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die, and I would still
be stuck here . . . without her. All I would have left were
my memories of us—memories that happened in a world that didn’t really exist.
    I pushed my own fears and doubts away. Tonight
is for Emilee, not for me.
    I could tell she felt better by the time
she began to wake up. It lifted a weight off of me, and I hoped her good
feelings would last throughout the day. “Thank you, Raith,” she said seriously
as our minds began to untangle themselves. “Thank you very, very much.” She
kissed me on the cheek as she faded the rest of the way out.
    A feeling of accomplishment surrounded
me, and I felt good about ending the night right there. I had never been so
happy to help someone in my life.
     
    The next night followed the same basic
pattern. We sat on the floor and I picked through Emilee’s brain, but I was
running out of things to ask her and I could sense she still needed more of a
distraction than just dancing would bring.
    “Raith,” she said after a lull in our
conversation, “Will you tell me about you now? I think I’ve told you just about
everything there is to know about me.” She smiled at me sweetly, waiting
patiently for a reply. I already decided beforehand that I would tell her the
truth if she asked for it again. It still scared me to death to tell her,
though.
    “What do you want to know?” I asked her,
not sure where to start.
    “You’re not human,” she stated calmly,
sure of herself.
    “What makes you think that?” I asked
curiously, trying to buy time to calm my nerves.
    “I don’t know very many humans who can
magically enter someone’s dreams every night.”
    I chuckled and held her tighter,
nuzzling my nose into her hair. “Well you’re right. I’m not a human being, not
technically anyway.” Emilee looked up at me, eyebrows raised.
    “Technically?”
    “Well, according to our history or
legends, whatever you want to call them,” I began, “the very first of my kind
were humans. They were all brother and sister too.” I loved the way she looked
at me with supreme interest. I twisted my fingers into her hair at my favorite
spot—the nape of her neck—and slowly trailed them through the soft strands
until my fingers became free. I continued the movement absentmindedly, not
realizing I had stopped talking until Emilee spoke.
    “And?” She looked at me with wide eyes,
waiting to hear the rest of the story. “How did they
become . . . whatever it is you are?” She laughed a little as
she said the last part, obviously unaware of what I was. I wasn’t surprised, of
all the human concepts detailing how Fae came to be, the truth is the least
known.
    “Well,” I began again, adding an air of
mystery to my voice, “it was their mother’s fault really. You see, her husband
died and she was terrified the gods were going to take her children from her
also. So, she hid them in the forest to keep them safe—from being stolen away.
However, the gods, knowing and seeing all, were enraged at her attempt to fool
them. When the mother went to find her children, no matter how hard she tried,
she couldn’t locate them. The gods had cursed them to be a hidden people.”
Emilee’s eyes widened and she smiled knowingly.
    “Fairies,” she whispered, biting her lip
the way I liked. I laughed, moving my hand from her hair to stroke the side of
her face. Pretty and smart.
    “Yes, fairies is what the general human
term has become. We call ourselves Fae though,” I informed her. “Do I look like
some girly fairy to you?” I demanded jokingly, releasing her and making a show
of flexing my muscles. She laughed as I hoped she would and then gently touched
my arm.
    “No, you don’t,” she started, “But is
this what you really look like all the time? Can’t fairies, I mean Fae, use
glamour?” She seemed to realize that her hand was still on my flexed arm and
blushed, pulling it away quickly. I chuckled and pulled her into my embrace,
cradling her head