Faetal: A New Adult Fantasy Dark Prince Romance Read online

  Elves are beauty - at least to human eyes. Any one of them would make the modeling scene scream in excitement. So why don't they? With easy fame and attention within their reach only from looks, why don't elves interfere more in the human world? The answer does not lie on the exterior of alabaster skin. It lies deep underneath.

  A few soft giggles broke into her attention. Mari glared at the girls. Did they have to get all girly and giggly while she was trying to work?

  One of the girls, Sarah, the most popular of the group, was walking over to the aisle next to Mari. The rest of the girls watched her, big grins on their faces. Sarah was short and petite in a way that made people just want to pick her up. Naturally blond, she was blessed with the skill that made teenagers popular - the ability to hide what she was feeling.

  Mari clutched the book to her chest, curious. It would be fun to listen in on what was about to happen. She might even get pointers on how to handle herself if she ran into the coffee shop guy again.

  "Excuse me," Sarah said, a smile in her voice.

  Mari could see the general shape of her outline and the bottom of her chin through the bookshelf, books, and placement blocking the rest. She watched Sarah maneuver herself in between the guy and the bookshelf and then stop, reaching up high.

  "Oh, shoot," Sarah said, struggling to reach a book she didn't want. She made high pitched squeaky sounds as she strained. She was supposed to sound cute, but Mari thought she just sounded like she was constipated.

  The guy started to walk down the aisle, away from Sarah.

  Mari covered her mouth with the book she held in her hands. If the girls saw her grinning at any part of Sarah's failure, they might stop ignoring her and start making life miserable. There was one year left for school, plenty of time for torment.

  "I'm so sorry to bother you," Sarah said. "But could you help me reach this book?"

  The guy turned.

  "Me?" he said.

  Mari froze. Her hands gripped the edges of her book, knuckles white. She recognized that voice. Sarah, a beautiful popular girl who could have any man she wanted, was trying to pick up her coffee shop guy!

  Mari bit the cover of the book she was holding, her daydreams rushing out the door like a house cat making its escape. She couldn't do anything to stop it.

  The guy walked back over to Sarah, reached up, pulled down the book, and handed it to her.

  "Thank you!" Sarah said giggling. Mari scowled as she hunched, trying to get the best view through the shelves, watching as Sarah placed her hand on the guy's arm. "You're a lifesaver."

  The coffee shop guy shrugged her arm off and turned to walk back down the aisle.

  Sarah trotted after him, thrusting her hand out to cut off his escape.

  "I'm Sarah," she said.

  He brushed past her, not responding.

  Mari stopped biting her book.

  Sarah failed. It didn't make her as happy as it should have. If the beautiful Sarah couldn't strike up a conversation, how would Mari be able to do anything at all? Her gorgeous coffee shop fantasy man wasn't approachable, even by the best.

  Mari sighed and turned back to looking at her book, wiping a little bit off of spit of the corner. She tried to bury the small ball of depression back down; she came to the library to avoid disappointment, not add to it.

  Those who ignore the true nature of our elven brethren risk their very lives.

  A shadow fell on the page.

  Mari looked up.

  Hovering next to her was golden hair, blue eyes, and a beanie covering his head and ears. His hair had to be just awful to keep wearing that beanie in the middle of a California summer.

  He was within two feet of her.

  Mari clutched the book to her chest. She could feel her heart pounding against the pages of the book, and for a moment, she was irrationally worried she was going to drop dead of shock.

  "Hi," he said, his hands in the pockets of his baggy pants. "No coffee to get dumped on you here, huh?"

  "I... uh... no coffee," Mari stammered, taking a step back. He was in between her and the exit from the aisle into the center of the library. Behind him, she could see the girls, gesturing at Sarah, turning her in her tracks. Sarah, halfway between the shelves and her friends, glared at Mari over the guy's shoulder.

  The coffee shop guy smiled at Mari, and she thought she would have a heart attack. He was so close! She could reach out and touch him.

  "What are you reading?" he asked.

  Mari clutched the book tighter to her chest. He was going to see she was reading nonsense! Her father always said the books she liked were trash, nonsense that would rot her brain. What if he thought the same? He would hate her if she showed him!

  "I... oh... I'm not reading this," Mari said, trying out a strained laugh for size.

  The guy hooked his finger over the top of the book, brushing her skin with his finger. Goosebumps broke out over Mari's skin, and before she could stop him, he had pulled the book away from her and started reading the page she'd been on.

  He frowned.

  "You're reading this?" he said, his eyebrows rising towards his hairline.

  "No... I'm not... I... I..." Mari took a step back. First, he sees her covered in coffee. Then he catches her reading a brain candy book - she was so embarrassed she couldn't stand it. "I have to go!" she blurted out.

  Mari dashed around him and walked as fast as she could towards the exit, cursing herself. She couldn't run in the library.

  She got outside and relaxed, slowing her speed walker pace down a little. She started heading home through the car infested streets, running the scenario over in her mind. Maybe she could go back in there.

  Mari knew that was what she had to do just as soon as she went through every single possible scenario.

  "Wait up!"

  Mari turned around to find the coffee house man catching up to her. He had followed her!

  Mari froze.

  All the scenarios were gone.

  She hadn't prepared for this!

  She opened her mouth, unsure of what would come out.

  Tiny claws threaded through her hair, grabbing fist fulls, pulling the strands out at the root, some taking flesh, and blood with them.

  Mari screamed, waving her arms in a desperate attempt to protect herself from the onslaught of the pack of fairies. She forgot that she didn't know for sure that the man could see the creatures or that any average person would see her screaming and flailing her arms, her attackers a product of a disturbed mind, and nothing more. Just the act of defending herself was enough to have her put back under the watch of a psychologist.

  Male arms encircled her, knocking the fairies away from her head with direct swats. Most of them flitted away, vanishing around the corners of matchbox townhouses almost as quickly as they came. One stayed, hovering out of arm's reach, purple hair identifying it as the same from the coffee house. Its wings buzzed like a hummingbird, holding it suspended in the air. Instead of an outfit made of grass strands or tree leaves, the fairy now wore a blue mini skirt and a matching jacket studded with rhinestones. It looked strange on the fairy's flat, angular body. Then again, its previous owner, a well-endowed plastic doll with deformed feet and gravity-defying mammary glands, didn't wear it any better.

  The fairy hovered, screaming a stream of chittering words at the two of them.

  The coffee shop man was standing so close to Mari that when he stopped to pick up a rock, he brushed against her leg with his shoulder. The light touch raised goosebumps on her skin again.

  "Are you alright?" he asked, his eyes reflecting the concern in his voice.

  "I... I..." Mari stammered. He was too close. It felt like there were mere inches between them. She could feel the heat of his body radiating off him, a warm spot that stood out despite the hot California sun.

  A tingle ran down her spine, sharp and unnatural, like an electric shock.

  The smell of roses filled the air. She was close enough to smell his co
logne. Mari's heart skipped a beat - was he gay? Gorgeous straight men didn't wear silly smells like that, did they? Mari didn't have enough experience with attractive men to know.

  Mari stepped back, overwhelmed, needing to keep the attractive stranger out of her personal space so she could think straight.

  "You can see them?" Mari asked.

  The man nodded. "And so can you," he said, a hint of humor in his voice.

  "But... how..." Mari had so many questions, but there was one that pressed on her mind with an urgent need more tremendous than her shock or her attraction. "Are there others?"

  The man smiled. "Yes. But there is only one of me, and my name is Vladmir."

  Mari held out her hand, ignoring the burning in her cheeks caused by the playful tone of his words and the growing excitement in her belly. There were others! She wasn't alone, she wasn't crazy, and she had something in common with the stunning guy. She had so much more she wanted to ask him. She just needed to figure out how to do it without looking like an idiot!

  "I'm Mari," she said.

  Vladmir took her hand and bowed low, bringing it up to place a soft kiss on her knuckles. His fingers caressed the palm of her hand.

  She snatched it back. Half a second later, she winced inwardly, berating herself. Real suave - he was going to think she didn't like him.

  "It is my pleasure, Mari." Though he said the words with a smile, his eyes drifted away from her face and over her shoulder. The smile faded.

  Mari started to turn to see what he was looking at. Vladmir caught her chin, forcing her head back around and keeping her gaze on him.

  "Don't look," he said.

  Mari would have turned her head but for the sharp tone in his voice. She didn't turn but was caught by surprise when he did.

  He swiveled around until he was next to her and draped one long arm over her shoulder. He began walking forward, his hand squeezing her close to him.

  Mari forgot to breathe for a moment. She wanted to giggle. She was so nervous about the sudden intimacy, but she managed to choke it down.

  She had to act cool.

  Mari had never dated anyone. It wasn't from lack of desire to. It was just whenever everyone else was joking around in class or at lunch. She tended to have her head stuck in a book or focused on a sketch to the side of her notes. She didn't join in, and they didn't bother to include her.

  The closest she'd gotten to a member of the opposite sex that she was attracted to was stealing surreptitious glances over a worn copy of a fantasy novel. Now she was walking down the street with one that was practically hugging her!

  "Just act natural," Vladmir said, leaning in to whisper in her ear. "I'm sorry to put you in this position, but please just go along with it."

  "What is natural?" Mari whispered back, resisting the urge to look behind them.

  Vladmir laughed, and her heart sank. She'd said something stupid. To her relief, instead of mocking her, Vladmir smiled, a genuine grin that creased the corners of his eyes.

  "You're a funny one," he said. "No wonder it had to be you."

  Mari remained silent, not wanting to risk saying anything else stupid.

  Vladmir's hand lifted off her shoulder a little, just enough to twine a strand of her hair through her fingers. She could feel it all the way up to her scalp, and it felt good, a pleasurable sensation that made her want more.

  "I need to tell you something," he said. "If you would hear me out... it sounds a little crazy."

  "Okay," Mari replied, wondering how he would react if she snaked her arm around his waist. He had his arm around her... wouldn't it be natural if she did the same thing?

  "I came here to find you," Vladmir said, biting his lower lip. He sighed, running another strand through his fingers.

  "Why me?" Mari asked, not paying attention to his words. Having a beautiful guy seek her out after a chance encounter in a coffee house was exactly what happened in her daydreams, but now that it was happening, his words didn't seem that important. There were more serious matters at hand. Maybe if she brought her arm up, he wouldn't notice until it was in place around his waist. If she brought her arm up at a slower pace, he might shift, and she might touch his bum on accident, and that would be awkward. Maybe she shouldn't try at all. It was too risky.

  "Why you?" Vladmir replied, his voice catching in his throat. He sounded like an actor in a soap opera. "Because you are special." He turned towards her, taking her shoulders in both of his hands. "You can see what others can't."

  "I just met you!" Mari replied, reacting to the emotion in his voice.

  In her books, this was how it happened, fast and unmistakable. Love at first sight. Now that it was happening, it seemed more ridiculous than anything else. Yet despite that, there was a tight feeling in her chest; she had been waiting for this for a long time.

  "You're right," Vladmir said, pulling away from her. "This is too much at once." He stepped back, his hands dropping to his sides.

  Mari put her hands up. She couldn't discourage him! How awful would that be if she accidentally made him go for some other girl, like Sarah.

  "No, it isn't," she protested. Mari didn't have the words in her to explain that although it was a bit much, she still wanted to wrap her arms around him and squeeze him to a paste.

  Vladmir gave her a faint smile and then looked off in the distance, back the way they came. Mari followed his gaze. There was nothing there.

  "Will you do something for me?" he asked.

  Mari nodded. How could she deny anything to a cute guy who seemed so eager and awkward himself?

  "Stay inside until I see you next," he said. "It isn't safe out here."

  Mari gaped at him, ready to argue. Sure he seemed worried about something, but to have it be so bad that a girl he just met would have to hide in her house was a little excessive.

  "Please?" he asked again.

  Mari nodded. Vladmir flashed his teeth at her in a brilliant smile before turning to hurry back in the direction they came from.

  Mari watched him walk, enjoying the smooth flow of his motions, before heading back to her house.

  She was excited, confused, and conflicted. The thought of being in danger was so alien to her that all she could do was picture returning to school with a picture of a hot boyfriend - preferably in swim trunks and without that stupid beanie.

  [ 3 ]

  Mari spent the rest of her day shut up in her room, rereading some of the best moments in her favorite books. She reread the scenes when the heroine and her love interest met, the fiery conflict building between them, and the eventual barriers collapsing as the emotional climax reached its peak.

  She fell asleep that night, surrounded by books that outlined her body like tape at a murder scene.

  When she woke the next morning, she knocked them to the floor in her haste, casualties of broken spines and bent pages. Mari didn't even notice. She was too busy brushing her teeth and hair and picking out an outfit that would hide her figure but still look nice. Mari even stole into her parent's bedroom, swiping Cathy's black mascara. She didn't have any makeup of her own.

  After a hurried breakfast, Mari spent the next few hours pacing between a window in the living room that looked onto the main street and a window in the kitchen that looked into the alley.

  It was early afternoon when Mari slumped into a chair in the kitchen, despairing that she'd been forgotten when a gentle knock thumped against the front door.

  "I got it!" Mari yelled, knocking her chair back in her excitement.

  Cathy grunted and returned to watching her show.

  Mari brushed her hands over her head, hoping her ponytail was smooth. She pulled open the door.

  There he stood, just like he said he would. In his hands, he held a bouquet of roses. The edges of the petals were a light yellow, and they spiraled inwards with the color shifting to a rich pink.

  Vladmir held them out.

  Mari reached out to take them, knowing that her face was a bright,
embarrassing red.

  "Oo!" Cathy said, interrupting the moment. "Double delights! Those are my favorite!"

  Mari was grateful and furious for the intrusion. Cathy took the attention off of her and her awkwardness when getting the flowers, but Mari didn't want Cathy to take all of the attention.

  "Well, why don't you invite your young man in Mari? It is about time you had a guy over." Cathy held out her hand. "I'm Cathy, Mari's stepmom."

  Vladmir took the hand and bent over it, kissing it - just like he'd done to Mari before.

  "I am Vladmir, and it is a pleasure to meet you," he purred.

  Cathy giggled. Mari thought her laugh sounded just like turds flushing down a toilet.

  "Oh! A charmer!" Cathy said, giving Vladmir her best smile.

  Mari felt a stab of panic. Cathy was closer to Mari's age than her husband's. With the skilled attention she paid to her hair, figure, and makeup, she outshone Mari by a large margin when it came to physical beauty.

  "Come see my room," Mari blurted out. She shoved the roses into Cathy's arms, grabbing Vladmir's hand and dragging him into the house. "Cathy, could you put those into water for me, thanks." Mari pulled Vladmir up the stairs before Cathy could blink - but not before she could act like a parent.

  "Leave the door open," Cathy shouted after them. "I'll be checking!"

  Mari didn't even want to think about why her stepmom would want her to leave the door open.

  It wasn't until she had Vladmir up in her room that she realized she'd made a mistake.

  Her bed was a mess of literary carnage, and her closet was open to reveal a hamper of dirty clothing and bras visible on top of the dresser. She made a run for the closet, snapping it shut, hoping that he didn't have a chance to see her white and tan undergarments. Bras were supposed to be sexy confections of lace and color - not canvases of blandness.

  When she turned, Vladmir was picking up one of her books from the floor and was inspecting the cover.