by E. A. Weston
“I missed you too Rea, a lot,” she replies. “I’m sorry I had to leave after…” she trails off leaving the sentence unfinished but I know what she means.
“It’s okay, it hurt losing you too but I knew you had to go,” I answer.
“You’re my best friend, Reagan, in both realms,” she says sadly.
“You’re mine too, even Killian can’t take that spot,” I look at her and see her eyes gloss over before she clears her throat.
“You need to sleep,” she tells me.
“I need to shower,” I groan trying to get up but she is beside me in a flash.
“Bed Reagan, rest,” she says shoving my shoes off and climbing in beside me.
“Just like when were kids,” I whisper.
“Yeah, goodnight Reagan.”
“Night Claudia.”
We turn away from each other so our backs press together just like we used to do all those years ago. The bones in my back hurt to be pressed against her but I don’t move. I know she is here but part of me is still unbelieving. I just hope she will be here when I wake up.
Chapter 30
The morning sun shines like a beacon to a survivor in a lost world but to me, it just blinds. With an exaggerated groan, I roll onto my back shielding my eyes with my arm. The room is quiet and the spot beside me is empty and for a split second panic rushes through me at the thought of being alone again, then I remember that I have friends now. Fairy friends, as crazy as that sounds it makes me smile like a Cheshire cat. Jumping out of bed I hiss at the sunlight like a vampire before swinging open my bedroom door and skipping down the stairs.
I feel light and my headache is gone leaving my mind clear. In the kitchen, I find Claudia holding Aurelia’s wrist as she mumbles in fairy. Brokk hovers by the door pretending not to watch.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
“Trying to remove the seer’s stone,” Aurelia tells me. “It is taking a long time,” she smiles.
“Because she cannot do it, it is not her magic,” Brokk says.
“Brokk, relax. Aurelia is not being hurt and you have no reason to think Claudia will hurt her,” I say.
“Well it is my job to protect the princess,” he replies.
“Yeah, protect her Brokk, from enemies, not friends,” I scowl. He is beginning to annoy me with his over protectiveness and he sounds a lot more like Connor these days. Turning on the coffee pot, I grab some bread to make toast. The sink is evidence that they have all eaten already. Once I am eating I watch Claudia too, her lips move fast but I can barely hear her. I wonder if Killian was holding back his speed with me, except for that one day out in the green, I haven’t seen him speed around the place.
With a heavy sigh, Claudia sits back in the chair and rolls her shoulders. Aurelia frowns as she pulls her hand away, looking down at the band of green seer’s stone firmly wrapped around her wrist. Claudia looks exhausted but determined.
“I will try again later,” she announces, pushing up off the chair. “I have some things to do but I will be back in a few hours.”
“What things?” I question.
“Oh, just…things,” she says scooting around me.
“Hey, Claudia,” I call out but she is out the door and slams it closed before I can even step out of the kitchen. Glancing over to Aurelia, she just shrugs her shoulders at me.
Weird.
“So what’s the deal with the stone?” I ask nodding at it.
“It is old magic so it will take time,” Aurelia replies. “I believe it may have been a member of Claudia’s family but I’m not sure.”
“Oh really, but didn’t Connor kill the seer after they put that on you?”
“Yes,” she sighs sadly.
“Oh. Poor Claudia,” I can’t help but feel for her. I know what it’s like to have family one minute then they are gone the next. Aurelia excuses herself and leaves the room without another glance. Brokk and I sit in silence for a while, the sound of me chewing my toast is getting on my own nerves. I watch Brokk as he stares out of the window, his blue eyes, and hair seeming unreal in this world.
“What’s on your mind Brokk?”
With a deep sigh, he flicks his eyes towards me before training them back on the window. I watch him contemplate and chew the inside of his jaw before he speaks softly.
“I wish to go home,” he says. “But I fear it will never be the same.”
“I don’t think anywhere is ever the same once you’ve left, trust me,” I tell him with a half-hearted smile. When he turns to look at me, I can see the pain in his eyes, the same pain that Killian used to try to hide from me.
“Is it really that bad being away from Avalon?” I ask, genuinely curious.
“It is,” he agrees. “It feels like a part of you is missing, like a day that the sun doesn’t rise. You can see fine but you know something is missing.”
“Wow,” I smile at him. “Sounds…sad,” I agree.
“Indeed,” he nods. “Can I ask you something, Reagan?”
“Yeah, sure, go for it.”
“How well do you know this seer?” he looks at me, really looks at me as if by doing so he can try to read my mind.
“I’ve known her since I was twelve, I think. We were best friends for years and then my parents went missing. After senior year in high school, Claudia went to college abroad,” I smile at the lie, more to myself than Brokk.
“But you did not know she was a fairy,” he says.
“No, I didn’t.”
“So how can you trust her? If she kept herself hidden from you for many years, then how can you trust her so?”
I don’t like his question because it is making me doubt my friendship and one of the kindest people I have ever known. “I just do Brokk, I trust her with my life. She never harmed me in any way.” I shrug.
“Okay, I will have faith in her only because you say so, but I will still keep watch over Aurelia, she is my first concern,” he tells me.
“I know she is Brokk, you’ve watched over her for a long time. You know that if we get back to Avalon, Avery will be there.”
“Yes, I know and I am happy that I will have family once again,” he nods.
“What about Aurelia?”
“I do not understand?” he says looking quizzically at me.
“Do you like her more than you should?” I ask, feeling a bit bad about it.
“No,” he smiles at me. A bright smile that lights up his whole face. “No, Reagan I do not like the princess more than I should. She is my princess and betroth to my uncle and my only duty is to keep her safe until they can be reunited.”
“Sounds easy,” I chuckle.
“Never,” he shakes his head. “I have always kept her out of trouble even when she did not know it. Even when Connor wanted to end her life after she refused to be bound to him.”
“Ugh, I really don’t like that guy,” I grumble.
“I fear many do not but they will not go against him for fear of their lives or that of their family,” Brokk tells me.
“Do you know why he attacked the castle?” I ask.
* * *
“No, I do not,” he shakes his head. “I don’t think he has ever told anyone why.”
We sit in silence for another little while, Brokk far away in his thoughts and me in mine. I wonder what Killian is doing now. I hope that he is safe and alive.
“We should continue with our training,” he announces.
“Why?” I ask.
“I fear when we do return to Avalon we will be at war,” he says.
“Yeah, I think you’re right,” I agree. I know he is right. Killian didn’t go home just to live in hiding or allow some lunatic to rule his kingdom.
“How do you feel today?” Brokk’s sudden change in subject has me turning to face him.
“Fine, why?”
“You were unmoving for a long time yesterday. I thought for sure the princess had killed you.” He smiles.
“That was only a fe
w seconds Brokk,” I reply scowling at him.
“No it was not, you fell while the sun was descending and woke as it lowered the horizon,” he explains.
“Huh. That would explain the headache I suppose but she didn’t hit my head, it was my shoulder.” Speaking of, I pull down the neck of my t-shirt to inspect. There’s a nice bruise forming but that’s about it, no broken skin.
“You are truly something special for a human,” he smiles at me again.
“Yeah?” I ask teasingly.
Brokk allows himself a short laugh before giving me another smile.
“Do you want to get out of here for a while?” I ask. He looks at me confused for a minute. “I’ll get dressed and you glamor yourself.” Racing back to my room I grab a sweater and Killian’s jacket. When I reach the bottom of the stairs, Brokk is standing there still the same as he was two minutes ago. “Glamor up,” I smile opening the door.
We step outside and I begin to walk down the sidewalk. Brokk walks beside me, silent. I glance at him quickly noticing that his glamor turns his blue hair brown and eyes a nice hazel color. We walk toward campus slowly. Brokk is busy looking around at the houses and cars. Up ahead I spot about five guys standing on the corner smoking, I move a little closer to Brokk and my body tenses when I recognize they are the same guys that killed that one on the street last year.
The closer we get to them they move back a little to let us pass. Brokk casually puts his arm around my shoulders pulling me against his side. I see the guy that pulled me into the ally and press myself even closer to Brokk. We are just coming up to him and he begins to scratch at the scruff under his chin when we are level he smirks while drawing his finger across his neck. Once we pass I relax a little but I still want to get far away from them.
“You are safe Reagan,” Brokk says bending down to speak low in my ear.
I give him a quick side-glance and a small smile, “Thanks, Brokk.”
“You are welcome, I will not let anyone harm you, Reagan,” he says.
“I appreciate that but how did you know I needed protection?” I ask.
“I can read people, and it is my job. I am a guardian after all,” he gives me that broad smile again and I can’t help but grin back.
“I like this side of you Brokk,” I tell him wrapping my arm around his waist. To anyone else we look like a normal couple, well maybe not normal because let’s face it, he looks like a Versace model next to me, and all the girls we pass take note. Continuing down the street, we arrive at the small downtown area. The cobblestones beneath my feet are a familiar feeling that makes me smile.
Brokk looks around at the stores as we slow our pace down. We stop outside Starbucks and pangs of regret and loss stir inside of me.
“Coffee?” I ask, pushing the door open.
Brokk shrugs, “I don’t drink coffee Reagan but I will try.”
Smiling I lead him inside, I order my usual but I decide to ease Brokk into coffee getting him a milky latte. We sit by the window waiting for our drinks. “My best friend used to work here,” I blurt out.
“Where is she now?” Brokk questions.
“She moved away after I went with Killian. It’s a long story,” I say on a heavy sigh. When my name is called, I grab our drinks from the counter. Brokk smiles at me before sniffing the little hole where the coffee comes out of the lid. He frowns then takes a sip. I wait for his reaction, a little bit giddy and smiling at him. I watch as he swallows one, two, mouthfuls before he lowers the cup.
“I…it is not what I expected,” he smiles.
“Is that good or bad?”
“I like it,” he says with a nod as if to reinforce the thought. We enjoy a few minutes sipping our coffee before we move down the street. I point out various places while explaining to Brokk what they are. We arrive at Granite, where a heavy sigh escapes my lips.
“You do not like this place?”
“I’m not really one for the whole dance like sardines and sweat all over each other but this is where I first met Killian,” I tell him.
“What is this place?” he asks. I do my best to explain what a nightclub is to him. “And our Prince worked here?” he asks astonished.
“Yeah, I’m not sure why. I never did ask him, I was too busy running away,” I laugh.
“Yet, you did not go very far,” he grins at me with mischief in his eyes.
“No, I didn’t, he followed me everywhere I went.”
“I can see why Reagan. Our Prince is lucky to have found you,” he nods to me in a sort of bow.
“Okay, enough of the weird, let’s go,” grabbing his arm I pull him away from the club and down the other street where the New Age Store is located. We enter the store and Brokk grips my waist, stopping me from moving further inside. Tilting my head back to look up at him in question he just looks around the store with a frown.
“Everything okay?” I whisper, trying not to draw any more attention to us then what his looks already have.
“I’m not sure, stay close,” he says in such a low tone I have to take a minute to process it.
We walk through the store to the back where the stones are kept. The sales girl is the same one that I saw when I fist got back and she still keeps her head stuck in her phone. I rummage through the stones looking for that blue stone again. I don’t find anything I like so I move toward the back doorway. The girl perks up calling out that I can’t go back there, she walks across the floor with a scowl on her face.
“Don’t you read,” she snarls pointing to the management only sign.
“I want to see Athena,” I shrug.
“Yeah well, next time ask,” she snarls. Athena appears in the doorway of her office a few feet away. Brokk presses himself in front of me, half blocking my view.
“Reagan,” Athena smiles, waving me back to her office.
I try to move around Brokk but his grip on my arm is like iron. Frowning at him he looks frustrated.
“It’s okay, I know her,” I tell him, easing his grip on my arm. Together we walk back to the office where Athena sits with her tarot cards out on display. My body involuntary shivers when I see them. “Hi, I was just looking for a large stone,” I tell her. “But there’s none out in the bucket,” I hitch my thumb in the direction of the store.
“Help yourself,” she smiles waving toward her storage cupboard where all the expensive stones are kept. Moving to open the doors I browse at the gems laid out on the shelves. On the bottom, I spy what I want and reach down to lift it up.
“Do you have any more of this, maybe a bit smaller?”
Athena glances at me quickly before her eyes revert to Brokk, “in the storage room.”
“Okay, I’ll just be a minute,” I say moving out of her office. Brokk is right behind me grumbling about not having his sword. “What are you talking about?” I ask once I close the door behind us.
“I do not like this place Reagan, you should not be here,” he says frowning again.
“I’ll just be a minute,” I smile then dig through the boxes as quickly as I can. Finding what I want, we leave the room. “Thanks, Athena,” I say poking my head into her office but she’s not in there. We walk out to the store to the sales girl, Athena stands beside her at the cash register and smiles when I approach.
“Thanks,” I say again putting the stones on the counter.
“You’re welcome,” she says wrapping them in tissue paper.
“How’s Jake?”
“The same,” her smile is sad.
“Sorry, can you tell him I asked after him?” I do care about Jake and I miss his weird ways.
“Of course, I will,” she smiles.
Reaching into my purse, for some cash, Athena waves at me to stop, “don’t worry about it, next time,” her eyes gloss over as she hands me the bag.
“Thanks,” for some reason I hug her. I don’t usually like to get close to Athena but I feel the need to today. “Bye,” I wave as I leave. Brokk closes the gap between us until we exit
the store where he takes a deep breath.
“You okay?”
“I am now. I do not like that place,” he frowns again moving me forward up the street.
“Okay, then let’s go home,” I smile at him.
“Yes,” he nods.
Chapter 31
A few hours later Claudia returns home. She appears a little uneasy as she walks through the house. Climbing off the sofa I follow her.
“Hey, what’s up?”
Lifting her head she smiles at me but I can tell it’s tight and forced, “hey.”
“So? What did you do today?” I ask.
“Oh, nothing,” she says. “How do you feel?”
“Fine, why?” I ask turning to glance in the mirror.
“Just curious,” she says smiling at me.
With a nod, I leave her alone to whatever she is doing and go back downstairs to my work. Lifting the heavy gauge wire, I begin to wrap it around the stone again. The TV is on low in the background just for some noise. Aurelia and Brokk are upstairs talking, I can hear the soft murmur of their voices, but they speak in their own language so I can’t understand them.
The stone is sitting nicely in the small half cage I am constructing for it. I hope this idea will be okay. Taking up a new piece of wire I begin to twist and bend it to my will. My hands hurt a little from the tools because it’s been too long since I worked them. Shaking out my right hand I glance down at the small indentations from the pliers, it feels good to do something I enjoy and that I’m good at.
“Pretty,” Aurelia’s voice drifts over my shoulder.
“Oh, thanks,” I smile.
She takes a seat across from me watching as I twist the metal again. My design is almost done and I sit the stone inside the cage getting it at the perfect angle to show it off. With ease, I pull the small leaf I made from the thin wire up to cover the top, like a little hat then secure it with another thin wire, encompassing it into the design.
“Reagan,” Claudia gasps when she sees it. “I didn’t know you continued with this.” She smiles so big I can’t help smiling back.
