Page 108 of By the Fae

“And listen, bro. I can’t call you Hay Bale around other people. I just can’t do it. You’re going to have to think of a new name.”

“How about Bailey?” Mal said.

“Bailey, I like it,” we both said in unison.

“Right, Bailey, go pack your bags. I’ve got a girl to win back.”

He squealed in delight and scampered up the marble stairs into the palace, low-fiving Mum on the way past.

Mal wasted no time pulling me into one of his legendary hugs. “I’ll be here for you, you know, whenithappens. You’ll have me to lean on, to help you through. I’m sorry you’ll have to go through it but know that the few decades you have in front of you now will be the best of your life.”

I nodded, swallowing the lumps building in my throat.

“Sorry to interrupt this intimate little moment,” Mum said, grinning from ear to ear, apparently not sorry in the slightest. “But, son, youhaveheard of Life Stones, right?”

Both Mal’s and my arms dropped to our sides.

“Life Stones?” Mal said, as I said, “I’m sorry, what?”

“Oh, you know . . .” She waved a hand airy-fairyily. “Arcane fae magic. Our ancestors used them a long,longtime ago to keep their humans alive much longer than was naturally possible. Mind you, back in those days they considered humans pets. Wouldn’t be able to get away with that now, would you—”

“Keep humans alive longer than naturally possible?” I could feel her about to go off on one of her ‘good-old-times’ tangents, but I didn’t have the time nor energy for that. “How much longer? Do these stones still exist? How can I get one?”

“I’m certain they exist. I’ve never seen one, but your great grampy used to tell me about them. You could always ask the Court. If anyone knows where to get one, it’ll be the Elders. Now, let’s see . . . they all tend to hang out at the Stone Circle these days. It’s a fair old trek, but worth it I’d say,” she said, as though she were discussing which of her identical transparent gowns to wear to dinner.

“The Stone Circle?” I asked.

“It lies at the very summit of Elderhill. A two day climb from here,” Mum said, her brow rising conspiratorially, and her hand lifting to the craggy mountainside behind the Golden Court palace.

Could the answer to my worst fear lie at the top of a cliff? Had this been an option all along? In all my desperate internet searches, I had never once encountered the term Life Stone. Not once. It all seemed too good to be true.

I quickly did the mental calculation. If we started our ascent now, we could get to the top, ask for a Life Stone, get back down, and hopefully be back in time for the expo.

My brother appeared at the doorway, a half-empty holdall and a backpack slung over his shoulders, his smile lighting up his entire face.

“Change of plan, Bailey,” I said. “We’re going on a side quest.”

Chapter 36.

Goldie

Present Day

Holly was already on the stage when I walked in. The crowd eating from the palm of her hand. They were laughing and writing things on notepads and nodding like dashboard bobble-heads on cobblestone streets. She wore those dungarees again. Her ‘evening’ dungarees. My heart leapt into my throat. She looked better than I remembered.

“Oh my Gods!” squealed Bailey, looking around the conference centre hall like he’d never seen anything more interesting. “There are so many humans! Oh my Gods, there’s a werewolf. Two werewolves! Can I go say hi?”

“Yes, but remember what we talked about? No touching, unless invited to do so,” I said.

And then he was gone. Swallowed by the crowds. Occasionally, I made out an overenthusiastic “Hi” or “Wow, I really like your shoes” or “Is that your real hair?”.

We still had some work to do.

When we’d gotten back to Borderlands, we briefly stopped off at the flat. I had the quickest shower and shave of my life.

“Oh, you got rid of the beard. I liked that. You looked very debonair,” Bailey had said before donning some of my ‘magic’ grey sweatpants and standing in front of the mirror to admire his dick outline. “These are great!”

I put on my smart jeans — i.e. dark denim, slim-fit — and a black button down. After receiving a hug from both Taur and Dima, and a dead arm from Sugar Paste, we were out the door again, heading to the Remy Games Expo. This time in Mal’s mint-green, vintage convertible.

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