"Get him a good advocate, Gaelen. Maybe something can be done to save him. Especially if he cooperates in silencing the human girl."

Wings fluttered as the Council of One Hundred rose and departed.

Gaelen sat alone at the table, only barely aware of how his wings were still twitching. Ordered back to Ireland. Bridget, what a curse.

Not that he didn't like Ireland. He loved Ireland. He traveled there every year to talk to the Old Ones, to get new stories from fairies who'd been spinning tales for millennia. Since the days of Amergin, and the Iberian's Land Swindle, he thought with a grin, and Tir-Nan-Og, the Land of Perpetual Youth, where you could live forever, young and strong and happy. Fairies were allowed to visit and even stay if the place took them, which it did.

At first.

He frowned. Club Med for fairies. A great place to visit, but not a place for a man to live.

And even with wings on his back, Gaelen Riley was still a man, a man with a passion which couldn't be fulfilled in Tir-Nan-Og.

Gaelen Riley's passion was teaching. How could a sprout like himself teach the Old Ones anything? How could he pass on to them the excitement of a tale of war and heroism and love? Fairies are war and heroism and love. But humankind, they need the stories. They need the inspiration. What would they do without us?

In that instant, he understood what he had to do, even if it made him sick. It was Gaelen's responsibility to make sure Lucas and his human didn't rock the boat. The cost-to both human and fairy-would be too great.

Surely the life of one human girl wasn't too much to ask so the magic of fairy and the drive of humankind remained available to each other? For without the magic, humankind would be smothered in the mundane. Without the drive of humankind, Faerie would be rudderless.

Bridget! He'd die of boredom. Better to get it over with quick.

Gaelen folded his wings and picked up his torn shirt and jacket.

Time to find Lucas and his human girl.



Chapter Four



It was the flash of light at the window that awakened her. Annabelle groaned and raised her stiff neck off the back of the chair where she'd fallen asleep. Only after looking around and rubbing her gritty eyes did she remember where she was.

Erin stirred in her sleep and murmured Lucas's name. Annabelle rose and tucked the blankets tighter around her sister, as though she could protect Erin from the heartache Lucas Riley had left behind him.

Ticky-ticky.

Annabelle jerked her head toward the sound. A bright pinpoint flickered, accompanied by a ticky-ticky as it hit the glass. She left the bedside and approached the window.

"Fireflies?" The light continued its ticky-ticky tapping at the window.

"Annabelle?" Erin's sleepy voice carried in the silence of the late hour. "Are you still here?"

Quickly returning to Erin, Annabelle took her hand. "Yes, and I'm going to stay here until you're better."

Erin shook her head. "You don't have to stay. You have your own life. What about your job?"

Annabelle smiled. "Don't worry about that. I have some vacation time, so you'll have me in your hair until you're up and out of here and back to normal."

Erin took Annabelle's hand. "You think I'm crazy, too, don't you?" she asked, pitifully.

"No," Annabelle answered truthfully.