“Not today, Nig.” She kissed the girl’s head tenderly, and Liam frowned at the warm tightness it caused inside his chest. The sense of family it evoked had become foreign to him the past few years.
“Who is this guest of my niece?” An adult fairy entered the room, her color deeper than the others. She might have passed as a black woman among humans if not for the pair of gold butterfly-like wings spreading from her back.
“This is my friend Liam,” Charlotte said.
Sylas approached the black woman and kissed her soundly on the lips. “Liam, this is my mate, Dianthe. She knows the Empyrean Wood better than any being alive. She’s going to help you.”
After the look Sylas had given him, he refrained from extending his hand but gave her a nod of acknowledgment. “I’d appreciate the help.”
“What is he, Mama?” the small turquoise fairy asked, having left Charlotte’s side to stand directly in front of him. Her oversized green eyes blinked curiously in his direction.
“That’s a human like Uncle Nick, Nigella,” Dianthe explained.
“Oh. He looks stupid and he smells funny.”
“Nigella! That’s not nice.” Charlotte chastised the girl, and Dianthe and Sylas chimed in their disapproval.
“Well, his mouth is hanging open!” Nigella protested, pointing her finger at him.
Liam deliberately closed his mouth, which had dropped open, and straightened, trying to play it cool.
“He’s adjusting. He’s never seen fairies before,” Charlotte said.
Thinking fast, he cleared his throat and said, “Nigella, maybe you can teach me something about fairies. What is your favorite thing to do when you have free time?”
“I like to collect pollen from the sunpitchers in Solaris Field,” she said enthusiastically.
“Oh, that does sound fun.” He had no idea what collecting pollen entailed, but he kept his voice light as he asked, “What do you do with it once you collect it?”
Nigella’s head rolled back on her neck, and she gave him a wide smile that was missing two front teeth. “You eat it, silly!”
Sylas’s hand landed on top of Nigella’s head. “That’s enough. Go pick up your room. It’s a disaster in there.” After the child flew off toward the back of the cottage, Sylas said, “Sorry about that. They have no filter at that age.”
Liam gave a gritty laugh. “My sister is thirty-six and still doesn’t have one.”
Thankfully, Sylas seemed to get his humor because he laughed too. “I have a sister like that.”
“Rowan,” he said.
“You know her?”
“Not personally. Charlotte was just telling me about her in the carriage.”
The entire room went silent, and Dianthe’s eyes drifted to the angel by his side, a tight, twitchy smile on her lips. “Oh… Charlotte told you about her, did she?”
Liam glanced back to see his new friend’s cheeks burning bright red. He hadn’t meant to embarrass her by calling her by her full name. It just suited her better. Charlie sounded young and simple. The angel in front of him was more than that. She deserved to be called a sophisticate name. Damn if that blush didn’t do something to his insides though. He looked away before his body could respond to the raw tingle that had taken up residence in his veins.
“I hear you’re looking for an evergreen tree,” Dianthe said, breaking the tension in the room.
“Yes,” he said, trying his best to take on an air of confidence and professionalism. He could handle this. He needed to handle this. “Usually a Christmas tree is triangular in shape and coniferous, meaning—”
“I know what coniferous means!” Dianthe said with some offense. “I’m a fairy. We know our trees like we know our own limbs, and we have specimens here from your world thanks to our friends from Earth. Come, I think I know what you’re looking for.”
Sylas caught a child out of the air and tossed him over his shoulder where he giggled and squirmed. “I’ll feed the crew while you’re gone.”
“There’re honey cakes in the kitchen,” Dianthe said.
Cheers rose up from every corner, and winged children Liam hadn’t noticed before appeared and ran for the next room.
