by Miranda Kavi
“Oh, God.” It’s my fault. Something bad has happened because of me. The hole in her heart ripped open. It hurt so bad she put her hand on her chest to make sure it was still intact. God, no. Please. Not Tink. Loyal, kind, selfless, Tink.
“It’s not your fault. Fayga did this to him, not you,” Kara said.
“You get the hell out of my head!” she snapped. “How dare you? This is my best friend we’re talking about here. We’re all just standing here while he is out there somewhere bleeding!” She advanced to Kara, aggressively enough that Kara took a few steps back and Sergeant Grimes put a restraining hand on Celeste’s shoulder. “You’d better find him, or tell me how to find him.”
“I’ll do everything I can, Celeste. You need to go home and get some rest. I’ll keep you updated. If you feel anything weird, call me,” Kara said.
“Um, no. Try again. I’m helping you.”
“Absolutely not. Tracking and killing Sidhe is advanced stuff. You’re not ready yet. The best thing you can do is stay out of the way and keep yourself safe. There are others who can handle this,” Kara said.
Rylan chimed in. “I agree. I’m taking you home.” He snaked his arm through hers.
She pulled it away. “No. I’m not going home. I need to do something, and I need to learn, and you know it.”
“Fine. I’ll be waiting at Rylan’s for you two,” Kara said. She puffed out some air, making a sound somewhere between a chuckle and cough. “Good luck with your parents, and you’d better not even think about skipping school tomorrow.” She looked at Sergeant Grimes. “You’d better tap into your network.” And with that, she was gone, hard footsteps echoing on the wood stairs.
Sergeant Grimes turned to Celeste. “You really need to be careful. This is some dark stuff for an untrained super…”
It was only then she realized she was nearly exploding in purple light. Flames and lights snaked up and down her arms, and light shot out of her palms like a flashlight. She calmed herself then pushed the light back until she only had the tiny flames dancing around her palms. She kept those. They made her feel prepared.
“What is that?” Sergeant Grimes asked.
“I control Sidhe with it.”
“Interesting. I wonder if you could control others as well.”
“Others? What are you?” she asked.
He held out his hand. She looked at Rylan. He shrugged, so she put her hand on top of his. She let her purple light flow over him, ordered her fire to consume him. It did, engulfing him in purple flames. As it did, his skin became almost transparent, allowing her to see what was underneath. Fur, pointy teeth, small ears.
“Holy crap!” She pulled her hand away. As she did, his furry features quickly shifted back to human.
“Whoa,” he said. “You almost made me change.
“What are you?”
“Have they taught you nothing? I’m a skinwalker,” he said.
“What’s that? Like a shapeshifter?”
“Yes, kind of. It usually takes a lot of work on my part to change, but you just flipped the switch for me.” His smile faded. “Tell no one about this. I don’t think anyone needs to know how powerful you are.”
Rylan nodded his agreement, then ushered Celeste out of the room.
“What’s the rush? We need to help him find Tink,” she whispered in his ear.
“Shapeshifters use dark forces to shift, so sometimes they’re not safe to be around, particularly when they’re not in their human form,” he said. “I hope he keeps what you did to himself.”
They paused at the bottom of the stairs.
“Why?”
“Because of what you can do. You’re going to be viewed as a potential threat to the supernatural community. Not all of them are good, Celeste. Fayga is a bad Sidhe, but there are many different kinds, and some are bad like her.”
“And when were you planning on telling me all this?” she asked.
“I don’t even know what all is out there. I only learn about things as I run across them. There’s a lot to share, and you already have a lot of on your plate.”
She walked away from him without another word. She didn’t care anymore. All she needed to do was find Tink. She hugged his mom goodbye.
When she and Rylan walked through the front door of her house, her mother’s eyes were rimmed in red. “Oh, baby! I’m so glad you’re home.” She ran to Celeste and threw her arms around her.
“Mom.” She pressed her cheek against her mother’s, catching the scent of the face cream she’d used since Celeste was a child. In her mother’s arms, something inside her broke. She sobbed.
Her father wrapped his arms around both of them. “There, there now. Let’s think positive thoughts for him, eh?”
Rylan leaned against the doorway to the living room. His eyes were wet, which he hastily wiped with the back of his hand.
Celeste finally got a hold of herself, her ragged, crying breaths giving way to deep, calm ones. “I think I want to go to bed,” she said. She gave Rylan a hug, and said, “I’ll see you tomorrow,” loud enough so her parents heard.
He said a polite goodnight to her parents then left through the door. As the door closed behind him, she was sure he was already waiting in her room.
Her parents gave her one last hug, a big glass of water, then she was off to bed. She left her light off when she came in. “Rylan?”
“I’m here.” He held her close to him, their bodies gently swaying together. “Are you sure you’re up for this?”
“Yes,” she said. “Just let me drink that water and change.” She pulled a pair of jeans and a sweater out of her bureau.
He turned away while she changed.
“Okay.” She followed him out the window.
He pulled her down so they were both seated under the window, wrapping his arms and legs around her. “Close your eyes.”
She did. Even though she was more prepared for it, her insides still flipped when he did whatever it was he did. But sure enough, when she opened her eyes, they sat on his front porch. She retched violently. Whether it was from worry over Tink or the “ride” or a combination of both, she didn’t know.
Kara’s car was in the driveway. She came out the driver’s side, motioning for them to be quiet since she was on her cell phone. After a few minutes, she hung up. Her face was a funny shade of gray.
“What is it? Is there news on him?” Celeste said.
“No, it’s…” She cupped her hand over her eyes and took a deep breath. That must have done something for her because after she removed her hand her voice was steady. “Another student has gone missing. Just like him, blood all over the place, taken through a window.”
“Who?” Rylan said.
“Jennifer Macci.”
“What?” Celeste asked. “Why would she be involved in anything?”
Kara bit her upper lip. “I don’t know. You tell me. Never met the kid. Was she ever involved with either one of you?”
Celeste thought of Rylan leaning up against the locker close to Jennifer, sitting with her at lunch and in class. Her surge of jealousy as she watched the two of them. Jennifer taunting her at school. She glanced at Rylan.
Kara nodded. “I see.”
“I didn’t really like her, I just thought it would make—”
“Doesn’t matter. What matters is she is gone, and Fayga took her,” Kara said.
“This is all my fault,” Celeste said. “How do we find them?”
“We can’t, but Sidhe can,” Kara said. “They will be able to trace her path on the other side, but it will be dangerous for them.”
“We need a Sidhe then. Surely you know someone reliable?” Celeste stopped talking, because then she understood. They had a Sidhe, or half of one at least. “No. We’ve got plenty right here.” Celeste pointed to the black shadows around her.
“No, it will be faster if I just do it. It’ll be fine,” Rylan said. He sat down on the porch. “I haven’t crossed over in so long. Years.
”
Celeste sat next to him. “Can’t I just do it?”
“No!” Rylan and Kara said in perfect unison.
Kara leaned against her car. “It’s not safe for Tuatha to go. We are the door, we can’t go through it. It’s not safe for us there.”
“But if I’m with Rylan, then I’ll be fine.”
“No! Never,” Kara said.
“Fine.”
“Let’s see if we can get you some help,” Kara said. She turned to the throng of ever-present Sidhe around them and closed her eyes. Twenty seconds passed, then Celeste felt the pressure abating. They swirled through Kara’s portal. Kara opened her eyes. “Ethan,” she whispered. “Please, we need help.”
“What?” he barked. “He” being the tall, shadowy man with dark skin and long brown hair that had just appeared in front of them. He was dressed in some sort of heavily buckled leggings and a tunic. He looked almost human, but not quite. His chiseled face was a little too breathtaking to fall on the human scale.
His sudden, very physical appearance had made all of them jump.
“Ethan, I thought that was you,” Kara said.
“Uh huh,” he said. “What do you want?”
“We need your help.”
“Right, you said that. What?” he asked.
“We need to find a powerful Sidhe. She’s taken a couple of humans, and we need to get them back.”
He shifted his weight. “This doesn’t concern me, Tuatha.”
He began to disappear, solid skin morphing into murky shadows.
“Wait!” Celeste shouted. She grabbed his arm before it faded. Her purple light shot out, wrapping them both in fire.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” He filled his form in again. He removed her hand from his arm and placed it gently in his hand. “And who is this ravishing creature?” He leaned close to her, squinting at the purple flames engulfing her skin.
She felt Rylan’s presence behind her, closing in on her protectively. She ignored him.
“Please.” She grabbed his other hand. His eyes were purple too, but dark, like a plum. “Please help me. They’ve taken my friend, and it’s all my fault.” Tears ran down her face. “Please,” she said again.
He tilted his head to the side. “New Tuatha? You are a sight for sore eyes, and your light,” he said, running his cool fingers across her arm, “why, it’s simply intoxicating.” His lips parted in a smile. His teeth were pointy, but she did not to recoil. “I’m at your service, Miss…?”
“Celeste. You can call me Celeste.”
“Celeste. Oh, how fitting. Like the heavenly celestial bodies in the sky.” When he said the word “bodies,” his eyes roamed up and down hers.
“Okay, that’s enough.” Rylan stepped up beside Celeste.
“I mean no offense.” His deep purple eyes traveled to Rylan, then back to Celeste. He raised her hand to his cold lips, pressed them against her skin, then released her hand. “What is it you will need, my lady?” His eyes focused only on Celeste.
“We need to find Fayga. She has my friends,” Celeste said.
“Done.” He faded again, but she felt him moving inside her as he crossed over.
“Wait!” Kara said.
He reappeared. “Yes?”
Kara pointed at Rylan. “Take him with you, please.”
“The halfling?”
Rylan glowered at him, but stepped forward. He turned around so he was standing next to Ethan, staring at Celeste. “It’ll be okay.” He smiled, then disappeared.
They moved through her then were gone.
She turned to Kara. “Now what?”
Kara pulled her purse higher up on her shoulder. “Now, we wait. Can we go inside? You might as well get some rest.”
Celeste looked at the time displayed on her cell. 11:00. It was late, and she should be tired, but there was no rest. Just a cycle of thoughts through her head. Worry about Tink, agony over what could have happened to him, worry for Jennifer, and the new worry about Rylan’s safety.
She walked inside without another word, Kara following close behind. The living room had one overstuffed couch in front of a flat screen TV. Judging by the thin layer of dust on the screen, nobody spent a lot of time here.
She sank into the couch, resting her head on the cushions. The couch squeaked when Kara sat down on the other end. She tried to close her eyes, tried to rest, but the gaping pain in her chest wouldn’t relent.
Kara turned on the TV, but kept the volume low.
“Can you read his mind?” she said to Kara.
“Whose?”
“Rylan’s.”
“No.” Kara said.
“How do you know Ethan?” Celeste asked. She shifted so her back was against the arm of the couch, facing Kara, legs crossed in front of her.
“When they pass through the portal, after a while, you get to sense their distinct entities, and their personalities. Sometimes they will try to communicate with you, come to you with their disputes. Ethan came to me when I first became Tuatha. He was curious. He’s a little snaky, but is very interested in humans; way more than the others,” she said.
“Why is that?”
“Because we are different, and it interests some of them.” She slid her purse off her shoulder and set it on the glass coffee table. “Since we are more human, we are more ruled by emotion, and we are somewhat mortal. Wouldn’t you be interested, too?”
“I suppose.” She pulled out her cell and looked again. Only twenty stupid minutes had passed. “Is it normal for them to take this long?”
“Yes,” Kara said. “Especially if she has carried them somewhere distant.”
“Distant?” Celeste echoed.
“She could move them anywhere in the world or keep them trapped on the other side.”
Celeste pictured Rylan freezing in the arctic in his pajamas and t-shirt or being forced into a dirty market in some remote village. She shook her head to try to clear her thoughts. She needed to stay positive, stay strong.
“How do they move like that? Are they teleporting?” Celeste said.
Kara smiled. “In a sense, yes. They aren’t restricted by the same physics we are. They just go. Rylan is very lucky to have retained that. Most halflings cannot.”
Rylan’s name brought a sting of anxiety with it, but then she felt an internal pressure. “I think they’re coming.”
On cue, they burst through the door.
Rylan’s face was grave. Ethan was smiling.
Celeste ran into his Rylan’s arms. He embraced her, pulling her tight.
“What is it? Where are they?” she asked.
“Outside of Aberdeen. Scotland. He’s in bad shape. We need to go.”
CHAPTER 16
“What?” Celeste choked back a flood of tears.
Ethan spoke up. “I popped in, very quickly. I didn’t let her see me. There was a male and a female, both tied up, both bleeding. The male had a low life force, almost gone.” He frowned, bringing his hand up to his face to examine a fingernail. “I think your halfling broke my nail.”
“Oh, God.” Celeste turned to Kara. She was busy riffling through her purse. “What do we do?”
“We have to send her back to the other side. I don’t want to ask you to put yourself in danger, but I need your help. We don’t have time to gather any more Tuatha,” she said.
“No, I’ll go. What do we need?”
“A bit of luck, I think,” Kara said. She set her purse back down. She had a knife in her hand. “Ethan, can you help us?”
“This is not my fight.”
“At least help us get there,” she said.
He turned to Celeste. “Celeste, would you like my help?” He smiled at her with his strange pointy teeth.
She met his eyes. “Yes, please.”
“Anything for you, love.”
“We need to go soon,” Rylan said.
“Right.” Kara nodded. “We need to push her back through the portal to the other side. Sidhe are extr
emely difficult to kill, so let’s make forcing her back our focus instead. Celeste, follow my lead.”
Rylan wrapped his arms around Celeste, pulling her close to his chest. “This is going to hurt. I’m sorry.”
She scrunched her eyes shut and prayed it’d be a short ride.
It wasn’t. Her insides lurched in her body, lunch crawling its way back up her throat. Pressure filled her body, her head pounding inside and out. Her eyes opened involuntarily. Black shiny light swirled around them, like they were inside darkness itself. Screams filled the air around her. It took her a few seconds to recognize them as her own.
The darkness gave way to light, and it was so bright it burned her skin and eyes. Her feet were on solid ground, and Rylan was still holding her. He gently lowered her to the ground. She rolled over and lost the rest of her last meal.
She closed her eyes, clawing her fingers into the ground. They tangled in something pliable and wiry. Grass.
“Don’t scream. She doesn’t know we’re here.” Rylan knelt beside her, whispering into her ear.
She opened her eyes. They were at the base of a hill. As far as she could see, green pastures rolled away from her in every direction. Farmhouse buildings dotted the scenery, but they were very far away.
She sat up. The world stayed level, her stomach stopped lurching. “I’m okay.”
A nearby groan brought her attention behind her. Kara lay on her side on the ground, moaning. Ethan sat beside her, knees folded up to his chest, smiling and twisting a blade of grass around his finger.
Kara rolled up slowly, much like Celeste had.
As soon as she did, Ethan started to disappear. An idea flitted through Celeste’s mind, something she should do.
“Ethan!” she hissed. “Get Sergeant Grimes, the Skinwalker.”
He showed her all his pointy teeth, but then he was gone. She had no idea if he’d heard her or not, or even if he had, if he’d follow through. It was strange, though, that Kara hadn’t thought of that.
“Okay, now what?” she said.
Rylan nodded toward the top the hill, motioning for them to get down. They all did, dragging themselves with their hands to the top of the hill. Several small posts lined the front of small stone cottage.
