by Kim Deister
She didn’t bother to answer my question, choosing instead to pierce me with another one of those intense looks, staring me in the eyes. Once again, it was awkward as hell, but I couldn’t drag my eyes away from her. It annoyed the hell out of me, but I couldn’t help but notice just how physically perfect she really was. How can I compete with her? She’s everything I’m not. Any man would choose her over me and I knew it to my soul. Finn would choose her over me. Finn!
As soon as his name crossed my mind, I realized what was happening. She was in my head, screwing with my thoughts. I fought it and it felt like knives stabbing my brain. Something warm and wet trickled over my lip and into my mouth. I tasted the coppery taste of my own blood as it flowed out of my nose. It felt like my head was on the verge of exploding when I finally looked away, breaking the hold she’d held over my mind. Sneaky bitch.
“Knock it off, Siofra. Your compulsion crap isn’t going to work on me,” I snapped, blithely ignoring the fact that it almost had. Denial was sometimes a necessary evil.
The look on her face was priceless. I doubted it happened to her very often, but I had managed it. I had shocked the hell out of her. A mere little human shouldn’t have been able to break through her Jedi mind tricks. I felt a certain amount of smugness, but my mental pat on the back was short-lived. I didn’t think this particular ability was going to help me much. She didn’t need mind tricks to kill me and we both knew it.
I watched her get herself under control again before she hissed at me. “What do you think I want?”
“I think you want Finn and you want me out of the way.”
She cocked her head to the side and considered me. For a moment, she almost looked impressed, although I wasn’t sure why. It didn’t take an epic amount of brain power to deduce the fact she wanted me gone.
“Well, aren’t you a smart little girl?” The snideness in her voice was unmistakable and, I had to admit, impressive in its level of bitchiness. The snarky tone wasn’t good, but it had to be better than full-on rage. Rage usually preceded pain and murder and I wasn’t up to being the victim of either quite yet. Or ever.
“The big question is… why exactly do you want him so bad? I know the story. The man treated you like crap. You can’t tell me you still want him after that, do you? Especially after all this time. So, why? Is this just about revenge? Because three centuries seems like a long time to wait, if that’s all you want.” Of course, my inability to shut my mouth might not help with the whole “avoiding torture and death” thing, but I was scared and my wordiness was once again out of control.
“My reasons are none of your business.”
“Seriously?” I looked at her in sarcastic surprise. “I beg to differ. You’re here, standing in front of me, aren’t you? You aren't with Finn, trying to drag him away with you. So, I think that makes it my business. I guess the next question is… what exactly are you planning to do about it, Siofra?”
She picked up a silk scarf dyed in a myriad shades of green, watching it slide through her hands as she played with it. Holding it up to the light, she took her time examining it, prolonging my agony with every second she delayed answering me. Finally, she tossed it haphazardly back onto the table and turned back to me with a mocking smile on her cold face.
“Well, I guess that depends on you, doesn’t it?” I heard the promise of worse to come in her voice. Almost against my will, I took a step away from her. She noticed and the satisfied smirk on her face just annoyed the hell out of me.
“Will you please stop playing games and just tell me what the hell you would like from me?” My patience was at an end and she looked surprised by my aggressiveness. Score one for the mortal chick.
“You are a brave little thing, aren’t you? And feisty, too. Or are you just stupid?” She gave me a long, considering look with narrowed eyes. “No, you are not stupid. You have much fire inside of you. In another situation, I might even be inclined to like you. But then again, I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for humans. That has proven to be a wee bit troublesome for me from time to time.” She waved a hand, dismissing humans as if they were nothing more than annoying mosquitoes.
A wee bit troublesome. For her. I was incredulous at her flippant attitude. “A wee bit troublesome” didn’t seem like an accurate description of a curse that spanned more than three centuries. And I thought her soft spot for humans was a tad more than simply troublesome for Finn and every other mortal she sought to torment. I was on the verge of making another ill-advised comment, but before I could open my big mouth again, she spoke.
“It's time we had a little chat,” she said. “Perhaps that will prove to be all that is necessary for you to learn your place. So, come along and let’s talk.”
Learn my place? I felt my Irish fire start to rise and I had to force myself not to lose my cool. If there was ever something a person shouldn’t say to me, it was that. It took an epic amount of willpower and several deep breaths to accomplish that feat.
“No.” I poured every last bit of anger into that one word. I was angry, not just because of her attitude, but because of the stress and the fear she caused us.
Siofra had started to walk away, expecting me to follow along behind her like an obedient little sheep. When I refused, she stopped dead in her tracks and turned around to stare at me in stunned disbelief. Her eyes flashed with fire and I took a step back as she stepped toward me.
“No?” She spoke in as if she were in the middle of conversation, but that single word was full of power and fury. “Did you just dare to refuse me?”
The world around us went black until she and I were alone in deadly silence. Power sparked and crackled around us and I felt its current racing up and down along my skin, snapping at me like tiny needles. It wrapped around me, holding me captive. I was more terrified than I had ever been. Until now, it had been easy to forget that she wasn’t human. The first time I met her, as Chloe, she was just a little weird. Weird, but normal. When I lost my mind at Macy, she seemed scared of me, far from the invincible fairy that stood in front of me now. Even last night, when I saw her in my yard, she’d been intimidating, but nothing like this. She never seemed to be much of anything other than entirely human. But not now.
I felt her in my head, trying to take it over again, and it took everything in me to force my eyes away from hers. I refused to let her control my mind, not again. As soon as I broke her hold on me, the rest of the world came back into existence and her grip on me fell away. But I didn’t dare take my eyes off her, so I focused on a spot above her eyes. I needed to get a grip if I didn’t want a starring role in my own death scene. Everything in me wanted to scream and run, but I forced my feet to stay exactly where they were.
“Look, I’ll go with you, if that’s what you want. But, look around. In case you missed it, I’m kind of in the middle of something. If I leave now, I guarantee you people will notice. And somehow, I don’t think you want an audience.”
The annoyed sigh she let out rivaled one of my niece’s better diva sighs. It was long, drawn out, and full of overdramatic attitude. I had a point and she didn’t like it. She stood in front of me, disgruntled and not liking it. Score two for the measly mortal!
And that was exactly why she was dangerous. It was such a human thing to do, popping attitude like that. It made her seem more like a Mean Girl than an immortal creature from another realm. That made it very easy to underestimate her and I couldn’t afford to do that again, not if I wanted to survive until tomorrow.
“I am not in the habit of waiting, especially not for one such as yourself.”
Her performance as a snooty bitch was so on point that I felt like I should clap for her. However, I managed to restrain myself. “You mean human?” I asked the question with as much sarcasm as I could muster without risking my life again. “C’mon, Siofra. You’ve waited this long. I imagine you can probably manage a little bit longer without any lasting effects.”
Siofra didn’t appreciate my attemp
t at wry humor. She looked as if she wanted to wave her proverbial magic wand at me and turn me into a frog. I was pushing my luck, but my common sense seemed to have taken a vacation to some exotic place. Word vomit kept spewing from my mouth and I seemed to be powerless to stop it. I had no reason to feel as ballsy as I acted. I didn’t need magic skills of my own to know that I would pay for it. But I was desperate.
Another long-suffering sigh. “Fine. How long do I have to wait?”
Forever? “The show won’t be over for an hour and then it’ll take me another hour or so to pack up and load it in my truck.”
“Can’t you pack later? I do not feel like waiting that long.”
“No, I can’t. The arena closes and I need to get my stuff out before then. If I walk out and leave it sitting here, people will notice. Do you want that? Of course, if your schedule is tight, we could do this another time. Or you could speed up the process and help me pack and load my truck.” I didn’t know how it was possible for an intelligent chick to be so stupid, but I did it. When I got nervous, I got dumb and way too outspoken. Neither of these were terribly good survival skills.
Her sniff was all the answer I needed. I knew Miss Immortal Perfection wouldn’t lower herself to help a mere human, but I figured I should give it a shot. But at least I got myself a little time, even if I had no idea what the hell to do with it.
“Fine. Then why don’t you go away and let me do what I need to do? You can meet me back here later.”
I hoped that, for once, my life would be blessed with some luck, some good luck. She was all-powerful and should be confident enough in her mad skills to leave me alone, giving me time to find some brilliant way to escape. But she enjoyed torturing me too much to give me even a sliver of hope.
She arched an elegant eyebrow at my suggestion, giving me a look of utter disgust. “No. I’ll stay. I wouldn’t want you to feel lonely, after all. I’ll just waste some time looking at your offerings while I wait. How cute that you used frogs in your work,” she paused. She looked as if she was trying to think about how best to insult me. “Cute, but a little obvious, don’t you think?”
She succeeded. Not wanting to give her the satisfaction, I ignored her comment and turned my back on her. A couple moved in front of one of the tables and I turned my attention to them. But I didn’t trust Siofra for a second. I did my best to keep an eye on her as I talked. It wasn’t until the husband decided to buy a bracelet for his wife that I realized she still had my cell.
“Siofra. I need my phone. I have a sale.”
She gave me a confused look before she handed it to me. Clearly, she wasn’t up on Squares and modern technology. She gave it to me, but she obviously didn't trust me any more than I trusted her. She didn’t let it or me out of her sight. The moment I set the phone down, she swiped it off the table and slipped it into her pocket.
I felt like I was in kindergarten again, my mommy taking my toys away when I’d been bad. All I wanted was to get my hands on my phone unseen, just long enough to finish my text message to Finn. I just wanted to warn him and I had zero chance to do that.
I kept busy with my customers, trying to ignore the fact that a fairy with revenge on her mind was hovering around me. When she wasn't watching me, I noticed her fascination with one of the necklaces. She spent a lot of time running it through her fingers, thumbing the pendant that hung from it. It was a long, beaded trio of thin ropes in shades of green, each one a little longer than the one before it, meant to be looped two or three times around the neck. The pendant was a fat frog perched on a silver lily pad. It hung from the longest strand on a couple inches of delicate silver chain. I didn't know what her obsession was with that piece, but when she thought I wasn't looking, she took it off the branch and dropped it over her head, tucking it out of sight under her shirt. Despite the fact that it was one of the pricier pieces, I kept my mouth shut. I had a feeling that the theft didn’t have anything to do with a nasty case of kleptomania and mentioning it would bring me nothing but pain.
Finally, the last of the customers were gone and the doors closed behind them. I turned around to pull out my boxes to pack up and found Siofra sitting on my stool holding a framed photo. It was Finn, one of many I’d taken at Grandma Fiona’s a few days ago. It was his debut into print modeling, wearing a few of my rings and one of my leather cuffs on his wrist. He was laughing in the photo, his head thrown back. I took it right after Grandma Fiona made a lewd comment. Something involving his jeans and what he might or might not be wearing under them.
It was sexy as hell, if I said so myself. But that wasn’t how she looked at it. Instead, her face was sad as she gazed at his image. I didn't know it was possible, but I actually felt sorry for her. But the moment she realized I was watching her, the sadness went away and she looked at me like I was worth less than nothing. My life had no value or meaning to her. It was an expression that did nothing for my self-esteem and it chilled me to the bone.
“Are you done yet? Can you please hurry up and pack your little baubles?”
I rolled my eyes and saluted her, flipping her off discreetly as soon as her attention wandered. She sat on the stool glaring at my back while I packed, making snarky comments here and there. She really was the epitome of a Mean Girl, all superficial snottiness with no point except to be a flaming bitch.
When it was time to load, I expected her to follow me. But she made no move to get off the stool. For a second, freedom looked like it could be mine, but my hopes were quickly dashed. Her words froze me in mid-step.
“You can go. But don’t even think about trying to leave without me. And don’t bother trying to get help. You know I can stop you and I will, right along with anyone you try to enlist.” Her eyes glowed with fire for a split second, giving me every reason to believe her. That small, subtle display of her fairy skills were more than enough to keep me in line. There was nothing I could do and I knew it. I loaded my boxes without a single attempt to escape her or draw even the slightest bit of attention to the situation. The stool was the last thing to find its way into my truck because she refused to move from it until I was done and ready to go.
My stomach churned as I walked across the arena floor with Siofra attached to my hip. We just cleared the top of the steps above the plywood-covered ice when I heard Taylor calling my name. I looked back, but before I could say anything or make a move toward her, I felt Siofra’s hand snake around my bicep. It felt like a blood pressure cuff on steroids and, despite every effort to avoid it, I winced in pain.
“What the hell, Siofra?”
“Don’t get any funny ideas, mortal. We are leaving. Now,” she hissed, nipping my ear painfully in warning. The bitch fucking bit me. It felt like a vampire had bitten my ear. Did fairies even have fangs?
“I’m well aware,” I grumbled, rubbing my ear. “But can’t I at least say goodbye? Trust me, it’s going to set off alarms if I don’t. She’s my best friend.” Crap.
The second I said the words, I knew I’d made a mistake. I just gave her more ammunition to use against me. Any hope I had that she might have missed it was dashed when I saw her eyes flash with interest and calculation. Definitely a mistake.
"Say goodbye then. From here. And you better hope that she doesn’t get suspicious. You won’t like what happens to her if she gets involved.” Siofra gave my arm another hard squeeze in warning, raising an eyebrow as she waited for me to acknowledge her orders.
I nodded before turning back towards Taylor. I waved down at her. “Hey, Tay! I’m sorry, but I have to go. Call you later, okay?” I hope. My voice squeaked, making me sound like a bunny on crack.
She waved back at me and yelled goodbye tentatively, but the look of confusion was obvious. I had about another millisecond before Siofra squeezed harder and tugged me away. Taylor didn't miss it. Her eyes widened and I saw her take a step towards me. Siofra's attention had already moved away from my friend, so I gave her an almost imperceptible shake of the head. She couldn’t come after m
e. The confusion in her face deepened and I mouthed just one word. Finn.
The last thing I saw before Siofra dragged me around the corner and out of sight was Taylor mouthing her own word at me. What? I felt the last little bit of hope fade and I walked resignedly beside Siofra to my truck.
Driving with Siofra in the passenger seat proved to be a nightmare. She was worse than my paranoid mother, who was a big fan of the nonexistent passenger-side brakes. But Siofra brought it to a whole new level. At this rate, she would never need her magic to off me. Every time I came within ten feet of anything, she shrieked. She sounded less like a fairy and more like a banshee. It was enough to challenge even the steadiest of drivers.
Her skittishness was bad enough, but she prolonged the unmitigated joy of being trapped in a vehicle with her. The angst over my questionable future as a living human being was an added bonus for her. She directed me along a circuitous route around town, the point of which was beyond me. This town wasn’t that big and I grew up here. I didn't know where we were going, but I knew exactly where we were. The only thing she accomplished was wasting my time and gas. That and raising my blood pressure.
We drove around for a long time before the random turns stopped. As we drove out of town, I had a sneaking suspicion that I knew where exactly she was taking us. This was the road leading to the river where most of my family lived.
“Where are you taking me, Siofra?” My anxiety level skyrocketed as I waited for her answer. “Please tell me we aren’t going to my grandmother’s house, or my parents’. None of them have anything to do with this. There’s absolutely no need to put them in the middle of it. You have me. Isn’t that enough?”
“You’re not very trusting, are you?”
I looked at her and I’m pretty sure she could read the “are you kidding me right now” look on my face. Trust wasn’t high on the list of things I was feeling for her right now. Rage and fear, definitely. But not trust.