Clueless, p.5
Clueless, page 5
Florian squeezed his hand, offering support. “Merlyn, that just means they should have protected you, not picked on you.”
“It’s true, Merlyn,” Daniel said. “Those of us that are bigger should protect those smaller than us.”
“I think my family missed that memo,” Merlyn said, shaking his head. “Anyway, I finally had enough of everything, and about six months ago, I was studying English at Durham University but didn’t really enjoy being there. In the evenings I was working and trying to save every penny I made. It was mid-term and I decided enough was enough. I waited for my family to go away for the weekend to some family function that I wasn’t invited to. I dropped out of Uni, changed my bank account, packed up my stuff, and left.”
“How did you end up here?” Penny asked.
“It was weird. I was staying in a little hotel just outside of Oxford, and there was a copy of All About Men there and I read it. I saw the advert for the ‘Ask Me’ section and applied. Without even an interview, Kendel offered me the job.”
“He does that,” Penny said softly. “It’s like he knows we’re in trouble and offers us a safe place to heal, work, and have fun.”
Before Merlyn could ask Penny about his story, Daniel asked, “What happened earlier, Merlyn? We could feel your sorrow and fear just before you walked out.”
“I made the mistake of checking my personal emails,” Merlyn started. “I’ve not looked at them in a while. I started with the older messages that my family had sent that said they knew I’d run away and good riddance and to never contact them again or return home. They were pleased the family’s abomination had done something decent for the first time. I then stupidly read the others.
“At first, they were all saying the same thing, but then their messages changed, saying I needed to return home as soon as possible, to stop messing around and making them worry. Obviously, when I didn’t reply, the emails changed again, demanding that I return home as soon as possible or face the consequences. The last one I opened told me that they were looking for me and that when they finally found me, they would beat me within an inch of my life and then drag me home.”
The three men gasped.
“Well, that’s never going to happen,” Florian said decisively.
“Can they trace you?” Daniel asked him.
Merlyn shook his head. “No, I left all my credit cards behind. Closed my bank account and opened a new one. I even brought a new phone so they couldn’t trace me that way.”
“What about your column? Will they be able to trace you that way?” Penny enquired.
Merlyn shook his head. “No, none of them read the magazine, and Kendel said I could use a pen name.”
“What name did you pick?” Florian asked.
“Reginald Sticks,” Merlyn said. “Nothing that could be traced back to me.”
“Merlyn, talk to Kendel. He’ll help to protect you,” Daniel said.
“But he’s human, and my family are wolves. They could hurt or kill him,” Merlyn said, concern lacing his voice.
“No, he’s not,” Daniel replied. “I have no idea what he is, but he’s not human.”
Penny turned to look at Daniel in shock. “How can you tell? He smells human to me.”
“No idea,” Daniel replied. “I just know he’s not human.” Just then, Daniel’s phone rang. He pulled it out and looked at the caller ID. “It’s Kendel,” he told them before he answered. “Hey, Kendel.”
Florian, Penny, and Merlyn all heard Kendel since paranormals all had good hearing. Well, Florian didn’t, but he whispered a spell that sharpened his hearing.
“Daniel, where are you?” Kendel asked.
“Sitting in the park with Penny, Merlyn, and Florian,” Daniel explained.
“I need you back immediately. Some changes are needed to your article,” Kendel explained.
Merlyn looked at Daniel and knew he was about to say he couldn’t come back. “Go back, Daniel,” Merlyn said softly. “I’ll be fine.”
Daniel looked at him for a moment and then nodded. “I’m on my way.”
“Good, and tell Merlyn that if he has family problems to come to me and I’ll help him,” Kendel said.
“Will do. Catch you in a bit,” Daniel replied, hanging up. “Did you hear that?” he asked Merlyn.
Merlyn nodded. “I did. If I feel I need his help, I’ll ask him, but at the moment, my family has no idea where I am.”
Daniel didn’t like it, but he understood where Merlyn was coming from.
“I’ll protect him,” Florian promised, looking at Daniel.
Daniel smiled at Florian. “I know you will, but remember, you’re not alone. Merlyn is our friend, and we’ll help you protect him.”
Merlyn blushed. He’d never had friends before and was glad that he had this job, his new friends, and his mate.
“Florian, do you have a phone?” Daniel asked.
“I do,” he said, pulling it out of his pocket. “My king decreed that every fairy that worked in this realm had to have one.” He grinned. “We can’t use them in the fairy realm, but we can here.”
“Let me put my number in your phone, then if there are any problems, you can call me,” Daniel said.
Florian unlocked his phone and handed it over to him. Daniel put his number in and then called Florian’s phone. “Now I have yours, as well,” he said, handing it back to him.
“Thanks, Daniel,” Florian said.
Daniel nodded before Penn asked for it, as well, and put his in before handing it back to the fairy.
“I’ll come back with you,” Penny said, standing up. “Call me if you need me.”
“I will, thanks guys,” Merlyn said and then watched Daniel and Penny leave.
Florian and Merlyn sat there in silence for a moment. Merlyn because he wasn’t sure what to say after telling his mate and friends about the crap going on with his family, and Florian because he had wonderful parents and siblings and couldn’t think of what to say. Suddenly, he remembered what his eldest brother, by a full five years, had done to him.
“The day before my older brother left home, he filled my bedroom with the Wayou plant,” Florian told him.
“Wayou plant?” Merlyn asked, turning to him. “What’s that?”
“It’s a large green plant that has purple flowers, but the thing about the Wayou plant is that fairies use them to create animals. Fairies can imagine any creature, and the Wayou plant will create the animal.”
“That sounds cool,” Merlyn said. “But imagine that plant in the wrong hands and someone finds out what animal you are scared of. They could imagine that and scare you.”
“Yep,” Florian agreed. “That is exactly what my brother did. He found out I hated... I think you call them spiders—evil little suckers with eight legs.”
“Yep, we call them spiders,” Merlyn confirmed.
“Now the Wayou plant will only attract one animal. My brother filled my room with hundreds of those plants,” Florian told him.
“Oh no,” Merlyn said.
“Oh yes,” Florian replied. “My room was covered in plants and hundreds of spiders and their webs. I’m not ashamed to say I screamed the house down.”
“I would have screamed, as well. I could probably cope with one, but not that many,” Merlyn told him. “What happened?”
“Papa magicked the plants and spiders away and gave my brother’s room to me so I would never have to go into my old room again,” Florian said, his eyes sparkling.
Merlyn liked that look in his eyes. “What did you do to your brother for revenge?”
“Painted his whole house, inside and out, in the brightest rainbow colours I could,” he said with a laugh.
Merlyn sniggered and then laughed long and hard. When he was finally under control, he said, “I’m glad you have a good relationship with your family.”
“Me, too,” Florian said. “They do drive me nuts at times, but I love them and know they love me.”
“That must be nice,” Merlyn said softly.
“You know what else will be good?” Florian asked him.
Merlyn shook his head. “No, what?”
“They will love you, as well,” Florian assured him.
“Really?” Merlyn asked, sounding surprised.
“Yep. Trust me. They will be all up in your business, and you’ll wish you were on your own again,” Florian answered him with a smile.
Merlyn lifted his free hand to Florian’s cheek and held it there. “Thank you, Florian, for being here with me and not judging me when you heard my story.”
Florian leant into Merlyn’s hand. “I would never judge you, mate,” he said. “I will, however, stand by your side and help you in any way I can.”
Merlyn smiled. “Have I told you how stunning you are?”
“Nope,” Florian replied with a blinding smile. “But you can tell me now,” he finished, wiggling his eyebrows.
Merlyn laughed and leant forward. “You, Florian, are the most stunning, beautiful, and colourful person I have ever met, and I am thankful Fate decided to pair us together.”
Florian leant forward. “As are you Merlyn,” he whispered before kissing Merlyn.
The kiss started off slow, barely there, but then the pressure grew, and Merlyn groaned. Florian took that opportunity and plundered Merlyn’s mouth.
When they both needed air, Florian drew back and just stared at Merlyn, whose eyes were still closed. He smiled and dropped a kiss on Merlyn’s nose.
Merlyn laughed and slowly opened his eyes. “Hi,” he said, for a moment not knowing what else to say.
Florian chuckled. “Hi back. Are you ready to get out of here?”
“And go where?” Merlyn asked him.
“Let’s have a wander round this lovely town and then we can grab some dinner later. I really want to get to know all about you,” Florian replied.
Merlyn nodded. “Let’s. I would love to know more about you, as well. Plus, I’ve not really looked around this town, either.”
“Good,” Florian said, standing up. He pulled on Merlyn’s hand, helping him up and giving him a quick kiss. “Let’s go play tourist.”
CHAPTER 11
Molly and Dolly were still sitting in The Fairy Brew. Occasionally, one of the baristas came over, cleaned their table, and asked if they wanted anything else. Sometimes they did, and other times they didn’t. But they did knit. Both Twirleys were making children’s cardigans. Molly was knitting a green one, and Dolly a yellow one.
The fairies had never seen knitting before and came over to ask them what they were doing, but even after the ladies explained what knitting was to them, they still walked away confused.
But knitting wasn’t all that Molly and Dolly were doing. They were watching. People watching, as they liked to call it. Actually, they were watching not only everyone who came into the coffee shop but also the baristas. They still hadn’t figured out what they were, but the Twirleys suspected the workers weren’t human.
They watched the customers placing their orders and noticed that if no free samples were taken, the baristas’ teeth didn’t change, but if a free sample was taken, they smiled and sharp pointed teeth appeared for just a fraction of a second. It happened so quickly that Molly and Dolly figured that not many, if any, of the people noticed. They wondered what that meant and knew that, as sure as eggs were eggs, they would figure this puzzle out — even if they had to come back every day until they found out what was going on.
General Kai had spoken to the retrieval team and everything was ready. The teams knew to follow the magical links created when free samples were taken and where to put the humans when they arrived back.
Grey had arranged for dormitories to be built and set up for the humans. Well, he thought about what he wanted, waved his hand, and the building appeared.
The building was massive and divided in two, one side for males and the other for females. Both sections contained beds and a shower block supplied with everything the people would need to clean themselves.
Now all they had to do was wait for the humans to turn up. Kai would post guards outside the dormitories and also have them dotted around the marketplace. He wasn’t expecting any issues, but humans really were an unknown species, as no fairy had had a lot to do with them before, so it was better to be safe than sorry.
Kai and his brothers had covered everything. There was no way this plan could fail. The fairy race would be saved, and if he found his own mate, that was just a bonus.
The first fairy retrieval team was, after some thought, code named Team One. And yes, there was a lot of eye rolling at that. The team consisted of Cameron, Jasper, Kudko, Ali, Celeste, and was led by Zephyr.
They had all been prepped on everything they would need to do. It wasn’t a hard job: sneak into the human realm, follow the magical bonds, collect the humans, and bring them back to the fairy realm.
It had been decided to make sure the humans stayed asleep and wouldn’t awaken until the following morning in the dormitories.
Team One was only going to collect people whose connections had been made the first day the coffee shop was opened.
Kai had instructed them not to take all the humans at once, so Team One agreed amongst themselves that they would take two every few minutes. They would wait until about midnight in the human realm, when hopefully those they needed should be asleep.
The group was split up into pairs: Cameron and Jasper, Kudko and Celeste, and Zephyr and Ali. They each had a list of names and would work in teams in case they encountered any problems.
Zephyr checked the time. “Ready, team?” he asked them.
Everyone in the team nodded, looking excited and a little nervous, which was understandable. No fairy, as far as they knew, had ever taken so many humans before; maybe the odd one or two, but never so many in one night. Still, the realm needed saving, and this was the only way they could do it.
Zephyr checked the time and took a breath. “You all have your lists. Stick together and be safe. We’ll all meet back here when your lists are complete.”
“Yes, sir,” they all replied.
Zephyr waved his hand and a portal opened. They would need these portals to enter the human realm but not to bring back their charges. Due to the magical links, all the fairies would need to do was touch their target’s shoulders and they would be taken directly to the dormitories.
“Let’s away then,” Zephyr said.
Once through, they would be able to follow the magical connection directly to each human, then, once they’d been brought back to the fairy realm, the connection would break since the fairies would no longer need a link to find them.
The fairies stepped through in their pairs and got started.
Cameron and Jasper made it to their first location, materialising in a young man’s bedroom. Japer looked down at him. He looked young, but what did Jasper really know about human ages? Cameron and Jasper each touched one of his shoulders, and the three vanished back to the fairy realm.
Cameron, Jasper, and the young human male appeared in the dormitory. Somehow, the magic also knew to put him in the male side and in a bed. They both let go of his shoulder.
“That’s the first one,” Cameron said softly.
“Let’s head outside and let the guards know the first human has arrived and then we’ll head out to the next one,” Jasper said.
“But what about not taking them all at once?” Cameron enquired.
“We’re not,” Jasper said, leading the way outside. “We’re taking them one at a time.”
Cameron muttered something, which Jasper ignored. They headed outside and motioned to one of the guards.
“The first human has arrived. We’re off to collect the others,” Jasper told him.
The guard nodded but didn’t say anything.
“Come on,” Jasper said to Cameron, opening another portal. “We’ve more humans to get.” And with that, Cameron and Jasper vanished to get the next person from their list.
Kudko and Celeste followed their links. It seemed that two of their humans resided in the same house. They followed their links and appeared in a room with two beds. The walls had funny paper with animals over it, and looking around, they saw toys everywhere. Kudko and Celeste looked at the beds and found two small humans asleep.
“I think they may be human children,” Kudko said quietly.
“Should we take them?” Celeste asked. He wasn’t sure taking human children was the wisest idea, but then there were no children in the fairy realm, so maybe they were needed.
“We have to. They have the magical binding,” Kudko replied.
“I guess,” Celeste replied. He still wasn’t sure it was the right thing to do, but magical bonds were magical bonds. “You take that one and I’ll take this one,” he said, walking to the nearest bed. He saw Kudko do the same, and they both touched the children’s shoulders and the four of them vanished.
They appeared in the dormitory and saw other humans already in bed and still asleep. None of them were as young as these two children.
Just then, Ali and Zephyr appeared with one of their humans.
Kudko walked over to Zephyr, “Sir, we may have a problem none of us thought about.”
Zephyr looked up with concern on his face. “What problem?”
“Look,” Kudko said, leading him over to the two beds containing the human children. “We had to take them because of the bond, but they are young children, sir.”
Zephyr looked stunned for a moment. “Okay, carry on and collect the others on your list. When we’ve finished, I’ll contact the General and see what he wants done with them.”
Kudko nodded and blew out a breath. “Okay, let me and Celeste know if you need us to take them back home again.”
