by Lola Kidd
“Again. Shut. Up.” Her face was red, but he knew she was smiling. She opened the door to their new digs and it wasn’t anything to write home about. Any of the Moon Brothers cabins were better stocked than this. The furniture was sparse and by ‘many rooms’ the twins meant three.
“We need to call them back. There’s no toilet,” he told Rory going back outside. The twins were just across the street talking to a naked dude.
“Hey! You didn’t make us a bathroom,” Cross said, coming up to them. All the fairies gave him a dirty look. He puffed up his chest and squared his shoulders. “This is your mistake man, not mine. You knew you were making a place for non-fae.”
He didn’t mention that he had assumed they needed to use the restroom too. This was news to him too. That was a rumor he had heard but didn’t believe. His brothers were going to love hearing about this one.
“We don’t know how to make those,” Reno said.
“Well fucking learn how, then. You want us to shit and piss in the corner or something?”
Renn gagged. “You’re a disgusting creature. This is why we…”
“Renn!” Reno said sharply. “We will figure out how to fix this…bathroom issue. Give us some time. Until then, you can use the woods if you need to go.”
Cross went back to Rory. These fae were not what they seemed. He didn’t know what yet, but Sophia wanted more from Rory than sisterly love. Unlike Rory, he didn’t for one minute believe in the conspiracy theories. The Lost Tribe had to get lost for a reason. If it were him, he would want revenge. Plain and simple. They were playing nice now, but it was only a matter of time before they showed their true colors. He had to make sure he was by Rory’s side when that moment came.
“They’ll come up with something,” he told Rory.
“How could they forget the bathroom? The rest of this place is pretty lacking too. There’s no bedsheets…or a bed.”
Cross laughed. “So basically they made us a box. Great. Fucking fairies.”
“I think I can make some stuff, but a toilet and shower is going to be a bit much.”
An hour later, they were sitting in a circle of bed sheets, towels, dishes, and other household items. They looked like a magazine ad for a wedding registry. The twins had forgotten to give them a lot of stuff they would need even for a one day stay, let alone a multi-day one.
“The sun is getting low, you want to change?” Rory asked. Cross stripped off his shirt and pants. She had already seen him naked multiple times. There was no need to be shy about it now. She looked for a long few seconds before getting up and throwing his dinner clothes at him.
“I’m going to change in the bedroom and see if I can come up with some makeup.” She called it a bedroom, but it was just one of the rooms. She hadn’t made them a bed yet and both rooms were the same size. He really didn’t understand what the twins were thinking when they made this place. It was the house for the queen’s sister, but they had made it as shitty as possible, leaving out things integral to the human experience. There wasn’t even a kitchen!
Rory came out of the room wearing a low-cut, tight, blue dress. He was pretty sure it was called a bandage dress since it looked like it was made by putting a few strips of bandages together. Whatever it was called, she looked fucking hot. All he could think about was peeling that dress off her and bending her over the couch.
“You look beautiful.”
“Thank you,” she looked at him in his black slacks and white button down. “You clean up very nicely yourself.”
There was a knock at the front door and Cross went to answer it. It was the twins.
“The queen requests your presence for dinner at her home,” Renn said.
“It’s at the edge of the village and the beach. Just walk away from the sun and you won’t miss it,” Reno said.
“We’re going to add a bathroom to your dwelling while you’re at dinner,” Renn finished.
“Great. Thanks for the directions,” Rory said. Cross offered her his arm and they walked away from the sun through the village.
Four
“So fae don’t use the bathroom?” Rory laughed as they walked through the village. “This place is pretty strange.”
She was just making conversation. Anything so she didn’t have to look at Cross without some kind of distraction. It was going to be so hard to give him up. She was doubting her decision. Would it really be that bad to let the claim stand? He wasn’t a bad guy. She assumed the claim made her feelings obsolete, but maybe her feelings had come first. It was hard to remember now with the overwhelming feelings of love/lust. And it was love. She didn’t just like him or care for him like a friend, she loved him.
It was awful. There had been no build-up to the grand moment. She had only ever loved two other people. Boyfriends - one from her last two years of high school and one from her first year of community college. Both relationships had fizzled eventually, but it had taken a while to get to the point of love. She wasn’t one to get all lovey-dovey when she had a crush. She had good reason not to trust these feelings.
Witches didn’t do claiming. It was even strange for were-creatures. Only wolves found their mates this way. She wanted to trust it. She really did. The thought of leaving Cross alone for life was unbearable. How could she trust the mystical process though? Yes, magic was mystical to the creatures who didn’t use it, but she could explain it if asked. The claim? Not so much. It just was. End of story. She wished that was enough for her, but it wasn’t. If she was going to commit to life, she wanted it to be real and she still wasn’t sure about anything when it came to Cross.
He still hadn’t said anything.
“Oh, so now you’re the strong silent type,” she joked. They were getting close to Sophia’s house. It was very easy to tell which one it was. It looked like all the other houses except for its placement. It was sitting at the edge of the cliff that separated the beach and the grassy plain. The front sat on grass and the back on sandy beach. No doubt she had the best view in the place. Gavin and Sophia were sitting at the back so they would have a view of the ocean while they ate.
The table had an umbrella to block some of the sun and it was sitting on a deep brown deck. The deck looked like it was made of driftwood but that had to be a magical effect. There were beachy colored dishes and cups set on the table with colorful striped placemats under them. It was the perfect summer BBQ setting.
“Nervous about the dinner I guess,” Cross said. He put his hand out to help Rory walk on the sand. She couldn’t miss the way he was looking at her as she walked up the sand. The dress was hot. She had seen it in a magazine and could never afford it in the human realm. Her Mom didn’t let her cast for superficial reasons so she couldn’t even conjure one up for herself. Being away from home had its perks.
“You made it.” Sophia smiled as they came to the table. Cross took out a chair for Rory and pushed her into the table. He was such a freaking gentleman. Always ready for a fight, but also a sweetheart? He was making her life so difficult.
“I’ll go get the food,” Gavin said, standing up and going inside.
“We don’t get non-fae guests very often,” Sophia deadpanned.
“You don’t say,” Cross said. “This place has such a great view! I would think you would have to have a spell to keep guests away.”
“The view is pretty, isn’t it?” Sophia stared off into the distance behind Cross. “When you see it all the time, you don’t appreciate it anymore.”
“Why don’t you change it up sometime then?” Rory suggested. “You could have a winter wonderland for a while and then change back to beach when you’re sick of the cold.”
Sophia’s brow wrinkled and she frowned. “We never thought of that. We really do need some new blood here. That’s the kind of creative thinking that we’ve lost being here for so long.”
“Who knew prison wouldn’t be stimulating?” Cross mused. Rory shot him a look. He wasn’t nervous about this dinner. He didn’t want
to be here. She could see the veins in his neck standing up he was so tense. She still wasn’t getting any danger vibes from Sophia. What was his problem? It was just food. Besides getting to have one meal with her sister, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. The Lost Tribe hadn’t been seen or heard from for hundreds of years. They were going to have some great information to bring back.
“You’re right.” Gavin had returned with a plate of burgers and hotdogs. It was a BBQ, but she didn’t see a grill and the food smelled more like magic than charcoal. Her stomach turned. The only food they were going to be able to get here was magicked. If it was that unappetizing to her, she could only imagine how badly Cross wanted to hurl at that moment. She was going to try to choke down some of it. They were trying.
“This place was meant to be terrible, but I think we’ve done a lot with it,” Gavin pointed out. “You should have seen it before we did work to it.”
“Let’s talk of something more fun,” Sophia insisted. “How did you two meet?”
Rory blushed and laughed nervously. “You make it sound like we’re a couple.”
“Aren’t you?” Sophia asked.
“We’re friends,” Rory said haltingly. It sounded silly even to her. “We’ve been through a lot this week, but before that he was a customer at my mother’s diner.”
“So this week brought you closer? Some good came of all this already then,” Gavin mused.
Cross ground his teeth. He was about to say something mean again.
“I guess we can be thankful for that,” Rory said quickly, and looked at Cross pointedly. “We probably would have never gotten together if it wasn’t for all of this.”
***
This fairy bitch was going to owe him money for dental work when they got out of this place. Rory for God knows what reason had given Sophia and the vampires credit for bringing them together. No! They knew each other for months before any of this happened and he had been asking her out for quite a while too. He was already on the way to getting Rory in bed. His persistence would have paid off if none of this had happened. In fact, it would have been better for him. Once he and Rory had gone out on a date or two his wolf would have claimed her anyway. Then, she wouldn’t be questioning it all like she was now.
He wanted to rip the smug smile off the fairy's face when she heard that little gem. She was going on and on about how ‘that which doesn’t kill us makes us stronger’ and bullshit sayings like that. Worst of all, Rory was nodding right along with it.
“Yeah, it helps to see the silver lining in everything,” Rory told her maybe-sister. “It helps me stay calm in even the most stressful situation.”
“So what do you guys do all day?” Cross asked to change the subject.
“What?” Gavin had a perpetual idiotic look on his face that served as a warning that he was in fact an idiot. He had to have cheese between his ears. It was safe to bet ‘most trusted advisor’ was code for ‘dude I sleep with most often’. He would have to ask around. Sophia probably changed up her bed mates often since it got so boring around here.
“What. Do. You. Do?” Cross enunciated each word before taking a small sip of the drink in front of him. It was supposed to be water.
“I don’t know. What do you do?”
Rory put her napkin over her mouth to hide her giggle. Cross could only shake his head. “Back home, I sell guns for my pack. We have a little shop and I work there full-time. Rory works as a waitress at the diner. What do you guys do here?”
“Jobs? You’re talking about jobs?” Gavin laughed hard. “Would you work if you didn’t need to Cross? How many fae do you know who have jobs?”
“It’s kind of a running joke for our kind, and the vampires of course. Witches and were-creatures act like humans and do human things,” Sophia explained. At least she pretended to be embarrassed by the admission. Gavin couldn’t help but laugh more.
“It’s ridiculous!” He continued. “You’re a powerful witch and you bring people food for a living?! And you’re a strong and deadly werewolf, but you spend your days sweeping up a gun shop. You other supes are very funny creatures.”
“Glad we can bring some light into your life,” Cross said with a smile. He could feel his canine teeth elongating. This dinner was a bad idea. He wouldn’t have agreed if it wasn’t for Rory. This whole thing was just off. It was pretty easy to see why this asshole fae had tried to kill off all the other magical creatures.
“We prefer to lead a normal life,” Rory said finally, frowning in the fae’s direction. Finally! She had been giving Cross dirty looks all day. Maybe she was starting to see what these fae were really about.
“It makes sense for your people,” Sophia said, putting her hand over Rory’s. Cross’ blood pounded in his ears. “I just think you’re too nice a girl to have to wait on other people.”
“You barely know her,” Cross said. His jaw was starting to ache.
“And whose fault is that?” Sophia asked with giant eyes. “If Prescott wasn’t such a wuss, I would have known about her a long time ago.”
“Prescott?” Rory asked. It was her Dad. Sophia was about to go in for the kill. Cross could see the wheels turning in her evil head. She was reeling Rory in with all her compliments and talk of family.
“That’s our father. Not that he was ever a parent to either of us.” Sophia managed to get her face into a semblance of sadness. She was really laying it on thick. “Many of the fae responsible for the attempted Purge fled before we could be sent to this dimension. There are only two or three of the perpetrators trapped here with us.”
Rory’s eyes grew wide. “Our father wanted to kill other magic beings?”
“Oh, yes,” Sophia said. “It’s a very good thing your mother hid you from him. That’s why it took me so long to find you. I’m glad she did it. Prescott would kill you if he knew he had a half-witch daughter.”
“Why would they trap you all here if only a few of you were actually guilty?” Cross was able to keep from rolling his eyes and he thought he sounded pretty sincere. His acting skills were nowhere near Sophia’s Oscar level performance, but few were that good.
“They didn’t care,” Sophia sniffed looking near tears. “I’m queen because Prescott was king before he abandoned us. The few who were able to escape were powerful members of the tribe. It was enough to damn the whole of the Northlands Fae.”
“How did they escape then? I don’t think the Council would let the masterminds get away to try again.” Cross wasn’t buying her story for one minute.
“Those traitors helped put us here.” Gavin’s face was completely transformed by his rage. He was out of control. Cross knew the feeling all too well. His green eyes were hallowed and empty. His mouth was contorted into sharp downturned U-shape. The skin he spent many hours bronzing today was mottled and patchy. He was hideous.
“Gavin!” Sophia hissed. “We can’t do anything about it from here. It was a long time ago. I’m just as angry as you are, but you're scaring our guests.”
Cross wasn’t scared at all. He hadn’t even done anything and Gavin had revealed the true face of the Northlands Fae to Rory. She had to believe him now.
Five
Rory couldn’t look away. Gavin’s face was like something from a nightmare. He had changed so fast! She grabbed Cross’ hand unconsciously. He squeezed her hand and she realized what she had done. She pulled her hand from his.
“I think we should go,” she told Sophia, and stood up. For a second, just a second, a flicker passed over Sophia’s face too. Underneath the illusion, she was probably as mottled and decayed looking as Gavin. They were disgusting. Sophia was her sister and all, but Rory didn’t want to have to look at Gavin’s face for a second longer. She turned to leave the deck.
“Wait! He’ll change back!” Sophia tried to coax her back, but it was no use. She was done with the food. She still needed to make two beds for her and Cross so they could sleep. She was hungry after the faux-eating at dinner, but any food s
he made would be the same. They couldn’t stay here much longer. She was going to try for the portal first thing in the morning before anyone came looking for her and Cross.
“I’ll come back in the morning for breakfast,” she called over her shoulder to Sophia. Gavin’s face looked even worse. He was backing away from the table…and Sophia. Rory had a feeling the night wasn’t going to be kind to Gavin. She had no intention of coming for breakfast the next day but hoped that would stop Sophia from bothering her and Cross too early.
“Glad that’s done,” Cross said when they were out of earshot.
“His face was hideous. I can’t believe that’s what they all look like.”
“I wonder if they put on this skin show for us or if this is how they lay around all the time?” Cross wondered aloud. Now that it was getting darker, fires were springing up around the village where there had been lounging naked fae. The sounds alone around the fire made Rory keep her eyes glued to the path directly in front of her. The fae were not shy about their sexual habits. She really didn’t want to think about that after seeing Gavin’s face.
“I don’t know, but I appreciate the illusion,” she said. She was practically running by the time she got to their front door. Renn and Reno were sitting outside. The man fae they had been talking to earlier was getting a blow job from another male fae. He was moaning very loudly and looking at Reno. These fae had no shame at all.
“We fixed the problem,” Reno said. “We’ll wait while you inspect the work.”
“That’s fine,” Cross said. “If it doesn’t work we’ll shit in the corner tonight and call you back in the morning.”
Renn didn’t get that Cross was joking and gagged at the thought.
“It’ll be fine,” Rory assured them. “Thanks for the help.”
Reno was up and moving after Cross had spoken. When Rory was closing the front door behind them, Reno was already kissing the man while Renn was kneeling to join in the fun. Once the door was closed, Rory tried a few different casts to lock the door. She didn’t want any curious fae coming in while they were sleeping.