Stay

“How do you know that anyway?”

“I had my cousins try to find him after you went missing.”

“Oh.” She smiled. “That’s reasonable. I really will start trusting you more.”

“I’d love if you’d start trusting me all the time.”

“I do about most things.”

“Except you assume I’m keeping everything from you.” I attempted to keep things light, but it frustrated me how little she trusted me. I hoped she’d give me the chance to fully win her trust back. Having a secret meeting with Eric had been a really bad idea.

“Pretty much.”

“Is that the dock?” She pointed at a worn looking wooden platform. It didn’t look like much, but maybe that was the point.

“Maybe.” I picked up my pace, and she easily matched it. “It’s a dock.” A medium sized ferry was tied up to the dock.

“And that’s the boat. Great.”

“You don’t like boats, I take it?” I asked. Boats weren’t something that had come up much. When you can fly, you don’t usually worry much about other forms of transportation.

“No. Not at all.” She shivered.

“Maybe you’re cousins could help us make an exception then. Maybe we could just fly in.”

She shook her head. “No. I’ll play by the rules.”

“Casey?” A soft male voice called.

We both turned around when we heard her name called. We came face to face with a guy and girl. They were each around Casey’s height, but the guy was super muscular.

“Yes, I’m Casey.” Her confidence was back.

“Hey!” The girl pulled her into a hug.

Startled, Casey didn’t reply right away. “Hi?”

“I’m Daria and this is Maddock.” She gestured to the guy.

“Hi. You know my name, and that’s Toby.” She stepped away from the girl.

“Hi Toby.” Daria looked at me, and her eyes lit up a little. I didn’t like it. It didn’t seem like a typical bear reaction. None of this did. Bears were territorial, skeptical by nature.

Casey frowned lightly. I guess she’s noticed Daria’s reaction. I couldn’t say I minded the slightly territorial or jealous reaction. “Eric told us we’d be expected here.”

“Yes. We’ll take you right over.”

“Thank you.” Maybe this was going to be easier than I thought. I’d expected at least some reservations on the part of her cousins. Was this a red flag? Were things going too well? Was it a trap?

“Oh, we can’t take you.” Maddock shook his head.

“Not that we don’t want to.” Daria smiled at me.

“What do you mean you can’t take me?” Ok, maybe things weren’t going quite as smoothly as I thought.

“We only have permission to bring Casey over. She’s one of the family, so we can overlook that she has wings.”

“I’m not going without Toby.” Casey grabbed my hand. “He’s with me, so the permission to take me should also apply to him.

“Wait…” Daria looked between us. “Are you guys together?”

Casey nodded emphatically. “Yes. Very together.”

I smiled. At least Casey was confident about that.

“We’ve got a guest house a few miles down on this side that you are welcome to stay in, but I’m afraid you can’t take the ferry over.” The girl seemed genuinely disappointed I wasn’t coming. “If you weren’t with Casey I’d offer to keep you company, but I get the vibe you’re exclusive.”

“Keep me company?” Then it hit me. “You’re Casey’s cousins, right?

“Yes.” She smiled.

“But you’re not full bears.” Eric told us that, but now that I was with them I figured out what their other half was.

“Casey isn’t the only hybrid out there.” Maddock seemed to thrust out his chest in pride.

“Hybrid.” Casey smiled. “I like that word. It’s so much more positive than anything else I could come up with.”

“You’re half nymph.” I wasn’t asking. Nymphs and shifters occasionally produced children, and they slept together all the time. Nymps were notorious for their huge sexual appetites and willingness to explore anything and everything sexually. Like most Pterons, I’d steered clear of them whenever possible. I can’t say the same thing for the bears and wolves I’d known.

“Yes we are.” Daria grinned. “My cousin’s lucky to be with a Pteron that looks like you.”

Maddock shook his head. “You’d say that about any Pteron.”

“Like you wouldn’t? If Casey wasn’t related to us you’d be trying to jump her whether she had a boyfriend or not.”

“Ok. But you are related.” There was no reason to continue with that conversation.

“Yes, we are.” He crossed his arms. His angry stance actually put me at ease. At least he wasn’t going there.

Casey clasped her hands together. “Isn’t there some way you could make an exception and let Toby cross?”

“No.” Maddock shook his head. “But you’ll be in good company.”

“Good company? What do you mean by that?” I was busy trying to come up with a solution. I wasn’t okay letting Casey take off into possibly hostile territory without me, but I also understood how important this was. I couldn’t hold her back.

“There’s someone else booked to cross with you today.” Daria smiled.

“Who?” Casey looked to me, but I didn’t have any information to share.

“I’ll let her tell you herself.” Daria glanced at some spot in the distance behind us.

We both turned and watched as a woman walked toward us.

“Mom?” Casey started walking toward the woman, pulling me with her. I was glad she hadn’t dropped my hand. I wanted to be of any help I could.

“Hey, honey.” Casey’s mom had the same smile and dark brown hair as her daughter, but otherwise the two women didn’t look particularly alike. She pulled Casey into a tight hug. During all this Casey still held my hand, so I just stood there awkwardly to one side. Casey had a death grip on me.

“When were you going to tell me all of this?” Casey gestured to her body. That was one way to start the conversation.

“I was trying to protect you.” Her mom pursed her lips, and the look completely matched the expression Casey made when she did that.