“So what you’re saying is ... this isn’t a perfect science – this incubus sexy energy sucking thing.”
“No. Not at all. And the hardest part is learning to control it. I’m going to need a lot of practice ... ” He sidled up closer to me, putting his hands softly on my shoulders, squeezing them ever so slightly.
I couldn’t believe our super nice, guitar playing, pizza-providing friend, Spike, was a skin piercing sex energy life sucker. It didn’t fit his personality – but I had to admit, it definitely suited his look. He was hot, hot – incubus hot – through and through. I shrugged his hands off my shoulders and stepped to the side. The heat that had started to rise up in me made me feel disconcerted.
“All of the fae become something similar to their fae selves in the Underworld. Even you,” he said, the hint of the devil in his eyes.
“Me? Seriously? I wonder what I become,” I thought out loud. I’d have to remember to ask Gregale that question.
“Well, that doesn’t seem right,” said Becky, miffed.
“What?”
“Well, you go to the Underworld and you get to be some other creature. An immortal one this time. And you go to the Overworld and get to be what? Nothing? A memory? I don’t want to just disappear when I die. Even if it is a really long time from now.”
“Valentine said we become something in the Overworld too, but not vampires. Some kind of angel or something like that.”
I nodded my head. Now this stuff was starting to make some sense. Well, as much sense as supernatural shit could make. “So vampires are real. What about zombies?”
“Yep.”
“No fucking way!” I yelled. “That is so freaky!”
“I know, right?” agreed Spike.
“Man, oh man, did I live a sheltered life before I came here,” said Finn, shaking his head. “Sometimes I wish I could get it back though, ya know? I mean, there is such a thing as too much information at some point.”
We all went quiet thinking about that. It reminded me of Tony.
“Hey, I heard from Tony.”
Becky perked up instantly. “Cool! How is he?”
I sighed. “He’s okay, I guess. He kinda told me to back off and give him some space, though.”
Becky’s face fell. “Oh, Jayne, I’m so sorry.” She stood up from Spike’s bed and came over to rub my upper arm.
I shrugged, looking down at the ground and not in her eyes; I didn’t want to see the pity there and start crying. Tim came over and landed on my shoulder. I felt him sit down and stop moving his wings. “It’s for the best,” I admitted. “I can’t go back there and he can’t come ... here.” My voice caught on the last word. I had to stop talking so I didn’t embarrass myself.
Becky grabbed me in a tight hug and Tim launched himself up to fly above our heads. I could hear the buzzing of his wings as they beat furiously to keep him alight.
I squeezed her back and then stepped away. “So anyhow, I’m gonna give him some space and just focus on figuring this fae stuff out. Then maybe after a while I’ll be able to get back in touch with him and not be so emotional about it.”
Finn looked over, sympathy for me in his eyes. “Well, I hear ya, Jayne. Our worlds don’t mix so good, I guess. But don’t you get too bummed out about it. He’s a good guy. I know he don’t wanna be totally without you. He probably just needs a little time. He’ll be alright. At least he ain’t here fixin’ to get into a war.”
“Yeah, there is that.”
Spike came over and rubbed my back. This time it wasn’t the sexy kind of back rub. He was just being a friend, which is totally what I needed right now.
“I know we’re no substitute, but you’ve got us too, don’t forget.”
I smiled at him and then the others. “No, I won’t forget.”
Tim zoomed down from above us and hovered in front of my face, doing a spin in midair.
“Yes, and I have Tim too.”
“Tim the badass pixie,” said Finn, a smile in his voice.
Tim looked at him suspiciously but then smiled. His natural exuberance couldn’t be smothered. Not even by Finn’s teasing.
“Well, I’m tired,” I said, yawning. “I’m going to bed. ‘Night guys.” I had no idea what time it was. I wanted to go visit Chase before I went to bed too – alone, or at least without a bunch of fae with me. Tim would be okay, though. I wanted him to meet Chase anyway.
Once we were out in the hallway, I explained to Tim where we were going. Anyone who happened to walk past us would probably have thought I was crazy, talking to myself, because Tim had once again taken up residence in my hair.
We arrived at the infirmary in no time since it was close to Spike’s room. I made my way down the center aisle to Chase’s bed, and once there, sat on the edge of his bed, looking down at him.
Tim came out of hiding, first hovering above Chase’s head and then lowering himself until he was standing on Chase’s pillow next to his face.
“This is Chase.” I explained. “He took a spelled arrow meant for me in the back, so he’s my hero. They don’t know what the spell was though, so they can’t help him yet.”
Tim marched over until he was standing next to Chase’s right cheek. He leaned on Chase’s face, trying to look closer at his eyes. He flew up, landing on Chase’s forehead and getting down on his knees. I watched as he leaned down and grabbed two pixie hands full of Chase’s eyelashes, pulling on them for all he was worth.
“What the hell are you doing, you little freak? Trying to turn his eyelids inside out?” I reached over to wave him away. “That is some seriously messed up shit, you know? The guy is helpless.”
Tim dropped Chase’s eyelashes, putting his hands on his hips in frustration.
“What?” He was obviously losing patience with me, but I didn’t know what for.
He lifted his hand to his own eye, forcing his eyelid up.
“Oh. Duh. You want to look in his eyes? Well, why didn’t you just say so?”
I reached down and lifted up Chase’s eyelid. His pupil didn’t respond to the change in light. I was no doctor, but this couldn’t be good.
Tim jumped down onto Chase’s cheek, walking over so he could look into Chase’s eyes. Then he flitted over to Chase’s chest and laid down on top of it, his ear pressed to Chase’s heart. Last, he flew over to Chase’s hand, working like hell to push it over. I helped him turn Chase’s hand so it was palm side up. Tim put both of his puny hands on Chase’s wrist pulse.
I watched as he cocked his head to the side, concentrating on what he was feeling.
Tim flew up to my ear and started chattering. It was totally quiet in the infirmary at this time of night, so it was easy to hear him.
“I know someone who can help him.”
“Who?”
“A witch.”
“Well, who is she? Let’s go get her.” I started to stand.
“No, she’s not here. She’s outside.”
“Outside, where?”
“In the Green Forest.”
“Is she Dark Fae?” I whispered.
“I don’t know ... what difference does it make? But she lives out there, not down here.”
“Can you bring me to her?”
“Yes, tomorrow.”
“Why not tonight?”
“It’s dark and I’m afraid of the dark.”
“Wuss.”
“Too many things to fly into. Pixies don’t have the best night vision.”
“Okay, tomorrow then. We’re going. I have to do what I can for him.”
Tim took off and buzzed around Chase’s face, coming to rest on his forehead. He bent down and patted Chase near his hairline. It was cute to watch, this pixie reassurance and care for my friend.
“Come on, let’s go to bed.” I looked at Chase as I stood. “Goodnight, Chase. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I hated that he just laid there, unable to answer.
We left the infirmary, ignoring the sideways glances I received from the night
fae nurse. She probably thought I was back there talking to myself the whole time.
We got to my room, our room now I guess, and I opened up my dresser drawer to get out a fresh tunic and underwear. I wanted to shower before bed.
“Where are you going?” Tim asked in my ear.
“To take a shower. And you’re not going to watch, perv, so stay here.”
“I need a shower too.”
“Well, you can come take one in the sink if you want, but I don’t have any clean clothes for you.”
He flew to the dresser and stood on the tray, frowning.
A thought popped into my mind. “I can get you some though. Tomorrow. For tonight, you can just stay dirty. Here,” I kept the drawer open. “Sleep in here. I’ll leave it partway open for you. You should be safe and warm in here.”
Tim jumped into my drawer and stood on my folded clothes. The upper half of his body stuck out over the top of the drawer. He put his hands on the wood front, looking out at me. I bent down so we were face to face, trying hard not to smile too much, but it was difficult. He looked so adorable hanging onto the edge of the drawer like that – but I knew he wouldn’t appreciate that type of admiration. He saw himself as the badass that he was, size be damned – not the little, toy-sized fairy boy that my eyes saw.
“See you tomorrow, Tim.”
“Jayne?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for taking me out of the jar. And for believing me.”
“You’re welcome. Thanks for not pixying my friends. Or any of those other assholes.”
He smiled. “You’re welcome. And you know, if you ever change your mind, I can pixie anyone you like.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
I reached up and closed the drawer almost all the way.
I showered and got into my pajamas in record time, getting back to my room in less than ten minutes. I went to my dresser to make sure Tim was okay. I didn’t see him at first, which had my heart beating faster, but then I carefully lifted a tunic up and found him dead asleep underneath, his wings wrapped around his body making him look like he was in a cocoon. I gently laid the tunic back over him and went to bed, thinking about the witch I was going to meet tomorrow who may or may not be able to help my daemon friend, Chase.
Chapter 20
I saw Gregale at breakfast and told him I’d work with him after lunch. He nodded distractedly staring at the pixie buzzing around my head. It didn’t seem to matter that no one had been pixied so far. I guess everyone was worried they were going to be the first. That had to be a total drag for fae like Tim, everyone looking at you like you were some kind of terrorist or something. Poor little pixies. All they wanted to do was sing and dance and be happy. All these other fae were always being so damn serious all the time. In my opinion, some of them could probably use a good pixying. Like Niles, for instance.
My complete lack of planning or forethought about today’s witch-finding mission struck me as vitally important as soon as we entered the hallway and I realized I had no idea where to go. To find the correct exit door, I had to be able to imagine it, but I didn’t know where our destination was.
I stood in the hallway outside the dining room door, lost. “Tim, I have no idea which way to go. I’ve never been out the door you probably need.”
I heard, “Follow me,” faintly in my ear. Tim flew in front of me, heading down the hallway and eventually stopping in front of a door that had a gargoyle head in the center of it. That was only just a little freaky. Once again I found myself wondering what the significance of these different symbols was.
Tim hovered in front of the door, gesturing for me to open it. I thought about how much it must suck to be so little you had to have someone open every door for you to be able to go anywhere.
I opened the door and found myself in a dense part of the forest. “Whoa. Where are we? And how’d you know how to find that door?”
Tim flew ahead of me again, leaving me to follow. It should have been bright out here with morning sun but instead it was dreary. I looked above me to the treetops but there was only grayness between the branches. A heavy mist clung to the ground farther up ahead. Naturally, it was the direction Tim was headed.
“Tim!” I whisper-yelled. “Wait up!”
He hovered, waiting for me to catch up to him.
“Tim, I’m a little worried about this place. Are you sure there aren’t any Dark Fae out here? You know someone’s tried to get me before, right?”
Tim came and sat on my shoulder. The utter stillness in the forest made it easier to hear his tiny voice. “No one knows you’re out here but me. And if anyone gets close, I’ll send him to the Land of Eternal Happiness.”
“Yeah, but the last two attempts were done from a distance. With arrows. You won’t even see any bad guy who comes after me.”
“Good point.”
“I guess I could connect into The Green – ask it to watch over me.”
“No! Don’t do that!” Tim launched himself in front of me, waving frantically in front of my face.
“Fine, I get the picture. Why not?”
He went back to my shoulder. “She’ll hear us coming. She can sense the energy. She’s hooked into all the nearby ley lines.”
“Ley lines? What the hell are those?”
“Energy conduits beneath the surface of the Earth. You use them too. If you tap in, she’ll know you’re here. I’d rather show up unannounced.”
My mind was swimming with questions. “First of all, Tim, how do you know about my powers? And how do you know I use ley lines? And how am I using them?” Dammit. Every time I thought I had a handle on these powers, I discovered something totally new that called everything I thought I knew into question. These ley lines were a serious curve ball. How could I be tapping into them without even knowing it?
“We don’t have time for all these questions right now – but I know all about you because I was in that bell jar in that office where people were always coming in and discussing you. I heard what they said about what you were doing, and it’s obvious the ley lines are involved. It’s how many fae communicate with one another and the magic around us.” He stopped for a second to fly in front of me and encourage me forward.
I fixed him with my serious look. “We’re going to talk about this in more detail later. I still don’t know why we have to surprise this witch.”
Tim flew back to my ear again, even though I could tell he was getting frustrated with me. “Just trust me. You don’t want her having too much advance notice. She’s a little ... nutty.”
“She’s not going to hurt us, is she?”
“Hopefully not. She’s pretty nice. Not harmless, but nice. Just don’t lie to her. She gets upset when fae lie.”
An hour later, after climbing over fallen branches, kicking about a hundred mushrooms – a favorite pastime of mine – and tripping through the mist that had begun to gather around my ankles, we made it to a super giant, twisted up tree.
I’d never seen a tree this big or this gnarled. The base of it was as big around as a dump truck. Tim flew right up to the front of it and zipped back and forth and sideways like he was possessed. As I got closer I realized he was showing me a door, cut right into the side of the tree. In the middle of it was a doorknocker. It was another gargoyle, exactly like the symbol on the door back in the compound. Interesting. I had to remember to ask this witch what the deal was about those things.
Tim sat on my shoulder. “Go ahead. Knock three times. Not four, not two. Three.”
I reached up and knocked as instructed.
I waited, but nothing happened.
I reached up and began knocking like crazy, ignoring Tim’s squeaking in my ear. I felt him run up my shoulder and hide in my ponytail.
“Hellooo! Mrs. Witch! Anybody home?”
The voice came from behind me. “What do you think you are doing, foolish fae girl?”
I spun around, looking in front of me, but there was no one th
ere. Then I looked down and found the source of the voice. I don’t know why, but I had expected her to be bigger than this. She stood about four feet tall and she was a little hunched over. The hump on her back looked painful.
“Oh, hello ... down there. I’m ... uh ... here to see if you can help me with a little problem I have.”
“Huh,” she barked out. “Of course you are. You and all the rest of them.”
“The rest of who?”
She sneered at me. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“Yes, actually I would.”
She cackled at me. “You are not afraid of me. But someone here is.”
I could feel Tim shivering in my hair.
“Yeah, well, I’m not. Maybe I should be, but I don’t really know who you are – and I’m not here to do you any harm. So until you try to hurt me, I’m going to assume you’re one of the good guys.” I did rest my hand casually on Blackie though. Not to threaten her but to reassure myself. I wondered if she would burn if I touched her with it. That would suck to need it, pull it out, and have it act like a stupid stick and not a fucking awesome dragonfire burning fang thingy.
The witch smiled at me. She had the longest teeth I’d ever seen aside from my Blackie. A couple were missing near the front, and they were as yellow as corn.
“Wow. Nice teeth.” I just couldn’t help myself.
That had her really cackling. “Come inside. You make me laugh. It has been a long time since anyone has spoken so frankly with me.”
“Huh. Well ... if you like that, we’re going to get along real well. Most people don’t like it when I’m so frank.”
“Honesty is the best policy. Don’t ever forget that.”
“Yeah, well some people prefer to be lied to.”
“Not me,” she said, shuffling forward.
I moved out of her way so she could get to the front door. It had been painted green a really long time ago.
She passed her hand over the gargoyle knocker and I heard the door locks click back.
“Cool lock. Will it unlock for me?”
“No!” she barked out, ignoring my continued efforts to make it work as I followed behind. I waved my hand back and forth in front of it as I walked by, but I didn’t hear anything. I was going to try it on the door at the compound when I got back. Maybe it was the same kind of lock but for non-witches.