by Allie Santos
Feeling out of my element as his light caresses traced my face, I let my reservations go on an exhale and clenched my hands at my side before they wrapped around his arms like they wanted to do. I stared at the faint, thin line that slashed down the side of his face.
His lavender gaze flicked to my hand and watched it cautiously approach the scar. I saw more than felt his body tense as I touched it gingerly. His gaze flicked away, and he pulled back after a few seconds of my touches. He rolled his shoulders before turning around.
Rubbing my temples, I followed after him and had the odd desire to shake my fists at the sky.
“So, tell me about yourself…” I started and got his deep, suffering sigh in response.
13
I learned many things as I incessantly questioned him. Many of the questions led me down a different rabbit hole. Like when I asked his favorite color. It was a harder question since they didn’t label colors like humans.
The food he ate, which was none. I told him about my favorite food, going into explicit detail about chicken tenders and barbecue sauce. Everything seemed so different between our worlds. Except for the fact that Fae had the form of humans, albeit better looking, taller, and oh, yeah, stronger forms.
“If you don’t mind my asking,” I started, and he shot me a sardonic glance. “If you can heal yourself, why didn’t you heal your scar?”
His hand reached up and unconsciously touched it. “It disgusts you.”
“What! No, not even a little bit. It gives you a sexy look. All roguish and, um…” I trailed off as his eyebrows flew up. “I’m just wondering,” I finished awkwardly. “After all, you healed the shoulder wound.”
“This”—he motioned to his face—“happened at the end of magic.” I had absolutely no idea why he had to talk in what seemed like riddles. He knew I had no idea what he was talking about by the confusion on my face. “It takes time to build up the little magic I’m able to wield. This happened after the Queen bound it.”
I waited, hoping he would continue. As seconds went by, I lost hope that he would confide in me, but he surprised me.
“I’d been scouting for the Queen’s enemies.” He reached up as if in a trance but dropped his hand. “When magic fell, any veils upheld by magic did as well. At that moment, the hidden camp was revealed. I was ambushed by their men. They had iron.” He paused and cleared his throat. “And the rest is history.”
Ambush by multiple men, and he was alive? “How many attacked you?”
“Eight. It would have been an easy win on my end had I been able to use my magic.” He smiled wryly again. Eight? Barely stripped of magic and ambushed, and he had still made it out alive.
“How did you not die of poisoning?”
“Sabine had heard of someone who could help. That was how we met Hag. When we arrived, she managed to extract the poison, but it was too late for my wounds. So, it healed like this.” He reached up and self-consciously touched his face.
I pursed my lips so they wouldn’t curl at the mention of Sabine. If he’d only had a small amount of magic and had barely managed to heal a bullet wound, how had Sabine healed a large gash when that branch had struck through her body? Dread ate at my stomach. “So, Sabine is stronger than you?”
His head tilted back, and he laughed. “She wishes.”
“But shouldn’t you be able to heal yourself just fine then? I mean, she was fully impaled, and she healed herself no problem—”
“What are you talking about?”
“When I met her, I… hit her with my car. It shoved her onto a tree and a branch stuck through her stomach.” My stomach turned at the memory. Another part of me wished to go back and continue ramming her into the tree.
He went quiet. My feet crunched over leaves as we trudged on, and I waited for him to come back from wherever he went when he spaced.
“That should not have been possible,” he said slowly. “All I can think of is that she had the Hag brew her a potion for emergencies. I will question her about this.”
“Hag… Isn’t that a way to say old lady?” I asked. It wasn’t the first time Roark had mentioned a hag.
“No one knows her true features. I met her as an old woman, and she requested we call her Hag. She changes her appearance periodically. Recently, she’s taken on the guise of a young woman.”
“Why don’t you just ask her what her real form is?”
“You would believe it was that simple.” He chuckled and then frowned, throwing me a disturbed glance. “Suffice to say that a darkling is not one to be crossed. She may be the only powerful creature in this world at the moment because she’s the only being that has magic.”
“Shouldn’t her magic have been gone, too?”
“It is different from our magic. I’d seen nothing like it before. All Unnatural creatures’ magic is neutral or based in nature. Her species is different. It stems from darkness and death.” He suddenly tensed and tilted his head as if listening for something. “Fae Guards. We must hide.”
Roark grabbed my arm, and I hobbled after him as he tugged me to the side. I didn’t even get the chance to ask what Unnaturals were. His head swung from side to side, searching for something. We went deeper into the brush, where he crouched down and inhaled. His nose wrinkled, and when I finally saw what it was, he scooped it up and started slathering crap all over me. Literal crap.
My eyes felt like they would pop out, and I was about to yell at him, but he slapped his hand over my mouth. Thankfully, with the one without poop. I gagged as the smell wafted up to my nostrils. It was like a mix of horse and cat dung. I swallowed hard as he warned me with his eyes to stay silent.
I held my breath as crunching leaves and rustling sounded from not too far away. Roark tugged me until we were crouched in between big leaves just as voices drifted over.
They sounded male and… jovial? They were too far for me to hear their conversation. When they laughed at something one said, I heard four different cadences and knew there had to be more than four men stomping past us. I heard a bray and a sniff and realized they were riding something. A big part of me wanted to sneak a peek at what Fae used as horse alternatives, but the warning glance Roark shot me made me pause. I scowled at him. Not only had he slathered me in shit, but he was giving me scolding looks. I really wanted to hit him.
We crouched for so long that my legs trembled. Roark tilted his head and waved me to stay as he disappeared. A part of me, one that was not proud to admit it, panicked. I stopped myself before I raced after him. A cramp shot from my ankle and up my leg, I straightened. I shook off the soreness beginning to tremble through my legs.
I looked around and saw greenery all around. No sign of Roark. What if they had found him? I hurriedly pushed through the thick foliage, about to have a panic attack, when a hand closed over my arm.
“What do you not understand about stay?” he bit out and tugged me forward until I hit his chest.
“S-sorry. I just freaked when I didn’t see you. I’d thought they’d gotten you.”
Roark straightened and tilted his head. “You were worried about me?”
I nodded and looked away from his searching eyes. He didn’t let me go when I tried to tug out of his hold. Instead, he drew me closer. Stupidly, a shiver raced through me even as I stood there smelling like poop. Looking up at him, I almost got lost in his eyes as they darkened. I inhaled deeply, trying to catch my breath. The scent singed my nose.
“Uh, could we get all this off?” I rasped.
He squeezed his lips together and nodded. “I hear water nearby,” he said and surprised me when he wrapped his large hand around mine. I automatically laced my fingers with his. He tensed but said nothing as he tightened his hold on my hand.
Ignoring the thrill that ran through me, I tried not to breathe from my nose as we made our way. There was a wall of foliage. He pulled me through to a pearlescent lake. The light from the sun reflected off the surface. The blue and pink metallic coloring glinted in the
undulating water. My mouth fell open as I stared. It even smelled… good. Like strawberries?
“Why does it smell so good?” I moaned and strode closer to it. My feet sunk into the soft pale sand.
Roark chuckled and peered at the lapping water. “I believe mermaids reside in the water.”
“Mermaids!” I yelped. “Mermaids are real?”
He shot me a look that very much said no shit. “There are many creatures you humans deem myth that walk among you.”
I stared at him. “What. The. Hell.”
He seemed to find my shock amusing because he chuckled. Roark approached the edge of the water and breathed in with an indent between his eyebrows. He muttered under his breath as he stared down.
“What is it?” I asked and brushed away the knee-length grass. As he stared down at the water, there seemed to be a pleased glint in his eyes. “What’s got you so happy?”
“This water… it has healing properties,” he said.
“Like magic?” I wondered.
“In a sense, I suppose it does. The abundance of mermaids living in here must have made it this way, seeping out of them when they made this their home,” he said, almost awed.
“They have magic?” I asked, excitement edging my tone.
“No, no, not every Unnaturals can use magic like Fae,” he explained. “But we are all created of magic. But they”—he waved a hand toward the water—“are the very essence of magic. The water must have protected them when it was bound within all Unnatural beings. It must have somehow seeped into this water with the amount of them residing within this area.”
“This will give me the sufficient strength to continue on our travels to Hag,” he said, reaching down to grasp the waist of his pants.
My mouth dried as he quickly discarded his dark leathery pants. I yipped and whirled around, giving him my back. Finding it hard to swallow, I averted my gaze and cleared my throat.
That was how I found out Fae did not wear underwear.
I coughed into my hand. A deep chuckle sounded behind me, and then water sloshed as Roark stepped in. I stayed turned around with my eyes squeezed shut.
“Humans,” he muttered, the echo bouncing off the water from afar. “If you are concerned about seeing my unclothed body, I am submerged.”
I sighed at the disappointment his words sprouted in me. Turning, I saw he was indeed in the water from the waist down. Trying not to look at his muscled torso, I was about to take my shirt off when I felt eyes on me.
“Turn around,” I said, my eyes flicking up to catch his wandering ones. He stared at me, saying nothing. We stood there, having a staring contest. One I would definitely win. “Please,” I ground out between my teeth.
Finally, he gave me his defined back, and I quickly shucked off my pants and shirt, leaving my yellow undies and matching bra. Quickly submerging myself so he wouldn’t see me, I was shocked to find the water pleasantly warm. I sighed and swished the water around me as I went deeper until everything but my shoulders and head were underwater. My gaze was drawn to Roark as he reached up and ran his hand through his hair, sending ripples down his muscled back. Mouth dry, I gulped and looked away before he recognized any sort of desire in my gaze. I dunked my head into the water and felt it trickle down when I emerged. Each warm drop was a sensual caress, not helping my desire any.
Inhaling deeply, I closed my eyes and finished washing up, concentrating on washing the literal poop off my body. I thought I felt something against my leg, but I ignored it—until I felt it again. A scream erupted out of me as a silky feeling glided over my leg.
I looked down and screamed some more when I saw what looked like a small, big-eyed person… with fins? I hurriedly waded in Roark’s direction as he broke the surface of the water and shook his short hair out, reminding me of the way dogs shake off. Before he could even take another breath, I threw myself into his arms.
“Hold me up,” I chanted over and over. Thankfully, Roark did as I asked. Hooking his arm under my knees, he held me high, just barely grazing the water. “Higher,” I said, panicked.
“What is it?”
I pointed toward the thing that had been floating around me. He started toward where I motioned. “No!”
Ignoring me, he peered into the water and started laughing. Like seriously laughing. The wall he surrounded himself with vanished. Only genuine joy remained.
“Silly girl,” he managed. “It is just a mermaid youngling.”
“Oh, really? Just a mermaid youngling.”
“She’s just curious,” he said. “They do not become evil until later in life. She’s harmless.”
Evil? Mermaids were evil? That made so much more sense. I snorted. Well, there went my view of Ariel in The Little Mermaid. I knew they were more Harry Potter status.
“Come, young one,” he murmured and held out a hand that didn’t have me clutched to him. “I will not harm you.”
Moments passed until two hands popped out of the water. Two childlike, light green-tinted hands. They settled into his palm. He pulled, and her head rippled out of the water.
Her hair was long and flowed behind her in a dark green curtain. Her large eyes settled on me, and she started chirping. I startled, still in Roark’s arms. He squeezed to reassure me, and I relaxed in his arms. It chirped again, and Roark laughed. I realized she was talking to him.
“What’s it—she saying?” I asked.
“She’s wondering what you are, and why you smell so strange.” He laughed when she said something else. So, Roark hadn’t been exaggerating when he said he spoke all languages. As they continued chatting, I got more and more irritated. When Roark finally looked at me, a scowl had settled on my face.
“She has never met one of you. She requested to touch your skin.”
I stared at him. Touch me? “What if she eats my finger?” I said, only half-joking.
Roark offered me a smirk in answer. Finally giving in to the curiosity eating at me, I uncurled one of my arms from Roark’s neck and reached down. She chirped and smiled, showing teeth slightly sharpened at the ends. I shivered, but at Roark’s comforting squeeze, I hovered my hand until she released Roark’s and grasped mine.
Startled at the cold feel of her touch, I squeezed her little hands back. Now that my fear had minimized, I noticed she was the size of a four-year-old toddler from my world, with the same delicate childish features afforded to them. Except for the sharp teeth and coloring, of course.
Her giggle loosened me up as she fiddled with my fingers. I finally relaxed and returned her smile. Seeming pleased, she chirped and brought my hand to her cheek. Way too close to her mouth.
Feeling me tense, Roark chuckled. I looked up and found him gazing down at me with a soft expression. This time, I didn’t look away. I squeezed my lips together and felt a blush warm my cheeks. A warm, wet feeling brought my attention back to find the mermaid licking my index finger. Okay, that was enough. I gave her a smile and yanked my hand away, so it wouldn’t seem so harsh. She looked up at Roark. They conversed a little more, and then she waved at me shyly before disappearing under the water.
“What did she say?” I asked, awed beside myself.
“She said it was nice to meet us. We were the first to travel here without malicious intent. That was why she showed herself to us,” he said, still looking off with a frown. I got the sense it wasn’t all she had said.
I gave him a look, and he stared down at me. I flicked an eyebrow up and waved my hand, indicating for him to continue.
“She said, ‘Great evil plots. Be wary in your travels.’”
My eyebrows wrinkled together. “Is she psychic?”
“No, you will find that many Unnatural creatures are intuitionists. Mermaids are higher in that regard.”
There was that word again. Unnaturals. I nodded in thought and looked off into the looming forest around us, feeling chilled. The tall trees’ shadows were seriously giving me a vibe. “Are there more creatures here in Faerie?”
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“There used to be all creatures. Any creature you may have ever thought to be myth was born and existed here.”
“Past tense?”
“There are few species left here other than Fae. Many Kings ago, most other creatures were forced out.”
“Forced out? To where?”
“To your human world.”
My mouth hung. “What do you mean, many Kings ago? How many years is that?”
“In human terms, I would say more than a thousand years.”
I gaped at him. “Mythical creatures have been living among humanity for hundreds of years?”
“Magical beings as a whole are called Unnaturals, I believe you humans changed the term to Supernaturals.” And there was my explanation. It oddly made sense.
“So, you’re an Unnatural?” I asked. Roark bent his head, answering my question. “I can’t believe all this is real.”
“All Unnaturals were affected two hundred and fifty years ago when magic was bound.”
“How?”
“It depends on the Unnatural. For Fae, we are unable to use magic, and in effect, we are unable to sense our mates. Those of us that had already reached Fae maturity on our twenty-second year froze into our immortality. Others were not as lucky.”
He was slowly sliding me back down into the water when I yanked myself up again. “Uh, if you don’t mind, could you drop me when we’re safely on land? You know, where there’s no potential of being dragged down by any mermaid.”
His lips twitched, and he started to shore. I tilted my head back, and what I saw stunned me. “Are those two suns?”
“Yes.” He smiled at my shock. It shouldn’t have surprised me since I’d already seen the two moons, but I was stunned, nonetheless.
I needed to realize that everything was going to be weird, or else my mind would explode. Hell, it was a surprise it hadn’t already.
14
As he padded a safe distance away from the water and onto the shore, my body started sliding down him. He must have been doing it on purpose because I was suddenly very aware of his naked form rubbing against my barely clad body.