Discovering Fae

“You promised me, Fae!” Mal exclaimed, pacing back and forth in the bedroom. “You promised that you wouldn’t go off on your own and that you would talk to me about things. You didn’t do either of those today!”

“I didn’t go off on my own,” I replied.

“Thank Fate for that, but that’s not the point,” he threw his hands up.

“I know, but don’t you think you’re overreacting a little bit?”

“Overreacting!” he shouted. “Everything here wants to kill everything else, and you don’t know enough to be able to avoid what you should or how to defend yourself.”

“Do you seriously think that I was in any danger with my father there? That he would have put me in that kind of a situation?” I narrowed my eyes at him.

“Again, that’s not the point!” he shouted.

“Then, for the love of Fate, what is the freaking point?” I shouted back.

“I wasn’t there to keep you from disappearing again!” he kicked the dresser and turned to face the window, his hands on the top of his head.

I sighed and stood behind him, holding on to his waist and resting my face between his shoulders. It didn’t take long before I felt his hands over mine and his back relax a little bit.

“I’m sorry,” I said after a moment.

He sighed and the last of the tension left him as I walked around to his front and hugged him properly.

“I’m not going to leave you again, Mal,” I said looking up at him.

“I know you won’t. Not willingly,” he said. “But you’ve been taken from me twice now.”

“And yet, I’m right here, exactly where I should be,” I gave him a small smile. “There’s nothing in any world that can keep us apart. They might succeed for a while, but not forever. We’ll always find a way back to this.”

“At what cost? Rex tortured you and then you end up nearly starved,” he shook his head but tightened his hold on me, tucking me away from the world. “I don’t want to think about what might happen if you’re taken from me again.”

We stayed that way for a while before Mal leaned back and looked at me.

“You know, there’s another part of our deal that isn’t being followed. If I remember correctly, it was your own request, too,” he gave me a smirk.

“You already know I’m willing, silly. I’ve been waiting for you make the first move,” I rolled my eyes.

I barely got the words out of my mouth before he indeed made the first move. His lips crushed mine and the whole world shifted under our feet.

It felt like silk brushing my skin in a gentle breeze, but on the inside. It was warm and comforting, like the feeling I got when he held me at night. He would often get this look in his eyes when he looked at me. I never could quite figure out what it meant, but now I could feel it. I could feel the tenderness and affection he felt, and it was as real as the fabric of his shirt under my hand.

I sank into both the kiss and the feeling it brought and felt something settle in my mind, like mud finally laying still at the bottom of a pond, leaving the water calm and clear. But this was more than just clarifying. It added something that fit into a hole I never even knew was there in the first place, but now that I did, the thought of it ever not being full again brought about a pain that was almost physical. I gasped, my head snapping away from Mal as we both drew in a much-needed breath. The look on his face looked like how I felt.

Awestruck.

Blissful.

At peace.

By all the gods there ever were and ever will be, he looked so damn perfect. He always was before, but now it was like part of me finally saw him. Now, he was more than just handsome or attractive. He was... irresistible. I couldn’t help but lick my lips as we stared at each other for a few seconds.

Then, there was a sharp, blinding pain. Forehead and cheeks, down my neck, across my shoulders, down both arms and over the tops of my hands, down my back, across my hips and belly, down my legs, and across the tops of my feet. It was freezing cold and searing hot and so sudden, I yelped and jumped out of Mal’s arms. Then, just as suddenly as it came, it was gone.

“Fae! Are you okay?” Mal said, his eyes moving over me as his hands hovered just shy of actually touching me.

“Fine,” I frowned. “Better than fine, actually.”

It was true. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this good before in my life.

“Are you sure? I felt it, whatever “it” was. Did it do anything else?” he asked. I shook my head and felt his relief like it was my own at the same time he pulled me into his arms, crushing me like he had when I showed up with Dad a short while ago. “Thank Fate.”

“Fae?” Dad shouted as he and Mom came bursting into the room.

I looked at them and Mom gasped, covering her mouth with both of her hands and Dad reeled backwards, a stunned look on his usually stoic face.

“What?” I asked, rolling my eyes. “You’ve seen us like this before.”

“That’s not it,” Mal whispered in my ear before he turned me around and walked me into the bathroom to look in the mirror.

I did the same thing Mom did as I saw my reflection.

I looked that same as I did before, only now I had these strange markings. It looked like a tattoo in the sense that it was now a permanent part of my skin, but it was unlike any ink I have ever seen. If I had to put a word to it, I would say it was iridescent, like Mal’s wings, but it danced between a dark red that was nearly black to a pale icy blue that shimmered like it had bits of silver or crystal in it.

The design was tribal, but not like any I’d ever seen either. It was all tiny loops and curls, making up larger swirls. Those swirls made a pattern that I couldn’t put a name to, even if I tried.

I moved my hair around to look at my scalp and lifted my shirt, confirming that everywhere than had hurt before was now marked. I shook my head and frowned. How in the hell was I going to walk around in public now?

As soon as I felt the little bit of self-conscious doubt, it was instantly replaced by the same tender affection I saw in Mal’s eyes, reflected over my shoulder by the mirror.

“Beautiful,” he said to me, eyes moving over the new marks. “Always.”

I gave him a small smile and looked at my hands and the markings that were now sitting there.

“Why can’t one thing about me be normal?” I huffed.

“That would be an insult to how incredible you really are,” Mal chuckled as he put his arms around me.

The comfort was still there, but now, I felt what he felt. I felt his instant acceptance, the endless affection, and so much more. Under it all, there was need. The need to make me feel better, to hold me, to be as close to me as he could get. The sharp anger and possessiveness at the thought that someone would separate us and the fierce determination to end anyone who dared try.

“What happened?” Mom asked when we came back out of the bathroom.

“We finished the Bond,” Mal said with more than a little pride. I rolled my eyes and elbowed him in the ribs gently and felt his amusement.

“I’ve never seen something like this before,” she shook her head as she came closer to get a better look. “May I?”

I shrugged and held out an arm for her. She ran her fingers over my skin, moving it this way and that, muttering about how the colors changed with the angle of the light and how it felt like my normal skin.

“I don’t have any idea what this is,” she finally said. “It almost looks like writing in some places.”

“How did it feel when it happened?” Dad asked as he, too, inspected the markings.

I explained everything to them, feeling pride and satisfaction from Mal when I described the Bond completing between us. Mom and Dad both went quiet, deep in thought as they continued to stare at me.

“Can you not do that?” I finally said, rubbing my arms. “It’s creeping me out.”

Mal put his arms around me again and kissed my temple to soothe my nerves and calm me down.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” Mom grimaced. “I should probably start making dinner anyhow. Quinn, why don’t you see if you can find anything in the library?”

Dad, muttered and glared at Mal for a moment before he huffed as Mom pushed him out of the door, closing it behind them.

“On a scale of one to death, how long do you think Quinn will keep glaring at me?” Mal asked, his amusement tickling me like feathers.

“I think he’ll keep glaring from beyond the grave,” I answered with a laugh.

“It’s not like he can stop it,” he shook his head and turned me around to face him. He smiled like a madman as he held my face in his hands. “I’ve been wanting to do that since you fell in that pool. Now that I have, I know I’ll never be able to stop.”

He kissed me again, a light peck on the lips that made my whole body flush and I felt like I was flying. I didn’t want him to ever stop.

“Stop that,” he growled against my lips.

“What?” I asked, slightly breathless.

“I can feel everything, Fae,” he said. “If you don’t stop... Now isn’t the time and this isn’t the place for what will happen.”

It took a moment before I figured out what he meant and when I did, my face burned, and I hid in my hands.

Mal chuckled and pulled them down, kissing the end of my nose.

“So cute,” he said, and I narrowed my eyes at him. “Especially when you do that.”