by Jen Talty
“I can’t be sure, but he sounds like a boy.”
“So, now you’re talking to it? Why didn’t you tell me? Coral. You can’t keep shit like this from me. Not if we’re going to banish this thing.”
“It just happened in the last ten minutes.”
Drew opened his mouth, but she lifted her other hand, covering the sparks with a blanket of blue dust.
“He doesn’t want to be separated from me.”
“Well, that’s just too fucking bad, because you belong to me,” Drew ground out before turning on his heels. He left the bedroom, slamming the door shut.
“Well, hello, brother,” Nico said, standing in the family room. “That sounded like an interesting fight.”
“I’ll say.” Isadore moved past her husband.
“She’s in there,” Drew said, falling back on the sofa. “Whatever is inside her doesn’t want to leave; she now says she’s spoken to him and currently her hand is spitting fire while her other one keeps putting it out. God, I need a drink.”
“You boys bond over a beer, I’m going to go talk to my sister,” Isadore said, disappearing into the bedroom.
“You okay?” Nico pulled two longnecks from the fridge and handed one to Drew.
He took a slow draw, but it soured his belly even more. “Not really. She’s gone from Little-Miss-Happy, to acting as if she hates me, to flirting with me, to throwing fireballs at me.”
“You look like you survived.” Nico sat on the chair across from the sofa, resting his feet on the coffee table.
“And then I went and kissed her.”
Nico laughed.
“I don’t see why that’s funny.”
“She’s your fated. It’s normal.” Nico arched a brow. “Feel the pull yet?”
“I feel something, but it’s not anything like what any other wolf has described and what is worse, I can tell whatever is inside her doesn’t want me around. It’s like when I get close, he pushes me back somehow.”
“Cheryl said she felt a presence, and that it was like the being was trying to tell her to go away. I don’t want you.”
“The guy living inside her has an agenda, but have no idea what it really is, but I don’t think it’s about survival.”
“Guy?”
“Oh. Yeah. Coral just informed me she communicated with him. Said he was a boy or something. I’m not going to last three days in this cabin with her.”
“You don’t have a choice. Hopefully Cheryl will find something in all the artwork that was found from the Royal Fairy castle.”
Drew nodded. “I want to feel something. I really do.”
“That’s better than not wanting to know your mate was sent to kill you.”
“Well, yours didn’t burn you.”
“True.” Nico leaned forward. “It will work out. I know it will.”
Nico had to say that for the sake of his unborn children. If it didn’t, his life would become a living hell, and no way would Drew let that happen.
Chapter 5
Coral sat crisscrossed on Drew’s bed, fluffing the pillows, making room for her sister.
“Want to tell me what’s going on?” Isadore asked, laying on her side with a hand on her growing belly, rubbing it gently.
Then it bounced.
“That’s got to feel really weird.” Coral wanted to touch and feel the babies move, but she feared hot dust would fly from her fingers, hurting the children.
“Weird isn’t the right word. What’s shocking is that I’m actually enjoying being pregnant and looking forward to being a mother. Imagine that? Me? A mom.” Isadore shook her head as she adjusted her ponytail with her free hand. “Never thought I’d see that day.”
She’d always been a tomboy, which is why, when they thought they were witches, her being a warrior made perfect sense. But since being on the farm, Isadore had softened some. Her facial features weren’t so hard and tight. Though, Coral wished Isadore would stop wearing black eyeliner. It made her look less feminine, and she really was beautiful with her dark hair and muscular frame.
And Coral had always liked gazing into her sister’s warm and caring eyes.
“You always took care of me, so you’ll be a great mom.”
“I didn’t do a very good job of protecting you.” Isadore ran her fingers through Coral’s blond waves. “I might have stopped Dad from beating you, but I should have known that something was wrong. You weren’t like other people. You were happy at the worst times of our lives and I never understood that. You’ve changed so much since being here, and I can’t figure out if it’s you getting stronger and pushing this being out yourself, or it’s the being and not that I haven’t loved you all my life, but I think this you, not the little girl who giggled at everything.”
Coral tilted her head. The one thing she knew for sure was that what she believed had been her reality had been nothing but a fake cloud of happiness.
But had she really ever been that happy?
“Drew kissed me,” she blurted out.
“That’s a good sign.” Isadore smiled wide. Did you like it?”
Coral touched her lips. “Oh yeah, but the boy inside me didn’t. It frightened him.”
“How do you know?” Isadore asked, her fingers still stroking Coral’s hair. When they’d been kids, Isadore would always brush Coral’s hair. They didn’t talk much because while Isadore knew that Coral didn’t believe that all fairies should be destroyed, like the witch coven that had raised them, Coral also didn’t let anyone know how she felt.
But now she realized, that hadn’t been her.
Or had it been her and the creature?
“Since the twins were born, it’s like there is a raging battle growing inside me.”
“Like a clash over control?”
“No. It’s not that.” Coral turned her head, catching her sister’s gaze. “I’ve only started to feel this way in the last few hours, and every minute something is different. It’s like for the first eighteen years of my life, this boy, whoever he is, has been controlling me. Or maybe helping you protect me and now he’s just all of a sudden moved from the forefront to a little corner in my soul.”
Isadore sat up, pulling Coral with her. “Have you told this to Drew?”
“Some. It’s just that it’s all coming to me now and it’s hard to keep up. But what if it’s all false? I mean, our entire life was a lie.”
“Some of it was, but we need to focus on our future.”
“Something else happened. I heard a woman’s voice. She told me to make the right choice, but I don’t know what that means.” Coral felt something shift in her brain like a motorized shade slowly lowering.
Isadore pushed off the bed, her voice morphing into a muffled sound as if traveling from a long distance. “Nico! Drew! Get in here!”
“What’s wrong? Are the babies…” Coral’s voice trailed off as she tried to swallow, but it was like someone tied a rubber band around her throat. White and blue fairy dust floated around her body, closing her off from the rest of the room. She tried to call for her sister, who faded behind the thick particles, but she couldn’t make a single noise.
“I’m scared to leave you.”
“You have to leave me,” Coral said inside her head, hoping this boy could hear her and respond.
“I know that now,” the boy said. “I’m sorry that I almost hurt your friends.”
“Almost? You burned them. And me.” Was she really having a conversation with some boy inside her head?
“It wasn’t real. I don’t think I have real powers. Yet.”
“What the heck does that mean? And who are you?”
“I thought I was you all this time, but whatever is happening out there is changing me.”
“Can you see through my eyes?” She tried to turn her mind’s eye inward, wanting to see him, but all she could make out was a light-blue cloud in the corner of her soul.
“I used to be able to. I also used to be able to hear. And now the
noises are muffled. I think I’m dying,” the boy said.
She shivered. “We’ve been told we need to banish you or my sister’s babies will all die.”
The boy inside turned hot. “You want to kill me.”
“No! We have to get you out of me and into a place we can protect you. But we don’t know what to do after that.” She tried to mentally wrap her arms around the spirit, but he wouldn’t let her close. “I don’t want to hurt you. We have less than three days to figure out how to safely take you from my body. We’ve been told we have to keep you safe.”
“I know there are people out there that want me gone.”
“There are a lot of bad people in this world. In all worlds. But no one on this farm will hurt you. I can promise that. Can you help us? Can you tell me what you know?”
“I only know that I’m not connected to you the same way, since I thought I was you. And that I feel like I’m fading.”
“Wait. You have to be a fairy since you’re making fairy dust, right?”
A warm feeling coated her skin like a winter jacket. “Yes. Yes. I think that I am!” the boy exclaimed, but seconds later, the happy feeling faded. “I’m not a whole person. That is why I need you. I don’t know how I know that. I just do.”
“You need to let me go right now so I can talk to Drew.”
“This Drew. Is he the man who kissed you?”
“He’s a good man.”
“Yes. I’m sure he is,” the boy said. “Please, don’t let me fade away into nothing.”
“I won’t. I don’t really understand it all, but whoever you are, you have to exist, but it can’t be inside my body.”
“Thank you, Coral.”
“What is your name?” she asked.
“I wish I knew.”
“How about we give you a name?”
“I can’t think of anything.”
“Why don’t we call you Dayton? And why are you wrapping me up in dust?”
“I think someone can hear me out there and I don’t like, but I don’t think I could do it again. Dayton feels okay.”
“All right, Dayton. Let me go from this cocoon and I’ll make sure no one hurts. Ever.”
Coral slumped into someone’s arms, letting out a long sigh. Exhaustion assaulted her muscles, her mind unable to focus on anything, not even the man kissing her forehead, whispering in her ear that everything was going to be okay.
“That was different.”
Drew glanced up at his brother, who stood at the foot of the bed. Isadore sat on the side, holding her sister’s hand while Drew had a death grip on Coral’s upper body. His arms wrapped so tight around her, he worried he was actually hurting her. But he needed her heart to beat against his chest and feel her warm breath on his skin.
“It was a protective wrap,” Isadore said with a scowl. “But it didn’t come from Coral.”
“But it was fairy dust,” Drew said.
Coral moaned.
“Shhhh.” Drew smoothed down her hair. “You need to rest.”
“She’s trying to tell us something,” Isadore said.
“Try projecting,” Nico said.
“It only works if we’ve mated.” Drew’s heart thumped in his throat. At twenty-three, taking a mate hadn’t been the highest thing on his to-do list, but he did want what his brothers had.
Eventually.
He wasn’t ready for this, and he didn’t think Coral was either.
“We are dealing with a new normal, so just try it.” Isadore released Coral’s hand, slipping from the bed. She stood next to her husband, resting her hand on her growing belly.
Drew nodded. He could speak to his wolf pack in his mind. It didn’t require energy, nor did he have to think about it. It was as natural as the sun kissing the horizon. But he had no idea how to reach Coral.
“Are you in pain?”
Well, that was a stupid question. He should have started with something a bit more sensitive. Or maybe sweet.
“Do you need anything?”
“No,” her voice echoed in his mind.
“Coral? Is that you?”
“No, it’s the tooth fairy,” she projected with a little bit of a giggle, even though her projection had been faint, and he really had to concentrate to listen.
“I’ve been told the tooth fairy is a myth.”
“Tell that to her,” Coral said. “How did you get in my head?”
How did he respond to that question? Did he tell her it had to be because he was claiming her as his mate? If he did that, he had to accept that maybe he might never feel that overwhelming sense of devotion he saw his brothers had for their wives.
Or what his father felt for his mother. Their love was the kind that books were written about.
“Mates can talk this way.”
“Are we mating?”
“I honestly don’t know. We can talk about that later.” He took a moment to break the connection. “Do you two mind?” He waved toward the door.
“I take it you’re communicating.” Nico smiled, and while it was genuine, his jaw was tight with stress.
“We are, but she also needs her rest. I’ll call you if I need you.”
“I’d feel better if we took the other bedroom for the night,” Isadore said.
Drew coughed. That meant he either had to sleep in here with Coral, or on the sofa. “If that’s what you want.”
“It’s settled.” Nico placed his hand on his wife’s back and guided them out of the bedroom, clicking the door closed.
“Sorry. I just couldn’t stand them staring at us,” Drew said.
“I’m glad you asked them to leave. I’m tired.”
“Before you sleep, can you tell me what happened because when Nico and I walked into the room, you were covered with fairy dust like bees over honey.”
“It was a nice feeling, actually.”
“So, you felt safe?” He knew he could have changed from projecting, to talking, but he kind of enjoyed this type of communication. It made him feel closer to Coral, and God, he needed something.
“Yes. And I learned a few things, like the boy in here with me is a fairy, but he doesn’t think he’s whole and he doesn’t wish any of us harm, he just feels like he’s about to fade away into nothing and is trying to protect himself. He doesn’t know who he is, why he’s inside me, but I think he was me for the first eighteen years of my life.”
“In a really weird way, that makes sense.” He’d been told before that young fairies are a combination of raw intelligence and emotion. They enjoyed life and enjoyed spreading love and did so by making people laugh and feel good. Even as adults, they had a lightness about them. It wasn’t that they didn’t have a care in the world, but more as though they had decided that all the goodness outweighed all the bad shit.
He wished he felt that way.
“But I think the more I become me, and you and I…you know…do that mating thing, the more likely he is to be destroyed and if that happens—”
“We won’t let that happen.”
“But Isadore said when Nico mated with her, it was instantaneous, and they had no control over it.”
That certainly was a problem and part of him thought maybe he should back away. For now, he’d kiss her goodnight, go grab a beer, and sleep on the sofa.
“Get some rest. I’ll be back to check on you shortly.” He kissed her temple, feeling her body relax into the bed. He stopped at the door, glancing over his shoulder. The pull was getting stronger, but he also felt something blocking him.
The boy.
And that had to suck the being’s energy as much as it did Coral’s. And if everything he’d told Coral was true, then his fairy light would fade into the abyss and all of this would be for nothing.
Chapter 6
Coral blinked her eyes open, arching her back. The sun peeked in through the window, warming her face, but it was the body against her that made her heart race and her mind wander to long walks down a dirt road on a cool autu
mn night.
“Drew? Is that you?”
“No, it’s the UPS guy.” His voice rattled with heavy sleep.
She cocked her elbow and shoved it into his gut.
“Ouch,” he groaned, pulling her closer. His hot breath tickled her neck. She should feel strange to wake up in a man’s arms, but instead, she felt safe. Comfortable.
Home.
“That hurt,” he mused, his lips brushing lightly across the top of her ear.
She wanted to roll to her side, wrap her arms around him, and gaze into his caring, dark eyes that carried the depth of a man who had the wisdom of a chief. She took in a deep breath, enjoying his woodsy scent. She’d always enjoyed a wolf’s scent, but Drew’s was positively intoxicating. “What time is it?”
“Probably around six.” He nuzzled his face into her neck. “You’re so beautiful,” he said so softly she wondered if maybe he hadn’t meant to say it at all.
“Thank you.”
His body tensed and shifted slightly away, reminding her of all that was at stake.
“We’re wasting time. Now we have only two days.” Even though she wanted to stay in his arms forever, she had to put some space between them. With every minute that ticked by, the boy grew weaker and weaker. She pulled back the covers, stepping from the bed. Staring down at Drew, an overwhelming sense of duty filled her soul.
“It’s starting,” she projected to the boy.
“I know.” The boy’s voice had grown deeper, but also it sounded farther away. “It’s destiny.”
“But so are you.”
“We all are,” Drew’s voice boomed in her mind. “Don’t ask me how I got pulled in here, but I can hear you both,” Drew said with an arched brow.
“I can’t handle this.” Doing her best to shut them both from her mind, she scurried out of the room and into the kitchen, only to come face to face with her sister and Nico making breakfast.
“Did you sleep—what’s wrong?” Isadore handed a spatula to Nico and raced to Coral’s side.
“There is a party going on inside my head that I don’t want to be privy to.” She snagged a mug and poured a cup of coffee. The bitter scent filled her nostrils. Blowing on the hot liquid, she glared at her sister. “What?”
