by Amie Gibbons
“Not that I’m judging,” he said, fast I could talk. “I mean, it’s hot, and picturing two hot girls together, it does it for me. I… I’m so used to thinking of sex that’s just fun as evil because of my background. I want to make sure I’m not being a usual sex Fae and using people, so I’m a little careful.”
AB’s aura had turned blue, and I looked more carefully.
Thomas had liked bi girls.
He’d really liked hearing AB had started swinging in that direction.
And her mood had jumped off a cliff sometime when Shawn had been babbling, cuz she suddenly remembered her and Thomas’s conversation last night.
“I’m sorry,” she said, pushing back from the table and taking off with her plate.
She fast marched into the bedroom, closing the door and locking it with a click.
“What…?” Shawn asked, looking at us. “I didn’t mean to insult her.”
“No. Thomas liked it when he heard AB say she’d been playing with girls with Carvi,” I said softly. “She was thinking it was too bad Carvi wasn’t there to say some of this stuff with him last night, since she’d been too embarrassed to elaborate, and she wanted him turned on. Then she remembered he was dead, and it went downhill from there.”
“Wow.” Shawn stared at his plate. “So, um, you can read minds?”
I held up my hand and wiggled it in front of me. “More like I can focus and read what’s being projected. Sort of like people who can read facial expressions and body language really well, I can skim that kind of info off the surface of the brain almost, more emotions that I then fill in than anything else.”
“Then, no offense, but how did you get tricked by… I think you said her name was Emily?”
I sucked in a sharp breath. “That is a good question. Apparently Fae can glamour their minds, basically put on a covering that gives off all the correct signals of whatever they’re pretending to be. She put on the cap of a girl who’d been raped and used that to trick us.”
“So her story was… what?”
“That she was raped by a half Fae friend, you, she pressed charges, you were out on bail, you jumped into Fairy with a lot of magic and help, and that she didn’t have the magic needed to go get you, but that I did, so she was hiring me to get you and bring you back. Said she could trap you once we had you knocked out and here.”
He looked at me.
I threw up my hands. “It sounded real at the time. It was totally convincing. Sounded just like…”
“Sounded just like AB talking about Thomas,” Carvi finished when it was clear I wasn’t gonna.
“Conflicted and like she cared about the guy, but couldn’t let him get away with what he’d done,” I said. “We think she got the story off a raped college girl, and then used AB’s conflict in her brain to really boost her act. And it worked.”
Shawn cradled his head in his hand. “I hate to say this, but if they can do that, how do you guys know you can trust me?”
He finally looked up when we didn’t answer.
“We don’t,” I said. “We were talkin’ about that too. If Fae can do that… I don’t know how deep it goes, but she had me and Grant both fooled, and we have very different magic and very different ways of reading people, so…”
I spread my hands in front of me.
“I can’t even get visions off Fae reliably,” I said.
“Since when?” Carvi asked.
“I… I wasn’t in Fairy.”
“That’s Fairy. Different rules. You should get stuff off Fae here fine, unless they’re a specific kind that can block psychic powers, like Leprechauns.”
We shared a look.
Yeah, I knew what even part Leprechauns could do to my powers.
Carvi’s brother had died because of that.
Carvi reached over and took my hand, squeezing it before going back to eating.
“Still haven’t told me why you left,” I said, shoving a piece of salmon sashimi into my mouth.
“I was mad,” Carvi said after he’d swallowed.
I looked at him, raising my eyebrows.
“I know it wasn’t your fault,” he said. “But it was theirs. And it was tied to you. They wanted me to train you, so I refused to. I’m sorry, lea, I know it doesn’t make sense. It was an emotional reaction, and by the time I’d gotten past that, you weren’t speaking to me.”
“I what!” I snapped. “I would’ve answered if you’d called. I would’ve loved it if you’d shown up. You said last year it wasn’t the guy’s job to always come to me, well guess what, it’s not my job to always come to you! And I gave up after how many tries? Huh? Cuz I honestly lost count of how many times I tried calling or talking to you in the astral plane, and you ignored me every time.”
I stabbed the next piece of fish and pointed my skewer at him. “You should have called.”
We continued eating.
Poor Shawn giving off waves of discomfort.
I reached over the table, and he took my hand automatically.
Flash.
Him as a tiny boy riding on his mom’s back as she threw a bottle down in a courtyard, and a roaring filling the dead night as the air ripped apart. His mom ran through into a quiet suburban road. She glanced behind her and put him on the ground as she pulled the sword on her hip out and watched the rip until it closed.
Making sure no one followed them.
She cursed in Fae and sank to her knees, sliding the sword away and hugging her little boy, whispering in their language that they’d adjust here, they’d be fine.
They’d figure it out.
Because at least now they were free.
I blinked and squeezed his hand with a small smile.
Didn’t know if that reflected on how trustworthy he was, but his most important moment was his mom getting him outta there.
I filled Carvi in mentally on what I’d seen, and he said he wasn’t sure about Shawn either, but that was at least a good sign.
I let Shawn’s hand go and ate a few more pieces.
My stomach was feeling pretty iffy about food after going so long without it.
I got up and grabbed a Sprite out of the fridge in the kitchen area.
“You?” I held it up and asked Carvi.
“Yeah,” he said. “Thought you might need it.”
My hand paused on the pop top and I stared at him.
“How?” I asked.
“Because I could sense you when I connected to you,” he said. “I could sense you getting nauseous from their power.”
“Oh, okay,” I said, clicking the top open.
“No, lea,” he said, holding my gaze. “It’s not okay. You’re not okay. You need to forgive yourself.”
I flinched and looked away.
How did he do that?
Read things off me I wasn’t even acknowledging consciously?
“How?” I asked in a small voice.
Emily had tricked me.
Completely.
Thomas was dead because of it.
AB was broken in more ways than one because of it.
And we might not get Grant back because of it.
Because I fell for it.
“How can I ever trust myself again?” I whispered. “I have come to rely on my powers so much, and they… they let me down! I could read emotions off her so I knew I wasn’t being set up. But I was wrong. And now? Now Thomas is dead, and Grant…”
My voice broke.
Carvi was up and had me in his arms in their superspeed way, and I hugged him back, crying into his chest.
“Carvi, what do I do if we can’t get Grant back?” I asked the question I hadn’t wanted to.
“If we can’t get him back now, we will go into Fairy again, and make them give us a reversal spell,” he said. “I promise, we will get your Grant back.”
“Won’t save Thomas though,” I whispered.
“No, no, it won’t. He’s dead. And AB will have to grieve that,” Carvi said. “I can�
�t do anything about that.”
“Speaking of,” I pushed away from him. “You should go check on her.”
He shook his head. “You should.”
He said it with meaning, and I knew exactly what that meaning was.
“She doesn’t want to talk to me, Carvi,” I said. “She knows Thomas dying is due to me. She’s not consciously blaming me, but she… but she does blame me.”
“No, I don’t,” a small voice said, making me jump and turn.
AB had opened the door without me hearing it.
“How could you not?” I asked. “Can’t exactly say I couldn’t have known Emily was lying cuz I’m not psychic, now can ya?”
“No,” she said, walking up to me and pulling me into a hug. I hugged her back as hard as I could. “But I can say she had us all tricked, and if it’s anyone’s fault besides Emily’s, it’s Thomas’s. He’s the one who slept with her. If he’d let her go by herself and just went home, or even hung with her in public, he’d still be alive.”
“Yeah, like I could’ve known,” a voice said.
“What!” I yelped, pulling back and looking around.
And there was Thomas, standing next to the couch and the comatose Grant.
“T…”
Carvi slammed a mental hand over my mouth and it shut me up just as much as his real one would’ve.
AB stared at us.
Not looking Thomas’s way once.
Thomas sat on the couch, sprawling.
But now that I was lookin’ closer, I saw it.
The slight glow. The way he wasn’t quite on the cushions. The way I could almost see through him.
Thomas was a ghost.
I looked at Shawn, and he looked as confused as AB.
So me and Carvi were the only ones who could see him.
“Um, guys, Carvi and I have to discuss things,” I said, trying to think of something plausible and coming up with nothing. “And we need to be able to concentrate to go into Grant’s head. Do y’all mind going into the bedroom and hanging there while we do this?”
“What’s going on?” AB asked, crossing her arms. “What just happened? You’re acting squirrely.”
Inspiration hit me and I cleared my throat, giving her a significant look and switching my eyes over to Shawn.
Like I was indicating we didn’t want to talk or go into Grant’s mind with him there, and wanted her to distract him.
“Oh!” she said, understanding flashing. “Yeah, sure. Shawn, you okay hanging out and researching in there? They really need quiet to do this.”
“Sure?” he said, it an obvious question.
He gathered up the laptop and cord she’d brought in front the other room, and AB walked right past Thomas to pull Carvi’s from his suitcase.
Thomas watched her walk by, face locked down and eyes sad.
Carvi waved a hand in front of the door after they closed it.
“Little spell so they can’t hear us,” Carvi said.
“I figured,” Thomas said. “Looks like y’all have your hands full, so I’ll get to the point. Is there any chance of putting me back in my body this time?”
“Oh,” I said, looking at Carvi.
We’d done it when he’d been murdered last Halloween.
Carvi looked past me at the ghost and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Thomas. I really am, but the only reason we were able to pull that off last year was because that spell kept you tied to the mortal world in a makeshift limbo. It was very specific circumstances. Now? Even if we get your body and heal your neck, you’re really dead. We can’t stuff you in like we could then.”
“I thought as much,” Thomas said sadly. “Thought I’d ask.”
“Unfinished business?” I asked him.
He shrugged. “Maybe helping y’all stop the Fae, finding Emily, I’m not sure. But for now, I figured I could watch out for AB while you vision walk. Just in case that man tries anything.”
I raised my eyebrows at him.
“I may have been hanging out here for a while before I made my presence known,” he said with a small smile and shrug. “I didn’t want to interrupt. I just want to make sure she’s okay. She tried to save me. She was so hurt when she saw me with Emily, but she still tried to save me.”
“If he tries anything, tries to hurt her or does any magic, do you know how to move things?” Carvi asked.
“No,” Thomas said. “I’ve tried a few times, but I think I can get your attention if anything happens. Can you hear out here if you’re in there?”
“With the right spell,” Carvi said. “Anything happens in there, you tell me. Don’t interrupt if they’re just messing around.”
Thomas snorted. “AB’s not like that.”
He obviously hadn’t been listening in that long then, cuz otherwise he would’ve heard the conversation about AB playing with people.
“Yes,” Carvi said, meeting his eyes, “she is. And right now, she’s heartbroken over your death, and they’re both attracted and coming off a shock. If anything happens like that, let it. Just don’t let him hurt her… well, more than she likes to be hurt.”
A small smile made it obvious that last part was even dirtier than it sounded.
Thomas smirked too and bobbed his head. “Affirmative.”
“You’re okay watching her have sex?” I asked.
“Why not?”
I shook my head.
I did not understand guys.
“Okay,” I said.
Carvi had already set up the spell to hear stuff out here, to keep an ear on AB, so we just had to settle back into place.
I took Grant’s limp hands and took a deep breath.
“Here goes everything,” I whispered, closing my eyes as I focused on Grant.
Chapter fifteen
“What the quack?” I said, looking around.
If this was Grant’s mind, I was a biker chick who loved New York City.
Little birdies flew around my head, chirping like something outta Mary Poppins.
The world around us was technicolor, and it was so bright and cheery, it made my normally optimistic outlook seem positively dour.
This world was makin’ my teeth hurt.
“I don’t get it,” I said.
“Grant secretly harbors gay fantasies?” Carvi asked.
“You wish,” I said.
The brilliant blue sky made my eyes hurt, and the park around us had grass that was too green, batches of flowers that were too red and too purple.
When I’d thought about what we’d be facing, some kinda cartoon bright park world was not even in the top one hundred.
“Maybe this is Grant’s version of Hell?” I asked. “He’s never been really dark or anything, but that makes more sense than him having some kinda inner Pollyanna.”
“I don’t know, and I don’t like what I don’t know,” Carvi said, taking my arm. “Stay close.”
I nodded, looking around.
“Soooo?” I asked.
“So, you’re the psychic,” Carvi said. “Look for him.”
“Right.” I took a deep breath, closing my eyes and sending my mind out.
Searching for the scene I’d seen in his mind where he was fighting.
It was swirling all around him.
Certainly not what we were looking at here.
There was a tug to my right and I opened my eyes, nodding in that direction.
“He’s that way,” I said. “Any way to tell if that’s really him, like he’s in here and just trapped, instead of… gone and us needin’ to get out and get some kinda fix from the Fae?”
“Not until we find him,” Carvi said. “You’re sensing his life force, so that’s good, means his soul is still in here. But if that place drove him mad instead of this being something trapping him in his mind… Ariana, you need to be ready for the possibility that we won’t be able to save him.”
“No,” I said, walking toward where I felt the pull.
“Lea.”
/> “No,” I said simply. “If he’s crazy, then we’ll make them fix it.”
“Ariana!” Carvi caught my arm and pulled me around, staring me down. “Some things can’t be fixed. If he’s insane, we may not be able to fix it, no matter what magic we could get from them.”
He held my eyes. “It’s always easier to tear something apart than it is to build it back up.”
“That’s nice and deep, it really is,” I said, dripping sarcasm, “but I don’t give a shit. I don’t care how hard it is. I don’t care if it’s impossible. I’m savin’ him. And that’s it.”
“And if AB was saying the same thing about Thomas?” Carvi asked as we started walking again.
“That’s different. Thomas is dead.”
“Grant might be in the same situation. It’s just as hard to come back from true madness as it is from death.”
“Then I’ll do the fucking impossible! And you’ll help. If anyone can do it, it’s us. We’ve done bigger.”
Carvi sighed, and I didn’t care if he believed me or not.
I was gonna save Grant.
And that’s all there was to it.
###
We walked for a long time before the seemingly endless park ended and we suddenly entered a cityscape.
And I mean suddenly.
Like we were walking on grass, with grass in front of us as far as we could see, and suddenly we were on pavement with skyscrapers around us.
“Where… where are we?” I asked, looking around.
Carvi squinted, looking up and around too.
“None of the buildings look distinctive,” he said.
I nodded.
He was right. The buildings were tall, with shorter ones scattered amongst them, but they looked like someone googled generic city and dropped all the results together. There was no Batman building, or the giant glass Pinnacle building that were unique to Nashville, or anything like that.
They were just buildings.
No personality.
“Generic city,” Carvi said. “Kind of like the park was generic Disney.”
I nodded to the road we’d appeared on. “He’s this way.”
We walked down the street, skyscrapers inching by.
And it felt like we were going nowhere, because everything looked the same.
“Order,” I said quietly, mind chewing over something.
