Page 12 of Did It Have To Be Gnomes?! (Carry A Faerie #1)

Chapter Nine

Miles

W hen I woke, I expected to have a piercing headache, but I was surprised to find no pain at all—at least not with my eyes closed. Squinting one eye open, I sighed in relief when I realized there was still no discomfort. Hell yeah!

I didn’t know why there was no pain—there always was after an empath migraine—but I’d absolutely take this any day over the horrible piercing agony I usually had.

As I sat up in bed and saw a glass of water with my pill bottle sitting next to it on the nightstand, I swallowed thickly.

Flashes of how I’d gotten back home came to my mind’s eye, and I sighed.

Well… I supposed I knew why I didn’t have a headache.

Winter was a null. I’d never even heard of that before, but he obviously had some kind of power because he’d made the voices and emotions stop. Like fully, one hundred percent, stop, as if they’d never been there to begin with.

It was insane. Even when I was simply standing anywhere near other people, I could feel their emotions itching to get at me.

There was always this quiet buzz in the back of my mind that I’d learned to block out when I was just a child.

I barely even noticed it anymore since I was so used to it, but when Winter had touched me, even that background noise went away.

It’d been so… refreshing.

I’d never had someone touch me and not been overwhelmed with their emotions and sometimes even their thoughts. Having him touch me emotion-free was a novelty.

Too bad my head had hurt. I’d really like to experience that without the pounding headache. I bet it’d feel like a vacation.

Shaking off the silly thoughts, I lifted the glass and drank half of it down before coming up for air.

Odin came over, headbutting me for attention, so I gave him some good pets as I set my glass down and noticed a post-it note stuck to my phone.

Lifting it, I realized he’d even plugged my cell in for me, and for some reason, that thoughtfulness gave my heart a little blip.

The note said:

Miles,

I hope you’re feeling better. If you’re up for it, call or text me later. If not, I’ll come check on you in the morning.

Winter

His number was printed underneath.

I quickly entered it into my phone and pulled up a text chain, debating what to say for a few minutes. Finally, I decided to go with simple.

Me: Hey, it’s Miles. I’m up and feeling fine. Thank you for your help earlier!

I sent it and cringed at the exclamation mark, regretting it instantly. I was such a dork and had no idea how to interact with people. I was much better with animals and faeries.

Standing, I stretched, then scooped up Odin and walked over to the bathroom in the hall—not the one attached to my bedroom—and opened the door. I was greeted with a happy trill that made me smile.

“Hey, pretty girl. How’re you doing today?”

Walking inside, I lifted a hand and waited for her to examine it before I began scratching her neck. She had a couple of spots that she really loved, and I found one right away, and the pretty firebird leaned heavily into my hand.

Odin meowed his complaint. How dare I pay attention to someone other than the little prince.

I kissed the top of his head. “Oh, stop. I’m literally hugging you right now.”

He rubbed his head on my chin in response, making me smile. I tried to pet the top of his head with my chin to make up for petting the firebird.

“Alright, you. You wanna come downstairs with us?” I asked the firebird.

As if understanding the question, she let out another happy trill and lifted her foot, asking me to hold my arm out as a perch. I did so, and she expertly used her beak and claws to climb up to my shoulder. Luckily, I had on long sleeves, so her talons didn’t hurt me at all.

I wasn’t sure how she was doing it, but every time I picked her up, she made her flames disappear so I wouldn’t get burned.

She was very considerate, and not for the first time, I couldn’t help but wonder if she had more experience with humans than I initially thought.

She was just too comfortable, not only with me, but in my home.

With a cat in one arm and a firebird on the opposite shoulder, I headed down to my kitchen. I’d slept through lunch, so I was starving and needed to find something to cook.

When I put food in Odin’s bowl, he wanted to get down, so I set him on his little table and went to rummage for my own food.

My phone buzzed, so I pulled it out.

Winter: I’m glad you’re feeling better. Can I come over to talk to you?

My brow furrowed. What did he want to talk about? I winced. He probably wanted to ask about me being an empath or maybe he wanted to figure out what happened back there with the gnomes. Gnomes never did shit like that. They didn’t attack. They didn’t try to hurt people.

Ever .

And yet…

I let out a sigh.

Plus, we’d left the job half-done.

So I responded the only way I could.

Me: Sure.

Almost as soon as I sent it, there was a knock on my front door.

What the hell? That couldn’t be Winter, right? What was he doing? Standing on my porch, waiting for me to text back?

The firebird was still on my shoulder, and since I just took her out, I wasn’t about to lock her back up.

But I also didn’t want whoever was out there to see her.

I’d bought a second perch for the living room yesterday, so I set her there and went for the door.

It was probably just a cable salesman or something.

When I opened it, I was surprised to see Winter on my porch. I blinked. “Um, hi.” Had he really just been standing outside waiting for me to tell him he was allowed to come over? How else had he gotten here that quickly? He lived close by, but not that close.

“Hey.” He sent me a small smile. “Can I come in?”

“Oh. Sure.” The second I opened the door, I realized my mistake and winced.

I’d let him in out of habit without thinking about the firebird in my living room. Crapola on toast.

Winter froze, then blew out a breath and turned to me. “You have a firebird as a pet.” It wasn’t exactly accusatory, but it was close enough that I felt my hackles go up.

“She’s not a pet, and she’s not mine.”

“She’s in your house on a perch that you obviously bought for her. How is she not yours?”

I sighed, closing the front door and walking farther into the house. The firebird chirped at me, clearly wanting my attention, so I walked over and gave her some pets before she climbed onto my shoulder again. She really liked that spot.

Then I faced Winter with another sigh. “I found her in a house the other day, and when I took her to the sanctuary, she freaked out. I…” I rubbed a hand over my face. Was I really going to do this? Was I really going to tell him what happened?

One glance at the expression on Winter’s face, and I knew I had to. After he saved me earlier, he deserved to know everything.

“So… you know I’m an empath. Obviously.” I cleared my throat and decided to get on with it.

It’d be fine. He already knew about the empath thing from my earlier freak-out, so this was nothing.

He’d be… fine. Hopefully. “Sometimes I hear people’s thoughts when they touch me.

It’s not just their emotions, you know? I hear…

all kinds of things. But when I put my finger on her, I could see things too.

I’ve never seen things like that before. ”

Winter stared at me for a moment, then glanced at the firebird before refocusing on me. “What did you see?”

“Images and little… clips of her life.”

“And that’s never happened to you before?”

“Nope. Never.”

“Huh.” He sighed and ran a hand through his blond hair. “That still doesn’t explain how she ended up in your house and”—he gestured to where she sat on my shoulder—“hanging on you like that.”

“She… she escaped that same sanctuary I was trying to take her too, so I couldn’t take her back there.”

“Escaped? That makes it sound like it was a prison.”

I winced. “From what I saw, it kind of was.”

He blanched, but then he shook it off. “What?”

“It’s not a good place. I wasn’t about to take her back there. They… they hurt her, and the whole point of a sanctuary is to help her and keep her safe. I’m not letting them hurt her again.”

He gave me a nod. “That’s fair, and I’m glad you didn’t take her there if they’re a threat to her safety. I wouldn’t want someone hurting her either. But why didn’t you just drop her off at a different sanctuary?”

“I can’t find one that’ll take a firebird. A lot of places won’t risk their trees and foliage being burned up. It doesn’t happen often, but it’s possible for her wings to catch a tree on fire, and once one goes up, they all do.”

He pursed his lips. “And you can’t just let her go in a park or something?”

“She’ll wind up being hunted by humans who’re stupid enough to think she’ll bring them good luck. Or she’ll wind up flying into someone’s home again, and if anyone else gets the job, they’ll kill her.”

“Firebirds are endangered. They’re not allowed to kill her. They have to do catch and release.”

I gave him a look. “You and I both know that most of the other companies, including the one you work for, don’t abide by that rule.”

He winced and nodded, putting his hands on his hips as he slowly paced my living room. “Okay, fair. I just… isn’t it dangerous having her in here?”

“Honestly, she’s been a little angel. I even feel like I could leave her out while I’m not home, and she’d be fine. But we haven’t known each other long enough for that yet, and I don’t want to risk her or Odin getting hurt.”

“So you’re planning on keeping her?”

With a sigh, I shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know. I want to find her a good home where she can be free, but I don’t want her getting taken advantage of or hurt.”

The firebird in question rubbed her head along my cheek, making me smile at the sweet affection.

“She doesn’t act like a wild bird.”