by Shona Husk
She watched on even though she’d rather have turned it off. Some countries in Europe had closed their borders because they didn’t want to be infected. Some speculated it was too late and that, with air travel, the viruses were already worldwide. Already there were cases of smallpox in the United States—but the reporter assured the viewers that quarantine rules in the U.S. were strict and that it had all been contained.
The words so far were unspoken.
But Jacqui heard them. This is what Felan had been talking about. The magic is failing and damaging both worlds.
If disease was creating havoc in the mortal world, what was happening in Annwyn? Were fairies dying? The reporter kept talking as if this were the only story. Maybe it was. She picked up the remote and turned off the TV, completely numb.
Her world was falling apart and there was nothing anyone could do. Quarantine and modern medicine couldn’t combat fairy magic—not totally. She’d have to find out what was happing and why.
And how she fit into Felan’s plans.
She couldn’t do anything to stop this. She wasn’t a doctor; she wasn’t anything at the moment except a café worker. She couldn’t be Queen. She didn’t know the first thing about being a Queen. And aside from what Felan had told her and what she’d researched in New Age shops, which hadn’t been very useful, she knew next to nothing about fairies.
No, he needed a woman who knew what it was like to rule and to lead. Someone who wasn’t afraid and who was willing to take on the responsibility. Someone who would relish the chance to leave this world and go on the adventure of a lifetime.
That wasn’t her. She liked her life the way it was. Normal. Without fairies.
Without Felan.
She wished he’d never walked back into her life. Now she was involved in his problem, and she knew he was expecting her to be the solution.
Chapter 8
This time Felan made an effort to look human. He had put on mortal clothes, jeans, and a white shirt that he left untucked and casual—a look that was always in fashion—instead of using a glamour that wouldn’t work on Jacqui anyway. He wanted Jacqui to see him the way he had been, and maybe she’d remember why they were good together. He’d also brought her a gift—one he’d prepared for her and had planned to give her the day they had, instead, broken up.
He knocked on her front door and waited. The sunlight was sliding away and staining the sky pink. The mortal world could be beautiful, but lately all he saw was death. Everywhere. Death had its place—even fairies eventually wasted away to nothing—but at the moment it was out of control. It was one thing to see the towns where bodies had been left to rot, rivers clogged with the bodies of animals and people, but another to pick up a newspaper and see the cold numbers.
The blue front door swung open to reveal Ash. She stepped back, startled, while he smiled and wondered why she was here.
“Jacqui in?”
“Yeah.” She stepped aside to let him in, her gaze raking over him as if she didn’t think he was worthy of entering.
“You’re early,” Jacqui called down the corridor.
“Only by five minutes.” He walked down the corridor toward her. It was better to be early than late. He’d been late too many times.
She came out of a bedroom and closed the door before he could peek inside. Dressed in a knee-length denim skirt, a red top, and sandals, she looked relaxed, almost happy to be going out with him.
“You look great,” he said. Which was true except for the iron crescent hanging against her collarbone. It was a reminder that even though he was dressed as a human, he wasn’t one.
Jacqui smiled. There was glimmer in her blue eyes that gave him a flicker of concern. He pushed it aside. What could go wrong on a simple date that wasn’t a date?
“Where are we going?” He hadn’t made plans. With Jacqui he was happy to go along with what she wanted.
“Dinner, but the location is a surprise.”
Okay, he generally didn’t like surprises, but he smiled anyway. He’d do anything to win back her heart.
“I brought you something.” He didn’t mention how long he’d had the gift. Instead, he just held out the wooden box. Carved in a floral design, it was very beautiful itself, but the true gift was inside.
“You didn’t have to.”
“I wanted to. I thought you might appreciate it.”
She raised one eyebrow, then opened the box. On a bed of green velvet was a small round mirror on a length of silver chain. She lifted it up and watched it spin for a moment.
“A mirror?”
He nodded. “It’s trained on me, so when I’m away, you will be able to see what I’m doing. You’ll be able to glimpse Annwyn, the people I talk to…anything really.” He was trusting her with a very important fairy-made object. If it were to fall into the wrong hands, Sulia or any other enemy would be able to follow his every move.
She looked at it. “I think it’s broken. I only see me.”
“That’s because I’m standing right here. I have to be away from you. Would you like me to put it on for you?”
She glanced at him and then the mirror. For a heartbeat he thought she was going to say no and hand the gift back. “You told me once not to accept gifts from fairies.”
“I didn’t mean from me. This will do you no harm, and if you want to negate all implications or assumption of a debt owed, simply give me something in return.”
“Like what? I have nothing to give you.” She frowned as if thinking.
“It is the act of giving, not the value of the gift.” Humans had created the legal profession because they had kept getting bound in deals with fairies, though those origins had long been lost.
“Right. Um. Just a moment.” She turned and went back into her bedroom, leaving the door open so he could see in. Her bed was made, and there was nothing on the floor. She’d never been neat when he’d known her. Back then, her clothes were often on the floor and her bed had never been made. When she came back, she was holding something in her hand. “This is for you.”
She placed a silver earring in his palm. It was a small fleur-de-lis that glittered with tiny diamond chips. “It was my favorite set, but I lost one and couldn’t bear to throw the other one out.”
“It’s very pretty, thank you.” He took the back off and pinned the earring to the pocket flap on his shirt. “We are square.”
Jacqui handed him the mirror and turned around. He put it around her neck and did up the clasp. When she turned around, the iron crescent was above the silver mirror he’d given her. The mortal and fairy worlds were meeting. He much preferred her in fairy silver to mortal iron, but he wouldn’t ask her to take it off. Not yet.
Her fingers brushed the surface of the mirror as she glanced down to look at it. “Thank you.” She looked up. “You aren’t worried I’ll catch you in the nude?”
Felan laughed. “No. You’ve seen it all before.” And he wouldn’t be doing anything he would be ashamed of her seeing anyway.
“True.” She grinned as if remembering. A car honked out the front. “That’ll be the cab. Shall we go?”
He agreed and they left—no doubt Ash was scowling somewhere in the house. “So you and Ash live together?”
“Plus another girl. It makes the rent affordable.”
They got into the cab and Jacqui gave directions. Neither of them spoke for the ride, but his gaze would drift to her, and a few times he caught her looking. When the cab stopped, they were at the waterfront. A cold worry grew in his gut as he paid the driver.
Once the cab had pulled away, Jacqui spoke. “You used real money.”
There had been times when he’d taken her out and he’d tricked the human with leaves instead of notes. He’d shown her the trick after telling her he was fairy, and she had taken him to the bank. “I still have the account I set up when I
was dating you. It’s actually quite useful.”
“I thought you’d have just paid with leaves.”
“Sometimes. It depends on what I’m doing and where I am. When I’m with you, I want to fit in.” He knew she didn’t like him ripping people off by using glamours on them. Most people fell for it—except in Ireland. They had kept fairy law alive. It was hard to get away with anything there.
They walked down the road toward the pier and the unease in his gut swelled. On the pier was a sign advertising a boat cruise. A dinner boat cruise. On the water. He stopped before his feet hit the pier. “We aren’t eating dinner on the boat.”
“Yes we are. I thought it would be nice.” That glint was back in her eye. She was enjoying this.
“There’s water.” He really didn’t want to sit in a boat on the ocean. He could think of many things he’d rather do.
She took his hand. “There usually is with boats.”
Her palm was warm against his skin, and when she gave it a gentle tug, he followed. If he wanted to see her, it was going to be on her terms. She’d grown up and gotten tougher. He kind of liked this sharper Jacqui, even if he didn’t like where she was leading him.
Beneath the wooden pier, water sloshed and slapped against the supports, and the cold swelled and flooded his blood. He had to concentrate to take each step and not turn and run to get off the pier. He could do this. He was the Crown of Prince of Death, Guardian of the Veil, and soon-to-be King of Annwyn. He wouldn’t let a little water freak him out. It wasn’t like it was touching him. He’d be floating in a boat. It would be fine.
“The boat won’t sink?”
“No.” She stopped and faced him. “Do you not want to have dinner with me?”
She was expecting him to change his mind and walk away. He met her gaze and held it. “I would have dinner with you on the shores of the river of the damned if that’s what you wished.”
Other couples passed them, making their way to the boat at the end of the pier. The boat where Jacqui was expecting him to go.
Jacqui stared at him, her lips slightly parted. “You are trying to get back together with me.”
“Is that a bad thing?” She was still holding his hand. He stepped closer so their bodies almost touched. “Tell me that you haven’t dreamed of me, that the love is dead and buried, and I’ll walk away.” More like crawl away and spend the next millennia slowly dying because he’d lost the one woman he truly loved.
For several heartbeats she was silent. “Let’s just have dinner, okay?”
***
While she’d seen the boat in the evenings, and always thought it would be romantic, being here with Felan, it was almost like no time had passed. But she couldn’t forget about the past seven years or that Annwyn always came first for Felan—not that he’d ever made her feel like she was second best when she was with him; it was only when he left.
They boarded the boat, walking past other diners already perusing their menus, and went to their table. As the boat rocked on a gentle swell, Felan looked as comfortable as a cat about to be given a bath. She almost felt sorry for him. Almost. Except that he hadn’t told her the whole truth about what was going on. She’d wait until they’d cast off before she started asking the hard questions.
“It’ll be fine.” She touched his hand, not sure if she was reassuring him or just fulfilling her need to touch him. She’d forgotten how magnetic he was, and now he was in her blood again. “Just read your menu.”
A few minutes later, the boat was under way. Felan gripped the table and drew in a sharp breath as if he were about to be thrown into the ocean. “I can’t swim.”
“Now you know how I feel when you talk about me being Queen of Annwyn.” Then she lifted her menu and purposefully ignored him while she tried to pick what to eat. It was an act; her heart was pounding and her palms were getting sweaty. She was as nervous as if it was their first date.
The boat motored out into deeper water. Other patrons were taking photos of the lit-up shore and talking animatedly while she and Felan were sitting in silence. Had she pushed him too far? She peeked over the top of her menu. He was reading, his fingers pressed too hard against the cover of the menu. But he wasn’t complaining; he was going through with her dinner date on a boat. What else would he do to get her back?
The waiter made his way around. Felan ordered mushroom risotto—he always ordered risotto; it was as if he’d found a human food he enjoyed and was sticking with it—and she had prawn curry. She also ordered a bottle of white wine. Neither of them were driving, and she knew Felan would pay. He always did. In those small things, he was predictable. She was actually surprised he’d gotten on the boat. She’d expected more of a fight.
She leaned forward and placed her elbows on the table. “I watched the news.”
That got his attention. “Then you know how bad things are.”
She nodded. “But how does it relate to you and…” She glanced around then lowered her voice. “Annwyn.”
He joined her in leaning on the table. To anyone else, it looked they were having an intimate conversation—not a semi-argument. “You want to have this conversation here? Now?”
“I wanted to make sure you were going to answer my questions and not take off when it got hard.” They were trapped on the boat for the duration of the cruise. It had seemed like a really good idea at the time. Now she wasn’t so sure. If he couldn’t escape, neither could she.
Felan looked offended. “Have I ever done that?”
“Not technically, but you have a knack for half-truths.”
He grimaced but nodded. “That is more habit than deliberate. What do you want to know?”
“How do the plagues relate? Why do you only have twelve…eleven days?”
“I told you, the magic is failing.”
She looked at him blankly. This was going to be like pulling teeth, her own teeth. “You’re going to have to give me a bit more detail. I need to understand.”
He glanced at his hands and didn’t look up. “It’s not simple to explain. The King and Queen keep the magic alive, but my parents have been fighting for centuries. All those little outbreaks that happen here are the result of them bickering. In eleven days, my mother is going to be executed for treason.”
She gasped, and her hand covered her heart. “I’m sorry. That’s awful.” While she hadn’t spoken to either of her parents in over a year because they hadn’t wanted her to move away, she wouldn’t wish them ill.
Felan gave a one-shouldered shrug that was supposed to mean he didn’t care, but she saw through the act. “If you knew my mother, you’d be surprised it had taken this long for her to be caught.”
The waiter brought the bottle of wine over and poured two glasses. Felan immediately took a drink, then turned the stem of the glass in his fingers, as if dwelling on a giant problem.
“She’s still your mother.”
“I know, but there is nothing I can do for her, and she would do nothing for me if the situation were reversed. She lost her humanity a long time ago.” She saw a flicker of sadness before it was carefully masked. He was trying to be unaffected, but whatever was going on ran deep.
“Why, what happened to her?” And if she’d lost her humanity, had she once been human?
“My parents married because of necessity, not love. She was a human princess and she loved the power of being Queen. The more she got, the more she wanted. That is why I have to be so careful about whom I choose.” He lifted his gaze and he looked tired—not his face so much, but it was something in his eyes. Almost as if he just wanted all this business over so he could get on with his life again.
“I still don’t get why you need a wife so fast. Can’t your father rule?”
The corner of his lips curved in the slightest smile. “There has to be a King and Queen, and it is my turn to step up. Besides,
my father is old. He has the wasting but is hiding it well.”
“Wasting?”
“Come on, Jacqui, think about it. You know I don’t age and yet fairies have to die somehow.”
There was the reminder he was a Prince and not a servant to answer her every question. If fairies didn’t age, then maybe it was as simple as they wasted away and died. She took a sip of wine before she spoke again, gathering her thoughts and rephrasing so it wouldn’t be a question he needed to answer.
“No King and Queen, and all hell breaks loose here.” That was why he wanted her to be Queen. He needed someone beside him, and she was safe and familiar.
“Pretty much.”
The waiter placed their meals on the table. Both of them took the opportunity to eat and let the truth settle. Around them there was the murmur of other voices and the gentle slap of waves against the hull. It would have been very relaxing if her mind wasn’t full of disease and death. Is that what was on his mind all the time? No wonder he looked tired.
She looked out across the water. From here everything seemed fine with the world. If not for the news reports, she’d be oblivious to what was happening elsewhere.
***
Felan tensed every time the boat gave the tiniest rock. It wasn’t a small boat, but he figured it would sink just as fast as a little boat. Yet Jacqui seemed perfectly relaxed. She sipped her wine, ate her dinner, and gazed out at the ocean as if she couldn’t bear to look at him.
He forced a breath out through gritted teeth. As much as he wanted her answer now, if he pushed too hard, she’d run. He should be happy she was here with him.
“So, how far does this boat go?”
She turned and faced him, her blue eyes catching the light and glittering like gems. “Not far. We’ll be turning around soon and making our way back. Not too traumatic for you?”
“I’ll let you know once I’m back on land.” He smiled and tried to make light of the fact she’d made him do something most fairies—no, all fairies—would run from. “I’m glad we could have dinner.”