by Larissa Ladd
“Where are you going?” I asked, trying not to sound annoyed.
“Oh, we have a meeting in the morning,” she answered, and leaned back, closing her eyes.
“You’ve been going to a lot of those,” I said, still careful to keep my voice under control.
“I know, a lot has been happening.”
“Is this about that guy?” I had to ask. I didn’t want to start anything, but I couldn’t hold it anymore, I had to know if he was there every time.
Her eyes opened and she frowned and stared into space for a moment before she turned her head to me.
“What guy?”
“You know, the one they want you to marry.”
“No,” she shook her head, “it’s just about our allies, and we have to meet with them for a while to strengthen the bonds.”
“So, he’s not there?”
She looked at me carefully, trying to gauge what I was trying to get at, before she answered. “He is,” she said, her voice unsure.
“So, it is about him, then,” I didn’t try to keep my frustration a secret now. My voice was hard and I felt my face settle into a stark expression.
“It’s not about him—” she started, but I cut her off.
“How do you think this is supposed to make me feel? You come here telling me that you’re supposed to marry some guy when you’re already engaged to me, and then suddenly we’re not spending time together because you’re spending time with him?”
“That’s not how it is, Devan,” she said. She was angry now, her cheeks blanching to smooth white and her green eyes blazing.
“Then how is it? Tell me, because it’s not like you talk to me about anything anymore.”
“I have to be there; I’m their leader. And what we’re doing now is tradition. When the witches take the time to actually travel up from the Valley, it’s our duty to welcome them and remind them of our allegiance.”
“It’s just convenience that this allegiance is with the man you’re meant to marry.”
“Don’t be like this,” she sighed deeply, “I can’t exactly tell him off now can I? If I refuse him straight away, they’ll all suspect that something is going on. They’ll find out about you and then we might not even be able to be together.”
“So your plan is what, to just pretend like you’re going ahead with it, even though you’re not available?”
I was angry now. My voice was rising, and I felt the itching start up in my hands. I shook my head and tried to focus on keeping calm. I didn’t want another physical fight with her; we’d done that before and that hadn’t been good for us.
“Look, Devan, this rule has been there for centuries. I can’t just go and tell them I don’t feel like doing it. I’m trying to look for a way out, but I can’t just drop the bomb on them and hope that nothing will happen. I’m doing this for you, looking for a way out of this mess. Why can’t you be more understanding?”
Understanding? How could I be understanding if my soon-to-be wife was spending time with another man all the time?
I nodded, pursing my lips so that I wouldn’t say more. I knew that this couldn’t go anywhere further; I couldn’t become more upset without it turning into something worse. My palms were burning and the build-up in my chest was beginning to worry me. It filled me up, pushed all the way up my throat and I couldn’t swallow it down.
“Fine,” I finally said when I was sure I could control myself, “if that’s what you have to do, then I can’t say anything about it. But I’m not happy, Cherry. Put yourself in my shoes, imagine how you’d feel if the roles were reversed. This isn’t something that any man can handle.”
“I know,” she said, and she held out her hand, touching my cheek. At her touch, my hands spread out, and I squeezed them into fists. I wouldn’t fight with her just because I was angry about something that wasn’t in my control. “It’s hard for me too, but I’m doing the best I can. I love you; I need you to trust me.”
Her eyes were a brilliant green and the way her frown subsided when she said that would usually tempt me to kiss her, but right now, I couldn’t think of touching her. A simple stroke on the cheek was sending me into such a rage that it was a lot of strain just to keep calm.
The fact that we were enemies was flaring up now, her touch was causing a negative reaction, and having her close to me was asking for a fight.
I got up.
“I’m going to let you have some sleep,” I said, trying not to sound like was angry. I had to get out before I lost it.
“You don’t even want to stay just a short while longer? You said yourself we haven’t been spending much time together. I miss you.” Her tone was pleading, but I shook my head.
“I’m pretty tired too. Call me tomorrow after you’re done; we can arrange something then.”
I bent over and pecked her on the cheek, keeping myself in check as I did so. It was a bit easier when I expected the reaction when I touched her, and I walked toward the door. She sat on the couch, looking after me. She looked defeated and somehow worn, like it had all taken too much out of her. I closed the door behind me.
I managed to pull myself together on the way home. The burning in my hands finally calmed down, and I felt like I could breathe again. This meant trouble; if my reaction to Cherry was becoming like that, I had to do something, and do it fast.
Chapter 7: Devan - Enemies Collide
I walked to Cherry’s apartment. I was irritated and on edge, and I just couldn’t relax. I’d been feeling like this since the night I’d asked her about it. It was a couple of days later now, and even though I felt like at least I could be around her again without wanting to lose it completely, it still wasn’t completely gone. I’d only seen her once after that, and I had to see her now. I just had to know that everything was still okay, that my feeling like this wasn’t because something was wrong.
I clenched and unclenched my fists, keeping my arms stiff by my side as I walked the couple of blocks to her building too fast. I was just opposite the convenience store on the corner, the one she always went to when we were out of something. I didn’t usually look into it, and my mind was so distracted right then I didn’t know why I did, but I turned my head.
A brilliant flash of red made me stop, and when I looked again I was sure, it was her hair. I breathed out a sigh of relief that at least she was alright. She hadn't been answering her phone and I was a little worried about her. I started crossing the street, but just as I got to the sidewalk right in front of the store, another person joined her. I froze.
It was man, one I had never seen before. He had white blond hair and his back, which was turned to me, looked strong, with broad shoulders. It wasn’t the fact that she was in the company of someone I didn’t know that ticked me off so much. It was the way he stood next to her, protective, possessive.
I felt pressure in my chest, and my hands were red-hot instantly. I breathed in deeply a couple of time. It’s not what it seems, I told myself; Cherry would never let anyone come between us. The last couple of days weren’t the norm. I kept repeating it to myself.
Then he put his arm around her shoulders, and squeezed her into a side hug. It was a friendly gesture, something that couldn’t be labeled as intimate or a threat. But he was a threat. Any man near my Cherry was a threat right now.
A flash of white in front of my eyes blinded me to what was happening around me and I heard a crack in my ears, like something inside of me had snapped. Then before I could even think about it, I was charging in through the doors.
“Devan!” Cherry cried out the same time I grabbed the guy by his arm and swung him around. He looked confused for a second, his glance flicking between me and Cherry. I felt the fire in my hands grow. This man was going to get what was coming to him.
Cherry looked horrified, saying something to me in urgent tones, but I couldn’t hear what she was saying. I couldn’t hear anything around me. I was just focused on my target.
He looked me up and down, his
face thoughtful, and I felt a sharp pain in my temples. It only stayed for a split second, but when it was gone, he was looking at Cherry with a troubled glance, and then at me, his eyes wide and his eyebrows drawn up in a what-do-you-think-you’re-doing kind of way.
Cherry was whimpering next to him, and the sound of her so close to tears sent me over the top. But before I could do anything the man grabbed her wrist and my wrist. His grip on me was so tight it sent shooting pains up into my arm that throbbed in time with the violent beating of my heart. Everything around me blurred, and I felt a little light-headed. The next thing I knew we were in open fields.
I stumbled when he let me go, feeling a little dizzy. We had been in the middle of town just moment ago, and now we were standing in the middle of nowhere, the afternoon sun looking lazily down at us, and fields stretching into the distance almost as far as the eye could see.
“What did you think you were doing, giving us away like that?” the guy was talking to me and his voice was angry.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, still not sure what was going on.
“You can’t just barge in there and plan to use powers in the middle of a town. Do you know what they’ll do to us, all of us?”
My head was spinning. This guy sounded like he knew what I was, what I was about to do.
“How do you—“
“He’s a witch, Devan,” Cherry cut me off, “he can tell what you’re thinking.”
That explained the teleportation thing. And the sharp pain my temples.
“But that means—“I started, but this time, he cut me off.
“I’m disappointed,” he murmured to Cherry, and her eyes drifted to the ground.
“Don’t hurt him, Mason,” she said, her voice subdued, still looking down. “He’s not a threat.”
Mason snorted. “Not a threat? He’s a fae! And besides that, he’s a threat to the covens because he knows about you.”
“He’s not, he’s not like that. He’s known for quite some time and nothing has come of it. He’s… he’s alone.”
She’d hesitated before she said it, but the moment she did, it looked like a flash of recognition crossed Mason’s face. Then he looked at me and a strange smile appeared on his face.
“Well then,” he said, “you shouldn’t be that much of a problem then.”
“No!” Cherry cried, but it was too late. Mason had started moving his hands around himself, and a bright light appeared between them very quickly. I didn’t have to rely on my instincts to know that this meant trouble.
“Did you really think you could keep this up?” he asked me while swinging that light around with his hands, growing it in power. “Did you really think a witch like her and a nothing like you could ever be anything more than master and slave?”
As soon as he finished talking, he launched the light in my direction, and I lifted up my hands. While he’d been swinging, I’d been working on blocking it, but his words had felt like fists punching me in my gut, and by the time the light reached me, I wasn’t as ready for it as I should have been. It hit me with a force that sent me flying backwards a couple of feet before I fell on my back.
“Mason, please,” I heard Cherry plead. I couldn’t breathe, it felt like my chest was going to cave, and I was gulping for air like a fish out of water.
“You didn’t think that you could come in here and steal my show, did you?” he carried on, and then jumped into the air, coming down with a swing of his hands. His hands didn’t touch me, but it felt like something stabbed me through my stomach. I groaned and the sharp pain that traveled through my abdomen was suddenly so severe I felt I would black out.
I thrust my hands forward with what energy I could find, and the bit of power I had been able to muster was enough to fling Mason back a step or two.
“Oh, a fighter are you? Want to give it a go?” he jeered.
I sat up, feeling dizzy. The pain in my abdomen was so bad now I almost couldn’t hold myself up, and my breathing had only just come back. Still, I pushed myself up further until I was on my feet.
Cherry stood a couple of feet away, her hands clasped over her mouth. Why didn’t she do anything? Why didn’t she help me?
Before I could think any further, something hit me again, something that burned like flame this time. I hadn’t even seen Mason move.
I crouched down and let the power that I had been feeling in my chest the past couple of days build, feeling the energy collect into one place, feeling the force of it. If I just had enough time to do it, I could send out a sonic boom that might knock him out. It might knock Cherry out too because it spread out when I aimed it at someone, but if I could just get him, it would be okay.
I felt it build, and it was almost at the point of explosion, the point where I needed it to be, when the wind picked up around Mason and started swirling around him with gale force. A second later, he started rising into the air, the wind picking him up. He was a terrifying sight, with his blond hair almost completely white now with the effort, and his face contorted in a mask of hatred.
Before I could strike at him, thunder sounded all around us, and lightning started striking the earth, cracking as it connected with the ground or the rock pile nearby. Then, just before I could release my own attack, a white flash and a deafening crack happened right on top of me, and everything went black.
Chapter 8: Cherry - Fluttering Heartbeat
Devan moaned, but his eyes stayed closed. I was starting to worry that I would never get him back. He was lying in my bed, thick covers over him to keep him warm. His body didn’t preserve heat at all now, and even when I lay right up against him at night to warm him, it didn’t work. Not even my body heat was enough to spread through his body.
I tipped my head up and rubbed my neck. I’d been sitting with him for three days now, ever since he and Mason had their fight in the field. After Mason had brought down that flash of lightning on him, I thought that that was the end of him. I screamed, and then collapsed on the ground, crying.
After Mason had seen that he won the fight, he stopped his winds and lowered himself to the ground, more gracefully than the last time I saw him, and walked over to me.
“You won’t have to worry about him anymore,” he said with a triumphant smile, but all I could do was glare at him through my tears.
“How could you?” I asked.
“How could I what, save you? He was the enemy, Cherene, a fae. And you were looking for trouble having relations with him. But that’s all fixed now.
“I loved him,” I cried, and I broke down into a fresh set of sobs.
He looked at me like I was crazy for a while. Then he said, “at least it wasn’t your life that was taken, which should have been the penalty for what you’ve done.”
Then he walked away, leaving me behind, crying. I crawled over to Devan’s body. His face was so pale it was frightening, and I put my head on his chest, weeping. Then, when my sobs finally subsided, I heard the faint flutter of a heartbeat.
Now, Devan was lying in my bed, his body sunken into the mattress, pressed down by the covers. He had lost weight from not eating at all, and his skin was still deathly pale. But his heart was beating strong now; I checked regularly.
I was relieved that Devan wasn’t human. Fae might have been our natural enemies, but because he was one, his body had been strong enough not to get burned to a crisp, and had preserved his life through it all. Now I just hoped I could get him back.
I couldn’t have taken him to the hospital; they wouldn’t have known how to treat him, or figured out why he was still alive. There were times when hospitals just couldn’t help us, and supernatural damage like Mason had done to him was one of the things I just couldn’t put in front of a doctor.
Dusk was falling by the time Devan groaned, and this time his eyes fluttered.
“Devan,” I breathed, and rushed to the side of the bed. His eyes fluttered again and then they opened.
“There you are,” I said,
and I tried not to cry, but I couldn’t stop the tears that were streaming down my cheeks, “I was so scared that I’d lost you.”
“You’re not getting rid of me that easy,” he smiled weakly and then his eyes closed again, and he drifted off again.
It was like that for another couple of days. He came to for a short while before he slipped away again, but it became longer and longer, and with time, he was awake long enough for me to be sure that he was going to be okay. He started eating, slowly at first, only having soup and tea, but later that picked up as well, and in a week’s time, he was at a point where I could let him get out of bed and move to the couch in the living room.
We sat together on the couch. His hand was on my knee, his eyes closed. It had still been a strain to get to the living room. Then he opened his eyes and turned his head to look at me.
“I owe you my life,” he said, his voice still a little hoarse.
“You did the staying alive bit all by yourself,” I said, looking at my hands.
“Thank you,” he said, and it was so heartfelt, I nearly cried again.
“What happened to Mason?” he asked after a while.
“He left the field after he struck you down.”
“Has he gone back to the Valley?”
I hesitated for a moment before I answered, “No, he’s still here.”
“Oh? What’s going to happen now? We’re not safe.”
“Actually,” I said, and I felt a new kind of hysteria wash over me. It wasn’t about keeping him now; it was about losing him, “I’m going with him.”
It took a moment for my words to register. I saw how the blank expression on Devan’s face changed to surprise and then into anger.
“What? You’re just going to leave all of this and go?” he was still weak, but the anger was clear in his voice.
“Do you think it’s going to stop here?” I asked, not wanting to look at him. “Do you think Mason or any of the other witches will let you live, now that they know about you? It’s dangerous enough as it is with you being a fae, never mind having me in your life. I have to…” I swallowed hard. “We have to put an end to this.”
