Just Believe

by Manning

  Well, they won't get away with it, she thought.

  Linette jerked on jeans and a sweater and slipped her espadrilles on. She stopped by the nurse's station to make sure Erin Tinker was well sedated, and then she went looking for the Brute Squad. She'd need some help—some fairy help—to pull this one off.

  ~*~

  Gaelen met Annabelle the next morning as she left the hospital, her eyes red-rimmed and her spirit low.

  “How is she this morning?” he asked.

  “The same.”

  “Dr. Duncan hasn't released her?”

  Annabelle stared at him as though he was crazy. “Release her? They won't even let me see her, Gaelen.” She sighed. “Now, Mom is up there in a frenzy. Dr. Duncan finally gave her a sedative, too.”

  What was the pixie up to, Gaelen wondered. If she so blatantly disregarded him, she must have a plan and a reasonable chance for succeeding.

  “I still haven't found Lucas.”

  Mention of Lucas's name seemed to make Annabelle uncomfortable. Gaelen decided to push.

  “Annabelle, I know you're worried about Erin. You must know how I feel about Lucas. I haven't seen hide or hair of him since before this sorry mess started.” He took her hand and made her face him. “If you know where he is, you have to tell me.” She glanced away. “At least tell me if he's all right.”

  With her eyes averted from him, Gaelen couldn't see which way she was leaning. With a sudden feeling that their time was growing short, he almost went into her head.

  Annabelle jerked up, her brown eyes questioning.

  Clumsy lout! Gaelen fumed with himself. She'd felt him probing.

  “I have to go, Gaelen.” She broke away and went to her little rented car.

  He watched her go. Then he headed for his car.

  She was going to Lucas.

  CHAPTER NINE

  “So ... I might have known I'd find you here.” Gaelen said softly, after unsquooshing in the rec room of the Tinker home.

  Lucas jerked his head up, a wry smile spreading over his face. “Gaelen. I might have known I couldn't hide forever.”

  “You did a pretty good job, boyo. I had to follow Annabelle to find you.”

  “All you had to do was scan her. She's known where I was for two days.” Lucas cocked his head and narrowed his eyes, studying.

  Gaelen had to struggle to keep from squirming under his brother's gaze.

  “Why didn't you probe her mind, Gaelen?”

  Why indeed, Gaelen wondered as he drew a small bag from his coat pocket. Stretching open the drawstrings, he stuck two fingers inside and extracted a small, crystal bottle.

  “Let's just say I was being a gentleman.” Anxious to get back the upper hand, he ordered, “Get ‘em out, now. Let's have a look at the damage.”

  “Not here, you ass! What if Annabelle or her mother come down here and see me?”

  “Annabelle is sleeping, and her mother is drugged. They won't wake up. Come on, Lucas, we don't have all day.”

  With a grimace, Lucas shucked off his jacket and shirt. “It's been a while, and they're sore, so don't rush me.”

  Biting his lower lip, Lucas closed his eyes and unfolded his wings.

  “Oh, Bridget,” he moaned.

  “Atta-boy, come on. Just a little more now.” Gaelen's voice was soft and comforting. “I know it hurts, boyo, but come on. I've got some ointment to take the sting out.”

  “Holy Bridget,” Lucas groaned, “I hope Annabelle doesn't come down here.”

  “You and me both, brother. The last thing I want is to have to explain why I'm tending my brother's privates.”

  Lucas laughed. “T'would be a shocker for the poor girl for certain.”

  “I don't know, Luke,” Gaelen said with a chuckle. “Somehow, I don't think that one would be as shocked as you might think.”

  “It certainly shook a scream from my Erin when these things popped out.”

  “You should have thought about that before you took up with a mortal woman.”

  “Hey, watch it. That hurts. And what's wrong with a mortal woman?”

  “You know the law. Our kind can't consort with mortals.” Gaelen punctuated his sentence with a dab of ointment. “Don't you realize what you've done? And there was no need. Three hundred fairy women on this campus I know of—”

  “And you've been with every one.”

  “Not even half,” Gaelen shot back. “How did you get involved with a human girl anyway? You know better.”

  “It was a blind date. I couldn't get out of it without raising a lot of suspicion. I knew it could come to nothing, so I didn't worry about it. I just figured I wouldn't call her back.” He shrugged, then winced. “Erin wouldn't give up. And I enjoyed talking to her. We became friends. Then I fell in love.”

  “Oh, boy.” Gaelen rolled his eyes.

  “And I forgot the rules.” Lucas showed his palms in a helpless gesture. “Haven't you ever wanted to wake up with the same woman for the rest of your life?”

  “Bridget, no!” He was terrified by the thought, all the more so because suddenly, he could imagine waking up with the same woman, and the picture was an appealing one. As long as the woman had warm brown eyes and long, sable-soft hair and full curves.

  Lucas's speculative gaze warned him he was about to give too much away, so he forced himself to lower his voice, determined to reason with his brother. “We're fairies, Lucas. We're born to be superficial, for Pete's sake. My books and my studies are what I live for, and you would do well to get your mind on your work and keep it off women. You can't have Erin, and that's the long and short of it.”

  “Work! There's more to living than work—”

  Gaelen cut Lucas's outburst off with a raised hand.

  “The rules are there to keep everybody from getting hurt, Luke. Do you want to watch the woman you love get old and die? Your children? You'll still be hale enough to start all over again when your great-grandchildren are dust.”

  “Don't, Gaelen. I know it was wrong.”

  “It didn't stop you.” Gaelen held Lucas's gaze.

  Lucas didn't try to look away. “No,” he answered, but his voice was low.

  “You understand the penalty.”

  “I'm going to fight it.”

  “You're nuts. There is no fighting it. You'll go to Tir-Nan-Og for a century or two and Erin will be—” Gaelen stopped, the horror of the words chilling him. “She'll be dealt with.”

  “No!” Lucas jumped from his seat and whirled on Gaelen. “I won't allow it. It's my fault. I should be the one to bear the brunt of the Council's wrath.”

  “It's not wrath, Lucas. It's survival. All we need is one human, just one, to speak the words.”

  Lucas waved dismissively. “That's an old fairy's story. Words can't destroy us.”

  “Well, I'll tell you, boy, I don't want to be the one who finds out. Whether it kills us or not, it won't be pleasant. That much I do know.” Gaelen wished the whole subject hadn't come up. “Sit back down and raise your arm,” he ordered Lucas.

  Lucas obeyed, but he wasn't ready to concede the debate. “Have you wondered about that law? Fairies have been dealing with humans for millennia. Old Finnvarra has been stealing human women since before we went underground. Why was such a law passed?”

  Gaelen applied more ointment as he considered Lucas's words. Why indeed? Maybe instead of thousand-year-old documents, he should be studying documents of a more recent vintage and closer to home.

  Lucas was still offering his opinions. “You remember Dad blamed Eochy for cutting us off from humans.”

  There was nothing to be gained by this.

  “I don't know why,” Gaelen said impatiently. “I don't care why. All I know or care about is taking care of this mess you've made and getting back to my work.”

  “Yee-ouch! Your work. That's all you worry about. Day and night, night and day. Gaelen, what can be so important in translating thousand-year-old Irish documents?”

  �
��Old Gaelic, if you please. And they're not a day under twelve hundred years, I'll have you know. Giving us a new understanding of the syntax of liturgical language—”

  “I don't care, Gaelen. All I want is to take care of Erin.”

  “Erin is the Council's business now.”

  “Be damned! They'll not get their hands on her.”

  Gaelen stood, ointment slick on his fingers. “You'd better hope we get her to the Council, boyo. That's another reason I had to find you tonight. Have you been over to the hospital?”

  “Not since this morning. Why?”

  “Didn't Annabelle tell you?”

  “That Linette is drugging Erin?” Lucas winced as Gaelen applied more ointment. “I don't know if Annabelle knows it, but I gathered as much from what she said.”

  “Do you know why?”

  “No. Why?” Lucas's voice held a tension that was partly fear, partly protectiveness.

  “Linette has been instructed by her leaders to capture you and Erin.”

  “What business do the pixies have getting mixed up in our affairs?”

  “Linette claims you've put all of Faerie in danger, including the pixies. So, she got the Confederacy to give her the authority to handle it.” Gaelen shrugged. “I think she's using this to get back at me.”

  “I told you—!”

  “I know, Lucas, you warned me about her. And, for once, you were right. But, you can see why it's even more important for us to get Erin to the North American Council, so they can deal with her.”

  “Shhh,” Lucas hissed. “Listen.”

  Gaelen reflexively did as he was bid, his gaze following Lucas's to the ceiling. In the nighttime silence, the sound of footsteps grew louder.

  “Lucas? Who are you talking to?”

  “It's Annabelle. Fold your wings down.”

  “Lucas?” Her whispered call floated down the stairs.

  Gaelen made a motion for Lucas to answer her.

  “Yes, Annabelle. I'm right here.” He pulled his shirt back on and stepped to the foot of the stairs just as she appeared.

  “You decent?” she asked, much too late for it to matter.

  “Sure. What's the matter?”

  Gaelen stepped back into the shadows of the stairway and waited for his chance to sneak out.

  “I heard voices. Were you talking?” Her eyes darted around the big room, then back to Lucas's face. “Is somebody else down here?”

  “No. Who would be?” Lucas glanced at his wrist “Look at that, almost midnight. You should be in bed.”

  Annabelle ignored his hint and stepped by him into the room.

  Squoosh! Gaelen took flying form just as she came into view. He hovered near the corner of the room.

  “Annabelle, I really need some sleep.” Lucas leaned against the stairs, looking as tired as he claimed.

  Annabelle just looked confused. “I know I heard voices down here, not just yours but—” She frowned, putting absurdly attractive wrinkles across her pretty forehead.

  “But what?” Lucas prompted.

  The frown deepened. “Never mind. I must have been dreaming. I'm sorry for bothering you.”

  “No bother.”

  “Good night,” she said and headed back for the stairs. But instead of starting up, she stopped and turned to Lucas. “You're going to think I'm so weird,” she started.

  Lucas smiled. Gaelen would have, too. She was in overly large sweats and her long chocolate brown hair hung in sleepy disarray around her shoulders. She looked delightfully tousled.

  He pushed the idea of the sleep-mussed Annabelle out of his head. For certain he didn't need to be getting all distracted now. The fact she was human loomed like a brick wall around her.

  Not likely he could forget that. Much as he wanted to.

  “Lucas,” she finally asked. “You said Gaelen's promise was good as gold. Did you mean that, or were you being sarcastic?”

  Gaelen listened intently.

  “Gaelen is the most honorable man I know. He'll not give his word lightly. If he promised, he'll move heaven and earth to keep his word.”

  Lucas's trust wasn't something Gaelen had consciously tried to earn. To hear it so firmly pledged surprised him, and made him ridiculously proud. But more surprising was his desire to know he had Annabelle Tinker's trust, too.

  But he wouldn't hear it tonight. For now, she simply nodded at Lucas and went up the stairs.

  Gaelen hovered there, realizing her trust must be earned. And there was only one way to do that. He'd promised her Erin would be all right. Now it was time to make sure he kept that promise.

  He dashed down to the basement window and tapped on it to be let out.

  Come on, Lucas, open up.

  “Okay, okay. I'm comin',” Lucas said as he came over. “Keep your wings on.”

  Lucas slid the window open and Gaelen was on his way, through the screen and out into the dark. He didn't even wait to see if Lucas followed him.

  ~*~

  Linette Duncan prepared another syringe of phenobarbital and laid it on the table by Erin's bed.

  Erin's eyes opened, her head shook once, twice, then her eyes closed again.

  “Poor dear,” Linette whispered to the groggy girl. “'Tis really too bad, isn't it? But you'll be very happy where you're going, I promise you.” She turned to the two burly fairy mercenary orderlies.

  Allowing herself a moment of appreciation, Linette enjoyed the way their muscular forearms bulged the seams of the polyester uniform shirts. Their sinewy thighs strained the material of the cheap slacks.

  “Such lovely lads,” she whispered. Louder she asked, “Did you get the stock?”

  “Aye, Doc. We found a grand hunk of beechwood in the forest by the lake. Just about the right size. A wee bit o’ glamour, and nobody will be able to tell the difference.”

  “Can you do it? We've only got a little time before Gaelen comes around.”

  The fairy merc frowned, obviously insulted. “Madame, we are fairies, after all. We know our business.”

  “Saints protect me from sensitive mercenaries.” Linette rolled her eyes to heaven and stepped aside, waving at the bed. “Get to it, then.”

  The two fairies lay the post of beechwood on the bed beside Erin, arranging the bedclothes around it, just so.

  “Hurry up, hurry up!”

  “Look, Doc, if you think you can do better, we'll step aside.”

  Linette was really getting irritated. These stupid fairies didn't know about Gaelen's warning to release Erin. For all that he was a philandering, womanizing rake, Gaelen was also a member of the Council of One Hundred, and one of the most powerful fairy males on this continent. It was unlikely these two, even from the “old sod” as they were, would get in the way of her fight with Gaelen.

  “The Council wants this girl in Ireland, and we've got to get her there today. Now...” She waved her hands wildly. “Do whatever it is you fairies do!”

  With a superior sneer, the taller fairy winked at his comrade and they resumed their business.

  "Dr. Duncan," the tinny voice called over the intercom, "Dr. Duncan. Please come to Room 1115. Dr. Duncan to Room 1115."

  “What now?”

  “Isn't 1115 the paranoid-schizo laddie?” one of the mercs asked, frowning—he always frowned. “We'd better come with you, Doc.”

  Linette sighed. “Yes, I suppose you'd better. You,” she said to the other, “you stay here and get that stock ready to replace her.”

  “By myself?”

  “Of course. You said it would only take a ‘wee bit o’ glamour.’ Take care of it, and come down to 1115 when you're done. When we're finished there, we'll come get Miss Tinker and take her to Ireland. Lucas will follow, and so will Gaelen. This business has taken too long already.”

  “Aye, Doc,” he said to her back as she left the room, followed by his fellow merc. To Erin's sleeping face, he said, “She's a real pip, ain't she, darlin'?”

  The merc was actually glad she was g
one. It was not respectable to do magic in front of outsiders.

  He raised his hands over the wood, passing them once, twice, three times, finally deciding on a version of the changeling chant, and whispered to the wood:

  "This lass's form shall be your own,

  to mortal eyes no change be seen.

  Her flight from here remain unknown,

  'til from Erin's land she returns again.”

  He winced at the bad poetry. His ma had always told him he should pay more attention to versification.

  “You have a nice sleep darlin',” he said to Erin. Patting the log, he smiled and went to join the Doc and Frank in 1115.

  Erin strained to open her eyes when the door slammed. It was so hard to stay awake, even harder to take in the surroundings. She felt, though, the body in bed next to her.

  Turning her head, she came face-to-face with herself.

  Naturally, she screamed, and fell from the bed. Groggy and unable to stand, she sat on the floor.

  Footsteps echoed down the hallway, giving Erin only a moment's warning to roll under the high-standing bed. She pulled a sheet down to hide herself.

  A nurse came in and stood by the bed, unaware of Erin hiding underneath.

  “Miss Tinker,” the nurse called, much too loudly. “Miss Tinker, are you sleeping?”

  Erin, groggy as she was, was amazed by the stupid question and almost answered.

  “What is it?” a second nurse asked, coming into the room. “Shall I call Dr. Duncan?”

  “No, she just screamed in her sleep. Look at her, sleeping like a log. What's this?” the nurse asked. Erin peeked around the metal frame of the bed and saw the nurse pick up a syringe. “Very careless of the doctor to leave this lying around. Here you are, Miss Tinker. You'll be quiet now for another twelve hours.”

  The nurses left the room together. Erin carefully slid out from under the bed and stood up on still shaky legs. When she looked at the bed, they got shakier.

  “What's going on here?” She studied the form in the bed, even summoning the courage to raise the sheet and peek underneath. Suddenly, it was all clear to her. “A pod person! Just like in the Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I knew it! Aliens. She's one of them, and those big orderlies, too. I've got to get out of here.”