by Kimbra Swain
“Why do you have to know so much?” I complained. Granted, I’d asked him plenty of questions since we reconciled our differences. He was always open to explain, but my natural instinct was distrust. Not that I distrusted him specifically, but I’d spent my whole life on the run for the most part. Skepticism was natural for me.
“I’ve watched you for years, Grace. I know you,” he smiled.
I rolled my eyes. He liked to remind me that all the years we spent working together he was attracted to me all along. Like I was oblivious to it. I wasn’t, but he had a girl. The viper that walked into my meeting last night, in fact. The snake that used to live in this house with him. The serpent that slept around on him while he remained faithful to her. Shady Grove didn’t need her kind roaming about spreading venom through the masses. There was only one good snake in my book. A dead one.
“They are going to drag me through the mud,” I said.
“You will rise above all of that. I’ll be there with you. There is nothing she can say that will harm you,” he said. “Fairies moved here from all over the world to be under your protection. They won’t let her sway them.”
“I’m not that naïve. We need to prepare for the worst,” I said, climbing out of bed.
“What is the worst?”
“That I stole you from her. That I’m some whore that fucked every man in this town and every other town I’ve lived in. She will bring up my arrest. She will bring up kissing Levi. Being engaged to Levi. I’m willing to bet she will bring Winnie into it, and so help me, if she does I won’t hold back,” I rattled off all the crazy things she could use for an attack. Dylan slid out of the bed catching me in the middle of the rant.
“Stop,” he said softly. “I’ve got plenty of dirt on her.”
I raised my eyebrows at him. “Huh?”
“I lived here for five years. I was a cop. I know everything there is to know about Stephanie Davis, and she knows that I know,” he grinned.
“I don’t want to stoop to her level,” I said.
“Since when did you become all high and mighty?” he laughed.
“Since my fiancé is the most honorable person I know, and I have a lot to live up to,” I replied.
“I love you, Grace, but all I’ve ever wanted was for you to be you,” he said.
“There you go being sweet again,” I said.
“Does that mean I can get angry sex again?”
“We will see,” I teased. He groaned as we pulled apart to go about getting ready for the day. It was still early. “I want to talk to Betty. She surprised me a little last night, but you came in after her outburst.”
“Really? She went against you?” he sounded surprised as I started the shower in the bathroom. “What did she say?”
“It was the old Unseelie versus Wild fairy distinction. Some Unseelie fairies are rather tame, like Betty and Luther. Others are pretty wild like Deacon Giles,” I replied. “She just acted like they should be separate. I disagree. However, she is my friend. I want to talk to her because I don’t want this election to come between us.”
“I’m going to make coffee,” he said, leaving me in the shower to think.
Every part of me cringed at the idea of having to compete with Stephanie Davis. She was a respected lawyer. Her fiancé was a partner in the law firm where she worked. Her mother had lived and died in Shady Grove. She stayed with Dylan for five years until he left her for me. However, it would look like I took him from her no matter what we tried to explain about the situation. Our personal lives would be exposed to the whole of Shady Grove. The election could prove to be very dangerous for the fairies in Shady Grove. The world at large knew little of fairy beings, other than tales and legends which were embellished for the most part to appeal to the human population.
I was unemployed trailer trash. The fact was, despite my reputation, I’d only slept with two men in this town. Dylan and Remy. She’d slept with many, many more than that. I’d see her flirting at the bar, but because of my working relationship with Dylan, I never broached the subject with him. I didn’t know the nature of their relationship. Their relationship made no sense to me, even now.
Finally, I had everything I’d never dreamed of, a sweet daughter, a dedicated fiancé, and a purpose in life. But when she walked into that room last night, I wanted to punch a ‘ho. Going forward, I knew I had to be true to myself, but I was a brash, vulgar-mouthed, and impulsive trailer queen, which would get me into more trouble than gaining votes. My very being was in conflict with what I needed to be to win.
Stepping out of Dylan’s shower in this enormous house, I suddenly felt completely out of place. Rufus stood at my feet lapping up the shower water on the floor. What was I supposed to do? Go head to head with a woman who could outtalk and outclass me? Shrink away and give up? Neither of those things sounded promising to me.
“Grace,” Dylan’s voice broke through my thoughts.
“Huh?” I said as he handed me a cup of coffee.
“Get over yourself. You aren’t going to back down. My girl is a fighter,” he grinned.
“Can you read minds?” I asked.
He laughed, “Just yours.” For a moment, I thought he was serious. “No, Grace, I just know you. Stop stressing it. She was here in the limelight for much longer than you. Never once did she give a shit about anyone, but herself. That will be the difference. People will remember. We will remind them.”
“You my campaign manager?” I asked.
“I’m your everything,” he said winking at me.
“Cocky bastard,” I laughed.
“It’s true.”
“Still cocky,” I replied.
“Get dressed, and I’ll take you to town,” he said. I started putting on jeans and a sweater which was pretty much my staple outfit when it was cold outside. Dylan had bought me a really cute black leather jacket because he knew how much I loved his. However, I loved his, because it smelled like him. The one he gave me wasn’t the same, but it came from his heart. If I stayed in this fight, it would be for him. He believed in me. I couldn’t let him down.
About 2 miles out of town, it started. First was a royal blue sign on metal stakes under a mailbox with elegant lettering. It said, “Vote for Stephanie.” Next was a small billboard with her fair face in a sensible dress proclaiming, “No one knows Shady Grove better than Stephanie Davis. Vote for Stephanie.”
“Fuck a duck,” I muttered.
“I’d rather…” Dylan started.
“Shut up!” I quickly shot back.
“Just ignore it. A couple of signs. No big deal,” he said.
As we pulled on to Main Street, it got worse. More signs and royal blue ribbons lined the streets. Several shops along the row had blue “Vote for Stephanie” signs. I even saw, “Stephanie is the best!” on a marquee.
We pulled into the diner and proudly displayed in the line of bushes in front was a royal blue sign. My heart sank. If Betty and Luther weren’t voting for me, there was no way the half of Shady Grove that I didn’t know was going to.
“I don’t want to go in there,” I muttered.
“I’m hungry. You can sit here if you want,” Dylan said, hopping out of the truck. He stood in front of it with his hands on his hips watching me.
Opening the door, I slid out of the truck. The town almost smelled different. As we approached the door, I could hear the patrons inside talking. The jukebox was playing an old Johnny Cash song, “Ballad of a Teenage Queen.”
Stepping inside the small diner, the five patrons turned from their discussion to look at us. “Golden hair and eyes of blue, how those eyes could flash at you,” Johnny sang.
“Morning Betty,” Dylan called to the white-haired waitress behind the bar.
“Morning Mr. Riggs,” she smiled. She nodded at me.
“Hi Betty,” I muttered.
“What can I get for y’all?” she asked taking her pencil out from over her ear.
“I’ll have the big breakfast pla
te. You know how I like it. What do you want, Grace?”
“Coffee,” I replied.
“Eat something,” Dylan urged.
“And a bowl of grits,” I added.
“Sure thing. Luther, hungry folks out here. Speed it up,” Betty called to him. She jeered him constantly, but never meant a word of it.
“Calm down! It takes time and love to make good food. Morning Dylan! Grace!” Luther was exuberant as ever.
I waved at him. “Morning!” Dylan called back.
Looking at the other diners, I recognized them all. Juanita and Diego Santiago were Mexican immigrants. Both were bear shifters. Many people considered the Mexican Grizzly Bear to be extinct, but in actuality, they continued to walk the earth, but moved from their homeland because they were hunted vigorously. There were supernatural hunters in the United States, but Shady Grove wasn’t on most maps, so we managed to stay out of the limelight.
Malcolm Taggart sat next to his partner in crime Caleb Joiner. Malcolm, a Seelie fairy, was kicked out of the Otherworld for being too much like an Unseelie fairy. Caleb, a changeling, had a Gwyllion mother and a human father. His father died not long after he was born, and his mother, being the hideous creature that she was, left him to die. He was rescued by a kind-hearted Sanhedrin by the name of Jeremiah Freyman.
I’d learned over the past few months that I wasn’t the only fairy that Jeremiah took pity on. In fact, I knew of at least a dozen fairies that lived in Shady Grove that were brought here by the old coot. He’d called me a couple of days after the mayhem at Christmas asking about Winnie. I berated him for not being here to help with the chaos leading up to Christmas, but he just apologized saying he was very busy. I imagined he’d show up shortly with another forlorn fairy in need of protection. Only now, it might not be me protecting them. It might be Stephanie Davis. I wondered what Jeremiah would think of that. Hell, what did the Sanhedrin think about Stephanie? Caiaphas, the head of the zealots, had pretty much endorsed my ascension. Did they have an opinion on Stephanie? The Sanhedrin were Seelie fairies who posed as religious zealots that hunted wayward fairies. They hunted me for hundreds of years until Jeremiah had pity on me. I lived under their contracted rules until a few months ago when I accepted the Queen of the Exiles role. If I didn’t win, would it mean that I’d get a new contract? The thought caused goosebumps to rise on my arms. Dylan instinctively rubbed my arm with his warm hand.
The final patron in the diner sat at the far end alone with a newspaper blocking his face. I knew who it was. Chubby fingers clasped the edges of the paper. Freckled hands with a touch of ginger hair indicted to me that it was the man who introduced Stephanie last night.
Turning to Dylan, I said, “Who is he? Do you know him?”
Dylan groaned, “Yes, he’s been to the house a couple of times with Stephanie. He’s one of her fairy servants, but he works as a legal secretary at the law firm. For a secretary, he’s pretty high and mighty.”
“For a servant, you mean,” I said.
Dylan smiled. “Yes, for both. He’s smarmy.”
“What does that mean?”
“You’ve never heard of smarmy?”
“Well, yes, but tell me what you mean by it,” I asked. I knew there had to be a story there.
“He’s smug, but will butter up anyone if he thinks he can gain from it,” he said.
“Yuck. A brown-noser,” I said.
“Yes, and slicker than chicken shit on linoleum,” Dylan replied.
“Fairy? What kind?”
“We are going to have to get you a book,” Dylan teased. I smacked him on the arm.
“Don’t beat that pretty man, Grace,” Betty chided. I thought she was just joking, so I started to smile, but the look on her face could have skinned a cat.
“Yes, ma’am,” I said looking to Dylan to see if he caught it.
“Maybe after the election you can mend fences with her,” he suggested.
“Maybe,” I replied sadly.
“He’s a brownie. Low level Seelie fairy. He will do whatever she tells him to do,” Dylan explained going back to the secretary.
“Name?” I asked.
“My name is Kyffin Merrick. If you wanted to know my name, Queen, all you had to do was ask, but since you have no time for such things, I suppose getting your wencher to explain things is just as well. However, don’t insult me by thinking I can’t hear your foul mouth,” he droned.
“Thank you, Mr. Merrick for the information. Go fuck yourself,” I said. Malcolm and Caleb died laughing.
“Grace Ann Bryant, you will not talk like that in this establishment! We have good paying customers who don’t have to come in here and listen to your vulgarities,” Betty spouted. The men stopped laughing, returning to their breakfast.
I immediately stood up and left. Dylan caught me at the car. “Grace, where are you going?”
“I can’t even speak like I always have anymore. I’m going to get coffee with Nestor. Go back in and eat. I’ll be fine,” I said.
“Hang on a minute,” Dylan said. He walked back in and talked to Betty who sweetly patted his hand. He gave her a wad of cash, then hurried back outside to me. “I’ll go with you. Let’s walk.” He offered his arm to me. I latched on, leaning into him.
“I can’t do this,” I said.
“You can, but you are going to have to think before you speak,” he said.
I pulled away from him. “You said you have never wanted me to be anyone but me.”
“That’s true. However, it seems obvious if you want to continue as Queen, you are going to have to decide how you want to approach it. You can continue to be the brash woman that I adore. Or clean up your act, if only for the election,” he said trying to coax me back to his arms.
“Brash, huh?”
“That I adore,” he repeated.
I took his arm back, and we continued to the corner where Hot Tin Roof sat. “I don’t know that I can be anything else, but me.”
“Really, because it wasn’t so long ago that you were a trailer bound, unemployed, contracted, Unseelie fairy. Now you are free, employed, and a church goer!” he teased.
“It’s not that kind of church,” I replied. Our Baptist church was actually a portal to a magical grove where a Druid service was held every Sunday. It’s how I got to know most of the fairies that lived in Shady Grove. Or at least, I thought it was most of them. Apparently, quite a few of them didn’t attend services.
“Still you are different. You have a devastatingly handsome fiancé, too,” he added.
“Yes,” I replied.
“Yes? I’m devastatingly handsome?” he prodded.
“Yes, I’m different. You are moderately handsome,” I replied.
“I’ll take that,” he smiled as he opened the door up to the bar. He was right though. I fell to pieces inside every time I looked at him.
“Nestor?” I called out.
“He must have taken Winnie to school this morning,” Dylan said.
I walked behind the bar, starting the coffee pot. Nestor always kept the pot ready to brew just in case I showed up before he came down from his apartment over the bar. “Maybe I’m in over my head,” I groaned.
“There is no doubt about that,” Dylan said. I scowled at him. “But you can swim.”
“Do I look like a mermaid to you?” I asked.
“Dunno. Turn around and shake your tail,” he laughed. I threw a bar towel at him.
The door swung open, and Levi entered.
“Morning, Bard,” I said.
“Morning, Grace. Dylan.” He looked pretty rough. “Coffee not ready?”
“Not yet. We just got here,” I said. Dylan stood up from the bar stool. “I’m going to get the food. I told Betty to pack it up.”
“She probably spit in mine,” I replied. “Let Levi eat it.”
“Why would she spit in your food?” Levi asked.
I told him about my little outburst with Kyffin Merrick, and how Betty jumped down
my throat about vulgar language.
“This is from a woman who smacks her boyfriend on the ass, regularly,” Levi said.
“That’s true,” Dylan agreed. “I’ll be right back.”
“Dylan!” I said.
“I mean it!” he laughed as he went out the door.
“So, help me God, if he doesn’t come back this time,” I said pouring Levi a cup of coffee.
“What? You are going to leave him?” Levi asked. He knew I wasn’t.
I sighed. “No.”
“That’s what I thought,” Levi replied while sipping the coffee.
“Am I too vulgar?” I asked.
Levi laughed. “Yes, but that’s just who you are. Don’t change that because of all of this. I’m sure that Merrick fella deserved whatever you dished out at him.”
“It was a command to go masturbate,” I replied.
Levi spit coffee across the bar. I wiped it up with a bar towel, laughing at him. “Damn, Grace,” he said wiping coffee off his chin.
“You missed a spot,” I said, rubbing his jaw with the towel.
“Thanks,” he replied.
“Why do you look dog tired? Don’t like the new bed?”
“No, it’s fine. Kady called in the middle of the night apologizing,” he muttered.
I grimaced. His on and off girlfriend was trying my nerves. I’d already punched her once for asking about Dylan’s dick. She best lay off my bard before I jerked a knot in her. “Please tell me you didn’t forgive her?” I asked.
“No. I didn’t,” he said staring into the coffee cup. I walked around the bar and hugged him. That familiar tingle as our skin brushed vibrated through my body. “What’s that for?”
“’Cause you needed it,” I said.
“Thanks, Grace. If the people here can’t see that you are a good person, let them get what they deserve,” he said.
Dylan walked back in with two bags. He stopped when he saw me standing so close to Levi, but he kept on after the slight hesitation.
“Apparently, they are out of grits. I got you a biscuit,” he said.
“He needed a hug,” I explained.
“I need one, too,” he replied. So, I hugged Mr. Jealousy, and he grabbed my ass.
