Page 14 of The Fae’s Treasure

“Weeks. I hate that word. It’s such a useless term,” I grumble.

“You are so spoiled,” Bonwit hisses. “You think that all other time spans are pointless unless they're the ones in our realm. You know that these humans only get eighty years or so? A fraction of the time we’ll ever see, a day or two in your splendid courts. And you never mingle with them—you know why? Because you like to play with your woods and creeks, your rain and starlight. If you came down to the mortal realm more often, you’d have to watch them wither, age, and die. You’re soft. Your heart can’t take it.”

I turn on Bonwit, dark green cloak flying out behind me, eyes slitted in anger.

But I don’t speak. Because he’s right.

I don’t like that humans have such short little lives—and yet, when I’m here, the time does move differently. I don’t think we’ve been here more than a few hours, but it seems so long.

“Do you come back,” I ask, voice harsh, “and kiss the same maid each year? It must seem like a day or two to you between festivals, and do you watch her age? Do you have the heart for it, to frolic with her one night and bury her a few later?”

Bonwit’s mouth opens and closes. To my surprise, his bruised face twists up, and he blinks, eyes suddenly glossy. “Only the once.”

“Oh. Bonwit, I...”

“That’s why some fae stay in the mortal realm, and do their work from here, m’lord,” he informs me in a stiff voice. “To stay in this time with them. To live the way they do, and savor being alive. Not immortal, not undying. Alive, meaning there is an end. It’s frightful. It’s beautiful. It’s a rush that only the bravest can enjoy, and only love can make you brave enough. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go find that pint. You figure out a plan.”

Bonwit half-limps, half-stalks away and leaves me in the dark, feeling worse than I have ever felt.

I’ve hurt my oldest, dearest friend and companion with my words—and by flinging him into danger I should have faced.

I’ve lost Saz.

The pain sits in my soul so suddenly, so hard, that I can’t breathe. We weren’t in love, but it was... It was special, I thought. Easy, passionate, and we were so different. I believed there was something so magical in finding a succubus with the character to choose something better than a life of soul-stealing and death.

I didn’t expect it to last. I expected we’d get bored with one another, just as I’ve done a hundred times before.

I never expected her betrayal, or for us to share something as intimate as a child and her not tell me.

The pain burns and blossoms, spreading. I’ve lost my son before I even met him.

I have to get him back, and I don’t quite know how.

“I have to get into that house. To be invited in. That’s the first step,” I murmur in the darkness.

While Bonwit is away, I stalk around the little village of houses, seeing how wide it spreads.

It’s quite far, but there are no shops, no churches. Just houses and little areas for children to play with swings and sandpits.

And “for sale” signs.

I blink in the darkness at the oddly reflective green and white sign at the crossroads in this little housing village.

“Pine Point Townhomes: New Section Open. Thirty lots from the 200,000s. Community playgrounds. Wooded lots. Contact Silverman First Fiduciary.”

It might as well be a language of the lower depths. I understand “wooded lots” and “three bedrooms.”

And “for sale.” I understand “for sale” quite well.

Chapter Six: Neighbors

“This is a bank. Try to act like you know what you’re doing. And stop touching your trousers, for God’s sake!” Bonwit smacks my hands away from my bum for the tenth time.

“They feel terrible. Like cloth made out of gravel,” I mutter, trying to squirm out of the starchy light blue trousers. If I could concentrate better, I’d have lined them with silk. However, I can’t concentrate at all. The mortal realm is far too full of noises, and people, and things to know and look at.

“They’re called jeans, and it’s what I could find at this hour. Oh, my... Dair! Stop flipping your hair all over the place; you look like you’re trying to seduce someone with your pretty fae boy looks.”

I might. I might have to seduce Deanna in order to get her to make a deal in the heat of passion.