One moment, I was standing in my kitchen, putting away the dinner dishes with Quinn and Hunter. The next, I was hurtling through my woods far faster than any human ever ought to move, terrified as tree after tree narrowly missed me. I tried to scream, but as soon as I opened my mouth, something hard and cold clamped over it, forcing it closed again. I couldn't work out what was happening at first, but after a couple of seconds, I realized someone was carrying me. Someone extremely fast-moving.
Then it was over, and I was standing in a clearing I recognized. It was on the far edge of my property, and I almost never came here, simply because it took almost two hours to walk here from my house.
I spun around, trying to figure out what was happening, and there was Eric, smirking at me.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I yelled at him, enraged that he would drag me out here at night.
"Good to see you too, lover," he purred, still looking very pleased with himself.
Before I had a chance to respond, I heard something huge come crashing through the trees, closing in at an alarming rate. Then, as an enormous, furious tiger burst out of the trees and hurtled towards us, Eric dragged me in front of him for protection.
Oh, great, I thought angrily, you're immortal, and you're gonna throw ME to the tiger.
A second later I realized why he did it: that scary, snarling beast was my boyfriend.
In theory, it was a good idea: Quinn would tear Eric to pieces in a second (or try, anyway) for dragging me out here, but as long as he knew it was me, he would never hurt me. The only problem was, I wasn't sure how much of him was still in there, in tiger form. His brain patterns were more animal than human, and even though I'd spent a lot more time with him in tiger form lately, I still wasn't certain he'd recognize me.
As Eric held onto my shoulders to keep me in front of him, tiger-Quinn roared at us both, showing teeth I never wanted to tangle with. I was afraid for a moment, but then I 'heard' what he was feeling: alarm. He was worried about me. I'd only been out of his sight a few seconds, but he thought Eric might've hurt me in that time.
"I'm OK, John," I reassured him quietly. "He didn't hurt me, just dragged me out here. I'm fine, really."
I shook Eric off and walked towards him then, and his roars quieted to low growls.
When I got close enough, he started sniffing me, checking me over to make sure I wasn't injured. I tangled my fingers in his fur as he did, scratching behind his ears to calm him. When he was sure I really wasn't hurt, he rubbed his face against me, scent-marking me as his again.
As he did, I noticed that he had a collar of torn fabric stretched tightly around his neck, which puzzled me for a moment. Then I recognized the color of it, and realized it was the t-shirt he'd been wearing that day. I looked him over, and saw that some of the remnants of his jeans and underwear were still tangled around his hind legs, too.
So that's what happens if shifters don't get undressed before they change, I thought to myself.
I clicked my fingers and all the ragged remnants were gone, so he was naked in all his tiger glory. He chuffed gratefully and finally looked up at me, his face just a little lower than mine.
I couldn't help but smile, because even though he had changed forms, it was my boyfriend's eyes I was looking into. Sure, they were a different color and a different shape... but the same person gazed out from behind them; a person I loved dearly, who loved me even more in return. I leaned down and kissed the tip of his nose, which made him purr.
He moved back just a little and then reared up above me, standing on his hind legs. He was even taller like this than he was in human form, which was saying something, but I wasn't alarmed. He wrapped his front paws around me, careful not to put too much weight on my shoulders, and licked my face for a few seconds. I couldn't help but laugh.
"You know, I like that a lot better when you're in human form," I teased, stroking the scar on his neck as I did.
His guess had been right: there wasn't fur there any more. Each tooth mark was a small hairless circle, and when his fur was smoothed down, you could see the faint outline of a fairy bite in it, where small clumps were missing.
Eric cleared his throat loudly then, reminding us both of his presence. Quinn started growling again immediately, but didn't yet move.
I pressed my hand against him, and tried 'talking' to him silently. This will be a lot easier if you shift back now, I insisted, closing my eyes so I didn't have to watch. I knew that the discomfort of shifting didn't bother him, that like most shifters, he had a high enough pain threshold to withstand the breaking bones, snapping ligaments, dislocating joints and tearing muscles that happened and healed along the way, without it even registering as pain... but I still hated watching it.
He started changing as soon as I asked, and after a few seconds of gloppy, popping sounds, I was being hugged by a man instead of a beast. From the corner of my eye, I could see Eric staring; literally sizing up his opponent as my boyfriend held me close.
"You sure you're OK?" Quinn murmured into my hair. "You don't smell hurt."
"I'm fine," I insisted, pulling back to look at him. "Confused about what I'm doing out here, but otherwise, A-OK."
"I must speak to you," Eric explained. "Both of you."
"Right," I snapped, spinning around to face him, "and you just forgot the telephone had been invented? Or how to knock on a door? Or that it's rude to drag someone from their home in the middle of the night? Or, you know, any time at all?"
He shrugged nonchalantly. "Your neighbor didn't hear either of you leave, I am sure of that. Your mutt managed to get out of the house quietly, despite his haste." There was almost a note of approval in his voice. "Bill will likely assume the few noises he heard were the two of you fucking, yet again." He sure didn't sound like he approved now. "I do not think he will investigate."
"Fine," I rolled my eyes, "you're the king of stealth. Now if you don't mind, I'm gonna go finish putting away the dishes, put my four year old nephew who's currently alone in my house to bed, watch the movie Quinn and I picked out, and then go to bed and sleep. Like a normal person. Go home, Eric."
He was in front of me an instant later, blocking my path as though he thought I was about to storm off. Moron, I thought to myself, if I wanna go, I can still teleport away. I snorted contemptuously.
"Lover, we must talk," he insisted.
Quinn interpreted Eric's proximity as a threat, snarling as his fangs and claws descended. I was scared a fight was about to break out, fearing what would happen to me if I was so close to them when it did. I backed away quickly, almost tripping on a fallen branch in my haste. As I did, a look of sorrow came over Eric's face. He took three large steps backwards, his hands raised in surrender, staring at me.
"I am sorry," he apologized stiffly, his eyes locked to mine. "I did not mean to frighten you." Then he took a deep, unnecessary breath. "I have wronged you," he admitted quietly. "I did you harm, last night. I should have listened to you. If I had..." He stopped speaking then, and even with the bond closed, even with his minimal vampire facial expressions, it was obvious he was upset.
"Yes, you should have," I agreed, "but I should've teleported away, or stuck you to the fence, or conjured up some silver chains. You don't deserve all of the blame, I should've done more to stop you." My voice was shaky by the time I finished talking.
"No!" He shook his head forcefully. "No! You will not have to stop me. I will never again ignore your refusals," he promised. " I will never again touch you without permission."
"And how exactly did she give you permission to drag her out here?" Quinn fumed.
Eric looked shocked. "I did not consider... She is in danger. I need to speak with both of you, and your neighbor cannot know I am here... this seemed like the only way. I was not bringing her here alone, I knew you would follow," he reassured Quinn.
Typical Eric, I thought to myself, high-handed as ever.
"Fine, I'm listening," I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest. I knew I should accept his apology and forgive him for what happened - that it was the only correct Christian way to handle this - but I wasn't ready yet. I was still angry, at myself as well as him.
Quinn came to stand next to me and wrapped me up in his big, warm arms, and I finally felt safe again. His claws and fangs had retracted, so he clearly wasn't in a fighting mood any more. That was good.
"We must not be overheard." Eric was gravely serious. "That is why I brought you here. Can you feel any minds nearby?"
I reached out momentarily, shuddering in horror when I felt who was nearest to us. "Oh, no," I cried.
"What's wrong?" Quinn asked.
"Hunter's trying to find us. He's lost out in the woods in the dark by himself." My voice trembled with worry.
I'm not lost, my nephew told me emphatically. I'm going to the fairy meadow. Where you need to go. No-one can spy on you there.
"I'll go find him," Quinn offered.
"I'm not sure that's -"
Send him, Hunter interrupted me. It's too far for me to walk. You can teleport there.
"OK, you go find him," I agreed. "I'll meet you at the fairy meadow, OK?"
"But lover, we must -" Eric began.
"We won't be overheard there," I told him. "If we do actually need to talk about something, that's the best place to do it. I'll see you there."
Quinn kissed my forehead and bounded out of the clearing as I spoke, shifting into his tiger form in mid-air as he went. I gaped for a second, amazed he could shift so quickly. I could feel that it took a lot out of him to do it (especially since he'd already done it once when he chased after me a few minutes earlier) but he thought Hunter might be in danger, so he was determined to get there as soon as he could.
"Are you sure that -" Eric started arguing.
I simply glared at him and teleported to the fairy meadow, certain that if he really wanted to talk to me, he'd follow.
For a few seconds, I was all alone in the still night air, the meadow illuminated by fireflies so I could see clearly. I'd never come here after dark before, and it was even more beautiful than it was in the daytime, if such a thing were possible.
A pretty patch of wild white lilies felt like it was calling to me, and I walked over to inspect it. The largest, loveliest bloom seemed to raise itself up in offering to me, so I picked it gently and tucked it behind my ear. I ran my fingers through the whole clump, and the plants appeared to sway towards me, as though they wanted to brush against my fingers. That made me giggle, and when I did, my laugh tinkled ever-so-slighty, almost as though I were a little closer to my true form here.
I felt a wave of awe, and when I turned to see where it came from, Eric was staring at me. He was doing nothing to disguise his facial expression, but I still couldn't read what it was; it seemed to be a mixture of many things. Awe, of course, and lust (when wasn't he feeling that?) but there was much more there now, too: the affection he usually only showed me when we had sex, mixed with something like realization, maybe shock, plus pinches of longing and sadness and desperation and perhaps even reverence.
I stared at him, trying to work out what I saw on his face, and he stared back, drinking me in.
When Quinn burst in with Hunter on his back a few moments later, I finally understood why Eric had been staring. Being in the meadow brought my fairy magic closer to the surface, and I was glowing softly. So was Hunter, although even less brightly than I was. It would barely have been detectable in daylight, but in the dark, we were like lanterns.
"Hi, King Eric," Hunter greeted him, but Eric paid him absolutely no attention, still staring at me.
When Quinn stopped to stare at me, too, I 'saw' what I looked like to him: by coincidence, the loose, gauzy white top I had thrown on that morning set off my lightly glowing skin and sparkly pale hair really well, making me look almost angelic. The flower in my hair only added to the effect, as did the fireflies buzzing all around me, and the pool of white lilies all around my feet. The whole scene looked like it belonged on a twee porcelain plate... even the tiny denim skirt that peeked out beneath my top didn't spoil the effect.
I giggled again and clicked my fingers, conjuring up a pair of costume wings that looked like they belonged on a pale, silvery butterfly. Quinn got the reference immediately and burst out laughing, setting Hunter on his feet so he could come over and hug me.
My joke didn't have the same effect on Eric, though: he just kept staring at me, his mouth hanging open.
"That is remarkably convincing," he mumbled. "I do not know how I missed it before."
"Missed what?" I asked, still in Quinn's arms.
"You are on the path," he marveled. "You are mostly human, and yet... You could pass for one already."
"An angel?" I sputtered. "How do you even know what they really look like? I'm pretty sure the pictures humans draw aren't so accurate."
The mix of smugness and lechery on his face told me that he knew exactly what angels looked like... knew what all of them looked like. Ew.
"What did you want to talk about?" I brusquely changed the subject, snapping my fingers to rid myself of the silly wings.
I took Quinn's hand and walked a few steps toward Eric, so I wasn't standing in the patch of flowers any more. As soon as I stopped, Quinn wrapped his arms around me from behind and kissed the top of my head. He was still naked, of course - his clothes didn't survive his quick shift to tiger form when Eric snatched me from my kitchen - but, surprisingly, that didn't bother me. I'd seen his birthday suit plenty of times, and nobody else here was remotely bothered by nudity, so the situation just wasn't as awkward as it should've been.
A moment later, Hunter came to stand in front of me and lean on my legs, holding my hand. I ruffled his hair affectionately, enjoying the way the magic of the meadow made them both want to touch me all the time. I felt a sharp pang of jealousy from Eric, although the bond still seemed to be closed. Weird. I stared at him, waiting for an answer.
He seemed almost lost for words for a long moment, but when he finally spoke, he was back in Sheriff mode. "You must leave," he ordered.
"What?" I literally couldn't believe my ears... he wanted me to go away, now?
"Tomorrow, during the day, when all the vampires are asleep. You must go far away, and not come back. It must look like you ran away with the tiger, to stop me from separating you. I will say you are too far away for me to detect, and it would be best if that were true." He was deadly serious, that much I could tell.
"You want me to leave my home?" It was the only part my brain had processed.
"Yes."
"No!" I shot back. "I'm not going anywhere. You can't make me leave your Area, just because we split up. My family have lived here a hundred-seventy years! We've been here longer than you have! You can't just kick me out." I was close to tears at the thought of leaving.
Hunter tipped his head back and stared up at me. "He didn't tell you last night, did he?"
I just stared at him, wondering what he was talking about.
My nephew let go of my hand and walked towards Eric, stopping less than a yard away. "You're stupid," he said, crossing his arms.
"Hunter!" I exclaimed, quickly dragging him away from Eric before the vampire retaliated. "You apologize right this second. We don't say things like that to people, it's rude to even think it. Say sorry, right now."
"No," he refused, stubbornly setting his jaw. "I told him why he had to tell you, and he hasn't. I told him the future and he doesn't care."
I caught in Hunter's thoughts that after I left Remy's place the night before, Eric had stayed and made sure he wasn't alone. When the police and paramedics left him unattended, he'd told Eric what he is, and had given him a lot of advice - which Eric clearly wasn't taking.
I knelt down to explain to Hunter why it still wasn't OK to call someone stupid, just because they didn't do what you wanted.
Eric just ignored us. "Can you keep her safe?" he asked Quinn, instead. "Can you get her out of here and make sure nobody finds her?"
"No," Quinn admitted. "I can't."
I stared up at him in shock. "But you said..." my voice was small and shaky, like a frightened child's.
"What he's asking isn't possible," he explained. "Wherever we go, someone will notice us. If I know who I'm keeping you safe from, and what they want, I can make sure they don't find out where you are. But I can't take you somewhere nobody will see us, because that place doesn't exist. Staying hidden... there's an art to it, and a big part is knowing who you're hiding from and where they're looking."
"Oh, so you want me to leave, too," I accused, standing up to confront him.
"No!" He was hurt I'd even think it. "I want to stay here with you and have a life of my own, at last. I'm the happiest I've ever been, and I sure as hell don't want to interrupt that on your ex-boyfriend's say-so. But you're in some kind of danger, we both know that. If we have to go have a vacation to keep you safe, then let's do it. It's not like we'll be leaving forever."
From the corner of my eye, I caught something flicker across Eric's face. "What, it is forever?" I asked, suddenly even more shocked.
Eric just nodded impassively.
"No!" I protested. "No, I won't go. You can't just order me to leave." I was almost crying, again.
"Actually," Quinn fumed, "he can."
The two men glared at one another, and I sank down to the ground next to Hunter, tears forming in my eyes.