Magic in the Key of Joy (A Wylde & Cray Adventure) UIC2022

Chapter 4 - Cray Zieh Love

"She told him what?" I ask Sunny.

"I can hear you, you know," comments Luna, "and you never asked me my name, did you? You just assumed that I would adore the fact that you were naming me. I've never liked that name. It's so...so...Sappy!"

"Sapien-esque or not, I think it's fun. I thought naming you Sunny and Shari would be...ah...I thought the Sapiens would find it both charming and disarming," I add. Although I admit, her choosing 'Luna' was also amusing. I wonder if she knows that.

Sunny snickers, "Your rhyming sounds like something this Sapien would find hilarious. Are you certain this guy bears the Shadow's curse? He's so – so bubbly!"

"Yes, it loops in and around his aura. I'm not sure where it's anchored." I pace back and forth in the abandoned storefront, the one I'd spotted earlier. It is a safe space. For now, at least. I mention the fact that the Sapien had been able to find anything in the satchel, much less the two Ferrcats, is a red flag. On the other hand, I now have the distinct advantage of knowing where the Wylde one is. My link with the Ferrcats allows me to both see and hear whatever they do.

"He has Second Sight, Cray. He gets it from his mother. That's how he found us. He can see through any illusion you can throw at him. Especially yours, I should say." Sunny sounds worried, which is unlike him.

"Why 'especially' mine?" I ask, but I think I know the answer already.

"You're connected. Wyrded, in fact," Sunny replies.

"It's deeper than that," Luna reflects, a touch of fear in her thoughts."

I was afraid she may have noticed that. "I know he's a Fatebender, if that's what you mean. I know that means we are Fatebound. I've been having nightmares about him for hundreds of Sapien years. What's deeper than that?"

"You should ask Baelena. She would know...should know about all of this," observed Sunny with a yawn.

"Awaken the All-Mother of the Sidhe from her once every hundred years nap? I'd like to stay immortal, if that doesn't inconvenience you!"

"Wylde is taking us to his class tomorrow. You should get the Relocation Department started on reclaiming that space you're in. Good night, Agent Cray." The Ferrcat vanishes from my mind, leaving Luna the last word.

"If it's any consolation, dear one, that Sapien is ferociously attracted to you."

"I do not return his..." I begin, but Luna cuts me short.

"You can't lie to me, Agent Cray. Or Sunny, for that matter. He's attractive, smart, funny, kind and intelligent, for a Sapiens. And your dreams aren't always nightmares. I've seen your sheets in the morning, you know. Aww, you're blushing! Try to get some rest."

She didn't need to remind me about the sheets. Running from him wasn't just because of the horror of those nightmares. There's also the intensity of the other dreams, the flood of feelings that they stir, that terrifies me. Sunny is right, though. Baelena would know. She is a living legend, born before the Schism and the Sundering. I lay down in the grass I'd conjured. Wait – oh, mandrakes! I forgot to tell them about the ground smoking when I traced the patch on the floor earlier. This place will have to be thoroughly cleansed before it's reclaimed.

I fall sleep dreaming of forest green eyes, and a kiss that seemed to last until dawn.