Once Upon a Changeling Read online

  Marcos didn’t get up. “Um, we’d kind of need a ride.”

  “I’ve got a cell phone,” I said, throwing open the door. “We’ll call a cab.”

  Marcos shrugged and then got up and followed me.

  “Wait, Russ,” said Puck. “You’re being stupid.”

  Marcos paused for a second. “He’s kind of got a point. You’re being cold. You’re being like all the rest of them.”

  Puck looked stricken.

  I swung through the door. Screw her. I’d figure this out on my own.

  How to do that was kind of a problem, however. My parents thought I was at school, so I couldn’t go home. I couldn’t go to school, because there was no way I’d be able to concentrate in class knowing that my entire family was going to die in two days. I told the cab driver to take us to the public library. They had computers there. And they had books on faeries. I had to figure out some way to fight the faeries.

  Marcos and I had to wait for the homeless guys to stop hogging the computers. There were always homeless people hanging out in the library. Apparently, since it was a public place, they thought it was like their living room.

  We didn’t come away with much from our search on faeries in the library. Apparently, faeries hated iron. It was pretty much the only weapon that every source agreed on. There were all sorts of other things, from salt to oatmeal to prayer, but none of those things were consistent throughout every source. Iron was.

  Marcos and I didn’t have much more of a plan other than to get iron—lots of it. It was afternoon, and Marcos left to go work an early shift at his job. I wasn’t working that day, so I caught another cab home. By this point, it was late enough that school was out anyway.

  I spent the evening dealing with Sean. Now that we had a real baby and not a changeling to deal with, the baby thing was twice as hard as it had been. For one thing, Sean cried all the time, especially if you left him alone for two seconds. The only times he wasn’t crying was when he was asleep or eating. I popped pacifiers in his mouth constantly. I was totally up for Marcos getting custody of this scream machine.

  Still, overall, he was, well, neat. He had tiny fingers and toes, and he liked to grab his toes with his hands and look at them. This seemed to really entertain him until the pacifier fell out of his mouth, and he started yelling his head off again.

  The thing was—I was glad we’d saved Sean. And I wanted more than anything to make sure he stayed safe. But I couldn’t help but think about the other babies the Korrigan Queen had stolen. The ones that were still stuck on that Hill and that were going to be killed in two days. Marcos was right. We needed to stop that. Not only because it would save our asses, but because I couldn’t handle the thought of babies dying.

  The next day, Marcos and I went shopping for cast iron skillets, because it was the only iron thing we knew of that we could easily buy. While we were loading up our cart at Wal-mart, I mentioned to him how I was feeling.

  “I feel you, man,” said Marcos. “I can’t stand the idea of that bee bitch hurting those babies either.”

  “And if we could somehow stop the sacrifice, it would solve everything,” I said. I struggled to push our cart full of heavy skillets forward up the aisle.

  “It would,” said Marcos, pushing me out of the way and taking over the cart. “But how are we going to do that?”

  I didn’t know. Our plan thus far had been to arm each of our family members with skillets and convince them to take them everywhere. “Maybe we just go back to the Hill,” I said. “Like before. I’ve still got the pear and the key.”

  “But you’re out of pixie dust, right?”

  I nodded.

  Marcos pushed the cart forward as if it were nothing. I felt like a weakling.

  “We could buy more pixie dust,” I said. “I know where the pixies hang out.”

  “Yeah, but who knows if that pear and key thing even works twice?”

  We didn’t know. “We’ve got to do something,” I said again.

  “We’ve got to talk to Puck,” said Marcos.

  I didn’t say anything. She hadn’t been at school today. Marcos hadn’t shown up for lunch either, so I’d had to eat alone, just like the old days. But I was fine with being alone. I wasn’t talking to Puck. She cared more about her precious Resistance than she did about people dying. Forget her.

  After we went shopping, I went to work at the Sub Stop. I didn’t feel much like working, but Marcos was going to his job, so I felt like I should go to mine. I slung peppers and pickles over layers of cheese, smeared mayonnaise and mustard on toasted bread. And I felt helpless, stupid, and scared.

  Maybe Marcos was right. Maybe we did need to talk to Puck. Had I been too hard on her? After all, she had tried to take us to that guy’s house to save us. Maybe it was just hard for her to understand. She was a faerie after all, not a human. It was like a cultural thing. But Puck was a good person. I knew that. So why hadn’t she seemed like it yesterday?

  As if on cue, a voice at the counter said, “Hey, Russ.”

  It was Puck. She wasn’t wearing any makeup, and it made her look more beautiful somehow, but also smaller and sadder. I was struck by the immediate urge to give her a hug.

  “Hey,” I said.

  “Do you get a break soon?” she asked. “We need to talk.”

  I looked around the restaurant. There were no customers. The guy working register was reading a comic book. I took off my apron. “I can take a break now.”

  We filed out of the Sub Stop, into the parking lot. Puck jammed her hands into her pockets and stared at the asphalt.

  I wanted to reach for her, but she seemed closed off, so I just scuffed the toe of my shoe on the ground. “What did you want to talk about?”

  “I don’t mean to be cold. I can’t help it, I guess. What you said about us being different species is true.”

  I was pretty sure Puck was breaking up with me. Or whatever. I guessed we weren’t even really together. I nodded.

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  Wait. I didn’t want Puck to break up with me. I didn’t want to be mad at her anymore. I wanted to fix this whole stupid situation. And then I wanted to take Puck to the movies or to mini-golf or something stupid. And more than anything, I wanted to kiss her again. “No, I’m sorry. I blew up at you.”

  She looked up at me. “I deserved it.”

  “No, you didn’t. Marcos and I shouldn’t have run off and did what we did without talking to you.”

  “I should have been more sensitive about your family and the baby,” said Puck.

  “But you were thinking about how we were your distraction and your whole plan was ruined.” Hold on, her distraction … . Was I having an idea?

  “I was being selfish.”

  “You were fine.” I was having an idea. Maybe a good idea. Impulsively, I pulled Puck close to me and kissed her hard. She melted into my arms, responding to my kiss with her lips and tongue. I kissed her and kissed her and kissed her.

  And then I pulled away. “Can we just be over it?” I said. “I’m sorry too.”

  She smiled. She really was gorgeous without makeup. Too gorgeous. Maybe Puck wore makeup to conceal her ethereal beauty, not to enhance it like human girls. Because without makeup, maybe it was too obvious that she was more than human. “We can be over it.”

  “Cool,” I said. “Can you come by my house later? My parents are out, and Marcos is watching the kid, I mean Sean. I have something I want to talk to you about.”

  She raised her eyebrows.

  “I think you’ll like it,” I said.

  Puck, Marcos and I were sitting in my living room. Marcos was bouncing Sean on his knee and cooing to him. “Da da da da,” said Marcos. “Say it, Sean. Say Daddy.”

  Puck shot me a funny glance.

  Sean gurgled a noise that sounded nothing like “da” or “daddy” or anything.

  Marcos’ eyes lit up. “Did you hear that? I think he said it.”

  “Um
, sure,” I said.

  Puck looked uncomfortable. Apparently, babies weren’t her thing. That was fine with me. Of course, I didn’t suppose that faeries and humans could really like reproduce exactly.

  “Do you want to hold Sean, Puck?” asked Marcos.

  “That’s okay,” said Puck, crossing her legs and knitting her fingers together. “Why did you want me to come over, Russ?”

  Right. I had stuff to explain. “Well, Marcos and I have been thinking about this whole Equinox thing, and neither of us can really deal with the idea of all those babies being killed. We want to stop it.”

  Puck relaxed her hands, appearing more comfortable with the subject change. “I want that too, but I don’t know how to do it anymore. It’s crazy dangerous to even try.”

  “I was thinking about how you planned to use Marcos and me as a distraction,” I said. “What if you still did?”

  “I can’t,” said Puck. “You already have Sean back.”

  “Yeah,” agreed Marcos over Sean’s head, “that ship has sailed.”

  “Not necessarily,” I said. “The Korrigan Queen is looking for us, right? She’s angry with us, wants revenge.”

  “Definitely,” said Puck. “But I still don’t see how that changes anything.”

  “What if you brought us to her, as if you were turning us over to her? As if we were prisoners? Would that be a distraction enough?”

  Puck bit her lip. “Oh, Russ. That would be so dangerous. You have no idea what they could do to you guys.”

  “Sure,” I said. “It would be dangerous. But so would sitting around our houses waiting for a faerie attack armed with cast iron skillets.”

  “He’s got a point,” said Marcos.

  Sean made another gurgling noise. I’d noticed that he cried less around Marcos than me. Kid already knew who his dad was.

  “That really did sound like he said, ‘Daddy,’” said Marcos.

  “No, it didn’t, dude,” I said.

  “Maybe,” said Puck.

  “What?” I said.

  “Maybe it could work,” she said. “If we did it tomorrow, the night of the Equinox, right before the sacrifice. Maybe … .”

  I grinned. Cool. “I’m in.”

  “Me too,” said Marcos. “But your parents can watch Sean, right?”

  “Here’s what we’d have to do,” said Puck. And she started talking.

  After we’d schemed and planned for a while, Marcos went to put Sean to bed. Puck and I sat in the living room together. “So the baby,” she said. “Marcos is into it.”

  I laughed. “Totally.”

  We were quiet for a bit. Puck twisted her fingers together and avoided looking at me.

  “Is everything cool?” I asked. “I mean, are you still mad?”

  “Can we go someplace to talk?” she asked.

  We went to my room. Just like the last time we’d been in here, we both sat on the bed. This was the second time Puck and I had been alone in my room. I could get used to it.

  “Listen, Russ,” she said. “I shouldn’t have acted the way I did yesterday.”

  “I thought we were going to be over that.”

  “No, really. I mean it. I really like you, Russ. And I meant it when I said I thought you were brave. You’re so brave. And when I’m around you, I feel all … I don’t know. I like being around you.”

  So, she wasn’t mad, then? Good. “I really like you too. And I’m sorry about yesterday as well.” Why did we have to come here to talk again?

  “Okay. Well, good then.” She took a deep breath. She hesitated, and then said, “Russ, what we’re going to do tomorrow night could easily get both of us killed.”

  “We already talked about this,” I said. “I know. I’m starting to get used to this.” Babies were going to get killed if we didn’t stop the sacrifice. It was the right thing to do. I was willing to take the risk.

  She took another deep breath. “We could die, and we’ve kissed a couple of times. And I’ve told you that I cared about you. And I meant that. And you also told me something when we first met. Something that I don’t think you’ve told anybody else. About how you knew the baby wasn’t yours. And the thing is—I am too. So, I don’t even know if it would even be … like good or whatever, but I just don’t think it would be fair, after everything you’ve been through for you to … . Oh, screw it. I don’t know how to say this.” And then, she pulled her shirt over her head, and she wasn’t wearing a bra, and I think my jaw dropped.

  I didn’t move. I didn’t speak. I didn’t really think, exactly, for a couple seconds. A couple long seconds. And then I picked up a pillow and thrust in front of Puck’s chest. “No,” I said.

  “Oh God,” she said. “You don’t have to say anything. I can sum it up for you. You think I’m a whore. You think this is crazy, and—”

  “No,” I said again. “I like you. There’s nothing whorish about you at all. I like kissing you, but I don’t think that I’m ready, that we’re ready, that … .” I trailed off. Part of my brain was screaming at me, demanding to know why I’d given her the damn pillow. “This is too soon.”

  She leaned close and whispered, “It’s not too soon. It’s almost too late.”

  “Because we might die? I’m not going to have sex just because I might die.”

  “Why not?” she asked me.

  Um … Did I know the answer to that? “It’s just not right,” I said, but I don’t think my voice sounded very convincing. Part of my brain was mad at me for doing its best to memorize every detail of Puck’s breasts, which all parts of me had found very, well, amazing.

  “Is it because you’re worried about like me getting pregnant or something, because I couldn’t. Humans and Fey can’t have babies. We don’t match or something.”

  “That’s not it,” I said, although knowing it was comforting. “It’s that … . Puck, we’ve still never been on a date. Don’t you think that’s moving a little too fast?”

  “I don’t care,” she said. “I want you. Do you want me?”

  Uh … “Of course,” I said.

  “Okay, then.” She reached over and grasped my hand and used it to pull me over to her. Her hands slid into my hair, one on the back of my head, the other on my neck. She drew my face down to hers. Our lips met. My arms went around her. The pillow fell away, and she crushed herself against my chest.

  We were sitting on the floor of Finn’s apartment, and the place was crawling with Fey that looked like granola-eating college students. I’d never seen so much tie-dye and patched corduroy in my life. These guys were the Resistance, Puck explained to us as we watched them carefully put herbs into little bundles of cloth and tie them off. The herbs, Puck told us, were going to be used to hurt any faerie that got in our way.

  Finn was weaving amongst the faeries in the apartment, barking directions to them in some language I couldn’t understand. The same language, I supposed, that Puck had spoken to get us into this apartment two days ago. But at one point, he came over to Marcos, Puck, and me and gave us two robes.

  “You’ll need to put these on,” said Marcos, sitting down with us. “They’re made of natural fibers that won’t bother the Fey’s senses. If we’d actually captured you, we would have put you in something like this.”

  Okay. We were going to be wearing robes.

  Puck leaned over and kissed me briefly. “I’m sure you’ll look hot,” she told me.

  Finn arched an eyebrow. “So, it’s true, Puck. You and this human?”

  Puck stiffened. “Is that a problem?”

  Finn made a hands-off gesture. “I’m cool,” he said. “You know, the Resistance is full of a bunch of gossips. Half of the time, I wonder if most of them aren’t here just because they’re bored and not because they actually care about the cause.”

  “What is the cause?” asked Marcos.

  Finn considered. “We just want to live in harmony with the environment, you know? Like, there’s no reason for us to harm anything. We don’t nee
d to steal humans or torture them or any of that crap. We can just all, you know, live.”

  Right. Hippie faeries. No wonder they liked tie-dye.

  Puck wrapped her hand around my arm and leaned close to me. “The old ones are the cruel ones. They never leave Faerie except before Nos Calan Geaef. Most of us in the Resistance were children brought up living in the human world. We just don’t see it as an us-and-them thing anymore.”

  Finn shrugged. “Well, there are varying degrees of that, Puck. You’re very young. You’re one of the youngest in this group. There are young ones part of the Resistance that are nearly seventy or eighty years old, and they aren’t quite as accepting of your relationship with the human.”

  Seventy or eighty—”How old are you, Puck?” I asked her.

  “I’m seventeen, like you,” she said, smiling up at me. “But when you’re a faerie, you’re kind of treated like a teenager for ninety years.”

  Wow. That must suck. On the flip side, I guessed she wasn’t going to age was she? Was I going to be like that Bella chick in the movie Cindi had dragged me to, all worried I’d be old while Puck was young?

  I wasn’t going to think about it. What were the odds that relationships formed in high school lasted more than a few years anyway? Right? I kind of wanted the subject changed.

  “I don’t care what they think,” said Puck. “Russ is brave and determined and sweet. I really like him.”

  I grinned at her. As far as subject changes went, that worked pretty well.

  “What have you got there?” boomed the voice of the Fey guard at the door to the Hill. He was somehow both bulky and slender, his muscles slithering under the silken tunic he wore. Gold bands encircled his wrists and forehead. Long crimson hair fell over the golden headband and down his back. His hand tensed against a gleaming blade at his waist.

  Marcos and I stood in front of Puck and Finn, our hands bound behind our backs. We were wearing our robes, which were actually really darned comfortable, but I did not, no matter what Puck said, look hot in it.