Discovering Fae

“More than anyone, our abilities can be difficult to harness and volatile when our emotions get the better of us,” Mary said. She stood beside me wearing casual clothes I never thought to see on a queen. Jeans and a t-shirt don’t really scream “royal”. “That’s why we’re taught from a very early age how to keep our emotions in check.”

“Not that you always do,” Quinn muttered from her other side.

“What?” Mary snapped and Quinn just smiled and put his hand on her shoulder. “I thought so.”

Quinn winked at me over her head, and I tried not to smile.

“So, which elements come out when you lose control?” he asked.

“Air or electricity,” I grimaced.

“Neither of which are that easy to control,” she made a face.

“She has a fair grip on the electricity most of the time,” Mal said on my other side.

We were standing in an open field miles away from anyone, standing in a line, facing a huge metal wall that Mary explained was for target practice.

It’s been two weeks since our big talk about them being my parents. There were rivers of tears and snot, lots of talking and explaining, and hugging. Lots of hugging. I didn’t know how to react when Quinn, the tall, dark fairy, with his terrifying and intimidating look picked me up in a bone crushing hug. He found every opportunity to repeat the process, too.

“There are only four elements that will manifest in the beginning,” Quinn said, continuing my lesson. “Earth, air, water, fire. Typical, you know.”

“So where does the lightning come from?” I asked.

“Where does a tornado come from?” Mary asked. “It’s air, the softest of the elements, yet when compressed...”

She waved her hand and a tree, a huge oak, split in half and fell to the ground.

“There is a reason why there are only four core elemental classes. Each one is the bare foundation for, basically, everything,” she said.

“That was air, compressed and sent towards a target, however unsuspecting it may be,” Quinn smirked. “Tell me, Fae, what makes lightning?”

“Built up charge,” I answered as Mal took a small step away from my mother. “After it reaches a certain point, boom.”

“I mean molecular,” he waved his hand

“Particles rubbing together,” Mal answered.

“Exactly,” Mary nodded. “The same thing applies to fire.”

“So lightning is fire’s big brother?” I asked.

“More or less,” she nodded. “The thing about our bloodline is that we can use all of the elements, not just one or two. It makes things... interesting. But we also have a secret weapon not many of our family can access.”

“Charles said our family was unique,” I said.

“In ways you wouldn’t believe,” she nodded. “This does not leave the four of us, understood?”

Mal and I both nodded and she narrowed her eyes at us before she went back to looking down the field at the target.

“There may be four main elements that build our world, but there is another,” she said. “It’s a myth to everyone but our family, but it’s what makes us so different. Some call it spirit, others essence, any number of things, but it’s the key to unleashing incredible magic on the world, in whatever capacity you deem.”

“The dungeon,” Mal said and I shuddered before his hand found mine.

“Think bigger, boy,” Quinn said. “Much, much bigger.”

“How do you think I was able to stop a civil war?” Mary arched an eyebrow. “Had you not been stolen from us, you would have a much easier time learning to control your abilities.”

“You forget, dear, that you had many mishaps along the way,” Quinn smirked.

“While I may have let my feelings get the better of me occasionally, it could have been much worse,” she shrugged.

“How bad are we talking?” I asked, already tallying up the tables in the house. One of which I had already rendered into firewood.

“That building would have been the center of a five-mile crater,” Quinn said, getting serious. “And nearly as deep.”

“It was not five miles,” Mary rolled her eyes. “More like three. Regardless, you’re lucky. Your weakened state is keeping you from being too destructive.”

“That won’t last long,” Quinn said. “Which is why we’re here.”

“You need to be taught,” Mary said. “Right now, you’re not much of a danger, but as you recover, that will change. The sooner you start, the safer everyone will be. But there’s another problem.”

Mary and Quinn both looked at Mal.

“How’s Mal a problem?” I asked, confused.

“He isn’t. His presence, however, is,” Quinn said.

“I hope to the gods you aren’t suggesting what I think,” Mal scowled harshly.

“It’s safer,” Quinn said.

“I don’t give one solid fu-!”

“Watch your language, boy,” Quinn boomed and the shadows around us grew larger and darker.

Silence fell as the two men glared at each other. I was about to crawl under the grass while Mary stood there as if they weren’t about to glare each other to death.

“What are they talking about?” I asked Mary quietly, afraid to be too loud in case it started a fist fight.

“Until you can control your abilities, you’ll need to be away from each other,” she answered. “I can manage anything you might throw my way because I’m your mother and we share the same abilities. But they can’t. You’re one mood swing away from potentially killing your Bonded.”

Mal

These past weeks have been like a drug. Even the worst parts, right after coming back from the Sidhe, I wouldn’t give up for the world. I finally had Fae back. She was weak and tormented by her time in Rex’s hands, but she was where she should have been from the moment she made that Call. With me.

I still woke up in a panic during the night, fearing this was all a dream, only to find her next to me, holding my arm or squeezing my hand in her sleep with the rest of her spread out like a starfish. God, she was the worst bed hog ever. And don’t even get me started on her need for pillows. She didn’t even use them after she fell asleep. They ended up on the floor or at our feet while she laid on me. Or my pillow.

She had been a ball of nerves, meeting her parents finally. I admit, I was too, but for an entirely different reason. Mary was a fierce woman, but she was relaxed when it came to the Bond between Fae and me. It was Quinn that scared me. I wasn’t oblivious to the many times he would peek into the room I shared with Fae through the night and the icy warning glares whenever I was so much as in the same room as her. I feared Mary, but Quinn made my blood run cold.

Fae still felt awkward, though. It was to be expected, meeting your parents as an adult. There were times when conversation stalled in the most uncomfortable ways and she started fidgeting, worrying that she was disappointing them somehow. Which was why I was never far away for long.

She was having problems dealing with anxiety and stress after going through that hell a month and a half ago. The first few nights back, her nightmares had her screaming and thrashing around before I could wake her up. She stopped eating and, with her already so weak, I decided to get a larger bed and moved her in with me. I stocked up on Jolly Ranchers and carried a handful in my pockets at all times so Fae had something to focus on when she started to fidget, otherwise she would end up pulling or picking at her nails or biting on her lip until she bled.

The worst part was the random triggers. You don’t get kidnapped and tortured for a week and come out without demons. The first episode was the day of Nando’s funeral. We got back home, and I ran a bath for her, to help her relax. She freaked out when she saw the tub so bad, it took me five hours to get her to stop shaking. There were times when I wondered what all that sick bastard did to her, but decided it was probably best I didn’t know. He was gone now and the only way anyone could hurt her again was over my dead body.

The two weeks since Fae told Mary and Quinn that she was their daughter have been a little easier for me. I love Fae, but I have no idea how to handle her trauma, much less help her deal with it. Mary was stuck to Fae almost as much as I was now, which freaked me out because Quinn was never far away. Seriously, he looked like he was plotting whenever he looked at me. Well, more like glared at me. But those two had been through a war. If anyone can help her, it would be them, so I dealt with the death stares and stayed back, letting Fae’s parents help her where I couldn’t.

But this was going too far.

“If you think for a second that I’m going to have Fae out of my reach for any amount of time, then you seriously have a few screws loose,” I practically growled at Quinn and took Fae’s shaking hand in mine. It would seem the idea wasn’t one of her favorites either.

“I... I can’t do that,” she said quietly and the fear in her voice had my heart burning in pain.

“You really don’t have much choice, Fae,” Mary sighed sadly. “If there was another way, I swear, we would do that instead. I know how much you need him right now. But tell me, how many times have you shocked him already?”

“Small zaps,” I scoffed. “I get worse when I put on a wool sweater.”

“It’s been getting stronger, though, hasn’t it?” Mary asked, looking at me. “What’s on your arm, Malachi?”

“Nothing,” I said quickly, but Fae was fast and pulled my arm to her and yanked up the long sleeve. She gasped and took three steps away from me when she saw the jagged burn on my arm. “It’s nothing.”

“That isn’t nothing, Malachi!” she shouted as her eyes watered.

Damn. Now I’ve made her cry.

“When will you think it’s something?” Mary questioned. “When your whole arm is charred? Half your body? When your dead and Fae has to deal with the repercussions of having killed her Bonded?”

“What repercussions?” Fae asked.

“You don’t want to know,” Quinn shook his head.

“Can we have a minute?” I asked Mary and Quinn and they nodded and walked away, giving us a bit of privacy.

“How could you keep this from me?” Fae snapped, punching me in the shoulder. “And why didn’t I feel it when it happened?”

“You were asleep,” I sighed.

“Jesus. I’m spazzing out in my sleep now!? When, exactly, were you planning on telling me?” she shoved at me. She was still so weak, I barely moved.

“You were having a nightmare, Fae. I didn’t bring it up because we both know your fear makes it stronger,” I said. “When you’re awake, it’s hardly a tingle.”

“That’s not the point, you idiot!” she shouted at me and started punching me again.

I rolled my eyes and wrapped my arms around her, pinning her so she wouldn’t tire herself out too much.

“I need you, Mal,” she said, muffled in my chest. “I can’t... I can’t...”

“I know,” I said, holding her tighter as she started shaking again.

Her body was healed, and her physical strength was returning, but her mind was going to take some more time. I hated that I had any part of her fears. It was my own doing. I never should have left her. She wouldn’t have this shadow of abandonment hanging over her if I hadn’t been such a coward.

“I’m sorry,” she sniffed and moved so her forehead was touching the bare skin of my neck. “I hate being like this. So... tainted.”

“You aren’t tainted, Fae, and I swear, if you say that again, I’ll throttle you myself,” I snapped and pulled back to look at her. “There is nothing for you to be sorry about, either. I’m the one that’s messed everything up. I left, I hurt you, I couldn’t find you. If anyone needs to apologize, it’s me.”

“You do,” she scowled at me. “Excessively.”

“I told you I would spend the rest of my life trying to make up for it,” I chuckled.

“I think Mary is right,” she said, looking at my arm again. “I think it’s safer if we keep some distance between us. Until I have more control.”

“No,” I said quickly. “Absolutely not.”

“Mal,” she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Fae. I’m not letting you out of my sight. Last time I did, I almost didn’t find you in time,” I gently shook her shoulders.

“This isn’t the same thing,” she said. “I’m not being kidnapped by a nut case. I’m being taught how to keep you safe by my mother, the only person that I can’t hurt.”

“It’s my job to keep you safe, not the other way around,” I snapped at her.

“Then you really are an idiot,” she glared at me before she stomped away, flinging her hand out towards the target.

A large bolt of lightning went racing towards the target, catching the corner and glancing off to the side. I stared down the field long after the cracking faded away. So far, she had only managed sparks and the occasional tiny arc, like the one that had burned me the other night.

I hated to admit it, but maybe they were right.