by Mindy Hayes
“How about Vampires?”
Declan and Kai laughed. I took that as a no.
“Werewolves?”
They shook their heads, smirking at my game.
“Mermaids?”
Declan scrunched his eyes, thinking.
“Maybe?” Kai said. “I think I saw one once, but I normally stay away from large bodies of water.”
“Fallen angels? Demons?”
Kai and Declan shared a look as if they were asking one another through their eyes. They turned back to me and shrugged.
“So, it’s just trolls and faeries, huh? Oh and Pixies.”
“Other creatures are out there. Sprites, gremlins, dwarfs, brownies. . .but we don’t really converse with them,” Kai said. “They have their own territories in Faylinn and keep to themselves.”
I put my fingers to my temples and rubbed. It was going to be a few days before that information set in.
“Okay,” Declan said, assertive and moved toward me. “I think you need a little break. Yes?”
Was it that obvious? “Always, but it depends on what you call a break.”
“Let’s get out of here today,” Declan offered, leaping swiftly from the ground to the top of the boulder.
“Get out of here? The clearing?” Kai asked, excitement rising in his voice.
“Yeah. What do you say, Kai, think we could show Calliope the wonders of the woodlands?”
A grin that was way too mischievous for my taste sprouted on Kai’s face. “Oh, yes. I think it’s about time the little princess learns what it’s really like to be a faery.”
I eyed them as Declan and Kai shared a glance. Were my ears and wings not enough of an indication? What else was there to know?
“Would you like to do the honors or shall I?” Declan asked Kai conspiratorially.
“For her first time maybe you should.” Kai measured me with his eyes, making me feel self-conscious in a whole new way. “Although I could use a good laugh.”
“What are you two talking about?” I probed. I don’t know why I bothered asking when they started talking all cryptically like this. My opinion all of a sudden didn’t matter and they took pleasure in making me squirm.
“It’s better if we don’t warn her,” Kai said.
“Don’t warn me about wha—” but before I could finish asking my question, Declan snatched me up in his arms and soared up into the canopy of leaves, landing agilely on the highest branch within a matter of seconds. I looked down and immediately regretted the decision.
“Holy crap!” I cringed, gaining back my stomach. “Yeah, a little warning would have been nice.”
The forest floor came in and out of focus as it struck me how high up we were, the branches crisscrossing below us like a woven basket. Declan’s chest shook from laughter. It suddenly dawned on me that I was pressed against his bare chest, clinging to his neck.
“You should see the look on your face,” Kai said from a branch on the tree next to us. “It’s priceless.”
“Can you put me down please?” I asked.
“You think you’ll be able to balance well enough?” Declan asked, uncertain of my equilibrium. If he was so concerned about that why soar into the trees unannounced?
“I’m a faery shouldn’t that come naturally?” I peered down at the limb he had us suspended on and watched as it lightly bounced under our weight. It did not look strong enough to be holding the both of us.
“Were you able to walk your first try as a toddler?” Kai asked.
I scowled over at him briefly and then asked Declan, “So I’m just supposed to let you carry me from limb to limb as you leap through the air, fifty feet off the ground? That sounds harmless.”
“I won’t drop you,” he assured.
“Will you at least let me try?”
The way Declan and Kai underestimated me was frustrating. I realized I was new to this, but how hard could it be? I couldn’t be that incompetent. My faery instincts should come naturally, right?
“I think we better start lower to the ground for that.”
He stepped off without warning, sending my stomach into a whirlwind as we dropped to a branch below, about twenty feet from the ground. I caught my breath. Declan’s arms steadily released me, standing me upright. I straightened my shirt over my stomach. This limb was a lot thicker than the one up higher, which gave me a little more confidence. Kai landed on the opposite side of me on the same branch.
“You got this?” Kai asked, doubtfully.
“I can balance just fine,” I contended. I kept my hands straight at my sides, extending my hands to keep steady. It wasn’t as difficult as they were making it seem.
“It’s not the balance I’m worried about. It’s the leaping or. . .falling. You may not quite recognize your proximity to the next branch. It’ll come with practice, but if I were to tell you to jump to that tree across from us, would you be able to make it?”
“I don’t see why not. You guys make it look easy enough.” I stood straighter, squaring my shoulders, poised.
Kai swept his hand in front him to let me pass and get closer to my target. “Be my guest.”
“Kai, don’t encourage her,” Declan stepped in. “Calliope, don’t get overconfident. You’ll have to learn one way or another, but be careful as you make that first leap. Try to estimate the distance in your head and measure the power you think you’ll need behind the jump.”
I steadied myself on the edge of the limb, curling my toes, gripping for balance and focused on the closest branch with the least amount of foliage blocking my landing.
“Focus on your target,” Declan advised. “Then leap.”
“But don’t overestimate,” Kai interjected.
“Don’t underestimate it either,” Declan added.
“Will you two just be quiet?” I scowled. “You’re making me nervous.”
They smiled sheepishly and quieted down.
“You can do it, Calliope,” Declan encouraged softly.
I didn’t let myself think anymore. I took a deep breath and leapt over the moss covered logs and rocks below, landing on the opposite tree. I made it, but what I didn’t plan for was how round the limb would feel under my feet. I couldn’t catch my balance before I was falling forward. With no time to think or scream, my hands reached for a branch to latch onto, but all it did was tear at my palms as it was ripped from my grasp. Arms latched onto my waist before I hit the ground and I found myself in Kai’s arms, which set me gently down.
“Seems easy enough, right?” he said, smirking. I glared at him, but softened it when I realized he’d just saved me from being further injured.
“Not bad for your first time. My first time I didn’t even reach the destination before falling,” Declan said when he landed behind me. “At least your feet touched the branch. Now you know what to expect.”
I winced when I opened my palms. “Ouch,” I muttered.
“What did you do? All you had to do was fall. We were here to catch you,” Kai reprimanded, stepping closer to me.
“Well my human instincts kicked in to save myself before falling to my death. Heaven forbid I impulsively reach for a branch.”
“Here, let me see.” Kai reached out for my hands.
“No, don’t touch! It stings!” I pulled my hands protectively to myself, cradling them against my stomach.
“Don’t be such a baby. Let me help you,” Kai urged. Something in his husky voice made me want to stop fighting him. A small part of me wanted him to touch me, to feel his hands on mine again.
He was only inches from me now and placed his hand on top of one of my scraped palms, gently applying pressure as he cupped it with his other hand. His fingers softly grazed my torn skin. The heat radiating between our hands churned my stomach. I peered up from under my eyelashes and saw his eyes concentrating on our grip. As if he felt my gaze on him, he lifted his pulsating eyes and caught my stare. Warmth spread in my cheeks, but he didn’t smirk. He held my gaze for a few s
econds, then cleared his throat and motioned with his indigo eyes for me to look back at my hand. It tingled slightly for a moment before he lifted his fingers and my skin was perfect again, only the residue of blood left over. The cuts were healed.
“How did you. . .?”
“Another one of our fae qualities,” he said. “How do you think we can live so long? You think we’ve really dodged that many accidents?”
“Can I do it?”
“There’s only one way to find out.” He nodded to my other hand. “Try it.”
I put my healed fingers to my other palm, but nothing happened. “It’s not working.”
“Are you even trying?” Kai rolled his eyes and reached over, putting my hand back over my palm with his hand laced on top, our fingers intertwined fitting seamlessly together. “Imagine sewing up a tear or patching up a hole.” He looked at me, urging me to try. I don’t know how he expected me to concentrate with the feel of his skin warming mine, his body only a breath away.
I looked back at my bloodied skin and tried to focus. The Keepers watched my every move, studying everything I did or said. I had still become a science experiment, only in a completely different way than I expected.
The tingle never started and I was about to give up again when Declan’s low voice came from behind my shoulder. “Close your eyes. Sometimes that helps.” So I did as he instructed and pressed my eyes shut, picturing my hand sewing a rip in my sweater. When that didn’t work I pictured a needle and thread actually stitching up my skin. There was a surge of what felt like electricity shoot through my hand. When I lifted my hand, I was as good as new.
“I did it!”
They both looked at me with approval.
“Bravo, princess, you’ve just fulfilled your first enchantment,” Kai said with only half the mockery as usual.
“I’m going to take that compliment and run with it.”
“You should.” Kai lifted a crooked grin.
• • •
Later that day Declan looked to the sun. It hung in the sky just above the shade of trees, making its descent. “I need to make it back to Faylinn by sunset. I must go.”
“Oh.” A twinge of sadness weighed on me at the thought of having to end the day. “Evening shift, huh?”
I had settled for practicing my balance in the trees for the remainder of the afternoon. They showed off, of course, flipping from branch to branch and swinging from vine to vine. It was actually pretty fascinating. Almost like watching Cirque Du Soleil fae men style. I didn’t want the day to end. It was the first day in. . .in. . .I don’t know how long that I relaxed and miraculously had fun.
He nodded and shifted his eyes to Kai. “You good here?”
“Oh, ye of little faith.”
“Well?” Declan said. “I never know with you. Sometimes you stick around, sometimes you don’t want to.”
“I’ll be around for a little while tonight.”
“Good,” Declan said and turned to me. “Be safe walking home, Calliope.”
“I will. Thanks, Declan. For everything today.”
He bowed his head, lifting his strong hand in a wave and sauntered west into the depths of the woodlands. I watched until his chiseled figure was swallowed up by the surrounding lush green.
When I shifted my eyes back to Kai, he was watching me strangely. I couldn’t put my finger on the blank stare of his deep blue-iris eyes. His scrutiny unsettled me so I decided it was time to go.
“I should go, too.” I started to make my way in the direction of my house.
“Stay.” Kai said it hesitantly as if he didn’t know why he said it. Then his face cringed as if he wished he didn’t say it, but didn’t take it back.
I looked back to him. “I can’t.”
He let the quirk in his smile turn up the corner, but it didn’t quite meet his eyes. “You can’t? Or you won’t?”
A stupid part of me wanted to stay. But why? He had never done anything but insult or mock me. His rare moments of kindness were there, but mostly he left me anxious. “It’ll be dark soon and I should be in the house before dark,” I stumbled over my words.
“You don’t trust me, do you?” He tilted his head to one side, studying me.
“It’s not a matter of trust, Kai,” I said truthfully. “In all honesty, my mom doesn’t know about me yet. If she sees me walking out of the trees past dark she’ll freak.”
“As opposed to you walking out of the trees during the day,” he said dryly.
“During the day at least I could say I was just exploring, taking a walk or something, but there really is no good excuse if I come traipsing in the house late at night from the backyard.”
He folded his arms over his chest. “So you’ll tell your friend Cameron, but you can’t tell your mother, a woman who already knows about the existence of the fae, that you’re a faery?”
“My dad has asked me not to.”
His face changed as if he thought he had it all figured out. “Ah. The loyalty card.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re loyal to your father.” He shrugged.
“Well, yeah. . .he’s my dad. But I’m loyal to my mom too. She just has a lot on her plate right now. We’ll tell her when the time is right.”
Kai rested his eyes curiously on me and for a couple seconds neither of us said a word. It hadn’t occurred to me that we were only about a foot apart when I felt us drifting closer. When had he gotten so close?
I blinked and the fury started to build inside of me. “Would you stop doing that? You promised you would never do it again.”
Then he blinked and the moment was gone as he sauntered away from me. “Do what?” He smirked.
“Enticement. You keep using it and I don’t appreciate it.”
He chortled, clearly pleased with himself. “Sorry to say, princess, but I haven’t used Enticement on you since the first day we met. I told you I wouldn’t.”
He had to be lying. But as he smiled at me smugly I could see the truthfulness in his eyes.
“I’m afraid this is just my natural charm. I’m better than I thought.”
I bit the insides of my cheeks, feeling the blush redden them. “Whatever. Don’t flatter yourself.”
I could see the satisfaction in his eyes. “Have a good night.” He stepped further back and started to go.
“Wait. That’s it?”
He looked to me with a tilted grin. “What? You want me to sit here and beg for your presence? Sorry, princess, I don’t grovel.” He turned from me again and began his walk away.
No. He didn’t get to turn his back on me over and over. And no, I didn’t expect him to grovel; I just didn’t like him always having the last word. He didn’t get to walk away this time. I ran in front of him. He nearly stumbled back, but was caught by his quick reflexes.
“Can I help you?” he said sardonically polite.
“You’re so infuriating!” I announced and clenched my fists. Was that really my best comeback?
“One of my better qualities, if I do say so myself.”
“No, you don’t get to do that.” I fervently shook my head. “You don’t get to agree with me while I’m insulting you.”
“You should really practice a little more on the insults, princess. You haven’t quite mastered the art.” He smirked, maddeningly. I wanted so badly to smack it off. Just to see what he would do. “I know a great teacher if you’d like some instruction.”
“Uh! You drive me crazy!” I stomped my foot. What. Was I three?
“Why thank you.” He bowed in his head.
“Why? Why do have to act so above everything all the time? Why don’t you take anything seriously?”
Kai folded his arms over his uncovered chest and lifted an eyebrow, but didn’t reply to me. His silence burrowed deep under my skin. He opened his mouth to speak, but then as if he thought better of it closed it again.
“You can’t answer a simple question?” I persisted.
<
br /> He licked his lips and bit his bottom lips as if he was contemplating an answer. I wanted to kiss that bottom lip and the realization of that thought hit me like a ton of bricks.
I had to fight that ridiculous urge. “Well?” I pressed.
His voice lowered when he spoke. “You make it so easy to toy with you. Some fae would eat you alive.”
I recoiled at the severity of his tone. I couldn’t tell if he wanted to seem playful or menacing. If he was going for menacing, that won. I’d give him a blue ribbon.
“One day you’ll figure it out.”
“Doubt it, since I plan to stay as far away from Faylinn as possible.”
“You’ll give in one day. You won’t be able to fight it any longer. You simply don’t have it in you.”
He was goading me. I knew it and it was working. I lifted my hand to smack him, but before I got the satisfaction he grabbed my wrist and pulled me to his chest. His fresh breath grazed my face and I gasped. His form met every inch of my body, chest to chest, thigh to thigh.
“We’ll work on your hand to hand combat some other day. It’s definitely not at the level it should be by now,” he said, his voice low and husky.
My breath caught. My eyes were level with his lips and the temptation to inch just a little closer was too much to hold back. I watched his lips press together as he swallowed then open them slightly. His warm breath fell across my face. I lifted my eyes to meet the depths of his that could swallow me whole. He blinked once, but that was all it took to sever the connection, pulling me out of the trance.
I let out the breath I was holding and grunted. Yanking my arm from his grip, I turned and stormed away. What in the world was I thinking?
“You know, retreating isn’t really helping your case,” he hollered, but I didn’t listen to him. I wasn’t going to let him affect me anymore today. It had been too perfect of a day to let him ruin it now.
Chapter Sixteen
The next morning I woke to the calming pitter-patter of rain on the windowpane. Water darkened the asphalt as I drove down the road to school. The leaves glistened from the moisture, enhancing their color. As soon as I pulled into the parking lot the rain started to come down in buckets. I shoved my hood up and booked it to the front doors.
