The Orange Cat and Other Cainsville Tales (Cainsville 3.5)

Ricky chuckled, relaxing a bit himself. "So he's already on it?"

"No, because there's something I didn't tell you. About my own encounter. I told Gabriel that I needed to speak to you about that part first, and I'll e-mail him the details later."

"What'd he say to that?"

"He agreed."

Ricky exhaled under his breath. "Okay, well, let's talk then, and you can get that e-mail sent. You said the fae dragged you out of a cavern. Is that not all she did?"

Catching his look, she laughed and shook her head. "When I said my encounter wasn't nearly as pleasant as yours, I meant it. I jumped into the water and ended up in an underground cavern. She found me there and dragged me out, and then presumably went to give you a scare, too, got a look at you and changed her mind. Which I can totally understand."

He smiled and shook his head. "I have a feeling it was more a case of her thinking that might be another way to get rid of us."

"Uh, yeah. She doesn't know a lot about guys, does she?"

"I suspect she was thinking more about the girlfriend of the guy. The one who would come over after her traumatic experience and find her boyfriend getting a little fae-action. Whereupon she would freak out and drag him far from the swimming hole, never to return."

"Is that what I was supposed to do? Damn. I never get that right." A sip of her tea. "Okay, so no fae-action for me. There was more to the story. Mainly what I saw in the cavern before getting hauled out."

Liv explained. He listened and then said, "Huh."

"Exactly."

"Logistically, there can't be an actual castle under the mountain, so I'm presuming it was a vision. But something must have been there if she was so quick to drag you out." He paused. "Presuming that the fae is a she."

Liv grinned. "You couldn't tell?"

When he shook his head, her grin grew, and she said, "And don't seem to care."

"Not particularly, though the light touch suggests female. And, yeah, before you ask, I do know the difference. I spent a few weeks as a camp counselor when I was fourteen. Another counselor thought I might be his type. At that age, I didn't know myself. Turned out I wasn't, but I won't say it wasn't fun finding out."

She laughed. "I love you. You know that, right?"

"I do."

"The fae was female. If I thought otherwise, I might have been a little more cautious about encouraging you to enjoy the attention in case you wouldn't have appreciated the surprise. It's very refreshing to know that wouldn't be an issue. Also, kinda hot. But I saw her arm when she grabbed me, and it was female. And she did drag me out. She wasn't helpfully tugging me to safety. Which means there must have been something actually in that cavern."

"And the vision of castles suggests Celtic or Germanic fae." He considered that. "Maybe not, though. It depends on which came first, fae castles or human."

Liv arched her brows.

Ricky stirred more sugar into his tea. "If we say that fae castles are British or European, that suggests the fae copied them from humans. Could be the other way around. In which case, castles could still mean something to fae native to this region. A question of which came first. As for whether it's a vision . . . Where were the original fae castles? Deep in the forest where humans just never stumbled over them? Or is it just that humans can't see them? They aren't in another dimension. We know that, right?"

"Right. Fae live in this dimension, with us. As for the castles? I have no idea. I've seen them in visions. Real castles. Life-size. What you're saying, though, is that just because it makes no sense to have a castle under the mountain, doesn't mean there can't somehow be one. Which would make it not a vision."

She pressed her fingers to her temples. "My head hurts. I liked my world better when things like underground castles resided only in books and movies."

"Liar."

He reached for her hand, hooking her fingers in a squeeze . . . and then trying to snag the last oat bar. She beat him, scooping it up and waving it in front of him.

"I win," she said. "As always. You might as well just concede--"

He snatched the cookie from her fingers.

"Damn," she said.

He broke the oatcake and gave her half. "Now e-mail Gabriel the details. It's almost time for dinner."