At his nod, Poppy’s mouth dropped open in astonishment, before she shook her head incredulously. “Do you know how many people have hazel eyes?! Yours aren’t even the same shade as mine! And the colors are reversed!”
His father shrugged helplessly. “I am at a loss to explain his thought processes, beyond the fact that his clan is known to be… imprudent.”
Despite the mildness of the delivery, Max was pretty sure that that was probably considered a sick burn in fae society.
“You can say that again,” Poppy muttered, before sighing and waving her hand, as if to dismiss the topic. “Thank you for clearing that up.”
“My pleasure,” he replied.
Abruptly, he bent down to the unconscious fae lying on the ground.
“You are going to be doing a lot of explaining,” he murmured to him, before, without warning, he slung the fae over his shoulder and straightened up as if he weighed nothing. It was a bit strange, after all the telekinesis and psychic battles and mythical shifters – but it was kind of reassuring as well, in a weird way. It made his father feel a bit more… well, nothuman,obviously, but relatable. As relatable as a filthy rich member of the fae nobility could be, anyway.
A ripple of concern ran through Max’s gut – not a large one, but present, nonetheless. “Uh, you’re not going to… torture him or anything, right?”
“What? Oh, no. He will go on trial, and there will be punishment, but not the death penalty, since that only applies to crimes committed within the fae realm. And nothing that could be considered torture. Well, not in the human sense.”
At Max’s apparent worried expression, he quickly went on, “That is to say, he will most definitely have his powers removed, which would be considered quite terrible to a fae. And there will be other consequences. But nothing that you should be concerned about.”
“Okay,” Max said, deciding not to pursue the topic further. He didn’t particularly feel like learning about fae punishments right now.
The three of them – well, four of them, he supposed – stepped outside, and Max couldn’t help but feel a little bit of schadenfreude as the fae’s legs banged against the doorframe. Despite Max’s newfound healing, he was still pretty sore all over, and his ego had definitely taken a bit of a bruising at the idea of being floated out of the kitchen window, and, presumably, through the woods.
“You’re done!” exclaimed Margot, hurrying over to meet them. “That took a long time.” Poking at the unconscious fae, she added, “I’ve never met a fae in the flesh before. A full one, anyway.”
Max’s father’s eyebrows went up slightly, but before the two of them could get into a conversation – which Max wasn’t quite sure he wanted to see right now, even though it would probably be entertaining – Levi came over to provide the voice of reason, Natasha and Kieran trailing in his wake.
“Would you like a lift back?” he asked. “Or…?”
Max realized that Levi didn’t know what he shifted into – or even that hecouldshift now, necessarily. He hadn’t arrived until after the fae had been subdued, after all.
Either way, though, Max didn’t want a lift back… and he didn’t want to shift and fly back, either. The last thing he needed was to send Poppy plunging to the earth. And never mind the fact that he wasn’t sure how the removal of his fae powers had affected things.
No. There would be plenty of time for that later. All he wanted right now was to walk back with Poppy.
“We’re all good,” he said, pulling Poppy closer to him. “But thanks. I mean it. All of you.”
He looked around at the sea of smiling faces, and felt a pull within him that he’d never felt before. He’d only been in Girdwood Springs for a couple of days, but already he felt more at home here than he ever had anywhere else.
Of course, wherever Poppy was, he would go. If she wanted to return to her home, then he would follow her. He would follow her anywhere.
“Oh!” said Natasha. “I just remembered that we have to put away those groceries. Right, honey?” she said, jabbing Kieran in the ribs.
“But didn’t we already put them away?” Kieran asked, confusion spreading over his features.
The jabbing appeared to intensify. Natasha’s smile grew wider, more forced. “Right, honey?”
“Ow! Oh – right! I forgot. Silly me.”
At that, Kieran stepped back, and, without warning, shifted into an enormous griffin, Natasha climbing onto his back with practiced ease.
Max had to admit that it took even him by surprise – he glanced over at Poppy, who was watching with an awestrucklook on her face. But she didn’t seem scared, which was the main thing.
Levi and Margot departed in a similar fashion, and then it was just his father and his unconscious cargo who remained.
“Well,” his father said awkwardly. “It’s been good to see you, son.”
Max smiled – still not completely carefree, but more relaxed about the situation than he could’ve imagined even a few short hours ago.
