AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sometimes, you just don’t know, and sometimes even if you do, the world itself works against you.
“Kass, we’re here for you,” Mom murmurs into my hair. “Can you explain what you mean, or do you need a moment?”
“Take your time, Kasserole. I’ve already fed my fish, so I’ve got all night.”
I release a wet laugh. “Thank goodness. I… This is hard for me to explain. I’m speaking literally. I’m a faerie, or at least part faerie right now.” Trying very hard to keep it together, I lower my folder from my chest to my lap, and turn to the first page past the table of contents.
Information about Pollux, and unseelie and seelie, and marriage kittens, and me spills out—bit by bit. All the words I didn’t know how to say enter the stillness broken only by the hum of the fish tank filter.
At the end of it, all I can whisper is, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I didn’t know how. But I want you to know. Especially if I’m going to move out soon, I don’t want you to think it’s sudden or that you’ve done something wrong. I just need to figure myself out around people who understand a little bit better what’s going on.” I swallow as a tear traces down my cheek. “Does that…make sense?”
When I find the strength to glance toward my parents’ faces, I find wide eyes trained on me. My shoulders bunch.
But then Dad says, “It makes about as much sense as the fact your tears are gold, Kasserole.” Lifting his finger, he catches a drop of the moisture and shows me.
My heart jerks.
“They’re very pretty,” Mom assures, giving her head a slight shake. “I’m sorry, honey. This is a lot to take in. You’re…a faerie. A magical creature. Will you grow wings?”
“I—I don’t know yet. I’m sorry,” I blurt. “I’m crying gold? Right now?”
“Yes?” Dad’s brow furrows as he rubs his thumb against the teardrop. “It actually…seems kind of like glitter glue?”
Tripping upright, I fumble to get my phone out of my skirt pocket. After a ring, Pollux answers, “Yes?”
“Pollux, can you get here, immediately?”
Behind me, Mom murmurs, “I think we’re out of our depth, Aaron.”
“It was bound to happen someday.”
Three seconds is all it takes for Pollux to be stomping down the hall from my bedroom to the living room. His voice echos, since he’s still holding his phone to his ear. “Kassandra, what’s wrong?”
I point at my face as another large teardrop slips free. “Gold tears. Is this enough? For you? Is it at least a start?”
Somewhere beyond the thundering of my heart in my ears, I hear my mother whisper a reverent, “Oh…my…” and I can only imagine it has something to do with Pollux’s red eyes. Or the fact he just appeared in our house. Either, or. Actually, probably both.
Yeah. Both makes the most sense.
Moments pass as Pollux scans me, then my parents, then me again. “Did…you just have the talk?”
“Yes.”
His eyes close. “And I’m assuming it has come with emotions of you wanting your parents to see the truth?”
“Yes?”
“Dearest, you’re overriding my glamour, and I’m uncertain if I can even fix things if you don’t let me have my power back to do so.”
Is he saying that simply because I want my parents to know the truth, the little magic bubble I have that nullifies his fear is now nullifying his glamour? If he is, that is marvelously off topic. “Pollux,” I grit under a sniffle. “They’re fine, but I can’t cry forever. Is this enough to make you a charm like Andromeda’s?”
He cuts his fingers through his hair as impeccable amounts of distress fight for purchase in his expression. “Why are you even worried about that right now?”
“Because, I care about you, stupid!”
My mother covers the tiny gasp that escapes her with her hand.
“Mom! Not a word.”
