Lost Girl

by Mary E. Twomey

  My hand and head rested on his chest, which puffed and broadened at my touch while the rain neared. It sounded like a deafening wave coming to crash down on our heads, echoing off the rock walls that closed us in. “Did I lead us somewhere bad?” I asked quietly, scared I would be our undoing.

  “We’ll see, I guess.” Bastien’s free hand gripped his dagger, wary of Kerdik’s every move.

  “I owe Avalon nothing,” Kerdik replied to my aunt’s accusations, amused at the fight he didn’t feel the need to go at whole-hog. “Avalon, on the other hand, owes me years of prosperity.”

  Aunt Avril guffawed. “Go to my war-torn province and see what prosperity still exists. Your gift was fool’s gold. Glittery for a time, but left us with nothing. Your gifts always do that.”

  Kerdik’s tone came back clipped. “Perhaps if you’d taken better care of my gift, it wouldn’t have deserted you so easily.”

  Aunt Avril’s nostrils flared. Never had she looked more like a royal than when she pulled back her hand and let it fly, slapping Kerdik across the face.

  Despite the chaos of nature outside, the air in the cave was silent and still, afraid to move at all. Madigan didn’t step forward to shield Avril, but angled his body so his shoulder was in front of Bastien and me. Though Aunt Avril was the one in the line of fire, the Brotherhood was concerned only with protecting each other.

  Kerdik’s smile didn’t fade, but only widened at the fight in my aunt. He reached out and took her hand almost lovingly. “Oh, Avril. I would say you were sweet and naïve to strike me, but Tyronoe was the sweet one. Gliten was the naïve one. You were perpetually trying to overshadow the first-born. Morgan was always shinier, wasn’t she?” He tsked Avril as if she was a petulant child. “You haven’t earned the right to strike me. Now I shall have to punish you.”

  My breath caught in my throat at the light tone that held only mild disapproval, and not the indignation one might foster if they’d just been slapped across the face. “My land was taken from me when Morgan tried to steal my stone, and you did nothing to stop her! I have every right to hit you after what your magic did to my family.”

  He examined her fingers and then slowly placed her hand on the rock wall in the back of the cave, his grin never faltering when the rock started rippling. Aunt Avril screamed when her hand suddenly sunk into the stone surface, as if it were made of only mud. The stone sealed around her wrist, keeping her locked in place while she screamed and struggled against the immovable wall. “Let me go, you snake!”

  I tried to go to her to help, but Bastien’s hug mutated into a restraint. His hand went around my mouth when I opened it to shout something foul at Kerdik. “Shh. Kerdik does what he likes. I won’t see your hand sealed to the wall next to your aunt’s. Quiet now. He won’t hurt her. He’s never hurt the Daughters of Avalon.”

  Kerdik traced a line across my aunt’s cheek, looking at her red face and taking in her spewed threats with only a passing interest. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen the Daughters of Avalon. Morgan is the most persistent, summoning me daily, but she hasn’t seen my face in decades. Now you finally see me, and the first thing you do is yell like a child and strike my face? Perhaps I should’ve left you to the storm. You’re fortunate I have an affinity for my handiwork. Must know how it all turns out.”

  He moved away from Aunt Avril, leaving her to struggle with her hand in the rock as he stalked toward me. “Let me see my crowning achievement, gentlemen,” he said to Madigan and Bastien with mild annoyance.

  Madigan reluctantly stepped aside, reasoning, as Bastien had earlier, that Kerdik did what he liked, and there was no use trying to stop him. My heart pounded wildly in my chest, introverting me with every step Kerdik took to close the distance. My horses pawed at the ground and snorted their unhappiness at Kerdik being so close to me, but no one moved to stop him. Roland moved to stand with Aunt Avril, watching our exchange carefully.

  Bastien dropped his arm from around my back and gave me a whole foot of space between our bodies, but refused to drop my hand. That simple touch helped me to stand up straighter and face whatever rock-wielding magic was about to come flying at me.

  Kerdik clicked his fingers in the dim cave, and a blue flame danced in his palm to shed light on us. Kerdik’s eyes were light green, contrasting with the short sky-blue hair that stuck out of his Newsies cap. My intake of breath was paired with wide eyes as I studied the coolest genetic setup I’d ever seen. I’d never met anyone with skin and hair as awesome as his. While the hair on his head was blue, his eyebrows and lashes were dark brown, outlining his expressions with a painter’s grace. Kerdik’s green epidermis didn’t appear scaly, but was smooth, like an adolescent’s before the sun and just plain life cracked and aged him. He had a narrow nose, high and sharp cheekbones, and an angular jawline that made his smile appear that much more face-splitting when he grinned.

  Kerdik studied me with the same fascination, as if I was the dude with green skin. He showed me his hand without the flame, and reached forward to touch my face. I jerked back on instinct, and Bastien inhaled sharply, like he was afraid my reaction might set Kerdik off. I wasn’t used to strangers touching my face.

  Kerdik clucked his tongue to scold me, and reached out a second time, his thumb landing on my temple. His touch was gentle, his skin like silk. “This looks painful. How did you acquire such an injury with two protectors such as these in your collection?” His eyes glinted at Bastien and Madigan. “You think I don’t recognize Untouchables when I see them? Which of you failed to keep my Fleur safe?”

  Bastien dropped my hand and stepped forward, his arms banding behind his back like a soldier. He looked straight ahead, and though I knew he was scared, he didn’t show it. “I did, your majesty. I failed to keep her safe.”

  Kerdik nodded, respecting the blunt honesty. “Very well. Then you shall be punished.”

  My expression twisted in a grimace. “What? Not a chance. It’s not Bastien’s fault I fell.”

  “He’s your Guardien, no?” Kerdik glanced from me to Bastien curiously. “Or is it this one?” He looked at Madigan, whose expression darkened.

  “Jeez, you’re like the millionth person who’s asked us that. No, Bastien’s a free agent. He’s helping me through Avalon, since I’m new here. He’s not responsible for me. It’s not his fault if I break a nail on the trip. And I barely know Madigan. He’s just helping Bastien out.”

  “‘Break a nail?’ Is that what you want to tell me happened to you? I gave Morgan a perfect child, trusting she’d care for the gift. When she couldn’t be trusted with you, little Elaine was given the chance. Are you telling me it’s Lane’s fault you’ve come back to me damaged?”

  My eyebrows furrowed. I could practically feel Roland’s anxiety peaking that I might rat him out. “I split off from Lane to come get the gems that were left in the Forgotten Forest. She doesn’t even know where I’m at right now. Look, I don’t totally understand what’s going on, but hurting Bastien doesn’t exactly help anything. We can move on from that nonsense when you’re ready to tell me what you really want. Why’d you help us if you’re bent on constantly getting into fights with everyone?”

  The rain poured heavily half a mile away from our cave, nearing like an ominous spider. The thunder spooked the horses, who shuffled toward the back. Kerdik studied my features, still rubbing my temple with his thumb as if I had an ink spot that wouldn’t go away. My lashes fluttered shut at the gentle touch that soothed my nerves. “My spitfire is alive and well? Lane is in Avalon again?”

  I nodded and opened my eyes, unsure if I was supposed to be giving up this information. I wasn’t used to men this gorgeous giving me such focused attention. “She’s fine. Why’d you help us?” I repeated, and then realized I was staring at his lips with too much intention. “Okay, knock it off, dude. We don’t know each other well enough for you to do that.” I batted at his hand, mildly flustered at the intimate touch that made my stomach flutter.

  Bas
tien whispered for me to calm down, his tension making me slightly off-balanced.

  Kerdik caught my wrist in his long fingers, jerking the blue light in his palm up to illuminate every inch of my face. “Not quite the demeanor of a princess, but you’re definitely a Daughter of Avalon. Morgan did well to breed with Urien. He was a dear friend of mine, of the highest quality.”

  I leaned back, blanching. “Dude, gross. Don’t say ‘breed’. It makes the whole thing sound like I’m a dog show competitor.” I glanced at our skin, his hand on my wrist showing the contrast of the green on peach. I was temporarily stunned by the beautiful colors together. I finally wrenched my arm out of his grip, trying to hold my ground. “And if you were my dad’s friend, then friggin’ act like it. Be nice. Stop playing games and threatening people.”

  Kerdik smiled at my scolding. “Urien would’ve made a fine father, had he been given the chance.” He examined my features too carefully, scrutinizing every detail of my face. “With your pretty countenance and that fire in your eyes? It’s a good thing you grew up away from me. I would have destroyed any man who came near you.”

  Bastien’s whole body was a ball of tension, and I didn’t want anyone exploding in such close quarters.

  I exhaled steadily and motioned for him to come out of the cave with me, away from the others. Kerdik followed my slow limp curiously, while Bastien, Madigan and Aunt Avril shot me looks of fear that were laced with a silent warning. I felt like my coaches, taking a problem player aside for a knock-it-off chat.

  When we were exposed to the wind with enough distance from the others for a conversation, I shoved my hands in my pockets and cut to the chase. “Look, I appreciate you giving us a place to wait out the storm, but things are tense as it is in our group. You’ve got to be cool if we’re going to be in such tight quarters. They’re all afraid of you, so you know, stop putting people’s hands through walls.” I shot him a withering look. “I feel like I shouldn’t even have to say that.”

  Kerdik reared back, amused and confused. “You’re scolding me? You don’t fear me?”

  I quirked my eyebrow at him. “Do you want me to be afraid of you? You made us this cool cave just so you could watch us cower? Somehow I don’t think that’s you, and I hope you know by now that the cowering act isn’t for me.”

  “You’re not going to ask me to fix your injuries?” He motioned to my face.

  I held up my chin defiantly. “I’m not injured. I told you, I broke a nail, is all. So, unless you’re secretly a stellar manicurist, you’re off the hook.” I motioned to the cave behind him. “Don’t go scaring everyone in there just because you can. Not cool.”

  He shook his head. “I can’t look at your face like that anymore. I haven’t seen you since you were a baby, and I want the true picture of you. Hold still, and I’ll fix it.”

  “Huh? Fix what?”

  “Your face. It’s all banged up. Be still. It’s hideous like this.”

  I scowled at the sting of such cruel words coming from such a stunning man. “Dude, that’s super mean. Is that what you want to teach me about yourself? That you call women ‘hideous’ on a bad hair day?” I shook my head, my eyes showing him that he’d cut me. “Maybe I don’t look as cool as you, but I don’t need you putting me down about it.”

  Kerdik reared back, as if confused about every single word I’d just said. “First off, the wound is hideous, not you. Second, you think I look cool?”

  I lowered my chin to give him a decent glower. “You insulted me, I complimented you, and now you’re fishing for another? Nice try. You know you look awesome with your skin and hair and all that. I haven’t had a shower or a decent meal or a bed to sleep on in way too long. I don’t care that I look like this, and neither should you.”

  Kerdik gaped at me, his eyebrows furrowed, utterly perplexed. “I don’t know what to say to that.”

  “Good. You seem like you’re prone to putting your foot in your mouth.” I didn’t want to be the Humpback Whale here, or have people look at my face as if it was a chore to do so. I looked up at the sky, and then started talking with my hands. “You know, so what if I’m hideous? The job was to collect the gems and bring them back to Lane. I get bonus points for bringing back my Aunt Avril, too, but no one seems to care about that. Because I have a uterus, all anyone cares about is how I look when I’m doing the job. Nonsense.” I frowned at him, a note of hurt surfacing. “You’re just like everyone else. You only care what I look like, not who I am.”

  “Then tell me who you are.” He looked up at the storm as the wind shifted and started blowing errant warnings of rain onto us like well-aimed spit. Kerdik turned and popped out his elbow to me. “If you don’t want me to heal you, can I at least escort you back into safety of my shelter? If you catch cold, I’m afraid I won’t be able to resist fixing you, just so you can lecture me some more.”

  I debated my pride versus hurting my ankle more. “Okay. Hey, thanks.” I blew out a gust of nerves. “Sorry if I’m being short. It’s been a long one, and people fighting puts me on edge. I keep hoping Avalon will be this happy-skippy utopia, but it’s like a breeding ground for tension.” I looped my hand through his proffered arm, hobbling pathetically over the uneven ground next to his erect and gentlemanly posture.

  “Oh, this is tedious. How can you stand it?” Kerdik paused to frown at my bum ankle.

  “You’re criticizing my wicked dance moves? This is how I dance, and it’s awesome.” I tried to force the pain away. Humor was good in situations like these. I did a sliding move with my free arm, letting it catch the tune of the rap song that bopped in my head. “You’re just jealous of my mad dancing skills.”

  Kerdik narrowed one eye at my stubborn streak. “Oh, my mistake. I thought this was you barely being able to stand. Clearly you’re dancing.”

  I dropped his arm, turned to face him, and slowly moved my shoulders to a bounce that was only in my head as we stood ten feet from the cave. If he’d known “Baby Got Back” then he could’ve appreciated how spot on my rhythm was, but his wide eyes only blinked at me as if I was the oddball with the super cool green skin. At least I made myself smile. Despite everything, I needed a solid grin. The wind was whistling and howling loud enough to set my teeth on edge, but I had Sir Mix-a-Lot, who could turn any situation into a dance party.

  “This is what passes for dancing these days?”

  “It does up in Common. Give it a try, Kerdik. Loosen up your shoulders a little bit.”

  He squinted at me like I was a weird bug. “You’re being ridiculous.”

  “So what? After all I’ve been through to get here, I think I’m entitled to dance if I want to. And right now, I’m dancing circles around you, old man.” I did a few taunting dance moves with plenty of attitude-laced head swivels just to make him laugh. “No, no. There’s no laughing in dancing. Take this seriously!”

  His hand covered his smile as he chuckled at my antics. “I can’t take you seriously like that. You’re going to hurt your leg even more just to… Well, I admit, I don’t know what you’re trying to do.”

  “Then it’s working. I was trying to get you to chill out. You can’t hang with us and be Kerdik the Destroyer. You have to be Kerdik the Dancing King. I’m telling you, our little group reached a boiling point long before you came into the picture. We can’t handle more tension.”

  “Kerdik the Dancing King? That’s preposterous.” His words sounded pretentious, but I could tell by his churlish grin that he enjoyed being jabbed at.

  “Well, you could always be Kerdik the Dancing Queen, if that suits you better.”

  Thunder cracked overhead, making me jump. Kerdik’s smile vanished as he glanced up at the clouds. “You can dance all you like in my cave, Fleur. My hold on the earth is stable, but controlling the weather has never been my strong suit.” Then he scooped me up like a bride and carried me to the others, who’d been watching us with mouths wide open. My heart stuttered at being literally swept off my feet by someone so
attractive.

  “Your foolishness almost got us caught in the rain,” Kerdik lectured me while everyone else stood back, stone silent as he lowered my legs so I could stand.

  “You’re welcome. You needed that laugh.”

  His eyes narrowed, and as brave as I wanted to be, I was reminded in his cold look that he was the one with the control in this situation. “Indeed, I did. Now you’ll hold still and let me be good to you. This ankle isn’t fit for dancing, so don’t fight me on fixing it this time. As we’ve established, I’m the Dancing King, so I know best.” Kerdik waited until my scowl died into a glum nod of mild submission, and then surprised me by blowing me a kiss. The air that came from his mouth had actual weight to it, and felt like dust settling over my face. There was an odd tingling that started at my nose and filtered through my lungs, the oxygen invading my body and spreading the prickly sensation from my head all the way down to my toes. The whole thing felt deliciously ticklish from the inside out.

  He held out his palm, and I gasped when green herbs started sprouting from the center. “Whoa! How are you doing that?”

  His curious smirk was positively adorable. He crinkled the herbs in his hand, and combined them with a grayish mud he choked out from his fingers. “Now, now. If I gave up all my secrets, how would I impress you?”

  I shrugged. “With your dance moves, obviously.”

  Kerdik chuckled, and each time a genuine smile crossed his lips, he seemed surprised by the crime of levity being tolerated on his features. It seemed he was more given to evil grins than actual levity. “Hold still, Dancing Queen. This will speed along your healing.” He reached out and spread the gray herb-flecked mud on the scraped and sore side of my face. “Easy,” he warned when he saw my nervous twitches at having someone touch my face. I wanted to jerk back, but the steadiness in Kerdik’s gaze told me he really was trying to help me out. “I won’t hurt you, Fleur.”