The moon hung low in an orange misty color, framing Blane’s sculpted physique, his golden brown hair shimmering in the moonlight. I felt my heart leap inside of me as I ran to his side.
His arms crushed around me, firmly, holding me tenderly, his hands cupped my cheeks, gazing into my eyes. “Anabel, do you know what yer doing?”
I choked on my tears, and then held my head high, returning his loving glare, “If I give the Moon Pendant to Izzy...” I glided my index finger along his tender lips, aching to kiss them. “…I’ll have to return to New York and break it off with, Edgar, but I know he won’t let me go.” I shook my head back and forth, trying desperately to explain my world to him. “I’m certain he won’t. My mother, on the other hand, will guilt me into staying there. I know somehow they’ll keep me there. Then I’ll never see you again.” My fingers trembled along his brow. “At least if I’m Guardian. I can see you and be with you.” I blew out a disappointed breath, “There has to be some way that we can be together as Guardian and Sentinel?”
He shook his head. “I doona know a way, lass.”
I needed to convince him and myself that being Guardian was a good thing and somehow there was a way to be together. “I will have so much power,” I asserted, hoping he would see my logic, “controlling the air, earth, water, and fire. There has to be a way.”
“Men have lost their way in the search of power and wealth,” he remarked, his eyes flickering with the silvery moonlight, his thumb sweeping over my swollen lips. “Do not let the power of the Moon Pendant corrupt you, lass.”
“I won’t let it control me,” I stated confidently. “Trust me, I will find a way for us to be together. I’m not going to marry Edgar.”
Blane’s arms clamped around my waist, pulling me in sweetly to his chest, his sensuous lips trembling to meet mine. I shivered inside as he drew me closer, his wet lips pressing against mine. I drank him in, melting to his touch. My heart pounded harder as I slid my fingers along his bristly chin. An intense wave of emotion crashed over me as he kissed my neck, swirling up to meet my lips again. Lapses of kisses repeated as I was overcome by his passion.
My ears perked up, hearing a set of footsteps travelling up the driveway until they stopped abruptly behind me and Blane.
A quirky voice startled us from behind. “Luvey?” Edgar chirped.
Chapter 14
♦♦♦
Izzy
My heart was drumming faster than Larry Mullen, Jr. thrashing his drumsticks against his drum set. “Can you believe that one?” I said heatedly to Granny. “Always thinking about herself!”
“You mustn’t lose heart, Izzy,” Granny said encouragingly. “The Moon Pendant has its own agenda.”
“What am I going to do?” I asked, wringing my fingers together. “Fergus is turning into the Baobhan Sith’s dinner along with his dad! You know Anabel will never survive all those tasks.”
“Yes, I know,” she said calmly, wrinkling her wispy nose. “Her mind is being corrupted by the power of the Moon Pendant.”
I cocked my head to the side. “That could’ve been me,” I mentioned, “corrupted by the power of the Moon Pendant.”
“No, Izzy. Your heart is true. You want what’s best for others. Though,” she tapped her ghoulish finger to her pursed lips, “you have a strange way of doing it.”
“You’re the first person,” I sighed, twirling my coarse black hair around a finger, “besides Fergus to believe in me, Granny. I always felt like I didn’t matter growing up in that house. The only one who mattered to my mother was Anabel. I was just another mouth to feed, the spare.”
Granny’s translucent energy swept across the room, hovering beside the window, shafts of moonlight poking holes in her wispy cloud form. “Look up into the night’s sky,” she said, waving her hand to the window pane. “What do you see?”
I stared into the pale-grey night, the silvery moon blinding me. Hidden behind the milky orb were pulsing white stars.
“Darkness,” I said shortly.
“And?”
“The moon.”
“And?”
I blew out a frustrated breath. “The stars”
“Each one of us is a star burning in the night’s sky. Some burn brighter than others, but there is room for all of us,” she turned to me, gently gazing at me with her silvery eyes. “Make sure your star burns brightly, Izzy.”
“I will,” I said, not knowing how I was going to outshine her royal highness. I didn’t even know if I needed to.
“Just make sure you don’t turn into one of those meteorites,” Granny chuckled, “hurdling toward the earth bent on destruction.”
“I won’t,” I said, half rolling my eyes, half smirking.
“Do you know the saying? Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer,” she asked, shifting her pearly gaze to the wooden jewelry box. “I have an idea.”
I wasted no time, yanking the front door open, waving goodbye to Granny, and shoving my secret deep into my pocket. I had just stepped out of the front door when I caught Blane and Anabel’s makeout session galore.
Eww… Get a room!
Blane and Anabel’s lips were locked, fondling each other in ways that would make a stripper blush. To my surprise, and in a way to my delight, I saw the nerd strolling up the driveway.
Oh yeah, this is getting good.
I grinned from ear to ear.
Edgar looked as though he was watching a horror show or perhaps, Steve Jobs making out with Bill Gates. I’m not sure how that nerd thinks, but it’s sure fun to watch his jaw drop open with disgust.
Edgar stood behind Anabel and Blane while they smooched their brains out. “Luvey?” he said in a wimpy voice.
Anabel spun around on her heels, her face white as a ghost. The look of surprise on her face was priceless.
“Edgar?”
“I thought you may have needed me,” mumbled Edgar, sizing up Blane, his eyes barely clearing his broad shoulders, his greasy hair shining in the moonlight. “So I rushed to Scotland to be with you.”
I had to think fast on my feet. I couldn’t let her royal highness destroy everything with some stupid remark. I stepped in front of Blane, brushing against his chiseled chest. “Man, these Scots really know how to say ‘hello,’ don’t they?” I said excitedly, concealing a giggle under my breath. I turned to Blane. “Hello, Braveheart!” My hands cradled his bristly face, pulling him in to meet my plump lips, kissing him as passionately as I could. What? I had to make it look real.
I shoved Blane away, a surprised look crawling on his face. I wiped the saliva off my mouth with the back of my hand, and then slapped him hard on his bum.
Braveheart perked right up.
“Ok! No more time for small talk,” I hooked my arm around Edgar’s lanky arm, leading him toward the grove. “Come on, Edgar. We’ve got important business to take care of.”
Edgar had a mindless look on his face, not knowing what to believe, his gaze shifting from me to Blane and then to Anabel.
“You did come here to help, right?” I said to Edgar, trying to change the subject. “So, Edgar, what do you know about tree faeries?”
“Well…”
Anabel raced up beside me, tugging at my black leather coat, whispering fiercely into my ear, “What are you doing?”
“Saving your royal arse!” I said out of the side of my mouth, “again!”
♦♦♦
Anabel
We walked silently through the soft grass, the moon rolling low against the horizon, skipping along the inky night’s sky.
My body was trembling with fear, not because I was about to face the next task, not because Izzy was furious with me remaining as the Guardian, not because I could never marry Blane because I was still the Guardian. It was because Edgar found me in Blane’s arms. How could I do this to him? I was a horrible person, letting my passion get the best of me. But I knew deep down inside of me, deep in the pit of my gut, I knew it was over and it had to end.
I just couldn’t do it right then. I was the Guardian of the Moon Pendant, and I had a task to complete and that’s all that mattered to me.
We stood before a grassy grove, determined to seek out the Ghillie Dhu, a small dirt path snaked through its center, curving deep into the thicket, while a dense swirling mist blanketed the earth. A soft breeze rustled through the canopy of rich emerald trees, shaking off the dew-drenched leaves into a thick layer of vines, coiling along the edges of the path.
Blane stopped dead in his tracks, his ear angled up, listening to the moaning wind, whistling through the branches. The trees were softly speaking to each other. “The Dryads doona want us here,” he warned us.
“Don’t be silly, Blane,” Izzy said, her boot stepping out onto the worn path.
Swiftly, a barricade of thick branches, braided vines, and prickly thistles sprang out from the tree line, shooting out in all directions, creating an impenetrable wall to pass. Dark shadows shifted within the leaves, stirring just beyond our eyes, mystical faces faded in and out, their shadows morphing within the gloom.
Izzy gazed over her shoulder at Blane. “You don’t say?” she said, arching her brow. She plucked out her iPhone, snapping pictures of the mysterious trees with Edgar’s faeland ios App. “Edgar’s App says…” She winked at Edgar. “It’s a…tree.”
We all let out a loud sigh, knowing it was completely wrong.
“Another buggy App,” exclaimed Izzy, “way to go, Team Edgar!”
“We doona need…” Blane paused finding his words, “an App, as you say. I know this grove. I know these trees.”
“Edgar,” I said, pivoting to him, his eyes heavy from jet-lag. “I have to go and do this now. Sit and wait for me over there.” I pointed to a moss covered rock, nestled between a few rowan trees. “You’ll be safe there.”
Edgar grabbed my hand, clenching it tightly. “You’re just going to leave me here?” he said wide eye, childlike, sliding his hand over my ring finger.
“It’s safer for you, Edgar,” I asserted, pulling my hand away. I knew he noticed my engagement ring was missing, but I didn’t have time to explain. “Whatever lies inside there,” I gestured to the entangled wall of bark and leaves, “may not be pretty.”
Edgar frowned, his shoulders sloped over, and then he slowly waddled over to the rock like a dog with his tail between his legs.
I returned to Blane and Izzy studying the tightly packed organic wall, unsure how we could pass without something going awry.
Blane flared out his chest, legs spread wide, standing firmly before the wall. “I am the Sentinel of Light!” his voice boomed, resonating against the delicate leaves, causing them to ripple. “Open!”
The trees remained silent.
Izzy pushed forward with a quirky smile, tilting her head to the side, fists firmly planted on her hips. “Speak, friend, and it will open…” She had said clearly. “…Friend.”
Blane and I looked at Izzy curiously.
“What?” she shrugged. “It worked in Lord of the Rings.”
It was my turn as I positioned myself before the barricade. I raised my head up high and took a deep breath. “I am the Guardian of the Moon Pendant,” I divulged, feeling the sparks of the Moon Pendant igniting through my body. “I seek the Ghillie Dhu to recharge the Moon Pendant.”
The massive barrier slowly slithered away, unraveling its rope-like vines, its offshoot branches crackling as they unfolded, shifting back to their origins.
Izzy glared her blue eyes at me, speaking through the side of her mouth, muttering, “show off.”
We wandered down the soiled footpath, seeking out the Ghillie Dhu to begin the second task, passing by a trickling stream, listening to the whispers of the trees, speaking words in a language only they could understand. Dark figures moved slowly within the tree line, our eyes blinking trying to catch a glimpse of what was shifting in the shadows, their shapes towering over us, travelling with us as we wandered along the path. Scattered across the grove were a handful of dead trees, leafless, their barks brittle and cracking, with spear-like branches jutting out from their trunks.
“We are being watched,” announced Blane, his eyes darting from side to side.
I gulped, “Màrmann?”
“Nay, ‘twould be…” Blane’s voice stopped abruptly.
“Dryads,” Izzy answered, swallowing hard, staring at her iPhone screen. “Wood nymphs that harbor the strengths of the forests, travel in pacts, and tend to be shy. Strengths: Their size, ability to morph into the landscape, healing powers. Weakness: Fire, their shyness keeps them separated from other Fae.”
An icy wind blew against my neck, sending the tiny hairs on my back to shoot straight up along with a waterfall of goose bumps cascading all over my body.
♦♦♦
Vyx
My eyes scanned the darkness as I knelt down on one knee above the steel gate, peering into the damp cell, lowering my torch to see two blood-red eyes reflecting back at me. The Bloody Baron was licking an ebony glove, splattered with blood, a speckle of drool dripping from the corner of his black lips, his bloody cap slowly drying up again.
“Sweet nectar,” he moaned, his tongue rolling over the soiled garment, its laces dangling from his hands. “Sweetest of the sweet…”
I knew that glove. It was the wenches’.
“Still thirsty?” I grunted.
The Bloody Baron’s body shot across the dungeon lightning fast, his face pressing up against the latticed door, pushing his crooked nose through its slots, sniffing the air.
I laughed as I fumbled with the lock.
My finger was wedged under the latch. “You can soak your cap in all of her blood if you desire,” I said, staring into the Bloody Baron’s beastly gaze. “Just remember I get to kill her!”
He nodded yes with a maddening excitement.
My lip twisted up, flipping the latch open.
Chapter 15
♦♦♦
Izzy
I shoved the iPhone back into my pocket and peered up, blinking repeatedly, beholding the sight before me as we all stood in awe. A colossal tree lay fallen on its side, a bumpy moss covered face carved into its rough bark, waves of thick roots shot out from its trunk, swooping up and down beneath the cracking soil like a serpent, a deep purple vine curled around its branches, crippling it, cutting deep into its crusty red bark, slowly choking it to death.
“‘Tis the Ghillie Dhu,” declared Blane, gently touching its dried up bark.
Its mouth cracked open. “You are… too late,” he whispered in a low rumbling voice. “These poisonous vines are strangling my roots.”
“Lainahwyn?” asked Blane, his fingers lingering on the deep slashes carved into the Ghillie Dhu’s trunk.
“And a man,” he moaned as yellow leaves fluttered from his branches down to the parched soil.
“Vyx!” I blurted out, not that I was surprised at all.
“Izzy, help me cut back these vines,” ordered Blane, pulling his short blade out from his scabbard. “Anabel go fetch some water from that stream we passed.”
“Yeah, sure,” I said, sliding out the bone knife out from my boot.
I knelt beside a gnarled root, sprouting out from the Ghillie Dhu’s trunk, there was at least another hundred like it, grey, distorted tubers anchoring deep into the earth as thick as an elephant’s trunk. I wedged my knife between the root and the charcoal-purple vine strangling the Ghillie Dhu and sliced it off. One down, a thousand or more to go, I sighed.
My ears perked when I heard something moving in the trees. Scanning the darkness, all I could see were shifting shadows. I shook my head and sliced another death vine off.
“Drat!” I screamed, shoving the bloody tip of my finger into my mouth.
Ugh... I hate it when I cut myself. I laughed inside, shaking out my hand, three years ago I actually enjoyed it, but that all ended when I met, Vyx. What a dope I was when I met him. I was at my lowest point and of course, that’s when he came in
to the picture.
My whole life, I tried to get my mother to see me, to hear me – hey, even looking at me would’ve been nice. Nothing worked. Believe it or not, I was an honors student for a bit, but it just didn’t seem to matter. It didn’t matter how many awards I won, how well I was doing at school, what sports I played, who I hung out with. Harry just never saw me. The only one she saw was Anabel.
So what’s a girl to do? If I don’t matter in a good way, why not matter in a bad one? That’s when I just stopped doing anything, no school, no sports, no friends, no life. I just cut everyone off, oh yeah and I had a bit of a close call with death. Those were the days before I met Vyx.
Vyx was freedom when I met him. He woke me up. He pissed Harry off, and it felt real good to have her somehow acknowledge that I existed, even if it was because I had a Hell’s Angel boyfriend. I do thank him for that, but I’m not stupid anymore. I don’t take Shyte from nobody or no man, especially a ghastly breath loser like Vyx.
I rubbed the blood off my finger onto my pants and then licked my finger again. Man, that Bloody Baron was right, my blood really is sweet, I thought. Don’t tell Harriet that!
Blane and I were just about done cutting all the vines when I heard the disturbance of a roaring wave. I gazed up and saw a moving ridge of crystal clear water, barreling down on us, swelling above the path and then crashing down into the Ghillie Dhu’s dried up soil.
“Guardian,” Blane scorned, “you mustn’t use yer powers. You weaken each time!”
“I feel fine,” said Anabel, heaving a sigh of relief. “I didn’t have a bucket.”
Blane scowled.
The Ghillie Dhu sprang to life, his roots ripping wildly out of the earth, giant tentacles reaching out to grab Anabel, coiling around her body like a cocoon, hoisting her up high into the air and then plunging her new capsule down into the core of the earth.
“Hmmph...” I said with a quick laugh, staring down into a dark, fathomless abyss of a hole. “Now, that’ll shut her up!” I smirked at Blane, his body tensed, his eyes wide with fear.
The Bloody Baron was standing behind Blane, a sinister look in his blood-red eyes, his sharp teeth seething, the iron-pike cradled in his crinkled hand, his bloody cap almost dried up, cracking slowly, needing a victim to revive him before it was too late.
Guardian of the Moon Pendant Page 14
