9
Talia
Awoman called Jenna dresses me and braids jewels in my hair. She chatters about her life as a human, and how she’d been studying to be a nurse, before ending up here. She’d checked my head and declared me fit to party. Music filters up to the hollow in the tree that passes as a room. The party has already begun. Is Ronan down there catching up with old friends? I push him out of my mind, wishing I’d taken a different route this morning.
“But don’t you miss home?”
She wrinkles her nose. “Not really. Living here means not worrying about rent and work and all of that. Lorcan is devoted. But he has to be. Just because he brought me here doesn’t mean I have to stay with him. You might have noticed there are more guys than girls.” She grins.
“I had, why?” But I’m intrigued that I can walk away from Ronan. Why should he gain anything out of this?
“Any child born here is male, only fae born in the human world are female. I thought I was human until Lorcan saved my ass.”
Oh…she’s like the rest of them. Am I the only human? “They do that a lot, save people by bringing them here?”
“Not always, some find someone they like and woo them before coming home.”
“At least they got a choice.” That’s all I wanted, yet it had been taken along with everything else.
“Give Ronan a chance. He volunteered to hunt and spent a long time in the human world. He chose you.”
“He made a mistake.” In giving me the sight, in bringing me here. In thinking I’d be his forever.
“There.” She holds up a golden mirror.
I stare at my reflection, not sure who I am. Am I still human? Or something in between?
“Thank you.” I force the words out, not wanting to be ungrateful.
“I’ll stay with you for the duration of the party, be your guide and answer any questions. When the next rider returns, you’ll do the same for his woman.”
“Rider?”
“That’s what they call themselves these days because they ride around on motorbikes. The older fae still refer to them as hunters.”
How am I supposed to answer anyone’s question when I don’t know the first thing about faery? “How often do they return?”
“I arrived a faery month ago. I don’t know how long ago I left the human world.” She pauses, then shakes her head. “You’ll gradually stop trying to work out the time difference.”
I’m not sure I want to. That will mean I’m happy here.
“Shall we join the party?” She holds out her hand and I take it. I’ll need friends here if I’m to figure out how to survive. “You don’t want to miss Ronan telling the tale of his greatest monster hunt.”
* * *
There are already people dancing. A feast is laid out on a table and music, made of pipes and strings, is being played. Everyone seems overjoyed at Ronan’s return.
I lean closer to Jenna and whisper. “Why is this a cause for celebration?”
“A rider returning is always celebrated, many disappear, presumed dead. Many believed Ronan was dead. He’s been gone for so long. Riders also bring news of the others, and family members are always eager for news. Then there is you. Without human women, the fae would have died out long ago.”
They expect me to pop out fae babies with Ronan? That’s not going to happen.
“And you’re okay with all of this?” I glance at her. She looks human, was raised human and brought here by her rider, but I need to remember her blood is fae.
“I wouldn’t go back, even it was possible. This life is peaceful. There’s no struggle.” She clasps my hands. “Please give it a chance.”
“And what happens to those who hate it and want nothing more than to go back?”
