by Kristie Cook
Eli shot Cole and Owen a sarcastic grin. “Told you.”
Cole and Owen exchanged glances, communicating silently before Cole sighed and nodded reluctantly. He moved a chair closer and sat down.
“Just so you know, Ember, I never figured you for a fool or stupid. I assumed this would happen sooner or later,” Cole stated coolly.
“Then why?”
“Because once the truth is out, there’s no going back, and you will wish you could,” he replied. “There is also something you must understand. No one can learn the truth about us … no one.”
Cole’s look was so severe I had to hold back the hysteria gripping me. There was no reassurance from either Owen or Eli. Were they going to kill me? Did I just sign my own death warrant?
“There was one instance a human learned about us. She didn’t live long enough to tell anyone else.”
I gulped. Terror slashed my chest, making me dizzy and weak. My eyes darted around the room. The door and two windows were my only means of escape, and escaping was about as likely as them letting me walk out of this room. I was trapped.
Cole picked up on my fear. “We’re not going to hurt you, Ember. You are safe for now.”
I did not miss the not-so-subtle implication of “for now,” but I didn’t linger on it. Something else caught my attention.
***
“You said the word ‘human’ like you don’t belong to that classification?” I forced a wobbly smile, still not sure if I was ready to hear the truth. “It sounds like you’re implying you’re not.” None of them disputed my words. I stare at them and burst out laughing. “This is some kind of joke, right?” But their solemn expressions were unchanged. “Okay, I’ll play along. So … what are you supposed to be?
Eli launched himself off the wall and was inches from me before I could blink. His warm breath brushed my face. “This isn’t a game, Brycin. This isn’t going to be a cute little storybook you can close when you’re done. You open this, and you’re going to be letting things out you cannot possibly imagine. And believe me when I tell you this is no fairytale.” A brutal smile formed on his lips. “You still ready to hear a bedtime story?”
There was no going back, but I could no longer ignore the truth. “Y-Yes,” I forced myself to say through the fear.
“Even if it endangers your life?” he snapped.
“Are you threatening me, Dragen?”
“It’s not a threat.” His carnal grin made my pulse start to pound. It affected me on two disturbing levels.
“Eli,” Cole shot him a warning look.
Eli stepped back, but the cold smile never left his face. How could he turn me on so much while scaring the living crap out of me?
“So why does your blood affect me like this?”
“As you figured, we are not human, Ms. Brycin,” Owen said calmly. “And neither are you.”
If he hadn’t said it so emotionless, I would have burst out laughing again. But Owen’s reserved tone made me shiver. Only a tiny, nervous giggle escaped my lips.
“Oh, come on. You expect me to believe you’re being serious?”
“What do you think?” Eli replied. “You think we’re merely having a bit of fun with you?”
I knew they weren’t. The truth I had been denying for so long was finally being said out loud. I was not human. “So, what are you telling me exactly?” I swallowed apprehensively; heaviness weighed down on me.
Cole cleared his throat. “The world is not always what it appears to be. There are things out there, things you truly should be afraid of … beings and creatures not in any book. How much do you know about the Otherworld?” Taking my shocked look as ignorance, Cole started again. “Okay, how about mythology, particularly Celtic or Scottish mythology?”
“You’re talking leprechauns and the Loch Ness monster?”
Eli frowned. “The Loch Ness monster was a kelpie who went insane and got caught without its glamour. But, yeah, I guess if you want to put it in layman’s terms, kelpies and leprechauns are part of the Otherworld.”
“Have you ever heard of the Danann Tuatha DÉ Danann?” Cole tilted his head as he spoke.
And, finally, there goes Alice down the rabbit hole …
I took in a sharp breath. I knew the name well. When I was little, my mom would tell me bedtime stories about the Otherworld, its beautiful land, and magical Fae-folk of Tuatha DÉ Danann. She would make up these incredibly detailed stories about the Court of Inner Light, called the Seelie, and the Court of the Outer Darkness, called the Unseelie. I would later pretend to live in this world and make believe I was a fairy at their magical court.
But I was a child and those were only stories, right?
Eli noted my reaction and gave a slight nod. “So, you’ve heard of it. I imagine from your mother?”
“Yes, she would tell me bedtime stories about it. Why?”
“They weren’t bedtime stories. Fairies, Seelie, Sidhe, Fae, whatever you call them, are not some cute, little winged creatures who go around sprinkling fairy dust on children,” Eli scoffed. “They are elitist snobs who can be vindictive and cruel, especially that bitch of a Queen.”
“Eli,” Cole warned again. I could feel the vehement wrath stirring in Eli at the mention of this Queen. I could almost taste his hatred of her, and revenge he so desired. He wanted her dead. It disturbed me I could feel him so acutely. There had always been a connection between us, but this was beyond that.
“Okay … whoa, hold on here.” I held up my hands. “What are you guys talking about? Are you saying things like fairies, imps, and kelpies are real?”
“Yes, and creatures of which you have never dreamed, things you can’t find in books or on the Internet.”
“Oh, my god,” I mumbled. Even though I had somehow known this, it felt different to have it confirmed. “It’s actually real. I’m not crazy.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” Eli quipped.
I smiled thinly. “No, I mean the things I’ve been seeing, like the goblin driving the bus … he was real?” Another loaded thought occurred to me. “Oh, shit. The rat in the shed was some kind of Fae creature.”
“A gnome,” Eli said.
I laughed, relief tumbling off my shoulders. My smile slipped quickly from my lips. “You made me feel crazy, like I was seeing things.” My eyes narrowed at Eli. Looking at him brought more memories to surface. I remembered watching him change. His eyes had shifted like a cat’s, resembling the ones haunting my dreams, and his nails had grown into claws. The beast in the forest …
“You” … I pointed at the guys … “attacked me.”
“No one in this room attacked you,” Cole assured me.
“But one of your kind did?”
Cole nodded.
“What are you?” An image of a panther-like animal, which was blacker than night, with knife-like teeth and claws and red, cat-like eyes, came bounding into my head.
“Those in the Otherworld call us Dark Dwellers,” Cole replied.
“Dark Dwellers?” I repeated the name out loud, panic crashing into me like a wave. “What is a Dark Dweller?”
“We are worse than any nightmare.” Cole’s biting response let me know this was all he was going to say on the subject. The fact they were dangerous was something I had known the moment I had crossed paths with Eli. By their name and the secrecy they ardently held onto, I knew whatever they were was even worse than I first thought.
With every breath I tried to fight my instinct to run. “So are you Fae?”
“We are under the umbrella of Fae,” Cole said coolly. “Fae is a general term for all things living in or from the Otherworld. It’s like the term ‘human,’ but there are a thousand different species which fall under this, both Dark and Light.”
“So what am I?”
“You are Fae,” Eli responded.
Always helpful.
“You have some pure blood in you. F-a-e is a general term for everything in the Otherworld. F-a-y is an actual spec
ies of fairy, and they are the pureblooded fairies. The Seelie Court is made up of pure Fay. They rule most of the Otherworld now.”
“So, I’m a fairy?” The powers I possessed didn’t seem like things fairies would do, but I guessed I was basing this off movies.
“You can have your own wand and everything,” Eli mused. I shot him a dirty look.
“Breath, Ember.” Owen looked worried. “I know this must be overwhelming and frightening to you right now.”
“You think?” I exclaimed. “You’re telling me the Otherworld exists. Monsters and goblins exist. Fairytales and myths are real, and even more, I’m one of them!” I sucked in a deep breath. “On top of this, I was almost killed last night by a so-called Dark Dweller, and for all I know, it might have been one of you. You think I might get a little worked up here?”
“You must try to stay calm,” Owen repeated.
“Yeah, that’s easier said than done.” My voice came out lighter than how I truly felt. I was terrified as my world crumbled around me. I wanted to laugh this off and continue being ignorant, but I knew better.
I wasn’t human. I think I had known for a long time now. It was something I had kept locked tight inside and never let myself think about or acknowledge, but it was something I somehow always sensed. Cole’s earlier words came back to haunt me: “Once the truth is out, there’s no going back. And you will wish you could.” It was too late. There would be no going back now.
“I’m not keeping you in the dark about what we are merely for fun, Ember. It’s for your safety, and ours. Keeping our secret is the most important thing to us. We cannot chance anyone finding out about us or about you, unless we choose for someone to know. Do you understand?” Cole looked sternly at me.
I nodded. “So … I’m from the Otherworld, too?”
It really wasn’t a question, but Cole confirmed it anyway. “Yes.”
“Tell me. Exactly. What am I?”
They remained silent, and I could feel Eli’s emotions without looking at him, as if he was sending his feelings over radio waves. I was aware of every move he made. A slight sigh or the grinding of his teeth felt like a scream. I rubbed my head as a throbbing pain pulsed in my temples. He had known this whole time what I was and had said nothing. I looked at Cole and Eli. Something in their expression made me think they weren’t telling me the whole truth.
“We will tell you exactly what you are. But there is something else we must speak of first,” Owen said.
“Something else?”
“Yes. You see, you had lost a lot of blood after the attack, and you were close to dying. As you’ve figured out, Eli donated his blood to save your life.” I couldn’t help my eyes from darting over to Eli before returning to Owen. “What you are and what we are is different, and his blood seems to have changed you.”
“I don’t understand? Change me how?”
“In layman’s terms, Eli’s blood changed your DNA a bit.”
“A bit?” Icy heat slithered down and a wave of vertigo hit me.
“We don’t really know how much it has affected you or if it’s permanent. Physically, your reactions to the blood, like the glowing, should taper off in a day or so, but as for inside your body, we may never know the long-term effects. This is not something that has happened … ever.”
“What do you mean this is not something that happens? What is his blood doing to me?”
“You would have died without it, but based off history, you should have died because of it. Blood is not exchanged between ‘species’.” Owen made air quotes with his fingers. “So I have no reference as to how it will affect you or why you didn’t die from taking in his blood. I could take a sample of your blood and test it.”
“Yes, do that,” I replied. I hadn’t even learned what I really was, and now suddenly I was something else. I could feel the power of Eli’s blood pumping through my veins, taking over my body. Instead of attacking the foreign invader, my body seemed to be welcoming it.
“I will try to find out as much as I can. But in the meantime, I need you to tell me everything you feel or any changes you notice.”
I laughed. Everything about me had changed.
The morphine was wearing off. I could feel pain shoot through my legs, making me feel even more unsettled. Acid coated my tongue. My head pounded. I wanted to shut down and forget everything I recently learned, as Cole warned me I would. I was a fucking fairy. As shocked and overwhelmed as I felt, there was a part of me not surprised.
My stomach convulsed, emptying anything that might be in there. Vomit came pouring out all over the floor in front of me.
“Shit!” Cole jumped out of the way, while Owen was instantly at my side with a cloth, tending to me. The guys had the dirty job of cleaning up my mess.
But my head was too heavy to hold up any longer. “Rest,” Owen said softly as he guided my head toward the pillow. “Your body is in shock and is reacting to the foreign blood in your system. It should get better after a while.”
I curled into a ball, wrapping my arms tightly around my legs. Owen withdrew samples of my blood before injecting me with more morphine. “This will help you sleep.” I nodded in response and felt a pat on my arm. Owen and Cole slipped out of the room almost undetected. Damn, they were stealthy.
It was only around mid-morning, but dark thunderclouds kept most of the light from entering the room. Any light made me feel nauseous so I wanted to pull the blankets over my head and hide from the world—both of them.
I didn’t even notice I was shaking until Eli put another blanket on me. “Get some sleep.” He tucked the blanket tight around me and started to walk away.
I grabbed his hand. The last thing I wanted was to be alone. I was past caring he was a threat to my life. It didn’t seem to matter right then.
Stay with me. My eyes pleaded with him. Please …
His eyebrows creased together, and a range of emotions fought for dominance over his features.
I thought he’d pull his hand away and leave the room. But after a pause, he sighed and moved me over, crawling in beside me. He stayed above the covers, but wrapped his arms around me, fitting his body closely with mine.
I shut my eyes, as my body curled in perfectly with his, soaking up his warmth and closeness. We didn’t talk. It could be done later. All I wanted was his warm body lying next to mine, his strong arms protecting me from the nightmares inside and outside my head. It was a lie, but a lie I needed to believe.
My mind swam with dream-like memories of red, burning eyes and claws slashing at my throat. Eli’s arms tightened around me, and I realized I was whimpering. I couldn’t seem to stop the nightmares from coming as sleep finally claimed me.
***
Later when I opened my eyes, I was alone. The gray afternoon light broke through the window, and rain pelted the windowpane. I wasn’t feeling up to par yet, but I felt ten times better than earlier. My mind was groggy and my body was limp, but this could be from the morphine Owen gave me.
My thoughts fell back to all the things I had discovered. I wasn’t human, but Fae. So did this mean my mom was also a Fae? Were the stories she told me true? Were they about the world she came from? Were the characters in her stories real? Did she have family? Friends?
Shit!
I sat up with a wobbly jolt, remembering Kennedy and Ryan had no idea where I was. I had merely disappeared from the party. They had to be freaking out. I needed to let them know I was okay—well, relatively okay—before they got the police involved. Maybe they already had. Not that Sheriff Weiss would lift a finger to find me, but I didn’t want anyone to contact Mark. He would be thinking something awful had happened to me and completely lose it, especially being in Japan and not being able to get back fast enough.
Oh, crap on ash bark. He was returning home Monday afternoon. Tomorrow. He might even be getting ready to go to the airport now. He would’ve called me before he left. I had to find my phone. I looked around the room for any of my belonging
s. Oh right, I’d left my cell on the counter at home.
Great idea there, Em!
I pushed the blankets off me and swung my legs over the bed. I stopped, sensing I was not alone in the room. My eyes darted around. Was I being guarded? Even though it was most likely Owen or Eli, warning chills tingled against my skin, screaming at my body to flee. Somehow I knew it wasn’t Eli. I could feel he wasn’t close by. Plus, whatever Eli would do, he’d do outright, not ambush me. I knew that much about him. Whoever was here was creeping up on me, lying in wait for the perfect moment to pounce.
I launched off the bed and darted for the door. At the same time, several dark figures moved in silently and quickly around me. They all wore dark clothes and deep hoods covered their heads. Between the darkness and my drug-induced state, I couldn’t make out any of them. Someone grabbed me from behind, immediately covering my mouth with a black glove. Panic worsened my suffocation. I tried to scream, but nothing came out. The person behind me jerked me tightly to his body, and a sharp pain ignited in my thigh. I twisted to see another covered head pulling a syringe out of my leg.
“You sure you don’t want me to knock her out as well?” A woman’s voice said to the guy behind me. There was something about her voice which seemed familiar.
“That won’t be necessary,” the guy replied. His voice was deep and vibrated in my ear. He gripped me tighter around the waist as my legs went limp.
“Bitch,” I spat at the girl, which sounded more like “VvLLIItch.”
“Oh, I think it’s necessary,” the woman replied.
Her fist came toward me at a speed my eyes could not grasp. A bone-crunching sound echoed off the walls. My head jerked and twisted and rich blackness seized me.