by Kimbra Swain
“Yuck!” Levi exclaimed.
“Jealous,” I said to him.
“Right now, yeah, I’m jealous of anyone getting some,” he grumbled.
“Oh, good grief. It’s only been a couple of days,” I said.
“Four whole days,” he moaned.
“Poor baby,” I teased.
“Grace, eat!” Dylan ordered.
“Grace, eat me!” I mocked his tone. He cleared his throat, trying to forget what I had really said. “Who the hell told her we were having an election, anyway? She doesn’t even live here.”
“Can I have your cheeseburger?” Levi asked.
“No, go get your own,” I complained.
“You are pitching a hissy fit, and it’s getting cold,” he said.
“He’s right,” Dylan added.
“Nestor, you said these two were on my side, but ever since they kissed I’m pretty sure they team up against me. Bromance style,” I whined. Even though I was wound up tighter than a ten- day clock, I could still joke with these two. However, Stephanie not only challenged the rules. She challenged them all. We might have to actually find a judge to rule on her complaints. This was getting out of hand quickly.
Kadence Rayburn entered the bar. Levi turned to see who entered, then promptly turned his attention back to the television. I watched him, then her. She scowled at him.
“Grace, my dad wants to speak to you, but he won’t come in the bar,” she said.
Her father, Matthew Rayburn was known as the local Baptist minister to the common folk, but to us, he was the head Druid who held services every Sunday in a grove only accessible through the doors of the Shady Grove Baptist Church. To keep up appearances, he never entered the Hot Tin Roof Bar.
Unfolding my apron, I told Nestor I’d be right back.
“You good?” Dylan asked.
“Yep. I’ll holler if I need you,” I winked at him, heading out the door with Kady. I had no desire to talk to her. No matter whose fault it was, I was going to be on Levi’s side when it came to their on-again, off-again relationship.
“How’s Levi?” she asked boldly. I’d already punched her out once for blatantly asking about the size of Dylan’s dick after confessing her crush on him.
I stopped, putting my hands on my hips. “He’s great, Kady. Why ask me? He’s sitting right in there,” I said, pointing back in the bar. “I think he’s waiting on his date to get here.” I hated the lie after I said it, but the look on her face was worth it. A mixture of hatred and hurt. She deserved it for constantly torturing Levi. I supposed she had a pussy like skittles because he kept going back to taste the rainbow. There wasn’t a pot of gold at the end of it either. Just more grief and heartache.
“Oh, I see,” she muttered.
“Grace, it’s good to see you,” Matthew met me with a hardy handshake.
“Morning, Reverend. What can I do for you?”
“Well, I’d like to talk to you about this election. I don’t want it interfering with our services,” he said.
“I’d never campaign at church,” I said.
“I know, but Miss Davis contacted me to let me know she would be attending services while she was in town for the election,” he said. “I just wanted to give you a heads up that she will be there. For what it’s worth, you have my vote. I can’t endorse you or anything like that, but I do believe you are here for a reason. You are the one that stepped up when we needed you.”
I smiled. Matthew was a kind man. His wife died when Kadence was younger, and he raised her the best he could. She was most definitely a daddy’s girl. “No worries, Rev. I promise. No politics at church.”
“Thank you, Grace,” he said.
“Anytime. I appreciate your confidence in me. It’s the reassurance of people like you, that keep me focused on this election. As much as I loathe the entire business, I should have known it wouldn’t be easy,” I said.
“Never is,” he replied.
“Nope. Have a good one,” I said as he climbed into his Yukon with a pouting Kady. “See ya later, Kady.” She didn’t even look at me, but Matthew shot me a look.
“Trouble in paradise?” he asked.
“Isn’t there always when women are involved?” I replied. He laughed.
“See you Sunday,” he waved as he pulled out.
Walking back into the bar, Levi didn’t bother to look. “It’s just me, Dublin.” He visibly slouched.
“I hate her,” he growled.
“Hate is a strong word, honey. You might want to rethink that one,” I replied.
“Do you hate Stephanie?” he asked. Levi liked to do this to me. No matter what kind of instruction or help I tried to give him. He liked to turn it back on me.
“Yes, I do,” I replied as Dylan chuckled.
“Hate is a strong word,” Levi mimicked my tone.
“In this case, it’s not strong enough,” I said.
A couple of days went by without any disturbance. Remy and the lawyer from Stephanie’s firm came to an agreement about her protests to the election rules. Most of them were resolved in my favor. Small victories were important in a local election. I wasn’t sure I could take any of it much longer, and it had just started.
Saturday morning, I showed up at the Hot Tin Roof around 10am to get things stocked up for Nestor’s biggest day of business. I hoped to talk to people from town as they came in for drinks. Maybe get them talking about the election and win some votes.
Like a good little candidate, I wore a red shirt. It was a plaid button down, and I tied it below my breasts like I had always done, but at the last minute I’d untied it. Too hussy. I didn’t need to give Stephanie ammo. The shirt was tight enough to have some sex appeal. I wore tight jeans and cowgirl boots. Proper work attire.
“Morning, Grace,” Nestor said stumbling down the steps. I’d known him since my first day in Shady Grove. I walked in the door seeking alcohol to calm my nerves after signing the contract with the Sanhedrin. Back then it didn’t occur to me that he was a fairy. It’s a shame that at first, I found him a tiny bit attractive. Too old for my taste, but he looked just like Sam Elliot. Sexy Sam Elliot from Roadhouse with Patrick Swayze. There were a few older men in this world who carried that kind of sex appeal. Nestor, however, didn’t have the suave approach or the voice like Sexy Sam. He was just plain ol’ Nestor. My grandfather. Thank God I never tried to make a move on that. “What the hell are you thinking about?”
“Oh, crap. Sorry,” I said. “You don’t want to know.”
“I never do, but you always tell me,” he laughed.
“First time I saw you I thought you looked like Sam Elliot,” I replied.
He chuckled, “I’ve heard that before, but it usually doesn’t do me any favors with the women.”
“You got Mable,” I replied.
“Not because I look like Sam Elliot,” he replied. “Even if I did pattern my glamour after him.”
“Wait, what?” I asked. It never occurred to me that it was a glamour.
“Grace, honey, you are so damn naïve sometimes,” he laughed. “When is the last time you saw an old fairy?”
He was right. I was stupid. Fairies don’t age after they reach adulthood. I didn’t even think about it. Most fairies wore glamours in this world. “Why did you pick Sam Elliot?”
“Cause the women like him,” he laughed. “But I needed to be older to pull off the barkeep gig, and people don’t notice that you age well if you are already aged.”
“Oh, crap,” I said. “I’ll have to age my glamour.”
“Yes, if you stick around, you sure will,” he said. The realization that I might have to look old sunk in. I pouted with my bottom lip stuck out. “Get over yourself.”
“That’s not very nice,” I said.
“I know,” he laughed. “I’m having fun picking at you. Usually Dylan and Levi get to have all the fun when you aren’t torturing them.”
“I love torturing them,” I said.
“I n
oticed,” he laughed. “You might lay off Levi though. He’s struggling. He was here last night.”
“Here? Drinking?” I asked.
“Yep. He didn’t get drunk. I guess he was just scoping out the women. He’s still getting used to this whole fairy thing,” he said “Could you go out to the storage shed and bring in a new box of rocks glasses. I dropped three last night. It’s time to get a new box.”
“Why are you dropping glasses?” I asked. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, one a patron dropped. The other two just slipped out of my hand,” he said.
“I’ve never seen you drop a glass. What’s wrong?”
“My attention was diverted,” he admitted. “Go get the box.”
I flinched at how his tone turned gruff. Something happened last night, and he was going to tell me what it was. I decided to go get the box first though. It was actually warm today. That’s what you get in Alabama. In the middle of winter, it can be 80 degrees outside. Next thing you know we’d be having tornados. Or snow.
Stepping into the small storage shed attached to the bar, I flicked on the light to find the right box. Nestor kept all the liquor inside the main building, but all the other bar items were kept out here like glasses, napkins, bowls and miscellaneous stuff for the pool tables. The door was attached by a spring, so it slammed shut behind me as I moved deeper into the shed. I looked over the names on the boxes, searching for the rocks glasses. Opening the lid, I checked to make sure I had the right thing. When I realized it was the correct box, I closed the lid. Light cascaded into the shed as someone stepped inside with me.
“Malcolm Taggart, you scared the shit of me,” I said.
“Sorry, Grace. I saw you come in here, and thought you might need some help,” he said.
“Naw. I’m fine. Just grabbing this box for Nestor,” I said, grabbing the box. I didn’t know why he was here so early. Alarm bells went off in my head. He rushed up beside me, brushing his hands over mine to pick up the box. I jerked my hands back as the familiar tingle of touching another fairy ran up my arms.
Malcolm’s blue eyes flashed at me with fairy magic. I could have sworn his eyes were green. His tousled light brown hair shimmered with flecks of gold in the early morning sun that flowed through the window of the storage shed. When he smiled, his lips always dipped a little to the right. A sexy, crooked grin.
“You okay?” he asked, sharing that grin with me.
“Yeah, just forgot you were a fairy. The tingle, you know,” I said.
“Well, it’s not a feeling you should forget, Grace. You are one of us. I know you are with Dylan. He’s not exactly fairy. Some people might look at it like we weren’t good enough for you,” he said, standing to full height. Not exactly fairy was right. Dylan felt completely different from any fairy I’d ever touched, and I’d touched a lot of them over the years.
“I, I thought your eyes were green?” I stammered.
“They are whatever color I want them to be. Or whatever color you want them to be,” he said. Quickly they flicked back to green, then back to blue. “Dylan’s eyes are blue. I just thought you liked blue better.”
“Malcolm, why are you here?” I asked.
“You don’t have to be afraid of me, Grace,” he said.
“Well, you are in this shed, very early in the morning,” I said.
“So, you are accusing me of something other than just being neighborly, and helping you out?” he asked. The grin faded as he looked genuinely hurt. He turned, hiding his face from me.
“No, that’s not it at all,” I said, backtracking my words.
“Perhaps what they say is right,” he said.
“Who says what?” I asked.
He turned back to face me, stepping close. He brushed his fingers up my arm. “That you’ve forgotten what it’s like to be one of us. You’ve spent so much time trying to hide who you are that you need to be reminded.”
I did not like the sound of that, mostly. “Oh, really? And who is supposed to do the reminding?” I smirked nervously.
“Doesn’t matter. It just needs to be done,” he said. “I bet your bard would happily do it for you. Hell, I’ll volunteer. You are in love with Dylan Riggs, but he could never make you feel like a fairy could. You remember what it was like to be with Remington Blake.” I totally remembered my short fling with Remington. When I touched him for the first time, it was like coming home.
“I don’t like this conversation. Get the hell away from me,” I said, pushing him in the chest. He caught my hand in his, crushing my fingers in his tight grip. His green eyes flashed feline. His dark black hair curled down around the temples of his face. Slowly he brought my fingers to his mouth, sucking the tips. I tried to jerk them away.
“No, Grace. Let me remind you,” he turned up the fairy charm. My breath hitched at the wave of seduction that rolled over me. “See, you forgot what it feels like.”
“Get away,” I gritted through my teeth. My chest heaved. I felt needy. I’d never felt like I was missing anything. Malcolm’s touch made me crave him, instead of my fiancé.
Dylan. Dylan. Dylan.
I kept saying his name over and over in my head.
“How can you lead us if you shun your own people?” he asked, tracing my hand with his tongue.
“I love Dylan, but I don’t shun any of you. I would never,” I said.
“How long do you think he will stay with you now that Stephanie is back? You know they were together for a very, very long time,” he said pressing his body to mine. The tingles ramped up to full blown throbbing. He was right. I did forget this. The closest I’d come to remembering it was the night I came on to Levi to prove a point, but I was in control of that situation until Levi diffused it. Malcolm was in full control here. “She gets what she wants.”
“He wouldn’t,” I replied.
“I saw him with the kitsune,” he said. “He followed her right into that motel room.”
“He and I have already been over this. He did not sleep with Misaki,” I replied.
“Damn, he’s got you good,” he said as he leaned down over my lips. He hovered there waiting for me to move. In a panic, I reached out to the only person I knew that could help me. The response was immediate. In fact, he was already on the way.
“Please, Malcolm, don’t do this,” I said. My resolve to resist him wavered. One taste to remind me. I thought about when I kissed Levi, and how good it felt. Levi was only half fairy. Malcom’s lips parted sucking in air. His tongue trailed across his bottom lip sending my fairy hormones into overdrive. If he kissed me, I would be done. Dylan and I would be done. The power of seduction pressed into me as if I’d already let him inside me. It was like swapping gravy with Levi times a million. The temptation, a sweet, but bitter fruit, begged me to yield to him. It spoke to the deepest, darkest parts of me. I quivered at its power to convince me to give in. My body craved it, my heart rejected it, and my mind teetered in the middle.
Speaking of Levi, the door to the shed flew open. “Get away from her,” he growled, as the green jewels from his tattoo pulsed with power under his sleeve. His connection to me. The power we shared.
“I should have known. He’s your servant. Nice move, Grace, because you and I both know you crave it. You wouldn’t have been able to stop me,” Malcolm laughed. He released my hand, patting Levi on the should as he walked out.
“What the hell?” Levi asked.
“He tried to seduce me,” I said. “It doesn’t take much without defenses. I hadn’t worried about such a thing, but he’s strong. He must be an incubus. I knew he was Seelie, but that would explain a lot.” My hands trembled.
The fire in Levi’s eyes cooled as he approached me. “Are you okay?”
“Levi, what do I do if someone corners me like this again? I had nothing to resist him,” I said. “Dylan would never forgive me. He wouldn’t understand.”
Levi wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pulled me to his chest. The tingle hit me again
, but it was subtle compared to the power of Malcolm. “Then you call me. Just like you did. I’ll come, but you need to tell Dylan that this happened.”
“Stop being all grown up on me,” I said, but I squeezed him back. “Thank you, Levi.”
He planted a chaste kiss on my forehead. “Now what are you doing out here?” he asked.
“Getting that box for Nestor,” I said pointing at the box of glasses. He turned around to lift it up, motioning me to get the door. We walked into the back door of the bar together. Nestor looked confused. “Look what I found in the shed.”
“You found a bard?” he asked.
“Well, I was thinking more like a slave to carry boxes, but yes, a bard,” I replied. I couldn’t see Levi’s face, but I was pretty sure he rolled his eyes. Nestor laughed, but still looked confused.
Levi sat the box down. He started pulling the glasses out, sitting them on the bar. “Wash ‘em up, Grace,” Nestor said. “And you can tell me why he was out there.”
“Malcolm was out there,” I replied.
“No, shit?” Nestor cussed. A rare occurrence for him.
“Did you just cuss?” I asked.
“Nope,” he replied. “What did Malcolm want?”
“He had his paws on her,” Levi growled.
Nestor stepped back with shocked eyes. “Grace, he’s an…”
“Incubus. Yes, thanks I know that now,” I replied. “Thanks to Levi, I’m not his thrall.”
“Why would he come after you? He knows you are with Dylan,” Nestor asked, knowing that even some of the worst seducers in the world wouldn’t cross the line into another fairy’s relationship which made Stephanie Davis even worse. She had no qualms about doing it.
I paused not wanting to repeat what Malcolm said to me. Some of it made sense. It never occurred to me that the fairies in town might take a slight that their queen had chosen a non-fairy mate. Yes, Dylan had his own set of powers, but he wasn’t from our realm. Much like Chris Purcell, my friend the flying werehog, they were mythical creatures that walked the earth.
“Grace?” Levi prompted. “I’d like to know too.”
“I need to talk to Dylan,” I replied.
