by L-J Baker
Rye nodded. Her fingers closed more tightly on Flora’s hand. “Yeah. I need to. Before I do anything else.”
“I’m guessing that this is something you’re going to find tremendously difficult.” Flora stroked Rye’s cheek. “But you’re about the strongest person I know. And I’ll be with you every step of the way. Neither of us imagined this was going to be like one of those stories where the heroines get married and live happily ever after. Did we? We know we have issues to work out. Both of us. But we’re going to do it, aren’t we? Together.”
“Yeah.”
“Kiss me.”
“You’re wonderful.”
“You’re not so bad yourself.”
Rye and Flora were still cuddled close when the taxi pulled up on the penthouse parking pad at Whiterow Gardens.
Flora gave Rye a reassuring smile before opening the door. Rye felt strange walking into Flora’s apartment. The last time she had been here, she had broken off their relationship and run away. Oddly, she could hear the jarring beat of Holly’s crash music.
“Holly!” Flora shouted. “We’re home.”
Rye followed Flora around the corridor. Holly came bounding to meet them. Rye felt a spurt of unease. Would the kid reject her? Hate her?
Holly threw her arms around Rye and hugged her far too enthusiastically for Rye’s broken wing. Rye grunted but bore the discomfort. She felt perilously close to tears. She gave Holly a quick kiss on the cheek. Holly astounded Rye when she reciprocated.
“You’ve looked better,” Holly said. “And you reek!”
“Yeah. I haven’t had a shower for a while.”
“We thought you were going to die,” Holly said. “When we saw you in the infirmary. They said it was some weird reaction to something they pumped in you.”
“You visited me?”
“Of course. Me and Flora. Brought you flowers, too. Except they wouldn’t let them in the room, because they weren’t sure what your freaky system was doing. We had to put on these gown things, like sheets, before we could go in and see you.”
“No one told me that you’d been.”
“Those grunts beat the shit out of you, didn’t they?”
“Language,” Rye said. “And don’t call the police grunts.”
“Time inside hasn’t changed you at all, has it?”
“I was in a detention centre,” Rye said. “Not prison. And you shouldn’t have that music up so loud. Flora isn’t used to annoying teenagers blasting –”
“Flora doesn’t mind,” Holly said. “Do you?”
“Flora is going to make tea,” Flora said. “Why don’t you two go and sit in the lounge? I think you have things to say to each other.”
Rye cast her a dark look. Flora smiled sweetly and strolled away to the kitchen door.
When Rye perched on one of the sofas, Holly slumped beside her.
“How are you doing, Holls?” Rye said. “I was worried about you.”
Holly shrugged. “Flora has been scathing. She said that lawyer would get you out. Are you going to be a refugee, too? And, hey, Rye, Flora talked with the people who run the scholarships and some of them let me put in a late application! It would’ve been nice to have been able to tell you that I’ve got one when you came home.”
Rye frowned. “You applied? Already? You’ve got your ident number?”
Holly nodded.
“You’re… you’re a citizen?” Rye said.
“Yeah. Came through yesterday. I’m all legal. The lawyers rushed it all through and breathed down people’s necks.”
Rye beamed and awkwardly reached to give Holly a one-armed hug. She blinked back tears.
“You pleased?” Holly said.
“This is the best news I’ve had in a long time.”
“But you knew that Flora had offered to adopt me, didn’t you? Just in case they wanted to chuck me back to the fairy freaks.”
“Yes, I know she did. But I’m glad she didn’t have to. For her sake.”
Holly stuck her tongue out.
Rye grinned. The idea of the size of the lawyer’s bill tugged at the edges of her thinking. Rye tried to ignore it. She and Flora would work something out.
“Um.” Holly suddenly took a strong interest in picking at a thread in her pants’ leg. “If you’re bounced about me being a refugee and you getting out of the slammer, I guess now would be a good time for me to… um. About getting drunk. I guess it was pretty stupid.”
“Oh, yes. We need to talk about that.”
“Look, before you get knotted, I know it was stupid. I just said so, didn’t I?”
“Drinking and drugs? What, in the name of the Almighty King and Queen of the Fey, did you think you –”
“Rye! I’ve admitted my idiocy. Okay? What more do you want? I realise I fucked up.”
“Language!”
“Sorry. Look, I was only trying to help.”
“By getting yourself arrested?” Rye said.
“No! Fey. I don’t know why I bother trying.”
Holly stood. Rye grabbed her wrist and tugged her back down.
“Okay,” Rye said. “You talk. I’ll listen. Just make it good.”
Holly glowered. “I thought I was helping. I thought those burrower kids would be able to sell me an ident number. They gave me a drink. One thing led to another –” She shrugged. “I didn’t expect to end up with the grunts. Or to get you into so much trouble. I’m… I’m sorry. Okay?”
Rye had a hundred things she wanted to say, the first being that everything was not okay. But Holly had apologised. She said she realised that she had made mistakes. Would there be much point ramming it down her throat?
“Did you have a hangover?” Rye asked.
Holly looked up, surprised. “Yeah. It was deathly.”
Rye smiled and patted Holly’s leg. “We all do stupid things. The idea is not to do the same stupid thing twice. Okay?”
“Okay.”
Flora entered with a tray. She set it down on the coffee table closest to Rye and Holly. Holly wriggled forward to pour the tea.
“Have you told her?” Flora asked.
“Um,” Rye said. “We were talking about Holly.”
“Told me what?” Holly said.
Rye looked imploringly at Flora. Flora picked up a cup of tea and raised her eyebrow at Rye. Rye frowned down at her hand in her lap, the hand with the ring on it.
“Is it good?” Holly said. “Hey! Did you hear about one of my scholarships? Is that it?”
“Um,” Rye said. “No. Um. Holls. You know that –”
“Here.” Holly handed Rye a cup of tea.
“Oh. Thanks.” One-handed, Rye didn’t quite know what to do with it. She balanced the saucer on her thigh. “Um. Thing is, Holls. It’s… um. Well, it’s sort of… um.”
“Wow,” Holly said. “This must be really important. You haven’t been this incoherent since you told me about sex.”
Rye blushed. She glanced up to see Flora imperfectly hiding a smile behind her cup.
“It’s sort of along those lines,” Rye said.
“You’re giving me sex education in instalments?” Holly said.
Flora choked out a chuckle. Rye glared up at her. Flora bit her lip but her shoulders shook.
“The thing is,” Rye said. “Um… you know that… well, Flora said that you know that… um, that I’m gay.”
“Yeah, so?” Holly slumped with a disgusted look. “Is that it? The big news?”
Rye frowned and shifted. She nearly tipped tea all over herself, so she reached across to set the cup and saucer on the table. “The thing is –”
“Holy shit!” Holly grabbed Rye’s good wrist. “Rye! You didn’t! You did! That’s a wedding ring. Oh, that is so utterly, utterly scathing! I never thought you’d do it in a zillion years!”
Rye watched, stupefied, as Holly leaped to her feet to envelop Flora in a hug.
“You’re not displeased, then?” Flora asked.
“This is
the best thing ever!” Holly said. “Wow. That means we’re sisters-in-law, doesn’t it? My mind is melting.”
Flora smiled down at Rye.
“That means we’ll be living here, not going back to our cruddy apartment,” Holly said. “Astronomical! Can I keep that room beside the bathroom? And use the pool whenever I like? I can’t believe it. My life just got great! Can I invite Daisy over? She’ll gnaw her leg off with envy!”
Rye sat stunned.
“Can I see your ring?” Holly peered at Flora’s hand. “This is too scathing. Does Rye’s match?”
“They’re not exact copies,” Flora said. “They’re complementary. Slightly different patterns which make a harmonious whole when you put them together.”
“You picked them,” Holly said. “When did you do the deed? This morning?”
“Um. We got married three days ago,” Rye said. “In the detention centre.”
“I’m her prison bride,” Flora said. “That’ll be something fun to tell the grandchildren. And my mother.”
Rye scowled. Flora smiled and sat down beside Rye. She clasped Rye’s good hand between hers.
“I bet you asked Rye,” Holly said.
“Does it matter?” Flora said.
“You know, I’ve never seen you hold hands before,” Holly said. “But it was so utterly obvious that you were gone on each other.”
“You’re… um. You’re okay with it, then?” Rye said.
Holly rolled her eyes. “No, Rye, I am not okay with it. There are not two letters in the whole alphabet to describe how scathing I think it is that you and Flora are married.”
Flora mouthed “I told you so” at Rye. Rye couldn’t help grinning. She lifted her hand to kiss the back of Flora’s fingers.
“That’s my cue to leave,” Holly said. “I’ll be in my room with my music on. Won’t see or hear a thing, guys.”
Rye blushed hotly as she watched Holly stroll out through the side door. Flora laughed.
“Elm, I adore you,” Flora said. “We have a few things to work out, you and I, but I know we’re going to make it. And life with you is not going to be dull.”
Rye didn’t feel like she was standing on firm ground yet. But there were two things she was certain of. “I love you. There’s nowhere I’d rather be than with you.”
Flora wriggled closer. Rye glanced at the doorway, just to make sure they were alone, before she kissed Flora.
Table of Contents
Broken Wings
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three