really expect me to go out in public with this thing on my head?”
He gave me a maddening grin and headed for the door with the baby in his arms. My fists clenched. The guy knew exactly what that did to me—separating me from the baby, not the grin. With a few long-legged strides, he was almost out of my range. The tiara whispered a warning in my ears and I charged after them before it could give me a headache that rivaled getting hit in the head with a baseball bat. I hoped my shadow was tagging along too. The mirror was at my back, and there was no way I’d look behind to see what waited for me there. I was afraid of what I might find.
Chapter Six
Listen to the fairy history of Snowbell, the most fair.
A little babe, who, on a winter’s night,
Snow-white and softly falling as new snow,
On her queen mother’s pillow did alight;
There lying rare, And spotless fair, All fairy-wise bedight.
—Eliza Keary, Snowbell
“W hat did you say your name was?”
The blond smiled at me. The baby’s hand wrapped around one of his rough fingers. “I didn’t.”
I couldn’t even give him a proper set-down—I was too tired. I pushed the shopping cart through the aisles of the grocery store, using it like a walker. Was this how all new moms felt? The aisle wouldn’t stay still and the florescent lights blurred my vision yellow. As soon as my eyes drooped, the world played tricks on me. A creature crouched behind a cereal box. It was a green slimy lizard thing with a human face. It pushed a can of soup over. Just the image of it and then it was gone. I shook my head and forced my eyes to open wider. I didn’t know what was happening to me.
My shadow brought a hand to its mouth in a wide yawn. It lingered behind in the candy section when it shouldn’t, stopped to read headlines on the fashion magazines, pawed at the most expensive make-up. But that was the least of my worries. Apparently faery babies wet like human babies. At least I wasn’t the one to figure that out the hard way.
We headed for the diaper section. My nameless companion threw everything stupid he could into the cart: honey, ice cream, candy bars. He read the back of a cake box. “Good. It’s got sugar.” He threw it on top of everything else.
“Stop it.” I tried to block him from the next aisle.
His hand went to my waist. Before I could register that he was touching me, he moved me out of the way. He found some cereal boxes. “Should we get the frost tipped sugar plops or the chocolate-puff yummies?”
“Neither.”
He threw them both in. “She doesn’t seem to be growing. We think you know who had a hand in it.”
“If you were feeding her this stuff where you live, then I’d say it was your fault she’s not growing. We need some milk.”
“Does it have sugar in it?”
“No . . . I don’t think so.”
“Well, forget it. Sugar is mother’s milk to faeries. When we can’t find saffron, that is.”
“I gathered that.” At least there was milk at home. Then I’d show this guy how fast a baby could grow with some proper nutrients. I left him and steered my girl to the baby cereal and pulled some off the shelf. It was for six-month-old babies—I didn’t know her age for sure. “How old are you?” The baby stared gravely back at me. I couldn’t really tell, especially with that wise look she gave me with those hazel eyes. I tried not to laugh at how serious she looked.
A lady in a power suit pawed expertly through the cereals next to me. I briefly toyed with asking her how old she thought our baby was, but decided against it. She had a very no-nonsense air and would probably think we kidnapped the kid or something. And if someone tried to take her away? I shivered. Most likely, it would kill me. Or maybe, I’d end up killing them . I didn’t want to think about it.
“I don’t know how old she is,” I kept my voice down, turning to my mischievous partner in crime.
He leaned
He gave me a maddening grin and headed for the door with the baby in his arms. My fists clenched. The guy knew exactly what that did to me—separating me from the baby, not the grin. With a few long-legged strides, he was almost out of my range. The tiara whispered a warning in my ears and I charged after them before it could give me a headache that rivaled getting hit in the head with a baseball bat. I hoped my shadow was tagging along too. The mirror was at my back, and there was no way I’d look behind to see what waited for me there. I was afraid of what I might find.
Chapter Six
Listen to the fairy history of Snowbell, the most fair.
A little babe, who, on a winter’s night,
Snow-white and softly falling as new snow,
On her queen mother’s pillow did alight;
There lying rare, And spotless fair, All fairy-wise bedight.
—Eliza Keary, Snowbell
“W hat did you say your name was?”
The blond smiled at me. The baby’s hand wrapped around one of his rough fingers. “I didn’t.”
I couldn’t even give him a proper set-down—I was too tired. I pushed the shopping cart through the aisles of the grocery store, using it like a walker. Was this how all new moms felt? The aisle wouldn’t stay still and the florescent lights blurred my vision yellow. As soon as my eyes drooped, the world played tricks on me. A creature crouched behind a cereal box. It was a green slimy lizard thing with a human face. It pushed a can of soup over. Just the image of it and then it was gone. I shook my head and forced my eyes to open wider. I didn’t know what was happening to me.
My shadow brought a hand to its mouth in a wide yawn. It lingered behind in the candy section when it shouldn’t, stopped to read headlines on the fashion magazines, pawed at the most expensive make-up. But that was the least of my worries. Apparently faery babies wet like human babies. At least I wasn’t the one to figure that out the hard way.
We headed for the diaper section. My nameless companion threw everything stupid he could into the cart: honey, ice cream, candy bars. He read the back of a cake box. “Good. It’s got sugar.” He threw it on top of everything else.
“Stop it.” I tried to block him from the next aisle.
His hand went to my waist. Before I could register that he was touching me, he moved me out of the way. He found some cereal boxes. “Should we get the frost tipped sugar plops or the chocolate-puff yummies?”
“Neither.”
He threw them both in. “She doesn’t seem to be growing. We think you know who had a hand in it.”
“If you were feeding her this stuff where you live, then I’d say it was your fault she’s not growing. We need some milk.”
“Does it have sugar in it?”
“No . . . I don’t think so.”
“Well, forget it. Sugar is mother’s milk to faeries. When we can’t find saffron, that is.”
“I gathered that.” At least there was milk at home. Then I’d show this guy how fast a baby could grow with some proper nutrients. I left him and steered my girl to the baby cereal and pulled some off the shelf. It was for six-month-old babies—I didn’t know her age for sure. “How old are you?” The baby stared gravely back at me. I couldn’t really tell, especially with that wise look she gave me with those hazel eyes. I tried not to laugh at how serious she looked.
A lady in a power suit pawed expertly through the cereals next to me. I briefly toyed with asking her how old she thought our baby was, but decided against it. She had a very no-nonsense air and would probably think we kidnapped the kid or something. And if someone tried to take her away? I shivered. Most likely, it would kill me. Or maybe, I’d end up killing them . I didn’t want to think about it.
“I don’t know how old she is,” I kept my voice down, turning to my mischievous partner in crime.
He leaned
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