by Lainy Lane
“I can’t leave yet anyway. I’m not exactly tied and bound type kidnapped, but I do still have limits,” Tristan says. “So, what, you’re never coming home then?” The look on his face when he says it is a mixture of hurt and confusion. Calandra’s heart bursts open and a spurt of blood pours out.
Calandra looks down at the bar, unable to form a single word. She opens her mouth, then closes it again. She sighs and decides instead to pick up Tristan’s plate as a distraction. She walks over to the sink with it and begins cleaning it.
“Well, that answers that I guess.” Tristan mumbles, “I assume you encouraged this.” He turns to face Jarreth.
“If you mean encouraged her to follow her destiny and do what she’s meant to, then yes I did. You can’t make me feel guilty for it either, so don’t waste your breath.” Jarreth pours himself another shot without so much as looking at Tristan.
“What she’s meant to do or what you want her to do? The two seem to be quite different.”
Calandra finally decides the plate is more than spotless and that she should focus on mediating the debate that is heating up around her. She turns to see Jarreth gulping down a shot and immediately pouring himself a new one.
“What she’s meant to do, Tristan. Do not come here and chastise me. Need I remind you that you are in Faerie and you ought not to mess with beings you do not understand. It will get you in more trouble than you’d know what to do with.” Jarreth inhales and takes his shot. Calandra notices that his eyes are still red. “Now would you like to continue this battle or return to your prison?”
“Need I remind you that I never left here, you’re the one who came over this morning and ruined the day.” Tristan’s voice holds confidence, but his face doesn’t show any.
“Okay.” Calandra finally decides it’s time to fully intervene. She walks around the bar where she can get a good look at the both of them. She turns to face Jarreth first. “You, take one more drink and then I think you need to go and leave us alone.” She gives him a look to signify that he doesn’t need to challenge her at the moment. She takes a breath to get a little more courage and turns to face Tristan. “And you,” she begins in on him, “do need to learn exactly who you are dealing with before you wind up getting yourself killed, Tristan, just saying. I know that Drake has much less patience than Jarreth does.”
Calandra hears the shot glass slam down onto the bar next to her again and realizes Jarreth has already taken his shot. He places his arm on her back and sends a shock of electricity through her. Her body naturally caves into the jolt and she smiles in response. Tristan tenses.
“I’ll be around when you’re finished if you decide you need me,” Jarreth tells her, his eyes are finally back to their gorgeous shade of baby blue. He stops next to Tristan’s chair as he passes by. “Don’t think I won’t know if she needs assistance just because I’m not where you can see me.”
Confusion crosses Tristan’s face.
“Faerie,” Jarreth explains, “seriously, learn something of it if you plan to survive in this world for long.” Jarreth rolls his eyes before he strolls out of the kitchen.
The pressure in the room drops drastically once Jarreth is gone. Calandra sighs in relief and hope rises in her that maybe the rest of this conversation can go over slightly decently. Hopefully a bit more like the way she has been planning in her head.
“So what?” Tristan breaks the silence unexpectedly. “You’re just gonna let him come back over once you’re done dealing with me?”
“Is that really the question you want to go into right now?” Calandra asks, trying to shy away from the hurt that is plainly written on Tristan’s face. She can’t deal with that right now.
“No,” he sighs, “I guess it’s not, but I believe I have my answer regardless.” Tristan looks away and Calandra sits in the stool that Jarreth left abandoned.
“Listen.” Calandra finally figures out how to form full sentences again. “Things are just …” The ability abandons her almost instantly.
“Complicated?” Tristan finishes for her. “Yeah, you said that already.”
“I’m sorry that you got pulled into all of this, Tristan. I think that’s all I can really say.”
“Sorry? After all we’ve been through together and now all of this, that’s the best you have for me?”
“It’s just that I belong here now, Tristan.” Calandra adjusts herself nervously in her chair. “I can’t leave, it’s just that simple.”
“That’s not simple at all, Calandra! You have a life, we had a life, just in case you’ve already forgotten about it.” Tristan stands up and moves in front of her. “Look, I can see you have your own thing going on here and I guess I shouldn’t have come.” He runs his hand through his hair to brush it from his face. “I take it you know where to find me should you desire to do so. Do what you need to do, I guess, but don’t forget that you had a life and people who cared for you before this place. This isn’t the only place you belong.”
“I really am sorry, Tristan. I wish you could’ve been left out of all of this.” Calandra’s heart has completely bled out around her now and she’s having trouble breathing.
“Don’t be.” He surprises her with his response. “I would have driven myself insane wondering what in the world happened to you.” Tristan places his hand very lightly on her cheek. Calandra fights the urge to lean into it. “At least this way I know what happened to you.” Tristan smiles his heartbreakingly gorgeous smile before he turns and walks off. He stops in the doorway that connects the kitchen and the living room and turns to face her once more.
“You know, Cali, you’re the one that’s hung the sun and the moon in my world for a while now. All I ever wanted was to do the same for you, and I tried, I really did. But I think you’ve always been meant to do more then make the world for just one person. I think I’ve known that for a while now.” His eyes glisten over and he looks away to straighten up before he continues, “I think you’ve been looking in all the wrong places trying to find your meaning in life. If you would have just looked up, you could have found your significance without any of this. Either way, I hope you find your something more, Cal, I really do. At least if I’m still part of this world then I can still be a part of you, even if it turns out to not be in the same way that I planned.” His mouth opens once more, but before anything comes out, he closes it walks away again. She hears the door close behind him and suddenly realizes there is a new emptiness inside of her.
She needs Tristan. He has become her everything over the time they’ve been together. He’s been the one to help her out of her shell. He has stood beside her with all of her father’s drama. Every fight, every cry, every happy moment, she has turned to Tristan through it all. That was before, she tells herself. Now is different. Now has to be different. Faerie is a new world and she can feel herself morphing into a new person, one that she feels comfortable with. Something about this new road just feels right, finally. She has to keep pushing through despite what may come her way, she knows that. The things from before have been to make her into the person that she needed to be to get to this place. Now it’s time to see what she can become.
Regardless of her own selfish thoughts and reasons for staying, Tristan deserves better. Calandra commits to confront Drake and make him let Tristan go. With a new outlook and resolve on what she must do, Calandra stands from the barstool and decides the mess of the dishes can wait a while.
Chapter Fifteen
Lies
“Absolutely not!” Drake’s eyes have darkened considerably since Calandra began her explanation of what she wants from him. “If you really thought that I would go for this then someone hasn’t done a very good job of telling you about me.” Drake shoots a glance at Jarreth who sits in the corner of the room, hidden in shadows.
Jarreth hasn’t said much since Calandra told him she wants him to bring her to Drake’s. He isn’t at all happy with the idea. Actually, that’s an understatement, he is angry w
hen she brings it up and refuses to talk about it at all. Calandra tries the whole guilt trip and pouting scheme again, but it doesn’t work this time around. Instead, she has to go about actually negotiating with him and explaining her reasons for needing to see Drake. He is reluctant, but gives, probably more in an effort to shut her up than anything.
Drake’s house isn’t quite what she was expecting. Somehow she pictures something comparative to a dungeon. However, it is actually similar to Jarreth’s house, which creeps Calandra out more than just a little bit. There is less furniture and decorations in Drake’s house than in Jarreth’s. The dark curtains on every window seem to be up to purposely keep the light out, which gives off a creepy and depressing feel. The couch isn’t comfortable in the least, but here she sits with Drake sitting too close for comfort, and Jarreth sulking in the corner, trying to hide his immaturity in the shadows.
Up until this point, Calandra hasn’t had much interaction with Drake, and what little she did have wasn’t exactly pleasant, but she has to take a shot in the dark and attempt to make him let Tristan go home. She owes Tristan at least that much. He has already served his purpose; Calandra is here. She is hoping that just simply explaining this will be enough to make Drake do as she requests. Obviously, she has been very wrong in that assumption.
“I don’t understand why you need him anymore. I’m here, aren’t I?” she says.
“I didn’t say that I needed him anymore, but that doesn’t mean I’m finished or am willing to let him go.” Drake shrugs as if this should be common sense.
Calandra feels her nerves start to rise at his attitude. How he could be so nonchalant about this, as if it should be his call what is done with Tristan? It seems to irk every nerve in her body. She knows she needs to be calm in order to negotiate with him, so she centers herself on her power and pulls a calming sensation from it.
“Surely there’s something we can do to work this out, Drake.” She can see Jarreth’s body tense out of the corner of her eye as she says it.
Drake’s eyes flash darker for a few moments and his smile turns quite devious. “Oh, I know there’s something that I’d be willing to cave for, but I also know better than to think that it’ll happen. You’re wasting your time, Calandra, not to say I don’t enjoy seeing you sitting on my couch.” Drake smirks.
Calandra resists the urge to roll her eyes. “What is it?” she asks after a few moments.
Drake seems to ignore her question. He looks over to Jarreth in the corner and they exchange a look that Calandra can’t quite place. Jarreth’s entire body tenses and his eyes change colors, although through the shadows, Calandra can’t tell for sure what color. She does notice they go very dark. Drake’s smile widens. Jarreth’s fists clench and he stands up.
“That’s enough!” he yells. “I told you this was pointless and we shouldn’t have come.” He still doesn’t move from the corner.
“Oh, I wouldn’t say it was a total waste!” Drake says coolly.
“Would you two stop it?” Calandra snaps. “You guys are worse than a bunch of hormone driven teenagers!” She isn’t sure where this bravery was coming from exactly, it’s so unlike her. “You,” she points her finger at Jarreth, “sit! I asked him a question and he is going to answer it.” She turns her attention to Drake, and chooses to not even acknowledge the reaction that Jarreth must be giving her for standing up to him. Drake, on the other hand, looks quite pleased with her outbreak. “Wipe that smirk off your face and just answer the question!” she tells him. She holds tight to the confidence that is surging through her, afraid that if she doesn’t hold onto it for dear life, it may disappear and never return.
Drake lifts an eyebrow at her, trying to gauge just how far she is willing to go with her new attitude. “Now this is a welcome change,” he says, fighting the urge to let the smirk return.
Calandra rolls her eyes at him, making sure he knows she’s beyond irritated and not in the mood to deal with the games. She’s beginning to realize that games seem to go hand in hand with Drake and she probably should have been more prepared for something like this. Jarreth had mentioned that before they came. She pushes that thought away; she is too aggravated with him at the moment to admit to herself that perhaps she should have listened to him better.
Calandra is still wondering about the history between Drake and Jarreth. There is a hate there, she can see that, but despite her best efforts, she can’t seem to get Jarreth to explain it to her. All she has been able to get out of Jarreth was that Drake wasn’t a good guy. Anyone could see that, but there is a level of animosity between the two of them that has to be the result of something much deeper, something that Calandra desperately wants to know.
“I do not wish to discuss my terms in front of him.” Drake breaks her from her thoughts and brings her back to the present. His eyes dart over to Jarreth, who has sat back down and is sulking once more.
“Well I’m not leaving, so tough,” Jarreth responds. His face is now completely hidden in the shadows.
“Geez!” Calandra breaks down again. “How am I supposed to get anything accomplished here with you two constantly in a territorial contest around me?” She begins rubbing her left temple where the tension is building.
Drake laughs. Jarreth doesn’t move a muscle, but Calandra is sure there is a pretty unpleasant look on his face at the moment. She chooses not to look.
“Fine!” she says, standing up off the couch. “You can stay right there!” she tells Jarreth before turning to face Drake. “You and I will go in another room to discuss this.”
Drake smiles; he is obviously more than pleased with this new suggestion and Calandra wonders if she’s made a huge mistake. Too late now, she reminds herself. She tries to come up with a way out of the predicament she has created for herself, but she’s left with nothing. The only option now is to just go with it. Suck it up and deal. She takes a deep breath, and pulls from her power to give her the strength to face what may be ahead. She refuses to look over at Jarreth. She doesn’t want to see the look of disapproval she knows he must have.
Drake reaches his arm out to her. “Come, my lady!” He smiles.
Calandra rolls her eyes. “How about you just lead the way and I’ll follow?”
Drake sighs. “Suit yourself.” He walks off toward the next room.
Calandra finally dares to take a look back at Jarreth before she walks after Drake. She isn’t at all prepared for what she sees. He’s leaning enough that his face is out of the shadows and he isn’t wearing an expression of disappointment or anger like she was expecting. There’s nothing but hurt on his face. His eyes are a much darker shade of blue than usual, and he looks slightly broken. The strength that Calandra has been able to draw for herself deflates instantly, but she has to face this situation now. She started it and now she has to finish it. She takes a deep breath and gives Jarreth her best apology smile before she turns and follows after Drake.
There is a small hallway that leads from the living room to the bedroom Drake is heading toward. There is what Calandra assumes to be a closet door on one side and a black hutch on the other. Just as she’s walking past the hutch and is about to step over the threshold into the bedroom after Drake, something catches her eye. The top of the hutch is covered in pictures, but there is one frame in particular that stops her dead in her tracks and sends her world finally spinning into space straight for a black hole. Calandra is unable to believe what she sees. She pulls the frame off of the hutch to get a better look at it and be sure her head isn’t deceiving her.
“What is this?” she asks, unable to pull her gaze from the picture in her hands.
It’s the bar that Jarreth had taken her to the previous day. Standing in front of the bar are two men standing on each side of a petite woman. The man on the left is Drake, his hair is much shorter, but other than that he looks the same. The man on the right is Jarreth, other than having a simple and spiked hairstyle, he looks just the same as well. The woman in the middle is wh
at throws Calandra off and makes her world flip to catastrophe mode completely. The woman is Calandra’s mother, Hollyn.
The world seems to be spinning backwards, or maybe it is just spinning too fast, something is definitely off. Nothing makes sense. How do you ... How does ... she can’t even make a coherent thought let alone manage to put together a sentence to question what she is looking at. Drake leans into the doorway next to her, his arms are crossed coyly, and he has a smirk on his face. Calandra notices him and feels the urge to remove that smirk herself, it’s becoming quite the irritant.
She’s still busy glaring at Drake and envisioning herself taking the look off his face when she feels the currents start to run through her. Jarreth’s hand is on her back and the feeling radiates from that point throughout the rest of her body. She turns to face him, still lost on what to feel or think. There is a gray fog running through her mind.
