Menage a Fairy (A Fairy Novel) (6 page)

Wick’s eyes went wide, his hand shifted to his sword, and he spread his legs to a more prepared stance.

“Trolls?” Jayn was eager to get out some of her frustration.

“Worse.
Lú Chorpain.”

She lifted a brow and scrunched her forehead. “A what?”

“Come here. We’re flying. Now.”

“Absolutely not. I’ll fight whatever it is. I’m not a wimp.”

“Damn it, woman.” Wick sounded frustrated. He pulled his sword free. “We must flee.”

“Maybe if you tell me what
it
is.” Jayn pulled out her gun. She wasn’t cocky enough to be stupid but the panic in his voice was not helping her confidence.

“The English word is...um...leprechaun.”

Jayn lowered her gun and spun around. “Like pot of gold at the end of a rainbow?”

Wick snorted. “There’s a reason no one ever gets that pot.”

The hammering sounded closer. “I thought all you myth things liked each other.”

“Once, yes, but the younger leprechauns are much more...” He stopped, his eyes focused over Jayn’s shoulder.

She spun, her gun aimed...on the little man staring at her. The stranger must have been two feet tall. He was carrying a mini hammer made of wood and a shoe with the sole torn. He had a long beard to his stomach in various shades of grey and pointed ears. He didn’t exactly look dangerous but her job taught her not to judge any book by its cover.

Wick rustled with something behind her and a coin flew from his hand. It landed at the leprechaun’s feet. The things big eyes blinked, then stared down at the gift. It smiled but that evil grin sure as hell didn’t do anything for Jayn’s trust. Wick said something in Irish and the little thing titled his head. His mouth opened wider and Jayn was struck by how sweet he looked. Almost like her grandfather but much shorter. She still didn’t lower the gun but her finger shifted off the trigger. Wick spoke again, louder. Apparently, their little leprechaun wasn’t listening. Its big pupils were focused solely on her.

Wick stepped closer. Jayn could feel the heat from his body and the musky sent of his skin. “Back up slowly,” he whispered.

Jayn took one step and the leprechaun disappeared.

“Fook!” Wick spun around. “Hurry, we must take to the sky!”

“He’s gone.” Jayn turned toward him. The leprechaun appeared on their left side. His shoe and hammer were gone. His small palms were spread as he did this strange dance. Wick’s hand wrapped around her but she refused to grab hold. No one had ever saved her and he would not be the first.

The leprechaun disappeared and a sound made her gasp. It was a snap, small and inconsequential. It was so near though, beneath her feet. She glanced down and between her legs laid the leprechaun. He had a lecherous grin and waved at her with tiny hands.

Then the ground caved in.

Jayn didn’t even have time to holler as she was swallowed into the dirt along with Wick. For a moment, she was panicked about being buried alive, but the dirt only passed by her face. They fell through some sort of hole and landed in a heap in the dark. She really wished the landing had knocked her out because Wick was above her. The hard curves of his body pressed into her soft ones. She could feel his erection, something that hadn’t gotten her excited in years. However, here she was with a fairy she hated and his boner was making her body come alive. Jayn shoved him aside, disgusted at her sexual reaction.

“Fook! Damn it, woman, why didn’t you listen to me!” Wick was complaining like all men do when the world doesn’t spin their way.

“It’s just a cave in.” Jayn decided to stay positive despite being stuck in a hole with this particular asshole of a fairy. Hey, maybe she could pass the time by shooting his kneecaps.

“This is not just a cave in. This, Jayn, is a leprechaun hole.”

Chapter Five

Annalise paced the room with the note in her hand. She could hardly believe the words that she’d read nearly a dozen times. A tear slid down her cheek and she wiped it away angrily. How could Jayn just leave her like that? Annalise wanted to strangle her, but at the same time she truly understood. Spending years with Jayn had taught her a few things, including how much Jayn loved her. This was so Annalise didn’t have to choose but she was not ready to give up on Jayn just yet.

Annalise rushed from the room. She fumbled down the hallway, nearly breaking a vase of flowers, before taking the steps faster than she should. Her feet tripped up, her knee buckled, and she was most definitely going to make an ass of herself. She threw her hands up so she wouldn’t land on her face and someone caught her. Annalise smiled. She should have known Wick would never let her fall. A glance up revealed another’s face and her smile faltered.

“You’re welcome.” The golden fairy gave a subtle smile.

“Oh, yes, I’m sorry. Thank you very much.” She watched his wings flutter as they untangled themselves. “Have you seen Wick?”

Thame nodded. “He went to speak to your woman. They were walking along the ridge last I saw.”

“Oh...” How the heck was she going to get up there?

“Did you need a ride?” he asked.

“Yes, please. Thank you!” Annalise followed Thame out into the fading daylight and fidgeted when she wrapped her arms around him.

“Have you made your decision?” he mumbled as they took off from the ground. The wind rushed past her face, nearly taking her breath away. “Which mate will you chose?”

Did everyone know? Two people’s happiness depended on her and she was going to take her sweet time figuring out whom she’d pick. If she’d pick. This wasn’t exactly easy. “I’m not sure.”

“Indecision can make the heart heavy.” Thame hovered over the ground. The cliffs beside them were menacing from this height. “But love can make the heart fly.”

“Apparently so can wings.” Someone said in a voice Annalise didn’t know and she grabbed Thame’s arm in surprise.

“Easy little one,” Thame said with a grin. “This is our resident shadow, Whisper.”

“Um, hello,” Annalise tried but she couldn’t quite see where to aim the greeting.

“And what brings the freak to this side of the sun?” Thame joked.

“Listen,” Whisper said quietly.

Annalise held her breath, doing just as the hidden fairy suggested. She couldn’t hear anything other than a few creatures stirring in the sunset. Wait, there. Was that a drum of some sort? Thame’s eyes went wide just before he wrapped his arms around Annalise. They shot into the sky like a rocket and she had to wrap her legs around one of his to keep from slipping. “What...is...it?” she said over the wind.

Thame didn’t answer. They flew lower, making their way back to the palace doors.

Annalise never did get a response. An alarm sounded, a low bell, and suddenly fairies were coming out of the palace and the resident humans were with them. “What is going on?”

“Get the humans inside,” the king ordered.

“What? Why? Jayn is out there!” Panic began to set in. “Please, Jayn is out there.” Annalise glanced up toward the forest. Her heart clenched in fear.

****

Jayn sat up. “So explain the hole.” She wiped dirt off her face and arms. There was a small light emanating from the walls. It seemed to get brighter then dim like a heartbeat.

“It means you should have listened to me.” Wick was standing, looking down at her. “Leprechauns are notorious for tricking humans. Instead of flying away, we’re stuck in a leprechaun hole. These things are almost impossible to get out of.”

“Almost?” Jayn ignored Wick’s offered hand and got to her feet by herself.

“Normally there’d be some bargaining involved. You’d probably have to bear a child for one of them.”

“What!” Jayn glanced at his face.

Wick grinned. “Joking. It’s just a trick they play. Send the trespassing humans into a hole and watch them find their way free. It’s a pain in the arse, and if we’re not careful, we could die of thirst.”

“So what’s the bad news?” Jayn shoved some kind of long bug with a dozen legs off her shoulder. “Wait, I got it. The bad news is we’re stuck here together.”

“Do you hate me that much?” he asked and it sounded sincere.

“Yes.” Jayn ignored the way her nipples were suddenly hard and the fabric that rushed over them as she walked toward the glowing wall. Her palms pressed against the cool rock. “So this is a cave?”

Wick was still frowning. She could see his pout out of the corner of her eye. “The stories say so.”

“Stories? You’ve never actually been in one?”

“No. We are friends with the leprechauns. They provide shoes and other material to us. I’m stuck down here because I didn’t want you to be alone.”

Well, that was somewhat nice. “You should have stayed topside so I’d have some help.”

Wick mumbled something.

Jayn turned around to glare at him. Her eyes were stuck on his feet, bare feet. “You’re not wearing shoes.”

His toes curled. “Well, not now. We wear them for celebrations.”

She lifted a brow. “Okay. So how do us stupid and pathetic humans get out of these things?” Jayn followed the wall. The light was scarce enough for her to see a few feet ahead. She walked slowly, watching her footing.

“I would never call a human such a thing,” Wick said from beside her. His green wings fluttered. “The stories talk of a journey.” Wick began in a singsong voice, “There once was a
Lú Chorpain
most devious. A human crossed his path most curious.
With a tap of his little feet and a clap of his little hands, he sent the human to an unknown land.
The adventure starts down the
Lú Chorpain
hole. Traveling with shadows to the fairy tears and from their dark depths the light pours through, releasing the human back to the land he once knew.”

“A riddle, fucking fabulous.” Jayn kept walking, listening to the tale. With Wick’s accent it was a bit enchanting or maybe it was just her love a good story. Jayn frowned, confused by her mood. She pushed all thoughts to the back of her head and focused on the lack of light. Her eyes adjusted slightly so it didn’t seem as dark as when they first landed. “Well, we went down the hole. We’re in the dark so I’m assuming that’s the shadow bit. What about fairy tears? Do I have to make you cry?” She glanced at Wick with a mock evil grin.

Wick leaned closer, whispering in ear, “I could make you cry in pleasure.”

Jayn rolled her eyes and heard him laugh. His words were in jest but she felt some sort of weird emotion. She stopped short.
Son of a bitch,
was that lust? No, there was just no way. She had been a lesbian since her first boyfriend in high school. Jayn always thought a man’s equipment looked like a geoduck rather than anything sexual. After she lost her virginity in the backseat of her boyfriend’s truck, she had no desire to sleep with a man again. A few years of celibacy and she was crawling at the walls to get laid. That’s when Jayn looked at her college roommate a little closer, and a few hours later, she had confirmed the suspicion. Jayn was a lesbian.

Now she was having a small, very tiny, inconsequential feeling for a man. For a fairy. For Wick! She showed her teeth in a silent growl and kept walking. Perhaps it was the dark that was making her brain screwy or she was in that need-to-get-laid mode again. She hadn’t gotten a chance for release the past few days. Of course, the woman she loved had picked this idiot.

Speaking of said moron, Wick held out his arm and Jayn bumped right into him. She pushed away as if his bare flesh burned her, knowing it excited her. That alone was enough reason to get far away from him. “Why did you stop?” she asked, stepping to the wall while peeking up ahead. Jayn’s mouth fell open and a short gasp seemed to echo in the silence. Words failed her. The visual aspect took control. “I thought there was supposed to be a rainbow,” she finally said. Her eyes glinted from the shine of the gold. Endless piles of shiny beautiful gold. There were big round pieces from overflowing black pots. They spilled on the floor and stretched out toward them like fingers. The big chamber they walked into split into two. One of the entrances had these piles of golden beauty. They’d be rich, money beyond their wildest dreams.

“There is supposed to be a rainbow. This is not
Lú Chorpain treasure.”

“What? But it’s so shiny and pretty.” Jayn was pulled into the glossy surface of each piece. Her dirt-stricken face reflected on each piece.

“I do not know what this is.” Wick admitted but he refused to let her pass.

Jayn had to admit the lure of all that gold was overwhelming. She wasn’t one for treasure hunting or becoming a billionaire like Annalise’s parents but it sure as hell wouldn’t hurt. Plans formed. She could buy her dream house, open a shelter for animals, feed the hungry, force politicians to make harsher laws to keep criminals off the street. It all flashed through her vision like a daydream. She pulled her focus from the gold and looked at the other path. “Wick...” She pointed to the small puddle at the entrance. “Could that be fairy tears?” A single drop of water fell from the ceiling but it slowly descended like they were watching it in slow motion. The droplet floated down, losing its telltale shape before landing in the water. The puddle rippled and speckles splashed onto the rock floor.