3 Fairy Powers (1/2)

Ruby couldn't concentrate on looking for ingredients. She was too nervous about what was going on outside.

When Ash finally came back, she was immediately on the alert. ”Well?” she demanded.

”They're gone,” he informed her. ”See for yourself.”

She finally dared to look out the window and saw the two of them flying back the way they came. Her heart rate finally slowed. She was safe. For now. That had been way, way too close!

”Thank you,” Ruby said quietly. ”I really owe you one.”

”You won't if you fulfil your end of the bargain,” Ash replied tiredly. ”You weren't bluffing, were you?”

She was insulted. ”Of course not! I can get started as soon as I get the materials I need for my poultice.”

Reassured that she was safe for the moment, Ruby returned to her task of rifling through the cupboards. Everything was super dusty so the labels were hard to read but eventually she found mermaid tears—that was unexpected; they were pretty hard to come by—and cat's claw. All she needed was spider silk to bind it all together.

She looked up at him sheepishly. ”You don't happen to have any spider silk on hand, do you?”

Ash shook his head. ”No. But with how many spiders there are around here I'm sure I can scrounge some up for you. How much do you need?”

Ruby's eyes widened. She had never heard of anyone collecting spider silk by hand. There were web factories for that run by the witches! How old was this guy to do things the old fashioned way?

She was 156 years old but in human terms she was more like 18 or 19. Fae typically weren't considered adults until they were 150 because of how long they tended to live.

Flint was 317 and Lily was 248. Her cousin Flora was still practically a baby at 31.

”Enough to fill two spools. Are you sure you can—”

Ash cut her off. ”I've got it. Stay put! Or…go wherever, I guess. There's only one habitable room in this entire place and it took me over a day to clean it. Just don't go outside the barrier.”

Why would that matter? The only people she was concerned about were capable of getting into it anyway.

But she did have to wonder what he even had a barrier up for. To keep humans out? Or…someone else? There were certain charms you could buy from witches that repelled humans from an area. Blood magic was a lot less specific.