"Wendell?"
Her voice travelled straight through him, along with the relief that she'd shown up after all.
"You came," he said lamely.
A soft smile spread over her face, lighting it up and only making her more beautiful to him than ever before.
"I said I would," she pointed out.
"That doesn't mean anything," he countered. "You could have changed your mind, or only said yes to keep me off your back, or..."
"Wendell..." She reached out and touched him on the arm.
The simple touch was too much for both of them, and they lapsed into silence while they stared at one another.
Eventually, she cleared her throat, breaking the spell between them. "I have to ask, why the aquarium?" She gestured to the building behind him. Not that she needed to. Anyone who lived even semi-locally knew what the aquarium looked like.
"I thought it'd be a nice non-formal date, as the idea freaked you out so much, I didn't want to make it worse." He paused for a moment, considering what he was suggesting. "I'm sorry, it was a terrible idea. We can go and do something else. Name it and we can..."
"The aquarium is good," she assured him. "I haven't been in ages, and I love to watch the penguins. Why don't we go and do that?"
"Are you sure?"
She nodded eagerly. "I promise, I'm sure. I think it's a great idea for a date."
He led her inside. Thankfully, there wasn't much of a queue, and the two of them were soon inside. Despite her comment about the penguins, she didn't rush to see them, but went through the rest of the aquarium first, commenting on the facts and the fish. Wendell quickly found himself watching Effie instead of the creatures. He knew he shouldn't, but the way her face lit up when she was watching and enjoying the way something moved was impossible to ignore. She was stunning.
No more than that. Ethereal. She was something far more than whatever paranormal being she was. Which was when he realised he still had no idea. It didn't matter though. It never would. She was his mate, no matter what she was, which meant he had the rest of his life to figure it out.
"That one's my favourite," she said, drawing his attention to a penguin who kept falling over when he tried to get up the slope.
"Your favourite every time, or just this one?" he asked.
"That's a hard one," she admitted, amusement in her tone. "Sometimes, the ones that are exciting one time aren't doing anything other than sitting on an egg the next. That's a bit boring..."
"True. But do you get bored of your best friend when they're not doing anything interesting?" he asked.
"Good point. So by that logic, this one has always got to be my favourite. What's his name?"
Wendell pulled away from the glass to look at the list of penguins. "What colour band has he got around his leg?" he asked.
"Err...Green and yellow."
"Then it's not a he, it's a her. She's called Nessie."
"Like the Loch Ness Monster." she teased.
"I don't think that Nessie would like to be compared to a penguin," Wendell joked.
"No, I think dragons can get a bit prickly at times. I'm sure she wouldn't want to be thought of like that."
"Dragon?" he echoed.
"Mmhmm. It's common knowledge among the faeries that she's a dragon. Isn't it here?"
"No. And faery?"
"Are you going to carry on saying species at me as a question?" she quipped. "Because that could get old very fast."
"Sorry, I meant, you're a faery?"
"And how is that any better?" she asked, but the teasing nature of her words was clear in her eyes. "But yes, I'm a faery."
"But you don't have wings," he pointed out as he tried to process what that could mean without completely freaking out.
"And you don't have fangs right now, what's your point?" She turned back to the penguins as one jumped into the pool of water with a loud splash.
"They're retracted." The protest felt weak, even to his ears.
"Exactly. And so are mine."
"I didn't know faeries could do that," he admitted.
Another penguin jumped into the pool of water and started racing against the first one.
"Did you even know for sure that we existed?" Effie asked, keeping her tone light.
"No. But then, I could have mistaken you for an angel."
She snorted, an amused smile crossing her face. "That was terrible. Are you going to always subject me to pick up lines like that?"
He shrugged, enjoying how light it felt to be around her. It was so easy, even if she was teasing him. "I could try some fish themed ones instead, if you'd prefer."
"Hmm. Are there any fish themed ones?" She tapped her chin playfully as she considered.
Wendell thought hard. He shouldn't have suggested it when he didn't have any in mind.
"A shark ate my girlfriend, want to be my new one?" he said lamely.
Effie doubled over with laughter, clutching at her sides. "Seriously, that's what you're going with?"
"I was on the spot," he protested, beginning to laugh himself.
"Well, why don't we go see the sharks, and we can ask them for your ex-girlfriend back." She hooked her arm through his and drew him away from the penguins.
"I don't think they will. You're going to be stuck with me..." he teased.
"Let's just see about that."
"Should that be sea about that?" he countered.
She giggled. "You realise that joke only works if it's written down?"
"Then how did you understand what joke it was?" he returned smoothly. "Ah-ha, got you with that one."
"All right, yes you did," she admitted. "Shall we go see your ex? I mean, the sharks. Unless your ex is a shark shifter," she babbled.
"I can assure you, I've never even met a shark shifter."
"You don't know that for sure. Until five minutes ago, you didn't realise you'd met a faery either," she pointed out.
"I'm never going to win an argument with you around, am I?" Even as he asked, he realised he didn't care. Spending time with her was far more important than anything else, and he wasn't going to mess it up for anything.
Chapter Ten
Effie
* * *
He'd somehow managed to pull off the perfect date, which was impressive, given that she wouldn't have been able to put it together herself. But the aquarium followed by ice cream out in the sunshine by the estuary hit the spot. It was both charming, and romantic, with enough informality to put her at ease and stop her from overthinking too much.
Plus, she really did love the penguins.
She crunched on the last of her ice cream cone, glad she'd gotten the waffle one instead of the plain wafer. She'd hesitated, wondering if it made her greedy to do that, but decided she didn't care.
Lucky for her, Wendell ordered the same.
"You never told me what you did at the nursing home," he said.
She frowned. Hadn't she? Oh, that was right, all she'd said was that she wasn't a nurse. "You haven't told me what you do either," she pointed out.
"I'm a lawyer," he answered immediately.
Ah. Right. Which she could have worked out if she'd thought for longer than a moment about the legal advice pretence that Jim had concocted.
"I'm a masseuse," she said, realising there was no reason not to tell him. "Specialising in geriatrics."
"What got you into that?" he asked.
"Do you really want to know? Surely it's a boring subject to talk about on a date." She wasn't even sure if she wanted him to say yes or no. Did it matter what he thought of her job? A small part of her had to admit that it did. She wanted him to like all of her, especially what she did for a living.
"Of course. I want to know everything about you. Work is just the start. I know we've already talked about books, but I feel that subject still has a lot of talking time ahead of it. What about your favourite film though?"
She chuckled. "If you're not careful, you're going to end up firing t
wenty thousand questions at me and ending up with the answer to none."
"Sorry," he muttered. "I'm just excited. I've never felt like this before. It sounds scary to say that out loud. Even scarier to think it, in some ways, but it's true. I can't believe this feeling is so new to me. It feels so comfortable, and yet so exciting at the same time."
She wasn't ready to tell him, but she felt the same way. It was impossible for her to not feel at ease with him, even though she barely knew him. And that in itself was exciting. None of the faery boys had ever made her feel this way while she was growing up.
"I got into it because I wanted to help people. When I have a patient, I use a tiny part of my magic to soothe away the ache of their bodies. I know that kind of thing is partly frowned upon, but I can't help it. I have to do it. How can I stand by and watch while people go through such pain?"
He nodded. "One of the reasons I got into law was because pro-bono work is such an expected part of the job. It's nice to have a company's resources and money behind you when you're facing a particularly tricky case, and it gets to help people at the same time. I couldn't do that as an individual, it wouldn't work."
"What do you specialise in?"
"Family law. Sometimes, it’s horrible. Two people who used to love each other want a divorce and neither is really happy about it. Other times, it's satisfying to defend the downtrodden partner who someone is trying to take advantage of."
Her heart swelled at the idea of him helping people, it made her want him even more.
She tugged on his arm, bringing the two of them to a stop. She loved walking and talking like they had been, but for what she was about to do, she needed him to stay still.
"Is everything okay?" he asked, a puzzled expression knitting his brows together.
She nodded, then stepped closer to him.
His mouth formed a perfect o-shape as he realised what she had planned. His arm snaked around her waist. Wendell's gaze locked onto hers, seeking permission to pull her closer. He must have liked what he saw, as he did, bringing their bodies closer to one another than they ever had been. It was only then that Effie realised how much physical distance there'd been between the two of them.
Her wings fluttered in anticipation. She didn't think she'd ever needed to be kissed this badly in her life.
When his lips met hers, something snapped inside her, then settled into place. It was impossible to ignore the thrum of rightness which rested between them. This was more than just a kiss, and it was never going to be a one night thing. This was forever, she could feel it in every small movement of his mouth against hers.
He started to pull away, but she was having none of it, and pushed her body against his, and looping her arms around his neck. Wendell chuckled, the sound vibrating through their kiss, but he didn't try to stop it, for which she was grateful.
They finally broke apart, breathing heavily, and doing nothing more than looking at one another.
Which was when the magnitude of what had just happened sank in. He was her mate. There was no denying it now, even if there had been before. But what did that mean for her? Would she have to leave the faeries and everything she'd ever known behind in order to stay with him? Or was there a way she could work it out?
Mates. One word, on repeat around her mind. It was all she was going to be able to think about until everyone knew about it.
Her friends. The Council. Her Mum.
It was all too much. The shocking reality wasn't nearly as exciting as the hidden promise of passion.
"I'm sorry, I..."
She didn't finish her sentence, there was no way to without sounding awful. She pulled away from Wendell and flashed him one last apologetic smile before turning on her heels and running away.
"Effie!" he shouted after her, but she could tell he didn't follow. A small part of her was disappointed by that, but the rest was pleased that he knew how to give her space.
The thoughts in her head were a huge jumble of confused feelings and hope. She pushed them all to the side. She was only certain of two things.
Wendell was, without a doubt, her mate, and that this wasn't over yet.
Chapter Eleven
Wendell
* * *
He passed the living room as he pressed the call button. His heart felt as if it was about to leap out of his chest. He hated calling people like this, but it was Effie. Too much was riding on it to send another message via MatchMater that she could ignore. A call was more direct, and he liked that.
There was still a lot of confusion about what had happened. He thought their date had been going well. At least, he had until she'd run off straight after kissing him. Hopefully, it was something they could move past quickly. But if not, then he was determined to still find a way through whatever was happening.
"Hello," Effie said.
"You picked up," he responded in surprise.
"I did."
Silence grew between them, though it wasn't as uncomfortable as he feared it would be.
"I, err, wanted to check you were okay." He rubbed his free hand across the back of his neck, and finally stopped pacing. She'd answered. That was the first step on getting their mating back on the right track. There was a long way still to go, that was for sure, but talking was a start.
"I'm fine."
"But?" he prompted.
A loud sigh came down the line. "It's more complicated than you could possibly imagine."
"Try me." He tried to put as much earnestness as possible into his words. He needed her to know he was serious about it.
"I'm not supposed to spend much time out in the human realm," she said simply.
It didn't take a genius to work out that it was more than that, but he didn't push her. If he proved himself to be trustworthy, and that he respected her opinions, and choices, then perhaps she'd tell him what it was all about sooner rather than later. And if not, then that was her prerogative. So long as it didn't endanger anyone's life, it was fine by him.
"I'm sorry, that's hardly a worthy answer. I just don't want to talk about it now."
"That's okay," he promised. "If you don't want to talk about it, then you don't have to. But I'm here to listen if you need me to."
"Thank you."
"I take it from the fact you picked up the call that it wasn't something I did?" He wasn't sure why he asked it. Perhaps he shouldn't have. It would come across as a little insecure and potentially needy. He didn't care. The worst that could happen would be that she knew he cared, but she'd probably guessed that already. He'd been quite obvious about it.
"No," she whispered. "You were wonderful."
The words were faint, but he'd heard them, and pride welled up within him. He wanted to be that for her. And more.
"Would you like to come over tonight for dinner?" he asked.
This time, the silence was painful as he waited for her answer. But he didn't rush her. She clearly needed him to give her time. With their whole lives spread out in front, he could afford to take the time now.
"Maybe," she said.
Hope filled him. It wasn't a no, and at this stage, that was good. Whatever it was that was stopping her from coming into the human realm much, it couldn't have too much of a hold over her if she was going to consider coming.
"Okay. I'll text you the address."
"You're not angry that I haven't said yes?" she checked.
"Of course not. You get to decide what you do with yourself. I get no say in matters like that."
"Oh."
Huh, that must not have been the answer she'd been expecting from him.
Before he could think of something else to say, his front door slammed and his eyes widened. No one had the key to his flat. No. That was inaccurate. He'd never given anyone the key to his flat, which could only mean one person.
He had to get Effie off the phone now. He'd explain Cora to her later, but this was not how he wanted his mate to find out about the woman who was obsessed with him.
<
br /> "I'm sorry, Effie, I have to go now," he said, hating himself for not already having told her about Cora. That would have made his life so much easier. But instead, he'd left it until now and almost got himself caught out. Which was ridiculous. Other than not telling Effie about Cora, he hadn't done anything wrong.
"Okay. I'll see you later," Effie said, sounding a little bit more certain than she had before. He wondered what that was about. Had she already made up her mind that she was coming after all? He hoped so, but he didn't want to push it
"I'll see you soon," he promised, then hung up.
Wendell readied himself for a conversation he'd had hundreds of times already, even though he knew it probably wouldn't work.
"Who were you talking to?" Cora demanded from the living room doorway.
"How did you get it?" he countered, even if he really knew the answer. He still needed her to admit it in order to change anything.
"Through the front door," Cora pointed out, attempting to purr. "You must have left it open, silly."
"I didn't," he responded flatly. "What are you doing here, Cora?"
"I came to see my mate. But he was on the phone to someone else. Who were you talking to?" She put her hands on her hips and attempted to look stern.
Wendell was sure the look worked on a lot of men, though probably not on those who had just found their mate. He sighed. Would the truth even get through to her? He supposed there was only one way to find out.
"If you must know, I was talking to my mate."
She blinked, stunned by the words she never expected. "That's impossible. You're mistaken. I'm your mate, and you know it. You can't deny the chemistry between us. The past. There's so much of it."
"I'm sorry, Cora," he said gently. "But it's true. I found my true mate, and it isn't you. I know this is going to hurt..."
"Oh, you do, do you?" she fumed. "You think it's going to hurt me? Why? Because I'm poor little Cora who doesn't know better?"
"What? No. Of course not. It's never nice to hear that you're not what you thought you were to someone," he said honestly while imaging how it would feel if Effie suddenly started insisting that the two of them weren't mates.
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