Rising Moon (The Rune Stone Trilogy)

by Anne Haley

  "No offense Aylin," El started, "but they got to you too easily. We should have been ready for another attack like that. It doesn’t seem they are holding back anymore. No one is safe, not even family members." She looked at Terra.

  Terra nodded sadly. "What will happen to her? How will we find out if she is apart of this or not?"

  "I don’t know. As I said, I never saw her after I lost consciousness in her car. She could have been unconscious in the corner the whole time. I’m sorry." Aylin’s heart went out to Blake and Terra. She didn’t have a solution for them, and she wanted to save them the heartache of losing both parents. She knew the hole it would leave in their hearts.

  Blake had been concentrating on his plate while Aylin spoke. He cleared his throat and looked at Terra. "Aylin and I have been talking." He let his eyes go to El, who was already annoyed with Aylin for keeping secrets from her. "We think we need more than the four of us. We haven’t been able to get the information we need on these witches."

  El’s eyes shot to Aylin with a spark of anger. "I feel like we have only scratched the surface with our skills," Aylin said hurriedly. "We can defend ourselves, but maybe now we need to fight back. No more protecting The Rune, we need to fight for it and win once and for all. We’ve all agreed that we just don’t know enough and I think it’s time that the witches are destroyed so we can live in peace."

  El’s cheeks were burning red. "So you and Blake have been discussing this? What, it’s just you two leading the pack now? What happened to a united front? Sounds to me like you two are taking them on by yourselves. Terra and I will just be your little puppies and follow your lead?" She crossed her arms over her chest and huffed.

  "Eliana, it’s not like that," Aylin said softly.

  "Don’t you Eliana me." El stood and stormed into the living room.

  "She’s right, you know," Terra said, not looking Aylin in the eye. "You told us we needed to discuss what happened and what we needed to do. But it sounds like you and Blake already made decisions for us." She placed her napkin on her plate and followed El into the other room.

  Aylin looked at Blake, feeling regret. They were right, she should have brought it to all of them together. She held her hand up to Blake, telling him to not follow her. She found the other two sitting on the couch, watching the fire. El was twirling two balls of lights in the palm of her hand like stress balls. She glanced up at Aylin and then looked away. Aylin sat down on the stone hearth and folded her hands in her lap.

  "You’re right, you know. I should have waited and spoken to you two first. I’m sorry." She waited so her apology could sink in. Terra’s eyes met hers, and Aylin saw that she wasn’t mad, only disappointed in her. "Even though I had my mother for a few years after I turned, I still functioned alone. It’s natural for me to do so, and there are times that I forget I can lean on others. It’s something I need to work on."

  "Even if it is about what you think your fate is?" El asked.

  Aylin scowled. He had told them for her. "Yes, even that. I learned about that long before I met you, El. I hadn’t found it necessary to tell you I would be sacrificing myself to keep you safe. Now I see that we don’t have as much time as I had figured. I make a promise to you both that I won’t keep anything from you."

  El closed her fingers over her balls of light, and when she opened her hand they were gone. "Okay. Tell us what you two were thinking." Blake entered the room, making it obvious that he had been listening the whole time. He sat in one of the chairs and let Aylin speak.

  She told them her idea of getting them more information, and how they have to fight against their own destinies. That might be the key to succeeding. "So, how do we find someone that can get this kind of information?" Terra asked.

  "Someone that is a genius with computers," Blake piped in.

  Terra looked at him, understanding registered on her face with utter shock. "No!" She stood straight up. "We can’t bring him into this too. Look at what happened to Mom! And she knew nothing!" she exclaimed.

  "We would guard him, Terra," Aylin said. "We could make sure he’s never alone. But we need help. We need more than what we have."

  "I have a computer." Terra pointed at the laptop briefcase propped in the corner, collecting dust. "Why can’t we do it ourselves?"

  "Terra, you and I wouldn’t even know how to scratch the surface. And we could look for books, but that would take too long," Blake said.

  "I like it." El nodded. "When do we spring it on Owen?" She rubbed her hands together.

  Terra glared down at him. "Of course you do. He’s perfect for you, right?" she snapped.

  "Not fair!" El tried not to laugh. "And really off base. Didn’t you listen at all to what they said? He’s a whiz, so let’s put him to work. He’s hanging around Blake trying to figure out what’s going on anyway." She shrugged.

  Terra slumped back down to the couch. "I don’t like this at all." She pouted.

  "Three to one. You lose." El nudged her with a sharp elbow.

  "I know Terra, but I really think we need to do things differently to survive. There is something else too." Aylin stood and crossed her arms over her chest. She needed to get this out, and she couldn’t predict how it would go. She just had to have faith that Terra and Blake would be objective. "The last couple of days I’ve been thinking things over, and I’m not sure your mom is as innocent as we thought. Since El and I have been here she’s made some odd comments to me when we were alone. Once she even said ‘Protect my children. I know you can.’ But then when I see her out in public she was just down right rude. She went so far as to tell me that there couldn’t ever be anything between Blake and me. But when we were in her car, she took it back and gave me a pretty lame excuse."

  Terra’s cheeks were flushing with anger. Blake rose to tower over her. In two strides he stood in front of her, looking down to her. "You’re mistaken. She knows nothing about any of this. If she had she would have said something by now. If she was a party to that, then it would have been obvious to her what was happening to Terra. She wouldn’t have let her run away."

  "I know, I know." Aylin nodded. "It doesn’t make sense, but the things she whispered to me don’t make sense either. Remember what you said before? I have no reason to lie to you," she reminded him. "Why would she tell me to protect her children?"

  "Why would she tell you that then try to kill you?" El asked.

  "I have no idea." Aylin shook her head.

  "Maybe she knew how to fight against the witches influence?" Terra asked hopefully.

  "It’s not that easy. That would be like fighting against breathing. From what I’ve heard, you wouldn’t know your being influenced." El shook her head.

  None of them could find an easy answer. It was another item added to the list of unknowns for them, and the list was beginning to grow rather long.

  Realizing she was outnumbered, Terra finally begrudgingly accepted bringing Owen. They now had to find a way to ease him into their world. In reality they could not just sit him down and say ‘this is what we are deal with it. Now help us too.’

  That night Aylin walked into the living room, heading hesitantly toward her own room. Blake was beginning to unfold the sheet that he laid over the couch. Stopping at the hallway, she turned back around to look at him. He wore only sweatpants slung low on his hips. The curve of every muscle on him was accentuated from the dim lights, casting long shadows across his stomach. Her mouth felt bone dry, and she tried to swallow.

  He had said he was in love with her, but she felt so awkward asking him into her room. It felt unnatural. She was so comfortable with talking about anything else with him. It could have been because this was Terra’s home, and this was Terra’s brother. They were all living under one roof. She wouldn’t expect anything more than him being able to be comfortable when he sleeps. Maybe she should sleep on the couch…

  Of course she wouldn’t sleep on the couch if she asked him to sleep in her bed! El would double over laughing if she
came out next morning to find Aylin sleeping on the couch and ask her what kind of signal she was trying to send to Blake.

  She blinked and realized Blake was watching her now. "What’s the matter?" He frowned. "Are you feeling okay?"

  She fought the urge to roll her eyes at herself. Now she was just making a fool of herself. "I’m fine, really." She plastered a smile on her face, showing too much teeth to be genuine.

  "You sure?"

  Her smile faltered. "I, ah… Well, I was just thinking." She lifted a shoulder, trying to be casual. Unfortunately the butterflies in her stomach fluttered in full swing. "You know, the couch isn’t very comfortable to keep sleeping on…"

  "We already talked about this." Irritation set his mouth in a thin line. "I’m staying here for awhile now. I don’t care what you all say." He turned back to fighting with the sheet.

  "That’s not what I was going to say," her voice came in a whisper. She cleared her throat and pushed her shoulders back. "I was only going to ask if you wanted to sleep in my room. In my bed." She watched for his reaction. Blake’s face was unreadable. "With me." She continued, unsure with herself now. His mouth was still set in a hard line. His eyes held her where she stood.

  Slowly, his mouth relaxed into… She couldn’t read his expression. He wasn’t smiling, and he was still staring hard at her. His hands were fisted in the sheet, close to ripping the fabric.

  She had been a fool. She had been silly to think he could sleep in her room under Terra’s roof. Or maybe he wasn’t ready to take that step with her. She never pushed people into doing what they don’t want to do. "I mean you don’t have to. It was just a suggestion. You can sleep out-"

  Blake took two long strides and took her in his arms and crushed her mouth with his. He was aggressive at first, kissing her hard, but then slowed down to soften his lips. Her breath left her and she was trapped between Blake and the wall. Her head spun with his kiss, and she closed her eyes feeling her heart fill. He lifted his mouth and looked down at her. He stroked her cheek with this thumb and lightly kissed the tip of her nose. "What were you going to say?"

  "I, uh, don’t remember," she said breathlessly.

  She didn’t realize he had moved them to her bedroom door until he was nudging her through the doorway.

  El had been standing at the door to the kitchen, watching with her breath held. Blake had almost ruined it! But he had moved swiftly, surprising Aylin. El’s hand moved to cover her heart as her eyes stung with tears. She was a sucker for romantics, even when they weren’t made toward her.

  She watched until Blake shut the door behind him with a soft click, and then she returned to the kitchen to whip up her late night snack. There would be love for Aylin. Soon, there would be for Terra too. She would make sure of it.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Terra sat in the back of Blake’s cab wringing her hands together. Blake was inside Owen’s house, and soon they would be on their way to the woods. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and there was a distinct buzzing in her ears. This was such a bad idea. Aylin and El should be here too. She and Blake would mess this up for them.

  Owen came out of the house, followed by Blake. When they climbed into the truck Owen immediately turned to Terra. "Hey!" He smiled. "You okay?"

  "Great." She couldn’t pretend to smile back at him. His dark hair shone in the early morning sunlight, and his eyes danced playfully over her face. Soon he would think she and Blake were insane, or something much worse. Yes, Owen read a lot of books, but there is a huge difference between reading fiction novels and fantasizing about being in a world where magical beings exist, and actually having it as your reality. "So, where we off to?" he asked Blake.

  Blake shrugged. "Thought we’d go see the falls." There were many waterfalls on the North Shore, but the three of them only referred to one as ‘the falls.’ They were heading to the Cascade River, which had many small falls on it. It was a perfect place to go, this early in the morning and late in the season there wouldn’t be many tourists. If there were, the thundering of the falls would mask their conversations.

  Blake brought his truck into the small wayside area and they climbed out. Owen stretched his long back and tested the bounce in his hiking boots. "Haven’t tested them out yet." He showed her the impeccably clean boots. She gave a little whistle and turned away from him.

  It had been difficult for her when Blake hadn’t believed them right away. She shouldn’t have expected him to, and eventually he came around. But it had been with the help of Aylin, and she had sent Terra and Blake alone to do it this time. What worried her most was the thought of Owen looking at her like she had lost her mind. She cared about what Owen thought of her, and she didn’t want him to think she lived in another dimension. Well, actually she was. But it wasn’t just in her mind.

  The morning autumn air was crisp, though the sun was out and it warmed her face. It wasn’t long on their hike on the worn path before they came upon the first falls. The river plummeted off a sharp rock cliff and dove into the pool below. The rock face around the river was wet, making the banks look black and slippery. Any other day she would stop to listen to the water crashing down, and feel the light mist that swirled around, but today she moved on without hesitation. They climbed upwards, heading toward the lower falls. She kept herself a couple yards ahead of them, keeping a steady pace.

  The forest was quiet that morning. There weren’t any glowing creatures following them around. The tourists were sparse also. They only passed a man that had a large camera hanging from his neck and a tripod in hand. She kept her feelers out, needing to be on alert this morning. Not for witches. She figured they’d be safe for a little while, at least until they figured out their next step. El had hurt the two wicked witches, physically and their pride. They all took slight satisfaction at that.

  But today she needed to keep herself aware of other fae who might catch onto what she and Blake were going to do. They might try to stop them, and they certainly wouldn’t understand that it is for the greater good. She knew the fae would fight to protect their secrets. There was the possibility of more tourists venturing out, and they couldn’t have anyone stumbling into their conversation.

  The lower falls welcomed them with its steady thundering down the cliff. She loved the rivers on the North Shore that looked to have carved their path out of the rock. The deep caverns and dark pools added mystery and danger to the waters. Falling into one of these deep river canyons was dangerous and could be fatal. She found a spot off the trail and sat down on a fallen tree that was near the bottom of the falls.

  She waited patiently for them and downed her bottle of water. "Damn, Terra," Owen said when he plopped down beside her. "You in a hurry?" Owen was in good shape, but he was still breathing pretty hard.

  She looked up at Blake, who had his back to them, watching the falls. "No. We need to talk to you," she sighed. Her voice was shaky.

  "Yeah? What about?" He pulled out a water bottle from the lower pocket of his cargo pants.

  She took a deep breath. "It’s about when I ran away." Blake turned to look down at her. "There were things happening to me that I couldn’t explain to anyone. I was terrified." She shook her head when he offered the bottle of water to her. "I had to leave to sort it all out. I found some of the answers on the island."

  "What kind of things?" His eyes pierced hers.

  She blinked and looked down at her hands. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Maybe it would be easier if she couldn’t see his reaction. "I can bring life to dead plants, trees, and make plants out of bare dirt." Her hands were clasped tightly in her lap. "I can feel everything about the earth. I’m connected to it."

  "So you had some spiritual thing or something out there?" Owen asked.

  "No, not really." She had to look at him. She pushed her hair behind her ears and waited as his eyes traveled up the points.

  "Oh!" he said with shock. His eyes narrowed on the tip of her left ear. "I never noticed…" />
  "No, you wouldn’t have." She gulped. "I’m, ah, well…" She looked up at Blake.

  He sighed and crossed his arms. "What Terra is saying is, she is capable of doing things we’d never dreamed possible. She’s a faerie." He tried to shrug like it was nothing. Terra had to bite her tongue to stop from lashing out at Blake. Bluntness wasn’t the smoothest way, and they had all discussed that. But he just spit it right out, throwing it in Owen’s face and now they had to wait for his reaction. This gave Owen control over which way the conversation would go, not them.

  "What do you mean?" Owen asked slowly, a crease had formed on his brow, interrupting the smoothness of his face.

  "Just show him." Blake waved his hand at her, motioning to the dirt.

  Terra scowled at him. "I don’t think that’s a good idea."

  "Show me what?" Owen asked.

  She looked at him and thought it over. "All right, but you have to promise to keep your mouth shut. You can’t scream, or run away. Okay?"

  "I don’t scream," he said.

  "You do and Blake will shut you up fast." She nodded at her brother. He nodded in confirmation.

  She rubbed her palms together quickly, creating heat. When her palms slightly reddened she squatted down onto the dirt behind the fallen tree. Owen turned to watch over his shoulder. She placed her hands on the ground, making a diamond with her thumbs and index fingers. In only a few moments a small green stem sprouted, and before their eyes it was growing. She could feel the roots push through the soil as they grew. When she brought her hands away she had made a full-grown bluebell.

  When she looked up at Owen she didn’t like what she saw. His face had paled and his eyes had darkened. His mouth was in a thin line and his hands were in fists on his knees. She held out her hand to touch his elbow, "Owen-"

  He jumped out of her reach, and Blake grabbed his other arm. "Don’t run," he said with deadly calm.