Finding Elora

Chapter 9

ABBY

I keep close to Samuel as we make our way to the store for gloves.

Faeries are beginning to pour out of the buildings, and I scan every one we pass. Most don't seem to notice me, but the few that do seem friendly enough. They shoot me with polite smiles or subtle head nods, and I can't help but notice how their gazes almost always dart to my hands.

I need to get those gloves as soon as possible.

"Are there a lot of humans here?" I ask

Samuel makes a sharp right, and I scramble to catch up. He's got long legs and a fast pace, and I just barely avoid running into a faerie woman as I round the street corner.

She's about as tall as Lill, and her white blonde hair hangs to the small of her waist. She looks like she belongs on a movie set.

"No," Samuel answers my question. "Seeing a human here isn't an everyday occurrence, but it happens occasionally. You'd blend in well if it weren't for your lack of magic and brown eyes."

I think it's strange that the faeries can sense my inability to use magic. I wonder what that looks like to them. Is it something they can smell, or do I have some aura surrounding me?

"We're almost there," Samuel says, making another right.

He slows his pace as he notices my struggle to keep up, and I try not to let my feet slam against the cement as I walk on his left side. There's still no signage outside any stores we walk past, but Samuel seems confident in where we're going.

It must be another faerie thing.

We pass another woman, and I can't help but notice that her gloves sparkle in the sun. They're the same color as her skin, blending in seamlessly with her arms, but there's a definite shine as they reflect the sun's light.

It amazes me how subtle the gloves are, and if they hadn't been pointed out to me, I still don't think I'd have noticed anybody's wearing them.

"Do people always wear gloves?" I ask.

Samuel glances down at me, his lips twitching.

"Generally, yes, but touch happens frequently," he explains.

If I were a faerie, I'd be trying to touch everybody and everything. The idea of having a mate seems so exciting, and I doubt I'd be selective over who mine ended up being.

"And women always initiate it?" I continue to pry.

Samuel nods. "The mate bond sometimes hinders a woman's ability to use magic, occasionally for up to several years. It's an odd phenomenon, but since women have much more to lose than men with bonding, they tend to be more selective over who they let touch them."

Oh, damn. Maybe I wouldn't be running around touching everybody and everything after all.

That also explains why women don't frequently let Samuel touch them. If they can sense he already has a low tolerance for magic, I understand why they'd be nervous to risk theirs for him. Magic is clearly how this world operates, and I imagine having two partners who struggle to use it would be difficult.

"Why didn't your elder tell you any of this?" Samuel asks.

I press my lips together. I can't exactly tell him it's because my elder is actually a sickly twenty-seven-year-old faerie woman who has been hiding out in the human realm for the past twenty years.

"He wasn't interested in speaking with me," I say.

Samuel snorts, seemingly accepting my answer.

"Typical," he mumbles.