And with that she was gone.
I didn’t even look at Lydia; I knew how furious she must be. Instead, I followed her huffing form down a dizzying array of hallways. She could have been taking me anywhere; for all I knew she was leading me to my death.
But she wasn’t. I soon found myself standing at the top of the familiar stairwell that led down to happiness: to Holt. I couldn’t help but smile.
“Thanks so much, Lyd,” I said sweetly. “Later we can hold hands and skip.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Autumn? Is that you?” I heard Samuel’s voice drifting up from below.
“Coming,” I called back. I ruthlessly squashed the butterflies that started to come up in my stomach at the sound of his voice.
Without so much as a backwards glance I trotted down the stairs.
“Hi,” I said, quickly taking in the scene. Holt was still behind bars, but he looked much better than he had the other times I had been there. He wore a dark blue sweater and jeans, standard guy-wear. Seeing him warmed me like nothing else could. My face must have flushed, because Samuel’s black eyebrows raised.
“You’ve been talking to my mother.” It wasn’t a question.
I couldn’t keep my eyes from flicking to him. “She is horrible, Samuel. I’m sorry, but she is.”
Samuel merely shrugged. “Were you in trouble for last night?” He was sitting in a chair that he must have brought down. I wondered how often he came down here to chat with Holt. Neither of them ever mentioned talking to the other.
“Yes,” I exploded. It was so unfair, and even though I had wanted to be nice to her I had failed. “Obviously, she doesn’t consider defending myself a good enough reason to use my magic. Fairies attacked me, after all!”
“They what?” Holt cried, sprinting to the bars. He tried to shove his hand through, but he had hardly gotten close enough to touch them when he shot backwards as though he had been thrown. He slammed into the opposite wall, slumping to the ground.
I cried out and dashed forward, but I was propelled backwards myself before I got within a yard of the bars. I stumbled a little but regained my balance quickly and turned on Samuel.
“Help him,” I ordered, pointing inside the bars to a still-crumpled Holt.
“He’ll be fine,” said Samuel, shrugging. “It only stunned him.”
“It only...are you mad? Are ALL Winter Fairies mad? And to think you were the one I was supposed to marry.” I was yelling, because I was having a hard time not throwing myself at him and running my nails up and down his chest. Something of his reaction to my feelings showed in his face, because I saw his jaw tighten.
“I’ve been saying for a while now that we spend too much time together,” he commented quietly.
“Yeah,” I said, “Well, your mother made sure of that, didn’t she? She’s the one who said you and Susan were the only ones I could perform spells around.”
Before Samuel could say anything else I turned to Holt. “Are you alright?” I asked, staring through the bars.
His eyes were open and he gave me a goofy smile. “Stay away from the bars,” he said, his voice dry. “They might hurt you.”
“Thanks for the tip.” I tried to make my voice scolding, but couldn’t manage it.
He grinned sheepishly at me and asked, “Just tell me you’re alright?”
“Yeah,” I said, “I’m fine. Really.”
He nodded. “Wonderful. What happened?”
I glanced at Samuel. “Maybe you should tell,” I said, “You seemed to know them.”
Samuel’s face darkened, but he didn’t argue. Holt was looking at the Winter Prince expectantly.
“You introduced Autumn to Fairies who wanted to hurt her? Are you nuts?” he said as he scrambled to his feet.
“No on introduced anyone to anything,” said Samuel, “least of all me. I would never introduce Autumn to violent Fairies...other than my mother.”
I almost laughed at that, which ended up as a choking sound in my throat. Holt gave me an odd look.
Samuel started to explain. At the name of “Rog,” Holt swore. “That kid never could keep his mouth shut.”
“I’ll bet you anything he knows where Logan is,” I said.
“Probably,” Holt agreed, “but he would never tell. Those two were always attached at the hip, and not in a good way.”
Once Holt had heard the whole story he said, “What was he trying to do? Scare you away?”
“I have a theory,” said Samuel. He was still sitting in the chair. He looked relaxed, but I could tell he was wary.
“What?”
“I think my mother put them up to it,” said Samuel with a heavy sigh. “I think she would do anything to get Autumn in trouble. And she did.”
I stared at him, dumbfounded. The problem was that what he said made perfect sense.
“Your mother is not a good person,” I said.
“So I’ve heard,” said Samuel. “So I’ve heard.”
“What was your punishment?” Holt asked me. He had managed to get himself to his feet and dust off his pants and sweater, but there was still a thin line of dust running down his chest. I wished I could brush it off.
I took a deep breath. “Promise to remain calm?” I asked him. It was almost comical that I was making him promise, considering how angry I had been a few minutes ago. But I didn’t want him to jump at the bars and hurt himself again.
“Oh, I promise,” said Holt dryly. His green eyes locked on my brown ones and I found it hard to breathe.
Samuel cleared his throat. “Autumn, you were saying?”
I blushed and nodded. “She ordered me to stay away from Holt once he’s released, and she said I have to have dinner with Holt’s mother on Monday.”
“Is she nuts?” Holt asked.
“She thinks your mom will try to talk me out of...you,” I said quietly.
“Mrs. Cheshire is damn right that’s what she’s going to try and do,” said Holt.
Samuel rubbed the back of his neck. “My mom fights dirty. And she doesn’t like not getting her way.”
“Obviously,” I muttered.
Holt took a deep breath. “I’ll see you,” he said. “One way or another we will get together. It won’t be long now. They aren’t going to do anything...drastic.”
My eyes flicked to Samuel. From his troubled expression I didn’t think he was so sure about that, but Holt looked so happy I wasn’t going to be the one to ruin it.
Chapter Fourteen
Samuel said he’d come over and wait with me for Mrs. Roth to arrive and take me to dinner. I wasn’t sure it would help, but Holt liked the idea, so I went along with it. I gave Holt one last desperate look before I disappeared back up the stairs. I wanted to stay, but I knew that Mrs. Cheshire was liable to show up any minute and try to kill me, so I left.
I probably should have been nervous about another run-in with Rog, but he didn’t scare me. Maybe it was because it had looked like Gaudet was more in control, or maybe it was because I felt confident that he wouldn’t attack me again after what Samuel had said. Either way, Lydia took me home without incident. I probably should have thanked her for not trying to drive me off a cliff.
The next day I got ready early, because I didn’t want to be in my bedroom putting on makeup when Samuel showed up. It was somehow too intimate an activity for a guy I had basically rejected to watch.
Instead, I waited in the living room with my mom. I thought she was oddly quiet, but I was too preoccupied with my upcoming meeting to ask her about it. When I saw the bright headlights of Samuel’s car coming up the driveway, I bounded out of my chair and dashed into the fall evening.
“Hey,” I said, as he walked towards me. I tried not to sigh, but he looked so good it was hard not to react. He wore a black jacket zipped up to his chin, and jeans. He gave me a curt nod.
“How’s it going?” he asked.
“Oh, I’m wonderful,” I said. “Mrs. Roth is going to be as pleasant
as a new puppy.”
Samuel shrugged. “Puppies aren’t all that. They lick you and aren’t house-trained. Some have flees.”
“You are obviously a cat person and anyway I would take that over what I’m going to get this evening,” I said emphatically.
He nodded as he sat down next to me on the porch.
“It’s not as cold as I thought it would be,” I said after a while, once I had noticed that I was sitting outside in the Maine October wind and not shivering.
Samuel, who was leaning his forearms on his knees, didn’t say anything. I realized that he was pulling warmth from around us so that I wouldn’t be cold.
“Oh,” I murmured. “Thanks.”
Still, he was quiet.
“How’s Holt?” I asked.
“Fine.”
Super.
“Have you been looking for Logan?” I didn’t want to admit it, but I often imagined Logan being found and getting severely punished.
He made a frustrated sound.
“I just think that if you were looking for him you would have found him by now.” I wondered why I was picking a fight with Samuel, but I didn’t care enough to stop.
He sighed. “What are you getting at?”
“I don’t know.” I jumped to my feet. “I want all this to be over. I’m tired of worrying, I’m tired of not being allowed to see my BOYFRIEND and I’m tired of Fairies blaming me for something that was totally out of my control!”
“Maybe you shouldn’t have done it in the first place,” he said.
Hurt flashed through me. “What are you talking about?”
“You didn’t listen to anyone,” he said. “You and Holt were never meant to be. It’s just not possible. That whole following your heart thing? How has that worked out?”
He looked upset right after he said it, but he couldn’t take it back. I stood staring at him.
“I wanted to be with Holt,” I said carefully. “I hadn’t meant to accept anyone’s Rose any time soon. It’s not like I wanted a wedding before I turned eighteen or graduated from high school.”
That wasn’t strictly true. I hadn’t put much thought into the question of when I wanted to marry and become a Fairy; I had only thought about who I wanted to be with. But the decision had been made for me when Logan tried to kill me. And even if most of me was happy about the outcome, there was a small part of me that still worried.
“It’s not like they would kill one of us, is it?” I asked, my voice small. I was remembering what his grandmother had said.
Samuel’s eyes met mine. In their blue abyss I saw a level of pain that took my breath away.
“Oh,” I said.
“When I tell you that they haven’t decided what to do,” he said, starting to take a step towards me, “I mean exactly that.”
He reached for me, but I pulled away.
“I’m sure I know what your mother thinks of all this,” I muttered. I hated his mother. I had always hated her. But in this moment, right here and right now, if it had been the Winter Queen standing in front of me instead of Samuel, there was a very good chance I would have tried to kill her for what she had done to Holt and the Roths and even to me.
“Are they still trying to decide what will happen to us?” I asked, my voice small.
Samuel let his hands fall to his sides, useless.
“Yes.”
Just then, another car came up the driveway.
I don’t know what I had expected from Mrs. Roth, but I didn’t get it. I had thought that she wouldn’t want anything to do with me and so would keep dinner brief. I had been mistaken.
Far from being brief, she dragged the evening on for hours. My hints that I had school the next day fell on deaf ears. If my mom hadn’t been sleeping when I got home I would have slammed into the house and stomped up the stairs. As it was, I was forced to take my anger out internally. I was in the middle a mental rant about just how crazy Mrs. Roth was when my phone lit up.
It was Susan. Relieved that she was still talking to me, because I could only assume that Mrs. Roth had gone home and wished death upon me, I looked to see what she had to say.
“Can we hang out tomorrow?” she asked.
“Sure,” I texted back. I was working after school, but Susan already knew that. She would probably just show up at UP UP and Away, which was pretty quiet during the week now that the tourist season had ended. Business had slowed down considerably, and I often found myself doing homework or checking people.com on my phone when my shifts were slow.
I went to bed feeling better. Tomorrow, I would vent to Susan.
School couldn’t have gone more slowly the next day. Even though Nick was there, as funny and supportive as ever, I was bored and I couldn’t wait to talk to Susan. European history seemed so irrelevant in the face of two Fairy Queens hating me.
Finally, the last bell of the day rang. Susan was waiting outside to drive me to UP UP and Away. I grinned in relief.
“Hi,” I said.
“Hey.” She was wearing a cute long-sleeved green dress, with her long hair pulled up into a ponytail.
“So, what happened with Holt’s mom?” she asked, getting straight to the point as she pulled away from the curb.
I sighed. I was still reeling from the confrontation. She had wanted me to leave Holt so badly.
“She told me that I had ruined her son’s life and probably ruined the life of all the Fairy Summer Court,” I said. Susan gasped. “She said that if she ever heard of me coming near Holt again she would kill me herself. I pointed out to her that no decision had been made and that Holt and I still might be allowed to be together. She said, ‘Over my dead body,’ and started shrieking about this, that, and the other thing. Everyone in the restaurant saw, so she was forced to magic them.”
Susan clucked in sympathy.
“I asked her what had changed. I mean, she used to be so kind. A part of me thinks that side of her is still in there somewhere.”
“She is a good person,” Susan murmured.
“What did she say to you?” I said.
“She said that she was going to do everything she could to get me away from you. She thinks you’re a bad influence on me, and she would like me to cease all contact with you as soon as possible. She sees it as a good sign that Holt is home.”
“So she’s speaking to him?” I asked darkly.
“Of course,” said Susan. “He’s her son.”
“I’m practically her daughter-in-law,” I pointed out resentfully. I knew we weren’t quite there, but still....
Susan took a deep breath. “Anyway, I wanted you to know, I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to see you.”
“Their letting Holt out means something, doesn’t it?” I asked. “They’re reaching a decision.”
Susan nodded, her eyes never leaving the road. “I mean, I’m not entirely sure, because there’s no rule book for this, but yeah, I think they’re reaching a decision.”
“And ordering me to stay away from him can’t be a good sign?”
She shrugged. “I’m not sure you can read too much into that. They might just be doing that for Mrs. Cheshire’s benefit.”
I leaned my head back against the seat rest, wishing everything wasn’t so complicated. Most of the day my mind had been on Holt, wondering how he was doing now that he was free, but every so often my thoughts would dash to Samuel. Like a dog that had gotten free of the leash they raced towards the imaginary bouncing ball that was the Prince of the Winter Court.
I sighed. Once Holt and I were together again, Samuel wouldn’t always be invading my thoughts.
I hoped.
I was so preoccupied with my thoughts that I didn’t notice Susan glance sideways at me in the mirror.
Chapter Fifteen
My mother was waiting for me when I got home. My shift had run late, but I hadn’t texted her because I had been going in and out of the house so much without her commenting that I figured she wouldn’t mind. I figured w
rong.
When I came into the house the kitchen lights were on, and since I hadn’t had time to eat dinner I wandered that way.
My mom was sitting at the table, staring at nothing. Both places were set. Mine still had food piled on it, but I didn’t see steam rising from it. There was nothing left on my mom’s plate but crumbs.
“Hi, Mom,” I said, grabbing up my plate. “Thanks. I’m starving.”
“Are you?” There was an edge to her voice that instantly put me on guard. She was doing her I-am-not-happy-with-you voice.
I stuck the plate in the microwave, and pretending to be busy at the counter I asked, “Is everything alright?”
“No,” said my mom, her voice too high-pitched, “it is not.”
I froze. Could Rog and the other traveling Fairies have gotten to her, too? Was she threatened? Was she scared?
“What happened?” I asked. My mind flashed to Samuel and I wondered if I would have to call him.
“You’re late,” said my mom. “Again.”
I stared at her incredulously. Was she joking?
“So?” I asked.
“So?” she said tightly, and I winced. My mom didn’t usually get outwardly angry. Instead, you had to worry when her voice got too low. Well, right now her voice was so low I could barely hear her without leaning forward.
She stared at me in consternation. “So, you have been coming and going at all hours, ignoring your curfew, which, yes, because you have seemingly forgotten, you do STILL have. I have no idea where you are or what you’re doing. You supposedly hang out with that Samuel and Susan, but who are they? You don’t go to school with either of them. People around town report you as pleasant, but distant. Every single one of them is happy to see you, and since that’s so contradictory to the sullen girl who sulks around the house and then disappears for hours on end, I’m forced to wonder if you’re giving them drugs.”
I laughed out loud at that. The microwave dinged and I grabbed my food with relief. Setting it on the table, I fell on it ravenously. Leftover spaghetti and my mom yelling at me. What an evening.
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