You should go home.” I felt sorry for him. The poor guy was just trying to have a baby.
“I know. Now I have to find more gold to buy a meeting. Dora will kill me.”
“You can’t just kill a human so you can have a baby.” I knew it wasn’t worth my breath to try to convince him but I couldn’t resist the urge.
“Who cares about stupid humans anyway? They just trample around and destroy gardens. Killing them is a service.”
I hated that attitude. “If they find out we exist they will destroy us. Killing them will bring attention.”
“I don’t care.” Nightshade stomped his foot. “We want a baby and this is the only way.”
“No. I will stop the Sidhe and then you can breed without this death.”
“Stupid wizard, you can’t stop the Sidhe.”
Olan landed on the cobbles between us. “Let it go, Quinn. He won’t be killing anyone tonight. It is time for a new plan.”
Chapter Nine
The next night Olan and I were back in Stanley Park looking for another fairy to follow. The park was quiet tonight. Not a human in sight.
“I am off to scout the area,” Olan said. Since he’d worked out how to fly, he was taking full advantage of the new freedom.
“Great, you get to fly around and I’m stuck here getting arthritis from the damp and West Nile from the mosquitoes.”
“Okay, you do the flying around and I’ll wait here.”
“I wish I could. Go ahead. I don’t think anything will start up here soon. Maybe you’ll find something going on. Try the Lily territory behind the tennis courts.”
While he was gone I checked the spell lines I’d cast earlier. I had a web of spells attached to everyone I knew. If Iain came into contact with them, I’d hear about it. It was weird that I hadn’t heard anything in the last two hours. Iain wasn’t exactly a hermit. Whatever Olan came back with, we were going Iain hunting later.
The shadows seemed to get darker; someone had joined me. It felt like my skin was crawling off my back. “What do you want?”
“Good to see you too, Quinn,” Iain said. “I hear you are looking for me. Or should I say I felt it.”
“Yes. I want to ask you a few questions.” I turned to face him. He was dressed in a black silk shirt and black leather pants. On him it looked normal.
“What questions?” He flicked some imaginary speck from his shoulder.
“About fairies and babies.”
“Well, the daddy fairy and the mummy fairy love each other very much.” Iain started laughing.
“Yeah, so I heard. The problem is it no longer results in babies.” I tried to read his expression but he gave nothing away. “You know what’s going on.”
“You think so?”
I wondered where Olan was. Iain wasn’t into violence; or rather he wasn’t into doing it personally. I could handle Iain but it would be nice to have back up. “Yes, I saw you at the pub last night with the nightshade fairy.”
“Ah, yes, that little thing.” He checked his nails and then buffed them on his sleeve. “I can’t really tell you anything, Quinn.”
“What’s Fionuir up to?”
“I don’t know. You know I’m not part of the court. I’m not privy to her plans.”
“Why does she use you to make contact with the fairies?”
“I am, shall we say neutral? I perform a service for her and she lets me stay that way.”
“I need to stop her. It isn’t going to be good in the long run. You know someone will have to pay for all these deaths”
“Perhaps.” He rose. “Quinn, this isn’t going to work out for you if you keep going. Just a friendly warning.”
“If I don’t, it won’t work out for anyone.” I felt like I was the only one who could see how badly this would end for us Real folk. We call ourselves that but the humans are more real than we are and they were increasing in number while we were diminishing.
Iain sighed. “Leave it Quinn. You won’t be able to stop her. If she wants to pull power she will. If you try to interfere it will indeed end
“I know. Now I have to find more gold to buy a meeting. Dora will kill me.”
“You can’t just kill a human so you can have a baby.” I knew it wasn’t worth my breath to try to convince him but I couldn’t resist the urge.
“Who cares about stupid humans anyway? They just trample around and destroy gardens. Killing them is a service.”
I hated that attitude. “If they find out we exist they will destroy us. Killing them will bring attention.”
“I don’t care.” Nightshade stomped his foot. “We want a baby and this is the only way.”
“No. I will stop the Sidhe and then you can breed without this death.”
“Stupid wizard, you can’t stop the Sidhe.”
Olan landed on the cobbles between us. “Let it go, Quinn. He won’t be killing anyone tonight. It is time for a new plan.”
Chapter Nine
The next night Olan and I were back in Stanley Park looking for another fairy to follow. The park was quiet tonight. Not a human in sight.
“I am off to scout the area,” Olan said. Since he’d worked out how to fly, he was taking full advantage of the new freedom.
“Great, you get to fly around and I’m stuck here getting arthritis from the damp and West Nile from the mosquitoes.”
“Okay, you do the flying around and I’ll wait here.”
“I wish I could. Go ahead. I don’t think anything will start up here soon. Maybe you’ll find something going on. Try the Lily territory behind the tennis courts.”
While he was gone I checked the spell lines I’d cast earlier. I had a web of spells attached to everyone I knew. If Iain came into contact with them, I’d hear about it. It was weird that I hadn’t heard anything in the last two hours. Iain wasn’t exactly a hermit. Whatever Olan came back with, we were going Iain hunting later.
The shadows seemed to get darker; someone had joined me. It felt like my skin was crawling off my back. “What do you want?”
“Good to see you too, Quinn,” Iain said. “I hear you are looking for me. Or should I say I felt it.”
“Yes. I want to ask you a few questions.” I turned to face him. He was dressed in a black silk shirt and black leather pants. On him it looked normal.
“What questions?” He flicked some imaginary speck from his shoulder.
“About fairies and babies.”
“Well, the daddy fairy and the mummy fairy love each other very much.” Iain started laughing.
“Yeah, so I heard. The problem is it no longer results in babies.” I tried to read his expression but he gave nothing away. “You know what’s going on.”
“You think so?”
I wondered where Olan was. Iain wasn’t into violence; or rather he wasn’t into doing it personally. I could handle Iain but it would be nice to have back up. “Yes, I saw you at the pub last night with the nightshade fairy.”
“Ah, yes, that little thing.” He checked his nails and then buffed them on his sleeve. “I can’t really tell you anything, Quinn.”
“What’s Fionuir up to?”
“I don’t know. You know I’m not part of the court. I’m not privy to her plans.”
“Why does she use you to make contact with the fairies?”
“I am, shall we say neutral? I perform a service for her and she lets me stay that way.”
“I need to stop her. It isn’t going to be good in the long run. You know someone will have to pay for all these deaths”
“Perhaps.” He rose. “Quinn, this isn’t going to work out for you if you keep going. Just a friendly warning.”
“If I don’t, it won’t work out for anyone.” I felt like I was the only one who could see how badly this would end for us Real folk. We call ourselves that but the humans are more real than we are and they were increasing in number while we were diminishing.
Iain sighed. “Leave it Quinn. You won’t be able to stop her. If she wants to pull power she will. If you try to interfere it will indeed end
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