I wanted to stay, badly, but sense was telling me I had to leave like he said."You don't have to argue with every word I say. We'll come for you later. Go
now."
Returning his steady gaze with one of my own, I picked up on something I'd
been unconsciously registering. There was a barrier between Breandan and I. Pulling
my brows together, I tilted my head to watch him, watch me. Not a physical or
tangible barrier; invisible. He shimmered and rippled into something different. A soft
nimbus coated his entire being. Pearlescent it repelled my gaze.
"Stop hiding from me and I'll go," I said. "You want me to trust you and I can
manage some trust since you haven't killed me. But you have to trust me back. You
say you're a demon, well then what kind? Show me your true form."
"I don't have the time for this."
"Come on, it can't take that long. Show me then you can run off and do
whatever you were doing before you just had to help me."
He made a noise of frustration and pointed again. "Will you at least move in the
right direction as we talk?"
I nodded curtly. I was persistent not stupid. If he was this antsy something bad
must be coming this way.
"If we run I can get you back and maybe catch it up. Follow me," he said.
And then he was gone. One moment he's walking, and the next he's a silver
blur zipping through the trees ahead of me.
It was odd, because I knew it was demon fast, but I could track his movement
with my gaze. Was it crazy that I wanted to follow him? Grudgingly, I admitted to
myself I'd never wanted to follow someone so badly, and I was never one to shy away
from a physical challenge. I'd run blindingly fast from the hounds, and the only
difference between now and then was that I was scared. Huh, piece of cake. I had
loads of scared stored up around the solar plexus area. Tapping into the well of energy
inside me was too easy, and I burst forward.
Everything was so bright and lively, and it was nothing for me to flow across
the land at a velocity strange, yet comforting. Breandan took a sharp turn and I was
pleased to see I was gaining, gliding across the ground at his side. A chuckle caught
my ear. I had made him laugh, and a silly tide of happiness blazed through me. I
grinned, and laughed, and sped up to leave him trailing behind. The floor yielded to
every pound of my foot. Not a single branch snagged my hair or cut my skin becauseI didn't let it. I zipped and dodged, jumped and spun a trail in the undergrowth. I
didn't know where I was running to, but it felt good to be in motion.
The air was heavy with a piquant scent that fizzed on my tongue. The silhouette
of trees taller than any I'd seen rose high in the sky, and a few stars winked out of
sight. I'm not a botanist, so all I can say is that there were plants. A big orgy of red,
blues and purples scattered everywhere. The breeze was crisp and made everything
sway in orderly chaos. The buzzing of insect and restless whining of beast punctured
the dawn in harmonic beat.
I knew the moment Breandan's hand reached for mine. My skin tingled and like
a magnet seeking its opposite, my hand moved to meet his. A light tug slowed me to a
stop. I plucked a leaf from my hair and brushed a lick of dirt off my cheek. I could
have continued this grooming session for a while since I felt twigs and thorns caught
in my clothes and hair, but I was distracted.
Breandan stood still and let me roam my eyes over him. His profile was sharper
somehow, and I pushed the hair out of my eyes to drink the strong column of throat
that flowed into solid chest. His ears held my attention for a long while, couldn't say
why, before my gaze slid over the straightness of his nose, and the strong planes of
his cheek and forehead.
"Let's keep moving," he said. I stood still and he had to either tug me again or
let go of my hand. He let go and sighed dramatically. "Stop being difficult. If you're
not back at Temple soon, they'll be suspicious of you and it won't be safe there
anymore."
He walked off and took no more than five steps before I felt an insistent tug, a
niggling urge pushing me toward him. I suspected it had something to do with that
painful heat I'd felt when he'd touched me skin to skin for the first time. He had a lot
of explaining to do. Gritting my teeth, I started after him and reached out the same
moment as he did to clasp hands. We trod a path of crunching leaves and snapping
twigs. The breeze was sweetly fragrant and smelled of green things. It was quiet now
apart from the sound of small furry things going about their business in the
understory.
"Speak then," I said. "Don't go all shy on me."
"I'm a fairy."I blinked and froze. The wind stirred fallen leaves and wrapped his words
around me. A few words truly can take your breath away, or make you doubt your
own mind. I walked on, not seeing, hearing or feeling.
I managed a sharp noise. "You must think I'm stupid or something. You want
me to believe that you are one of the rarest species on the planet?"
He bit back a smile. "You believed I was a demon easily enough."
"Well, we are in demon territory. You hid from Clerics and only demons do
that."
"You ran from Clerics."
He had me there. "Uh, we're not talking about me," I said hotly. "I'm not the
smartest girl, but I'm not stupid either. I'll be just as impressed if you tell me you're a
shifter or witch."
"What about me don't you believe?" he asked after a small pause.
I was on a sarcasm-high now. "Yeah, sure. I believe you. Lucky Rae see's two
fairies, the one kind of demon that is nearly extinct. And she sees them within minutes
of each other. Even though the odds of that are–"
"What did the other look like?"
"Uh, green skin and all this long fiery hair."
He made a clucking noise meant to sound cross, but he smiled radiantly, silver
eyes faraway. "I told her to hide her true form."
The direction of my thoughts became hideously plain, and icy horror froze the
blood in my veins.
"I'm guessing you know her?" I tried to keep the question casual but my voice
sounded shrill.
"The fairy you saw is called Maeve. She's my little sister."
I stared at him, my lips becoming numb. "Sister," I whispered. "How can you
know that? Aren't all of your females green with red hair?"
"Do all human females have light hair, eyes and skin? No, all fairies are unique,
though, there are typical things like our pointed ears and sharp teeth." He must have
figured I was having a simple moment. I didn't back chat like I usually would. "Don't
worry," his voice was gentle. "Maeve is a force of good. She's been looking for you
too, and she wouldn't hurt you. She's young and stealth is not her gift. She has skills
with a blade not even Conall can match." There was a deep affection in his voice as
he spoke of her.I felt dirty for not saying something sooner and opened my mouth to speak.
Those curls of fear sprung up in my belly, and lashed at my insides to silence me. I
locked my jaw.