Broken Fae

by Caroline Peckham

  Gabriel blinked suddenly, focusing on me for a moment. “Well it seems the stars think you’re trustworthy and they haven’t led me astray yet…” He still seemed unsure so I held out my hand to him on instinct.

  “Whatever you tell me won’t leave this kitchen, falco, unless you ever want me to speak about it.”

  He slid his palm into my mine uncertainly then struck the deal and magic rang between us. “Why do you keep calling me that? You said it in my vision too.”

  “Falco?” I shrugged. “It means hawk. You remind me of one. You don’t like it?”

  He shrugged too like he didn’t care either way, but I guessed he didn’t hate it.

  “So…what is it?” I asked.

  He drew in a long breath. “Well in all honesty, there isn’t a lot to tell,” he said. “Because I don’t know the answers myself. But the long and short of it is that I’ve been hiding my whole life and I don’t really know why. My parents aren’t really my parents. They were just paid off to play the part.”

  “What do you mean?” I breathed in surprise and he kept his gaze on the garlic as he crushed it against the flat of his knife.

  “There’s a block on my memories from when I was a child. I thought gaining control over The Sight might allow me to break through it, but it’s still in place. All I know is that I was put in a home with fake parents who were paid off to keep me safe. They don’t know any more than that either, but I’ve had a P.I. working for me for years to try and find out the truth. All I have to go on is a bunch of fractured memories that make no sense and a single name…”

  “A name?” I pushed curiously.

  “Falling Star,” he said, looking to me with his brows knitted. “Whoever they are, they pay large sums of money into my bank account every month. There’s no way to trace it back to the owner. So I guess they’re the ones keeping me hidden. Bill thinks from the amount of effort they’ve gone to keep me safe that someone bad is probably looking for me. That’s why I keep myself to myself. It’s why I don’t socialise with other Harpies or make friends…or have girlfriends.”

  “It’s why you pushed Elise away so much,” I said in realisation and he nodded, his jaw tight. I reached out to press a hand to his shoulder, a blade twisting in my heart as I understood him a little more.

  “If I’m being hunted, then being with Elise could put her in danger too. I spoke to my P.I. about it, I mean…he’s more than that. He’s family now. And I trust his word on anything. He says he’ll hear if anyone is asking about me in the city so I shouldn’t keep denying myself her, but I still have doubts.” His muscles tensed and his dark hair fell into his eyes as he leaned forward, scraping the garlic to one side of the chopping board. I sensed how alone he felt, how firmly his barriers were up, how afraid he was of risking Elise’s life for taking someone else into his circle after an entire lifetime of loneliness. It made me want to tip my head back and howl like a Wolf. That part of me grew strong enough to make me want to wrap my arms around him for a moment, but I fought it back and sighed.

  “You’re not alone, falco. If you need assurances then I offer you the protection of my Clan. I don’t say that lightly. It’s for Elise’s sake too. I know how much she cares for you and frankly seeing you like this makes me…triste.”

  He frowned at me, seeming unsure if I was having him on. “You can’t offer me that, why would you? I can’t offer you anything in return.”

  “Well…I can’t cook, falco. Teach me and you’ll earn your keep. I can’t let Elise know how undomesticated I am.”

  He chuckled and I smirked.

  “Alright, Dragon born of Wolves, you’ve got yourself a deal.”

  "How do you make the sauce then?" I asked curiously and Gabriel took out an onion, mushrooms and olive oil before he started frying them up with the garlic in a pan and explaining each step as he did it.

  The smell of the bolognese soon had my mouth watering and as I drained the pasta in a colander, I was pretty damn pleased with myself for what I'd learned.

  “Thanks,” I said as Gabriel served out four bowls and he shrugged like it was nothing. But it wasn't nothing. I was an Alpha of the most powerful Wolf pack in Alestria, I shouldn't have been defeated if I was left alone, especially with a fridge full of food. I should have known how to look after myself, and I vowed to get better with his help and learn every one of my mamma's recipes as soon as I could.

  I dispelled the silencing bubble as Gabriel shaved some parmesan on top of the bolognese and moved to place a bowl in Leon's lap, making him jerk awake in surprise.

  "Oh my stars," Leon groaned. "This looks amazing." Gabriel watched as Leon shovelled a forkful into his mouth and nodded eagerly in approval, making the Harpy grin satisfactorily.

  I took my bowl and moved to sit in an armchair, watching from the corner of my eye as Gabriel placed a bowl down beside Ryder and the snake actually thanked him. Gabriel sat his ass down at Ryder's table too and I frowned in confusion. Since when were those two amici?

  I sat beside Leon and ate my food, finding it fucking delicious and maybe even as good as my mamma's. I had a feeling the deal I’d made with Gabriel was going to be seriously worthwhile.

  “Wanna watch a movie?” Leon offered, picking up the TV remote. “We could watch all the Rambo movies! I bet you love those, huh Ryder?”

  Ryder shrugged. “Never seen them,” he grunted.

  “Or the Die Hards then?” Leon asked. “Everyone loves Die Hard.”

  Ryder shrugged again. “Never watched them.”

  “Or something more modern then, like the Fae and the Furious?”

  “I’m gonna save you some time, asshole. I haven’t watched movies since I was a kid, so unless it’s a fucking cartoon, I haven’t seen it,” Ryder growled.

  “Oh,” Leon breathed and Gabriel looked to him with a frown.

  “Why’s that?” Gabriel asked while I tried to pretend I wasn’t interested in hearing this. But I couldn’t stop myself from paying attention.

  He shrugged, but I could tell Leon wasn’t going to leave it at that.

  “Because of Mariella?” Leon asked gently and Ryder’s shoulders bunched, his grip on his fork so tight his knuckles whitened.

  “I guess I never felt the need to indulge in anything as pointless as watching movies after her,” he murmured and I couldn’t help the tug of pain I felt over that. Ryder glanced around, frowning between us like he could feel all of our hurt over him and I quickly pushed my feelings away. “It’s no big fucking deal.”

  “It is, Ryder. But you’re free of her now,” Gabriel said and Ryder nodded in agreement.

  “Well let’s start with Die Hard then, no one should live without seeing a bunch of mortals busting each other up with guns unable to heal themselves. It’s so fucking funny.” Leon kicked his feet up on the coffee table and I got up to dim the lights before he even had to ask, figuring this wasn’t the worst way to spend an evening.

  ***

  I'd slept in the large bed with Leon while Gabriel and Ryder had the couch and a fold-out bed in the lounge. I'd tried talking sense into Leon again, but he wouldn't hear it. And I resigned myself to this situation. I was going to have to continue playing along with him if we were ever going to get out of this place.

  "Mamma's going to worry if I don't go home on Christmas day," I told Leon as we headed into the lounge, dressed in freaking matching plaid shirts. I didn't have any clothes with me anyway so I guessed I didn't have a choice.

  "Nah, she thinks you’re on a trip with me and Elise to the Polar Capital to see the Christmas markets. And technically we're close enough to it that I didn't lie per se," he said lightly. "Did you know the city guards ride polar bears? We should actually visit there one day."

  "Assuming I don't die up on this cliff because you've abandoned me here with Ryder Draconis," I muttered.

  Gabriel had made pancakes for breakfast and I wolfed them down with a groan of satisfaction. Ryder ate them dry, refusing the maple syrup when
Leon offered it to him. I’d only ever seen him eat sweet food when Elise fed it to him, but wondered why he tortured himself without it otherwise. I couldn’t live without sugar.

  "Today we need to decorate the cabin for when Elise arrives," Leon announced as we all finished eating. "I found this photo on her Atlas of her, Gareth and her mom at Christmas. We need to make this place look the same. See that tree? We need one that looks just like that. So you guys need to go find one in the forest, chop it down and carry it back here." He passed his Atlas around and my gut tugged at the sight of Elise standing beside her brother in the photo with big smiles on their faces. It must have been taken a few years ago and it made me sad to think of all the horrors my Vampira had faced since this photograph had been taken.

  "I can just grow a tree," Ryder grunted from his seat at the table under the window.

  "It's not the same. It needs to be one of the pines from the forest out there so it’s special. Authentic Polar pines are the most sought after Christmas trees in Solaria," Leon said firmly, folding his arms.

  "Fine, let's just do it," Gabriel said firmly. "But I need some winter clothes."

  "The closet has everything you need." Leon pointed him through to the bedroom and Ryder followed with his jaw ticking.

  They soon returned dressed in large matching coats and boots and Gabriel tossed me some too. I pulled them on as Leon settled down on the couch, looking like he was about to take another damn nap as he slung his arm over his eyes. "Make sure to get a tree that looks exactly like the one in that photo,” he reiterated. “I want everything to be perfect."

  I hooked Elise's Atlas off of the coffee table, checking the signal to see if I could make a call with it, but growled as I found there was no service. I tucked it into my pocket and followed the others to the door, stepping outside into the freezing air and leaving Leon to fucking snooze while we did all the work.

  We strode around the cabin into the trees, wading through the snow while Gabriel walked on top of it like a fucking pixie, using his water magic to solidify it beneath his feet. He quickly took the lead and Ryder cast a pair of wooden snowshoes to help him walk across the snow, gaining on Gabriel within a few seconds.

  Well if they wanted to be like that then they were going to fucking lose. I used air magic to guide myself up from the snow and floated along, sailing past Ryder and Gabriel as I flew deeper into the trees.

  Ryder swore and I laughed as I took a decent lead and gazed around at the pines for the perfect one.

  "This looks right. Come and have a look, falco,” I called after a while. I landed in front of the young pine and Gabriel soon stepped to my side, examining it closely.

  "Bullshit, this one looks like it," Ryder hissed, walking past us to a tree a few feet away.

  "Don't be a stubbon stronzo, this one is clearly more like it," I snapped as Ryder started forging an axe in his hand.

  "It has to be right or that fucking Lion isn't going to let us leave. Give me the Atlas." Gabriel held out his hand for it and both me and Ryder fell quiet as I passed it to him and he looked at the image, glancing from my tree to Ryder's.

  "Dante’s one is more like it, Ryder," Gabriel said and to my fucking shock, Ryder grunted his agreement and strode over to us.

  "Stand back then unless you wanna lose your head, Big Bird," Ryder said, holding the axe back as he prepared to swing it. "You need to get a bit closer Inferno, bend down there in front of the trunk."

  "Molto divertente, stronzo," I tsked and backed up to stand next to Gabriel just as Ryder swung the axe. He went at it like a savage, cutting through the bark and tearing through the trunk with just a few powerful strikes.

  The tree started to fall away from him and it crashed to the ground with a heavy thump, spraying up snow around it.

  "I can carry it back with air," I announced, stepping forward.

  "No, I'll drag it with vines," Ryder growled, raising his hands to cast them, but they grew slowly and his brow tightened.

  "You're running low on magic, just let Dante do it," Gabriel said. "Or I can drag it, I don't care either way."

  "I can do it," Ryder hissed stubbornly, trying to block my way as I moved to cast air at the tree.

  "You need more magic and the stars have just shown me Dante hitting you with the whole tree to give you enough pain to fuel your reserves, so just leave it, Ryder," Gabriel insisted and Ryder glared at me as I cast air beneath the tree and turned, lifting myself too and floating along with it behind me, firmly ignoring Ryder.

  More weight added to the tree a second later and I glanced over my shoulder, finding Gabriel and Ryder having used their magic to get them up to sit on the trunk. Ryder flipped the finger at me with a smirk and Gabriel laughed, the sound almost making me join in as I was caught by surprise. I fought the noise down in my throat though, using my power to carry them back to the cabin and feeling my own magic starting to drain. Stronzos.

  Ryder and Gabriel started talking in low voices that I couldn't hear, laughing from time to time and I frowned in annoyance, making a huge gust blow up the tree to try and knock them off, but they'd tied themselves on with vines.

  "Dal sol," I grumbled, giving up trying to throw them off. I didn't want to run out of magic while sharing a house with Ryder Draconis. He might try and slit my throat in my sleep.

  If Leon had thought this trip would bring us closer together, he was going to soon find out that not even the stars, the sun, the moon or every planet in the solar system could bring me and Ryder together. That was the way of Astral Adversaries. And amico mio needed to accept that.

  I helped Gabriel create a stand for the tree out of wood and we soon had it up beside the fireplace while Leon watched from the couch.

  "A little more to the left," Leon said for the hundredth time.

  "That's it. It's staying right there, or I'll chop it into firewood along with this whole fucking cabin," I snarled at him.

  Leon narrowed his eyes at me. "A little. To. The. Left."

  I lunged at him, seeing red, but Gabriel caught my arm, yanking me back and giving me a firm stare. I sighed, shrugging him off but not advancing on Leon anymore. He wasn’t worth the hassle anyway.

  Dante shoved the tree to the left while Leon nodded like that pleased him and I had to quietly admit that it did look better where it was now. For fuck’s sake.

  "There's decorations in the cupboard, I bought ones the same colour as those in the picture," Leon said proudly and Dante went and fetched a box of them.

  I moved to the side of the tree furthest away from Dante as I started placing them on the branches, not knowing what the fuck I was doing, but figuring it was worth it if it would make Elise happy.

  Gabriel moved to my side, putting up some lights and I flicked my finger to cast a silencing bubble around us so I could talk to him in privacy. Not that I said anything the second I did it, but I felt him glance at me from the corner of my eye as he noticed.

  "What were your plans for Christmas besides this bullshit?" Gabriel asked and I shrugged in answer because I’d had no plans and no doubt would have spent it alone. "Same," he muttered and my mouth twitched down at the corner. Silence stretched between us for a second then he said, "Now Mariella's gone, are things... better?"

  "Yeah," I admitted. "Much."

  "That's good. I guess all that bullshit talking on the roof paid off then, right?" He laughed vaguely, glancing at me and I frowned as I placed a glittery Zodiac charm on the tree.

  "I figured you'd appreciate the quiet again,” I muttered.

  "I mean...I don't always like the quiet. Do you?"

  I cleared my throat. "No, not always."

  "Well if you ever want it to be not quiet for a bit then you can always...you know...come up there or whatever." He placed a shiny red Dragon bauble on the tree which swirled with a glittering storm inside it.

  "Yeah, sure. Sometimes. Maybe." I glanced at him and found him grinning and my mouth pulled up at the corner. Dickhead.

  I'
d figured Gabriel was done with me the moment I'd gotten what I wanted from him and assumed he wouldn't want me bothering him anymore. It had felt like shit when I’d stopped going up to the roof, but I didn't do friends and what were we if we weren't that?

  Would it be the worst thing in the world if I hung out with him sometimes? It wasn't like he was an Oscura and there was no real reason the Lunars had to question my loyalty just because I spent time with a Harpy on occasion. If they asked about it, I could simply say I was trying to recruit him considering he was one powerful asshole of a Fae. Yeah, I'll just do that if anyone noses into my damn business. It's no big fucking deal. No need to overthink it. It's not like we're gonna start having sleepovers and pillow fights for fuck's sake.

  "No silencing bubbles!" Leon yelled as he realised what we were doing and flames seared up the back of my neck as he motherfucking burned me with his fire magic. Gabriel shouted out at the same time and we whipped around, both of us snarling at him. "Drop it, or I'll tell Elise not to come," Leon warned and I shared a look with Gabriel that said he wanted to gut the Lion as much as I did right then. But we also wouldn't get to see Elise and all of this bullshit was for her, so it wasn't worth risking that.

  I dropped the bubble with a sigh and Leon smiled approvingly as we continued working on the tree. When it was finally done, Leon moved forward with something in his hands and I grimaced as I inspected the golden star he held with photos of our faces glued onto each point of the star with Elise at the top. Where the fuck had he even gotten that picture of me? It looked candid, like he’d taken it his fucking self when I hadn’t been looking at school.

  "You're a fucking psycho," I told Leon as he reached up and placed it on top of the tree.

  "Says the murdering snake who probably has more dead bodies in his back yard than some of the inmates at Darkmore Penitentiary," Dante tossed at me.