Page 10 of Beyond the Faerie Gate

Wings mean flying.

I can… fly?

“So I have no choice but to go with you?”

“There is always a choice,” he replies evenly. “But if you do not return, there are others who will come looking for you. Some, like me, are sworn to protect you… Others would burn the entire realm to capture you and use you to further their own goals.”

That… doesn’t sound good.

I turn back to my brother. “You haven’t said anything. Aren’t you supposed to be bargaining for more protection?”

Bitterness coats my tone, and he visibly flinches.

“Rose, give me some credit. You were my sister before you were a fairy.”

“If our situations had been reversed,” I begin, glowering at him. “I would’ve told you. I wouldn’t have hidden the truth.”

A hand, warm and unexpected, on my forearm, draws my gaze away and back to Jaro. My skin tingles wherever he touches, and it’s not an unpleasant sensation.

“It’s natural for you to hate being lied to,” he says. “Even if it’s only by omission. All fae are the same. We cannot lie, and so we hate being the victims of it.”

I… can’t lie? If anyone had said that to me yesterday, I would’ve laughed in their face. Sure, I like to consider myself an honest person, but before now I’ve never tried to think of an instance when I’ve outright lied.

Nothing springs to mind.

How have I not noticed this before?

At least Jaro’s not ignorant of how he’s methodically deconstructing my entire life. He offers me a sympathetic nod and gives me a second to process this latest revelation.

“So this is it?” I ask. “I should just… pack my bags?”

Jaro’s shoulders slump the slightest fraction with relief. “That would be ideal. Pack light. We don’t know whether there will be horses for you on the other side.”

Horses?

I have no idea how to ride.

“Don’t forget to eat first,” he reminds me.

I look down at my plate and grab the first thing I see just to appease him.

Long moments pass as I munch my way through an apple, then through a hunk of bread.

“I would like to make a bargain,” my brother says, breaking the silence.

“I have no other babes in need of a home,” Jaro retorts, leaning back and lacing his fingers together behind his head.

“Not for a babe.” Tom shakes his head. “I want the portal gone. Name your price to destroy it.”

Jaro throws his head back and laughs. “You want me to destroy a portal? An ancient crossroads between realms? You’re vastly overstating my abilities, mortal.” He cocks his head to one side, giving me an evaluating look. “Rose could, when she’s back in her realm. I imagine it would take less than a snap of her fingers.”

“Why would you want to stop me from coming back?” I whisper. “I could visit…”

Surely—even now I’m apparently a fairy—that doesn’t mean goodbye forever?

Tom’s sigh is long and loud, echoing in the small cottage. “You don’t belong here, and I don’t want to be tied to the gate and this cottage forever, either. Clair and our children deserve a better life.” He scratches his beard, sighing. “I’ve wanted to move our family to the city where I can earn a better wage for a while now. I want a future anywhere that isn’t here.” He pauses. “Don’t look at me like that, Rose. We’re both adults now. We have separate lives. It doesn’t mean I don’t love you, but sometimes God puts people on different paths.”

For the first time, I look at my brother and see the deep-seated unhappiness written across his face. I always assumed he was well settled here; he got along with everyone, at least. But village mentality—knowing everyone, and seeing them all the time—isn’t always a good thing. Maybe he felt just as stuck in his role here as I did.

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