by Rin Chupeco
Loki shook their head. “Maybe Nottingham’s here for some other reason.”
“Other reason, my foot. He strolled into class with that smug, insufferable look on his face, knowing full well I’d be there. He said the Cheshire sent him.”
Ken snickered. “What was it this time? Heart of Darkness? Pride and Prejudice? The Unbearable Lightness of Eating?”
“It’s called The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Ken.”
“Ken’s makes more sense, though,” West opined.
“And not that it’s important, but it was Dante’s Divine Comedy.”
Ken rolled his eyes. “You do remember you’re only posing as a student, and that you’re not actually one in this school, right?”
Zoe snorted, unladylike. “I like school.”
“The only time he ever speaks up is to bug you, so maybe you ought to resist the temptation next time.”
“Maybe he likes you,” West suggested.
“Or he’s trying to annoy Locksley through you,” Loki pointed out.
“What’s a Locksley?” Tala asked, lost once more.
“Not a what. A who. Tristan Locksley,” Ken explained, “is Zoe’s fiancé.”
“He’s not my fiancé,” Zoe said, exasperated. “We’ve only been dating a few months.”
“I don’t think there’s such a thing as ‘dating’ in Avalon,” Loki noted. “I’ve seen people marry after knowing each other three days.”
“The Nottinghams and the Locksleys have been rivals ever since fish could swim,” Ken continued. “If anyone could find a way to sneak into town, it’s Nottingham. And if there’s anyone Nottingham enjoys riling as much as Tristan Locksley, it’s his fian—uh, girlfriend.”
Zoe sighed.
“Warnock!”
Chris Hughes, the school quarterback, stomped into view. A small hush settled over that part of the cafeteria. “Where’s Smith?” he all but snarled.
Tala blinked. Hughes didn’t rank high on her list of friendly people, but last time she checked, he and Alex were on good terms. Did his sister, Lynn, say something? The girl had always seemed nice, if a bit clueless at Alex’s attempts to let her down gently, and far too good to have Hughes for a brother. “I don’t know.”
“Stop hiding that little punk from me!” he snapped, taking a threatening step toward her. “My bike’s missing, and I know he took it! That dickhead better show himself soon, and if you’re not gonna tell me where he is, I’ve got half a mind to make you.”
Ken stood, blocking Hughes’s arm with his hand. Her new friend was taller than Chris, and much more sturdily built. The leer wavered for a moment on Chris’s face, but remained in place with some effort.
“I don’t think so.” Ken’s face was friendly enough, but his happy-go-lucky manner was gone, his voice taking on a sudden steely edge.
“You think you can take me on?” But Hughes’s sneer wobbled again when Loki stood beside Ken, sticking the toothpick between their lips. They raised an empty soda can, lifting it with only their thumb and index finger, and then crushed it easily in between the two digits.
“With all due respect,” Ken said with false cheer, “sod off.”
The two stared at each other; Hughes glaring, Ken calm. It was Chris who backed away first. “You can’t hide him forever, Warnock.” It wasn’t a very effective threat, and Zoe actually laughed as he retreated.
“Thank you,” Tala said, still puzzled.
“No need to thank us.” Ken glowered. “Guys like him are itching to be punched. In the throat. With a car.”
“I don’t know if His Highness is still at Elsmore,” Zoe said, “but you guys ought to make another sweep.”
“But why did he think Alex stole his bike?” Tala asked, but stopped when an odd, low growl rose at the back of West’s throat.
Something dark and vaguely human-shaped had slid away from the cafeteria ceiling and zipped out the door, which was still swinging back and forth from Hughes’s angry shove.
“I’m on it.” Ken pushed his chair back.
“You? Alone?”
“It’s just one shade, Zoe. How much damage could that possibly cause?”
“With you hunting it down? Oh, I dunno. Floods. Burning buildings. General calamity. This place looks like it’s due for an earthquake soon.”
“Oh, ha. Ha-ha. Such a comedian, Zo. I’ll be right back.” He snatched up the guitar case from underneath the table, slung it over his shoulder, and strode out.
“What’s he going to do?” Tala asked.
“Don’t worry. He knows what he’s doing.”
“But you said…”
“If I don’t let him, he’s not going to shut up about it. He’ll be fine.”
“But with a guitar?”
“Would it make you feel better to know that wasn’t a guitar? Swords aren’t the easiest things to smuggle in.” Zoe glanced at her plate and made a face. “Let’s go. I’m not eating any more sloppy joes. We need to find Alexei Tsarevich now, guys. The last thing I need is getting my ass raked over the coals by the Cheshire again.”
“Swords?”
“I mean it,” West said. “I really need to pee.”
8
In Which There Is a Very Good Reason Why Someone’s Head Is on Fire
Alex Smith, a.k.a. Alexei Tasarevich, a.k.a. the seventy-fifth king of Avalon, was still nowhere to be found. It was becoming clear to Tala that he was not within the hallowed halls of Elsmore High nor at its basketball court, where a majority of the students had gathered to cheer for ten guys fighting over one ball. (She could admit that had this been any other occasion she, too, would be sitting on the bleachers and cheering, but with a kingdom at stake, she could afford to be hypocritical.)
West was enjoying himself. “That was the best basketball game I’ve ever watched,” he enthused, “and I’ve seen two of them!”
“That’s nice, West. Loki, are you positive?”
Loki shook their head. “Sorry, Zo. He’s not here.”
The firebird had not made an appearance since that morning, which was one more thing to worry about.
Zoe had gotten off the phone with Alex’s lawyer, Mr. Peets; they were to hold their positions and remain within Elsmore while his own team conducted further searches throughout Invierno. That did nothing to curb Tala’s annoyance, because Alex was a jerk. Why was he so adamant about keeping himself hidden?
The bonfire celebration was their last resort. Zoe had instructed Loki and West to infiltrate the Sydney Doering party over Tala’s protests. “Those two have handled worse things than a group of socialites,” Zoe had assured her.
“That group of socialites has the same kind of mob mentality biologists might observe in a pack of hyenas,” Tala pointed out, “and those two are going to be hopelessly outnumbered in there.”
But Loki only shrugged, their confidence the only loud thing about them. “We’ll be all right.”
Zoe and Tala, on the other hand, had joined the celebration at the desert bonfire, which suited Tala just fine. Her parents were bound to be nearby, and she was relieved, in hindsight, that they’d be close at hand.
Zoe had changed out of her school clothes and was dressed in a very cool black leather outfit that was a cross between a bodysuit and a cloak and would have also looked excellent as part of Tala’s wardrobe, and also had pockets. “Is that some kind of mandatory Banders uniform?” Tala asked. “Where do I place my order?”
Zoe laughed. “We can look into one for you once we reach England. Right now, we’ll need to split up. I’ll take this side, and you comb the other.”
That was all well and good, but now Tala couldn’t find Zoe either. She craned her neck every few seconds, scanning the crowd for glimpses of her father’s tall form or for Zoe’s bodysuit, without success. It was early evening now, and the firewood
had been piled as high as an inquisitioner’s enthusiasm, nearly as high as Tala’s frustration. Leave it to her parents to actually keep their word to stay out of sight and inconvenience her like this.
The mood was hovering on ecstatic, passed on from reveler to reveler like a plague. The Elsmore Tigers had seized the day, winning 102–98 over the Wolves, and everyone was determined to party hard, get drunk, and pass out, likely not in that order.
Zoe had handed over her cell phone number before she’d disappeared, with stern instructions to call should any fresh trouble arise. On her own and friendless, Tala had resorted to climbing up one of the larger rocks overlooking the area, giving her a great view of the desert and also of the bonfire.
The crowds were substantial this year, in no small part because of the win. Magic seared through the cool air, petering as it breezed past her, only to gain steam again once safely out of her range. Spells glittered over hovering cell phones as people posed for group shots, trying to snap a few pictures quickly before the Invierno curse overwhelmed the charm and sent their phones tumbling to the ground.
No sign of her parents. No sign of Zoe. No sign of Alex. Tala tried calling them all, only to have an automated voice inform her that their cell phones were out of the current coverage area, and could she perhaps try again later? Every person she’d asked to borrow phones from had the same problem. It was a common enough issue when out here, but it was still maddening all the same.
No sign of Ryker either. But she shouldn’t be thinking about that.
Someone was distributing cups of wine coolers. She accepted one mechanically and made a face—the stink of the anti-hangover spells mixed in was stronger to her than the smell of alcohol—and set the untouched drink on the ground beside her.
“Hey, Tala?”
She looked down from her rock perch. Lynn Hughes was staring up at her, smiling nervously. “I was wondering…” She shifted from foot to foot, nervous. “I was wondering if, you know, you’d seen Alex anywhere?”
“Sorry. I really don’t know where he is.”
“He wasn’t in school. He’s not sick, is he?”
“He’s not. He was really looking forward to today’s bonfire, though. I’m pretty sure he’s wandering around here somewhere.”
The girl perked up. “Maybe you’re right. Thanks!”
“Poor girl,” Tala muttered, watching her leave.
“This seat taken?”
She froze again, not sure her heart could take any more shocks. Truthfully, Ryker Cadfael was the last thing on her mind given everything going on, but now that he’d reentered her thoughts, she was starting to forget everything else. He was already climbing up the boulder to her with the relative ease and sleekness of a mountain jaguar (or puma or panther, whatever, she was terrible at compliments), as precise with his movements here as he’d been shooting hoops. A few boys clapped him on the shoulder as he made the ascent, shouting their congratulations, but Ryker only had eyes for her. A thrill shot up her spine, not an unpleasant sensation.
“Want me to get you a drink?”
“A drink?” she echoed, then shook her head quickly. “Oh. No. No, thank you. I’m not thirsty.”
“Okay, then.” He slid beside her, grinned. “You looked distracted for a sec there.”
“Oh. I was wondering where my parents were.”
Ryker looked startled. “Your parents are here?”
Silently, Tala cursed herself. Way to look cool. “Yeah. Just for a few minutes. They like bonfires. My mom’s even been to Burning Man.”
“I think that’s great. Some parents aren’t around enough for their kids.” For a brief moment, Ryker looked sad, and Tala felt bad for even introducing the subject. Most likely his property-developer dad was too busy for him. “So. Didn’t see you at the stands during the game.”
Tala tried hard not to sound guilty. “Sorry. I was looking for Alex.” The words were out of her mouth before she realized again that she shouldn’t have mentioned that—not because it was supposed to be a secret, but because he might get the wrong idea. She was right; Ryker looked a little hurt, a little unsure of himself, which was a strange thing to see on someone who’d probably never made an unpopular decision in his life.
“You and Smith… Are you guys friends, or…y’know, if you have a history… I’m not angry, of course, but I would just rather know if you two had any—”
“No!” That came out too strong, too panicked. She forced herself to repeat it again, in a stronger, calmer voice than what she actually felt. “No. Alex is kind of my best friend. There’s nothing else, really. That’s the truth.”
He relaxed. The smile was back. “Sorry. I know you guys are close, and he says the same thing…but sometimes I can’t help but feel jealous.”
Ryker? Actually jealous? Because of her?
“That’s ridiculous,” she finally said, surprise making her careless with her words. “You’re…you could have anyone.”
Anyone else attempting false modesty would have denied that, but Ryker only nodded, a thoughtful expression on his face. “Because I’m on the basketball team, right? But it’s not like I’ve done this before. I’m not someone who wants a girlfriend for the sake of having one.”
“You…don’t?” She usually had so many things to say about anything. So many words she knew how to use. A googolplex of subject-verb-predicate combinations, even. But right here, on what should really be the most romantic highlight of her life, she was forgetting how to string English together.
“You know that game we had earlier this year? The practice one with the Rosefield Wildcats?”
Of course she did. Alex had wheedled her into waiting in the gym while he retrieved some baseball equipment from storage. She’d started watching the game while he was gone—at first out of boredom, until she realized she was paying far too much attention to the blue-eyed, dark-haired guy wearing number twelve than she had wanted to. That was three months ago. Number Twelve had looked up and given her a wide grin, and instead of smiling back like any sane girl would have done, she had tried to blend into the stands like an embarrassed chameleon, and was relieved when Alex returned shortly after.
“I was the new kid, then. Just gotten onto varsity basketball and nervous about proving myself to the team. That was my first game.” He stared off into the distance, smiling. “Landowski passed me the ball, and I had a clear shot. I turned to make it, and I saw you, getting up to leave and looking bored out of your mind.”
Tala blushed.
“That was a compliment, by the way. The cheerleaders were there, and so were lots of people, rooting for us—but you stood out. I think it was because it struck me then how lonely you looked despite being surrounded by a crowd. I missed the shot.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It sailed right past the hoop, ricocheted off the board, and hit Coach Myers right in his bald spot.”
Tala covered her mouth to hide her sudden giggle.
“They never let me forget that, you know. They still joke about it. But all I remember in that moment was watching you leave with Smith. And that I hated that you looked lonely. And I wondered how to change that, what would bring a smile to your face.” He ran a hand through his hair, suddenly self-conscious. “I didn’t even know your name, then.”
He hadn’t known her name, but she had caught his attention and she hadn’t even noticed. “I’m sorry.”
He laughed. “Don’t apologize. Based on what Alex was willing to tell me in those weeks after, wooing you was going to require a different approach. You definitely weren’t going to be impressed by my basketball stats, for starters. He said you had all the romantic inclinations of a scared rabbit.”
If Alex really was still in Invierno, Tala was going to have to find the time to strangle him first before they sent him away.
“I didn’t do a good job, did I?�
� Ryker sounded rueful. “In the end, it was Alex who made the assist for me, and I still have to thank him. He left me a pretty good opening in the cafeteria to swoop in and just ask, after the month I wasted racking my brain and worrying you’d turn me down. Figured getting rejected was better than spending more weeks agonizing whether you would.”
“You didn’t really have to do so much,” Tala mumbled into her shoes. “I would have said yes.”
“Is this permission for me to start over, so I can ask you out the right way this time?”
Tala nodded, nearly petrified with anticipation.
“Tala.” Strong hands cupped her jaw, the touch light enough that she barely sensed it, and she was greedy enough to lean in so she could feel more. “Go out with me again? Please?”
“I would very much like that,” she breathed.
He was so, so close. His eyes were a ridiculous cobalt blue, a faint flush slashing across his cheeks. If Tala had been of a braver sort, she would bridged the distance between them and…
She made a brief, inconsequential movement, one that caused her to inadvertently lean forward. She watched his eyes widen, only to narrow again as they settled on her mouth.
“Tala.”
Now, this. This was her first kiss. It was inconceivable to imagine that Alex’s platonic peck the year before would ever be close to mattering, because this was a kiss. This was Ryker kissing her, the faintest touch of his lips against hers, light and fleeting at first, then growing more and more emboldened with every brush, surer and stronger as he applied the right amount of dizzying pressure, sweetly insistent until Tala’s mouth parted.
It was like lightning, a pleasant shock that sizzled in between them like a burst of truth. And still he wouldn’t stop, mouth stealing on hers over and over and over. By the time he finally raised his head, he was breathing harshly, while Tala was the complete opposite, her breath stolen away.
“Tala,” Ryker murmured. “I—”
A soft purr rose from behind them. The firebird stood there and grinned, a long tongue actually lolling out from its beak. If she hadn’t known any better, she could have sworn the damn bird was trolling her.
