Heart of Stone (Rock Star Fairy Tales #1)

Chapter 5

C h apte r 5

The Fae P ower Scale

“I t has many names,” Tobin explained. “The Awakening, the Manifestation.” He glanced at Timothy. “It means your fae abilities have been triggered, and you are no longer what you wer e before.”

What was I before? The thought was fleeting, her scattered mind trying to keep up with her new reality. Again, she latched onto one word he had said. “Abilities?” Margot echoed. “As in plural? What else is going to happ en to me?”

Tobin shrugged, way too nonchalant for the situation. “Time will tell. You have wings, so you may be a high o rder fae.”

“Not necessarily,” Ash interrupted, but Tobin ign ored him.

“You can fly, obviously, but your other abilities will appear soon.” At the look on her face at his casual mention of the ability to fly, he added, “Do not fear, Margot.” With a pointed glance at Ash, he continued, “I will be here to guide you every step of the way.”

Margot nodded, reassured despite herself. He seemed quite casual about everything. “Does this … happen often? People Manifesting?” Questions swarmed through her mind, and she snagged onto a random one. “Are there a lo t of fae?”

“Some,” Tobin replied vaguely. “It depends on where you are. For instance, this bar has several fae, drawn by the presence of such fascinating … ro ck stars.”

“Do they know?” she pressed, wanting to blame Ash’s magnetism on his fae nature. She glanced around the room, scanning their faces in turn: Ash, Tobin, Timothy. “Do you all know one another?”

Ash’s voice was brutal. “No, they do not know. And they will not.” There was no mistaking the threat in the words. “Not all of us are as braz en as he.”

“Still going to play the game, then?” Tobin asked, judgment clear in his tone. “Still pretending to be human?” He paused, adding, “No doubt your father must be ve ry proud.”

Ash moved, but suddenly Timothy was in front of him, placing his body between Ash and Tobin, defusing the situation. He gave Ash a long look, communicating something Margot didn’t catch, and Ash was calm again. “You should not speak of things you do not know,” the lead singer sai d finally.

“You don’t know what I know.” Tobin smirked.

“Stop it,” Margot said, not liking the way Tobin was taunting Ash. “You’re not helping by being a jerk about whatever this is.” She gestured between the two men. “I’m sensing some tension here, but right now, I don’t care what your issues are. Not to be a bitch about it, but can this be about me right now? I need to kn ow more.”

This time it was Ash who spoke, clearly wanting to one-up Tobin with his sudden forthrightness. “What do you want to k now, Go?”

Margot winced at his use of her nickname, hearing echoes of their teenage yells when they first met, “Baby Go is on the loose! Baby Go is going to get even for that one! Baby Go is feisty tonight!” Ignoring the memories of their teasing, she focused on what she knew. “Okay, so you don’t all know one another. Can you sense another fae? Like, is there a way you guys can tell? Witho ut wings?”

“Some fae have horns. That’s pretty clear,” Tobin added h elpfully.

“Yes and no,” Ash replied, and before she could frown at the non-answer, he continued, “Strong fae can usually sense weaker fae. Some fae can hide their presence entirely from others if they wish, but weaker fae are almost always able to be found.”

“Do strong fae hide themselves often? Is that common? Why?” Head spinning as she tried to take it all in, Margot wondered how she had lived her entire life without knowing any of this.

Ash shrugged. “I do n’t know.”

“Sure you don’t,” Tobin quipped.

“Which are you?” she asked, looking at Tobin. “Are you stronger or we aker fae?”

Ash frowned, clearly not wanting to answer what Margot realized was probably a rude question. But Tobin replied, “Strength of magic doesn’t always mean strong. Power is a complicat ed thing.”

“Clearly.” Margot sniffed, thinking. She shifted to her other foot, the memory of wings altering her balance. “So, what do wings mean? Where does that fall on the fae strength gauge, if that’s a thing?”

“That’s not a thing,” Tobin answered with a grin, “but I take your meaning. Often, wings are found on weaker fae—one of the most common abilities we have.”

“Oh,” she said, heart falling as she realized what that likely meant. “Figures.” She was a fae, like Ash, finally on his level, but she was only a weaker fae. Still ben eath him.

“Wings are only one of your abilities, Margot,” Tobin continued. “I have no doubt that you have others. I look forward to seeing what they are.”

“What are the options? I mean, what ca n you do?”

This time, Tobin’s face closed, the friendly demeanor slipping for a moment. She could tell he didn’t want to an swer her.

“There are many abilities,” Ash answered instead. “Flying, obviously, but glamours are common enough. Magically altering one’s appearance. Not true shapeshifting, of course,” here he gave Tobin a sharp glance, “but close enough. Superior physical abilities, like strength or speed are also normal.” He paused, considering. “Manipulating the elements is less common but still possible. Telepathy. Telekinesis, that sort of thing. Very strong fae can teleport and control others, and some can manipulate e motions.”

“They can make people feel things that aren’t real?” Margot asked, latching onto the last item on his list of possibilities. “That sounds awful. No respect for free will at all.” She scoffed. “What do you think is likel y for me?”

Tobin pursed his lips. “That depends on your parents. What could they do?”

Margot frowned. “My parents? They could … get sick and die?” A flash of her mother at the very end filled her mind, and she closed her eyes, not wanting to remember her that way. Her father had never been part of her life, though her mother had always spoken fondly of him. Margot got the impression her parents had loved one another very much—but something kept them apart. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t fair.” She shook her head. “I don’t know what they could do. I didn’t know they were fae.”

“Penelope, your mother, was fae,” Ash said quietly with a quick look at Tobin. “She could fly, and she had some elemental control. Air was her sp ecialty.”

Margot had another flash of memory, a younger self giggling as the wind played with her hair, her mother smiling as they soaked up the sunshine on an afternoon on a beach in Belsune long ago. She stared at Ash, surprised he knew so much about her mother. “How do you k now that?”

“Your aunt,” Timothy said. “She too was … fae. They shared similar abilities, though Maddie’s specialty was water.” Margot thought of that first summer at her aunt Maddie’s house, the first time she had met her cousin Nik, and Timothy —and Ash.

“If my mom was a fae, why did she get sick? Why did she die?” The words came out before she could stop them, and Ash put a soothing hand on her forearm, his palm warm against her skin.

“She was fae. Not immortal. We can all die.”

“Oh,” Margot said, deflated. Part of her had thought that becoming some kind of supernatural creature automatically made her impervious to harm—like the movies. It had been a silly assumption to make, one she only thought because she was ove rwhelmed.

“And what of your father?” Tobin prompted.

Margot frowned, her mother’s wistful expression coalescing in her memory. “No one of consequence,” she replied quickly. “He left before I was born.”

“A human?” Tobin pressed, lookin g at Ash.

Ash nodded. “So Penelope told her sister Maddie.”

“Does this make me a middle-road fae? More powerful than some but weaker than others?” Ash and Timothy shared another of those long looks that Margot couldn’t read. “What did I say?” she asked. “Why do you keep do ing that?”

“She needs to know,” Timothy said. “She needs to prepare.”

“Prepare for what?” Margot asked, a cold feeling pooling in her gut at their exp ressions.