way to build cookie-cutter McMansions all over the place. The habitat will be destroyed, and the last thing this state needs is more subdivisions full of ridiculously overpriced homes.”
He frowned. He’d only understood every fourth word she uttered, but it was clear she was passionate in her defense of the land and the creatures that inhabited it.
“Anyway, I was just trying to cast a protection spell to keep the land from being destroyed, and instead, I got…you.”
He studied her wide, fear-filled blue eyes.
“Please don’t hurt me,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean to summon you. Honestly, I don’t even know who you are.” She tugged at the vines that held her. “If you let me go, we can both just get out of here and go our separate ways.”
At the moment, he wasn’t particularly interested in being separated from her. It had been centuries since he’d spent any time in his human form, and he didn’t intend to let it end so soon. Certainly not before he’d sampled her lush curves.
“I don’t think so,” he murmured, enjoying the sensation of her full breasts brushing his chest with every rapid breath she took. “There’s still the question of my sacrifice.”
Her face paled, and she struggled harder.
“Look, I’m sorry that spell went wrong, but I’m not about to let you cut me up because of it.”
“Why would you think I want to harm you?”
“Uh…sacrifice? Sound familiar?”
He traced the line of her trembling lips. “Not all sacrifices need to be blood.”
Her breath caught in her throat, and she swallowed audibly.
“Oh.” Her gaze searched his, dropping to his lips and moving back up again. She shook her head. “I’m not about to whore myself out. I’ll figure out how to protect this place without you. Without magic. You need to just go back to wherever you came from.” She glanced at her wrist. “And take your vines with you.”
“I don’t think so.”
“I don’t even know who you are. Hell, I don’t know what you are.”
“I’m Gwydion.”
“That’s super, but that doesn’t explain how you rose up from the dirt and dead leaves. Are you some sort of elf? Or faery?”
He scowled.
“Well, you’re clearly not human.”
“Clearly.”
Had the humans been so long with only a few specific gods that the rest had fallen into obscurity? Had they all been forgotten in their silence? He tried to remember the last time he’d taken corporal form. The world hadn’t smelled so foul. He peered off in the distance at the ghostly grayish glow muddying the horizon. Nor had it been so bright. He wondered how many other things had changed since he’d last been here.
The gods monitored things with the human world, but once the industrial revolution had begun, he’d stopped checking on their advancement. Too many forests had been eaten away in the name of progress. Plants died and animals were displaced and starved to death in an environment that no longer supported them.
Dismissing his concerns, he sat back, and with a wave of his hand, released the vines that held the young woman captive.
She quickly scooted away from him. “Look, I’m really sorry about all this. I didn’t mean to take you from wherever you were, but…thank you for coming.”
Gwydion couldn’t just leave. Not until his purpose for being summoned was fulfilled, but he didn’t speak. Instead, he simply watched her hurry away through the gnarled trees toward a small house in the distance. As she vanished into the darkness, it occurred to him that he didn’t know her name. But it didn’t matter. This wouldn’t be the last time he saw her.
Cloaking himself in invisibility, he left the wooded grove and explored the surrounding area. The small patches of snow that hadn’t yet melted were so filthy and gray he almost didn’t recognize it as snow. Bits of debris and garbage clung wetly to the roadway and the odor of passing vehicles filled the air with foul-smelling filth that clung to the
He frowned. He’d only understood every fourth word she uttered, but it was clear she was passionate in her defense of the land and the creatures that inhabited it.
“Anyway, I was just trying to cast a protection spell to keep the land from being destroyed, and instead, I got…you.”
He studied her wide, fear-filled blue eyes.
“Please don’t hurt me,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean to summon you. Honestly, I don’t even know who you are.” She tugged at the vines that held her. “If you let me go, we can both just get out of here and go our separate ways.”
At the moment, he wasn’t particularly interested in being separated from her. It had been centuries since he’d spent any time in his human form, and he didn’t intend to let it end so soon. Certainly not before he’d sampled her lush curves.
“I don’t think so,” he murmured, enjoying the sensation of her full breasts brushing his chest with every rapid breath she took. “There’s still the question of my sacrifice.”
Her face paled, and she struggled harder.
“Look, I’m sorry that spell went wrong, but I’m not about to let you cut me up because of it.”
“Why would you think I want to harm you?”
“Uh…sacrifice? Sound familiar?”
He traced the line of her trembling lips. “Not all sacrifices need to be blood.”
Her breath caught in her throat, and she swallowed audibly.
“Oh.” Her gaze searched his, dropping to his lips and moving back up again. She shook her head. “I’m not about to whore myself out. I’ll figure out how to protect this place without you. Without magic. You need to just go back to wherever you came from.” She glanced at her wrist. “And take your vines with you.”
“I don’t think so.”
“I don’t even know who you are. Hell, I don’t know what you are.”
“I’m Gwydion.”
“That’s super, but that doesn’t explain how you rose up from the dirt and dead leaves. Are you some sort of elf? Or faery?”
He scowled.
“Well, you’re clearly not human.”
“Clearly.”
Had the humans been so long with only a few specific gods that the rest had fallen into obscurity? Had they all been forgotten in their silence? He tried to remember the last time he’d taken corporal form. The world hadn’t smelled so foul. He peered off in the distance at the ghostly grayish glow muddying the horizon. Nor had it been so bright. He wondered how many other things had changed since he’d last been here.
The gods monitored things with the human world, but once the industrial revolution had begun, he’d stopped checking on their advancement. Too many forests had been eaten away in the name of progress. Plants died and animals were displaced and starved to death in an environment that no longer supported them.
Dismissing his concerns, he sat back, and with a wave of his hand, released the vines that held the young woman captive.
She quickly scooted away from him. “Look, I’m really sorry about all this. I didn’t mean to take you from wherever you were, but…thank you for coming.”
Gwydion couldn’t just leave. Not until his purpose for being summoned was fulfilled, but he didn’t speak. Instead, he simply watched her hurry away through the gnarled trees toward a small house in the distance. As she vanished into the darkness, it occurred to him that he didn’t know her name. But it didn’t matter. This wouldn’t be the last time he saw her.
Cloaking himself in invisibility, he left the wooded grove and explored the surrounding area. The small patches of snow that hadn’t yet melted were so filthy and gray he almost didn’t recognize it as snow. Bits of debris and garbage clung wetly to the roadway and the odor of passing vehicles filled the air with foul-smelling filth that clung to the
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