KIMBRA SWAIN
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Kimbra Swain
Amazing Grace, Fairy Tales of a Trailer Park Queen, Book 15
Kimbra Swain / Crimson Sun Press, LLC kimbraswain@gmail.com crimsonsunpress@gmail.com
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.
Cover by: TS95 Studios
Formatting by: Crimson Sun Graphics
Editing by Carol Tietsworth: https://www.facebook.com/Editing-by-Carol-Tietsworth328303247526664/
CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
The Trailerverse Expands! Cast of Characters
Acknowledgments About the Author
CARESSING THE DEEP MAHOGANY WOOD, I ADMIRED THE LIGHT AND DARK tones of the oak bar top. The craftsmanship heralded the old days when things were done by hand, but I knew it had been compiled with magic. When the Tree of Life rose in the center of my stone circle in the forest beyond my home, branches were ripped off in the process. We preserved the branches in the wooden bar at the new Hot Tin Roof bar. I brushed back a tear and met Levi’s gaze with a smile.
“It’s gorgeous,” I said.
“Is it what you wanted?” he asked.
“It’s what he would have wanted.”
My grandfather, Nestor Gwinn, had died in the final battle for Winter. He protected my children by sacrificing his life, and now he was the supernatural babysitter for the New World, a baby boy named Xavier. I had visited him and Katherine as often as possible, but it wasn’t the same as sitting down at this bar and having a cup of coffee with him. He always knew the right thing to say to everyone. Which is why Levi would be taking his place behind this bar, and not me. The establishment belonged to us both.
A week after the battle, after we had all rested, Remy showed up at our door with the proper paperwork which gave the bar to us. However, it had burned in the final battle. In honor of his last wishes, we rebuilt the it. It hadn’t opened yet. We were looking over the final construction. We expanded the seating area and rebuilt the
apartment upstairs. Callum was going to move into it once we signed off on the final papers.
“Sorry, I’m late,” Niles Babineau said, coming in the front door.
“It’s not polite to keep a Queen waiting,” I smirked.
He smiled broadly at me. “Indeed. Perhaps you will spare my life until we finish our business here,” he said, as he laid papers out on the new bar top.
“This time,” I said. Levi stood next to me as we looked over the papers laying before us.
“The insurance that Nestor had on the place wouldn’t pay out, because technically, Shady Grove is a condemned city. However, he had significant savings, and all the materials and labor were covered. Remy has all the money details if you care to know. I just want to know if everything is done to your satisfaction. Is there anything else you need from my crew and me?” Niles asked.
“The whole place looks fantastic,” Levi said.
“It really is fine work, Niles. Thank you,” I added.
“Awesome. If you don’t mind leaving a five-star review on my social media page, that would be fantastic,” Niles said.
“Your what?” I asked.
“It’s a thing on the internet that he can use to promote his business,” Levi explained.
“An endorsement from the King and Queen would do a world of good since we’ve moved here permanently. You have a lot of fairies who want to go back and forth now. You’ll have to set some ground rules for travel,” Niles said, as he packed the papers into a folder.
“Wait, what?” I asked.
“Hmm, I talked to Troy about it. There are fairies gathering in the nearby cities hoping to get passage into the Otherworld,” Niles said. “More than a few, actually.”
“Exiles?” I asked.
“Some. Others were born here to fairy parents,” Niles said, handing the building information to Levi.
“When did you tell Troy?” Levi asked.
“A couple of days ago. He said he would get with you guys and discuss it. I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to get him into trouble,” Niles
explained.
“No, it’s not that at all. He’s still adjusting to his new life,” I said. I wanted to talk to him anyway about the future of the Shady Grove police department. He’d spent much of his time with Mark helping him settle into his new role as the Alpha of the Shady Grove pack.
The pack had changed since Mark took over. He’d struggled as the new boy king of a bunch of wild animals. Kwaski and Mrs. Santiago backed him fully, but there were wolves that challenged his throne. He’d won every challenge. The thought of that young boy having to fight for his position turned my stomach. Dominick assured me that he was holding his own, but I didn’t like it. I wanted to talk to Troy about it and find out what, if anything, Levi and I could do to help the situation.
“Thanks for everything. My crew and I are at your disposal,” Niles said, as he rushed out of the door, leaving Levi and I alone.
Levi pulled me to his body, firing off that tingling sensation that drove me crazy for him. “I say we christen this bar,” he said, lifting me up to sit on the newly shined wood.
“This is not the proper place to swap gravy, Levi Rearden,” I warned. “The health department will shut us down.”
“We are the health department, and I say this is very healthy,” he grinned while sliding his hand up my thigh. I’d worn shorts because it was hotter outside than Alabama asphalt. He played with the hem with daring eyes. I pushed his hand away, and he jerked back toward me, burying his face at my stomach. He lifted my shirt and started blowing raspberries on my skin.
“Quit!” I yelled, as the bar door opened behind us.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, stop it,” Callum said.
“You guys are gross,” Aydan added.
“Why is he kissing your belly?” Winnie asked.
“I like to kiss all of her,” Levi responded. Winnie’s eyes widened, and I slapped him on the shoulder. The men, young and younger, laughed, but Winnie blushed. The little skirt she wore was already riding high on her thigh.
“Is that the skirt we bought last week?” I asked.
“I guess,” she said tugging it down.
“She’s growing,” Levi warned. He and I had already discussed her accelerated growth rate. Something was going on with the exposure to the Otherworld. Shady Grove was technically part of Winter now, and it seemed that it came with all the happy side effects of living in the fairy world. Including wonky time shifts and accelerated growth for those with fairy blood, which meant, every child in this town minus the pure-blooded shifters like the Santiago children, were growing and maturing faster.
Winnie had started asking about boys a few days ago. Like boys and their parts. I almost died. I don’t know if any mother is prepared to explain sex to their daughter, but the fact that I was trying to explain it to my 7-year-old sent me into a tizzy. Levi refused to touch it, so it was left up to me to figure out the best way to explain swappin’ gravy to her.
Our options included allowing it to happen or finding her somewhere to grow up outside of Shady Grove. I’d been separated from her once before and I wasn’t going to do it again. Levi and I agreed that she should stay with us.
“I’m just going to put you into a potato sack until you get over this growth spurt,” I said, ignoring the obvious.
“Mom, it’s not a spurt,” Winnie said.
“Yes, it is. Look at you. Going through clothes before I can get them on ya,” I replied.
“Kyrie and Celestina were at Aunt Wendy’s yesterday. They are growing, too,” Winnie replied.
“Well, shit,” I muttered. “Winnie, it seems that now you have fairy blood in your system you are going to grow up faster, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.”
“How fast?” she asked.
“I’m not sure, but if I had to guess, you will be as big as Aydan in a couple years,” I managed to say before my voice cracked. Aydan had grown up in an instant, and there were times that he was still very young and innocent. Which was the reason Callum had decided to move into the apartment above Hot Tin.
Callum sought me out not long after the battle and told me that he loved Aydan, but that he was sure it was just as a brother. He
explained that he saw now that there were times when Aydan was grown and mature, but others where he had a lot to learn. Aydan and Winnie had taken the news pretty hard, but it wasn’t like he was leaving completely. It made me happy to know that he was able to make such a mature decision, especially when Aydan wasn’t ready to make any decisions at all.
Callum and Aydan visited the shamans who transformed Aydan from toddler to young man in an instant. Niles had sent them there to learn about the Native American ways. To learn their stories. Aydan came back talking about hallucinogens and how trippy it was. Callum came back talking about how it was a spiritual experience. Callum had benefited much more deeply than Aydan. I loved both of them, and I knew that this was something that I had to let them figure out on their own. I, however, did think that Callum was doing the right thing by Aydan.
“You just wait. I’m going to beat you up,” Winnie warned Aydan, who pretended to be scared and hid behind Callum. “Not you, Cal. You are the good brother.”
“I’m the good brother,” Callum repeated. Aydan poked him in the side. Then they started to wrestle.
“Stop that in this new place! I swear if the two of you break something, I’m gonna whoop you both!” I yelled. They settled down, but one would nudge the other occasionally to keep the fight going.
We chatted about the new place, admired the red felted pool table, and folded white towels before getting everything ready to lock up for the day. We would open in two days as a celebration of the victory over the evil that had tried to change the world.
Just before I turned out the lights, Dominick rushed into the bar.
“What the…” I exclaimed as he ran in while pulling up a pair of shorts.
“Sorry. We need you out at Troy’s house. There is a faction that has joined up to take Mark out,” Nick said.
“Take him out?” Levi asked.
Between huffs, Nick explained, “They have challenged him and anyone who believes he is the true Alpha to a fight to the death.”
“Son of a bitch. This damn town can’t settle down for two seconds,” I cursed. “Aydan, take your sister home. You guys stay there until we come home.” I knew better than try to keep Callum out of it.
“We want to go,” Aydan protested.
“Do as I say. We will not go over this again,” I said sternly.
“I fought in the battle!” Aydan added.
“From the clouds. Out of danger. Aydan, you might be ready to fight, but she isn’t,” I said, pointing to his sister. “Please, do what I ask.”
Winnie walked over to him, showing more maturity, and took his hand. “I want to go home, Aydan.”
He pursed his lips and closed his eyes. In an instant, they were gone. He’d mastered the art of skipping after just a couple of lessons.
“With Winnie growing, we are about to have two teenagers in the house,” I huffed. Callum laughed. “You hush!”
“It’s better to just let her rant,” Levi said to him.
“You hush, too. And take us to Troy’s,” I demanded.
Levi grinned, as we joined hands and he whisked all four of us to the driveway of Troy’s home.
LEVI WALKED AHEAD OF ME WITH CALLUM. AT FIRST, WE HEADED TO THE house, but quickly turned toward the backyard when the snarls of wolves caught our attention.
Rounding the corner, I saw a young man standing with Amanda and Troy. He didn’t take his eyes off the advancing wolves which looked to be more than twenty strong. He had a few behind him. With a burst of white fur, Callum ran on all fours to stand beside the young man.
I’d seen him before while looking at Mark. The Alpha in him had always been prevalent when it emerged. Even Winnie could see it through his real form. But now that had changed, the young man overshadowed anything that was left of the boy. He stood before his parents with his fists balled up, holding back a shift.
Dominick joined Troy and Amanda, as Levi and I stalked up to the scene.
“I’ve got this,” I whispered to Levi.
“Oh, shit,” he smirked.
“Good evening. I thought I’d come by and visit my favorite Alpha, but it seems I’ve shown up at a bad time. Want me to come back later?” I asked sweetly.
“Queen Gloriana, welcome to the headquarters of the Shady Grove pack. Allow me to dispatch these few ruffians, and we can sit down for a drink. I believe I have some orange soda,” Mark said, without taking his eyes off the wolves.
“Is there anything I can help with here?” I asked.
“No, it is a pack matter,” Mark replied. The veins in his neck tensed. His strong arms rippled with new muscles. His legs looked like he’d run a thousand marathons. He wore a pair of jogging shorts and a loose white tank top. I noticed he was barefooted. Beyond his matured form, the hair covering his body indicated that the accelerated growth had magnified on the young Alpha. He could easily pass for thirteen or fourteen years old, but only in the face. If I didn’t see that sweet face, hardened at his enemies, I would have thought him to be at least eighteen.
“See that’s the thing. Since you became the leader of this rabble,” I said, pausing to stare at the wolves approaching him, “it seems like you’ve been challenged quite often. From what I understand, you have won every challenge against your claim.”
“Every single one,” he replied with the tone of a snarky teenager. “I will win this one, too.”
I took a deep breath. “I have no doubt of that, but seems to me that there is no need to prove yourself. I recognize you as Alpha. This is still Shady Grove, and I’m still the fucking Queen.”
Levi snickered behind me, but kept his mouth shut. I really did have the perfect husband.
“Your rule isn’t recognized by the pack,” Mark replied.
“Oh,really?”
“That’s not what he meant, Grace,” Troy interjected.
“I’m not talking to you, Troy,” I said, settling my gaze on Mark’s father. He knew when to back down, too.
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied.
“When it comes to pack rule, the wolves decide who rules,” Mark clarified.
“Am I allowed to fight on your side?” I asked.
“Wolves only. Father is allowed because he was one of us,” Mark said.
I reached down and pulled off my tennis shoes and handed them to Levi.
“What the hell are you doing?” he muttered.
“You aren’t a wolf. Stay out of it, Deer,” I said. I didn’t have to spell it out for him. He knew how I meant it. It’d become my favorite nickname for him.
I opened myself up to the power of Winter, allowing it to sink deep into my veins. The blue swirls of power spread across my skin, and a cool breeze blew out of the North.
The wolves opposing Mark stopped moving to watch my transformation. When I embraced Winter during the Battle of Shady Grove, she began to whisper sweet, powerful nothings in my ears. I dreamed of frozen dancing sugar plums and spells. There were so many things I could do. It was about time that this town and the Otherworld knew just how deeply and wholly I felt that power.
Cold darkness surged upon me, enveloping me in a swirling cloud of snow. When the snow settled, I stood before them as a pure white wolf with turquoise eyes. The blue swirls curled over my fur creating icy tattoos. Immediately, I felt the power of the Alpha. I could hear his voice in my head.
Mark Maynard had embraced his new role, but the moment I’d arrived he worried that everything he had built would be washed away by me doing something to overshadow his strength. Until this moment, that was exactly what I had planned to do. But feeling his thoughts, his fears, and his confidence that he could win this fight, I made a bold move.
“I am Gloriana, Queen of Winter and the Exiles. However, in this form, I am a member of the Shady Grove pack. Mark Maynard is my Alpha, and I obey his will. I stand behind him. Not in front. Not beside. I follow his rule.” My voice rang out clear as if I were speaking with my human vocal cords.
Winter power moved again behind me. Knowing that Levi had access to all my powers, I knew he would join me. His wolf was a pale grey, almost blue with pulsing swirls of Winter. His deep blue eyes met with mine, and he nodded. Without any explanation, he joined me to stand behind Mark, who held his human form. Callum gave me an appreciative look.
Mark’s doubt faded, and confidence replaced any fears of my interference. He had to feel the connection between us. A voice
deeper than his normal spoke into my brain.
“You honor me, Gloriana and Levi. If you truly want to be part of this pack, then I expect full obedience. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” Levi and I answered in unison.
“Very well. We will hold our position until they strike one of us. Otherwise, we wait,” Mark instructed.
“As you wish, Alpha,” I responded, then turned to the opposition to give them a snarling growl. It felt good rumbling around in my throat. Levi huffed.
“If Dominick doesn’t stop looking at your tail, I’mgoing to kick hisass,” Levi said.
I looked back over my shoulder, and Dominick shifted his attention back to the pack.
“Ihaveaniceass.Thatisn’tmyfault,” I replied.
“Iswearifhesniffsyou,it’son,” Levi said.
Knowing Dominick, he would sniff me just to get on Levi’s nerves.
One of the opposing wolves shifted into human form. The man stood a foot taller than Mark and sported twice as much hair including a long, but trimmed beard.
“They cannot join your ranks without being part of the pack. They have to prove themselves,” the man said.
“Raoul, Grace and Levi Rearden have given me authority over them as their Alpha. That is all that is required,” Mark responded.
“I demand a fight of blood,” Raoul said.
Mark snarled. “That is not necessary.”
“I will do it,” I responded.
“As will I,” Levi echoed.
“No, I said it wasn’t necessary!” Mark yelled. His words sank into me as the Alpha’s power fought against my own will. “Are you here to fight, Raoul?”
“Not today, Alpha,” he said, bowing deeply to the boy.
“That’s a shame,” Mark responded. “I’ve only had one challenge in the last two days. I was starting to get bored.”
“Wow! I think he’s been taking notes from you,” Levi said. I nudged him with my paw.
“Raoul, if you bring a force against me again, I will kill you, and every wolf that opposes me will leave this pack. By order of the Queen of Shady Grove, any shifter living within the wards of this town must be a part of the Shady Grove pack. As its Alpha, I comply with that rule. All of you knew the rule when you moved here. You chose to stay. Just because there is a new Alpha, the rules have not changed. You accept me as the leader of this pack, or you move. Don’t come to me with this nonsense again. The last thing I want to do is kill any of you. But with the moon as my witness, I will do it.” Mark stepped forward, distancing himself from us. The wolves with Raoul turned and stalked away.
It made me sick to think about the impact of his statement. I hated that he would have to kill any of them, but I wouldn’t stand in his way. If it came to that, then so be it. Secondly, every shifter in this town had been rejected by their families or had chosen to leave their pack. Now they wanted to stand against Mark and his family, knowing that if he was ousted as Alpha, his followers would be banished from the pack. Which meant, they would have to leave Shady Grove.
Not on my watch.
TROY’S THREE GIRLS PILED ON HIM THE SECOND HE WALKED INTO THE DOOR OF their home. He laughed, dragging them with him to the living room. We passed through their kitchen where Amanda stopped to fix glasses of sweet tea.
Callum had shifted back and followed Levi and I into the Maynard house along with Dominick who ducked around a corner, then reappeared with a pair of shorts.
“Keep your nose away from my wife’s ass,” Levi chided.
“It’s a dog eat dog world out there,” Dominick quipped.
“That was lame,” I said.
“Gotta give me points for effort!” Nick exclaimed.
“He’s right. Stay away from my ass,” I replied before taking a seat on the couch. Levi sat next to me while Troy laughed and played with the girls. Rosalie, Magnolia, and Camilla looked to be in the two-year old range. “Troy, are they growing too?” I asked.
“They are. I suppose it’s my fairy blood,” he said.
“Is Amanda faeborn?” I asked.
“No, I am not,” she replied, entering the room with a tray of sweet tea and one lemonade. She knew I didn’t drink tea. Sacrilegious in these parts, but I couldn’t help it. I didn’t like sweet tea.
Levi retrieved my drink from the tray, then his. “So, children with any fairy blood are accelerating,” he surmised.
“It seems so,” Troy replied.
“This is why I haven’t been to see Winnie,” Mark said, entering the room. He stood in the doorway. Looking through my sight, he looked the same as he did in the doorway. Tall and lean with dark eyes. His nose and jaw line had formed hard lines. His boyish hair had lengthened on top in dark brown almost curls. “I’m afraid I’d scare her, and the last thing in this world I want to do is scare her.”
“She’s growing too. Plus, she misses her friend,” I said.
“I’m not a kid anymore,” he said as his eyes hardened. “I’ve just got to wait until she catches up with me. I promise you that I will never do anything to hurt her.”
“If you do, I’ll strangle you,” I said.
“Grace!” Levi exclaimed.
“You will not touch my son,” Amanda growled.
“No!” Mark’s voice echoed in the small room. His mother backed down. “She’s right. If I hurt Winnie, I’d want her to kill me.”
“It was a form of speech,” I said, setting my glass down at the table. I couldn’t believe how much he’d grown and matured with the growth. The Alpha emerging plus the fairy in him had dealt Mark a double blow. I stood up and crossed the room to stand before him. “You have always been family to us. You will always be family to us. If you need us, all you have to do is call. Levi and I back your claim to be Alpha one-hundred percent.”
“Thank you, Queen Gloriana,” he said, bowing his head to me.
I lifted his chin to look into his darkened eyes. “That’s just Grace talking. No need for the Queen stuff.”
“Thank you, Miss Grace,” he said, relaxing his stance. Finally, I saw in him the boy I’d seen less than a month ago.
“I also know that you have no intentions of hurting my daughter. I will try to explain to her what’s happened. She’s actually pretty adaptable. You might be surprised,” I said.
“I’m too old to be around her, considering how I feel. It will look bad,” he said.
“You still feel the same way about her?” I asked.
“Yes. I always will,” he said. “But I need to give her space to grow. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t happy that she was going to catch up to me sooner rather than later.”
“She is going to give you hell. You know that, right?” I asked with a chuckle.
He looked around me to Levi. “It’s worth it, right?”
“Damn straight, it is,” Levi responded.
“Mark Maynard! What are you implying?” I asked. He shrugged. “Like mother, like daughter.”
I died laughing along with the rest of the room. “He’s not wrong. Winnie is more head-strong like you each day. Maturing faster isn’t going to make that any better,” Levi said.
“How would you know?” I asked before sitting down next to him.
“Well, I mean, I see Aydan struggle,” he said.
“Aydan was different. He would have been better off left to grow in the fairy way than this thrust forward they did on him. He’s adapting, but it will take time. Probably about two years, in fact,” I said.
“Which is how long it takes a fairy child to grow and mature?” Dominick asked. I’d forgotten he was even in the room.
“Yes. When fairy children grow, their minds and maturity grow at the same time. It’s accelerated and strange to humans, but for fairies, it’s normal. I do hate that she is going to lose her childhood, but to be honest, childhood hasn’t been that good to her. If she loses anyone else, I worry about her and those fire powers,” I said.
“Do you fear her fire because you don’t inherently have those gifts?” Amanda asked. She had always been forward about her opinions. I heard the contempt in her voice, but chose to ignore it.
Without answering her verbally, I held my palm up, pulled power from the fire stone, and created a ball of fire floating above my hand. She tilted her head sideways, then dropped her eyes to study the carpet. I closed my hand. The flame extinguished.
Levi cleared his throat. “How much more will Mark grow? This happened so quickly.”
“We don’t know, but if the last month has been an indicator, by the end of this month, he will be fully matured,” Troy said. Amanda drew in a deep breath. As a mother, I knew how she felt. When Aydan’s growth surge happened, I felt like I’d lost something that was owed to me. I’d carried him. I’d squeezed him out of my vagina.
By the goddess, I should have gotten a little more time with my baby boy.
“It’s good that I am. I can beat those wolves one on one, but when they gang up like that, I need to be stronger,” Mark said.
“You won’t ever fight them alone,” I said.
“Thank you for that, Grace. I admit, I’m a little jealous that you can become a wolf. I miss that wild feeling of letting go and responding on instinct,” Troy said.
“Fairies do that, too. In fact, you probably have a fairy shift form of your own. Just depends on your heritage. Your parents. Your father was a wolf?” I asked.
“No, my mother was a wolf. She was the matriarch of our pack. When I was born, I became the Alpha,” Troy said.
“You grew fast, too?” I asked.
“Not like Mark. I didn’t live in the Otherworld,” Troy said.
“Right. So, your dad was a fairy. Summer,” I said.
“I didn’t know that he was at the time, but yes,” Troy responded.
“Did he have a form?” I asked.
“I don’t know. He never showed it to us if he did. He did teach my brothers to be ruthless and uncaring. He is the reason I left the pack. He demanded blood when there was no need to shed it. Sure. There is a time and place, but he was blood thirsty,” Troy said.
“Like Rhiannon,” I said.
“Any chance on her returning?” Amanda asked.
“I hope not. It’s weird seeing Stephanie and Tabitha around town.” Since the battle, we had given the reincarnated versions of our enemies a short leash. Stephanie had joined Niles’ construction group as a secretary. Tabitha tried to make friends with people, but everyone kept her at a distance. Neither of them had spoken to me, but Troy and his police force had kept an eye on them for me. “Which reminds me, Troy, was there something you were supposed to tell us from Niles?”
“Oh, shit. I completely forgot about that. He and Remy said that there were fairies gathering in the towns nearby hoping to get into Shady Grove. They worried that we might turn into some sort of
fairy ‘destination vacation’ type thing. The town isn’t fit to have a whole bunch of fairies come up in it,” Troy said.
“I need to get a feel for who is out there waiting to get in,” I said.
“I’ll go take a look for you,” Dominick said.
“You can’t go alone,” I replied.
“Sully will go with me. We can head out to Tuscaloosa tomorrow and see what we can discover,” he said.
“We need someone to head to Birmingham, too,” Levi said. “I’d go, but we have so much going on with the coronation.”
“You have a ready-made mob network at your disposal,” I reminded him.
Tennyson had given everything to Levi. Stone and Bronx followed him around like they had their former boss. “I’ll talk to Stone and see who we can send.”
“Have them branch out to Steelshore, Atlanta, and Nashville. I need to know what we are looking at. If people want to go home, I want them to have the opportunity, but it seems like a daunting task to keep up with who and what goes in and out of our town,” I said.
“You need an alternate route,” Amanda suggested.
“I agree. Perhaps after the coronation, we can set up something nearby. I’ll talk to Astor about it as well. I want to keep Summer involved in our decisions. Everything we do affects them too,” I said.
“You need a new council,” Mark suggested.
I decided I liked the new Mark. “That’s a great idea. I’ll talk to Betty. What do you think about the council, Amanda?”
“I think I have my hands full around here for a while. Someone else might be better suited for my spot. Perhaps Mrs. Santiago,” she suggested.
“I represent the shifters,” Mark said.
“Well, in a month, when you look like an adult, you can take a spot,” I said, teasing him a little.
He folded his muscular arms over his chest with a smirk. I could see the edge of a tattoo peeking out from under his shirt sleeve. He saw me notice it and pulled the sleeve up for me to see. A tribalstyle wolf howling over a crescent moon.
“All of us have one,” Dominick said, lifting his sleeve to reveal the same tattoo. Amanda and Troy showed us theirs too. “It was my idea. To bind us together after the war. We lost so many wolves. The unrest here has more to do with that gaping hole in our pack than Mark’s ability to lead. He proved that he could during the fight. Chris’s hogs took just as many losses. However, we took the brunt of the casualties.”
I knew that they had. “He’s right, and we haven’t paid our respectsforthat.Weneedtohaveatownwidememorialbeforethe coronation. I want them all to know that their people will be remembered.Ours,aswell.”
“I’llworkonit.Youfocusonthisfairypilgrimagestuff, andI’lldo the memorial. Plus, I’ll check on Jenny and the coronation preparations,” Levi responded. We didn’t talk telepathically much anymore, because we had become so in tune to each other after my death. It took a couple of weeks, but our bond was stronger now than it had ever been. Which was a very good thing, because I needed Levi more than I could have ever imagined.
LEVI AND I SKIPPED BACK TO THE HOUSE LEAVING CALLUM WITH THE WOLVES. I loaded up in the truck to go and talk to Betty. Winnie decided she had had enough of Aydan, so she rode with me. Aydan went with Levi.
“Do you and Uncle Levi have sex?” Winnie asked, as we drove to town.
The truck swerved as I tried to control it and keep my brain from exploding.
“Do what?!” I exclaimed.
“Sorry,” she muttered, looking down at her hands in her lap.
I cleared my throat and prepared myself for another of those crazy conversations that I only expected to have with my son, but things change. Life changes. Fairy life especially.
“Yes. Levi and I have sex. He’s my husband, and we love each other very much,” I said, hating every word that came out of my mouth.
“Are you going to have a baby?” she asked. I’d equated sex to procreation. Perhaps I could inform her delicately about the pleasures of it as well. It felt so wrong to talk about it, but I knew her mind and body were moving faster than she was used to. I reminded myself that it was normal for a child to be curious.
“We aren’t planning on having a baby, but I am not opposed to having one. There are other reasons to have sex,” I said.
“Like what? Seems kinda weird,” she said.
“It seems that way to you now, because you don’t understand it. And I’m telling you these things because you are growing up faster than I expected. I want you to ask me all these things. Or your Uncle Levi. Let us help you learn about being an adult,” I said.
“What about Callum or Aydan?” she asked.
“Aydan is still learning. I want you to come to me, Winnie. I will always answer your questions. I will never judge you for asking. Uncle Levi would tell you the same thing,” I said.
“You didn’t answer me,” she responded.
“Huh?”
“What are other reasons to have sex?” she asked.
I thought I’d avoided it, but bless it, this child was smarter than I wanted to admit.
“Sex can feel very good. Maybe not the first time, but it can be fun. But take it from your momma, having sex with someone because it is fun is nothing compared to how good it feels to having sex with someone you love,” I said.
“Like you loved Daddy,” she said.
“Yes. Like I loved Dylan. Like I love Levi,” I said. “If you have sex with someone you love, we call it making love. Not just sex.”
I looked over at her, and she seemed to be taking it all in.
“What is swapping gravy?” she asked.
“Did you hear your Uncle Levi say that?” I asked.
“Yes, ma’am. Just seemed like he was saying that instead of talking about sex in front of me,” she said.
“You are very right. That is what your Uncle Levi calls having sex,” I said.
“I like gravy,” she said.
“Heavens to Betsy, Wynonna Riggs, it’s not the same kind of gravy,” I said, trying not to laugh. “This child just asked me what swappinggravywas.I’mgonnabeatyourass.”
“Didyoutellherwhatitwas?” Levi asked.
“Wewerealreadytalkingaboutsex,soyes.”
“Whatdidshesay?”
“Shesaidshelikesgravy!”
I could hear Levi laughing in my head. “Like mother , like daughter . ”
“WhenIgethome…”
“Yes!Talkdirtytome,Baby.”
I ignored him after that. Then I realized Winnie was watching me. “What is it?”
“Did you see Mark?” she asked.
I sighed. Might as well break it to her now. I pulled the truck over on the side of the road and turned it off. She looked confused.
“Yes, Winnie, I saw Mark. He wants you to know that he’s still your friend and that he cares about you a lot. Things with the wolves are very hard for him right now since he’s in charge,” I said.
“I know. I just thought maybe he forgot about me after the fighting and now that he’s a big boss man,” she said.
“He hasn’t forgotten about you. Remember how he looked when you used your magic to see him?” I asked.
“Yes, he looked old.”
“Well, he’s not quite there, but he’s definitely grown,” I said.
“Are all the kids growing? Soraya and Kyrie, too?” she asked.
“Yes. All of them,” I replied. “Even Mark’s sisters.”
“Guess we just gotta deal with it,” she said.
“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” I replied while cranking the truck. “Let’s go get a strawberry milkshake.”
“Sounds great!”
You could never be too old for a milkshake.
“Two strawberry milkshakes,” Betty said with a smile as she sat the two milky concoctions in front of us.
“Yummy! Mom, can I go talk to Celestina?” she asked.
Celestina and Kyrie were in the diner alone. Betty told us that Niles was in the parking lot of the Food Mart working with the construction crew. We didn’t really need a Food Mart any longer since Levi’s network made food deliveries to every house in town.
We were rebuilding the shopping center for some semblance of normalcy. Mike’s psychedelic-covered vape shop had survived the battle, but he had added a fresh coat of rainbow paint to cover some of the battle grime.
“Are you excited?” Betty asked.
“Hmm. About what?”
“The coronation,” she said.
“You know how much I love big events.”
“Your wedding turned out quite nicely.”
“Yeah, if you ignore the spell-induced stomach virus, the wild at the borders, and trailermosas, it was great!”
She tsked at me. “Shame on you, Grace. It’s your big moment. You need to savor it.”
“We have other problems,” I said, watching Winnie talk to Celestina and Kyrie. Soraya had come from the kitchen to join them.
“They are growing,” she said.
“Yes. Among other things,” I sighed.
“What else?”
“Fairies flooding the border towns wanting to get a look at the tree and fountain. Or wanting passage back into the Otherworld. I don’t think my office is big enough to accommodate the issue. Dominick and Sully went to Tuscaloosa to scope it out. Levi is sending some of Stone and Bronx’s guys to check out Birmingham.”
Luther joined us from the kitchen. He hadn’t said much since the battle. I think it weighed hard on him that he wasn’t able to participate. He and Betty had kept their bottle secret despite my best efforts to drag it out of them. However, I knew that in going forward for me to trust them, I needed to know.
“How are you, Grace?” Luther asked.
“Tired. You?”
“About the same,” he replied. “I hate to see them miss childhood.”
“I didn’t miss mine. I keep telling myself that watching Winnie mature daily. She asked me on the way over what swappin’ gravy was.”
Betty started cackling. “I’m glad Soraya hasn’t asked anything.”
“I’m sure Winnie is telling her everything I told her,” I said. “I’ll be happy to sexually educate your ward through my seven-year-old.”
“I see your point,” Betty mumbled. “I think that is why fairies tend to be so difficult to deal with as adults. They miss all those formative years. You were wilder than a Betsy bug. Immature. Shady Grove changed you.”
“The people of Shady Grove changed me. We have to make sure that happens with our children. And their children,” I said.
“Listen to you being all Queen-like,” she teased.
“Took me long enough.”
“It took you as long as you needed to get it right,” Luther said.
“Thanks, Luther. You should join the town council,” I said.
“What?!” Betty exclaimed.
“Yeah, we need to reform it. I’m just teasing Luther. Betty will retain her spot. We will let the people decide who they want to represent them,” I said.
“You are the Queen. Astor is the King. I don’t think you need a council,” she said.
“We do, actually. It’s a new world now. There will be fairy problems in this world that will need attention. The fairies of Shady Grove lived among humans for years, and there is no better representation than the Exiles to govern it. I have my knights for Winter. I have my Exiles for the human realm.”
I sucked down the last of my milkshake as Betty pondered it. “When did you get to be so wise?”
“It was always there. It just wasn’t any fun,” I said with regret.
“And now it is?”
“And now I’ve got no fucking choice.”
“Is that the language of a queen?”
“Fuck yes, it is,” I replied. “Y’all knew what y’all were getting when you got behind me.”
“Actually, I think you have surpassed every hope we had for you,” Betty said.
That made me blush. I shook my head trying to picture it. Jeremiah Freyman dragged me into this town, and they all watched
me come in here like hell on wheels. The wheels were attached to a double wide.
“You think Jeremiah did something to me to make me not see that you all were like me?” I asked.
Betty laughed. “You never figured that out, did you?”
“It’s been kind of a whirlwind since I stepped into that church almost two years ago. That’s when I knew that all of you were in on it,” I said. “So, how did I not know? I should have felt something. Saw something. Suspected it.”
“Grace, we like to work at the diner. Luther makes food, and I serve it. We clean it all up together. Nestor ran the bar. Brad has the BBQ place. Remy is a lawyer. Dylan was a sheriff. None of us had to do those things. We could have employed Brownies or other minions to do tasks for us like bring us food. Instead, for each of us to appear human we would walk into that Food Mart, then through the line with Mable who made the best glamours on either side of the veil. She wasn’t hiding us from you, but from the humans mostly. Then, when you came through her line, as she gossiped about who was sleeping with who, she would dose you, too. A little witchy magic to keep you from asking. To keep to yourself until you were ready.”
“I knew Remy was an immortal being when I met him. It was almost immediate,” I said.
“He didn’t live inside the Perilous Vale, which was controlled by your father and Rhiannon.”
“They hid you?”
“They forced us to be hidden from the human realm. We were surprised when it worked on you. Mable assured us that she had talked to your father and it was what he wanted,” Betty explained.
“Well, shit. I guess I wasn’t too stupid to live,” I said.
“I dunno about that,” a male voice came from behind me. “Too beautiful to live, maybe.”
“Remington Blake, you are the devil,” I said.
Remy walked up and gave me a big hug. “How are ya?”
“I’m fine. Learning more shit that my father did and planned for me,” I said.
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Fig 96 Cybister roeseli (= laterimarginalis De G ) Europe A, Larva (after Schiödte); B, ♂ imago
Fam. 9. Dytiscidae (Water-beetles).—Antennae bare; hind legs formed for swimming, not capable of ordinary walking: metasternum without a transverse line across it; behind closely united with the extremely large coxae. Outer lobe of maxilla forming a two-jointed palpus. The Dytiscidae, or true water-beetles, are of interest because—unlike the aquatic Neuroptera—they exist in water in both the larval and imaginal instars; nevertheless there is reason for supposing that they are modified terrestrial Insects: these reasons are (1) that in their general organisation they are similar to the Carabidae, and they drown more quickly than the majority of land beetles do; (2) though the larvae are very different from the larvae of terrestrial beetles, yet the imaginal instars are much less profoundly changed, and are capable of existing perfectly well on land, and of taking prolonged flights through the air; (3) the pupa is, so far as known, always terrestrial. The larvae and imagos are perfectly at home in the water, except that they must come to the surface to get air. Some of them are capable, however, when quiescent, of living for hours together beneath the water, but there appears to be great diversity in this respect.[92] The hind pair of legs is the chief means of locomotion. These swimming-legs (Fig. 97) are deserving of admiration on account of their mechanical perfection; this, however, is exhibited in various degrees, the legs in the genera Dytiscus and Hydroporus being but slender, while those of Cybister are so broad and powerful, that a single stroke propels the Insect for a considerable distance.
Fig. 97 Hind- or swimming-leg of Cybister tripunctatus. A, The whole leg detached; B, the movable parts in the striking position. a, Coxa; b, trochanter; c, femur; d, tibia; e, last joint of tarsus.
The wing-cases fit perfectly to the body, except at the tip, so as to form an air-tight space between themselves and the back of the Insect; this space is utilised as a reservoir for air. When the Dytiscus feels the necessity for air it rises to the surface and exposes the tip of the body exactly at the level of the water, separating at the same time the abdomen from the wing-cases so as to open a broad chink at the spot where the parts were, during the Insect's submersion, so well held together as to be air- and water-tight. The terminal two pairs of spiracles are much enlarged, and by curving the abdomen the beetle brings them into contact with the atmosphere; respiration is effected by this means as well as by the store of air carried about under the wing cases. The air that enters the space between the elytra and body is shut in there when the Insect closes the chink and again dives beneath the water. The enlargement of the terminal stigmata in Dytiscus is exceptional, and in forms more highly organised in other respects, such as Cybister, these spiracles remain minute; the presumption being that in this case respiration is carried on almost entirely by means of the supply the Insect carries in the space between the elytra and the base of the abdomen.[93] The structure of the front foot of the male Dytiscus, and of many other water-beetles, is highly remarkable, the foot being dilated to form a palette or saucer, covered beneath by sucker-like structures of great delicacy and beauty; by the aid of these the male is enabled to retain a position on the female for many hours, or even days, together. Lowne has shown that the suckers communicate with a sac in the interior of the foot containing fluid, which exudes under pressure. As the portions of the skeleton of the female on which these suckers are brought to bear is frequently covered with pores, or minute pits, it is probable that some correlation between the two
organisms is brought about by these structures. The females in many groups of Dytiscidae bear on the upper surface of the body a peculiar sculpture of various kinds, the exact use of which is unknown; in many species there are two forms of the female, one possessing this peculiar sculpture, the other nearly, or quite, without it. The larvae of Dytiscidae differ from those of Carabidae chiefly by the structure of the mouth and of the abdomen. They are excessively rapacious, and are indeed almost constantly engaged in sucking the juices of soft and small aquatic animals, by no means excluding their own kind. The mode of suction is not thoroughly known, but so far as the details have been ascertained they are correctly described, in the work on aquatic Insects, by Professor Miall, we have previously referred to; the mandibles are hollow, with a hole near the tip and another at the base, and being sharp at the tips are thrust into the body of a victim, and then by their closure the other parts of the mouth, which are very beautifully constructed for the purpose, are brought into fitting mechanical positions for completing the work of emptying the victim. Nagel states that the larva of Dytiscus injects a digestive fluid into the body of its victim, and that this fluid rapidly dissolves all the more solid parts of the prey, so that the rapacious larva can easily absorb all its victim except the insoluble outer skin. The abdomen consists of only eight segments, and a pair of terminal processes; the stigmata are all more or less completely obsolete— according to species—with the exception of the pair on the eighth segment at the tip of the body; the terminal segments are frequently fringed with hairs, that serve not only as means of locomotion, but also to float the pair of active stigmata at the surface when the creature rises to get air. Although the larvae of Dytiscidae are but little known, yet considerable diversity has already been found. Those of Hyphydrus and some species of Hydroporus have the front of the head produced into a horn, which is touched by the tips of the mandibles.
Dytiscidae are peculiar inasmuch as they appear to flourish best in the cooler waters of the earth. Lapland is one of the parts of Europe richest in Dytiscidae, and the profusion of species in the tropics compared with those of Europe is not nearly so great as it is in the
case of most of the other families of Coleoptera. About 1800 species are at present known, and we have rather more than 100 species in Britain.[94]
Series III. Polymorpha.
Antennae frequently either thicker at the tip (clavicorn) or serrate along their inner edge (serricorn); but these characters, as well as the number of joints in the feet and other points, are very variable.
Upwards of fifty families are placed in this series; many of these families are of very small extent, consisting of only a few species; other families of the series are much larger, so that altogether about 40,000 species—speaking broadly, about one-fourth of the Coleoptera—are included in the series. We have already (p. 189) alluded to the fact that it is formed by certain conventional series, Clavicornia, Serricornia, etc. united, because it has hitherto proved impossible to define them.
Fam. 10. Paussidae. Antennae of extraordinary form, usually twojointed, sometimes six- or ten-jointed. Elytra elongate, but truncate behind, leaving the pygidium exposed. Tarsi five-jointed. The Paussidae have always been recognised as amongst the most remarkable of beetles, although they are of small size, the largest attaining scarcely half an inch in length. They are found only in two ways; either in ants' nests, or on the wing at night. They apparently live exclusively in ants' nests, but migrate much. Paussidae usually live in the nests of terrestrial ants, but they have been found in nests of Cremastogaster in the spines of Acacia fistulosa. They have the power of discharging, in an explosive manner, a volatile caustic fluid from the anus, which is said by Loman to contain free iodine. Their relations to the ants are at present unexplained, though much attention has been given to the subject. When observed in the nests
they frequently appear as if asleep, and the ants do not take much notice of them.
On other occasions the ants endeavour to drag them into the interior of the nest, as if desirous of retaining their company: the Paussus then makes no resistance to its hosts; if, however, it be touched, even very slightly, by an observer, it immediately bombards: the ants, as may be imagined, do not approve of this, and run away. Nothing has ever been observed that would lead to the belief that the ants derive any benefit from the presence of the Paussi, except that these guests bear on some part of the body—frequently the great impressions on the pronotum—patches of the peculiar kind of pubescence that exists in many other kinds of ants'-nest beetles, and is known in some of them to secrete a substance the ants are fond of, and that the ants have been seen to lick the beetles. On the other hand, the Paussi have been observed to eat the eggs and larvae of the ants. The larva of Paussus is not known,[95] and Raffray doubts whether it lives in the ants' nests. There are about 200 species of Paussidae known, Africa, Asia and Australia being their chief countries; one species, P. favieri, is not uncommon in the Iberian peninsula and South France, and a single species was formerly found in Brazil. The position the family should occupy has been much discussed; the only forms to which they make any real approximation are Carabidae, of the group Ozaenides, a group of ground beetles that also crepitate. Burmeister and others have therefore placed the Paussidae in the series Adephaga, but we follow Raffray's view (he being the most recent authority on the family),[96] who concludes that this is an anomalous group not intimately connected with any other family of Coleoptera, though
Fig 98 Paussus cephalotes ♂ El Hedjaz (After Raffray )
having more affinity to Carabidae than to anything else. The recently discovered genus Protopaussus has eleven joints to the antennae, and is said to come nearer to Carabidae than the previously known forms did, and we may anticipate that a more extensive knowledge will show that the family may find a natural place in the Adephaga. The description of the abdomen given by Raffray is erroneous; in a specimen of the genus Arthropterus the writer has dissected, he finds that there are five ventral segments visible along the middle, six at the sides, as in the families of Adephaga generally. There is said to be a great difference in the nervous systems of Carabidae and Paussidae, but so little is known on this point that we cannot judge whether it is really of importance.
Fig. 99. A, Larva of Gyrinus (after Schiödte); B, under side of Gyrinus sp. (after Ganglbauer). 1, Prosternum; 2, anterior coxal cavity; 3. mesothoracic episternum; 4, mesoepimeron; 5, mesosternum; 6, metathoracic episternum; 7, middle coxal cavity; 8, metasternum; 9, hind coxa; 10, ventral segments [N B The first ventral segment really consists, at each side, of two segments united; this may be distinctly seen in many Gyrinidae ]
Fam. 11. Gyrinidae (Whirligig beetles).—Antennae very short; four eyes; middle and hind legs forming short broad paddles; abdomen with six segments visible along the middle, seven along each side. These Insects are known to all from their habit of floating lightly on the surface of water, and performing graceful complex curves round one another without colliding; sometimes they may be met with in great congregations. They are admirably constructed for this mode of life, which is comparatively rare in the Insect world; the Hydrometridae amongst the bugs, and a small number of different
kinds of Diptera, being the only other Insects that are devoted to a life on the surface of the waters. Of all these, Gyrinidae are in their construction the most adapted for such a career. They are able to dive to escape danger, and they then carry with them a small supply of air, but do not stay long beneath the surface. Their two hind pairs of legs are beautifully constructed as paddles, expanding mechanically when moved in the backward direction, and collapsing into an extremely small space directly the resistance they meet with is in the other direction. The front legs of these Insects are articulated to the thorax in a peculiar direction so that their soles do not look downwards but towards one another; hence the sensitive adhesive surface used during coupling is placed on the side of the foot, forming thus a false sole: a remarkable modification otherwise unknown in Insects. They breathe chiefly by means of the very large metathoracic spiracles.
The larvae (Fig. 99, A) are purely aquatic, and are highly modified for this life, being elongate creatures, with sharp, mandibles and nine abdominal segments, each segment bearing on each side a trachea branchia; these gills assist to some extent in locomotion. The stigmata are quite obsolete, but the terminal segment bears four processes, one pair of which may be looked on as cerci, the other as a pair of gills corresponding with the pair on each of the preceding segments. The mandibles are not suctorial, but, according to Meinert, possess an orifice for the discharge of the secretion of a mandibular gland. Gyrinidae are chiefly carnivorous in both the larval and imaginal instars. Fully 300 species are known; they are generally distributed, though wanting in most of the islands of the world except those of large size. The finest forms are the Brazilian Enhydrus and the Porrorhynchus of tropical Asia.[97] In Britain we have nine species, eight of Gyrinus, one of Orectochilus; the latter form is rarely seen, as it hides during the day, and performs its rapid gyrations at night.
The Gyrinidae are one of the most distinct of all the families of Coleoptera: by some they are associated in the Adephagous series;
but they have little or no affinity with the other members thereof. Without them the Adephaga form a natural series of evidently allied families, and we consider it a mistake to force the Gyrinidae therein because an objection is felt by many taxonomists to the maintenance of isolated families. Surely if there are in nature some families allied and others isolated, it is better for us to recognise the fact, though it makes our classifications look less neat and precise, and increases the difficulty of constructing "tables."
Fam. 12. Hydrophilidae.
—Tarsi five-jointed, the first joint in many cases so small as to be scarcely evident: antennae short, of less than eleven joints, not filiform, but consisting of three parts, a basal part of one or two elongate joints, an intermediate part of two or more small joints, and an apical part of larger (or at any rate broader) joints, which are pubescent, the others being bare. Outer lobe of maxillae usually complex, but not at all palpiform, maxillary palpi often very long; the parts of the labium much concealed behind the mentum, the labial palpi very widely separated. Hind coxae extending the width of the body, short, the lamina interior small in comparison with the lamina exterior. Abdomen of five visible segments. The Hydrophilidae are an extensive family of beetles, unattractive in colours and appearance, and much neglected by collectors. A large part of the family live in water, though most of them have only feeble powers of aquatic locomotion, and the beetles appear chiefly to devote their attention to economising the stock of air each individual carries about. The best known forms of the family are the species of Hydrophilus. They are, however, very exceptional in many respects, and are far more active and predaceous than most of the other forms. Much has been written about Hydrophilus piceus, one of the largest of British beetles. This Insect breathes in a most peculiar manner: the spiracles are placed near bands of delicate pubescence, forming tracts that extend the whole length of the body, and in this particular species cover most of the under surface of the body; these velvety tracts retain a coating of air even when the Insect is submerged and moves quickly through the water. It would appear rather difficult to invent a mechanism to supply these tracts with fresh air without the Insect leaving the water; but nevertheless
such a mechanism is provided by the antennae of the beetle, the terminal joints of which form a pubescent scoop, made by some longer hairs into a funnel sufficiently large to convey a bubble of air. The Insect therefore rises to the surface, and by means of the antennae, which it exposes to the air, obtains a supply with which it surrounds a large part of its body; for, according to Miall, it carries a supply on its back, under the elytra, as well as on its ventral surface. From the writer's own observations, made many years ago, he inclines to the opinion that the way in which the Hydrophilus uses the antennae to obtain air varies somewhat according to circumstances.
Many of the members of the sub-family Hydrophilides construct eggcocoons. In the case of Hydrophilus piceus, the boat-like structure is provided with a little mast, which is supposed by some to be for the purpose of securing air for the eggs. Helochares and Spercheus (Fig. 100) carry the cocoon of eggs attached to their own bodies. Philydrus constructs, one after the other, a number of these eggbags, each containing about fifteen eggs, and fixes each bag to the leaf of some aquatic plant; the larvae as a rule hatch speedily, so that the advantage of the bag is somewhat problematic.
Fig 100 Spercheus emarginatus ♀ Britain A, Upper surface of beetle; B, under surface of abdomen, with the egg-sac ruptured and some of the eggs escaping
The larvae of the aquatic division of the family have been to a certain extent studied by Schiödte and others; those of the Sphaeridiides— the terrestrial group of the family—are but little known. All the larvae seem to be predaceous and carnivorous, even when the imago is of vegetable-feeding habits; and Duméril states that in Hydrous
caraboides the alimentary canal undergoes a great change at the period of metamorphosis, becoming very elongate in the adult, though in the larva it was short. The legs are never so well developed as they are in the Adephaga, the tarsi being merely clawlike or altogether wanting; the mandibles are never suctorial. The respiratory arrangements show much diversity. In most of the Hydrophilides the process is carried on by a pair of terminal spiracles on the eighth abdominal segment, as in Dytiscidae, and these are either exposed or placed in a respiratory chamber. In Berosus the terminal stigmata are obsolete, and the sides of the body bear long branchial filaments. Cussac says that in Spercheus (Fig. 101) there are seven pairs of abdominal spiracles, and that the larva breathes by presenting these to the air;[98] but Schiödte states that in this form there are neither thoracic nor abdominal spiracles, except a pair placed in a respiratory chamber on the eighth segment of the abdomen, after the manner described by Miall as existing in Hydrobius. No doubt Cussac was wrong in supposing the peculiar lateral abdominal processes to be stigmatiferous. In Berosus there are patches of aëriferous, minute pubescence on the body. The pupae of Hydrophilides repose on the dorsal surface, which is protected by spinous processes on the pronotum, and on the sides of the abdomen.
We have already remarked that this is one of the most neglected of the families of Coleoptera, and its classification is not satisfactory. It is usually divided into Hydrophilides and Sphaeridiides. The Sphaeridiides are in large part terrestrial, but their separation from the purely aquatic Hydrophilides cannot be maintained on any grounds yet pointed out. Altogether about 1000 species of Hydrophilidae are known, but this probably is not a tenth part of those existing. In Britain we have nearly ninety species. Some taxonomists treat the family as a series with the name Palpicornia. The series Philhydrida of older authors included these Insects and the Parnidae and Heteroceridae.
Fig. 101—Larva of Spercheus emarginatus. (After Schiödte).
Fam. 13. Platypsyllidae.—This consists of a single species. It will be readily recognised from Fig. 102, attention being given to the peculiar antennae, and to the fact that the mentum is trilobed behind. This curious species has been found only on the beaver. It was first found by Ritsema on American beavers (Castor canadensis) in the Zoological Gardens at Amsterdam, but it has since been found on wild beavers in the Rhone in France; in America it appears to be commonly distributed on these animals from Alaska to Texas. It is very remarkable that a wingless parasite of this kind should be found in both hemispheres. The Insect was considered by Westwood to be a separate Order called Achreioptera, but there can be no doubt that it is a beetle. It is also admitted that it shows some points of resemblance with Mallophaga, the habits of which are similar. Its Coleopterous nature is confirmed by the larva, which has been described by both Horn and Riley.[99] Little is known as to the food and life-history. Horn states that the eggs are placed on the skin of the beaver amongst the densest hair; the larvae move with a sinuous motion, like those of Staphylinidae. It has been suggested that the Insect feeds on an Acarid, Schizocarpus mingaudi; others have supposed that it eats scales of epithelium or hairs of the beaver.
Fig. 102 Platypsyllus castoris. A, Upper side; B, lower side, with legs of one side removed; C, antenna. (After Westwood.)
Fam. 14. Leptinidae. Antennae rather long, eleven-jointed, without club, but a little thicker at the extremity. Eyes absent or imperfect. Tarsi five-jointed. Elytra quite covering abdomen. Mentum with the posterior angles spinously prolonged. A family of only two genera and two species. Their natural history is obscure, but is apparently of an anomalous nature; the inference that may be drawn from the little that is known being that they are parasitic on mammals. There is little or nothing in their structure to indicate this, except the condition of blindness; and until recently the Insects were classified amongst Silphidae. Leptinus testaceus (Fig. 103) is a British Insect, and besides occurring in Europe is well known in North America. In Europe it has been found in curious places, including the nests of mice and bumble-bees. In America it has been found on the mice themselves by Dr Ryder, and by Riley in the nests of a common field-mouse, together with its larva, which, however, has not been described. The allied genus Leptinillus is said by Riley to live on the beaver, in company with Platypsyllus. [100] It has been suggested that the natural home of the Leptinus is the bee's nest, and that perhaps the beetle merely makes use of the mouse as a means of getting from one nest of a bumble-bee to another.
Fam. 15. Silphidae.—The mentum is usually a transverse plate, having in front a membranous hypoglottis, which bears the exposed labial palpi, and immediately behind them the so-called bilobed ligula. The anterior coxae are conical and contiguous: prothoracic
Fig 103—Leptinus testaceus Britain
epimera and episterna not distinct. Visible abdominal segments usually five, but sometimes only four, or as many as seven. Tarsi frequently five-jointed, but often with one joint less. Elytra usually covering the body and free at the tips, but occasionally shorter than the body, and even truncate behind so as to expose from one to four of the dorsal plates; but there are at least three dorsal plates in a membranous condition at the base of the abdomen. These beetles are extremely diverse in size and form, some being very minute, others upwards of an inch long, and there is also considerable range of structure. In this family are included the burying-beetles (Necrophorus), so well known from their habit of making excavations under the corpses of small Vertebrates, so as to bury them. Besides these and Silpha, the roving carrion-beetles, the family includes many other very different forms, amongst them being the larger part of the cave-beetles of Europe and North America. These belong mostly to the genera Bathyscia in Europe, and Adelops in North America; but of late years quite a crowd of these eyeless cavebeetles of the group Leptoderini have been discovered, so that the European catalogue now includes about 20 genera and 150 species. The species of the genus Catopomorphus are found in the nests of ants of the genus Aphaenogaster in the Mediterranean region. Scarcely anything is known as to the lives of either the caveSilphidae or the myrmecophilous forms.
The larvae of several of the larger forms of Silphidae are well known, but very little has been ascertained as to the smaller forms. Those of the burying-beetles have spiny plates on the back of the body, and do not resemble the other known forms of the family. The rule is that the three thoracic segments are well developed, and that ten abdominal segments are also distinct; the ninth abdominal segment bears a pair of cerci, which are sometimes elongate. Often the dorsal plates are harder and better developed than is usual in Coleopterous larvae. This is especially the case with some that are endowed with great powers of locomotion, such as S. obscura (Fig. 104). The food of the larvae is as a rule decomposing animal or vegetable matter, but some are predaceous, and attack living objects. The larger Silpha larvae live, like the Necrophorus, on decomposing animal
matter, but run about to seek it; hence many specimens of some of these large larvae may sometimes be found amongst the bones of a very small dead bird. We have found the larva and imago of S. thoracica in birds' nests containing dead nestlings. S. atrata and S. laevigata make war on snails. S. lapponica enters the houses in Lapland and ravages the stores of animal provisions. S. opaca departs in a very decided manner from the habits of its congeners, as it attacks beetroot and other similar crops in the growing state; it is sometimes the cause of serious loss to the growers of beet. The larvae of the group Anisotomides are believed to be chiefly subterranean in habits; that of A. cinnamomea feeds on the truffle, and the beetle is known as the truffle-beetle.
Fig 104—A, Larva of Silpha obscura Europe (After Schiödte) B, Ptomaphila lacrymosa, Australia.
The number of species of Silphidae known must be at present nearer 900 than 800. Of these an unusually large proportion belong to the European and North American regions; Silphidae being apparently far from numerous in the tropics. Rather more than 100 species are natives of Britain. The family reappears in considerable force in New Zealand, and is probably well represented in South Australia and Tasmania. The most remarkable form known is perhaps the Australian genus Ptomaphila (Fig. 104, B). The classification of the family is due to Dr. Horn.[101] The only change of importance that has since been suggested is the removal of Sphaerites from this family to Synteliidae. Anisotomidae and Clambidae have been considered distinct families, but are now included in Silphidae.
Fam. 16. Scydmaenidae. Minute Insects allied to Silphidae, but with the hind coxae separated, and the facets of the eyes coarser; the tarsi are five-jointed; the number of visible abdominal segments is six. These small beetles are widely spread over the earth's surface, and about 700 species are now known, of which we have about a score in Britain; many live in ants' nests, but probably usually rather as intruders than as guests that have friendly relations with their hosts. Nothing is known as to their life-histories, but the food of the imago, so far as is known, consists of Acari. Mastigus is a very aberrant form, found in moss and dead leaves in Southern Europe. By means of Brathinus the family is brought very near to Silphidae; Casey, however, considers Brathinus to belong to Staphylinidae rather than to Scydmaenidae. The South European Leptomastax is remarkable on account of the slender, long, sickleshaped mandibles. The Oriental genus Clidicus is the largest and most remarkable form of the family; it has a very slender neck to its broad head, and is more than a quarter of an inch long.
Fam. 17. Gnostidae.—Minute Insects with three-jointed antennae, five-jointed tarsi, and three apparent ventral segments, the first of which, however, is elongate, and consists of three united plates. Elytra entirely covering the after-body The family consists of two species which have been found in the nests of ants, of the genus Cremastogaster, in Brazil.[102]
Fam. 18. Pselaphidae.—Very small Insects; the elytra much abbreviated, usually leaving as much as half the abdomen uncovered; the maxillary palpi usually greatly developed, and of a variety of remarkable forms; the segments of the abdomen not more than seven in number, with little or no power of movement. Tarsi with not more than three joints. These small Coleoptera mostly live in the nests of ants, and present a great diversity of extraordinary shapes, and very peculiar structures of the antennae and maxillary palpi. Owing to the consolidation of some of its segments, the abdomen frequently appears to have less than the usual number. In the curious sub-family Clavigerides, the antennae may have the joints
reduced to two or even, to all appearance, to one; the tarsi suffer a similar reduction. There are about 2500 species of Pselaphidae known; many of them have never been found outside the ants' nests; very little, however, is known as to their natural history. It is certain that some of them excrete, from little tufts of peculiar pubescence, a substance that the ants are fond of. The secretory patches are found on very different parts of the body and appendages. Claviger testaceus is fed by the ants in the same way as these social Insects feed one another; the Claviger has also been seen to eat the larvae of the ants. They ride about on the backs of the ants when so inclined. The family is allied to Staphylinidae, but is easily distinguished by the rigid abdomen. Only one larva—that of Chennium bituberculatum—is known. It appears to be very similar to the larvae of Staphylinidae. The best account of classification and structure is that given by M. Achille Raffray,[103] who has himself discovered and described a large part of the known species.
Fam. 19. Staphylinidae.—Elytra very short, leaving always some of the abdominal segments exposed, and covering usually only two of the segments. Abdomen usually elongate, with ten dorsal, and seven or eight ventral segments; of the latter six or seven are usually exposed; the dorsal plates as hard as the ventral, except sometimes in the case of the first two segments; the segments very mobile, so that the abdomen can be curled upwards. The number of tarsal joints very variable, often five, but frequently as few as three, and not always the same on all the feet. Staphylinidae (formerly called Brachelytra or Microptera) is one of the most extensive of even the great families of Coleoptera; notwithstanding their diversity, they may in nearly all cases be recognised by the more than usually mobile and uncovered abdomen, combined with the fact that the parts of the mouth are of the kind we have mentioned in Silphidae. The present state of the classification of this family has been recently discussed by Ganglbauer.[104]
Fig. 105 Staphylinidae. A, Larva of Philonthus nitidus. Britain. (After Schiödte.) B, Ocypus olens, Britain; C, tip of abdomen, of O. olens with stink-vessels.
At present about 9000 species are known, some of which are minute, while scarcely any attain a size of more than an inch in length, our common British black cock-tail, or "devil's coach-horse beetle," Ocypus olens, being amongst the largest. Though the elytra are short, the wings in many forms are as large as those of the majority of beetles; indeed many Staphylinidae are more apt at taking flight than is usual with Coleoptera; the wings when not in use are packed away under the short elytra, being transversely folded, and otherwise crumpled, in a complicated but orderly manner. It is thought that the power of curling up the abdomen is connected with the packing away of the wings after flight; but this is not the case: for though the Insect sometimes experiences a difficulty in folding the wings under the elytra after they have been expanded, yet it overcomes this difficulty by slight movements of the base of the abdomen, rather than by touching the wings with the tip. What the value of this exceptional condition of short elytra and corneous dorsal abdominal segments to the Insect may be is at present quite mysterious. The habits of the members of the family are very varied; many run with great activity; the food is very often small Insects, living or dead; a great many are found in fungi of various kinds, and perhaps eat them. It is in this family that we meet with some of the most remarkable cases of symbiosis, i.e. lives of two kinds of creatures mutually accommodated with good will. The relations between the Staphylinidae of the genera Atemeles and Lomechusa, and certain ants, in the habitations of which they dwell, are very interesting. The beetles are never found out of the ants' nests, or at
any rate not very far from them. The most friendly relations exist between them and the ants: they have patches of yellow hairs, and these apparently secrete some substance with a flavour agreeable to the ants, which lick the beetles from time to time. On the other hand, the ants feed the beetles; this they do by regurgitating food, at the request of the beetle, on to their lower lip, from which it is then taken by the beetle (Fig. 82). The beetles in many of their movements exactly resemble the ants, and their mode of requesting food, by stroking the ants in certain ways, is quite ant-like. So reciprocal is the friendship that if an ant is in want of food, the Lomechusa will in its turn disgorge for the benefit of its host. The young of the beetles are reared in the nests by the ants, who attend to them as carefully as they do to their own young. The beetles have a great fondness for the ants, and prefer to sit amongst a crowd thereof; they are fond of the ants' larvae as food, and indeed eat them to a very large extent, even when their own young are receiving food from the ants. The larva of Lomechusa, as described by Wasmann (to whom we are indebted for most of our knowledge of this subject),[105] when not fully grown, is very similar to the larvae of the ants; although it possesses legs it scarcely uses them: its development takes place with extraordinary rapidity, two days, at most, being occupied in the egg, and the larva completing its growth in fourteen days. Wasmann seems to be of opinion that the ants scarcely distinguish between the beetle-larvae and their own young; one unfortunate result for the beetle follows from this, viz. that in the pupal state the treatment that is suitable for the ant-larvae does not agree with the beetle-larvae: the ants are in the habit of digging up their own kind and lifting them out and cleaning them during their metamorphosis; they also do this with the beetle-larvae, with fatal results; so that only those that have the good fortune to be forgotten by the ants complete their development. Thus from thirty Lomechusa larvae Wasmann obtained a single imago, and from fifty Atemeles larvae not even one.
Many other Staphylinidae are exclusively attached to ants' nests, but most of them are either robbers, at warfare with the ants—as is the case with many species of Myrmedonia that lurk about the outskirts of the nests—or are merely tolerated by the ants, not receiving any
direct support from them. The most remarkable Staphylinidae yet discovered are some viviparous species, forming the genera Corotoca and Spirachtha, that have very swollen abdomens, and live in the nests of Termites in Brazil:[106] very little is, however, known about them. A very large and powerful Staphylinid, Velleius dilatatus, lives only in the nests of hornets and wasps. It has been supposed to be a defender of the Hymenoptera, but the recent observations of Janet and Wasmann make it clear that this is not the case: the Velleius has the power of making itself disagreeable to the hornets by some odour, and they do not seriously attack it. The Velleius finds its nutriment in larvae or pupae of the wasps that have fallen from their cells, or in other organic refuse.
The larvae of Staphylinidae are very similar to those of Carabidae, but their legs are less perfect, and are terminated only by a single claw; there is no distinct labrum. The pupae of some are obtected, i.e. covered by a secondary exudation that glues all the appendages together, and forms a hard coat, as in Lepidoptera. We have about 800 species of Staphylinidae in Britain, and it is probable that the family will prove one of the most extensive of the Order. It is probable that one hundred thousand species or even more are at present in existence.
Fam. 20. Sphaeriidae.—Very minute. Antennae eleven-jointed, clubbed. Tarsi three-jointed. Abdomen with only three visible ventral segments. This family includes only three or four species of Insects about 1⁄50 of an inch long. They are very convex, and be found walking on mud. S. acaroides occurs in our fens. Mr Matthews considers that they are most nearly allied to Hydrophilidae.[107]
Fig. 106 Trichopteryx fascicularis. Britain. A, Outline of perfect Insect; B, part of upper surface; C, larva from side; D, from above; E, pupa; F, wing; G, natural size of imago.
Fam. 21. Trichopterygidae.—Extremely minute: antennae clavicorn (basal and apical joints thicker than middle joints); tarsi three-jointed; elytra sometimes covering abdomen, in other cases leaving a variable number of segments exposed; wings fringed. This family comprises the smallest Insects; Nanosella fungi being only 1⁄100 of an inch long, while the largest Trichopterygid is only 1⁄12 of an inch. The small size is not accompanied by any degeneration of structure, the minute, almost invisible forms, having as much anatomical complexity as the largest Insects. Very little is known as to the natural history. Probably these Insects exist in all parts of the world, for we have about eighty species in England, and Trichopterygidae are apparently numerous in the tropics.[108]
Fam. 22. Hydroscaphidae. Extremely minute aquatic Insects, with elongate abdomen. Antennae eight-jointed. The other characters are much the same as those we have mentioned for Trichopterygidae. The family is not likely to come before the student, as only three or four species from Southern Europe and North America are known. [109]
