by Jarica James
Maybe if I can put up a glamour again, I won’t be so noticeable.
At this point I don’t even care about the ears being seen, it’s more the silvery, white hair and weird skin that would draw attention. They haven’t exactly told me what powers I might have, but maybe I can do something about all this? Figuring it’s worth a shot, I go to the mirror in the living room and focus on changing my appearance.
My face is contorted into a mixture of frustration and a wonky grimace when the door opens, exposing my crazy to anyone walking in. Allwyn steps in with Jacob trailing behind him. They both stop and I glance over at his reflection in the mirror. He looks at me like I am the most intriguing puzzle he’s ever seen. Jacob however, is snorting because he’s laughing so hard.
“Shut up, I was trying to do a glamour," I shoot Jacob my best attempt at a glare, but how do you really glare at someone who’s snorting openly? Allwyn even cracks a small smile.
“Sorry, sorry," Jacob wipes his tears and tries to compose himself. “We brought food, does that help?”
“Yes!” I pump my fist into the air and practically bounce my way over to the bag in Jacob’s outstretched hand. Allwyn’s eyebrows shoot up as he steps out of my way. I’m a woman on a mission when food’s involved.
We all settle into chairs around the kitchen table and I reach into the bag and pull out two burgers, two fries, and a salad. I immediately slide the salad to Allwyn. I know Jacob wouldn’t have ordered something that healthy for either of us. He’s the king of drinking protein shakes with kale for breakfast, and eating junk the rest of the day.
“How did you know it wasn’t mine?” Jacob asks while feigning offense. I roll my eyes in response and unwrap my burger. Allwyn eyes our food like we’re cannibals snacking on an arm. I cock an eyebrow and take an exhagerated bite to torture him. Instead of the taste of cheese and meat, a horrible taste explodes in my mouth. Nausea rolls through me and it takes everything I have not to puke. I spit my bite out into my napkin and stare accusingly at my lunch. What the heck, I love burgers. Jacob eyes me and takes a tentative bite of his, relaxing and taking a second bite after it apparently tastes fine.
“Bells, it tastes fine. What’s wrong with it?” He questions his bite of food.
“I wondered if you’d be able to tolerate it," Allwyn remarks and starts in on his salad, as if proving his food is superior.
“Tolerate what?” I bite out. Now I’m hangry, and definitely not in the mood for his evasive riddles.
“Meat. Fae can’t eat the meat here,” he states it like it’s a fact I should have known, yet I’m trying not to panic.
“I thought River just didn’t like harming animals or something," I mumble and push my burger towards Jacob, who looks way too happy to get my leftovers. Jerk.
“No,” is the only explanation he offers. Jacob and I raise an eyebrow at each other. Allwyn is so hot and cold with his personality, that I find him intriguing and infuriating. Some moments he’s so formal and sweet, then the next it’s as if I’m a petulant child sent here to personally bother him.
“I’ll just go get something else,” I say, standing up. It’s only when they both protest that I realize I can’t just leave anymore. “So am I stuck indoors for the rest of my life, or what? Do you glamour your skin here?” I refuse to be a hermit, there has to be a solution to this.
“I don’t glamour my skin.” Allwyn looks appalled by the idea. He’s such a drama queen, maybe even surpassing Jacob.
“Calm down killer. There’s no way I can get around like this.” I hold my hand close to his face in case he forgot how shiny it is. “See, shimmery!”
“It’s not shimmering, dork," Jacob laughs. “It just has a pearly sheen to it.” Okay, he has a way better word for describing it, but my point still stands. “You aren’t going to go outside and refract light like a walking glitter bomb.”
“Are you sure? Because either way, this isn’t normal. Were my parents pearl-skinned too?” I direct that question to Allwyn, who looks at us like we’ve lost our minds. He wouldn’t be the first to get annoyed by our back and forth. “Don’t judge me, I just turned from human to fae and got shot all in one go.”
“No, your mother had a light golden tone like mine. Your father was of Winter, so he was very pale. You’re the only fae I’ve ever seen with the ‘pearl’ skin. It’s fitting for a hybrid queen,” he explains with a slight tilt of his head. Allwyn always talks in such an ancient way. Maybe that’s the way all fae spoke back in Faerie and most have lost it thanks to being stranded on Earth. Before I can say anything, he excuses himself, most likely to avoid more questions.
Now that we’re alone I notice Jacob is spaced out, his lips turned into a frown. In all the chaos I forgot to check in on him and get the details about Sam. Before I force my friend to talk, I run to the fridge and grab one of the prepackaged salads Allwyn had kept there. When I sit down with it and take a bite, I wrinkle my nose. I’d expected it to taste different, but it’s not any more satisfying than they usually are. I definitely still wish I could eat my burger.
“Alright, spill Jacob. What happened?” I ask in a serious voice, he can’t avoid the topic any longer, and I need to talk about something that doesn’t have to do with me being a supposed queen.
“My place was the closest, so we brought you here. Taking you to a hospital would have been a bad idea because of your changes. Your appearance was literally blinking back and forth at the time. The gunshot must have broken the final pieces of your bindings or spell, whatever it is. So we came in and Sam was working on his laptop. We clearly freaked him out, but he didn’t even ask if I was hurt. Not like I wasn’t covered in your blood or anything,” he adds sarcastically. “He took one look at all of the fae and you passed out in Allwyn’s arms, and said he couldn’t do this anymore. He said I was mixed up in things that he didn’t want to be a part of. I explained that you were still you, just fae now, but he didn’t care. Then he proceeded to tell me that I was too much drama. He literally packed all of his stuff, loaded his car, and drove away without looking back once. No tears. No emotion.” He looks crushed, understandably so. He loved Sam.
“I’m so sorry. I can’t believe he just left like that. I know he’d been distant, but leaving in a crisis just proves that he was looking for a way out. You deserved better than that.” I know whatever I say isn’t going to help. And I’m so fucking mad at Sam. He broke my best friend’s heart in the worst way, and that’s unforgivable.
“Can we drown our sorrows in ice cream and movies? I need a good comedy,” he whines dramatically.
“I think that sounds like a brilliant plan, my friend.” I start to reach for my jacket and wallet when I realize I can’t go get us what we need. “Damnit, I can’t go to the store. Worst best friend ever, right here.” My heart sinks. He took care of me and I can’t even go get him some freaking ice cream.
“I’ll go," Allwyn offers. I don’t even think, I just react... throwing myself at Allwyn, crushing him in a bear hug. Whoops.
Not wanting to make it more weird, I pull away and quickly write down a list of what to get and hand him some cash.
“You know the worst part of all this?” Jacob is clearly still lost in thought and didn’t notice my random hugging or Allwyn’s gallant rescue.
“What, sweetie?” I asked quietly. He looks at me with his big, sad eyes and my heart splinters. Seeing him so depressed is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to witness. Even his grayish blue eyes look a dull gray now.
“I’m not as heartbroken as I should be. I’m sad at what we lost, but it doesn’t feel any different without him here. He’d been pulling away and I watched it happen. What does that say about me?” He sounds disgusted with himself, and we aren’t going down that road. This is on Sam.
“That doesn’t make you anything. You noticed, and you tried babe. You can’t fix something that was one sided. You can’t turn the blame on yourself," I encourage as I pull him into another hug.
“Alri
ght, tonight we wallow. Tomorrow is a new day and we need to figure out how to turn you from an Earth girl in a fae disguise, into a regal hybrid queen. Nothing big,” he declares, like it’s a done deal. The fact he watched me change before his eyes and still wants to be here is everything.
“I love you Jacob. You didn’t even bat an eye at me being a living disco ball. You embraced it and are helping me figure it out. That says so much about you, don’t ever doubt how much you care about someone. You put everything you are into those you love," I remind him in a firm tone. Jacob has the biggest heart, he just forgets sometimes.
“I love you too, and that’s exactly why. You didn’t turn into a different person because of all of this. Well you did physically, but that isn’t what I mean,” he jokes. I laugh and drag him over to the couch. Now that the heavy shit is out of the way, we spend the next few minutes trying to find something to watch and I try to continue ignoring that awful tugging feeling that never really goes away.
“Hurry up, Queenie!” Jacob yells from the couch. I’m pulling a batch of brownies out of the oven and finishing cooking a ludicrous combination of his favorite foods.
“I’m coming, Prince Jacob!” I bellow back. I start lining up the food on the breakfast bar and pull out ice cold champagne and beer. We’re fancy like that.
“Oh! I love that title!” he announces, turning the corner to join me in the kitchen. He looks around at everything I’ve laid out and his eyes go wide. “You really are the best friend ever,"
“Whoa," Andras looks overwhelmed at the amount of food I prepared. “Are we expecting an army?”
“No, just Gwen and River. They had to stop for something first," I reply as I set aside the shrimp I made for his favorite tacos.
“Andras, do you eat seafood, or does that count as meat for fae?” I ask, the pout strong in my voice.
“We eat certain meats from Faerie, but here we can’t tolerate any meat, including seafood.” He looks sorry to be breaking the news.
“I couldn’t even swallow my first bite, that can’t be normal," I argue. It hadn’t even had a chance to make me sick.
“That probably has more to do with all of your power being released. A strong intuition was a royal trait of the Spring Court. We’re weaker here, so I’m impressed by how much power you do have. Even if you were born here, that’s an unheard of amount. That might be why hybrids were unheard of,” he muses. At least Andras isn’t afraid to explain things, no riddles or cryptic moments. But I’m mostly just happy he isn’t bowing down to me anymore. That was too weird to handle.
“Is it done now?” Jacob asks, already pulling a plate free.
“Yours is, prince. Dig in. I’m going to finish up these black beans. Then I’m going to eat them and pretend it’s meat," I grumble. Jacob has the decency to give me a sympathetic look that lasts all of half a second, before loading shrimp onto his tortillas. His sympathy’s clearly on point.
“We have the rest of the supplies!” Gwen announces as she walks into the kitchen with River trailing behind her. She hands over her bag, which has orange juice inside. I add it to the counter, next to the champagne, quickly making up a few mimosas. They’re another Jacob specialty.
“Alright, it’s done! Time to eat, guys!” I announce as I bring over the black beans for the vegetarians.
I wait until everyone makes their plates before piling food on my own. I’m about to join the table when Gwen groans. I looked over and she has her eyes closed in pure happiness.
“This is the best macaroni and cheese I’ve ever tasted,” she proclaims as she opens her eyes. “We’ve only had the boxed kind.
“Girl, Queenie is the best cook I know," Jacob announces proudly. “She knows the way to my heart.” He gives me a fake dreamy look that has me laughing. I’ll take his cheesy jokes over sad Jacob, any day.
“Thank you for cooking for us, Arabella," Allwyn announces formally, with a slight bow of his head. At least he didn’t call me his queen this time. Progress is progress.
“You’re welcome. This is just what we do when one of us is sad. We feed them until they’re too full to function. Then we snuggle them on the couch with a good movie.” I laugh at Allwyn and Gwen’s wary looks. Allwyn especially doesn’t seem like the cuddle on the couch type.
“How are you feeling, Arabella, is the magic overwhelming?” Andras asks.
“I’m okay, the weird tug in my stomach won’t stop, but other than that I feel pretty much the same.” I shrug it off, taking another bite of cheesy goodness.
“The healer couldn’t explain the tugging. Maybe it’s your magic settling into your body?” Gwen suggests. Now she’s studying me with the same intensity that Allwyn does, like she knows more than she’s saying.
“Maybe? I wish it would stop though. I can ignore it if I’m busy, but it’s always there," I reply.
“If it doesn’t stop soon we can call the healer back in,” River offers, giving me a sympathetic wince. “It sounds annoying.”
“It is,” I sigh. We all go back to picking at the food, but it’s half-hearted now.
“Okay, is everyone done? It’s movie time," Jacob announces, heading into the living room.
“I’ll be right in, start without me," I call after him, finishing the last few bites. The others get up to join Jacob and I started in on the mess. After collecting all of the plates and throwing away what I don’t need to put in the fridge, I start on the dishes. I’m halfway done when I hear a throat clear behind me. It's sharp in the quiet and I jump, turning to find Allwyn standing there.
He levels me with a serious look. “Sorry, my queen. I didn’t realize you were here working. You’re a queen, why are you doing servants' work?” Allwyn’s voice is soft, but I can’t help but snort.
“Allwyn, I’m the supposed queen of a dead land. I don’t have a servant, and I certainly don’t have a castle. Even if I did, it wouldn’t change anything. I’ve taken care of myself for a long time, and I will continue to do so. I’ll never be afraid to get my hands dirty. Doesn’t that make me a better queen, that I understand what needs to be done?” I calmly explain, trying to appeal to what he knows. A look of respect flashes across his face and he nods.
“May I help?” He’s more relaxed now, and apparently he’s getting more comfortable around me. It gives his voice a nice husky quality. Unable to find words, I just nod and he picks up a dish towel. We fall into a system of me washing and him drying, setting them aside to be put away. We make quick work of the mess and I give him a shy smile before we make our way back to the living room. It’s almost like something unspoken passes between us, a tentative friendship that he wasn’t open to before this.
The first thing I notice when we walk back into the living room is Andras sneaking glances at Jacob. I internally squeal before sitting down at Jacob’s feet. He’s probably not ready yet, but damn they’d be adorable.
“Thanks, Queenie," Jacob whispers and pats my head. I turn and give him a smile, before settling in to watch the movie. The simple moments like this are what’s keeping me grounded and I soak in every moment I can.
Chapter 8
The house is empty when I wake up again. I know Jacob’s in class, a fact I’m trying hard not to think about, and everyone else probably went back to their normal lives. First things first, I send my professors an email with another sick excuse, it just says that I have a bad case of the flu. Though honestly I am not sure what to do about my classes, I can’t exactly walk in like nothing happened. My hair’s a different color and I look like a completely different person. They wouldn’t recognize me.
The hardest part is that I also had to quit Deb’s which means that I won’t have an apartment much longer. My job was paying for it, and now I’ll have to find a new job as one of the fae. That will be the biggest challenge yet, no one gives us a chance. But I can’t hide here forever.
After a few pity party moments, I decide that enough is enough and I’m ready to go figure my life out, which requires ge
tting ready and leaving this apartment. Time to face the world, sparkly fae or not.
As I step outside into the sunlight, I’m more than a little relieved that it just looks like I use a shimmery lotion or something, no dramatic sparkles, my skin just looks luminous. It isn’t so off the wall that I have to wear a grim reaper cloak so I won’t be noticed. Thank god for that.
I’m not used to people staring at me constantly, but today they are. The townies openly gawk and yell vile names at me. The change from life before to now is drastic, but it’s more the fact that this is all the fae have known of us that makes me sick.
Keeping my head held high, I walk down the block and almost make it in front of Deb’s diner when I see the group of the same militia that I accidently used my powers on. They’re pacing up and down the sidewalk. Now there’s no way for me to get past them on my own, even with my pepper spray.
Turning toward campus, I head that way instead. I’ll eventually have to clear out my apartment, but I’ll need help with that… and a car.
Each step closer to the university has the tugging in my stomach increasing. It’s almost to the point I can’t stand it anymore. The odd part about it is that when I face the forest surrounding the ivy covered buildings, it gets worse. When i get to the edge of the trees, I stop for a second and gaze in, but nothing seems out of the ordinary.
River: Allwyn wants to guard you and is panicking because you aren’t home. Where are you?
Me: Campus, at the edge of the forest. My stomach is acting up again and it feels worse here. I think it’s trying to tell me something.
River: Don’t do anything or move. Allwyn is coming.
Me: Tell him to avoid the mob in front of Deb’s.
Knowing Allwyn will flip if I go in alone, I pace at the edge of the forest and try to make my stomach ease up with sheer force of will. It almost feels like the pull Allwyn and the others described to us when they got here. I’d forgotten about it in all the craziness. I’m so deep in thought and discomfort that I don’t hear Allwyn approach.
