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View this author's other titles LENGTH: Novella Cover art (c) Dan Skinner 2006
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Alexi is a Fae on the run, and his magic is on the blink. Hiding out in Vegas, he meets Megan, a half-Fae magician who needs an assistant as badly as he needs a job. What else is a Fae to do when he’s losing his magic but get a job? Rating: Contains sexual content and adult language |
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All's Fae in Love and Chocolate SMOKE AND MIRRORS By Michelle L. Levigne
© copyright April 2006, Michelle L. Levigne
This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author's imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.
He expected to hate the town, teeming with greedy, dreaming Humans, but he discovered he liked it. For the first time since becoming a prime target for every husband-hunting Fae woman, he considered settling down somewhere. After all, the family curse had caught up with him, after nearly three centuries of blissful ease in magic. His strength and skill in magic were fading. It wouldn't be so bad if they went downhill at a regular pace, but his magic faded and erupted, sputtered to a halt, gave him killer headaches from the pressure of magic inside his skin, then drained away with a frustrating lack of predictability. Why not settle where magic and illusion were taken for granted, and strangeness was ignored? Why not settle in a place where no one would notice if he didn't know the first thing about getting along without magic? Of course, settling down meant cutting off all access to his family wealth. He couldn't leave a trail that husband-hunting Fae women could follow. Alexi liked women, but he didn't feel like getting shackled to one for the rest of his life, just because he indulged in some bedroom calisthenics with her. Sleeping with a woman in Need guaranteed magical matrimony. Alexi had heard that a man caught by Need didn't mind, but that wasn't much compensation. Temporary liaisons, maybe a decade at the most in length, were all he could manage. To avoid being trapped by Need-bound women, he could leave no trail. Which meant no access to his personal wealth in the home Enclave. Which meant--he had to get a job. A Human job. How in the world did someone manage that? He couldn't access the Ether Lexicon. That was how the last hopeful bride tracked him. Alexi, however, enjoyed research as a hobby and knew how to use libraries and newspapers. His answer came in the classifieds section of the Las Vegas Review. A magician needed an assistant. Immediately. Two performances nightly, and matinees on Saturday and Sunday. "The last place anyone would look for me," Alexi mused, with a snort of disgust. A cheesy magic act in a Las Vegas casino was the perfect place for him to hide. Human magic tricks were an abomination to the Fae, who knew what true magic meant. Sort of a hide-in-plain-sight tactic, à la Edgar Allen Poe. Most magicians were males, using scantily clad Playboy bunny wannabes as their assistants to distract the crowd. This ad, however, specifically stated male assistants in good physical shape. No one would ever expect him to work for a gay magician. It was just too preposterous. Alexi liked women too much. Which made this job the perfect disguise. All he had to do was plant a spell on the magician the moment he stepped into the room for the interview, to ensure he didn't make any unwanted demands on his assistant. Let the world think what they wanted. Alexi could live with it. He would be free forever. He had to get the interview and plant his protective spell today, while his magic felt strong and reliable. Tomorrow had no guarantee where his fluctuating magic was concerned. Alexi surprised himself by starting to whistle a jaunty tune as he strolled down the dusty Vegas sidewalk. Even though he had no assurance for his future, just having a plan, figuring out how to take care of himself without a lick of magic, made him feel as if he were on top of the world. He turned his thoughts to the scenery he strolled past. This wasn't the main drag of Vegas. The second-run casinos and hotels and show palaces suited him fine. He rather liked the quiet of Vegas in the morning, when sunlight was still stronger than neon and most inhabitants were just starting their days. Crowds guaranteed safety, but the lesser numbers under the sun guaranteed him breathing room. He reached the address specified in the paper--an upstairs office in a building that boasted a marriage chapel, notary public and pawnbroker. The intertwined trail of multiple perfumes assaulted his nose the moment he pulled the stairwell door open. The sound of angry female voices spilled down the stairs toward him. Alexi instinctively flattened himself against the wall at the first landing and spelled himself invisible. Fortunately, the angry, cursing young women who stampeded past him didn't brush against him or step on him. He held perfectly still, eyes closed, and waited for the door at the bottom of the stairs to slam before he made himself visible again. Alexi gripped the banister and stared upward into the dimness. He had to have this job. After turning invisible, did he have enough strength left in his unreliable magic to enchant his new employer? He started climbing. Only one door stood open at the top of the stairs. Alexi went up to it, moving softer than shadows, and leaned around the doorframe to scope out the situation before he went inside. The poster covering the back wall of the cubbyhole office said "Marga the Magnificent." And she was. Tall, long-legged, she wore a form-fitting tailcoat and black leggings. Lace cascaded from the plunging V of her neckline, and blue-black sequins glittered on her top hat. Her heart-shaped face framed faintly slanted, leaf-green eyes that glittered with mischief. Only one corner of her mouth curved up, somehow implying a touch of danger amid all the fun. Alexi had never wanted to kiss a picture before. So, the magician was female. That explained the search for a male assistant. He snorted at the idea of being someone's beefcake, but why the heck not? Turnabout was fair play, and no Fae woman would ever dream of him becoming someone's toyboy. Alexi glanced at the poster of Marga once more. No, he wouldn't mind at all. "Can I help you?" That low, slightly raspy voice sent prickles up and down his back, hinting at a touch of magic. Alexi turned, and before he could gather his waning magic to follow the hint to its source, Marga in the flesh distracted him. She had her sable hair tied back in a ponytail, no makeup, wore baggy green sweats, and her nose was red with a wretched cold. She was still magnificent. "Uh, hi, I was--" Alexi held up the newspaper ad. Ridiculous, to be tongue-tied in front of a Human woman. That was what the slow decay of his magic, the family curse, had brought him to. Right now, he didn't really mind. * * * * Megan forgot to sniff as she stared at the lean, elegant hunk of beefcake in front of her. After those five harpies accused her of sexism and illegal discrimination and stormed out, she went to the bathroom to wash her face and fill the coffee carafe. She seriously thought about closing the office for the rest of the day. Her fingertips tingled, and it wasn't from the double dose of cold medicine she had taken against her better judgment. Come to think of it, she was here today against her better judgment. But then, she wouldn't be staring at mister lean-and-wild, with his tangled white-blond hair and sharp cheekbones, those deep-set green eyes and the bowstring-tight stance that just screamed untamed. The tingling in her fingertips screamed undercover Fae. What was this beefcake doing away from the Enclaves? Men like him were usually hogtied and married before they gave off the heat levels she could almost see, so where was his wife? And if he wasn't married, what was wrong with him? Megan wasn't afraid he was a Hunter, working for the Commission on Fae Invisibility, come to test her and make sure she hadn't developed any noticeable magic. She was a Halfling, and her Fae relatives didn't want her any more than they wanted her footloose father. The ability to sense and find Fae no matter where they hid, no matter how they damped their magic, didn't count as a magical talent. In the words of her cousin Pendergast, it made her a bloodhound and nothing more. But the question remained, what was this guy doing here? "Are you okay?" He smiled, reminiscent of a lost puppy. "If this is a bad time for you, I can come back later. Not that I want to. I really need this job." "Hmm? Oh--advertisement--yeah." Megan focused on the ad in his hand. "Unfortunately, Desi is even sicker than me." "Desi?" The lines around his eyes did adorable things when he was confused. "My roommate. We share office space, too. She advertised for the assistant. Desdemona." "Ill-omened name," he muttered. "You're telling me. Every assistant she ever had was either gay or wanted her to retire and set up housekeeping." Megan laughed, ending in a ragged cough. Before she knew it, he put an arm around her shoulders and guided her into the office, settled her in a chair, took the carafe and got the coffee going. A tiny blue spark leaped from his pinkie to the center of her forehead, immediately clearing her sinuses and melting down into her lungs to clear them. Gotta love a guy who would do that for a stranger. "So Desdemona needs the assistant. What about you?" "Actually, Desi called the paper and cancelled her ad yesterday. She jumped her contract." "I'm lost." His eyes sparkled with humor. "She prefers doing freelance work, and she's revamping her act. No need for an assistant. She's lucky." "Do you have an assistant?" "Not right now. And I'm seriously considering going solo." She sighed as the wonderful aroma of coffee filled her nose. Two minutes ago, she couldn't have smelled it. "So that's why those five were so pissed, going down the stairs." He grinned, creating more interesting lines and crevices in his angular face. This guy makes Legolas look like a pampered wimp. Megan fought down the brief, hungry urge to grab him and bite one of his pointed ears. He did have pointed ears under that tangled mop of shoulder-length hair, didn't he? Really sharp, elegant points? Down girl! "I'm considering taking a female assistant, just because the last guy who helped me wanted to help himself to me." Megan sighed. Dennis believed employee benefits included mattress exercises and wouldn't take no for an answer. "Then why were they so mad?" he asked, interrupting her train of thought. "They started cussing me out as soon as I said they needed to see Desdemona and not me. Sorry, but what ever happened to being polite when you're looking for a job? I don't want those filthy mouths on my stage." Your mouth, however … Megan yanked her thoughts back to the matter at hand. "Good afternoon, Miss Marga." He stepped back and executed a formal, prim bow. "My name is Alexi Ambrosius, and I am very interested in learning the fine art of prestidigitation and illusion. I would be honored if you would take me as your apprentice and assistant." One corner of his mouth curved up. "I will keep my personal life very separate from our collaboration onstage, I assure you, and keep my hands to myself." Was she absolutely crazy to consider taking a hunk-of-the-month as her assistant? Fae men were notoriously libidinous. That's how there got to be so many Halflings in the world. Herself included. Megan narrowed her eyes, physical and magical, and studied him. Along with the faint buzzing in her fingertips that let her sense Fae presence, she had the ability to see a visible corona, at will, that told her much about a Fae's magical condition. Alexi's corona flickered like a strobe light, sliding between the blue of good health to a sickly yellowy-orange. He was in trouble. Maybe that was why he was out in the Human-run world, instead of letting himself get snagged by some female who was perpetually in heat and who would pamper him for the rest of her life. "Why aren't you married?" she murmured. Alexi instantly winced, which told her a lot. "I'd like to stay away from that subject, if you don't mind." "You're not gay, are you?" "If I lied and said I was, would you hire me?" He flashed her a puppy-pathetic smile. Megan had to laugh, which finished clearing her sinuses. That, the second blue spark of healing magic Alexi gave her, and the coffee he brewed convinced her. She needed him around. If he started getting pushy, trying to get into her bed, she would just reveal she was a Halfling with no magic whatsoever. That would scare him away. It always did.
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