They finally drove to Lisa's home around four in the morning, after leaving the sedan in the backyard of an abandoned, half-ruined building in East Vancouver. Too weary, they dropped to sleep as they were, without even undressing. Lisa and Petrel slept in her bed. James stretched on the couch.

When Lisa woke up, it was noon. The men still slept, but they stirred by the time she came out of the shower. James left immediately after breakfast; he had to go to work. Petrel washed the dishes, probably for the first time in his life. He wouldn't allow Lisa to do it on account of her injured hand.

"This is fun," he said. "We don't have hot running water at home."

"What are you going to do now?" Lisa lounged on the sofa. "Build a flying machine?"

"Yes. James is going to ask his friends, and then I'm going to help them build me a plane. I'm going to fly a plane." Smiling, he finished the dishes and came towards her, dropping on his knees in front of her. He eyed her breasts, covered by an old T-shirt, with a grin she didn't trust. His nostrils flared, and he leaned closer, inhaling deeply. "What are you going to do now, Lisa? Want to go back to bed?" His huge eyes glistened with desire.

Lisa slid her fingers along his smooth tanned cheek. Evidently, his people didn't grow facial hair. She had never seen him shave. "Why not?" she murmured and kissed him. Was it really happening: this gorgeous creature in her bed?

He didn't disappoint her; his lovemaking was all she had dreamed and more. They spent the next hour in bed, and every minute was exhilarating. Her body still tingled with pleasure, when a phone call interrupted her blissful lassitude.

She saw the caller ID and grabbed the phone. Her mother never called in the middle of the day unless it was an emergency. Her palms turned clammy. "Mom. What's wrong?"

"Nothing wrong," a thin voice said into the receiver, a voice it took Lisa a moment to recognize. She hadn't heard it through the phone for the past year. "It's me, Marina. I'm better. I ate breakfast, three pancakes, and I'm hungry again. I want to go outside, but mom wouldn't let me. Said my immune system is still weak. Could you come, Lis? I'm bored."

"Marina. Oh, god! I'm so glad. Yes, I'll come. Of course. Give me an hour. Love you, love you, sweetie. Oh, god!" She disconnected and turned to Petrel. She wanted to cry. She wanted to dance. She settled on giving him the best kiss of her life before scrambling out of bed, dodging his grabbing hands. "I have to go there. She is better, Petrel. Gosh, she is better. Thanks to you."

He regarded her with a solemn expression. "Could I see her?"

Lisa stilled. "Petrel, she doesn't know. Mom doesn't know. Nobody knows. I think it is better that you don't see her."

"Why? How are you going to explain her miraculous recovery?"

"I'm not going to explain anything. The doctors will do the explaining. Nobody should know about you."

"Why? There are other sick children, aren't there, and it didn't cost me much."

"No!" Still naked and flashed from their coupling, Lisa plopped down on the bed beside his nude body. Her elation at Marina's news shrunk like a deflated balloon, replaced by limp dread. For him. All his enormous fighting abilities wouldn't be enough to extricate him from this new horror, if he let this slip out.

"Could you imagine what would happen to you and every elf on Earth, if anyone finds out? You would all be caught and put behind very thick walls with very big locks. They would bleed you all for the entire length of your immortal lives. But it would be a finite resource anyway, very limited. How many elves are there—a couple dozen maybe? Do you know who would get your blood? Not sick children but sick old rich people. No!"

She clenched her good hand into a fist and slammed it at his muscled chest in frustration. It felt like hitting a stone wall. "Don't you dare to blab, you stupid hunk! I won't be responsible for all your people being incarcerated, and that's exactly what will happen if you talk. You will be guinea pigs for some government agency forever. Keep your mouth shut!" She hit him again. She was yelling by now, her heart hammering. "Don't tell anyone!"

"Okay. I won't," he said quietly. "Don't fret, Lisa." He captured her fist and kissed her knuckles. "Go visit your sister."

She calmed down a little but eyed him with suspicion as she rummaged in her wardrobe. She still breathed too fast. "Don't go anywhere today, okay? Watch TV. Play on the computer. You remember how, right? I showed you. I'll be back in a few hours."

"Don't you think I should move to a hotel?"

Lisa whirled. "Why? You're safe here."

"I can't eat your food forever. It will take a while until we build that plane."

"You could always share the cost. Like a real boyfriend. Oops!" Horrified at her extortion, she clamped a hand to her mouth. He had saved her life, and James's life, and probably Marina's life, and now she was trolling for his money. "Uhm, I mean..." Her ears grew hot.

He bounded out of bed and enveloped her in a hug. "I'd like that." He bit her earlobe. His tongue flicked across her skin, making her shiver. "A real boyfriend. Yes! I'd like that a lot. Go see your sister and then come back to me. I'll be here. If I'm a boyfriend, what are you?"

"A girlfriend," Lisa said. "For an elf." Marveling at her own words, she ducked out of his embrace, got dressed, grabbed her purse, and flew out the door. It's been only five days since Petrel had come into her life, but so much had happened. She couldn't wait for day six. And all the other days. A girlfriend for an elf. She liked that a lot too.