Page 134 of Threadbound

“I suppose you’re also a hundred years old?” Rob was being sarcastic, now.

“No,” Bran answered. “I’m twenty-seven.”

“Twenty-seven,” Rob repeated.

Bran inclined his head.

“And you just happen to look completely human?” It was meant as an insult—a means of pointing out to Jamie how foolish he was for believing in Bran.

Bran smiled. “Only at the moment,” he said.

“And what the fuck does that mean?” Rob was really getting angry now. The emotion was the edge of belief and disbelief—you don’t get angry at someone you think is truly delusional.

“Robbie,” Trixie interrupted again, inclining her head toward Jamie, who was looking increasingly worried and upset.

“It means,” Bran replied, holding out a hand as though examining his own fingers. “That I’m a shape-shifter.”

Rob opened his mouth to say something else, but didn’t have the chance because Bran had started slowly shifting his form from human to fae, and Rob’s widening grey eyes were fixated on the thickening and darkening skin of Bran’s talon-tipped fingers.

“Oh,fuck,” the human breathed.

Trixie let out a tiny squeak, her pale blue eyes just as wide as Rob’s, her hands over her mouth as her gaze flicked from Bran’s hands to his face—the shifting bones, the changing skin, and the feathers sliding their way out of his black hair.

“You gave us something,” Rob accused, his eyes flying over to Jamie’s anxious features. “Drugged the beer.”

Jamie’s eyes were bright with moisture as he shook his head. “He’s real,” he whispered. “I—I didn’t know how to tell you.”

“When—” Trixie swallowed. “When you disappeared?”

“He came with me to Elfhame,” Bran answered her. “I had been attacked, and I was dying. He came with me to help me.”

She drew in a couple shallow breaths, glancing back and forth between Jamie and Bran. “Why tell us now?” she asked, then.

“You can’t seriously think—” Rob still wasn’t ready to believe what he was seeing.

“Robbie, there is a man with claws and feathers standing right in front of us,” Trixie stated, her tone borderline hysterical. “Now I can’t say I bloody understand what’s going on, but he’sright there, so I’m going to go with it and assume that we aren’t all sharing some sort of communal hallucination because there is no way thatthatis what my brain would make up.”

Rob stared at her, desperation and helplessness starting to replace the anger. “But?—”

“Didyouever fantasize about a bird-man, Robbie? If someone said ‘fairy’ to you, ishewhat you’d come up with?” she demanded.

Rob shook his head wordlessly.

“Well, then.” Trixie nodded. “I guess when you’re presented with evidence, you have to go with what the evidence is telling you, no matter how bloody unlikely.” She turned and faced Bran squarely. “And the evidence is telling me that there’s a fairy-man standing in front of me.”

“Fae, please,” Bran corrected her.

“Right. Fae. Sorry.” She drew in a deep breath, let it out, then took another one. “I don’t suppose you have wings?”

“Not in this form.”

“This… form…” Her eyes widened a little again, but there was less fear in them. “You can fly?”

Bran nodded.

Trixie looked around the room again, first at Jamie, then Rob, then back to Bran. Then she looked over at Jamie. “You’re dating a fae?”

Jamie nodded.

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