by Lainy Lane
She nods, finding herself somehow unable to speak and more than slightly short of breath. Before she can object, she feels his hands on her shoulders. A chill goes through her. “Now I want you to try something else,” he explains. “Close your eyes and picture a storm.”
Calandra opens her mouth to ask a question, but he shushes her before anything comes out.
“Just focus.” Drake’s hands begin to move back and forth on her shoulders. She feels power radiating off of him and seeping into her. “Picture a storm, thunder and lightning. Hear it in your mind, pull from the power in you, and focus.”
Calandra takes another deep, calming breath. She pictures a thunderstorm in her mind. She imagines storm clouds rolling into the field and bringing the sounds of nature’s fury with it. She envisions lightning accompanying the rolling thunder. The smell of rain reassures her that she is using the power the way she’s been instructed to do so.
“The thunder rolls.” She feels and hears Drake’s words in her ear. She opens her eyes and sees that everything she’s been envisioning surrounds them. The field is dark with gray storm clouds. The visual she had in her head has been replicated here in real life. The thunder softly booms around them and shortly after it, lightning rolls under the clouds above.
A sense of accomplishment washes over her in knowing that she made this happen. She controlled nature and made it do what she desired. Her heart is racing along with the feeling coursing through her from the chill Drake has started in her. The blending of sensations sends her on a whole new sense of Euphoria.
“Euphoria,” she says without meaning to. Calandra closes her eyes, relishing in all the new sensations that are coursing through her.
Guilt courses through her as the reality of what she’s done settles on her. She wonders what came over her exactly and why she allowed herself to take advantage of the Sprites all so she could get a tiny moment of accomplishment. “I shouldn’t have done that,” she whispers.
“Ah ah ah!” Drake scolds her. “Evil never judges, Calandra, it only tempts. Don’t let yourself overthink it. Just relish in the joy of it all.”
She opens her eyes and isn’t entirely surprised to find Drake has disappeared altogether. She wills time to move again and the sprites all shoot her an evil glance, call her names, and dart away angrily. The storm clouds slowly roll away and take the sounds of nature’s accusing fury with them. Calandra lies down in the grass, spreads her legs out, and covers her face with her arms to hide her eyes from the beauty around her that she doesn’t deserve at the moment.
Chapter Seventeen
Right & Wrong
A rustle in the brush on the edge of the field pulls Calandra from her daze that is on the verge of becoming a slumber, even though she’s pretty sure she’s only been lying there for a few minutes at the most. She sits up instantly and looks around, trying to see where the noise came from. Her fear at the moment is that the sprites are back for revenge. Instead she notices two figures standing in the trees, but they are much too large to be sprites.
“Who’s there?” she calls in the direction of the noise.
Her heart drops into her feet when she sees Tristan and Jarreth walk out of the trees and head toward her; both of their expressions are unreadable. Her breath catches in her throat as she wonders how long they’ve been there. However, the look on Tristan’s face once they get closer answers that question for her. He is hurt … again. Great. She rolls her eyes at herself for the situation she has managed to get herself into. Somehow Jarreth doesn’t look hurt, or mad, or upset at all, which leaves Calandra feeling lost and confused.
She can feel the fire radiating off of Tristan and his speed increases the closer they get to her. Actually, that isn’t heat, that’s fury. Why is she feeling that?
“So—” The word falls out of her mouth when they finally reach her, and she immediately wishes she could suck it back up.
“So,” Tristan begins, his entire face is red. “What exactly is this destiny you have to stay here to fill, do everything wrong and disregard everything that you know about being a decent human being?”
“I … wow!” Calandra’s brain can’t seem to form any sort of response. She didn’t expect him to be this mad—he’s not usually the type of person to lose his cool and be mean to her—and she is more than a little thrown off by it.
“Tristan,” Jarreth warns. He’s standing right next to Calandra, looking slightly timid but not mad at all. So maybe she hasn’t messed up everything, which would be nice.
“Don’t start with me!” Tristan yells and points his finger at Jarreth. “You’re the one who started this in the first place!”
“Tristan!” Calandra shrieks.
“Don’t!” He turns his attention back to Calandra. “Just don’t!” Tristan puts his head in his hands and starts to pace.
Calandra glances over to Jarreth, lost. He simply shrugs and looks away from her. So he is upset, too, just not to the same extent that Tristan is. Calandra takes a deep breath, resolving to herself that she got herself into this situation so it’s going to be up to her to get herself out of it … somehow. She walks over to Tristan slowly and reaches up for him, but he pulls away instantly and glares at her.
Then something from her earlier experience with Drake comes into her mind. Will the power to do what you want it to. She had just willed her power to make a storm roll in earlier, and now she is feeling Tristan’s emotions for some reason. Does that mean she can will her power to change those emotions? She still doesn’t know exactly what she is doing, but after the ordeal with Drake she now has a better idea of how to use her powers, so she figures it has to be worth a shot. It’s probably the only shot she is going to get for now. It’s an easy way out, so she opts to take it.
Calandra focuses on the feelings radiating off of Tristan. The hurt, anger, and deception. She lets them fill her. Her heart breaks all on its own when it occurs to her that Tristan is feeling these emotions so immensely because of her. She falters for a minute, realizing that what she’s about to do is beyond wrong. It is an invasion of privacy. She turns to look at Jarreth, trying to make up her mind on what she should do. He shrugs and nudges his head toward Tristan. When Calandra turns back to Tristan, the glare he gives her finally settles her mind.
She focuses on his feelings again, being extra careful to not let them reach her conscious this time. Before it has time to overload her senses, she refocuses on the power inside her. Without as much effort as the previous attempts had taken, she is able to will the power to do exactly as she wants it to. Tristan’s expression goes blank for a minute and then he’s back. He is the normal and once again unhurt Tristan. His anger is gone and Calandra’s nerves ease up as she realizes he isn’t mad at her any longer.
He looks back and forth between Jarreth and Calandra. “I guess I should get back to Drake’s. I don’t think I’m supposed to be here.”
It isn’t until Tristan speaks and clarifies that she has been successful that she realizes she has once again done exactly what Tristan said she would. She knew that messing with his emotions and using her powers to change them was wrong. She knew that it went against everything she had ever been taught. Knowing all of that hadn’t stopped her from doing it.
Calandra looks back to Jarreth, afraid of what he may be thinking of her. Surprisingly, he looks rather impressed. She isn’t impressed with herself in the least, she is more than disgusted with her behavior today.
“Thanks for coming to check on me,” she tells Tristan, unsure of what else to say, or what he will remember about how and why he is here.
“You are okay, right?” Tristan asks, sincerely concerned.
Calandra nods and gives a small smile as her heart twitches in her chest.
“Okay then.” Tristan awkwardly looks at Jarreth again and walks away.
Jarreth waits until Tristan is completely out of earshot before he brings up the obvious.
“No, he doesn’t remember any of it,” he tell
s her. “It’s as if it never happened.”
“It’s that easy?” she asks, and the question surprises her.
Jarreth doesn’t respond, so Calandra turns around to look at him. He looks sad and concerned.
“Trust me, I won’t be doing it again!” she blurts out, each word spills over the next.
Jarreth smiles, it’s a very small smile, but still beyond comforting in the current situation.
“And I’d never try it on you.” She isn’t sure why she says it, but the words are out before she realizes it.
“You could try all you wanted to.” He smiles and taps her nose. “But it wouldn’t work on me.”
Calandra sighs and takes a seat in the grass. She places her hands on the ground next to her and takes comfort from the field.
“Guess I messed things up … again,” she says when Jarreth takes a seat in front of her.
“I must say I am impressed.”
“What? That I can turn evil and deceive people?” Calandra scoffs.
“Calandra, you are part faerie. I already explained to you the line between good and evil is blurred for Fae. After seeing the way you’ve already developed so many powers and learned to control them, I’m really starting to wonder just how much Fae you have in you.”
Confused, Calandra looks at him. “My mom was part human, right?”
“Yes,” he replies, “that is the story. But you are doing things you shouldn’t be able to do for someone who is only part Fae, let alone someone who hasn’t had time to develop her powers yet. Something is … different about you.”
“Different?” Calandra shows her offense in her voice.
Jarreth chuckles. “Special.”
She smiles at the new direction he’s taken. “Thanks, I guess. I’m sorry for … well, all of it.”
Jarreth places his hand on top of hers. “Calandra, I need to be sure you truly understand what I told you before. About who you love directly effecting the types of powers you have and the outcome of this world.” He sighs as he looks at her, concern clear in his eyes.
“I believe you,” she says as she thinks back to their conversation at the bar.
“What you did here today, not only with Drake, but what you did to Tristan when he left, that’s the kind of thing I was talking about, Calandra. Hanging around with dark people is going to make you do dark things, whether you believe it will or not. With all seriousness, you have the ability to make or break this world. Whether you want it or not, it’s entirely in your hands.”
She blushes, ashamed of herself. “It’s just that I was so excited to try and learn how to use my powers that I couldn’t say no when Drake offered to help me. As far as the stopping time at his house, well I didn’t mean to do that.” She remembers as soon as the words slip out that she wasn’t supposed to say anything about the last part.
Jarreth’s face blanks out for a moment. “You stopped time at Drake’s house?”
She nods slightly.
He stares at her blankly for a few very uncomfortable moments. “Wow!” he finally says under his breath.
“I didn’t even know how I did it. I was stressed out with you and Tristan arguing, and the next thing I knew, Drake and I were the only ones still moving.” She shrugs as if it was no big deal. To her, it hadn’t seemed like that big of a deal, she’d done it on accident and hadn’t meant any harm by it. Honestly, it was probably the only thing that had kept them from a fistfight, so in actuality, she had probably done everyone some good. “How did you not know I did it? I mean, what happened after I left and things … you know, started again?”
Jarreth smirks. “I guess Drake took the wrap for you. He said that he did it to give you a minute and that you had been so upset that you said you wanted to be alone, so he gave you a head start. I didn’t trust him to actually leave you alone. I was halfway here before I realized Tristan was following me. Sorry, I guess I kind of caused more drama between you two.”
Calandra laughs, though she’s not totally sure why. “You didn’t cause it, I did.” She looks down at the ground and picks at the grass. “Why weren’t you guys effected by the time being stopped here? How did you see what happened?”
“We arrived after you had already stopped things, so we weren’t effected by it. This is why I wanted you to learn about powers before you go using them,” he says matter-of-factly.
“Oh,” Calandra sighs and blushes slightly.
“Have you ever been to a Masquerade Ball?” Jarreth throws the question out randomly, bringing Calandra out of her moping.
She looks up at him questioningly. “No.”
He smiles. “It’s an old tradition really. Masks are kind of a big thing with Fae, it’s the mystery of it and also the ability to deceive, of course.” His smile broadens. “Drake does a ball every year.”
“A ball of the masquerade kind?” Calandra laughs as she watches Jarreth, unsure of where this is leading to exactly.
“Yes, that’s the kind. It’s in two weeks.”
“Hmm.” She smiles.
“As it turns out, I have a dress of your great grandmothers, a dress that Echo had made specifically for her. Your mother always admired it and wanted to find a chance to wear it. I do believe it happens to be just your size.”
“Must be the genes,” Calandra jokes.
“Either way, I figured you might want to wear it to the ball.” He smiles confidently at her.
Calandra’s heart swells to what feels like should be far beyond her chest cavity. A dress that is part of her family heritage. A dress that was something her mother wanted. A piece of the people that have made her into what she is, the people she never had a chance to meet. The thoughts flow through her head and fill her with excitement at the magical possibilities of it all. It’s a chance she never would have come across in a million years in the mortal world with her dad.
“Of course I would,” she finally says when she realizes that Jarreth is still looking at her, anticipating a response.
“Then it’s yours.” He smiles. “I can escort you to the ball as well if you’d like. I have a feeling Drake isn’t going to allow Tristan to come.”
“I have a feeling he wouldn’t want to go with me regardless.”
Jarreth shakes his head in disagreement. “I think you underestimate that boy’s love for you, dear.”
Calandra shrugs, unsure of what to think of that statement.
Chapter Eighteen
Masquerade
Calandra stands in the room, looking at herself in the mirror, in awe and completely and utterly dazed. The dress Jarreth gave her of Echo’s was amazingly beautiful, but she feels completely out of place in it. She doesn’t belong in something like this; she isn’t meant to look this glamorous. The dress is an iridescent silver color. The top is a beautiful corset that silhouettes her figure and drapes around her hips before coming to a V-shape in the front and the back. This dress shows her off in a way that she’s never done before. A way that makes her feel beyond self-conscious. Nothing is revealed, but she’s never dressed to impress—so to speak—before, and the thought that this outfit will be drawing eyes to her has her nerves set on fire. The corset is intricately embroidered with a blue thread that matches the color of Jarreth’s eyes. The skirt consists of layers upon layers of ruffled tulle and it swishes as she moves.
Her mask is laying on the bed still. She walks over to it, unable to look at the mirror any longer. She can’t seem to recognize the girl that stares back at her. The mask is the perfect complement to her dress; she figures it has to have been made just for it. It is the exact same shade of silver and framed with jewels. The top has one blue jewel that matches the embroidery in the dress and the remainder of the jewels that make up the frame of the mask are a mixture of light blues, silver, and clear. The gems peak at the top of the mask, just above the large blue gem. There is a small strand of silver beads that hang below the large blue stone and frame just above the eyebrows in a swirl fashion. On the right corner of th
e mask is a beautiful baby blue flower with a few silver tulle petals and silver flowers resting above and below it.
Grabbing the mask, she holds it over her face and turns back to the mirror. She freezes and her breath catches when she sees the image looking back at her. Who is that? she wonders to herself. This is not an image she’s ever seen in the mirror before. This girl is stunning, mysterious, and confident. All of which are things that Calandra has never felt in herself before. Her hair is done up in spiral curls and full of body with little flowers and streamers holding the top half back and out of her face. She is so caught up in the picture in front of her that she doesn’t hear Jarreth come into the room. He stands at the door and stares at her for a few minutes before he finally makes his way into the room.
He walks up behind her and places his arm around her shoulders. “You’re breathtaking!”
