Taming The Fae - An Exsilium Short Story (3 page)

“You’re doing it again,” Lada complained

“Doing what?”

“Over-thinking it. You know it’s true. Why
don’t you just try, Nanini? Don’t try and bite his head off. Just
try and be friends with him.”

“Friends? What the hell did you drink
tonight? I want some too.” I jumped up, making a joke of it.
Friends. Hell no.

Vulcan chose that moment to inform us via
Corra that Kasadya was about to go born. Both of us jumped up and
walked to the window, naturally taking each other’s hand.

“Come on, Kas, you can do this,” Lada
breathed.

“
You kick that hellhound’s ass and get the
hell back here. We need you; I need you,”
I silently sent out
to her.

Outside I could see Max standing at a tree,
looking at the landscape, his face worried. An awful and quite
creepy roar echoed in the distance, sending birds into the sky and
animals scattering out of the woods.
Oh crap, Kasadya’s born is
out.
Max’s head jumped into the direction of the roar, and I
could actually feel his distress. He was worried for Kasadya. We
were both worried for Kasadya.

Suddenly, his head snapped up and he looked
right at me. Something epically weird was happening. His worried
face slowly changed and a small smile remained.

“Good girl, Nanini, you are doing it.” Lada
patted my back

“Doing what?” My eyes couldn’t leave his.

“You are feeding him counter emotions,
calming him.”

He nodded at me and then walked back into the
house.

Holy shit.

I stalked through the huge mansion again,
nodding to Ben when I passed. I should have been sleeping and
preparing myself for battle; instead my mind raced on with
thousands of questions and no answers. I hadn’t seen Nanini, but
Lada had come down from her room a few hours ago. I hoped she was
sleeping; her body needed the time to heal after that crash. Still
can’t believe that she would be so desperate to get away from me
that she would collide straight into the earth. I stopped again.
Looking out of the window, I searched for any sign of a fallen. The
fact that neither Vulcan nor anyone else had informed us if Kasadya
had survived was making us all anxious. Although I knew that the
chance for me and Kasadya together was forever lost, as a friend, I
would always care about her.

“
How long is it going to take? I mean,
they did invent something called Corra for heaven’s sake!”

I froze. My heart started pumping from either
shock or excitement. Which one, I didn’t know.

“
I am going to go freaking bald if they
keep this up. Would it kill them just to give us some
news?”

I was reading Nanini’s thoughts.
Unbelievable.
Afraid that I would lose the connection, I
didn’t move an inch.

“
Hell, I freaking need to get some grub,
but I just know I would run into him. Maybe I could sneak into the
kitchen, just grab something, and then shift right back. Yeah, that
might just work.”

I shifted to the kitchen in a split second,
and right in front of me, Nanini shifted in, walking straight into
me. “Ah, come on! You have got to be kidding me! What are the odds
of running into
you
?” She pushed away from me and swung open
the fridge door, almost ripping it from its hinges.

“How are you feeling?” I causally asked while
walking over to the table and sitting down.

“Annoyed. Irritated. Suicidal.” She turned
around and popped a few grapes into her mouth. Her eyes were
piercing me with invisible daggers. I smiled inside. She was a
vixen alright, but any vixen could be coaxed into giving in.

“I see. Have you gotten any sleep in?” She
ignored me and returned to the fridge, searching for more food.
Closing it again, she placed some ham and cheese on the counter.
She almost crushed the bread when she grabbed it, continuing on as
if I didn’t exist.

“I am still waiting for an answer.”
Silence
.

I leaned back, studying her small little
frame.

Although half my size, she was built slender
yet had all the right curves where they need to be. Her blond hair
hung loose, almost reaching her… very nice behind. She turned
around and aimed a knife at me. “You better not be ogling me. I
swear I will plant this right in an eye.” She sneered.

“Shall we meet in the middle then? You can
answer my question, and I will not look at your small frame.” I had
a hard time keeping my delight in check. I never said the coaxing
should be subtle. Oh no, this vixen needed fire to give in. Well, I
have a lot of that to give.

“I didn’t sleep, okay? I swear, it’s like
living with my Mom and Dad all over again! You do know that I
already have a father. I sure as hell don’t need another one.
Although, between Chax, Vulcan, and all of the bloody fallen males
around me, I sure as hell have enough fathers to spare.”

She turned around and continued making her
sandwich.
See, that wasn’t so hard, little vixen.

“So, if I am concerned of your well-being,
that makes me a father?” I knew it was just a matter of time before
she would explode and shift out again.

“Oh please, don’t even go there.” She waved
me off and stuck the cheese and ham back into the fridge. Grabbing
her sandwich, she took a huge bite from it. Closing her eyes, she
savored it. Slowly chewing the piece as if there wasn’t going to be
another when she was done.

“You should have eaten something when we got
back, but instead you locked yourself in a room. It would seem that
you do need someone to help guide you.” Her eyes flashed open and
she almost chocked on her piece of sandwich.

“Keep pushing the button, Godzilla. Keep
pushing it. I am forbidden to kill you, but Vulcan said nothing
about torture, mutilation, starvation and any other thing I can
cook up.”

“Really, you would go through all that
trouble just to spend some time with me?” The knife ended up in the
wall behind me, missing my face by inches.

“You-“

“Morning, Nanini,” the Archangel Michael cut
her off. She didn’t return the greeting. Instead she gave him the
look of death, which implied the many ways she could insure that
death would be painful.

I jumped up and approached him before she
could make her advance. “And, what news do you have?” I stepped
between them, blocking her deadly eyes from him. It’s one thing to
pick a fight with a hellhound; it’s another thing to pick a fight
with the Archangel of War.

He smiled and went over to the peculator,
pouring some coffee into a cup. “She was magnificent, and gave us a
great fight. But Chax came through and controlled her born. She is
safe and soon she will be ready for battle. I have never seen such
strong hellhound before. She will be even more magnificent when she
receives her divinity.”

Vulcan and the other Archangels shifted in
during his briefing. A little of the weight I was carrying lifted
from me, but there was still a mountain left. I turned and looked
at Nanini. She was still angry but I could see the news did her
good as well. Her sandwich was finished so I decided to make her
another one. I walked to the fridge and retrieved the ingredients.
Something special, she might like.

“Yes, she was a handful. So, have you told
them about the next stage of the plan?” Uriel sat down and grabbed
a cookie from the jar.

“No, I am waiting for the others,” Michael
replied, getting a cookie for himself.

I grabbed the bread and started to spread the
butter when Lotan and Lada walked in. “I am so relieved. They had
us worried to death,” she complained and grabbed a cup to get some
coffee. As I sliced the ham, I noticed that Nanini hadn’t moved
away from me. With more fallen entering the kitchen, she was moving
closer to me. The smile I was hiding all this time couldn’t remain
hidden. The others explained in detail what happened to Kasadya and
Chax, and by the time I was done with the sandwich, Nanini was
standing right next to me. I turned to her and handed her the
sandwich. Moving from one foot to the other, she accepted it,
taking a bite. Closing her eyes, she savored it again.
How
utterly beautiful she looked when she did that. I never noticed it
before, but now, it’s just beautiful.

Someone cleared their throat and I lifted my
head to look at them, finding that we had become the center of
attention. “So, what is next? With Kali out there working with the
demon who is now armed with relics to take down the wall, we need a
plan to take action and stop them,” I fired at them before anyone
could tell Nanini what they had just witnessed. She would be back
to her explosive self, and I didn’t want that at the moment. Just
having her next to me took even more weight off me.

“We will search the globe and find them,”
Raphael announced.

“That’s your plan?” Lotan asked, shaking his
head.

“Do you have a better one?” Raphael fired
back. An argument erupted between them and with each word, Nanini
would move even closer. She was now completely pressed against me.
Could it be that she doesn’t take aggressive arguments like
these well? It was as if she was seeking protection without even
knowing it.
I stood my ground, although I wanted to wrap her in
my arms and reassure her of safety. Seeing her like this brought
out a new side of me. A very pissed off side.

“Enough,” I ended it.

All eyes turned to me. “Lotan, we have no
other option; we have to find them. And they don’t have tracking
devices strapped to their backs. We can’t rely on this team alone,
though. Michael, we are going to need everyone. We’ll need our
human force, each and every fallen, and the angelic host. With
Kasadya’s latest incident, that might not be so easy,” I ended,
looking straight at the Archangel. I had been through enough to
stand my ground and take charge when clearly it was needed. I also
didn’t like the way Nanini was reacting to it.

“Yes, that might be a problem,” Vulcan said,
his hand rubbing through his hair.

“It won’t be when I am finished with them.”
Michael announced and drank the last of his coffee.

“Agreed, you take north sides fallen and I
will take south.” Raphael jumped up.

“I’ll do west,” Vulcan replied.

“And I’ll take what is left,” Uriel said
after chewing her cookie.

“Then let’s get to it. No matter what, we
will have our force.” Michael turned to the door and walked
out.

“I’ll go and asked Amon and the humans at the
compound to assist. We have a lot of contacts all around the
world,” I called after them. I looked down at Nanini, still pressed
against me.

“Would you like to come with me?” I asked and
watched as she jumped away from me.

“Ah….. no, it’s fine, thanks. I’ll be here
helping Lada and Lotan.” Her blush crept up from her slim neck and
spread out over her cheeks. For a moment I was taken aback. I had
never noticed a lot of things it would seem. She was beautiful.
Deadly, potent even, but beautiful.
Mine.

Nanini

“Oh no, you go along with Max, Nanini. Lotan
and I are going to grab some sleep before all hell breaks loose.”
Lada stood up and grabbed Lotan, dragging him out the door with
her.

“But-” I was going to kill her.

“Have a nice time,” she called back with a
huge smile.

Why was everyone against me?

“Shall we go?” Max asked.

“Look, I just don’t want to go with you. I am
going to go get some sleep as well.” I turned around and saw the
exit, but never got a chance to use it. My hand was grabbed from
behind and the next thing I knew, I was standing at Amon’s
compound.
Crap!

“It won’t take long. We’ll be back in a few
minutes and then we can both get some sleep.” Max kept hold of my
hand and dragged me through the doors.
Do not panic. Do not
freaking panic.

As we made our way through the hallways, Max
greeted everyone, keeping hold of my hand, not giving me the chance
to shift the hell out of here. He held the Intel Room’s door open
and waited for me to walk in first.
Oh, I am so screwed!
“Amon, we need your assistance.” Max walked over to the spirit fae,
once rogue, but now our human-based ally.

“What can we do?” Amon asked, looking
perplexedly from me to max.

“Kasadya’s born has been released
successfully. We now need to track down the rogue and the demon
prince and find those relics before they get to use them.” Max
pulled me to stand right next to him. I didn’t even notice that I
was plastered against him in the kitchen. It was only when he asked
me to go with him that I noticed his voice was right above me.
How was that possible?
I don’t do touchy, touchy. And now,
standing right next to him again - correction - pressed against him
again, I felt no anger or anything.
This is not good, girl, not
good at all.

I could see Amon make the connection between
Max and me, his smile almost blinding me. “Yes, of course. Alright,
people, this is a red light. I need all the contacts updated ASAP
and we need to find this demon before he gets those relics up.”
Amon started to shout orders.

A few of the humans came to ask Max details
about contacts and stuff. In no time the entire room was just one
big chatterbox. On the huge glass globe, Amon was lighting up
lights indicating the progress of the calls. And I was still
pressed against Max. And the warmth coming from him wasn’t helping
either. I yawned and almost swallowed my tongue in the process.
Max’s hold on me tightened, and I looked up with the intention of
biting him. I was suddenly face to face with him. “Let’s go home
and get some sleep. We are of no use to anyone in this state,” he
suggested. I nodded. For once, I agreed with the jerk.