With no other option I nodded slowly. And then I knocked his hands off me. Whatever was so important he needed to leave me well, that was fine. “You don’t have to justify anything to me,” I said. “I don’t know you and I don’t expect to ever see you again.” He didn’t owe me a thing and I was happy he was leaving.
I could get back to being lost, and worried about being lost.
“So stubborn. I can admit not to see you will be hard. Can you not look outside yourself for a moment to do the same?”
The intention was to tear into him about his stupid, confusing statements that made no sense, but as my head turned his lips brushed along my chin. Gravity shifted and flowed into his eyes to ground me. The world darkened to nothing as they drew me deeper into their shaded depths. My lips parted in a sigh, and my hands swept around his waist as he pulled me closer. His hand tangled into my hair as my own moved over his lower back. I breathed in the heady smell of sunlight from his chest, and the scent became a taste on my tongue. Exploring the dip in his spine, I glided the pads of my fingers into the shallow grove flowing uninterrupted to his shoulder blades. My hands left his back then I hesitated in my exploration. The sensation that slicked over my palms was, odd. Hovering a few inches away from his skin the air felt warmer, thicker.
He jerked back and spun away to look into the forest. He peered around us, and the waves of hostility pulsing from his body cranked the tension in the air up. He stood, all wound up and tense, so I got all wound up and tense, and we fed of each other until I was panting. It was uncomfortably wearing for someone like me who was already beyond terrified.
Breandan said, “Rae, go back to the Temple now. That direction.” He pointed into the trees. When I didn’t move he twisted me around by the shoulder, and pushed me in the direction he’d pointed.
I kind of stumbled a few steps forward before I stopped, and realized I didn’t have to do what he said. “But, you can’t tell me I’m a demon then stop explaining.”
I wanted to stay, badly, but sense was telling me I had to leave like he said.
“You don’t have to argue with every word I say. We’ll come for you later. Go now.”
Returning his steady gaze with one of my own, I picked up on something I’d been unconsciously registering. There was a barrier between Breandan and I. Pulling my brows together, I tilted my head to watch him, watch me. Not a physical or tangible barrier; invisible. He shimmered and rippled into something different. A soft nimbus coated his entire being. Pearlescent it repelled my gaze.
“Stop hiding from me and I’ll go,” I said. “You want me to trust you and I can manage some trust since you haven’t killed me. But you have to trust me back. You say you’re a demon, well then what kind? Show me your true form.”
“I don’t have the time for this.”
“Come on, it can’t take that long. Show me then you can run off and do whatever you were doing before you just had to help me.”
He made a noise of frustration and pointed again. “Will you at least move in the right direction as we talk?”
I nodded curtly. I was persistent not stupid. If he was this antsy something bad must be coming this way.
“If we run I can get you back and maybe catch it up. Follow me,” he said.
And then he was gone. One moment he’s walking, and the next he’s a silver blur zipping through the trees ahead of me.
It was odd, because I knew it was demon fast, but I could track his movement with my gaze. Was it crazy that I wanted to follow him? Grudgingly, I admitted to myself I’d never wanted to follow someone so badly, and I was never one to shy away from a physical challenge. I’d run blindingly fast from the hounds, and the only difference between now and then was that I was scared. Huh, piece of cake. I had loads of scared stored up around the solar plexus area. Tapping into the well of energy inside me was too easy, and I burst forward.
Everything was so bright and lively, and it was nothing for me to flow across the land at a velocity strange, yet comforting. Breandan took a sharp turn and I was pleased to see I was gaining, gliding across the ground at his side. A chuckle caught my ear. I had made him laugh, and a silly tide of happiness blazed through me. I grinned, and laughed, and sped up to leave him trailing behind. The floor yielded to every pound of my foot. Not a single branch snagged my hair or cut my skin because I didn’t let it. I zipped and dodged, jumped and spun a trail in the undergrowth. I didn’t know where I was running to, but it felt good to be in motion.
The air was heavy with a piquant scent that fizzed on my tongue. The silhouette of trees taller than any I’d seen rose high in the sky, and a few stars already winked down at me. I’m not a botanist, so all I can say is that there were plants. A big orgy of red, blues and purples scattered everywhere. The breeze was crisp and made everything sway in orderly chaos. The buzzing of insect and restless whining of beast punctured the dawn in harmonic beat.
I knew the moment Breandan’s hand reached for mine. My skin tingled and like a magnet seeking its opposite, my hand moved to meet his. A light tug slowed me to a stop. I plucked a leaf from my hair and brushed a lick of dirt off my cheek. I could have continued this grooming session for a while since I felt twigs and thorns caught in my clothes and hair, but I was distracted.
Breandan stood still and let me roam my eyes over him. His profile was sharper somehow, and I pushed the hair out of my eyes to drink the strong column of throat that flowed into solid chest. His ears held my attention for a long while, couldn’t say why, before my gaze slid over the straightness of his nose, and the strong planes of his cheek and forehead.
“Let’s keep moving,” he said. I stood still and he had to either tug me again or let go of my hand. He let go and sighed dramatically. “Stop being difficult. If you’re not back at Temple soon, they’ll be suspicious of you and it won’t be safe there anymore.”
He walked off and took no more than five steps before I felt an insistent tug, a niggling urge pushing me toward him. I suspected it had something to do with that painful heat I’d felt when he’d touched me skin to skin for the first time. He had a lot of explaining to do. Gritting my teeth, I started after him and reached out the same moment as he did to clasp hands. We trod a path of crunching leaves and snapping twigs. The breeze was sweetly fragrant and smelled of green things. It was quiet now apart from the sound of small furry things going about their business in the understory.
“Speak then,” I said. “Don’t go all shy on me.”
“I’m a fairy.”
I blinked and froze. The wind stirred fallen leaves and wrapped his words around me. A few words truly can take your breath away, or make you doubt your own mind. I walked on, not seeing, hearing or feeling.
I managed a sharp noise. “You must think I’m stupid or something. You want me to believe that you are one of the rarest species on the planet?”
He bit back a smile. “You believed I was a demon easily enough.”
“Well, we are in demon territory. You hid from Clerics and only demons do that.”
“You ran from Clerics.”
He had me there. “Uh, we’re not talking about me,” I said hotly. “I’m not the smartest girl, but I’m not stupid either. I’ll be just as impressed if you tell me you’re a shifter or witch.”
“What about me don’t you believe?” he asked after a small pause.
I was on a sarcasm-high now. “Yeah, sure. I believe you. Lucky Rae see’s two fairies, the one kind of demon that is nearly extinct. And she sees them within minutes of each other. Even though the odds of that are–”
“What did the other look like?”
“Uh, green skin and all this long fiery hair.”
He made a clucking noise meant to sound cross, but he smiled radiantly, silver eyes faraway. “I told her to hide her true form.”
The direction of my thoughts became hideously plain, and icy horror froze the blood in my veins.
“I’m guessing you know her?” I tried to keep the quest
ion casual but my voice sounded shrill.
“The fairy you saw is called Maeve. She’s my little sister.”
I stared at him, my lips becoming numb. “Sister,” I whispered. “How can you know that? Aren’t all of your females green with red hair?”
“Do all human females have light hair, eyes and skin? No, all fairies are unique, though, there are typical things like our pointed ears and sharp teeth.” He must have figured I was having a simple moment. I didn’t back chat like I usually would. “Don’t worry,” his voice was gentle. “Maeve is a force of good. She’s been looking for you too, and she wouldn’t hurt you. She’s young and stealth is not her gift. She has skills with a blade not even Conall can match.” There was a deep affection in his voice as he spoke of her.
I felt dirty for not saying something sooner and opened my mouth to speak. Those curls of fear sprung up in my belly, and lashed at my insides to silence me. I locked my jaw. No words seemed adequate enough to explain what had happened. Before I had been sad about what had happened to the fairy, even guilty. Who knows what would have happened if I hadn’t spooked the Clerics. They might have let her go. If I told him what happened, how I’d disturbed them and gotten his sister killed, what would he do to me?
Oh gods, I felt queasy. The stress was eating away at me, and I was wound up tight right down to my baby toes.
Then the outline of something big prowled past, ghosting through the trees. I forgot about Breandan, I forgot I’d seen his sister take a bullet to the chest, and forgot I was lost in demon territory as my entire body locked down. Blood rushed in my ears as the shadow trod a path parallel to where we stood. Breandan was calm and unmoved so I toughed it out, and stayed put.
It emerged from behind a tree a few paces away to cross our path. Black and freckled with flaxen rosettes, the big cat’s emerald eyes with slitted black pupils, swept over us. The powerful build and handsome face were too brawny to be anything but male. Slinking to a stop, his ears pricked up and he looked me right in the eye. A wave of consciousness flashed across my skin, and for a beat I couldn’t breathe.
He padded over, thick claws glinting and pressed into my legs. A soft growl rumbled in his throat and his whole body vibrated. I tensed then flexed my hand and let it drift down. As he pushed his wet nose into my palm the growl became a satisfied purr. The cat was warm and smelt musky. My fingers rubbed up the coarse hair behind his ears then smoothed it down. He nipped at my finger and I yelped. He twitched at the sound, and the long whiskers on his upper lip whistled as they cut through the air. Nudging the back of my knee he made a contented noise, tinged with almost an apology for startling me. His eyes lingered on mine, blinked at me then he sniffed the air and gathered his front and back paws together. Ears flat against his head, he paced forward and slinked lower.
I gasped, spotting a sable colored deer grazing within my line of sight, half hidden by a few dogwood trees. The cat’s muscles bunched tightly before he sprung forward and bounded away. I didn’t watch what happened to the deer after that.
Breandan watched me, head cocked thoughtfully.
I marveled at the short ebony hairs stuck on my fingertips. Evidence my encounter had been real. I trembled.
“Did that mean something to you?” I asked quietly.
“Oh yes,” he replied and took hold of my hand, and started to walk again. “Nothing out here will harm you unless you pick a fight first.” He paused. “Usually shifters are not that sociable. Rarely do they interact with those outside their pack, even when they leave Pride territory. Do not make a habit of petting them. Despite your difficult personality, I will protect you until death, but would prefer not to have to deal with such dire circumstances unless necessary.” Jerking to a stop he yanked gently on the ends of my hair to pull my head back. “Alright?” His teeth nipped my neck then his lips pressed a kiss to my pulse point. There he stood amongst the trees, smiling down on me and waiting for my answer.
All the while, for all that I’d just experienced and all he’d told me, all I could think was, he kissed my neck.
“Believe it or not I don’t skip around looking for trouble. I only come out here for some space to think and run. And I can take care of myself.”
After a beat of silence he chuckled and walked on, continuing to tow me along side.
A shifter. I had stroked a were-cat, one of the most feral demons in existence. Only Breandan’s firm grip and steady steps forward kept me moving.
“I never realized the different demon kinds lived so close together,” I said.
“Our territories are vast. Right now we are in his back garden. The Pride encompasses the entire human prison. That is why we showed respect and stayed still. If he had taken issue with us here, he would have let me know. But then he has probably scented the vampire too, and is happy to have the extra help in hunting it down.”
“Prison,” I echoed, startled. “Vampire?”
Saying the name made my toes scrunch together in my boots and my stomach pitch dangerously. The dead ones were not demons people dressed up to make scarier than they actually were. Vampires were the creatures you made nicer in stories so that you didn’t pass out when reports one had breached the Wall, and eaten a few homeless people came your way.
“Is that not what it is? A prison the humans have locked themselves inside?”
There was too much behind that simple statement I could not begin to get into.
“So, you can go wherever you like? To hunt vampires, I mean. It doesn’t matter you’re not his kind?” I was fascinated. I had learned more about demonkind in one hour than years of training.
“Why would I not be able to go where I liked? There has not been a war between demonkind and we respect each other enough not impose foolish rules of ownership. Though most of us do avoid venturing into vampire cities. Shifters are bestial under a full moon, but sensible for the most part. The alpha-male keeps them in good order. As for the vampire, he’ll be dealt with soon enough. He’s only on our radar because he’s been round for so long, nearly a month now. It’s unusual for one to stay so long from the safety of a nest. Unusual and worrying considering the timing.”
The Wall stretched out for miles and miles. If the shifters Pride surrounded the entire human region…
“How big is fairy territory?”
“Not as big as you may think. We are solitary by nature and usually travel in mated pairs. Small families.”
“There’s nowhere you all get together?”
“I know what you mean. We have two wylds, the Orchard and the Grove.” He paused, slanted a look my way. “You’re asking a lot of questions. You believe me now? That I am fairy, that you are fairy.”
“No,” I blurted. “I’m not… I’m not.”
“You never thought it odd you are able to push your body beyond the normal boundaries of a girl your age?”
I ignored the fact he’d called me a girl, and batted his words away with my hand.
“I’m stronger, yes. And I’m fast, but I always have been.” I was stretching the truth. I hadn’t always been fast, but crazy fast.
“And that’s all?”
My pace slowed to a dazed meander, an aimless weave through the mossy trunks. Swallowing hard, I bit my lip and tasted blood. My hand strayed to where the wound from a bullet graze should mark me and felt nothing. I had always been a quick healer. Not that quick, but quicker than most. I was not like other people because I didn’t think or feel the same. I didn’t eat right, or feel right when people touched me. I got urges, strange urges to… I blinked away the sting in my eyes. My mind took a frightening and obvious leap of intuition. I stopped. Everything in my world vibrated and slid to a canted angle then jerked straight, becoming new and balancing to the truth. I gave myself time for the largest wave of emotion to subside.
“I am a demon,” I said slowly, testing the words. “I am fairy.”
The world didn’t end. No one gasped or cried out, and there was nothing to suggest anything was
wrong anywhere else in the world in that moment. My entire perception and understanding of everything was shifting into a new alignment, but that did not affect anything or anyone but me. My eyes were drawn to Breandan’s face. We stared at each other. Over the worst of my freak out, I had decided to make everything his fault, and I wondered what part of him to hit first.
His expression turned from wary to amused. “See, you’re not surprised. You knew you were different.”
I ducked my head to let my hair fall forward and cover my face. “I wish I’d reacted with hysteria now, like stabbed you with a stick and run screaming.”
Lips curving he shook his head once. “You’re taking this well,” he explained.
“Better than we’d hoped for.” I opened my mouth to ask who this “we” was he kept referring to, but he kept on talking. “The world has changed with demons out in the open and the fact you are training to be–” His expression hardened briefly. “Your reaction is not what I expected, good, but unexpected.”
“What did you think I would do?”
He shrugged. “Violence.”
The word described how I would have expected to react, but I didn’t feel aggressive. I was exhausted, confused and a little giddy. Maybe I was having a vivid dream, or an outer body experience. “Give me longer, I’m working up to it.”
“Do you want to talk about it? That helps females.”
His eyes fell from mine as the violence he was waiting for seeped through my calm and poisoned my voice. “No.” I threw the word at him with the force of an accusation.
The Demon Girl Page 3