Read Online The Last Changeling by Chelsea Pitcher - Free Book Online Page B

tricks.
    â€œI think I can understand,” I said, reminding him that my situation was far from perfect.
    The words leant him obvious strength. His back straightened as he spoke. “I like the privacy. I can come and go without bugging anyone. But it’s quiet. The sound of my breathing keeps me awake. So I lie in bed at night letting every possible thought come into my head. Sometimes the thoughts are really stupid. Sometimes they’re dangerous … ” His gaze drifted to the books stacked on his desk.
    Maybe his glance was inadvertent, but I took the opportunity and ran with it. “Are you asking for something to fill up the silence?” I said. “Perhaps a story?”
    â€œNo, I just—never mind.” He hid his face in his pillow.
    â€œNot so fast.” In Faerie, a well-told story was worth more than gold. If I could choose the right one, I would not feel so indebted to him. “What kind of story?”
    â€œI don’t need a bedtime story ,” he snarled. “Just … tell me about yourself.”
    I froze, staring into the darkness. “Is that what you desire?”
    â€œIt is.”
    I chose my words carefully. “Then I will do as you ask. But my story will start in a curious place, and you will just have to trust me.”
    â€œI trust you,” he said without missing a beat.
    My heart constricted. My entire body was trembling, but I opened my mouth and pushed out the words: “Once upon a time, a planet came into being, spinning through the universe amongst a billion burning stars. The planet, now called Earth, had a body and a spirit, which shared no visible connection but were intrinsically linked. So when the planet’s body separated into innumerable forms of life, her spirit separated too, into millions of self-aware entities, and that is the origin of faeries.”
    â€œSorry, Tinker Bell,” Taylor said with a laugh.
    I smiled at that. “In those early days, the faeries lived only as spirits, nestled inside flowers and stones or dancing across the earth in sunlight and rain. But as more creatures came to life, the faeries began to experiment with matter, manipulating the elements to create physical bodies.”
    I paused as Taylor shivered. The window above the bed lay open a crack, at my request, and a breeze drifted steadily into the room, carrying the scent of hyacinth. I reached for the blanket Taylor had tossed aside in the throes of sleep and pulled it over him. He turned to me, and a multitude of emotions danced across his face: surprise, embarrassment, gratitude.
    My breath quickened as his hand neared mine, accidentally brushing against me as he settled onto his back. I had the sudden desire to take those fingers and clutch them in my own, but I fought it, knowing it to be foolish.
    It’s in his nature to hurt me.
    â€œYou can have some of the blanket,” he offered, and my confusion deepened.
    â€œThat’s okay,” I said, thinking of other things that might lend me warmth. I couldn’t believe my boldness, even if only in my own mind, and turned away, terrified and entranced at the same time.
    Taylor’s voice brought me back. “What happened next?”
    â€œHumanity was born,” I said softly, “providing the Folk with new features to incorporate into their many forms. Using humanity as their inspiration, they made bodies with human faces and limbs, adding dragonfly wings or shimmering fins. This was a time of glorious discovery for the fey, and they tried on every imaginable ensemble, emerging transformed each time.
    â€œBut things began to change. Humans separated themselves from the natural world, studying it from afar as if it were not a part of them. They stopped entering the dark forest s and began fashioning their houses from dead trees, afraid that live trees held spirits they couldn’t contain. And as the human world grew more controlled, more finite, faeries