Just His Taste (16 page)

The thought made her sick. At least, as his Fairy Godmother, she could…

Who was she kidding?

She was a crappy Fairy Godmother. A stupid, crappy Fairy Godmother who'd fallen in love with her charge.

She deserved to get in trouble.

She'd screwed up.

And now she had to pay for it.

“Where am I going?”

“House arrest,” Duncan said. “I'm sorry, Ava. I tried to—”

“You told?” Ava asked, jerking away from him.

“I didn't have to.”

“Who did?” Ava asked.

Anteros appeared. “I did. There is a code Fairy Godmothers must follow. You chose to ignore it.”

He's supposed to be on my side,
Ava's thoughts screamed.
How could he do this to me?
After what Cupid had put her through? “You're no better than your brother,” Ava spat.

“We
are
brothers.” He glanced at Duncan. “Seal her in her home. I would not doubt that she would try to escape to the mortal world.”

“I'd rather lose everything and go there than be locked up here like a criminal.”

Anteros got very close to her. “What if all this is worth nothing and the file remained the same? If your charge was still meant to be with her?”

“He can't be. It can't be true.” Tears welled in her eyes and she looked away from the god.

“What if it is?” Anteros asked.

Ava slumped in Duncan's arms. Because that thought had hovered in the back of her mind, just waiting to be spoken.

And he'd said it.

Which made it real.

What if all this was worth nothing, and Jason was still supposed to be with Tessa?

Then where would she be?

Ava would be screwed.

And heartbroken.

Because she realized she loved Jason. The thought of him being with someone else made her sick.

She glanced at Anteros as Duncan whooshed her away.

She'd be just like the forlorn god. Loving only from afar, and never having it returned.

How could she live like that?

How could anyone?

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Thursday

Jason went over his recipes and his supplies. He'd signed up several months ago for a barbecue cook-off this weekend, and he wasn't ready. Though, his dad was ready to go—his dad filled out his team—and they would stay overnight to be sure the meat got put on and fully cooked at the right time.

And his dad had the big smoker. Dad was particular about the smoker and took care of that part. It was his dad's fault he'd gotten into competitive barbecuing—it had started as a father/son thing, and now Jason was the “leader”, and his dad just assisted.

Usually, this was a lot of fun. This time, though, Jason kept having to check his prep lists because he felt like he was forgetting stuff.

So distracted all week wondering about Ava, he'd had to go to the grocery store three times to get supplies. And looking around, he realized he'd forgotten the parsley for his blind box.

Again.

The damn woman had him in knots. He hadn't felt her around for days. And this weird feeling that something had happened to her kept digging in the back of his mind.

If that Cupid guy…
He'd been doing some reading about the gods and goddesses, and a lot of the lore matched what Ava said. Aside from small details, of course—like everyone thinking Cupid was the little guy with the diapers and the arrows.

Evidently, that part of history was wrong.

He shook off the thoughts. Ava wasn't human; she was a fairy. And she had magic. She could take care of herself. At least, that was what he had to tell himself. There wasn't anything else he could say—because he still didn't completely understand this whole fairy thing.

Maybe some emergency had come up? She'd said that she had to go the other day—her fairies needed her.

That had to be it.

She was busy helping them.

He'd packed most of his nonperishable gear in the back of his serial-killer van and was going over the final grocery list.

Parsley.

Top of the list.

A
whoosh
emanated from his living room.

Jason jumped, his heart hammering. He darted into his living room. The sound was so similar to the sound Ava made whenever she arrived that he expected to see her.

Not this time.

He exhaled a breath, disappointment consuming him as he glared at the visitor.

That guy, Duncan, the chaperone, stood in his living room, wings spread, in a very formal-looking navy-blue uniform. A horrible feeling roiled around in Jason's gut.

“Jason Gregorian?”

“Yeah,” he said.

“You need to come with me.”

“Why? W-what's happened? W-w-where's Ava?” Panic thundered through Jason. This wasn't right. It couldn't be.

“You just need to come with me right now.”

“Is s-she okay?” Jason asked, not moving, and wanting to kick his own ass for stuttering like a fool.

Duncan looked exasperated. “She's fine. But she needs your help.” He held out his hand.

“What can I do?” What in the world could Ava need his help for? She was a fairy. It wasn't like she needed his help with magic or anything. That was her area.

“Please trust me. This is highly irregular, but I don't know how else to help her without you.”

Jason took his hand, but felt very weird about it. Suddenly, everything around him flashed white. He winced at the brightness, but it was gone in an instant.

He blinked, focusing.

Holy crap, what a way to travel.
A wave of nausea rolled over him. He shook his head and swallowed a few times, forcing the sensation away.

He stood in a room which was lined with white columns and gold floors. A row of men and women sat in a horseshoe shape around a single pedestal in the center of the room. Huge statues that looked like something out of a history book, in pristine condition, stood behind the horseshoe. Taking it in, Jason realized that the statues created a larger-than-life and far more intimidating version of the person in each chair.

Like something out of a Disney movie, gods and goddesses, as well as a few fairies, held position in the chairs.

In the center of the horseshoe stood Ava. Her hands bound and attached to the pedestal.

“Ava,” he whispered, taking a step toward her. She looked horrible—her hair hung down her back, and her wings were closed. Their usual red sparkle gone and they looked heavy. Shoulders slumped, she looked like all the life in her had been beaten down.

As Duncan escorted Jason to the pedestal, she stood a tiny bit straighter, her eyes wide.

“What are you doing?” she whispered to Duncan.

Duncan glanced at Ava. “Trust me.”

“You brought a human here?” the large man in the center of the circle said. And if Jason wasn't mistaken, he looked a lot like Zeus from the historical stuff he'd been reading.

Duncan crossed his arms behind his back. “It is my job, Jupiter, to defend Avalynn Fay the best I can.”

“And you think a mortal can add to this?” Jupiter asked, his voice echoing over the murmurs from the others.

“I know he can,” Duncan said. Duncan glanced at Jason. “Answer the questions to the best of your ability.”

“What is this? W-w-why is Ava on trial?” Jason asked. He gaze darted to Ava.

“Don't make him do this,” Ava said. “He shouldn't be here.”

Duncan leaned close to Ava, and Jason barely heard what he whispered. “You have to trust me, Ava. I promised I would help. And I will.”

A rhythmic clank reverberated through the room. Jupiter clunked a globe on marble, silencing everyone.

Duncan nudged Jason forward. “Just answer them.”

Jason nodded. Though he wasn't sure what
he
could do to help Ava.

“What is your relationship with Avalynn Fay?” A woman on the horseshoe asked. She glowed with a soft golden aura—he guessed—and wore an Ancient Roman female toga thingy. Her face, though, was as cold as the statues around the edges of the room.

He stood up straight and looked right at her. “She is my Fairy Godmother.”

Another woman spoke, with the same stern expression from the other side. “How do you feel about her?”

Jason glanced at Ava. And knew in this moment he had to make a decision.

His feelings had left any sort of friendship in the dirt. Seeing Ava like this, wearing that plain, hospital-gown-like dress and the sparkle gone, he wanted to pummel everyone on that circle. How could they do this to her? She was a fairy—correction,
his
fairy—and he couldn't let them convict her of anything.

She hadn't done anything wrong.

He hadn't done anything wrong.

He loved her.

That was all.

He loved her…

The words echoed in his mind and he knew they were the truth. More than anything, he loved her, and couldn't let anything happen to her. One look at this crowd, and he knew they wouldn't be interested in hearing that.

But weren't gods and goddesses all about love and shit?

As he glanced around, he doubted they were very interested in love. If he told them the truth, she'd lose everything she had.

He couldn't do that to her.

Not now. Not ever.

“She is v-v-very nice,” he said, and grimaced over his stutter.

“Do you care for her?” another person asked.

“Sure, I guess.”

“So you have no feelings for her,” the first woman asked, her voice booming around the room.

“Should I?” he asked.

“It is believed that Miss Fay has had inappropriate relations with her charge.
You.
What say you?”

He glanced at Ava, then turned back to the woman. “Nothing inappropriate happened between us.”

The woman nodded.

The room went dead silent.

Jason's heart pounded, and he wondered if he'd somehow just screwed this up royally. He wanted to protect her, make sure she didn't get fired, but why did he feel like he'd just done the worst possible thing he could have?

He opened his mouth to say—what?—he wasn't sure.

“That will be all,” the woman said.

“That's all you want to know?” Jason asked. “You brought me here to ask me that?”

“For now. Dismissed.”

For a brief second, Jason wondered if that meant that the case was dismissed, but from the look on Ava's face, any hope left disappeared. He tried to meet her gaze, but she wouldn't look at him.

“Ava,” he whispered.

Her eyes were as cold as the rest of the people in the room. “You can go now.”

“Ava, I w-wanted to help.”

“You've done enough,” she snapped.

Not good.

This was not good.

A fairy with blue wings came toward him from the edge of the circle. It was then he noticed a small seating area behind the entrance where a few fairies and other beings sat. Several watched this trial, whispering as he began to leave the room. The woman with blue wings escorted him to the door. It wasn't until they got outside that the woman smacked him upside the head.

“What were you thinking?” she snapped at Jason.

“Who the hell are you?” Jason asked, rubbing his head.

Another woman waited out there, she with gold wings and corkscrew-curly blonde hair. “She's done. She's ruined.”

“What did I do?”

The blue girl dragged him away from the proceedings, out of earshot of anyone in the room. At least Jason hoped it was out of earshot. These were mythical beings. Who was to say what they could or couldn't hear? “You went up there and lied. Even I could see it.”

“What do you mean, ‘see it'?” Jason asked.

The gold girl sneezed, shooting gold glitter everywhere. “These are gods. Do you think they paid any attention to your words?”

“Well what would they pay attention to?”

“Your aura. It practically engulfed her as soon as you got near her.” The blue girl shook her head. “That's it, she's done.”

The gold girl rubbed her eyes. “And everything was going so well.”

Jason held up his hands. “Wait. Who are you?”

“We're the rest of her trio. I'm Christy. This is Lilly. And you're the man who's probably gotten her expelled from the Fairy Realm.”

“I wanted to save her!” Jason snapped.

“By lying?” Christy snapped, getting in his face.

“If I t-t-told—”

A new man, who looked quite a bit like Duncan, came between them. “It doesn't matter.” He wrapped his arm around Christy and she curled into him. “We'll figure out what to do, baby.”

Christy glared at Jason. “I could just kick you.”

Jason raised his eyebrow.

“We need to get you out of here,” the man said. He held out a hand. “Ewan. Christy's husband.”

Jason shook his hand.

That stone clattered inside again.

Jason turned, trying to see in the room.

“Avalynn Fay, you have behaved in a manner unbecoming a Fairy Godmother,” the man in the center bellowed. “You are hereby sentenced to never leave the Fairy Realm again.”

Ava's shoulders slumped.

Pain stabbed Jason's heart.

Holy hell, what had he done?

Chapter Thirty

Saturday Afternoon

One thousand five hundred seventy-four minutes and thirty-one seconds had passed since Ava had been sentenced.

Tick…

…

…

…

Tock.

One thousand five hundred seventy-four minutes and thirty two seconds.

For approximately twenty of those minutes, Ava hadn't cried. The rest of that, though, she had. Along with breaking and throwing things.

She tried to decide if she hated Jason or if she loved him more for lying to the Council. Because she did love him.

Though she wasn't sure she wouldn't smack him upside the head if she saw him again. A moot point since she'd never be able to. She still very much loved him. No denying that fact. Seeing him walk into the proceedings made her heart leap, but at the same time, it had destroyed her.

Duncan's desperation made him bring a mortal into the proceedings. What had he been thinking? Why would he assume bringing Jason here would make it better? It only amplified the fact that their relationship wasn't what it should be.

Now she was here. Forever.

Never able to cross to the mortal world again.

It didn't matter if she loved Jason or not. Because she'd never see him again. And that was more upsetting than her sentence.

Maybe in a few years she'd be able to leave her house. She hadn't been confined to her home or anything, just the Fairy Realm, but she glanced at her ankle—a little golden bracelet, which could have been just a pretty, dangled. But it was a powerful little bobble. It kept her chained to the Fairy Realm.

She knelt down, and though she knew better, tried to yank the little chain off. It shocked her with a mini-lightning bolt.

Jupiter had been rather proud of this little invention. Not that Ava ever thought she'd have to wear one.

Ava dropped to her butt, lying on her floor, and stared at the ceiling.

Tears filled her eyes again.

And she chided herself—she thought she was done with tears. Had moved on to the massive hole of depression in her heart.

“Ava! Open this door!” Pounding outside jarred her from her latest crying fit, and she blotted her face with used tissues.

When she opened the door, Christy burst in the door, followed closely by Lilly.

“Oh, I am so cross with you!” Christy snapped as she grabbed Ava and enveloped her with a bear hug. “What were you thinking?” She released Ava, and then Lilly grabbed her and hugged her too.

“Sweetie, why didn't you tell us?” Lilly asked.

Fresh tears fell down Ava's cheeks as she pulled away. “You all shouldn't have to take care of my messes.”

“We're a trio. It's our job to help each other!” Christy said. “You should have told us what was going on.”

“I couldn't tell you,” Ava said.

“Why not?”

“Because,” Ava said, “then I would have had to tell you everything. And that's worse.”

Christy dropped onto a chair, arms over her chest, and Lilly did the same. “There's more than you falling in love with your charge?” Christy asked.

“A lot more,” Ava said, head hung. “Stuff that didn't come out in the trial.”

Christy put her arms on the armrests and narrowed her gaze at Ava. “So tell me now. Tell us both the full, unabridged story.”

Ava hung her head. “Ever wonder why Cupid spent so much time bothering us while we were on assignment?”

“Because he's annoying,” Lilly said.

“Because I was sleeping with him,” Ava said.

Both fairies' eyes went wide. “Since when?” Lilly asked.

“For a while. About sixty years, I think.” Ava slumped into her favorite chair, tugged at the oversized sweatshirt she wore—the one Jason had worn on the stakeout—and pulled her knees to her chest under the shirt. And tried not to let fresh tears burst out again.

“That explains a lot,” Christy muttered.

“But why?” Lilly asked. “I mean, he'd handsome, but he's a…well, a jerk. Why would you ever get involved with him that way?”

Ava shrugged. “The first time, I needed his help. My case wasn't going so well. So he helped me. After that, it became because I wanted to. Or at least I thought I wanted to.”

“What do you mean?” Lilly asked.

“I've been
attracted
to Cupid because of his damn love potion.” She made little air quotes. “The only good thing about this case was I accidently drank the antidote, while trying to give it to Jason, and it kicked the spell out.”

“Does the Council know this?” Christy asked.

Ava shook her head. “Anteros knows.”

“But Anteros had you seized,” Lilly said.

“I know, I don't understand.” The god had been so eager to help. He'd listened to her tale about Cupid and what that jerk had done, and agreed with how wrong it was. She'd thought he was angry because of what Cupid had done. So she told him more.

And more.

Including Jason, and why she was certain the file was wrong. And that she was in love with him.

She never expected Anteros to turn her in. But that was probably her problem—she hadn't expected it. She should have known that Anteros wouldn't let such a major violation go without some kind of reprimand.

“So what happened with Jason? How'd this come about?” Lilly asked.

“I just did my thing, talking to him. And it was there. Almost immediately. Cupid and I had gotten into a fight at the wedding that first day, and Jason broke it up. I tried to shake it off. Hell, I even wrecked my motorcycle trying to get my head on straight.”

“You didn't even tell me you wrecked until Lilly was in the hospital,” Christy said. “I don't understand, Ava. Don't you like us?”

“Well yeah.”

“So why did you keep all this from us?”

“I don't know. If I had told you I wrecked, I would have had to tell you why. It's bad enough the FID suspected something. I didn't want… You're both so good, and I've never been as strong of a godmother as you both. I didn't want to fail. I didn't want you cleaning up my messes.”

The two fairies bum-rushed her, and all three sat together, crying and hugging. The emotions overwhelmed Ava. She'd never been good with this stuff, and to feel this incredible outpouring of love from her friends…she didn't know what to say.

“You don't have to be alone. We're going to help you,” Christy said.

“There's nothing that can be done now. Not anymore. The sentencing has been set. I'm here. For the rest of eternity. No retirement. No mortal world. I'm done.”

“Well, it's not like you have to stay in your house,” Lilly said. “I am sure we can find a job for you. I mean, Cupid asked me to help him train his minions better. I could use a helper.”

Ava snorted. “I don't know if I could be around Cupid without killing him.”

“True,” Christy said. “We should talk to Duncan. He knows about this stuff.”

“He's the one who brought Jason to the trial. Didn't help me much there.”

“There has to be someone…” Christy said. “What about Cupid? This is his fault. He started all of this. He should have to help you out.”

“It would be another trial,” Ava said. “I guess he's been tampering with my cases for years. Duncan went back and did the research. Cupid shot most of my charges, and occasionally the HEA, just to bring the cases to a close.”

“Well, he shouldn't be doing that.”

“Don't you see? It's one more stake in my coffin. If he's had to fiddle with my cases all this time, and I didn't even know, then what good of a Fairy Godmother am I? At least I'm here. Not in one of Jupiter's cells somewhere.” That was the only plus side she could find.

And it was a crappy one.

“Or banished to the mortal world,” Christy said.

“But if you were there, Jason would be there,” Lilly said.

“So? I don't even know if he and I are supposed to be together. The file was changed. It could have said Keira Knightley initially. I don't know.”

Christy snorted. “Well, wouldn't it be nice to work with a celebrity that wasn't a Cupid Case?”

Ava couldn't help laughing at that. “What's the point of going back to the mortal world anyway? I won't ever know what that file said—”

“What if we tried to—”

“Now, Miss Christy, you wouldn't be plotting to get into trouble for your friend, would you?” Cupid said. Both he and Anteros were standing in the doorway.

Ava glared at Cupid. “What do you want?”

“Ladies, we need to speak to Avalynn alone, please,” Anteros said.

“Why not? What's one more secret?” Christy snapped and the two fairies left, not very happy about it.

“Haven't you both ruined my life enough?” Ava snapped. “Why don't you both go boil in oil.”

Cupid put his hand on his chest. “You wound me.”

“Good.”

“We do have purpose here,” Anteros said.

She dropped back in her favorite chair, arms crossed. “So what do you want?”

Anteros glared at Cupid. “You have something to say to Avalynn?”

“Not particularly,” Cupid replied.

Anteros punched his arm.

“Oh fine,” Cupid snarled. He rolled his eyes and faced Ava. “Ava, I changed your charge's file because I didn't want you leaving the Fairy Realm.”

“What are you talking about?” Ava asked. Had Anteros gotten it fixed?

Anteros handed Ava the file. The strained lines from where Cupid's magic had warped it were gone. She flipped it open. The other blank line that had been there before had filled in.

Avalynn Fay.

Her jaw dropped.

And she punched Cupid in the face.

“How fucking dare you! How dare you manipulate me like that! I could have been honorably retired! Now I'm a goddamn convict! And I've lost my Happily Ever After because of you! You have ruined everything!”

Cupid held his nose. “I am not done,” he said, his voice nasally.

Anteros put his hand on Ava. “Just let him finish.”

“I'm the God of Love. There's no reason for you to want anyone but me, Ava,” Cupid said.

“You're lecturing me on love?”

“It is my area.”

“How dare you!”

“What's wrong with me? What makes him so much more special?”

“He didn't
make me
love him. I got the choice! I should have had the choice!” And then Ava realized her relationship with Cupid mirrored Jason and Tessa's. It was about the control. Not the love. Cupid wanted to control her, just like Tessa wanted to control Jason.

“You can't make someone love you, Cupid,” Ava said, crossing the room.

“But it's what I do.”

“It's not real when you force it!” Ava said. “What I had with Jason was real! Don't you get that?”

Cupid hung his head, then glanced at Anteros like a child who got caught stealing from the grocery store.

Anteros nodded like a parent making the kid own up to it.

Cupid sighed. “Since I put you in this position, Ava, I will get you out.”

Ava snorted.

“I hereby take your place in your sentencing. I will be bound to the Realm for all of eternity, and allow you to leave.” The air crackled with his words, and lightning flashed in her home.

Ava blinked. Glanced at Anteros. “Holy Hera, what is that?”

“That, my dear, is my area.” Anteros took Ava's and Cupid's hands and held them together. “As a witness of the Realm, and a member of the Council, I hereby allow Cupid's concession to stay in the Realm for the length of Avalynn Fay's sentence, allowing her to leave to find her true Happily Ever After.”

The bonds that held Ava in the Realm dropped away. The ankle bracelet fell to the floor with a delicate
ting
. And another one, a little thicker, appeared on Cupid's ankle.

Her magic returned in its full glory. Her wings brightened back into their reddish-pinkish color. With a wave of her hand, she changed from her bumming clothes to one of her black catsuits.

The joy she felt dissipated when she glanced at Anteros, then at Cupid. The pain on Cupid's face was intense, the usual jovial expression replaced with one of shadow and sadness.

“Why are you doing this?” Ava asked Cupid.

“Because, Ava, I loved a mortal once too. I want you to be happy.”

She put her hand on his cheek. “You didn't—”

He turned, pressing a kiss into her palm. “Yes. Yes I did.”