by Julia Crane
“Afraid so. That’s a scary place,” he said loudly over the noise, one side of his mouth turning up. He was usually quiet, so it was a nice change to get a glimpse of his sense of humor.
“Funny.” She gestured to Anna. “Galen, I’d like you to meet one of my best friends, Anna.”
Anna reached out her long slender hand, and Galen took it, placing a kiss on the top of it. “A pleasure,” he said, his voice low.
Lauren felt a pang of jealousy, but squished it. She had Tristen. If he liked Anna, that was great!
Anna looked a little flustered, turning to raise an eyebrow at Lauren.
“Where’s your other half?” Galen directed the question to Lauren as he looked around, searching out Tristen.
“I’m not sure,” she responded with a shrug. “He said he was going to look for you.”
“If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to hunt him down. I need to talk to him about something important.”
“See ya.” Lauren gave him a wave, but not without a niggle of curiosity. What on earth could be so important between the two of them that they had to talk about it during a party? Surely it could have waited until the fun was over.
She watched Galen’s departing back, worried. What were they up to?
“Umm, who was that fine piece of eye candy?” Anna yelled in Lauren’s ear, jerking Lauren from her thoughts.
Surprised, she gave Anna a wink. “One of Tristen’s buddies. He is appealing, isn’t he? Too bad you’re madly in love, or I could fix you up.”
“Hey, I’m just admiring,” Anna argued, a little guiltily. “My heart is Tommy’s.”
And mine is Tristen’s, Lauren reminded herself, thinking of her own guilty little crush on Galen. But girls had secret crushes all the time. Seriously—Lauren had a huge crush on Channing Tatum, but it didn’t mean anything. Right?
She took a sip of her drink and pushed the thoughts away, wondering what was taking Keegan so long.
Chapter 15
Keegan pushed her way through the crowd. She’d caught a glimpse of Tristen walking off with some chick stuck to his side. It was probably nothing, but after Calvron’s attitude towards the guy, Keegan didn’t trust him. Not to mention the phone call where he hung up on Lauren. His actions so far hadn’t shown him in a positive light. She just wanted to confirm that his conversation with this girl was innocent, just to put her mind at ease.
After a quick glance around, she realized she could get away with going invisible in the darkness. The familiar tingling spread through her body as she used her gift. It didn’t get to use it often, so she felt excited to be a fly on the wall. Her mother would so not approve. She was totally invading Tristen’s privacy, but if it would save Lauren heartache, she was all for it.
Where did they go? Keegan closed her eyes and thought of Tristen. There he was in her mind’s eye. She could only use that gift if the person was in the same area. And he was—outside, in the back of the house near a pool, leaning in as he whispered to the girl. She was beautiful—tall, slim with straight black hair and large, luminous eyes.
Keegan’s heart rate accelerated. It took her a few moments to figure out how to get out to the patio, since she wasn’t familiar with Tristen’s place. She found the gate in a far corner and crept through, guiding it gently back into place before she moved swiftly through the black night.
The closer she drew to the sparkling diamond of a pool, a small oasis in a backyard landscaped to look like a jungle, the clearer their voices became. She still couldn’t make out what they were saying, so she moved in closer.
“She’s not ready yet,” Tristen said sharply.
“Well, you better get her ready,” the girl responded, her voice icy. “This thing is going down next week. We need her ability or it’s not going to work. I’m sure you don’t want to disappoint your father.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll be ready. I’ve seen her gift at work—she can make it happen. I just have to figure out a way to convince her. You know how self-righteous those light faeries are.”
Keegan inhaled sharply. He was talking about Lauren. He had to be. What plans did they have for her? Whatever it was, she wasn’t getting a good vibe from them.
“You really need to learn to control your women,” the dark haired beauty said with disgust.
“She’ll do it! Stop pestering me. I want you out of my house. Now,” Tristen growled.
“Gladly. Your parties were always such a bore.”
Tristen grabbed the girl by the wrist and pulled her in close to his body. In a voice so low that Keegan had to strain to hear, he said, “If I see you again before next week, I will make sure that your pretty little face is no longer quite as appealing. I don’t care if you are sleeping with my father.”
The girl yanked her hand away and stalked through the yard. There was the distant banging of a gate, and then silence.
What in the hell did I just witness? Keegan had a sinking feeling this could not end well for Lauren. She had to warn her. Damn it, she should have known Calvron’s dislike for Tristen meant something.
As Tristen strode back into the house, Keegan followed, her mind racing. She watched as he went straight to Lauren and pulled her into his arms in a passionate kiss. The strobe lights danced off of them and Anna swayed to the music nearby, pretending to ignore them. It wasn’t going to be easy to convince Lauren; she was obviously head over heels for the jerk.
Keegan willed herself to become visible once again and pushed her way through the partygoers. She found Anna leaning against a wall by herself, a bored look on her face. Keegan grabbed her by the arm and yanked her through the house, shoving her into the bathroom. She hurried in behind her and slammed the door, locking it.
Anna flipped on the light. “What are you doing?”
In a hushed tone, she told Anna what she had witnessed.
Anna’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Are you sure that’s what you heard? Maybe you misunderstood. He seems so nice.”
“I’m sure. He’s up to no good, and they plan on using Lauren’s gift for something. You didn’t see his face; he is bad news. What is her gift anyway? She’s never mentioned it to me.” Keegan scrunched up her nose. “How could I not know her gift after all this time?”
“You haven’t even known she was a fairy for that long,” Anna reminded her gently. “All I know is it has something to do with electronics. She doesn’t talk about it. I think she thinks its lame or embarrassing or something.”
“Electronics,” Keegan said thoughtfully. “I wonder what in the world he could want with electronics. What should we do? I don’t know if Lauren is going to believe us. You saw how prickly she got with Calvron. Maybe I should call my dad.”
“I don’t think you should bother your father yet. It could all be a misunderstanding. ”
“Do we just not tell her?” Keegan said hotly. “What kind of friends would we be then?”
Anna put down the toilet lid and plopped onto it with a sigh. “We have to tell her, Keegan. Even if she doesn’t believe us, at least it will be in the back of her mind.”
“What if she tells Tristen? I really think he’s dangerous.” Keegan bit the side of her lip. “We need to find out exactly what her gift is.”
“We’ll deal with it when it comes. Maybe I should scry before we talk to her,” Anna mused.
“Oh, that’s a great idea! I should have thought of that. We should probably tell Calvron, too. He might be able to figure out what’s going on.”
“At least we know we have a few days. I swear if that jerk hurts her…” Anna’s voice trailed off.
“I know.” Keegan shook her head. “We can’t let that happen.”
They both paused, lost in their own thoughts.
Keegan finally sighed. “I guess we need to go back in and act like we know nothing. We can talk to Lauren at the apartment.”
“I just hope she doesn’t kick us out,” Anna groaned.
“That would suck.” Keegan banged a hand
on the bathroom counter. “Lauren was always the most pulled together of all of us. She doesn’t deserve some jackass using her.”
“I’m beat. I’m going to head to bed,” Lauren said as soon as they walked through the door back at her apartment.
Keegan glanced at Anna. “Do you have any chamomile tea? I’m not tired, and we haven’t had a lot of time together.”
Lauren put her purse on the kitchen counter and walked around the island. She pulled out a box of tea from underneath the cupboard. “What did you think of the party?”
“It was pretty cool. You didn’t tell me Tristen was loaded,” Anna said.
“I don’t think he’s loaded. His parents are.” Lauren filled the teapot with water and placed it on the stove.
“How did you meet Tristen? I never heard the story.” Keegan pulled out a stool and sat behind the dark brown granite countertop, watching her friend as she pulled three mugs down from the hanging rack.
Lauren smiled, remembering. “It was pretty strange how we met. I had a flat tire on the way to school, and he pulled over to help. I didn’t even have time to call AAA. I was drawn to him. I couldn’t believe it when he asked me out. The funny thing is, he never goes anywhere near campus, so it was pure chance that he was there to help me.”
“That does sound like a coincidence,” Keegan said, trying to keep her voice calm.
Lauren set mugs of hot tea in front of Keegan and Anna, but didn’t respond.
Keegan picked up her mug and blew on the top. “I was thinking today, and I realized that I don’t even know what your fairy gift is.”
Lauren looked at her curiously. “Why would you ask such a thing?”
“I don’t know. I mean, I know Anna is a powerful witch, Calvron a wizard, the guys shape-shifters. All I know about you is that you have pretty wings. Do you have a special power like most elves do? I guess I really don’t know much about fairies. You know I was quite sheltered.”
Lauren took a sip of her tea, and they waited anxiously for her to answer. “It’s nothing to brag about. Technopathy.”
“What in the world is that?” Anna asked. “I know it’s something with electronics, but how does it work?”
Lauren rolled her eyes. “Why the twenty questions? It’s lame. I can basically talk to electronics. I’m a freak, okay? I’ve never even met another fairy with this so-called gift.”
“Talk to electronics? That sounds pretty awesome to me!” Keegan grinned. “All I can do is disappear at will. So can you make them do stuff for you? How does it work?”
“Sure, but why would I want to? Mainly, I just fix them if they’re broken.”
“Why would you want to? You could have like a robot army.” Anna’s eyes widened. “Wow, Lauren that’s a seriously awesome gift. I can’t believe you think it’s lame. The possibilities are endless.”
“So, in the wrong hands, your gift could cause harm?” Keegan asked in what she hoped was a nonchalant voice.
“Harm? In what way?” Lauren chuckled. “You guys are full of odd questions today.”
“I don’t know. I mean, couldn’t you like shut down power plants or something?” Anna asked.
“I guess so, but I wouldn’t. That’s ridiculous.” She rolled her eyes. “You guys watch too many movies.”
“Well, thanks for the tea,” Anna said quickly, standing with her mug. “We’re going to call it a night.”
“I thought you wanted to stay up?” Lauren asked, perplexed.
Keegan stood and yawned widely. “No, you know, I’m pretty tired, too. We can chat in the morning.”
Lauren shook her head. Her friends’ minds were switching around like hurricanes. “Sure. We’ll go out for breakfast tomorrow.”
Anna and Keegan chorused their good nights and plodded down the hall, mugs in hand.
Lauren didn’t know what to think of their odd behavior, but she was too tired to care. She shut off the kettle, rinsed out her mug, and headed for her own bedroom.
Chapter 16
Anna shut the door and stared at Keegan with wide, worried eyes. “This is terrifying. Lauren’s gift could be extremely dangerous in the wrong hands.”
Keegan sat heavily on the edge of the bed, the mattress bouncing beneath her as she pulled her knees to her chest and hugged them. “I know. These days, everything is run by electronics. Her gift could shut down life as we know it. How did we not know she was so powerful?”
“She is,” Anna agreed, “but Lauren would never be convinced to do something evil. She’s totally on the side of the light.”
“Love can make you do strange things. And there’s always force.” Keegan shuddered. “You didn’t see Tristen with that girl. That boy has an evil streak in him a mile wide.”
Anna crossed the room and knelt down before her duffel bag. She rummaged around inside, pulling out a cauldron, a metal pentacle, and a tiny white pillar candle.
“Anna, I think we’re in over our heads on this one.” Keegan set her mug down on the dresser with a thunk. “What are you doing?”
Anna didn’t answer as she sank to her knees, holding a large obsidian rock. Black and shiny, it fit perfectly in the palm of one hand. She leaned forward and lit the candle with her witchlight.
“Goddess, show me that which I need to see,” Anna murmured, her eyes closed as she held the cool stone between her hands. She imagined herself surrounded by white light, keeping her safe and secure. She mentally beckoned her spirit guide and felt the familiar warmth as she heard the horse approach. Breathing deeply, Anna let her body relax as she went into a trance.
She opened her eyes slowly and gazed into the stone. In her mind’s eye, she visualized a ray of light shining into the stone, a cone of pure power that connected her inner magick to the piece of rock she held. A light grey mist appeared within the stone, and then faded away.
Her heartbeat sped up as scenes flashed within the obsidian. A plane falling out of the sky, two trains colliding, people screaming and running in the streets, and then darkness.
She jerked, her fingers involuntarily letting go of the obsidian. It hit the floor with a resounding clunk, and rolled away. Breathing hard, Anna looked over at Keegan. “This is bad. Really bad.”
Keegan had put her feet to the floor, and had obviously watched the process breathlessly with her fists clenched in the bedclothes. “What did you see?”
“A plane falling from the sky, a train crash, and mass chaos in the streets.” Anna’s eyes were as wide as saucers.
“What? Are you serious?” Keegan rubbed her own arms vigorously, as if trying to rub away goose bumps. “Anna, when you scry…does it always come true?”
“I don’t have a lot of practice, but I’m pretty decent at it,” Anna answered carefully. She didn’t want to scare her best friend, but she didn’t want to sugarcoat it either. “But I believe you can change the future with the right knowledge. So this is more like potential outcomes.”
Keegan stood and paced to the window, where she stood, gazing into the city night. She finally murmured, “What should we do?”
“We need to tell Lauren.” Anna extinguished the candle with the tips of her fingers and reached for her obsidian.
“Do you think she’ll believe us?”
“Let’s hope so.”
“I think we should let her sleep and tell her in the morning,” Keegan said, turning back into the room as Anna began packing away her magickal tools. “We know we have a few days at least. You saw how exhausted she looked.”
Anna nodded. “We’ll let her sleep and talk to her first thing in the morning.”
Keegan woke to a hand shaking her shoulder. Her eyes blinked open, trying to focus in the early morning sunlight that streamed through the gauzy curtains.
Anna hovered over her, already dressed and in makeup. “You sleep like a log. It’s already nine. We need to talk to Lauren.”
Keegan rubbed her eyes and sat up quickly. The thought of talking to Lauren was like a splash of cold water waking
her up. She threw off the thin pink blanket and swung her legs over the side of the twin bed. Anna grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet.
“I need coffee before we have this talk.” Keegan stumbled towards the door, her hair sticking up all over the place.
Anna shook her head and followed behind.
Lauren was sitting at the table, reading a book when they walked in. She had dark circles under her eyes, and her hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail. “It’s about time,” she teased. “Not that I expected Keegan to be up at the break of dawn.”
“Cofff-feeee,” Keegan groaned as she shuffled over to the coffee pot and poured herself a mug. Anna sidled up next to her and did the same. After adding the appropriate milk and sugar, Keegan led the way to the table and they both took seats across from Lauren.
Anna cleared her throat. “Umm, Lauren how much do you know about Tristen?”
Lauren slammed her book to the table, and her best friends both jumped. She glared at Anna. “Not you guys, too. What is this, some sort of intervention or something? Why won’t people lay off him?”
Keegan and Anna exchanged glances. This isn’t the Lauren I know, Keegan thought, and Anna nodded almost imperceptibly. Keegan knew she was thinking the same thing—they had to tell her.
“I think your boyfriend is a mass murderer,” Keegan blurted out.
“What!?” Lauren pushed her chair back and stood up, the force of her anger knocking the chair to the ground.
Anna groaned and said, “Real smooth, Keegan.”
“Have you two lost your minds?” Lauren barked. She covered her face with both hands. “This is unreal—my best friends.”
“Just hear us out,” Anna pleaded.
“I don’t want to hear another word.” Lauren spun on her heel and stormed off to her bedroom, slamming the door.
Keegan took a sip of her coffee, the scalding liquid burning her tongue. “Well, that went well.”
“You weren’t exactly tactful,” Anna pointed out.
