by N. M. Howell
Derek returned with a tray before she could examine these thoughts more deeply.
“Soup of the day, hot and sour.” He set the food before her. “Guaranteed to take the chill off.”
Raina tasted the soup, and then found herself digging in. She wondered if she would ever get used to the idea that humans fully relied on nutrition for energy. Cut off from the Fae realm as she was, it was all she had. As promised, she felt herself warming.
“I’ll leave you two to catch up,” Lee rose. “But don’t catch up too long. There’s work to do.”
Derek took his father’s seat, and lifted the tea pot, filling two cups. He raised his in a toast. “To old friends.”
Raina couldn’t help but grin as they clinked the thick vessels. “Thank you for helping me.”
“No thanks necessary.”
Her eyes strayed to the door. “Your father won’t tell anyone I’m here, will he?”
“No. A lot has happened since… Since you left. A lot of issues are still up in the air. Some good stuff has happened, too.”
Raina sipped her tea. “Like what?”
“You remember my brother, Danny?”
She smiled. “A total Glow-Getter.”
Derek’s mouth made a moue and he raised his brows. “Not so much anymore. He married a girl.”
“Danny got married?” Raina had seen a picture of the couple on Lee’s desk, but she always figured Danny Wing for a confirmed bachelor.
“She’s half-Fae. Dark Fae, that is.”
Raina couldn’t sort out which part of the news shocked her most.
“They’re out in the open now, the Shadow Fae.”
“The Dark Fae, you mean.”
He shook his head. “That’s a little old school. Racist, maybe. After the portal fell, the Shadow Fae reached out to humanity. Humanity sort of embraced them. Some humanity. You know how that goes.”
Raina did. She’d worked with Human-Fae Relations her entire career. Some humans could not abide the fact that non-human entities shared the Earth with them. But then, humans were all kinds of touchy about race. One time, she had compared Derek Wing to a young Tim Kang—with no trace of the seriousness the actor brought to his roles. Derek nearly flipped out.
“Tim Kang is Korean. I’m Chinese. It really bugs me when people fail to understand that there are different groups of Asians. It’s so racist.”
“Humans haven’t had a race problem for thirty thousand years,” she’d retorted, “when the last Neanderthal died. You are all the same people, the same race. You put so much emphasis on one or two genetic expressions, when your species is the most closely linked genetically on the planet.”
“What about you, the problems between Light and Dark Fae?” he countered.
“Light and Dark Fae are about as related as modern humans and Neanderthals. We’re related, but we’re not the same. Come on, Moth-Boy, you know your Fae facts.”
But the Dark Fae now living openly among the humans? She would have to give that a lot of thought.
“I don’t know too much about her, but I’m guessing her magic bloodline is pretty diluted. Maybe all the bloodlines are now. The weird thing is, more humans seem to be attuned to magic since the Shadow Fae started interacting more. I wonder if the Light Fae hadn’t retreated into the realm if humans would be even more involved in magic.”
For a few seconds, she could only stare at him.
“You okay, Raina?”
“Is there a bathroom?”
He nodded behind her. “Through that door.”
She bolted before he finished speaking. Inside the tiny space, she leaned against the wall. Her panting breath echoed in the tiled room. What was he talking about? It was so much to take in. At the sink, she splashed water on her face to calm herself. When she looked into the mirror, Raina found herself almost unrecognizable.
Worse, she felt no pull from the silvered glass. Like all Light Fae, Raina had an innate ability to scry, to communicate with her kind through reflective surfaces. She could no more remember learning to scry than she could learning to speak.
Raina focused beyond the glass, placing her palm on the mirror, willing a contact from the other side. Please, she thought. Please.
She thought she heard a faint impulse, but she’d been feeling that for years. It was all wishful thinking. Her heart sank, both at her broken magic, and the last conversation she’d had with her parents. She’d been dismissive, flippant. Then the disaster struck, an attack that cut her off from the realm.
Perhaps forever.
“It’s a seven-story walk-up, ultra-cozy, but at least there’s no view,” Derek said on the staircase. The ancient elevator was out of service, he explained, as it usually was.
Both of them were out of breath and stopped to rest on the final landing. Derek pointed to the end of the hall, leaning against the wall, trying to get his wind back. “You don’t have luggage?”
She shook her head, unable to speak.
“Thank God.”
At the end of the hall, he opened the door on a walk-in closet. But, no, there was a doorway leading to a bathroom. A kitchenette was rammed beneath a window overlooking the tenement facing the other street. She saw no bed, but Derek walked to a fixture on the wall.
“Murphy bed,” he said, pulling it partway down to show her. “It’s kind of a dump, but at least it’s not short on amenities.”
Raina knew how difficult it was to find apartments in Manhattan; nearly impossible on short notice. While the place couldn’t compare to her old place on the Upper East Side, it was a lot better than the places she’d been hiding.
Before she knew what she was doing, she threw her arms around Derek. “It’s perfect. Thank you so much.”
He hugged her back. “I’m so happy to see you, Raina, under any circumstances. I would’ve done anything.”
“It must be hard on you, too, since the portal was destroyed.”
He spoke into her hair. “I’m not talking about the Light Fae, Raina. I’m talking about you.”
Raina pulled away. She reached in the kangaroo pouch on her hoodie and produced the little money she had. “Here, for the first month. I can help out in the store, too. Maybe work off some of the rent.”
Derek gave her an unreadable look. He shook his head. “Pop isn’t going to take any money from you. And he sure isn’t going to put you to work.”
“My parents would love it if I worked in a human enterprise. Commerce is a bit of a foreign concept to the Fae. I could at least help with the bookkeeping. I’m good with numbers.”
“I’ve never met your parents,” Derek’s voice went distant. “Oliver and Mariea Raeyelle, king and queen of the Light Fae Court, rulers of the realm Oreálle. Sometimes, it’s just so hard to wrap my head around. Pop always told us stories when we were kids. I always thought they were, you know, fairy tales, no offense. But the stories were all real, you are all real. And my boring old Pop, friend of the Fae Court.”
Raina felt her eyes prickle and she faced the non-view. She hadn’t seen her family in five years, or visited the realm beyond the portal.
“I hope they’re all right. Pop says the Fae have magic ways to communicate. Have you--?”
“No. I haven’t. I don’t know if they’re even alive.”
Derek made a little groan. “Sorry. I’ve always been a little too caught up with the Fae and the culture and everything. I forget how hard this must be for you.”
Raina repressed a sob. Faces of her family appeared in her mind. The last conversation she’d had with her mother and father—she’d been so short with them, dismissive and rude. Would that be the last time they would ever speak?
“I, um. Yeah. You must be tired. I think I’ll go.”
She nodded. “I just need some rest.” Her voice sounded shaky in her own ears.
“Okay. One thing, though. I don’t think it’s a good idea to revisit the… the scene.”
Raina shrugged. “What choice do I have?”
3
Gray light filtered through the dirty window, the gloom remaining over the city matching her spirits. Raina rolled over in the Murphy bed, away from the light.
Raina.
Half-asleep, she murmured, “Five more minutes, Mom.”
Mom? Her eyes flashed open, sleep fleeing. “Mom?”
Raina.
She hurried to the tiny bathroom, to the mirrored door of the medicine cabinet. Raina had heard the call, always in a dream, or on the edge of sleep. Was her mother scrying to her, or was it just wish fulfillment? “Mother? Mom?” She pressed her palm to the glass, searching beyond her smeared reflection, seeking the other side.
After a few minutes, she still found only her hopeful expression.
“Damn it,” she breathed. As little as she wanted to visit the scene of horror, of slaughter, of destruction, she had to find the courage to return to the portal.
She dressed in yesterday’s clothes. While the Light Fae didn’t perspire, wearing the same thing every day got on her nerves after a while. If nothing else, she could do a small bit of shopping while she was in the Big Apple.
Raina was startled by a knock on the door. She found Derek, half bent over, leaning against the frame. He panted, holding up his index finger. Finally, he had enough breath. Almost. “Pop. Gave me the day off. I thought. You might want to. Get some lunch. Or something.”
“Maybe you should come in.”
Derek nodded, limped inside and sat on the bed. “My legs!” He wore a long, navy pea coat over a T-shirt and gray skinny jeans with comfortable black boots. “Elevator guy’s coming tomorrow. But he says that every time.”
“Well, suck it up, buttercup. I’m ready to go.”
Derek’s expression was a mix of pain and resignation. He groaned to his feet. “Okay, my princess. Lunch awaits.”
They took the D to 42nd Street-Bryant Park. With every stop, Raina tensed as each stop on the subway brought her closer to central Manhattan. While the sky was overcast, it wasn’t particularly cold. Since they were early, they decided to walk.
6th Avenue bustled with yellow cabs and pedestrians. It was a good walk, beneath the skyscrapers and past Radio City Music Hall. Still, the hint of green rising at the end of the street filled Raina with dread. She realized that the White Knight, the nightclub she’d partied at the night of the attack, was only a block away on 7th.
Raina repressed a shiver. As if it were yesterday, she felt the posh club rock under her feet with explosions, the screams, the panicked rush to escape. The attack may have been an assassination attempt on her. To her dismay, she didn’t know how many died during that night. She tried to shake the sudden memories out of her mind. Were the Dark Fae still out to kill her? Perhaps, in intermingling with humans, they had developed the capacity to forget.
Derek continued to chatter on as they walked closer and closer to the park. The restaurant he chose was right on Central Park South near Columbus Circle.
“I can’t afford this place for dinner, but lunch is pretty reasonable,” he said as they waited for a table at Marea.
Raina’s eyes kept straying across the street to the park.
“A lot of crazy stuff’s been happening since the attack,” Derek said, nodding the way she faced. “The Shadow Fae really reached out. They got human jobs. You see them on TV.”
She scowled. Why would people embrace the Dark Fae after they attacked their Light Fae cousins, and destroyed the portal?
“Sometimes, we’ll get a few Shadow Fae customers at the store. Trying out human food, or just looking around. As much as they’ve reached out, I’m still trying to figure them. What do you think they’re looking to do?”
Raina shrugged. Historically, the two races had been bitter enemies. Recently, through interactions with humans, both sides of the Fae race had come closer. Still, centuries of hate, the war of the Blood Days, still raised a lot of ire. It was hard to disregard the past. “I’ve never understood the Dark Fae agenda.”
Derek glanced quickly at people in the line. “Shadow Fae we call them now.”
“Right.” Raina frowned. “I forget.”
“It almost seems like they took advantage of the portal attack to get closer to us.” Derek pressed.
Raina shrugged. “Right now, I don’t understand any of it.” But she intended to find out.
The busy restaurant gleamed with wood polished to a high gloss and chandeliers with red shades, the hostess leading them to the long counter, all the tables full. Air redolent of Italian spices and seafood aromas, conversation and clinking silver, added to the warm feeling.
“I’ve been dying to try the fusilli,” Derek said, holding the chair for her.
Raina’s eyes darted around. No one seemed to pay her any attention. She relaxed slightly.
“This place is amazing!” Derek sat beside her.
She studied the menu. She recognized a few things, but for the most part, the descriptions of the food escaped her.
“See anything you like?”
Raina closed the menu. “I’ll have whatever you’re having.” Even though they weren’t seated by the windows, she could almost feel the green space of Central Park.
“Danny turned me on to this place. He’s living over in Queens now. You have a brother and sister, right?”
“Rrohn and Neita,” she nodded.
He smiled, dimpling up. “Hopefully I get to meet them soon.”
The idea pierced her heart. In this inviting, bustling place, she tried to keep a positive attitude. “Me, too.”
When the waitress came, Derek ordered fusilli for both of them. He gave Raina a concerned look.
“You okay?”
Raina nodded. “Sorry, I’m just a little edgy, being this close…”
Derek bumped his forehead with the heel of his hand. “Oh, damn it. I was so excited about taking you here, I forgot how near it is to the portal.”
“I had to visit sometime,” Raina said, trying to console him. “At least this is a nice enough place—”
“Raina.”
She turned toward the voice. She saw no one there. Weird.
“Isn’t this place da bomb-dot-com?” Derek took her hand. For a moment, she lost herself a little in his touch. “It’s supposed to be one of the best Italian seafood joints in town.”
“Raina.”
Again, she turned toward the insistent voice. Again, she saw no one, not even a face looking expectantly back.
“What’s the matter?” Derek asked, giving her hand a squeeze. “You want to go someplace else?”
“No, I’m fine. Do you hear someone calling me?”
He shook his head. “Uh-uh. Sometimes you get that, when you’re in a crowded room. You think you hear your name.”
“Raina. Raina!”
She felt an odd thrum go through her. The voice was coming from the direction of the park, even though it sounded right in her ears. Could it be…?
“Here you go, fusilli with red wine braised octopus and bone marrow,” the waitress said brightly as she set down the plates.
“Derek, I’m sorry, I have to—”
“Raina!”
She hurriedly shoved her chair back and headed for the door.
“I thought you liked octopus!” Derek called after her.
She heard him asking the waitress if he could get the food to go. And then she was out on Central Park South, running across the broad crosswalk, ignoring the crush of buses and cabs. As she passed the USS Maine monument, she broke out into an all-out sprint.
While she had nearly zero magic left in her, Raina’s Fae physique was light. Faster than an Olympic athlete, she pounded her way north through Central Park. At one point, she thought she heard Derek call her name. It was not nearly as loud as the beckoning call in her head. There was no way a human could keep up with her at full spee
d.
She passed the Sheep Meadow on her left, the Playfield on her right, racing for the lake. The portal lay between the Cherry Hill and Bethesda fountains, a walking path leading from Terrace Drive. It had been built to blend in and enhance the natural outcroppings of bedrock a few decades before the park itself.
Raina stopped short.
She nearly burst into tears.
The once beautiful pedestal that hosted the portal was blackened, the stonework cracked. Runes that once marked the steps to the portal had been chipped away, graffiti covering much of the graceful symbols. Only one of the five spires remained, the rest looked like careless deforestation. Once, the portal generated an illusion, a graceful, classical building to human eyes. Once, the portal opened on an arboreal Manhattan, where the sun and moon lingered in the sky forever.
Now, a squat, ugly building squatted over a broad concrete slab, a solid mockery of the former shimmering illusion. The façade was fake stone. She was fairly certain even the ivy was plastic. A featureless concrete retaining wall angled toward the main structure. Proportionally narrow stairs cut through like a box canyon. The building itself was a cube with a grid of square windows, neo-classical pillars seemed haphazardly attached, supporting nothing. Hanging from the front, the banner read: University and Museum of Fae Metaphysics. Beneath hung a smaller banner: Academy of Fae Magic: A Magical Education for Humans.
Nausea threatened as she stared, rooted to the spot. A line of people stood at the theater-style front doors, paying to enter. The tragedy, the horror of an unprovoked attack on her people, now stood as a heinous money-making venture.
“Jeeze, Raina!” How long later Derek panted up behind her, she couldn’t say. “Are you okay?”
She faced him, eyes blurring. “No.” Her voice sounded tiny, weak.
Derek’s eyes left hers, roving over the scene. “People became really interested in the Light Fae after the attack. The museum part is nice, paintings and photographs, I can’t say what the university is like, but for the most part, people like it. Five stars on Yelp! It draws people from all over the world. So, in a way, it’s—”