Unedited.

Hope you enjoy!

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It wasn't hard to find Mikael. Rebecca walked out to the main courtyard, immediately spotting the table. Skye, unsurprisingly, was draped over the tablet, in the midst of getting the attention of every guy at the table. Mikael was there, completely ignoring her as he talked to someone else. Rebecca couldn't help but smile. Mikael had told they weren't together and Rebecca saw no reason as to why he'd lie about it.

Sure, she did have a slight crush on him, but that was irrelevant for many reasons. Rebecca wasn't deluded-she knew nothing would ever come out of it. The only chance she had of him dating her was if someone paid him for it. Rebecca also wasn't going to pretend that she wanted a relationship with him. There was the appeal to it, just to say she wasn't the girl to have never had a boyfriend at seventeen. But, in all honesty, Rebecca didn't want a relationship. Especially not with a self-proclaimed 'bad boy.'

It wasn't right for her to enjoy Skye's suffering but Rebecca couldn't help it. Besides, all throughout her high school Skye had tormented Rebecca just because she could. And she'd enjoyed it.

Rebecca walked closer, trepidation in her step. Skye had been ignoring her, but Rebecca wasn't about to get complacent. The last time they'd spoken-more or less-Skye had left a threat behind to hang in the air. Rebecca couldn't remember what it was but she knew it was something she wouldn't like.

It struck her as odd, that the thought didn't even worry her in the slightest.

Caught up in the mess that her life had become, she didn't even care that Skye no doubt had some extravagant plan to hurt her. She had more pressing things to worry about.

If someone had told her a few weeks ago, that Mikael would be both the problem and the answer and that her life was going to revolve around him, she'd have laughed in their face. Now, that was her reality. He'd turned her world upside down in just a few short days. For better or worse, Rebecca wasn't too sure. She did know it made it more interesting.

Now, because of Mikael, she wasn't just the adopted orphan with too many awful childhood experiences. She was also a faerie with the power to resurrect someone. And that person was no indebted to her until one of them died. Dream haunting was also apparently in the job description.

Rebecca hadn't been able to decipher the difference between dream and reality for a while. Now, she was pretty sure she knew which was which. Mikael talking to her outside the hospital had definitely been real. Sneaking into a hospital room had definitely happened-Rebecca would never forget doing something illegal. By default that meant that what had transpired in the room had been real. All that she'd dreamt had been him in her room and the knife that had appeared in his hand.

She'd felt the pain, the knife piercing her skin. But before she'd actually died, she'd woken up. Rebecca had heard that if you died in a dream, you died in real life. Now she knew it was true.

Before she'd read through the book, Rebecca had just blown it all off, considering it ridiculous to even consider. But she couldn't ignore all the coincidences. There was no way Mikael had written the book and unless he'd memorised it, the fact that it all added up had to be more than a coincidence.

Now she was on a mission and she was going to get the answers she wanted.

Rebecca was just hoping he wouldn't decide to tell her it was all a huge joke. He'd stuck to his story for days, never once breaking character. Not even as much as an eye-twitch.

Even if he said he'd made it all up, there was no way she could ignore what she'd seen. Even though she'd dreamed him in her room, she hadn't dreamed watching him die. She'd turned for one second and in that split second . . . someone had killed him. She'd checked for a pulse and found none. She'd watched the paramedics take him away in a stretcher, muttering about the why and how it had happened.

The next day, she'd watched him wake up, face gaunt and pale, as if he'd been on the brink of death-which he had been. He'd spoken. Mikael had talked to him as if talking to another person.

It had to be true.

Mikael couldn't plan it all and time it perfectly. The book . . . the dream . . . the hospital room break in . . .

It was impossible to fake it. Then again, being a faerie was impossible-that's what she'd thought before. Now she was singing a different tune.

Before Rebecca could debate with herself further, dark boots entered her line of sight. Rebecca glanced up at Mikael, who sauntered his way to her, dark glasses covering his eyes. Once again, he was wearing all black-jeans, shirt and boots.

Feeling eyes on her that weren't Mikael's, Rebecca glanced over at the table. Skye glared at her, sitting on top of the table, stomach bared in a bedazzled crop top. She looked almost . . . jealous. There was a strange joy Rebecca got from knowing that information.

"What's the occasion?" Mikael muttered, crossing his arms over his chest.

Rebecca looked away from Skye to glance at Mikael. "Who said I was looking for you?"

Mikael rolled his eyes. "You haven't set foot out her for days. Personally, I think it's because you've been avoiding me, but that could just be me. "

His arrogance was so off-putting. Rebecca glanced away, considering why she was here. Feeding his ego wasn't it. "I need answers," she said, hating how out in the open they were. People were going to look. Being seen together with him was the classic cliché-the loser and sports star. Or any other cliché.

Mikael stared at her, before nodding seriously. "I didn't think you'd last this long."

Rebecca glared. "I'm here now. And I want answers."

He rolled his eyes, before turning around, and walking in the other direction. Rebecca had no other choice but to follow, his strides twice the distance of hers, so she almost had to run.

"Where're we going?" she asked, wishing he would stop walking so fast.

He didn't answer; just kept walking.

Sighing Rebecca followed. She wanted answers and he had them. She'd have to go where he wanted if she wanted them.

*

Rebecca froze as they rounded the corner. Of all the areas to pick, he'd chosen the where it had all gone down-where this mess had started. Was it to spite her? An attempt at being ironic? With him, Rebecca couldn't even begin to guess. All she knew was that she didn't want to be here. Anywhere but here. It brought it all back - the fear, the anger, the numbness.

"Can we not talk here?" she muttered, casting a wary glance at the bins off to the side. I can still see it vividly. A still body lying beside it.

"You wanted somewhere where no one would see us," Mikael said.

Rebecca finished the sentence for him, since he clearly wasn't going to say it. No one wanted to sit where someone had died - half died, Rebecca figured, considering she'd seen him wake up. "Well, yeah, but this wasn't what I had in mind."

He raised an eyebrow. "You want answers or not?" he asked, the corner of his mouth pulled up in a smirk.

Rebecca glared at him, hating how arrogant he was. He knew he had leverage over her and she was dependent on him to get the answers she wanted. In response, though, she said nothing, not willing to admit he had the upper hand.

Mikael rolled his eyes. "That's what I thought." Almost nostalgically, he glanced around. "You know what I remember about that day?"

I don't know what you remember, but I remember everything, and I wish I didn't, Rebecca thought bitterly. Shaking her head she stared at Mikael. "What do you remember?" she asked, as if she cared.

"You could at least sound like you care," he muttered.

"What do you want me to say? That day is why all of-" She waved her hand around the general area where they stood, "-this started and my life turned into a mess."

"Your life was already a mess." His tone was light, exempt of any judgement.

Rebecca still took is as offensive, and she glared at him. "Oh, I'm sorry my real parents didn't want me. You think I've enjoyed being an orphan? Do you think I like the fact that Skye seems to consider me Public Enemy Number One? Just because your life has been peaches and rainbows, doesn't mean that you can judge me."

Mikael stepped back from her, seeming taken aback at her outburst. "That wasn't what I meant. At all."

Rebecca glanced away, saying nothing.

"I'm sorry, okay. It was an offhand comment and I shouldn't have said it."

That made Rebecca look up, eyes wide, unable to hide her shock. He was apologising to her. To her. There were a lot of firsts when it came to Mikael, she realised. Some were good, others weren't. "Uh, okay," she mumbled, stuck on what to say. I didn't mean to snap, she was tempted to add, but withheld.

There was a few minutes of silence between them and Rebecca didn't attempt to break it. If there was one thing she excelled at, it was making things awkward. Now was a perfect example.

"Is there any point in telling you what I remember from that day?"

Rebecca shrugged, sparing him a side long glance. He stared at her, sunglasses over his eyes, and his hands stuffed into the pocket of his jeans. He seemed perfectly complacent to stand there, waiting for her response.

Mikael took the shrug as an invitation. "I remember you sitting on my lap," he muttered, smirking at her.

Mortification bloomed in her chest, face going bright red. She'd completely forgotten about it. How was that even possible? "I forget about that."

"I thought as much," Mikael muttered. "You seemed to have a serious problem with it. I, on the other hand, didn't care."

"Because it was embarrassing. And like I said before, I'm not going to sleep with you because of it," Rebecca said, crossing her arms over his chest. She remembered it well, now that he'd reminded her off. He'd held her as she shivers had wracked her body. She'd tried to fight against his hold but he'd refused to let go. Even as she'd reminded him that he was with Skye and it wouldn't make her sleep with him, Mikael hadn't let go. He'd just held her as if he cared.

That clearly wasn't the case, though.

Mikael grinned at her, self-assurance in his eyes. "You found it embarrassing, I didn't. I was perfectly fine with it."

"I could tell," Rebecca muttered, still blushing. Averting her eyes, she watched a bird fly over the surrounding trees, suddenly wishing she was the bird. She wouldn't have all these problems to deal with and life would be so much easier.

Shaking her head, she forced the thoughts away. Narrowing her eyes on Mikael's smirking face, she said, "Enough about that. I want answers that you're not giving me."

"You make it sound so lucrative. I'm not selling you drugs."

Rebecca just stared back, finding nothing funny in the statement.

He sighed. "You have no sense of humour, you know that?"

Again, she found nothing funny about it.

"Fine. Ask me questions and I'll tell you the answers."

Finally, they were getting somewhere. Rebecca didn't waste any time. She needed all the answers before the bell rang in twenty minutes. "I found a book in the library. The necklace was in there. Do you want to know what it said? It's an ancient relic, hundreds of years old, that has never been found. Yet, somehow, you gave it to me. Explain that."

"You're not wearing it are you?" Mikael asked.

He was avoiding answering the question, Rebecca noticed. It was more than frustrating. "No. I threw it in a lake because I was sick of wearing at it. Stop avoiding answering me. How on earth did you find a necklace that isn't around anymore?"

"You threw it in a lake?" he repeated, voice incredulous. "Are you serious?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Rebecca snapped.

Mikael stared at her, before throwing his arms in the air. "I cannot believe you threw it in a lake." He returned her glare with narrowed eyes. "You want to know how I got the necklace, I can tell you. It's been passed down through my family for generations. It ended up with me and I gave it to you, thinking it was about time someone treated you like a person."

"Why?" Rebecca whispered.

"I already told you. I felt bad because Skye's ruined your social life."

She frowned. "So you pity me?"

"It's not pity. I wanted to do something nice. Underneath all this-" He gestured to himself, "-I'm not a bad person. I just look it."

Rebecca hated the fact that the news was something she wanted to hear again. It was because she'd been neglected as a child, she reasoned. Anyone that was kind to her was suddenly her favourite person, despite the fact that she hated it. "But . . ." She frowned, ". . . according to the book that necklace was - is - a faerie relic. Why would your family have it?"

Mikael rolled his eyes. "Wait for it. Three . . . two . . . one . . ."

It was then that it dawned on Rebecca. "You- you're a- you're a faerie?" she stuttered.

"And now she gets it," Mikael said dryly, smirking.

Rebecca could only gape at him. It made total sense and yet she hadn't even thought about it. She'd never felt like more of an idiot than she did now. "Since when?" she blurted, like the idiot she was in this moment.

"Since I was born," Mikael muttered, staring at her like she was stupid. "Since when were you a girl?"

"Always," Rebecca said, before she clamped a hand over her mouth, realising how stupid the question was. Still gaping at him, she said, "That's how you got everything in the book right."

Mikael rolled his eyes. "Since I get the feeling, you're not going to stop staring at me and asking dumb questions, I'll show you."

Rebecca frowned, wondering what he was talking about-

Then she watched on in amazement, as Mikael looked off into the distance. His eyes flashed gold and Rebecca stared at them owlishly, wondering if she was seeing things. In the next moment there was a flash and she glanced over. A rubbish bag, situated in front of the large bin, was alight with flames.

Rebecca screamed, searching for a way to put out the fire.

Then, as quickly as it was on fire, the flames died down, under the rubbish bag was nothing but ash.

All the while, Mikael stood perfectly still staring into the distance.

Rebecca stared at him in shock. "What? Did you . . . do that?"

He glanced over at her, expression frustrated. "You're not making this easy. This time, it'd be great if you didn't scream, so the whole school doesn't run out here," he muttered, voice bordering on irritated.

This time, Rebecca followed to where he was looking, making sure she could see him out of the corner of her eye. Once again, she saw his eyes flash gold. Then, a bench seat in front of all the trees, burst into flames. Conscious of Mikael's warning, Rebecca didn't scream. Instead, she looked on in fascination as the flames died down, as if they'd never been there.

Mikael turned to her when the flames were gone.

Rebecca gaped. "Oh my god. Can I do that?"

He shrugged. "Who knows? I wouldn't try though. The last thing I want to do is burn the school down." He shook his head, expression turning serious. "You came here for answers. Ask the questions."

She was more than a little stunned. "Uh, I think I forgot all my questions. That was kind of . . . amazing."

"You didn't forget them all, surely. Weren't you denying this a few days ago? Now you seem pretty convinced."

"Too many coincidences," Rebecca said. "I don't believe in coincidences. And then you show me that - how can I deny it? You can't fake that."

Besides, how call was it if she could do that

Mikael smirked. "I'll take that as a compliment. What do want to know? You can't have forgotten it all."

I have forgotten it all, she thought. "Uh . . ." She blurted the first thing that came to mind. "Is it bad that I threw the necklace in the lake? It's a family heirloom. Now it's lost in a like."

"I'm a little pissed off, yeah," he muttered, and the guilt was suddenly heavier on her mind. "But I'll deal. I've got magic; I'll find a way to find it."

"It probably costs a lot of money."

Mikael shrugged. "Don't ask me how much because I have no idea."

Rebecca frowned, wishing she could take the moment she'd thrown it back. "It's an invaluable thing in your family. And I threw it in a lake."

"I'll deal," he repeated. "Any other questions?"

There was so much she wanted to know, but her mind was blank. Everything she wanted to ask, she couldn't remember. Suddenly the dream came to mind - or, more aptly, the nightmare. "That guy from the hospital was in my nightmare last night. And then, in the book, there was something about resurrection. He called me something in the dream that was written in the book."

Mikael sat without warning, leaning forward on his bend knees. "Salvatée?"

Rebecca joined him, though she sat crossed-legged. "Yeah, that sounds like it. Apparently it means 'saviour.'"

He raised an eyebrow. "Did the book explain what resurrection was?"

Rebecca nodded. "I know what it is. I don't need a book to tell me." When his eyes only narrowed in response, Rebecca forced herself to be serious. She'd come for answers and she was finally getting them. "It explained briefly what it meant. It's a little unbelievable, but considering that you can see things on fire with your eyes, I'm willing to buy it."

"My mind," he said. "Not my eyes. And what did it say? 'Briefly' isn't an answer."

Rebecca wracked her mind, trying to think back. It couldn't have been any more than thirty minutes ago since she'd read it, but after Mikael had shown her he could start and stop fires with his mind, she'd forgotten a lot of things. "Um, well obviously, it mentioned resurrection - bringing someone back from the dead. According to what was written, any person resurrected can switched between the two worlds, and teleport or something. Apparently, they're also indebted to the person that brings them back, for life, which is kind of terrifying to think about."

"Did it explain what the titles are?"

Nodding, Rebecca tapped her hand on her knee. She knew the words, she just couldn't pronounce them. "Well, there's that word you said before. I'm not going to say it because I'll just embarrass myself. There's also the other person, that's been brought back to life. I'm going to say this wrong but they're called 'Inservié.' The fact that it means to serve is more than a little degrading, but I can't change it can I?"

"Inservié. In-serve-e-a. Not in-serve-a. It's more French than Latin."

Rebecca rolled her eyes. "I told you I'd say it wrong. You know French, of course you can say it."

"I can speak French?" he echoed back, hand raking through his hair. It made it just look as tousled as before.

Rebecca wished she could take the words back. Hearing him speak French had happen in a dream, not in real life. She didn't even know if he could speak it. "Uh," she muttered, thinking quick, "I'm assuming here. When we first met, you said something about how your parents wanted a French name."

"That doesn't mean I can speak it," he said with a frown.

Rebecca sighed. She was an awful liar and it wasn't a surprise she wasn't buying it. "Okay, I had a dream about you. In it you didn't speak a word of English, only French."

His smile was sly. "You had a dream about me?"

It took a moment for Rebecca to catch on and when she did, she blushed like mad. "No! What- I didn't mean it like that!"

He winked. "You sure about that?"

She gaped. "Of course I'm sure! I didn't have a dream that- that- gross!"

"Gross?" He laughed loudly. "You're such a prude."

"I'm not," she muttered, though she knew he was right. She'd never even kissed a guy before. The thought alone made her uncomfortable. "We're not talking about that. We're talking about resurrection."

"If you say so," he muttered with a smirk. Then his expression turned serious. "You know you have your own Inservié right?"

"I'm trying to pretend that part isn't real," she said. "Everything else I'll accept, because, when I think about it, it's actually kind of amazing. On the other hand, resurrecting someone is terrifying."

"You're thinking about it wrong." He grinned. "You've got someone that will do anything you want them to do. Take advantage of it. I know I would be."

"I don't want someone to do anything I want them to," Rebecca muttered. The thought made her skin crawl. That had been her as a child, always forced to do everything, the threat of being hit by her foster parents hanging over her head.

"You don't see anything good about it," he said, almost in disbelief. "Think for a second, who's the one person you've always wanted revenge on?"

Rebecca didn't hesitate. "Skye."

"Do you not have a person that could do it for you? She wouldn't even realise it was you."

She could see the logic behind it - it just felt wrong. "You do realise you're talking about your ex, right?"

Mikael shrugged. "It was never serious. At least not on my part."

Rebecca had nothing to say in response to that.

Luckily Mikael filled the silence. "Did the book mention anything about a war?"

Rebecca shook her head. If there had been something about a war, she hadn't read that far. Really, she hadn't even gotten a quarter of the way through the book. There was obviously a lot more to read and Rebecca wasn't sure what she'd read if she went back to read it. At the time, though, she'd been too freaked out to sit there for hours.

"Well, since history makes me fall asleep, I'll keep it as simple as I can. Basically . . ." He waved his hand, looking as boring as he said. ". . . Hundreds, thousands, of years ago years ago, all Fae were the same. They lived together in harmony. Then, as it always does, it went to shit."

Rebecca brushed a fly out of her face, watching Mikael with avid attention. The way he said it was unlike she'd ever been taught before by teachers. Then again, none of the teachers ever swore.

"Eventually, a war started. It lasted for years, many Fae dying because of the violence." Mikael grinned, flashing her a row of perfect white teeth. "Personally, I would have loved to be there. Sword fighting. Decapitation. What's not to love?"

There was a lot not to love. The thought of decapitation and fighting with swords made her stomach turn. She was more than happy that she wasn't there at the time. "What was the war over?"

"What is any war over?" Mikael muttered, leaning back on his hands. "Stupid shit, that's what. Money. Wealth. Power. This one wasn't any different." He paused, glancing over at the trees. "Don't take my word for all of it. I've never read a book about it, and I don't really want to because I'll fall asleep. This is just what my grandma told me."

Rebecca frowned. "Do they speak another language? Faeries?"

Mikael shrugged. "Depends. Some areas still speak a form of Latin, others it's their own language, completely different. English is used but it's not common."

Nodding, she pushed some stray hair from her face. "Areas?"

"I'll get to that. One thing at a time. Anyway, before the war, one monarchy ruled. People got sick of it and they decided that they didn't want that. So they caused a war. War stories, death . . . it all happened. Eventually, it just stopped, no reason why. No one won; no one lost. It was just a mutual defeat and both sides gave up."

"That's . . ." Rebecca searched for the right word. "Good."

Mikael grinned. "Boring ending I know."

People died. That's awful, Rebecca thought, narrowing her eyes at him. "What's it like now?" she asked, changing the subject purposely.

The grin fell. "It's divided the race. Now there's two types of Fae - dark and light."

Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Let me guess: the 'good' are the light and the 'bad' are the dark?" when Mikael nodded, she scoffed. "How original of them."

Mikael laughed, throwing his head back. "I have to agree with you there."

"What makes the dark Fae so dark?" Rebecca asked, mockingly. "They wear black? Are you 'dark'? You do wear black all the time."

Rolling his eyes, he stretched his right leg. Rebecca had to wonder if he was uncomfortable as she was, sitting on the concrete. Not only was it uncomfortable but it was also cold. "Just because I wear black doesn't mean I'm evil. Besides, do you think I'm that dumb?"

Rebecca said nothing in response to the last question. "You didn't answer what makes them so evil."

Mikael shrugged. "They steal, cause wars; are violent. Why the hell would I know? I don't mix with them because I'm on the winning side. The Dark Fae are on the bottom. They rebelled, didn't win the war, and now they're a group of their own."

"How does that work though?" Rebecca asked. "Is there a line drawn in the sand? A magical line?"

"It's like two different countries," he said. "You have to know the right way to open the portal."

"Can I open a portal?" Rebecca asked in wonder, smiling excitedly. If she'd been able to do it all along, why was she here? "Please tell me I can."

"You can't."

Then she was no longer smiling. "What?" She narrowed her eyes at Mikael.

"You can't. Our magic works the same as puberty. Females gain their power later on in life."

Rebecca gaped. "What? This is so unfair! Guys go through puberty later than girls!"

Mikael shrugged. "It's not my fault. But . . ." He let the word hang in the air.

"But what?" she snapped.

"I can show you a portal," he muttered, smirking.

Careless to the fact that he was more than likely mocking her, Rebecca stood excitedly. "Why are we waiting here then? Let's go."

He frowned. "What about school?"

That made Rebecca falter. She didn't want to ditch school - she'd never done it in her life. Sighing heavily, she sat back down. "Fine. Straight after school, can you show me? It's the least you owe me after this mess you created. I can tell my parents to wait."

"Who know you were so demanding," he said with a smirk. "But fine. I'll show you . . ."

Rebecca grinned. She'd always wished this was real and it felt so surreal - like she was dreaming.

"On one condition."

Her grin fell. "What?" she snapped, voice embarrassingly bordering on petulant.

He stared at her, expression stoic. "You summon Adam."

No, was her immediate response, but she bit her tongue. What other choice did she have? Glaring at him, she spat, "Fine."

Mikael stood, brushing his hand on his thighs. The sunglasses fell slightly and he repositioned them. "Don't sound so mad about it. Three . . . two . . . and one . . ." The bell rung, echoing loudly around them. "There's the bell. I've got to get to class. I'll meet you here after school."

"Okay," Rebecca muttered.

"And, for the record, I am fluent in French."

Then he was gone, sauntering in the other direction.

Rebecca sat for a few minutes, trying to wrap her head around it all. All of it was impossible, yet true. If she told anyone they'd say she was crazy. She could care less. For the first time in ages, she had something to look forward to in her life.