A fae Object with a name.
Sam and Tess walked out, each carrying a mug and a plate of fruit. I could have kissed them for their timing. Sam sat down and I barely managed to control my double take.
“I know, right?” Tess laughed, setting her mug and plate down before walking over to the three kits play pouncing on Zara’s twitching tail. “May I?”
That last question was addressed to Zara, but I wasn’t paying attention to her response. I was still too busy staring at Sam.
“You look . . . radiant,” I finally said.
Her hand went to her face self consciously, but she was smiling. With a shrug, she said, “It was too good an opportunity to pass up.”
Tess sat, snuggling the little black and white kit. “I figured it would work, even with borrowed magick. She must have taken a dozen selfies earlier.” Laughing, she popped a grape in her mouth and relaxed against the back of the chair.
Sam blushed. “I took three. I just wanted something to remember this,” she made a circular motion around her face, “by.”
Stella’s glamour cream had worked so well on Sam she was almost hard to look at. She’d been gorgeous before, but now . . .
“I don’t think I could walk down the street next to you, even if I put a double layer on.”
“Oh my god. Whatever, you two.” She ducked her head and took a sip of her coffee. Swallowing, she said, “It will wear off by tonight or tomorrow, when the magick fades. I just thought it would be fun.”
Trying not to frown—looking at her made me want to try to rub the lines that I knew were becoming etched into my own forehead away—I thought about that. She didn’t have to give it up, did she?
No, but it must be her choice, Trixie said gently.
“Sam,” I began. She held up a hand to stop me.
“I know what you’re going to say and, believe me, I gave it a lot of thought. As useful as this has been, I think I’ll remain human for the time being.” The expression on her face was serene. “Thank you, Roxie. And thank you, Trixie.”
At least someone knows how to show proper appreciation where it’s due. I swear she actually sniffed at the end of that statement.
We were joined by Gloria and the guys and the conversation turned to lighter matters. None of us were ready to delve too deeply into everything that had happened out on the water last night. Rand pulled a chair up next to me, laying a casual arm across my shoulders. Tess and Sam raised their brows, but said nothing. Toby snuck out of the house, doing his best to make himself unobtrusive and avoid Zara’s attention. He laid down at Rand’s feet and I saw the kit on Tess’s lap sit up and bat a playful paw at him. Poor Toby cast a nervous look at Zara and avoided looking at the kit trying so hard to get his attention. Sebastian came bounding up the stairs, Danai not far behind him. He trotted over to Zara, sat beside her, and proceeded to groom her face while Danai sat in the chair Clyde pushed out for her, looking tired.
“How are the children?” My voice sounded anxious, even to me.
“They are understandably traumatized, but they will recover. Children are very resilient. I performed a light healing on all of them again, as well as Dorn. There should not be any lasting physical damage from their ordeal. I left them some of the serum from Tess’s snails, also, since they were so interested in it after seeing her use it on Shay. I may have to send for a few more snails if Olen’s colony wants them.”
The mention of the snails no longer turned my stomach, but I’d still rather not talk about them. I redirected the conversation. “So, those water shifters . . . how are they able to survive in this river? Don’t Orcas and dolphins need salt water?”
“I can answer that. This river feeds into Maurepas and is freshwater, yes, but Lake Maurepas and Lake Pontchartrain are both saltwater. They probably have to go out to sea regularly, but they can survive here. There’s a magickal component involved, too, I’m sure. I imagine it’s the same with the rest of the water fae.” Clyde’s answer made sense. “There was even an article a few years ago about a pod of dolphins that were discovered in Pontchartrain. They’re probably shifters. One is an albino, or pink, dolphin, which is rare. She could be a hybrid shifter of some sort.”
Apparently, fae and shifters of the water were just as diverse as those on land.
“Oh, I’m supposed to tell you that Olen requests a meeting with you in one week.”
I could do a week. That gave all of us a bit of time to recuperate, at least.
One week later . . .
Once again we stood on the bank of the river, waiting. It had taken Sam’s borrowed magick two days to finally fade away completely. She didn’t seem any the worse for wear or even terribly disappointed, though she did say she was really going to miss the glamour cream. Speaking of glamour cream . . . I glanced over at Tess, noticing the dark circles under her eyes. She was still complaining about noises above her bedroom at night. Sam had broken down and both she and Toby had slept in Tess’s room with her for two nights in a row and heard nothing. She’d confided that she believed Tess was dreaming about the noises, as she’d seemed to sleep soundly both nights, but still claimed the noises had kept her awake when asked about it
