by Mindy Hayes
Half an episode turned into another full episode, which turned into three more episodes.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Lia said, pulling on my arm when I tried to get up after the last episode and go to bed. “But there’s another one.”
“And there’s going to be another one after that, but I have to get up for class at nine.”
“What time is it?”
“Three, and I’m already going to hate myself when I wake up.”
“Dang it. How is it already three? I’m not even tired anymore.” She yawned. “Okay. That was a fluke.” She yawned again, and I laughed. “Shut up. Go to bed. I’m watching this without you.”
“You can’t do that.”
“Says who?”
“The Criminal Minds committee. It’s in the bylaws. Once a Criminal Minds marathon commences, the members of said marathon must only continue as one.”
Lia snorted and yawned, but tried hiding it behind her hand. “Okay. Fine. But let me make it clear, I’m only stopping because I need to be mentally present at work tomorrow and sleep is taking over. Not because you asked me to.”
“Whatever helps you sleep tonight.” I got up from the couch and clicked off the TV.
When I got to the hallway, I turned around to say goodnight. The living room was pitch black, but I could make out the curve of Lia’s figure, curling onto her side as she pulled the blanket around her and slipped a pillow beneath her head. Would it be crossing the line if I asked her to come sleep in my bed? Not in a pervy way, but I knew how uncomfortable that couch was and how hard it must be to stay asleep when the rest of us were up and about. And sleeping next to her didn’t suck before.
“Why are you creepily standing in the hallway watching me?”
“Sorry.” I cleared my throat. “Night, Lia.”
She yawned goodnight and my name as she rolled over to face the couch. I should’ve turned around and walked away, but for some idiotic reason I couldn’t. See. Guys were idiots.
“Do you want to sleep on my bed?”
She rolled back over. It was too dark for me to see her expression, so I couldn’t tell if she was contemplating it or wanted to tell me to screw off. I could’ve waited for seconds, but it felt like hours of silence.
“Are you going to be sleeping in the bed, too?”
“Well … it’s a queen, so it’s big enough for the both of us. And it’s my bed.”
“Are you going to stick to your side of the bed this time?”
“We can put a pillow between us if it makes you feel any better.”
Lia didn’t respond. What was she thinking? I’d crossed the line, hadn’t I? She was going to go off on some rant or make me feel like the idiot I was being. Any second she’d tell me how I’d made things all kinds of awkward.
“Okay,” she said.
“Okay,” I said back.
Neither of us moved. Was I supposed to wait for her or help her carry something? Was it more awkward if I left without another word? I turned when she started to sit up and headed for my room. I stopped and spun back to tell her to bring her pillow and collided with her.
“Umph,” she grunted.
I reached out to grab her arms and steady us, but instead punched her in the shoulder. Hard.
“Ouch!”
“Sorry! Sorry.” I rubbed the stop I’d hit. “It was an accident. I was just going to tell you to bring your pillow.”
She rolled her shoulder back, away from my touch and held up the pillow, looking like she was second-guessing taking me up on my offer. “Check.”
“Cool.” I shouldn’t have told her she could sleep in my bed. Maybe I should take the floor. Nah.
But, she’d agreed.
Don’t let that get you excited, Cameron.
She must really hate that couch.
Chapter Twenty Two
SARAI
As I walked through Rymidon, checking on the families of the deceased, every home I passed was eerily quiet. Our villages weren’t nearly as lively as they’d been before I’d made the announcement about the assassinations. No one was taking any risks by wandering off into the forest.
I’d hinted that they should remain cautious, but I did not want to create this much panic. If only there were enough room in that castle for everyone, so they could roam freely, without fear. Though, the assassins could be living among us. Now that everyone stayed inside, the assassins could grow bolder and attack fae in the safety of their homes. Keepers patrolled the villages in case that was to happen. It pained me to require so much security, to feel this powerless.
Having Marcus by my side when I revealed the deaths was more than comforting. It felt right to know I had his unwavering support when so many looked to me for answers. It was difficult watching him leave. Without his presence, I felt alone again. I may have Keepers on a constant rotation, but that wasn’t the kind of loneliness I meant. I didn’t know how to explain it to myself. The only real companionship I’d ever felt before was with Sakari, a brotherly companionship. This was different. Not deeper, or more, just … different.
Was this why it was better to have a kingdom run by two? Not to make decisions for me or take on my responsibilities, but to share the burden, to have someone on my side. A devoted, committed companion to stand by me. It was difficult to imagine doing this on my own forever. How did Calliope do it before Kai?
After the announcement, I’d asked Kayne to bring in suspicious fae I could question. We’d agreed to keep the drainage of blood a secret. It was the one piece of leverage we had to know how much others knew. So far, I had only spoken with ten possible assassins, and none of them had given me any indication they could be capable of such acts. I didn’t want to believe any were capable of the assassinations, but I kept as open a mind as I could.
If no one provided any useful knowledge, or came forward soon, I would have to resort to questioning each and every Rymidonian. The thought of that made me ill. I did not want them to believe their queen distrusted them. I was supposed to bring change. To be their protector, not their accuser. And it was highly likely the assassins were not among us, so I ran the risk of falsely accusing an innocent. There was no uncomplicated answer.
…
“Queen Sarai, Calliope of Faylinn is here to see you.”
“Kayne, she is my sister.” I smiled. “You are allowed to call her Calliope, or Queen Calliope if it makes you feel more comfortable. You don’t have to announce her kingdom. I know who you are speaking of.”
“Yes, Your Grace.” He bowed out of the room and Calliope replaced him.
We hugged. “Any closer to finding these dang ersewings?”
I slowly exhaled and pulled back. “I wish. I have spoken to ten Rymidonians and none of them gave me the feeling they were responsible. Marcus is having questionable fae in Oraelia interrogated as well.”
Calliope said, “As I have asked Declan and Dugal to do, but no one in Faylinn seems to fit the crime or have any helpful info. Since the uniting celebration, it seems Faylinnians are even more open to connecting with the kingdoms. We’re ready to put the past behind us and move on. In my gut, I don’t feel like any of them are capable are hurting so many.”
I nodded. It didn’t make sense to me either, but evil never made sense to me.
“I can’t help but keep coming back to the elves,” Calliope said. “What if we check in with them? Sniff around a little and see if they have something to hide.”
“Sniff? I do not want to sniff anywhere the elves have been.”
Calliope chuckled. “Not literally. I just mean we go and investigate covertly, try not to raise suspicion that we’re looking into them. See if they’ve had any incidents or know anything about what’s happened to us. When Guthron came to me at the Awakening, it seemed the elves knew a lot more about the occurrences in our world than we did. Even if they aren’t the culprits, they might lead us to our assassins.”
“That is a clever proposal. Do you have Declan and Kai with you?”
“Kai is in Faylinn, holding down the fort, but Declan and Dugal came with me.”
I looked at her questioningly. I doubted I would ever understand all of her human terms. “I am assuming Kai is not actually holding down a fort.”
Calliope tried to hide her amusement. “No. Just taking care of royal business while I’m away.”
“Okay.” It made no sense, but I accepted her answer. “Someday you will have to teach me all of your human sayings, so there is no need to explain them every time.”
“That may take awhile.”
…
Calliope informed Declan of our plan to meet with Guthron when we’d invited him into the gathering hall.
“There is no going to see the elves,” he said, sparing me a perplexed glance before giving his full attention to Calliope. “The elves find you.”
“So, there’s no Elves Land or some village where we can go to speak with Guthron?” Calliope asked.
“The elves don’t stay in one place for long. They’re too suspicious of everyone to build a village. They don’t allow themselves to be caught off guard by unannounced visitors.”
“So, then how do we find them?” she asked.
“We don’t normally need to speak with the elves. They are typically avoided by any means necessary. I can try to put out a call. Maybe by spreading the word that the Queen of Rymidon and the Queen of Faylinn want to speak with them, Guthron will make an appearance out of sheer curiosity.”
“But, Declan, if we spread the word, everyone will want to know why. Now that we’ve revealed the killings, everyone will know we are suspicious of the elves. We can’t risk that information leaking and someone taking matters into their own hands. The elves could be just as innocent as anyone else.”
Declan heaved a sigh. “I’m not sure what you want me to say.”
Calliope turned to me. “What if you position Keepers as surveillances in the places you’ve had killings. Not patrolling in plain sight, as usual for protection, but hidden in trees and burrows and such as prevention. Camouflaged.”
“Camouflaged,” I repeated, nodding. “Concealed so they cannot be snuck up on, and yet still carry out their responsibilities. I like it. I will inform Kayne to the change at once.”
Declan cleared his throat.
“Yes, Declan,” Calliope said.
“We already do that.”
“Well, then let’s increase the camouflaged fleet, or whatever and position them in the more vulnerable zones.”
Declan bit back a laugh. “Yes, My Queen.”
“I don’t know if my Keepers already use that tactic, but they will now.”
“And in the mean time, Declan,” Calliope said, “maybe go through some discreet channels and tell the elves only I want to meet with them. Leave Rymidon out of it. With their history I’m not sure Guthron would be inclined to a meeting with Sarai.”
He nodded his agreement. “I will do my best.”
Chapter Twenty Three
LIA
As I was walking up the steps to the apartment, another random girl walked out the door with a dejected look on her face. It was only eight o’clock. Seemed a bit early for Cameron to kick out his date. He stood in the doorway seeing her off. His lips twitched into a smile when he saw me round the corner, and my heart tried flying out of my chest. I couldn’t help it. I smiled back, but when it dawned on me he’d been on another date, I took it away.
“And victim number five-hundred and eighty-three bites the dust. I should probably go tell her she dodged a bullet.”
“Are you jealous, Lee Lee?”
“What? No,” I let disgust seep into my voice as I shouldered past him into the apartment. “And don’t call me Lee Lee. It’s obnoxious.”
“I think you are, Lee Lee,” he taunted and followed me down the hall to his room. “Every time you see me with a date, or one leaving, you can’t help but get fired up.”
“Oh, don’t flatter yourself, Bennett. I’ve simply noticed a pattern.”
“Oh yeah? And what pattern is that?” He leaned up against the doorjamb as I gathered pajamas from my bag to change into after I showered. My hair needed to be washed desperately, as did my work clothes. They reeked of marinara sauce and onions.
“You talk about Chase being the womanizer, but I’ve seen you with twice as many girls as him. And he’s actually had multiple dates with the same girl, while you have one, and then we’ll never see her again. Talk about a track record. How many of those girls think they have a chance? Do they know once you get what you want they’ll never see you again?”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. And what exactly is it I want? Have you ever seen a girl leave my bedroom?”
I stood up to face him. “I don’t have to. Why else would you date so many girls and have no repeats? You’re living the college guy dream. I’m surprised you don’t belong to some fraternity with that kind of turnover. They’d probably crown you Sigma Beta Kappa fraternity president!”
Cameron laughed, crossing his ankles and arms. “Wow. You’re really worked up about this. Let’s talk about it.”
I groaned and continued digging for clean pajamas. “No, let’s not.” Because I didn’t want to acknowledge why it got me so worked up. And I most definitely didn’t want him to know why.
“Oh, c’mon, Lee Lee. This obviously upsets you, and I want to know why.”
Why can’t I find anything in this stupid bag! I suppressed a growl.
“How about we share and set the records straight? I’ll go first. You want to know why there are so many different girls?” He paused, but didn’t wait long enough for my retort. “Because after spending less than an hour with any of them, not one girl has made me want to spend more.”
There was something in his tone that made me think he was trying to tell me something. What did his confession make me feel? Relief? Satisfaction? Cameron spent time with me every day. Not just because we lived together. He chose to. We’d spent hours looking through job listings when we could’ve done it in one. He gave me a side of his bed so I didn’t have to suffer on the couch any longer. He stayed up, episode after episode, the other night even when he needed to be up for class.
Happy. I definitely felt happy.
No. Pajamas, pajamas. I was looking for pajamas. Cameron didn’t make my heart race. He didn’t make my stomach flutter. I wasn’t pleased that he couldn’t find someone he wanted to be with. I was reading into things. I’d essentially called him a womanizer, and he was defending himself.
“Must be a tough job spending time with so many girls. I guess you’ll have to suffer through your continued search. Oh, the horror!” Why couldn’t I stop yelling? “Be sure to contact Sigma Omega Pi, so they can give you some names! They’ve probably been through half the campus already!”
One moment I was shouting, shuffling through my duffle, the next I was pulled to my feet and Cameron was across the room, his lips pressed firmly against mine. Before I could react, he was gone, scrutinizing my expression––my paralyzed expression.
When my brain kicked back in, I demanded, “What was that for?”
“You wouldn’t shut up!”
“And you thought kissing me was the answer?”
“It seemed like the best option at the time!”
“Okay!”
“Okay?” One of his eyebrows lifted.
My chest heaved with my elevated breathing. I didn’t want to think about why or what it’d meant; I only wanted to do it again. I dropped my change of clothes, stepped forward, and kissed Cameron. My hands held his face to mine. He kissed me back. Our lips moved in synchronicity. His arms enveloped my waist, our bodies fusing together. I didn’t want to stop kissing him.
So, I did. I put distance between us, catching my breath, and blinked up at him.
“What was that for?” Cameron uttered.
“I don’t know.”
“Are we going to talk about it?”
“No.” I grabbed my clothes, pushed past
him, across the hall into the bathroom, and slammed the door shut.
“By the way, Sigma Omega Pi isn’t even a fraternity!” Cameron hollered.
I covered my ears and slid down the closed door.
What the crap just happened?
Chapter Twenty Four
SARAI
Every couple of days Marcus came to Rymidon so we could share any progress and count the current deaths. It was my least and most favorite part of my week. I immensely enjoyed my time with Marcus, but our conversations held no room for levity. How could there be light when so much darkness had fallen upon us?
“You have lost six men?” I asked. My heart sunk deeper into my chest. “Callastonia has lost ten. What about Aurorali?”
“When I spoke with Cormac, he said it was eight.”
“And Mirron?”
“Five, I believe.”
“Do you know if Elfland has been touched? Calliope mentioned Queen Elena has strong safety measures in place for many reasons, that she once had wards around Elfland to protect them from my father. The Battle of Faylinn only intensified her desire to increase her Keepers and patrols.”
Marcus hesitated before he nodded. “As far as I know, Elfland hasn’t lost anyone.”
“Calliope said Faylinn hasn’t had any attacks either. Either it’s only a matter of time, or they have targeted certain kingdoms for a reason. We lose someone every day. Our toll is up to fifteen.”
So that meant … I counted up the final deaths in my head. Forty-four. We’d lost forty-four faeries, and we were no closer to discovering the assassins. Who would be next? Why couldn’t we protect them?
