Between by Megan Whitmer Read Free Book Online Page A

feel Seth’s eyes on my face as I turn my attention to the woman who is stepping out of the tree. She’s tall, with long platinum hair and twig-like legs. Her green dress flows behind her, and two broad, shimmering wings protrude from her back.
    My heart pounds. That is a fairy. Right in front of me. A freaking fairy.
    “Seth?” I close my fingers around his arm.
    “I’m right here,” he whispers. “Take a second, but then we need to keep moving.”
    I close my eyes, allowing myself a few seconds to clear my head. A million thoughts flood my brain. Every single urban legend I’ve ever heard. Every tabloid news story. Every fuzzy photograph of a supposedly imaginary creature.
    These things cannot be real.
    I take a slow, steady breath before opening my eyes again.
    The fairy I spotted a moment ago is hovering above the steps of the tree she exited, chatting with another fairy who is dressed in blue. I hear the unmistakable sound of hoofs clopping against the ground, a noise I heard many times back home when our neighbors took their horses for rides along our fence line. The familiarity is only in the memory—the half-horse, half-man hybrids I see trotting down the path are unlike the stallions I’m used to. Centaurs. There are actual centaurs here. And fairies. With the wings. And the flying.
    It’s real. It’s all real. As terrifying as it is, at least I’m not losing my mind. Tonight’s events truly happened, and Seth is taking me to Mom and Sam, and we’re going to understand everything.
    “Charlie?” Seth pries my fingers from his arm.
    I spot two large animals behind him, grazing in a field behind a wooden-planked fence. “Are those unicorns?” My voice raises an octave. He hadn’t mentioned unicorns.
    “Yes,” he says. “The apothecary keeps a few here.”
    I long for my paints. There’s so much color, so much depth, and I can’t help but grin at the magnificence. If only I had my sketchbook, I could sit down right here in this spot and be perfectly content for the next several hours.
    A joyful squeal fills the air and a large streak of sparkling violet swooshes by us, knocking Seth to the ground. I stumble backward, nearly falling.
    Seth lies on his back in the grass, and a winged girl hovers over him, eye-to-eye. She’s petite—even though she’s looking him in the eye, her feet barely go past his knees.
    “Seth! You’re back!” she sings.
    “Hi, Lulu.” Seth slides his hands behind his head and stares up at her, lengthening each syllable with exaggerated annoyance.
    She smirks at him. “Don’t pretend you’re not happy to see me,” she says, a Southern twang pulling on each of her vowels.
    Seth smiles at her. “Lulu, meet Charlie,” he says, “my Apprentice.”
    She lifts her eyebrows. “Apprentice, eh?” She purses her lips and shifts her mouth to the side. “I can’t decide if that’s a promotion or punishment for you.”
    Punishment? What does that mean? I lower my brow and glance at Seth.
    He snorts. “Shut up and say hi to Charlie.”
    In a flash, she’s in front of me, the tips of her toes resting on the ground. I close my mouth and pull myself together. Lush eyelashes border Lulu’s bright green eyes. Her black hair is cropped, with streaks of deep purple running wildly throughout. Even stretched up on her toes, she’s an inch or so shorter than me.
    Clearly enjoying the attention, she straightens her posture and rotates like a ballerina. Two pairs of broad wings emerge from her back, below her shoulder blades. They look like a dragonfly’s wings, opalescent in color with intricate membranes and crossveins. Holding my breath, I bow my head closer and stretch my fingers toward one of the wings. Just as my fingertips brush their velvety surface, the wings flutter and I lurch backward.
    Lulu lifts herself into the air with a delighted giggle. “Gotcha!” she sings, and I laugh. She sinks to the ground and grins. “So. What are you?”
    I blink at her. “Huh?”