Touch (Touched by the Fae 3)

“It won’t be easy,” hedges Ash. “And I wouldn’t be able to help you.”

And?

I didn’t expect him to, anyway.

“That’s fine. Whatever it is, I’ll do it.”

For Nine, I’ll do anything.

“It’s possible, but only if we have a stone from Brinkburn. That makes the quest nearly impossible, but it might be our only chance to reverse the curse without returning to Faerie and bargaining with Melisandre to do so.”

Since going back to Faerie is out of the question, going with the nearly impossible plan is my only chance.

Not that I have any idea what Brinkburn is. It sounds… like something I’ve heard before. I could be making that up, I want to save Nine so bad, but it’s such a strange word. I’m almost sure that I’ve heard of it.

“Okay. What’s this Brinkburn thing? Is it a place? Here?”

In the human world?

I don’t say it, but it’s obvious what I mean.

“Yes,” confirms Ash. “It’s in the Iron. England?” He turns to look at Callie again. “Is that right?”

She nods.

Ugh. England. That’s more than an ocean away from where we are. Shade-walking is a no-go, too. What if I aim for England and end up in Faerie? Considering my track record, it’s more likely than I want to think about. A plane? Yeah, with what I.D.? And that’s if we could even afford a plane ticket in the first place.

I huff. “You weren’t kidding when you said impossible.”

“Chin up, sweetie,” says Callie. “We don’t have to go there if we can find a stone. That’s what’s important.”

“I wouldn’t let you go there even if you could,” adds Ash. “It’s a place no fae can go and I would never send my daughter where I could not follow to keep her safe.”

The way he says my daughter has me hunching in obvious discomfort. I can’t help it. This is all so new.

If he notices, he pretends not to.

Callie pats the cushion of the couch next to her.

I pretend not to notice that.

“Okay. So we’re not taking a trip to England. Works for me. But how do we find one of these stones?”

“And that’s the tough part. There aren’t too many of them in this world. Any Ironbound fae will destroy them since the relics of Brinkburn are nothing but dangerous in the wrong hands. Even if there were easily found, a regular human would never know. They look like regular, everyday pieces of glass. Some are white. Some are blue.”

“Brown,” adds Callie. “I saw one once that pretended to be a shattered beer bottle. Oh, and there was that pale pink crystal one I saw in a museum gift shop once.”

Pride mixed with adoration flashes across Ash’s face as he smiles over at Callie. “My mate has the sight. Without Callie, we would never stand a chance.”

But we have Callie.

“You’ll help me,” I say, looking over at her.

If she looks a little crushed that I’d even have to ask her that, you’d never tell from the warmth in her voice. “Of course, I will.”

“I can’t handle it,” cuts in Ash. “I can’t touch it. I can tell you if it’s strong enough to bring Nine back, but the rest is up to you and Callie.”

“That’s fine. And if Callie doesn’t feel comfortable leaving the apartment yet, I’ll go searching on my own, then bring it back for you guys to check it out. Whatever we have to do to find this crystal thing, I’ll do it.”