by Kimbra Swain
“Dylan, I will only do what Levi wants,” I said.
“Grace, the two of you can’t get any closer than you already are, except for in a way that isn’t going to happen on my watch. He won’t cross that line. I trust him. I trust him enough to know that he will keep his oath to me. I trust you too. I just don’t have to stay here and watch it,” Dylan said.
“I repeat. I hate you both,” I said, climbing out of the truck. As I walked up the front steps, I was reminded that neither one of them had built my porch yet. Looking back at Dylan, he nodded as he pulled away.
I went inside and stared at my bard. “You promised to take care of us,” I said.
“He wasn’t supposed to tell,” Levi said. “I feel like I’ve failed both of you with that collar shit.”
“How the hell did you allow her to put that thing on?” I asked.
“The night after Valentine’s she asked if we could play a new game. We explored all kinds of stuff, Grace. It never occurred to me that it was magic,” he groaned.
“Well, I don’t want to hear about your exploration,” I said. I knew too much already. “Dylan told me to remind you that you promised, but honestly, Levi, I can take care of myself. You will always be around for Winnie. Any further actions aren’t necessary.”
“I think you don’t want to kiss me,” he said as his demeanor changed.
“Whoa! Now hold up just a cotton pickin’ minute, Mister,” I said.
He rose up from the couch locking his eyes with me. “You remember what it was like,” he said.
I backed away from him moving toward my bedroom. “Levi, you just told me in the truck that you didn’t want to do this,” I protested, as my back hit the bedroom door. He grabbed the knob to the door before I could get to it, slamming his other hand on the opposite side of my body.
“Do it, Grace,” he said. The urgency in his eyes caught me off guard. It wasn’t a smolder. It was almost a panic. I still felt like he didn’t want to do it. He was doing this because he promised Dylan that he would.
I turned my face away from him. He stepped forward pressing himself against me. I hissed. “Levi, what are you doing?”
He lowered his head to whisper in my ear. “You remember that you aren’t the only one that can do this, right?”
“Fuck,” I said.
“No, just a kiss,” he whispered sending chills down my spine.
“Levi,” I pleaded. “Don’t do this because of Dylan, Riley or Taliesin.”
“I understand how he felt. What it’s like to love someone you can’t have. I know it’s just this once. Give me just this once,” he begged.
A tear rolled down my cheek. His lips pressed against it. “No,” I whined.
“It’s not the same as what Riley did to the bard. You aren’t her,” he said with his lips still brushing my cheek as he spoke.
“This makes me just as bad,” I said. “Please. We will find another way.”
“There is no other way. I’ve already looked,” he said. “Grace, do you love me?”
“You know that I do,” I said.
“But not like you love, Dylan, right?” he said.
“Right,” I replied.
“He knows. I promised. Don’t make me break my promise,” he said, moving to hover over my mouth. “Don’t make me a liar, Grace.”
I trembled holding back for another argument, but my lips betrayed me. “Okay.”
“Can I tell this part?” I asked.
“No,” Grace replied. “How many times do we have to argue about this?”
The story had her flustered even more than it did that day as I pinned her to the bedroom door. At that moment, I’d forgotten my human side, letting the fairy in me take over. It was the only way I could get past the idea of kissing another man’s woman. She stood there below me trembling at the idea of kissing me. Just one kiss and the great Queen of the Exiles was about to lose her shit. Her body shook with emotion as the turquoise deepened in her eyes. It was the first time that I remarked that she truly wanted me. Our fairy sides spoke to each other in a forgotten, unspoken language.
After learning about Taliesin and Riley, I knew that no matter how many times I tried to drown my attraction to Grace by taking another woman to bed, I would never be able to love anyone else like I did her. His words spoke to me over the ages. This one time with Grace, and I would never regret it. Of course, Taliesin got more ass out of it than I did out of Grace.
“Are you still typing?” she asked.
“No,” I replied.
“You are a fucking liar, Levi Rearden!” she protested. I laughed at her, and she grinned. “Are you done?”
“Yes ma’am,” I replied.
“It was a quick, forgettable kiss,” she said.
“You wound me,” I said. “Tell the truth.”
“It was a good kiss,” she amended. I rolled my eyes, thinking that my one moment of glory had come in this story, but according to her version, it hadn’t.
He waited no longer before he descended upon my lips. What I thought would be a quick kiss turned out to be a little more. Then, his weight shifted as he tried to grab my tattoo. I tried to shove him away, but he only stepped back a little. The fairy inside me screamed at the loss of his body pressed to mine. I had to tell her to cut the banshee act and get over it. She pouted.
“What the hell?” I said.
He groaned, “Sorry. The fairy was in control.”
I smacked him on the arm. “You idiot. You can’t blame your actions on that part of you,” I scolded, but then the reality of it crashed down on me. I choked back a sob because I knew what he had just given up.
“I’m fine. It was my choice,” he said with a deep sadness in his eyes. As I reached out to hug him, the trailer shook violently. “Oh, shit. Dylan?”
“I don’t think so,” I said moving past him to the door.
I opened it to see the sylph hovering over the front lawn. Her dress whipped around her as the wind continued to pick up. Large iridescent wings stretched out on either side of her flitting so hard that it looked like blurs of cellophane paper.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“I want what is mine,” she said.
“See, I don’t do vague shit. Just tell me,” I replied. I felt Levi’s protective hand on my back as I stood at the door of the trailer.
“He took something precious from me. You know what it is,” she said.
“You either tell me now, or I take you out,” I warned. “I’ve had enough of this. You will not threaten my home.”
“My egg. He took it,” she said, raising her hands. “Your protection failed my family.”
“Oh, shit,” I said, as Levi tried to push past me. I felt his power building.
Beyond the sylph I saw a red truck, approaching quickly. I knew Winnie was in the truck, but I had no way to tell Dylan to turn back.
“Grace,” Levi said, holding his hand up flexing it open and closed. He wanted my power. Shit.
I offered him the hand I’d just denied him. As he grasped it, the power surged between us. The barrier he formed between us and the sylph would not protect Dylan and Winnie. I fought to control my hormones as the power cycled back and forth between us like that battery bunny. The sylph unleashed a gust of wind that bounced off Levi’s shield and headed back toward the main road.
“Hold on,” I said. I shifted the world to swirling ink, and we appeared behind the sylph, stopping the wave from hitting the oncoming vehicle full of my family. “Keep up the shield.” Dylan pulled up right behind us in the truck.
Levi continued to power the shield cycling the power between us. It wasn’t the same as before when we just took power from each other, somehow it flowed between us in a constant rhythm. Thankfully, it didn’t push me toward an orgasm either. Just a constant flow of arousal versus the desperate grasping at the climax.
“What does she want?” Dylan asked.
“Her offspring,” I replied.
“You
have an egg?” Dylan asked.
“No, the pig has it! The Queen has failed me!” she started to unleash another blow when Dylan stepped beyond our shield.
“No, wait! We will find it. I promise!” he yelled at the sylph.
“Empty promises!” she protested.
“Momma!” Winnie called out to me.
“Stay in the truck, Winnie,” I said looking over my shoulder at her. Her eyes were fixed on the flying sylph.
“She will be fine, Grace. Concentrate on the power,” Levi said.
“How long can you hold this?” I asked.
“As long as you allow me to move the power, I can hold it. So, don’t resist it,” he said.
“How?” I asked.
“You want to talk about this right now?” he laughed.
“I swear. We will return your egg,” Dylan said.
She screamed, unleashing a gust of wind that vibrated against the shield. I felt Levi waiver. I let go of everything I had held back. Immediately the shield solidified. The sylph darted into the sky flying away until she was only a dot on the sunset.
Levi released my arm sinking to his knees. He panted loudly. Dylan caught me before I fell. I wrapped my arms around his neck letting his warmth envelop me.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yes, you are here,” I said.
“Levi?” Dylan asked.
“Let me catch my breath,” Levi replied.
“Lordy mercy, that fairy was mad,” Winnie said behind us. She stood outside the truck looking into the distance. I started laughing. I felt Dylan smile next to my cheek.
“It’s time to have that fairy talk,” Dylan said.
“Yeah, I guess so,” I replied. Dylan let me go, and I turned to Winnie. “I told you to stay in that truck.”
“Yes, ma’am,” she said scrambling to climb back in the truck. Dylan offered Levi a hand to pull him off the ground.
“Is it done?” Dylan asked him.
“Yes,” Levi said, but wouldn’t look at him.
“Thank you, Brother,” Dylan said with a swift pat on the shoulder. I rolled my eyes. Men.
“You might as well kiss him, too. The way the two of you are all cozy over there,” I teased.
They stepped away from each other. “Grace, I swear,” Dylan gruffed.
“Oh, please,” I waved him off.
I climbed in the driver’s side of the truck and drove it to the driveway as Dylan and Levi walked the short distance to the trailer. “Miss Wynonna, you get yourself inside. It’s time we had a talk,” I replied.
“Yes, ma’am,” she said as Levi helped her out of the truck.
We all tried our best to explain to Winnie that there were many kinds of fairies and that some were good while others were bad. The question finally came that I dreaded.
“Are you a fairy, Momma?” she asked.
“Yes, I am,” I replied.
“And Uncle Levi and Daddy?” she asked.
“Uncle Levi is, but Daddy is something different. He’s a protector,” I said. Shifting creatures wasn’t a discussion I wanted to have. We had laid enough on her.
She sat quietly on the couch with Bramble and Briar sitting on her knees.
“But I can’t tell anyone?” she asked.
“No, we can’t talk about it outside of this house. If you have questions, then we can answer them here,” I said.
“Winnie, we just want you to be very careful. Not all fairies are good like your momma and Uncle Levi,” Dylan said.
“Yes, sir,” she mumbled. “Was the mad lady fairy a bad fairy?”
“No, she’s just mad. Someone took her egg,” I said.
“Oh. I would be mad too,” she said. “Did you take it?”
“No, but it’s my job to make sure she gets it back,” I tried to explain.
“Everyone is a fairy except me,” she said sadly.
Bramble hopped up and looked at her. “No, you are a human. I like being your servant. Fairy owners are mean and threaten me. You are nice to me,” he said. I was thankful for his protest, but I wanted to smack him because I knew he meant me. I had threatened the little pixie because I still wasn’t convinced he was here for something other than simply being a companion to Winnie.
“Go get ready for bed,” Dylan instructed her.
“Yes, sir,” she groaned. The two fairies lifted off her knees and followed her to her bedroom.
“Spill it,” I said, turning to Levi.
“It was in the book. The stronger our bond, the more I am to control the magic,” Levi said.
“You could have mentioned that!” I said.
“He did,” Dylan replied.
“To you?” I asked.
Dylan chuckled. “Yes.”
“I hate you both,” I replied. “I need a drink.”
“Great idea. Let’s go down to Hot Tin,” Dylan said.
“Yeah, go. I’ll stay here with Winnie,” Levi offered.
“Are you sure? I mean, you are just okay with all of this now?” I asked.
“It’s actually better now,” he said.
Somehow, I didn’t believe him. Perhaps he was fine now, but eventually, I knew that his connection to me would weigh enough on him that he might leave. Or worse. I half expected my feelings to change for him. I suppose if I were human, then it would have affected me from the beginning. His kind made women fall in love with them. I wonder sometimes if that wasn’t what happened with Kadence, and now she was reeling in the rejection.
“Awesome. Let’s go,” Dylan said.
It didn’t take me long to get ready. I wanted to talk to Nestor about the Sylph and her egg. Dylan wanted to talk too. I could tell that was the whole purpose of leaving the house. When we arrived, it was busy. We ordered at the bar, but I could tell Nestor was swamped. I wanted to jump back there and help him, but he insisted that I spend time with Dylan.
Dylan downed his beer in a couple of pulls. “Come dance with me,” he said. I rolled my eyes at him but joined him anyway. He held me close. The warmth of his body surrounded me. It felt like home. Like the place I belonged.
“You okay?” I whispered in his ear.
His breath touched mine. He said, “Right this moment, I’m great. Having you here in my arms. I told myself not to doubt you, but I honestly didn’t know what would happen with Levi.”
“It’s you. It’s always been you,” I said.
“I know that, but these magical things don’t always care about your heart,” he said, which was true.
“I worry about him now though,” I said.
“Grace, from the moment he met you, he was attached to you. Jeremiah told me how you got in his face from the beginning, so like you, and completely irresistible. It was why he was in the drive when I came by that day, wasn’t it? He will be fine,” Dylan laughed. He pretty much nailed my first meeting with Levi without being there.
“No, I don’t think he will. He is now, but it will get worse. I want him to get his own place,” I said.
“Are you going to be able to handle that?” he asked.
“Sure. Why wouldn’t I?” I asked.
“Because he’s always been here with you,” Dylan replied.
“I’ve been alone a lot longer than with either one of you. I think I can handle it. My only concern is Winnie. She will miss him,” I admitted.
“She won’t understand. Don’t make him leave just because you are afraid,” Dylan said.
“Afraid? Of what?” I asked.
He pressed his forehead to mine. “I love you, Grace Ann Bryant. I’d married you yesterday if you would let me. You are afraid of losing him.”
“Do you think I keep Levi around for my ego?” I asked. “Because that’s not it.”
“No, you feel responsible for him,” he said, which was absolutely true. If anything ever happened to him, including something stupid on my part, I would forever blame myself.
Dylan and I danced in silence for the rest of the song, then he pulled me over
to a darkened corner where we sat and sipped on brown liquor. I watched the crowd as it dwindled. A man in a dark coat came in the door. It was the man from the forest. Dylan tensed up next to me. The man met our eyes and nodded. I started to go to him when Dylan jerked me back into the chair.
“No! Stay!” he said.
“I’m not your damn dog, Dylan Riggs,” I protested.
“For once, please,” he begged. I shut up and rolled my eyes to emphasize my displeasure. Later on, I could deny any bedroom antics he had up his sleeve, which was pretty much the only weapon I had for Mr. Sandy Hair. Even then, he was impossible to resist.
Dylan stood next to him at the bar. Nestor served them both drinks. They spoke quietly to each other. I watched the blue hue swirl around him through my fairy sight. He watched me back. His eyes glowed turquoise in the magical realm. A memory of mine pushed its way to the surface. Those same eyes. I looked at them every day. Every single day. My father’s eyes. His father’s eyes.
I started to stand, and he stiffened. Dylan looked back at me, throwing up his hand for me to stay. Shaking my head, I tried to grasp the memory. My father had so many male children, that I couldn’t place this one, but he was definitely my brother. Nestor watched in a panic as I drew closer to him. Dylan talked urgently to him, but he shook his head. He locked eyes with me, grimacing.
He mouthed the words, “I’m sorry,” then disappeared.
Dylan’s displeasure showed on his face. “You couldn’t just sit there for another minute? We were talking about the sylph and the egg, but you just had to get up.”
“He’s my brother,” I said.
Nestor watched me intently. I looked at him for confirmation, but he turned away from me.
“Grace. Let’s go home,” Dylan said.
“No! Tell me who he is,” I demanded.
“I told you that he would talk to you when he was ready,” Nestor muttered.
“What is there to be ready about? Why do the lot of you think you need to fucking protect me and hide everything from me?” My voice grew louder as I spoke. “I’m tired of being the last person to know everything.”
“Grace, honey. Let’s go home,” Dylan coaxed.
