deciding Iolas should handle this. “Concerned. We’re concerned, but not in the way you might think.”

  I bit back a growl. “No. No, we’re not going back to thinking this is some flare-up and I’m going to burn out from the lasting effects of the human vaccines or whatever. Everyone’s already said I’ve grown enough to have—”

  “For them, Princess,” Taeral cut in. “There’s never been an unknown who was a fairy before. We just want to make sure. We’re concerned.”

  And then I understood, blinking away tears when it hit me why they were so fucking agitated. I was the only living heir. They didn’t care about me.

  They cared about Faerie. If something was wrong with my magic and I fizzled out or whatever…

  “Leave,” I whispered. “Now.”

  “Your Highness, we need to—” Iolas argued.

  I met his gaze with all the hate I was starting to feel for that fucking title that I’d been hiding. “If you ever want me to consider taking that job one day, get the fuck out of here this instant. This was my fucking fun day. All I wanted was one fucking day. One. I’ve never had one to just—I just wanted—”

  The portal opened under them before I even realized I was doing it. They fell through it and I locked them from being able to open another one here from the hotel.

  I wasn’t sure how, but I simply knew I did.

  That wasn’t weird or anything.

  I took down the barriers and stormed out towards our guards who knew something was up and came in off the perimeter. I flipped on my telepathy just to check their responses. “Tell no one that just happened.” I felt better when the wolves all nodded and agreed with me. Then I looked at the fairies. “Pick a side.”

  “Whatever you need, Your Highness,” one of the light fairies promised, several nodding. They were Light Guardians, but lower down. I didn’t know the rankings, but privates or whatever the equivalent was.

  The Dark Guardians glanced between each other, one speaking for them after some nonverbal communication. “Those are our commanding officers, Princess. So with all due respect, we understand your upset, especially at how they handled it, but we’re under their chain of command. Unless you’re asking us to defect?”

  “No, I would never,” I promised, crossing my arms over my chest again. “That was over the line and—I need to know if you have some problem with what I did or if—”

  “No,” he said firmly. “Your mother was vastly powerful and from what we know, so was your father. I don’t know who he was, but the rumors reached our realm that he was unlike most royals even. You might not have your wings yet, but you’ve met three of your soul mates at twenty. That’s unheard of. You put every single ounce of yourself into growing your power
to free fairies.”

  “It’s not a shock you ramped up so fast when all you’ve been doing for months is focusing on getting stronger,” a light fairy added. “And Craftsman is extremely powerful for a warlock of twenty-five. The others will get over their shock and fear and realize that.” He shrugged when I gave him a confused look. “The queens are gone, Your Highness.”

  “I know,” I hedged.

  “But you don’t understand what that means,” he said gently. “Not really. They do, and they’re generals without a sovereign. It’s—they’re in shock. We all are, but we’re grunts used to orders and going with the flow. They have no one giving orders. The dark fairies especially.”

  “Neldor is…” I trailed off when they all shot me looks that he wasn’t up to par.

  I simply didn’t know what exactly that meant or up to par for what?

  And I didn’t want to.

  “Thanks, guys. Really.”

  “Ignore the old guys freaking out and go freak out that your mate’s mom wants to have dinner,” one of the other dark fairies teased me with a wink.

  Oh boy.

  It worked though and we chuckled, the tension and adrenaline chilling.

  “You okay?” Craftsman asked when we were alone again.

  “Fine,” I whispered, grateful when he didn’t bust me on the lie. People started coming back with food and I gave him a tired look. “Don’t worry. I’m not—let’s just take a walk on the beach after dinner and talk, okay?”

  “Of course, love.” He leaned in and kissed my forehead, leading me back inside where everyone already knew something had happened. At first, I’d thought the fairies had tried to slip in with my friends or pressure them, but then I realized the wolves had contacted Zack and Ray like they should have.

  We gave them the quick version, but luckily everyone seemed as tired of the possible unknown power fizzling out crazy as I was and waved it off. Not in the dismissive way, but like we all made the decision not to let it affect our fun day and break.