The Fairy-Tale Matchmaker (26 page)

Cory didn't stir until Noodles nipped her toe. She was still half asleep when she pulled her feet away, wondering why he was on her bed. As the woodchuck tugged the blanket, she woke enough to remember what had happened the night before—the kidnapping, losing her fairy abilities, the look on Mary Mary's face when Cory's grandfather scooped her up and made the glass in the window disappear with a glance. He'd flown her back to Micah's house then, tucking her into bed and kissing her cheek. The last thing she remembered was Noodles whimpering when he couldn't get close to her, and her grandfather placing him on the bed.

A sharp pain in her foot made Cory sit up and frown at the woodchuck who had nipped her again while gnawing on her blanket. “Cut that out! This is exactly
why you shouldn't be up here! You smell, too. I have to give you another bath.”

Picking up the woodchuck, she climbed out of bed and set him on the floor. When she straightened, she caught a glimpse of herself in her mirror. Although the night before she'd felt like she'd been chewed up, spit out, and stomped on, she felt wonderful now. She looked wonderful, too. The dark shadows she'd had under her eyes from lack of sleep were gone. Her skin was flawless and had a glow that she'd never noticed before. Even her hair looked thicker and shinier. Cory touched it, wondering how she could look and feel so good after everything that had happened. Her abilities had been wrenched from her, she couldn't get smaller when she tried, and her wings … Cory gasped when she remembered that her wings were gone. She would never fly again, or do any of the fairy things she'd always taken for granted.

Noodles was scratching at the door when Cory turned away from the mirror. After slipping on her robe, she opened the door and let him scamper out. She could hear her uncle talking in the kitchen.

“I tell you, there have been others. Cory isn't the first one to be treated this way by a guild.”

“I've already started an inquiry. I don't think anyone on the council knew about this,” said a voice.

Cory followed Noodles into the kitchen and found her grandfather seated at the table while her uncle poured him a cup of herb tea. They both looked up when Cory entered the room.

“How are you feeling this morning, my dear?” asked her grandfather.

“If you mean physically, I've never felt better,” Cory said, taking a seat at the table. “Is this how humans usually feel?”

Her grandfather smiled and shook his head. “Not at all. But then, you aren't human.”

“But I'm not a fairy either, am I?” said Cory. “Not if they took away my abilities. You seem awfully cheerful about this. Am I missing something?”

Her grandfather took a sip of tea, then set his cup down. “It's time that I explain what I think has happened. I am a demigod, as was your father. You would have been as well, but your father married a full fairy woman. I tried to stop their marriage, but they refused to listen to me. Fairies are magical beings. Demigods are beings with powers. When the two have children, the fairy magic obscures the demigod powers.”

“Does that mean that fairies are more powerful than demigods?” asked Cory.

“Not at all. Think of it this way—if you have a
beautiful gem and it gets covered with paint, what do you see?”

“The shape of the gem with the color of the paint?”

“Exactly!” said her grandfather. “But if you remove the paint, you see the gem. That Tooth Fairy Guild woman removed the paint, something I didn't know was possible. And now, I'm hoping that what is left behind is what you always were underneath—a demigod. It's possible you have the talent to be the next Cupid. From what you've told me, you already lean in that direction. Let's try a little experiment. Close your eyes and think about one of your friends. Now ask yourself—who is that person's soul mate?”

Cory closed her eyes, thought about Marjorie, and said to herself,
Her soul mate is
… A clear image of Jack Nimble's face popped into her head. Cory gasped and her eyes flew open. “I thought about my friend Marjorie. I've been trying to match her up, but I didn't have her meet Jack Nimble until yesterday. That's who I see her with when I think about her.”

“Wonderful!” said her grandfather. “And who do you see when you think of your uncle?”

“Say now!” said Micah. “That isn't necessary. I'm fine the way I am and don't need any love match, thank you very much!”

Cory laughed even as she closed her eyes. She didn't think she would see anyone for her uncle, and was surprised when the image of a fairy woman with curly pink hair took shape. “I see someone, but she isn't anyone I know,” Cory said, looking from her grandfather to her uncle.

Her uncle looked intrigued when he said, “Really?”

“That happens quite often,” said her grandfather. “Now that you know what she looks like, your abilities should help you find her.”

“What does being one's soul mate mean?” asked Cory.

“It means that your friend Marjorie is meant to be with Jack and will not be completely happy with anyone else.”

Cory clapped her hands in delight. “Uncle Micah! You have a soul mate!”

“Well!” he said, and sank onto his mushroom stool as if his legs could no longer support him.

“Does this mean that I'm the next Cupid?” Cory asked her grandfather.

“It might!” he said with a smile.

“Can I fly like you? Will I get wings that are like yours?”

“Let's see,” he replied. “Think ‘wings!' and see what happens.”

Cory was nervous. The last few times she had tried to get small so she could fly had been failures. After that she hadn't thought she'd have another chance, but if this worked and she really could get wings again …

Wings!
Cory thought, and held her breath. Nothing happened. She turned to her grandfather, her eyes clouded with disappointment.

“You have to believe it's going to happen,” said her grandfather. “Try again and
know
that you can do it. Even a little doubt can be enough to prevent it. Picture what your wings will look like. They'll be feathered and larger than a fairy's. More streamlined, too.”

Cory nodded and took a deep breath. “I can do this,” she told herself. She imagined her wings. Feathered. White like her grandfather's. Reaching from behind her head to her calves. Sturdy enough to support her weight and carry her for hours. She felt a tingling between her shoulder blades and took it as an encouraging sign. Suddenly it was easier to believe in her wings. “I have wings,” she told herself. “I have wings,” she repeated over and over, and then, between one moment and the next, she did.

“They're beautiful!” she whispered, turning her head to look over her shoulder. Unlike her grandfather's white wings, her feathers were the color of fresh cream with a pale rainbow of colors shimmering over them
when she turned them a certain way. She could move them just as she had her fairy wings, but she could already tell that they were stronger.

“Wow!” her uncle said. “Very nice!”

“Is there anything else I should know?” Cory asked her grandfather.

He laughed and shook his head. “I think that's enough for today. Why don't you get used to what you can do now? Come see me when you have questions or just need to talk.”

The old man stood and gave Cory a kiss on her cheek. Then he was gone in a pale blue haze that left the odor of eucalyptus leaves behind. “I'm going outside to test my wings,” Cory told her uncle.

“I think you should eat something first,” he said, and got up to fill her plate with scrambled eggs with cheese and fried potatoes with herbs.

“I'm not very hungry,” Cory told him, then surprised herself by eating it all.

Her uncle volunteered to take Noodles out while Cory got dressed. She'd never had wings when she was big before, so she found them a bit awkward at first. When she walked through the main room, her wings nearly knocked the nest off the mantel, upsetting the finch and her babies. Her wings got in the way when
she tried to go into her bedroom, getting jammed in the doorway so that she was stuck until she closed them. Changing her clothes proved to be even harder. Somehow, the power that created them let the wings go through the clothes she was wearing without damaging them. Unfortunately, they also kept her from taking them off. After struggling to remove her robe, she finally thought to make her wings disappear.
No wings
, she thought, and they were gone.

Cory dressed quickly, and was soon out the front door. She was so used to her wings by then that all she had to do was think
wings!
and they were back. Flying wasn't much different from when she was a fairy, except she was bigger and people could actually see her from the ground. Having people notice her was novel at first, but she soon grew tired of the staring and pointing, so she rose into the air so she was less obvious. She found that she could actually go higher than she'd been able to with fairy wings, and that she could soar, something the delicate butterfly-like wings had never allowed. The clouds looked enticing when she drew close enough, but when she flew into one, it was cold and wet and not nearly as much fun as she'd thought it would be. It was too much like flying through a very thick fog, one where you couldn't see where you were going. Although
there wasn't anything to trip over, there were birds and larger creatures like the occasional griffin or dragon that she was sure she'd run into if she wasn't careful.

Cory was shivering when she decided to leave the cloud, but by then she was disoriented and not sure which way to turn; the cloud seemed to go on forever in every direction. It occurred to her that the only way out of it was to head down, a direction that she could actually find. All she had to do was tuck her wings to her sides and let herself start to fall. When she came out of the cloud, she saw that she wasn't far from Marjorie's house, so she flew down to pay her a visit, landing in her friend's yard. Cory could tell by the angle of the sun that it was late afternoon. She'd been having so much fun that she hadn't noticed how much time was passing.

Cory looked around the yard before she landed, but didn't see anyone. From the delicious smells coming from the house, she knew that her friend was already cooking dinner. She didn't like visiting at mealtimes unless she'd been invited, and thought about leaving, but she was already there and the news she had to share was too exciting to keep. When she started to the door, her wings snagged on the rose-covered arbor in front of the house. Impatient, Cory thought,
No wings
, and the weight on her back disappeared. After knocking on
the door, she ran her fingers through her windblown hair while she waited.

Marjorie looked surprised when she opened the door.

“I'm sorry I didn't send a message first, but I was out this way and thought I'd stop by,” said Cory. “A lot has happened and there's so much I want to tell you.”

“I wanted to talk to you, too,” said Marjorie. “Jack Nimble and I went on our date yesterday. At first I thought we were really hitting it off. He took me on a picnic in his hot-air balloon to see the dragon-hatching grounds by Shell Lake. We had a wonderful time, but on the way back he started talking about his mother and I knew what was wrong with him—he's a mama's boy!”

“It's not like he lives with her or anything,” said Cory.

“No, but he visits her all the time.”

“Not according to her.”

Marjorie looked puzzled. “You've met his mother?”

“Before I met him,” said Cory. “She's actually very nice.”

“That's what people said about my mother and we never got along,” Marjorie replied.

Cory laughed. “I know what that's like! But you have to give him another chance! I
know
he's the one for you. He's your soul mate—the one you're meant to be with for the rest of your life.”

“Why are you suddenly so sure?” Marjorie said, sounding skeptical.

“Because I
saw
you together. That's what I had to tell you. I met my grandfather and you'll never guess who he is.”

“I don't know. Santa Claus?”

“No, of course not! Although Santa is a very nice man, we're not at all related. My grandfather is Cupid!”

“Your grandfather is a pudgy little baby?”

“That's who I thought Cupid was, too! But he's actually a very distinguished gentleman. I may be the next one! Cupid, I mean. After the TFG kidnapped me and stripped away my fairy abilities, I learned all sorts of things about myself.”

“The TFG did what? When did this happen? Did you report it to the Fey Law Enforcement Agency? You really should you know.”

“My grandfather is on the council's supervisory board. He's already started an investigation. Anyway, what I was trying to tell you was my visions work now. You're
supposed
to be with Jack Nimble.”

“Cory, I believe you think that's true, but he had his chance and he
isn't
the one for me. Listen, I don't know about this whole Cupid thing, but if the TFG really did take away your fairy abilities, they probably left you a
little, well, messed up. I'm sure it's just a temporary thing and you'll feel better after you've had some rest.”

“That isn't it at all!” said Cory. “My visions are real now! They are so clear and I
saw
you with Jack.”

“That's nice, but it isn't going to happen. Listen, I'm about to eat dinner. Would you like to join me?”

Cory shook her head. She finally really knew what she was doing, and Marjorie didn't want to believe her! Frustrated and annoyed that her friend had brushed her off like that, Cory made her excuses and left. If a good friend like Marjorie didn't believe her, the other people she'd been trying to find matches for probably wouldn't either. She'd been so excited when she arrived, only to feel disappointed and discouraged now.