Fairyville (Fairyville #1)(68)
Author: Emma Holly

Magnus put his arm around Oscar’s shoulders. "Not just a fairy: a changeling."

Despite all he’d seen, Bryan still managed to be amazed. "You mean Mrs. Pruitt was right? Somebody did steal her son?"

"Your people stole her son," Alex said pointedly. He was angrier than he could account for, rage flooding his veins in a hot, dark tide. Magnus tilted his head at him.

"It isn’t stealing when the parties agree."

"Mrs. Pruitt didn’t agree."

"Not consciously," Magnus conceded without rancor. "The contract would have been negotiated in her dreams."

"Why would any woman agree to give up her child?"

Magnus’s eyes seemed to burn straight into Alex’s soul. Alex’s chest was tight, his breath coming so fast you’d have thought the other man’s stare posed a fatal threat.

"A woman might agree," Magnus said, "if that was the only way to save her baby’s life. What medicine can’t heal, magic often can."

"Oscar’s heart murmur!" Bryan cried. "The doctors thought he was going to die."

Magnus nodded, his eyes remaining on Alex. "Fairies like to help in such situations. They find humans interesting to raise."

Oscar’s head had been turning back and forth like a tennis fan’s. "Is that why you have my shoes? Because we’re both fairies?"

Magnus ruffled his hair. "Most likely. No matter how far apart they live, fairies share a special bond. They can sense each other, even if they don’t know what the feeling means."

"So I really don’t belong to my mommy?"

"You do," Magnus said. "She just… temporarily forgot she promised to love you."

Oscar didn’t seem content with this answer, and Alex knew how he felt. "This isn’t going to satisfy our client, assuming we could get her to believe it. Lizanne Pruitt wants her real son back."

For some reason, Magnus burst out laughing. He stopped when Oscar gaped at him.

"Forgive me. I was amused because her son isn’t what she expects anymore. Perhaps—" He rubbed the annoyingly heroic blade of his jaw. "Perhaps if she met her son, as he is now, it would reconcile her to raising the boy she has. She’d have to be sworn to secrecy, of course, but I believe I could concoct a strong enough spell to enforce that."

"Great," Alex said. "Set it up."

Again Magnus smiled. "It’s not that simple. Changelings have the power to travel back and forth to Fairy, but only one member of the pair can be in any realm at once. Oscar is too young to go by himself. He’ll need an adult fairy to escort him."

Alex folded his arms.

"It can’t be me," Magnus said, reading his body language flawlessly. "Oh, I could take Oscar in, but my travel pass only runs one way. Oscar needs someone who can get him there and out again. Oscar needs a grown-up changeling."

"Well, where are we going to find a—" Bryan cut off his own protest. "Oh," he said, looking at Alex in a whole new way. "Boy, would that explain a few things!"

"No," said Alex, his heart filling up his throat. "I’m not."

"Come on," Magnus coaxed. "Weren’t you a sick infant, too? Wasn’t there some childhood illness that made your mother fear she’d lose you?"

"You did buy the shoes," Bryan said, "even if you threw them out as soon as you could."

Alex gritted his teeth harder. "I don’t do psychic stuff. I don’t move objects without touching them."

"Not all changelings’ powers develop," Magnus said. "Human parents don’t give them the training they need for that."

"Your uncle did say you had unopened gifts," Zoe added, joining the chorus. "And it would explain why you—" She glanced sideways at Oscar, conscious of his innocent ears. "Magnus says younger fairies have especially strong needs."

"My mother loves me!" Alex blurted out.

"Of course she does," Magnus said, his eyes more sympathetic than they had any right to be, considering how Alex felt about him. "That’s how the switch is supposed to work. Like an adoption. Trust me, the woman who raised your mother’s biological son loves him just as much as yours loves you."

Magnus said this like he knew, like he’d actually met the other him. Alex shook his head, but the denial wasn’t working the way it should.

"You’re fey," Magnus said. "And if you perform this service for Oscar, you’ll have an almost unheard of chance to investigate your heritage. Most changelings never figure out who they are."

Zoe had moved behind the couch, her hands on Magnus’s shoulders. She squeezed them now to get his attention. "Won’t this be dangerous?"

"Normally, yes. In this instance, however, Alex’s biological mother is one of the few people in Fairy who can protect them from my mother. She’s my aunt: Titania’s sister."

"You know her?" To the relief of Alex’s bruised temper, Zoe looked appalled by this. "You knew who Alex was, and you didn’t say?"

"This isn’t a secret you blurt out for no good reason."

"But surely he had a right to know!"

"No," Alex interrupted, his anger fading unexpectedly. "I wouldn’t have wanted to know before. I hardly want to now."

He looked at Oscar, who slid off the couch and came hesitantly toward him as he crouched down. Reluctant as he was to admit it, he did feel a bond with the boy, and a sense of responsibility. Maybe Alex would be happier if he stopped wishing he could be normal. Maybe he needed to face who he was. Steadying Oscar by the shoulders, he met his serious young eyes.

"What do you say?" he asked the boy. "Should we go to Fairy and see what it’s like? Should we let your mother meet her real son?"

Oscar wiggled his jaw in thought. "I don’t think she’s going to be happy until she does."

"Then we’ll do it," Alex said, his heart abruptly racing like a rabbit’s. "Assuming Mr. Magnus can teach us how."

There wasn’t any point in putting off the journey another day. That would only give Magnus’s mother time to regroup. Bryan handled calling Mrs. Pruitt, while Magnus grabbed a few supplies. Then they all drove to Fairy Falls.

Because Oscar and Alex had no experience with meditation, Magnus made them a pair of amulets to help focus their intentions. The little drawstring bags contained some crystals for protection, a lock of Magnus’s hair to push them into Fairy, and—since it had already proven powerful—a lock of Zoe’s hair to draw them back. Operating on the assumption that the Will-Be knew what it was doing, Magnus loaned Alex his yellow high-tops, and put a stay-put spell on both his and Oscar’s shoes.