Harper shrugged. "There's nowhere else to stay, really. That's where the rest of the group is staying. Except for Chloe and Brittney. They're staying at Chloe's old place. I don't think they want company though."
"No, probably not," Conner said and laughed. Harper laughed too, and Conner felt his stomach swoop. When would he get over her? "I'm surprised Chloe hasn't asked to move in yet."
"Their relationship isn't that far along yet," Harper said.
"Chloe's just worried that she's going to marry a fey," Conner said. "She told me that. I don't know how she'd feel about me sharing it, though, so try not to spread it around. But one of the love fairies told her she was going to end up with a fey, and it's bugging her."
Harper considered this for a moment. "Do you think he's right?"
"I don't know," Conner said. "I never understood how fey magic worked."
"You know, I was told by one once that I would end up with someone who would make me laugh, someone I could go for walks with, someone that could give me a family. I'm not going to end up with Alec, if they're right, no matter how much I might or might not love him."
Conner perked up a little despite himself. So she wouldn't end up with Alec. That meant he still had a fighting chance, even if he'd broken up with her.
"Harper," he said. "Maybe in the future..."
"There's something you need to know," Harper said.
"What?"
"I slept with him."
Conner went still. His hands curled into fists. "What?"
"I slept with Alec."
"When?"
"Does it matter?" Harper asked.
Conner nodded.
"In Phoenix."
"So after we..."
Harper nodded.
"Did I mean that little to you?" Conner asked, his eyebrows furrowing. He could feel his anger boiling. He wanted to transform, he wanted to hurt someone, anyone, and he wanted... "Was I really that unimportant? Just some game to you?"
"No," Harper said. "Of course not. Conner, and I'm sorry."
"You're sorry?" he repeated. "You're sorry?"
"Conner, please, let's talk about this," Harper said.
"No, I need to go. I have to get out of here. I have to..." he didn't say the rest, but he had to leave before he did something stupid. Something he couldn't come back from.
"Please," Harper said.
But he was already gone, striding down the street, around the corner, walking too fast for her to keep up even if she'd tried, which he didn't think she would. Once he got far enough away, he felt himself starting to calm down some. He knew he might have overreacted, but he didn't care. She'd hurt him, and all of his hopes for a future with her suddenly seemed like wishful thinking.
He was meant to be alone.
"Excuse me."
Conner turned and saw one of the fey standing there. She was tall and pretty with strawberry blond hair and green eyes. She looked a lot like Harper. He closed his eyes briefly and thought about walking away. But he was stuck here for the foreseeable future so instead he tried to be kind.
"What can I do for you, miss?"
"I just wanted to thank you," she said. "I saw you fight. You saved us. We couldn't have survived if it wasn't for you and your friends."
"We just did what we had to," Conner said, with an attempt at a smile.
The woman approached him. She gave him a lingering smile, and Conner couldn't help but return it. "I'm Amelia."
"Hi, Amelia," he said. "I'm Conner."
"You're very handsome," she said.
Conner thought of all the women who'd said that in the past. He hadn't used his powers on her, though. He couldn't; she was fey. Fairies had their own ways of protecting themselves against incubi, and he had no doubt that they were employing them with the demon infestation.
"Do you know what I am?" he asked.
"You're a demon," she said. "I know that, and I don't care. You're one of the good guys."
One of the good guys. He almost laughed. If she'd known him, truly known him, she wouldn't be saying that. He thought of how he'd wanted to transform when Harper had said she'd slept with Alec, how he'd wanted to hurt her, like she'd hurt him.
"I was wondering if you'd eaten," Amelia asked. "I'm a decent cook."
Conner blinked. "You want to cook for me?"
"Yes."
He thought about it for a moment. The truth was, he was hungry. The battle had been hard, and he had skipped breakfast that morning. His stomach growled at the thought of food.
"Alright," he said. "That sounds wonderful, Amelia."
She led him back to her house, and gestured for him to sit in the dining room. She brought him fresh tea, and then set about cooking. He watched her as she moved, delighted to have something else to think about, something to occupy his mind.
They chatted as she made a vegetarian lasagna. Their words were about a number of things, nothing of importance, but he was grateful nonetheless. When she was done cooking, they ate together.
"Thank you for the meal, Amelia," Conner said. "It was delicious."
"I know you would have preferred it with meat, but..."
"No," Conner said. "It was great, really. I don't think I've had a vegetarian dish that good in a long time. I usually just make myself burgers and eggs. This was a nice break. You're very talented."
"Thank you," Amelia said. She cleared up the dishes, and then came and sat next to him. "You know, I'm talented in other ways as well."
"Are you now?"
Amelia took off her dress. She was wearing nothing beneath it. Conner stared at her naked flesh.
"Yes, I am," she said. "Would you like to go upstairs?"
Conner stood and took her hand, then she led him to the stairs. "I'd like nothing better."
FIFTEEN
Sarah sat in Joseph and Marissa's house, watching over Marissa sleep. She wanted to be there in case the woman needed further medical care. The wound was healing surprisingly fast though, as was common for the fey. She didn't think she'd be needed, but didn't want to take any chances.
"You're a shape-shifter," Joseph said.
"That's right," Sarah said.
"What all can you transform into?" Joseph asked curiously.
"I don't know," Sarah said. "I used to be only able to transform into a wolf or a panther, but then I learned how to turn into a fox. Then my boyfriend -- well, the ex-boyfriend I told you about -- taught me I can transform into other humans as well. It's extremely difficult though."
Joseph nodded. "I've met shape-shifters before," he told her.
"You have?" Sarah was instantly curious. She'd only ever met one other one, and that was Samuel. "What were they like?"
Joseph laughed. "That's an amusing question, Sarah. What were they like? They're like other people. They're all different, just like anybody. There's no specific way a shape-shifter acts, you know."
"It's just that I've only ever met the one," Sarah said. "I don't know anything about being a shape-shifter. I don't even know how I am one. I don't know if it's genetic, or what."
"Would you like to learn?" Joseph asked.
"What do you mean?
"I mean that I know a lot about shape-shifters," Joseph said. "My best friend growing up was one. It was unusual, I know, because normal fey are interested only in other fey, but my parents were liberal. They allowed me to make friends outside the forest."
"How come the fey are like that, anyway?" Sarah asked. "I mean, why are they so against people who aren't fairies? I never understood that."
"The fey have long since held prejudice against others," Joseph said. "It dates back to the days when people who could use magic were burnt as witches. Many of our people were killed at the stake. We learned not to trust humans because of this. We decided our magic was best kept secret."
Sarah sighed. "But it's not like that anymore."
"Perhaps not," Joseph said. "But the fey have long memories, and they prefer to keep to themselves."
"And do you?"
"No," Joseph said. "It's like I said, my parents were more liberal than not. They had no problem with me involving myself with others who were not fey folk. That's how I met Robert, who was a shape-shifter. He taught me about them."
Sarah smiled. "I'd love to learn," she said.
Joseph was silent for a moment. "It takes a special kind of person to become a shape-shifter. It must be someone who has the predisposition for it. It isn't genetic, it's not a mutation, it's just a personality trait. Tell me, have you ever turned into a fury?"
"Yes," Sarah said. "There was a man who killed his wife. I work with battered women, and I tried to help a woman. She contacted her husband after I told her not to, and he killed her. I transformed into a fury, and went on a vengeful rampage."
"I thought as much," Joseph said. "That's a kind of transformation all on its own. People who are shape-shifters have been involved in trauma. It triggers something in them, and they become shape-shifters. Robert's little sister died of crib death. That's what triggered his."
"My father killed my mother," Sarah said. "I watched him beat her into a coma. She died two years later."
"That would do it," Joseph said. "I'm sorry to hear about your losses, Sarah, but you have been blessed in your own way. Instead of your grief overtaking your life, it was channeled into something that you can use to help others, like you did today."
"I'd rather have my mother alive than be a shape-shifter," Sarah said.
Joseph nodded. He reached out and took her hands. "I understand," he said. "I'm sure Robert would have rather his sister have lived too, but we cannot choose our tragedies. We can only be grateful for the good that comes from them. Have you saved others?"
"Yes."
"Then be glad."
Sarah nodded. She thought back to when she first shape-shifted. It had been a traumatic experience, but it had also been a freeing one. "Thank you, Joseph."
"You were going to be a doctor, weren't you?"
"Yes," Sarah said. "Before I learned to shape-shift, I was pre-med. Than I met the people from Afterlife and they convinced me that I could help the world in other ways. Sometimes I still miss it, though. Like today. I was so happy to be able to help save Marissa's life."
"And I will always be grateful for that," Joseph said. "But why not do both?"
"What?"
"You can still become a doctor," Joseph said. "You can do both. You shouldn't sacrifice something you want because you have something you need to do."
"I don't know," Sarah said. "I don't know if I'll have time. Between Afterlife and helping women, I don't think I'd have time to go to school. Especially med school."
"If it's something you want, and I can tell that you do, you'll make time for it," Joseph said. "I saw how you were today with Marissa. You should be a doctor, Sarah."
"You really think so?"
"Yes."
Sarah thought about it for a moment. She'd wanted to be a doctor for so long, but she hadn't thought it possible with Afterlife. But maybe it was possible. Maybe she could have both.
"You're right," she decided. "When we're done here, I'm going back to school."
"Good for you," Joseph said. "Now, go to one of our guest rooms and get some sleep. You need it."
SIXTEEN
"Annabelle?" Alec said, approaching the other vampire, his heart racing. He hadn't seen her since she was a newborn vampire. The fey had taken her in, and made her one of their own. She wasn't allowed to leave the forest, and she would be banished or killed if she ever attacked anyone.
"Yes?"
Annabelle turned to look at Alec. She had longer hair than he remembered and it was braided. There were flowers threaded through it, and she was wearing typical fey garb; a long, colorful dress stitched by hand. She had a wreathe of flowers around her neck.
She looked so different from the sultry vampire who'd once used Afterlife as her feeding grounds. He was impressed.
"Do you remember me?" he asked.
She considered for a moment and then her eyes lit up. "You're Alec. You were going to kill me, but your friends stopped you. Harper and Brittney, right? Then you guys asked Marissa to bring me here. You guys saved my life, and my soul. Of course I remember you."
"We didn't do that," Alec said. "You did. By agreeing to come here, by drinking from their spring, by staying and living a life without death, you did that."
"You could do it too, you know," Annabelle said.
Alec frowned at her. "What do you mean?"
"You could be here with us," Annabelle said. "Their spring stops the cravings. I haven't wanted blood since I took from it."
"But then I'd have to stay," Alec said.
Annabelle nodded. "A small price to pay, don't you think?"
Alec shook his head. "I have a life," he reminded her. "And I don't kill anyway. I haven't changed anyone since..." he trailed off, thinking of Phoenix. "Well, I don't do it."
"But you want to," Annabelle said. "I see it in your eyes. You want to feed. You want the blood. You crave it. I imagine it eats at you every day. You don't have to live a life like that though, Alec. You can be here with us."
"And leave my friends?" Alec shook his head. The idea was incomprehensible to him. "They've been with me through everything, and I won't abandon them just to make my own life easier. I'm glad this has worked for you though, Annabelle."
"It's more than worked," Annabelle said. "I'm one of them now. I consider myself a member of the fey. They don't live forever but they live a long time, so I won't have to just watch everyone I love age and die around me immediately. Have you thought of that? Your friends that you don't want to leave -- they're not going to be around forever."
Alec said nothing to this; the fact was, he had thought of it. What would he do when Sarah, Conner, Harper, Brittney, and Chloe all outgrew him? When they were ready to stop the fight and start their families? When they grew old, and weak, and when they eventually died? What would he do then?
"I can see you've thought about it," Annabelle said. "Here, though, you don't have to worry about that for a long time, and with me, you don't have to worry about that at all. I'll never age either."
"It's not worth it to me," Alec said.
"We could be together," Annabelle said. "None of the fey will be with me, even though they consider me one of them. They don't lay with flesh-eaters. Even renounced ones. I'll never have a relationship here."
"You don't want to be with me," Alec said.
Annabelle nodded. "It was worth a shot. I get lonely sometimes. I get lonely for people of my own kind."
"You could go to Phoenix," Alec told her. "There are thousands of vampires there, and they're the good kind. They're like you and me; they don't kill and they don't eat. You could find someone there."
"Phoenix," Annabelle said musingly. "I don't know. The fey have done so much for me. Leaving them would be like abandoning home."
"Everyone grows up and leaves home," Alec told her.
"When did you?"
"I was fourteen," Alec said.
"Why so young?"
Alec sat down on the ground, and Annabelle joined him. He'd never shared the story with anyone, not even Ileana. Yet it felt right somehow, with this vampire.
"My father was abusive," he said. "He beat me and my two sisters. They tried to protect me because they were older, but I got the brunt of it because I was the boy. He'd blow up over the smallest thing. Eventually my sisters grew up and left, and when they did, I was the only one for him to take his anger out on. So I left too."
"How did you survive?"
"I worked," Alec said. "I lied about my age and got a job at a factory. It didn't pay much, but I was able to afford a room in a small boarding house, and I had enough to eat. Whatever I didn't spend, I sent home to my mother. For a while, anyway."
"Why'd you stop?" Annabelle asked.
Alec looked away. "Because I killed them," he finally said. "When I was changed at twenty-nine
, I was so hungry, and I had no control, and I had nobody to help me. I went home because I thought my mother could help me, but she turned me away, and I snapped. I killed my father first, because of what he'd done to my family but the blood lust was too strong and then I killed my mother too. I have to live with that every day. Is that someone you'd really want to be with?"
"No," Annabelle said.
"I didn't think so," Alec said.
"Have you forgiven yourself?" Annabelle asked. "For what you did?"
"Yes," Alec said. "It took me a long time, and it took the right woman, but I've forgiven myself."
"Good," Annabelle said. "Maybe I will try Phoenix. Now that I'm over the blood lust. Do you think they fey will forgive me for leaving them though? After all they've done for me?"
"I think they expect it," Alec said. "It was good seeing you again, Annabelle, but I have to find my friends now. When this is over, try Phoenix. You won't be lonely there."
"Maybe you'll visit," Annabelle said.
"Maybe," Alec said, but he knew he wouldn't. It would always be the place where he changed someone after swearing he wouldn't. It would always be the place where he helped Harper cheat on Conner. Phoenix would always be the place where he lost himself.
Annabelle leaned forward and kissed him. It was a chaste kiss, and he knew it meant nothing more than companionship and understanding. He kissed her back, and then stood and left.
SEVENTEEN
Conner stood outside of Amelia's home the next morning, his face red, and his body burning. He wanted to transform, but he kept himself from doing so. If he did, it would surely mean his death. He'd made many mistakes but he wasn't ready for death.
He didn't know Amelia was married. Her husband had come in that morning to find them in bed together. He'd thrown Conner from the house and he'd called the rest of the fey to witness his accusations.
"You used your powers on her," he said.
"I didn't," Conner said. "She invited me in. She said she wanted to thank me for helping in the fight. I thought it was just dinner. Then she came onto me. I didn't use my powers."
"I don't believe you," the husband said. He turned toward his wife. "Amelia, tell me the truth. Did he seduce you?"
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