“I know,” Lachlan said quietly, frowning. “I truly am sorry about that, little one.”
“How do you know?” I demanded. “You only did the spell.”
“No.” He shook his head. “I felt the pain along with you. It was the only way to even begin to pay for the power I needed to break the geas.”
“You mean you felt that too?” I asked, staring at him. “The thousands of invisible fingers pinching and peeling away your hide? Pulling your hair…pushing hot coals into your eyes?”
Lachlan nodded.
“It was agony,” he admitted.
“But you still kept chanting,” I pointed out. “How could you do that through all the pain? All I could do was scream.”
“I knew if I stopped, you’d be stuck in the other form forever,” he said simply. “And you were very clear that you didn’t want that.”
“I didn’t want this either,” I said, turning back to the mirror. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s kind of nice to be so, uh, pretty. But it’s weird too.”
“You’re more than pretty, Emma,” Bran told me, smiling a little. “You’re beyond beautiful. You make Morganna Starchild look like a guttersnipe in comparison.”
I could feel myself blushing and in the mirror that girl with the rose-leaf complexion turned a delicate shade of pink.
No, not the girl, I reminded myself. That’s me now, as weird as it seems. That girl in the mirror is Emma.
“Okay, I don’t know what a ‘guttersnipe’ is but thanks, Bran—that’s really nice of you to say,” I told him. I looked at Lachlan. “And thank you for going through the pain with me and not quitting on the spell. As weird as it is to look like this, it’s much nicer than being a hunchbacked witch all my life.”
The Dark Fae gave me that lazy, one-sided grin of his.
“I thought you might think so.”
“I think you’ll enjoy wearing your true face—once you get used to it,” Bran told me. “Just imagine walking into Nocturne Academy on Monday morning as your true self. You can sit at the Fae table now, of course—none of them can deny your status. You’re definitely Sidhe.”
“I’d say High Sidhe,” Lachlan said, frowning. “Yet she bears the midnight hair—like my own.” He pointed to his own wild raven hair. “Perhaps she’s a half-breed, like me?” he asked.
Bran shook his head.
“Look at her eyes. They’re unique and no mistake—they mark her out as different but special. Set apart.”
Lachlan gave a low laugh.
“Or maybe you just think so because you’re a bit infatuated with our little Emma here.”
Bran’s high cheekbones flushed.
“What are you saying? That I would allow myself to become infatuated with a female I have sworn to guard and protect?”
“I’m saying she’s extraordinarily lovely and there’s no shame in being just a little in love with her,” Lachlan remarked, smiling again at Bran. “Goddess Bright, I am myself for that matter, though I just met her. But not for her looks—her power is what draws me.”
“Power? Me?” I squeaked, looking at him in the mirror. “What are you talking about? I don’t have any power.”
“Yes, you do, Emma,” Bran said patiently. “Remember how you tamed a kelpie just a little while ago? Do you know how dangerous they are? How many unwary travelers they kill?”
Lachlan nodded. “Even a High Sidhe would steer clear of a brook horse,” he remarked. “But you walked right up to it and tamed it to your hand—I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“I think he was just lonely,” I protested uneasily. “He wanted a friend. I didn’t do anything special—I was just friendly.”
“Just friendly?” Lachlan snorted laughter. “Right. And I suppose you were just being friendly with the iron nails I saw you handling as though they weren’t red-hot to the touch.”
“But they weren’t red-hot,” I said, frowning.
“A full-blooded Fae would find them so,” Bran said quietly. “But those weren’t even the first signs of your power, Emma. Remember how you healed the little chimeling with your tears?”
“She can heal too?” Lachlan demanded.
Bran nodded. “I saw her bring a creature back from the very brink of death just by crying on it.”
“His name is Spike and I don’t really think he was that injured to begin with,” I protested uneasily. “Really guys, you’re over-exaggerating everything. Under all this…” I waved my hands at my new face, which felt like a mask, though Bran kept insisting it was the true me. “Under how I look now, I’m still just plain-Jane Emma,” I told them both. “I’m not magic and honestly, I’m not even sure I’m really Fae—I mean, I was raised human and my mom is human. So please stop making me out to be some kind of magical fairy princess or something because I’m not. There’s honestly nothing special about me.”
Lachlan looked at me for a long moment after my irritated little speech. He cocked his head to one side as though trying to understand me, then he chuckled and shook his head.
“I never thought I’d see the day,” he told Bran. “A High Sidhe female as beautiful as the dawn and with powers that rival those of The Queen of Light and Shadows and yet her defining attribute is modesty. Where-ever did you find her?”
Bran shrugged.
“She’s my lab partner.”
Which for some reason, made Lachlan start laughing again.
Bran’s lips twitched and then he started laughing too.
Personally, I didn’t see anything funny in the situation, but somehow their laughter mixed together was contagious. I felt the corners of my own mouth drawing up and then, before I knew it, I was laughing as well.
It all seemed so ridiculous—me, plain-Jane Emma somehow transformed into a beautiful, powerful Fae. It was just so silly I couldn’t help myself—I was laughing so hard my stomach hurt, as I grasped both their arms for support because after a minute, I could barely stand up.
Lachlan looped an arm around my waist and Bran’s muscular arm supported my shoulders. In the mirror three beautiful people laughed and their laugher somehow made them even more gorgeous and attractive.
We look like some kind of advertisement, I thought. Or maybe an Instagram post for some beauty product or skin care regime.
Somehow that made me laugh even more until finally I had to turn away from the mirror, still clutching my stomach, until I fell on the bed.
“Emma, are you all right?” Bran was suddenly right there beside me, looking anxious.
“Yes, little one—are you feeling okay?” Lachlan flopped down on the other side of me and sprawled all over the bed, taking up most of it with his long, lean frame.
“I’m fine—just fine,” I told them both. It occurred to me that it was nice to have someone with me during this weird transformation—two someones, actually. Though presumably Lachlan would go back to the Fae Realm at some point and it would be just me and Bran again.
The thought made me sad, for some reason. I liked Bran a lot but I liked Lachlan too. I didn’t like to think of him leaving.