Forever (Book #3 in the Fateful Series) (6 page)

“If they want vampire blood, then why didn’t they just take one of the guards?”

“It’s unlikely they could ever break the skin of a vampire to eat one, even during the day.”

Her hand landed on her stomach as the very idea made her nauseated. “I don’t get it.”

“They might be thinking vampire blood will make them stronger and you’re simply the more ... accessible source.”

“But you’ve cured even more vampires than I have. Why don’t they want you too?”

“I believe they still fancy women over men. So you’re not only the most accessible source, but the most desirable as well.”

Danielle drew in a big breath and let it out. “I’ll never feel safe again.”

“They’ll help us solve this problem.” He nodded toward the fairies. “They saved us from the pixies—”

“But we can’t stay here forever, can we?”

“I don’t think that will be necessary. We just need to trust them.”

She sighed but didn’t respond to that. What choice did she have but to trust them? And, she thought, as she watched them flitter about ahead of them, she really liked fairies. Vowing to enjoy this reprieve from the outside world, she tightened her hand on Ethan’s and picked up the pace.

But Ethan was limping and she turned to look at him. “How’s your knee?”

“Stiff,” he said. “But they probably have something that’ll fix me up in no time.”

“Right, like that fairy juice they fed me.”

“Exactly like that. I’m actually looking forward to tasting it. I’ve never had the chance or the need to try it.”

“It was yummy,” she recalled aloud.

Feeling guilty she’d let him continue to carry his pack, she started taking it off his shoulders.

“Are you hungry?” he asked, eyeing her with curiosity.

“You shouldn’t have to carry this when you’re hurt.”

Ethan’s hand tightened on the strap. “You don’t really think I’m going to let you take
my
burden, do you?”

“Stop being so Victorian and let me help!” Danielle applied a technique that used pressure points to make him let go. It wouldn’t hurt him ... much, unless he was foolish enough to fight her. Obviously he knew better than that and let go quickly.

“Fine.” As he let go, he rolled his eyes at her even though a smile played at the corner of his mouth.

She slung it on, wondering where
her
pack was. The guards had fought over the privilege earlier and she was actually grateful they had, even though she felt like she was completely capable of carrying her own backpack. If she’d been wearing it when Merrick knocked them down, she would have landed on it. Touching her chin to her shoulder, she peered at the guards following them. But just as soon as she turned, Richard stalked up with his eyebrows drawn down in a look of medieval disapproval. He snagged Ethan’s pack and drew it from her shoulders. Noticing that he had both hers and Ethan’s now, she opened her mouth to argue then closed it. It wouldn’t matter what she said, Richard was too chivalrous to let her carry
anything
, so why fight it?

The trees opened up into the clearing where Ethan had first introduced her to the fairies, the place where he kissed her as the fairies undid her hair and enveloped them in a whirlwind of glittering enchantment. Just the idea of fairies beguiled her, and Danielle couldn’t help but feel a childlike joy at just being here. They hadn’t been able to visit as often as she would have liked—only two other times so far, and that just hadn’t been enough. This time she wanted to forget about Lucas and pixies and just savor her time in this place steeped in magic.

“I need to talk to the guards before speaking with the fairies,” Ethan said.

“Okay.” Danielle let go of Ethan’s hand and began exploring on her own.

The rough bark pressed into the palm of her hand as she touched an ancient-looking tree that was gnarled in many places. She looked up, her ponytail swinging against her back as she studied the many houses attached to it. Danielle’s head tipped to the side when she noticed something peculiar. One of the swollen knots had a golden glow spilling out of it. Bracing with both hands against the trunk, she rose to her toes to see it better. She gasped in wonder. Apparently the fairies had hollowed out some of those knots to make more fairy homes. How interesting, she thought.

Danielle was able to get just high enough to see what looked like a miniature living room. Bits of a sheer silky material hung on either side of the round hole that apparently served as a window as well as a doorway. It shimmered in a way that made Danielle think it was made from woven threads of a spider’s web. Just beyond the curtain were twigs that had been arranged into a tiny rocking chair. Upon the chair sat a female fairy dressed in blue flower petals that had been stitched together in a way that created rows and rows of fragrant ruffles. Her transparent wings were spread wide to accommodate the chair. It was through them she could see that the brunette fairy held a baby in her arms, as she rocked and sung a quiet song in a lilting fey language. Its tiny feet kicked and wriggled adorably. Suddenly feeling like a peeping Tom, Danielle dropped hastily to her heels before she was noticed.

Whirling around, she made her way to the next tree where the fairy homes were higher up the trunk and again faced the clearing. A sense of embarrassment heated her cheeks for being so nosy. In response to that, Danielle changed the focus of her attention. The scene before her eyes was enough to distract her from the lingering thoughts of how she could have had a baby too.... Letting the landscape fill her soul with wonder, she exhaled. This was where the tiny beings danced, where they held their Summer Solstice soirees, where they celebrated their magical existence to throbbing fey music amongst the shelter of sparkling, fairy-dusted trees and poisonous, red-spotted mushrooms. Every night they partied like that and Danielle was looking forward to that the most.

Leaning against the trunk, her gaze shifted to the guards as they fanned out and circled the area. All of them were dressed the same. They almost always wore black T-shirts that stretched over well-defined muscles, jeans that hung low on lean hips, well-worn boots with thick soles, and serious looks on their faces. It must be their vampire-guard uniforms or something.

Danielle wondered how many of them had been here before. Taking in the look of wonder on Cedric’s face, she figured he hadn’t, but the other men remained on guard, like the fairies could attack at any moment, or like the pixies could surround them again in an instant. Somehow she doubted either idea would be a problem.

Fairies slapped at Cedric’s nose when he tried to inspect a tree house that sat low enough for him to peer into. Merrick frowned as he intently studied the shadowed forest beyond the clearing. The new guy, Harry, moved through feathery grasses painted with red-blooming poppies as he scouted the surrounding area with Merrick. Richard had both packs on one shoulder as he conversed with a glowing, lavender fairy who Danielle suspected was Alora, but she couldn’t tell for sure from this distance. Just then she realized, with rounding eyes, that Casanova was watching her with amusement curling his mouth into a smile. Had he noticed her spying into the fairy house? She felt herself flush with embarrassment. Nervously she played with the loose strands of her ponytail.

Ethan, who’d been talking to Alora with Richard, had collected both packs from the prince and was hobbling her way now. His shoulder brushed against hers as he settled next to her. “We’re meeting with Alora and some of the other elder fey in that cottage after dinner.”

Danielle followed the line of Ethan’s sight to the small structure just visible in the shadow of an enormous willow tree. In awe, she leaned forward. “Was that here before?”

“No.”

Shifting to her left shoulder, she caught onto Ethan’s gaze.

“They built it for us when they realized we were coming,” he said.

“When was that?” she wondered aloud.

“Just now, as we were coming through the woods. Things like two mortals accompanied by five vampires advancing on their home would be noticed. They probably began using magic to construct the cottage as soon as they knew about us, but sent an army out to save us when they sensed that too.”

“Oh. So that’s how they knew we needed to be rescued from the pixies.”

Ethan nodded at that as he bent his right knee and rubbed at it with his hand.

“We should get some of that fairy juice for you.”

A line formed between his golden eyebrows as he swung the leg out and then back in. “I really jammed it good.”

She pushed away from the tree. “I’ll go get one of them now—”

Taking hold of her elbow he said, “We should eat dinner soon. I’ll ask for it then.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” His mouth lifted into a smirk. “I feel at peace here, and I wish to have a moment of quiet
alone
time. I don’t want to have the fairies fussing over me just yet.”

So it wasn’t just a smirk flitting over his features but a
flirtatious
smirk.

With a gentle tug applied on her arm, he pulled her against him. Releasing her elbow, his hand landed on her hip. His other hand came up to the side her face where he stroked her cheek. “And that cottage is their wedding gift to us.”

Her head whipped around as she tried to see it better, but it was still obscured beneath swaying willow branches. “What? But they—” she began.

Ethan chuckled. Capturing her chin, he nudged her gaze back to his. “Yes, they threw a party for us last time we visited, but they’ve been told about all that’s happened since...” He paused and let the heartbreaking reminder of their loss hang unsaid between them. She was grateful he’d left it unsaid, but she still felt the sting. “They wanted to do more for us.”

“They feel sorry for us?”

“They like us and feel bad that we’ve been through so much.”

“Oh.” Danielle wasn’t exactly sure what more she should say about that. Her thoughts drifted unwillingly to the baby fairy she’d just seen and she couldn’t help but feel another wave of emptiness about the boy or girl they’d lost. Having seen those tiny baby toes wiggling in a way that made her want to play with them, she couldn’t force herself to stop thinking about it this time. She dropped her head against Ethan’s shoulder and lost control of her composure. Tears broke past just stinging the back of her eyes, to rolling down her face. Danielle sniffed, trying to slow the tears as her fingers clenched at his shirt. A sad hush enveloped them, and it was so quiet it seemed even the birds stopped singing as the world mourned with them.

Ethan’s arms came around her. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said it like that.”

“It’s not your fault,” she managed around a strained sob.

“It’s not?” he asked, his tone whispering unbelief. “I was attempting to seduce you and now I’ve ruined it by making you cry.”

“There were tiny fairy toes,” she offered in a lame attempt at explaining.

A pause, and then he asked, “What?” Her blurry vision touched on his momentarily, but even as fuzzy as he was, she could see the perplexed expression on his face.

Trying to be clearer, she added, “A fairy baby in one of the fairy knots.”

When silence again came, she realized she wasn’t making much sense at all and tried a second time to clarify. “I mean, I looked into one of the fairy homes, it was a knot instead of a tree house, and there was a fairy holding a baby.”

“Ah,” he said softly as understanding changed his expression.

Ethan just held her for several quiet moments with his hand moving over her hair and her back. She’d soaked both his shirts and sniffed again when he finally murmured in a gentle voice, “Would you like to try again?”

Pulling back in surprise, she looked into his face. Was he really suggesting they try to have another baby? “But we can’t.”