Page 59 of An Enigma for the Lycan Crown Prince

“But you nurtured me,” she explains, beaming at me. “I only survived because of your presence and the light in you. So magical,” she pauses. “I was supposed to wake up years ago. I was tired and hurt from a battle, and wanted to regain my strength,” she adds. “But they drained the strength out of the plant, and that’s that. Now I’m here, though!” She jumps up and flutters around my head. “I’m Trixie, by the way.”

Vincent clears his throat. “Can someone talk to me, please? At this point, I’m not sure what’s weirder: that little butterfly-”

“Fairy, I am a fairy!” Trixie exclaims.

“Right, that little fairy, or you guys not reacting to it at all.”

“Well,” Elden shrugs. “In hindsight, I find this outcome more logical than for the plant to attack us.”

“In hindsight?” Vincent mimics him.

“He is right,” Janice says. “It’s Flora.”

“It makes sense that something magical happens in her vicinity,” Jace adds.

“And if you think about it, she had the plant for nine or ten years. Had it been vicious, it would have attacked her sooner,” Elden points out.

“The way you are all trying to rationalize this makes it even weirder,” Vincent says while watching Trixie, who is currently fluttering around inspecting everything in my room.

“Grandma once told me fairies are real,” I tell Vincent.

“My mom said the same when I was five,” Vincent mutters. “But it was when she read a fairytale to me.”

“Yeah, but her grandma is different,” Jace points out. “What she says, she probably means.”

“It’s going to be easier for you if you just accept it,” Janice suggests. “Believe me. I went through the same.”

Vincent sighs. “Fine. It’s not like I have any other options.”

“Aren’t there others like you?” I ask Trixie.

“Yes, there are,” she says. “But I like it here for now.”

“And you can just do as you please?” Elden asks.

“Yep,” she flies towards him and bops his nose. “Fairy communes are always a group of equals.”

“Communes…” Vincent mutters.

“Don’t say it out loud!” Elden groans.

“Come on, dude, tell me you didn’t just think of weird, fairy group sex!”

Trixie, fortunately, ignores him. “We can do what we want as long as we don’t break our rules.”

“And what kind of rules?” Jace asks.

“Stay hidden from the humans,” she says.

We wait for her to say more, but when she doesn’t, Janice chuckles. “That’s it?”

“Yes, pretty easy, huh?” Trixie beams. “But human babies are so cute. Sometimes, we can’t help but visit them and play with them.”

“So actually, you have that one rule,” Elden analyzes. “But none of you sticks to it?”

“Exactly!”

Vincent snorts. “Now that I’m getting used to this, it’s kind of funny,” he admits.