Fairy Lies
Authors: E. D. Baker
E. D. BAKER
This book is dedicated to Ellie and Kim
for their encouragement and support,
to Victoria for being such a wonderful teacher,
and to my fans for believing in me
Chapter 1Tamisin had to dance. Although the sky was overcast and the full moon was hidden behind the clouds, the moon still called her to raise her arms, twirl on her toes, and move to music only she could hear. Her long blond hair floated around her, brushing the wisteria blossoms each time she twirled by her parents’ back porch. Her bare feet left imprints on the grass as she stepped around the bird-bath in the center of the yard. Her eyes, raised to the concealed moon, didn’t seem to notice what was around her but shone as if she had glimpsed something far more wonderful than anything either the human or fey world could offer.
When Tamisin Warner danced, she was as graceful as a woodland creature, her movements as fluid as water rippling over unseen stone. Each step, each gesture, evoked the essence and mystery of the fey world. Anyone who had ever seen her dance could tell that it was as hypnotic for the dancer as it was for the spectator.
That night, Tamisin had been dancing for only a few minutes when the fairies arrived. They came in a cloud of sparkling lights to hover around her, watching silently until her very last gesture. When Tamisin’s arms fell to her sides and she took a long, shuddering breath, the fairies fled.
Fairies were nothing new to Tamisin; she had been a child in a human family the first time she felt the urge to dance under a full moon and had seen fairies every month since. Even so, she had been shocked when wings sprouted from her own back and she learned that she might not be as human as she’d always assumed. In fact, no sooner was she whisked off to the fairies’ land than she learned that she was adopted and her birth mother was Titania, the queen of the fairies. According to Titania, her birth father was a human named Bottom who had died centuries before. She also learned that the fairies were very strange, so she had found her way home to the human world again. Still, it seemed neither place felt right.
After the first month back in the human world, Tamisin began to feel restless. She started going for short walks around the neighborhood and one day ended up in the woods behind the school, standing in front of the two tall trees that formed a gate to the land of the fey. There were no shimmering lights between the trees, which meant that the gate wasn’t open. A few days later Tamisin went for another walk, purposefully heading in a different direction, and ended up in the same place. She tried it again over the weekend and wound up standing in front of the still-closed gate.
Tamisin arrived at school early the next morning to wait by her boyfriend Jak’s locker. He was a cat goblin and had visited the land of the fey with her. “What’s up?” he said as he walked down the hall. He gave her a quick kiss and added, “You’re never here before I am.”
“I just wanted to talk,” she said, leaning against the next locker as he started his combination.
“Is something wrong?” he asked, frowning.
“Not wrong, exactly. Just odd. You’ve been busy with basketball practice and, well, I’ve been really restless lately and have started taking walks. The weird thing is, no matter where I go, I end up in the woods behind the school. There’s a gate near that waterfall you took me to last autumn.”
Jak’s frown deepened. “You’ve been going to a gate to the land of the fey?”
Tamisin nodded. “Yes, but it’s never open. And I’m not
trying
to go there. I just end up standing in front of it somehow.”
“Do you want to go back to the land of the fey already?”
“Not really. I’m sure I will someday, but not yet. I hated that so much time passed here while we were there for only a few days. We missed Thanksgiving and Christmas and Petey’s birthday. I really wanted to be here for my little brother’s birthday party; I was going to put it on for him this year.”
“What about Titania?”
“I don’t have any burning desire to see her again, if that’s what you’re asking. She is my birth mother, but I
don’t think I’ll ever feel as close to her as I do to Mom. Janice is the only mother I’ve ever known. She took care of me whenever I was sick, she read me to sleep when I was little, she taught me how to tie my shoes . . . She’s
Mom
, and I guess she always will be. Titania is beautiful and exciting and pretty amazing. But I feel more like she’s a really cool aunt I didn’t know I had until now. What about you? Do you ever think about visiting your old home?”
“You mean my uncle Targin’s cave? All the time,” said Jak. “And then I’m grateful that I don’t have to. You have no idea how much happier I am here in the human world. I have friends here, and family who care about me. Gammi is the only relative I have who showed me any kindness, and she lives here now. And Bert is like a big brother who would do anything for me. He may be a bear goblin, but I’m closer to him than I ever was to my cousin Nihlo. I still have nightmares where Nihlo is chasing me through the corridors, threatening to lock me outside at night so the lamias will eat me. You can’t imagine how scary that was for a little kid. At least here there aren’t trolls, or manticores, or other creatures that would want to eat you.”
“That’s true,” said Tamisin.
“I couldn’t go back now, anyway,” said Jak. “I’m sure all the cat goblins hate me for siding with Titania against my uncle Targin. Given half a chance, they’d probably skin me alive and serve me for dinner.”
Tamisin shifted the books she was carrying. “You wouldn’t have to see your relatives. The land of the fey is a pretty big place.”
“Why would I want to go back? I have everything I need right here. Including you.”
Tamisin smiled. She was glad she’d talked to Jak. Just telling someone about it made her feel better. She really didn’t want to go back to the land of the fey, at least not for a good long while.
Although she tried to put the gate and the land of the fey out of her mind and stopped going for walks, the desire to visit the gate continued to build inside her. A few weeks later she couldn’t stand it any longer and returned to the woods behind the school. There were still no shimmering lights between the trees. Nor were there any the next time she went, or the time after that. She no longer tried to fight the urge to go to the woods, but every time she went, the gate was closed, and she became increasingly frustrated.
“Is something wrong?” Jak asked one day at school after she had snapped at her friend Heather.
“Yes, but you won’t want to talk about it,” Tamisin told him, slamming her locker door.
“What is it?” he asked. “Did someone do something?”
Tamisin shook her head. “Nothing like that. It’s just that . . . I went to the gate yesterday, but it’s closed—again!”
“How often have you gone there?”
Tamisin looked away. “At least twice a week for the last two months. But don’t worry, it’s been closed every time.”
“Are you trying to go to the land of the fey?” he said, sounding incredulous.
“Yes . . . No . . . Maybe . . . I don’t know what I’m trying
to do!” she said. “I guess I just want to see if I
could
go back. If I wanted to, I mean.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I know how much you don’t want to go back!”
“So you’d go without me? Tamisin, do you know how dangerous that would be?”