Free Kaleidoscope (Faylinn Series) by Mindy Hayes

and peculiar looking. But you’re not a human so it doesn’t mix. My mind isn’t comprehending what it’s seeing.”
    “My apologies for being such a riddle to figure out,” I said dryly. He ruffled my feathers so easily. Cameron was the only one allowed to do that.
    “Why are you apologizing? It’s not your fault you’re a mutt,” he said matter-of-factly, no hint of teasing or lightness in his voice.
    I glared at him, holding my ground against his brazen stare then turned and walked away. I didn’t come here to be insulted. If Declan wasn’t here, I was gone.
    “Hey, wait.” He appeared in front of me. I still wasn’t used to his speed. “Where are you going?” Kai cocked his head to the side, completely unashamed or unaware of his insult.
    “Home.” I shifted to the side to walk around him.
    “Why?” He moved in front of me.
    “Why do you care? I’m obviously a burden to you or you wouldn’t insist on infuriating me.”
    “Infuriating,” he commented, tilting his head to the other side, studying me. “That’s such a big word for such a little girl.”
    I shouldered passed him. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I mumbled, walking toward the trees boundary.
    “What did I say wrong?” His voice came from where I left him. He almost sounded sincere.
    “Really?” I spun around to burn holes in his pretty little face. “Are you dense or simply incapable of being polite?”
    He folded his arms over his bare chest and stared unblinkingly, waiting for me to keep talking. He had no manners whatsoever. Did he even have a heart? Did faeries have hearts?
    Before I lost my nerve I said, “First, you insult my appearance, then call me a mutt and now I’m apparently stupid. As if I shouldn’t know how to use the English language. Call me crazy, but I don’t particularly enjoy being insulted.”
    “I was simply stating facts. I only speak the truth,” he said, the corner of his mouth turning up.
    “Yeah, quite bluntly.”
    “I’m afraid I don’t know any other way. Maybe faeries communicate differently than humans.” He knew what he was doing. He was trying to be a pain in the butt. This was all a game to him.
    “Declan seemed to do perfectly fine yesterday. A complete gentlemen, actually.”
If I could call a faery that.
    Kai rolled his eyes. “Yes, perfect Declan. I do strive to be like the perfect Keeper. Only less obsessive.” I could hear irritation crawling into his voice.
    “I’m sorry?”
    “Head on home, princess.” He motioned to the woods edge. “Behind the safety of your walls. Away from a forest filled with the unknown.” He turned his back to me and strode away.
    Did I miss something? I offended him now? What a girl.
    “Maybe you need some wings to go with that attitude, Kai,” I shouted out to him. He didn’t acknowledge me as he disappeared into the trees.

Chapter Seven
    T he wooden swing seat creaked as I sat down and swayed back and forth under the oak in our backyard. I stared out into my new territory, my curiosity like water, drowning me under its influence. My body was numb to everything else but the heartbeat of the trees. I clung a little tighter to the ropes attached to the swing, hoping I could teach myself to control the power, anchor myself and become immune to the pull.
    Hands pressed against my back, swinging me higher as my dad’s voice broke through the silence behind me. “Remember when we used to come out here and I’d swing you to your heart’s content? You’d giggle and smile and—”
    “And everything was simple,” I finished for him.
    He waited and then said quietly, “Yeah.”
    I let him push me for a little while longer, taking comfort in his silent presence. He’d built this swing when I was ten. I’d begged him almost every day for years to get me this tree swing. And finally on my tenth birthday he nearly had to drag me out of bed to swing me for the first time. Had I known why he was waking me at six in the morning I might have