Secrets & Shadows

“Where the hell did you come from!? What the fuck was that just now!? And why the olde English!?” I shouted and stammered. I knew that Leanan Sidhe was a powerful Winter Faery, but I never knew she had power like this.

“I told you I’d always watch you, Lance,” she said, sauntering over the gravel ground of the construction site towards me. Her hips swayed as she stepped, and the way her body moved was nigh hypnotic. At least from what I could see through blood and bruising.

“I thought that I would be dramatic and use a bit of flair with the older speech,” she said casually. “That being said, how dare you go and nearly get yourself killed! Look how bloodied you are! And your nose is broken!” At this point she was directly in front of me, finger pointing into my chest all while scolding me.

She placed her hands on either side of my face. I felt a warmth sink into my skin. The pain in my head was dissipating, as well as the pain in my face. My vision even began to improve. Leanan Sidhe let go of my face and grabbed my shirt and pulled me down for a kiss. Needless to say I was still pretty freaking confused.

Leanan Sidhe broke off the kiss. “Ok, I’ll try again,” I said. “How are you here, what did you do to my face and why are you naked? Not that I’m complaining much about that last part,” I finished muttering.

“Well to start off I’m here to save you since you were about to die. Secondly, What you saw was the Fae Crystalline form we winter faeries can produce. I was able to take that form because of the special bond we have. Without a special bond between fae and someone else, whoever it may be, that form is not possible. Think of it as a way to help or save whomever we’re bonded with in a time of need.

“As a side effect, when I come out of the form I don’t have any clothes and I’m in a more vulnerable physical form for about a day,” she explained. “Also, I put all your facial bones back in place and as well as your blood and healed your body.”

“That...was more simple than what I was expecting,” I said. I was doing my best not to stare at Leanan Sidhe’s vulnerable form. She looked normal, although I didn’t see the glimmer of her wings. And her presence, normally accompanied with a cool wind, also wasn’t there.

“Were you expecting something more complicated then?” she asked, posing with her right hip out and a corresponding hand on it.

“I really don’t know what I expected,” I said. “Also, why was that thing chasing me? And what was with that arcane energy bolt you used?” I asked accusingly. “I’ve never heard of anyone actually being able to successfully cast that kind of magic without dying before they were finished.”

“The bolt I used was, of course, pure arcane energy,” she said. “I confess that I was able to use it successfully due to a secret ritual I did last when you were in my home. I was able to not only take in a large amount of energy, but the crystal form also helped release it all while keeping my body intact.” She hid her face with her hands in embarrassment.

“You did WHAT!” I shouted. For someone who said she loved me, she’s been awfully stalkerish and sneaky. I will admit, despite me being completely furious about a secret ritual being used behind my back, she looked ridiculously cute when she was embarrassed.

“I’m sorry, Love!” she pleaded. “I just wanted a way to protect you better. I can only do so much, you know. And besides, because of that ritual I won’t need as much of your vitality from now on.”

“You’ve been stealing my vitali-!” I interrupted myself and took a deep breath in frustration. A migraine was beginning to brew behind my eyes so I placed my thumb and forefinger on the bridge of my nose to help ease the pain. “Alright, fine. But again, why was that Abyss Walker chasing after me for two days in a row?”

“With a large life force comes a big target?” she said.

“And that means what, exactly?” I asked.

“It means that your life force as a sorcerer is already quite sizable. It’s how you are able to create magic without effort, and why you live for an extraordinary amount of years compared to mundane mortals,” she said. “Therefore, since your life force is so strong it’s a pretty good looking meal for a centuries starved creature. You’re like...what do you humans call it again,” She stood and thought hard for a moment, “those halls you go to that have trays of food just waiting to be grabbed and you humans engorge yourselves on them?”

“An all you can eat buffet?” I suggested.

“Yes! That’s it!” she exclaimed. “You’re an all you can eat buffet when all this creature has had is a lot of small snacks.”

“Well, I suppose that makes sense,” I said. “But, what does it mean that you’re in a vulnerable, physical form exactly? Do you mean you can be seen by mundane people?”

“You’ve got it!” she said smiling.

“If that’s the case, you’re going to need some clothes,” I pointed out. “Humans are ridiculously modest and don’t like seeing beautiful naked women out just walking the streets in broad daylight...or ever. It’s quite depressing, really.”

“Oh, you’re right. You humans do have such a strange concept of modesty.” She stood and thought for a moment. “Ah! I got it!” She spread her hands, placed her fingertips at her collarbone and closed her eyes. Then slowly moved her hands down her body until she got to her hips, after which she pointed down to her feet. As she moved her hands a thin, plain emerald green dress with a plunging neckline appeared hugging the curves of her body. “There. Is that better?” she asked.

I could still see much of her body, even though the low cut dress covered Leanan Sidhe down to her knees. “Well, it’s better than being naked, I guess,” I remarked. “Now what?”

“How about we go back to your place then while I recover?” Leanan Sidhe suggested.

“My place?” I said. “Why my place?” I wasn’t so sure that was a great idea.

“Because, I don’t know this world very well. It’s been a long time since I’ve been here after all.”

She was right, the last time she was here was probably the 1960s, and who knows how long before that. Much has changed in the world. Plus, there weren’t many other places I could take her aside from my home. For a moment I thought about taking her to Cassandra’s, but that would just cause far too much hassle. I imagined a catfight of epic proportions between the two. Then I thought that I could just take her around town, but what if she were to go and interact with other humans? Who knows what could happen in that sort of situation.

“Okay, fine,” I said. “We go straight to my place and just wait until you can go back home. Deal?”

Leanan Sidhe smiled and bounced in place. “Perfect!” We walked over to the car. I had forgotten that I had left it running all this time. I helped Leanan Sidhe into the car and closed her door. I got in on my side and started to drive. Puck, realizing we were moving again, came out of hiding. I presume to see what was going on.

“Is it gone, Sir?” he asked me.

“Yeah it’s gone for now. But not forever sadly,” I told him what happened.

“Who’s this human?” Puck asked.

“Well,” I started. “She’s not a human exactly. She’s from Faewild.”

“Wait, then does that mean...?” he trailed off in fear.

Leanan Sidhe gave him a little wave. “Hello little Summer faery! I haven’t seen one of your kind in ages,” she said cheerfully. “And I’ve certainly never seen one of your kind so close before!” She looked at him with fascination. Puck squealed with fear that he was in the presence of a powerful faery of his opposite alignment. He flew and dove under my seat as we drove along. “Was it something I said?” she asked.

“Kind of,” I said. “He frightens easily when faced with Winter Fae. He’s never actually seen you in person. But he’ll get over it once he realizes that you don’t really have any power for a while.”

* * *

We arrived back at my apartment building. Puck went ahead to meet us at the door, mostly to avoid being around Leanan Sidhe. As I said, it had been many years since Leanan Sidhe was in the mundane world for an extended amount of time with a mortal. So, she was taking her sweet time admiring the technology and buildings that had been built since she was here last. She was especially amused looking into car windows seeing her reflection. Her near obscene fascination with the reflection of her own mortal form reminded me of Narcissus; being so vain that she can’t step away from her own beauty.

We eventually made it inside. She held my hand gently as I guided her up the stairs and down the hall to my door. Puck looked slightly irritated as he sat on the doorknob. “Finally!” he said.

“Sorry it took a bit longer than normal, Puck. Leanan Sidhe was admiring humanity and herself,” I explained. I unlocked the door and Puck quickly flew in. I held open the door for Leanan Sidhe and I followed her inside.

No sooner had I turned to close and lock the door, Leanan Sidhe had spun me back around and pressed her body against me while simultaneously pushing my back against the door. She was surprisingly strong for someone her size, and apparent, weakened condition. She stood on her toes and kissed me deeply and passionately. She continued to press herself onto me, and my back against the door, of which the doorknob was starting to press into me. I placed my hands on her shoulders and barely managed to push her off of me.

“What the hell was that?” I demanded. “What are you doing?”

“What’s wrong?” she asked. “We have some time alone with each other. So, I thought we should celebrate that your mortality is still intact!” She was being awfully cheerful.

“Look, I’m not saying that I don’t want to do this,” because I totally did want to do this and the tightening feeling in my pants confirmed that.

“Then what’s the-,” Leanan Sidhe started. I put a finger on her lips.

“But, we shouldn’t do it,” I said. “I need to keep my head clear and research what I can, to figure out how to beat this thing without killing it or it killing me.”

“It’s a sisyphean task,” she said, circling a finger on my chest in a breathy voice. “What you need is some good old relaxation and stress relief, my love.” She tossed off my jacket and put her hands on my sides and maneuvered them under my shirt. She pushed herself back up on her toes and kissed me deep again. This time raising her hands to pull the shirt off of me where it landed in a heap, silently on the floor next to my jacket.

“Leanan Sidhe,” I was saying between kisses. “We really...shouldn’t...keep going...it’s a bad...idea.” It was becoming extremely difficult to keep her lust at bay. I really wish I had some piece of steel or iron right about now. Being a fae the allergic reaction to the iron would be enough to drive her away.

“Nonsense,” she said. Leanan Sidhe stepped back a couple paces, waved her hand and her dress dissolved to nothing and she was naked again. She began to show off. Her hands wandered and glided over her lithe body as if it were new to her. Exploring and discovering curves and bends as if she’d never done it before. “Come now, Lance,” I felt a ping go through my chest and I felt stunned.

She grabbed my hand and placed it upon one of her perfect breasts. Exactly in the same way she did the other night when the Detective was here. My head started to go a little funny. Sorta like that feeling you get when you’re buzzed after just the right amount of drinking; a little dizzy, a little light headed but nothing to disrupt your equilibrium.

I could feel her nipple hardening under my hand as it pressed into my palm. “Well, Lance?” That pinging feeling again. She pulled me in closer to her. “Aren’t you going to, what’s the phrase you humans use, show me your room?” Not quite the right context for that phrase, but I gave her points for trying. My mind wasn’t really concentrating on correct uses of turns of phrase anyway.

I couldn’t tell who was leading whom. I thought I was in charge of the situation, but it seemed like she was the one pulling the strings. My hand still on her breast, her hands on my arm gently tugging me along. Either way we got to my bedroom still facing each other. The small digital clock next to my bed showed 3:00 PM. ‘This day is just getting longer,’ I thought to myself.

She turned and pushed me down to the bed and immediately began to undo my belt, being careful not to touch the buckle, and remove my pants. The buckle! Dammit I did have some steel on me! Seemed too late now. She crawled her way up the bed and began to kiss up my body and teased my neck with nibbles of her teeth. She kissed her way back down and started to lick and gave an amazing effort in an attempt to siphon out my very soul.

‘This is crazy!’ I thought. ‘I shouldn’t be succumbing to this. What in the hell is going on?’ I could barely hold onto my thoughts, much less collect them into cohesiveness.

I still couldn’t figure out why I was unable to stop her. It shouldn’t have been this difficult, even if she was a powerful fae. The fuzziness in my head continued to make it difficult to come up with any kind of reasons.

As Leanan Sidhe continued displaying her skill, I could feel myself getting close to the edge before she suddenly stopped.

“Not yet, Darling,” she giggled. Leanan Sidhe, apparently, could tell how well of a job she was doing as she got up onto the bed, straddled and ground into my wit. “I know it’s a day early but I just need to hear your answer to my proposal, Love. If we do this I will take it as your answer and we will be bonded forever.” She gazed into my eyes. The different hues in her fire opal eyes appeared to dance and flicker. Greens and reds and golds swirling and reflecting off each other.

“Is this what you want, my darling?” she asked, still grinding and sliding.

I stammered and couldn’t come to a clear answer, much less a word in any language, for her. My primal brain began to take over. None of that seemed to matter as she lifted herself up a bit and held onto me. She slid down slowly, the familiar heat and tightness gripped me and shot ecstasy through my whole body like orgasmic lightning. I let out a groan as Leanan Sidhe smiled. As her purposely slow descent stopped and her hips met mine she let out a musical cry; her face twisted in a beautiful agony of pleasure. Once her body became accustomed to the sensations, her hips began to undulate and gently pressed against my hips, pushing myself deeper into her. Despite the most primitive portion of my brain being the most active for one of life’s most basic-of-needs, I found I couldn’t move my limbs. And for some odd reason, I didn’t seem to care.

Wave after wave of pleasure crashed over her. She eventually segued from undulating to lifting her hips and dropping them on me. The clap of skin-to-skin was loud and rhythmic. Her breasts bounced in time with the landing of her hips, her sweet moans growing louder. I could feel myself coming up to the edge again and apparently, once more, so could she.

“Yes my love, do it now!” she cried holding onto her breasts. She was enthralled in her own ecstasy moving quicker and quicker. We both passed over the edge and Leanan Sidhe let out the most beautiful scream I had ever heard. I remember the release and after that everything got dark.

I woke up, I suppose, a few hours later as I could barely see my clock. It looked like it read 9:00. It was a bit difficult to tell night or day as my room had just one small window and I kept a thick curtain over it to shield out the light. Usually I could tell time of day as a sliver of light typically shown from the edge.

The events of the last few hours were but a foggy dream. Almost as if they had never happened. Kinda hoped they didn’t. I adjusted in bed, holding the covers over me, closing my eyes again when I felt another body adjust next to me. My eyes shot open as I looked at the clock again. It read 9:02 AM! I looked over my shoulder to see the slender, naked, sleeping form of Leanan Sidhe. Gently snoozing. She was laying on her back, my bed covers barely concealing the lower half of her body. I watched the gentle slopes of her chest rise and fall with her breath. One hand was above her head, the other lay softly next to her slightly turned cheek, her ocean of red hair touching down the left side of her body almost framing it. This was the simple artistic beauty I always remembered her for.

Before my brain lost control, again, of where blood should flow, I got out of bed as slowly and carefully as I could. I quickly realized I was very naked and grabbed my pants that were still on the floor at the foot of my bed. I slid them on silently as possible and fastened them and my belt. I began to walk out of the room to collect myself on the couch when I heard, “Now where do you think you’re going?”

I turned and saw the Winter Faery sitting up, clutching the covers to herself to feign modesty. For some reason now she didn’t look as beautiful as I remembered on our first meeting, or even as recently as two minutes ago. She looked cold, calculating, like a leopard who had just cornered its breakfast.

I thought fast, “I was just waking up and didn’t want to disturb you,” I said. That was a little too close for comfort.

“How sweet of you, darling,” She replied, dropping the covers and stretching her arms and back. I could see the toned muscle that made up her arms and torso. She wasn’t as frail as she looked in terms of body strength.

“Yesterday,” I began. I still couldn’t believe I lost a whole day. “You used my Name and spellbound me, didn’t you?” I accused.

“I might have used a little reserve magic for that,” she admitted sheepishly.

“Do you realize the repercussions that could happen?” I said. “You basically gave me the magical equivalent of a roofie!”

I stared off into space for a moment coming to terms with what had transpired. I lost nearly a whole day of my life that I’ll never get back. Granted, yes, it was all sex and normally I wouldn’t be one to complain but, it wasn’t right. Meaningless sex can be okay and fun. Afterall, it’s a vital activity for most of us. However, being at someone else’s expense and being used was just not okay. Damaging their mind with an event that wasn’t truly wanted, in mind or spirit, can have some significant ramifications.

“What do you know about the Abyss Walker and why it was chasing me yesterday?” I asked.

She couldn’t look at me. She bit her lip and looked at the floor. “It might not have been the actual Abyss Walker,” she said quietly.

“What do you mean, ‘Not the actual Abyss Walker?’”

“Well,” she began. “I used an illusion and a construct I created to save you.”

“So that’s why no one on the road saw it? Was it an illusion? And your construct nearly killed me by smashing me into the ground like a toy? All so you can pretend to save my life?” I was beyond pissed off. It took everything I had to keep my magic under control.

“Kind of,” she said meekly. “There was also my plan to force an answer on our betrothal.”

“So you nearly killed me in a feeble attempt to get me to fall in love with you?”

“Yes?”

“So the real one is still somewhere out there unscathed?”

Leanan Sidhe nodded silently.

I couldn’t even look at her. The past events from my teens, and even most recently asking for her help both turned to heavy regret. Any feeling of gratitude from years ago, or any feeling I had once held for her was now gone. I never knew such an innocent mistake in my youth could snowball out of control like this into my adulthood.

I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists. Finally, I muttered the only two words I had the strength to say, “Get out.”

“What?” Leanan Sidhe asked, tilting her head. “I’m sorry, Love I couldn’t hear you.”

“I said, get out!” I repeated raising my voice with a minute bit of magic laced with it. Something like this is usually helpful for smaller entities to banish them from a house. Not so much directly helpful for powerful Fae. However, the words probably stung her heart and ego more than anything.

Leanan Sidhe looked as if she was wounded and about to cry before she gave me a defiant look. She got out of bed and marched towards me, still naked. Leanan Sidhe stopped just a few inches from me and hovered until her eyes met mine. She attempted to speak but it didn’t seem as if she could find the words. She backed away, wrapped her arms around herself and vanished with a gust of ice cold air. I sat on my couch with my head in my hands.

What was I going to do now?