CHAPTER THIRTEEN
ALEXANDRA
We sit on my couch the next morning with coffee and donuts on the table between us, and I make myself ask the question I've been avoiding.
“So what does this actually look like? Long term.”
Bran sets his coffee mug down and angles his body to better face me.
“I cannot give up being Lord of the Woods,” he says. “It is not a job I can quit. It is what I am. Without it, I would cease to exist entirely, not simply retire from it.”
It’s what I pretty much already figured, but it’s still a blow to hear it.
“But we do not have to live in my realm full-time,” he continues.
“I can be here with you. You should understand what that means, though.
The animals will keep finding me. I can dismiss them, but they will return.
Things will keep growing where they shouldn't. It will not stop happening, only get worse the longer I stay away from home.”
I think of the plants dotted around my condo that are now overflowing their pots. “So there’s no Mother Nature, you’re in charge of that too.”
The corner of his mouth twitches. “There very much is a Mother Nature, and she would not take kindly to having credit for her work given to me.”
“Oh?”
Bran reaches for a donut, breaking it in half. “We are not on the best of terms.”
That makes me laugh. Leave it to my boyfriend to tick off other supernatural beings. “So any others not like you?”
Sighing, he drops both pieces of donut onto the plate. “It is not that they like or don’t like me; many of them fear me.”
I grab part of the donut he dropped. “Fear you? But why? I mean, they’re powerful too.”
Bran nods. “They are powerful in their own right, yes. But most of their powers I can control.”
My jaw drops. “Holy shit! So we could be delivering Christmas gifts like Santa?”
Laughing, his long hair swings as he shakes his head.
“Trust me, you wouldn’t want to do that.
It’s far harder than you think. Father Time has to help Santa for him to be successful.
” His grin drops. “But if I wanted I could stop Father Time from manipulating time or refuse to allow the reindeer to fly Santa’s sleigh. ”
“Oh…” I nod, suddenly getting it. “But you wouldn’t do that, would you?”
Reaching out, Bran tugs on the end of my ponytail. “I would not.”
Taking a deep breath, I ask the next question that’s been on my mind. “And the realm where you live. What's that like?”
“I would like you to see it.” He says with a catch in his deep voice. “The possibilities there and what a life together could look like.”
I think about the birds all lined up and the squirrel on his shoulder, and my fears of bears and wolves camping outside my door. Then I multiply that times one hundred if he were to stay here instead of going back to his realm.
“Okay,” I say. “I’m willing to see it.”
Bran takes me literally, thinking I mean I want to see it now. He grabs my hand, and suddenly things are different.
There's no dramatic flash of light or spinning vortex like in sci-fi movies. One second I'm standing in my living room, then there’s a brief bit of fog over my eyes that’s gone in a blink and the next the air smells different, greener and cleaner, and sunlight streams through leaves instead of blinds.
I leap up from the couch and spin all around, trying to see everything at once.
It's my condo. Same couch, same ugly floor lamp I've been meaning to replace, same knickknacks and books on my shelves.
Except the walls have become windows I don't remember installing, and outside every one of them is forest. Not a backyard. Not a park. An actual, endless forest stretching in every direction as far as I can see. I dash from window to window, and it’s all the same.
“How,” I ask over my shoulder as I gaze out the window in fascination.
“It is your home,” Bran says. “Everything in it, exactly as it was.” He grins. “I only added the view.”
I press a hand flat against the window glass. A deer looks up from somewhere near the tree line, considers me for a moment, then goes back to grazing like this is the most normal thing in the world. For it, apparently, it is.
“This is insane,” I gasp before whirling back to face him with a huge smile. “This is completely insane, and I love it!”
His broad shoulders loosen, the tension and fear he was holding easing at my acceptance and love of his realm.
“My realm is but one of many, and there is someone I think you will want to see,” he says.
Before I can ask who, the world blinks and changes again.
We're standing in front of a house I've never seen before, but instantly I adore it. It’s small and covered in climbing roses that are a multitude of colors of the rainbow. The door is painted a green so bright it leaves me stunned.
Bran strides up to it and knocks hard.
When the door opens, he steps back, giving me a clear view of the woman standing in the doorway. My heart leaps up into my throat.
“Bee!”
I scream her name at the same time her brown eyes flare wide and she yells my name.
Then we're both moving and her arms are around me and mine are around her and neither of us can say anything because we’re laughing and hugging as tears stream down our cheeks.
Finally, we pull back, still holding each other at arm’s length, and take stock of the other. I gasp and let go of her as I take in the roundness under her yellow shirt.
“You're pregnant!”
“Surprise!” She laughs and wipes under her eyes with her sleeve. “I missed you so much, A. I never thought I’d see you again.”
I look over my shoulder at Bran, who’s standing a respectful distance away, letting us have this moment, while a pleased grin curves up his lips.
“You don't fight fair,” I tell him.
“I'm not above playing dirty from time to time,” he says.
His smile grows. “Let me give you girls some time together.”
Before I can utter another word, Bee grabs my arm and pulls me into her house.
Her kitchen smells like cinnamon and something else I can't place, warm and unfamiliar, and she puts a mug of tea in my hands that I don't remember agreeing to want. We end up on her couch facing each other, exactly like we used to in her old condo before any of this happened to either of us.
She tells me what happened when she left with Declan, the binding ceremony, meeting the elves, how her bad luck is a thing of the past, the family pot of gold, and about a stork telling her she was pregnant before she even knew.
Laughing, she shakes her head and places a loving hand on her round belly. “I never dreamed I’d have a kid, especially not at my age.”
“I’m sure marrying a leprechaun wasn’t on your bingo card either,” I tease.
We lock eyes and both burst out laughing, and it’s like the past year has been wiped away in an instant. A and B, together again, just like old times.
“Okay.” She wraps both hands around her own mug. “Your turn. Tell me everything. Such as why the Lord of the Woods brought you here. Not that I’m not thankful, but still, people don’t hang out with him.”
He had already told me that the others avoid him if they can, and that makes me a little sad. “It was a bit of a surprise that he brought me here. One minute I’m in my home, the next my condo is in some huge forest, then boom, I’m at your door.”
Bee’s brown eyes widen. “I mean, like, is he creepy? He seems creepy. Ancient forest lord shows up and whisks you away, that's more than a little bit creepy, A.”
“Bran?” Surely we’re not talking about the same guy. “He’s not creepy. I mean, sure he’s intense, and that takes some getting used to, but he's a sweetie.”
Bee stares at me. “A sweetie?”
“Yes.”
“You just described an older than dirt, scary-ass, immortal forest deity as a sweetie.”
“What? He is.” I shrug and feel my face getting warm.
She bursts out laughing, tea sloshing dangerously close to the rim of her mug. “I can’t believe this! You are so in love with him!”
I open my mouth to deflect, but Bee’s my best friend in the entire world, so naturally I spill all.
“Yeah,” I admit. “I am. I just don't know how to actually do this. Long term. For real. It’s not like I can change my mind after the fact. ”
Bee’s grin fades. She sets down her tea and reaches for my hand.
“I get it. It was an easy decision for me.
I didn't have much tying me down, and I fell hard and fast. But I missed you like mad, A. Every day. If you decided to become immortal too, I would be so happy. We could be besties forever. Literally.”
I squeeze her hand. “I'd love that,” I say slowly. “But giving up my whole human life. My job, my apartment, everything I've built.”
Bee scoffs and rolls her eyes. “What's there to give up? Rush hour traffic? Work? Paying bills?” She smirks. “Girl, be serious.”
I stare at her for a second, and then I'm laughing too, because when she puts it like that, and knowing there’s an amazing man waiting for me somewhere in the trees, it doesn't sound like much of a sacrifice at all.
“Well,” I say. “When you put it like that.”
She grins and pulls me into another hug, and this time there are no tears, only smiles.