Dust (Of Dust and Darkness) (32 page)

             
Tears well behind my eyes again, pained that he
doesn’t give me what I long for,
what I need. But I
nod
my head in agreement. He’s right. I can do this. I
will
do this. I will not stay here and spend the remainder of my days unlawfully imprisoned. I’m going to get out of here and go home. And I’ll do whatever is necessary to do that. Including being dusted with magic.

             
“Hit me,” I say, expressing more confidence now.

             
“First things first.” H
anding me the velvet pouch, h
e pulls a key from one of the pockets in his pants, then steps around to my backside. I hear a click, then my back involuntary jerks back and forth, the sound of metal scraping against metal with each yank. A loud metallic screech pierces the air, making me
wish I could
cover my ears with my hands. A massive weight lifts from my wings and I
moan with
pleasure, suddenly feeling lighter than air.

             
“Oh, thank you! You have no idea how good that feels!”

             
“I can imagine.” He tosses the metal clamp to the floor and it lands with a bang. “Now stand still and be quiet,” he demands, stepping before me again
, recollecting the bag of his mother’s pixie dust
. “This is going to require a lot of focus on my part.”

             
I nod, knowing full well the concentration it takes to will something to my desire. I’ve had several years experience using the dust to grow some of the plant life throughout
the forest surrounding
my Hollow. I tilt my head down, deciding it best to remove my eyes completely from his line of sight. I sense his arm lifting above my head and await impact.
Impact
, I think, internally laughing at the thought. I actually have no idea what this will feel like, if anything at all. So far I feel nothing, and can tell visually that I haven’t grown in size. Has he even started yet? I dare not look, more afraid of interrupting him than anything.

             
I catch a sparkle at the tip of my nose, the light reflecting the quickest flash of red on a
hexagonal
-shaped fleck. More and more specks follow and fill my vision, reflecting the beautiful colors of the rainbow as they twist and tumble downward. I suddenly feel a twinge in my tummy and instinctively cover it with my hands. The feeling’s hard to describe really. It almost feels like little tendrils are rapidly reaching out from a tiny ball of mass, right in the center of my tummy. They lick farther and farther, lengthening and extending their reach down my legs to the balls of my feet and toes, and up my arms and all the way down to my fingertips. Last is my head, and it fills with so much pressure I’m forced to squeeze my eyes and pinch my nose in a desperate attempt to
fight against
it. An involuntary gasp of air fills my lungs, and it holds firm as I feel my muscles stretch and lengthen. But what’s really weird are the bones, and they way they almost feel like they’re thinning in circumference in order to lengthen, manipulating and reshaping the bone that’s already present in my body.

             
I won’t lie. There’s a little pain involved, like a surplus of pins and needles attacking my body. I grunt as I feel myself lengthen and grow slightly in height. After a minute, it all seems to fade, but the pinpricks linger a bit. My facial muscles slowly release, and my eye
lid
s fearfully creep upwards in small sections, widening my view layer by layer.

             
I gasp, and shoot my eyes wide open. I’m almost head level with the most gorgeous guy ever! Before, I was three inches shorter, now I’m only down by one. It’s almost like when we sit (or I sit up and he leans) and we’re close enough to converse comfortably face to face. But never before have I been anywhere close enough to do that standing up. Not that I’m complaining of the great view I had of his chest, but a view of his neck is so much better, because all I have to do is
barely
tilt upward to get an absolutely perfect look at those luscious lips. And right now they’re close enough to brush against mine, if only he would just tilt a little more south.

             
He licks his lips and slightly chuckles, setting off the butterflies in my abdomen again. But they have an absolute fit when his body twists and exposes his backside to me. “What’s wrong?” I ask, completely flustered. We were about to have a moment!  “What are you doing?”

             
“Uh…the dress, Rosalie.” He shifts a little as he awkwardly tries to point
toward the cloth in my hand
. “You need to put the dress on.”

             
My forehead creases with confusion, but when I look down, it all makes sense. “Oh-my-Mother-Nature!” I scream. I bend forward at the waist, my arms immediately crossing over my chest. My heart thumps so hard I feel it pulsating against the limb covering it. Who knew growing two inches would cause my chest to expand that much! My thinning bikini top has stretched and is covering the important parts, but it left very little to the imagination. I
groan
, wondering exactly how much Jack got to see before I even got around to opening my eyes. Sure, he was transfixed on my eyes then, but what about before? Mother Nature, I hope he was respectful. I’m sure he was, but I know he saw something, because how else would he know to turn and tell me to change? Here comes another
groan
…

             
The knot is hard to untie now that the material around me is stretched tight. I finally quit fighting it from behind and twist the knot to my front. It’s still hard to get, but I’m making headway.

             
After another
grunt
from me, Jack sarcastically asks, “Need some help?”

             
“Hush up and stay put.”

             
He chuckles and the tails
of my bikini top
finally untangle. I drop the worn-out top and quickly throw the dress over my head. The thin cotton is stretchy and fits me well, with thin sleeveless straps and a pleated skirt that falls loosely mid-thigh. The light
tan
color
is nothing to be desired, but
it
blends
really well against my skin.

             
“Uh…Jack?” I suddenly realize something very important.

             
“Yeah?”

             
“Turn around.” He obeys, his eyebrows lifting with interest as he examines me head to toe. I quickly thrust my forearms in the space between us and bounce them up and down. “Look. I’m still red. I can’t be red!” My poor enlarged heart can’t take any more panic attacks today, not after everythin
g else my body has gone through.

             
“It’s okay,” he soothes. “I’m going to take care of that and your wings with dust too. Just one problem at a time.”

             
“Okay.” My head bobs nervously, then my hands begin to
twitch
too. Before my whole body
can
sporadically break out in embarrassing dance moves, I cross my arms tight, shut my eyes and take a few deep breaths. “Okay. Hit me.”

             
He wordlessly obliges. I barely hear his movements. A minute later, I feel a tingle spread all over the top of my skin. A minute after that, I feel a twinge at the base of my wings. It almost feels like the veins and crossveins in my wings are actually knitting back together, and the cartilage is molding and realigning at each break. A warmth radiates from the base of my spine and travels out to the tips of my four wings, and I suddenly feel this wondrous glow inside me build and spread to every single cell inside my body. I sigh with content, feeling healthier than I have in a long time. My insides sing, practically tingling with delight. I wiggle my fingers, and I swear I can almost feel the magic exuding from my fingertips, buzzing with life, static flaring as they brush together.

             
The symptoms fade, including the inner warmth, but I still feel pretty good as I expose my eyes to the sight before me. My skin is now a creamy peach like Jack’s, and I can see the tips of my wings out the corner of my eyes – and their yellow luminescence!

             
“Oh, Jack! You healed them? How?”

             
“No, Rosalie,” he says quickly, shaking his head and cutting the air with his hands multiple times. “I’m not a healer. Wings are incredibly delicate, and I wasn’t able to catch anything to practice on, so I’m not going to try. It’s just an illusion, so don’t try to actually use them. I just don’t want anyone we may run across to see damaged wings and wonder.”

             
“Oh.” To say I’m disappointed is an understatement, but better to see them in all their glory than the mangled up mess they really are, right? I suppose they’ll still hurt if I touch them,
and
I dare not try.

             
“Well… Now you look the part.” His eyes linger on me longer than necessary. He almost seems sad to see me this way. Perhaps he feels it’s a tease…because it sure feels that way to me. Here we are, compatible heights, matching skin tones…two fae that look a match. What I want is right before me, and the attraction I have for Jack is no longer considered unlawful. But this nine-inch, creamy-skinned faerie before him isn’t me. Not really. And I think he sees that as a problem as much as I do. What good is being together if I have to change myself to the point I’m unrecognizable?

             
“Come on. I want you past the spriggans campsite before you change back or something goes wrong with the illusion.”

             
He passes me the bag – it’s heavier than it looks – and I stuff my worn out clothes and the bag of pixie dust inside. I slip on the shoes – I guess they must have been the
thump
I heard earlier when I was too out of it to discover the source of the noise. They’re soft and silky on my bare feet, and I feel a little guilty that I’m not clean enough for shoes this pretty. The dark
brown
material extends a little farther than my toes, but the silk ribbon straps that wrap around my ankles keeps them on well enough. I never had shoes this nice back home. I had two pairs for working in, but I hardly ever wore them, preferring to feel the earth between
my bare toes
.

             
“You’re in charge of that bag from now on, so hold on tight.” He grabs the metal clamp and the lantern’s hand ring with his left hand, and extends his right arm out. His fingers summon me. I loop the bag over my right shoulder and step into his embrace. My left arm wraps under his arm and up his back, my
hand cupping over the curvature of his shoulder blade
. His arm wraps tightly around my
waist
. His wings flutter, and I suddenly wonder if he’ll be able to carry me out of here by himself since I probably weigh as much as he does now.

             
“Maybe we should have made me a faerie
after
you took me topside.”

             
He huffs, and sarcastically says, “
Now
you say that? Where was that great idea fifteen minutes ago?”

             
“Guess maybe
someone
should have consulted me in terms of the escape plan after all, huh?”

             
I can feel his glare but I refuse to look. He squeezes my
waist
so hard I yelp. My lips press tightly together, trying to contain the laughter within as he bends and pushes up, having to practically jump off the ground. We ascend – a little slowly, but up is up.
So long crap hole!

             
We pass over the edge,
and my feet stumble to find solid ground that doesn’t poke a hole through my
shoes
. Jack releases me slowly, his hand sliding along my lower back as he walks down the passage.

             
“Turns out you make a curvy faerie too.”

Astonished, I playfully smack him on the back of the shoulder before he can duck completely out of reach. I follow his mild laughter down the passage, the lantern in his hand illuminating a distorted depiction of our shadows across the rocky walls. It only takes a minute of walking to get us to the opening of the cave, to the peaks of hanging rock resembling the canines in a wolf’s maw,
which teases me,
looking ready to
chomp shut and
devour me the moment I
dare to
pass
through
, but I’m excited for my first view of nature in several weeks nonetheless.

             
Ugh
…I’ve forgotten how
ugly
this made up world is. Even with nothing but a weak glow from the moon, I can see the barren ground a
nd a few dead looking trees. Tho
se poor trees. In reality, they’re probably pretty beautiful, but it’s lost to the world thanks to this horrible illusion. Pixies spend a great deal of time and effort making
plants and trees
bountiful
and picturesque
, and the flippin’ faeries
completely
removed it
from this area
with one stupid, unlawful illusion. Jerks.