Because a macho dude with anger issues was more likely someone they would need protection from. Aiden didn’t blame them for thinking that. He’d panicked when Dylan caught him and Tiago kissing because he thought Dylan would reject him. “He’s known about me being bisexual”—Aiden wondered how many times he’d have to say that word before it felt normal—“for a while now. He’s totally fine with it. He’s not a homophobe or anything.”
“Well, that’s a surprise.” Kenzie looked thoughtful.
“Don’t judge a book by its cover,” Maggie said.
“It’s a hot cover,” Preston murmured. He was the other kid who had introduced himself as gay at the first meeting.
Tiago laughed and someone else snickered. Aiden’s heart swelled. This was a place where he could really be himself, where he didn’t have to lie or hide.
Well, except about that whole thing with Morgan.
* * *
Another warden class tonight. And Aiden had to decide if he wanted to make his relationship with Tiago public. Not that he was going to stand in the middle of the lunchroom and announce it. Maybe kiss him during lunch, act like it was a totally normal thing?
Aiden closed his locker and turned. Kenzie stood there, so close he almost ran into her.
“Oh, uh. Sorry.” Aiden jerked to a halt.
She stopped too. “Whoa.” She blinked before the corner of her mouth tilted up. “Um, actually, I was coming to apologize to you.”
“Apologize?” That was a shock.
“Yeah. About calling you a perv and stuff. I shouldn’t have assumed, but, well… Boys have said gross things about us.” She shrugged.
“I don’t blame you. I’d think the same thing if people gave me and”—he glanced around to make sure no one was too close—“Tiago a weird look.” When. Not if, when. Oh God. Even if most of the school didn’t care, there would always be a few people that were jerks about same-sex relationships.
You’ve managed to survive actual life-in-peril attacks. This should be easy.
Kenzie shifted closer and said in a low voice, “I won’t tell anyone, you know.”
By tomorrow that might not matter, but he appreciated it. “Thanks.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Worried he wouldn’t be able to get any sleep, Aiden had put the enchanted dagger back under his pillow. Just for a few nights so he could figure things out. He’d talked to Dylan and Tiago about it. Dylan, for a change, urged him to be cautious, while Tiago told him to go for it.
“If I had other family out there that cared about me, I’d do anything to see them,” Tiago had said.
Poor Tiago. He had two bad parents, and here Aiden might have an extra mom and a brother.
Even with the dagger in place, Aiden didn’t get much sleep. Anxiety yanked him around for almost a week, and he had to step out of Major Magical Control one day and spend the period in the counselor’s office.
If he was going to freak out about it no matter what, Aiden decided to go ahead and take the risk. And his birth mom had been right. The truth of their connection vibrated through him, coming from the same deep place his magic did.
So he and Dylan walked out to the edge of Dylan’s property where the barrier surrounding Shadow Valley started. Rather than grabbing a twig or a dead leaf, Aiden used his magic to call a flower out of the snow. A delicate purple hepatica bloomed against the white, and Aiden plucked it carefully. He hoped it would bring him good luck if he used something infused with his own power.
Aiden touched the petals to the shimmering, barely visible barrier. Three years ago he’d done the same thing with a leaf when Morgan asked him to strengthen their dream connection.
“Tell me this isn’t monumentally stupid.”
“I’m kinda the king of monumentally stupid ideas, huh?” Dylan said. “Well, as the resident expert, I’m saying this isn’t. It’s a risk, sure, but it’s not for a bad reason.” He glanced away into the dark forest.
Dylan had let Morgan out because he wanted the dark fae to get rid of all the wardens. Morgan had promised to kill them so Dylan could be free. Although Aiden’s reasons were technically selfish, they weren’t in the same league.
“You were younger then. And you regret it, so don’t keep beating yourself up over it.”
Dylan kicked at a snowdrift. “Yeah, but the consequences are still happening. Like a fucking snowball rolling downhill. Morgan is still out there, and I’m worried what’ll happen next.”
Aiden didn’t know what to say to that. People had been murdered by Morgan and at least one other dark fae he’d let out. That same dark fae had almost killed Aiden and Dylan two years ago.
Yes, it was due to Dylan’s actions. But it wasn’t like he could go back in time and change it. And he couldn’t catch Morgan and put him back in Faery. Unless that was what Mr. Johnson intended them to do when they became wardens.
A few hours later, Aiden crawled under the covers with the flower clutched tight in his hand. The scent of it made him think of the clearing in his dream, and he held on to that image, focusing on the positive. He was going to see his birth mom again, and this time he’d be able to talk to her for a longer time.
Both fear and anticipation kept him awake for what seemed like forever. Eventually he drifted through a few hazy dreams and then found himself in the hyperreal forest.
The orange bird chirped from a branch hanging over the path. Aiden looked down to find the flower in his right hand.
“Here we go,” he muttered.
In a few minutes he reached the clearing, and his birth mom greeted him with a hug. “Precious child. It is so good to see you again.” Her clean, floral scent surrounded him.
This has to be real. His magic hummed like a tuning fork, a stronger version of the connection he had with the forest around Shadow Valley.
“I brought this.” He held up the flower.
The dream walker stepped up from behind his birth mom, holding out a hand. “Ah, yes,” she said when Aiden placed the hepatica in her palm. “Very strong magic, woven together from many different kinds.” She closed her eyes for a moment. “A concealment spell?”
Aiden nodded. “To keep Shadow Valley hidden from the human world.” As the woman curled her fingers around the purple petals, he asked, “Are you… dark fae?”
Anger flashed in the dream walker’s eyes, and Aiden’s birth mom held up a hand. “He does not understand.” To Aiden she said, “No, she is not.”
“Dark fae and light fae hate each other, right?” The books in the library only had sparse information, some of it contradictory, but animosity between the two major types of fae was a common theme.
“We have long been at odds with our cousins. The Summer Court and Winter Court have often warred,” his mom said.
“I met another dream walker before.” His gaze flicked between his mom and the other woman. “A dark fae.” He told them about Morgan coming to him in dreams, how he’d shut the man out, and after an internal debate, he told them about how Dylan had let Morgan out.
They reacted with shock and dismay. Aiden’s mom grasped his hands. “Has this Morgan contacted you again?”
“No. But he sent one of his”—Aiden didn’t think “friend” was the right word—“companions to Shadow Valley to collect powerful blood.” He told the story of the murders and how he and Dylan had killed the dark fae.
“You killed a dark fae?” his mom asked.
“Dylan is the one that stabbed him, but I helped.”
“Still, it is an impressive feat. Perhaps I do not need to worry for your safety.” She brushed her fingers along the side of his face.
“Is my brother safe? You said he was okay, but…” His brother was human and wouldn’t have any magic in a world where everyone else did.
“He is protected.” A flicker of something in her eyes made Aiden wonder if the protection wasn’t enough, or if bad things had happened to him before. “Some suspect he is human, but many believe he is desolate—one b
orn without magic.”
It would be a handicap in Faery. “Is he happy? Can I meet him?” Would they have anything in common? Did they look alike? Did his brother even know he was adopted?
“I am able to convey another if you wish,” the dream walker said. “Even one without magic.”
Hope filled Aiden’s chest.
“I will bring him next time.” His mom smiled. “He is called Oisin.”
Aiden repeated it in his mind. His brother having a name made him more real. “And what’s your name?” He already had a mom, and thinking of this woman as “birth mom,” while accurate, seemed awkward.
She made a face. “Names have power. True names are dangerous to share with another. I trust that you would not use mine against me, but it is safer to tell you what I am called—Nuala.”
Yes, right. Morgan had called himself that with Dylan, and Uncle with Aiden. The dark fae had shared his true name with Dylan so he could cast the blood spell, but Mr. Johnson had told them not to speak it out loud because it could draw the fae’s attention.
“Nuala. That’s pretty.”
“I will tell you your true name in time. I do not know if you have the proper training to handle it.”
Aiden thought Aiden was his real name, but that was what his human parents had given him, what his brother should have been named. It wasn’t what Aiden’s birth mom had actually named him. “Oh. And what about my father? You said he didn’t know about me, but why not?” Aiden had about a million questions, but the most important thing was knowing who his other family members were.
Her expression tightened. “Perhaps we should save that for our next meeting. It is… complicated.”
“Yes,” the dream walker said. “Though I can now hold us together longer, I require rest.”
Aiden wanted to whine that it wasn’t fair, that they’d barely gotten a chance to talk. “Can I see you tomorrow then?”
Nuala looked at the dream walker for confirmation, and the woman nodded. “Tomorrow,” Nuala said.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“Remember, it’s not just about the heat,” Mom said. “You have to think about keeping the meat moist and tender.”
Dylan frowned, concentrating on the steak. Cooking with magic wasn’t flashy, and he’d whined about it when Mom suggested it, but was a different kind of challenge. Dylan had great control of his fire, but dragonkin magic went beyond that.
The steak began to sizzle, the delicious scent of beef rising into the air.
“Good.” He heard the smile in Mom’s voice.
Searing things was easy. Dylan had made things like toast and s’mores since he was little. This wasn’t about replacing one kind of fire for another. It was about keeping everything in the right balance. Until now he hadn’t had the patience for anything that wasn’t basically holding something over a flame in his hand.
He thought about moisture, about heating the steak all the way through.
“Careful there.” One of the edges started to blacken.
Dylan pulled his magic back. “Ah, crap.”
“Don’t worry, it’s not too bad.” Using tongs, she picked the meat and set it onto a plate. “Let’s see how it turned out.”
She cut it to reveal a center that was barely pink. Medium well rather than the medium rare it was supposed to be. It looked sorta dry too. He’d screwed up. Dylan made an unhappy sound.
Mom smiled. “It’s fine, Dylan. You can’t expect to be absolutely perfect on the first try.”
Dylan had high expectations for his magical abilities and realized that was one of the big things he and Aiden had in common. Well, except Aiden’s high expectations were about doing well in school. “Yeah, okay. Let me try again.”
He undercooked the next one, but Mom fixed that. He totally burned another one, which they tossed. Dad came in to help make the mashed potatoes and green beans. All of them in the kitchen, making a meal together.
They used to do that when Dylan was younger. Before he closed up and got so angry at everything. Dylan hadn’t realized he missed it until now.
When everything was ready, they went to eat in the dining room. Dylan took the overcooked steak because he was the one who had screwed it up. It was dry, but a little extra steak sauce covered that up.
“How is warden training?” Dad asked.
Like every time they asked about it, Dylan tensed. “It’s fine.” He’d tried not to complain about it too much, even the class with Warden Bully, because he didn’t want them to start wondering why he was doing it in the first place.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught his parents exchanging a glance. Then, as if she’d heard his thought, Mom asked, “Are you ever going to tell us why you really joined the wardens?”
He’d told them it was to protect his friends from the extremists, to prove to the wardens that he wasn’t on the extremists’ side, to give him a legitimate reason to fight them. “Told you already.” He stabbed a piece of meat.
Mom set down her fork. “There’s something going on between you and Aiden and Mr. Johnson. He has some kind of hold on you, and Dad and I are concerned.” She took a breath. “You know you can tell us anything, right?”
Dylan stared at his dry, overcooked steak. Anger rolled through him, then guilt. For a second he considered telling them everything. He could feel his parents staring at him, waiting. It would be a relief to stop carrying this secret around. Hell, Cat Boy had been brave enough to tell the whole school that he ate people. Mom and Dad already knew Dylan did all sorts of stupid shit. Even when they got mad at him, they weren’t that mad, and if they did actually end up grounding him, nothing could be worse than the guilt he already felt.
“Aiden wanted to,” he lied. You big chicken. “I couldn’t… I couldn’t let him do this alone.” Dylan could have kicked himself. He’d managed to twist this around and make it into Aiden’s fault.
“Aiden wanted to join the wardens?” Dad asked.
Dylan nodded. He couldn’t look at them. He poked at his steak some more, the reddish-brown sauce making him think of the blood he’d used to summon Morgan.
“You’re a good friend, Dylan,” Dad said. It was like a kick to the gut.
No. I burned him when he tried to stop me from doing something stupid. And because he defended me, now he’s stuck being a warden.
“I’m surprised Mr. Johnson allowed you to join. He must have gotten a lot of pushback,” Mom said.
Dylan glanced up to see her thoughtful expression. She was still fishing for info. “I guess.”
“I’ve asked him about it, and he won’t say much either.”
Dylan didn’t trust himself to say anything, so he just shrugged and poked at his food.
Mom sighed. “All right. I’ll stop bothering you. But I wish you’d tell us what’s really going on.”
“I did,” he muttered. No matter what he did, his parents never made him feel like a disappointment. Even when he’d been arrested at the anti-warden protest and almost expelled from school. They’d given him a lecture about how dangerous and serious his actions were, but they’d also kept telling him how much they loved him. They’d been worried for him, and that’s what they were now.
His parents were good to him. They were always good to him no matter how much he lashed out.
“How are things with you and Sakura?” Dad asked.
It was such an obvious subject change. Dylan appreciated the effort even if the question made him uncomfortable. “They’re fine.” He finally picked up his fork and stuffed a piece of steak in his mouth.
Dad chuckled. “Such enthusiasm.”
His mom grinned. “I know. He’s so romantic I can hardly stand it.”
“Shut up,” Dylan said, a smile tugging at his mouth.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
When Aiden entered the clearing in his dreams, this time there were three people waiting for him. The boy standing next to Nuala looked a lot like Aiden—the same hair, the same height, a similar shape to
his face. Oisin’s eyes were light brown though. Dad’s eyes. Aiden’s heart leapt into his throat.
When Aiden got close, he hesitated, not sure if his brother was the hugging type, but Oisin pulled Aiden into his arms. “Brother.”
There was no echo of connection in his magic. Oisin didn’t have magic at all, and they weren’t related by blood. But Aiden knew they were still family. Their tight embrace threatened to squeeze the air out of his lungs, but Aiden didn’t want to let go.
“I have wanted to meet you ever since Mother told me about you,” Oisin said when they finally parted.
“Did you know for a long time?”
Oisin nodded. “Since I was ten summers old.”
“I didn’t know anything until a few years ago when I found out I was fae. But ever since then, I’ve wanted to find you.” And now he was finally meeting his brother. Well, in a dream anyway, but it might as well be the real world.
“Do you feel strange too? I’ve always felt out of place not having magic. I did not understand what was wrong with me until Mother explained I was human.”
Aiden looked between him and Nuala. “Why did you switch us?”
“There is much I need to share with you,” Nuala said.
The dream walker waved a hand, and three large chairs appeared. “I will give you privacy.” She turned and stepped into the forest.
Aiden didn’t know how all this worked. The dream walker might be able to hear everything they said no matter how far away she was, but he appreciated the gesture.
He and the other two sat, a butterfly winging past them. Sitting in high-backed wooden chairs in the middle of a field was odd, but this was a dream. Aiden looked at his birth mom expectantly.
She took a breath and folded her hands in her lap. “I never wanted to give you up, but I had to in order to keep you safe. I was a mistress of the king. In most circumstances, your birth would have been a minor scandal, but all the king’s children perished in the last war, and you are heir to the throne.”
Dragonkin Are from Mars, Changelings Are from Venus Page 7
