“But in faery, I am small compared to the trees.” I incline my head toward our forest city.
She scowls, her gaze flicking to the grass and the ladybug. “Why could I see you even though I couldn’t see the monster?”
“Because I am not like them. Not everything is visible in every realm…I gave you the vision to see the monster. I didn’t want you to be eaten.” And I needed her to understand the danger and to believe me.
“Right.” She nods. “I’m not sure I want it.”
“I can’t take it away.”
She worries at her lower lip. “Well, thank you again for saving me, but I think I’ll head home and hopefully find the dogs on the way.”
“Talia, you’re in faery. You can’t go home.” Only hunters leave faery and they’re given a one-way trip back which they’re supposed to only use when they found a woman. The fae need human blood to breed. Long ago it was decided that only those who risk their lives to defend the human world deserve that honor, but not all are sent willingly. Some are sent with no way home in the hopes they will die.
“Faery?” her eyebrows draw together.
“My world.”
“Why the hell did you bring me here?”
Because she made me realize I was done fighting and killing.
Because I want her.
“Because I broke the rules and gave you the sight.”
“Why did you do that?”
“So you wouldn’t be eaten.”
“You gave me the ability to see monsters and then kidnapped me. I demand to be returned. Now.” She crosses her arms under her breasts and glares at me.
“I don’t have that power.” That is the truth.
“Why not?”
“Because only the court can send people to the human realm. That or you have to cross the outer realms where the monstrous creatures of outer faery live.” Few survive that crossing, but it has been done.
She closes her eyes and draws in several deep breaths. When she opens them, the fury hasn’t died.
“I would’ve asked you first, but you were unconscious.” And she’d have said no, which would’ve made it awkward as I wouldn’t have been able to leave her in the human world. Not every woman comes to faery gladly but most grow to love it.
Will she grow to love me or leave me? If she doesn’t want me, I don’t know what I’ll do. Just the thought fills me with dread. There is some magic between us now that binds us. The start of this morning’s hunt had felt so ordinary…
“You could’ve waited until I woke.”
“Would you have agreed?”
“Of course not! I have a life, a job, friends…”
“And the sight,” I remind her.
“You shouldn’t have broken the rules and given it to me. This is your fault. Find a way to take me home.”
I sigh. The court won’t send her home, but it may not go well for me if she is adamant that she will not have me.
“We’d best head to court and see what their judgment is.” I indicate for her to start walking toward the trees. When her back is turned, I rearrange my jeans before catching up.
As we walk, I think of all the women I’ve met and spent time with. None had ever made me reconsider my commitment to hunting, or riding as it is called now. There’s something about Talia that’s special—aside from her inability to follow a simple command to save her life, accept the gift of the sight and the invitation to live in faery. But if she had listened to me, I wouldn’t have revealed the monster and then we wouldn’t be here.
I like her rebellion. I’d be the same if someone had snatched my life away. I volunteered to go to the human realm, but Talia didn’t volunteer for this. However, at least there are no monsters to hunt. Life is easy in faery.
Every so often she stops to look at something. A butterfly with wings as big as her head. A flower she could wear as a hat. I stare at them too. It has been so long they seem wondrous after the human world. The colors are bright and jewel like and even the air is sweet.
The magic of faery flows through me, like lightning in my blood. I breathe deeply, wanting to jump and spin in the air, but I don’t think she’d appreciate my merriment. That’s what had been missing from my life in the human world, joy. I’d lost it somehow. Talia had made me realize what was missing.
The hollowness within me had been my need to come home, and she was the key.
She rakes her fingers through her hair and gathers it up into a ponytail. “What happens at court?”
“They will ask questions and make a determination.” One that will throw ripples through both our lives.
