Shadeland (The Ethereal Crossings, 1)

by D.L. Miles

  Chapter 2

  The mall was not the place I wanted to be. Honestly, I had just wanted to go back to bed, or just read a book in the living room; but I was stuck getting a gift for Neeson to give to Joshua tomorrow. I sighed and peered into the sports store window.

  “Are you sure you want to be here?” Luke asked, placing a hand on my elbow. I pulled away from him and rounded the corner into the store. He followed closely behind me.

  “It won’t take too long,” I shrugged and ignored a store associate as they greeted me. Luke waved at them instead and they moved on to the next customer. I began searching the walls for something but I couldn’t find what I was looking for. I wasn’t even sure what I was looking for really. Yesterday I had something in mind, but actually walking into the leather scented store I completely forgot what that was. The throngs of people pushing to get in every direction was jostling me as well, and the longer I wandered around, the more upset I felt.

  I circled the store twice before leaving in a huff. Luke only followed in silence.

  The Ellengale Mall wasn’t very big, but it was annoyingly crowded for a Saturday. I pushed through a mob of mothers with their kids and found a bench to sit down on. It smelled like people in there, the stench almost overwhelming me; that was something that had never happened before.

  “Do you want to try Nevermore?” Luke suggested next to me. I was leaning forward onto my knees, cupping my face in my hands. I really hated shopping at malls, and I hated the fact that I could spot when certain people looked at Luke. Even though he had been proved innocent, there were a few unsure humans that would avoid him on the street.

  “Nevermore? What’s that again?” I asked.

  “It’s the antique store they just put in,” he explained, “it’s just down by the food court.”

  “Antique store?” I questioned. What on Earth would Joshua want from an antique store?

  “They usually have old Nintendo posters there, never know, we might find one he doesn’t have.” Luke answered my unvoiced question. He did that a lot, and lately it had been hard to tell if it was because he was Fae, or because he just knew me well. I always told myself that he knew me, we had grown up together, but after I discovered I could no longer feel his powers on me I always wondered.

  “Might as well,” I sighed and stood. Luke led me to Nevermore, a small store filled with shining baubles and seemingly ancient items. They didn’t look too old to me…but maybe that’s because my cat was thousands of years old…

  “I’ll talk with the guy, just take it easy,” Luke instructed. He walked off to speak with someone behind the counter while I browsed.

  The store was nice, but it smelled like dust. I moved around antique pieces of furniture when the jewelry caught my eye. Normally I wasn’t one to wear anything, maybe a necklace occasionally, but the pieces here were so alluring. I stepped over to them, watching as they each reflected the light around themselves; hypnotizing.

  I kept my gaze down, hoping that another store associate wouldn’t feel the need to talk to me. But there only seemed to be one person working then, and Luke held his attention.

  “We’ve got some over here,” I heard the man say, leading Luke to the back of the store, “what kind did you say you were looking for?”

  I glanced up as they wandered closer to the back. When I turned to face the various sparkling earrings and bracelets I had to hold back a gasp when I saw something else; a box.

  It was gorgeous, decorated in what appeared to be shells and waves, all painted silver. When I picked it up and felt its weight I realized it hadn’t been painted; it actually was genuine silver. I opened it to find a red satin lining, and a small tag inside reading “$400”. My fingers shut the top gently before running them over the seashells. I didn’t know why, but I really loved this box, and I was unable to put it down.

  A shot of pain ran between my temples and I winced. Carrying the box with me I found Luke was already paying for something at the counter, a large rectangular bag in his hand. When the transaction finished he turned to me and said, “I found something Josh’ll love. What did you get?”

  I looked at the silver in my hand and didn’t answer as I set it on the counter. Being away from it made me feel almost…sad.

  “Is that everything?” the man asked, narrowing his eyes at me. He was probably wondering how I would afford it…or why I would want it in the first place. Honestly I wanted to know why I wanted it; I just felt like I needed it.

  “Yes, please,” I said, “do you take debit here?”

  “Of course,” the man suddenly sniffed the air, and his eyes shifted from blue to white for a fraction of a second. He smiled and said, “And for you, half price.”

  I didn’t question why I was getting it at half price. I didn’t question why he sniffed the air or why his eyes had changed. Instead I just paid and watched as he placed the silver into a small box and bag and passed it to me.

  “Thanks,” I blurted and quickly left the store. My head was starting to spin a bit and my legs no longer wanted to work properly. I wavered over to a bench, Luke close behind.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, helping me sit down onto the hard wood. “Are you okay? Do you want to go home?”

  “Yeah,” I said, pressing down on my forehead, “I don’t feel right.”

  Luke dropped me off at the apartment and went to do his weekly grocery shopping. Despite my rising fever I actually didn’t feel like sleeping. I had been sleeping far too often and it only made my headaches worse. So as I stood in the elevator I tried to think of something to do, but nothing came to mind.

  The elevators dinged and I walked to my front door. As soon as my foot stepped around the corner Kat’s door opened and he came out with a grin on his face. His hair was spiked forward today and he was dressed in all black, matching his raven hair.

  “Liv!” he almost cheered. “How are you feeling today? Still feverish?”

  “A bit,” I admitted, turning my key against the deadbolt. After a moment I added, “How are you?” I was just trying to be polite; he was my neighbour after all.

  “I’m good,” he shrugged and leaned against his doorway. I pursed my lips at him. Wasn’t he going somewhere? He noticed the bag in my hand and asked, “What did you get?”

  “A jewelry box,” I said and I found I was reaching inside to show him like an excited child. His eyes lit up, much like my own, when he saw the silver box.

  “Beautiful!” he cried, not reaching for it as I had anticipated. Instead he remained in his doorframe. “Did you get it at Nevermore?”

  “I did, actually,” I set the box back inside the bag and decided to push my door open, hoping he would take the hint. “Why?”

  Kat set a hand on his open door as he prepared to shut it. He smiled and just said, “He likes people like us.”

  A phone rang inside his apartment and we went our separate ways.

  “People like us?” I asked into the air. It took me a minute to understand, my fever making me a touch delirious. He had meant Eidolon’s, the people that weren’t human. That was why the sales associate had sniffed the air; he could smell that Luke was Fae, and gave me the discount. I shrugged to myself, happy with the discount and moved into my room.

  Azazel was bouncing up and down on the bed at amazing heights, but as soon as I stepped in he stopped and looked at me, ears perked and eyes wide. He skittered underneath the unmade blankets, embarrassed that he had been caught doing something so childish. I laughed; this wasn’t the first time I had caught him in the act.

  He liked watching television too, usually children’s shows. He absolutely adored the sink, always turning the tap on himself to run underneath it. I wouldn’t mind him doing it, if he didn’t always go to my pillow to dry off. For an ancient creature, he was quite…amusing.

  “I’m back, Azazel,” I said, even though it was obvious. “Were you having fun?”

&nbs
p; The creature poked his head out from under the blankets, yellow eyes glowing, before coming over to run between my legs. I took the silver box out of the bag and kneeled down to show it to him. I asked, “What do you think? Pretty?”

  After letting Azazel sniff it I set it onto my dresser. I had learned the hard way that he didn’t understand new things; he was from a different dimension after all. But the first time I had moved some of my things into the room he panicked, shredding a much loved sweater one night. When I bought a new lamp he had broken it as well. But if I let him see something first before adding it to the room, he was fine. Demons, what can you do?

  I opened the lid of the box and set some things inside that had been cluttering my dresser. A few new pennies, some bobby pins and a couple of necklaces were displayed neatly inside and I shut the top, feeling as if I had accomplished something.