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. No words seemed adequate enough to explain what had happened.
Before I had been sad about what had happened to the fairy, even guilty. Who knows
what would have happened if I hadn't spooked the Clerics. They might have let her
go. If I told him what happened, how I'd disturbed them and gotten his sister killed,
what would he do to me?
Oh gods, I felt queasy. The stress was eating away at me, and I was wound up
tight right down to my baby toes.
Then the outline of something big prowled past, ghosting through the trees. I
forgot about Breandan, I forgot I'd seen his sister take a bullet to the chest, and forgot
I was lost in demon territory as my entire body locked down. Blood rushed in my ears
as the shadow trod a path parallel to where we stood. Breandan was calm and
unmoved so I toughed it out, and stayed put.
It emerged from behind a tree a few paces away to cross our path. Black and
freckled with flaxen rosettes, the big cat's emerald eyes with slitted black pupils,
swept over us. The powerful build and handsome face were too brawny to be anything
but male. Slinking to a stop, his ears pricked up and he looked me right in the eye. A
wave of consciousness flashed across my skin, and for a beat I couldn't breathe.
He padded over, thick claws glinting and pressed into my legs. A soft growl
rumbled in his throat and his whole body vibrated. I tensed then flexed my hand and
let it drift down. As he pushed his wet nose into my palm the growl became a satisfied
purr. The cat was warm and smelt musky. My fingers rubbed up the coarse hair
behind his ears then smoothed it down. He nipped at my finger and I yelped. He
twitched at the sound, and the long whiskers on his upper lip whistled as they cut
through the air. Nudging the back of my knee he made a contented noise, tinged with
almost an apology for startling me. His eyes lingered on mine, blinked at me then he
sniffed the air and gathered his front and back paws together. Ears flat against his
head, he paced forward and slinked lower.
I gasped, spotting a sable colored deer grazing within my line of sight, half
hidden by a few dogwood trees. The cat's muscles bunched tightly before he sprung
forward and bounded away. I didn't watch what happened to the deer after that.
Breandan watched me, head cocked thoughtfully.
I marveled at the short ebony hairs stuck on my fingertips. Evidence my
encounter had been real.
I trembled.
"Did that mean something to you?" I asked quietly.
"Oh yes," he replied and took hold of my hand, and started to walk again.
"Nothing out here will harm you unless you pick a fight first." He paused. "Usually
shifters are not that sociable. Rarely do they interact with those outside their pack,
even when they leave Pride territory. Do not make a habit of petting them. Despite
your difficult personality, I will protect you until death, but would prefer not to have
to deal with such dire circumstances unless necessary." Jerking to a stop he yanked
gently on the ends of my hair to pull my head back. "Alright?" His teeth nipped my
neck then his lips pressed a kiss to my pulse point. There he stood amongst the trees,
smiling down on me and waiting for my answer.
All the while, for all that I'd just experienced and all he'd told me, all I could
think was, he kissed my neck.
"Believe it or not I don't skip around looking for trouble. I only come out here
for some space to think and run. And I can take care of myself."
After a beat of silence he chuckled and walked on, continuing to tow me along
side.
A shifter. I had stroked a were-cat, one of the most feral demons in existence.
Only Breandan's firm grip and steady steps forward kept me moving.
"I never realized the different demon kinds lived so close together," I said.
"Our territories are vast. Right now we are in his back garden. The Pride
encompasses the entire human prison. That is why we showed respect and stayed still.
If he had taken issue with us here, he would have let me know. But then he has
probably scented the vampire too, and is happy to have the extra help in hunting it
down."
"Prison," I echoed, startled. "Vampire?"
Saying the name made my toes scrunch together in my boots and my stomach
pitch dangerously. The dead ones were not demons people dressed up to make scarier
than they actually were. Vampires were the creatures you made nicer in stories so that
you didn't pass out when reports one had breached the Wall, and eaten a few
homeless people came your way.
"Is that not what it is? A prison the humans have locked themselves inside?"
There was too much behind that simple statement I could not begin to get into.
"So, you can go wherever you like? To hunt vampires, I mean. It doesn't matter
you're not his kind?" I was fascinated. I had learned more about demonkind in one
hour than years of training.
"Why would I not be able to go where I liked? There has not been a war
between demonkind and we respect each other enough not impose foolish rules of
ownership. Though most of us do avoid venturing into vampire cities. Shifters are
bestial under a full moon, but sensible for the most part. The alpha-male keeps them
in good order. As for the vampire, he'll be dealt with soon enough. He's only on our
radar because he's been round for so long, nearly a month now. It's unusual for one to
stay so long from the safety of a nest. Unusual and worrying considering the timing."
The Wall stretched out for miles and miles. If the shifters Pride surrounded the
entire human region…
"How big is fairy territory?"
"Not as big as you may think. We are solitary by nature and usually travel in
mated pairs. Small families."
"There's nowhere you all get together?"
"I know what you mean. We have two wylds, the Orchard and the Grove." He
paused, slanted a look my way. "You're asking a lot of questions. You believe me
now? That I am fairy, that you are fairy."
"No," I blurted. "I'm not… I'm not."
"You never thought it odd you are able to push your body beyond the normal
boundaries of a girl your age?"
I ignored the fact he'd called me a girl, and batted his words away with my
hand.
"I'm stronger, yes. And I'm fast, but I always have been." I was stretching the
truth. I hadn't always been fast, but crazy fast.
"And that's all?"
My pace slowed to a dazed meander, an aimless weave through the mossy
trunks. Swallowing hard, I bit my lip and tasted blood. My hand strayed to where the
wound from a bullet graze should mark me and felt nothing. I had always been a
quick healer. Not that quick, but quicker than most. I was not like other people
because I didn't think or feel the same. I didn't eat right, or feel right when people
touched me. I got urges, strange urges to… I blinked away the sting in my eyes. My mind took a frightening and obvious leap of intuition. I stopped. Everything in my
world vibrated and slid to a canted angle then jerked straight, becoming new and
balancing to the truth. I gave myself time for the largest wave of emotion to subside.