Fairyville (Fairyville #1)(69)
Author: Emma Holly

Alex pulled a face as he tied the laces beside the falls, but he’d need the extra traction to cross the slippery rocks.

"She looks worried for him," Zoe said, nodding at Oscar’s mother. Mrs. Pruitt was biting her thumbnail and pacing across the grass. "I’m not sure how much Bryan explained, but she turned her car around the minute he phoned her cell. Maybe she’s having second thoughts about abandoning her son."

Magnus glanced at her doubtfully. Maybe she was having second thoughts, but they weren’t strong enough to stop the exchange. Truth be told, Zoe’s fears concerned him more. She was hooked into the forces that arranged this world more than most, and, consequently, her faith or lack thereof affected the outcome.

"Alex’s opposite will know he’s coming," Magnus said, hoping to assuage her anxiety. "He’ll have known the moment Alex made up his mind. I’m sure he’s informed his mother. She’ll be waiting on the other side when Alex and Oscar cross."

Zoe nodded and bit her lip, watching Alex with worried eyes.

Magnus stroked the bend of her arm to bring her gaze back to him. "It’s important that you believe they’ll return safely. Like when you call your angels. You know they’re coming to help you, and you know you’re worthy."

"You’re right." She squeezed his fingers. "Your aunt is going to look out for them, and they’re going to come back fine."

"You want a crystal to calm you?" he offered.

Zoe shook her head and smiled. "Your hand is touchstone enough for me."

He had to kiss her for that, brushing it soft and gentle across her lips.

Alex cleared his throat as he approached. "I think we’re ready," he said. He was holding little Oscar’s hand. Both changelings looked steady—wired but not frightened. Magnus experienced a flash of respect for Zoe’s old boyfriend. When Alex made a decision, he didn’t second guess himself.

"I have one more charm for you." Magnus said, reaching into his breast pocket. "This watch is spelled to keep human time. Don’t wind it and don’t lose it. It will track how long you’ve been gone."

Alex accepted the timepiece, flicking it open and checking it against the modern watch he wore.

"They match," he said, which Zoe took as her cue to kneel and hug Oscar.

"Don’t go falling in love with any girl fairies," she said. "Corky and the rest of us want to see you again."

Oscar squeezed her neck and giggled. When Zoe rose, Alex didn’t pull her to him but only touched the side of her face.

"That advice goes for you, too," she tried to whisper.

"No worries," he said with a slanted smile. "Those fairies have a few hard acts to follow."

Bryan was waiting a stone’s throw away, closer to the rocks that led to the falls. Magnus watched Zoe watch the men embrace and slap each other’s backs.

"He’d better come back," she said, one hand pressed to her throat. "That man loves the heck out of him."

Something in her voice said she was saying goodbye to him in a deeper way. Though she’d already told Magnus she loved him, her willingness to release Alex caused his eyes to sting. Alex was a good man. He could have won her again. Magnus wrapped his arm around Zoe’s shoulder and squeezed just a little bit.

Oscar’s goodbyes were shorter. From a distance, he looked at his mother, clearly not waiting for her to hug him. Her arms wrapped her upper body as if she feared she would fly apart: eagerness and fear and guilt practically screaming from her expression.

Then Alex and Oscar were ready to go.

"Hold tight to my belt," Alex told the boy. "I’ll lead the way across the stones."

The time Magnus had spent practicing magic in the human realm seemed to have paid off. The stay-put spells were effective. Alex and Oscar climbed like papa and baby mountain goats up the boulders toward the ledge.

Perhaps the portal knew they were approaching. Dusk was falling, but the curtain of water began to glitter so brightly that it was hard to look at without shading their eyes.

"Ooh," Zoe said, her breath catching. "Those are the lights I saw above the falls when Oscar was born."

Magnus could just see them, faint spheres of illumination in every color of the rainbow. "They’re spirit guardians for changelings. Probably cousins to your angels."

Zoe’s hold tightened on his waist in acknowledgment. They couldn’t hear Alex or Oscar over the sound of the falls, but they saw Alex’s lips move. He stood at the edge of the roaring curtain, at the mouth of the cave beyond. Oscar reached up with both hands and let Alex lift him in. They both ducked as the water struck their heads. The glitter of the falls flared blindingly, like a sun exploding in the wooded glade. Too solid-seeming to be mere light, the wave struck them silently.

When it passed, Magnus’s ears rang for a few seconds.

"Hey," he heard Bryan say over the hum. "Someone is coming out of the falls."

They all leaned forward to see. Two someones were coming, two tall, athletic young men who clambered down the rocks like they’d been doing it all their lives. They were garbed in flowing cambric shirts and chamois leather trousers—classic hunting clothes in Fairy.

Seeing them, Mrs. Pruitt covered her mouth.

"Where’s my son?" she demanded, her voice rising. "You promised I’d see my son!"

The taller of the two young men leaped lightly from the final boulder onto the grass, dripping water and laughing. His shoulder-length, wavy hair was a beautiful honey-brown, his eyes the same sky-blue as Mrs. Pruitt’s.

Stopping a step away from her, he put his hands on his waist and grinned. "Madame," he said, "I am your son."

"Oh, dear," Zoe murmured as Mrs. Pruitt gasped. "I see what you meant about him not being what she expects."

Before Zoe could go to Oscar’s mother to offer support, the glen seemed to explode with fairies—tiny ones.

In the gathering darkness, their colorful glows made it look like a party was starting. The two young men exclaimed with awe, as if they’d never seen such a marvelous sight. Where they’d all come from Zoe didn’t know, but she supposed Rajel’s crew couldn’t have been the only little fey who’d escaped Fairy.

"Rajel is the queen of queens," Magnus said, seeing her confusion. "All the human flocks owe her allegiance."

"Really?" Zoe wondered what she’d done to rate such an important mini-godmother. She spotted a few more crowns among the crowd, but Rajel’s did appear to be the sparkliest. "It looks like she’s called out the fairy National Guard."

"Yes," Magnus said, a hint of musing in his tone.