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

the guards following them. But just as soon as she turned, Richard stalked up with his eyebrows drawn down in a look of medieval disapproval. He snagged Ethan’s pack and drew it from her shoulders. Noticing that he had both hers and Ethan’s now, she opened her mouth to argue then closed it. It wouldn’t matter what she said, Richard was too chivalrous to let her carry anything , so why fight it?
    The trees opened up into the clearing where Ethan had first introduced her to the fairies, the place where he kissed her as the fairies undid her hair and enveloped them in a whirlwind of glittering enchantment. Just the idea of fairies beguiled her, and Danielle couldn’t help but feel a childlike joy at just being here. They hadn’t been able to visit as often as she would have liked—only two other times so far, and that just hadn’t been enough. This time she wanted to forget about Lucas and pixies and just savor her time in this place steeped in magic.
    “I need to talk to the guards before speaking with the fairies,” Ethan said.
    “Okay.” Danielle let go of Ethan’s hand and began exploring on her own.
    The rough bark pressed into the palm of her hand as she touched an ancient-looking tree that was gnarled in many places. She looked up, her ponytail swinging against her back as she studied the many houses attached to it. Danielle’s head tipped to the side when she noticed something peculiar. One of the swollen knots had a golden glow spilling out of it. Bracing with both hands against the trunk, she rose to her toes to see it better. She gasped in wonder. Apparently the fairies had hollowed out some of those knots to make more fairy homes. How interesting, she thought.
    Danielle was able to get just high enough to see what looked like a miniature living room. Bits of a sheer silky material hung on either side of the round hole that apparently served as a window as well as a doorway. It shimmered in a way that made Danielle think it was made from woven threads of a spider’s web. Just beyond the curtain were twigs that had been arranged into a tiny rocking chair. Upon the chair sat a female fairy dressed in blue flower petals that had been stitched together in a way that created rows and rows of fragrant ruffles. Her transparent wings were spread wide to accommodate the chair. It was through them she could see that the brunette fairy held a baby in her arms, as she rocked and sung a quiet song in a lilting fey language. Its tiny feet kicked and wriggled adorably. Suddenly feeling like a peeping Tom, Danielle dropped hastily to her heels before she was noticed.
    Whirling around, she made her way to the next tree where the fairy homes were higher up the trunk and again faced the clearing. A sense of embarrassment heated her cheeks for being so nosy. In response to that, Danielle changed the focus of her attention. The scene before her eyes was enough to distract her from the lingering thoughts of how she could have had a baby too.... Letting the landscape fill her soul with wonder, she exhaled. This was where the tiny beings danced, where they held their Summer Solstice soirees, where they celebrated their magical existence to throbbing fey music amongst the shelter of sparkling, fairy-dusted trees and poisonous, red-spotted mushrooms. Every night they partied like that and Danielle was looking forward to that the most.
    Leaning against the trunk, her gaze shifted to the guards as they fanned out and circled the area. All of them were dressed the same. They almost always wore black T-shirts that stretched over well-defined muscles, jeans that hung low on lean hips, well-worn boots with thick soles, and serious looks on their faces. It must be their vampire-guard uniforms or something.
    Danielle wondered how many of them had been here before. Taking in the look of wonder on Cedric’s face, she figured he hadn’t, but the other men remained on guard, like the fairies could attack at any moment, or like the pixies