by G. Bailey
“One month,” I mutter to myself, needing to hear it out loud and forgetting that Mich is even there for a moment.
“Yes. It seems like he only wants you for a pretty decoration piece in his reception. You literally have to smile with those pretty lips for a month, and then you can be free,” Mich says, placing his hand on my arm for a moment. The contact seems to calm me, because I find myself smiling at him.
“Pretty lips, huh? Is that almost a compliment?” I ask and quickly glance at Mich as he laughs loudly, and I can’t help but laugh with him.
“Yeah, maybe it was,” he says, and I rest my head back, still chuckling as I roll my eyes at him. Maybe Mich isn’t as bad as I thought.
“Thanks for today, Mich,” I say walking up my driveway next to his side, briefly sneaking glances at him. Mich glimpses down at me as he slides his keys into his pocket, a frown back on his face.
“You did well. I’m impressed,” he mutters. “I was sure I would have to save your ass, but that didn’t happen.”
“Adie!” I hear Rick shout before I can reply to Mich. I turn to see Rick walking out of his door and over to us. Mich and I wait for Rick to jog over to us, and he pulls me into a tight hug the moment he gets close. Do Nath and Rick like to hug all the time? When did I get so lucky? I don’t know if it is a shifter thing to hug when we see each other, but I do like it as I press my head into his chest and he holds me tighter. My wolf suddenly pushes into my mind, wanting me to shift, and I have to stop her, making her calm down so I can breathe in Rick’s musky peppermint scent. Hot wolf guys hugging you should be a shifter rule or something.
“How was it?” Rick asks, pulling back from me, but keeping his warm hands on my shoulders, rubbing his thumbs in circles.
“Good as it could have been. I start next week,” I tell him, trying to hide how nervous I am.
“Adie has a good poker face, that’s for sure,” Mich says. “Is Nath still at hers?”
“No, he is around ours with Sophie. They are playing some game on the PS4,” Rick replies, “and Sophie is apparently some kind of queen at those games and is beating him.”
“Nath must be Sophie’s new best friend, she loves playing those games,” I reply, grinning up at Rick.
“So does Nath,” Rick replies. “I actually wondered if you would come back to mine. Tay wants to say sorry for the crazy way she reacted when you met.”
“Is the sorry going to be real, or she is going to throw things at me again?” I ask. “As I want to get something to defend myself with if she is going to do that.”
“It’s real. Tay is just protective of us, and I really feel she is sorry. You might not have seen her, but she was flying around your house last night and kept checking in on you,” Rick explains to me.
“Rick means she sees us all as her family, and you are a threat, and she wants to keep an eye on you,” Mich says with a chuckle as my eyes widen, and he heads towards the house.
“Look, I won’t let her throw things at you. Just come over?” Rick asks, slowly lowering his hands down my arms. I nod with a sigh, and he grins before turning to walk towards his home. I follow him, praying the pixie isn’t going to throw anything else at me, and if she does, I’m hiding behind Rick. He can get hit by flying shit instead for guilt tripping me into coming over.
“Where is Tay from?” I ask, curious about her.
“The hunter base, actually. We rescued her on one of our first days, and everyone thinks she just escaped,” Rick says. “Tay was pretty sick for about a month, and we were lucky she made it.”
“I’m sorry she was ill. Does she talk about where she was from before the base? I didn’t know pixies where even real,” I ask. “I’ve seen videos on the internet of little blue demon things that like to cause trouble. They like to steal drinks and shiny things, but they don’t look like Tay. Tay looks like a pink version of Tinkerbell, with a bigger attitude problem.”
“Tay doesn’t talk, well, not any language we can understand. She just nods her head to say yes or no, or points at things. She can’t tell us where she is from,” Rick replies, and I think back to when I met her. She could definitely talk.
“She does talk. I remember her very clearly telling me to ‘go’ when she was throwing things at me,” I tell him.
“You can understand her? That language she speaks?” Rick asks, stopping in his tracks in shock for a moment before he keeps walking to the door which Mich has left open.
“Yes…” I drawl.
“That’s insane. How is it possible only you hear her?” he asks, and I shrug. I don’t have a clue. The only thing I can think of is that Tay might be from Frayan and that’s why I can understand her. But then why can’t Nath?
“Maybe I could ask her where she is from?” I suggest, stepping in the house behind Rick, and shutting the door behind me. Rick watches me, running a hand through his hair as he thinks about it.
“I don’t know…she doesn’t trust people, and even if you can talk to her, I doubt she will tell you anything. It took me all day to get her to agree to say sorry,” he says and sighs. “Though it wouldn’t hurt to ask. Maybe we might be able to find her real home and take her back somehow.”
“I did get the feeling she doesn’t like me,” I chuckle, and Rick smirks.
“I think everyone likes you, and you just don’t realise the reason why,” he cryptically replies. I hear Sophie’s laugh float over to us, and I walk further into the room to see Sophie sitting on the couch next to Nath, and she has her hands in the air.
“You lose again, sucker!” she cheers for herself. She always was a sore winner.
“You cheated!” Nath protests.
“Hey, guys!” I interrupt, and they both wave at me before going back to their game.
“Another game? And no goddamn cheating, kid!” Nath demands, and I shake my head as they start up a new game. Someone’s a little competitive.
“Nath can’t stand to lose, so Sophie will have to let him win soon to be able to go home,” Rick whispers to me, and I laugh quietly. “Let’s go to my room, Tay is up there.”
“Alright,” I reply, pulling my eyes away from Nath and Sophie. Rick offers me his hand when I face him, and I surprise myself by sliding my hand into his without a single pause. Rick leads me up the stairs and back to his room, pushing the door open and closing it behind me. Tay is sat on his pillow, her arms crossed in annoyance, and she downright glares at me. The pixie looks cuter than ever with her pink hair almost floating around her, and her little wings fluttering as she watches me. Though I now know cute means evil, so I keep myself just behind Rick.
“Time to say sorry,” Rick demands, letting go of my hand and crossing his arms as he stares at Tay. When he tries to step closer, I move myself behind him and he looks back at me, shaking his head at my hiding. I don’t care though, that pixie is evil. “Adie is sticking around, so you need to behave and be nice to her.”
“She must go,” Tay mutters in an overly sweet voice, locking her eyes with me. I feel like I’m her prey when she does that, and it’s seriously creepy. I know that little pixie is thinking of ways to kill me. I can see it in her damn spectacular pink eyes.
“Did she say sorry?” Rick turns his head to look at me as he asks, and I shake my head.
“Not exactly,” I dryly reply.
“Tay…” Rick warns, raising his eyebrows at her, and they have a staring contest. How is he not scared of her? “Tay, I swear I will hide that pink pillow you like to sleep on, and I won’t buy you anymore pink bath bombs if you don’t say sorry.” I smile at Rick’s parent attitude and how Tay lets out a long sigh before flying up and coming straight towards me. I resist the urge to run away as she flies in the air right in front of me, sits on the edge of Rick’s shoulder and looks down at my hand on Rick’s arm. I get the impression she wants me to remove my hand, but I don’t, and she rolls her pretty eyes at me.
“I am sorry for the throwing, but you must go home. To Frayan. Not here,” she
says, and I frown. “The fates are calling you.”
“Why do I need to go there?” I ask and lower my voice as Rick looks over his shoulder in confusion. “I can’t go there.”
“Your people need you. All dead without you. You are selfish to stay here,” she mutters, judging me for something I have no clue what she is going on about.
“My people?” I ask her, hoping she will explain whatever she clearly knows.
“Fray…yours. Fate calls you,” she says, her tone suggesting that should make perfect sense to me.
“You aren’t making much sense, little pixie,” I reply, letting go of Rick and putting my hands on my hips.
“You are stupid. Why does fate pick a stupid girl like you?” she huffs and shakes her head at me.
“Who the hell are you calling stupid?” I ask as Tay flies around me to the open window.
“Next time, I will throw harder and hit your head. Then you might finally understand,” Tay grumbles before transforming into an owl and flying away out the window.
“What did she say? What are your people and where does she think you need to go?” Rick rapidly asks, and I drop my hands from my hips, and I rub my face from the stress.
“It’s complicated,” I mutter. “Though I didn’t get a chance to ask her where she is from, I think I have an idea.” The way Tay talked about Frayan, where fairies are meant to live, I believe she is from there. It would explain everything. I don’t have a clue what she is talking about with fate and all that.
“Meaning you don’t want to tell me?” Rick asks, sounding a little hurt as I look up at him.
“Rick, we have only just met. Why would I trust you with all my secrets?” I ask, feeling frustrated, and freeze when Rick stares down at me in a way I don’t really understand. Rick lifts a hand, drifting his fingers down my cheek and to my neck.
“Don’t you feel it?” he asks, and I gulp as his hand goes to the back of my neck, and he steps closer, so our bodies are brushed against each other. “Can’t you feel what I might be to you?”
“No,” I whisper.
“Then maybe this will help you realise and trust me, because I’m not going anywhere,” he whispers before pulling me into a scorching kiss. It’s the kind of kiss that no one could ever forget, and every natural instinct in me tells me never to let him go. My hands slide into his soft hair as he pulls me closer, tilting my head to the side a little as he deepens the kiss. I feel completely in his control with every movement, and all I can do is submit to him as he steals my breath with the passionate kiss.
“Rick! Come here!” Rick pulls away from me at the sound of someone shouting, resting his forehead against mine as we both breathe heavily. “Rick, man, get down here!” I recognise the voice as Mich, and the annoyance flashing across Rick’s face is cute as we stare at each other.
“I will be right back,” Rick mutters. “I need to tell you something, and we never get a chance to be alone.”
“Okay,” I shakily say, and he reluctantly pulls away from me, walking to the door and leaving it open as he walks out. I wait still and silently for a while before I get bored and decide to wander. I walk around Rick’s room and go to the dresser by the door, smiling at the strange collection of Harry Potter things on the side. There is everything from the DVD collection to a toy wand that looks way too real. Seems Rick likes Harry Potter, which is so damn cool. I run my finger over the wand and a deep voice from right behind me makes me jump.
“You shouldn’t look through people’s shit that isn’t yours,” Josh grumbles, his voice deep and threatening.
“Hello, Josh, lovely to see you too. Hasn’t anyone ever told you it’s rude to sneak up on someone?” I mutter, turning to face him with my arms crossed. “What do you want?”
"I can't find any record of your parents, or you. Not even Sophie. I found your parents’ death records, but that's it.” He pauses. “Why are you so hidden, sweetheart?" he asks me.
"I didn’t know I was," I reply, stepping back as he laughs, a sarcastic and cruel laugh.
"You’re almost as much as a ghost as we all are," Josh growls as he steps closer, hunting me with every step. “Now tell me what I want to know. Being pretty isn’t going to win me over like it did my friends.”
“I don’t know why my parents kept us hidden. I’ve already told you this, Josh. Why are you so determined to make me out to be the bad guy?” I ask. “Because that is what you have treated me as since I got here.”
“No, hidden is one thing and understandable in this world, but you are a ghost. Sweetheart, there is no record of your birth, no record of your sister’s, and there is nothing. You said you went to university, but I can’t find any proof of that,” Josh growls. “So, something isn’t adding up, and I want to know what you are hiding.”
“I had fake ID for university, for all my schools,” I tell him. “It was safer that way.”
“And where the hell did your parents get that from? How did your parents, who by the looks of it were poor as fuck, manage to afford to make you all that shit?” Josh asks, stepping closer to me with every few words until he’s pressed right up to my chest. I stare up at him, holding his gaze and refusing to back down. I haven’t done anything wrong, and I’m goddamn tired of this guy hating me for no reason.
"That's enough." I flinch at Rick’s protective growl from the door. “Get the fuck away from her if you’re going to be a dick.”
“I’m not asking you to trust me, Josh. I don’t know all my parents’ secrets. They died before I got a chance to find out. If you don’t remember, I told you all that. I’ve been nothing but honest with you all, and yet there is so much you lot are keeping from me. I don’t even know what you are, Josh, so don’t you dare be a shithead to me for things I don’t know,” I angrily reply, poking my finger into his chest before pushing past him. I pass Rick by the door, and he gently grabs my arm, stopping me leaving.
“I always find out everything,” Josh darkly responds just behind us, and Rick looks away from me, glaring at him.
“Good luck with that, Josh,” I mutter, turning to look at Josh myself, smiling before walking out the door as Rick lets me go. Rick catches up to me in the corridor, gently grabbing my arm again, and this time turns me to look at him.
“I’m sorry about Josh. Can we have that talk later? It can wait. I need to talk to him,” Rick says. “He is like a brother to me, and I need to explain some things.”
“Sure,” I say, placing my hand over his for a second before he lets me go and walks back to his room, slamming the door behind him. As I walk down the stairs, I hear a big smash and the loud bangs of them likely fighting, and I wonder if I should help. Ah well, they are supernaturals and they will heal. I get to the bottom of the stairs and walk over to Nath and Sophie who don’t even pause their games at the noises. I sit right in the middle of them as they finish another racing game, and Sophie wins in her pink car.
“You suck,” Sophie tells Nath, and there’s another loud smash upstairs, drawing her eyes to the ceiling as a little dust falls from it. “Shouldn’t someone go and check that out?”
“Nope. Rick and Josh always fight. Don’t worry, we heal quickly, remember? Wanna play, Adie?” Nath asks and pulls a spare controller off the coffee table. He doesn’t even seem to react at all to his friends fighting. It really must be a normal thing for them.
“Sure,” I shrug.
“Now you’re going to lose to two girls,” Sophie grins and winks at me as Nath groans.
“When did girls get so good at racing games?” he asks. “I’ve never met anyone that can beat me, and a damn fifteen-year-old did.”
“Since forever. Games aren’t just for guys anymore,” I say with a laugh. Girls can do anything we want. It’s clear Nath is going to learn that as we beat his ass on this game.
“You will look after her, won’t you?” I ask the Scottish woman, Rick’s great-aunt Lucinda, before she reassured me, one more time. I’m sure she is getting annoyed with me a
t this point, but I can’t help but panic. Sophie is the last of my family, and she is so young. She is my responsibility, and if I make the wrong choice, she suffers, which I can’t let happen. Lucinda sighs, tilting her head to the side as her eyes run over me from head to toe. I briefly glance over at Sophie who is picking up her rucksack after the four wolves that came with this woman finished packing her boxes into their truck. Sophie hasn’t taken all her things, only what she thinks she will need for now, and I know we can come back for the other things eventually.
“Lass, we will look after her like she is family. You need to be stronger than this and trust your pack. They need you brave,” she says, placing her hand on my arm in a comforting way and lowering her voice. “We know you are risking your life staying here for a month to help the boys. That debt will be repaid, and looking after your sister is a given, Adie. I didn’t miss the overprotective way Rick spoke of you, and he needs a strong mate.” My eyes widen at the suggestion of mating with Rick. That’s a big thing, and we are nowhere near that. I doubt he even likes me that much. Since our kiss last week, he has avoided me and made sure that he wasn’t the one staying over to protect us. I’ve been stuck three nights with grumpy Josh who wouldn’t talk to me as he stayed. I don’t know what happened between Josh and Rick, but they clearly made some agreement to avoid me. Mich and Nath are different though. Our nights are usually fun, and I enjoy learning about them and where they grew up.
“Sophie has been through a lot. This isn’t about me being brave, it is about me not wanting to mess her up,” I quietly reply.
“One thing I know how to deal with is kids that have had to grow up far more quickly than they should. I have this handled, lass,” she tells me, but I know I still look worried as she keeps talking. “Trust me, this is what is best for her.” I nod once, knowing she is right before she goes to the door, stopping next to Sophie.