Page 8 of Did It Have To Be Gnomes?!
Freedom.
I blinked as awareness came back to me, and I couldn’t help but stare at the firebird in shock. I’d never had that happen before. I’d neverseensomeone else’s memories when I connected with them. Heard their thoughts? Yes.
But actually seen someone else’s memories? Never.
Until now. Because I had no doubt those were real memories.
Was that some kind of firebird power?
I replayed the memories in my head and winced. Whispering Pines Faerie Sanctuary. That was where we were headed.
“You… you came from that sanctuary?”
She dipped her head as if answering me with a nod.
My mouth fell open. “Holy shit, can you understand me?”
She dipped her head again, and I felt dizzy.
Firebirds couldn’t communicate with humans this way. And yet, she was.
“You can really understand me?”
She dipped her head again.
“Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit.” Running a hand through my hair, I gaped. I couldn’t stop staring at her. “You… you don’t want to go back.”
She squawked and shook her head, flapping her wings in irritation.
Right. That was a definite no.
The whole point of me taking her somewhere was to help her have a safe and better life. If she didn’t like that place—and after what I saw happened there, then that place was scary, and I didn’t blame her—then I wasn’t about to take her there. That would be cruel.
But… nowhere else around here took firebirds.
The place where I usually took all the gnomes, pixies, brownies, and other tiny faeries was an open forest on protected land. The faeries there were free to roam and do what they wanted, and no one could hunt them there. The public wasn’t even allowed on the property unless they paid for a guided tour.
There was even a row of houses toward the front gates where house gnomes and other house-dwelling faeries could live.
But again, the faeries weren’t monitored or anything.
The people who watched over the sanctuary and all the creatures there wouldn’t let me bring a firebird because they were afraid it would mess up the ecosystem. Firebirds huntedlittle faeries, and the people who watched over the land didn’t want the gnomes and pixies used as food. Which was understandable since the point of their sanctuary was to save those little creatures.
So then where the hell was I going to take her?
“What am I going to do with you?”
She let out a small whimper, and I sighed.
“I guess I’ll bring you home for now and see if I can find a different sanctuary.”
She trilled, happy about this decision, apparently.
“How in the hell can you understand me?”
She trilled, and I swore it sounded like a question, like she didn’t understand what I was asking her.
This couldn’t be happening.
