by Chloe Jacobs
“Yeah,” she drawled, her grin widening. “Or something.”
“That’s one scary-looking dude. He must be older, I guess?” Her voice cracked.
Greta’s gaze narrowed as she tried to see Isaac the way the other people in this world would see him. Yes, he was big and tough. He looked different, even if it would be hard to pinpoint exactly why. He was intimidating, and that royal sense of purpose and entitlement bled from his very pores. She gave her parents even more credit for giving him a chance. Her smile faltered. She doubted many other people around here were going to do the same.
Greta turned back to Danielle. “Thank you for finding me today,” she said.
“I’ll come by your house in the morning, and we can walk together tomorrow.”
Danielle sounded so enthusiastic about the idea, Greta didn’t want to turn her down. “Sure, that would be great. I have to go now, so I’ll see you then.”
Isaac had been patient and stayed put, but she sensed him bristling.
Danielle smiled. “At least introduce me to your boyfriend first.”
Greta squeezed her hand. “I would love to.”
Chapter Nine
Despite making a few new friends—it felt as if Danielle introduced her to more people than Greta had spoken to in the entire four years she’d spent in Mylena—Greta’s classes didn’t get any better the second week.
She seemed to struggle with all of it. The content, the concepts, and the inactivity of sitting at a desk for so long. She just couldn’t understand the point of spherical trigonometry, and poetry hurt her brain.
On top of all that, people were getting braver. One day, a group of six seniors came over to “introduce themselves” at lunch while she was sitting in the cafeteria with Danielle.
“So you’re the freak who ran away,” the one boy said, clearly the group’s ringleader. He looked her up and down like she was an interesting bug.
She raised a brow and stood up to face him. She was taller than the boy, and she wanted him to appreciate that before he said anything else.
He didn’t take the hint. “I saw you walking to school with that other freak this morning,” he continued with a sneer. “Where did you find him, anyway, the circus?” He turned and laughed with his buddies.
“I might have been gone a while, but don’t I know you?” she said. She snapped her fingers. “Aren’t you that kid who got drunk on his parents’ peach schnapps in junior high and started making out with a tree?”
His face went beet-red, and he took a step closer to her with a blustering hiss, but his friends held him back. She almost told them not to bother, but she didn’t need to have the school call her parents because she’d kicked some jerk’s ass. She stood her ground but didn’t provoke him again.
Finally, he threw her a disgusted leer and turned away with another muttered “freak.”
Danielle looked like she was going to have a heart attack. “That was crazy,” she whispered when Greta sat back down at the table. “Craig picks on everyone. I think mostly because his parents got divorced last year, and instead of being spoiled at two homes, they both seem to have forgotten he exists.” She leaned closer. “We went out for a while at the beginning of the semester. It was a desperate time in my life,” she admitted with a grimace.
Greta laughed. “Don’t worry. I’ve made mistakes these last few years that would put a bad boyfriend to shame.”
Her expression turned serious. “Will you tell me about them? I want to know what happened to you.”
Greta paused. As much as she liked Danielle, it was one thing to want her parents to know the truth, quite another to think of telling anyone else. Not to mention, talking about Mylena as if it was all in the past felt like a betrayal of Isaac and all the people she’d left behind there to suffer under Agramon’s wrath.
She shrugged. “Maybe one day, okay?”
Danielle nodded quickly and glanced down at her half-finished yogurt. “Yeah, sure. Of course.”
The first bell rang then, and they both picked up their trays. Greta girded herself to get through the afternoon, and by the time her last free period came along, she was desperate to escape.
Before the sun was up, Greta awoke with a raging headache, images of burning forests, screaming goblins, and a cackling demon vivid in her mind.
She got up and dressed and went downstairs. Her mother hadn’t yet come down to start breakfast, so she took out the eggs and started cracking them into a bowl.
Footsteps stopped behind her a few minutes later. “Oh here, let me do that,” her mother said.
Greta waved the spatula at her and motioned for her to sit. “I’ve got it,” she said, pulling toast bread from the bag and plopping it into the toaster.
Her father came into the kitchen then, too. “You like lots of pepper in your eggs, don’t you?” she asked over her shoulder.
“Yes, thanks.” He sat down at the kitchen table. When Greta turned around, they were holding hands and smiling. Her heart warmed to see it. Too much since she’d returned, they had looked tense and worried.
She put the food on the table a few minutes later. Her mother scooped a forkful rather delicately, as if she feared it would taste like ass. Her father dug in with gusto, then gave her a thumbs up. “Where did you learn to cook?” he asked.
There hadn’t been much to eat in Mylena, but she’d learned to make the most of what was available. Scrambling up some eggs and putting toast in the toaster was hardly gourmet. “I don’t cook, not really,” she said with a shrug. “But I get by okay when necessity requires it.”
“That’s a very diplomatic answer.” He chuckled around a mouthful. “In one sentence you admitted you aren’t without skill, but you warned us against asking you to take on the chore full time.”
She laughed as she sat down with them in front of her own plate. “Oh, is that what I did there?”
The light moment lingered as they ate.
“So how has school been coming along?” her mother asked.
She groaned. “Okay, I guess.”
Even now, at the end of the third week, she was still uncomfortable with the routine of school, but not only because of the brain-numbing classes. Truthfully, everything about the human world: parents, school, friends, safety, brought home just what she would be giving up—purposely this time—to return to the harsh reality of Mylena.
After breakfast, her mother offered to drive her to school on the way to take Drew to a dentist appointment, but she declined the ride. She started walking alone, hoping that Isaac would find a way to come and meet her, but when she got all the way there and hadn’t seen him, disappointment followed her inside.
It was Friday, so her first class was biology. She sat with Ted, who looked a little green as he stared at the dead frog with its skin pulled back to expose its innards. “Doesn’t that gross you out?” he asked.
She shrugged. “I’ve seen worse.”
He chuckled. “I guess it’s true what everyone is saying. You really are a badass.”
She grimaced. “People are still talking about me?” She’d hoped it would die down much sooner than it seemed to be, but there’d been no other juicy scandals yet to take the focus off of the girl who’d run away.
“Only if by ‘talking’ you mean that you and your weird-looking foreign friends have been the subject of every whispered conversation in every hall of the school since you got here.”
She groaned. She was so used to being able to disappear into the crowd, and this attention from everyone made her hand ache for the familiar weight of her sword. It was probably a good thing she’d left it hidden back at the cave in the woods.
And yet, there were benefits in not having to hide. Despite being cantankerous and blunt, she’d made friends. Danielle hadn’t let up until Greta agreed to come over last weekend to “hang out,” and she also had a standing last-period date in the computer lab with Ted where he helped her do research on interdimensional portals—which he seemed to kn
ow wasn’t for any project she’d been given to catch up on missed work, but he hadn’t called her on it yet.
“It didn’t help that you put Craig Anderson in his place last week, and he’s been bad mouthing you like a whiny bitch ever since,” he said, “I wish I’d been there to see that.”
“I should have ignored him,” she admitted with a wince. But he’d reminded her of a surly gnome. Backing down would have shown weakness, and they preyed on the weak because it was easier than taking on someone their own size.
“You don’t seem to me like the kind of person who puts up with shit from anyone,” he said. Leaning closer he shifted and let his hand touch hers on the desk. “I have to admit, that makes you pretty much irresistible.”
Her chin snapped up, and her mouth dropped open in shock. He grinned at her but didn’t move his hand. Just then the door opened, and the principal walked in…with Isaac right behind her.
She jerked her hand back, but Isaac’s gaze had found her right away, and he had seen. His face tightened.
“Everyone, please welcome another new student. His name is Isaac King.”
Ted ducked his head toward her and whispered, “Speak of the devil…”
Mr. Osmund, the biology teacher, pointed to an empty seat beside a pretty redhead up at the front of the class. “Take a seat, Mr. King,” he said, having to look up to greet Isaac, who was a good foot taller than the teacher.
Isaac nodded with an imperious tip of his chin. He didn’t take his eyes off Greta as he walked to the empty desk two rows in front of her. She smiled, but he only turned around and sat down. Her heart sank.
Getting through the last thirty minutes of class was torture, and when the bell rang, she slammed her book closed and jumped out of her seat. She grabbed Isaac’s arm just outside the room and pulled him out of the stream of students rushing off to their lockers.
“What are you doing here?” she asked. “Did Siona come, too?”
He nodded. “The nosy woman who asks questions about your feelings suggested to the family we are to stay with now that attending high school—even for a short time until someone ‘claims’ us—would be beneficial.”
Knowing how smart and inquisitive Isaac was, she said, “That’s great! You’ll actually like school…and we’ll get to see each other a lot more.”
He raised a brow. “I did not wish to see that other boy touching you.”
She squeezed his arm. “It was nothing. He’s just a friend.”
Isaac nodded. “I know this, because I know you are mine. However, perhaps he does not know this.”
She stepped back and crossed her arms. “Don’t get macho on me, or I won’t help you when you get geography homework.”
He slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her in to him, trapping the arm she was holding her books with between their bodies. He dipped his head and kissed her right there in the hallway as the bell rang and kept kissing her until Mr. Osmund stepped out of the classroom to shut his door and poked her on the shoulder.
They broke apart with a gasp, and she ducked her head to hide her burning cheeks.
“Ms. Scott, I’m delighted that you’re taking Principal Johnson’s request to make our new student feel welcome seriously, but I’m pretty sure she only meant that someone should offer to show him to his next class,” he said drily.
She clasped her books so tightly her knuckles went white. “Yes, sir. Come on,” she muttered and dragged Isaac down the hall.
Only one more week until the portal opened.
Assuming it opened at all.
Greta awoke with a groan. She stared at the ceiling, blinking away the lingering screams from her nightmare. Another nightmare. Ms. Davidson said they were her mind’s way of processing all the changes she’d been through, and they were also helping her work through the guilt she carried about running away from home.
Greta had kept seeing her once a week. Even though her confessions were always pretty vague, it had been nice to talk to someone. Last night she’d admitted that she felt guilty all the time.
“When I got here, I thought I had everything figured out,” she’d said at the end of their session. “But I started to feel so many things I didn’t think I would feel, and now it’s like I’m being pulled in opposite directions. No matter which side I choose I’m going to lose something that I don’t think I can live without.”
“Life is all about change,” Ms. Davidson had said. “Sometimes it’s others who change, and sometimes we change. But when it comes right down to it, every decision we make can only be right for right now. Don’t be afraid to alter your goals and expectations when you’ve received new information, or when you’ve gone through something to change who you are and what you want for your future.”
What did she want for her future?
Everything.
She wanted it all. Isaac’s happiness, her parents’ happiness. She wanted to feel safe, and she wanted to be loved. She wanted to be accepted for her skills and contributions, instead of shunned for being different. She wanted cozy nights curled up on the sofa, but she also wanted to do something worthy.
She wanted to destroy Agramon once and for all.
Now, with the planetary alignment only a couple of nights away, she still hadn’t figured out a way to get everything she wanted.
Greta hadn’t told Isaac about the dreams, her conversations with the psychologist, or her uncertainties—although in that respect, she hadn’t had to say a word, he already thought she was changing her mind about returning to Mylena. His mood had gotten darker every day that she didn’t tell her parents the truth. Every day, his feeling of being trapped in this world grew stronger, too. She knew that, because she’d felt the same when she first got stuck in Mylena.
School seemed to be the only place where he forgot that he was the goblin king for a few hours and relaxed. His enjoyment of the classes—science and tech specifically—made her happy, but then he talked about adapting what he was learning to Mylena when he returned, and all she could envision were forests razed to the ground, charred fields, and empty villages. What if there was nothing to go back to? What if they were already too late?
They’d searched online and in books of all kinds—history, mythology, and even astronomy textbooks—but were no closer to finding any other way of opening a portal besides their current wait-and-see approach. She was even checking the news every day for missing children’s reports, but so far nothing stood out as a possible abduction-by-Lamia.
She pushed her hair back from her face and checked the alarm clock by her bed. Eight fifteen. She frowned and wondered why her alarm hadn’t gone off to wake her for school when she remembered that she’d turned it off because today was Saturday!
She quickly scrambled out of bed and threw on some yoga pants, a T-shirt, and a pullover. The first Saturday they’d been back, she, Isaac, and Siona had gone exploring and found a spot in the woods on the edge of town where they could spar with each other to keep their fighting skills sharp. She was looking forward to going back to that spot today. Siona had bowed out, maybe sensing that Greta and Isaac needed some time alone. Apparently she’d been introduced to the wonders of Skype, and she was excited for an online “date” with Wyatt before he went to his part-time job later in the afternoon.
Greta had been talking to him every few nights as well. He’d decided not to return to high school. He said after two years in Mylena, he didn’t think he could go back—and she’d found herself silently agreeing with him. Her own experiences with high school hadn’t been as positive as Isaac’s. Last night, Wyatt had said he was studying at home to take a GED test and had started working as a mechanic’s apprentice a couple days a week. When she’d asked how he liked it, he’d looked away with a frown.
“I’m still finding it hard to get used to everything here. I wake up in the middle of the night and keep thinking it’s all wrong.” He looked back at her, eyes glistening. “Mylena was brutal and intolerant, but I had purpose. It f
eels wrong to walk away from that like it never happened, you know?”
She hadn’t answered him, and she’d been trying not to think about it all night.
She tried not to think about it now as she raced downstairs. She peeled to a stop before careening right into her mother. “Sorry!”
“What are you doing running around so early on a Saturday morning?” she asked with a smile. “I’m making bacon and eggs, and I thought we could all go to the market after breakfast, then maybe head out to the lake for a bit.”
She paused. “Uh, Isaac is on his way over, and we were going to—”
Her mother nodded quickly. “Oh, of course. No problem. Go and have fun.”
“I guess we could—”
“No, no, don’t worry about us. I remember what it was like to have a whole Saturday free to hang out with a boy,” she said with a tender smile. “Why don’t you invite him back here for dinner? Invite Siona, too.”
Greta grinned. “That would be great. Thanks, Mom.” She threw her arms around her mother’s waist and hugged her tightly. It still amazed her that even after all the hurt she’d caused them, her parents’ love was unconditional.
Greta sprawled with a grunt of surrender in the tall grass of the little glade she and Isaac had found. He stood over her with his fists on his hips, having tossed her over his shoulder for the second time in as many minutes.
“That’s it, I’m done,” she said, breathing heavily.
It had taken a little over two hours to walk here from her parents’ house, which was nothing to either of them, since they were used to walking for days in Mylena. But it had been enough of a trek that it was unlikely anyone else would show up to disturb their privacy.
They’d spent a good part of the afternoon sparring hand-to-hand. She was happy to say that her reflexes hadn’t suffered from being in the human world. And even without the magick of Isaac’s moon phase bolstering his strength, he was an impressive fighter…if a little too polite. She was used to Luke’s underhanded tactics. He had made a point of taking her down any way he possibly could—even if it was dirty—because he’d wanted her to be prepared for the worst. Isaac fought fair, and she’d been able to get the upper hand more often than she might have otherwise, because he’d been trying not to hurt her.
