by De-Ann Black
‘Thank you, Archer.’
He smiled again, and I felt a longing for him. Despite being attracted to Daire and Sabastien, there was something about Archer that seemed. . . as if he would be part of my future, and Daire and Sabastien were part of my past.
Of course, why would Archer be attracted to me?
‘I have to go now, but if you ever need me, tell Midnight. He’ll know where to find me.’
I nodded, and looked towards the cat, expecting him to be asleep, but Midnight had gone.
‘Where is he?’ I said, turning to Archer, but he’d disappeared as well.
For a moment, I felt completely alone, then I noticed the letter. It was lying on the garden table, addressed to me, private and confidential. The envelope was light blue and the words written in blue ink.
I picked it up and read the words written on the envelope. Do not open until Midnight is home. The writing wasn’t that of Sabastien.
I figured that Midnight would come home with Orlaith, so I intended keeping the letter sealed until then.
I put it in my room, and caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. The dress was as lovely as I’d first seen it. I would keep this dress forever, I promised myself, and when I was old I’d remember my fantastic adventure.
I hung the dress up on the outside of the wardrobe and climbed into bed. Moonlight streamed into the room as it had done before, highlighting the city spires against the night sky, and making the dress sparkle where a few snow crystals still glistened.
I smiled to myself, and don’t remember falling asleep, though I thought I heard Archer whisper the words that Daire had said before. ‘Get some sleep. Things will look fine in the morning.’
The day dawned bright and clear and fresh. The sun was shining and the day promised to be a scorcher.
I showered, put on a casual summer dress, and brushed my hair, letting it dry naturally in the sun while I ate breakfast on the patio.
I couldn’t help but check that the bluebells had gone and that I hadn’t imagined everything, but the dress with its faerie sparkles was still hanging on the wardrobe confirming that I hadn’t.
I sipped my tea and thought about Archer. It would take me a while to stop wondering what he was doing, and what Daire and Sabastien were up to. Mischief no doubt in that snow covered city of theirs. I loved the snow. But I loved the sunshine, and the thought that I could start afresh, everything back to normal, but with exciting memories that most seventeen year old girls can only dream off.
The phone rang. It was Orlaith.
‘How’s things?’ she chirped.
‘Great,’ I said. ‘I’ve had breakfast, the weather’s warm and sunny and I’m heading out into the city.’
‘I’m pleased you’re doing okay,’ she said. ‘And what about that young man of yours — your secret admirer who penned the letter? Any possibility of romance?’ She sounded so light–hearted.
‘No romance with him. I had dinner with him, but he’s not the one for me.’
‘Ah well, never mind. I’m sure there’s someone else out there for you.’
‘Yes, I think there is.’
‘Is that a hint of someone else you have in mind I hear in your voice?’
‘Maybe.’
‘Oh to be seventeen again.’ I heard her sigh. ‘Boys, dinner dates, a few broken hearts, outweighed with fun.’
And faeries and monsters I thought.
‘I’ll phone you when I’m coming home. Enjoy yourself, Vesper, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. No, I take that back. Anything your mother wouldn’t do. Then again…’
I laughed and wished her all the luck with her artwork deal in London.
By lunchtime I’d shopped until I’d dropped. Yes, I kept thinking about Archer and the others, but I felt better about everything, as if the effects of the spellbinding had worn off. I wasn’t longing for Sabastien or Daire.
In the crowds on Princes Street, I thought I saw someone who looked like Archer, but when I blinked, he’d gone.
I stopped for lunch at a cafe, and then wandered through the city, mainly the shops, before picking something up for dinner and heading back to the house.
I sat outside in the garden having salad and pizza and iced tea, enjoying the summer sun, and unwinding. Later, I relaxed on the sofa and watched a movie, a romantic comedy that made me think of what might have been between Sabastien and me, or Daire, but also made me laugh.
I suppose, in my own way, I was just trying to be okay about everything again. Flying with faeries and being chased by monsters wasn’t something I could tell anyone about, so I had to deal with it. Sunshine, shopping, pizza and a movie was my therapy of choice. And it worked. Orlaith would be home soon, and then I’d open the mysterious letter.
I fell asleep on the sofa and woke up late at night. The patio doors were still open. I went over and closed them securely. A shiver of the past ran through me, reminding me how I felt when I’d been hunted. But I wasn’t hunted now.
I got ready for bed and thought about Archer and what it would be like to date someone like him. Would I fit into his world when there were moths like the Alchymist who didn’t like humans? What would my mother and Orlaith think about him? I supposed if he didn’t reveal his wings he’d look like any other fashionable guy in the city.
Letting my imagination run riot, I snuggled into the covers. The bedroom felt as it always had before — safe and cosy. I breathed easily, planning to enjoy the summer here.
And I did.
‘Vesper, where do you want me to pack this?’ My mother held up my faerie dress. ‘I love this dress,’ she said, admiring it in the early autumn light shining through my bedroom window. Summer was a memory and all the trees outside our home were glowing with the copper, gold and russet shades of autumn.
We were packing up the house in London. Some of our things, like clothes, were going with us to New York, but most of it was going into storage for the next two years.
‘I’m not taking the dress with me.’ I didn’t want to risk losing it in travelling.
Mum nodded and wrapped it carefully in tissue paper as if it was as precious to her as it was to me.
I felt like weeping. I’d felt so sad since we started packing. It was one thing talking about leaving London and going off to New York. It sounded exciting, like something you see in a movie. But the reality wasn’t pretty. Seeing the house gradually empty of everything we loved and cared about, hearing our footsteps echo in the rooms as packing boxes filled with our belongings were stored in the hall ready to be picked up by the storage company kept making me want to burst into tears. I’d miss the house, and London, and Orlaith and Midnight. The list went on and on…
But I didn’t want to waste my mother’s chance for a better life in the Big Apple. So I kept my tears tucked away.
Mum suddenly slumped down on the edge of my bed that looked like a whirlwind of clothes had hit it. She sighed wearily. ‘Are we doing the right thing?’
Our blonde hair was tousled, worn in manic ponytails that made us look more alike than ever. Dressed casually in jeans and T–shirts to move and shift and clean and pack, we looked drained and anything but happy about the prospect of leaving London.
I looked at her. Should I be honest? This was never a house of secrets.
She read my hesitation.
‘I know it’s a wonderful chance to go and work in New York, but are we just doing it because of the money? What are we giving up?’
‘Well…the money’s great and it could be a boost to your career…’
‘But what if we’re not happy there? I hardly had a chance to breathe during the summer. The pace was frantic. And I missed the summer with you and Orlaith. We’ll never get that time back. You’ll only be seventeen once. I wanted to enjoy your last few years at school before you make your own life.’
I agreed with everything she said. I’d missed her when she’d been away. We always had such fun at Orlaith’s house. Even when we were in
London, Orlaith would jump on a plane and visit us several times a year at weekends, and we’d do the same, travelling up on Friday nights to Edinburgh. Okay, so Orlaith could fly to New York, but it wouldn’t be the same.
‘I’ll miss London,’ she said. ‘I love this house and I love working for the paper in London.’
I nodded. ‘But this is the chance of a lifetime.’
‘Maybe it is, but deep down I think we’d be happier here.’
‘Me too,’ I said.
Mum smiled hopefully. ‘You’d be okay about staying?’
‘Yes. I’m happy here. I love London. And Edinburgh. As you say, we’ll never get this time back.’
She jumped up and gave me a huge hug. ‘I’ll phone my editor. He’s offered me a great pay rise if I’ll change my mind and stay.’
I smiled at her. ‘I’ll start unpacking.’
She hurried off to make the call.
I unpacked my faerie dress, and looked forward to my mystery date that night.
I’d opened the letter in Edinburgh when Orlaith came home with Midnight. It had been late at night, and Orlaith had gone to bed, tired from all the excitement of her artwork being used for household prints and from travelling.
Midnight kept me company in the garden. The letter had instructed me — do not open until Midnight is home.
I opened it carefully and read the message, which was an invitation to have dinner in London in the autumn. A date, time and location had been given. It was signed, Archer, though it didn’t reveal whether or not he was going to be my dinner date. I hoped he was. I really did. I’d been dreaming about him, thinking things over, and wishing that this handsome hunter fae would want to date a mortal like me.
Midnight watched me read the letter, as if waiting on my response. Maybe that was what Archer intended. I hadn’t seen him since the night he’d left. Maybe he needed Midnight to tell him my reaction.
I smiled at Midnight and nodded. ‘Tell him I’ll be there.’
If a cat could look delighted…
And off he ran, climbing up the umbrella tree and disappearing over the wall.
Filled with enthusiasm that we weren’t leaving London, mum and I unpacked everything. Although the house was a bit untidy it looked more like home again.
I got ready for my dinner date, choosing to wear a dress that I’d bought in a fashionable shop in London. My mother knew where I was going and she intended putting her feet up and watching a movie, though no doubt she’d be working on her journalism. She always did. Her editor was pleased she was staying in the city, she’d got her wage rise — and I’d been promised some freelance work with the paper. My first foot on the newspaper career ladder. So things had worked out well.
Now all I had to do was concentrate on the mystery date. Would it be Archer waiting for me outside the restaurant in the city centre?
It was one of those autumn evenings that had an energy and excitement to it. A possibility of romance.
My heart beat faster as I took a taxi to the restaurant. I peered out the window of the cab as it neared the front of the restaurant. The street was busy with people. I looked for Archer. He wasn’t there.
I paid the taxi and walked towards the restaurant. I’d worn a velvet jacket over my dress and pulled the collar up against the cold night air. I planned to wait for several minutes, maybe more, and if I got stood up, I’d jump in a taxi and head back home. Ever the optimist.
Across the street I thought I saw Midnight. There was lots of traffic and I tried to see if it was him sitting on a window ledge. Yes, there he was. What was the cat doing here?
‘You look lovely,’ a voice said over my shoulder.
‘Archer?’
He smiled.
‘Archer?’ I said again. ‘You look…’
‘Different?’
That was putting it mildly. He still looked gorgeous but the blue had gone from his blond hair, and the style seemed less…fae–like. No hint of wings, unusual clothing or anything that would mark him as being a fae.
‘What happened to you?’
His smile faltered.
‘Not that you don’t look gorgeous…’ I blushed, not meaning to say that.
His smile brightened considerably. Archer was a heartbreaker. As a fae, or dressed to fit in with the mortal crowd, he was stunning.
He wore a dark blue suit, and a dark blue shirt unbuttoned at the collar.
‘Thanks for turning up, Vesper. Midnight told me you’d be here, but I thought maybe you’d change your mind. It’s been weeks since we last met.’
‘Why did you make such a mystery about inviting me to dinner?’ I said.
He shrugged and looked nervous. ‘I wanted to give you time. Time for all the spellbinding to wear off, and for you to have some distance from what happened with Daire and Sabastien and me. I wanted to know that when you said yes, it would be because you wanted to date me, that you weren’t just wrapped up in the moment or still tainted by the Cupid’s darts.’
Despite everything he said, the part that stood out for me was — date me. Archer wanted to date me!
In all the excitement I thought he’d brought flowers for me, but they belonged to someone else, another man probably on a first date. The street was so busy. I’d seen the flowers and thought they were his.
Archer saw me looking at the flowers.
Without anyone noticing, at least I hoped they hadn’t noticed, Archer produced a bunch of flowers for me as if by magic.
‘Thank you,’ I said. ‘But don’t do that. Someone will see you. They’ll notice the flowers appearing out of thin air…’ I prattled on and Archer finally shut me up.
He leaned down and kissed me.
All thoughts of flowers, magic, fae, and everything else faded and I was lost in the moment, the kiss — warm, sensual and loving.
‘Shall we go inside?’ Archer said, gazing at me with his ice blue eyes.
I nodded and smiled.
I didn’t know if this relationship would work, but I intended enjoying our date and our time together. He’d invited me to his world later in the year, a wintertime ball. I’d need a dress for that. I wondered what I’d tell my mother about Archer. I certainly couldn’t tell her that I was dating a fae, a monster. I sighed and smiled to myself. Why were all the good guys total monsters?
My mother’s still a journalist. As wonderful as she is, that makes her one of the most inquisitive people on earth. And now there is one secret in our house.
End
About De-ann Black
De-ann Black is a bestselling author, scriptwriter and former newspaper journalist. Traditionally published for over 15 years.
She has over 40 books published, for adults (romance, crime thrillers, espionage/suspense novels) and children (non-fiction rocket science books, children's fiction and picture books).
Her books include Special Forces and crime thriller books - Electric Shadows, The Strife of Riley, Guile, and Moth to the Flame. Romantic comedies include - The Bitch-Proof Suit, The Bitch-Proof Bride, The Bitch-Proof Romance, The Cure For Love, The Tea Dress Shop At Christmas, Oops! I'm the Paparazzi, Oops! I'm Up To Mischief, Oops! I'm A Secret Agent, Oops! I'm A Hollywood Agent, Shopping For Men At Christmas and Shopping For Men.
De-ann's latest children's fiction books are: Secondhand Spooks - December 32nd, Faeriefied, and School for Aliens.
She previously worked as a full-time newspaper journalist for several years. She had her own weekly columns in the press. This included being a motoring correspondent where she got to test drive cars every week for the press for three years.
She is also a professional artist and illustrator. And photographer. Fabric design, and fashion, are part of her work.
Additionally, De-ann has always been interested in fitness, and was a fitness and bodybuilding champion, 100 metre runner and mountaineer. As a former N.A.B.B.A. Miss Scotland, she had a weekly fitness show on the radio that ran for over three years.
De-ann trained i
n Shukokai karate, boxing, kickboxing, Dayan Qigong, and Jiu Jitsu.
She splits her time between Scotland, Dublin and London.
Find out more at http://www.de-annblack.com