Chapter 39 #2
He managed a watery grin. “It’s going to take some getting used to, not being the pretty one in the relationship anymore.” He wasn’t as chill as he was pretending — the way he’d shoved his trembling hands into his pockets gave him away — but I loved he was trying. “Can I kiss you?”
“Always. And you’re still pretty, you dickhead.”
His kiss was quick and light, merely a brush of lips, but he sat back and gave me a jerk of his head. “Thank fuck you taste the same, although your scent is different now.”
Vampires and their finely-honed senses, of course. “I suppose that is helpful.” I held out a cautious hand to James. “Baby, I’m not worthy of your tears. I’m still me. A plant-obsessed, somewhat sarcastic, tech-repelled vegetarian.”
He took my hand. Wiped his eyes again. Sniffed loudly. Shook his head. “You’re not part Fae, are you? You’re the real deal.” In a croak, he whispered, “You’re not human at all, are you?”
“That’s right, I’m not human. I’m Fae.”
“Bloody hell. I thought, when I saw your hair, then your face, but…” He sighed. “This is a lot to take in.”
I thumbed away the remaining teardrop from his cheek. “I’ve been imprisoned in human form for a century. It’s quite a big deal for me too. I’m so used to being Trace Dempsey, it’s going to be an adjustment to—”
“Trace isn’t even your real name?” Edwin cut in.
When I shook my head, he swore. “No, of course it’s not.
What other surprises do you have up your sleeve?
Christ, of all the times not to get the buzz from a cigarette or six, this is one time I really resent being a vampire.
” He stood and paced a bit, scowling at the darkness surrounding us.
“I’m going to make James a cuppa.” He legged it through the archway towards Bluebell.
I repositioned my aching knees, then took a perch on the edge of a stone tub.
“Do you mind if we wait for his return before I explain any more?” James shook his head, his expression numb.
The throaty purr of a motorbike broke the silence. Moments later, Edwin reappeared with Baxter in tow. She took one look at me and her face split into a wide grin.
“Ahh, mate, I’m so fucking happy for you.
Looks like it’s been rough on the old Faerie bod though, working out how to come back online, innit?
” She plopped down on her haunches, leather trousers creaking as she eyed me up and down.
“James, get that tea inside you. You know what they say about a nice strong cuppa being good for a shock.”
James dutifully brought the mug Edwin proffered him to his mouth. Then lowered it and said, “You knew about Trace?”
“Course I did, babes. He’s Council. He weren’t getting appointed without a full and thorough investigation into his background. Which is where it got interesting, right, Trace? Or should I call you Thèlo?”
I winced. “I hadn’t got that far.”
Edwin’s brows rose. “Say that name again.”
I swallowed. “Thèlo.” I spelled it out. It’s not entirely pronounceable in human language. Tay-loh is the nearest you can get.” The Th was halfway between a T and a th but I wasn’t going to quibble however anyone said it. It sounded foreign to my own ears.
Edwin continued his interrogation. “What does it mean?”
James slipped his hand into mine and squeezed.
He sipped his tea, his eyes darting to whoever was speaking.
“It means ‘whisper of’, ‘trace of’.” My laugh was short and bitter.
“I was the second born of twins; frail, underweight, sickly. An embarrassment. In times gone by, I might even have been swapped with a robust human baby, but my father was soft-hearted and insisted on keeping me. My mother named me as a joke.”
“And then what?”
“When we grew up, my brother died in a duel. I was already unbearably pampered and spoilt, but my father turned all his attention on me to the exclusion of all else. My mother was understandably heartbroken; she’d lost one of her children and went into a decline.
” I withdrew my hand from the comfort of James’ embrace and hugged myself.
“I was a shallow, vain piece of shit. Loosely connected to royalty, pretty, wealthy, plied with compliments, and feared for both my familial connections and my savage tongue. Pretty much my only redeeming quality at that point was my love of gardening and my ability to coax life into the most terminally sick of plants. I don’t mean with Fae magic,” I added quickly.
“Our world is very different from your Earth and it exists entirely through the magic at its core. I mean here, on this side of the Glimmer. I told you I was spoilt. I wanted to travel. To see lands I’d heard about in folk tales.
To explore. So, Father indulged me yet again.
And I fell in love. Not with the people, but the flora.
So many varieties I’d not even been able to imagine.
The seasons, so similar to ours and yet so different.
Farmers and droughts and monsoons and more. ”
“What happened, to get your Faerie self enchanted? You lost all your magic, right?” James sidled closer, his drink abandoned.
I shook my head. “I can’t, not right now.”
“Let’s give him a bit of space.” Baxter threw me what was left of my shirt. “Cover up, you bloody nutter. I know you’re tough, but it ain’t that warm.”
“You mean you don’t like ogling what you don’t get to play with,” Edwin muttered. He cast a glance at my patch of personal flower garden. “Let’s get the chairs out and find some blankets. James might catch a chill and it’s obvious this could take some time.”
James was back in his hoodie, but he did look cold.
Instead of bundling him up, I swallowed the nerves threatening to choke me and asked him to give me a moment.
I headed round the side of the carriage and out of sight.
The longer I put this off, the worse I’d worry about it not working.
With a knot in my guts the size of a football, I concentrated until my breathing was steady, then gingerly called on my magic to produce a fireball.
It worked as instantly and as effortlessly as if I hadn’t spent a hundred years with my skills locked inside a restrictive human shell.
Thank you, Goddess. I stuck it in a metal tray and set it down on the turf, winking at James whose eyes popped as I carried it back around the corner, then expanded it until it was giving off heat.
“You magicked that bag the night James was sick, didn’t you?” Edwin challenged. “I knew that wasn’t witchcraft. How come you’ve not been doing other magic?”
I’d been expecting this. “The bag wasn’t for my benefit,” I explained quietly. “There was no absolute guarantee it would work, but the fates were kind to me that time. I haven’t even been able to do toddler-level magic for myself for a century.”
The set of his mouth was terse, but he gave me a nod.
We sat in a circle. Edwin found a bottle of wine and he and Baxter got stuck in.
I refused, wanting a clear head, so James made me a herbal tea.
Terrance joined us, his eyes solemn as he perched on a fork handle.
I’d have rather he sat on my shoulder, but perhaps he wasn’t comfortable with how I looked now.
He’d come to me back in the 1960s, out of the blue when I’d lived in a tiny stone cottage on the outskirts of Strandhill, Co.
Sligo, eking out a living and attempting not to starve to death.
I’d never got to the bottom of his appearance out of nowhere, and he’d never told me.
I’d been grateful for his company and we’d become…
friends, I guess. It had seemed like a spectacular fuck you from the universe to gift me a bird familiar when my own wings had been bound, but I’d grown to love him nonetheless.
Edwin broke the silence with a wry chuckle. “You know the other week, when you said everyone has secrets and we’ll find them out when we need to know?”
“Yes?” I hedged.
You weren’t kidding, were you? ‘Need to know’, I think you said.” His sapphire eyes narrowed. “So what changed? How come we’re suddenly seeing the real you? Was your sentence on a timer and you just got parole?”
Baxter giggled. “God, you’re so dense, it worries me at times.”
Edwin shot her a filthy look. “You’ve been no fucking help, so don’t laugh at me now.
Least you could have done was clue me in.
I feel like a right tit.” He gasped. “It gets worse! If you knew, then Dalziel knew too, didn’t he?
And Justin? Who else? Volik, I suppose, but that’s hardly a shock in the circumstances. ” He scowled again.
“Calm down, for fuck’s sake. Of course Volik knew. He’d have to. It was one of Neele’s sisters who placed the curse on Trace. And yes, Dalziel knew, and Justin, but they didn’t tell Clancy, who was invited to join at the same time, or even Dexter.”
“Dexter? Oh yes, the mage who got himself killed in the Alps. I’d forgotten about him.” Edwin took a swig of wine straight from the bottle and grimaced. “What I don’t get is why I’m never included. Like, never.” His bitterness was palpable.
Baxter tched. “Need to know basis. It was Dalziel’s idea to set up the Council with Trace and Justin, so they both had to know.
They needed me for laying believable computer trails, even back then.
” She ticked off on her fingers. “Volik and Neele, for obvious reasons. Trace couldn’t even tell anyone what the issue was.
Had to suggest Dalziel spoke to Volik.” She turned her attention on me.
“Serious kudos, by the way, for keeping such a cool head at the big meeting over Sorley and the Cormack business. I confess I voted against your being invited, but Dalziel insisted you’d be professional. Which you were.”
“Didn’t have much choice, but thank you.” It had stung not to even be acknowledged, but my kinsfolk were superb at compartmentalising.
Baxter returned to Edwin. “Okay, mate, you’re not going to like this, but hear me out.
That was five people who knew one secret.
Most would argue that’s four people too many to keep it a secret, but we did, all of us, for over thirty years, although” — she caught my eye again — “I understand Dalziel had already guessed?” I inclined my head in agreement.
“There was one more person involved. He had to be, for reasons. We chose the best.”
“I don’t like riddles at the best of times. Spit it out, Bax.” Edwin’s fingers clenched and unclenched on the arms of the garden chair.
“We needed a forger. Trace didn’t have papers that would stand up to anything but the barest scrutiny. And of course he’s had them updated a couple of times since then, mostly with his ‘date of birth’.” Her voice was small, her stance tense.
Edwin’s face fell. “You really know how to wound a bloke, sis. I thought I was the Council’s best forger.” I itched to reach across and comfort him but held still, wary of how this might play out.
Baxter heaved a sigh. Her expression was sorrowful as she said quietly, “You are the best, babes. You totally nailed it, every time. Then Dalziel wiped your memory.”
His roar rattled the windows. “You fucking what!?” On his feet faster than I could blink, he was nose to nose with Baxter, fangs bared in a snarl.
“Don’t shoot the messenger, bruv. This was agreed by everyone else. Above my pay grade. Only reason he didn’t wipe mine is cos they needed me to keep shit up to date. Check for weaknesses in the system. Look out for cracks. Or I’d have been in the dark just the same as you.”
“You fucking lied to me!”
“Lie of omission!” she yelled back.
“Guys, please…” James, his hands over his ears, looked anguished. He’d slid so far down in his chair he was likely to end up underneath it.
I stood up. Cracked my knuckles. “Eddie…”
“Fuck off out of this, Thèlo. Sibling stuff.” He gestured to Baxter. “Over there?”
“You’ll lose, little brother.” But she followed him into the space between the fruit trees, my fruit trees. I stood rooted to the spot, my heart in shreds at the callous way he’d spat my real name at me as if it were tainted.