“Me?”
Her smile faded as she shifted slightly and assumed another form. Little by little, Leena’s face began to resemble mine—her hair grew and changed color, becoming blonde and wavy. I stared at her in shock and had to pick my jaw off the floor before responding. “Yep. You’re me, got it.”
Leena shook her head and her regular face returned. “After we go inside, of course. I’ll use the illusion to sneak back out when I’m done—easy peasy.”
I opened the door and walked into the parking lot with Leena right behind me. “This is nice,” she said casually. “I don’t get to spend much time with children. I can’t even remember the last time I was in an elementary school.”
I snorted. “Wasn’t it about sixty years ago?”
“Something like that.”
Leena and my other half-sisters were so good at blending in that sometimes I forgot how old they were. Halle and I were the youngest of the seven. Ellyllon probably had hundreds of other children scattered across the globe, but only seven were gifted with magic. Within the Fairy Court, we were known as the Pleiades—or the Seven Sisters.
According to lore, there were always seven. The number held great significance in the Celestial Court, though I never understood why. For centuries, our role in the magical balance fell from one sister to the next. When one of the seven died, another took her place.
Our stepmother, Queen Fleur, considered us an embarrassment. We were a constant reminder of her husband’s infidelity. It was also Fleur who banished us from the court and deprived us of knowing our fae kin and the wonders of the Fae Realm.
Banishment didn’t keep us from each other, though. I had all of my sisters’ numbers in my cellphone for emergencies, Leena in Oregon, Nadia in New Orleans, Halle up in Boston, Paige in the British Isles, and even Rachel with her constant travel. The only one I didn’t have was Rhaele—but none of us had ever met her. We all knew that she existed but had no idea where to find her. It was a mystery.
One day, I would very much like to find her.
Leena pulled out her phone and typed a message as we walked. Her arched brows furrowed, and her mouth pressed in a thin line. From what little I knew of her work, she was continually battling red tape and cutthroat colleagues, much to her displeasure. Leena preferred spending her time in the water studying the animals beneath the surface.
The sounds of our footsteps on the asphalt brought me back into the present. We both went through the gate and on toward my classroom in the third-grade hall. As we passed the fifth-grade corridor, I caught sight of Matt Christensen trying to open the door to the locker room with both hands full.
I rushed up to him and said, “Coach Christensen, hold on a second. Let me help you.”
Matt’s face brightened as I moved around him to turn the handle.
“There you go!”
“Cassandra, how many times have I told you to call me Matt?” He sighed. “Thank you. I probably would have dropped my coffee and that would have made for an awful day.”
“No problem,” I responded.
Leena walked up behind me as we were talking, and Matt’s eyes flickered her direction. “Hi, I’m Matt. Cassandra, who is your friend?”
I grinned. “Oh, this is my sister Leena. Leena, this is Coach Christiansen.”
She nodded stiffly but didn’t offer him her hand. “Nice to meet you, Matt.” Turning back to me, Leena said, “I’m going to head over to your classroom. See you in a minute.”
Nodding, I glanced back at Matt and took a deep breath. “How was your weekend?”
I wanted to see him in a new light, as a man hurting from the same kind of betrayal he committed. From what I could tell, he and his wife had been hurting one another for so long that it was hard to figure out who was in the wrong.
His expression soured. “I’ve had better.”
I’ll bet.
If his wife’s dream was accurate, she more or less tore him to shreds when he tried to reconcile with her on Saturday.
“So, um, I thought we should talk. Did you still want to go out to lunch?”
I kicked myself the minute the words left my mouth.
“Yeah, absolutely. How does today look for you?”
“I don’t have lunch duty, so I’m free.”
Matt glanced past me to where Leena was still walking down the hall and said, “Is your sister coming or…”
“No, she has a plane to catch. It will just be you and me.”
“Okay, I’ll meet you in the parking lot.”
“Sure,” I said reluctantly. “See you then.”
I hurried away and went back to the third-grade corridor. I found Leena glancing speculatively in the direction I’d just come from.
“Making new friends?” she asked.
I swallowed my embarrassment. “No, not exactly. I’m just tying up another loose end, that’s all.”
She stared at me for a long moment before speaking. “Be careful.”
“I will,” I stammered. “Come on. You’ve got to blend in before someone notices you’re here. It’s still a public school, so there’s protocol. I’m going to take you to the teacher’s lounge, where you can hang out until I bring Henry to you. Use my face if you must but promise me you’ll stay out of trouble.”
Leena grinned as she patted me on the shoulder. “You’re cute. Don’t you worry about me, young grasshopper. I can take care of myself.”
After stashing her in the teacher’s lounge and making sure she was comfortable, I returned to my classroom and started greeting students. The morning announcements flew by, and I got the children started with some silent reading before walking over to Henry’s desk.
He looked up at me with a toothy smile and lowered his book.
“Good morning, Henry. I’d like you to come with me for a few minutes so that I can introduce you to someone.”
Henry set down his book and frowned. “Am I in trouble?”
“No, I just have a surprise for you. It’s a special lesson I think you’re going to enjoy.”
He jumped down from his seat and I walked over to Alice’s classroom, and said, “I’m stepping out for a minute. Do you mind keeping an eye on them?”
She shook her head. “No, of course not.”
I took Henry by the hand and led him out into the hallway. He followed along beside me, walking excitedly toward the teachers’ lounge. “Where are we going?”
Before I could respond, the door to the teacher’s lounge opened, and Leena stepped out into the hallway. Her eyes brightened when she saw the child standing next to me, and she knelt to look him in the eyes.
“Henry, this is my sister, Leena. She’s a lot like you, and I thought it would be good for you to meet.”
The skin around his nose wrinkled with confusion. “What do you mean?”
Leena smiled at him, her gray eyes twinkling. “It’s nice to meet you, Henry. I understand you have a special power; would you mind showing it to me?”
He turned to me accusingly and said, “You told her about my secret? But you promised you wouldn’t tell anyone.”
Sensing he was upset, Leena placed her hand on his shoulder. “Henry, it’s okay. I have the same gift you do. Cassandra only told me because she thought it might be helpful to know you’re not as different as you think.”
To prove her point, Leena changed her skin so it was creamy white. Henry’s eyes widened, and his mouth fell open in shock. Though I’d seen her do this before, the effect was still off-putting. Her form was fluid in a way I didn’t fully comprehend.
“You can change yourself!” he cheered.
“That’s right. When I was younger, my mother used to call it ‘face-play.’ Now, will you show me?”
He frowned, “Well, I can’t do people yet.”
Now it was Leena’s turn to frown. “You can’t do people? Then what can you do?”
He scrunched his nose until it crinkled around the edges and then shifted into a piglet snout. His eyes grew w
ide as the hair on his head seemed to disappear, and he shrank into a potbelly pig.
Leena and I looked down at him in wonder.
“I see…” Leena hummed to herself. “Is it just the pig, or can you be other creatures?”
“I’ve tried a couple of others,” Henry told us from his piglet mouth.
“Interesting. I am just the opposite,” she explained. “I can change into other people, but not animals like you.”
Henry shifted back into his human form and smiled. “Will you show me another one?”
“Of course.”
Leena tilted her head back and changed her face to have a chiseled jaw. Her hair appeared to shrink back into her head so that she wore a conservative male haircut and sprouted a goatee. By the end of her transformation, she was an attractive businessman in a suit and tie.
I’d never seen her use her powers so freely before, without careful thought and discretion. She and Henry giggled with each other and went back and forth, changing their faces and appearance until I was dizzy and could hardly remember which was which.
Glancing up at the clock, I knew that I should be heading back.
“Leena, you wanted to spend some time with him. I’ll let you borrow him for an hour, but bring him back to my classroom when you’ve finished talking. Okay? Remember, you’re me. If anyone comes by, you need to use my face.”
“You got it.”
She and Henry waved goodbye as I left them to talk in the teachers’ lounge. I didn’t know what Leena would say to him, but I imagined life as a shifter was lonely, and that alone was something they could bond over. Sneaking Leena onto school property so she could interact with a student made me anxious, but I told myself it was for a good cause.
I trusted her with my life.
When the door fell shut behind me, I squared my shoulders with determination and headed back toward my classroom.
L eena returned Henry to my classroom an hour later, exactly like she promised. I checked the clock the entire time he was gone, worried that something happened. The minute he stepped back into our classroom, I exhaled with relief. He had an enormous grin on his face as he ran to his seat. I stepped into the hall to give Leena a goodbye hug.
“I’m going to miss you, Leena-Bee.”
She chuckled as she embraced me and said, “Me too. That’s one amazing kid you’ve got there. Take special care of him.”
I smiled and glanced back through the doorway to where Henry sat at his desk. “I will.”
“I can see why you felt the need to do a blood test,” she informed me. “Something about Henry does scream the need to be part of our family.”
“I know, and I’m not sure what to make of it.”
Leena clapped me on the back and sighed. “Well, I’ve got to catch my flight. I already called an Uber to meet me in the parking lot.”
“Okay. Call me when you get back to Oregon to let me know you got in safe.”
She glanced up at me and nodded. “You got it. Keep me posted on Henry if you can. I’d like to hear what happens.”
I waved goodbye to her as she disappeared around the corner and headed toward the parking lot.
T he next hour and a half flew by faster than I thought possible.
When the lunch bell rang, I dropped my students at the cafeteria and headed straight to the parking lot. Matt was waiting for me by his shiny red Mustang, a massive smile on his face.
“Hey, you made it,” he chirped and patted the roof of the car. “Hop in, and we can get out of here.”
I hesitated. “I thought I’d drive myself; that way, I have time to call my sister on the ride. I want to make sure she made it to the airport all right.”
Matt’s smile fell, but he nodded and gave directions to a nearby Chinese restaurant. I walked over to my Prius, climbed into the driver’s seat, and turned on the ignition. Slowly easing my car out of the parking lot, my anxiety rose while I figured out what I was going to say. Did he even know his wife was pregnant? Would it change anything if I told him? Was it even my place to say anything?
I had to believe that Luna showed me this dreamer for a reason—that I was supposed to solve his problem somehow. The drive was easy enough, and I followed him a short way to a downtown restaurant. We parked beside each other and walked inside.
My first thought was that this choice in locale was much fancier than I would have gone with Alice or any of the other teachers. The lights were dim to give a romantic atmosphere, and I suspected that it was one of the reasons Matt chose this restaurant in the first place. When we arrived at a curved booth in the back corner, those suspicions were confirmed. He slid uncomfortably close to me, and I tried to edge away as politely as possible.
Ugh.
“So, Cassandra,” he asked me curiously, “what changed your mind about going out with me?”
I forced myself not to shudder at the croon in his voice and said, “Well, it never hurts to get to know the other faculty. I’ve had lunch with all the third-grade teachers, and I thought it would be a refreshing change of pace.”
“I’m glad I was next on the list.”
We looked over our menus for the next few minutes in silence. Before I could comment on the offerings, he glanced at me beneath thick lashes and smiled. In another lifetime, where Michael didn’t exist, and Matt wasn’t such a womanizer, I might have found him attractive.
“Have you decided what you’re going to get?” I asked lightly, scooting another inch away from him.
He leaned closer and gave me what I imagined was his best attempt at a seductive grin. “We should get two dishes to share, but I highly recommend the wontons—they’re unbelievable.”
“Oh, I probably won’t eat that much,” I told him, getting nervous.
“I can always eat the leftovers. I insist.”
“Sure,” I said, wondering again if I was doing the right thing by agreeing to have lunch with him.
The waiter came and took our orders, then promised the food would be out quickly. Considering we were the only people in the restaurant, I didn’t doubt it. As she walked away, I swallowed the lump in my throat and shifted uneasily.
Matt gave me a conspiratorial smile and said, “You know, I was starting to think you were never going to take me up on my offer. It nearly broke my heart.”
“This isn’t a date,” I reminded him. “We’re just having lunch as colleagues.”
He chuckled. “All right, colleague, if you say so.”
I cleared my throat and nodded. “I do. Even though you keep trying to ask me out, I’d still like us to be friends. I realized I haven’t exactly been fair to you and owed you a fair chance. When you said things with your wife were over and you were just trying to pick up the pieces, I made a lot of assumptions about you.”
Matt stopped playing with the chopsticks in front of him and gave me another curious look, his brown eyes intent on my face. “Go on.”
“Relationships can be complicated. And you’re right. There are two sides to every story. I don’t think anyone has considered yours.”
“You are truly a gorgeous girl, do you know that?” he purred, reaching over to twirl a lock of my long, blonde hair around his finger.
I pulled my hair out of his hand and snapped, “I’m talking about you and your wife.”
“I don’t want to talk about her,” he muttered. “I don’t want to talk at all.”
Before I could respond, he leaned close and tried to kiss me. I pulled away immediately and used the full length of my arm to push him away.
“Whoa! Not okay,” I snapped. “What the hell are you doing?”
He smiled with amusement and draped an arm around my shoulders. “You're obviously shy, and I was just making it easier on you by making the first move.”
“What is wrong with you?” I cried. “Nothing is ever going to happen between us, understand? I was trying to be your friend and have a pleasant meal without getting hit on for a change. You seem incapable of even basic human i
nteraction or common decency.”
“Don’t be like that,” he purred. “I know you feel the pull between us, Cassandra.”
“No. No, I don’t. Because I am absolutely, one hundred percent uninterested.”
At that moment, the waiter arrived with two large steaming platters of chicken and fried rice. The woman smiled at us and walked away quickly, probably thinking we were in the middle of a lovers’ quarrel.
“Why are you playing so hard to get? It doesn’t have to be this complicated.”
“Oh my God, you’re married!” I spat.
Matt frowned. “Stop talking about her. I’m more interested in you and me.”
I quickly slid out of the booth and stood before he had the chance to try and kiss me again. “There is no ‘you and me’. You’re disgusting. I can’t believe you would turn a gesture of friendship into something ugly. I just wanted to have lunch with you and to say that I misjudged you, but apparently, I was right the first time. Are you completely incapable of having a genuine friendship with someone of the opposite sex? What is wrong with you?”
Matt followed me as I stomped out of the restaurant and called my name. “Cassandra, you don’t mean that. Come back.”
“Yes, I do. You may want to call Sheryl and ask her how she’s doing. There’s an excellent chance she’ll be receptive. Have a nice day.”
Tears gathered in my eyes as I stormed out of the restaurant and ran over to my car. My hands shook as I opened the door and tried to stick the keys in the ignition. It took me several tries but, as soon as the engine roared, I left the restaurant and the terrible experience behind. I decided that I didn’t care anymore what happened to him or his wife. It wasn’t my problem to solve—some dreamers are just that. The Realm of Dreams and the Realm of Mortals were two very different places, and not all issues that can be solved in one can be fixed in the other. I had to let it go.
Matt Christensen was the worst.
He had no sense of boundaries and didn’t get the hint when I wanted him to back off. He was a jerk and a creep, just like I thought. He and his wife deserved each other. I was better off washing my hands of the whole thing.
Chasing Starlight: Cassandra's Story (The Daughters of Night Chronicles) Page 13
