The Vampire and the Orphan

Chapter Seven

"Fae?" Lettie whispered the word as the man got out from behind the bar. He swiftly went to the door and locked it.

What the heck was a fae?

"Sit," he motioned to a table, "I'll bring us drinks."

Nathanial motioned for her to follow him, and she did. They sat at a small bar table. She pushed an ashtray that smelled terrible away from her. Nathanial noticed and took it away. He swiftly moved it to a table further from their noses.

Benjamin, she was assuming that's who he was, returned. He had two glasses of the whiskey Nathanial usually drank, along with some bubbly drink he set in front of her. It was a light gold color.

"What is this?" She asked.

"She doesn't drink," Nathanial said at the same time.

"I haven't yet!" Lettie looked at him, "doesn't mean I don't."

Benjamin laughed lightly. It was a nice laugh. She felt a good vibe from him.

"It's a little gin, with club soda and a lot of honey," he sat down across from her, "fae love honey."

Well, she did love honey; this was true. Ella caught her with her hand in the honey jar more than once as a little girl.

She took a small sip, the bubbles tickled her nose, and she giggled. It was tasty, though, so delicious! She happily took another sip.

"Thank you, sir!" She gave him a big smile.

"Aren't you a charming little thing," he returned her grin, "call me Ben, pretty girl."

"Okay, then, thanks, Ben," she giggled again.

"Can we get on with this?" Nathanial looked slightly tense, "How can she be a faery, they-

"A fairy!" Lettie cut him off, and eyes widened at that, "like in Peter Pan!?"

Benjamin laughed again at that, "not exactly like that."

"They are extinct," Nathanial mused, "how could she be?"

"That, my dear old friend, is the troubling question," he looked from Lettie to Nathaniel, and then his curious gaze fell back to Lettie.

"One must've survived," Nathanial mused, "managed to hide away. We've heard of it before. To this day, there are tales of fishermen seeing mermaids at night. Children seeing goblins in the dark and so on."

"You don't understand; the fae is much more than those other beings were." Benjamin leaned in, "the lack of understanding was intentional. Knowledge of the fae and their importance to the species wars has been retold. The Order's doing, of course."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll tell you the story as I know it, which is full of holes." Ben offered, "it's a long one, so prepare yourselves. I'll make us a fresh round of drinks."

He rose as she sipped the one in front of her. It was so tasty she couldn't stop.

"Easy," Nathanial gave her a warning look, "it will make you sick if you drink it too fast."

"I put very little gin in it, Nathanial," Ben assured him as he sat back down. "You're quite protective of her."

"She's my charge," Nathaniel said.

"How did that come to be?" Ben asked. "She is not related to the Odin bloodline."

Well, that solved that question, Lettie thought.

"Some witchy intervention," Nathaniel explained, "On her deathbed, the last Odin witch made me promise to return on a certain day. It put me on Lettie's path. Lettie was told by a witch that watched over her which way to go."