While faeries weren't the same as fae, they had some similar characteristics, and an ethereal glow was one of them. Effie simply wished she was able to turn it off sometimes. She didn't want people to hate her for no real reason.
She was so lost in thought, she forgot to watch where she was going. Within moments, she ran straight into the chest of someone.
Shock rushed through her system, along with something else she couldn't put a name to. She pushed it to the side and stepped back.
"I'm so sorry," she said while brushing herself off. "I don't normally walk into strangers," she promised.
When she looked up a moment later, she sucked in a breath. The man standing in front of her wasn't a stranger at all.
Kind of.
"I'll get back to work," a second man said.
She glanced in his direction and frowned. She knew him. Jim. One of the doctors. He smiled at her, then disappeared.
"Hi," she squeaked.
"Effie, isn't it?" Wendell asked, a knowing smile on his face. "I knew he was up to something."
"Who?" she asked, forgetting he'd checked her name. He knew who she was, she could see it in his eyes.
"Jim. He's been planning something since I told him about you at lunch."
"You told him about me?" she squeaked.
He nodded. "Maybe about two hours ago. He said he'd make sure you were on a break when I arrived."
She frowned. "I haven't spoken to Jim today. How did he know I was on a late lunch?" It was nearing half-past three already. She'd done what she normally did and planned her lunch around her appointments.
"He probably didn't. I think that's my fault actually. I turned up earlier than he expected me to."
"He told you to come meet me?" A small thrill ran through her at that, even though she knew it shouldn't. She needed to remember how dangerous this could be for her, and not just her heart either.
What was she getting herself into?
"No. He tricked me. Kind of." Wendell pushed a hand through his dirty blond hair.
She bit her lip, trying not to think about how much more attractive she found him in person. It wasn't simply the way he looked, it was more than that. Like the very way he stood and just was.
"He told me a nurse needed some legal advice after he saw your picture." He frowned. "Unless he was telling the truth..."
She chuckled. "Sorry, he wasn't. I'm neither a nurse, or in need of legal advice. You've had a wasted trip, I'm afraid."
"Far from it."
His voice rumbled through her. Beneath the skin of her back, her wings tried to quiver, a sensation she'd never felt before. What had caused it? This man, or the danger? Conflicted thoughts continued to run through her head. This was only going to make the rest of her day go even slower.
"While you're here, would you like to go on a proper date with me, rather than a meet-cute set up by an incubus?" he asked.
Every part of her wanted to scream yes, that there was nothing she wanted more. Time with him would be time well spent. But despite that, she knew she couldn't. As hard as it was, she had to respect the laws her people had put in place. That was her job as one of them. She had to obey, no matter how hard it was, or how much she wanted Wendell.
She took a deep breath, ignoring her entire body shaking. It was impossible not to let it get to her.
"I'm sorry. I can't."
She didn't wait for him to say anything. She couldn't. If he had a chance to speak to her, then he'd convince her that it was a good idea for the two of them to go out together, and she couldn't afford that, no matter what he said.
For what felt like the first time, the twisty hallways of the nursing home played into her hands. She knew them well enough that she wasn't going to get lost, but Wendell wouldn't.
Her heart broke with every step she took, but she knew it was for the best. She'd already fallen further than she should have let herself.
Chapter Seven
Wendell
* * *
He pushed away the mounting pile of work, unable to focus on any of it after his disastrous attempt at asking Effie out on a date. What confused him the most was the connection he'd felt between them. He'd never experienced anything like it before, unless he counted the initial one when they'd made contact for the first time, but somehow, it didn't compare.
They'd already connected while they were talking, and now they'd met in person, something had snapped into place. He didn't need it spelling out for him, though he'd heard rumours that the MatchMater app would do that at some point. After today's reaction to a mere date, he suspected that Effie wasn't ready to hit the mated button yet, even if it was clearly the way they should be going.
The phone rang, and he jumped to answer it, hoping against all odds, that it was Effie. It was silly to think so, considering it was his work line and he hadn't given her his number.
"Hello, Wendell speaking, how can I help?" he asked as he placed the receiver by his ear.
"So, how did it go?"
His heart sank at the sound of Jim's voice, which wasn't the usual reaction he had to his oldest friend calling.
"She ran away."
"That good, eh?" The incubus chuckled down the line. "What did you do?"
"Asked her out on a date," he admitted, pushing a hand through his hair. No doubt he'd done that enough times to make it stick up on end by now.
"Ouch." The line crackled.
"Yes, ouch. What am I going to do?"
"Give her time," Jim suggested. "One of Rosie's friends had a mate who wouldn't accept things at first. He came around in the end, you just have to give it time."
Wendell sighed. "I figured as much. I thought I'd send her a message so she knows I'm still interested in the date when she is. Hopefully, she won't take too long to come around, or I'm going to go crazy."
Jim chuckled down the phone. "That sounds about right. I didn't want to spend much time away from Rosie when we first met. The pull was far too strong. You should be reassured by that. Your girl will come around to it."
"I don't want to force her into anything she doesn't want," Wendell admitted softly. It wasn't what a lot of paranormals would want to hear, but it was true. Whether they were true mates or not, he wanted to give Effie what she wanted, not what he thought they should have.
To his surprise, Jim didn't immediately tell him he was going crazy.
"Message her," the incubus said eventually. "Once the two of you are talking, you can work out what you want from your mating. Until then, there's no point dwelling on it too much. Simply do what you can. And for water's sake, don't do what Cora does to her."
"For water's sake?" Wendell raised an eyebrow, even though his friend couldn't see him.
"Sorry, living with a siren seems to be rubbing off on me." He laughed, but turned serious almost instantly. "Message her, but don't stalk her entire life. Write what you need to say, hit send, and then close the app until she replies. No obsessing over her. And no being creepy."
"Don't worry, I promise not to go all Cora on the poor girl."
"Good. Now, I have to go. I have another patient coming in." Jim hung up the phone without another word.
Wendell sighed loudly and placed his own receiver back in the cradle. There was nothing for it. He was going to have to do exactly what Jim had suggested.
For whatever reason, Effie hadn't been ready to give their mating bond a chance to grow. Hopefully, that was merely a temporary issue, and she'd tell him they could go on a date within the next week. Now he'd found her, he didn't want to waste a moment spending time without her. It was rare enough for paranormals to find their mates still.
He grabbed his mobile and swiped straight onto the MatchMater app. Her face was right there, staring up at him with a smile in her eyes. She truly was the most exquisite creature he'd ever laid eyes on, though she'd been taller than he'd expected for some reason. All of that paled in comparison to their talk, though.
He opened up the chat and re-rea
d some of the messages from the past couple of days.
Effie: What's your favourite book?
Wendell: Birdsong
Effie: Sebastian Faulks? Really? Is that the book you chose in order to impress women?
Wendell: Definitely not. If I wanted to do that, I'd say Sense and Sensibility. Or Emma.
Effie: Interesting choices, I'm more of a Dracula girl myself.
Wendell: Is that the book you chose in order to impress vampires?
He'd been able to imagine her smiling as she typed. He wasn't sure how he knew that was what she'd been doing, but the memory was entrenched along with the words.
Effie: Oh, definitely. I've only ever read it once. I can barely remember it. But you never said. Why Birdsong?
Wendell: The imagery and the emotions it invokes. I truly feel as if I'm transported when I read it. I know that sounds strange, but it's the truth.
Effie: I get it. I felt that way about Private Peaceful too.
Wendell: Morpurgo? Interesting choice.
Effie: It's a modern classic. The Butterfly Lion too. You won't change my mind.
Wendell: I wasn't planning on. It is a modern classic. Though I haven't read the second one you mentioned. I'll have to download it so I can listen to it at work.
And he had done. She was right, it as another modern classic. He couldn't wait to be able to properly talk to her about it when they finally got to go on a date.
He scrolled past the rest of their chat. Everything from food, to music. Their tastes had lined up a lot, though it shone through that she was a little younger than he was. That didn't matter, though. They'd have a long life together to explore everything they both liked.
But that didn't solve the problem he was faced with now. How was he going to convince her to date him without being unnecessarily pushy?
Wendell: Hi, Effie, it was nice to see you today, I'm sorry I took you by surprise, I didn't mean to freak you out. If you want to go on a proper date, just the two of us (I'll leave the meddling incubus at home) then let me know. I'm willing to wait as long as you need me to.
He stared at it for a long moment, deleting parts and re-adding them until he was happy. There was so much more he wanted to say, but he knew he had to be careful if he wanted her to say yes to a date. This was a long game, and he was willing to play it for as long as he needed to.
Chapter Eight
Effie
* * *
She should really think about uninstalling the MatchMater app. The little M notification was burning a hole in her metaphorical pocket. She'd seen it pop up and knew it had to be Wendell sending her some kind of message. No doubt it would be a sweet one, asking her out on another date she wanted to say yes to.
A knock sounded on the door.
"Come in," she called. Her next patient was due any moment, and it was likely to be them.
To her surprise, Mrs Stein skipped into the room, not even bothering to hide that she wasn't as elderly as she was pretending to be. Actually, that was wrong. She was probably far older than she claimed here, but as paranormals aged so slowly, and still held onto a lot of their dexterity and other powers, it didn't do anything to stop her.
"I don't have you down for an appointment until next week, Mrs Stein," Effie said, trying not to let her surprise show. This was still her job, even if people were trying to make it more complicated than it had to be for her.
"Daisy switched with me. Don't worry, I'm not breaking any rules."
"I highly doubt that," Effie muttered under her breath.
Mrs Stein chuckled as she hopped up onto the massage table. "A life without doing anything forbidden isn't worth living, dear. I'm sure you of all people know that. The faeries are notorious for their rules."
"They aren't that bad," Effie tried to protest, but her heart wasn't in it. She felt the same way the older woman did about the way the Faerie Council ran things. But until faeries of her generation sat on it, there was very little that could be done about it.
"If you keep telling yourself that, then it might be true," Mrs Stein quipped.
"Is there a reason you switched your appointments?" Effie asked, no longer feeling as if she had to be overly polite to the woman. She'd stuck her nose into Effie's private life, that gave her the right to be direct when it came to asking questions. "Have you been having some problems in the wing areas?"
"Oh, no. Of course not. I just sneak out at night and go for a little fly. No one notices."
Effie's eyes widened. She hoped Mrs Stein was a bird shifter, and not something much bigger that could fly. She didn't want to think about the papers if a dragon was spotted flying overhead.
"Is it something else? A tail maybe? I don't have much experience in that area, but at least you can tell me about it..." She picked up anti-bacterial wipe and started to thoroughly wipe down her hands. She'd washed them properly after her last patient, but she always wanted to err on the side of caution where possible.
Mrs Stein chuckled. "You young ones are always so eager to work, and never just to catch up. I wanted to check how our little MatchMater plan worked out." There was glee in the old woman's voice.
"Our?" Effie echoed as she dropped the wipe into the bin.
"Well, did you play along and use it? If you did, then I believe it is technically our plan, yes."
She shook her head, disbelieving what the old woman was saying. She couldn't be serious, could she?
"So? Are you going to give me an update?" Mrs Stein swung her legs back and forth as she waited for Effie to say something.
The faery sighed. There was nothing for it. She'd have to tell the old woman something, and perhaps it might help her work out what she wanted to do about the whole situation. She suppressed a snort at that thought. She doubted an eight ball would be able to help her through this one.
"Your swipe matched with someone," she admitted. "But I haven't used the app other than that."
"Ahh. First time did the trick. You're one of the lucky ones. I've heard that for some people, it takes months and months." The sly smile on the woman's face told Effie all she needed to know. Somehow, this old woman had known what was going to happen. Perhaps she was a precog.
But no. That didn't make sense. She'd admitted to having wings, and precogs were witches, not shifters.
"I don't think I can go ahead with anything," Effie admitted, not knowing why she was revealing it to someone she barely knew.
"Of course you can. If the two of you matched, then there must be some kind of connection," Mrs Stein pointed out.
"Well, I suppose there is, yes." She hated saying it out loud, but only because it reminded her of how impossible a relationship with Wendell would be. "But he isn't a faery, and that's the biggest problem."
"Hmm. That Council of yours should get its act together and realise it isn't the fifteen hundreds any more. They shouldn't be telling you all what to do."
"I thought that was the entire point of the Councils," Effie mused.
Mrs Stein laughed. "They're mostly there to keep the bad ones in check, not the lovely young things like you."
A blush spread over Effie's cheeks at that, and she ducked her head in order to hide it. "I still can't go against them," she pointed out. "They're my Council, and they can choose to expel me from the community if I break their rules."
"Ah, but don't they allow non-faery mates if you find them?" The knowing twinkle in the woman's eyes was hard to ignore. Well, actually, Mrs Stein as the complete package was impossible to ignore. Effie was surprised she hadn't heard more stories of the woman terrorising the staff and other residents. She seemed like the kind of woman who would get up to mischief at every turn.
"Well, yes. But that's only if we find them by accident. If we go looking, then we face expulsion."
"And that's where I come in."
"I don't understand." Effie shifted from side to side, trying to process what all of this meant. Should she be saying yes to Wendell's offer of a date?
She wanted to. Since the moment the question had left him, she'd been desperate to say yes, and she couldn't even explain why. But was it the sensible thing to do? If she was thrown out of the faery village, then she'd probably never see her family again. Or her friends. Would it be worth it? She wasn't so sure.
"Well, everything you've done has been after I meddled. Which means you never looked. All you did was answer a couple of messages and find your mate. All a coincidence..."
"Oh." She blinked a few times, processing what that meant. "So I can say yes to him?"
Despite being certain of what Mrs Stein was saying to her, she needed to hear it from the woman herself to make it real.
She chuckled. "That's still up to you, my dear. But the important thing, is that you can say yes if you want to."
Chapter Nine
Wendell
* * *
He still couldn't believe that she'd said yes. And that it had taken her less than a day to say it. And only another one for their date to actually come around. It was almost too good to believe, but he was trying desperately not to think about what would happen if she didn't show up. He wanted this to go well so badly.
And it would, he was certain of it. He'd done everything possible to try and make sure she'd be comfortable and not feel the pressure of a formal dinner date. Though maybe that was what she wanted anyway.
"Stop overthinking it all," he muttered to himself. She was going to turn up. She had to. He couldn't stand the thought of any other outcome, no matter how hard he tried to deal with it.
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