A/N: Welcome to my new story!
It's been published on ao3 for a while already but I thought some people here might appreciate it as well. This is a Selkie!Wednesday story and has a Tyler/Wednesday endgame. If that's not your thing, just don't read it, okay?
Enjoy!
Tyler loved the forest. He loved waking up every morning and see the misty trees as he opened his curtains. To see the dew covering the enormous pine trees making them glister in the rising sun. The forest close proximity to his home might be the only thing he loved about living in the small minded town of Jericho. It certainly wasn't the people.
He thought of the forest as his home away from home, a magical place where no one would bother him. Not his teachers, not his so-called friends and certainly not his dad. No one could find him here. No one would dare. Tyler didn't understand it, but most people were strangely wary of entering the forest.
But not him. Not his mom either, back when she was still with them.
It used to be his mom and him who walked down these familiar paths, his mom who told him the stories as they walked. He could almost see the shades of the past walking in front of him. Francoise Galpin nee Sylvanne animatedly telling her own grandmother's stories to a wide eyed and curly haired little boy; him. He loved those stories, tales about the Fair Folk passed down all the way to Tyler from his Irish great-grandmother.
His mom had delighted in the stories of the tricky Fae and what they did when they were betrayed. His mom could giggle like a child when she got to the parts of their revenge on the stupid human who crossed them. Francoise Galpin liked the morbid stories and as she quickly learned, so did her son.
Myths fascinated him, just like they'd his mom. The folklore his mother shared was often brutal but each story gave its own warning how to avoid the same fate. Be honest, be fair and never try to deceive the Fair Folk lest you want to meet a grisly end.
Of course, no such folk existed but Tyler thought they were good principles to live by anyway. If only the rest of the world agreed. Still, despite his father's best efforts, Tyler had his ways of dealing with the people who thought they could lie to him, betray him. Rage had been his life long companion and people quickly learned not to mess with him.
Tyler was his mother's son.
Walking down the familiar path with his dog for their usual morning walk, Tyler carefully skirted around a fairy circle that had sprung up out of nowhere. Elvis sniffed at them and sneezed, hard. Chuckling quietly in the peaceful silence of the forest, he called for Elvis to join him.
"Come on, boy. Let's not disturb the fairy circle alright?" Tyler told his dog, chuckling lightly. "I don't think you would like it if you had to dance in the circle until you drop, buddy."
Elvis just wagged his tail at him, making Tyler smile fondly. His dad giving him Elvis might have been the only good thing he did in the years that mom passed. His dad might have tried to say Elvis was a police dog, but most of the time the dog was with Tyler. Keeping him company while dad worked and worked, leaving Tyler all alone in the house that used to be their home.
Leading Elvis past the circle, he got a good look at the strange phenomenon. How was it possible that the mushrooms grew in such a perfect circle, Tyler didn't know. The circle of white mushrooms looked pretty in the morning dew and though Tyler didn't actually believe in the myths, he still respectfully declined in testing that belief.
Just to be sure.
Mom had been the same way, disbelieving yet she still instilled a respect in him for those exact same myths. Just to be sure, she used to say with a mysterious smile, her bright hazel eyes twinkling. Tyler could still see his father scoffing and rolling his eyes behind them, so very disbelieving in anything that didn't fit his black and white world view yet smiling fondly at his happy wife. Their walks quickly became just a thing between him and his mom, dad staying home.
And after her death Tyler continued those walks. On his own at first, and later joined by Elvis.
The walks helped settle something inside him. Tyler had a rage inside him, a seething fury that he couldn't always control. It felt like something was trying to burst out of him, all fury and snarling teeth. His therapist just told him it was left over grief for him mom, combined with the issues he had with his father. Tyler wasn't sure he agreed with Dr. Kinbott, surely the murderous rage he felt when dealing with the small minded and bigoted people of Jericho wasn't normal?
That very same rage was what got him sent to bootcamp after attacking a boy with his friends. Tyler still wasn't quite sure what exactly happened that day. One moment he was admiring the mural the boy was making, the next he was looking down at his bruised knuckles as his furious father lectured him.
He felt different than the people from his home town, always had. Tyler felt like an outsider even in his own home now that his mom was gone. His mom had been his person, and with her around even his dad had been happy. But she was gone now, forever out of reach. His dad was never home, always working and avoiding his own son and the memory of his dearly departed wife. But in the forest?
This forest felt like home.
While he didn't truly believe, he had seen some weird thing in the forest behind his home. Sometimes he heard sounds, like giggling or a cackle that wouldn't be strange coming from a witch out of his childhood fairytales. Sometimes, from the corner of his eyes he thought saw somebody. A girl perhaps, running through the trees, long raven hair flying free.
It was probably just a trick of the eye, but sometimes Tyler could swear he felt eyes on him.
There was a girl swimming in the lake.
Still half asleep, Tyler just gave a half-hearted nod in greeting and walked past with Elvis at his heels. It was only later that he realized how strange it was, a girl swimming in the lake in the middle of November. It was a cold and misty morning, certainly no weather to be swimming here in the lake. He'd returned to the lake, intending to ask if she needed help, but there was no trace of her to be found.
Wondering if this was just another strange experience of the forest he could tell his mom's grave about, Tyler returned home.
It was only the next time he walked down the path that he knew it hadn't been a dream. She clearly noticed him as well, gracefully swimming closer to where he was standing. She glided through the water as if it barely took an effort, all grace and smooth water-slicked skin.
He'd never seen her before, and he would have remembered meeting someone like her. Nobody new had moved to Jericho in years. No one ever choose to come live here, people only moved away. It was pretty telling Tyler felt that those who finally escaped from this town were never seen in it again.
As she came closer, Tyler noticed her naked shoulders and his eyes grew wide. "Um, hello?"
Her head tilted sideways in a startingly animalistic motion and she seemed to debate if he was talking to her. It was like she thought he couldn't see her, but how could he not? Growing more confused by the minute, Tyler started to ramble. "Are you okay? It's just- it's November and you are swimming in a lake that really can't be warm enough."
She frowned, and told him in a startingly emotionless voice, "Leave."
He left.
Tyler couldn't stop thinking about her. Even in school they noticed he was not himself, his former group of friends snickering as their teacher had to repeat the question again.
Stacy, his seatmate in Econ, quietly asked with a worried look in her kind blue eyes, "Are you okay?"
Tyler just nodded, deciding he was better off not telling anyone of the naked girl in the lake. His former friends would surely overcome their strange wariness of the forest and take a look for themselves if they knew about her. If they believed him.
They already thought him unstable after he and his former friends roughed up that rich kid and his mural. Stacy was one of the only people still willing to talk with him and he appreciated it though he knew she had little choice being his partner in this class and working together at the Weathervane as they did. Stacy was pragmatic like that, a trait Tyler could appreciate.
He was never happier as when the bell rang and he finally could leave his biology class, the teacher and the rest of his class staring after him as he just about ran out of there. The rest of the day passed by him in a haze, barely even remembering what happened at work. Not that anything ever really happened in Jericho. The town was quiet and boring if one ignored the religious zealots living there.
He greeted his usual customers politely and did his best to focus enough so he didn't mess up their orders. Every now and then he casually asked a customer if they knew about any new people moving to Jericho but he got only weird looks and incredulous chuckles back. Tyler knew he was acting weird, almost obsessed. He didn't care. The girl in the lake was interesting. There was something different about her, and he wanted to find out what it was.
It was on his next morning walk with Elvis that he saw her again. Mist was drifting lazely over the water, creating a haunting atmosphere. The top of the girl's head was barely above the water when she noticed him, only her black eyes peaking above the water. He stopped and stared, how was she breathing? Her eyes narrowed at him and Tyler opened his mouth to apologize for disturbing her. He quickly closed his mouth again when he heard a soft frustrated huff, and she started moving towards him.
Hiding his smile, he waited. Faintly hoping their third meeting in as many days was going to be the charm and he might actually learn more about her.
"You. Why do you keep seeing me?" She just about snarled. The mysterious girl had reached the more shallow part of the lake, the water barely reaching her hips and nipples pebbled from the cold air. She sniffed the air and asked with an intrigued look, "What are you, boy?"
Tyler tore his eyes away from her bare form, raven braids dripping water down her pale body and tilted his head in confusion. "Um, human?"
She huffed, clearly not believing him. Tyler shrugged. Personally, he had some difficulty believing what he was seeing as well. She could almost pass for a human, almost. Her ink black hair and full mouth were human, as were her dark, almost black eyes. The girl had all the parts of a human female he was somewhat embarrassed to note, though it was impossible for him to not see it. But what truly caught his attention were the faint almost fur like patterns on her pale skin.
Patches of her skin were spotted, like seal skin. It went up from her left foot, over a hip, to her small breasts and Tyler felt the sudden urge to touch. To feel if those seal-like patches were as soft as they looked, if her skin felt as good as he thought it would be against his own.
Shaking his head to free himself of those particular thoughts before she noticed, Tyler tried to concentrate.
The girl swimming in the lake had claws, actual claws. Wicked looking things that looked sharp as hell and black as ink, with a thin webbing between them. Tyler was also pretty sure he'd seen fangs when she snarled at him earlier. Combined with all the skin she had on display, Tyler had a pretty good idea what he'd stumbled upon.
Fae.
His mom's stories had been right. There was an actual Fae in the lake behind his house. And not a harmless one, if he got the signs right. Either way, those claws and teeth probably meant she wasn't into the veggie stuff most girls in his school swore by lately.
"Excuse me if I'm wrong," Tyler started carefully, wary of offending the Fae creature. "But aren't Selkies usually salt-water creatures?"
Her black eyes spit fire and she hissed, sharp black claw-like nails cutting in her tights. "We are."
"Then why are you here?" Tyler asked, confused. It felt like a dream, him standing here talking to a honest to god Fae. The Fae girl was mesmerizing and he couldn't keep his eyes off her. It took all of his strength to keep his eyes from trailing down her body, naked as she still was. She took his breath away.
He was a teenage boy, okay?! And there was a very pretty, if kooky, naked girl standing in front of him. Tyler couldn't not not look. Not that she looked at all to be bothered standing naked in front of an unknown guy, water still dripping down her body.
Suddenly something cunning entered her eyes and Tyler felt something stir in the pit of his stomach as she focused on him. It felt heady, all of her attention turned in his direction. His breath caught, and he felt himself flush. She took a step closer to him, water swirling around her dainty feet.
"An answer for an answer, a question for a question. Do you agree?" Her black eyes, so very pretty were dark enough that Tyler felt like he was drowning. She smiled invitingly at him, sharp canines bared. Without even realizing it, he had taken a step closer to her, closer to the edge of the water. Elvis barked in warning and a little voice in his head screamed at him to stop, to think, and something inside Tyler shifted.
A haze had fallen over him, and he had almost entered her lake. Thank god for his dog. "What did you do?"
She shrugged, unapologetic. "Interesting. Are you quite certain you are human?" She didn't look like she believed him when he dumbly shook his head, and Tyler was starting to get the feeling he was missing something. "You can't blame me for trying, now can you? One has to eat."
Tyler sputtered, eyes wide, as he yelped out a startled, "Eat?!"
The Fae in front of him really wasn't a vegetarian then. And apparently she ate humans. How many people had she lured into the water and eaten? How many people he thought had moved away from Jericho had actually disappeared into the lake? If Tyler was honest with himself, he found it difficult to care as long as she kept her teeth away from him and his. Which basically just meant him and his dog, perhaps his dad if he was feeling generous. Jesus, he really was pathetic wasn't he?
She ignored him and his perfectly understandable outrage. Impatiently she asked, "Well? Do you agree?"
Remembering her words before she put some kind of fairy magic on him, Tyler repeated them slowly. "An answer of an answer."
His mom's stories warned to never make a deal with one of the Fair Folk, yet what harm could it do? It was only an answer for an answer. It wasn't like he was selling his firstborn to her.
"I agree."
She smiled, a slow wicked thing that did things to him. "Good. Now ask your question."
He didn't know what to ask. There was so much he wanted to know, so much he didn't know. Tyler took a deep breath and asked, "Why are you here?"
Why was she in Jericho? How did she came to be in this lake? Why hadn't she left? Tyler really couldn't imagine a creature like her being happy here in the lake behind his home instead of the open seas.
Her eyes lit up with approval at his very broad question and she answered in a quiet voice, "That is a long story."
Tyler sat down on the forest floor, Elvis laying down next to him as he leaned against the hard pine tree and smiled at her. "I've got time."
"Very well." Unashamed of her nakedness, the girl mirrored his cross-legged position in the water. "I shall keep it simple. I'm trapped here in this forest, away from my true home and family. A human woman stole my skin so she could be immortal as all the Fae naturally are and made sure I could not leave this dreadful forest. If not for the lake, I would have perished long ago."
Tyler gaped, "How did that happen?"
It was near impossible to trick a Fae, the stories said so.
"Her lover, a sailor, caught me in his net on his ship and knowing the power of the Fae, she soon murdered him to get me all for herself. To escape I tried what I could, seducing and bargaining but she tricked me, using poison and other things to make me tell her where I kept my skin. She took my skin, my powers and with it she owned me, all of me. Then she trapped me here." She was emotionless as she told her story yet Tyler could see the cracks in her composure.
He knew enough about the Fae to know what she was, and guess what it did to a creature like her to be cut off from both her skin and the sea. All alone in a lake in the middle of nowhere. No family, nothing but the trees and animals of the forest as company.
Tyler winced in sympathy, "I'm sorry."
Surprise flashed through her dark eyes. "You mean that."
Slightly offended at her surprise, he shot back, "Of course I do!"
Tyler hated being trapped into the town that was his so-called home, he couldn't imagine how much worse it was for her. To never be able to leave this forest, to not being able to see her kin who he assumed she missed. To not being able to swim in the seas, something all the myths agreed a Selkie needed to feel whole.
He felt for her and wished he could do something to help her.
The Fae tilted her head and looked at him like he was an alien. Dryly she pointed out, "I tried to eat you."
Tyler flushed slightly at her dry tone. "Well, I still don't think you deserve to be trapped here. Besides, I don't think you are evil. Just kinda kooky."
Her eyebrow rose in surprise, face as placid as ever but he could read the amused disbelief there. "I prefer spooky."
Tyler chuckled, a warm feeling rising in his chest as their eyes met. He liked her. Startled at that little realization he asked abruptly, "What's your name? I can't believe I don't know your name."
"Don't you know it's a very intimate thing to know a Fae's true name?" The girl's lips twitched ever so slightly, "Names are sacred things for the Fair Folk. Powerful. I am a water nymph. I am, as you already guessed, a Selkie. I am Undine. You may call me Wednesday."
Undine. That sounded ancient and powerful in a way he didn't quite understand, the word pulsing in his mind. Tyler grinned back at her, ignoring the goosebumps her words caused. "Like from the poem? I like it, it's spooky just like you. My name is Tyler and this," He patted the dog on his head. "Is Elvis."
Tyler scratched his dog behind his ears and his tail wagged. Elvis hadn't taken his eyes of Wednesday ever since they'd started talking, nose twitching like he smelled something interesting. Tyler wondered what his dog smelled. Did she smell like the sea as he thought she would?
Wednesday nodded slightly in acknowledgement at his words and then stared the dog straight in the eyes. Elvis whined and shifted closer to Tyler as Wednesday smiled, smug at the dog's fright. Tyler hid his smile at her show of dominance. For a man-eating Fae, Tyler thought she was kinda adorable.
Carefully and half afraid of the answer, Tyler asked another question. "How long have you been here?"
Her eyes shot to his and he could see he had startled her with his question. Finally, after staring at him for a long while, she answered. "A very long time. I've been alone for a very long time."
Wednesday looked to be around seventeen years old, the same age as him. But her eyes? Her eyes were ancient and full of rage. This was not a gentle creature, Tyler knew that. Yet he felt a connection to her, a kinship he'd missed ever since his mother passed away.
How strange. He didn't know her yet, but whatever she was made of, Tyler knew that he and her were the same.
Leaning back against the tree, Tyler thought for a moment. "How can I help you?"
One of them should leave this hell hole of a town and if he could help her do so, he would. Tyler only wished he could leave with her, explore the seas with her.
Something dark flashed over Wednesday's face and commanding as any queen to her loyal servant she demanded, "Get me back my skin."
"How? How do I get it back?" Tyler asked, confused as to how he could ever get her skin back for her. He was just a human, no special powers at all. And besides, if his suspicions were right then Wednesday had been here for a long, long, time. Surely the thief was long gone from Jericho?
She raised her chin and hissed out in an icy cold voice, "You find the thief Laurel Gates and you find my skin. She can't be too far away. She needs to be close to me for my power to continue to work for her."
Oh.
Wednesday bared her fangs, a gleeful wrath coming over her lovely features. "And when you bring me back my skin I shall take my time with that woman. I will make her pay for every year she condemned me to this lake, for every day I had to miss the call of the sea. She shall pay in blood."
Tyler swallowed roughly. He'd never been so attracted to another person before as he was now as he watched the Undine swear her bloody vengeance upon the one who trapped her here.
Barely pausing to take a breath she continued with her vivid imagery of what she was going to do to Laurel Gates. "And when she begs for mercy, I will feast upon the marrow in her bones, I shall rip out her vocal cords with my claws and make her eat them. Only when I'm done, I shall give her pitiful body to the sea. Let the seagulls pick her liver out of her body as she watches, watch fearfully as the powerful might of the sea comes for her. Let her drowning dead be her final offering to the Gods."
Tyler had the distant feeling he should be horrified by her knowledge of torture techniques and her very clear intent to use them on a fellow human being but all he felt was a strange sort of breathlessness. Something purred at the back of his mind at the sight of her and Tyler couldn't take his eyes off her. Wednesday was awe inspiring, utterly lovely in her rage.
He must have made some kind of noise because she paused in her truly inspiring plans for the one who stole her life from her, and looked at him. "You swear you will give me my skin back as soon as possible after you acquire it back?"
Resisting the urge to grab her hand in his, Tyler swore solemnly, "I swear, Wednesday. I won't let you rot here for much longer."
Her bottomless black eyes bored into his, "Then we have a bargain."
Something clicked inside of him and Tyler nodded firmly, not at all worried about the Fairy bargain he just made.
Suddenly looking a bit uncertain, the Undine sitting in the water tilted her head at him. "What do you wish for in return for your services?"
"Um-" He was an idiot, wasn't he? He hadn't even been thinking about what he could ask in return.
She tilted up her chin and narrowed her eyes at him. "I won't be your wife. Never again shall I be cut off the sea, you hear me?"
"What? Wife? I don't want a wife!" Tyler sputtered out, wondering when on earth he had given her the idea he wanted something like that in return for helping her. She was obviously amazing and while he would love to get to know her better, he wasn't going to force her to do anything with him if she didn't want to. Ever!
Wednesday didn't show it on her face, but Tyler saw how her shoulders relaxed just a fraction. "Good. I don't want a husband, or children. But what do you want, Tyler Donovan Galpin?"
How did she know his full name? Ignoring that for now, Tyler thought deeply.
"Do you want riches? Power? Knowledge?" Her voice had gotten strangely hypnotic, almost seductive. "Or perhaps... A kiss?"
His head shot up at the last one, and scowled. "While I wouldn't say no to anything you would want to do with me, Wednesday, I can't do it like that. But knowledge, that might be a fair trade."
"Oh?" She looked intrigued, and Tyler exhaled in relief.
Rubbing the back of his neck, he admitted sheepishly, "Well, you might have a point in that I'm not fully human. There are too many things not adding up. Do you think you could help me find out the truth in return for helping you get back your skin?"
Wednesday gave a curt nod, "I could. Very well, I agree to your terms."
Her hand shot up from the water and pulled his head to hers in a furious kiss. Her sharp canines cut into his lip and he tasted blood, which only added to his excitement. Her skin felt soft and slick underneath his hands and he groaned. His knees had gotten wet as she pulled him to her, but Tyler didn't care. All he cared about was the girl in his arms who was attacking his mouth with a skill that took his breath away.
Wednesday released him, mouth swollen from their kiss and a dark red from his blood. Her tongue darted out and she smirked, eyes utterly and inhumanly dark. "It's a bargain, sealed with blood and a kiss."
That was the moment he knew that Wednesday was going to kill him. Either that, or break his heart in thousand pieces. Stories of relationships between the Fae and humans never ended well. Tyler meanwhile already missed the feeling of her mouth on his, the way she tasted.
Eyes wide and panting, he just looked at her. "It's a bargain."
He was doomed, utterly doomed.
Still smirking slightly, she asked as if she just didn't have her tongue in his mouth, "Now what do you need to find her?"
Tyler cleared his throat and tried to concentrate on the task at hand instead of her plump red lips. First thing he needed a description or something of the one who stole her skin.
"I don't suppose you have a picture of her or something?" He asked, hoping she had something to make this easier. All he had now was a name.
Wednesday frowned at him, confused. "What is a picture?"
His stomach dropped and he carefully asked, "A picture? You know those things you can make with a camera or phone?"
"I do not know what any of those things are." She told him curtly, clearly put out with having to admit that she didn't know something.
It would have been cute if he hadn't felt the dread sink in his bones. She didn't know what a picture was, what a camera was. How long had she truly been here, trapped and alone? Wednesday said a long time, but if she didn't know what a photo was then it must have been longer than he thought. Centuries.
"Okay, well, then we have to do this the old fashioned way. What does she look like?" Tyler smiled at her, hoping that she wouldn't notice how his heart hurt for her. Wednesday didn't seem like a girl who liked being pitied and he preferred not being eaten thank you very much.
She narrowed her eyes at him but answered with a huff. "She is human."
"...Yes?" Tyler said, waiting for more.
Wednesday scowled, folding her arms over her chest. He tried very hard not to look away from her face, but quickly failed and flushed red. She rolled her eyes at him, "I have no use for your feeble human sensibilities Tyler. Look at my body if you like, I don't care. It's just a body. Just help me get my skin back."
"Sorry." He mumbled, embarrassed. Clearing his throat, he asked, "What more can you tell me about her?"
She was still scowling at him but didn't seem mad. "She is human, a female one. Her name is Laurel. She has yellow hair. What more do you need to know?"
Well, this was going to take a while. Tyler took a deep breath and started to explain, "Wednesday, there are over a million people in this state alone. I need to know more, like how close does she have to be to you?"
"A million?" She pulled a disgusted face. "You humans are worse than my mother, breeding like the rabbits inhabiting the forest here."
Stifling a laugh Tyler, decided not to mention what the total population of America was, let alone the whole world. He didn't want to horrify her any more than she already was. Then he almost choked on his own spit when she asked him, "Do you not have offspring of your own?"
"No!" He exclaimed, horrified at the thought.
"No? Well, why not?" She frowned at him, black eyes doing a quick scan over his body. "You seem like a perfectly adequate specimen of a human male. If not offspring, then surely you have a mate?"
Was that a compliment? Tyler wasn't sure, but he quickly explained. "I'm only seventeen, that's way too young to have children or a mate in these times."
Pausing for a moment, he suddenly had a thought, "Wait, do you have children?"
Wednesday gave him a look as though she thought him a bit slow. "Where in my reaction did you conclude that I could have children of my own? I do not like them, silly creatures that they are. Children are too loud and messy and would cut in my writing time."
A writer. The Fae in the lake behind his house was a writer. Interest and relief rushed through him. Tyler had the uncomfortable feeling he knew why he felt such relief at hearing she had no children. That kiss had ruined him, and he knew it. But Wednesday continued before he could think deeper on it.
"In any case, I was too young when Laurel put me here and other than a snack or two, there have been very few males coming here. Certainly none were worthy of my time, easily lured pigs that they were."
Putting the snack bit aside for the moment, Tyler asked casually, "So no Selkie males?"
She rolled her eyes, "No, the Undine are always female. I am my mother's firstborn and heir though she and her mate do have two sons as well, my brothers. My father lives above the sea with them."
Very interested in ways he wasn't looking too deeply into right now, Tyler asked another question. "So your dad is human?"
Wednesday hummed thoughtfully, "Perhaps once upon a time."
Okay, that wasn't kooky at all. Did that mean a human could become something more with the help of a Fae? His mom's stories hadn't said anything about that. They certainly didn't include stories about a human male and one of the Fair Folk mating, but he had been young at the time.
"And your mom? What does she think happened to you?" Tyler hoped her mother at least knew her daughter was still alive. It seemed horrible if her mother didn't know what happened to Wednesday ever since she disappeared. For centuries.
Wednesday scowled, "She knows where I am and that I'm alive."
"Oh." Tyler looked around, "So she visits you?"
Wednesday scowl turned more into a pout, "Unfortunately."
Seeing his confusion, Wednesday reluctantly expanded her answer, "My parents and siblings are very invested in my life. Being her only heir, my mother wants me to be exactly like her, to mold me into her mirror image. I despised that, so I tried to run as to escape her obvious machinations. Which let to the unfortunate capture by Laurel's even more unfortunate lover." Wednesday frowned, looking put out. "Laurel trapping me here might be the only good thing about it. It means that they can't visit me very often and I finally have some space from them all."
"When was the last time they visited you?"
She blinked at him, black eyes wide and glossy. "A few decades ago or so. Why?"
So long. She had been alone for a very long time. Before he could answer, his phone beeped. Pulling it out of his pocked, he cursed. "I'm sorry, I have to get back home before my dad starts looking for me."
Wednesday nodded, looking unconcerned as she leaned back into the water. "Go. But remember, you can't escape a bargain made with the Fae."
He smiled at her, bemused by the warning. "Don't worry, I'll be back."
Tyler would like to see anyone try and stop him.