47 Acting Like Tourists (2/2)
It took him a few minutes to find her. She was standing inside the shark tunnel, craning her neck to see what was above her with a look of wonder on her face.
The vampire next to her watched with a soft expression, replying to what she was saying with a gentle smile. Flint had absolutely no idea how but his niece had wrapped this fae around her little finger.
This was bad. This was very, very bad! Flint didn't want to end up in the middle of a vampire fight!
This one appeared to be alone though while the other was the head of the largest coven in North America. He absolutely could not offend his benefactor. This strange vampire who had somehow gotten attached to Ruby would simply have to deal with it.
How had this even happened though?! Clearly he had chased Flint and Lily away on Ruby's request the day she found out about the deal to sell her. He must have been harboring her this entire time.
Had he found out about her powers and was using her for his own ends? That would make the most sense but she wouldn't seem as comfortable around him as she did if that were the case.
Their camaraderie was baffling. Fae races respected each other and interacted as necessary but they didn't become friends.
More to the point, Ruby was a freak of nature. There was no way this vampire would look at her the way he did if he had seen her true form or if he knew about her powers. There was neither greed nor disgust in his expression.
He might care about her now but that would change if he knew the truth. No one could resist the allure of never-ending wealth or accept the monstrosity she actually was.
Ruby was abhorrent. Unnatural. Different. Wrong. Reed and Heather, may they rest in peace, had known this and were likely the reason she always wore her human glamour.
They had probably wanted to prevent her from being ostracized due to her mutation. Glamours didn't develop until powers did so it was traditional to keep baby fae hidden away at home until then.
Unless extended family members were living in the same house, it was fairly normal not to see a child until their powers developed. Baby fae were both rare and fragile so they were treated like treasures.
When Ruby too small to go out, Reed worked at the nursery while Heather stayed home. This was the standard thing to do so Flint never questioned it.
The first time he met his niece had been shortly after she turned thirty and her mother felt comfortable bringing her to work to drop off something her husband forgot. All of them were in their human glamours at that point so he wasn't at all suspicious.
Because Reed and Flint saw each other every day at work, they never hung out beyond that. It had been like that long before Ruby was born so that wasn't suspicious either.