Tales of the Fairy Anthology

by Catherine Stovall

“Bella, wait! Please.” She didn’t stop and he almost tripped when he tried to run, his legs were still like jello. “Bella, wait. I want to thank you. Please? I literally owe you my life.”

  A few seconds later he saw her slowly walk back towards him. “I can permit that, but please, I am not supposed to speak with you. Not about what I am.”

  The fear in her voice worried him and made him want to vanquish whatever threatened her at the same time. Foolish, considering she had just saved him.

  He closed the distance between them, and pushed her hair gently out of her face. Their eyes found one and another’s— hers swirling with flecks of sliver and grey. They were the most amazing eyes he had ever seen. His hand went to the small of her back and tugged her closer as his head titled down to meet hers.

  Their lips gently touched, and he felt like someone zap him again. He pulled back for a second before closing his mouth over hers again. She met his kiss, wrapping her hands around his neck. Her body pressed into his, the weight and the fit of them together making him drunk with need. Not wanting to scare her off, he pulled back and stared into her eyes again as they both breathed deep, the kiss clearly affecting them both.

  Chapter 6

  Bella put her hands to her lips as she stepped back from him. They tingled in a way they had never done with Elerin. She'd felt the sparks the minute she and Scott had touched, but when she raised her fingers to her lips, all that was left behind was a slight puffiness. She raised her head and saw he was staring at her again, the look in his eyes certainly matching Elerin's after a kiss.

  "I'm sorry. I didn't mean too…if you didn't want—" Scott jumped to speaking before she could say anything, and her lips twitched into a smile.

  "I can promise you, Scott, I wanted it."

  His grin at her words was cocky, and she almost laughed, would have laughed if the situation were not so dire. She did not have her wings to see, but she was certain if she had they would be as heavy as stone and her powers warped and dangerous. "But it is not allowed. For you to know of the fairies is a death sentence for us both, and after I used my magic the only time I can to save you, I would prefer you don’t get yourself killed a second time.” Even as she offered him a small smile, she was backing up in the clearing.

  “Wait, please. Bella.”

  She sucked in a deep breath; her name on his lips was intoxicating like the flow of water over smooth river rocks or the smell of a freshly bloomed flower. Her feet had stopped moving before she even knew it. He walked up behind her, and trailed a finger down her arm. The shudder that wracked through her body was about so much more than desire. He was awakening something in her that she hadn’t even known was asleep.

  She felt her insides heating as his body pressed against her back. His hand continued to play down her arm as he leaned in and placed gentled kisses down the column of her neck. A warning about humans only wanting people for their own uses was slowly being drowned out by the need for him to touch her.

  This was passion. This was what fairies missed out on when they were of the upper class and forced to marry for societal reasons. She shivered again as he nibbled softly on her ear, and she couldn’t resist the urge to turn. Her body brushed against his as she did and she moaned, low and small, but a needy sound unlike any she had ever heard herself make.

  His mouth placed whisper soft kisses against her jaw line, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, slanting her mouth over his before she let herself care. His tongue slid along the crease of her mouth and she opened for him. Elerin was the only other she had kissed and she had never felt the pure electricity from her lips to her toes that she felt now. Pleasure danced off every nerve in her body and she never wanted the kiss to end.

  When he pulled back, his eyes were lidded and almost closed. His lips were reddened from their kiss and she wanted to run her hands through the lock of hair that kept sliding into his perfect blue eyes.

  “Wow,” the sentiment was whispered between them and it took her a moment to realize it had come from her. She flushed, and the contrast on her pale skin would be easily seen in the moonlight.

  “I won’t disagree with you. Bella, you’ve been watching me haven’t you?” His eyes stared into hers and she swore she would lose herself in them.

  “Yes. For months. I had no idea you’d seen me, and I am sorry to have brought death knocking on your door. I just…I couldn’t help myself. I felt like I needed to see you, even though we would never meet.”

  He laughed, and she flushed thinking, he found her words foolish.

  “Guess we proved that theory wrong, because here you are and here I am. You are a fairy…aren’t you?” He held her gaze, and the tone in his voice spoke of genuine belief.

  She blew out a breath, and prayed to the forest spirits for protection. “Yes, I am one of the fae. We are what you think us to be. Creatures of nature of myth and fantasy with magic and lives all our own.”

  “So why follow me? Is it like a destined thing?” Again, his words were sincere and she wished she could tell him yes, ask him to take her away and spend hours just kissing and getting to know the human male who captivated her.

  “No, we are society of rules and customs. Love is for those who have no place among the forest spirits. I am, in fact, promised to another.”

  He cursed and unwound his hand from her waist. She hadn’t even felt him there, but now the emptiness gripped her, and she didn’t understand how. She knew nothing of him, and yet, she felt she knew it all. She knew just how he liked to frame photos, that he clearly liked water and granola as he always had a bag on him, and that the smile when he captured just what he had been seeking on his lens was to die for.

  “I’m sorry, Bella. No wonder you didn’t want me to touch you. I’m assuming if I open my mouth water little hunter shot those arrows will be. Don’t worry, your secret is safe. I won’t even shoot here anymore. Or maybe I will, for the chance to glimpse you.”

  “Please don’t be sorry. You have done nothing wrong. I wanted to kiss you, wanted you to kiss me. I would spend as much time with you as my magic would allow, but it is only for a day cycle.”

  “I see you left out the other fairy.” He raised a brow and she wanted to laugh.

  “Elerin. His name is Elerin, and he’s the one with the arrows. Not out of jealousy, well perhaps so. We didn’t get to talk about it. But out of duty. Humans cannot know of us. Many would be lost in the wonder of what we can create, but many more would try and capture us.”

  “You can’t know that.”

  “We have scrolls, ancient ones, that tell tales of humans hunting and draining fairies of their magic or how twisting them into evil sprites that did their bidding. My kind will not go back to those ways, Scott. But for whatever this intensity between us is, I will trust you will keep the secret. I have never followed you from this forest, and when you leave, if you stay away, there will never be a threat to your life.”

  “And if I don’t want to stay away from you, Bella?” He was close to her again, her bare toes bumping into his shoes.

  “That would be very foolish, Scott.”

  “Well, sometimes being foolish is the only way to be.”

  He kissed her again. The same toe curling, heat inducing, spark flying kiss, and she realized that he was right. She didn't want to lose him. It was crazy and insane. She had spent her entire life playing by the rules, and in this moment, for whatever reason, she wanted to break them. She wanted to throw caution to the wind and never look back.

  She could hear Grandmother Amara’s warning about forcing the change back by the next night, and already the tips of the sky were turning a mix of golden and pink as the sun rose. She thought about the people in her living quarters, about her brother whom was so dutiful it would break him if she left. Then Elerin floated into her mind. Elerin, a male she had known her whole life, a male that her parents had betrothed her to before their deaths. She wanted to go and kiss him, to know that the sensations and passions Scott awoke w
ould be there when she kissed another, but she knew they wouldn’t. They’d been sleeping together for almost three seasons, and she enjoyed it, but she knew that Scott would set fire to her senses and she wanted that.

  “Bella, you said we only had a day. I promise not to ask too many questions. Would you come back to my apartment with me? I don’t want to let you go just yet.”

  His words sunk into her soul, and she couldn’t believe what was happening when she nodded her head and slipped her hand into his— intertwining their fingers.

  ***

  She had been holding his hand, kissing his lips, and running her hands through his hair for the better part of the day. Every time they touched, she felt as if she still had her magic completely at her disposal, even though she knew it was locked away somewhere in her body until it was time to revert back.

  He had shown her so much of himself in such a short time that her heart was even more torn than it had been standing with him at dawn in the forest. She had never believed she would find love, had never entertained the idea of anything more than the respect and fun she had with Elerin. But Scott had made her want love, want it with him even.

  She yawned and covered her mouth before tilting her head up to meet his eyes. “Sorry, I’m not used to staying up all night.”

  He chuckled and she felt it vibrate though his chest. “Here I thought I was just turning into some boring human. I don’t know how you’ve spent all day just talking to me. I would be all over if I only had one day.”

  “I like exactly where I’ve been. There’s nothing I would trade it for, because I’ve wanted to know what you were like since the day I saw you.” She laughed. “And that sounded like some crazy dark fairy stalker or something.”

  “Mmm, a little bit. But if I’d known how beautiful and fun you were, I would have stalked you back. Especially knowing you’re not just some pretty bird.” He slid her off his chest and she sat up. “Let me get you some more of that pizza. I don’t think any human could beat you in a pizza race.”

  She laughed and took the slice he offered her. “It’s seriously amazing. I’ve never minded the food we have, fruits and greens are great, but this.” She took a huge bite and swallowed. “This is something else entirely.”

  “We like it too.” He grinned and turned the television set back on. It had been on earlier, he’d wanted her to watch his favorite show, Mythbusters—ironic really. But they’d turned it off to talk for hours.

  He’d accepted everything she had to say. Disbelief had never crossed his face, and she couldn’t understand why. When she’d asked, he’d told her it wasn’t his place to question things when it dropped someone like her in his lap.

  Her heart was screaming at her to throw caution to the wind and do something for herself. She felt so at home with him, and while they had nothing like fate or destiny to go off of, it felt right. She knew what humans thought of fairies, that they were elements of fairytales, and right now, she felt like it was the truth. Bella wanted to spend all her days just like this one, lying in his arms and just living. Grandmother Amara would tell her she too young to forsake her family for a human. Her brother would lock her in her bedroom until she swore she wouldn’t. Yet, she didn’t know if either of them would be able to stop what she wanted to do now.

  Could she walk away from helping the forest, though? She’d broken so many rules in such a short time. She was sure her mind and body would break under the darkness.

  She shivered and Scott pulled her into his body. The cold wasn’t the problem, though. The darkness may have wrapped itself around her so thoroughly to save this human male that she had already lost everything.

  If it’s all gone, Bella, if you would return to become those that you hate most, why go back?

  Chapter 7

  Her eyes were sparkling and a smirk was on her lips. She’d been quiet for so many minutes, Scott had wondered if he had done something wrong. Gently, he put his hands on her shoulder and shook her, seeing if she had been in some sort of a trance.

  “Scott, do you mean it? That sometimes we need to be foolish?”

  The question caught him off guard. He was talking to an honest to god fairytale, and she was asking him if being foolish was right. He’d always been practical, and just standing here with her went against everything he believed. But how could he deny it when he’d seen her—large and small—and had been assaulted by arrows so tiny there couldn’t be any other shooter of them except a made-up creature.

  “I don’t know any other way right now. I mean, here we are. And somehow, I’m not passing out or looking for the toy that you may have used to lure me in or anything. I’m standing with the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen, who I can’t help but feel connected to. So yea, being foolish, believing the unbelievable, I can’t think of a better way for there to be right now.”

  He meant every word of it. For twenty six years, he’d done everything on the straight and narrow. Sure, he had been a little wild in college, but to risk everything to believe not only in fairies, but in magic? He should be running away screaming or carting them both off to a loony bin.

  However, it all did feel magical, from beautiful women to impossibly small arrows. People dreamed about being a part of something magical, and he wanted that right now. Wanted a way to convince her to stay, to find out what the connection between them was. But she had nothing in this world for her, save a starving artist who wanted to be with her after a few kisses. Crazy, absolutely crazy.

  “That mischievous look on your face, what are you thinking, my little fairy?”

  Bella’s eyes looked at the ground, and he put his hand under her chin and tipped her face up, wanting to know what was going on in her head.

  “I want to stay, Scott. I don’t know how this will work. I don’t even know why I’m saying it, except that the forest spirits brought us together, and I trust in them. I know what I feel when we kiss, and how badly I wanted to know you while I hid in the bushes and trees and watched you for so long. I want to see if there’s anything to this destiny idea you brought up.”

  He smiled and pulled her in close, putting his head on top of her hair. “Would you think I was crazy if I told you I had just been thinking the same thing? It’s not normal, that’s for sure, but something tells me I’m going to like giving abnormal a try.”

  She smiled against his chest, and the feeling of it was wonderful. He really couldn’t help but want the fairy nestled against him. Right or wrong, he wanted to see what would happen, and he would do his best to make sure her crazy sacrifice wasn’t a mistake.

  “Do you have paper and pen in that bag of yours?”

  He nodded and pulled away to grab it for her. When she took it from him and their hands touched, the same spark he had felt the first time jolted through him. Crazy all right, but there’s no denying that connection.

  “I need to do something. I have a brother and a grandmother, I want to tell them goodbye. You can’t follow me, Scott. They’ll kill you on sight, and I think I’m going to be rather fond of you. You know with you being my only connection in this huge human world.”

  She winked and he loved seeing her smile. He still could hear the tiny part in his brain telling him this was crazy, they’d known each other for a day, but he couldn’t listen to it. One day might be all they had had, but he was ready for a million for.

  “I understand. I’ll drive you and wait outside the forest. I’ll even close my eyes.”

  She laughed and kissed him softly as they went to the car. He wouldn’t have changed a thing though, except maybe sneaking behind her to see the fairies, but he wouldn’t do that. Whatever was between them was fragile and strong all at once to inspire such crazy actions and he wouldn’t jeopardize that.

  The leaves crunched loudly under the shoes that Scott had insisted she wear. She would be lying if she didn’t acknowledge that they felt much better than the ground. The sound of the leaves and grass wasn’t loud enough to drown out the thoughts flying ar
ound in her mind, though.

  She’d started this only as a way to get enough antidote to right a wrong. Now she was walking, clutching a note in her trembling hands, and getting ready to leave her entire world behind for a human she had only just meet— but was already terribly attracted to and intrigued by. She couldn’t ignore her fear of what would await her after the broken rules either, but it was merely a push in the direction of staying human.

  She and Scott were well and truly crazy. But it seemed they were in it together, and if today were any indication, she wasn’t concerned about the future. They were young, and she would do whatever it took to make sure she could hold her own in the world without him. She’d been to school of course, knew math, science, and even human history. It was a crazy, foolish move, but she was ready for it.

  She could see friends as she came closer to the mushroom circle. None thought it strange to see her human. They could all do it just once, and many chose to return to their homes before returning to their smaller size, so as not to have a long commute. She’d only heard of three choosing to remain behind before, and she couldn’t ignore that, hoping it would work out.

  Part of her was glad that she saw neither Elerin nor her brother when she stopped in front of the small side by side homes. She would not seek her grandmother out, healers had a way of knowing things, and her grandmother would likely already be aware.

  The sun was beginning to dip below the horizon, and if she didn’t leave soon they would all know her choice. She didn’t know if she could handle being around for that. There would be so many questions, all hard to hear, and she had no answers—except that she was ready to be foolish.

  Carefully she set the short letter down in front of the homes, and her eyes read over the seemingly callous words.

  Dearest, Elerin and Michael.

  I am sorry, this will feel like a betrayal and for that I wish I wasn’t set in my ways. I have chosen to use my gift of humanity to save a male Elerin attacked on a whim. Through my time with him he has shown me there is more to life than the forest and the spirits within it. I will not be returning. I wish to live among the humans, I wish to be myself and not a slave to our rules. I hope you both can forgive me one day. I will always love you both.