The rest of the car trip was filled with infuriated and awkward silence. As we pulled up, Ryker stepped out of the house. Ivy got out of the car, but I saw Agatha catch her arm.
“We are equals in this project.” She whispered at Ivy.
“Are we?” Ivy snapped, pulling her arm away from the fairy.
I felt a headache coming on. This many divas in one place was going to make the house explode. Hailey, who wore a jean mini skirt, knee-high furry boots, and a jacket that didn’t quite conceal her boobs, bounced out of the car towards Ryker. Ivy paused next to me as the scene unfolded.
“Ryker!” She said in that high-pitched girly voice, “It’s been forever.” She wrapped her arms around him. To Ryker’s credit, he gave her a quick hug and then quickly separated himself from her. Turning, Ivy’s eyes were like green fire.
“Oh look, the mail.” I pointed to her as the man was stopped at the box. Ivy growled and then marched towards the mailbox.
I managed to herd the group into the house and into the dining room. At the moment, the large rectangular table was covered with books, scrolls, and papers. The letters were hung on the wall using Velcro so we could move them about. Helena welcomed everyone with warmth and kindness as she showed them to their rooms and fed them. It was impossible to not be nice to such a genuine person like Helena, so I wasn’t worried about their attitudes.
Ivy tugged on my shirtsleeve, motioning for me to follow her. Ryker was standing at the front door where we created a close circle.
“I got a letter,” Ivy whispered, producing an envelope with the same handwriting and no return address.
“What is going on over here? Didn’t we just say no secrets?” Agatha demanded as she walked into the foyer. The others followed her. Ivy put up her hand, creating a reflective mirror that pushed the group back out of the room.
“Why do we have to have them here again?” She demanded. “We had their letters, we should have just pressed on without them.”
“And go to El Bean?” I asked. Ivy gave me a good glare, but I could see in her eyes that she knew I was right.
“What is with you?” Ryker asked her. She gave him a look like he was stupid, but then again, I supposed in this situation he was.
Looking down, she tore open the envelope and unfolded the crisp paper inside.
“I” Ivy read. It was, in fact, a big letter I.
“I got a letter!” She smiled then, jumping up and down on her toes.
“You got a letter!” Cooper bounded in. “What is it?” He was so genuinely excited, like a Golden Retriever, I didn’t think Ivy had the heart to be mean to him.
“I,” She replied, holding up her piece of paper. Cooper gave her a high-five and ran into the dining room to set it with the others. And just like that, the two groups were one again. I would never understand women, for as long as I lived.
Pressing on the Velcro, Cooper added it to the wall. We had B-L-N-I-E-E-A. I looked at the discarded envelope and saw something else inside. A small paper, about the size of a business card, was pressed against the side. Written in a scrolling handwriting were the words, “Sorry, it is late.” Who was apologizing? And was it supposed to come three days ago when we all got ours? Why was Ivy’s late? I tucked the paper in my pocket. I’d tell Ivy and Ryker about it later.
“Bile!” Hailey clapped her hands together, like that was the answer.
“Good, now we need the other three letters,” Melody said to her patiently.
Ugh, nymphs were difficult. There were two kinds. The first were ones like Melody as the descendant of the great Haliae, nymph of the seas, sands, and shores. Melody could bring all the residents of Earth to their knees with the showing of her mighty elemental power. Then there was Hailey, descendent of the Meliae nymphs of bees and flowers. Hailey can control bees and flowers, though that could be useful, it was not the cataclysmic power of the elemental nymphs. Therefore, in short, I have to deal with an ocean wielding diva, and a beekeeping airhead. Couple that with a powerlifting Golden Retriever and a vengeful fairy, and I’d say we have ourselves a situation.
“Lain Bee” Hailey tried again. “Oh, bees! Maybe it has something to do with bees!” I watched as her chest bounced up and down. At least the view wasn’t bad.
“Abilene,” Ivy said in an annoyed tone. “It says Abilene.”
“Are you sure?” Melody asked.
“Well, I mean I guess it could be Lain Bee, but you’d have to explain to me what that means.” Ivy retorted.
“A bee that lays,” Hailey replied like it was common knowledge.
“I don’t think so,” Ivy replied, shaking her head.
“Abilene, what that’s like two hours from here?” Ryker asked, stepping forward.
“Two and a half.” Ivy shrugged. Ryker gave her a look like adding that half-hour was ridiculous. We were in the land of high speeds, eighty-miles-per-hour on all interstates and it was glorious.
“So, I guess we’ll go to Abilene.” Agatha nodded after a moment.
“We’ll leave in the morning,” Ryker ordered. The rest of the group nodded and dispersed. Hailey talked about going out to see the greenhouse gardens and dragged Cooper along with her. Ryker made a head jerk towards Ivy, and they left the room. So that left Agatha, Melody, and me.
“Well, what are we doing ladies?” I asked. Agatha took a seat and leaned her head on her hand with her elbow on the table. Melody sat with her.
“Come, talk to us, Legacy Emrys.” Melody gave me a wink. I didn’t flatter myself, nymphs were flirtatious, it was just part of their personalities. I sat and leaned back in the chair. Agatha opened a city map of Abilene and laid it between us on the table.
“What do you think is there?” She asked. As I stared at the map, this sense of want consumed me. I was supposed to be there.
“I don’t know.” I shrugged, looking into her teal blue eyes.
“There is no way Excalibur is in Abilene, Texas, I mean, seriously?” Melody scrunched her nose.
“Keep it down.” I laughed, “Texans are proud of their state.” I didn’t miss the death glare that Harold gave me as he shuffled by.
“I really doubt it’s in Abilene.” I then went on, leaning forward, so we didn’t have to talk so loudly.
“You think there’s another destination to our journey?” Melody asked, her deep blue eyes sparkling.
“Oh yes, see, don’t tell Ryker this, but Merlin did leave a clue about where Excalibur is.” I infused my voice with mysticism. “Promise you won’t tell anyone?” I asked. They nodded in unison. “See, after Arthur died, Merlin took the sword and hid it in a cave deep underground in Britain. The clues are leading us to that cave in Wales.”
“That’s where Camelot was!” Melody exclaimed.
“Very good!” I complimented her, giving her a wide smile. Positive reinforcement was key, after all.
“So, you’re the one who sent the letters?” Agatha asked, a little more skeptical. “Why wouldn’t you just tell us to go to Wales?”
“I hear Abilene has some great food.” I grinned. “Besides, did you really want to spend the whole holiday with your family?” Agatha rolled her eyes, but she kept her smile.
“No, they were driving me crazy just from the few days I was there.” She sighed.
“Same here, ugh, sometimes my mother can be so annoying about sand maintenance,” Melody added.
“Right, so if we have to take this trip, it might as well be fun,” I suggested. Agatha and Melody were both smiling and nodding their heads.
“Hey, there’s a fire pit out back. Do you want me to see if we can fire that up?” I asked. The girls smiled wider and nodded their heads and talked about heading to the store for marshmallows. Fairies loved sugar.
I stood from the table and walked out of the room. That was the most interesting interaction I had in a long time, and I needed to find Ryker and Ivy so I could enlighten them. That whole thing about Merlin and Excalibur being in Wales, complete crap, but I want
ed to see what they would believe. How easy would it be to lie to them? Turns out easy as pie, or marshmallows. The best way to tell the intelligence of a person was to lie to them; if they questioned, or even gave you an inquisitive stare, they were probably suspicious and had some brain cells to fire together. If they just took the lie, as the two cuties in the dining room did, then they were easily manipulated, and a liability. I also threw them off the trail of the letters, because I wasn’t exactly sure what was happening with that, but I didn’t want them curious about it either. The symbol stamped on the bottom of all the pages resembled the one on the pendant Ryker's father wore. I was taking no chances of anyone knowing what happened to the general.
“Owen!” Melody called in that high-pitched valley girl voice. She was, after all, from the beautiful beaches of So-Cal.
“Yes, sweets.” I turned and gave her a grin.
“We’re going to the store for campfire snacks, do you want anything?” she asked.
“No, love, but thank you.” I winked. They giggled and then walked out of the door.
Now, I had to find my team. Going up the stairs, I thought they might be in the gaming den. No such luck. After exploring the house, I went outside. Surely, they couldn’t have gone far, which led me to ponder how Agatha and Melody got to the store without a car. I heard a giggle around the house and decided to investigate. Ryker and Ivy were pressed up against the side of the house, both staring away from me towards the greenhouse where Cooper and Hailey were necking.
“You perverts,” I said. They both jumped and then laughed. Back and forth, they spouted random gibberish taking the form of an inside joke that only made them laugh harder.
“What does that mean? Tree kissers?” I asked when that one came up.
“It’s a person who finds nymphs attractive.” Ivy laughed.
“Well, I’ve got news for you, all people find nymphs attractive.” I grinned at her. She narrowed her eyes at me.
“It was Ryker’s joke.” She replied.
“I’m sure it was.” I couldn’t help but grin wider.
“Alright, what did you need?” Ryker asked, shifting uncomfortably.
“Well, tree kisser, while you two were out here peeping I was actually gathering information about the other team,” I replied, leaning against the side of the house.
“What kind of information?” Ryker asked.
“What were you two doing out here?” It suddenly occurred me to ask. They both gave each other a guilty look and then stared back at me.
“Nothing.” They said at the same time. Ivy tried to hide her giggle behind her hand.
“Kay,” I said in a dry tone. “Anyway, I determined that Agatha and Melody were probably the smartest in the group, and even so, they’re easily manipulated. I also got them off of the symbol trail.” Ryker let out a deep breath of relief.
“Thank you. You’re a great friend.” He said in all seriousness.
The rest of the evening was spent around the fire pit. Ivy’s mother made some excellent snacks, and we sat around the fire sharing ridiculous ghost stories and making each other laugh. I also noticed that Ryker and Ivy stayed pretty much hip-to-hip the entire time. Perhaps Ryker wasn’t as stubborn as I gave him credit for. Either way, I say it was about time.
The next morning, well before the sun came up, we piled into a rented Suburban, thanked Ivy’s parents, and then headed west on I20 towards Abilene. Ryker drove because he was an MBI Certified Driver. I also had my certification, but it was only a Class G. Ryker earned all of his, from H to A. I was pretty sure Cooper was a Class C if I heard right. Ivy and I had quite the spat over the front seat. I didn’t want to be stuck back there with the B team any more than she did. In the end, she played dirty and batted her big green eyes at Ryker. What happened to bros before ladies?
I climbed into one of the middle seats and tried to charm the others as much as possible. The happier they were, the smoother this would go. We made it to Abilene city limits just as the sun was cresting over the horizon and checked into MBI headquarters. The academy gave us all their resources to work with. The agents there gave us a conference room and a couple of bunk rooms. They also provided partial access to their garage under the condition that only MBI Certified Drivers were behind the wheel. After unloading, we convened in the conference room with a map of the city. By then, it was lunchtime, and I was starving.
“Alright, there are four certified drivers in our group.” Ryker started. “So I say we take the four directions and see if we pick up any leads.”
“That means one of us will be alone,” Cooper said.
“I don’t mind being alone.” Agatha volunteered. She had an advantage where she could turn into the size of a bee if she wanted and fly away.
“Alright, no one engages without waiting for back up. If you find something that could be a clue, you wait before going in. That is protocol.” Ryker went on. He handed out four radios to each driver. “I want all cars loaded with emergency gear.” He then added. After that, we went our separate ways.
I followed Ryker to the garage, and we started loading gear into the four cars. They weren’t remarkable, just plain black sedans. I threw the duffle bag in the back seat and climbed into my car. Ryker did the same. Hailey and Melody came bouncing into the garage, their arms linked. Hailey went to the third sedan that Cooper was just throwing a bag into, and Melody bounced over to Ryker’s vehicle. Ivy emerged in the door right at that moment. I was almost convinced that Ivy could shoot lasers out of her eyes. They sparked that green magic.
I saw Melody pause at the passenger seat and ask a question. Ryker smiled and waved her into the car. Oh, bad move dude, what was he thinking? Ivy walked across the garage, glaring at Ryker – who remained oblivious – and threw open the passenger door of my car, slamming it as soon as she sat down. I couldn’t say anything as I was trying to keep from laughing. Ivy released a loud sigh, one of those sharp ones that only girls could do.
Ryker led the way out of the garage, and then we all dispersed our separate ways. Ryker took North, so I went West, Cooper and Hailey went South, and Agatha went East. The car ride was quiet as we started to drive around the north side of Abilene. I figured we’d go up and down the streets until we crossed the tracks and reached the south side, then we’d go up and down that side if we had to. I felt in the air that we were meant to be in this city, we just had to find the right spot now.
“I’m starving,” I said as we passed an interesting looking burrito stand/tire shop.
“How could he let her ride with him?” Ivy snapped.
“Do you like burritos?” I asked, pulling into the parking lot.
“Did you see what she was wearing? It’s thirty degrees outside, put some clothes on, with her stupid perfect skin, and huge boobs!” She hit the side of the door.
“Bacon or sausage, do you think there’s a real difference? Oh, or do I want carnitas?” I pondered looking at the drive-through menu.
“Is he just oblivious, or is he just stupid? I really want to know.” Ivy demanded. A wisp of green magic floated around me.
“Hey, reign it in, it’s about to be our turn,” I said. Ivy let out a huff, but closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The magic disappeared.
“Like, I get it. Okay, he got out of a long-term relationship, he wanted to take things slow because of all the heat on us after the dybbuk, like, I understand. But seriously! Nothing in our discussions ever hinted that there would be a cleavage thrusting nymph in the picture!”
“Yeah, I’ll have two burritos, one with sausage, one with bacon, and an order of carnitas,” I said into the speaker. The teller directed me around to the window. Only six dollars, nice.
“I mean, you saw it, right?” She demanded, “How she looked at him across the fire all night. God, I just want to-” She positioned her hands to look like she was choking someone.
“Five-seventy-three.” A young Hispanic guy stood at the window. I gave him my card. “Would you like green
or red sauce?” He then asked, handing me back my card.
“Both,” I replied, obviously.
“Then, okay, get this, like, a couple weeks ago,” Ivy started, turning on her seat to face me. “We’re in dream world, you know, getting a little physical.” Oh come on, I didn’t want to hear about this, “And then he stops and is like, ‘oh this is so dishonorable,’ and I’m like, well then maybe we should, you know, actually be a thing. And he was all like, ‘oh but rules and honor and protocol.’ But it’s okay for him to go all tra-la-la off with a nymph that can’t even keep her own breast under control!” Personally, I liked that trait about nymphs.
The guy handed us our food.
“Do you want the sausage or the bacon?” I asked her as I pulled into a parking space to eat.
“Well fine, oh he’ll just see. There are plenty of knights on campus and not too few warlocks either that wouldn’t mind a piece of this.” Ivy gestured to her whole body. We both knew that she wasn’t going to do that. I took a bite of the sausage one, and then of the bacon. I liked the bacon more and handed her the sausage and one of those little cups of red sauce. The green sauce was hot but so good! The soft textures of the eggs, cheese, and potatoes were cut with the crunchiness of the bacon, and the heat of the green chilies.
“God, I love this state,” I said after a couple of bites. “Man, breakfast burritos in Virginia suck compares to this.” The carnitas were different than I expected. They were little triangles of stuffed fried corn tortillas. Inside was a mixture of beef, onions, and cheese. They were a-freaking-mazing.
“He just doesn’t understand how he hurts me sometimes,” Ivy said in a low, weak voice. Ah, hell, she wasn’t going to cry was she? I was just sitting here trying to enjoy my burrito of the gods. She was all curled up in the seat, cradling her burrito in her arms and not eating it. Her lips quivered a bit like she was trying to hold back her emotions.
“Ivy.” I started. I hated seeing her cry, especially when it was over something stupid that Ryker did. She looked up at me, her green eyes watery. “He’s an idiot, and don’t worry, one day he is going to realize it,” I assured her. She gave me a small smile and bit into her burrito.
Legacies Page 12
