I awoke to the smell of coffee. Really strong coffee—the aroma was overwhelming. I sat up stiffly on the couch where I’d been napping and glanced over at the kitchen. A beautiful fairy with long pink hair was pouring me a cup of coffee.
"Uh, Moya, you didn't have to do that. How did you even know how too?" I knew that fairies had no need for caffeine, it made them ill. It’d been interesting to find out why Julie had always refused it, insisting that herbal tea or decaf was much better. I’d always thought she was just weird.
"Lattie showed me. She said this is your favorite beverage and she watches you brew it every day," she spoke and handed me the mug.
I looked inside the mug; the coffee was too black and thick. Yeah, Lattie watched me use the coffee machine, but she didn't know that you only need a few tablespoons of grinds. I smiled in appreciation and went to the fridge to drown it with milk. "Thanks, guys. Moya, did you find out anything helpful?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I did."
I spun around and shut the fridge door. "Really, what did you hear?"
"Well, there was a blonde girl taken from Iron World on Friday night. But not by the Seelie court," she informed me.
"Then who? And do we know for sure that it was Max?" I asked.
"The sprites have taken her. They did so after she was spotted on your balcony, arguing with you." She glanced at Lattie who looked ashamed. "I know it is Max because they call her 'The Yelling Iron Worlder'," Moya laughed.
"Lattie did your sister and her friends have anything to do with this?" I accused.
"Yes, maybe," she sadly replied. Her head hung so low, I felt sorry immediately. "But I didn't know, Avery! I swear!"
"Oh sweetie, it's okay. I know you had nothing to do with it. But this isn’t a very nice joke that they are playing. Max is just a human girl, and now she knows about our secret little world." I thought maybe I shouldn't call it 'our' world since I was nothing more than a mere human like Max. But, I was beginning to consider myself a little different than most others, mainly because of the unusual company I kept.
"Well, what do we do now? Can we go get her? Will they bring her back?" I asked, unsure. I mean, how much harm could they really cause Max? To them, this was just a little prank.
"Well, we could go and retrieve her, if you think that is best," suggested Moya in her calm and passive voice.
I pondered for a second. I don't think that anything too serious would happen to her, but I wasn't sure how safe the little sprites were in her presence. Max could do some damage if she was mad enough—I was the number one example of that.
"Yeah, we'd better go get her," I said reluctantly.
Once again, I found myself tramping through the woods behind two fairies. Well, one fairy and one ex-mermaid. It was daytime, so everything looked strangely different than it did at night. I glanced at Moya and Lattie ahead of me. Their vibrant colors and shimmery skin looked like an illusion in the clear daylight like they were too magnificent to actually be there and were just figments of my imagination. The autumn backdrop around us appeared to be dull shades of gray next to them.
"So, where do you suppose we start looking for her?" I asked.
"Well, I’m sure that if you just ask the sprites they will happily tell you, Avery. They admire you," Moya pointed out.
"Yeah, I think a little too much," I muttered. We continued through the forest for a little while longer. I wondered if Moya was getting frustrated at my lame human walking pace. After all, she could just pop in and out of anywhere she wanted to be. That would be so wonderful. I was daydreaming about that when, suddenly, a bug swung down in front of my face from above.
I squealed and jumped back but then realized what it was. Or rather, who it was. "Oh, Violet, It's you. You scared me half to death! I thought you were a spider or something!"
"Me, an ugly insect? I thought I was much prettier than that, Avery Quinn," she kidded and let go of her tiny vine to swing over onto my shoulder.
"You are, sweetie, don't worry. You're the cutest," I assured her. "Hey, guys! Over here," I called after Moya and Lattie, who were quite a ways ahead of me.
"Violet, do you know where they took my friend Max?" I asked and took a seat on a rock as she sat on my knee.
"Yes. But, I thought that she was not your friend?" she replied.
"Well, she's really not a good friend. But she's a friend type of person. Violet, who took her? And where is she?" Just then, Moya and Lattie approached.
"Violet, what did you do?!" accused Lattie like an angry mother. I had never seen her look angry before.
"Oh Lattie calm down, the angry blonde girl is fine. I'll bring you to the sprites who have her," replied Violet in a very annoying-little-sister kind of tone. "Come on, follow me."
We trailed behind Lattie’s troublesome sister for about twenty minutes until we stopped in front of an enormous oak tree. I gasped in surprise at the impossible size of the massive trunk. It was easily as wide around as a large house. How could no human know this was here? It would be a national landmark if anyone knew.
"Why are we stopping? Where's Max?" I asked.
"Up there," Violet pointed up into the big tree. It towered so high, I even had to step back in order to look up all the way. The branches grew and stretched in so many different directions that I lost track of where they began and where they ended. It reminded me of trees from tales that Aunt Tess used to tell me.
"Up there? How is she up there?" I asked. The trunk was at least thirty feet high before even a single branch was in sight. How was I going to climb it?
Everyone looked at me and smiled. Obviously, I was missing something. I usually was.
"Just hang on a second," Violet said impatiently. She fluttered over to the huge trunk and placed her tiny purple hand on it. Her eyes closed as she whispered words I couldn't hear. Then, suddenly, the tree appeared as if shuddered. My jaw fell open in surprise.
The old oak tree seemed to take in a deep breath, and it slowly and quietly began to expand. Then, one by one, little branches began to pop out and form a stair-like pattern, curling up the tree toward the top. I stood there in awe. I would ever get tired of this world.
"I love magic," I whispered again, but I knew the three fairies could hear me. Moya gave me a proud smile.
"Shall we?" Violet suggested with a quick sweep of her little hand.
"Yes," I replied and marched over to the stairs. "Let’s get this over with and get Max back to Iron World where she belongs."
"Avery, what are you going to do about her afterward?" Lattie asked me. She was fluttering nervously beside my head, worry on her face. "She knows about your secret now. How do you think she will handle this information?"
Lattie had a good point, a point that I hadn't even thought about yet. How would I deal with Max? Would she tell everyone in the world about my friends? "I'm not sure; I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it."
"I'm so very sorry about the mischief my sister has gotten into. Her childish ways have caused you a lot of trouble," she paused. ‘It’s the reason that I never told you about her. I didn’t want Violet to be a bother to you.”
"Don't be sorry. Ah, kids will be kids right?" I said. I had absolutely no idea how old Lattie and her sister were but, to her, Violet seemed sort of a kid. Getting mad at Lattie, or even Violet, wouldn’t make a difference at this point.
We were almost at the top of the stairs where the maze of branches began. From this close, I could see that the tree housed a tiny village of some kind. Homemade hammocks and cubby holes were cleverly placed, tables made from bark and branches gathered in the center of the little neighborhood. It was so cute. I decided that this must be where most of the sprites lived.
"Stay right here. I'm going to go find Thenan," instructed Violet. She flew off without another word and Lattie hurried off behind her.
"Come here, Avery," Moya said. She had taken a seat on one of the larger branches. I sat myself down next to her and laid my head on her s
houlder. Moya gently played with my hair, which was oddly comforting. Like the way it was when Jack and Celadine did it.
"Moya?" I asked.
"Yes, dear?"
"Have you ever heard of vampires bonding with humans, or with any other creature?"
"Hmm," she hummed in thought. "Well, I have heard of some old stories, ones of vampires having souls. A soul of an immortal would need to have some sort of a bond, to create a relationship that would last forever, like them. It only makes sense I suppose." Moya seemed so wise when she spoke. I loved listening to her. No wonder the summer queen was so close with her.
"Do you think that it's possible for fairies to bond with people? Since they are immortal too?" I asked.
"Maybe, I believe that anything is possible. After all, aren’t the bonds of love not just some form of magic when it comes down to it? And we both know how real and wonderful magic is."
"Yes, I definitely do. Magic is the most wonderful thing that I have ever seen," I replied with starry eyes.
"I can teach you some things if you like."
"But don’t I have to be a fairy?”
"Oh, I have a feeling you are more capable than you know. I've never known an Iron Worlder who draws magical beings to them the way you do. And you've certainly adapted well to our world. I don't see how learning a few simple magic tricks would be so hard for you," Moya insisted.
"That would be amazing if it were true. I would love to learn. Come over anytime," I invited. Even if it turned out that I couldn't do it, just learning about magic from Moya would be good enough for me.
"It's settled then. I will 'pop' by your apartment sometime next week," she joked. We both sat on a branch and laughed, but quickly put on our serious faces when Lattie and Violet suddenly came flying our way in a panic.
"What’s wrong? Where's Max?" I asked and jumped up.
"Avery, it's bad. It's really bad," Lattie cried.
"We need to go now before it's too late," Violet ordered.
"Wait! Go where? What’s going on?" I was so confused and panicked. What could have possibly happened in the few short minutes that they were gone?
Violet turned to her sister, signaling her to tell me.
"Lattie?" I spoke her name quietly.
"Max is not here," she answered slowly. "The sprites were fed up with her and..." She put her head down in shame.
"Lattie!" I cried impatiently.
"They traded her to the kelpie," Violet blurted out. "But if we go now we may be able to save her!"
My stomach did the clenching thing it was so used to doing lately. I remembered all too well what being in the hands of a kelpie was like. I began to feel dizzy with visions of my drowning, the cold murky water filling my lungs, the limp leaves getting sucked into my throat as I choked for air.
Moya rested a hand on my back to keep me from falling back. Max was drowning, probably as we spoke. How was I going to explain this to her family?
"Avery? Are you alright?" Lattie asked with concern. She hovered over my face and laid a small hand on my cheek. "I'm so very sorry for this, Avery."
I forced myself back into reality, enough to form words.
"Let’s go."
CHAPTER THIRTY
CRUMBLE