Fey

Part Two

     "But you guys can't sense this one", Aidan had said, his mind working to understand what he'd just learned.

     "No. This one seems to have a high level of control over the rift."

     "What does this mean for Gwen? Will we be able to save her?"

     "For one thing, it means she wasn't just sucked in, Aidan.She was taken. The fae must want her for some reason."

     "Then that means she'll still be alive!" Aidan had exclaimed, hope blossoming within him.

     "But she'll wish she was dead", Elspeth had said softly, her gaze distant.

     "Fuck, you might even wish it had killed her yourself", Bettina had declared, her fists clenching around the black, long dagger she had been examining. Aidan had been horrified by the concept; horrified by the way these creatures had said something like that so easily.

     "I would never do that! I love her too much for that to ever happen!" he'd retorted fiercely. Three pairs of eyes had blinked back at him with varying degrees of pity in their depths.

     "Listen, Aidan", Bettina had said, not unkindly and a softness in her face that he had not seen before. "These creatures may look pretty and may appear human, but they are not. There is no kindness, no compassion in those beings. They are heartless and cruel, and possibly soulless, too. No one who comes in contact with a faerie and survives is ever completely the same afterwards."

     "Not even you guys?" Aidan had asked, the hope that had filled him slowly dying.

     "We aren't human, but even some of us have been affected permanently by a faerie encounter", Aisling had replied, her ice-blue gaze landing on Elspeth, who had been humming softly to herself at that point.

     Aidan was jolted back to the present when terror seeped into his consciousness and every instinct in his body screamed at him to run. Shivers racked his frame and cold sweat beaded on his skin bringing him to a sharp stop. Even the afternoon sun that shone directly on him and his companions did not warm him.

     "We're here, are we not?" Aisling asked from directly next to him. She, Bettina, and two others called Lunaria and Thorne who had seemed to just appear as they were leaving half an hour after Aidan had first entered the house all stood around him on the sidewalk. Lunaria and Thorne were twins of average height with caramel colored skin. Each had one silver colored eye and one light green eye. Their hair was golden blonde, though Lunaria's was long and wavy, currently tied in a ponytail, whereas Thorne's was a spiky, short mop.

     Elspeth had remained behind, which he'd learned was not unusual. Her last words before they had left had been a warning directed to Bettina: "Be careful of innocence, as it will be your downfall".

      All four Guardians were wearing black battle suits that covered them thoroughly, which only enhanced their varying shades of blonde hair and odd colored eyes. Black combat boots with thick soles, black fingerless gloves and weapons of their choice completed the ensemble.

     Thorne had a black bow in her hand and a quiver full of iron arrows strapped to her back, along with several throwing knives hidden on her body. Lunaria's weapons of choice were two iron katanas that hung in their black sheaths on her waist. Bettina had stuck the dagger she had been examining earlier into one boot, a pistol in the other and a shotgun in her hand. Aisling's weapons were not visible, and Aidan wondered what they were.

     They had refused to give him any weapon, saying that he would only get in the way. His only tasks were to find the rift's location, stay out of the way, and grab Gwen if and when he could, then get away from the area.