Page 10 of The Fairy Hunter
He sighs. "Yeah, I did. I guess I forgot, since we've been apart for so long, how important it is that she actually hears the words 'thank you' when she's done something for me."
I gesture toward her.
His hands fall to his sides. "Matilda, thank you for killing that witch, getting the book and the crystal, and freeing my friends and I."
"Even though your friends were never part of the agreement and have made things infinitely harder for me," Matilda says, her mouth pulling into a line of anger.
He shakes his head. "You're not going to let this go, are you?"
I swear the fairy wants to burn a hole through his head with her angry gaze. "I can let it go," she responds in a clipped voice.
He turns and looks at the other spirits. They mostly seem to be trying to stay focused on their chanting and my friends in the middle of the circle. But a couple glance in our direction with looks of worry.
At last, the mailman's shoulders fall. "I don't want to go into this new life with more problems. So, let's compromise. Isn't that what a therapist would recommend?"
The fairy instantly perks up. "Yes, I believe they would!"
Oh, okay, good. This is what we need right now. We need to focus on their relationship and buy all of us as much time as possible. "Like maybe not giving his buddy's permanent bodies? It wasn't what you guys agreed to. And you made a decision without consulting your wife, so the only way to really show her that you hear what she is saying is to make it better."
He frowns and taps his chin.
His spirit buddies keep chanting, but they look a little nervous, their words faltering every so often.
At last, he nods. "That does seem to make the most sense. Besides, if they all join us in this next life, we'll have some responsibility for them."
"That's what I've been saying!" the fairy says, throwing her hands up in the air. "If they do anything stupid, it could come back to bite us in the asses. Is that what you want?"
He shakes his head, then moves toward her, holding her arms and smiling. "I created this mess. I'll fix it. We'll use the crystal to give me a permanent body, and we'll separate ourselves from the others. Then, things will be the way they were supposed to be." He kisses her gently on the cheek, then pulls back. "Besides, I needed them in the other place. I don't need them here. Not when I have you."
My heart races as they turn toward me. "Well," the fairy says, her voice gleeful. "I guess it's your lucky day! We only need one body. And because you've been so helpful with us working out our marriage issues, we'll let you choose. Which of your friends do you want my husband to occupy?"
Okay, that isn't how I planned on this going, but it is something.
I look at my friends. The vines have entirely circled them, but the panic is clear on their faces. They know the smartest choice is for me to make this decision to save as many lives as possible, and see if there could be a hail Mary to save the person left in the ritual. But even the idea of speaking one of their names, of risking one of their lives, makes me sick.
"Luna," the fairy has a sickly teasing note to her voice, "you need to decide now."
Suddenly, the spirits’ chanting stops. The PE teacher turns to face the mailman. "You can't be serious. You promised us if we helped you on the other side, you'd help us now."
The fairy, Matilda, lifts a hand and all the spirits go flying. They smash into the wall with the sickly sound of wood breaking, and more vines slip from the door and wind around them, plastering them against the wall. Two of the spirits are unconscious. The others? They seem to be struggling to sit up. And then it's too late; the vines have their hold.
"Luna, it's time to give us a name," the fairy chants in her sing-song voice.
And there’s no more time. No obvious way out of this. I have to speak a name. And I have to live with this decision.
The answer, somehow, comes easily to me.
"Me. I choose me. I'll go willingly if you let the others go."
SIX
Luna
The vines release my friends, but I realize, too late, that it doesn't matter. They have injuries all over their bodies from the spikes on the vines, and they all look weak and confused. I move toward them, and neither the fairy nor her husband stop me. I drag one after the other of my friends away from the rune and lean them against a wall as far from the plants and the spirits as I can.
"Are you okay?" I whisper when I have the last of them as safely away from danger as I can.
Olivia's face is pale. "Poison."
