Page 67 of The Wind and the Wild (The Keepers of Faerie #1)

B y the time Dauna returns and keeps a watchful eye on us as Tynan assures the old blue door is closed, it is nearing early morning.

Aidyn has spoken little, leaning against the pillows near the fire I’m keeping and watching his sister and father with sleepy low-lidded eyes.

Terror is exhausting, and Una and Niall slept for several hours on the pillows beside me.

Now I hear them wandering just outside the door, curious of all the books in this strange place.

Dauna’s steady eyes move back and forth, never leaving them as she perches against the wall, her leg over Aidyn’s knee as if frightened to lose his touch.

The kittens are fed and wandering about on their unsteady legs. One sits and yawns, tiny eyes on me. I cannot help but wonder what would’ve happened had I never stumbled across them or if someone else had.

I scratch its tiny chin.

“ Will they grow as large as the one we found?” I murmur.

Aidyn blinks slowly, as if remembering I am here, though I’ve felt the weight of his eyes along my back for quite a time now.

“ Yes,” he murmurs. “ They will be no less wild for being creatures of the Gentry. They fall somewhere a little more in between, if I am correct.”

Dauna raises a thin eyebrow as if such a concept is uncertain to her.

“ They will always remember you,” he continues, softer. “ I think they shall always come to you in the woods, if you choose to come into Faerie after this.”

I’ll be safer in Faerie now than I have ever been.

Now does not seem the time to mention such things, especially with Una and Niall listening.

I am in no hurry to think about it. Exhaustion drags at me, and I am ready to sleep for ages and be done with this midsummer until next year and hope the next is not quite so eventful.

I lay my hand near his where it rests limply along the covers. His fingers fold through mine, but with his sister watching us with tired amusement, I feel too sheepish to simply crawl over and kiss him.

Tynan brushes through the doorway with careful movements, startling me with his sudden and quiet appearance.

He is considerably ruffled compared to hours ago when I chased after him, but the tangled hair and a tear in his loose shirt do not cut upon the imposing figure, let alone make me forget that I am looking at a creature who might’ve known humans when they were still new to these lands.

With less danger draped over us, I find myself dipping my head and lowering my eyes.

He regards the three of us equally, carefully moving one of the stray kittens off his boot. I cannot fathom what he thinks of such things.

Finally, he gazes at me. “ I owe you several favors, little human. Are there any you wish to ask of me now?”

My mouth pops open, eyes coming back up, thoughts swirling around the unexpected gesture. “ I.. . no? Oh, wait. Um ... my parents. They’re likely returning from the city by now. If they come across the hounds on the road back—”

He gives a small nod and the barest hint of something that might be an amused smile. “ We can watch over them, though I do not believe those creatures will cross along the human roads. ’Tis not in their nature, as you have seen.”

I swallow thickly, nodding.

My expression must be doubtful, for he says, “ We will ensure they arrive safely.”

“ Thank you,” I whisper.

Dauna’s gaze flickers between her father and brother, and she rises in a fluid motion. “ I shall find them. I will not frighten them; they will not see me.”

She offers a quick smile with those last words. I open my mouth to ask if she is all right after the night, if she shouldn’t sleep, but the thought of her watching over my da and mam is more comforting than I realized.

“ Thank you,” I say again.

She points to her brother. “ If he moves too much, remind him I shall knot his hair and throw him into a lake.”

Aidyn’s lips press together in annoyed amusement despite the haziness in his eyes, but I giggle nervously.

After kissing Aidyn and then her father on the cheek, Dauna slips out the door. I hear her soft voice saying something to Una and Niall.

When I look up, Tynan is still gazing at me. “ If you’ll pardon, I must tend to and speak with my son.”

All of Aidyn’s words about his father flood back, and I find myself nodding before I can truly wrap my head around the fact he’s asking me to leave the room.

Glancing at Aidyn, I find no alarm or discomfort in his expression, just glossy tears hanging in his eyes.

Despite Tynan’s watchful eyes, I lean over and hug Aidyn about his shoulders.

His arms weave about me with overwhelming strength, his face pressed into my neck, breathing in deeply.

“ It is well,” he says softly, and I wish I knew what passed between them when they were speaking in their own tongue. When I lean back, he wrinkles his nose. “ Do not cross back on your own so early.”

I shake my head, getting unsteadily to my feet and stepping over a kitten. “ I have no such ideas, believe me.”

His mouth twists in doubt, but I’ve no intention of leaving the safety of the library until the sun is quite high.

Tynan nods to me as I ease my way out the door, closing it as quietly as I can.

Una is alone near the railing, leaning over the branch of the tree and handing one of the plums into the leaves.

A moment later, the brownie comes down, chatters at her, and snatches it.

From deep inside the branches, I believe I see a few tiny hands reaching out to their mother.

Una glances at me with a bit of tired amusement. “ Dauna offered to take us back. N—uh, he went. Our parents are probably having fits.”

I grimace. I can only imagine how my own mam and da are going to react when I retell this tale.

Her eyes flicker to the door. “ Are they all right in there?”

“ I don’t know,” I admit, glancing at the keyhole. They must be able to hear our words, but I stay still and silent before crouching and pressing my eye to the crack.

If Tynan knows I’m near the door, he gives no indication.

I cannot hear what they are saying to each other and doubt I would understand if I could.

Tynan has seated himself along the pillows against Aidyn’s side, his head lowered.

Crouched together, they appear much less the terrifying creatures we are warned of, as if we should not be leaving them shrines but going into the woods to befriend them.

I know better, but only hardly.

Aidyn’s lips are moving ever so slightly, and Tynan is undoing the bandages and pulling aside the collar of his shirt with utmost care.

I see his shoulders move as if sighing, and even in another language, the soft frustration in his tone cannot be mistaken.

Aidyn says something else, jaw clenched and a wobble in his chin.

Tynan’s hand drifts up to touch his cheek before he bends to kiss him and pull him into his lap as if he is a child.

My throat burns, and I ease away from the door, embarrassed I intruded.

Creeping across the old wooden floor, I join Una near the other side of the wall where I first picked up the book of constellations.

She’s seated on the edge with her legs through the slats of wood, dangling in the air.

I sit beside her, resting my chin against the railing, which is still shockingly stable after so long.

“ Yes, I think they are going to be all right,” I murmur, and she nods. “ Will you be?”

She heaves a quiet sigh. “ Well, I didn’t have that monster breathing right into my face, so yes.”

I wrinkle my nose and shiver. “ Perhaps don’t tell my folks about that detail. It’s not as if I’m keen on repeating it.”

She glowers but rolls her eyes. After a moment, she asks, “ Do you ever think about what caused it the first time?”

It takes my tired thoughts a moment to catch up to what she must be asking. “ You mean with me and Blain?”

She glances back.

I wrinkle my nose again. “ I gave that creature his name.”

“ He turned over his own grave.” She matches my grimace. “ I cannot imagine angering fae and bringing them into the homes of people I’ve been laughing and joking with.”

I shake my head, leaning my temple against the railing. “ I thought I could brush off everything he did. It was far outside of me, I suppose.”

“ You bargained for him.”

“ I did. It didn’t seem right not to. At least he has his own fate in his own hands now.”

She hums. “ What do you think they’ll do to him if he steps near Faerie again?”

“ I don’t wish to think about it much.”

She makes a soft noise of agreement, and we fall into silence before she asks again, “ Do you? Think about it?”

I shrug. “ Not often. We all figured someone probably stepped on a mushroom. It doesn’t seem as if it matters much.

Something caused it, and it was a long time ago, and they evidently are not interested in us once they realize we have not overstepped.

They could’ve killed me that night. They didn’t. ”

Una is quiet.

“ Why do you ask?”

She shrugs one shoulder, arms draped over the railing, her finger nudging my ruined one offhandedly.

“ I just think about it sometimes. It could’ve been any of us kicking over a mushroom or stepping on something else we shouldn’t have trod upon.

It could’ve been hours or days before you and Blain went into the woods.

” Her eyes flicker briefly to mine. “ Niall and I went into the woods once at night, maybe a week before. Did you know?”

I snort. “ Hmm, you and Niall kissing in the moonlight... My goodness, you’ve been hiding it for ages. I wouldn’t have the self- control. I came and told you about Aidyn immediately.”

She rocks into me. A wilting flower falls out of her hair. I touch my askew braid for Aidyn’s bluebell and find it clinging.