Darkness & Light (War of the Fae: Book 3) (21 page)

Spike raised his eyebrow in challenge.
 
“Better be careful.
 
I’m not discriminating between females and males so much anymore.”

Finn got a horrified look on his face.
 
“What?
 
Are you
gay
now?”

Spike laughed – he couldn’t help himself.
 
So did Becky and me.
 
It was impossible not to.
 
Even Tim was giggling.

Finn held up his hands in peace, “Not that there’s
anythin
’ wrong with
bein
’ gay, don’t get me wrong.
 
I’m just
askin
’.”

“No, for your information, I’m not gay.
 
But I can get my needs for energy satisfied by anyone, fae or human, male or female.
 
It’s not sex, even though it might feel as good as sex.
 
And eventually I get so hungry, I stop worrying so much about whether the giver is even cute or not.
 
And trust me Finn, you aren’t very cute
at all
.
 
Not even a little.”

“Well,” said a mollified Finn, “that’s good news ... that you don’t think I’m cute.
 
Not about the gay thing, though.
 
I mean, you can be all broke-back if you
wanna
be.
 
I don’t care.
 
We’re friends no matter what.”

“I’m not gay.”

“Sure, man, whatever you say.
 
I believe you.”
 
He turned his head and muttered, “Even though you wouldn’t catch
me
suckin
’ no energy outta no
guy
.
 
I don’t care how damn hungry I got.”

Becky was already giggling but that last comment had her laughing so hard she nearly fell out of her chair.
 
Even Jared was smiling.

Spike threw his fork down.
 
“Oh yeah?
 
Well, just try being an incubus for one day and see how selective you are!”

He stood to go, but I reached out and grabbed his arm.

“Spike, don’t go.
 
He’s only teasing.
 
I think it sucks that you’re
kinda
like a slave to this need thing.
 
I’d be ... interested in seeing what it’s like.”

“I’ll bet you would,” said Finn, teasingly.

“
Ooo-hooo
,” said Becky.
 
“Go for it, Jayne.”

“Shut up, you
fucknuts
.
 
I’m not talking about it like that.
 
I’m just saying ... I don’t know ... I’m curious.”

Spike got his smile back.
 
“I would be more than happy to indoctrinate you into my world, Jayne.
 
Anytime.
 
You just say the word and I’ll be there.”
 
He winked at me, his spirits restored.

“You can count on it.”
 
I noticed Scrum getting antsy at the idea, so I added, “And Scrum can supervise.”

“Whatever,” shrugged
Spike.
 
“He can watch if he wants.
 
We can do it fully clothed for all I care – even though ... ” he leaned in closer to us and lowered his voice, “ ... it’s much more fun when you do it naked.”

“Oh, geez, Spike ... did ya have to go there?
 
Now I’m gonna have to go wash my eyes out with soap,
picturin
’ you without your clothes on an’ with a guy.”

“Oh, for shit’s sake, Finn,
I’m not gay!”

We all collapsed in laughter, our worry for Chase temporarily falling away.

“So what are we going to do today?” asked Tony, deliberately changing the subject as part of his constant bid to be the nice guy who worries about other people’s feelings and keeps the peace.

“We are going to go talk to Dardennes about you, and then I have to go with Tim to get his blood taken by our healers – then we have to bring it out to the forest for Goose to take back to his lab.”

“Who’s Goose?” asked Spike.

“Long story – but he’s the guy who’s helping fix Chase.”

“How come you’ve got to meet him out in the forest?
 
Sounds like a bad drug deal scene, passing out vials of pixie blood under the cover of trees.”

“Just don’t say anything to anyone, ‘
kay
?
 
We have to keep this a secret from everyone but us.”

“No big deal.
 
I can keep a secret.”
 
Spike smiled at me.
 
“Just let me know when you’re ready for a test-drive of the
Spikester
.”

Everyone groaned.
 
Test driving
the
Spikester
just sounded so wrong.

“What?
 
She offered!
 
You
know
I’m not going to turn that down.”

I stood, motioning for Tony to join me and for Tim to hop on my hand so I could lift him up to my shoulder.
 
“We’re outta here.
 
You guys have a good time out in the field.
 
Becky – see you at lunch?”

“Yep!”

“Save me a seat.
 
I might be late.”

“Sure.
 
See you later, tater.”

Tony followed me out of the room and towards
Dardenne’s
office.
 
He hadn’t been in the dining hall so this was the only other place I knew to look for him.

We arrived and I knocked three times.
 
The door opened and Ivar was standing there.
 

“Is Mr. Dardennes here?”
 
I asked.

“Yes.”

“Please show her in,” said a female voice from inside.

I walked in and saw that Céline and Niles, the commando dwarf as I liked to call him, were gathered with Dardennes around his desk, looking over what appeared to be a map of the forest.
 
Walking closer, I noticed that it had symbols and markings all over it, but I couldn’t see exactly what they were; and some manners learned long ago forced me not to strain my eyes to get a better look.
 
I wished I could ignore them and act as nosy as I felt, but it just wouldn’t happen.
 
Dammit
.

“Hey, everyone.
 
I think you all know Tony?”

All the heads around the desk nodded.
 
Dardennes smiled.

“Well, anyway, he hasn’t heard what race he is yet, so I was wondering what I should do with him today.
 
Can he train with me?”

Céline and Dardennes looked at each other.
 
Céline gave a slight shrug.
 

Dardennes answered.
 
“I don’t see why not.”

Tony and I exchanged smiles.
 

I continued, “I also wanted to know if maybe you thought Tony might be a
wrathe
?”

Dardennes’ eyes opened wider at this question, as did Céline’s.
 

I noticed Niles getting agitated.
 
“What makes you think that?” he asked gruffly.

I shrugged.
 
“I don’t know.
 
I don’t know much about them really.
 
But Tony’s eyes turned gray after the change.
 
I heard
wrathes
have gray eyes.”

The three of them and then a fourth as Ivar walked over and joined them, looked closer at Tony’s face.

“What color were your eyes before, son?” asked Dardennes.

“Brown.”

“Interesting.
 
Tell me ... what other things do you notice that are different about yourself?”

“Well, I’m still able to vibe Jayne; that hasn’t changed.
 
But now ... uh ... I’m
kinda
vibing other people too?
 
I think?
 
And I think I’m hearing voices also.
 
Voices that aren’t ... uh ... attached to people.”

I looked at Tony in shock.
 
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me all this stuff?”

Tony shrugged, looking chagrined.
 
“Sorry.
 
We’ve just been
kinda
... busy.
 
I guess.”

I knew better than to ask any more questions.
 
I didn’t want Chase mentioned.

“And vibing would mean
... ?
” asked Céline.

“Oh, um, it means that I can kinda feel what Jayne’s feeling sometimes.
 
Not all the time.
 
And sometimes I know what she’s thinking too.
 
Not specific words usually, not details.
 
Just general ideas.”

“Hmmm ...
”
 
Dardennes
crossed his arms and rested his hand on his chin.
 
“Empathic, telepathic maybe ... what do you think?” he asked, turning towards Céline.

“Possibly,” she responded, noncommittally.

“He wielded the axe during the test,” said Niles.

Tony’s weapon that he’d selected during our changeling test was an axe that was similar to a
lightsaber
, the way it put off blue glowing hums every time he swung it around – at least, when he swung it around provoked and angry.
 
If he moved it when he wasn’t mad, it was just a regular axe.

“It’s worth a try to send him with Gregale for the day, I think.”

“That’s a great idea,” I said enthusiastically.

Dardennes lifted an eyebrow at me.

“
Uhh
, if my opinion counts for anything, that is.”
 
One of these days I might finally figure out that not everyone is interested in my thoughts on everything.
 
Maybe.
 
But then again, probably not.

“We value your opinion, Jayne.
 
We value all of the changelings’ opinions,” said Céline.
 
“We have as much to learn from you as you do from us.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” I said,
snorting.

Niles frowned at me again.
 
He was grouchy all the time, so it didn’t bother me at all.
 
Tony was looking a little worried though, so I nudged him in the arm.
 
“Don’t worry.
 
Gregale’s cool.
 
He’s the one who took me to see you in the Gray.”

“Exactly,” said Dardennes.
 
“If Tony is a
wrathe
, he will need to be intimately familiar with the techniques of getting into and out of the Gray.”

“We don’t need to lose another ... ”

“That will be enough, Niles,” said Dardennes, cutting him off deliberately.
 
“Would you please show this young fae where he can find Gregale?”

Niles nodded, scowling, immediately moving from behind the desk and heading towards the door.

Tony looked at me and I could tell from the look on his face he was thinking the same thing I was:
 
Who had gotten lost and where?

“I’ll see you later, Tones.
 
I’ve
gotta
... do something.
 
I’ll see you soon.”

Tony squeezed my hand and then turned to follow Niles out of the room.
 
I watched him disappear through the door, a little piece of my heart going out with him.
 
It’s like he was my kid brother going to his first day of kindergarten or something.
 
I shook my head to get it back on this planet.

“Where are you going today, Jayne?” asked Céline.

“I have to go to see the healers, and then I’m gonna go work with Gregale and Tony.”

“Why are you going to the healers?
 
Are you not feeling well?”

“Oh, no, I’m fine.
 
It’s Tim.
 
He’s got this wing thing,” I explained, being as basic as possible.

“And how are you feeling, Tim?” asked Céline politely.

“I’m in immense pain and I feel like
pixying
the lot of you,” he answered in his grumpy voice.

“He says he’s getting better and thank you for asking,” I said.

Dardennes smiled but said nothing.

“That’s good to hear.
 
Well, good luck.
 
Please let us know how Tony is getting along, won’t you?” Céline asked.

“Sure.
 
No prob.”
 
I turned, hurrying out of the room.
 
“Talk to you later.”

I closed the door behind me, imagining the clinic in my mind since that’s the only place I knew that had healers.
 
It’s where Chase had gone when he was shot with the arrow.
 
I had no idea how long it would take to get a pixie blood sample, but it couldn’t be an easy process.
 
His veins had to be as thin as a human hair.