Faery Merry Christmas

by Jacquie Rogers

  By the time I returned to the car, the carhop had brought the food. The aroma of freshly cooked beef permeated the small car and my mouth watered. Liam handed Mike his burger.

  “Damn,” Mike said. “They cooked the onions.” He rolled down the rear window and stuck his head out. “Ruth!”

  Liam tapped the car horn. When Ruth rolled up, Mike gave her the partially wrapped burger. “I ordered my double-cheeseburger with raw onions.”

  “No problem. Be right back!” She skated away and Mike munched on his fries.

  I tasted my cherry fresh-lime drink. The carbonation tickled my nose as I sipped the sweet, tangy soda. It was better than cardamom nectar. I had no idea earth food could taste so good.

  “You stay away from me, you big clod!” a carhop yelled from several cars down.

  “Let me out of here,” Mike said, shoving on the seat as if he couldn’t exit the small, cramped vehicle fast enough. Once Liam opened the door, Mike forced his way out and ran toward the woman who’d protested. “He bothering you, Mary?”

  She slammed the tray and all its beverages in the offending man’s face. “Not anymore.” She pivoted on her skates like a pro, held her empty tray high, and headed toward the building. Mike watched the petite brunette every foot of the way.

  “Who’s she?” I asked Liam.

  “Mary. Mike thinks she’s his girl. She thinks she’s Ben’s girl, and Ben thinks all the girls are his girl.”

  “Why doesn’t Mike get another lady friend? He’s handsome enough.”

  Liam paused, then tightened his lips in a frustrated manner. “He doesn’t want anyone else, he wants Mary.”

  “Who’s your girl?”

  He paused and grimaced slightly. “Don’t have one. Wouldn’t be fair to ask a woman to wait around while I chase my dreams. Besides, I’m not going to get serious over a human. Too complicated.”

  “Some ladies wouldn’t mind waiting.” I’d waited five hundred years. He’d only been playing baseball for five years, so this “waiting” business didn’t make sense to me.

  “Maybe, but they deserve better.”

  Mike sauntered back to the car as if he didn’t have a care in the world, hiding his dejection fairly well. Liam got out and let Mike in the back seat. Just then, Ruth came by with his burger.

  “Thanks. I’m starved.” He opened the foil. “Damn, this doesn’t have any onions at all.”

  Liam tooted the horn and Ruth skated back. “What now?”

  Mike handed her his burger. “I want a double-cheeseburger with everything, including onions, and I want them raw.”

  “Oh, they got it wrong again? Sorry, babe, it’ll be just a moment.” She pushed off with Mike’s burger perched on her tray.

  Mary skated over.

  Ruth met her head on. “This is my area.”

  Mary pushed past her. “I’m off. In fact, I quit.”

  She used my side of the car for a crash barrier and spun around. “Hey, Mike, whatcha doing?”

  Once I opened the door, he practically crushed me getting out. Really, Liam should have bought a bigger car, or at least one with four doors—either that, or refuse to carry big galoots like Mike around in it. Apparently, Liam was tired of it, too, because he tossed Mike his keys, then motioned for me to get in the back seat.

  The small area seemed a whole lot smaller when Liam crawled in and sat to the right of me, with barely enough room to accommodate his long legs. Liam’s legs brushed mine and the narrow width of the car prevented me from moving over any farther from him. Not that I wanted to. But he made me anxious.

  “Relax and lean on my shoulder,” Liam told me. “You’ll be more comfortable than cuddling with the window.”

  I’d be happier and the very thought of sitting so close to him was incredibly exciting, but I didn’t think excited translated into comfortable. Nevertheless, after five hundred years waiting for this moment, I was happy to comply. “Is my head too heavy on your shoulder?”

  “Nope, that’s not my throwing arm.”

  The radio played Why Do Fools Fall in Love? as Mike helped Mary remove her skates. “I hear they’re having some hot submarine races up at Golden Gardens. Wanna go?”

  Mary scoffed. “You can’t race submarines. How would you know who won?”

  I was wondering the same thing myself. To Liam, I said, “Mike must enjoy those races a lot. It’s the second time he’s mentioned them. I’d like to go see what all the fuss is about.”

  Liam groaned quietly, probably because there really wasn’t enough room for his legs in the backseat of a Nash Metropolitan. I barely had enough room myself, and I’m not quite five feet tall.

  Mike put Mary’s skates in the trunk and the two of them got in the car.

  Ruth glided over with another tray. “Third time’s a charm!”

  Mike opened the foil in his burger. The burger patty was raw and the onions were grilled. He wrapped it up and put it back on Ruth’s tray. “I think I’ll take my chances at Dick’s.”

  Ruth bent down and looked through the car window to Mary. “Boss man isn’t gonna be happy with you flying off the handle in front of everyone.”

  “I couldn’t care less.” Mary folded her arms over her breast and glared straight ahead. “He’s a nasty man, anyway.”

  “Speaking of the devil.” Mike pointed to a man I presumed was the drive-in owner striding toward the car. “Let’s split.” He started the car and backed out just as the man reached our parking spot. As we left, he shook his fist at us.

  “I don’t think you’ll have a job there tomorrow, Mary.”

  “As if I care.”

  Liam leaned to one side, pulling me with him. “Turn on some tunes, Stump.”

  Mike changed the radio station. A man with a golden voice crooned White Christmas.

  “It’s a wet Christmas in Shoreline, as usual,” Liam remarked.

  I couldn’t imagine feeling as casual as he sounded, not when I was practically lying on top of him. But then I knew he reclined mostly because it was the only way he could get his six-foot-plus frame in a relatively straight position. Still, I’d remember this glorious night for hundreds of years to come. I snuggled to his chest and pulled his jacket over us both, savoring his warmth and his manly scent.

  “Cheshya’s certainly a good friend of your family’s,” Mary said, then giggled.

  “Where’s Kaylee?” Mike asked.

  Mary frowned—not a puzzled frown, more of a you-had-better-have-a-really-good-explanation frown. “Who’s Kaylee?”

  “My friend.” I wanted to keep the peace, so answered before any awkward pauses could ignite the situation. “She went home.”

  “Just like that?” Mike held up her burger. “Before she ate?”

  “Her mother summoned.” Oh, daft! As soon as I said that, I knew it would never make sense to a human man.

  “Cheshya meant Kaylee’s mother wanted her to home to welcome some houseguests they’re expecting this evening.” Ah, thank the stars Liam rode to the rescue. My hero!

  “Yeah,” Mary said. “And what’s it to you, anyway?” She peered out the window at the rain pounding on the street. “I guess it really is submarine weather.”

  “Where are we going?” I asked.

  “To look at the Christmas lights on Magnolia Bluff, and then we’ll pick up my car.” Mike answered.

  “Best slow down with this rain,” Liam warned. “Very poor visibility.”

  “You’re a fine one to talk, buddy. You drive this thing floorboarded half the time. If Mary wasn’t hugging the door handle over there, I wouldn’t be so tense. I’m tense, you know.”

  Liam chuckled. “Mary, put an end to the man’s misery.”

  She scooted across the bench seat and leaned her head on Mike’s shoulder. He slowed the car and they crept along. “Aren’t you going a little slow?”

  “Nope, because as soon as we get where we’re going, you’ll move away.”

  “True, but at least you could be subtle abou
t it. Good grief.”

  “Hey, I’m no wet rag.”

  I had to laugh at the two of them, but I agreed with Mike, because I wanted this car ride to last forever, too. You just couldn’t get any closer than being with your man in the backseat of a Nash Metropolitan. Liam had to be horribly uncomfortable, though, since his knees were askew and his head brushed the ceiling. I wanted to zap him with some faery dust to make him feel better, but since he was competing in a human endeavor, he couldn’t use faery magic in any form.

  “Look at that house!” Mary pointed to a huge colonial house with a lighted Santa, sleigh, and reindeer racing across the roof. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus boomed from giant loudspeakers hidden in the trees.

  Little did they know that my mum really did kiss Santa Claus, or that he was tall and thin, not short and pudgy. He did laugh a lot, though, and unlike me, had a purpose in his life.

  “Think I’d make a good Santa Claus?” Mike asked Mary.

  She elbowed him. “Not on your salary.”

  He laughed. “Watch it. You might injure me before tryouts.”

  They drove around a while, oohing and aahing over the Christmas lights, then Mike pointed the car north, where the lights were few and the road was narrow.

  “Where are we?” I asked.

  “Golden Gardens Park.” Liam held me close. “It might be a while before the submarine race, so stay warm.”

  “Gee, Mike.” Mary peered out the window, trying to catch a glimpse of Puget Sound. “If your car is already here, you must watch the submarine races a lot.”

  “Uh, well . . .”

  We passed by several cars parked alongside the road, the windows steamy, but I couldn’t see anyone in them.

  Mike pulled up beside a yellow and white car. “C’mon, Mary. This is it. We can let poor Liam have his sardine can.” He tossed the keys over his shoulder and Liam caught them. Mike opened the door, got out, and tipped the seat forward.

  Liam didn’t get out, exactly, more like emerged, like a larva from its pupa. Then he offered his hand, which I took, and he pulled me out. Standing straight was a relief to my body, but I sorely missed the closeness with Liam. That’s what memories are made of, those moments. I’ll cherish them.

  We got back in front seat of the Metropolitan. I scooted halfway between him and the door, not wanting to be called a door handle hugger but not wanting to appear too forward, either.

  “Are you in Shoreline to fetch me home?” he asked.

  “I’m here to help you accomplish your dreams in Terra Humanus.”

  My goal was to help him achieve his humanly goals so he’d want to return home. But if I helped him, he’d be unavailable for several human years. The likelihood he’d want to marry me in less than four days, or at all, was next to zero. It was just as well that the queen assigned the Queen’s Quest to me, for I’d never want to be married to any other man. After spending close to an hour snuggled in his arms, I knew he was the only man for me. Ever. If I couldn’t have him, I didn’t want a mate at all.

  He tugged me closer to him and I let him. “So you’re my faery godmother?”

  I had to laugh. “In a manner of speaking, yes.”

  “Then right now my fondest desire is for a kiss.”

  My insides couldn’t have melted more if he’d used a blow torch. Truth be known, I’d only been kissed by a man once before in all my two-thousand years, and I’d never wanted to be kissed by any other. Only Liam, then and now.

  “All right, but I don’t see how that’s going to get you a spot in the rotation of a major league team.”

  “If you can’t kiss and talk, don’t talk.”

  When his lips touched mine, I wanted to pull him closer, taste him, savor him. It was another moment to store in my memory to last my whole life through. My lips tingled, then my wings exploded from my back from lack of control. Believe me, there’s no room in a Metropolitan for faery wings.

  “Are you hurt?” Liam urged me to lean forward and then he checked the perimeter of my wings for abrasions.

  “I’m fine. The wings?”

  “None the worse for wear. Can you retract them again?”

  I could, but I was weary and weakening. “Is there somewhere we can go where I can let them loose for a while? I’m not used to this and don’t know how long I can hold out.”

  “You can go to my pad but if the landlady sees you, she might throw me out. She has a No Women rule for all the ballplayers living there.”

  “Pad?”

  “That’s what humans call an apartment these days.”

  I retracted my wings for the time being. Even though the windows had steamed up, there was no reason to tempt fate and be discovered by anyone.

  A light shined on the driver’s door window. “Police! Get out of the car.”

  Liam groaned. “Oh, man, we’re busted. This will be all over the papers tomorrow.”

  “I could zap him with a memory alteration.”

  “Don’t know if that would violate the rules about no magic or not. Better not. I’ll ride this one out.”

  He opened the door and stood, but I stayed in the car.

  “It’s illegal to park on the Golden Gardens road,” the policeman began. He took a pad of forms from his back pocket. “I’m gonna have to write you up. Let’s see your driver’s license.”

  I didn’t know if Liam had a driver’s license or not. Documentation was becoming more and more problematic when it came to traveling in Terra Humanus.

  “Hey, I know you! You’re Liam Stone, the Shoreline Sharks pitcher. I heard the Reds are interested in you.”

  “Yeah, well, I have a tryout in two days, so we’ll see if I get a Christmas present or rock in my socks.”

  The policeman snapped his book shut. “Could I have your autograph?”

  “Sure, I even have a baseball in here somewhere.” He bent down so his head was window high. “Cheshya, would you please check the glove box? I might have a baseball in there.”

  I looked and he didn’t. I shook my head.

  “Tell you what, sir, how about I give you my baseball cap. It’s a little worn, but I’d be happy to sign the bill.”

  “I’d like that,” the policeman said.

  Liam grabbed the keys out of the ignition and opened the trunk. Pretty soon, he handed the cap to the patrolman, who left, whistling. Liam got back in the car.

  “Two things. One, we need to get out of here. Two, Mary left her skates in the back, so we’ll have to find her.” He started the car, and moved the shifter. The car lurched and stopped dead.

  “Damn, the gears are stuck. Cheshya, scoot over to the driver’s spot and put your foot on this pedal.” He pointed to one of the car controls on the floor. “See that? It’s the brake. I have to get under the car and fix the gears. Just keep your foot on the brake.”

  “Okay.” I touched my foot to the pedal. This really didn’t make a lot of sense to me, but then maybe humans had their own kind of magic.

  Liam crawled under the car. I heard a couple of clunks, then the car started rolling.

  Scrambling and scooting, Liam escaped from danger. “Brake, Cheshya! Put your foot on the brake!”

  “It is on the brake!”

  The car bashed into a sandbank and my poor pointy breasts slammed against the steering wheel, which not only hurt, but took my breath away. Then the car sank ever so slowly, several inches into the soft sand.

  “Cheshya!” Liam ran over and yanked the door open. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why didn’t you put your foot on the brake like I told you?”

  “I did!”

  “All the way in?”

  “You mean I was supposed to push on it?”

  Chapter Three

  The muscles in my thighs burned and every step I took felt like I was walking on hot nails. How much longer I could keep my wings retracted was anyone’s guess. We passed by several buildings that emitted loud music and people’s laughter. Warm peo
ple laughed.

  I wasn’t laughing.

  I hunkered inside Liam’s jacket and let the sleeves hang over my hands to ward off the wind. But no matter what I did, the cold found its way down my neck and around my body.

  “I could’ve zapped the car out of the sandbank easily enough,” I grumbled.

  Liam walked beside me, his T-shirt not much protection against the wind and rain, and of course I had his jacket. He hunched his shoulders and thrust his hands in his jeans pockets.

  “You know I’m not allowed to compete in Terra Humanus if I take advantage of faery magic in any manner, and I’m not taking a chance with the car. When we get to my pad, I’ll call a tow truck, just like a human would.”

  “Call?”

  “Yes, on the telephone. The landlady has one in the front hall we can use for emergencies. Which reminds me, where are you staying?”

  “I hadn’t given it a thought.”

  “Give it a thought. You can’t stay with me. You can’t even be seen with me or my landlady will have a cow.”

  “They allow cows in the city?”

  “It’s a phrase humans use to mean she would be upset.”

  “I see.” Not really, but my feet hurt too much and I was too cold to figure it out. “Retracting my wings for so long has compromised my magic, but I could still make myself invisible and transport, if only for a short time. So why don’t you show me your room. I’ll zap myself in there, and your landlady would be none the wiser?”

  “That’s using magic.”

  “Me using magic for me. You won’t be affected in any way.”

  “If you only knew,” he muttered.

  I shivered. “Besides, I’m too tired to argue.”

  He pulled me close to his side, his warmth so inviting.

  “How much farther?”

  “A mile, maybe.”

  We approached another noisy building with Salty Dog flashing in yellow and green. “I’m going in.”

  “You’re not. That’s a tavern, and you don’t know anything about it.”

  “I know it looks warm and I know I’m freezing.”

  He smirked and steered me toward the building. “They might have a pay phone in there.”

  We entered the building and the warmth eased the strain in my back immediately. Just as immediately, Liam was surrounded by large, scowling men with cigarettes hanging from the corners of their mouths, dressed in black leather jackets emblazoned with skulls. This did not seem good.