Page 23 of The Fae Menagerie
"Who?"
"The fae who cleans your enclosure showed up after you were thrown in here. They said your mother requested them."
"Oh, thank the gods." I stood and grabbed Parker by the shoulders, pulling him in for a hug. "You and Chani are lifesavers."
Parker tensed, and then he gently grabbed my waist and stepped back. "I should get the sheets."
I sat on the chair in the corner and watched Parker make my bed. Each time I tried to help him smooth a corner or adjust the side lengths, the chair pulled me back. After a forceful tug crimped my wings, I gave in and let Parker work, all the while grumbling that it would be faster if I could help.
Finally, he finished. Chani gathered the dirty sheets and my garment, replacing it with another to wear tomorrow. I started to pull it on, since I'd taken to sleeping in it while Parker and I shared a bed, but he stopped me. "You'll wrinkle it."
"It's burlap. It'll wrinkle the moment I sit down on the viewing sofa."
He chuckled. "You'll wrinkle it more."
"You don't mind?"
"I want you to be as comfortable as you were in your own bed before I joined you." Parker tucked me into bed and kissed my forehead. "I'm sorry this isn't working out the way you planned."
"We'll talk to Mother," I said when he turned toward the door and the rest of my dirty enclosure. "She must know a way to return you to the human realm, at least."
"Thank you," Parker said.
"For what?" I'd brought him nothing but anguish over the last month.
"For trying to send me home," he said. "Even if she can't, it means a lot that you don't want to keep me here against my will. It goes against everything my grandma said about the fae, and I'm grateful."
He shut me in the bedroom with my thoughts. He wasn't wrong. Fae and human relations were strained at best and downright antagonistic at worst. When the rift between the human and fae realms had been easier to travel, humans had been lured to certain fae parties. Those that ate from the banquet could not return to the human realm. Some were glad for it, but others languished without their friends and families.
After hearing Parker's tales of his family, it surprised me he wanted to return. I could understand his desire for approval, but I didn't know how winning this deal for his father to make even more money off the backs of desperate humans would resolve his father's desire to see him dead.
Maybe it was all about the money. Parker's father had wanted him to marry a billionaire heiress. Once Parker made his family rich without a marriage contract, it might be enough to place him in good standing.
Except I knew too many ruthless fae. How long before Parker disappointed his father again, and the man put another price on his head?
I drifted into a fitful sleep. I didn't even wake when Parker came to bed, but during the night, I reached for him to make sure he was there and grazed his warm hip. He took my hand, then, and I sank back to sleep knowing he was safe.
I woke while the world was still silent, before the first chirps of birdsong. I showered and preened until I heard Parker stir in the bedroom. I dragged my fresh garment over my head and hurried him into the shower. Once he was somewhat dry and wearing underwear, I helped him dress in his beautiful suit that sparkled like stars.
Parker was right. My garment wrinkled the moment I sat at the table for breakfast. After a few minutes, it looked like I had been wearing it for weeks. I managed to eat without spilling anything on it, at least, and then the bell rang, calling us to the viewing room.
Parker balked at the doorway. One glance inside and I knew why. My mother sat on her usual bench, but it was now inside the enclosure facing the viewing couch.
"Oh, my little dragonfly. It's so good to see you!" She rushed me and air-kissed both of my cheeks. Her dress reminded me of tulips, both in the cut, with exaggerated scallops along the hem, and the color somewhere between orange and red. Her shoulder-length green hair looked like the upside-down flower's stem.
She held her arms wide and patted the backs of my shoulders with a hug that was more for show than for touch. "And your pet human is so adorable."
I rankled at the term, "pet," but Parker didn't seem to mind.
"What is your name, precious?"
"Parker." He extended his hand.
She swatted his knuckles and laughed. "Oh, no, dearie, you're getting a hug, too. None of this human professionalism."
Before he could pull away, Mother embraced him. He must have realized she wasn't touching him because his shoulders dropped a few inches below his ears.
He smiled when she stepped back. "So nice to meet you, Mother Thera."
