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A Thousand Little Pieces
Alessia
I return to the celebration in poor spirits, hurt that Rainer rejected me so adamantly, but hurting more for him and whatever he’s gone through to make him jaded. The things that haunt him: his family issues; losing his mother; cursing the forest.
“Little human graces us with her presence once again!” Ken’s voice booms over the steady melody of music. His heavy arm goes around my shoulder. A bunch of nearby writhing and bobbing fae hoot, cheering and clinking glasses of maroon liquid together.
Everyone is having a grand time. More importantly, other than a few glassy second glances, no one seems to care about my presence—my humanity—the same way Rainer does.
I duck out from under Ken's arm. “Why do all the fae really hate humans, Ken?”
He does some kind of gyrating dance move, sloshing wine down his arm carelessly. “Ostara is for dancing, not for negativity.” When he glimpses my concern, he grows serious. “If any fae bother you, let me know and I’ll deal with them. Did anyone say something to you?”
I’m tickled by his protectiveness. “No, but Rainer has made it clear I’m not welcome here.”
“He doesn’t speak for everyone, and even if he did, it’s Ostara.” He tilts his head toward the night sky with a goofy grin. “Fae of all sorts have traveled far and wide to party tonight. No one cares what you are. Not tonight at least. Unless you’re a demon.” He grins, stroking his chin.
“A what?”
“A demon,” he whispers conspiratorially.
“What?” I balk at him. “Demons are real?”
He grabs my hands, tugging me toward a dancing group with impossibly beautiful features, and white feathered wings spread out behind them.
“Wine loosens my lips,” he mumbles with a head shake. “Ignore me and drop it. We’re bringing negativity to the party and that is a no-no. Come join us in some good ol’ rump-shaking instead.”
All I can do is stare, while actively trying not to stare. Not all the fae around us look human-esque—though the ones with pointed ears and wings almost do, save for a few features and their ethereal beauty. Some, like Ken and Viv, are virtually indistinguishable from humankind. But others have glistening, scaly skin in vibrant colors, translucent wings and shrunken limbs, or other uncommon features. I wonder what demons look like. If they’re as awful as Ken implied, surely they’re horrible creatures.
The gibbous moon sits high overhead, indicating there are still many hours of partying left before sunrise. Everyone seems to be having a grand time.
Everyone except me…and Rainer.
The angry, blue-eyed faerie with a secretly sweet side he doesn’t know how to accept.
“Something’s going on with Rainer,” I yell over the music to Ken.
“He being a bastard again?”
“Yeah. He—”
“Nothing unusual there.” Ken throws his hands over his head and moves his hips in an obscene way. It makes me laugh despite my worries.
“Yes. But he also—he opened up. Told me about his—his curse?”
Cursed with malice, he said. Unforgivable.
Ken stops moving, the smile melting off his face. “He told you?”
“Yes but then we kissed and he pushed me away.”
“What truth did he tell you, exactly?” Ken fingers his beard nervously. That question isn’t exactly comforting.
How many different truths can Rainer have?
“About his demons.”
“What exactly did he say, little human?”
