by Devyn Dawson
Amber’s Faerie-Tale
A Light Tamer Novella
Devyn Dawson
Published by Devyn Dawson
©Copyright 2014
License Notes
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
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Cover design by Devyn Dawson
Editing by Paris Kelly
Dedication
To every girl whoever felt different and wanted nothing more than a friend to share secrets with, this book is for you !
Table of Contents
Dedication
To every girl whoever felt different and wanted nothing more than a friend to share secrets with, this book is for you
Preface
Chapter 1. Boys get on my nerves
Chapter 2. Dinner with the Queen
Chapter 3 Dress Like a Queen
Chapter 4. The Woodlands
Chapter 5. Starlight
Chapter 6. When in Rome
Chapter 7. Sweet Dreams
Chapter 8. Deja Vu
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Gatekeeper's Sons: Gatekeeper's Saga, Book One
Echoes
The Forgotten Ones
RNS
Preface
THIS isn’t really a love story or a faerie tale. I’m sure you’ve heard that before, but it’s true. Love stories aren’t for girls like me. I should know, I’ve been me for sixteen years. How many teenagers with blue hair, face piercings and acne get to have a love story? None. We’re the outcasts, the creative ones who draw pictures and write dark poetry. We chew gum in class and pretend we’re cool. Life is easier this way….at least it is for me.
I met him on the first day of school this year. He walked in with that careless attitude, one that matches mine perfectly. It isn’t every day in New Bern, North Carolina, that I see a guy with the same exact shoes I have on. Doc Martens have been my favorite shoe forever, especially the black combat boots like mine.
I made it my mission that day…to kiss him in front of everyone at school.
Over the summer, my friend Caleb, hooked up with Jessie Lucente. They didn’t hook up like THAT. No, my virgin friends defy teenage hormones and do stupid things like stare into each other’s eyes as they play checkers. I told them strip checkers would be more interesting. They didn’t take my advice.
Since I’ve been a disgruntled teen from the day I started high school, I need to keep my reputation. When you hang out with the good kids, it starts to damage the bad girl image. I didn’t want anyone to think I went soft, so if I kissed the new, hot, bad boy, I’d let people know I’m still cool.
I’ve made out with a couple of guys here and there since my kissing days started. But I’ve never done the boyfriend thing. One thing I don’t do is hook up. It isn’t as though I’m holding my virginity for everlasting love. I don’t want to worry about all the things you have to worry about once you have sex, so I’ll wait a little longer to lose my virginity. My brother cured me of ever wanting the complications that go with sex and boys. He was a tramp; he had girls from here to there and back. Those girls would sob over him when they’d break up and act like a fool to get him back. I’m not going to be THAT girl. When I do the deed, he’s going to be worth the effort.
Thorne Woodson, he’s a fine specimen of a man-boy. When he walked across the classroom without a care in the world, I knew I had to make him mine. The teacher scolded him for being late and he didn’t care. That simple act of defiance grabbed my attention and I liked it, a lot.
In second period, I decided the best place to kiss him would be in the cafeteria at lunch. I believe in getting the most bang for your buck. Meaning, the more people who watched me take control of Mister Hotness with a big juicy kiss, the more people who’d talk about how badass I am. Operation B.A., worked.
My angst filled teenage world was turned upside down when I found out us Light Tamers are faeries. Yeah, I’m a freakin’ faerie. Our ability to heal with our light apparently makes us fae. It shouldn’t shock me, not since Erebus escaped the Underworld and was fixated on stealing my friend Jessie. His girlfriend Nyx got ticked and has vowed to destroy Jessie and kill me.
Thorne showed up to protect Jessie, he’s a Guardian who guards other supernaturals. He introduced us to the Shimmer. The first time I ever crossed through the Shimmer was for Jessie and Caleb’s wedding. Yeah right, exactly what I thought too, getting married is insane! The Shimmer leads to the Woodlands, the opening to the land of Fae. No one is running around flapping wings, or sprinkling faerie dust, they seem more cunning and calculated….almost vengeful.
Chapter 1. Boys get on my nerves
TWO WEEKS AGO - One week post Operation B.A. Kiss
“I don’t care how cute he is, he’s nuts. I’m not interested in Thorne; so stop trying to make me go on a date with him,” I snarl to Jessie. Ugh, it won’t be long before she discovers the truth.
Jessie nervously fiddles with her braid, pulling it over her shoulder. “Sorry…I just figured since you’re obviously attracted to him, you’d go out with him.”
“I’m not obviously attracted to anyone. Can we please talk about something other than my lack of a boyfriend? What’s going on with those people in Faerie Land? That Teagan woman sounds like a PIA if I’ve ever heard of one before.” I dip my french fry in my chocolate shake and shove it in my mouth.
“That Teagan woman, is the Queen of the Seelie Court, and I don’t know what a PIA is,” Jessie admits.
It’s impossible not to be awed by the fact Jessie moved here from the Bronx and is as naïve as a toddler. “PIA is pain in the ass,” I exclaim. “You’re the only New Yorker I’ve ever met who doesn’t cuss or talk funny.”
“I cuss!” Jessie smacks her hand on the dashboard. “Dammit!”
“Ohhhhhh, so hood,” I tease. We’ve been sitting in my Jeep at Sonic for the last twenty minutes. “Be kind to my baby, she’s fragile.” I lean forward and kiss my steering wheel.
“Jeeps are made tough; your baby can handle a little swat. I need to get home; Mrs. Ward wants me to work on something for her.”
“Yeah, I’ve got something to do too.”
I’ve only had the Jeep for a few days and I haven’t had the doors or top on it at all. The benefits of living in the eastern part of North Carolina, we have warm weather until fall.
We pull up to Jessie’s grandma’s house and the familiar BMW is in the driveway. Caleb steps out of the car and meets Jessie in the driveway with an energetic hug. I turn up the music and drive away before I get stuck having to witn
ess their make-out session.
I wave at them as I pull out onto the street.
He’s thumbing through a graphic novel on the Manga Isle in Books a Million. I love the way his Doc’s are untied and his shoelaces are so long they’re splayed out on the floor.
He turns around so fast, I jump and yelp a little.
“Oh, I can’t ever sneak up on you!” I punch him in the arm.
“I’m the guardian remember? It’s virtually impossible to sneak up on us. We have built in radars,” Thorne says giving me his award winning smirk.
“Do you really?” I ask incredulously.
He chuckles and I follow him towards the coffee shop. “Nah, well, we do have a radar; but I saw your reflection in that picture hanging on the wall. Did you tell Jessie yet?”
“Mmmmmmm, no.”
“Is it really that important to keep it a big secret?” He sets a bottle of water on the counter. “You want some coffee?”
“Yeah, I’ll take a vanilla latte. I don’t want her reading anything into it; we’re just hanging out, not getting married.” Maybe I’d like something more, but he’s not a Tamer and he’s in charge of guarding my semi-best-friend. The barista calls his name and he gets up to grab my latte.
I giggle to myself as he trips on his shoelaces as he heads back to our table.
“You really should tie your shoes. Gimme your foot,” I say and pat my knee. He grins that ridiculously adorable cat-like grin at me and places his foot on my knee. I tell him step by step how to tie the shoe. He watches me as though it is the most fascinating thing he’s ever watched before. We’re both too busy with his shoe to notice a group of snobs from school.
“Oh Thorne, how cute, you got yourself a little pet to tie your shoe. If you decide to give up on little gothic girls, give me a call,” Stacy the school skank says. She thinks since she’s the captain of the cheerleading squad, she’s entitled to date whomever she wants.
Thorne looks at Stacy as though she’s grown a horn out of her forehead. “You’re really not my type. You’re simply ordinary, and I’m not an ordinary kind of person. By the way, Amber is anything but ordinary, she’s amazing.” The words fall from his lips and my heart leaps to my throat. “Could you scurry away now, we’re having a private conversation,” Thorne says sarcastically.
“Come on Jackie, the stench in here is turning my stomach.” Stacy huffs and her ponytail swings back and forth as they walk away.
Thorne and I stare at each other before we both burst out in laughter. The kind that makes you snort and make strange gurgling noises.
“Have those girls been like that to you forever?” Thorne asks and takes a drink from his bottled water.
“No, once upon a time, Stacy and I were actually friends. Albeit it was a long time ago, it doesn’t mean anything now. We quit hanging out in middle school, but she wasn’t mean to me. We just outgrew each other and had different activities we were involved in. My family spent a lot of time at the ocean and she played sports. When my brother died, something happened to everyone. Suddenly, I was the freak and the gothic girl. It felt like everyone turned against me.” The air suddenly feels thick and my heart speeds up as I think about Stacy. “Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t been filled with cotton candy and unicorns. I don’t want to talk about them. Tell me, what’s on the agenda for tonight?”
“I have to check on Jessie, can we ride over there together? I won’t tell her about us swapping spit,” he teases.
Honestly, I want to tell Jessie, but I’m afraid as soon as I do, he’ll have to go away. This way it’s our secret. She knows that we’ve hung out a couple of times, mostly because she doesn’t want him guarding her non-stop. “Yeah, we can go check on Jess. She has something I want to borrow anyway.”
“You’re wearing each other’s clothes now? I can’t imagine her putting on one of your tu-tu things and going out on a date with Caleb. That would be hysterical though.”
“Ugh, you think my tu-tu is hysterical?” It would be funny to see her wearing one though. Her little preppy girly self wouldn’t be caught dead in a tu-tu and combat boots.
“No, no, no, not hysterical on you…but really? Jessie doesn’t have the hair to pull off your look. I happen to think your look is off the chain, so don’t try to twist my words into something different.”
I purse my lips and twirl in a circle. “Off the chain, huh? I do rock them, don’t I?” I smile up at him and he drapes his arm over my shoulder. It’s still strange having someone openly showing me affection in public. “She has a CD I want to borrow. Mr. Pirate police, before you get all worked up like you did last time…no, I’m not ripping the music. I just want to listen to it before I buy my own copy.” He found out I burned a copy of a CD that a girl loaned me and he went into a pirating speech. I had to hear about taking money away from the musician by stealing his music. He has friends who are indie-rockers and they’re always complaining about people stealing their stuff off the internet.
He pulls me closer and kisses the top of my head, which is the most public affection we’ve ever had. A hand holding here and there, but lips on my head? I tense up for a second and he realizes what he did.
“If you didn’t make me put on this charade with Jessie, it wouldn’t be a big deal. Have you even told her that we’re going to the dance together?”
I knew he’d ask me that. Dammit. “No, but I will. I want to stop for fries on the way over, do you want anything?”
Fries have become our thing. We both get fries and a soda and have bets on who will find a face burned into the side of a fry. I heard a girl found the face of Jesus on her grilled cheese sandwich and sold it on Ebay for a thousand bucks. I figure if we can find a face on a fry we can make double the money. Either way, we have fun doing our research.
“Yeah, I could go for some fries too.”
Chapter 2. Dinner with the Queen
JESSIE and Caleb are in the kitchen with Miss Gayle, Jessie’s grandma. They’re playing Phase 10. Miss Gayle stays for a couple of minutes before she says she’s going to watch the girls on the Bachelor act like floozies.
“I’m glad you’re here Caleb, it makes it easier not to tell the story twice. Teagan has requested your appearance for a dinner in your honor. We’ll need to journey into the Woodlands. It won’t be anything major, and everyone will be safe which is guaranteed by the Queen. It will be a private dinner in honor of the two of you. Amber and I will be there too. Caleb, I told you that you’d be getting your own guardian; well, he’ll be here tomorrow. He’s a nice guy, he’s quiet, but he’s cool.”
Jessie is dressed in a black hoodie with red lettering. I can’t make out what it says because the table is blocking the lower half, but I think it’s from her school in New York. Her blond hair is messy from having it in a braid all day. She’s one of those girls who are beautiful without trying.
“Are you sure we’ll be safe?” Caleb asks.
“I’m sure that every measure will be taken to assure your safety,” Thorne replies in his guardian authoritative voice.
“I don’t mean it like that, you know what I mean. I don’t want the wrath of Gayle on me. When is the dinner?”
“Let me get the paper I wrote it down on,” he reaches in his pocket and pulls out a yellow sticky note. “Six on Thursday, time won’t be an issue since it moves at a different speed there.”
Jessie scoots her chair back and crosses the massive kitchen to refresh her water. “It isn’t as though I can say no. What does one wear to dinner with a queen?”
“Your seamstress will have a dress for you and Amber sent here tomorrow. She’ll include clothes for Caleb too.” Thorne takes the note and puts it back in his pocket.
“What about you?” Jessie asks.
“I have several suits and a couple of tuxedos with me.”
Jessie and I both turn his direction. “You carry a tuxedo with you when you’re off being a guardian?” I ask him.
“You never know what’s going to hap
pen. Random people might end up getting married, or have a school dance to go to.”
“Most people just rent one. I know, you’re not most people,” I bump my knee into his. Every time he brings up the school dance, I get nervous.
He reaches over and puts his hand on mine, sending all nerve endings on high alert. Without thinking, I pull my hand back and put it in my lap. Jessie’s eyebrows instantly arched as she gave me the look. The kind of look that says I’m not fooling anyone.
“What?” I snap at Jessie. My go-to mode is sarcasm when I’m trying to cover up my nervousness or uncomfortable moments.
She answers with a shrug and eye roll. That’s what I like about her, she’s never fazed by my attitude.
“What time will we leave here? How will we get there? By horse?” Caleb asks.
“They’re sending a carriage for us at five. Hopefully, we won’t run across any trouble on our way to the Seelie Court. I doubt anyone is stupid enough to mess with a carriage that belongs to Teagan. Talk about a woman with a ruthless reputation, she’s downright lethal.” Thorne pulls out his phone and taps out a text to someone.
If she’s lethal, and Unseelie people are tyrants, I wonder what people will say about Jessie. Everything that Thorne and Miss Gayle has told us, fae are wild and untrustworthy.
“A carriage is going to traipse through Jessie’s neighborhood and expect to keep a low profile?” I stand up to stretch my legs.
“You’re hilarious, no, we’re going to meet them at the entrance. In human time, we’ll only be gone a little over an hour. In fae time, we’ll be gone about 8 hours.” Thorne stands and pushes his chair back in. “We’re going to get out of here. The seamstress will be here tomorrow when you get home from school.”
“Thorne, is it really necessary for a seamstress to make me clothes for a dinner? Are jeans frowned upon?” Jessie says as she leans forward in her chair.
