Page 81 of From the Edge

“Two weeks.”

He put the car in gear, and they started moving.

“How long have you known Rowan?”

“We met at an afterschool program when I was twelve. The government funded that kind of thing, and I finally had a foster parent who got me everything I was eligible for. She loved doing paperwork and loved it even more when she was winning.”

He smiled. “Is she still around?”

“No. She passed four years ago. I wasn’t allowed into the funeral. Her bio kids didn’t want me there.”

“Did your friend know?”

“Nope. There was never a good time. She was mourning her grandparents, Aspen, and then Mellwyn. When my life went to shit, I thought I could just stay nearby, I could watch over her home if not her. She got stronger, and I watched.” She shrugged.

“She didn’t look for you.”

“She had enough to worry about. I let her feel my presence now and then, and I watched over her grandparents when shadows tried to drain their energy while they slept.”

“How did you hide?”

She paused. “Oh, right. You wouldn’t know. Or rather, you shouldn’t.”

He smiled as they glided down the road that would take them to the estate.

“I am descended from a pixie, but I have six butterfly wings on my back and weird opal skin.”

“Pointy ears?”

“Sometimes.”

He chuckled and slowed the car, indicating and making the slow right turn to the estate. The gates swung open.

He smiled. “How does that work?”

“She figured out how to get them to read for intent. No hostility toward the house or inhabitants, and you can come right in.”

She smiled as he drove toward the parking area. When he stopped, she pawed at the interior of the door, but the handle was gone. He was outside and opening the door with a grin. “Sorry. Force of habit.”

“Habit? Trapping people in cars is a habit? You almost lost your roof.”

He blinked. “Oh, shit. I didn’t think of that. You were really outside shelter?”

“I was. For three years. I have only been inside a roof for two weeks. The house made me a special room so that I could still feel the sky.”

“Where is that room?”

“On the third floor. No one has used it in centuries, but the house remade a room for me. It’s big enough for my wings if they won’t come in.”

He glanced up. “Interesting.”

“Yes. I have to get dinner in the oven, if you don’t mind coming in via the kitchen. Most of the guys come through sniffing before they grin and head to the gym.”

“The gym?”

She smiled. “I will take you on a tour. Just let me get dinner settled.”

Edric nodded. “Please. I am eager to see how this works.”