Fairy, Neat (Fairy Files Book 6)

by Katharine Sadler

  Hieronymus knelt by my side and laid his hands on me. He didn’t have a healing ability as strong as my own, but he sank his energy right into my body. I could feel it moving around as he sought out injuries. I stared at the stone ceiling as his healing power flowed through me. Frost sat next to me, both of my hands in his own, the warmth of his body welcome in the chilly cavern.

  “Two broken ribs,” Hieronymus said. His face was pale and he teetered a bit in place.

  I sat up, sighing with relief when I felt no pain. “You need to rest,” I said. “We’ll help you get to the others.”

  He leaned on Frost as we followed the sound of voices echoing from deeper in the cavern. We walked until the ceiling got so low I had to crawl on my hands and knees.

  “Can you make it through here on your own?” Frost asked Hieronymus. I knew he must be freaking out at the narrow space we had to crawl through, but his voice gave nothing away.

  “I’m not an invalid,” Hieronymus said, his tone awfully snippy in response to Frost’s polite question. “I can manage.”

  “I’ll just stay here and make sure the others know where to go,” Frost said. He backed out of the narrow space into the larger cavern. I didn’t point out that all the others had already gone through, Lensy having passed us as Hieronymus healed me.

  Hieronymus and I crawled. Just as the ceiling got so low I didn’t think we’d be able to go any farther, the space opened into an enormous cavern, lit by another, larger, opening in the ceiling, abut sixty feet above us.

  “The only outlet is back the way we came,” Jerome said as we emerged into the cavern. “So we should be safe here until the sasquatch moves on.”

  We were so far inside the mountain that I could no longer hear sounds of fighting from outside. “How will Chelsea and Benny find us?” I asked.

  “I waited until Benny flew over,” Lensy said. “I pointed out the crevice to him. They’ll come when it’s safe.”

  I hoped they didn’t try to fight the sasquatch or injure themselves. “I’ll just let Frost know.”

  I crawled back through the narrow opening. Frost was leaning against the stone wall, one foot crossed over the other, like he was relaxed and at ease. “It’s a tight squeeze,” I said. “But it opens into a huge, wide-open cavern.”

  He nodded and smiled. “We’re all alone, then?”

  “Unless someone comes looking for us or Benny and Chelsea come in,” I said, my own smile growing.

  He motioned me over to him. I slid off my pack and walked over, anticipation mounting. We’d had a couple of stolen moments alone, but not near enough to sate the constant craving I had for him.

  I stopped in front of him and his smile turned wicked. He slid his hands under my shirt and gripped my hips almost hard enough to hurt. He yanked me against him and I felt his hard body against my own. I moaned and he dropped his lips to mine, kissing me like he was starving for me.

  It was the wrong time for this, we should have been worrying about the sasquatch, about our friends still out there with it, but he dropped his mouth to my neck and kissed me in that spot right behind my ear and I forgot everything I should have been worrying about. I ground my hips against him and moaned.

  “I fucking love the sounds you make,” he said. He shoved me away from him and I scanned him from top to toes, my gorgeous, werewolf husband. “Take off your clothes,” he said. “I want to see you.”

  I shimmied out of my clothes and boots, trying to make the act as sexy as I could when I hadn’t bathed recently and was covered in dust and sweat from hiking. “Don’t be shy,” he said. He stepped to me and walked around me, taking in every inch of my naked body. “You smell like you and you are beautiful, even covered in dust.”

  “Can you read my mind, now?” I was joking. Mostly.

  He stopped in front of me and palmed my breasts. “Remember that telepathy we shared on our last trip here?” When he’d been a wolf on our last trip to Rubalia, we’d been able to speak mind-to-mind.

  What he was doing to my breasts making it impossible for me to form words so I nodded.

  He stopped and leaned away from me to pull his shirt over his head. He was as dirty as I was and, yet, he didn’t smell bad to me, he smelled masculine and…Magnified, his scent more intense, and driving me wild. “I’ve still got it.”

  “What?” I asked, lost in the hard planes and ripples of his body, intent on his nimble fingers unzipping his jeans.

  “The telepathy,” he said. “I can hear your more intense thoughts. I can smell your lust and I know you’re thinking I’m the best lover you’ve ever had and you would do anything to have me inside you right now.”

  “What? That’s not—”

  But he was on me, skin to skin, moving me toward the stone wall and pressing me against it. His hands on me, his mouth on my lips, and then he was sliding into me, and I forgot what we’d been talking about. I wrapped my legs around his waist, trying to get him deeper, closer. I didn’t need foreplay or coaxing, I was ready for him, the need of days with no release making every touch feel ten times as heady and arousing as it usually did. And him sliding into me…God, it felt like absolute heaven. Like coming home, like everything I’d ever wanted.

  “I know I am, baby,” he said, his tone teasing. Damn it. “And you feel so good. Like more than I’d ever dreamed I’d have. I love you, Chloe, so much.”

  “I love you—” He drove into me again and I gasped at the pleasure, barely noticing the scrape of stone at my back. He had one arm wrapped around me to cushion me, but he couldn’t protect me completely. “Don’t go easy,” I said. “I want to feel you. I want to—”

  He pounded into me, stealing my words, knowing just what I needed. The angle of him driving into me gave me every pleasure I needed and I reached my climax in record time. He followed right behind me, growling with his release. Stone walls didn’t invite long, slow sex, but that wild fast coupling had been everything I needed.

  “I wish I had a—” I pressed a finger to his lips knowing what he was going to say without telepathy. Frost prided himself on being a thorough lover and he loved to explore me at his leisure, never satisfied unless I’d achieved multiple orgasms.

  “There are people who might come looking for us at any moment and a murderous sasquatch not too far from our door. This was perfect. It was everything I needed.”

  He ground against me gently, making me gasp and sending sparks of pleasure through me. “I know you could take more, Chloe. You aren’t so easily sated.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You’re one to talk.” I pressed a kiss to his lips. “I love you.”

  His smile lit his eyes and I knew it wasn’t possible to love anyone more than I loved him. “I love you.”

  We dressed and crawled through the narrow passage together. Frost insisted I go first, swearing that the vision of my ass shaking in front of him would make him forget his claustrophobia. I could hear his labored breathing behind me and I knew he was struggling, but he didn’t freeze up again and we made it through into the wide cavern, where he visibly relaxed.

  Everyone was sitting and talking in low voices or eating. Hieronymus was snoring in a dark corner. “So, if the sasquatch doesn’t like the dark, does that mean he’ll go away when the sun sets?” I asked Lensy as I sat down next to her. Frost sat next to me, close enough that we touched from hips to knees. As close as we could get to post-coital cuddling.

  “Ordinarily,” Lensy said, “sasquatches return to their lairs when the sun sets, but this sasquatch may not have an established lair, yet, not if he’s been run off his own territory.”

  “He might just hunker down next to the opening of this cave and wait us out?”

  She nodded. “It’s entirely possible. It depends on how desperate he is for food or whether he’s gone insane.”

  “Insane?”

  “Sasquatches never leave their own territory. If they are forced to leave it, they will wander, lost and bereft, mourning their territory with such fervor
it can drive them to utter madness.”

  “This just keeps getting better,” Frost said. “Do you know of any way to kill him or scare him off?”

  “There’s always a way,” Lensy said. “I’ll talk to Clove. She had much training in combat and may know more than I do.”

  Lensy left and I leaned back against the stone wall, intending to close my eyes for just a moment.

  When I woke, the cavern was only dimly lit and Frost’s warm chest was under my head. I forced open my eyes and stretched. I still felt groggy and out of it, but I needed to know what was happening with the sasquatch.

  Frost looked at me, his gaze sleepy. “Go back to sleep. They’ll wake us if they need something.”

  I couldn’t argue with his logic, so I closed my eyes and went back to sleep.

  The second time I woke, it was to the sound of people arguing.

  “It’s not worth the risk,” Lensy said. “If it was safe to go back up there, Benny or Chelsea would have let us know.”

  “Unless they’re dead,” Jerome said. “We haven’t got enough food and water to survive another day in here.”

  Lensy snorted. “We can survive just fine. Hurrying will only get more people killed.”

  “We might survive,” Jerome said, “But we’ll be weakened. We need our strength for the journey ahead.”

  I opened my eyes and looked at Jerome and Lensy. They were about ten feet from me and I could clearly make out their angry and worried expressions. Despite what Lensy said about her experience with Missella, she didn’t appear to be a seasoned warrior or rebel. And Jerome was just a nice guy who was trying to survive and keep Vervain safe. They didn’t belong here. “I’ll go,” I said. “I can check out the situation, look for the sasquatch, and get back down here a lot easier than Jerome.”

  “No,” Lensy said. “We can’t lose you.”

  I looked around that cavern filled with talented fae, some frightened, others antsy, all ready to do something amazing, to be heroes. “I’m as disposable as everyone else,” I said. “Once Ludwiggia is gone, the fairies will find a new leader with or without me. My royal blood is no more important than anyone else’s non-royal blood.”

  “Pretty speech,” Hieronymus said. “And stupid. The fairies will care about royal blood. You need to stay alive.”

  “I don’t want to be queen anyway,” I said. “I’m just going to try to get out of the job as quickly as I can.”

  “You are the closest thing we have to an incontestable heir. Without you, there will be chaos as others fight for the job. I am just as physically malleable as you, Clarinda. I will go check on the others.”

  “We’ll both go,” I said. “Bluebell has as much royal blood as me and she’s not a half-blood.”

  “No,” Frost said. “Chloe and I will go. There are too few of us to play favorites.”

  Hieronymus scowled, but he didn’t argue. I was trying to be better about delegating, but Frost and I were perfectly capable of being look-outs. The only one in that cavern more experienced in fighting than me and Frost was Vin, and she was in quiet conversation with Vervain.

  I walked and crawled with Frost, Hieronymus trailing and muttering, to the mouth of the crevice we’d dropped in from. The crevice began at about the level of Frost’s head, but the rock walls were slick and had no handholds, nothing for us to grip to hold ourselves up there, not to mention that Frost would be re-entering his own private hell.

  “Could you shift to fairy-size and fly out?” Frost asked.

  Hieronymus paled. “And find herself confronted by a sasquatch? Anyone on the other side of the crevice who might be watching for one of us to emerge could easily crush her. It’s clear you are reckless, but use some sense.”

  Frost rolled his eyes. “It’s fine,” I said. “I’ll be careful and at least we’ll know what to expect up there.”

  I shrunk to fairy size before Hieronymus could argue. I rose, avoiding thinking about how high I was. The crevice, which was so terrifying to Frost, was comforting to me, because the close walls made me feel safer, somehow, like if I started to fall I could grab onto the rock. I shot up, flapping my wings as easily as I moved my legs to walk.

  When I reached the upper entrance to the crevice, I slowed and crept to the edge to peek out. I peered into the bright sunlight until my eyes adjusted. A deep growl sounded so close that it made me jump, but I didn’t see anyone near. I waited and the growling moved farther away.

  I looked up into the sky and saw Benny and Chelsea hovering over the trees, watching something below. They had to be exhausted, but they appeared to be at ease. I waited until they moved away from the crevice, likely following the movement of the sasquatch. I turned and headed back to Hieronymus and Frost.

  I shifted back to human-size and faced the two men. “The sasquatch is still prowling out there,” I said. “Dangerously close. Benny and Chelsea must need sleep and food. We need to do something.”

  “We will wait,” Hieronymus said. “There is nothing else we can do.”

  “Always putting yourself first,” Frost said, his shoulders tense. I wondered if they’d argued while I’d flown.

  Hieronymus bristled. “I’m putting the princess and the cause first.”

  “And Benny and Chelsea last,” Frost said. “We need them as much as we need you and Chloe. Every person is important.”

  “You don’t even like Benny,” Hieronymus said. “I would think you would be on my side if you love Clarinda as you claim.”

  Frost growled low and I stepped between the two men. I knew Frost was on edge, and he liked to take charge and act. “How far will we get without Benny and Chelsea?” I asked. “We can’t abandon them.”

  Hieronymus huffed, but he didn’t argue. “I think Lensy will disagree.”

  “It’s one beast,” Frost said. “There are eleven of us. Surely we can come up with something to scare him away, even if we can’t outright fight him.”

  “What would a wolf pack do?” I asked, an idea forming. A wolf pack was not made up of members of equal strength and ability. If we all worked together, using our different strengths, maybe we could chase him off.

  Hieronymus huffed. “They would nip at his heels like the dogs they are.”

  Frost’s eyes lit with interest. “We would surround him quietly and, as Hieronymus says, nip at his heels. We would harry him, attacking him and fleeing, making sure he had no chance to rest.”

  “We should bring this to Lensy and Vervain, since they know more about sasquatches than we do,” I said.

  “I’ll wait here,” Frost said.

  Hieronymus and I returned to the cavern and laid out Frost’s idea for the others. They had no better idea. We hoped that Benny and Chelsea would see what we were doing and join in, because we couldn’t risk waving them down and explaining it to them. Bluebell and Clove chose to stay behind. I was disappointed, since Clove had been trained as a warrior, but it was clear Bluebell was no fighter and Clove insisted her place was at Bluebell’s side. Vervain insisted on helping, even though Jerome protested. I didn’t like it, but we needed all the help we could get. Jerome growled in frustration and joined us as well.

  “Maybe we should make two circles around the sasquatch,” Vin suggested. “The experienced warriors will move in first and the less experienced will move in only if the first line is injured.”

  “Good idea,” I said. I ignored Vervain’s scowl and spoke before she could argue. “Frost, Vin, Hieronymus, Benny, and Chelsea will be on that front line. The rest of you will back us up.”

  Lensy frowned, but her shoulders relaxed as though she was relieved. Her attitude re-affirmed my belief that she was not experienced in fighting.

  Together, we headed back to the bottom of the crevice, where we found Frost leaping and trying to wedge himself into it. He leapt high enough to get his head and shoulders into it, but couldn’t get a handhold to stay up there.

  “What are you doing?” Vervain asked, contempt lacing her words.

/>   Frost turned and smiled, undaunted. He’d likely heard or smelled our approach. “I’m trying to figure out how to get back into the crevice without fairy wings.” He shot a warm smile my way.

  Vervain sighed like she was carrying the stupidity of all the adults in the world on her small shoulders. “It’s very easy.” She stepped up next to Frost below the crevice, which was two feet above the top of her head.

  She sprang straight up into the air, and slammed both of her hands out and against either side of the crevice. Everything below her shoulders was still hanging out of the crevice, but she curled her body up until her legs were inside the crevice and just her butt and torso were below it. She used the leverage of her legs to push her upper half into the crevice and then she pushed and twisted herself until she was in a good position to chimney up between the two rock walls.

  “That’s not possible,” Hieronymus said, his eyes wide. I’d rarely seen Hieronymus shocked or overwhelmed, but both expressions were currently clear on his face.

  Vervain dropped down with a wide grin. “Easy,” she said and gestured for Frost to do what she’d just done.

  Frost jumped and threw his arms out and managed to stick. It wasn’t nearly as graceful as what Vervain had done, but he managed to get himself in there and he started climbing up the crevice. I shifted to fairy-size and flew up beside him. His breathing was heavy and he moved like he was being chased by nightmares, but he got out and breathed a sigh of relief when he stepped into the sunshine.

  “I’m good,” he said. “But it wasn’t easy. You should go back down in case others need help.”

  I passed Lensy and Vin who were both making their way to the top of the crevice and dropped down into the opening below. I shifted to human-size. Jerome was glaring at the crevice like it had called him a bad name. “Sliding down was so much easier than climbing up,” he said. “If I shift to rock, I lose traction, but I’m too big to maneuver in there without shifting.”

  “You have to get in there before you can be sure of that,” Hieronymus said.