by Kimbra Swain
“It’s better than brooding about it,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.
“You are ridiculous,” I said as someone tapped on the door.
“Come in,” Levi said.
Dylan opened the door. “Hey, I’m gonna take Finley down to the BBQ place. Want to come?”
“No, I think I should go see Matthew. Perhaps he can get me in contact with the sylph,” I replied.
Dylan scratched his head. “Levi going with you?” he asked.
“Are you?” I asked Levi.
“I’ve got nothing better to do. As long as we don’t run into Kadence,” he said.
“I think she spends most of her time with the boys,” I replied.
“Whore,” Levi muttered.
“Alright. Want me to bring you anything back?” Dylan offered, looking at both of us.
“No, thanks,” I said, standing up to kiss him goodbye.
“I’m good, man,” Levi replied.
Dylan and I walked out to his car together. Finley was excited to go eat at the BBQ place. He had been in town very little but heard people talking about it.
“You okay with Levi going with me?” I asked.
He bent down over my lips and said, “You couldn’t do without me, Grace. I have nothing to worry about with Levi.”
I poked him in the ribs after he kissed me. “Bye,” I replied.
“Bye,” he laughed.
When I walked back into the trailer, Levi already had the keys to the truck in his hand. “You aren’t driving,” I said.
He didn’t hesitate to hand me the keys. No fight. Nothing. Rolling my eyes seemed to be the move of the day. I ignored the keys and grabbed my jacket. “We could take the bike,” he offered.
“Hell no,” I replied. Getting on that Harley was the last thing I wanted to do. There were days I questioned my sanity for buying it. All I did was worry about him when he drove it. We rode on it once together. That was enough for me. “You can drive.”
“Yes!” he fist-pumped like a kid.
As we drove to the house that sat near the church, I watched the town pass by. The trees and flowers bloomed in an array of colors. For a winter fairy, I loved spring. Life crept back into the world after an uncertain winter with varying degrees of coldness. I loved the warmth. I supposed it was because I knew the darkness inside of me strengthened with the cold. The heat of Alabama helped me combat that even if it was just a reminder of something I didn’t want to be. Much like Dylan, I found my comfort and stability in the heat. Spring had arrived, but I craved summer.
We parked in front of the small house with green shutters. Flowers bloomed along the front porch, and a swing rocked lazily with the breeze. Matthew Rayburn, the local reverend, stood behind a screen door at the entry of the home. He smiled when he saw us arrive. Waving us into the house, we entered his comfy, little abode. Levi and I sat on the couch after the normal pleasantries. You know the, how’s your momma and them, kind of thing.
“What brings y’all out to the parsonage? I hope Kadence hasn’t caused any trouble,” he said.
Levi winced at the mention of Kady’s name. It was hard to believe that just a few months ago she actually spent time with us around Christmas decorating Nestor’s bar. Now she was the center of a threesome that would make a porn director giddy. Preacher’s daughters in the south always had reputations. None of them good.
“I’ve only seen her at Nestor’s lately. We haven’t spoken. I’m here to ask you if you know the owner of this,” I said, pulling the egg out of my pocket.
Matthew’s eyes widened as he leaned back in his chair. “A sylph egg. How did you get it?”
“Chris gave it to me. My brother and he were smuggling valuables out of the Otherworld to seal here for the future, and they took the egg. I think they intended to give it to me, but before the exchange was made, the sylph became angry and attacked us at Chris and Henrietta’s house in Neverland,” I said.
“I know the sylph. This is the egg of power given to your father to control the wind, correct?” he asked.
“It is,” I confirmed.
“We have visitors?” a small voice asked from the hallway. A beautiful red-haired woman stepped out of the hallway. For as long as I had known Matthew, he seemed like the settled widower. This woman was stunning. I felt Levi shift when she walked into the room.
Her red hair wasn’t the deep auburn like Riley’s, this was an intense strawberry color enhanced by a dappling of freckles across her nose and cheeks. She was a fairy. Seelie fairy.
“Grace, I’d like you to meet my Robin,” Matthew said.
“Hi, Robin. Nice to meet you,” I said offering her my hand. She stared at me for a moment and shuddered.
“It’s okay, Robin,” Matthew urged.
“You are the Queen,” she said.
“I am, but I require no servitude,” I said.
“Good. Because you won’t get it from me,” she said as her green eyes flared. Looking through my sight, the intense green and gold swirled around her.
“Robin,” Matthew chided.
She spun around on him. “I’m not being impolite. I just have no desire for her protection. It’s not needed. I do not intend to make you my enemy, Gloriana, but I will not serve you.”
“Fair enough,” I replied. Matthew looked green, too. But more like he was about to hurl out of embarrassment. “It’s no problem. How long have you been in Shady Grove?”
“Two years,” she replied.
Her answer surprised me. In two years, I’d never seen this woman unless she changed her glamour from something else to this.
“Wow, it’s strange that I’ve never seen you before,” I said.
“Really? You seem to be pretty oblivious to everything around you,” she countered.
A smile crossed my face. She really didn’t like me, but I found it oddly amusing.
“What is her deal?” Levi asked.
“I’m not sure, but I don’t feel threatened by her. Let her make her snide remarks. I think I actually like her,” I replied.
“Why does that not surprise me?” Levi smirked.
“There have been times that I’ve been blind to the things around me. Some of that was by choice, other times even my closest friends hide things from me,” I replied.
“You know that Levi’s whore is Stephanie’s sister?” she asked.
“Hey!” Levi finally spoke.
I waved him back. Matthew wanted to crawl under the porch and hide with the dogs. “Levi’s ex-girlfriend, Riley, is the daughter of Rhiannon, Queen of the Summer Fairies. Yes, I know who she is.”
“And you let him fuck her?”
I clamped down on Levi’s arm because he flinched toward her. “Easy. I let him make his own decisions,” I replied. “Levi is my servant, but I don’t tell him who to love, like or fuck.”
She pursed her lips and muttered under her breath. “Well,” she said.
“Now, back to the reason we are here. Matthew, could you please arrange a meeting with the sylph? I would like to return the egg to her,” I said.
“Idiot,” Robin muttered.
“What has gotten into you?” Matthew finally asked her.
“She can’t give the egg up. It’s one of the four elements,” Robin explained.
“I was hoping that my gesture would convince her that I was noble enough to possess it,” I said.
“You think that if you give it back to her that she will think you are humble? No, Grace, you take what is yours. She will not respect you for giving it back. It will be an insult to her,” she said.
“She wants it back. So much that she almost took Henrietta’s house down,” I said.
“She will expect you to fight for it,” she said.
“Who are you?” I asked flat out. I was tired of getting unsolicited advice from a stranger. A rude one. She was getting too big for her britches which were some hideous green color.
“I’m nobody, but I know a few things about the woods and t
he beings that live in them,” she said.
“I would hope a Seelie fairy knew things about the woods,” I smarted-off.
“Are you done yet? Because I thought this was our home. You’ve come in here rudely and just expected Matthew to do things for you. He’s not one of your man whores,” Robin spouted.
“Robin, please,” Matthew muttered.
“And furthermore, you are making a gigantic mess of this entire experiment. We are all going to die because you don’t have a fucking clue,” she continued.
“Our home?” I said looking at Matthew.
“Robin and I are married,” Matthew said.
“Oh, okay. That’s new,” I returned.
Levi shifted in his seat. “And I’m not a man whore. I just wish I were,” he mumbled.
“You were plenty enough of a man whore when you turned Kadence into a Jezebel,” she shot at Levi.
“Let’s go,” I said, standing up. Insulting me was one thing, but I drew the line at insulting my bard. Matthew looked pained. He wanted to help, but somewhere the head druid ended up with a Seelie bitch-wife. Levi stood next to me. I felt his body tense as his muscles coiled. He thought I might go after her. Now that I thought about it, I should. Squaring my shoulders, I pointed a red painted nail at her. “I’m going to get a fucking clue. Don’t be where I start.”
Levi put his hands on my waist pulling me toward the door. “Please don’t make me break up a cat fight,” Levi said.
“I thought you’d like a cat fight,” I said.
“Normally, yes. But with you, I know I’d have to answer to Dylan when I got home for letting you go after someone,” he said.
“Someone who deserves it, but you see me walking away,” I said.
“I see you pointing your finger at her, and me dragging your ass out of here,” he said.
I sighed and turned to leave.
“Wow, a queen submits to her bard,” Robin laughed.
Lunging toward her, I felt Levi’s arms clamp down on my waist and haul me back. My arms and legs flailed out toward the laughing fairy.
“No! Come on,” Levi settled his own command over me. It had been a while since he used his gifts on me. My body shuddered in response backing down reluctantly. “You can kill me later.”
Dragging me out to the truck, he finally let go at the passenger door. He opened it for me while I crawled into the cab. I tried to calm myself, but I’d worked myself into a frenzy. As Levi pulled out of the drive, Matthew appeared at the door. He didn’t even wave. He looked plagued like most men do with worrisome wives.
“Does Dylan look like that when I go crazy fairy?” I asked.
Levi chuckled, “Yeah.”
“Shit.”
Levi joined me for the short fairy council meeting at the community center. We sat and talked about this weekend’s plans to celebrate Eostre. There would be a huge egg hunt along with someone who would dress like a bunny. Mr. Santiago suggested we find a Leporidae shifter, but we still had a few humans in town that we didn’t need freaking out about a human bunny. Frankly, it scared me a little. White fur and red beady eyes.
“There will be booths open with baked goods and crafts. We will have a lot of fun carnival games for everyone. It’s going to be great,” Betty Stallworth said.
“I’m looking forward to it,” I replied. “What about you Nestor?”
“It will be fun,” he said.
“As long as that angry sylph doesn’t show up,” Tabitha said like a bad omen.
I shot her a look. She threw her hands up in surrender. “Any other news from the communities?” I asked.
“Neverland is still complaining about Henrietta, but I think it’s calmed down since Chris Purcell isn’t going in and out of the house at all times of the night,” Betty replied.
“Good. I’m hoping it will be an example of how we should be good neighbors no matter the species,” I replied. “If there isn’t anything else, I will see all of you this weekend at the festival.”
“You know if you don’t take care of this sylph problem, then she will show up,” Levi said.
“We will handle it,” I replied.
“You will handle it,” he said.
“You bailing on me now?” I asked.
“No, I just meant that you will have to handle her. I’m sure I’ll be busy protecting innocent bystanders because that’s what I do,” Levi said.
“Well, I suppose the sun comes up to hear you crow, Levi Rearden,” I replied.
“Nah. It comes up to show the world my pretty face,” he smiled.
“Thank the gods for the sun,” Tabitha added. He smiled at her, but it was polite. No lust. No fire.
“Don’t feed his ego,” I said.
“Someone needs to,” she said, as she left the room. She gave one last look at Levi, who promptly turned back to me.
“Don’t even say it,” he said.
“What?”
“Don’t what me. I’m not interested,” he insisted.
My phone rang. “Hello, Darlin’.”
“Gracie, meet us down at the Hot Tin,” he said.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“I might need a ride home,” Dylan slurred.
“Sure,” I replied. “Be there in a min.”
Levi followed me out to the truck. “What’s up?” he asked.
“You will probably have to drive the Camaro home,” I said.
“He’s drunk?” Levi asked. “That’s not like him. He’s been drinking a lot lately.
“He’s with my brother. Who, God bless him, is a noteworthy lush. I’m sure they are having a blast,” I replied.
Levi shrugged, and we drove off to Nestor’s bar.
The jukebox crooned an old country song as Dylan and Finley leaned on each other at the pool table. They didn’t even notice us come in the room. They were both singing an old Irish tune that didn’t match the jukebox, and they were both filthy drunk.
“I’ve never seen him like this,” I said. “The closest was the night we…”
“Yeah. I get it,” Levi said. “It really isn’t like him. Usually, he’s more responsible.”
“My brother is a bad influence,” I replied. “Come on.” I tugged on Levi’s jacket pulling him toward the pool table.
Finally, Dylan caught my eye.
“There she is. My Glory,” he said.
“Oh, hell no,” I replied. “You don’t get to call me that.”
Dylan quirked his smile sideways sauntering toward me, but not very steadily. “All this time I’ve tried to think of a perfect pet name for you. When I heard your brother say it, I knew it was exactly what I wanted,” he said, as his body pressed against me. It was unusually hot. “Here you are, in all of your…”
“Don’t you even,” I grinned. Drunk or not, he was adorable.
He leaned down over my lips, “Glory.”
“Finley, I’m gonna kill you,” I looked around Dylan to my brother. His blue eyes twinkled back at me. It was just really good to see him. He had his long platinum hair pulled back behind his neck. If he was trying to be inconspicuous, it didn’t work. He stood out in the room among all the patrons. Finley never wore a glamour except to hide the ice blue tattoos that lined his arms and neck which matched my silver ones. The women here would love them, but he hid them.
Dylan reclaimed my attention with a soft kiss just under my ear at my neck. Heat rose up from inside me and radiated through my body. “Don’t you want to hear me moan it in your ear as we do a little horizontal tango?” he said as he grabbed my ass to sway us back and forth.
“That’s hardly a tango, Darlin’,” I said.
“I think you should take me home,” he said. “It’s a little early in the afternoon to be this drunk.”
“I agree,” I said, but I knew he needed a release. Things had been tense, and although we hadn’t talked about it, the fact we hadn’t managed to get pregnant was an issue. Dylan was the only Phoenix and the last Thunderbird. He needed a
n heir. It wasn’t the priority now, but perhaps it should be.
“Levi, can you drive my car?” Dylan said handing Levi the keys.
“Yeah, I got it,” Levi smiled. “I’m gonna stay a bit though.”
“Thanks, Dublin.”
Dylan leaned over on me stumbling as we walked. Finley raised his bottle to us as we left. “Have fun, Sis. I like him.”
“I see that,” I replied. “Later, Nestor.” I only noticed my grandfather grinning as we started out the door. I was so transfixed on Dylan’s stupor that I had forgotten to speak to him. He didn’t look offended.
By the time I got Dylan home, he had forgotten moaning anything in my ear and passed out on our bed. I pulled his boots, belt, and jeans off leaving him there in his boxers and a t-shirt. He was the best-looking man I’d ever seen. I loved him to death. Rarely did he ever just let go. He deserved this one.
“You can come home. He passed out. Winnie will be here soon,” I reached out to Levi.
“I think I might have to drive Finley back,” he said.
“Finley can come and go as he pleases like I do. Don’t worry about him. Plus, he’s not drunk. He can’t get drunk. I don’t think,” I said.
“He’s flirting with some girls at the moment,” Levi said.
“Go over there with him. Be his wingman. He will hook you up,” I prodded.
“I’ll be home soon.”
Winnie arrived home on the bus. She was excited about the upcoming Eostre festival. Some of the children at school were talking about it.
“It’s like Easter, right?” she asked.
“It’s how Easter got started,” I replied.
“Bramble and Briar can’t go, can they?” she asked.
“No, honey, they can’t,” I replied. “Do you have homework?”
“No, ma’am. I’m going to play with Bramble,” she said.
“I’ll call you when dinner is ready,” I replied.
She skipped off toward her bedroom when Levi came in. She hopped up into his arms, squealing as he tickled her. “Stop, stop, stop,” she laughed.
I heard Dylan moan in the other room. Winnie stopped laughing. “Is Daddy sick?”
“No, he just had some fun with Uncle Finley. We should be quiet and let him rest,” I said.
