Fairyville

by Emma Holly

  "Men are creeps," Teresa declared. "All right, they're cute creeps, and they're handy for opening jars and kissing, but other than that, they can all go hang."

  Zoe had to laugh at that. "This from a woman who'd fall in love every week if she had the chance."

  "Being in love is great," Teresa admitted, then reached over to pat Zoe's hand. "At least Mr. Magnificent knows he has competition. He does know, right? That your old flame is back in town?"

  "Oh, he knows," Zoe said. "And doesn't like it one bit."

  "Well, that's good."

  "Maybe. And maybe it just means everybody is going to get weird."

  "This is Fairyville," Teresa reminded her. "If things didn't get weird, we wouldn't know what to do with ourselves."

  Late that afternoon, as Alex approached Zoe's storefront, butterflies danced in his stomach. He knew his nervousness was a sign of trouble. He'd had all day to gird himself to face her—and never mind how gratifyingly eager Bryan had been to exhaust his "tension" the previous night. They'd slept the sleep of the dead afterward, waking refreshed and early to track down more hospital employees for interviews.

  Those had all been dead ends, though a janitor had remembered Zoe being there. "That Miss Clare is a sweet, sweet girl," he'd said. "Before she passed, my momma had the Sight like she does. One night, Miss Clare and I sat in the cafeteria trading stories for two whole hours. My supervisor nearly fired me for coming back on shift so late, but I didn't care. Laughing with that Miss Clare made me feel like a boy again."

  Alex didn't feel like a boy, or at least not like the boy he'd been. He was used to being confident with women, used to knowing most were happy with his company. With Zoe, he wasn't sure where he stood, or if he should care. He only knew the simple thought of seeing her had him breaking into a sweat.

  Bryan wasn't there to act as buffer. He was hunting for a hotel that could put them up, both of them having decided that discretion was the better part of valor when it came to the Vista Inn. Bryan's absence increased Alex's anxiety and his arousal. If this went the way he hoped, he and Zoe would be alone together soon.

  Don't be an idiot, he told himself as he yanked her street door open, causing a brisk jingle. Just because she's forgiven you doesn't mean she'll hop into bed. Or that you should be considering inviting her to.

  Fifteen years was a lot of water under the bridge. Zoe had experience now, and a possible boyfriend, which could also be said about him.

  Alex's face twisted. This thing with Bryan wasn't turning out as casual as he'd expected, certainly not on his side. He was forced to acknowledge—and not happily—that both Bryan and Zoe had his cock sitting up to beg. He was thickening as he stepped into the quiet, air-conditioned space, as if he were expecting to get lucky here. A murmur from behind the closed office door told him Zoe must be with a client. Considering the bitterness his expression probably held, it was just as well she wasn't out front to greet him.

  He took a moment to compose himself and look around. Zoe's Reading Gallery, as the lettering on the window declared it, was as welcoming as her home. The antique floorboards were silver beneath his feet, the walls hung with local crafts and desert photographs. The old-fashioned junk shop furniture looked as if ghosts and clients would feel equally comfortable "sitting a spell" in it.

  Alex smiled at that. This was a well thought out business. His little Zoe, once Fairyville's biggest misfit, had come into her own.

  The sound of a door opening behind him turned him around.

  "Hey," Zoe said from the threshold of her office. "I didn't expect to see you this afternoon."

  She was cuddling her black and white kitten beneath her chin, the little fuzzball purring loud enough to hear across the room. It was a reaction Alex understood a bit too well; those were nice breasts Corky was snuggled up against. As if to add to the Norman Rockwell flavor of the moment, a ray of sunlight slanted in the window to strike her face, firing up a halo of dust motes around her head. The sight of her smiling softly between Corky's ears, the essence of who she was shining in her eyes, drew every drop of blood closer to his skin.

  Alex knew the truth then. He would never get over being in love with her. Never tire of that hint of wryness in her sweetest smiles. Never stop yearning to connect with her. She was his first real love, and it was never going to be over.

  His lungs went hollow at the revelation, and his voice broke slightly when he tried to speak.

  "I… thought I'd see if you were free to visit Fairy Falls. So far the rest of our leads aren't panning out."

  Zoe bit her lip for a tempting second, the pressure of her teeth on that plump pink cushion making him want a bite of it himself.

  "I'm free," she said. "I just finished a phone consultation, my last appointment for the day. I'll get Corky's stuff together, and we can go."

  "Great," he said. "I have a feeling this is going to help."

  She raised her brows at him, a brief sardonic quirk that let him know she'd heard the things he hadn't meant to say as clearly as the things he had.

  Magnus decided it was time to remember who and what he was, i.e., not a helpless human.

  He'd gone on his usual rounds, checking in on his artists to make sure all was well with them. He loved his proteges. Their creativity amazed him, and he enjoyed nothing better than guiding them to shine a little brighter in the public eye—whether that meant underwriting new equipment or helping to arrange a show. As far as he was concerned, they did the deepest magic—for what was magic but creating something out of thin air? Some days, letting them know that was all his job required. Today, his heart hadn't been in the usual friendly exchanges. Today, his attention had been sucked away by the one gifted person he wasn't checking on.

  He had nothing to say to Zoe he hadn't said last night, nothing to do that he hadn't done. Changelings weren't unheard of in the human realm. On any day, Zoe's world might harbor a few hundred. They fit in, more or less, because they didn't know what they were. But Magnus was something else. Magnus was an illegal alien, one with secrets. He didn't know what would happen if humans discovered his kind lived among them, or if they learned the trick to opening Fairy's door. Magnus trusted Zoe not to repeat anything he said, but his paranoid and power-hungry mother had only to fear humans might obtain this information, and extreme measures were the least of what she'd attempt.

  Titania's ability to scry outside her realm might be iffy, but that was no reason for her son to throw caution to the winds. He wasn't exactly on her Most Trusted list since he'd escaped.

  It was his misfortune to be the queen's only son, her only hope of turning her line into a dynasty. Magnus's father had been an extraordinary power. Titania had married him to unite their formerly separate realms. When they'd divorced, Jovian had split the realms apart again, taking his people and his magic into what humans would have called an alternate universe. Ever since, Titania had dedicated herself to pressuring others—Magnus foremost among them—to compensate her for the loss.

  The idea that he'd share his secrets with a human for the purpose of convincing that human to let him do what he needed to stay here for good would drive Titania insane.

  Assuming, of course, that she wasn't insane already.

  Magnus pressed his aching head between his palms. He stood barefoot in a special structure he'd added to his property several years ago. From the outside, it resembled a traditional sweat lodge. From the inside, it was a small round bunker lined over every surface, including the floor, with fluorite and amethyst. Magnus had more respect than Zoe for the power of stones. In his experience, they were wonderful focuses for intent. What he'd devised for this hideaway was a psychic shield, one that would bar even his mother's minions from entry.

  He was glad for his foresight now. He didn't think it was coincidence that an elemental had shown up at a local inn, especially when it had done so during another fairy's stay. Magnus knew the visitation had something to do with his mother, though precisely what he couldn't guess.<
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  Leave that be for now, he told himself, trying to push away his concerns. Titania would show her hand eventually, and when she did, he'd figure out what to do.

  Sufficient unto the day were the challenges thereof. Magnus couldn't scry into Fairy from the human realm at all; the magical ethers here were too thick. He could, however, peer into any place on Earth. Right now, he needed to know Zoe's state of mind, to understand what she was choosing before he could do the same.

  It was trite perhaps, but he'd found a crystal ball worked best. Rolling his favorite clear quartz sphere over the fingers of his right hand, he sank to his knees on the fluorite floor. Once there, he folded his feet flat, turned his toes slightly in, and sat on his heels. The flashlight he'd laid beside him, a heavy model used by spelunkers, shot a beam of light that broke into a thousand shards against the purple walls. It was the perfect atmosphere for allowing one's mind to drift, for allowing one's eyes to play tricks and see what wasn't there.

  He cradled the scrying ball between his palms, letting its weight rest on his thighs. His breath fell without effort into a calm rhythm. Almost at once, a rush of energy streaked up his spine, and a tingling like a funnel made of static opened in his head. He let his focus soften as he gazed at the ball.

  "I wish to see Zoe Clare," he told the Will-Be.

  Figures moved inside his crystal. A cat carried in a handbag. A woman. A tall man with sun-streaked hair. Zoe and Alex were walking outside her gallery, down the touristy stretch of Canyon Way. They looked like people who knew and liked each other well. The swing of their legs matched as if timed by a metronome.

  Hellfire, Magnus thought, which caused the images to waver. Knowing he couldn't afford to lose his concentration, he blew away his anger.

  "I am willing to be shown," he insisted, though he knew he might not like what he saw.

  Liking it didn't matter. One lesson he had accepted from his mother was that information helped a person set an effective course. If Magnus hoped to keep Zoe, he had to understand what he stood against.

  * * *

  Chapter Eleven

  They took Alex's nice brown Audi to Fairy Creek Canyon, parking at the overlook where, for as long as Zoe could remember, high school kids had made out. Today, all the slots but theirs were empty, horny teenagers apparently having better things to do while the sun was up. A broad hiking trail led them down into another world. Alex followed Zoe, the emergency blanket from his trunk slung over one arm—protection against the poison ivy that was the bane of this lush, green place.

  "God," he said as they descended into cool, moist air. "I forgot how beautiful this is."

  Compared to the scrubby pine woods or desert that covered most of the land around town, Fairy Canyon was an exotic oasis. The creek that ran through it was fed by the local aquifer. It narrowed during the summer but did not dry up. As a result, oak grew here and cypress and maples that would turn to flame in October. Moss padded the ground like fairy stepping stones. Zoe had to remind herself this wasn't a romantic date. They'd come to see what readings she could get off the falls, to see if she could shed light on the mystery surrounding Alex's client's son.

  The falls announced their nearness with the steady rushing sound they made plunging down the rocks. Fairy Falls was no Niagara, but for Arizona it was tall and wide, booming slightly over the hollows that undercut the striated red sandstone. A poison-green pool met the waters' misty culmination, the color the result of a vigorous algae content and a lot of silt being stirred up. Only the bravest souls swam here, because the pool was known to be home to snakes and leeches, and the rocks were slippery enough to defeat experienced hikers. The caves behind the water also remained unexplored, being prone to rockfalls. Fairy Falls was strictly for admiring by eye—not that this was a great hardship.

  "Wow," Alex exclaimed as they emerged through the veil of trees for their first clear look. "You can see how rumors started that this was the spot to scope out fairies."

  Zoe could see it, though she'd never met a fairy here herself. Despite her own flock not seeming to like the place, the effect of the sun slanting through the leaves to strike rainbows off the misting water was magical. Birds and insects set up a steady chatter among the trees, their pleasant noise underscoring the peaceful stillness that lay beneath. A heron stalked farther down the stream, partially hidden by the bank's tall reeds.

  Good hunting, Zoe thought, wishing him a meal he liked—a nice plump lizard or a juicy frog.

  Alex startled her by tugging at her hand. The warm length of his fingers inspired a shiver of déjà vu. She'd loved holding hands with him when they were dating. Walking down the halls at school. Feeling for a little while as if she fit in.

  "Sit," he said. "I've got to enjoy this for a few minutes. I missed this nature stuff in Phoenix."

  He'd spread the blanket on a grassy spot near the pool. Zoe set her purse beside it, which allowed Corky to bounce out like a jumping bean. Fortunately, she'd thought to buy him a teeny-tiny harness on her and Samuel's lunchtime shopping spree. Florabel had come to Petsmart as well, so perhaps there was a fairy romance in the offing. Zoe smiled as Corky chased a small white moth across the grass, losing his prize—and falling over—when he came to the end of his bright blue leash. Zoe was glad she'd already attached it to her purse handle, and gladder still that the purse was too heavy for the kitten to pull.

  "Corky's fine," Alex said, tugging her hand again.

  With a trepidation she couldn't avoid, Zoe accepted his help to sit, careful to smooth her skirt beneath her before she did. Alex's hand held on to hers a moment longer than it had to, seeming to pull away reluctantly. Heat slid through her, uninvited but unstoppable. Disconcerted, she pressed her lips together and looked at the falls.

  She was here to work, and so was he. He had a boyfriend, and so did—well, she really didn't, but that was beside the point. Determined to do what she'd come here for, she blew out her breath and closed her eyes, trying to sense any remnants of supernatural events. She cast her memory back to how the falls had looked that night five years ago. Only the top of the canyon had been visible from her house. The colored spheres had danced in and out of the chasm, flirting with the stars. They must have been huge for her to see at that distance, maybe as big as cars.

  Tell me, she thought to whatever spirits were listening. Tell me what this has to do with Oscar Pruitt.

  Her insides got very quiet, the silence opening in her head and spreading out. She felt a pulsing beneath her thighs, coming up through the blanket from under the ground. The cadence was slow and steady, thick as honey but clear as sunshine. It carried a scent like wet leaves and earth, and its warmth seeped into her flesh, making her aware of how big this planet was. Perhaps it was an illusion, but she had the sense of tree roots reaching deep for water, of flowers straining toward their bees. She understood then that every living thing wished to grow in some way—to be taller or stronger or more fruitful. The thrumming of that universal drive coiled unexpectedly in her sex, the sudden unexpected tightening making her so wet so fast she gasped.

  "What?" said Alex. "What did you see?"

  Zoe blinked her eyes open and hoped her voice wouldn't sound too husky. "Um, there's a lot of earth energy around here."

  "What does that mean?"

  "That the Sierra Club should be really proud of us."

  Alex swore under his breath.

  "I can try again in a few minutes. Narrow my focus more on Oscar. That was just kind of unsettling. Maybe this spot is a power vortex."

  And maybe reaching out for answers had activated it.

  "Earth energy, huh?" Alex peered at her. Knowing she was flushed and unlikely to grow less so with him looking at her, she struggled not to evade his perusal too obviously.

  "So," she said, hoping to nudge his thoughts from where she feared they were veering. "You remember Johnny Thurman?"

  Alex leaned back on his hands, his legs stretched out in starched khaki trousers, his head turned
to consider her. He wore a beautiful, European-styled business shirt. Even with the sleeves rolled up and the collar open, it fit so well it must have been custom-made. Alex had never been a slob, but his new adult polish increased her sense that she was out of her depth with him. Clearly, he was no hand-to-mouth PI. An expensive looking Tag Heuer circled his left wrist with perfect casualness. The bone it rested on looked strong.

  You're really losing it, she told herself, if some man's wrist is pushing your buttons.

  When she began to think he was just going to stare at her, Alex finally spoke. "You'd be referring to my best friend and running back, Johnny Thurman—until he decided I was the devil incarnate who needed to be frozen out of my team."

  "That's the one," Zoe said, relieved that he remembered what she was talking about. "He owns a firing range outside of town."

  "Oh, great." Alex snorted. "Now I have to watch my back for a new reason."

  "Everybody isn't like Mrs. Fairfax. I think he feels bad for helping run you out of town. He asks about you now and then. What you're up to. If you're okay. I tell him I only know what your mom tells me, but that seems to satisfy him."

  Alex sat up straighter. "Johnny Thurman asks you about me?"

  "Crazy, I know. Unlike you, I wasn't his favorite person."

  "He hated your guts. I almost lost him as a friend when I started dating you."

  Embarrassed, Zoe rubbed the side of her face. "That was because of what I did to him my second week of school."

  "What did you do?"

  "I'm only telling you because these days I don't think he'd mind if you knew."

  Alex laughed softly at her foot dragging. "What did you do?"

  "Actually, it was more what his dad did."

  A funny look crossed Alex's face, superseding his amusement. "Johnny's dad was dead by the time we got to high school."

  "Five years when I met him, according to him, and every day of those five years he'd been looking for someone who could give a message to his son. I spent my first week of freshman year being yelled at by this colonel guy whose son I'd never met, who I was pretty sure didn't want to hear from lowly little me. But the more I tried to ignore him, the louder he got. It was no wonder my classmates thought I was spacey. I barely heard a word anybody said until I gave in."