Reaper (45 page)

“I did meet a faery. His name is Nikolai. And,” I turned to look out the window, “he’s in the barn feeding the horses right now.”

Ethan stared at me. “Is this a joke?”

I shook my head. “I swear I’m being serious.”

“You’re serious that there is a faery in the barn feeding your horses.”

I nodded. “Yes.”

“And you trust him?”

“I didn’t at first. Hunter agrees that he is harmless. A little hyper, like all the time, but harmless.”

Ethan took another bit of toast, chewed it slowly, and swallowed. “Can I see him?”

“Of course.” I stood up and grabbed our coats. It was apparent we did not need them as soon as I opened the door.
 
I took mine off and set it down in the barn.

“Nik,” I called.

“Yes, my lady?” he replied.

“Can you come here?” I asked, knowing Nik would know the implications of my request. He exited the tack room and smiled. “See,” I said to Ethan.

Horror crept over Ethan’s face. “Annie,” he said gently. “There’s nothing there.”

I looked at Nik. “Yes there is! He’s
right there
!”

Nik held up his hand. “My fault,” he told me with a nod. “Shall I lift the veil now?”

“Yes, please.”

Nik must have popped into view, for Ethan jumped. He looked the Russian faery up and down before taking on a protective stance.

“How do you know he’s a faery?” he asked me, not bothering to be quiet so Nik didn’t hear the accusation.

“He has wings and just looks like one,” I blurted, not realizing how little sense that made at the moment since Nik’s wings only appeared when he was faery-sized. “And he has faery dust.”

“He does?” Ethan asked incredulously, still eyeing Nik with suspicion. I nodded. “Ok, show me,” Ethan said.

“If I change sizes in these clothes, I’ll be naked,” Nik explained. “Non-fae clothing doesn’t change with me.”

“Is that my shirt?” Ethan asked, tipping his head. “Never mind. Annie,” he turned to me. He blinked, opened his mouth and shook his head. “I don’t even know what to say. I don’t trust this guy.”

I put my hands over my eyes. “Just change, I won’t look.”

Nik shrugged and Ethan’s eyes widened. I heard the clothes fall to the ground and Ethan gasp. I couldn’t help but smile. The flutter of wings drew near and I laughed at the thought of a tiny naked man flying around the barn. After a few seconds, Nik shifted back to human size and got dressed.

“Do you believe me now?” I asked Ethan.

Stunned, he shook his head. “Can we talk?” he asked me. I nodded, Nik said he’d take care of the horses, and Ethan and I went into the house. “How did you meet a faery?”

“He was in the garden,” I said simply. “He told me that he was attracted to the magic in the area caused by rifts from another plane near the house.
 
I didn’t trust him at first either. I kept him trapped in a bird cage for the first night.”

“You had him in our house?” Ethan’s eyes flashed.

“Yes. Hunter and I could have handled a four inch faery, Ethan. It’s not like I let a reaper sleep on the couch. Which reminds me…” I trailed off. I shook my head. So much had happened in the last twenty-four hours. “Look, Nik isn’t dangerous. You’re still sick, so you need to rest and not worry about it. Nik’s been a great help; see how clean the house is?”

“He cleaned the house?”

I nodded enthusiastically. “He asked if he could stay here in exchange for doing house and yard work.”

“Like a faery slave?” Ethan said with a laugh. We walked into the family room and sat on the couch.

“Not quite,” I laughed too. “It’s our house. If you don’t want him here, then he won’t stay. I promise you he won’t take up much room. He’s uh, gonna live in a doll house in Hunter’s room.”

Ethan didn’t say anything. He stared at the blank TV for a minute. Then he laughed again. “I honestly have no idea what to say. I-I never thought I’d have to make this decision.” He shook his head and composed himself. “If Nik doesn’t impose on our lives, then I guess I don’t care, especially if it means we have less housework.”

“He can cook too,” I told him.

“I think this is one of those things that is so crazy it has to be a good idea.” He shook his head again.

I stood. “I’m gonna call René and fill her in on everything. Rest,” I ordered.

He grabbed the remote. “That, I can do.”

I snuck into the kitchen and took a jar from the fridge. Holding it down at my side, I hurried up the stairs. I stripped out of my clothes and blotted Nik’s healing potion on my wounds. The cut on my knee had scabbed over; the edges were red and puffy and I was worried it was getting infected.
 
I debated scrapping the scab off to disinfect the wound and quickly decided against it.

I punched in René’s number. She answered on the second ring.

“Hey, girl,” she answered in her normal, cheery voice.

“Hi,” I responded. “Got a minute? Well, a few minutes, things are crazy again.”

“Yeah, I have a break until my next class starts. What’s going on?”

I launched into detail, recalling the last few days. René was speechless when I told her about my faery friend. She said she was skipping class and coming right over. Against my protests for her to go to sociology, she told me she’d be here in twenty. We said goodbye and I dialed Keith’s number. He was in class and, unlike René, wouldn’t be answering or skipping. I left a brief message and forced myself to get up and brush my hair.

Feeling almost pain free, I walked into the bathroom. I leaned over the sink to inspect the little scratches on my face. If I pulled my hair back, they were noticeable. Better keep it down. I turned my face to the side and ran a finger over a long, thin scratch on my cheek, unhappy with the jagged ends. I had enough scars caused by demons. I didn’t need another.

I picked up my brush and ran it once through my hair. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a drop of blood slide down my face. Thinking I must have accidentally pulled a scab off, I set the brush down and grabbed my hair. I leaned over the sink again, getting close to the mirror.

“What the…?” I asked when my cuts were perfectly intact. I turned my face to look at the other side and almost screamed. Thick, brown blood bubbled out of an abscess. No, I knew my wounds weren’t that infected.
It’s not real
, I repeated once again. I closed my eyes, opened them, and stared at the hole in my face. The abscess was by my right ear; was it possible I hadn’t noticed?

Trembling, I reached up to touch it. Not expecting to feel anything, I actually jumped when my fingers became covered in something warm and liquid. I pulled my hand away and saw that my fingers were covered in yellow pus. I turned the water on and madly splashed it on my cheek. I grabbed a towel and pressed it to the wound.

When I pulled it off and looked in the mirror, my face was normal. I ran my hands over every exposed piece of flesh on my body before stripping all my clothes off. Steam rose from the water and clouded the mirror. I shut it off and stepped out of the bathroom. Hugging my naked body, I sat on the bed.

I took a deep breath. I wasn’t hallucinating. Not again, not now. Rocking back and forth, I closed my eyes. Hunter’s mind merged with mine and he showed me that he was coming back into the house. I pulled on my bathrobe and waited.

Buffy trailed behind, panting to keep up with my Guardian. He jumped up on the bed but Buffy was too weak; he jumped down and we sat on the floor. I wrapped my arms around him and waited for the calm to take over. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in, held it, and slowly let it out.

On shaky legs, I stood and got dressed. I went back into the bathroom—Hunter stayed glued to my side—and forced myself to stare at my reflection as I brushed my hair. I brought Ethan a glass of water and told him to drink the whole thing; he called me ‘mom’, made a face, but agreed to it. I wanted Ethan to get back on his feet because I didn’t want him sick, of course, but I also knew that is something was going on again, I might need him.

Gravel crunched under my shuffling feet as I walked down the driveway to barn. I felt horribly paranoid; eyes dug into my back. I whirled around, expecting to see someone.

“No one, like always,” I sighed to Hunter. I was a little nervous to let Buffy out of the fenced in yard. Though I doubted I had to worry since I had Hunter. Who knew a demon killer could double as a dog babysitter?

“What’s wrong?” Nik asked immediately. A frown pulled down his lips.

“Nothing. I just get these…these feelings sometimes. Usually, they turn out to be nothing.”

“And you have one now?”

I nodded. “It’s nothing.” I smiled. “Really!” I insisted when I saw the dubious look in Nik’s eyes. “My friend René is coming over. She’s really excited to meet you.”

Nik’s face brightened. “Is she a witch, too?”

I shook my head. “She’s a sensitive, I suppose. She, uh, kinda found out about demons and real magic by accident when she saw me kill a reaper demon.” Guilt washed over me when I thought of the reapers. I didn’t want to tell anyone that I allowed a reaper to not only fight a battle for me, but I let it go with well wishes. It was wrong and I knew it. But killing the person who saved me was wrong too, right? I reminded myself that the reaper
wasn’t
a person.

Nik and I walked around the pasture tossing tennis balls for Buffy and Hunter. Having been forced to pretend he was a normal dog for several years, Hunter still found it fun to chase after a ball. With my mind, I threw them way farther than I physically could. When René’s car pulled up, I took hold of Buffy’s collar to make sure she didn’t dart in front of the car and get run over.

“Hey!” René shouted and waved. I waved back and walked toward her. She dropped to her knees when Buffy ran over. “Oh my God, she looks so good!” Buffy shyly sniffed her. “She’s gained weight already! How is she doing?”

“Alright,” I answered. “Thanks to Hunter. I think Buffy can sense his magic or something; she won’t leave him alone.” Hunter looked up at me, his golden eyes meeting mine. I smiled. “Yes, you are awesome,” I validated.

René straightened up. “Hi, I’m René. You must be Nikolai.”

Nik slightly bowed. “Please,” he said in his rich accent. “Call me Nik.”

“Alright, Nik. It’s nice to meet you.” She smiled broadly and looked curiously at the faery.

“Likewise,” he replied. “Anora tells me you’re a sensitive.”

She laughed. “Hardly. I’m good at picking up on things, and I’ve always thought I have good intuition. I’m nothing like Anora,” she insisted. “Though I wish I was. Being a real witch would be so amazing!”

“It would, wouldn’t it?” Nik agreed, instantly ecstatic. “There is so much I want to know about witches,” he said to me.

“Really?” I asked incredulously. “Didn’t you say you stumbled upon a witch or two in the centuries you’ve been around?”

René held up her hand. “Wait,
centuries
?”

Nik nodded. “Fae don’t get old in the faery world,” he said casually.

René didn’t blink. “As curious as you are about witches, I am about faeries.”

Nik jumped up and down, clapping his hands. “Can we play the question game?”

“What’s the question game?” I asked.

“We ask each other questions,” he said as if it was obvious.

I shrugged. “Sure.”

The three of us went inside, prepared a tray of snacks and drinks, and went upstairs and out on the turret. For the next hour, we sat up there talking about everything under the sun. When we walked René to her car, I noticed Ethan had fallen asleep on the couch. I put a blanket over him after checking to make sure he wasn’t feverish.

“Ugh, I do not want to go back to school,” she complained.

“Come over later,” I suggested.

“I’m going to Tyler’s,” she said, unable to keep the smile from her face. “And you have to take care of your man,” she teased. “If he still wants a sexy nurse, he better get one.”

I laughed and hugged her goodbye. After checking on Ethan again, I went upstairs and pulled out my BOS. I opened my notebook and read over my witch summoning spell.

“I don’t know if it’s going to work,” I told Hunter. “I mean, I have no idea who I’m calling. And I don’t want to summon them in the literal sense.” I shook my head and leaned back on the chaise. “I want it to be like a phone call…only I don’t have the number.” I closed the BOS and traded it for a book on candle magic. Hunter rested his head next to me, assuring me that I’d come up with something. I stroked his head. “Thanks, boy.”

I began absent mindedly flipping through the candle magic book. My hand settled on the page and I looked out the window; squinting at the bright sunlight. When I looked down at the page, my heart sped up. ‘
To call your true love
’ was written in fancy scarlet letters at the top of the page.

“This might work,” I said aloud and sat up. I crossed my legs and grabbed the notebook. “If I replace ‘lover’ with friend…or maybe relative? Am I related to every witch in my Coven?” I asked Hunter. He doubted it was a strong relation. “You’re right.” I chewed my lip and tapped the pencil against the book. “Ok,” I muttered. “If I take out this part and use sweet pea instead of rose, it will be more friend-friendly instead of lover-friendly,” I told Hunter. The basis of the spell was to send a lover well suited for the spell caster to them, based on the caster’s wants and needs. I tip toed downstairs so I wouldn’t wake Ethan, grabbed the herbs I needed and rushed back to my room.