I feel him guide my hands down to his chest. “Here. That’s where all our vital organs are, so it’s where we get hungry the most. Spend a lot of time here, and you’ll make any and every fae you touch very full and very happy.”
“Right.” I’m so glad I can’t see what I’m doing, because I’m sure I’d combust. Altair has a spate of hair on his chest, but most of him is smooth. He’s got more muscle than anyone I’ve ever met - his pecs rounded and hard, his torso wide and deeply-cut with abs.
“That’s the spot,” He moans as I touch in the very center of him between the lowest ribs, where a solar plexus would be. “You’re the real deal, May. I can feel it flooding me - it’s so warm and potent. I’m so damn glad we found you.”
“You found me?” I quirk a brow, glancing my hand over his lower stomach and resting my fingers on the flatness there. Any lower and I’m in crotch territory, so any excuse to stall is great.
“That night, you know? The one Dane went overboard on you?”
“That was coincidence.”
“Oh, for sure. But I felt it, just like Dane did. Your Brightness. We walked away from you feeling a little less hungry and that’s how we knew. So we told Van Grier.”
Suddenly it makes sense. “And then Dane came to my work, pretended to apologize, and tried to kidnap me.”
Altair laughs. “More or less.”
“And why were you so worried about me sueing you?”
Altair’s smile is small and ashamed. “Courts are a big deal for fae. If a fae goes to the human realm, we’re bound by their court, just like we’re bound by the Bright Lady’s courts here in the Bright Place. If you sued Dane he’d have to stay until the whole thing was done.”
I pause at his stomach, and Altair must sense my hesitance, because he takes my hands off.
“I can spread what you’ve given me to the rest of my body,” His voice has a wink in it, even if I can’t see it. “All fae can. So don’t feel like you have to go lower than that with any of the others.”
“Oh thank the Lord and baby Jesus,” I exhale like I’ve been holding my breath for hours, and Altair chuckles and I hear him get up from the tub, the sound of water cascading off him.
“I’m decent,” He says after a while. I take my blindfold off only to see him standing in clothes again, but not the clothes he came in. He’s wearing a perfectly-tailored black outfit, a pair of loose pants and a fitted sleeveless tunic with dizzying silver embroidery on it, moons and stars and the whole galaxy seemingly stitched into the fabric. And the fabric - good God - it’s like liquid night, silky and flowing and yet so rich and opaque. The tunic has a hood, the silver galaxies stitched there too, and I squint and realize they really are galaxies, and they’re moving, spinning and whorling in place. His whole outfit is…alive. His black hair is done in a low, elegant ponytail that suits his high cheekbones, a silver clasp in the shape of a rose holding it back. His olive skin glows from within - like he’s been running for hours and eating nothing but kale shakes times a thousand. The silver stars in his black eyes are brighter than ever as he smiles.
“Surprise.”
“W-What happened to you?”
“This is my true form,” He laughs, rotating slowly once to show me the back, where two tails of his vest grow long and the threaded galaxies on it spin wildly. “Impressive, isn’t it? It’s made of dark matter and stardust. It’s hard to keep up without eating proper Brightness, though, so I haven’t been able to do it for a couple years. Do I look good?”
“You look…” My throat is so dry I can barely speak. “You look unearthly.”
“Well I am, technically.” He winks and strides over, pulling me into a bear hug. “Thank you, May. You don’t know how much it means, to be whole again.”
He’s so beautiful and so genuinely grateful - this beautiful creature, grateful to me of all people - that something like tears prickle my eyes as I bury my face in his shoulder.
****
Altair takes me to class after his feeding, though he ditches his true form for his regular plaid shirt and jeans. My vision blurs just like it did in my work’s parking lot, the colors settling differently and unblurring and just like that we’re a block away from my school.
It’s hard to imagine such an ethereal prince lies under Altair’s lumberjack shirt, but now that I’ve seen him truly I can’t get it out of my head. His skin still glows, just not as bright. But his eyes twinkle as he leads me through the crowd on campus rushing to the next class. People’s heads follow us, girls doing double takes and guys doing triple-takes. Not for me, of course, but for the dark-haired, easily-smiling, jovial fae walking next to me. When he ruffles my hair affectionately as he drops me off outside my class, I can practically hear the sighs of our onlookers.
“Who’re you feeding next?” He asks.
“Sir Charles after class,” I say. “Can you come get me, or -“
“No, I have to help Van Grier with something,” He frowns. “Quinn will be around, though.”
“Cool,” I groan.
“Did you guys get into it?” Altair asked. “I noticed he was feeling spicier than normal. You didn’t…piss him off, did you?”
“Can he be pissed off?”
“Oh yeah. It takes a lot, but unlike the rest of us, he never forgets. He’ll forgive, but forget about forgetting.”
“Greeattt.”
“Yeah, he’s vengeful like that. I think it’s because he doesn’t get enough sleep.”
“He doesn’t?”
“Nah. We don’t need sleep, but it’s nice to rest once in a while, you know? But Quinn barely ever rests. His way of dealing with the capture, I guess.” Altair thumps me on the back. “Don’t worry - one feeding and he’ll get over it. I’ll see you later. Study hard, okay?”
It’s an uphill struggle on a tricycle just to focus on what the professor is saying - lecture has never been my strong suit. Nothing in college has, really, except taking tests. I can cram days ahead of time and take a test like nobody’s business, which is why I’m still in college to begin with, frankly. God bless the standardized test, warts and all. At least, as long as I don’t accidentally allow any fae to wander into my room, I can study in peace back at the Monster Garden. Not that there’s an exam anymore, but - no noisy upstairs neighbors, no police sirens wailing at all hours, just me and the antique desk and a cozy mug of the house fae’s delicious hot chocolate.
I catch myself thinking this shit and shake my head - if this wasn’t all so real, I’d definitely think I was in a coma and dreaming all this up. I touch my fingers to my neck absently - the silver collar disappeared the moment we stepped foot in the human realm. No one else can see it, and it’s not in my reflections. I know it’s still there, I can feel its weight against my skin - a constant reminder it’s all real.
“Hey there,” A voice pulls me out. I look up to see a girl - Jasmine, I think her name is - standing at my seat. She’s really pretty, in that strawberry-blonde, freckled, cute snub-nosed way. I’d always sat in class behind her and marveled at her gorgeous hair; it looks like the color of a spring sunset.
“Hi,” I clear my throat. “Did you need something from me?”
“I’ve seen you around. We’re in a few classes together, aren’t we?” Her smile is adorable.
“Yeah.” My heart flutters - I didn’t even know she noticed me. She offers her mint-nailed hand.
“I’m Jasmine Williams. But you can just call me Jas.”
I take her hand shakily. “I’m May James. But you can call me Your Highness.” I pause, and she blinks. “Joke. That was a joke. You look more like a Highness than I do, honestly.”
Jasmine laughs, her greenish-gray eyes getting warm. “Thanks.”
The professor calls the class, and everyone shuffles out of the lecture hall, eager for food. Jasmine shoots me a look.
“Hey, you wanna get something to eat with me?”
The me before twent
y-thousand extra dollars would’ve had to turn her down - eating out just wasn’t an option, no matter how cheap it was. I had a tight budget that involved ramen and more ramen and frozen vegetables, sometimes, and peanut butter and bread. But now? Now I can go with her and pretend to be a real college student.
“Sure!” I smile. She takes me to this little pizza spot on campus I never knew about and lets me order half of the pizza, and together we scarf down cheese and talk about everything from shitty professors to our favorite books to how fast we’d dump a guy if he ate pizza like the guy in the corner is doing - piece by piece with a spoon. A spoon of all things!
“The man’s a monster,” I hiss around a pepperoni.
“Not a very good-looking one, either,” Jas giggles, delicately picking off a mushroom and eating it. I watch her eat, then look down at my own piece of pizza. My mouth bursts with flavors and my heart bursts with happiness all of a sudden.
“Thanks, Jas,” I say. “No one’s ever really - I’m bad at friends, so. I’m sorry in advance if I say stupid shit. Just let me know if I fuck up and I’ll do my best not to do it again. Not that we’re, um, friends already, I’m not saying that -“
“Hey,” She grins. “It’s cool. You’re fine. I’m sorry, for not asking you to hang out sooner. Turns out you’re a hidden gem.”
I blush up to my neck, and she teases me for it the whole time we’re paying the bill.
On the curb we exchange phone numbers, and Jas waves as she heads back to campus. I wave until my arm is sore, then stop just in case my enthusiasm seems like overkill. I don’t want to scare the only person who’s approached me away just yet.
I’ve got one more chore to do before heading back to Monster Garden - work.
I called my boss when I got on campus and asked him to adjust my hours to fit my feeding schedule for the fae. This week is the last week of school before summer break, and I might have another job under Vil’s thumb but I’m sure as hell not going to spend all my free time at Monster Garden. I plan to spend all sixty thousand dollars of my two-month money on tuition, which means I still need to pad up for living expenses. Vil promised to pay my rent while I was out of my old apartment and not dock it from my pay, which I thought nice until I considered six hundred dollars a month must be peanuts for him.
Working is easier than studying - I’ve done it so much it’s like breathing, and my hands move automatically, stacking burgers and lettuce and frying potatoes with mechanical ease as my mind races with all the new stuff that’s been crammed into it lately. I have to feed Sir Charles, and then tonight is Quinn. Tomorrow I have no work and it’s the five bouncer fae from the club. Saturday is work in the morning, then the invisible house fae, and a fae I haven’t met yet named ‘Barnabus’, who’s apparently in charge of keeping the garden safe. The next day is the dormant high fae, and then in the evening, Vil said he’d perform the ‘linking’ ceremony; the one that’ll let him threaten the high fae with death if they don’t fight against the lady who wants to close the Bright Place off again.
My stomach twists, all the pizza mushing up in it. I forgot - in all the soft beds and perfect baths and good hot chocolate I forgot I’m going to become basically like a high fae voodoo doll. He might be paying me, but Vilmor Van Grier isn’t a nice guy.
And then there’s Dane.
I set Dane for last, because I wanted to be as tough and experienced as possible before I got to him. The blindfold method might work for Altair, and probably Quinn too, but I know it’ll look strange to the lesser fae, who are used to Vil just feeding them without one. And if I dare wear it in front of Dane he’ll never let me live it down - it’ll become another piece of ammo in his belt to use against me. But I have to. It’s like the neighbor upstairs said - I’m a fucking prude. I can’t function if my eyes are so caught up avoiding stuff. And feeding is important to the fae, so I want to give it all of my attention, not divide it or give it out sloppily and half-assed.
At work, Marie asks if I’ve started using new makeup, and when I tell her I haven’t she laughs and says I must be eating well. After my shift’s over I round the corner and touch my collar, and after a minute or so Quinn walks out of the shadows, escorting me wordlessly. He clearly hasn’t forgiven me yet, and he definitely hasn’t forgotten.
Sir Charles is a dog-wolf-cactus, and therefore a lot easier to wash than a humanoid mostly because I don’t need a blindfold. And surprisingly, even though I was nervous about such a huge animal being rowdy, he behaves himself perfectly, sitting on his haunches in the tub that’s expanded to an enormous size to accommodate him. I pick a coriander, red pepper, and blue sage mix, and wash him down good. His spines are softer than I expected, and as long as I don’t run my hand the wrong way against his fur, I’m fine. His soulful brown eyes bore into me, his tail the only thing moving so excitedly it splashes water.
“Hey, buddy,” I smile up at him as I’m petting his chest. Altair said the torso was a good place to feed fae, right? “I’m glad you’re alive, you know.”
Sir Charles thumps his tail even harder and whines a bit. I laugh and carefully, slowly, stroke his velvet nose.
“When you fell off the shelf I thought you were done for.”
I’d checked the place where I buried him, today, and found nothing. Vil said Sir Charles’s plant was somewhere in the garden, so I make a note to find it when I go out to feed the dormant high fae before the linking ceremony. Sir Charles’s huge pink tongue on my face snaps me out of it, and I stagger back and fall straight into the tub’s water, coming up smelling like red pepper so strongly I start to sneeze.
“Boy, a-CHOO! You pushed me - a-CHOO! - don’t scare me like that!”
He just whines and licks me again, and I shield my face with my arms. At first my heart thuds wildly, afraid he’ll accidentally bite me with those huge teeth, but his licks are much more gentle this time than they were when we first met. Is he being careful…for me?
The licks start to tickle, and I yelp and manage to pull myself out of the tub sopping wet. I laugh as I grab a towel and sponge down, ordering Sir Charles to get out right now for being a silly dog. He just wags his tail and barks, shaking his whole huge body out and flinging a storm of water droplets everywhere.
Through the haze of doggy water drops on the sliding glass door, I swear I see someone standing there watching us - someone with white hair and a looming height. Dane? What is he doing here?
But just as soon as I notice him, he walks away. I snort. If he’s hungry, too bad. He’s gotta wait his turn just like everybody else.
Dinner happens in the dining room with the long table, and this time Vil joins me and the invisible house fae. The house fae serves roast duck stuffed with cranberries and orange peel, a side of white asparagus with some awesome stinky and awesomely tasty cheese. He (or is it a she? Or neither?) fills our silver glasses to the brim with cinnamon and star anise mulled wine, perfectly strong and spicy for the chilly fog that’s engulfed all of Monster Garden. The windows of the dining room are pure, misty white, the trees standing out like dark ghosts and the high fae rose domes glittering with condensed dew.
Vil eats with perfect proper etiquette, and I eat like Tarzan if Tarzan was raised by pigs instead of gorillas. I look up at the invisible fae pouring me more wine and smile.
“Thanks for all this. You’re a really awesome cook.”
The fae doesn’t say anything, but I swear I see the mulled wine jug stutter a little.
“Fae don’t need to eat our food, right? Just blood and Brightness. So you must’ve studied human recipes really hard to make all this great stuff.”
“Indeed,” Vil wipes his mouth with a napkin. “House fae can pull food recipes from the memories of any human they meet. I brought him to as many Michelin-starred restaurants as I could so he could learn.”
“It’s a he?”
“Perhaps. House fae have no true gender, but some choose to pick up habits or the accouterment of
a certain gender they feel close to. I’ve caught this house fae going through my ties and wearing each one quite enthusiastically.”
I snort a laugh, spraying an unladylike spate of duck crumbs. “Oops. Sorry.” I cover my mouth. “It’s just the thought of an invisible tie floating around is really cute.”
Vil smirks, draining his glass. The house fae glances a spare napkin over my crumb mess, and it disappears, the tablecloth spotless white.
“Thanks,” I smile. The napkin bobs a little, and then disappears.
“How are you settling in?” Vil asks.
“Just fine - I mean, more than fine, this place is like something out of a dream.”