by H. D. Gordon
Raven didn’t flinch, but rather, smirked, quirking her red lips. “Hey, fairy,” she said. “Better be careful on that thing. You could fall and break your neck.”
“Why were you talking to Coach Sanders?” I asked, ignoring her jab.
Raven laughed, her dark eyes flicking over my shoulder as Sam caught up to us. “Because I’m joining the lacrosse team.”
“Why?”
“Because I have to be here anyway, and I like the sport. Why does it matter to you?”
My eyes were so narrowed it was a wonder I could see out of them. “You’re not human. That’s not fair. It’s cheating.”
Raven’s eyes rolled dramatically enough that I wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d gotten lost in her head. “So what? I’ll help the team. I’ll be their best player. They’ll thank me.” She grinned. “I’ll be their hero.” She said this last word with a certain emphasis I didn’t like.
“No, you won’t,” I growled.
Raven laughed. “Oh yeah? Who’s going to stop me?”
“I am.”
Now she laughed hard enough to make my blood boil. “Awesome, fairy. I guess I’ll see you at tryouts tomorrow, then.”
“I guess you will,” I snapped, as Raven tossed her dark hair over her shoulder and walked away.
Sam spoke for the first time beside me. I was so worked up that I hadn’t even noticed she was there.
“Did you just decide to join the lacrosse team?” Sam asked.
I sighed. “Yeah, I guess I did.”
***
The familiar ring of the bell above the door sounded as I entered Roses flower shop later that afternoon. As usual, I was eager to lose myself in the work of flower arrangements and plant care.
Rose, the owner of the store and my boss, stood behind the sales counter, reading a magazine. She looked up as I entered, giving me a smile that didn’t touch her eyes.
“How was school?” Rose asked.
I studied her aura for a moment, feeling the usual pang of sympathy that Rose had been evoking in me as of late. She had been kind enough to give me my job back, hadn’t questioned me on my change of heart, and was dealing stoically with the failing health of her daughter. To say I respected the woman would be an understatement.
“Not as stressful as your day,” I answered. “How is Rachel doing? Any progress with your insurance for the treatment?”
Rose shook her head, and I had to reinforce the wall between my aura-absorbing ability and Rose’s turmoil. I hadn’t even known her for a year yet, but it seemed to me the storm raging within my boss was only increasing in intensity. But because she’d always respected my privacy, I hadn’t tried to pry.
“No,” she sighed. “Those bastards are quick to take your money and slow to give it back when you need it. They don’t cover certain large expenses.”
An idea came to me then, but I didn’t give voice to it. I was going to help Rose, I decided, but I didn’t want to get her hopes up in case it was a task I couldn’t really handle. I had to try, though, because I cared about her, and she was suffering so terribly. Even if I couldn’t read auras, I would know this. Her stress and worry was written in the lines on her face, in the dark bags under her eyes.
“Why don’t you take the day off?” I offered, running my eyes over the orders waiting to be filled. “It’s a slow day, and I can handle everything here. You should go home and get some sleep.”
Somehow, this only seemed to increase the tumult in her soul. I tilted my head as I noticed the shift in colors that I usually associated with guilt flash through Rose’s aura, and came to the conclusion that though her daughter’s condition and Rose’s inability to pay for treatment was in no way her fault, Rose still felt guilty for it.
“I should stay,” she said. “I’ve got all this paperwork to get through.”
Closing the space between us, I placed my hand on her shoulder and met her gaze. “I know how to do the paperwork. Go, please, get some rest.”
With a deep breath, I pulled some of the worry out of her and replaced it with a little bit of my persuasion. Rose sighed as if exhaling the weight of the world. “Maybe I will go home and try to sleep,” she said. “You sure you can handle things here?”
The affects of absorbing her emotions washed over me immediately, and I felt my stomach twist uncomfortably, but swallowed past it and managed a smile. “I’m sure as the sun.”
A moment of silence followed where Rose only stared at me, and for a second, I thought she was going to break down and cry. Because she was a tough lady, she only cleared her throat and nodded. She retrieved her jacket from the hook in the back room, shrugged it over her shoulders, and moved toward the exit, where she paused and looked back at me.
Looking at her then, it seemed to me the poor thing had aged ten years in the past couple months, or maybe it was my viewing lens that had changed. Either way, something was different.
Rose pushed open the door, the bell above it offering its familiar chime. “You’re too good for this world, Aria Fae,” she told me, and without waiting for a response, she left.
I stood behind the counter, watching as she retreated down the sidewalk and out of sight, wondering why my chest ached a bit at this compliment, wondering at the way in which it had been spoken, wondering why it had sounded oddly like an apology, when Rose in no way owed me one.
CHAPTER 4
Butterflies flitted through my stomach as I pulled my t-shirt over my head and laced up my Vans. Despite the fact that this was part of my usual morning routine, my nerves never failed to flail at the prospect of seeing him. I checked my reflection one last time in the time-stained mirror above the bathroom sink, making sure that my hair didn’t look like Simba’s mane and that I didn’t have any random food caught in my teeth.
Satisfied that I looked the same as always, I pulled on a hoodie and went over to the single window in my studio apartment. Pushing it up, I climbed out onto the fire escape and hoisted myself up onto the railing. Bending my knees, I jumped up to the ledge of the rooftop and pulled myself up and over.
With a sink in my heart, I realized Thomas Reid, my next-door neighbor and friend with which I shared a confusing relationship status, was not sitting in his usual spot on the crate. I narrowed my eyes, glancing around and focusing on my ears.
A grin broke out over my face when I picked up the familiar beat of his heart. Placing my hands on my hips, I said, “You can come out now, Thomas. I know you’re there. I can hear your heartbeat.”
A small chuckle preceded his appearance, and he stepped around the door that led to the roof, shaking his head. “One of these days, I’m going to surprise you.”
This was a game we played. Always seeing who could sneak up on whom, jumping out and make the other person jolt. I laughed and took a seat on my crate, reaching for the brown paper bag near Thomas’s crate. Moving with impressive speed for such a large man, Thomas snatched the bag up and held it away from me.
“Thomas,” I warned.
Unfazed, he took a seat beside me. “I’m not sharing this morning. I’m going to eat your sandwich and mine, since I’ll never be able to sneak up on you, and you practically make me fall out of my seat when you sneak up on me.”
My jaw hung open, and I watched in horror as he opened a foil-wrapped ham, egg, and cheese croissant and bit into it.
“What kind of cruel and unusual punishment is this?” I asked. “What kind of sick mind thinks of such a thing?”
Thomas laughed, which was becoming more frequent with him. When we’d first met, I went for months without hearing his laugh, and now, I’d sort of made it my mission to elicit at least a chuckle every time I saw him. If I was being honest, it was the highlight of my day.
Around a bite of sandwich, he said, “Well, maybe you’ll think about that next time you go rubbing your Halfling powers in my face.”
I snorted. “You’re just jealous because my abilities include super strength and senses, and all you do is see
dead people.”
Thomas shook his head, looking at me through the corners of his bright, hazel eyes. “Is that all I do?” he asked.
I found that I had to swallow before I could take a breath. The man always seemed to be stealing my air away. In answer, I used my superior speed to snatch the brown bag back, tearing into it a little too aggressively and earning another laugh from him. I supposed I looked much like a mischievous little raccoon, and didn’t care a bit. Somehow, the two of us had reached a certain comfort level.
“See?” I said, the word muffled with the delicious food now in my mouth. “Why you gotta make me act like a rabid raccoon?”
The gold flashing through his aura, which I knew signaled lighthearted amusement, made my chest swell with pride. Thomas Reid had not been an easy nut to crack, but I was starting to get to the center of him. Or at least I liked to think so.
“We still training tonight?” he asked, staring out at the city skyline, his handsome profile tough to look away from.
I almost said yes, and then I remembered that I had committed myself to something else this afternoon. My shoulders sank as it came back to me. After everything that had happened with Dyson Gracie and the Scarecrow, Thomas had insisted that he assist with my physical training, and though I had suspended my vigilante activities for the time being, I had to agree it was good to keep in top shape. Thomas’s training as Special Forces with the military had ensured he was up to the task. Though I wouldn’t tell him, I’d learned a few things from him. And not all of them had to do with combat.
“Actually, I’ve got lacrosse tryouts after school today,” I said. “Do you think we could do it after? Or do you have to go to work?” Truth was, I knew he didn’t have work, that this was his day off, but my familiarity with his schedule was not something I was just going to go admitting.
Thomas quirked an eyebrow. “I’m off today, so I can meet you after… I didn’t know you liked lacrosse. Kind of a rough sport, no?”
I shrugged, shoving more sandwich into my face and sighing around it as I stared out at the awakening city. “I don’t, really. I’m only doing it because Evil Succubus is doing it and I need to keep an eye on her.”
Thomas looked confused. “You mean Andrea Ramos?”
I shook my head. “No, though she’s totally an evil Succubus in her own right.” I filled him in on Raven showing up at the school, about how she’d been sent to spy on me and try to bring me to the Dark Side.
Though I tossed in a couple jokes in the telling, Thomas did not find any of it funny. “How does that make any sense? Why would she tell you to leave town, threaten to out you, and then just decide to attend the same school? Why not just kill you?”
I considered this. “She’s obviously not the one pulling the strings, and whoever is must see some kind of use for me. Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense.”
Silence fell for a moment, comfortable as it always was with him. “With the Masked Maiden lying low, maybe they’ll let it go.”
“I don’t know who’s behind it all, but they don’t seem to me like the kind of person who let’s things go.”
Thomas stared out at the city. “Things have been quiet lately,” he commented.
I nodded. “I know, but that’s good, right?”
I watched as his handsome jaw clenched, could practically see the wheels turning in his head. “Maybe,” he said. “Or maybe this is just the calm before the storm.”
I bit my lip, wanting to reach out and touch him but not allowing myself. Things had been strange between us since I’d decided to stay in Grant City, since we’d shared a single kiss that night. It was almost as if we’d become both closer and more separate at the same time. I didn’t know what I wanted from the man, and I had a feeling he felt the same about me.
As if his words had been a summoning, dark clouds rolled in over the city skyline, bruising the world above Grant City and spitting out the first drops of warm spring rain, like tears from the heavens.
Maybe Thomas was right; maybe a storm was coming… or maybe it was already here.
CHAPTER 5
“You scared, fairy?”
I struggled not to roll my eyes and ignored Raven’s jab. We were lined up on the lacrosse field, and the ground was wet enough to be muddy and slippery, the rain having not let up all day.
“Listen up, ladies,” Coach Sanders called, bringing the gathered to attention. “This is the tryout for the lacrosse team. Depending on your performances today, you will either be selected for the junior varsity or varsity team, or cut altogether. Not everyone is going to make it. Not everyone is cut out for this sport. If you are a delicate little lady, and the thought getting bruised up and dirty doesn’t suit you, I suggest you hightail it now, and save us all some trouble.”
When no one took off running, Coach Sanders nodded. “Okay, then, ladies. Let’s see what you’ve got.”
The coach walked down the line of girls, giving us numbers and dividing us into teams. Of course, because Raven was standing right beside me, she was put on the opposite team as mine, and as she trotted over to join her group, she stuck her tongue out at me like a friggin’ five-year-old.
“I don’t think she likes you,” said a voice beside me. “I can’t imagine why.”
I was going to have to glue my eyes in place if I wanted to keep from rolling them today. Without looking at her, I said, “I’m not in the best mood today, Andrea.”
“I’m going to be your team captain, if you even make it,” she snapped, “so if I were you, I’d show a little respect.”
“Why are you so sure you’ll be captain?”
She pointed to a patch on her letterman jacket before shrugging it off her shoulders and laying it across the bench on the side of the field. When she returned, she said, “Because I have been since freshman year, and that’s not going to change now.”
I didn’t respond to this. I didn’t care who the dang captain was. I didn’t even particularly want to be here, but there were three reasons that I was. For one, I really didn’t think Raven could go unchecked, and for two, I’d considered what the guidance counselor had told me, and I’d decided a sports scholarship would make things a lot easier for me.
The third reason I would worry about after I actually made the team.
Though I am admittedly a total badass, trained in the art of combat and as strong as an ox, I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t nervous. I’d never taken part in a team sport, or any sport, for that matter, and everything I knew about the game of lacrosse had been learned last night while searching Google.
The coach blew his whistle again, and I followed my team—which included Andrea—to one end of the field. Here, we were handed lacrosse sticks, which were basically just long sticks with mesh netting at the end where one would catch the ball, as well as helmets and gloves. As I gripped the stick, I was relieved to see that Sam was sitting on the bleachers, an umbrella perched on her shoulder and bright yellow rain boots on her feet. When she saw me looking, she gave me a little smile and a thumbs up.
I was placed in the position of the attacker, and with a smile that was malicious, Andrea tossed the little rubber ball in my direction. If I hadn’t been quite as quick or agile, the darn thing would likely have hit me in the face.
With a renewed sense of determination, I spun around quick and caught the ball, amazed that I had done so. I jumped up into the air with the victory, looking to see if Sam had seen this…
And was knocked off my feet so hard and so fast that my head spun.
The wind whooshed out of me and I released an involuntary grunt as I flipped into the air and came crashing down hard on my back. This seemed to happen in the space between heartbeats; one moment, I’d been on my feet with the ball in my net, and the next, I was lying flat on my back on the muddy grass, staring up at the steel sky as it rained down on me indifferently.
Dark hair and eyes appeared over me, red lips turning up in a smile visible even beneath the helmet. “Gotch
a,” Raven said, before scooping up the ball and jetting past me down the field.
Teeth gritted, I flipped up from the ground like Bruce Lee, landing on my feet and trying to keep a handle on the rage that had flooded through me. With a sting that felt personal as hell, I watched as Raven shot the little rubber ball into the net. Her teammates hooted and hollered, slapping her on the back with their praise.
“Nice work!” Coach Sanders called out.
Raven tossed me a grin that made my blood boil, and I gritted my teeth and clutched my stick, my knuckles surely white beneath my thick gloves.
The ball was brought to the center, and Raven and another girl on my team crossed their sticks, preparing to scoop it up into their possession at the sound of the whistle.
Of course, Raven got the ball and tossed it downfield to one of her teammates. I found myself moving faster than was probably wise, but unable to stop the display. I was pissed, and I wanted that damn ball.
Like the stealthy ninja that I was, I jumped in between Raven and the player she’d been passing to, scooping the ball out of the air with my net like a pro. Once I had it, I wasted no time in taking off toward the goal, weaving in and around the other players, moving like a force of nature.
As the others blurred by, ending up somewhere behind me, I saw Raven approaching from the side, moving fast. I anticipated her next move perfectly, knowing that she would try to block my way. Sure enough, she swung into my path. I dropped my shoulder and slammed into her hard, knocking her off her feet the same way she had done me, the sound of our sticks clacking together along with that of the air rushing out of her.
Spinning in a half circle, I launched the ball into the net with enough force that it was a wonder the ball didn’t burn right through it. Adrenaline rushing through my body and blood pumping hot through my veins, my teammates erupted into cheers and gave me high fives. All but Andrea, in fact, who was staring at me with narrowed brown eyes beneath her helmet.
