by Mindy Hayes
“Yeah, but how could it be used by anyone except for us? Could it be used against us?”
“It’s possible. I’ve never known this to happen before. I don’t even know if our blood could benefit anyone else or if it’s powerless without our bodies as a vessel. We’ve always lived in peace with the other beings. If my family were still alive, I’d ask one of them all of these questions, but I don’t want to cause unnecessary concern or distress by asking around Rymidon. I don’t know who else to turn to.”
“You came to the right place. I’ll find out what I can,” she said reassuringly, standing up. “I have plenty of resources to ask that I trust to be discreet.”
“Thank you, Calliope. I knew I’d be able to trust in you.”
“Sarai, always.” She took my hand firmly in her grasp. “We’re family. I still consider you my sister. I always will.”
Holding back tears, I kept my resilient appearance and hugged Calliope. “As I you.”
“I still miss him,” she whispered, clinging tighter to me.
Sakari bound us together forever. I choked on tears. “Me too.”
Chapter Ten
CAMERON
“Well, that party wasn’t nearly as exciting as I hoped it’d be. Is it just me or has the faery scene lost all the action? Not to mention, Calliope was a buzzkill.”
Lia didn’t respond as we walked from the forest through the parking lot to my apartment. I thought I’d at least get a grunt or scowl of some sort, but there was nothing.
“No one showed up unwelcome. No one attacked Faylinn. No one was kidnapped or murdered. I’m a little disappointed.”
She stared straightforward, not even a twitch to her lips as I pulled stray leaves and twigs from my hair.
“And here we are arriving at,” I flash the screen on my cell phone since I turned it back on, “two AM and I feel like I could sleep for a week. I think Faylinn shaves off more than time. Did I age? I’ve gotta be up at seven for my exam. On less than five hours of sleep, I’m probably screwed.”
“You poor baby.” Finally.
“It’s a rough life, but who else can say they spent the weekend with a bunch of mystical creatures?”
“Me.” Her voice remained monotone.
For some reason, I needed more of a reaction out of her. She was so reserved in Faylinn until she danced. I knew it was hard for her to be there, but I figured it would’ve helped her attitude a little bit. Something told me it didn’t.
I tossed out the first thing my brain could think of to grab her attention. “Chase is going to ask you out.”
“Who?”
I stopped. She’s joking right? “My roommate, Chase.”
Her eyes bunched together. I couldn’t tell if Lia was confused or disgusted. “Is he the quiet one or the one who thinks he’s God’s gift to women?” She’s been living with us for months. How did she not know which one he was?
I snorted. “The latter.”
Her top lip curled up. Disgust. Definitely disgust. “Ugh. No, thank you.”
“I figured you’d say as much, but nothing I said was going to deter him.”
Lia gave me a side-glance before walking up the stairwell. “You tried to deter him?”
“No way.” I laughed, following behind her as we climbed the stairs of my apartment building. “I’m going to get a front row seat to you rejecting him.”
“We’ll see about that.”
“Are you saying you’re not going to reject him?”
“I didn’t say that.”
I turned the lock on the apartment door and looked over my shoulder. “So, you are going to tell him no.”
“I didn’t say that either.”
“Just a minute ago you were repulsed by the thought of him asking you out.”
“Maybe I changed my mind.”
I chuckled and shook my head as I opened the door. “Suit yourself.”
“Where have you two been all weekend?”
“Chase.” I startled, gripping the doorknob to steady myself.
Lia gasped and crouched into a defensive pose, like a feral animal ready to lunge. Down, girl.
Chase sat at our kitchen table under dim lighting, eating a bowl of cereal.
“You scared the tar out of us.”
“Sorry, bro.” He laughed. “I thought you saw me.” His head tilted to the side with an eyebrow raised, assessing Lia. She quickly straightened up.
“What are you still doing up?” I asked to cover up Lia’s strange behavior.
He paused before he answered, “Late night snack, then I’m heading to bed. But seriously, where have you guys been? I left the apartment for like five minutes on Friday, and when I got back y’all were gone. I figured you’d leave a note or something if you weren’t going to be here all weekend.”
“Sorry, Mom. We went and hung out at Callie’s place for the weekend.”
“Who?”
“Callie. She was here on Friday. Blonde curly hair, big green—”
Lia elbowed me in the ribs. “Ow!” My ribs were taking a beating tonight.
“You must be smoking crack.” Chase snorted as he dropped his empty bowl in the sink. “You never introduced me to anyone.”
Crap. What was I thinking? Of course he didn’t remember meeting her on Friday. Faery magic and all. “I must’ve introduced her to Ryland.”
“Well, it definitely wasn’t me. Is she hot?”
“She’s married.”
“Bummer. You seem to have good taste in female friends.” Chase’s eyes scaled Lia up and down. A weird feeling of protectiveness overcame me, which made no sense. I’ve watched Chase check out a million different girls, and I’d only known him a few months. What did I care if he had a thing for Lia? She was attractive. It didn’t change the fact that she was a cold-hearted snake.
“Well, I’m going to bed. I’m only going to get like four hours of sleep as it is.” I looked to Lia. “You good?”
She gave me a funny look. What was wrong with making sure she was comfortable staying alone with Chase? “I’m fine,” she snapped.
Realization hit me. I’ve never cared to ask about her wellbeing before. “Right. Well. Night, guys.”
Chapter Eleven
LIA
“Night bro.” Chase gave Cameron a head nod, and then proceeded to take off his shirt as he walked out of the kitchen, hovering in front of the hallway. He draped his T-shirt around the back of his neck and smiled at me. If he knew I’d spent my entire life around shirtless men with bodies a million times more fit than his, he might not feel so confident walking around with his wannabe six-pack beer belly.
Turning my back on him, I moved to set up my bed on the couch in the living room. I’d managed to avoid Chase for this long and had no intention of breaking the streak any time soon.
“You and Cam have a good weekend?”
Why was he talking to me? “Sure.”
“What did y’all do?”
Was it just me or was he prying? How would he react if I told him the truth? I laughed to myself. I almost told just to see his reaction. Maybe he’d think I was crazy and leave me alone. “We just hung out.”
He laughed, deep and quiet. Did I say something funny? “You’re very cryptic. I dig it.”
When I’d talked to Cameron, I knew I’d made it seem like I wouldn’t reject Chase, but the more he talked, the more I wanted to gag Chase with the T-shirt hanging around his neck.
“You free tomorrow night?” He hovered by the armrest as I laid out the sheet and blanket Cameron had given me to make my bed.
Did I appear remotely interested? Was my blatant lack of eye contact and curt answers begging for his attention? Maybe he needed a clingy girl to deter him. Too bad I couldn’t muster up the acting chops it would take for that façade.
I finally looked up when I tossed down my pillow. “Not for you.”
“Oh, harsh.” He chuckled, pretending to be wounded. His hand clung to his chest. “Mysterious, beautiful, an
d hard to get.” Chase clicked his tongue and swiped it across his bottom lip. Was that supposed to sexy? I, in no way, found him appealing. If anything, I was more repulsed. “All right. I can take a hint.” His self-assured smile never faded. Cocky little bugger.
I walked past him to wash my face and brush my teeth in the bathroom at the end of the hall. He followed close on my heels.
“If you change your mind, you know where to find me.” Can take a hint, my butt.
“It’s unlikely, but thanks.” I closed the bathroom door in his face.
Chapter Twelve
CAMERON
The bathroom door clicked shut, and it took every part of me to keep from laughing out loud. I should’ve taken the opportunity to go to sleep, but when I’d heard Chase coming onto Lia as I was closing my bedroom door I had to listen to the rest of the conversation.
If I’d been around when he’d asked, she might’ve said yes just to prove me wrong, but I knew she didn’t want to. It felt good to know I’d been right. She didn’t want to say yes to Chase. I mean … Skye was too fresh in her mind. It seemed to me, she was too closed off to ever love someone again. We might not talk much, but I’ve had enough time over the last few months to observe her. She wouldn’t bother giving someone like Chase the time of day. It would take an army to break down the guard she’s built around her heart.
…
When I left for my exam after 6:30 AM, I wasn’t surprised to see Lia sound asleep. Her hair splayed like fire licking across her cheek, the sunlight streaming through the blinds. I stopped to watch her. She looked like a different person when she slept, so serene and untouched by the world. Then I realized how creepy it would look if she woke up, or Ryland or Chase found me staring, and darted toward the front door. I nearly slammed it on my way out, but thought better of it before shutting it quietly.
Maybe when I was done with my exam and classes, Lia and I could go together to find her a job. She wasn’t going to find one without me, and the sooner I found her a position, the sooner I’d have her out of my hair.
That is what I wanted, wasn’t it?
…
“What are you doing?” Lia looked at me the way the most popular girl in school looked at the outcast, when I sat down beside her on the couch with my laptop in hand later that night.
“C’mon. We’re gonna take a look at job listings. There’s got to be a restaurant that needs a hostess or server or something. I feel like restaurants are always hiring. And in a college town—”
She groaned, hitting mute on the TV remote. “I told you I’ve been trying.”
“I know, but I figured a little help couldn’t hurt. Maybe with our powers combined we’ll find something.”
“Do you think we can find a place that pays under the table? Even with my fake ID, the government has no record of me for payroll and such.”
Hmm … I didn’t think of that. “We’ll figure something out.”
I felt her fidgeting beside me and looked over to see Lia looking at the screen, threading a reddish-orange ribbon between her fingers, rubbing it wordlessly as I scrolled through the classifieds.
“What are you doing with that?”
“Huh?” I nodded toward the ribbon in her hand. “Oh … it reminds me of the texture of my wings.” Her voice was so quiet I could barely hear her. Music streamed from the hallway, reminding me Ryland was back there studying. She must’ve been concerned he’d hear her. His music was loud enough that I knew he couldn’t.
Lia shrugged. “Same color, too.”
“Oh yeah, I remember. You had uh, really cool wings.”
The first time I saw Lia as a faery in Faylinn, I’d thought I was hallucinating. It had been the most bizarre scene. Her wings were like flames sprouting from her back, commanding attention without so much as a word. Had I not hated her in that moment, I might have been drawn to her. “Is that what you miss the most?”
I heard her soft sigh. “Yeah.”
My dad had once told me it helped to talk about my problems and feelings rather than keeping them bottled up. Ironic, considering he’d never talked about his problems, so I’d never talked about mine. It was a shaky ground to cross with Lia, but I decided to do it anyway. “What do you miss most about them?”
“Are you seriously asking me about my wings?” She said ‘wings’ like she was telling me a secret.
“Yeah. Why not? Calliope said they don’t serve much of a purpose, that they’re essentially a gender differentiation feature, but there has to be more to it than that if you miss them that much.”
Lia peered at me to see if I was serious. I stared back, waiting. Talking about faery stuff and Faylinn was so much more interesting than talking about the real world. It was a miracle I didn’t spiral into some crazy depression after coming back the first time and being thrown straight into homework and studying and major declarations. It was all so monotonous and boring.
When Calliope had left to rule the faery world, it was easy to forget what I knew about her and live a normal life when she wasn’t constantly around. But I’d never seen the other side. However, now that Lia was with me all the time, nothing faded. I remembered everything. In detail. There were some things I wished could be wiped from my mind completely, like the memory of the battlefield aftermath and the sounds of terror and cries Kai and I could hear from that burrow. But, ultimately, I didn’t want to forget. The fantasy realm brought vibrancy and magic to my otherwise mundane life.
Lia drew her attention back to my computer and took control of scrolling. “Did you ever have a favorite stuffed animal you slept with when you were little? Or a blanket? Anything?”
I chuckled to myself. “When I was eight, I had a Superman action figure. For years, he stood on my nightstand to watch the night and protect me. When my mom left, he served as a companion so I never felt alone again.” Where did that come from? My mom was a topic I never talked about. I didn’t think Callie even knew about Superman.
Lia’s eyes flashed the briefest sadness before she covered it up and said, “Well, picture Superman like an appendage. No matter where you were or what you were doing, he was there to comfort you or alert you to something awry. He could react to things quicker than your brain or your heart, an instinct. He could wrap his arms around you and comfort you when you were sad, and commiserate with any pain. Superman was the best friend who never needed to talk, an internal communication only the two of you understood.”
She broke eye contact. I knew she was no longer diligently searching for a job listing, but Lia still scrolled down the screen. “Now, imagine being your eight-year-old self and Superman was stolen. You could never get him back. You were left to fend for yourself alone in the dark. He was no longer there to shield you from the things that go bump in the night or be your companion. You no longer had your security. All you have is yourself.”
I watched her profile while she tried to appear unaffected. Her jaw twitched, and she blinked rapidly. Quickly, she swiped her hand under her eye, as if she were being discreet.
“That really sucks.”
She shrugged and nodded. “I’m adapting.”
To me, she wanted to sound like a tough girl, but the fragile facade was cracking. She couldn’t keep up the indifferent act much longer. Part of me wanted to shatter the pretenses to get to what was underneath all the attitude and bitterness. Another part of me clung to my animosity and disinterest. The sooner she was gone, the better.
I kept saying that, and yet, it was getting more and more difficult to believe it.
Chapter Thirteen
SARAI
“Your Highness.”
I gasped awake, shooting straight up from my pillow. The blanket pooled around my waist. I blinked, my eyes adjusting to the dark and my intruder.
“I’m sorry to disturb you.” Kayne came into view, hovering in my open chamber doorway. He peered over his lean shoulder and then closed the door behind him, cloaking us in darkness. With a sweep of my arm, candles lit
around the room. “You wanted me to come to you as soon as possible if more came to light in regards to the assassinations.” He turned his back to me when my state of undress struck him.
Quickly, I got out of bed and wrapped a robe around my thin nightgown. “Yes, what is it, Kayne?”
He peeked over his shoulder to make sure I was decent before turning all the way around. “Another was found. Throat slashed, blood drained, body dumped in the forest just outside the kingdom walls.”
“Who?”
“Sindri of the Craftsmen.”
“Odila’s son.” My heart weighed in my chest. “So, they aren’t targeting one colony.”
“No, Your Grace.”
“Has Calliope contacted us since the uniting celebration?”
His head shook once. “No, Your Grace.”
It had been days. I sighed. “And there was still no evidence around the body? Nothing to tie him to where he was killed or by whom?”
Kayne lowered his voice. “No, Your Grace.” I could tell his lack of useful information disheartened him.
Staring up at the wooden beams on the tall ceiling, I held in my tears. I wouldn’t cry in front of Kayne. He needed to see my strength, not flailing for answers.
With a heavy exhale I looked at him. “Thank you for waking me and letting me know. We’ll come together first thing. I want a meeting with you and the Keepers who found Sindri and the Keepers who found Eldon.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Thank you, Kayne. You may go now,” I dismissed him before he could see my weakness.
There was hesitation before he bowed and backed out of my chambers.
My legs instantly collapsed beneath me and tears took control. I missed Sakari. I missed him so much. I missed his strength and advice. I missed his comfort and tenacity. He would’ve known precisely what to do. Why couldn’t he have lived, and I’d have died? Rymidon would’ve been better off in his capable hands. All I could do was sit back and wait for another assassination and hope we’d have more answers next time. Soon, I wouldn’t be able to hide this. Soon, the entire kingdom would know we were being hunted one by one and there was nothing their queen could do for them.
