"I wish I could say something wise and comforting, but that's not what I'm here for. That's not my purpose. But I know you'll make the right choice." Leaning over to give me a hug she pressed her cheek to mine. I stiffened. Moving away, she laughed quietly. "Oops, sorry. I forget."
Shrugging it off, I plucked at the grass. "How do you manage with all this?"
She grinned. "It's cool. My strength is my Sight, but I can draw some power from the Source should I want. I have known who and what I am since I can remember. The rebels are the only real family I've ever known. I don't want to be without them." We shared a smile before Ana looked up to the night. "Nothing can compare to fairy kind." She lay flat on her back, and I paused trying to figure out how settle beside her.
A few minutes of unsuccessfully lying down and shifting into awkward positions I leaned up and thought move out a little, and my wings moved out a little. I leaned back and the grass pricked the skin between my shoulder blades. My wings folded up against my body to cocoon me; curving overhead. The overall effect was snug as we watched clouds roll across the sky.
"Tell me about them?" I asked.
"They're all different, living solitary lives for the most part, even those sworn to the Tribe. The majority remains Outside, but there are those who live within the Wall disguised as human, like me."
"You're not a slum girl," I said. "You talk like an upper dwell." I wondered how many other demons were living as ordinary humans. "It's strange to think of demons as so civilized. I'm used to thinking of them as, well, something close to animals."
Ana snorted a laugh. "Do you consider yourself as animal?"
I chose to avoid answering that.
"Can you tell me how many demons there are?"
"My, my counting assets already." She laughed at my blush. "The other demons have their own laws, and I have no idea about their numbers. We believe the fairy number to be teetering at a thousand," her voice was proud. "There may be others hiding in the regions across the seas. Then there are the outcast fairies."
My tail curled around my waist to jiggle in front of my eyes. I clasped the tip in one hand and pushed it behind me. "You're going to get bored having to explain every comment to me really soon, but outcast fairies?"
"It's nice to get a new perspective on things. Don't worry; you deal with all this rather well." She spoke with confidence, and scratched her nose. "Where was I?"
"The, uh, outcast fairies," I reminded her.
"They hold no allegiance to the Tribe or us rebels, around three quarters of our kind."
"Why so many? Don't they like having someone to guide them?"
"Well, you have to think about it without taking sides. The fairies are divided into two squabbling factions," she made a sweeping gesture, "and wedged between the rest of the supernatural kingdom. Make no mistake, we are the most powerful race."
"Proud," I said.
"Honest," she said back. "The vampires launched the Rupture, and we had no choice but to fight since the humans tarred all demons with one brush. It was either fight or be slaughtered. Devlin has made relations between fairies and other demons terrible, unbearable. Made mistakes that got us stuck in mess we are in now. If you were the outcast fairies, who would you trust?"
There were once only two people in the world I trusted, I could relate. But still. Lightening split the picturesque sky and the hairs on the back of my neck rose.
"Crazy," I said.
"No, I am not and neither are you. This is the way it is." She paused. "It could be worse."
"Time is up," a voice said from behind me.
Breandan had arrived with Conall a few steps behind. Streaks of mud dirtied his face and sculpted chest, as if he had been rolling around on the floor. I didn't see any serious wounds on him, but it was hard to tell under all those tattoos. I wondered again why he had so many. My gaze drifted up his chest and locked with his. I picked up his intoxicating scent of earth and sun, and I dragged in a lungful like it was a drug.
"Breandan," someone squealed from a distance.
The world shunted back into focus and my eyes left his. Ana launched herself onto him and he scooped her up into a bear hug, swung her round in a wide circle. I managed to keep a semblance of calm, keep my expression neutral, and I'm proud to say I did not drag her off him by the hair.
