Page 9

Chapter

Nine

B erry was so delighted to wake up to Max prodding him with his boot. Actually, I’d never seen anyone so horrified as Berry, looking from Max, who might rehabilitate him, to me, who might execute him or other death fairy nonsense.

I smiled brightly. “Okay, Berry. You’re going to tell me what your favorite combination of trees for terraforming woods is while we walk. It’s going to be a beautiful day, don’t you think?” I asked, smiling at Max.

He smiled back, showing more teeth than usual. “Why yes, Princess Sparkles. It looks like a fine day to find a sky and a waterfall.”

Berry blinked at me and then at Max. “You’re both insane.”

Max shook his head and put a hand on Berry’s shoulder. I knew that grip. He hadn’t used it on me for some time, but I remembered. “If you know that, maybe you shouldn’t say it. So, favorite trees for terraforming?”

Berry stammered and started talking about trees while we walked, leaving the rocks and rubble for the pathway above that followed the river. It was a mile and a half to the docks, where tents were set up along the side, and pots that steamed with sweet grains and fruit were served by a group of tough-looking survivors. Fairies, but not like Berry, who could hardly walk in a straight line.

They wore respectable clothing and served the slouchy, shifty, pixie-dust addicts with stern faces. They wouldn’t be as easy to influence, and they didn’t look like they needed something to do, so I focused on the minds of the hazy folk, implanting the need to find a seed or small sapling and bring it to the werewolf caverns.

When I saw Shotglass, I headed towards her to get a better fix on her mind. Her eyes were large, pink iris sunken in her hollow cheeks. But when she saw Max, she smiled how the beautiful fairies smiled, all allurement, sparkle, and charm. I touched her shoulder at the same time she grabbed his hand, sliding her fingers greedily over his skin.

It wasn’t the best moment for me, because I was in her head, and it was a shocking place to be when faced with the object of pleasure she found Max.

I saw a flash of her on his lap, rubbing against him like a shameless nymph, him pushing her down with gentle hands, hands that made her want him even more in their strength and size.

In the memory, his voice was a sensual growl. “No. I belong to the moon, little fairy.” Max had a pitying smile on his clean-shaven face. “Do you want me to rehabilitate you again?”

“Yes,” she’d said breathlessly, but I was in her head, seeing her memories, so I saw too much of what she wanted and pulled my hand away from her with a jerk. I wasn’t breathing. Was I breathing? Could I breathe?

“Sparkles?” Max said, leaning over me where I was crouched on the ground, stomach churning, head pounding.

I carefully looked up at him, and noticed the beautiful lines of his face, the broad strength of his shoulders, the power in his hands combined with an unnatural gentleness. I was cursed now to see him with her eyes, which saw only objects to desire, and things to take.

I stood up and grabbed Shotglass’s throat, dragging her towards me while she whimpered in alarm.

“Hi,” I said with a sharp smile, squeezing a bit. She raised her hands to scratch me, but then I let my claws out, piercing her skin enough that she froze while her eyes got bigger, and bigger, and bigger. “You’re going to plant some trees for me. You’re going to put any useful knowledge you have in one tree, and the rest will be for penance.” For wanting Max so shamelessly. “For stabbing Berry, my terraformer. I imagine it’s pixie dust you stole. It’s gone now. Should I let you use pixie dust again? I don’t think I will. In fact, I’m sure of it. You’ve used up too many of Lord Max’s resources without offering anything in return. You are a changed fairy.”

Her eyes got so big, her heart beating faster and faster, that I could see it was going to burst. I’d have to heal her. I grabbed her face with my other hand and pressed healing spells into her skin, sending a sheet of glitter over her dull flesh that stank of over-sweet, spoiled fruit.

She dropped to her knees while Max stood behind my shoulder, probably thinking I was a psycho. Well, they called me the death fairy. This was mild compared to what I could have done to her. What I wanted to do to someone who had looked at Max like he was an object to be taken and used.

I healed her until her skin was sticky with her sweat, and her heart stabilized. Then I straightened up and rubbed my hands together, trying to get her off my skin. When I glanced at Max, he gave me a slight smile.

“Thank you. She’s been troublesome, but I felt bad about killing her. This is better.”

I swallowed hard. He didn’t think I was crazy? Why did that make me want to burst into tears? Probably because I’d been in her head too much and now had some of her instability. Like I needed that. Maybe I did.

I nodded and headed away from the group of fairies who were eating gruel and thinking about trees. No one else had recognized me. Berry stood with his gruel in his hands, looking from me to Shotglass, then back at me again. The fairies serving were also watching me and Max with guarded expressions.

“The car’s over here,” Max said, gesturing me up the bank, towards the city and away from the river.

“Thanks. I’m tired. The fairies are so…” Awful. Pathetic. Horrible representatives of my species. Just like me.

“Hungry. Yes. They get like that.”

We were almost to the car when someone grabbed my arm. I whirled around, hand up, claws out, only to find one of the servers with gray eyes, silver hair, wings like speckled stone. “You forgot to eat,” she said, handing a bowl to me with a slight bow. She knew who I was, then.

I took it with a bow in return. “Thank you. Thank you for the work you do here.”

“Lord Max pays well.”

I glanced at him, frowning, then smiled at the fairy, even more sober and serious than Vervain. “Of course.” I climbed into the back of the car with my bowl of steaming gruel, while Max closed the door on me and got in on the other side.

“You pay her? Why? How much? How long?” I asked as soon as his door was closed and he was seated next to me.

He raised a brow. “Yes, I pay her. Why? I’m morally opposed to slavery. How much? Not as much as she’s worth. How long? About twenty-five years. Before that, I hired werewolves, but for some reason, that wasn’t as effective.”

“But why would you bother feeding pixie-dust addicts at all? Did the owl god tell you to do it?” I peered into his eyes, trying to understand what could possibly compel him to do something that random and nonsensical and…I didn’t even know.

He smiled. “Why did you decide to write a dissertation on werewolves, then change your mind to terraforming caves instead? Eat your cereal, Princess Sparkles.”

I opened my mouth, then closed it. Could I tell him that I was worried about genocide and eventual war? That might be the best way to finally make him understand the danger. I bit my bottom lip. I couldn’t trust him not to turn his random acts of kindness into raging fury. I didn’t understand him well enough.

I took a bite of gruel. It was actually delicious, and my stomach wasn’t delicate anymore, so I could eat quickly while I pondered the question. Finally, the bowl was empty. I scraped the bottom and then looked up at him, nervous.

“I guess I felt that werewolf and fairy relations had been strained for long enough,” I finally said.

His smile became sharp and toothy. “Exactly. It’s time for a new era of peace in this coalition between fairy and wolf. Beast and butterfly. Princess Sparkles and Lord Max.”

“I still don’t understand, but thank you, Lord Max.”

“No, thank you, Princess Sparkles. Ah, we’re here.”

Here was a large field with enormous white beasts on the hard black roads. It took a lot of persuading for Max to get me on one of the planes. He actually picked me up and carried me inside, holding me secure until the engines rumbled, the thing jerked, and we were moving.

It was bad enough being on the ground inside an iron beast, but in the air? With those flimsy metal wings that couldn’t even beat? Impossible.

Once we were in the air, he released me, set me in a seat next to him, strapped me in and then stretched out, propping his feet on the end of the long seat. “Princess Sparkles, sky hunting is going to be you riding my wolf through my old territory. That is going to be exhausting, so I’m going to take a nap. Keep an eye out for me, okay? Let me know if we’re about to crash.” He winked at me and then closed his eyes. “If we do crash, it’ll be a painless death.”

I sniffed. “I’m not dying. I’m tearing through the wall with my teeth and gliding to earth.”

“Perfect. Then you don’t have to worry.”

“But you’re definitely going to die, smashed like a grape in a wine-press. Your limbs will be strewn around for miles. They’ll find your kidneys in a pine tree someone cuts down for Christmas. You’ll be…”

He covered my mouth with his strong hand, and I had a flashback of Shotglass’s shameless desire for him.

I pulled his hand down and stopped talking, crossing my arms instead. He fell asleep, his head less than a foot away from me, his breathing deep, even, his bare face relaxed and almost angelic. I stared at his face, the curve of his throat, the steady pulse and rise and fall of his chest. He smelled so nice, spice and woods, with a hint of the wild wolf underneath.

I watched him until his eyelids twitched and he stretched and then opened his eyes to find me staring at him.

He squinted. “Everything okay, Princess Sparkles? We should be there soon. Are you thinking about killing me? You’re staring at me like a psycho killer.”

He had no idea how psycho it was for me to look at a werewolf and not think about killing him. “You fly inside metal beasts. You don’t care if you die.”

He only smiled and then sat up and buckled up as the plane started descending. I watched out the window, the patches of green getting closer and closer until the wheels came down, and I flinched and grabbed Max’s hand, squeezing too tight. He squeezed back, and little by little, the panic ebbed and I could breathe again. Riding inside a metal beast was very fast, and we’d survived.

The drive from the airport to the mountain wasn’t very far, and when we got there, we left the car and Max shifted into his huge wolf without warning me. I took a deep breath and leapt up and landed lightly on his back, spreading my wings to get some extra loft, then we were off. It was even more wonderful running through meadows and woods than through Song and the caverns, leaping springs while the birds flew above us. It was a glorious morning, sun shining happily through the dappled leaves and warm earth. He was so unbelievably fast, faster than a dragonfly, and soft, his fur well-conditioned thanks to my efforts.

He slowed down when he reached a ravine and headed down it, careful not to drop me. When we got to the floor, he stopped. This must be the end of the ride. I slid off and stared at the waterfall while my heart pounded.

“I forgot shampoo,” I said. I’d also mostly forgotten that I’d agreed to wash his beast. The idea was terrifying.

I felt him shift behind me and my skin prickled while my claws poked out of the tips of my fingers. The scent changed, the tension grew thicker in the air while goosebumps popped out on my arms. My heart started pounding faster, but I didn’t run away screaming. I just stared at the falls. I could handle a poetry-spouting monster that could rip off my head with one hand. No problem. They called me the death fairy. Which meant that I could die, right?

“If I don’t have shampoo, I guess I’ll have to do it another time,” I said, turning to give Max’s beast a shrug. I froze mid-shrug, staring at the enormous monster that I hadn’t really taken in while we were in the caverns. First, he was wearing a suit, with a white button-down shirt beneath the sculpted jacket. A hat perched on his head, lending him the air of a jackal musician. Second, he looked at me like I was his sole focus, his prey that he’d stalk for as long as possible until I was utterly consumed. I needed to run, but it was too late. I could never evade this creature. I’d have to kill him, but I wasn’t sure I could. If I punched my claws into his chest, would it even reach his heart?

“It’s up by the water,” he rumbled, putting his massive paw on my shoulder to urge me forward. He was much gentler than Max’s implacable grip, but my whole body went cold then hot at the contact. He was so dangerous. And I was supposed to give him a shower? How did this make sense? Why didn’t he give himself a shower? Probably because his claws weren’t any good at opening shampoo bottles.

I swallowed hard, but I couldn’t seem to make my feet move. “Why are shampoo bottles by the falls? Are they left there for random werewolves who need a shower?”

“My exquisite night flower, I called ahead and arranged things.”

“You mean Max called?”

“I am Max. And the wolf. Are you too afraid to keep your promise?” His eyes gleamed, like he’d happily exchange the shower plan for a meal plan. Me as meal.

I shook my head. “No. Although, to be honest, you are terrifying. Could you smile a little less?”

His smile widened. “No, my sweet fluttering butterfly. I look at you and cannot contain my joy. To see you is to smile.”

No more questions, because every time he said something flattering, it sounded like he wanted to eat me. I clenched my fists and turned, heading towards the falls, climbing over rocks and boulders with Max’s beast a step behind me so if I slipped, he could catch me. In his jaws.

When we got close to the broad stone where the water splashed, I saw the black wire box with four bottles of shampoo and conditioner each. Was I really going to do this?

I took a deep breath and stepped forward. Apparently, I was, but not in Ruin’s clothing. I wasn’t going to destroy this outfit like I’d destroyed so many others. I pulled off the hoodie and the pants, leaving me in the small under clothing and tank top.

“All right,” I said, grabbing a shampoo bottle and turning to Max’s beast, who was in the process of pulling off his shirt. The movement of his arms above his head was like branches in the wind, and the massive chest beneath the shirt rippled with raw and deadly muscles.

I swallowed hard. “Are you ready?”

He smiled as he emerged from the shirt, his teeth so sharp, so capable of piercing into my heart with one chomp. “Please fold,” he said, handing me the enormous white thing. I struggled to fold it and ended up rolling it and putting it with my things. When I turned back to him, he wore stretchy black bottoms that weren’t two inches down his thighs, leaving the bare skin, the dark dusky blue marbled with paler striations.

I blinked once at the shock of seeing him so clearly when no one saw a war beast this close. Unless it was the last thing you ever saw. I swallowed hard. “All right, then. Let’s give you a nice shower.”

It was cold, but he was warm. I found myself leaning against him in spite of myself as I lathered him up, rubbing all over, except for where his black shorts were.

“You’re cold,” he growled once I’d used up two bottles.

I was shivering hard. Yes, you could call me cold. “I-I’m fine.”

He picked me up, cuddled me against his extremely warm chest and started walking back down the rocks, following the curve of the stream.

“I’m not done,” I said with chattering teeth. “I have two bottles of shampoo left, and I didn’t condition you.”

“No, my deliciously delicate beauty. If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn’t do it by freezing you to death.”

And now I was thinking about all the different ways he could kill me. So many ways. All the ways. And he was holding me so he could simply flex his arms and crush me into fairy dust. I shivered particularly hard.

He carried me to a spot in the sunshine that had a blanket spread out. A pile of books was on one corner of the enormous blue and green patchwork.

He sat down on the edge of the blanket, pulled the opposite side over me, and then carefully picked up a book. I tried to get out of his lap, but his arm was an iron bar over me, and his warmth soaking into me felt very, very good. It would be better to die warm.

He showed me the book’s cover, which didn’t have any pictures on it, and then started reading.

His voice was so smooth, eloquent as he read the story. Eventually, my shivers stopped, and I found myself relaxing. I shouldn’t have gotten cold by something like bathing in a waterfall. Before the death sickness, that’s something I could have done for hours without the cold touching me. I’d simply soak in the beauty and wonder of nature and forget about everything else. I never would have cuddled a beast, either. I guess people change.

“What book are you reading?” I asked when he paused to turn a page.

He held still for a long moment. “Catch-22. I wanted to read this part.” He pointed a long ebony claw to dark writing on the delicate paper. “It says, ‘I’m not running away from my responsibilities. I’m running to them. There’s nothing negative about running away to save my life.’ You see?” he asked, peering around so I could look into those flickering golden eyes. “If being Queen would kill you, then it’s your first duty and responsibility to take care of yourself. You’re precious, like a drop of dew on the edge of a delphinium petal.”

“Oh my.” What big eyes he had. And he really, really looked like he was going to eat me. I cleared my throat. “Thanks. You’re eloquent, like a bell hanging in a tree that chimes in harmony with the silver leaves.”

He rumbled, and I stiffened up until I realized that it was a laugh. “I will read a little bit more, my ethereal beauty.” He continued reading in that silky voice with an undercurrent of rumble that gave me goosebumps.

I closed my eyes as his warmth soaked into me. He smelled nice, like woodsy shampoo, not bubblegum. And with my eyes closed, I could pretend it was Max, who wouldn’t ever eat a fairy. No, he fed us instead.

I woke up to the sounds of dragonfly wings beating the air. I was completely disoriented as I slowly struggled to wake up when every piece of me just wanted to stay sleeping in my warm, cozy cocoon forever. I felt so good, right, content, when I always had a lingering sense of aching misery.

Still, giant dragonflies shouldn’t be in my bedroom. I stirred and struggled to sit up, but my cocoon bed was more sticky than usual.

“Max, you have to—” The stranger’s voice was cut off by a low growl that ripped through me with the force of a tornado.

I gasped and was awake, struggling in the implacable grasp of a war beast with glowing eyes who glared into the lengthening shadows with his lips pulled back from his dagger teeth. I’d only seen him smiling before. This was…

His ears flattened, and he looked at me with big eyes and a slight whine. “I’m sorry they woke you,” he rumbled, more feel than sound to those words.

I swallowed, trembling. Fight. Flight. I was already in his grasp, helpless. I swallowed again because my mouth was still way too dry while I stared at the beast. “It’s fine,” I whispered. “I shouldn’t have fallen asleep. We need an empty shampoo bottle to gather the sky I’ve been collecting.”

He finally released me and I slid out of his grasp, heart pounding as I backed away from him. He watched me for another beat of breathless certainty that he was going to pounce on me and rip me to shreds, but then he focused his gaze on the newcomer with the giant dragonfly.

When he looked away from me, I ran, darting up the rocks to the shampoo bottle and Ruin’s clothing. I dressed hurriedly and then opened the bottle, performing the spell I’d been setting up all day on our wild ride, and the shower, even the nap. The sky swirled for a moment before it spiraled into the bottle, as easy as that. I was screwing the lid back on when Max, the human variety, came up the rocks, fully dressed.

“We need to get back now, if you’re finished with your sky,” he said, concern in his eyes that hadn’t been there before.

I grabbed the enormous clothing his beast had worn, the basket of shampoo and conditioner, and then hurried towards him. “What happened?”

He took everything from me while he frowned. “There’s been a mass poisoning in Song. They traced it to a factory where certain snacks are made that werewolves and goblins like to eat. The warehouse is full of sick wolves.”