Lucien’s brow is furrowed as he tentatively speaks. “It might be.” At my confusion, he elaborates, “I think you gave me a burst of your energy when you snapped.”
Atlas chimes in, glancing at his feet. “Changelings look less agitated too.”
Now that they point it out, I turn inward, and realize...I feel more awake. Like I just stepped from Faerie again. All of that exhaustion that stems from being cut off from the source of my magic has pretty much faded away.
“Wait a second,” Dorian cuts in. “But you produce energy naturally. That’s why you’re always needing to burn it off, why you were overloading the night you were drugged.”
Frowning, I hold my hands splayed out in front of me, staring at my palms. “To a degree, I suppose. But not enough to counteract what Earth-“ my eyes fly up to meet his “-sucks out of me. Because too much energy builds up to chaotic proportions so I need to keep it at a manageable level, but being on Earth drains it quicker than I can naturally produce it. We grew up thinking that if we spend too long from Faerie, our lack of connection to Her makes us wither and die. But it’s just that when we’re on Earth, the rings are siphoning the magic from here faster than we can naturally replenish it, like a vacuum.”
Atlas rubs his temples. “So if we got rid of all of the fairy rings, Faerie would naturally only have the magic it produces, but so would Earth? So if it were left alone, it would have its own magic.” He exhales, dragging it out. “So humans would start developing abilities after enough time? Maybe just minor ones, and the more powerful fae would weaken?”
I share a look with Lucien. “And if we cut off the connection, then we could stay on Earth forever without it draining us. We could be rid of the fae for good, not have to worry about Elorie hunting us down, and just...live our lives.”
Lucien’s lips press into a thin line. “But you likely wouldn’t be immortal anymore, just have a slightly longer lifespan than most humans.”
I don’t think he realizes that the thought actually makes me want to weep with relief. “Nobody should have to live forever. It’s too much to ask someone to endure.”
Dorian whispers, “But what about the changelings?”
My face drains of color, glancing at the fish swimming along innocently, oblivious to their fates being decided right in front of them.
“What if we brought them over here with us? Then even if they created rings, it would be in the reverse, draining Faerie and fueling Earth?” I already realize the problem as soon as the desperate hope is out of my mouth.
“Then there’s nothing to stop the fae from coming over here and just taking this place over as their new home before they lose too much of their power or humans evolve enough to develop abilities to defend themselves. We’d be in a similar situation, just in a new place.” Dorian’s words are kind, yet they hurt as much as if he’d slapped me with them.
But as much as I want to be free, I’m not about to sacrifice an entire innocent race to accomplish it. “So we follow through with our original plan.” The words twist my stomach, but I force confidence that I don’t really feel into my voice. “We fortify the prison, burn the ring after we get there so no one can follow us, and turn it into a sanctuary. Then just hope that everybody kills each other off so we’re the last men standing and swoop down in a few decades to plunder the ruined kingdoms like a merry band of pirates. Maybe we leave a couple of changelings on the loose to hurry the process along.”
***
“Okay, that’s the lastof it.” Lucien doesn’t even sound winded as he sets the bags down.
We stand outside some of the bedrooms inside of the prison’s walls, the tunnel lit up better now that the broken light bulbs have been replaced. Atlas and Dorian are off in the kitchen, scrubbing out the fridge and stocking it with groceries and basic supplies. I wish I’d had access to a ring the last time we bought a house; makes moving ten times easier. Though admittedly, with as massive as this place is, it’s still a hell of a lot of hauling shit.
“We’re going to have to take separate bedrooms,” I point out with a sigh. “Three people would be the max we could cram into one, but it’d be a tight fit.”
Lucien opens the door of the one in front of him, running his hand over the wall. “We’ll get Atlas to take a look. Maybe we can knock out a couple of these walls and put up some support beams, expand them into one long room.”
“Project for a later date-“ I give him a small smile “-we’ll make do, like always.”
We start stripping off the dusty old bedding and replacing things, getting four rooms set up. “I distinctly remember your claims about missing your space,” he teases as we fight with the last fitted sheet.
“I can remember things fondly while still acknowledging the need for them to change.”
He meets my eyes. “You do know that I envy you, right?” At my snort, he straightens to his full height. “I’m serious. The way you take everything in stride, rolling with the punches and finding something good no matter the situation. You’ve had every reason to just...give up, and you haven’t, not even when there wasn’t so much as a light to be seen at the end of the tunnel. I can’t say I’d have been able to do the same. If it wasn’t for Dorian, I wouldn’t have been able to keep myself in check.”
Bending to grab the blanket, I start dragging it over the mattress. I’ve never bothered with making my bed before meeting the guys, but I can’t deny that it makes every day feel like a fresh start, a clean slate no matter how yesterday ended.
“Maybe a part of me knew I was waiting for something.”
He smirks. “Best orgasms of your life?”
Keeping my face a blank mask is the greatest challenge I’ve ever faced. “No, a pet that my cousin finally can’t manage to kill. Talk about conceited.” He rolls his eyes as I break into a grin. “But I mean, you three are a close second.”
We head back through the tunnels, cutting across the skywalk to get to the opposite side and re-enter the tunnels there. It takes a while, but we eventually make it to the kitchen where the guys are just finishing up. Only after we’ve taken a break to recoup does Dorian slide the fish tank onto the table. We all agreed it would be better to wait until we got all of the moving done so we didn’t lose track of them through our multiple trips through the rings, not wanting to risk one of them getting loose on Earth.
Placing my hands on the outside of the tank, I close my eyes and start humming softly, pushing energy into the water. The thought of having one thrash in my grip as I pull it from the water doesn’t appeal to me in the slightest, and Fates forbid, if I dropped one of Dorian’s babies, he’d never let me live it down.
“Stop, stop, stop!” he shouts and my eyes fly open just in time to see him flipping the tank onto its side and pour water everywhere.
