Page 4 of Did It Have To Be Gnomes?! (Carry A Faerie #1)

But actually seen someone else’s memories? Never.

Until now. Because I had no doubt those were real memories.

Was that some kind of firebird power?

I replayed the memories in my head and winced. Whispering Pines Faerie Sanctuary. That was where we were headed.

“You… you came from that sanctuary?”

She dipped her head as if answering me with a nod.

My mouth fell open. “Holy shit, can you understand me?”

She dipped her head again, and I felt dizzy.

Firebirds couldn’t communicate with humans this way. And yet, she was.

“You can really understand me?”

She dipped her head again.

“Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit.” Running a hand through my hair, I gaped. I couldn’t stop staring at her. “You… you don’t want to go back.”

She squawked and shook her head, flapping her wings in irritation.

Right. That was a definite no.

The whole point of me taking her somewhere was to help her have a safe and better life. If she didn’t like that place—and after what I saw happened there, then that place was scary, and I didn’t blame her—then I wasn’t about to take her there. That would be cruel.

But… nowhere else around here took firebirds.

The place where I usually took all the gnomes, pixies, brownies, and other tiny faeries was an open forest on protected land.

The faeries there were free to roam and do what they wanted, and no one could hunt them there.

The public wasn’t even allowed on the property unless they paid for a guided tour.

There was even a row of houses toward the front gates where house gnomes and other house-dwelling faeries could live.

But again, the faeries weren’t monitored or anything.

The people who watched over the sanctuary and all the creatures there wouldn’t let me bring a firebird because they were afraid it would mess up the ecosystem.

Firebirds hunted little faeries, and the people who watched over the land didn’t want the gnomes and pixies used as food.

Which was understandable since the point of their sanctuary was to save those little creatures.

So then where the hell was I going to take her?

“What am I going to do with you?”

She let out a small whimper, and I sighed.

“I guess I’ll bring you home for now and see if I can find a different sanctuary.”

She trilled, happy about this decision, apparently.

“How in the hell can you understand me?”

She trilled, and I swore it sounded like a question, like she didn’t understand what I was asking her.

This couldn’t be happening.

And yet…

Unless I’d gotten into an accident and was now in a coma and this was all fake, it was happening.

I pinched my skin to check. Ow.

Yeah, this was… this was real.

I glanced at the lovely bird beside me and found her already staring at me with her head tilted to the side, examining me.

“Don’t worry. I promise I won’t take you back there.”

Her trill was happy this time.

Before I put the car in drive, I couldn’t help but reach through the cage bars and give her another few pets. The relief and happiness coming from her was so strong, I could practically taste it. The longer I pet her, the warmer my entire body felt.

My brow furrowed. This… wasn’t a normal feeling.

I closed my eyes and concentrated, a small gasp falling from my lips.

Nope, definitely not normal.

There was magic coming off of the firebird and flowing directly into me.

What in the world?

It was as if my fingers were filling with some kind of power. It made no sense, and I had no idea what the hell it meant, but there was some kind of… spark going off between us.

It was… nice, actually. Weird, but in a good way.

I wasn’t scared. In fact, it felt like my own empathic magic was sparking in delight, which was a strange and unusual feeling for me. My magic wasn’t usually like that.

The firebird magic sort of hummed just beneath my skin, giving me a pleasant feeling that had me smiling down at her.

Maybe she was like me and could push her emotions into other people.

After a few minutes, I knew I needed to get back to work, so I slowly removed my hand from her. To my surprise, the strange humming connection remained even after we separated.

Glancing down the road toward the so-called sanctuary, I sneered, absolutely disgusted with the place. What in the world was going on there? Was it some kind of front for a place that collects or sells faeries and faerie… parts?

That was a horrific thought.

I covered the lovely firebird back up, aware of the strange connection between us but totally ignoring it, and tugged my phone out of my pocket. I stared at it for a few seconds before deciding that, no matter how much I didn’t want to talk to him, I needed to send the message.

I pulled up a contact I never wanted to use again, typed out a text, and hit send.

Me: There’s something going on at Whispering Pines Faerie Sanctuary. Pretty sure it’s a front for some shady stuff.

The response came almost instantly.

Higgins: What did you see?

Ignoring that, I stuffed the phone back in my pocket and began the journey home, then decided I should quickly call the vet to have a look at the firebird.

The last thing I wanted was to bring an animal into my home that could get my cat sick.

I wasn’t even sure if there were illnesses that could pass from a faerie to a cat, but better to be safe than sorry.

The second my sort-of friend and veterinarian answered their phone, I said, “Hey, Indigo, it’s Miles. I need a favor.”

As they and I spoke, I felt my phone vibrate with incoming messages, but I ignored those too.

Indigo agreed to have a look at the firebird on my way home, thankfully.

When I parked at the vet’s, I checked my phone again with a sigh.

Higgins: What happened?

Higgins: Come on, you can’t tell me that then disappear.

Higgins: Talk to me, Miles.

Higgins: Fine. I’ll look into it, but no guarantees. Stay safe, Curbelo.

I grimaced at the messages, my heart in my throat. I knew it wasn’t fair of me to ignore him, but I… didn’t want to deal with it. I exited the message chain without replying. I had other things I needed to concentrate on. Like little Miss Firebird in the seat beside me.