Bloodlines

by Trisha Lynn

Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Going back through the portal was just about as uncomfortable and strange as entering, but now that she had felt the Fae magic it was even worse going into the human realm. She felt the cloaking of glamour and it was an uncomfortable feeling. Like having a heavy layer of makeup covering your body, or a very thick layer of gritty grime from many days of not showering. It was not pleasant at all, and she wondered why Fae would want to live in the human realm at all. The feeling was really quite miserable and sad. It made her feel as though she was missing a part of herself. A part of her soul remained in the Fae realm and she wasn't entirely herself without it. She almost asked Loki about it, but decided not to. It would be best to stamp it back just like everything else and move forward, maybe if she ignored the feeling it would go away. She had to hope anyway.

  Loki had to attend to getting Saibol and Sorryn enrolled into the school, apparently he had some connections in that department in town, so he left her at her front door. Devrin and Ahern hid in the woods surrounding her home to keep watch over her. They had already used their Faerie sense and deemed the house safe. Loki had insisted on checking the ring again, and making sure she knew, yet again, that she was to use it for any strange or dangerous circumstance.

  She felt so utterly uncomfortable being at her own front door. She wished fervently that she was back at the castle doors. She steeled herself and unlocked the door. The house was silent.

  “Hello?” Nothing. She heard the television on in the living room and she ventured there. Her “adopted” parents sat on the couch, her father engrossed in the show, her mother playing on her e-reader.

  “Hey, I'm back.”

  Her father grunted, and her mother waved without even looking in her direction. She almost burst into tears. Nothing about this house felt right. The smells made her sick. She couldn't smell the forest. Everything was being masked by the scents of technology and furniture polish and sheer unhappiness. It made her want to cry in a tight little ball. She decided she'd do just that, and made her way to her bedroom.

  When she emerged from her stress, pain and sorrow stricken crying jag, she texted Marissa. If she was back home she wanted to see her friend. Maybe give her a heads up of where her mind was at. Saying good bye would be nearly impossible but at least if there was a heads up for her friend it may make it easier. If she gave Marissa a time frame at least then they would both be aware and make the best of the time they did have together.

  It took only one text of I'm home to have Marissa at her door.

  .~.

  “Wow, Adi! You look amazing! Did you get like a facial and do something with your hair?”

  Adeila almost panicked herself right over to the mirror to check her reflection for herself, but instead plastered a fake smile on her face. It couldn't be that dramatic.

  “Yeah my real mother took me to this amazing spa and beauty salon. They did wonders on me! You'd love the place.” Sheesh. She was getting really good at this pulling shit out of her ass thing. That probably wasn't a good thing to admit, but hell! She'd never even bothered to look at her reflection. Did she look the same as she had in the Fae realm?

  For over two hours Adeila had to give Marissa small details about her weekend, which were truthful in nature but complete lies in general. She was able to give Marissa an easy enough description of her parents, leaving out the sword bearing and the King and Queen part. She told Marissa that they lived in South Dakota, which she pulled completely out of her butt, and they lived in a really gorgeous old log home. She told her that she loved their horses, and the staff that worked there and met a girl who she really liked in a surrounding town. It was hard not to tell her about the exciting things; like that she'd held a pixie in her hand, or that she bonded to an actual magical, mythical Unicorn, or that she had an Earth based magic that would allow her to grow full plants from nothing but a bit of soil or a blade of grass; instead she tried her best to make it seem like a very low key, simple family first meeting. She said that she'd gotten dressed up and had a nice dinner with them Saturday night and that was about the extent of the excitement. But Adeila couldn't help but let her mind wander to those nights, to Loki, to Kami, to Obysson and her parents. An ache in her chest made this much more difficult then she'd anticipated.

  By the time Marissa left it was eight at night and she was ready for bed. Still she'd not even mentioned to Marissa that she may be leaving. She just couldn't bring herself to admit it. Exhaustion took over her already gloomy mood. She didn't even bother to look outside to see if any of her Guardians were out her window, or even bother to actually look at herself in the mirror either. She was just too tired.

  Before falling asleep, her parting thoughts were that after today her birthday was only five days away.

  .~.

  School the next day was completely horrible. She should have figured. Her senses were overly heightened and she knew she needed to control them. She'd sort of learned how, but it was harder than she thought.

  Erik caught up with her after her first class, he looked annoyed but when his eyes really focused on her, they widened. Hell, did she really look that different? She really needed to get into the bathroom and check herself out. She'd totally forgotten about it as she'd gotten dressed that morning.

  “Erik, I'm really sorry, my weekend was insane.”

  He licked his lips and looked around, then back to her. “You could of at least text me back or something.”

  “Yeah, I know, about that I-”

  “Hey, guys!” Marissa's brightened face entered her view. Then she gestured behind her, and Adeila turned to see Sorryn and Saibol. Well, it appears they'd gotten in. She couldn't help but smile briefly to them. In it, she was quite sure, there was a small hint of an inside joke kind of quality, but no one picked up on it but Sorryn, who returned it with his own cocky, mischievous one.

  “This is Sorryn and Saibol, they just moved here from Connecticut! Principal Hale asked me to show them around and introduce them to some people!”

  Introductions pushed aside anything further awkward with Erik and they all walked together to their respected classes. Loki did not make an appearance, not that it mattered much as he was in her next class anyway, and she thought maybe the less they hung around together the better.

  “It was so nice to meet you guys!” She said enthusiastically, and for her alone, Sorryn managed a wink without anyone noticing. She was grinning when she entered the classroom, thankful that the thing with Erik got pushed back. She really didn't have the energy to deal with it today. Everything was just too weird with the Fae bodyguards and the heightened senses, and her damn appearance that she'd still yet to check out.

  Goosebumps broke along her flesh as she entered the classroom but she completely ignored everything, put her head down, went to her desk and allowed the chatter to flutter around her. She tried to focus on the teacher and the notes they were supposed to be taking, but kept feeling the itch of someone looking at her, or in this case she had a feeling it was several persons and she knew only one of those sets of eyes. The rest were a mystery, and the why was even more so. She assumed Sadie Simms, but hell she thought the girl had gotten over this by now!

  When the bell rang, as she moved her books into her bag she allowed her eyes to drift around the room. Several of the guys in the class, that she'd never given any mind to before, were looking her way, Sadie Simms and Nadine Fisher were shooting her daggers, and sure enough, the golden eyes were on her, but also grazing on every guy in the room that was checking her out. Ugh! What the frick? She hightailed it out of the class and straight to the bathroom.

  The cruel overhead lighting did nothing to hide the shimmer and glow of her skin, some of the highlights in her hair made the portal trip too. She seemed more then what she was before, but less than the Fae realm, if that made any sense. It looked like she'd spent a weekend tanning, getting facials, getting her hair done, working out and taking some serious workshops on makeup techniques. It wasn't a
nything drastic, there were some subtle changes, her features highlighted and punctuated in a bronzed light, but certainly nothing to stress out from.

  Apparently no one had realized she could be even slightly attractive, or maybe the Fae gave off some kind of different aura after they'd been in the Fae realm? Gah! She had so many questions, still. She had noticed her tattoos were gone. Well, at least in this realm. She assumed it was an added security measure to not have her bloodlines on display for other Fae, but she couldn't help feeling remorse over the loss of them. She knew how important and significant they were to the Fae people and she was beginning to feel pride in them. Her intense crying jag after she'd returned to human realm was in part because of them being absent from her skin.

  As soon as she exited the bathroom, a body peeled from the wall and bumped against her, she felt the heat and the electricity and didn't even have to look to know who it was.

  “You obviously haven't looked at yourself since the return?”

  She looked straight ahead. “Nope.”

  “That's incredibly modest of you.” There was humor in his voice, but she ignored it. His next line sobered her. “People aren't going to question the subtle changes, but obviously people are taking a notice of you, because it is a change. You made it a point to blend in with people around you before, and now your beauty stands out. It shines off of you now. People, men especially, will react.”

  She looked at him then. “I don't like it.”

  He laughed, the sound caressing her and making her want to be back in the Fae realm even more. It made her want to star gaze, with his warmth beside her, on the expanse of emerald grass looking up at an midnight sky with twinkling stars. She mentally shook herself, what the hell was wrong with her? Eck.

  “Humans are fools who allow themselves to believe in silly social schematics and do not notice someone's real, genuine, beauty until it's flaunted to them by change or personality flourishing. If you are loud and flirty, a guy notices your physical appearance more. You are neither, so you blend in better. Also the Fae do give off more of a glowing aura, it makes people be drawn to us for reasons they cannot explain. Since coming from the Fae realm you have some of that magic still stuck to your skin. You’re just not used to the attention. ”

  She could only raise her brows at his philosophical spouting. She had classes to get to. She was trying not to even slightly dwell on the fact that he may have just called her beautiful but she wasn't entirely sure. His next words made matters worse.

  “You were always this stunning; just some people didn't notice it until now. You will get used to it, just as you did your new appearance in the Fae realm.”

  Her mouth hung open slightly as he walked away. Well hell, he was calling her beautiful. Stunning, in fact. She tried really hard for that fact not to affect her at all as she prepared for her next class.