Beyond the Iron Gate (The Faery Meadow Book 1)

Elaine woke up to find Lorcan leaning against a tree across from her.

“I think I will take you somewhere. You seem distracted,” he purred slyly.

She had no idea what he was talking about. Her back hurt from sleeping on the ground and she stood up in agitation at being forced in this situation from him. She wanted to know how much further they had to go.

“I’ll pass.”

“Are you sure?” he asked her.

“I can take you somewhere...anywhere.”

“W-what?”

“You know there are many things I can do,” he said.

She scoffed and dusted off her cloak, “Right.”

“You name it and I’ll take you there.”

She knew he was just teasing her and wished he would quit it. She wanted to know what made him pass out yesterday and also wanted to run away from him too. Seeing him covered in Aifric’s blood still made her queasy when she remembered it.

Her voice came out harsh, “I want to go back home.”

“Okay,” he answered while throwing his arms up as if in defeat.

Elaine bounced on her feet with excitement, “Really?”

“I have one favor to ask of you in return though. Let me touch your wings.”

She vaguely remembered someone mentioning to her that if she were to touch a faery’s wings she would die. She didn’t know who told her or when, but she was certain someone had told her. She remembered though when she touched Lorcan’s wings nothing happened.

“Deal.”

“We don’t have much time, I’ll take you to your house first, but we have to come back. We can worry about my side of the deal later,” Lorcan informed her.

“Right...”

“Now let’s keep walking.”

“You just told me you would take me home.”

“Yup, to your parents -- here. In the faery realm,” Lorcan clarified.

Elaine glared at his back as he strode ahead of her without looking back. He had filled her with false hope and new bitterness swelled within her at his little lie.

Lorcan spoke from ahead of her. “You should see your glow.”

“I’m glowing?” Elaine asked.

“Yeah, that’s what mates do,” he mumbled bluntly.

She blushed behind him thankful for the darkness of the night.

Mates? Elaine thought. There was that word again and she really didn’t like the sound of it. She certainly didn’t think Lorcan treated her special or anything like she imagined mates would treat each other. Then again, she knew nothing of mates.

She looked over her shoulder not remembering willing her wings to appear like Lorcan taught her how to do on their last rest stop near a little pond. They were, in fact, glowing just like he said they were and she smiled in awe despite her feelings toward him.

“Are we going to fly soon?” Elaine asked him.

Lorcan turned around and walked back to her. He snapped his fingers and appeared to be the same size as the lightning bugs around them. Elaine screamed and jumped when he landed on top of her head.

“We won’t fly yet, but imagine yourself small -- like me. This is a handy trick if you need to hide and get separated from me.”

Elaine did what Lorcan told her and imagined herself small like him after he flew off her head and hovered in front of her face. She gasped when she shrank and fell to the dirt covered ground.

The stars above them in the sky still looked just as amazing even in my small form. Elaine wondered what would it be like to fly through her mother’s garden and see the detail of the flower petals and brush over their soft texture when she was this size.

Lorcan landed on the ground next to her and pointed ahead of them as a huge yellow glow emerged from between the grass blades. The glowing yellow orb transcended into the sky where it joined its other flying friends above them.

It was a lightning bug.

“Wow...” Elaine whispered.

The soft glow of the bug illuminated a yellow path where it gracefully floated off to. The contrast of the soft light against the night sky was truly beautiful to her and Elaine smiled.

Lorcan seems to be enjoying her reaction. One by one, more of the glowing bugs emerged from the grass around them and flew to the trees above.

“Now we can fly,” Lorcan announced.

Lorcan pulled her with him into the sky while telling Elaine to picture herself normal in height. When she did, her body grew to her normal height and Lorcan did too.

They hovered around the tree and circled around the illuminating bugs with Lorcan holding her up against his chest so she wouldn’t fall.

In the moment, Elaine didn’t mind his nearness because feeling the wind rush through her hair and they watched the bugs light up the night around them. Lorcan teased the bugs by getting in their way of flight and...blowing his own faery dust at them.

“Won’t that bother them?” Elaine asked.

“No, they like it.”

Elaine shouted when he blew the liquidy red glittery substance at the side of her face. In the process, he narrowly avoided crashing into the tree with her.

Elaine accidentally coughed on him and got her faery dust on him. She laughed at his reaction when he grunted in annoyance. Lorcan eventually grew tired of carrying her weight and worried she would press him to teach her how to fly. He really didn’t need to teach her though, but it made him nervous imagining her having an accident and falling when he wouldn’t be around to help her.

They landed on the ground and continued walking. Lorcan playfully elbowed her side. “I’ll show you how to fly tomorrow.”