Page 25 of The Fae’s Treasure

“Ah, so you do. What prize do you claim as victor?”

“Take-out and a box of diapers. Your mini-me is expensive.”

“My mini-me?”

“Your baby looks just like you.”

“Ah. Funny. I thought he looked like you,” I say, tucking away my flute and pondering her words. “Expensive?”

“Yes, this job pays low five-figures, and trust me, that’s still amazing for a job as a full-time organist with just one church to handle. Most organists and pianists who are good enough to make it big have to travel all around the world for concerts. The ones who are good but not that good become teachers. The ones like me? The ones who love music, but not all the public school politics or the uncertainty of private students dropping out or canceling at every sniffle? We hustle and juggle gigs and a few lessons, and dream that one day we won’t also have to work in retail on the side. When my father died—”

“Oh. I am so sorry,” I whisper.

“Me, too.” We share a half-smile, bittersweet and sorrowful. She clears her throat and continues, “He left me enough to put a down payment on a house. My mortgage in Pine Ridge is cheaper than what I used to pay for rent, so... When I heard about this job, I realized I could afford to take it. A baby was not in the budget. A puppy, either. Which reminds me, he still doesn’t have a name.”

Some of her speech mystifies me, but I puzzle it together and realize that my careless lust with Saz has given her a hefty burden, one fate will not easily let her put down. My hand digs into my cloak and comes out with another handful of coins. “Take these for the child.”

Deanna gapes at the gold in my grasp, and then she begins angrily tugging on the straps of Rory’s carrier. “No! You cannot buy him from me, you sick, manipulative, good-looking—”

“No! What?” I swat her hands away and fly a few feet above her. “I meant take the money to replenish your purse! You have spent money taking care of my son, and I want to repay you so that you are not under any strain. I would not... I would not insult you by ever thinking I could bribe you to release my child.” I clear my throat. “Our child.”

“Oh. Well, you don’t have to repay me. I didn’t mean to complain. I just— Holy cow, is that real gold? Like, real people gold?”

“I am a real person,” I snort, laughing at her shocked expression when I drop the coins in her hand as I land. “I am just not human. Neither is your son. Our son.”

“Our son,” Deanna repeats, looking at me, blushing again.

She is stunning like that. She is stunning when she is serious and playing her instrument. She is stunning when she is fighting in the dark. Beautiful when she’s cradling my son, or pale and haughty, or blushing and bashful.

Bonwit was right. There is something so much dearer about the beauty of humans. This raw, searing pain and longing that comes of trying to catch hold of something that only lasts a short time. “Please take it. I can make more very easily.” I press her fingers closed around some of the coins and deposit the rest into Rory’s bag. As an afterthought, I add— “The hound is named Sprite. He is a fae’s helper, after all.”

“Sprite is a soda.”

“He is what?”

“Never mind. Sprite is a good name. And you’re a good dad. I’m getting that vibe.”

“Vibe?”

“How about if we go to the grocery store and I try to explain some things, then we eat dinner over at the Italian place where that ‘good’ succubus works? They have some outdoor seating, so we don’t have to worry about ‘Sprite,’ and it’s not too chilly yet.”

“If it is warmth you need, I can provide that.”

Deanna’s cheeks blaze like an autumn sunset. “I... Well, I... I mean, I have a jacket,” she stumbles over her words.

“I meant that I could make the air around us warmer if it becomes too cold. I am one of the lords of the Autumn Court, and I have power to make such adjustments.”

“Oh. Oh!” Deanna looks at me with new eyes, scrutinizing me.

It’s uncomfortable. Most of the women I have met have never looked at me with anything but longing or admiration—or loathing, when it comes to my recent debacle with Sazara.

“So, what happens if you stay in the mortal realm with Rory and me? I mean, with Rory? Will the world suddenly not have fall? No pumpkins, no Halloween? Will it feel like summer until it snows? I can’t handle that. Fall is my favorite season. It’s so perfect.”

“It is!” I seize her hand suddenly, so excited to hear a mortal say what all the fae in the Autumn Court already know. “It’s so perfect. The crisp days cooling, the way frost is like nature’s lace in the early mornings, the flavors, the scents, everything ripe and ready, and bodies yearning to find one another as the nights begin to shorten—the way the moon looks, and the rains come...” I sigh and rub my hands together. “I’ll have to go back every now and then, but I am also not the only fae controlling such things. As the hierarchy goes, I’m not one with much power. I wouldn’t be missed enough for other fae to revolt or storm the underworld realms. Saz knew who she was playing all along.”

This time, it is Deanna who squeezes my hand. “It sucks to think you’ve found just the right thing, the right person, and then they’re just not what you imagined. I guess heartbreak is universal, fae, human, uh... Orc?”

I nod. “It is.” I don’t tell her that Saz didn’t break my heart. I can’t help but think about how Deanna will break mine simply by not being here one day.