Chapter 21

Ava watched Firo walk toward them. At least he was doing it straight up this time and not lurking around. Had his princess told him what she found in her head? Could he help remove it? The princess said it was complicated to remove. She and her cousin had to work together to do it. Firo was also a fae, so he should be able to as well. When Aireese told her that someone had done something similar to what had happened to those fathers, she was torn between disbelief and pissed right off. Why would someone do that to her?

She glanced to see Sparx and Karma giving the pretty man a long look. Shaking her head, she walked out of the garage. “Back again?”

He stopped and looked at her. Just her, she noticed, not at the other two standing by the door. “Aireese wanted me to accompany you on your wander around the neighborhood.” He inclined his head.

Ava sighed. “I guess if anyone will notice magic idiots, it will be you.”

“We can hope.”

She wanted to laugh, he was so stiff and proper, it was funny. Clearly, he didn’t spend a lot of time on the street. “Okay, well, if you are, can you tone it down a bit?” She motioned up and down his body.

“It?” His expression was straight-up confusion.

“You’re very pretty.”

Karma and Sparx laughed.

Firo stood even taller than before. “You mean handsome?”

Was he messing with her? She couldn’t be sure. She tilted her head to the side and stared at him. “No. Pretty—in a masculine way.” She shrugged. It sounded stupid, but it was true.

He cleared his throat and then glanced at the other two. “I can make it so others don’t see me this way.”

Ava went back in, grabbed her jacket, and put it on. “Sounds like a plan.”

“Whoa. How do you do that?” Karma was staring at him.

Ava turned back and looked. He didn’t look any different. “Might want to do it now.”

His eyes narrowed. “I have.”

“You can’t see that?” Sparx walked over and circled him. “He’s like a street rat now, dingy hair, regular clothes.” She glanced at Ava.

Ava shook her head. “He looks the same to me.”

“Interesting. You seem to be immune to the illusion of glamor.”

She looked at Sparx, then Karma, and both nodded. “I guess. Well, just as long as you blend more.” She shrugged. “Let’s go.”

Karma walked beside her. “What exactly are we looking for?”

“People that don’t fit.” She glanced at Firo to see he was walking a few steps behind. “Whoever did that to the Alterealm women didn’t know much about them or life here.”

“That’s not much to go on,” Sparx mumbled. She swung her hands back and forth as she walked. No one would realize it, but Ava knew she was charging up her spark with the motion. She didn’t understand how it worked, only that getting in her way when she was all charged up was a very bad thing.

Karma looked back at Firo. “Can you see our DNA too?”

He looked down the alley and then at her. “I cannot. I can feel magic and sometimes see things, but not one’s DNA. That is a Solrelm trait.”

“Feeling magic is neat.” Karma shrugged. “I haven’t decided if I want to know what I am.”

“DNA means nothing,” Ava said. “It’s who you are and what you do with it that matters.”

“Like rescue kids on a burning bus,” Sparx said and smiled at her.

Ava rolled her eyes. She was over being talked about like she was some kind of hero. Stopping, she motioned down the street. “Why don’t you two go that way and circle around. Me and the pretty one, will go the other way and meet you around back.”

Sparx shrugged. “Sure.” She smiled. “Watch for lightning if we find someone.”

Ava nodded. “Just don’t fry anyone. Answers are needed, and they can’t do that if their brain has been fried.”

Walking backward, Sparx lifted her hands and shrugged. “Can’t help it if they ask for it.”

“I’ll make sure they survive,” Karma said with a smile.

“Not screaming would be good too.”

“No promises,” Karma called back over her shoulder.

“I don’t understand.” Firo stepped over to stand beside her.

Ava looked at him. He was still all glowy-pretty. “Karma’s name says it all. She turns karma and bad intentions back on people. If they have bad…”

“Ah. I see.” He watched them walk down the sidewalk. “I have witnessed Sparx’s talent before.”

“Yeah. Was it crazy or low profile?” She started walking.

“I would have to say it was leaning toward crazy. Two men were trying to take a woman’s handbag.”

“Oh.” Ava smiled. “I remember that.” She looked up at him. “You’ve been lurking around here a long time.”

“I spend a lot of time in Interealm, yes.” He nodded. “It’s part of our purpose to be in this realm.”

“Yeah? Why is that? What do you guys do here?” She wasn’t into all the different realms like some of her sisters were. She knew next to nothing about fairies.

“We are mainly responsible for nature.”

She looked at him, expecting him to just pause before continuing, but his look said that was it. “How?”

He inhaled and then tilted his head. “Floods, storms, things you would call natural disasters, we’ve been charged with watching over this realm and nature.”

“When it’s a flood, that’s you guys causing it?”

He shook his head. “No. It is much different than it used to be. Now, with humans tearing down forests and trying to contain the earth for their convenience, floods are often caused by their own doing, but we are responsible for correcting it—if possible.”

“I get it. It’s hard to be in charge of nature when it’s covered in cement and pavement.”

“Yes.” He smiled at her. She kept walking, trying to decide if she wanted to ask him things again. Before Aireese had appeared earlier, she thought he would have the answers she needed. Her head didn’t hurt now, so she wasn’t sure if she wanted to bring it all up again. “Did your princess tell you about my head? My memories?”

“We spoke about it, yes.”

“Do you think she can fix it?”

He paused and looked across the street, checking in all directions. Did he sense something? She looked around. After a moment, he started walking again. “I’m sure Princess Aireese can. It might take time, but her ability is really quite vast.”

“You talk very stiff. Anyone ever told you that?”

He glanced at her, amusement in his eyes. “Not that I recall.”

“Why would someone do that to my brain?” She looked down the Alley and didn’t see anyone, so she kept going.

“Perhaps something traumatic happened.”

She shrugged. That much she’d figured out on her own. “Or, I know something I shouldn’t.”

He kept walking without comment.

“Firo, why were you there when I was born?” She stopped and touched his arm so he would as well. “Do you know my parents?”

He looked at her hand and then placed his over it for a moment. She felt like her whole arm was tingling. That had to be a fairy thing, she thought.

“I did not know your father.”

Moving her hand, she started walking again. “You knew my mother.”

“I did.” They rounded the corner, and she wanted to jump up and down and dance, which was just stupid, but he was the first person who knew anything about her. “What was she like? Was she an angel?”

He looked over her head in the other direction as he walked. There was a group of teens hanging out by a doorway to some apartments. “She was not. Your mother was—” He rubbed his hand over the side of his face. “A handful.”

Ava grinned. “Yeah. Like out of control or high energy?” Someone knew something about her mother.

“A bit of both.” He spoke softly.

Ava stopped walking and watched him until he noticed and stopped and looked back at her. “Was she human?”

He shook his head.

“She was like you.” Her mother was a fairy. What did that mean? Father an angel, mother a fairy. What the hell was she?

“She was.”

“Did she abandon me?” Her throat hurt as she spoke the words. She didn’t even know if she could handle the answer. Her wings were there; she could feel them. Closing her eyes, she blew out a slow breath. She had to stay calm.

“She did not. She died, Avalie.”

When she opened her eyes, he was right in front of her, leaning down close to her face.

“She loved you and wanted you, but there were complications when you were born.”

She put her hand over her mouth. “I killed my mother?” A vibration of heat moved through her.

Firo stepped closer and put his hands on her shoulders. The feeling was lessened. “You did not. Our kind have issues with birthing.” He leaned down even further so they were eye to eye. “You need to settle yourself, Avalie, control the magic. I can feel it building.”

Biting her bottom lip, she nodded. She knew what would happen if it became too hot. It happened that time with the wall. Closing her eyes, she inhaled a deep breath and breathed it out slowly.

“That’s it. Feel it drain from you with each breath.”

He understood and realized that she couldn’t control it.

“Hey.”

She opened her eyes to see Sparx and Karma walking toward them quickly.

“What’s wrong?” Sparx had her hands up, and the spark of electricity was shooting from them.

Firo looked down at her and then released her shoulders.

“It’s okay.” Ava gave her head a quick shake. “Just had an episode, and things were about to get out of control.” She lanced up to see him watching her. “Firo was helping me settle down.”

“An episode? You? Since when is that a problem?” Sparx asked.

“Probably since she found out that someone messed inside her head, Sparx.” Karam rolled her eyes. “What would you do if you found out something like that?”

Sparx looked at her hands. “Fry anyone involved.”

“See.” Karma looked at Firo. “Thanks. Usually, it’s Ava settling the rest of us.”

Firo inclined his head. “I may have been partially responsible for her episode.”

“What?” Sparx hands were up again.

Ava stepped between them. “I was asking him questions, and he was very honest with me.” She glanced at him again to see he wasn’t concerned with Sparx’s electricity. “He knew my mom.” She looked back at her friends to see the shock on their faces. “She didn’t abandon me.” She whispered it. “She died.”

Karma put her hand over her mouth. “Oh my god, Ava, that’s awful.”

Ava shook her head. “No. It’s awful that she did, but I wasn’t abandoned.”

“Damn.” Sparx lowered her hands and then rushed forward and grabbed her, hugging her tight. “Uh.” She leaned back and looked at her. “You might want to put those away.” She lifted an eyebrow. Ava frowned and then realized that her wings were out.

“It’s all right. I have cloaked us. No one can see.” Firo said quietly.

Karma looked up and down the alley. “Like no one?” She smiled. “That’s cool. If I could do that…”

Sparx stepped away from Ava and snorted. “It would be bad for the entire city.” She nodded to Firo. “Thanks.”

Ava stood there looking at the pavement. She wasn’t abandoned by her mother. She had been wanted.

“Look, I think you should go home.” Sparx nodded. “We’ll walk around some more and give you a call if we find something. You go back and try to chill.” She gave her a slight smile. “That’s a lot to digest.”

Ava nodded. “Yeah.” She felt like her head was in a fog. Shaking it, she blew out a breath and felt her wings recede. “I think I got it under control now.” She nodded at Firo.

“I will escort you back to your garage.”

“Thanks, Firo.” Karma smiled at him. “You’re pretty good for a glowing guy.”

Ava snorted. “You’re a weirdo, Karm.”

Karma laughed. “I know.”

Firo put his hand against the side of his head. “I will have to take you back now. I’m required by my princess.”

“How do you know that?” Sparx looked around.

He sent back a short response so she would know he wasn’t ignoring her and wouldn’t make his head feel like it was going to explode. “She can connect with me, I get—” He wasn’t sure of the word. “A sense inside my head when I’m required.”

“Capri does that with us.” Karms rolled her eyes, “Except Ava, she can’t get in her head.”

Ava remembered the bus. “You can do that to people, can’t you?” She looked at Firo.

“Only those I have a connection with.” He watched her, and she knew he wasn’t going to say anything about the bus out loud.

“Cool. Okay. Get your butt back home, we’ll be back in a while.” Sparx started going in the other direction. “Come on, Karm, I think the pretty man can handle a few blocks without issue.”

Karma smiled at him and then hurried after her.

“You did that when I was on the bus,” Ava said quietly.

“It was a dire situation. I couldn’t yell and risk the other humans hearing me.”

She sighed. “I guess not.” She turned and started going back in the direction they’d come from. “I was born there, wasn’t I?”

He was quiet for a few seconds. “You were.”

“Is that…” The pain stabbed into her head. She stopped and put her hand over her forehead.

“No more thoughts of it right now, Avalie.” He was right beside her. “I will tell you when the time is right.”

She blew out a breath. “When will that be?”

“I don’t know yet.” He said it quietly, and she could hear the doubt and hesitation in his voice.

Rolling her head from side to side, she checked to see if the pain was gone. It was, so she started walking again. “Hey, whatever else there is to tell, just knowing I wasn’t left behind on purpose means a lot.” She turned to see him watching her.

“I hope that is true, Avalie.”

She smiled. It felt weird when he called her that. Her face felt hot like she was blushing or something when he said it, which was ridiculous. “Just call me Ava, okay? The other doesn’t sound right after this long.”

“As you wish.” He put his hand on her arm, and that tingling was there again. “Just, don’t force it, okay? The pain can’t be worth any bit you recall.”

She scoffed. “A few flashes is all I’ve recalled in all these years.”

He held her look, and she was momentarily lost in his pretty blue eyes. Removing his hand from her, he stiffened. “I should get back before my princess gets annoyed.”

Ava nodded. “Sure, you go do your thing. I can make it from here.”

He shook his head. “I will stay with you until you are home. Ava—” He closed his mouth abruptly.

“Okay. Cool.” She started walking. Her mind was going so fast that she couldn’t think of anything else to say. Someone knew her mother. She was a fairy and an angel. That had to be some kind of anomaly, right? Considering she’d never met anyone with wings until the fairy princess, she already knew the answer to that.

“I will see you again.” He said quietly.

She stopped and turned to see him watching her. Before she could reply, he disappeared. For a split second, she wondered if she could do something like that. Shaking her head, she sighed. A nap. She was going to take a nap. The insane crap she kept thinking was getting way out of control lately.