“I already told all of you that we have a genetic disease and I’m not interested in any baby-making activities,” I said, dismissively.
I rinsed the bowls and then added a little dish soap to a sponge to clean them properly. I wanted to be honest and tell him I had already accepted their explanation and was moving onto wondering if they could heal my mother, but Kheelan wasn’t the one with which I wanted to start having this conversation. Orin or maybe even Aeric were better choices.
“We already told you that Fae don’t get human diseases, including genetic ones.”
“What do you know about genetics?” I asked. Probing about Kheelan’s knowledge wasn’t the same as asking for help.
“Magic and technology do not mix, it’s true,” Kheelan said. “Just because we don’t use technology, doesn’t mean we are ignorant of it.”
“You fight with swords, bows and arrows,” I said. “The stone age doesn’t have a real grasp of genomics.”
“We are a little beyond the stone age, Princess. An infant like you has less knowledge than a teething Fae child.”
Asking Kheelan anything was a useless endeavour. I felt myself getting hot as I turned on the kitchen tap. He was as arrogant as his brother, but Kheelan had the confidence to pull it off. Aeric seemed to understand modern genomics when I brought it up the first time. I wondered if Kheelan was insulting me to avoid the topic.
“Well then, do you know what contraceptives are, genius?” I asked, scrubbing the bowls extra hard. That asshole didn’t even know I had already taken steps to mess with their plans. He only thought he had me under this thumb.
“What did you do?” Kheelan said, rising from his seat and coming behind me.
I rinsed the dishes and put them in the drying rack, ignoring him. I wasn’t feeding him any answers.
“Did you have surgery?”
I turned in his arms, keeping my butt out of harm’s way. “No,” I responded. A doctor would never give me a tubal at my age. I began to think I was right and Kheelan didn’t know as much as he said he did about modern human medicine.
Kheelan picked me up and put me on the sink, precariously balancing on the narrow ledge. I had to hold onto him to keep from falling. I think he purposely put me on the edge.
“Let me down,” I demanded. I didn’t like any of them putting me up high enough to look them in the eyes. Most conversations I had outside my family were spent looking at my feet and waiting until I could walk away from the other person. This habit of seating me on countertops put me at a disadvantage.
“Then you took medicine?” Kheelan asked. His answer was more of a question. I smirked silently at him.
His fingers trailed behind my neck to his Mark. It tingled awareness again, but touch wasn’t going to provide him with an answer. I shrugged my shoulders, trying to get his fingers off my neck. I didn’t like the reminder of how I was tied to all of them now.
“Fae heal with magic but we also use herbs and poisons. Orin will be able to find out what you have done if you’ve lost your tongue, little Mouse.”
I glared at him for implying I was afraid to tell him. “I got a shot,” I said.
“You will write down the name of this shot and the intended effects for Orin,” he ordered.
“You can’t reverse it,” I informed him.
“Why would we bother?” he said. “It will eventually wear off. Orin will want to know so he doesn’t harm you with his magic.”
I gave a frustrated growl. “You’re not listening to me,” I said. “I can’t have children unless I know you can heal them,” I slowly and clearly enunciated. It skated close to what I really wanted to know.
“You’re the one not listening,” he said.
We were going in circles. I reached out and brushed my fingers over his shirt where I had bitten him last night, not even noticing I was doing it until my hand was on him.
“I don’t understand why you won’t leave me alone,” I whispered. I should have listened to my first instinct and kept my mouth shut around Kheelan. He wasn’t giving me anything.
He shivered under my touch and closed his eyes.
I froze, hand still on his chest. I don’t think I had ever seen Kheelan with his eyes shut around me. It seemed vulnerable and he didn’t trust me any more than I trusted him.
“You can’t go biting Fae and then tell them to leave you alone, Princess.”
His aqua eyes opened and he looked at my startled face with the beginnings of arousal. His pupils dilated, and I could feel his heart speed up under my hand. I licked my dry lips.
Eloden walked in.
“Looks like you bit off more than you can chew, Sweetheart,” Eloden commented.
“Go back to bed if you’re going to be annoying,” I told him, still staring into Kheelan’s eyes.
He blinked and shuttered me off from studying the murky ocean depths.
“Nobody is sleeping with you announcing your shot,” Eloden replied.
He walked past us and grabbed one of the packages of ramen left, opening it and breaking off a section of dry noodles. The crunch of Eloden eating seemed to bring Kheelan back to himself as he grabbed me under my arms and put me back down on my feet.
“If you’re disappointed that I won’t turn into your baby-making machine after a few hickeys, then feel free to leave,” I told Eloden, annoyed.
Eloden finished crunching his mouthful of noodles.
“On the contrary, Sweetheart. If we don’t have your hang-ups about little Fae to hold us back, then it’s like you declared open season.”
I swung my gaze over to him, reminded about the whole harem aspect of what the Fae wanted from me. The urge to run out the door and escape was building.
“I thought you only cared about my fertility as a Halfling?” I said.
Kheelan answered. “Fae only have a child once or twice a century, if blessed. There are fewer females than males, leaving many males unattached and the competition fierce.”
“For having kids?” I said, emphasis on the thing I couldn’t do for them.
“When I found you, it was like a panther coming upon a gazelle all by herself in the open. I could hardly believe my fate,” Eloden said. “We’re all hungry for a taste, Sweetheart.”
This did not sound like babies were a real priority, only a happy bonus.
They wanted to fuck me.
Sex for pleasure.
The hunt was on.
“I need to go to work,” I said, avoiding both of their lustful gazes and walking away.
Eloden’s voice stopped me in my tracks.
“Eve?” he said like I was forgetting something.
“What?” I muttered to my feet. This was how all our conversations should go. No more countertops.
“Kheelan needs to add his blood to your tracking charm like Aeric and Falin did yesterday. I want to modify it, so they don’t overload the magic,” Eloden said.
Right, Kheelan was the bodyguard today.
I walked over to get my keys for Eloden.
He finished off his dry noodles and threw the rest of the package in the garbage. I had missed him yesterday when I had been left with Aeric and Falin. Eloden had been my faithful guard before them and I had just started to feel more familiar with him. I reached up and brushed his hair from his face as I handed him the keys with the other hand.
Eloden closed his hand around the keys and my hand, yanking me against him. I looked up as he leaned over, the other hand grabbing my bottom to drag me up his tall body. Our lips met somewhere between our heights.
The quiver dug into my back as Eloden walked us up to the wall, so his hands could be freed from holding me up. He cupped my face and deepened the kiss. I sucked his tongue further into my mouth, mewling against his lips as he let his hand slip down to thumb over his Mark on my neck. He thrust aggressively into my mouth, mimicking Falin’s pelvis grinding last night. I opened my mouth wide, taking it, my hands reaching up to tangle in Eloden’s silken hair until I had a
tight grip, fisting against the back of his head so he couldn’t pull away.
Kheelan’s slender fingers slipped between our faces to grab my chin, thumb and index pressing on my cheeks to pop my mouth loose. He forced my face to turn, grip unyielding.
“Work?” Kheelan reminded me.
“It’s my turn tonight,” Eloden said, slowly letting me slide down his body to my feet.
I nodded. What had come over me? I seemed to start kissing these Fae without any build up, turning wanton at the drop of a hat.
Eloden wasn’t bothered by my hot and cold libido, reaching down for my hand and turning it over to pry the keys from my fingers. It took him less than a minute to modify the charm, speaking a few words of Fae and blowing on it. I had expected something more, maybe a flash of light or abracadabra?
“Have Kheelan add his blood before you leave his sight,” Eloden suggested. “Hold this one in your left hand,” he added, handing me back my keys with the new charm Kheelan had made me.
“Now what?”
“Close your eyes,” Kheelan said.
“He wants you to feel the magic,” Eloden said. He cupped my hand and the charm between his hands. “Think of it like a tiny flame you don’t want to let blow out.”
“It feels cold, like a snowflake between my fingers, not fire,” I said.
“Light magic feels cool to you?” Kheelan asked.
“Don’t distract her,” Eloden said. “Repeat after me while focusing on your snowflake, Sweetheart,” Eloden told me, then said a series of lyrical Fae words I stumbled over although he spoke them slowly and clearly. His accent was more noticeable when he spoke Fae.
I felt the snowflake melting until nothing was left. I opened my eyes. “I think I did it wrong,” I admitted.
Eloden smiled down at me. “No. It was perfect.”
“The quiver and bow are glamoured,” Kheelan said. “You’ll have to repeat the spell at light change,” he added.
“I can modify the charm,” Eloden offered.
“No,” I said. “Kheelan made it for me. It only needs to work when I go out. I need the practice with magic, anyway.”
“I’ll write it down for you,” Eloden said.
I didn’t know if I would be able to read Fae, but I could get Eloden to go over it with me a few more times tonight. I nodded. “Okay.”
“I want to see you using those arrows in return,” Eloden said.
“Are we bargaining?” I asked.
“No. I would enjoy seeing you practice, is all,” Eloden said. “You bargained enough last night.”
“She wants to hoard favours like Falin’s treasure,” Kheelan said.
“Is Falin really a dragon?” I whispered. “Like just the wings or does his whole body, you know,” I said, waving my hands around.
“Dark Fae are monstrous,” Kheelan answered.
“Depends on your definition of a monster,” Eloden said.
They totally didn’t answer my question again. This seemed to be a Fae trait. “I’ll ask Falin. He won’t talk circles around a simple question,” I muttered, not wanting to wade into what was looking to be a long-standing disagreement.
“It’s rude to ask about a Fae’s unglamoured form just like it’s rude to ask about age,” Eloden said.
Another lecture. The only things they wanted to tell me about Fae involved rules. “I know. Aeric already told me about the age thing,” I said. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to learn anything if I can’t ask questions.”
“You knew it was rude to talk about age when we were conversing this morning?” Kheelan clarified.
I totally outed myself. “I forgot,” I weakly excused, walking over to the door to put my shoes on and avoiding looking at Kheelan.
“I know a wonderful way to help you with your memory,” Kheelan said, using his strict voice. I shuddered.
“There are no take-backsies,” I said. “You missed the opportunity to test out the hairbrush on my backside.”
“It wasn’t sturdy enough,” Kheelan said.
“Just for that, I’m not going to open the car door for you,” I told him, turning around to see if he was ready. He was wearing his usual warrior garb and weapons. We had glamoured me but what was the point if he looked like he walked out of Lord of the Rings?
“Are you planning on burning my hand over-and-over on your Baby?” Kheelan asked, waiting for me. I was blocking the exit.
“Can Eloden glamour you into normal?”
“I can glamour myself,” Kheelan answered.
“Of course,” Eloden answered at the same time. Kheelan glared back at him, then Eloden continued. “Kheelan is better able to tolerate iron than Aeric. If I place the initial glamour, he should be able to hold it himself.”
“My work is in a public place today. I need inconspicuous. Can he disappear like you?”
“Don’t-look-here?” Kheelan said, seeming confused.
“No,” Eloden replied.
There were a few moments of silence as Kheelan thought about it. “You wasted that kind of magic to appease her?” he finally said, sounding disbelieving. “No wonder the rest of us can’t impress her with our magic.”
I thought about the disappearing trick at my lab, where Eloden had been there but not, able to touch me without being seen by highly advanced security and technology. It had been cool. “He convinced me you all weren’t lying to me about the Fae thing.”
“Fae thing?” Kheelan said. “Dain’s display of fearsome glamour didn’t convince you?”
“I was scared out of my wits with all of you surrounding me after you broke into my apartment,” I reminded him. “I thought that Dain had faked it, maybe set something up ahead of time to fool me.”
“Are you always so mouthy when you’re scared?” Kheelan asked, seeming to realize something about me. I didn’t like it.
“A don’t-look-here will do fine for him,” I told Eloden, ignoring Kheelan’s probing look. “He can wait outside the restaurant for me. There’s a picnic table outside for the staff to take a break that is empty most of the time.”
“We’ll practice your archery tonight. You should have something more than words to defend yourself,” Kheelan said, turning back to Eloden.
What kind of world had these Fae dragged me into that I was expected to have to defend myself with weapons?
Eloden made quick work of the spell, looking a little tired when he was done. I felt bad. Perhaps I had been pushing him too hard with his magic. How was I to know what their limits were when I didn’t even believe in magic a few days ago?
Kheelan opened the car door for me when we got to Baby, surprising me. I know I had threatened not to open his door, aware it would be painful for him, but I hadn’t expected him to jump in front of me and act the gentleman. I knew what it cost now.
“Than-”
“Don’t thank Fae,” Kheelan reminded me.
“Get in,” I told him, doing the same and closing my own door.
That had been close. I almost let someone know I was beginning to care.
Chapter 17:
KHEELAN GOT THE SAME glow as Aeric when he entered the car.
“Is your glamour broken?” I asked, disappointed. Eloden had seemed to think Kheelan could hold it better.
“No. I don’t want to waste magic holding glamour in this metal box. I can apply it again if you feel it necessary right now.”
“That’s okay. Maybe duck your head down so nobody sees the glowing angel in my backseat.”
“Angel? I don’t have wings.”
“Not literal. Not by a long shot,” I muttered, carefully backing up and pulling out of the parking lot.
“I want to conserve my magic, so I can hold the glamour as long as you require while waiting at your work and when we go shopping for groceries and pots later.”
“Why does one of you have to follow me everywhere?”
“Your safety.”
“There are no gangsters in my normal life. The knife incide
nt was a one-time thing. The absolute first time it ever happened to me. I was glad to have Eloden there at the time, but it’s never, ever going to reoccur.”
“Humans are not the concern.”
Dain had said something similar. Did this mean whoever attacked Orin was what really had them all in a dither, insisting on Marks and a Claim? Falin had started with following me everywhere—including the toilet—before Orin’s injury, which made that explanation less of a good fit.
“I didn’t even know enough about Fae to tell you the different factions a couple of weeks ago, forget worrying about random attacks. The only Fae I’ve seen are you bunch. Not to downplay what happened to Orin, but don’t you think the threat to me is being exaggerated?”
“No.”
One-word answers. “Could you expand upon that?”
“I’m going to bleed on your charm, then I’ll glamour myself to sit for hours at a table open to the elements surrounded by metal boxes with noxious fumes while you serve humans food and drink that I cannot enjoy with the aftertaste of spicy, salty noodles parching my mouth. I’ll count myself lucky to follow you around to purchase pots and foodstuff with funds that you had to risk your life working to procure as I’ve been rendered as useful as a neutered mongrel-”
“I get it,” I said, interrupting. “You are very put out, but I want to know why. What is the specific danger to me that you are risking your comfort to stop?”
“Halfling females outside of Faerie that are not Claimed are very rare.”
“I’m Claimed, so why is this still an issue?”
“Dain’s Claim could be challenged.”
“I thought Dain was strong.”
“He is strong.”
I pulled into a coffee shop drive-thru and ordered a large coffee with cream and sugar, two bottles of water, a bottle of apple juice and half a dozen donuts. While we were waiting for the order, which I intended for Kheelan to make up for the doctored noodles and his expected long wait today, I tried to think of how to shake the answers I wanted from him.
“I wasn’t in any danger until you all showed up,” I commented.
“We showed up in time.”
“Eloden said he knew I was Fae by my ears and he gave me the charm to glamour them, so how would another Fae, if any other happened along after twenty-one years of none before, even recognize I was a Halfling?”
No Faerie Tale Love (Faerie Series Book 1) Page 26