I shook my head, sadly. Her eyes widened. “What happened to me?” she blurted out, looking down at herself.
In her excitement, her iridescent wings fluttered into a blur, lifting her feet off the ground. She clutched at my arm, but didn’t scream. Instead she hissed in pure fury. “What. The. Hell. Did you do?”
“Easy, Bella.” I put my hand over hers where it was clamped onto my arm. “This wasn’t me. When you come Underhill, your fairy blood comes to the forefront, and you take fairy form.”
“Who is in charge of that idiotic idea?” She demanded indignantly and I suppressed a smile, she wasn’t entirely being rational.
“I’m fairly sure that’s a law of Underhill that can’t be changed, it’s like a law of physics in the plane above.”
She quivered with frustration, rising another few inches above the ground. “Bella. Look around.”
She wasn’t going to be distracted. “You knew. You knew this was going to happen, and you didn’t warn me. You... you...” She sputtered to a halt in sheer fury at my neglect to tell her about her upcoming transformation.
“Was afraid you wouldn’t agree to cross over, yeah.”
She slapped me. I didn’t see it coming, but I had to agree I had it coming. She didn’t know her own strength yet, so I could feel that she had split my lip as she let go of me and flew across the field we were standing in. She shouted over her shoulder.
“Don’t you dare follow me!”
I started to go after her, and then swiped blood from my chin. She’d really gotten me. And I was tired from the toxic magic. She would come back when she had gotten over her mad, and had a chance to look around her. I knew Bella. She wouldn’t be able to resist the beauty of this wild, forgotten corner of Underhill.
I, however, was in no mood for it. I needed more sleep, and time to purge the poison out of me, so I’d be able to use magic at Court when needed. And I really didn’t want to lie down in a field and sleep. That was just begging for trouble. What I really needed was for Bella to get her sparkly new fairy self back here, so I could get us to somewhere safe.
I walked past the door to the edge of the field and found a tree to lean against. I could see anything coming across the field, and with the tangled underbrush behind me, I could hear anything coming in that direction. I was hungry, and cranky. I half-hoped something would come out of the woods, so I could kill it messily and relieve some of the frustration.
Out of the corner of my eye I caught a flicker of movement. It was Bella, walking slowly toward me. She was picking a flower every so often, and I waited to speak to her until she was right in front of me. We spoke at the same time.
“Lom, I’m...”
“Sorry I didn’t...”
I broke off, and she stopped and smiled at me. Her eyes were suspiciously damp, but if she had been crying it had stopped. She held out the flowers to me. “I am so sorry I hit you. That was uncalled-for, and I was being unreasonable. Forgive me?”
I snorted, and took the flowers. Talk about role reversal. “I’m sorry I didn’t warn you. There’s nothing to forgive, I earned that.”
“I won’t do it again.” She said earnestly.
“Yes, you will, but in training, next time, and I will have my guard up. I still owe you lessons, Princess.”
She laughed. “Deal. Now... where to?”
“Home. My home, and some food, and rest, and talk, not necessarily in that order.”
She looked around the empty field and up at the unnaturally bright blue sky overhead. “How do we get there?”
“You’re going to take us there. I can’t use that much magic right now.”
“But I don’t... Oh, the library. Going to have to get used to that.” Her eyes unfocused a little. “Got it. Ready?” She held out her hand, and I crooked my elbow so she could slip it under my arm.
She held up one hand and a slender crystalline wand appeared. I laughed. She didn’t actually need one, but many fairies affected them while casting spells, or words, or even sparkly dust, and she had been using Alger’s library. Her wand was prettier than his gnarled root, but it was the same school of thought. She smiled at me, flicked it, and a bubble of light formed around us both. When she collapsed the bubble, we were facing my front door.
“Neatly done. Now... can you Look while I check to see if anyone has tried to get in?”
Bella closed her eyes, and I bent to look at the keyhole. It wasn’t keyed for a metal key like a human’s door, but the spells in my warding would have indications if someone had tried to force their way in. It was dark and cool to the touch. She opened her eyes and blinked rapidly. She was getting better at that transition.
“I see... a lot. Not sure what all of it is, and the library is so full of information it’s overwhelming. But I don’t think I see anything harmful? Anyway, it’s all very peaceful, nothing flaring, or moving very fast.”
“That’s about right. Not all baddies will have ugly color magical signals, nor will they flare, since you can will your magic to cloak. But the motion would indicate an ambush. I don’t think we were expected here. Let’s go in, and I’ll tell you why.”
I touched the door, and it swung open. “After you, Princess.”
She stepped into my hallway and stopped. I closed the door behind her and let her take it in. I’ve had a long time to put my home in order, and I’m rather proud of it. It’s not very big, but it doesn’t need to be, and I’m not home very often, either. I looked around, seeing it through her eyes for a moment.
The walls are lined with bookshelves and windows. In one corner, a fireplace, cold and empty at the moment. Unobtrusive doors lead to the other two rooms on this floor, and a spiral staircase with wrought iron railings of leaves and vines twines around a central post into the upper level. There are six sides to the room, and windows on four of them, each one looking into a different season, something I had expended a great deal of magical effort on warping Underhill to create. The only windows that would open were the french doors on the summer side. Bella turned in place, trying to take it all in.
“Do you like it?” I asked softly. It was suddenly important to me that she did.
“It’s amazing. This is your home? I’m embarrassed about my cabin, now.”
“I had a lot of time to work on this while I was ill. Your home is every bit as much a home, maybe more, since I’m not here very often any longer.”
“I didn’t expect this.”
I went to the kitchen door with her at my heels. I needed food, and to sit. “What did you expect, a bachelor pad?” I teased her as we walked into the warm room. There was another fireplace, this one lit and an armchair to one side that I folded into gratefully. She looked around, again caught up in the new place. My kitchen was half the size of my great room, but I intended it to be a dining area, sitting place, and the heart of the home. I enjoyed cooking, and guests at my house knew they would likely be sitting here, at the table, and usually helping if they had been more than once. I didn’t entertain often, and it was only ever friends or family.
More to the point at the moment, my housekeeper Ellie loved to cook and entertain, and was always asking me to bring people home. She had gotten the message I’d sent while waiting for Bella to come back from her snit, and was ready for us. She was shy, and would likely not make an appearance while Bella was a stranger, though.
“Ellie?”
Bella looked at me oddly, no doubt wondering if I had finally slipped round the bend with pain and illness. I smiled reassuringly at her, an utter failure, I realized when she raised an eyebrow in disbelief and started toward me.
“I’m ok,” I assured her. She bent over me anyway and laid the back of her hand on my forehead.
“You are burning up.” She told me dryly. “You need bed, and rest.”
I fended her off. “I have a naturally hot disposition.” I raised my voice. “Ellie! Dammit woman this is no time...” I lost steam and my voice trailed off. Maybe Bella was right.
Ellie stepped out from behind my chair, virtually appearing by my elbow, and Bella jumped. To her credit, she didn’t shriek. Ellie’s face wasn’t beautiful, she looked like something badly carved out of wood, but she had a sweet soul.
She looked at me and clucked. “Overdid the magic, eh?”
Her voice was as rough as her appearance.
“Ellie, this is Bella. Lavendar’s granddaughter. She’ll be staying with us until I present her at Court, and I’d appreciate it if news I’m home and she is here didn’t get any further than these walls.”
She sniffed. Gossip was bread and butter to her, and I took advantage of that on occasion. But she was reliable.
“Welcome, young lady. Can you help me get him to bed? Why he insists on stairs...” She grumbled as she grabbed one arm. Bella more gently took the other, and they both ignored my protests that I could do this myself, thank you.
Chapter 14 - Pixie Monster Hunter
I awakened in my own bed, a bowl of soup gently steaming on a tray beside the table. My nose twitched. Ellie knew what I needed. I swung my legs over the edge, rubbed my eyes, and froze. I’d committed a grievous tactical error. I had left Bella and Ellie to talk alone, without telling Ellie what she wasn’t to say. Two women talking about their man was always a dangerous thing. This was bad.
I stood up, swayed, and sat back down again. It would have to wait until I had eaten and put clothes on. I hoped Ellie had been the one to undress me, at least. She had been my nurse before. The soup beckoned me, literally, with a finger of steam. I sighed, and obeyed the hidden Ellie’s dictate. When the bowl was finished, I set it down and it vanished with a tiny pop. In it’s place was a plate of sandwiches and one of cookies. I felt the corner of my mouth crook up.
“You’ll make me fat.” I told the empty room. There was no response, and I ate them all, anyway. I needed the energy.
Belly filled, I contemplated clothes and the stairs. I could probably manage, but the damage was likely already done. I lay back on the bed and fell asleep again. I needed my strength to deal with an angry Bella again.
When I woke up the second time, I could feel that the toxins were gone. Well, as low as they were going to get. It was like an ache that never quite went away, but most of the time I could ignore it, at least until the levels rose. I didn’t bounce out of bed, but I could move freely as I got freshened up and dressed. I wondered what time it was.
Time doesn’t flow in fairy lands like it does in the human world. It passes, yes, but as with my windows on the different seasons, it can be manipulated. I’ve wondered if that accounts for the temporal slips. Something like earthquakes on fault lines, where a sudden release of built-up tension causes a rapid shift. Not every being could manipulate the fabric of Underhill. I’d had some help with my house. Necessary, since I couldn’t use much magic myself. When we had made the house, I thought I’d spend the rest of my life holed up in it, too sick to leave. Otherwise I probably would have that little bachelor flat Bella had so obviously expected me to have.
And now I needed to gird up my loins and go face the music, with mixed metaphors and all. I left my bedroom and could see that there were lights on in the kitchen below me, the light streaming out into the dark great room like a golden invitation. Across the landing from me, the guest room door was closed and dark, which I took to mean that Bella was in the kitchen.
I could hear their voices when I reached the open door, Bella’s soprano a counterpoint to Ellie’s wooden baritone. I paused for a moment, wondering what they were talking about, but they felt silent, and then Bella called.
“You can come in. Ellie says you are out there, and that you need to eat.”
I felt like a little boy caught eavesdropping.
“I was sure you would be furious with me.” I told her as I walked into the big room.
She was sitting at the kitchen table with Ellie, steaming mugs of something in front of both of them, a plate of cookies, obviously much diminished, off to one side. Bella blinked in surprise. “I got over that. It’s not your fault I’m a fairy, after all. I mean, yes, you didn’t tell me I’d turn into...” She looked down at herself in dismay.
“A pretty, fluttery creature?”
She glared at me, and I raised both hands in a gesture of surrender. “I’m trying to make the point that you haven’t changed in any way except the physical, and even that has perks you don’t know about yet. And one you already used.”
“What? Flying? It was pretty cool.” She craned her head around to look at the tip of her wing.
I shook my head. “No, you have a lot more strength for your size than you realize.” I fingered my still swollen lip gingerly.
“Oh!” She got up and came over to me, reaching up to take my face in both hands. She turned it a little to one side so she could see the damage she had done better. I stood still and tried to ignore that she was touching me with warm fingers and smelled so good up close... Mercifully, she let go and stepped back. I made tracks for the table and a safe sitting position.
“I did hurt you, I am sorry.” She came and sat down, a rueful tone in her voice. “You’re right, I don’t know my own strength yet.”
“You’ll learn. We still have lessons to do.”
I turned and spoke to Ellie. “Thank you for taking care of her.”
The wood elf nodded. “”Twas no trouble.” She looked at Bella approvingly. “She’s a handy being to have around.”
Bella just smiled. I wondered what that was about, but didn’t dare ask. “How long was I asleep?”
“Couple ‘o days.” She informed me calmly. I was glad I was sitting down.
“Why did you let me sleep that long?” My voice went up in volume, and she frowned at me.
“Cos you needed it. Still need more, sounds like.”
Bella cut in. “I told her about what you had done. She said you needed to sleep until you were ready to get up. Are you hungry?”
That sidetracked me. My stomach growled. “Very. How long since I ate?” The sandwiches and cookies seemed rather distant now.
Ellie got up and went for food. Bella answered. “Yesterday. Ellie told me you’d been awake but not for long. How are you feeling?”
“Hungry, stiff, and sore, but the toxin level is minimal. I’ll be back to myself in a day or so.”
“And then court?” She sounded nervous, and I couldn’t blame her. I wasn’t looking forward to that, either. “You said they weren’t looking for us here, at your house. What did you mean?”
“Not court, until you are ready. Because you are the target. They, whoever they are, didn’t know it was me sent to escort you to Court.”
“Why would you make a difference? No offense...”
“They sent a troll, a roc, and ogres. Singly. If they had known who was escorting you, there would have been a pitched battle.”
Ellie slid a big plate of eggs, toast, and bacon under my nose. I started eating as fast as I could get it in.
Bella laughed, I wasn’t sure if at my boast, or the way I was eating. “You aren’t modest at all, are you?”
“I’m now wondering...” I started after a swallow, “why the Court sent me after you. What’s special about you, Princess?”
She looked startled. “I’m not special at all. I didn’t even know about...” she gestured, and I guessed she meant Underhill, and all of fairy land. “Until after my mother’s death.”
“I thought you grew up on stories of it?”
She shook her head. “Grandma Lavendar raised me. Mom was never quite there, and I was only eleven when they were killed.”
“I’m sorry.” I was sincere. My mother might make me furious at times, but I loved her and would miss her if she were gone. I didn’t really remember my father.
“Why you?”
I sighed, I had been putting this off long enough. She wasn’t going to let it go, this time.
“I’m a bounty hunter.”
She blinked. “A what, now?�
��
“The Court sends me after rogue magic users. So if there is a being of the Folke, or even a human, running loose on the Human plane, they want me to collect them, bring them Underhill for punishment, or simply eliminate the problem. Rarely, I work Underhill, but for that, they usually use the Hunt. The Hunt is too... disruptive, to send into human realms. I’m a lot more discreet.” Most of the time, anyway.
“And for that, they pay you. You’re the only one?”
I nodded. “There are few who are willing to leave Underhill, these days, except the rogues. And I have a certain talent for it.”
“I can see that, after what we have been through.” She looked thoughtful. “So that is why I got the shakes after the troll, and you didn’t.”
“What about the ogre?” I asked her, curious. I had been out of it, and hadn’t noticed.
“Oh, yes. You were asleep, but I had to stop for a while, I couldn’t keep driving. That’s when I got the T-shirt for you.”
I nodded. I’d wondered about it, I had torn my shirt up when I used my wings, but had awakened in a new shirt. “And since then?”
She looked uncomfortable. “I haven’t been sleeping a lot.”
I raised an eyebrow at her. “Nightmares?”
She nodded. “I’ve hunted all my life, trapped, fished... but that troll, he was driving a car. And he spoke.”
Now it was my turn to be startled. “He spoke?”
“Yeah. Didn’t I tell you?”
“No. Trolls don’t talk much, so I would have remembered. But it’s been a long few days of running and hiding. Do you remember what he said?”
“He asked me where Lavendar was.”
“What did you say?”
“Well, I couldn’t talk.” She mimed hands around her throat and made a face. “I don’t think he would have liked to hear that she’s dead.”
I leaned back in my chair, my belly full of food and my mind working at top speed. Why would they think Lavendar was alive, and what did this have to do with Bella?
Pixie Noir (Pixie for Hire Book 1) Page 12
