by E A Foley
“Answer the question,” she demanded as she tried to refocus her mind.
“I believe so. Though I’m not positive.”
“And Morrigan?”
“No clue, actually. I swear.”
“If I find out you’re lying to me . . .” Iris shook her head slowly. Didn’t know how to finish the threat.
“I wouldn’t lie to you. Not anymore.”
Iris nodded. She didn’t trust herself to speak. Focusing on the song playing only added to her anger and frustrations. Brett noticed. He leaned forward and hit a random pre-select button. Iris vaguely recognized the upbeat song. She concentrated on the lyrics. Was pretty sure the new song was worse than the previous.
“Lately, I’ve been, I’ve been thinking I want you to be happier, I want you to be happier.”
Brett smiled. He reached a hand toward her face. Iris uncrossed one arm and caught his wrist before he could touch her cheek. Brett stared at her. Iris stared back. Her eyes seared as her anger at him and Jaden grew.
“I’m sorry. For everything,” Brett whispered. He kept his eye contact with her unlike so many others when her eyes turned to emeralds.
Iris nodded. She didn’t trust herself to speak. They listened to the song a little longer. Iris wished Brett would take a page out of the singer’s book and leave. He got the hint.
“If you let go of my hand, I’ll leave.”
Iris opened her hand. She didn’t move her arm from where it hung in the space between them. Brett took a moment to take in every inch of her face before opening the passenger door and climbing out. Iris waited until he disappeared into his apartment. She exhaled a few times before maneuvering the 4Runner back through the parking lot and onto the street. She parked at the store and took several minutes to calm herself down.
Pizza’s here. Where are you? Aerianna texted her.
Sorry, ran into Anwyn. Iris lied. Checking out now. Line’s a bit long. Iris texted back as she walked into the store.
She grabbed a hand basket, picked up three kinds of ice cream and a bottle of vodka, and headed to the checkout line. The checker didn’t bat an eye at her purchase. Davis was a college town after all. By the time she parked a few apartments down, Iris still didn’t have control of her emotions. She tried to think about something else, but her mind went blank.
The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony” came on the radio. Iris closed her eyes. She focused on the lyrics. They calmed her down enough to shift her eyes toward a blue-green. Images of her attempt to kill Brett flitted through her mind. Her eyes twitched. Now they were hazel. It would have to do. At least they weren’t emeralds anymore.
“Sorry,” Iris called as she entered her apartment.
“Hey, sweetheart,” Nimbus called. “Need a hand?”
“Nope, I’m good,” Iris said and forced a smile. She hadn’t expected Nimbus tonight. A glance at Cirrus sent red patches onto his alabaster cheeks. He was to blame.
Iris turned the huff she longed to vent into an exhale as she tossed ice cream tubs in the freezer. She grabbed some ice cubes while she was in there, opened the vodka, and made herself a stiff drink before placing a few slices of pizza on a plate before.
Nimbus welcomed Iris into his arms as she joined him on the mini-love-seat. He gave her a quick kiss. She kept her face as averted as possible. Her eyes were not behaving tonight. Her emotions were on overdrive between Brett’s pronouncement of love, her attempt to kill him, and discovering Jaden attacked Zarina’s mind so she’d follow him to Mr. Moreno.
“What are we watching?” Iris asked.
Distractions were the only thing keeping her from searching out and trying to kill Jaden at the moment. He needed to pay. But she couldn’t risk screwing up because she didn’t have a plan in place. If he called all his minions, she wouldn’t survive. If he threatened to kill Zarina, she wouldn’t be able to call his bluff. She wasn’t sure it would be a bluff. He’d already threatened Iris with Zarina’s and Morrigan’s deaths once. She didn’t want to see if he’d follow through. She’d never forgive herself.
“We haven’t decided yet. Any requests?” Rozlynd asked as she flipped through their streaming options.
“Not a drama. Though I’d be fine with a rom-com.” She tried to keep herself from fidgeting in between bites of pizza.
“How about a good old action flick? Shut the brain down and veg out?” Cirrus asked.
“Iris, you said you have a lot of homework, right? What wouldn’t be too distracting so you can leave in the middle?”
“I should probably just head to my room and get back to it. I didn’t get much done earlier.”
“I’ll join you,” Nimbus said as Iris got up.
“It’s fine. You can hang and watch the movie.” She glanced at Nimbus and quickly looked away. Took another drink. He shifted on the couch. It pulled her eyes back toward him.
Nimbus cocked his head at her. Iris looked to the other couch and armchair. All eyes were on her.
“You’re acting weird,” Rowen told her.
“No, I’m not,” she denied quickly.
“Yeah, you are,” Cirrus affirmed. “What’s wrong. Why were you really gone so long? You didn’t do something stupid like talk to Jaden, did you?”
“No.”
“Iris . . .” Aerianna dragged out her name. Her tone clearly showed she didn’t believe Iris.
“I didn’t talk to Jaden. I just needed some time to gather myself. I’ve been putting a lot of pressure on myself and I needed a few minutes with loud music to figure stuff out. That’s all. I swear. I’m fine.” Iris kept the lie close to the truth. It took all of her effort not to bite her bottom lip or play with her cuticles to give her away. It worked. Her roommates accepted her story.
“Remember, we’re here if you need to talk,” Violet said with a smile.
“Thanks, Vi. Nimbus, you’re welcome to watch me do homework. I just thought you’d rather hang out for once. That’s all.”
“I appreciate the sentiment, but I’d rather spend time with you. Even if it means sitting quietly while you do homework.”
“Okay,” Iris didn’t have to force the soft smile or the lightness blooming in her chest that made her eyes twitch. They’d be blue once more.
“I’m going to grab another slice. I’ll be right behind you.” He reached out a hand and took her empty plate.
Iris nodded and headed to her room. Silence followed her—never a good sign. She shut her door and focused her mind. Closed her eyes and concentrated on seeing what Rowen saw. He’d been her first success with this trick and somehow remained her easiest connection.
“What does hazel mean?” Nimbus asked as he stood.
“It’s a combination of green, brown, and grey, so angry, sad, and depressed,” Cirrus supplied. “I get the sad and depressed based on what she said, but not the angry.”
“Yeah,” Violet concurred. “Rowen, I think you’re right. She’s being weird. Well, she’s been weird for a long time, but not like this. I think she’s hiding something again. I wonder what it is. I thought we’d gotten past the whole keeping secrets from us thing. Then again, she stopped keeping secrets to get Jaden to trust her. Maybe she feels there’s no reason to tell us everything because we don’t push her to do it like Jaden did. It’s like . . . like—”
“She’s gone back into protection mode,” Rozlynd supplied.
“Yeah,” everyone agreed with nods.
“Protection mode?” Nimbus asked as he moved into the kitchen.
“She gets this way when she tries to take everything on and not burden us with any magical problems,” Rozlynd explained.
“Or life problems,” Rowen added.
“Makes sense,” Nimbus said as he placed some pizza on a plate and poured himself another glass of wine. He grabbed a second glass and poured wine into it. “She likes Zins, right?”
“I think so. We don’t drink wine too often,” Aerianna told Nimbus.
“Okay. Thanks for the insights.�
��
Iris pulled her mind back to her room. She downed the rest of her drink. Tried to shake the last few hours off. Her roommates were right. She’d gone into protection mode. But it wasn’t why she’d acted so weird tonight. How the hell was she supposed to explain Brett to them? To Nimbus? Violet’s assertion she’d started keeping secrets surfaced. Iris sighed. She needed to tell Nimbus about Brett.
“Babe?” Nimbus called through her closed door.
Iris used a little magic to open the door while she remained seated at her desk. Books open and laptop on but no progress being made.
“You want to talk about it?” Nimbus asked.
He set a glass of wine down next to her and took a seat on her bed. Iris picked up the glass he’d brought her and swirled it around to help the red wine breathe. It gave her something to do as she contemplated how much she wanted to tell him.
“Not particularly, but I need to tell you something.” She stopped swirling the burgundy liquid and took a sip. Black-pepper and cherry exploded on her tongue. They were followed by the smoky finish that made Zins one of her favorite wines. “Thank you for the wine. It’s delicious.”
“You’re welcome.”
They sat in silence for several long minutes. Nimbus passed Iris his plate, and she grabbed a slice of pizza. Took a few bites. Swiveled back and forth in her desk chair.
“If you’re stalling this much, it must be a difficult topic for you to breach.” His face remained passively neutral. Hinted at his usual, serious demeanor.
Iris sighed. “You could say that.” She bit her lower lip. Shook her head a few times and expelled a quick burst of air. “All right. You know about Brett Moreno, right?”
“Yes. Cirrus has kept me up to speed on him and his father.”
“Has he mentioned anything about Brett possibly liking me?”
“No. But Violet has during one of her rambling sessions. I can see why you didn’t want to broach the subject. Did he search you out tonight?”
“Earlier this afternoon, but yes. One of his lovely quirks is stalking me. Which he did last night while we were out. On my way to the bus to head home this afternoon, he used some magic to let me know he wanted to talk. I followed him to the library and then he disappeared through a bridge—that’s what he calls doorways.”
“And you followed him.”
“Yup.”
“And . . . what? He professed his love for you.”
“More like he demanded to know who you are and then told me I’m supposed to be his and that if he couldn’t have me, no one could.”
“I take it you lost your cool at that point.”
“Yeah. Well, he lost his cool first and attacked me, but I sort of went too far and almost killed him.” Iris took another sip of wine before rushing on, eyes unfocused. “I hurt him, Nimbus. I really hurt him. What’s worse is I had a killing blow poised to strike. The only reason I didn’t release it was his attempt to smile at me as I stood over him. I don’t know if he wanted me to kill him or what but I almost did. I’m not sure who I am anymore.”
“Where’s Brett now?” Nimbus’s voice was neutral but guarded.
“At his apartment. I healed him and made sure he got home.” She looked up. “I will never be able to take that back. To apologize enough to him. Or make myself believe I’m still a good person. I took all my anger at Jaden and channeled it at Brett. What’s worse is he’s conflicted right now about whether he should follow his dad. Between you and my almost killing him, I’m sure I just sent him right back to his father’s control.”
“Unfortunately, that may not be avoidable. And you are a good person. You stopped yourself from killing someone you should consider your enemy. Not many people could do that when they’re faced with all the pressures you have to contend with.”
Iris nodded. She finished her wine. Looked around her room. At her bed where Nimbus sat. Where she’d laid Brett not even an hour before. “Can we go to your place? I don’t want to be in Davis tonight.”
“Are you sure that’s safe? Jaden’s ability to track you has increased significantly, hasn’t it?”
Iris nodded. “He’s not connected to me right now, though. I just don’t want to be where they can track me tonight.”
“I thought Brett can track you anywhere.”
Iris closed her eyes to keep her anger from expanding. “Mostly, yes. But he should be too weak to manage tonight. He’s completely drained.”
“You—”
“Nimbus.” Iris raised her voice over his. His playing devil’s advocate had officially pissed her off.
“Want me to form the doorway to be safe?” he finished in his same even tones.
“Sorry,” she said as guilt flooded her being and pooled in her eyes. “Yes, please. But let me tell everyone we’re heading out first. And definitely form your mini-door. Not your full-sized one.”
“I always do.”
Chapter 23
Though Iris longed to spend every free moment anywhere but in Davis, Brett and Jaden officially trapped her within its confining city limits when she returned the following day.
Brett regained his strength by morning. The moment Iris stepped back into her apartment, he began stalking her once more. The telltale prickling at the back of her neck became a constant in her life. He at least had the decency to disconnect from her while she attended classes or was at work—complete with a ten-minute grace period.
It took all of Iris’s willpower not to attack him just to get relief from the constant prickling sensation. She didn’t know it was possible, but his level of stalking her increased. Her shift ran long on Thursday. Brett not only searched her out and restarted stalking her, but he also waited for Iris to exit the lab and insisted on walking her to the bus. Nothing Iris said could deter him. Not even her continued apology for almost killing him.
If Brett searching her out wasn’t enough on its own, the addition of Jaden’s ability to track her was. His adeptness to locate her increased drastically as the quarter marched on. By the time midterms came and went, he knew every time she used magic anywhere in Davis. Even when she tried to form her faerie-sized door to get away. The same prickling sensation alighted at the back of her neck. It always increased for twenty minutes to an hour after she used magic. Which meant Iris tried to use magic as little as possible.
It got to where she could distinguish which one of them tracked her. Brett’s stalking felt more subtle. A soft prickling that annoyed her more than anything. Jaden’s leaned toward the pain of pins and needles. She wished both would stop. The pair of them caused too many distractions both in her school and personal life. Jaden even started to show up to marching band rehearsals and gigs. He made a game of trying to piss her off while they played. Iris came close to beating the shit out of him once. Kylee and Thorin kept her from following through.
Iris’s feeling of being trapped increased each day. She couldn’t use magic. Couldn’t leave Davis. Depended on her friends for most things. Never felt alone. Thankfully, neither Jaden nor Brett focused as consistently on anyone else. It meant one of her friends could form a doorway for her so she could travel between everyone’s apartments in Davis.
The trips were always short. They also showed her just how quickly Jaden’s ability to track her at greater distances progressed—very. She needed to teach her friends how to track another magic user sooner rather than later. The thought caused Iris to contemplate spring break. As it stood, spring break either wouldn’t exist or they’d spend it in fear. The idea of spending it safely on Gemina Terra surfaced and wouldn’t go away. She mentioned it to Thorin during band rehearsal the Monday after midterms.
“I think going there is a great idea. We know we’ll be safe.”
“But I can’t open the arches without Jaden or Brett knowing what I’m doing. It takes too much of my power,” she kept her voice soft even though they were sitting in a corner alone.
“We’ll find a way,” Thorin grinned with all the confidence in the
world.
“Find a way to do what?” Kyxy asked as she took a seat next to Thorin.
Thorin’s smile changed to one Iris found familiar, but no longer longed for.
“A way to enjoy spring break rather than spend it in fear,” Iris supplied.
“Ah. Traveling seems like a good idea.”
“That’s what I said.”
“But I, unfortunately, cannot supply the path.”
“Can anyone else?”
“No.” Iris fell silent for a few moments. “I should fix that,” she more said to herself.
“You’ll figure something out. You always do,” Kyxy grinned at her.
“Thanks,” Iris said to the pair as the Student Director shouted out a song name to signal the water break’s end.
Iris sought Cirrus the following afternoon. She’d weighed the pros and cons of each magic user as she contemplated who the best person to teach the archways to was and decided on him. Cirrus’s strength and length of time as a magic user combined with his natural talents made him ideal. Nimbus was her automatic first choice, but when she laid out the pros and cons, he quickly dropped from the top three.
Nimbus wasn’t in Davis all the time, Brett’s jealousy of him meant he might start tracking Nimbus’s movements any moment, and Jaden could attack him anywhere. Cirrus, on the other hand, seemed to not pique Jaden’s interest. He wasn’t one of the high school girls, Iris never had any interest in him romantically, and he’d struggled with skills early on. Whatever the reason, Cirrus’s ability to remain under the radar was a boon at the moment.
“You got a sec,” Iris called through Cirrus’s door in the Gallery after a quick knock.
“Sure thing. What’s up?” he asked as he joined her.
“I’ve been thinking it’d be a good idea to teach someone else how to form the archways to Gemina Terra and I want it to be you.”
“That’s a huge responsibility. Wouldn’t Nimbus be a better choice than me?”
