Bren scrambles up the trunk faster than a squirrel, evading me with ease. Crouched on the ground, I peer up suspiciously. “No human is capable of such speed,” I say. He’s not a vampire, but he’s not an elf, either. “What are you, boy?”
“Maybe you’re just slow.” He sticks his tongue out at me. “And I wasn’t lying earlier. You might want to check on your lady friend. Unless, of course, you don’t care what happens to her. That’s fine, too.” He climbs further up the tree, his muscles coiled as if he’s about to jump. But where would he go? Even if he managed to jump far enough, the branches of these perpetually damp trees would crack under his weight.
His antics tickle a memory. There’s something about this boy. “You’re not human.”
“You’re not human,” he snarls. There’s a feral light in his pale blue eyes. “This is my domain, prince. I command you to leave. Now.”
A startled yell filters through the trees.
Stella.
I bolt through the trees, the laughter of the boy following me. “She’s found them,” he calls in a singsong voice.
The landscape becomes a blur as I hurtle across the field and slam the front door open. I’d forgotten I had Stella lock it and end up breaking it into pieces.
“Stella!” I call. My heart is pounding with fear. “Are you all right, my love?” I finish stepping through the shattered door, wincing at the sound of splintering wood under my boots.
“I’m alive.” Stella’s head pokes around the upstairs wall as she looks at me through the slats of the banister. I want to collapse in relief, but I instead run up the stairs, standing before her in a second.
She yelps and jerks away from me, falling on her backside. “Don’t do that,” she says. “I’ve had enough weird stuff happen today.”
“What happened?” I say. “Is there danger?”
Stella shakes her head. “I don’t think so. But I keep seeing flashes of light. Here one moment and gone the next. It’s creepy.”
“You’ve seen no one? No creatures?”
She shakes her head.
“To raeg with that boy,” I grumble. “He’s full of tricks.”
Tricks. Lights. A forest, thick with enchantment.
“Fairies,” I say, realization dawning on me. “You saw fairies.”
With a groan, Stella covers her eyes. “What else is real?” she says. “Elves, fairies, vampires; what else?”
“If it’s mentioned in folklore, it’s probably real,” I say. “Or was, at some point.”
Stella shudders violently. “Stars,” she moans. “That’s awful.”
“There are very few monsters that are worse than vampires,” I growl. “And you are foolishly not afraid of them.”
Stella gets an expression on her face I’m not able to read. “That’s not true,” she says slowly. “I know they’re dangerous.” She hesitates. “But elves are dangerous, too.”
“Only toward our enemies,” I say.
“Which are?”
“Vampires,” I reply promptly. “Anyone who opposes us, naturally.”
I don’t like the smirk on Stella’s face. “What?” I say.
“It’s just that you’re monsters, too,” Stella says. “For some.”
“Do you think I’m a monster?”
Stella shakes her head. “No, of course not. But I don’t think it’s fair to take an entire race and paint them with the same brush, vampire or not.”
“Show me one good vampire, and I may change my mind about them.”
Stella looks at me, color rising to her cheeks, her storm-colored eyes narrowed.
Wilder.
His name hangs unspoken in the air.
“He’s not good,” I say flatly. “You just can’t see that.”
“I didn’t say anything,” Stella says hastily, but the color deepens, and she averts her gaze.
I hold back a sigh. “Someday you’ll see, Stella,” I say. “I just hope you aren’t killed in the process.”
She doesn’t respond.
“I can search our room,” I say, changing the subject. I’m not sure what else to say. “And confirm whether or not there are any fairies in there.”
“Our room?” she says, looking at me quizzically.
I walk down the hall and enter the room where Stella’s scent is strongest. I pull a crystal out of my pocket and power it up.
“What are you doing?” She asks. She sees the crystal. “Oh. Hey, you used that on me when we first met.”
“Yes,” I say. “I’m doing a reading on this room.” I start chewing the inside of my cheek when I remember that’s a human mannerism, and I stop. “It would appear that there’s been a good deal of magical activity in here, but it’s fading. I don’t detect the immediate presence of fairies or anything else, though that doesn’t mean they weren’t here. Only that they aren’t here now.”
“I saw something,” Stella insists. “A flash of light. At least four times since we’ve arrived, but never when you’re around. Maybe you scare them or something.”
“Possibly,” I muse, “but they have nothing to fear from me, as long as they’re friendly.”
“Are fairies typically friendly?”
“No,” I reply. “Not usually.”
Stella shivers.
“If you spot one,” I say, “try to ignore them. They really are the mischievous sort. Not very intelligent, either.”
Stella clicks her tongue. “Don’t say that, stupid. What if they hear you?” She speaks to the air. “I think you’re smart. Quite clever to have avoided the War like you did.”
I roll my eyes and pocket the crystal. “I am not stupid,” I growl. “And really, Stella, you are acting like you’re from the medieval times.”
“I’ve read about the fae,” Stella says firmly. “And I’m not going to go about insulting them.”
“There are no fae alive that can best me,” I say smugly. “I don’t have to worry one way or another.”
Stella eyes me nervously.
“It’s fine, Stella, mine.” I pat her on the head. “You’re safe.”
She still doesn’t look convinced, so I pull out my comm. “Would you like to talk to Quinn?”
“Yes, please.” Some tension leaves her shoulders, and she nods eagerly.
I press a button.
“Yes, my prince?” Sol’s voice comes in from the other side.
“Stella would like to talk to Quinn,” I say. “Are you in the middle of something?”
“I’m actually sitting right next to him.” A flicker of embarrassment radiates from his voice. “We’re playing video games.”
“Sol.” I don’t
