Near Levi, JC stopped and gave Suzi’s hand a squeeze. “It’ll be okay,” she murmured. “Hang in there.”

“Thanks,” Suzi whispered, wondering whether JC could feel her trembling.

JC let go of her hand, and flattened a palm in the centre of her back to give her a gentle push towards Levi.

Suzi spread her partly-healed wings as much as she could to help control her momentum. Levi was wearing black-framed, pink-lensed sunglasses, presumably the ones Des had told them Riley had produced from her bag, but still had his eyes closed.

“Levi? Please? Keep your eyes closed for right now? My skin is sort of glowy and multi-coloured, and it’s hypnotic. I don’t completely understand how that works yet, but I do know that those sunglasses help some but not totally. I don’t want to do that to you.”

“Then get over here where I can at least feel you,” Levi said. “You don’t sound... quite like you, but sort of.”

“I know. The others told me. Could you hold out a hand towards me?”

Levi shrugged and obeyed.

That allowed her to catch hold of his hand and use that to draw herself around it and in front of him.

“It’s sort of inconvenient. I have very little actual mass. Which means that it’s like living in nearly zero gravity while everything else is in normal gravity.” She laid both hands on his shoulders. “I know I don’t sound like me and I wouldn’t look like me if you could look. But I really am me. I’ve been so scared about Jazz and Bijou being lost and what you’d be going through even if you found them but I was gone. I...” She wasn’t sure the sound that escaped was quite a laugh. “I can’t imagine what Reverend Fiona’s going to say, if we decide to tell her. I don’t think I’ve ever prayed as much in my life as I have while I’ve been here. But knowing how to spin and weave by hand turned out to be unexpectedly useful.”

“The girls are safe. I went looking for you. They were hiding under someone’s porch, out of the storm, but Jazz came out when she heard my voice and Bijou followed her. How she heard me in that mess is a minor miracle in itself. But finding them and not you terrified me. Isn’t there any way around this not-looking thing?”

“I think Riley and Niko are planning to see what they can do about protection from the hypnotic effect, but right now, there are a lot of very urgent issues to deal with. They kidnapped a huge number of people. They don’t all remember where they came from. They don’t all have anyone to go home to. I’m really deeply grateful that I have that.” She hesitated. “Right?”

“To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or worse... I’m too tired right now to try to figure out why all this happened. Maybe you and the others were the best way to stop something diabolical. Maybe there’s no rhyme or reason to it. Whatever. If I can’t look, can I touch?”

“Of course you can touch. Anywhere you want. I don’t much feel like an agent of God. Just scared and more glad to see you than I can even begin to describe.”

Levi’s hands started at hers, following her arms up to her shoulders, then up to her face.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

“No appendectomy scar,” Suzi added. “Um, and you’re going to want to make sure you get my upper back. I have wings that look sort of like they should be on a butterfly but much bigger. Although they fold. Butterfly wings don’t do that. But they look like butterfly wings.”

“I’m really glad you remember me. That would have been... pretty much devastating, I suppose.”

“Erica and JC figured that out right away. I wouldn’t have noticed anything odd about the food. Um, I know your hands won’t go there, but I need to tell you something about wisps. Wisps are all, by default, sexually neuter, except the leader of a flock, who turns female, and the one right below her, who turns male. Physically, I’m not a girl or a boy. But that can change. I’m hoping that being back with you will be enough to convince my body that I’m the leader of a flock with a consort. But until then, I’m, well, not actually anything?”

Levi pondered that, hands pausing for that long, then he sighed and shrugged. “I’m not quite sure how to react to that one. I’ll add that to the list of things to try to figure out after I get some sleep. Might not even have an answer before it solves itself, with any luck. But sex is just sex. That’s not why I married you. As long as you’re safe and okay, we can sort it out.”

She’d never actually felt any sexual interest in anyone but Levi, and even that only after they’d known each other for quite some time. Her lower sex drive had never been a major issue in their relationship, although none at all might be more of one eventually. Still, she was optimistic that she would switch back to female, and she had faith that their marriage was strong enough to get through this.

“I’m safe now. And even though there are a few things that are inconvenient, I honestly am okay with what I am. It’s what I should be, somehow. Apparently most faelings can learn to switch back to their human form, not always for long at once. I hope I can learn that, because right now, trying to train dogs when they could just drag me around at will doesn’t sound like much fun. And how on earth would I be able to talk to anyone about their dog, or help with classes, or go to church? But it might take a while. The good news is, we have a lot of time. It’ll be another month local time before Sunday night in the real world.”

“That’s really hard to grasp.”

“I know. But I’ve been here for over three weeks... two weeks in midway form, and ten or twelve days since then. And I know it’s still the same day we vanished, back in the real world.”

“Yes. I really badly want to look. How bad is that likely to be?”

“Um... probably not very, not immediately? I don’t really know. The other wisps told me what they know, and Riley and Niko told me a bit more, but there’s a lot that I’m guessing. It should be okay if you don’t look very long. The longer you look, the harder it will get to concentrate properly on anything else. If I spread my wings and actually tried, then unless you had some kind of protection, you wouldn’t be able to look away. I don’t... I don’t think there’s any actual harm that comes from it, but I need to check with someone who would actually know. As long as you keep those sunglasses on and don’t look very long, it’s probably okay.” If worst came to worst, she could yell for help, right? Theo and Alison and Zach would be wrapped up in their own reunions, but there were half a dozen others nearby.

Levi nodded, ran his hands down her arms to her hands, and opened his eyes. She watched him closely, as he looked her over. She kept her wings folded back, trusting to his hands to steady her in place.

“Levi? C’mon, close your eyes again, or let go of me so I can move out of your line of sight, or something. You’re starting to go away. Levi? Please?”

“Huh? Oh.” He squeezed his eyes closed again. “That’s very... Victorian fairy.”

“I know. I think I got less variability than some of the others because wisps seem to mostly look similar except the wings. But, um... this is me, now. I can’t change it. I’m not sure I could make myself want to. But I really hope you can be okay with it.”

“I’ll learn. I don’t know how that’s going to go, but Kayla seems to be catching up fast, so probably I can. Idunno. Somehow, I’ll learn.”