"Go the other way," I mumbled.
"Correct." She beamed at me. "Don't worry, all is not lost. We can even the score. There are two more, hidden with their guardians and we'll find them, just you watch."
I let it all sink in. My hand unconsciously strayed to the pendant, no, the amulet piece lying under my tee shirt. Ana honestly didn't seem to know that I had it. But Conall, Breandan and Devlin did. Ana was a witch and gifted with the Sight. How could she not know that I was a guardian too? Something was off. There were still large gaping holes in the tapestry that was being woven in my mind. Devlin was an evil fairy-lord. Pure evil and he wanted my amulet piece so that he could try to open the grimoire. Lochlann, another bad ass fairy and Breandan's older brother was leading the revolution to bring back the balance, and was therefore fighting against Devlin, which made him the good guy, right? The grimoire was a scary powerful book that Devlin had, but couldn't open because it was locked. Somewhere in the middle of this myself and two other fairies had been chosen as guardians of the key, the amulets. I assume to keep them safe from evil, because though my moral compass was dubious at the best of times, I didn't feel evil, which made me good too, right?
But then why did I not know any of this? Why had I been dumped on the steps of a Temple Priests house, glamoured as a human baby with no memory or knowledge of whom or what I was? Surely, if this amulet were important it would be madness to entrust it to someone who may have just thrown it away one day. Everything was falling into spaces, but some bits didn't fit.
One thing I knew for certain, though I was curious — who wouldn't be — I didn't want a part in any of it. No matter what Ana thought it was too big for me. The whole political battle between the rebels and the Tribe, and the battle between good and evil. The only reason I could see I was a part of it was because of my connection to Breandan. After all, no long lost relative had come forward to claim me.
The macabre tone of my thoughts had me scrambling around my own head for a distraction. "Uh, the way you talk," I said, "you consider yourself part of the fairy rebels?"
She snorted. "The gods created the Source and we all came from that. I don't care they look different to me. We're made of the same basic stuff."
"But you're human," I said stubbornly taking in her normal ears, skin and lack of other limbs. There was no glamour over her; I'd looked hard for it.
"If you want to get technical about it I'm the white witch, but for the most part yeah, human. You are most definitely fairy."
"So it's true then. All witches are bad? Barring you, I mean."
Sadness flickered across her expression. "Fairies are magical. It is the essence of what they are, and for the most part it protects them from influences that can rot a person to the core — jealousy, greed and spite to name a few. Humans who can touch the Source, witches, do not have these natural safeguards."
"What makes you different?"
"The same thing that makes you different." Her eyes lingered on my wings. "The will of the gods."
Stunned by her knowledge I pried without thinking. "How old are you?"
"Fifteen."
I thought back to when I was fifteen three years before. Trying to work out why my body was so developed, and why I didn't want the boys to touch me like the other girls did. I compared myself to this powerful girl and cringed. I went to pull my hood up but at Ana's stern look I rested my fingers on the fabric, and my stomach clenched.
"I am in so much trouble. I don't think I can do this."
She glared at me with a face of thunder. "You know what, this 'oh no poor me' routine has to stop, Rae."
"What?" I wailed. "I have a right to be upset."
I raised my palms helplessly and swallowed the excess saliva building in my mouth.
"You don't have time to mope, or be worry about what's coming, because it's already here. Sorry to be the one to break it to you, but it's crunch time. I wish you had more time to prepare, I do, but fact is you don't. You need to face who you are and accept your place beside Breandan. The Tribe has stolen the amulet of protection. They grow more powerful, and now they have one of the four. In many futures you try to run but trouble finds you. If you don't accept this-"
Clamping a hand over my mouth, I leaped up and dashed into a corner before emptying my stomach onto the ground. I heaved until nothing but clear, acidic liquid dribbled from my lips. My mind scuttled over everything and I retched, puking air. Leaning my head on the cool stone I clung to the trailing ivy rooted to the wall, and breathed in the light scent from flowers sprouting in-between the gray bricks.
Pushing away from the wall I swayed back over to Ana. I let my legs give way so I was seated, leaning forward limply.
"Chew this." She pushed something green into my hand.
I stuffed it in my gob and chomped down. A clean taste exploded in my mouth, down my throat, and into my belly until the nauseated feeling subsided. I spat the wad of green out of my mouth and raised it in my upturned palm.
She motioned to the lump of weedy grass. "I laid a spell to help you."
With bigger things to be upset about then a bit of magic, I tossed it and pushed hair out my eyes. "How am I supposed to react to this?" Thinking on it I came up with nothing. My wings flexed behind me and I sighed. "This is too big for me, it was too big when I found out I wasn't human." My hand drifted to touch an elongated ear; it twitched beneath my touch. "You're telling me that I have to be with Breandan or he and his brother will fail in their quest to overthrow Devlin. I don't even know why they are against him."
Though I could guess. Devlin seemedcruel.
"I wish I could say something wise and comforting, but that's not what I'm here for. That's not my purpose. But I know you'll make the right choice." Leaning over to give me a hug she pressed her cheek to mine. I stiffened. Moving away, she laughed quietly. "Oops, sorry. I forget."
Shrugging it off, I plucked at the grass. "How do you manage with all this?"
She grinned. "It's cool. My strength is my Sight, but I can draw some power from the Source should I want. I have known who and what I am since I can remember. The rebels are the only real family I've ever known. I don't want to be without them." We shared a smile before Ana looked up to the night. "Nothing can compare to fairy kind." She lay flat on her back, and I paused trying to figure out how settle beside her.
A few minutes of unsuccessfully lying down and shifting into awkward positions I leaned up and thought move out a little, and my wings moved out a little. I leaned back and the grass pricked the skin between my shoulder blades. My wings folded up against my body to cocoon me; curving overhead. The overall effect was snug as we watched clouds roll across the sky.
"Tell me about them?" I asked.
"They're all different, living solitary lives for the most part, even those sworn to the Tribe. The majority remains Outside, but there are those who live within the Wall disguised as human, like me."
"You're not a slum girl," I said. "You talk like an upper dwell." I wondered how many other demons were living as ordinary humans. "It's strange to think of demons as so civilized. I'm used to thinking of them as, well, something close to animals."
Ana snorted a laugh. "Do you consider yourself as animal?"
I chose to avoid answering that.
"Can you tell me how many demons there are?"
"My, my counting assets already." She laughed at my blush. "The other demons have their own laws, and I have no idea about their numbers. We believe the fairy number to be teetering at a thousand," her voice was proud. "There may be others hiding in the regions across the seas. Then there are the outcast fairies."
My tail curled around my waist to jiggle in front of my eyes. I clasped the tip in one hand and pushed it behind me. "You're going to get bored having to explain every comment to me really soon, but outcast fairies?"