Forever (Book #3 in the Fateful Series) by Cheri Schmidt

favoring his right leg, she believed he’d been injured.
    Remembering his glasses, she rolled to her knees and looked for them in the flowers where she thought they’d landed. Her fingers connected with something smooth and cold. For a second she worried it was a snake or something worse, but it was hard. Brushing the plants and fallen leaves aside she found his glasses next to the tree roots and picked them up, cleaning them off with her shirt.
    “Thanks,” he said taking them from her fingertips and putting them on.
    “Are you hurt?” she asked.
    “I fell from six or seven feet up I think and jammed my knee pretty hard when I landed, but I’m all right.”
    “I thought the pixies feared men. Why wouldn’t they leave us alone this time, especially with all of the salt that was thrown at them?”
    She watched as Ethan considered her question. His hand came up and he scratched behind his ear, like he didn’t exactly have an answer to her question. “We did notice they were more aggressive when we visited the hobbit homes, but not this bad. This time they were practically unstoppable.”
    Danielle shuddered and apparently the movement drew his attention. His gaze traveled her body just like it did when he was looking for injuries.
    “Did they hurt—?” Ethan began but he was interrupted by a fairy that flew right up to his nose and tapped her finger against the glass of his eyewear, making a faint clinking sound.
    “What is this?” Alora asked. She spun over to the side of his head, wrapped two hands around the frame and tried to take them off his face.
    Ethan batted her away, obviously being careful not to actually hit her and grabbed hold of his glasses. “Now see here, I need those!”
    “What are they for?” the fairy asked.
    “My eyesight isn’t what it once was. These help bring the world into focus for me.”
    Swinging around to face him again, she plopped little fists on her hips, cocked her head to the side and studied him for a moment. All the while her beautiful and sparkling wings of pale lavender flapped like a butterfly’s.  “You’re blind because you’re mortal now?”
    Straightening his glasses, Ethan shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not completely blind. I just need assistance in the matter.”
    Several fairies had gathered around them, some male and some female. All of them watched her and Ethan with bald curiosity as though they’d never seen them before. But they’d been here more than once. It’s true, Ethan had never worn glasses on their past visits, and if they didn’t see many mortals then it was likely they hadn’t seen any type of eyewear before now either.
    Alora passed a gaze over the forest and then locked her blue eyes on Danielle. “I suppose the pixies were after you?”
    Opening her mouth to respond, she closed it when Ethan asked, “Do you have any idea why they would want her?”
    In a gesture that looked kind of nervous, the fairy began nibbling at her fingernails while she considered her answer. “They might want to eat her.” The disturbing idea came in a high-pitched but enchanting little voice that probably shouldn’t be saying things like that.
    It felt like her knees had vanished right out their sockets as she imagined those creepy little pixies gnawing at her flesh and how that would probably be a long and painful death.
    Ethan’s hand was suddenly grasping her arm and she realized he’d noticed her reaction. “We need your help,” he said. “Nothing will leave her alone and the werewolves have found someone with magic to help them.”
    Alora’s fair eyebrows rose toward her hairline. “They probably want to eat her too.” Then, even more disturbing, the fairy took a whiff of the air in her direction, like she thought maybe they should have her as a snack as well. Danielle took a step backward. Apparently Alora guessed at her fear and tittered out a peal of laughter. “We’re—what was it you called