

Chapter One

A little over two months had passed since the first day of her senior year, and for once in her high school career Adeila couldn't really complain. Her life was pretty near perfect.

Dawn painted the California sky a brilliant pink and gold, with thin strips of lavender clouds stretching across the landscape, to be lost in the mountain backdrop. From her family's large back deck the view was spectacular, enough to take her breathe away every single time she witnessed the sunrise. This was often these days, since for over a month now she'd been waking at dawn, feeling completely awake and restless. Even though she thought everything in her life was perfect, the restlessness brewing inside her was enough to drive her completely crazy, and to ultimately prove that nothing was ever perfect.

She held the front bend yoga pose for thirty more seconds before moving on to stretch with her fingertips reaching the sky, elongating her spine. She evened her breathing; inhaling her breath and exhaling at all the precise moments. She'd gone to enough classes to know how to make this work on her own and to be honest the privacy and romanticism of the setting was more then she could ever hope to gain in a yoga studio.

She'd recently taken up yoga again in hopes that it would help ease her restlessness. Put some balance and meditation back into her life. The spirituality in the movements and breathing regulated her mind and body. So far the morning sessions did help her focus throughout the day. She tried again at night, but her mind still reeled so much while she lay in bed that it still took her a long time to fall asleep. So far she successfully slept only about four hours a night, but woke up feeling recharged as if she'd slept for eight. For a teenage girl, that was just plain weird.

Adeila Burton shouldn't complain too much about her life. She had an amazing best friend, a great job, maybe not the best home life, but she was used to it now to the point where her own accomplishments were hers to revel in, school was going incredibly well, so well in fact, that she had gained a half scholarship to study biology at Pierce college, she had a new car, and oh, yes, the boy of her dreams. The boy she'd had a crush on for half her life.

She should be swimming in a sea of her own blissfulness, but she wasn't. Not entirely. This restlessness engulfing her was enough to suffocate, and not to mention the weird things she made happen sometimes. But those things she tried to push from her mind. Her focus right now needed to be getting through her final months of school and moving on to college. Something that should make her excited beyond measure, but instead left her feeling like she was leaving something behind. Like there was something more she had yet to accomplish. It left her annoyed and irritable. It certainly wasn't her family that she felt bad for leaving, as she was almost certain they wouldn't care one bit about her absence. That sad truth should have hit her harder, but instead she only felt the bitter ache of it, and like everything else she pushed it to the wayside to focus on this day.

She finished the last sip of her tea and went inside to shower and prepare for yet another day in the life of a high school senior.

.~.

"Oh my God!"

Adeila jumped at her friend's excited exclamation and looked over to where she had stopped on the stairs descending from the main gates of their small high school. Students bustled around her frozen friend, eager to get to their cars or buses and then to freedom, she sent them an apologetic smile. She loved her best friend to pieces but her dramatics were just too much sometimes.

"What?" She said it between the very fake smile on her lips.

"Look!" Marissa shoved the phone to her nose. Adeila squinted and peered at the phones overly close screen. She finally made out the backside of a guy.

He was very well muscled; the deep green t-shirt displayed his biceps and wide broad shoulders and muscled back. You could barely see the faint side view of his strong jawline.

She shrugged. "So, who is he?"

"New guy, I guess."

Adeila rolled her eyes. "Who sent that to you?"

Although she already knew the answer. Marissa and Becky had taken gossip and boys to a whole new level.

"Becky McAlister."

Adeila shook her head and made her way down the rest of the stairs, hoping her friend would follow. She unlocked her car from the keys, and looked back. Luckily her nosy friend was indeed slowly trailing behind her, fingers furiously cascading over the screen of her phone.

Adeila rolled her eyes and let out a sigh as she got into the SUV and let her mind take in another day she could cross off of her school calendar. This day was uneventful. She'd only seen Erik at lunch and at her locker, since they didn't have any classes together. Their relationship was still very fresh and was pretty much on the first level of a teenage relationship. They barely even showed any public displays of affection, some didn't even realize they were dating. Which was fine with Adeila, she was in absolutely no rush and was still getting used to the idea that Erik Thompson was even hers. Although Sadie Simms and her posse still gave her evil glares every chance they got, today she hadn't noticed any of it. She'd also only run into her sister a few times, and the weirdness of that was slowly dissipating. As days goes this had to be one of the better ones.

She had work in a half hour so she pulled out of the school, and headed to drop off Marissa, who continued to chatter away about the "hot" new kid, even though she hoped that the girl would reassess her evaluation of his hotness once she at least saw his face, officially met him and had a real conversation with him. Who knew, he may be a total dick.

Chapter Two

The next day Marissa picked her up, meaninglessly chatting away, again. Adeila wasn't listening, the feel of the day was charged. She'd gone out onto her deck like she had every morning, but even yoga and meditation didn't help. Everything just felt different. Like there was electricity in the atmosphere, but there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. It was utterly gorgeous, clear weather, unusually warm for a late October morning in northern California.

A peculiar prickling ran along her skin as she got out of Marissa's car, she looked around but saw nothing suspicious other than a black pickup truck she didn't recognize a row behind theirs.

Maybe it was the leftover feelings of how she'd moved her pillow, again, that morning.

In her waking moments when she'd felt the pillow slide off her bed, she'd put out her hand wishing it would come back, and... It had. Again. As it did every time. Things like that always seemed to charge her skin, leaving her feeling edgy.

"Adeila!"

She looked over and shook herself out of her thoughts. Marissa was staring at her.

"You coming?"

Adeila took a calming breath, grabbed the strap of her bag and got out of the car. Another day to trudge through, but this one just felt completely off.

.~.

Adeila had been accidentally "moving" things, apparently with her mind, in the past year. First time it had been the TV remote. It happened one night when she'd been home alone. A rarity that she ate up every chance she got. Her parents were having a date night and her younger brother and sister were over friends' houses. She'd sat on the couch, bowl of buttery popcorn in her lap, with plans of binge watching her favorite teenage werewolf drama when she'd been unable to locate the remote. Finally she'd spied it, on the mantle of the fireplace where the television was mounted. She remembered thinking at the time, what a completely useless spot for the remote to get placed. She'd blamed her father, who left things scattered about the house pretty often.

Cursing him, she'd harmlessly reached out her hand in innocent, lazy desperation and asked the remote to come to her; just as she was getting ready to lower her hand and get up from her comfy cocoon to get the remote, it had shakily lifted from its spot on the mantle and drifted slowly, haphazardly towards her. In utter horror, she had leapt off the couch and sprinted into the kitchen. The remote had dropped onto the floor as soon as her concentration had been broken.

She'd refused to touch the remote for days, insisting to herself that the hallucination had been brought on by lack of sleep and too much studying.

Two weeks later she'd done it with her pillow for the first time. It had fallen off the bed, and she'd woken up with her head on the mattress. She'd blearily looked around and then held out her hand and wished for her pillow, and it had shakily floated to her outstretched palm. She'd dropped it instantly to the ground when she was awake enough to understand what had happened.

She'd tried to remember anything she had eaten that night that could have given her hallucinations, or where she'd gone that someone may have laced her drink or something.

After that she tried to do it on purpose just to make sure she really wasn't actually hallucinating. Every time she'd stretched out her hand and really focused and asked for something, it had come to her. An electrical current like buzzing, humming along her skin, was the only indication that made her truly comprehend that it was her moving these objects. It was entirely her doing, and it wasn't exactly easy either. It was a process, and never a smooth one, but it always worked for her as long as she focused her energy on the task.

Completely freaked out by the entire thing, she'd learned to just not ask for anything. It may have been a useful power, but it was a power nonetheless, and that was just too weird. She hadn't dared to tell anyone of it. She made sure every day when she was around people, she was very careful about what she said. The saying "be careful what you wish for" had taken on a whole new light. She was too scared to tell anyone, afraid she'd be labeled a freak and her parents would send her to a shrink or mental institute or worse. The whole situation, as interesting as it was, scared her witless.

She had no idea how to explain this phenomenon. She'd tried to ask her mom about their ancestry, maybe she had some Wiccan practicing women in her bloodlines or something to explain this, but her mother had completely shut her down. Somewhat rudely, so she'd dared not breach that subject again. Those ancestry websites hadn't gotten her anywhere either, so she'd given up and just began watching her words each day to make sure no one saw her little use her "powers" or whatever the heck they were.

"Earth to Adi!"

Her mind lifted from the fog it had been suspended under and she focused on the pretty face of her best friend.

"Yeah, ah, sorry. Didn't sleep well last night."

"What's gotten into you lately? You're acting so strange! Is it Erik?"

Adeila almost winced with guilt. She'd been thinking of Erik less and less since the restlessness and worry about her weird little power issues kept coming to the forefront.

She could only shake her head to Marissa. She'd been really neglecting Marissa and Erik lately. She barely left the house anymore, afraid she'd say something wrong and the words would get her in trouble.

She was worried in school at all times. Just imagine wishing she hadn't left a book in her locker, just to have it come zooming down the halls after her, hitting students in its wake.

Just the thought made her shiver with the embarrassment and complete upheaval it would cause. There would be no doubt she'd be considered a freak and tossed into some kind of mental home. That was just something she could not afford. She had to focus on her school work, and studying. It made her appear like a total nerd but in all honesty it was more for the safety of her secret than being the teacher's pet.

She always felt bad lying to Marissa, but she just couldn't confide in her what was going on. At least ninety percent of her life now she had to be on guard and ensure she didn't say or wish for the wrong thing. Even her job, her wonderful, quiet job she had to be careful.

Dusty Cover Books and Cafe was a great place to work. The owner was an eccentric middle aged women that loved everything fantasy and witchcraft and had interesting items scattered all about the store.

Adeila hated that the bookstore was now, a constant reminder of the weird power - or whatever it was - she possessed.

She did pick a glance at a witchcraft book now and again to see what it said about her "powers". Other than bits and pieces written with spells, all she had discovered was that it was a loose form of telekinesis. She wasn't even sure if that was really it or not, and she most certainly wasn't saying a spell to achieve the affect. So the witchcraft idea was up in the air.

Despite that, however, something about the atmosphere in the store always seemed to calm her. Last night it had been no different, the book store had given her a bit of serenity. Working itself had given her something for her mind to focus on, and she didn't have to worry about students milling about and judging her. Her shift ended at 7:30 p.m, and on her way home she had called Erik and they'd talk about school and sports.

It had been a perfectly normal night. She'd slept like a rock, and telling Marissa differently felt so wrong but what else could she say? As much as her best friend meant to her, and as much as she trusted her, she just couldn't bring herself to talk to Marissa about what was going on with her.

Marissa was like ice cream on a hot day, or the perfect snowball. Their friendship was something that ran deep and strong, and it made Adeila feel guilty hiding things and lying to her, but she felt as though as much as she loved Marissa, their friendship would change if she told her anything of the powers. She'd look at Adeila like some kind of freak, and she just couldn't bring herself to chance it. So she continued to lie.

Sighing, she forced herself out of the funk she was in and focused on her best friend, who looked exceptionally beautiful today. The skinny jeans and thin white sweater accented her short five-three stature; her hair was in perfect curl mode, with the blonde tresses falling in tight waves to her shoulders. Her brows were waxed into a perfect arch; her big brown eyes were perfectly accented with shadow and mascara, which highlighted the honey brown flecks in them. Her skin was tanned and smooth, and perfect. Marissa really was the perfect girl next door. She wasn't insanely beautiful but close to it, and she had a warm, bubbly, caring personality that suited her looks. Originally from Louisiana, Marissa had moved to California when she was ten. She and Adeila had been best friends since Marissa's first day of school.

Adeila couldn't help but smile at her.

Marissa put her hands on her hips. "I don't know what's gotten into you, Burton, but I'm sick and tired of it! One minute you're ignoring me as if I'm a skunk under your porch, and the next you're smiling at me with that super creepy grin of yours!"

She threw up her hands, but a faint smile played on her glossed lips. Adeila loved when the girls Louisiana twang came out when she talked, her southern roots showing through.

"You know you can't stay mad at me. I've got a lot on my mind. I'm sorry for being so distant." Adeila batted her lashes dramatically at her best friend.

Marissa sighed, rolled her eyes and put her arm through Adeila's. "That's okay! Today I'm making it my mission to see if the newbies front-side, matches his back-side!"

Adeila groaned but sauntered along with her friend to their shared first period class. She passed her freshmen sister and did nothing but nod to her. The girl had made it very clear that she didn't want Adeila to acknowledge her in school. She had wanted very separate lives while on school grounds.

Adeila and Kayla had never really had the best of relationships but the fourteen year old's teenage mood swings were out of control. Kayla had asked her before her freshmen year began if Adeila could just act as if she was another student and not her sister. It was an odd request, but since they didn't really look alike it really didn't surprise her that no one even noticed that they were related. Burton was a common enough last name too.

It still rubbed Adeila the wrong way that her sister didn't want to acknowledge her. It's not like she was a complete nerd with no friends or anything. Sure, she got straight A's but other than the cheerleaders, she was fine with everyone, even the jocks now that she was with Erik. But her sister had been planning on trying out for cheer and Adeila could only assume that that was why. Of course Kayla would want to do the exact opposite of her.

Chapter Three

When they left first period class and headed toward their lockers she looked ahead of them through the throng of students, searching, and finally her eyes alighted on him. His back was to them, talking to some of his friends. When he finally turned around, searched through the crowd, his dark blue eyes landed on her. She felt weak and hot all over. His sandy blond hair was perfectly gelled and just long enough to give him a polished but still carefree look. He was tall and athletically built without ridiculous muscle. He was an all-around athlete, good at every sport he tried and loved all of them, and it came across in his long, lean physique. His clothes were also for sport, as they consisted, almost entirely, of long shorts and comfortable shirts. Today was no exception; with sneakers, blue shorts and a plain white shirt. It wasn't the look that Adeila had envisioned herself for a guy, but since Erik was the guy she wanted, had wanted for a while, she couldn't really mind.

Erik sauntered over to them. "Hey."

Both girls smiled and greeted him. Adeila watched him a moment, just seeing what he would do. He seemed content to just walk beside her. She'd been waiting for him to lay some claim to her in school. Sure, he talked to her whenever he could and walked with her to some classes, but he didn't hold her hand or kiss her. They'd only been a couple for a short time and still testing boundaries, but she was looking for something to show that he was just as interested in her. Teenage love was so ambivalent.

Toward the end of summer when she'd finally agreed to go on a date with him. They'd gone to the local burger place, which almost every teenager in their town went to. Of course, with her horrible luck they'd run into Sadie Simms and her cheerleader posse. Sadie Simm's was Erik's vile ex-girlfriend. It wasn't exactly the perfect start to a first date.

When the horrid girls had greeted Erik and asked what they were doing; he neither confirmed nor denied that they were together. He'd just made a noncommittal murmur and brushed past them, but she remembered very clearly how Sadie had brushed against her in passing and whispered in her sugary sweet yet dripping battery acid like tone, "He's just using you to waste time, he'll be back, you'll see."

She wondered now, if that were true. Erik never made any inkling that he was still into Sadie, and gave Adeila no doubts towards him, so she'd just brushed it off. The glare the girls gave her every time she came within their presence was enough of a reminder.

Erik smiled warmly at her, and moved his arm as if to reach for her, then looking up stopped himself, and let his arm swing back at his side. She wanted to shout at him; to tell him it was okay, it was what she wanted, but she didn't have the guts, nor did she have the guts to take that first step herself.

So they walked together side by side, listening to Marissa go on and on about the new kid, even though she'd still yet to set eyes on him personally. Erik finding the whole situation hilarious egged her on.

Finally, they dropped Marissa off at her next class, she'd rushed inside then back out with a sad face. Clearly insinuating that she didn't share this class with the new guy. Shaking her head Adeila began walking to her next class, a silly smile on her face. Her friend was just so pathetic, but it was entertaining at least.

Erik slipped up beside her and smiled. "What are you doing today?"

She looked sidelong at him, and remembered why she'd agreed to go out with him. His face was aristocratically handsome, bordering on pretty. You could tell that his family had good genetics, with his perfect skin and toned body. His blue eyes lit on her, and a glimmer of hope shone in them.

It was a Thursday. She worked Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday nights.

"Homework, but otherwise nothing that I'm aware of. I have the night off."

He nodded. "I know. I was thinking maybe we could get a pizza and watch a movie at my place if you're free? I'll have you home by nine, I promise."

How the heck had he become interested in her? He could get any girl here. Was he really toying with her? Her mind reeled with the possibility as her heart denied it. She still could not believe that a few months ago he'd begged her just to talk to him. To give him a chance, and here he was again asking for her. Begging her to take chance on him, and still something felt out of place.

All these years she'd wanted nothing but him, dreamt of him, prayed for him, fantasized about him and watched him in full stalker fashion, but now that he was hers, it all felt surreal. Like she was on some crazy show where people were going to jump out and say gotcha! And her heart would break.

Still, heartbreak or not, she smiled at him. A genuine smile, where her straight white teeth showed. Damn it, if even for now she gave in and let this little daydream ride out.

"I'd like that."

Relief, so obvious, washed over him, and showed in his eyes. "Great! Want me to give you a ride or pick you up at your house later?"

She calculated things in her head. Riding with him to his place instead of home with Marissa would alleviate dealing with Marissa's talk about the new kid, but then she wouldn't get to change or brush her teeth, or whatever else she may want to do before seeing him out of school. Marissa was her best friend after all, she could handle the gossip, plus, maybe Marissa could lend her some advice about what to wear for pizza and a movie since she'd never gone to a guy's house for pizza and a movie before, and felt like it was some weird epic encounter that she should call the troops in for.

"Pick me up around four-thirty, at my house?"

He nodded as they approached the door to her Calculus class, the one she dreaded each day. She turned to him, waiting and wishing for him to make a move. She looked at his face, and saw questions there. She bit her lip. He reached out and ran a hand down her arm, then squeezed her hand. When she squeezed back, he moved closer and with his eyes on hers, he ran his lips across her cheek. It was incredibly innocent and insanely sweet. The knot in her stomach expanded and sent little grenades out, exploding throughout her insides. Just when they started to pull apart, a body brushed past them. The bouncing blonde hair gave the rude action away, as Adeila's foggy brain focused on the girls face as she looked back over her perfect shoulder, showcased in a cut top sweater. The look was one of certain death, and Adeila resisted the urge to groan. She turned back to Erik who was gazing at her.

"Don't mind Sadie, she will get used to it, eventually." His passive expression only hinted at a small bit of lie in the statement.

Adeila sighed, and pushed a few strands of very light brown hair behind her ear.

"I'll see you later." She whispered before entering the dreaded math class.

Luckily for her, her assigned seat was in the front row close to the door so she didn't have far to go. Once she sat, she fished out her book and prepared for another horrible class. This one in particular gave her major trouble every day, and she couldn't wait for it to be over. This was the only class she truly struggled in. It did not help that she shared it with Sadie Simms and her sidekick, Nadine Fisher.

When she finally focused around her, she realized the class was unusually loud. Miss Carlson, their teacher, was waiting patiently for a few more students. Finally when everyone was seated she pointed the back of the classroom. "Let's all welcome our new student, Loki Staghorne."

Adeila turned in her seat, and barely caught a glimpse of a dark haired boy before they were forced to quiet by the teacher and the class began.

So this was the new kid. Boy was Marissa going to be bullshit when she found out that she had a class with him.

Adeila made it through most of the class ignoring the feeling creeping up and down her spine. The hair on the back of her neck zinged with a charge. Sadie was most likely staring daggers at her or something.

As the bell went off, Adeila's annoyance flared. How dare the girl treat her this way over a boy! It's not like she stole Erik from her. They hadn't even been dating when she'd started talking to Erik. Enough was enough. Adeila turned to the back of the classroom where she knew Sadie was. Many of the students had proceeded to the exit, so the seats had cleared out some and she had a better view of the classroom. Her eyes went to find Sadie, but were confused when she didn't find her where she was usually seated. Instead the girl was already to the right side of the classroom, head down deep in conversation with Nadine. Their eyes kept peeking to the back of the classroom, seemingly ignoring her. That was weird, maybe they'd just decided to finally give up the evil glare trick on her.

Adeila sighed deeply through her nose, but the electric feeling buzzed along her arms again and she looked up. Her eyes met those of someone in the back of the classroom, the same someone that had Sadie Simms attention. The eyes of the new kid; they were trained directly on her.

She finally had a full view of him. He was tall, broad in shoulder, slim at his waist and well-muscled, just as his backside had shown. But his face was unnerving, magnetic. Rugged, strong, tanned and just slightly exotic.

So maybe Marissa had been right when assuming he was hot. If that was even the right word for him; more like otherworldly beautiful.

His eyes, a golden honey color, were riveted on hers. When she held his gaze her heart rate involuntarily sped up and the current running along her blood seemed to boil. Feeling incredibly awkward, she turned away and bolted out of the classroom, almost running straight into Erik as she rounded the corner. He gripped her arms to steady her, and an expression of concern etched his face.

"Are you okay? Did Sadie give you more trouble? I really need to talk with her about this."

Adeila gulped in some air, and waited for the fizzing in her blood to simmer. "No, no I'm fine. Just hate that class."

She tried to play it off as they walked together to their next classes.

.~.

At lunch Marissa went on and on about the new kid, although she hadn't had any classes with him Marissa had caught a glimpse of him in the hallway; that was enough to have her tongue wagging about him. Adeila was uncomfortable even hearing about the guy. He gave her the creeps. She knew that most likely the weird fuzzy electric feeling she got when they stared at each other was coincidence but it felt oddly like how she felt whenever she moved something with her mind, and she did not particularly like or understand that feeling.

She allowed her eyes to drift to the lunch tables, but she did not see him anywhere. Nor felt the buzzing in her skin.

She chose to ignore the weirdness of the day as soon as Erik's arm brushed against hers. She allowed those feelings to wash over her; the giddy ones. The ones she understood. These feelings had started months ago, years in fact, if she wanted to get technical. But the fresh ones were different. Deeper. Not just the longings of a young girl, but the potential romantic feelings of two young adults.

It had all started with a mid-summer party at Marissa's parent's lake house on Lake Tahoe. Marissa had been dating Ben, one of the football players at the time, and Erik had come with him to the party. Adeila had been just lazing around for most of the morning since Marissa was spending a lot of time with Ben. Oh, Marissa had included her too, but Adeila had wanted to give them privacy. So she'd been sitting on the dock when Erik had sauntered over. She'd been slightly self-conscious about her jean cut off shorts and black bikini top but he'd been so nice to her, he'd made her feel comfortable.

The entire party he'd spent trying to talk to her, trying to get her to talk to him. It had been pretty adorable, and Marissa thought it was the most ironic and romantic thing ever; considering Adeila had been harboring a crush on Erik since elementary school.

Off the bat he had said that he and Sadie had broken up. Adeila remembered having to resist the urge of rolling her eyes, as even though she reveled in his attention, she knew that Sadie Simms would never release him from her grungy little clutches. She was the head cheerleader and he the quarterback, she was meant for him. Not Adeila, with her mousy pale brown hair and completely average physique. Sadie Simms was super thin, with much bigger boobs then should be allowed on her tiny frame. Her long wavy blonde hair was always curled and looked like perfection. The girl was model gorgeous.

Adeila thought Marissa was prettier but she was very biased on the matter.

Why Erik Thompson would be remotely interested in her after dating Sadie, other than to pass the time?

So she'd denied his every pass, even if her heart skipped a beat with every word that had come from his lips. Just being seen talking to Erik would likely start Sadie on a war path that Adeila's senior year could not afford. So even after the party, when he'd asked for her number, she'd denied him. But that hadn't stopped him. Later that night he'd asked Marissa for it. Who denied him under her request until the next day, then Marissa's matchmaker heart had taken over and she'd given the number to him.

"I'm sorry, it's destiny! I can't fight it!" Had been her only excuse.

Yup destiny - to have Sadie Simms murder her in her sleep. Adeila may have been pretty pissed at her friend, but Erik kept insisting that he and Sadie were through for good. They were just two different people, looking for different things. They were really through this time. No going back. The Sadie and Erik duo was history. Or so he said.

Erik had spoken so honestly and openly to her; telling her about how he was planning on quitting the football team to focus more on studying for the upcoming senior year. He wanted to be a coach, even though his parents wanted more for him. It's not like he needed a football scholarship or anything for schooling, his family was one of the richest in California.

After a few weeks of his obsessive calling and texting her, she had to admit she was beginning to feel a bit smitten, and even started reciprocating information about herself and anticipating his calls and texts. A few weeks after that, they'd finally gone out on their first date. A simple dinner at a burger diner in town. That was where her encounter with Sadie Simm's had happened. Erik had deemed to take her somewhere much farther away next time, but despite the evil glare and the warning she had received, they'd had a great night. She couldn't help but see that Erik was much deeper than just a pretty face. He was highly intelligent, with goals, and dreams. And now Erik Thompson was her boyfriend and she didn't even know how to be someone's girlfriend.

Sure, she'd gone out with Greg Walsh in middle school for like two weeks, and he'd given her a sloppy kiss on the playground, but that had been the extent of her dating accomplishments.

The first time she and Erik had kissed had been the second date, when he had taken her to The Blue Pearl, a very nice coastal restaurant that was a good hour drive away. It had been the Saturday after their first date. He'd been the perfect gentlemen all night, and when he dropped her off at her doorstep she had had all the giddiness and anticipation that most girls do after going on a second date with the guy they'd had a crush on for so many years. She could barely see straight. Her cheeks were probably stained red, and her stomach was definitely in one giant knot. When he'd touched her arm, then her cheek, and then leaned down to touch his lips to hers, she'd melted right into him. It was so much more awkward and magical then she even thought it would be.

After that night, kissing Erik had become much less awkward and just as magical. Not that they had much time for kissing, with both of them having school, and her with work, plus still maintaining friends. A lot of their time together was also spent with Marissa and one his friends. Their relationship seemed to be progressing normally, not that she really had anything to compare it to.

Chapter Four

After lunch she had American Literature and then Chemistry and that made up the remainder of her day. American Lit went by easily enough, she sat next to Amber Martin who had bright red hair and pretty green eyes and a silly giggly laugh that always made Adeila smile even if what the girl was laughing at wasn't even funny to her. She actually enjoyed the class. Mr. Jones was a really pleasant teacher with an easy teaching style.

Adeila breezed out of the class, talking to Amber about the newest TV series they were hooked on. Erik caught up to them and smiled at Amber. "Hello, ladies. May I escort you?" He put his arm out for both of them, and it was so silly, both girls giggled and humored him.

Erik was slowly, each day acting more and more like the sweet boyfriend she knew he could be. He'd never been this silly and happy with Sadie in public, and it made Adeila feel like they may actually have a shot with this whole relationship thing.

When they dropped Amber off at her locker and continued on to her Chemistry classroom, her hand was still on his arm, and he smiled at her and touched his other hand to hers for a brief second. They were certainly making progress.

"I'm really looking forward to this afternoon." His voice lowered, and was so incredibly sexy that she almost tripped trying to stare at him. She'd never heard that husky tone and it made her slightly weak in the knees.

She couldn't just drool stupidly and not respond. "Me too."

He shocked her further by pressing another very innocent kiss to her cheek before leaving her at the door.

She was grinning like a complete fool when she stepped into the classroom. She instantly saw many students standing at the front of the classroom and she looked toward Mrs. Anderson, who ushered her over to them.

Once all students stood along the front wall, Mrs. Anderson finally address them.

"As you all may recall we were studying the effect that soda and other harsh drinks have on our teeth. But first I'd like to introduce our new student."

The new kid with his strange golden, hazel colored eyes stepped out from the right side corner and into the center by the teacher's desk.

"This is Loki Staghorne. Please make him feel welcome."

Several greetings and welcomes went through the classroom, before Mrs. Anderson continued. "Now we are having a lab today, so before taking our seats I'd like to assign lab partners and get right into this."

She grabbed a paper off her desk, and gestured to where several one liter soda bottles were lined up on a table, varying brands and types.

Mrs. Anderson began reading off names for lab partners, but Adeila was barely listening, her focus was on so many things. Erik, mostly, but also on the uncomfortable feeling that was plaguing her just being in the same room as this new guy.

When she heard her name, she looked up, but had clearly missed whose name was connected to hers. She looked about, assuming that student would come to her. Her eyes connected to one of the only students left standing, his golden hazel eyes were locked on her.

He began walking slowly over to her, and her heart dipped in her chest and that tell-tale weird buzzing zinged up her arms, causing the hair on her arms and back of her neck to stand at attention. Goosebumps broke out all over her, and she gulped as he moved within a foot from her.

She watched, dazed, as he extended a hand towards her. She just stared at it, and then her attention climbed up to his wrist. With a jolt, she noticed the tattoo. It was a light blue color tribal around his wrist and up his arm. Snaking all the way up into the sleeve of his t-shirt; many different designs interlocking. She'd never really thought too much about tattoos, even though she was turning eighteen in a month, she'd never really been able to decide on something to get inked to her body forever. His were beautiful though, and mysterious. She'd never seen tribal so flowing and intricate.

He looked around, and then back at her. "I thought this was an acceptable greeting around here?"

There was humor in his voice, and she gulped again. Like the saliva in her mouth was just too much, she kept having trouble getting it all down. The electric feeling, like static - much like when you first take a sweater out of the dryer - buzzed all along her and it was seriously creeping her out.

She nodded, solemnly, and blew a breath out of her parted lips. Just being this close to him intensified the feeling, she didn't really want to touch him, but he had given her no polite choice. People were starting to stare. Steeling herself, she took his hand in hers. His palm was rougher then she'd ever imagined teenagers hands could be, and she could almost hear the snap of the electrical current as it zinged up her arm. She quickly dropped his hand and turned away, blowing out a breath as her stomach knotted.

She was his lab partner! How was she going to get through this? Fate was cruel. To her surprise he moved around her and grabbed a soda at random, then picked up the cup that consisted of incredibly disgusting dentures, which made Adeila almost nauseous. How her teacher acquired these was not something she wished to ever find out, and hoped that that was part of the speech she'd spaced out on. He also jumbled the items to grab the lab sheet they were supposed to fill out. Feeling completely useless, she came over and grabbed the paper.

She mumbled a sorry, and he shrugged. "I had it." She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, and moved to an open lab station.

They worked in companionable silence for a few moments setting things up, pouring their soda into a cup, then putting the dentures inside. The lab insisted that they would be putting the cup with soda and dentures in a cabinet and checking on them a week later. Goody. But in the meantime they were supposed to fill two cups and put some plastic paper thing inside of the soda cup and see what the results were.

They did this, unspoken between them; Loki was the demonstrator and she the observer and writer. They worked well together. He told her exactly what he was doing next, and she wrote things down. He was highly intelligent from what she could make out from the way he spoke; if not a little odd in some of the ways he said things, as if he was from a different country, although he didn't appear to have much of an accent.

His eyes were mesmerizing, whenever they met hers, she was held. Spellbound. They were many different colors, flecked and ringed. Her first impression of hazel was an understatement. They began as deep green, and then faded to honey gold with flecks of dark gray in the center. She'd seen nothing like that in her life, and she'd always been interested in people's eye colors. She'd always known how interesting hazel eyes could be, they were probably the most beautiful of colors, because they could contain so many flakes of different colors, but his eyes in particular were intriguing.

She mentally shook herself, this kid was weird, and creeped her out. She should not find anything about his eyes attractive at all, or his tattoo. But she couldn't help it, she was fascinated by both.

She found herself desperate to find out what his tattoo meant, or tattoos, depending on how you looked at it. It appeared to all interlock and connect, but she couldn't be too sure. Staring at it too much would certainly make her look insane. Its style was like a mixture between Celtic, tribal and Polynesian. She noticed some stars scattered throughout the lines. Some lines were strong and straight, some soft and intertwined. Like it was some kind of secret message, or map.

She had to shake herself out of the thoughts to focus on the paper in front of her. The buzzing within her blood was still there, like a headache that was a constant ache instead of a deep pain. She could almost ignore it, until their eyes met and held, then it rushed and fizzed just a little more. She tried really hard to focus on the lab, but found that her panic of this whole situation was starting to get to her.

The last few minutes of class, they were supposed to clean up, then put their little denture project into the cupboard. Loki got up to put their experiment in the closet for them, as she finished putting their names on the paper and a few more random notes. When he came back, he sat briefly to finish getting his things together; she stood up to start cleaning up and went to reach for a cup with dark soda in it. She clumsily toppled it over onto the table, the liquid rushed across the table and onto Loki's lap. He jumped up, quickly, but before he could avoid it entirely, some liquid did land on his pants. He grabbed something from the table as he leapt up but she barely noticed in her utter horror.

"OH MY GOSH! I am so sorry!" She grabbed paper towels that were luckily close by and handed him several. She hovered about him, as he dabbed at his jeans.

"It's fine. No harm."

"No really! I am so, so sorry! I'm so clumsy. I knock drinks over on my friends, like, all the time."

He looked up at her, and smirked. "Yeah, I bet you do. This happens to me all the time too."

She briefly scoffed at his humor, but couldn't help but feel incredibly guilty that she had gotten soda on the new kid's pants. Some first day.

He picked up the overturned cup and began mopping up the mess on the table. She almost hit herself on the head at her stupidity and slowness. She rushed over and began helping him. The teacher came over and tsked them and told them to be more careful.

Loki smiled, otherworldly enigmatic, and waved the lab paper. "Saved it."

He handed it to the teacher. The teacher smiled and batted her lashes, clearly feeling the effects of his magnetic smile.

Adeila slunk her shoulders and thanked him for saving the paper. Quick thinking on his part, and she really was grateful, but she couldn't even bring herself to return his smile.

She mumbled "I'm sorry" numerous more times as they cleaned up the mess together; she barely even noticed the charged feeling when they brushed elbows because she was so embarrassed.

After they'd cleaned up and thrown away soda soaked paper towels, they washed their sticky hands, moving silently and easily together. Not that either of them noticed it. Silently they walked back to the lab table and collected their bags, he thrust his over his shoulders, and waited for her to do the same.

"Loki, I'm -"

He held up a hand. "Adeila, really. I get it. You're sorry. It's fine, seriously. Last class of the day. I'm not here to impress anyone, who cares if I have a soda stain. Wouldn't have been a real first day, in a new school, if something hadn't gone wrong. If this is the least of my worries, I'm pretty sure I can handle it." He smiled, reassuringly.

The bell rang. She looked up and then back at him and bit her lip.

"I know it's just-"

"Adeila, if I hear I'm sorry one more time, I'm going to dump soda on you just so we're even." He grinned, the humor lighting his eyes. They turned a warm honey golden color with his emotion, and for the first time she didn't feel creeped out by the charged feeling. More mesmerized then anything. That was her word for how she felt around Loki. Mesmerized or maybe mystified.

Something was off about him that was for sure, but she hated to admit this encounter made her feel less creeped out by him. Maybe because he wasn't being a jerk, at all, for something that most people would have been pissed about.

"Okay." Was the only response she could muster as she gazed at him. Just then she felt a hand on her arm, she looked at it a moment before following it's appendage up to the face. Erik.

"Hey, I got worried when you didn't come right out." Erik's eyes went to Loki, and they remained there. The two studied each other.

She swallowed. "Ah, Erik, this is Loki. He's the new student."

They shook hands. She confessed. "I dumped soda on him from our lab experiment."

Erik laughed, and ran a hand up her arm. "Sorry about my girl's clumsiness dude, happens to the best of us."

She whipped her head up and stared at him. She remembered knocking a cup of grape soda over at Marissa's party, narrowly avoiding him. He really did know all about this situation. It was the my girl part that got her. He was laying claim to her, finally. She couldn't help it, her mouth hung slightly open when she turned to Loki. He was smiling thinly; it wasn't even a fraction of the smile he had given her moments before. This smile seemed forced, and didn't match his eyes.

Erik looked down at her, then back to Loki. "Hey, see you around man."

He gripped her arm, and began walking to the door way, ushering her along with him. She looked over her shoulder, and waved at Loki. He watched her go, and she snuck one more peak at him as they rounded the doorway. Something about the way he was looking at her, like recognition or awareness. Something she could not decipher. It was so odd, but not in the disconcerting way.

Chapter Five

"I still cannot believe you knocked soda over on the hot new kid!"

Adeila almost groaned. Marissa would not drop it. "Yeah, seriously. So you think the black long sleeve and jeans? Or yoga pants and the off shoulder sweater?"

An hour after she had said good bye to Erik at Marissa's car, she still hadn't completely decided on an outfit. Marissa had fussed with her natural makeup palette, insisting on a dark liner for her eyes to make the baby blue pop, then blow dried her hair; all the while preening over how much she wished her hair was thin, straight, and fine like Adeila's and how she wished she had a class with the new kid. How she considered switching something so she could.

Adeila looked at Marissa's shoulder length, thick, loose curled hair and didn't get it. Marissa's hair was gorgeous, why she liked her hair was beyond her. It was a boring light brown with some lighter tones throughout it, and it was fine and straight that refused to hold any color or style. And as far as switching classes, Adeila knew it was an empty threat, Marissa loved all of her classes. Especially drama, which she knew would conflict with getting a class with Loki.

"I think the yoga pants and sweater. Simple; perfect for lying around at his house watching a movie. Plus they make your butt look even more incredible then it already is."

Adeila let out a snort, then couldn't help but laugh and roll her eyes. Marissa was so good at making her confidence soar. But she listened to her advice. She stepped in her bathroom and threw on the black yoga pants, a simple white tank top, then the soft ice blue sweater with its off the shoulder cut. The sweater really brought out her light blue eyes and almost made them seem lighter and bigger.

She did a twirl in the mirror - the kind that went from the top of the door to the floor of the bathroom. The tight, comfy pants did make her butt look good. Plus, they were incredibly comfortable to wear. When she was happy with the results she went back to her room, Marissa was laying across her bed on her stomach, playing with her phone. She looked up and whistled.

Suddenly a knock sounded at her door, and Adeila looked to Marissa, who just shrugged. When Adeila opened it, she was extremely surprised to see her younger sister. Kayla's deep auburn hair was cut in a short, angled style, which showed off her beautiful, angular features. Her dark brown eyes were wide and lovely. She was a perfect mixture of their parent's features.

"Hey, is there any way I can borrow those tall brown boots of yours? I know they'll be a little big, but... Well, they are way cool."

Adeila swallowed. Her sister was growing up fast, so much faster than herself at that age. At fourteen, the girl was more like a twenty five year old. It was a little frightening.

"Ah, yeah of course." She went to her closet and pulled them out. "What are you wearing them with?" Adeila thought she would show some interest and see if her sister took the bait of conversation.

"Skinny jeans." Kayla took the boots as soon as Adeila was close enough and mumbled a thanks before turning on her heel and moving from the doorway.

Sighing, Adeila still chalked the experience up as a win. At least the girl thought something that Adeila had was "cool". She turned to Marissa who only offered a sentimental shrug. She knew this whole situation all too well and rarely got involved. Adeila knew that Marissa just didn't really like her sister, but out of respect to her, said nothing about it. It only made Adeila sadder that they couldn't all just get along and be friends. But for now she could only handle one problem at a time, and at this moment it was Erik. Who would be here any minute, and the knot in her stomach was not helping matters at all.

Marissa had talked Adeila into pairing the ensemble with simple silver hoop earrings, and the pretty charm bracelet she had bought Adeila for Christmas a few years ago. It had two little silver sparrows on it.

The doorbell rang about five minutes after Marissa had driven away, and the knots intensified. She heard her brother yell - Got it \- and she grabbed her purse and darted down the stairs, she didn't want anyone to embarrass her. She almost skidded to a stop at the base of the stairs when she heard his masculine voice. He was talking to her twelve year old brother about some video game. Boys!

She finished tying her sneakers and moved into the hall. She watched them a second before Erik's eyes rested on her. He smiled; that boyish smile, with his perfect white teeth. He sure was easy to look at. His dark blonde hair had gotten a trim, maybe that's what he'd gone and done while waiting for her, but he was still able to gel it a little. The look was really nice on him. All around, the whole package was nice. She still could not believe he was hers, at least for now.

"Ready?"

Adeila nodded and licked her lips. She smiled at her brother and said good bye. He trotted off, clearly excited about whatever insight that Erik had given him. She grabbed her zip up fleece and stood in front of him. He looked down at her and smiled again, it made her weak in the knees.

"You look great."

She swallowed and resisted the urge to swoon at his feet, a quick thanks was all she could muster before he opened the door and led her out to his blue BMW that waited, running, in her drive. She almost floated to the car, she heard a beep of the unlocking mechanism and waited for him to open his side and get in before she mimicked him. He smiled at her again, almost shyly. He'd never picked her up before, they always met places. This was new, almost like a first date all over again. She found it hard to focus on their time together with so many things going on lately, but she steeled herself to think of just him tonight. Which proved to be easy enough; as he made her weak, when he kept asking if she was comfortable, warm enough, hungry. Then admitting he was nervous. She thought it was adorable, since he always seemed so confident and in control at school and any other time they'd hung out. Tonight just felt different, somehow. As if they were crossing some invisible stepping stone.

.~.

No one was home when they first arrived. Erik was an only child and his parents were both business people with extremely high demanding schedules. They did have a live in maid, who'd doubled as a nanny when Erik was a child.

They discovered Alice had gone grocery shopping, so made full use of the private moment. He showed her around the house, since she'd only been in the living room once before with Marissa. When they got to his bedroom, she smiled. He had wood floors, a huge four poster bed; a large desk with what she knew was a top of the line lap top on it. A case held CD's and DVD's. A huge flat screen television graced one wall. Posters included a few cars and many San Francisco 49ers memorabilia. She knew his parents had season tickets. His father had played football all throughout high school and some in college. They were a huge football loving family.

It was a typical guy room. At least from what she'd seen on television, since she'd never been in a guy's room before. She looked around at all his trophies. There were far more then she would have guessed. They were scattered about the room on shelves, and practically every other surface, and she knew this wasn't all, as his parents had many on display in their living room too.

They made small talk as she poked around, he didn't dissuade her. When finally she turned to him, he was standing there watching her. She smiled tentatively, he did the same. She watched his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed, then he stepped towards her. He ran his hands up her arm, then to her shoulders. His dark blue eyes looked down at hers and he smiled.

"It's nice to have some time alone."

She could only nod in response as his touch ignited a need within her. She'd never ever felt this way around anyone, not that she'd ever really had the chance. This was so intense, more then she thought it would be. Puppy love, some would call it, but she thought differently. It may not last forever, but she was falling in love with him. Every moment they spent together had her spiraling towards that edge. It was exciting, exhilarating, but also frightening. She knew he'd break her heart.

College was around the corner and both of them wanted different things from life. She still considered going to school to be a Veterinarian and she knew he wanted to be a coach, but had a feeling his parents might change that by the time they were through. But for now she was living in the moment and taking this experience with her.

Adeila looked up at him, and tried for a sultry look. One that read he could kiss her if he wanted to. She hoped he got the message. She was shocked when he did. He bent his head, and brushed his lips against hers. It was sweet, gentle, and she wanted more. She ran her hand up his arm to his chest, one hand splayed over the muscles there while the other gripped his shirt. He groaned and ran one hand up her neck and cheek; the other went to her lower back. He deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue across her lips and into her mouth. It deepened even more, she felt her body soften and melt against him, pushing her ever closer into his body. His hand went from her lower back to her hip bone, then rested along her outer thigh, fingers lightly caressing. Her body was thrumming from the hidden desire. This was far more intense than anything they'd done thus far. The exhilaration of it had her heart beating erratically.

Just then a banging was heard at his bedroom window, sending them springing apart. They spun to the window to see a large white and brown speckled bird that looked like a falcon of some kind. It hovered there, and then flew away.

Erik wiped his lips and rubbed the back of his neck. "That was weird."

Adeila sucked in her lips and stared at the window. She shivered as the recollection of those intense, golden, predatory eyes seemed to rest on her own. She was shaky from the experience, between the super intense kiss, being frightened, and then the birds eyes, she felt a slight tremble in her limbs. She composed herself and made her heartbeat slow a little before turning back to Erik.

"Totally." Then the bang of the door downstairs had them jumping again. Both laughed, but the moment of passion was gone. They went downstairs for her to meet Alice, and have some pizza.

Chapter Six

Adeila had texted Marissa when she got home, telling her they would talk the next day, since it was a Saturday and they usually hung out anyway. So Adeila called her around ten the next morning.

"So?" Marissa's voice was breathy on the other line, and Adeila rolled her eyes. Her friend was just so dramatic, and girly.

"So, what? We had a nice time."

"And? Did you... you know?"

Adeila bit her lip. She did know what Marissa was referring to. "Not what you're thinking, no. We just made out a little, nothing more."

Marissa sighed dramatically. "But you're going to do it with him right? You want him to be your first?"

Adeila shifted on her bed. She'd gotten home, done some homework, and then decided to sleep instead of answering all the million texts from Marissa. She liked the voice to voice conversation versus the almost impersonal text message. So much could be misinterpreted via text message.

"Ah, I think so." And she did, think so, that is, but truly who knew?

When it did happen she wanted it to be special, and with someone who meant something. She knew Marissa sympathized this, because Ben had been her first and he had cheated on her a month later with Cindy McDaniels; a cheerleader who had gone to their school a few years ago but now went to neighboring Quinton High, who also happened to be good friends with Sadie Simms. It had been demoralizing for Marissa, her best friend had been heart broken. But they'd broken up just before school started and luckily Ben had graduated the past year so she didn't even need to worry about seeing him around school.

Marissa was mostly over it now, but seemed extra crazy about boys these days. As if she needed redemption. Adeila didn't know why, since she'd gotten so hurt, but she guessed something was to be said about having a boyfriend. A boy who wanted you, and only you. Marissa said she needed to get right back in the saddle, and Marissa had been trying to do just that the entire school year. The hard part about a small town is that everyone knows everyone and it's hard to go through years knowing someone, teasing them, seeing them go through crazy weird growth spurts, and then dating them. You just knew too much. She figured that is why Marissa was so obsessed with the new kid. New blood.

"You think so? Come on Adi, just get it over with. It's like a cloud hanging over you. You gotta just get it over with and move on."

Adeila rolled her eyes. It was easier said than done, and she was only slightly annoyed that her friend was pressuring her about it, but she knew Marissa wanted someone to share details with. Adeila had pressured Marissa about the details of her first time, but Marissa had been pretty vague. Saying only that it hadn't hurt as much as people made it seem like, nor was it as awkward as long you really liked the person you were doing it with.

"Yeah, I'm sure it'll happen sometime." But in truth Adeila had no idea. She liked Erik, a lot. Had dreamed of these moments with him for so many years, but now that it was really happening she couldn't help but feel a little insecure. They only had a handful of months before both would be going to college, and where would that leave them? Could she do the long distance thing without feeling too distrustful? She was pretty sure she couldn't.

The Erik thing was sadly temporary and she just wasn't sure if she could handle giving him that part of her, which would mean so much, for it to be such a fleeting romance. But it didn't mean she wasn't going to enjoy the time they would have together, because she intended to.

.~.

School Monday seemed to drag on. It could have been because she'd had such a low key weekend. She and Marissa had gone shopping Saturday and then just hung out at Marissa's house and watched movies, then Adeila had slept over there. Erik had text her a few times over the day, but nothing crazy. She wasn't sure if she liked that about him or not. She liked talking to him, but didn't want to seem too clingy. So she usually let him text her and she kept it short and precise. It was only when he called her that she would open up to him. Sunday morning she and Marissa - after much insisting from Marissa - had gone for breakfast with Erik and his friend Danny, who she liked more than any of his other friends, who still treated her like some nerdy outsider who they were shocked their friend was interested in. Danny was funny and quirky and she secretly hoped he and Marissa would get together. They'd had a good time but Erik had had to leave around noon for something with his parents, which was unsurprising as they were a very involved family.

Marissa had dropped her off at home, but within fifteen minutes of being home she couldn't handle the silence of the house, even though all inhabitants were accounted for. Everyone was keeping company with their respected technical gadget. Her father at his TV, her mother at her lap top, her brother at his video games, and her sister, well she had no idea what her sister was doing, but her door was firmly shut and no sounds came out of it. She couldn't handle it, and had gone outside and spent the rest of her afternoon until dinner sitting on the deck reading a book. So that was her boring weekend. Maybe she was just restless, maybe she needed to go for a walk after school or do more yoga and meditation.

Her classes took forever, and didn't hold her interest at all. She wasn't sure what was coming over her. She felt the weird magnetic feeling in her blood a few times throughout the day, but when she'd looked around hadn't really discovered a meaning for it, and soon pushed it into the back of her mind. Her classes with Loki were the hardest to push away, as just being near him for some crazy reason heightened the magnified sensations. As soon as he stepped into the room, or she stepped into one with him in it, the sensations increased, and it was almost unbearable when he looked at her. It was like a magnetic pull, and the electrical static feeling made it almost feel like if she touched something electrical she would short it out. She tried to avoid him at all costs, but when Chemistry came that day, she was not quite so lucky.

"Now I want you to sit with your lab partners for the tonic chemical teeth test. I would like you guys to check the progress of the teeth being soaked in the soda and write a few paragraphs on what you see."

The teenagers grumbled and slowly made their way to the cabinet where the projects sat.

"Hi." He said it nonchalantly as he sat next to her, with the project in hand. She'd seen him get up for it and decided instead of going up there with him uselessly, to just wait for him to come to her.

"Hi." She said it quickly and without looking at his eyes. It was so much worse when the hazel ones connected with her own.

For a few moments they sat in silence observing the very disgusting dentures, which looked much more disgusting after a few days of soaking in the dark soda.

They spoke very little and before long were separated again by desks and the teacher's lecture continued. She copied down notes and kept her head front and eyes to the teacher. The moments with Loki had been tense, but entirely of her doing. He was completely stoic and normal. He tried only to talk to her out of politeness, she guessed she was being kind of a bitch trying to avoid him, but until she figured out exactly what the heck the weird effect he had on her was, she would continue to do so. Let him think of her as a stuck up bitch, maybe it would be easier.

.~.

After school Erik, caught up to her. "Hey, what are you today?"

She was in no real mood to hang out with anyone, but figured she should probably be the good "girlfriend" even though he hadn't officially asked her out. She guessed they were technically dating. Maybe guys didn't actually ask girls anymore? Maybe they just assumed? Since she really had no idea how this really worked, she just kind of let it go the way it was. It was kind of sad that here she was, a senior, and this was her first real relationship of any kind. She'd watched enough relationship drama unfold around her that it had turned her off from the experience until Erik. She'd always dreamed of a relationship with him. She had just no idea what to expect or how to act or... Really anything about any of this girlfriend/boyfriend/relationship kind of stuff.

"Nothing as far as I know. You?"

"Nothing. Want to get some hot chocolate and hang out?"

"Sure." She still got the fluttery feeling in her stomach just standing so close to him.

"Cool, you ride with Marissa?"

She nodded, and he took her hand kissing the back of it, making her heart stumble and a little jolt in her belly.

"Let her know I'll give you a ride home. Give me five minutes and I'll meet you outside."

"Okay."

She went out to tell Marissa and wait for him.

.~.

Hanging out with Erik was exhilarating and easy. They drove to a local coffee shop, ordered hot chocolates, sat at a booth and just talked. It was a good way to eat up an afternoon. She thoroughly liked Erik, and enjoyed his company. They didn't really have a lot in common but found things to talk about anyway. She had to appreciate that.

About ten minutes before they left, she felt the familiar buzzing along her body, she nonchalantly looked around, making sure she wasn't doing anything with her hands or mind to make anything crazy happened. When she realized it was nothing she was doing, she swiveled around in her seat trying to get a look at what exactly was causing the reaction. Her eyes whisked over a buff guy with a very short crew style haircut and the feeling heightened slightly.

Well, the whole - maybe it's a strange kind of attraction thing - was ruled out right there. So the reaction she got with Loki was not because she found him attractive, because she did so not find this military style buff guy attractive at all. The buzzing in her skin was not quite as strong as with Loki, but it was there, and when she let it slide over her, she realized it was a little different. She mentally shook herself out of the thought, sighed and refocused on Erik again - like so many other times she brushed the whole thing off. It was getting easier.

The door opened, and a frigid wind came through, swirling straight at her. Her long brown hair was tousled about, but looking at Erik it didn't even move a single gelled hair from his head. Maybe it was the gel.

Erik stared at the door; eyes narrowed, then reached across to her and smoothed the hair from her face. She found the gesture incredibly sweet and the butterflies in her belly responded to his gentle touch.

"That's weird; I didn't even feel the wind." He gestured toward the now closed door, and she gulped. Great! Phantom winds. De-freakin-lightful!

She shrugged, hoping he would drop it, and he did. As they got up to leave she looked at the buff guy again, and found him staring at her. His eyes were so dark, they almost shimmered with their depth-less luster. It was so creepy; she turned away quickly and moved closer to Erik. The buzzing along her skin was almost a complete vibration now and something in her head told her this was not the good kind of feeling. This was a warning. Nothing like what she felt when she looked upon Loki. She ushered Erik faster, and only when they were in his car speeding away, did she let go of the breath she held.

What the hell was that all about?

Before Erik dropped her off, he gave her a light kiss on the lips and rubbed his hand across her cheek, pushing her hair back. Then he kissed her deeper, she positioned her body closer to the center console and ran a hand up his arm.

He ran a hand along her shoulder, down to her waist, as she ran her hand up his arm again. She still wasn't very used to this whole making out thing, and didn't really know what to do with her hands. She moved her head ever slightly to give him more access for a deeper kiss; he obliged her, his tongue swiping her lips. Suddenly, they heard a loud bang on the windshield and both of them jerked apart, heads whipping up.

Adeila's brother made a disgusted face before sauntering towards the house; she looked down the drive to see Mrs. Caulter's huge white SUV drive away. She'd completely forgotten about her brother's soccer game that day. Her parents must not have gone, that's why his friend Billy's mom dropped him off. Her parents had been awed that he'd even wanted to do soccer this year, but Adeila had been so proud and happy that he'd wanted to do a sport; she'd vowed to go to as many games as she could. She'd failed in epic proportions as a sister.

Her face heated, she ducked her head, and peeked at Erik.

"I have to go and apologize to my brother."

Erik snickered. "I'm sure he's going to be doing the same thing in a few years."

She didn't feel like explaining anything to him about her family life, so she halfheartedly laughed and said yeah, not really knowing what else to say.

"See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, I'll text you."

She nodded and shut the door. She turned to the house, but a bit of white caught her eye. In the large pine tree to the left of her lawn, perched stoically, was a Gyrfalcon. A fairly uncommon bird for these parts, since they tend to stick to tundra like climates, but are sometimes found in mountain regions. Granted, they were in a mountainous region but her home was in more of a valley and she thought it strange that this appeared to be the second one she'd seen in the past few weeks. In her almost eighteen years she'd never once seen one here, or anywhere in California. Not that they couldn't survive here, because she imagined that the mountains were home to a few, it was just so odd that they'd be coming down into the valley of her home, and more that they were at Erik's house which was in a very upscale, busy part of town. Since now that she laid eyes on this falcon, she was quite sure the bird at Erik's window that night was this species too.

She only knew about this particular species of falcon because she'd studied Polymorphism in biology and she'd done a paper on bird species that were polymorphic. This being one of them, meaning their plumage can vary. Typically due to climate change and other atmospherically or biological reasons. This one in particular was very oddly colored. He was mainly white, with a silver sheen along the edge of his wings, with dark brown and silver speckles. It was huge and its golden predator eyes were fixed on her; as if it was judging her. That familiar buzz of energy current ran up her arm.

Grumbling, she trudged to the door. She'd had quite enough freaky electrical, mystical, whatever shit for one day.

Chapter Seven

Well, her brother hadn't told her parents, but it still didn't make her feel any better about missing his game or the fact that he'd caught her kissing her boyfriend. She'd apologized numerous times, but the boy couldn't really care less. He just wanted to be left alone. She slunk her shoulders, but tousled his dark red hair, and told him she loved him. She got only a humph for a response as he turned away to get in the shower. Sighing, she figured she deserved that. Her family were not the "I love you" type of people. She had tried starting the trend but it never stuck with any of the others. She'd given up, only saying it during really dramatic moments. Her sister would likely have a complete "mean girl" drama fit if she'd tried saying it to her. At least with her brother she sometimes got it said back. Very rarely, and not in the past year, at least.

Giving up, Adeila ate dinner alone, in silence. Her family were not ones for doing dinner at the table like most families. Her mother typically picked up dinner on her way home from work, ordered, or made something from a box. Since pretty much everything from a box or take out made her sick, she generally made salads or fruit bowls and ate alone.

She thought back to how difficult it had been to chow down the pizza at Erik's house the other day and act as if she enjoyed it. Although she could handle pizza much more than most fast food. She looked down at her pathetic salad consisting of kale, cucumbers and cranberries. She could only use a faint drizzle of dressing or that too would make her sick, unless she made her own Italian. It really was a nuisance. She'd been tested for everything and every test had come back normal. She had no allergies at all. Her mother insisted she was faking it, despite Adeila genuinely feeling nauseous. Granted, it typically only lasted a few minutes, but it was still annoying.

So here she was eating yet another salad. Alone. Her Dad wasn't home yet and her mother was in the basement working out, or doing something. Her mother had her office downstairs in the basement so that she would have to walk past the work out equipment in order to get to her desk to remind herself to work out more. It was an interesting theory, but her mother hated working out. She hadn't even stuck to the yoga classes she had originally brought Adeila to. And to make it worse Adeila hadn't had her license yet so she couldn't even go to them herself. She'd convinced her Dad to bring her to a few. So as soon as she had gotten her license she had taken up a class on her own. Such things happened all the time and she knew her parents had good intentions but rarely followed through with anything.

Almost at the end of her meal, her father came home. George Burton was a short man, with thinning dark hair and very dark brown eyes. He had begun his technology company around the same time she was born, per her parents. He'd been struggling to get it going for a while, and they say that her birth was the inspiration he needed to get the ball rolling. She wasn't really sure how any of that had come about but whatever, she was a teenager and that was just more information then she cared to ask. Now he owned four major companies. Three were in California, and one was in Nevada. She was proud of his success, but she also saw that the lifestyle was going straight to his belly. She hadn't noticed the rotund way his belly protruded above his belt until that moment. She should really get him to start walking with her or something. Do or say something to make him more aware. He was always so busy that he rarely had time to worry about his health. He came into the kitchen, set his bag down on a chair, rummaged the fridge, said a hollow hello and went downstairs to find her mother. What a strange family life they had. She'd been around Marissa's family enough to know that not every family was like that. Some loving, attentive, caring, compassionate and united.

Sighing again - she seemed to do that a lot lately - she washed and put away her bowl then heated water for a cup of tea. After preparing the green tea, and grabbing a coat, she wandered outside onto the deck. Dusk had crept over the back yard, etching the sky in dark gray. She could see the light fade and the dusky darkness come over the tops of the mountains and across their manicured back yard. The restlessness was eating away at her with every ebb of light.

She just wanted more. More of something. All the time. She didn't even really know what she wanted; she just knew it was more than this. She assumed it was just the looming thoughts of college to prepare for, and the rest of senior year. And like everything else she fought to brush it aside and just live day by day, but her mind was a current all on its own wavelength. She thought more and more about her weird mind powers each day, and what they meant. What was she? There was no way she was normal, right? Were there other people out there that could move things with their mind? Was there a cult or club or something? Was she a witch?

As her mind continued to drift, movement caught her eye, gaining her attention, down by the edge of the trees. She squinted in the edging darkness, but when she didn't see anything again, she sat down and waited for night to blanket around her. It was probably just a bird or a rabbit or something. The nights here were so peaceful.

Adeila waited for the stars to blink into focus before standing up and leaning over the railing picking out constellations. When she came upon the North Star, she was always a little confused because there were so many other stars around it that seemed to make up a whole different constellation. She, herself, saw a deer, with antlers and something else near the antlers... maybe a crown?

When she looked down and across the lawn, she again thought she saw something, a flicker of color. A light color. She looked back towards the kitchen, lights were on all throughout the house, but not a soul was around.

She sucked in a breath, and then looked back towards the trick of color. It was still there. Her curiosity wore at her, but paranoia sunk in and she turned back to the house. She went inside, locking the slider door, checking it several times before going upstairs. She didn't bother telling her parents about it, they'd likely scoff at her.

She did her homework, checked to make sure her windows were securely locked before letting herself sink into her mattress. Sleep was hard to come by, however, and when she finally did fall into that depth-less sleep state she dreamt of a gyrfalcon with human-like predatory eyes, a golden horse and a steel gray wolf.

Chapter Eight

The next day was as normal as normal could be for Adeila. And thinking back on it she should have been suspicious. What, with strange feelings while looking at a particularly gorgeous (yes, she could finally admit it) dark haired-tattooed-hazel eyed boy, seeing Gyrfalcons, white flecks of something in the woods, dreaming about wolves and falcons, having her brother catch her making out with her boyfriend, and having weird scary feelings when looking at some random weird-buff-crew-cut guy, that the last week had been so full of? The normalcy should have been a clue that something climatic was about to affect her. But it wasn't, and she was clueless.

As was said, the day seemed normal. Classes whizzed by, she'd avoided eye contact with said hazel eyed-tattooed boy, aced a pop quiz from the previous day, spent some time having conversations with her friends, had a few brief moments with Erik, and even managed to not make anything weird happen. At all. No buzzing of her blood, nothing moving with her mind.

It was just before last period, that things started to get weird.

"I'm so sorry, Adi, I gotta leave. I'm so sick. The nurse already wrote me a note to go." Marissa was looking pale, her eyes were dim, even her hair hung limp.

"What? You were fine at lunch!" She was stuck without a ride. Great! But worse, her friend rarely got sick. She had a sniffle here and there but the girl's stomach was rock solid, nothing made her nauseous. Adeila was always envious of Marissa for that particular reason. Although it went both ways, as Adeila had never had any flu or illnesses. None. Not even chicken pox.

"Can Erik give you a ride?"

"I'm not sure, but I'll ask. You go home, Riss, I'll figure out something."

Now Marissa looked green all over, and Adeila felt really bad for her. She gave her a quick hug before the blonde girl walked briskly to the front doors. Weird.

Then she text Erik, twice, and got nothing. When last period class was over, he still hadn't text her back. She decided she'd have to search for him.

When she finally caught up to him, he looked completely confused and hurried.

"Hey!" She trotted over to him; he looked even more confused at her but smiled slightly, while shoving stuff into his bag.

"Hey." He said it offhandedly, entirely unfocused from her. Which wasn't odd, Erik wasn't always completely attentive to her at school.

"Is there any way you can give me a ride home? Marissa left sick and I rode with her this morning."

He frowned at her, and ran a hand through her hair. "Yeah, Adeila, I'm sorry, I can't. My academic councilor just called for a meeting with the athletic director. It's about my interest in becoming a coach. It's like a life goal thing. I'm not sure if my parent's know about it, and when my Dad finds out he'll flip. He's still pissed I'm not taking any sports this year."

He paused, grabbing his bag and setting it down, then closed his locker. He looked like he was going off to state prison rather than meeting with advisers about his future life goals. "I need to do this meeting, but play damage control too. Make sure they don't send anything to the house and stuff. Just until I can come up with a good speech for my Dad." He sighed, and itched his elbow before looking at her again.

She nodded. "I get it, yeah. Good luck. I really hope that your Dad ends up being more okay with all that then you think."

"Yeah, I really doubt it, but it's my life right? Not his."

She smiled encouragingly at him. "That's right." She gazed at him for half a second, before she did the only thing she could think of. She hugged him. She hadn't really initiated much public displays and there were students everywhere. He was the first to pull away, but there was a smile on his face, that actually reached his blue eyes. He leaned down again, and whispered Thanks, babe in her ear before turning around and heading toward the office.

Adeila watched him go, and groaned inwardly. Now what was she going to do? She went to her locker, put her books way, and text her mom. When she got to the front door, she text her dad. Hopefully one of them would get it. It was a pretty far walk from school to her house, so she hoped one of them would make the trip here.

Her dad text her back as she walked across the parking lot. Sorry, working until at least 6. I think your mother should be getting out around now.

She text her mother again, and continued to walk. Just as a red sedan pulled up, her mother texted back; yes, should be leaving in 5. I can swing through that way.

Awesome and sort of shocking considering her mother just wasn't the most thoughtful or helpful of people. The red sedan stopped and several girls hung out the window. She recognized Becky and Amber.

"Hey! I heard Riss went home early, I told her not to eat the cafeteria tacos but she never listens! You need a lift? I don't have much room but we can squeeze you in."

Adeila looked at the two girls in the back, and smiled. "I'm okay my mom should be here any minute. Thank you though!"

"Okay! See you tomorrow." And the girls sped away.

Adeila walked on for another five minutes, and got another text from her mother: Stuck here another few minutes prepping something for Stebbin's case tomorrow.

Then a moment later another one: can't another of your friend's give you a ride?

Adeila pressed a fingertip to her brow just above her right eye. Kathryn Burton was a legal secretary, constantly at the mercy of the schedules of the two lawyers in the firm she worked for. Adeila should have just taken Becky up on her offer for a crammed ride.

She trudged along; hearing kids hooting and hollering as they left the school. She'd taken a back road that led away from town, more toward the rural northern part of town, where her house was, so fewer of the kids went this way. Thankfully. She really wasn't in the mood to deal with teenage shenanigans right now.

Dark shadows lengthened on the road, and she looked up. Where the sky had been clear moments ago with puffy white clouds, it was now dark with angry gray clouds. The temperature had also dropped several degrees.

At least she'd worn her warmest, waterproof jacket but still, walking twelve to fourteen miles in the rain was not how she wanted to spend the afternoon, and she'd have to call Bev to let her know she'd be late for work. Just as she pulled out her cell phone, a few drops of water fell onto the screen.

She sighed deeply and pressed call for the book store. After a several minute conversation with Bev that consisted of babble, more babble and Bev exclaiming, "Walking's good for you my dear!" she put her phone away and trudged on.

Rain began pelting down, faster and faster until it went from drops plopping onto the pavement, to sheets of water coming down, hard. She had pulled her hood up, tying the drawstrings tight, and ambled along.

When she heard a vehicle, she moved over on the shoulder slightly more and didn't even bother looking up. The loud car drove by, but then she heard the sound of gravel from the vehicle pulling over ahead of her. This could mean only two things; a fellow student taking pity on her, or some teenage girl abductor. Either way she'd be out of this wretched cold, hammering rain. Got to look at the positive in any way you can when the sky opens up and pours down cold buckets of water onto the earth.

When Adeila did looked up, she saw nothing but a large black pickup truck tailgate, then the tall figure jumping out. They wore a dark maroon hoodie, she noticed, when they got closer. Everything was out of focus because of the sheets of water blurring the surroundings. When the tall figure reached her, she looked up into honeyed hazel eyes. Those mystical eyes that turned from golden to green to gray and every ring of color in-between.

She couldn't help the jolt she felt all along her body. She gulped, and looked up at him, mutely. The buzzing along her skin prickled every hair on her body; the awareness of him was so intense, more intense than ever before. It sent a warming heat through every limb, to sit within her belly.

She figured this was pay back for avoiding him as much as humanly possible in a building where she shared two of her five classes with him.

"Adeila! Why are you walking in the rain?"

What a dumb question, she wanted to retort. Instead she cocked her head, and gave him a very crooked smile. "Oh you know, taking in the sights. Is it raining? I couldn't tell." Water dripped down her face from where she had to tip it back slightly to look up at him.

A big grin spread across his incredibly handsome face, and his eyes lightened and turned greener, the gray turning molten silver. The smile transformed his face into something more approachable, less stoic.

He laughed, and hooked his thumb toward his truck. "Need a lift?"

She looked past him at the giant pickup truck, inwardly groaned and complained, but a small part of her was a little interested to see inside something that was his. Interested in learning just a little more about this boy that had her best friend so enraptured. Damn, Marissa was going to throw a complete bitch fit when she found out about this.

Shrugging, Adeila said yeah and he walked her to the passenger door, opening it up for her. He waited until she was settled in before shutting the door. She looked around as quickly as possible. A pretty normal, newer pickup with all the fancy gadgets and nice tan leather interior. It smelled like him; evergreen and earth with the hint of leather. When she looked in the backseat she was even more confused and intrigued. She could see his black backpack, but next to it on the leather seat she could see a very old hand mirror.

It was dull gray, like pewter or very old dull silver; she really had no idea what kind it was just that it was a dull gray color. The handle was a curved leaf, like one of the American elm or similar species of tree. Etched to perfection, with every detail as accurate as possible. The frame of the round mirror was etched deer-like antlers. Two antlers, their points meeting at the top. It looked too much like a family heirloom to be haphazardly thrown into the back of a teenage boy's truck.

He had hopped into the truck and upon seeing her pointed gaze, a small smile etched his face but he said nothing just removed the soaked hoodie and threw it onto the backseat, over the mirror.

She turned her attention back to the front. Maybe he was taking it be appraised or something?

"So thanks for the ride. I was only waiting for my mom to pick me up. I wouldn't have walked the whole way."

He only nodded. "Well, let her know your all set."

She swallowed, and quickly text her mom. She knew how relieved she'd be that she didn't have to come get her.

If it hadn't been for the cold and pouring rain she'd never have agreed to ride with him. Just being in the close confinement was like being in a too hot house with a well-stocked wood stove. There was no air to breath that didn't smell of earth and pine. She felt the warm buzzing within her blood, and a shiver of excitement whispered up her spine. Although she had no idea why.

She furiously wished she'd just taken Becky up on her offer and been done with it. Cramped would have been better then riding with this boy she barely knew, who gave her incredibly weird feelings along her body. A boy she hadn't made the best of impressions upon.

"I hope Marissa is alright." His voice was low and deep. She turned to him, his stoic features a mask. Unlike the boy she'd seen laugh at her earlier. At least he was being nice and trying to make conversation, to not make this seem less awkward. She should at least reciprocate on the conversation.

"Me too," however, was all she could muster.

Finally she decided she'd keep the momentum of the Marissa talk going. Since her best friend was completely obsessed with the boy, who hadn't really given Marissa the time of day, she decided she might try her shot at the whole matchmaker thing.

"So do you think Marissa is pretty?" Straight, blunt and to the point. She blushed, in embarrassment at the bluntness of the question, and a knot formed in the pit of her stomach as if she'd asked him the question about herself not her friend. Which she would never have the guts to do. She looked to him to see the complete shock wash over his features.

He inclined his head towards her, his eyes very golden, with little green, gray flakes dusting the inside circle.

"Ah, sure. Yeah, I guess." He seemed uncomfortable with the confession, and he shifted in his seat.

She smiled; this may be easier than she thought. "Well, she thinks you're pretty too." She laughed as she said it, letting the humor override the ridiculous wording.

He smiled awkwardly. "Well that's nice of her, I guess."

His eyes shifted and she caught him looking at her from the corner of them, clearly feeling a little awkward and she sighed.

Tough nut to crack. Asking him about her best friend was slightly weirder then she'd anticipated.

"I'm not really here to pursue other girls."

Other girls, what the heck did that mean? What was he implying exactly? Duh, she thought of course someone as gorgeous as him would have a girlfriend. Most likely from wherever he moved from.

His fingers gripped the wheel. "With academics and all that."

She could only nod, it was weird the way he said it, and no guy is just in school for academics, who was he kidding? Every guy was out there to get girls, unless... Well unless he was out there to get guys. Wait!

She swiveled and looked at him. Well, he was gorgeous, but that certainly did not mean he had to like girls. The realization of this new possibility almost smacked her on the head, and she instantly felt bad for asking him such personal questions. But there was no way he was gay. Just no way. She would never believe that. Well, it could be true. It could. Right? No way, he exuded a strange, dangerous sexuality. There was just no way. She stared at him, openly, whilst the litany of inner conversation went on in her mind.

He looked over at her and saw her mulling over something, while staring at him. His eye brows instantly went up, as if he knew what she was thinking and a horrified expression crossed his face.

"It's not...I'm not..." He sighed, then grumbled, and ran a hand through his dark wet hair. He mumbled something that sounded a little like, why the hell did they send me for this? But she could only stare at him in embarrassment.

"Look, Adeila, it's so far off of what you're thinking at the moment. I... Have you... Do you..." He hit his hand on the steering wheel causing her to jump just a little.

He grumbled something like I certainly hope I get something monumental over all this.

Then he turned to her, focusing. "Adeila, do you ever make things happen? You know... unexplainable things? Thing's you yourself cannot even understand?"

Her heart stopped beating and lodged completely within her throat. She bit the inside of her cheek. How could he possibly know anything about that?

She tried to convince herself that he was speaking of something unrelated to her strange telekinesis powers or whatever the hell it was she could do.

When she could finally speak her voice came out as a squeak. "What do you mean?" She tried to keep all emotion from her voice; even though she was quite she sure she didn't manage it.

He gave her a less then patient look, clearly the strange embarrassment and stumbling through words, was over. He waved a hand in the air.

"I don't know, like wish for a thunderstorm and have the clouds darken and the pound of thunder to be heard moments later, or make something move with just a thought? Or say something to your cat and have them understand you every time, even if it was something they certainly should not know? Or make something catch on fire without a flint or lighter? Anything strange and confusing...? Something that completely defies logic and science or even gravity?"

Even though her heart was still lodged in her throat, and the pit of her stomach was an aching hole, she managed to fake a croaky laugh.

"You sound completely insane, Loki. I have absolutely no idea what you're even talking about." But she couldn't meet his eyes when she said it, and there was much less contempt in it then she'd gone for. She knew he'd likely not believe what little dramatics she put into the words.

His eye brows raised, he looked at her insufferably, and she could tell his patience was wearing thin. She wanted desperately to confide in someone. Anyone, about this. But how could she possibly do that with a boy she barely even knew?

A long silence stretched between them. She didn't feel uncomfortable per say, just digesting everything. She stared hard out the window on her side, and tried not to even glance in his direction for fear that she would give away all that she felt.

He broke the silence with, "I know you feel it, Adeila. That hypnotic electrical current running just below your skin. It heightens when you look at any magical being and when you perform magic. It probably happens at random times when you have no idea why it's happening, but in fact something of magical intent is happening around you and your body is trying to tell you. Or warn you, depending upon the situation. The magic within your body is an energy that pulses in itself, and it is aware of things you may not even be aware of."

She whipped her head around towards him, and just stared at him. How was it possible for him to know and understand that strange buzzing feeling she felt sometimes?

She shuddered, but still a small voice in her head told her she wasn't yet ready to tell anyone. Especially him. Lack of trust, lack of knowledge, lack of being able to handle the real truth. A combination of those things had her turning away towards the window again. Even if her heart soared with the possibility that maybe there was someone out there who understood.

"I have no idea what you speak of." She said it solemnly, almost wanting him to notice her lie and call her out on it.

He did not push, simply made a mmhhm sound then said, "Well, when you do know what I'm talking about, I'm here. Find me and ask questions. I have some answers."

Answers?

Oh, to have the answers to all these questions that floated around her head. Why? Why her? What was it she could do? Was it really magic? What kind of magic? And again, why her?

He shifted the truck into park; she looked out the window to see that they were in her driveway. She'd been so consumed by all this that she hadn't even noticed where they were, or felt the truck slow, or climb up her drive. She could see the dark wood of her front door. She needed to escape this moment.

"Again, Adeila, if you want answers, I have some." His golden green eyes were on hers. They were sincere, but also arrogant. He knew she would come to him for answers. Knew she had nowhere else to go.

"Thanks for the ride." She grasped the door handle. There was no way she could be outright rude, considering he had been helping her out, but her mind was reeling. She leapt out of the truck, and had to refrain from running to the door. She did not look back, as she heard the truck back down the drive. As soon as she stepped inside, she leaned back against the door, and let out a deep breath.

It was almost an hour later, after she'd chugged three glasses of water, showered and sat on her bed with homework spread out before her, that she realized she'd never told Loki Marissa was sick, or even given him the address to her house.

Chapter Nine

The next day passed by in a blur. She'd avoided Loki at all costs. Calculus class was difficult as she felt him staring at her the entire time, but she focused solely on the teacher and as soon as the bell rang, she rushed out the door. She just could not handle dealing with him right now. Dealing with the fact that he knew so much. She knew her feigning ignorance would only get her so far. He knew. There was no question that he knew what she was, what she could do. She knew that she'd need to pursue the answers he said he had, but right now she just needed to let the entire situation settle inside of her.

That is why she faked sick coming up on her final class of the day. There was just no way she could avoid him in a class where she could be partnered with him again at any moment. She just couldn't do it, and since she never went home sick, the nurse didn't even question her. So, since Marissa rode with her, she had to sit in her car until Marissa got out of her final class.

She'd been battling herself with what to say if she were to approach him.

Hey, so all those things you said, I feel them. The current of electricity. The magic. I feel it. I have it. Why?

Could she really just say that? Ugh! Why was everything in her life all of a sudden a question? And so difficult. She wished her only issue was boy troubles and college applications, again.

She looked up just as a tall guy walked down the steps; she let out a little gasp when she recognized him.

Loki waltzed out of the school. It was as if just thinking about him materialized him from thin air or something. Could her powers, or whatever they were, do that?

The bell rang half a second later. Her body tensed, and she lifted herself up from where she had slouched in her seat. Her body was on fire with nervous heat.

Why was he walking out of the school? What was going on?

She swallowed, and almost whimpered when his eyes searched the lot and found her. Heat curled into her belly, and she felt the tingling along her entire body. She felt a small tremor of fear run up her spine, but it was mainly replaced with awareness and questions.

He sauntered over to her car, and looked into the window. His golden eyes intent. His facial expression, completely blank. Devoid of emotion.

Her lips pressed into a thin line, she swallowed the too thick saliva down her throat. With a trembling breath, she hit the switch for the automatic windows to go all the way down, pushing down the tickle of electrical current, fear and awareness all running its way up her spine just from looking at him. She could do nothing but stare.

"I noticed earlier, but you didn't come to class," he smirked and gestured towards the rear of her car, "your tire is almost flat."

She bit her lip, and said oh very softly. She opened the door and got out, looking at the offending tire. He stood very close to her, a smell of evergreens or balsam fir coming off of him. It was woodsy, rich and pleasant. Her senses were out of whack today, again. Her sense of smell was on overload.

Her red Ford SUV was only a few years old, and she knew it had a tire pressure sensor thing; it was odd that it hadn't gone off at all prior to this. She wondered if she had run over something as she parked and turned off the car. Not that she knew much about cars, but she remembered her father telling her about the sensor and how it would help her to never run flat unless she hit something.

She grunted her hands on her hips. She turned and looked at him. He looked like the type of guy that new a thing or two about cars.

"Ah, you think it'll make it to the closest gas station for me to fill it?"

He cocked his head, assessing the tire and nodded. "Sure, I don't see why not, but maybe someone should -"

"Adeila! Loki!" A blond head bobbed its way through the sea of students now rushing out of the school.

Adeila groaned realizing how this situation would go down. Loki appraised her at the noise, and she only gave him a fleeting glance before Marissa stopped in front of them.

"Hi! Loki, so good to see you."

Marissa had made sure to find Loki and greet him as often as possible. Loki was very polite to her but also very vague, they'd never really had any sort of lengthy conversation. Adeila was not looking forward to this interlude.

"You as well, Marissa." He smiled politely, and then turned to Adeila.

"I could follow you guys; make sure you get there okay."

Marissa's eyes widened and she looked to Adeila, but before Adeila even opened her mouth, Marissa nodded. "No clue what this is about, but that would be super nice of you, Loki!"

Adeila rolled her eyes, and gestured to Loki. "No, no that's fine. I think we'll be all set. Thank you though."

Marissa pouted. "What's going on?"

Adeila resisted the urge to shake her. Maybe you should have asked before agreeing to something! But she pointed to her tire instead. "My tire is low. I need to head right to the store to put air in it."

Just then she heard her name called, and looked up to see Erik saunter over. His crowd of friends had broken apart; some were staring after him shaking their heads. She didn't really know what that was about, but smiled and waved at him. Perfect, now he could follow her to the store, and she could send Loki along before things got even weirder.

Marissa stepped closer to Loki and began talking to him quietly, while Adeila stepped closer to Erik. Erik's eyes wandered her, and then turned their blue gaze to the tall boy next to Marissa, then to Marissa. Clearly taking in the situation, before resting back on her.

"Everything okay?" He bent down and kissed her lightly on the lips before turning his attention back to Loki.

Taken completely aback by his blatant kiss, it took her a moment for her mind to work again. "Ah, yeah, Loki noticed my tire was going flat and warned me."

Erik looked at the SUV a moment. "I'm sure the car would have warned you as soon as you got inside, babe. It's new enough for tire pressure sensors."

Adeila had a moment of annoyance trickle through her body at his tone. He was clearly jealous, and it made him sound like an ass. And he made her sound stupid. Maybe that was just her female trait of over-analyzing, but she did not like the feeling. She was thrilled that he cared enough to be jealous but it still annoyed her.

She narrowed her eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure your right, but it's still a nice heads up."

He only continued to look at Loki, she shook her head.

"Alright, well thanks everyone, but I have work, so gotta go." Adeila gestured to Marissa, who pouted ridiculously, but touched Loki's elbow and said good bye.

Adeila turned to Erik, and he finally met her eyes.

"See you tomorrow, Erik."

He must have picked up on her annoyance because his face softened. "Call me when you get out of work."

A whistle was heard from across the parking lot, and his friend Chris waved at Erik. He gave her a quick chaste kiss on the lips, one last stare at Loki, then turned around and went back to his friends.

Adeila watched him a moment before turning back to her car. Her eyes met golden-green ones. She had really hoped he'd already left. His expression was blank. She discovered that he hid his emotions frustratingly well at least ninety percent of the time.

She wanted to ask him something, say something, but her eyes shifted to Marissa, and she decided against it.

He must have picked up on this because he took a step closer. She only shook her head.

She wasn't even sure if she was ready to go to him with questions. But seeing him flooded her with the things he had said. The things he knew. Things only someone like her would know or someone that could feel and do the same things.

She needed answers from him, because she saw no other alternative to finding them on her own. She needed help. Needed someone who knew what was going on, that she could trust. She just really didn't want that to be this stoic, gorgeous-eyed boy that she wasn't even sure she liked.

She watched those eyes flash, but his words were calm and sincere.

"Do you want me to follow you and ensure you make it there safely?"

She pursed her lips, looked over to where Erik was high-fiving his friends and walking away. It would have been nice for him to offer her that. But whatever, it's not like her car was dead and she was stranded or anything.

Her eyes turned back to Loki, who'd been looking at the same thing as she, his eyes flashed a quick emotion again, something resembling anger to then be masked into their stoic golden color. She shook her head.

"I think I'll be okay." She smiled. "But thank you. I'll talk to you later."

She quickly opened her door and got inside before he could say anything.

"What was that all about?" Marissa was gawking at her, with her eye brows up.

"He asked if we wanted him to follow us to put air in the tire, again."

Marissa swiveled in her seat to where Loki walked away.

"Did you say yes?"

"Of course not, we'll be fine."

Marissa pushed the button to lower her window and Adeila stopped it with her own side. Thank goodness for child safety!

"Don't you dare!" Adeila put the car in reverse and began heading to the gas station.

Marissa pouted. "What's your problem with him anyway?"

Both of their eyes went to the large black pickup truck and the tall, mysterious guy within.

Adeila swallowed and put her eyes back to the road. "Nothing really, there's just something I don't like about him."

"Maybe, you just don't know him well enough! I, for one, am trying to get to know him better."

Adeila groaned. She hadn't told Marissa anything about the ride he had given her earlier that week. She figured it would come with too many questions and Adeila had zero interest in trying to avoid the awkwardness that, that conversation would bring.

What did you guys talk about?

Oh, well I did ask him if you were pretty, then we talked about an electrical current that's running through my blood, and how he has answers to the questions I ask about myself on a daily basis, because I am not normal!

No, thank you!

Even with her thoughts on haywire, she made it to the gas station without incident. Though she was quite sure a certain black pickup truck followed a few cars behind her and turned off when it saw her pull into the station. She wasn't one hundred percent sure, but as she pumped the air into her tire, the thought made her smile. Even though sometimes he gave her the creeps, and she wasn't even sure if she liked him, or that he liked her, he was kind of an okay guy. He gave off a vibe that was just plain frightening, especially the way her body weirdly reacted to him, but she was pretty sure he wasn't intending to be harmful or malicious. It's not like it was his fault she was heading towards a mental breakdown that would likely have her ending up locked in some mental institution or maybe she had a brain tumor? Or something equally screwed up was wrong with her? Regardless, none of that was his fault. He'd been nothing but nice to her, even offering her help. Help with something she couldn't go anywhere else about. She should probably cut the guy a little more slack.

When she turned to get back into the SUV, the buzzing of her skin alighted. She automatically assumed that Loki had come back to harass her about something, but her heart raced when she took in the dark, late model sports car parked at the gas pump across the lot from her. The buff, crew cut guy from the diner was standing there staring at her. The grin he wore almost split his face in two. It was so creepy and non-human like; as were his eyes, there blank darkness reflecting back at her.

She let out a little gasp and a shiver of fear chased its way up her spine, to pool into the pit of her belly. Her right wrist ached and tingled, and she bit back the urge to itch at it. She gulped and hopped back into the car, he watched her like a cat does a mouse as she backed out and drove off, but he made no moves to pursue her. Marissa didn't even notice him, so immersed in talking. Adeila was glad at that, no need for both of them to be completely freaked out.

Chapter Ten

It was Saturday morning and she was outside yet again, stretching and sipping tea. She couldn't even sleep in on a Saturday anymore. Especially with so many things going on in her head. She'd barely slept, with the thoughts of the creepy guy at the gas station, and the thoughts that Loki may know who or what she was. Her whole thought process was torn; she couldn't even focus on one thing in particular.

She decided to take a trip to the store to get some things that she'd needed for a while, for school and personal female items she'd failed to ask her mother to pick up and she knew her sister would freak if she took anything from her.

The last few days of school had been a whirlwind. Lots of studying, lots of homework, lots of tests. Not much time to think about her weird "powers" or find a way to ask Loki about them, which was fine with her. She was planning on putting it off for as long as possible. The whole thought of confiding in someone left a hole in her stomach so large and gaping that it almost consumed her. The thought that she could give someone this information just for them to think she was a freak, or for them to tell anyone else, was downright frightening. It was a lot of trust that she just was not sure she could give quite yet.

When she'd gotten everything that was needed at the store, she dreaded going back so soon. But she really had nowhere else to go. Marissa was in Lake Tahoe for the weekend, Adeila would have gone but she'd gotten called into work for Sunday morning, which she was looking forward to. Bev rarely needed her on weekends, but Yana the full-time girl needed the morning off, so Adeila had been called in. She hadn't even tried to contact Erik, as he and his parents had had a blow out last night. He'd called her around eight the previous night to give her some minor details and to let her know he wouldn't be around much this weekend.

She sighed as she headed towards home. Her mind reeled to Loki, and the questions that floated about her head. If she wanted to get a hold of him, how would she go about it, other than at school? It's not like he'd given her his number.

Just as her mind fogged with emotion and thoughts, she saw the sign for a state park. She'd been there a time or two to walk the nature trails, and decided that this day would be completely perfect for a good walk. She pulled in and parked the SUV, after paying the attendant at the booth; she poked around her car for a thicker shirt.

After pulling on a thick zip up sweatshirt with a hood she'd forgotten she had in the bowels of her car, she began walking one of the easier trails the park had to offer. Since she was dressed in simple jeans, and running sneakers she decided she didn't want to go too crazy with hard trails. Too bad snow would fly soon, and hiking up this far would be nearly impossible without the right gear.

They didn't get much snow in her valley home, but up here on the mountains she knew they got a substantial amount.

The trails were impeccably maintained and she didn't pass anyone for almost an hour. She soaked up the rays of sunlight filtering through the trees, the sounds of the birds and small animals chattering to each other. The peace and serenity that surrounded her was much welcomed and seemed to fill a void she had felt in her heart and soul. She took a deep breath, and let the fresh air fill her lungs.

After walking deep within the woods for over an hour, she came upon a clearing. Mountains cascaded and towered all around her, the clearing opened up over a small valley and river below. It was beautiful, serene.

She knew unless she wanted to start a much steadier climb into these mountains, she would have to find another trail. So instead, she decided to sit a moment before venturing back. She'd like to think her parents would be worried about her, but she thoroughly doubted it, and a quick check of her phone confirmed it.

Sighing, she plopped down in the grass. Her body tingled from the exertion of walking, but she felt much more at peace then she had in some time. She breathed deep, and spread her fingers across the earth. Her fingers brushed the blades of grass and the tiny pebbles in the dirt. The restlessness that had been plaguing her seemed to seep away; her worries floated away like the huge clouds that slowly, leisurely trailed above her.

A small sound caused her to look up, and there in the large oak above her was a Gyrfalcon. Its golden globe eyes seemed to be searching her very soul. She flared her nostrils with the small bit of panic that went through her. It was a little creepy how she kept coming upon these birds.

It's just a damn bird! She almost laughed out loud at her spazzy moment of fright, so she decided to just watch the bird and marvel in its beauty. It really was a magnificent creature. Its wings were a beautiful white with brown and silver. Its powerful beak was closed and its golden eyes almost appeared to be looking at her, but she knew he was likely casing the place for his next rodent related meal.

It made a sound, and then took off, its wingspan impressing her. The forest grew quiet for a few moments before a twig snapped off the trail, and a voice broke her peacefulness.

She whipped her head around, but felt before saw, the owner of the voice. The powerful zinging along her skin had goosebumps breaking across her flesh. It was a little embarrassing that someone had this unusual effect on her and that was the first thing she would ask of him, albeit in a way that made her sound like it had nothing to with him. Actually she wasn't sure how she'd word it to not include him, but she'd find a way to ask him about this... Somehow.

Adeila didn't even bother saying anything; she just watched his tall, powerful frame come to her. His scent of evergreens and spice filled her senses the closer he got, and those golden green eyes were vivid and clear. No emotion. His rugged features were set and masked. She wanted to kick him for that, but figured she may need his help and it would probably be poor manners.

He settled across from her, and a simple smile went across his face.

"Fancy seeing you here."

She could only roll her eyes. She was quite sure that Loki knew way more then he let on. She had a feeling his being here was not pure coincidence. Maybe it was magic?

"What brings you here, Loki?"

"Just out for a stroll to clear my mind. Peaceful place, isn't it?"

She nodded and looked out across the expanse of mountain range. It really was something. When she turned her head back to him, she caught him appraising her. She let out a deep breath, one she didn't realize she had been holding.

"So, you can help me?"

He raised a quizzical brow, but a smile tugged his lips. "I'm not sure help is what you need, but I can certainly give you some answers."

She bit her lip, but was silent for several moments. Loki broke it.

"Have you ever been sick? Like the flu, chicken pox's, anything?"

"Yes, of course." But in all honesty she couldn't remember even having the flu, never mind any other ailments.

"Oh, yeah? How about hungover?"

She thought back about that time she and Marissa had stolen one of Marissa's moms bottles of wine when they were at Marissa's family lake house. They'd sat in the woods, giggling, gossiping and drinking for hours. Marissa had gotten loud, obnoxious, and then sad. Really sad. Adeila had felt nothing; she'd even drunk more than Marissa to try to get on her level. She just assumed she had a weird high tolerance or something.

Marissa had thrown up twice the next morning and all she did was complain about a blistering headache, then the sun, and loud sounds. She had been down right miserable, but Adeila hadn't felt any differently at all.

She would not tell Loki that however, she just simply said, "Sure."

He gave her a knowing smirk. "What about eating, do you have a hard time processing artificial and packaged foods?"

She plucked at a blade of grass. How the hell did he know this? She only continued to pluck away at the grass, giving him his silent answer.

He sighed. "Adeila, there are many things that I will say that will make absolutely no sense to you at all right now, but be patient and it will all be revealed to you. You can do magic."

Her eyes widened. So it was magic? "I don't know. I can do things... Unexplainable things, like you said."

"Like what?" He said it gently, not pressuring her. Something within her very core told her she could trust him. Something in her soul called to him, to want to share things with him. She couldn't explain it. It was just something else about her life that was completely uncontrollable and insane.

"Ah, it's going to sound crazy, but I can move things. Like I can ask my pillow, that had fallen off the bed, to come back to my hand and it will. It takes a minute, and it's not super accurate, but it does."

He nodded slowly. "Alright, that's a pretty powerful power and harnessed correctly is quite an amazing thing to have. Anything else?"

She thought back, but shrugged. Not really sure what would be considered an ability or not.

He drummed a finger along his knee, and looked out toward the mountains again. His face was still unreadable, but she found it less and less creepy and more and more beautiful.

"You're Fae, Adeila."

"Ugh!" Exasperated she threw up her hands. "You're being ridiculous! What does that even mean?"

"Fae are derived from a world that runs parallel to this one. A different dimension if you will. So they appear similar to humans, but are genetically different. Where humans only use about ten percent of their cerebral capacity, the Fae use twenty to thirty-five percent of theirs. Making them more in-tune with themselves and the world around them. They're evolution changed and altered because of their different atmosphere. The Fae realm is brimming with raw, natural magic that leaked over into the evolution of the Fae people."

Adeila ran a thumb over the bridge of her nose. "This is insane."

Loki arched a dark brow. "Maybe, but I personally think most things on the human realm are insane, so I'm biased."

Adeila looked skyward. "Are you Fae? What makes you so sure that I am Fae?"

His face grew serious. "I am Fae. And believe me, you are Fae, Adeila. I can feel it. Fae can sense each other. It's a buzzing along the skin. When you are linked to someone, by blood or bond, that electricity feels more intense. The same with your gifts, your magic. The more intense and in control you are the different the feeling. It's a complex thing. But I know you are Fae, Adeila. For many reasons."

His answers were insufferably more confusing, and almost seemed to be said in riddles. Like there was so much more he wasn't saying.

"So the Fae have gifts... What are yours?"

He sighed. "This is a lengthy conversation, Adeila. I will try to make it as simple as possible by giving you as much information as I can in a shortened time frame."

She could only nod, this was crazy. But his voice was lyrical and deep, and she liked hearing him speak.

"Each Fae has gifts, some more than others. Some stronger than others. What you spoke of is a form of telekinesis, which I'm sure you've already discovered and researched, because I know I would have, had I started moving things around with just a thought. It's also a very rare ability within the Fae, and typically only comes to those of noble, warrior bloodlines. The abilities of the Fae range and are so varied it is really hard to pinpoint exact ones. Each person is different, and their bloodlines disperse certain abilities, but typically the strength of them is entirely based upon the person's soul, will, heart and strength. It sounds as though your telekinesis is incredibly strong for someone with absolutely no training or any other supposed magical abilities that have yet manifested."

He took a breath and looked to see how she was faring. Her eyes were glued into the depths of his. She noticed his were swirling and dipping with color. It was extraordinary, and she was having a hard time focusing on his words.

He grinned, and brushed his knee, harder than necessary, against hers. She snapped out of it, and swallowed. She focused on his face instead of his eyes this time.

He cleared his throat and continued. "Bloodlines within the Fae are sacred, and ancestry is very important to us. Each person can trace their family back to the very first community of Fae, considering the Fae live for hundreds of years. Some bloodlines are so strong they can even be traced to the very first Fae. The Fae aren't immortal entirely, but close. Some magic that we use can dip into the life of our soul, depending on its intensity and the means with which we take it. Some darker Fae, that use magic for not such honorable things, have shorter lives, as their powers were never meant to do vile or, in some aspects, evil things. Some magic eats away at the soul over long periods of times, but those powers are very rare.

Now I know this is a lot to take in, but I figure if I flood you with information then we can take apart small bits later on.

Now the Fae realm consists of Five Kingdom's. Not all the of the lands of the Fae are governed within one of these five kingdoms. There are lots of wild and uncharted lands that have no particular place within the kingdoms. And even said some of the kingdoms govern their people a little more loosely then others. The first kingdom is Neberuk, the North or winter kingdom. Then there's Oakend, the middle and center kingdom below Neberuk. Then there's Ravenswood, to the East, then Wildwood to the West, governed by the wolves. Then Tanglewood, to the South, the most wild of the kingdoms."

She interrupted him. "Why are you telling me all of this?"

His eyebrows quirked together. "Because you need to know."

"But why? I mean it's not like I'm going there. Can't you just tell me I'm Fae and move on with it? Maybe help me harness the power or whatever?"

He bit his lip, his face turned stony. "Adeila, you are..." He paused, seeming to gather himself. "Do you wonder why you do not resemble your parents at all?"

It was her turn for her eye brows to draw together. "How could you possibly know that?"

"I just do. Adeila, they are not your true parents. Your parents are Fae. They are the rulers of Oakend. The King and Queen of a Fae kingdom."

Her mind was blown apart, and she stood up, abruptly. She put her hands on her hips.

"What the hell are you trying to say Loki, that I'm adopted or something?"

He grimaced. "Well, it's a bit more complicated than that."

"Then un-complicate it!"

He rubbed a hand down his face, and grumbled something that sounded like; why do I always get the crazy females. And I told them they should send someone else.

Then to her he said, "Adeila, it is just not my story to tell."

"What?" Her breathing was heavy. "Then whose story is it?"

"Your parent's."

She was furious. He couldn't just drop something like this on her without some sort of an explanation. It was just too much. If he was telling the truth than everything she'd ever known was a lie.

"Then I want to hear it from them."

He nodded. "We will make that happen."

Her heart was racing; her hands were balled into fists on her slender hips. Her chest was heaving from anger and panic at this possibility. She was not entirely sure as to what she had just agreed to.

Loki picked his long frame up gracefully from the ground and faced her.

"Walk with me." He said it so simply and so quietly she threw up her hands, but followed him when he began walking down the trail back towards the parking lot.

They walked in silence for several moments before she broke it.

"So I'm not saying I believe any of this, but if I did, what does it mean? Are you taking me now to another realm?"

"Not this moment, no. We need to wait until the end of the week. If you can get Friday off of work, do so, we will leave then or early Saturday morning."

"How? By magic carpet or spaceship?"

He chuckled. "You will see."

She almost groaned, but was shocked with herself at how much this was not really bothering her. She didn't entirely believe it, but she did know she was different. That something was going on with her. Whether it is magic or some mental disorder, it was something drastic.

It was really the adopted part that was bothering her most. Is that really why she didn't look or act anything like her parents?

The earthquake of emotional turmoil that caused cascaded well over everything else, and the ache in her throat was the first threat of tears. She took a deep breath, trying to push the thought away for now. She'd dwell on it, obsessively, when she was alone. Where she could cry her heart out in peace.

He was silent, allowing her to pull herself together. For that she was grateful. She looked sidelong at him, and remembered a question he'd avoided.

"So you never told me about your powers."

"A Fae doesn't come into all of their powers until they are between eighteen and twenty-five years old. So I haven't even developed all of my powers yet."

"Wait, so how old are you?"

"I'm twenty two."

"Twenty two, what?"

He laughed, low and deep. "Just twenty-two, Adeila."

"Oh, so you're not like hundreds of years old or anything?"

He smiled. "No."

"So how old are my parents?"

"The Fae are much like humans in the aspect of not speaking of their age. Especially the woman. But I would put your father at a few hundred years. He is a young Fae. Once we hit eighteen years of age the process slows dramatically."

"So you'll look like you do right now for a very long time?"

"Ah, well yes and no. I will look like my true self at this present moment for probably a hundred years."

She looked at him questioningly. "True self?"

"So, I guess I'll go right into another bit of Fae knowledge." He stopped and waited for a passing hiker to get out of ear range before continuing.

"The Fae realm puts glamour on us when we go through a portal to the human realm. Glamour is a blanket of Fae magic that conceals or changes our true form. Many of our true features make us more susceptible to scrutiny of humans. We can do small bits of glamour ourselves, but the portals are encased with magic to glamour us so that some of our more unusual features; like the glow of our skin, or the unusual rings or shades of color our eyes may be, and our tipped ears aren't visible to the humans. It is an added layer of protection for the discovery of our world. It is to protect us against those that wish us harm from outside the realm. It allows the Fae to live and work within the human realm without scrutiny, and for us to coexist in relative harmony. Well mostly anyway. There are still some Fae that wish harm upon the human realm, but that is a different story." He took a breath. "Once you re-enter the Fae realm, the portals take off your glamour and you are your true form, your true self in the realm. Very strong Fae can manipulate the glamour once inside the human realm to change only certain aspects of their looks, but for the most part the blanket stays in place."

"So, you look different in the Fae realm?"

"Not a lot different, no. I am able to manipulate so I don't look too different."

"So wait, will I look different when I go to the Fae realm?"

"Yes, you will. The change will probably seem very dramatic to you because it's your first time, but also because not only did the portal of the Fae realm coat you with glamour, I am quite sure your parents have a protection glamour set about you as well, so you are harder to detect to other Fae within the human realm."

She could only nod as she digested all of this information. What would she look like? Not that she was overly beautiful now or anything, but to look different, would just be... well... different, and unnerving, and just plain weird. To get used to a face in the mirror for almost eighteen years for it to then change. It would just be wrong.

As if sensing her distress Loki chuckled. "No need to worry, it will be nothing dramatic. You won't gain hideous warts or sixteen toes or anything like that."

She grumbled, but was secretly happy about that tiny speck of reassurance.

There were still so many questions that she had, and she still wasn't even sure if she believed all of this or not, but a small part of her wanted to believe it. She wanted to believe that there was something more for her out there. A reason why she was gifted with this so called "magic". To be part of something bigger, something that wouldn't consider her a freak. Something that would welcome her "gifts" or "powers" or "magic" and she would no longer need to panic and stress about saying the wrong things all the time.

But right now the biggest thing gnawing at her was the fact that her parents may not be her parents at all. Her real parents may be out there in another realm somewhere. And why did they give her up? Did her "adopted" parents even know that she wasn't theirs? Was she some changeling child or something? She'd heard about that in Fairy tales before. Was there a human child in the Fae realm that she was supposed to be? If so, did they have the same questions as her?

She decided instead of letting it gnaw at her insides, she'd ask Loki this simple question. Be damned if it was not his place to tell her the whole tale. He owed her this much.

"I'm not some changeling child or something? There's no human child on the other realm that I took the place of, right?"

His laugh was deep, rich and came from deep within his gut. It was so unexpected. She liked the sound. Damn him!

"What a silly human story that is! The Fae are much too proud of their bloodlines for such things as that."

Well, that was something at least, but it raised a bigger question. If that were the case then why had her, supposed Fae ruler parents, given her up?

They reached her SUV far too soon. She kicked at some pebbles in the parking lot. She was so confused. Her whole life had been thrown for a loop.

"So, we'll discuss a strategy for your entry into the Fae realm later this week. Get some rest, digest all of this. I'm sure you'll have more questions for me."

"Hey, do you have like a cell number or something?" She'd never ever asked a guy for his number, and it seemed so awkward but heck how else could she communicate with him?

He shook his head. "Typically the Fae do not use cell phones. We have other modes of communication. Don't worry about getting a hold of me right now; I won't be far away if you really need me. I will see you in school tomorrow."

With that he turned on his heel and disappeared back into the forest. She looked around, but didn't see his pickup. He must have parked it elsewhere. She thought that odd, but her mind was so cluttered with everything else that had been said today that the thought slipped her mind almost instantaneously.

Chapter Eleven

.... Loki ....

He really hoped the King was prepared for his daughter. She was blunt, stubborn, and willful. She was also beautiful, smart and witty. He'd seen bits of her humor and wit when he'd given her a ride home, she was quite the spitfire.

Something he wasn't entirely pleased about. She flustered him. She threw him off track. He'd wanted to ask her about her powers in a much more easy and subtle way, but with her firing odd questions at him; it had him losing all of his focus.

All he knew was that he needed to get her up to speed, and to the Fae realm as quickly as possible, before he screwed something else up. He didn't always do things flawlessly, but he'd never felt any kind of connection to any of the other retrievals he'd ever dealt with. She was the daughter of his King. He personally had been trusted with her safety and her speedy arrival to Faerie. He tried to tell himself that was the strange connection he felt towards her. Perhaps he was taking this mission too much to heart.

It was no use continuing to think about how he could have handled things better, he needed to do this at her pace. He'd get nowhere forcing anything on her. She was far too stubborn for that. He'd done the first step; given her all the basic information he could. Now he needed to wait for her to process it all, and then be ready to take the plunge and go with him to Faerie.

Sighing, he swung his sword and cut it down and across in a sweeping arch. Keeping in form was important to him, so he continued to practice solo or with one of his agents every day after the human school was out, leaving Sorryn to watch over the Princess. At school and at night she was his responsibility, for the few hours after school was his time to unwind. His time to take a breath from the agonizing plight of dealing with human school, hormonal and selfish teenagers, and the growing connection he was feeling for this girl that was his mission, his King's daughter, his Princess and the promised of his brother.

.~.

.... Adeila ....

When she returned home, her mother was making some kind of skillet dinner from a frozen package. Adeila studied her mother for several moments. The woman was short, slightly plump in the middle and backside, with vibrant dark red hair and lovely deep brown eyes. Her skin was pale as porcelain and she had tiny plump fingers.

Adeila looked nothing like her parents, at least not in the recognizable way her siblings did. She had very light brown hair bordering on dark blonde with natural lighter tones, ice blue eyes, naturally olive tanned skin and a tall, willowy frame. Even her face was different, she had high cheekbones and a kind of heart shaped face set off by the dark lashes surrounding her eyes and slightly overly full lips.

Now that she knew the possibility that they weren't her parents she was determined to find some kind of resemblance, but that was an epic fail. Not a single thing about herself could be traced to her parents. Nothing. Maybe she'd try a new tactic.

"Hey, Mom."

Adeila's mother, Kathryn Burton jumped and looked back at her, one white ear piece in her ear, the other dangling down her chest, attached to a tiny music player inside a band on her arm.

"Sheesh, Adeila. Way to scare ten years off my life."

"Sorry, thought you knew I was here. I've been sitting here for like ten minutes."

Kathryn just went back to her stirring. Adeila almost left right then and there, because clearly her mother didn't give a crap, but she was determined to get something out of the woman. She let out a small sigh and steeled herself. "Can I ask you something?"

Her mother barely turned her head, so that Adeila could easily see the look that clearly said not really, but if you must.

Fine, Adeila thought, you can just suffer through this. Her mother took a sip of red wine but didn't even turn around to face her.

"How was my childbirth?"

Kathryn sputtered and nearly choked on the wine. "What? Why would you ask that?"

"Just curious, is all. Some class thing."

"Well, you were my first born. So it was long and painful."

And that was it, all she'd get, she knew it. "How many hours?"

Her mother seemed to think and said, "Fifteen."

What else could see ask? "Which hospital again?"

"Sacramento General, just like your brother and sister. Why don't you let me finish the dinner you likely won't eat, please?"

And there, that was it. All she'd get. Most mothers would have loved embarrassing their child with details of their birth. Nope, not her mother.

Adeila made her way upstairs to her room. She had pages to read and a paper to write. She took off her coat, then her sweater. When her sweater came off something white came floating off of it. A feather. It was white with silver and speckled a dark brown. The Gyrfalcon. That was odd; she hadn't seen a feather land on her. She picked it up and twirled it around her fingers. She looked around, ran a hand through her hair, then put her sweater and jacket back on and grabbed her school books. She just couldn't handle the confides of her room right now. She felt stifled; smothered by the four walls.

Strangely she felt the need to take the feather with her. She found a barrette and clipped it into her hair, not caring how unsanitary it was.

After two hours of reading and homework, she sat Indian style in a chair looking out into the back yard. The sunset had already painted the sky in pinks and yellows and now darkness crept in all around her. She was content just to sit there, letting the coming blackness slither about her. To welcome its cold fingers and try to forget that she may be some Faerie princess that can move shit with her mind.

Once it got too dark to see, and she didn't feel like getting up to turn on the outside floodlights, she got up to go inside. Maybe she'd go to bed early. Then her stomach rumbled and she realized she had missed dinner. Not that she would have eaten anything her mother had cooked anyway, but still.

She'd been contemplating about asking her mom to see a picture of her while she was pregnant with her but decided that was just too plain weird to ask of her mother. How else could she get some sort of clue about whether she was truly adopted or not, though?

When her mind finally came back to the present she was standing with her hands gripping the railing. The darkness had made its way completely across the yard, and she could barely make out the few trees that spattered across the manicured grass to than be engulfed by trees for the rest of the few acres they owned.

It always seemed odd to her that her parent's didn't really like nature, but yet they chose to buy a house so enveloped by it. They had told her they had lived in a tiny home near the outskirts of the state forest on the other side of town, a home that her father's uncle had owned and rented to them, when she was born. They had moved here a few weeks after her birth. The home called to them they had said. This seemed odd for people that wanted nothing to do with nature, and rarely even sat outside. The whole situation was just odd, but who was she to judge?

They spoke so little of it, she barely knew anything. But something, everything just seemed off, especially now, with the possibility of the lies she'd been fed her whole life. She did not trust enough to completely jump to the conclusion that Loki was right about her adoption or even the Faerie tale he spun. She was smart enough to delve into the possibility that what he told her was in fact the lie. She needed to find out the true answers herself. Just like the rest of her life. Every aspect of her life right now was a question. One that only she could find answers to.

Their lawn was cut by the neighbor's eldest son who still lived at home, since her family didn't even want to do that kind of maintenance to their yard. She herself had built the tiny rock wall, with the hosta and perennial flowers around it, a few years ago. She enjoyed building things like that, with natural objects and then making the soil birth new life. The elderly couple next door complimented how they'd never seen the flowers she had grown in the colors that they were, or as large and beautiful. They had told her she must have one heck of a green thumb. This seemed odd, considering she had just used some wildflower mixture she bought at the local hardware store. But she did have to admit the picture on the front of the seed pouches didn't do the flowers justice in any way. The ones that she had grown were huge, full and vibrant, in colors that were insanely different and unique. She was proud of her little stone wall, and flower garden.

She looked over towards it, as if she could see the blooms in the darkness but instead her eyes flitted across, to a figure perched on the stone wall. The damn falcon again. It was seriously stalking her, or something. It had to be two different ones, or several different ones. This one must have a nest very close by.

She stared at the bird for several moments; its glinting golden eyes almost seemed to be holding her own. When a small hint of buzz came to her blood, she hightailed it for the sliding door and rushed up to her room, without even grabbing something to eat. She just wasn't dealing with this magic, buzzing, mystical stuff tonight.

When she finally fell into a fitful sleep; she dreamt of waterfalls, steel gray wolves, and a very blurry outline of a golden colored horse.

Chapter Twelve

The book store was pretty busy for a Sunday. She was running around helping people find books all morning and putting away inventory whenever she could find the time. At noon, she trotted over to the local cafe to grab something quick to eat and a coffee for Bev. This particular cafe had great vegetarian selections and she could eat most of those without her stomach complaining.

When she stepped into the coffee house she instantly felt a buzzing along her skin, the feeling gave her a small sense of panic and she looked frantically around. No Loki and no bald guy. She saw a few random couples, a few teenagers and a few guys in business suits chatting to each other. Nothing exceptionally odd. When she turned her back to the room and ordered, a shiver ran itself up her spine and the hair on the back of her neck stood at attention, as if someone was staring at her from behind.

Once she ordered, she nonchalantly stepped to the side and took in the room again from the corner of her eye. Her eyes connected with those of a woman probably a few years older than herself. She was gorgeous. Long blonde hair, mossy green eyes, and porcelain perfect skin. There was a strange coldness to her eyes that had Adeila's heart constricting with a small inkling of fear.

So that's the thing that's got him tied up? The King's little delivery boy has his hands full with this little girl?

Adeila's hearing still went in and out all the time, but it was starting to work in her favor most of the time lately, with a little practice. It took her less time when she focused harder. It was the focusing part she usually had a hard time with, but with this conversation it was easy enough. It was the words she heard that had her gripping the counter tighter.

King's delivery boy? She must mean Loki, or was she even talking about her? Maybe this was completely unrelated to her, but what King was she talking about? It's not like a royal monarchy reined in America, and she seemed pretty damn American looking. Did Loki know this woman? What the hell was going on? Maybe, she was just completely paranoid? Yes, she was just being completely paranoid. Of course, this was completely unrelated to her. Why would it be about her? What were the odds, truly?

We'll just see how this pans out with him, and then we'll step in. No need to make this little rabbit spook. Let him do his job for now.

She'd said job with so much disdain, it was hard to not notice it. Adeila collected her things, and glanced at the woman once more. She was still staring at her, but when their eyes connected this time a malicious grin spread across the woman's face. Adeila swallowed and whirled out the door. What the heck?

.~.

The rest of the day she was on edge and jumpy. The rest of her shift dragged by because all she wanted to do was go home and lock herself in her bedroom.

When she did finally get home, her bedroom was not where she went. Instead she went to the deck and sat upon one of the luxuriously pillowed chairs. After almost an hour of her staring blankly at the trees swaying in the breeze she was just getting ready to get up and grab a drink when her phone vibrated on the table beside her and she absently reached for it. For some reason the thought of speaking to anyone or even texting someone had very little appeal to her. Alone with her thoughts was exactly where she wanted to be at that moment.

It was Marissa. Hey, I'm home. Can I come over? Adeila's instant reply was No, I'm swamped with – then she stopped herself, the lie was completely ridiculous, and Marissa would see right through it. She would know something was wrong. So she deleted the message, and retyped Sure! Can't wait to see you! She almost instantly got the reply of OK be there in ten!

Adeila mentally prepared herself for the social experience. One she should be anticipating, but wasn't.

.~.

"So, wait let me get this straight, you slept with your neighbor? Marissa!"

"I know, I know. It's friggin' crazy."

Well, that explained why Marissa hadn't text her all weekend, not that Adeila had really noticed it much, with everything else going on with her. She also realized that Erik hadn't even texted her since Saturday morning. Odd. It didn't even bother her at all. Now that was sad. She resigned to send him a sweet I miss you kind of text to make up for it.

For the moment, however, she needed to focus on Marissa. Her best friend, who was having sex with the new neighbor's son at her family's house on Lake Tahoe.

"How the hell did it happen?" Normally Adeila would love the details. Living through her friends' more open and trusting nature, but today she found it extremely difficult to focus on the woes of teenage drama. She wanted to hear all about it, and support her friend but was having a hard time focusing, when her mind kept drifting to her own problems. Now the issues of her impending virginity seemed so minuscule to the problems she faced of going to another realm, being a Faerie princess, doing magic and potentially meeting her "real" parents, who were none other than the King and Queen of an incredibly large and powerful kingdom. Ah, to have the simple teenage problems again. How they seemed so much more dramatic a few months ago.

"So it was late Friday night, and I was getting so bored. I figured you were passed out after work, so I didn't want to bug you. I was sitting on the dock and this kid comes swaggering over. Smoking a cigarette, wearing jeans and a leather jacket. Total bad boy status. Kind of like Loki, but like, I don't know more...You know. Do-able. Yet I don't know, more dangerous. I don't how to explain it. He was totally hot though. Tall, muscled, but not obnoxious - similar to Loki. He had blonde hair, kind of long for guys these days, but it looked so sexy on him. With these dark reddish brown eyes, like my Dad's brandy, he's so fond of. They had kind of this weird golden like hue through them. His looks are really hard to explain, he was like movie star hot, like Ryan Gosling, but with this dangerous James Dean look." She paused, cocking her head, then nodded, happy with her description. "So we just kind of started talking. Nothing happened that night, but the next night I sat there again, and boom he shows up. This time he has some silver flask in his hand, and offers some to me. It was like vodka or something. After like an hour, he's kissing me, and well it went from there. We went to his parent's guest house and did it. He has all these really cool intricate tattoos, kind of like Loki's but like darker, and... Well, different. It was... Oh, Adeila, it was so hot and amazing. I can't stop thinking about it. The shitty thing is he wouldn't even give me his number, said he didn't believe in phones. Said he'd find me when the time was right. Talk about mysterious!"

Adeila couldn't even move, a shiver of dread rolled across her body, and her senses were on high alert. She had no idea what made her so uncomfortable but something about this boy had her body reacting. Her right wrist itched like crazy and she couldn't help but scratch at it, just then her phone vibrated causing her to jump.

Marissa gave her an odd look. "You okay?"

Adeila nodded numbly and looked at her phone. Erik. Hey hope you didn't fall of the face of the Earth! Text or call me.

She put the phone back and took a deep breath. One problem at a time. She focused back on Marissa who was looking at her with concern.

"What was his name?"

"Jake. He didn't give me a last name." Then Marissa perked up. "Oh, and thanks for letting me borrow those adorable boots and that jade shirt! The guy couldn't keep his hands off me. He said the color brought out the green in my eyes."

She could only nod. The whole situation was just weird, and so unlike her friend. She was really shocked her friend would do something like that. It just seemed too, well, slutty for her to stoop to. At least Adeila thought it was too slutty. She would never tell Marissa that, but it didn't stop her from thinking it.

"I don't know, I hope he finds me. I told him what town I lived in. It's not that big, maybe he'll come around someday."

Adeila only nodded. "Maybe." But she fervently hoped not for reasons she couldn't explain.

Later, after she'd texted Erik back, she and Marissa had eaten some fruit and organic frozen yogurt, and they both stretched out to watch a movie on her bed. It was so easy and comforting she almost forgot all the weirdness that was going on with herself, with Marissa and Loki and faeries and magic. Almost.

Her mind still wandered, like it always did. Then her mind landed on Erik's texts. They were a little strange, almost passive aggressive. Like he missed her, but didn't want to. Like he wanted to know what was going on with her, but yet had his own problems and didn't care. It was really kind of annoying, but she figured it was their growing pains as a couple and tried not to think too much of it. Plus, she hadn't been very attentive herself, lately, so she shouldn't complain. She couldn't help herself though, she did miss him. Missed his smile and handsome face. She looked forward to seeing him the next day.

Chapter Thirteen

Adeila tried pushing everything out of her head to focus on Erik's face when she finally caught up to him Monday. She really had missed him. It was just before second period and she was surprised that he hadn't even looked for her earlier that morning. She thought he'd find her early, see what had her caught up all weekend. He could have waited for her in the hall so that when she came in, he'd greet her, or find her in the parking lot, but he hadn't. Loki had.

As soon as she'd gotten out of her car that morning, she watched him jump down out of his pickup, as if he'd waited for her, and then he trailed behind her and Marissa the entire way into the school and to their lockers. A silent Fae bodyguard. She had no idea whether her emotions were pleased or unhappy with that transpiration, but she decided to leave it be for the time being.

Marissa had greeted and flirted with Loki. It was odd seeing her doing this, after she had just told her about her weekend experience, but Adeila tried not to dwell on the weirdness of it all. Just seeing Loki made everything from her own weekend come crashing into her, like a huge wave, unlike Marissa, none of it was carnal bliss. More like Alice of Wonderland, that had fallen down the rabbit hole.

She allowed a tiny bit of comfort to seep into her at Loki's nearness. She had no idea why, since she still didn't really even like the guy but, hey, she had to get used to him since he knew so much about her. It felt really good that someone, anyone, knew her secret. Knew that she wasn't completely... Normal. She almost said not completely human, but that just felt strange to even think. If she really were Fae, as Loki claims, than she wasn't human, not entirely, anyway. It made her feel like an alien or something. She felt human enough. Usually.

At this moment, just before second period, Erik was standing in front of her, the bell would ring any second, and she had no idea what to say to him.

His voice broke her inner upheaval of thoughts. "I take it work and everything was okay, all weekend?"

She nodded, because honestly, she had no idea what else to say. "How were things with your parents?"

He ran a hand through his sandy blonde hair. "I guess it could be worse. My Dad is still furious that I'm refusing to do football this year, but my mom is slowly getting used to the idea." He shrugged.

She nodded. She sympathized with him, but the feelings only ran skin deep. Within her soul she envied him of his simple problems. At least he wasn't adopted and his parents weren't some Faerie rulers, or whatever. She watched him another moment, his blue eyes shifting around the hall. Things just seemed tense between the two now. She wasn't sure if it was just because over the course of the weekend the entire shift of her life had been put off its axis, or if their differences were just really coming out, or if Erik was getting tired of her just as the prophetic Sadie Simms had insinuated would happen.

She decided right then and there that she needed to focus on their relationship and get back what little they had gained over the past few weeks. Even if it was doomed to fail in the end, she wanted to be sure she gave it her all. It was what she'd wanted for so long, there was no use in letting it go because of her own family and mental issues and whatever else was going on with her.

Adeila had never been much of the flirty type, but she had tried out a few things on Erik and they'd always been reciprocated. So, she ran a hand up his arm; his eyes followed the path, and then met hers. She smiled, trying to make it a more sultry gesture. It must have worked because Erik's eyes were on her lips.

"I'm really sorry about this weekend. I was under a lot of stress with work, and family stuff. But I'm going to try to make it up to you."

She knew that the innuendo was wrong. She was quite sure he would get the very wrong impression of this, but she was saved by the bell. His mouth hung open slightly, and she watched him swallow. She leaned up and kissed his cheek before walking to her class.

She'd chosen her clothing carefully today, for this reason. She had on very tight low slung skinny jeans, with the leather boots that she had to beg back from her sister, with a low cut long sleeved black shirt. Her favorite lace black matching bra and thong was what gave her confidence underneath. She tried to give her hips a little more of a twitch as she walked away, but when her eyes came up, they connected with those of the most enchanting golden-green, and she almost stumbled.

The expression on Loki's face was unreadable but something was there. His eyes never lowered from hers but she could almost feel the magnetism of him studying her. She knew he didn't think of her in any way other than purely platonic, purely profession based, but her face flamed and her heart flopped from just their eyes connecting. It was such a different feeling then that of Erik's attention.

She gulped down some saliva past the slight tightness in her throat. She couldn't help but notice how he looked today. The black shirt he wore hugged every muscle; the jeans were loose fitting, but still showcased strong legs and narrow waist. His stance was rigid, like he was prepared for the fire alarm to pierce through the air, but yet he gave off the portrayal of relaxed, as he leaned against the locker. His hair seemed disheveled, as if he'd dragged his fingers through it a few too many times.

She swallowed again, and let out a long breath. She did not want to be caught checking out Loki. Nor did she want to admit the tiny inkling of attraction she felt for him in that moment.

She put her head down and went straight to class. Her little display for Erik already leaving a bad taste in her mouth, and the feeling of trepidation cascading about her body had her teetering on the edge of a mental breakdown.

.~.

She didn't try any more seductive moves on Erik, but at lunch as if right on cue, he asked her what she was doing later. She sorely regretted acting the way she had.

She looked down at her tray of apple, carrot and the package of cookies she would likely nibble on but end up giving to Erik, she couldn't meet his eyes.

"Homework, then, I'm not sure."

He touched his arm against hers, trying to gain her attention. "Maybe we could ah, hang out."

Well, this is what she'd wanted, right? For him to notice her, want to spend time with her. This is exactly the game she'd been playing at.

"Yeah, that would be cool." Not. She was regretting the entire morning. She should have just continued being the timid, shy girlfriend that she had been, not the makeup wearing, hip swaying girl she tried to portray that morning.

She'd begun the day with the sole idea that she really wanted to make up to Erik, the fact that she'd been the less than stellar girlfriend, but now she wished she hadn't even tried.

Her mood had shifted on its own, but after she had caught Loki watching her a few times throughout class and in the hall, it had completely shifted. The knowledge they shared together almost seemed like such an intimate detail. It made her more aware of him, as if the feeling of electricity that slung its way up her arms every time she was in his proximity wasn't enough.

But she'd be damned if she wouldn't uphold this end of her own doing. It was her own damn fault that Erik got the impression he got. It was her own doing and now she had to live with it.

She and Erik made plans to hang out after school, and only a small portion of her looked forward to it. It was crazy to think that not even a few months ago, he was all she'd ever wanted, all she ever thought about and now so many more things had piled onto her plate and he was farther and farther from her mind. Talk about a mood killer. Now, she had no idea what her future held, but she most certainly knew that the likelihood of Erik Thompson being in it, was very slim, but she still wanted to enjoy having him as her own until that time came. The time to give it all up.

Chapter Fourteen

So just as she anticipated Erik got the wrong impression or the correct one, depending on how you looked at it. She'd ridden with him, and at first things were fine. They'd decided on seeing an early movie; a thriller with a few major actors in it that she liked. During the movie, Erik put his arm over her shoulder, or held her hand. Very typical boyfriend things and it made her heart soar. She really did like him, and had begun falling pretty hard for him before her world exploded.

She'd missed this. The entire feeling of that giddy teenage love thing. It had been put on hold with everything else that was going on in her life, but in this moment she tried desperately to gain it back. Erik being so sweet in the movie theater certainly helped gain back all those girly feelings.

After the movie, he let her choose where they would get dinner.

"This place?" He pointed to the very small deli. She loved this place because their food was fresh and typically she could find something that wouldn't make her feel sick. It was also not a very popular place for most of the high-school kids from their town.

After ordering Erik said he was going to go to a "spot" for them to eat. Fifteen minutes later, Adeila began to recognize said spot. It was a beautiful area, on a curvy mountain road, but the particular spot she had a feeling he was referring to was a popular make out spot for teens. It was a dirt turn off that set down into the curve of the road. Most people didn't see the turn until they were right up on it, making it perfect for horny teenagers. She wasn't entirely sure why but a small thread of apprehension worked its way into her belly. She'd asked for this though, hadn't she? Wanting to save her and Erik's relationship?

She tried to allow the panic to ease from her body; it was just Erik, not some crazy stranger. Before learning Saturday that she wasn't a normal human, if one at all, she'd enjoyed their intimate encounters. Now she was a bundle of nerves and unease.

She tried not to comment on their location as they ate in silence. The local pop station played across his clear speakers. She hated this popular music. She'd caught herself listening to nature sounds, violinists, and folk music more and more. She drove with her radio off, mostly, in her own car, unless Marissa was in there. In which case Marissa's favorite band Wasting Youth played. They were an Indy Rock kind of band, and had a very non mainstream sound that she didn't mind too much.

She resisted the urge to turn off Erik's radio, when a particularly annoying female artist played. She wasn't sure why such things were annoying her more and more as time went on.

After they'd finished their meal, they sat in silence another few moments, before she decided to apologize to him again.

"Erik, I'm really sorry for being so distant lately -"

She was cut off when he turned toward her abruptly, his hand cupping her neck, and he pulled her into a very passionate, if not a little rough, kiss. At first she was shocked, then she tried pushing away, but stopped herself - this was her boyfriend. Why was she pushing him away? So what if they made out a little; this apparently was the spot for it.

Finally, after another battle within herself she eased into the kiss, and put her hand on his arm. His hand began exploring her back; she reveled in the feel of his touch, even if the feeling of apprehension remained within her core. It was good to feel wanted. Especially from a boy she had wanted for so long.

He shifted their bodies closer; his hand that had trailed up her spine now pushed her clothing up and caressed her naked back. Her instincts were to stop him, but she pushed herself to remain calm. He cupped a hand along her slim waist, to where the jeans hung low, trailing a finger along the curve of her hip to the front of her jeans below her belly button. She broke the kiss, panting, and moved her body back from his.

He looked at her perplexed. "What?"

"Erik, I..."

He smiled and moved closer again. "Really, it's okay, Adi. I'm really happy your here with me."

She swallowed and allowed him to pull her back into him. The center console was the only thing in his way of pulling her closer again, and soon he broke apart and moved his seat back.

She wasn't exactly sure what he was planning, but a sliver of unease rolled across her. This was a bit farther then she had planned to go. How far was he planning to go? Once his seat was moved back, he came and took up her lips again. He ran a gentle hand across her cheek, and she was undone. She really liked that small, sweet gesture, some of the layer of unease shredded away. It seemed that every time she let the unease come to surface, he pushed it back down with a word or gesture. She should really be feeling one thing or another, but her mind was such a jumble with everything else, trying to think straight was completely useless. Finally, she allowed Erik to help lift her until she was settled; facing him, in his lap, her back to the steering wheel.

A tiny feeling of empowerment flowed through her, as she took in the feel of his thighs beneath hers, his hand against her waist, his eyes only for her. She smiled, shyly. Never did she think she'd allow him to get this far with her, but here she was.

He grinned and pulled her against him, her torso against his. His body was hard against the softness of her own. His kisses got rougher and more demanding. She was enjoying the high, but also deciding when to call a stop to this before it got too out of hand.

His hands roamed up her naked back, and in a smooth move unlatched her bra. She halted and pulled back from him. He smiled sheepishly.

"I want to feel all of you, Adi. You're all I think about." He was far smoother at this then she had thought, the glimmer of warmth went through her at his words. She allowed him exploration of her back, and then his hands ran along her sides and up to the underside of her breast. Just as she was getting ready to pull back, he cupped her neck harder and deepened the kiss. She felt a small bolt of electricity along her skin, and was so shocked by it. She'd never felt that before with Erik. Nothing like this. That magical feeling.

A loud rapping was heard against the roof of the car and both of them sprang apart. Someone loomed outside their window, Erik cursed numerous times. Her face flamed, she felt incredibly vulnerable. She bolted onto her side of the car, clumsily, and tried to re-hook her bra as soon as she got into the seat. Erik cursed again as he watched her move.

He rolled down the window and she could hear his very pissed off voice say, "what?" to the person out the window.

When the voice of the intruder reached her ears, she perked up and inclined her head around Erik's. The buzzing along her skin erupted again with the sound of his voice, and the dawning of what she felt moments ago had nothing to do with Erik. It was Loki.

"Yeah, my truck is just down the road. I need a jump; I was hoping you could help me?"

"Ah, dude I don't think so, I don't have cables."

"I do. It'll take only a moment."

Erik turned to Adeila who nodded her head. They were done here anyway, and she was pretty sure Erik realized that.

"Yeah, I guess, whatever." But his voice was incredibly angry. "Get in."

As soon as Loki entered the vehicle, her eyes went to his. They glowed, a brilliant golden, but the thunder cloud grays that shimmered across them with the dome light let her know that he was mad. Even if his face was blank, the emotion swirling within those swirling colored depths gave her a small hint of how he was feeling. She was picking up on the tempo of his emotions from the complex coloring within his eyes, and that fact shocked her. She had no idea if she was proud of it, or horrified. For now she allowed the thought to mystify her. Just as he always seemed to do.

Loki's tall frame looked ridiculous within the small car, but he didn't seem to notice. She decided she was probably staring when Erik put the car into reverse. She looked straight ahead and blew out a breath.

Thankfully it was a very short ride, because the tension could be cut with a knife. Adeila tried not to notice the buzzing along her skin, or how the goosebumps rose along her flesh, or the fact that there was an almost magnetic pull coming from the backseat.

When they came to the bend where a large vehicle loomed, Adeila closed her eyes and swallowed. Loki hopped out as soon as Erik stopped and went to get the cables. When Erik's head lights dimmed, Adeila made out another figure within Loki's truck. It looked distinctively female, and a tiny feeling, she hoped was not jealousy, inched its way through her body. What was Loki doing out here with a girl? The same thing Erik had been planning?

When Loki had first came upon them, a small bit of her had been thankful he'd shown up, and even wondered if this had been a ploy because he had someone known she needed help. Since the guy seriously was like in tune with her or something, but clearly that was not the case.

Erik got out of the car, barely sparing her a glance. After only a moment, the truck started right up, and Loki was unhooking the cables and moving away. Erik said something to Loki before he shut his hood, she only heard the word cock block and it instantly pissed her off. She couldn't see Loki because the hood was up, so she had no idea if he'd laughed it off or not, but when Erik shut the hood she got sight of Loki's expression. It was less than impressed, his eyes blazed. He was mad. She had no idea if it was because of her and Erik, or because his dead truck may have been a cock block for himself. She tried not to meet his eyes, as Erik got in and they were off, but as they passed by the truck, the dome light was on in inside. Loki's face was turned toward them and his eyes were on hers, but she was looking past him at his passenger. She could only make out simple features, short blonde hair, light eyes, and a narrow but undeniably beautiful face.

Adeila tried hard to stamp down anything she felt at the moment, and just wanted to get home.

Chapter Fifteen

The awkward Erik/Loki experience weighed heavy on her mind as she went to bed, and she tried to not even think about the female in Loki's truck and what they might have been doing up there. Not that she could call the kettle black - damn it - she'd been doing the same thing. But for some reason it all just felt wrong, and weird.

Erik had dropped her off at home directly after, not even trying anything other than a simple kiss when she got out of his car. She was thankful. She wasn't sure if she could have handled anything else in that moment. Her mind was even more screwed up then it had been before.

The next day she picked up Marissa like usual and she looked forward to work that afternoon to give her mind something else to focus on.

Marissa of course was drilling her about details about the previous night.

"Honestly, nothing really happened. I mean, sure, I was like on top of him, or whatever, but we just kissed."

She had told Marissa bits and pieces, and felt like she had to tell her about Loki since she was quite sure somehow in conversation, one way or another it would get brought up. She, herself, would have much rather left that whole part out, but she did leave out the fact that he was with another girl. She figured that was not something Marissa needed to know.

"On top of him! Oh, Adeila, I'm so excited for you. You're working your way there. Next time!"

Adeila almost groaned. If there was a next time. The experience really turned her off from anything like that in the foreseeable future.

Marissa wouldn't let up though, and her mouth spouted off a million things. Adeila's frazzled brain was getting to its wits end. She tried tuning her out, but by doing so brought back everything else in her mind. Finally, she snapped.

"Marissa! Ugh! I really just wish you'd just stop for like thirty seconds!"

Marissa's chatter ceased instantly and Adeila chanced a glance her way, expecting Marissa to be angry at her unusual outburst, but instead the girls face was blank. Her warm brown eyes wide, her mouth shut into a thin line.

Adeila gritted her teeth and quickly pulled her SUV over onto the side road.

"Oh, no! No, no, no. Just kidding! Never mind. You can talk all you want. I wish for you to continue saying anything!" She hoped that whatever turned the magic on, also listened to her to turn it off.

This was the first time she'd ever had something like this happen to another person, and Adeila was panicking a little. She had no idea how to reverse what she'd done.

Marissa let out a little gasp, a squeak, and then broke into a short cough. "What the heck happened? It was like my tongue was frozen inside my mouth or something!" Then she whirled her head to Adeila, eyes even wider. "Oh my Gosh, do you think I have a brain tumor or something?"

Marissa's dainty, perfectly manicured hands ran along her head and forehead, as if that would detect something.

Adeila swallowed and took a calming breath. Okay. So Marissa didn't suspect that her words had anything to do with the strange phenomenon that just happened. So just relax, she told herself.

"How do you feel?"

Marissa closed her eyes, and moments later opened them. "I feel totally fine. But a brain tumor probably wouldn't hurt would it? Should I see a doctor?"

"No, I doubt it's anything that serious. Look, it was probably just lock jaw or something weird like that. I mean your mouth never stops flapping!" She tried turning it into a joke, and well, it really was kind of funny.

Marissa scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Screw you!"

Adeila laughed despite the panicked feeling, got back onto the road and headed to school again, her heart still thumping harder than normal and her body far tenser than usual. Her involvement in the strange situation wasn't even crossing Marissa's mind, and Adeila wanted it to remain that way. Adeila couldn't help but berate herself, despite her friends' obliviousness. She'd used magic on her best friend! What the hell was wrong with her?

.~.

Marissa saw the nurse as soon as they got to school and was deemed in good health as far as the nurse's expertise could see. She wrote both girls a pass for being late, and for now the strange phenomenon was behind them, but of course Marissa was playing it up big time. Adeila was trying really hard to make it less than it was, because word of strange things like this could so not be good.

In second period class, she felt him as soon as she entered the classroom. A small blush crept up her neck. It was embarrassing having been caught doing something like she had been last night and she felt weird that Loki had seen it.

As soon as she sat down, Sadie Simms' annoying giggle pierced her ear. Her hearing was out of whack today, hyper sensitive, and hearing that cheer-leading snobs laugh had her fingernails digging into her palms. She didn't even chance a glance in that direction. Her head was pounding from stress; she laid her forehead in her palm. This class didn't help matters. It was becoming harder and harder considering whom she shared the class with and the fact that she struggled in it to begin with. She began dreading this class more and more with each passing day.

She hoped that the teacher planned on lecturing away today and she could sit in peaceful numbness. To her surprise she got her wish, but the feeling of someone watching her, the boiling in her blood, gave her no doubt that a certain someone was paying close attention to her.

.~.

Lunch was awkward and uncomfortable. When Marissa wasn't speaking of the crazy locking of her jaw in the car, she kept making random sexual innuendos, making all the guys laugh and sneer; Adeila could only look at her food and try to swallow down the awkwardness and disgust. She knew that Marissa was trying to make her feel better in her weird little way, but she couldn't help but be annoyed. Right now everything was all just wrong. She felt, not only completely off kilter with everything that Loki had told her, but the relationship she'd wanted practically her whole life was in shambles, her friendship with Marissa was being strained by all of the above, and she'd used magic on a human and she was quite sure that there were likely some rules against that or something. She needed to tell Loki about it, ask him so many things, but she didn't really want to even look at him right now. She felt so awkward with him, since both had potentially "cock blocked" each other.

Her heart was dark; she thought nothing as she got up, dumped her food and left the loud, boisterous lunch room. She heard Marissa yelling to her, but she continued on until she pushed through the front doors of the school.

She sat on the front steps, and would wait to hear the bell ring indicating the end of lunch before returning. Giving herself a minute to alleviate the noise, the bustle, the complete chaos of her life and those around her. She took in a deep breath through her nose and exhaled through her mouth. It was beginning to get so hard to breathe and think when she was constantly surrounded by four walls, especially when it was inhabited by so many teenage melodramatics.

She sighed, and tried to blank her mind from Erik, Loki, Marissa, the strange guy she slept with, the strange girl in Loki's truck. She tried desperately to just think of the sunshine beating down on her, the sway of trees in the distance, the slight chill of the late autumn breeze.

Her eyes caught a shadowy movement to her right, and she jumped when she noticed an all too familiar body peel away from the wall. Her skin alighted in sensations, and she wished in that moment she could cut all of her skin off and drain her blood so that it wouldn't give her such feelings each time.

So this was why she never saw him at lunch, he crept around in the shadows of the school grounds instead. He was the one person she really didn't want to see right now. Despite her bodies reaction to him.

"You creep around the school during your lunch then?"

He grinned and moved closer to her. One foot on the step below her, the other on the ground. She couldn't help but let her eyes travel up his hiking boot, to his dark jeans, up his gray t-shirt to his dark hair and ruggedly handsome face. His eyes were golden and green today, the gray just flakes within the center. He was no longer angry.

"When I see fit to do so, sure. Today it paid off."

She scoffed at him, but couldn't bring herself to be angry with him after all. She was just angry with herself. She's the one that allowed herself to be put into awkward and embarrassing situations.

"So ah, last night. It would appear we were both -"

"Adeila, I don't want to know. Really. Please just be more careful."

She was confused by his words, and she had a small spike of anger rush through her. "You're not my father, Loki." Then she snapped her head up to him, horrified. "Right?" Wouldn't that just be the icing on the messed up cake that was her life!

He burst out laughing, it was such a deep, husky sound that she had a feeling he didn't let himself get caught off guard enough to laugh like that very often. It washed over her like dark chocolate and velvet.

"No more than I am a pixie's son, Adeila."

Her eye brows rose at that, but silence stretched between them a moment because she had no idea how to respond to him. Pixies were real too?

What other supernatural and mythical beings were out there?

"Do you have any more questions for me, Princess?" He looked around quickly, before settling on her face again.

She nodded. "Far too many to choose from, honestly. And we haven't enough time."

"Do you want me to meet you tonight, or sometime this week? We need to get a game plan together before Friday."

She nodded. "Whatever you think."

He narrowed his eyes at her, clearly taking in her mood, but the bell rang. Saving them both. She stood up, and he stepped onto the step directly below her. Even with the added inches the step gained her, she still had to tip her head just slightly to meet his golden eyes. He wore a smirk. "Chemistry class I will tell you."

Her chin jerked in defiance, but it was short lived as he only quirked a brow and stepped by her to make his way on to class. What other way would she have to gain answers? She hated being at his mercy.

.~.

She thought he might not speak to her after all, until they were placed together again for their final documentation of their dental/soda lab experiment. It was the end of class, and they'd put everything away. He leaned in close to her, unexpectedly, and said simply. "I will meet you at the bookstore after you close up. We can talk then."

She could only nod, as she swallowed the saliva pooled in her mouth at his nearness. Her stomach knotted at the idea, and of not entirely remembering telling him where she worked or what days. Then she remembered that he had known where she'd lived without her giving him her address. She couldn't even muster up the feeling of creepiness and invasion of privacy that that should drudge up in her.

He walked away, his golden eyes bright. She hated that she thought them beautiful no matter his mood. Must be a weird Fae magnetic attraction thing, maybe all Fae had eyes like his. She could only hope that it wasn't just him.

"Hi, Loki!" Adeila groaned as soon as she heard the voice. She didn't even hear Loki's reply, but stepped out of the classroom. Marissa was standing in front of Loki blocking his path. "Hey, so there's this band playing next weekend at Rage called Wasting Youth, you should totally come!"

Adeila had completely forgotten about that event, not surprising with everything else her mind was trying to retain these days. She watched the interlude carefully to see Loki's reply.

"If I'm available, I wouldn't miss it." He looked over his shoulder at Adeila as he said it. Marissa followed his eyes, but then turned back to him.

"Great! I'll see you there! It's going to be epic."

Then Marissa turned on her. "Adeila! I cannot believe you left like that at lunch!"

"Yeah, sorry. I just needed some air."

Marissa grabbed her arm. "I'm so sorry; I was just trying to take some heat away from your incident last night."

As they walked she could see Loki's looming figure ahead of them. "Yeah, I know."

Marissa chatted on, but Adeila wasn't listening. Her mind was flooding with what she would ask Loki, and the buzzing she felt as they walked behind him.

Chapter Sixteen

Work really was just the distraction she needed. They were getting ready for a book signing the next day, so everything was hectic and crazy. She had very little time to dwell on Fae realms, dreams or the impending time with Loki.

By the time her shift ended at seven-thirty she was still putting things away. Finally at seven-forty-five, she pulled on her coat and walked out the door. The store didn't close until eight, but typically only one person was needed for the last half hour. She waved a goodbye to Yana as she buttoned her coat up.

As soon as she stepped away from the door, the familiar buzzing alighted across her flesh, causing raised goosebumps. She didn't even both turning around when she heard him behind her, just kept walking to her car. When finally she turned to him, his eyes were bright.

"I could have been anyone."

She shook her head. "No, I knew who it was."

"Adeila, that feeling you get, the buzzing, you get it with all Fae, some more intense than others. It takes a very strong connection to the Fae world and advanced training to pick up on the different feelings, unless you are connected somehow. Just because you think it was me, because you felt the current of feeling, doesn't mean it was me. Please be more careful."

She didn't want to tell him about the few other times she'd felt the buzzing, and that no matter what he said; around him the feeling was different. She didn't think he needed to know that kind of information. So she just nodded.

A few minutes later they were parked at the local shopping center, the least conspicuous and most innocent place she could think of to park. It was also crowded enough that if something happened she could get help. Not that she felt unsafe with Loki, entirely, but it was still something she had to concern herself with.

She didn't entirely like being in this close of confines with him; it was too intense a feeling. Too enclosed. She felt like she was suffocating from the pull within her core. The pull her body had towards him. It completely mystified and confused her. And be damned if it wasn't outright annoying!

"So, questions?"

She bit her lip. She decided on simple questions about the Fae. "Do the Fae have jobs, careers, customs, and housing like humans?"

He laughed. "Well, that was several questions but yes is the answer to all, but each very different from humans. Each Fae has some sort of job, whether it be with the progression of the kingdom they are governed by, the protection of the kingdom or realm, the keeping of the castles or manors, gathering food, or it may have something to do with their magic, or any of the other millions of things we need to keep a village and community running. We have no currency so to speak, so it's not like we get paychecks, like humans. Each person helps each other and the rulers provide most things. We have no cars, phones or other status like symbols so everyone is primarily equals. We grow our own food; have our own hunters and scavengers. We play to each individual's strengths. Sometimes the rulers do pay with human currency but that is rare and typically only to its most serious guards, Guardians, guards, and agents and only to those who've been granted permission to enter the human realm. Despite the many Fae who sneak into the human realm, it's typically by approval only that the Fae are allowed to leave the Fae realm. That's why so many enter here to do ill will, because many kingdoms do not monitor as closely as Oakend."

"What do you do in the Fae realm?"

A small flash of pride went through his golden eyes. "I established and currently head the R.F.R.U - Rogue Fae Retrieval Unit. It's a special, small unit branch within the Guardians, sanctioned by your father in Oakend. I established it after going through extensive guardian training to become one of your father's small circle of Elite Guardians." He looked away at the cars in the lot. "I had a dream to do something different. Finally I decided that retrieving certain Fae from the human realm that wished it harm or were doing or saying things that may be jeopardizing the discovery of our world was something exciting and different. No Fae had tried to govern the Faeries that went over into the human realm before. And many Fae had sought the destruction of the human realm, causing many issues. Famines, earthquakes, hurricanes, drought and many other "natural" disasters. But my main goal was to keep our world undiscovered. The knowledge of our world being a secret is imperative to our survival. Humans are known to come in; test, exploit, industrialize and completely destroy everything they touch. Whenever we catch wind of a Fae doing something questionable, we are sent to investigate and return the Fae if they are caught in this wrong doing. He or she is brought to their respected kingdom for punishment, and if they are not part of a specific kingdom we bring them to your parents for punishment. We are currently trying to strengthen the portals to keep better track of the Fae using them."

Her eyes were wide. She was fascinated. "Aren't you only like twenty something?"

He only nodded. "Wow, that's pretty amazing to have established something like that, Loki."

He smiled. "It wasn't easy. Your father is open-minded, but stubborn. I had to be the top of every class for him to really take me seriously, and I had many meetings with him trying to gain some kind of favor from him. When a Prince from another kingdom went missing, I took it upon myself to take a small team to recover him. Your father had given me the green light but insisted that if it didn't work he didn't want me bothering him with insistent ramblings any longer. Needless to say, three days later, we returned the Prince to his respected kingdom. He'd stumbled upon a portal and been merely curious. Once inside he'd gotten so confused, lost and mesmerized by the human realm he didn't pay attention to his way home. Your father was impressed, and let me continue with the unit. He let me hand pick Guardians of the Realm to train specifically for retrieval. We have quite the back up of Guardians, because many Fae want to become a Guardian for the power and ability the training gains you. So I started with a small five person unit including myself. Soon your father was sending us out more and more often, as he'd begun getting contacted from other kingdoms that had missing Fae and wanted them checked on. Most Fae, especially royalty, are very afraid of the human realm and refuse to set foot in it, or dare not send their close knitted people in it either. So many Fae that do enter the human realm are quickly forgotten and no one seeks them out to make sure they aren't doing questionable things. So your father and I decided that we would take up that mission. It may have been my dream, but he had the power to make it a reality. Now I have about fifteen very well trained agents at my call. Sorryn, my second in command, runs things when I am away. We choose team leaders according to the mission. It's much more in depth then I thought, but it's also incredibly rewarding."

"That's amazing!" She was honestly bewildered. Much of what he said was still confusing, but the fact that he created an entire law enforcement branch to retrieve wrong doing Faeries was pretty spectacular. If it was true, of course.

He laughed that glorious and infrequent sound. "It's not that glorified, I assure you." But his voice was deep with pride. "Spending so much time in the human realm has its downfalls. Plus, I am responsible for not only my team but the humans within this realm. It's a lot to worry about, and it gives me less and less of a life in the Faerie."

"Well, it's still pretty bad ass!"

He grinned. "Yeah, I guess it is."

She laughed, and looked sidelong at him. He gained a tiny bit more respect in her eyes. What an interesting thing to accomplish at such a young age, but she wasn't surprised. He was cocky and stubborn and had that don't mess with me attitude that she figured helped him out quite a bit with a law enforcement like position.

"Okay, so what about housing?"

"Well, housing I suppose is similar to humans in some ways, but most homes in Fae are made right within the natural surroundings. Some build homes within the earth, deep underground. Some build them inside of trees or on trees. Some build simple stone, or wood cottages. We don't need much space to live, and our homes are usually as efficient as possible since we don't spend a lot of time in them. We don't have televisions or anything technological so the materialistic element isn't there. There's no new age gadget to boast or brag about. Many things are community based. Like there's a temple to pray to the Fae gods, a community supper at night where everyone can eat together in front of Gh'ehelila, our grandmother willow. We celebrate seasons, and moon shifts with festivals of dancing, eating, ale or wine. We have bonfires once or twice a year to burn off old branches and dead wood to make room for new, that is usually a giant spectacle. Even some wolves come for that."

"Wolves?"

"Yes, the Fae wolves. Wildwood is home to the largest pack, that's why they have their own kingdom. They govern about twelve packs within their lands. The Wildwood pack has been around since the very first Fae Princess. It is a very long tale but in short; Yolanda was the daughter of King Arian and Queen Nuheel. Queen Nuheel was a Fae with incredible shifting abilities. The Queen's sister, Ameel was half Fae, half human, and was a practicing witch. Ameel came and stayed with Nuheel from time to time, and during the time in human history when Christianity was taking hold and many females were being burned at the stake because of their possible dabbling into witchcraft, Ameel came to live with them permanently. Yolanda became her aunts shadow and wanted to learn about herbal magic. When a Fae already knows how to manipulate and wield energy magic, sometimes the simpler Witchcraft rituals and herbal remedies are more interesting." He shifted and cleared his throat. "Yolanda had an amazing Fae power to shift an animal into another animal. She withdrew and began practicing magic, both her natural Fae magic, and the witchcraft she watched her Aunt practice. It was during her volatile teenage years she became friends with a male wolf. She fell in love with his company. It made her feel less alone, as the only heir to a large kingdom left her with few real friends. Her parents were constantly busy, and her life was mundane. At that time it was only Neberuk, Oakend and Ravenswood. Her parents were, at that time, rulers of Ravenswood, which was a very new, young and rebellious kingdom. Faerie is so large, that each kingdom is hundreds of thousands of acres of land before they even abut another kingdom. At that time, there was no real way of communication so riders or birds were sent out with messages. It was much like your own human realms medieval times. Yolanda's role was to marry and produce heirs for Ravenswood. It was the night of her betrothal, that she made it her goal to create a man from this wolf. The night before her looming bonding ceremony, she had the capacity to finally see this goal through, but learned there were many consequences to this kind of action. At full moon he had to shift back into wolf form, for at least twenty-four hours. And with this shift he could choose to remain in wolf form, permanently.

Needless to say he didn't and after lots of convincing from her shocked and outraged parents they were married, and had children. All of these children had the strong wolf gene.

Over the millennium, the bloodlines of the Fae wolves have shifted and changed. Now they can shift at will, but still must shift at full moon and remain shifted for twenty-four hours, but most of the Wildwood wolves remain in wolf form most of the time. It's an easier, simpler way of life. Yolanda and her husband, Gilvis, created Wildwood as a sanctuary for the wolves, both those of their own descendants, and those that were true wolves, ones that could not shift into Fae. They are an interesting, proud and stubborn lot. If you think the Fae are proud of their bloodlines and ancestry, they don't even compare to that of the wolves."

Just then headlights cut across the front of her car, momentarily blinding her. She was instantly horrified when the car moved across the front of hers, she recognized it, and then the passenger. Marissa started out by waving, then when her eyes went to Loki they instantly changed to complete and utter confusion, then betrayal flared in her eyes as they sped away.

Mouth hanging open, Adeila almost started crying. Oh crap!

She laid her head on her steering wheel. Why of all places had Marissa been with her mother at this shopping center? Why of all places had she chosen this lot to sit with Loki?

Her life was literally in shambles, she wanted to curl up and cry. How the hell was she going to fix this? One thing she knew, she needed Loki out of here. She couldn't breathe with him in the car, let alone cry.

"Where are you parked?" She mumbled it between her arms.

"Adeila, your human relations are -"

She held up her hand. Tears shimmered in her blue eyes.

"Don't. Just don't." She wanted him out. Now.

"I'm sorry, I-"

"Loki, it's not really your fault. I just need to go home. I can't do this right now."

Just when she thought she'd gained a foot, she was pushed back ten. She couldn't stand it. A giant ache ran along her chest.

He just stared at her and then grabbed the door handle, opening the door; sending a blast of cool air within the now stuffy car.

"Damn it, Loki, I can bring you to your car. You don't have to just get out here."

"It's fine. I'm not far. But by Friday be ready with a story for your human family and friends so they don't cause you grief. After school Friday, please, Adeila be ready. I know it's hard to lie, but you must."

She could only nod. She watched him walk away and hit the steering wheel with her palm. What the hell was she going to do now? What was she going to say to Marissa?

Chapter Seventeen

The next morning Marissa never showed up to pick her up. She should have expected that, and she even may have deserved it, but it still stung like several paper cuts across her heart. She'd texted her last night saying it wasn't what she thought it was, and it wasn't what it may have looked like. No responses.

First period, the only class they shared, she sat next to her like usual and tried to talk to her. Marissa chatted away to Shawn Thibeault and completely ignored her. Adeila ground her teeth; she'd thought that their friendship was better than this. Shawn looked from one to the other, incredibly confused.

As they left class, Adeila cut her off. "Ugh! Marissa at least give me some credit! Let me explain."

Marissa's eyes were narrowed, her hands on her hips. "Explain what? What you were doing with a boy I like at nine-something at night?"

Adeila ran a hand through her long hair. It did sound so bad, but it's not like they had done anything! "I know how it looked, but that's so far from the truth."

"Okay, then, what is the truth?"

"I..Ah..We were just-"

"See! That's what I thought!"

Damn it! She probably should have come up with a real good lie and a smoother confrontation.

"We were talking. I was giving him a ride."

Marissa just scoffed and turned away. Adeila didn't even have the energy to go after her; she just turned on her heel and stormed to her second period class. One she shared with the boy in question.

.~.

Lunch was incredibly awkward; even more so than the previous day. She didn't realize it could be more uncomfortable, but boy was she wrong.

Erik kept glancing from one girl to the other in complete confusion. Men, they just had no idea how to handle girls. She hadn't spoken to him since the previous day at lunch so she figured he must think her still mad over that situation, when she'd left the lunchroom. She'd just let him think that. He'd text her once throughout the night, but it had been about some plant botany question he knew she'd know. She had an affinity when it came to anything plant related.

Come to think of it, he hadn't even asked her if she was okay from yesterday. She guessed that was just another problem to set on top of the other pile of non Fae related issues she'd have to address at some point.

"Everything okay?" He whispered. She just nodded, plastered a very thin smile on her face and gingerly touched his arm. She caught Marissa sending her a dirty look over the action. What the frick? It's not like she'd cheated on Erik or anything, so Adeila returned the look with one of her own. Trying to show her friend that she had absolutely nothing to be guilty about. She'd technically done nothing wrong.

Marissa had no room to judge, she had slept with some random guy she barely even knew, when she supposedly liked Loki; but yet Marissa's dramatics flared with her innocent conversation with a guy.

She knew they had an impenetrable bond. Marissa may be mad at her at this moment, but she'd get over it. No matter how mad Marissa was at her she would never stoop to pulling Erik into this. She may harass her all she wanted but they had a better relationship then this catty drama. Adeila just hoped that Marissa snapped out of it soon. By the end of the week, she was going to another realm for goodness sake!

.~.

She looked forward to chemistry class that day just about as much as she looked forward to having a tooth pulled. She avoided Loki at all costs, but to her dismay he stood at her desk as she packed up, seconds before the bell rang.

He leaned in close and whispered. "I know you're having a shitty time right now, but remember you need to figure out an excuse to be gone this weekend." With that he left.

Ugh! Why couldn't he just leave her alone about it, she knew she had to do it. She knew even mad at her, Marissa would cover for her, but what would she say? She still had no ideas.

Why was all of this happening all of a sudden? As if it wasn't bad enough to learn she wasn't human, or at least be told that - she still wasn't entirely sure she believed it - but now she was having issues with her boyfriend and best friend. At least she hadn't made anything else weird happen, well, not since rendering her friend magically – and let's face it, blessedly - speechless. Maybe it was all a fluke. But deep inside her core she knew she was different.

.~.

That night she lay awake for a long time. Her mind was a mess. She had cried out all the tears she could handle. When she'd gotten home from school, no one else was home, so she'd taken that time to do a little searching.

She searched the entire house for her baby pictures, or any pictures of her infancy she could find. She did find a few baby pictures but none of her mom pregnant with her. She found a few in her siblings baby books of her mom pregnant with them. But her baby book consisted of pictures from when she was about a week old and beyond. No pictures of her at the hospital, like her siblings.

She was a smart girl, she thought of her birth certificate and social security card, which she had no idea where her mother kept. She'd still yet to give them to Adeila, even though she was almost eighteen and would need them soon. Adeila wanted them even more now.

None of this was concrete evidence of one way or another, but it made the suspicions rise. What if she really was adopted and she had parents in another realm? Or elsewhere, at least? Maybe they would be the loving and attentive parents she'd always imagined she'd have. Maybe ones that she could actually build a relationship with instead of just living under the same roof, and passing in the halls now and again.

Chapter Eighteen

She'd gotten no sleep. Zilch. She needed to tell Marissa something, not only was it killing her to not have the support of her best friend, but to have her best friend think she had betrayed her somehow, was eating her up inside. Even though in a way she would still be betraying her, still be lying to her. Marissa could never know the whole truth. It was much too dangerous for her to know, even Adeila who still knew so little about the Fae realm, knew how dangerous letting people know about it would be. Throughout the tears and self-pity she formulated a plan to gain Marissa's trust again. She would give her a small snippet of the truth. Even if the Fae thing was a hoax, she was questioning her parentage. So she formulated a - hopefully solid - plan.

First period class, she put on a determined, if not a little sad, face and approached Marissa. Whom ignored her, just like she had yesterday.

"I need to talk to you."

"I've heard just about -"

"No, you haven't. Something huge is going on with me and you're my best friend." She allowed her words to be emphasized. She used the most no nonsense attitude and tone, and looked Marissa right in the eyes, to let her know that there was no question here. It had to be done. "I need to tell you about it. Today. After school."

Marissa's eyes widened, but with that, Adeila sat at her desk, and took out her things. Allowing the sadness and hurt from the last week to etch lines in her face for the dramatics of it. Not that it was a far fetch, considering she tried to hide everything going on with her most of the time, it was kind of nice to let that slip and show some of the confusion, hurt and her own feelings of betrayal overshadow her features.

Marissa kept casting her small glances. Being friends for so many years had made them in tune with each other and it was no surprise to Adeila that Marissa was in shock at the way her tone of voice had gone and the look she carried. She knew Marissa would feel bad about being mad about something so petty once she spoke with her, and that was some of her goal, but she also just wanted her support. Even though she knew she could never tell Marissa the entire truth. There would always be a lie, an untruth, between them; she still craved the girls support and friendship.

.~.

At lunch Marissa was silent. When yesterday she'd made a big show about talking to everyone but Adeila, today she didn't speak at all. She kept sneaking small glances at Adeila as if she'd sprouted a horn and fangs. Adeila couldn't help but run her fingers over her scalp. It wouldn't surprise her at this point if that were the truth. She had no real idea what being Fae was, only what Loki told her. Which, since they hadn't really spoken much wasn't as much as she wanted to learn.

"So you're hanging out with Marissa after school?" Erik walked her to class. Funny, she didn't say anything to him about her and Marissa meeting after school. He must have spoken to Marissa; she tried to get around the strange feeling that brought on.

"Yeah."

"Okay, maybe we can get together this weekend or something."

"Yeah, maybe." She turned to him, knowing she wasn't being entirely fair to him since she found out what she was and everything else. She was being more and more distant with each passing day. The idea of dealing with a boyfriend right now on top of everything else just seemed so daunting. She should really cut him loose, but knew she wouldn't. Couldn't. Instead she'd continue to awkwardly string him along, as horrible of a person that made her.

She touched his arm. "If not then definitely next week sometime."

He smiled, dimly. He knew something was up, she could tell. He leaned down and kissed her very lightly on the lips. She smiled at him, he really was a great guy, and she really liked him. She twined her hands around the back of his neck, and kissed him deeper. He pulled away when several people stared. He cleared his throat, and whispered wow in her ear. She grinned at him. When everything seemed weird with them, they could always get back into a good place with a kiss. It was promising.

She watched him walk away, and wished everything could be that easy.

In Chemistry class she still brewed over exactly what she'd say to Marissa. It was funny – interestingly funny - how just giving her a small gesture of her gaining the truth of what had Adeila out of sorts these days, had placated her friends anger.

Just as the bell rang, a zinging electrical sensation sped up her spine, and she turned to see Loki standing close. He leaned into her; it was too quick for her to step back.

"I'm not sure what you have planned, but be cautious with what you say. It is now your secret to keep, Princess."

How the hell did he always know everything? Maybe it was a Fae trait. Boy, did she hope she gained that power, just so she could use it on him.

.~.

After school she waited at her car for Marissa. Her chem class was closer to the front door then Marissa's drama class, so she always reached her car a moment or two before her friend. When her eyes found Marissa, it was who she was chatting with that shocked her. Loki's tall form was hunched slightly to be able to speak to Marissa's tiny five-three stature. Even, Adeila, at five-six had to look up at him, seeing Marissa and Loki was slightly comical. It was other feelings that came over her, however, that made things go from funny to weird. Uncomfortable, foreign feelings. Similar to the ones she felt when she saw the girl in the car with him.

She crossed her arms over her chest. Why did she feel this way? She didn't even like Loki, as a friend or as anything romantic. She was beginning to trust him, which was about it. Maybe it was a weird Fae connection thing.

When Marissa touched his arm, Adeila uncrossed her arms and had to resist the urge to glare at them. What the hell?

Annoyed with herself, she turned away and leaned against her hood. Her elbows resting on its smooth surface, her belly against the fender.

"Hey." His voice cut through her foggy mind, she turned her eyes to his golden gaze. Then hearing the strangely shy, small voice beside him, she let her eyes rest on her friend's honey brown ones.

"Hey." Was the only thing she could come up with to say as she resisted the urge to sigh.

Loki grinned, like the asshole he was, and gestured to both girls. "See you ladies later."

She had no idea what they had spoken of as they'd walked over together, and she severely hoped that it did not conflict with what she was about to tell Marissa. If it did, she was going to wring Loki's Faerie neck.

Adeila gestured to the passenger seat, and went around to the driver's side. She took a breath as they both settled down, and started in.

"I'm so sorry for what you saw. I had intended to tell you everything in time, I'm just wrapping my head around everything myself." She took a breath, and her words were heavy with emotion, that was not an act, when she continued. "I'm adopted, Marissa. I found out that Loki's parents know my real parent's, that is the only reason I was speaking to him that night. I'm still ironing out the details."

Marissa's gasp was what she'd expected from this confession, and saying it made it all seem so much truer. "I haven't confronted my parents yet, but I did some digging and the evidence is there. I think I was adopted at, like, a week old. The lack of resemblance is a definite, but I understand that's not a real indicator. I can't find any photos of my mom pregnant with me, and considering I'd have been her first pregnancy you'd think there would be. No photos of me at the hospital, and none from younger than a week old. I'm sure they'll have some excuse if I asked, but they are so unemotional I'm not even sure I would want to ask them without knowing the truth first. I just haven't dared to go straight to that level yet. Loki may be able to get me a meeting with my real parents this weekend, but I need an alibi with my hum - adopted parents." Almost slipped up on that one. Whoops!

"Oh my God!" Marissa turned toward her completely, tears in her pretty eyes. It caused the porcelain skin to blotch red. "I am so sorry! I cannot even believe this...Well, I can... But you know, I -" She flung herself across the console to crush Adeila in an awkward car restricted hug.

Adeila let all the insecurities, fear, betrayal and sadness seep out of her, at her best friend's compassion. This was what it was to be loved; pure and unrestricted. Emotional and sometimes unstable, but it was real. Adeila craved this more than anything else in the world.

After three hours sitting in the school parking lot together, they went their separate ways, but Marissa had happily agreed to be her alibi that weekend. Now the real fear and insecurities set in. She was really doing this; really going to another realm. Really meeting people that may very well be her real blood parents, and she was frightened and nervous and every other emotion that could come along with going to another realm you had no idea existed – literally an entirely different world, or meeting parents you also had no idea existed. Not to mention her whole life had literally been a giant lie. She expected she felt what most would feel if ever in her situation.

Chapter Nineteen

"The Fae realm is not a place for the faint of heart. It's far wilder then the human world. Think remote Alaska, times ten. The creatures in the forest are different, the rules are different. Everything is just...different. Primal. You may see things you never thought existed, but in your wildest dreams, or nightmares. You may even recognize some creatures from fables, myths or wives tales." He shrugged, and ran his teeth over his bottom lip.

She was hypnotized by the movement, but had no idea why. She mentally shook herself, letting his words sink in.

"So, it's dangerous?"

"Extremely. Lucky for you, you have an exceptional guide."

She rolled her eyes and looked out the window. Seeing nothing but a mixture of greens and browns as they slowly passed tree after tree. How far out was this place, anyway?

She had no idea what to expect, but a tiny bit of anxiety crept through her belly.

School that day had been a bundle of nerves. It was easier with Marissa knowing some of what was going on, but this - this realm - was something that even Marissa could never learn. She understood Loki's need to protect the realm; her mind reeled at the possibility of humans ever realizing another realm existed. The Fae would become test subjects and their lands demoralized and industrialized just like humans had done with their own world.

She'd been excited but dreading the ending bell tinkling across the school building at two-fifty pm. Her anxiety had pinched every nerve in her body. Her parents hadn't batted a lash that she was taking off Friday from work and spending the weekend with Marissa. No raging at her for not being responsible about her work ethic, nothing. Marissa's and her parents were going to the lake house, so there was no way her parents would run into them. It seemed like a pretty solid alibi.

"And remember I told you about the glamour that blankets you when you are in the human realm?"

She nodded. His smile was strained. She could tell he was trying to be reassuring, but failing miserably.

"Well, that kind of comes off, in a rush, once you enter the Fae realm. Especially the first time. It's going to be so intense, almost painful. All your senses will heighten in an unreserved way, bombarding you. Try to focus on one sensory at a time. I suggest hearing first; let your ears settle, than smell, than sight. Sight can be the most over-bearing so that should come last. So keep your eyes closed until you feel comfortable enough to open them. The more you enter the realm the easier it gets; also the more you learn how to control glamour, the easier it gets. We will get to that."

Her mind spun with all she had learned, and even though she was still a little skeptical, she tried to take stock of every tip he told her.

He took several back mountain roads, then a neglected logging road, and then finally pulled onto a grassy stretch of what may have been a road at one point but was completely unused now. No wonder he had the giant pickup truck. He drove down the un-maintained road for about ten minutes before stopping dead in the middle of it. She looked around, confused. She saw nothing but dense forest all around them. As he put the truck into park she had a small rush of panic. She really didn't know Loki all that well. Why had she been so willing to get into a car alone with him, for him to drive her into goodness knows where? What if this was all some crazy ploy to rape and/or murder her? Her heart sped up and a feeling of dread turned her body to stone. What had she done? She tried to think past it. It's not like it was the only time she'd been alone in a vehicle with him.

Loki must have picked up on her panic because he instantly tried to soothe and reassure.

"Don't panic, Adeila. What I've said is truth. This is the way to a Fae portal. The closest one to your town, believe it or not. I assure you, I mean you absolutely no harm."

Is that what all killers said before killing someone? I mean you no harm?

She turned and looked at him. He sat rigid, expectant. Their eyes locked. And like every other time before, her blood buzzed at his golden eyes with green flecks. They were so beautiful, almost hauntingly so. They were so multicolored she had a hard time discerning each color. Gold, green, with hints of gray. They really were quite stunning. But it wasn't just the color in them, but the clear sincerity reflecting back at her. She gulped and bit her lip. Her heart was pounding so hard she could hear it in her ears. It slowed a bit at his gaze but she was still nervous.

"I promise you Adeila, with my soul, I mean you absolutely no harm. You must know that. If you knew the Fae world at all, you would understand that is the highest of promises. One's soul means everything to the Fae. We may be close to immortal but our souls can be tainted with as much blackness as humans, but in our case the Fae King and Queen can have us killed for a tainted soul and it can shorten our life span."

In her heart she did know he wasn't lying, but America was at such a heightened state of paranoia right now. Especially for young women. The news portrayed women to be weaklings and easy targets. It caused girls to be extra cautious and for good reason. The news played up so many rapes involving young girls; it was hard not to worry. Even with people that you know. Family members even. It had her bracing herself against the possibility of the worst.

Sensing he wasn't getting far, he gazed at her again. "Honestly, we can turn around if you'd like, and do this a different day. I don't want you going into this uncomfortable with me. Maybe you're just not ready. "

She blew out a breath. There was sense of foreboding of the situation she had put herself into. She wanted to believe him; every fiber of her being did believe him. It was hard to ignore the niggling feeling in the back of her mind, years of being told horror stories and seeing and hearing a panicked media.

She decided to blank out all of the warning bells that society had pressed upon her and listen to her heart. She was sure even that had gotten many women into serious trouble but she truly didn't believe that in this case, and she had always been a pretty darn good judge of character. Not that it had ever been put to a test of this magnitude or severity before.

She swallowed spit that had accumulated in her mouth -that seemed to happen a lot lately since tales of Faerie rulers and realms had been put into her life- and met his eyes. Patience is what she saw in them. His body language relaxed. She hadn't entirely viewed him as the most patient or relaxed guy, so it did show some aptitude that he remained that way obviously to help ease her discomfort.

"No, I'm okay. Let's go." Her resolve was set but the severity of it weighed her down.

He didn't move for a moment, still staring into her eyes. It was as though he was gathering an understanding of her resolve and her strength.

Finally he shut off the truck and got out. Before she could even reach for the door handle he had maneuvered around the truck to open it for her. If she wasn't so stressed, she may have taken a moment to enjoy that, as she had never had a guy do something like that for her and he'd done it each time he drove her.

She stepped out and zipped her hooded sweatshirt all the way to the top to alleviate the chill getting inside to her neck since she'd forgotten a scarf. The warm front that had come through the last few weeks was gone now and it felt more like November should feel in this wooded mountainous area.

She looked around, but still saw nothing of particular interest. Not even a path into the wood. It was dense forest in all directions. Adeila looked over at Loki, he was assessing her. She realized that he still wore a t-shirt and wondered how he was fairing in the less than fifty degree weather. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked at the ground.

"So, I didn't want to freak you out any further, but it's actually about a mile into the woods." He gestured to their right with a long slender hand.

She blew out another deep breath and nodded. Hell, if he wanted to harm her he could have overpowered her at any time now.

"Okay." She said simply, wanting to get this over with, at this point.

He smiled reassuringly and headed off to the right of the road, not choosing a distinctive path that she could see. She plodded along, blindly, behind him.

It was truly beautiful out here, in this untouched stretch of forest. Bird's chirped nonstop and the evergreen smell filled her nose. She loved nature. Loved to hike and walk trails, she'd just never really had anyone to share those things with and her sense of paranoia like today filled her whenever she tried to venture around alone. Her entirely family was practically against anything outdoors related. They'd never camped or hiked together. They were all more of the tech types. Whereas she would sit out on their deck for hours just soaking in the sun and nature sounds. She was actually quite enjoying the pleasant sounds of the wood and Loki's stoic presence. She was reminded of the nature trails they'd walked, where he'd told her she was Fae the first time.

Finally they broke through the dense wood and into a small clearing. She could see several hulking figures ahead of them and squinted to make them out. Large rocks jutted out. A small boulder field, but once she got up close she noticed many of the giant stones were etched and cut into tall rectangles. Like Stonehenge, right here in the mountain ranges of California. It was beautiful but incredibly haunting.

They were scattered about, many were completely knocked over and weather worn. The cut ones had a beautiful green hew to them, it could have just been from being around vegetation for so many years or mold or moss but they seemed to give off an almost unnatural glow. In the center were two stones standing up right, with one horizontal across the top of them making a clear doorway of some kind.

As soon as her eyes focused on it, she felt the warmth in her blood. When they started walking towards it, she felt the buzz of electricity up her arms. It was the same feeling as she got when she looked into Loki's eyes, or when she did "magic".

It called to her. All of it; Loki, the stone doorway, the magic. It called to her blood, like a long forgotten friend. It was a rush. Primal. Insistent. She couldn't explain it, but even if she didn't want to completely believe it herself, she was beginning to like the feeling. The rush. The raw power of it all.

She watched Loki as he walked right up to the stone and ran his hands along the rough looking edges; he caressed it with a mixture of pride and homesickness. It was surprising to see, since Loki seemed like such a stoic, almost emotionless person. She realized that was a pretty cold thing to think, as he had been so patient with her lately, but still, he seemed distant. Always distant. Maybe he'd be different within his home realm? She mentally shook herself, if there was even another realm, and if so why did she care what Loki acted like as long as he got her some answers?

Adeila stepped up to the stones and Loki moved a bit to the side to allow her to inspect them. She did. She ran her hands along them much like he did, but with fascination not recognition. They were far smoother feeling then they looked, and the green hue seemed to glow even more up close. The buzz of energy along her skin intensified. It was almost unbearable, just as she was going to tell Loki so; she looked inside the portal to see etchings of large leaves. They ran all along the inside center of each stone and up along the center of the top one as well. Each leaf was different, she recognized white oak, alder, sugar maple, birch, elm and possibly sycamore, the rest she wasn't entirely sure. Girl Scout's taught her some, but her parent's had never really been adventurous or nature lovers so she had to learn most things on her own. She ran her hand along the edges of each one, feeling the veins and angles. They were extremely well carved, almost as if they were actually fossils from the real leaf. It was a true awe inspiring marvel, and she reveled in the effort it must have taken to do such a thing.

Loki stood back, allowing her full freedom to explore. After her fingers touched the final leaf, a shimmer enveloped the entire doorway, and she took a panicked step back, thankfully the scream that had come to her throat never made it past her lips. How embarrassing that would have been.

Loki chuckled, moving closer. "The Fae door likes your touch. It's calling to you. Each piece of the Fae world is alive with energy; this doorway is probably the most alive since it is a Guardian doorway. Only those who have the best of intentions are allowed to come and go through this particular doorway. Your father personally gave this doorway that specific job, since you live closest to this portal. It won't completely keep you safe, but it helps. This is a stone guardian. It has been here for thousands of years, one of the first doorways to the Fae realm."

She just stared at him in wonderment; this was getting weirder and weirder. A part of her wanted to laugh and run back to the truck, flee this nonsense, another part of her - a larger part - wanted to learn more. Wanted to know everything. It was that part that helped move her head into a nod at the Fae before her and then back to the doorway.

"Why would it like my touch?"

"Probably because you are the Princess of the Oakend Faerie throne. Your bloodlines span to that of the very first Fae to ever exist. But it could also just be you. Something about you it likes." He shrugged.

She took a deep breath in through her nose, and out her mouth. Trying to take an open minded approach to this entire thing.

"So it's going to be an intense feeling when I go through?"

"It's been a few years since my first experience with the change of realms, but I remember it being intense but also mind blowing and amazing at the same time. The Fae realm calls to your blood. It will feel like coming home from a very long vacation."

She wrinkled her nose. Her family didn't really take vacations, plus how could she have a sense of coming home when she'd never even been to this realm before? She was actually leaving her home to go somewhere foreign. She would think the coming back would feel that way. Then she thought about coming back. When was she coming back? Just as she began to ask him, he continued.

"I know you don't believe me but just because you've never been to the Fae realm doesn't mean it doesn't recognize one of its own blood. It will welcome you. It's really a lovely feeling. Like... Having a dog. How they're always happy to see you no matter how long you've been gone. Even five minutes, they still greet you; tongue out, tail wagging, eyes full of complete adoration."

She snorted at his analogy but it was kind of cute and certainly made her anxiety lessen a little. She stepped up and touched the stone again. The feeling she got was like cold rain on a hot day. Incredibly refreshing.

Chapter Twenty

"Are you ready?" His voice was low and quiet, and closer to her then she had expected.

She turned to him. His gold-green eyes bright but still faintly distant. His dark hair fell just over his brow. He was an imposing character, and she was getting ready to enter another world with him. The good thing was, she had a feeling if anyone was going to protect her against the things in this realm, it was him. He looked ominous and serious as he readied himself to enter his world.

She gulped and nodded.

"Remember to relax and close your eyes. It's very disorienting. I'm going to hold your hand or arm if that's okay?"

He smiled thinly at her when she nodded again, and he took her arm. Her mouth thinned but she allowed him to pull her into the edge of the doorway. The warmth his hand gave her was peculiar, and it sent a sensation of comfort through her.

"When I touch the inside of the portal, you do the same okay?"

She gulped, a shiver of something between anticipation and trepidation trickled up her spine, but she nodded. She wondered a moment if she was really ready for this, but it was a little late to turn back now, right?

He reached out with his right hand; she mimicked him and reached out with her left hand. His left hand was still tight around her arm. He said a few unintelligible words under his breath. The shimmer she saw before intensified, until the entire doorway was a kaleidoscope of colors. She felt a tug on her arm and she stepped in, then she felt a tug in the middle of her stomach, through to her heart. She closed her eyes involuntarily, her mind spun and she had a feeling of utter weightlessness. Millions of colors wavered before her closed lids. It lasted only a few moments before her feet hit solid ground. She stumbled a bit and if not for Loki's hand on her arm she most certainly would have fallen forward onto her knees. Her blood hummed and her skin prickled with energy. She felt a slight tremble all over, like she'd been on a treadmill for hours and then tried standing on solid ground. Before she could even open her eyes, the onslaught of senses being turned up by the million fold was so intense that she gripped her temples. The ache in her ears started the distant forest noises were crackling in her ear drums. Branches swaying in the breeze, leaves rustling, an acorn falling to the forest floor, a branch creaking, a twig snapping under the foot of an animal, a brook bubbling in the distance, small forest animals scampering about. Birds chirped, sounding like they were right on her shoulder. She put her hands over her ears to try to muffle the sounds. Finally, the attack was over and it settled into a more bearable noise level, like turning the radio down several notches.

Next she inhaled through her nose, and got an intense smell of raw earth, dirt, moss, root and wood. Then evergreen and wildflowers. She got a gentle whiff of an earthy, crisp, clean scent. Like the forest after a rain, and with a start, she realized the smell was definitely male. Her traveling companion. She swallowed, and tried to move past the forest scent that she could smell from Loki's skin and on to the deep forest smells cascading about her. She smelled water, and could then feel the moisture of it. Sensations hit her. She could feel the mist that clung to the forest against the fine hairs on her face and hands. Adeila had the overwhelming urge to take off her sweatshirt so she could feel it against her skin, but resisted. The breeze kissed along her face, what was exposed of her neck. It was refreshing, like nothing she'd ever felt.

She then felt the earth beneath her shoes; she reflexively curled her toes, wishing she could feel the soil beneath her bare feet. She could almost feel the heat radiating off of Loki's skin, and realized he had let go of her arm and stepped away from her. But only a few feet from the heat she felt from him. It sent a slight bit of reassurance through her.

After her body relaxed from the attack of those senses, she allowed herself a few deep breaths before opening her eyes. One lid at a time. The colors were so vivid, even the muted colors of the forest, that she almost closed her eyes again at the harshness of it. She had to get this part over with, so she pushed through the slight pain beneath her eyes and focused on a tree in front of her. She could see the overlap of each piece of bark, and the muted browns, deep greens and grays that ran along the entire length of the trunk. She saw small insects scurry along the base, her eyes traveled up into the leaves. There colors were intense, and so green. But not just green, every shade of green and yellow. She could pick apart each color and where it blended with the others. She moved her eyes around, seeing browns blend to greens, blend to yellows. It was incredible. Like being blind for many years, to then gain your eye sight again abruptly. Light fluttered through in small patches across the forest floor. Leaf debris glimmered from the sun light. Shadows lengthened and swayed. Each blade of grass distinct. Each color intensified. Buttercups and daisy's dotted beside the wooded trail they stood on, their color more yellow and white in every aspect then she ever knew them to be before. After a few moments the ache beneath her eyes lessened and with some effort of control, the pain within her ears went away completely.

Adeila began to remove her hands from cupping her ears, when she felt the smooth, slender tip of them. She ran a finger along her lobe and discovered that where her ear was round before, now it tapered into a slender point. She tried not to panic as she knew this was going to happen. Loki had said that the Fae had tipped ears. It just cemented the idea that she was indeed a Faerie.

She swallowed a mouthful of spit, and ran a hand through her hair. She paused, her hair felt thick and extra silky. She had decent hair, but it never felt thick or overly silky like this. The new conditioner she had spent a small fortune on designed for fine hair, must finally be doing its job. She pulled her hair over to one side of her shoulder, and realized it felt longer than before. It fell well over her shoulder, she whipped her head towards it and her breath whooshed out of her lips.

Her generally boring mousy hair was a glossy, classy, very light earthy brown with golden, caramel and even lighter blonde highlights reflecting throughout it, blending perfectly to make it so natural and dimensional. Far from boring, or mousy.

She'd tried dying her hair once, about a year ago. The color had come out almost instantly and she'd broken out in a rash for her troubles. She'd never dared to try it again, even at Marissa's insisting. Her best friend had insisted they'd gotten a bad batch of dye. But this color was no dye; it shimmered in the filtered sunlight. Her hair was thick, still straight as a pin - but now it didn't bother her - and strong feeling. Like split ends were a mythical thing. She'd always kept it long, generally mid back, to her bra strap, but now it was a bit longer. Resting at the small of her back. It was then her eyes traveled along her arms to her chest and what she saw made her heart stop. Her chest was definitely bigger. Her breasts had grown at least a cup size. She ran her hand down the front of her chest, and then she unzipped the thin sweatshirt and lifted up the collar of the blue and gray striped shirt below it. She peaked down inside of her shirt to her plain white cotton bra. Her boobs were bursting through the top, as they had never done before. The light padding in the bra had always helped her averagely-endowed chest look bigger before, but now it just pushed the flesh to almost the spilling over point.

She swallowed. Whoa! She'd always wanted bigger boobs, and now it was just weird seeing them on her body. She poked them with a finger to make sure they felt the same. Yup, certainly her own flesh. The portal hadn't given her some crazy silicone boob job while she wasn't looking. That was a relief.

After her boob inspection she ran a hand down her flat stomach, she'd always been thin, and with the yoga and walking as often as possible, she was pretty toned, but what she felt was much more. She felt the tiny indentations of ab muscles. She ran a hand to her slightly protruding hip bone, and lifted her shirts. She ran a hand across her midriff, feeling the muscles. Her body had toned itself a fraction harder than it was in the human realm. Well, damn, she could certainly live with these minor changes. Hair, boobs, body. It was all doable. Shocking, and weird, but manageable.

Her eyes caught her wrist, where it rested on her hip. Markings weaved across it, a few shades darker gold then her skin. They were vines, branches, flowers and leaves all cascading over each side of her right wrist. In the center of the underside of her wrist were two bold oak leaves, and from there tree branches intertwined with Celtic designs across the top side of her wrist.

She flipped her arm over numerous times, and then pulled it closer to her eyes for inspection. Yup, definitely some kind of tattoo or brand thing. Her parents were going to flip. Then her mind wrapped around the fact that she was on another realm and that this might all change again when she went back home. A tiny surge of regret went through her.

Finally, she remembered her traveling companion and looked ahead in the trail towards him. He gazed at her with an incredibly amused expression. Clearly entertained by her little display. Her cheeks flamed from embarrassment.

Of course, she'd forgotten him while she was poking at her own boobs. Great. That's not awkward at all. She swallowed, and then held up her wrist. Deciding to just move past the embarrassing little display of checking out her own body. She was quite sure it had just looked too weird.

"What is this?" She tapped on her wrist.

He smirked but his voice was even. "Marks of your bloodline."

Her eyebrows rose and she looked at him harder. His hair was a shade darker than it had been on human realm, and a tad bit longer; almost reaching the collar of his t-shirt. His face was more angular, more rugged, and more masculine. Just more. More painstakingly beautiful. Even for a girl who was taken and uninterested, he was gorgeous in an otherworldly Faerie warrior fashion. His ears were tipped like hers, and his body was fuller, taller, more muscled than in the human world. He had a lithe, slim, physique with muscles in all the right places. Places that you actually used. Then her eyes lit onto the sword at his hip. It had a silver hilt with interlocking designs, the blade was hidden within a supple gray leather bound sheath but she knew it was a sword easily enough. She gulped but decided to ask.

"Sword?"

He looked down at it, proudly. "Nah'Aseel Fivur. Meaning "Northern Warrior" in northern Fae tongue. It has been passed down to me from my great-grandfather Nasaam. My middle brother gained that of my great-great grandfathers. It is called Dh'ijhanga Hyn. Meaning "Cold Song." My eldest brother received his very own sword, made for him by the best sword maker of the north, Nysmah. She is the undisputed greatest sword maker in all of Faerie. It was a gift from my parents when he became a man. It is called Ughestin'Ahel meaning "Tether of Ice". There are many relics passed on from generation to generation within the Faerie world. Weapons and jewels are probably the most common."

Adeila had subconsciously moved a step closer. Realizing it now, she brought her eyes from his sword to his eyes. They had changed too, although subtly. Now they were more golden, greener, with flakes of metallic chips of steel gray. She was quite sure they would still change with his emotions and she wondered briefly if she'd still be able to read them as she'd been learning to do on the human realm. The colors were bright, and so very unreal. Nothing like that would ever exist in the human world; no contacts would match all those colors swirling around. She looked back down to her wrist. This was so much to take in. Then she looked at his arm. The colors of the marks on his arm were darker, more pronounced against his tan skin. His tattoo had almost looked faded and gray in the human realm, but now it was dark and stood bold against his skin, almost like it was moving along his arm. The marks had also grown, lengthened and gained many new swirls, lines and stars. She was sure that within the stars and swirls she made out the image of some kind of deer like creature. The Fae realm must have blanketed some of the marks while he was in the human world.

"What of your marks?"

He shrugged. "The same as yours."

She narrowed her eyes. "That's all? There must be more to it than that. It goes all the way up your arm!"

He cocked his head. "They represent my bloodlines, my birthright, and my history. You gain marks as you succeed in life in your own personal way. Each line represents something you've done, or accomplished."

Adeila blew out a breath. That was pretty cool, she couldn't deny.

"What do they all mean?"

"That would take far too long to discuss, and we must move on. The Fae realm is no place to be caught at night this far from Oakend."

She remained rooted to the spot. She knew it was childish, but she desperately wanted to know. He had stepped away, but when he realized she wasn't following him, he stopped and threw his head to the sky, emitting what sounded almost like a growl. He turned to her clearly irritated.

When she still didn't budge, he threw up his hands. "Fine! Pick one." He ground his teeth. "One, Princess."

She almost trotted towards him in glee, feeling like she had won some battle. When she got close enough, she reached out and tentatively grabbed his arm. He tensed and stood rigid. A feeling of electricity bolted up her arm at the touch, and her fingers warmed from his flesh. She had to restrain herself from running a finger along some of the marks, but decided on the very dark purple stars and swirls that were in the very middle of the inside of his forearm. There were antler horns, being crisscrossed by stars and then swirls that faded to more stars along the inside of his bicep.

She tapped her finger on the antlers and stars and looked up into his smoldering golden eyes. His lips thinned.

"The stars and antlers represent my ancestry. When I was given the ancient tale, the marks showed. They represent my knowledge and full acceptance of my ancestral lineage. My father is a direct descended of Taivyl Staghorne, the first leader of the North. Taivyl was also the descendant of one the very first circle of Fae. The five Fae created millions of years ago. One for each of the elements; Fire, Water, Earth, Air and Spirit. Your father is also a direct descendant of the very first circle of five Fae. At one point we had quite a famine spread through our ranks, the Fae were mysteriously dying off. To this day, no one really knows why." He shifted his feet, and took his arm back from her. She let her arm drop to her side, and waited for him to continue.

"Taivyl, could shift into a stag, it was part of his Fae powers. He was descendant from the elemental Fae of Spirit. He couldn't turn into any other creature, as some can take many shapes now through evolution and need. He had only the one. But it was mighty. The stag, especially the white Stag, was rare and mysterious, and at that time impossible to kill. Some say that the white stag is the creator of the Fae, some say that the Earth mother Lh'eanah is the creator, some say they created the Fae people together. I guess no one will ever know the truth of it. But Taivyl took it upon himself to turn into his stag form and venture north to see if the famine ran amok among the entire Fae realm. He found out that it did not. He led our people into the deep north, a kingdom he later named Neberuk. It wasn't inhabited at the time by none other than polar bear, arctic fox, wolves and mountain trolls. Once he made a pact with them, it was safe for us to live there and rebuild. He led us to great prosper and knowledge of things beyond even our sights. The people began calling him ruler of the North or Stag of the North. Decades later it was a descendant of your fathers, Adeimon Dennoak, who led some of the people back here to Oakend. Adeimon, who was a direct descendant of the first elemental Fae of Earth, became ruler of this kingdom he called Oakend, and Taivyl ruled the North, Neberuk. The Fae realm flourished for many, many years under their fair and just command. Working together in companionable honor and friendship. That friendship is held in honor today, even with the Faerie realm being cut into a few more kingdoms."

He had begun walking down the path, and she followed him on instinct, thinking his tale complete. Although it still left her with questions. To her surprise he asked her a question of his own. "Your human realm has the North Star, correct?"

She nodded, and stepped carefully across some roots.

"Well, when Taivyl died, he shifted into his Stag form. The form that saved the Fae, and some say created it. The Moon Goddess shined upon this favor and turned him into a constellation in the stars above. Forever to watch over the Fae. To call all Fae home when they have lost their way. Your North Star is only the center gem in the antlers crown on the Stag here. Taivyl's Stag form is an entire giant constellation, even in the human realm it shows as such to the Fae."

She thought back to sixth grade science class when she'd been called upon about the North Star and she'd said she could make out a deer in the sky and the teacher had looked at her as if her imagination was far larger than her scientific mind could handle. She'd tried to argue with the teachers, her parents, but who listened to an eleven year old girl? She'd been deemed to have a crazy imagination and the teacher ensured to call upon her much less than before. So this meant she wasn't crazy, after all. She had seen what she thought she had.

He cocked his head at her. "You've seen it?"

"Yes. I even tried pointing it out to people. Teachers. My parents. They thought I was out of my mind."

He smiled briefly and nodded. "The Stag will always call the Fae home. If they seek that constellation and follow it, they will always find a portal to the Fae realm. Many strong Fae have an internal pull to the portals and can typically find them just by following their instincts, but I am sure that the Stag has called many less fortunate, lesser Fae home."

Chapter Twenty-One

Her brain wrapped around all she was told. She couldn't deny it was fascinating, intriguing, and all other synonyms for the word. This realm had leaders and histories just like the human world. It had tales and stories and beginnings and ends. It was just on so much of a larger, broader, magical and different scale. She assumed when magic was involved things tended to be different. Especially wars, she imagined wars were pretty darn epic. She almost asked Loki this, when he had slowed and she almost ran into him. She looked around, but saw nothing different. The forest was dense and green with filtered light through the canopy above them. Birds chirped, rustles of leaves, small animals scurried about. Her eyes landed on a bright green grasshopper as it teetered on a branch close to her, preparing its long legs for a leap. She looked up and a very bright orange bird flew across the trail above them, its tail feathers long and flowing; like a string of flame from the end of its body. She had seen nothing like it in her life. It was ethereal, surreal. Stunning.

A tiny bead of sweat trickled down her back from the warmth of the forest and the exertion of walking. Just as she was about to ask how much further, she heard a crashing through the woods. Loki's hand came up and he stepped back, obviously guiding her behind him and pushing her back. His other hand went to the sword at his hip, his fingers clenched at the hilt as he began to slowly pull it from its scabbard.

Suddenly a fat bear came tumbling from the woods, its coat was the color of milk chocolate, and it's snout a peanut butter color, along with its paws. It was adorable, and looked rather young for a bear, not that she was an expert; it just appeared to have a baby face. It had golden colored eyes, and it was gazing at Loki, adoringly.

"Oh, great." He said it with annoyance in his voice.

"Ah, do you two know each other?" The bear looked friendly enough, but she was sure bears in her own realm were cute but also deadly. She backed up another step.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. This is Yaido. I sort of nursed him when his mother was killed by Ravenswood hunters. Now he thinks we are somehow blood."

She couldn't help it, she giggled. She could not imagine tall, stoic Loki affectionately nursing anything back to health.

He shot her a deadly look over his shoulder, which just gained another bout of snickers from her. Finally, she had to put her hand up against her mouth, so that she wouldn't burst out again. She watched him step forward.

"Now Yaido, you know the rules. Your old enough, you have to make your own way in this world. Okay? Now go on."

The bear looked so rejected Adeila's heart went out to the little guy. He was so adorable and cuddly looking she could not picture him killing his own food, making a life in these woods. And the way he was staring at Loki as if he'd been waiting for him for centuries, twisted her heart even further.

"Loki..."

He put his hand up to her. "No, no. I have to be harsh. He needs to learn. I don't want him to be trusting of us. He will get himself killed."

She only nodded, she'd seen shows on wild animals and rehabilitating but she could imagine that it was easier said than done.

The bear scampered closer to Loki and lowered himself on the ground, belly up.

"Okay, okay, one more belly rub and you need to go, okay?"

The bear whimpered, staring at him adoringly. Adeila stepped another few feet closer, watching Loki, gently, kneel down and run his hand over the bears face and fuzzy stomach. The bear, Yaido, pushed his snout into Loki's arm, relishing the attention. After a short lived moment, Loki straightened, and threw his hands out.

"Now go, Yaido!"

The bear gave him one last look, twisted his honey colored eyes upon her. They seemed so kind, and gentle. She guaranteed the little guy lived off slugs and berries his entire life, never killing anything bigger than that. She smiled reassuringly at him, knowing that animals probably had no idea what that meant, but it made her feel better. Loki waved his hand again toward the forest, and the bear lumbered away, crashing through the limbs. She heard a very audible sigh from Loki, she turned to him. He looked at her from the corner of his eyes, and his strange golden eyes seemed to say, you say a word of this, you die.

Her eyes traveled his length, to his hip, where the sword was sheathed, then back up at his face. His eye brows were raised, and she smirked at him. She couldn't help it.

He rolled his eyes and moved on. She followed at his feet, silently. Soon she noticed that they were gradually gaining elevation and she began to feel the slight burning in her calves. Just as she was about to ask how much further, a small clearing broke in front of them. Loki stopped when he reached it; she came up beside him and when she looked out, her breath caught in her throat. A beautiful lush green valley opened up through the trees below them, thousands of multicolored wildflowers weaved with the slight breeze, the kaleidoscope of colors mesmerizing. Beyond that was a slow moving, winding river that led to a drop off of the land, she assumed a waterfall lay beyond her eye sight and crashed somewhere below. Then her eyes went to the large stone pillars, which appeared to have towers of some kind within them, they overlooked the dotting of cottages and homes beyond. Trees popped up everywhere, the homes set almost into the trees themselves. Her eyes finally reached beyond that, and instantly her heart sped out of rhythm. A castle, or palace or whatever the hell the Fae called the enchanting stone and wood structure. It looked kind of like some of the castles she'd seen on television or movies of Ireland or Scotland, but it was different. For one, there was a giant oak tree directly in the middle of it. The castle appeared to have been built around the tree. Its leaves and smaller branches swayed in the breeze, a bit of a blur from this distance but she could make it out easily enough. Only a few of the towers in the castle were as tall as the top of the tree. It was quite a spectacle, and went completely in respect to Loki's speech of how the Fae live in tune with nature and cannot be without it for long periods of time. They had built their fortress right around this grand old oak paying tribute to an ancient being.

She realized she was holding her breath when her vision started to dot black, and she let it out in a whoosh. She allowed her eyes to travel over the stone and wood, and then beyond. She could see more villages, trees and gardens, then a land bridge to the right across the river waterfall to a willow-like tree just as large as the oak, it's long cascading branches touching the lush green grasses below. Beyond that, she could see fields, woods and mountains. It was literally a small castle community thrown into the wilderness. A kingdom, as Loki had told her. Oakend. Her kingdom. A kingdom she was Princess too. It was completely like a fairy tale place. Something out of a dream. Out of a book. A fairy tale.

The path they were following led them through the fields of flowers, along stone walls, over a bridge crossing the river, below those huge stone pillar towers and to the village, then towards the walls that separated the castle beyond.

"Really something, isn't it?" Loki spoke softly from beside her. She blinked and focused on him. She'd practically forgotten he was even there for a moment. Her mouth still hung open and she closed it with an audible pop. She really must be dreaming. She bit the inside of her cheek until the metallic taste of blood laced her tongue. Nope, not sleeping. Damn.

She swallowed and could do nothing but nod her head. He smiled, knowingly, and moved to the trees again, but before entering them, he pulled something out of his back pocket. She looked to the castle, then back at him, watching him pull the silver thing from his back pocket and in moments it grew into the hand mirror that she had seen in the back of his truck the day that he had picked her up in the pouring rain.

She stared at the thing in fascination as Loki touched the mirror's surface and spoke to it. She jumped when she heard a voice answer.

"We are not far now. Please tell the others." She heard a deep but somewhat airy masculine voice answer. "Yes, sir."

"What the-?"

He turned to her, grinning. "Remember I spoke of other means of communication?" He waved the mirror in his hand. "This is one."

She looked at the mirror, then back to him. Okay, weird. Then she watched again in fascination as it shrunk back down to wallet size and he slipped it into his pocket once more. Freaking weird. Cool, sure, but weird.

She was still awed as Loki picked their way back into the forest and she followed.

"So you cannot use technology, like cell phones, at all here?"

"Human science puts everything into a neat, logical, ethical little box and Faerie is magic, unrestricted, unexplained. Everything about science conflicts with that of the Fae world. So most technology also conflicts with the Fae world. We can use magical devices to contact each other, but phones, iPod's, televisions and the like are much too technological to hold a place within the Fae community. We could use those things in moderation, but we choose not to. Iron affects us; if we are in contact with iron for too long it weakens our powers. It cannot kill us, but mixed with some other metals, the effects are crippling. Some of the Fae communities have governed the idea of some of the human amenities. Like electricity and modern refrigeration of foods and whatnot, in moderation, and probably not what you are used to in the modern times. Oakend uses nothing but raw magic for all of its needs. Each person infuses things with magic. Like the castle has a large ground cellar, and refrigeration center where water is magically frozen and perishable foods go there. Magic fulfills every need that arises, as it has done for a millennium or more. Science and technology have ruined the human realm; we do not wish to fall to the same fate. So in answer, yes those things may work, but you would need to magically charge them, and of course we have no Wi-Fi or anything of that nature. You may gain service here and there within Faerie if the boundaries run parallel with a satellite on the human realm, but I do not know where those area's might be. I suppose if you were high enough in elevation you might find a signal. But I cannot guarantee it."

She cocked her head and thought about what he said. It was really interesting, almost barbaric, that they lived like that, but she guessed she couldn't really speak against it if she knew not what it was even like. She guessed she'd find out soon enough.

To her surprise he continued, "We are developing technology through our magic, but it is to gain for our realm, not destroy it. We will always look to nature first and foremost. We may not run around on pixie dust and toadstools like humans make us seem, but our natural magical abilities aren't all that far off from the human stories. The scary, dark tales they speak of are likely a large fraction of the truth as well. Some dark Fae have caused much havoc over the years. Especially a hundred years ago when there was absolutely no monitoring of the portals and the Fae could run amok among the humans without direction or governing. Many caused major problems for the humans that the King's and Queen's had to clean up. Now we are much more controlled and disciplined. And a large scaled war has not waged our lands in nearly three-hundred years."

Her brows furrowed and she took this information in. She wanted to know more, but wasn't sure of the right questions to ask. She did realize that they – at least his team – would need some kind of human assistance. There had to be some humans that knew of their existence, but kept it a secret somehow. "Are there some human's that know of your existence?"

"Certainly there are, many assist us in some ways within the human realm. Most have sworn a blood oath for our secrecy, if it was to be broken, dire consequences would incur. Even those who haven't sworn something, however, would likely be laughed off if they mentioned our existence. As long as that number remains small. However, the advancement in technologies - security camera's at every street corner and buildings - do cause us to be much more careful. At any time, our magic may be caught on someone's phone, security or even game camera, and we do not wish that to happen. Of course, something could most likely be covered with some random story or a mind can be altered to believe something else, but it is still something we wish to avoid all together. The less people know of us, the better."

Adeila cocked her head. "Mind altered?"

Loki nodded. "We can alter, manipulate or glamour – whichever you wish to believe - the human mind. Human's believe only a fraction of what they see; it is so easy to push their minds into believing something more coinciding with logic, then to believe that of magic or mystery."

Adeila smirked. "Then how do you explain the mythical Sasquatch sightings?"

He let out that beautiful infrequent chuckle of his. "Who said that was myth, Princess?"

She only shook her head, not willing to even go with that thought, as they wound their way through the forest, following no path as far as she could tell, not like the distinctive path from earlier that had led them to the valley, through the flowers and towards the pillars and villages and castle beyond.

"Why couldn't we have taken the dirt path through the meadows?"

He looked at her, like he'd often done during this journey, from the corner of his eye over his broad shoulder. "You look much like the King and Queen. Until I hear directly from them, I do not wish for any to discover your presence here. It may instill many feelings from both our villagers and our enemies. It is their decision when to make you public, not mine."

Her brows drew together, and she was about to make some sort of snide remark when her shoe caught on a root, she'd have stumbled like a flailing idiot if not for the steady hand at her arm. He only smirked before removing his hand and moving away. She grumbled, continuing onward. The sooner she got this over with, the sooner she could return home. To normalcy.

Chapter Twenty-Two

When they reached the edge of the water, Loki went ahead and touched the calm surface, his fingers gliding over the mirrored top. She looked around but saw nothing. She resisted the urge to touch the surface of water herself to see what the heck he was trying to do.

She jumped back when, after a few moments, bubbles came plopping to the surface in front of them. A small wooden boat surfaced. Too narrow to be a row boat, but too wide to be a canoe; something in between. She let out a tiny squeak. She couldn't help it. Her eyes reached Loki and he was smirking. Magic! It was going to be the death of her.

He pulled the boat's front onto the shore a little bit, then held out his hand. Obviously to help her on. She knew touching him was a terrible mistake, but he didn't seem to notice the crazy spark or whatever it was she felt each time they touched, so she tried not to make it weird. She gripped his hand, his strength ushered her up and into the boat. He quickly pushed the boat off and in one graceful move; got in, sat down and began rowing. It was quite impressive, all that tall, lean frame moving in feline gracefulness.

She decided she needed to know more. "So why now? Why after all this time do they want me to come here?"

He shrugged. "It was time. You are coming of age."

"Magical age?"

"Something like that." She had the overwhelming sense that there was so much more he wasn't saying. She was silent a moment.

She felt like she still had so many questions, and his brief answers and comments typically raised even more questions. She allowed another of his comments to surface a question. "Why do you tell me I should forget about Erik and my friends?"

His lips thinned, and she knew she'd hit a nerve, but he simply said. "Because."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "That's the most childish answer in history."

"It's also the only one I'll give."

She grumbled. "Well, it's certainly not a good enough one."

His eyes flashed with impatience. "Adeila, you are destined. You will be Queen someday. You will leave behind your human life."

When she sputtered and began to argue, he cut her off. "A human is no match for a Faerie Princess of your bloodline." He looked across the small river to the castle, and in a very low whisper, added, "You have been given the perfect match."

Her eyes bulged. "Wait, what?"

His eyes came back to hers, his body was tense. He'd said too much, and his mistake was written all over his face.

"Loki, what the hell are you talking about?"

"Nothing. Your parent's will explain all of it."

"Oh, hell no!" She went to stand up, but the boat shook from her jerky movement. He grabbed her left arm, and yanked her back down. He growled and continued to row in silence until they reached the edge.

As soon as the boat was near enough to the shore, she leapt off. Her eyes watched for a moment in fascination as the boat sank again into the depths of the river, nothing of its existence showing but the tiny bubbles coming up. After the moment passed, she rounded on Loki again, hands on hips.

"What does that mean, Loki? No bullshit!"

He sighed. "You were betrothed before your birth. Combining the two most powerful families in all of Faerie."

Her heart stopped. Not that she was planning on being with Erik forever, but the fact that she had the freedom to choose whomever she wished to be with was something that she just always assumed. Betrothal was like a medieval thing. People did not do that anymore. Well, not in American, at least not that she'd ever heard, but clearly this realm was a bit more set back from the modern times.

"Before my birth? So I'm supposed to marry some guy I've never even met to strengthen my family line?"

"Something like that." He continued to move toward the castle walls, and she followed him because she had nowhere else to go.

"Who? Who the hell am I betrothed to?"

"Your parents will tell you when the time comes."

She grabbed his right wrist; the heat that spiraled up her arm was so intense she dropped his wrist as if it had burned her. He looked down at his wrist and then her hand, seemingly perplexed. Whoa! It appeared that Mister Unemotional Arrogant Jack Ass actually felt something this time too. Maybe she wasn't entirely crazy after all.

She shook her hand, and checked it for burns. Nothing was apparent on her skin, but the zinging feeling ran up her arm and across her chest.

"What the fuck?" She knew it was a terrible outburst but she was so emotionally screwed up at the present moment she didn't even care.

His eyes were slightly wider than usual when they met hers, but he quickly masked it, turned and headed back toward the castle.

She gritted her teeth together, hard, and fell into step behind him.

"Dammit Loki, at least tell me the guy I'm betrothed to! We can both pretend the weird mystical shit that just went down when I touched your wrist – didn't - but I want some answers. I am not marrying anyone. So that can just be taken up with these supposed royal parents of mine!"

Loki turned his head towards her, but his face was still an unreadable mask. "His name is Lukkas."

Okay, was that so damn difficult? She puffed out a breath. "Okay, so why is he so important that I need to marry? What do my parents receive from our union?"

He shrugged and she almost punched him. "Come on, Loki."

He whirled on her. "I don't really know, Adeila! His lineage and yours is known for producing children, so it is no question that offspring would arise from such a union He comes from a very strong family, his lines mixed with yours would probably make heirs to these thrones incredibly strong and powerful."

"So they want these super Fae or something?"

He groaned and scrubbed his hands down his face. "No, it's not like that at all. It's just... Your families are tied together by strong bonds as is; if a marriage was unionized between the families it would make an already strong alliance even stronger. It would make some powerful Fae, yes, but not for the sake of powerful Fae. It's just... way too complicated to explain to you right now."

With that he turned on his heel and walked to the wall.

She decided to let it rest; give her anger to those that rightfully deserved it. She decided instead on checking out this impenetrable wall. It was at least ten feet high, with vines, moss and huge star shaped flowers of the deepest, darkest shade of purple she'd ever seen growing all along it. She could see no door way, or gate in sight.

Loki waited for her to stand next to him, and then he pulled a knife out of his pocket. She took an involuntary step back, and watched in horror as he sliced his palm open and laid it against the wall. Almost instantly, the stone shifted and a doorway opened within the wall. It was incredible and unbelievable to watch, but Loki gave her no time to dwell as he walked through and gestured for her to follow. As soon as her backside was through the doorway it solidified once more. She turned around and watched it with awe. She reached her hand out and touched the stone. Jerking back when she felt a thrumming within it, like that of a heartbeat. She looked down at her hand, and then tentatively put her palm flat against it again. The heart beat drumming resonated within her palm, and sent a bit of energy zinging up her arm and across her shoulder. It was amazing. It gave her a feeling of coming home from a long day, and energized her almost like a long nap would do. She let a small smile slip over her face, until someone cleared their throat behind her. She jerked away and turned back to Loki, who was standing with his arms crossed over his muscled chest waiting for her.

Sighing, as the dislike she'd had for him wallowed its way back in her head.

Loki turned again away from the wall and towards an archway ahead and this time another figure materialized out of nowhere. It was a tall guy, almost as tall as Loki, but he was the polar opposite when it came to looks. He had sort of shaggy sandy blonde hair that flopped across his brow and fell to his collar, large midnight blue eyes swirled with dark purples and a ring in the outer edges was lavender. Most people just thought the sky was black, but if you gazed close enough you could see the washes of deepest blue, the molten of liquid grays, and the brilliance of the darkest purples. His build was slightly lanky in comparison to Loki's, but almost as well muscled. He seemed younger, and had a cockier air about him, but his face had a very good-natured, amiable and friendly look about it. He was incredibly gorgeous. Like brilliant sunshine on a meadow of dandelions and cornflowers. Like a bonfire on a crisp autumn night. His smile was magnetizing, in an open, almost mischievous way. She liked him instantly.

"Hi, Princess! I'm Sorryn." He stuck out his hand, much like Loki had done in Chemistry class. Recognizing the voice from the mirror, she swallowed and stepped forward, taking his large, tan, callused hand within her own. A small energy crept along her skin from his touch, but nothing remotely as intense as touching Loki. She wondered why that was.

"Nice to finally meet you." He smiled at her, and then turned to Loki, his face growing more serious. Like the good foot soldier.

"I have contacted the King and Queen of your arrival. They are pleased you used this less... unattended way instead of straight through the village and front gates. They will meet you in the throne room, whenever you are ready."

"Thank you, Sorryn. Make sure the Princess' room is ready and that dinner is sent for her when I ask for it."

Sorryn nodded. "Yes, sir." With a little wave and a smile to her, he was off.

"He's your second right?"

Loki only nodded before moving toward the palace. She took a breath then looked around them. Dusk was approaching, so everything was washed in a dim gray but it did nothing to hide the magnificence of the place. It was all giant haphazard stones, cobblestones, granite, marble and wood. Directly ahead of them was another wall with an archway, and through it she could see stones, gardens, fountains and trees. Moss, bushes, vines and flowers grew within every inch she looked.

They went through the archway and was assaulted with the fragrant scents of cherry blossoms, apple, lavender, lilac, jasmine and countless other smells she couldn't even being to identify. There were little brooks and natural waterfalls made of stone and rocks. Everywhere she looked was some product of nature.

A tingling within her blood made her take a moment and breath deep. She felt alive. Her skin alighted with the joy of being in such a natural splendor. The gardens ran rampant and were millions of colors of different exotic looking flowers and bushes and birds. The trees grew all over the place in no apparent style, as if the entire palace was built around them instead of them being planted there. Statues of Faerie maidens, horses, birds, foxes and other animals were scattered around. Bird feeders and bird houses popped up here and there made of birch branches. She watched as a fat white rabbit hopped from beneath a large lilac bush to another bush weighed down by giant cone shaped orange and white clusters of tiny star shaped blossoms.

It was amazing, it took her breath away. Her body thrummed with excitement, her heart galloped with the exhilaration. Her mind halted briefly with nervousness but she allowed her other senses to override it for the time being. Just being there, standing in the array of natural beauty so preserved and honored by the Fae, felt so right. It was almost painful. She shouldn't feel this way. It was wrong, wasn't it? She'd never even been here before, but she couldn't deny the feelings of coming home washing over her.

As they walked forward she saw a large pool. Above it a waterfall cascaded over a flat stone with carvings of animals and trees. Lily pads dotted the top of the water with vibrant pink flowers. Small trees and ferns popped out around it. To the right a curved stairway was cut right into the side of the pool and stone waterfall, and went to a level up above with a small bridge. It was levels and levels of something out of a dream. The number of flowers and natural arrays of stone and trees made it as if you were walking into someone's very vivid imagination. But if the light breeze picking up her hair and sending the scents of flowers towards her was any consultation, this was very real. As they got closer to the pool she could see very large multicolored fish swimming about, and the shadow of a few turtles.

They continued walking, passed the pond and stairwell, and she could see more archways, each different, some were carved with leaves or animals, some covered in brilliantly colored and exotic flowers and vines. Each leading to some other section of the garden. She had an inexpiable urge to venture. To discover.

They came to a large covered gazebo like structure of light tan wood, polished nicely with just enough roughness to make it look perfect within this stone and greenery setting, with stairs leading inside it, then from inside, stairs leading straight, and then others leading up to the left. She followed Loki to the ones on the left. Even the steps were impressive, large cut stones with flowers and ferns growing along the entire incline.

It was obvious that they were going the long way around the castle to avoid any probing eyes around the front doors. She was kind of glad, as not only did it give her more time to collect her thoughts, but it allowed her to see the entire scope of the majesty this place had to offer.

It was becoming harder to not feel like a Faerie Princess. Once they reached the top, more fountains and trees and flowers assaulted her senses, but they were on a stone walkway that met two large stone steps leading to a giant double wooden door, under a huge stone archway attached to the very impressive stone, glass and wood dwelling that was the castle of Oakend.

Once they got closer to the door, she could see intricate Celtic like designs carved all throughout the door, swirls and floral designs, along with carvings of horses, wolves, birds, other animals and leaves etched along its stones. It was kind of like what was on her wrist and Loki's tattoo. A mixture of Tribal, Polynesian and Celtic in nature with swirling and flowing lines throughout it.

A guard stood on each side of the doorway. They looked imposing, but she would have guessed guards to wear chain mail or armor of some kind. These men did not. Simple brown slacks, high leather boots, light green tunic like shirts, covered by deep green vests with a sigil of oak leaves in light green emblazoned upon them. Across the vests she saw the glint of daggers and at each man's hip was a unique scabbard housing a likely lethal sword.

Loki turned at the door, the men both made a small bowing gesture to him, and he nodded and let his eyes drift towards hers. She was still mad at him, but he was essentially her life line here. So she could only nod slightly in acceptance of what was to come.

One guard opened the huge double doors for them and it was like the breath was knocked from her. If the outside was any indication to the inside, she should have been prepared. Stone floors, wooden columns, a giant fountain depicting a horse, several birds and small animals cascaded into a large stone pond, directly in the center of the giant open room. She looked up to see stairways and balconies and above that she could see the canopy of branches and leaves from the great oak in the castles center.

Loki moved down a hallway. The floors were stone on the edges but wood along the center, the walls were stone about halfway up then turned to a very dark brown wood. It was a gorgeous contrast, and very interesting to see. There were a few tapestries here and there depicting horses, one even depicted what she thought was the mythical unicorn, foxes, Fae maidens, long billed birds and many other animals. Large potted plants were everywhere, here and there vines grew up the walls, a few small trees even grew from some spots, different shaped and sized lights hung from them, giving off a dim magical glow. Loki had said that this part of Fae didn't use electricity, but he'd told her that magical flame was infused in the bulbs or lanterns to give off light and heat.

Apparently some parts of Fae did have electricity but Oakend and Neberuk refused to allow that sliver of technology into their depths quite yet. It is said that the more technology that the Fae realm allows the more the magic fades away. It made sense to Adeila, in an odd kind of way.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Finally, they walked up to a large set of wooden doors, they were arched at the top and two guards stood on each side. Much like at the front doors, these guards were dressed in a similar fashion, but their sigils were larger, more pronounced. They also wore brown leather bracers, and instead of vests, they had on a kind of over shirt that came down to their knees, in a tapered fashion, ending at a point. Golden stitching graced the sides in two solid lines. Leather straps crisscrossed the vest, and daggers were large and on display across it. These were clearly higher stationed guards, but it was odd how they were here instead of at the front doors. Unless these were the Elite Guardians that Loki had spoken of. The King's personal guards. She had no idea the differences and made a mental note to pay attention or ask Loki another time. When they saw Loki they nodded their heads, and opened the huge wooden doors.

Loki sent her a small look over his shoulder and walked through. Hesitating only a moment, Adeila walked behind him. When she beheld the room, a small intake of breath caught in her throat.

Dark gold carpet graced the center aisle; giant columns of stone were erected every few feet with glass balls of flame dancing inside them, giving glimmers of light across the large space. Ferns, flowers, vines and small trees grew from raised garden patches everywhere. Some of the trees had large glass flamed lights hanging from them, giving another soft light source. There were two giant stone and granite looking fireplaces on each side of the wall, and even though it was warm in the castle in general, flames whirled inside the fireplaces. Large dark green banners hung here and there with two giant light green oak leaves on them and tan stitched Celtic designs all around the edges.

Her eyes went everywhere, trying to take it all in at once. She had thought that the throne room would be intimidating - just the name alone is rather daunting \- but instead it was warm and welcoming, just like the small amounts of the castle she had seen so far. The vegetation was everywhere and the exotic smell of flowers was too beautiful to allow for intimidation.

What caught her attention next were the two beautiful throne chairs, made from carved birch branches. The upholstery on the seats was a dark green matching that of the banner, and an oak leaf and the Celtic design was stitched into the backrest. Above them there was another banner, this one much larger than the rest, displaying the oak leaves with intense glowing gold Celtic designs intertwined and across the borders, and she almost looked at her wrist because she was almost positive she would have seen some matching marks there.

That thought was erased when she turned to the two people standing off to the side in deep conversation with a few guards. Both of them allowed their eyes to wander towards them, as Loki walked up to them, coming to a respectful stop a few feet away and she could do little but follow.

She took a moment to study them. The man was huge. Tall, broad and muscular. He made Loki look like the teenage boy he pretended to be on the human realm. This man was all warrior. He had medium brown hair that was a very simple short cut; his face was handsome with very masculine rugged features with a trim beard that was a shade lighter than his hair. He had a small scar that cut across his right eyebrow, which was odd because she was quite sure that Loki had mentioned something about the Fae healing extremely fast and rarely scaring. The King's eyes were the same dramatic light blue of her own with rings of even lighter blue, almost white, within the center. He wore simple brown pants, and a green button up short sleeved shirt. A sword similar to Loki's sat in a scabbard at his hip, the hilt was gold and it appeared to have leaves engraved along it.

The woman was tall and slender in a flowing blue gown. Her hair was very long, flowing in dark golden waves down her back. Her face was delicate and sharp in features, her pink tinted lips generous and full, her eyes a gorgeous shade of dark blue with hints of violet and lilac on the edges. Adeila wished she had a mirror because she was quite sure that the nose, cheek structure and lips would be incredibly similar to her own. The Queen's beauty was warm and inviting. Her smile, when turned to them, lit the room.

A knot of power and recognition hit her square in the stomach, and her heart made a leap, landing in her throat. She wasn't sure if she wanted to cry or vomit. The sheer emotions playing across her mind were a complete jumble. Fear, curiosity, betrayal, confusion, love. The love surprised her. She'd not even fully met these people, but the emotion coming off of them in waves, was that of love. Something she had never experienced at home. Something she had experienced – well – never. She knew that Marissa loved her like a sister, but this was so different. So powerful. She assumed it was only the fact that they were on the Fae realm. Could these people use trickery as a Fae magic? She doubted it, but she decided to play cautious, show them the emotions that she knew. The ones of anger, betrayal and confusion. Those she understood. Those she could count on. The other ones were just so foreign that she was nowhere near ready to think on or express.

When finally their attention was entirely upon her, she gulped. The power and emotion radiating off them really was almost intolerable. They gave off so much of the aura that a King and Queen should give off, but the emotion at the forefront was the blinding one; the one of loving, devoted parents. It was so conflicting; she wanted desperately to get out of this situation. She wanted to run away, find a dark corner to collect her thoughts in, but the drumming within her core kept her rooted. Like the recognition and emotion was felt within her soul, within the core of her being. She vibrated with energy, with sensation. She felt it within her the magic that pulsed to the surface. It was igniting her from the inside out. Gritting her teeth, she kept it in check.

Loki fisted his hand over his heart and bowed his head, the King nodded, and the Queen sent him a wide smile.

Should she fist her hand over her heart in the same manner? But she was unaware of their customs. Instead, she stood, silently, awkwardly. Her emotions swirling around her, the thrumming in her core grew in intensity, so much that she wanted to vomit. She had to assume her magic was responding to this place, her emotions and the people before her.

"Loki, thank you for finally seeing our daughter home. I suspect your journey was well?" The King smiled tentatively and allowed his gaze to sweep over her, and then his focus returned back to Loki.

"Yes, sire. The portals welcomed her as we anticipated. Inside the realm I took the Jakdai woods to the river, figuring the fewer eyes the better, for now."

The King nodded and ran a hand over his beard. "Impeccable decisions as always, Loki. Thank you."

Loki made a small bow and then stepped back a few feet away from her.

She self-consciously pushed an unruly strand of hair back over her tipped ear, letting her fingertip caress it, while preparing herself, as the King's attention shifted solely to her.

"I am Bairon Dennoak and my wife Deleana. We are your biological parents. We welcome you home, my daughter."

When she only nodded, he continued. "Did you find your first portal experience disorienting?"

She only nodded again. She appreciated their thoughtfulness to add some small talk to this increasingly awkward experience but she really just wanted to get down to figuring out what the heck was going on. She should be yelling, but the power and emotion radiating from the man's multicolored light blue eyes - so much like her own - had her lips almost trembling. She really just wanted to curl into a small ball and scream and cry. She felt so betrayed by her human family. So confused.

Everything she'd ever known was a lie. Adeila had known that Loki could be telling the truth, they could and likely were, her real parents, but she guessed a small part of her hoped that it was a sick joke and she could go back to the human realm, pissed at him for wasting her time, but at least she could go back unchanged. She almost physically shook her head, because she knew even if this wasn't the truth; she could never go back to the human realm unscathed. This knowledge stayed with you. Stuck with you. She already knew she was different. The magic within her blood told her that. Unfortunately, this being the truth was what would make the most sense. And the least sense, all at once. It was a lot to take in, but swimming in her innermost current of thoughts was that her parents really appeared to be the King and Queen of some Faerie land. She could do nothing but stare at them in awe.

The King scratched the back of his neck. "I'm sure you have a thousand questions for us, but you have plenty of time. You cannot possibly know what your being here means for us. Would you like a tour of the palace? It will be your home, you will be its Queen, someday."

The gravity of the situation and his words struck every cord within her, and a temper erupted she could only assume came from the man speaking to her.

"I cannot stay here. I followed Loki only for answers."

"We will give them all to you but you cannot go back to the human realm, it may not be safe for you."

A fire burned in the pit of her stomach. "The hell I can't! It has been safe for me all this time, why wouldn't it be now?"

Loki piped up at her outburst. "Because now that you've been to the Fae realm, you're more susceptible to the Fae. They may be able to sense you easier."

She rounded on him, hands on hips. "And who's fault is that!?"

The Queen's gentle voice of reason. "We need you here, Adeila."

"Oh, so that is my real name then?"

The Queen wrung her hands, obviously they did not expect her to be so difficult but dammit, she was confused and hurt and mad and, well every other emotion that comes with one finding out that their whole life was a lie.

"Yes, we left you with your name and a considerable amount of human currency to see that you lived well. We also ensured that your birth certificate and adoption paperwork was passed through without question."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, good. I had money, but not the love of my real parents. Great!" She shook her head, still not entirely believing all of this but becoming more angry and confused by the minute.

"So the big question is why? Why did you leave me?"

"For your safety."

"Safety! Everything is for my safety." She was furious. How could they leave her if they were her true parents? Why would they do something like that? She just didn't understand.

The Queen made a slight motion with her hands. "You are angry, and you have every right to be."

"Damn right I do! This guy -" she motioned to Loki. "Shows up and starts spouting nonsense about me being a Princess and ruling and having a destiny, oh and that I'm betrothed? What's that all about by the way?"

She didn't miss the frown and narrowed eyes directed to the silent figure beside her. Good. Get in trouble, you big jerk.

The King's booming voice suggested they move this to somewhere a bit more comfortable. So the family reunion moved itself into what appeared to be a large dining hall. Huge stone fireplaces sat at each end of the room, above them were several chandeliers made of deer antlers and birch branches hung from high ceilings, lanterns hung from each wooden column, tall arched open windows let in the daylight and the scent of roses and lilacs wafted in from the garden, and in the center was a long wooden table. From its appearance it was old and scarred. Carvings of leaves ran along each leg, and the backs of the chairs were cut out leaf designs. She couldn't help but notice how stunning it really was.

Loki held out a chair for her as she saw the King do for his wife. The King sat at the head, putting Adeila and the Queen facing each other on each side of him. Loki took a seat on the same side as the Queen but a few chairs down. It surprised her that having him stick around for this sent a very small bit of comfort through her. The other guards filtered in and took up their silent watch at each exit.

Adeila looked to the table and saw many scuffs and marks on the polished wood; it had seen many things, this table. She drummed her fingertips along it, looking around. Potted trees and shrubs adorned every nook and cranny. A good sized apple tree graced the back right corner; several large vibrant red apples were ripe for the plucking. She could see many more tapestries hung along the walls, the one closest to her depicted a huge ivory stag, standing tall and regal above a grassy meadow, his head pulled back, bugling to his brethren.

After a few silent moments the King began his tale.

"Eighteen years ago a dark war came upon us. A large band of rogue Fae, from Goddess knows where, sought to siege the castle. You see, your Mother and I were very new to the throne at that time. I was not the initial heir; that had been my elder brother. Your Mother and I had only been married a few months when my brother was killed. His assassination was the first sign of the attacks to come. The council insisted I step in instantly, for the lack of an immediate monarch could be the downfall of an empire. My coronation was the very next night. Your mother was already pregnant, we'd only recently discovered." He took a sip from a goblet that had been laid in front of him. She'd been so riveted that she hadn't even noticed someone pour it.

"You see, there's little glory in being the second heir to an empire of Fae, as the lifespan of the Fae are much greater than that of humans. This was fine with me, as I had planned a simple life. I'd built a large home not far from the castle. We had obviously been invited to remain in the castle, but we wanted our own space to begin a family. It was all your mother had ever dreamed about, and I had every intention of giving her that." He paused, pursing his lips. "The Fae have something called 'true mates'. It is a rare thing to find, something symbolic and intensely spiritual. Some wait their whole life for it; some marry and go about their lives without even awaiting their true mates. I got incredibly blessed by Lh'eanah that I found your mother so early. But that is something we will explain to you in time."

He looked to his pretty wife, sorrow filling his eyes. It was clear that he had wanted the world for the love of his life, his true mate, as he called her, but instead, politics out of their control, had changed the course of their future. Adeila couldn't help but feel a small tug at her heart for the apparent loss and sorrow they must have felt at giving up a child and controlling a kingdom they had never intended to control.

"It was never a dream of mine to be King. It was never something I had given much thought to. My brother ate, slept and breathed this kingdom. He was the perfect ruler, this kingdom prospered and blossomed under his reign. He knew upon birth, exactly what was expected of him, and learned everything about being a ruler at a young age. I, on the other hand, had an easy upbringing. I was pretty much able to do as I pleased. I'm sure it sounds unfair, but it is the way of this realm and how rulers survive." He scratched his beard and looked to Adeila.

"I know that's a little off track but I want you to know how young and inexperienced we truly were at all of this. Bonding, marriage, parenting, ruling and most of all, learning what is right and wrong. What consequences our actions truly have on everything that happens.

After I was appointed King of Oakend, nothing happened for some time. Ruling was fairly easy, and I was learning bit by bit about the politics of the land from the many counselors and advisers I had at my disposal. A few months passed before a small army came upon us one night. It was random and we were caught completely unawares, but because of the doubled guard from my brothers' assassination, we were able to take out the small army easy enough. They were unskilled fighters, and I was shocked that such a untried band of rebels would come against an entire kingdom. Again months passed before another attack occurred, this one slightly larger. The warriors slightly more trained. By now we were on high alert, the invaders didn't even make it anywhere near the village's low walls before they were seen by our high towers. I was confused, as were my men and my advisers, as to what exactly they meant to gain by sending these small, insignificant armies. It was clear they were testing us, probing our strengths and weaknesses. Testing us for something much larger. Of what extent we didn't know. I sent out word to other four kingdoms to see if they were under attack or knew anything of the rebellion. Our correspondence were always interrupted one way or other. We were alone. At that time we did not have mirror communication, which came a few years after, mainly for this reason."

His deep ice blue eyes so much like her own, turned glossy and faraway. "Your Mother was close to full term at this point, only a few more weeks until your birth. We were at a complete loss as to what to do. There was no way I wanted a child to be brought into such a confusing and torturous time in our existence. Living in constant fear of an attack. I had my armies training at full capacity under my eyes. One thing I always did enjoy was sword work and battle techniques. I'd trained for years as a warrior. It was really the only thing I had ever paid all that much attention to as a child. A King only needs a good general; he doesn't necessarily need to get his own hands dirty. So, since I never had aspirations as King, as a boy I learned everything I could from our guards. As soon as I could hold a sword, I trained alongside them. It was something I always enjoyed and was good at. I planned on being one of my brothers Elite Guardians. So at this time, I may not have known how to be a King, but I could certainly be a leader. So when my kingdom was under attack, I took over the planning, and we overtook two more large armies before they reached the village.

It was the night of your birth that a larger army came, this one with well-trained warriors, some lesser Fae beasts, and some dark Fae. Beast's we'd never seen before. Things that lay dormant in the farthest, wildest reaches of our lands." He closed his eyes and took a heavy, weary breath. "That night, some dark, winged beasts caused havoc to our armies early, causing enough distraction and chaos that some of the opposing army made it through to the village. Our people aren't ones to just sit back in idle terror. Each Fae, even if not trained as a warrior, is powerful in their own unique way. I think the army got more than it was bargaining for here in Oakend, but still a small band of enemies made their way straight to the castle gates. Your mother had already birthed you, and her own parents were keeping long vigil. I had guards, warriors and Guardian's at every inch of the castle, but the battle raged on, and these dark armies somehow found the secret tunnels below the castle floors and began invading within."

He swallowed more wine and his eyes showed a hint of strain at the memory. "I had no idea what else to do, so I made your mother leave with you. Something in my gut told me to get you out. She took a small army of my most trained Elite warriors and her parents to assist her and she fled to the human realm. It was an escape route we had always planned upon as a last resort. Your mother would flee with you, and live out in the human realm until things were safe here once again."

He shook his head. "To make a long story short, the dark Fae searched the castle killing everyone in their path, until my warriors killed off the majority. I made sure to get a few prisoners to question. These men, if you wish to call them that, had incredible appendages. Like horns, or wings or claws." He gestured to the scar on his brow. "These claws or talons were tipped with some kind of poison that slows the healing process of the Fae, allowing them to scar. As I'm sure Loki has told you, the Fae have incredibly fast healing powers and very rarely scar. Fatally wounding a Fae is very difficult, almost impossible other than decapitation, incredibly strong poison or excessive use of iron mixed with Vestilselium."

When she nodded, he continued. "Again, off track, entirely. There is just so much to tell in a short time to make you understand. Needless to say, these were the epitome of dark Fae. A mixture between man and beast. Several days later, when all offending parties had been killed, rounded up, or fled; I began my interrogation. What I learned stilled my blood. They were here for you. They were searching for my offspring. Their master, whom, they died still refusing to give name to, wanted you. This "master" had told them very little only that they were to secure the return of my child."

He paused, taking a breath. "Now your mother and I do have some rare abilities that have been pushed out of the Fae bloodlines over the generations. Of course, with those combined, your blood is much more potent and special. But at no point was I ever aware that me and your mothers union would span the realm, let alone cause the interest of any dark Fae.

It wasn't until a week after your mothers departure into the human realm did I send some of my trained men to find her. I knew then that I needed to fake your death. I needed the people to believe you had been killed in childbirth. Whoever was after you, needed to believe you had died. Everyone in the room that day and everyone that saw you were sworn to an unbreakable oath. If they uttered a word, they would be dead by the blood and magic the oath collected. Such an oath is something that doesn't often occur, most are simple verbal oaths that bind by magic, but when blood is spilled it causes the blood magic to be much stronger. Such oaths are sacred by our kind. This was a security measure worth taking to ensure that your life would not be forfeit. I even enlisted the help of the King of the North, Taivon Staghorne."

She turned to Loki, assuming this was his father. He nodded once and she turned her attention back to the King.

"Taivon was incredibly helpful, always one of the brightest and imaginative men I have ever met. He set up everything with some of his warriors to assist me in making sure you were well taken care of. His resourcefulness amazed me, and he even had some tricks up his sleeves with human contacts in the human realm to make sure your adoption could be legitimate. Clearly his son took his path in that department." The King gestured to Loki with a faint, almost paternal smile. It was clear they'd grown close over the years Loki had been in his service.

"I wanted nothing more than to have you with us, Adeila, but your safety was and IS always my first priority. Needless to say we were able to get everything together, and your mother chose a family that appeared to have all the requirements. At that time the couple seemed humble and pleasant. We left you with them, and all of your paperwork and everything else you would ever need, including much in the way of human currency that the kingdom had established over the years. We also left the deed to a home we had purchased; so that you could stay close to a Fae portal to Oakend, but not too close to arise suspicion on either realm.

We must apologize; however, it was several years later that we realized that the money we gave the humans went straight to their head and changed them. They started up businesses and had their own children that we knew must have taken up much of their time. We were under the impression they could not have children. We do not know much of the mortal realm; we know even less of humans. In the beginning, it seemed like the best of ideas, but as time went on we began noticing that they may have not been the best fit for you. That is why, when Loki approached me a few years ago about an endeavor into returning Fae to their own realm, I was on board. All around the idea was promising, but I may have also had my own selfish agenda. I waited until he and his teams were comfortable with the human realm before I sent him out to retrieve you. I though you would be happy to discover that those humans were not your blood." He sighed and pushed his fingers along his temples. "Maybe we waited too long. We just wanted to be completely sure that the dark Fae were truly in belief that you were gone, and that their reign would die off. We have been led to believe that most of the dark Fae have been extinct and any kind of army that had arisen almost eighteen years ago, has been disband. Your return is safe now."

Adeila's eyes were wide, her heart ached. There was no question of the truthfulness of this story, but it was so much to take in. Her eyes flicked to the Queen's, she saw tears shimmering in them. She had a desperate urge to hug the woman. To soothe and comfort her. She had no idea why. It was almost unbearable.

"We always loved you, my daughter. It was never something we intended. Ever. We wanted you at our side every moment of every day. We never intended to give you up. But I'd have rather you lead a life outside of this realm, then to not have a life to lead." The Queens voice wavered and quaked, the sincerity in it brought tears to Adeila's eyes. She met Deleana's midnight blue eyes with moisture; a small nod was all she could muster. The Queen gulped, and pushed away from the table, the entire time her eyes glistened upon Adeila's own. Adeila couldn't help it, she stood up as well. They stared only a moment longer before making their way around the table to fall into each others arms. It was a heartfelt embrace, so comforting.

The Queen, Deleana – her mother – was tall and slim, but her power was strong and unwavering. She smelled like lilacs and vanilla. Adeila sucked the scent into her nose, it was the most beautiful and real thing that she had ever smelled and experienced. Deleana held her tightly, and cooed in her ear, like she would a child. She stroked Adeila's hair. They stood there for several long moments, both allowing the tears to flow. A large arm came around them, the smell of leather and pine engulfed her. The King's muscled arms were hard but comforting as they engulfed both women.

Her heart almost exploded with the feeling of true love. Real love. Love that only paternal feelings can give. Something she had never truly felt from her adopted parents.

She realized then that she couldn't entirely blame these people for what they did; she couldn't even blame them for finding a family that wasn't the most loving. How were they to know how time or wealth or success would change the human family, especially in a time when they themselves were in utter terror and turmoil? They couldn't have, they needed a quick decision. It's not like they'd had months of planning to root out the perfect family. And even if she'd lived a solitary, lonely and rather emotionless life with the human family, as her real father had explained, at least she'd been safe. It was clear that at that time someone had wanted her. Whether to harm her or not, it was clear that they never discovered the reasoning behind the attacks or the interest in her, but at least in the human realm she'd been safe from all of that. Concealed by magic and power. She felt at peace now. For once in her life there was truth, there was understanding, and there was undeniable peace.

After they all pulled away the King grinned boldly. "How about that tour, my sweets?"

Chapter Twenty-Four

As she lay on the unfamiliar \- yet ridiculously comfortable – bed, she took a deep breath. As confusing and messed up as her emotions were, three things were clear. These were her parents. There was no doubt. The physical resemblances were undeniable and shocking. Secondly, she believed them. All of it. Every bit. Their sincerity had come off them in waves, and with her renewed senses it was hard to deny. Thirdly, and more surprisingly then all of it, was the absence of that restless feeling that had been plaguing her for months. She felt, oddly, at peace. Even if she was emotionally at turmoil, she still felt a sense of calm. Just being here settled everything within her. She felt accepted, at peace, and not crazy like she thought she was. Her fears of a mental institute in her future were gone, at least for now.

In the human realm she had been starting to feel uncomfortable in her own skin. Now she felt alive. She buzzed with energy from deep within her core, but was unusually calm at the same time. It was a weird mixture, but it wasn't exactly unpleasant.

She thought back to the castle tour. Her parents had taken her to every room, every nook and cranny. She'd asked a thousand questions. She'd discovered that magic was all around them. Each light in the castle was made of flames or other magical glowing orbs, and that the castle manager was in charge of ensuring that the magic remained strong, especially during the night. She learned that magic lives in the earth and you must remain closer to its natural abundance for magic to pulse and feed. That is why there are trees, flowers, vines and water everywhere within the castle so that the magic can be alive throughout it. Each Fae pulls it's magic from the energy around them and within them, and being around natural things, keeps your magic alive and thriving.

In the human realm the magic is dulled because the earth is not taken care of. The pollution and chemicals in the air, ground and water make it nearly impossible for magic to thrive. The humans are slowly killing off their Goddess, or mother Earth. The Queen - her mother - spoke often of the Earth Goddess, named Lh'eanah. Their religious and spiritual beliefs were something that Adeila would have to learn someday. She felt lost when they spoke of such things, and it proved that not growing up here had left her completely in the dark. She tried not to feel bitter, but she hated that she understood so little about the Fae world. She hoped that with time she could pick things up.

On the tour her favorite spot had easily been the library. It was right at the heart of the large oak tree in the center of the castle. One level housed book shelves, wooden tables and comfortable couches; the next was a loft level that had smaller bookcases and seats carved right into the large branches, she'd also noticed several hammocks tied along the branches. It was a haven, a quiet spot to think and read and she looked forward to spending time there. Not that she'd probably have time over the weekend. She expected they'd keep her pretty busy, but she liked that she knew a spot to find peace and quiet.

She was thrilled when they showed her to her own room, which was only a hallway away from the library. It wasn't until she caught her own reflection in the mirror that she completely came unglued. Her father had left her, but her mother had remained to pick up the pieces of her shock; explaining everything that Loki had already told her. The image in the mirror was her own, there was no mistaking it, and the changes may outwardly seem fairly insignificant, but to her it was breathtakingly different.

Her skin was slightly more tanned and glowed, as if there was a light from within her body. She'd already known her body had changed by feeling it, and what she could see from her eyes, but it was her reflection that glowed and seemed so much... More.

Her eyes were exact replicas in color and shape as her fathers. In the human realm they had been an unusually light blue, here in this realm, they were ringed with lighter blue, almost white. The very outer circle was slightly darker than the rest, giving her eyes multicolored rings. Her nose, brows and cheeks were of her mothers.

Standing next to the woman in the mirror showcased that. Her body was also similar to that of her mother's; long and willowy with slender bone structure. Her hair was the perfect mixture between the two parents. Dark and light blonde highlights over a very light brown base; the multicolored dimensions almost as mesmerizing as that of her eyes. The package was much like that of her human reflection, but everything was just showcased in a brighter, more otherworldly way.

It was astounding, she'd never felt more beautiful or alive or confident. She truly felt like she could wear a brown paper bag and still look beautiful. It was a confidence so few could ever wish to obtain. No wonder all the Fae were so otherworldly stunning and unapologetically confident.

After talking to her mother for a few hours, learning everything she could and her mother learning everything she could about her, they had confirmed that it was just too much for Adeila to dine with everyone and instead they ordered dinner up to them, just as Loki had suggested to Sorryn. The King made a brief appearance again, and seemed thrilled that they were getting along so well. During his visit to her room, she had promised them two days. Two full days to see the Fae realm in all its glory, mystery and luster. Adeila knew in her heart that this just might be where she belonged, but there was much in the human realm that she felt she'd leave undone. Without a doubt she'd need to return there to at least finish out high school. This world may be hers yet, but she wanted to be a normal teenage girl just a bit longer.

It was uplifting to have her mother want to learn so much about her. She'd never experienced that. It was also kind of fun having to explain things to her that she didn't know about the human realm, it was a nice change from her learning things about the Fae realm. Her mother asked her a lot about her human mom and her human family, and Adeila made no qualms to lie. She told her exactly how they were. All tech savvy and emotionless. It brought Deleana to tears, and Adeila felt bad but she wasn't going to lie or sugar coat anything. She had no interest in making them feel bad at this point, but she did still have a tiny trace of bitterness in her heart for them not coming to find her sooner. Even a few years sooner would have made all the difference. She missed out on a real family to love, to share things with, to grow with. She missed out on a childhood of compassion that these two people were already showing her in such a short time. She felt completely excluded from a life that she could have led here. It felt as though her real life, the one she was supposed to lead, had been taken away from her when they'd left her in the human world almost eighteen years ago. She felt like she may always feel a small bit of bitterness for that fact.

When the subject of school was breached, Deleana, of course, didn't understand most of the classes that she was taking, but seemed very interested when Adeila explained biology to her. She also let slip about her love for planting flowers, and her own little rock flower garden that she'd agonized over.

Deleana had clasped her hands together. "Oh, Adeila, sweetheart you must be like me. You have an affinity for the Earth. Your father is of Earth as well, but even he cannot bloom things, he has more of an intuitive connection with the Earth. He can hear the plants growing, and feel horses' hooves on the Earth from miles and miles away just by touching his face to a blade of grass. I, on the other hand, can manipulate and heal it, as I'm sure you can from the sounds. Everything you grow will have more life, more color, and bloom more often and bigger. You will enjoy such a power immensely, once you are trained in it. I can show you much of that myself."

Adeila was excited about that. She'd known it was unusual at the time, that the blooms of her little rock garden flowers were huge and immensely colorful, now she knew why. Her mother seemed so pleased at the prospect, and the happiness bubbled over into her, she couldn't help the wide smile that engraved her face the remainder of the night.

All in all, the experience so far was more amazing then she'd anticipated. She had briefly touched upon the whole betrothal thing, but Deleana had simply whisked the thought away. "We will worry of that another time, it is something that I am sure can be undone if that is your choosing. Nothing to worry of now."

So Adeila decided she would indeed heed that advice and worry of it on a later date since it could be undone.

She couldn't help but feel thankful, and the weight seemed to shift from her shoulders. Two days. She had given them two days, to tell her and show her everything they felt was important for her to hear and see. She knew they were going to try to change her mind, to get her to stay, and she was willing to let them try, but she knew deep down she needed to return. She needed to confront her parents, she needed to say a real good bye to her friends, to say a real goodbye to Erik and cut him loose officially. She still felt like she'd push it off until she graduated, at the very least. The human world was the only one she'd known for the past seventeen plus years, she couldn't just leave it without a backward glance, could she?

.~.

Finally exhaustion hit her limbs, hard, and she fell into a fitful sleep. She awoke only a few hours later with hot sweats and violent shaking and trembling from within. She heard voices and felt a cold cloth on her forehead. She fell again into slumber but what seemed like mere moments later, awoke to hushed voices.

"I'm surprised it only took this short of time for her Fae blood to force the change like this. I would have thought it would have taken at least two or three days, like it had Kami."

"She is stronger in will and bloodline than Kami. The doorway and realm responded to her instantly... and we forget she was actually born here."

This voice she recognized and she tossed in the bed. Why was he in her room? Didn't they believe in privacy here?

The next time she woke, lifting her head up slightly, she saw a large glass of ice water next to her on the night stand. She lifted shaky limbs to grab the cup and gulped down the clear liquid, she felt so parched. She felt achy all over, rundown and feverish, like she'd been sick with the flu. She then remembered the hot sweats, and the voices and the cold cloths. Had they poisoned her?

She lifted herself from the bed. Still feeling groggy, her body tingled all over, she looked over at the dresser, with the large mirror above it and caught the reflection of herself in the moonlight. Her skin seemed to glow even more in the darkness. It must be a trick of the light in this Fae realm making everyone and everything seem so ethereal. She lay back down in the ridiculously puffy and soft blankets and was out again.

Her dreams were vivid. A steel gray wolf sat next to her on a stump in a moss filled forest. She absently ran her fingers through the thick fur of his shoulder; it was coarse but soft all at once. She felt her fingertips glide through the pelt, and the amber eyes of the wolf looked out over the land that stretched in front of them. A feeling of camaraderie and peace settled over her. Like this animal and she, were teammates of some kind.

Then the dream flitted to a golden colored horse. It wasn't until she walked up to the animal that she saw what graced its forehead. A long ivory horn. A unicorn.

This was insane, even in her dream land she knew this was insane. But in her heart she was happy to see the animal, and not a stitch of fear settled over her. Only peace, recognition and... Love. She was so happy, in fact, of seeing him in her dream, that she ran up and threw her arms around his thick, silken neck. The horse made a gentle whinny noise, and leaned his head down across her back, clearly returning the affection.

She thought back to the tapestry she'd seen hanging in the castle, were Unicorn's real? Her dreaming mind even questioned such a thing.

Next the dream threw her into a wildflower meadow; she was walking next to Loki, his hand in hers. His golden eyes peaked at her from below dark inked lashes. Her other hand trailed over the tops of dark purple lupines, brilliant yellow sunflowers and tall multi-colored wildflowers, she had no idea the names of. She physically gulped, and tried to push this from her dream. She could not handle dreaming of him.

Then she was running. Running for her life. A black panther like creature chasing her, his hot breath on her bared calves. Her hair whipped across her face, and branches stung as they dug across her bare arms and the thin silk of her night gown.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Adeila woke with sweat coating her body, blood pumping, and her breath coming in wild gulps. She gave herself several moments to calm her racing heart, and regain full consciousness before looking around. The moonlight was waning, meaning dawn was not far off. She gulped down the rest of her water and swung her legs over the bed. Her body still felt tingly and seemed to feel lighter all over. As if she weighed at least thirty pounds less than she had before she'd fallen asleep. She looked down at her flat stomach; it didn't appear she'd lost weight. Her bones weren't protruding any more than they had been upon her inspection of herself after entering in Faerie.

Appearance wise she looked as she had last night. She took a calming breath and swung her head back and forth seeing if the need to vomit arose. When she felt perfectly normal, she licked her lips. Well, at least she didn't feel sick or feverish anymore.

She went into her bathroom paradise, a good shower should help get rid of the remnants of the dreams and any leftover fogginess in her brain from the night.

After her shower she looked into the closet. It was ridiculous. Not only it's massive size, but it's glamorous, over-flowing, contents. It was filled with things she would never wear. Things, literally, fit for a Princess. Dresses of every color and every silky texture graced the hangers, along with fleece and cashmere sweaters.

Sighing, she moved to the dresser. Opening the top drawer she inspected the under garments, which were color coded and folded perfectly. She almost groaned. Tags were still on every single pair and she was completely stammered at the price on them. How the heck did the Fae have so much money to buy ridiculously expensive panties? Briefly, she wondered if they just made these things appear, magically. It would make sense.

She opened the rest of the drawers – well, the Fae did nothing half-assed that's for sure; tank tops, t-shirts, long sleeves, cargo pants, shorts, yoga pants, sweats, jeans and everything in between were in those massive drawers. She pulled out a few pairs of pants, and to her surprise they were her exact size. How the hell did they know? Had all of these been purchased before she even got here? Were they that confident in her return? Did Loki know her size and give it to them?

The thought of Loki paying enough attention to her body to give them the perfect size made heat rush to her cheeks. She stamped it down and threw on very slim fitting black cargo pants, and an ice blue long sleeve shirt that was a nice snug fit against her newly enlarged chest, but didn't expose too much cleavage to be slutty. It was a simple, yet classy shirt, and she'd seen nothing less than class within that wardrobe.

She pulled on her own hiking boots that she had worn there, and ignored the large open cabinet of shoes that she'd almost swooned over. She'd decided not to give in to that little fantasy at this moment. Keep something of her own, something personal on.

She turned to the mirror and put her still wet hair into a high, sleek pony tail.

After assessing her still slightly strange reflection she moved to the windows, as predawn light was filtering over the mountains miles off. It gave a very small glimmer of pale yellow light onto the tree line below. She could make out a small clearing that gave way to a large pond and more trees beyond.

As she stared she caught movement by the pond. A tingling sensation started in her arms and the boiling of her blood began pounding in her eardrums. The overwhelming urgency to get down there overtook her. She turned to her bedroom door, she assumed guards were stationed there, and everywhere else within this fantasy castle, and because the Fae could sense each other to a degree, she assumed she wouldn't get far without an escort. She turned back to the window and looked down again, there was a small bit of roof that gave way to a ledge below; just enough of a lip to drop down onto. She could do this. She wasn't the most agile of people but she was determined and that was something right?

As quietly as she could muster she unlocked the window and slid it up. It was soundless. She put one leg over the sill then slowly the other. She was smart enough to close the window, silently, behind her as her feet hit the solid wooden thatched roof. By closing her window behind her, it would take someone a few moments of checking her room and bathroom to find her missing. She wanted to give herself a head start before someone sensed her whereabouts.

She faced outwards and looked around. The roof pitched gradually down, and there was a stone ledge about two feet down from that, that overlooked part of a garden. She couldn't really see beyond the ledge from here. She decided she'd figure that out when she got there.

Every muscle in her body poised for her descent. She slowly, painstakingly, inched her way across the rough thatches and to the stone ledge. Shocked at how sure footed and balanced she felt. She moved with utter calm and ease, like she was made for this or something. Her body shifted and moved, her muscles coiling and retracting, her feet making light steps. As she came to the ledge, her body poised and ready, but her mind was second guessing this decision.

So far her body seemed to know what to do, so, on blind faith she leaped. She landed gracefully in a crouch. She lifted herself up slowly and looked at her legs and feet, awkwardly. What the heck? She'd never in her life had this kind of grace, balance or agility. It was why she'd never really tried out for any sports.

The words from last night trickled back to her. Did coming to the Fae realm really transform or trigger something within her? Some inner caged version of herself that had now been awakened?

She no longer questioned her parentage. She was pretty sure that the King and Queen were not lying but what else was going on with her? She knew her appearance and senses would change, but this – whatever this was – was unexpected. Albeit awesome, just unexpected. Like she literally had superhuman agility or something.

She decided a roof top, with time not on her side, was not the place to contemplate her changes.

Below she saw another stone ledge that sat above a large fountain cut into the shape of a bear with several turtles, squirrels and birds around it. She made that leap as effortlessly as the last. Next she set her sights on the fountain down a little farther along the ledge. She slowly crept along it and turned to a good sized fish pond with a statue in its center of a koi like fish with two flowing tails.

She wanted to leap on the stone wall supporting the pond, and then to the ground. It was a true testament to her new found balance, since one false move and she'd get very wet. She crouched, her muscles bunching and flexing in ways so foreign to her, she felt her weight shift and center. She felt so light and nimble. It was truly amazing. Without thinking too much, she sprang out and towards the fish; gripping one of it's fanned out tails. Her fingers grappled and dug in, and her legs swung her around to land on the raised stones at the lip of the pool. She teetered a moment, balls of her feet regaining footing. Well, she clearly needed some practice, but hell for the clumsy girl who could barely hike without falling on her face; this was a damn good start. She wasn't even out of breath. She marveled in it a second before looking around her. Dim lights flickered from lanterns and small oval jars that sat here and there on ledges and directly on the stone walk ways, balls of light were strung here and there on trees. It was such an enchanting place. She didn't give herself much thought of it, but it wasn't hard to see that these lights were actually balls of fire held within the jars and lanterns, no electricity kept the lights aglow.

She hopped off the stone and began walking towards some hedges. Not being high up, like she was on the second story window, she had no vantage point as to where the pond was now, but a tingling sensation zinged up her arm as she walked towards a garden gate, almost hidden by lilac and rose bushes. It was locked by a huge silver chain but she didn't actually see any real lock mechanism, as she reached her hand out to touch the chain, it fell away with a small clinking noise. Whoa! Because that wasn't weird at all. She slowly pushed the gate open, surprised in its silent movements. Pretty much every gate in the world creaked. Then she reminded herself they were no longer in her world.

She moved towards the woods, the zinging in her arms intensified as she moved to the clearing she'd seen from her window. Dawn was beginning to filter light through the tall trees and into the dewy grass below her feet. Fine mist whispered its way across the pond and fog hung throughout the clearing making visibility difficult.

As she stepped through the clearing she saw movement on the other side of the pond and her body propelled her forward. The tickling went from her arms to her neck, raising hairs in its wake. Her heart grew lighter, but a tiny shred of panic rushed down her spine, gripping her throat. She looked behind her, back at the safety of the castle. She tried to swallow the panic, and listen to the lightness in her heart. This didn't feel wrong, but the panic remained even with her pushing past it.

Damn her human fearfulness. In her heart she knew whatever was out here was not here to cause her harm. Feelings of airiness and peace settled over her as her feet took her closer of their own accord. When she reached the other side, she saw a large figure. The mist cleared just enough that she made out an equine-like shape and then she saw the golden glowing hide cut through the dim gray of the fog.

She gasped. It was the golden horse from her dream. She gulped in some air and was frozen to the spot. It lifted its majestic head and looked towards her. It's soft sepia eyes focused on her. She could see the ivory horn clearly upon his graceful forehead. It was a unicorn! Like the one in her dreams. This was completely impossible.

She pinched the delicate skin at her wrist to try and wake herself up, when the touch didn't even hurt, she gave up. Regardless, dream or not, this was pretty damn amazing and she should probably just enjoy it. It's not like she'll ever see a dang unicorn again.

She took a very tentative step closer, the animal just watched her. Clearly not afraid of her.

She watched the animal in silence for several moments, the two sizing each other up. Her heart was racing. Not only were unicorns mythical beings that she herself had never in a billion years ever thought about seeing, except manifesting in her dreams, but now she was standing only a few feet from the real thing. Well, other than the fact that she was in another realm. Maybe within the Fae realm they didn't have regular horses, just unicorns? Still it didn't explain how one that looked exactly like this one had manifested into her dreams before she'd even seen this real one. How was that possible? Were her dreams some kind of premonition? Was that some weird Fae power?

She swallowed. Maybe she needed to ask Loki about this, but for now her mind clicked back to the fact that she still stood within the presence of a very real mythological animal she'd always thought didn't exist.

Chapter Twenty-Six

As she stood very still and marveled in the beauty of, not only the animal before her, but the area she stood within. The fog had cleared, but hung behind her, like a curtain, at the pond. Leaving the meadow in a fine mist, that seemed almost ethereal. It lacked moisture and just gave everything a misty, cloudy, hazy kind of quality. Like something, entirely, from a dream world.

Dawn left the world painted in a chromatic cerise pink hue. Dew glistened off each blade of grass, a few leaves swirled in the breeze, branches swayed on the nearby trees, birds chirped and fluttered around them. But everything was out-shined by this majestic creature. He was a dark, glistening golden in color, like fresh honey. Muscles bunched and shifted with each movement, his mane and tail of milky white were incredibly long and seemed to be perfectly brushed. But that of course may be a Fae unicorn thing – perfectly styled hair and glistening, clean body. She had no idea what the rules of the Fae world were.

The animals' eyes were a light soulful brown, and they were trained upon her, watching her every move. He had such a regal, magnificent air about him. Like an ancient King of the forest. The horn that graced his forelock was ivory in color and had appearance of braided bone; about two feet long and the tip looked sharp as a spear.

Her mind registered that she should be fearful but her heart pulled at the recognition of her embracing him in her dream. How many palomino unicorns were in the Fae realm, anyway? She supposed she really could have the wrong animal, but something inside her assured her that was just not the case.

Finally she took a very tentative step closer and decided to extend her hand. Her human parents had strictly prohibited any type of animal other than gold fish in their home, so she'd never had a pet. But she was lucky to have Marissa's family, because they were huge pet people. Currently they had two dogs, three cats, an iguana and two horses, so she was pretty familiar with animals. She'd even been taught to ride by Marissa's mother the first year they'd moved to California. Marissa had never really taken to the riding thing, much to her mother's disappointment, but it was something that she and Marissa had done together a time or two. Adeila had always secretly wished that she could ride the horses whenever she'd wanted because she had thoroughly enjoyed it.

Those horses, however, had been very docile, calm and easy going animals. They'd also been trained and used to human contact. This was, at least she assumed, a wild animal.

She used a calm, even voice when she extended her hand farther, and took a half step closer.

"Easy boy. Easy." She extended her hand farther, so close she could feel his warm breath. "I saw you in my dream, you know." She used a soft, gentle voice.

"You look much more magnificent in person." The animal snorted and she had to resist the urge to step back, he didn't seem to do so with aggression, more of a - yeah, you got that right, girly! \- kind of way.

"It's okay, boy." The horse moved his head and the fine whiskers on his nose tickled her fingers, as his breath caressed her hand. He sniffed at her for a few moments before gliding his velvet nose along her palm to touch the wrist with the bold, oak and spiral tattoo marks on it. The zinging from his touch zapped its way across her arm, lighting along the wrist with the markings on it. She felt a strange burning along the wrist, but ignored it. She was so used to the weird sensations of her magic by now, that she didn't even flinch. It was exhilarating, feeling his presence, and the magic of him calling to her own. Deep within her core she felt at peace and had an overwhelming urge to sink into the horse, to lean along his thick, muscled neck. It would be poor manners to do so, but it didn't lessen the urge.

She also really wanted to know exactly what it meant and why certain things had such effects on her. She let the horse do his sniffing for a few minutes and then she let her hand glide slowly up his velvety nose to his strong cheek, her fingers gliding along the prominent bone there, before gliding her hand to the silky, white mane that was parted along his forehead for his horn. She didn't dare to touch that quite yet. He seemed content with her stroking his neck and she moved closer.

A voice had her nearly jumping out of her skin, but the horse didn't even flinch, as if he'd known of the others presence long before now.

"That is Obysson."

She wheeled around to see Loki leaning against a large tree about five feet from her. Shadows caressed his dark clothing, and he looked ever the warrior with his sword sheathed at his hip. She hadn't even heard him approach nor did the horse let her know.

"Thanks, pal." She whispered to the animal, who only nudged her arm with his nose in return.

She slid her eyes towards the Faerie warrior. "What did you say?"

He peeled away from the tree and walked into the filtering pink and gray dawn sunlight.

"The golden unicorn. His name is Obysson. He has been around for a few hundred years, but does not allow us to touch him. We keep our distance and he keeps his. He is king of a large band of wild horses; a few regular Fae horses and a few unicorns mixed in. He doesn't usually bother with our stabled horses unless they run away, then they are fair game. He's taken one of your fathers very fine, prized Kesmeldian hunting mares, when she broke her lead line and got away from her handler. I do not think your father was impressed when he saw her a few months later shacking up with this fellow." He gestured toward the unicorn.

Adeila turned back to the stallion who was gazing at her innocently. She ran a hand down his face and across his cheekbone and up to his left ear, which was far softer than she ever knew would be possible.

"What does Kesmeldian mean?"

Loki gestured to someone behind her. She whirled her head and over her shoulder she could see several Guardians standing behind her. With a nod to Loki they disappeared into the misty morning fog that engulfed the pond. Clearly her gig was up, she was shocked Loki wasn't yelling at her yet.

Loki moved a foot closer. "It is a village far to the east of us, at the very farthest eastern end of Oakend's governing lines, almost into Ravenswood. It is known for their incredibly fine horses. Higher intelligence, strength and endurance that exceeds most Fae horses. They are very expensive and much sought after." He paused, his golden eyes blank, and then sighed. "You could have used the front door, you know."

She whispered to the horse that she personally was not offended by his actions and continued to rub his neck. She also whispered to him of how much trouble she was likely in.

Everything about the animal soothed her. A bone deep relaxation, like a deep tissue, message went through her whenever her skin touched his soft coat. And she wanted to talk to him. To tell him things. It was incredibly strange but for now she needed to speak with the imposing Fae male that had found her hidden place.

"What makes you think I hadn't?" When he just cocked his head at her, she bit her lip and changed the subject. "Why is he letting me touch him?"

Loki ran a hand through his hair, which looked even darker and untamed than usual today. "I have absolutely no idea, Adeila. You're special, maybe. Different."

She scoffed at him, but he continued. "No really. Your parents are a very special blend of Fae bloodlines and powers, they are also true mates, but I'm seriously beginning to think it's not as much about your bloodlines and birthright as it is you. You as a Fae. You have an affinity for the things around you. Your bloodline has an affinity for Earth, that is known, but you personally... I'm not sure. You still haven't come into your powers fully, who knows what you may possess, what your strengths may be."

His voice dipping lower, he grumbled, "but I can think of a few - stubborn, bullheaded, willful -"

She withdrew her attention from him and back to the gleaming golden neck under her hand. "I don't know about all this, Loki. I feel like I'm drowning. I have this double life, and it scares me. I never wanted to be a Princess, but now I have this whole life that I'm supposed to lead, that I had no idea about until just a few weeks ago. I just don't know if I can. I'm not even quite eighteen yet."

She wanted to mention the fact that she'd been dreaming about the unicorn prior to this meeting, but she didn't. She wanted to mention the dreams she'd been experiencing in general, to see if he had some insight on them, but she couldn't bring herself to do so.

He sighed. "You'll discover in time what is best for you. Only you can decide that. As much as your parents want you here with them, if you do not love this land, then being a ruler will only harm this world. It, especially this throne, needs a strong ruler who loves the Fae people and its world. A ruler that seeks progression but does not wish to stray from our old rules and laws that keep us whole, that keep our magic thriving. Oakend is really the heart of Faerie. The center. It is the strongest and most naturally innovative throne. It needs a strong, just ruler, who loves its people and all of the lands."

She gulped. "And I do not love something I do not know."

He could only nod. "Your father hopes in time you will learn to love the Fae and this realm."

"I know. I am just not sure I will ever be what they want me to be."

They stood in companionable silence for several long moments, until the unicorn, clearly having females to attend to, ran his velvet nose down her cheek, whiskers tickling her flesh and then sauntered off.

Loki stared off, pensively, after the Unicorn, and then tentatively turned to her. "No one wants you to be anyone more than you are, Adeila. In here," he put his hand over his heart, "is where you need to be true to yourself. Only you can make that choice. Your father and this realm may seem slightly... barbaric and uncivilized to you, but it is just our way." He lifted a broad shoulder. "Essentially every decision is your own. I just ask that you look at everything with an open-mind. And please remember that you are no prisoner here. The guards and Guardians are for your safety. I hope you understand that, and I beg you to be more careful. If you wish to go anywhere, we will make it happen, just tell someone. Anyone. We hope that you're completely safe here, but no one understands those attacks almost two decades ago... It ruins your father that he doesn't truly know why. He's gathered so many Fae with unique abilities to track down answers, and they always come up empty. Someone is overlooking something, we're missing something. That fact makes your safety even more of a necessity."

She could only nod as they made their way back to the castle. She never really considered herself not safe here, or even in the human realm. Even when strange people had begun popping up, she'd brushed it off as her own paranoia or coincidence.

"So I take it kids of royalty never get into trouble then? With all the guards around, the heightened Fae senses and all that."

He chuckled. "I certainly would not say that."

"And what about you?" She blushed, but stamped it down. She deserved to know more about him. It had nothing to do with liking him - at all. He was clearly very important to her father, and an influential part of any kind of life she'd ever wish to lead here in this realm.

"I was the youngest child of the King and Queen of the North, so I had a bit more free rein then my brothers. Much like your father discussed with you, about himself. I will likely never reign in the North, so I had much more leeway then my elder brothers."

"Isn't it really uncommon in the Fae to have three children?"

He nodded. "Yes, very. But most direct descendants of Taivyl do. No one has a clue as to why. But yes, the Fae have always had issues conceiving children, but in most recent years it has gotten even more difficult. It does not help that the Fae bonding is usually far stronger with their true mates, and many lead a life without ever finding them."

Her lips thinned and she allowed the silence to stretch out between them. She did not want him to think that she actually cared overly much about the Fae, but damn it, if she wasn't beginning to be at least fascinated by it all.

Loki began walking towards the pond and back to the castle. They walked in silence around the pond and towards the garden gate back into castle grounds.

A memory popped in her head. "What happened to me last night?"

When he cocked his head at her, she rolled her eyes. "I heard you in my room. What happened?"

She watched him swallow, and focus on the gate a moment before turning to her. "Your body went through a change, Adeila. Your Fae blood was diluted in the human realm from all of the technology, pollution and toxins in the air, and just from the cloaking of the glamour and what your parents put on you to hide your identity. Your true self. Your magic and body has to go into a kick start when it comes into this realm and is hit by the raw magic and energy. Your blood must take on the change and transform your magic and self into its true Fae form. Most that come in, like Kami, it happens over a time. At least two or three days, sometimes more. You gain more agility, balance, strength, clearer head, intuition. Your magical being expands and becomes more in control. Some more than others, and at different levels depending on their affinity and their strength as a person. It appears that all of it crashed into you last night at once. I feared for your safety but I didn't need to. You recovered incredibly well, I see."

She pursed her lips. Well, hell, all of that was how she'd felt that morning leaping from rooftops. She couldn't help but grin at the stoic, clearly annoyed Fae warrior.

He shook his head and trudged onward to the castle front, but she thought she saw a whisper of a smile on his full lips.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Upon arriving at the front castle door – as apparently her window descent was somewhat unorthodox - they were bombarded by Fae. Adeila instantly tensed, and hid behind Loki, until she recognized one of them. A small, slim female with short silver blond hair, and gray blue eyes that had a smoky appearance to them, and a very bright smile.

"Hi!" The girl exclaimed in a very excited voice that matched the smile. "I'm Kammile, or Kami, as just about everyone calls me!"

Adeila swallowed and stepped up next to Loki. "Ah, hi. Um, I'm Adeila."

"I know, I'm so excited you're here!"

Loki held up a hand. "Relax, Kam, give Adeila some space, and remember this is all new to her."

He gave Kami a look and she instantly simmered from over excitement to barely contained exuberance.

"Oh, yeah, okay, right."

Loki looked to Adeila. "Kami came here three years ago from the human realm. Her mother decided to lead a life in the human realm after her father died. Kami was only a few years old when her mother took her away; her re-entry into the Fae realm was challenging." He leaned closer and whispered. "You can learn a lot from her, once you get past the exuberance." He smiled when he leaned away, clearly affectionately towards the girl.

"And this is some of the rest of my team." He gestured towards Sorryn, whom she instantly recognized. Not hard considering he was incredibly gorgeous, much like the rest of the Fae before her, but with Sorryn there was a different energy. Easy and goofy, almost like a brotherly feel came off him towards her, it made her feel comfortable and safe. She felt in her core, in her magical energy that she could trust him.

"Sorryn, you've met. Beside him is his sister, Saibol." The girl had long chestnut hair, and big green eyes that shone like emeralds. Her face was heart shaped and speckled with freckles. The family resemblance in the bone structure, lips and eye shape was unmistakable.

Then Loki gestured towards the next two guys, the one on the left was very big, muscled, tanned and had a handsome rugged face. His nose was slightly crooked and turned his face from attractive to intriguing. He had short dark hair and very light brown eyes. "This is Devrin, and Marston." She then turned her attention to the smaller boy. He seemed younger; his face seemed much more reserved and guarded then the others. Something about him reminded her of a mouse and a strange inkling of unease shot its way up her spine. When his very dark russet brown eyes flitted to hers, she swallowed back the discomfort. His pale, almost pasty skin, matched his dark hair and eyes. His tattoos were a dull gray in color. Something was off about him.

She pushed the strange feelings the boy gave her down and let a very guarded smile come across her face, showing a bit of the unease she felt.

"Good to meet everyone."

Loki, feeling her anxiety, gestured to everyone. "The Princess needs breakfast. Sorryn, please take over briefing the team on the mission we discussed last night."

Sorryn made a small bow and gestured to the rest of the team. Kami turned to Adeila and smiled brightly, waved and trotted off. The happiness around her was contagious.

"Sorry, I didn't realize they would all be out here. They were all a small part of my mission in obtaining you and bringing you here."

She could only nod. It was harsh hearing that she was a mission. Some prize the King wished to obtain. She hated to think of it that way, but that is how this little interlude made her feel and the thought didn't make her feel good in anyway.

Guards opened the door, and Loki put a hand on the small of her back to guide her through it. A small zap of electricity traveled along the heat of his hand and up her spine, she almost faltered her steps, but steeled herself. She really needed to learn to control this strange magic inside her and willed the heat to go away. She focused her energy and the humming in her blood and willed it to stop. When it went down into a very tolerable purr, she was pleased with that personal progress.

When Loki removed his hand, it stopped. Well, as long as he didn't touch her, apparently she was fine. She hadn't felt like that when her parents had touched her yesterday. It had just been contented warmth that had spread through her, warming her blood and bones and heart. What Loki put off was something strong. Something intense, like an electrical energy spike. Like the hum of current before a storm. It was annoying, and fascinating all at once which irritated Adeila even more.

When they arrived in the dining hall, the smell overwhelmed her. Fragrant juices and blossom scents wafted out the opened doors. Guards saluted Loki and he moved aside and gestured for her to enter, she stopped dead. An array of every exotic fruit imaginable was on the table, along with many vegetables. She almost swooned. Not a single processed anything, was present at this table, and she thought for once she could actually eat like a glutton instead of fearing nausea.

Her mother, tall and beautiful, stood up. The simple lavender dress she wore clung to her willowy frame and her long, dark blonde hair ran in natural cascades around her. She gestured to the table, but walked around it and towards Adeila. "Please try one of everything! I hear the human realm is filled with processed and packaged foods, but here you will find none of that. We obtain meat only from hunting, and our vegetables and fruits are obtained from our own foragers and gardens." Then she hugged her, enveloping her in warmth and the heavenly scent of vanilla and lavender.

Once the four of them were seated, her father spoke. "We know about you leaving your room through the window. You are no prisoner here, my dearest, but please be more careful. If you leave through the front door Guardians will follow you and yes I am quite sure that is annoying, but it is for your own safety and they will not disrupt your need to be alone. They are very respectful men, and I hope that you can see that. They only wish to keep you safe."

She gulped and got ready to begin apologizing or defending herself, she wasn't entirely sure which way she'd go, when he interrupted her.

"But beside that point I hear that Obysson has chosen you. We are all shocked and pleased by this."

She perked up at this. "Chosen me?"

"Yes. Each Unicorn may choose one Fae, in its lifetime, in which it has a magical bond. It comes to you in time of need and sorrow. It is a presence that keeps you focused. He may present himself to you at odd times, and you may also call upon him. Don't abuse such a bond; however, he is not a common domesticated horse. Only call upon him when you are in dire, desperate need of his ancient, magical being. When you touched him, or should I say, he allowed you to touch him; your bond was cemented and made permanent. I personally don't know very much about the bond between Unicorn and Fae, but I hear it is almost that of psychic proportions."

She could only nod. Whoa! She has a magical bond with a freakin' Unicorn. If she ever even mentioned this to someone in the human realm they would have her committed to a mental institute or drug tested, or both.

"It is something that hasn't happened in hundreds of years, and we don't really know what to make of it."

She didn't really know what to say, so she ate some of the mango looking fruit that was cut up in front of her.

"Today we would love for you to see some of the village and surrounding areas. As much as your mother and I would love to show you around ourselves, such things would seem too strange to the folk here and thereby raise suspicions, which we cannot afford until we know of your complete safety. But since Loki brings in Fae from the human realm sometimes from other kingdoms it would be less peculiar for him to do so. In which case I have asked him to show you around the village some. The market, the river and waterfalls, the stables, the gardens. Our grandmother willow, Gh'ehelila, of course. Some of what makes up our kingdom. If that is something you would wish to do?"

She smiled slightly. "Yes, I would like that."

"Okay, then we will put a bit of glamour over-"

Loki leaned forward, and interrupted the King. His dark hair and tanned skin illuminated in the gentle, low lighting. "Sire, if I may, Adeila has such a strong will, heart and stubborn streak. Her magic is strong; you can feel it within her blood. Your blood. I would imagine a small lesson in glamour would be sufficient enough for her to do it for herself."

The King smiled brightly and gestured with his hand. "Very well, Loki, you are absolutely right. Please."

Loki made a tiny frown and then turned to Adeila. "Alright, first official magic related lesson. You ready?"

She smiled, but a nervous flutter floated through her stomach. Was she ready?

"Yes."

He smiled; flashing brilliant teeth in that magnetic smile that almost made her forget time and space. But this smile was one a bit more feral; like a challenge sung between them. Well, damn, if she wasn't up for challenges.

"So glamour is a very easy, basic magic, most do it as easily as breathing. We're not going to do anything crazy, just maybe change the shade of your hair and eyes. And you are already wearing a long sleeve to hide the very prominent tattoo that represents your bloodlines and birthright."

Adeila took a steadying breath. "Okay." That reminded her of the weird tingling and almost stringing she had felt at her tattoo when the Unicorn, Obysson, had touched her. She'd have to check that out later and see why.

"It is better to learn to control the magic inside of you, before learning to do things outside of the body."

She nodded, and he turned to the King who nodded as well. She knew he must be used to being watched while he taught someone, but she was pretty certain he'd never had to teach the daughter of a King, in front of him.

"When I first enter the human realm, my eye color changes to a dull light brown. For personal reasons, I manipulate the glamour and give them a bit more of my true color, while still keeping them rather unremarkable to the human eye."

She almost laughed aloud, but hid it with an exaggerated nod. Unremarkable? Yeah, right, who was he fooling? His eyes were stunning, even in the human realm, but he was right, he did tone them to be nothing like the swirling vortex of color they were here in Faerie. The color they obtained in the human realm certainly made him more normal then the intriguing swirls of colors they were now.

Loki moved slightly closer and more head on to her and spoke in a very clear, very teacher-like voice. "Blank your mind and look for that pulsing within your blood. You can call upon it anytime, anywhere; you just need to learn how. Once you feel the pulsing, envision within your mind the shade of hair you wish to change yours to, and then do the same for your eyes. It is different for everyone, that is why teaching to use magic is incredibly difficult unless you've grown up with it, but your will and connection to magic is strong, Adeila. I believe you will pick this up easily. This is a basic place to start, and remember nothing crazy; subtle changes are all that is necessary."

She tried not to dwell on the praise that Loki was dishing out to her. It was rather shocking and gave her a small tingling all along her belly that had nothing to do with magic. With a deep breath she blanked out any thoughts of Loki, as hard as that was as it was his voice caressing her to find her inner magical pulse, but she did. She focused on herself. Drowned out all sounds, thoughts, worries and fears and really searched within her very soul. The very essence of her being.

Why hadn't she tried this before? Isn't this what yoga had tried to inspire her to do? Maybe that was why she felt so much more at peace and at ease after a yoga session. It had settled her magic.

It was ridiculously easy to find the pulsing, it was right there on the surface. It was more like a thrumming. Like unreleased energy. She felt herself pull at it, manipulate it, get to know it. After a moment of familiarizing herself with something that was so much a part of her, but yet something she had pushed away to the wayside for so long, she remembered her purpose for this exercise. She envisioned her hair a pretty shade of medium brown with no blonde highlights. She focused for a moment, letting the idea of the color really sink in, and still feeling the pulsing, opened her eyes.

"Great, Adeila!"

Both of her parents exclaimed, grinning. But she only looked to Loki who nodded. "Now eyes."

She didn't close them this time, instead focused them on Loki, but her mind was solely on her task. She pulled at that thread and thought of the color of the sea, that liquid blue and green swirling into a perfect vortex. When his eyes widened and flashed with pride, she knew she'd done it.

"Nicely done, Princess. You're a natural."

She grinned and had to suppress the urge to do a happy dance. Whoohoo!

"Now hold onto that tiny thread; it may take a lot of concentration at first but soon it will be as easy as taking a breath."

She smiled and nodded at him.

"Now go on up and change or do whatever you need and meet me at the front door."

Before she could turn to do as she was told, her mother came over and hugged her. "Well done, my love." Adeila only had a moment for the shock to wear off so she could hug the lovely woman back. She smiled and waved to them before heading to her room.

When she reached it, she slipped inside and leaned heavily against the strong wood door. Wow! What an amazing feeling. She felt so alive and so free. Being able to do magic freely without the fear of getting caught was something she'd looked forward to, but to actually do it; to actually magically change her features? It was amazing, and a little scary. It felt good to release something that lay so dormant, for so many years, inside of her. It felt wonderful to not have to hide her true self. The resentment she'd felt towards herself and her magic on the human realm for being different, subsided. For once she was exactly where and who, she was meant to be. She was still coming to terms with a lot of things, but she knew meeting these people and coming here had been the right thing to do. She just felt like she might be a huge disappointment to her real parents. Fall short of their expectations of her.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Adeila stepped off the last step and was greeted by the ever exuberant Kami.

"Hi!" Kami smiled brightly, but said nothing else as Loki gestured to them, his eyes lighting on the small Fae girl.

"So I'm having Sorryn and Kami come with us so it doesn't seem so odd for me to be showing someone around alone. Usually when we bring someone here my team would be involved; so to give no ideas of question, they will walk with us, if that is okay with you?"

Adeila shrugged and nodded; glad that she'd not be alone with Loki.

As they stepped outside, Sorryn gestured to Loki. "A word."

The men stepped aside a ways, and Kami walked down the walkway a little, Adeila was struck with curiosity for a moment but walked along with Kami. They stood awkwardly for a moment; it was easy to see that Kami was trying to be respectful but really wanted to fill the void with chatter. Instead Adeila decided she'd try tuning her hearing into the guys' conversation.

She caught the tail end of the conversation. Sorryn's voice, "She's been asking about you. Just thought it would be best to avoid that area, you know?"

Loki's very audible sigh of exasperation. "Thank you, Sorryn. I appreciate that. If only she would take the hint."

Then Sorryn's very deep male laughter, some grumbling from Loki and the conversation was done. Adeila smiled to Kami and decided it would be best not to look like she was listening in.

"So, Kami, how do you like living in the Fae after the human realm?"

Kami's eyes lit up at the question. "Oh my goodness, it's so different! In a good way. There's so much less noise for one! We lived in Tulsa - Mom and I - and it was just so noisy... and smelly. You couldn't even smell the forest!"

Adeila crinkled her nose appropriately, as Loki and Sorryn approached. She tried to hide any kind of guilt she had at listening to their, obviously private, conversation about some random girl that Loki was seeing, or had been seeing. At least that's the gist she was gathering from the snippets of conversation. She tried not to think of it. No wonder you shouldn't eavesdrop. Sheesh.

Once they left the castle's large stone main gate, she got a good view of the village below. It was stunning. Small cottages dotted the lower lands, with meadows, fields, gardens, stables, forest, brooks and waterfalls scattered for miles. She could physically feel the magic from the land and the Fae touch her skin, caress the pulse of energy within her. They walked straight down the main road, many people stopped to talk to Loki and his team, or waved in the very least. They were clearly well liked and respected here.

Adeila couldn't help but notice behind the cottages; the large trees appeared to have homes built within them. Either in the huge trunks, or within the very branches of the trees.

Sorryn piped up when he saw her bewildered look. "Many Fae choose to live within the trees. If the tree is large enough, many make a home within it, which spirals up into the tree tops. Some, as you can see, are built like human tree houses."

He gestured to one in particular that was a huge log like home within the giant branches. It had railings, with small Faerie bulbs of light strung along them, and even a rocking chair by the door. The spiral staircase went from the porch area to the ground. All made from rough looking branches and rough ax cut wood. It was literally something out of a humanized Fairy tale. Oh wait; she was living a Faerie tale, for real.

She was mesmerized by the way the Fae lived. Rope bridges spanned above them, allowing tree top access to the tree homes. Even shop fronts began dotting up. A Cafe, a bookstore, a smith, a jewelry store. Market stalls were set up here and there with different fruits and vegetables. She assumed they must barter with each other for things, as Loki had said they do not really have the use of currency.

"We live just as comfortably as humans." Loki's voice was very close to her ear, and pulled her out of her spellbound trance.

"I can see that." She couldn't keep the wonder out of her voice. He smiled down at her, pointed out a few Fae, and told her their names and what they did for the realm. Putting faces to tasks was interesting.

Ujich was the jeweler. He made some of the finest Fae jewelry in the entire realm. He used magic to infuse leaves, flowers, moss, and other things within their forest to make colorful, stunning beaded jewelry, and encased them from glass that was found in the Northern coastline. Which she soon noticed when they passed by the shop. She had to resist the urge to stop and gawk.

Magistra, was the towns herb and remedy healer, and also Sorryn and Saibol's mother. She was a stunning woman with long auburn hair, and very lovely green eyes, identical to her daughters. They stopped and spoke with her for several moments. It was clear that she knew exactly who Adeila was, but kept up the facade for them. It was nice that at least someone knew who she really was. Adeila felt a bit like a fake with the falsely colored hair and eyes. She felt like hiding whom she truly was, was wrong, but she did believe it may be best for her and her family at this moment. And she knew she'd essentially be doing the same thing when she returned to the human realm.

They rounded a corner, heading away from the village, when a female voice stopped their small party cold.

"Why Loki, there you are." They all turned around. The sultry voice matched the face and body of the woman speaking. The instant Adeila's eyes registered her, the reaction was instantaneous. Recognition. This was the woman from the Cafe, the one across from the bookstore. The one she'd gotten the weird vibes from. Her hair was longer, curlier and more shades of honey and wheat color then it had been in the human realm. Her eyes were no longer just mossy green, but shades of moss and sage. She was tall, with a well-muscled frame. She wasn't petite like Marissa or willowy, like Adeila herself, or tiny and compact like Kami. This woman was built like a, well, woman. Curves and muscles in all right places. She looked like she could kick major ass and look incredibly hot while doing so. Like one of those video game heroines.

Adeila had to stifle the reaction of recognition and try hard to look normal, if not a little wonder struck by her beauty. This was an obvious, general first reaction to this woman. The conversation at the Cafe that she had overheard came flooding back to her.

So that's the thing that's got him tied up? The King's little delivery boy has his hands full with this little girl?

We'll just see how this pans out with him, and then we'll step in. No need to make this little rabbit spook. Let him do his job for now.

Adeila swallowed down the nausea she felt. She still had no idea what that conversation meant, but there was little doubt as to who she spoke of now.

Loki's apprehension was obvious. His golden eyes turned dark. "Marla."

"Oh, and who's your new friend? New part of the dream team?"

Kami stepped quickly in front of Adeila. "No, this is actually my cousin Coral. She's only visiting. Coral. Marla." Kami gestured to each of them, and for Adeila she sent her a wink. The cover story had sounded perfect to everyone else, to this woman the absurdity of it came off in waves. Or maybe that was just how Adeila saw it, since it was clear that she and this woman knew the story was absurd. Adeila tried to hold the woman's knowing gaze, but then Loki touched her arm briefly and her focus was completely lost.

"Marla, is there something we can do for you? If not we have work to complete here."

Marla's eyes turned quickly from Adeila to Loki, and something in them switched. To Adeila she'd given that knowing, almost malevolent grin. To Loki it was feral, predatory, and sensual. It was a look filled with longing and desire. It was almost too much for public consumption.

"Actually there is. May I speak with you in private?"

Again Loki's apprehension came off him in full oceanic-like waves. It was so obvious to Adeila that there had been something between them. Maybe even still was. It was also obvious by everything Loki was giving off that he had moved on. It was also obvious that crazy pants, Marla, had not.

"I really don't -"

Marla moved closer. "It will only take a moment. Promise." Her tone dripped of sex and promise. It was nauseating.

Loki sighed dramatically, turned to Sorryn, then to Kami, then to Adeila. When he turned to her, his eyes were dark, not a stitch of golden in them, they were deep gray, brown, green, tinged with flame. It was something she'd yet to see in him, and it was a little scary. He mouthed I'm sorry, and then turned to Marla.

"Seriously, Marla, one minute!" Then they moved off together.

"She gives me the hee-bee-jeebies!" Kami whispered when they were out of earshot.

Sorryn nodded. "Yeah, he's told her to back off so many times and she just doesn't get it."

Adeila watched Loki's very rigid back as Marla tried unsuccessfully to touch his chest. She tuned in her unpredictable hearing but only heard snippets.

"I told you this is over between us, Marla."

"But I never thought you were actually serious about that. We only see each other a few months out of the year; we have some fun than go our separate ways. It's worked out for the past two years perfectly."

"Well, I want something different now, Marla. I no longer want what we had."

"I just don't believe it. Is there someone else?"

There was a pause where Adeila couldn't see what the woman was trying to do, only Loki trying to move her hands away, and his stop spoken numerous times.

"I promise you I can give you so much more than anyone else can."

"No, Marla. Just... No. I told you this was through. I meant it."

She managed to run a hand down his arm, before he pulled it away and began to turn.

"You'll be back, Loki. You know you will. What we had was amazing. You won't forget it. I promise you that."

The last words seemed like a promise. A threat. A shiver ran down Adeila's spine. She felt genuine fear for Loki and wasn't sure why. He could easily protect himself against this woman, even if she did look incredibly strong. It was the threat and promise behind her words of, "you won't forget it. I promise you that". It was the magic that brushed against her at the words, like the woman intended something threatening towards him. Adeila tried to brush it off, as the woman stalked away, hips swaying.

When he reached them, he said, "I'm so sorry about that guys."

It was directed towards all of them, but his eyes were on hers. The darkness in them was still there, but it was lightening as they were fastened on hers.

"Crazy bitch." Was Sorryn's response, followed closely by Kami's. "If you want me to kick her ass, I'd be delighted to do so."

Loki grinned and shook his head, his eyes remaining on Adeila's. As if looking at her brought back his light, his eyes softened and turned golden again, but the flames of dark gray and dismal green remained around the edges. It was clear that Marla's appearance had affected him, but he was going to try not to worry or dwell upon it.

He took up his place beside her. "Shall we continue?"

She couldn't help but arch a brow at him. He sighed. "Marla and I have been seeing each other on and off, when she comes to visit her Aunt and cousins, for the past few summers. She is from Ravenswood. We've used her for intelligence a few times for different missions involving Ravenswood Fae in the human world. Over this past summer I saw a strange, cold side of her that I no longer cared for. I told her I wished for us to no longer see each other, and as you can see she is not taking it well."

"Because she's a psycho. We all tried telling you." Kami said grimly.

"Yes, well, some of us need to see things on their own."

Kami hit him on the arm. "Well, hope you're seeing it now, bucko! Because she's about as crazy as they come!"

Loki grumbled and turned to Adeila again. "Satisfied?"

Her lips thinned. "It is none of my business." But she still felt threatened for him. The strange zinging of malicious power when those words were uttered unsettled her, but he was a big boy. He could handle it. So she shrugged and moved forward beside Kami, who smiled and bumped her shoulder with hers. "At least we're normal right?"

Adeila couldn't help but laugh. "I'm not entirely sure that's the words I'd use, but sure."

Kami laughed and the remainder of the day went just about as good as it could after such a weird interaction.

Kami and Sorryn were incredibly easy to get along with and she enjoyed their company more then she'd ever dreamed possible. Loki was withdrawn and quiet the remainder of the day, even more so then his usual stoic self. He had a psycho ex-lover to worry about, so she tried not to engage him in conversation. And she tried even harder not to worry about him.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The stables were grander then she'd ever thought. Something you would see prized derby winning horses in back in the human realm. With post and beam ceilings, fine huge wood stalls, carvings of horses and leaves etched into each stall. Fancy wooden name plates on each individual sliding stall gate. Absolutely stunning.

They did a walk through the aisles, and then went down to the huge pastures. Vivid green grass, giant maples and willow trees adorned each fenced area. They made their way across the pastures, the dirt paths shaded and even. They moved towards the land bridge towards the huge willow that loomed on the hillside.

As they made their way past the final pasture, lilacs bloomed along its corner fence line, a large bay horse trotted closer. He had one white sock on his front left leg and a small snip of white on his muzzle. He let out a little whinny and trotted up to the fence line, extending his head over. He had soft brown eyes, and an ebony mane. Adeila couldn't help herself she walked over and tentatively ran a hand along the bays muzzle.

Sorryn walked up and petted the horses' neck. "This is Gulliver. He's one of the King's Kesmeldian geldings. He uses him for hunting now and again, but he's mainly just a companion horse for the mares. He's a feisty guy, but smart as a whip and bomb proof. You can do absolutely anything with him, and he'll go for it. Jumping, water, hunting, whatever. Loki and I have hunted a time or two with him, and he's quite impressive." Sorryn cocked his head at her. "I know you've bonded with a Unicorn and all, but are the equestrian type, Princess?"

Adeila shrugged a shoulder. "I've ridden a few times if that is what you're asking, but I've never really been given the chance to ride much. My parents were pretty much against animals. I only know how to ride because my best friends Mom taught me."

Sorryn made a grimace, and shook his head. "Pity, you seem like the animal loving type. You should know that your father absolutely loves to ride, and you are more than welcome to take any of the horses out."

She smiled politely but knew that most likely after her little display this morning, she'd be kept on a bit of a tighter leash from here on out whilst in the Faerie realm.

Her eyes sought Loki who stood apart from them; his eyes were distant and unfocused. The gelding nudged at her, and she laid her cheek against his, running her hand up into his long, coarse mane. She loved the smell of horse, hay, and the earthy scent that swirled around them. The horses' calm demeanor gave her some peace. Sorryn gave him one final pat, touched her shoulder and walked away. Adeila sighed, gave the horse a kiss on his velvety muzzle. He nickered a soft goodbye and trotted away, coal black tail held high. She rejoined the group, listening to the geldings hoof beats pound along the grass to meet back with his lady friends.

The walk back through the village was magical. They'd walked all throughout the rivers and waterfalls and gardens when they left the pastures. They decided not to show her the Grandmother willow. They felt, and Loki agreed, it was something that her parents should be showing her.

They'd shown her the raw natural beauty of the surrounding lands around the village but now as darkness stretched across Faerie, lights began fluttering to life. Night within the Faerie realm, she decided, was something to be hold on a whole different level. The harmonious and haunting sound of flutes, possibly banjos, harps, mixed with a piano like sound floated across the village. The music drifted from the branches, as if they themselves were singing. Adeila couldn't help but feel the pull of the gentle beat. She had to resist the urge to twirl to the slow, throaty, haunting sound.

The lights in the gardens that morning, as she'd made her window escape, had been pretty amazing, but this was something entirely different. Magical in every sense of the word. Shop lights winked to life, market stalls had strings of glowing orbs hanging off them, lanterns graced the cobblestone roads, their magical flames alight inside, and strings of all different sized glass, each infused with a tiny magical glow, were strung up across the bridges that led from one tree top home to the other. It was a cascade of lights and fluttering glow bugs. Once she almost would have bet money that she saw a tiny little person with fluttery wings, but refused to ask about it.

Luckily she didn't have to. Kami put out her hand and one perched on her palm. When they both stopped and looked, it was definitely male with very sharp cheekbones, tipped ears, no shirt and beautiful blue tinged wings. His glowing made it hard to make out intricate features, other than he was male and some blurred facial features.

"Pixies." Kami said it to Adeila. The pixie in question made a perverted gesture with his hips to Kami's thumb and she burst out laughing. "They are mischievous and pervy little buggers."

Sorryn scoffed at the little man and the girls laughs, but a beautiful pixie perched herself on his shoulder, and captured his attention. Loki continued to walk a few feet ahead, and turned back towards them, arms over his chest. The pixies must have picked up on his mood because they did not even attempt to land on him.

One landed on Adeila and she watched her for several moments, before moving and causing her to flutter away. Adeila walked to Loki, his eyes drifted to hers and she could see their golden coloring had yet to return to normal.

"Is everything okay?"

He let out a very long breath. "It will be." He gave her a very thin smile, as the other two caught up to them.

They made the rest of the trip to the castle grounds in useless chatter. Primarily Sorryn and Kami chattering about trials, classes and missions. Adeila would pop a question in now and again, Loki was completely silent.

.~.

"Could we invite Kami and Sorryn to have dinner with us?" Adeila asked her father upon seeing her parents when they entered the castle.

The King looked taken aback, but recovered quickly and nodded. "If that is what you wish, my dearest, then so be it."

Surprised at his agreement, she simply said, "Thank you."

"Meet us in the dining hall in half of an hour, you can tell us all about your tour."

She only nodded. Well, tell him about most of the tour, anyway, she thought. She'd certainly be leaving out the Marla part, as she was quite sure the rest of them would as well.

Loki bowed briefly to her. "I will meet you back in the dining hall in half an hour's time."

She swallowed. "Where are you going to be?" She had no clue why, but she really didn't want to leave him alone. Nor did she want to be alone.

He cocked his head. "I'm going to check in on some of my team, as a group are leaving tomorrow morning for a mission and then to my rooms. Is everything okay, Princess?"

She pursed her lips. No, I'm worried that psycho put some weird voodoo curse on you or something and it's freaking me out!

"Why don't you show me your room? I bet it's so cool!" Kami came to her rescue of the awkward encounter. Adeila smiled to the girl, but her eyes remained on Loki's for several moments.

She turned to Kami. "Yes, that would be great." She turned again to Loki who was still watching her. "Um, okay, see you at dinner." She nodded her head to Loki, and after another moment of studying her he turned on his heel and fled in the opposite direction. Sorryn gave her a bow, a silly grin and went after Loki.

"Thanks, Kami."

"No problem, I'll see you at dinner."

"Wait, don't you want to see my room?"

"I mean, yeah, but... I was just..."

Adeila rolled her eyes, and grabbed the girls arm. "Let's go."

"Don't let that creep-o Marla bother you. Loki is really through with her and she'll get over it. Eventually. She's only visiting for a few days, then we won't have to see her again, until hopefully, summer. Or never 'cause that would be great."

Adeila only nodded and tried really hard not to let it bother her again for the rest of the night.

Having Kami around made things so much better. Easier. Funner. Kami ooh'd and ahhh'd over her room and all her clothes. Then she insisted they dress for dinner like a Princess and her friend should. Which, although Adeila thought it was completely ridiculous, she went along with it. They had a fun time getting ready, and getting to know each other more. The clothing fit her like a glove, and was of exceptional quality.

"Try this one." Adeila tossed a very beautiful short silver dress to Kami. It looked like molten liquid silver, and would no doubt complement the girls' smokey gray eyes perfectly.

"You think?" Kami put the dress against her small frame and swayed side to side, as if she were dancing.

"What? Yeah, of course. It's totally you."

The girl slipped the short gown on and twirled around. It was a little loose on the chest, and came down well past where it would have on Adeila, but it really was stunning.

"Too bad glamour didn't work on clothes."

Kami stared at her for a second and then burst out laughing. "It does, silly. We just never bother to waste the energy for it. But for tonight, I will."

After only a moment, the gown seemed to stitch itself and before her eyes the dress molded itself to Kami's small, compact, little frame. The hem line coming to above her knees, and the neckline perfectly tailored to her chest.

"Whoa! That's amazing!"

Kami twirled. "It takes a lot more concentration because it's on an inanimate object and not yourself, but you'll learn how to do it too. People can cast glamour on each other and objects, as long as... Well, in the case of people, they have their consent. Objects, obviously, have no choice in the matter."

Adeila grinned. "That's really cool."

"You'll learn how to do it. I'm sure that your parents plan to teach you everything. It was really hard to adjust my first few months here; everyone seemed so far out of my league with everything. Then I picked up stuff. My mom had taught me the basics in the human realm, so I guess I wasn't really completely lost, but this is so much more overwhelming."

Adeila only nodded as she continued to get herself ready. She thought about everything she had learned, and something still plagued her. The whole betrothal thing.

"Hey, Kami, have you ever met Lukkas?"

Kami cocked her head, her eyebrows pinched together. "Just once, briefly, when I first arrived in Oakend. I just remember him speaking with Loki. He was ethereal gorgeous, in an almost overpowering way. With these stunningly dark gray eyes. I only saw him a moment, but he gives me the shivers. I haven't a clue whether they were the good - He's so hot, I could die - way, or the - He's so hot, but would probably turn out to be a serial killer - way."

Adeila laughed, and filed that tiny thread of information away. Well, at least she wasn't betrothed to some hideous, old guy. But just the word sent strange, uncomfortable sensations through her. She would still never accept the idea of her future husband being chosen for her. She would not stand for that, at all. Down the road, if she did come back to Faerie, that would be one of the first things to be addressed. She wanted to discover exactly what the betrothal kind of thing entailed. Was it like a written contract? A verbal agreement? Was he just someone they wanted her married to so they called them betrothed? Who and where were his parents?

When she felt a vibration in the spot where she'd tucked her cellphone, she almost jumped as it pulled her out of her deep thoughts. She excused herself to the bathroom.

She opened her phone as soon as the door was closed, and read the texts. She hadn't felt it buzz earlier.

From Erik – Hey you doing anything tonight?

She hadn't told him anything about her real parents or anything at all, actually. She just kind of left him hanging. She'd have to text him at some point.

Three were from Marissa – I know your busy or whatever but just wanted to say good luck  Another one – Miss you and love you and another one – No matter what I'm your family! Remember that chica!

Tears welled in her eyes as she texted her best friend back. Love you too and miss you. Things are going pretty well. Be home tomorrow.

As she fixed her makeup and did indeed pee like she excused herself to do, her phone buzzed again.

So you're not leaving me to live with them?

Adeila gripped the sink and blew out a breath. And that was the million dollar question wasn't it?

Buzzing again – I don't wanna be selfish but I don't want you to not be here.

A soft knock echoed at the door. "You got five minutes, Adeila, before we are due to the dining hall."

"Okay, coming!"

She texted Marissa back – I know! I won't. I'll see you tomorrow afternoon.

Adeila let out another sigh that she felt way down into her heart, and went out the door.

Kami smiled brightly. "You look absolutely stunning!"

She did, even she could admit it. She'd chosen a stunning light blue dress. It made the lightness in her azure eyes pop, and it showcased all the nice assets the Fae world had enhanced. The dress was strapless and hugged her body all the way to the floor. The slit up the side was a dramatic effect, but it was classy and came up to just above her knee on her left side.

She brought her arm up to push at a strand of hair, and that was when she noticed it. She almost yelped in surprise. Her tattoo had been added to. Golden swirls looped up her arm entwining two horse hooves, small stars and dots added to the lines.

Adeila stopped mid-stride and stared at the intricate lines, causing Kami to gasp.

"Whoa, Adeila, how didn't I notice that before? The bonding has added to your tattoo!"

Adeila had a brief moment of thinking about going back in her room and finding a dress that had long sleeves, but what the heck, everyone was going to find out at some point anyway.

Chapter Thirty

The castle was such an intricate community all in itself. Housekeepers, cooking staff, Guardians, guards, ground staff, scholars, librarians, and other staff she had yet to learn their purpose. It made her head spin but also fascinated her how the workings of it all ran. Since her idea of having a few of her "friends" come to the table with them, her parents had decided to have this be a small dinner honoring her visit to Faerie. So they also invited a few of the select team and council members and people that knew who she really was. She was delighted to discover that not only Sorryn would be coming but also his sister - Saibol, mother - Magistra, and father who'd she yet to meet. This pleased Adeila, as something about Magistra made her feel comfortable; the woman gave off a good, soothing, and peaceful energy. Something that Adeila had heard Loki explain; that each magical being gives off an aura. Some can mask theirs, but most display them openly for people to read.

When finally she stepped into the gigantic, warm and loud dining hall her nerves were fluttering. She'd been happy that the dinner wouldn't be just her, her parents and Loki, but now it almost looked more like a real party. She and Kami were unnoticed for only a millisecond; she was only able to get a small glance of the fifteen or more people milling about. She hadn't expected so many, but she was going to will herself to learn something and enjoy the moment. It was her mother who approached them first.

"Oh my, Adeila, you look gorgeous!"

Adeila smiled and twirled for her mother, but couldn't help but feel shadowed in beauty by the woman before her. Every moment she'd seen Deleana Dennoak, the woman had looked breathtakingly beautiful and tonight it was intensified. Her midnight blue dress was floor length and slim from the capped sleeves to the hips and then flared out slightly to fall in waves that cascaded to the floor. Shimmers of tiny crystals sparkled as the skirt moved around her legs. Her hair was half pinned up, crown to ears, but the rest was in curls that fell to sway along her butt. It left her tipped ears, and angular features the focal point, and the midnight blue of her eyes.

"It was Kami's idea to dress up and now I'm glad we did." Adeila said it a little breathlessly, and was thankful that Kami had talked her into "over-dressing". Well, at the time it had been over-dressing, but now looking around they fit right in. Everyone was wearing very fine clothing. Even her own father, who was sauntering over to them, wore nice black slacks, and a light blue button up shirt. His pale blue eyes danced with mischief, and she felt the answering pang of paternal pride and love as she watched him.

"Your father has had a glass or two of wine and it brings out the child in him." Her mother said it with a beaming smile saved for both her daughter and husband.

Adeila couldn't help the laugh that came out, or the grin that plastered her face as she looked on as he swept her mother into a very sweet, dramatic twirl and long kiss.

Her mother, red cheeked, batted him away. "Behave!"

He just grinned foolishly, and turned to Adeila. "My daughter! Aren't you just the most stunning young lady!"

He grabbed her, and twirled her around as well. She was swept away, and allowed him to do so. He planted a kiss on her forehead, and then with a bow made his way back to the table.

Adeila couldn't help the grin. In such a short time, she felt more at home with these people, more comfortable with their family banter, then she'd ever felt with the nonexistence of this familial freedom in her human home. It was something she would miss sorely when she left to return to her own world. The thought sent pain slashing through her heart and stomach. The thought of leaving almost crippled her, but the thought of leaving the life she had at the human realm was just as bad. She had to at least tie up loose ends there before it would feel okay for her to leave that life behind. She owed herself, her friends and her family in the human realm as much. It was all she'd ever known for almost eighteen years, until a little over twenty four hours ago. Her mind was set, but it still killed her to think of. So tonight she promised she wouldn't. She would revel in this kindred harmony that seemed to envelope this entire castle. Tonight she would be free. All worries about leaving or staying and everything else would be in the back of her mind.

With a small bit of pride, and a lot of panic she showed her parents her wrist. Her mother clapped her hands and hugged her.

"That's wonderful, my love! We've never known a bonding of a Unicorn, so we had no idea its physical effects. But it is quite lovely."

Her father touched her arm, and then kissed her forehead again, sending a twist of rightness through her heart. "My heart, I am so proud of you."

Adeila had never experienced anyone doting on her or praising her in this way. It was a whole new world, and she had to bite back the burning in her throat as tears threatened.

She was saved as Sorryn, Saibol and Magistra and a tall, blonde, dashingly handsome older man, came up to them, each bowing. Sorryn introduced her to his father, Gavin. He was a diplomat, of sorts, for the King. Sending messages, writing passages, geographical mapping, overseeing records and archives. He was also the Kingdom's accountant, and many other things that his high intelligence called for. She was told that it was he, who had plotted the maps of Faerie, many years ago. He and someone named Alazarr, a fellow adventurer.

She smiled at all of them, loving that each and every person had such an interesting relationship, both personal and business, with her parents. The trust that they shared with these people was astounding. If only humans could still truly live this way.

Everyone looked stunning. Sorryn had on all black. Black slacks, silk black shirt. His hair was even tamed with gel and Adeila couldn't decide if she liked the polished look, or the "I don't give a shit" look he usually had on better. Both suited him well. Magistra wore a long eggplant colored gown, and Saibol wore a lovely, Kelly green dress that brought out the emerald of her eyes.

After the introductions, and the showing off her parents had to display of her newest tattoo addition, Magistra hugged both Adeila and Deleana. It was clear that her mother and Magistra were old and very dear friends. Soon, both women and Gavin wandered off together, and she, Kami and the siblings were left.

"I like the new bonding addition, and I see you guys got the dress up memo?" Sorryn grinned and wagged his eyebrows.

"You and Kami must be on some kind of wavelength because she decided it would be fun to be over-dressed and here we are... Under-dressed."

He laughed. "Kami just knows castle life slightly better than you, Princess. Whenever dinner is involved with more than four people, dressing up is a requirement."

Adeila laughed. "And I just keep learning don't I?"

Sorryn opened his mouth, but his response was interrupted by a very deep, masculine voice. "You have much to learn still, Princess."

Much like Sorryn, Loki was dressed in mostly black, but where Sorryn looked polished, Loki looked dangerous. His shirt wasn't black; it was of the darkest browns, that appeared black unless in the light. His dark hair was just as it always was; a little untamed as if he'd run his fingers through it one too many times. His sword was prominent in its dark brown leather scabbard at his hip.

A zing of electrical current ran its way down her spine as she finally met his golden eyes. Still not quite right in color. The gold was almost illuminated in the soft glow of the dining hall. She was struck then by not only their beauty but by their similarity. Her mind raked itself to discover that sense of recognition. Her eyes widened when her mind grasped it. The similarity was that of the Gyrfalcon that seemed to hang around her human home. The color was almost exact, and the luminescence of them was like dusk light sweeping over the birds eyes.

He must have caught on to her train of thought, because he gave her a knowing grin and his eyes twinkled. He leaned very close to her, his lips almost brushing her ear. "You'll have to ask me again, another time, of my powers, Princess."

She shivered involuntarily at his closeness and the almost predatory tone his voice took with his words. As if a very intimate secret hung between them. She swallowed as her eyes held his. She could barely nod as a few more people swept up to them.

She was introduced to her parent's closest friends, Guardians and advisers or councilmen as they were sometimes regarded as. Perry Cosgraham was an interesting and quirky elder who her father looked up to about almost everything to do with the kingdom – he'd been around during her grandfather's reign, apparently - and Adeila liked him instantly. Jessa Danes was the Castle Overseer which loosely translated into castle manager. She oversaw the comings and goings of the castle, the staff and pretty much everything else.

Klyne Danes, Jessa's elder brother, was the King's war commander. He was a stunningly handsome, but deadly looking man. With long silver hair, tied in a low pony tail, piercing silvery blue eyes, and very tipped ears that had silver-like hoops all along them. He also had at least six blades attached to his very practical black clothing. He was even more stoic and cocky in appearance then Loki.

Each person brought something new to the table and she liked most of them quickly, all except for Marston, one of the agents in Loki's R.F.R.U. something about him made her incredibly uncomfortable, but she tried very hard not to show it. She decided she'd ask Kami his story another time.

In general the dinner went extremely well. She asked intelligent questions and learned many things about her parents, the castle life, the kingdoms and the realms. Interesting and funny stories were passed around the table, and she found herself riveted. A few of them asked to look at her new bonding tattoo, and it was obvious they hadn't seen a Fae bond with a Unicorn in many years. It was all very interesting to them, particularly Gavin, Magistra's husband. In all of his traveling he'd never met someone who was bonded to such a reclusive and mysterious animal. She wasn't sure if she felt proud, or annoyed at all the interest. Although Loki had said nothing of this revelation, he just watched her in that strange intense way he had been all night. Even more intense as the night wore on.

Thankfully she had sat next to her mother and Kami, who was flanked by Magistra and Saibol. So she tried to stick to their conversations, and resist the urge to look across the table towards Loki, who was in a heated discussion with Gavin and Klyne. Throughout dinner he'd seemed particularly stoic and giving off an almost dangerous vibe whenever her eyes met his. She had no idea what was going on with him but it made her slightly nervous and exhilarated all at once.

Every time he caught her eye the predator gleam sent a shiver down her spine, and she wasn't entirely unhappy about the feeling. It was one consisting of not only danger but sensuality. Something about the look was sexually charged, and having never given the chemistry between them any kind of thought before, it made her uncomfortable and confused; but it wasn't all unpleasant. Something about it just seemed much different then Loki's usual warrior facade. That's what made her nervous. Loki had never shown any true interest in her, so she thought him showing it all of a sudden was a little strange. So when one is uncomfortable with something, you do one of two things; confront or ignore. She chose the latter.

Several hours passed before people began milling towards their rooms or homes.

When finally her parents began to yawn, she decided to take her leave. She was exhausted from her early morning agility feats out windows, unicorn meetings, and traipsing around the village with the team. When she finally stood up to retire, she noticed Loki begin to stand to escort her to her room, she panicked because she had no idea if she really wanted to be alone with him at this moment, but to her relief Kami stood up as well, and offered to walk her to her room and return her borrowed dress.

Adeila exhaled a small sigh of relief and agreed to her instantly, but she couldn't help but let her eyes drift to Loki's golden ones and see the tightness in them. The need to say or do something. She swallowed and quickly bid everyone goodnight before he had a change to say anything. Something about him tonight made her nervous and excited and many other emotions she was not willing to exploit. She just wanted the night to be over. It had been a long and eventful day.

"Thank you, Kami, for walking me to my room." Adeila smiled as the girl changed back into her own clothes and the glamour upon her dress evaporated.

"Yeah, no problem. I don't really know what the hell is going on with Loki but he's acting all weird. Like, he's a quiet, moody guy anyway but he's acting mega weird."

Adeila's eye brows pinched together. "You don't think it has anything to do with... You know."

Kami bit her lip. "I really hope not. You know something really messed up?"

When Adeila nodded, Kami looked around as if checking to make sure they were alone and her voice lowered. "Marla's only half Fae. Her mother was human. It is said that her mother was a very well-known witch who worked with spells and dark magic in the human realm. I'm not sure how much truth is to that, but witchcraft is so very different in its values and compositions then our magic. Our magic is raw, true and just a manipulation, mostly, of the elements. Witchcraft is different. It can be darker, more twisted and sinister. Oftentimes Fae in the human realm seek out witches because they feel kindred to them. Something about the words that Marla said almost seemed hedged with a spell. I might be insane though. I'm probably spouting nonsense."

Adeila's eyes were huge. "No, no. I think you are exactly right, Kami. I think something drastically wrong when I even look at that woman. It was like an unnatural magical vibe, not like the rest of the Fae give off."

"You can feel their auras already?"

Adeila shrugged. "Yeah, I guess, is that unusual?"

"Yeah, I couldn't really feel anything for over a year. I still have trouble and it's only when the Fae is allowing themselves to be read that I can read them easily. I've never been able to sense anything from Marla. I only get the smell of sulfur and sage from her."

Adeila chewed on her lip. "This is bad, Kami."

"Yeah, but you gotta remember that Loki's a big boy. He'll figure it out. It'll be fine. Promise. It's not like he hasn't handled worse than distraught lovers before. The guy has taken down insane Fae, goblins and a crazy, viscous mountain trolls - a little spell from a bitch of an ex can't get him."

"Goblin's?" He had mentioned mountain trolls before when speaking of the north, but goblins?

"Yeah, creepy lot let me tell ya. They can change themselves to look kind of Fae or human like, but you always know they're Goblins if you know what to look for. Creepy black eyes that have no other color pigment at all and wide mouths that split their faces almost in half. In their true form they are green-black scaled creatures, which stand about five feet tall with nails and teeth sharp as daggers. We haven't seen any around since the one that Loki killed almost two years ago."

Adeila's mind was spinning and she felt feverish. Kami groaned. "Look at you, exhausted! Get into bed!" And she gestured for her to change and get into the giant four poster bed.

Chapter Thirty-One

Kami stuck around until Adeila was in her white night shirt and tucked into bed before leaving. It made Adeila feel better and it wasn't long before she fell into a very fitful sleep, filled with dreams of goblins chasing her (in their true form), wolves and then Loki.

Loki lying dead on the forest floor, bleeding from his mangled form. His golden eyes, that she'd grown so fond of, were blank, vacant and dull as his life force slowly faded from him. His magic, a vivid blue whirling with silver, cascaded like smoke off of him and into the starry night sky.

Adeila sat bolt upright in bed, tears streaming down her face and sweat coated her brow and down her spine. She was shivering but her room was warm and airy. She took a few calming breaths, then a couple sips from the water that always magically appeared next to her nightstand. Once her breathing was back under control, she crept from her bed.

She needed to find Loki. Just to check on him. The dream left her heart aching and knots in her stomach. She knew it was just a dream but with everything else that had happened in the last twenty four hours, she needed her mind to settle before even considering sleep again, or even a non-curdling stomach would be great, because she was pretty sure at any moment she might vomit up her dinner.

Upon opening her door, she realized that she still wore the very thin white sleeping shirt. It had thick straps and went to her knees. It really wasn't that slutty or anything, but it was still fairly inappropriate for traipsing through the castle at night.

Screw it, she thought and headed for the direction of the main stairwell. She'd never been to Loki's room so she really wasn't sure where it was, but during the tour her parents had given her, they'd run into Loki leaving the East wing of the castle and he'd said something about leaving his rooms. So she decided to head there and hope she could find it, or someone to direct her. She wasn't really sure if the Guards would let her actually get that far, so she couldn't decide if she wanted to ask them or avoid them.

But couldn't she just ask them to bring him to her? She was the Princess after all. As she crept along the castle halls she decided to avoid the Guards, which proved not to be too hard. They were here and there but easy enough to dodge.

Finally she found the split that she'd seen Loki at and took the hallway she hoped headed east. Sconces were scattered here and there but much fewer then in her own hall, and the tapestries here depicted battle scenes versus the serene meadow, waterfall and forest scenes in her own hall.

A movement to her right caught her off guard and she froze to the wall. A silhouette made their way out of one of the rooms and sauntered towards her. Once they walked under one of the scones, Adeila's breath caught in her throat, and she had to strangle off a cry. Marla, dressed in a very short, blood red, body hugging dress and black stiletto heels sauntered right up to her, a devilish grin spread across her red lips when her mossy eyes connected with Adeila's.

"Ah, Princess, are you lost? This wing is for the hired help."

"I.. Ah .. I was just-"

"Mmhhmm. Now why don't you run along back to your cushy suite if you know what's good for you."

Finally Adeila's wits caught up to her and she steeled herself. "Let's not pretend we don't know each other, Marla. I saw you in the human realm."

A warning flashed across the woman's cold green eyes. "I figured you recognized me. Surprised you didn't give me up then. Well, now I think I have-"

She was cut off as a door opened and Sorryn stepped out. His lovely blue-lavender eyes swept over her, thoroughly, warmly, before blasting an icy coldness towards Marla. "Ah, Marla, what the fuck are you doing here?"

The woman plastered a flirty smile on her blood red lips and put her hand on her hips. "Oh, Sorryn didn't you know I made house calls these days?"

He made a very disgusted face and turned his attention to Adeila. "Adeila, honey, are you looking for Loki?"

Adeila instantly stepped around Marla and closer to Sorryn. "I...Yes. I just had some questions for him, about tomorrow."

Marla smirked for a moment, ensuring both of them saw her. "Oh, I wouldn't disturb him now. I left him quite worn out." Then she laughed. A sultry, musical, sound that went against the hatred that tinged her eyes as she stared at Adeila.

"Eew. Okay, I think it's time you found your way out, Marla." Sorryn made a gesture with his hands, and thankfully a Guard materialized out of nowhere, and gestured for Marla to follow him.

Her eyes never left Adeila's and it was very clear that a warning was being given. Adeila had no idea if she should tell any of them that she had seen Marla in the human realm. It was something she knew she should tell, but to what end? Would the terrible woman make Loki pay somehow? Was that the warning she was trying to portray?

Once Marla was well beyond sight, she turned to Sorryn. "I'm sorry to disturb you."

He came over and put a muscular arm around her shoulders. "Seriously, there isn't a thing about you that could disturb me. I heard female voices and decided I'd see what was going on. I mean, the rooms are co-ed but most of the female warriors don't chatter in the halls."

Adeila nodded. "I was...I just..." Everything about Sorryn's aura was bright like the sun; there were no doubts in her that he was an honest and trustworthy guy, so she decided for the truth. "I had a terrible dream about Loki. He lay mangled on the forest floor. I mean ripped to shreds. It was horrible." She couldn't help the slight tremble that shook her voice at the memory.

"Hey, hey now." He pulled her into a very warm, male embrace and spoke above her head. "If I know anything about our Loki, it is that he is as tough as steel. Don't you worry your pretty little head about Loki. He would never be dumb enough, or caught off guard enough to ever let that happen to himself."

She sniffled but got herself together before cried on Sorryn's chest. Oh, jeez! His very naked chest. She stepped away, and wiped her eyes. Holy crap how had she not noticed the guy was shirtless before? Whoa, and some seriously amazingly hot chest he had. What the heck was wrong with her, practically crying on some guys naked chest?

She ran a hand through her hair, but couldn't help being touched by the very sweet gestured he'd shown her, even though he was shirtless and his chest and stomach was smooth and rippled with very well defined muscled. A blush crept across her cheeks, but she smiled at him.

"Thank you, Sorryn, that really does make me feel better."

He grinned as if sensing her sudden discomfort. "No problem. Want me to show you to Loki's room?"

She nodded. "If you don't mind."

"Of course not."

They walked together only about twenty feet up the hall. Sorryn rapped twice on the door. Nothing. He waited a beat, and then knocked again. Nothing. Sorryn's blue-purple eyes dipped down to hers, and a small amount of concern filtered across them. Her heart pounded so hard in her chest, she heard it in her ear drums and her palms grew sweaty.

"That's odd; he's a really light sleeper." Sorryn knocked again, but this time when there was no answer he twisted the knob. The door swung open.

The room was huge, almost as large as her own. The walls and floor were a very dark red wood, there was a stone fireplace on the far right wall with a fire smoldering within it. Dark wooden furnishings adorned the area, along with scatter rugs of gold and red. Finally her eyes landed on the massive four poster canopy bed. The comforter on the top was the same red and gold and there was a body under them. She gulped and looked to Sorryn, not wanting to be the first one to enter. Sorryn did so without being prompted.

"Loki!" Nothing. "Hey, Loki! The Princess is here for you." Nothing. Adeila's stomach was twisted so tight she thought her intestines might explode at any moment. Fear gripped every fiber of her being.

Sorryn stepped around the bed and Adeila moved closer into the room to watch him. He started a few lights up with just a snap of his fingers. Apparently he had an affinity for fire, or maybe that was just something all Fae could do? She still had so much to learn.

When the light filtered across the bed, she saw that Loki lay on his side. His top half barred and naked, the thick comforter covering him from hip down. His dark hair fell across his brow, it looked wet, like it was slicked with sweat or wet from a shower, she wasn't sure, and his tanned skin glowed as it was kissed by the light. She purposefully kept her eyes on his face instead of letting them wander his lean muscled physique. She'd had quite enough of half-naked men for one night.

Sorryn knelt down close to him, examining, his head cocked. He turned to Adeila and shrugged. Then he grabbed Loki's exposed shoulder and shook it, roughly. "Loki!"

Thank goodness, Loki finally sat upright in the bed and looked around, with a half wild, glazed expression. He ran a hand over his face, and through his slicked hair.

"What the fuck, Sorryn?"

"Dude, we were freakin' banging on the door and yelling your name and you didn't even rustle! Loki, you are the lightest sleeper out of all of us. We got a little freaked out!"

Loki looked around again, his eyes finding and holding hers. Emotions filtered across his. Surprise, a hint of regret, sadness, concern and something else. Something light and dark at the same time. An emotion that rustled butterflies awake within her stomach where nausea had just sat, but one she couldn't even begin to decipher.

Loki's voice was deep, and rough from sleep. "Is everything okay?"

Sorryn only shook his head. "Ah, yeah. We just...Well, Adeila had a bad dream, and wanted to check on you. Then Marla -"

"Marla?" Then his eyes went very, very dark. He was silent for several moments, clearing his head. She wished with all her might that she knew what was going through his mind. His eyes were dark and licked with flame. His brows were pinched together. "Marla was here?"

Sorryn grimaced. "Yeah, she left your room. She... Well, she insinuated that you guys-"

Loki held up his hand, he obviously already knew what Sorryn's would say. Adeila really wanted to be sick. She wanted to vomit right there on his bed. Had Marla and Loki just...? Were they back together?

He'd made it sound very believable that they were over for good yesterday when he'd spoken to her. It was also weird because Loki made it seem very believable that he didn't realize she'd been here just now, she could hear the confusion in his roughened voice. You'd think if you'd just slept with a girl you'd damn sure remember.

Adeila's mind was reeling, along with her stomach. The contents of her dinner were really beginning to push their way up, the acid burning the back of her throat.

"I'm...I'm going to be sick. I..." She began to leave the room. Loki made a move to get up, but just as he began to slip from the bed, he stopped, abruptly. Obviously, thinking better of it, and slung the comforter tighter over his obvious nakedness all the way down. Sorryn stood there with a completely baffled expression on his face.

"Adeila...I..." Loki's voice quavered briefly, but he clearly had no idea what to say.

She nodded. "Sorryn can fill you in. I'm glad you're okay. Well, better then okay, clearly. Night."

She made it to a random bathroom near the kitchens before her dinner made its way up.

Chapter Thirty-Two

.... Loki ....

He was beyond pleased with Adeila's progress thus far. He'd watched her with the advisers, Guardian's and his own agents. Her charisma, charm and strong mind melded well with the others. She just fit. Everyone genuinely liked and accepted her. He knew she would make a just and influential leader one day. Especially with the tattoo already growing with the bond of the Unicorn. Not even twenty-four hours in Faerie and she already bonded with an animal of the strongest, ancient magic. The evidence in her skin was something he knew she would be confused about, and he felt bad that there was little time to explain to her more of it. He hoped that by explaining his own tattoos upon entering Faerie she'd understand the magnitude of it. The sheer beauty in Faerie magic inking your skin. He knew some Fae hundreds of years old that never had the Faerie magic ink their skin any farther then their bloodlines symbols.

His fingers trembled against the door knob of his room. He shook his head, as if to shake off some of the buzz. He should have never agreed to the fourth pint of jade ale. He'd never been a drinker, but when the King insisted on toasting to him for his accomplishments with the R.F.R.U, getting his daughter to Faerie safely and being a trusted and true adviser, who was he to deny his King?

Loki let out a shaky breath and began unbuttoning his shirt. He looked and was relieved to find a glass of ice water with lemon on his nightstand. Should probably try to push out the alcohol faster, he thought. He squeezed the lemon into his water and took a long pull.

Clearly this ale had been a good batch. Fae had a very strong tolerance to alcohol, it rarely affected them, but there were a few breweries within the kingdoms that used special ingredients to make the alcohol potent enough that the Fae's metabolism had a harder time fighting off the effects.

He stripped down to his boxers. An uncomfortable sweat surfaced across his body, he wiped it as it pooled above his upper lip, and it slipped down his back. He was too warm with any clothing touching him, he felt like he was overheating in his own skin, so he slipped beneath his sheets nude.

Once he lay down, the room spun. Well, damn. That ale packed a huge punch. He downed the rest of his water, and debated on going to get more when his lids closed, and his mind wandered. Without trying, an image fluttered across his closed lids.

Adeila in school. Tight denim clinging to her slim legs, a black shirt hugging her chest and slender waist. Her long hair loose and flowing. A flirty smile across her lips, even if it hadn't been directed towards him, it punched his stomach into a strange knot. That was the first time he'd allowed himself to feel any real attraction towards her.

Prior to that he'd kept any thoughts of her purely platonic, business. Although touching her had alighted complete confusion in him. He recalled what it felt to shake her hand that first day in the human Chemistry class. What a silly idea on his part, but how was he to know that shaking her hand would elicit such an intense response. How that was evoked, was beyond him. He'd thought, at that time, that it was a fluke, but he knew better now.

Every time he touched her a similar reaction occurred. It confused and sent ambivalence through him. He'd never felt anything like it before. Ever. With anyone. It was something he promised to ask someone that was much wiser then himself about, one of these days.

He knew his touch affected her as well. The girl wore her emotions on her sleeve. Something he knew he had to work on with her. For now he enjoyed that it affected her so, even if it down right pissed him off most of the time, because he could never allow her to think of him as anything more than a protector. She was already destined, and he was damned to remember that. Anything he felt for her must remain entirely platonic.

The second image was more vivid and almost stopped his heart. It was tonight. When she'd entered the dining hall, timidly, looking like something from a fantasy. Maybe his own?

The light blue dress hugged every enunciated curve, exposing her slender, graceful shoulders and neck. The slit at the skirt leaving much to a man's imagination, with its peaking hints of slender calves and a small hint of thigh when she moved quickly or sat. Her hair, that was the streaked mixture of caramel, honey and wheat, was left loose, just the way he was finding he liked it best. The tattoos at her wrist stark against her skin.

He'd let the intake of breath catch in his throat as he watched her enter. Sorryn had given him a knowing grin before sauntering off to greet her.

The girl had absolutely no clue how stunningly, breathtakingly, beautiful she was; which made her even more extraordinary. He was used to most women knowing exactly what they had – physically - and using it their advantage. Adeila could never be like that; she was far too timid, self-conscious, too humble and modest for that.

His mind still reeled with the image of the golden Princess, when he heard a noise. He tried to open an eye lid as he lay on his bed, but the bedroom still blurred and spun. His foggy conscience tried to send warning bells through him but instead he held onto the image created within his mind for just a bit longer. He was not one to fantasize, as he could obtain pleasure with many women within this very castle, the village and pretty much anywhere else he went. He'd never had issues getting any girl he desired. He just didn't have the time or interests very often to even try to look. But this was different. He could not afford to think of Adeila in this manner. Not only had she been promised many years ago to his middle brother, but he also had pledged allegiance to her father and feeling an attraction to her would do nothing but cause him distraction and heartache. He could never have her. She was destined for another.

When he thought of Lukkas, who he'd not seen in over a year, he almost growled with frustration. The image of Adeila, smiling along with his teammates as they wove the tales of their escapades, fluttered back to the forefront of his mind. Her beautiful azure blue eyes sparkling like rare gems, her generous mouth bowed up in a lovely smile.

He heard a noise again, and attempted to open his eyes. This time the spinning blurred his vision and his fantasy image took an erotic twist, as she walked across his room, slipping slowly out of the blue gown. Then his foggy mind processed her straddling his body above the silky sheet. He allowed the vivid hallucination to continue; gliding his hands up her slender thighs, to her prominent hip bones and up her rib cage to rest just under her breasts. His mind quickly registered that she seemed much more muscled then he knew her to be. Fae must have really changed her body more then he'd noticed. Her skin just didn't feel as smooth and silky as he'd imagined it would either. Warning bells went off in his head, but again he chose to ignore them, riding out the strength of the lust he was feeling.

He let the fantasy take on proportions that he never should have, as it twisted further, seeming more and more real, spiraling out of his usually very tight control.

The Adeila atop him was experienced in ways he'd never imagined. In an almost familiar way, but he pushed those thoughts from his mind, letting the sensations take over. Riding a high that he rarely allowed himself, ignoring all rational thought.

He'd never really allowed himself to think of Adeila in quite this way, and certainly never imagined her in his bedroom. He thought he owed himself, this once, to let the emotions and delusion to play out. Tomorrow he would steel himself to all of these thoughts. Steel himself to her. But at this moment he just wanted to let go.

.~.

.... Adeila ....

Adeila had made her way to her room and fell back into the insanely comfortable bed, but sleep only came to her in snippets. Her mind was a jumble of confusion.

Why did she care what Loki did? It was just so weird that he'd seemed so uninterested in Marla to then sleep with her? To then be confused and almost act as if he had no idea she had been in his room... It was just peculiar. She felt like a fool for rushing down to his room after a bad dream to ensure he was safe while he was banging his lover. And again why the hell did the whole thing bother her so damn much?

Again she tried unsuccessfully to sleep; when it did finally come to her it was well past dawn. She awoke from a light rapping on her door, and narrowed her eyes as the person let themselves in. Damn it, she clearly hadn't locked the door in her haste to get into her bedroom. Kammile's silvery blonde hair and bright smile came into her view and she sighed.

"Morning Princess, your parents sent me to find you for some breakfast."

Adeila groaned, the thought of food had her stomach roiling, the memory of early this morning flooding her. Her pained expression must have been visible because Kami was at her side in seconds.

"What is it?"

Adeila peeked at her from her under her lashes. "You mean you didn't hear?"

Kami cocked her head with a completely bemused expression.

"You didn't hear about the Marla thing last night... or this morning. Or whatever. Whenever. Gahh." Adeila threw up her hands and moved the covers off her.

Kami's eyes widened, she was riveted. "Ah, what? No? You mean after the whole incident in the village?"

Adeila ran a hand through her hair, pushing its tangles back. "Yeah at, I don't know three or something this morning; I woke up from a really terrible dream. Loki was dead on the forest floor somewhere, completely mangled from something... I don't know exactly, something sharp. Like claws."

Kami gasped and grabbed Adeila's hand. "I'm sure that was terrifying to see, but Loki is like the strongest guy ever. Remember, I told you that last night – Oh my gosh! I bet I put stuff in your head from the whole goblin, mountain troll crap, I was telling you! I'm so sorry."

Adeila shook her head. "No, no. Don't be sorry. Please. It may have been my imagination running wild but the rest of the dream; the other bits of it were stuff I've dreamt of before. Granted, I've never seen Loki... Like that, in my dreams but -" She broke off with a sigh. "I don't know, it scared the crap out of me. I tried to find his room."

"Oh gosh, I hate where this is going, if you say Marla was involved."

Adeila nodded her head, her lips thinning. She still felt groggy, and her stomach was still rolling with discomfort and stress.

"So Marla was coming out of Loki's room. She said some hateful things, then pretty much said she'd... Well, you know, with Loki."

Kami shook her head and made a disgusted face. "No way! There's no way he'd do that again! I cannot believe it. I bet he told her off and she was pissed."

Adeila shook her head. "I don't really know, Kam. I mean Sorryn and I went to his room and he was out cold, and... Naked. It looked... Well, I mean, it added up to that, hate to say."

"Eeeeww. I still... I don't know, Adi, I really think there's more to the story than that. Loki is one of those, stick to his guns kind of guys. I cannot believe he would say something and then go against what he said."

"I don't know, maybe he just said all that in the village for our benefit. Maybe he never intended to break things off."

Kami shook her head, but stood up and paced. "I don't think so. I've known Loki for almost three years; he's like, easily the most honorable guy. I just don't think he'd say that and not mean it."

Adeila shrugged and got up from her bed. Kami turned to her. "Did he deny it?"

Adeila began brushing out her hair. "That's what's weird. He acted like he had no idea Marla had even been in his room."

Kami stopped pacing and moved close to Adeila. Her voice lowered a fraction. "Do you think she like planted something or.... something in his room? I don't know..." Kami paused and bit her lip. "...like witchcraft stuff?"

Adeila's eyes widened. "Oh my gosh, you think?"

Kami shrugged. "Hateful hag. I wouldn't put it past her."

Adeila tapped the brush against her palm. "We have to check."

She turned to Kami. "Do you think you can check, if I keep Loki occupied at breakfast?"

Kami went green. "Well, I... I could.. I guess. It's just if he found out, I'd be so dead."

"I'd say I think I dropped something in there when I left so quickly last night. I'd totally take the heat. I'm leaving today anyway so it doesn't really matter much."

"Wait, what?"

Adeila raised her brows at her. "I can handle it, I'm leaving today."

Kami grasped her arm, and put on a serious five year old pout, which looked quite adorable on her lovely slender face. "So soon? Really?"

Adeila smiled lightly. "I have school tomorrow, I need to get back."

"I guess... I don't know, I thought that you'd changed your mind, or would stay longer or something."

"I'll be back, Kam. I really will. I love it here. It's weird and different but it's really my home, isn't it? I really belong here. I just need to go back. I have to say good bye. For real. Finish school. Do something for me, you know."

Kami nodded. "I'll miss you."

Adeila smiled. "I'll miss you too."

The girls hugged briefly before Adeila rushed to get dressed. A plan of infiltration had been made so Kami could see if Marla had left anything in Loki's room.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Breaching the subject of her departure was damn near impossible. Upon seeing Loki at the table her entire speech to her parents went out the window. He looked like crap. Dark circles punctuated beneath his eyes, the usual gleam in them vacant. They were a bland green gold, the gray washing across the mixture. Instead of rings it was more of a blending of the colors, just like hazel of normal humans. She couldn't bring herself to look at him, or think of some way to broach the subject of her leaving to her parents. They chattered and complimented her, and said how much everyone had adored her last night. How excited they were to have more dinners like that, and maybe parties and balls. She tried her best to smile and nod.

As soon as breakfast was over she dismissed herself, and thoroughly hoped that Kami had done what she needed to do. Instead of going back to her room she made her way out of the castle and to the stables, Sorryn and a Guardian, whose name she thought was Rembly, in tow.

Once she finally stopped walking, Sorryn stood with her. "I told Loki about your dream. He's obviously not worried, but was pretty surprised that you came in worry for him. He was also completely clueless about Marla being in his room. He said he was having very deep, vivid dreams, so maybe he did not hear her enter. Which I still find odd, because he really is a very light sleeper. Apparently, that ale was more effective then he thought. But regardless nothing happened between them."

Adeila nodded. "I suppose it is none of our business either way, right?"

Sorryn cocked his head, but watched as she entered the stall of the bay gelding she had met the day before when they'd visited the stables. Gulliver, she had instantly found a bond with him. She ran her hand over his well-groomed, gleaming hide and he snuffed at her hand, clearly looking for handouts.

A few moments later a familiar female voice yelled to her from the stable door, and she called back. Kami entered the stable.

"Ah, hey, Sorryn. So I can take over watching the Princess duty."

Sorryn put his hands on his hips. "I know that look in your eye, you've been up to no good. What the heck did you do?"

Kami threw up her hands. "Nothing! I just... Want some time with my friend and since I am a trained Guardian and R.F.R.U agent, I should be able to guard her just fine."

"No freaking way! Not until I find out what has you looking so odd!"

Adeila stepped out of the stall. "Kami it's okay. I trust Sorryn." Her eyes bore into Sorryn's, asking, pleading.

He nodded his head once. "Whatever it is, Princess, you may have my oath that I will tell no one, but please think before doing things. Anything. Secrets are never a good thing."

Adeila swallowed. "Kami and I were talking about the whole Loki/Marla thing that happened last night and we thought maybe she did something to him. Like drugged him, or something. So I sent Kami in to his room to check around."

Sorryn's eyes widened. "Princess, that's quite an invasion of privacy."

She lowered her head. "I know it's just, well -"

"And it's bloody brilliant! I'm glad you guys did that because I was kind of remembering last night that it is said that Marla's mother was quite a high stationed practicing witch and Goddess knows what she taught her daughter. That's a good place to start. Loki would never suspect such things to happen to him; but I mean the girl's a complete psycho."

It was like a weight was lifted from her shoulders. She had no idea why his approval suddenly meant so much; maybe it was because she felt that he and Loki were very close. But she was incredibly pleased with herself that he clearly saw it as a good decision, and hoped that approached correctly, Loki would too.

Adeila and Sorryn both turned to Kami. The tiny silvery blonde girl looked sheepish for a second before speaking. "So the staff hadn't gotten around to clearing his water glass from his nightstand and I started there. The glass was empty, but I smelled a very distinct scent of Chysbis."

Sorryn whistled between his teeth, Adeila was lost. Kami piped up to fill her in. "Chysbis is a root that when crushed up can be turned into a kind of hallucinogen. People that are prone to visions sometimes use it to help them get into that spiritual mind set. Freaky-deaky kind of stuff. But of course, it is like a drug, where it has a calming effect. It can make the person go into a very deep dream state, where they don't have any clue what is reality and what is dream."

Adeila swallowed. "So, ah, she could have put that in his drink, but how did he not smell it?"

Sorryn groaned. "Loki takes lemon in his water. Lemon is known to cover the scent of Chysbis, but Loki always throws the lemon out when he's done drinking. So then the smell could have come back, but by then, of course, he'd already be done with the glass. By the time Kami got to it, the scent from the root had overpowered the glass again."

"Right, but, guys, that's not all. I found this." She produced a small gem of some kind. It was the size of her thumb nail and looked to be a really beautiful pink color; it shimmered in the light, turning a very light pink as the light touched it more.

Sorryn's eyes widened. "That's a binding stone, I think. It's Xenusyte, which can come in this pink tone, a very pale blue tone, and a really light orange tone. When cut and polished down like this, many people use it in binding or marriage rituals. It's more of a figurative thing that, actually, isn't used with any true power, but it is said if certain magic is instilled in it, it can be quite powerful. It-" He blushed and looked away. "It is used by couples in the bedroom. It is said that if put under the pillow of your lover it makes them think lustful thoughts. It's like a strange natural aphrodisiac."

Adeila ran a hand through her hair. Kami groaned before speaking. "Is she mental? What a nut case! I cannot believe this! How the hell do we tell Loki?"

"Tell me what?"

All three of them whipped around, and stared as Loki walked into the stable. He was taken aback by their stricken expressions and instantly stood rigid. "I repeat, tell me what?"

"Ah..." Kami gulped and looked to Adeila. Sorryn put his hands in his pockets and looked down.

Well, she'd just take the blame like she said she was going to in the first place. "So, uh, I..." His eyes were dark and had centered directly on her when she spoke. She almost peed herself at their intensity. She wouldn't be sorry about this damn it! Look what they had found! That bitch was trying to put some creepy lust spell on him!

"So I had Kami search your room because we were all really concerned about the whole Marla being in your room and you not knowing it thing." She said it all in a rush before he could interrupt that she really hoped some of it made sense. His eyes darkened even more, and he dragged his gaze to Kami and the girl instantly looked down, chastised.

Adeila tried to take the heat off Kami again. "I asked her to, Loki. The dream had me scared and already in a paranoid state. It was way over the line and I totally understand that now, but I had to be sure. It was just so weird. The girl gives me terrible vibes and the malicious way she said things to you made me think she'd do something. Then I found out that her mother was a witch and well my mind wandered."

His attention went from her, to Sorryn, then Kami, then back to her. "You found something."

Adeila nodded and gestured to Kami. She looked like a very terrified child who'd just been caught breaking an incredibly expensive prized vase while playing ball in the house, that she'd been told not to do a thousand times.

"I.. Well, first I checked your water glass and found traces of Chysbis. You know it can be drowned out by lemon and we all know how you drink your water."

Loki looked at Kami pensively, and then nodded. She continued. "It was distinct, Loki. Just enough to make someone loopy but not too much so. I promise you. I hid the glass so the staff wouldn't remove it. So you can see for yourself. But I also found this." She handed him the stone.

He took it and turned it over and over in his hand. "Under your pillow." She said the last part under her breath.

Loki looked pissed. Like beyond pissed. He didn't even say anything he just turned on his heel and stalked off. Once he was gone, everyone let out a breath.

"Well, shit, that went bad." Sorryn ran a hand through his dusty blond hair. "But it was necessary. I'm glad we told him."

"Er, well, he found out. But we were gonna tell him, right?" Kami turned to Adeila.

Adeila swallowed, and nodded. Her heart ached for Loki, it was such a messed up thing to happen to someone, but at least now he knew he'd been messed with.

The three of them spent a couple hours talking, spending time in the stables and then wandering around in the forest close by. When she realized she'd stalled enough, she headed back to the castle. Their hearts were heavy from the situation that had transpired. It was then that a Guardian sought her out and asked her to follow him.

Chapter Thirty-Four

She and the handsome, extremely nice Guardian, whose name was Ahern, walked away from the castle and the village, into the opposite direction. Towards the Grandmother willow, Gh'ehelila. She assumed maybe her parents wanted to speak to her there, so they could finally show her the sacred tree.

When they continued to walk passed it a trickle of unease passed over her. Where the heck was he taking her, and why?

The forest beyond the willow was dense, but soon the trees broke apart and a huge expanse of crisp, lush green grass met them and then it seemed to just drop off to nothing. As they walked closer she came to realize that it did just that. It dropped completely off, no warning. There was no railing, no sign, nothing. She could see the other side of the earth jut up and continue on, a few miles away. There was no land bridge, like the one they used to get to the old willow. Here was nothing, you literally needed to fly to get to the other side. She guessed this was probably the best kind of kingdom defense to have. She could hear the rush and bubble of cascading water, and peaked over the edge to see hundreds of waterfalls below them. The sounds and view were mesmerizing and peaceful. Beyond the grass that met the other edge of the land were mountains. Mountains as far as the eye could see, snow-capped and huge.

"This feels like the edge of the world."

"Maybe it is, Princess. Maybe it is."

Loki's voice had her whipping her head towards him. He looked better than he had when he'd left them. Some of the light was back in his eyes, the gold more prominent.

She rolled her eyes. They stood a few feet from each other, both lost in their own thoughts. She could imagine this place was majestic, serene and even a little frightening at nightfall. The sheer drop off, sound of water cascading down below. The sheer expanse of nothingness. She guessed the star gazing in this particular spot was incomparable and wished she could see for herself. She felt like there was still so much to see here. So much she would miss by returning to the human realm.

She decided to try to make sure the subject of what happened didn't come up. For many reasons; like not wanting his wrath for her execution of his invaded privacy, and because it was damn near embarrassing as to what the circumstances were. She did not want to talk about his lover or ex-lover, whatever, trying to seduce him with drugs and naughty magical stones.

"I can't stay here, Loki. I have no idea how to broach the subject to my parents. I had a life before this. I had hopes, dreams, and goals. I can't just give up on that, can I?"

"You can. This is a hope and dream that's far beyond anything you could ever obtain in the human world. Your future reign may change things, save things, progress things in ways we never thought possible. You never know."

She squinted her eyes nearly closed and ran a hand along her temple. "Or I could ruin everything my parents worked so hard to accomplish."

He began to speak but she cut him off. "I had that life before this one. Maybe I was born into these bloodlines, this birthright, but I didn't ask for this. All my memories are in the human realm. I owe myself something out of how far I've come. At least give me time, Loki. Time to digest all of this, figure things out. Time to discover myself. Time to figure out who I really am." She looked sideways at him. "You know I appreciate everything you've done and shown me, but I need to find my own way. It very well might lead me back here. Maybe sooner then I think, but I want that to be my decision."

His gorgeous, golden colored eyes found hers and what she saw in them surprised her. Empathy, understanding, maybe even respect. So maybe he wasn't spitting mad at her after all.

"I understand Adeila, I do, but your father is not going to. He has lived all his life in this world; he knows things are not safe for you out there. They may not be completely safe here either, but at least here he can monitor, he can protect you."

Under her breath she said, "Control me."

Loki just sighed in frustration. She knew they all wanted what was best for her. But what did she want? She looked out over the open landscape and smiled. "Maybe I can find someone to teach me to fight."

He laughed that throaty deep masculine laugh she'd learned to enjoy because it happened so infrequently.

"Maybe someone will take you as their student, but you can damn well plan on getting your little ass kicked."

She laughed and resisted the urge to bump her shoulder against his. It just seemed too friendly a thing to do. "I would expect nothing less."

He smiled down at her and lifted his hand, as if to touch her, and then with a swallow, he let his hand drop and turned to the castle that was just visible to the left of them beyond the tree line. "Well, I guess we better get back and tell your father. I'm sure he's going to be just thrilled with us."

Her eyebrows pinched together. "Us? Why, are you coming with me?"

"I made an oath that I would protect you, so I guess that leaves me little choice, does it, Princess?"

"I'm sorry! I will make sure that my father takes back that oath for you. You shouldn't have to come back with me. Especially after... Well. I really broke your -"

He smiled briefly and cut her off. "I doubt your father will take back the oath, even if it wasn't a binding one, and honestly I'd rather ensure your safety, personally, before returning anyway. I have nothing better to do then spend my days in a human high school. With all the drama and teenage hormones raging around. Plus, what you did, while completely ridiculous, did prove to be worthwhile. You need to learn to trust your own judgment and the "vibes", as you said, that Fae give off. Marla hid hers from me for a very long time, and only recently had I picked up on it. For you, someone who has only been in Fae a short time, to see right through all her glamour? That's impressive and I wouldn't be surprised if it's part of your magical abilities. I guess, I owe you a thank you. Although it doesn't seem really fitting since you had my belongings gone through by my own trusted agent."

She blushed but looked sidelong at him. He was forgiving her. He was the most noble, respectable and honorable man she'd ever come across and she hated the fact that she was actually beginning to like him and even depend upon him. Not that he needed to know that. Ever.

.~.

.... Loki ....

The betrayal and trickery seeped into his every pore. He could feel the flame of anger in his eyes. Like a predator seeking out his next meal he stalked through the village. When he finally zeroed in on his target the glimmer of panic that shot through her eyes upon seeing him sent him a tremor of pleasure.

"What the fuck is this all about, Marla?" He spat the words at her, and produced the pink stone.

Marla masked the surprise and panic with a flirtatious smile. "That is but a token of an amazing night together, lover."

"What?" But the truth of exactly what happened that night seeped into his intelligent brain and he instantly felt sick to his stomach. "What the hell did you do to me, Marla?"

"Oh, nothing you weren't a willing companion for."

"You drugged and used me! Why?"

"I missed you. We're so good together, Loki. I don't mind if you say her name during it."

Bile pushed its way up his throat, the acid of it burning a trail all the way up, and he fought it back. He pushed his fingers into his eyes. He was so confused, and frustrated, and pissed. Really pissed.

"That's so fucking sick and twisted, Marla. I told you I was done."

She set a childish pout across her blood red lips. "Well, I'm not."

Once he'd found the shape of her lips seductive, the taste delectable, now just seeing them made the bile rise again. Her voice made shivers touch his flesh, and not the good ones. "You can't just drug people to get what you want from them. I must inform my King of your wrongdoings."

Gone was her childish pout to be replaced with a very malicious and feline like smile. "He's not my King."

"Punishment can still be handed to you for what you've done. I am an agent of the realm. Do you understand the trouble you face for this?"

Her malicious smile widened and she flipped her long hair back over her shoulder.

"I'm quite sure he'd be interested to hear whose name you called while we made love."

He growled. "Your word against mine, and sadly for you, mine's always has been an honest one."

She rolled her eyes and the childishness was back. "Whatever. I'm leaving today anyway, so you can live out your little fantasy until I return in a few weeks. Then we'll talk."

"There will never be anything between us again, Marla."

"We'll just see about that." And she blew him a kiss over her shoulder as she swayed her hips as she walked away.

He tapped his hand on his thigh, and then ran both hands across his forehead and through his hair. There was only one person he could think of that could help him.

First he went back to his room. He decided to do his own little check and ensure that Kami was thorough. He didn't want any more surprises. It bothered him enough, the fact that he'd had no idea that Marla had been a physical thing in his room. The drug, alcohol, stone; no doubt a combination of the three, had completely fogged his senses, and he just could not have that. He was a warrior, he was trained better than that.

He decided the alcohol had been his first mistake. It had loosened him enough to begin missing things, which was a mistake he'd never make again. Even for toasting with his beloved King.

As soon as he entered the room he saw the note from one of the castle keepers on his bed with a red stone on it.

We found this in the pocket of your black slacks.

Thought it may be of importance to you. - Kimber

More stones! Really? He knew without a doubt that this was in connection to the other stone and Marla. Loki sighed and went about a meticulous search of his entire space, including his clothing, as clearly that was not safe either. After the search wielded no more surprises, Loki sat defeated on his bed. Note and stone in his hand.

The black slacks were what he had worn to the party last night, so how the hell did the stone get into his pants, and how did he not notice the added weight?

He held the stone in his hand; it was extremely light, as if he held nothing more than a crumpled bit of paper or a small coin, but still. He liked to think his senses were better than that. That he could notice when something was within his own clothing.

Marla must have someone on the inside, a castle staff member, working for her. She had to. How else would she be able to do all of this?

He decided when he came back from the human realm he would make it his mission to discover this person, and the reasons why they were working with Marla. What was she paying or bribing them with?

He turned the stone over in his hand again. It's blood red color was clear all the way through, unlike most polished stones where you could still see some kind of imperfections and other colors of other elements mixed into it, this one was entirely blood red and polished smooth and perfectly circular shaped, whereas most stones were more of an oval. This was more like a marble.

He'd been wearing those pants to the dinner party, which means he must have been in possession of the stone as well, since when he'd come into his bedroom afterward he'd taken off the pants and what good would it have done Marla to place the stone in dirty pants after he'd already taken them off?

So he inferred that it had been placed in them before or during the time he had them on. A shiver of unease went through him. This was so not happening.

All throughout that dinner he had, had a very hard time concentrating. Something he never had a problem with. Ever. He knew this stone must have had something to do with that. The worst part was the only thing he could concentrate on all night, was Adeila. Every lustful thought he'd ever allowed himself to think, and some he hadn't even allowed himself to think, had surfaced and crashed in on his senses. At the time, he'd thought maybe it had been stress related, or alcohol induced. He tried to put the thoughts from his mind all night but they'd been rooted there, well into the night and into his vivid dreams. Now he saw the truth. Those vivid dreams had been real. Just not with the person he'd been envisioning. The thought made him sick. He had a sinking feeling in his gut that this stone had been Marla's first attack.

He'd already questioned the guards about Marla, and all of them had no idea how she'd gotten in. They all said they hadn't seen her come into the castle, which seemed completely ridiculous considering guards and Guardians were placed everywhere, especially on a night where the King and Queen would have guests. None of it made any sense, and he was gritting his teeth with the frustration of it all. Marla was a complete mystery. Once he'd liked that about her, now he found it outright dangerous. The woman was far more ruthless, conniving and cunning then he had ever imagined. He needed to find the person within the castle walls that was working for her.

What he really should do is bring Marla herself in for questioning. He knew he should really bring the entire situation to his King and allow him to dole out a consequence, but could his conscious handle the fact that he would have to lie about the man's daughter's involvement? The fact that the entire time Marla and he had been physical that night, he'd been thinking it a dream involving the Princess, would not bode well with the King. Especially with the fact that the girl was betrothed to his older brother.

Loki ran a shaky hand through his hair and decided he might as well get some of this over with at least, and worry about everything else later. He knew right where he needed to go.

Chapter Thirty-Five

"Loki, this is a Kaitsou stone. It is meant to bring out thoughts of lust, betrayal, dishonesty, greed, and thirst for power. Generally speaking it is called a sin stone. It is a very unique and dangerous tool that the dark witches and even some dark Fae have used in ancient times. It is incredibly hard to come by, and even those that do come by it have no idea what it is, or the means to properly use it. A very dark spell needs to be cast and infused within the stone, and a tiny piece of the casters soul is ripped and harnessed within it. It is one of the magical tools that need some essence of a soul to be made useful to its full capacity. The castor then has some small amount of control over the sin in which it wishes you to feel."

Magistra's green eyes were fierce on his face, as she watched him digest this information. "This is a dangerous thing to possess, Loki. May I ask how you came about it?"

Loki gripped the counter, his knuckles turning a dangerous white. He wanted to rip something apart, or scream, or hit something. Anything to take out the utter confusion and anger that ripped through him. The entire situation made his stomach roll. The fact that something like this existed made him want to bash it into tiny little pieces.

A gentle, warm hand touched his arm. "Tell me, Loki."

His dark flamed eyes turned to her gentle ones, and he told her everything. Except the part about his fantasy with the Princess. He did tell Magistra that Marla slipped into the room and did as she pleased with him, but he did not say that he envisioned it Adeila the entire time.

It felt good to get it all out, at least the parts he could share. He'd always trusted Magistra, and thought of her as a mother figure since his was far away in the North. His own mother was good friends with Magistra and he'd known the woman since he was a baby. It was why he and Sorryn were more like brothers then friends or team mates.

After he'd told her everything he could, she said nothing, just looked at the stone in question as it sat on the black velvet blanket on her counter. Then she sighed. "Let me take a closer look."

Loki wanted nothing more than to vomit. Rehashing the entire tale was harder then he thought and made him relive every moment with more clarity each time.

"This is a very complicated and complex spell, Loki." She put a magnifying glass on the stone, then after several moments of inspection, she set the stone, carefully, in a bowl of lavender colored, steaming liquid.

After about ten minutes the water turned a dull brown and Magistra removed the stone, then she dipped her fingers into the water and ran them in strange symbols along a piece of parchment close by, then she cupped the water in her hands and let it sift through her fingers, slowly.

A few more minutes passed, he watched her intently.

Finally, she turned to him. "Well, the good news is that Marla did not infuse this stone with bits of her soul, just a complex spell designed to make the person in possession of the stone have very lustful thoughts. Thoughts meant to consume them. Loki, honestly, the control you showed at the dinner party was impressive. With a complex spell like this, you should have been – excuse my language and all - but you should have been nearly humping anyone that you found attractive. The fact that, outwardly, you seemed quite normal is a testament to your will and control. This stone, in combination with the Chysbis, would be cause for a very confused, fogged and completely erotically open mind. It does not surprise me that then combined with the binding stone; Marla slipped in and did as she pleased with you, and you being a willing participant. Your mind was a complete sexual outlet. It is completely disgusting of her, and breaking about a thousand different moral, ethical and kingdom related codes."

He nodded solemnly, too awestruck and dumbfounded by all of this to speak just yet.

She looked at the stone with her head cocked. "I will need to study it further to find some kind of counter spell and ritual, to make the effects go away. Possibly leaving the realm will sever the effects or at least dull them, but of that I even cannot be sure."

He let out a long, deep sigh. "Do what you can, Magistra. Please. I will be back soon."

Magistra sighed and set the now dry stone back into the black velvet. "What do you plan to do about Marla, Loki?"

"Of this I have no idea."

.~.

.... Adeila ....

This meeting, just as she assumed, was not going so well. Her father raged, while her mother sat quietly looking disappointed, which she was quite sure was worse.

"You cannot keep me here; this is not my home yet. It is stunning and I am so thankful to have spent the time here, but I have a life on the human realm. I still have months of high school to get through. I've worked my ass off for my grades to be what they are, there's no way in hell I'm going to give up on that."

The King only stared at her. He was clearly not expecting her to still want to leave after the weekend here. It had been a very hard decision. Probably the hardest she had ever made, or will make in a very long time. Everything about being here felt right, felt like it was her destiny. But she was stubborn and wanted this on her terms. In her way.

She knew, instantly, that her father would be far harder to convince then Loki.

"Once I finish high school I could come back. I could try this out for real, but for right now I want to be a normal teenage girl. Not a Princess to a Faerie throne."

"Do you not realize what kind of dangers you may be in?"

"I've been in the human realm for almost eighteen years I haven't been in danger yet." Her heart pounded in that half-truth, as the face of the creepy bald guy came into view. Her real father, the King, did not need to know about that. She was pretty sure the Fae could not read minds.

"That is entirely beside the point. You've already been told that by entering the Fae realm, a beacon has been set upon you. Who knows whose eyes and ears are looking to you now?

"Well, I'll just cross that bridge when I get there, but there is no way I'm staying here. I am going back. I feel like I have to. I owe myself that much. I started something in the human realm, and I want to finish it. At least just high school. Hold that diploma, throw my cap at graduation. Let me have this, please. I beg of you. I only have like five more months."

"You have a life here. People that love you. A bonding with an ancient, magical being."

Her heart skipped a beat. "And I assume those things will still be here when I do return."

The King's brows rose. "Just like your damn mother. Stubborn, pig headed, bull headed and everything else."

He turned to the woman in question; who Adeila could see had tears in her eyes but laughed at his completely ridiculous outburst and shook her head. Adeila hated this - hated saying goodbye. So she refused to do so.

"I am not saying goodbye. I won't. I will see you again, in time. In my time, I will, I can promise you that much."

The King growled, and she could almost see his heart twisting, the shimmer of tears in his eyes; but then a dark cloud passed over them and her warrior Fae father was back. "If your mind cannot be swayed then you will be followed in the human realm by our people. By that, my daughter, I can assure you."

He turned his full attention on Loki. "You will assign two more agents to be in the school with you, and two more outside of that loop as lookouts. And I want you personally responsible for my daughter's safety. We never made the oath final before, because I knew it was more of her will if she wanted to return and not so much about safety. Now I want the Oath to be finalized, if you will still bear it?"

Loki swallowed and his golden eyes turned to Adeila, she clearly read in them that she was turning into a giant pain in his ass. But instead of voicing anything that his eyes were clearly telling her, he turned completely and got down on one knee in front of her father.

"I swear to you, my King, by my very soul and the blood of the North, that I will keep your daughter, Adeila, safe from harm or I will die trying. Until you release me from this Oath with honor, or death claim me. I will uphold this ancient Oath of protection." As soon as his last words were spoken, he produced a dagger. She hadn't even seen it on his body. He sliced the sharp blade neatly across his palm.

Her father stepped forward. "I know many things you have asked from me in the past, Loki, which I didn't always deliver. Things that I questioned; but no longer. I will give you anything you wish, son. Anything." He sliced his own palm, from a dagger that she hadn't seen him produce either, and clasped his hand with Loki's. They held each others hands, and stared into the others eyes for several moments, before clasping in a very male hug and stepping apart.

Chapter Thirty-Six

So this time they traveled to the portal via horse back, and it was so much better and easier then when they'd come into Oakend. She, Loki, Sorryn, Saibol, Devrin, Ahern, and Rembly made their traveling party to the Jakdai wood portal as she'd heard it called. Befrum traveled with them but he would be bringing the horses back, as animals could not go through the portals.

Adeila was a little sad that Kami hadn't been chosen to come back with her, but considering their "crime" history she understood why Loki had left her here. It was like a weird little punishment for both girls.

Adeila thought back to the official good bye. There had been tears; lots of tears. She hadn't realized how hard it would truly be, and she assumed the same would be said when she left the human realm for good, because she planned too. Although she had a feeling her "adopted" parents wouldn't be quite as sad as she.

It had been hard to say good bye to her real parents. She had grown fond of them, and had built a bond with them over the weekend that seemed built on so many things, but the first most was respect and love. She felt more bonded with them then her adopted parents she'd spent almost eighteen years with. The sorrow of that was not lost on her. She'd insisted that this was not good bye just farewell for now.

Both the King and Queen had cried and held her, and she'd cried and reveled in the feeling of being held. To truly feel as though she'd be missed. To actually feel the aura of paternal love envelope her was something that she would miss. Something that she could never live without now that she'd felt it. She was planning on coming back as soon as her high school career was over. She would end things with Erik, say good bye to her parents and have a very sad good bye with Marissa. That would be the hardest part. Marissa was like a sister to her, and saying good bye to her for real may ruin her. They'd always had each other. It would be impossible to think of a life where Marissa would not be involved. She wondered if she could set up a human family visitation day in the Fae realm? Hmm... Now there was a thought.

Loki stopped them when they got to the forest path beyond the meadows, and he pulled Adeila aside.

"I meant to give this to you sooner, but well, with all your detective skills coming out and the good byes I wasn't able to."

She gave him a sheepish look; clearly he was still annoyed with her, about the whole going through his room thing. Oh well, he'd get over it.

Her mind wondered briefly, again, about what he'd done about Marla. She was dying to ask him, but he did not seem like the type who would tell her if she asked. Actually she knew he wasn't. But all thoughts of Marla were gone when Loki produced a small brown box from his pocket.

She looked at the box, then up to his face. She really hoped this was not some weird gift from the Lukkas character, who she was supposedly betrothed to, but whom no one even spoke about the entire time she'd been here.

"This is a safety precaution. Another added layer of protection. It should suit you well. It's simple but elegant. I made it yesterday with your mothers help. I just want to make sure it works before we enter the human realm."

Then he opened the lid. Inside was a simple, completely silver - or some Fae equivalent to silver - ring, with an oak leaf on the top twined into the band. Nothing about it was fancy at all, but it was really beautiful in its simplicity. He pulled the ring out and pocketed the box again; he held it up to the filtered sunlight of the forest canopy. Along the inside of the slim band were inscriptions in a language she did not understand.

Loki turned to her. "I inscribed this with an ancient Fae promise and protection oath, and your mother helped me with some of the magic. I also infused it with my blood."

She blanched at the thought, but tried to look normal. What exactly did that mean or entail?

"It is made so that if you touch the ring to your right wrist where your tattoos are, it will call to my blood. It will call me to you. It is meant so that if you are in any kind of danger in the human or Fae realm that I will know, as long as the ring touches your right wrist. Even if your tattoos aren't visible in the human realm, it will still work when you touch that wrist."

She was taken aback. What an amazing and insanely thoughtful thing to do. It was a protection she never even considered, obviously, she also had no idea something like this could even exist.

"It's extraordinary, Loki." He held it out to her. As her fingers brushed his, a zinging of heated electrical current zipped up her arm and down her spine. The feeling was like fingers of warmth stretching over her. Her magic calling to something. Searching for something that was so close. It was such a weird feeling she couldn't help but look into his face to see if he felt it too. His eyes were very golden as they looked at her, but it was clear he was blanking his features. She had no idea if it was for her benefit or just his stoic self. She hoped that the feelings were coincidence, or the ring. Maybe it was the ring?

Finally her fingers clasped around it and the magic zinged along her whole body, almost weakening her knees. It was like an explosion of sensations, all of them filled with heat, awareness and the tingling's of desire, which was completely and absolutely ridiculous. She quickly slipped on the ring, and bit her lip. The sensations had subsided, but brimmed right there on the surface, as if hoping for her to touch the ring or the man. She wasn't sure which. She mentally shook herself and met his eyes again.

"Thank you. This is really amazing."

"Well, do not hesitate to use it. If you get a strange feeling about something or someone and I am not there, call me. Please. It will keep all of us safer. We will try it before we enter the portal and again after we enter the human realm and ensure I did everything correctly, for now we should get moving."

She nodded, and he turned on his heel to remount his horse. She looked down at the ring which fit the pointer finger on her left hand, which made it very easy to touch the opposite side wrist. It was really quite beautiful and something she no doubt would wear anyway, which made it quite believable as a piece of jewelry she would have bought herself. No one needed to know that oak leaves were so incredibly representative of her entire bloodline. Or the oath and magic that encompassed it, and Loki's attachment to it.

Pursing her lips she walked back to her horse and mounted. Her eyes flitted to Loki's muscled back in front of her; she couldn't help but feel touched. It may not have been any kind of sentiment, she knew it was more of a safety thing than anything else, but the fact that he made an effort to make it into something she would actually like surprised and shocked her.

Lost in her own mind, she did not notice the hoof beats that pounded out of step with their little party.

"Wow! It's that golden unicorn again!" She recognized Befrum's voice, as she knew he had been one of the Guardians that had been in the mist by the pond when Loki had come to check on her while she'd been with Obysson. Her head snapped to the left where she could see the bright golden animal gallop up in the emerald forest. He was shrouded by leaves and branches, but his golden glow was unmistakable.

The party halted as she did, and she almost collapsed off of Gulliver in her haste to get to the golden animal. As she approached him, he pawed at the forest floor with his hooves, in an obvious sign of irritation.

She knew instantly what was distressing him. "I have to go back. Don't you see? I have to say good bye to the human world."

The unicorn tossed his head and snorted. His disdain for the situation was obvious. She wondered how their bond would handle the portal division.

She walked right up to him, no longer fearing the horn or rejection. They were bonded; it was inked in her skin. He lowered his head for her to rub her fingers along it. Soothing and cooing to him the entire time. She just kept saying sorry over and over because she wasn't really sure what else to say.

A word entered her mind. It prickled at the edge of her mind, soft but urgent. Tingling ran along her arms and spine. Danger. She looked around her to see if anyone had spoken, but when she looked back, Obysson was gazing right at her. His russet brown eyes dark, and bottomless. Like a pool of wisdom. She gulped. There was no way he could speak in her mind, right? Then she remembered her father saying that the bond of a Unicorn was almost psychic in proportions. Could they speak to each other, mind to mind? She decided to try it. She leaned her head close to his cheek bone, her eyes delving into his, and then she thought and tried to project the thoughts to the animal. She had no idea what she was doing, but needed to try something.

What kind of danger? Who's in danger? Danger where?

The animal pawed at the earth again, but then her mind tingled. Danger. You.

The sound was like an echo within her head, said in a deep, male voice. She swallowed and ran her hand along his velvety ears. I still have to go. I have to tell everyone good bye. I have to.

With that she kissed his soft muzzle and turned away before she lost her resolve. A shimmer of a tear etched the corner of her eye, but she wiped it away. The unicorn watched her. His brown eyes dark and mysterious.

She mounted Gulliver and clicked him forward, the rest of the party looking on with confusion. The golden unicorn reared, and then galloped away. He was clearly angry with her for not heading his warning, but what was she to do? She needed to get to the human realm. She needed to say good bye, at least. If there was no danger lurking in the shadows then she would stay. She had plenty of Guardians and agents fortifying her defense, so what should she worry overly much for?

As they made their way to the portal, the feelings of unease crept into her every pore. She tried very hard to ignore them all and keep her resolve to move forward.

"Alright, Adeila, let's try that ring." Loki said as soon as they had dismounted and stepped away from their horses. She swallowed, tucked a strand of silky hair behind her ear and looked down at the ring. She felt such an attachment to the thing and already found herself touching it and twirling it. She'd always been a big ring wearer but this was something entirely different. It was a kind of comfort one didn't usually get from jewelry. Well, that was a lie. She imagined that ancient Priestesses and witches who cast spells attached to their jewelry probably did. If you believed in such things. And considering her own fairy tale she was not one to scoff at anything like that ever again.

Loki cleared his throat, and she was pulled out of her thought process. Okay, show time.

"So just touch the leaf to your right wrist. Anywhere is fine."

She looked at him. His dark hair swept across his brow with the light breeze, he wore light comfortable clothing that showcased his muscle, and his sword still adorned his waist. Many moments over the past few weeks she'd thought nothing but disdain towards him but she trusted him now. With her life. He had proven himself to her, and not even speaking of the oath that he'd taken for his life to protect hers. Nothing even to do with that. In her heart and mind she knew that even without the oath he would protect her. That was just him. Her magic relished in his nearness. The energy of it prickled along her skin, raising the flesh.

Holding true to that trust she touched the ring to her wrist. She watched his face and a flicker of emotion swept across his features.

"It works. Let's go."

She blew out a breath and exited the realm of Faerie and towards the home she'd always known, but now didn't seem so welcoming.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Going back through the portal was just about as uncomfortable and strange as entering, but now that she had felt the Fae magic it was even worse going into the human realm. She felt the cloaking of glamour and it was an uncomfortable feeling. Like having a heavy layer of makeup covering your body, or a very thick layer of gritty grime from many days of not showering. It was not pleasant at all, and she wondered why Fae would want to live in the human realm at all. The feeling was really quite miserable and sad. It made her feel as though she was missing a part of herself. A part of her soul remained in the Fae realm and she wasn't entirely herself without it. She almost asked Loki about it, but decided not to. It would be best to stamp it back just like everything else and move forward, maybe if she ignored the feeling it would go away. She had to hope anyway.

Loki had to attend to getting Saibol and Sorryn enrolled into the school, apparently he had some connections in that department in town, so he left her at her front door. Devrin and Ahern hid in the woods surrounding her home to keep watch over her. They had already used their Faerie sense and deemed the house safe. Loki had insisted on checking the ring again, and making sure she knew, yet again, that she was to use it for any strange or dangerous circumstance.

She felt so utterly uncomfortable being at her own front door. She wished fervently that she was back at the castle doors. She steeled herself and unlocked the door. The house was silent.

"Hello?" Nothing. She heard the television on in the living room and she ventured there. Her "adopted" parents sat on the couch, her father engrossed in the show, her mother playing on her e-reader.

"Hey, I'm back."

Her father grunted, and her mother waved without even looking in her direction. She almost burst into tears. Nothing about this house felt right. The smells made her sick. She couldn't smell the forest. Everything was being masked by the scents of technology and furniture polish and sheer unhappiness. It made her want to cry in a tight little ball. She decided she'd do just that, and made her way to her bedroom.

When she emerged from her stress, pain and sorrow stricken crying jag, she texted Marissa. If she was back home she wanted to see her friend. Maybe give her a heads up of where her mind was at. Saying good bye would be nearly impossible but at least if there was a heads up for her friend it may make it easier. If she gave Marissa a time frame at least then they would both be aware and make the best of the time they did have together.

It took only one text of I'm home to have Marissa at her door.

.~.

"Wow, Adi! You look amazing! Did you get like a facial and do something with your hair?"

Adeila almost panicked herself right over to the mirror to check her reflection for herself, but instead plastered a fake smile on her face. It couldn't be that dramatic.

"Yeah my real mother took me to this amazing spa and beauty salon. They did wonders on me! You'd love the place." Sheesh. She was getting really good at this pulling shit out of her ass thing. That probably wasn't a good thing to admit, but hell! She'd never even bothered to look at her reflection. Did she look the same as she had in the Fae realm?

For over two hours Adeila had to give Marissa small details about her weekend, which were truthful in nature but complete lies in general. She was able to give Marissa an easy enough description of her parents, leaving out the sword bearing and the King and Queen part. She told Marissa that they lived in South Dakota, which she pulled completely out of her butt, and they lived in a really gorgeous old log home. She told her that she loved their horses, and the staff that worked there and met a girl who she really liked in a surrounding town. It was hard not to tell her about the exciting things; like that she'd held a pixie in her hand, or that she bonded to an actual magical, mythical Unicorn, or that she had an Earth based magic that would allow her to grow full plants from nothing but a bit of soil or a blade of grass; instead she tried her best to make it seem like a very low key, simple family first meeting. She said that she'd gotten dressed up and had a nice dinner with them Saturday night and that was about the extent of the excitement. But Adeila couldn't help but let her mind wander to those nights, to Loki, to Kami, to Obysson and her parents. An ache in her chest made this much more difficult then she'd anticipated.

By the time Marissa left it was eight at night and she was ready for bed. Still she'd not even mentioned to Marissa that she may be leaving. She just couldn't bring herself to admit it. Exhaustion took over her already gloomy mood. She didn't even bother to look outside to see if any of her Guardians were out her window, or even bother to actually look at herself in the mirror either. She was just too tired.

Before falling asleep, her parting thoughts were that after today her birthday was only five days away.

.~.

School the next day was completely horrible. She should have figured. Her senses were overly heightened and she knew she needed to control them. She'd sort of learned how, but it was harder than she thought.

Erik caught up with her after her first class, he looked annoyed but when his eyes really focused on her, they widened. Hell, did she really look that different? She really needed to get into the bathroom and check herself out. She'd totally forgotten about it as she'd gotten dressed that morning.

"Erik, I'm really sorry, my weekend was insane."

He licked his lips and looked around, then back to her. "You could of at least text me back or something."

"Yeah, I know, about that I-"

"Hey, guys!" Marissa's brightened face entered her view. Then she gestured behind her, and Adeila turned to see Sorryn and Saibol. Well, it appears they'd gotten in. She couldn't help but smile briefly to them. In it, she was quite sure, there was a small hint of an inside joke kind of quality, but no one picked up on it but Sorryn, who returned it with his own cocky, mischievous one.

"This is Sorryn and Saibol, they just moved here from Connecticut! Principal Hale asked me to show them around and introduce them to some people!"

Introductions pushed aside anything further awkward with Erik and they all walked together to their respected classes. Loki did not make an appearance, not that it mattered much as he was in her next class anyway, and she thought maybe the less they hung around together the better.

"It was so nice to meet you guys!" She said enthusiastically, and for her alone, Sorryn managed a wink without anyone noticing. She was grinning when she entered the classroom, thankful that the thing with Erik got pushed back. She really didn't have the energy to deal with it today. Everything was just too weird with the Fae bodyguards and the heightened senses, and her damn appearance that she'd still yet to check out.

Goosebumps broke along her flesh as she entered the classroom but she completely ignored everything, put her head down, went to her desk and allowed the chatter to flutter around her. She tried to focus on the teacher and the notes they were supposed to be taking, but kept feeling the itch of someone looking at her, or in this case she had a feeling it was several persons and she knew only one of those sets of eyes. The rest were a mystery, and the why was even more so. She assumed Sadie Simms, but hell she thought the girl had gotten over this by now!

When the bell rang, as she moved her books into her bag she allowed her eyes to drift around the room. Several of the guys in the class, that she'd never given any mind to before, were looking her way, Sadie Simms and Nadine Fisher were shooting her daggers, and sure enough, the golden eyes were on her, but also grazing on every guy in the room that was checking her out. Ugh! What the frick? She hightailed it out of the class and straight to the bathroom.

The cruel overhead lighting did nothing to hide the shimmer and glow of her skin, some of the highlights in her hair made the portal trip too. She seemed more then what she was before, but less than the Fae realm, if that made any sense. It looked like she'd spent a weekend tanning, getting facials, getting her hair done, working out and taking some serious workshops on makeup techniques. It wasn't anything drastic, there were some subtle changes, her features highlighted and punctuated in a bronzed light, but certainly nothing to stress out from.

Apparently no one had realized she could be even slightly attractive, or maybe the Fae gave off some kind of different aura after they'd been in the Fae realm? Gah! She had so many questions, still. She had noticed her tattoos were gone. Well, at least in this realm. She assumed it was an added security measure to not have her bloodlines on display for other Fae, but she couldn't help feeling remorse over the loss of them. She knew how important and significant they were to the Fae people and she was beginning to feel pride in them. Her intense crying jag after she'd returned to human realm was in part because of them being absent from her skin.

As soon as she exited the bathroom, a body peeled from the wall and bumped against her, she felt the heat and the electricity and didn't even have to look to know who it was.

"You obviously haven't looked at yourself since the return?"

She looked straight ahead. "Nope."

"That's incredibly modest of you." There was humor in his voice, but she ignored it. His next line sobered her. "People aren't going to question the subtle changes, but obviously people are taking a notice of you, because it is a change. You made it a point to blend in with people around you before, and now your beauty stands out. It shines off of you now. People, men especially, will react."

She looked at him then. "I don't like it."

He laughed, the sound caressing her and making her want to be back in the Fae realm even more. It made her want to star gaze, with his warmth beside her, on the expanse of emerald grass looking up at an midnight sky with twinkling stars. She mentally shook herself, what the hell was wrong with her? Eck.

"Humans are fools who allow themselves to believe in silly social schematics and do not notice someone's real, genuine, beauty until it's flaunted to them by change or personality flourishing. If you are loud and flirty, a guy notices your physical appearance more. You are neither, so you blend in better. Also the Fae do give off more of a glowing aura, it makes people be drawn to us for reasons they cannot explain. Since coming from the Fae realm you have some of that magic still stuck to your skin. You're just not used to the attention. "

She could only raise her brows at his philosophical spouting. She had classes to get to. She was trying not to even slightly dwell on the fact that he may have just called her beautiful but she wasn't entirely sure. His next words made matters worse.

"You were always this stunning; just some people didn't notice it until now. You will get used to it, just as you did your new appearance in the Fae realm."

Her mouth hung open slightly as he walked away. Well hell, he was calling her beautiful. Stunning, in fact. She tried really hard for that fact not to affect her at all as she prepared for her next class.

At lunch Erik was, unfortunately, able to get her alone. "So, what happened this weekend?"

She resisted the urge to bolt; instead she looked around, seeking a way out. Of course, the agents were too busy chatting it up with the humans to help her out. What good were they? Ugh.

"Erik I -" She paused. Did she really want to break up with him? She knew she absolutely should, but would she? "I had family stuff. I'm...Erik, I'm adopted. I was meeting my real parent's over the weekend."

His eyes widened, and she could see any facade of anger fall away. She just had no idea how to break up with him. Until she figured it out she would let the semi awkward, weird relationship continue, even if she shouldn't and she'd even give him some truth. He deserved that much, at the very least.

"Whoa, Adi, I had no idea." He looked truly abashed and a shimmer of pity touched his blue eyes.

She nodded. "I didn't either until recently. Marissa didn't even know. I tried to keep it to myself. I'm sorry."

"No, no need to be sorry, babe. I was just.. You know. Worried."

She swallowed. She really should just break it off with him and get it over with. Like ripping off a band aid, but she was interrupted again by her Fae and human friends as they bustled around the lunch table. Her eyes swept and found Loki, he watched her a moment as he began to walk past the table. His eyes showed indecision, and then he sauntered over to them. Clearly deciding that sitting with them, as annoying as it likely would be for him, would be best. She almost laughed out loud. How the mighty have fallen!

He must have caught some kind of twitch to her mouth, because his eyes narrowed but the scowl lifted ever so slightly and he took the place next to Marissa, who was beyond delighted he'd chosen that seat. Saibol, Sorryn, Amber and Becky sat around them. Several of the other tables were watching them, whispering.

They all ignored it, except Erik who kept looking over to the table where his own friends sat, all of them looking over to them awkwardly. She bumped his shoulder. "You are welcomed to sit with them, you know?"

He looked down, chastised. "No, that's fine. I want to sit here. No worries."

She shrugged and didn't let it bother her. Lunch went about as normal teenage lunches do and all too soon was it over and they all bustled to their next classes.

The day continued on like that, she was grateful that nothing terrible happened. Like someone pointing and yelling that she was different. A fake. A fraud. A Fae. She wasn't really expecting any of that, but hadn't expected to feel so out of place either. An inkling that she really should have just stayed in Fae, traveled its way into her mind and down to her gut.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

The next day dragged on. She'd taken the week off of work so that the Fae could figure out a system to best watch her while she was at the bookstore. She was really looking forward to going back to work but she understood the R.F.R.U usually came in and took Fae; they weren't normally body guards for someone. It was going to be a bit of a learning curve all around.

She'd yet to find a way to talk to Erik about their relationship. That morning he asked her if she would hang out with him that afternoon, it seemed like a good opening. She'd agreed to let him come over to her house, since she knew that was easier for her protectors to keep an eye on her.

Having Erik in her bedroom was just plain weird. It's not like she was no longer interested in him, or no longer attracted to him, because she totally was. It was just she knew now that she certainly couldn't have him, and being with him did really feel wrong.

"I really like what you did with your hair." He grabbed a strand of it and rubbed it between his fingers. The gestured surprised her, and had her looking at his fingers and then up to his face.

She could do this. "Erik, I-"

"Shh. Adi. I'm just really happy your back. I was worried about you."

She almost laughed, because he may have been, but he'd only sent her one text asking to hang out, then another one with a question mark, but otherwise he'd never called or text again. So if he'd been so worried, he hadn't expressed it overly much.

"I even asked Marissa to see if you were okay, but she assured me you were fine. I really assumed you were with her, so I was surprised when she showed up at the party with Becky and not you."

Wait, what? What party? Marissa never mentioned a party, and no one talked about it. Then she really thought about it, she hadn't really listened to a damn thing anyone said over the past two days. Her mind was just so full of her own Fae, realm, magic, throne, unicorn and family drama. Marissa probably did tell her about it. Actually now that she really thought about it, Marissa may have snuck in a few references to a party, but no details. Adeila just never assumed it was a teenager party. Adeila had summed it up as Marissa's parents had had a party. Maybe they did. Hell, Adeila had no freaking clue what was going on anymore.

She shrugged it off as more crap for her mind to think about. For now, she tried to focus on Erik. One thing at a time.

"Erik-"

Again he interrupted her. "You really look amazing. I hope that your real parents were nice?" He looked at her quizzically with his non question, question.

"Ah, yes. They are amazing."

"That's great! I'm so glad of that." While he said the words, he trailed his fingers down her hair, over her shoulder and down her arm. Then he gripped her, and pulled her into a hug.

She swallowed, and allowed him to hug her. A small ounce of her frustration needled out with the embrace. Damn if this didn't feel good. She'd felt so much strange emotions and desires with Loki being around, but when Erik hugged her some of that frustration came out. She knew it wasn't the same, nor was it okay, but she reveled in a moment.

But that moment was too long, because he pushed it. Before she realized his intentions he was kissing her, and she knew she should make him stop, but it felt too good to let go just yet. She twined her fingers around his neck, and that was when she stopped things. Her fingers brushed the warm metal of the ring on her finger as they twined, and a savagely handsome face flashed into her mind. She stepped back.

"I'm sorry, I've had a hell of a weekend and-"

He put up his hands. "No need babe, I get it! I'll let you get some rest and stuff."

He just leaned back into her, kissed her lightly on the lips and then he was gone. That was why she'd dated him to start with. He was damn sweet and understanding when he wanted to be.

She tried to file away everything weird she'd learned and everything else, and finish her homework. A sense that something was coming to a head was strong.

.~.

The next day school was daunting. Every day she discovered a new word for school. Horrible. Loud. Daunting. Smelly. She was getting annoyed faster with both fellow students and teachers. She needed fresh air more often, and found it harder to concentrate. Having gone to the Fae realm was really ruining her chances at leading a normal life in the human realm. She knew she just needed to try harder, but her energy was waning. She was starting to think that her real parent's had been right, she should have just stayed in Faerie.

"We need to begin some kind of training. Both physical and mind." The timbre of Loki's voice filtered into her ear during the short hallway walk to lunch.

"Okay, let's do that."

He looked at her as if he expected a fight. "Okay, today, after school."

She nodded at Loki as Erik's eyes met hers in the lunch line. Without looking back she walked over to Erik. She didn't want anyone to realize that there was any real connection or relationship going on between her and Loki. They'd never been friends before she left for Fae, it would seem odd if they were extra chummy now. Not that they were really friends. She was a Faerie Princess and he her oath sworn body guard. The least they were seen speaking the better. She seriously doubted that that fact bothered Loki much.

When they finally all sat at the table, Loki included again; apparently his days of being a creepy loner outside the school during lunch time, were over. It's funny how each Fae had nothing but an apple, some vegetables, and water on their lunch trays while all the other teens had processed frozen burgers, chips, cookies, spaghetti or whatever else was being served, on theirs.

Marissa's voice snapped Adeila's attention to her. "So, I was thinking that we could show Sorryn and Saibol around, you know, maybe get a burger and see a movie tomorrow night or something? Obviously they are invited Saturday night to Rage to see Wasting Youth. I already told them all about that, but maybe we could do something sooner? "

Adeila tried to hide her surprise since Marissa hadn't even said such a thing to her at all. The idea must have just come to her, probably thanks to Loki's presence.

"I think that's a great idea!" This coming from Erik beside her. She swung her eyes to him, and then to Loki, who raised his brows at her.

"I think that would be fun." This came from Saibol's incredibly gorgeous, sweet voice. The girl was very quiet but her voice could bring grown men to their knees. Sorryn had said once that she was an incredible singer if you could get her to sing.

All eyes turned to her, and her pretty cheeks stained pink. Adeila piped up to take the heat from her. "Yes, that could be fun. I'm in."

She tried to resist the urge to squirm under Loki's golden gaze.

"I'm in." He finally said, his deep voice vibrating through her.

His eyes turned to Marissa's and she smiled foolishly and clasped her hands together.

"Okay, cool."

Chatter enveloped around them allowing Adeila to think about some of the things festering in her mind. She wasn't sure why, but the first thing she thought of was how Marissa hadn't told her about the party over the weekend. That was really strange. Marissa told her everything. Had something crazy happened that had made her want to keep the party from her? Or had she really blanked and Marissa told her about it, but she truly didn't remember? It really was possible, it's not like Adeila wasn't under any kind of pressure or anything. Adeila decided the only way she'd get over it was to ask Marissa or to truly blank the whole thing from her mind. She looked over at her friend who was outrageously flirting with Loki. When Loki's eyes found her own for a brief second, a strange emotion passed over them and then he began flirting right back to her friend. You could see the switch flip in him, and she fought to swallow for half a second. Marissa was clearly astonished by the strange twist in his interest and she cranked up the flirting by smiling brighter and touching his arm.

Adeila looked away and towards Erik, who was texting on his phone. She leaned into him and asked him how his day was going. After a second he put his phone away and focused on her. She couldn't help but let her eyes wander now and again to her best friend and Loki who were still in the middle of conversation, whenever Loki's eyes drifted to hers, she looked back at Erik. She wasn't really sure what game he was playing or if he truly was all of a sudden interested in her best friend. She was a little confused. She also had no idea how she felt about that, but had to hope that the emotion was not jealousy.

When the end of the day approached after what seemed like ages she was happy to be driving her car and heading away from the school. The only thing was that Marissa's chatter didn't cease.

"Did you see Loki flirting with me? I think he might finally be interested in me!"

Adeila tried not to feel any kind of annoyance at the girl, but it was proving difficult. So she decided to ask some questions she'd been dying to ask.

"So the party Saturday, who's was it again?"

Marissa jerked at the change of subject. "Ah, it was Chris Reynolds bonfire."

"You went with Becky?"

"Yeah we were drinking Smirnoff's, remember I told you?"

"Sorry, a lot on my mind and I've been spacing it, bad."

She really couldn't think of anything else to ask, so she stopped. They rode in silence to Marissa's house. Adeila didn't want to be at odds with her friend, so she decided to push this conversation back.

"Hey, good idea about inviting Saibol and Sorryn out. It's nice of you."

Marissa smiled sheepishly. "Thanks. I'll pick you up in the morning."

Adeila sighed, something was off. Her friend was hiding something and she had no idea what it was.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

"In the human world people are able to mask and manipulate the way they feel. They can do it so often that sometimes they even believe that is actually how they feel. Humans can make you believe things you know aren't true. It is a trait humans know well. They can lie, steal and manipulate each other." He pursed his lips. "Also how society says they should feel is often times shadowing ones true emotion. Whether you should feel one way or another is now more about how society would perceive that situation and not entirely upon ones true feelings, or integrity. That is why humans are so easy to manipulate into thinking situations involving the Fae or magic are indeed normal or completely different then what actually happened. Humans like to be manipulated, and managed. It has been so for many years." He paused, taking a breath.

"Like the human realm, the Fae have some bad people, but in general, as a whole, a Fae community is made up of people seeking to help each other, be there for each other and live out their days in peace and serenity. Our society thrives upon honesty, integrity, camaraderie but also on individuality. Each individual has something to give. If each Fae possessed the same attributes and abilities our realm would fall to ruin. Each individual magic and skill set makes up our community. There are those that can help control the weather, those that can heal and those that can help guide a rose bush into a blueberry bush. The Fae have long overlooked the bridge into the modern society, not only because we cannot come into contact with too much iron or technological devices, but because it is unnecessary. We have no media. No televisions. Nothing that would take away from our magic or ourselves. We are who we are and we are grateful for each Fae born to us. Did you know that it is almost unheard of for the Fae to commit suicide? We've had only two documented cases in two thousand years?"

Adeila was shocked but not entirely surprised. With so much positive energy buzzing around it would be hard to have something so hard in your life to want to end it.

She nodded to Loki. "So you've said before about not being surprised that I have a hard time lying, and you said again of how humans lie so often. So can the Fae not lie?"

He pursed his lips. "Fae cannot tell a blatant, outright lie. Like if you asked 'Is the sky blue?' I could not say 'No', but I could say, well, it is a mixture of colors cascading during different hours of the day, it is not always blue. So the sky is not exactly blue, it is swirls of pinks, grays and whites and yes sometimes blues. The Fae have learned to dance around a truth. They can easily manipulate the truth, twisting it so it's just as close to being an outright lie. To someone not entirely accustomed to the Fae world it would be harder to discern the speech of some Fae. I do not proceed to say that Fae are better than humans in any means. And yes, they are sometimes as cruel and vile as the humans can be. It is just more unheard of. The Fae live with nature in a way that binds them to it. The energies of nature seep into us, making our magic whole. If we industrialized and became what humans are, we would in turn ruin our own lives. Everything is a cycle. Everything is energy."

She blew out a breath and filed it away. Adeila only hoped that she could remember all of these things. It made her feel better that lying outright was something she had always had a hard time with, that lying, even briefly to Marissa was so difficult. And she realized that she never did outright, blatantly lie to her. She just danced around the truth, as Loki described, or was vague about what it was she did. When asked a direct question she always primarily replied with a truth.

Loki plucked at a blade of grass next to his knee and waited for her mind to cease it's filing before continuing with his initial point. This was magical energy. With each question she fired at him, it made him get off-track. Which was fine with her, the more she learned the better.

"Each Fae gives off their own power, their own energy. Like an aura. You are in-tune to that power if you look into yourself and feel it. It is something that comes with time, but can be a useful tool when gauging someone's mood, emotion or intentions. My first lesson is for you to seek out and feel my power. Tell me what you feel."

She gulped. She had the distinct feeling that this was a terrible idea. But she closed her eyes as instructed and felt her power pulse there within her, then she sent out her mind and energy to feel for Loki's power. Within seconds she felt it, swirling against her own; a warming, electrical current. It was intoxicating and welcoming, so unlike his facade of indifference he showed on the surface.

The smell of the forest engulfed her. Balsam fir, pine, rich soil and autumn leaves. She felt a breeze pick up her hair, and she had the sense that she was flying for a small second. She felt deeper and was slammed with a powerful feeling of desire; it caused her skin to heat and her lips to part.

Abruptly, he broke her concentration, the deep timbre of his voice slightly shaky. "Ah, maybe we should try this on someone else."

His power slammed at hers, pushing her out. She reeled her ties to him back, and refocused her bearings. Then opened her eyes. What the heck?

Heat crept up her neck and cheeks, and she sorely hoped that he had not picked up on her emotions and how her magic responded to his. Holy cow. She was most certainly never trying that again on him.

The Fae had rented a small house about two miles from her home and it was in the backyard that they sat under a large sycamore tree. She relished in the sunshine heating her skin, and closed her eyes to try to chase away any of the odd feelings that searching within Loki had left her with. She enjoyed looking within him. His power and magic were strong, exhilarating and almost painfully intoxicating to her. If not a little scary. She desperately wanted to try it on someone else to see how it would be with them. If each person felt like that, then she couldn't imagine people not doing it to each other all time. It was such an odd feeling. And clearly invasive, which is likely why people probably ward against allowing others to sense too much from them.

She had a feeling that Loki had let his barriers drop so that it would be easier for her to enter. She'd felt walls there; walls that were strong and tall and barred with nails but he'd pushed them away for her to enter, and then when he'd begun pushing her out she'd felt those walls slam closed on her. That is what it must feel like to try to read on a Fae that had walls built up. She was quite sure that most Fae didn't put up walls. But warriors, like Loki, probably knew well how to put them up and keep them erected when needed.

Loki called Ahern to them and had asked his permission for Adeila to experiment her seeking of energy upon him. She assumed it was a silent question of Ahern to allow his own walls to be opened to her.

Ahern was tall and muscular like most of the Guardian's. He had short brown hair, and gentle, soft greenish brown eyes. She noticed that one of his eyes had more brown then the other, the effect was beautiful and made his appearance even gentler. He had a very nice voice, and an easy smile.

She closed her eyes and pushed her magic towards him just as she'd done with Loki. This time it took a little more effort, her magic just kind of waded towards his. With Loki it had rushed to his, a primal urge to mingle and blend. With Ahern it was a gentler coaxing. He had an Earth affinity like her, and she could smell fresh cut grass and practically see a mirage of a peaceful meadow. His magic felt like soft, rich soil beneath her feet. It was an incredibly docile feeling, but there was strength there, and unshakable honor and loyalty. He would die for his Kingdom, his rulers and her, if need be. It was nowhere near an intoxicating feeling like Loki's, more like a pleasant creek on a sunny day. Whereas Loki's was like an ocean tide lapping at the sides of a small ship. If she wasn't careful she'd be taken down into its deepest depths. With Ahern an endless abundance of loyalty and trust brushed over her. She felt at peace.

"What do you feel?" Loki's deep voice pulled her out of herself and she opened her eyes, breaking the concentration and her magical energy slowly seeped back into herself.

"I feel warm soil beneath my feet, the smell of fresh cut grass, a shallow creek on a sunny day. I feel his honor, his loyalty towards the realm, my parents and me. I feel like I can trust him with my life and he will never betray me. He would die to save, and protect me."

Loki nodded and smiled faintly. "Good. That is really good."

Ahern bowed and turn to leave but Adeila grabbed his large, callused hand. "Thank you, Ahern, for letting me use you as an experiment, and for the loyalty you feel for my family. I can never thank you enough."

He looked so flattered and smiled broadly, turning his gentle handsome face into something more beautiful. "I swore an oath with not only blood but my heart, my lady. It is not something I take lightly."

She dropped his hand and nodded. Loki gestured a dismissal.

She blew out a breath. "So that's what it's like to feel someone's powers, energy, and essence?"

Loki nodded, but for once seemed slightly lost for words. He was saved when Sorryn sauntered his way over to them, tousled blonde hair, shining purple blue eyes and the sunny energy he always portrayed. She wondered a moment if he would let her read him, or if she even needed to ask permission?

"I will take a small leave of you. Sorryn will show you some defense moves." Loki nodded to Sorryn and then without a glance in her direction left in a hurry.

Both of them watched him walk away. A hint of confusion swept over Sorryn's face but she just shrugged. No way was she telling Sorryn what her magic made her feel when she sought out Loki's.

"Alright, Princess. Ever thrown a punch? Gotten into a fight? Pulled some hair?"

She laughed at his ridiculousness and shook her head.

"Oooh, well this should be fun then."

For two hours Sorryn ran her through defensive moves. She'd never even considered taking self-defense in her life, but when sweat dripped down her back, as he taught her how to use the heel of her hand on pressure points, and how to effectively kick in the groin, she realized she probably should have. It was not only kind of fun, well anything to do with Sorryn was fun, but it was exhilarating and empowering to be able to best someone double her size. Not that she was besting this opponent any time soon. Sorryn may be a complete goofball jokester, but he took her safety very seriously.

"The most effectively aimed places are the eyes, nose, ears, neck, groin, knee and legs. If you can reach one of those without stepping in closer to your attacker, do so. Never step in to shove your hand to his nose, when you can easily get a kick to his knee instead, and gain your own upper hand instead of possibly giving him the chance to gain it."

She learned. She retained. She moved. She took in everything he said, and the moves he taught her. He made sure she could effectively execute five different moves before calling it quits for the day. They went inside and got bottles of water. Loki still hadn't returned.

"You really are something, Princess, you know that." Sorryn smiled that cocky grin at her.

She laughed. "You think?"

"Yes, your determination and will is matched by none. You will make an amazing ruler one day."

She scoffed, but took the compliment. Saibol entered the kitchen and greeted them.

"What have you two been up to?" Her brows rose as she went and got a water bottle for herself. Obviously the sweat marks on their clothes, and flushed skin gave away some kind of exuberant activity. Sorryn plucked a leaf from Adeila's hair, and she couldn't even begin to suppress the giggle.

"I've been showing the Princess some self-defense moves."

Saibol's eye brows continued to rise higher, but finally she nodded then turned to Adeila. "The biggest misconception about self-defense is that you don't want to cause pain, you want to cause injury. Causing pain is just going to infuriate your attacker. You need to execute a move with enough technical precision that it will cripple or injure them at the very least."

Adeila gawked at her, but Sorryn grinned. "Yes, my baby sister is a hell of a fighter. You could learn more things from her than me, Princess. Next self-defense lesson she can be your teacher."

Adeila had the uneasy feeling that Saibol would not be quite as easy on her as her brother was, but she would love to hear more from a female warrior. So she smiled and began asking Saibol some questions. The Fae female opened right up and gave her insight and tips on fighting as a much smaller female opponent.

After another hour of the three of them talking about fighting, defense moves and Saibol and Sorryn demonstrating some fancy footwork for her, Sorryn received a mirror vibration from Loki. Adeila still wasn't entirely sure about the whole mirror conversation thing, but apparently when someone was trying to get a hold of you, the tiny magical mirror vibrated much like a phone would do on vibration setting. The mirror never made any noise, at least that she knew of, so you must always have the small thing on or very close to you.

Sorryn's mirror was golden and had antlers, flames and ancient Celtic looking music horns etched along the sides. She later discovered the horns were called Dords.

Apparently Loki was held up and wanted Sorryn to bring Adeila back to her house. A small part of Adeila felt disappointment but she stamped it down and began finding Loki to be just as mysterious as she had in the beginning. She felt as though any headway they had made on a friendship or bond was slowly beginning to slip away.

Chapter Forty

The next day Adeila was sore in places she'd never even realized she could be sore in. She felt like she'd been hit by a Mack truck. After hobbling to most of her classes, the soreness eased by mid-morning. Sorryn informed her that if she'd been human she'd likely have been sore for another day, but since the Fae heal much faster than humans, she was lucky. Well, she hadn't felt lucky one bit. She felt even less lucky when she was reminded of the big plans they all had for that day by Marissa. Again.

The morning ride to school had been non-stop excitement from her friend and she'd tried to rally, but just couldn't bring herself to get into the spirit. She had a sinking feeling that the club on Saturday night would be the same way. Adeila was just plain dreading the next few days. Friday was her birthday and she could legally enter the club as an eighteen year old on Saturday. How her friends were going to get in was beyond her, except Erik as he had turned eighteen over the summer.

At the end of the day, all of them had a game plan. Loki volunteered to drive and would pick up Adeila, "because she was closest to his house". Ha! Then they'd grab Marissa and Erik. Then Sorryn and Saibol would meet them at Castaway's Burgers in town, and then from there, they'd figure out their next moves.

It was such a normal teenage thing to do and she couldn't help but feel good about it. Well, somewhat good. She wasn't sure how she felt about Loki and Erik being in the same vehicle again, but the substance of it all was such a normal thing. Friends hanging out, getting burgers at a local diner. It was probably going to be weird and awkward, but she couldn't help but smile as she made her way down the stairs to await Loki's arrival. She'd wanted nothing but normal when she'd come back to the human realm, and this was normal. Well, other than the fact that four out of the six of them were Fae. And three of them were trained warriors who fought for her parent's kingdom, and retrieved wrong-doing Fae who sought to do harm to the human realm. Yeah, perfectly normal. Nothing weird there. Ugh!

She'd worn simple, dark, skinny jeans and her favorite heeled leather boots. She'd chosen a light pink tank top under a dark gray long sleeve and a thin brown jacket. She'd thrown on some mascara to make the blue of her eyes pop, some lip gloss, and her favorite perfume, but she hadn't fussed at all with her appearance. She'd leave that for Saturday night when they went to Rage. Just the thought of the club sent a small shimmer of panic through her. She figured it was just the Fae in her not handling the thought of the large crowd very well. She should be ecstatic going to her first eighteen plus club, but she really wasn't.

When the sound of a loud engine filled her ears, she bolted to the bottom step. She'd left her human parents a note on the fridge stating her whereabouts but honestly since she'd been home she'd only spent about ten minutes in their presence. She still didn't know how to ask them about her adoption and to tell them she was leaving. She figured she had plenty of time to figure all of that out.

Adeila was just putting everything off right now. Her adopted parents, Erik, her feelings about the Fae realm, her magic; all of it she just pushed aside in her quest to be normal. To try to be as normal as possible while here in the human realm in this moment. She'd see how far that got her.

As she walked to the truck, though, everything crashed into her at Loki's stern look. She felt like a naughty little kid instantly, and had no idea what she'd done.

"This really probably isn't the best idea."

"Well, at least we're all together right?" She tried sending him a small childish smile and peaked at him from below her lashes.

He made a face and sighed. Clearly she was right. He may not like it, but he knew it. She decided not to gloat in that fact; instead she watched out the window and tried not to feel the very small cab of the truck fill with their energy and magic pressing into each other. Questions fluttered her mind but she stamped them all back. She'd have plenty of time to ask him, now didn't need to be it. As soon as she'd ask they'd be at Marissa's house anyway.

"Have you spoken to your human family yet?"

She shook her head.

"Marissa?"

She turned to him. "No, I haven't said anything to them yet."

He narrowed his eyes. "You need to, you know."

They pulled into Marissa's drive. "You also really need some formal training, we need to make time for that, Adeila. This is no joke. I know you did some yesterday, but I mean every day."

She opened her mouth for a nasty retort about how he'd run out on her "training" session, but snapped her mouth shut as the door swung open. Adeila scrambled into the back seat, and Marissa hopped into the front bringing with her a very strong smell of really expensive perfume.

"Hi, guys! Aren't you excited?" Marissa's blonde head bobbed up and down and her butt hopped in excitement.

Loki's eyes met Adeila's in the rear view mirror and she could see how unimpressed he was with all of this. She couldn't help the tiny smile that crept over her face as she answered Marissa with a small sound of semi forced glee.

.~.

Erik had been drinking. She could smell it as soon as he got in beside her. She tried ducking out of his way as he planted a kiss on her, which smelled repulsively like vodka. Loki's eyes met hers in the rear view mirror moments later as Erik leaned into her to pull her into another kiss. Loki's eyes began turning from their vibrant golden to a darker green hue.

She could taste the alcohol on Erik's lips and she tried not to push him away too hard in disgust, but damn if it wasn't just plain gross. The smell was so strong to her sensitive nose. She knew Loki must be angry about Erik's intoxication, and she could feel his powerful energy drifting throughout the cab of the truck, she was surprised you couldn't see it. It was like a fine mist enveloping her, she had to focus hard not to sink into it and not to return the favor by pushing her magical energy out to meet it. Instead she focused on Erik. "Have you been drinking?"

He sloppily grinned at her. "Erm, yup. Got into a fight with Mum and Dad and well, I knew this was gonna be awkward... sooo... I wanted to take the edge off." He gave a little laugh that ended on a very wet, gross burp. "And I might have had a little too much."

Marissa swiveled herself so she was facing them, incredibly unsafe, but Adeila would take all the help she could get.

"That was very stupid of you Erik! What were you thinking?"

He made a face at her, then opened his mouth to speak, but then turned his eyes to Adeila, and closed his mouth. A look passed between Marissa and Erik, and Marissa turned back facing the front in her seat.

What the frick was that all about? Adeila was sorely confused as to what that strange look was that passed between her best friend and her...boyfriend.

Erik turned his attention back to Adeila and lowered his voice. "I'm really sorry, Adi. I should not have drank."

"If he is under the weather, should we return Erik to his house?" Loki's eyes sought hers in the rear view mirror again, but it was Erik who piped up.

"I'm fine, Staghorne. Let's do this!"

Loki's eyes narrowed, and finally Adeila met them in the mirror. She shook her head once, but she knew that Loki was mad well before she even saw the color in them.

.~.

Marissa was trying her best to make the situation one of merriment and welcome for Saibol and Sorryn, but it was obvious to Adeila that they could smell the reek of alcohol on Erik, and guessing from the looks they passed from each other and Loki, it was incredibly clear to her that this was not going to go well. Erik wasn't so drunk that he was stumbling into the restaurant, but he was drunk enough that he was being a loud mouth, and kind of annoying. He kept touching her, running his hands over her back, and thigh when they sat next to each other in the booth. The booths were large, but she was sandwiched between Erik and Sorryn since they were both tall, muscled guys, well, more so in Sorryn's case for sure, but still. Any other time she would have marveled in the enjoyment of being in such close confinements with two hot guys, but instead she was really ready for the night to be over already. And she was hoping fervently that the night was not concluded by any of her warriors punching her boyfriend, soon to be ex-boyfriend, in his smart mouth.

"So Loki, where are you from anyway? You got like an accent or something." Then Erik looked around at the other Fae. "You know, you all kind of talk weird."

"Erik!" Marissa and Adeila both said together, but clearly not rebuked, Erik just shrugged.

Marissa touched Loki's arm. "Don't mind him."

Loki, ever the outward voice of reason and calm, even if the coloring of his eyes proved different to her. His outer appearance was one of a calm lake in mid-summer, even if his eyes flashed with the silvery gray storm clouds and green of annoyance.

"I am from North Dakota, originally. I am about seventy-five percent Sioux and grew up on the Red Rock reservation. We, as you can imagine, did not have much in the way of technology or modern upbringing. I was schooled by tutors that volunteered to teach very small groups of kids on the reservation. I mostly learned from my Great-Aunt who had moved back to reservation from Chicago when I was ten. She taught me much of the world."

Adeila looked at him closely. It was so believable and she wondered if he'd just made it up or if he'd dwelt on that kind of story and possibly even used it before. It was a darn good one. He was dark in skin coloring and hair. His golden eyes were unusual and exotic much like the Native American people themselves. It was a good cover up. It would explain not only his looks, but his odd speech sometimes. Although she thought he was pretty well up with his lingo, but she was also used to him at this point, and she remembered in the beginning she found his speech a little odd herself, so she understood Erik's questioning, not that she agreed with the way he asked it. It was also interesting how she had told Marissa that her real parents were from South Dakota, this story just went along wonderfully with the fact that she had told Marissa that Loki knew her real parents and had helped her set up the meeting with them. Just one state away. It wasn't exactly unbelievable. Maybe he'd overheard her conversation somehow?

Erik could only nod, as that clearly placated his questioning. He turned to her and rubbed her thigh beneath the table. She gritted her teeth in annoyance but said nothing. She would not make any kind of scene in public but the action annoyed her. She really needed to break things off with him soon.

Since coming back from Faerie she'd just drifted away from her obsession with Erik. As much as she'd always wanted him, knowing without a doubt that now she could never have him, had her looking at him a little differently, at least that's what she told herself. Although she still found him incredibly attractive, she wasn't attracted to him. She liked him but didn't like him that way any longer. She had no idea how long that had been happening, but she had a sneaking feeling that she'd been growing out of the Erik thing before she'd even gone to Faerie. Since being there and knowing what kind of future she most likely would have, had made her see him differently.

She remembered Loki telling her on their journey to Faerie to forget about her human boyfriend he was no match for a Faerie Princess. She certainly didn't think of herself as higher in stature then Erik in any way, it's just that knowing that your future may be in a whole different realm, surrounded by people like yourself, in the magical sense... Well, it made her re-assess some things in her life. Erik being one of them.

The trip to Faerie made her broaden her spectrum, open her mind. She saw Erik as someone unattainable, unmatched for her. She needed to let him go, once and for all. For both of them.

Shockingly, the rest of their dinner went fairly uneventful. Erik seemed to sober up some, as the conversation and food went around and he didn't make any more inappropriate conversations towards the Fae and he'd kept his touching of her fairly manageable.

She did notice something, however. Every so often she'd catch Marissa looking at the two of them, particularly Erik. In an almost jealous, bitchy kind of way. Adeila sincerely hoped that she was mistaken. It was Marissa's idea to come out, and she hoped that Marissa wasn't mad that she hadn't sat with her. Not that she really made it seem that way, but... Well, something was off. Adeila had thought that Marissa would be tickled to death that she'd gotten to sit next to Loki and that he seemed to be flirting and paying attention to her when he wasn't gazing at her and Erik as well, but even still, Marissa stole glances at them often enough even when the conversation wasn't directed to them. It was a little eerie how both of them made it seem like they were interested in each other but instead kept glancing at her and Erik. Loki, she understood, but Marissa she did not. Something was really off. Something Adeila just wasn't seeing.

Chapter Forty-One

Unsurprisingly, everyone opted out of the movie.

"Yeah, we should really get home. We still aren't fully unpacked yet." Sorryn made a yawn, a very fake one for anyone that knew him for any length of time, but Adeila was thankful for the gesture.

Marissa made booing noises, but said she understood. Adeila wanted out of this situation as quickly as possible and shot Sorryn a small smile when she got the chance to do so undetected. He winked back at her.

After saying pleasant goodbyes to Sorryn and Saibol, the rest of the four piled into Loki's truck. Adeila had tried, pretty successfully, to avoid eye contact with Loki as much as possible throughout the night. She could feel his impenetrable gaze on her every time Erik held her attention or was touching her. Adeila tried not to be annoyed by the fact that she felt him looking at her. She figured it was one of several reasons, the first being that she'd told him she planned on breaking it off with Erik to make things easier for when she did return to Faerie, and two the fact that she was apparently still betrothed to someone else. This Lukkas character.

A shimmer of anger thrust itself through her body. She had a life. She could do as she damned pleased. She was not withholding herself because of a silly betrothal that her parent's made at her birth. She pulled herself out of her thoughts, and looked up at the rear view. Loki's eyes were on the road, but within a second they met hers. She could faintly see their shimmer in the dash light glow. His power slammed into her as his eyes seared into hers. She tried not to sigh as it shimmered in the cab of the truck around them, she decided to push hers back against him. Two could play this game. The smell of jasmine, wildflowers, morning rain and evergreens filled the truck, and the air grew thick and warm.

Erik looked around, and then opened his windows. "Shit, it got hot in here. Dude, turn down the heat or something."

Adeila almost let loose the giggle that came to her lips, she stamped it down but still had to look out her own window to hide the smile. Only when things simmered down between them and the warmth flooded out the open window, did she allow her eyes to drift to the rear view mirror and couldn't help the smile that reached her eyes. She was surprisingly met with one back. Loki had a smile tugging at his lips and his eyes were a very bright golden.

She had an overwhelming thought that this was kind of like flirting in the Fae realm. Then she stamped down that thought. No way was she flirting with Loki. Nope, most definitely not, and even more likely there was absolutely no way he was flirting back.

Sobered, she looked around. Marissa was watching them closely with a guarded and sort of wounded, confused, and speculative expression. Adeila swallowed and looked back out her window. No need for her friend to get any wrong ideas. Well, at least, not any more then she clearly must have at this point.

Ugh! Now she'd have to do some kind of damage control about that. She was so damn tired of this concealing what she was and figuring out what everyone else was thinking. Marissa was becoming a mystery to her, and she knew it wasn't entirely the other girls fault.

.~.

Erik kissed her briefly before he got out of the truck. She was thankful that he was sober enough now not to make a complete ass of himself. When Marissa was dropped off it was easy to see that she was being fake nice and fake happy. It was clear that she was beginning to question Adeila and Loki's friendship. Yup, damage control was certainly going to be needed tomorrow.

Adeila thought it would be awkward once it was just she and Loki especially after their weird magic power play, flirting situation, or whatever the heck it had been, but it wasn't. There was a comfortable silence that stretched between them.

Finally he broke it. "Your birthday is in just a few hours."

She turned to him surprised he remembered. "Yup."

He looked at her briefly then back to the road but remained silent. She was so not going to make a big deal about her eighteenth birthday at all, so she was glad that he dropped it.

"Tell me something about Faerie."

He looked at her from the corner of his eye. "Alright, let's talk about the wolves."

"Wolves?" Her mind instantly reeled to the dreams she'd been having that almost always involved a steel gray wolf.

"Yes. Remember I told you a little about Wildwood wolves?"

She nodded. She briefly remembered him voicing something about the wolves. How a girl had turned a wolf into a man, and had taken him as a husband.

"There are several territories used by the Fae wolves. These are a species of the Faerie that can only shift into wolf form-"

"Oh, so like Werewolves?"

He wrinkled his nose. She found the small physical gesture disconcertingly attractive, but would never admit such a thing.

"Never use that term in front of them. That is a human term and would offend them greatly. They are simply Fae wolves. They are shifters who can only take on the wolf form. Shifting into animal form is an incredibly rare and powerful gift within the Fae. These particular shifters can only shift into wolf form but have an incredibly strong bond with their wolf and feel its primal urges and instincts."

"So does the pull of shifting increase with the full moon, I know you told me, but honestly I don't remember, and do only their claws and face shift or does all of them actually shift into animal form?"

Loki rolled his eyes. "Forget every human misconception of such strange fantasies. Although the first bit of your question holds merit, the second is just plain stupidity."

She pursed her lips, the broke into a small smile, but nodded for him to continue.

"They can shift at will just like every other shifting Fae, but I do believe the pull at the full moon is almost magnetic and unbearable. Every wolf, Fae or not, is drawn by the pull of the full moon and the urge to shift, I hear, is impossible to ignore. The Fae wolf is a primal and instinctual species."

"How does one become a Fae wolf, other than how the girl changed her mate with witchcraft and Fae magic? Do they bite humans or Fae and turn them into Werew- ah, er, Fae Wolves?"

Loki raised his brows at her, but was clearly pleased she was interested enough to ask questions, and that she remembered the story of Yolanda and her magically changed mate.

"Another misguided human conception. No, Adeila, a Fae wolf cannot bite another and have them turn. It is something entirely bred into them. Only blood can make a Fae wolf. And even sometimes that bloodline, if diluted, can get weeded out. The Fae wolves, if not careful, could become extinct. That is why many kill each other for Alpha and breeding. I know one leader who took a Fae herbalist, much like Magistra, but stronger, as a wife. Many have tried to kill him because of it. The dilution of the line is something that is punishable to death. If he wasn't such a strong Alpha, he and his wife may have been killed. Lucky for them their sons are full blooded and strong shifting wolves, so now they hold the female non-wolf Alpha in higher regards. That's where the politics of the Fae world come in."

She put up her hands. "Before we continue into politics, I'd like to know more about shifting. Not the wolves, but other Fae. You say that shifting into animal forms is a very powerful and rare power. Does it run within my family?"

He cocked his head, and appeared to be thinking long and hard for several moments. "Honestly, I do not believe so. Maybe within your mother's line, many years back, but even that I am unsure."

"Shifting runs in your family, obviously, considering your ancestor was the Stag. Can anyone in your family now shift?"

He swallowed and said yes, very quietly. Her eyes widened ever so slightly at his whisper and she had to ask. "Can you shift?"

After a long pause she watched his throat swallow again and he nodded. She felt a tiny tremble of confusion needle its way into her mind. The answer she was seeking was right there in her mind somewhere. "What is it that you can shift into, Loki?"

He let out a long sigh, and ran his free hand through his dark hair. "A falcon."

Adeila's eyes widened, and her breath caught. The Gyrfalcon! All this time it was him. She knew the eyes were too human or in this case, Fae like, to be just an ordinary animal. All those times it watched her, stopped her from doing things. The entire time it was him.

"Adeila, I-"

"You kept that from me."

"Yes, but-"

"Loki! Don't keep things like that from me. Even if it's for my safety or my own good or whatever other thing you'll say that will sound so much like my father."

"I-"

"Tell me what it's like to shift." She knew she should be madder that he'd kept something like this from her, but she just wasn't. She'd always known, deep down, that something was abnormal. She should have figured it out sooner than this. This was what he'd wanted to tell her that night at her parent's dinner party. When he'd said to ask him again of his powers. The answer had been there, but with everything else that had happened she'd forgotten about that invitation. Instead she would learn from this mistake, and never under-estimate. She knew she could trust Loki, and she'd be a bigger person and just move on.

He looked at her as if she'd grown two heads but he regained his composure. "It is like shedding a skin and gaining anew. It is nothing like the fables of werewolves and other shifters that the humans speak of. The falcon is a part of me. I cannot see into the mind of that animal, it does not speak to me. It does not have its own form outside of me. The shift of man and wolf, as the Fae wolf connection, the wolf has its own mind and needs and the man must give in to them from time to time. They are linked, by mind and spirit. My falcon form is completely a part of me. It is my mind, my thoughts. I change nothing but my form. I am not linked to the animal; it is just another skin for me. There is no spiritual bond, per say, just another form I take on. The freeing feeling I gain from it though is unexplainable. To be able to feel how it is to fly is something that I cannot describe, nor would I, if I could because many people would look their whole life to gain that feeling. Shifting into our animal form is taxing and can take some energy, much different from that of the Fae wolf shifting, which is more natural and refreshing rather than draining. It is two entirely different worlds. But yes, I can shift into a Gyrfalcon, and shifting does run in my family line as you know. As of right now that is the only form I can take."

She chewed on her lip. It was a lot to take in, and most of it was incredibly confusing but she was trying to retain as much as possible.

"So some Fae do take multiple forms?"

"Yes, my father can take the form of a river otter, and a white fox."

"Wow, that's really cool."

"Yes, it is. But you cannot speak in those forms, so they are really not so useful unless you are spying or just enjoying the freeing and limitless feeling of being an animal. Seeing the world as an animal gains you a whole new respect for the world, but it is not the most useful of powers. At least not in these times."

"It was useful for you." She said it under her breath, but she knew he heard.

Loki very briefly reached out and touched her shoulder. "Honestly, I did try to tell you-"

"No it's fine, really. I understand. A warrior cannot tell all his cards up front. It would have given away much for you. I understand, Loki."

When they reached her driveway she began gathering her bag and reaching for the door handle.

"Adeila, ah, I am sorry about not telling you of my form. I looked for the right time, but it never really came." He sighed. "On a different note, tonight was... Awkward. Please do something about the human boy. Seriously."

Anger struck a chord through her as it often did when this subject was breached. "Loki, you know very well that I plan to-"

He raised a hand in surrender. "I do not seek an argument of any kind, Adeila, I am simply reminding you. Again. Anything could happen and you may not have the time to set things right with everyone, as you wish to do. If there is any inclination that your safety is in question, you know I will most certainly be throwing you over my shoulder and returning you to Faerie."

Her mouth was slackened slightly by his words, but instead of anger she felt solemnness. It was true. She did need to do what she had set out to do, at least where Erik was concerned. Marissa and her parents she would put off as long as possible, because she sincerely doubted her safety would ever be a concern so she was in no real rush. With Marissa she could easily formulate a tale of how she wished to move with her real parents and that is that. Dealing with her human family was another story. That was going to be a brutal ordeal where the truth would be harder to handle and dish out. And she hadn't quite decided how she would lie and say she stumbled upon the truth of her adoption. She certainly couldn't say she'd discovered her real parents were Fae.

So she only nodded to Loki, who seemed utterly surprised at her lack of fight and she got quickly out of the truck and didn't look back.

As she made her way to the front door she felt the magical energy of Sorryn and Ahern in the woods surrounding her home. Ever watchful.

.~.

She didn't feel much different as midnight struck turning it to Friday, her birthday. She had thought turning eighteen was supposed to be exciting but it really wasn't any different then how she'd felt the hour prior. Her magic simmered around her, ever growing. Maybe that had changed some. She did feel it's presence more powerfully, as it tingled its way down her arm to her fingertips, itching for release. It thrummed harder at the surface of her being, pressing at her.

She had been vastly improving her control and she knew she not only had the Fae realm and Loki to thank for that, but herself. She was now comfortable enough in her own skin that she was beginning to do small things here and there on her own. Simple tasks where she used her magic when no one was looking. It was exhilarating, and she'd never felt more free. When she used her magic, she felt like her soul was lighter, her body freer. She, of course, would most likely feel even better if she was in Faerie, but at least she found time to practice her magic here. She knew Loki needed to give her more formal training but in the meantime she'd continue to do silly things with her magic, and get more comfortable with using it on her own. Let it become more and more a part of herself. Loki, and the rest of her Fae entourage's tips and small amount of training over the past week had become increasingly useful and she even began looking forward to it. She just hoped that Loki didn't skip out again.

When she finally fell asleep it was deep and her dreams were filled with darkness. Typically her dreams were filled with unicorns and wolves but the last few nights they were of dark beasts. And they were chasing her; biting and clawing at her bare feet. She woke dripping in sweat, and her heart pounding nearly out of her chest.

Chapter Forty-Two

She tried desperately to wipe the remnants of the dream from her mind as Marissa chatted about their upcoming night of fun. Tomorrow night to be exact. Marissa seemed slightly more herself this morning and Adeila hoped that she had forgotten about the heated moment of power play that she clearly witnessed between her and Loki. Adeila had ensured to mention numerous times on the ride to school of how Loki was Marissa's date, and how they were going to dress and silly girly things to put her friend's mind at ease. That seemed to placate Marissa for the time being. That or maybe Marissa was just being nice to her because it was her birthday. Who knew with her? She was becoming as annoyingly mysterious as Loki.

Adeila had a bad feeling about the whole club thing, but dissuading her best friend was only wishful thinking. The girl was stubborn and completely ridiculous when she got something into her blonde head.

Since coming back from the Fae realm Adeila had a hard time being in close proximity with large crowds of people. School was a plethora of sounds, scents and emotions' swirling around her and it was almost smothering. She found that every chance she got; she reveled in the peacefulness of nature. More and more each day she craved being outside, being in the sun, and the vegetation around her. She'd always enjoyed nature, but now she sought it out at every possible chance. So being in a club with hundreds of people was going to be a challenge.

The club idea was entirely Marissa's, and Adeila was just barreled over and along for the ride. Although she had to admit she was extremely happy that Loki had agreed to go with Marissa, even if Adeila knew it was more for her own benefit then for her friend's. Marissa never needed to know that. Especially now that she knew Marissa felt the strange connection between her and Loki.

Her mind wondered briefly how Loki, Sorryn and Saibol all got id's for the club, they weren't necessarily citizens, then she realized she herself wasn't either, and somehow someone must have faked her birth certificate and social security card and all that. Her real parents had said they had made the adoption go smooth, which must have been partly what they had meant. Loki had said that they had some humans in the mortal realm that knew of them and were helping them; she assumed one such must have done not only her paperwork but also the Fae's that entered schools and any other kind of program. Each, obviously, had to have some kind of fake id.

She remembered again how little she really knew about the Fae, and decided she needed to begin writing every little question down to ask one of the Fae at her disposal for answers.

Her eyes fluttered to the rear view mirror, where a black Mustang tailed her. Sorryn. Since returning to the human realm on Sunday afternoon she'd had a Fae tailing her every move, as if someone was going to bother her now that she had entered the Fae realm. She still didn't really understand what kind of dangers she could be in. Why her father had insisted so much on sending her with escorts. She felt constantly watched and although she liked all of them, it was slightly annoying. They changed up vehicles each day so that Marissa wouldn't catch on, and so far she wasn't the wiser.

Adeila couldn't wait until enough time had passed when the Fae would see that she was not in danger and then her Faerie body guards could go back to catching the bad guys like she knew they were itching to do. None of them had said anything, but she knew without a doubt they would rather be catching rogue Fae then watching her every move and keeping her clear of non-existent danger.

.~.

High school was filled with so many loud noises and nasty body odor smells, she had no idea how she really hadn't noticed it before. Of course, no one said happy birthday to her. Teenagers never paid attention to such things. So focused on themselves. She was lucky that Marissa had remembered and promised to take her out for a milk shake and give her her present that night. Adeila obviously couldn't tell her that she had made plans with Loki right after school for some training, but she'd have to make something work. Maybe train a couple hours then run and meet Marissa. She felt sometimes like she was leading a double life. Oh, wait, she kind of was. Damn.

With Loki talking quietly beside her, Adeila approached the lockers that morning. Since today was another lesson day Loki was discussing a few things that they would go over and how she should prepare herself. Apparently today was a magic learning lesson so no need for her to wear gym clothes, like her last lesson, which had been self-defense. When they rounded the corner she stopped short, Erik and his friends were half way down the hall in a heated conversation. Her hearing was on over-sensitive mode today, she couldn't control it, and she had yet to have a chance to ask Loki about it. She planned to as soon as they met that afternoon. She'd stamped down control on her magic but her senses were a different story.

She knew she should try to block out the boys conversation, but when she heard her name whispered, she straightened and allowed her senses to reach out to them.

"Shut up, man!" Erik's voice was reaching anger.

"Why, dude?" His friend Chris was looking at him with an exasperated expression. "I can't believe your letting this go on so long. I mean I thought you'd have ended this like a month ago."

"I like her. Like, really, like her. I didn't plan to." He shrugged his shoulders. "It just happened."

"Yeah, people are saying you guys are really like boyfriend/girlfriend. Thought you were just supposed to get her to think you two were dating? Wasn't that the deal?" The boy let out a cruel laugh but Danny stepped in, holding up a hand.

"Hey knock it off, Chris. She's actually wicked cool. I don't know why no one saw it before. If Erik's really interested in her, then clearly the bet is off."

"No way! She's a total nerd! But whatever, not my problem. I just wonder what she'd say if she knew the truth, ya know?"

Another boy, Brad Nessin, stepped in. "Isn't there another bet going around about how you won't be able to bang her before end of the school year? I'm taking you all up on that one!"

Erik grumbled and then turned away. He stopped dead in his track when he saw her staring at him from the hall. A look of horror passed his face, before a mask began creeping over it.

Her heart was in her throat, she turned to Loki. His hands were balled into fists and there was a murderous gleam to his eyes, which had turned them from their golden green to a deep burnt sienna orange, steel gray edged the center. She shook her head, and reached over to touch his arm. His eyes focused on her, and some of the golden returned around the edges. Like her, he'd obviously added in the bits of the conversation that were missing.

She could do nothing but turn back to Erik, who had masked his face entirely and was smiling at her.

"Hey, babe." His eyes scanned her face, clearly assuming she didn't hear the conversation. No normal person should have been able to from so far away. He turned his attention to the hand she had still on Loki's forearm and took a tentative few steps closer. "What's up?"

"You tell me." Her voice shook slightly from the hurt that was trembling along her every pore. She could see the wheels spinning in his head, coming up with some cover story, had she actually heard the interlude.

"Ah, just having a talk with my boys, and now seeing you." His smile was hopeful, and then his eyes looked again, dramatically, at her fingers on Loki's skin. She watched a glimmer of jealousy flit across Erik's face. She dropped her hand away, but not because of his jealousy, because she figured it was probably inappropriate to continue touching Loki this long. She also didn't want to admit that touching him had been for her own comfort as much as it had been to ensure that he didn't attack Erik with that feral gleam in his eyes. She let her eyes drift up to Loki again, his gaze swept from dismembering Erik limb by limb, to hers, and she saw compassion and loyalty there. She shook her head slightly, hoping he would let her handle this. When he nodded, she turned back to Erik.

She wanted to smack him for his audacity to be jealous of the simple touch, and smack him for everything else that was so clearly a lie. From the beginning.

She bit her lip to shock herself from the drowning sensation of hurt and betrayal she felt in her throat to the pit of her stomach and everywhere in between.

"What was that all about, Erik? Letting what go so long?"

Surprise and anger etched his pretty face again, dousing the light from his gorgeous blue eyes.

"I... Ah." He was lost for words and she could see him still trying to grasp a cover story. She knew he got it when his eyes lit up again. "They were harassing me for taking so long to grow some balls to ask you to the Senior Formal."

She stared at him blankly, and then rolled her eyes. "I wasn't born yesterday, Erik."

But she wanted to believe him. She wanted to believe that, that is exactly what they had been discussing. She would have been so overly flattered by that, if she hadn't heard close to the entire conversation. She almost cursed this gift, or power, or whatever the damned Fae called it.

His eyes narrowed and he allowed them to linger on Loki for several seconds. "There's nothing else it could be, Adi. I assure you. Just some ball busting, but I was planning on asking you. Tonight."

She swallowed, and again wished with every fiber of her being that, that was the truth, but she knew better. She knew that the conversation she heard was something much different. Something cruel.

"I promise you." He said it again, bolder, with more enthusiasm. His eyes bore deeper, gazing at her, willing her to believe him. He took another step closer, then his eyes turned to Loki again, and there was a hard edge to them. "Don't you have somewhere to be, Staghorne?"

Loki growled a low, angry, predatory sound. "Oh, no I think I'm right where I need to-"

Adeila touched his arm again. Trying to silently tell him to relax. She appreciated the fact that he so willingly planned to defend her, but she had seen this coming. Months ago. She knew it had been too good to be true. She'd known it all along, but she'd still allowed herself to fall for him, to care, to want, to dream. She needed to handle this Erik situation, so she could get over it. Move on. Just like she knew she'd need to do, eventually, even without this particular situation thrusting her into it. Her heart had overturned her mind for the last time.

"Loki, its fine, I got this."

His eyes went from deep green and pale orange to honey golden as they met hers. She watched the transformation in awe. She could see the rings of color and flakes of gray move. Twinkle, almost like stars. She could get lost in them for days. But now was not the time to enjoy his peculiar eyes, now was the time to deal with this.

After several pregnant moments of them just staring at each other, the compassion she saw in the depths of his eyes shimmering over her, an unexpected and strange twist to their relationship. She'd known he cared for her to some capacity, but it was nice to see that it ran this deep. He was her guide, her teacher, her protector, her Warrior, her mentor, and now finally her friend.

"I will see you later then." He said it as such a promise that she had no doubt the truth in it, and it sent an unexpected shiver of anticipation down her spine. She wanted to lean on him after all of this, just a bit, see how deep this new found friendship really went. What she really wanted and wouldn't admit was a hug. A real deep, hard, long hug. At that moment she fervently wished for her Fae parents. She wished that she was back in Faerie and away from all this teenage bull shit.

After watching Loki walk away, she turned back to Erik. The bell rang. She let her eyes drift over his shoulder, not ready to look into his blue eyes quite yet, to find Sadie Simms standing there smirking at her. Adeila's eyes went back to Erik, finally, to find his eyes were hooded. He shuffled his feet, hurt shadowed his eyes.

Maybe he did feel something for her other than the original joke of dating her. She wanted to know why, though. Was it really a bet? A dare? What was he hoping to really get from her? Sex?

She wanted to voice those questions screaming in her head, but instead just shook her head and walked away; she just could not do this now. She had no words for this; the fight went right out of her when she looked at him. Betrayal raw and deep burned her heart.

She began to walk down the hallway to her next class, without even getting any of her books from her locker. She'd just tell the teacher she left them at home.

Erik ran up beside her, and tried to grab her arm.

"Honestly, I never meant to hurt you. I really like you. Like really. It might have been a stupid drunken dare at first, but honestly Adeila, I really -"

She held up her hand to him, Marissa watched in horror at their display where she stood at the end of the hall.

"I can't do this here. Just no, Erik. No." Tears welled in her eyes but she wiped them away, angrily.

The girl ran over to her, and grabbed her arm, giving Erik the dirtiest look her angelic blond features could muster.

"Loki told me to find you. What the hell is going on?"

Adeila's eyes drifted to Erik who still stood, shell-shocked. "Why don't you just ask him?" And with that she walked to her next class.

When she walked out of that class, having retained not even a single word the teacher uttered, she began regretting staying at school. She was technically eighteen now, she had every right to leave if she wanted. Plus, who would really notice?

Loki peeled himself from the wall, and fell in step beside her.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Adeila? We could go and train instead, since we didn't get too yesterday."

She smiled at his words. He was clearly looking out for her, and she was thankful that that was an option, and even more thankful that he was actually beginning to be understanding and caring about her feelings. So he obviously wasn't made of steel.

She allowed the smile to remain and even brighten as she looked up into his striking face. "I'm a freakin' Faerie Princess, Loki. This is nothing."

His look of empathy and understanding was completely erased by his own grin. The humorous expression was shared by one of pride. A look that caused her knees to go weak; it was an intoxicating feeling, knowing he was proud of her. Two emotions he so rarely held and they were both directed to her.

"That a girl." He surprised her even further by squeezing her shoulder briefly before stepping away. He didn't go far though. Oh, no. She had a feeling her Faerie warrior would be within arm's reach as much as possible today. She couldn't help but relish in that fact; even as they entire area that his fingers had touched tingled even through her thin sweater.

She could do this. She made her way to her locker, but it was obvious everyone in the school had heard about the bet because many stopped and stared. Looks of pity and surprise were certainly plastered on many faces. Then her eyes caught on a face. A certain bouncy, blonde female that had the most genuine, feline smile across her full, blood red lips. Adeila turned away quickly and finally looked toward her locker. But she stopped dead when she saw Marissa and Erik there. Standing close together, heads almost touching, speaking in hushed voices. When they looked up to her, they stopped talking and took a step away from each other.

Clearly Sadie wasn't looking out for her man because here he was chatting up to her best friend!

She'd have to speak to Sadie about her leash. Time to keep that thing tighter. As she thought it, she couldn't help but let out a foolish giggle. Everyone who stood close by stared at her. She felt Loki's presence behind her, and she turned. He had a gleam in his eyes that was clear that maybe; just maybe, he was privy to her own private joke. But then she sobered at her own thoughts, because if those thoughts continued it would show her a different kind of betrayal. One she could not face. So she allowed her mind to come to the more obvious conclusion, she had, of course, told Marissa to ask Erik about what happened, or maybe Erik was using Marissa to get her back. And that would just not do. So instead she flashed Marissa an obviously annoyed expression and stood before them, wanting to get this over with.

Both looked at her perplexed, but it was Marissa who made the first move. She stepped away from Erik and gave him a contempt look before tossing her shoulder length blonde tresses and turning her back to them and fishing inside her locker.

Well, that was not exactly what Adeila was looking for, but she'd take it. At least Marissa wasn't going to try to convince her of anything. Like Erik being innocent or something equally as ridiculous. Adeila's mind was still processing the fact that she'd come up on them standing very close, and speaking in whispered tones. It seemed much more intimate then she wanted her mind to truly process, but she couldn't complain too much as she'd told Marissa to speak with Erik about what had happened.

Adeila just stared at Erik. Her resolve towards him strengthening by each silent moment. She felt the energy of the Fae close by and knew that they were awaiting any kind of trouble Erik may present. It was an empowering feeling, knowing such powerful people had her back. She wondered how it would feel to have an entire realm at your back? To have villages of people to depend on you, and you them? That deepest of loyalties. It was exhilarating all in its own, and she felt herself stand straighter, and let a look of serenity pass across her features. She knew when Erik noticed it as well; because you could see the apology and the excuses die on his lips.

Instead he looked behind her and to her right, scowled and walked away. She shrugged and sidled up to Marissa.

"What was that all about?" Adeila was shocked that her own voice was able to ask the question so nonchalantly when her brain was screaming what the hell is going on with you two?

She hoped that an innocent explanation would put her overzealous mind to ease.

Marissa looked into her locker, squinted and shrugged. "You know, he was just asking if you were still here, if I thought you would accept his apology."

The entire time Marissa continued to look into her locker not once meeting Adeila's eyes.

"And what did you say?"

Marissa gave another shrug, closed her locker and moved to the side, clutching her books. "That you were here, obviously, and that I seriously doubted you'd forgive him." Adeila tried not to let her mind dwell on the fact that, that was most likely not what was said, or at least not the entire extent. It was very evident that there was far more going on around her, that she was unwilling to see. The strangest part about it was that for once, she really didn't care all that much. She had much larger things in her life then ordinary, petty teenage crap.

"He didn't tell me personally, but I heard about the bet. I'd like to hear what you heard him say?"

Adeila only nodded as they walked to class. "Later?"

Marissa nodded.

At lunch she sat outside on the grass below a large oak tree, all of her Faerie companions seemed much more at ease here and she regretted not trying this before. It was a little brisk outside but she'd noticed since coming back from Faerie, the cold affected her much less.

The wind tousled her hair around, but otherwise her thin jacket kept her from the chill. No one spoke of Erik, but Loki kept sending her worried glances. She withdrew within herself and just tried to think about other things. She found that thinking of the Fae realm, Obysson, or her real parents kept any thoughts of betrayal at bay.

She avoided Erik, easily enough, the remainder of the day. Although whenever he was within a hundred feet from her, he would steal glances her way, she would quickly turn and go into a different direction, or hide out until he'd passed through.

Everyone else seemed to act the same around her. Sadie Simms and her posse, instead of sending her evil glares, were now sending her boisterous grins and high pitched squeals of obnoxious laughter whenever in her presence. That was something she could handle. She just tuned it out as best she could.

Danny had come up to her and wholeheartedly apologized, saying he had nothing to do with the bet and that he'd tried to talk all of them out of it. He also "knew for a fact" that Erik did indeed care for her. She'd taken his apology but had just shrugged at the admission of Erik's feelings. If he cared for her, he'd have called off such a cruel bet, and told his friends to shove it. But he hadn't, and that was all that Adeila cared about now.

When the final bell rang signaling the end of the school day, she and Loki made their way to the front entrance. Marissa caught up to them as they walked to the parking lot. None of them spoke; Adeila turned back and lifted her eyes to Loki. She swallowed and her heart skipped a beat. The look in his eyes earlier, when he'd stood beside her, had been a sliver of real compassion; something that shocked her to her core. She obviously knew he could possess real feelings, she just hadn't really seen any sign of something like that from him. Her ever stoic guard. It brought a new sense of friendship to light within her. Now that look was replaced with one of concern, compassion and something lighter, softer, gentler. Something she couldn't read.

She'd come to depend on him. Even now she willed her eyes to tell him she still wanted to meet, to train that afternoon. When he nodded, and turned away, she almost willed him back to her side, but, begrudgingly, let him go.

When her eyes wandered, they found Erik standing at the curb below the main entrance, hands in his pockets. Sandy blonde hair tousling from the wind, his blue eyes on her. In them she could read sadness, anger and complete bafflement at the same time. Obviously shocked that his little joke was wasted so quickly.

"What the hell really happened?" Marissa's voice drifted into Adeila's mind and pushed away her thoughts. Had Marissa known that Erik had just been playing with her? Was that the shared secret looks that she'd caught passing between them prior to this? She prayed within her heart that was not the case.

She found her voice through all the doubt and sadness that crept through her mind. "Apparently, Erik was only dating me for some bet. Like you heard."

Marissa's shocked face was genuine. "I asked him what happened and he just said he didn't want to talk about it, and then he began asking if you were still here. I heard bits and pieces from Sadie Simms and her hag crew, and then Becky said something about how Erik had been drunk the night before my party over the summer and that was when the bet was made."

Adeila's head whipped up at the news. So that was where and when it had happened. "Well, its fine I guess, anyway. I was planning on breaking things off with him by the weekend."

Marissa took her eyes from the road and met Adeila's for a brief moment. "You were?"

"Yeah, I'm thinking of moving to live with my real parents. Staying with Erik wasn't an option. I just never... Well, I guess it would have been under-"

Tears came to Adeila's eyes at the sheer ferocity and cruelness of the entire situation.

"Oh, Adi. This is so insane. I can't even believe this of Erik. How could he stoop so low?"

Adeila just shrugged and tuned out the world, going within herself to her core and the magic that laid there. Withdrawing from everything but that drum of power. That concrete feeling within her. Knowing that she was something more. Something above all of this.

.~.

Adeila's emotions battled against her as she paced her bedroom. They waged a war between being sad, pissed, and betrayed. So what if she'd planned on breaking up with Erik anyway, this was not what she'd even considered happening.

So, he was really just with her because of a stupid bet. She felt so stupid. So foolish for believing someone like him could ever be truly interested in her. Then a small thought hit her. Someone like her? She shouldn't think that way; she was a freaking Faerie Princess after all. Just like she'd told Loki. She needed to stop forgetting that small, significant fact. She had a life outside of this world that very few others would ever wish in their wildest dreams to ever lead. It didn't make her above them, but it made her being different, for once in her life, fortunate. She was above all of this drama, as soon as she made her way back to that life that awaited her. How foolish was she to think that she owed this realm something. That she owed these people something.

Adeila suddenly had an overwhelming sense of being alone. Typically, she loved being alone, but right now she couldn't handle it. She lay down on her bed, drawing her knees up to her chest. Her eyes caught on something on her nightstand and she grabbed the feather that she'd found in the hood of her shirt after she'd come home from the state forest, where she'd run into Loki and he'd explained about her parents and her Fae bloodlines. She twirled it around, and ran her fingers down it's soft length. She knew most likely her Guardians were outside somewhere, watching over her. But she wanted them here, with her. At least one of them. One in particular. One that she wondered if this feather belonged to. She ran the feather down her face, and then her eyes caught on the silver on her finger. Her ring. She'd yet to need to use it, but now its lovely twined leaves of a lustrous silver, seemed to call to her. She looked around her room, wiped her eyes, and did it. She touched the ring to her wrist.

She remained laying on her side, her fingers caressing the softness of the feather. Within seconds she heard a tapping at her window, and her eyes flew to it. The blinds were open and Loki's falcon figure awaited her, hovering there. She almost made a small squeak as the sight of the too predator gleam of those golden eyes met hers. Like they were piercing her soul. They were so much like his true form's unwavering golden warrior gaze. She caught herself staring and quickly opened the window and allowed him to partially fly, partially shift inside. Once he settled, fully Fae, on her floor; she closed her mouth because it had been stuck completely open at the sight of him shifting.

When she finally met his eyes, the look he gave her was of simmering panic, and then switched completely to empathy, and she was shocked by it. He seemed to be doing that quite a bit lately, shocking her. He'd obviously been panicking that something had been wrong, when she'd called him to her. Now she felt a little badly about using it because she didn't want to be alone, not because she was in danger.

She was still trying to process the image of him shifting. It was odd, kind of like wavering of his form until the two blended into each other. It was a beautiful melding of bird form, human form and sheer energy that rippled along his body. It was mesmerizing. She swallowed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"We should train." She said it softly, so softly she wasn't even sure he heard her, but of course he had. He was Fae.

"Adeila, the mind isn't always at its best when emotions are-"

"Loki, we should train. Please."

He gazed at her, she couldn't even remotely begin to assess the look on his face or what passed within his eyes, but he did finally nod.

"Very well, who am I to detain a Princess on her birthday?"

She gave him a watery smile and excused herself to wash up a little and compose herself. When she returned he was standing quietly in her bedroom. It was odd having Loki in her room. It sent heat creeping up her neck, and she shifted her feet.

Luckily, he turned to the window and opened it. Letting a cool California winter breeze swirl inside, bringing along the crisp mountainous air. He straddled the ledge, and turned to her.

"I will return with my truck, be ready in a few moments. We do as you wish."

With that he leapt into the sky, shifting seamlessly.

Chapter Forty-Three

The truck ride was filled with pleasant silence. She liked that Loki never felt the need to fill gaps of quiet, with chatter. It was something she was beginning to thoroughly enjoy about being around him. He allowed her to be lost in her own thoughts. He'd told her earlier that they'd likely train with magic today, but she really was hoping that she could convince him to do something physical so that she could work out some of this frustration and anger that was in her mind and bloodstream. The sadness was pushed down towards her heart, but she decided to not dwell on that emotion. It would get her nowhere fast.

Loki opened the car door for her once they parked in the dirt drive of the house, and she hopped down. She was still a little shaky from the emotional upheaval and the observation of seeing him shift from bird to man. That magical interlude had left her already frazzled brain just a bit mushier. She looked around to give herself a moment and was surprised to see none of the other Fae; usually they were outside, sword practice, or something. A few birds chirped in the trees surrounding the house, and she turned to Loki.

"So, exactly what are we learning today?"

He smiled briefly and gestured for her to follow him. She shrugged at his strange smile and walked along with him. What greeted her when they finally approached the backside of the house sent a new shock wave of emotion through her body.

A beautiful newly handmade trellis of branches awaited them that led into the backyard. Beautiful flowers climbed along the sides and across the top, obviously magically manipulated to grow so quickly on something that must have been made very recently, if not today. On a banner tied across the top, in beautiful calligraphy was, "Happy Birthday, Adeila!"

Through the trellis she could see tables set up, and flowers cascading everywhere. Presents sat wrapped with bows atop one table, and an amazing arrangement of fruit in the shapes of flowers sat on another table, with what appeared to be a small chocolate cake.

Adeila threw her hand to her mouth, as tears threatened at the back of her throat, and began to brim in her eyes. She turned her watery blue eyes Loki and he smiled brightly to her. A smile she hadn't seen in some time, and it transformed his face from ruggedly handsome to mostly approachable gorgeous.

"I didn't know today would go as it did, if you are not up for this I can send everyone away or we can find peace somewhere else to actually train instead."

She shook her head. "No, no, this... Loki, this is amazing!"

.~.

.... Loki ....

His mind was dark from the transgression that had passed between Adeila and the human teenager. He'd had to severely rope in the overwhelming urge to rip the childish boy's throat out when he'd heard what he had done. A bet? What was wrong with these humans? What a completely cruel and asinine act. He could read that the boy had developed some feelings towards Adeila. Loki could sense it. But who could come back from such a colossal betrayal, even the dim mind of the human boy understood that. He knew Adeila, there was no way she would take the boy back after such an act, and he was thankful in that moment for her stubbornness and strong-will. Not that he would be admitting that to her any time soon.

Loki's emotions; at least the sinful ones, had been on overdrive. He'd sincerely thought, as had Magistra, that the curse or should he say "curses" as he knew there were numerous ones, would sever when he came through the portal to the human realm; but such was not the case. He did realize that the farther he was from the portal the urges lessened, slightly. At school they were bearable. At Adeila's home, and the house they rented they were barely tolerable and it took much of his control to stamp them down. He felt so weak. He felt like a failure. How did he let himself get cursed? He was a complete fool.

Shaking off the angry thoughts, he allowed his focus to shift completely to Adeila, which made the curse's effects flare, but he tried his best to force them down as he looked upon her. Her eyes were slightly red and swollen, her hair fell perfectly down her back, her emotions were masquerading across her blue eyes and stunning face.

He'd been planning a small birthday get together for her since the day after returning to this realm. The Queen had given him some gifts for Adeila just before leaving Fae, which had been brought to the house by some of his agents. The Queen had insisted on the opening of one specific gift first, a gift made specifically for the Princess. Something that could then be used right after it's opening. He knew what the gift was, and knew how much it would mean to Adeila. When Deleana had first given them to him, he'd just assumed he'd have Adeila come over and open them, he'd give her his gift and then be done with it, but it was clear when they had returned to the school Monday, and he saw how obvious it was that her decision to come back to the human realm may not have begun as well as she'd hoped, he'd decided on the small gathering and had called in Kami to ensure that she would be able to make it to the human realm for a short amount of time on Friday. He had a few things he wanted her to work on in Faerie so he made it an excuse to have her come to him.

The Marla situation had him frazzled and he needed Kami to do some recon for him back in Faerie. So he decided that instead of mirror chatting with her, he would kill two birds with one stone and speak to her while she was here in the mortal realm, and make sure that Adeila would have her here for the gathering. He knew they had hit it off and that Adeila would be happy to see Kami. He wished she could spend this celebration of birth with her real parents but he knew that they would be back to Faerie and to the King and Queen sooner than Adeila anticipated. It was hard to be in the human realm once you'd been to the Fae realm. Kami even said that she could only do a few weeks in the human realm now before her spirit began to wane from being away from Faerie. For him it was only a day or two before he began feeling the homesickness. Although that lessened now with Adeila around. Now he began feeling uncomfortable and strange when he was away from the girl for more than a few hours. He hoped that was some strange effect of the curse that Marla had put on him, or the blood oath he'd taken from her very powerful father, or a combination of the two.

His thoughts went back to the pull of the rings effects on him. It was instantaneous and he almost panicked thinking she was in trouble. He'd already been in his falcon form watching the house from the driveway.

When he'd hovered before her window and watched her, his heart clenched as she lay there; sadness, betrayal and confusion coming off of her in waves, but it was what was in her hands that shocked him. She twirled a feather around her fingers. His feather. Did she know it was his?

Surprise had passed across her beautiful features when he tapped on the window with his beak before she'd hopped up and come to the window.

When she'd left him briefly to clean herself up a bit, he'd taken the time to look around her room. He assumed it was a pretty average teenager's room. She had a twin size oak framed bed, night stands, dresser, walk in closet with mirrors, and a round chair next to a bookshelf overflowing with books. She had several framed photos of her and Marissa and one of her and her brother when he was four or five. She had no others of her family at all. That was a shame, he thought. She had some rocks, stones, driftwood and plants scattered throughout the room. He couldn't help but smile. Earth Fae needed to always be in touch with things of nature, even if they aren't aware they were Fae.

The entire drive to the rented house, he didn't dare say a word. He was afraid he'd mess up the surprise somehow. Let something slip. He'd never before surprised someone like this. Especially not someone who wasn't used to getting surprised. She deserved this. The past few months had to have been torturous to her system; an entire upheaval of everything she'd ever known. It was only right to give something back to her, to let her know that no matter what, there were people that cared. Her real parents would do anything for her now. Anything. It was only right that she learned the depth of that.

Now seeing Adeila's smile, her face transform from contained anger and betrayal to that of sheer surprise and happiness had his heart skittering out of rhythm. He knew that his decision to put this together, even wrangling Kami and Saibol to help him, had been a good idea. He also loved when she turned to him, touching his arm gently, sending barely contained shivers of excitement and electricity along his every pore. Her eyes were clearer then they had been ten minutes ago, and he was thankful that he was able to be part of what changed them, and what caused her glorious smile to spread across her face. The emotions in her eyes were so shocked, and grateful, he couldn't help but return the smile.

"I can't... I ... Wow, Loki. Thank you so much! This is-"

"You deserve it, Adi. Enjoy." He could see the shock register further in her eyes at the use of her nickname, and then her eyes filled with a glimmer of emotion he couldn't quite read, but before he could decipher it, the masses had descended on them. A.K.A. Kami. So he gave up her attention for that of his friends and team. Now her friends.

.~.

.... Adeila ....

She was completely stolen for breath. She'd had no idea how he'd orchestrated this but from what Kami said, it was entirely his idea. She, Saibol and Sorryn had just helped set up. Adelia stole glances at him briefly as she mingled with his team.

Loki calling for Kami to come here to be with her for her birthday was the single sweetest thing he could have ever done. She'd missed the girl more then she'd even realized, until she'd seen her beautiful face, set with the loveliest gray blue eyes and short blonde hair. They'd hugged, hard and long. Adeila was just lost for words. Her parent's - adopted parents - had stopped doing birthday parties for her when she turned six and she hadn't realized she'd missed them until this moment. Even though she'd only known all of these people a short time they felt like hers. Her family. People that truly cared for her well-being. It may have mostly been about kingdom loyalty but it was a start, it was more than she could say for some.

There were a few presents on the table from her parents, but Loki said she had to save them for later. Just seeing her mother's handwriting across the tags had her missing them. Her father's booming laugh, her mother's smell of fresh lavender and vanilla. Having known them such a short time, she now felt a hole in her heart from being away from them. She realized then that what she was feeling was like homesickness, and that thought surprised and humbled her. She knew where she needed to be; now it was figuring out when it was a good time to go back. The revelation hit her like a ton of bricks, and took her aback. Sighing, she put that thought in the back of her mind, along with Erik, and Marissa and her adopted parent issues and enjoyed the moment. Enjoyed her little birthday party and the people here and now.

Kami had bought her a beautiful, baby blue cashmere-like material sweater, but far softer. The Fae just made things better, apparently. It was gorgeous, and Adeila had never received a gift so perfect for her. Well, other than the ring that Loki had given her. She twirled it around her fingers. That however, hadn't been a gift more as it was means of communication. At least that's what she told herself whenever her heart skipped a beat when she looked at it, and how she now twirled it along her finger as a nervous or bored habit. How just the touch of it, or seeing it, brought about the image of a ruggedly handsome face set by golden eyes, and framed by hair so dark brown it edged on black.

Saibol and Sorryn followed the same suit as Kami and had gotten her a gorgeous scarf of the same super soft Faerie material, but with swirls of white and dark blue woven in with the light blue. She surprised herself by tearing up just a little, and hugging all three of them twice. The final gift, aside from her parent's handful of gifts, was from Loki.

She felt herself tense just a bit when she saw the very simple burgundy wrapping paper and rectangular shaped box. Her eyes found his and were enraptured in their golden depths; if she'd thought that would help she was extremely misguided. It made the entire thing even more unnerving.

Finally, after a gulp, she pulled her eyes from his and back to the gift. She picked up the box, finding it fairly light and resisted the urge to shake it. Its contents for some reason made her excited beyond words, even having no idea what this gift could be, but it also completely unnerved her because of the giver. She licked her lips and looked around. Sorryn smiled and nodded to her. He clearly knew what this was. His nod made her feel somewhat better.

Finally, she set the seemingly innocent box on top her thighs, after swallowing again; she began unwrapping the gift with nervous gentleness. When finally the wrapping paper fell away she was left with leather bound book and several birch pencils. It was devoid of any words on the front or spine, so she opened up the cover to find absolutely nothing written inside. It was evidently a journal.

Just as her eyes lifted to reach Loki's, Saibol's lilted voice pulled her eyes to her direction instead.

"Isn't that one of Mom's magical top secret journals?"

Adeila's eyes went to Loki, for confirmation. He nodded and then stepped closer to her; she looked at both of them in confusion.

He looked down at her, a gentle look of what she may have mistaken for fondness passed across his face. "This journal has magic infused within it. It is an item invented, or at least infused and exploited by Magistra. Not many people can infuse items with magic; it is not something that can easily be done. You must have a special affinity for it. Magistra happens to be the only person within Oakend that can do such things. So she is able to make a decent amount of "magical" items."

Adeila nodded, retaining that information as he continued, "Everything you write inside this journal is invisible to everyone but you, or someone you choose to be a confidant. It is a tool we've used many times for sensitive team operation plans that we don't want others to discover. In fact it is a useful tool for anything you do not want anyone to discover. Your father has several of these style products with battle tactics, political information and things of that nature written on them. It is only visible to those that spill blood on the cover page and infuse it with a secret word. So you must combine the blood and word the first time you write something upon it. After that you must write the secret word on the cover page to access the words."

He paused and licked his lips. "Since in the mortal human realm you can't really document anything about the Fae world, this gives you an outlet, since I am quite sure at some point it will get a bit stifling; so I got this so you can write things down. Your reflections, questions or notes. So we can perform the simple magical ritual whenever you wish it."

Adeila was shocked; what a thoughtful gift. She felt the urge to hug him but knew both of them would likely be uncomfortable with such a display, so she just sat there staring at the beautiful deep red leather cover. Finally getting up the nerve she met his eyes, and half whispered, half breathed, "Thank you."

He flashed a brief smile and nodded.

Chapter Forty-Four

Over an hour passed of eating, steady conversation and mingling with everyone. Apparently the cake had been made by Saibol and it was completely organic with real cocoa and dark chocolate, something the Fae could process easier. Adeila had almost wept at the idea of being able to eat chocolate, especially a cake, as it was something she'd never really been able to eat in the past but she'd never even considered trying to find something organic. She'd hugged Saibol and thanked her, and then had helped herself to a mammoth slice. Saibol had insured her that her mother made chocolate baked goods often, and that the bakery in the village made many chocolate things, so Adeila was set whenever she returned to Faerie.

When finally they began cleaning up and it was only Saibol, Sorryn, Kami, Loki and herself, did Loki finally lug the presents from her parents inside, and gave her the go ahead to open one specific gift that was wrapped in silver paper.

Her mother's beautiful calligraphy scrawled across the note on the top.

Our Daughter,

We had this made for you.

It marks you as a Fae and we hope that you use it whenever you wish to speak with us.

Even if it's just to say hello.

We miss you far more than words can express.

And love you with every bit of our hearts.

Loki knows what to do and will guide you.

Please listen to his wisdom.

I cannot wait to see your beautiful face, and hear your lovely voice.

So open the gift, our daughter

Love always, with the moon and stars,

Your Mother and Father

Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears, and every homesick emotion that she had stamped down, came up to the head and threatened to spill over. She heard the sound of some of the Fae leaving the room, and she knew without a doubt that it was left to just her and Loki. She felt his presence against her magical barrier, like a warm blanket against her skin. She knew he was close without looking up.

Taking a long breath, she ripped at the shimmering silver paper and uncovered something so stunning it took her breath away. And knowing its use made her breath whoosh out.

A mirror. But not just any mirror, her mirror. Made for her. It was a little bit smaller than Loki's and its finish was shinier. It was like polished silver. The frame was the head and body of a Unicorn. The horn was at the top, and the hooves and body wrapped around the mirror, the handle engraved as the animals flowing tail. Here and there a rose blossom was engraved with the horse, giving it dimension and even more beauty. The details were astonishing, the eyes of the animal set deep and knowing. The horn was long and braided, giving the frame a not entirely perfect oval or circular shape, more of the horses curved position shape.

It was magical, and mystical and so well detailed that she ran her fingers along every etched muscle, and every flow of mane and tail; almost forgetting the message behind the idea of the mirror itself over its stunning beauty. Even Loki stepped closer to examine it.

"It's quite extraordinary." His eyes were wide and a mask of sheer admiration made his golden eyes soft and his face touchable. "May I?" He extended his hands towards it, gingerly, in case she said no.

As she'd looked up at him, Adeila had slowly stopped her fingers from running over it a fourth time. Tears shimmered in her blue eyes, but there was a smile on her lips.

How could you not be happy when given something so extraordinary, so beautiful and so very meaningful? This was a gateway into the life of the Fae. A true means of communicating with its people, beyond the realms, beyond the dimensions that separated them.

She smiled at Loki, and slowly handed him the lovely mirror. He did much as she did, by running his fingers along each crevice and line.

"Ervyn outdid himself entirely, with this one."

Her brows knit together; she had no idea of who he spoke.

He looked at her bemused expression and elaborated. "Ervyn is the best of the best mirror makers or any frame maker, for that matter, in the Fae realm. His shop sits in the southern valley region of Neberuk, close to the border of Oakend. His son Gambron is his predecessor and handles most orders, but Ervyn still does some special orders. This is evidently the elder Handly Frame's owner's spectacular work. His eye for detail is unmatched."

With a small smile he handed it back to her. Allowing her a few more moments to run her fingers over it and admire it. "Did he make your mirror?"

Loki nodded. "Yes, he was the first to invent, design and manufacturer communication mirrors. He has an inventors mind and with his magical abilities, is able to fuse magic within the item, but on a much different level than most. Fae, like Magistra, can infuse small bits of magic and do simple tricks; Ervyn has the capacity to infuse magic for the means of communication that out spans the realms. Lucky for us, his son was born with such a knack as well, and he is much more ambitious then his father. Ervyn is also an amazing art frame maker. He is who most people send their fine arts off to for frames. He makes fine mirrors that are non-communicative as well. He is busy throughout the year, even without communication mirror work. As most people who have communication mirrors keeps theirs for their entire lifetime, and sometimes pass them down to their children. Since few Fae are born each year, he doesn't get as much work with mirrors as he'd like. So he passes his time with framing pretty much anything. Almost every painting, mirror or anything else that has a frame, which you saw in the castle, was designed and made by Ervyn. His talents are incredible, but he is very advanced in his years, even for a Fae, so passing on his exceptional talents to his son is imperative for such a trade to continue."

Adeila enjoyed the small lesson, but it brought about a question that was seemingly irrelevant to mirrors. "So do Fae have famous artists and painters and musicians like the human realm?"

Loki chuckled. "But of course, Princess. Even some of our Fae have migrated to the human realm for fame and fortune as famous painters, writers, dancers, singers, and so on. Some you probably even know. But we do have many within the Fae realm who lead a slightly less glamorous, more humble life. Many Fae have artistic and creative talents that exceed the norm, due to their magic."

Adeila took it all in, and was surprised to hear that some creative Fae chose the glamorous life here in the human realm. She really thought the Fae were less corrupt than that, but then again money and fame, as she'd heard, does have its very own seductiveness. She nodded to Loki, who watched her a moment.

"I guess even on my birthday I need a learning lesson, huh?"

He looked at her sidelong with a grin on his face. The look softened his rugged features, and she had to resist the urge to touch the planes of his tanned face.

"Indeed, Princess, but without further ado let me show you how to make this work shall we?"

She took a breath and nodded.

"Alright, it's quite simple really. Just touch the mirror and envision whom you wish to speak with and/or say their name or names. Sometimes if you just think their name it will call them. Now don't worry about the screen just popping on, as embarrassing as that sounds, Ervyn's son put a stop to that several years ago, and revised the magical formula to ensure that the other person is aware they are being summoned."

Adeila wasn't sure if she should be horrified or giggle at that prospect. She turned to him, sobered. Loki allowed a grin, and Adeila smiled as well. "I'm sure that was awkward at times."

"I'm sure for some, outright mortifying. So, all new mirrors are made with an advanced, upgraded version that allows for the other party to receive a vibration. When the receiver touches the screen, then the caller's mirror image will appear on the receivers."

"So it's like Skype?"

Loki looked at her blankly and she couldn't help the grin. She liked making him feel lost, like she did with most of the Fae stuff. It gave her a tiny sick, twisted, sense of justified glee.

"Ah, Skype is something that you can use on your phone or computer. You call the person, when they answer, whatever your phone screen is pointing to, the other person sees. It doesn't necessarily have to be your face, some people show the other person the room they are in or wherever they are. Wherever the screen is pointing, the receiver sees that. Typically it is ones face though."

He cocked his head, thoughtfully, and then nodded. "Precisely."

"Well, that's easy enough. So you can only call people you know, or have met before?"

"Typically, yes. But I have called ambassadors from other kingdoms and countries that I hadn't actually met before, and it worked just fine. As long as you know the persons full name. Once you use the mirror more, you will build up its knowledge. Then you can simply think of someone and it will call them for you. The magic within the mirror syncs to your own magic; not in an invasive way but in a time effective and helpful manner."

She smiled. That was pretty amazing. You couldn't get that from your smartphone – Well, not yet anyway.

Loki gestured to her lovely mirror. "Take your time to get comfortable, when you are settled, envision your parents and just say what you wish to call them. Mom and Dad or their names, that choice is yours. Your magic will lead the mirror to the correct people. Since they are linked to you by blood, the mirror should have absolutely no troubles connecting to them."

She had a thread of excitement run through her at the prospect of seeing her real parents and hearing their voices. She couldn't wait to tell them, truthfully, how much she missed them, and give thanks for such a wonderful and extraordinary gift.

Finally getting up the courage and containing her inner excitement, she gingerly touched the mirror and closed her eyes envisioning her father's handsome bearded face, blue eyes that matched her own perfectly. Then her mother's delicately feminine features and midnight blue eyes, the nose and full lips that were so similar to her own.

To the mirror she whispered, "Summon my Mom and Dad, please."

She wasn't sure if summon or call were the more correct term, but regardless after just a moment their faces shimmered to focus.

"Adeila! My love! I see you figured out the mirror."

Their smiling faces appeared to her, both with a look so full of love that it clenched her heart. The sting of tears burned her throat.

She could only nod for a moment, until she reigned in her emotions.

"Thank you guys so much for this." Adeila caught a tear in her mother's eye, and one of her own slipped over the edge.

"Now, now ladies, be happy!" But she saw the unmistakable sheen to her father's eyes as well. "Happy birthday, baby girl. We are so happy that we are able to see your lovely face on this day."

She gave him a watery smile, and she heard the click of a door closing. Loki was clearly giving her some privacy, of that she was grateful. It seems he always knew the appropriate times for it.

"I'm so happy to see you guys too. I..." She took a breath, reigning in her emotions a little more. "I really miss you both, and the realm."

Deleana let out an audible sniffle, and fresh tears surged to her beautiful eyes. Bairon cleared his throat, trying to push the emotion out.

"Yes, my heart, we've missed you every moment you've been gone, and cannot wait for your return. We worry and miss you every moment."

Adeila sighed. The conflict inside her was almost unbearable. She knew she needed to be with these people, be where they were this moment, but something held her back. Something she felt she owed to the people that had raised her. She'd turned out pretty decent, it's not like they had beaten or neglected her in the literal sense of the word.

After the typical small talk enveloped the three of them, they insisted she open her other "insignificant" gifts. Which happened to be amazing Fae crafted hand and body lotions and a few gorgeous silver bobby pins with diamonds encrusted along them. Adeila could only have been happier if they were here to receive hugs for the lovely gifts, and she had no problem telling them so. Her shyness had evaporated completely where they were concerned.

"We miss you, sunshine, so very much."

Adeila fought back tears. "I miss you both too, and cannot wait to come home."

Both parents closed their eyes, and smiled at her words. She felt Loki return to the room even before his body fully entered, not because of her heightened hearing sensing the door opening, it was his energy, his pulse, his magic, clinging to the air around her, tempting hers to come out and play. She found him and her eyes caught his golden gaze, a smile tempted her lips.

She wasn't sure if he caught her words, the ones of her coming home' but when he returned her smile with a tentative one of his own, she was pretty certain he had.

She returned her attention to her parents and thanked them again for everything.

They said another tearful goodbye and then the mirror wavered and their image shimmered and vanished, leaving her own reflection gazing back at her. Her large blue eyes tinged slightly red, her cheekbones reddened from tears, her perfect complexion a bit paler. She pursed her lips, closed her eyes for a quick second, and then pushed all emotions away. It would do little to weep over something she herself had done.

She'd needed to come back to the human realm. She'd needed to say good bye to her family and friends here. It was her decision to leave them this time. She had no one to blame but herself.

She took a breath, opened her eyes, and turned to Loki.

"Thank you for the privacy."

He just waved her off and handed her something. She took it, and realized it was her cell phone.

"Marissa has called you numerous times, but I did not wish to disturb you while you were speaking to your parents. I figured that was more important."

"Oh, yes, ah, thank you. I kind of told her I would do something with her tonight."

She squeaked when she saw that it was almost eight at night. Where the heck had the time gone? She'd been having so much fun with the party, her gifts, Kami, and then speaking with her parents she'd completely lost track of the time.

"Holy crap, I gotta go. She must be flipping!"

Adeila jumped up, holding the mirror out, awkwardly. "Ah, how do you..."

Loki grinned. "You just ask it to be more convenient or smaller or whatever word you wish to speak to it for it to shrink down."

She nodded, and as she held the large mirror she asked under her breath for it to be small enough for her to fit it in her purse, and before her eyes it shrunk the same size as her cell phone. How truly convenient!

Adeila returned his grin. "Ah, Loki, so..."

He gestured to the door. "I'll give you a ride home; it would not look good for me to give you a ride to meet her now would it?"

She looked at him sheepishly. She felt bad hiding the fact that they hung out, or trained, or spent time together, or were friends. Or that he was her oath bound Warrior, because that would make total sense in normal conversation. Nothing she could really say would placate Marissa. Even if she did mention, again, that Loki was "friends" with her real parents, as that was the avenue they had used, and that she would continue to use if it came up. But the fact that they spent as much time together as they did, without Marissa, would surely upset the girl. It was just easier to avoid being caught together in general, until things were figured out. Or never, because that worked too.

On the short ride to her house, a million thanks ran through her head to say to Loki, but none of them seemed to suffice how truly thankful and surprised she really was.

When it came time for her to get out of his vehicle, she was lost for what exactly to say.

"So, ah, Loki... Today was truly amazing. I cannot believe you pulled off something like that. I can't thank you enough."

Loki looked at her a moment, a flutter of panic washed his golden eyes, before being replaced with their typical blank expression. He wasn't fast enough because she caught it, and wondered about it. What the heck? Did he think she was going to hug him or something? As much as a piece of her wanted to do just that, she never would. How awkward that would be for both of them, especially considering every time they touched she got the overwhelming electric feeling, and the burning of it trailed along the entire area that he touched, well after his touch was gone?

No thank you, she'd rather not deal with that right now.

When she turned the door handle and began jumping out, he spoke. "Your welcome. You deserve it. Plus, it was your parents who gave me the idea, when they gave me your gifts and asked me to give them to you on your birthday."

"Yes, but you could have just handed them to me and been on your merry way, Loki, but you didn't. You set up something, and even though I know Kami is here for other reasons then to just be at my party, I also appreciate that you timed it for me to see her. It was..." She could not get her mouth to shut the heck up. Her emotions must be on overdrive from seeing her parents or something, because she just kept spouting out words. "It was something I never expected and I can't thank you enough. It's been many years since someone has gone through such lengths for me."

Loki's eyes widened slightly at her uninhibited proclamation, but he recovered with a nod.

"Like I said, you deserved it. I'm glad that I could help, and that you liked it. Have a good time tonight, but please remember the ring. If anything suspicious or unusual arises, please contact me. We will watch at a distance and not raise suspicion to the human."

She nodded, and jumped out of his truck and then into her car. Determined to get to Marissa before any crazy suspicions arise and to give herself a distraction from thinking about the words that she just spoke to Loki. She feared he would see her as weak by spouting such unreserved, emotional words to him, but he seemed unfazed. She was also trying to suppress the flip her heart made whenever she thought about the kindness and thoughtfulness he showed by doing such a thing for her.

She'd be best to just see it as a friendly thing he did for his King's daughter. Was it though? Now her mind was a torment the entire ride to meet with Marissa.

Chapter Forty-Five

"Where the heck have you been?" Marissa was sitting at a table for two in the local diner. Their habitual birthday spot where both of them gorged on burgers and milk shakes to celebrate birthdays and most other celebratory events.

"Ah, I was eating dinner with my family." Adeila had tried to come up with a better story the entire drive here, but it was no use. She was just a terrible liar. This story was at least the truth. She considered all of those people she'd been with, extended family at this point.

Marissa arched a brow at her. "And how did that go?"

Adeila shrugged. "I guess I'm just trying to spend a little time with them because I'm graduating soon and will be off to college. From there... Well, you never know what may happen."

Marissa scrutinized her further. They'd been friends for many years and it wasn't difficult for Marissa to pick up on Adeila's double meaning.

"You're thinking of your real parent's, right? Of possibly having a relationship with them?"

Adeila was thankful for their closeness when Marissa was able to pull things like this up; it was times when she was really trying to hide something from the girl that their closeness could be found annoying. In this instance, she just wanted Marissa to be swayed from the truth of where she'd been for the entire afternoon, but it did also help that this conversation may help her in saying good bye when the time came. Adeila really needed to start laying the ground work to saying a real good bye. One that was very possible to be sooner rather than later.

"Yes, I am. They seem like amazing people. I would love to get to know them further."

"So why'd they give you up, if you don't mind me asking?"

Oh, shit! Her mind tried to think double time. "Ah, they were planning on having me, but some crazy issues arose with family stuff, and financial reasons. They had to move and they had some other responsibilities. They didn't have any support. It was one of those things that were a spiral effect, plus they were really young. Only teenagers. At the time they thought it was best for me."

Adeila gave her every non sinister reason she herself could think of as to why people would give up a child. Marissa narrowed her eyes, but nodded.

They talked about adoption and foster homes and children less lucky then her. It was clear both of them were trying to stay away from the topic of Erik. Adeila was thankful; she didn't think she could handle it quite yet.

She hadn't wanted to tell Loki or Marissa but she had several missed calls and texts from Erik. Each of them she'd deleted before even listening or reading.

She allowed Marissa's insistent chatter about the club the next night to cascade around her, as she was lost in her own thoughts. Thoughts of home. An entire portal trip away.

Finally just before leaving, Marissa said, "I'm really sorry such a shitty ass thing happened to you. I never thought Erik was like that."

Adeila only nodded. Honestly, it was just that, a shitty ass thing, but she'd survive. She wasn't even that mad about it anymore. Just felt the onslaught of betrayal and she felt tired. So tired. Like she'd been in a car crash or something.

They walked to their cars and talked for a few more minutes. Exhaustion dulled her senses as a skitter of energy pulsed across her arms and up her spine. She looked up and across the roadway in time to see a dark, obscured, ominous figure. The lights just barely touching upon a tall, aphotic silhouette. She almost yelped, but instead began ushering Marissa into her car with a hurried good bye.

"I'm so tired. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

Marissa scrunched her eyes up just a bit, and it was clear that the girl knew something was up. Had known for a while that there was something going on with Adeila, but Adeila didn't have time to deal with that. The ominous figure was coming closer.

When each was in their own vehicle, she waved good bye, but waited for Marissa to get ahead of her. There was absolutely no way she'd allow Marissa to get caught up in anything from the Faerie world, if it was even from the Faerie world. She sincerely hoped that she was just being overly paranoid.

She kept glancing in the rear view as they both made their ways home. After only a mile, a black BMW came up behind her. She stepped on the gas a little, but with Marissa ahead of her, oblivious to the danger, there was no chance to make any kind of getaway. Instead the trio followed along its route, but when Marissa turned off to her street, Adeila watched and waited and if the car followed her friend, she would be calling her, and then the cops, and then probably Loki. But it did not turn towards Marissa's road.

When Adeila turned onto her own street, the car followed, when she turned into her drive, the car drove passed. She was tempted to call on Loki, but decided against it. What if it was all just a coincidence? What if it was nothing? Or what if it was Sorryn? She knew for a fact, he had checked in on her at some point while she'd been in the restaurant, she could sense him. His bright, mischievous energy. It was hard to miss. But the dark figure across the road from the restaurant had given off no real energy other than that of shadow. Of darkness.

She should probably tell Loki. She began steeling herself for it. Should she alert him via mirror or just touch the ring to her wrist? Should she even tell him? She was probably being a crazily paranoid person.

She jumped when she heard a sharp chup...chup...chup and she looked up to the trees to find a large Gyrfalcon sitting among the branches of a tall Jeffrey pine that sat to the right of her driveway. She breathed a sigh of relief at seeing him. Hopefully he didn't sense her panic, and she tried to slow her beating heart. Maybe she was just completely over tired, stressed and upset, and it was making her edgy?

Sighing, she made her way inside and after changing and brushing her teeth, fell into her bed. Exhaustion taking over.

It wasn't long before the nightmares of dark figures and a blonde man with a leather jacket had her waking with a thin sheen of sweat and a racing heart. She looked to her digital alarm clock, the red lights flashing 6:00 a.m. She'd slept almost a solid seven hours. That never happened anymore. Typically, her Fae blood had her up and ready to go in just a few hours of sleep. It was evident she had needed the sleep. She slipped from bed and decided a shower and some tea would chase away the menacing dream.

Adeila felt fine. She wasn't even angry anymore, just a little hurt over the betrayal. It was messed up and she wasn't about to forget that, but the situation wouldn't get anymore tears from her. She had way different and more pressing issues then a silly bet and a stupid boy. Even if she had fancied herself falling in love with him, she knew it was never going to work out anyway and had planned on breaking off things with him, regardless. Well, now he looked like an ass and she was done with him for good. It stung. The whole situation certainly stung, but she was sure that she would get over it. She even hoped that she and Erik could be civil, as long as he gave up the ridiculous thoughts that he could ever win her back.

She'd dared to read one of his texts last night and it pretty much said that he had true feelings for her and he was an idiot not to tell his friends to call off the bet and be done with it.

Yup, you should have, you asshole was what she'd wanted to reply but instead she'd just deleted every single message he sent, and didn't reply at all.

She had no idea what to do with her day. She usually spent it with Marissa, but since they'd be seeing each other that night at the club would she want to do something that day? Just as she was about to text her, something vibrated on her night stand. She jumped at the sound, and was completely confused, because her phone sat in her hands. Then her mind cleared – the mirror. She scrambled up and grabbed the small silver, strangely shaped mirror. As soon as she touched it, it grew to its normal size, and Sorryn's lopsided grin filled its surface. She couldn't help but return the smile, and tap the glass.

His stunning blue/purple/lavender eyes swirled and his full lips were still upturned into a silly smile. "Hey, Princess! Thought you might be looking for something to do on this lovely morning. Well, as lovely as a morning in the human realm can be."

She couldn't help but laugh. "I guess I kind of was..."

"Well, good! Get your butt over here! It's not your birthday today, young lady, and no excuse not to whip your butt into shape." He winked. "Not that it's not in perfect shape as is."

Her mouth hung open as he cackled with laughter. She would punch him as soon as she saw him in person.

.~.

When she arrived at the house, Sorryn was outside in the backyard, under the huge sycamore tree, a large glinting sword in his hands. His lithe body arched and pivoted as he thrust the blade. She feverishly hoped that he was not planning on that kind of training today, she wasn't quite sure she could handle it.

When his eyes lit on her, he stopped and wiped his brow, a smirk firmly in place. "Princess." He made a little bow motion and she just shook her head, a smile on her lips.

"I thought we'd do a bit of training today, my lady."

She eyed the sword again and he laughed. "We'll start with something a bit smaller than this."

With a sweep of his hand over his sword, it disappeared into thin air, replaced by two large daggers. They had glinting, straight edges, and the handles were made from deer antlers. They were beautiful, the workmanship in them impressive, but she'd never handled such a thing in her life.

He told her that once she got comfortable with the daggers, then they'd move on to swords, and bows. She couldn't help but feel a little daunted at the prospect, but also incredibly excited as well.

A tiny knot formed in her stomach as she step closer to Sorryn. He picked one up, balanced it on his hand, and then whirled it at the large tree in front of them. She let out a small gasp at the quick movement, her mind barely registering what he'd done.

Adeila gulped and looked at the other dagger. He smiled. "You want to try?"

She slowly took the dagger from his hand; she held it in her palm, much like he had. She stroked the handle, briefly, with her finger.

He chuckled. "Here let me show you. So this is a handle-heavy knife, so you need to throw it by the blade. I'll show you the technique so you don't cut yourself."

He demonstrated for her, while speaking. "So, you hold your palm out in front you and move your thumb to create a crease between the largest part of your thumb and the rest of your palm. With the handle pointing away from you, place the blunt edge of the knife blade into the crease you created, so that the tip lines up with the bottom of your thumb crease. Place your thumb along one side of the blade and all your fingers except the pinky along the other side, pinching the blade without pressing against the point or the sharpened edge."

Her heart beat a little fast, but Sorryn demonstrated twice, very slowly, and also moved her fingers into the motion for her. Ensuring that she would understand. Once she got the grip down, he gestured for them to move closer to the tree.

"You see holding a knife by the blade means it needs to rotate in the air. This particular knife needs to turn at least one and half times, in order for its point to hit the target. Throwing daggers are pretty common in the Fae realm, and although not the most effective plan of attack – since, you potentially lose your weapon once it's thrown – it does hold merit for a long distance or quick attack, when you lack a bow or spear. If you want to learn to defend yourself, getting comfortable with a dagger is key, especially for a first time female defense. Once you know how to throw it, you will learn how to respect and use it better. I'm kind of teaching you the hardest part first, instead of the easiest."

She scoffed. "That sounds ridiculous, why?"

He plastered a cocky grin on his face. "Because, Princes, I believe in my teaching abilities." He took the dagger he'd already thrown out of the tree. "And I believe in your learning abilities." He gestured to the tree, the fresh mark where his daggers point had gone into its bark. "Like this tree. Once we are finished here, you will heal it."

Her eyes widened. "I... What?"

Sorryn laughed. "But first we need to learn how to throw, so here goes. I'm going to show you the technique and get you comfortable with holding the knife, and the motion it takes to throw, then we'll get into the stance and the actual motion."

He came back and stood beside her, getting her confident in holding the knife.

"Now, bend your wrist back toward your forearm. This will allow the knife to turn over in the air more quickly, which is necessary because there is so little distance between you and the tree."

After displaying this to his liking numerous times, he smiled.  
"Well, done. Now place your weight on your dominant leg, rest your non-dominant leg in front of you. Raise your dominant arm in front of you so that it is perpendicular to the ground, and bend at the elbow so that the knife is raised alongside your pretty head. Keep the knife a comfortable distance from your head so that you do not cut yourself when you swing to throw it."

He demonstrated, and then ensured that she had the correct posture. "Good, see you are a quick study."

He insisted she go from the beginning to this point, twice, so she knew the process.

His learning style was drawn out, but effective. She knew she would retain this, and be able to pick up a dagger in the future and throw it without having to stress about the process.

"Now the thing to remember is, to resist the urge to throw the knife like a baseball. In knife-throwing, the goal is to swing your arm straight up and down so that the knife doesn't hit at an angle. More like chopping wood, then throwing a baseball."

She wasn't sure if she should tell him she'd never chopped wood, but decided he'd show her the proper technique anyway.

"Shift your weight from your dominant to your non-dominant leg to create the forward momentum. At the same time, swing your forearm forward from the elbow so that your arm is straight out in front of you, this is the point at which you will release the knife."

After practicing this numerous times, he deemed her ready. "Adeila, now, take all of those steps and simply allow the knife to slip from your hand once your arm is pointing toward the tree and your wrist is perfectly straight. Your entire body will end up angled slightly forward due to your weight shifting. Your arm will continue swinging downwards. Knife-throwing is much more about finesse than strength."

She blew out a breath, and did everything he told her. Her knife connected with the grass at the base of a tree, and she pursed her lips. Sorryn laughed.

"I can see what you're doing wrong. Just relax more. Ease into it in a fluid motion. Alright, again."

After three times, she was able to get it in the bark of the tree. Low, but at least it was hitting the tree. He'd placed a strip of his t-shirt on the tree as a target. After about ten times, she hit the mark and threw her hands into the air. Sorryn laughed, and hit her hands with a double high five. She felt so empowered, and she let out a laugh matching his.

Just then a darkly clad figure stepped into their practice area, and Adeila's eyes met ones golden and green with faint swirls of the darkest of silver.

His clothing was dark and nondescript; he looked ready for some kind of modern battle, only missing his sword. Which, goodness knows was most likely magically on his person somewhere, since she'd watched Sorryn make his disappear and turn into daggers a few hours prior.

He had on a plain black t-shirt that looked very soft to the touch, and nicely fitting black jeans, completing the entire ensemble with black motorcycle boots. Typically, Loki always dressed for comfort and slightly outdoorsy. Wearing simple shirts, simple jeans or cargo pants and hiking boots. This was a completely different and dangerous look. She couldn't help that her pulse jumped as she looked him over. It certainly contrasted the dark hair, golden eyes, tanned skin, and tattoos. It made him look like quite the bad ass she knew he could be.

"I see knife-throwing is going well." His tone was rough, and dark. On the edge of angry, but yet indifferent all at once. She had no idea how to gauge his mood.

Adeila sobered and let her eyes drift to Sorryn's. She saw pride in them, and knew that no matter what Loki said, he would not take away this small triumph.

"Yeah, you said teach the Princess some easy defensive paths, since I taught her some self-defense moves already, I decided this was a good step in the right direction. It would build her confidence, see what she's made of, and allow her to gain more precision and control from her own strength and balance. I'll get to some advanced self-defense moves when Saibol gets back, but I thought I'd get her comfortable with weapons."

Loki nodded, and his eyes flitted to the tree and the daggers stuck there. She still couldn't decipher his mood. "Very well, then. I shall return shortly." With that, he headed to his pickup.

Adeila bit her lip as she watched him go. The mood had, officially, shifted for the time being. Sorryn picked up on it.

"Let's break for lunch, shall we?"

Chapter Forty-Six

"Now push your energy into the tree."

Adeila was dripping with sweat. They had spent three hours between throwing daggers and self-defense moves and she was feeling a little tired, but mostly empowered.

Saibol was a far better teacher when it came to demonstrating the defensive moves from a smaller female size. Not that Saibol could be thought of as a small female, but it still helped for her to show her the moves, and for them to then be demonstrated on Sorryn. Who was a very good sport about it all. He gave her enough fight to be concerned but always allowed her to get the upper hand so she knew what it was like. He made a couple perverted compliments, but she'd gotten so used to him that she only smirked and punched him each time. She was getting closer and closer to him and Saibol the more time that was spent with them.

She had the throwing daggers down, and Sorryn even told her that she could keep them. Self-defense, she was getting, slowly. Using her own strength against someone was going to take some getting used to, but she was learning the moves and following them through with precision. It was a little different since it was Sorryn, and she had absolutely no interest in hurting him, despite his super-fast Fae healing abilities. But it was just the gist of it that she needed to learn.

Now they were trying to get her to use her magic to heal the tree that was now shredded from the hundreds of throws it had taken from the sharp daggers.

"The same feeling you use to read someone's magic, you use that to read the trees magic, and then push yours out to it. Your Earth affinity should heal it within moments."

Gritting her teeth, she tried again. Feeling her own magic, came as easy as breathing now, pushing it out towards someone or something was a little difficult, but she could do it.

She pushed her energy against the trees glowing green aura, feeling the thrumming of its long life. It was almost one hundred years old, and its massive roots expanded out for a long ways, interconnecting to many other trees. She could feel them all, like a thriving heartbeat. It was a little overwhelming and she gave herself a moment to gain some control of the energy swirling around her.

How could humans not see or sense this? It was insane. Like an entire world within the earth. An entire thriving city of life. She reveled in it a moment, reveled in the fact that she could feel this kind of connection to the Earth, and then she pushed her swirling energy out and into that of the large, old sycamore. Trying to concentrate on its bark that had been damaged.

After a moment her palms began to heat up where they lay on the damage, she made another heaving push of energy. She heard a few intakes of breath, and hoped that meant she'd accomplished what they'd asked. She slowly pulled her energy back, and it trickled back into her, to sit within her core, brimming on the surface. She didn't feel an energy drain like she thought she would, instead she felt rejuvenated, confident and connected to the living things around her. A special connection.

Finally, she slowly opened her eyes. Not only was the tree completely blemish free, but its branches were fuller, greener and several young saplings had dotted up next to the old tree.

Sorryn laughed, heartily, and grabbed her waist, lifting her up. "Princess of the Forest!" Adeila laughed back and looked into his shining and excited face. She hugged him, heartily, and then turned to look at her handiwork.

Saibol stood with a grin on her face, hands on her hips. "Well, done, Adeila. It does seem like your magic is strong."

Adeila turned to her, those emerald eyes holding a smile, shining mahogany hair falling in waves down her back. She felt such a kinship to these two. "It would be nothing, without you guys' help."

Saibol grinned harder, and put her arm around Adeila's shoulders. "I think that deserves some left over cake."

Adeila laughed and tried to give Saibol a serious look. "You've been holding out on me this whole time, Saibol! I thought we were friends?"

Saibol's twinkling laughter was loud and uninhibited. "It was just waiting for a special occasion. This warrants."

.~.

.... Loki ....

He watched their final hour of practice from the dense forest, his falcon form camouflaging into the trees. He'd spent an hour tracking a rogue Fae in southern Oregon with Marston and ensuring that he was safely brought back to the Fae realm. Then another hour mirror speaking with Magistra about any news on the curses or stones or whatever else Marla had done to him.

Magistra had come up with a counter spell, something that should get rid of the curses. She just needed to obtain more mistletoe and Abryxus from a Neberuk herbalist, unless Loki wanted to traipse through Neberuk's dense forest to find the needed ingredients himself, which he told Magistra he did not. Then he'd need to return to Faerie in order to do the spell. It was stellar news, except he had no idea when he could return to the Faerie realm. Granted, he could probably leave Adeila in his team's hands for several hours in order to go to Faerie, do the ritual and come back, but he wasn't sure if he was ready to give up his duty of watching her fully for that long. Today had been bad enough. Being gone for almost three hours had killed him, but he'd needed to help Marston and he'd needed to check in on Magistra's progress.

Now he watched the progress his team had made on preparing the Princess for any upcoming attacks that may happen, although he'd seen nothing amiss, he was still pleased to see her learning some of her own strength, and that of her magic's.

She was getting the self-defense moves down, but it was obvious that Sorryn was being easy on her, probably to build some bit of her self-confidence. She was a smart girl and probably knew that he was taking it easy on her, but Loki worried that in a real attack she'd expect herself to gain the upper hand like she did with Sorryn, and that likely would not happen with this minimal amount of training. He'd have to speak to his second and best friend about ramping up her self-defense training.

As he watched further, he was mesmerized with how she worked with her own magic. She was comfortable with it now; comfortable with how it felt and worked within herself. It was also becoming easier for her to thrust the magic out and into something, or someone else. When she caused the tree to heal, he was impressed, but then when she kept going and caused the branches to lengthen and fresh buds to grow, to then push farther and cause at least half a dozen saplings to spring up around her, he was plain awestruck. That was some advanced Earth magic.

She obviously needed a little bit of training on control, but making saplings grow out of the earth like that was something that was quite an advanced achievement. Her parents would be very pleased with her progress. He'd known she'd had it in her, it was just getting her to come to terms with it, and be comfortable enough with the power and magic that boiled within her to see her potential.

When the girls walked inside, Sorryn remained, his eyes twitching to the tree line where Loki hid. With a bit of pride at his friend's intuition, he flew to the ground, and returned to his true form.

Sorryn's eyebrows lifted, but a faint smile played on his lips. "I'm guessing you witnessed some of that?"

"Indeed. Some impressive work, all around. However, I want you to step up the self-defense moves; she is getting too comfortable with besting you. She needs to know a real attacker would not be so easy."

Sorryn raised a brow again, but nodded. "I intend to do just that. I just want her to get some of the moves down with confidence before pushing my weight around."

Loki nodded, he understood Sorryn's easy, lengthy, thorough teaching style and appreciated that fact for the Princess. She knew so little about the world out there, let alone the Faerie world. He knew that Sorryn training her in these things was probably quicker to gain results then him. Plus he knew for a fact he could not handle tousling her around, or having her body pinned beneath him. It would completely push his control over the edge, and embarrass the both of them. That was not something he could afford to let happen.

Although he could also admit that he didn't really want to be around too much to watch her and Sorryn rolling around and pinning each other either, it brought about emotions that he could not afford to have. Emotions he'd never had, and were not even remotely willing to accept. He'd never once been a jealous person, but watching the final few moments of their self-defense practice had damn near killed him. He'd tried to watch from a strictly professional stand point, but when Sorryn had pinned her to the ground with his body and she had bucked and arched trying to dislodge him, it had taken every ounce of control he possessed to not fly down there and gauge out his friends eyes, and then switch to his true form and beat him into a pulp.

Even now, he felt the emotion rearing its head as he saw the sweat clinging to Sorryn's chest and back, and see the tiniest scratches on his arms from the Princess's attempts to get free.

He grunted aloud despite himself, looked once toward the house, where he could hear the feminine laughter, then in a rush switched to his falcon form and flew over Sorryn's head. Close enough that the tall Fae had to duck his head slightly.

"Hey!" Sorryn grumbled, but he chuckled and shook his head.

.... Sorryn ....

"Damn, jealous, idiot." Sorryn was no imbecile, he knew how Loki felt. Had seen the emotion swirling in his eyes. He was too close to Loki, both friendship and teammate, to not see it, but it couldn't be helped. Sorryn knew all about the curse, and he knew that was why Loki could not train the Princess himself. Which was fine with Sorryn, he enjoyed teaching, always had, and she was a quick and easy study. She was also far stronger, quicker and wittier then she even gave herself credit of.

He liked watching her think through a problem, then go with her instincts. He was falling in love with her, but not in the romantic sense. He was falling for her witty smile, and cunning mind. He had begun caring very strongly for the Princess. He was happy that they would be friends, and he hoped that once Loki got this curse broken, he too could help with her training and his jealousy could be squashed.

Loki had nothing to worry about, his feelings for the Princess were purely platonic, but he did have feelings. He did care.

He wanted the Princess to have people that loved her. He felt like she had gone too long without a support group of people that loved her, unconditionally. He was looking forward to being part of that, despite his best friend and boss' take on it.

With a shrug Sorryn went inside to check on his women.

Chapter Forty-Seven

As they pulled up to the street adjacent to Rage they could see quite a line forming. Flashing lights, high pitched voices and people of all shapes and sizes were plastered against the tan brick side of the building awaiting entrance. A sense of panic changed Adeila's heart rate to double its usual tempo. She looked up to see the tenseness around Loki's eyes as they met hers in the rear view mirror. She was obviously not the only one feeling the effects of the oncoming social experience.

All day she had really just wanted to tell Marissa that she was not feeling up for this, not feeling well, something to get her out of it, but she couldn't. Couldn't bring herself to do it, because although she knew that Marissa would likely still go and that she'd have a good time, what kind of best friend would she be, to cancel when Marissa had been planning this thing for months?

As they parked behind the club she saw it as she had two options. One: Deal with this; save face, support her friend, maybe enjoy herself a little bit. Two: Get out; fake sickness, fake a heart attack, fake something, drop Marissa off at the line and be gone. But she knew that if she were to leave Marissa now, she'd have to back off her friendship. Begin the process of backing away from her friend. Her only true, real friend. She just wasn't ready for that yet. Even if things with Marissa weren't completely what they'd been two months ago, that something had certainly changed a bit, Adeila still wasn't quite ready.

Marissa's squeal of delight halted her thoughts, as a tour bus came into view. Wasting Youth was written in intricate, bubbly graffiti on the side.

She doubled her brain power to think of a way out. Even after they'd met up with Sorryn, Saibol, Becky, Amber, Denise and about ten other teens from their school, Adeila continued to rack her brain. She didn't even give her brain a second to wonder how all of these teens got themselves fake ID's, as she was quite sure only a handful of them had already turned eighteen.

She snapped out of it only when she heard Erik's name. Her attention shifted to Dennis Caughey as he said that Erik, Chris, Brad, Danny and some other football players would be coming right after the game. Her eyes sought Loki's and she saw the mask of rigid warrior pass along his face and body. Gone was the facade of teenage cool persona to be replaced by her edgy, high alert, Fae warrior body guard. Not that she minded; he carried that dangerous aura far better than the carefree, hormonal teenager, anyway. She felt pretty bad for dragging him along to this. She knew this was totally not his cup of tea. The Fae really were not cut out for these human dance clubs.

She felt the complete negative and uncomfortable energy of the whole thing and she'd only been to Faerie for a weekend, she could only imagine how the others would feel once they got inside. Not that Loki would ever say anything. Never make it obvious to the masses that he was on edge. The stiff set of his jaw and the rigid line of his lithe, muscled body gave him away to her.

They moved up in line, only about fifteen people away from the door. Adeila grew increasingly anxious and uncomfortable. But this was what she'd wanted, right? She'd wanted to feel normal. Like any regular teenager. That was her whole reason for coming back to the human plane; so that she'd have some time to be a normal girl and not some Faerie princess heir to the throne of one of the most ancient and powerful Fae kingdoms. Well, that and to get her diploma. To have accomplished something on the human realm, something significant. Something to make her time on the human realm worth it. A physical certificate of her time spent here, was all she wanted. Something to prove that she accomplished something she set out to do. After that she was game for returning to the Fae realm. Completely. She realized now that she could not live without the Fae realm now that she'd been there. She wanted to go back. Badly. But first she must accomplish this small thing. This normal teenage stuff. Then her diploma. It couldn't be that difficult, she'd handle it. If she could just get through the night then she'd be good.

As she looked around the crowd, they began to enter the building, her resolve crumbled a bit, even with Sorryn's reassuring smile. She felt weak in the knees. A bond with a fabled Unicorn, giant trees inside castles, and heir to a throne in another realm wasn't looking so daunting now that the social anxiety crept in again. She'd always been a little leery of crowds, never really did like the mall during holidays or dances at school, but this was a whole new level of overwhelming. Her Fae blood triggered an onslaught of discomfort coursing through her veins as they were jostled inside.

Marissa and Becky were squealing over something, giving Loki enough time to dip his head towards her.

"You quite sure about this, Princess?"

Even though her gut was telling her to get out. To get out now. And even though Loki had distinctively told her to always listen to her instincts, she purposefully and stubbornly pushed those thoughts away. She stamped down the thoughts of leaving. She willed her stomach to settle, and the nerves to calm.

It was just one night. Just one night to forget all her fears, her responsibilities on both realms, the good byes that were sure to come, and the fact that she missed the Fae realm, the Unicorn and the parents she barely knew, far more then she'd ever admit. Even to herself.

Just one night to let loose, to dance, spend time with her friends, both old and new and to be a normal freshly turned eighteen year old.

With her resolve set firmly in place, she turned to Loki and smirked at him.

"Why is the mighty Fae warrior scared of a little dancing, laughing and underage soliciting of alcohol and drugs that will no doubt take place?"

Loki surprised her completely by letting out a loud chuckle, causing both Sorryn and Saibol, and a few other people to stop and look at them. The siblings grinned at each other and gave each other a weird knowing family look. Sometimes their unusual mind speak to each other could be discerning, as if they really could read each other's minds.

Loki put his hand to the small of her back to usher her along with the line inside the hall to get their hands stamped. "Not at all, Princess, not at all. Just ensuring you are still up for it."

She could only muster an eye roll, as his warm hand on her back was sending delightful hot tingles up her spine. She gave him her best flirty smile over her shoulder, and quickly stepped over to Marissa, and butted into the conversation she was having with Becky and Amber about the band. She'd needed to break away from him. He sent way too many strange and foreign sensations along her body with his gentle touch, his closeness, his remarkable eyes, and his deep, infrequent laugh.

Several moments later she couldn't handle it. Couldn't help herself, she had to let her eyes wander towards him. It was magnetic. He was only a few feet away, looking ever the alert and ready warrior, but his face wasn't rigid. In fact he had a loose, almost mischievous smile playing along his lips that reached his eyes as they met hers. Their gorgeous golden green melding and swirling in the multicolored honey and silver colored rings.

She made herself look away before she got lost in those eyes. Instead she focused around her. The flashing lights, the smell of sweat, the energy of everyone inside. As they moved and were able to wander about wherever they could find the space, bumping people here and there, she tried to focus within herself. Allow the soothing pull of her own magic to keep her sane as they made their way to a large table.

Determined to be completely normal a half hour later she allowed Marissa, Becky, and Amber to pull her to the dance floor, but not before she dragged Saibol along with her. By the grin on the Fae's lovely lips and the way she shook her long chestnut hair down her slim, muscled back, it was no hardship for the Fae warrioress.

Saibol had had a look of intoxicated pleasure upon her face the entire time they'd been here. It was obvious she'd never experienced such a thing, and clearly social anxiety was not affecting her one bit. That or she had a way better handle on herself, then Adeila did.

When the laughing and awkwardness was over, each girl began swaying together to the hypnotizing thrum of music. Heady with the pull of energy and chaos.

Adeila was happy to see Saibol letting loose and dancing. Wasting Youth would be playing soon, but the techno style music playing now was far better for dancing, and allowing the teens to pass out whatever pills they could get their hands on. Luckily, no one in their small group was interested in letting loose quite that much.

She swayed more when a song with a very unusual beat came on, its tempo sucking her in. Her heart matched the beat, and she ran a hand down her sides. The sexual pull of the energy zinged along her spine.

Suddenly a vision flashed before her eyes.

A large black wired cage. A guy that looked very similar to Loki, except his eyes were a fascinating array of storm cloud grays. Ravens. A steel gray wolf. A scruffy, dangerous looking blonde haired guy with a leather jacket. More ravens. And then before fading into nothingness and conscience returning to her, a face. A breathtakingly gorgeous male face. His striking green eyes of moss, sage, and all other earthy forest greens, catching her breath, his wide generous mouth sending unexpected desire piercing through her.

Chapter Forty-Seven

When she came to, she realized that Saibol was holding her arm tightly and staring at her with a confused and concerned expression. She shook her head, and focused on Saibol's worried face. She looked around to see the other girls had left, leaving only the two of them in their little circle; dancers bumping, swaying and grinding close by.

"Are you okay, Princess?"

Saibol's voice pulled her out further, and she focused on the woman's beautiful features, big emerald eyes, subtle dotting of freckles across her nose and arms, and shining dark chestnut hair. Focusing on her, Adeila pulled herself completely from the vision.

A bit shakily, Adeila finally responded. "Ah, yeah, I'm fine. Where did everyone go?"

Saibol continued to scrutinize her, obviously not falling for it. "To get a drink. Are you sure? Your eyes had glazed over, and I yelled to you numerous times, even gripped your arm pretty roughly, but you just continued to stare off."

Adeila only nodded, and tried her best to smile at Saibol but it came out more of a grimace. "Yeah, I'm good. Maybe I just need to sit down?"

Saibol only shrugged and led the way to their table, but it was still clear in the air around them that she didn't believe Adeila, entirely. This was fine with her; good in fact, because something was certainly not okay. She was clearly seeing things. Visions. Whether past, present or future she had absolutely no clue. Some of them the same as she'd been seeing for a while, but some, like the cages and the guy with the green eyes, were new. New and frightening.

When they reached the table it was hard not to miss Loki's look of concern, or the silent plea in his eyes to tell him what was going on, but she ignored him and steered herself past him to grab her ice water, giving herself a moment to collect her thoughts and push away the strange visions from her present mind. Something to mull over once this night had come to a close and she was locked in her bedroom. Alone. Away – well, maybe not completely away, but at least mostly away - from probing Faerie eyes.

She continued to avoid eye contact with Loki, instead opting, yet again, to include herself in the conversation around her. After a moment she felt him trying to catch her eye, but continued to ignore him, until his fingers brushed her bare arm. Her eyes went to his tanned, capable fingers before letting them flit to up to his. The sensations running along her arm and down her spine, from his touch, caused confusion and strange emotions into her mind and across her body. He nodded his head towards the door, seemingly unaffected by the skin on skin contact. After the initial shock his touch caused, she followed his gaze towards the front door, where Erik, Danny, Brad, Chris and a few other football players stood, hands getting stamped.

Adeila could only let out a small sigh, she knew this was coming. Her eyes drifted to Loki's again, the golden gaze was guarded but she could see the concern and rigid set of his muscled body. She gave him a nonchalant shrug, but she was thankful for his heads up. The fact that he had taken the time to give her a moment to prepare for the awkwardness of this confrontation lent her his support

Denise waved and brought the attention of the boys to their tables. She watched Amber and Becky's looks that flitted between her and Marissa and then to Erik and the rest of the boys. Clearly they could sense the awkwardness this situation could present. Marissa refused to look at neither Erik or her, so Adeila decided to occupy herself by making a show of refilling her water with the pitcher on the table, and smoothing the white filmy quarter sleeve layered shirt she was wearing that showed a very tiny hint of her tanned midriff, along with dark denim skinny jeans and her white ballet flats. She ran a hand through her long hair; she'd taken a few minutes after her shower to put it into loose curls, now it fell in perfect glossy waves.

She was fiddling with her phone when Erik and his crew made their way to them. She felt his gaze raking over her, but refused to even look up. She'd really taken the time with her appearance tonight, and she knew she looked good. She'd never been the overly confident type, but she'd always known she was pretty, now with the Fae influence she knew if she tried she could look otherworldly beautiful. On a daily basis she tried her best to blend in and hide it, but tonight she had let loose and vamped up her looks and complimented her physique by skin hugging clothing.

She almost jumped when Marissa touched her arm and asked if she wanted to do a bathroom run with her. She nodded, and looked to Saibol whose keen Fae hearing instantly had her getting up from her seat. Adeila sought Loki, and met his eyes with a silent plea to play nice. He gave her a small nod and quick flash of a grin, as if reading her mind. She couldn't help the tiny smile her mouth gave, to match his. A small part of her hoped he didn't play too nice.

As they wove their way across the room towards the bathroom, hands groping at them as they passed, and pushing against them, Adeila couldn't help but feel the distinct and creepy feeling that she was being watched. She looked about the cramped and dim lit space, but saw no one in particular. She passed it off as some overly obnoxious guys ogling at them.

Once inside the bathroom, they were hit with the wave of cheap perfume and hairspray. Several girls sat or stood at the counter; applying mascara, chatting, fixing wardrobe malfunctions.

They made their way to the unoccupied stalls. Marissa whispered to her from the stall next to her. "Are you going to be okay with Erik here?"

Adeila shrugged but then realized that Marissa obviously couldn't see it. "Ah, yeah, sure."

Adeila was met with silence. They got out and each girl washed their hands. Marissa looked at Adeila, her eyes downcast. "I- Adi, there's something -"

She was interrupted when the restroom door banged open, causing Adeila and Marissa to jump. Saibol just merely glanced over, and then her body went rigid and alert. Her gaze never wavering from the redheaded girl that waltzed inside. She was tall, her eyes an odd shade of amber, her brilliant red hair short and spiked, her skin was pale, her lips a slightly darker shade of red then her hair, her body was compact and well-muscled. She wore skinny black jeans, chunky black motorcycle boots, a green shirt, mostly covered by a fitted black leather jacket.

The girl looked them all over, but her eyes rested on her. Causing Adeila an involuntary shiver. The girls lips moved into a strange and twisted smirk.

Marissa's eyes narrowed and she gripped Adeila's arm. "Ah, let's go." But it was Saibol who stood rooted. A look of confusion on her features, her body alert. Adeila looked between the red head, and the Fae warrioress, but was yanked out by Marissa. The red head watched her go, not even giving Saibol a glance.

Once they were out of the restroom, Saibol came out moments after them.

"What a wacko." Marissa said it, while giving the restroom door a dirty look, as if the girl would see.

When they began walking back, Adeila allowed Marissa a head start and turned her attention to Saibol.

Catching on, Saibol whispered to her, "I can't get any kind of read on that redhead. It was so strange. Usually humans do not know enough to hide their energy like that."

Adeila nodded, Loki had explained as much to her.

"She almost gave off an aura of Fae, but not. It's...Well, I'll mention it to Loki. It's a little disconcerting, since she was staring right at you. Like... I don't know. Like she knows who you are."

Adeila's gut twisted and she turned her eyes back through the people hovering behind them, to the bathroom doorway. To her complete shock the red headed girl was standing there. Staring back at them, a sinister grin twisted her features. Adeila stopped, getting ready to draw Saibol's attention to the redhead again when Marissa's exhilarated cry of excitement drew her attention.

"Jake!"

Her eyes twisted to the length of the bar, as Marissa pushed her way over to a tall, dark blonde haired guy. Adeila turned back to the bathroom, but the redhead was gone.

Feeling the simmer of discomfort throughout all of her limbs, she tried to swallow and resist the urge to panic and give in to the feeling of dread that coursed through her.

Marissa motioned them over. Adeila got a better look at the Jake guy; she assumed the same one from the lake house that Marissa had slept with. He was even taller then he appeared from afar, as tall as Loki. With sinewy, lanky muscle. His eyes were dark mahogany, his hair on the long and disarrayed side, his jaw was rugged with stubble, his nose crooked from being broken at one point and never healing correctly, his lips were full and generous, with a smile that was almost predatory. He was incredibly attractive, in a dangerous, almost frightening way.

She felt Saibol go still beside her, her guard defenses on high alert. Adeila instantly felt the tremble of energy in the air. The shiver of something. Something both exciting and downright scary. She looked around them, but she saw nothing but flashing lights and bodies everywhere, but she could sense something. It hung heavy in the air around her.

Marissa grabbed her arm, and dragged her closer. She resisted a moment, before giving in. So close that she had to look up into those deep red brown eyes, that predatory face. He was strikingly handsome the closer she was, but his eyes were gleaming with mischief. With trouble. She was almost sure that it was not the innocent kind.

A jolt passed through her body. Recognition. This man had been in her dreams. Or at least, it was entirely possible. She hadn't been able to focus on either man in her dreams, but on one she remembered long blond hair, tall, lanky, muscular frame and leather jacket. It added up to this. A shiver or trepidation worked its way along her spine.

"This is my friend, Adeila. The one I was telling you about. My best friend."

Marissa smiled brightly and fluttered her lashes. Adeila looked between the two of them, and then turned her attention back to Saibol who was standing very close to her other side. Her eyes trained on Jake, her expression very similar to the one that she wore when assessing the redhead from the bathroom.

Adeila gritted her teeth against the rising panic. She decided to take that moment to push out her own energy and see if she could sense anything from him. It was hard to concentrate on him specifically with so much sinful, hormonal and chaotic energy coursing around her. She just wasn't sure if it was a sense of ill intent or curiosity or what. She did feel some dark energy there; she just had no idea if she should act on it, or a coincidental dream.

She extended her hand, figuring the touch would only boost her venture into his being. Maybe let her concentrate on him alone.

He grinned, toothily, and it only heightened the animal like nature that he portrayed. When his palm met hers, she felt a jolt of energy. She smelled wet earth after a rain storm, and the feel of warm, wet animal fur. An odd feeling, but she could get no further read on him. She took her hand back from his, and his grin intensified.

She could not feel whether his intent was good, bad, neutral. Nothing. But she already knew. Deep in her soul, she knew. Had known all along. Her dreams were something like visions. Maybe even warnings.

Marissa broke the moment. "What are you doing here, Jake? Why didn't you text me and let me know you were in town?"

Jake didn't even glance in Marissa's direction. His eyes never left Adeila's, as he just shrugged at the question. Adeila finally looked away; she moved her ring closer to her wrist. Getting ready to touch them to each other. To call Loki to her.

Marissa stood, hands on her hips. Adeila stepped away from them and closer to Saibol. Just about to say good bye to them to head back to the table, when his next words chilled her to her core.

"I am only here for one thing." She felt his eyes still trained on her, and his voice deepened. "A Princess."

Before she could even react, he was on her. He had her heaved over his shoulder in moments, before she could even move a muscle or contemplate escape. She heard nothing but a rushing in her ears, Marissa's high scream and Saibol's viscous battle yell.

He was fast and strong, he pushed through bodies in his haste to the closest exit. She lifted her head enough to see the redhead and Saibol in an all-out wrestling match, Loki running towards her, only to be barreled into by the bald guy she'd seen at the gas station and cafe. The one with the wide, creepy grin and dark soul-less black eyes. The one she now suspected, after learning about the Fae, was a Goblin.

She could smell the leather of Jake's jacket; his body was unusually warm where her stomach rested on his shoulder, her chest on his back, his hands gripping her thighs. She tried to fight, to kick, to hit him with her arms but he was so strong. His grip did not lessen at her attempts.

She tried to go back to her training, to remember everything that Saibol and Sorryn had told and taught her. She tried to fidget with her fingertips to find the sensitive parts in his neck, as he pushed through the fire exit and into a back alley. She flailed harder, until he spun her around, and dropped her to her feet just long enough to produce a rope. He tossed it quickly around her wrists. She thought fast, adrenaline and fear coursing through her, and she brought her knee up to his groin. She knew it was probably not the brightest idea, but she had no other option, she needed to at least bide time before Loki could overpower someone and get to her. Because she knew he would, or die trying, just like his oath had announced.

Her knee punched up, but he twisted his body slightly, as if reading her mind and her knee went into his muscled thigh. Deeming her attack useless.

His features twisted into a mocking grin, as he yanked the rope tight, and grabbed at her waist.

"Fighting only makes things harder, Princess. And excites me further." His deep voice carried an edge. And again she was reminded of a predator. Unfortunately, she was the prey.

She twisted away from him, and kicked out with her legs again. Without the balance of her arms, their grappling pushed her to the ground. She felt the harsh, wet pavement beneath her back, and felt the back of her skull scrape along it's gritty texture. She tried frantically to lift herself without the aid of her hands, but it was no use. Jake was on her, dragging her up and over his shoulder in one fluid motion, like she weighed nothing.

She let out a scream then, and she looked up as Loki dashed out of the door, his eyes finding hers instantly. He rushed to them. Ahern on his heels. She felt her captor stop abruptly. She could sense that it was not because he was willingly handing her over, she had a feeling he was surrounded in the dark, poorly lit, alley way. She didn't have to twist around to know that more of her Fae stood in front of him.

Her eyes remained on Loki's, as he stepped closer. Calm. He wasn't even out of breath, although she saw rips in his clothing, and a bruise on his left cheekbone, that she knew would heal and be tanned, smooth skin again in less than an hour. She saw blood dripping from his right arm, and she felt sick with the sight. Not because the sight made her nauseous but the thought that he was hurt because of her. Because of her stupidity.

She watched as Sorryn burst out of the door, as well, allowing the sound of yells and chaos inside to slip out for a brief moment. He had a rip in his shirt, across his stomach. There was a gash beneath the torn fabric, red and bleeding across his muscled abdomen. Drops of blood splattered the pavement. A light flickered above them.

"You are outnumbered, wolf! Hand over the girl." Loki's deep timbre barely concealed the rage.

Wolf? She thought his name was Jake, or was that a fake name he'd given to Marissa?

"And why would I do that?" Jake turned abruptly, so that he was now facing Loki, and she was facing Rembly, Devrin and Payson. So it was these three that were on the other end of the alley. So six against one were the odds. Pretty good, she hoped any way.

Devrin she'd seen numerous times around the Faerie's rental house, and he'd even been dragged in to help with some self-defense stuff. Payson was part of Loki's team she'd met at her little birthday party, he was their information, societal, and tech guy. And Loki had said he was also fantastic with a bow and arrow. Sadly, she saw no weapons on him now. And Rembly was her father's guard, like Ahern, and she knew him quite adept with a broadsword. But none had weapons, as far as she could see, she hoped that they would magically appear at any moment.

"Because, as I said you are outnumbered. What is your name, and whom is it you work for?" Loki's voice was even, but rough. She felt his patience wearing thin.

Jake, or wolf, or whatever, had the audacity to laugh. She felt the movement through her thighs and stomach.

"Good try, but no. You, I know though, don't I? You must be the King's right hand. The wrangler of naughty Faeries. Loki, is it?"

She could not see Loki's movements, but she heard nothing from him to confirm or deny Jake's question. She watched in fascination as Ahern began to move closer, slowly. Switching places with Rembly, while Jake's attentions were on Loki and Sorryn, whom he obviously considered the highest threat. Payson switched from foot to foot. She saw the anxiousness in his warm, brown eyes. His eyes gave away no fear, just anxiousness. She wasn't sure if it was anxiousness to fight, or to get this situation diffused so they could move on. Devrin looked upon them with utter interest and focus, but his body was held in tenseness, a muscle ticked in his jaw. They were all tensed, and ready for action.

Ahern, on the other hand, had a very meticulous set to his features. A face she had come to find so kind and compassionate, was set in that of a highly skilled and trained warrior. The one Guardian, which her father had hand selected to watch out for her. The others had been chosen by Loki. She saw it then, the reason. The passion. The promise. The oath. All the training, the trust, the brotherhood and silent communication that was drilled into these men. She would have to tip her hat off to both her father and Klyne for their exceptionable education, training and loyalty instilled in these fine warriors.

Her captor spun slightly, facing in a direction where he could see both parties out of the corner of his eyes. He must have sensed the movements of the men before him. She knew he was defeated. He had to know as well. What was he going to do? He had nowhere to run, nor any backup coming that they could see.

Where was Saibol, though? And Marissa, where were the other kids from her school? She allowed her senses to come back to her, away from the situation and her own blood pounding in her ears. She heard oncoming sirens, the high pitched wailing of a smoke alarm. People would be pouring out of these doors any moment, and would distract either her captor or her rescuers enough for this to go one or the other way. The others heard it too because the tension increased tenfold.

Suddenly, there was a sheathed sword at Loki's hip, and then just as instantaneously and silently it was in his capable hands. She had to check twice to make sure the glint of steel was actually there in the dim light.

Where the heck did that come from? Could he seriously just materialize shit out of thin air, like Sorryn switching his sword to daggers for her? Now her mind wondered, because he had given her those daggers. So there was no way that the sword had been replaced by the daggers, right?

Her mind was blown by all of this. So many questions still floated in her head. She still knew so little about this Faerie world and it's rules. Had Loki's sword always been there just hidden away by cloaking glamour?

It was not the time to dwell on things she still didn't know of the Fae. She watched Loki take a step closer. The sword balanced in his hands. Razor sharp and deadly edge pointed towards her captors side.

"Let the girl go, and maybe I won't cut off your head, wolf!"

A moment later she watched Ahern, Devrin, Rembly and Sorryn materialize sheathed swords, and as they pull them out, not as gracefully as Loki, they make the ringing sound of the blades scrapping against the scabbards. It's dramatic effects, that sound, resonating the alley. She had no idea if it was meant to dramatize or not, but it certainly made the situation seem more real. More of a medieval battle, versus, Loki's quiet stealth. Payson stood with a sleek, deadly looking black crossbow trained at Jake's knees, bolt nocked and ready.

Of course they all had access to weapons, what kind of bodyguards don't? She wasn't sure how she'd ever doubted them.

Just then the door burst open, she felt her captor's knees buckle, and she was being thrown down. Before she even felt the grit of pavement again, hard, warm hands were wrapped around her. She looked up into golden eyes that were dusky with gray and silver. His hidden rage. She felt his hard muscles circling her.

He carried her away from the commotion and chaos behind them. The people streaming through, Jake on the ground from Payson's well placed bolt, the Guardian's ensuring they are not followed, and keeping Jake in their sights. Sorryn at their heels.

All she could focus on were Loki's eyes, however. Nothing else touched her thoughts. How they slowly began to gather their color back, the gray being chased away by honey gold and softer green rings.

Her heart beat frantically. From the situation they were just in, or the one she was facing now, she's wasn't sure. The situation now being the one where she is in his arms. His face so close to hers. The pressure of his strong arms around her thighs and back. His earthy, pine musk coming off of him and filling her senses.

Instead of resisting, like she should, she puts her arm around his shoulder, making the process easier but putting her closer to him still. She can feel his heart beat against her rib cage and breast, as she's molded to him.

She could hear shouting, and running behind them as Loki's meticulous, quick and careful strides bring them to the end of the alley. The screech of tires pulls her attention forward, and a long black SUV stops before them. Sorryn opens the back door quickly, and Loki carefully lifts her inside.

Adeila's eyes go to the driver. She recognizes Saibol's long chestnut hair, and is instantly thankful that the girl is safe. Sorryn and Devrin jump into the back with her. She almost protests where Payson, Rembly and Ahern are, but Loki gets into the front passenger and motions for Saibol to drive. Which she did with force, and speed. Break neck speed. Adeila can't wrap her mind around anything in particular, but she doesn't have to as Sorryn's voice envelopes her.

"What the fuck were the wolves doing there? And with a fucking Goblin?"

Loki's calm voice drifts towards her. "I have no idea. That Goblin is one of Geneside's men, I'm almost positive. I've seen him before. A few years ago."

Sorryn hisses between his teeth. "Geneside? I thought he was dead?"

Loki turns his attention to the front again. "Maybe all is not what it seems any longer."

With that cryptic message, they drove in silence. Adeila's adrenaline crashes, her skull hurts and her body aches. Shaking, she leans heavily on Sorryn beside her. He puts his strong, friendly arms around her and she soaks up the much needed comfort. She fills her senses with his warmth, and his smell of sunshine and autumn leaves.

Chapter Forty-Eight

"Don't you want to go back there? See what you can figure out? Find out something more about these guys?"

He growled, and she knew she'd hit a nerve.

"Of course but not at the expense of you! I have a team for that!"

"Give me a day, Loki."

She could see that he was getting ready to advance towards her.

"I need to officially say goodbye to my parents and I'm not doing that well after midnight."

He was already shaking his head. "Absolutely not, Adeila."

She needed to play this a different way, because Loki was like an unmovable brick wall of stubborn warriorness.

"If I run off back to Faerie, with my proverbial tail between my legs, it will look as though I am scared."

"No, it will keep your little ass safe!" He was pacing in front of her, his eyes a swirling gray-green.

Who was he calling little? She almost stomped her foot.

He growled again, low in his throat like a primal animal. She almost shivered at the sound; caught between being amused and unexpectedly drawn by the excitement the sound caressed within her. Arguing with him sent exhilaration coursing through her. Which was really weird! What was wrong with her? The thought unnerved her further.

"For fuck sake's, Adeila." His voice was a low, dangerous timber.

She smirked. "You have terrible language for someone who hails from somewhere with no social stigma or media."

She knew she was thrusting him into his last nerve, and she almost expected him to throw her over his shoulder much like Jake had done at the club.

As if sensing her mind he said, "I should have just kept going when we left the club. Given you no choice in the matter."

"But your better than that and we both know it."

He sighed, long and deep. She almost felt bad for putting him through this, playing him. Manipulating him. Almost.

He closed his eyes, shutting out the sliver of silvery green swirling of color. Wariness washed over him, and finally resignation.

"You have until ten in the morning." He growled out, between clenched teeth.

She said a very quiet thank you so as not to press the smugness she felt into the words, and she turned on her heel and began to semi-stomp away.

His voice, deep and dark whispered to her ears, and stopped her. "But sleep lightly, Princess, you can bet your ass I will be watching from your window. I will keep you in, and the monsters out."

A shiver ran through her at his words as she made her way up her steps. She didn't need to look back to see that Loki had turned into his falcon form and flown off. She also wasn't even slightly surprised to sense that he was peering through each window to ensure her safety as she walked through the quiet, sleeping household. They had both already sensed that no Fae or wolf or Goblin were inside, but knowing he kept a vigil on her as she made her way to her bedroom did make her feel slightly better. She hoped beyond hope that she wasn't making a terrible mistake; was waiting to leave for Faerie worth saying good bye to a family that didn't seem to care all that much about her?

As she entered her room she stamped down that thought. They had housed her, and parented her for the last eighteen years; they deserved a real good bye.

She sighed as she checked her window and ensured that it was locked. The blackness outside her window hid Loki, but the energy creeping up her arm gave her every indication that he made good on his promise and he was perched out there; listening and watching with a predators and protectors sense.

She stubbornly slid the blinds down, and then went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and change into her thickest and most comfortable pajamas for the few hours of sleep that she would most likely not get.

When she re-entered her bedroom she shut off the light and made her way toward her bed out of memory, but before reaching it, Loki's words filled her mind, and all she could think of were monsters. Of the true form of the creatures from the club, and her imagination ran wild. Like a child, she made a running leap onto her bed not letting her feet touch at least three feet of space before her bed; afraid of the possibility something might reach up and grasp her ankle on the way.

Damn, Loki, for making her into a big baby. It was so childish, but she felt slightly better as she quickly pulled the covers up and around herself.

Once she allowed the beating of her heart to slow, she heard the faint noises of the house settling about her, then her brother's faint snores, the whistling of the wind blew against the panes of her window, and the hoot of an owl echoed through the forest beyond her home. A small part of her wanted to lift her blinds and peak out and see if she could see Loki, but instead she allowed her Fae senses to wash over her, and when she blanked her mind and sought out his essence she found him very close by. Right outside her window.

He was right there, watching over her. That was her last thought as she fell into a restless sleep, plagued with dark, scary beasts, wolves, dirty cages and fire.

.~.

She was wide awake and pacing at six in the morning. Her mind was reeling from the attack last night, and her situation this morning. What the heck was really going on anyway?

All this time she'd thought her father's precautions were ridiculous but now she was thankful for them. And Loki. And the team. But who was after her? What did the wolf mean that they called Jake? She'd been dreaming about wolves and the apprehension of that fact hadn't been lost on her. The Fae hadn't really tried to explain anything to her. Actually they had explained nothing to her. And considering she'd had to fight with Loki to allow her to stay, she imagined that an explanation from him was the last thing she'd get.

And what did they say to placate Marissa? How the whole Jake thing was explained to her, or was it all? What did Marissa think?

She herself didn't even know what to think. Then she remembered her phone, she looked around the room. She realized, with a sigh, that she must have dropped her clutch by the bar last night, during the whole scuffle. She put her face in her hands and wallowed in the self-pity of it all.

Now, with morning looming on, she was struck with another pressing matter. How to say good bye?

She lifted her head and sighed but then her eyes lit on her nightstand and the tan clutch with tiny printed birds all over it. Someone must have grabbed it for her. She gave a small tiny thanks in her mind to whomever was kind enough to grab this for her, and hoped inside would hold her slim silver cell phone.

It did. She had about thirty missed texts and five missed calls. Sighing, she began making her way through them. She was shocked that a few were from Erik, asking what the hell happened. But the rest were from Marissa. And they consistently asked what the hell was going on. This was to be expected. She then listened to the voicemail's.

The highlight of them was -

Loki said that someone in connection with your real parents is trying to kidnap you for some ransom, and they hired Jake to do it! What the fuck, Adeila! I had no idea that he was involved in any of this. I don't even understand it. Loki was so weird and vague about the whole thing. Call me back!

She exhaled a long, deep breath. Well, at least Loki had laid the ground work for a pretty convincing lie. She closed her eyes, and then sent Marissa a text asking if she was up. Within about five minutes she got a return. Well, thank goodness your alive! And then another one. Yeah, I am. Call me!

Pushing her fingers into her eyes, Adeila took a steadying breath and made the call.

Marissa was in an uproar of anger and confusion, and was making very little sense as she sobbed and yelled into the phone. It was obvious she had slept about as much as Adeila. She had no idea what was really going on, which was good and bad.

The less Marissa truly knew the better. The safer it would be for her. But as her best friend, Adeila had a hard time coming to terms with entirely lying to her. Especially with the girl thinking that it was her fault that everything happened the way that it did.

Marissa was in tears, and Adeila tried to calm her down.

"Like do you think he slept with me to get info about you? He did ask about you.. A lot. Like after I told him where I was from, he was like, oh, you got any good friends? And I told him all about you. He seemed really interested. It didn't seem strange at the time but now..." She paused and her voice turned slightly higher in pitch.

"Oh God! I led him right to you! I told him where I lived! And I dragged you along with me to that stupid club! This is all my fault!"

Adeila sighed as a new wave of sobs reached her through the phone. She certainly didn't want Marissa thinking that she, in any way, was at fault here, but in truth it was most likely her trusting nature that did indeed aid in Adeila's almost capture.

After a forty minute phone conversation that led to many tears and a lot of convincing it wasn't her fault, she finally had Marissa at a better place in the situation. If only she herself were so easy to placate.

"I have to go to my real parents. If someone wants to get at me, I am probably safest with them."

Marissa started crying again, asking what she would do without her, but even she couldn't convince herself that it wasn't the best idea. Finally, she saw the reality of the situation.

"Will I ever see you again?"

"Of course, you will!" But Adeila had no idea if that was a true statement or not. Could she come back to the human realm after this? Would her parents or Loki allow it? She was really afraid she already knew the answer to that but she couldn't very well say that.

"Well, I can come visit you too, right? The Dakota's aren't that far."

"Absolutely! Once this is all figured out, we can plan something."

After a tearful goodbye from both parties she was off the phone. She sat on her bed and allowed herself a few more moments of tears and self-pity. Then she slowly gathered her resolve. She took a hot shower, got dressed in simple clothes, considering they'd be traveling through the realm in a few hours. The jeans had a large hole in the knee and were her favorite. She wore a white tank top, under a navy blue long sleeve. She put her still wet hair into a low pony tail, and proceeded to gather a back pack of some of her personal things. Adeila knew she would never return to this house, this room. She had all the amenities she needed at the castle, but with eighteen years of her life spent here, she knew that she needed to bring some of those mementos with her, into her new life.

The journal Loki had given her went, along with a few favorite shirts, the sparrow bracelet Marissa had given her for Christmas, a framed photo of her and Marissa, and one of her and her brother. She grabbed a few other random things, and then she was officially ready to say good bye.

Chapter Forty-Nine

.... Jake ....

The human girl had been so easy to manipulate it was laughable. Teenage girls are so predictable, you look and act like a bad boy but feed them a couple compliments and they are putty in your hands. Had he really needed to bed her? Probably not. That, he decided, was just a side benefit that he'd owed himself. His wolf had been restless for days, his primal urges pushing at every pore of his body, looking for release. Jake had seen the opportunity and had taken it. He was but a male after all. Even if it only satisfied his wolf for a short time, it was worth it.

He shook his head in disgust. Humans were such a weak lot. He pulled the bandage from his calf to see that the deep, gaping wound was now just a long, raised, red line. It was ruddy and angry but he could no longer see the tendons and muscles that were hanging from it three hours earlier. He threw the bloodied bandage away and took a long breath.

If the damn Princess hadn't had such strong layers of cloaking magic on her and the constant protection of highly trained Fae guards, things would have been done and set weeks ago. He'd have grabbed the Princess and been done with it, but no, he'd had to stoop to the human for help. But when his tracker, Neviin, had smelled the Princess on the human girl, he couldn't help but follow that lead. He'd never guessed that the girl would be her friend, wearing the Princess' clothes and then lead him right to her. It really had been perfect. But of course nothing goes that easy. It had been almost impossible to sense the Princess, and then when they did, she was so heavily guarded that they couldn't safely make a move. The club had just been the most convenient plan.

"I cannot believe you just let her go!" Cisna paced by the large bay windows that overlooked a small lake.

Jake growled. His wolf paced at the prospect of a fight. Especially one with a female. His wolf enjoyed a good fight that typically led to a good romp in the sheets. And it knew that's where it would lead with this particular she wolf.

"I did not just let her go, Cisna! I got hit in the leg with a Fae Vestilselium bolt from a damn crossbow! I also got sliced twice from Vestilselium and steel edged swords!"

He lifted up his shirt to show the bandage along his right side, and another on his right bicep.

He'd led the three Fae guards on quite the wild goose chase, through dark alleyways and poorly lit neighborhoods. His animal instincts and night sight had kept him two steps ahead of them. After three hours of running back and forth, he eluded them well enough to make a break for it back to base. Once he was out of human sight he had shifted into his wolf form and retreated through the woods. Shifting had kick started his healing and by the time he was back to the lake house they had rented, his wounds were practically just bloody gouges. He'd quickly bandaged them to complete the healing process. Had he not let the Princess go and made a run for it, he most likely would have been captured or killed. He was smart, fast and agile but no match for numerous trained Fae. He was not so arrogant to even think he was.

"Maybe if I'd had some fucking backup, I would not have had to make a break for it!" He rounded on Cisna angrily, but his look included Neviin, and Daygle. Each of them looked down.

"And where is Uvir?"

Daygle is the only one that dares to speak. "We have not been able to locate Uvir."

Jake's eyes narrowed on Daygle, and his voice rose in pitch. "What do you mean, unable to locate him!?"

Jake stalked closer to the tall, dark skinned, dark haired Fae who had blood from both Ogre and Goblin and stopped directly in front of him. Even if he had to look up, as his face only reached the man's broad, muscular chest, his rigid body structure spoke volumes of who was in charge here.

Daygle cast his eyes downward again, and swallowed. He opened his mouth, and then closed it again.

Jake shook his head. "Well, locate him, Day. Now!"

Daygle lumbered his large frame from the room, and Jake turned back to the other two; who looked just as bad as him in the injury department. Cisna had a large bruise across her left eye, which he knew had started out as a monster black eye and even a bruised brow from the look of it. She also had bandages wrapped across her ribs, he could see them under the torn tank top. Neviin had bruises all over his face, and he could see a large bruise that appeared on his collarbone from the V-neck shirt he wore. His team had taken a huge hit, and each of them would no doubt be dead if not for their majorly advanced healing. They were just lucky that none of them had drawn weapons within the club. He was surprised at Uvir's restraint, as he had quite the passion for firearms these days.

Jake had, had a long pep talk with Uvir before going into the club, which he was not to draw any weapons. No unneeded attention from the humans. No need for any of the Kingdom's to send reinforcements for them drawing too much attention. He hoped that Uvir hadn't drawn a weapon but he couldn't be completely sure as he had exited the club in a hurry and had left his team to deal with the Fae guards.

"Did Uvir pull out any guns?"

Cisna shook her head, and Jake sighed. Well, that was something at least, but where the hell did the Goblin go? Had one of the Fae captured him? Or killed him? He didn't even want to think of the hell he would get if he'd gotten Uvir killed. He'd never be forgiven.

Jake stalked from the room, as he reached the front door, it burst open. Uvir stood, drenched, on the door step. Blood dripped from many wounds, and bruises also covered his face. Goblins did not heal as fast as wolves or the Fae, so he would be of no use to them for a few days, from the looks of the injuries.

"Where have you been?"

Uvir shook himself off, like a wet dog, and tromped inside, shutting the door with a hobbling foot.

"I was being tailed by one of the Fae. I had to run them off my trail. I swam for miles before it was safe to come here."

Goblin's loved wetlands and water. In the Faerie realm they could be found in the marsh lands of Gollinheld, which is east of Ravenswood divided by a giant marsh called Quiknas Marsh, loosely translating to sudden death by the ancient goblin tongue. No kingdom had governed over Gollinheld, technically. Gollinheld was the last stronghold of the goblins. However, its leader, Geneside, had, as of late, seemed to withdrawn himself entirely from the world. Even from the precarious alliance that Ravenswood and himself had formed, many years ago.

In those times, Geneside could be seen at Ravenswood's balls and social events and also sometimes had his hands in their diplomatic positions. But for several years now he hadn't been seen at all. It is known that Uvir was one of Geneside's right hand men, but Jake had not seen Geneside personally. Jake's boss had given him Uvir as the muscle of the crew, he was a ruthless brute.

Jake shook his head, but motioned for Uvir to go ahead and clean up. They'd royally fucked this one up and he couldn't even imagine what the backlash would be if they went home empty handed. He paced again, trying to come up with some other strategy to retrieve the Princess for his boss.

Chapter Fifty

.... Adeila ....

It was close to nine am and everyone in her household was finally up. She made her way down the stairs for the last time; she set the backpack down by the front door. She had absolutely no idea how to approach this.

She found her mother first, in the kitchen making waffles, and decided to start there.

"Mom."

Kathryn Burton looked rumpled, and in her own right, lovely. Her pale skin, dark auburn hair and deep brown eyes, that didn't even look up or respond,.

Adeila sighed. "Mother." When she still got nothing. She gritted her teeth.

"Kathryn Burton, my adopted mother." She said the words soft, but knew they would pack some kind of impact.

Finally, her mother looked up from her task, and eyed Adeila. There was an odd expression in her eyes. Between anger and annoyance, but also with acceptation. She knew it had only been a matter of time before Adeila discovered the truth, and she had been prepared for the moment.

"Adeila, what? I am busy here." She didn't even try to fight it. Didn't even try to dissuade Adeila from the truth.

"So it is true then?" Even though she knew it was, she wanted to hear the words. Needed to hear one of her parents actually speak it.

Her mother sighed loudly, and put the waffles into plates. "Yes, Adeila, it is true. You were adopted. What difference does it make? Do you wish to find your real parents?"

Adeila was taken aback a bit, but not surprised at her mother's abruptness.

"I've already found them in fact, that is what I wished to tell you. I am leaving."

Kathryn nodded and pulled the maple syrup from the refrigerator.

"That is your choice, you are eighteen now."

And that was it, she was eighteen. Her choice. They had no say. Did not want to fight to keep her here, under their roof. In their hearts. They were willing to give her up to people that they didn't even know. It stung. Her eyes pricked with tears. She had no idea what to say, or do.

She stood, the woman watched her with knowledgeable eyes. She cared enough about her not to wish to change her mind, but didn't care enough to even try. It was heart wrenching to feel that kind of disinterest, but considering everything else she'd been through recently she just took the hit on her heart and moved on.

She walked over and hugged the mother she'd known for eighteen years. The mother that had never loved her like a mother should, a mother she'd never felt a bond with. It made this moment easier and harder all at once. Kathryn Burton hugged her back, but it was not heartfelt. It was more what she was supposed to do, versus what she wanted to do.

Adeila searched her eyes again for some kind of compassion, but there was no light in them. No sign of hurt. No tears.

Her father came in shortly after, and looked between the two of them seemingly perplexed. Adeila opened her mouth to speak, and then closed it. She looked to her mother, and she nodded.

"Adeila has discovered her real parents and has decided to go and live with them."

He stared hard at her mother for several moments, silent speak of couples passed between their eyes. His brows were pinched together in confusion, but soon he only nodded. And to her utter amazement he came to her, and gave her a sturdy, firm hug and kissed her forehead. "How will you finish school?"

She hadn't really been preparing for such a question, so she thought of the first thing that came to mind. "I will probably take online classes..."

He only nodded and after a few more words of "wisdom" of the world and for her to be careful, he allowed her to take leave to find her siblings.

Her brother was in the living room watching a television show. She sat next to him, and waited a few moments for a commercial since she knew she would never gain his attention until one came on. When it did, and he began to pick up the remote, she touched his arm.

His soft brown eyes reached hers and his widened when he saw the expression she wore. But he said nothing.

She swallowed past a lump in her throat, remembering the little boy he used to be. The little boy that doted on her, that she did so many things with. She had played with him for hours on end. He had been the only one she had felt truly bonded, until of course, he got old enough to no longer want to play with toy trucks and puzzles with her.

"I'm leaving."

"Okay."

"For good. I... I'm adopted and I found my real parents. I'm going to live with them."

His mouth dropped open and he stared at her wide eyes. "What? What the hell?"

She smiled, despite herself, at his outburst, and felt that undying kinship towards him. It made her feel better that he hadn't seen this coming, like she knew Kayla probably did.

"Yeah, I figured it out a few weeks ago. When I confronted Mom, she said it was true."

After his initial shock, saying good bye was hard. He didn't cry, like she did, but he also seemed really confused and acted as though this would blow over and she would be back. He treated it like she was going away for a week and would return. She decided not to argue with him. Instead she just gave him a long hug and went upstairs to find her sister.

She knocked on the door, softly, and awaited the low come in that ensued. Adeila stepped lightly into the room. The walls were painted pale purple, shade darker then lavender. The bed was shoved against the left side wall, and its bedding was of the darkest shade of purple. Shockingly, as the eldest, Adeila had the nicest and largest bedroom with its adjoining bathroom. Her two siblings had to share a bathroom and had the exact same sized rooms just opposite sides of the house.

Kayla looked up from her laptop that was propped across her bean bag chair with her sprawled out in front of it. Her feet kicking above her, in bright pink socks. It smelled like strong perfume and bubblegum candles.

Kayla's expression displayed that she thought the intrusion a complete nuisance but also her interest was piqued.

"Ah, so I... I'm here to say good bye."

One perfect eye brow arched, but Kayla said nothing.

"I'm going to live with my real parents."

Finally, this got Kayla's attention and she sat up. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm adopted."

She nodded her head, slightly, and pursed her lips. Her eyes cast downwards. "I heard mom talking a few months ago about something that made me wonder. She was talking to Grandma and saying something about you wanting to do something with Biology for college and she said she wondered if you got that from your birth parents, as it certainly wasn't from them. I guess I kind of passed it off as some weird rambling that mom tends to do with Grandma, but now it makes sense."

Kayla's eyes met Adeila's, and surprisingly a tear escaped the girl's eyes, but Adeila had no idea whether this strange emotional display was real or not.

"Am I adopted too?"

Adeila realized why the girl's emotions were actually present. She was worried about herself. Typical teenage selfishness.

"No. You're not. Just me."

Kayla only nodded. "So you're leaving. Where?"

Adeila sighed and sat precariously on the edge of Kayla's plushy bed. "My real parents. They are really nice and wish for me to live with them."

Kayla's eyes wandered around the room, avoiding hers. "Where do they live?"

Adeila tried to remember, frantically, if Loki said South or North Dakota, but hey it was a fifty-fifty chance. "South Dakota."

"Wow, that's pretty far away. Will we visit you?"

Adeila shrugged. "I seriously doubt it, Kayla."

She shook her head. "That's really weird. But -" Then she shrugged. "I guess Mom and Dad... Well, that will be up to them, right?"

After a few more graceless moments of awkward questions, Kayla actually leapt up and hugged her. Adeila was so shocked she almost didn't hug the girl back.

"Oh, and your welcome to all the clothes that I left in my room. I have no need for them. My real parents bought wardrobes for me."

Kayla's eyes widened. "Can I have your room too?"

Adeila shrugged. "I don't see why not."

So with that she made her exit. Her adopted parents watched her go from the kitchen. Her brother continued to watch television as her sister began sorting through her belongings. It was beyond depressing, but as she watched Loki pull his long frame from his pickup truck, and come around to grab her bag, she truly realized that this had never been her home. This had never been her life. They were never her family.

His beautiful, serene eyes captured hers and held her there. Mesmerized. She realized that where he was taking her was home. Her real home. To people that loved her. To a life she would learn to love. She would persevere. It was in her blood. Her strong Fae blood.

Chapter Fifty-One

"You need to learn to stop the arrow. Focus."

Adeila had been training with many of the Fae Guardians and Loki's R.F.R.U agents in the two weeks she'd been back in Faerie, since the incident at Rage. Each honored her with different knowledge, abilities, and different defense and offensive fighting moves. Loki had been insisting on her training well before the almost kidnapping at the club, but of course since then he had been obsessive. Pulling in many of his people to work with her. She thoroughly enjoyed it. Each person had different knowledge to instill within her, but dealing with Loki was by far the hardest.

She grumbled, haughtily, and blew out a breath. She tightened the ponytail she had her hair in, and shook out her arms. Not that she was using her arms at all, but it felt good, nonetheless.

"I'm going to release the arrow again, focus your mind and stop it. Mid-air."

Adeila closed her eyes a moment and then nodded. Trying her best to focus on the arrow, as he released it. She fished at her magic and threw it at the arrow, causing the arrow to skitter off course and thump into the ground.

Her shoulders slumped. "I just can't get this."

Loki stared at her, one hand holding the mahogany colored bow, the other on his lean hip. He cocked his head at her after a moment. "I think you just need some incentive. A little persuasion to control your magic."

She did not like the gleam in his eye one bit, and watched as he took out the silver mirror from his pocket, and proceed to ask Sorryn for assistance.

"What are you thinking, Loki?"

He grinned cockily and shook his head. "You'll see."

She already hated whatever it was he proposed to do. Moments later, Sorryn arrived. Loki handed him the bow, and then walked towards a young oak near the edge of the clearing. He gestured both of them to follow him.

Adeila looked to Sorryn, but he only shrugged. When they stood a few feet from him, Loki gestured to Sorryn.

"Sorryn, shoot me." He turned to Adeila, who already had a look of horror plastered to her face. "Adeila, stop the arrow."

She shook her head. "Nope, absolutely not! There's no frickin' way!"

Sorryn cocked his head at Loki, but smiled faintly. "It's good incentive."

Loki threw up a hand. "That's what I'm saying."

Adeila whipped her head to Sorryn. He was supposed to be her voice of reason. He was easily one of her very closest friends, and she'd gone from adoring him to loving him and trusting him with her life. She felt completely easy and herself around him. Which, other than with Kami, she'd never experienced before. Typically he was always on her side. She could always count on him. Not now.

"You're both completely insane! I am not doing this."

Loki's face and voice went serious. "You are, and you will, Princess."

"Can't we just keep practicing?"

He shook his head. "It's not working; you need to push your magic into control. It's gone unhinged for far too long. It needs to do what you want, when you want, but it's you that needs to gain that. You need a push."

Adeila's eyes were still wide with horror as she watched them, wearily. They widened even further when Sorryn nocked an arrow.

"No, no. Please don't do this. I can't..."

Loki raised a brow at her in silent challenge. Sorryn's voice was low as if Loki couldn't hear. "Focus, Adeila. Push your magic out to stop the arrow. Use your emotions. Bend your magic to do your bidding. Once you do it once, it will get easier."

"But I've only been practicing for a few hours. Usually you give me a whole day to learn something like this." She could barely keep the whine from her voice.

Sorryn's eyes flitted to Loki's briefly. "You must learn quicker, Adi, anything could happen, at any moment. We still haven't a concrete answer as to why there was an attempted kidnapping."

"But there's been no attack, no attempt in nearly two weeks." She knew she was getting nowhere fast, when the Fae got something in their head it was impossible to persuade them otherwise, and she hated to keep trying because it made her seem so weak, but the panic she felt at this entire situation was just too much.

Why would Loki have Sorryn shoot him with an arrow just to get a point across that she needed to learn faster, and control her magic better? It was a little drastic to say the least.

"That means nothing, sweetheart, and you know it." He allowed his voice to lower, and dip with understanding. His ringed midnight blue, violet and lavender eyes showed compassion and understanding.

She sighed and closed her eyes. She pinched her fingers to the bridge of her nose. This was insane. Finally, she threw up her hands in exasperation. "Fine, if the damn idiot wants to get shot with an arrow, so be it." She gestured for Sorryn to release the arrow.

He smiled, but sternly said, "Focus, Adi. Allow your emotions to bend the magic. Emotions may make it easier to force the magic to cooperate. That is the entire meaning of this."

She took a very deep breath, slowly exhaled it and looked in on herself, feeling the bristle of energy there. It thrummed and pulsed, waiting. She pulled at it, like a thick rope attached to an anchor. She got it to the surface, ready for release. She nodded her head, solemnly, but with resolve, to Sorryn.

He released the arrow. She used her hands to emphasize the push of power. It happened so fast. The silver of the arrow's razor edges glinted in the sunlight as it floated, poised in midair at Loki's right thigh.

She blew out a breath and the arrow dropped, harmlessly, to the blanket of thick grass at Loki's feet.

She sunk to her knees, head in her hands, a migraine pulsed behind her closed lids. She desperately wanted to punch both of them, for this stupid, reckless fiasco. Their faith in her far outweighed her own. But she'd felt something inside her swell, pulse and then snap when she'd thrust her hands out towards to arrow, Loki's face in her mind. Her tormented feelings for him at the forefront of her thoughts. The fact that he'd take any weapon for her made the emotions heightened.

A humming alighted along her skin. The restless energy her magic gave off simmered. She'd finally become completely in tune and in control of it. She hated how it needed to be done, but she felt instantly lighter. She felt \- aside from some small emotional upheaval the act caused - on top of the world.

Sorryn's arms came around her, lifting her from the soft grass. "Well done!"

She leaned into him, the smell of morning sunshine enveloping her. "I kind of hate you right now, just so you know."

He laughed into her hair. "You won't for long, who could? You did great, though."

She sniffled, but smiled into his wide chest. "It was really scary."

"But effective."

"Yeah, yeah." She said it with a small grin, as she pulled away from him. She turned to Loki, who stood a little away from them, arrow in his hand. A faint smile played upon his lips.

She threw him a disgusted look. "Screw both of you; I'm so done with this shit for the day." She turned on her heel, but couldn't help but whisper, "idiots," as she stormed off.

The male laughter that erupted behind her had her gritting her teeth and walking faster.

.~.

As she lay under the giant grandmother willow an hour later, she thought back upon arriving at Faerie two weeks ago. She'd never felt happier in her life as she had when they'd passed through that portal and back to Faerie. The feeling had been euphoric. When they'd stepped onto that trail leading to Oakend, Befrum awaiting them with their horses, the forest had called to her. Beckoning her. Welcoming her. It was like nothing she'd ever felt before. The official feeling of coming home. Both Sorryn and Saibol had returned her smile, but Loki had given her that look - the I told you so one. She'd almost stuck her tongue out at him for it. He'd only arched a brow, and the small twitch of his mouth was the only hint that he'd known exactly what she'd been thinking. She was going to try this friend thing with him, but she was quite sure he'd make it nearly impossible.

She'd been thrilled to be reunited with Gulliver, but her heart pounded with the aspect of her other equine friend, and she had wondered at his level of anger towards her. Did Unicorns, like Elephants, have exceptional memory?

As they'd reached the ridge that overlooked the large valley and wildflower meadow that met with the stone walls, and towers of the village border, a feeling overcame her. A feeling more intense than that of coming home. This was something foreign and ancient. Then they'd heard hooves on the dirt path hind them, and her golden friend had shown up.

She smiled at the memory. He'd been aloof at first, showing her his displeasure at his warning being ignored, but he'd warmed up to her, lipping at her cheek to express that he'd missed her.

He'd trotted along beside Gulliver the entire way to the river, where they would cross and enter the castle along the side and away from prying eyes. The unicorn left them with nothing but a soft nicker and flick of his flaxen tail.

She recalled her parent's reaction. They'd been beyond ecstatic, but also inconsolable to the fact that she'd been so close to being kidnapped. Her father had nearly suffocated her in overbearing worry, but she hated to admit it felt really good to have someone care so deeply for her.

She'd started each day having breakfast with them, then spent the entire morning and early afternoon training. Lunch with them, then training again until dinner. At night she spent time with Kami, Sorryn and Saibol when they weren't on missions. Typically Kami or Saibol were always around. She was quite sure that Loki made sure, for her sake; one of them was always available. The Guardians were also a wealth of information; Ahern was one of her father's very first Elite Guardian's, the lead Guardian to all of his men, and easily his most trustworthy and honorable man she'd met, he had loads of ancestry and history on the realm. Rembly, and Befrum were also the King's Elite's. Along with two men she'd recently met; Ander's – a huge red headed man with a big beard. He looked like he came straight from a Scottish highland movie, or a Viking ship. He had a booming voice, quick wit and vulgar sense of humor. Then there was Neo – a tall, dark haired, dark skinned warrior with enchanting blue eyes and a soft voice. Her mother also had a circle of Elite's; Iya was an exotic little female half breed – half human/half Fae. She had dark skin, raven hair and earthy brown eyes. She had a dry sense of humor and a whimsical voice. She was also apparently deadly with daggers. Tesryn or "Tes" was also a female Guardian; she had long blonde hair, always tied back and big brown eyes. She was a very "girl next door" looking woman but she had heard Kami say that she was quite the formidable warrior. Adeila liked her instantly the few times she had spoken with her. The only other of her mother's Guardians she'd formally met was Felms, who was a large man with dark red-blonde hair, and soft amber eyes. She was told he could shift into a red fox and that his hearing and cunning were matched by few.

She found herself getting to know all of them, and enjoying at least one quality from each. Each had their strong suit and she could learn something from every one of them.

Her mother came in each night as she prepared for bed to chat and brush out her long hair. She enjoyed that special alone time with her. She was still getting used to a mother who doted upon her like Deleana did.

She saw little of Loki except the few times he trained with her. Each of his training sessions were magic or mind related and typically left her feeling frustrated and inadequate.

Sorryn had worked with her a bit more on throwing daggers, but had also briefly exposed her to small, light swords and bows. She had to admit, the sword felt the best in her hands. The most comfortable. She enjoyed the rhythm and dance like qualities of the movements when using a sword. Sorryn insisted she just get comfortable for now, as Loki would be her formal sword teacher, and that training would be absolute. She'd train straight with a sword for months, per Sorryn. She wasn't entirely sure if the thought made her more nervous or excited.

She knew that Loki had been absent from her training, mostly because of work, but also because of the curse that Marla had placed on him. She had no real idea what this curse entailed, as no one had explained it to her. She assumed it was something that affected his magic, maybe made it harder to control.

All she really knew is that Magistra had finally had a breakthrough and broke the curse. Kami had told her as much, but it had been a long, grueling process and had been far harder than they'd anticipated. It had also taken much longer. It had only been a few days since the curse had been broken. She secretly hoped that now that it had, she'd see a bit more of him.

Her eyes fluttered open, her thoughts coming to the present again. The indigo sky above her was cloudless and color so bright it was almost painful in its intensity. The days all blended together, save for today. She was glad she'd taken off the afternoon.

Today had been insane. They'd pushed her hard. Maybe too hard. She'd never felt that kind of fright for someone's safety. Even at the club when she'd watched her guards wrestle with enemies, she'd not been so afraid. No, today had taken the cake on that fear, because it was up to her to stop it. Such a responsibility, such a decision was not something she was prepared for. Was that what ruling this kingdom would be like? Constant fear of what consequences your decisions may make, not just upon you but upon your people as well? A constant wonder whether you were worthy. Her mind reeled. The moment she'd stopped that arrow, she'd never felt more powerful, but she knew with power came responsibility. It would be her decision and hers alone if she was worthy for such a responsibility.

Chapter Fifty-Two

Today she wasn't sure who she would be training with. She hoped that it was neither, Loki or Sorryn. She wasn't sure if she could train with them today, after yesterday's debacle. She'd seen neither of them since, as she'd spent her entire afternoon, until dinner time, at Gh'ehelila – the old willow. She'd just laid there thinking of the decisions she'd made, her training, her real parents and adopted, Marissa, Obysson, and magic. Then she'd written in the journal that Loki had gotten her. She'd found that it was a good outlet for her. Something to write down her jumble of confused thoughts. Writing them down allowed her to sift through them easier.

She'd told Kami of her arrow incident, and she'd been sympathetic but not surprised.

"Loki wants you to succeed at your training. He wants you prepared for everything. He did what he thought was necessary. Trust his judgment."

Adeila had felt slightly put off by the other girls flippant regard to the situation, but when she'd laid in bed that night, her mind simmering down from the hard day, she'd realized that he'd done what he thought was best, and his faith in her had clearly proven his own point. She really wanted to hit him for it, but decided she'd just never put herself in such a situation again.

She got to the large oak and ran a hand lovingly over the bark, and tried to put the events of the prior day behind her. The leaves swayed at her touch and many floated down to her. Leaves brushed her skin as they floated to the luscious grassy floor at her feet. She flexed her mind and caught some of the leaves midair. Freezing them in time and place. She found that now it did come to her easily. Almost as easily as moving things with her mind, which had been so easy for her because she'd been doing it subconsciously for over a year. She cursed Loki under her breath for breaking through her magical barrier, and pushing her into this full capacity of magic, in such an unorthodox and brutal way, but she was pleased to see the results. She felt so much more in control, as if the magic waited; simmering there for her bidding, rather than a restless thrum of power that had nowhere to go.

She smiled, deciding to use another of her abilities. She was pretty sure this ability had actually shown itself to her first, but she'd chosen to ignore it. Her "green thumb" as some had called it, wasn't a green thumb at all, at least not in the human concept of the phrase. It was a Fae ability. This one alone didn't take a lot of work, but combining took some concentration, because she wasn't used to it yet.

Combining abilities was something she was just now learning to do. Sorryn and Loki had both been working with her on it, and even Devrin and Ahern had helped her. Ahern and Devrin's simple tips actually had her getting the hand of it. Ahern was the simplest guy to work with. She really hoped it was him that she worked with today, she wasn't sure her mind could handle a harder teacher. The compassion and gentle nature that she'd always thought was there, was even more so now that she'd gotten to know him more. Both he and Sorryn had almost become the elder brothers she'd never had. She'd grown close to all of her personal guards and most of Loki's team. Save for Marston, who still gave her the creeps. And Loki... Well, she had no idea where Loki sat in her heart. She trusted him with her life, felt emotions for him that were both foreign and confusing. Her feelings for him where not brotherly, but not entirely romantic either. They were just confusing, and she tried to stop thinking of him whenever she began, because she was afraid of the answers there. So instead she focused on her magic.

She moved her hand back so she was touching the tree. Having a physical connection definitely helped her focus. She pushed her energy into the tree and felt its bright hum inside her as a response. When it matched her own, she thought in her head of what she wanted, and pushed her energy deeper. Each leaf floated up and was replaced to the tree in the spots where they had fallen from, and then new green buds sprang up across each branch. She smiled and finally took a breath. Allowing the energy in the magic to simmer around her. It was exhilarating. She could feel the power and energy within her very soul. She could also feel the energy of everything around her, pulsing, pushing, and thrumming with life. She recalled Loki's words to her on numerous occasions. Energy is in everything. Nothing is as it seems. Everything is its own energy. Particles upon particles. Nothing is solid; everything is a vibrating, thrumming energy. If you know how to manipulate that energy, then you have discovered a magic of sort.

She could turn a single blade of grass into a rambling rose bush and even change the color to each bud, or change a tiny sapling into a full grown tree. She could do it well too, considering Sorryn had made her do it numerous times until she got it down perfectly. He'd started her on this path when he'd made her repair the damage to the tree that they'd used for knife-throwing back in the human realm. Since then he, and her mother, had overseen her training in regrowth and repair of the natural things. Her mother insisted that it was an affinity, but that Adeila's seemed more powerful than any she'd seen before, her own included. It seemed odd to Adeila that her own magic could be stronger than her mothers, but she took the praise and the training tips with stride, and found herself most happy when she was in the gardens making the roses bloom, or when she was outside in the pastures with Gulliver, repairing fallen branches, dead trees or upturned earth from the horses hooves. It might not have been a warrior's work, but she enjoyed it. The fact that she could do these things, whereas not a year ago she had deemed herself an average, mousy, nerdy, unpopular and unremarkable teenager.

When she finally allowed her senses to take over from the magical high she was on, she noticed someone standing close by, leaning against a tree. That was something she really needed to work on. Doing magic and keeping her senses around her steady, so she didn't lose herself in the magic. Realizing how much she still had to learn was slightly daunting.

The someone was standing only a few feet away; ankles crossed arms over muscled chest. The shadow of the forest enveloped around him and he blended into it. She could barely make out his handsome chiseled features, and was surprised by the expression on his usually guarded face. The mask had slipped slightly and she got a tiny hint of pride and surprise in the moment before he put the walls back up and over to his usual stoic mask. His golden green eyes glittered and met her own.

Loki finally unfolded himself and stalked towards her. She couldn't help the involuntary shiver that raced up her spine as he stepped into the light.

With everything that had gone on in the past few months she couldn't deny the fact that, even though he didn't always make her feel entirely comfortable – actually, typically she found no comfort in her feelings for him - she did in fact depend on him. Trust him. He had become a figment in her life, a constant. An ally. A friend.

She waited for him to approach her.

"I see you've been practicing."

She nodded. "Yes, I have. What are we learning today?"

"I thought we would continue some combination abilities, but it seems you are making strides in that department. Maybe a political lesson then."

She almost groaned aloud, but then remembered whose presence she was in. Not a good idea, as he'd make her pay for it, somehow, probably like yesterday.

She tried hard not to look forlorn. His mouth twitched slightly but he gestured for them to sit underneath the large oak tree that she had so recently used her magic on.

They sat, cross legged, facing each other. He took a breath; his eyes were so golden today. Only a small shimmer of green could be seen, and the silver flakes were nearly translucent. "I'm sorry for yesterday, Adeila. Truly. I hope that you see the results and are no longer angered with me?"

She couldn't help but smile. If he was anything, it was honorable. He'd known he'd made her uncomfortable, even though he'd never admit he was wrong, he at least was willing to apologize for how she took it.

"No, I am no longer mad. It was... Strange, but like you said, it heeded the results you sought."

"We sought. You need to gain control. I understand my final decision was not entirely orthodox to my typical training, but things are different with you."

She cocked her head just a bit at him, and wanted to ask why. If it was entirely because she was the King's daughter, the heir to the throne of Oakend, or because she'd almost been kidnapped. Either way, she really didn't want to hear his reasoning, and decided for once she'd be happy about a political lesson.

She gestured for him to begin his lesson. He bit his lip, his mind working. She couldn't help the tiny pinprick of heat in her stomach at his small, subconscious movement, but when he began to speak, luckily the heat dissipated.

"Let's talk a bit about the different kingdoms. First, we'll speak of Ravenswood. The King and Queen. Personally, I think the Queen Neyssa is completely insane and the King Radyn is a bit of a push over, but someday you'll get to form your own judgment. Moving past my opinion, I'll let you know some facts. They have one son, his name is Logan. I've met him a few times and other then being constantly at his mother's beck and call, seems like he has a decent mind in there, whenever he is allowed to use it. The Queen seems to have the reins of the kingdom from my dealings with them, but that may just be for appearances sake. I do not know enough about the kingdom to be sure."

She had a small smile on her face, listening to his opinions. Often enough, with Loki, things were all facts. It was a nice change to hear him speak of, entirely, his opinions. It made her feel closer to him. To his mind.

"It is South East if you leave from the village. Between our Kingdom and theirs is a canyon, a land bridge once connected the two, but when it eroded too much, a large stone bridge was erected in its place. Most Faeries travel via the portals within the kingdoms so they do not use the bridge, but if, for whatever reason, our portals cease to work then we are not stranded."

He takes a breath, and plucks at the leather binding of a bracelet at his right wrist. She'd not noticed the bracelet before. It is thin brown leather, and has a silver antler attached to each end of the leather. It's simple, but also suits him. She'd never pictured him as the jewelry type, but then again he had chosen the ring she still wore every day.

"Ravenswood is surrounded by a dark, dreary kind of forest; complete opposite from the forest into Oakend. The creatures are more violent, the shadows seem longer. It's like walking through a cemetery at midnight, with mist engulfing the ground. There's just a sense of something watching you. It is a hauntingly beautiful land, just the kingdom is a little on the.... creepy side. The road leading to the Kingdom is lit by faerie fire lanterns with Gargoyles, ravens and Goblins carved into the ebony stone pillars holding the lanterns. The road to the village is gated by a giant arched iron gate-"

A ringing interrupts them. A very loud ringing coming from her jeans pocket.

Adeila scrambles up to grab the phone from her pocket, surprised that it is still working in Faerie. Loki had told her that the raw magic within the realm oftentimes screwed with the satellites that the phones receive their signal from.

When she looks down at the name on the screen, her eyes widen, she can't contain the surprise, and her eyes flit to Loki's and then back down to the screen.

"Hello?"

"Adeila, honey, I know that you are away right now with your real parents, Marissa told us bits and pieces, but you are the last person I was going to call before the police."

Adeila's eyes widen even further, and she frowns. Her eyes flit to Loki's again.

"What's going on, Mrs. Paige?"

"I'm trying not to freak out, but Marissa went out with friends last night and hasn't returned. I was really hoping that she would be with you?"

Adeila's mouth thinned, fingers of panic creep along her spine, her skin feels flushed and her heart thuds faster.

The beginning of an emotional hurricane was descending on both women. She let her wide eyes snap to Loki again, and the emotion swimming in them had him stepping closer.

She swallowed the lump in her throat but still had a hard time forming coherent words.

"No, Mrs. Paige, I haven't seen her since I left two weeks ago."

Raw emotion on the other end of the line stirred everything within Adeila and a tear slipped from the corner of her eye. "Mrs. Paige..."

"I have to call the police. I have a bad feeling about this."

"Please keep me updated. I will be there as soon as I can."

The phone line cut off, dead. Adeila turns her full attention to Loki.

"Marissa has gone missing."

"It has been less then twenty-four hours, you know that is what the human police will say, Adeila. Do not panic."

Anger washes away the grief. "Loki, you know damn well that she is missing."

He looked to the ground for several moments, before returning his attention to her face. Those shimmering golden eyes that she'd come to read so well, were dusky around the edges. Meaning he was feeling something other than his normal stoic neutral emotion. Those eyes, she found so beautiful, were also what let her in on his inner emotion. For that she was thankful. It meant it was beginning to be impossible for him to lie to her – or dance around the truth that Faeries do.

He lets out a breath, and his eyes meet hers. "Shit, I was afraid something like this would happen."

