Rafael glared at him. Louis laughed and leaned over to take the empty glass I’d been drinking from. He hovered his hand over it and water streamed down from his fingers. He handed it back. It was icy cold in my hands. The water looked clear… drinkable.
Setting it aside, I asked, “And you can shift into animals?” My mind drifted to the grizzly bear I’d seen in the streets yesterday. Gears slowly turned as I tried to connect what I’d seen with what they were telling me.
“Our shifting forms will be revealed on our terms. It’s impolite to ask a faerie what theirpneumais,” Rafael replied coolly.
His attitude was getting tedious. And so was his perma-scowl. I didn’t even know what a pneuma was and I didn’t press it. Instead, I set my hands in my lap and took several deep breaths.
Magic was real. I could handle this. I’d always suspected that somethingmoreexisted—my garden was living proof—but I hadn’t dared to dreamthisbig. This was incredible. A wide grin spread across my face, before fading to a dubious frown. “How are you like vampires?” The biscuit sat in my stomach like a rock.
“Before we get to that, let me tell you the history of how we came to be here.” Galen reached across the table and took my hand. “Up until two-hundred years ago, humans and faeries shared Erador. Fae are long-lived… nearly immortal, which means we reproduce at a much slower rate. Humans have always been the dominant species because of their ability to breed easily, along with their propensity for destruction and war.
“Our people prefer to live with the land. We feel a kinship with nature—a foreign concept to those who lack the ability to see its magic. For much of history, faeries avoided human society, choosing to live a nomadic lifestyle. Humans, however, were set on an insatiable path ofprogress.They built civilizations and then fought between themselves, devouring the natural world in the process. Faeries tried to adapt, but we were hunted… deemed monsters and demons. The Fae eventually found strength in numbers. We sailed across the sea from the Old World and discovered land that hadn’t been tainted by humanity. We created a home that was ours—a haven for faeries. We protected it with spells and wards, keeping humans out.”
“Wards?”
“Invisible walls of magic. With strong wards, a place can be hidden in plain sight,” Rafael answered. “Even an entire city, when enough faeries are gathered together.”
Galen eyed him and continued. “We named our Kingdom Aurelius, which translates togoldenin the language of the Fae. It was a golden age for us, lasting thousands of years. Humans rarely stumbled into our sanctuary, and if they did, we made sure they never left. We were able to grow our numbers and thrive.”
Aurelius…myAurelius, was an ancient Fae civilization? I stopped breathing.
Galen gave me a grim expression before continuing. “We were cursed one-hundred years before we were exiled to this world. We still don’t know how or why, but one cloudless evening, all faeries felt magic leave their bodies, like part of their soul had been ripped from them. Some of the elders instantly died, unable to live without magic. Some children became ill and perished, from a sudden lack of immunity. Later, we found out that humans beganproducingmagic that same night—housing our stolen magic in their blood, like wine in a bottle. Most of them couldn’t access it, their bodies incapable of channeling it.
“The Fae wouldn’t have learned that magic had found a new host, if there hadn’t been some that could wield it. Chaos broke out in human society; fires were accidentally started, people turned their loved ones into dust in the midst of an argument, some drowned as their lungs filled up with water. The magic rebelled. These stories trickled into Aurelius and some faeries left to look for answers—to find a way to break the curse. Naturally, they began to mingle with humans again.
“Desperate Fae ripped humans apart as they tried to take back what was theirs. It wasn’t until they tasted human blood that they realized theycouldget their magic back. In doses. Temporarily.”
“This is why we’re compared to vampires,” Louis chimed in. “But we’renothinglike them. They’resoulless—resurrected from the dead. They can’t even—”
“A topic for another time, Louis,” Rafael said, silencing his brother with a hard stare.
Galen cleared his throat. “Once humans realized we required their blood to use our powers—that Aurelius existed and housed an entire community of Fae—they began to strategize. Their goal was simple; eradicate faeries from the world, while we were at our most vulnerable. We fought back, so they exiled us.”
Galen sighed, his eyes softening as they met mine. “We’re still cursed, which means we must drink human blood to wield magic.”
I pulled my clammy hands from his, shivering in the heat of the day. I was sitting with three faeries whodrankblood?
Did they view me as a food source?
I blanched, resisting the urge to back my seat away from the table and run.
Actually, running was probably a good idea. I forcefully pushed my heavy chair back and stood. The brothers were watching, waiting to see what I did next.
I stood locked in place, paralyzed with panic. My heart was beating wildly, my stomach was in my throat, my eyes were fixed on Galen. Had he been thinking about my blood while he was kissing me last night? My stare sharpened as fear turned to anger.
Galen carefully stood, as if he might spook me if he moved too fast. “Marigold… please sit down. We’re not going to hurt you.”
“Why should I believe you? W-what do you want with me?” I asked, voice quivering.
Cautiously, he made his way towards me, walking around the table. “You should believe me, because I’ve gone out of my way to protect you and make you feel safe since we met. And I’ll continue to do so. As for what we want… if you sit down, I’d be happy to tell you.”
He was standing beside me when he'd finished speaking. His hand reached out, but I jolted back.
“Don’t eventhinkabout touching me."
“I won’t touch you. Now, sit.”
I looked at the other brothers. Rafael had a smug little smirk on his face.
