Chapter 15
Periwinkle
Ithought doing one big presentation in front of the humans’ video cameras would set the record straight. But it seems people like to hear and see the same things over and over again before they totally believe them.
So here I am sitting on a wobbly chair on a makeshift set while yet another reporter smiles her blindingly white teeth at me and asks me questions as if off a checklist.
“And you’ve been traveling to our world for how long?”
I smile gamely and try to answer in a way that will make sense to her and anyone watching this interview through the TV.
“I don’t exactly know. We don’t have clocks or calendars in the shadow realm, and I wasn’t paying much attention to that sort of thing when I first arrived!
But I think it’s been a while. When I first came through, those phones you like to carry around were usually bigger, and a lot of them would bend in the middle.
And you had to press buttons instead of tapping on the screen, which I guess was less convenient. ”
The woman nods, looking a bit thrown. “Oh. Yes! I remember my mother having one like that when I was a kid. So I suppose…” She hesitates with a sour tremor of anxiety that I think might be because she doesn’t want to give away how old she is.
The amount of cream and powder smeared on her face suggests she’s covering it up as well as she can. “At least a couple of decades.”
“That sounds about right!” I agree cheerfully.
“I gather the ‘shadow realm’ is awfully dark. Do you find it difficult being here in the sun? You must need a lot of sunscreen.”
A laugh tumbles out of me. “Oh, no, not at all, actually. We don’t get hurt by the same things humans do—well, not all the same things. It was a little strange being somewhere so bright at first, but also wonderful.”
The reporter hums thoughtfully. “And what did you typically do on your trips? Before you had strange floods of darkness to deal with, I mean.”
It’s my turn to hesitate, because it wouldn’t be a good idea to mention that one of my main activities was blasting my own darkness at innocent people under duress by the sorcerer who used to hold me captive. The whole point is to make humans feel more safe around me, not less.
But I’ve enjoyed lots of more pleasant activities too.
“I like to visit the places where people feel happiest. Parks, playgrounds, entertainment complexes—anywhere they go to relax and have fun. As I mentioned before, I get nourishment from absorbing emotions, and it’s a lot more satisfying when they’re positive feelings. ”
A frown crosses the reporter’s face. “And does your ‘feeding’ affect the humans whose emotions you ‘eat’?”
I wave my hands emphatically. “Oh, no, not at all. You’d never even know I’m doing it! It’s like, your emotions give off this energy into the air whether anyone’s around to notice or not. And I just pick up on what’s already come out of you. I don’t do anything to you at all.”
Well, other than the fact that I’ve learned I can push my own emotions onto people. And blast them away if I get too emotional in any given direction.
Other facts I suspect it’s better I keep quiet about for now.
The reporter’s apprehension has simmered down. “Well, how wonderful that something we don’t need can keep you fed. I hope you’ve found the people you’ve encountered here are welcoming.”
Has she not noticed the hunters prowling around, or the soldiers with their rifles?
“Um, well, it would be nice if no one was coming at us with guns or nets or whatever. But most people have been very nice, like you!” I beam at her and then at the camera.
“The shadowkind who come to this world would like to live among you totally peacefully—and we can. We want a lot of the same things humans want. It bothers us to see you in trouble, which is why we’re trying so hard to sort out the mess here.
I really think we can fix this problem if we all work together. ”
“Cheers to that.” The reporter aims her own smile at the camera. “You’ve just heard from Periwinkle, one of the so-called ‘shadowkind’ who are attempting to clean up a strange atmospheric condition that’s uprooted all the inhabitants of Jackson City from their homes.”
As she chatters on to her unseen viewers, one of the TV staff people ushers me out of my seat. A little girl who can apparently juggle hamsters is waiting to go on next.
I guess the humans think my glowing is a similar trick? At least my super power doesn’t involve flinging harmless rodents around. I send a trickle of soothing energy toward the three furry creatures in the cage she’s holding.
When I step away from the recording tent, my own furry companion squirms over to join me. I bend down to rub Falkor’s long belly and grin as he wriggles off again. A few of the humans have turned to stare.
“He’s friendly!” I assure them. “No chomping or slashing.”
They don’t look particularly convinced.
At least the vibe around the evacuee camp seems to have mellowed out since the hunters showed up two days ago.
The figures with their whips and nets are still stalking around the edges of the city, claiming they’re just looking to subdue any hostile creatures we miss while continuing to glare at us every chance they get, but they haven’t pointed anything at us worse than the evil eye.
Rollick had a long talk with Colonel Hueber after the reporters who saw our initial confrontation broadcast it all over the country. Luckily the hunters came across looking more monstrous than us, so most of the reporters played up the drama of big bad bullies harassing the city’s saviors.
That means I’ve been able to make a little more progress. An achy sensation still grips my limbs from the day’s second session of sweet-talking the murky deluge early this afternoon. Maybe twice in one day was a little much even for me.
But from here, I can’t see any difference at all to the shadows cloaking the city. How can what I’m doing be enough if it’s going to take a million years before the city’s habitable again?
I’m pretty sure the people who call it home would like to move back in before they die.
I’ll just keep working on it and finding new tricks. The process might speed up once I’ve made more progress. Or maybe we’ll come across other beings with similar powers to mine who can pitch in too.
A salted-herring pang of loneliness passes into me through my bonds. I turn toward the sensation, tasting the different threads of flavor woven together.
It’s Mirage, bored and itching to pull a prank or invigorate the atmosphere but worried that he might disrupt people who won’t take kindly to it.
Playing isn’t more important than making sure the humans still want us around, he told me the other day after he befuddled the hunters. I’m not good at telling when I’ve gone too far.
A renewed smile touches my lips. He doesn’t have to fret about overwhelming me. A little play might be just what I need to revive my own energy.
I dive into the shadows and wind through the patches of darkness that stretch across the camp to where I can sense Mirage’s presence.
He’s slipped into one of the factories that border the city—one that escaped the deluge of murk and that’s been shut down for a while. I ease through a cracked window and glide along a dusty floor amid machinery that looks awfully bored too.
Mirage is bounding around on the second floor that only covers half of the vast open room below, entertaining himself alone as well as he can.
He darts along the railing on his human-like feet, bounds into the air while transforming into fox form, spirals through a few flips, bounces off the wall, and spins around to land on his renewed hands.
Illusionary applause echoes through the dim space.
He doesn’t appear to have noticed my approach yet. Perfect.
Holding my emotions in as tightly as I can—a practice that doesn’t come naturally to me—I slink up to the second floor and position myself behind him. When the fox shifter pauses for a moment to roll his shoulders, I pounce.
I fling myself out of the shadows and into physical form at the same instant, tackling Mirage like I expect him to give me a piggyback ride. Adrenaline spikes from him to me as I glom on to his back, but he laughs at the same moment and whirls us around.
“You decided to catch me by surprise for once! My sneaky Rainbow.”
I kiss the crook of his jaw just below his earlobe. “I didn’t think you should have to play alone.”
“But I’m never really alone now that we’re connected.” He peers around at me with a joyful gleam in his bright brown eyes that makes my arrival worth it.
The gleam glimmers slyer. “Catch me if you can?”
Mirage vanishes beneath me, leaving me tumbling for a split-second before I shoot after him into the shadows.
A laugh bubbles through my essence. I whip after my foxy mate, tracing the citrus-sharp sweetness of his exhilaration across the abandoned factory floor.
I do catch him under one of the vacant tables, twining my being around his. Mirage yanks us both into physical form to roll around and toss me back onto my feet. “Your turn!”
With a jolt of my own excitement, I dash away from him. It only takes a few steps before a prickle spreads up my ankles, and I spring into the shadows instead. Past the shelves, around the sagging stack of boxes, over and under more tables…
I’ve almost returned to the railing when Mirage wraps around me, and we both tumble into physical form. He twists as we fall so I’m cushioned by his lean body, toppling into him with my legs splayed on either side.
Our hips press together, and sudden desire that’s much headier than the previous thrill floods us both.
Mirage pushes up to catch my lips as I lean down to meet him. Our shared delight at the kiss beams around us in the pinkish glow of my hair.
The fox shifter runs his hands down my curvy body, nothing but satisfaction emanating from him as he traces the soft slopes of my breasts, my stomach, my thighs. An urgent noise works from his throat.
“I like it when we’re all taking care of you together… but sometimes I want you just to myself, Rainbow. I want to savor every bit of you just for me.”
I bow lower, my hair falling forward to frame his face as well as mine, the tip of my nose grazing his. Love swells through my chest, so fast and breathless I know he must feel it too.
Words seem necessary anyway. “I want times when it’s just me and you too. There’s something special when it’s all of us, and something different that’s special when it’s only the two of us. You can make me so happy all on your own. You know that, right?”
He grins at me, so bright my heart skips a beat. “I do now.”
He kisses me again, his hands skimming back up my body to cup my breasts. In this moment, the layers of fabric between us feel like nothing but an annoyance.
I kiss him harder and then blink in and out of the shadows to dispel my jacket, dress, and underclothes all at once.
Mirage chuckles raggedly and performs the same trick beneath me, so fast I barely feel the loss of him. The glow of his mark beams from his chest to mingle with the light from my own.
Then his cock is pressing between my legs, the hard shaft sliding against my clit with just enough friction to make me sigh.
“No matter what those humans do, no matter what happens with the city, I’ll always be here to brighten you up if you get down,” he promises, teasing his fingers into my still-glowing hair. “You’re my treasure, Peri. Better than any gem, any heap of gold.”
I rock my hips against him, drawing a groan from both our chests. “And I’ll be here to do the same for you.”
He flips us over in one smooth movement and plunges right into me. The shock of the motion turns the jolt of pleasure even giddier.
I raise my knees to welcome him in and urge him on, every inch of my body tingling. As he thrusts deeper, he teases his fangs along my neck, sparking even more thrills.
The rhythm of our collision is all elation. I sway to meet him, trailing my hands over his compact muscles, kissing him until we’re both panting for breath.
Mirage slides a hand beneath my ass and tilts me at an angle that brings him even deeper into me. I gasp with a quiver of pleasure so intense it’s electric.
It only takes a few more thrusts before I’m crying out and clutching him as ecstasy washes through me. My body shudders with the force of my orgasm.
Mirage growls and fills me again, and again. Then he follows me with a rasped inhalation and a rush of heat inside.
He rolls us onto our sides and wraps me in his arms and the joyful warmth of his adoration.
“Did you get what you were looking for, Rainbow?” he asks in a mischievous tone.
I bump my nose against his. “I’m always happier after I’ve been with you. Did you?”
“I didn’t even know what I was craving until you came to give me exactly what I needed. That’s just how perfect you are.”
Unfortunately, the abandoned factory isn’t all that atmospheric a setting for romantic interludes. When we’ve caught our breaths, Mirage pulls me into one last lingering kiss, and we dip into the shadows to make our way outside.
We’re just emerging from the big brick building when a tremor ripples through the air. My heart lurches.
I spin around in time to see a thicker gush of shadow spilling from the rift overhead.