Virtue - a Fairy Tale by Amanda Hocking

the top of its head, and its fur did feel like downy silk under his hand.
    “They sure are,” he said. They also tasted really good, but he didn’t think that was the kind of information Lily would want to hear. “Are they checking out okay?”
    “I think so.” She put that one back in the log and picked up another. This one sat timidly in her hand, not moving around like the first one, and it didn’t seem to be mewing at all. She stroked its back, hoping to illicit some kind of response, but it just sat quietly in her hand. “Oh no. I think something’s wrong with this one.”
    Lux wanted to tell her to just put it back, let nature take its course so they could get on their way, but when he saw her face, he couldn’t. She looked utterly destitute thinking she had hurt such a creature. He crouched down in front of her.
    “Let me see.”  He held out his hand, and gingerly, she gave it to him.
    Lux had no tricks for this. What little power he had had never been used for healing, or good of any kind. He only hoped that he could coax the little guy into feeling better. He pet it gently, and within a few moments, it started rubbing against his hand and purring. And Lux, despite himself, felt happy and relieved, and not just because he knew it would make Lily feel better. He hadn’t wanted to see the auratus suffer.
    “How did you do that?” Lily looked awestruck.
    “He must’ve been in shock,” Lux smiled, handing it back to her.
    “But how do you do the things you do?” Lily stared at him, trying to understand him.
    “I don’t know what you mean.” He straightened up, not thrilled by her line of questioning.
    “The canu last night, you chased them away.” The auratus ran around her lap, and Lily played with it absently. “Without even touching them.”
    “I used a big stick, remember?” Lux shifted uncomfortably and stepped away from her. “Until you made me stop.” He tried to change the subject. “Why did you want me to spare that canu? He was going to kill you.”
    “Maybe, but he didn’t.” She shrugged and switched out the auratus on her lap for the last one, to make sure they were all okay.
    “But he would’ve.” He said it with more conviction than he really had. The canu could kill her, but he had a feeling that Valefor wanted her brought back alive.
    “Maybe. But he’s just an animal.” She inspected the last auratus, and it licked her hand. Satisfied that they were all fine, she turned her full attention on him. “He can’t be held to a moral code. But I can.”
    “Well, I didn’t kill him.” Lux didn’t like when she looked at him that way, like she could see through him, and he refused to meet her gaze.
    “And I thank you for that,” Lily said, letting the auratus run about her lap. “But that doesn’t explain how you made the rest of the canu leave. Or how come those awful charun bird-goblins never come out when you’re around, or why the trees don’t reach out for you like they do me. Nothing comes out or bothers you.”
    “Maybe the canu scared them away.” Lux rubbed the back of his neck, and for a moment, as Lily mulled it over, he thought she’d bought it.
    “They smelled strongly of brimstone,” she said thoughtfully. “Wick told me that the forest and the creatures hate the smell of brimstone.”
    “There you go.” Lux rushed to agree with her, but she hadn’t gotten it exactly right. The smell itself didn’t bother the forest or the creatures, but rather the things that smelled like brimstone, they knew of the powers they had and who they worked for. 
    “You smell of brimstone.” Lily looked at him evenly, and he faltered.
    “You … you can smell that?”
    “No.” She shook her head and set the auratus back in the log, reuniting it with its mother, and then she stood up. “It’s too faint for me. But Wick noticed the scent on your jacket, and she told me not trust you.”
    “But you do.” He met her eyes and knew that she did, but his