by Alanea Alder
"What did you do to Molvan?" Amelia asked.
"I walked over and knocked his hand away from the wall where he was leaning, effectively trapping the sprite. Once free, the sprite flew away. Molvan was not only furious I had ruined his fun, but because I had also hit him. He saw me as insolent."
Amelia rubbed her mate's arm comfortingly. "What did he do?"
Darian covered Amelia's hand with his own. "He terrorized me with a dagger scaring the literal piss out of me, then used said dagger to pin me three feet above the ground dangling from the Royal Garden's perimeter wall."
"What a bastard!" Meryn exclaimed.
Darian nodded his agreement. "It had just started to dim..."
"Dim?" Amelia asked.
Darian gave her a rueful look. "I keep forgetting how much you don't know about my home. Éire Danu is called the Land of Eternal Sun because the sun never truly sets. Think of Alaska in the summer. It sort of just dims a bit in the evening."
"Serious-fucking-ly?" Meryn asked. "I go from caves, shadows, and darkness to Cancertown? Can I get some sunglasses?"
Darian scowled at Meryn. "You will not get cancer from visiting Éire Danu. We are protected by the city's magic."
Izzy waved an impatient hand at both of them. "Back to the story."
"My apologies, little sister." Darian winked at her. "It had begun to dim, so of course, my big brother was out searching for me since I wasn't at home." He gave a soft smile. "The little sprite had gone for help and was leading him to where I was pathetically swinging in the breeze. When he found me, I sobbed my heart out and buried my face in his chest. It took him almost the entire way home to get a coherent story out of me. Once we got back to the palace, he handed me off to Cord to get cleaned up and ready for bed. Then he left. Later that night, he came to my room almost as if he knew I was still terrified out of my little mind. He got me to calm down and squeezed into my small bed with me. He told me not to be afraid, that Molvan had learned his lesson and would never come near me again. After that, I was able to go right to sleep."
"Just like that?" Meryn asked.
"Absolutely. If my big brother told me not to worry, then I knew I didn't have to worry."
Amelia turned to him. "What did you do?"
Oron gave a lazy shrug. "I used a bit of fae magic and with the help of a small sprite, we enchanted some thorny briars and pinned Molvan to the wall with the word 'bully' etched over his head." He looked over at Felix. "I believe the sprite's name was Fremi Skysong."
Felix's eyes widened and he pointed to his chest. Oron nodded. "Yes, your great- great- grandfather."
Meryn looked down at her friend then over to Darian who looked just as shocked. "Dude, Felix has saved my life and you saved his great whatever's life, so you saved me too."
Darian scowled at him. "When were you going to tell me that?"
Oron felt his mouth drop. "You mean you didn't know?"
"I was five!"
"Oh yeah. So, good work, I guess." He eyed Darian. "Did you never wonder why so many Skysong sprites moved into the royal gardens?"
Darian pointed to his chest. "Again, I was five. To me, it was a normal thing to have them there."
"After hearing what Fremi did to protect you, the queen invited the entire clan to make their home in the garden. Fremi watched over you until you were grown. There've been Skysongs in the palace ever since."
Izzy snorted and leaned against him. "I wonder what else you know that he doesn't."
Pierce sat back. "It must be nice to have a sibling. I'm also of the Hope Generation, unfortunately, in my case, not many of our leap had children right away, so I was the youngest one for close to a century."
"What is the Hope Generation?" Izzy asked.
Pierce, Darian, and Law smiled. Pierce pointed to his chest. "We're the ones born after the Great War ended. We represented the continuation of life and the hope for a better tomorrow."
Law picked up his wine glass. "It's sad that our generation now represents some of the oldest paranormals alive."
"Y'all came from somewhere, where are your parents?" Meryn asked Law.
He shrugged. "Mother is off on an assignment and we lost father in a feral attack when we were about one hundred."
Pierce nodded. "I lost both of my parents in the eighteen hundreds when a train derailed. We can take a lot of damage as shifters, but some things kill us the same as any human."
Oron looked at his brother, and they both sighed. Oron spoke for both of them. "You know what happened to our families."
Meryn was frowning. "I swear to God y'all gonna make me lose my mind." She glared around the table. "Did no one ever think of doing a census before Beth?"
Oron looked around, he wasn't the only one who looked confused.
Aiden bumped Meryn's shoulder with his own. "What did you think of now, baby?"
"Something Law said how they're the oldest paranormals now. I just think it's really odd that you have all of these supposedly immortal, fast, super strong peeps out there, some with magic and they've all had accidents? There aren't enough trains, ferals or what not to take out an entire generation."
Pierce chuckled. "I'm sure it's not as severe as that Meryn. We're also some of the oldest due to the Great War as well, we lost multiple generations in that war."
She crossed her arms over her chest. "Bet me." She looked around the room. "Hands up if you're part of this Hope Generation." Oron raised is hand along with six others. "Now lower your hand if you have lost both parents." Oron lowered his with Darian and surprisingly two others. Meryn looked at the remaining three. "Lower your hand if you have lost a parent." Law and the other two lowered their hands. Everyone looked stunned. Meryn continued. "This is called a sampling." She pulled out her phone and tapped. "Fifty-seven percent of you have lost both parents. Forty-three percent of you have lost one parent. One-hundred percent of you have lost someone from that generation. Need I go on?" she asked, putting her phone down.
Law leaned forward and set his wine glass down frowning. "The mortality rate can't be that high."
"Pierce said that not everyone in his leap or whatever had kids right away. What if a lot of them died, but since they didn't have kids, and their parents had died in the Great War, who exactly would mourn them?" Izzy asked.
Meryn pointed to his mate. "Exactly."
"That's impossible," Liam said, looking spooked.
"And chameleon shifters weren't hunted to near extinction either. And ferals didn't start banding together to create reapers either..." Meryn said, in a mockingly high-pitched voice.
Aiden stood. Meryn instantly looked contrite. "Sorry baby."
He shook his head and leaned down to kiss her forehead. "As usual you see what we don't. I'm going to call Magnus and have him throw his weight behind Beth's census project. Then you can do your magic 'tap-tap' on your frisbee and let us know what's really going on." He was pulling out his cell phone as he walked away.
Meryn smiled. "Magic 'tap-tap' huh," she sighed then looked back at her squire. "I will definitely need that coffee now Ryuu, I see databases in my future."
Pierce and most of the Vanguard looked from person to person slack-jawed. Pierce looked to Law. "Could she be right?"
Law now wore a scowl. "She's hardly ever wrong. I know we put out the order to bring in all deployed Vanguard, but we need to start putting out feelers for the Elder Generation too." He turned to Darian. "Could you speak to your queen about this?"
Darian nodded. "Of course, though, most fae live in Éire Danu, so it shouldn't be too hard to get our numbers."
Oron heard rumors of Meryn's strange ability to notice things that everyone overlooked or took for granted. But this was the first time he saw it in action. "Meryn, you're an amazing little human."
Izzy nodded. "I promise to make you whatever coffee you need while we're visiting so you can do your databases."
"I'm so falling for you," Meryn admitted.
Izzy laughed. "My coffee kung-
fu is strong."
"I'm imposing a two-coffee limit for now Meryn. You shouldn't be as tired in Éire Danu as you were in Noctem Falls. You'll be getting plenty of fresh air, so let's take it slow okay?" Serenity said, holding up two fingers.
"The fate of our world could depend on my laptop and caffeine levels," Meryn countered.
Serenity smiled. "I'm more concerned about your baby, they're depending on you, not your laptop."
Meryn gave an exaggerated sigh. "Low blow, but I get it. You can monitor me then you'll see how much the nugget likes coffee."
"Deal."
"I could do a half-caf mocha with whip. It's half the amount of caffeine as in a normal double shot, but you get a little bit extra from the chocolate," Izzy offered.
"Coffee Goddess," Meryn whispered reverently.
Cameron groaned and laid his head down on the table. "We're losing our barista!"
Around the table, the men began to sulk.
Izzy looked around confused. "Why?"
Amelia placed a comforting hand on Izzy's arm. "You'll be leaving when we do remember? But Oron doesn't live in Éire Danu, he lives in Lycaonia with us, that's where you'll be moving to."
"I'm moving?" Izzy screeched.
Oron winced at the octave. "I guess we hadn't really talked about that yet."
She turned and stared at him. "I guess we hadn't."
His mate was going to kill him.
*****
After dinner everyone separated to their rooms saying they had an early start in the morning. Upstairs, Izzy watched as Cameron pointed to two doors. "Oron you're on the left, Izzy you're next door on the right. I'll let you figure out sleeping arrangements. Night." He quickly disappeared down the stairs.
She watched as Oron hesitated then spoke. "I'd prefer it if you slept with me."
"That's very bold of you."
"It doesn't have to be for sex," he said quickly. "I mean if you want to that'd be great, but what I meant was, I'd just like to spend the night with you and hold you, if you'll let me."
How could a man over seven feet tall be this adorable?
She held up the plastic shopping bag that held her one pair of pajamas and few toiletries she was able to salvage. "So just change into pjs, get comfy, maybe talk and sleep?"
He nodded emphatically. "Exactly."
"I can do that, though, don't hold anything I do in my sleep against me during waking hours. I've never actually slept in a bed with someone so I may do weird shit I know nothing about," Izzy said, feeling nervous. What if she did something embarrassing like moan his name?
Oron placed his hand over his heart. "I swear to take your nighttime secrets with me to the grave and never speak of them to anyone."
"Even me," she insisted. "Especially me."
"You have my word."
"Okay. So...right." She turned the knob and stepped into the guest room. It was painted a pretty shade of blue with a very generic looking comforter on the bed. "It's nice." She went toward the door and opened it. "This is the bathroom; I'm going to change in here."
"One moment," Oron walked over and sniffed the bag. "It smells a bit smoky."
She felt her cheeks flush. "They're all I own right now,"
Oron slapped his forehead. "I am such an ass! You've adapted to our world so well that I completely forgot you lost your home in a fire today. I should have taken you shopping." He began to pace. "Maybe there's a store nearby that has women's clothing."
"It's okay, I can spray some bathroom air freshener on them," she held up the bag and winced. Then she'd smell like bar-b-que and hibiscus.
Oron snapped his fingers, then unzipped his overnight bag. He held up a long white tee shirt. "How about this?"
She put the bag on the desk and walked over. She took the shirt from him and held it up. The hem was past her knees. "I think this will work." She brought it up to her nose, it didn't quite smell fresh, but held a unique fragrance that had her rubbing her face on it. "I love this smell, is it your detergent?"
Oron blushed to his hairline. "I uh, I've worn that one."
She grinned up at him. "I think I found one way our crystal edges fit. You smell amazing to me."
"I'm not a shifter, but the thought of you covered in my scent is hot," Oron said shifting his weight from one foot to the other, adjusting his pants.
"I'm on board with that, in fact, can I always sleep in your shirts? Used ones, but not like stinky ones."
"Gods woman!" he exhaled and closed the distance between them. Instead of leaning down to kiss her, he simply lifted her in his arms and wrapped her legs around his waist. She threw her arms around his neck and practically attacked his mouth.
She teased him back this time, loving the feel of his lips on hers. Everything about him tripped every trigger she didn't know she had. She leaned back enjoying the feel of his hands on her ass. "I could become addicted to your taste," she smiled impishly. "I wonder if all of you tastes as good as your lips."
Oron dropped his head back and breathed slowly through his nose. When he looked back at her she could see desire swimming in his eyes. "Let's do pajamas, possibly embarrassing sleep, then tomorrow night we'll be in the palace and not surrounded by roughneck Vanguard. You can find out exactly how I taste then."
She would have thought he didn't want her, but his eyes were smoldering and his hands were digging into her ass. "You don't want the men to hear me scream your name?" she teased.
His nostrils flared. "No. Not even a little. I am a jealous, possessive asshole and I want all of your screams to belong to me alone."
She shivered at the gruff tone of his voice. "I think that is sexy as hell."
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Oh yeah." She snuggled her face into the crook of his neck. There was the smell she was quickly beginning to crave.
He laughed and set her down rubbing his neck. "That tickled."
"Be right back," she said, before darting to the bathroom. Once inside she couldn't stop grinning.
She had found her soul mate, he was a fae prince and smelled like cinnamon rolls, spicy and sweet at the same time. She brought his shirt back up to her nose. She was in deep shit if his worn tee could have her legs shaking.
She quickly changed into her impromptu pajamas and washed up. She folded up her clothes and left them on the counter. They were her favorite jeans and sweater hoodie. They were probably the only things she owned that didn't smell like smoke.
Feeling nervous she opened the door to find that Oron had changed as well and looked to be wearing a shirt similar to the one he loaned her. He was sitting up in bed, leaning against the headboard. "I figure if I wear this one tonight, you can wear it tomorrow," he offered.
"You are wearing pants, right?" she eyed the covers. She couldn't tell what he was wearing from the waist down.
He nodded. "Promise you won't laugh?"
"Of course."
He stuck one leg out of the covers and she had to cover her mouth with her hand to hide the smile. He was wearing SpongeBob pajama pants. He cleared his throat. "I love this cartoon," he admitted.
"I do too. Maybe we can watch it together." She walked over to what she supposed was her side of the bed. She climbed in and was suddenly very conscious of how much she moved. Was she breathing too loud?
Beside her, he leaned over to the nightstand and turned off the light. "Temperature okay?"
"Yeah, good," she answered quickly.
"Izzy, baby, you need to relax or you'll never get to sleep."
"I'm relaxed."
"You're as stiff as a board and your hands are clenched."
"It's too quiet," she whispered.
"I actually agree with you on that. Hold on, I have an idea." She felt him get out of bed. She peeked over and had to hold in her laughter. His pants were glow-in-the-dark.
When she saw many floating SpongeBobs heading her way, she knew that he was coming back to bed. He fiddled with something on the nightstand before soothing wave sounds began
to play.
"Thank you," she said, finally feeling like she could relax. The wave sounds weren't just calming they also provided background noise so she didn't have to worry about him listening to her breathe.
"Am I weird for being freaked out because you can hear me?" she asked.
She almost jumped when his hand found hers. "I don't think so. Sleeping beside someone, being able to close your eyes and trust them while you sleep is very intimate, some think it's more intimate than sex."
"That's how it feels, like we skipped steps or something."
"I can always go next door Izzy, we don't have to do anything you aren't ready for, including just sleep."
"No, I want this, I do. But I may be weirded out for a bit, so don't think it's you."
"I won't."
They lay there in silence as her mind raced.
"Why don't you think about all the drinks you can make in the morning?" he suggested.
"That's actually a good idea."
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
The guys would have a drip coffee pot for sure, though Cameron did say they had an espresso machine last year when they wanted me to come out and make them coffee in the mornings. I wonder if they have any syrups?
She yawned and didn't even notice it when her breathing began to sync up with the circles Oron was lazily drawing in her hand.
Meryn is definitely an espresso woman. I bet Amelia is just whipped cream she's so friendly. I better not caffeinate Aiden too much; he has to handle a caffeinated Meryn.
I bet...Oron...likes something with fruit...
She was still thinking about different drinks when the day finally caught up with her.
*****
The next morning Oron was still grinning at her.
"Shut up!" she said, throwing her towel at him.
"I didn't say a word," he protested, dodging the towel.
"I can see it on your face. Okay, how bad was I?"
"You told me not to tell."
"Ha! But now I know there's something, so you have to tell me."
She zipped up her sweater and put her damp hair up in a ponytail. "Well?" she demanded when he continued to smile at her.
"You are freaking adorable when you sleep. You murmur and talk and giggle to yourself. I couldn't get enough."
