by Brey Willows
“The inn is just around that next bend.” She lifted Maggie’s bag. “Do you have a sweatshirt or something to put on?”
Maggie nodded and dug through the bag to find her favorite University of Hawaii sweatshirt. She’d never been there, but she loved their logo and motto. A torch lit an open book, and their motto, “Above all nations is humanity,” had always resonated with her. Maybe that’s because I knew deep inside there was so much more to life than physical boundaries. She slid the sweatshirt on, and just as it came over her head, she saw Kody’s eyes avert from her chest. A flare of desire swept through her and she pulled the sweatshirt down a little slower.
Kody picked up her duffle bag again and set off, her shoulders stiff. “We’re nearly there.”
They kept walking, and Maggie held on to the sense that maybe Kody was a little attracted to her, too. They wouldn’t do anything about it, clearly, given the nature of their work relationship. But it was nice to feel attractive.
Kody cleared her throat. “Did it bother you, knowing you’d been adopted?”
The lighthearted feeling vanished, quickly replaced with an old feeling of loneliness. “Sometimes. My parents were great. They treated me like I was their own. But they already had a daughter, a year older than me. At first she was excited to have a little sister, but that wore off when she wasn’t the sole beneficiary of their attention. As we got older, she became more and more resentful. She said I was their favorite, and that they treated me better than they treated her.” Maggie’s heart hurt at the words she could remember her sister saying over and over again, usually shouted in some hateful way. “The thing is, she might have been right. They doted on me, and they were really hard on her. I think that’s why she married some rich older guy the moment she graduated high school. She wanted to show that she had more than me, that she could have some amazing life without having to lift a finger.”
“And were they happy with that? Your parents?”
Maggie could clearly remember the way her dad’s eyes had looked when he thought no one was watching. “No, I don’t think they were. They never said as much out loud, but I could tell. I think they were even more disappointed, if possible. They taught us that we should follow our dreams and make the world a better place. She didn’t have any dreams, at least none she shared with me, and she doesn’t even seem to like her own kids very much.”
Kody swung the duffle bag back and forth like it was helping her concentrate. “But you didn’t follow your dreams either, did you?” Seeming to sense Maggie’s defensiveness, she held up her other hand. “No judgment. Just wondering why.”
Her irritation fled as quickly as it had risen. She could see there truly wasn’t any judgment in Kody’s eyes. “I guess being an orphan taught me that you can’t always count on people. I went to different foster homes, but I never fit in and never got to stay long. Even though my parents said I should keep painting, I knew it wouldn’t support me.” She blinked back the tears forming. “And I never wanted to be totally dependent on anyone again. You don’t know what real hunger is until you’ve lived in a foster home that spends the money they get for you on drugs and vacations.”
Kody abruptly stopped walking. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”
Maggie was puzzled by how upset Kody looked. “It’s not your fault.”
Kody just shook her head and started off again. Maggie couldn’t figure out what was wrong, but hoped they’d work it out later. Her feet hurt and she was ready to sit down. They turned a corner and she began to smile. In front of them sat a thatched roof, two-story building right out of a…well, a fairy tale. Black framed windows looked out over a garden of flowers, and above the door was the front half of a Pegasus made from wrought iron. A board with the inscription The Flying Horse swung over the door. She looked over to see Kody watching her.
“I love it.”
Kody’s relieved smile was enough to make Maggie glad she’d said what she did, even though she meant it anyway. They entered and it took a second for Maggie’s eyes to adjust to the dim light. When they did, she wasn’t sure to how to fully take it all on board. Definitely not in Kansas anymore.
Chapter Ten
Creatures and people of every description were eating, drinking, and laughing throughout the room. Just like any café in New York. Except for the fur, the claws, the different colored skin…
Shamus took her hand and she realized she’d been staring. He led them to a table against the back wall. “Ale?” he asked Kody, who nodded. “Porridge water with honey?” he asked Brenda, who stood on the seat next to Kody and still only just reached her shoulder.
“Yes, yes, yes!” Her eyes gleamed with excitement.
He looked at Maggie and said, “I’ll figure it out.”
Maggie watched him go and noticed that no one really paid much attention to him, although there were a number of curious glances being thrown her way. She turned to Kody. “Is it rare to see humans in here?”
She looked around the room. “Not usually, no. Plenty of those live in fairy tales, obviously.” She frowned. “It’s definitely rare to be the only ones here. Something has changed.”
Shamus came back carrying a tray of drinks. “Prices are still good. They only had two rooms available for the next two nights, so I took them. They’ll be ready in a bit and we’ll have to share.” He placed a fizzing purple drink in front of Maggie.
“What’s this?” She sniffed it and winced. “It smells like cough medicine.”
“It is, kind of. It’s a burdock fizz.”
“Mmm.” Kody sipped her ale. “That’s what beer should taste like.” She looked at Maggie’s drink and then at Shamus. “You sure she should try that so soon?”
He sipped his own fizzy yellow drink. “She’ll have to try everything here at some point. And that may help ease some of the conversation tonight.”
“Once again, I’m right here. No need to talk around me.” She took an experimental sip of the drink and then a longer one. “I like it.”
Kody put her hand over Maggie’s when she went to take another drink. “Take it slow. It’s way more potent than anything you’d get in a bar in the city, and you won’t know it until you’re facedown in a Fomarian’s cleavage while her goat faced husband looks on.”
“You’re speaking words, but they’re not making any sense.” Maggie took a smaller sip than she was going to. Cleavage didn’t sound bad, but the rest of it didn’t sound terribly inviting. She looked around while her companions talked about their favorite drinks and foods they couldn’t wait to have. A woman with pale green skin in a torn, tattered dress was laughing with a behemoth of a man who leaned on a club easily as tall as Maggie. There was a doll-sized table on the bar, where two little creatures with wings were sharing a tiny bottle of wine. Fairies.
“Watch yourself with those,” Kody said, following Maggie’s line of sight. “They bite. Mean little things, most of them.”
Well, that’s disappointing. Maggie continued to look around, trying not to stare. They belong here. This was their home, and Maggie couldn’t help but feel like a visitor at a zoo. When a couple left hand in hand, she turned to her little group.
“Are you staying with me? Do you have homes to go to?”
It brought the lighthearted conversation to an abrupt stop.
“We were sent to watch over you, Maggie.” Shamus gave her that stare she knew meant he was taking her seriously.
“And you did.” She looked at the three of them. “You watched out for me, and now I’m here. Kody is staying with me,” she looked at Kody, who nodded, “but that doesn’t mean you have to stay with me too, does it? I mean, Lacona looked happier than I’d ever seen him when he headed home.”
Shamus looked at Kody over his drink. She shook her head slightly. “We all have stories of our own. Stories that started long before you were born. I won’t tell you the others’ stories, but I will share a piece of my own, to help you understand better why we won’t leave you.”
Kody
stood. “I’m getting another drink. Want one?” She took the orders and left.
Maggie turned back to Shamus, surprised at the tension radiating off Kody. “Is she angry with me?”
He poked a claw into the froth in his drink and licked it off. “No. This has little to do with you, in the scheme of things. You were a central point that brought us all together, but our paths to you were all different.” He set both paws on the table and extended his claws. “I’m one of the Cat Sith. We’ve served different purposes in the fairy tales from our sector. We’ve been soul stealers, we’ve been witches, we’ve been beings who could bless or curse a house, usually depending on the quality of milk left out for us. Not a high price as a bribe, really, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.”
“And which of those things were you?” Maggie leaned forward, desperate to hear more about him.
He sighed. “I wasn’t any of those things. I was born with a defect, and it meant I was never accepted by my clan. As a kitten I was left to die in the woods, but a family of trolls took me in and cared for me.”
He looked so sad Maggie wanted to crush him in a hug. “What defect? You look perfect to me.”
His little teeth pointed in a smile. “The Cat Sith are black as night, with a white moon on their chests. It marks them as Sith, as something apart and special.” He motioned at himself. “I was born gray, with no particular markings at all, let alone the moon spot. I wasn’t even born white, which would have been acceptable. Gray is unacceptable. I am less than worthy, and was cast out.” He took a sip of his yellow drink and burped. “When my troll family were out hunting shellfish in the bay and were caught in an unexpected sunray, they were turned to stone. I had no one left, and when the call came to watch over the last tale spinner in another land, I gladly took the opportunity.”
An orphan and an outcast, like me. This time, Maggie leaned across the table and pulled him into a hug. “I’m so glad you did.”
He patted her back awkwardly and began to squirm when she didn’t let go. “Yes, well, me too. Though you should really learn to cook. The amount of takeout you eat could kill a normal human being.”
She finally let him go with a last scratch behind his ear. He turned to Brenda. “Would you like to share your story?”
Brenda shrugged. “Mine isn’t nearly as interesting. I’m taller than most of my people, called the Abhaic, and I had trouble getting a date, much less finding someone to settle down with. I got bored and decided it would be fun to go to another world and see what it was like to be the short one for once. I didn’t realize just how short I’d be though! That was a bit of a shock, but I made do. I’m still looking for my one and only though.”
“And where do your people live?” Maggie took another sip of her purple drink and liked the way the warmth spread right down to her toes.
“River mounds, mostly. We like to be near the water, and some of us prefer forest to the beaches. Places where there are rainbows and pots of gold and four-leaf clovers.”
Maggie spluttered on her drink. “You’re a leprechaun?”
Brenda flicked a bit of the foam from her drink at her. “That’s one of those words you don’t say here. It’s rude. Like the Native Americans being called Indians by the French. Culturally insensitive.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize.” Maggie turned to look over her shoulder at Kody, who was at the bar talking to the green skinned woman. “And Kody?”
Shamus tapped the table to get her attention. “That’s only for Kody to tell. But you see, Brenda and I both came to you because we were interested in doing something different. We didn’t sacrifice anything; in fact, you could say that looking after you gave us a purpose.”
Maggie pondered that statement and thought about Old Canker. He’d lost his wife; was that when he’d decided to come across and watch Maggie? It made sense, especially in light of the other two stories. So she didn’t have to feel bad that they’d been in her world. Still… “But now that you’ve been back, you could do something else, couldn’t you? Something you want to do?”
They both stayed quiet, and Maggie realized that maybe they hadn’t given much thought to what it meant to come back. Maybe they had some stuff to figure out too. Kody finally returned with the drinks, and although she set them down with a smile, Maggie could see that it was forced.
“We need to find somewhere private to talk. I’ve got news.” She tapped her glass to Shamus’s in a salute before downing half her ale.
“Short version, dark and deadly?” Brenda asked, leaning over the table in a flirtatious manner so anyone watching would think she was just playing. But her eyes were serious.
“Bad guys mostly in real world. Good guys mostly in our world. Total imbalance.” She threw back her head and laughed like someone had just told a fabulous joke, and Brenda and Shamus joined her.
Maggie tried, but she couldn’t quite pull it off. She sensed the urgency of the situation but wasn’t fully clued in. “Are we being watched?”
Kody wrapped her arm around Maggie’s waist and pulled her close. Nuzzling her ear, she whispered, “Most definitely. Word has already started going around that there’s upset at the cottage, and that there’s a new witch in town. You.”
She pulled back and looked at Maggie like they were lovers. Maggie shivered under the intensity of that stare and crossed her legs as her clit jumped in response. Seriously not the time or place. Focus. “But if the bad guys aren’t here, then I’m safe, right?” Playing along, she put her hand on the inside of Kody’s thigh and was gratified when her eyes darkened and Kody’s grip on her waist tightened.
“You’re not safe until we figure out who has rigged the game. I said most of the bad guys were over there, not all of them.” She kissed Maggie’s temple and pulled away.
Maggie missed the next minutes of conversation between the other three as she focused on the way Kody’s arm felt around her, the way her eyes had darkened with desire. She’d been in other women’s arms before and never felt like they wanted to devour her the way it looked like Kody had. She shivered again and pressed her leg against Kody’s, wanting to feel the solidity of her strength beside her. Kody’s leg pressed back, and Maggie thought she might make some kind of desperate noise inappropriate in a public space. She pulled away. “Is there a bathroom around here?”
Kody stood. “I’ll show you.”
Maggie started to back away. “I’m sure I can find it.”
Kody grabbed her hand and pulled her close. “I’m sure you could. But you shouldn’t go anywhere alone right now.” She draped her arm around Maggie’s shoulder and kept her close as they made their way across the room and through a rough-hewn door at the end.
Maggie was unreasonably glad the bathroom looked like a bathroom should. No vine toilet paper or holes in the ground. Kody was waiting outside the door when she came out, and there was no mistaking the far off look of pain in her eyes.
“Want to talk about it?”
Kody shook her head. “I’m going to have to get used to your particular gift.” She took Maggie’s hand in hers. “At some point we’ll have a heart-to-heart, but for now, let’s stick with the important stuff.”
Maggie tugged her back when she started to walk off. “You’re important stuff to me. I don’t know why, and it’s weird since I just met you, but you are.”
Kody looked bemused. “Thanks. I haven’t been important to someone in a long time.” She pulled Maggie to the side as a woman with skin made of bark pushed past, her large twigs of hair making it so they pressed against each other.
Maggie should have been focused on the unusual looking being moving past her, but instead she shivered at the darkening of Kody’s eyes and the way her hands held her hips. “Kody—”
“We should get back.” Kody gently moved her to arm’s length. “We’ll go up to our rooms and figure out what to do next.”
Maggie nodded and took Kody’s hand. She wasn’t sure what she’d been about to say, and it was probabl
y best she hadn’t gotten it out and made a fool of herself. Still, it felt like one of those important moments that was now lost forever.
Chapter Eleven
They got another round of drinks and then the four of them headed down a long hallway. The flooring seemed uneven, and Maggie had to concentrate hard on keeping her footing. The claustrophobic, dark stairwell leading up to their rooms made Maggie wonder if it was a good place to stay after all, but when it opened up on the second floor, she changed her mind.
Large windows looked out into the tops of trees, where birds of every color flew through the branches. Little lights flickered here and there, more obvious as the sun went down.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Shamus stood beside her, the sunset coating his fur in soft flames of burnished orange.
“Stunning.” They stood for a bit longer before Kody’s voice interrupted the serenity of the moment.
“If you two wouldn’t mind…” She motioned at the open door to a room with her glass of ale.
“Grumpy great hag,” Shamus grumbled and walked past her into the room.
Maggie nearly pointed out the irony of her bad tempered cat calling someone else grumpy, but thought better of it. Being abandoned here wouldn’t be a good thing.
The room wasn’t generous by any stretch of the imagination, but given Shamus’s and Brenda’s sizes, it wasn’t hard for everyone to find a place to get comfortable. Kody kicked her boots off and reclined on the bed, a pose that looked far too intimate for Maggie to be able to sit beside her. Instead, she sat on the high backed chair and propped her feet on the little table in front of it.
Brenda had no problem crawling onto the bed beside Kody, and she winked at her as she fluffed the pillow beside her. Kody rolled her eyes but smiled. Whatever issue they’d had when Kody had first come to the cottage had clearly been set aside.
Shamus sat on the floor beside Maggie and continued to lap daintily at his drink. “So, shepherd, what’s going on?”