by Kimbra Swain
“How about I see right now?” I said.
“It’s not ready yet. Keep those stones safe,” he said nodding to the ones in my hand. I looked down to examine the red stone. It was a fire opal. Its shimmering light reflected the spectrum through the translucent red stone.
“Dylan controlled the stone?” I asked.
“Yes, well, his father gave it to Oberon. As the current Phoenix, he gets to decide who keeps it. He asked me about it that night at the bar. He didn’t know I was your brother, but he knew we were taking things from the vault.”
“The night I approached you and you disappeared,” I said.
“Yeah, sorry about that,” he said hanging his head.
“Why hide from me?” I asked.
“I wanted to have everything in place for you to take over your new vault, but things happened, and here we are. Every time I saw you I remembered all the good times we had. I worried you would be mad at me. You have a new family that I wasn’t a part of. Glory, I’ve missed you,” he said.
Hugging him tightly, I said, “I’ve missed you too. I’m so glad you are here now when I need you the most.”
“I’ll always be here,” he said. “I love you, Sister.”
Once again, my family expanded and my heart morphed again allowing someone else to take a piece of it. I fought back tears. Sadness for the years I’d cut myself off from the potential for such a family. Happiness for the way things were working out.
The trouble had only begun. I knew that we would have to secure the town before the Sanhedrin made their move. The town was full of uncertain beings like my green neighbor. The potential for disaster hung around every corner, but I didn’t have to face it alone.
Sitting on my bench, I watched the children scampering around the town square looking for eggs. Winnie walked with Dylan who pointed out all the eggs that he could see. Occasionally, he would reach up into a tree to pluck one out of the lower branches.
Finley sat next to me watching the scene. “This isn’t like Eostre at home,” he laughed.
At home, the celebration centered around fertility. There was plenty of baby making. Or at least practicing it. Which brought back to my mind the fact that I still hadn’t provided an heir for Dylan.
“What’s wrong?” Finley asked.
“Nothing,” I replied.
Dylan lifted Winnie off the ground to pick an egg out of the tree herself. She laughed and giggled. She wore a pink frilly dress that Levi bought for her in town. She said she was the princess fairy of Easter. She was adorable.
“Please. You know you can’t lie to me,” Finley pushed.
“I can’t get pregnant,” I said.
“Um, are you trying to get pregnant?” he asked.
“Yes. Dylan needs an heir,” I replied.
“I don’t get it. Do we need to have a discussion about the birds and the bees?” Finley laughed.
“Bees, no. Birds, yes,” I smiled making light of the situation.
Levi stood across the square talking to Nestor and Mable. Occasionally he would look over at me, but he hadn’t been over to speak yet. Behind him, I saw the squirrel girl approaching. He turned to greet her. Whatever he said to her made her blush. She giggled, then scampered away from him. He immediately turned to me. A huge smile crossed my face, and I started to laugh.
“Shut up, Grace,” he said.
“I didn’t say anything,” I replied.
“You will. I know you,” he said.
I made a motion across my lips indicating that my lips were zipped. His eyes lit up, then he turned back to the conversation with Nestor and Mable. Around town, people talked about the tornado that lifted right before it hit the trailer park queen’s trailer. It was a fantastical story which would morph through the ages. I was glad I had my own bard to record it for me.
“Full moon,” Finley said.
“Huh?” I asked.
“Fairies mate on the full moon to produce children,” he said.
“We’ve had a lot of sex. I’m sure we’ve done it on a full moon,” I said.
“You sure?” he asked.
“No,” I replied.
He cocked his head sideways. Then shook his head. “Tonight is a full moon,” he said.
“It sure is,” I replied. “Maybe Winnie wants to visit her grandparents.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Finley laughed. Dylan looked over at us.
“What?” he mouthed.
“Tell you later,” I said back.
The sweet devil of a smile crossed his face. He knew my sexy look. He knew me so well. I loved that man. He played with Winnie and the other children. I got up from my throne, heading toward Nestor and Mable.
“Good luck,” Finley said.
“Thanks,” I replied. As I approached them, I caught the sight of Jeremiah Freyman following someone around the back of city hall. I changed my direction toward him. Mayor Jenkins stopped to shake my hand. His daughter Ella shied back away from me. I spoke to them for a moment, then pursued Jeremiah.
Rounding the corner of the building, I saw him duck into an alley. I didn’t think he saw me. As I approached, I heard a female voice.
“What do you want me to do with it?” she asked.
“Just keep it safe for now. I’ll give you instructions later,” he said.
“I don’t want her coming after me again,” she said. At first, I wasn’t sure, but now I was. It was Riley. I wanted to bust around the corner and confront them both, but that wouldn’t give me any answers. The old Grace would have gone around the corner screaming profanities. I still intended to unleash a string of them on Jeremiah, but I wanted to know what he was up to.
“She won’t. Just lie low. Everything is going according to plan,” he said.
I couldn’t hold back anymore. “What plan?” I asked in his head.
“Fuck,” he muttered. I walked into view and leaned on the brick wall of the alley.
Riley froze in place. Jeremiah stood in front of her, blocking her from my wrath.
“Gloriana, let me explain,” Jeremiah said.
“I’m waiting,” I said. “Because it sounded like you had her steal my songbook. Does father know about your treachery?”
“The book did not belong to him. It doesn’t belong to you,” he said.
“Really? Then who does it belong to?” I asked, knowing that Taliesin wrote the passage in the book in fairy tongue specifically to me. If anyone owned the book, it was me.
“The Seelie Realm,” he said. “If we can get the book back to Rhiannon, Ceridwen will stop hunting Riley.”
Riley stood behind him and remained silent. I looked at the two of them. They shared a nose and the slope of the forehead. I sighed knowing that I would do anything for my family. Even stealing a magical book and pissing off a fairy queen.
“I would do anything for Winnie,” I said.
Jeremiah closed his eyes and bowed his head. “I would do anything for her,” he said.
“You left the Otherworld to be with your father,” I said to Riley. She nodded her head.
“Take the book. Levi memorized it,” I said. “Jeremiah Freyman, I release you from my servitude and that of my family.”
I felt the bond between us sever. He sank to his knees. “No, please Grace. Don’t do this,” he said as he gasped for air.
“I cannot have my own servants lying to me. I understand why you’ve done it, but you will no longer play both sides. I’m not banishing you from Shady Grove, just from my service,” I clarified for him.
Riley kneeled down next to him. She looked worried. “You are going to kill him,” she cried.
“No, he will survive this. I can’t say he will survive the fairies of this world who he held under his thumb,” I said.
“Please, my Queen, I beg for your protection,” Jeremiah choked out.
I turned my back on him. “Granted.” He was bound to me in a completely different way now. I doubted my father’s protections would save him from my
wrath in the future.
As I walked out of the alley, Dylan came running around the corner. “What happened?”
“Come on. I’ll tell you on the way home,” I said. “I want to see if Winnie can go home with Nestor and Mable.”
“I like the sound of that,” he smiled.
“I thought you might,” I replied. He took my hand as we walked back into the celebration of Eostre.
After mingling with the townspeople, we loaded Winnie up with Nestor and Mable. We kissed her goodbye. My grandfather promised to get her to school tomorrow for us.
Levi and Finley were long gone. On the way home, I told Dylan about Jeremiah. He looked pained because of all the years Jeremiah set up the fairies in Shady Grove. I knew he had made friends. It was why I couldn’t cut him off completely, however, I would never trust him ever again. I also knew that even if they returned the book to Rhiannon, it wouldn’t likely cool the ire of the witch. Riley would eventually have to face her, and my stupid ass promised to protect her. Keeping Jeremiah around for that fight seemed prudent. Dylan agreed.
“Grace, not long after I moved here, a white unicorn crossed my path,” he said slyly.
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” I played dumb.
“It saved me from plunging off a bridge,” he said.
“You wouldn’t have died,” I said.
“You didn’t know that then,” he said.
“No, I didn’t,” I replied, remembering those early days when I hated Dylan’s presence here. I feared him. The Sanhedrin brought him here which I knew in some sense meant trouble for me. That night he was angry. He was driving like a fool. I crossed his path as the unicorn to stop him from dying. Or what I thought would be certain death for a human. Even then, I didn’t want Mr. Sandy Hair departing this world.
“I love you,” he said, gripping my hand in his.
“I love you,” I replied.
When we got home, I told Dylan what Finley said about the full moon.
“We’ve never done it on a full moon,” he said.
“I thought as much as we’ve done it, surely it has been done on a full moon,” I said.
“Perhaps I can howl like Bramble,” he said turning his head to the roof and releasing a loud howl.
I started laughing at the ridiculousness of it. He gathered me up in his arms. He began kissing down my cheek to my neck. I pressed my body against his. The power of my father stirred inside of me. Winter chilled my blood, but Dylan melted my heart.
“I love you, Glory,” he whispered in his ear.
Instead of protesting, I just said, “I love you, too. But I’m afraid of what’s ahead.”
Thunder echoed around us outside. My eyes flashed with the memory of the last storm.
“Don’t worry. I’m here. It’s only comin’ up a cloud,” he said before carrying me to bed to make love beneath a full moon hidden by a storm.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to all the new readers that have latched on to the Trailer Park Series. I have so many people tell me that they didn’t know what to expect but gave it a chance anyway. Thanks so much for the chance.
If you enjoyed, Comin’ Up a Cloud, please consider leaving a review on Amazon. Reviews help authors more than you know. Exposure is everything in the independent publishing world. Thanks so much for purchasing this piece of my soul. I’m happy to share it with you.
Thanks to Jeff, my hero, my husband, my everything.
Thanks to my Canvas Crew who help me toss around ideas and give great feedback on what I put out there for everyone to see.
Thanks to my technical crew: Carol, Erica and Hampton.
COMING SOON
(All dates tentative; Subject to change)
April Release:
Reincarnation, Book 3, The Path of Redemption Series
May Releases:
Flood: A Psyche of Disaster
Cop Out, Out of the ATL Trilogy, Book 2
June Releases:
Gully Washer, Fairy Tales of a Trailer Park Queen, Book 5.
Tap Out, Out of the ATL Trilogy, Book3
July Releases:
Rock Ballad Duet
Drum Solo, Book 1
Front Man, Book 2
Hotter Than Blue Blazes, Fairy Tales of a Trailer Park Queen, Book 6
Whiskey in a Teacup
A Trailer Park Short Story
Available Now on my website:
www.kimbraswain.com
From early in life Kimbra Swain was indoctrinated in the ways of geekdom. Raised on Star Wars, Tolkien, Superheroes and Voltron, she found herself immersed in a world of imagination. She started writing in high school and completed her English degree from the University of Alabama in 2003.
Her writing is influenced by a gamut of favorite authors including Jane Austen, J.R.R. Tolkien, L.M. Montgomery, Timothy Zahn, Kathy Reichs, Patricia Cornwell, Kevin Hearne and Jim Butcher.
Born and raised in Alabama, Kimbra still lives there with her husband and 5-year-old daughter. When she isn't reading or writing, she plays PC games, makes jewelry and builds cars.
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www.kimbraswain.com