by Kimbra Swain
“No. Don’t be silly,” I laughed. I never wanted Dylan to bow before me. We were equals. “We need to stop by the stone. Drop off this power.”
“Let’s go. It’s late,” Dylan said. “What about Purcell?”
Chris sat on the ground, rolling a cheroot butt in his fingers. He’d smoked it down to a nub. “It’s my last one,” he said.
I pulled his case out of my back pocket, tossing it to him. He caught it with a smile. “Go home to your wife! We will talk about all of this tomorrow provided that the sylph doesn’t wreck you before then.”
Chris stood to his feet. Bowing his head to Finley, his wings unfurled, and he took to the sky. The smell of tobacco wafted around us in his wake. In the distance, I could see his silhouette flying across the sky with a newly lit cig glowing in his lips.
Taking Dylan and Fin’s hand, I swirled the world around us, shifting to the truck in the drive at the old farmhouse. Fin teetered with the shift. I braced him with my shoulder.
“Thanks,” he mumbled. He looked exhausted. I didn’t know how often they were sneaking into the Otherworld, but I doubted he had slept lately.
“Get in,” I said, as Dylan opened the rear door of the truck for him. He climbed in, slumping over onto the seat. I shut the door once he was in.
Dylan wrapped me up in his arms. “You okay?”
“Yes. Thanks for the flaming fist assist,” I said. He quirked a smile. I met his lips with mine. A proper thank you.
“You can do this,” he said.
“You are right. I can, but a little at a time,” I replied.
We stopped by the stone circle on the way home. My father wanted to talk, but I told him we would talk later. He asked to see Finley, but Dylan and I had left him passed out in the truck.
When we got home, we were able to rouse him enough to get him to the couch with Levi’s help. We grabbed extra pillows and blankets, trying to make him comfortable. He mumbled something about imposing, but I shushed him. He looked so much like father that the resemblance was uncanny. Finley should be king of the Otherworld. I doubted I’d ever convince him of it. My heart pounded with excitement that my brother was here. Of all the brothers that we shared, he was the only one I ever cared about. I’d shut the memories of us away in my efforts to forget.
When I saw him at the bar and in town, his eyes spoke to me, but the glamour hid the rest of his features. I could see that it was a glamour but not what was underneath. Finley had power too. It was a damn good glamour.
I’d stared at him too long when Dylan coaxed me to the bedroom. We didn’t speak. I curled up next to him in the bed. Like before when I carried my father’s power for days, I felt the overwhelming need to sleep. Drifting off quickly, I remembered playing hide and seek in my father’s library with Finley.
I couldn’t sleep, so I slipped out of the bed as thunder rolled around the trailer shaking it to its supports. The spring storms were increasing in number and violence. Lightning flashed through the windows as I crossed the living room to Winnie’s room to check on her. Finley raised up on his elbow to watch me. I put my finger to my lips. He nodded and watched. I looked into the bedroom, but her bed was empty. A stab of panic rushed through me. I turned ninety degrees and threw open Levi’s door.
His eyes met mine through the tangled brown hair of Winnie curled up next to him. I sighed releasing the tension that had just overtaken my body.
“She’s only been in here a few minutes,” he said. “She saw Finley in the living room and was scared to go to you.”
I winced. I never wanted her to be scared. “She okay?”
“Yeah, go back to bed. I’ve got her,” Levi said.
For a moment I stared at Winnie sleeping soundly next to him. She had her blanket covered with cartoon ponies with her. Levi would make a wonderful father, if he weren’t in love with a woman who couldn’t even produce a child for the man she was with, much less ever do anything with him.
“Thanks,” I said. He gave me a lopsided grin, then closed his eyes. I stepped out of the room quietly to find Finley sitting up on the couch.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to check out,” he said, rubbing his head.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, just haven’t slept much. I’ve been terrified that he would catch us. When he did, I didn’t think I would get out, but then there you were in all your platinum glory,” he smiled.
I joined him on the couch. “I’m not sure whatever you were doing was worth the risk,” I replied.
“It was, especially to see you actually using Father’s power,” he replied. “Everything we took will make you a better ruler, and the fairies here safer because of it.”
“You aren’t leaving, are you?” I asked.
“This trailer, yes. This is awful. I have no idea how you live in this cardboard box,” he scoffed.
“It’s home, and it has wheels,” I replied.
“Yeah, but you aren’t running this time. It was hard to follow you over the years, but I kept up when I could. Whenever I knew or thought Father wasn’t looking. Only he was always looking. He always knew where you were,” he said.
“I can’t run. I have a family,” I said. “You are staying in Shady Grove, right?”
“I go where you tell me to go since I’m your servant now,” he reminded me.
Taking a deep breath, I tried to resolve that in order for Shady Grove to work, I needed servants. Servitude no matter how detestable to me, was a necessary evil. Not really evil either, just necessary.
“Want some coffee?” I asked.
“Sure,” he replied.
As I started the pot, the faint lightning lit up the trees in the distance. The storm moved out of town as quickly as it came. As the coffee brewed, I thought of all the things I wanted to ask my brother about the power and ruling. He would be infinitely better for this job than I would.
“No, I wouldn’t,” he said.
“Gah! You aren’t supposed to be in my head!” I said. He snickered.
“What makes you think I’d be any different from any of your other servants?” he asked.
“Stop!” I implored him, but he just kept on.
“Look, if I am here to force you to accept certain things to be inevitable, then so be it. Starting with communication. This is it. We are connected, not that we weren’t always, but now you can’t hide from me,” he said.
“I’m not hiding now,” I replied as I poured two cups of coffee.
“Sure, you are. Avoiding Father’s power is hiding,” he said as I handed him the cup of coffee. I settled down in the recliner.
“No, it’s called avoiding. Two different things,” I replied.
He waved his hand. “You know what I mean. Damn. You are still a pain in the ass,” he laughed.
“Why would that have changed?” I smiled over my coffee cup.
“Maturity,” he said.
“Overrated,” I replied. You know how siblings fight like rabid dogs? Fin and I never fought. We just pushed each other’s buttons, then wouldn’t talk to each other for days. Then we would pick back up right where we left off. No apologies needed.
“I don’t understand why you are storing it. Help me understand,” he replied.
I admit being able to talk to him like this would keep us from disturbing the rest of the house. “It’s too much. I’ve spent years suppressing the inherent evil inside of me. The parts of me that want to rip people limb from limb. When the power was inside me, I had very little control over it. I can’t just kill someone here for disobeying me,” I replied. “I fought that urge, and it exhausts me.”
“Did you want to kill Purcell tonight?”
“Yes, I wanted to rip his entrails out,” I admitted. His eyes grew wide. Sipping his coffee, he pondered the implication that I would so readily strike someone down for perceived treason.
“The Thunderbird tempers you?” he asked.
“Yes, but I know that if I truly went off, he would have to kill me
to stop me,” I said.
“He wouldn’t do that,” he said.
“That in itself is a problem,” I replied.
“Not really. Now you have Dylan, Levi, Jeremiah and me to stop you as well. You need to keep the power to prove to yourself that you can handle this and that if something goes haywire, then we will be here to pull you back. Levi especially. You truly care for him,” he said.
“Please avoid reminding me of how much I care for Dublin. He’s important to me, but if this gets too much out of hand, I will lose Dylan. I can’t live without Dylan,” I said.
“Your affection for him and your attraction to him are two different things. You love him, but in the way that you would give your life for him. He’s family. Your attraction is based solely on your needs as a fairy queen. You really should be screwing anything that moves. It would probably help with the urge to kill things,” he said.
I picked a fine time to be a monogamist. “I can’t believe you of all people are encouraging me to have sex with multiple people,” I said.
He laughed again. I missed his laugh. “I’m not. I’ll kill anyone that hurts you. Do you know how hard it was for me not to obliterate Remington Blake? No, Glory, I don’t want you sleeping with a bunch of men. I need to kill less myself,” he said looking into his coffee cup.
“Poor Remy. I really did like him. Still do, but he fucked up,” I said.
“None of them were good enough for you. Hell, I don’t think Serafino is either, but he’s better than all the rest. Except for Ford. I liked him,” he said.
What a coincidence that I thought about Fordele earlier. “I felt horrible leaving him to die. I didn’t know what else to do,” I said.
Finley sat his coffee cup down on the table. His brilliant turquoise eyes met mine. “Ford isn’t dead,” he whispered.
“What?”
He took a deep breath and returned to speaking in my head. “I saved him, but he was so angry that you ran off and left him, that he refused to find you. A few years ago, when you passed through Texas, I caught him following you. He’s still around.”
It was amusing how things you thought you had buried weren’t actually dead. I’d blocked all my memories of my brother in an effort to protect myself. Knowing I couldn’t return to the Otherworld after my banishment, it was easier to lock those memories away. I’d done the same for Ford, but now here at the same time, the memories resurfaced. I hoped that one day Ford would forgive me for leaving him.
Finley and I sat in silence as dawn broke. Winnie emerged from Levi’s room. She made a big circle around the room avoiding Finley. She crawled up in the chair with me.
“He’s Jack Frost,” she said.
I giggled. A smile erupted on Finley’s face. “No, Winnie. This is Finley, my brother. I guess that makes him your Uncle Finley.”
“Hi, Winnie. It’s nice to meet you,” he said.
She looked at him skeptically. “He sure does look like you, Momma.”
“Yes, he does. He’s nice. I promise he won’t hurt you,” I said.
“Well, I already have one Uncle,” she said.
“I’d never try to take your Uncle Levi’s place,” Finley said.
“Good,” Levi said as he entered the conversation.
“Rude much, Dublin?” I shot at him.
“I’m joking. Geez. Don’t get your panties in a wad,” he said, as he threw up his hand to keep me from speaking. “And yes, I know you are going to jerk a knot in my tail.”
Finley died laughing.
“Hush, you!” I scolded him.
“Come on, Winnie. You want some cereal before school?” Levi asked.
“Yes, sir. Uncle Levi is it okay if I have two uncles?” she asked.
“Of course,” Levi smiled at her.
Winnie walked over to Finley keeping her distance. She slowly approached him. He held his hand out to shake hers. “Look, Uncle Finley, I don’t shake hands. Either you hug me or nothing,” she informed him.
I suppressed a giggle. “Well, then by all means,” Finley responded opening his arms wide. She walked slowly into him. He wrapped her up, and I watched Jack Frost thaw.
“Let’s talk current situation,” Dylan said as he put on his sheriff gear.
“Okay,” I replied. Finley had played all morning with Winnie until the bus arrived. He declared that she was the cutest thing he’d ever seen and was smitten with her. He sat listening as Dylan and I assessed our situation.
“We know that the cloaked man is now your brother, Finley. That Purcell was working with him to retrieve the items from the vault. We still have an angry sylph to deal with as well as possibly sealing off the town,” Dylan said.
“A big cloaking spell?” Finley asked.
“Yeah. More like a giant glamour,” I replied.
“Or a huge mask,” Dylan replied.
“I like him,” Finley said.
“I’m surrounded by idiots,” I mumbled.
“Speaking of idiots, what’s up with the guys across the street and the massive plastic boat?” Finley asked.
“It’s best you don’t spend time trying to make what they do logical. You will only hurt yourself,” I said.
“They are good guys even if their elevators stall in the basement,” Dylan said.
I’d turned my attention away from Cletus and Tater’s latest exploits to focus on the sylph. She was our major problem at the moment. Her “egg” burned a hole in my pocket. I wanted to get it back to her, but the other part of me said I should claim it as my own. Technically, it was mine. However, if I gave it back to her, then perhaps she would return it to me as a favor. Or she would fly off into the sunset with it, and I will have lost the ability to control one of the four elements.
“And then they mounted the grill on the side of the trailer,” Dylan continued with his story as Finley laughed. I was glad they were getting along. Finley would kill Dylan faster than Father if Dylan crossed him or hurt me. I knew from experience.
At the dining room table, Levi sat brooding. He listened to the conversation, but never participated in the banter. Both of the other guys spoke to him directly. He would answer, but not offer anything more in return. God bless it.
“How are you going to give it back to her?” his thoughts met mine.
“I’m not sure. It’s not like I can summon her here and tell her I have it, but can I please keep it?” I said.
“Maybe it is that easy,” Levi offered.
Dylan cleared his throat. I cut my eyes to him. He always knew when I was talking to Levi. I wasn’t sure how he did it. I must have a tell. Deciding that playing poker with Dylan was a bad idea, I dropped the conversation with Levi. He promptly got up and left the room.
“Dublin,” I tried calling him back.
“No,” he simply said and shut the door.
“Why don’t you just have both of them?” Finley offered.
“No!” Dylan and I said in unison.
“So, tell me about Riley. I think I might just…”
“No,” I echoed my last statement.
“I’m just joking. I actually had a wife until a few years ago,” Finley said.
Finley, who protected me from all sorts of sexual mishaps, was still a fairy himself. “Who tamed the great white warrior?” I teased.
“Moira,” he said as his blue eyes drifted to another world and another time.
“Where is she?” I asked.
“She left,” he said simply.
“Left you?” I prodded.
“Yeah,” he muttered. His eyes turned dark.
“What happened?” I pushed.
“Grace,” Dylan said.
“Don’t shush me,” I retorted.
Finley laughed at my lashing out at Dylan. “She was always like this,” Finley told Dylan.
“She’s been like this since I’ve known her,” Dylan replied.
“I’m right here,” I said, but they ignored me.
“I’m surprised you put up with it,
” Finley said.
“Hey!” I protested.
“The sex is good,” Dylan replied.
“Too much info, dude. That’s my sister,” Finley replied. “But she is my sister. It runs in our blood.”
“E-freaking-nough,” I said. They both died laughing.
“And you didn’t want to talk to me,” Levi interjected from the other room.
“Shut up, Dublin!” I shouted.
Finley and Dylan fell apart in a laughing fit. I wanted to throttle both of them. Dylan tried to compose himself as my ire rose. Once again, I didn’t feel the shift to ice queen, but it happened. Dylan didn’t fear me at all. He continued to laugh hard enough to snort. Rolling my eyes at both of them, I decided that Levi was the better choice, and stalked off to the front of the trailer leaving my brother and fiancé in a snit.
I knocked but pushed on in without an invitation. Levi laid back on the bed with his arms above his head staring at the ceiling. His eyes widened at the fairy queen façade. Mainly because he liked me better as a blonde. The things you learn while swapping gravy.
“Sorry,” I said.
“I’m just in a mood,” he replied.
“You need to get laid,” I said.
“Yeah, but that won’t fix it,” he replied. “Unless you are offering.”
“It would be your last day on earth,” I replied, nodding toward my guffawing fiancé in the other room.
“But what a day,” Levi said as a smile spread across his face. Then I was the one giggling because it was so Levi. I sat down on the bed next to him, leaning back on the headboard.
“You think I should just send word to talk to her?” I asked.
“Yes, I think approaching it head-on is the best course. Don’t let her come to you. She will come angry. Request to speak to her. Be nice. Be... less like you,” he said.
I grimaced, “I’m not that bad.”
“Sometimes you are,” Levi said.
“I’m gonna slap you,” I said.
“I like that, so you probably shouldn’t,” he quipped.
“It’s going to be sex jokes all the time now?” I asked.
“Sure, why not?” he laughed.
“I don’t know. Seems like we are making light of a sore subject,” I replied.