CHAPTER 123

"Grace, have you seen my purse?"

"If things were put away properly, we wouldn't always be searching for them."

The sound of pans banging around in the kitchen cupboard warned me off from a smartass comeback.

"Sheesh!"

So, Grace was in that kind of mood. As if there is ever any proper place to put your purse away. I had always just dropped it onto the kitchen table when I came home, that is until I moved into Grand Central Station. Now, with kids, vamps, security guards and cranky housekeepers all over the place, it didn't matter where I put it, it was in the way. And it seemed that every time I locked it up in my bedroom, that was when I needed it.

"Never mind, Grace," I called back to the kitchen as I finally spied the purse propped up on the mantel, next to a bouquet of yellow tulips. There was nothing like tulips to make you feel like spring was really here. I loved them; despite the creepy way they had of turning towards the light coming in from the front window. Well, I had plenty of experience with dead things that moved around, but it was still sort of creepy. I gave the vase a quick turn before I grabbed up my purse.

"Good Lord!" I said, almost dropping the bag to the floor when I heard a high-pitched shriek coming from inside it.

I quickly recognized Fee's small voice, obviously startled by the sudden movement of the purse. What was he up to? If he was looking for the angelica pollen, he was out of luck. I'd locked it in the safe after the last time he'd fallen into the tub and scared the crap out of Hunter.

"Whatever are you doing in there, Fee? What if I would have dropped you?"

Fee didn't respond to that, but just darted out of the bag and flew up to my shoulder.

"Bon Temps," he said into my ear, followed by a long string of words in his own language that I had no hopes of interpreting.

"Bon Temps? You want to come with me to Amelia's?"

Fee nodded his head vigorously. I noticed that the little creature wasn't dressed in his usual garb. He mostly wore the pants and shirts that our tailor had custom made for him, although sometimes he'd choose one of the Ken doll outfits that Amelia had picked up at Wal-Mart. It had been a while since I'd seen him decked out in his robes – and he was wearing his little sword too. Maybe he considered it more appropriate attire for visiting.

"Okay, you can come with me, I guess. I'm leaving the kids and Dante with Cat though. You sure you want to come?"

He nodded his head again, and since there was no good reason why he shouldn't go, I headed to the door with him on my shoulder.

"Grace, I'm taking Fee with me. I'll be home in time for dinner. Bye," I called and closed the door behind me.

"All ready to go, Ma'am?" Travis asked as he opened the back door of the SUV.

"Yep, and thanks for bringing the car around the front, Travis. The kids are out back with Cat, and if Claudine doesn't actually see me leave, she doesn't throw such a huge fit."

I felt a little guilty about not taking the kids along. They loved going to the old farmhouse, probably because Auntie Amelia usually had a new toy for each of them. They were both going to end up spoiled rotten. But I was looking forward to a day without the demands of children, and they would be just fine at home, guarded by Dante, Clovache and an assortment of were guards.

Gran's old house was well warded by Amelia, so even Eric was satisfied that I would be safe for the day there, but he had still insisted I take Batanya with me, along with Travis and Mark, all loaded to the gills with weaponry. I climbed into the back with Batanya.

It wasn't like anything would fit on my lap anymore, so I put on my seat belt and then tucked my oversized bag on the floor next to my feet. My purse was more of a diaper bag these days, since I always seemed to need so much stuff whenever I went anywhere with the kids. I carried Band-aids, wipes, a juice box or two, and a pad and some crayons to keep the kids busy in the car, along with the usual junk women keep in their bags. I no longer carried the camera, since I didn't need any more grief with that, but the bag still weighed a ton. Fee sat down on top of it, and we both got comfy for the long ride to Bon Temps.

"Wow, Sook. You're as big as a house," Amelia greeted me as I waddled towards the porch of the farmhouse, bright with fresh paint, but still familiar with the old wooden swing hanging in its usual place.

"Thanks a lot, Amelia. It's not as if I didn't feel fat enough already."

Really, I thought, someone should just slap Amelia. She had absolutely no brain-mouth filter at all. Not that I wouldn't have known what she was thinking anyway, she was such a loud broadcaster, but it would have been nice to not have to hear it out loud.

"Sorry. And you aren't fat at all. Just full of baby, which is a whole different thing. I'm surprised you're out and about when you're so close."

"I should have a couple of weeks yet, and I just needed to get away from the house. Eric's been pacing like a wild animal and everything is just getting on my nerves these days, even the dog."

"Yeah, well, that dog would get on most people's nerves, Sook. I mean, just the size of him now that he's grown. And Eric is just anxious for his son to be born. Any father would be."

There were a few more things for Eric to be anxious about, other than the impending birth, but I didn't feel like I wanted to discuss the Prince and the whole negotiation process with Amelia.

"Well, come on in. I have lunch all ready. I can probably even rustle up some honey for the little bug there," she said, smiling at Fee.

It was hard not to smile at Fee, since he was buzzing about like a hummingbird, his wings going a mile a minute. I was beginning to wonder what he was so excited about, since he usually just hitched a ride on someone's shoulders.

"Great, I'm starving as usual. After lunch I want to go through those pictures again. I thought I'd pull out some of the ones of me when I was Claudine's age, if there are any."

"Oh, that'll be fun," Amelia said. "I bet you looked just like her when you were a baby. She's going to be your spitting image, Sook."

"Hardly, Amelia, since she's got those big wings sprouting out of her back."

"Yeah, there is that."

The weres took up positions around the house, and Amelia, Batanya and I headed into the old farmhouse kitchen. It was always a little bittersweet to come home to Gran's house. Amelia had put her own stamp on the place, and with all the improvements, it was really a different house altogether. But the bones of it hadn't changed substantially, and it still had that warm, cozy feel that only really old houses had. Maybe it was the smell or something - years of fires in the hearth and layers of old paint on the walls.

The table was set with Amelia's brightly colored china resting on straw place mats and there was even a pretty vase full of fresh flowers – tulips again. The coffee made soft plopping and hissing sounds as it dripped into the pot and the smell coming from the oven made my mouth water.

"So, are you going to go by your brother's on the way home, Sook? You won't believe the place. I stopped over the other day on the way home from Shreveport to take that pie Grace baked for Dermott, you know?"

I nodded, curious where Ames was going with this, since it wasn't unusual for Grace to send baked goods over to my great uncle. She didn't give a fig for Jason, but she had expressed concern on more than one occasion that Dermott might not be eating right. Not that pecan pie was going to improve his diet very much, but Grace seemed to consider it one of the basic food groups.

"The place is like Disneyland or something. The garden has come alive, with flowers blooming all over the place, and Dermott's been building stuff all over. There are little benches and a gazebo and it's like the wood comes alive in his hands. I can't even describe it. Jason keeps telling him he could sell that stuff he builds for big bucks if they take it to the shops in New Orleans, but Dermott won't let him move anything. He says each piece has its place in the garden, and it would be a dead thing anywhere else."

"The buildings in the fae world are said to be living things," Batanya said.

Amelia and I both turned at once to the Britlingen, anxious to hear what else she knew about the world of fairy.

"Have you been there, Batanya?"

"No. It is many generations since my kind has been welcomed to Fairy. But there are stories of a time when there was free trade between our races, as there is with the demon world. It is said to be a place of wondrous beauty - the soil of the valleys rich and bountiful, the mountains so high the tops cannot be seen, but never a hint of cold or snow. There are clear, blue streams everywhere and forests grown so thick and deep that only the smallest of the wee folk can make their way through the trees."

"And we already know that their men, and women, are almost irresistible," Amelia added.

"I don't know if I'd go quite that far. I've met a few that I could resist pretty easily." Nieve and Lachlan came to mind. "But yeah, they're pretty darned attractive. How come you guys don't trade with the fairies anymore, Batanya? Did you have some kind of falling out with them or something?"

"No reason was ever given, although there was still a demand in my world for goods from theirs. The art of their woodworkers is especially prized, and now that it is no longer traded, the items that remain are of great value."

"Wow. Maybe Jason is right and Dermott could go into business. I'll have to go over there and see the place."

"We can swing over there today if we get done with the photographs," Amelia said. "But let's have lunch first."

Since Amelia was setting a platter of pot roast on the table, that sounded good to me. I poured out the sweet tea and we all sat down to eat.

"So, what do you know about the wee folk, Batanya?" I asked. "Are they anything like Fee?"

"Speaking of which - where did that little guy get to?" Amelia asked, as she set out a doll-sized plate on which she had placed some fruit, cut up small and drizzled with honey the way Fee liked it.

"He was climbing into your purse not long ago," Batanya said. She was always aware of everything that went on around her when she was on guard duty.

"Fee? What are you doing in there again," I said as I pulled open the top of my bag. "He was in there this morning, rummaging around," I explained to Amelia and Batanya. "I thought maybe he was looking for his pollen, to get drunk again. Sheesh!"

"I guess he was looking for that key," Amelia said, as Fee climbed out of my purse, the magic key to Fairy stuck in his sword belt and covering most of his small back.

"Huh! How did that get in there? I could swear that I put it in the safe when I brought it back from Vegas. I wonder if he was watching when I put in the combination."

So much for hiding his pollen in the safe, I thought.

Batanya was looking at Fee with a new respect, as if she'd never considered him before. Maybe she was wondering if he'd make a good spy or something. Most people didn't bother to hide anything from him, since he never seemed particularly threatening, like he was a pet or something. Sort of like the way we'd treated Bob, I thought.

"Or maybe it moved by itself," Amelia said. She had always thought that the key had a mind of its own and was a dangerous object, right from the day we'd found it up in the attic.

"It is more important to consider why it is here now, perhaps," Batanya said.

While we were discussing how the key had ended up in my purse and now, on Fee's back, Fee was trying out his flying skills with the additional weight of the key on his body. What would have been a relatively small object to one of us was not an inconsiderable size compared to Fee's small stature. The little guy was definitely hampered by carrying it, but he was making his way over to the back door, his wings bearing the strain.

"I think I know what he is doing," I said, not addressing anyone in particular. "His mate is stuck in Fairy, in one of those stasis balls. I think he wants to go and get here back."

Fee turned to look at me, his head nodding vigorously as he pushed at the doorknob of the back door, unable to turn it. His eyes held a pleading look.

"There's a portal around here, isn't there, Sook? That's how Claudine always ended up getting here so quick when you had a problem."

"Yes, it's right out back in the woods, near where I meet Niall, but I don't know if I should let him go through it. He might never come back if Niall catches him there."

"Well, he doesn't belong to Niall anymore, does he? Didn't Niall give him to Claudine?"

"Yeah," I said, a little disgusted at the thought that we might be discussing who Fee belonged to. Even though we might treat him like a pet sometimes, I knew he wasn't one. He was a rational, thinking creature, who could love and be loved, and who shouldn't belong to anyone but himself.

"Then, Niall can't hold him there," Amelia said. "Although I guess he doesn't have to let Fee's mate go."

"No, he doesn't, but maybe Fee would be better off in Fairy with his wife than here with us anyway."

It hadn't escaped anyone's notice how often Fee had been hitting the pollen lately, and how rarely he sang anymore. He might love all of us, and there was no doubt he was devoted to Claudine, but he had to be missing those of his own kind, especially his wife. We would miss the little angel terribly if he was gone, especially Claudine, but that wasn't enough reason to keep him from his mate if that's where he wanted to be. I could only imagine how hard it would be to be away from Eric for any length of time, no matter how pleasant the circumstances.

Fee was looking a little desperate now, and was tapping on the door to get my attention, waiting for me to open it and let him out.

"Fee, wait up. Let's talk about this," I said, walking over to him and putting out my hand, encouraging him to stop for a moment, before he wore himself out trying to get out the door.

"Does he even speak English?" Amelia pointed out.

"Oh, he understands quite a bit, I think, even though he doesn't say much. But he and I can communicate."

Although I couldn't understand the words I "heard" from his brain, Fee often thought in pictures too, and I could usually figure out what was on his mind.

Fee flew over to my hand, and began talking a blue streak, even though I barely understood a word he was saying. I waited until he stopped to catch his breath and I broke in.

"Listen, Fee. I guess you're wanting to use the key to get into the portal and go find your wife. Am I right?"

He nodded his little head and looked expectantly at my face, hoping to see approval of his plan.

"You think you can find where they're keeping the others of your kind and then find your way back to the portal?"

He nodded again.

"Okay. This is what we should do then. I'll go with you to the portal and…"

"I can't allow you to leave this world," Batanya cut in, and I could hear from her voice that she meant it. She would stop me by any means necessary. But I had no intention of leaving.

"I'm not going with him," I told Batanya, looking her in the eye, then redirected my attention to Fee. "I'll carry the key that far, cause I can see it's heavy for you. Then you go and find your people. Maybe if you can be quick and quiet, no one will notice. Let them all loose, okay? If they want to come back here with you, then they're all welcome."

He nodded again at that, looking hopeful.

"Keep track of the key and you can sneak back out. Come straight here to Amelia's and she'll bring you straight home if I'm gone back to Shreveport already. Now, if anyone catches you, you remind them that Niall gave you to Claudine, and I think they'll let you come back. But if they won't let your woman come with you, well then, you just do whatever you need to do to stay with her. Don't worry about us, and don't worry about getting the key back. I never intended to use it myself anyways. You know the words to unlock the spell? Do you think you can break the enchantment?"

He flew up and whispered the words in my ear, the same words that had freed him from the little glass ball that had kept him asleep for so many years. There was no need to keep the magic secret from Amelia or Batanya really, but like many of the supernaturals, Fee knew that knowledge was power, and you didn't share secrets if you didn't need to.

Jerahmeel had spoken the words to me with his mind, obviously not wanting to share them with Niall. I wondered if there was some significance to that. Maybe the person who freed the small ones would then have some control over them, or perhaps ownership. I wished now that I'd questioned the Prince more thoroughly about the whole process, but then he might not have answered anyway.

"Okay, then," I said, turning the knob on the door to open it. "Let's do it."

Fee pulled the key out of his belt in one swift movement, much the way he would wield his sword, leaving it in the palm of my hand as he flew out into the yard. I followed right behind him.

The clearing where I usually met up with Niall and his fairies was just inside the woods that bordered the backyard of Gran's place. I figured the portal wouldn't be far from there, since the fairies always just stepped back into the trees a bit and disappeared when they finished their meetings with me and Claudine. I had never actually looked for it though, not having any real desire to ever go to Niall's world.

It wasn't that I wasn't curious about what the place would look like. Who wouldn't want to see the land that inspired so many tales? But I had no plans of ever going there. I didn't trust the fairies, and I wasn't about to put myself in a position where I couldn't get back home if they decided to keep me. I might have the demon mark, and that might mean that Jerahmeel would come to my rescue, but he'd probably show up with guns blazing - or swords swinging. And when there's fighting among the supes, people get killed, as I'd seen more than once. I didn't want to be responsible for anyone dying, and there was every chance I could be killed or injured in the fray.

And then there was Eric. Neither of us could guess what would happen with our bond if I left our own world, but Eric had been pretty definite when he'd said that he would not survive the breaking of it. No way would I take a chance with Eric's life – besides the fact that Eric would just go ballistic if he even thought I would consider going that far from him.

As it turned out, it wasn't hard to find at all. Everyone followed me and Fee out to the clearing. Travis was pretty vocal that he didn't like me going into the woods at all, since I didn't even have the hellhound with me this time, so he and Mark stuck pretty close. Batanya had a sword out in one hand and one of those throwing star things in the other. She was taking no chances. But nothing jumped out of the bushes, not even a jackrabbit.

It was Amelia that spotted the portal first.

"There's a haze over there, do you see it?" Amelia pointed to a stand of gnarled old trees. "Between those two big sycamores. There's a lot of old magic here – powerful magic."

I didn't see a thing until she pointed it out, but once my attention was drawn to it, I was surprised I hadn't seen it right away. There was a glow, almost in the shape of a doorway. It was similar to the glow I could see around vampires. I thought Fee could see it too, although Batanya and the weres seemed stumped when Amelia pointed it out.

"You sure you want to do this, Fee?" I asked the little guy.

He answered by flying right up to the edge of the glow, holding out his hand for the key. Although I could feel that he was a little fearful about this venture, he was obviously determined and I knew he wouldn't hesitate once he had the key in hand.

"Alright then. You be careful, and we'll see you back here soon."

I wasn't going to say goodbye, since I didn't want to think that he might not make it back, so I just reached out and tucked the key into his belt, expecting to watch him fly away with it.

I barely had time to yell, "Holy shit!" when the ancient magic of the portal washed right over the both of us, and sucked us right in.