Finding Fae

“So, it looks like the others aren’t going to make it back tonight after all,” Mal said as the wind lashed the bare trees outside.

“It’s probably better with the way the wind is acting right now,” I said as he put his phone on the table in front of us. “Besides, I may hate the holidays, but they have families. They need to be there, not here.”

“I very much prefer this over the pretentious mockery of Yule parties my father and step-mother go to every year,” Mal said. “Being the illegitimate bastard tends to draw in a lot thinly veiled contempt.”

“We never went to anything remotely close to a formal function so I’ll take your word for it,” I snickered. “Please tell me you had to wear a suit. A tie, at least.”

“Sadly, yes,” he said flatly. “Hair gel on a few occasions.

“Oh my God! That had to be unbearable,” I laughed.

“You have no idea,” he chuckled.

The lights suddenly went out and I yelped and jumped across the couch to hold on to Mal’s arm. I never could stop myself from the immediate panic whenever the lights went out.

“Are you afraid of the dark?” he asked.

“When inside? Yes,” I said shamelessly. “Outside, I have no problems with, because it’s never truly dark.”

Something made a huge, flat, thud sound nearby and I squeaked a little and got closer to him. I hated it when there was no light in the house. It freaked me out.

“It’s probably that dead tree beyond the backyard,” Mal said as he rubbed on my shoulder a little bit.

“If I wasn’t about to tinkle like a chihuahua, I’d be so freaking embarrassed right now,” I muttered and tucked my face between his shoulder and the couch as the faint sound of thunder rolled through the air outside.

“I have a flashlight on my phone, but you’d have to let my arm go so I can reach it,” he said.

“Don’t you dare move,” I snapped, making him chuckle a little bit.

“I might have another solution. I’ll have to lean forward a bit, but you won’t have to let go,” he said as he kept rubbing my shoulders. “It’s also a bit of a secret.”

“Mums the word,” I groaned as another thud came from outside.

It took a little effort, but Mal was able to lean forward a bit and I saw a glow of light filtering through my closed eyelids. I didn’t even remember closing them. When I pried them open, I nearly gasped.

Wings. Huge, butterfly like wings that were so transparent, they were nearly clear were coming from Mal’s back. They were glowing faintly, not even as strong as a glow stick, but enough to keep the darkness away.

“Better?” he asked.

“Wow,” was all I could manage as I studied the slightly prismatic light dancing on the delicate surface in front of my face.

“It’s a recent development,” he smiled as I leaned back a little to get a better look. “Try not to say anything. I’m not quite ready for what’ll happen when it gets out.”

“So them glowing means something?” I asked and he nodded. “What?”

“I’d rather not get into it right now,” he said with a soft smile. “Let’s find some light for you. I don’t think the electricity will be back on soon.”

“It’s going to get cold, too,” I frowned.

“It’s not New Hampshire,” he pointed out and I laughed as he pulled me off the couch and lead me through the house.

We gathered up some candles and dragged out all of the extra blankets we could find before returning to the couch. The whole time, I couldn’t stop sneaking glances at Mal’s wings. How they reacted automatically to balance himself when he moved, opening more or closing slightly.

“Wing envy?” Mal teased as he started setting out candles and lighting them.

“I can’t help it. I’ve never seen any up close before,” I looked away and started laying out blankets on the couch.

“I’m flattered, but my wings aren’t that impressive,” he chuckled.

“They are to me,” I said and crawled under the layers of blankets. “I haven’t read much about fairies, so are yours specific to the Nobles?”

“Aside from the light show, yes,” he nodded and he folded his wings and they tucked away before disappearing. “Most fairies have wings that look more like a dragonfly or slightly beetle like. Most have the two wings, but some have the smaller secondary set below.”

He got under the blankets with me, leaving enough space between us to remain appropriate. He really was a handsome guy. I wasn’t blind. I was quite literally surrounded by five very good looking guys. Mal seemed to take the cake, though. The soft candle light certainly wasn’t making him look bad, either.

Perhaps, if things weren’t so messed up, and he wasn’t a jerk, I could see me having a crush on him. I was already fond of him, but I wasn’t about to let myself go any farther down that little rabbit hole. I had enough to deal with right now. Plus, the whole “might not survive” thing kind of put a damper on any romantic feelings, wether they were for Mal or Brad Pitt.

“So, is there a way to tell the others apart?” I asked.

“Pattern, size, shape,” he shrugged. “Some swear that color is an indicator, but that’s not always true.”

“One more, than I’ll stop asking questions for a little while,” I said.

“I don’t think you’ll ever be able to stop asking questions, princess, but you can try all you like,” he smirked.

“What are we going to do for dinner?” I asked and he laughed loudly.

-------

We spent the rest of the night curled up on the couch under the blankets. Eventually, I fell asleep, which was good with me because I missed out on the candles burning out.

I woke up in the morning to hear rain still falling, but it didn’t sound as windy as the night before. I was comfy and warm, so I tried to just go back to sleep, but it was a lost cause. I was awake, whether or not I wanted to be.

I opened my eyes slowly and saw the world at a slight angle, like I was laying on something. I frowned. The couch wasn’t this comfy and I was, indeed, still there. I took a quick check of everything. That’s when I noticed.

Legs around me, arms keeping me from rolling off the edge of the couch, a slight rise and fall to the world, the sound of breathing and a steady thumping of a heart beating away. Sweet dust motes, I was laying on top of Mal. Monkey bread, he had to be incredibly uncomfortable, but, from the steady, even breathing, he was still sleeping.

I wanted to get up so he could at least not be squished, but my body wasn’t responding well. I managed to get my fingers and toes to wiggle but the rest was reluctant to follow. I was concentrating on it, too. Seriously, arms, work with me a little bit!

“What are you doing?” Mal asked, his voice husky with sleep.

“Trying to convince the rest of me to move,” I frowned. “I’ve been told this couch is uncomfortable and being squished under me probably meant you didn’t sleep too well.”

“I’m fine so stop wiggling,” he said, not opening his eyes.

“Bossy,” I muttered, but stopped trying to get up, as much as I wanted to. He was very comfortable, though, which was a little surprising, since there wasn’t much softness to him.

I closed my eyes again, not really wanting to be awake anyhow. The light in the house was wrong, even with it still raining, which could only mean it was early, even if we weren’t on a holiday break from school. It was also really cold, too, which meant the electricity had come back on yet. We were so far out of the city, it was very possible that it would take a whole day or more to get things back on again.

There was a chime from Mal’s phone and he reached for it, slapping around on the coffee table for a second before he found it. He cracked one eye open as he read the message, typed something out quickly, and tossed it back to the table.

“Power’s out all over the place,” he said. “It’ll take days to get this far out.”

“I’ll need more candles or a flashlight that works with plenty of batteries,” I sighed.

“No, you’re coming home with me,” he said firmly. “It’s cold as hell and, as we discovered, there’s not much to eat when there’s no electricity.”

“What makes you think I want to go home with you?” I asked, but I was already packing a bag in my mind. He was right. It was cold and miserable here without power.

“Dark comes early in winter, princess,” he said, sounding amused, though still sleepy. “We have a generator, so there’s still power at my place. Hot showers, warm food, a place to sleep that doesn’t feel like some medieval torture contraption.”

“You said you were fine!” I said as I sat up and smacked his chest.

“I was until you moved just now,” he chuckled. “I was actually almost comfy.”

I just glared at him as I got up and went to start packing a bag of clothes and essentials.

I was hopping down the stairs, bag in hand as I made sure my hat was on good and my jacket was zipped all the way when breaking glass made me jump. Heavy footfalls thumped through the house before I was this guy with a huge metal rod in his hand. It wasn’t a pipe. This was a solid rod of steel and the way he was charging towards me had my brain saying I was about to take a nap if I didn’t get going.

“I got her!” he shouted as I dropped my bag and hopped over the last bit of railing on the stairs and took off for the kitchen and, more importantly, a weapon.

“Fae!” I heard Mal shout just before I felt him run into me, grabbing me and tucking my face against his chest. “Hold on tight and don’t lift your head!”

I barely got a grip as we shattered the sliding glass door that lead to the backyard and we were flying away. I knew from how strongly the wind was whipping the loose hair against whatever exposed skin I had that we were moving pretty freaking fast. So fast, I actually heard Mal’s wings humming as they worked.

“Are you hurt?” he asked as he held on to me tightly.

“No, but I think some glass got in my jacket,” I answered. “You?”

“A few cuts. Nothing big,” he sighed.

In only a couple of minutes, I felt us slow down before tilting back towards vertical before we landed.

“Here,” Mal said and took off my jacket, since my fingers were too cold to function right.

Shaking out the bits of glass, he looked me over critically, just as I was doing for him.

“Your wings are bleeding,” I frowned.

“We went through glass,” he nodded. “I’ll be fine. You have a few small cuts on your neck from the shards in your jacket. It’s sting when you take a shower.”

“No stitches or splints needed?” I asked him and he smirked before shaking his head. “Good. So, dare I ask what the heck just happened?”

“Well,” he said opening a door and leading me inside. “We discovered that you’re still being targeted.”