Pet Shop Boys: A Short Story Read Online Free PDF Page B

panic. “There’s only one way to go, and that’s through the veil. You can either pass through with me as my consort or as part of my father’s larder. Listen to me!”
    Panting, he looked up, seeing her dark eyes, her ebony hair—her red, red lips. Seeing his attention, she moved her hand from his chest to his fingers, holding them lightly. Behind Felicity, people danced, and he nodded, humoring her. He had to get out of here.
    “I’m immortal, Cooper,” she said, a curious lilt to her voice as if she delighted in it. “I’ve been raising Emily and Leonard alone after my fool husband died when a hunter thought a bearskin rug would be a fine thing to have. I love my children, but they grow so slowly, and I’m tired of doing this alone. I can’t trust anyone else.”
    Cooper tried to stand, halting when she squeezed his hand and his knees threatened to give out. “You drink blood!” he whispered, cold as he saw Emily sitting cross-legged under the pool table with the kitten. “Oh God, she’s killing that cat,” he moaned.
    “Don’t be silly,” Felicity snapped. “That cat has to last Emily for at least a year. She’s not about to kill it.” She turned, smiling. “Are you, lovey?”
    “No, Mama,” the little girl said, hugging the unmoving animal.
    Nausea bubbled up, and Cooper forced it down. “I don’t feel good,” he said, unable to keep his head up. He shivered when Felicity touched his hair, petting him. Shoving her hand off him, he stared at the lyrical figures wildly dancing, the food he had been told not to eat, and the unconscious people being carried away. “You’re fairies,” he said, and Felicity blinked. “My grandmother told me never to eat with fairies or I’d be spirited away for a hundred years.”
    “Fairies?” Felicity said, laughing. “Fairies are facets of us given their own identity by ignorant humans who see only half of it. A wispy daydream of us at our green-eyed least. Vampire is more the truth, and even then you get it wrong. We can break through the veil at any time, but only when it’s at its thinnest can we bring anyone back. Immortal doesn’t mean invincible, and beyond the veil, we are safe from you.”
    It’s the solstice , he remembered, feeling haggard. “Don’t touch me,” he demanded as she tried to pet him again, and this time, she backed off as if he’d slapped her, a hurt expression on her face. “You drugged me,” he accused.
    “No, it’s the veil,” she said, leaning to look under the pool table. “Emily, bring Leonard out to meet Mr. Cooper properly,” she said, then smiled at him. “You’re in the gateway. Until you land to one side or the other, it feels as if you’re holding your breath.”
    Gateway? Cooper watched a little boy crawl out behind Emily, his chubby fingers holding tight to her hand. He had to be about four, shy as he snuck glances at Cooper from behind his mother. Leonard? They named the bat after him?
    In a sudden surge of fear, he figured it out. Leonard is the bat . Emily had tried to sell her brother. What older sister hadn’t wanted to do that at some point? She’d tried to trade her little brother for a pet she hadn’t bothered to name. “I’m in hell,” he whispered, and Felicity huffed.
    “Don’t be silly,” she said as she pulled Leonard onto her lap. “Hell smells better than the swill you breathe.”
    Cooper sat up, adrenaline giving him strength. He wanted to stand but wasn’t sure his legs would hold him. “You’re a demon,” he said. “You are eating people !”
    Anger flickered over her face, and she jiggled Leonard a little too hard. “We are not demons,” she said hotly. “Filthy little . . . stinky-tailed vermin.” Her expression became coaxing. “Please, Cooper. We’re running out of time. If I had wanted to poison you, I could have done it. I want to take you home—not as food, but as an equal. I need help, and Emily likes you. So do I. I can’t trust anyone