“I’m a fairy, Garrett.” I swallowed hard. “I am magical.”
He lifted his hand and cupped my chin, lifting my face to his. I closed my eyes so I wouldn’t accidently look at him.
“It’s more than your magic, Tazianna.” His sweet breath exhaled across my face, “I felt something I had never felt before when you touched me last night. A spark of some sort. There’s more to you than your darkness and beauty. And, I want to find out what it is.”
“No.” I shook my head. “I need you to stay away from me.”
“I can’t.” With those words, he placed his hands on my hips, pulling me closer, and brought his mouth to mine.
Our lips parted, and I inhaled all of him in. Magic didn’t even describe the tingly sensation rushing through my entirety. Our kiss became urgent, a need to fulfill each other’s deepest desires, until I broke away.
“We can’t, Garrett,” I said, breathlessly. “As much as I want to give myself to you, I can’t. I belong to someone else. But it isn’t by choice. He owns me, Garrett, and he refuses to let me go.”
“Someone is making you do this, aren’t they?”
I turned away from him, fighting the urge to gaze at his eyes. “Yes.”
“Who?” His voice turned hard.
“It doesn’t matter, Garrett,” I sobbed. “You can’t stop him.”
Garrett grabbed my arms and shook me gently. “Tell me who is behind all this, Tazianna. I need to know.”
I squeezed my eyes shut as the moisture continued to rain down. “Into the darkness, I fade away,” I whispered.
“No,” Garrett yelled as his grip tightened on me. “Don’t you dare leave me.”
“I’m sorry,” I said as my body faded away.
Five
“Tazianna,” Garrett shouted my name as I raced through the forest.
My heart pounded in my chest, and my breath came in short, shallow gasps as I attempted to put as much distance between him as I could. Why didn’t he understand the danger? We couldn’t be together. If Arbion found out, he would demand for me to take Garrett’s soul, and I couldn’t. I’d die before I hurt Garrett. Take his knife and pierce my own chest, if I had to.
I raced into the opening of the ancient oak tree and slammed the door, shrinking down against the other side and releasing big, chest heaving sobs. Garrett’s taste still lingered on my lips, his smell still on my dress. I knew I had to forget about him in order to save him, but how could I? My heart ached for him.
I slowly walked down the spiral steps until I reached Arbion’s lair. When I opened the door, he was already waiting.
“It’s about time,” he said in a hard, uncaring voice. “I almost came looking for you. There’s been word that there is a tracker in the forest, and I can’t risk losing you.”
I placed the bottle on the table without a word.
Arbion turned around, his gaze transfixed upon my face. “My dear, Tazianna. What happened out there tonight?” He rushed toward me, taking my face in his hands.
“I encountered three of them tonight, Arbion. I’m just a little exhausted.”
“Three of them?” A sly smile spread across his face. “Did they have a chance to touch you?”
“Please, not now,” I begged, attempting to push him away.
He lifted one of his hands from my face and reached over, grabbing the bottle on the table. He flicked off the lid with his thumb and chugged down the souls in a single gulp. The transformation began as he continued to hold onto me.
I tried to glance away, a grave sickness swirling in the pit of my stomach, but he forced me to watch.
“I want to hear about the men,” he whispered, slipping the strap of my dress off my shoulder. “Tell me everything.”
I shook my head, pleading with my eyes for him to stop, but it only seemed to make his hunger more intense.
“Tazianna, tell me. Now,” he demanded, squeezing my arm hard enough it stung.
“No.” I tried to shake out of his grasp, but he held me tighter. “I will not tell you.”
“You cannot defy me, Tazianna, and you know it.” Arbion’s jaw pulsated. “How many times do I have to tell you that you’re mine?”
“I don’t want to be anybody’s anymore, Arbion.” I narrowed my gaze. “Just take my soul now, or release me.”
Arbion ground his teeth together. “You’ve met someone, haven’t you?” He drew his eyebrows in. “I saw the change last night. You’re different now.”
I inhaled quickly, terrified for Garrett. “No, I haven’t met anyone. I swear.”
“You’re lying to me.” He chuckled darkly. “I can see the love you have for this person all over your face.”
I needed to distract him at all costs, even if it meant doing something that made me completely sick to my stomach. I lifted my hand and rested it on the side of his face. “I’m sorry, Arbion. I’m just exhausted. You have no idea what it’s like gathering all those souls.”
He eyed me suspiciously.
“Come, Arbion.” I took his hand in mine and smiled sweetly. “Let us go to bed. I’ll tell you all about tonight, all three of the men.
There was only one other thing Arbion desired besides souls. If my only hope to save Garrett was to fully give in to Arbion’s desires, then I would give him me.
Six
I slid out of the bed and walked across the cold floor. Bending down, I scooped up my dress and slipped it back on. Feeling dirty and sore, I glanced over at Arbion. He was asleep and nude. The vision of earlier caused me to shudder.
I crept out of the room, knowing the sun had faded a long time ago. Continuing up the stairs and out of the opening of the ancient oak tree, I made my way through the forest. The moon was full, magical time for all dark creatures, except me. Arbion would expect me to be hunting for souls, but he would have to wait.
Deeper into the forest, I found what I was searching for. The stream of Abwavua was only a few feet away. The fireflies danced along the surface, making the water shimmer even brighter in the light of the moon. The humans refer to the stream of Abwavua as the Fountain of Youth. That was why they never found it. They’d been looking for a fountain, not a stream. Thinking the fountain gave them eternal youth, they had no idea the magic it held was much greater than that.
Arbion was even unaware of the stream or the power it possessed. If he had known, he would had realized he had never needed a fairy in the first place.
I stepped in, letting the cool water run through my toes. Then I slipped off my dress, tossing it to the shore, before advancing deeper. When I felt I was far enough, I sat down and entirely submerged my body. The magic absorbed into my skin. A tingling sensation wrapped around me, healing me and making me pure again.
I exhaled, releasing bubbles that drifted to the surface. Closing my eyes, I let the magic continue to heal me. Sounds echoed through the water, and I thought it was fish, until the vibration grew louder and louder. I opened my eyes and turned in the water to see something, or someone, swimming toward me.
I twisted my body around, urgency in my movements, to get away from whatever it was, but I wasn’t quick enough. Two hands clutched my waist, and as I turned around, I was peering at Garett’s marvelous face. Bubbles escaped his lips as he smiled at me.
Pulling me to the surface, he held me tightly in his arms. “Tazianna,” he said my name as if we had been separated for a lifetime.
Without even thinking, my eyes melted into his. They were as blue as the water, as bright as the moonlight. Then I realized something, something that terrified me more than love itself, I was looking into his eyes.
I quickly shunned away, but he pulled my face back to his. “Why is it you can never look me in the eyes?” he asked, his voice soft and full of questions.
“Please, Garrett,” I exhaled. “I don’t want to take your soul.”
“But, Tazianna.” He smiled. “You already have.” He pressed his mouth to mine without any warning, his soft hands exploring the outlin
e of my body.
Our lips parted, and he filled me with so much life, so much love, that I could no longer resist.
I molded my body around his as the fireflies swirled around us. The magic had begun, and there was no way either of us could stop it.
***
Garrett pulled me out of the water, his fingers tightly holding onto me as we walked over to our pile of clothes.
“I don’t understand,” I said, bending down to retrieve my dress. “I should have taken your soul when I looked at you.”
“Maybe it was the water.” He laughed softly as he pulled on his pants.
I slipped my dress on, thinking about what he had said. Maybe, he was right. The water was even more magical than I thought it was. I sat down and admired every inch of him as he finished getting dressed. “This stream does contain a lot of magic. Some that I can’t even explain.”
He closed the distance between us and knelt down in front of me, raking his fingers through his short, dark hair. “You are the magic, Tazianna. I love you. And I want to help free you from your prison. I don’t think it is your choice to steal the souls. I need to know who is behind this.”
“I don’t want you to get involved, Garrett. He could kill you.”
“He already has.” He placed his hand to my cheek. “By keeping you away from me.” He leaned in closer, his warm breath blowing against my face, and kissed me. “Now, please, tell me.”
I sighed deeply and swallowed hard. “His name is Arbion. He captured me a long time ago and put a spell on me, making me what I am today. He needs the souls in order to stay young. If I fail to bring them to him, he will take mine.”
Suddenly, clapping echoed through the trees. Garrett and I both turned our heads as Arbion stepped out of hiding. “Bravo, bravo, Tazianna. You have drawn in my next soul.”
“No,” I gasped, scrambling to my feet and putting myself in between Arbion and Garrett. “You can’t have him!”
Arbion sneered. “Tazianna, I demand you give me Garrett’s soul.”
With those words my head became fuzzy. It was happening. His dark magic swirled around inside my mind. The harder I tried to fight it, the stronger it became.
“Look at him, Tazianna,” Arbion continued. “Gaze into his eyes and give me his soul.”
I started to slowly turn around, but before I could face Garrett, he grabbed my waist and tossed me into the air. I hit the water with and enormous splash, sinking deeper and deeper into the stream. When I reached the bottom, I kicked off with my feet, trying to reach the surface as fast as I could. Arbion would be sure to kill him.
My head popped out of the water, and I saw Garrett and Arbion rolling around on the ground. I had to do something, but I didn’t know what.
Suddenly, Arbion rolled on top of Garrett, his hands to his throat. Garrett’s bronze skin tinted blue. He was choking him.
I desperately waded through the water, willing myself to land. My eyes spied the golden handle of Garrett’s knife, but before I could step on the forest floor, one of Arbion’s hands slipped away from Garrett’s throat. He grasped a hold of the knife and pulled it from Garrett’s belt loop.
“No,” I screamed, my entire life flashing before my eyes.
Arbion picked up the knife, raising it in the air, and then slammed it down into Garrett’s chest. “You will not take my fairy away from me,” he said in a hard, dark voice. “She is mine!”
Garrett gasped for air as blood ran from the wound and puddled underneath of him.
Hot tears stung my eyes as Garrett’s blue face became paler and paler. My love was dying. He was dying.
I raced toward them, desperate to reach him before it was too late.
Just as I was an arm’s length from him, Arbion stood up and looked at me, laughing. “Watch him suffer, Tazianna. This will be a lesson to never defy me. You are mine, and you will always be mine.”
“I will die before I ever serve you again,” I shouted at him.
“Then I shall make that happen.” Arbion walked toward me, knife in hand. Drops of Garrett’s blood slid from the blade and dripped onto the ground.
Fury, rage, and magic consumed me. I’d never been this hurt or pissed off before. I lunged at Arbion, grasping the wrist of the hand he held the knife with, and knocking him to the ground.
He laughed, amused, as I sat on top of him.
I peered into his eyes. “Freedom and love is the one I seek. Hate is for all those who are weak. Light of the moon and power of the goddess, release the lost souls hidden beneath. Let them go; set them free,” I chanted.
“What have you done?” Arbion’s body began to jerk rapidly. He pressed his lips together tightly, but his cheeks puffed out until he could hold them back no more. The white mist broke through his barrier, rushing from his mouth and drifting into the air, spiraling up into the trees and disappearing.
His skin sank in and his bones bulged out as his face became paler and paler. Lines stretched across his appearance. Arbion took one last breath, and then his body crumbled away underneath me.
I crawled over to Garrett, cradling his head in my arms. “Garrett, please, say something. Please,” I begged as the moisture fell from my eyes. His chest was slowly rising and falling, but his breath was gargled. His beautiful blue eyes glazed over with emptiness. He was dying.
I shifted my body and slipped my hands under his arm pits, struggling to get him to the water. His body was much heavier than it appeared, but I needed to get him to the stream before he stopped breathing.
Using all my strength, including the power of my wings, I finally dragged him to the waters of Abwavua. Just as his heart began to falter, I pulled him in, and submerged him. After a few seconds, I brought his head up above the water and cradled it in my arms, sobbing, knowing I was too late. I had lost him, lost my one and only true love. Placing my head to his, I let my tears spill out.
“Tazianna,” he whispered hoarsely.
I drew in a deep breath and picked my head up, gazing into his eyes. “Garrett,” I said, laughing and crying at the same time. “You’re alive.”
Garrett slowly sat up in the water, his chest completely healed as if nothing ever happened. His gaze drifted up and down me, and then he smiled. “You’re different.”
I glanced down. My dress was no longer black. It was white. I was finally free of the darkness, finally free of the hold Arbion had held over me for all those years.
Garrett picked me up and carried me out of the water, gently placing me on the ground. “So, I guess you don’t belong to anyone anymore.”
“That’s not true,” I said. “I belong to you.”
He took my face in his hands and kissed me.
Then I pulled away. “That’s if you can handle a fairy.”
“Hmm . . .” he mumbled. “A fairy. I’m not so sure. They can be pretty feisty sometimes,” he teased.
I laughed. Then I threw myself into him, knocking us both to the ground, as I kissed him with more love and desire than I ever knew existed.
Finding Us
“We’ve been wandering this damned forest for three days, we are definitely lost,” Pete panted as he pulled himself up yet another hillock in an odd clearing. “Shit, this is the same one we passed an hour ago.” He flipped a thread tied to a low hanging branch.
Sylvie sat on the only dry patch of grass at the base of the knoll. A beam of sunlight had squeezed through the thick canopy to spotlight the very place she sat.
“Maybe we should have listened to that old woman. You ignored her, and me, as I recall.”
Pete stared at her with a look of disgust. “Stupid, superstitious women. This is the Twenty-first century, and mysterious old hags belong in children’s books.” He tried to peer into the gloom of the forest to find a trail. “I saw you give her your lunch, you know. If you give things to beggars you only encourage them. I bet you are regretting it now.” His supercilious smile turned into a smug sneer.
Sylvie looked up at him, and the s
un lighted her hair into a shimmering aurora around her angular face. She looked so strange, almost alien. Pete felt a shudder pass over him.
“No, not really. I’ve been eating berries.”
“What?” the word exploded from him, and his eyes boggled. “Are you stupid? Berries are bound to have poison or bird shit on them, what were you thinking? Show me!”
Sylvie held out her berry stained fingers and shrugged. “There are only a few on each bush, just enough to hold me until I find the next one. It’s not like you share your food store with me.”
“I only have enough for myself, especially if we are here much longer, and you were stupid enough to give yours away. Damn, I can’t get a phone signal even up this high. We’ve been going around in circles since morning. I just want to get back to the car and go home. Why the hell did we come here?”
“Pete, you wanted us to come here. You wanted us to get back to nature. I think your words were ‘back to basics and find ourselves’. Have you found us yet?” Sylvie ran her fingers gently through the cool grass.
Her relationship with Pete had turned sour a long time ago. Nothing was ever good enough or right enough for him, and Sylvie found herself tired of all the controlling and aggressive behaviour. She had wanted the forest as a soothing balm, the idea had called to her as soon as he had mentioned it. She had been careful to be noncommittal and let him think it was his idea, or he would have cancelled it. She had no idea what he wanted.
“Weren’t you a boy scout once?”
“Yes, of course I was.” He roughly picked at the bark of the tree he leaned against, and Sylvie flinched. “Hand me my backpack.”
She stood on tip toe to hand him up his backpack, and he snatched it from her hand with unnecessary force.
“Where the hell is it?” He began to throw things down to Sylvie, and she piled them at her side as she caught each one. “I had a bloody compass in here when we left. Did you take it out?”
Sylvie shook her head.
“I’ll have to climb a tree to see which way the sun is coming from, and we can take our bearings from that.” He turned back to the tree but no branch was in reach. He tried the next tree, but it too had no low hanging branch to cling to. “What is this? These trees always have low branches?”
Tales of the Fairy Anthology Page 14
