The Ravaged Fairy by Anna Keraleigh Read Free Book Online Page B

furrowed and his lips pressed together. “It’s the only thing I’ve ever
been good at.” His eyes drifted to the waves then back to her. “Have you ever
thought of leaving here?”
    Was that an invitation? Breena swallowed
hard and tried not to read too much into the question. “Gran’s here, I’ve lived
here me whole life.” There was a slight pause and then she added, “I’d love to travel,
see the world, but I can’t leave Gran here alone. I wouldn’t want to; she’s my
only family. Still, one day I want to touch the pyramids, explore America and
walk every road in Ireland.”
     He appeared to relax at her words. “You
sound passionate about it, Breena.”
    What a word choice. She looked away, back
at the rain that fell just a little harder and the waves that reached just a
little further inland.
    “Why were you named that?” Thame asked.
    She hated answering that with the crazy
truth. His hand stretched over and their palms pressed together, their fingers
twining. The move was seductive. “My parents were...” Would insane sound that
bad aloud? “They believed in all that folk lore stuff just like Gran. You know
trolls, mermaids, boogeymen and such.”
     His eyebrow rose. “and you do not?”
    She rolled her eyes the moment he said it.
“They’re just fairytales. Mostly.” She added. “My mom disappeared for a while.
No one knew where she was, but when she returned, she was pregnant with me.
Gran was furious. She was young and had her whole life ahead of her, but now she
had to take care of a child.” She lifted her chin and tried to push away each
pitiful sound. She always sounded like a lost child when she told the sad short
history with her mother.
    Breena shook her head; Gran had told her
the story so many times, she knew every word. “Me mother said she was in some
fairy palace. She spent the last week hiding in an underground kingdom with
sunflowers so big you could sit on them and men with delicate wings on their
backs. She described everything so perfectly and when I was born, she named me
Breena that means fairy palace in Irish, which you already knew.” She frowned.
“My mother took off as soon as she was strong enough to stand and Gran took
care of me. We always knew she made it up and really ran off with whatever man
she ‘loved’ that week.” Her pity turned to anger as the story progressed. “I
hated her for so long and then a few years ago, she showed up.” His hand
squeezed her tighter. “More talk about fairies and love and evil creatures
trying to kill them, but she took off a few days later. She was shaking and
paranoid, probably drugs but no ancient evil creature from some damn story ever
appeared. It was rubbish.” Thame was quiet and she glanced over to see him
completely focused on her. “There’s no chance I’d believe in those crazy
stories.”
    “What’s your mother’s name?”
    Did it matter? “Grace.” She reluctantly
shared the name. “I tried to find her once, and it was a waste of a year.”
    Thame rolled the word around in his head.
He lost eye contact and drifted to the waves that now beat into the sandy shore.
“I don’t know anyone with that name.”
    “Why would you? Ireland is a big place.” Well
that was a depressing tale. “Tell me something about you. I need a mood changer.”
She needed a stiff drink and her vibrator.
    Breena sat back and listened as Thame
spoke. He mentioned his big family, mainly men, and he painted a wonderful
picture of his house back home. Grudgingly and from her insistence, he added a
few funny stories from his childhood.
    Memories of her mother were replaced by
her laughter as he shook his head at his boyhood antics. He had been as clumsy
as she but foolishly tried to always prove his worth. Breena found herself
laughing with the hard clatter of rainfall and her cheeks were beginning to
hurt.. He snorted and glanced out at the landscape. Why didn’t he smile? Her
mirth died as the thought surfaced. She